CATEGORIES

CALIFORNIA ELECTRICIAN ORDERED TO PAY $481 MILLION FOR SCAM

A California electrician was ordered to pay $481.3 million in restitution as part of his sentence for participating in a $1 billion Ponzi schemed that suckered Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., among many others.

SPACEX LAUNCHES 53 STARLINK SATELLITES INTO ORBIT

SpaceX expanded its constellation of low Earth orbit satellites last Saturday (13) with the launch of 53 Starlink satellites from Florida.

RUSSIAN TEST BLAMED FOR SPACE JUNK THREATENING SPACE STATION

A Russian weapons test created more than 1,500 pieces of space junk that is now threatening the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station, U.S. officials said this week.

e-Wallet

How cryptocurrency could come to apple pay

E-Wallets: What Happens to Your Crypto If You Die?

If you’re merely dipping your toe in cryptocurrency, it can be hard to imagine your crypto as something worth talking to an estate attorney about.

Air-Scrubbing Machines Gain Momentum, But Long Way to Go

On a field ringed by rolling green hills in Iceland, fans attached to metal structures that look like an industrial-sized Lego project are spinning. Their mission is to scrub the atmosphere by sucking carbon dioxide from the air and storing it safely underground.

FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER FEARS THE METAVERSE

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen warned that the “metaverse,” the all-encompassing virtual reality world at the heart of the social media giant’s growth strategy, will be addictive and rob people of yet more personal information while giving the embattled company another monopoly online.

EV EXPERTS COMPARES THE TESLA MODEL 3 AND VOLKSWAGEN ID.4

Introduced for 2021, the Volkswagen ID.4 is the German automaker’s first all-electric SUV and part of a new wave of electric vehicles for American consumers. It boasts a spacious interior and styling that’s futuristic but not too futuristic.

CONGRESS MANDATES NEW CAR TECHNOLOGY TO STOP DRUNKEN DRIVING

Congress has created a new requirement for automakers: Find a high-tech way to keep drunken people from driving cars.

Express

How delivery tech transformed the way we spend & live

PLENTY OF PITFALLS AWAIT ZUCKERBERG'S ‘METAVERSE' PLAN

When Mark Zuckerberg announced ambitious plans to build the “metaverse” — a virtual reality construct intended to supplant the internet, merge virtual life with real life and create endless new playgrounds for everyone — he promised that “you’re going to able to do almost anything you can imagine.”

TIKTOK MADE YOU BUY IT: A SELECTION OF VIRAL, GIFTY FINDS

Look no further than TikTok and its pandemic-expanded ranks for unique holiday gifts, from the hot Halara athleisure dress to a miracle cleaning paste called The Pink Stuff, worthy of any neat freak’s Christmas stocking.

FROM CRYPTOCURRENCY TO CASH: WAYS TO BANK YOUR DIGITAL COIN

Cryptocurrency, the blockchain-based digital currency that has captured the interest of investors and financial service firms alike, has a challenging problem. It can be hard to actually spend this currency like you would regular money. But there are new services on the horizon that could help people use bitcoin and other digital coins in more mainstream ways for their day-to-day finances.

ROADS, TRANSIT, INTERNET: WHAT'S IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

The $1 trillion infrastructure plan that now goes to President Joe Biden to sign into law has money for roads, bridges, ports, rail transit, safe water, the power grid, broadband internet and more.

TOM HANKS, A ROBOT AND A DOG IN ‘FINCH'

Tom Hanks doesn’t need a human or even a sentient acting partner to make a film or a scene sing. Think Wilson the volleyball, Hooch and even that laptop from “You’ve Got Mail.” So it’s not at all surprising if he’s the first guy on the list for your post-apocalyptic film about a man, a robot and a dog.

Facebook to Shut Down Face-Recognition System, Delete Data

Facebook said it will shut down its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people amid growing concerns about the technology and its misuse by governments, police and others.

China Tightens Control Over Company Data With Transfer Rules

Companies in China would need government approval to transfer important data abroad under proposed rules announced last weekend that would tighten Beijing’s control over information and might disrupt operations for international corporations.

Care About Your Credit Score? Get Strategic With Card Limits

If you have credit cards in your wallet, you might track your balances to keep your budget in check, but knowing each card’s credit limit off the top of your head is another story.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE MAKER NURO SECURES $600M FOR EXPANSION

Electric vehicle maker Nuro said it had secured $600 million in funding from Google, Kroger and others to continue the development of its autonomous delivery vehicle service.

NEW ZEALAND STRAIT CROSSED FOR FIRST TIME BY ELECTRIC PLANE

As he made history by becoming the first person to fly across New Zealand’s Cook Strait in an electric plane, Gary Freedman thought it only fitting that the first thing he saw when approaching the Wellington coastline was the rotating blade of a wind turbine producing renewable energy.

SOLAR WING JAMMED ON NASA SPACECRAFT CHASING ASTEROIDS

NASA is debating whether to try to fix a jammed solar panel on its newly launched Lucy spacecraft, en route to explore an unprecedented number of asteroids.

ODDBALL SAFECRACKER CHARMS IN ‘ARMY OF THIEVES'

One of the unlikeliest heroes to emerge from Zack Snyder’s horror-action flick “Army of the Dead” earlier this year was an oddball safecracker named Dieter.

M1 Powered

Macs back in the game with new processors

YAHOO PULLS OUT OF CHINA, CITING ‘CHALLENGING' ENVIRONMENT

Yahoo Inc. said this week it has pulled out of China, citing an increasingly challenging operating environment.

AirPods 3

Refined sound experience, with a huge battery

‘THE BIG DELETE:' INSIDE FACEBOOK'S CRACKDOWN IN GERMANY

Days before Germany’s federal elections, Facebook took what it called an unprecedented step: the removal of a series of accounts that worked together to spread COVID-19 misinformation and encourage violent responses to COVID restrictions.

As Bitcoin Goes Mainstream, Wall Street Looks to Cash In

Love cryptocurrencies or hate the very idea of them, they’re becoming more mainstream by the day.

FACEBOOK'S OVERSIGHT BOARD SEEKS DETAILS ON VIPS' TREATMENT

Facebook’s semi-independent oversight board says the company has fallen short of full disclosure on its internal system that exempts high-profile users from some or all of its content rules.

TESLA'S MARKET VALUE TOPS $1T AFTER HERTZ ORDERS 100K CARS

Hertz announced Monday that it will buy 100,000 electric vehicles from Tesla, one of the largest purchases of battery-powered cars in history and thelatest evidence of the nation’s increasing commitment to EV technology.

APPLE ONCE THREATENED FACEBOOK BAN OVER MIDEAST MAID ABUSE

Two years ago, Apple threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from its app store over concerns about the platform being used as a tool to trade and sell maids in the Mideast.