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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.
GOP website outed its response to the VP debate a bit early
Today the Republican National Committee showed tech companies aren't the only ones to get a little jumpy with the publish button. Following Apple's early Twitter leak of the iPhone 7, the GOP website pushed up blog posts declaring its VP candidate, Mike Pence, the "clear winner" of a debate against Democratic candidate Tim Kaine, before the debate actually began. The content has since been pulled but lives on in screenshots as the debate goes on live. Of course, a CMS timing error can happen to the best of us, but maybe this is one election data leak that won't be attributed to emails or foreign hackers.
How to watch the US vice presidential debate
In this US election, the vice presidential debate matters more than ever -- both the Democrats' Tim Kaine and the Republicans' Mike Pence have had relatively little time in the limelight beyond their home states. You may want to watch just to see where they stand, not to mention how they handle themselves on the national stage. But how to do that online? Never fear: we've rounded up the major streaming options that you'll have when the VP debate starts at 9PM Eastern.
Hackers targeted voter registration systems in 20 states
With the US presidential election just over a month away, a Homeland Security official says voter registration systems in 20 states were the targets of hackers. The Associated Press reports that an official from the department confirmed the activity over the the last few months and explained that it hasn't been determined if the threats were domestic or foreign. ABC News reported this week that Russian hackers targeted the systems of 20 states and successfully infiltrated four.
The first presidential debate broke multiple internet records
It won't shock you to hear that the first US presidential debate shattered TV viewing records -- Nielsen says the broadcast was the most-watched debate ever with an average of 84 million viewers. However, it also pushed boundaries of the internet, too. For starters, YouTube reports that Clinton-versus-Trump was the biggest political live stream "of all time," with almost 2 million concurrent viewers spread across six major news outlets. It was also one of the largest streams in the site's history, and had 14 times more live viewers than during the 2012 debate.
Twitter helps you register to vote through direct messages
Twitter is joining the ranks of internet outlets helping you exercise your right to vote. It's allying with Rock the Vote to launch a feature that helps you register in the US through a simple chat assistant. All you do is send a direct message to Twitter Government (@gov) and punch in your ZIP code when asked -- the account will tell you how to register, including a web link for signing up online. If you're a first-time voter and aren't eager to navigate websites to get answers, this could come in handy.
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.
Debate venue offering journalists $200 'bargain' for WiFi
At one point or another, we've all paid too much to access Wifi when we're out and about. Well, ahead of tonight's first presidential debate of the general election between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, journalists will apparently have to shell out $200 to connect to Hofstra University's wireless network. That's according to a tweet from Slate political reporter Jim Newell. Personal WiFi hotspots are prohibited as well, with Newell adding that he isn't sure exactly how the venue will enforce the edict.
How to watch tonight's US presidential debate
So you're determined to watch the first of 2016's US presidential debates, but you don't subscribe to TV... or you live in a country that won't have a live broadcast. What to do? Relax. This year, there are more choices than ever for watching online, and not just in the US. We've rounded up the main internet viewing sources for Clinton versus Trump, including the kind of commentary you'll get. Whichever option you choose, you'll probably want to keep our guide to the candidates on hand when things kick off at 9PM Eastern -- the odds are that the grand speeches and spirited arguments won't answer all your technology policy questions.
Clinton tech says he warned of email server violations in 2009
The FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server continues to turn up important new details. Reuters has found interview summaries showing that Bryan Pagliano, a technician who joined Clinton's team when she became Secretary of State, says he shared concerns about the legality of the server with chief of staff Cheryl Mills back in 2009. Two colleagues pressed Pagliano to bring up the server with Clinton's "inner circle," according to his statements, including one who was specifically worried about a possible "federal records retention issue." One said he "wouldn't have been surprised" if there was classified info passing through.
Many recovered Clinton emails won't go public before election
Hope you aren't waiting for the State Department to publish every last document from Hillary Clinton's private email server before making a voting decision -- you're going to be disappointed. A federal judge has set a schedule that will only publish 1,050 pages of recently recovered material (out of roughly 10,000 pages) by November 4th, mere days before the US presidential election on the 8th. The Department has promised to process 500 pages per month, so you won't get the full scoop until well after the next president takes office.
