Police

Amazon extends ban on police use of its facial recognition software ‘until further notice’

Amazon has extended its moratorium on law enforcement use of its facial recognition software “until further notice,” according to Reuters. The ban was set to expire in June. As early as 2018, Amazon employees had pushed Amazon to scale back the project, arguing that documented racial bias in facial recognition could exacerbate police violence against… Read more

YouTuber Jake Paul being investigated for driving on protected Puerto Rico beach

Officials in Puerto Rico are reportedly investigating an incident involving YouTube star Jake Paul, after he was seen in a now-deleted video riding in a vehicle on a beach that’s a nesting area for turtles this time of year, the New York Post reported. “I have ordered an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the… Read more

Instagram blames ‘enforcement error’ for removal of posts about Al-Aqsa Mosque

Instagram removed and restricted posts related to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after its moderators confused its name with a group designated as a terrorist organization. In an internal company message first obtained by BuzzFeed News, a lead on the company’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy team called the removals “enforcement errors.” Facebook, which owns… Read more

Google Assistant will sing you a song about getting vaccinated

Many of us are excited that COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available in the US, and it seems like Google Assistant is joining in. In fact, it’s got a song to share about it (via Android Police). You can listen to the song yourself by asking Google Assistant to “sing the vaccine song,” but I’ve… Read more

The PS5 now has a YouTube TV app

The PlayStation 5 now has a YouTube TV app, arriving more than six months after the console launched. That means anyone lucky enough to actually buy Sony’s latest console now has another way to watch live TV on it, as first spotted by Android Police. YouTube TV costs $64.99 per month (not counting additional extras)… Read more

YouTube tests automatic translation of video titles on desktop and mobile

As first reported by Android Police, some users have reported that the desktop and mobile versions of YouTube have begun showing options for automatic translation of titles. The videos spotted by users displays the titles, descriptions, and closed captions all translated automatically. YouTube titles auto-translated into Spanish Those users who submitted these screenshots to Android… Read more

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is like an epic yet enigmatic novel

At some point during my time with Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, after I read yet another minutes-long dialogue sequence to try and learn more information about the game’s murder mystery, I realized I felt like I was slowly working my way through a long novel — one that went just a little bit over… Read more

Today I learned that card grading companies are drowning in Pokémon cards

A report from Vice has opened my eyes to just how big the Pokémon trading card collecting market is getting — apparently to the point where card rating companies have waitlists that range from six to ten months, with one company claiming it’s receiving over 500,000 cards to grade per week. The card graders, who… Read more

How the video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. inspired a wave of real-world Chernobyl tourists

A virtual world leads to IRL excursions By Darmon Richter Apr 29, 2021, 12:32pm EDT Illustration by Alex Castro At the entrance to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine, 35 years on from the worst nuclear disaster in history, a yellow souvenir van sells T-shirts, key rings, and glow-in-the-dark “Chernobyl condoms,” all branded with gas… Read more

The NYPD is sending its controversial robot dog back to the pound

The New York Police Department has canceled its trial of a robot dog made by US firm Boston Dynamics after receiving fierce criticism regarding the “dystopian” technology. “The contract has been terminated and the dog will be returned,” a spokesperson for the NYPD told the New York Post. John Miller, the department’s deputy commissioner for… Read more

Vaccines should be the new bobbleheads at every sporting event

I’m proud of the Milwaukee Bucks for winning their game against the Hornets yesterday, and I’m also really proud of them for setting up a mobile COVID-19 vaccination site for their next home game. On Sunday, any fan in attendance can get their first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine through a partnership with… Read more

Spotify set to raise subscription prices for all tiers in UK and Europe

Matthew Wilson 1 day ago Featured Tech News, General Tech As great as large-scale entertainment subscription services can be, over time, price hikes tend to occur. Those who use Spotify in the UK and Europe are about to be hit by one such price hike, raising the monthly fee across all tiers. As reported by… Read more

Hackers threaten to release DC police data in apparent ransomware attack

Washington, DC’s police department has confirmed its servers have been breached after hackers began leaking its data online, The New York Times reports. In a statement, the department confirmed it was aware of “unauthorized access on our server” and said it was working with the FBI to investigate the incident. The hacked data appears to… Read more

Pixel 5A camera sample leaks, hints at similar specs to the Pixel 5

Google seems to have accidentally shared a photo sample from its upcoming Pixel 5A, giving us some hints about what to expect from the barely announced device. The photo appeared in an album posted alongside a blog post about Google’s HDR+ Bracketing technology, which aims to reduce noise in HDR photos (via Android Police). The… Read more

Google’s Guacamole may be premature, but it sounds ripe to become an Android feature

Google probably wasn’t planning to reveal this until the company’s I/O developer conference on May 18th, but it looks like a cat may be out of the bag: the company’s testing a feature that should let you stop alarms and answer calls on your Android phone simply by saying “stop” — no need to pick… Read more