Anyone who works as a freelancer these days has to be at least a bit familiar with techie things. But it isn’t just that. When I was a kid and those vaguely SF puppet shows were on the television and all the other kids wanted to be Greg Gogetem or Steve Savetheuniverse, I wanted to be the guy in a white coat and glasses called Doc or Brains. Here are some technology-related feeds I find useful and/or entertaining.
Slashdot » San Francisco Police Make Arrest In Waymo Chinatown Arson Case
According to the San Francisco police department, police have made the first arrest in relation to several recent vehicle arsons, including the crowd attack of a Waymo robotaxi last month in Chinatown. The San Francisco Standard reports: Police say officers arrested a man meeting the description of a person suspected of lighting several vehicles on fire. That man was arrested … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Satellite launched to track down leaks of potent greenhouse gas
MethaneSAT will orbit the planet 15 times a day to capture unprecedented amounts of data on methane emissions from human and natural sources [Link]
New Scientist – News » Eerie green sunsets after 1883 Krakatoa eruption finally explained
Mysterious green sunsets were reported after the massive eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 – now simulations show how they were created and just how rare they are [Link]
Slashdot » Discord Leaker Jack Teixeira Pleads Guilty, Seeks Light 11-Year Sentence
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Jack Teixeira, the National Guard airman who leaked confidential military documents on Discord, agreed Monday to plead guilty, promising to cooperate with officials attempting to trace the full extent of government secrets leaked. Under the plea deal, Teixeira will serve a much-reduced sentence, The Boston Globe reported, recommended between 11 years … [Link]
Slashdot » Opus 1.5 Gets a Serious Machine Learning Upgrade
Longtime Slashdot reader jmv writes: After more than two years of work, Opus 1.5 is out. It brings many new features that can improve quality and the general audio experience through machine learning, while maintaining fully-compatibility with previous releases. See this release page demonstrating all the new features, including: Significant improvement to packet loss robustness using Deep Redundancy (DRED)Improved packet … [Link]
Slashdot » Roku Disables Devices Until Users Agree To New Arbitration Rules
ZipK writes: Cord Cutters New reports that Roku has rolled out new terms of service that require users to accept individual arbitration. To gain acceptance, Roku devices pop up a dialog box that can only be dismissed if you accept the new terms or turn off your Roku and stop using it. As expected, much discussion has ensued in the … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Storks refine their migration routes as they learn from experience
Tracking data shows that young white storks spend more time exploring new places, while older ones take a more direct route on their annual migrations [Link]
Slashdot » Nintendo Switch Emulator Yuzu To Shut Down, Pay $2.4 Million To Settle Lawsuit
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Liliputing: Yuzu is a free and open source emulator that makes it possible to run Nintendo Switch games on Windows, Linux, and Android devices. First released in 2018, the software has been under constant development since then (the Android port was released less than a year ago). But last week Nintendo sued the … [Link]
Slashdot » America's Last Morse-Code Station
A group of radio enthusiasts known as the "radio squirrels" are keeping the legacy of Morse code alive at KPH Maritime Radio, the last operational Morse code radio station in North America. Located in Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco, the station transmits maritime news and weather reports every Saturday, using vintage equipment dating back to World War … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Europa may have less oxygen to fuel life in its seas than we thought
The ocean on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is one of the best places we have found to search for alien life, but it might have less oxygen than researchers had thought [Link]
New Scientist – News » Organoids made from uterus fluid may help treat fetuses before birth
Fetal cells retrieved from fluid in the uterus can now be turned into balls of cells called organoids, which could help diagnose and treat fetuses with a serious lung condition [Link]
Slashdot » Gartner Predicts Search Engine Volume Will Drop 25% by 2026, Due To AI Chatbots and Other Virtual Agents
Gartner: By 2026, traditional search engine volume will drop 25%, with search marketing losing market share to AI chatbots and other virtual agents, according to Gartner. "Organic and paid search are vital channels for tech marketers seeking to reach awareness and demand generation goals," said Alan Antin, Vice President Analyst at Gartner. "Generative AI (GenAI) solutions are becoming substitute answer … [Link]
Slashdot » Anthropic Releases New Version of Claude That Beats GPT-4 and Gemini Ultra in Some Benchmark Tests
Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence startup, unveiled its Claude 3 series of AI models today, designed to meet the diverse needs of enterprise customers with a balance of intelligence, speed, and cost efficiency. The lineup includes three models: Opus, Sonnet, and the upcoming Haiku. From a report: The star of the lineup is Opus, which Anthropic claims is more capable … [Link]
Slashdot » Apple Unveils New MacBook Air, Powered By M3 Chip
Apple has announced the launch of its new MacBook Air laptops powered by the company's latest M3 chip, offering up to 60% faster performance compared to the previous generation (M1-powered MacBook Air). The new 13-inch and 15-inch models feature a thin and light design, up to 18 hours of battery life, and a Liquid Retina display. The M3 chip, built … [Link]
Slashdot » JetBlue and Spirit Call Off Their Merger
JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines announced on Monday that they would walk away from their planned $3.8 billion merger after federal antitrust regulators successfully challenged the deal in court. JetBlue said it would pay Spirit $69 million to exit the deal. From a report: A federal judge in Boston blocked the proposed merger on Jan. 16, siding with the Justice … [Link]
Slashdot » European Commission Confirms Apple's Anti-Competitive Behavior Is Illegal and Harms Consumers
The EU Commission on Monday fined Apple about $2 billion for stifling competition from rival music streaming services. In a blog post, Spotify writes: Apple's rules muzzled Spotify and other music streaming services from sharing with our users directly in our app about various benefits — denying us the ability to communicate with them about how to upgrade and the … [Link]
Slashdot » Ask Slashdot: Can You Picture Things in Your Mind?
