James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Propaganda fears heighten as House Democrats release thousands of Russian-linked Facebook ads
Democrats from the House Intelligence Committee released a total of 3,519 Facebook ads on Thursday that were run from 2015 to 2017 by the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency. All the ads are available to the public as a download. They cover a wide range of opinions, from pro- and anti-Donald Trump, and for the most ...
ZTE ceases operations after crippling US ban brings company to its knees
Chinese electronics giant ZTE Corp. announced Wednesday that it has ceased major operating activities following a seven-year ban that forbids U.S. companies from supplying ZTE with components. “As a result of the Denial Order, the major operating activities of the company have ceased,” ZTE said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday. ...
In a big management shakeup, execs bounce around Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg will remain at the helm of Facebook Inc., and his Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg remains at that job too, but many other execs have just been given a new role at the company. According to a report published Tuesday by Recode and confirmed by the social network giant, the shakeup is designed ...
Autonomous vehicle startup Drive.ai will give Texas its first self-driving cars
California-based Drive.ai announced Monday that it will soon launch a pilot program for self-driving cars in Frisco, Texas, that will allow users to order a ride via its smartphone app. The program will start in July and run for six months, offering rides to up to 10,000 people within a geofenced area comprising of retail, ...
Criminal gang used drone swarm to foil FBI raid
In what sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie, the FBI reported this week that last year a hostage raid was undone when criminals employed a swarm of drones to get in officers’ faces. According to Joe Mazel, the head of the FBI’s Operational Technology Law unit, this is a new way that criminals ...
Cambridge Analytica shuts down, but probes of its Facebook data use continue
Cambridge Analytica, the company behind the data harvesting scandal that affected as many as 87 million Facebook users, Wednesday announced it will cease all operations in the U.K. and the U.S. The British political consulting company said in a press release that because of what had happened, it had been “vilified” in the media, although ...
Oculus Go and its new features: enough to take VR mainstream?
The hotly anticipated Oculus Go became available to the public on Tuesday, a standalone virtual reality headset that might induce the average consumer to take the plunge and finally get into VR. The reason for that is a low price of just $199 and also the fact that you don’t need to hook it up to ...
WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum leaves, allegedly over data privacy clash with owner Facebook
Jan Koum, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook Inc.-owned messaging giant WhatsApp, will leave the company amid reported disagreements over data privacy, advertising and encryption. Koum will also vacate his spot on Facebook’s board of directors, a position he filled when the social media giant bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. The exact ...
UK committee disappointed with Facebook CTO, wants to question Zuckerberg
Facebook Inc. Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer Thursday was grilled in front of a U.K. parliamentary committee over the recent data harvesting scandal and the impact of the social network on society, but he left the politicians wanting much more: namely, his boss. Schroepfer (pictured) faced what most media believed was a more testing line ...
The Department of Justice is now going after Huawei
The U.S. Justice Department is now investigating Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for potential violations of sanctions on Iran. “It’s unclear how far the Justice Department probe has advanced and what specific allegation federal agents are probing,” said a report published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal. The paper said it had spoken ...