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Expect more vote suppressing misinformation on Election Day
While the internet is filled with sources providing accurate and unbiased information aimed at getting informed voters to the polls on Tuesday, some corners of it are taking an alternate approach. A Buzzfeed report cites 4chan posters cooking up various memes and campaign-lookalike graphics intended to confuse and mislead potential Hillary Clinton voters. We've seen a preview of this with Twitter ads that promoted a "vote by text message" hoax and it appears there could be similar efforts in store for tomorrow.
Trump's campaign staff took control of his Twitter account
Have you noticed that many more of Donald Trump's recent tweets are obviously from his staff, rather than from the presidential candidate himself? It's not because he's busy on the campaign trail. According to the New York Times, Trump's team "wrested away" control of his Twitter account. While there's no official reason given, it's said to be out of concern that Trump's off-the-cuff online remarks are doing his campaign more harm than good -- a late-night insult or inaccurate statement would come back to haunt him in the next debate or Clinton ad.
After Math: Politics as usual
It's been a crazy week for US politics, what with the end of the contentious 2016 election just around the corner. The New York Times announced that it would lower its paywall for the 72 hours surrounding election day while human dumpster fire Peter Thiel tried to explain away his support for Donald Trump. Security experts are also investigating why one of Trump's servers keeps pinging a Russian bank as the FBI investigates one of its own Twitter accounts for violations of the Hatch Act. And no, you still can't vote by phone, dummy. Numbers, because how else are you going to rig an election?
The truth about Trump's secret server and Russia
It's hard not to follow the hacks and cracks of the election, even if you don't want to -- every day there's a new accusation or hysterical revelation. So you no doubt saw "Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia?" postulating that Donald Trump's connections to Russia were confirmed with the discovery of a secret email server. That story came from Slate and was based on a connection a researcher found between a Trump Organization server and a Russian bank. News outlets took the bait and ran with it, telling us that this was as damning as it appeared.
Where Trump and Clinton stand on tech and science
I know what you're all thinking: "Thank god this election is almost over." Regardless of your political affiliation I think we can all agree November 8th can't come fast enough. But in the final days it can't hurt to make sure you're pulling the lever for the candidate that best reflects your beliefs and priorities. So take a few minutes and check out Engadget's election guide to see where Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein and Gary Johnson stand on the most important tech and science issues for 2016 and beyond. We pored over their records, speeches, etc... and laid out the candidate's positions in their own words and then gave them a grade based on their demonstrated knowledge of the subject matter. If you have questions about how we grade or need a quick primer on the issues, check out this quick rundown. Obviously there are plenty of other issues to consider too, but we're willing to bet few other guides to the issues will spill as many words on cyber security and broadband infrastructure. Click here to see all the candidates' report cards.
Experts question if Trump servers shared info with Russian bank
A handful of computer scientists and DNS experts discovered that over the course of four months this year, a Trump Organization server irregularly pinged two servers belonging to the prominent Russian entity Alfa Bank, according to Slate. As former New Republic editor Franklin Foer reports, it is not clear what type of communication passed among the servers, whether emails or spam, but multiple experts agreed that the messages were sent in patterns consistent with human input. "The parties were communicating in a secretive fashion," DNS authority Paul Vixie told Slate. "The operative word is 'secretive.' This is more akin to what criminal syndicates do if they are putting together a project."
Is tech billionaire Peter Thiel prepping for a life in politics?
"I occasionally get involved but don't want to make it a full time thing." That was how Peter Thiel answered a question about his future in politics today. But, after he spent roughly 15 minutes delivering what amounted to a polite version of Donald Trump's stump speech to the National Press Club, it's a little hard to take him at his word.
Trump quashes rumor of Trump TV
Since the launch of his campaign there has been speculation that presidential candidate Donald Trump was using the 2016 race to expand his brand. That's culminated recently in speculation that he'll launch Trump TV if he loses his bid for the White House. But the candidate laid those media-empire rumors to rest during a radio interview.
Trump campaign launches streaming Facebook show
We've seen Donald Trump alternatively use social media to issue everything from an "apology" to an almost unfathomable number of insults, and now it's an avenue for video broadcasts. After a debate night livestream that some considered a pilot for a potential Trump TV video offering, the presidential candidate's Facebook page is now hosting a nightly video show. Hosted by Trump advisers and supportive commentators, the campaign tells Wired it will go live at 6:30PM ET every day. Similar to the apology, using Facebook allows direct access to potential voters without any questions or interference, although I'm already expecting to hear about how the stats are rigged when its viewer numbers fail to surpass those of Chewbacca Mom.
