Why are there so many sketchy ads for fake goods on Instagram? Why have e-waste levels jumped? And why is LG boasting that its next phone won't burst into flames? That's a lot of questions for a Tuesday morning.
Why do Instagram and Twitter want me to buy fake Yeezys?
Both Facebook and Twitter are part of the Ads Integrity Alliance and have policies in place to keep out sketchy advertisers, but that's clearly not keeping some from slipping through the cracks. Without much oversight from the social networks themselves, exercising common sense is key; if an ad sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you're seeing an ad for a pair of Yeezys that cost less than their retail value, there's no way those shoes are the real deal. For Facebook and Twitter, like harassment, this is yet another issue that needs to be taken more seriously.
The heart of Nintendo's new console isn't the Switch
The Switch is harder to describe than the latest Xbox or PlayStation. The console itself is the tablet: the part that does all the processing and acts as a screen when it's away from your housebound dock and TV. But if the tablet is the brains of Nintendo's strange new 2-in-1, the heart is split between the two Joy-Con controllers.
E-waste levels are surging in Asia
Throwaway gadget culture was already having a nasty effect on the environment, but now it's getting considerably worse. A United Nations University study has revealed that the volume of e-waste in East and Southeast Asia surged 63 percent between 2010 and 2015, reaching 12.3 million tonnes. Some Asian countries (such as China) have rapidly burgeoning middle classes. That's great for quality of life, but it also leads to more people buying gadgets that wind up in landfills
New York driver groups push for a ban on autonomous cars
Companies like Uber and Lyft dream of a day when they can depend solely on self-driving cars, and that's making driver organizations a little nervous. New York's Upstate Transportation Association and Independent Drivers Guild are both pressing for bans on autonomous vehicles in the state, out of concern that they'll ultimately cost thousands of transportation jobs. The IDG believes that it only needs to preserve existing laws to guarantee a ban, but the UTA is considerably more aggressive -- it wants a 50-year ban on self-driving cars.
LG is already bragging that its next phone doesn't explode
LG is trying to capitalize on Samsung's Note 7 woes as it gears up to revealing its next flagship phone. It's unfortunately poorly thought out. The company says it's rigorously testing the phone through extreme heat and harsh drop tests, as well as pointing out an embedded heat pipe to help disperse extra warmth. Well, all signs point to the battery being the cause of Samsung's problems: a heat pipe wouldn't have helped. (And the Galaxy S7 had one anyway...)
Mark Zuckerberg will testify in Oculus VR lawsuit this week
Mark Zuckerberg is heading to a Dallas court to testify in an ongoing lawsuit filed against Oculus, the VR company Facebook purchased for $2.3 billion. ZeniMax, the parent company of Doom developer id Software, claims that Oculus CTO John Carmack took its intellectual property when he left the company in 2013. Zuckerberg will testify in the suit tomorrow (January 17th), and Oculus co-founder (and noted recluse) Palmer Luckey is also set to testify later in the week.
But wait, there's more...
- James Cameron producing history of sci-fi series for AMC
- We've never seen global sea ice levels this low before
- Nintendo's Switch doesn't come with a charging Joy-Con grip
- Virginia bill would effectively ban city-run broadband