A company called Confido raised a small ICO by selling special CFD designed to allow “safe and trustless cryptocurrency payments. According to ICODrops they raised their goal of about $400,000 and quickly disappeared, taking the cash with it. The site is currently a parked web server that points to nothing. The apparent founder and former eBay employee, Joost van Doorn, posted a message to… Read More
Category: Software
Toronto begins sharing traffic data with Waze, and vice versa
The city of Toronto has begun sharing its traffic data with navigation service provider Waze. Google-owned Waze will also provide access to its real-time traffic and road conditions data back to the city, in exchange, and both parties expect to improve navigation around the city thanks to the new collaborative effort.
Waze offers turn-by-turn navigation to users and drivers, compiling… Read More
Google Maps got a redesign
Google Maps is getting an upgrade. The company said in a blog post that it has updated driving, navigation, transit and explore maps to better highlight information that the company thinks will be most relevant. That means gas stations when you’re driving or more prominently featured train and bus stations if you’re riding the rails or hopping on mass transit. Read More
Twitter to revoke verification for some accounts as part of overhaul
Twitter says that it’s making progress on its plan to review its authentication system, which it’s conducting in the wake of backlash against the social network verifying the account of a white supremacist rally organizer. As a result, it’s going to change how it treats verification of accounts, and will unverify some users “whose behavior does not fall within”… Read More
Twitter to revoke verification for some accounts as part of overhaul
Twitter says that it’s making progress on its plan to review its authentication system, which it’s conducting in the wake of backlash against the social network verifying the account of a white supremacist rally organizer. As a result, it’s going to change how it treats verification of accounts, and will unverify some users “whose behavior does not fall within”… Read More
Kinder, gentler debt collector TrueAccord raises $22 million
Bringing debt collection into the age of the soft touch, email and text-based world of the 21st century has netted TrueAccord $22 million in a new round of funding.
I first wrote about the company three years ago (time flies) and since then the company has added a 70 new customers and is managing the debt of roughly 1.8 million individuals and businesses (to the tune of approximately $1.6… Read More
It’s inexcusable for Apple and Google to ship pricey phones with busted software
Phone makers like Apple, Google, and Samsung have mastered the art of making desirable smartphones that command premium prices.
But they’re screwing up with the software big-time, and it’s starting to look really embarrassing. When you’re askin…
LightStep emerges from stealth with a tool for application performance monitoring
LightStep, a company which has developed a new tool for application performance management, has emerged from stealth with a $29 million dollar war chest. The company, founded by ex-Google engineer Ben Sigelman, has developed a group of software t…
View More LightStep emerges from stealth with a tool for application performance monitoringGoogle’s improved image blending means a more seamless Street View
Google is hard at work behind the scenes improving one of its ambitious technical projects ever – Street View. The company previously revealed that its been rolling out improved camera cars with better photographic equipment to improve the quality and resolution of images that make up its street-level views in Google Maps, but it’s also fixing the sometimes messy stitching that… Read More
AI pioneer Chris Boos talks about the future of machine learning
This week on Technotopia I talk to Chris Boos, the creator of a bot that can play FreeCiv, a Civilization clone. His solution demonstrates the power of machine learning and, wildly, has beat multiple humans and the game. Boos’ company, Arago, specializes in building tools that build themselves. Humans can show his bots how to do something – manage a piece of software, for… Read More
Niantic’s follow-up to Pokémon Go will be a Harry Potter AR game launching in 2018
Niantic Labs had tremendous success with Pokémon Go, which paired their expertise in building location-based augmented reality mobile experiences with a top-flight IP with a ravenous fan base. So, it stands to reason that we should expect a similar fan response to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, an AR title set to launch in 2018, co-developed by Warner Bros. Interactive and its new sub brand… Read More
Instagram now lets you add any photos or videos to your Stories
Instagram is turning on a feature that many users have asked for, letting users add photos and videos from their camera roll – even if they’re older than 24 hours. The limitation in place previously seemed designed to encourage Stories to be more of a repository for spur of the moment sharing (as well as a more accurate copy of the original Snapchat product), but Instagram seems to… Read More