9 great reads from CNET this week
Social media pushes the panic button on coronavirus, teens are messing with Instagram's tracking algorithm, and aliens make their presence known in California tide pools.
It was a pretty good week for many newsmakers. Google and Twitter were among the companies reporting positive earnings for the last quarter. Motorola rebooted its iconic Razr as an impressive cutting-edge foldable smartphone. Even President Donald Trump was acquitted in the Senate on two articles of impeachment.
But tech failed the Iowa Caucus. And coronavirus is really starting to take a toll on the tech industry globally, with LG pulling out of Mobile World Congress because of concerns about the outbreak.
Here are the week's stories you don't want to miss:
'We're nudibranch people': How enthusiasts help get science done
The iNaturalist app helps California Academy of Sciences biologists monitor flamboyant sea slugs and other tide pool inhabitants.
Iowa caucus app debacle: What went wrong?
A smartphone app, developed by a company called Shadow, Inc., is at the heart of a mess that's delayed the results in Iowa.
Let's hope Moto's new Razr holds up better than the original
I fixed dozens of original Motorola Razr phones, and they had serious hardware issues.
Pixel 3A: I 'dumbed' down my phone and didn't last 24 hours
A quest to digitally detox sheds an unexpected light on personal safety.
Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram's tracking algorithm
Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can't be tied to a single person.
Coronavirus panic thrives on Twitter, and science struggles to keep up
The public can access new research faster than ever before. But in the era of misinformation, new challenges emerge.
Clearview AI says the First Amendment lets it scrape the internet. Lawyers disagree
Earlier court cases have permitted data scraping. But never for facial recognition.
20 years ago, The Sims gave millennials a dream life that reality couldn't match
We would happily learn Simlish if it meant achieving success without student loan debt.
Birds of Prey: And the fantabulous emancipation of female filmmakers
Actress Rosie Perez and screenwriter Christina Hodson talk about making a superhero movie when women are in charge.