All Things Internet: The Big Players & The Issues
The world has grown increasingly connected over the past few decades and a huge chunk of our lives are online. We cover the companies you care about: YouTube, Google, Amazon, and the issues you care about: NBN, IoT, social media, privacy and security.
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‘On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog:’ The Web’s Most Iconic Cartoon Is for Sale.
In 1993, cartoonist Peter Steiner was at his desk trying to fill out his weekly quota of pitches for the New Yorker. “I didn’t always have enough ideas, so sometimes I would just draw a picture and try to dream up a caption for it,” Steiner said. He sketched out two dogs sitting in front…
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Legendary Lost Star Wars X-Wing Model Going Up for Auction
Just four “hero” X-Wings were created by ILM to film Star Wars’ climactic battle over Yavin IV against the Death Star—primary models detailed enough to be used for close-up shots and major action sequences. Now one of them, believed to have been missing for over 40 years, has been found—and is going up for auction.…
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This U.S. State Wants to Ban Gun-Wielding Robots
Bad news for fans of gun-toting killer robots. Massachusetts wants to make Black Mirror fantasies illegal. This week, two state senators proposed a first-of-its-kind bill that, if passed, would prohibit the manufacture, sale, or use of robots with mounted weapons. The bill would also put in place new safeguards prohibiting law enforcement or others from…
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X-Ray Telescope Spots Black Hole Slowly Devouring a Star
On June 22, 2022, NASA’s Swift Observatory spotted something curious in a galaxy over 500 million light-years away. It was a routine outburst of gas that a team studying the data now believes is evidence of a black hole intermittently gobbling up a star each time the latter draws near. The black hole and its…