The Future of Tech, News and making sense of it all!

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

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The XZ Backdoor: Everything You Need to Know
400+Wired / 1h
Details are starting to emerge about a stunning supply chain attack that sent the open source software community reeling.


Buy Hilton Honors Points With 100% Bonus (0.5 Cents Each)
3KOne Mile at a Time / 20min
Hilton Honors has has just launched its newest bonus on purchased points promotion. This is potentially in line with the best offers we see from the program, and could represent a great value for hotel redemptions. Promotion on purchased Hilton Honors points Through Tuesday, May 14, 2024, Hilton Honors is offering a bonus on purchased points . Different members may be targeted for different bonus


This is Tesla's new Model 3 'Ludicrous'
Mashable / 55min
Tesla's Model 3 "Ludicrous" is almost ready for launch. The yet-to-be-unveiled performance model has been spotted and photographed, both covered and uncovered, by several people who posted the images and videos on X. Twitter user named @BooDev posted several high-resolution images of the new car in front of a Tesla store. In the photos, you can clearly see a red Tesla M3 with the updated front fa
TODAY


Jon Stewart says Apple asked him not to host FTC Chair Lina Khan
Engadget / 13min
Jon Stewart hosted FTC (Federal Trade Commission) chair Lina Khan on his weekly Daily Show segment yesterday, but Stewart's own revelations were just as interesting as Khan's. During the sit-down, Stewart admitted that Apple asked him not to host Khan on a podcast, which was an extension of his The Problem with Jon Stewart Apple TV+ show at the time. "I wanted to have you on a podcast and Apple a


Don't get your hopes up about that Hollow Knight Silksong Xbox store page - other platforms have had one for a while
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 23min
Arguably one of the most eye-catching things to come from the annual minefield that is April Fools' Day was Hollow Knight Silksong 's brand new page on the Xbox Store. The store page itself is fairly unremarkable, containing no new information outside of an age rating that hadn't previously been confirmed. It's also quite bare bones, featuring just a brief product description and a handful of scr


User privacy must come first with biometrics
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 30min
The rapid rise and expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) use cases in recent years has led to companies sharply increasing experimentation and adoption of facial recognition and other biometric technology in their consumer-facing products and services. Apple pioneered this when the company introduced Face ID, allowing users to open their iPhones with a simple scan of their face, transitioning



UK and US sign landmark deal to test AI safety
BBC News / 1h
The new agreement will see the countries pool knowledge and resources to strengthen safety testing of AI models
YESTERDAY


Hackers can now hijack your face. Here’s how to fight back
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 2h
The future of mobile malware is here. For the first time, cybercriminals are infiltrating iOS and Android devices and stealing user face scans. Then, armed with the power of deepfakes and AI, they’re replicating the user’s likeness to break into their bank accounts. Yes, you read that correctly. Today’s technology allows bad actors to spoof biometric safeguards and hijack your face. This hack is


The US and UK are teaming up to test the safety of AI models
Engadget / 2h
OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and other companies developing generative AI are continuing to improve their technologies and releasing better and better large language models. In order to create a common approach for independent evaluation on the safety of those models as they come out, the UK and the US governments have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Together, the UK's AI Safety Institute and


How AI could make or break your career
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 2h
These are already turbulent times for employees in the technology sector. Depressingly we’ve seen a fall in advertised vacancies and several mass layoffs initiated by both major companies and smaller startups. Yet, on the plus side we’ve also witnessed inflation-busting salary rises tough to fill positions. Now, in its predictions for 2024, the research and advisory firm Forrester has warned that


Animal-free egg protein startup Onego Bio is one step closer to cracking the traditional egg market
TechCrunch / 3h
Onego Bio claims Bioalbumen is “bioidentical” to ovalbumin, which is the major protein in chicken egg white. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.


This learn-to-code course bundle is on sale for 97% off


Mashable / 4h
TL;DR : The 2024 Premium Learn to Code Certification Bundle is on sale for £31.66, saving you 97% on list price. Whether you’re looking to start a career in coding or just want to learn for fun, the 2024 Premium Learn to Code Certification Bundle is great for beginners and experienced users alike. With 15 courses and 213 hours of content, this collection of lessons teaches you the basics of codin


Today's Connections Answer and Hints for April 2 (#296)
How-To Geek / 5h
Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn't—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they're usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we've got you covered.


