James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
U.S. puts blame on North Korea for WannaCry cyberattack
The U.S. administration says North Korea was behind the WannaCry cyberattack this year that caused mayhem across the globe by infecting more tha 300,000 computers and causing billions of dollars’ worth of damage. The accusation was made today by President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Advisor, Thomas Bossert, whose medium was an op-ed in The Wall ...
Mozilla gets on the wrong side of users with mysterious browser plug-in
Mozilla Corp. has managed to rankle many people using its Firefox browser after slipping in a plug-in promoting the TV series, Mr. Robot. The plug-in, called “Looking Glass,” was not turned on by default. Nonetheless, people concerned about their privacy didn’t take kindly to something appearing in their browser that they had not installed. To ...
Twitter’s response to Russian Brexit meddling is ‘totally inadequate,’ says British MP
The British MP who began an investigation into Russian interference during the EU referendum Thursday called Twitter Inc.’s response to provide the U.K. government with information “totally inadequate.” In November, the U.K.’s head of digital, culture, media and sport committee, Damian Collins, asked Twitter and Facebook Inc. to help with a “Fake News Inquiry” regarding ...
FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules – and lawsuits are on the way
Updated with FCC vote and lawsuits: The Federal Communications Commission today voted to repeal so-called net neutrality rules, rolling back a regulatory regime that barred broadband providers from charging for high-quality service or blocking websites. The rules were put in place in 2015 by the Obama administration with the intention of keeping the internet an open ...
Facebook issues vague response to former VP who denounced its impact on the world
Facebook Inc. on Tuesday bit back against former vice president for user growth Chamath Palihapitiya’s recent, if not entirely new, remarks that the platform is “ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.” His stern words were met with what could be called redirection from Facebook, as the company didn’t exactly address any of issues ...
Social media is ripping apart society, says former Facebook executive
Facebook Inc.’s former vice president for user growth has admitted he now feels bad for what he helped create, saying social media is “ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.” “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth,” said Chamath ...
YouTube is about to launch a music streaming service to rival Apple and Spotify
YouTube will launch a music streaming service next March, according to report published today by Bloomberg. The service will tentatively be called Remix. YouTube’s parent company Alphabet Inc. hasn’t officially announced anything, but people familiar with the move told Bloomberg that Warner Music Group is already on board. YouTube is also in talks with Sony ...
As rival Uber licks its wounds, Lyft self-driving car hits the streets in Boston
Lyft Inc. just nudged itself into the future after picking up passengers in Boston in one of its autonomous vehicles. Alas, human drivers were there for safety precautions, but the move puts Lyft on the self-driving map along with its major rival, Uber Technologies Inc. The car was developed by the startup NuTonomy, which together with ...
No prizes for Donald Trump in Twitter’s annual review
President Donald Trump, perhaps in recent times Twitter Inc.’s most controversial user, might be disappointed to find out that this year his tweets were less popular than the former president of the U.S. On Tuesday, Twitter released its yearly data and it was revealed that former President Barack Obama was the most retweeted man in ...
Facebook opens new London office, bringing 800 jobs to the capital
Facebook Inc. announced on Monday the opening of a new London office, bringing in 800 new jobs and doubling its employee count in the U.K. The move has been called a vote of confidence in the U.K. despite Brexit, which saw Britain leaving the European Union. Facebook has said that about half the jobs will be ...