Remember “Watchable?” Yeah, nobody else does either. And so it is not at all surprising that sources now report Comcast is pulling resources away from the two-year-old venture, scrapping its original content dreams and looking elsewhere for eyeballs. [More]
Senate Plans Meaningless Hearing On Obamacare Repeal Bill
By 9.19.17
One of the reasons that the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act met a dramatic late-night demise in July was the criticism that GOP lawmakers held no actual hearings on this matter that could directly impact many millions of Americans. As Republican senators look to make one last try at repeal before their clock runs out, legislators are finally holding their first, but ultimately pointless, public hearing on healthcare. [More]
California ISP Privacy Bill Stalls Out After Heavy Pushback From Industry
By 9.18.17 — Updated: 9.19.17
There is no federal-level law protecting your private web data from your internet-providing company anymore, and there likely won’t be a replacement anytime soon. So some states are trying to take matters into their own hands. But the latest, last-ditch effort in the tech capital of the U.S. has failed, after strong pushback from the very companies it would regulate. [More]
Senate Republicans Making One Last Effort To Take Down Obamacare
By 9.15.17
Yes, again: After spending the spring and summer trying and failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans in the Senate have come up with one last Hail-Mary bill to take down the ACA and revamp American healthcare. [More]
Verizon Gives Up, Decides It Doesn’t Want To Buy Comcast Or Charter After All
By 9.15.17
Ever since an openly business-friendly administration stepped into the White House, analysts and investors have been pushing for Verizon to merge with a cable/internet giant like Comcast or Charter. And the telecom titan’s CEO has even indicated his interest in a corporate marriage of convenience with a massive cable or media company. But now the company says it has no immediate plans to wed. [More]
Equifax Says Site Vulnerability Behind Massive Breach; FTC Confirms Investigation
By 9.14.17
It’s been a week since credit reporting agency Equifax admitted it had lost sensitive personal data for 143 million American consumers — one of the worst data breaches yet. Now, the company says it knows how the intruders got in… and it’s through a bug that was first identified six months ago. [More]
Homeland Security Officially Bans All Federal Use Of Kaspersky Products
By 9.13.17
The federal government needs antivirus and malware protection at least as much as any other large organization, if not more. But now, after first stopping new purchases, and then asking private business to cut ties, the feds are officially blocking any government use of Kaspersky Lab products, citing security concerns over the company’s reported ties to the Kremlin. [More]
Is That Sardine-Style Coach Class Seating So Tight It’s Unsafe?
By 9.13.17
Everyone who flies, but who doesn’t have deep enough pockets to travel exclusively in first class, knows it: Airplanes are increasingly crowded and unpleasant. But is that frustrating lack of legroom actually endangering your life when you fly? [More]
What The Heck Is Single-Payer Healthcare, Anyway?
By 9.13.17
Health coverage has been in the news in a big way this year, thanks to Republican-led efforts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) throughout the spring and summer. That plan ultimately failed, but both sides of the political aisle do agree on one thing: There’s a lot of room to go on improving health care access and containing medical costs. A new rallying cry has risen up among Democrats: Time for single-payer! But what does that actually mean — and what could it look like? [More]
Here’s The Stuff You Really Want To Know About Apple’s New iPhone 8 And iPhone X
By 9.12.17 — Updated: 9.19.17
It’s been rumored for months, and recently leaked in detail but finally, confirmation day has come: Apple announced new iPhones and a slew of other stuff today at an event in Cupertino.
[More]
Best Buy Pulls Controversial Kaspersky Security Products
By 9.11.17
In the modern era, it’s always worthwhile to consider how to protect your systems from unwanted, malicious actors. Kaspersky Labs’ software has been a popular option for doing just that for close to two decades now — but after increasing scrutiny of their founder’s potential ties to the Kremlin, one major retailer has decided to stop selling their security suite. [More]
Equifax Announces Data Breach Affecting 143 Million Customers
By 9.7.17
Credit reporting agencies have access to basically all of our most sensitive financial information, and we pretty much all have our records collected and collated by them whether we want to or not. So that makes it a particularly big problem when one of the big three credit agencies in the country has to announce a data breach affecting all its customers, because that basically means all of us… and this one is bad. [More]
3 Things You Should Do If Hurricane Irma Cancelled Your Cruise
By 9.7.17
Millions of Florida residents are battening down the hatches and evacuating in advance of the monstrous Hurricane Irma, which has already wrought havoc and devastation across many island nations of the Caribbean. But Florida is also a major travel and tourist destination for millions of visitors every year, whose plans to go to or through the affected areas are obviously going to be disrupted. So what are your rights and responsibilities if your vacation has to give way to the forces of nature? [More]
Facebook, Census Bureau Disagree About U.S. Population
By 9.6.17
Big data isn’t an entirely new concept: We have an entire division of the U.S. government dedicated to quantifying our nation’s population, and the Census Bureau has been doing so in its current form since 1902. The scope, quantity, and granularity of the data has changed, though, and Facebook in particular specializes now in knowing pretty much everything about everyone. But someone is clearly wrong, because the two have population estimates that just don’t match. [More]
Hurricane Irma To Create Massive Travel Headaches In Florida, Caribbean
By 9.5.17
For the second time in as many weeks, a major hurricane is heading toward the southeast U.S. coast. This time, it’s Hurricane Irma that has its bullseye aiming towards us, and it’s expected to come through the Caribbean and up to the Florida coast. [More]
How Much Is Instagram Verification Worth On The Black Market?
By 9.1.17
Here in the social media era, everyone is a brand — but some more than others. Verified “influencers” on social media platforms can make a pretty penny selling access to their influence… and so it perhaps is unsurprising that the ability to influence is, itself, a hot commodity you can buy. [More]
Samsung Joins Everyone Else, Starts Testing Self-Driving Cars In California
By 9.1.17
Putting “California” and “cars” together in one sentence evokes a nice mental image of a convertible cruising down the scenic coastal curves of state Route 101. These days, though, the big thing in the Golden State is less about drivers having fun in the sun, and more about taking drivers out of the picture altogether. [More]
Gambling Services Use Big Data To Target Recovering Gamblers, Low-Income Families
By 8.31.17
We’re becoming inured to seeing online ads that are targeted to our locations, our browsing histories, and maybe even our offline shopping behavior, but is there a difference between advertising home theater systems to someone who has been searching for 80″ TVs and advertising online gambling services to people you’ve identified as having problems with gambling? [More]
