Tech

twitter bird

Twitter, the FBI, and You

Government officials want to data-mine social media to scan for criminal activity. But are their efforts just a complete waste of time?

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| Thu Apr. 5, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

The US Government Is Data Mining You

As the US Intelligence Community's already vast powers grow, your civil liberties shrink.

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| Tue Apr. 3, 2012 11:20 AM PDT

This Is Your Brain on the Department of Defense

The Department of Defense has long had its eyes on emerging neuroscience technologies. Should we be worried?

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| Tue Apr. 3, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Hacking for the FBI

After the feds flipped the hacker known as Sabu, did he cross the line between informing and entrapment?

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| Fri Mar. 16, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Advertise on MotherJones.com

How Much Does Obama's Campaign Know About You?

A survey of Obama campaign emails reveals how politicians microtarget voters based on everything from their donation history to what religion they list on Facebook.

— By Lois Beckett and Jeff Larson, ProPublica

| Wed Mar. 7, 2012 4:00 AM PST
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao

Chinese "Occupy" Obama's Google+ Page

When Chinese internet users realized they could access Google's social networking site, their first order of business was unusually political: messaging the US president.

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| Thu Mar. 1, 2012 11:05 AM PST
Illustration by Mark Matcho

I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave

Read the story that was nominated for a 2013 National Magazine Award.

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| Mon Feb. 27, 2012 4:00 AM PST
Conundrum master

Book Review: The Conundrum

David Owen's new book argues that we already know how to prevent environmental catastrophe—we just don't like the answers.

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| Fri Feb. 24, 2012 7:42 PM PST

Occupy vs. Tea Party: The Google Smackdown

Charting the relative success of the dueling populist movements.

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| Fri Feb. 24, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Radioactive Fallout From iPhones and Flat-Screen TVs?

The owners of a new rare earths plant in Malaysia say it won't do local harm. What I found out there suggests otherwise.

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| Thu Feb. 23, 2012 4:00 AM PST
couchsurfing

I Couch-Surfed Across America—and Lived to Tell

How I used CouchSurfing.org to crash with perfect strangers and see the country on the cheap (without getting killed by an ax murderer).

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| Fri Feb. 17, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Will Malaysians Get Cancer for Your iPhone or Prius?

I went to the site of a notorious rare-earth refinery—and investigated plans for a new one—to find out.

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| Mon Feb. 13, 2012 4:00 AM PST

The Oregon Bill That Would Criminalize Twitter

A proposal to outlaw the kinds of tweets that led to Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring

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| Mon Feb. 6, 2012 6:54 PM PST
Rebecca MacKinnon

Q&A: Rebecca MacKinnon on the Brave New World of the Web

Internet scholar and advocate Rebecca MacKinnon talks SOPA/PIPA, Twitter censorship, and whether we're in danger of being "entertained to death."

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| Thu Feb. 2, 2012 8:03 PM PST

Book Review: Consent of the Networked

Rebecca MacKinnon's new book is an antidote to giddy promises that the Internet will set you free.

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| Thu Feb. 2, 2012 6:17 PM PST

Chart of the Day: What We Hate About Twitter

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| Wed Feb. 1, 2012 1:20 PM PST

When It Comes to Your Genes, How Much is Too Much Information?

A new survey hopes to figure out how the public views genomic information.

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| Wed Feb. 1, 2012 11:32 AM PST
Hacker Hussein

Your Daily Newt: Saddam Hussein's Hacker Army

If Saddam Hussein had access to 10 hackers with American Express cards, Gingrich posited in 1995, the Gulf War would have turned out differently.

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| Tue Jan. 31, 2012 4:00 AM PST
privacy

The End of Privacy

Google's new privacy policy is a sign of what's to come.

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| Fri Jan. 27, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Inside Apple's Hidden Factories. Finally.

At long last, the media has shed some light on Apple's supply chain. And it ain't pretty.

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| Fri Jan. 27, 2012 4:00 AM PST