This Week in Tech – 11/05/2017
Facebook Quietly Admits to as Many as 270 Million Fake or Clone Accounts
Amid the distraction of Facebook’s blockbuster earnings this week, the company quietly admitted to hosting more phony accounts than previously revealed.The social network upped its estimate of the portion of fake accounts from 2 to 3 percent and the number of duplicates from 6 to 10 percent, Business Insider first reported. That means that as many as 270 million of the platform’s 2.1-billion-strong user base could be fraudulent or duplicated — a population verging on the size of the United States…
Federal Move to Undo Internet Freedom Would Make US More Like Russia, Not Less
This week, three congressional committee hearings will probe Russian attempts to influence our election campaign last year on social media. S.1989, the recently introduced, so-called “Honest Ads Act,” likely will feature prominently. The bill is being sold “first and foremost [as addressing] an issue of national security.”…
Republican Tax Plan Kills Electric Vehicle Credit
The nascent market for electric cars will suffer a big setback if the Republican tax plan released on Thursday enters into law. Among the changes to the current tax code would be an end to the Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Credit. That’s the tax incentive that currently means up to $7,500 back from the IRS when you purchase a new battery or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle…
Eric Schmidt Says America Needs to ‘Get Its Act Together’ in AI Competition With China
“They are going to use this technology for both commercial and military objectives, with all sorts of implications,” said Schmidt, referencing a Chinese policy document outlining the country’s ambition to become the global leader in AI by 2030. Schmidt reiterated several familiar talking points in this debate, primarily that the US is failing to invest in basic research, and that a restrictive immigration policy hobbles the country’s ability to attract AI talent from overseas…
Logitech Made a VR Keyboard Kit So You Can Type in the Vive
Logitech is making a virtual reality accessory kit that lets you see its keyboards inside VR, called Logitech Bridge. The Bridge system works with HTC’s Vive VR headset, using a Vive tracking disk, a Logitech G gaming keyboard, and an accessory that connects the two. Once you’ve hooked the tracker to the keyboard, Logitech software positions a 3D virtual keyboard model precisely over the real one. It’s a pretty clever idea, although right now, it’s only going out to 50 developers as a proof of concept…
This Company Added the Word ‘Blockchain’ to Its Name and Saw Its Shares Surge 394%
On-line Plc jumped as much as 394 percent on Friday after announcing plans to change its name to On-line Blockchain Plc, following an initial climb of 19 percent on Thursday when it first announced the news. It’s the biggest one-day gain for the small-cap company since its December 1996 listing. The trading volume that reached 2.9 million shares by early afternoon in London is equal to more than 16 times the entire year’s trading before the last two days…
Hands On: Fret Zealot, an LED Lighting Device That Teaches You to Play Guitar Like a Hero
A Kickstarter-backed learning tool that caught our eye earlier this year, the Zealot (originally called the Fret Zeppelin), brings advanced LED technology to the fretboard of any guitar. The device uses color-changing lights next to each fret to show you how to play everything from songs to advanced chords and scales…