Top RSS feeds from the world of technology:
TechCrunch
- Ireland’s data watchdog slammed for letting adtech carry on ‘biggest breach of all time’ - A dossier of evidence detailing how the online ad targeting industry profiles Internet users’ intimate characteristics without their knowledge or consent has been published today by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), piling more pre
- Language learning service Babbel says it has now sold over 10M subscriptions - Babbel, the popular Berlin-based online language learning service, today announced that it has now sold a total of 10 million subscriptions to its service. For a language learning service, that’s quite a substantial number, especially given th
- Kindred Capital closes £81M second fund to back early-stage European startups - Kindred Capital, the London-based VC that backs early-stage founders in Europe, has closed its second seed fund at £81 million. That’s only a tad larger than the the firm’s first fund, which invested in 29 companies and was raised in 20
- TikTok fact checks: US IPO, Chinese ownership, $5B in taxes - There is no shortage of speculation and reports around TikTok’s future in the U.S. Amid a swirl of rumors, TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance issued a statement (in Chinese) on Monday morning, bringing clarity to its ongoing deal that has
- Indian mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League raises $90 million - Mobile Premier League (MPL) has raised $90 million in a new financing round as the two-year-old Bangalore-based esports and mobile gaming platform demonstrates fast-growth and looks to expand outside of India. SIG, early-stage tech investor RTP Glob
PC World
- Bitdefender Total Security (2021) review: An already capable suite gets an incremental update -
Don’t call it Bitdefender 2021, but the popular Windows antivirus suite has added several new features over the past year. The company is now going with a rolling release plan, where new features are released a
- Bluesound Powernode 2i (with HDMI) review: Bodacious sound from a micro-sized box - This self-amplified multi-room music streamer delivers high-res audio experiences that Sonos won’t, but Bluesound’s user experience isn’t nearly as polished.
- Trump reportedly approves TikTok sale to Oracle, Walmart -
President Trump has signed off on a deal that will put TikTok’s U.S. operations under control of Oracle, Walmart, and other U.S. investors, apparently in exchange for a $5 billion fund that Oracle and Walmart w
- You don't need a futuristic PC to run Cyberpunk 2077, but you might want one -
Cyberpunk 2077 looks like a truly next-gen game from everything we’ve seen, but you won’t need a fut
- The best CPUs for gaming: Next-gen Ryzen chips are coming -
Buying a processor for a gaming rig isn’t as hard as it used to be. Now that Ryzen 3000-series and Intel’s 10th-gen Core CPUs come with more performance and cores than ever before, it’s hard to buy a stinke
MIT Technology Review
- Americans won’t be able to download TikTok or WeChat from Sunday - What’s happening? The US Commerce Department has issued an order banning Americans from downloading Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat; it’s due to come into effect on Sunday, September 20. Existing users in the US will still be able to us
- A patient has died after ransomware hackers hit a German hospital - For the first time ever, a patient’s death has been linked directly to a cyberattack. Police have launched a “negligent homicide” investigation after ransomware disrupted emergency care at Düsseldorf University Hospital in Germany. Th
- Letter-writing staved off lockdown loneliness. Now it’s getting out the vote. - For the past couple of years, Courtney Cochran hosted a Nashville-based meetup group called the Snail Mail Social Club. Before the pandemic, it involved people gathering, pen and paper in hand, to write letters together. “It was a fun social endea
- From support function to growth engine: The future of AI and customer service - When it comes to imagining the future, customer service often gets painted in a dystopian light. Take the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report. Tom Cruise’s John Anderton walks into the Gap, an identity recognition system scans him, and a hologram ask
- Why kids need special protection from AI’s influence - Algorithms can change the course of children’s lives. Kids are interacting with Alexas that can record their voice data and influence their speech and social development. They’re binging videos on TikTok and YouTube pushed to them by recommendat
IGN
- Marvel's Avengers: Next Patch Will Fix Over 1,000 Player-Reported Issues - Marvel's Avengers' 1.3 patch should fix 1,000+ issues, including problems with progression, combat, the user interface, matchmaking and more.
