Jason Arday, professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge, resigned on 5 August after facing allegations of research misconduct and what he described as relentless public attack going beyond normal academic criticism. Nine days later, following sustained media coverage of his professional and personal life, he died. Nature's editorial calls for reflection on how universities handle misconduct investigations and how the press covers such cases, particularly given the racism present in much of the coverage.
nature.com
· 2026-09-02
X users have reported receiving unsolicited password reset emails following the rollout of the platform's new X Money payment service. X engineer Mridul Singhai confirmed the company is investigating the surge of reset requests, stating no evidence of actual account breaches has been found so far.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-01
California lawmakers passed AB 1709, which would bar platforms from offering recommendation algorithms and basic follow/like features to users under 16 starting in January. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is asking Governor Gavin Newsom to veto the bill, arguing it effectively locks minors out of most modern digital services by banning tools essential to how those platforms function.
eff.org
· 2026-09-01
Federal investigators say Daejon Labrayae Love, posing as an injured San Francisco 49ers receiver or a wealthy Swiss developer, and 18-year-old accomplice Taylor Jamie Chan, who claimed to be his financial advisor, met victims on dating apps and convinced them to invest in fake opportunities. The FBI alleges the two swindled at least 26 women across four states out of roughly $1.3 million, with some victims taking out loans to fund the fake investments. When suspicious victims searched online, Google's AI Overviews reportedly echoed Love's fabricated social media claims, lending false credibility to his identity.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-01
Google has added the ability to import purchased Google Play Books directly into Gemini Notebook, letting users query and analyze book content alongside other sources like documents and videos. The feature initially covers about 100,000 titles from publishers such as Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, and O'Reilly Media, plus special notebooks created with over 15 bestselling authors. This launch marks the start of Google's broader Expert Intelligence initiative, which will eventually expand to other products, third-party subscriptions, and textbooks.
zdnet.com
· 2026-08-31
A commentary piece, drawing on Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation, weighs evidence on both sides of the question of whether today's kids are better or worse off than previous generations. It notes gains such as more parental time, less substance abuse, fewer car deaths, and greater tolerance for minorities, alongside concerns like heavy phone use, isolation, less sleep and reading, and rising anxiety, depression and suicide rates among teens, especially girls. The author frames this as an open question worth academic examination rather than settling on one conclusion.
smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net
· 2026-08-31
Walmart has released a purse styled after its popular $5.97 rotisserie chicken, a nod to the deli item's huge social media following. The retailer said more than 15,000 mentions of the chicken online helped push it to create the novelty accessory. The company kept the item's signature price point attached to the promotion as a marketing hook.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-31
VideoLAN's free, open-source VLC media player has now been downloaded more than 7 billion times across all platforms, according to an update from president and lead developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf. The milestone comes roughly 18 months after VLC passed 6 billion downloads in January 2025. VideoLAN also confirmed it has ported VLC to Amazon's new Vega OS for TVs and continues developing broader platform and codec support.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-31
Thryv's 2026 AI and Small Business Adoption Survey found that AI adoption among small businesses rose from 55% to 66% year over year, with 70% reporting revenue gains and 92% saying it saves time. However, 70% of respondents said they still need more AI training, even though 86% describe themselves as comfortable using the tools.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-08-31
Writer Eric Bailey proposed that streaming and rating systems need richer feedback options beyond binary likes, since a single 'thumbs up' can't capture reactions like guilty pleasure viewing or accidental clicks. The piece argues this reductive feedback gets treated as objective data by companies making product decisions, even though users know firsthand how misleading such signals are about their own experience.
blog.jim-nielsen.com
· 2026-08-31
Companies are increasingly turning to subject-matter expert creators to shape brand perception, moving beyond the traditional binary of pitching journalists for earned media or buying advertising for guaranteed reach. This shift challenges the long-standing assumption that institutional newsrooms alone control audience trust.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-31
Meta reached a settlement with attorneys general from 47 states who had sued the company for allegedly manipulating children's attention through its algorithms. The deal could cost Meta as much as $17 billion, though the company admitted no wrongdoing, and the Wall Street Journal reported it spent over $2 billion on legal defense in a single quarter of 2026 alone.
newyorker.com
· 2026-08-30
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