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 » Apple Developed Chip Equivalent To Four M2 Ultras For Apple Car Project
After 10 years and billions of dollars spent in development, Apple abruptly canceled its ambitious car project known as "Titan," shifting its focus and resources on the company's artificial intelligence division. In a recent Q&A on Monday, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (paywalled) shared some new insights about the project and how involved the Apple Silicon team was before it was shut … [Link]
Slashdot » Discord Opens Up To Games and Apps Embedded In Its Chat App
Tom Warren reports via The Verge: Discord will soon allow developers to build new games and apps that can be used directly in its chat app. A selection of minigames and apps have been available to Discord users for months now, but starting March 18th, all Discord developers will get access to a new Embedded App SDK that lets them … [Link]
Slashdot » New York Times Denies OpenAI's 'Hacking' Claim In Copyright Fight
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The New York Times has denied claims by OpenAI that it "hacked" the company's artificial intelligence systems to create misleading evidence of copyright infringement, calling the accusation as "irrelevant as it is false." The Times in a court filing on Monday said OpenAI was "grandstanding" in its request to dismiss parts of … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Why does the US want to ban TikTok?
The US House of Representatives is voting on a bill that would require TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or risk a nationwide ban [Link]
Slashdot » FAA Audit of Boeing's 737 Max Production Found Dozens of Issues
A six-week audit by the Federal Aviation Administration of Boeing's production of the 737 Max jet found dozens of problems (non-paywalled link) throughout the manufacturing process at the plane maker and one of its key suppliers, according to a slide presentation reviewed by The New York Times. From the report: The air-safety regulator initiated the examination after a door panel … [Link]
Slashdot » Most Subscription Apps Don't Make Money, Report Shows
According to a new analysis of the subscription app economy from mobile subscription toolkit provider RevenueCat, the top 5% of apps generate 200 times the revenue of the bottom quartile after their first year, while the median monthly revenue an app generates after 12 months is under $50 USD. From a report: The "State of Subscription Apps" report offers a … [Link]
Slashdot » China Puts Trust in AI To Maintain Largest High-Speed Rail Network on Earth
China is using AI in the operation of its 45,000km (28,000-mile) high-speed rail network, with the technology achieving several milestones, according to engineers involved in the project. From a report: An AI system in Beijing is processing vast amounts of real-time data from across the country and can alert maintenance teams of abnormal situations within 40 minutes, with an accuracy … [Link]
Slashdot » "We Asked Intel To Define 'AI PC.' Its reply: 'Anything With Our Latest CPUs'"
An anonymous reader shares a report: If you're confused about what makes a PC an "AI PC," you're not alone. But finally have something of an answer: if it packs a GPU, a processor that boasts a neural processing unit and can handle VNNI and Dp4a instructions, it qualifies — at least according to Robert Hallock, Intel's senior director of … [Link]
Slashdot » Gold-Medalist Coders Build an AI That Can Do Their Job for Them
A new startup called Cognition AI can turn a user's prompt into a website or video game. From a report: A new installment of Silicon Valley's most exciting game, Are We in a Bubble?!, has begun. This time around the game's premise hinges on whether AI technology is poised to change the world as the consumer internet did — or … [Link]
Slashdot » Google Restricts AI Chatbot Gemini From Answering Queries on Global Elections
Google is restricting AI chatbot Gemini from answering questions about the global elections set to happen this year, the Alphabet-owned firm said on Tuesday, as it looks to avoid potential missteps in the deployment of the technology. From a report: The update comes at a time when advancements in generative AI, including image and video generation, have fanned concerns of … [Link]
Slashdot » No Big North Sea Fossil Fuel Country Has Plan To Stop Drilling in Time For 1.5C Goal
None of the big oil and gas producers surrounding the North Sea plan to stop drilling soon enough to meet the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating target, a report has found. From a report: The five countries — the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark — have failed to align their oil and gas policies with their climate promises under … [Link]
New Scientist – News » US government wants to tax bitcoin to reduce its environmental impact
The computers that secure cryptocurrencies like bitcoin consume large amounts of power, pushing up electricity prices and potentially contributing to climate change. Now, the US government wants to tackle the problem [Link]
Slashdot » Apple To Allow iOS App Downloads Direct From Websites in the EU
Apple is planning to make further changes in EU countries to allow some developers to distribute their iOS apps directly from a website. From a report: The new web distribution feature will be available with a software update "later this spring," according to Apple, providing developers with a key new way to distribute iOS apps in EU markets without the … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Storm-proofing 1% of power lines protects entire grid from blackouts
Researchers simulated the wind damage from seven historical hurricanes to identify just a few key electrical lines that were crucial to protect the whole grid from cascading power failures [Link]
Slashdot » Speedometer 3.0: A Shared Browser Benchmark for Web Application Responsiveness
Contributors from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, writing for BrowserBench: Since the initial version of the Speedometer benchmark was released in 2014 by the WebKit team, it has become a key tool for browser engines to drive performance optimizations as users and developers continue to demand richer and smoother experiences online. We're proud to release Speedometer 3.0 today as a … [Link]
Slashdot » World Wide Web Inventor's Top Predictions as It Turns 35
A anonymous reader shares a report: Personal artificial intelligence assistants that know our health status and legal history inside out. The ability to transfer your data from one place to another seamlessly without any roadblocks. These are just some of the predictions for the future of the web from the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, on the … [Link]
Slashdot » How China Came To Dominate the World in Solar Energy
China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more solar panels than the United States has in its history. It cut the wholesale price of panels it sells by nearly half. And its exports of fully assembled solar panels climbed 38 percent while its exports of key components almost doubled. Get ready for an … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Plants send out 'distress calls' – but can other plants hear them?
