AUNDRZ

Will A New Law To Curb Robocalls Make A Difference? A new law aims to cut down on the number of robocalls Americans receive. NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Wall Street Journal reporter Sarah Krouse about how effective the law might be. Read more on NPR

Reporters Pick Their Favorite Global Stories Of The Decade The topics range from a ticking time bomb in the Arctic to the art of taking selfies in an ethical way. Here are the stories selected by our contributors. Read more on NPR

By BY NELLIE BOWLES AND NOAM SCHEIBER from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY NOAM SCHEIBER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Dinosaurs Come Back To Life At The Smithsonian (Rebroadcast) Life uh, uh, uh, finds a way. Read more on NPR

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology via New York Times

California Rings In The New Year With A New Data Privacy Law Under California's new digital privacy law, consumers can opt out of the sale of their personal information. The toughest data privacy law in the U.S., it's expected to set the standard nationwide. Read more on NPR

By BY NATASHA SINGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Spotify Becomes Latest Tech Company To Hit On Pause Political Ads Starting early 2020, the company says it will no longer sell paid political advertisements for its streaming service. The move follows similar decisions by Twitter and Google. Read more on NPR

Engineering Designs For People With Autism Engineering students in Connecticut are working on designs that could make everyday life easier for people with autism and their families. Read more on NPR

The Global Stories of 2019 That You Probably Missed The topics range from the way mangroves fight climate change to a pop-up pub in China where young patrons learn about the issue of sexual consent. Read more on NPR

How Colleges Are Using Tech To Keep Track Of Students NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell about how colleges are using technology to keep track of students. Read more on NPR

By BY DAVID STREITFELD from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY KAREN WEISE from NYT Technology via New York Times

Russia Claims It Has Successfully Tested An Alternative To The Internet NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Rodger Baker of Stratfor about the news that Russia has successfully tested a "closed" internet system. Read more on NPR

How Pilots Interact With Automation Air travel is much safer today because of an increased reliance on automation. But experts say it's harder for pilots to take over when something goes wrong. Read more on NPR

What Might Happen In Tech Over The Next Decade NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with University of California Berkeley researcher Hany Farid about his vision for what will happen in tech over the next decade. Read more on NPR

How Tech Has Changed Our Lives In The Last 10 Years Several tech experts weigh in on the technologies of the past decade that had the greatest impact on society. Read more on NPR

By BY J. D. BIERSDORFER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Would You Lend Your Voice To Our Experiment? NPR is running an experiment in an effort to figure out how accurately voice-to-text algorithms interpret English speakers of all backgrounds. Read more on NPR

Facebook Users Say Platform's Birthday Fundraisers Might Be Too Much Of A Good Thing Those birthday fundraisers on Facebook have brought in a billion dollars for charities, but some Facebook users think the ubiquitous appeals are getting to be too much of a good thing. Read more on NPR

By BY CADE METZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Apple Pulls ToTok App After Report That Emirati Government Uses It For Surveillance Apple pulled the messaging app ToTok from the app store after The New York Times reported that the app is used for surveillance by the government of the United Arab Emirates. Read more on NPR

Esports Programs Plug Students Into Careers At Shenandoah University, students are learning the ins and outs of the esports business. Read more on NPR

Boeing's Starliner Lands Safely Back To Earth After Aborted Space Station Mission The journey is being hailed as a major achievement despite failing to complete a core objective: docking at the international space station. NASA hopes to launch U.S. astronauts in space in 2020. Read more on NPR

By BY STEVE LOHR from NYT Technology via New York Times

Snopes, Facebook And Fake Accounts NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to Snopes VP of operations Vinny Green and reporter Jordan Liles about how Facebook used their reporting to shut down 900 fake accounts without crediting them. Read more on NPR

Home Security And Hacking NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to smart home expert Rachel Cericola of Wirecutter about ways to minimize the risk of home security and smart appliances getting hacked. Read more on NPR

