technology

Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistle-blower, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 5, 2021. Haugen said the Securities and Exchange Commission was the agency that she believed could rein in the company. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times)

Facebook faces a public relations crisis. What about a legal one?

‘I filed with the SEC because Facebook lied to regulators and their investors’

  • Oct 26, 2021

 

Facebook’s Menlo Park campus is pictured in September; a panel recently appointed by the tech giant said that the company has not been transparent about an internal program that gives prominent users preferential treatment on the social network. (Kelsey McClellan/New York Times)

Facebook’s oversight board criticizes its policy on prominent users

Company not open about what led content to be deleted, panel says

  • Oct 26, 2021

 

Jennifer Stout, vice president for global public policy for Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, testifies before a subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington about mounting concerns that some social media platforms can harm children and teenagers. (Oliver Contreras/The New York Times)

YouTube, Snap and TikTok executives take their turn answering to Washington

By David McCabe New York Times WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Tuesday grilled…

  • Oct 26, 2021

 

Likes and shares made Facebook what it is. Now the company is struggling to deal with their effects. (Illustration by Mel Haasch/Photography by Tom Brenner/New York Times)

Facebook wrestles with the features it used to define social networking

Like button and sharing are linked to anxiety, spreading of misinformation

  • Oct 25, 2021
Likes and shares made Facebook what it is. Now the company is struggling to deal with their effects. (Illustration by Mel Haasch/Photography by Tom Brenner/New York Times)
Giants pitcher Logan Webb in his huge batting helmet smacks a triple at Oracle Park in April. How can he see out from under that? <ins>(Chris Victorio/Special to The Examiner)</ins> <ins></ins>

Online witches, Giants trolling on Instagram and Facebook’s Simpsons slip-up

News and notes from San Francisco’s tech world

Giants pitcher Logan Webb in his huge batting helmet smacks a triple at Oracle Park in April. How can he see out from under that? <ins>(Chris Victorio/Special to The Examiner)</ins> <ins></ins>
Senior Disability Action demonstrators at the AT&T store in Union Square on Oct. 18 demanded the company provide lower-cost, higher-speed WiFi plans. (Veronica Irwin/The Examiner)

Seniors and people with disabilities are still digitally divided

What are San Francisco’s options for univeral broadband Internet?

Senior Disability Action demonstrators at the AT&T store in Union Square on Oct. 18 demanded the company provide lower-cost, higher-speed WiFi plans. (Veronica Irwin/The Examiner)
The 1886 square-rigger Balclutha has made a lot of history in San Francisco, where she still docks. (Photo courtesy National Parks Service)

Who’s behind blockchain voting at San Francisco’s City Hall?

Also: Lipstick NFTs and billion-dollar valuations flowing like kombucha

The 1886 square-rigger Balclutha has made a lot of history in San Francisco, where she still docks. (Photo courtesy National Parks Service)
Three new massive cranes cruised into the Port of Oakland early this year. (Courtesy Port of Oakland)

Giant new cranes help business soar at Port of Oakland

Ships previously headed elsewhere now come to the Bay Area first

Three new massive cranes cruised into the Port of Oakland early this year. (Courtesy Port of Oakland)
Tech workers at Flexport’s Market Street headquarters have worked to find data solutions to supply-chain challenges. (Courtesy Flexport)

How San Francisco tech companies are addressing the global supply chain crisis

Startups bring data solutions to broken shipping industry

Tech workers at Flexport’s Market Street headquarters have worked to find data solutions to supply-chain challenges. (Courtesy Flexport)
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, testifies before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing in Washington on Oct. 5.

What the public doesn’t understand about whistleblowers

The psychological motivations of people like Frances Haugen are widely misunderstood

  • Oct 12, 2021
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, testifies before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing in Washington on Oct. 5.
The Giants have used data this season to keep sluggers like Kris Bryant focused on swinging at the right pitches. (Chris Victorio/Special to The Examiner)

How the Giants hacked their way to a division title using data

Using digital tools, analytics and brains, San Francisco outpaced every team in baseball

The Giants have used data this season to keep sluggers like Kris Bryant focused on swinging at the right pitches. (Chris Victorio/Special to The Examiner)
The van office of Kenzo Fong, founder and CEO of Rock. (Courtesy Rock)

Behold, the best cities for tech workers: Where does SF rank?

