Around the corner is perhaps one of the most important elections this nation has ever seen, yet many people are still unaware of the details needed to cast informed ballots. 

It’s not necessarily their fault — some voting information can be quite hard to find, especially when it comes to learning about, say, the political stances of judges up for recall or what a certain new amendment might mean for everyday life. In a very Silicon Valley way, there is an app looking to help with that called MyBallot AI, an interactive mobile platform to help make voting information more accessible.

All a user has to do is type into a chat box what they want to know about any upcoming elections and they will receive real-time answers to their questions. 

The app, founded by Mark Larman, was publicly launched on Friday. It is powered by Google Gemini and sources its data from the Google Civic API and the BallotReady API. A little noteworthy feature is that the app reveals its sources when responding with information, perhaps as a way to avoid the plagiarism accusations that have plagued other chatbots. 

On MyBallot, users can also fill out a sample ballot so they can start to familiarize themselves with the language on the ballot. Larman said he hired a developer back in February and “it just feels like a blessing to have it finally ready in time for the election.” 

This app comes at a critical time. Misinformation remains a concern among voters this election and one person in particular is causing a stir for election officials: Elon Musk. CNN reports that states are trying to fact-check the billionaire to stop him from spreading claims that will “mislead voters.” Meanwhile, Axios reported that Facebook users are falling for AI images of fake people giving endorsements, with a flood of AI-generated content — including video and audio — taking hold over the internet. All of this, paired with the fact that search engines have deprioritized news, makes it hard for the average voter to find credible information about voting. 

Larman says he’s wanted to build an app like this since the 2020 election. He spent time that year protesting the murder of George Floyd and, when he found himself in the voting booth, he recalled looking at the ballot and not recognizing who any of the judges were.

“I was out there protesting and then when it came time to vote I didn’t even know which of these judges was for us or against us,” he said. 

He spent the next three years thinking about creating a product that could effectively educate voters. When access to artificial intelligence was democratized, he took that opportunity to start building MyBallot AI. Now, he’s in the process of fundraising and still works at his day job as he builds the app. 

“The app is especially important now to exist as a verifiably non-biased source for information,” he continued, adding that voters feel like news right now is biased. “If people weren’t so uninformed and knew more about the issues and candidates they were voting for instead of just voting for the team, they’d feel less like they got cheated or lied to.” 

Many young people are also taking to the polls for the first time. Efforts are made each election to engage young voters, who are less likely to vote than older people. Tufts estimates that in 2020, 50% of young people (considered between the ages of 18 to 29) voted in the presidential election, an increase from 39% in 2016. 

Larman thinks young people are going to come out this election, pointing out that the youth are very active in politics, “but, on the other hand, they may be the least likely to take the effort to navigate the existing non-user friendly websites to learn about state and local elections and they certainly aren’t interested in reading any 100-page voting manuals sent to their house.” 

MyBallot right now can be used anywhere in the U.S., though it says it has plans to expand to other countries soon. 

Larman has other big plans for the app, too. He aims to build a networking component so that users will be able to directly ask questions to candidates running for office — he will start reaching out to representatives after the presidential election, just in time for the midterms. To boost engagement, Larman also hopes to add political quizzes that can then help give ballot recommendations and work with organizations and universities to reach even more voters.

“I want people to trust it as a tool that doesn’t necessarily care what you think, we just want you to think,” he said. 

Epic Games is about to host big in-game event ahead of its next throwback season — and it could be pretty musical.

If you want to watch the event, here’s what you need to know.

The Remix: The Prelude event is set to kick off at 6:30PM ET / 3:30PM PT. Epic suggests logging in early so that you don’t miss the event; events have reached capacity in the past.

If you’re in the game, jump into a Battle Royale or Zero Build match ahead of the event’s start time and head to the Restored Reels location.

If you aren’t able to watch in-game, there will almost certainly be a bunch of streamers live-streaming the show, so check Twitch or YouTube to find one to watch.

Cybercriminals are attacking surveillance cameras from multiple manufacturers, leveraging two zero-day vulnerabilities to take over the endpoints, watch and manipulate the feeds, and more.

Cybersecurity researchers GreyNoise claim to have spotted the attacks after their AI-powered analysis tool Sift raised an alarm that crooks are attacking network device interface-enabled (NDI) pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras from multiple manufacturers.

You haven’t fully shopped the best headphone deals until you’ve had a look at everything Beats has to offer. It’s one of the most popular headphone brands on the planet, but unlike Bose headphone deals and even Sony headphone deals, Beats headphone deals often turn out some significant price drops. Whether you’re looking for an in-ear option or a set of the best wireless headphones Beats has you covered, and we’ve got you covered when it comes to the check-out line. Below you’ll find all of the best Beats headphone deals. They include some substantial discounts on the Beats Studio 3 and Powerbeats Pro headphones, but if you’d like to consider some other options be sure to check out what’s going on among today’s best AirPods deals, best AirPods Pro deals, and best AirPods Max deals.

