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Showing posts from July, 2024

Automation Leverage in Turnaround Strategy

Automation Leverage in Turnaround Strategy Turnaround work is often described as a crisis discipline: reduce costs, preserve cash, stabilize operations and buy time. Those moves matter, but they are not enough. A durable turnaround also needs leverage: better systems, clearer information flows and repeatable execution. For Livio Andrea Acerbo , AI automation is useful in turnaround strategy when it improves the operating rhythm of a company. The point is not to add tools. The point is to remove friction from decisions that must happen every week. From cost control to operating clarity Cost control can stop the bleeding, but operating clarity creates the next phase. Teams need to know which products are profitable, which customers deserve attention, where working capital is trapped and which workflows create avoidable delay. Automation helps when it turns scattered data into a management cadence. Dashboards, exception reports, document summaries, pipeline reviews and cash visibi...

Cost and model complexity remain barriers to enterprise AI, IBM finds

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-Exclusive: New report from IBM reveals concerns for enterprise AI usage and provides guidance on a path forward. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Election Deniers Are Ramping Up Efforts to Disenfranchise US Voters

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After working for months to challenge thousands of voter registrations, election denial groups are now pushing ahead with plans to challenge voters and votes ahead of the election. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

U.S. Senate passes two kids safety bills for tech and games platforms

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Two landmark child safety bills - KOSA and COPPA 2.0 - passed the U.S. Senate with major implications for gaming UGC and advertising. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

This vacuum robot dog can find and suck up trash with its feet

Cigarette butts pose a huge risk to the world’s oceans and can be a pain to clean up by hand especially on public spaces like beaches. A group of Italian scientists have built a quadruped robot that can identify litter and pick up the smaller bits with its leg mounted vacuums. VERO, the vacuum equipped quadruped robot, is a four-legged device designed to look for and clean up litter on a variety of terrains. VERO was designed and built by a team of researchers from the Dynamic Legged Systems lab at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, according to USA Today. The group published a paper back in April on VERO’s development and effectiveness in the Journal of Field Robotics. The research paper states that cigarette butts are a serious concern. Discarded butts release toxic chemicals and microplastics into the ocean as they break down. It’s also the “second most common undisposed waste worldwide, in terrains that are hard to reach for wheeled and tracked robots.” VERO is designed...

The Purple Track at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games Has a Secret Ingredient

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Recycled shells of mollusks native to the Mediterranean Sea were used to manufacture the synthetic floor of the athletics track, as part of the Games’ commitment to sustainability. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Canva adds a new generative AI platform to its growing creative empire

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Canva welcomes Leonardo.ai to its design app portfolio. | Image: Leonardo.ai Canva has announced plans to acquire Leonardo.ai, an Australian generative AI content and research startup, as part of its goal to build a “world-class suite of visual AI tools.” While financial terms haven’t been disclosed, the deal will see Canva gain access to Leonardo.ai’s lineup of user-customizable text-to-image and text-to-video generators. In Canva‘s announcement, company co-founder Cameron Adams says Leonardo.ai will “continue to develop its web platform” as a separate product offering, much like the Affinity creative software suite Canva acquired in March. Leonardo.ai’s technology and Phoenix foundation model will also be “rapidly” integrated into Canva’s existing suite of Magic Studio products, such as the Magic Media image and video generator. Image: Canva / Leonardio.ai Here’s an example image that Canva says was generated using a Leonardo.ai model. Canva has...

Apple brings Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 dev beta, but there are a lot of limitations

Users will be able to get the first taste of Apple Intelligence as Apple has started to make some of the features of its AI suite available with the iOS 18.1 developer beta released Monday. The company launched Apple Intelligence at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. However, the first set of developer beta © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Apple says it took a ‘responsible’ approach to training its Apple Intelligence models

Apple has published a technical paper detailing the models that it developed to power Apple Intelligence, the range of generative AI features headed to iOS, macOS and iPadOS over the next few months. In the paper, Apple pushes back against accusations that it took an ethically questionable approach to training some of its models, reiterating © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The Bird Flu Threat Keeps Growing

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Human cases keep ticking up, are very likely to be underreported, and offer the virus the opportunity to learn how to spread from person to person. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

U.S. Commerce Department report endorses ‘open’ AI models

The U.S. Commerce Department today issued a report in support of “open-weight” generative AI models like Meta’s Llama 3.1, but recommended the government develop “new capabilities” to monitor these models for potential risks. The report, authored by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), finds that open-weight models broaden generative AI’s availability to © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The new Astro Bot PS5 controller is pretty dang adorable

Sony’s currently prepping a Mario-like adventure game for PS5 that’s inspired by its cute little Astro Bot mascot character. That title arrives on September 6 and looks like an absolute blast. Taking a page from Nintendo, the company also just announced a themed DualSense controller to commemorate the release. It's pretty dang adorable. The Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense wireless controller is an homage to the titular bucket of bolts, who made his first appearance in a collection of VR minigames released back in 2013. Sony calls the controller a “true work of art” and it's easy to see why. This thing is certainly purdy. There are a pair of robotic peepers right on the touchpad. The handles and buttons feature Astro Bot’s signature blue accent. The company has also explained how the upcoming 3D platformer takes advantage of the DualSense controller’s many features. The developer has increased the number of textures that players can feel through the controller via haptic fe...

