Author: News Room
Kit Rocha and Courtney Milan have a knack for drawing attention to a cause. The bestselling romance novelists helped raise half a million dollars for Georgia voting rights in 2020. Now, their cause is whistles, because whistles let neighbors alert each other when they see ICE agents abducting people. They’ve helped create a group that’s shipped a half million free 3D-printed whistles to 49 US states — 200,000 of them in the first week of February alone.Even I print whistles now. It’s the first thing I do each morning after dropping kids at school, and the very last before bed.…
Super Bowl LX is nearly here, with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the New England Patriots. While Bad Bunny will be the star of the halftime show, AI could be the star of the commercial breaks, much like crypto was a few years ago.Super Bowl LX is set to kick off at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT on Sunday, February 8th, and is being broadcast on NBC and Peacock. Read the full article here
Free YouTube Music accounts are now seeing their access to lyrics limited, according to multiple reports. Google started testing lyrics as an exclusive feature for Premium users in September, but it appears that it’s now receiving a wider rollout. It seems that free users will be limited to viewing lyrics for five songs per month, though we’ve reached out to Google for confirmation.Once that limit is reached, users will only be able to see the first couple of lines. Everything beyond that will be blurred out, and they’ll be prompted to “Unlock lyrics with Premium.” The banner warning users about…
The New York Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Requirements in News Act (NY FAIR News Act, for short) would require that any news “substantially composed, authored, or created through the use of generative artificial intelligence” carry a disclaimer. It would also require that any content created using AI be reviewed and approved by a human with “editorial control” before being published.Beyond that, the bill requires organizations to disclose to newsroom employees how and when AI is being used. And it would call for safeguards that prevent confidential information, especially about sources, from being accessed by AI.Meanwhile, S9144 “imposes a moratorium on the…
One of my pandemic hobbies that stuck was home automation. I discovered Home Assistant — the popular open source, extremely customizable home automation platform — and all the intricate things you can do with it to make your home work better.I have ADHD and have found Home Assistant to be a valuable tool for managing executive dysfunction. I use it for audible calendar reminders, laundry reminders, timers, and monitoring my doorbell camera and my nanny cam for my dog. Its also a great source of pure nerdy joy for me. And I recently took the most joyously nerdy step yet…
Almost exactly one year after launching the iPhone 16e, Apple is preparing to launch the 17e, according to Mark Gurman. The iPhone 17e will feature an upgraded A19 chip from the iPhone 17 lineup, plus MagSafe charging, and move Apple’s in-house cellular chips. Just as importantly, the company apparently plans to keep the price at $599, despite soaring RAM and storage prices.Gurman says Apple is planning to pitch the iPhone 17e aggressively in emerging markets and to enterprises. He claims that, with almost no changes expected from the Pixel 10a and Samsung focused on the higher end of the market,…
Dongles have a well-earned reputation for being a nuisance. They’re often costly and annoying to deal with, but for gamers, there’s one that I love to recommend that’s neither. 8BitDo’s $20 USB Adapter 2 lets you wirelessly link controllers to the Switch 2 that would otherwise be unsupported, like the Sony DualSense (complete with rumble and motion controls), Microsoft’s latest Xbox gamepads, and more. You can plug it into the Switch 2’s dock or use a USB-A-to-USB-C adapter to connect it directly to the console.It’s great to save money, since I can simply use a controller that I already own…
Last month, over a dozen automobile and smartphone manufacturers gathered in Palo Alto, California, for the 16th annual “Plugfest,” hosted by the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) to test out the latest in digital key technology.Digital keys, which allow vehicle owners to lock, unlock, and start their cars using smartphones or other digital devices, are becoming more commonplace. And the goal of Plugfest was to provide a place for CCC members — ranging from automakers and smart device manufacturers to cloud providers and chip makers — to come together to test interoperability and real-world performance across vehicles, devices, and wireless technologies.…
Are you still buying and binning plastic bottles on a daily basis? Keep ploughing through the plastic and you’ll have Attenborough to answer to. And his penguin friends. If you don’t fancy an aggressive peck from a flightless aquatic activist? It’s time to change your drinking ways, quit polluting the waves and buy one of the best water bottles. Of course, for true sustainability, that means hiking into the hills, cupping your hands and sipping straight from a hilltop spring. Zero pollution, plastic-free and as fresh as can be – the ultimate in eco commitment and guaranteed to make you…
I’ve had the opportunity to test a lot of fitness tech over the years. Most of it gets quickly relegated to a cupboard or drawer, never to see the light of day again. Some kit does stick around, though, and actually manages to motivate me to get out the door, pack a gym bag, or feel good enough to work up a sweat. This is the fitness tech I actually use on a regular (and often daily) basis, plus some kit I’ve yet to be won over by. Fitness tech stuff I actually use Garmin Forerunner 970 or Apple Watch…
After what can generously be called a contentious tenure as the CEO of The Washington Post, Will Lewis is stepping down following mass layoffs this week. Jeff D’Onofrio, former CEO of Tumblr from 2017 to 2022, will step in as acting CEO and publisher. D’Onofrio has been CFO at the Post since June of last year, meaning he’s had a front row seat to Jeff Bezos’ dismantling of the once storied paper for the last nine months.D’Onofrio’s resume doesn’t include extensive experience in traditional news media, nor many notable success stories. He was briefly the general manager of Yahoo News…
GOG recently posted a job listing for a senior software engineer focused on porting its Galaxy desktop client to Linux. Now, in reply to a Reddit AMA, the GOG team has revealed that work on native Linux support is already underway. It’s still too early to give an ETA, according to the Reddit thread. But founder and CEO, Michał Kiciński, said, “personally, I’m a big fan of Linux.” The job listing also calls Linux the “next major frontier” in gaming. It’s obvious at this point that Linux is becoming an increasingly important part of the PC gaming landscape. Especially as…