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Saturday, April 29, 2023

Saturday Technology News and More...

 Technology News and More...




Will a Chatbot Write the Next ‘Succession’?


NYT > Technology / 1h
As labor contract negotiations heat up in Hollywood, unions representing writers and actors seek limits on artificial intelligence.


Edtech giant Byju’s under India’s financial crime agency radar
TechCrunch / 1h
India’s crime-fighting agency searched three premises of edtech giant Byju’s and its founder Byju Raveendran, it said Saturday, and seized various “incriminating” documents and digital data. The Enforcement Directorate said it conducted the searches under the provisions of the nation’s anti-money laundering law, but declined to elaborate. The agency has conducted several similar probes in recent


Quordle today - hints and answers for Saturday, April 29 (game #460)
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 2h
It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints - now with added Daily Sequence answers! Yes, that's right: the makers of Quordle have a new game, which sees you complete four Wordle puzzles consecutively. The twist is that the letters you've already used on the first game are repeated on the second and so on. It's good fun, but also difficult - so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle



Controversial hard drive vendor breaks new record with cheapest HDD yet
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 3h
Amazon sells a 14TB MaxDigitalData enterprise hard disk drive for under $120. Not only does it come with a full five-year warranty but you can also grab a 3-year data recovery plan from Amazon for a mere $14.99 and get it serviced by Seagate’s Rescue Data data recovery service should something bad happen to it. At less than $8.60 per TB (unformatted capacity), this is the cheapest hard disk drive



'Quordle' today: Here are the answers and hints for April 29
Mashable / 3h
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


Smartphones of the future may have inflatable keyboards on OLED displays
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 4h
Would it be possible to have a physical keyboard on a smartphone while keeping the touchscreen intact? The Future Interfaces Group (FIG) from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) seems to think so as the researchers recently demonstrated such a keyboard can exist via inflatable buttons on an OLED screen . This type of technology is called Flat Panel Haptics and has been in the works at CMU for the pa


Buying sex toys on Amazon can be sketchy, but we vetted some top picks for you
Mashable / 5h
Dupes may be all the rage, but sex toys are one shopping category where you need to make sure you're getting the real deal. Just because you can buy nearly anything under the sun on Amazon doesn't mean you should, especially if you're not trying to pick up a counterfeit or poorly-made sex toys . Because you're reading this, you're very much not trying to do that, but it isn't uncommon to find ill


5 Of The Most Underrated Indian Motorcycles Ever Made
SlashGear / 5h
The Indian is an iconic motorcycle that has graced the roads for over 100 years, but some of them flew under the radar. Here are some of our favorites.


Sensitive data is being leaked from servers running Salesforce software
51Ars Technica - All content / 6h
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images ) Servers running software sold by Salesforce are leaking sensitive data managed by government agencies, banks, and other organizations, according to a post published Friday by KrebsOnSecurity. At least five separate sites run by the state of Vermont permitted access to sensitive data to anyone, Brian Krebs reported. The state’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance progr


'Wordle' today: Here's the answer, hints for April 29
Mashable / 7h
You made it! It's Saturday, and you're just about ready to Wordle your way through the weekend. We're here as always to help guide the way with our expert Wordle advice and the solution. If you prefer to just be told the answer, you can scroll to the end of this article for April 29's Wordle word to be revealed. But if you'd rather work through it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and


Samsung's art-inspired Frame TV opts for aesthetic upgrade over hardware boost
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 8h
Samsung has quietly launched the 2023 version of its Frame QLED (Quantum Light Emitting Diode) Smart TV line with the company closely adhering to the idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The Frame series is a bit of an oddball in the realm of smart TVs as it has exclusive access to Samsung’s Art Store , a subscription service where owners can purchase pieces of digital versions of famous ar


Picking The Right Smart Plugs Matters, Here's Why
SlashGear / 8h
Smart plugs can add "smartness" to your electrical appliances, but there are a few things to consider before making your purchase. Here have all the details.


7 Google Assistant Routines That Can Help Organize Your Life
SlashGear / 8h
When assembled with care, Google Assistant's routines can do a lot of the basic work in our lives. Here are 7 Google Assistant routines to organize your life.


Is Your Vizio TV Not Connecting To Wi-Fi? Here's What To Do
SlashGear / 8h
if you have a Vizio TV - we'll walk you through some methods to try and get everything restored to working order.


