Friday, December 16, 2022

Friday Edition Technology News and More..

Technology News and More...


Sam Altman: This is what I learned from DALL-E 2


MIT Technology Review / 7min
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, has been at the heart of the San Francisco-based firm since co-founding it with Elon Musk and others in 2015. His vision for the future of AI and how to get there has shaped not only what OpenAI does, but also the direction in which AI research is heading in general. OpenAI ushered in the era of large language models with its launch of GPT-3 in 2020 . This year, with the

TLDraw offers a collaborative whiteboard without any login


TechCrunch / 11min
There are a ton of tools that cater to the needs of having a collaborative whiteboard. Figma, which closed a deal to be acquired by Adobe for $20 billion in September , has FigJam; there’s Miro, which is valued at $17.5 billion post its series C raise in January; and Apple has released the Freeform app for its users earlier this week. Amid all this, TLDraw offers users a collaborative canvas with

Why now could be the best time to upgrade your printing hardware


TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 38min
With all that has changed in the world of work over the past few years, it can be reassuring to note that office printers are still very much important to many of us. Providing a vital way to quickly provide and supply documents in a physical form, rather than virtual, printers remain a key tool when it comes to collaboration, letting you edit and try different angles in the physical world, provi


Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti vs AMD RX 7900 XTX battle gets a surprise twist


TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / now
Nvidia’s purportedly imminent RTX 4070 Ti has popped up in a leaked benchmark on Twitter, showing the GPU edging out AMD’s RX 7900 XTX to the shock of many – but don’t get carried away with that idea (we’ll come back to why in our analysis). The Geekbench result for the graphics card was shared by Benchleaks (as spotted by VideoCardz ), and as ever with pre-release leaks, we should bear in mind t

Big Tech Laid Off Thousands. Here’s Who Wants Them Next


Wired / 5min
Governments, nonprofits, and small startups hope to scoop up people let go by the likes of Meta and Amazon. It’s their big chance to lure top-tier talent.

The Spawn of ChatGPT Will Try to Sell You Things


Wired / 5min
Companies are exploring how to adapt powerful new chatbot technology to negotiate with customer service—and to persuade humans to buy stuff.

Albie from 'The White Lotus' is a performative Nice Guy, not a genuine nice guy


Mashable / 6min
Likeability isn’t exactly a priority for The White Lotus creator Mike White when it comes to his characters, but each boasts traits that make you root for them one second and curse them the next. Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco) — the certified Nice Guy™ of the show — embodies this dichotomy with some viewers falling for his charms, and others calling out the thinly veiled misogyny hiding behind hi

5 Things You Should Never Unplug to Save on Your Electric Bill


How-To Geek / 12min
Unplugging things to save on your electric bill is a great idea, but there are a few things you should always leave plugged in to avoid flooding, mold, and other risks to your health and home’s structure. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

Twitter pulls its Spaces group audio feature after Musk run-in with banned journalists


TechCrunch / 31min
Twitter has apparently pulled its Spaces group audio feature , at least temporarily, after Elon Musk joined a group conversation that included journalists that had been banned from the platform. The latest drama comes after Twitter suspended several prominent journalists who had covered an earlier story about the Elon Jet Twitter account that was banned for using publicly-available data to track

Massive Aquarium In Berlin Hotel Lobby Explodes


One Mile at a Time / 42min
Ugh, the poor fish… Fish tank in Radisson Berlin lobby bursts The 427-room Radisson Collection Hotel Berlin has quite a unique feature in its lobby, in the form of the AquaDom. This is a massive aquarium in the lobby that’s 82 feet (25 meters) high, and contains 265,000 gallons (one million liters) of water. This isn’t just a cool feature for hotel guests, but it’s intended to be an attraction fo

Trump Digital Trading Cards might just be the silliest NFTs of 2022


Mashable / 45min
2022 was not a good year for cryptocurrency . "Crypto winter" is in full swing now after a series of unfortunate but not unexpected events: the collapse of the so-called stablecoin Terra , the bankruptcy of major crypto exchange FTX , and the failure of multiple crypto lenders like Celsius. It seems the whole market is basically in turmoil. And, of course, all this market uncertainty has hit NFTs

