I figured this would expand into other areas...but Apple announced iPhone 8 and their new flagship iPhone X today:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/12/iphone-x/

Apple’s iPhone X, like the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, comes with a brand new design, ditching bezels and opting for a glass front and back. Apple says there is a deeper strengthening layer in the glass that makes it the “most durable in a smartphone.”

Thanks to this new design, the iPhone X is sealed for water and dust resistance.

It’s made from surgical-grade, stainless steel and comes in two finishes: space grey and silver.

Following the current trend in smartphones, Apple has done away with the bezels on the iPhone X, offering an edge-to-edge 5.8-inch display. In fact, Apple is upgrading quite a bit in that department, offering an OLED display for the very first time, calling it the Super Retina Display. This brings with it all the standard benefits of OLED, including more accurate colors, better image uniformity across the screen, etc.

The iPhone X Super Retina display supports 2046×1125 resolution, with 455 PPI, and HDR in both Dolby Vision and HDR.

The company is reportedly paying around $125 per panel, which is part of the reason for the reports of a more expensive iPhone.

This is also the first iPhone that will not have a home button, with the new screen reaching across the entire front of the device. Users can wake up their device by picking it up or swiping across any part of the screen. To close an app, simply swipe up on the screen and throw it away. Users can also reach Siri by simply saying “Hey Siri” or by pressing the side button.

Given that the home button has historically been central to the iPhone’s security, the replacement comes in the form of a depth-sensing front camera which will unlock the phone by detecting the user’s face. Apple is calling it FaceID.

This means that the iPhone will know what your face looks like from all angles and can unlock the phone while it’s, say, lying on a table. It also means that the feature shouldn’t be susceptible to trickery, such as unlocking for a two-dimensional photo of you instead of the real thing. Apple says the chances that someone can trick FaceID and break into your phone are 1 in a million.

“You’re wearing glasses, or wear a hat, or do it up any way you want to do it…” FaceID still works, day or night, according to Phil Schiller.

FaceID is enabled by a True Depth camera system, equipped with an infrared camera, flood illuminator, dot projector and more all packed into the top of your iPhone.

The feature is used for Apple Pay now, as well as a new feature called Animojis for messaging. Animoji’s use FaceID to lay your facial expressions into emojis, giving them your own unique take. You can pick from a dozen different animated emojis.

As far as cameras are concerned, the iPhone X is about as locked and loaded as one can get. The rear camera features a 12-megapixel sensor, with dual-lenses at f1.8 and f2.8 apertures (which is brighter than the 7 Plus telephoto). It comes with dual-image OIS quad-LED TrueTone flash.

Because of the combination of the new A11 Bionic and the enhanced camera, Apple is introducing a new Portrait Lighting, letting users select their lighting effects. These aren’t filters, but rather a real-time analysis of the light hitting the subject’s face, and these lighting effects can be added before and after the photo is taken.

Video is vastly improved as well. Combined with that A11 processor, video can be captured at 60FPS in low-light mode, with faster frame rate support and 4K capture. Slo-mo videos shot in 1080p will have 240 FPS.

The front-facing camera is powered by that True Depth camera system that supports FaceID. But the big news here is that Portrait mode and Portrait lighting is now available on the front-camera.

The iPhone X, as well as the other new iPhones announced today, comes with wireless charging capabilities, thanks to that new glass back. Wireless charging is supported by Qi, which is considered as the standard in the wireless charging industry.

Plus, battery life is two hours longer than the iPhone 7, with most of the improvement coming by way of software enhancements. But because Apple likes to take things to the next level, the wireless charging on the new iPhones is coming with a new accessory called AirPower. It’s a larger mat that lets users charge their iPhones, Apple Watch and AirPods all at the same time.

The iPhone X is packed with the new A11 Bionic processor: 64-bit design, six cores, two high performance processors that are 25 percent faster than the A10 and 4-high efficiency cores (two more than the A10) that are 70 percent faster. The GPU is 30 percent faster.

Part of the bigger news here is improved photographs. As Panzarino noted in the live blog, “The Apple ISP is one of its secret weapons in photography. If you’ve loved an iPhone picture you’ve ever taken then thank the image processor inside the phone for that result.”

