Personal Tech: What Geeks are talking about from The New York Times

Here is the latest Personal Tech News from The New York Times.

On Technology : What Chatbots Reveal About Our Own Shortcomings
Silicon Valley has fallen in love with A.I. assistants, but so far they’re hardly impressive. Is it the industry’s fault, or is it ours?

No Anonymity for Plaintiffs Suing Ashley Madison Over Hack, Judge Rules
Forty-two plaintiffs suing over a hacking attack that revealed the personal data of millions of users will have to be publicly identified to proceed.

Tech Tip: Moving PDFs to a PC From an iPad
Common PDF reader apps for the iPad give you ways to transfer the files on your tablet to your computer

Airbnb Wants Travelers to ‘Live Like a Local’ With Its App
With a new feature called Guidebooks, Airbnb aims to keep users from leaving its app by offering neighborhood reviews and recommendations.

Sinosphere: China Drone Maker Says It May Share Data With State
The company, DJI, said it was still working out how to deal with the data the authorities request and that it could include data from flights in Hong Kong.

Tech Tip: Watching the Clock on That Windows 10 Deal
Microsoft’s free offer for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users expires in July, but the company has not announced what will happen next.

App Smart: Apps to Build Your Understanding of the Environment
Programs to help you shop for food and skin care products, learn about wildlife and observe weather patterns and sea level changes.

Tech Fix: Choosing to Skip the Upgrade and Care for the Gadget You’ve Got
As part of a movement against consumerism, more people are maintaining their electronics instead of constantly buying the newest, fastest model.

Bitcoin Basics
Bitcoin is both a virtual currency and an online payment system, one that some people believe will transform the global financial system.

Feature: How the Daily Fantasy Sports Industry Turns Fans Into Suckers
While FanDuel and DraftKings look the other way, a small set of sophisticated high rollers is preying upon millions of innocent newbies — like me — every day.

How the Verizon Strike Could Affect You
Wireline customers who use landlines, high-speed Internet and television services may see a slowdown in service request responses.

Some Online Bargains May Only Look Like One
In the bizarre world of Internet “discounts,” inconsistent list prices can make it tough to figure out what a product is really worth.

Chip, Implanted in Brain, Helps Paralyzed Man Regain Control of Hand
A new study of a 24-year-old man who broke his neck five years ago is the first account of limb reanimation in a person with profound paralysis.

Feature: The Minecraft Generation
How a clunky Swedish computer game is teaching millions of children to master the digital world.

Tech Tip: Stopping OS X Apps From Automatically Starting
If you notice certain programs are open already when you log in to your Mac, you can change the settings to alter their behavior.

Why Do Older People Love Facebook? Let’s Ask My Dad
Americans in their 60s and 70s are embracing social media enthusiastically, new research shows.

It’s Probably Cheaper on the Web, Adobe’s Online Price Index Shows
The company’s monthly survey, released on Thursday, is meant to complement the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index, which tracks fewer goods online.

Tech Tip: Marking Up Web Pages in Windows 10
Microsoft’s Edge browser comes with a tool that lets you scribble, highlight and make other notations on your personal copy of an open web page.

Tech Tip: Freeing Lonely iPad Apps From Almost Empty Folders
If the screen on your iOS device is cluttered with folders that contain just one app, you can clean things up with a simple drag and drop.

Google’s Calendar Now Finds Spare Time and Fills It Up
Features being added to Google’s calendar will let users program in their aspirations for times when they don’t have work or meetings scheduled.

Tech Tip: Finding Online Support for Your Android Device
Google’s own Android support pages are designed for its own version of the software, but help for other variations is usually not that far away.

Ride-Hailing Start-Ups Compete in ‘Uber for Children’ Niche
Heavily vetted services cater to the needs of working parents to get children where they need to be when their parents can’t.

Gadgetwise: A Rookie Learns to Fly a Drone
There are many steps before you can get airborne, including finding a safe area and learning the federal and local regulations.

App Smart: Now You Can Write the Great American Novel on the Subway
Smartphone and tablet apps, some of them compatible with Microsoft Word and Scrivener, that can help writers craft their novels, screenplays or articles.

Kindle Oasis From Amazon Promises ‘Months and Months’ of Battery Life
The new $289 Kindle Oasis e-reader has an asymmetrical shape meant to mimic a book, and includes a case with a battery that extends charge time.

