Matt Novak

Tech News

Alvin Toffler Investigated by FBI for Communist Activities According to Newly Released Files

Alvin Toffler, who died in 2016, will be remembered for his many contributions to the work of futurism. Toffler was a prolific writer, most notably the author of the 1970 best-selling book Future Shock, and a man who became friends with important figures across the political spectrum in Washington DC, including Newt Gingrich. But Toffler’s … Continued

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Twitter CEO Defends Giving Alex Jones a Platform to Spread Lies

Alex Jones and his conspiracy theory empire InfoWars have officially been booted from Apple, Facebook, and YouTube. But Twitter is one of the last big social media companies that has declined to ban Alex Jones. And Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended his decision to allow Jones on the platform in a series of tweets last … Continued

Tech NewsFakes

Texas Governor Tweets Fake Churchill Quote About Fascism, Gets Flooded With Equally Made-Up Replies

Have you heard the famous Winston Churchill quote that “the fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists”? Well, it’s a fake quote. Churchill never said it. But that didn’t stop Texas Governor Greg Abbott from tweeting the fake quote late last night. And while Abbott is rightly being taken to task, the responses to … Continued

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Comic From 1913 Predicted Innovations for Newspapers of the Future

A lot of things were supposed to kill newspapers in the 20th century. There was radio, then TV, then the internet. Somehow newspapers have survived, in one form or another. But it’s still interesting to take a look at the predictions that people of yesterday had for how the news business would change. Like this … Continued

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YouTube Bans InfoWars Following Removals From Apple, Facebook, and Spotify

It’s been a rough day for Alex Jones and InfoWars. Hot on the heels of bans from Apple and Facebook, the conspiracy theory media empire has been banned on YouTube. It’s not yet clear if the video platform’s ban is permanent, but it appears that all InfoWars videos have been deleted. If you attempt to … Continued

Tech NewsFacebook

Facebook ‘Unpublishes’ InfoWars Pages as Social Media Companies Crack Down on Hate Speech

Facebook has “unpublished” four pages belonging to InfoWars in a move that could financially devastate the conspiracy theory empire. Facebook is avoiding the word “ban,” since InfoWars can appeal the decision, unlike Apple’s recent move to ban InfoWars podcasts, something that’s understood to be permanent. Facebook “unpublished” the Alex Jones Channel Page, the Alex Jones … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Apple Bans Most InfoWars Podcasts Over Hate Speech

Alex Jones is no longer welcome at Apple. The trillion dollar company has removed five of the six podcasts produced by InfoWars, the conspiracy theory empire that Jones founded to spread misinformation. Podcasts like “The Alex Jones Show” and “War Room” have been pulled from all of Apple’s directories, but the company has left up … Continued

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The Futuristic Invisible Wall That Was Supposed to Protect Entire Towns From Missiles in 1959

When you hear about the concept of missile defense in space, your first thought might be Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, more commonly called Star Wars. But ideas for an invisible missile shield in the sky are much older than the 1980s. As just one example, we have this Sunday comic strip from 1959, which … Continued

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This 1935 Streamlined Car of the Future Looks Like a Beautiful Death Trap

We’ve looked at a lot of weird cars here at Paleofuture. But this one might take the cake. Built in 1935 by Angelo R. Noble just north of Los Angeles, it clearly takes its influence from the other streamlined products of the 1930s. And despite looking vaguely like a tank, it seems like it’d be … Continued

Tech NewsGoogle

Google Developing Censored Search Engine For China: Report [Updated]

China has an army of internet censors who comb through the web and block information that the government doesn’t want its people to see. But the job of the censors is about to get easer if Google has its way. The tech giant is planning to release a new censored version of its search engine … Continued

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How a U.S. Military Contractor Wanted to Use Jetpacks in the Vietnam War

When you think of jetpacks, your first thought is probably an image of some fun, care-free piece of pop culture like The Jetsons or James Bond. Or maybe even the Super Bowl. But jetpacks were serious business for the U.S. military in the 1960s. And, believe it or not, there were plenty of futuristic ideas … Continued

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America’s First Interactive TV Show Encouraged Kids to Draw on the Screen

Have you ever seen a kid take a marker or crayons to a phone or iPad? If so, you might be able to imagine what it was like to see kids of the 1950s drawing all over the fantastic new technology of the day: television. But in at least some cases, this wasn’t a horrifying … Continued

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John Oliver Makes Facebook’s TV Ad a Little More Honest

Do you remember Facebook’s terrible TV ad back in April that tried to “apologize” for abusing your data? It was disingenuous bullshit. But with Facebook back in the news after the company lost $120 billion in value last week, John Oliver has revived the ad. Only this time the TV spot has a little more … Continued

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Video From 1991 Imagines What Real Estate Agents of the Future Might Look Like

What will real estate agents of the future look like? That’s what a video from 1991 was trying to find out. There are a handful of jobs that millennials remember from their childhood that have almost disappeared. For me, the first one that always comes to mind is travel agents. Online booking largely decimated that … Continued

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WWII-Era Time Capsule Found in Cleveland Home, and the Contractor Wants Internet Sleuths’ Help

Do you know WWII veteran Richard Silagy or his family? Silagy lived in Cleveland, Ohio, sometime after World War II and hid a time capsule filled with personal items in his home. The time capsule was recently discovered by a housing contractor doing improvements on the house, but a search online for Silagy or any … Continued

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British Police Identify Two Russian Suspects in Novichok Poisonings Using Facial Recognition Tech

British police have reportedly identified two suspects in the nerve agent poisonings that left one person dead and three others injured. The suspects were identified after UK police combed through “months” of surveillance footage at British airports, as well as security camera footage from around Salisbury. Both CNN and the BBC refer to an unnamed … Continued

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Elon Musk Gives Half-Assed Apology to Cave Diver He Called a Pedophile

Elon Musk has been pretty quiet on Twitter ever since he called one of the cave divers in Thailand a pedophile. He deleted the tweets, but the diver, Vernon Unsworth, said he was considering legal action for the unfounded claims. But now Musk has apologized. Sort of. Musk’s half-hearted apology came in the form of … Continued

Tech NewsFakes

This Viral Photo Doesn’t Show Maria Butina in an Oval Office Meeting With Trump

On Sunday, 29-year-old Russian national Maria Butina was arrested and charged with being an unregistered agent of the Russian government while trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. Ever since, people online have been combing through old photos of Butina posing with American politicians. But one photo has gotten a lot of attention today. It … Continued

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Hero Diver Threatens Lawsuit Against Elon Musk for Calling Him a Pedophile

Elon Musk had quite a weekend on Twitter. The billionaire tech mogul accused one of the cave divers who helped save a Thai soccer team of being a pedophile yesterday. And now the diver is considering a lawsuit. British national Vernon Unsworth was instrumental in rescuing 12 kids and their soccer coach from a flooded … Continued

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How to Watch the Trump-Putin Press Conference in Helsinki, No Cable Required

U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin are scheduled to have a press conference today at 9:50am ET, 6:50am PT, 4:50pm Moscow time. And if you’re looking for a way to watch a livestream of the Helsinki press conference without a TV, Gizmodo has got you covered. President Trump had breakfast this morning … Continued