List of All Articles with Tag 'tech'

Google says its “Lens” image search can now help people understand what is going on with their skin. The tool is intended as a smart image search: users can take pictures and use them to search for whatever is in them. It has previously suggested it is useful for finding the details of the clothes that make up an outfit, for instance, or looking up certain items of food. But ens can also be used for looking up skin conditions or other unusual things on the body, the company suggested. It warns that the tool is “informational only and not a diagnosis” and urges users to consult authorities for advice. But it suggested that it could be a useful way of starting to look up certain things on the body that might be otherwise hard to put into words. “Describing an odd mole or rash on your skin can be hard to do with words alone,” Google said. “This feature also works if you’re not sure how to describe something else on your body, like a bump on your lip, a line on your nails or hair loss on your head.” The feature was described in a more wide-ranging Google blog that focused on other more obvious uses, such as pointing the camera at a “cool building or landmark” or to translate street signs or menus. Google said the feature was new within lens, but did not specify when it had been released. The company has tried to use artificial intelligence to help with skin conditions before. In 2021, it released a new tool called “DermAssist”. Google says it sees “billions of skin-related searches each year”. DermAssist was built to assist with those, though it too includes a disclaimer indicating it is only intended “for informational purposes” and not for a medical diagnosis. Since that DermAssist feature is more specifically focused on helping with medical conditions, it is subject to more stringent regulation. As such, Google has still only made it available in a “limited release” and asks people to sign up to be part of that testing on its website. DermAssist required users to answer a few questions and upload three photos. Lens on the other hand simply appears to use Google’s algorithms to match one picture with similar images of skin conditions, and give some indication of what that condition might be. Read More Google ad revenue from anti-abortion campaigns and ‘fake’ clinics topped $10m: report EU makes major statement on the future of Google Elon Musk refuses to pay Twitter’s Google bill, leaving site in peril

Most of Reddit has now gone “dark” in protest against the management of the online forum. The controversy began when Reddit announced that it would start charging for access to its API, the technology that allows other developers access to its data. Some of those developers immediately announced that the pricing was so high that it would make their apps unsustainable – and one, widely-respected client Apollo, has since said it will have to shut down. That set off outrage across Reddit. While that initially focused on the decision to start charging for access to its data, it has since grown, with many users suggesting that they are generally dissatisfied with the way the site is being managed. What has happened to Reddit? On June 12, many of the world’s biggest subreddits went “dark”. That meant setting their privacy settings to private, so that only anyone who is already a member can see them. For anyone who tries to visit those forums and is not a member – which includes most of those on Reddit, including many of its biggest – they will see a message that it has gone private and is therefore not available. In a widely circulated message explaining the outage, users explained that it was intended as a protest. Some will return on 14 June, after 48 hours of darkness, it says, but others might opt to never come back again if the problem is not addressed. That is because “many moderators aren’t able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app” the message reads. “This isn’t something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.” Why did Reddit change its policy? All of this began because Reddit announced that it would start charging for access to its API. Many of its users – including Christian Selig, the developer of the Apollo app that is at the centre of much of the controversy – say that this is reasonable. Reddit’s data is used by sites such as Google and to train artificial intelligence systems, for instance. And at the moment, Reddit is not paid for that usage, despite the fact that it costs the company (which is not profitable) to host that data. But it was the pricing and the way it was rolled out that caused such controversy. Mr Selig said that the pricing would cost his app $2 million per month, which is much more than storing the user data is thought to cost Reddit, and he and others were given only 30 days to respond. Which Reddit forums are part of the blackout? Almost all of them. The latest numbers suggest that 7259, out of 7806, of the site’s subreddits are currently unavailable to the public. Of the seven subreddits that have more than 30 million subscribers, all but one – r/pics – have been made private. A full, live list that shows both the subreddits that are down and the overall impact of the protest can be found on this tracking page. How can this happen? Reddit is unusual among social networks in that it depends heavily on its users, who administer the forums and moderate the content that appear on them. That saves it a lot of money – Meta, for instance, spends vast sums on ensuring that problematic content does not appear on Facebook and Instagram – and means that those users feel as if they should be listened to when it comes to such issues. It also means that they are able to take decisions that the management of Reddit might not like them to, including turning those subreddits private. Some 30,000 moderators are thought to be running the subreddits that are involved in the protest, and working together has given them considerable power to grind the site to a halt. Read More Reddit is in chaos – and it’s CEO has finally responded Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely Reddit down amid major protest Popular Reddit app Apollo shuts down as site’s users revolt against it Millions of Reddit users face a blackout over pricing revolt Scientists reveal the ‘violent, catastrophic’ origin of Geminids meteor shower

