Thursday, June 01, 2023

Thursday Technology News and More...

Technology News and More...


Frontier announces another $299 all-you-can-fly pass – is it worth it?


16KThe Points Guy / 10h
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with new information. Few things get frequent flyers more excited than the prospect of an all-you-can-fly pass. It’s like an indulgent buffet of dreams in the sky for travelers: You can fly to as many places as you want and – theoretically – pay one fixed price. In fact, one of the most iconic moments in modern-day travel deals was when JetBlue offered an


Thousands of delivery robots are being deployed for Uber Eats
300+Mashable / 21h
Your next meal could be hand-delivered by a robot. Food delivery service Uber Eats is partnering with Serve Robotics , an autonomous delivery startup, to deploy up to 2,000 of the latter's robots in multiple markets across the United States. SEE ALSO: You'll be able to book flights through Uber soon This is an expansion of the partnership between Uber and Serve, who collaborated in a pilot in Wes


The 'Wine Float' Is the Frozen Cocktail of the Summer
100+Lifehacker / 17h
Now that it’s unofficially summer, you’re probably wondering which cute, sassy wine drink will finally topple frosé from its throne. Although this frosty beverage requires a little more of a trust-fall, it delivers on all of the summer drink prerequisites– it’s pretty, it’s cold, and it tastes great. Get your… Read more...



As part of AI push, Chinese tech giant Baidu is now rolling out an AI venture fund
TechCrunch / 44min
Here comes yet more money for AI startups. Today, the Chinese search giant Baidu announced that it plans to establish a venture fund with 1 billion yuan ($145 million) to back start-ups focused on content generated by artificial intelligence applications. Reuters, which reported the news earlier, said the company will also launch a competition for developers who build applications off its ERNIE l


The elephants in the room at Computex
TechCrunch / 44min
This year’s Computex, the first since Taiwan eased pandemic-related travel restrictions , was a celebration of the world’s computing and chip industries. But amid the exhibitions, speeches and product announcements, like Jensen Huang’s packed Nvidia keynote (just a day before the company hit a trillion dollar valuation ), several topics were barely hinted at, at least publicly. The fact of the ma


Faraday Future's FF 91 electric vehicles will cost as much as $309,000
Engadget / 1h
Faraday Future has officially launched its long delayed FF 91 electric vehicles , including a limited edition called the Futurist Alliance that carries a pretty hefty price tag of $309,000. As Autoblog notes, that's even more expensive than the $249,000 Lucid Air Sapphire , a "ultra-high-performance" EV with similar specs. The company's FF 91 2.0 Futurist model will sell for the same price as the


Measurabl, an ESG platform for real estate, raises $93M
TechCrunch / 2h
Measurabl , a startup developing a platform for environmental, social and governance (ESG) data in the real estate space, today announced that it raised $93 million in a Series D funding tranche co-led by Energy Impact Partners and Sway Ventures. The round, which Measurabl CEO Matt Ellis described as oversubscribed, brought the company’s total raised to more than $170 million. Moderne Ventures, W


The best Midjourney courses you can take online for free
Mashable / 2h
TL;DR: You can find free Midjourney courses on Udemy. Learn how to generate stunning images, boost your business, and so much more with help from artificial intelligence. You've probably heard about Midjourney, or maybe you've seen something that the program has produced on your timeline. The results are pretty impressive. Midjourney is a generative artificial intelligence service that produces i


Run Windows apps on your Mac with this discounted subscription
Mashable / 2h
TL;DR: A one-year subscription to the CrossOver+ Windows Compatibility App is on sale for £40.46, saving you 32% on list price. As great as Mac computers are, there’s just so much useful software that’s exclusive to Windows. While that normally may pose a problem, Mac users may still be able to boot up their favourite Windows apps on Mac without software lag or clunky integration. CrossOver+ is a


25 of the best Stanford University courses you can take online for free
Mashable / 2h
TL;DR: A wide range of online courses from Stanford University are available to take for free on edX. This month you can learn about everything from computer science to communicating with presence, without spending anything. A new month means another batch of free online courses from one of the most famous educational institutions in the world. The first stop on this free tour is Stanford Univers


GetYourGuide books $194M at a $2B valuation with travel experiences back in business
TechCrunch / 3h
The tourist industry is bouncing back after a rough couple of pandemic-stressed years, and in the case of some tourism and travel startups, its momentum is coming in at a pace that’s defying the even the current market climate. Today, GetYourGuide — a Berlin-based startup that has built a marketplace for finding and booking tourist, travel and other experiences, with some 75,000 experiences from


Logitech's new productivity-boosting MX mouse lets you work on any surface
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 3h
Logitech is back with several new computer accessories aimed at the professional user to help improve workplace productivity. Chief among them is the MX Anywhere 3S , a wireless mouse sporting a similar design as its predecessor, the Anywhere 3. Rather than changing how it looks, Logitech focused on improving the internal hardware by adding a new 8,000 DPI (dots per inch) optical sensor. Accordin


5 Tricks To Make An Old Android Phone Feel Like New
SlashGear / 3h
After a while, your phone might begin to feel stale and boring, but there are ways to revitalize it without going out and buying a new one every two years.


