Technology Simplified

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“It is time for me to move on . . . I’m taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee” WhatsApp co-founder, CEO, and Facebook board member Jan Koum wrote today . The announcement followed shortly after  The Washington Post  reported that Koum would leave due to disagreements with Facebook management about WhatsApp user data privacy and weakened encryption. Koum obscured that motive in his note that says “I’ll still be cheering WhatsApp on – just from the outside.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg quickly commented on Koum’s Facebook post about his departure, writing “Jan: I will miss working so closely with you. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done to help connect the world, and for everything you’ve taught me, including about encryption and its ability to take power from centralized systems and put it back in people’s hands. Those values will always be at th...

Sprint and T-Mobile merger: How it can affect you Sprint and T-Mobile announced a plan to merge. What do the two companies expect from the new company and what does it mean for customers? via https://ift.tt/2HYVS1p

Michigan police department's photoshopped patrol car post goes viral, sparks mixed reactions The Bath Township Police Department "unveiled" its intentions on Facebook. via https://ift.tt/2KsL61Q

Chinese authorities revealed over the weekend that they have the capability of retrieving deleted messages from the almost universally used WeChat app. The admission doesn’t come as a surprise to many, but it’s rare for this type of questionable data collection tactic to be acknowledged publicly. As noted by the South China Morning Post , an anti-corruption commission in Hefei province posted Saturday to social media that it has “retrieved a series of deleted WeChat conversations from a subject” as part of an investigation. The post was deleted Sunday, but not before many had seen it and understood the ramifications. TenCent, which operates the WeChat service used by nearly a billion people (including myself), explained in a statement that “WeChat does not store any chat histories — they are only stored on users’ phones and computers.” The technical details of this storage were not disclosed, but it seems clear from the commission’s post that they are accessible in some way to inte...

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Benchling (YC S12) Is Hiring Software Engineers to Accelerate Biotech Research 1 by sajithw | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Giant alligator nearly the size of a car stops traffic on Texas highway A giant alligator nearly the length of a small family car was captured in Cleveland, TX. early Monday morning as it attempted to cross highway 59, near the Whataburger restaurant. via https://ift.tt/2FtPn1k

Show HN: ReLaXed – High-quality PDFs using web technologies 19 by zulko | 1 comments on Hacker News.

Sprint, T-Mobile have to sell $26.5B deal to antitrust cops NEW YORK (AP) — To gain approval for their $26.5 billion merger agreement, T-Mobile and Sprint aim to convince antitrust regulators that there is plenty of competition for wireless service beyond Verizon and AT&T. via https://ift.tt/2Fv5Ge2

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Chinese businesses and the military using “emotional surveillance technology” 19 by loriverkutya | 4 comments on Hacker News.

Blue Origin launches and lands New Shepard Jeff Bezos has big plans for space, and the latest successful launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital booster and crew capsule suggest he's going to achieve them. via https://ift.tt/2r7zuJC

Apple's Siri in the spotlight for potty mouth Apple's virtual assistant Siri is under fire after it came to light that it has a surprising definition for the word "mother." via https://ift.tt/2jjv8um

Giant walking robot transforms into a sports car Your commute may never be the same again. A trio of Japanese companies, aided by legendary mech designer Kunio Owara, has created a real-life transformer robot that becomes a sleek sports car at the touch of a button. via https://ift.tt/2HXMn2m

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DNA link to Golden State Killer raises questions of privacy versus safety Do you lose privacy rights when personal data is stored on an open platform? Authorities arrested a suspect in the Golden State Killer case based on DNA data a relative uploaded to GEDMatch, an open-source ancestry site. via https://ift.tt/2r5p8Jg

Amazon wants your home to feel like the deck on the USS Enterprise, the fictional starship from Star Trek. The company's Echo devices , along with the Google Home and Apple's Homepod are the first step Silicon Valley has taken, towards ambient computing. It all points towards a future where computers are all around you and work without touching screens or pressing buttons. But before we get there, we need screens. And that's why Amazon made the Echo Show and Echo Spot, two Alexa-powered smart speakers with attached screens. The Spot is Amazon's fourth Echo device in India and it's no coincidence that the company started selling it here weeks after Google announced the Home and Home Mini . The screen makes the Spot undeniably different from the Home and possibly better. Using the Echo Spot The Echo Spot can do everything the Echo speakers can and adds a visual element to some of the skills. You could call people using the Echo, you can make video calls using ...

The hatch is back and loaded with standard tech including Toyota's newest generation Safety Sense 2.0 driver aid. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2jibJtX

Google's Sergey Brin warns of AI threats through a 'technology renaissance' 3 by jonballant | 0 comments on Hacker News.