'Hitman' players can soon port their Stadia saves to other platforms


Engadget / 50min
With Stadia set to be shut down next month, players have been understandably worried about losing game progress on the platform. Now, developer IO Interactive has announced that Stadia Hitman - World of Assassination players will be able to import save data into all other platforms including PC, Xbox and PlayStation. IOI said it will release a transfer tool a week before the Stadia shutdown, set

Welcome to Digital Nomadland


Wired / 1h
A Portuguese island created a village for remote workers, promising community to the newcomers and prosperity to the locals—then delivered on neither.

British Airways Selling Avios With 50% Bonus


100+One Mile at a Time / 1h
Buying airline points strategically can make a lot of sense , especially for first and business class redemptions, where redeeming points represents a disproportionately good deal. British Airways Executive Club is currently offering a bonus on purchased points, which some people might find to be worthwhile. This sale is only valid for a brief period, so you’ll want to act fast. Promotion on purc

Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested + Predicitions for 2023 + Listener Q&A


NYT > Technology / 1h
The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried used “old-fashioned embezzlement,” according to the new FTX chief executive.

Artists can now opt out of the next version of Stable Diffusion


24MIT Technology Review / 1h
Artists will have the chance to opt out of the next version of one of the world’s most popular text-to-image AI generators, Stable Diffusion, the company behind it has announced . Stability.AI will work with Spawning, an organization founded by artist couple Mat Dryhurst and Holly Hendon who have built a website called HaveIBeenTrained, that allows artists to search for their works in the data se

Save over $350 on this space-saving treadmill


Mashable / 1h
TL;DR : As of Dec. 16, you can snag the LifePro Pacer Folding Treadmill on sale for $749.99 instead of the usual $1,119.99. That's 33% in savings. Hoping to take more steps in 2023 ? If getting your heart pumping is on your list of New Year's resolutions , a treadmill is an easy way to keep moving no matter how frightful the weather may be outside. And while treadmills traditionally have been mas

Save on this camera pen that changes the note-taking game


Mashable / 1h
TL;DR : As of Dec. 16, you can snag the iSpyPen PRO on sale for $159.99 instead of $198 — that's a savings of 19%. Still salty that flying cars don't exist? Now and then, a tech gadget comes along that takes the sting out of not living like the Jetsons. A camera-equipped pen is a good example, providing a futuristic take on something we often use and making our work lives a whole lot easier in th

Everything you need to remember from 'Avatar' before seeing 'Avatar: The Way of Water'


Mashable / 1h
It's been over a decade since James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar first hit theaters and destroyed box office records. Since then, it became the highest-grossing film of all time, lost that title to Avengers: Endgame , then reclaimed it after a re-release . It's also become a meme as the "the most popular movie no one remembers." Now that its sequel Avatar: The Way of Water is making its way into

10 social media trends that changed the internet in 2022


Mashable / 1h
The year is coming to an end, and one of my favorite ways to reflect on the passage of time is to look at my own social media accounts — the words I've tweeted , the posts I've shared on Instagram , the deranged journal entries I published on Nike Run Club , etc. And each year, I'm forced to acknowledge that as time passes, culture evolves in ways that seem completely irrational but are, of cours


'Nanny' review: One of the best horror movies of the year is now streaming


Mashable / 1h
Have you ever awoken in the middle of the night, heart pounding hard from a nightmare? Maybe you tell yourself it's stress, or your comeuppance for snacking too close to bedtime. Or maybe you know better: It's your gut, warning of impending disaster. To watch Nanny is to slip into the spin of that slow-burn terror. From its first moments, this sensational Sundance standout ushers us not only into

Elon Musk, Management Guru?


NYT > Technology / 2h
Why the Twitter owner’s ruthless, unsparing style has made him a hero to many bosses in Silicon Valley.

