The American Citizen’s Guide to Clean Air
Unsure if the government is looking out for them, a guerrilla network of “breathers” has turned to personal pollution monitors.
Home / Archive for November 2018
Bits: The Week in Tech: Facebook’s Three Big Problems
The social media company is facing plenty of issues. Kevin Roose wonders how many of its executives understand that Facebook has more than j...
Marriott Hacking Exposes Data of Up to 500 Million Guests
Personal details including names, dates of birth, passport numbers and payment numbers could be at risk, the hotel chain said.
Drawn to Tesla’s Bright Prospects, Many Black Workers Say They Found Racism
African-American workers have reported threats, humiliation and barriers to promotion at the plant. The automaker says there is no pattern o...
Grindr President Defends Same-Sex Marriage Comments
Scott Chen, the president of the gay dating app, said his personal view of marriage as “between a man and a woman” did not contradict his su...
Sheryl Sandberg Is Said to Have Asked Facebook Staff to Research George Soros
Facebook’s second in command wanted an examination of the billionaire’s financial ties after he delivered a blistering speech about tech com...
Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled Are Fined in I.C.O. Crackdown
The boxer and the rapper did not disclose that they were paid $150,000 to promote Centra’s virtual currency last year. Regulators announced ...
NASA’s Return to the Moon to Start With Private Companies’ Spacecraft
Nine companies will vie for a share of more than $2 billion dollars to build small landers to carry experimental payloads to the lunar surfa...
G.M.’s President Will Take Over Its Self-Driving Effort
The executive, Dan Ammann, is becoming chief executive of Cruise, which General Motors bought in 2016 to develop and commercialize autonomou...
Cambridge Analytica Used Fashion Tastes to Identify Right-Wing Voters
Christopher Wylie, who helped found the voter-profiling firm, said that clothing preferences had been key to helping “Steve Bannon build his...
Microsoft Is Worth as Much as Apple. How Did That Happen?
Just a few years ago, Microsoft was seen as a lumbering has-been. Now it’s a contender for the title of the world’s most valuable company.
Iranians Accused in Cyberattacks, Including One That Hobbled Atlanta
The suspects chose targets with the means to pay ransom and a need to put their systems back online quickly, law enforcement officials said....
That Virus Alert on Your Computer? Scammers in India May Be Behind It
Police outside New Delhi raided fake tech-support centers that sent false warnings to Americans and Canadians and then charged to “fix” the ...
Critical Shopper: The Amazon Warehouse Comes to SoHo
Our shopper visits the new Amazon 4 Star store, which stocks items with customer review ratings of four stars or better. Brick and mortar ne...
Virgos Are Queen of Teen Internet
Insights from Tumblr and others suggest that people really are obsessed with astrology (again) — and not just the memes.
Tech Fix: Make Your Friends and Family Less Irksome This Holiday Season
Getting a big group together this time of year can be a hassle. So spare everyone the endless phone notifications and email threads and try ...
Tech We’re Using: Covering a White House Where News Is Always Just a Tap Away
Katie Rogers’s beat is full of real-time digital moments. One tip to keep on top of it: If you call insiders from a blocked number, they’ll ...
State of the Art: How to Survive the Next Era of Tech (Slow Down and Be Mindful)
In his final State of the Art column, Farhad Manjoo reflects on the industry’s changes and presents a new guide for navigating the future of...
New Zealand Blocks Huawei, in Blow to Chinese Telecom Giant
The announcement came a day after Papua New Guinea said it would uphold a deal with Huawei, illustrating the growing global divide over the ...
A Hot Seat for Facebook, an Empty Chair for Zuckerberg and a Vow to Share Secret Files
At a hearing in London, officials from nine countries criticized the social network and said they planned to release internal Facebook docum...
Jack Ma, China’s Richest Man, Belongs to the Communist Party. Of Course.
Many business figures join the organization out of expedience. Likewise, the party sees benefits in associating itself with capitalist succe...
Pre-I.P.O. Deals Add to Exodus From Public Markets
Small and midsize companies are fading from stock markets, including companies that are days away from going public.