Elon Musk posts deepfake of Kamala Harris that violates X policy

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Photo by Kenny Holston-Pool / Getty Images X owner Elon Musk shared a deepfake video spoofing a campaign ad for Vice President Kamala Harris. It appears to violate the platform’s own policies against synthetic and manipulated media. The video Musk shared on Friday alters a recent campaign video Harris released, one that makes it sound like the presidential candidate said things she didn’t. The manipulated clip has Harris saying things like she is “the ultimate diversity hire” and that she “had four years under the tutelage of the ultimate deep state puppet, a wonderful mentor, Joe Biden.” The original account that had posted the video labeled it, “Kamala Harris Campaign Ad PARODY,” a disclaimer that might prevent it from violating X’s policies. But this context did not appear in Musk’s repost. Instead, Musk’s post simply showed the video, adding his own commentary: “This is amazing,” with a laughing emoji. It’s just the latest example of how AI-altered media could play a role i...

Addressing the conundrum of imposter syndrome and LLMs

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By using LLMs as aids rather than crutches, we can harness their potential without falling into the trap of imposter syndrome. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally with an early start in India

Zapp is launching its urban electric two-wheeler in India in 2025 as it plans to expand globally. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

A tale of two foldables

Samsung is still foldables’ 500-pound gorilla, but the company successes have made the category significantly less lonely in recent years. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Apple has reached a contract agreement with unionized US retail employees for the first time

Apple and the unionized employees at its Towson, Maryland retail store have reached a tentative agreement that could secure them better pay, job protections, scheduling improvements to support a work-life balance and a more transparent disciplinary process. The Towson location in 2022 became the first Apple Store in the country to unionize, and back in May, it voted to authorize a strike against the company after “unsatisfactory” negotiation outcomes. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) said it’s been negotiating with Apple since January 2023. Under the tentative three-year agreement they’ve now reached, workers would be given average raises of 10 percent over the life of the contract, and starting pay rates for most positions would go up. The agreement would also establish a severance clause. The union represents about 85 employees, who will get to vote on the agreement on August 6. This article original...

HP Elitebook Ultra G1q Review: Windows Battery Leader

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HP’s new business laptop sets a record for the best Windows battery life in our testing. Too bad its performance isn’t as notable. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Websites accuse AI startup Anthropic of bypassing their anti-scraping rules and protocol

Freelancer has accused Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude large language models, of ignoring its "do not crawl" robots.txt protocol to scrape its websites' data. Meanwhile, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said Anthropic has ignored the website's policy prohibiting the use of its content for AI model training. Matt Barrie, the chief executive of Freelancer, told The Information that Anthropic's ClaudeBot is "the most aggressive scraper by far." His website allegedly got 3.5 million visits from the company's crawler within a span of four hours, which is "probably about five times the volume of the number two" AI crawler. Similarly, Wiens posted on X/Twitter that Anthropic's bot hit iFixit's servers a million times in 24 hours. "You're not only taking our content without paying, you're tying up our devops resources," he wrote.  Back in June, Wired accused another AI company, Perplexity, of crawling its website despite ...

Stay up-to-date on the amount of venture dollars going to underrepresented founders

Stay up-to-date on the latest funding news for Black and women founders. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Here’s your first look at Amazon’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza

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Image: Amazon Kiryu is getting a live-action makeover very soon. At Comic-Con today, Amazon revealed the first look at its upcoming adaptation of the Yakuza game series, with the show Like a Dragon: Yakuza (not to be confused with the game Yakuza: Like a Dragon). The streaming series will follow original Yakuza hero Kazuma Kiryu. Amazon says that the show “showcases modern Japan and the dramatic stories of these intense characters, such as the legendary Kazuma Kiryu, that games in the past have not been able to explore.” Kiryu will be played by Ryoma Takeuchi, while Kento Kaku also starts as Akira Nishikiyama. The series is directed by Masaharu Take. Of course, Yakuza joins a wave of gaming adaptions for TV, which has included The Last of Us on HBO, Peacock’s Twisted Metal, and Amazon’s own live-action take on Fallout. Yakuza publisher Sega, meanwhile, has already seen success expanding Sonic the Hedgehog with movies and a spinoff series. Like a Dragon: Yakuza starts streaming ...