Scathing Report Puts Secret FISA Court Into The Spotlight. Will Congress Act? Critics inside and outside officialdom are calling for, at very least, the FBI to validate its practices in requesting surveillance. Will congressional action follow? Read more on NPR

The Emotional Toll Of Content Moderation NPR's Michel Martin speaks with journalist Casey Newton, who's been writing about the working conditions of content moderators at large tech companies in a series of articles for The Verge. Read more on NPR

Scrunchie Cat And Friends: Global Social Media Moments We Loved In 2019 They're sweet. And funny! And weird! Here's a sampling of viral videos, tweets and TikToks from around the world. Read more on NPR

By BY CADE METZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY ADAM SATARIANO from NYT Technology via New York Times

In Uncrewed Test, Boeing's Starliner Capsule Fails To Reach Space Station After a flawless launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the crew capsule, loaded with 600 pounds of cargo for the station, was unable to reach its intended orbit, Boeing says. Read more on NPR

By BY KATIE BENNER AND CECILIA KANG from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY NATASHA SINGER AND CADE METZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

Uber To Pay $4.4 Million To Employees Who Were Sexually Harassed At Work The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found Uber permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation. The company will pay $4.4 million to employees who were harassed at work. Read more on NPR

By BY KAREN WEISE from NYT Technology via New York Times

On Census, Facebook And Instagram To Ban Disinformation And False Ads Under pressure to prepare for 2020 census interference, Facebook says content misrepresenting who can participate and the data the government collects will be banned from its social media platforms. Read more on NPR

By BY NELLIE BOWLES AND KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

How Online Grocery Delivery Could Help Alleviate Food Deserts Delivery service could make it easier to access fresh, healthy food in these areas, a study finds. It lends support to a pilot program that lets people pay for these groceries with food stamps. Read more on NPR

By BY KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY BRIAN X. CHEN from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY BRIAN X. CHEN from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAVID MCCABE AND KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Robotic Dog Aims To Help Police Take A Bite Out Of Crime A new robotic police dog is being used in Massachusetts. While police robotics aren't new, they are raising questions about oversight and whether they could be weaponized. Read more on NPR

By BY NATHANIEL POPPER from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY PAUL MOZUR AND AARON KROLIK from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAVID MCCABE AND KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Meet 'Wattam,' The Newest Absurd Video Game Playground From Keita Takahashi From the designer of Katamari Damacy and other cult favorites comes a new work — one just as eccentric and earnest as his past games. Read more on NPR

The 20 Top Stories On NPR In 2019 Surprise, anger, parenting and Lizzo: That's one way to sum up the list of the most engaging stories in 2019. Other big topics included consumerism and climate change – and officials behaving badly. Read more on NPR

By BY MIKE ISAAC AND KATIE BENNER from NYT Technology via New York Times

Congress Allocates $425 Million For Election Security In New Legislation The bipartisan agreement was completed on Monday. Critics say the money is better than nothing, but that more structure — and more consistency — is needed. Read more on NPR

How China Is Using Facial Recognition Technology Facial recognition technology became part of the fabric of life in China in 2019. Enabled by a vast network of cameras across the country, the government is using the technology for surveillance. Read more on NPR

By Unknown Author from NYT Technology via New York Times

Troll Watch: How To Be An Online Troll A Finnish game lets players pretend to be trolls spreading fake news on social media. The idea is that if people understand how disinformation campaigns are built, they will be more skeptical of them. Read more on NPR

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology via New York Times

How The Team Behind 'The Irishman' Made Actors Look Decades Younger NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with digital effects expert Pablo Helman about the process of de-aging the actors in the movie The Irishman. Read more on NPR

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY CADE METZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY NATASHA SINGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY JONAH M. KESSEL from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY JONAH M. KESSEL, NATALIE RENEAU AND MELISSA CHAN from NYT Technology via New York Times

