science and technology

Column: We're swamped with 182 million robocalls a day. Is a solution finally here?

Telecom-industry insiders say work is rapidly progressing on a system called "Shaken/Stir," which could go a long way toward making your phone usable again.




science and technology

Google workers protest suspensions of activist employees

Protests within Google over how the company handles employee activism continue to grow.




science and technology

Former Tinder CEO Sean Rad accused of secretly recording employees and bosses in new court filing

Tinder's parent company says Sean Rad, the dating app's co-founder and former CEO, illegally recorded conversations with executives.




science and technology

Newsletter: Those Black Friday deals? They're not as good as you think

The dirty little secret of Black Friday — and its cousin, Cyber Monday — is that the best deals are still to come.




science and technology

Google fires four for accessing internal documents. Workers say it's retaliation

Google terminated four employees for what the tech firm said were "repeated violations of our data security policies." At least one of them, Rebecca Rivers, had spoken out publicly against company initiatives including Google's past work with government agencies.




science and technology

Column: These holiday scams are heavy on naughty, totally lacking in nice

From gift-card rackets to online fraud, consumers are under near-constant assault amid what some analysts are calling the country's first-ever trillion-dollar holiday season.




science and technology

Riot Games will pay $10 million to settle gender discrimination suit

'League of Legends' maker Riot Games has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a gender discrimination suit. Every woman who has worked at the company since 2014 will get a payout.




science and technology

Google's Sundar Pichai becomes Alphabet CEO; Larry Page and Sergey Brin step down

Sundar Pichai is ascending at Google's parent, Alphabet, becoming CEO of the entire tech giant as co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin take a step back.




science and technology

Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract

Open source developers, GitHub's power users, are joining the software platform's employees in calling for the company to cancel its contract with ICE. A boycott could be next.




science and technology

Tech recruiters were once welcomed on campus. Now they face protests

Tech firms such as Palantir, Amazon, Google and Microsoft hire huge numbers of college graduates every year. Student activists are trying to disrupt that recruiting pipeline.




science and technology

Uber's report on sexual assaults and accidents offers some answers, more questions

Uber's first-ever safety transparency report establishes a baseline from which the ride-hailing giant must improve.




science and technology

Newsletter: Privacy-minded consumer groups say the kids aren't all right

Coalition calls on FTC to review how companies are marketing to children and tracking them online.




science and technology

Column: Are extended warranties worth it? Not so much, experts say

"Extended warranties are generally a bad value," says one consumer advocate. "Rarely do they pay off."




science and technology

Newsletter: $1,000 is just too dang much for a smartphone

A new study from market researcher NPD Group reveals that fewer than 10% of consumers are willing to shell out more than a thousand bucks for a phone.




science and technology

Looking ahead: In 2020, we look to Mars, fake meat and the allure of wishful thinking

What will 2020 bring? There'll be plenty to roar about. Concerts and playoffs. Electric highways and robots that bring your pizza. The future is right now.




science and technology

California is rewriting the rules of the internet. Businesses are scrambling to keep up

A new law that will let you opt out of the online data economy goes into effect on Jan. 1 — assuming businesses can figure out how to make that happen in time.




science and technology

New labor laws are coming to California. What's changing in your workplace?

For California businesses, 2020 will be a year of reckoning. Sweeping new laws curbing long-time employment practices take effect, aimed at reducing economic inequality and giving workers more power in their jobs.




science and technology

Controversial San Bernardino airport cargo expansion approved

Inland Empire residents have protested the airport expansion — rumored to be an Amazon project — for months. On Monday, airport officials approved the project.




science and technology

Uber and Postmates call AB 5 unconstitutional in new lawsuit

Uber and Postmates called AB 5 an "irrational and unconstitutional statute" that targets gig economy companies and workers.




science and technology

It's 2020 and you have new privacy rights online. But you might have to show ID

Californians have newfound power over their online information in 2020. Here's how to exercise those new rights.




science and technology

From 'Titanfall' to 'Star Wars,' the evolution of game studio Respawn mirrors our search for story

Respawn Entertainment began with a mission to build a better shooter. That became the hit "Titanfall." In 2019, the studio expanded with the free-to-play "Apex Legends" and "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order." The studio run by Vince Zampella is just getting started, with a virtual reality project on tap for 2020. Zampella also is taking over the Los Angeles offices of DICE.




science and technology

Seeing those opt-out messages about your personal information on websites? Thank California's new privacy law

"Do not sell my info" links popped up on websites New Year's Day as companies scrambled to comply with California's sweeping new consumer privacy protection law.




science and technology

Column: Boeing's board shouldn't escape blame in 737 Max scandal

Boeing will be hobbled by the 737 Max affair for years to come. Yet the board that oversaw this calamity is not being held to task.




science and technology

Major union launches campaign to organize video game and tech workers

One of the country's largest unions is targeting video game and tech companies — and hired a Southern California organizer to spearhead the project




science and technology

Your $14 salad's not as eco-friendly as advertised — but Sweetgreen's trying

Sweetgreen has long said nothing from its stores goes to landfill. On closer inspection, that's more aspiration than guarantee.