Today's Wordle Answer and Hints for April 2 (#1018)
How-To Geek / 5h
Stuck and need the answer to today's Wordle? We've got you covered. We have some hints for the Wordle, in case you'd like to take another crack at it yourself before we tell you. If you want to get straight to the answer, tap or click "What is Today's Wordle Answer" in the table of contents.


Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for April 2
Mashable / 6h
Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for April 2's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. Where did Wordle co


Microsoft splits Teams and Office globally
100+BBC News / 7h
The European Commission has been investigating since 2020 whether the firm's products stifle competition.


NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for April 2
Mashable / 7h
Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the e


Tesla FSD 12.3.X Is Over Three Times Better Than the Best FSD V11.X on Miles Per Disengagement
Next Big Future / 8h
Tesla FSD Tracker crowdsources data on the Tesla FSD driver experiences. They are now recording 448 Miles between critical disengagements for Tesla FSD 12.3 Supervised. This is over three times better than the best results for any Tesla FSD v11.X and it is over four times better than any Tesla FSD v10.X. The rate of ... Read more


Trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida
100+Ars Technica - All content / 8h
Enlarge / This cylindrical object, a few inches in size, fell through the roof of Alejandro Otero's home in Florida last month. (credit: Alejandro Otero on X ) A few weeks ago, something from the heavens came crashing through the roof of Alejandro Otero's home, and NASA is on the case. In all likelihood, this nearly two-pound object came from the International Space Station. Otero said it tore th


Canoo spent double its annual revenue on the CEO’s private jet in 2023
300+TechCrunch / 9h
Tucked inside Canoo’s 2023 earnings report is a nugget regarding the use of CEO Tony Aquila’s private jet — just one of many expenses that illustrates the gap between spending and revenue at the EV startup. Canoo posted Monday its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings for 2023 in a regulatory filing that shows a company burning […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.


Trump's media company tumbles in stock market
300+BBC News / 9h
Less than a week after its public debut, shares of Trump Media tumbled after reports of huge losses.


Xiaomi electric car buyers face six-month wait
100+BBC News / 9h
The firm previously said SU7 pre-orders had hit 88,898 within 24 hours of it starting to take orders.


How to Use Mindfulness to Get More Done at Work
LifeHacker / 9h
Getting yourself to do deep work —or work that is solely focused on a single task with no disruptions or distractions—is a major part of being productive, but you might find that settling into that flow state is surprisingly hard. For some, it comes easily, but if you’re not one of them, consider using some mindfulness practices to get into the zone. Mindfulness is kind of a buzzword these days,


You Can Get This Switch Joy-Con Charging Dock on Sale for $17 Right Now
LifeHacker / 9h
You can get this charging dock for Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons on sale for $16.99 right now (reg. $19.99). Instead of only being able to power two controllers on the sides of your console, this charging station allows you to power up to four at once. Just slide each Joy-Con onto its designated place and watch LED indicator lights change from red (charging) to green (fully charged) in as little as tw


Quordle today – hints and answers for Tuesday, April 2 (game #799)
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 9h
It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, more than two years after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's fun, but also difficult. But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for today's Wo


OpenAI drops login requirements for ChatGPT’s free version
Ars Technica - All content / 10h
Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards) On Monday, OpenAI announced that visitors to the ChatGPT website in some regions can now use the AI assistant without signing in. Previously, the company required that users create an account to use it, even with the free version of ChatGPT that is currently powered by the GPT-3.5 AI language model. But as we have noted in the past , GPT-3.5 is widely known to provi


Good News, Sickos! Google Says It’s Deleting Records of Your Incognito Searches
400+Futurism / 10h
Not-So-Incognito In response to a lawsuit, Google is going to delete billions of data points from users who browsed on Chrome's Incognito mode — which is great news for those who have used it for not-safe-for-work purposes . As the Wall Street Journal reports , the settlement in Google's class action lawsuit, which was filed in California in 2020 and settled in December 2023 , will require the co


Hasbro's New Figure Reveals Are Full of Rebels, Robots, and a Goddamn Hammerhead
Gizmodo / 10h
This past weekend Hasbro—not content with the metric buttload of action figures it’s already been teasing lately—revealed a bunch of new figures for its Transformers, G.I. Joe, Marvel, and Star Wars lines at Wondercon. But, at long last, the toymaker is getting around to a character from the galaxy far, far away it’s… Read more...


