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Showing posts from January, 2023

Judge tells copyright troll, "no," he cannot continue filing piracy lawsuits from jail

Disgraced Prenda Law attorney Paul Hansmeier is serving a 14-year sentence for running a copyright entrapment scam, which he pled guilty to in 2018. Since then, he has filed multiple legal actions from his jail cell to get out of serving his time. from TechSpot https://ift.tt/sA4VY35 via

Salesforce project is creating proteins with generative AI

Salesforce Research has been working on an innovative bio-application for artificial intelligence algorithms. ProGen is an AI model designed to create synthetic proteins. It was trained with hundreds of millions of protein sequences in textual form resulting in artificial proteins that are as efficient as the natural ones at removing... from TechSpot https://ift.tt/lUNEq5x via

Instagram’s text update Notes feature is expanding to Europe and Japan

Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced today that the social network is launching its text update Notes feature across Europe and Japan. Notes are short posts of up to 60 characters that include just text and emojis, and appear above your profile photo. Prior to this expansion, Notes was already accessible everywhere Instagram is available beyond Europe and Japan since the feature’s initial roll out in December . Users can post Notes by navigating to the top of their inbox, then selecting the followers they follow back or others from their existing “Close Friends” list. They can then type out the note itself, after which it will appear at the top of friends’ inboxes for 24 hours. If a user responds to a Note, the reply will arrive as a DM. Notes Launch Worldwide Notes are now available in Europe and Japan. Check it out and let me know what you think! pic.twitter.com/MSSjQZVIuZ — Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 30, 2023 In a video posted to his social accounts, Mosseri ex

Snag a year of Peacock Premium for $30, a 5th-gen iPad for an all-time low price, plus more of the best deals of the day

We've rounded up the best deals we could find on Jan. 30 — here are some of our top picks: BEST TECH DEAL : Apple 5th generation iPad Air (64GB, WiFi) — $499.99 $599 (save $99.01) BEST BEAUTY DEAL : Dyson Corrale hair straightener — $399.99 $499.99 (save $100 as a My Best Buy member) BEST STREAMING DEAL : Peacock Premium — $29.99 $49.99 (save $20) for one year BEST TAX SOFTWARE DEAL : H&R Block Deluxe tax software + state 2022 — $22.50 $44.99 (save $22.49) + 2.75% Amazon bonus You've basically made it through the first month of 2023 — congratulations. What better way to celebrate than by treating yourself to a little something? On Jan. 30, there are plenty of sweet deals to go around, including a $100 discount on the coveted Dyson Corrale hair straightener, $30 Peacock Premium subscriptions, a 2022 iPad Air back at record-low pricing, and more. We did the grunt work of searching for the best deals so you can simply focus on saving. Keep scrolli

‘The Last of Us’ episode 3: What was at the end of Bill’s letter?

Well, I think we can all agree that The Last of Us episode 3 ripped out our collective hearts and stomped on them pretty hard, eh? The 76-minute episode, which tells the story of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), a gay couple who lived for two decades by themselves in a post-pandemic small town outside Boston, is both a moving love story and a pretty hard gut punch, made all the more emotional by the little details sprinkled throughout. SEE ALSO: 'The Last of Us' almost included a scene from Tess's past One of the final elements you might have missed near the end of the episode? The ending of Bill's final letter to Joel (Pedro Pascal), who he'd made reluctant acquaintances with after Frank and Tess (Anna Torv) had covertly become friends over the radio. Why did Bill leave a letter? In 2023, the same year Joel, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Tess leave their apartment in the Boston quarantine zone to begin their journey into the Massachusetts wild

'Star Trek: Picard' Season 3 trailer is here, but most of the crew is not

Paramount+ has released the official trailer for Star Trek: Picard 's third and final season, giving us a look at the titular Starfleet Admiral's (Patrick Stewart) ongoing refusal to retire. Jean-Luc Picard will encounter two new characters played by Ed Speleers and Todd Stashwick on his continued space treks. However, much of the cast from Star Trek: Picard 's past two seasons won't be returning, including weirdly human Borg Queen Agnes (Alison Pill), weirdly human android Soji Asha (Isa Briones), and weird Romulan Elnor (Evan Evagora). Elnor's departure in particular seems like a pretty big waste considering Picard already went through the trouble of resurrecting him in the Season 2 finale. But at least we know Starfleet Academy's resident Space Legolas is still out there somewhere. Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard will premiere on Paramount+ Feb. 16. from Mashable https://ift.tt/boK5TBU https://ift.tt/tqVn2Xg

Google has developed a music-making AI bot

As AI slowly creeps it way into every facet of our digital lives — from essay writing to conversations with therapists to the generation of original art — it's the least bit surprising that artificial intelligence would also take a step into music. It's also not surprising that tech giant Google would be the first major player on the scene. The company is reportedly building an AI bot that can create "original" music from both text and sound prompts — users would be able to type in increasingly specific prompts noting genres and styles or even build songs based on a hummed or whistled melody, according to reports. The future app is known in-house as MusicLM. SEE ALSO: You're not getting old, concerts are weird now The information was revealed in a research paper released on Jan. 26, describing MusicLM as a "model generating high-fidelity music from text descriptions" that "generates music at 24 kHz that remains consistent over several min