Tokyo will require new housing projects to install solar panels starting in 2025


Engadget / 2h
Many new homes built in Tokyo will require solar panels to be installed starting in April 2025, Kyodo News has reported. The local assembly passed new regulations requiring major construction companies to equip homes smaller than 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet) with solar panels or other renewable power sources. The measure is the first of its kind in Japan and aims to cut the city's car

Generative AI is changing everything. But what’s left when the hype is gone?


33MIT Technology Review / 2h
It was clear that OpenAI was on to something. In late 2021, a small team of researchers was playing around with an idea at the company’s San Francisco office. They’d built a new version of OpenAI’s text-to-image model, DALL-E, an AI that converts short written descriptions into pictures: a fox painted by Van Gogh, perhaps, or a corgi made of pizza. Now they just had to figure out what to do with

Mind-altering substances are being overhyped as wonder drugs


22MIT Technology Review / 2h
This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here . For the past five years or so, barely a week has gone by without a study, comment, or press release about the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs landing in my inbox. Psychedelics are drugs that change the way we experience the world. They can alter o

Eight Sleep's Pod 3 is clearly amazing, but it was as frustrating as it was functional


Mashable / 2h
I was ready to love Eight Sleep’s Pod 3 . Honestly, I was sold straight away. I’d heard about using a cooling system to regulate your bed’s temperature from my physical therapist — who is still on team Eight Sleep after my “meh” experience — and I was excited about trying the Pod 3 sleep cover on my beloved Casper mattress . Unfortunately, I found myself getting off the hype train at the first av

With Bling, the fintech startup revolution spreads even to pocket money


25TechCrunch / 3h
Today, banks and fintech startups tend not to provide products dedicated to families, specifically, and this has appeared as something of a gap in the market. Meanwhile the general lack of financial education and financial literacy means families are missing out on securing financial prosperity for their families. GoHenry (which raised $121.2M), which bills itself as “smart banking for kids” has

Elon Musk Kills Twitter Audio Feature After Bizarre Talk With Journalists


20Gizmodo / 3h
Twitter Spaces, the audio feature that allows people to participate in group chats using the social media platform, has been disabled and it’s not clear whether it will ever return. The move comes after Elon Musk joined a group chat hosted by BuzzFeed reporter Katie Notopoulos on Thursday night, where the Twitter CEO… Read more...

US-China chip war: How the technology dispute is playing out


58BBC News - Technology / 3h
Washington announced some of the broadest export controls on chipmakers in October.

'Babylon' review: Imagine 'Singin' in the Rain,' but rancid and cynical


Mashable / 3h
Those who loved La La Land are about to get Whiplash from Damien Chazelle's latest. Where that winsome musical sang and danced (and monologued) about the hopes and wonders of Hollywood, Babylon assaults audiences with gross-out gags and tiresome debauchery, painting the movie-making industry as a hedonistic hellscape of unhinged egos, forgotten tragedies, and devious star power. It's the kind of


Former Myntra chief’s fashion startup Virgio valued at $161 million in new funding


100+TechCrunch / 4h
Fashion startup Virgio, co-founded by Amar Nagaram, former chief executive of Myntra, has raised $37 million in a new financing round as the young firm looks to build “a global fashion brand” from the South Asian market. Prosus Ventures, Alpha Wave and Accel co-led Virgio’s Series A funding, valuing the one-year-old startup at $161 million (post-money). (Virgio says it was founded this year, but

Crypto trader Amber raises $300M as it seeks protection for FTX-hit customers


100+TechCrunch / 4h
Amber Group, a Sequoia- and Temasek-backed crypto trading firm, has closed a hefty $300 million Series C funding round as the collapse of FTX shakes the crypto world. The news, which the Singapore-based firm announced on Twitter Friday morning, follows on the heels of a Bloomberg report claiming that the crypto trader has ditched a Chelsea FC sponsorship deal and is axing 40% of its staff amid ma

New update turns your Google Nest into a Matter control hub


TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 5h
It’s taken a little while, but we’re finally seeing the Matter standard roll out to various smart home devices. And this time, it’s coming to a Google Nest near you. Eight devices in total will be getting the update and all will double up as central hubs to control other Matter gadgets, according to the announcement. You have the original Google Home speaker, Home Mini , Nest Mini , Nest Audio ,