TikTok is bringing its dedicated STEM feed to Europe
TechCrunch / 10h
As TikTok continues to face increased pressure in the U.S. and the U.K., the company is signaling its commitment to fostering educational content on its app. The company announced on Tuesday that it’s expanding its dedicated STEM feed across Europe, starting in the U.K. and Ireland, after first launching it in the U.S. last year. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.


BeyoncĂ©’s new album ‘Cowboy Carter’ is a statement against AI music
100+TechCrunch / 10h
BeyoncĂ©’s “Cowboy Carter” has been out for only a few days, yet it’s already obvious that we’ll be talking about it for years to come — it’s breaking records across streaming platforms, and the artist herself calls it “the best music [she’s] ever made.” But in the middle of the press release for “Cowboy Carter,” […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.


The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Tablet Is $400 Off Right now
LifeHacker / 10h
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra came out in 2022 and was widely regarded as the best Android tablet available until it was eclipsed by the Tab S9 Ultra last year. Right now, Best Buy is offering the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra for $699.99 (originally $1,099.99). This matches its all-time lowest price, according to my favorite price-tacking tools . Samsung - Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra - 14.6" 128GB - Wi-Fi - wit


Large Mouse Study Still Tracking to Experimentally Doubling Remaining Life of Middle Age Male Mice
Next Big Future / 11h
The all-treatments group is still taking roughly twice as long as the all-controls group (starting from 19 months old, when the experiment began) to get down to a given survival percentage in males. The all treatments female mice are lasting 50% longer than controls. It’ll still be a few months before we can start to ... Read more


Tesla Beats BYD in Battery Electric Vehicle Sales in 2024
Next Big Future / 11h
BYD sold 300,114 passenger BEVs in the first quarter of 2024, up 13.4 percent year-on-year but down 42.99 percent from the fourth quarter last year. Tesla is expected to announce 405,000 to 430,000 sales deliveries for the first quarter of 2024. Tesla was likely ahead of BED for the March, 2024 monthly sales. BYD sold ... Read more


TechCrunch Space: Reusable rockets, reusable satellites
20TechCrunch / 11h
Welcome back to TechCrunch Space. This week, I sat down with Orbit Fab CEO Daniel Faber, and China adds new moon base project partners. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.


AI Companies Running Out of Training Data After Burning Through Entire Internet
34Futurism / 11h
Mass Shortage As AI companies keep building bigger and better models , they're running down a shared problem: sometime soon, the internet won't be big enough to provide all the data they need. As the Wall Street Journal reports , some companies are looking for alternative sources of data training now that the internet is growing too small, with things like publicly-available video transcripts and


Let Rebecca Hall Remake This Horror Movie Now!
Gizmodo / 11h
Read more...


Google to Delete Billions of Chrome Browser Records in Latest Settlement
NYT > Technology / 11h
The internet giant resolved a lawsuit that claimed it had deceived users by tracking their web activity in the Chrome browser’s private Incognito setting.


Google to Delete Billions of Chrome Browser Records in Latest Settlement
NYT > Technology / 11h
The internet giant resolved a lawsuit that claimed it had deceived users by tracking their web activity in the Chrome browser’s private setting.


