Linking ideas with the world
Google is making a new desktop app called Essentials that packages a few Google services, like Messages and Photos, and includes links to download many others. The app will be included with many new Windows laptops, with the first ones coming from HP. […] The Essentials app lets you “discover and install many of our Read more about Google is shoving its apps onto new Windows laptops[…]
[…] The paper also found the quantity of microplastics in brain samples from 2024 was about 50% higher from the total in samples that date to 2016, suggesting the concentration of microplastics found in human brains is rising at a similar rate to that found in the environment. Most of the organs came from the Read more about Microplastics are infiltrating brain tissue, studies show[…]
Peloton on Thursday said it will start charging new subscribers a one-time $95 activation fee if they bought their hardware on the secondary market as more consumers snag lightly used equipment for a fraction of the typical retail price. […] During its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30, Peloton said it saw a “steady Read more about Peloton to charge $95 activation fee for used bikes[…]
A new study that examined health data on 18 million people reveals higher incidence of mental illnesses for up to a year following severe COVID-19 in unvaccinated people. Vaccination appeared to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on mental illnesses. The University of Bristol-led study, published in JAMA Psychiatry today [21 August], investigated associations of Read more about Study of 18 million people finds increased mental illnesses incidence following severe COVID-19, especially in unvaccinated people[…]
Researchers from North Carolina State University and Johns Hopkins University have demonstrated a technology capable of a suite of data storage and computing functions—repeatedly storing, retrieving, computing, erasing or rewriting data—that uses DNA rather than conventional electronics. Previous DNA data storage and computing technologies could complete some but not all of these tasks. The paper, Read more about For first time, DNA tech offers both data storage and computing functions[…]
Legal documents are notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. This raises the question: Why are these documents written in a style that makes them so impenetrable? MIT cognitive scientists believe they have uncovered the answer to that question. Just as “magic spells” use special rhymes and archaic terms to signal their power, the convoluted Read more about Study explains why laws are written in an incomprehensible style[…]
A Florida firm has all but confirmed that millions of people’s sensitive personal info was stolen from it by cybercriminals and publicly leaked. That information, totaling billions of records, includes the names, Social Security numbers, physical and email addresses, and phone numbers of folks in the United States, UK, and Canada. It’s the sort of Read more about Florida data broker NPD says it was ransacked by cyber-thieves[…]
[…] New research suggests that certain brands of bike parts have vulnerabilities that could allow them to be remotely compromised during competitions. The research was unveiled this week at the Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies by researchers from Northeastern University and UC San Diego. In their paper, researchers note that, much like modern cars, today’s Read more about Bicycles Can Be Hacked Easily Now[…]
Anova, a company that sells smart sous vide cookers, is getting backlash from customers after announcing that it will soon charge a subscription fee for the device’s companion app. […] In a blog post on Thursday, Anova CEO and cofounder Stephen Svajian announced that starting on August 21, people who sign up to use the Read more about Anova Smart sous vide cooker to start charging $2/month for 10-year-old companion app, stop Bluetooth functionality[…]
[…] The study, which tracked thousands of different molecules in people aged 25 to 75, detected two major waves of age-related changes at around ages 44 and again at 60. The findings could explain why spikes in certain health issues including musculoskeletal problems and cardiovascular disease occur at certain ages. “We’re not just changing gradually Read more about Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60[…]
Last year Mozilla released a report showcasing how the auto industry has some of the worst privacy practices of any tech industry in America (no small feat). Massive amounts of driver behavior is collected by your car, and even more is hoovered up from your smartphone every time you connect. This data isn’t secured, often isn’t encrypted, Read more about Texas AG Latest To Sue GM For Covertly Selling Driver Data To Insurance Companies[…]
Psychologists from UC Santa Cruz wanted to study “earworms,” the types of songs that get stuck in your head and play automatically on a loop. So they asked people to sing out any earworms they were experiencing and record them on their phones when prompted at random times throughout the day. When researchers analyzed the Read more about Singing from memory shows most people can actually sing pitch perfect or very very close[…]
[…] Our communications and GPS networks all depend on keeping careful track of the precise timing of signals—including accounting for the effects of relativity. The deeper into a gravitational well you go, the slower time moves, and we’ve reached the point where we can detect differences in altitude of a single millimeter. Time literally flows Read more about Researchers figure out how to keep clocks on the Earth, Moon in sync[…]
This is kind of the problem with cloud services – you have absolutely no control over what is going on and a lot can go wrong at one time.
