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9 great reads from CNET this week

We learn why you might get your video games from Comcast, see how coal country is harnessing the sun and find out what's weird about South by Southwest.

CNET News staff
2 min read

It was a serious week in tech.

Facebook, which suffered its longest outage in history, lost two more executives and is reportedly facing a criminal probe over data-sharing deals. Facebook and YouTube were both criticized for not being able to keep videos of Friday's New Zealand terror attack off their platforms. And Boeing's 737 Max 8 aircraft was grounded around the world following a second deadly crash.

Apart from that, a jury ruled Apple should pay Qualcomm $31 million for patent infringement. 

There was some lighter news too, though. Here are some stories we're extra proud of this week.

Elton John's concert sounded better with these headphones. Here's why

Peex is trying to make concerts sound better for attendees with a wireless wearable device that enhances the sound experience.

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David Carnoy/CNET

Harnessing the sun in coal country

To revive Appalachia, one Kentucky coal company is transforming two old mining sites into a massive solar farm.

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Tyler Lizenby/CNET

All about Boeing's 737 Max, the flight ban and investigations

The 737 Max 8 has had two deadly crashes in five months. Now President Trump has weighed in, and the plane is grounded.

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Boeing

Comcast hooks you with internet and cable TV. Video games could be next

And here's the big clue: Along with Amazon and EA, Comcast is interested in a Korean gaming company.

Close-Up Of Gamepad Over White Background
Vudhikul Ocharoen/EyeEm

Galaxy S10 Plus ceramic vs. glass: Which phone survived our drop test

Is the ceramic worth the extra $250? To find out, we put a ceramic S10 Plus and a glass S10 Plus through our extreme drop test.

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Angela Lang/CNET

Did IBM use your Flickr photos in AI facial recognition project

The million images were shared under the liberal licenses Flickr photographers chose, but those shutterbugs probably didn't picture this.

An annotated photo from IBM's Diversity in Faces data set
IBM

Terrace House on Netflix is an antidote to a world gone insane

It's the best show on Netflix you're not watching. (Unless you are -- in which case, congratulations!)

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Netflix


Game of Thrones dragonmaster reveals the secrets of Daenerys' babies

Supermarket chickens and cheetah colors help visual-effects supervisor Sven Martin and team animate Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion.

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HBO

SXSW 2019: The weirdest sights from the world's largest culture fest

From chattering nuns to missing unicorns, SXSW brought on the odd.

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Suzanne Cordeiro/Getty Images