- Hitman Developer's Freedom Fighters Re-Rated By PEGI - 2003's Freedom Fighters has been rated by PEGI, suggesting a re-release or remake may arrive in the near future.
- WandaVision: All the Official Images from Marvel's New Disney+ Series - Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, WandaVision marks the first series from Marvel Studios streaming exclusively on Disney+.
- Emmy Winners: Watchmen, Succession, Schitt's Creek All Win Big - The winners of the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards were announced Sunday during a virtual ceremony, with Watchmen leading with the most wins of the night (11).
- PS5 Retailers Appear to Have Fewer Digital Editions for Preorder - According to various reports, retailers appear to have fewer PS5 Digital Edition that the standard, $100 more expensive PS5 with a disc drive.
Ars Technica
- Traders set to don virtual reality headsets in their home offices - UBS looks at recreating busy trading floors with HoloLens experiment.
- Companies can track your phone’s movements to target ads - A startup gathers data on when you pick up your phone or go out on a run.
- Telegram messages are a focus in newly uncovered hack campaign from Iran - Active since 2014, “Rampant Kitten” uses Windows and Android infostealers.
- Wayback Machine and Cloudflare team up to archive more of the Web - Cloudflare-enabled sites get automatic archiving through the Wayback Machine.
- Comcast shut off Internet to hundreds, saying they were illegally connected - Comcast says Denver company resold Comcast service without permission.
Wired
- Get WIRED: Director Nia DaCosta on Horror and Black Trauma - On this week’s podcast, the director of the upcoming 'Candyman' talks to WIRED writer Jason Parham about genre, social justice, and the future of going to the movies.
- How to Watch WIRED25 2020 - Join us at 12 pm ET on Wednesday for the next installment of WIRED25, and check out the replay of our opening night events.
- Think Twice Before Using Facebook, Google, or Apple to Sign In Everywhere - So-called single sign-on options offer a lot of convenience. But they have downsides that a good old fashioned password manager doesn't.
- Colds Nearly Vanished Under Lockdown. Now They’re Coming Back - The return of non-Covid respiratory illnesses is putting a new strain on testing supplies around the world—and is a preview of what’s in store for the US.
- The Cheating Scandal That Ripped the Poker World Apart - Mike Postle was on an epic winning streak at a California casino. Veronica Brill thought he had to be playing dirty. Let the chips fall where they may.
The New York Times Technology News
- This Deal Helped Turn Google Into an Ad Powerhouse. Is That a Problem? - The $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007 was a “game changer.” A growing number of antitrust experts say it’s the sort of deal that should no longer be possible.
- ‘Good Enough’ Rules the World - The success of TikTok and Netflix shows that if you have enough eyeballs, mediocrity is totally OK.
- ‘There’s No There There’: What the TikTok Deal Achieved - The agreement for the social media app falls short of President Trump’s promises.
- A New York Clock That Told Time Now Tells the Time Remaining - Metronome’s digital clock in Manhattan, has been reprogrammed to illustrate a critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.
- U.S. Judge Temporarily Halts Trump’s WeChat Ban - The order is a setback in the president’s efforts to block a Chinese social media app that he has labeled a national security threat. The ban had been set to go into effect on Sunday night.
CNET Technology News
- Apple TV Plus: Best movies, TV shows and documentaries streaming now - CNET - Apple TV Plus just won its first Emmy award, so here are some of the best TV shows, movies and documentaries to watch now.
- Emmys 2020 full list of winners: Watchmen, Schitt's Creek, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo and more - CNET - Succession wins best drama series, with Regina King, Zendaya and Mark Ruffalo winning big acting awards.
- Emmys 2020: The full list of nominations - CNET - In the best drama category, more than half of the nominees are found on streaming services.
- Star Trek vs. Star Wars: Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill clash in ad - CNET - Luke Skywalker and Captain Jean-Luc Picard face off over ... tomatoes?
- PS5 file sizes revealed for Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon's Souls - CNET - About as big as a Call of Duty Warzone update.