2 Clubhouse, an invitation-only audio chat app launched less than a year ago, has caught the attention of tech industry bigshots like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — not to mention the Chinese government, which has already blocked it in the country. What is Clubhouse, you ask? Q: What is Clubhouse? A: The iPhone-only app, once you’re in, lets you start or listen into conversations on a whole host of topics, from tech to pro sports, parenting, Black literature and so on. There are no posts, photos or videos — only people’s profile pictures and their voices. Conversations can be intimate, like a phone call, or might include thousands of people listening to a talk by boldface names, like a conference or stage interview. Think part podcast, part conference call, part social media. It’s free to use and there are no ads, at least not at this point. Q: How do I get in? A: Currently, the only way to get an invitation is to … [Read more...]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has signed new legislation that would bar local election administrators from accepting outside grants to help run their offices, the latest in a rush of Republican states banning nonprofits from helping to cover budget gaps in chronically underfunded local offices. The bill, passed at the end of May before House Democrats walked out of the state Capitol to block a more wide-reaching overhaul of voting rules, prevents a county election commission or board from accepting contributions offered by private individuals, corporations or any other third-party group, including nonprofits. It also bars those boards from spending money that has not been appropriated by local county elected officials. The bill is a direct response to funding grants made by groups like the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nonprofit funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg Hillicon Valley: NATO members agree to new cyber defense policy | YouTube … [Read more...]

Maggie VandenBerghe, a conservative filmmaker whose videos attacking the political left have gained millions of views and have been featured on Fox News and the Blaze, was banned from Facebook-owned Instagram earlier this week after reposting a tweet from journalist and author Jack Posobiec. In a comment to Breitbart News, an Instagram spokeswoman confirmed that VandenBerghe’s account had been blacklisted for “exceeding the number of violations we allow.” Instagram did not say precisely which rules the conservative filmmaker, who had over 220,000 followers on the platform before being banned, broke. Vandenberghe (also known by her online name “Fog City Midge”) said she had been banned after reposting the following tweet from Posobiec, a Washington Examiner story about the recent death of Christopher Sign, a journalist who broke the news of Bill Clinton’s meeting with attorney general Loretta Lynch in 2016. In a comment to Breitbart News, VandenBerghe said Instagram was … [Read more...]