Tech Tip: Adding Links to the Windows 10 Start Menu
If you miss some of the handy shortcuts from earlier versions of Windows, you can easily add them.

Tech Tip: Clearing Space on the Apple TV
The newest Apple set-top boxes come with storage space for the programs you download, but you can delete those added apps if space gets tight.

Tech Tip: Keeping the Bluetooth Connection Alive
If your wireless mouse or other Bluetooth device keeps breaking up with your computer, a few troubleshooting steps may reunite the two.

App Smart: What the Apple Watch Does, One Year Later
A selection of apps have added to the uses for the smartwatch, while one literally puts a new face on it with an assortment of images.

WhatsApp Introduces End-to-End Encryption
The encryption will be applied to photos, videos and group text messages sent among people in more than 50 languages.

Tech Fix: Virtual Reality Check: Rating the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift
A comparison of the virtual reality systems looks at what each includes, the computers and accessories needed, and the apps and games available.

Twitter Gains Rights to Stream Thursday N.F.L. Games
Eager to reach the growing number of younger fans without televisions, the N.F.L. will broadcast 10 Thursday night regular-season games over the Internet.

F.B.I. Lawyer Won’t Say if Data From Unlocked iPhone Is Useful
James A. Baker, the F.B.I.’s general counsel, said the bureau was still working on putting the extracted data to use.

Tech Tip: Customizing Android Contacts With Photos
You can replace those generic image placeholders next to names in your Android address book with the photos of your choice.

Reddit Steps Up Anti-Harassment Measures With New Blocking Tool
The discussion site is hoping that less negative speech will encourage users to engage more with the community.

Gadgetwise: How to Switch to iPhone From Android: Patience and Persistence
Transitioning from one operating system to another should in theory be simple, but as one technology reporter learned, in reality, many things can go wrong.

Tech Tip: Saving Notes and Highlights in iBooks
After you have taken the time to mark up an iBook, you can pull out a copy of your highlights and notes for later use.

Tech Tip: Taking Control of the Windows 10 Control Panel
The familiar old Control Panel screen still lives within Windows 10, but you do not have to dig around the system to find it.

App Smart: Sizing Up Apple’s New Downsized Devices
Game apps show off the graphics ability of Apple’s new, smaller iPhone and iPad Pro, and some productivity apps are well suited to the devices.

State of the Art: Car-Pooling Helps Uber Go the Extra Mile
Riders pay less and drivers transport more riders at once with the UberPool service, which could have a big impact on local economies and the national transportation infrastructure.

Tech Fix: The Oculus Rift Is Here, but Virtual Reality Is Still Rough Around the Edges
The headset from Facebook’s company is pricey, setup is clunky, use is taxing and content could use more inspiration. Still, the technology transports.

On Technology : We’re More Honest With Our Phones Than With Our Doctors
How health-tracking apps reveal new truths about our bodies.

State of the Art: The Uber Model, It Turns Out, Doesn’t Translate
The ride-hailing service is a giant, but companies that aim to get stuff done on demand for customers, like food delivery, grocery shopping and parking, are faltering.

Microsoft Created a Twitter Bot to Learn From Users. It Quickly Became a Racist Jerk.
The bot, @TayandYou, was put on hiatus after making offensive statements based on users’ feedback, like disputing the existence of the Holocaust.

Tech Tip: Cracking the Mystery of the Missing iTunes Files
Apple’s iTunes software cannot play song files that have been moved or deleted, but the program tells you where to look for the lost tracks.

Tech Tip: Putting Your Twitter Feed Back in Chronological Order
If you do not care for the social media site’s recent change to your timeline, you can turn it off in your account settings.

Tech Tip: Keeping Up With Android Security Patches
After a nasty Android bug surfaced last summer, Google has been sending out monthly updates for the software on its Nexus hardware.

Tech Tip: Taking Someone Off Your iPhone’s Blocked List
Apple’s iOS 9 system makes it easy to block — and unblock — contacts who try to call you.

Tech Fix: Why You May Want a Smaller iPhone, and Your Questions Answered
Brian X. Chen of The Times answers readers’ questions about the new iPhone, which combines a four-inch screen with some features from bigger models.

App Smart: Encryption by App Adds Security to Smartphones
Signal, Wickr Me and others use encryption to allow users to privately share photos, make voice calls and send texts and emails.