Twitter pulls conspiracist’s verified badge after celebrity outrage

Legend helped elaborate on the concerns. He noted to one of Conkin’s supporters that the bogus Pizzagate scandal “almost got someone killed” — the concern is that a Conkin devotee would believe the unsubstantiated claims at face value and threaten the couple. Legend vowed to sue Conkin if she kept making her claims. The conspiracist deleted her posts and backtracked in a bid to avoid a lawsuit,

Likud calls for annexation of parts of West Bank | Israeli–Palestinian conflict News

Israel’s governing Likud party has approved a draft resolution urging its leaders to formally annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, a move that is expected to further anger Palestinians. Members of the Likud Central Committee voted on Sunday in favour of imposing Israeli sovereignty over illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The resolution is non-binding for cabinet ministers but

Trivia hit HQ arrives on Android in time for New Year’s Eve event

There’s no mention of when a polished version of HQ will reach Android, although Intermedia has been scrambling to fix bugs to get the app ready ahead of its public test. HQ is ultimately a simple game at its heart: it’s an elimination-based challenge where progressively harder questions whittle down the contestant pool from hundreds of thousands to just a handful. The allure is the live,

Telegram for Android now supports multiple accounts

While the iOS app remains a step behind its Android sibling and still can’t support multiple accounts, the company has something for Apple users, as well. Telegram is finally giving you a way to change what your app looks like under the new Appearance setting. The iOS version now has several themes to choose from, including two dark “night time” themes and a “day” theme with colors you can tweak

Twitter ended the year on a fascinating run

It’s been pretty easy to point at Twitter and, with each quarterly moment when it discloses its financial guts, let out a long exasperated sigh. Twitter since going public at a now in retrospect astounding valuation has for much of its public life been quite the disappointment to Wall Street. But then something interesting happened in the back half of 2017: it went on a rather spectacular run,

Make the jump to 4K and HDR in 2018

4K is the most straightforward step forward: It offers four times as many pixels as 1080p. But while that might sound exciting, it’s not a noticeable leap unless you’re sitting very close to a large TV set. HDR, on the other hand, is an upgrade you definitely can’t miss. It lets you see both brighter and darker elements in an image. Shots of the sun or huge explosions end up looking almost as

Two protesters killed in Iran anti-government rallies | Iran News

At least two protesters have been killed in rare anti-government protests in Iran, according to a semi-official Iranian news agency.  The Mehr news agency said on Sunday that at least two people died on Saturday night in Dorud, a city in western Iran. Habibollah Khojastepour, security deputy of the governor of Lorestan province, said the presence of “agitators” prevented a peaceful end to the

OkCupid’s ‘real’ name push isn’t sitting well with users

OkCupid explained again and again as responses to the reviews that it’s not requiring people to use their legal names. They can use nicknames, even initials, so long as they don’t have numbers and symbols. It told TechCrunch in a statement that the change’s purpose is to make the service more human and to give interested parties a name to call the other by from the get-go. The spokesperson also

Telegram suspends channel for encouraging violent Iran protests

It’s not clear if or when the channel might come back. The incident highlights the fine line Telegram has to walk. It doesn’t want to be seen as supporting an oppressive government, especially one that wants to spy on Telegram users, but it also has to maintain a consistent anti-violence policy. If it’s going to ban ISIS, it also has to ban activists that explicitly set out to hurt others, even

Greece moves to cancel Turkish soldier’s asylum | Turkey News

Greece’s government has filed a request to cancel the granting of asylum to one of eight Turkish soldiers who fled their country during last year’s failed coup attempt. The move on Saturday came hours after a Greek administrative committee ruled in favour of the man’s appeal against his earlier application for asylum. The committee’s ruling angered neighbouring Turkey, which has repeatedly

The food revolution may have just needed a cup of Blue Bottle

Each massive exit in the tech ecosystem usually follows the same cycle: an upstart becomes a huge business, it goes public or sells for a huge sum of money, many of the best people that built it take off and then they use their newfound wealth to start companies. But in addition to tech, the venture community has its own pet project: coffee. With investors pouring money into companies like Blue

Cryptocurrency expert kidnapped for $1 million bitcoin ransom

For the robbers, Lerner was a great target: he’s a known bitcoin authority in Ukraine and is an executive at cryptocurrency exchange Exmo. He was thankfully released (shocked but alive) a couple of days later, but it’s unclear who made the transfer for him and whether he did it himself. His company has assured users, though, that their coins are “absolutely safe” and that the kidnappers wouldn’t

Apple Makes $29 Battery Replacements Available Immediately for iPhone 6 and Newer