Report describes Apple’s “organizational dysfunction” and “lack of ambition” in AI
Ars Technica - All content / 8h
Enlarge / Siri, Apple's sort-of-AI assistant, pops up in iOS. (credit: Samuel Axon) A new behind-the-scenes report in The Information details Apple's struggles to keep up with AI features and innovation amid the rise of large language models (LLMs) that drive groundbreaking tools like ChatGPT. The article focuses on the efforts by the company's AI chief since 2018, John Giannandrea, to bring orde


Rock This Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Gear
Gizmodo / 8h
To celebrate the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, merch worthy of a collector’s fortress is out there for the hunting. Now is the perfect time to find space loot featuring your favorite misfit heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Read more...


OpenAI closes $300M share sale at $27B-29B valuation
84TechCrunch / 8h
Updated to note that the Microsoft investment closed in January. The money from VCs reported here, part of a tender offer, is separate to that. OpenAI , the startup behind the widely used conversational AI model ChatGPT, has picked up new backers, TechCrunch has learned. VC firms including Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive and K2 Global picking up new shares, according to


7 Best Procreate Alternatives For Android Phones
SlashGear / 9h
Procreate is one of the best iOS art apps, but Android users don't have to feel left out. Here are the seven best procreate alternatives for Android phones.


First Teaser For Peacock's Twisted Metal Series Has Arrived
SlashGear / 9h
90s video game series "Twisted Metal" debuted the first trailer for its Peacock-produced TV show today,


How To Restore A Lost Snapchat Streak
SlashGear / 9h
The loss of a coveted Snapstreak can be devastating. Luckily there is a pretty simple way to get yours back.



The io9 Guide to Fast & Furious
Gizmodo / 9h
It started so simply. In 2001’s The Fast and the Furious , Dom Toretto’s crew of street racers/thieves were stealing combination DVD/VCR players. In 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga , Dom and his friends—excuse me, Dom and his family —had to save the world by recovering a device that could hack into every computer on the planet.… Read more...


The Fed on Silicon Valley Bank Collapse: We May Have Dropped the Ball There
Gizmodo / 9h
In a highly anticipated report on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank , the Federal Reserve admits that it should’ve been paying slightly closer attention to the tech-centric bank before it unceremoniously collapsed last month. At the same time, the Fed’s report also reveals what everybody already could’ve guessed: SVB… Read more...


uwmspeccoll: Staff Pick of the WeekFor my staff pick, I wanted...
Music, Arts & Literature / 9h
uwmspeccoll : Staff Pick of the Week For my staff pick, I wanted to delve into a recent fixation of mine. With Spring rearing its head, I have been fascinated not only by flowers, but by what they represent. Flower language is something that has been around for quite some time, and while I had taken a peek into the world of flowers briefly some time ago, I have once again been drawn in by their b


hdslibrary : National Library Week 2023 In honor of National Library Week, we present a few examples from our old card ...
Music, Arts & Literature / 9h
hdslibrary : National Library Week 2023 In honor of National Library Week, we present a few examples from our old card catalog. You can probably tell they were created over the course of many years! Though the online catalog is usually a far superior tool these days, the old catalog is still useful–especially for bibliographical sleuthing. (Pry it from our cold dead hands!)


Diagnosing deception: How doctors solved a woman’s dramatically faked condition
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / A health care worker in a medical intensive care unit. (credit: Getty | BSIP ) Diagnosing medical conditions is not easy. Patients can have nondescript symptoms that could point to common problems as easily as rare or poorly understood ones. They can sprinkle in irrelevant details while forgetting crucial ones. And they can have complex medical histories and multiple conditions that can


Tile should—and needs to—do better than the DIY-looking “Tile for Cats”
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
Enlarge / So they put a Tile tracker on a cat... now what? (credit: Tile) Did you know Tile sells Bluetooth trackers for your cat? Why don’t you just stick a small tracker on something cheap and attach it to your cat’s collar, you say? Well, that’s exactly what Tile did. At a time when Bluetooth-tracking companies should be rethinking their approach and reputation among shoppers, a Tile Sticker s


Daily Crunch: First Republic Bank stock reaches record low as feds discuss rescue plan
TechCrunch / 10h
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here . On today’s episode of our Equity podcast, the team dives in to ponder whether First Republic’s share tumble is a victim of SVB’s collapse , or whether there’s something else in the water. It’s well worth a listen — as ever! Another not-to-miss today is Jacquelyn ’s


EV owners in Texas face $200 annual fee
29TechCrunch / 10h
States have taxed motorists at the pump for more than a century . Yet, as electric cars gain ground, what happens when folks stop refueling altogether? State lawmakers are increasingly imposing annual fees on EV owners, arguing they should pay up because they still rely on public infrastructure to get around. Texas is on track to become the latest state to levy such a tax, following more than a d


Kevin Feige Didn’t Hold James Gunn Back in Deciding the Fate of the Guardians of the Galaxy
Gizmodo / 10h
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is something of a rarity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While several heroes have gotten film trilogies in the saga, with the exception of Spider-Man , none of those trilogies have felt like one complete story. Stories with endings. Stories where, if the filmmaker wanted, they… Read more...


