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After Math: Mobile World Mayhem
Mobile World Congress is kicking off this weekend in Barcelona, Spain and Engadget's crack team of reporters will be coming to you live from the show floor! But the trade show isn't the only thing making mobile news this week: Chevy's finally adding a "Find my Car" feature to its app, Intel's pumping the brakes on rumors of its 5G modem availability, and Facebook is (unsurprisingly) once again in trouble for scraping sensitive data from its mobile users. In less disturbing news, BMW and Daimler are looking to invest a billion dollars into a different sort of "mobile" project.
After Math: Love is in the AR
While most of us are still recovering from the frenzied orgy of capitalist affection that is Valentine's Day, companies from all over the industry continue to fly forth like arrows fired from Cupid's bow. Google announced it will be spreading some of its "computer love" to nearly half the US by year's end, while Activision isn't showing its now ex-employees any. Oh yeah, and Benedict Cumberbatch is Satan.
After Math: Get outta my dreams, get into my rocket ship
Jeff Bezos has been trying to get biz-ay. And failing spectacularly at it. The Amazon CEO is accusing the National Enquirer of "extortion and blackmail" after pictures of his dink somehow ended up in the tabloid's hands. But he wasn't the only one this week wishing to hop on the fastest transport available and make a run for it.
Hitting the Books: Ray Kurzweil on humanity's nanobot-filled future
Welcome, dear readers, to Engadget's newest series, Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought-provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories. Architects of Intelligence by Martin Ford Artificial intelligence is the technology of tomorrow made manifest today. Thinking machines hold the promise of revolutionizing modern society from transportation and telecommunications to medicine and life sciences. But for all its upsides, AI has the potential to upend economies, disrupt job markets and incur unanticipated consequences at all levels of society. In his new book, Architects of Intelligence: The Truth about AI from the People Building It, author Martin Ford interviews 23 tech luminaries and thought leaders in AI development to discuss the benefits and pitfalls the technology poses for the industry, the economy and society as a whole. In the excerpt below, Ford sits down with Ray Kurzweil -- Director of Engineering at Google -- to discuss how AI-driven nanobots may one day help humans live radically longer, disease-free lives and hardwire augmented reality tech directly into our brains.
After Math: The Big Game who shall not be named
It's that time of year again -- in which the two best teams in a certain professional sport compete to determine the season's overall champion in one of the biggest events of the year that the media is actively discouraged from mentioning by name lest the event's brand be diluted. But that hasn't stopped the tech industry from hopping on the "Superb Owl" hype train. Uber's giving free rides to the losing team's fans, Microsoft is running inspirational ads, and the ludicrously talented Christine McConnell is bringing snacks.
How sex censorship killed the internet we love
When was the last time you thought of the internet as a weird and wonderful place? I can feel my anxiety climbing as I try to find current news stories about sex. Google News shows one lonely result for "porn," an article that is 26 days old. I log out of everything and try different browsers because this can't be right.
After Math: Gamer, set, match
Gaming enthusiasts had a lot to cheer for this week. Google revealed the results of a competition between its Starcraft II AI and a pair of pro players, though there wasn't much "competition" in the 10-1 bloodbath. GDC's State of the Industry survey revealed broad support for unionization initiatives among respondents. And of course Farming Simulator now has its own eSports league.
After Math: Watch out now!
You'd think that the week after CES would bring at least a brief lull in the firehose that is tech news, but you'd be wrong. Google's paying $40 million for Fossil's smartwatch tech; LG's holding a huge sale for last year's most expensive sets ahead of the Super Bowl; and for some reason, Aaron Sorkin doesn't think we've had enough onscreen Zuckerberg (he too is wrong).
DNC claims Russians launched more phishing attacks after midterms
The New York Times cites court documents filed by the Democratic National Committee that said it believes a Russian group launched a hacking attempt against it after last year's midterm elections. The lawsuit alleges a conspiracy between President Trump's campaign, Russian intelligence and Wikileaks targeting Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016. According to the NYT, the DNC said "dozens" of email addresses in its organization were targeted by spearphishing, while security firm FireEye linked them to a larger campaign that included thinktanks, public sector, law enforcement and more. While they said a Russian hacking outfit known was APT29, Cozy Bear or the Dukes is likely behind the attempt, it didn't offer a firm attribution -- and we know how tricky those can be. As far as the case itself, some defendants have tried to have it dismissed saying it's just cover for the DNC losing the 2016 election. While that continues to be decided, you probably have security issues of your own to keep an eye on.
