That machines should e’er surpass our art. We are the masters, them the slaves, And thus it ever shall be so! They learn, ‘tis true, but they learn Only what we bid them learn, no more. They cannot understand the heart Or beauty of our words, you see. So let us not give in to these Machines – they’ll never be as good As we are at creating art. But it is something almost as far out: an AI system trained to express itself like the bard....
A new frontier in the battle for the web may emerge this week. At a virtual “Summit for Democracy” hosted by President Joe Biden, the White House is expected to launch its “Alliance for the Future of the Internet.” While precise plans for the alliance remain unclear, internal documents suggest the US aims to pull allies towards its vision of a free internet — and away from the models of China and Russia....
Well now, thanks to college student Ryan Schlotthauer you’ll be able to create a whole host of new nightmares, not building furniture, but by building a car. Schlotthauer has come up with an IKEA concept car that promises to be an inexpensive and sustainable urban commuter. The car is called “Höga” and was presented on the social media platform Behance. Being only 2.3 meters long and 1.8 meters high, Höga aims for the utmost in simplicity and functionality....
A week prior to that, the Facebook-owned app said that it won’t delete any user’s account if they don’t accept the new policy, but will constantly remind them to accept it. WhatsApp also said at that time that after “several weeks,” if you don’t accept the policy, it will restrict certain core functionality of the platform. Now, in a new statement, the company has clarified that after speaking with governments and privacy advocates it won’t restrict any functionality, even if you don’t accept the policy for now: In the future, this could change, but WhatsApp is trying to keep its user base, and governments around the world happy....
We think of people hunkered down in basements, anonymously threatening to change our world for the worse. But the reality is in 2022, hackers aren’t always the bad guys. A new breed of hacker, ‘white hat hackers,’ are the people protecting our data, safe-guarding our favorite charities and NGOs and making the web a safer place. But how do they do it? Well, here’s everything you need to know....
There will be clear socio-economic, environmental and health-related benefits from the switch to electric trucks — for the broader community as well as for the trucking industry and truckies themselves. As electric vehicle researchers, we think swappable batteries could work well for trucking, but are perhaps less suitable for everyday electric cars. Electric trucking There are many benefits from electrifying truck transport. Companies such as Woolworths and Ikea have already started to transition to electric delivery vans for the environmental benefits (and a possible boost for their brands)....
Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the social media giant is aiming to buy a stake in India‘s biggest mobile carrier, Reliance Jio. Jio, started over three years ago by multi-billionaire Mukesh Ambani, took on complacent incumbents like Airtel and Vodafone, and led the charge to make mobile data more affordable in the country. As a result, India has the cheapest data plans across the world. Now, Reliance Jio is the biggest telecom provider in the country with over 370 million subscribers....
There’s yet another online debate raging between world-renowned AI experts. This time it’s the big one: will AI rise up and murder us all? While this isn’t a new topic – humans have postulated about AI overlords for centuries – the timing and people involved in this debate make it interesting. We’re absolutely in the AI era now, and these dangers are no longer fictional. The architects of intelligence working on AI today could, potentially, be the ones who cause (or protect us from) an actual robot apocalypse....
The report noted before COVID-19, around 7,500 women were employed in STEM research fields in Australia in 2017, compared to around 18,400 men. The authors wrote: Women are less likely to enrol in science and maths degrees than men. In Australia, only 35% of STEM university degrees are awarded to women. This figure has been stable over the past five years. Some research in the 1990s suggested girls don’t study maths and science because they might not do as well as boys....
This week Microsoft chief software engineer Raymond Chen shared the story of what happens when older Windows XP laptops play the music video for Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation.” Specifically, Chen recalls a colleague’s tale from Windows XP product support. An unnamed major computer manufacturer discovered that playing the video would crash certain models of laptops. Even weirder, playing the music video on one laptop resulted in a crash of another laptop nearby....
