Technology news

GUEST: The car was once a physical embodiment of freedom and liberty, allowing us to drop everything and take to the open road. Today, it’s a symbol of oppression — a mobile prison cell where drivers “do time” as they sit in traffic on their daily commute. Over the next decade, this may change: Self-driving technology will allow passengers to focus their attention on other tasks. That same commute could become a source of great excitement, a private moment in the day for

Microsoft reorganized its global sales force today to heighten its focus on selling cloud services instead of standalone pieces of software, according to The Wall Street Journal. The reorganization, just the latest in a series of structural changes the company has undergone since former CEO Steve Ballmer resigned and Satya Nadella took over in 2014, won’t immediately result in layoffs. Yet the WSJ reports that thousands of jobs could be cut down the line as a result of the sales shuffle.
T

A Kentucky Fried Chicken sandwich cut short its journey in space after just 17 hours of what was supposed to be a four-day trip. The reason for the early evacuation was a leak in the high-altitude balloon carrying the precious cargo.
The publicity stunt was supposed to be a milestone for the high-altitude balloon company World View Enterprises: the vehicle used for the KFC launch, called the Stratollite, is designed to float about 100,000 feet in the air. Eventually, the company wants the Strato

Volvo recently found that its self-driving cars cannot recognize kangaroos, because their manner of movement is different from other large animals.
Speaking with ABC Australia, Volvo Australia's technical manager David Pickett said the animal’s hopping throws off the car’s animal detection system. "We've noticed with the kangaroo being in mid-flight ... when it's in the air it actually looks like it's further away, then it lands and it looks closer," Pickett said.
The system has been

Last week’s globe-spanning ransomware outbreak may have started with a remarkably simple attack. This morning, independent security analyst Jonathan Nichols discovered an alarming vulnerability in the update servers for Ukrainian software company MeDoc, one of the companies at the center of the attack.
Researchers believe that many of the initial Petya infections were the result of a poisoned update from MeDoc, which sent out malware disguised as a software update. But according to Nichols

Last year, the internet briefly caught fire when pictures of a weird, elevated bus that glides above traffic began circulating around. The so-called “straddling bus” was held up as a solution to China’s notorious traffic problems, but all anyone wanted to talk about was how it looked like the bus was eating cars, or how insane anyone would have to be to actually drive underneath.
But as the months ticked by, the Transit Elevated Bus (as it was known) failed to stand up to much

If you're an East Coaster with a sweet tooth, then Oreo might have you set for this holiday weekend. 
In the nick of time to celebrate the birth of America, the cookie company has announced the release of a Dunkin' Donuts Mocha-flavored Oreo. It's all the goodness of the coffee and doughnut chain's iced mocha, but in the country's favorite creme-filled cookie. 
SEE ALSO: Oreo O's, the cereal of your childhood, is back for good
For those of you living woefully far from a Dunkin' Donuts,

 Automattic, MIT Center for Civic Media and my company, The Mash-Up Americans, have been working together to have honest dialogues, build empathy and help make the world a more inclusive and compassionate place with technology and design. So far, we’ve laid out the problem, explored our assumptions, and talked about how we engage with one another online. In this, our… Read More

A VR eye-tracking company called Visual Camp just spilled about a secret standalone VR headset prototype that Samsung showed at MWC in March behind closed doors, as spotted on Liliputing. It's labeled "Exynos VR III," to differentiate it from the Exynos VR II which presumably came before it. It's powered by a 10nm SoC with Mali G71 graphics — something that sounds a lot like the Exynos 9 Series chip. It's capable of powering dual "WQHD+" displays (2560 x 1440 or something close to that) at

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's latest maneuver in a sweeping crackdown on internet content has sent a chill through a diverse community of filmmakers, bloggers, media and educators who fear their sites could be shut down as Beijing tightens control.Over the last month, Chinese regulators have closed celebrity gossip websites, restricted what video people can post and suspended online streaming, all on grounds of inappropriate content.

We've already filled you in on our favorite video games of the year so far. Now, below, check out just a few games to get excited about for the back half of 2017. 
1. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, August 29Ubisoft’s strategy mash-up title is important for a variety of reasons. One: the rumored crossover title that was finally unveiled at E3 saw Shigeru Miyamoto triumphantly skip onto Ubisoft’s press conference stage, wielding a hand cannon and wearing his most delighted grin.

