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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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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.




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

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




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'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.




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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.




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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.




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San Francisco's Game Developers Conference canceled over coronavirus fears

The annual Game Developers Conference, a professional gathering of close to 30,000 interactive industry professionals, has been called off just two weeks before the 2020 edition was to launch due to fears of a coronavirus pandemic.




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Twitter tells employees to work from home as tech firms react to coronavirus

As fears of a coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. grow, Twitter became the first major company to urge its stateside employees to work from home




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Facebook to remove misleading Trump census ads

Facebook will remove more than 1,000 Trump campaign ads that urge people to fill out a mailer that looks like official 2020 census forms.




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'Can everyone mute?' Coronavirus means we must telecommute. We're not ready

Remote work is rising as organizations react to the coronavirus. The technology is ready, but the real hurdle might be our real-world workplace habits.




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EBay bans sales of masks and hand sanitizer in response to coronavirus price gouging

EBay is refusing listings for N95 and N100 masks, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes and says it's working to remove listings with inflated prices.




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Uber, Lyft say they will pay quarantined drivers as senator calls on gig companies to help contain virus

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner called on companies including Uber, Postmates to ease financial burdens felt by gig workers because of the novel coronavirus.




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Coronavirus cancels E3 convention, leaving a hole in L.A.'s gaming community

Canceled Wednesday, this year's E3 was particularly anticipated because new consoles from Sony and Microsoft are due to be released by the end of the year.




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Google website can help you get tested for coronavirus — so long as you aren't sick

A website created by Google sister company Verily is screening people in the Bay Area for coronavirus testing, but telling anyone with symptoms they're not eligible. It's not the only mystery around the project.




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How a coronavirus recession could be disastrous for Uber and Lyft drivers

People who make their living through on-demand platforms face the possibility of a recession aggravated by a drop in demand caused by coronavirus fears.




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Sony reveals new PlayStation 5 details that reignite the home console wars

In what would have been big news at the coronavirus-postponed Game Developer's Conference, Sony's streamed event, along with Microsoft's announcement, heats up the video game wars.




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Job losses from coronavirus are already devastating Southern California

Coronavirus unemployment hits a broad swath of industries across California.




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Coronavirus is supercharging the fight over California's new employment law

The coronavirus outbreak, and the economic downturn it has ushered in, have given fresh arguments to both sides in the fight over the legal rights of independent contractors.




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Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one's keeping them safe

Coronavirus relief efforts are leaving some delivery workers unprotected, they say.




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Google, Facebook offer paid leave to parents amid coronavirus school closures

The Silicon Valley giants have often led the field in employee benefits—but the new policy doesn't extend to contract workers




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Column: You can thank the coronavirus for plunge in robocalls

With call centers in India, the Philippines and elsewhere shut down for the coronavirus, many robocall companies have simply stopped making calls.




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Sony delays 'The Last of Us 2,' 'Iron Man VR,' citing coronavirus

"The Last of Us Part 2," a game, in part, about the breakdown of society due to the spread of a highly contagious virus, has been delayed indefinitely by Sony Interactive Entertainment -- despite the success of 'Animal Crossing' and more games in coronavirus quarantine.




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Employees at 6 Amazon facilities in Southern California have tested positive for coronavirus

Coronavirus: Amazon workers at 6 Southland facilities test positive




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How USC students turned Zoom into a video game platform for coronavirus life

Beyond business meetings and quarantine cocktail parties Zoom turns out to be an excellent video game platform. Students at the USC Game School have been leading the way in creating games.




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Quibi dared Hollywood directors to make movies for phones. Who bit and what they learned

Filmmakers often say the last thing they want is for people to watch their movies on a phone. Now, as Quibi launches, some are hoping they do exactly that. It may be the boldest cinematic experiment in memory.




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Fearful of COVID-19, Amazon workers ask for state probe of working conditions

Workers at Amazon's massive Riverside County fulfillment center in Eastvale, where there have been three confirmed cases of COVID-19, filed complaints with Cal/OSHA and the Riverside Department of Public Health on Wednesday




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Zoom security feature let unapproved users view meetings, researchers find

Researchers found a security flaw in Zoom's "Waiting Room" feature that could have allowed users to access a video meeting even if they were not approved to join a call. Zoom said Wednesday it had fixed the issue.




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Column: Coronavirus has created opportunities for, shall we say, quirky cures

Televangelist Jim Bakker is being sued over his promotion of a coronavirus cure. Then there's Scalar Light, a Florida company that says it can "disassemble pathogens" at the quantum level.




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The coronavirus crisis has been great for Instacart. For its workers, it's a different story

Demand for Instacart's grocery deliveries has put new strains on the company's shoppers, who say they have little to show for risking their health.




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How 'Animal Crossing' was built to be ubiquitous in coronavirus time — back in 2001

It's no accident that "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" is resonating now. Built to ward off loneliness in 2001, the franchise is made for the pandemic moment.




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Meet humanity's new ally in the coronavirus fight: Robots

The novel coronavirus is making plain each day just how vulnerable we humans are to a brand new infectious disease. But humanity has an ally in robots.




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'Apollo 13 moments': Amid coronavirus crisis, doctors, inventors convert devices into ventilators

Innovations are taking place around the country as doctors and entrepreneurs turn their ingenuity to solving the country's ventilator shortage.




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Travis Scott's trippy 'Fortnite' invasion: Welcome to the coronavirus era of live music

Travis Scott just headlined 'Fortnite' instead of Coachella, debuting a new song with Kid Cudi. It was trippy. There were flaming microphone stands.




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How I broke my VR skepticism and found emotional escape during coronavirus sheltering

Better VR headsets and experiences that respond to you are reasons to isolate inside virtual reality when COVID-19 is the reality outside your door.




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Actors sheltering at home perform in live VR experiences, making case for new theater form

Los Angeles studio Tender Claws brings live theater to virtual reality with actors at home during coronavirus. It's a new form of theater.




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Changing reality: VR finds its moment with actors, artists and experiences that change the game

Virtual reality isn't just for gamers. Artists, exercise fiends and actors in a new theater form are experimenting now.