(ArtisticOperations / Pixabay)

For the last two years, stay-at-home orders and closed schools made people’s reliance on the internet more apparent than ever. It also showcased the inequities in access to broadband internet. Nationwide, Latino households are not only less likely to have broadband access, but also the devices needed to get connected.

Seen on the screen of a device in Sausalito, Calif., Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the keynote address during a virtual event on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. Zuckerberg talked up his latest passion -- creating a virtual reality "metaverse" for business, entertainment and meaningful social interactions. (AP Photo / Eric Risberg)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta in an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future — what Zuckerberg calls the “metaverse.”

(terimakasih0 / Pixabay)

Public safety apps like Citizen and Nextdoor allow users to report incidents and crime in the area. But some skeptics say these apps have fueled fear.

FILE - In this Oct. 12, 2021 file photo, Hadrien Gurnel, software engineer EPFL's Laboratory for Experimental Museology (eM+) explores with a virtual reality helmet the most detailed 3D map of the universe with the virtual reality software VIRUP, Virtual Reality Universe Project developed by Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in St-Sulpice near Lausanne, Switzerland. (Laurent Gillieron / Keystone via AP)

The metaverse is the latest buzzword to capture the tech industry’s imagination. Facebook is hiring thousands of engineers in Europe to work on it, while video game companies are outlining their long-term visions for what some consider the next big thing online.

In this June 4, 2012, file photo, an unidentified 11-year-old girl logs into Facebook on her iPhone at her home in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo / Paul Sakuma, File)

Facebook is also planning to introduce new controls for adults of teens on an optional basis so that parents or guardians can supervise what their teens are doing online. These initiatives come after Facebook announced late last month that it was pausing work on its Instagram for Kids project. 

In this Sept. 24, 2019, file photo, a woman walks below a Google sign on the campus in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo / Jeff Chiu, File)
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Google is cracking down on digital ads promoting false climate change claims or being used to make money from such content, hoping to limit revenue for climate change deniers and stop the spread of misinformation on its platforms.

In this Sept. 20, 2021, photo Austin Moody poses for a photo as he sits a his home work station in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo / Steve Nesius)
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Hiring and keeping staff capable of helping fend off a constant stream of cyberattacks and less severe online threats tops the list of concerns for state technology leaders. 

(Erik Lucatero / Pixabay)

Even if you haven’t heard of the creator economy, you’ve likely encountered it. About 50 million people worldwide consider themselves creators, with the majority – about 46.7 million – calling themselves amateurs, according to a report. 

Chicago River tour boats are reflected by a building window in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)

Rowers, kayakers and other users of the Chicago River are getting a real-time look at one measure of water quality in the system that weaves through downtown and several neighborhoods. 

Adwoa Agyepong of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America speaks at a rally to end the city’s use of ShotSpotter technology on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. (WTTW News)

Fewer than 1 in 10 ShotSpotter alerts between 2020 and 2021 resulted in evidence of a gun-related criminal offense being found, according to a new report from Chicago’s independent watchdog.

People speak out against the city’s use of ShotSpotter technology at a rally on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. (WTTW News)

Activists and youth leaders are calling on Chicago officials to dump the city’s contract with gunshot detection company ShotSpotter, claiming the technology is unreliable and often leads to police being sent into communities on “high alert” for false alarms.

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For many of us, social media is a convenient way to keep in touch with family, friends and colleagues. But sharing false information on platforms like Facebook during a global pandemic can have life or death consequences.

A global shortage of computer chips is causing major headaches for American manufacturers. (Jeremy Zero / Unsplash)
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the disruption of supply chains and manufacturing the world over. Manufacturers of computer chips in Asia have been especially hard hit. And that means companies that make products that rely on such chips are feeling the pinch.

Researchers have developed technology that enabled a man unable to speak because of paralysis to communicate by translating his brain waves into text on a computer screen. (Courtesy of UC San Francisco)

Researchers have developed technology that enabled a man unable to speak because of paralysis to communicate by translating his brain waves into text on a computer screen. Rabiah Mayas of the Museum of Science and Industry has details on that story and others making headlines.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses the news media Thursday, July 1, 2021. (WTTW News)
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Determined to convince tech companies to trade in views of the Golden Gate Bridge for the City of Big Shoulders, Mayor Lori Lightfoot spent Wednesday and Thursday wooing Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, even as the city reeled from the most violent weekend of 2021.
The Illinois Tech campus in Bronzeville. (WTTW News)

We discuss Chicago’s role in the tech world with the incoming president of Illinois Tech, who takes the helm on Aug. 16.