A Developer Explains How Creative Coding Could Heal Our Relationship With Technology

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for software engineers is expected to see a 26% increase by the end of 2028. Coding bootcamps have seen a rapid expansion, from producing a mere 2,000 graduates in 2013 to over 20,000 graduates in 2018 . [Read: How the Dutch government uses data to predict the weather and prepare for natural disasters] For a passionate technologist like me, these numbers bring little comfort....

January 7, 2023 · 9 min · 1896 words · Dorie England

Activists Created A Free Font Made From Gerrymandered Us Voting Districts

Every letter in the font is composed of images of gerrymandered US voting districts. Though a couple letters (the X, for example) are composited from more than one district to make them legible, most of them are untouched representations of just how ridiculous US politics are. — Gerry (@UglyGerry) July 23, 2019 The font’s creators, Ben Doessel and James Lee, made it to raise awareness and provide a method for disenfranchised voters to protest partisan gerrymandering....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 407 words · Charles Caldwell

Adios Pandemic Pals

Tweet of the week COVID-19 is just getting started. The pandemic is NOT “winding down,” “ending,” or “almost over.” Things are absolutely, definitely, NOT going “back to normal.” The US will soon face its toughest challenge as a nation. Experts predict the winter will bring a surge in cases and, with them, deaths. Even with the miracle vaccines, the prognosis is dark for 2021. Most of us won’t get the vaccine next year and those that do can still spread the virus....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 335 words · Dawn Anklam

Adobe Is Making It Less Of A Nightmare To Read Pdfs On Your Phone

Adobe is rolling out a new AI-powered feature in Adobe Reader that’ll make PDF files a lot more readable and responsive on Android and iOS devices. Dubbed Liquid Mode, the new functionality leverages Adobe’s AI framework, Sensei, to make PDFs fit your screen without having to constantly pinch and zoom. Okay, here’s how it’ll work. When you open a PDF in Reader, Sensei will scan the file and identify parts like headings, paragraphs, images, and tables....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 317 words · Lucas Tower

After The Facebook Papers What S Next For Err Meta

The revelations from leaked documents and Frances Haugen’s testimonies have plunged the company into a crisis — and a new name isn’t gonna solve its problems. We dug out our crystal ball to predict what’s next for the social media giant. A regulatory backlash The Facebook Files heightened calls for lawmakers to regulate the company. Legal experts have proposed breaking up the business, implementing stricter privacy legislation, creating new federal agencies, and auditing the company’s algorithms....

January 7, 2023 · 3 min · 568 words · David Gow

Airtags Let You Find Your Keys And Help Criminals Steal Your Car

But did I ever stop to think whether someone could use an AirTag to steal my car? Nope, but apparently that’s a thing now. Last week, the Canadian police announced that criminals have been using a new method to track and steal high-end vehicles: yep, AirTags. In fact, in the last three months, officers have identified five such incidents across the York Region in Ontario. “The Big Job” According to the police investigation, the car thieves are using a five-step “Grand Theft Auto” plan....

January 7, 2023 · 3 min · 560 words · Jessie Conner

Algorithm Reveals Which New Emoji Twitter Users Most Desire

The gatekeeper of the emoji world is the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit that decides which emoji make it onto our phones. Every year, the consortium releases a selection of new emoji. But not everyone agrees with what they approve and reject. A new emoji tracker could help them in their future decisions. Researchers from the Haslam College of Business and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville created the system to understand which emoji the public wants on social media....

January 7, 2023 · 3 min · 457 words · Paul Mays

All The Free Content You Can Watch On Hbo During The Coronavirus Crisis

In a tweet, HBO said the content will be available starting from Friday, April 3. The best bit? You won’t even need a subscription to take advantage of the offering. The free content will be available on the network’s streaming services HBO NOW and HBO GO, both on mobile and desktop. [Read: PSA: Netflix isn’t giving away free subs due to coronavirus — it’s a scam] Here’s the full list of free content: Series:...

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 273 words · Roberto Wulff

Amazon Crypto Payment Rumors Spark Bitcoin Surge

Bitcoin briefly surged above $39,000, its highest price since mid-June, while Ether and other digital currencies also rose.

January 7, 2023 · 1 min · 18 words · Royce Scott

Amazon Employees Risk Their Jobs By Criticizing The Company For Its Role In Climate Crisis

[Read: Fired Google employees will charge the company with ‘unfair labor practices’] The company’s response? Retaliate with threats of firing. I stand with these employees who are fighting to protect the only home we have. pic.twitter.com/bvgsEH7nHj — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 6, 2020 This is the latest example of what could be the biggest threat to tech giants: employee activist groups. It’s a trend that’s been spreading among over corporate companies including Google....

January 7, 2023 · 1 min · 92 words · Perry Gehrke

Amazon Fresh Grocery Deliveries Are Now Free For Us Prime Members

There’s a small catch, though: for now, you’ll have to sign up for an invite before you can avail of the free service. The company is either pacing itself as it ramps up delivery capabilities across the country, or figuring out which cities have the highest demand for its speedy grocery deliver service. You can register your interest here.