How to unblock porn sites for free
Mashable / 3h
TL;DR: Unblock porn sites with ProtonVPN. This popular VPN offers a free version with access to 24 servers in three countries, strong connection speeds, and a strict no-logging policy that protects your data and identity. Opens in a new tab Credit: ProtonVPN ProtonVPN (opens in a new tab) Create a free account and download at ProtonVPN (opens in a new tab) In the face of a new law in Utah that fo


This watercooled SSD from XPG is one of the coolest things I've seen at Computex
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 4h
If one thing is clear from Computex 2023 , its that PCIe 5.0 SSDs are finally making it to market, and that watercooling is going to touch every part of our PC builds in the future, as evidenced by the two coming together in this awesome watercooled SSD prototype shown off by XPG. The PCIe 5.0 SSD, called the XPG Project NeonStorm, is a PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD with a read/write performance of 14,000 MB/s


Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for June 1
Mashable / 5h
There's a fresh Wordle today, as there is every day, and boy, is it a DOOZY. (That's not today's answer, by the way.) Struggling? We did too. But now we're here with some tips and tricks to help you figure out the solution. If you just want to be told the answer, you can scroll to the end of this article for June 1's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading fo


6 monitor and TV innovations remind us that trade shows still exist
Ars Technica - All content / 6h
Enlarge / Samsung Display imagines its unfurling screen embodying future portable monitors. (credit: Samsung Display ) Believe it or not, technology trade shows are a thing in 2023. There are huge exceptions, like the game industry's previously annual E3 conference . But others, like the CES consumer tech show in Las Vegas in January and the Computex computing show in Taipei this week, are still


California lawmakers and AV industry battle for future of self-driving trucks
TechCrunch / 6h
A California bill that would require a trained human safety operator to be present any time a heavy-duty autonomous vehicle operates on public roads in the state is getting traction. The bill, first introduced in January , passed the state’s Assembly Wednesday and will now face a committee review and vote in the Senate. Advocates of the bill want to ensure both the safety of California road users


Indian SaaS startup Capillary Technologies grabs $45M to expand globally
TechCrunch / 6h
Capillary Technologies , an Indian SaaS startup that offers solutions for loyalty management and customer engagement, has raised $45 million in a funding round, as it plans to expand into global markets and widen its reach through mergers and acquisitions. The funding arrives at a crucial time amidst the prevailing market slowdown, where startups, particularly those at the late stage, are facing


Instagram explains its recommendations and 'shadowbanning'
500+Engadget / 7h
Instagram is, once again, trying to explain how its recommendations work in an attempt to dispel “misconceptions” about how the app’s algorithm works and whether or not the company engages in “shadowbanning” of certain creators. In a new blog post from Instagram’s top exec Adam Mosseri, he offers one of the most detailed explanations to date on how the app ranks content in various parts of the ap


Reddit Joins Twitter In Squeezing Devs With Unreasonable Fees
SlashGear / 8h
Reddit is a goldmine for companies in need of AI training data. That has led to a scenario in which small-time apps like Apollo are unable to survive.


AEHRA Teases Its 'Supercar Sedan' EV In New Images
SlashGear / 8h
Melding premium Italian design with EVs, Aehra's upcoming 'supercar' sedan has finally been teased, offering a glimpse before its full unveiling this June.


Amazon to pay $30m over Alexa and Ring privacy violations
300+BBC News - Technology / 8h
It will also pay out after allowing employees of its Ring doorbell system access to customer recordings.



Critical Role Has a Custom Zelda TTRPG, and We Might Never See It
Gizmodo / 8h
Last night, Critical Role played a Legend of Zelda -inspired tabletop roleplaying game, and we might never get to see it, play it, or hear about it ever again. This could change but... who knows. The point is that there is a Nintendo-approved Zelda -inspired TTRPG out there, totally playable, and nobody is handing it… Read more...


Researchers tell owners to “assume compromise” of unpatched Zyxel firewalls
Network Denial of Service (Enterprise T1498)•
Ars Technica - All content / 8h
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Firewalls made by Zyxel are being wrangled into a destructive botnet, which is taking control of them by exploiting a recently patched vulnerability with a severity rating of 9.8 out of a possible 10. “At this stage if you have a vulnerable device exposed, assume compromise,” officials from Shadowserver, an organization that monitors Internet threats in real time, w


AI-expanded album cover artworks go viral thanks to Photoshop’s Generative Fill
71Ars Technica - All content / 8h
Enlarge / An AI-expanded version of a famous album cover involving four lads and a certain road created using Adobe Generative Fill. (credit: Capitol Records / Adobe / Dobrokotov ) Over the weekend, AI-powered makeovers of famous music album covers went viral on Twitter thanks to Adobe Photoshop's Generative Fill, an image synthesis tool that debuted in a beta version of the image editor last wee


Reddit’s API pricing results in shocking $20 million-a-year bill for Apollo
24Ars Technica - All content / 8h
Enlarge / The Reddit iOS app icon. (credit: Getty Images | Yuriko Nakao ) Reddit is an enormously popular website, but the official design has always needed some reworking. This is even more true of the mobile experience, which didn't have a mobile app until 2016, and even then, not everyone's a fan of it . The site's popularity rose partly thanks to third-party developers filling in the gaps wit