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NASA Seeks Research Proposals for Space Technologies to Flight Test 2 by bryanrasmussen | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Sprint and T-Mobile, after years of going back and forth as to whether they are going to tie up two of the largest telecom providers in the U.S., have announced that the two companies have entered a merger agreement this morning . The merger will be an all-stock transaction, and will now be subject to regulatory approval. That latter part is going to be its biggest challenge, because it will not only tie up the No. 3 and No. 4 carriers into the U.S. into a single unit, but also that international organizations hold significant stakes in both companies. Softbank controls a majority of Spring, while Deutsche Telekom controls a significant chunk of T-Mobile. Following the administration’s intervention in the Broadcom-Qualcomm takeover attempt , it isn’t clear what will actually go through in terms of major mergers these days. Bloomberg is reporting that Deutsche Telekom will have 42% ownership of the combined company, while SoftBan will own around 27% of the company. As expected, th...

What tech calls “AI” isn’t really AI 3 by raleighm | 2 comments on Hacker News.

For $70, this countertop cooker promises deep-fried indulgence without the oil. But does it deliver? from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2HyYiEq

5 quick fixes for computer problems Computers live by Murphy’s Law: “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” Which is why, at some point, your computer will freeze, or flicker, or even shut down. Most of us are comfortable using computers as long as everything is going smoothly. via https://ift.tt/2jh32jD

T-Fal's Actifry cooks excellent french fries with almost no oil, but that's not enough. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2Fq058U

This countertop gadget will cost you at least $200 to do tasks your oven can already take care of. It's not worth it. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2HYfEKk

Air-fry mounds of food with the pricey Philips Airfryer XXL. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2JxIlLl

You'll need to clear some counterspace for the oversized Krups Fry Delight -- but it does make a mean batch of frozen crinkle-cuts. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2r7SB5l

You don't need to pay this much for crispy french fries at home. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://ift.tt/2HCGc4n

Mother's Day gift ideas: Top tech gifts for mom Kurt the 'CyberGuy' shares some gadgets that make great gifts for mom. via https://ift.tt/2r6mDY9

5G revolution, saving on flights, and more: Tech Q&A I want to get Fox News, LifeTime, ShowTime, and a few other channels streaming. What service do I need? I am so confused! via https://ift.tt/2KkTUqp

The charming robot at the heart of Disney’s Big Hero 6 , Baymax, isn’t exactly realistic, but its puffy bod is an (admittedly aspirational) example of the growing field of soft robotics. And now Disney itself has produced a soft robot arm that seems like it could be a prototype from the movie. Created by Disney Research roboticists , the arm seems clearly inspired by Baymax, from the overstuffed style and delicate sausage fingers to the internal projector that can show status or information to nearby people. “Where physical human-robot interaction is expected, robots should be compliant and reactive to avoid human injury and hardware damage,” the researchers write in the paper describing the system. “Our goal is the realization of a robot arm and hand system which can physically interact with humans and gently manipulate objects.” The mechanical parts of the arm are ordinary enough — it has an elbow and wrist and can move around the way many other robot arms do, using the same servo...

It looks like a potential merger deal between T-Mobile and Sprint, two of the major telecom companies in the U.S., is getting closer and now has set valuation terms, according to a report by Bloomberg . The deal could be announced as soon as Sunday, according to a report by CNBC . The proposed tie-up of the two companies was called off in November last year , but now that deal appears to be coming closer, with T-Mobile’s backer valuing Sprint at around $24 billion, according to Bloomberg. As part of the deal, Deutsche Telekom AG will get a 69% voting interest on a 42% stake in the company, according to that report. (Both reports, however, disagree on the valuation — with CNBC citing a $26 billion valuation.) This deal seems to have been a long time coming, and consolidates two of the four major telecom providers in the U.S. into one larger entity. That could, in theory, offer it some more flexibility as they expand into 5G networks. Still, a deal of this scale could still fall apar...

It’s hard launching a phone company — something Essential was pretty candid about from the start . Andy Rubin’s latest endeavor got off to something of a slow start , according to outside accounts, but today the well-funded hardware startup is getting ready to add a whole bunch of new markets to its online store. On Twitter today, the company announced a handful of key additions to its coverage map, including Canada, France, Japan and UK. As Engadget notes , availability in some of those markets already exists, but not through the company’s own shop, most notably Canada, where users can pick the handset up via Amazon or Telus. Starting today, we’re opening the https://t.co/5XqZeQu9cW store to orders from more countries, including Canada, France, Japan and UK. Special terms and conditions apply to these orders, so please read the information carefully: https://t.co/uZK8sLvUA5 pic.twitter.com/QXEWf8OEnE — Essential (@essential) April 27, 2018 There are also some country speci...

YouTube, dealing with advertiser uproar, defends controversial cleric's videos YouTube appears to be doing damage control less than a week after a report revealed advertisements from hundreds of big-name brands were appearing next to videos with content ranging from Nazi and North Korean propaganda to pedophilia. via https://ift.tt/2je4vao

Cybersecurity company offers technology to secure voter data Software company says its free program will help make voting secure in this year's midterms; Hillary Vaughn reports from Los Angeles. via https://ift.tt/2Hwynx9

Teams compete to create a personality for Alexa Brigham Young University is one of eight teams from around the world working to creates an artificial personality that can carry a 20-minute conversation. At stake: a $1 million grant from Amazon. via https://ift.tt/2HA46tf

Gaming goes varsity Fox on Games: E-sports recognized by the National Federation of State High Schools. via https://ift.tt/2HS3ToP