Category: Uncategorized

Bloomberg: Twitter faces a backlash in Brazil after it initially refused government requests to take down posts and profiles suspected of inspiring violence in schools  —  Twitter is facing condemnation in Latin America’s largest economy for its laissez-faire approach on content suspected of inspiring violence in schools.

A muddy trek reveals the last remnants of the Rwenzori Mountains’ once-sprawling ice fields, a loss for scientists studying the climate record.

P R Sanjai / Bloomberg: Indian streaming service JioCinema plans to add 100+ films and TV series and charge for content; JioCinema had 22M viewers for an IPL cricket match on April 12  —  Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming service will add more than 100 films and TV series to its platform, building on the popularity […]

We also found nice discounts on ebikes and a Microsoft Surface laptop.

High capacity, high suction, and exceptional maneuverability mean my fabulously fluffy rabbit has finally met her vacuum match.

Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica: Asus unveils ROG Phone 7 with a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage, and clip-on cooling fan, starting at €999 and available for preorder in Europe  —  The clip-on fan interfaces with a trap door that opens up for internal cooling.  —  Some companies may be giving …

Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times: A look at OpenAI’s “red team” of 50 academics and experts, hired in 2022 to look for issues such as toxicity, prejudice, and biases in GPT-4 before its release  —  Microsoft-backed company asked an eclectic mix of people to ‘adversarially test’ GPT-4, its powerful new language model

Wall Street Journal: Filing: Elon Musk creates X.AI Corp., a privately held AI company incorporated in Nevada, and authorizes the sale of 100M shares  —  Name of new Nevada-incorporated organization suggests link to billionaire’s interest in everything app  —  Elon Musk has created a new artificial intelligence …

The nation’s highest court temporarily stayed restrictions on the drug mifepristone while it continues weighing a decision.

Wall Street Journal: Sources: Sega is nearing a deal to acquire Rovio for ~$1B; Rovio was in talks to sell to rival Playtika for $800M+, but the negotiations ended in March 2023  —  Japan-based entertainment conglomerate expected to pay about $1 billion for Rovio Entertainment  —  Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. SGAMY …

Wall Street Journal: Montana lawmakers approve a first-of-its-kind bill that bans TikTok and bars app stores from offering the app within the state, starting on January 1, 2024  —  Supporters of the first-of-its-kind-bill expect legal challenges if the governor signs the legislation

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An analysis of TED talks and startup pitches suggests humor can help women break free from the warmth–competence double bind.

Five steps you can take to manage a boss that’s making both of your lives harder.

Indie and big-name studios alike are innovating new ways to include blind and low-vision players, from text-to-speech to sound cues.

If passed, the proposed law would also require internet service providers to block websites that discuss access to abortion.

A new proposal from the EPA would make it less attractive for automakers to build big vehicles.

Richard Waters / Financial Times: Intel faces huge challenges in revitalizing its business, meaning a central piece of US industrial policy rests on one of the most complex tech turnarounds ever  —  Once the leading player in the semiconductor industry, the company is attempting to pull off one of tech’s most complex turnrounds

Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal: Parlement Technologies agrees to sell right-wing social network Parler to Starboard, which will take temporarily shut down Parler ahead of a planned relaunch  —  Social network popular with conservatives will be sold for an undisclosed amount and overhauled for a relaunch

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Denver-based Elevate, which provides a dashboard for managing employee benefits, raised $28M led by Anthemis, bringing its total funding to $43M  —  Elevate, a consumer benefits administration platform, today announced that it raised $28 million in a funding round led by Anthemis with participation …

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget: WhatsApp rolls out a handful of new verification and protection features, including defenses against SIM jacking and social engineering attacks  —  WhatsApp has begun rolling out a handful of new security features.  The most notable sees the company doing more to protect users against SIM jacking …

Despite new restrictions, telehealth providers and other organizations plan to continue services.

More like a village than a city, Mastodon has less cruelty and bad-faith debates than Twitter, in my experience Could it be a social media platform to trust, asks Annalee Newitz

Aria Alamalhodaei / TechCrunch: Toronto-based Kepler, which plans to launch a network of optical satellites to deliver data at 2.5Gbps to satellites in low Earth orbit, raised a $92M Series C  —  Toronto-based startup Kepler Communications closed another tranche of capital to continue building out its on-orbit data network.