Rankings based on what really matters: Pay, coffee, weed, sex, baseball, and gaming

The van office of Kenzo Fong, founder and CEO of Rock. (Courtesy Rock)
Mike Wiacek, center, founder and CEO of Stairwell, says raising venture capital in the Bay Area is much easier than elsewhere. <ins>(Courtesy Stairwell)</ins> Mike Wiacek, center, founder and CEO of Stairwell, says raising venture capital in the Bay Area is much easier than elsewhere. (Courtesy Stairwell)

Relax, San Francisco: Startups are here to stay

Research shows a ‘network effect’ is still pulling together investors, entrepreneurs and tech workers

Mike Wiacek, center, founder and CEO of Stairwell, says raising venture capital in the Bay Area is much easier than elsewhere. <ins>(Courtesy Stairwell)</ins> Mike Wiacek, center, founder and CEO of Stairwell, says raising venture capital in the Bay Area is much easier than elsewhere. (Courtesy Stairwell)
Health experts praised Salesforce for keeping its Dreamforce conference at Moscone Center outdoors and on a small scale. <ins>(Kevin N. Hume/The Examiner)</ins>

Happy birthday, Marc Benioff. Your company did the right thing

Salesforce kept Dreamforce small, which made all kinds of sense

  • Sep 24, 2021
Health experts praised Salesforce for keeping its Dreamforce conference at Moscone Center outdoors and on a small scale. <ins>(Kevin N. Hume/The Examiner)</ins>
Dominion Voting Systems, a Denver-based vendor, is under contract to supply voting machines for elections in San Francisco. (Kevin N. Hume/Examiner file)

Is San Francisco’s elections director impeding voting machine progress?

Open source technology could break up existing monopoly

  • Sep 24, 2021
Dominion Voting Systems, a Denver-based vendor, is under contract to supply voting machines for elections in San Francisco. (Kevin N. Hume/Examiner file)
Dreamforce returned to San Francisco in person this week – but with a tiny sliver of past attendance. (Courtesy Salesforce)

Dreamforce returns with hundreds on hand, down from 170,000 in the past

High hopes for a larger Salesforce conference shriveled during the summer

  • Sep 21, 2021
Dreamforce returned to San Francisco in person this week – but with a tiny sliver of past attendance. (Courtesy Salesforce)
Danielle Baskin, right, and friends hung a Halloween store banner on the sign of a mostly empty tech campus on Monday as a prank. (Courtesy Vincent Woo)

‘BOOgle!’ pranksters wrap Google’s SF office park in Spirit Halloween signage

The goof says it all about The City’s empty tech campuses

  • Sep 20, 2021
Danielle Baskin, right, and friends hung a Halloween store banner on the sign of a mostly empty tech campus on Monday as a prank. (Courtesy Vincent Woo)
Artist Agnieszka Pilat, pictured with Spot the Robot Dog from Boston Robotics, has a gallery show opening at Modernism. (Courtesy Agnieszka Pilat)

Screenshots of VCs, Kanye and tech parties by the Bay

In this week’s roundup, Ben Horowitz’s surprising hip-hop knowledge and the chic tech crowd at Shack15

  • Sep 17, 2021
Artist Agnieszka Pilat, pictured with Spot the Robot Dog from Boston Robotics, has a gallery show opening at Modernism. (Courtesy Agnieszka Pilat)
Epic Cleantec uses soil mixed with treated wastewater solids to plants at the company’s demonstration garden in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Epic Cleantec)

This startup watches what SF flushes – and grows food with it

Epic Cleantec saves millions of gallons of water a year, and helps companies adhere to drought regulations

  • Sep 16, 2021
Epic Cleantec uses soil mixed with treated wastewater solids to plants at the company’s demonstration garden in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Epic Cleantec)
Waymo’s exhibit drew a crowd at The Exploratorium. <ins>(Jeff Elder/The Examiner)</ins>

Apple HQ moving to Texas? Bogus to the core

Waymo after dark, Theranos overload and more from Silly Valley’s gossip machine

  • Sep 10, 2021
Waymo’s exhibit drew a crowd at The Exploratorium. <ins>(Jeff Elder/The Examiner)</ins>