Best Beats earbuds deals

If you want to go for a pair of true wireless earbuds there are quite a few good options from Beats. There are some excellent deals on budget options, including some deals on refurbished Beats Studio Buds. One of the higher end options is the Beats Powerbeats Pro, which are seeing a great price drop right now.

• — $50 $70 29% off
• — $100 $150 33% off
• — $150 $170 12% off
• — $160 $200 20% off

Best Beats headphone deals

If over-the-ear headphones are your listening preference, there’s plenty of savings in store on a new set of Beats. The Beats Solo 3 headphones are pretty much a regular when it comes to Beats deals, and that’s the case right now as well. You’ll also find some pretty impressive price drops on the Beats Studio 3 and Beats Studio Pro headphones.

• — $100 $200 50% off
• — $132 $200 34% off
• — $158 $300 47% off
• — $159 $350 55% off
• — $170 $350 51% off

Should you buy Beats or AirPods?

What it all boils down to when picking either AirPods or Beats is what your budget is. In almost every straight comparison between an AirPods product or a Beats product, the AirPods will always win, like for example, when comparing the Studio Pro vs. Apple AirPods Max. That said, the AirPods Max is a couple of hundred dollars more expensive, and this will hold true of pretty much all AirPods to Beats comparisons. So, ultimately, if you can afford an AirPod, that’s generally the better audio quality, but if you feel that it’s out of your budget range, the Beats are cheaper and are essentially just as good.

Move over, ChatGPT, you’re not the only chatbot to invade the PC space! Just a few months after OpenAI released its desktop application, another California-based AI company followed suit. Anthropic launched the official Claude desktop app. It’s available for Windows and Mac.

In case you don’t know what Claude is, it’s one of the major competitors to ChatGPT and Gemini. Just like those two platforms, Claude has different models of varying capabilities. There’s the Sonnet model and the Haiku model. You can use the former model for free on the dedicated website. Haiku, on the other hand, requires a paid membership.

Claude now has a desktop app

Just recently, Anthropic announced that Claude now has the ability to perform actions on your computer by itself. Well, the desktop app doesn’t grant Claude that ability. What it does is give users a quick and easy way to access the chatbot. Just like the smartphone app, it provides a simple interface that lets you use the chatbot.

Claude’s interface isn’t very different from most other chatbot interfaces. The star of the show is the text field. You’ll see your conversation fill the screen as you write.

If you don’t have anything in the text field, you’ll see various other UI elements floating around. Right under the text field, you’ll see your recent conversations. The app will show up to six recent conversations unless you click on the View all button.

In between the text field and the recent conversations, you’ll see recent updates and news regarding Claude. Each bit of news will sit in a rounded rectangular button, and they’ll be stacked on one another. If you click on one of them, then you’ll be taken to a webpage on your default browser.

Just like most other chatbots, there’s a panel on the left of the screen that will list your recent conversations and let you access your account settings. To see your account settings, click on your name at the bottom of the panel.

Up top, you’ll see the menu that will have the File, Edit, View, and Help sections (if you’re using the Windows application). Clicking on the Settings button from the File menu will let you change the keyboard shortcut. This shortcut will summon a little floating text field.

The application is available for free. You’ll have to sign in to use it, but you’ll be able to use it even if you’re a free user.

There’s a new Star Wars show coming out in just over a month. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew premieres on December 3 with two episodes on Disney+. The streamer just released a brand-new trailer to prove it.

For the uninitiated, this is a live action show set during the same time period as and , or around ten years after the events of Return of the Jedi. We don’t know too much about the plot, other than it involves some suburban kids finding a spaceship and going on an adventure.

If that reminds you of some classic flicks from the 1980s, you aren’t alone. The whole thing seems to be an homage to Steven Spielberg, Amblin and the vast array of kid-friendly adventures from that decade. People have been calling it “Goonies in space,” but a more modern reference would be “Stranger Things in space.”

The trailer also showcases one of the things I’m personally most interested in with this show. Some of it is set in settled planets, likely core worlds such as Coruscant. There are suburban neighborhoods and schools. There are people going to work. We haven’t gotten many looks as to how regular people live in a galaxy far, far away. That’s my jam, right there.

The showrunners here are Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, who made the recent Spider-Man movies for the MCU. The cast is primarily composed of unknown kids, including an elephant alien who may or may not be related to Mos Espa band leader Max Rebo. However, Jude Law is in it. He’s likely playing a Jedi, though there could be a twist there.