Google Maps now hides some information until you sign in
Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson / betanews - If you have been using Google Maps without signing into a Google account, your experience could be about to change for the worse. Google has been spotted testing a new “limited view” in Google Maps which restricts access to certain information. When not s…
Back to Top / Friday, February 20, 2026, 10:21 am / permalink 19466 / 3 stories in 14 days
US Plans Online Portal To Bypass Content Bans In Europe and Elsewhere
BeauHD / slashdot - The U.S. State Department is reportedly developing a site called freedom.gov that would let users in Europe and elsewhere access content restricted under local laws, "including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda," reports Reuters. Washington vie…
Back to Top / Thursday, February 19, 2026, 9:21 pm / permalink 19446 / 6 stories in 15 days
Meta is shuttering Messenger’s standalone website, which is a thing that exists
Lawrence Bonk / engadget - Meta is shutting down the standalone Messenger website, according to a company help page. The website will disappear in April, though web users will still be able to send and receive messages within Facebook."After messenger.com goes away, you will be aut…
Back to Top / Thursday, February 19, 2026, 2:21 pm / permalink 19433 / 4 stories in 15 days
Microsoft's new Windows 11 speed test is just a link to Ookla's Speedtest via Bing — button housed in the taskbar in latest Insider Preview build
tomshardware - Amidst endless complaints over the instability and bloating nature of Windows 11, Microsoft's latest insider builds add new emojis and a taskbar feature for its beta testers. Now, you can check your internet speed by right-clicking the network icon or ope…
Back to Top / Thursday, February 19, 2026, 12:21 pm / permalink 19424 / 5 stories in 15 days
New law requires tech firms to take down non-consensual images within 48 hours
Oscar Hornstein / uktech - News laws requiring tech platforms to take down intimate images shared without the consent of the subject within 48 hours are set to come into effect. Through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, online platforms could face fines of up to 10% of t…
Back to Top / Thursday, February 19, 2026, 4:20 am / permalink 19402 / 5 stories in 15 days
Microsoft releases KB5077241 Update preview with new features for Windows 11 users
Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson / betanews - Microsoft has released a new build of Windows 11 to Windows Insiders signed up to the Release Preview Channel. The release of the KB5077241 update brings Windows 11 up to builds 26100.7918 and 26200.7918 and includes a number of important changes and – im…
Back to Top / Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 12:22 pm / permalink 19365 / 6 stories in 16 days
'I do not trust them' - top streamers left concerned by Discord age checks
bbc - The platform's plan to roll out global age checks has caused concern in streaming communities.
Back to Top / Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 10:20 pm / permalink 19335 / 5 stories in 17 days
Is YouTube Down Right Now? Outage Hits Over a Million People, According to Downdetector
Jeff Carlson / cnet - More than a million people around the world reported the popular video site had gone dark. Just in time for Olympics coverage!
- Engineers say service normalized after widespread outage (2)
- Investigation finds infrastructure failure caused two-hour outage (2)
- On-scene: users report mass YouTube outage worldwide (8)
- Seoul: YouTube experiences partial service disruption (1)
- All Other Stories
Engineers say service normalized after widespread outage
Investigation finds infrastructure failure caused two-hour outage
On-scene: users report mass YouTube outage worldwide
Seoul: YouTube experiences partial service disruption
All Other Stories
Back to Top / Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 9:20 pm / permalink 19333 / 15 stories in 17 days
AWS is down: February 16 outage explained
Kerem Gülen / dataconomy - Amazon Web Services (AWS) is experiencing a sudden spike in technical issues, causing widespread disruptions across various digital platforms on February 16, 2026. According to Downdetector data, reports began to climb sharply at 4.46 PM, with nearly 100 …
Back to Top / Monday, February 16, 2026, 10:20 am / permalink 19245 / 8 stories in 18 days
Homeland Security has reportedly sent out hundreds of subpoenas to identify ICE critics online
Mariella Moon / engadget - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly been asking tech companies for information on accounts posting anti-ICE sentiments. According to The New York Times, DHS has sent hundreds of administrative subpoenas to Google, Reddit, Discord and …
Back to Top / Saturday, February 14, 2026, 10:20 am / permalink 19186 / 10 stories in 20 days
Meet Amazon’s $99 device that keeps you online when Wi-Fi fails
Kerem Gülen / dataconomy - Amazon’s eero launched the eero Signal 4G LTE on Wednesday to provide automated cellular backup for home networks during internet outages. The $99.99 device serves as a failover system that maintains connectivity for remote workers and security systems by…
Back to Top / Thursday, February 12, 2026, 6:22 am / permalink 19060 / 4 stories in 22 days
Russia blocks WhatsApp as messaging app crackdown gathers pace
cnbc - WhatsApp on Thursday said Russia had attempted to "fully block" its service, with 100 million users affected. The Kremlin later confirmed the move.
