In August, Apple detailed several new features intended to stop the dissemination of child sexual abuse materials. The backlash from cryptographers to privacy advocates to Edward Snowden himself was near-instantaneous, largely tied to Apple’s decision not only to scan iCloud photos for CSAM, but to also check for matches on your iPhone or iPad. After… Continue reading Apple Backs Down on Its Controversial Photo-Scanning Plans
Author: Wired Magazine
Second Time’s the Charm: NASA Perseverance Drills a Mars Rock
As the Perseverance rover drilled into a rock on Wednesday to collect a sample from Jezero Crater on Mars, Justin Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, felt both nervous and excited. He has the honor of serving as the “sample shepherd,” leading the effort from millions of miles away, but… Continue reading Second Time’s the Charm: NASA Perseverance Drills a Mars Rock
New Orleans Was Already a ‘Heat Island.’ Then Ida Cut Power
On Sunday, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, tying with 2020’s Hurricane Laura as the strongest storm ever to hit the state. Winds topping 150 mph tore apart the electrical infrastructure, leaving a million people without power. All eight transmission lines into New Orleans were severed. Now temperatures are in the 90s, and brutal humidity—it’s… Continue reading New Orleans Was Already a ‘Heat Island.’ Then Ida Cut Power
We’re Giving Away One of Our Favorite TVs
We’ve been huge fans of the TCL 6-Series TV line for a few years. They’re packed with features and are relatively affordable, and the built-in Roku interface is one of the easiest to use. We like it so much that we’ve spent a couple of months trying to get one to give away to a… Continue reading We’re Giving Away One of Our Favorite TVs
What It’ll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida
Two days after Hurricane Ida tore through, New Orleans and its surrounding area remain almost totally without power. Levees, floodwalls, floodgates, pumps, and other protections prevented massive flooding, but Ida knocked out all eight transmission lines into the city, plunging it and nearby parishes into darkness. Getting the lights back on will be an arduous… Continue reading What It’ll Take to Get Power Back in New Orleans After Ida
Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other
The cane toad may be the poster animal for invasive species. Native to South America, it has been introduced to many other ecosystems in the hope it would chow down on agricultural pests. Instead, the toad has become a pest itself, most notably in Australia. Free from the predators and parasites in its native range,… Continue reading Nothing Can Eat Australia’s Cane Toads—So They Eat Each Other
California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes
There’s a lot to worry about in the world today, so apologies in advance for this additional level of existential stress: New research indicates that in the event of a solar superstorm—the kind that hit in 1859—the internet could go down entirely, and take even longer than the power grid to restore. The risk lies… Continue reading California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes
The 8 Best Smart Speakers With Alexa or Google Assistant
Connects to Amazon Alexa If you aren’t in it for the music, the Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (4th Gen) and Google’s Nest Mini (7/10, WIRED Recommends) will give you most of the perks of owning a smart speaker, and you can use them to smarten up existing speakers on the cheap. The sound is… Continue reading The 8 Best Smart Speakers With Alexa or Google Assistant
‘Prebunking’ Health Misinformation Tropes Can Stop Their Spread
The scene comes into focus: A car is driving down a winding mountain road at night. Suddenly, the headlights flicker, then fade to black. The car stops dead. Moonlight is all that’s left for our heroine, owls hoot, and vaguely ominous music plays in the background. You know that things are about to go south… Continue reading ‘Prebunking’ Health Misinformation Tropes Can Stop Their Spread
Explosion in Geofence Warrants Threatens Privacy Nationwide
Police around the country have drastically increased their use of geofence warrants, a widely criticized investigative technique that collects data from any user’s device that was in a specified area within a certain time range, according to new figures shared by Google. Law enforcement has served geofence warrants to Google since 2016, but the company… Continue reading Explosion in Geofence Warrants Threatens Privacy Nationwide