Some studies have claimed that plants emit sounds when stressed and might perceive the distress calls of other plants, but a review finds the evidence is lacking [Link]
New Scientist – News » How to see the incredible comet 12P/Pons-Brooks tonight
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks orbits the sun every 71 years and is currently making its closest approach. Here's when and how you can see it – perhaps even during a solar eclipse [Link]
Slashdot » The IRS Launches Direct File, a Pilot Program For Free Online Tax Filing Available in 12 States
After weeks of testing, an electronic system for filing returns directly to the IRS is now available for taxpayers from 12 selected states. From a report: The new system, called Direct File, is a free online tool. Taxpayers in the selected states who have very simple W-2s and claim a standard deduction may be eligible to use it this tax … [Link]
Slashdot » World's Largest Aircraft Goes Supersonic In First Powered Flight
An anonymous reader quotes a report from GeekWire: Chalk up another milestone for Stratolaunch, the air-launch venture created by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen: The company's mammoth airplane deployed a winged test vehicle for its first rocket-powered flight. Stratolaunch's single-use TA-1 test vehicle blazed a trail for future reusable hypersonic test vehicles that are expected to help the U.S. … [Link]
New Scientist – News » The surprising ways animals react to a total solar eclipse
When the moon hides the sun in a total solar eclipse, some animals seem to think that it is briefly nighttime, while others pace anxiously or even gaze up at the sky [Link]
New Scientist – News » Mars's gravitational pull may be strong enough to stir Earth's oceans
An analysis of deep-sea drill cores suggests that Mars may have enough gravitational influence to shift sediment within Earth's oceans on a 2.4-million-year cycle [Link]
Slashdot » Conflicting Values For Hubble Constant Not Due To Measurement Error, Study Finds
Jennifer Ouellette reports via Ars Technica: Astronomers have made new measurements of the Hubble Constant, a measure of how quickly the Universe is expanding, by combining data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. Their results confirmed the accuracy of Hubble's earlier measurement of the constant's value, according to their recent paper published in The Astrophysical … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Could an AI replace all music ever recorded with Taylor Swift covers?
A thought experiment in which all music is replaced with AI-generated "Taylor's Versions" should prompt us to find ways to protect data from AI corruption, warn researchers [Link]
Slashdot » 3D Images of Over 13,000 Museum Specimens Now Free To Everyone
The openVertebrate (oVert) project is now complete, offering free online access to incredibly detailed 3D images of over 13,000 vertebrates. New Atlas reports: More than a research project, oVert was a collaboration between like-minded specialists across 25 institutions whose sole objective was to add value to museum collections by making them more widely available. Importantly, these images provide an insight … [Link]
Slashdot » Automakers Are Sharing Consumers' Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He's never been responsible for an accident. So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 … [Link]
Slashdot » Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Considering Buying TikTok
According to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is reportedly considering buying TikTok. PCMag reports: Kotick floated the idea at a dinner at an Allen & Co. conference earlier this week with a group of potential partners, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the Journal says. Kotick left Activision in late December after more than 30 years … [Link]
Slashdot » Over 15,000 Roku Accounts Sold To Buy Streaming Subscriptions, Devices
Over 15,000 Roku customers were hacked and used to make fraudulent purchases of hardware and streaming subscriptions. According to BleepingComputer, the threat actors were "selling the stolen accounts for as little as $0.50 per account, allowing purchasers to use stored credit cards to make illegal purchases." From the report: On Friday, Roku first disclosed the data breach, warning that 15,363 … [Link]
Slashdot » Surgeons Perform UK's First Operation Using Apple's Vision Pro Headset
Surgeons in the United Kingdom have performed the first operation in the country using Apple's Vision Pro headset. TechSpot reports: During a recent operation to repair a patient's spine at the private Cromwell Hospital in London, a scrub nurse working alongside the surgeon used the Vision Pro to help prepare, keep track of the procedure, and choose the right tools, … [Link]
Slashdot » YouTube Stops Recommending Videos When Signed Out of Google
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: YouTube is no longer showing recommended videos to users logged out of a Google account or using Incognito mode, making people concerned they are being bullied into always being signed into the service. This change, which is now rolling out, shows a simple YouTube homepage without any videos or tips on what … [Link]
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