Apple today announced it is making its reduced $29 battery replacements available immediately for iPhone 6 and all newer models. Apple previously said it would offer the cheaper battery replacements in late January, but it has removed that timeframe from its letter to customers, and has confirmed immediate availability in a statement to TechCrunch. We expected to need more time to be ready, but

Apple’s $29 iPhone battery replacements are available starting today

Those $29 battery out-of-warranty replacements Apple promised are now available for impacted users with an iPhone 6 or later. The company was initially aiming for a late-January timeframe in the States when it first offered up the discount, following blowback against its admission that it had slowed down older model phones to maximize performance. “We expected to need more time to be ready,”

Blunders and blockbusters from the biggest names in tech

Apple You could call 2017 Apple’s year of redemption … or at least the start of its redemption. Whereas 2016 was defined by iterative devices and a sense that Apple had lost its way (see the dongle-tastic MacBook Pro), this year saw Apple rethink multiple products with a mind to 2018 and beyond. To start, it apologized for botching the Mac Pro and neglecting the pro market as a whole. Soon

Why are people protesting in Iran? | News

Tensions are high in Iran as hundreds of people protest in multiple cities against the government’s economic policies. About 300 people protested in Kermanshah, a city in western Iran, on Friday, according to the semi-state news agency Fars. Police there used water cannon and tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Protests also broke out in the capital Tehran, according to social media. The

LAPD arrests 25-year-old suspect in Wichita ‘swatting’ case

Thursday night Wichita police killed Andrew Finch after responding to a call claiming a man at his address had shot someone and was holding others hostage. That call was a hoax, commonly referred to as “swatting,” and in this case, it’s apparently linked to a Call of Duty match, where one player passed a fake address to another before someone called the police to it. Now NBC News reports that

Marvel wants to help you make comics, just leave out the farts

Once you’ve created your comic masterpiece, you can then share it to an online community of Marvel fans. Of course, with this great power comes some rather odious terms of use, as noted by io9. The comics you make and share will be owned by Marvel and Tap Tap, and you can’t include content or topics that, let’s face it, many wannabe comic makers are going to want to include. The terms of use

Apple apologises for slowing iPhones | USA News

Facing lawsuits and consumer outrage after it said it slowed older iPhones with flagging batteries, Apple Inc is dropping prices for battery replacements and will change its software to show users whether their phone battery is good. In a posting on its website on Thursday, Apple apologised over its handling of the battery issue and said it would make a number of changes for customers “to

Alleged swatting hoax ends in the death of a father of two

Here’s what seems to have gone down. Two individuals were playing Call of Duty and got into an argument online over a game with a $1.50 wager. One of them, a person with the Twitter handle @SWauTistic, threatened to swat user @7aLeNT. The latter then provided an address that wasn’t actually their own in response to the threat. Shortly thereafter, @SWauTistic allegedly called in the false report,

What to Expect From Apple in 2018: Three New iPhones and iPad Pro With Face ID, HomePod, Refreshed Macs, and More

Like 2017, 2018 promises to be a major year for Apple, with many new products on the horizon. We’ll get Apple’s first smart speaker — the HomePod — this year, along with a second-generation version of the iPhone X accompanied by a larger-screened version for those who want to go even bigger. A new iPad Pro with Face ID is said to be in the works, and this is also the year when Apple’s AirPower

Amazon did a lot of funky stuff this year and it’s paying off

Holy hell, it’s been a year for Amazon. Jeff Bezos’ former-online-bookstore dumped $13.7 billion to buy a bunch of grocery stores, that speaker you talk to in your living room that Amazon makes is really popular and a bunch of server farms Amazon runs generate more than $10 billion in revenue annually. The confluence of all these things has led to an incredible rise in its stock on the year —

iFixit drops its iPhone battery replacement to $29, matching Apple’s apology price

iFixit has never been particularly fond of Apple’s repair policies. The company’s gadgets regularly rack up poor repairability scores on the site. The site’s taking another jab at the tech giant today, dropping the price of its battery replacement kits to $29 — matching the cost of out-of-warranty battery replacements being offered up as consolation for its iPhone slowdown policies. Apple, of

US Representative calls for civics-focused social networks

Crawford goes on to explain that for-profit companies that create the social networks we use today will always take ad money, including funds from politically motivated groups. And he says freedom of speech protects their right to do so and the right of groups to promote their political opinions. “However, political advertising doesn’t leave much room for official communication with our

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Pair of Nova True Wireless Earbuds From TRNDlabs

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with TRNDlabs to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a pair of NOVA True Wireless Earbuds, which are a wireless alternative to the AirPods. Available for $70 as part of a New Year sale, the NOVA True Wireless Earbuds connect to an iPhone or other Apple device using Bluetooth 4.1, and there are no wires connecting the two earbuds together. Several

