James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
After Silicon Valley crackdown, Alex Jones’ Infowars hardly has a soapbox left
Controversial U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has now been banned from nearly all major platforms, with Twitter almost the only remaining one on which he can voice his opinions. On Monday, Facebook Inc. took down four of Jones’ pages, stating that he had continually violated its community standards. Facebook wrote that Jones had been given ...
Drones were used in assassination attempt on Venezuelan President Maduro
During a speech Saturday, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela survived an assassination attempt, and the firepower came from drones flying above him. Chaos broke out during the President’s speech at the 81st anniversary of the country’s National Guard in the nation’s capital in Caracas. Live footage shows Maduro (pictured) and his entourage look up following ...
Amazon removes products featuring white nationalism and Nazi symbolism
After some pressure Amazon.com Inc. Thursday said it’s removing multiple products from its website that promoted white nationalism or items that featured Nazi symbols. The pressure came in the form of a letter from Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota. He was responding to concerns made by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which had identified white ...
Facebook and Instagram will now let you know how much you abuse them
Spending too much time on social media has been a concern of many for a while now, with former Facebook Inc. execs telling us social media is ruinous to kids‘ mental health and many others warning of a future in which people can hardly communicate face-to-face. Mirroring what Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington told SiliconANGLE ...
Democratic senator lays out plan to crack down on Big Tech and social media
In a major move by some Democrats to rein in big tech platforms, Sen. Mark Warner has come out with a policy paper with a list of fixes to some of the recent tech-related conundrums. The policy paper, published Monday by Axios, covers three main issues: combating disinformation, protecting user privacy and promoting competition in tech. ...
Amazon’s facial recognition software mistook members of Congress for criminals
Amazon.com Inc.’s controversial face recognition technology, “Rekognition,” heralds to some a dystopian future of omnipresent surveillance, and recent tests of the product have made skeptics even more worried. Those tests were conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Some 25,000 mugshots of people who have been arrested for a crime were used, ...
Tech execs will return to Capitol Hill for another grilling over Russia
Tech executives from Google LLC, Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. are expected to return to Capitol Hill to face a Senate Intelligence Committee over Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. According to reports, the committee has invited a triumvirate of top execs from each company, although Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t been invited ...
In leaked memo, Alex Stamos talks about how Facebook should proceed after scandals
Just a few days after Facebook Inc. Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos revealed he was leaving the company, he sent a candid memo to employees entreating them to act responsibly and morally. The memo, titled “A Difficult Week,” released today by Buzzfeed, was sent to employees March 23. Stamos (pictured) begins by telling employees about ...
Google’s Nest wants to make life easier for the aged
Nest Labs, the Google LLC-owned home automation division of the company, is reportedly looking at getting into a new market: senior citizens. CNBC wrote Google’s intention is to develop products that will help seniors live independently for as long as possible. At the moment, a slew of ideas is floating around as to how this can ...
Amazon rolls out Part Finder to help find nuts and bolts and more
Amazon.com Inc. has rolled out what could be a very useful feature, an app for iOS that will help you find the right nut, bolt, washer or screw you’re looking for. It’s called “Part Finder,” a feature you can find in the search bar when you’re in the Amazon app. The icon is a screw. ...