Southwest unveils stunning new Hawaii-themed aircraft
300+The Points Guy / 10h
Aloha, Imua! Southwest Airlines unveiled its newest special livery airplane Friday during an event at Long Beach Airport (LGB), celebrating the fourth anniversary of its first commercial flight to Hawaii. DAVID SLOTNICK/THE POINTS GUY The new Boeing 737 MAX 8 is dubbed Imua One (after the rallying cry in the native Hawaiian language), and it’s the airline’s 14th state-themed paint job (including


How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value
100+The Points Guy / 10h
Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information. There are a few facts of life — never wake a sleeping baby, always say yes to homemade cake and you can never, ever have too many Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This transferable points currency gives you access to some of the best hotel and airline transfer partners in the business, as well as the easy-to-use Chase


5 Of The Best Dash Cams For Your Car In 2023
SlashGear / 10h
Today's dash cam market is full of products with high video resolution, wi-fi connectivity, playback screens, and more. These are the ones worth your time.


2023 Mazda3 Review: A Reminder Of What Matters
SlashGear / 10h
The 2023 Mazda3 is an inexpensive hatchback that is a lot of fun to drive, with an interior that puts rivals to shame. Read all about it in our full review!


Expanding the La Borinqueña Universe | io9 Interview
Gizmodo / 10h
Read more...


Biggest Resort Fee In History? Guests Hit With $563 In Extra Fees [Roundup]
View from the Wing / 11h
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 ...


Key Instrument on Newly Launched Jupiter Probe Is Already Exhibiting Problems
Gizmodo / 11h
The JUICE mission is at the very beginning of its eight-year journey to Jupiter and its moons, but one of its science instruments is already misbehaving. Read more...


Satellite-to-phone race heats up with voice calls and cross-Canada access
TechCrunch / 11h
The prospect of contacting a satellite to send a text or contact emergency services may soon be an effortless reality as startups move from proof of concept to actual product. Canadians on the Rogers network, which just inked a deal with Lynk, will get direct satellite-phone connections across the country; and not to be outdone, AST SpaceMobile claims to have made the first satellite voice call u


Your Organization's Data Cannot Be Pasted Here: What It Means And How To Fix It
SlashGear / 11h
If you're getting the "Your organization's data cannot be pasted here" message, it can be frustrating. We tell you what causes it and what can solve it.


Custom Gaming PC Builders Ranked Worst To Best
SlashGear / 11h
A growing number of companies will design a PC to your customized specifications. Here are the best-known custom gaming PC builders, ranked.


8 Best Portable Chargers For Laptops
SlashGear / 11h
Charging your laptop on the go doesn't have to be stressful or take up a bunch of space in your backpack, with these on-the-go chargers.



heaveninawildflower:Lilacs (1786 - 1838) by Maria Geertruida...
Music, Arts & Literature / 11h
heaveninawildflower : Lilacs (1786 - 1838) by Maria Geertruida Barbiers-Snabilié. Watercolour and pencil. Rijksmuseum. Wikimedia.


modrules: Diana Ross photographed by Ruven Afanador.
Music, Arts & Literature / 11h
modrules : Diana Ross photographed by Ruven Afanador .


VentureBeat is the latest publication to use AI in its articles
Engadget / 11h
More media outlets are using AI to write articles , if not as aggressively as others. VentureBeat editorial director Michale Nuñez tells Bloomberg his publication is using Microsoft's Bing Chat to help edit and write stories. Reporters are encouraged to slip AI-written "sentences and fragments" into articles so long as they're accurate and independently verifiable. The OpenAI-powered tech is akin


Steam’s Desktop Client Just Got a Big Update (In Beta)
How-To Geek / 11h
Steam is everyone’s favorite game storefront. And soon, it’s going to be looking way slicker, thanks to some big interface (and backend) changes in its desktop client. They’re coming soon to a gaming PC near you. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›


From Black Explores Grief With a Side of Black Magic
Gizmodo / 11h
A consistent theme in horror is that— no matter how desperate you may be —it’s almost never a good idea to summon a demon to fix your problems . Still, characters keep giving it a try , including the protagonist of From Black , who decides to put herself through hell as a way to escape the hell she’s already in. Read more...