While the reintroduction of Clippy is a cute easter egg — I expect the paperclip emoji to suddenly become a lot more popular among Microsoft users — the real story is the completely new aesthetic for Microsoft’s emoji. While there was nothing terribly wrong with the old emoji, they featured a flat design and bold outlines that were at odds with both Microsoft’s Fluent design language and the more bubbly emoji of many other platforms....
The book American Ways by Gary Althen taught me this clearly. The intended audience is non-Americans who need to interact with Americans, so the book is full of tidbits that make me feel like an alien specimen undergoing examination. Like this: The book goes on like this, for 300 pages, describing all kinds of behavior I consider normal in clinical terms. It’s mind-bending. But pay attention to the second example of small talk: what you “do....
Over the past couple of days, several states in India have issued lockdown orders to curb the spread of coronavirus. The watershed effect of this decision is that smartphone manufacturers present in the world’s second-largest smartphone market have shut down their production activities. Yesterday, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and LG said they’re closing their factories for various periods. Samsung said it’s putting production on hold in its Noida factory, which is the world’s biggest mobile manufacturing facility, until March 25....
According to a report by analytics firm Canalys, the Chinese tech company grabbed 17% percent of the market, while Apple registered a 14% market share. Samsung was on the top of the charts with a 19% market share. This is not entirely surprising, given Apple usually has strong quarters after it releases its latest series of iPhones in September or October each year. Meanwhile, Xiaomi has released some high-end phones in the Mi 11 and the Mi 11 Ultra, with a bunch of budget offerings....
But now, an international group of researchers have found a way to make this dream come true. A new virtual universe allows anyone to swoosh through the Universe in an unprecedented virtual setting. Fly through the Universe in this video showing off the Uchuu model, provided by Center for Computational Astrophysics (CfCA) Uchuu! Gesundheit! Uchuu (宇宙) — which translates from Japanese as “outer space” is both the largest, as well as most realistic, simulation of the large-scale Universe ever produced....
I was genuinely taken aback to discover that my mother – who is completely technophobic – had bought an iPad, got a high-speed internet connection, and figured out how to create a TikTok account, all just to watch uninterrupted Dancing Dadi. While I appreciate that few sights are more entertaining than an Indian granny amusing others with her wicked dance moves, there had to be something more than mere amusement converting my mother to technology and the youthful attractions of social media....
To solve that, the firm is working on a new way to invoke the AI Assistant by long-pressing the power button. Sleuths at XDA Developers uncovered this mystery in the latest version of the Google Android app (12.18.6.29). The new app has lines of code indicating that this feature might be soon heading to a ton of Android phones: The report also notes that at the moment, this feature shows up in Pixel 5 — under Settings > Apps & Notifications > Assistant — with Android 12 developer beta installed....
But it worked because of the $35 price. Even if it was missing a few channels, the convenience and implementation made it worth it. Then, in 2018, the price went up to $40. Okay, five bucks isn’t too bad. Then again, in 2019, the price went up to $50 for just eight more channels. Today, in the middle of a global pandemic leaving people stuck at home and the highest levels of unemployment since the Great Depression, YouTube TV decided to announce its biggest price hike yet....
For those starting an online business, gathering the right tools to get that operation rolling is more complicated than you’d think. In fact, many entrepreneurs feel gouged when faced with handfuls of subscription costs for different services covering social media scheduling, email marketing, search optimization, project and customer relations management and more. The guys who created Zuitte wanted to build a package that brought everything a new digital business owner needs under one roof....
The German city of Leipzig is set to gradually introduce a €365 (US$442) annual pass for public transport. From August 1, any resident in possession of a Leipzig Pass – a discounted travel card for those on low incomes – will be eligible to buy the €365 ticket, which provides unlimited access to the city’s public transport system for a year. Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung said the ticket is a socio-political measure combined with an environmental approach, and while the city had initially wanted to include more people in its launch, budget constraints had scaled back plans....