"It never occurred to me that having no visual imagery was unusual…" writes a science journalist at the Guardian. "It's not that I forget what I look like, but I am sometimes a little surprised, and don't feel connected to my outward appearance as a matter of identity." There's been a surge of research on how aphantasia affects our lives… … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Google launches $5m prize to find actual uses for quantum computers
Existing quantum computers can solve some problems faster than any ordinary computer, but none of those problems has any practical use. Google and XPRIZE hope to change that [Link]
New Scientist – News » If gene-edited meat eases the climate crisis, then we must embrace it
Livestock farming is a major source of carbon emissions and damage to biodiversity, so the advent of gene-edited animals reared for meat that can help address these issues is good news [Link]
Slashdot » India Reverses AI Stance, Requires Government Approval For Model Launches
An anonymous reader shares a report: India has waded into global AI debate by issuing an advisory that requires "significant" tech firms to get government permission before launching new models. India's Ministry of Electronics and IT issued the advisory to firms on Friday. The advisory — not published on public domain but a copy of which TechCrunch has reviewed — … [Link]
Slashdot » Homeless Man Tries to Steal Waymo Robotaxi in Los Angeles
A homeless man "was taken into custody on suspicion of grand theft auto," reports the Los Angeles Times, "after police said he tried to steal a Waymo self-driving car in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night." The man entered and tried to operate a Waymo vehicle that had stopped to let out a passenger at the corner of 1st and … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Smart glasses use sonar to work out where you're looking
Gaze-tracking devices normally rely on cameras, but a new system uses reflected sound to track where someone is looking based on the shape of their eyeballs [Link]
Slashdot » New Ratings for the 'Greenest' Car in America Might Surprise You
The Washington Post shares some surprising news from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, a 44-year-old nonprofit which works on government energy policies and produces its own research and analysis. The group "has rated the pollution from vehicles for decades," according to the article — but "says the winning car this year is the Toyota Prius Prime SE, … [Link]
The Joy of Tech » The Chatbot Therapist.
Let it all out! [Link]
Slashdot » Decades-Old Missing Person Mystery Solved After Relative Uploads DNA To GEDMatch
In 1970 an Oregon man discovered a body with "clear signs of foul play". NPR reports that "The identity of the young woman remained a mystery — until Thursday." State authorities identified the woman as Sandra Young, a teenager from Portland who went missing between 1968 and 1969. Her identity was discovered through advanced DNA technology, which has helped solve … [Link]
Slashdot » Propose Class Action Alleges Apple's Cloud Storage is an 'Illegal Monopoly'
"Apple faces a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company holds an illegal monopoly over digital storage for its customers," reports the Hill: The suit, filed Friday, claims "surgical" restraints prevent customers from effectively using any service except its iCloud storage system. iCloud is the only service that can host certain data from the company's phones, tablets and computers, including … [Link]
Slashdot » How Will Reddit's IPO Change the Service?
"Reddit users have been reacting with deep gloom to the firm saying it plans to sell shares to the public…" the BBC recently reported: The company has said its plans are "exciting" and will offer the business opportunities for growth. However many users worry the move will fundamentally change the website… "When the most important customers shift from [users] to … [Link]
New Scientist – News » These 7 mathematical facts will blow your mind
What better way is there to celebrate pi day than with a slice of mathematics? Here are 7 mathematical facts to enjoy [Link]
Slashdot » Mysterious Decades-Old Missing Person Case Solved After Relative Uploads DNA To GEDMatch
In 1970 an Oregon man discovered a body with "clear signs of foul play". NPR reports that "The identity of the young woman remained a mystery — until Thursday." State authorities identified the woman as Sandra Young, a teenager from Portland who went missing between 1968 and 1969. Her identity was discovered through advanced DNA technology, which has helped solve … [Link]
Archive
27 Apr 2024 26 Apr 2024 25 Apr 2024 24 Apr 2024 23 Apr 2024 22 Apr 2024 21 Apr 2024 20 Apr 2024 19 Apr 2024 18 Apr 2024 17 Apr 2024 16 Apr 2024 15 Apr 2024 14 Apr 2024 13 Apr 2024 12 Apr 2024 11 Apr 2024 10 Apr 2024 09 Apr 2024 08 Apr 2024 07 Apr 2024 06 Apr 2024 05 Apr 2024 04 Apr 2024 03 Apr 2024 02 Apr 2024 01 Apr 2024 31 Mar 2024 30 Mar 2024 29 Mar 2024 28 Mar 2024 27 Mar 2024
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.