Facebook is scrambling to add safeguards against abuse of user data as it reels from backlash over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Now TechCrunch has learned Facebook will launch a certification tool that demands that marketers guarantee email addresses used for ad targeting were rightfully attained. This new Custom Audiences certification tool was described by Facebook representatives […]
Monthly Archives: March 2018
At a time when the models of traditional social networks are being questioned, it's more important than ever to experiment with alternatives. Arbtr is a proposed social network that limits users to sharing a single thing at any given time, encouraging "ruthless self-editing" and avoiding "nasty things" like endless feeds filled with trivial garbage.
Arbtr wants to create an anti-feed where users can only ...
At last, a use for that industrial knitting machine you bought at a yard sale! Carnegie Mellon researchers have created a method that generates knitting patterns for arbitrary 3D shapes, opening the possibility of "on-demand knitting." Think 3D printing, but softer.
Knitting machines power up with computer-generated patterns for 3D shapes
When Facebook loses, who wins? That’s a question for startups that may be worth contemplating following Facebook’s recent stock price haircut. The company’s valuation has fallen by around $60 billion since the Cambridge Analytica scandal surfaced earlier this month and the #DeleteFacebook campaign gained momentum.
Who gains from Facebook’s missteps?
When you're done painting eggs and munching on candy, check out these Easter tech deals.
20 Easter Tech Sales (2018): Nintendo, Apple, Dyson, Lenovo
Dozens of high-tech phone smugglers have been apprehended by Chinese police, who twigged to the scheme to send refurbished iPhones into the country from Hong Kong via drone — but not the way you might think.
Chinese police foil drone-flying phone smugglers at Hong Kong border
"The Paper Airplane Guy" John Collins shows us how to fold planes that do loops, flap their wings, and fly world-record distances.
How to Make a Paper Airplane: 5 Stunning Methods
These kinds of leaks didn’t happen when I started reporting on Facebook eight years ago. It was a tight-knit cult convinced of its mission to connect everyone, but with the discipline of a military unit where everyone knew loose lips sink ships. Motivational posters with bold corporate slogans dotted its offices, rallying the troops. Employees […]
The real threat to Facebook is the kool-aid turning sour
A company called Clipisode is today launching a new service that’s essentially a “talk show in a box,” as founder Brian Alvey describes it. Similar to how Anchor now allows anyone to build a professional podcast using simple mobile and web tools, Clipisode does this for video content. With Clipisode, you can record a video […]
Clipisode launches a ‘talk show in a box’
In January, Facebook announced that it would be changing its feed algorithm to promote users’ well-being over time spent browsing content. That’s a relatively new approach for a company whose ethos once centered around “move fast, break things.” It wasn’t all that long ago (approximately a year and a half before the algorithm change) that […]