Researchers identify new data-wiping malware in cyberattack against Ukraine

The researchers identified the SwiftSlicer malware deployed during a cyberattack targeting Ukrainian technology outlets. The malware ware was written using a cross-platform language called Golang, better known as Go, and uses an Active Directory (AD) Group Policy attack vector. from TechSpot https://ift.tt/iP0xC4D via

SNL's cold open makes Merrick Garland a whip-cracking legal hero and nods to Tyre Nichols

SNL 's cold open had the cast on the hunt for the infamous "classified government documents." Don't worry everyone, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (Mikey Day) is on the case. This week's Saturday Night Live, hosted by actor Michael B. Jordan, joined the comedic forces of cast members Day, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, and Bowen Yang, who step up to the press podium to relay an unspoken truth of government officials of past and present: they're all a little incompetent. SEE ALSO: Michael B. Jordan plays a not-so-good neighbor in 'SNL' State Farm sketch Buttressed by humorously timed whip-cracking noises invoking the great TV procedurals of the past, Day plays a shakey but determined Garland. "I may look like I was born in a library, but there's something you should know: Merrick Garland don't play." The sketch ended with a more serious message, though: justice for the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols . "When we

Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for January 29

You made it! It's Sunday, it's Wordle time, and that means we're here to help, as always. The bottom of this article features January 29's Wordle solution. If that's not why you're here, scroll down and see what's on offer here, from clues, to strategies. You'll find what you need. Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans have even sprung up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times , and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing . Not the day you're after? Here's the Wordle answer for January 28. What's the

Tyre Nichols news is painful. Here's how to be informed and avoid racial stress.

As the video of the brutal police beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police continues to circulate online, many are feeling a range of emotions, from anger and sadness to frustration and fear. The tragic incident has sparked widespread outrage and calls for justice, with protests breaking out in major cities across America in the aftermath of bodycam and surveillance footage being released to the public by the Memphis Police Department. While it is important to stay informed, and engage with issues of police brutality and racial injustice, it is also crucial to take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones from the emotional stress that can come from consuming too much news and social media. Nichols, 29, was brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers during a traffic stop on Jan. 7 , just minutes away from his home where he stayed with his mother and step-father. Nichols would pass away three days later after succumbing to his injuries. The officers responsible for Nichols

Stripe eyes an exit, Dell bets on the cloud, and Shutterstock embraces generative AI

Hey, party people, it’s Kyle, continuing to step in for Greg to write Week in Review as he spends time with his newborn. Dunno about y’all, but it’s been a week . I’m dead tired and thankful it’s over. But because the news never sleeps, I’m rallying with the help of a fourth cup of coffee. Wish me luck. I’ve talked your ears off about it at this point, but I’m under contractual obligation (not really, but still) to mention TechCrunch’s upcoming Early Stage 2023 event in Boston on April 20. The one-day summit on startups will include advice and takeaways from top experts, plus opportunities to meet fellow founders and share your own entrepreneurial experiences. Don’t miss it. On the subject of travel, it’s not too early to start thinking about this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which will take place in late September in San Francisco. Tickets aren’t available just yet, but they will be in the near-ish future. Sign up here for updates. With the call to actions out of the way (phe

The bizarre 'To Leslie' Academy Awards controversy, explained

Just a few years after awarding Best Picture to the wrong movie , we might see a surprise nomination get revoked before the Oscars air on March 12. When the Academy Awards nominations were announced last week , one of the more shocking revelations was that Andrea Riseborough had been nominated for her role in To Leslie . If you haven't heard of To Leslie , don't worry; the film garnered less than $30,000 at the box office. It's a small independent production about a single mother who wins the lottery, and many big Hollywood names like Edward Norton and Kate Winslet publicly endorsed the film in a grassroots campaign during the Oscars voting period. SEE ALSO: First-time acting nominees dominate the 2023 Oscars nominations Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab) That's all well and good, right? After all, box office success has nothing to do with the quality of a film or the performances therein. However, according to the Academy, something might be awry

The latecomer advantage in startups

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced take on this week’s startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and Equity co-host Natasha Mascarenhas. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here . Sometimes, due to the nature of the startup game, we over index on “the new.” Companies want to build for the pain point you never dreamed to disrupt; VCs want to invest in an emerging trend before it becomes a household name; and those breaking into tech are told to lean into their earnestness, because you never know who is going to answer your cold email. In order for entrepreneurship to feel exciting and welcoming — not even be, but feel — new needs to be one of its loudest characteristics. After all, you only get to be “it” once. But one question I’ve found myself asking over the past year, especially as some of the more tenured folks speak about past downturns and cyclical learning lessons, is the latecomer advantage. It’s partially obvious: When you’ve done this whole entrepreneurship thing b