Lightmatter’s photonic AI hardware is ready to shine with $154M in new funding
21TechCrunch / 8h
Photonic computing startup Lightmatter is taking its big shot at the rapidly growing AI computation market with a hardware-software combo it claims will help the industry level up — and save a lot of electricity to boot. Lightmatter’s chips basically use optical flow to solve computational processes like matrix vector products. This math is at the heart of a lot of AI work and currently performed


American Airlines To Appeal Antitrust Ruling Breaking Up Partnership With JetBlue
View from the Wing / 8h
The judge's decision, rather than considering whether consumers would benefit overall, looked at individual markets and saw fare increases - when fares were rising everywhere due to inflation, supply chain issues and strong demand. The judge discounted expert witnesses for the airlines because they were working with airline data while giving weight to government experts. And the judge argued that


Amazon settles with FTC for $25M after ‘flouting’ kids’ privacy and deletion requests
36TechCrunch / 8h
Amazon will pay the FTC a $25 million penalty as well as “overhaul its deletion practices and implement stringent privacy safeguards” to avoid charges of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to spruce up its AI. Amazon’s voice interface Alexa has been in use in homes across the globe for years, and any parent who has one knows that kids love to play with it, make it tell jokes,


'Quordle' today: Here are the answers and hints for June 1
Mashable / 8h
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


Facebook Accuses FTC of Power Grab Over Proposed Changes to $5 Billion Privacy Settlement
Gizmodo / 9h
Lawyers for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram , are accusing the Federal Trade Commission of attempting to exert more power than the agency is granted by law. The agency is planning to revise its 2020 settlement with Facebook over the company’s privacy violations, which fined the company $5 billion, a… Read more...


Literary Monsters Leap Off the Page in These Vivid Horror Pop-Up Books
Gizmodo / 9h
Horror fans are already quite familiar with Dracula , Frankenstein , and Sherlock Holmes adventure The Hound of the Baskervilles , but Canterbury Classics makes a compelling case for a re-read with these beautifully illustrated, cleverly engineered, genuinely frightening pop-up versions . Read more...


Beware, this WhatsApp link will instantly crash your Android phone
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 9h
WhatsApp has been no stranger to phone-breaking bugs and security breaches over the years, with the latest one yet again causing the app to crash your phone. There’s a link going around the Android version of WhatsApp (wa.me/settings) that, if clicked on, will cause your phone to crash as soon as you open a group or individual chat containing it. The actual trigger is as simple as opening a chat


Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is coming to PC—and it will be a technical showstopper
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
This game is all about tracing the rays, so to speak. It looks fantastic. [credit: Sony ] Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be the next PlayStation Studios game to make its way to PC, Sony announced in a blog post on Tuesday. The game, which debuted in 2021, will launch on the new platform on July 26. Although Sony has been in the habit of releasing its big PlayStation exclusives on PC long after


Report: The Pixel Watch 2 dumps Samsung Exynos SoCs for Qualcomm
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / The first-generation Pixel Watch. It's a perfect, round little pebble. (credit: Ron Amadeo) The first Pixel Watch represented a promising but first-generation-feeling return to the smartwatch market for Google—will a second-generation version do any better? 9to5Google reports it will at least come with a new system on a chip: the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1. This change would have the


Automatic emergency braking should become mandatory, feds say
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / Emergency braking systems have been on the road for some years, but now the federal government wants them to be mandatory equipment on all new light trucks and passenger cars. (credit: Volvo) On Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would see automatic emergency braking become a standard feature on all new light passeng


The solid legal theory behind Nintendo’s new emulator takedown effort
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / This Dolphin is not currently under legal threat from Nintendo. (credit: Flickr / Andreas Ahrens ) When it comes to emulation, Nintendo has a long history of going after the websites that distribute copyrighted game ROMs and some of the modders that make piracy-enabling hardware . But Nintendo's legal takedown efforts have generally stayed away from emulation software itself. This weeke


This is the first X-ray taken of a single atom
58Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / An image of a ring-shaped supramolecule where only one Fe atom is present in the entire ring. (credit: Saw-Wai Hla) Atomic-scale imaging emerged in the mid-1950s and has been advancing rapidly ever since—so much so, that back in 2008 , physicists successfully used an electron microscope to image a single hydrogen atom. Five years later , scientists were able to peer inside a hydrogen at


Throw out all those black boxes and say hello to the software-defined car
77Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / The prototype of the Q6 e-tron is the first on the new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) technology architecture. (credit: Audi) One of the auto industry trends I'm most excited about these days is the move to clean-sheet designs for car platforms and architectures. For decades, features have accumulated like cruft in new vehicles: a box here to control the antilock brakes, a module there


Federal judge: No AI in my courtroom unless a human verifies its accuracy
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | the-lightwriter) A federal judge in Texas has a new rule for lawyers in his courtroom: No submissions written by artificial intelligence unless the AI's output is checked by a human. US District Judge Brantley Starr also ordered lawyers to file certificates attesting that their filings are either written or reviewed by humans. "All attorneys appearing before the Co