Apple signs the White House’s commitment to AI safety

Apple joins 15 other tech companies — including Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — that committed to the White House's rules for developing generative AI. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Sauron returns in The Rings of Power’s season 2 trailer

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Image: Amazon The first season of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power took its sweet time revealing the true identities of its two most mysterious characters. But when the show returns next month, it seems like it’s going to hit the ground running with big reveals about how Sauron and the Stranger will change Middle-earth. A new, lengthy trailer revealed at Comic-Con gives a good sense at what fans can expect in season 2. According to Amazon, the new season will be focused on Sauron’s return. “Cast out by Galadriel, without an army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will,” the streamer explains. It looks like this season will also be a good one for fans of fantasy monsters: the likes of the giant spider Shelob, shape-shifting Barrow-wights, and a Sea Worm will make an appearance. Season 2 ...

The Best Android Phones of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

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Shopping for a phone can be an ordeal. That’s why we’ve tested almost every Android phone, from the smartest to the cheapest—even phones that fold—to find those worth your money. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Egypt’s MNT-Halan banks $157.5M, gobbles up a fintech in Turkey to expand

MNT-Halan, a fintech unicorn out of Egypt, is on a consolidation march. The microfinance and payments startup has raised $157.5 million in funding and is using the money in part to fund the acquisition of another fintech, Tam Finans, to expand into Turkey. Tam Finans provides financing to micro-enterprises and SMEs. It currently operates 39 © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro laptop with an M3 Pro chip is $300 off at Amazon

Apple's well-specked 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip, 18GB of memory and 512GB of storage is on sale for the lowest price we've seen yet at Amazon. You can pick one up for $1,699, a savings of $300 (15 percent) and the lowest price we've seen to date on this particular model. We're also seeing discounts across the board on various 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. Ad we noted in our review, Apple's MacBook Pro is one of the best ultraportables you can buy today thanks to the fast and efficient M3 Pro chip, gorgeous 14-inch screen, useful port selection and excellent keyboard and trackpad. It's particularly strong for content creation thanks to real-time decoding of commonly-used pro video formats — a feature missing on many PC laptops. One issue we had with the MacBook Pro is that updates to the processor, RAM or storage add a lot to the price, and those things are important for video or photo editing. That makes this model a particularly good deal...

Apple cuts iPhone price in India amid China slowdown

Apple has reduced prices of its iPhone models in India by 3-4% following a cut in import duties in the South Asian market. The price cuts range from 300 rupees ($3.63) for models like the iPhone 13, 14 and 15, and to up to 6,000 rupees ($72.54) for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Uber, Lyft, DoorDash can continue to classify drivers as contractors in California

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Proposition 22 – the ballot measure that passed in November 2020 and classified app-based gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees – is here to stay.  The decision is a win for app-based companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart, which have fought hard to maintain their © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

OpenAI unveils SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine

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OpenAI on Thursday announced a new AI-powered search engine prototype called SearchGPT. The move marks the company’s entry into a competitive search engine market dominated by Google for decades. On its website, OpenAI described SearchGPT as “a temporary prototype of new AI search features that give you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” The company plans to test out the product with 10,000 initial users and then roll it into ChatGPT after gathering feedback. The launch of SearchGPT comes amid growing competition in AI-powered search. Google, the world’s dominant search engine, recently began integrating AI capabilities into its platform. Other startups like the Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity have also aimed to take on Google and have marketed themselves as “answer engines” that use AI to summarize the internet.  The rise of AI-powered search engines has been controversial. Last month, Perplexity faced criticism for summarizing stories from Forbes and Wired without...

With Google in its sights, OpenAI unveils SearchGPT

OpenAI may have designs to get into the search game — challenging not only upstarts like Perplexity, but Google and Bing, too. The company on Thursday unveiled SearchGPT, a search feature designed to give “timely answers” to questions, drawing from web sources. UI-wise, SearchGPT isn’t too far off from OpenAI’s chatbot platform ChatGPT. You type © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Revolut receives long-awaited UK banking license

This is a significant milestone for the London-based fintech company, particularly since it has been trying to secure this license since 2021. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Exploring “Am I Racist?” – A Deep Dive into Matt Walsh’s Provocative Documentary

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Exploring "Am I Racist?" - A Deep Dive into Matt Walsh's Provocative Documentary #AmIRacist, #MattWalsh, #Documentary2024, #RaceAndIdentity, #SocialJustice, #CriticalRaceTheory, #ControversialFilms, #ProvocativeDiscourse, #FilmDebate, #GreenGround Join Alvin from GreenGround as he delves into Matt Walsh's upcoming documentary "Am I Racist?". This thought-provoking film challenges contemporary narratives on race and identity, engaging with diverse voices to explore the complexities of systemic racism, privilege, and social justice. Premiering on October 20, 2024, this documentary promises to ignite discussions and debates. Tune in for an in-depth analysis and engaging commentary. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more insightful content! Remember, if you want to stay updated with the latest trends, news, and tech reviews, don’t forget to like and subscribe to Greenground! Follow up on our website https://www.greenground.it or follow up on ...

