Tech Soha

Consumers may think they’re avoiding the crush this holiday season by shopping online, unaware that as they’re trying to get through the digital doors, so too are hordes of bots. And they’re throwing elbows,  NBC News reports . Up to 97 percent of all online traffic to retailer login pages this holiday shopping week comes from bots, largely operated by organized gangs of cybercriminals, according to estimates by cybersecurity firm Radware. UN Chief Warns of 'Point of No Return' on Climate Change The bots fill out online forms and navigate retail sites faster than a real person can, and try to swiftly purchase limited supply gifts before you’ve even filled up your cart. The items are then sold for a higher price on third-party sites. The cyber thieves also crack into accounts, drain accounts of rewards and other digital currency, conduct credit card fraud, and more, said Ron Winward, a Radware spokesman. Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images from NBC Southern C...

Online shoppers, beware. Scammers could be going after your money this holiday season as you try to take advantage of online deals. Suspicious Companies May Be Exploiting Student Visa Program According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, scammers stole $184 million from people online during last year's holiday shopping season. "The criminals are getting smarter," Professor Ahmad Banafa, a cybersecurity expert at San Jose State University, said. When Recycling Centers Close in California, Where Do Consumers Turn? Banafa says online shopping scams come in different forms, but some of the most popular ones are fake websites and phishing emails that may look like they belong to a legitimate company but are actually tricks designed to have online shoppers hand over their personal information to scammers. "Number one is don't click on any links in the email or open any attachments from retailers," Banafa said. "Retailers will nev...

In an effort to cease the promotion of vape culture with related deaths on the rise, Apple has announced that it will no long offer vape-related apps for iPhones. On Friday the tech giant removed 181 vape apps from the app store and will not allow any more in the future. Before that, there were apps that let users check vape news, share vaping photos and even control the temperature of vape pens. Real Estate Heiress Who Posted $35M Bail Acquitted of Murder The removal of these apps is something that tech watchers and doctors call a good move. More than one in four high school students, or 27.5%, reported using e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days, according to the preliminary results for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual National Youth Tobacco Survey. “There’s no upside for supporting vaping, given what the current research is saying,” said Dr. Matt Cabott, a San Jose State social media professor. “Apple does not want to have anything to do with thi...

About 70% of the homeless population has cell phones, according to OurCalling, a homeless services organization in Dallas. OurCalling is developing technology that helps the homeless. The group is building an app that provides all kinds of information and eventually will allow the homeless to reserve a bed at a shelter with their phone. CLICK HERE to SUBSCRIBE to NBC LX on YouTube Every story is local. LX, or Local X stands for the exponential possibilities of storytelling in our communities. LX is redefining local news, focusing on the story rather than the headlines. LX is passionate and engaged storytellers with a mission to inform and inspire. LX stories will focus on depth and context, the kind of stories that can make everyone feel connected and encouraged to shape the world around them. Find LX: YouTube Instagram Twitter Facebook LX.com Photo Credit: LX This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser...

NASA is developing a plane that may pave the way for greener air travel. The NASA X-57 Maxwell plane--referred to as the X-Plane--is an all-electric experimental aircraft. Instead of fuel-powered turbine engines, the X-Plane gets its juice from lithium ion battery packs. Check Out These Free or Cheap Things to Do in LA It can perhaps best be described as a Tesla with wings. Brent Cobleigh, NASA Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities Project Manager, said the X-Plane serves as a glimpse into the future. Click Here or Email Your Photos to isee@nbcla.com "To see the era of the Jetsons be something that’s potentially real is pretty exciting," Cobleigh said. The X-Plane is currently in its Modification II configuration, and is one of three all-electric configurations being used to develop certification standards for electric aircraft markets. Smoke and Fire From Above: Wildfire Images From Space Each of the lithium ion battery packs used in the plane weighs a...

A self-driving Uber car that struck and killed an Arizona woman was not able to recognize that pedestrians jaywalk, the National Traffic Safety Board revealed in documents released earlier this week. Elaine Herzberg, 49, died after she was hit in March 2018 by a Volvo SUV, which had an operator in the driver's seat and was traveling at about 40 miles per hour in autonomous mode at night in Tempe, NBC News reports . Behold! 2019 Christmas Tree Arrives at Rockefeller Center The fatal accident came as a result of this automated Uber not having "the capability to classify an object as a pedestrian unless that object was near a crosswalk," one of the NTSB documents said. Because the car could not recognize Herzberg as a pedestrian or person — instead alternating between classifications of "vehicle, bicycle, and an other" — it could not correctly predict her path and concluded it needed to brake just 1.3 seconds before it struck her as she wheeled her bicycle...