Consumers dropped $200 million on apps on Christmas, up 12 percent from last year

Consumers spent $196 million on apps, in-app purchases and subscriptions on Christmas Day 2017 across the App Store and Google Play, according to new data from Sensor Tower. The report, while excluding Android revenue in China, represents a 12.3 percent increase over last year’s spending of approximately $174 million. That speaks to a still-growing market for apps and games as well as the

You can now pick up an iMac Pro in-store, for $4,999 and up

Apple’s super-powered iMac Pro hit the company’s online store just ahead of Christmas. Now those who’d prefer to pick one up in-person can do so by paying a visit to one of its various retail establishments. Availability was first spotted by MacRumors earlier today, and you can check it for yourself by entering your zip code over on the company’s site. At $4,999 and up, this isn’t check out

‘Bloodborne’ is still hiding boss battles almost three years later

The group of miners were able to decrypt the game’s main files earlier this month, and since have been hunting for secrets within its code. According to Kotaku, earlier this month, the group found NPCs that aren’t available in the game. Now the searchers have discovered hidden developer areas that contain new bosses and variations on existing ones. This is similar to what another hacker has one

iFixit Reduces Price of All DIY iPhone Battery Replacement Kits to $29 or Less

Yesterday, Apple responded to customer complaints about how the company handles power management features in older iPhone models and decided to reduce the price for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements from $79 to $29, beginning in late January and lasting through December 2018. In response, iFixit has decided to match that price point and lower the cost of every DIY iPhone battery fix kit

Critical “Same Origin Policy” Bypass Flaw Found in Samsung Android Browser

A critical vulnerability has been discovered in the browser app comes pre-installed on hundreds of millions of Samsung Android devices that could allow an attacker to steal data from browser tabs if the user visits an attacker-controlled site. Identified as CVE-2017-17692, the vulnerability is Same Origin Policy (SOP) bypass issue that resides in the popular Samsung Internet Browser version

Porsche’s electric Mission E will pack up to 670 horsepower

Spies have previously caught Porsche testing a Mission E mule that vaguely resembles the auto show model (below). However, it had regular doors (rather than a suicide rear door), less bulgy fenders and a front end that’s not quite so dramatic. However, Automobile tested a version that retains all of those features and looks exactly like the show car that first appeared in Frankfurt. Based on

George Weah: From ghetto to football star to president | News

As a footballer, George Weah won accolades few could hope for, picking up the Ballon d’Or and seizing African Footballer of the Year on multiple occasions, alongside a raft of team honours. Fewer still would dare dream of leading their countries; but after winning around 61 percent of votes in Liberia’s presidential election, Weah, from the Congress for Democratic Change party, is set to do just

Apple Patent Filing Describes Wireless Power Transfer System That Can Prioritize Devices

Two days ago, we reported that Energous had received FCC certification for the company’s first-generation WattUp Mid Field transmitter, which powers up devices at a distance of up to three feet away. As noted by VentureBeat, this week also saw two new Apple wireless power patent applications published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. While the patents don’t confirm anything on their own,

YouTube’s poor AI training led to rise of child exploitation videos

As one rater said: “Even if a video is disturbing or violent, we can flag it but still have to say it’s high quality [if the task calls for it].” That means raters have to mark videos as “high quality” even if they have disturbing content, which can give those links a boost in search results. The problem? Child-exploitative videos found on the platform usually have good production values: they

Apple wireless charging patent describes ability to prioritize devices

Patently Apple notes that the two patents describe wireless charging methods, the ability to charge multiple devices at once, an option to choose which devices are charged first and under what circumstances, and the possibility of tucking wireless charging equipment inside other structures, such as furniture or vehicles. The latest iPhone models — the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X — are

Best Wireless Chargers for iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus

With the release of the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple now supports Qi-based wireless inductive charging on its latest phones, and that means charging pads have quickly become popular accessories for iPhone owners. Apple’s favored partners for wireless charging pads are Belkin and mophie, and Apple is carrying a $60 charger from each company in its own online and retail stores. But

Apple apologizes for not telling customers iPhones with older batteries would slow over time

Apple has today posted a letter on its website and a technical article in its Knowledge Base apologizing for not being more transparent about how it handles performance on iPhones with older batteries. Last week, Apple issued a statement that made it clear that changes it made a year ago were indeed slowing down the maximum performance of iPhones with older batteries. It will now also offer a

Why are so many countries expanding in the Red Sea? | Turkey

Turkey has signed an agreement with Sudan that will allow it to have a military presence on the Red Sea. It is the latest country to expand into the area. The list of countries already in the region or building bases there include: Saudi Arabia, China, Israel, the UAE and the US. The US and European Union maintain regular security patrols in the region. But the Red Sea is also one of the world’s

