Geek News

Foursquare might not be as big as it was in its heyday, but it has a clever strategy for remaining important: it's making itself indispensable to the apps you use every day. On top of its recent Tinder Places deal , it's becomi ng the main point-of-interest provider for Mapbox, whose location info powers apps like Snapchat, Instacart and Lonely Planet. Even if you've never touched Foursquare or Swarm , you'll likely be using some of their data when you swing by a restaurant or hotel. This isn't the first time the two have hooked up. Foursquare was one of the first companies to use Mapbox's global info way back in 2012. There's no question that this brings the two much closer, though, and suggests that Foursquare's strategy of sharing uncannily accurate trip info (thankfully anonymized) is paying off. Source: Mapbo...

During an interview with CNBC today, Hulu CEO Randy Freer said that the company's live TV service had surpassed 800,000 subscribers, with April being the best month yet for gaining new customers. The live service launched just over a year ago and in January, sources familiar with the company's numbers told CNBC that the live offering had around 450,000 subscribers at the time. While Hulu currently trails more established rivals like Sling TV and DirecTV Now -- which have 2.2 million and 1.5 million subscribers, respectively -- it was doing better than fellow newcomer YouTube TV earlier this year. CNBC's sources reported in January that YouTube's live service had around 300,000 subscribers . During the interview, Freer said he believed Hulu's on-demand service, which offers approximately 75,000 episodes of TV shows, will continue to attract...

Scientists have 3D printed the thin protective film over the eye, called the cornea, using human cells — and it's the most advanced version of an artificial cornea yet. Should the technology improve, it could help millions of people see again. It was tricky to find the right recipe for an ink that's thin enough to squirt through a 3D printer's nozzle, says Che Connon , a tissue engineer at Newcastle University who was one of the creators of the artificial cornea. This bio-ink didn't just have to be thin — it also had to be stiff enough that it could hold its shape as a 3D structure. To get the right consistency, the researchers added a jelly-like goo called alginate and stem cells extracted from donor corneas, along with some ropy... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2sjd5t9 ...

With a name like BACKLASH, you might think this hack comes from the era of mechanical devices, with gears and pulleys. You'd be right! via Naked Security https://ift.tt/2H4Mx3u If New feed item from http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/feed/ , then send m

California just edged closer to establishing its own net neutrality law in the wake of the FCC's decision to kill federal measures . The state Senate has passed a bill that would not only institute rules like those the FCC i mplemented in 2015 , but would forbid the practice of zero-rating services to give them advantages over competitors. Much like Oregon and other states making similar legal moves, internet providers would have to honor these neutrality rules if they wanted government contracts. The bill still has to clear the state Assembly before it can be signed into law. If that happens, the big question is whether or not the FCC will challenge the rules. In California's case, it seems likely -- the FCC could argue that the rules directly contradict federal-level regulation. Some states, such as New York , have tried using executive orders th...

The US State Department announced yesterday it's going to shorten the length of visas granted to Chinese citizens, a move to combat the supposed theft of US intellectual property, according to the Associated Press . Although the visa application process itself won't change, Chinese citizens working or studying in specific fields won't have as easy of a time getting a visa under the new changes. Starting on June 11th, visas granted to Chinese citizens may now be limited by US consulate officers instead of being automatically issued at the maximum possible duration. A US official told the AP that Chinese graduate students can only get one-year visas if they're majoring in robotics, high-tech manufacturing, or aviation, which happen to be... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2Jfxl8S ...

In less than one month, security researchers participating in the Pentagon's Hack the Defense Travel System program found 65 vulnerabilities. via Dark Reading: https://ift.tt/2LIzicg If New feed item from http://www.darkreading.com/rss/all.xml , then send

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson spoke at the Code Conference today, where he took issue with the government's antitrust lawsuit blocking its purchase of Time Warner. Then he laid out exactly why he wants to buy it: to sell ads to the customers it already tracks. [Time Warner's] Turner has an amazing inventory of advertising that they just kind of sell broadly. It's not a very targeted advertising approach. AT&T has an amazing amount of data — customer data for 40 million pay TV subscribers in North and South America, 130 million mobile subscribers, 16 million broadband subscribers. We have really great customer insight on what kind of shows and media content they're viewing, where they are, all kinds of information on the consumer. Can you... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https://ift.tt/2LIAgVW ...

We've been impressed with Google's Pixel phones, but their terrible sales haven't lived up to their critical reputation. The Pixel 2 replaced the first model after just a year, so it was a good bet that the Pixel 3 would come out around the same time this fall. Now we have a hint at what the tech giant's next smartphone may look like. According to Bloomberg sources, odds are there will once again be a standard and 'XL' version, with the larger featuring an edge-to-edge screen and ( unsurprisingly ) a notch at the top. The smaller Pixel 3 allegedly won't have the expansive screen or the cutout, the sources said. The 'XL' will feature two camera lenses in the notch and keep the thick "chin" bottom bezel to retain its forward-facing speakers. Both versions will still only have a single camera on the back and use software to i...

Step aside Apple ( San Francisco ), Samsung ( SamsungOne ), Google ( Roboto and Product Sans ), Microsoft (sort of with Segoe ), Netflix ( Netflix Sans ), Airbnb ( Cereal ), Intel ( Intel Clear ), and every other big tech company with its own bespoke custom font: Arby's is getting in on the custom font game with its new font, "Saucy_AF™," as spotted by FastCo Design . Described as "the ink of the sandwich world," Arby's is positioning Saucy_AF™ as an alternative to those who lack the skills to write in sauce like the folks behind the very social media savvy Arby's Twitter account. We're going to need a lot more sauce... #NaNoWriMo pic.twitter.com/9hm6Dh9an3 — Arby's (@Arbys) November 8, 2016 Ordinarily, this is the sort of thing that would... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts https...

More than a few people have burner Twitter accounts to track news, comment anonymously or even make in-jokes between friends. For Philadelphia 76ers basketball operations president Bryan Colangelo, however, those disposable accounts may land him in serious trouble. The Ringer claimed that Colangelo has been quietly running five Twitter accounts, four of which were used to not only criticize players and staff (including his own coaching team), but to leak private information about the acquisition of Markelle Fultz and Jahlil Okafor's medicals. Colangelo has acknowledged having one of the accounts, which was inactive and reportedly used strictly for following players, agents, staff and the media to keep abreast of the news. He denied running the other four, calling the accusations "disturbing to [him] on many levels." The evidence, however, tells a...