Apple takes a lot of strong positions, but their ultimate hill to die on might just be requiring apps to make purchases through the tech giant. The latest example comes from Patreon, which announced that Apple is requiring it to switch over to the iOS in-app purchase system or risk expulsion. Patreon’s entire purpose is Read more about Patreon will have to use Apple’s in-app purchase system or be removed from the App Store. Also only subscriptions now.[…]
[…] In two complaints, (1, 2, PDF) filed in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, against six entities related to Bambu Lab, Stratasys alleges that Bambu Lab infringed upon 10 patents that it owns, some through subsidiaries like Makerbot (acquired in 2013). Among the patents cited are US9421713B2, “Additive manufacturing method for printing three-dimensional Read more about Stratasys sues Bambu Lab over patents used widely by consumer 3D printers | Ars Technica[…]
I can’t believe this, but it happened again. Almost exactly a decade ago, Tim Cushing wrote about a bonkers story out of the UK in which a passport applicant who’s middle name was “Skywalker” was denied the passport due to purported trademark or copyright concerns. The question that ought to immediately leap to mind should Read more about UK Once Again Denies A Passport Over Applicant’s Name Due To Intellectual Property Concerns – again[…]
The U.K. government has launched a preliminary investigation into the partnership between Amazon and Anthropic to see if it will significantly lessen competition. This comes days after a similar probe was announced into Alphabet’s collaboration with the AI startup. In March, Amazon concluded its $4 billion (£3.16 billion) investment in Anthropic, the company behind the Read more about Amazon-Anthropic Investment Investigated by UK Government – is it a stealth merger?[…]
The United Nations approved its first international cybercrime treaty yesterday. The effort succeeded despite opposition from tech companies and human rights groups, who warn that the agreement will permit countries to expand invasive electronic surveillance in the name of criminal investigations. Experts from these organizations say that the treaty undermines the global human rights of Read more about New U.N. Cybercrime Treaty Could Threaten Human Rights[…]
Apple this week revised its alternative contractual terms for devs selling apps in the European Union – a revision that was immediately dismissed by critics as more “malicious compliance.” […] Essentially, Apple has allowed developers in the EU to choose whether they want to use its own In‑App Purchase system for App Store transactions or Read more about Apple tries again to make EU officials happy with new fees for in-app purchases[…]
Security flaws in your computer’s firmware, the deep-seated code that loads first when you turn the machine on and controls even how its operating system boots up, have long been a target for hackers looking for a stealthy foothold. But only rarely does that kind of vulnerability appear not in the firmware of any particular Read more about ‘Sinkclose’ Flaw in Hundreds of Millions of AMD Chips Allows Deep, Virtually Unfixable Infections[…]
Warners Bros. Discovery has not been having a great time recently, and is going through a wave of increasingly desperate cost-cutting initiatives because of it. Several of those movements have felt particularly targeted at the studio’s animated offerings, from its inability to release finished films to selling off its current, past, and would-be successes to other Read more about Warner Bros. Scrubs Cartoon Network Website, Erasing Years of History[…]
Oxford University scientists may have solved one of the greatest hindrances of expanding access to solar energy. Scientists from the university’s physics department have created an ultra-thin layer of material that can be applied to the exterior of objects with sunlight access in place of bulky silicon-based solar panels. The ultra-thin and flexible film is Read more about Oxford scientists’ new light-absorbing material can turn everyday objects into solar panels[…]
[…] Nobody is going to let decades of journalistic output just suddenly get disappeared out of nowhere… right? When it comes to Game Informer, the GameStop owned video game magazine that has been in production for over three decades, that’s exactly what just happened. Staff at the magazine, which also publishes a website, weekly podcast, Read more about After 33 Years, GameStop Shuts Down And Disappears ‘Game Informer’[…]
[…] you’ll be able to ask questions of your browsing history in natural language using Gemini, Google’s family of large language models that power its AI systems. You can type a question like “What was that ice cream shop I looked at last week?” into your address bar after accessing your history and Chrome will Read more about Google will let you search your Chrome browsing history by asking questions like a human – Firefox, you need this![…]