China has hit Alibaba, one of the country’s biggest online retailers, with a record $2.8 billion (18.2 billion yuan) fine, after an investigation found the ecommerce giant violated China’s anti-monopoly law, The New York Times reported. The fine, which represents 4 percent of Alibaba’s 2019 domestic sales, is three times higher than the $975 billion […]
Tech
Lawsuit against Amazon alleging it failed to protect workers from COVID-19 moved back to NY state court
A federal judge has granted the New York attorney general’s request to move a lawsuit against Amazon back to New York state court, Reuters reported. AG Letitia James’ lawsuit alleges that the ecommerce giant failed to protect workers at its Brooklyn and Staten Island warehouses from COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic, and […]
First flight test for NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter pushed to Wednesday
NASA engineers have decided to delay the Ingenuity helicopter’s debut flight on Mars to at least Wednesday, April 14th, after running into a minor computer glitch during a rotor spin test late Friday night, the agency said on Saturday. The tiny craft is healthy, but engineers need some more time to review telemetry data from […]
Unionizing Amazon warehouses was never going to be easy
For more than a year, a group of workers in Bessemer, Alabama have campaigned to unionize their warehouse under the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), hoping to force the retail giant to collectively bargain with its warehouse workers for the first time. On Friday, those hopes came to an abrupt end. In a […]
The week in NFTs, ranked
It’s another day in 2021, and so of course it’s another day where someone, somewhere is launching an NFT in hopes of making a ton of easy money. This week’s NFT launches were headlined by some big names — M.I.A., Tfue, Spike Jonze — and collectively posed the question: can you still, nearly a month […]
For many, COVID-19 vaccines come with a side of side effects
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine comes with a lot of benefits. There’s the protection against a world-altering virus, the ability to travel more safely, and hanging out in people’s houses again. There are also doughnuts. But there’s also a pretty good chance that a vaccine will be accompanied by a few unwelcome side effects. Most of […]
Q Link Wireless made private customer information accessible with just a phone number
A mobile carrier allowed anyone with one of its customers phone numbers to access their personal information, including name, address, phone number, and text and call history, according to a report by Ars Technica. The carrier, Q Link Wireless, claimed to have over two million customers in 2019. Ars Technica noted a Reddit post saying […]
Firefox will no longer support Amazon’s Fire TV or Echo Show devices on April 30th
Firefox will no longer support Amazon Fire TV or Echo Show devices starting April 30th, Mozilla announced on Friday (via Android Police). “You will no longer be able to install [Firefox] on FireTV, receive security updates, or be able to reinstall the app if you uninstall it starting on April 30, 2021,” Mozilla said in […]
Lil Nas X released a Montero lo-fi remix to help you study for your Demonology test
In the latest virtuoso move to promote his hit song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X posted a lo-fi remix of the track to YouTube channel Friday evening. According to his Twitter, it’s his birthday, and it seems he has given us all this gift in celebration. The video, which has the […]
Amazon defeats historic Alabama union effort
Getty Images Amazon has defeated activists hoping to establish the company’s first unionised warehouse in the US. Workers at the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse voted 1,798 to 738 against the effort, labour officials said. That represents a majority of votes cast, though some ballots have been challenged and have yet to be counted. The contest was […]