Latest from Cat Zakrzewski
[tc_aol_on code=”519276842″] In time for your Cyber Monday shopping, Beats has released its first portable speaker since Apple acquired the company — the Pill + wireless bluetooth speaker. Right down…
The NSA shut down its bulk phone record collection program yesterday, more than two years since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the program to journalists and prompted a global…
As self-driving cars rapidly develop, federal officials are beginning to rethink their stance on the technology. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced yesterday that an update would be coming to the…
Lawmakers and Congressional staffers may be trickling out of their Hill offices and to the airports, the encryption debate is not taking a holiday this week. Following media reports that the…
Secure messaging app SOMA announced the launch of group voice and video calling for up to four people. Users can now use the app to video chat with up to…
Even as immigration advocates push for increases to the H-1B visa quotas, calls for reform to the existing system are growing louder — from legislators and immigration advocacy groups alike.…
The long-burning debate concerning encryption, its impact on both consumer privacy and the government’s ability to protect its citizens is back with a vengeance. The dialogue appeared to be dwindling…
Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday night that Facebook had activated its Safety Check feature in Nigeria after a market bombing killed dozens. Zuckerberg’s announcement came after the platform faced criticism…
Senator John McCain on Tuesday told reporters that he would hold a series of hearings and eventually pursue legislation that would require companies provide the government with access to encryption. The encryption…
Firetalk, a live streaming video platform, on Wednesday announced it would partner with entertainment news site TMZ as well as online performers. The service also announced the launch of a…
Parrot on Tuesday unveiled its Bebop Drone 2, a smaller version of its popular consumer model that has a 25-minute battery life — twice that of its predecessor. The Bebop…
The hacking group Anonymous on Sunday declared “total war” against the Islamic State, the terror organization that claimed responsibility for the attacks on Friday that killed 132 Parisians. Make no…
As terror attacks put France into a national state of emergency on Friday, AirBnB, Facebook, Google, Skype, Twitter and Uber launched into disaster response mode. AirBnB contacted all hosts in Paris asking if…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg committed to turning on Safety Check in more human disasters going forward, responding to criticism that the company turned on its safety feature for Paris but not…
Media & Entertainment
Pressure In Congress Grows For GPS Tracking Reform After Supreme Court Passes On Cell Phone Case
Senators and House representatives this week are calling on Congress to act on bills that would limit location tracking and phone surveillance after the Supreme Court decided not to hear…
Facebook revealed it received 23 percent more requests from law enforcement between January and June 2015 than in the second half of 2014. From January to June 2015, Facebook received…
After a major victory in the United States, Apple is facing an another threat to its encryption efforts on a different front: the United Kingdom. Though the Cupertino-based tech giant…
Udacity, the coding education service, has sprouted a magical horn. The company announced on Wednesday it had raised a $105 million Series D round. With a total valuation of $1 billion, the company has now joined the…
Three men were charged in a 23-count indictment in connection with the 2014 hacking of J.P. Morgan Chase and multiple other financial institutions. Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein were first…
A federal judge called President Obama to immediately end the bulk collection of Americans’ phone metadata, just weeks before the program is scheduled to end. The decision from Judge Richard…
When Apple released the original Macintosh in the mid-1980s, the percentage of women majoring computer science was on the rise: 37 percent of computer science graduates were women. But in 1984, the…
They may have the latest gadgets, but the men and women of Silicon Valley are rarely thought of as superheroes. Joseph Floyd, an Emergence Capital investor, wants to change that.…
Cybersecurity and malware protection company FireEye on Wednesday reported its third quarter sales were $165.6 million, compared to the $167.13 million Wall Street expected. Despite missing on sales, the company’s losses…
The deal service Groupon on Tuesday announced CEO and co-founder Eric Lefkofsky would step down, and Rich Williams would take over the company immediately. The company said Lefkofsky would return…
Dear reader, Please keep in mind that this list is tongue-in-cheek. We are being silly. If you take this list seriously, and complain, we shall giggle at you. Let’s have…
Online textbook and tutoring company Chegg beat Wall Street’s expectations when it reported its third quarter sales of $81.3 million. Its revenue was expected to total $78.28 million. The company…
The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Thursday voted former government contractor Edward Snowden should be granted asylum in Europe on the grounds that he is a “defender of…
U.S. regulators today announced new exemptions to a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that will make it possible for nerds to tinker with cars and gadgets without…
The legacy payroll company ADP on Tuesday dropped its defamation lawsuit against its quickly growing competitor, Zenefits. In a major victory for the startup, a U.S. District Court for the…
In a crushing blow to the tech industry and privacy advocates, the Senate today passed the controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). The bill, which passed the Senate on a…