Hacking into poorly secured online accounts isn’t all that hard, as a few celebrities found out this week. One of the easiest ways to secure your accounts is by using two-factor authentication so that you have both something you know (your password) and something you have (the second, ever-changing security PIN). Authy, a Y Combinator-funded startup that specializes in two-factor… Read More
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To prove to advertisers and the world that it’s not just YouTube that has massive video engagement online, Facebook today announced it now delivers 1 billion video views per day and will begin showing everyone view counts on videos posted by Pages and public figures. This could convince advertisers shifting TV ad spend to digital to look to Facebook, which recently bought video adtech… Read More
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Depending on how closely you follow the gaming and tech press, you may have heard of #gamergate. Those of us inside the industry have. This week it’s essentially all we’ve been able to talk about. How has this reactionary movement spawned from sexist roots managed to go so far, and what does it say about the industry? Read More
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Under the pressure that is the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon, one team found itself stuck. The product was too complex to complete on time. The team members were tired and depressed and ready to give up until one member of the team, software engineer Alessandro Diogo Bruckheimer came up with an idea to simplify their goal and the app Should I Ride My Bike? was born. Read More
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If you’re using open-source software, you’ve probably come across a bug that you want to fix but don’t have the expertise to do it yourself — and the original author isn’t all that interested in fixing it. With Git Bounty, which was dreamed up by a team of French Canadians (and one Frenchman) from Montreal at our Disrupt SF hackathon this weekend, you can… Read More
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Presenting on stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco hackathon this afternoon was the team from an iOS app called Blitz, which aims to offer Notification Screen shortcuts to specific pages and functions within your iOS apps. For example, you could save a shortcut that, when tapped, would launch Google Maps with directions to your home already routed for you. Or you could tap a shortcut… Read More
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I wish StudySpots had been around when I was a college student. I’d spend hours hunched over books and my laptop in my dorm room or the same cubicle at the library, accumulating a layer of grime and tears as I crammed for an exam or struggled through a term paper. StudySpots, presented by a team of five young women from Girls Who Code, wants to prevent students from turning into… Read More
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How will Apple make us desperate to buy its smartwatch? By taking the risk and clumsiness out of mobile payments.
Imagine if your iWatch could recognize that your iPhone is within range as a pre-payment security check. The two could then connect to a retailer’s point of sale via Near Field Communication (NFC), and a “Pay $20 to Starbucks?” confirmation could pop up on your… Read More
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The Hackathon is nearly over, and yet it has only just begun. Hundreds of developers and tinkerers came together yesterday to kick off TC Disrupt SF with a Hackathon. Based on the way it smells here at Pier 48, these folks have worked through the night to build something awesome.
Today, the presentations begin. Read More
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It’s been more than two years since I last wrote about Cater2.me, a service that connects local food vendors with companies in need of catering. Sounds like the startup has been busy since then — co-founder Zach Yungst told me that it has now served 5 million meals total, and that it’s launching in four new cities, bringing the total to 10. Cater2.me’s goal is to deliver… Read More
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