the backup systems settings prevent riders from grabbing the steering wheel or pressing the gas pedal while the car is in selfdriving mode we all know people who would do this in a robotpiloted car voyage also has people standing by who can take over cars remotely if theyre neededi asked cameron when driverless cars are going to hit the roads in large numbers everywhere he was hopeful but guardedly so given how driverless car backers have misjudged the technologys difficultythe optimist in me says things are only going to accelerate from here cameron said then he paused and said he couldnt give me a timeline its a nonanswer he saidif you dont already get this newsletter in your inbox please sign up heretip of the weekhow to block spam textslast week the new york timess personal tech columnist brian x chen went over how to stop robocallers from bombarding our phones now he tackles a related annoyance unsolicited text messages from marketers political groups and othersheres what we can doon iphones you can filter out messages from unknown senders this doesnt stop the texts but they wont make your phone vibrate or ding the texts will show up in a list labeled unknown senders that way the unwanted texts dont distract you or clog the messages you want to see from people you care about to do this open the settings app tap messages scroll down and toggle on filter unknown sendersyou can also block a specific phone number from texting you in the offending text message tap the name and number at the top of the message and then tap the info icon on the right tap the info button again and select block this callerandroid device owners can also block specific numbers from sending them texts on pixel phones for example open the text message and then tap the icon in the upper right hand corner that looks like three vertical dots select details and then choose block report spamthere are also thirdparty apps that offer to prevent spammers from texting you but i generally am not a fan of them in my tests those apps still let plenty of unwanted messages through plus they get expensive to use over timewe should continue pressing the mobile phone companies to fix this problem on a network level until then were on our own with some imperfect toolsbefore we go from blah to influential thanks to the worst of social media my colleague kevin roose has an engrossing disturbing article about how a struggling news organization affiliated with a chinese spiritual movement became a force in rightwing media the organization epoch times did this by capitalizing on the incentives of facebook and then youtube to push hyperpartisan messages and conspiracy theories that were rewarded on those websites with more circulation and engagementgoogle is a verb alipay is the financial equivalent of a noun verb article preposition and adjective you want my colleague ray zhong to explain ant groups