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TikTok admits to spying on U.S. users as effort to ban the app heats up

TikTok is entering a world of pain right now, having just released a damning report about its own employees obtaining the data of U.S. users. Since this report comes at a time when a key cohort of Americans wants to ban the app altogether, you should expect TikTok to become a major political talking point as the 2024 election cycle ramps up. On Thursday, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, released the results of an internal investigation. Yes, ByteDance confirmed, four of its employees in China scooped up the data of two TikTok accounts belonging to U.S. journalists. And TikTok really, really wasn’t supposed to do that.  The report is emboldening high-profile enemies of TikTok like Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, whose bill to ban TikTok on U.S. government devices passed in the Senate a little over a week ago. That bill still needs to pass in the House of Representatives to become law, but statewide bans of TikTok on government devices are already the law in Texas, North Dakota,

More upcoming Raptor Lake CPU details leak including core counts, release dates, and tentative pricing

A trusted leaker has posted a retailer screenshot with the release dates, core counts, and tentative European prices of Intel's non-K Raptor Lake processors. Intel is expected to unveil the CPUs at CES 2023 on January 5, and the leak claims they will also go on sale that week. from TechSpot https://ift.tt/JoyeMvV via

Mastodon creator Eugen Rochko talks funding and how to build the anti-Twitter

Eugen Rochko came up with the idea for and built Mastodon some six years ago during another one of Twitter’s dips. A developer who had already been interested in and was working with open source software, he got the idea for Mastodon from a federated version of a forum he’d built in high school. That project was called Zeon Federated, and it’s no longer active. While developing that, he also built and sold a platform to manage escrow for artists around commissions. Mastodon’s success has somewhat taken its creator by surprise. Rochko didn’t jump into this project as a power user of social media, nor is he prone to sharing much about himself. When we spoke, he dialed into our video chat from an undisclosed location. He’s never even used Instagram. If growth hackers look at building audience or revenue as an end in itself, Rochko seems to be the opposite when it comes to development. This week we spoke with Rochko about the early days of Mastodon, its recent surge in users and how adv

PSA: Reconsider your password manager options

After recent LastPass incidents, it might be time to consider other password manager options. Highly sought-after options include Bitwarden and KeePassXC, although there's a wider variety of choices that include the likes of Keeper, 1Password, Nordpass and Dashlane although not all of them are free. from TechSpot https://ift.tt/O95sF2f via

3 Black investors share what they are prepping for come the new year

This year’s been eventful for investors and founders alike. Just as it seemed the venture capital boom of 2021 was slowing down, the startup and VC worlds spun on their axes practically overnight, birthing a new dynamic where “growth at all costs” was quickly replaced by a more measured and careful approach to business and investing. For 2023 then, it appears investors are focusing on trends that are relatively safer and likelier to bear fruit. Xfund’s vice president, Jadyn Bryden, and Lightship Capital’s principal, Alexis Alston, told TechCrunch that they are focused on generative artificial intelligence. “I’m looking forward to seeing how AI can contribute to scaling previously human-led areas of business, such as sales, social media, marketing and content development,” Alston said. According to Richard Kerby, a general partner at Equal Ventures, vertical software is a good subsector to watch. “What that looks like in practice is software that provides some sort of workflow impro

Homemade capture card lets you record and stream directly from Nintendo's original Game Boy

The adapter is more or less a modified Raspberry Pi Pico. It sits in-line between the Game Boy and the game cartridge, kind of like a Game Genie. Unlike a Game Genie, the Interceptor does not influence gameplay at all. Your game still behaves as if the adapter was not... from TechSpot https://ift.tt/GBsfd6O via

Fill your lungs with fresh air thanks to this $81 discount on the Coway Airmega purifier

SAVE $80.99: As of Dec. 22, the Coway Airmega 200m purifier is down to $149 at Walmart. That's a discount of 35%. Maybe your constant sneezing makes you empty several boxes of tissues daily, or you have a family member who needs top-tier air quality. An air purifier is an underrated product that can be useful to your health and also help you to sleep better during the long winters. Fortunately, this deal can address these concerns without being too hard on your wallet. Enter the Coway Airmega 200m purifier , which is down to $149 at Walmart on Dec. 22. That's a discount of 35% and its lowest price since it dropped to $145 at Amazon last October . The lightweight product arrives with a HEPA efficiency of 99.97%, which works to protect you from most of the dust, bacteria, and mold within your home. With the Auto Mode feature, the fan adjusts its speed based on the current air pollution levels. And thanks to the Eco Mode, the fan automatically turns off in case your room ha