Tech Hangover: Google continues to be an evil company

We get it, you have a life. There’s no way you can read all of the day’s news in one single shot, let alone visit every web page, which is why we’re here to help. Well, sort of.

There’s a ton of tech news we weren’t able to cover throughout the day (hey, give us a break, we’re a small independent outfit), so to help you stay up to speed with everything we didn’t get to, we rounded up some of the biggest stories, which should help you keep up to date. Hence the tech hangover. 

Here’s some tech news you probably missed out on today (and when we say you, we mean us, but also…you).

Google fires four employees at center of worker organization efforts

Image: Aly Song / Reuters

This is such a shitty move on Google’s part. I don’t know all the specifics to the story, but this surely doesn’t look good for Google.

Tensions between Google parent company Alphabet and its workers are again on the rise, as four employees at the forefront of an organization movement within Google have been fired. – ArsTechnica

Twitter will free up handles by deleting inactive accounts 

OH HELL YEAH FINALLY @bigpenis WILL BE MINE https://t.co/GardmGDDLf

— Katie Notopoulos (@katienotopoulos) November 26, 2019

Those who’ve attempted to snag their preferred Twitter handle know what a pain the process can be. Users can squat on an account for years, holding onto handles in spite of long stretches of inactivity. As spotted by a BBC reporter, Twitter looks to finally be getting proactive about the situation. – TechCrunch

Amazon’s Ring Planned Neighborhood “Watch Lists” Built on Facial Recognition

Image: KnowTechie

What could possibly go wrong?

Ring, Amazon’s crimefighting surveillance camera division, has crafted plans to use facial recognition software and its ever-expanding network of home security cameras to create AI-enabled neighborhood “watch lists,” according to internal documents reviewed by The Intercept. – The Intercept

E-books at libraries are a huge hit, leading to long waits, reader hacks and worried publishers

Image: Unsplash

Back in my day, I remember going to the library to check out video games, movies, and dope ass CDs. Man, times are a-changing.

Library e-book waits, now often longer than for hard copies, have prompted some to take their memberships to a new extreme, collecting library cards or card numbers to enable them to find the rarest or most popular books, with the shortest wait. – Washington Post

Teen’s TikTok post about China camps goes viral

Image: AP

Uhhh, I should probably download this app already.

The post appears to be about beauty tips at its start – but the young woman then changes tack to ask her viewers to raise awareness of what she describes as a “another Holocaust”. Feroza Aziz later tweeted that TikTok had blocked her from posting new content, as a result. TikTok has disputed this. – BBC

And in just case you missed some of our stuff earlier, here’s what you may have missed:

• Turning off all of Google’s tracking services basically renders your Android useless
• Mass. State Police is now working with a robodog from Boston Dynamics
• Walmart has a PlayStation 4 deal with three games for only $199 right now
• This early Black Friday deal scores you custom art of your DNA sequence for just $99
• Evergreen holiday tech content with seasonal relativity
• Facebook’s Viewpoints is an app that pays you to take surveys and perform tasks
• This Black Friday deal adds 3 months to your Xbox Live Gold membership for just $15
• Nintendo now has an official storefront on Amazon – just in time for Black Friday
• Blockchain gaming: Why did Blizzard just rescind prize money?
• Ebay and Amazon have the Xbox One S 1TB All-Digital Edition Console for only $149 right now
• This early Black Friday deal drops the 1TB PlayStation 4 Pro down to $299
• Score a lifetime subscription to VPNSecure for an unbelievable $21

Notable Mentions

Amazon ends creepy program that sent samples based on purchase history 

SEC filing reveals Facebook was the mystery bidder against Google to acquire Fitbit, and it shows tech giants see huge growth potential for smartwatches

Previous Hangovers: 

• Tech Hangover: Facebook wants to pay you money
• Tech Hangover: Of course Amazon is getting into the game streaming business
• Tech Hangover: We’re all getting hacked

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.