Geek News

The US midterm elections are just weeks away, and Facebook is still scrambling to prevent election meddling with every means at its disposal. It's launching a pilot program that will expand its protections for American political campaigns. Candidates at the federal or state levels, as well as their staff and party committees, can apply to receive extra protection for their Pages and individual accounts. Facebook will help activate two-factor authentication, proactively monitor accounts (through both automation and human staff), and prioritize reports of suspicious activity from campaign members. If there's an attack against one person, Facebook will check other related accounts. The company might spread the pilot to other elections and other high-profile users, including existing government staff. There's no mystery as to why Facebook is making th...

Animals Proving the power of whiskers and paws. Newly published research from the University of California at Santa Cruz helps us peer into the murk and figure out how those snuggly-looking critters find food. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2PFfrvQ"

SpaceX announced last week that it booked its first private passenger for a flight around the Moon in its BFR spacecraft, and today the company will share who that is. Elon Musk gave a hint about who the passenger might be last week, replying to someone asking if the passenger was Musk himself with a Japanese flag emoji. SpaceX says we'll be able to find out who is flying and, interestingly, why during an event today, which will be livestreamed at 9PM Eastern. You can check it out below. Source: SpaceX via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2MFTACF If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml , then send me Unsubscribe from these ...

Amazon is ready to drop a whole slew of new Alexa devices, CNBC reports. At least eight new devices including a microwave oven, an amplifier, a subwoofer and some sort of in-car gadget are reportedly set to be released before the end of the year. All of the devices will be Alexa-enabled while some will have the virtual assistant built in, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos highlighted how important Alexa is for the company in July. "We want customers to be able to use Alexa wherever they are," he said in an earnings report. "There are now tens of thousands of developers across more than 150 countries building new devices using the Alexa Voice Service, and the number of Alexa-enabled devices has more than tripled in the past year." With Alexa becoming ever more ubiquitous, some of these new devices are going to end u...

Back at E3, Sony revealed the first trailer for Tetris Effect, a modern spin on the classic puzzle game. Sure, at its core, it's the same game we've been playing for decades. But you've never seen Tetris look like this before. You won't have to wait too much longer to play it either, as developer Enhance announced Tetris Effect will arrive on PS4 and PSVR November 9th. PS4 OWNERS SAVE THE DATE: Tetris Effect can be "yours forever" starting Friday, November 9th! More details coming soon... #tetriseffect pic.twitter.com/U2KAZvoLSL — Enhance (@enhance_exp) September 17, 2018 The reveal trailer is full of swirling, explosive color, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given the past work of Tetsuya Mizuguchi of Rez fame -- he is a key figure on this project. The dynamic environment of Tetris Effect reacts based o...

Technology Should you get a new iPhone? And why is the president texting us? Listen to the latest episode of the podcast and catch up on a week of tech news dominated by the new iPhone and Apple Watch. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2OuvhJv"

The new malware tool targeting Windows and Linux systems combines cryptomining, ransomware, botnet, and self-propagation capabilities. via Dark Reading: https://ift.tt/2pg51Yf If New feed item from http://www.darkreading.com/rss/all.xml , then send Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

Remote desktop protocol access continues to thrive in underground markets, primarily to hackers who lack expertise to find exposed ports themselves. via Dark Reading: https://ift.tt/2phj93G If New feed item from http://www.darkreading.com/rss/all.xml , then send Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

iOS 12 is here , and while many of the improvements focus on processing and performance, there are a few notable features you shouldn't ignore. Shortcuts is definitely one of the biggest -- not only will it use notifications to suggest actions you can take, such as returning a missed FaceTime call or turning on Do Not Disturb before a meeting on your calendar, but you can also use the brand new Shortcuts app to create your own customized Siri-based triggers for third-party apps. For built-in iOS apps, shortcuts are suggestions that try to make your life a little easier; third-party apps also can monitor your activity and suggest actions based on repeated behavior, but not all of them will. Did you miss a phone call? Siri will suggest calling that person back; a simple tap on the shortcut brings up the option to FaceTime or place a phone call. Do you have a meeting ...

Anders Gonçalves da Silva recently had three movies disappear from his iTunes library and a letter he received from Apple stated that it was because those titles were no longer available from the iTunes Store. Naturally, the response caused outrage at the idea that Apple can delete movies you've paid for just because the provider doesn't want them on iTunes any longer. But as CNET reports, it turns out da Silva's situation was a little more complicated than that and it's one that highlights the headaches digital content -- and the licensing rules that go along with it -- can cause for people moving to a new region. Me: Hey Apple, three movies I bought disappeared from my iTunes library. Apple: Oh yes, those are not available anymore. Thank you for buying them. Here are two movie rentals on us! Me: Wait... WHAT?? @tim_cook when did this become ...

Like it or not, Instagram is continuing its quest to make shopping ubiquitous inside its app. The social service is launching a dedicated Shopping channel in the Explore tab that offers a personalized selection of goods. If money is burning a hole in your pocket, you won't have to stumble across a shoppable post to lighten your bank account. The channel is gradually rolling out now, although it'll only be available worldwide sometime in the "coming weeks." You can also expect to see more shoppable Stories . The impulse-oriented feature is deploying around the globe, and should be available to businesses in 46 countries. You'll usually have to follow brands on Instagram to see this in action, but many people do -- about a third of the most popular stories come from companies. It might just be a matter of when you see a hard sales pitch. ...