Technology

Facebook has made changes to how its News Feed works by taking into account how long a person looks at an article. The world’s largest social network has tweaked its algorithm to ensure that users receive content they actually want to read and to reduce clutter popping up on News Feeds. The real motivation may be ad revenue, but it’s always pushed as more relevant content. Beta News reports: The most recent update to the feed algorithm will take into account not only which news articles people click on, but how long they spend reading them.

It's all fun and games until someone is caught cheating. That is the lesson that Volkswagen learned last fall, when the German car manufacturer was caught using software that could detect when an emissions test was taking place in order to give better results. Today, it looks like Mitsubishi Motors will learn that very same lesson.

Internet technology giant Google warned users on Tuesday that its own website is potentially dangerous.

The manager for the band Metallica has told a BBC Radio 4 documentary that he thinks YouTube has essentially killed the music industry.  Peter Mensch, manager of groups such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Muse referred to YouTube as “the devil”, complaining that the site’s business model ensures that people working in the industry do not get paid. BBC News reports: He said the site’s business model, in which artists make money by placing ads around their music, was unsustainable. “If someone doesn’t do something about YouTube, we’re screwed,” he said. “It’s over.

All that hackers need to listen in on your phone conversation or to read your text messages or to track your movement is your smartphone number. The Daily Mail reports: They can do this by exploiting a flaw in a global telecom network called Signal System 7 (SS7) that helps phone carriers across the world route calls and texts. Now, a 60 minutes investigation has revealed just how easy it is to exploit this vulnerability, and according to experts, all phones are at risk.