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The FCC has repealed net neutrality
During today's open meeting, the FCC's proposal to repeal net neutrality protections put in place in 2015 was put to a vote and it passed, three votes to two. As was widely expected, the three Republican members -- Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Michael O'Rielly and Brendan Carr -- voted in favor of the proposal while Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, both Democrats, voted against it.
Senators make last ditch effort to halt the FCC's net neutrality vote
The FCC is set to vote this Thursday on its proposal to remove net neutrality protections put in place in 2015 and while it's all but certain that the commission will vote in favor of the proposal, some still haven't given up trying to convince the commissioners to change their minds. The Hill reports today that 39 senators signed a letter addressed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai requesting that he reconsider. "We write to urge you to abandon your reckless plan to radically alter the free and open internet as we know it," the Democrats wrote. "Your proposed action will amount to the largest abdication of the Federal Communications Commission's statutory responsibilities in history."
Virginia to replace voting machines over hacking concerns
States are understandably nervous about the security of voting machines given both the possibility of Russian interference in the 2016 election and machine makers' own shortfalls. And in Virginia's case, officials aren't taking any chances. The state's election board has approved a Department of Elections recommendation to make counties to replace direct-recording electronic voting machines with devices that produce a clear paper trail. Virginia had already instituted a law phasing out touchscreen voting hardware by 2020, but the new move effectively bumps up that end date to November 7th, when the state holds elections for the governorship and other key positions.
Facebook pledges funding to non-profit election security group
Just last week, Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center launched Defending Digital Democracy, an across-the-aisles bipartisan effort to find ways to protect against election hacking. The group includes campaign managers from Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns as well Google and Facebook security staffers. A new report on Reuters says that Facebook will also provide an initial funding of $500,000 to the nonprofit.
Clinton, Romney campaign managers unite to fight election hacking
The threat of hacks disrupting US elections is very real, and enough people are concerned that it's creating some strange bedfellows. Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center has launched Defending Digital Democracy, a bipartisan effort to offer technology, strategies and other tools that can protect against election-oriented cyberattacks. And when they say it's an across-the-aisle effort, they mean it. Campaign managers for former presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney will help lead the group, as will Facebook's security chief, Google's info security director and the co-founder of security firm CrowdStrike. The head of the group is Eric Rosenbach, who was Chief of Staff to recent Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
Vote for Engadget R+D's 'Superhumans' series to win a Webby Award!
Engadget R+D's first documentary Superhumans debuted back in September and now the series is up for a Webby Award. The look inside the first cyborg games is nominated for a People's Voice award in the Technology Film & Video category, but we need your help. Head over to the voting page between now and Thursday, April 20th to cast your vote for us. We would certainly appreciate it! It's not the first time we've been up for the prestigious award, but we would like to add some more hardware to our mantle. If you need a refresher on the series, you can re-watch every episode at the show hub right here.
Facebook will remind you to vote in local elections
Facebook isn't limiting its get-out-the-vote initiatives to federal elections. The social network is now offering reminders to vote in local US elections, whether they're at the county, municipal or state level. You'll see these notices as long as you're in an area with over 10,000 people, and they'll include primaries in addition to general elections. It could be crucial to spurring interest in frequently neglected regional elections, especially in tandemn with Facebook's officially launched Town Hall feature.
You can vote for emoji to replace the current Monopoly tokens
Hasbro is no stranger to taking votes on new Monopoly tokens, but this time around everyone's favorite tiny images are among the options. Between now and January 31st, you can select which of the 56 new game pieces you would like to see make the cut. Yes, you can vote for any of the current tokens to remain or replace them entirely as you make your picks for the final 8. The company plans to announce the results of the public vote on World Monopoly Day that takes place on March 19th.
Free The Vote: A game developer's journey to political activism
We all have a tipping point. There's a moment when we hear about one more act of violence or one more slight against people in our community, and all of the injustice we've witnessed in a particular situation suddenly coalesces into clear conviction. At this moment, we can't sit silently and watch anymore. We are compelled to act. Dain Saint's tipping point was the shooting death of both Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two black men who died at the hands of police officers just one day apart from each other in July. "I couldn't do nothing, but I didn't know what to do," Saint says. To gather his thoughts, he wrote a post on Medium titled We Can Be Better. It's a call to action and a raw, eye-opening take on the state of trust, fear and empathy in America. As a black engineer living in Philadelphia, Saint himself is realistic but filled with optimism, and so is his blog post.
Engadget's Election Day liveblog
Engadget's editors will be watching the election results roll in all night. If you want to know what they're reading, where they're tracking the vote and what is capturing their attention on social media tune in here to the Engadget election liveblog. And, if you've got questions not answered by our guide to the candidates hit us up on Twitter and we'll do our best to answer them.