'Death Stranding' will get a movie adaptation


Engadget / 5h
Kojima Productions is working with LA-based Hammerstone Studios to develop a movie adaptation of Death Stranding . The 2019 action game already provides quite a cinematic experience with lengthy cut scenes and dramatic expositions, which is probably part of the reason why they aren't directly adapting its story into film. According to Variety , the movie will introduce new elements and characters

'Quordle' today: Here are the answers and hints for December 16


Mashable / 6h
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you've come to the right place for hints. There aren't just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you'll get what you need. What is Quordle ? Quordle is a five-letter word guessing gam

Today's Wordle Answer #545 – December 16, 2022 Solution And Hints


SlashGear / 6h
WordleBot solved today's Wordle puzzle in five tries and reported that many other players solved it in four. Here's how we did it in three tries.

Who is Kiri's father in 'Avatar: The Way of Water'?


Mashable / 7h
We meet the biggest mystery of Avatar: The Way of Water less than five minutes into the movie. That mystery is Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), a young Na'vi child who is the daughter of scientist Grace (also Weaver) from the first Avatar . "But wait," you may ask. "Didn't Grace die in the first movie? I don't remember her having a child." You would be right on both counts! Grace did, in fact, die, and s

Save 95% on unlimited access to thousands of online courses


Mashable / 7h
TL;DR: Lifetime access to StackSkills Unlimited is on sale for £48.80, saving you 95% on list price. If you’re shopping for a friend who seems to bounce from hobby to hobby, you don’t have to try to predict what exciting thing they’re going to land on next. Instead, you could give them a way to learn and try a vast array of new activities, and you don’t even have to wrap it up. StackSkills Unlimi

Former US President Donald Trump launches $99 NFT collection


500+BBC News - Technology / 8h
The former US president flogs 'gifts' showing him as a superhero, astronaut and Nascar driver.

Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for December 16


Mashable / 8h
It's finally Friday, and with it comes a new daily Wordle puzzle for you to ponder — as well as our tips and hints to help you solve it. If you'd rather jump straight to the answer, you can scroll to the bottom of this article to find December 16's Wordle solution revealed. Otherwise, keep on reading for some tips, tricks, and hints to help you figure it out yourself. SEE ALSO: Best 'Wordle' star


Twitter threatened with EU sanctions over journalists' ban


1KBBC News - Technology / 8h
The EU warns Elon Musk of "red lines" after some journalists who cover the owner were suspended.

Elon Musk Bans Several Journalists From Twitter After Reinstating Literal Nazis [Updated]


63Gizmodo / 8h
Elon Musk banned at least nine journalists from Twitter on Thursday night in a mass purge by arguably the pettiest man on the planet. And while the journalists haven’t been told what caused the bans, many had tweeted about the Twitter account that tracked Elon’s private jet using publicly available information. Read more...

Free Speech Champion Elon Musk Is Mass Suspending Twitter Accounts of Journalists Who Criticized Him


200+Futurism / 8h
If you thought newly-minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk might be ready to calm down after a long week of chaos , think again. To wit: On Thursday evening, the billionaire('s site) purged a significant number of journalists who'd written critically about the acquisition, including New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, and Substack writer Aaron Rupar. "Remember that nig

Twitter suspends accounts of multiple tech journalists without explanation


100+Mashable / 9h
Twitter has suspended several prominent journalists who report on the tech and media industries late on Thursday, without explanation. The journalists affected at the time of writing include Mashable reporter Matt Binder, as well as the New York Times ' Ryan Mac, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, the Washington Post 's Drew Harwell, prominent commentator and former anchor Keith Olbermann, independent journ

Here's What You Should Do Before Giving A PS5 Or Xbox As A Gift


SlashGear / 9h
Giving a game console, for example, is a much sweeter deal when the recipient can unwrap, plug, and play it right away.

Twitter Suspends Journalists’ Accounts, Some of Whom Wrote About Musk


8KNYT > Technology / 9h
The social media service, which is owned by Elon Musk, said that it suspends accounts that “violate the Twitter rules” but did not provide details.