How HelloGov is bringing vertically-integrated AI into the government space

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CONTRIBUTOR CONTENT: While headlines continue to be dominated by the evolution of LLMs and their various new products, AI is entering its next phase: industry-specific applications of cutting-edge AI technology to disrupt and innovate in industries typically defined by slow or out-of-date practices. These vertically-integrated AI startups — that span everything from tackling defective sewer pipes to  Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Meta takes down 63,000 Instagram accounts linked to extortion scams

Meta has taken down tens of thousands of Instagram accounts from Nigeria as part of a massive crackdown on sextortion scams. The accounts primarily targeted adult men in the United States, but some also targeted minors, Meta said in an update. The takedowns are part of a larger effort by Meta to combat sextortion scams on its platform in recent months. Earlier this year, the company added a safety feature in Instagram messages to automatically detect nudity and warn users about potential blackmail scams. The company also provides in-app resources and safety tips about such scams. According to Meta, the recent takedowns included 2,500 accounts that were linked to a group of about 20 people who worked together to carry out sextortion scams. The company also took down thousands of accounts and groups on Facebook that provided tips and other advice, including scripts and fake images, for would-be sextortionists. Those accounts were linked to the Yahoo Boys, a group of “loosely organized cy...

Respawn is walking back its unpopular changes to the Apex Legends battle pass

Respawn Entertainment is bringing back the option to buy Apex Legends battle passes with in-game currency. "You've spoken, and we've listened," the company said. The developer drew player outrage and a sweep of review-bombing earlier this month after it announced a new approach to the game's reward system. The original announcement was convoluted, but the gist of what frustrated the Apex community was that players would no longer be able to use in-game currency to access an upgraded version of the battle pass. People earn Apex Coins by playing, and under the original model, serious fans could easily earn enough over the course of one battle pass to pay for the next season's. Today, Respawn said it would return the option to pay 950 Apex Coins (about $10) to unlock the Premium battle pass tier. And with 1,300 Apex Coins available at that tier, this segment of the battle pass experience has mostly reverted to the old model. Players will be able to unlock the pre...

The 5 questions Google couldn’t answer on it’s earnings call about its AI future

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Google faces tough questions on AI strategy in tense earnings call. Analysts probe 5 key concerns as Google Cloud results hint at strong quarters for AWS and Azure. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Modders made a tiny Nintendo Wii that doubles as a keychain

The Nintendo Wii was a bona-fide cultural juggernaut, with over 100 million consoles sold during its lifespan. It was never the biggest console in the world, with a size approximating a paperback book. Modders, however, have managed to shrink the Wii’s footprint way down. They made a functional console that’s no bigger than a keychain, as reported by Time Extension. As a matter of fact, it actually doubles as a keychain. The appropriately-named Nintendo Kawaii is a teensy-weensy Wii that lacks some of the bells and whistles of the original, but it works and can run games from that generation. It’s also quite fetching, with a CNC’d aluminum metal unibody. There are magnetic pogo pin connectors for power, AV support and controllers. There’s also a custom dock that offers support for four Gamecube controllers, which is a must for certain fighting games that rhyme with Shmooper Smash Bros. @YveltalGriffin and I have been cooking up something special over the past year or so and we are now ...

Max’s SharePlay feature for iOS is now available to all ad-free subscribers

Back when Max was still known as HBO Max, it released a redesigned app that added SharePlay for Apple devices, but only in the US. Now, the streaming service is rolling out the feature to all its users around the world. SharePlay is now available to all Max users paying for Ad-Free and Ultimate Ad-Free plans, allowing them to hold and join watch parties over FaceTime and iMessage, no matter where they are.  Users can start watching with friends by hitting the "share" button either on the details section of each title or within the FaceTime app. Each session can have as many as 32 participants, but they all have to be Max subscribers. That means people from regions where Max isn't available, such as in Asian countries, won't be able to hop on and watch with their pals in the US or Europe. Warner Bros. is planning to expand Max's reach to South East Asia later this year, but it warns on its website that the timeline could still change. SharePlay for Max works on iPh...

