James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

‘Presidential Alert,’ though not from Trump himself, hits millions of US phones

Millions of Americans on Wednesday received what may have looked like a text message from U.S. President Donald Trump. The text was sent out at 2:18 p.m. EDT to test the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, a joint operation led by FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission. A FEMA official told CNN that the system ...

Facebook introduces new anti-bullying tools to curb harassment

Facebook Inc. has bolstered its efforts to reduce the amount of bullying that occurs on the platform with a slew of new anti-bullying tools. On Tuesday, the company announced that it intends to give people more control over what they see and how they interact with people to counter harassment. It’s no secret that Facebook ...

With new Maps feature, Google aims to alleviate the drudgery of commuting

Google LLC has brought out a couple of new features in Google Maps that might help deal with the stress of being stuck in gridlocked traffic. Announced Monday, the new “Commute” tab is tailored to a person’s daily drive, bus ride or train ride to and from the workplace. Once Maps knows the details of your journey, you ...

US Justice Department sues California to block state net neutrality bill

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a net neutrality bill Sunday, which much like the old Federal Communications Commission laws would prevent internet service providers from prioritizing content or throttling and blocking certain content. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has said any attempt to implement state laws on net neutrality is “illegal,” adding such “micromanagement” ...

Meeting with Congress, big tech calls for a federal data privacy law

After yet another congressional hearing Wednesday, it’s looking like Silicon Valley tech giants may soon have to get used to new data privacy laws, whether they like it or not. Some of largest names in tech, including Google LLC, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., all endorsed data privacy legislation. That may seem surprising on the surface, but ...

Tech giants face another grilling by Congress Wednesday – and this time Google will be there

Some of the world’s leading tech companies will meet with Congress Wednesday, this time to discuss user privacy on their services. Representatives from Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., AT&T Inc., Charter Communications Inc., Google LLC and Twitter Inc. will discuss issues surrounding data collection and how companies are protecting their users’ data. According to Republican Senator ...

Privacy concerns flare over latest Chrome browser’s ‘forced login’

When Google LLC launched its updated version of Chrome browser, Chrome 69, earlier this month, users were told a lot of small changes would happen all aimed at boosting productivity. But some users now are not happy about something Google wasn’t exactly selling prior to the release of the browser. That is, if you’re logged into ...

Google confirms Gmail accounts of U.S. senators were targeted by state-backed hackers

Google LLC has confirmed that the Gmail accounts of a number of U.S. senators and senate staff were targeted by state-backed hackers. The confirmation on Thursday came a day after Sen. Ron Wyden revealed in a letter that his office had discovered that the personal email accounts of several senators and aides had been “targeted ...

Amazon to open 3,000 cashierless stores

Amazon.com Inc. may open at least 3,000 AmazonGo cashierless stores in the U.S. over the next few years, which looks like a move to take on the everyday convenience store and fast-food joints. According to Bloomberg, someone familiar with the matter had divulged that Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos saw a problem with lunchtime queues ...

Elon Musk’s woes continue as DoJ opens investigation into Tesla

When it rains, it pours, especially on Tesla Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk these days. On Tuesday, reports revealed the company is now under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department relating to tweets Musk made last month. First reported by Bloomberg, the probe opened by the DoJ will look at statements Musk ...