Tag: tech

• How Google created a Nigerian voice and accent for Maps

  August 4, 2019

  Directions and local street names, previously mispronounced by a default American or British accent, were now offered in a familiar accent with a new “Nigerian English” option. Novel as it… more ›

• How deepfake porn bans will impact cloud compute providers

  August 4, 2019

  Multiple states have started to take on the legislative battle against deepfake pornography. In Virginia, a law against revenge pornography just got amended to include deepfaked revenge pornography. https://medium.com/@denisemelchin/how-deepfake-porn-bans-will-impact-cloud-compute-providers-eb23eab431b4 more ›

• History of 5-Eyes – explainer

  August 4, 2019

  During the second world war intelligence officers from Britain and the US would crouch over bulky radio transmitters listening in on crackling enemy exchanges. In the years since then, communications… more ›

• Jeff Bezos and the United States of Amazon

  July 29, 2019

  In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon, the company that has since made him the richest man in the world. Julia Carrie Wong charts the company’s success and controversies. Plus: Jim… more ›

• Advanced mobile surveillanceware, made in Russia, found in the wild

  July 28, 2019

  Researchers have discovered some of the most advanced and full-featured mobile surveillanceware ever seen. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/07/advanced-mobile-surveillanceware-made-in-russia-found-in-the-wild/ more ›

• (Can’t) Picture This 2

  July 23, 2019

  Internet platform companies operating in China are required by law to control content on their platforms or face penalties, under the expectation that companies will invest in the technology and… more ›

• The forgotten Indian inventor who dazzled London

  July 14, 2019

  His countrymen hailed him as the “Indian Edison” after the famed American inventor. International investors believed that his inventions could revolutionise the global printing industry; and he won the support… more ›

• The Man Who’s Going to Save Your Neighborhood Grocery Store

  July 8, 2019

  In 2014, Rich Niemann, president and CEO of the Midwestern grocery company Niemann Foods, made the most important phone call of his career. He dialed the Los Angeles office of… more ›

• “Networked Privacy”

  July 6, 2019

  “Networked Privacy” danah boyd Personal Democracy Forum 2011 June 6, 2011 [This is a VERY rough unedited crib of the actual talk. This talk builds off of a paper that… more ›

• TikTok’s Videos Are Goofy. Its Strategy to Dominate Social Media Is Serious.

  July 3, 2019

  China’s first big hit in the U.S. uses an advanced algorithm to personalize its addictive video-sharing app, and parent Bytedance’s enormous ad spending on Snap, Facebook and Instagram aims to… more ›