NASA lends a hand to new American Girl doll with Mars aspirations

American Girl worked with NASA and a panel of scientists and astronauts to make Luciana’s story (and gear, like a Mars habitat and flight suit) as realistic as possible. They also contributed to an accompanying STEM-based educational program providing space simulations and quizzes in an American Girl app and educational website. The company is also partnering with Space Camp to provide a

Apple to Offer $29 iPhone Battery Replacements, More Battery Health Info in iOS

Apple this afternoon addressed customer concerns about an ongoing controversy over power management features in older iPhones, pledging to introduce more detailed information about battery health and reducing the price of battery replacements for all of 2018. In a letter explaining its policies, Apple apologizes for the misinformation that’s been spread and says that it would never “intentionally

Apple and Amazon may set up shop in Saudi Arabia soon

Apple has a presence in Saudi Arabia, but it’s through third parties. None of the big international tech companies have direct retail in the country, but that may be about to change. Apple’s presence will focus on the company’s popular products; the first Apple Store in the country may open in 2019. Apple is already the country’s second most popular phone provider, despite not having a direct

Target’s End-of-the-Year iPad Deals: $250 for 32GB 9.7-inch iPad and $300 for 128GB iPad mini 4

Sales celebrating the end of 2017 are in full swing, and Target this week has priced the 32GB 9.7-inch iPad from early 2017 at $249.99, down from $329.99. Currently, that’s $30 cheaper than another sale on the same iPad that Best Buy is running, so if you’ve been looking to purchase one of the lower-end models of Apple’s iPad lineup this is a great opportunity. As of writing, the Space Gray and

The best games of 2017

James Trew Managing Editor Weltenschlächter At the ripe old age of 28, the Atari Lynx doesn’t get a lot of new games. While other retro consoles have thriving communities keeping them alive, the Lynx has a handful of dedicated fans. And, in turn, perhaps almost a single-digit number of people still making games for it. In that context, it’s been a bumper year for the Lynx, with a bevy of

Apple Pay Promo Offers $5 Off Fandango Movie Tickets

Apple is offering an Apple Pay promotion this week that discounts Fandango movie tickets by $5 when you make a purchase using either the Fandango app or the Fandango.com website. The discount will be available on movie ticket purchases made through January 2, according to the email that went out to Apple customers this morning. When you make a purchase using Apple Pay, you will need to use the

Scientists made a virtual supernova you can walk around

To build the 3D model, they looked at the elements inside a supernova (such as iron, silicon and argon) and the light they emit when heated. That gave them a way to figure out how fast the supernova’s debris are moving and in what direction. The result is a visualization showing the spherical component making up the outer parts of the remnant and the flat, disk-like component making up the inner

CEO of Major UK-Based Cryptocurrency Exchange Kidnapped in Ukraine

Pavel Lerner, a prominent Russian blockchain expert and known managing director of one of the major crypto-exchanges EXMO, has allegedly been kidnapped by “unknown” criminals in the Ukranian capital of Kiev. According to Ukraine-based web publication Strana, Lerner, 40-year-old citizen of Russia, was kidnapped on December 26 when he was leaving his office in the center of town (located on the

‘Bruised and denied care’: Fawzi al-Junaidi out on bail | News

A 16-year-old Palestinian boy, who appeared in a photo that was condemned as representative of the Israeli army’s use of excessive force, has been released on bail after being detained for three weeks. Fawzi al-Junaidi, who was photographed, blindfolded and surrounded by more than 20 Israeli troops, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, was charged with throwing stones at a group of soldiers

Snapchat Stories May Soon Be Shared Online Like Embedded Tweets

Snap is reportedly working on a new Snapchat feature that will let users share stories outside of the mobile app, in an effort to boost Snapchat’s presence in the social media space (via The Verge). Called “Stories Everywhere”, the feature should see Snapchat’s premium video and editorial content appear on news sites and elsewhere online. The move aims to bring greater visibility to the brand, in

Amazon hopes for major expansion of its online ad business

The internet retailer would entice advertisers by giving them the one thing they want the most: user data. Two contacts told CNBC that Amazon was willing to share more info than rivals like Facebook and Google if an advertiser was willing to spend enough. And when Amazon already has both extensive knowledge of buying habits and a huge volume of online traffic, its offers could be tempting.

Researchers say life on Mars may have had a better chance underground

“Given how little we understand about the origin of life on Earth, it makes sense to adopt a broader plan to seek signs of life,” say the paper’s authors. And they suggest going below the planet’s surface, looking in areas that may have hosted hydrothermal systems. “Mars is not Earth,” say the researchers, “We must recognize that our entire perspective on how life has evolved and how evidence of