How the internet can help you vote tomorrow
Tomorrow is election day in the United States. More than a year of political maneuvering, partisan fundraising, polarizing debates and 24-hour election coverage comes to a close on Tuesday, November 8th. However, that's not where this wild ride ends. Tomorrow, US citizens and the electoral college will choose a new president to lead the country for the next four years, ushering in a new political era with any outcome -- whether Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. If you're an eligible voter and you want to be a part of this historic decision, there are plenty of digital tools designed to help you figure out where, when, how and why to vote.
Election take on 'The Oregon Trail' is almost too realistic
You may have no problem voting in the US election, but others won't have it so easy... and a web game is making that point all too clear. GOP Arcade and the New York Times' opinion section have posted The Voter Suppression Trail, a spin on the classic The Oregon Trail that draws attention to Republican-backed tactics making it difficult for minorities to vote, such as fewer polling places and intimidation. As you might guess, where you live and who you are makes the game either trivially easy or a serious challenge.
Facebook triggered a spike in US voter registration
How well do those online voter registration campaigns work, really? Better than you might think. Both officials and the Center for Election Innovation & Research report that Facebook's four-day voter registration campaign, which sent friendly 17-word reminders starting September 23rd, triggered spikes in registrations across the US. These weren't just moderate bumps, either. Sign-ups in a given state grew anywhere from double to 23 times what they were on the 22nd, sometimes adding tens of thousands of voters.
Court overturns New Hampshire ban on ballot selfies
In the state of New Hampshire, proud voters can legally snap a selfie after filling out their ballot paper. Hurray! As NBC News reports, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston has upheld a lower court ruling which concluded the state-wide ban was unfair. Since 2014, legislation has made it illegal for citizens to photograph and share their ballot markings on social media. According to politicians, the law was intended to combat potential vote-buying schemes -- the argument being that shady individuals could use them to track and verify influenced votes.
DoorDash delivers voter registration kits to your home
It's important to register to vote if you want your voice to be heard this election, but there's no denying that it can sometimes be time-consuming. You can't always register online, and it's all too easy to balk at printing forms or signing up in person. Well, DoorDash wants to take all the headaches out of the process -- the delivery service is teaming up with Rock the Vote to offer registration kits on-demand for September 27th (aka National Voter Registration Day). Much as you'd order a bite to eat, you can have registration forms, information sheets and prepaid envelopes sent to your door just by making a few taps. You'll have to live in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City or San Francisco to see the option in-app, but that's about the only barrier to exercising your civic responsibility.
Google tells you how to vote by state with a simple search
You're running out of excuses to not vote in this year's US presidential election. Google has rolled out a new, state-specific voting guide for anyone who searches "how to vote" or other related queries. Google breaks down the voting process in your state, complete with information on early voting, mail-in ballots, requirements and deadlines. There's also a drop-down menu that allows you to toggle among states.
Google will help you register to vote in the November election
Google is no stranger to lending a hand with voter registration, and ahead of the November election in the US, the company is helping once again. Starting Monday, when you search "register to vote," the results will includes details on the process, what's required and the deadline to complete the sign-up. Each state is different, so if you need to browse the guidelines for another location, there's a handy drop-down that allows you to make that change. Google confirmed to Engadget that the tool will be available at the start of next week.
FCC adopts new rules for the foundation of 5G networks
We knew it was coming, and now the FCC has made it official. Today the commission voted to adopt new rules that would facilitate the development of 5G wireless networks in the US. More specifically, the guidelines relate to wireless spectrum above 24GHz and make the United States the first country in the world to make the spectrum available for so-called next-gen networks. The FCC said in a press release that its approaching 5G the way it has approached 4G (LTE) networks in the past, a strategy that will "set a strong foundation for the rapid advancement to next-generation 5G."
Tinder matches you with a presidential candidate
Tinder is about to get as pushy about politics as your Facebook friends. In a partnership with Rock the Vote, Tinder will match users in the United States with the presidential candidate who most closely represents their views, whether that be Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or John Kasich.
PlayStation Plus members will soon vote on what games go free
Sure, PlayStation Plus subscribers are used to getting "free" games every month, but they haven't had any say about what the gratis titles would be. Until now. With Vote to Play, you'll have a chance to make your voice heard. PlayStation VP of platforms marketing John Koller writes on the PlayStation Blog that the game with the most votes will automatically be added to the upcoming month's offerings, and that in the first round of voting the runner-up will be available at a discount. Pretty cool, huh? Exactly how the voting process will work (if there will be videos or whatnot to help make informed choices) isn't clear just yet, but Koller writes that more info is coming soon enough. The real question though is if you would've voted for Rocket League, the dark horse from last month's promo that's absolutely dominating the gaming conversation right now.