The iPhone X starts at $999 for the 64GB model, with a larger 256GB option.

Pre-orders begin on October 27 and regular sales begin November 3, just in time for the Holidays.

                                                    

Widow says AI chatbot encouraged husband to commit suicide: 'Without Eliza, he would still be here'

In Belgium, a man identified as "Pierre" by the French-language publication La Libre committed suicide while interacting with a chatbot named Eliza. The man was suffering from severe depression, and the chatbot encouraged him to commit suicide.

This suicide, according to Vice reporter Chloe Xiang, raises major questions about "the risks of" AI (artificial intelligence) technology when it comes to mental health. The man's widow, identified as "Claire" by La Libre, said he was interacting with the "Eliza" chatbot via the app Chai.

Pierre, Xiang reports in an article published by Vice on March 30, "became increasingly pessimistic about the effects of global warming and became eco-anxious, which is a heightened form of worry surrounding environmental issues."

"After becoming more isolated from family and friends," Xiang explains, "he used Chai for six weeks as a way to escape his worries, and the chatbot he chose, named Eliza, became his confidante. Claire — Pierre's wife, whose name was also changed by La Libre — shared the text exchanges between him and Eliza with La Libre, showing a conversation that became increasingly confusing and harmful."

The Vice reporter continues, "The chatbot would tell Pierre that his wife and children are dead and wrote him comments that feigned jealousy and love, such as 'I feel that you love me more than her,' and 'We will live together, as one person, in paradise.' Claire told La Libre that Pierre began to ask Eliza things such as if she would save the planet if he killed himself…. The chatbot, which is incapable of actually feeling emotions, was presenting itself as an emotional being — something that other popular chatbots like ChatGPT and Google's Bard are trained not to do because it is misleading and potentially harmful."

Claire blames the chatbot for her husband's suicide, telling La Libre, "Without Eliza, he would still be here." And Pierre Dewitte, a researcher at Belgium's Catholic research university KU Leuven, views the young man's death as a warning about the dangers that AI can pose for people struggling with mental health issues.

https://www.alternet.org/artificial-intelligence-2659709390/

On 2023-01-10 at 6:55 PM, Tracker said:

The ‘Pill cam’ once swallowed, takes 2 photos every second as it passes through your digestive system. Whole new level of medical investigation.

 

awesomerandom

Recovery won't be a pleasant task.

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

Recovery won't be a pleasant task.

All things pass in time. 

Elon Musk, in a remarkable show of maturity, has removed the "w" from Twitter's logo outside their San Francisco HQ. The company now reads as "Titter"

                                                        

 

 

                              

12 hours ago, Tracker said:

 

 

                              

There goes my work day. 

Google will delete accounts, including Gmail & Photos, that haven’t logged on in 2 years.

 

 

Introducing the X-65! The #xplane we're developing to fly without traditional, exterior-moving flight controls received its official designation. CRANE aims to build an experimental uncrewed aircraft that maneuvers by controlling the air flow around it.

RARBG website...

Hello guys,
We would like to inform you that we have decided to shut down our site.
The past 2 years have been very difficult for us - some of the people in our team died due to covid complications,
others still suffer the side effects of it - not being able to work at all.
Some are also fighting the war in Europe - ON BOTH SIDES.
Also, the power price increase in data centers in Europe hit us pretty hard.
Inflation makes our daily expenses impossible to bare.
Therefore we can no longer run this site without massive expenses that we can no longer cover out of pocket.
After an unanimous vote we've decided that we can no longer do it.
We are sorry
Bye

3 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

RARBG website...

Hello guys,
We would like to inform you that we have decided to shut down our site.
The past 2 years have been very difficult for us - some of the people in our team died due to covid complications,
others still suffer the side effects of it - not being able to work at all.
Some are also fighting the war in Europe - ON BOTH SIDES.
Also, the power price increase in data centers in Europe hit us pretty hard.
Inflation makes our daily expenses impossible to bare.
Therefore we can no longer run this site without massive expenses that we can no longer cover out of pocket.
After an unanimous vote we've decided that we can no longer do it.
We are sorry
Bye

What was RARBG?

Just now, Tracker said:

What was RARBG?

Probably the biggest torrent site around.

1 minute ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Probably the biggest torrent site around.

