Technology

National

User Coalition Fights To Keep Chinese App WeChat In U.S. Market

7:51am August 17, 2020

by John Ruwitch

President Trump recently issued an executive order that would effectively ban the Chinese app WeChat — starting in September. The order says the app poses a national security threat.

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President Trump on Friday ordered that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, divest from the U.S. in 90 days.

Trump: TikTok Must Be Sold In 90 Days, Cites 'Credible Evidence' Of Security Threat

11:17pm August 14, 2020

by Bobby Allyn

The move follows a previous executive order from the president that would make "transactions" between U.S. citizens and the Chinese-owned app illegal.

National

Virtual Schmoozing: How The Pandemic Changed Ways Businesses Seal The Deal

4:14pm August 14, 2020

by Ryan Kailath

The days of business lunches and sealing deals over drinks are gone. In place of face-to-face schmoozing, companies woo clients with virtual cooking classes and Zoom calls with famous athletes.

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Arts

Fortnite Uses Apple's Own '1984' Ad Against It In Dispute Over Payments

8:24pm August 13, 2020

Apple pulled the popular shooting game from its App Store, after its developer tried to get around the fee Apple requires from in-app purchases.

Tech companies are under enormous pressure from government officials to prevent their platforms from being used by foreign actors and others to disrupt the 2020 election, as occurred in 2016.

Top Facebook Official: Our Aim Is To Make Lying On The Platform 'More Difficult'

1:03pm August 13, 2020

by Ashish Valentine

Facebook's head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said that the company is working harder than ever to counteract efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

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The fun of Fall Guys comes in watching its little jelly bean-shaped characters getting whacked around goofy obstacle courses.

Arts

'Fall Guys' Is Candy-Colored Party Battle Fun

7:00am August 13, 2020

by Kaity Kline

If you're stressed out by battle royale shooter games like Fortnite, you and your friends may enjoy steering the jelly-bean-esque characters of Fall Guys around an array of goofy obstacle courses.

News Brief: Facebook Helping Voters, Kamala Harris And Representation, Thai Protests

5:00am August 13, 2020

Facebook is launching a tool to help users register to vote. Kamala Harris' Black and Asian identities are making history. And, Thai students protest the military.

A woman named Un A leads viewers on a tour of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, in a recent YouTube video. "Every building in Pyongyang is going through general cleaning to shake off winter dust," she says in English.

World News

North Korea Makes A Push To Reach Foreign Audiences On YouTube And Twitter

11:31am August 12, 2020

by Anthony Kuhn

With a view to reaching English-speaking and South Korean audiences, the videos show glimpses of Pyongyang, highlight consumerism and try to dispel notions that life is restricted and people are poor.

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In a ruling Monday, a California judge said Lyft and Uber have refused to comply with a California law, known as AB5, passed last year that was supposed to make it harder for companies in the state to hire workers as contractors.

National

California Judge Orders Uber And Lyft To Consider All Drivers Employees

1:00pm August 11, 2020

by Bobby Allyn

Uber and Lyft have been fighting California over whether drivers are employees, entitled to benefits, or independent contractors. A state judge orders them to consider all those drivers employees.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection is testing autonomous surveillance towers like this one, parked at the Border Security Expo in San Antonio, to improve the tracking of illegal crossers. Critics of the border wall say the government should favor virtual

National

Border Patrol Faulted For Favoring Steel And Concrete Wall Over High-Tech Solutions

2:28pm August 10, 2020

by John Burnett

The Department of Homeland Security watchdog has criticized Border Patrol for not looking for a cheaper alternative to President Trump's border wall, such as cutting-edge surveillance technology.