science and technology

Women suing Riot Games may deserve $400 million, not $10 million, state regulator says

Two California state agencies are intervening in a class action suit against Riot Games, saying women who worked at the company could deserve more money.




science and technology

It's your last chance to claim a slice of the Equifax data breach settlement

More than 147 million people's credit data were exposed during Equifax's 2017 breach. Wednesday is the deadline to file a claim.




science and technology

Long hours and 'a pile of white dudes': Annual survey looks at game industry working conditions

A rare, insider look at the highly secretive game industry from the Game Developers Conference. Developers share thoughts on working conditions, the need for unionization, attempts to diversify and more.




science and technology

Riot Games accuses regulators of 'questionable tactics' to block gender bias settlement

California state agencies argue that women who worked at the video game company could deserve up to $400 million. The company—and the lawyers for women who worked there—strongly disagree.




science and technology

Ring app shares your personal data with Facebook and others, report finds

The high-tech doorbell maker's app is rife with unlisted third-party trackers that collect data from users' devices, according to a report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.




science and technology

Ad industry seeks to delay new California data privacy law

Some of the advertising industry's biggest trade associations are asking California's attorney general to delay enforcement of the state's new privacy law — which is set for July 1— by at least six months.




science and technology

California lost more manufacturing jobs to China than any other state, report says

California lost more manufacturing jobs to China than any other state.




science and technology

Column: Your car dealer may be quietly selling your data to your insurer

"There's a lot of information that gets traded" about people's driving habits, says an industry official. "It's amazing."




science and technology

AB 5 is already changing how Uber works for California drivers and riders

Responding to a new California labor law, Uber making concessions drivers have long sought. But it may change the service in ways that displease drivers and riders alike.




science and technology

App made by Clinton campaign veterans' firm is behind Iowa caucuses debacle

Shadow, a tech developer started by veterans of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run, built the app being blamed for delaying Iowa Democratic caucus results.




science and technology

Lazarus: Would you write a 5-star Amazon review in return for a $20 bribe?

A Pasadena man found a card tucked away with his Amazon order offering a $20 payment in return for a glowing review — as long as he didn't tell anyone he'd been bribed.




science and technology

Column: The Iowa caucuses' meltdown shows that tech isn't always the solution

The Iowa caucuses teach a lesson that sometimes technology makes things worse.




science and technology

Snap is still in comeback mode. But investors are getting impatient

Snap's stock took a tumble after a disappointing year-end earnings report, but analysts say there's ample reason to think the company's upward trajectory will continue.




science and technology

Misinformation about the coronavirus abounds, but correcting it can backfire

With so much false information circulating about the coronavirus outbreak, health officials are trying to set the record straight. Here's why that can backfire.




science and technology

Column: Equifax left unencrypted data open to Chinese hackers. Most big U.S. companies are just as negligent

Equifax, like most large U.S. companies, failed to encrypt the databases that store some of the most sensitive details of people's lives.




science and technology

Bernie Sanders dominates Democrats in donations from tech workers

Bernie Sanders, who has criticized Amazon's treatment of its blue-collar workforce, led the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls in donations from Amazon employees, with support from both warehouse workers and software engineers.




science and technology

Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

A group of Apple workers filed a class-action lawsuit alleging they were required to submit to searches before leaving the stores but were not compensated for the time those searches required.




science and technology

Happy Valentine's Day. Play a video game about breaking up

Apartment: A Separated Place is an interactive tale about moving on.




science and technology

New California labor law AB 5 is already changing how businesses treat workers

California employers may dislike the new law on independent contractors, but they're devising a host of strategies to comply.




science and technology

Uber shuts downtown L.A. office, laying off about 80

With little warning, Uber notified about 80 customer support workers in its Downtown L.A. office that it was offshoring their jobs to an office in Manila.




science and technology

Column: Uber and Lyft increase traffic and pollution. Why do cities let it happen?

Uber and Lyft bring plenty of drawbacks to cities, but solutions aren't easy to find.




science and technology

Twitter is suspending 70 pro-Bloomberg accounts, citing 'platform manipulation'

Twitter said it would suspend 70 accounts posting content supporting the Michael Bloomberg campaign in a pattern that violates company rules.




science and technology

'Please disregard, vote for Bernie': Inside Bloomberg's paid social media army

Mike Bloomberg has hired hundreds of paid "digital organizers" to boost his presidential bid on social media. A look inside the operation reveals potential downsides to this approach.




science and technology

Lazarus: It's time to regulate internet service like any other utility

Telecom companies will do everything possible to protect shareholder value. That means offsetting losses in TV subscribers by increasing revenue from internet-only customers.




science and technology

The new burger chef makes $3 an hour and never goes home. (It's a robot)

Robotic arms like Flippy from Miso Robotics are getting cheap enough to make financial sense for low-wage work. But there's an argument in the industry.