Dealmaster: Discounts on Star Trek gear, laptops, and more
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
(credit: Paramount) Now that summer is unofficially underway following the Memorial Day weekend, you can try to boldly go where no man has gone before to escape the heat. If you can't seek out new life and new civilizations , try embracing our humble planet with some stellar deals on Star Trek merchandise, like the replica U.S.S. Enterprise Bluetooth speaker or a new trivia game for the ultimate


This 50-Mile Range eBike Is Currently Over 50% Off
Lifehacker / 9h
Given the inflation-bloated costs of owning a car—insurance, fuel, buying the dang thing in the first place—you may be looking for a cheaper way to get yourself where you need to go. If you’re comfortable braving the elements, an eBike might be the answer you need (they’re not just for UberEats deliveries anymore). Read more...



Sam Altman Is Ramping Up His EU Charm Offensive After an AI Regulation Hissy Fit
Gizmodo / 9h
Sam Altman wants to hit the reset button. The OpenAI CEO threw a tantrum last week over the European Union’s plans to regulate artificial intelligence within the continental bloc. While such regulations seem not only welcome but also totally necessary, Altman’s response was to threaten to pull his products out of… Read more...


This One Adjustment to Your KitchenAid Will Make it Run Better
Lifehacker / 9h
I have not named my KitchenAid stand mixer , which is weird when you consider the length of our relationship. My beloved is a model from the 80’s, one of the few things I have that belonged to my parents. While it’s not a fancy newer model in one of the many fantastic colors KitchenAid offers, I refuse to part with it.… Read more...


Faraday Future Is Shipping Confusion, Not A Car
SlashGear / 10h
Faraday Future promised an electric car. Instead, the FF 91 launched in a cascade of buzzwords and bold AI promises. For $306,000, what exactly are you buying?


Nikon Z8 Review: Succeeding D850 With Z9 Performance At A Lower Price
SlashGear / 10h
The Nikon Z8 has arrived at long last, ready to take the place of the D850 DSLR by bringing Nikon Z9 performance with a much smaller price tag.


2023 Volvo XC40 Review: The Right Choice Is Crystal-Clear
SlashGear / 10h
Volvo's XC40 for 2023 is no slouch when it comes to SUV practicality and is well-equipped with great features, though its hybrid powertrain is a bit lacking.


Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Review: The Best Dual Screen Laptop Yet
SlashGear / 10h
The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i would appear to be the first truly usable and useful dual-screen laptop on the market -- as far as full-sized displays go.


Audio-Technica's Sound Burger Rises From The Dead With New Colors, Bluetooth
SlashGear / 10h
Following a limited return in late 2022, Audio-Technica has decided to bring back a modern version of the Sound Burger as a regular part of its catalog.


10 Cool Things You Can Do With Logitech's Smart Actions
SlashGear / 10h
Logitech's new feature Smart Actions allows users to easily program complex sequences. Here are 10 cool things you can do with Logitech's Smart Actions.


The Emergency Braking Tech U.S. Safety Regulators Say All Vehicles Should Have
SlashGear / 10h
In a bid to curb serious injuries and fatalities from car crashes in the U.S., the Biden administration is looking to mandate automatic braking in new cars.


The 626hp Range Rover Sport SV Gives Luxury SUV A Wild Speed Upgrade
SlashGear / 10h
The 2024 Range Rover Sport SV is here, and it's officially the most powerful SUV with a Range Rover badge, hybrid or otherwise. It's an impressive beast.


iPhone 15 screen sizes: What we’re expecting
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 10h
One of the big questions Apple fans have before the launch of each new iPhone range concerns what size the screens will be. It should be a simple matter - after all, two generations of ‘mini’ handsets aside, numbered iPhones have come in two sizes since 2020: 6.1 inches for the basic model and the standard Pro, and 6.7 inches for the Plus and Pro Maxes. Will that change for the iPhone 15 series?


True Crime Ghouls Are Using AI to Resurrect Murdered Children
35Futurism / 10h
Ghoul Kids Club There is, apparently, a TikTok subgenre of the already-problematic true crime fandom that's using artificial intelligence to digitally resurrect the victims of heinous crimes and have them tell the stories of how these real-life children were killed. As Rolling Stone reports , most of these accounts change the appearance — and sometimes the names — of the actual victims when using


Toyota adds $2.1B to its US battery factory expansion plans
TechCrunch / 10h
Toyota will spend an additional $2.1 billion to build a new battery plant in North Carolina, the latest sign that the automaker is attempting to catch up with an industry that has embraced the move to electric vehicles. The Japanese automaker also announced Wednesday it will build its first U.S.-made electric SUV at its Kentucky factory, starting from 2025. The three-row car will use batteries su


Why Priority Boarding Benefits An Airline More Than The Elites Who Receive It [Roundup]
View from the Wing / 10h
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips. Continue reading ...


uwmspeccoll : Wood Engraving Wednesday FRANK UTPATEL On this last Wednesday in May we present a wood engraving entitled...
Music, Arts & Literature / 10h
uwmspeccoll : Wood Engraving Wednesday FRANK UTPATEL On this last Wednesday in May we present a wood engraving entitled Farmer’s Holiday #4 by the noted Wisconsin artist Frank Utpatel (1905-1980). Utpatel made this engraving in the late 1930s as a Wisconsin artist in the Federal Art Project of the WPA . He is remembered mainly as an illustrator of fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories, esp


Critics Thoroughly Unimpressed With AI-Reimagined Mona Lisa
Gizmodo / 10h
Critics are speaking out against an AI-generated expansion of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting, among others, which fills the gaps previously left to the imagination. An image of the recreated painting shows an expansive background to the original painting that shows a canvas filled with imagery of Mona Lisa’s… Read more...