Kris Holt / Engadget: Meta open sources Animated Drawings, an AI project that turns doodles into animations, with a dataset of nearly 180K drawings  —  Meta has open-sourced an artificial intelligence project that lets anyone bring their doodles to life.  The company hopes that by offering Animated Drawings …

On a clear, moonlit evening, a group of MIT undergraduate men of color gathered at the Samberg Center for a now-annual tradition: inducting the newest cohort of first-year students to The Standard, the Office of Minority Education’s program for undergraduate men of color. The gathering was festive, featuring dinner and a spectacular view of Boston, […]

MIT junior Malhaar Agrawal has been selected as a 2023 Truman Scholar. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1975 as a living memorial to President Harry S. Truman and a national monument to public service, the Truman Scholarship supports and inspires the next generation of public service leaders. Truman Scholars are selected for their outstanding […]

In 2017, the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) initiated the J-WAFS Fellowship Program for outstanding MIT PhD students working to solve humankind’s water-related challenges. Since then, J-WAFS has awarded 18 fellowships to students who have gone on to create innovations like a pump that can maximize energy efficiency even with changing […]

We’ve planned a half-day of learning, guidance, and inspiration—all virtual.

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Three scenarios — and how to navigate them.

Eero’s premium mesh system has family-friendly features and plays nice with your smart home.

This week on Gadget Lab, we use a set of software tools to create robo versions of our real voices and see how they stack up.

It’s time to reform the US legal system.

Ian Hogarth / Financial Times: An investor in 50+ AI startups warns against building a “God-like AI” and says companies are “running towards a finish line” without knowing the ramifications  —  The writer of this essay is an investor and co-author of the annual “State of AI” report

Robert McMillan / Wall Street Journal: How the US is making arrests and seizing crypto funds, like James Zhong’s 50K+ bitcoin, using Chainalysis and other tools to identify criminals via transactions  —  Federal authorities are making arrests and seizing funds with the help of new tools to identify criminals through cryptocurrency transactions

Raphael Satter / Reuters: Discord says it is cooperating with US law enforcement’s investigation into the classified material breach  —  Instant messaging platform Discord said on Wednesday it was cooperating with U.S. law enforcement’s investigation into a leak of secret U.S. documents that has grabbed attention around the world.

MIT neuroscientists have found a way to reverse neurodegeneration and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by interfering with an enzyme that is typically overactive in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. When the researchers treated mice with a peptide that blocks the hyperactive version of an enzyme called CDK5, they found dramatic reductions in neurodegeneration and […]

Managing a building or renovation project really means managing a series of disparate, interconnected tasks. Something as small as a kitchen renovation might involve half a dozen subcontractors including plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and painters. The complexity makes cost and time overruns common. On the other hand, “Architecture is a passion business,” says Moe Amaya MA […]

An Uber driver was mugged. An Ola driver was beaten and left in a coma. Platform workers say tech companies are doing little to protect them.

Cheyenne Ligon / CoinDesk: FTX’s attorneys say the company recovered $7.3B in liquid assets and is considering using creditors’ holdings to reopen the exchange; FTX’s FTT token jumps 70%+  —  FTT jumped 55%.  —  Featured SpeakerBrett Harrison  —  Founder and CEOArchitect  —  Don’t miss “FTX: What Happened” …

Warner Bros. Discovery’s rebranded new service will combine HBO Max and Discovery+ offerings into a juggernaut—or a jumbled mess.

The bizarre release of sensitive US government materials soon after their creation signals a potential shift to near-real-time unauthorized disclosures.

Wall Street Journal: Sources: IBM explores selling its weather unit in a deal that could be valued at $1B+; IBM reportedly paid $2B+ for The Weather Company’s digital assets in 2015  —  Weather.com owner could fetch more than $1 billion in a sale  —  International Business Machines Corp. is exploring a sale …

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: Google releases Android 14 Beta 1 for Pixel devices, with sharesheet custom actions, a more prominent back arrow, per-app language preferences, and more  —  Google’s Android development cycle runs on a rather predictable cadence these days.  Today, after two developer previews …

A lighting device that reuses its infrared light to conserve energy is as efficient as some LED lights, which could contribute to fewer carbon emissions while retaining a natural glow

Participating in an intensive three-week lab in Yucatán, Mexico, changed how MIT junior Penelope Herrero-Marques views her role as an engineer. The January trip was the first step in a new partnership between MIT D-Lab and Perkins School for the Blind, a Massachusetts-based national service provider and international nonprofit that strives to make education accessible […]

Brian Nord first fell in love with physics when he was a teenager growing up in Wisconsin. His high school physics program wasn’t exceptional, and he sometimes struggled to keep up with class material, but those difficulties did nothing to dampen his interest in the subject. In addition to the main curriculum, students were encouraged […]

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence has ignited a deep philosophical exploration into the nature of consciousness, creativity, and authorship. As we bear witness to new advances in the field, it’s increasingly apparent that these synthetic agents possess a remarkable capacity to create, iterate, and challenge our traditional notions of intelligence. But what does it […]

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