Myanmar Dispatch: A General Kicked Off Facebook Can Still Glorify Military at Grandiose Museum
The colossal museum built by Myanmar’s military to honor itself and its leader showcases the mind-set of a force obsessed with its reputatio...
How Cheap Labor Drives China’s A.I. Ambitions
If China is the Saudi Arabia of data, its data factories are the refineries, turning raw data into the fuel that can power China’s goal of A...
At War: America's Relationship With Land Mines and Cluster Munitions
John Ismay, a reporter for At War, explains his interest in developments and trends in the arms industry that may influence how wars are fou...
Amazon Grants Australians Access to Its Main Site
The online retailer will make products from its main website available, reversing a decision that angered its customers earlier this year.
How Facebook’s P.R. Firm Brought Political Trickery to Tech
Definers, an import from Washington to Silicon Valley, thrived with opposition research and a fishy campaign to push Apple’s C.E.O. for pres...
5 Reasons Cryptocurrency Prices Are Plunging Again
A year ago, Bitcoin and other digital currencies were booming. Here’s why things look so much bleaker now.
James H. Billington, 89, Dies; Led Library of Congress Into Digital Age
Overseeing the nation’s treasure house of knowledge for three decades, he almost doubled its holdings but resigned in 2015, stung by cries o...
Tech Tip: Record and Share Your Family History in 5 Steps
Holiday gatherings offer a great time to create a multimedia digital archive of interviews with your relatives so they can share their memor...
Tech We’re Using: You Don’t Have to Be a Journalist to Want to Keep Chats Private
It’s easy to leave behind digital evidence when talking to sources — or to friends. Here’s how Kate Conger, a tech reporter, reduces that ex...
Somali Workers in Minnesota Force Amazon to Negotiate
Labor organizers and researchers said they had not heard of Amazon previously coming to the table after worker pressure, even for private di...
The ‘Neo-Banks’ Are Finally Having Their Moment
High fees and low interest rates have provided an opening for a new generation of finance start-ups to compete with the big banks.
How to Get the Most Out of Black Friday (Even if You’re Not Into Tech)
Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be known for hot gadgets and electronics, but there are great deals on other things, too. Here are a few t...
Missed Connection or Canceled Flight? 6 Tips for Getting What You Want From an Airline
Tips for using social media effectively when you are trying to resolve a travel disaster, from a canceled flight to a missed connection.
Want Faster Airline Customer Service? Try Tweeting
Tired of endless phone trees and long hold times? You may find that using social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook is a better way t...
11 Things We’d Really Like to Know: How Will We Outsmart A.I. Liars?
For better and worse, humans are only improving their ability to deceive themselves with technology.
Needing Growth, Uber Returns to Germany. This Time on Best Behavior.
Uber retreated from many towns in Germany in 2015 after battling regulators. Now the ride-hailing company has re-entered the city of Düsseld...
The Facebook Movie Told Us What We Needed to Know About Mark Zuckerberg
Rewatching “The Social Network,” eight years later: What seemed like an underdog story at the time is now more of a warning.
Finally, a Machine That Can Finish Your Sentence
Completing someone else’s thought is not an easy trick for A.I. But new systems are starting to crack the code of natural language.
In ‘Digital India,’ Government Hands Out Free Phones to Win Votes
The leaders of one Indian state gave 2.9 million smartphones to residents, then used them to campaign for re-election. Others may copy the m...
Zuckerberg Defends Company in Friday Meeting with Employees
Facebook’s co-founder and other executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, answered employees’ questions after a New York Times investigation of...
Facebook Fallout Ruptures Democrats’ Longtime Alliance With Silicon Valley
Tech giants have found key allies among Democrats for years, a bond strengthened through mutual interests and campaign donations. But a year...
Google Cloud Executive Who Sought Pentagon Contract Steps Down
Diane Greene, who has run Google Cloud for three years, will be replaced by a former Oracle executive.
The Saturday Profile: From Encyclopedic Collector to ‘Wikipedian-at-Large’
Mike Dickison was a museum curator when he turned to another form of curating, teaching fellow New Zealanders how to beef up their country’s...
