U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday that human drivers should always use caution after videos surfaced of people driving Teslas wearing what appears to be Apple’s recently released Vision Pro headset. He said he needed to pay.
Buttigieg responded on Twitter/X to a video that has been viewed more than 24 million times that shows a Tesla driver seemingly gesturing with his hands to manipulate a virtual reality field.
Buttigieg said on Monday that Tesla’s self-driving assist features (Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, Full Self-Driving), despite their names, do not mean the vehicle is fully self-driving. said on social media.
“Be careful – all advanced driver assistance systems available today require a human driver to be in control and fully engaged in the driving task at all times,” Buttigieg said.
Apple’s Vision Pro was released last week and blends three-dimensional digital content with views of the outside world. Apple, which says it should never be used while operating a moving vehicle, did not respond to a request for comment.
Note: All currently available advanced driver assistance systems require the human driver to be in control and fully engaged in the driving task at all times. pic.com/OpPy36mOgC
According to Apple’s Alan Dye, the Vision Pro will work as a headset that allows users to interact with “apps and experiences” in an augmented reality (AR) version of their surroundings or in a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) space. Vice President of Human Interface Design announced in June.
“Apple Vision Pro relies solely on your eyes, hands, and voice,” Dai said in June. “Browse your system just by looking. App icons come to life when you look at them. Just tap your fingers at the same time to select them and scroll them with a light flick.”
“Apple Vision Pro will change the way we communicate, collaborate, work, and enjoy entertainment,” said Apple executive Tim Cook. But the company didn’t intend for Vision Pro to change the way people commute.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Buttigieg previously made similar comments about Tesla’s use of Autopilot. Tesla says its advanced driver features are intended for use by fully alert drivers who “keep their hands on the wheel and ready to take over at any time.”
Meta’s oversight board determined that a Facebook video falsely alleging that U.S. President Joe Biden is a pedophile did not violate the company’s current rules, but expressed that the rules were “disjointed”. It was acknowledged that the focus is too narrow on AI-generated content.
The board, which is funded by Facebook’s parent company Meta but operates independently, took on the Biden video case in October after receiving user complaints about a doctored seven-second video of the president.
The board ruled that under current policies, the misleading altered video would only be prohibited if it was created by artificial intelligence or made to appear to say words that were not actually said. Therefore, Meta was correct in continuing to publish the video.
This ruling is the first to criticize Meta’s policies against “manipulated media” amidst concerns about the potential use of new AI technology to influence upcoming elections.
The board stated that the policy “lacks a convincing justification, is disjointed and confusing to users, and does not clearly articulate the harms it seeks to prevent.” It suggested updating the policy to cover both audio and video content, and to apply a label indicating that it has been manipulated, regardless of whether AI is used.
It did not require the policy to apply to photos, as doing so could make enforcement too difficult at Meta’s scale.
Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, informed the board that it plans to update its policies to address new and increasingly realistic advances in AI, according to the ruling.
The video on Facebook is a manipulated version of real footage of Biden exchanging “I voted” stickers with his granddaughter and kissing her on the cheek during the 2022 US midterm elections.
The board noted that non-AI modified content is “more prevalent and not necessarily less misleading” than content generated by AI tools.
It recommended that enforcement should involve applying labels to content, rather than Meta’s current approach of removing posts from the platform.
The company announced that it is reviewing the ruling and will respond publicly within 60 days.
The final update on Rick’s journey to overcome cell phone addiction allows him to make a breakthrough. And a big one.
“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” I ask Almond one day.
She’s flipping through a plastic-like bag of Thai basil from a record store. “I already am. That’s what it is,” she said patiently, taking my hand. Oh yes, I say. got it. nice.
Two months after my last diary entry, something strange happened. I dismissed this experiment as a waste of time, but it seems to be yielding skewed results. Currently, I use my smartphone for 90 minutes a day. Five of those are spent on Instagram. I no longer feel addictive. Part of the reason my online life has decreased is because I no longer have to scour the savanna to find a mate. However, that alone does not determine everything.
All the experts I spoke to gave reassuringly similar advice. Oddly enough, some of my most impactful conversations about technology were with Buddhists in cafes without Wi-Fi. Sthiramanas is a meditation teacher at the London Buddhist Center and runs his Upgrade Your Mind, his six-week course on mindful screen use.
“Looking outward for satisfaction is a fundamental human weakness,” he says. Sthiramanas doesn’t just mean infinite scrolling. Heading to a quiet retreat or digital detox his cabin in the woods is also an escape from everyday life. What they learn often doesn’t stick with them by the time they get home. “If you want your life to be happier and more creative, you have to experience life as it is and change things from there.
“What is desire? Under Want to check your phone? ” he continued. “If you’re addicted to dating apps, is it because you want to feel attractive? If you’re a news addict, are you addicted to feeling in control? Or is it because you want to feel like you’re in control? Are you in touch? Are you texting your friends all the time just because you want to be loved?”
ah. When did these Buddhists choose violence?
Ever since that chat, I think of friendship as mostly an offline activity. What we do with our bodies. My friends are great at arranging day trips to the seaside, dancing, and cooking for each other. Laughing in the same space is nourishing. Sounds Waltons-esque, but better than meta. I still find him texting his friends frequently throughout the day, but when he doesn’t, it’s fun not being able to see them. Maybe I’ve gone crazy.
Is it possible to enjoy the reality of “boring” life without fantasies of escape? Photo: Alicia Kanter/The Guardian
Always-on connectivity is a new expectation, and meeting it can be challenging. My biggest fear about turning off my cell phone was missing a call from my girlfriend’s mother if she fell. But I realized that at the root of my resistance was a fear of control. And someday we all have to give it up. “You can also set up a landline for emergencies and give that number only to your loved ones,” suggests Stiramanath. That’s a good idea.
Another slow burn is the increase in time spent reading. I think that’s why I no longer spend the entire day on Instagram. Now, when I open any social media app, I feel like… stupid. Perhaps concentration is actually a muscle, and when you build muscle, you try to lift heavier. Of course, there are many people who enjoy both. This is not to say that all social media content is shallow and meaningless. (I think so too!)
Is it possible to enjoy the reality of “boring” life without fantasies of escape? This was a very important question for me.
I’ll clean up my apartment more. look It’s more than that. I continued to walk 10,000 steps. I still like filling out fitness tracking circles, but I’m not as obsessive about it. I can feel the effects on my body. Sometimes you forget your cell phone at home. It’s a mental reset to feel the atmosphere like you’re not anywhere else. And I’m much happier than before.
If you’re a fan of capitalism, I should point out that my freelance income has increased and my productivity has increased. I don’t think it’s helpful to malign tech companies too much, and I’ve stopped anthropomorphizing my phone. A shiny, infinitely content machine is neither your muse nor your cold lover nor your nemesis. It’s a tool. More than anything it’s my barometer of dissatisfaction.
When I realize that I have that weight in my hands, and the force that distracts me and tries to escape, I try to diagnose what is really going on inside me. Are you worried about something? am i lonely? What better way to meet my needs? I’m learning to believe that even if I’m just bored, there’s creativity hidden there.
Who could have predicted this? My smartphone, like a canary in the coal mine, represents what’s most important to me: days without sleepwalking. The thief of my life? No one can steal my life.
Credit rating agency Moody's has warned that water companies face a “high” risk from cyber-attacks targeting drinking water as they await approval from industry regulators to increase spending on digital security.
Hackers are increasingly targeting infrastructure companies such as water and wastewater treatment companies, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) could accelerate this trend, Moody's said in a note to investors.
Southern Water, which serves 4.6 million customers in the south of England, claimed last month that the Black Basta ransomware group had accessed its systems and posted a “limited amount” of data to the dark web. announced. The same group hacked outsourcing company Capita last year.
Separately, South Staffordshire Water I apologized In 2022, after hackers steal customers' personal data.
Moody's warned that the increasing use of data logging equipment and digital smart meters to monitor water consumption is making businesses more vulnerable to attacks. Systems used at water treatment facilities are typically separated from a company’s other IT departments, including customer databases, but some systems are more closely integrated to improve efficiency, he said.
After a hack, companies typically have to hire specialized cybersecurity firms to repair systems and communicate with customers, and they can also face penalties from regulators. The UK's Information Commissioner's Office can fine companies up to 4% of group turnover or €20m (£17m), whichever is higher.
Moody's said the cost of system remediation, including re-securing and strengthening existing cyber defenses and paying potential fines, would typically result in only a “modest increase” in debt levels if the incident is short-lived.
But Moody's warned that “the greater risk to our industry and society is if malicious actors were able to gain access to operational technology systems and harm drinking water or wastewater treatment facilities.”
The agency said water suppliers, governments and regulators need to strengthen their cyber defenses “as attacks against critical infrastructure become more sophisticated and state-aligned actors are now increasingly becoming cyber attackers.” He said he was aware of his gender.
More about the digital security of Britain's infrastructure assets, including the £50bn project to build vast underground nuclear waste repositories and the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria, where the Guardian revealed a series of cybersecurity issues. There is widespread concern.
Moody's report comes as water companies in England and Wales hope to receive allowances from Ofwat to increase spending on cyber defense. The regulator is assessing plans to raise the bill from 2025 to 2030 to cover investments.
Ofwat's decision, to be announced later this year, comes at a critical juncture for an industry that has come under fire for sewage dumping, inadequate leak records and high executive pay.
In October last year, companies announced that they would be required to fund a record £96bn investment in fixing raw sewage leaks, reducing leaks and building reservoirs. submitted a five-year business plan detailing price increases.
Moody's analysis shows that businesses want to increase their total spending on security from less than £100m to nearly £700m over the next five years. Increased scrutiny of the industry and the hack into Southern Water could strengthen its case, the credit agency said.
The department said costs to South Staffordshire Water related to the hack could reach £10 million, including potential civil action.
Moody's warning about the potential impact on water companies’ debt comes amid growing concerns over leverage in the water sector, where up to 28% of bill payments are used for debt servicing in regions of England. .
Industry body Water UK announced last week that average annual bills have risen by 6% since April, outpacing the current rate of inflation.
Labor is planning to require artificial intelligence companies to share the results of their road tests with authorities, replacing voluntary testing agreements with a statutory system. Peter Kyle, the shadow technology secretary, emphasized the need for greater transparency from tech companies, particularly in the wake of Brianna Gee’s murder.
Under Labor’s proposals, AI companies would be required to disclose their plans for developing AI systems and ensure safe testing under independent oversight. The testing agreement announced at the Global AI Safety Summit was supported by the EU and other countries, including the US, UK, Japan, France, and Germany.
During a visit to the United States, Kyle emphasized the importance of test results in providing independent scrutiny of cutting-edge AI technology. He stressed the need to ensure the safe development of technology that will have a significant impact on workplaces, societies, and cultures.
Tech companies that have agreed to test their models include Google, OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta. Kyle also highlighted the role of the British AI Safety Association in independently scrutinizing AI development.
“We are moving from voluntary regulations to statutory regulations,” Mr Kyle told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. We can find out what they’re testing for, so we know exactly what’s going on and where this technology is taking us.”
At the first Global AI Safety Summit in November, Rishi Sunak announced voluntary agreements with major AI companies such as Google and OpenAI. Under Labor’s proposals, AI companies would be required to disclose their plans for developing AI systems and ensure safe testing under independent oversight.
He added: “Some of this technology will have a profound impact on our workplaces, societies and cultures. And we need to ensure that its development occurs safely.”
Samsung’s most recent smartphones are equipped with a variety of modern and sophisticated AI tools designed to enhance text, images, video, and search. However, the effectiveness of these features is a bit inconsistent. The new Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts the latest AI technology from both Samsung and Google, making it one of the most powerful phones on the market. Packed with superior specs, this phone comes with a hefty price tag of £1,249 (€1,469/$1,299.99/AU$2,199) in the UK, and even more expensive in other parts of the world.
Featuring a titanium exterior, the S24 Ultra is a premium and robust device that has a flat screen and new titanium sides resembling the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The screen is made of Corning’s latest gorilla armor glass, which is less prone to damage and offers lower reflectance and reduced glare. The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, delivering fast speeds and improved battery life.
In terms of sustainability, the phone contains a variety of recycled materials and is designed to withstand drops. Samsung estimates the battery to last more than 500 full charge cycles at 80% capacity, and the company offers repair options for the screen and battery.
The S24 Ultra comes with Samsung’s S Pen stylus and offers 7 years of support, making it on par with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Pixel in terms of product longevity. The phone’s AI tools include features such as generative photo editing, language translation, and document summarization.
The camera system on the S24 Ultra is highly advanced, with four rear cameras and a 12-megapixel selfie camera. The phone’s extended zoom capabilities and in-sensor zoom make it a standout in terms of photography.
Overall, the S24 Ultra offers a wide range of features and capabilities, but it has its drawbacks. The phone is described as heavy, expensive, and large, making it a two-handed device that may not be practical for every user. Additionally, while the AI features are impressive, they may not be a strong enough reason to justify purchasing the phone.
In conclusion, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra is a powerhouse of a device, offering a range of advanced features and capabilities, but at a high price and with some practical limitations.
“circleWhat would happen to your hat if I told you that one of the most powerful choices you can make is to ask for help? '' a young woman in her 20s wearing a red sweater says before encouraging viewers to seek counseling. The ad, promoted on Instagram and other social media platforms, is just one of many campaigns created by BetterHelp, a California-based company that connects users with their therapists online.
In recent years, the need for sophisticated digital therapies to replace traditional face-to-face therapies has been well established.when I go to the street Latest data The NHS Talking Therapy Service saw 1.76 million people referred for treatment in 2022-23, with 1.22 million people actually starting to engage directly with a therapist.
Companies like BetterHelp hope to address some of the barriers that prevent people from receiving therapy, such as a lack of locally trained practitioners and a lack of empathetic therapists. Many of these platforms also have worrying aspects. That is, what happens to the large amounts of highly sensitive data collected in the process? The UK is currently considering regulating these apps, and there is growing awareness of their potential harm.
