Geek News

A number of people have been receiving random notifications from Facebook after giving the social network their phone number for two-factor authentication. Worse, if they attempt to cancel that by replying to the message, say with STOP or CANCEL, Facebook would post their replies as a status update for all to see. Now, the social network has admitted that the issues were caused by a bug and promised to roll out a fix that will stop non-security-related notifications in the next few days. Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos explained that the website didn't intentionally spam people who signed up for two-factor using their phone numbers. After all, Facebook doesn't want to deter people from signing up for 2FA. "[T]he last thing we want is for people to avoid helpful security features because they fear they will receive unrelated notifications," he said. The exec has also revealed that responses to the notifications got posted as status updates due to an o...

Microsoft keeps striving to find Cortana a place in the crowded smart assistant market, and despite losing a minor feature, it's still adding functionality. Today, Cortana added IFTTT, and launched with interactions to link it up with 550 apps and devices. Cortana lags behind some of its peers in this field, too: Google Assistant added IFTTT functionality in October 2016, while Amazon's Alexa included an IFTTT channel the year before. But if you've committed to Microsoft's voice assistant, at least you can set up your own interactions -- and create your own 'applets' for free now given IFTTT's free 'maker' tier. Source: IFTTT blog via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2CqL4SK"

Just because LG is shying away from typical smartphone release cycles doesn't mean it will have nothing big to show in 2018. Well-known leaker Evan Blass has heard that LG is planning to unveil a new flagship phone, nicknamed Judy. The star attraction, as with the G6 , would be the display -- though not for the usual reasons like size or resolution. Judy would have a 6.1-inch, 18:9 ratio screen whose MLCD+ technology (which includes white sub-pixels) promises a high 800-nit brightness while consuming 35 percent less power than a typical IPS LCD panel. You could use the phone outside on a sunny day without killing your battery as quickly as usual. After that? Mostly, LG would be ticking checkboxes on what you'd hope for in a 2018 smartphone. You'd get a Snapdragon 845 processor (albeit with 'just' 4GB of RAM), dual 16-megapixel rear cameras with glass optics and f/1.6 apertures, stereo speakers, HDR visuals, water resistance and wireless charging. Logically, th...

In its latest bid for relevance, Atari is glomming onto the cryptocurrency craze. The company is hoping to bolster i ts gambling business in Europe with Atari Token, according to Bloomberg . "Our aim is to take strategic positions with a limited cash risk, in order to best create value with the assets and Atari brand," CEO Frederic Chesnais noted in a release. Like Kodak and, err, Long Island Iced Tea before it, the stock market has responded favorably to the news, pushing Atari share prices up by over 60 percent after the company announced its intent to jump into cryptocurrency. Maybe now the company can afford to tell people what it's going to include in the Ataribox . Source: Bloomberg via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2ExMZXA"

We had high hopes about Twitter for Mac after the company acquired Tweetie and put its name on the desktop app , but now Twitter is shutting it off. This evening its Support account revealed that its app has been pulled from the Mac store, and will be in 30 days "will no longer be supported." Twitter said that it's "focusing our efforts on a great Twitter experience that's consistent across platforms" so users will have to use the website, Tweetdeck or third-party apps. It's not really surprising either -- back in 2015 we predicted that a 2018 update might bring already-behind the curve features like timeline syncing, but it was not to be. Most hardcore users are probably opting for other apps that have survived over the years like Tweetbot or Twitterific, so this news is more of a sad closing note to the app's development than a major loss. We're focusing our efforts on a great Twitter experience that's consistent across platforms. ...

Just over two years ago, Google announced it would convert a 1,300-sq ft former Hemlock Semiconductor facility in Clarksville, Tennessee into a new $600 million data center. Today, the search giant broke ground on the site -- and Google CEO Sundar Pichai used the opportunity to announce the company will invest $2.5 billion to open new facilities or expand existing ones in 14 states. In addition to the upcoming Clarksville facility, part of the $2.5 billion will go to opening or expanding data centers in Alabama, Oregon, Virginia and Oklahoma. The company will create or add to offices in nine other states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. The expansion plan will add thousands of jobs and bring Google's operations to a total of 21 states and six data centers. Google planned the Clarksville site to be a model of efficiency, and purchased enough renewable energy to offset 100 percent of its electricity use, in...