Yesterday, the launch of a Chinese communications satellite ended in failure when the rocket carrying the probe somehow malfunctioned during flight. It’s a significant loss for China since the vehicle that failed — the Long March 5 — is the country’s premier heavy-lift rocket. And its failure could have a significant impact on the future of China’s ambitions in space.
It’s still unclear exactly what happened. Shortly after the flight, China’s official pr

When you wish upon a star, we'd advise you to stay on the ground. 
A poor group of tourists aboard a hot air balloon, hoping to add a little magic into their lives, received a rude wake-up call to the cruelty of fate when they crashed into a lake next to Disneyland Sunday.
According to local Orange County news source 10WAVY, 17 people were in the basket when an unexpected wind swept the balloon away from the designated landing strip and into the small body of water. 
SEE ALSO: This ha

There are few things more hotly debated at a Fourth of July get-together than the event’s playlist, and who should be in charge of it. A party soundtrack is an important responsibility and one some people simply can’t be trusted to handle. (Look, we all have our strengths and shortcomings). I found this out the hard way over the holiday weekend, when a friend kept shouting “Alexa, play ‘Despacito’” at her barbecue... five times in a row. That was followed by a

The Lizard King won't let the Jenners get away with this. 
In the past week, Kylie and Kendall Jenner (sisters in life, sisters in fashion) unveiled a new T-shirt collection to their Kendal + Kylie clothing line, in which the two not-too-smartly super-imposed their faces on vintage band shirts. Since then, Notorious B.I.G.'s mother called the two entrepreneurs out for exploiting her late son, and the sisters apologized for their $125 shirts on June 30. 
Now, The Doors have lawyered up

As Game of Thrones approaches its seventh year, it can be tricky to remember where we last saw our favorite characters, let alone the minor ones that have died along the way. And then there’s the general trivia, like the names of Daenerys’ dragons (all of which sound like futuristic tech companies). To help fans get ready for the new season, a London creative agency called Catch created the “GoTBot”—a Facebook chatbot that acts as a digital encyclopedia.GoTBot will

Microsoft revealed its new Timeline feature of Windows 10 earlier this year, noting it would arrive in the upcoming Fall Creators Update. Timeline is designed to allow Windows 10 users to switch between multiple devices, including Android and iOS phones. While Windows 10 testers had expected to be trying out the feature in time for the Fall Creators Update, Microsoft has confirmed it has delayed Timeline to its next major Windows 10 update.
“Timeline won't be in the Fall Creators Update,&r

Apparently it only takes a few photoshopped images of Eric Trump, Donald Trump's second son, as a pale-faced, blood-sucking creature of the night to  get blocked from his account.
Twitter user, Elan Gale (@theyearofelan) photoshopped Trump into some of Twilight's promotional photos and embedded him as part of the bloodthirsty Cullen clan.Today I learned that if you add Eric Trump to enough Twilight promotional photos he will eventually block you pic.twitter.com/02eHLl25MC
— elan gale

ColorWare has been painting custom versions of the Switch since April, but the company’s latest limited edition run probably puts all your mix-and-match color schemes to shame with a pair of Joy-Con controllers patterned off the original NES. All the hallmarks of Nintendo’s original console have been brought over to its newest hard — the two-tone grey and black style, the block font, and of course, the glossy red accents for the face buttons. ColorWare seems to have completely

Stephen Hawking is a world-renowned theoretical physicist whose landmark contributions to cosmology, general relativity and quantum gravity changed the way we see the universe. 
SEE ALSO: Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end humankind
However, when it comes to climate change, the brilliant physicist is veering on the edge of total inaccuracy. 
During his interview with the BBC for his 75th birthday celebrations, the Cambridge professor warned that U.S. president Dona

There’s no end to headlines about the dangers of head injuries in football. But a new study suggests that high school football, at least, was not associated with cognitive problems — like having trouble remembering words or letters — later in life. The new study isn't the last word on the dangers of football, especially for kids, but it shows that more research needs to be done.
Researchers looked at long-term survey data from men who graduated high school in Wisconsin in 1957;

You'd think a man could take his family to the beach and be left in peace. 
That's not really the case when your government shuts down the beach and you take advantage of seaside property closed to the public. 
This is what deeply unpopular New Jersey Governor Chris Christie discovered Monday as candid photos emerged of what looked like a super fun day for him and his family at Island Beach State Park.
SEE ALSO: Fourth of July foods, ranked
 "I didn't get any sun today": Photos sh

Let's get this straight. Texting mean things about someone when they're sitting next to you and within eyeshot of your phone is a despicable thing to do. 
One woman flying to Los Angeles witnessed her neighbour texting mean things about her size, despite the fact he was actually taking up more room than her.  
SEE ALSO: Plus-size model Instagrams the reality of shopping for a bikini and it's a struggle we can all relate to
Natalie Hage posted an account of her ordeal on Instagram, stat

With Memorial Day behind us, July Fourth is the next holiday to get big sales, and we’ve rounded up a number of tech deals worth checking out during the long weekend. Highlights include early Prime Day deals, $50 off the Nest Learning Thermostat, Microsoft’s Ultimate Game Sale, big discounts on Lenovo laptops, and so much more.
Without further ado, here are our favorite Independence Day sales:
Samsung
Just added on July 3rd: Samsung is running a new Galaxy S8 deal, allowing you to ge

A little girl's reaction to her first sip of Coca-Cola from McDonald's is going viral after her dad, Reddit user Earthos83 posted this video on YouTube.
In the video, little Evie took a big sip of Coke, and immediately went into an elaborate convulsion of facial expressions before rolling her head back from pure shock/pleasure of probably experiencing a true sugar high for the first time.
After recovering from the initial shock, Evie seemed to be back for more of the notorious fizzy drink.
And