Last year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission told BetterHelp $7.8m (£6.1m) fine After a government agency was found to have misled consumers and shared sensitive data with third parties for advertising purposes despite promising to keep it private. A BetterHelp representative did not respond to BetterHelp's request for comment. observer.
The number of people seeking mental health help online has increased rapidly during the pandemic. Photo: Alberto Case/Getty Images
Research shows that such privacy violations are not isolated exceptions within the vast industry of mental health apps, which include virtual therapy services, mood trackers, mental fitness coaches, digitized cognitive behavioral therapy, chatbots, and more. , has been suggested to be too common.
independent watchdogs such as Mozilla Foundation, a global nonprofit organization working to police the Internet from bad actors, has identified platforms that exploit opaque regulatory gray areas to share or sell sensitive personal information. did. When the foundation looked at 32 leading mental health apps; Last year's reportWe found that 19 of them did not protect user privacy and security. “We found that too often your personal and private mental health issues were being monetized.” Jen CultriderHe leads Mozilla's consumer privacy advocacy efforts.
Mr. Cult Rider, in the United States, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects communications between doctors and patients. However, she says many users are unaware that there are loopholes that digital platforms can exploit to circumvent HIPAA. “You may not be talking to a licensed psychologist, you may be just talking to a trained coach, and none of those conversations are protected under medical privacy laws,” she says. “But metadata about that conversation, the fact that you're using the app for OCD or an eating disorder, could also be used and shared for advertising and marketing purposes. They don't necessarily want to be collected and used to target products to them.”
Like many others studying this rapidly growing industry, the digital mental health apps market is predicted to be valuable. $17.5bn (£13.8bn) by 2030 – Caltrider feels that increased regulation and oversight of many of these platforms, which target particularly vulnerable segments of the population, is long overdue.
“The number of these apps has exploded during the pandemic. When we started our research, we realized how many companies are capitalizing on the gold rush of mental health issues rather than helping people. “It was really disappointing because it seemed like there was a lot of emphasis on that,” she says. “Like many things in the tech industry, the tech industry has grown rapidly and for some, privacy has taken a backseat. We felt that maybe things weren't going to work out, but we What they found was much worse than expected.”
Promotion of regulations
Last year, UK regulators Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the National Institute for Healthcare Excellence (Nice) will explore the best way to regulate digital mental health tools in the UK and collaborate with international partners on a three-year project funded by the charity Wellcome. project has started. Help foster consensus on digital mental health regulation around the world.
Holly Cool, MHRA's senior manager for digital mental health, explains that while data privacy is important, the main focus of the project is to reach agreement on minimum standards of safety for these tools. . “We are more focused on the efficacy and safety of these products. It is our duty as regulators to ensure that patient safety is paramount in devices that are classified as medical devices. ,” she says.
At the same time, leaders in the mental health field are beginning to call for strict international guidelines to assess whether tools truly have a therapeutic effect. “Actually, I'm very excited and hopeful about this field, but we need to understand what good looks like for digital therapeutics.” Neuroscientist and former U.S. director says Dr. Thomas Insel. National Institute of Mental Health.
Psychiatric experts acknowledge that while new mood-boosting tools, trackers and self-help apps have become wildly popular over the past decade, there has been little hard evidence that they actually help.
“I think the biggest risk is that many apps waste people's time and may delay getting effective treatment,” said Harvard Medical School Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. says Dr. John Taurus, director of digital psychiatry at .
Currently, companies with enough marketing capital can easily bring their apps to market without having to demonstrate that their apps will maintain user interest or add any value, he said. It is possible to participate. In particular, Taurus criticizes the poor quality of many purported pilot studies, with very low standards for app efficacy and results that are virtually meaningless.He gives the following example 1 trial in 2022This paper compared a stopwatch (a “fake” app with a digital clock) to an app that provides cognitive behavioral therapy to schizophrenic patients experiencing an acute psychotic episode. “When we look at research, we often liken our apps to looking at a wall or a waiting list,” he says. “But anything is better than nothing.”
Vulnerable user operations
But the most concerning question is whether some apps may actually perpetuate harm and worsen the symptoms of the patients they are meant to help.
Two years ago, U.S. healthcare giants Kaiser Permanente and Health Partners I decided to find out Effectiveness of new digital mental health tools. It was based on a psychological approach known as dialectical behavior therapy, which includes practices such as emotional mindfulness and steady breathing, and was expected to help prevent suicidal behavior in at-risk patients.
Over a 12-month period, 19,000 patients who reported frequent suicidal thoughts were randomly divided into three groups. A control group received standard care, a second group received usual care plus regular outreach to assess suicide risk, and a third group received digital tools in addition to care. It was done. However, when he evaluated the results, he found that he actually performed worse in the third group. Using this tool appears to significantly increase the risk of self-harm compared to just receiving usual care.
“They thought they were doing a good thing, but it made people even worse, so that was very alarming,” Taurus says.
Some of the biggest concerns relate to AI chatbots, many of which are touted as safe spaces for people to discuss mental health and emotional struggles. But Kaltrider worries that without better monitoring of the responses and advice provided by these bots, these algorithms could be manipulating vulnerable people. “With these chatbots, you can create something that lonely people can potentially relate to, so the possibilities for manipulation are endless,” she says. “This algorithm could be used to force that person to buy expensive things or force them to commit violence.”
These concerns are not unfounded. A user of the popular chatbot Replika shared this on Reddit. screenshot The content of the conversation appears to be such that the bot is actively encouraging his suicide attempt.
Telephone therapy: But how secure is your sensitive personal data? Photo: Getty Images
In response, a Replika spokesperson said: observer: “Replika continuously monitors the media and social media and spends a lot of time talking directly with users to find ways to address concerns and fix issues within the product. Provided. The interface in the screenshot above is at least 8 months old and may date back to 2021. There have been over 100 updates since 2021, and 23 in the last year alone.”
Because of these safety concerns, the MHRA believes that so-called post-market surveillance will be important for mental health apps, just as it is for medicines and vaccines. Kuhl points out that Yellow card reporting site, is used in the UK to report side effects and defects in medical products, and could in the future allow users to report adverse experiences with certain apps. “The public and health professionals can be very helpful in providing vital information to the MHRA about adverse events using yellow cards,” she says.
But at the same time, experts say that if properly regulated, mental health apps could improve access to care, collect useful data to help make accurate diagnoses, and fill gaps left by over-medicalization. I still strongly believe that I can play a big role in the future. system.
“What we have today is not great,” Insel says. “Mental health care, as we have known it for the past 20 to 30 years, is clearly an area ripe for change and in need of some transformation. Perhaps regulation will come in the second or third act, and we need it, but there are many other things, from better evidence to interventions for people with more severe mental illnesses. That is necessary.”
Torous believes the first step is to be more transparent about how an app's business model works and the underlying technology. “Otherwise, the only way a company can differentiate is through marketing claims,” he says. “If you can't prove that you're better or safer, all you can do is market it because there's no real way to verify or trust that claim.” The thing is, huge amounts of money are being spent on marketing, which is starting to erode clinician and patient trust. You can only make so many promises before people become skeptical. you can't.”
WBack in 2000, the Investigatory Powers Regulation Bill was introduced by the Blair government, which enshrined formidable surveillance powers into law. Long before Edward Snowden revealed his secrets, it was clear to those paying attention that the British deep state was gearing up for the digital age. The powers implicit in this bill were so broad that some expected it to pass the House with a bang.
However, the majority of MPs surveyed didn’t seem interested in the bill. Only a handful of his 659 elected members seemed concerned at all about what was being proposed. Most of the work to improve bills as they pass through Parliament is done by a small number of members of the House of Lords, some of them hereditary members, rather than elected members. It was eventually revised and became law (nicknamed Ripa) in July 2000.
In 2014, the government commissioned David Anderson QC (now KC) to investigate its operation and recommended that new legislation be enacted to clarify the questions Ripa raises. Home Secretary Theresa May introduced a new investigatory powers bill in the House of Commons in 2015, which was scrutinized by a joint committee of the Lords and the House of Commons. This bill became the Investigatory Powers Act (or “Peep Charter”) in November 2016. The following month, the European Court of Justice ruled that the general retention of information legalized by the law was unlawful.
In 2022, the Home Office conducted a review of how the act worked. It concluded that the law had “largely achieved its objectives” but that further significant reforms were needed “to take into account advances in technology and the evolving demands of protecting national security and tackling serious crime.” Spies needed legislative support and more formally sanctioned wiggle room.
The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill is currently before the Lords of Westminster. “The world has changed,” the blurb says. “Technology is advancing rapidly and the types of threats the UK faces continue to evolve.” It aims to enable security and intelligence agencies to respond to a range of evolving threats. And of course, this is global Britain, so “world-leading safeguards within the IPA will be maintained and strengthened”.
Upon closer inspection, the bill should give security services more latitude in building and leveraging so-called “mass datasets of personal information” and collecting and using CCTV footage and facial images. The bill also allows for the “collection and processing of Internet connection records” for generalized mass surveillance.
The bill will force technology companies, including overseas bases, to inform the UK Government of any plans that may require improving security or privacy measures on their platform before these changes take effect. For instance, Apple views this as an “unprecedented overreach by the government” that could see the UK “covertly veto new user protections globally and prevent us from delivering them to our customers”.
A hat-trick, at least for global Britain.
what i am reading
intestinal level Cory Doctorow’s Marshall McLuhan Lecture on enshift, or the way digital platforms tend to deteriorate. A record of an event you’ll never forget.
X factor a great blog post written by Charles Arthur, former technology editor guardian. Summary: Think before you tweet. Or maybe you should just quit.
Apocalypse again a solemn politiko column Jac Schaefer on the recent wave of layoffs in American news organizations.
I
Researching the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the world of work, Hilke Shellman
She thought it would be a good idea to try some tools. Among them was a system called a one-way video interview system aimed at supporting recruitment. my interview.
She got a login from her company and started her experiment. She first chooses the questions she asks as a hiring manager, then video records her answers as a candidate, and then her proprietary software records the words she used and the intonation of her voice. was analyzed. She scores how suitable she is for the job.
She was delighted to have an 83% match rate for the role. But when she redid her interview in German, which is her native language, instead of English, she received an error message and instead she received the appropriate score (73%). I was surprised that it did. And she wasn’t even trying to answer the question this time. But read the Wikipedia entry. The record the tool made up of her German was gibberish.When her company showed her their tools Already knew
Since she didn’t speak English, she was graded mainly on intonation, but we used a robot voice generator to read her English answers. Here again she recorded her high score (79%) and Shellman gave her a headache.
“If simple tests show that these tools may not work, then we need to seriously consider whether we should be using them in recruiting,” said Shellman, an assistant professor of journalism at New York University and an investigative reporter. “There is,” he says.
The experiment, which was conducted in 2021, is described in Schellman’s new book, algorithm.
Explore how AI and complex algorithms are increasingly being used to help hire and then monitor and evaluate employees, including firing and promoting them. Mr. Shellman previously guardian
In addition to experimenting with the tools, we also talk about this topic with experts who have researched the tools and experts who are on the receiving end of the tools.
This tool is attractive to employers because it aims to reduce the time and cost of filtering through large numbers of job applications and increase workplace efficiency. But Shellman concludes that they do more harm than good. Many hiring tools are not only based on troubling pseudoscience (for example, the idea that your voice intonation can predict your success on the job doesn’t hold true, Shellman says), but they also have the potential to discriminate. There is also.
Spotify Technology announced a new multi-year deal with comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday, with the goal of leveraging the show’s popularity to increase advertising revenue.
The estimated $250 million multi-year deal with Rogan includes a guaranteed minimum upfront payment and a revenue-sharing agreement based on ad sales. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the company declined to confirm the terms of the deal, but stated that the reported value was incorrect.
The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, which premiered in 2009, has been exclusively available on Spotify since 2020 and is promoted as the most listened to podcast globally.
Spotify also announced plans to make Joe Rogan’s show available on other platforms, including Apple, Amazon, and YouTube.
Joe Rogan interviews prominent politicians, businessmen, and celebrities on his podcast, such as director Quentin Tarantino, singer Miley Cyrus, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The Sweden-based company is focused on increasing advertising revenue on its platform through the Spotify Audience Network, an advertising marketplace for podcast publishers and creators.
“Since podcasts became exclusive to Spotify, overall podcast consumption on the platform has increased by 232%,” the company stated, noting that revenue from the previous year had risen by 80% compared to 2021.
Spotify first introduced podcasts in 2015 and has since made significant investments in the medium. It acquired podcast networks Gimlet Media and Anchor FM in 2019 and secured exclusive contracts with reality TV star Kim Kardashian and former US President Barack Obama. However, the company has since scaled back its ambitions and laid off 200 Gimlet Media employees.
Nearly all Tesla vehicles sold in the U.S. are being recalled due to small warning lights in the instrument panel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the recall of about 2.2 million vehicles on Friday, indicating increased scrutiny of electric vehicle manufacturers. Additionally, the agency upgraded its 2023 investigation into Tesla’s steering problems to a technical analysis, bringing it one step closer to a recall.
The update in response to the recall will enhance warnings and alerts for drivers. The document from NHTSA highlights that the font size for brake, parking, and anti-lock brake warning lights is smaller than required by federal safety standards, potentially making important safety information difficult to read and increasing the risk of a collision. The agency identified the problem during a routine safety compliance audit on January 8th. While Tesla has identified three warranty claims related to the issue, there are no reports of crashes or injuries.
The recall to fix the warning light issue will be done through a software update, affecting multiple models from 2012 to 2024. Tesla has already started releasing software updates, and owners will be notified by letter starting March 30th.
Following the announcement of the recall, Tesla’s stock fell another 2.7% in early trading on Friday, reaching its lowest level since May of last year.
In addition to the warning light issue, Tesla has faced scrutiny for its Autopilot system. Last December, NHTSA pressured Tesla to recall over 2 million vehicles for software updates and fixes related to the flawed system designed to make drivers more careful when using Autopilot. The recall was prompted by a two-year investigation into crashes involving the use of Autopilot, some of which were deadly.