Twitter suspends journalists who cover the social network and Elon Musk


Engadget / 10h
Several journalists across various publications have found themselves unable to access their Twitter accounts tonight. They've been suspended on the website, and according to NBC News Senior Reporter Ben Collins, one thing they had in common was that they covered the social network and Elon Musk, who once described himself as a "free speech absolutist." Collins listed the suspended journalists' a

Henry Cavill's New Dream Gig Might Be a Warhammer 40K Series at Amazon


89Gizmodo / 10h
Henry Cavill’s certainly had an up-and- down -and-up-and- oh-my-god few months, but the former Superman and about-to-be-former Witcher star might be about to land another dream role: the lead in a series adaptation of the world of Warhammer 40,000 . Read more...

Twitter just banned prominent journalists who cover Elon Musk with no warning


500+TechCrunch / 10h
On Thursday evening, Twitter suspended a number of prominent journalists on the platform without warning or explanation. The situation followed the company’s decision to suspend the Twitter account of Mastodon , an open source social media alternative that’s built momentum since Elon Musk took over at the company. Twitter took action against Mastodon after the account linked to the Mastodon page

Here's What Happened To Drive Suits After Appearing On Shark Tank


SlashGear / 10h
The Drive Suit made it to the big time on "Shark Tank," with its creator looking for a $150,000 investment for 20% stake in his company.

Side Quest to Lost Spirits, a Literary-Themed Distillery in Las Vegas


Gizmodo / 10h
Just off the hustle and bustle of the bright lights on the Las Vegas Strip is a destination for the experiential-themed adventure seeker and drinker . Lost Spirits, a rum distillery inspired in part by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , can be found at Area 15, an array of eclectic dining and interactive holes… Read more...

Skilled tech workers snapped up despite downturn


41BBC News - Technology / 11h
For those with experience in AI, automation and cloud computing the tech downturn is not a big problem.

Twitter suspends Mastodon’s account and bans links to Mastodon servers


3KTechCrunch / 11h
A day after Twitter crafted a new policy to explain its decision to ban an account that tracks Elon Musk’s private jet , the fallout continues. Twitter apparently suspended its open source competitor Mastodon from the service on Thursday afternoon. Just prior to its suspension, Mastodon (@joinmastodon) tweeted a link to the jet tracking account on its own service, according to archives. Update: A

After the FTX chaos, is crypto down and out after a torrid 2022?


65BBC News - Technology / 11h
If Bitcoin was a boxer it would be on its back on the canvas. It is down but is it out?

This Silly Helium-Filled Robot Can Do Some Amazing Things


SlashGear / 11h
Perhaps you've heard that Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down. That's a neat trick, but it's nothing compared to the helium-filled BALLU robot.

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know On Mac


SlashGear / 11h
Adobe Photoshop offers its designers an extremely advanced user experience, complete with an intense list of shortcuts and tricks.

Here's How Long The Battery In A Kia EV6 Will Probably Last


SlashGear / 11h
The Kia EV6 is still fairly now, but its battery life could prove to be a major boon if it survives to its upper limits.

TikTok Ban For US Government Phones Passes Senate


SlashGear / 11h
TikTok is again facing a partial ban the United States, though it remains to be seen whether the House takes up the legislation embraced by the Senate.

How To Choose The Right Octane Gas For Your Car


SlashGear / 12h
The octane rating on gasoline determines how well it will run your car. We tell you how to pick the correct octane for your car and what the difference is.

It's Been 25 Years Since Pokémon Accidentally Gave Hundreds of People Seizures


23Gizmodo / 12h
December 16, 1997 saw the broadcast of the 38th episode of the legendary Pokémon anime in Japan—and the last time it was ever broadcast at all, thanks to a scene that changed broadcast TV in the country for a generation. Read more...


California Reduces Subsidies for Homes With Rooftop Solar


100+NYT > Technology / 12h
The decision, which would reduce the incentive for homeowners to install solar panels, could influence other states to make similar changes.