NBA TV rights go to ESPN, NBC and Amazon as TNT is rejected

The NBA and WNBA have inked deals for where games will be aired and streamed for the next eleven years. The NBA deals run from the 2025-2026 season through the 2035-2036 season. For the WNBA, the agreement covers the 2026 through 2036 seasons. Pro basketball has been an ESPN mainstay for years and that will continue, with the Disney-owned network remaining the primary media rights owner for both leagues. ESPN will be the exclusive home for the NBA finals for all eleven years of the new deal, as well as five out of the eleven years of the WNBA finals. The games covered by ESPN's deal will be part of the sports network's direct-to-consumer platform and a package of NBA and WNBA games will also be made available to stream on Disney+ in select international markets. While the bulk of the games will go to ESPN, basketball is going to have more of a streaming presence thanks to two new partnerships. NBC and Peacock will have access to 100 NBA national games during each regular season...

Colin Kaepernick lost control of his story. Now, he wants to help creators own theirs

Thousands of stories have been written about former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick. If anyone knows a thing or two about losing control of your own narrative, it’s him. Now, Kaepernick is launching an AI storytelling platform, Lumi, to help creators tell and own their stories. If you said “Huh?” when reading © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

CityRock launches second fund to back founders from diverse backgrounds

The firm has numerous legs to it, ranging from a venture studio to standard funds, where it does everything from co-founding companies to deploying capital. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Spanish startup Exoticca raises a €60M Series D for its tour packages platform

Exoticca’s platform connects flights, hotels, meals, transfers, transportation and more, plus the local companies at the destinations. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

VCs are still pouring billions into generative AI startups

But the fate of many generative AI businesses — even the best-funded ones — looks murky. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

X replaced the water pistol emoji with a regular gun, for some reason

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Image: The Verge Years after Twitter replaced the pistol emoji with a green-and-orange water gun, X has decided to change it back to a regular handgun. An X employee announced the change in a post last week. The company hasn’t explained the change, but it feels on-brand for Elon Musk’s social network. Twitter originally switched its emoji to display a water gun in 2018, following others like Google and Facebook. (Apple made the switch in 2016; Microsoft was a brief hold-out.) We’ve embedded a screenshot of the X post, so you can see the gun image. (On some devices, the actual post still shows a water gun when embedded.) Eventually, the Unicode Consortium, which decides which emoji get made in the first place, followed the platforms’ lead and officially renamed the pistol emoji as “water pistol”: The current entry for the “water pistol” emoji. You can also find references to it here and here. Emoji are universal insofar as they shar...

Elon Musk sets new October 10 date for ‘robotaxi’ reveal and ‘other things’

Elon Musk says he will show off Tesla’s purpose-built “robotaxi” prototype during an event October 10, after scrapping a previously-planned reveal on August 8 earlier this month. Musk said Tesla will also show off “a couple of other things,” but didn’t explain what that meant. The comments, made on Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday, largely © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Launching a new niche in the streaming industry

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CONTRIBUTOR CONTENT: The live streaming industry has witnessed exponential growth in recent years. This sector primarily caters to audiences seeking real-time content across various domains, including gaming, entertainment, education and live events. Hawk Live, created by Vadym Bychkov, just launched an educational blog for Dota 2 and other cybersports on its platform. The materials posted on the  Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Telegram’s userbase climbs to 950M, plans to launch app store

Messaging app Telegram has reached 950M active users, and it aims to cross the 1 billion mark this year, founder Pavel Durov said. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Toyota Pulls Off a Fast and Furious Demo With Dual Drifting AI-Powered Race Cars

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Algorithms designed to handle a car after it loses traction could potentially intervene on behalf of human drivers. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Illuvium will launch 3 Web3 games on July 25

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Illuvium has a triple-title debut coming in the form of three Web3 games debuting on July 25. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

ThermoWorks’ RFX Meat wireless probe uses radio waves instead of Bluetooth to monitor food on the grill

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Wireless food probes are some the best grilling gear for keeping tabs on meat and other items while cooking. You don't have to dodge cords when you're flipping a steak or trying to wrap a brisket. Several companies make these, Traeger-owned Meater being one example, but existing products rely solely on Bluetooth and have ambient temperature sensors that may not be the most accurate. ThermoWorks, the company that's known for its Thermapen instant-read thermometers, has officially announced its take on the wireless meat probe: the RFX Meat.  Like ThermoWorks' more robust grill and smoker temperature-tracking devices, the RFX Meat uses radio technology to transmit data rather than Bluetooth. The company explains that its "patent-pending sub-GHz RFX wireless technology" provides a more reliable connection with up to 2,132 feet of direct line of sight range. When placed inside a grill or smoker, ThermoWorks promises up to 659 feet of range. Similar to the competit...