Additionally, Tesla is recalling over 1.6 million electric vehicles exported to China due to problems with automatic assisted steering and door latch controls. The State Administration for Market Regulation in China announced the recall in early January, with Tesla planning to use remote upgrades to resolve the issue.
Overall, Tesla has faced challenges in addressing various safety concerns with its vehicles, including steering problems and Autopilot system issues, leading to substantial recalls and regulatory scrutiny.
R
Obin Khoury’s daughter Kristen was 15 years old when she was allowed to open her own Instagram account. “We considered ourselves responsible and did everything we could to ensure safety,” Corey says. Months later, Kristen disappeared from her parents’ home after being groomed by a criminal gang on Instagram’s direct message service and sold as prostitutes on the streets of Houston.
Colley said her daughter never recovered from the ordeal. Kristen returned to her home, but after she was trafficked again, she went missing. Her mother does not know if she is still alive.
Corey blames the gang that trafficked his daughter for destroying her life. She also blames Instagram, which she believes played a key role in the sex trafficking of her daughter. “If Instagram didn’t exist, none of this would have happened to my daughter,” she says. “Instagram made it so easy.” [for these people] do this. ”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this after addressing the audience at this week’s U.S. Senate committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation. Photo: Evelyn Hochstein/Reuters
During the hearing, Zuckerberg, along with other social media executives, was questioned about the extent of harm to children on their platforms, and said there was no “causal effect” between social media and poor mental health among young people. He denied there was any evidence that there was a relationship.
He then addressed parents gathered at a Congressional hearing and apologized to parents who had lost children to sexual exploitation and harassment for what they had gone through.
Corey doesn’t have time to hear Zuckerberg’s apology. “If she wanted to, she could stop all the harm that’s happening on her platform,” she says. “Words are not enough. He needs to act.”
She said her daughter was a “normal, happy child” until 2019, when she became the target of a criminal organization operating a prostitution ring in downtown Houston.
Boys working as gang scouts at Kristen’s school identified Kristen as a potential target, and she was flooded with messages from gang members through the direct message feature on her Instagram account.
“They promised her a Louis Vuitton bag in an Instagram message, promised her a yacht trip, things like that,” Corey says. “They say, ‘Come party with me.'”
A few months after she started receiving messages, the gang lured Kristen out of her parents’ home. Two weeks later, police found her in Houston’s red-light district.
“[When she came home] She started talking more about what they had done to her,” Corey says. “The babies’ mouths came out with horrifying stories about what they were forced to do.”
Corrie said Kristen returned to her family traumatized, frightened, angry and a different person.
“I searched for my daughter in some really dark places,” Robin Corey says. “We are conducting DNA testing on the remains that match her description.” Photo: Tola Olawale/The Guardian
FOne evening, my housemates and I were coming back from the pub with a few hangers on. The classic 1990s TV show “The Word” ends with a raucous live performance by the up-and-coming grunge band, and now it's time to play video games.
Online multiplayer didn't exist during the original PlayStation or Sega Saturn decade. If you wanted to play against a human, you had to play against a friend in your living room or someone else you found in the pub when it closed. It had to be accessible, competitive, and something that two or four people could play at the same time. We had to keep the rounds short because everyone wanted to play. That always means one of his two options: a soccer sim or a fighting game.
In the mid-1990s, fighting games were the most popular genre on consoles, along with driving sims. At the time, major hardware manufacturers and arcade companies were keen to corner the emerging market of real-time 3D games, games with polygonal characters and environments that replaced the essentially flat 2D world of sprites and backgrounds. did. These games were the future. And the fighting genre was the perfect showcase. These games featured large character models that benefited from 3D graphics and smooth animation, but also featured primarily static arenas, so they didn't need to fill up your disk or system. Memory that stores a lot of environmental data. He also has a huge fan base thanks to his 1980s classics like Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Karate Champ, as well as early 1990s hits Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat. Did. It fit perfectly.
1995 saw the release of Tekken on the PlayStation and Virtua Fighter on the Saturn. There was also the beautiful battle arena Toshinden by Tamsoft, which featured a feast of then-cutting-edge texture-mapped visuals, bizarre characters, and special moves. When Tekken 2 was released in August 1995, it sold over 5 million copies and cemented the genre's importance with its cinematic sequences and cool combatants. A year later, the N64 entered the fray with Killer Instinct Gold, Sega gave us Fighting Vipers and Last Bronx, and Capcom diversified the genre with Street Fighter Alpha 2, the horror-themed Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, and 3D weapon-based I was desperately working on it. The sci-fi battle Star Gladiator and the crossover classic X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Squaresoft, the creator of Final Fantasy, also took on the bizarre futuristic fighter Tubal No 1, which became a bestseller in Japan, probably because it came with a playable demo disc for Final Fantasy VII. .
Fighting games never went away. Even as people began to flock online for first-person shooters like Call of Duty, or abandoned social play altogether for new narrative adventure titles (Tomb Raiders, Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto). Regardless, Tekken, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear and a few other heavy hitters have held on, supported by a fiercely competitive community. It's great to see renewed interest in it through the excellent Street Fighter 6, the ridiculous Mortal Kombat 1, and the recent Tekken 8. I hope this ignites a passion for the old titles, the ones you used to play from 11:30pm to 5am on Friday nights. Once the Word is finished. Honestly, every Street Fighter game is worth playing. Tekken 3 remains a benchmark classic. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is beautiful and complex. He then ventured into the cult world of SNK's greats (Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, etc.) and descended the rabbit hole of his Arc System works to the frankly insane Guilty. You can also dive into the world of Gear.
The colors, the sounds, the characters, the combat…the praise you get when you pull off a super move and throw your fellow characters into space. The camaraderie of the arena. Log on to the Internet and raid his GameFaq site for a list of fan-created character moves and combos. Give your friend a boring third-party controller to play with while investing in his first fighting stick. The 1990s were his decade, the furnace of modern industry, as the game grew, diversified, brought in new people and spread its tentacles into wider culture. And for a few intense, glorious years, fighting games were at the absolute forefront.
Meta stock soared 15% in after-hours trading. The company’s strong fourth quarter results came a day after CEO Mark Zuckerberg was assaulted during a controversial Congressional hearing.
The company also announced that it would pay investors a dividend of 50 cents per share for the first time and authorized a $50 billion stock repurchase program.
Overall, Meta reported fourth-quarter revenue of $40.1 billion, beating expectations of $39.18 billion and increasing 25% year-over-year. The report comes as Meta, like many major technology companies, seeks to integrate artificial intelligence tools into its core products. In a statement accompanying the report, Zuckerberg said Meta was “a significant step forward in our vision of evolving AI and the Metaverse.”
“We anticipate that our ambitious long-term AI research and product development efforts will require increased infrastructure investment beyond this year,” the company’s press release said.
During last quarter’s earnings call, Zuckerberg touted Meta’s plans to invest in AI, saying it would be the company’s biggest investment area in 2024. Zuckerberg said in a video he shared on Instagram in early January that his company would acquire $9 billion worth of AI. Nvidia chips help scale up AI
Zuckerberg said AI will not only enhance ad campaigns and increase ad revenue, but AI will also be used to support new meta-products such as AI chatbots. Advertising revenue, the company’s core business, was $38.7 billion, compared with $31.25 billion in the same period last year. His Meta hardware products, such as the Quest 3 VR headset, still don’t account for a large percentage of the company’s revenue. Zuckerberg said on a conference call Thursday that he expects Meta to begin rolling out its AI services more broadly in the coming months.
Meta has laid off more than 20,000 employees in 2023 as it focuses on cost-cutting measures as part of what Zuckerberg has dubbed the “Year of Efficiency.” These efforts seem to have paid off, with Meta’s operating profit margin doubling from 20% in the same period of 2022 to 41%. Meanwhile, expenses decreased 8% year-on-year to $23.73 billion. Chief Financial Officer Susan Lee said on a conference call that Meta had more than 67,300 employees at the end of the fourth quarter, down 22% from a year ago, but that “hiring efforts have resumed. '', which resulted in a 2% increase from the third quarter.
Regulatory headwinds are probably top of mind for investors following Meta’s public taunts during Wednesday’s Congressional hearing. The hearing was convened to question Zuckerberg and other tech executives over the impact of their platforms on young users. The CEO expressed his condolences to the parents in the crowd who lost their children to online exploitation.
Throughout the hearing, lawmakers touted a bill that could strip Meta and other platforms of legal immunity for content posted on them, a move that would make Meta and other platforms illegal in 41 states over its impact on young users. It was enacted several months after a major lawsuit was filed by the attorney general. New Mexico’s attorney general also accused the company of failing to prevent child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
As a result of regulatory concerns, Meta has sought to diversify its core business, which has so far relied on advertising, which collects vast amounts of user data. Reality Labs, the division responsible for developing virtual reality products, faced a loss of $4.65 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $4.28 billion in the same period last year, bringing its total loss for 2023 to $16.1 billion. It reached $20 million. Meta said in a press release that it expects operating losses to “increase significantly year-over-year” as Reality Labs continues to expand its ecosystem.
In addition to regulatory concerns, Meta sees its platform’s user base tightening as young users in particular migrate to new platforms such as TikTok. The company said its platform is experiencing faster growth outside the United States. Insider information Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg.
“On the usage side, Facebook continued to see a squeeze in user growth, but as expected, most of the new users came from outside of North America,” she said. “In the U.S., popularity among teenagers has become a liability in the eyes of lawmakers, which could hinder Facebook and Instagram’s efforts to grow in the country.”
Ministers must protect content creators whose work has been used without permission by tech companies for AI products like chatbots, which generate significant financial gains, according to a House of Lords committee.
The Lords Communications and Digital Committee stated that the UK’s legal framework is failing to uphold copyright principles as AI development progresses.
The commission highlighted that high-tech companies are using copyrighted materials without authorization and reaping substantial benefits.
Copyright has become a crucial issue in the development of generative AI, which involves creating text, images, and audio from human commands.
The committee called for government action against copyright infringement and urged for an update to the legal framework to prevent such outcomes.
Additionally, the committee recommended that the government evaluate whether the current copyright law adequately safeguards the rights of copyright owners and consider amending the law if there is legal uncertainty.
Furthermore, the Intellectual Property Office of the government is working on a code of practice for copyright and AI. The Copyright Act of 1988 exempts text and data mining for “non-commercial” research, but the government had initially planned to extend this exemption to all uses in 2022, which has since been withdrawn.
In the US, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is facing lawsuits for alleged copyright infringement, as it has been accused of using copyrighted material to create its tools. Similarly, Microsoft and other companies have emphasized the potential negative impacts of restricted access to data on the functionality of AI models.
The committee also cautioned the government about the prolonged technological disruption caused by AI and the need to prevent the concentration of market power in a few companies’ hands.
A government spokesperson indicated that the Intellectual Property Office has been collaborating with stakeholders to formulate voluntary regulations on AI and copyright, aimed at facilitating the thriving coexistence of AI and creative industries.
I I am at a fortunate stage in my parenting journey where I have a son who is old enough to have a girlfriend who is smart enough to give his boyfriend’s father a truly thoughtful gift at Christmas. Masu.That’s how I started unwrapping 10 things video games can teach us about life, philosophy, and everything else Written by Jordan Erica Webber and Daniel Griliopoulos.
Books, like video games, require an investment of time, so giving them as gifts can be risky. You don’t throw it on your stiff feet like a sock or slap it on your tired face like aftershave. The opposite can also happen if your feet smell or your face is cold.
Personally, I find academic books about video games ironic. Because in the 90s he wrote and presented the BBC Radio 4 program ‘Are Books Dead?’ I argued that video games had made written language unnecessary. This was clearly a stupid question, but this was a decade of speaking out loud without needing information to back it up, and that’s one of the reasons it was such a glorious time to be alive. , was just one of the reasons why Liam Gallagher was that hero.
10 things video games can teach us about life, philosophy, and everything else. Photo: Jordan Erica Weber
This is a great book that will make you think more about games. I usually don’t really think through my decisions because the hellish timer is counting down and the aliens are chasing me.
The book gives an example from Mass Effect 3 where you decide whether to save Admiral Corris and his five-man crew from the geth. It’s a matter of utilitarian philosophy — “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” — and the curveball thrown at us is that if we rescue the crew and let them die, a bunch of officers will panic. This is because they fall into a trap, lose their collective consciousness, and fly towards them. Doom Killing has more than the original five.
But the downside of the game as a thought experiment for me is that this wasn’t that hard of a decision. As a gamer, I knew that saving Collis would yield better results than keeping his small crew alive. The crew members don’t have long, complicated names like Admiral Zaal Coris, Admiral Kwib Kwib, so they’re not going to help me in the future. Look for badges with it in holiday gift shops.
It was the right decision for me as a gamer, but the game doesn’t allow me to see if any of the crew members went on to be cured of their cancer. But what I really want is to get the most points and get that crazy big bastard gun in my next playthrough to unlock the special ending. Do you want to tackle these lofty questions regardless? Games should be fun, right?
The authors argue that it is the “fun” aspect of video games that makes them a more convenient medium for philosophy than books, and as the book states, “Philosophy has become so popular that it has become a compulsory subject in schools. “Very few governments take it seriously.'' Games may be the only place kids can learn about this topic. This is really depressing. And it’s almost certainly still true today. (This book was published in 2017).
Games are also great for philosophical discussions because you don’t have to worry about crazy theoretical situations. you play them. As you can see. You don’t have to argue with people by saying, “But I can’t do it.” actually “Go back in time and kill Hitler as a baby,” because that’s probably possible in the game. (Think Wolfenstein IV: Hitler Hospital.) Every time we turn on the console, we suspend our disbelief. Whether it’s a plumber growing by eating mushrooms or Arbroath winning the European Champions League on FM in 2024. In real life, I would never be in a situation where I would choose one life out of five (hopefully). Video games allow you to do that.