Bits: The Week in Tech: Amazon Finally Makes an HQ2 Decision
The internet retailer took 14 months to decide on a second headquarters. Surprise! There will be two of them, and skeptics have plenty to ch...
Real Estate Technology: Try, Try Again
Stackable apartments. Robotic valets. Infrared spas. The future has arrived, haltingly, and this time will be different. Maybe.
A Look Inside the Tactics of Definers, Facebook’s Attack Dog
The opposition research firm had focused on the internet company’s competition. But ahead of a Senate hearing it had a new target: Senators....
Mark Zuckerberg Defends Facebook as Furor Over Its Tactics Grows
Mr. Zuckerberg said that he wouldn’t step down as chairman and that his No. 2, Sheryl Sandberg, was “doing great work” despite questions abo...
The Look of Amazon’s HQ2 Winners, Before Amazon
Crystal City in Virginia and Long Island City in Queens are about to become home to an internet giant. They will probably never appear the s...
‘No Morals’: Advertisers React to Facebook Report
Several top marketers were critical of the tech giant after The New York Times reported how it ignored and hid warning signs that it was bei...
Neo-Nazi Harassment Not Protected by First Amendment, Judge Rules
A lawsuit against the publisher of the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer for unleashing a “terror campaign” of harassment against a Jewish real...
‘I Don’t Really Want to Work for Facebook.’ So Say Some Computer Science Students.
A job at Facebook is plum. But at a recent university hackathon, some young engineers showed a changing attitude toward working at the socia...
At War: Are Killer Robots the Future of War? Parsing the Facts on Autonomous Weapons
Under what circumstances should militaries delegate the decision to take a human life to machines? It’s a moral leap that the international ...
Minister in Charge of Japan’s Cybersecurity Says He Has Never Used a Computer
Yoshitaka Sakurada appeared not to know what a USB drive was, and told lawmakers that when it was necessary to use a computer, “I order my e...
Facebook Said to Cut Ties With Definers Public Affairs
After facing scrutiny for working with Definers Public Affairs, a firm that applies political campaign tactics to public relations, Facebook...
Facebook at War: 6 Key Takeaways From The Times’s Investigation
An investigation by The New York Times revealed how Facebook fought back against critics during a flood of crises — with delays, denials and...
Tech We’re Using: The Essentials for Covering Silicon Valley: Burner Phones and Doorbells
Reporting on secretive technology companies sometimes means finding people who don’t want to be found. Jack Nicas, who covers Apple, relies ...
Amazon’s HQ2 in Virginia Leaves a Real Estate Firm Poised to Cash In
JBG Smith is the largest landowner in a Virginia area some have called a ghost town. That could change fast with Amazon’s new office plans.
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis
Russian meddling, data sharing, hate speech — the social network faced one scandal after another. This is how Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl San...
Uber’s Losses Continue Ahead of Initial Public Offering
Uber, which is moving toward a public debut next year, said its net loss was more than $1 billion in the third quarter.
Tech Fix: What’s Hot (and What’s Not) This Black Friday
To help shoppers get started, here’s a cheat sheet of the products to track, and the ones to ignore.
New York Is a Genuine Tech Hub (and That Was Before Amazon)
The Bay Area in California remains the nation’s high-tech epicenter. But New York’s tech work force has been growing impressively.
Amazon’s New York Home Qualifies as ‘Distressed’ Under Federal Tax Law
The Long Island City site was designated as an “opportunity zone,” an incentive created by President Trump’s tax bill to help low-income are...
Amazon HQ2: How New York and Virginia Won the Beauty Contest
Eager candidates offered name changes, helipads and even cactuses to entice the company into setting up shop.
State of the Art: How Google Photos Became a Perfect Jukebox for Our Memories
Google Photos, introduced in 2015, has become one of the most emotionally resonant pieces of technology today. It is also shaping our narrat...
Up Next: A Tech Wunderkind Who Knows Jaden Smith and Elon Musk
Iddris Sandu has written code for Instagram and Twitter, and counts Barack Obama as a fan.
A $2 Billion Question: Did New York and Virginia Overpay for Amazon?
The states offered tax credits, rebates and other incentives to lure the online retail giant and 25,000 jobs. Neighboring states offered eve...