Back to Top / Thursday, February 12, 2026, 6:22 am / permalink 19059 / 9 stories in 22 days
T-Mobile Will Live Translate Regular Phone Calls Without an App
msmash / slashdot - T-Mobile is opening registration today for a beta test of Live Translation, an AI-powered feature that will translate live phone calls into more than 50 languages when it launches this spring. The feature operates at the network level, so it doesn't requi…
Back to Top / Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 9:21 am / permalink 19019 / 7 stories in 23 days
Google's Personal Data Removal Tool Now Covers Government IDs
msmash / slashdot - Google on Tuesday expanded its "Results about you" tool to let users request the removal of Search results containing government-issued ID numbers -- including driver's licenses, passports and Social Security numbers -- adding to the tool's existing abili…
Back to Top / Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 4:24 pm / permalink 18994 / 8 stories in 24 days
Discord’s age verification mandate is a leap toward a gated internet
Emma Roth / theverge - Discord is about to force some of the people who use its messaging app to make a choice: Use the platform with restricted features, or prove their age. It's a move that platforms have been slowly approaching, but Discord's teen-by-default rollout is a str…
- Global rollout insights, technical details, and protective safety measures (11)
- Spotlighting security breaches and privacy risks in age verification (2)
- User anger and migration as policy controversy sparks debate (6)
Global rollout insights, technical details, and protective safety measures
Spotlighting security breaches and privacy risks in age verification
User anger and migration as policy controversy sparks debate
Back to Top / Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 9:21 am / permalink 18978 / 19 stories in 24 days
AI.com sells for $70 million in record-breaking domain deal
Wayne Williams / betanews - AI.com has been sold for $70 million, setting a new record for domain name transactions. The sale more than doubles the previous $30 million benchmark and reflects the growing value placed on short, category-defining internet addresses tied to artificial …
Back to Top / Monday, February 9, 2026, 3:21 pm / permalink 18952 / 5 stories in 25 days
Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
Stevie Bonifield / theverge - Discord announced on Monday that it's rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users' accounts to a "teen-appropriate" experience unless they demonstrate that they're adults. Users who a…
- Child safety and teen safeguards (2)
- Global rollout & verification news (13)
- Privacy concerns and user backlash (7)
- All Other Stories
Child safety and teen safeguards
Global rollout & verification news
Privacy concerns and user backlash
All Other Stories
Back to Top / Monday, February 9, 2026, 9:21 am / permalink 18936 / 24 stories in 25 days
Homeland Security Spying on Reddit Users
ycombinator - Comments
Back to Top / Saturday, February 7, 2026, 11:20 pm / permalink 18910 / 3 stories in 27 days
Crypto.com Founder Buys AI.com in ‘Largest Domain Purchase in History’
Bruce Gil / gizmodo - Is this what a frothy bubble looks like?
Back to Top / Friday, February 6, 2026, 5:20 pm / permalink 18852 / 6 stories in 28 days
Substack confirms data breach affects users’ email addresses and phone numbers
Ivan Mehta / techcrunch - Substack said that customer data was accessed in October 2025, but wasn't discovered until early February.
Back to Top / Thursday, February 5, 2026, 9:21 am / permalink 18791 / 9 stories in 29 days