A claw machine does not a robotic gripper make
21TechCrunch / 11h
A refrain I hear from a lot of startups is that there’s “no need to rethink the gripper.” It’s something I appreciate from an economic standpoint. It’s expensive, resource intensive and both your time and money are probably best spent elsewhere when there are already so many effectors on the market. I also recently made an analogy to a claw machine during an interview — and got some pushback. I u


Top Twitter influencers flee to Bluesky amid Musk’s continued debasing
38Ars Technica - All content / 11h
Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto ) Yesterday, Twitter rival Bluesky experienced its biggest spike in users yet. Between Wednesday and Thursday, Bluesky doubled its user base, Bloomberg reported . The surge in Bluesky's popularity came as some of Twitter's most influential users began joining Bluesky, including writer-comedian Dril, United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-


These Are the Best Teacher Appreciation Day Deals (and the Absolute Least We Can Do As a Society)
Lifehacker / 11h
For one day—Tuesday, May 2—teachers across the U.S. are meant to feel the love and respect they should be getting all year—if not with a salary the reflects what they’re worth, then at least with a few deals and freebies. Here are some of the best Teacher Appreciation Day deals every educator can take advantage of. Read more...


NASA Chief Still Confident SpaceX's Starship Can Land Astronauts on the Moon in 2025
Gizmodo / 11h
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson downplayed concerns regarding Starship’s ability to deliver astronauts to the surface of the Moon in two years in light of the SpaceX launch vehicle exploding minutes into its first test flight. Read more...


ChatGPT is once again available in Italy after a temporary ban
Engadget / 12h
OpenAI says ChatGPT is once again available in Italy after it addressed a series of conditions set out by regulators . The Garante data protection authority wanted OpenAI to resolve several issues by the end of this month in order to lift a temporary ban on the chatbot. “ChatGPT is available again to our users in Italy,” OpenAI told the Associated Press in a statement. “We are excited to welcome


Tech Companies Allegedly Conspired to Game the H1-B Visa Lottery System
25Gizmodo / 12h
Tech companies have reportedly found a loophole in the highly coveted H1-B visa lottery system for prospective employees. The Biden Administration says they’ve found evidence that a small number of companies have joined together to exploit the H1-B lottery by entering foreign employees’ names numerous times to… Read more...


Star Wars' Split From Damon Lindelof Was Not a Mutual Decision
100+Gizmodo / 12h
Damon Lindelof has revealed a bit more about his recent departure from the galaxy far, far away in a new interview with Esquire. Lindelof turned in a script to Star Wars earlier this year and departed the project (alongside co-writer Justin Britt-Gibson) at nearly the same time. “I joined the Star Wars universe and… Read more...


IHG Rewards Premier Business card review: The annual fee is justified
55The Points Guy / 12h
IHG Rewards Premier Business Credit Card overview The IHG Rewards Premier Business Credit Card has a lucrative sign-up bonus and offers sufficient perks that, if utilized, can easily justify the card’s annual fee of $99. However, business owners who aren’t loyal to IHG Rewards may be better off with other business card products. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐ *Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s edit


Azerbaijan Airlines Expanding Boeing 787 Fleet
200+One Mile at a Time / 12h
Azerbaijan Airlines is significantly expanding its Boeing 787 fleet, which should lead to some significant expansion for this unique airline. Azerbaijan Airlines expands Boeing 787-8 fleet Azerbaijan Airlines has placed an order for eight Boeing 787-8s, complementing the two 787-8s that the airline already has in its fleet. The airline intends to use these planes to grow its long haul network, in


Tesla Model Y's 7-Seat Option Just Got A Price Drop
SlashGear / 12h
Tesla's cars have been receiving so many price cuts lately that tracking them is becoming difficult. The latest is for the Tesla Model Y 7-seat variant.