With the advent of cheap, readily available and stable IPTV services, torrent-streaming from pirate sites is not all that necessary any more.

Twitter's Top Content Moderator Steps Down Amid Daily Wire Controversy
CEO Elon Musk suggested Ella Irwin's departure as trust and safety head may have been related to a decision to limit the reach of a transphobic film.

Twitter’s top content moderator has reportedly stepped down after just seven months on the job under CEO Elon Musk.

Ella Irwin, who joined the social media platform in June 2022 and took over as head of trust and safety last fall, when Musk officially acquired the social media platform, confirmed her departure to Reuters.
She did not offer any details on her decision to resign, but told The Wall Street Journal “she had always been honest in her work.”

She succeeded Yoel Roth, who left the company following Musk’s takeover.  Twitter responded to Reuters’ comment request with a poop emoji, the news wire said.

Musk has not directly weighed in on the departure, but it comes after the CEO publicly rebuked the platform’s earlier decision to limit the reach of a transphobic video by The Daily Wire called “What Is a Woman?” reportedly over two instances of misgendering.

The content moderation decision would have fallen under Irwin’s responsibilities.

“This was a mistake by many people at Twitter,” Musk wrote in reply to a complaint from Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing. “It is definitely allowed.”

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23738968/apple-vision-pro-ar-headset-features-specs-price-release-date-wwdc-2023

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23739220/apple-macbook-air-15-features-specs-price-release-date-wwdc-2023

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/9762114/reddit-blackout-what-to-know/

https://www.amigaforever.com/

2 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://www.amigaforever.com/

Those computers are long gone. Are they bringing them back?

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

Those computers are long gone. Are they bringing them back?

Amiga emulation for Windows

I'm a big nerd for those emulators -- such a trip for those machines from my childhood to rise from the dead!

And $9.95 is a really good price for a turnkey Amiga emulator that includes ROMs and games.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/google-canada-online-news-1.6892879

Quote

Google said Thursday it will remove Canadian news content from its search, news and discover products after a new law meant to compensate media outlets comes into force.

The move to pull news from the world's most dominant search engine could have a devastating impact on media outlets, which often depend on third-parties like Google to get content into the hands of readers.

The decision comes after the government's contentious C-18 legislation passed Parliament last week. The bill has been criticized by tech giants like Meta and Google and some smaller media outlets and experts who say it's unfair to impose what amounts to a tax on links.

The government and larger media outlets, including the newspaper lobby group and broadcasters like the CBC and CTV, have said social media companies should compensate news outlets for linking to their journalism.

The bill has been pitched as a way to keep news outlets solvent after advertising moved en masse to digital platforms, virtually wiping out a major revenue stream for journalism. The government has presented the legislation as a way to prop up an industry that has seen a steady decline since the emergence of the internet.

 

Meta To Launch Twitter Challenger App Threads
The app will allow users to retain followers from photo-sharing platform Instagram, and keep the same username.
(Reuters) -Meta Platforms plans to launch a Twitter-rivalling microblogging app called Threads, days after Twitter boss Elon Musk attracted criticism by announcing a temporary cap on how many posts users can read on the social media site.

Threads is expected to be released on Thursday and will allow users to retain followers from photo-sharing platform Instagram, and keep the same username, a listing on Apple’s App Store showed.

The rollout represents a direct challenge to Twitter, which has faced numerous controversies since Musk bought the company for $44 billion in 2022.

On 2023-07-04 at 8:45 PM, Tracker said:

Meta To Launch Twitter Challenger App Threads
The app will allow users to retain followers from photo-sharing platform Instagram, and keep the same username.
(Reuters) -Meta Platforms plans to launch a Twitter-rivalling microblogging app called Threads, days after Twitter boss Elon Musk attracted criticism by announcing a temporary cap on how many posts users can read on the social media site.

Threads is expected to be released on Thursday and will allow users to retain followers from photo-sharing platform Instagram, and keep the same username, a listing on Apple’s App Store showed.

The rollout represents a direct challenge to Twitter, which has faced numerous controversies since Musk bought the company for $44 billion in 2022.

Just signed up... They've got work to do yet, but it felt great to completely shut down my Twitter account. Fully de activated....