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Tech Week That Was: So Many Hacks, So Little Time

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If it feels like the big data breaches are unending, that's because they probably are. The shortened week, due to the Labor Day holiday, had no shortage of tech headlines because of one big breach after another. A look back:

ICYMI

Tech To Solve Police Mistrust?: Both on-air and online, we explored the complexities of putting cameras on police officers to better "police" wrongdoing. While the cameras solve some of the transparency problems in chaotic or contentious encounters, they can also open up thorny questions about who controls the tape.

Tom Hanks Loves His Typewriters: Hanks may have been a big emailer in his film, You've Got Mail, but in real life, he loves his typewriters so much he's now behind an app to bring the ding back.

The Big Conversation

Data Breach Fatigue: Whether it was A-list actress Jennifer Lawrence, or the world's biggest bank, or Goodwill, it seems like fraudsters broke into every system that is supposed to be secure. I wrote about how it's very difficult to care about payment hacks anymore, because the consequences don't hit many of us at all.

But ... Selfie Stealing Is Different: Our tech team colleague Aarti Shahani pointed out on Morning Edition that the trove of celebrity nudes that were stolen should be considered much differently than the data hacking of payment systems.

Curiosities

WSJ: Apple 'iWatch' To Allow Mobile Payments

A lot of the rumors you've heard are true, reports the Journal,which previews Apple's expected announcement scheduled for Tuesday.

New York Times: Brainy, Yes, but Far From Handy

Despite dramatic advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, "machines still lack a critical element that will keep them from eclipsing most human capabilities anytime soon: a well-developed sense of touch," the Times says.

The Guardian: Chattanooga's Gig: how one city's super-fast internet is driving a tech boom

The city is one of the few places able to surf the Internet at 1 gigabit per second. But that presents some challenges, like sharing data with other places that have more poky speeds.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Elise Hu is a host-at-large based at NPR West in Culver City, Calif. Previously, she explored the future with her video series, Future You with Elise Hu, and served as the founding bureau chief and International Correspondent for NPR's Seoul office. She was based in Seoul for nearly four years, responsible for the network's coverage of both Koreas and Japan, and filed from a dozen countries across Asia.
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