Make This Fried Egg Salad With Your Leftover Easter Eggs
LifeHacker / 11h
The days following Easter give me two things I love: April showers and plenty of hard-boiled eggs. The USDA recommends hard-cooked eggs get eaten within seven days. The clock is ticking, and you might have trouble keeping it interesting after three days of egg sandwiches. Switch things up with this spin on a Thai fried egg salad that’s simple and full of flavor. Yam khai dao, or yum kai dao, is a


What You Should Do After the Massive AT&T Data Leak
LifeHacker / 11h
AT&T is having a rough year. Back in February, customers experienced a massive network outage that lasted about 12 hours . This month, the company has another round of bad news: AT&T suffered a massive data breach that impacted over 70 million customers (7.6 million current and 65.4 million former ones). The data made its way to the dark web, a popular destination for bad actors to sell stolen da


JetBlue hikes checked bag fees again up to a whopping $70
The Points Guy / 11h
JetBlue Airways is back with its second rate hike for checked bag fees in just a matter of months. This time, the New York-based carrier is quietly adding a new demand-based pricing model for checked bags. JetBlue’s new peak and off-peak checked bag pricing structure is already live; it took effect March 22 with no notice provided by the carrier. Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG’s


As Microsoft unbundles Teams, it might not have the impact on Slack you think
TechCrunch / 11h
One of the primary reasons that Slack joined forces with Salesforce in 2021 in a $28 billion deal was to give the communications company the clout to compete with Microsoft. For years, company co-founder Stewart Butterfield railed against Microsoft bundling Teams with Office 365, calling it anticompetitive and saying at one point that Microsoft was […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For


The Incognito Mode Myth Has Fully Unraveled
200+Wired / 11h
To settle a years-long lawsuit, Google has agreed to delete “billions of data records” collected from users of “Incognito mode,” illuminating the pitfalls of relying on Chrome to protect your privacy.


Footage from 2020 shows Astra rocket exploding during prelaunch testing
TechCrunch / 11h
Footage obtained by TechCrunch shows the catastrophic ending that Astra’s Rocket 3.0 suffered during prelaunch testing in March 2020. The explosion, which occurred at Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport Complex, was simply reported as an “anomaly” at the time, an industry term for pretty much any issue that deviates from the expected outcome. “I can confirm we […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. F


Best Running Earbuds in 2024
Gizmodo / 12h
I have been running on and off for quite some time. Since I can’t deal with the gross heat and sweat buildup that even the best over-ear headphones lead to during a run. So, I resort to earbuds. I’ve used a few open earbuds throughout my ongoing running era and have things I like and dislike about each. Read more...


The first Hyatt Vivid all-inclusive resort opens in Cancun
80The Points Guy / 12h
There’s a new reason to be all-in on all-inclusive resorts : Hyatt’s newest all-inclusive brand, Hyatt Vivid Hotels & Resorts, just opened its very first property. Located in Cancun , about 10 minutes from the famed Hotel Zone, the Hyatt Vivid Grand Island is an adults-only property with 400 suites tucked away in the gated community of Grand Island, facing the Nichupte Lagoon. Part of a project w


Alitalia’s Old Frequent Flyer Program Sells For Less Than $5 Million?
View from the Wing / 12h
ITA Airways is the new Alitalia - a small Italian state airline that the EU keeps slow-walking Lufthansa's ability to buy. It's Alitalia with a new name, without some of its legacy costs, but with many of the same problems with its business model. One thing that's different about ITA Airways, though, is the frequent flyer program. ITA Airways is a member of SkyTeam but it only has limited partici


April Fools' Day: 8 brands that dropped cringey online pranks
Mashable / 12h
Not to sound hyperbolic, but April Fools' Day is the worst. Not because of all the shitty pranks by attention-starved YouTubers, but because of the shitty pranks by attention-starved multinational corporations. April Fools' Day is meant to be light-hearted and fun, but nothing takes the winds out of its sails than the onslaught of bad brand jokes. Thus to our torture, and to save you some time, w


The Best New Movies and TV Streaming in April 2024, and Where to Watch Them
Gizmodo / 12h
It’s an April shower... of movies. Welcome to io9's latest edition of the Nerd’s Watch, where we pare down the enormous lists of new films and television shows arriving on all your favorite streaming services into the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles we think you’ll like most. (And sometimes, just the ones that we… Read more...


