The first American-made Polestar EVs are now on the road. The Swedish automaker said on Friday it delivered the first Polestar 3 SUVs to US and Canadian customers. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Biden in 2022, incentivizes automakers to manufacture EVs in the US, offering tax credits for companies and buyers.
Polestar began stateside Polestar 3 production in August at its Ridgeville, South Carolina plant. Those vehicles will serve North American and European markets, complementing the company’s more established production in Chengdu, China.
Tim Stevens for Engadget
The automaker says American and Canadian Polestar 3 deliveries will pick up steam in the coming weeks. You can take one for a spin if you live near one of the automaker’s Polestar Spaces, essentially brand-building fancy showrooms in or near major US cities.
The Polestar 3 is billed as the company’s coming-out party, expanding the niche reach of the first two models to a more mainstream audience. Engadget’s Tim Stevens tested the EV last month and found that, apart from a few early software glitches, the $73,400 and up SUV is “great.”
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.
Advertisement
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.
Mark Larman, founder of MyBallot AI. Image Credits:Courtesy of Mark Larman
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.
Advertisement
“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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
The cameras can be found in different environments, including industrial and manufacturing plants, where they are used for machinery surveillance, and quality control. They can also be found in business conferences, used for high-definition video streaming and remote presentations, in healthcare (used for telehealth consultations and surgical live streams), state and local government environments, including courtrooms, and houses of worship, where they’re used for live streaming.
Waiting on patches
GreyNoise says the affected devices are typically high-cost, with some models costing several thousand dollars.
Advertisement
Affected devices use VHD PTZ camera firmware < 6.3.40 used in PTZOptics, Multicam Systems SAS, and SMTAV Corporation devices based on Hisilicon Hi3516A V600 SoC V60, V61, and V63.
The vulnerabilities in question are now tracked as CVE-2024-8956, and CVE-2024-8957. The former is deemed critical (9.1), and the latter high (7.2). When exploited, the vulnerabilities can be used to completely take over the cameras, view and manipulate video feeds, disable different camera operations, and assimilate the devies into a botnet.
While for some models, patches have already been released, others remain vulnerable. According to BleepingComputer, PTZOptics released a security update on September 17, but since multiple models reached end-of-life status (PT20X-NDI-G2 and PT12X-NDI-G2) not all were patched. Furthermore, PT20X-SE-NDI-G3, and PT30X-SE-NDI-G3 are still pending a fix.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Advertisement
Chances are, the list of affected models is a lot longer than what the researchers determined at this time. Users are advised to check with their manufacturer if they’ve released a fix for the abovementioned flaws.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login