Tech Hangover: Kickstarter has successfully unionized

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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).

Kickstarter Employees Win Historic Union Election

Image: Unsplash

This is huge news because this makes Kickstarter workers the first employees at a major tech company to successfully unionize in the United States. This should pave the way for other workers at bigger tech companies to go down the union route.

Kickstarter employees voted to form a union with the Office and Professional Employees International Union, which represents more than 100,000 white collar workers. The final vote was 46 for the union, 37 against, a historic win for unionization efforts at tech companies. – Motherboard

Report: Apple is still planning a March event to announce new products

Apple ain’t scared of a little Cornavirus. The company is still moving ahead with its plans of launching the much-awaited iPhone SE 2 in March, along with some new iPads with an improved camera system. Let’s see what happens.

Apple is still on track to announce new devices at an event next month, despite the company’s sales and operations being hit hard by COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus). One of the planned devices is a low-cost iPhone that’s rumored to be a follow-up to 2016’s iPhone SE. The other is a new iPad Pro model with a refreshed camera system. – Input

Patreon will now give creators cash advances on their subscription money 

Image: TechCrunch

Congratulations, Patreon. You are now a payday lender. You’re in great company.

Patreon, the site creators love because it helps them make money off their work, has started a program called Patreon Capital, which grants micro-loans to creators. It’s essentially a cash advance: you get money now in exchange for some of your future earnings plus a small premium. – The Verge

This could be Microsoft’s most important product in 2020. If it works

Image: CNBC

If you need a quick TLDR, Microsoft is working on a thing called Election Guard. It’s an open-source voting machine software that’s designed to prevent hackers from hacking voting machines. Hopefully, it does its job.

Building 83 doesn’t stand out on Microsoft’s massive Redmond, Washington, headquarters. But last week, the nameless structure hosted what might be the software giant’s most important product of 2020. – CNET

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

• Google’s Stadia is finally coming to more Android phones
• Redbox launched a free live TV service you’ll probably never use
• Samsung made some critical changes to Android – Google says it made it less secure
• Vanquish’s over-the-top action is back in completely remastered glory
• Samsung will charge you $119 for a Galaxy Z Flip screen replacement
• The newly remastered Bayonetta brings with it buttery-smooth, 60 FPS gameplay
• Snag one of Anker’s best wireless chargers for just right now
• PSA: Don’t buy the Motorola Razr…yet
• Durability tests show that Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip phone is highly prone to scratches
• Add a portable jump starter to your car for just $50
• Amazon is blowing out Apple Watch bands as low as right now
• A musician hacked his prosthetic arm to control synthesizers with his mind
• Logitech has a bunch of gaming gear up for grabs in a massive one-day sale
• Hola VPN Plus is one of the fastest VPNs on the planet – right now it’s just

Notable Mentions

The Paywalled Garden: iOS is Adware 

Jeff Bezos commits $10 billion to fight climate change 

Behind that teenage TikTok star, there’s probably a very confused parent

Google’s Adsense Is Turning Into a Tool for Extortion 

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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.