“Lo.” That was the first message to cross the internet, in 1969, sent from a router at UCLA to one at Menlo Park. And behold! Here we are. Year 50 of the information age, when nearly every human (and an increasing number of otherwise inanimate objects) live, willingly or not, simultaneously, in physical space—IRL—and a…

The US government is taking more steps to block Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from American networks.The Federal Communications Commission proposed two measures this week to stop US carriers from using technology from the two companies. The first would ban carriers from using money from the Universal Service Fund, an FCC-managed program that offers…

Zack Roif was having a perfectly normal day at work last Friday when he opened an email invitation to the office Halloween party. The theme: Hellvetica, the world’s most ubiquitous font turned evil. Roif, who is an associate creative director at RGA, an ad agency in New York, appreciated the humor. Then he wondered if he could turn…

Californians fight flames on multiple fronts during wildfire season, but the real enemy is the wind. In the southern part of the state they’re called Santa Anas; in the north, Diablos. Sometimes gusting as hard as a hurricane’s gale, the winds are what turn California’s desiccated autumns into pyrocenic months of smoky skies, electrical blackouts,…

The headline shouted that it was a “shocker.” Last night, The Hollywood Reporter posted a story revealing that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators behind the Game of Thrones television adaptation, were ending their creative partnership with Lucasfilm—effective immediately. A year and half ago, the studio announced it had asked the pair to create…

After months of revelations and apologies, all the major smart assistant makers have revamped how they handle human review of audio snippets. Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana were all using third-party contractors to transcribe and vet recorded snippets, adding some human brain power to underlying machine-learning algorithms. But the backlash over…

Transgender athletes are having a moment. At all levels of sport, they’re stepping onto the podium and into the headlines. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard won two gold medals at the Pacific Games, and college senior CeCé Telfer became the NCAA Division II national champion in the 400-meter run. Another senior, June Eastwood, has been…

A year ago, Google introduced one of those time-saving tricks that makes the cold, relentless march of time just a little bit more bearable: You could suddenly create a new Google doc simply by typing doc.new into your URL bar. Ditto spreadsheets, calendar events, and other Google-specific tasks. Now Google’s making that small magic available…

Slack created a new solution for workplace communication, one copied by many, even Microsoft. But the product, which is meant to help individuals and businesses collaborate, has been critiqued for…

AT&T and WarnerMedia just announced the pricing of their HBO Max streaming service, along with sharing more details about the timing and content lineup. The service will cost $14.99 per…