Dominating Retail? Yes. Reviving a City? No Thanks.
Amazon is not in the business of saving your hometown.
How to Tell if Those Black Friday Deals Are Actually Worth Buying
Black Friday and Cyber Monday mean hundreds of online deals, discounts, and in-person doorbusters, but these tips will help you tell which o...
Barry Rand, Barrier-Breaking Chief Executive, Is Dead at 74
After being passed over at Xerox, he became one of the few African-American chief executives of a Fortune 500 company when he took control o...
Online Photo Printing for the Holidays (and Any Time)
Want to share photos this holiday season (and other times)? We have recommendations for cards, photo books, and photo printing services.
Tavares Strachan Teams With SpaceX to Launch Satellite-Sculpture Into Orbit
The object, made of 24-karat gold, honors Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African-American to train as an astronaut.
Amazon Announces New York and Virginia as HQ2 Picks
The company said it would start giant expansions in Long Island City in Queens and Crystal City in Arlington, Va.
For University of Minnesota, Chinese Tycoon’s Arrest Shines Light, Again, on Sexual Assault
The billionaire Richard Liu, who has denied wrongdoing, was in Minneapolis attending a relatively new and lucrative academic program when he...
At War: The U.S. Army Is Trying to Develop New Land Mines — Ones That Don’t Harm Civilians
The Army has been working on a new model of antivehicle mines that could reduce the threat posed to civilians, if it works the way the servi...
Facebook Failed to Police How Its Partners Handled User Data
For years, Facebook struck deals that gave device makers access to troves of user data. A disclosure to Congress details the company’s lax o...
Amazon’s HQ2 Will Benefit From New York City. But What Does New York Get?
Amazon promises tens of thousands of new jobs, but should we expect more than that?
Amazon’s New Neighbor: The Nation’s Largest Housing Project
As a company owned by the world’s richest man prepares to transform Long Island City, tenants of the Queensbridge Houses worry about opportu...
The Instagrammers Next Door, Plugging Brands for Peanuts (or Shampoo)
Influencers are so 2014. And microinfluencers are so last week. Now advertisers see value in people with as few as 1,000 followers: the nano...
Alibaba Had Another Big Singles Day. The Party May Not Last.
China’s slowing economic growth and weakening consumer sentiment pose a challenge to an e-commerce giant with its own problematic ambitions....
Watch Rocket Lab Try to Launch an Electron Rocket to Orbit From New Zealand
The company aims to complete its first commercial mission to space, a harbinger of a new breed of rocket that is small, cheap and able to be...
The Chemists’ War
One hundred years after the end of World War I, the Army Corps of Engineers is still cleaning up the relics of experiments that helped devel...
How to Date a Lot of Billionaires
Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo sought fame on social media by flaunting what nature — and men — gave them. Then they got locked up abroad.
Facebook to Drop Forced Arbitration in Harassment Cases
The social media giant acted one day after Google, facing intense pressure from employees, made a similar decision.
Bits: The Week in Tech: Social Media Faces Another Election Test
After a disastrous performance two years ago, social media companies rightly took disinformation and voter suppression seriously ahead of th...
Tech C.E.O.s Are in Love With Their Principal Doomsayer
The futurist philosopher Yuval Noah Harari thinks Silicon Valley is an engine of dystopian ruin. So why do the digital elite adore him so?
At China’s Internet Conference, a Darker Side of Tech Emerges
The World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China, has long showcased flashy new tech. This year, discussions also dealt with counterterrorism,...
Google, After Employee Walkout, Overhauls Sexual Misconduct Policy
A week after 20,000 employees around the globe staged a walkout over the handling of sexual harassment and assault cases, Google said it was...
We Tried Facebook’s New Portal Device (So You Don’t Have To)
Here’s what happened when two Times tech reporters installed Facebook’s new Portal video-calling gadgets in their bedrooms.
Corner Office: Sundar Pichai of Google: ‘Technology Doesn’t Solve Humanity’s Problems’
Growing up in India, he slept on the floor of a house without a refrigerator. Today, the chief executive is steering Google through the most...