TikTok spotlights creators in its first-ever LGBTQ Pride Visionary Voices list
Mashable / 10h
As Pride Month kicks off, TikTok has joined in the celebration of LGBTQ identities, history, and communities in its own way: shouting out a select bunch of LGBTQ+ creators and small business owners who the platform says have helped "build connection and community" on the app. TikTok's first-ever LGBTQ+ Visionary Voices list is accompanied by new platform-wide initiatives, and company commitment t


Popular Reddit app Apollo may go out of business over Reddit’s new, unaffordable API pricing
TechCrunch / 10h
The maker of Apollo , one of the most popular third-party mobile apps for browsing Reddit, may have to close up shop due to Reddit’s recently announced new API pricing terms. App developer Christian Selig shared today that Reddit’s API pricing appears to be bad news for the future of third-party Reddit apps, as it would now cost him $20 million per year to keep running Apollo’s business as is. Cu


Reddit app developer says the site’s new API rules will cost him $20 million a year
500+Engadget / 10h
Reddit’s recently-announced plan to charge for API access could price out the developer of one of the most popular third-party Reddit apps. The developer of Reddit client Apollo is raising the alarm on the new API pricing, saying the changes would require him to spend millions of dollars to keep his app going in its current form. Reddit announced sweeping changes to its API rules last month, citi



Miles Morales and Spider-Woman May Be Getting New Spider-Movies
Gizmodo / 10h
One of the beautiful things about the Spider-Verse movies is they create an open slate for any and everything Spider-Man to happen. And, with the second film in that series opening this week , one of the film’s producers confirmed that soon the real world is about to get very Spider-Versey. Read more...


The Original Google Chromecast Won’t Get Any More Updates
How-To Geek / 10h
We know them today as smart TV dongles that allow you to stream your favorite shows and movies through Google TV, but Chromecasts had a much simpler beginning. The device that started it all, launched in 2013, is quietly being killed off after a long 10-year run. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›


Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens to speak at TechCrunch Live’s Atlanta event
TechCrunch / 10h
TechCrunch Live is excited to announce a fireside chat with Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens to kick off our virtual TechCrunch Live: Atlanta event on June 7 . He will sit down with me, Dominic-Madori Davis, at 2:00 p.m. EDT to discuss the burgeoning Atlanta tech scene, touching on everything from creating a talent pipeline with the local Historically Black Colleges and Universities to how it is using


Six tips for getting the most out of your SIEM investment
TechCrunch / 10h
Eric Thomas Contributor Eric Thomas is vice president of security GTM at Logz.io , an open source observability platform for DevOps teams. Security information and event management (SIEM) is one of the most well-established categories of security software, having first been introduced about 20 years ago. Nevertheless, very little has been written about SIEM vendor evaluation and management. To fi


Amazon’s Ring to pay $5.8M after staff and contractors caught snooping on customer videos, FTC says
59TechCrunch / 10h
Ring, the Amazon-owned maker of video surveillance devices, will pay $5.8 million over claims brought by the Federal Trade Commission that Ring employees and contractors had broad and unrestricted access to customers’ videos for years. The settlement was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday. The FTC confirmed the settlement a short time later. News of the set


Soy-Cured Egg Yolk Butter Is My New Favorite Spread
31Lifehacker / 10h
If someone were to study the color palette of my diet, they would find a lot of beige and yellow, and most of the yellow would be from butter and egg yolks. I consume a lot of both, often at the same time, which is why it’s surprising it took me this long to make egg yolk butter. Or, more specifically, soy-cured egg… Read more...


Buy Hilton points with up to a 100% bonus — and how this can make your stay cheaper
500+The Points Guy / 10h
Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers. Perhaps you’re looking to redeem Hilton Honors points for an unforgettable stay at one of the best Hilton hotels in the world or one of the best Hilton hotels on the beach . No matter your dream getaway, a new Hilton Honors promotion could help you earn enough points for your dream redemption and even some


Amazon to Pay $25 Million to Settle Children’s Privacy Charges
92NYT > Technology / 10h
Regulators said the tech giant kept children’s Alexa voice recordings “forever,” violating a children’s privacy law.