The current outrage at Reddit will “pass”, its chief executive has said, as the site continues to deal with one of its most significant protests ever. In recent days, many of the site’s largest forums have gone “dark”, as moderators set them to private, meaning they cannot be seen by the world. The changes also meant that Reddit became overwhelmed and stopped working for a brief period on Monday. That was a response to a move by Reddit to start charging for access to its data, which meant that third-party apps for viewing the forum became unsustainable. Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman said that the protest was a “challenge” and “we have our work cut out for us”. Staff have been working around the clock to deal with technical problems and engage with the moderators who run those forums, he said in a memo that was first reported by The Verge. He also said that the company has “not seen any significant revenue impact so far and we will continue to monitor”. “There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen,” he wrote. “Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well. The most important things we can do right now are stay focused, adapt to challenges, and keep moving forward.” He suggested that while two biggest third-party apps had announced they would be shutting down, along with some others. But he said that others were still in “conversations” with the company. Mr Huffman also advised staff that they should be “mindful of wearing Reddit gear in public”. “Some folks are really upset, and we don’t want you to be the object of their frustrations.” He also claimed that “starting last night, about a thousand subreddits have gone private”. That is far below third-party estimates, which suggest that the vast majority of the thousands of the site’s forums have gone dark. Reddit’s chief executive has been at the heart of the fallout over the changes at the site. He conducted an ask me anything session on the site, intended on quelling protest – but which was met with widespread criticism from the site’s users and moderators. Unlike other social networks such as Facebook, Reddit relies on unpaid moderators to check the content and administer the posts on its forums. As such, those moderators are able to make changes to the forums as they wish. Read More Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely Reddit down amid major protest Reddit just went ‘dark’, and the site is in chaos

Experts have explained the reason why every glass of water we consume has dinosaur urine in it and it's not as gross as it sounds. When you get a cold glass of water from the tap, chances are you don’t think much about it before getting it down the hatch, so long as it looks clean. But, water experts have explained that the water you’re drinking may have gone through a dinosaur or even through your neighbour, before getting to you. This is because every drop of water on Earth has gone through a continuous water cycle over billions of years, and the amount of water on the planet at any given time is always the same. Severn Trent Water explained more, telling the Birmingham Mail how our planet's water cycle works. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter They explained: “ Heat energy from the sun causes water to evaporate into the atmosphere from sea, lakes and the soil. “Air currents containing water vapour rise over higher ground into cooler temperatures which causes condensation and creates clouds. “More air currents cause the clouds to move around the Earth, across sea and land. As the clouds cool, precipitation as snow, sleet, hail or rain.” They explained that the vast majority of precipitation on Earth ends up back in waterways, such as seas, lakes and rivers. Continuing, they revealed: “97 per cent of the world’s water is salty sea water, two per cent is frozen in the polar ice caps and one per cent is fresh water for us to use.” Water companies collect and store water in reservoirs, which is then treated and tested by the Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate. It can then be distributed to homes through pipes. Then, the wastewater that has been used is transported through drains and sewers to sewage treatment works and returned to streams and rivers. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Elon Musk has hired a 14-year-old “wonder kid” to work as a software engineer at SpaceX. Kairan Quazi will join the billionaire’s firm after graduating from Santa Clara University in California later this month, where he is set to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and Engineering. The teenager has already completed an internship at Intel and will work on SpaceX’s Starlink team, which is building the world’s largest satellite internet network. “I will be joining the coolest company on the planet as a software engineer on the Starlink engineering team,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post last week. “One of the rare companies that did not use my age as an arbitrary and outdated proxy for maturity and ability.” His LinkedIn profile has since been removed as the business networking site requires users to be at least 16 years old. In an Instagram post responding to the ban, Quazi said his removal from the platform was “illogical, primitive nonsense” that amounted to discrimination. “I can be qualified enough to land one of the most coveted engineering jobs in the world but not qualified enough to have access to a professional social media platform?” he wrote. “LinkedIn showing everyone how regressive some tech company policies are.” A LinkedIn spokesperson told The Independent: “We appreciate his enthusiasm to join LinkedIn and applaud his incredible success, however we have an age limit in place of 16 years of age and that extends to all members.” Quazi will become the youngest graduate in the US college’s 172-year history, having jumped from third grade to the community college Las Positas College when he was just nine years old. Local media has described him as a genius and a “wonder kid” for his academic achievements, with IQ tests suggesting he is in the 99.9th percentile of the general population. “I think my college years have been the happiest years of my life because I had a lot of autonomy, really, to share my journey,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I think one of the things I really want to do with telling my story is hopefully have leaders in influential positions challenge their biases and misconceptions. Hopefully, I can open the door to more people like me.” Read More Man locked out of smart home for a week after delivery driver accuses him of being racist Twitter to be evicted from Colorado office Elon Musk to launch biggest ever rocket after dramatic failure Elon Musk eyes ‘highly habitable’ planet that’s ‘practically next door’