My iPad runs Windows XP now, and it’s all I ever wanted

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Yep, still bad at Minesweeper. | Photo: Wes Davis / The Verge Apple recently approved a new emulator app called UTM SE that enables your iPhone or iPad (or Vision Pro!) to masquerade as PC hardware and run honest-to-goodness computer desktop operating systems. Some of you asked in the comments section of my last story how it runs — a fair question that I couldn’t answer at the time. But now that I’ve tried it a little, I have answers, and I can say this much: it’s better than I expected, but I wouldn’t count on it for too much. That’s because it doesn’t use a just-in-time (JIT) compiler, which translates software into code that your device understands before it’s executed. JIT compilers go against Apple’s software guidelines for the App Store, so you’d have to jailbreak your phone to install a v... Continue reading… Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The Morning After: Blue screen of death outage affected around 8.5 million devices

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A faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike caused a global outage last Friday, apparently affecting some 8.5 million Windows devices, according to Microsoft itself. The update triggered a blue screen of death (BSOD), knocking offline systems used by hospitals, airlines, and banks. Only machines running Windows were affected — according to CrowdStrike, the total number of devices affected was “less than one percent of all Windows machines.” The update “was designed to target newly observed, malicious named pipes being used by common C2 frameworks in cyberattacks,” according to CrowdStrike. Unfortunately, it included a logic error, crashing the OS. In the blog post on Saturday, Microsoft’s VP of enterprise and OS security, David Weston, wrote that the company is working with CrowdStrike to “develop a scalable solution” to fix the faulty update. Microsoft has also called for help from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Unfortunately, not everything is ...

Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen

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Rivian R1S, without CarPlay | Image: Rivian Despite Apple’s claims that most consumers will only consider purchasing vehicles that support CarPlay, Rivian says it still doesn’t have any plans to adopt the iPhone mirroring system. Talking to The Verge EIC Nilay Patel in today’s episode of Decoder, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe likened Rivian adopting CarPlay to Apple choosing to use Microsoft’s Windows operating systems instead of developing its own in-house iOS and MacOS alternatives. “We have a great relationship with Apple,” he said. “As much as I love their products, there’s a reason that ironically is very consistent with Apple ethos for us to want to control the ecosystem.” CarPlay isn’t “consistent with how we think about really creating a pure product experience,” ... Continue reading… Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

WazirX halts trading after $230 million ‘force majeure’ loss

WazirX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has “temporarily” suspended all trading activities on its platform days after losing about $230 million, nearly half of its reserves, in a security breach. The Mumbai-based exchange said in a tweet Sunday evening that the cyber attack had substantially impaired its ability to maintain the critical 1:1 collateral © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

What Kamala Harris has said about AI, tech regulation, and more

With President Joe Biden dropping out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris may become the Democrats’ new nominee. In announcing his plans, Biden offered his “full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” while Harris said her “intention is to win and earn this nomination.” That said, © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

From Yandex’s ashes comes Nebius, a ‘startup’ with plans to be a European AI compute leader

Subject to shareholder approval, Yandex N.V. is adopting the name of one of its few remaining assets, an AI cloud platform called Nebius AI which it birthed last year. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The Boys Season 4 Finale: Theories and Predictions #TheBoys, #Season4Finale

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The Boys Season 4 Finale: Theories and Predictions #TheBoys, #Season4Finale, #Homelander, #BillyButcher, #Starlight, #VoughtInternational, #SuperheroTheories, #TVShowPredictions, #GreenGroundPodcast, #TVSeriesReview Dive into the thrilling world of "The Boys" as we unravel the most compelling theories and predictions for the Season 4 finale. Join Alvin from GreenGround as he delves deep into the potential downfall of Homelander, Butcher’s transformation, and the future of Vought International. Don't miss out on this engaging analysis of our favorite anti-heroes and what might lie ahead. Like, comment, and subscribe for more exciting content and check the description for additional details! Remember, if you want to stay updated with the latest trends, news, and tech reviews, don’t forget to like and subscribe to Greenground! Follow up on our website https://www.greenground.it or follow up on our social #fyp, #foryou, #love, #explorepage, #trending, #reviews, #news #YouTub...

Outage caused by CrowdStrike’s disastrous update affected 8.5 million devices

The global outage caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike on Friday affected some 8.5 million Windows devices, Microsoft said in a blog post. The update triggered a blue screen of death, bringing systems used by hospitals, airlines, banks and other major services temporarily to a standstill. Only machines running Windows were affected. While the issue was mostly resolved by Friday afternoon, Microsoft and CrowdStrike are still dealing with the fallout. In the blog post on Saturday, Microsoft’s VP of Enterprise and OS Security, David Weston, wrote that the company is working with CrowdStrike to “develop a scalable solution that will help Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure accelerate a fix for CrowdStrike’s faulty update.” Microsoft has also called in help from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). CrowdStrike said in its own blog post on Saturday that the update — a sensor configuration update — “was designed to target newly observed, malicio...