FAA Chief Pushes Back On Boeing Pressure To Return 737 Max Jets To Service A day after hearing criticism from Congress that his agency is too cozy with the manufacturer, the FAA administrator warned Boeing's CEO not to expect quick recertification of the grounded planes. Read more on NPR

IBM Engineer Who Designed The Universal Bar Code Dies At 94 The code is now a packaging mainstay, but it probably wouldn't have worked without George Laurer. Read more on NPR

By BY MIKE ISAAC AND CECILIA KANG from NYT Technology via New York Times

YouTube Announces New Anti-Harassment Policy To Fight Racial, Gender, LGBTQ Abuse The Google-owned company has faced scrutiny in the past for failing to protect its users from harassment. It announced new policies Wednesday in an attempt to address the criticism. Read more on NPR

By BY SAM ROBERTS from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY BRIAN X. CHEN from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY TAYLOR LORENZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

Meteorologists Can't Keep Up With Climate Change In Mozambique As world leaders gather for a climate summit in Madrid, some of the countries most vulnerable to climate change say they need improved forecasting tools. Read more on NPR

By BY DAVID MCCABE from NYT Technology via New York Times

As TikTok Grows In Popularity, It's Also Setting Off Alarms In Silicon Valley TikTok is one of the world's fastest growing apps, racking up 1.5 billion downloads and minting music hits. But the Chinese-owned app is also making people in Washington and Silicon Valley nervous. Read more on NPR

By BY VINDU GOEL from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAVID MCCABE from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAVID MCCABE from NYT Technology via New York Times

Internet Historians Mourn Loss Of Cultural Record As Yahoo Deletes Group Archives At one time, there were 10 million Yahoo Groups with more than 100 million users - from neighborhood organizations to amateur astronomers. On Saturday, the archives will disappear. Read more on NPR

By BY KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY STEVE LOHR from NYT Technology via New York Times

Managing Misinformation On Reddit With 5.6 million members, Reddit's r/politics is a massive online forum. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with moderator "Qu1nlan" about managing discussions in an era of misinformation. Read more on NPR

NATO Targets Disinformation Efforts NPR's Scott Simon asks NATO's Jānis Sārts about social media manipulation. The prevalence of what experts call "malign influence campaigns" is growing and spreading. Read more on NPR

Uighurs And Genetic Surveillance In China Geneticist Yves Moreau tells NPR's Scott Simon the ethical concerns he has for businesses and academics who may be helping Chinese authorities to track Muslim minority groups. Read more on NPR

By BY CADE METZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY CADE METZ from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology via New York Times

Uber Received Nearly 6,000 U.S. Sexual Assault Claims In Past 2 Years A new report from Uber, covering 2017 and 2018, says the claims range from unwanted touching and kissing to rape. Also, 19 people were killed in physical assaults during or soon after an Uber ride. Read more on NPR

By BY KATE CONGER from NYT Technology via New York Times

American Citizen Arrested After Giving Talk On Cryptocurrency In North Korea A U.S. citizen was arrested after giving a talk on cryptocurrency in North Korea. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Jason Brett of Forbes about the arrest and U.S. concerns about cryptocurrency. Read more on NPR

Russian Hacking Group Evil Corp. Charged By Federal Prosecutors In Alleged Bank Fraud Officials say Evil Corp. developed and distributed a type of malware that infected computers around the world and harvested banking credentials in order to steal some $100 million. Read more on NPR

Delivery Only: The Rise Of Restaurants With No Diners As Apps Take Orders Restaurants without diners are popping up all over the place. "Ghost kitchens" and menus that exist solely in smartphone apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats seek to feed diners' appetite for delivery. Read more on NPR

By BY RAYMOND ZHONG from NYT Technology via New York Times

By BY JACK NICAS, CONOR DOUGHERTY AND DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology via New York Times

Instagram Now Requires Users To Provide Their Age The Facebook-owned social media giant will use the information to ensure a safer platform for younger users and more accurately targeted ads across the board. Read more on NPR

By BY J. D. BIERSDORFER from NYT Technology via New York Times