Tech
This tiny chip is being used to develop a tooth-mounted sensor that can read your spit
/ Silicon Labs is hoping more device makers will follow suit and use their teeny xG27 SoC to make medical and wearable devices. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Silicon Labs Miniaturizing tech is a perpetual challenge for wearable makers. The smaller the device, the better it is for wearability. The thing is, that usually comes at the expense of battery life. However, Silicon Labs is hoping its latest xG27 chipset is small and energy-efficient enough to spark some big ideas in the medical tech space — like a saliva reader that’s so tiny it can be mounted onto a tooth. Accord...
California’s gig worker-focused Prop 22 isn’t overturned after all
/ A court has overturned a 2021 ruling that struck down the law, declaring it unconstitutional. It allows companies like Uber to classify workers as contractors, not employees. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images An appeals court in California has ruled that the state’s Proposition 22 should mostly be allowed to stand, after a judge ruled to strike it down in 2021, declaring it unconstitutional, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The law, which passed in 2020 following a massive and expensive campaign, made it so companie...
Meta gives up on NFTs for Facebook and Instagram
/ Meta is moving on from more crypto projects, even though NFTs / digital collectibles were once pitched as part of its ‘metaverse’ future.
Sony wants to help low-vision users enjoy photography by shining lasers in their eyes
/ A new viewfinder housing from QD Laser for the DSC-HX99 point-and-shoot camera uses retinal lasers to help people see clearly through it, and Sony is helping foot the bill. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Sony Giant frickin’ laser beams get all the buzz and sci-fi love, but it’s our little laser bros that are putting in the work: taking measurements, entertaining our cats, and now, in the case of a Sony camera, helping people with vision problems see clearly through an electronic viewfinder and take pictures. Sony is working with fellow Japanese company QD Laser to releas...
Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon
/ A viral Reddit post has revealed just how much processing the company’s cameras apply to photos of the Moon, further blurring the line between real and fake imagery in the age of AI. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: u/ibreakphotos For years, Samsung “Space Zoom”-capable phones have been known for their ability to take incredibly detailed photos of the Moon. But a recent Reddit post showed in stark terms just how much computational processing the company is doing, and — given the evidence supplied — it feels like we should go ahead and say it: Samsung’s pictures of the...
Custom AI chatbots are quietly becoming the next big thing in fandom
Artificial Intelligence AI chat systems put a new, sometimes solipsistic twist on the fannish roleplaying tradition. Share this story a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>Self-help bots on Character.AI sit alongside celebrities and fictional characters. Similar to the “Historical Figures” chat app that caused a stir in January, Character.AI lets users speak to AI-generated characters. But where that app offered paid chatbot versions of William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, and Adolf Hitler, Character.AI’s offerings are broader. The founders of Character.AI claim that their ideals behind the company are to “he...
Oscars 2023: Everything Everywhere All at Once did the thing many times over
/ Everything Everywhere All At Once and All Quiet on the Western Front cleaned up very nicely at an Oscars that felt like a return to simpler times. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images With 23 awards to be given out, the 95th Academy Awards Ceremony definitely ran a little long, but after last year’s theatrics, the evening felt like a studied return to form for the Oscars and a fitting end to awards season. As improbable as it might have once seemed, A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once from the Daniels absolutely dominated at this year’s ceremony...
The idea for The Last of Us’ big season one finale cameo almost led to another game
The Last of Us’ Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin say that the show’s most emotional cameo started as an idea for an animated short and an entirely new video game. Share this story a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>HBO While HBO’s The Last of Us brought quite a few of the original video game’s actors back for cameo roles throughout the first season, the show was always careful not to draw too much attention to them so as not to pull focus from the larger story being told. But for its season one finale, The Last of Us pulled out one of the bigger guns for a tense and moving scene. It’s ...
Elon Musk Is Reportedly Planning To Build His Own Town Called Snailbrook
Elon Musk is apparently directing his attention away from running Twitter and towards a new project. The entrepreneur is planning to build a company town for Tesla, Boring and SpaceX employees, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.Sources told the publication that Musk has acquired 3,500 acres of land in Texas, where he’ll erect a town for employees to live in called Snailbrook, a reference to the Boring company mascot.The WSJ report cites county deeds, as well as emails to county officials and internal communications. It also states that Boring employees have already been invited to apply for housing. Rent for a two or three bedroom house would be around $800 USD a month.The alleged town would likely be situated in Bastrop County near Austin. Musk operates factories for Tesl...
NASA’s SpaceX Crew Returns to Earth After 5 Months in Space
SpaceX’s Crew 5 mission has returned to Earth, bringing a five-month mission to a close. The international space crew landed off of the coast of Tampa, Florida, via a parachute-assisted splashdown on Saturday, having spent 157 days in orbit.The team of global astronauts was made up of NASA’s Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina. They lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 5 in a Falcon 9 rocket.Following their landing, a SpaceX team used recovery vessels to retrieve the spacecraft. The team of astronauts will now fly to the NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas.Over the course of the mission, astronauts conducted a series of scientific experiments, including testing new techniqu...
Etsy is delaying seller payouts following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse
/ The DIY marketplace is pressing pause on payouts until it can route deposits through one of its other payment partners. But some sellers feel as if they’ve been left in the dark.
How to watch the 2023 Academy Awards
/ If you want to catch this year’s award ceremony live, here’s how and when you can watch the 95th annual Oscars. a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>When do the Oscars start? The Oscars take place on Sunday, March 12th, 2023 at 8PM ET / 5PM PT. a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Who is hosting the Oscars? Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars for the third time after previously leading the ceremony in 2017 and 2018. The 95th Academy Awards will see the return to the event’s solo host format, as the past several events either featured no host or a g...