CrowdStrike’s faulty update crashed 8.5 million Windows devices, says Microsoft

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Image: The Verge CrowdStrike’s faulty update caused a worldwide tech disaster that affected 8.5 million Windows devices on Friday, according to Microsoft. Microsoft says that’s “less than one percent of all Windows machines,” but it was enough to create problems for retailers, banks, airlines, and many other industries, as well as everyone who relies on them. Separately, the technical breakdown from CrowdStrike released Friday explains more about what happened and why so many systems were affected all at once. CrowdStrike’s breakdown explains the configuration file that was at the heart of the issue: The configuration files mentioned above are referred to as “Channel Files” and are part of the behavioral protection mechanisms used by the Falcon sensor. Updates to Channel Files are a normal part of the sensor’s operation and occur several times a day in response to novel tactics, techniques, and procedures discovered by CrowdStrike. This is not a new process; the architecture ha...

Deadpool & Wolverine: The Ultimate Marvel Team-Up – Everything You Need to Know!

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Deadpool & Wolverine: The Ultimate Marvel Team-Up - Everything You Need to Know! #DeadpoolAndWolverine, #MarvelCinematicUniverse, #RyanReynolds, #HughJackman, #EmmaCorrin, #MarvelMovies, #Deadpool3, #WolverineReturns, #MCUPhase5, #MarvelFans Get ready for the most anticipated Marvel crossover event of the year as Deadpool and Wolverine join forces on the big screen! In this episode of GreenGround, we dive into the plot, cast, release date, and fan theories surrounding "Deadpool & Wolverine." Discover the dynamic between Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, learn about the new villain Cassandra Nova, and explore the multiverse possibilities that fans can't stop talking about. Tune in for an in-depth analysis and exclusive insights into what promises to be a groundbreaking film. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more exciting content! Check the description for more details and sources. Remember, if you want to stay updat...

X is working on a way to block links in replies

X is developing a new feature that could help address spam posts on its website. According to Nima Owji, an independent app researcher who's unearthed several unreleased X features in the past, the platform formerly known as Twitter is working on the ability to disable links in replies. Based on the image Owji posted, users will be able to tick a box for the option if they don't want people to be able to respond with a link to their posts. X is working on the ability to let you disable links in the replies of your posts! pic.twitter.com/dddP0a8l5w— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) July 19, 2024 Christopher Stanley, the Senior Director for Security Engineering at X, confirmed the feature's existence in a response to a post about it. "My team built this," Stanley wrote in his reply. In addition to keeping spam bots away, the feature could also prevent real human users from promoting their websites in other people's posts. However, it can also prevent users from posti...

CrowdStrike’s IT outage makes it clear why cyber resilience matters

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The more cyber resilient a business is, the greater the ability to anticipate, withstand, and recover from a variety of adverse conditions. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

EA’s return to College Football is a hit, over 2M players pre-launch

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Electronic Arts returns to the NCAA with the launch of EA Sports College Football 25 today on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Twitch restores former President Trump’s Twitch account

Twitch has confirmed that former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s three-year ban on the gaming stream platform has been reversed. A statement from Twitch confirmed the news about the status of Trump’s ban from the platform. “We reinstated former President Trump’s Twitch channel,” the statement read. “We believe there is value in hearing from Presidential nominees directly, when possible. Trump is now the official Republican nominee for US President.” The Amazon-owned platform first issued a temporary suspension on President Trump's account in 2020 for violating its hateful conduct and harassment policies and restored it two weeks later. Twitch disabled the account following the Jan. 6 riot on the US Capitol in 2021 due to “the current extraordinary circumstances and the President’s incendiary rhetoric” before issuing an indefinite suspension two weeks later, according to a Twitch spokesperson. Four people died and 174 police officers were injured...

BRAIN: Rethinking how the sales business works

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CONTRIBUTOR CONTENT: Most sales representatives spend a majority of their time setting appointments, a task they generally dislike. Despite being a key driver of outbound sales, appointment setting is often the most under-trained and undervalued business sector. Outbound sales-focused companies collectively spend billions of dollars each year on setting appointments. Yet, their sales reps often average just  Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The Morning After: The age of the retro CD player is here

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The mining of technology nostalgia is unrelenting. Earlier this week, we had an unofficial return of the iPod, not to mention Tamagotchis and now Discman. Well, not an actual Discman, which is a Sony brand, but the portable CD player is back. Audiophile brand FiiO has launched the DM13, a portable CD player with modern touches, like high-fidelity wireless and a built-in battery. No more AAs! The CD Player will go on sale in September for $179 (£179 in the UK). It begins shipping only in a silver finish, but FiiO says red, blue, titanium and black variants will arrive later in the year – enough time to find my folder of NOW compilation CDs. — Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Bangladesh is experiencing a ‘near-total’ internet shutdown amid student protests Netflix will drop a new multiplayer game when Squid Game season 2 premieres this year How to install the iOS 18 public beta ​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Mi...