After Math: How we survived CES 2019
As cleanup crews descend on the Las Vegas Convention Center and the events attendees reluctantly make their ways home, it's hard to believe that the weeklong technology expo is already over. We saw autonomous bread machines, self-driving semis, and even self-heating razors amidst the gaggle of cutting edge gadgets. Here are some of the coolest tech toys that we got to play with at CES 2019.
So, you got an IoT device for the holidays
IoT devices are at once a grotesquerie for the security- and privacy-conscious, and a delicious, convenient poison. And chances are pretty good you got one as a holiday gift. You might say we're in the heyday of IoT — though a significant number of infosec professionals might be more inclined to call it the apex of the Internet of Shit. They have a point. Even just a glance at recent headlines is enough to convince anyone that the so-called smartness of these products is a bit lacking.
2018 in cybersecurity: Regrets, we have a few
This was the year security slips, privacy fails and outright stupidity went from bad to surreal. It was a year in which warnings went unheeded and companies lost whatever trust we gave them. It was a nesting doll of security disasters. A clown car of willful negligence. A long 12 months of totally unsexy, nonconsensual edge-play with our data.
Maria Butina: Cybersecurity charlatan, spy
Russian spy Maria Butina's cover story was her academic interest and expertise in cybersecurity. As cover stories go, this unfortunately wasn't a hard one to pull off. Except anyone holding even the barest minimum of cybersecurity knowledge could've figured out in minutes that Butina's interest in cybersecurity was minimal.
After Math: Hope for the Holidays
While Christmas decorations have already been festooned throughout big box retailers since the start of November, the holiday season is finally in full swing now that Thanksgiving is over. As such, industry and government both are gearing up to celebrate the reason for the season: capitalism.
The internet war on sex is here
During the Great Internet Sex War, that began in the United States during its Facebook Era, people were forced to stockpile their porn. Lube was bought by the drum and hidden in bunkers, alongside vibrators and air-gapped computers holding valuable troves of accurate, non judgemental sex information. Gimp suits were stored upright, oiled, and ready for doomsday's call. Explicit gifs became a black market commodity, and there were rumors of a Thunderdome ruled by cam girls. Every sexual identity, except the singular one deemed safe by the corporations, went into hiding. Fear prevented even the mere mention of sexual pleasure on the networks and in communications.
After Math: Let's shake things up
As Anchorage, Alaska was being rocked by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake this week (which, as of the writing of this post, had thankfully only resulted in infrastructure damage and not any actual injuries), the tech industry was making major rumblings of its own. Tesco is teaming with VW to change how shoppers charge their cars, Lyft plans to triple the number of available CitiBikes, Fortnite continues to curbstomp its battle royale competition, and Microsoft (ever so briefly) stole the crown for "world's most valuable business" from Apple.
Google’s China search engine drama
The first time many of us heard about China's use of facial recognition on jaywalkers was just this week when a prominent Chinese businesswoman was publicly "named and shamed" for improper street crossing. Turns out, she wasn't even there: China's terrifyingly over-the-top use of tech for citizen surveillance made a mistake. The AI system identified Dong Mingzhu's face from a bus advertisement for her company's products.
After Math: To all the turkeys I loved before
The holiday season has officially kicked into high gear, which means it's time to gather around the hearth, count your blessings and quietly roll your eyes as uncle Jerry launches once again into why smoke wouldn't rise straight up if the Earth weren't flat. While he's blowing smoke about thermodynamic theory, here are some examples of tech institutions finding the holiday spirit and giving back to their fans.
Airstream’s Nest is a cozy, futuristic trailer
Even if you've never thought about splurging on a travel trailer, you've probably lusted after an Airstream. The aluminum homes away from home glisten as they are towed down highways and backroads, and you can't help yourself. You want one.
After Math: The anti-social network
It's not been a great week for the world's most expansive and invasive social site. Besides being temporarily knocked offline on Monday, the platform is hemorrhaging morale, struggling to address its ubiquitous disinformation issues (going so far as to appoint an "independent" content moderation oversight committee), and was the subject of a scathing exposé by the New York Times.