New software is urgently needed for iPhones and iPads released in or before 2012. The update is needed before Sunday or the devices will stop working correctly. Photo Credit: Getty Images from NBC Southern California - Tech News https://ift.tt/33el77g

SACRAMENTO (AP) Some of the country's largest ride-sharing companies proposed a California law on Tuesday that would let them continue to treat drivers as independent contractors while also guaranteeing them a minimum wage and money for health insurance. The state Legislature enacted legislation this year requiring ride-sharing companies to treat drivers as employees, which would let them form a union and entitle them to benefits like a minimum wage and workers compensation. Kincade Fire Continues to Spread as Dry, Gusty Winds Return But the law proposed Tuesday would exempt ride-sharing companies. The proposal must be approved by voters, not the state Legislature. If passed, it would supersede the Legislature's action and any similar ordinances passed by local governments. It also prevents lawmakers from passing another law to block it. The proposal will only get on the ballot in November 2020 if supporters can gather roughly 660,000 signatures from registered voters....

Facebook announced Tuesday it will invest $1 billion over the next 10 years to combat the housing crisis in the Bay Area, California and across the nation. The Menlo Park-based social media giant said the investment will go toward building and funding affordable housing, including creating up to 20,000 new housing units "to help essential workers such as teachers, nurses and first responders live closer to the communities that rely on them." Millennials Struggle With Home Ownership in Bay Area: Survey Part of the commitment is partnering with the state of California to help address the pressing issue of affordable housing statewide. Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement in conjunction with the company's announcement: "Access to more affordable housing for all families is key to addressing economic inequality and restoring social mobility in California and beyond," Newsom said. "State government cannot solve housing affordability alone, we need ot...

In April 2018, California authorities revealed that they’d used a novel investigative technique to arrest a man they called the Golden State Killer, a serial murderer who’d escaped capture for decades. For the first time, police had submitted DNA from a crime scene into a consumer DNA database, where information about distant relatives helped them identify a suspect, NBC News reported . The announcement kindled a revolution in forensics that has since helped solve more than 50 rapes and homicides in 29 states. But earlier this year, GEDmatch, that online database changed its privacy policy to restrict law enforcement searches, and since then, these cold cases have become much harder to crack. The change is allowing some criminals who could be identified and caught to remain undetected and unpunished, authorities say. Photo Credit: Getty Images from NBC Southern California - Tech News https://ift.tt/32Ih8iT

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ramped up her criticism of Facebook this weekend, taking aim at the company's policy on political advertising and for having "contributed" to media job losses, NBC News reports . One of the leading 2020 Democratic candidates, Warren's weekend of prodding Facebook comes amid continued scrutiny of the tech giant, which she has called to be broken up. US Pulling Out of Northern Syria; Full Withdrawal Possible On Saturday, Warren tweeted that her campaign "intentionally" published a Facebook ad with false claims to "see if it'd be approved." The ad said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had endorsed President Donald Trump's reelection campaign. Warren posted the ad amid criticism the company has faced about its decision to allow politicians to run ads containing falsehoods. Hunter Biden to Step Down From Chinese Board Last month, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and communications Nick Clegg ...

A Massachusetts man has admitted to sending the CEO of a popular dating site threatening letters that he claimed contained deadly substances, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Liam MacLeod, 47, was sentenced to probation on Thursday after pleading guilty to sending nine letters to the CEO of OKCupid.com in Dallas between September and December 2017, the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling said in a statement. Fla. Businessmen Who Helped Giuliani in Ukraine Arrested Each of the letters contained threatening communications or suspicious substances, prosecutors said. Two of the letters contained substances that MacLeod described as anthrax or AIDS-infected blood. MacLeod had been banned from OkCupid, The Salem News reported in February, when MacLeod was initially charged. Video Shows Errol Spence Jr. Ferrari Crash in Dallas "Greetings from Beverly," read one handwritten letter from MacLeod which he said contained anthrax, acc...

Tech success is bringing California more than just housing and traffic problems. It's now pulling income classes further apart. The latest numbers from the US Census Bureau show California's upper and lower income classes are moving away from each other, despite efforts to bridge the gap. In the 12 years from 2006 to 2018, the top 5% of households in the state saw their average earnings reach gain 18%, now at $506,421. The bottom 20% of California households now earn, on average, $15,562 a year, a drop of 5% which is a problem when it comes to housing. The median rent in the sate jumped by 16% over the same time period. You can find the full US Census Bureau here . This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. from NBC Southern California - Tech News https://ift.tt/2AVnEXa

The rush is on to fight so-called “deepfakes”—videos and audio altered to make a person falsely appear to say something that they did not. California has passed a ban that makes it illegal to share such videos within two months before an election. Analysts have said that deepfakes will be used as political weapons ahead of next year’s elections. Retrial for Man in California Warehouse Fire That Killed 36 “It’s hard enough to be informed, to make wise decisions about candidates and political issues,” said social media expert and San Jose State Communications Professor Dr. Matt Cabot. “But with deepfake technology it makes it vastly more complicated.” The new law targets people distributing altered video and audio to injure the candidate’s reputation or sway voters. Deputy Pulls Over Speeding Car, Ends Up Delivering a Baby The candidate can seek damages if they can prove it was shared with malice up to 60 days before an election. “I think consumers need to be more careful...

