RESOURCES
Gig Workers for Target’s Delivery App Hate Their Algorithmically-Determined Pay
In 2017 Target bought a same-day home-delivery company called Shipt for $550 million. Shipt now services half of Target's stores, reports Motherboard, and employs more…
Installing Air Filters in Classrooms Has Surprisingly Large Educational Benefits
An emergency situation that turned out to be mostly a false alarm led a lot of schools in Los Angeles to install air filters, and…
Welcome To Walmart: The Robot Will Grab Your Groceries
Walmart is testing back-of-store automated systems that can collect 800 products an hour, 10 times as many as a store worker. In the backroom of…
‘I Oversaw America’s Nuclear Power Industry. Now I Think It Should Be Banned.’
Friday the Washington Post published an essay by Gregory Jaczko, who served on America's Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2005 to 2009 and was its chairman…
Skype Audio Graded by Workers in China With ‘No Security Measures’
A Microsoft program to transcribe and vet audio from Skype and Cortana, its voice assistant, ran for years with "no security measures," according to a…
Earth Is Hotter Than at Any Time Since Steam Engine Was Invented
The last five years on Earth have been hotter than at any time since the industrial revolution kicked off almost two centuries ago. That’s the…
Ring Fired Employees for Watching Customer Videos
Amazon-owned home security camera company Ring has fired employees for improperly accessing Ring users' video data, Motherboard reported Wednesday, citing a letter the company wrote…
Companies Are Using AI-Generated People To Appear More “Diverse”
AI startups are selling images of computer-generated faces that look like the real thing, offering companies a chance to create imaginary models and "increase diversity"…
Xiaomi Camera Feed is Showing Random Homes on a Google Nest Hub, Including Still Images of Sleeping People
So-called "smart" security cameras have had some pretty dumb security problems recently, but a recent report regarding a Xiaomi Mijia camera linked to a Google…
AI is Sending People To Jail–and Getting it Wrong
The US imprisons more people than any other country in the world. At the end of 2016, nearly 2.2 million adults were being held in…
Samsung Chip Output at South Korea Plant Partly Halted Due To 1-Minute Electricity Glitch
A 1-minute power glitch on Tuesday, December 31, partially shut down Samsung chip production at its Hwaseong chip complex in South Korea for "two or…
Internet shutdowns used to be rare. They’re increasingly becoming the norm in much of the world
An ongoing internet blackout in Indian-controlled Kashmir is now the longest ever in a democracy -- at more than 135 days -- according to Access…
Amazon is looking into tech that can identify you using the veins in your hand
Amazon filed a patent for technology that could identify you by scanning the wrinkles in the palm of your hand and by using a light…
‘I Asked My Students To Turn In Their Cellphones and Write About Living Without Them’
Rog Srigley, writer who teaches at Humber College and Laurentian University, offered his students extra credit if they would give him their phones for nine…
YouTube’s Top Earner For 2019? An 8-Year-Old Who Made $26M
"An eight-year-old boy who reviews toys on YouTube has been named by Forbes as the platform's highest earner in 2019," reports CNN: Ryan Kaji, whose…
40% of Anti-Vaccine Group’s Funding Came From Wealthy ‘Alternative Health’ Vendor
The nation's oldest anti-vaccine advocacy group often emphasizes that it is supported primarily by small donations and concerned parents, describing its founder as the leader…
Facebook, Twitter Shutter Pro-Trump Network That Used AI To Create Fake People and Push Conspiracies
On Friday, Facebook and Twitter shut down a network of fake accounts that pushed pro-Trump messages all while "masquerading" as Americans with AI-generated faces as…
The Rise of the Deepfake and the threat to Democracy
Deepfakes posted on the internet in the past two years, has alarmed many observers, who believe the technology could be used to disgrace politicians and…
37-Year-Old Mom Finds Instagram’s Sex Predators By Pretending To Be 11
Sloane Ryan is a 37-year-old woman who runs the Special Projects Team at Bark, a child-safety tech company selling a $9-a-month software that monitors text…
The Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs
The e-waste industry is booming in Southeast Asia, frightening residents worried for their health. Despite a ban on imports, Thailand is a center of the…