Taylor Hatmaker
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Netflix office goes on lockdown over report of a potential shooter, suspect now in custody
Alarming reports popped up on Twitter late Thursday of an incident involving an armed individual at Netflix’s Hollywood office on Sunset Blvd. TechCrunch has confirmed with the Los Angeles Polic
Citizen expands its crime-tracking alert app to Baltimore
Depending on who you ask, Citizen is either a useful urban safety tool or a menacing glimpse into a self-surveilled police state, but either way, the app is coming to Baltimore. Citizen, formerly know
Facebook may face a record-setting multi-billion-dollar fine from the FTC
The Washington Post is reporting that Facebook’s row with the FTC could result in fines an order of magnitude larger than any levied against a tech company by the regulatory body before. While t
William Barr confirmed to lead the Justice Department
On Thursday, the Senate voted to confirm Trump nominee William Barr as the next head of the Justice Department. Barr was nominated to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions who fell out of favo
HyperSciences wants to ‘gamechange’ spaceflight with hypersonic drilling tech
It’s no coincidence that Elon Musk wants to both tunnel down into and soar above the Earth. If you ask the team at HyperSciences, the best way to get to space is to flip drilling technology upside d
Russia plans to test a kill switch that disconnects the country from the internet
As a cyber-defensive measure, the Russian government will reportedly perform a trial run of a measure that would effectively cut off the country from the rest of the world’s web. Last year, Russ
Mars One goes bankrupt as reality catches up to the doomed space scam
A grand mission to Mars that was always light on details has come to a decidedly terrestrial end. Mars One, a controversial space exploration project that made it as far as the “highly produced
Instagram and Facebook will start censoring ‘graphic images’ of self-harm
In light of a recent tragedy, Instagram is updating the way it handles pictures depicting self-harm. Instagram and Facebook announced changes to their policies around content depicting cutting and oth
A popular genealogy website just helped solve a serial killer cold case in Oregon
On Thursday, detectives in Portland, Ore. announced that a long-cold local murder case finally came to a resolution, 40 years after the fact. In 1979, 20-year-old Anna Marie Hlavka was found dead in t
Facebook just removed a new wave of suspicious activity linked to Iran
Facebook just announced its latest round of “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” this time out of Iran. The company took down 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three Facebook groups and 162 Instagra
Facebook users who quit the social network for a month feel happier
New research out of Stanford and New York University took a look at what happens when people step back from Facebook for a month. Through Facebook, the research team recruited 2,488 people who average
New York cracks down on companies that sell fake followers
On Wednesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office had reached a settlement with Devumi, a company that made millions selling fake followers to unsuspecting customers. The
EFF lawyer joins WhatsApp as privacy policy manager
In an effort to bolster its public credibility in the wake of a very rough year, Facebook is bringing a fierce former critic into the fold. Next month, longtime Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) co
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez calls out big tech on climate change controversy
The newly minted social media star congresswoman is wasting no time in tearing into tech companies. In a recent letter, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined Maine representative Chellie Pingree in calling
US announces criminal charges against Huawei, seeks to extradite its CFO
In a press event today, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that it is pursuing criminal charges against Chinese mobile giant Huawei. Following a story from The Wall Street Journal earlier this mo
Trump agrees to reopen the federal government through mid-February
On Friday, President Trump announced his intentions to back off of his demand for border wall funding, allowing the federal government to reopen for three weeks through February 15. The president tout
Cannabis startup Caliva raises $75M from former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Joe Montana
San Jose cannabis company Caliva is proving that weed’s still hot, even as some markets cool off. The company is announcing a $75 million round of investment that includes participation from for
BuzzFeed will cut its staff by 15% in major round of layoffs
It’s a dark day to work in media. On the heels of news that TechCrunch parent company Verizon Media Group (formerly Oath) would lay off roughly 800 workers, BuzzFeed has announced its own substa
Microsoft Edge on mobile now includes a built-in fake news detector
In 2019, we still don’t really know what to do about fake news. With nothing to disincentivize viral hyperpartisan headlines and other exercises in confirmation bias, online misinformation seems
Curious 23andMe twin results show why you should take DNA testing with a grain of salt
If you’ve ever enthusiastically sent your spit off in the mail, you were probably anxious for whatever unexpected insights the current crop of DNA testing companies would send back. Did your anc