The name says it all: TechCrunch Disrupt is a conference for entrepreneurs looking to bring disruptive change to an industry, using all the tools of Silicon Valley. In past years, the San Francisco edition of the Disrupt conference has seen a flurry of activity around nascent fields of technology: virtual and augmented reality, robotics, and the smart home. But this year, on the show's opening day, many entrepreneurs seemed more focused on mature industries: those that, in one way or another, have been left behind by the furious pace of innovation that has taken hold in the age of apps. Retrial for Man in California Warehouse Fire That Killed 36 As always, the conference program featured celebrity appearances, including one by actor Will Smith and director Ang Lee, who spoke about the bleeding edge of filmmaking: realistic digital humans and blisteringly high frame rates used in the 3D action thriller "Gemini Man." Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry took the...

"We grew our category from scratch," Nick Woodman told a group of reporters gathered at GoPro 's headquarters in San Mateo. It's a claim few founders can make. But before Woodman's around-the-world surf trip in 2002, there was no such thing as an action camera. Hot Dog Vendor Attacked by Guards Outside Oakland Arena "There was no camera that was gonna allow me to film myself and my friend while we were surfing," he explained in our interview, telling a story he's now likely told thousands of times. "So I went to work on this idea to strap a camera to my wrist, and the prototype worked so well that the lightbulb went off, and I went, 'Wow!'" A lot has happened since 2002. Woodman founded GoPro before YouTube was launched in 2005, and before the original iPhone debuted in 2007. Yet, for most of a decade, the company thrived in its niche, making affordable and nearly-indestructible cameras for high-adrenaline activities like s...

A 76-year-old woman was tricked into giving $125,000 to a man who pretended to be in a romantic relationship with her, New Jersey police said. The victim, who was not identified, believed she was in an “online dating relationship” with a man whom she met on the app OurTime. The man allegedly asked her to pay him $125,000 to cover fees to enter the United States, become a resident and continue his relationship with her, the Evesham Police Department said. Pope Decries World's Indifference to Migrants and Refugees The woman secured a loan through her bank and gave the man access to an account where she deposited the money. Evesham investigators tracked the suspect down using ATM cameras. Sulaimon Kadelu, 30, of Old Bridge Township, was charged with 2nd-degree theft and 2nd-degree money laundering. Navy Sailor Dies After Fall on USS Nimitz in California OurTime did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission warned consumers t...

Officials from the Better Business Bureau announced the results of a startling new study that shows that email scams have cost organizations more than $3 billion since 2016. The scams, known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, are a type of email phishing scam that targets people who pay bills for businesses, government entities, and non-profit organizations, according to the Bureau. READ: Whistleblower's Complaint Involving Trump, IG's Letter In the scams, a person poses as a reliable source and uses a spoofed (similar to the way that phone marketing scams can use software to disguise their true phone numbers as ones from a person’s area code) or hacked email account to send messages to employees asking them to wire money, buy gift cards, or share private information for a seemingly plausible reason. That type of fraud has more than tripled over the last three years, according to the bureau, with nearly 60,000 complaints of BEC scams received by the bureau durin...

NASA is tracking wildfires globally, offering a view from high above Earth that reveals the scope and size of major fires, some of which produce smoke plumes that stretch for miles. Photo Credit: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) from NBC Southern California - Tech News https://ift.tt/2sWdPCV

Dating app Plenty of Fish is banning face filters across its platform in a move aimed at deterring users from creating deceptive profiles, NBC News reported . In a blog post on Tuesday, the site announced that it was "implementing a face filter ban across the platform" and would begin to remove photos that feature them after a poll found that 75 percent of single people said the use of filters "heavily altered someone's appearance to be deceptive." According to Plenty of Fish, which surveyed 2,000 single people in the United States for the poll, 25 percent said they believe potential dates are "pretending to be someone they're not" when they post a photo on their profile with a face filter. Photo Credit: Haven Daley/AP (File) from NBC Southern California - Tech News https://ift.tt/2V5sGtL