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Do You Know What Happened In Tech News The Week Of May 9?

Do You Know What Happened In Tech News The Week Of May 9?

The Senate took a look at Facebook, Instagram changed its logo, and a Hyperloop moved for the first time.

By Brendan Klinkenberg

Headshot of Brendan Klinkenberg

Brendan Klinkenberg

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on May 13, 2016, at 3:01 p.m. ET

  1. 1. Facebook

    Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP / Getty Images

    This week, the US Senate Commerce committee launched an inquiry into Facebook, penning a letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking to be briefed on the social network's standards and practices. Why is the Senate looking at Facebook?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    In order to find out Facebook's role in Trump's campaign success
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Accusations that Facebook is silencing conservative outlets
    Correct
    Incorrect
    To see if it's true that Snapchat is the cooler social network
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Allegations of misuse of user data
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    It's potentially filtering conservative voices.

    Following a report from Gizmodo that alleged Facebook's trending news tab was deliberately leaving conservative news outlets out of the section, Senate GOP members sent an inquiry to the Facebook founder and CEO.

  2. 2. Instagram

    Instagram

    Instagram just shed its retro icon for a new one. What does it look like now?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    Via Instagram
    Via Instagram
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Via Instagram
    Via Instagram
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Via Instagram
    Via Instagram
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    It's.... that one!

    Yup, that one.

    It's.... that one!
    Via Instagram

  3. 3. Artificial Intelligence

    Apple

    The creator of Siri, Dag Kittlaus, is back in action with .... another virtual assistant, unveiled this week at New York's TechCrunch Disrupt. What is its name?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    Jimbo
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Ryan Gosling
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Mackenzie
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Matt
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Happenstance
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Jeeves
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Viv
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Che
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    It's Viv.

    Following a the tradition of bestowing all virtual assistants with female names, Kittlaus' newest work is called Viv. Nomenclature set aside, the technology sounds powerful: "For anyone who’s found themselves screaming at their smartphone for an answer to the most basic question, it felt like a tangible little leap forward," BuzzFeed News' Charlie Warzel writes.

  4. 4. Hyperloop

    Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF
    BuzzFeed News

    This week, the Hyperloop — Elon Musk's city-to-city fever dream — got its first public test, courtesy of Hyperloop One, one of the startups racing to get Musk's idea off the ground. In its first outing, how far did the (unmanned) pod travel?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    6 feet
    Correct
    Incorrect
    100 yards
    Correct
    Incorrect
    1/2 mile
    Correct
    Incorrect
    10 miles
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    It went a half mile.

    According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the trip took "about two seconds." Of course, this is just a tiny step on the way to Hyperloop becoming an actual thing — if anything, this was just proof that we are able to shoot a large pod very, very fast.

  5. 5. Palantir

    Palantir

    A BuzzFeed News investigation revealed, among other things, that Palantir — the highly valued, highly secretive data mining startup — used code names for all of its clients, including companies like BP, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America. Which of the following nicknames are real?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    Pikachu
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Kimye
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Luda
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Bowtie
    Correct
    Incorrect
    None of the above
    Correct
    Incorrect
    All of the above
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    All of them are real.

    To find out which company each nickname stood for, read William Alden's story, Inside Palantir, Silicon Valley’s Most Secretive Company.

  6. 6. Google

    Google

    Google just made a keyboard for iOS, called — sigh — Gboard. It looks to be legitimately useful. What CAN'T Gboard do?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    Slide to type (rather than tap).
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Integrate appointments with your Google calendar
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Search for addresses
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Search for emoji
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    It can't move things directly to a Google calendar.

    While Gboard adds a lot of features to Apple's Messages app, it won't take a date and time from your messages and put it in your calendar.

  7. 7 Messaging

    Apple

    This week, a major messaging service got its first desktop application. Which service was it?

    Correct
    Incorrect
    WhatsApp
    Via WhatsApp
    WhatsApp
    Via WhatsApp
    Correct
    Incorrect
    WeChat
    Via WeChat
    WeChat
    Via WeChat
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Skype
    Via Skype
    Skype
    Via Skype
    Correct
    Incorrect
    Kik
    Via Kik
    Kik
    Via Kik
    Correct!
    Wrong!

    It's WhatsApp.

    The Facebook-owned, 500-million users-strong messaging service just released its first desktop app ever.

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