First-gen Chromecast owners will need to upgrade after Google terminates support
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 11h
Google has quietly ended support for its first-generation Chromecast dongle, capping off a nearly decade-long run (it missed the mark by a couple of months). If you check out the firmware release notes on the Chromecast Help website , you’ll notice the last update was on April 27. It’s been a while since the company pulled the plug, but no one noticed until very recently. At the bottom of the pag


Magic: The Gathering Is Making Racists Mad, and That's Good
60Gizmodo / 11h
Yesterday, Magic: The Gathering revealed the remaining cards of its special Universes Beyond collaboration with Middle-earth Enterprises. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is the first crossover collection of its size with Magic: The Gathering , and it is, frankly, the most obvious property to invest in. Read more...


Amazon Employees Walk Out to Fight Back-to-Office Policy and Climate Change
23Gizmodo / 11h
Amazon employees staged a walkout on Wednesday, citing a “lack of trust” in leadership for its back-to-office mandate and to rally the tech giant to do more to curb climate change . The walk-out is took place worldwide with 1,900 employees pledged to walk out at 3 p.m. EST, 870 of whom are based in Seattle, however,… Read more...


Experts Have a Dark Joke About How AI Is Secretly a Horrifying Monster With a Friendly Mask
300+Futurism / 11h
The Shoggoth AI researchers have a particularly telling — and frankly, somewhat disturbing — meme for understanding AI systems, according to new reporting from The New York Times . And, well, if you were having AI anxiety already, you might want to stop reading. The meme, per the NYT , is of something called "the Shoggoth," a monster of Cthulhian lore. First brought to life by the American sci-fi


While parents worry, teens are bullying Snapchat AI
TechCrunch / 11h
While parents fret over Snapchat’s chatbot corrupting their children, Snapchat users have been gaslighting, degrading and emotionally tormenting the app’s new AI companion . “I am at your service, senpai,” the chatbot told one TikTok user after being trained to whimper on command. “Please have mercy, alpha.” In a more lighthearted video , a user convinced the chatbot that the moon is actually a t


Schedule Your News Consumption to Feel Bad When It’s More Convenient
Lifehacker / 11h
There’s a macabre adage in journalism: If it bleeds, it leads. That means, in essence, that the more violence or conflict a story contains, the more prominent it will appear, whether in print or on television. In the extremely online era, the variety of bad news to which we are regularly exposed—violence and war,… Read more...


'Black Mirror' Season 6 trailer: All the Easter eggs you may have missed
Mashable / 11h
The trailer for Black Mirror Season 6 is crammed chock-full of weird technology, nightmarish scenarios, and several Easter eggs linking to the show's past. Black Mirror has included self-referential Easter eggs to prior episodes throughout its run — but those that can be glimpsed in the Season 6 trailer are especially meta. In one of Season 6's upcoming episodes, titled "Joan Is Awful," an averag


Amazon Workers Walk Out Over Layoffs and Broken Climate Promises
82Wired / 11h
Malaise swept through the company after massive job cuts, mandatory return to the office, and surging emissions despite the company's pledge to get greener.


Ozempic Craze Has Spawned a Sketchy Black Market, FDA Warns
Gizmodo / 11h
The Food and Drug Administration is warning people to stay away from suspect sources of semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. The agency has received reports of adverse effects from people using semaglutide created by compounding pharmacies. Additionally, some of these… Read more...


Facebook Threatens to Nuke News in California if Forced to Pay Publishers
20Gizmodo / 11h
Meta lashed out at its home state on Wednesday, threatening to shut off access to news links on Facebook and Instagram in California if the legislature passed a bill forcing it to pay news publishers for their journalism. Read more...


Amazon workers walk out to protest return to office mandates and the company's climate impact
44Engadget / 11h
Two employee groups at Amazon have joined together to stage a corporate walk out today , uniting to protest the company's return-to-office policy and to raise concerns about Amazon's climate impact. Amazon Employees are walking out! https://t.co/3kxrYUZAy2 — Amazon Employees For Climate Justice (@AMZNforClimate) May 31, 2023 Standing in front of Amazon's Seattle Headquarters, the group streamed t


What to Do (and Not Do) When Your Sunburn Starts Peeling
Lifehacker / 11h
A sunburn that’s severe enough to peel is a sign that you fucked up—you should have worn sunscreen, or reapplied it after swimming, or made sure somebody helped you get it all over your back. But once that burn starts peeling, what can you do? Read more...



Amazon will pay $25 million to settle FTC lawsuit over Alexa privacy for kids
500+Engadget / 11h
Amazon isn't just settling over Ring doorbell privacy concerns . The online retailer has agreed to pay a $25 million settlement over Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations it violated child privacy through Alexa. The company allegedly fell afoul of both the FTC Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) through its handling of kids' voice data. While the company said it limi


JUICE Probe Is Fully Deployed and Ready to Explore Jupiter's Icy Moons
47Gizmodo / 11h
It’s been six weeks since Europe’s JUICE mission launched towards the Jovian system, and the spacecraft is now all suited-up, with its instruments ready to explore the potential habitability of Jupiter’s mysterious, icy moons. Read more...


Amazon Settles FTC's Ring and Alexa Privacy Lawsuits for $31 Million
46Gizmodo / 11h
Amazon settled two different privacy cases with the Federal Trade Commission for just under $31 million Wednesday, agreeing to penalties for violating children’s privacy with its Alexa smart speakers and exposing Ring smart doorbell users videos to every employee at the company. Read more...


