James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Fake news spreads faster than real news on Twitter, according to a new report
“Fake news” may reach users up to 20 times faster than truth or at least credible journalism, according to a new report. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology report released today analyzed “rumor cascades” on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. They consisted of 126,000 rumors spread by about 3 million people and tweeted 4.5 million times. Each ...
Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick begins new endeavor: a ‘job creation’ fund
Nine months after Travis Kalanick was forced to resign from Uber Technologies Inc., he has a new project on the way: a job creation fund called 10100, named after his home address in Los Angeles. On Wednesday Kalanick tweeted that his “Ten One Hundred” fund, intended for “large-scale job creation,” will focus on real estate, ...
In a sore point for some, Google’s AI is helping the Pentagon analyze drone footage
Google LLC is working with the U.S. Department of Defense in a pilot project to help the agency analyze the countless hours of drone footage it collects, a partnership that reportedly hasn’t gone down too well with some people inside and outside the company. The project is to assist the department in its “Project Maven” ...
Despite FCC ruling, the fight to save net neutrality is by no means over
Months after the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality rules, those against the repeal are mounting ever more pressure. Today Washington state became the first state in the U.S. to sign a bill to protect an open internet. Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that effectively means the Obama-era net neutrality rules seemingly ...
Uber blasts MIT study about drivers’ low pay as ‘incompetent’
A new study undertaken by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed that Uber Technologies Inc. drivers as well as Lyft Inc. drivers make less than minimum wage, but now Uber has responded stating that the research is “flawed.” Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi wrote on Twitter, “MIT = Mathematically Incompetent Theories (at least as it pertains to ...
Analyze this: Twitter wants to know how it can be more positive for society
As social media platforms take a long, hard look in the mirror following censure over their political and psychological effect on society, Twitter Inc. wants to better understand its role going forward. In a blog post today, the company said it intends to measure the “overall health of the public conversation” and is presently seeking outside experts ...
Some YouTube human moderators were too trigger-happy, but it’s a mission impossible
In its bid to purge hate speech and extremist content, Google LLC-owned YouTube may have gone overboard and banned channels that didn’t exactly violate the company’s terms of service, according to reports. In 2017, YouTube made moves to clean up the platform after numerous complaints. One thing it said it would do is to hire ...
Trump actually paid more than Clinton for campaign ads, says Facebook exec
Facebook Inc. executive Andrew Bosworth today revealed that Donald Trump actually paid slightly more than Hillary Clinton to reach U.S. voters during the 2016 election. Bosworth, who at the time of the election was in charge of Facebook’s advertising business, said he felt it necessary to reveal the cost of what each person paid. That’s ...
Really, truly driverless cars will soon be on the streets of California
As soon as April, truly autonomous cars without a human driver will be wheeling around California, thanks to regulations approved today by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Companies operating driverless cars will be able to apply for permits on April 2. Three types of permits will be available: driverless testing, testing with a safety ...
SiliconANGLE Q&A
Arianna Huffington: Here’s how we can use tech more wisely
When social networks such as Facebook and Twitter first caught on, they seemed like little more than harmless dalliances, and smartphones such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone looked like a handy convenience for reaching internet services and information anywhere. No more. As these technologies have become more indispensable for billions of users, their dangers have also ...