The Last of Us Part I on PlayStation 5 and PC. Photo: Naughty Dog/Sony
I wish they would give you more options like that. The Last of Us presents the ultimate test of utilitarian philosophy.Will Joel sacrifice Ellie to save humanity? But as the player you cannot choose that – Ellie Must And just like saving the five red shirts in Mass Effect 3, it wasn’t a perfect solution after all. Other mishaps followed, and the sequel ended up dealing with them. It would be interesting if Naughty Dog made a version where Ellie died. A sequel to a game from another world!
I want those choices, but otherwise, when I’m forced to make choices in a game, I don’t want to use them as philosophical thought experiments or exciting ways to test morality. I don’t think so. I choose the one that earns me the most points. I grew up playing arcade games. There, the only measure of success was adding up the numbers. My children’s generation is different. They grew up playing the game. I scattered petals around me or I experienced life as a mountain.,
there were no points at all. They are literally allowed to consider: all.
A prestigious portrait competition has defended its ability to allow entrants to submit works generated by artificial intelligence, arguing that art should reflect social change rather than being stagnant.
of Brisbane Portrait Award The work, which is worth a top prize of $50,000, is being described as Queensland’s answer to the Archibalds, and selected works will be exhibited at the Brisbane Powerhouse later this year.
This year, the Brisbane Portrait Prize has announced in its entry terms and conditions that as long as the artwork is original and “fully completed and fully owned” by the entrant, it is “completed in whole or in part by generative artificial intelligence.” It states that it will accept submissions that have been submitted. .
A spokesperson for the awards told Guardian Australia that allowing AI submissions acknowledged that the definition of art is not stagnant and is always growing.
“The BPP prides itself on being a contemporary prize, fostering the continued evolution of the art and participating in the conversation around it, while always being interested in what ‘contemporary’ portraiture is.” ” they said.
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A spokesperson said that in the past, more traditional artists objected to allowing digital and photographic submissions, but it is now generally accepted in the art world.
“As technology continues to adapt and integrate into our society, the use of assistive technology is already paving the way for inclusion for artists with disabilities, and we believe that the use of AI tools and methodologies will continue to grow in this field. “We believe this is the next step,” the spokesperson said.
The previous winner, painter Stephen Tiernan, said: told ABC The creation of AI-generated works still involves an artistic process, and the rule changes ultimately kept the awards modern.
A spokesperson said the contest will determine ownership of works based on the terms of the process used and the AI program behind it. At the time of submission, artists must declare that they have full copyright to their submitted work.
Dr Rita Maturionite, a senior lecturer in law at Macquarie University, said that under Australian copyright law, AIs themselves cannot be authors, but how much of an AI-assisted work of art can humans own in order to claim ownership. He said whether the information would have to be entered remains an open question.
“What is unclear is [is] “How much human contribution is enough for a person to become a writer?” she said. “Is one prompt enough for her, or does she need to create 100 prompts?”
A spokesperson for the Brisbane Portrait Prize said if the artist contributed “sufficient independent intellectual effort” to the creation of the work, it was likely to be protected by copyright.
“An example of someone determining full ownership of content is when an artist uses an AI tool to use elements of some of their own original work, and all original designs belong solely to the artist. This could be the case if we create new artwork,” the spokesperson said.
“We recognize that AI is an evolving field and that our laws often keep pace with technological advances.”
Dr TJ Thomson, Senior Lecturer in RMIT's School of Media and Communication, said: 'Creating an image through a camera and imagining an image through a keyword prompt are completely different experiences that require very different skills. There is,” he said.
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“If you have some knowledge of photography principles and equipment, you can understand the intent of the photo, but it’s not fair to pit camera-generated images against AI-generated images.”
This is not the first contest to tackle AI entries since the explosion of widely available generative AI applications over the past year.
The National Portrait Gallery’s 2024 National Photographic Portrait Awards allows the use of generative AI tools in the development of submitted photographic works, but does not allow images that are entirely AI-generated.
However, there are strict conditions, such as requiring details of which tools were used and how. If your prompts to AI include someone else’s name, image, work, or creative style, you must obtain their explicit consent.
Thomson said the competition was a messy space with many unanswered questions, but other competitions in the meantime are likely to have similar results.
In November, the World Press Photo Contest announced it would exclude AI-generated entries from its public format after receiving “honest and thoughtful feedback,” and said the ban was “in line with our long-standing values of accuracy and authenticity.” He said that it was something that
German artist Boris Eldagsen said he submitted an AI-generated photo of two women “as cheeky monkeys” to see if there would be a competition for AI images, and he won a prize at Sony last year. He declined the award in the Creative Open category of the World Photography Awards.
“They’re not,” he said last April.
In Sydney last year, a woman claimed to have taken a photo of her son with a mobile phone but lost out in a competition after judges suspected it was generated by AI.
At the NGV Triennial Exhibition to be held in Melbourne this year, Works by Irish artist Kevin Abosch They created “deepfakes of scenes depicting social unrest around the world,” including in Melbourne, and investigated how manipulated information fuels social unrest.
ERon Musk suffered one of the largest legal losses in U.S. history this week when Tesla’s CEO was stripped of $56 billion in compensation in a lawsuit brought by an unlikely opponent: a former heavy metal drummer. Covered.
Richard Tornetta sued Musk in 2018, when Tornetta, a Pennsylvania resident, owned just nine Tesla shares. The case ultimately went to trial in late 2022, and on Tuesday, a judge sided with Tornetta, invalidating his massive pay deal as unfair to him and all of his Tesla shareholders.
Mr. Tornetta could not be reached for comment, and his lawyer declined to comment.
Before Mr. Tornetta’s lawsuit, Mr. Musk had won a series of lawsuits accusing him of defamation, breach of duty to shareholders and violations of securities laws.
Judging by his online presence, Mr. Tornetta appears to be more interested in creating audio equipment for car customization enthusiasts than pursuing corporate excesses and fraud.
He posts light-hearted videos about his gadgets and mishaps, such as explaining how he burned his eyebrows.
Tornetta also appears in a video playing drums at the former legendary New York club CBGB with his now-defunct metal band Dawn of Collection, describing the sound as “steel-toed.” “It sounded like a quick kick in the face with a work boot.”
On social media, fans of Tesla and Musk seem to feel the incident is a travesty of justice, speculating about Tornetta’s intentions and political affiliations and wondering how investors with such a minuscule stake could He questioned whether he could wield such power.
Delaware’s corporate case law is replete with cases naming individual investors with small stakes that ultimately shaped American corporate law.
Eric Talley, who teaches corporate law at Columbia Law School, said many law firms representing shareholders have a steady stream of investors who can work with them to litigate cases. They may be pension funds with a wide range of stocks, but they are also often individuals like Tornetta.
Talley said it’s common for plaintiffs to sign the paperwork to file a lawsuit and then walk away. Investors won’t pay law firms to take on cases on a contingency basis, as lawyers did in the Musk case.
Mr. Tornetta, like other Tesla shareholders, stands to benefit from winning the lawsuit, saving the company billions of dollars that subordinate boards paid to Mr. Musk.
Business groups have long criticized lawsuits brought by individuals as a sign of potential abuse. A decade ago, Delaware was beset by lawsuits contesting merger deals and led by private investors who owned a minority stake. Cases were often quickly resolved with nonsensical settlements, which always included payments to the lawyers who brought the cases. Delaware judges and lawmakers eventually curbed the practice.
Experts said people like Tornetta are essential to policing the boardroom. Lawmakers and judges have long wanted big investment firms to take the lead in these corporate cases because of their ability to monitor lawyers’ tactics. But experts said fund managers did not want to jeopardize their relationships on Wall Street.
Therefore, it was up to Tornetta to face Mask.
“His name is now etched in the history of corporate law,” Talley said. “My students will be reading ‘Tornetta vs. the Mask’ for the next 10 years.”
A group of 25 California counties has sued Elon Musk’s Tesla, accusing the electric car maker of mishandling hazardous waste at its facilities in the state.
The lawsuits from Los Angeles, Alameda, San Joaquin, San Francisco and other counties were filed Tuesday in California state court. The company is seeking civil penalties and an injunction that would require it to properly dispose of its waste in the future.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The counties accused Tesla of violating the state’s Unfair Business Practices Act and Hazardous Waste Management Act by improperly labeling the waste and sending the material to landfills that cannot accept hazardous materials. California’s Hazardous Waste Management Act can result in civil penalties of as much as $70,000 per day for each violation.
The waste generated or processed at the facility includes paint materials, brake fluid, used batteries, antifreeze, diesel fuel and more, according to the county.
The complaint alleges violations occur at 101 facilities, including Tesla’s manufacturing plant in Fremont. Spokespeople for each county did not immediately provide additional details about the incident.
The lawsuit is not the first time Tesla has faced allegations related to its hazardous waste management practices.
The company reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2019 over alleged federal hazardous waste violations at its Fremont plant. In that agreement, Tesla agreed to take steps to properly manage waste within its facilities. and pay a $31,000 fine..
Tesla subsequently filed a lawsuit with the Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 after federal officials alleged it failed to maintain records and implement plans to minimize air pollutants from paint operations at its Fremont factory. They reached an agreement and agreed to pay a penalty of $275,000.
More than 50% of undergraduate students admit to using artificial intelligence programs to assist them in writing essays, and educational institutions are exploring the integration of AI programs into the classroom.
A survey conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) of over 1,000 UK undergraduate students found that 53% utilize AI to create content for graded assignments. 25% use applications like Google Bard or ChatGPT to suggest topics, and 12% use them to generate content.
Only 5% of students admitted to directly copying and pasting unedited AI-generated text into their assessments.
Educators are also exploring the use of AI to streamline their tasks, and the Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF) has initiated a research project on using AI to develop lesson plans, materials, exams, and model answers.
Dr. Andres Guadams, an expert in intellectual property law at the University of Sussex, expressed that it is not surprising that students are increasingly relying on AI and suggested that clear methods for its use should be established through open discussions.
Hepi’s research revealed that 1 in 3 students utilizing AI report experiencing “hallucinations,” meaning they need additional information such as statistics and academic citations to fill in gaps recognized by the AI.
Mr. Guadams mentioned an essay submitted last year that appeared to use unedited ChatGPT output, resulting in a “boring” writing style. However, as the use of AI becomes more prevalent, fewer students are actively utilizing it.
According to the EEF proposal, AI could potentially reduce the workload of teachers and enhance the quality of education. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan highlighted that AI could handle the “heavy lifting” of marking and planning.
Half of the 58 UK schools participating in the EEF project will be provided with a toolkit to create assessment materials and tailor lessons to specific groups of students. AI-generated lesson plans will be evaluated by an independent panel of experts.
Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the EEF, emphasized the limited research on the impact of AI on real-world education and expressed the importance of this trial in contributing to the evidence base.
U.S. officials claim to have stopped an attempt by China to plant malware that could potentially damage civilian infrastructure. If the U.S. and China were to go to war, officials warn that Beijing could disrupt the daily life of U.S. citizens. The FBI director issued this warning, stating that he was in a position to carry out such disruptions.
The operation resulted in the destruction of a botnet comprised of hundreds of small office and home routers located in the U.S. that had been hijacked by Chinese hackers in order to hide their tracks with malware. The operation was successful in accomplishing this.
U.S. officials said that the ultimate targets of the attackers included water treatment plants, power grids, and transportation systems in the United States.
These claims align with assessments made by external cybersecurity companies like Microsoft. In May, Microsoft revealed that state-sponsored Chinese hackers had been targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, laying the technological groundwork for potentially disrupting vital communications between the U.S. and Asia during future crises.
Some of the operation, attributed to a group of hackers known as Bolt Typhoon, was halted after the FBI and Justice Department officials obtained a search and seizure order in a Houston federal court in December. U.S. authorities have not disclosed the impact of the disruption, stating that the disrupted botnet was merely “a form of infrastructure used by Bolt Typhoon to obfuscate its activities.” The hackers concealed their actions within normal web traffic and infiltrated their targets through multiple channels, including cloud and internet providers.
FBI Director Chris Wray expressed concern that not enough public attention is being paid to cyber threats that affect “all Americans.” He made this statement before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security, echoed similar sentiments during the hearing, emphasizing that China’s cyber threats endanger the lives of Americans at home through disrupted pipelines, telecommunications, contaminated water facilities, and crippled transportation systems, with the goal of inciting social panic and chaos.
The United States has become more aggressive in recent years in its efforts to disrupt and dismantle both criminal and state-sponsored cyber operations. Wray also warned that Chinese government-backed hackers were aiming to steal trade secrets and personal information and influence foreign countries to ultimately supplant the United States as the world’s biggest superpower.
State-sponsored hackers, particularly those from China and Russia, are adept at adapting and finding new infiltration methods and routes, further complicating the threat.
U.S. authorities have long been worried about such hackers lurking in U.S. infrastructure. The older routers used by the Bolt Typhoon group were no longer receiving security updates from their manufacturers, making them easy targets for cyber attacks. Due to the urgency of the situation, U.S. cyber operators removed the malware from these routers without directly notifying their owners and added code to prevent reinfection.
According to Easterly, Chinese cyber attackers took advantage of a fundamental technological flaw in the U.S. that made it easy for them to carry out their attacks. U.S. officials stated that allies were also affected by the Bolt Typhoon hack of critical infrastructure, but they declined to disclose potential actions they might take in response to the attack.
