There is a certain kind of site out there that manages to exist through trickery. You go to it, looking for a specific file to download, and there’s a Big! Green! Button! that says “DOWNLOAD” on it in large, friendly letters… except, that’s not the download button you were looking for. The link you were looking for is actually one mostly-hidden line of text. The thing you’ve clicked was actually an ad, and now it’s redirected you and your computer is installing god-knows-what. Oops. [More]
Google Hates Those Fake “Download” Buttons As Much As You Do, Will Now Block Sites Using Them
By 2.5.16
Google Sending Its Self-Driving Cars To Washington State To Face The Rain
By 2.4.16
Tooling around in the California sunshine is one thing, but what will a self-driving car do when rolling on wet, slippery roads in the rain? Google is sending its test fleet of driverless cars up the coast to Washington to find out. [More]
4 Things We Learned About Fake Locksmith Scammers Lurking Online
By 2.1.16
The moment you realize you’re locked out of your car or your home is never a good one. But now that everyone is armed with a smartphone, it’s an easy thing to search for a local locksmith on Google and have someone show up to the rescue. But not every listing out there is tied to a legitimate business, as scammy fake locksmith companies are hiding in plain sight, waiting to slam customers with pricy bills for their services. [More]
Lyft Partners With Waze In Effort To Be Faster, More Efficient Than The Competition
By 1.26.16
What’s a ride-hailing company to do when it’s got a rival or two cruising around town trying to pick up the same customers it wants? It has to have a leg up on the competition. Getting passengers to their destinations quicker than other services is one way to beat out others, which is why Lyft is partnering with Google’s traffic app Waze. [More]
In Spite Of Past Failure, Amazon Not Giving Up On Smartphones
By 1.26.16
Three months after it was revealed that Amazon took a $170 million loss during its last foray into the smartphone market, the e-tailer is reportedly readying plans for a second go-around, this time by partnering with other well-established mobile companies. [More]
Self-Driving Car Involved In Crash… After Driver Takes Control
By 1.22.16
Given Google’s recent confession that its self-driving cars would have been involved in 13 crashes if a human hadn’t intervened, you’d assume that having a real driver in an autonomous car could only help. Then you remember that millions of humans crash their vehicles every day, regardless of how intelligent that car is. [More]
Google Paid Apple $1 Billion In 2014 For Privilege Of Search Bar On iPhone
By 1.22.16
When you go to perform a Web search on an iPhone, the phone automatically chooses Google for you. Why? There are other fine search engines out there, and the iPhone could direct you to use any of them. However, the public learned from a copyright lawsuit against Google that the two companies have a revenue-sharing agreement that keeps iPhones performing Google searches, and in 2014 the revenue that Apple received was $1 billion. [More]
Nest Thermostats Were Leaking ZIP Codes Over WiFi
By 1.20.16
The Nest thermostat is a popular smart device that supposedly helps users to save money on heating and cooling, and also have a cool-looking round electronic device on their walls. Yet two researchers at Princeton University pointed out a problem that should terrify most Nest users: their thermostats were broadcasting their location, unencrypted, over WiFi. [More]
YouTuber Being Sued By Dentist Explains Why It’s Important They Stay Anonymous
By 1.20.16
Yesterday we told you about Dr. Gordon Austin, a former dentist who is suing to unmask an anonymous YouTube user for posting a 2009 news report about allegations against Austin. We’ve since had the chance to communicate with the YouTuber via email to understand why they posted the clip in the first place and why, nearly seven years later, they are still fighting to keep it online. [More]
Dentist Who Pled Guilty To Theft Trying To Erase Past Allegations From YouTube
By 1.19.16
A retired dentist in Georgia, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to filing Medicaid claims for procedures he didn’t actually perform, doesn’t want the world to see a nearly seven-year-old news report about allegations from patients that he physically assaulted them while in his office. [More]
Google: Self-Driving Cars Would’ve Hit Something 13 Times Without Human Intervention
By 1.13.16
Like any automaker testing self-driving cars in California, Google has to file reports with the state disclosing any incidents with their vehicles where a human test driver was required to take over. Though it says its cars are getting better at avoiding these “disengagements,” Google reported 13 incidents over a 14-month-period that would’ve resulted in a collision if a human hadn’t intervened. [More]
T-Mobile Execs Say YouTube Is “Absurd” For Complaining About Downgraded Video Quality
By 1.7.16
The war of words between T-Mobile and YouTube continues, with executives from the wireless company claiming it’s “absurd” that the streaming service should care so much about T-Mo downgrading the quality of YouTube videos. [More]
Google Fixes Bug In Online Tool After It Started Translating “Russian Federation” To “Mordor”
By 1.7.16
Google says it’s addressed a bug in its online translation tool after it started translating the words “Russian Federation” to “Mordor.” This matters, of course, because Mordor is the name of a fictional region in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, as described in the Lord of the Rings books by other names like The Land of Shadow. Unlike Russia, you can’t just walk into Mordor.* [More]
Google Gets Access To Your Kids’ Data Because It’s A “School Official”
By 12.31.15
Sometimes, data has to be shared to be useful. For example, a school district needs information on the students in it, in order to function. When are they absent? What are their grades? How are things going with scheduling? So it wouldn’t come as a surprise to most parents that “school officials” are on the list of entities who are allowed to access data, even sometimes sensitive data, about their kids. But it would shock most parents to find out that Google — yes, that Google — is one of those “school officials.” [More]
New Google Glass Reportedly Comes With Foldable Arms, Larger Content Viewer
By 12.29.15
Nearly a year after Google stopped selling its Google Glass product, and five months after a patent hinted that the tech company wasn’t quite done with the device, a new version of the hi-tech glasses is apparently on the way. [More]
YouTube Calls Out T-Mobile For Throttling Video Traffic
By 12.23.15
Net neutrality says that internet providers can’t throttle some services and speed others up. That much is clear. But if they’re throttling literally everyone, even those who didn’t sign up for it, is it still a violation? Google says yes, and has a definite complaint about the way T-Mobile is starting to handle video. [More]
Google Testing Password-Free Account Login System
By 12.22.15
Could a smartphone be the new password? That’s the idea behind a new login option being tested at Google. [More]
Ford, Google Reportedly Teaming Up For Driverless Car Project
By 12.22.15
Just a week after Ford announced it would be joining the auto pack and heading to California to test a driverless car next year, the company is reportedly adding a player to its autonomous vehicle team: Google. [More]
