Parmy Olson's Blog, page 59

This Landmark Study Could Reveal How The Web Discriminates Against You

Privacy advocates have long argued that the commercialization of our online data is a worrying trend, but it’s been hard to explain why because the companies who track much of what we do operate in obscurity. That could change now that researchers at Princeton University and Belgium’s KU Leuven have released “bots" that mimic real people across the web to track how they experience the same sites differently as part of a new study. The researchers are giving their fake profiles ages, genders, affluence levels, locations, interests and more, in order to seek patterns of discrimination that parallel those same attributes.

Cryptolocker Thieves Likely Making 'Millions' As Bitcoin Breaks $1,000

It was mid-October when a new form of malware quietly found its way onto one of the computers of a small business in England, threatened to permanently encrypt most of its files, and then did just that.

These Numbers Show Facebook Is Trailing Social Messaging Apps Globally

There is a race underway to be the global leader in over-the-top social messaging, and one of the latest surveys suggests Facebook, while still dominant in the U.S., is falling behind the upstart mobile players in the rest of the world.

Delete By Default: Why More Snapchat-Like Messaging Is On Its Way

Last May, startup founder Steve Chung got 200 MBA students at Stanford University to try a new mobile messaging app he was working on. It was a social platform that let them send photos, videos and texts to one another, along with an odd side feature: messages that self-destructed after a few seconds, a la Snapchat. To Chung's surprise, the clever Stanford students found his app complicated and off-putting. The one thing they did like was the self-destructing, ephemeral texts. Chung took heed, carving off everything else and making his app, Frankly, all about sending texts that expired whenever you wanted them too. On Sept. 24, he launched Frankly on iOS. Since then, he's raised $6 million in funding from South Korean mobile giant SK Planet, hired a staff of 20 and booked a decent 350,000 downloads. Out of a handful of similar texting services Frankly has raised the most financing, and some say it marks a future trend.

Meet The Virtual Headset That Uses Your Eye As A Screen

You've been told from a young age never to look into the stark light of the sun, but stare into a lower-power version of an LED light with all the right colors, and you might actually watch a movie some day.

FreedomPop Plans To Bring Cheap Calling Service To The iPhone

In its path to undercut the likes of AT&T and Verizon with free, pre-paid plans, FreedomPop is moving to connect a wider range of phones, including, eventually, the iPhone.

Dance Production Brings 'Anonymous' To The Stage

It's not everyday you see a dancers illustrating the formation of a botnet, or the damage done by a DDoS attack, with a flourish of modern dance movements, the frenetic sounds of electro-acuoustic beats and a classical musical ensemble. Yet that's precisely what a Boston composer and NY choreographer have done to tell the story of the subversive online community Anonymous, through a unique dance production that premiered last weekend.

Language App Duolingo To Translate More Sites After Buzzfeed And CNN

Duolingo, the language-learning-and-translation app that's helping Buzzfeed spread its international dominance of the Interwebz with volunteer translators, is in talks with a handful of publications to strike more translation deals, according to the company's founder Luis Von Ahn. The talks are expected to lead to agreements next year which could, he says, also lead his startup to its first set of profits.

Motorola Unveils Low-Cost Moto G For Emerging Markets

In its bid to regain a foothold in emerging markets, Motorola has launched a new, low-cost smartphone. The Moto G is priced at $179 in the U.S., unlocked, with 8 GB of storage data -- well below the approximate, $550 charged for Motorola's flagship Moto X smartphone. Launched Wednesday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this is Motorola's second major smartphone launch after the X, and sees it chasing fast-growing markets already dominated by Android vendors Samsung, LG and Nokia.

Here's Where Teens Are Going Instead Of Facebook

Earlier this month chief financial officer, David Ebersman confirmed a worrying, but long-suspected trend for the world's biggest social network: teenagers, perhaps the most important demographic for a modern-day communication tool, were becoming less active on the site.