Digital Life

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (left) says the Pentagon's new hacker program will strengthen America's digital defenses. Carter is seen here with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.

National

U.S. Announces 'Hack The Pentagon' Bug Bounty Program

12:58pm March 02, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The contest is only for "vetted hackers," the Department of Defense says, which means that anyone hoping to find vulnerabilities in its systems will first need to pass a background check.

Ren Zhiqiang, a Chinese real estate tycoon, attends a conference in Beijing last November. Ren, 54, is locked in a battle with the government over the question of free speech.

In Social Media Battle, Real Estate Mogul Takes On Chinese Government

10:43pm March 01, 2016

by Anthony Kuhn

China's Internet authorities have shut down all social media accounts of Ren Zhiqiang, a sharp-tongued real estate mogul compared by some in China to Donald Trump.

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Nancy Jo Sales interviewed more than 200 teenage girls about their social media and Internet habits while researching her book American Girls.

Books
Arts

Teen Girls And Social Media: A Story Of 'Secret Lives' And Misogyny

7:43pm February 29, 2016

Author Nancy Jo Sales says the Internet fosters a kind of sexism that is harmful to teen girls. Her new book is American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers.

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Kanye West at a laptop during his Yeezy Season 3 fashion show and album debut at Madison Square Garden in New York Feb. 11.

Music & Culture

Is Tidal Changing How Fans Talk About Music?

6:24pm February 29, 2016

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Technological innovations like streaming are shifting how music gets released today — but artist exclusives are also changing the way fans process today's most popular tracks.

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Kanye West's 'The Life Of Pablo' Sparks Rampant Piracy

4:44pm February 29, 2016

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Paul Resnikoff, publisher of Digital Music News, about what the piracy of Kanye West's new album says about streaming as a venue for music.

National

What's So Revolutionary About Amazon's 'Echo'?

7:57am February 28, 2016

Rachel Martin asks Boston Globe technology reporter Hiawatha Bray if the Amazon Echo is a gadget worth adding to all our other gadgets.

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National

'Body Hacking' Movement Rises Ahead Of Moral Answers

9:26am February 27, 2016

by Eyder Peralta

In what they say is a quest to create a better human, body hackers implant digital devices into their bodies. They recently held a conference devoted to this unique embedding of data.

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Commentary: Siri, Say What? A Southern Writer's Struggle With Dictation Apps

6:37pm February 25, 2016

After a broken elbow and an unlucky bout with dictation apps, writer Julia Reed realized that she doesn't write like she talks.

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The official seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is seen on an iPhone's camera screen outside the J. Edgar Hoover headquarters in Washington, D.C. Apple is facing off with the FBI in court over investigators' request that the tech giant help them

National

Apple Court Filing Calls iPhone Order Dangerous, Unconstitutional

5:29pm February 25, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Last week, at the FBI's request, a court ordered Apple to cooperate with federal agents and help unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. The company says the demand is illegal.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says creating new software to break into a locked iPhone would be "bad news" and "we would never write it." He spoke with ABC News' World News Tonight with David Muir.

National

Apple CEO Tim Cook: Backdoor To iPhones Would Be Software Equivalent Of Cancer

8:33pm February 24, 2016

by Laura Wagner

In an interview, Cook reiterated the company's position that Apple will not create iPhone-cracking software for the FBI, as the government has ordered.