How Much Tesla FSD Sales Are Needed to Increase Margins by 1%
Next Big Future / 12h
Tesla had 17.6% gross profit margins in Q4 2024 which was about $252 million per percent of gross margin. Tesla has released FSD 12.3.3 Supervised to all North American Tesla owners. If they were buy or subscribe to Tesla FSD and we converted monthly subscriptions were equalized to a purchase (starting an average 5 year ... Read more


SpaceX Reusable Starship Could Become Cheaper than Intercontinental Airplanes for Earth Cargo
Next Big Future / 12h
Elon Musk has targeted an orbital launch cost of $10/kg for Starship, with propellant costs accounting for roughly one-third. Orbital launch cost would be about four times more than the cost of point to point on Earth rocket delivery costs. Point to point rocket delivery would only need the Starship upper stage. There are only ... Read more


IHG promotions: Earn bonus points and extra elite night credits on stays this spring
200+The Points Guy / 12h
Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information. One of the most satisfying ways to earn hotel points is to leverage lucrative hotel promotions . Luckily, you can earn bonus points through several IHG promotions this spring. Plus, some members can earn bonus elite qualifying night credits that can help earn IHG elite status . Some IHG One Rewards promotions are tar


'I Never Thought That What I Was Doing Was Illegal,' SBF Says as He Begins Prison Sentence
28Gizmodo / 12h
Days after Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence , the FTX founder released a statement to ABC News saying how sorry he was about his crimes. He says he made some “bad decisions” and didn’t realize that his billion-dollar Ponzi scheme wasn’t illegal. Read more...


RIP WordPad
LifeHacker / 12h
WordPad, the rich text editor that shipped with Windows 95, will soon be removed from Windows 11. Microsoft had announced last year that WordPad will be removed, but we now have a concrete timeframe: In a support article, Microsoft says that WordPad will be gone in Windows 11 24H2. Its name suggests when Windows 11 24H2 will be released—the second half of 2024—and it will be the first version of


SIPC Is the Closest Thing You'll Get to Investing Insurance
LifeHacker / 12h
When you put your money in a bank account, you have reassurance that your deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank. This protects your savings in case the bank fails. But what if you invest your money through a brokerage firm ? That's where SIPC insurance comes in. SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) is t


Sam Altman gives up control of OpenAI Startup Fund, resolving unusual corporate venture structure
22TechCrunch / 12h
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has transferred formal control of the eponymously firm’s named corporate venture fund to Ian Hathaway, OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch. The OpenAI Startup Fund, launched in 2021, was initially set up with Altman as its named controller. The arrangement could have presented a major issue to the company if he had not […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use


New Bill in California Aims to Force Ticketmaster to Play Nice With Others
Gizmodo / 12h
A new bill introduced by an influential California state senator takes aim at Ticketmaster, whose stranglehold on the entertainment industry has long vexed concertgoers with its fees and out-of-control pricing. Read more...


CBD for Chronic Pain Doesn't Work, Large Review Finds
100+Gizmodo / 12h
CBD for your chronic pain may turn out to be a dangerous dud, the authors of a large review say. They found little evidence from clinical trials that CBD can be an effective pain reliever. These products also tend to have inaccurate labeling information about the amount of CBD they contain or even other undisclosed… Read more...


Scientist Who Gene-Edited Human Babies Back in the Lab Again After Prison Release
25Futurism / 13h
Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world in 2018, when news emerged that he had used the powerful gene-editing technique CRISPR to tinker with the genetic code of several human embryos that were later born as babies. The experiments led to a massive uproar, with scientists, ethicists, and regulators balking at the " egregious scientific and ethical lapses ." In 2019, He was sentenced to thr


In a New, Extended Planet of the Apes Trailer, the Hunt Is On
21Gizmodo / 13h
The first big sci-fi epic of the summer is almost here. It’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , the next film i n the ongoing prequel series that’s setting up the iconic 1968 film. This time, Maze Runner director Wes Ball is at the helm with a story set generations after the three most recent films, and tickets are on… Read more...


Apple Maps may soon customize directions based on your car type
25Mashable / 13h
Apple Maps has been operating in the shadow of its largest competitor, Google Maps , since it launched over a decade ago. However, Apple has taken steps to enhance its mapping and directions app, resulting in some