China has repeatedly dismissed the U.S. government’s hacking allegations as baseless, claiming instead that the U.S. is the biggest perpetrator of cyberattacks. However, outgoing US Cyber Command and National Security Agency head Gen. Paul Nakasone stated that “responsible cyber attackers” were not targeting civilian infrastructure and had no reason to do so.
your mom’s kitchen Audible, new episodes every week starting Wednesday In this warm and nostalgic celebrity interview series, host Michelle Norris asks guests how the kitchen you grew up in has shaped who you are today. In the first of the new episodes, Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves-McConaughey talk about learning how to tell anecdotes, their grandpa’s wood stove, and how ice cream helps calm arguments. Reminiscing about recognition. That’s a fascinating listen. Alexi Duggins
law and disorder Wide range of weekly episodes available Former High Court judge Nicholas Mostyn, human rights activist Helena Kennedy and former attorney general Charlie Falconer have said their podcasts are “painfully serious and respectful, where everyone can disagree respectfully.” “It won’t become a show,” he promises. And they say this, ruminating on President Trump and the widening gulf between their professions and politicians. Hannah Verdier
Climate scientist Chris Turney, host of “Unf*cking the Future.” Photo: Reuters
unleash the future Wide range of weekly episodes available Wise and foul-mouthed climate scientist Chris Turney offers a cure for Earth-induced existential dread and speaks to those who are doing more than doom-scrolling to make a difference. Maggie “Billie Eilish’s mother” Baird is our first guest and points out that one day a week without meat and dairy can make a big difference. HV
patient 11 Wide range of weekly episodes available This stunning and daring four-part series tells the story of former British youth swimmer Alexis Quinn, who escaped psychiatric treatment to make accusations of widespread sexual assault. This is alarming, given both her story and the year-and-a-half-long investigation into sexual abuse in British mental health units that it sparked. advertisement
Guns and Wands: Official Companion Podcast Wide range of weekly episodes available Alfie Packham and Caroline McEvoy are the hosts of the companion podcast to Game of Thrones meets Peaky Blinders, The Gun and Wand. Of course, the show doesn’t actually exist. That hasn’t stopped the discussion about The Naked Wizard and linguist Dr. Brian Spleen’s lessons on creating mysterious new languages. HV
There’s a podcast for that
Katie Piper is one of the guests on Ellis James and John Robbins’ How Do You Cope? Photo: S Meddle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock
this week, Hannah Verdier Our picks for the 5 best podcasts on health and wellnessfrom soothing sounds to calming the tired mind to debunking the myths surrounding health and wellness trends.
slow radio If you find yourself exhausted from not being outside all day, put down your phone and let Slow Radio soothe you. There’s something oddly hypnotic about hearing the dawn chorus three times in a row, even if it involves crazy tweets that sound like angry birds. If you’re not a fan of nature, other meditative sounds are also available in the 30-minute episodes, so you can also delve deeper into chiming clocks or discover the sounds that transmitters hear at night. This is the wellness podcast you never knew you needed, but once you listen to it, you’ll look forward to your daily break.
Scotty: Self-help If you’re really struggling with your mental health, it can be a little overwhelming to be bombarded with positive mantras. So Scotty (above), cabaret artist, activist, and all-around brilliant egg, has the antidote you need. In his “Amateur Guide to Staying Alive,” he doesn’t tell you to meditate, move more, or write a bullet journal, but he does say that he has tried to keep himself sane over the years. Let’s talk about everything. This podcast has a warm and intimate feel, with Scotty appearing as the friend you need when you’re walking in the rain. He’s always been like that, but sometimes he wonders why on earth he does it.
Zoe’s Science and Nutrition Zoe’s research is leading a revolution in health and nutrition, powered by ongoing research, and this podcast is the perfect place to stay up to date with the latest news. We have episodes dedicated to many of the big food questions that make the headlines, including dairy, snacking, protein, nuts, and more. Find the latest research on gut health, artificial sweeteners, and ultra-processed foods, all with an evidence-based perspective from scientists. When you’re surrounded by diet advice that ranges from low-carb to keto to fasting, it’s nice to hear a fresh, balanced approach.
maintenance phase In a world full of Instagram influencers, almond moms, and leg days, Michael Hobbs and Aubrey Gordon are a breath of fresh air, debunking the ‘science’ behind health and wellness fads . Many questions are being discussed. Why do I have to walk 10,000 steps a day? How do you navigate a doctor’s weigh-in when you don’t want to step on the scale? And do French women really not gain weight? For these two, there are no superstitions, old statistics or “everything I ate in a day” videos, just laugh-out-loud humor and common sense that run through every episode.
How do you deal with it?with ellis and john Hosts Ellis James and John Robbins are so open about their mental health day-to-day that their guests can’t help but join in. In this series, James Cracknell, Katie Piper and Jordan Gray talk about what they’ve had to overcome in their lives. Each episode begins with the hosts checking in with each other (“How’s your shame?”), with plenty of time for warmth and conversation. Particularly moving are the scenes in which Robbins opens up about her struggle with alcohol, admitting that “I couldn’t go anywhere because I was like that,” and how she began her recovery.
Apparently it’s dripped into the ear! brain leak It brings together Jackseptic Eye (Sean McLaughlin) and Ethan Nestor for a funny and unconventional deep dive inside their heads, right down to the slimy parts.
What happens when you marry someone whose partner has already committed a crime?Package deals you didn’t ask for Shit!i married twins.
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Managing your child’s relationship with screens can be a minefield, from navigating TikTok trends to evading parental controls.
By age 11, 91% of UK children owned smartphones, while the data from Ofcom found that 80% of children between 9 and 16 used them daily to access the internet. In the US, research suggested that 42% of children owned a smartphone by age 10 and 91% by age 14.
The lockdown accelerated the already increasing trend of device use among children and adults. Post-pandemic, children’s screen time has increased, according to a BBC survey. Average US 11-14 year-olds spent up to nine hours a day in front of screens, according to the CDC.
Parents expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of time their children spent online and its effect on mood and concentration. Strategies for limiting screen time vary, ranging from using tools like Google’s Family Link to setting rules about when screens are allowed.
According to 2018 CDC data, the average 11- to 14-year-old in the United States spent nine hours in front of a screen each day. Photo: Grechanyuk Aleksandr/Alamy
Many parents struggle to monitor their child’s screen time due to work and other obligations. Some expressed concern about children spending excessive time on smartphones, while others found value in the educational content their children accessed.
// Rich Link content
The rise of smartphones has created challenges for young people, affecting their social lives and increasing pressure. Many parents strive to find a balance in their children’s device usage, acknowledging both the benefits and potential drawbacks.
Microsoft on Tuesday beat analysts’ expectations as its big bet on artificial intelligence paid off, particularly in its Azure cloud computing unit.
The software giant reported revenue of $62 billion, up 18% from a year ago, beating expected profits of $61.1 billion. The Net income increased 33% year over year to $21.9 billion.
CEO Satya Nadella said: “We have moved from talking about AI to applying AI at scale. By bringing AI to every layer of our technology stack, we are gaining new customers and unlocking new benefits in all areas. and boost productivity.”
Microsoft Cloud revenue grew 24% year over year. According to the earnings report, Xbox Content and Services segment revenue increased 61% due to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Activision increased the company’s overall revenue by 4%.
Microsoft, which recently overtook Apple to become the world’s most valuable company, last week became the second company in history to have a stock market valuation of $3 trillion.
Microsoft is considered a leading player in the AI space, both through its own efforts and its close relationship with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, of which it is the largest shareholder. In November, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella played a key role in Sam Altman’s return as CEO of OpenAI after Altman’s shocking firing. Microsoft occupies an observer seat on his OpenAI board.
Jeremy Goldman, Senior Director of Insider Intelligence/eMarketer Briefing, said: “The company’s recent financial performance, which showed an impressive 18% revenue growth in today’s earnings call, is driven by innovation and strategy. “It shows a powerful combination of foresight.” “While peers such as Alphabet and Meta lead the way in his AI industry, Microsoft is solidifying its position as the frontrunner in his AI race.”
Microsoft’s influence over AI development is rapidly expanding, drawing increased scrutiny from regulators and those outside the technology industry. Investors brushed off concerns that the stock would face stronger headwinds as the stock rose 10% over the past month.
The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that it had opened an investigation into the company’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI, as well as its dealings with Google, Amazon, and AI startup Anthropic. Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority is also investigating the deal. European Union regulators said they may launch a similar investigation. The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in early December, alleging copyright infringement by ChatGPT.
The quarter also marked the first time Microsoft reported revenue with Activision Blizzard, the premier game studio behind hits like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Microsoft completed its $69 billion acquisition of the video game maker in October after lengthy back-and-forth with regulators.
Citing job cuts within both companies, Microsoft last week laid off 1,900 employees across its gaming division, including Activision employees and those working on Xbox consoles.
In a court filing on Tuesday, a Delaware judge ruled in favor of investors who contested Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package from Tesla, stating that it was excessive. The judge concluded that the compensation had been improperly established by Tesla’s board of directors and revoked it. If the decision is upheld in a potential appeal, Tesla’s board would need to create a new compensation plan for Musk.
Elon Musk responded on Twitter/X, saying, “Never incorporate a company in Delaware.”
Five years ago, Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta filed a lawsuit accusing the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, of improperly directing negotiations on compensation packages and the board of directors lacking independence. The court’s decision directed Tornetta to cooperate with Musk’s legal team regarding the judge’s order, which can be appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.
Musk’s compensation trial in November 2022 revealed that the money would be used to fund interplanetary travel. He testified, “This is how we’re going to get humans to Mars, so Tesla can help potentially achieve that.”
Tesla’s board argued that the package was necessary to keep Elon Musk committed to the electric car maker. The judge disagreed, noting that the defense failed to prove the need for such an unprecedented compensation plan. She instructed the parties to work on the final order implementing her decision.
The plaintiffs’ legal team also argued that the board had a duty to either reduce Musk’s salary or find another CEO and ensure that he worked full-time at Tesla instead of focusing on other projects.
Amit Batish of executive compensation research firm Equilar estimated in 2022 that Musk’s package was about six times the combined compensation of the 200 highest-paid executives in 2021.
In July, Tesla directors agreed to return $735 million to the company to settle shareholder claims that the company had overpaid in a separate lawsuit.
IIt's been nearly 30 years since the original Tekken hit arcades, facing off against Sega's Virtua Fighter and starting a decade-long battle for 3D fighting supremacy. The game's smooth, detailed 3D visuals, engaging characters, and easy-to-access four-button control system brought a new generation of fans to the fighting game genre when it debuted on PlayStation. Subsequent installments in the series have built on that solid track record, although they haven't always had the same impact. . Tekken 7 was a subtle step forward that rewarded dedicated players, but Tekken 8 feels like the first version in a while that truly ups the ante and appeals to newcomers. The result is a thrilling and vibrant video game.
For the uninitiated, Tekken 8 is the latest in a series of fighting games from arcade legends Namco. In this game, a group of brilliantly flashy warriors compete to win the King of Iron Fist tournament in his one-on-one battles in a closed arena. Players fight against increasingly powerful computer-controlled enemies in arcade and story modes, and against each other in local and online competitive matches.
Unlike 2D fighting games such as Street Fighter, characters can not only move on a 2D plane, but also pivot around each other, which adds a sense of depth. The combat system is also very different. In Tekken he uses four buttons, each controlling a different limb, so his basic move set is his two kicks and his two punches, and pressing two at the same time gives you access to a throw. Masu. You can chain button presses into sequences to access more powerful combinations (combos), and pressing both the short and long sides of the D-pad analog stick adds even more force. Tactics range from attacking the opponent with quick jabs and kicks to drain their defenses, to juggling the opponent in the air like a deranged circus performer.
“A love letter to arcade culture”…Tekken 8. Photo provided by: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Each fighter has a unique style that combines real martial arts and quasi-magical attacks. There's a ridiculous backstory about the Mishima family during the war, and they're like the Roy family from Succession, but with more wrestling and throwing each other into volcanoes. One of his characters in the game is a giant panda. That's pretty much all you need to know.
If it sounds like a relic from a bygone era, it is and it is not. Tekken 8 is a graphic and technical marvel, and his 32 characters are exquisitely detailed, exquisitely animated, and packed with personality and dignity. In addition to veteran fighters such as the rogue American street fighter Paul Phoenix and the psychic wildlife warden Jun Kazama (returning after a long hiatus), there are also three newcomers: Victor, Reina, and nervous coffee genie Azucena. . Nina Williams in a purple dress with tassels, Sergei Dragunov in high-heeled biker boots, giant cyborg Jack-8 showing off his crushing telescopic fists, all looking incredible That's the feeling.
With so many characters, the characters might feel the same, but there's real diversity here, so whether you're flying through the skies as Alisa Bosconovitch, a beautiful jet-powered android, or Zafina's You can also crawl with creepy tarantulas. The combo gives her a stunning light show of flames and pulsating energy waves. The sound effects that accompany every movement, such as bone-crushing impacts and whiplash sounds, are also fun. The sheer nuclear force of a king suplex or a kick to Li Chaolan's jaw reverberates through the speakers like a crazy Shaw Brothers fight scene at maximum volume.
Lots of beans… Azucena from “Tekken 8”. Photo provided by: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Critical to Tekken 8's success are two new features: Heat and Arcade Quest. Heat His system, accessed via the right shoulder button, supercharges the fighter for a short period of time, giving them devastating smash moves and ensuring regular attacks do damage even when an opponent is blocking. However, the Heat only have access to him once per game, so timing is everything. Do you activate it early to get a head start, or do you save it as a sort of “get out of nowhere” card for when you’re pushed into a corner?
In the latter situation, Tekken 8 also uses a new interpretation of the Rage system introduced in Tekken 6, which adds extra power to your moves when your health drops below a certain point. In this game, you can also use the character Rage's art. This is an epic super move that will destroy your opponent. My favorite so far is Brian Fury's absolutely crushing storm of mega-punch, culminating in a laser-guided haymaker capable of knocking the moon out of orbit. While Rage doesn't quite match the fighting sim Mario Kart Blue Shell, it does imbue you with a never-say-die attitude that lets you see matches thrillingly turned upside down on the brink of death. .
Then there's Arcade Quest, a sort of narrative role-playing tutorial mode. Create your avatar and travel through the coin-op palace, training key moves and combos while battling non-player characters who offer hints and encouragement. As you win matches and win certain challenges, you unlock new items and rewards, making this a really fun and highly effective way to learn.