Faulty cybersecurity update takes out banks, airlines and other major companies worldwide

A massive Microsoft Windows BSOD (blue screen of death) outage has impacted multiple companies worldwide including airlines, broadcasters and others. The problem was a caused by a faulty update from security giant CrowdStrike that forced PCs and servers into an unrecoverable boot loop. The change has since been rolled back, but many machines are still affected. "We have widespread reports of BSODs on windows hosts, occurring on multiple sensor versions," CrowdStrike wrote in a pinned Reddit post. "[We have] identified a content deployment related to this issue and reverted those changes." The company went on to describe a workaround, which involves booting Windows into Safe Mode and deleting a specific driver.  The issue forced Delta, Frontier and other airlines to ground flights, and impacted UK broadcaster Sky and the London Stock Exchange. On a Reddit thread, dozens of commenters stated that their companies were effectively offline due to the problem.  "Even...

Fandango co-founder J. Michael Cline dead at 64

One of the founders of the movie ticketing service Fandango has died following an apparent suicide in New York City. J. Michael Cline, the co-founder of the movie ticket website and service Fandango, died Tuesday after falling from the balcony of a Manhattan hotel in what the medical examiner’s office ruled as a suicide, according to The New York Times. Cline co-founded Fandango in 2000 with former chief operating officer Art Levitt during the dot-com boom and became one of the biggest online retailers. Fandango launched with seven movie theater chains, according to Variety. Fandango found success by completely changing the way people went to the movies. Moviegoers didn’t have to wait in long ticket lines only to find out that the 6 PM showing of Battlefield Earth was already sold out. They could purchase their tickets before they even left home and still have time to buy an overpriced box of Milk Duds and a watered down Shasta. The company’s flashy orange “F” logo also made it one of ...

Google just confirmed the Pixel 9 Pro’s outrageous camera bump

Google has officially confirmed the existence of the Pixel 9 Pro smartphone ahead of August’s Made By Google livestream event. This follows a leak earlier this week in which images and videos of the handset started popping up everywhere. The company confirmed the smartphone via an announcement video, one that could have been waiting for August 13. The video isn’t big on details, but there is some footage of the phone in action that confirms one major suspicion about the Pixel 9 Pro. The absolutely gigantic camera bump is real and is ready to make obvious indentations in pockets everywhere. Just look at that glorious thing. The bump looks like a 3D approximation of Bender from Futurama’s head. One thing is for sure. If you buy the Pixel 9 Pro later this year, be sure to also buy a newly-designed case. There’s no way previous cases will fit around that monstrosity. Beyond the camera bump, Google’s video teases heavy integration with the company’s Gemini family of AI models. Affiliated m...

Ubisoft delays its Rainbow Six and Division mobile games until at least April 2025

Ubisoft has released its latest earnings report and while there wasn't a ton of major news, there's a disappointing update for those who have been waiting on mobile versions of the Rainbow Six and The Division franchises. The company says that the Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence development teams need more time to "deliver on expectations" amid "a demanding yet very large market." As such, both titles are no longer expected to debut in the publisher's current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. That means yet another delay for Rainbow Six Mobile, which was initially supposed to arrive in 2022. The Division Resurgence had been expected to debut last year. On an earnings call with investors, Ubisoft noted that "it's very difficult to define a set date" when asked why it was delaying the games now, with over eight months of the fiscal year to go. Executives said that Ubisoft wants the two titles to last forever and that t...

Two Pompeii victims survived the first wave of the eruption. Then, an earthquake hit

Painstaking analysis of a newly excavated room in Pompeii, Italy, reveals devastating earthquakes accompanied the volcanic eruption Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales hit record $14.2 billion

Amazon’s Prime Day event clocked record sales this year, as U.S. consumers spent $14.2 billion across July 16 and 17, according to Adobe Analytics. This marks an 11% jump from last year’s $12.7 billion total. Buyers spent $7.2 billion on day one of the 2024 online event, up 11.2% from a year prior. Adobe Analytics © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Prime Day is over, but Apple’s AirPods Pro are still cheaper than ever

Amazon Prime Day 2024 has come and gone, but thankfully, some sales still linger. One of the best deals to shop right now is an all-time low price on Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro. The earbuds first dropped to $169 from $249 in an early Prime Day deal, and you can still grab them for 32 percent off.  Apple released its second-gen AirPods Pro in 2022, but they're still the newest model on the market. At the time, we gave them an 88 in our review thanks to solid noise cancellation and stellar transparency mode — courtesy of their H2 chip. They're also our choice of 2024's best wireless earbuds for an iPhone, with simple touch controls, hands-free Siri and easy switching between Apple devices. Plus, they offer up to six hours of battery life with ANC on and up to 30 hours with the charging case.   Externally, the AirPods Pro also have some perks worth mentioning. Each purchase comes with four silicone tips, ranging from extra small to large. The earbuds and t...