Tesla Names New Chairwoman as It Seeks a More Stable Image
The car company tapped Robyn Denholm, one of its independent directors, as it seeks a counterbalance to Elon Musk, its chief executive.
Google Is Said to Be Shopping for More Real Estate in New York
Amazon appears to be leaning toward opening a new office in New York. Now word comes that Google, already a big employer in the city, may ad...
The Shift: Facebook Had a Good Election Day. But It Can’t Let Up Now.
Facebook made strides toward cleaning up its service in the last two years. But it continues to behave most responsibly only when placed und...
After Protest, Booksellers Are Victorious Against Amazon Subsidiary
Two days into a strike by antiquarian booksellers against the Amazon unit AbeBooks, the company capitulated.
Get Better TV Sound (Without a Lot of Wires)
Flat-panel HDTVs are too thin to house good speakers. These simple tips and gear can upgrades give you great sound without a lot of work.
In Superstar Cities, the Rich Get Richer, and They Get Amazon
New York and Washington are leaving the rest of the country behind. Companies like Amazon explain why.
He Developed a Video Game Cheat. Then His Home Was Raided.
A gamer in Melbourne has had his assets frozen in connection with a cheat for Grand Theft Auto Online, raising questions about the reach of ...
Tech We’re Using: Social Media’s Re-engineering Effect, From Myanmar to Germany
When Facebook, YouTube and others use algorithms to keep us engaged, there can be unintended consequences. Max Fisher, his tools in a trusty...
State of the Art: Why the Google Walkout Was a Watershed Moment in Tech
Outsiders have little leverage to force the industry to change. The companies’ own workers are another matter.
What We Don’t Know About Amazon’s Split HQ2
Site details? Incentives? Much of the process has been secret, and local officials and developers signed nondisclosure agreements.
On Technology: You Already Email Like a Robot — Why Not Automate It?
Google is helping relieve the knowledge workers of the world from the drudgery of email — by revealing how inhuman it was in the first place...
San Francisco Approves Business Tax to Fund Homeless Services
The city’s tech elites were divided over the initiative, which is seen as an effort to hold their companies accountable for exacerbating the...
Russian Trolls Were at It Again Before Midterms, Facebook Says
The company said Tuesday that it had taken down more than 100 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency, a trol...
Visions of a Tech Hub? Landing Amazon Is Just a Start
How the company and local officials flesh out plans for the new corporate presence will be crucial to the economic lift it produces.
Losers in Amazon Sweepstakes Aren’t Ready to Throw in the Towel
There were tax breaks. Ads on Seattle buses. Amazon latte art. And, finally, fading hope that the e-commerce giant would be coming to town.
British Watchdog Finds Cambridge Analytica and Brexit Financier Misused Private Data
Investigators outlined “a disturbing disregard” of privacy in a broad look at online tools used by political campaigns.
Amazon Marches Closer to Its Goal of Becoming the Everything Company
Amazon defied expectations by splitting its second headquarters into two locations. For the internet company, it seems to be working out rat...
Facebook Admits It Was Used to Incite Violence in Myanmar
The company, citing a human rights report it commissioned, said it was moving to prevent further abuses of its platform in Myanmar. Critics ...
In China, Bill Gates Encourages the World to Build a Better Toilet
The Microsoft co-founder’s Reinvented Toilet Expo featured innovative approaches to a global problem — the fact that billions have no access...
In Google Walkout, Workers Reject Silicon Valley Individualism
Last week’s protest could be a sign that highly-paid workers are losing patience with the technology industry’s worldview and embracing coll...
Amazon’s HQ2? Make That Q for Queens
The tech giant is said to have settled on Long Island City in Queens as one of two locations to house some 50,000 employees. The other is in...
Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 in Two Locations
The surprise change would allow the company to tap into the talent pools of two different regions.
Twitter Says It Is Ready for the Midterms, but Rogue Accounts Aren’t Letting Up
On the eve of the midterm elections, Twitter — like other social media companies — is still struggling to combat misinformation.
Another Use for A.I.: Finding Millions of Unregistered Voters
Jeff Jonas, a prominent data scientist, has used his software for a multistate project to identify eligible voters and to clean up voter rol...