Cyber attacks are increasingly becoming a fact of life. North Korea attacked aerospace and telecom networks last year. Olympics officials confirmed a recent attack that took place during the opening ceremonies. While Russia denied its involvement in the devastating NotPetya attacks, the US has finally joined other countries in blaming Russia for them. Now, a report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers says that malicious cyber activity like this cost the US economy between $57 and $109 billion in 2016. The report stated that while the main actors are foreign governments like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, corporate competitors, activists looking to advance their agendas and organized crime are also responsible for the staggeringly large cost. Effective efforts to combat all the malicious activity, said the report's authors, will likely add to the growth of our country's gross domestic product. Source: Reuters via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift....

If you've noticed your Pixel 2 running warm lately or found its battery life to suddenly be shortened, you're not alone. As 9to5Google points out, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL users are reporting on Reddit and Google's Pixel User Community that their phones are having some issues since they installed Google's February security update. 9to5Google's Ben Schoon reports that his own Pixel 2 XL has been running warm while in standby mode since the update and that its battery life is noticeably reduced. Some users are reporting both issues affecting their phones, while others have experienced just one or neither. Some reports say that they've experienced greater battery drain, but inconsistently even with similar phone usage. Most complaints seem to point to the problems occuring after installing this month's security update, though what might be causing these issues is still up in the air. We've reached out to Google about the reports and we'll updat...

Oh, you thought Essential was out of new color options to show off? Not quite. The company announced today that a new, so-called Halo Gray model is now available to purchase exclusively from Amazon. Unlike the other, limited-edition versions of the PH-1, this new model goes for $449 rather than $599 and it ships with Amazon's Alexa app pre-installed. With its matte black ceramic rear and titanium trim, the Halo Gray isn't as ostentatious as some of the models Essential revealed yesterday, but Linda Jiang — the young head of Essential's industrial design — told Engadget the look was meant to use "two finishes and colors that exemplified the materials in their best light." "The reason why we have the matte black on the back is that it doesn't fingerprint at all," Jiang said. "It has a super-nice, almost silky bone-like finish to it." The phone's metal frame, meanwhile, was chosen because of its specific character as a metal. "It...

Since the dawn of infosec, the belief that we users are a group of dullard cattle who blindly trade our own security for convenience at every turn has been trumpeted by the stewards of IT and the infosec-arrogant , while bolstered by old research . Not anymore, says a new in-depth study from IBM on consumers' relationships with biometrics, authentication and the future of identity. If they have a choice, consumers now prefer taking extra security steps over using "123456" as a password. According to IBM Security's new " Future of Identity Study ," users of both mobile and desktop are wide awake to what's happening with each new high profile breach, and it's made them change their priorities. Strong security and privacy are now at the forefront of the average user's concerns, especially when it comes to banking, financial, online marketplaces, and their email accounts. That's a sharp contrast to research from Gartner in 2008 , which also...

Big-budget VR tie-ins are nothing new. Dunkirk got its own version from Intel, Blade Runner 2049 has one that debuted at Comic-Con and even Spider-Man got his own virtual reality "experience" when the reboot launched last year. Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs premieres next month in the US, but you can experience the film's VR tie-in now via Google Spotlight Stories app and your Pixel phone. The faux-documentary will go live for everyone else via YouTube (VR, 360 and 2D) March 2. The Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes (in virtual reality) features dogs from the upcoming film as they're interviewed for a faux behind-the-scenes VR feature. You'll be able to listen to the dogs as voiced by Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham and Bob Balaban. As the stop-animated canines talk about their "making of" stories, you'll be able to look around the set, which moves...

There are cars out there that fill a need in someone else's life. Maybe you live in a large city and don't have the room or desire for a truck with a powerful diesel engine. Or you're part of a couple that has no need for an SUV with seats for eight. For me, the Smart Fortwo Cabrio EV seemed to fit the bill of cars that would be good for someone, just not me. I like electric cars , but I also need something large enough to haul gear and, well, I like going fast. Then I spent a week with the tiny EV. The $28,100 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive Cabrio takes the existing tiny-car platform , throws in an electric motor and makes it a convertible just for fun. It has a range of 57 miles and a footprint that would fit into the back of most pickup trucks. That small size is the allure, and an occasional curse, of the Fortwo. The obvious benefit of its size is that you can park it almost anywhere. In San Francisco, that's a blessing. I could fit it into side street spaces that ...