January 7, 2023 · 1 min · 59 words · Brenda Hale

An Old Tv Caused Internet Outages For An Entire Village For 18 Months

After numerous cable replacements failed to fix the the issue, an investigation by Openreach technicians discovered that an unnamed Aberhosan resident was unaware their TV would emit a signal that would interfere with the entire village’s broadband infrastructure, BBC reports. [Read more: Are EVs too expensive? Here are 5 common myths, debunked] Baffled by the continuous lapses in connectivity, the technicians used a monitoring device to identify the source of the interference....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 238 words · Ruby Smith

Android 10 Is Out On Pixel Phones And More Here S How To Get It

Though rollouts are typically gradual, you can get it right now by going to Settings > System > Advanced > System Update on your Pixel device. If it doesn’t show up, a refresh should do the trick. If you still don’t see it and are desperate for the latest software, you can sideload an OTA or flash a factory image via ADB. If those words made no sense to you, you should just wait to get the update like everyone else The Essential Phone, which has matched Google’s own update pace remarkably well, also made Android 10 available today....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 252 words · Maureen Counts

Another Tesla Crashes Due To Misuse Of Autopilot Updated

According to the report, the Tesla’s driver was operating his Model S P85 with the vehicle’s driver-assistance feature turned on. Data obtained by the NTSB shows the driver’s hands hadn’t been on the steering wheel for approximately thirteen minutes before the vehicle collided into a parked fire truck. Per the NTSB: We’ve seen the same chain events played out in many accidents involving the company’s “Autopilot,” the driver overestimates the capabilities of the vehicle’s software and, sometimes, ends up dead....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 379 words · Rose Stevenson

Apple And Google Suspend Monitoring Of Voice Recordings By Humans Update Amazon Too

TechCrunch, which broke the news, said Apple plans to issue a software update to seek users’ consent before letting them participate in the product improvement program. “We are committed to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy,” the company said to the outlet. “While we conduct a thorough review, we are suspending Siri grading globally. Additionally, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading....

January 7, 2023 · 3 min · 481 words · Edwin Bently

Apple Arcade Launches On September 19 At 4 99 A Month

It also revealed its price point: $4.99 for the entire family. You’ll also have access to a free trial, and the service will have 100 games at launch. Arcade will now be in its own tab on the App Store, and visiting it will give subscribers access not only to the games, but to game recommendations, trailers, and guides. Apple also revealed several of the games that’ll be available to Arcade users that have heretofore not been seen....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 252 words · Anne Gunter

Apple Hit With 1 43B Siri Patent Lawsuit From Chinese Ai Firm

Shanghai Zhizhen — also known as Xiao — is seeking $1.43 billion (10 billion yuan) in damages from Apple. It also wants the firm to stop selling products in China that breach the patent, which would mean most iPhones, iPads, and Macs would no longer be available in Apple’s second-largest market. “But customers are paying for every Apple product. In turn, Apple has to respect innovation. They use our patents, they need to pay us a reasonable fee....

January 7, 2023 · 2 min · 339 words · Barry Jennings

Apple Pay S Vp Just Called Cryptocurrency Interesting Which Is Dumb

According to CNN, Bailey even double-downed on that fearless description, confirming that Apple thinks it has “interesting long-term potential,” whatever the fuck that means. Not only is that statement as bland as Apple’s branding, it’s incredibly vague. Which cryptocurrency? Bitcoin? Ethereum? A token picked at random from a shitcoin factory like Binance? Who cares! Cryptocurrency is “interesting.” Talk about disruption. Aside from being “interested,” Bailey said her employer is “watching cryptocurrency....

January 7, 2023 · 1 min · 131 words · Grace Miller

Apple S M1 Macbook Pro Has Up To Twice The Battery Life Of The Intel One

Performance-wise, the gains are similar to those the company is touting with the MacBook Air. Here are Apple’s claims: Up to 2.8x CPU performance Up to 5x the graphics speed Up to 11x faster machine learning Up to 20 hours of battery life One needs to take that ‘up to’ bit seriously. As I wrote in my post about the MacBook Air, these performance numbers likely reflect gains when using apps that have been specifically developed to run on ARM-based chips....

January 7, 2023 · 3 min · 470 words · William Rosado

Apple S Set To Make Big Bucks Off Its New Lending Service

Pay Later will be built into the Apple Wallet and eligible for use on any purchase made through Apple Pay. Customers will be able to split the cost of a purchase into four equal payments, with zero interest and fees, spread over a period of four months. To qualify, however, Apple will first do a soft credit check on users wanting to use the service. The technology behemoth claims it has designed the feature with “users’ financial health in mind”....

January 7, 2023 · 4 min · 740 words · Kenton Briggs