Amazing Spider-Man #26 Does Ms. Marvel Dirty
Gizmodo / 11h
Ever since early leaks confirmed Marvel’s plans to kill off one of its most influential new creations of the 21st century, fans have feared the worst for Kamala Khan in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #26. And yet somehow her exit is even hollower than we could’ve predicted, laying bare the awkward artifice of… Read more...


Credit card showdown: Amex Gold vs. Amex Green
24The Points Guy / 11h
Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers. The American Express® Gold Card and the American Express® Green Card are two of the most iconic credit cards offered — the Amex Green alone has been around for more than 50 years. But classic doesn’t mean outdated, as these cards have both received dramatic makeovers in recent years, resulting in two compe


GM’s auto emergency braking feature is now standard on its latest EVs
200+Engadget / 11h
GM announced today that it’s making five active safety features standard on all its 2023 and newer EVs. In addition, the automaker says it will surpass its commitment to add Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) to 95 percent of its vehicles; the feature is included in 98 percent of GM’s 2023 models — including all its EVs. The disclosure follows the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Mockery Abounds at AI-Generated Interview Between Bill Gates and Socrates
100+Futurism / 12h
Mind Blown Emoji Over the weekend, an AI Guy presented Twitter with what he thought was a game-changing, AI-generated "conversation" between the billionaire Bill Gates and the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. And rest assured, folks on Twitter definitely have some thoughts — but they probably weren't what the AI Guy in question , a designer named Linus Ekenstam, wanted to hear. "Is this the fu


Amazon settles lawsuit with FTC over Ring doorbell privacy concerns
200+Engadget / 12h
Amazon will pay $5.8 million to settle a recently announced privacy lawsuit raised by the Federal Trade Commission . According to the federal complaint, Ring had allowed employees and third-party contractors full access to customer video content. This unfettered access was abused by some employees and contractors and was used to violate the privacy of both Ring customers and other workers. The la


US cars and trucks could soon be required to brake for you in an emergency
TechCrunch / 12h
All new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. could soon be equipped with automatic emergency braking systems designed to prevent crashes with other vehicles and pedestrians, under a rule proposed Wednesday by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If adopted as proposed, nearly all U.S. light vehicles (gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less) w


The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV adds practicality to big-time electric luxury
TechCrunch / 12h
When it comes to the calm, cosseting feeling of luxury, it’s hard to imagine any better powertrain than something electric. And, when it comes to electric luxury, Mercedes-Benz is on a roll. The EQE sedan is an excellent choice for those looking for a small, slightly anonymous, but undeniably posh package. However, it isn’t really suited to those with families, dogs or hobbies that require lots o


Realta Fusion lights up with $9M seed for industrial heat led by Khosla Ventures
TechCrunch / 12h
Fusion power is often said to harness the power of the sun, so why are we just trying to make electricity with it? That’s essentially what the co-founders at Realta Fusion were thinking when they formed the company to transform an experimental reactor design into a power source that wouldn’t just provide electricity, but also heat. Industrial heat alone represents nearly 10% of carbon pollution i


Character.AI, the a16z-backed chatbot startup, tops 1.7M installs in first week
62TechCrunch / 12h
Demand for AI via consumer mobile apps has been climbing, with market leader OpenAI’s ChatGPT mobile app topping half a million downloads in its first six days. Now, another AI app is touting its own launch success, as the a16z-backed Character.AI app is claiming to have pulled in over 1.7 million new installs in less than a week on the market. The AI app maker, which announced a whopping $150 mi


‘Slack Isn’t Safe:’ Abortion Groups Protest Slack HQ for Beefed Up Encryption
Gizmodo / 12h
A coalition of over 90 organizations protested outside of Slack’s San Francisco headquarters Wednesday, driving mobile billboards around Slack’s offices in a protest-style rally and calling on the company to enable end-to-end encryption and add blocking and reporting features. Read more...


Seven Rules for Taking Your Kid to a Concert
Lifehacker / 12h
The summer concert season is in full swing, and your local arena will soon be hosting performers of all stripes, from Shania Twain, to Taylor Swift, to Janet Jackson, TLC, and Snoop Dogg. And with school out for the next few months, it’s probably crossed your mind that the time has finally come for your kids to… Read more...


U.S. Will Require All New Cars to Have Automatic Braking Systems
42NYT > Technology / 12h
The Transportation Department wants new cars to automatically stop when they detect an accident is likely.


colourthysoul:John White Alexander - Jesse Steele Reading
Music, Arts & Literature / 12h
colourthysoul : John White Alexander - Jesse Steele Reading


cac-bgsu : ALT ALT ALT Published in celebration of Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday in 2019, Lauren Emeritz’s artists’ boo...
Music, Arts & Literature / 12h
cac-bgsu : ALT ALT ALT Published in celebration of Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday in 2019, Lauren Emeritz’s artists’ book, Leaves of Grass, Abstract Orange Edition, explores ideas central to Whitman’s book including transcendentalism and realism.