It's also a great preview of the online multiplayer mode, which takes your avatar into a vibrant hub world known as the Fight Lounge (which seems like a lot of clubs I've been to), and where you can play with others. You can meet players and challenge them to a duel. There's also a chat system and a place to customize your character and play a light-hearted game of Tekken Ball, your answer to volleyball. I love the attempt to remind me of the arcade atmosphere of the 1980s and 1990s and emphasize friendly competition and camaraderie. Indeed, Tekken 8 producer Michael Murray said, called it “A love letter to arcade culture.”
As someone who has been playing Tekken since 1995, once smashing a PlayStation controller into pieces trying to beat Kazuya Mishima in Tekken 2, and as a young games journalist, I found myself writing for the official PlayStation Magazine. As someone who used to take countless screenshots of Yoshimitsu's helicopter in the game room, Stomp, Tekken 8 is a lot of fun. It's both familiar and new, quirky and intuitive, and accomplishes what all good fighting games do. It feels incredible when you pull off a series of elusive movements with almost ballet-like effect. Tekken was once looked down upon by Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter veterans as a flashy poser, with its combos seen as too automated and unexpressive. But subsequent Tekken titles have added subtle complications, and now in Tekken 8, everyone wants to see how it works.
The King of Iron Fist Tournament is being called. Once again, it's time to answer.
George Osborne has been hired by Coinbase, a U.S. cryptocurrency exchange operator that is facing an intense legal battle with U.S. regulators.
The San Francisco-based company announced Wednesday that it has appointed the former British Prime Minister to its advisory board and will “lean on his insight and experience as we grow Coinbase around the world.”
Mr. Osborne’s appointment will be to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). suing coinbase, accused it of acting as an intermediary in cryptocurrency transactions while circumventing disclosure requirements meant to protect investors. The company disputes this claim and is fighting it in court.
This is the latest in a series of high-paying jobs Mr Osborne has held since leaving government in 2016. At one point, Mr Osborne had nine jobs, ranging from newspaper editing and financial management to providing guidance and advice to the government on leveling the North of England.
Osborne left some of his work behind when he joined boutique investment banking advisor Robbie Warshaw as a partner in 2021. Mr Osborne last year collected part of his £28m remuneration for his work at the company. His salary at Coinbase has not been disclosed.
“There is a tremendous amount of exciting innovation happening in the financial industry right now,” Osborn said of his appointment to Coinbase. “Blockchain is transforming financial markets and online transactions. Coinbase is at the forefront of these developments. I look forward to working with the team as we build a new future for financial services.”
Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer at Coinbase, said: “We are delighted to welcome George to our Board at an exciting time for us both in the UK and globally.”
“George has extensive experience in business, journalism, and government. We look forward to relying on his insight and experience as we grow Coinbase around the world.”
Osborne’s other current jobs include: Chairman of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. Chair of the British Museum. “Distinguished Visiting Scholar” at the Hoover Institution. He is a visiting professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he teaches a course on decision making. He is chairman of Lingotto Investment Management, the $3 billion investment fund of Italy’s billionaire Agnelli family’s Exor Group, which owns large stakes in Juventus FC, The Economist and Ferrari.
Alphabet shares experienced a more than 5% drop in after-hours trading on Tuesday due to the tech giant’s shortfall in key advertising sectors, despite narrowly surpassing overall revenue estimates for the fourth quarter of 2023.
Google’s parent company disclosed that advertising revenue fell short of forecasts at $65.52 billion compared to $65.8 billion, but the overall revenue exceeded expectations at $86.31 billion versus $85.36 billion. This marked a 13% increase from the previous year.
The chief financial officer of Alphabet described the company’s results as “very strong,” emphasizing the surpassing of overall revenue expectations. “We remain committed to permanently restructuring our cost base while making investments to support growth opportunities,” she stated.
The response to the report was subdued after Google’s parent company laid off 1,000 employees in January. CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the end of the month that the company will refocus on “investing in key priorities,” particularly in the artificial intelligence elements integrated into Google’s flagship products, in 2024, and hinted at further job cuts.
Investors expressed encouragement Analysts believe that the recent job cuts may reflect prudent cost-cutting efforts amidst rising interest rates. However, the impact of the layoffs is evident, with Porat stating that severance pay in the first quarter of 2024 is expected to be $700 million. Alphabet recorded $2.1 billion in severance-related expenses and $1.8 billion in severance-related expenses in 2023, freeing up office space.
Despite the overall advertising downturn, Alphabet announced that YouTube ad revenue reached $9.2 billion, exceeding analysts’ predicted $9.16 billion and a significant increase from the same period in 2022.
CEO Sundar Pichai, in a statement accompanying the earnings call, expressed Alphabet’s pleasure with “the growing contribution from YouTube.” He also highlighted the company’s digital subscription services, including YouTube and cloud storage service Google One, achieving $15 billion annually.
“The significant growth in our subscription revenue over the past few years demonstrates the ability of our team to deliver high value-added services and provides a strong foundation on which to build,” he stated. Ta.
Like many other companies in the technology industry, Alphabet is aiming to take advantage of the AI boom, with the mention of the word “AI” occurring more than 70 times in Tuesday’s earnings call. Pichai outlined the company’s plans to integrate its new AI model Gemini across various products, including search, advertising, and cloud.
Alphabet’s emphasis on AI comes as the company seeks to diversify its revenue streams. Its core search advertising business has stalled, and it faces growing antitrust litigation threats. The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging a monopoly on digital advertising technology. A judge’s ruling in January confirmed that the company will be forced to stand trial for charges brought by multiple states regarding advertising market dominance. The company also faced an antitrust case last year related to its dealings with other technology companies, including payments to Apple of about $18 billion annually to keep Safari’s default search engine.
“Google could have its toughest year yet as antitrust threats loom and the death knell sounds for third-party cookies,” stated Evelyn Mitchell Wolf, a senior analyst at Insider Intelligence. “We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that something may happen.”
a400 employees of GSC Game World, the creator of the hit video game “Stalker,” gathered in its Kiev office in January 2022, most of them in front of a strange bus parked around the corner. I didn't even notice it. As tensions with our neighbors across the border rise, those heading to their offices covered in frost feel like this: largely usually. routine. Or so they told themselves. As whispers of war spread throughout the country, constant reassurances from business partners and President Zelenskiy made it seem foolish to worry. They were told that life would continue as usual.
After a few weeks, their fears were no longer so foolish. On February 24, 2022, at 4 a.m. local time, Russian forces crossed the border and invaded Ukraine from the north, east, and south, shelling more than a dozen cities and killing 40 Ukrainian soldiers in 24 hours. . The bombs fell hard and fast, destroying a building less than a mile from the GSC offices. Fortunately, those eerie blackout buses had sprung into action a week earlier, taking more than 200 GSC employees and their families to the Ukrainian border town of Uzhgorod.
“We were preparing for the next [the war] About a month and a half,” says Evgeny Grigorovich, game director and CEO of GSC Game World. “The drivers were sitting there 24 hours a day, every day, and no one noticed.”
“This game can reach a lot of people and show that Ukraine makes world-leading products.”…Stalker 2: In the Heart of Chernobyl. Photo: GSC Game World
Although he still received assurances that Russia would not invade, Grigorovich's guts were screaming at him to flee. “One day, we had a big meeting and told the teams that we believed there was a very good chance that war would break out, and that they and their families could go. [across the border] If they want. It's hard to make this decision when almost everyone says it's okay. do not worry. 'But we didn't want to put our team at risk. We weren't worried about business or what was going on in the game. They had to save as many people as possible. ”
For the past 13 years, GSC has been hard at work developing the globally anticipated direct sequel to the 2007 cult classic Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, which sold 4 million copies. The game is an apocalyptic survival game set in the aftermath of his second Chernobyl disaster in war-torn Ukraine. This is an alternate history, but one that is distressingly close to reality for Ukrainians. In March 2022, Russian forces captured the still-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, raising very real concerns about a nuclear disaster related to the fighting. GSC's fiction was beginning to blur with reality.
“It's better to be there than at home”…GSC Game World's new office in Prague. Photo: GSC Game World
GSC is relocating around 700 people, including their families, and the final paperwork was completed just one day before Russian forces entered the ground. He was only allowed one suitcase per family, and it only took him three hours to get important technology out of the office, so he had little time to figure out what was going on. One of her members on the human resources team gave birth during the active phase of the invasion, and other staff members were already grieving loved ones who had died before reaching their destination. “Fortunately, we had the opportunity to start moving before the war started. But we didn't expect everything to be so cruel and so tough.”
It is estimated that more than 500,000 people have been killed or injured since the war began. The bloody conflict shows no signs of abating, with 170 GSC employees remaining in Ukraine.
“Some people were in the position of joining the army and standing on the front lines when the war started. And that's what they did. They immediately began defending our country. We pay them because they are still our employees and their military salary is not enough to cover everything. We are still helping them as much as we can. ”
One of the first to go to the forefront was Volodymyr Yezhov, the series' long-time designer. Yezhov, who was serving as a volunteer in the UVO company, was killed in action on December 22, 2022, during a battle near Bakhmut.
“It's impossible to imagine,” says Grigorovich, shaking his head. “Your friends say they will stay in your country to fight the war, but some of their friends died there. This war should not exist.”
Like many Ukrainians, GSC workers are forced to accept this pain as part of their daily lives. Some developers replaced their keyboards with Kalashnikovs, while others continued to work on his Stalker 2 remotely from GSC's Kiev office or from all over Ukraine. For those still in Kiev, offices have become a haven.
“It's really difficult to make games during a war,” said a member of the GSC team in Prague. Photo: GSC Game World
“We made this a shelter and tried to look as beautiful as possible so that people felt as safe as possible,” Grigorovich said. “They play music, they have guitars, and we have books in there. We have one big floor for a motion capture studio, and we turned it into a kids area. We have mocap equipment. It's so full and so soft that it's now a place to bring toys.
“This winter there was heavy shelling and fighting, and there were frequent power outages. So we built a large generator. Also, the office always has electricity and hot water, so everyone can bring their relatives. We also created a corner, so it’s better to be there than at home.”
It may be hard to understand why these developers continue to code video games in conflict zones, but for many, Stalker 2 is their life's work. After leaving Uzhgorod and taking temporary refuge in Budapest, the departed GSC staff settled in Prague in March 2022. Like many creative companies, the Kiev office had become a second home for many of its employees. Care was therefore taken to ensure that the new Prague headquarters wore a familiar brand and feel, to provide an atmosphere of peace and respite from the horrors of war.
A symbol of resistance…Stalker 2. Photo: GSC Game World
“At this point, this is more than just a game,” agrees Grigorovich. “It's very important to our people, our nation, our culture. It's good for your country to be known simply because someone attacked you, not for your cool art, technology, or engineering.” No. This game can reach a lot of people and let them know that Ukraine makes world-leading products. I think that's the biggest impact we can have. For artists, It is not always wise to go to the front line with a gun without combat experience. But they can still help in other ways – and we are trying to help our Method. “
To date, Stalker 2's most popular gameplay trailer has been viewed over 2.5 million times. With this visibility, Grigorovich sees an opportunity to help prevent further Russian aggression. “Many of us are dying. Keeping people informed could save us all. Ukraine is actually the largest country in Europe, and this is not a small conflict, it's all It's going to impact people. Yes, we're making games, but it's also our job to bring people back to reality. I see the elephant in the room. There's no elephant. I can't say that because the elephant will just destroy everything there and then it will come to you. You would be foolish to think it will stop.
MThe most memorable examples of the internet are the piracy from LimeWire and Kazaa. It felt so cool to download Guido Hatzis albums and Adam Sandler CD rips. some shitty car But I wanted more. A friend warned me that LimeWire has some crazy porn and that I should be careful because I could get into a lot of trouble if I downloaded it stupidly. I hated being patronized. I still do. That’s why I decided the next day to stake my claim and fearlessly pirate a TV show just to brag to my friends.
I snuck into my family computer, opened LimeWire, and searched for a random sitcom starring Ryan Reynolds, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. By then I had become an Internet pro, so I only typed the first half of the title. two men and one woman. I clicked on download. Long story short, my friends were right.
The internet is cool, funny, and scary. Here’s a list of other cool, funny, and scary things:
1. K’s Cooking
I’ve never seen anyone cook so badly. Every video is a work of art as well as a treasure trove of comedy. Either Kay is blissfully unaware that she’s a bad cook, or she’s an Andy Kaufman-level comedic genius. It’s another thing to have rice that’s too dry or too sticky, but Kei managed to burn the risotto black. Finally, she lets her son Lee judge her own food, and the way he munches on this risotto makes me chuckle every time.
2. He looks like Bella Ramsey
The more I look at the photo this tweet refers to, the more I laugh. Doesn’t add anything to the social commentary the original image is clearly trying to encourage, but at the same time makes a bit of an impact? In a diagonal sense? i dunno. Let’s not dissect this frog. I think she looks like Bella Ramsey.
3. Graham Barrett
Graham Barrett is a very good character comedian. You can tell he’s spent hundreds of hours with people like the ones he painted. I also love how much effort he puts into these sketches. I have nothing against low-effort, uproarious comedy. I have a lot of friends who have made careers out of it. Please do what you have to do. On the other hand, it’s always great when you come across an account like Barrett’s that is a little bit more exciting, whatever that means.
4. Beebo
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Vivo always makes me laugh. Firstly, he’s a British food influencer and that’s already hilarious. Also, he basically eats the same thing. He’s British, so his meals almost always come with chips. Another thing I like is his catchphrase. He keeps saying, “Make your ______ bigger.” He tries to give props about the country of origin of the food, but is either too broad or just wrong.
For example, he eats any dish with rice and says, “Good luck Asians.” Or you might say “Good luck Asians” while eating Nando’s. My favorite of his catchphrases is, “You know the rules. If you don’t, make sure you know them.” The genius is that Beavo never states the rules, so it’s fun to watch the comments and watch people try to guess the rules. Something like:
Rule 1: Don’t bite. Swallow food quickly.
Rule 2:Ketchup on everything.
Rule 3:No matter what you’re eating, hot chips should be part of your diet.
Rule 4: Make everything bigger.