Venmo now lets you send crypto to other users for some reason
Engadget / 12h
Paypal-owned money transfer service Venmo dipped its toes into cryptocurrencies in 2021 after opening up an in-app trading platform. That was just for individuals to buy or sell crypto. Now, the company is going further into the once-heralded digital currency space by allowing users to send crypto directly to other Venmo customers. This looks to be Venmo’s attempt to simplify the often-confusing


Airline Safety Records & Ratings: Should You Care?
100+One Mile at a Time / 12h
As an aviation geek, I thought it would be interesting to discuss perception of airline safety. I’ll share how I feel, and then I’d love to hear what OMAAT readers think. Why do I bring this up? Every so often we see airline safety rankings published, which often have questionable methodologies Readers often ask if there are any airlines I’m afraid to fly, or if I consider safety ratings when boo


IHG Rewards Premier Business Credit Card Review: Worth It For The Perks
One Mile at a Time / 12h
Link: Apply for the IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card Hotel credit cards are incredibly underrated. Even if you don’t spend much money on them, they can offer huge perks, including elite status and free night certificates . When you combine these two factors, a lot of these cards offer outsized value. In this post, I wanted to look at the IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card , which


‘The Bridge Is Yours:’ You Can Now Virtually Visit Every Star Trek Enterprise Bridge
500+Gizmodo / 12h
Save for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and—obviously— Star Trek: The Lower Decks , most of the action for Star Trek takes place upon the fabled bridge. Over the course of Star Trek’s over-five decade runtime, there have been more than one fan who has imagined themselves working under lights at their station. You can close… Read more...


Is Bluesky the one? A Twitter alternative takes off.
300+Mashable / 12h
A centrist political pundit being ratioed the moment he arrives. Discourse that would have people who overuse the word "woke" frothing at the mouth. A CEO begging users to please not call posts on the platform "skeets." Users continue to call said posts "skeets." Oh, and @dril and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are there now too. As one Bluesky user put it, it appears Bluesky has the "ju



Amazon is developing an improved LLM to power Alexa
100TechCrunch / 12h
Amazon is building a more “generalized and capable” large language model (LLM) to power Alexa, said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy during the company’s first-quarter earnings call yesterday. An LLM, like ChatGPT, is a deep learning algorithm that can recognize, summarize and generate text and other content based on knowledge from enormous amounts of text data. Jassy said that although Amazon has had an LL


Kenyan court paves way for lawsuit alleging Facebook played role in fueling Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict
66TechCrunch / 12h
Ethiopians suing Meta for failing to adequately moderate content that amplified violence that left over half-a-million people dead during the Tigray War have been granted the go-ahead to serve the social media giant outside Kenya. This is the latest case that seeks to compel Facebook to stop amplifying violent, hateful and inciteful posts. A Kenyan court on Thursday granted petitioners leave to s


ChatGPT resumes service in Italy after adding privacy disclosures and controls
100+TechCrunch / 12h
A few days after OpenAI announced a set of privacy controls for its generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, the service has been made available again to users in Italy — resolving (for now) an early regulatory suspension in one of the European Union’s 27 Member States, even as a local probe of its compliance with the region’s data protection rules continues. At the time of writing, web users browsing to


#NotMyAI and other TC news
67TechCrunch / 12h
Snapchat Rolled out their generative AI chatbot My AI to their 750 million monthly users, so it feels like the right time to pause and ask whether we’re ready for the real thing — and ready or not, whether anybody wants one. This week on The TechCrunch Podcast , we’re talking to TechCrunch reporter Amanda Silberling about making robot friends on the internet. Articles from the episode: Snapchat’s


It’s the end of the line for yearly Windows 10 updates, says Microsoft
41Ars Technica - All content / 12h
Enlarge (credit: Microsoft) Although Windows 11 was released in October 2021 , Windows 10 has received yearly “feature updates” since then. Windows 10 21H2 was released at roughly the same time as Windows 11, and Windows 10 22H2 arrived a year later. But version 22H2 will be the end of the road for Windows 10, according to a road map update posted yesterday. Microsoft product manager Jason Leznek


FBI agents search home of FTX exec who gave millions to Republicans
Ars Technica - All content / 12h
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg) The FBI on Thursday reportedly searched the home of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, who ran the failed cryptocurrency exchange's Bahamian subsidiary and was a major campaign donor to Republicans. Yesterday morning's search of Salame's $4 million home in Potomac, Maryland, was reported by The New York Times and Bloomberg , with both media outlets citing


I, for one, welcome our new Steam Deck-killing, Windows-running overlords
Ars Technica - All content / 12h
Enlarge I held off on buying the Steam Deck after it came out a little more than a year ago. At the time, it had lots of bugs, long shipping delays, and some uncertainty about how much commitment its maker, Valve, really had for its latest hardware experiment. I gave in and bought one about two