Facebook employees argued to ban Trump's posts over hate speech
Some Facebook employees fought to remove posts from Donald Trump in which the Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, arguing that the comments violated the website's rules on hate speech, The Wall Street Journal reports. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg eventually ruled on the issue and directed employees to not delete any of Trump's posts. Zuckerberg said it would be inappropriate to censor a presidential candidate, according to the WSJ.
Google searches for 'nasty' hit all-time high after Trump's comment
At the conclusion of the third presidential debate in which Donald Trump failed to show American he has the temperament or knowledge to lead the country, the embattled Republican candidate hissed "such a nasty woman" at his opponent Hillary Clinton. The internet reacted predictably: with outrage and streaming of Janet Jackson's 30-year-old hit "Nasty." But Spotify wasn't the only place that felt a "nasty" effect: Google says that searches for "nasty" have spiked more than 10 times over their normal level since last Thursday.
Trump made a 30-year-old Janet Jackson song a hit again
Memes and Saturday Night Live sketches have been the only bright spots coming out of this year's televised garbage fires presidential debates. Last night's final meeting between priapic Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton was no different. But rather than a mustachioed man in a red sweater asking about climate change, we got Trump interrupting Clinton, calling her a "nasty woman" at one point. As a result Spotify reports that following the debate, streams of Janet Jackson's "Nasty" have jumped 250 percent.
Did Trump pilot a TV service during the debate?
Just ahead of last night's debate, Donald Trump launched his own Facebook Live video stream featuring coverage and analysis before, during and after the event. The feed, which featured analysis and slick graphics, could be a preview of a Trump TV network rumored to be in the works. "If you're tired of biased, mainstream media reporting (otherwise known as Crooked Hillary's super PAC), tune into my Facebook Live broadcast," Trump said in a Facebook post
Climate change took a backseat to scandal at the presidential debates
While the third and final debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton covered national debt, gun control -- and whether or not to accept the results come election day -- climate change barely got a look in. In fact, environment was hardly on the radar across the span of all three debates. As we summarized in our election guide, the majority of scientists are convinced that human activity is responsible for rising levels of CO2 and mean temperature increases. This will have powerful effects on crops, sea levels and weather patterns -- and our lives. Political policy, when it comes to climate change, is very important.
Anonymously speak to a Trump supporter with 'Call a Deplorable'
If this Presidential race has got you stuck in a political echo chamber on Facebook, then maybe you just need a safe space to ask someone how on Earth they could possibly hold different political views than yourself. That's the intention behind CallADeplorable.com and CallAnElitist.com, anyway -- an opposing pair of new sites that popped up in advance of tonight's third and final Presidential debate.
How to watch the third (and final) US presidential debate
It's been a long damn road, getting from there to here, but we're finally at the third and final presidential debate. But for the good of democracy, and the country, we're all going to tune in anyway to see what both candidates get up to. After all, the first debate was a good excuse for a stiff drink and the second gave us a 70-year-old man dry humping a chair, Ken Bone and so many karaoke tweets. Thankfully, no matter where you are and what device you're rocking, there's a way to watch the final showdown between Hillary and Donald. The show begins at 9pm ET / 6pm PT and will be broadcast live from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Project Include cuts ties with Y Combinator over Thiel and Trump
Project Include, a high-profile Silicon Valley diversity initiative, has officially cut ties with the influential Y Combinator venture incubator due to its ties to prominent Donald Trump supporter, Peter Thiel. The venture capitalist gave a speech at the Republican National Convention, and is reported to be offering a $1.25 million donation to Trump. Project Include cofounder Ellen Pao called it "a direct contribution to creating hate and instilling fear."
Trump may be building his own online video service
As Donald Trump's presidential campaign appears to be circling the drain with 23 days to go, the Republican nominee must be thinking about what comes next. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump might be retreating to the relatively safe confines of media: apparently, Trump's advisors have been pitching media executives on a new venture to "capitalize on the Republican presidential candidates appeal."
Memes made the presidential debate great again
There's something magical about an inside joke. A good inside joke reminds friends that no matter what happens, you'll always have that moment when you were completely in sync, united by laughter and happy tears. Memes, meanwhile, are inside jokes on a massive scale. Memes remind the people involved of happier times, when an entire country or group of disparate people shared a moment of levity, something to laugh about, something adorable to bond over. Throughout the cutthroat 2016 presidential election, citizens of the United States have been in dire need of a uniting force. And, during last night's second presidential debate, the people found their common ground in an affable, red-sweatered meme named Ken Bone.
How to watch the second US presidential debate
The second US presidential debate promises to draw even more attention than the first. On top of giving Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump a chance to adjust their strategies, there's a switch to a town hall format based on public questions. And then there's both Trump's video apology and Clinton's leaked comments to banks -- how will the candidates deal with these curveballs? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to follow the drama online. We've aggregated many of the internet viewing options so that you won't have to miss a moment when the debate kicks off at 9PM Eastern.