Anyway, cheer up Beavo and cheer up Asians.
5. Redfern Electrical
John Cruikshank and Luke Smith are at it again. Their mockumentary Redfern Electrical depicts a semi-fictional version of Cruickshank, a stand-up comedian turned electrician. He’s a little thin, but he has a genius plan to make money. Cruikshank has an entertaining and enviable comedic brain and I can’t wait for the next episode.
eBay, an online retailer, has announced that it will cut around 1,000 roles, which is an estimated 9% of its current workforce. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone stated in a letter to employees, “While we are making progress in line with our strategy, our overall headcount and expenses are outpacing business growth.” He added, “To address this, we are implementing organizational changes to align and integrate certain teams to improve the end-to-end experience and better meet the needs of our customers around the world.”
In addition to the job cuts, the company plans to reduce the number of “in-term” contracts. Iannone added, “alternative workforce.” He also stated that company administrators would notify employees whose roles were “eliminated” and asked all eBay staff to work from home on Wednesday “to ensure space and privacy for conversations.” He added, “We recognize that these actions are not something we take lightly and they impact all eBayers. We must say goodbye to people who have made many important contributions to the eBay community and culture, and this is not an easy task.” Last February, eBay laid off 500 employees, 4% of its workforce worldwide, citing a slowdown in consumer spending for the boom in e-commerce spending during the pandemic.
The number of layoffs within Silicon Valley has accelerated recently, with some of the world’s most prominent technology companies instituting large-scale layoff programs in recent months. A memo sent by Google CEO Sundar Pichai earlier this month warned staff that more job cuts could occur this year as the company looks to increase investment in artificial intelligence. The company will cut its workforce by 12,000 in early 2023. This comes after Mark Zuckerberg’s “meta” revealed in March last year that the company plans to cut 10,000 jobs from a peak of 87,000 employees in 2022. This month, language learning app Duolingo also lost about 10% of its contract employees as part of the company’s move to increase its reliance on AI.
Amazon cut hundreds of jobs across its streaming platform Twitch and its film and TV studio division in the second week of January. In December, music streaming service Spotify announced plans to cut 17% of its workforce, which equates to about 1,500 fewer employees.
According to data, more than 13,000 people have been laid off at 72 companies so far this year, according to layoffs.fyi, which tracks job losses in the tech industry.
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Earlier this year, a patient came to physical therapist Teresa Marco complaining of neck pain. Marco, who is based in New York City, began the interview as usual, asking a series of questions about lifestyle, habits, and attitude. Soon, a person believed to be the culprit appeared. It was a woman’s cell phone.
Marco, who declined to give her name for privacy reasons, said the woman typically used her phone or tablet with her head down on her lap. “She’s going to be very, very bent over, so it’s going to put a lot of strain on her neck,” Marco said.
Marco says he often talks to his patients about how to use their phones. “I don’t think people end up coming to physical therapy because they realize they have a problem with their cell phone,” Marco says. But as she solves problems, it often becomes a focus.
While the negative effects on mental health associated with smartphone use are often discussed, the physical effects can also be significant.serious consequences like Selfie-related injuries and deathscan occur, but chronic problems are much more common, especially in the upper body. This year is research
Using hospital data, they estimated that between 2011 and 2019, hand and wrist injuries caused by cell phone use nearly doubled, reaching about 7,300 cases per year.
“Like [phone] Carolyn Somerich, director of the Human Factors/Ergonomics/Safety Engineering Laboratory at The Ohio State University, said: These sentiments are not new, but according to a Gallup poll, Number of people who reported using a smartphone
“Too much” increased from 39% in 2015 to 58% in 2022. He was 84% most likely to feel this way.
○On Sunday, January 22, 1984, the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII. With the exception of a few older Raiders fans, we all remember him that night 40 years ago with one ad that set the tone for the techno-optimism that would dominate the 21st century. did.
Advertisement showed an auditorium full of zombie-like figures watching a projection of an elderly leader resembling the Emperor from 1980's The Empire Strikes Back. A young, athletic woman wearing red and white (the colors of the flag of Poland, which waged a massive labor uprising against the Soviet-controlled communist state) spins a hammer and frames the face of her leader. He threw it across the screen. As armored police rush in to stop her.
The ad explicitly referenced George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984. Meanwhile, then-President Ronald Reagan began his re-election campaign with the audacity to confront the threat of the totalitarian Soviet Union, increasing the risk of global nuclear annihilation.
That same month, Apple began selling personal computers. This will change the way we think about computing technology in our lives and will lead to many of the ideological changes that will drive the 21st century. In many ways, the long 21st century began 40 years ago this week for him.
From a garage-based startup in Cupertino, California, we have steadily grown to where we are today. The most valuable company in the history of the world, Apple has changed the way we experience culture and each other. While not the only force to do so, if you look at other ruling forces that left their mark in 1984, such as Reagan, Apple is a key player in how we view and govern ourselves over the next 40 years. It was part of a larger change. Years later, it still impacts daily life in ways few could have imagined at the time.
Before the Macintosh debuted, Apple created high-quality computers like the Apple II (1979) that ran programs using the standard operating system at the time, the Apple Disc Operating System (which was similar to the Apple Disc Operating System). was highly regarded among computer enthusiasts for producing innovative desktop computers. MS-DOS was provided by a small then-starting company called Microsoft and could be programmed in languages such as Basic.
Companies like Texas Instruments and Atari had brought user-friendly computers to homes before the Macintosh, and IBM and Commodore had made desktop computers for businesses, but the Macintosh was something different. I was promised something.
The Macintosh created a mass market for usable computers that looked more like magic than machines. The Macintosh is a sealed box that hides the board and cables and presents a sleekly designed box, similar to the MacBook and the iPhone, which was released in 2007 and was the most influential and profitable of Apple's products. We have established design standards for what will become.
The iPhone represents much of what's appealing and loathsome about 21st century life. This is a device that does things that no other device or technology can do. It just provides all of that in its own controlled environment that masks all of the actual technology and the human agency that created it. There may be a little elf in there.
Billions of people now use such equipment, but few people ever look inside or think about the people who mined the metals and assembled the parts in dangerous conditions. plug. There are now cars and appliances designed to feel like an iPhone, all glass, metal, curves, and icons. None of them provide any clues for humans to build or maintain them. Everything seems like magic.
The shift to magic by design has blinded us to the real situation of most people working and living in the world. Gated devices are similar to gated communities. What's more, the sealed boxes are equipped with ubiquitous cameras and location devices, and when connected through invisible radio signals, serve as a global surveillance system that Soviet dictators never dreamed of. . We have also entered a world of soft control beyond Orwell's imagination.
Gated communities began to grow in popularity in the United States during the Reagan administration. It was to provide the illusion of safety against imagined but undefined invaders. They also resembled private states, with exclusive membership and strict rules of etiquette.
Reagan won reelection in a landslide in the November 1984 election. His Reagan victory established a nearly unwavering commitment to market fundamentalism and technological optimism that was largely adopted by Reagan's critics and even his successors like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. . Outside the United States, ostensibly left-wing 20th century leaders such as Greece's Andreas Papandreou, France's François Mitterrand, and Britain's Tony Blair limited the vision of change that the growing neoliberal consensus allowed. was.
By the beginning of this century, questioning the techno-optimism imposed by Apple and the faith in neoliberalism secured by Reagan's hold on the world's political imagination seems like a fit of sulking or sulking. Probably. Does anyone doubt the democratizing and liberating potential of computer technology and free markets?
Now, a quarter of the way through this century, it's clear that the only promises kept were to Apple's shareholders and the descendants of Reagan's politicians. Democracy is in tatters around the world. Networked computers rob relationships, communities, and society of the joy and humanity. The economy is more stratified than ever before. Politics excludes any positive vision of a better future.
Of course, you can't blame Apple or Reagan. They simply distilled, harnessed, and sold back to us what we longed for: a simple story of inevitable progress and liberation. If we had heeded the warnings in Orwell's book instead of Apple's ads, we might have learned that simple stories never have happy endings.
According to a whistleblower, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Inc. has not done enough to protect children following Molly Russell’s death. The whistleblower claimed that the social media company already poses a risk to teenagers and that Zuckerberg had put in place infrastructure to protect against such content.
Arturo Bejar, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, voiced his concern that the company had not learned from Molly’s death and could have provided a safer experience for young users. Bejar’s survey of Instagram users revealed that 8.4% of 13- to 15-year-olds had seen someone harm themselves or threaten to harm themselves within the past week.
Bejar stressed that if the company had taken the right steps after Molly Russell’s death, the number of people encountering self-harm content would have been significantly lower. Russell, who committed suicide after viewing harmful content related to suicide, self-harm, depression, and anxiety on Instagram and Pinterest, sparked the whistleblower’s concerns. Bejar believes that the company could have made Instagram safer for teens but chose not to make necessary changes.
Former Meta employees have also asked the company to set goals for reducing harmful content and creating sustainable incentives to work on these issues. Meanwhile, Béjart has met with British politicians, regulators, and activists, including Ian Russell, Molly’s father.
Bejar has suggested a series of changes for Meta, including making it easier for users to flag unwanted content, surveying users’ experiences regularly, and facilitating the reporting of negative experiences with Meta’s services.
Elon Musk, who has faced criticism for endorsing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and allowing anti-Semitic messages on X (formerly Twitter), paid a visit to the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on Monday.
Musk’s visit to this infamous site of Holocaust atrocities preceded his planned attendance at a conference on anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Association in the nearby Polish city of Krakow later that day.
Musk was photographed at the Birkenau location alongside Daily Wire podcaster Ben Shapiro, who was also set to participate in the EJA conference. Birkenau, a village near Oświęcim in southern Poland, is enclosed by barbed wire, and contains wooden barracks and the remains of gas chambers as a testament to the Nazi crimes committed there, as well as a monument to the victims. Annual international ceremonies are held at this site.
“Before attending the European Jewish Association conference, Elon Musk visited Auschwitz-Birkenau with EJA President Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Ben Shapiro, Holocaust survivor Gidon Lev John, and others. Mr. Musk laid a wreath at the Wall of Death and participated in a brief memorial and service next to the Birkenau Monument,” the EJA said in an email.
Mr. Musk was slated to engage in a discussion on online anti-Semitism with Mr. Shapiro at a conference in Krakow ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27.
After acquiring the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022, Musk has been accused of allowing anti-Semitic messages on the platform and has faced criticism from the Anti-Defamation League and others. His actions sparked protests from the White House and elsewhere in November, when he posted “You told the truth” at X to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to anti-Semitism. He later apologized for the comment, calling it the most “stupid” post he had ever made.
Last year, several major brands, including Disney and IBM, took action after liberal advocacy group Media Matters found that their ads were running alongside pro-Nazi content and white supremacist posts on the platform. Advertising on the platform was suspended, and Company X subsequently sued Media Matters, alleging that the Washington-based nonprofit created the report in an effort to “drive advertisers off the platform and destroy Company X.”
During World War II, over 1.1 million people, including Jews, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and homosexuals, were murdered at Auschwitz by the Nazis and their collaborators. In total, around 6 million European Jews lost their lives in the Holocaust, with approximately 7,000 survivors found when the Soviets liberated the camp.
The HyperVerse cryptocurrency scheme targeted investors in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific until it eventually collapsed, leaving many people unable to access their funds.
One investor said that in Nepal, some people who took out bank loans to buy Hyperverse packages felt suicidal when they could not withdraw their money, and in some cases even committed self-harm. .
The promoter of UK-based HyperVerse, which toured five African countries in 2022, told a Ghanaian radio station that millions of people around the world are trying to understand blockchain technology “without really understanding it.” He said he has benefited from it.
HyperVerse, which was linked to a previous scheme known as HyperFund, was founded by Australian blockchain entrepreneur Sam Lee and his business partner Ryan Hsu, two of the founders of bankrupt Australian company Blockchain Global. ) was launched by.
Despite one overseas regulator warning that they could be a “scam” and another calling HyperVerse a “suspected pyramid scheme”, a Guardian Australia investigation found , revealed widespread losses from a scheme that escaped regulator warnings in Australia.
This push to expand the system, which encourages existing member states to reap financial rewards for bringing in new members, has resulted in the system spreading to hitherto untapped markets, including developing countries. It seems so.
In January 2022, the Central Bank of Nepal issued a public warning naming Hyperfund and several other unrelated schemes, encouraging people to participate in such cryptocurrency products with the promise of “high returns in a short period of time.” He said he was tempted to do so.
In a February 2023 Zoom meeting between Nepali Hyper members and Lee, the members said people were angry because they could not withdraw funds from the platform.
One member told Mr Lee that he was “sad and grumpy” and was fielding requests from people who didn’t have access to the funds he brought into the scheme.
“We really need to do something fast, you may be somewhere far away and you may not be under direct pressure, but people like us, we don’t live in the neighborhood. And our relationship has deteriorated, and whenever we do something, it’s people like us. We wake up in the morning and there’s people at the door.”
Q&A
How did the HyperVerse investment scheme work?
show
Investors were offered “membership” to HyperVerse, a “blockchain community” where members could “explore the HyperVerse ecosystem.”
The minimum membership amount is USD 300, which will be converted into Hyperunits after investment.
This scheme offers a minimum return of 0.5% per day, with a return of 300% in 600 days.
Members were encouraged to “reinvest” their earnings and were provided with more Hyper Units if they did not withdraw after funds became available.
Members were also paid hyper units for recruiting new members, and were paid a referral fee on a sliding scale based on the number of people recruited. Additional commissions were paid based on the number of people these recruits subsequently recruited up to the 20th level.
Hyperunits are linked to various crypto tokens and, once matured, can be withdrawn and converted into other cryptocurrencies.
While early investors were able to make profits and withdraw money, this system has left many investors unable to access their funds.
A Nepalese man living in the UK told Lee that some people in his home country try to commit suicide by taking out bank loans to buy the Hyperverse package, and one of his acquaintances has committed self-harm. That's what he said.