Today, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller announced that a federal jury has indicted 13 Russian nationals on charges of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to defraud the US. The charges mean that these individuals are now officially wanted by the US government, though actual arrests may be hard to come by. "Defendant Internet Research Agency LLC is a Russian organization engaged in operations to interfere with elections and political processes," says the indictment . "Beginning as early as 2014, [it] began operations to interfere with the US political system, including the 2016 US presidential election." The indictment alleges that the named individuals were involved in illegal use of social media platforms all in an effort to encourage political division and promote the campaign of Donald Trump. "US law bans foreign nationals from making certain expenditures or financial disbursements for the pur...

Machines are getting excellent at recognizing images, and they're even pretty good at rating them. So, why do you even need humans to take the photos in the first place? Designer and artist Peter Buczkowski took that question in a dark, amusing direction with a project called Prosthetic Photographer . He created an AI device that can recognize a well-composed scene and then force the photographer to press the shutter via a mild electrical shock to their hand. Engadget chatted with Buczkowski to find out what inspired a project that's macabre, but speaks to excessive Instagramming, AI and other controverisal areas of tech. First off, it's a real, fully functional device that can attach to any mirrorless or DSLR camera. Its AI was trained on the much-used CUHKPQ data set , which contains 17,000 internet photos rated by humans. The box has a built-in camera that can detect when you've composed a scene to its standards, then fire a jolt of electricity into your hand, f...

Yesterday, Intel expanded its bug bounty program to catch more issues like the extensive Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws, but that was too little, too late for some chip owners. We knew three class-action lawsuits were filed in early January days after the vulnerabilities were publicized, but according to an SEC filing , the total has grown to 30 multi-party suits by customers and two securities suits. Most argue that Intel violated securities laws when it assured its products were safe to use, which the Meltdown and Spectre flaws revealed to be untrue. The customer suits are seeking "monetary damages and equitable relief," though they're in such early stages that none have specified exact amounts. On top of that, the SEC filing revealed that the company faces two class-action suits from shareholders claiming Intel officials have failed to respond to alleged insider trading, likely referring to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich's questionably-timed stock sale late last ...

Apple opened its new campus last year -- a stunning, glass wall-filled space meant to encourage collaboration and cooperation. But Bloomberg reports today that this achievement in design appears to have sacrificed some functionality -- a growing theme in Apple products -- because, apparently, Apple employees keep walking into the glass. Sources told Bloomberg that some individuals started sticking Post-It notes to the glass doors and walls in order to make them more noticeable, but they were ultimately taken down because they distracted from the space's design. Apple's design choices have come under fire quite a few times in recent years. Plenty of people were vocally disappointed in the MacBook's lack of ports while the iPhone X's notch has attracted a bit of ridicule . People are still mad about the removal of the headphone jack , and though I think my Apple mouse looks pretty sleek on my desk, it's a big pain that i have to switch it out when the battery ...

By Kevin Purdy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After 40 hours of research and weeks of real-world testing in century-old stone basements, we think the Frigidaire FFAD7033R1 is the best dehumidifier for most people. It's effective at drying air, it maintains an optimal level of humidity, and it's easier to operate than any other model we tested. Who needs a dehumidifier Dehumidifiers are most useful to anyone who cannot make permanent improvements to a problematically damp space in a house (generally a basement) that's exposed to the elements outside of the envelope of the HVAC system. In your indoor living spaces, the home's heat and air conditioning should keep the humidity down, but less extreme weather in fall and spring can be challenging. At those times, you can use a dehum...

When you call 911 from a cellphone, your location is typically sent to the call taker by a wireless carrier. But that information isn't always so accurate. Well Google might have a better way of going about it and it tested its system across a few states in December and January, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the states where the tests took place, Google sent location data from a random selection of 911 callers using Android phones straight to the people taking those calls. The test included nearly 51,000 call centers that cover around 2.4 million people in Texas, Tennessee and Florida, and early reports of the results suggest the system is promising. One company involved in the test told the Wall Street Journal that for over 80 percent of the 911 calls where Google's system was used, the tech giant's location data were more accurate than what wireless carriers provided. The company, RapidSOS , also said that while carrier data location estimates had, on average...