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced legislation on Thursday that would give news organizations the power to jointly bargain against Meta, Google and other online platforms for a greater share of online advertising revenue.

Could we have aliens to thank for preventing a nuclear war on Earth? That’s what one former Nasa astronaut has claimed. Edgar Mitchell, who was involved in the Apollo 14 mission, gained a reputation for sharing conspiracy theories when he arrived back from the moon in 1971. Mitchell was the sixth man on the moon and was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 14. Before his death in 2016, Mitchell spoke at length claiming that aliens visited Earth. Speaking to the Mirror, he alleged that aliens were responsible for preventing nuclear war between the US and the Soviets at the height of Cold War tensions. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter At the time, Mitchell focused on the White Sands Missile Range facility in New Mexico. “White Sands was a testing ground for atomic weapons – and that's what the extraterrestrials were interested in,” he said. "They wanted to know about our military capabilities. My own experience talking to people has made it clear the ETs had been attempting to keep us from going to war and help create peace on Earth." White Sands Missile Range is where the first atomic bomb was tested in 1945, and Mitchell claimed that officers there had told him aliens had shot down missiles flying over the site. The claims were, as you’d expect, disputed. UFO expert Nigel Watson told IFL Science at the time: "To me, this is just another case of UFO fantasy and speculation. When you try getting to the facts it is like trying to herd cats." Meanwhile, a UFO conspiracy theorist recently described the south pole as an “air traffic control” hub for aliens. A recent discussion centred on the Amundsen–Scott South Pole, which Eric Hecker claimed communicated with “exotic” crafts by sending neutrino rays up into space. Hecker went further by talking about “digital optical modules” buried a mile beneath the surface under the ice. He claims they were buried in order to detect neutrino interactions while being deep enough not to interfere with radiation readings. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Music publishers sued Twitter for more than $250 million in damages on Wednesday, alleging that the social media platform "breeds massive copyright infringement that harms music creators."

The European Union took a major step Wednesday toward setting rules — the first in the world — on how companies can use artificial intelligence.

Thousands of dead fish have mysteriously washed up on the Texas coast as a result of 'low-dissolved oxygen' in the water. According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, low oxygen levels are common in the summer when temperatures rise, making it so the fish can't 'breathe'. However, the footage looks like something out of a horror movie, with piles of silver carcasses lining the sand, 65 miles south of Houston. Most of the fish are thought to be Gulf menhaden, which are often used for bait. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

You may have been hearing a lot about UFOs lately, and that’s largely thanks to Ufologist Dr. Steven Greer who has been hosting a conference on the subject. A range of people were invited to share their insights as part of an event streamed online and it saw Eric Hecker describe the south pole as an “air traffic control” hub for aliens. The conspiracy theorist made some pretty out-there claims at the conference, but it’s the discussion about the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station that was most significant. Hecker claimed that in 2010 Raytheon, the US aerospace and defence conglomerate chose him to be a contractor on the research centre operated by the United States National Science Foundation. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter There was “much more” to the station that first met the eye, according to Hecker. Monday, June 12, 2023! Dr. Greer's Groundbreaking National Press Club Event! FREE to Watch! www.youtube.com He claimed the station actually operated as an “air traffic control” centre for UFOs and communicated with “exotic” crafts by sending neutrino rays up into space. Hecker went further by talking about “digital optical modules” buried a mile beneath the surface under the ice. He claims they were buried in order to detect neutrino interactions while being deep enough not to interfere with radiation readings. He also said he personally saw a “powerful green laser” pointing “at the cosmos.” It comes after a whistleblower who claims that the US government has been operating UFO retrieval research in secret has reportedly said that UFOs have been responsible for the deaths of humans. David Grusch worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and was involved with the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. He claimed that some of the “non-human intelligences” discovered have malevolent intentions and have killed people. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

SoftwareOne Holding AG’s board said Bain Capital’s 2.93 billion Swiss-franc ($3.2 billion) offer to take the IT services