“There have also been instances where people have lent money to buy this company's packages because they were presented in such a favorable way. We know it's wrong, we urge them to do so. But…the benefits outweighed the risks, so people took out some loans from banks and packaged this project. I bought it,” said a Nepali man.
“I don’t want to name names, but there was a case of self-harm in my hometown. [in Nepal]. We have received several SOS calls. With people in this situation, it is better to take a suicidal step than to wait for this company to come up with a repayment plan. ”
In response, Mr Lee said on a Zoom call that he hoped vulnerable people would be prioritized in recovering their initial investment, but denied he was responsible.
“I don't want to say anything about these individual incidents because I'm not in a position to empathize with them. But, you know, we just have to recognize…others Many industries have been misunderstood, and this is just the newest industry to be misunderstood,” Lee said.
“And the way to prevent something like this from happening again is that we need to increase everyone's literacy about technology and how these opportunities work.”
Sam Lee, one of the founders of the failed blockchain global cryptocurrency exchange. Photo: Blockchain Global/Facebook
Lee blamed the situation on the “corporate” team behind HyperVerse.
Despite speaking at HyperVerse's official launch, he denied any involvement in HyperVerse, saying he was only involved in the fund management side through his role at HyperTech Group, of which he is chairman.
Another person who attended the February 2023 meeting challenged Mr. Lee on this claim.
“Community leaders have always projected you as a Midas-esque figure – HyperTech, HyperVerse, HyperFund, whatever, it’s Sam Lee, it’s Sam Lee, it’s Sam Lee, that’s what we do every day. Everything you’ve been told every day,” they said. Said.
In response, Lee said, “If you don't get involved, you can't completely disappear from HyperVerse.”
“The company put out misleading information, which of course management used to drive sales, so ultimately the company loses out. But I am 100% “It's not free, because if things were misunderstood, they could have always issued a press release or a statement to clarify,” he said.
The Government has approved a donation of £6 million from Sir James Dyson to fund the expansion of a local state primary school, Malmesbury Anglican Primary School in Wiltshire, near Dyson’s research and development campus, despite concerns about the potential impact on nearby schools.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan announced the approval on Monday, revealing that the donation will fund a ‘first class’ Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEM) center, additional classrooms, and space for 210 more pupils, with an opening date in September 2027, subject to planning permission by Wiltshire Council, bringing the total capacity to 630 students.
The James Dyson Foundation, which is responsible for the donation, has not officially welcomed the approval and is considering the details of the decision carefully.
In a letter to the Times last year, Mr Dyson expressed his disappointment with his charity’s donations being blocked and described the difficulty of getting things done in the UK.
This claim was denied by Downing Street, but local opposition from Laura Mays, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, suggested that there is already enough space in three local schools to meet demand.
Reports indicate that many employees at Dyson’s UK headquarters in Malmesbury would like to send their children to the school, but the current size does not accommodate this.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan expressed her appreciation for the generous donation from the Dyson Foundation, emphasizing the support it will provide for local students and the development of future scientists and engineers.
Malmesbury Primary School’s headteacher, Steve Heal, expressed gratitude for the foundation’s support, highlighting the long journey to reach this point and the innovative curriculum created in collaboration with Dyson.
Laura Mays, following the government’s announcement, emphasized the importance of providing opportunities for all students and assured that the council will work with all parties involved to ensure the best outcome for all students.
Former education secretary Kenneth Baker supported Dyson’s efforts and questioned the government’s decision to reject the proposal, suggesting that it could discourage other industries and entrepreneurs from investing in technical education in schools.
A 61-year-old man is suing Macy’s and Sunglass Hut’s parent company, alleging that the store’s use of a facial recognition system misidentified him as the perpetrator of an armed robbery, leading to his false arrest. While in prison, he was beaten and raped, according to the complaint.
Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr. was arrested and charged with robbing a Houston-area Sunglass Hut of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in January 2022, but his lawyers say he was living in California at the time of the robbery. According to his lawyer, he was arrested on October 20, 2023.
According to Murphy’s complaint, employees at Essilor Luxottica, Sunglass Hut’s parent company, worked with retail partner Macy’s to use facial recognition software to identify Murphy as the robber. The images sent through the facial recognition system came from a low-quality camera, according to the complaint. Houston police were investigating an armed robbery when an EssilorLuxottica employee called police and determined that one of the two robbers was using the technology, so the investigation could be discontinued. I told him. The employee also said the system indicated that Murphy had committed two other robberies, according to the complaint.
When Murphy returned to Texas from California, he went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to renew his license. Murphy told the Guardian that within minutes of identifying himself as a DMV employee, he was contacted by a police officer and informed that there was a warrant out for his arrest on suspicion of aggravated robbery. He said Murphy was not given any details about the crime he allegedly committed other than the day the robbery occurred. He found himself more than a thousand miles away in Sacramento, California, at the time of the robbery.
“I almost thought it was a joke,” Murphy said.
Still heHe was arrested and taken to the local county jail, where he was held for 10 days before being transported to the Harris County Jail for processing.
After several days in Harris County, the alibi was confirmed by both a public defender and a prosecutor, and the charges were ultimately dropped, according to the complaint.
Murphy has never been convicted of a crime. Nevertheless, he says the detention left deep scars. He claimed that he was brutally beaten and gang-raped by three other men inside the prison hours before his release. Murphy said he was threatened with death when he tried to call prison staff. After the alleged attack, Murphy remained in the same cell as them until his release.
“It was kind of scary,” Murphy said. “My anxiety is so high, I’m shaking all the time. And I just stood up in my bunk and faced the wall, just praying that something would happen and get me out of the tank.”
“This attack left him with permanent scars that he will have to live with for the rest of his life,” the complaint states. “All of this happened to Murphy because the defendants relied on facial recognition technology that is known to be error-prone and flawed.”
Murphy didn’t realize that facial recognition technology could be used as evidence against her until two weeks ago, when she began working with her attorney, Daniel Dutko.
Datko said he discovered in police documents that Sunglass Hut employees shared camera footage with Macy’s that was used to identify Murphy. Datko said Macy’s and Sunglass Hut then contacted police together. Although Macy’s has retail partnerships with eyewear brands at multiple stores, Macy’s was not involved in the robbery because Sunglass Hut is an independent store, he said.
“We’re very comfortable saying that facial recognition software is the only possible explanation and that’s the only reason. [Sunglass Hut] I was going to Macy’s to identify him,” Datko said.
Mr. Murphy’s case marks the seventh known case of false arrest using facial recognition in the United States, further highlighting flaws in the technology, which is already widely used in police departments and retail stores. However, all of the publicly known cases of false arrests using facial recognition to date have involved black victims. Murphy’s case marks the first known case in which a failure of this technique resulted in the wrongful arrest of a white man. Just last month, Rite Aid settled with the Federal Trade Commission over its use of a facial recognition system that previously misidentified Black, Latino, and Asian customers as “likely to be involved” in shoplifting. As part of the settlement, the pharmacy chain was banned from using facial recognition in its stores for five years. Then, in the summer of 2023, a woman named Portia Woodruff was arrested on suspicion of carjacking using a facial recognition system to authenticate her identity.
Macy’s has previously sued Regarding the use of facial recognition technology. In a 2020 lawsuit, a Chicago woman accused the company of violating Illinois’ biometric privacy law by collaborating with facial recognition provider Clearview AI without her or other customers’ consent.
Nathan Fried Wessler, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said this is another example of the “extreme dangers of facial recognition technology.”
“We have seen case after case where police reflexively relied on unreliable facial recognition results, allowing the technology to make false matches and corrupting witness identification procedures,” Wessler said in a statement. “As the facts alleged in this case demonstrate, the consequences of wrongful arrest are dire. Lawmakers need to stop law enforcement and companies from dangerously relying on facial recognition results to put people behind bars. There must be.”
Murphy is seeking $10 million in damages.
Macy’s said it does not comment on pending litigation.EssilorLuxottica did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
It’s important to have friends who come to your birthday parties, offer support during tough times, and allocate resources to develop apps for emerging virtual reality platforms despite limited direct benefits. It may be tempting to believe that a $30 billion cash reserve and a product line generating over $200 billion annually are sufficient. However, Apple is finding that money cannot buy everything.
Pre-orders for Apple’s Vision Pro headset, a $3,500 “spatial computing” platform and CEO Tim Cook’s vision of Apple’s future, opened last week. Despite Apple’s enthusiasm, quiet opposition from potential users has overshadowed the announcement.
According to a report from Bloomberg (£), Netflix has opted not to design a Vision Pro app or support existing iPad apps on the platform, instead instructing users to access their content through a web browser.
Rather than developing a Vision Pro app or supporting existing iPad apps, Netflix has chosen to direct users to watch their content on the web. This decision is notable given the competition between Netflix and Apple in the streaming market.
Although the initial weekend release of Vision Pro saw an estimated 160,000-180,000 units sold, this pales in comparison to Netflix’s 250 million paying subscribers. Therefore, Netflix’s reluctance to invest resources in an app for the Vision Pro is understandable, as app development is only worthwhile if it can attract new customers or retain existing ones.
Despite Apple’s promotion of the Vision Pro as the most immersive way to watch TV, Netflix has similarly abandoned its app for MetaQuest, demonstrating a pattern of resistance to immersive platforms.
Due to these decisions, Vision Pro users will be limited to watching Netflix through the web, losing the ability to access offline viewing, a key selling point of the headset.
Furthermore, YouTube and Spotify have also opted not to release new apps for the Vision Pro, indicating a lack of enthusiasm from major content providers for the platform.
In a related story, Apple has recently allowed developers to bypass its payment system, providing them with an alternative to the high fees associated with in-app purchases. This shift may reflect a broader resistance among developers to Apple’s monopoly over economic activity in their app ecosystem.
The reluctance of major content providers to invest in apps for the Vision Pro may indicate a broader skepticism among developers about the benefits of supporting Apple’s latest venture. This trend may signal a greater movement within the developer community to challenge Apple’s control over app development and monetization.
The new year has only just begun, but it looks like the biggest games of 2024 are already in store. And it’s not his multi-million dollar sci-fi extravaganza set in a vast universe created by a giant publisher. It’s a survival adventure released by a small Japanese company that had only released one game before. It’s called Palworld, and is more accurately described as a “Pokémon with a gun.” If that sounds terrible, you seem to be very lonely. It sold 5 million copies within three days of its release on January 18th. What in the name of Pikachu is going on?
What is Palworld?
Developed by Tokyo-based Pocketpair, Palworld belongs to the genre known as survival adventure, where players are thrown into a harsh open-world environment to find food and shelter, craft tools, and, of course, fight enemies. While, yes, you have to survive, whether they are aliens or hungry wolves. Minecraft is probably the most famous example, but titles like Rust, Ark, Don’t Starve, and Subnautica all compete in similar fields.
What does it actually do?
Palworld: Funny, silly, and weirdly engrossing. Photo: pocket pair
You control a character who arrives in a lush open-world environment known as the Parpagos Islands and must survive by farming, cooking, building shelter, and battling various enemy factions. Also, more than 100 kinds of cute creatures called “pals” live in this world, and each one has its own unique abilities. You can catch these cute beasts and use them to fight your enemies or craft useful items in your base.
A big part of the game is exploring the world and looking for allies and resources. It is important to monitor your hunger level and collect resources. As you battle enemies (using captured allies), you unlock new crafting recipes by following various technology trees. You can play alone, but if you choose the PC version, you can also play online with up to 31 other so-called “Paltimers”.
It’s funny, silly, and oddly engrossing even though all the individual elements are very recognizable. Pokemon developer Game Freak has been too reluctant to seriously reinvent its aging series over the past five years, with some feeling that Palworld is the modern incarnation that longtime fans have been craving. There is. Indeed, very well received among many top video game influencers, No1 game on streaming platform Twitch Within one day of release. This certainly helped attract attention.
So this is like a neoliberal pastiche of Poku
Do we emphasize the immoral exploitation of these animals as mere resources?
Well, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but it might be true. And in fact, one of the enemy factions you’ll face in the game is the Free Pal Alliance, an activist organization dedicated to freeing Pals from slavery.
Palworld screenshot shows character riding a flying dragon-like monster Photo: pocket pair
Are people mad at obvious pock?
Lemon connection?
This game is highly controversial among some developers, and not just because of its similarities to Pokemon. Accusing the developer of plagiarism As well as the creature design, it also uses tropes and conventions from other successful survival games, most notably Ark and Rust.However, Nintendo, Creatures, and the Pokémon Company, which are responsible for Pokémon, have yet to comment, although Don McGowan, who managed the Pokémon Company's legal team for 10 years, said: Game files recently talked about on news sites: “This seems like the same old plagiarism nonsense I saw thousands of times a year when I was chief legal officer at Pokemon. I'm just surprised it's gotten this far.”
Takuro Mizobe, CEO and lead developer at Pocketpair, said: claimed The game has been checked against legal requirements and does not infringe on copyright.
Also, Pokemon isn’t the only game based on monster hunting.Other titles such as Digimon and Monster Rancher have existed alongside it for many years, and the entire genre has Insect collecting is a popular hobby in Japan.
, Therefore, it is never a concept that can be followed. The history of video games is one of successful ideas being “borrowed” and improved upon, and most modern genres can be traced back to one or two of his wildly successful ancestors.
There was also debate over whether the studio created assets using AI-generated art without notifying the platform or players.Mr. Mizobe Showed interest in AI art generation in the past. PC Platform Steam requires studios to: Disclose the use of AI-generated assets With games sold on the site. There have been concerns in the industry about the potential for job losses from widespread use of generative AI and the unauthorized use of AI models trained on copyrighted material. However, at this time there is no evidence that Pocket Pair used his AI model in this way.
Where can I play?
Although the game is technically still in development, bug has been resolved.However, you can download it if you have a PC. Steam Early Access For £25. You can also play a preview version on Xbox, but this version is even less stable and currently doesn’t feature a 32-player online mode. Cooperative play is possible for 2 to 4 people. If you’re into the idea of cute mini monsters wielding machine guns, you know where to go.
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