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WhatsApp

WhatsApp is getting its own day(s) in court. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s encryption showdown with the U.S. government may be more or less dormant for now, but Facebook-owned WhatsApp has its own courtroom drama happening in Brazil. It scored a slight win today, however, as a judge overturned a decision yesterday that would have shut the whole thing down across the country for several days.

The controversy surrounds the messaging app’s end-to-end encryption. Specifically, the developer’s inability (and/or unwillingness) to crack it to comply with law enforcement requests.

Don't get on a plane with a Wi-Fi hotspot named "mobile detonation device." Photo: Qantas

Don’t get on a plane with a Wi-Fi hotspot named “mobile detonation device.” Photo: Qantas

Everyone knows you shouldn’t say “bomb” on an airplane — and it should be just as obvious that you shouldn’t name your wireless gadgets ridiculous things, either.

A simple Wi-Fi hotspot sparked terrorism fears on a recent Australia-bound Qantas plane because someone thought it would be a good idea to name it “mobile detonation device.”

self-driving

The Chrysler Pacifica could soon drive itself. Photo: Fiat Chrysler

Google is on the verge of signing a new deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to build “several dozen” self-driving minivans, according to a new report.

The first models could be on the road sometime this year for the first phase of the self-driving vehicle partnership, but it’s not yet clear what the main objective is.

Google Keyboard for Android gets a big update. Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Android

Google Keyboard for Android now features a one-handed mode, new gestures, and more. Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Android

Google has started rolling out a major update to Google Keyboard for Android that brings features like a one-handed mode, a new layout, a couple of new gestures, and more.

Crowdpac silicon valley campaign donations companies

You won’t find a lot of Trump yard signs in the valley. Source: CrowdPAC

Silicon Valley campaign donations have poured way more money into the presidential bids of Democrats than Republicans, surprising nobody, ever.

This shocking revelation comes from a report from CrowdPAC, a non-partisan, political crowdfunding organization that has discovered that the companies most likely to donate to campaigns are Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. And while the findings don’t include fine-grain data like individual amounts or the actual numbers of employees, they do make one overwhelming conclusion:

Techies don’t like Donald Trump.

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