Twitter will livestream the US Presidential debates
Twitter made it a point to livestream the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and it's keeping up that trend of political involvement now that it's debate season. The social network is partnering with Bloomberg to livestream both the US Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, which start on September 26th. Each stream will be available worldwide through the web (at debates.twitter.com, which isn't live yet) and Twitter's official apps, with Bloomberg providing commentary and analysis. We can't promise that the debates will be deep, insightful discussions that help you make an informed decision on election day, but you at least won't have to put down your phone to watch the political circus in action.
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.
Internet meme tries shaming Trump into releasing tax returns
Way back in the years and months leading up to the 2012 presidential election, a loudmouth businessman and reality TV star named Donald Trump continued to push a disproved and fallacious controversy asking Obama to reveal his birth certificate. The paranoid believed it would prove he was born in Kenya and thus ineligible for the office, but the White House released it in 2011 anyway, shutting them down. Still Trump clamored on, shoddily ventriloquizing that not he but others still believed Obama was a fake. Now it's 2016 and the outsider has somehow become the Republican presidential candidate — and a smattering of internet trolls have turned the tables, claiming that someone else told them he'd donated to the pedophilic North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).
Where the would-be vice presidents stand on cybersecurity
Aside from sound bites on Russia and hacking, where Clinton and Trump stand on cybersecurity issues is generally unclear. In fact, they've devoted little time to this crucial and urgent subject. Which is weird in light of the epic amount of hacking shenanigans this presidential race has compelled us to endure. When it comes to cybersecurity, neither Clinton nor Trump has a position, a statement, a plan or a section in their "Issues" sections of their campaign websites. Only Clinton's website mentions it -- in passing: once on China's accountability to the U.S., and then again in a little line stating she will work to promote "cybersecurity at home and abroad." You'd think either one of them would have something substantial on a topic that's simultaneously consuming the nation and making them both look foolish. But apparently, that's where their VPs are supposed to come in and take up the very troubling amount of cybersecurity neglect we're witnessing. Which, as you'll see, is pretty lopsided.
DNC executives leave following email hack
The fallout from the Democratic National Committee email hack (and the subsequent posting by Wikileaks) is extending well beyond the resignation of Committee chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in July. The DNC has revealed that CEO Amy Dacey (above), CFO Brad Marshall and communications director Luis Miranda are resigning in the wake of the breach. The leaked emails showed all three playing favorites during the primaries, disparaging Bernie Sanders and showing a preference for eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.
Moderators banned 2,200 accounts during Donald Trump's AMA
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump participated in a Reddit AMA last night on the pro-Trump forum, /r/The_Donald, allowing a handful of internet denizens to ask him questions about the election and his proposed policies. He answered 12 questions in total and stuck to fairly broad statements such as, "I think NASA is wonderful." Trump reiterated his distrust of the press and of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and his goal to repeal the Affordable Care Act. His most in-depth answers invited former Bernie Sanders supporters to vote for him and reached out to people considering voting for a third-party candidate. In a post-AMA thread and elsewhere in /r/The_Donald, some users accused Reddit administrators of "censoring" the Trump session by artificially down-voting it and not showing it on the site's front page.
Google searches omitted key US presidential candidates (update: bug)
Google has been a rich, impartial resource for US election info so far, but it's apparently not perfect. NBC notes that certain searches for would-be Presidents (such as "presidential candidates" or "US president candidates") weren't turning up major candidates in the list of active campaigns, including Republican nominee Donald Trump and Libertarian pick Gary Johnson. Moreover, they still included Bernie Sanders -- odd when his party has nominated Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump hosting Reddit AMA during DNC on Wednesday
If you've ever seen Donald Trump on Twitter, you probably have questions for him. Questions like, "how do you plan to force Apple to make iPhones in the US," or "do you really think Edward Snowden deserves the death penalty?" Later this week, you'll be able to ask him yourself: the Republican presidential nominee is slated to host a Reddit AMA at 7PM ET on Wednesday.