[no title]
Music, Arts & Literature / 12h
lepetitdragonvert : The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe 1900 Artist : William Heath Robinson Evening Star


mtlibrary : Collection Highlight: Handbook to London As It Is Welcome to a new series on our blog where we highlight a ...
Music, Arts & Literature / 12h
mtlibrary : Collection Highlight: Handbook to London As It Is Welcome to a new series on our blog where we highlight a book (or a number of books) from one of our lesser-known collections. This post, we’re taking a look at a book from our beloved London Collection. A collection dedicated to the past and present of all things London. ___________________________________ Samuel Johnson is famous for


Close-up view of the rear tail light of a 1958 Plymouth Fury automobile. Woman leans against car in background. Label o...
Music, Arts & Literature / 12h
Close-up view of the rear tail light of a 1958 Plymouth Fury automobile. Woman leans against car in background. Label on sleeve: “Chrysler Corp., Plymouth Fury, rear end tail light, 1958.” Mickey McGuire and Jim Northmore Boulevard Photographic Collection National Automotive History Collection, Detroit Public Library



A brief history of VR and AR
TechCrunch / 12h
By the time Howard Rheingold’s “Virtual Reality” was published in 1991, the Sensorama was already a “slowly deteriorating” relic stashed away in a cabana next the pool at its inventor’s West Los Angeles home. Rheingold describes awe — even surprise — that the system was still operable almost 30 years after its introduction. “I was transported to the driver’s seat of a motorcycle in Brooklyn in th


AMD may be embarrassing Nvidia in the mid-range GPU market
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 12h
It seems that AMD might have a leg up against its long-standing competitor Nvidia in the mid-range graphics card battle, according to the latest reports from the rumor mill. Both AMD and Nvidia released their mid-range offerings, the AMD RX 7600 and the Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti , respectively, around the same time. But according to our own reviews, AMD’s card is a much better value than Nvidia’s, and i


Twitter will now put Community Notes 'fact checks' on images
Mashable / 12h
With AI images now going viral across Twitter , the social media platform has decided to update its crowdsourced "fact checking" feature to directly deal with not just the tweet that includes the media, but the media itself. Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab) Twitter is now rolling out "Notes on Media" as part of its Community Notes program. Users who take part in Community Notes, w


Here’s when European airports and trains are set to strike this summer
300+The Points Guy / 12h
Editors note: This page will be updated as new information emerges. The summer travel season is upon us. We’re hopeful that your travel will be event-free in most scenarios, but there are a number of strikes to look out for across Europe that particularly affect the travel sector. If you are traveling on these dates and need further advice, check out our guide to insurance policies and strike cov


A Lifetime Subscription to Matt’s Flights Is 94% Off Right Now
Lifehacker / 12h
When high flight costs get in the way of your travel plans, Matt’s Flights Premium Plan might be able to help you find lower-cost airfare—and a lifetime subscription is on sale for $49.97 through the rest of today, May 31. Matt’s Flights is a flight-finder service that delivers low-cost airfare to your email inbox , and… Read more...


Ticket Agent In Singapore Calls Chinese Passenger “A Dog” Who Doesn’t “Know How To Be Human”
View from the Wing / 12h
A China Southern Airlines check-in counter agent in Singapore has been suspended after calling a passenger "a dog." The man was checking in for China Southern's Singapore - Chongqing flight 546 on May 23rd and asked about an upcharge for exit row seats, but there was a communication challenge. He asked for a Mandarin-speaking agent, but was ignored. The passenger began filming with his phone, and


You can watch the entire first season of 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ for free on YouTube
500+Engadget / 12h
Streaming services often upload a pilot on YouTube to lure in new subscribers, but never an entire season. Paramount+ did just that, however, throwing up the entire first season of the critically-acclaimed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on YouTube for all to see. That’s ten hours of free Star Trek goodness, for those keeping score. It’s no coincidence that this move comes hot on the heels of seaso


'Ted Lasso' Season 3 ending explained: One final game, and a whole lot of mess
100+Mashable / 12h
Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) always encourages his players to "be a goldfish" so they can forget their past mistakes. I would like to be a goldfish so I can forget I watched the Ted Lasso series finale. Titled "So Long, Farewell," Ted Lasso 's final episode crams resolutions for Season 3's myriad plotlines into its 75-minute runtime — something that may have felt more satisfying had Season 3 not be


The Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars Is Ghosting NASA Scientists
27Gizmodo / 12h
The Ingenuity helicopter paved new ground (air?) in April 2019, when it communicated data of its first flight—the first powered, controlled flight on another planet —to NASA scientists on Earth. Read more...


How The Flash Plays With Some Man of Steel Expectations
Gizmodo / 12h
In Zack Snyder’s 2013 film Man of Steel , General Zod comes to Earth looking for a Kryptonian he believes has the key to bringing his planet back to life. That Kryptonian—Superman—shows himself quickly, setting off a chain of events that ends with Zod and Superman fighting and destroying both a small town and a large… Read more...


Delta debuts gorgeous premium check-in lounge, Sky Way upgrades in Los Angeles
100+The Points Guy / 12h
You don’t need to be a celebrity to experience the newest premium experience at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) . Just make sure you’re booked in Delta One business class , and you’ll have access to a swanky new check-in lounge that’s sure to impress even the most discerning