The Democratic National Convention might be over, but the party lingers online.

Interest surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential candidacy both inspired searches for fundraising sites and gave potential scammers another new avenue for exploitation, according to data from digital services firm Cloudflare.

In a blog post, the company noted “a rise in [Domain Name System] traffic for Harris/Democrats fundraising domains” on night four of the convention, right as Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak. Visits to fundraising sites saw “a 493% increase compared to the previous week,” Cloudflare said, and “daily traffic increased by 92% compared to the previous week.​”

While Cloudflare didn’t observe sharp fluctuations in internet usage during the convention, which ran from Aug. 15 to 22, the political activity in the Windy City did bring out some night owls. Chicago-area web traffic during the event was “10% to 20% higher after midnight compared to the previous week,” Cloudflare reported.

Users also turned to news sites as the DNC unfolded, spiking traffic to US news organizations by 11% on the first day when President Joe Biden took the stage, and continuing at 10% the second night when former President Barack Obama spoke. By the time VP candidate Tim Walz and Harris took the lectern on nights three and four, users sent US news site visits soaring by 21% and 28%, respectively.

Of course, all the fanfare also caught the attention of digital ne’er-do-wells, who attempted to capitalize on the political uncertainty after Biden dropped out of the race with spam emails.

Keep reading here.—KG

There are no bad ideas in a brainstorm. But there are good and bad ways to brainstorm.

A great way is with Canva Whiteboards. Why?

1. They’re online. Which means introverts feel comfortable contributing. Bye-bye to the big voices dominating the session. Plus, brainstorming in sweatpants? Yes, please.

2. They’re fun. Pop on some thinking music from the Whiteboard for your team to jam to. Freehand draw; add stickers, emojis, GIFs, images, + videos; and much more.

3. They’re smart. Sort stickies by contributor, color, or theme in just a click—powered by AI.

You’ll love brainstorming in Canva Whiteboards. And your co-workers will, too.

Love your work with Canva Whiteboards.

Members of Gen Z have shown less interest in an act 16-year-olds of previous generations clamored for: getting a driver’s license.

But the ensuing hand-wringing about what it means for the future may be a little overblown, according to a new survey commissioned by Enterprise Mobility, the portfolio of businesses that encompasses major rental brands like Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo, and National Car Rental.

Enterprise’s latest “On the Move” survey homed in on generational attitudes toward driving in general, as well as on major technological trends like electrification and automation.

Will Withington, Enterprise Mobility’s executive VP of global operations, told Tech Brew that the company regularly conducts this type of polling and passes along the feedback to automakers. Rental-car companies—a major driver of car companies’ fleet sales—can be important sources of insight into consumer preferences for automakers.

Withington was especially intrigued by the findings on Gen Z’s driving habits. The survey found that 47% of Gen Z respondents—a higher percentage than any other age group—are driving more now than they did five years ago. (The survey noted a caveat that accounts for the fact that a segment of this cohort was not old enough to drive a half-decade ago: “This specific data point refers to a subset of Gen Z who were of driving age five years ago.”) Overall, one in three US drivers are getting behind the wheel more frequently now than they were five years ago, according to the results.

“From a business perspective, this encourages us to make sure that as we see these young drivers come up,” Withington said, “are we investing in the future so that we’re providing the mobility solutions that these younger generations want to see?”

Keep reading here.—JG

Data centers in Virginia, which hosts the world’s largest concentration of data infrastructure, are sucking up nearly two-thirds more water than they did in 2019 according to reporting by the Financial Times (FT).

Through freedom of information requests to six regional water authorities in or around Northern Virginia’s “data center alley,” the FT obtained data indicating that data centers operated by tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft used 1.85+ billion US gallons of water in 2023. That’s up from 1.13 in 2019, equaling a roughly 64% increase over four years, according to the news outlet.

The data is only a partial picture, as the FT was unable to obtain full data, or any data at all, from some Virginia water providers. To put the consumption in context, however, FT reported data from the Prince William County Service Authority, which recorded data centers as consuming about 6% of maximum-day demand this year.

Earlier this year, Synergy Research Group estimated that around 15% of global hyperscale capacity is based out of Northern Virginia, far surpassing other global hubs like Beijing, Dublin, or Silicon Valley. The hundreds of data centers in the region process an estimated 70% or so of global digital traffic, according to the Washington Post, additionally stressing regional electrical grids.

Keep reading on IT Brew.—TM