Society

The groups used social engineering techniques on Facebook to direct targets to a wide range of malware, including custom tools. Hacking activity in the Gaza Strip and West Bank has ramped up in recent years as rival Palestinian political parties spar with each other, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues, and Palestinian hackers increasingly establish themselves on…

The EU released draft laws that would regulate facial recognition and uses of algorithms. If it passes, the policy will impact companies in the US and China. The European Union proposed rules that would restrict or ban some uses of artificial intelligence within its borders, including by tech giants based in the US and China.…

Games like Animal Crossing and Cozy Grove are meant to be played every day, but who’s got that kind of time? Animal Crossing, like other games of its Nintendo Switch ilk, is meant to be grazed upon. It’s designed for short bursts rather than binge sessions. There’s only so much you can do in one…

Ubisoft consulted with native Welsh speakers, 13th-century Icelandic texts, and Gaelic scholars to create the game’s lingua-scape. Invading my own country has been one of the most surreal experiences of playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and the variety of languages included in the game makes it one of the most thought-provoking. Assassin’s Creed is an award-winning…

Online office events are never going to be a blast. But Megan has a few ideas for how to make them suck less. Dear OOO, A couple of coworkers have been planning virtual events for our office—happy hours, trivia sessions, and the like. These happen at the end of the day when I’m exhausted, trying…

Apple’s new location-aware widgets point to the company’s possible larger ambitions for augmented reality. Apple’s AirTags have found their way to market. The long-rumored competitor to Tile—a tiny Bluetooth tag you attach to frequently lost items—was unveiled today during Apple’s spring hardware announcement. The event included everything from newly redesigned iMacs to overpowered iPads, and…

The furniture company is going beyond its Place app with IKEA Studio, a much-needed overhaul of its augmented reality offering. It was in September 2017 when Apple made IKEA a launch partner for its ARKit in the iOS 11 keynote, and all of a sudden the staunchly analog furniture brand was at the vanguard of…

Whether you are brand new to the game or have played every season, these strategies are worth trying. Are your Overwatch skills rusty? After playing the hero shooter for a few years, my gameplay approach could use a little boost. I spoke with numerous esports pros to get their thoughts on how you can play…

Non-fungible tokens and artificial intelligence make tracing the origins of a digital object more fragile. What are the world’s archivists to do? As an archivist, I’m excited about what disruptive innovations like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and artificial intelligence may mean for archives. But I’m also worried. These developments pose existential threats to our field, and…

Cameras are everywhere, and increasingly powerful software can pick an individual out of a crowd. Except sometimes algorithms get it wrong. Stepping out in public used to make a person largely anonymous. Unless you met someone you knew, nobody would know your identity. Cheap and widely available face recognition software means that’s no longer true…