Technology news

Gmail is usually pretty good about filtering out unwanted spam messages, but a number of users reported earlier today that their inboxes were suddenly flooded with ads that were apparently sent from their own accounts, according to Mashable.
Users posted to Gmail’s Help Forum, reported that the messages appeared to have been sent from their own accounts, despite the fact that they were secured with two-factor authentication and updated passwords. The spammers used forged email headers to

A pair of Florida police detectives attempted to use a dead suspect’s finger to unlock his phone after he was killed by police officers last month, reports the Tampa Bay Times (via Gizmodo).
Linus F. Phillip was killed at the end of March by officers Matthew Steiner and Prentice Ables after they pulled him over due to his car’s tinted windows, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He was killed when the two officers tried to arrest him after smelling marijuana in the car, and he attempt

A pair of Florida police detectives attempted to use a dead suspect’s finger to unlock his phone after he was killed by police officers last month, reports the Tampa Bay Times (via Gizmodo).
Linus F. Phillip was killed at the end of March by officers Matthew Steiner and Prentice Ables after they pulled him over due to his car’s tinted windows, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He was killed when the two officers tried to arrest him after smelling marijuana in the car, and he attempt

Wikipedia added a useful new feature earlier this week: page previews. The Wikimedia foundation says that it’s “one of the largest changes to desktop Wikipedia made in recent years,” and provides readers with a popup window that provides a bit of additional context for the article behind the link.Reading through any Wikipedia page can turn into a rabbit hole that can take you to places you never expected. That exploration can be a fun, informative adventure, but it can also be

Hundreds of fans, semi-pros, and big names from the world of e-sports, YouTube, and Twitch streaming descended on the Esports Arena in Las Vegas’ Luxor hotel yesterday for a Fortnite tournament unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. The event was called Ninja Vegas 18, and it’s arguably the first big Fortnite Battle Royale tournament since the game launched back in September 2017. It was organized around massively popular Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who

Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. This review comes from the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
Silicon Valley is stereotypically full of arrogant geniuses single-handedly forging the future, including Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and many more. But the ‘90s startup General Magic, as portrayed in a new eponymous documentary, was a team of gentle visionaries in the right place at the wrong time.
G

Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. This review comes from the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
The idea of two conflicting personalities sharing a single body is one of those metaphor-rich tropes that writers tend to love. There have been a lot of radically different takes on the idea, from the pop-drama of Fight Club to the comedy of All Of Me to decades of diverse stories about the Incredible Hulk. Ultimately,

The Federal Trade Commission warned this week that mobile spam calls are now targeting the Chinese community in the US, with the robocaller pretending to be from the Chinese Embassy. The messages range from asking the recipient to pick up a package or document from a Chinese Consulate office and offering to exchange yuan to dollars, to the Embassy investigating a fraud and requiring personal information to avoid deportation.
The FTC believes these calls are targeting Chinese immigrants or calle

The US Constitution and the rights that it enshrines come up a lot if you listen to politicians, activists, protesters, or read the news in any capacity. The document is a remarkable political experiment that has guided the US since its founding, one that has also been updated over the years as new interpretations or scenarios arise that its authors never foresaw.Last year, The Washington Post launched a new podcast from reporter Lillian Cunningham called Constitutional, which explores the foun

Video game distributor Valve has acquired Firewatch developer Camp Santo, according to Kotaku. Campo Santo confirmed the news in a blog post last night.
Camp Santo says that they love making video games and that they “found a group of folks who, to their core, feel the same way about the work that they do” in Valve. The 12-person studio will relocate to Valve’s headquarters in Seattle.The studio also says that it will continue production of its next game, In The Valley of Gods

“I don’t want the Taco Bell International Space Station. I think it goes against what the public perceives the space station is supposed to be like.” — a quote from Erin MacDonald, an engineer for Engility’s Space and Mission Systems Group, during a panel on space sponsorship at the 34th Space Symposium, Space News reports.
Over my headset, I hear the flight controller counting down on the launch live stream.
“T-minus five minutes to liftoff.”
I don&rsq

It’s never too early to start speculating about what Google’s going to name the next version of Android. And with Google I/O just a few weeks away, we figured it was a good enough time to check in on what everyone’s thinking.
After we posted our first look at Android P’s developer beta last month, we got a ton of comments from people speculating on the new name. Popular guesses included:Pancake
Peppermint
Pie
Pineapple
Pistachio
Pizza
Popcorn
Popsicle
Potato
Pudding
Pump