Before a new search engine can hope to make a run against Google, it has to crawl. But indexing the web by “crawling” sites with automated software doesn’t just require scaling up to the web’s vast scope—even though doing so is a big challenge in itself. Individual sites have no obligation to welcome a new search crawler. Some instead post digital no-trespassing signs, a way to discourage automated traffic that might bog down performance. “The web has tr
This past summer we purchased a new RV. We were first introduced to camping (or glamping as my wife calls it) nearly six years ago and have been hooked ever since. In addition to the fun with friends and the chance for our boys to learn about exploring nature, there is one reason why I truly enjoy camping: There is no cell reception. That’s right, I’m admitting that I have a difficult time putting down my cellphone unless forced to do so, like when we’re camping. It wo
There could be a lot of déjà vu among gamers in the coming 12 months. And that’s understandable, since so many of the big video game launches of 2022 were initially expected to roll out last year. The pandemic, of course, wreaked havoc on the video game industry. While developers managed to put out an impressive number of quality titles, some of the games people were most hoping to play last year got pushed out. The good news for players, though, is that (barring additiona
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond is one of the most bullish people in Hollywood on the subject of theatrical moviegoing. There’s a reason for that. Coming off of a year defined by a yo-yo-ing pandemic that continued to strangle the traditional movie theater business, but for a few, glowing exceptions—like Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home—IMAX’s global box office was up 146% in 2021 over 2020 with revenue of $638 million. On Spider-Man alone, IMAX has generated over $83 m
When a group of the poorest households in West Bengal, India, received a one-time economic boost—an influx of capital like a cow, or an inventory of trinkets they could then sell at a market—that “big push” didn’t only help them out momentarily. It improved their lives even a decade later. The experiment in West Bengal, based on a program called “Targeting the Ultra Poor,” pioneered by a Bangladeshi NGO called BRAC, began in 2007 and was part of a
2022 could be the year that the big internet platforms pull the plug on paid political advertising, some in political campaign circles believe. In fact, Higher Ground Labs, which invests in progressive campaign tech companies, states it clearly in its 2022 Investment Thesis: “All large technology platforms will limit or outright ban paid political activities.” The thesis argues that voters are growing less persuadable by political messages from strangers that show up in their socia
While cybercrime gets a lot of attention from law enforcement and the media these days, I’ve been documenting a less high-tech threat emerging in recent months: a surge in stolen checks. Criminals are increasingly targeting U.S. Postal Service and personal mailboxes to pilfer filled-out checks and sell them over the internet using social media platforms. The buyers then alter the payee and amount listed on the checks to rob victims’ bank accounts of thousands of dollars. While the
So the holidays have been good to you and you’re enjoying a fancy new Apple gadget. Now that you’ve loaded it to the brim with apps, games, photos, and videos, get the most out of its battery life by simply tweaking the following three settings. Turn off unnecessary location services Many of the apps you’ve installed want to know where you’re located at all times, and while iOS is pretty good about asking you whether newly installed apps are permitted to access your l
Internet giants like Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta, as well as a host of smaller companies, are looking to build what’s somewhat nebulously known as the metaverse: a set of virtual worlds where people can hang out, make music and art and, yes, go to meetings. One open question, assuming the metaverse proves popular, is whether the technology will be tightly controlled by a handful of companies operating their own incompatible systems—as social media apps and video games basica
RadioShack, once beloved by late 20th century electronics geeks as the place to go for circuit components and replacement adaptors, by the early 2000s, was fast becoming obsolete. The Onion famously joked back then that even the CEO couldn’t understand how the store was still in business. The brand’s U.S. stores have since largely shut down, but now, RadioShack’s current owners, Retail Ecommerce Ventures, want to use its supposed cachet among investors and aging, conservativ