6 Types of Misinformation to Beware of on Election Day. (And What to Do if You Spot Them.)
Be careful of rumors and hoaxes about the voting and polling places. Here are some tips for spotting and avoiding false information.
The New New World: Crazy Work Hours and Lots of Cameras: Silicon Valley Goes to China
A group of Silicon Valley executives went to China and discovered a parallel tech universe that can be equally impressive, alienating and dy...
The Mysteries of Animal Movement
A scientist’s unfettered curiosity leads him to investigate the physics at work in some very odd corners of the natural world.
Far-Right Internet Groups Listen for Trump’s Approval, and Often Hear It
In recent weeks, extremist internet communities have cheered as their once-fringe views have found oxygen among prominent Republicans.
We Asked for Examples of Election Misinformation. You Delivered.
Readers submitted more than 4,000 examples of misinformation. Here are the different types being spread this election season.
understanding the times: How We Cover Elections: Interactive Maps
Editors in our graphics department discuss how they turn vast troves of voting data into dynamic maps that help readers understand and explo...
Booksellers Protest Amazon Site’s Move to Drop Stores From Certain Countries
A flash strike against AbeBooks, due to begin Monday, is a rare concerted action by vendors against any part of Amazon, which wields huge po...
Did You Vote? Now Your Friends May Know (and Nag You)
On the eve of the midterm elections, peer pressure apps make it easy to instantly snoop on the voting history of friends, family and strange...
Mario Segale, Developer Who Inspired Nintendo to Name Super Mario, Dies at 84
Mr. Segale rented a warehouse near Seattle to Nintendo in the company’s early days, and once berated its president about unpaid rent.
understanding the times: How We Cover Elections: Live Polling
The Upshot’s Amanda Cox and Nate Cohn answer questions about the midterm election polls The Times is sharing in real time, a first for any n...
Senior Google Lobbyist Is Stepping Down From Her Role
Susan Molinari, who leads Google’s federal lobbying and policy efforts, is leaving her role amid growing scrutiny of the Silicon Valley gian...
Bits: The Week in Tech: Social Media Ugliness Hits Home
Google employees marched to protest workplace harassment. Apple profits soared. But the big news was social media’s role in real-world viole...
Alibaba Feels the Pinch From China’s Slowing Growth
The e-commerce giant lowered its estimate for revenue growth as challenges mount for the world’s second largest economy.
Bitcoin’s ‘First Felon’ Faces More Legal Trouble
Charlie Shrem went to prison in 2015 after he pleaded guilty to helping people buy drugs online. Now he’s being sued by the Winklevoss twins...
Apple Raises Prices, and Profits Keep Booming
Apple posted more than $14 billion in profit for the third quarter as customers willingly paid more for iPhones and the company’s other prod...
Google Employees Stage Worldwide Walkout
Workers are protesting the company’s handling of sexual harassment. The walkouts followed a New York Times report that the tech giant paid m...
How to Buy a Used Phone Without Getting Fleeced
New smartphone season is here, but last year’s models can offer similarly impressive features at great discounts. These tips will help you g...
A Cryptocurrency Millionaire Wants to Build a Utopia in Nevada
A man spent millions on an enormous plot of land near Reno. Now he wants to build a community based on the blockchain technology introduced ...
Start-Ups Ask, ‘Are We Making Money for Saudi Arabia?’
Following the money isn’t easy in the opaque world of venture capital.
Major Study Finds ‘Some Evidence’ of Link Between Cellphone Radiation and Brain Cancer
But the results apply only to male rats and involve radio frequencies long out of routine use.
Google Employees Stage Walkouts Over Handling of Harassment
Workers in the tech company’s offices around the world protested on Thursday against how it has handled cases of sexual harassment and misco...
Alas, the Blockchain Won’t Save Journalism After All
Hype around the technology has led to incomprehensible applications of it.
State of the Art: How Mark Zuckerberg Became Too Big to Fail
Facebook has had a turbulent two years. But almost no one in tech thinks Mr. Zuckerberg, the social network’s chief executive, should step d...
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