Science and Technology

Related media - News 24 hours Like the allure of vinyl records, classic video games, and even the Internet in its infancy, the fascination with old photographic standards like point-and-shoot cameras or 35-millimeter film persists, even in people too young to remember when that equipment was state of the art. The appeal of "vintage" photography goes beyond nostalgia and Instagram filters, judging by the number of apps designed to emulate the film, lenses, and visual quirks of pre-digital photos and films. Despite the irony of using a high-end smartphone camera to produce imperfect images that appear oversaturated, jittery, low-contrast, unfiltered,…

Related media - Breaking news The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration in a case involving social media, achieving a significant practical victory. The ruling rejected a Republican challenge to block the government from communicating with social media platforms to combat misinformation. In a 6-3 decision, the Court found that the plaintiffs, including states and individuals, had not suffered direct harm that would have entitled them to sue. The decision leaves unanswered broader questions about the First Amendment’s limits on government influence over tech companies, which control much of the flow of information online. The case stems…

Related media - Breaking news Tech giants such as Apple, Google and Microsoft are racing to develop smartphones and computers powered by artificial intelligence (AI). These devices promise to make our lives easier by automating tasks like editing photos or scheduling meetings. But there's a problem: they require a lot of data from us. More data, more convenience, less privacy? These new AI capabilities come at the cost of increased data collection. The companies envision Windows PCs taking screenshots every few seconds, iPhones merging data from various apps, and Android phones analyzing calls in real time to detect scams. This…

Related media - Breaking news Ted Sarandos, 59, co-CEO of Netflix, worked his way up in the now-defunct DVD industry before moving straight to Netflix when the company was still renting DVDs by mail. Mike Hopkins, 55, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, was immersed in digital as CEO of Hulu, the pioneering streaming service owned by Disney, Fox and NBCU, before joining Sony as head of its unit television in 2017. to Amazon in 2020 and reports to the company's CEO, Andy Jassy, ​​​​56, who has no professional experience in the entertainment field. Over the past five…

Related media - News 24 hours Because we forget to unsubscribe In May, Caroline Sinders, a designer and artist, published the results of an independent study on how companies like Netflix, Hulu, Vimeo and The New York Times make it difficult to unsubscribe from their services. The study, conducted in 2022, found that some media companies like The Times created friction in the process, requiring, in some cases, a phone call to cancel a subscription. The Times now allows subscribers to unsubscribe online without calling. Even though the study found that streaming services like Netflix and Hulu were easier to…

Related media - News 24 hours In a survey that asked just over 2,500 Americans about digital payments, about 80% of Gen Z respondents said they use mobile wallets, and among them, half were eager to use their phone much more than pay, according to recent data. from Pymnts Intelligence, a research firm that studies trade. Younger people are increasingly using their phones for purposes that older adults would use a traditional wallet for, such as carrying around documents like driver's licenses, boarding passes and event tickets. Some of these digital items can be added to Apple and Google's Wallet…

Related media - News 24 hours With the pay package, Musk would own 20.5% of Tesla, up from about 13%. He has said he would like a 25% stake, stressing in January that it would be "quite influential, but not so much that it can't be overthrown." If he didn't get such a large stake, he said, "he would rather build products outside of Tesla." Even after this week's rally, Tesla shares are down more than 20% this year, compared with a 14% gain in the broader stock market. The company remains by far the most valuable auto company, with…

Related media - News 24 hours Liz Reid, Google's recently promoted head of search, wrote in a blog post Thursday that the company has pared back its AI overviews in certain ways, implementing "additional opt-in refinements" to provide more health-conscious responses, disabling misleading advice and limiting the inclusion of satire and user responses from forums like Reddit. “We will continue to improve when and how we show AI insights and strengthen our protections,” he wrote, adding that Google is working on updates to improve broad sets of search results. Ashley Thompson, a spokeswoman for Google, said in a statement Friday…

More news - Recent news A closer look, however, would have revealed that individual BNN journalists were publishing long stories as many as multiple times a minute, writing in generic prose familiar to anyone who has tinkered with the AI ​​chatbot ChatGPT. BNN's "About Us" page featured an image of four children looking at a computer, some bearing the gnarled fingers that are a telltale sign of an AI-generated image. The ease with which the site and its errors entered the ecosystem for legitimate news highlights a growing concern: AI-generated content is disrupting, and often poisoning, the supply of information…