Connect with us

Technology

Simple fix could make the census more accurate but just as private

Published

on

Simple fix could make the census more accurate but just as private

The US government uses census data to distribute resources fairly

Valentyn Semenov/Alamy

A change to the US government’s system for processing the census could improve the accuracy of publicly disclosed data – without compromising the privacy of individual citizens and residents.

The government relies on national census data – gathered every 10 years by the US Census Bureau – to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding to state and local communities. Such data also plays a key political role by helping states draw Congressional district boundaries and determining how many seats in the US House of Representatives…

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Technology

An AI-generated ad left thousands of Dubliners waiting for a Halloween parade that never came

Published

on

Menu

Thousands of people took to the streets in Dublin to attend a Halloween parade that never came, . Why did they do such a thing? It was all due to an AI-generated ad that promoted the fake event.

The My Spirit Halloween website advertised the completely fabricated Macnas Halloween Parade, which was supposed to take place from 7PM to 9PM on the streets of Dublin. News of the parade quickly spread online, and it even received a news ranking on Google.

So, yeah, thousands of people put on their Halloween costumes and stood on the street for a couple of hours, waiting for an event that would never happen. They even left room in the street for the parade to pass by. That’s thoughtful, but also a bit sad.

The situation forced Ireland’s police force to put out a message to urge would-be parade-goers to “disperse safely.” A spokesperson for the organization said that “contrary to information being circulated online, no Halloween parade is scheduled to take place in Dublin city center this evening or tonight.”

Advertisement

Local city councilor Janice Boylan expressed disappointment over the whole situation.“Everyone is trying to have a fun and safe Halloween. Having a parade to go to sounded really good,” she said. “I know an awful lot of people turned up. It’s a terrible pity.”

Advertisement

The My Spirit Halloween listing has been taken down, but there remains the question as to why it turned up in the first place. It’s worth noting that this is a different entity from the popular seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween.

The looks to come from Pakistan and posts all kinds of AI-generated content like the ad that caused all of this trouble, . This particular post happened to get picked up by TikTok and Google, causing the rapid dissemination of the, literal, fake news.

It’s pretty wild, right? An AI-generated post likely created in Pakistan caused thousands of actual people to take to the streets halfway across the globe. What is that curse again? Oh yeah. “May you live in interesting times.”

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Technology

This local privilege escalation vulnerability in iTunes could spell big trouble for Windows users

Published

on

iTunes in Windows 11

Cyfirma Research recently discovered a serious security vulnerability affecting users of iTunes on Windows systems.

This local privilege escalation vulnerability, classified as CVE-2024-44193, allows attackers with limited access to elevate their privileges, potentially compromising entire systems.

Source link

Continue Reading

Technology

NYT Connections: hints and answers for Sunday, November 3

Published

on

NYT Connections: hints and answers for Monday, October 7
New York Times' Connection puzzle open in the NYT Games app on iOS.
Sam Hill / Digital Trends

Connections is the latest puzzle game from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

Some days are trickier than others. If you’re having a little trouble solving today’s Connections puzzle, check out our tips and hints below. And if you still can’t get it, we’ll tell you today’s answers at the very end.

How to play Connections

In Connections, you’ll be shown a grid containing 16 words — your objective is to organize these words into four sets of four by identifying the connections that link them. These sets could encompass concepts like titles of video game franchises, book series sequels, shades of red, names of chain restaurants, etc.

There are generally words that seem like they could fit multiple themes, but there’s only one 100% correct answer. You’re able to shuffle the grid of words and rearrange them to help better see the potential connections.

Each group is color-coded. The yellow group is the easiest to figure out, followed by the green, blue, and purple groups.

Advertisement

Pick four words and hit Submit. If you’re correct, the four words will be removed from the grid and the theme connecting them will be revealed. Guess incorrectly and it’ll count as a mistake. You only have four mistakes available until the game ends.

Hints for today’s Connections

We can help you solve today’s Connection by telling you the four themes. If you need more assistance, we’ll also give you one word from each group below.

Today’s themes

  • HEARTWARMING
  • SNEAKING SUSPICION
  • LEGAL SESSION
  • EASY ___

One-answer reveals

  • HEARTWARMING – MOVING
  • SNEAKING SUSPICION – FEELING
  • LEGAL SESSION – HEARING
  • EASY ___ – CHAIR
New York Times Connection game logo.
New York Times

Today’s Connections answers

Still no luck? That’s OK. This puzzle is designed to be difficult.  If you just want to see today’s Connections answer, we’ve got you covered below:

Connections grids vary widely and change every day. If you couldn’t solve today’s puzzle, be sure to check back in tomorrow.



Advertisement




Source link

Continue Reading

Technology

Samsung CEO calls for “desperate efforts” amid crisis

Published

on

Samsung CEO calls for "desperate efforts" amid crisis

Samsung continues to be mired in a crisis situation stemming from several fronts. While the company has a global leadership position in multiple segments, maintaining the current pace could lead to losing it in the near future. Amidst the difficult times, Samsung’s CEO is urging employees to make “desperate efforts” to improve the company’s products.

Samsung’s crisis stems from its semiconductor and memory chip divisions

Samsung’s current situation stems mainly from its SoC manufacturing and high-capacity memory chip divisions. Samsung Foundry, the company’s division for SoC production, has not been up to par when it comes to producing high-performance hardware efficiently. According to reports, 3nm GAA wafers from Samsung Foundry show less than 30% yield rate, even dropping to 10% at their worst times.

The extremely low yield rate makes producing 3nm chips economically unviable for the company. This led to the cancellation of the Exynos 2500 chip for the Galaxy S25 series. Although the company was working until the last minute to try to improve the situation, the launch of the next Galaxy flagship phones is too close, so there was not much time available. Anyway, the South Korean giant still has faith that it will be able to use the Exynos 2500 in the next-gen Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip.

Low third-party demand for Samsung Foundry, another factor

Another situation affecting Samsung Foundry is the low demand from important customers. The problems arising from the company’s wafers have pushed big players such as Qualcomm and Nvidia to move to TSMC, a direct rival.

Advertisement

In terms of memory chips, the company’s HBM (high-bandwidth memory) hardware performance lags behind the competition. The HBM hardware is essential for the production of AI-focused chips. In today’s tech industry, where artificial intelligence plays a fundamental role, offering the most competitive product can mark the present and future of a company. Names like AMD, AWS, Intel, and Nvidia are turning to other suppliers for components of their AI chips.

Samsung CEO urges employees to make ‘desperate efforts’ to improve products

This year, Samsung Electronics is celebrating its 55th anniversary. During an event for executives and employees, CEO Han Jong-hee called for additional efforts to improve the company’s products. “Securing technology and quality for our customers is the foundation of our competitiveness and the only way we can lead the paradigm shift. Let’s make desperate efforts to further strengthen our technology leadership, ensuring a level of quality that remains unmatched,” he said.

The executive even urged the company to explore other potential segments. More specifically, Han Jong-hee said that the company must “identify new growth engines, beyond specific products or business lines.” The recent launch of a slimmer Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition could fall in line with this.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Technology

The best early Black Friday 2024 deals we could find from Amazon, Best Buy and more

Published

on

The best early Black Friday 2024 deals we could find from Amazon, Best Buy and more

With each passing year, Black Friday seems to turn more and more into “Black November,” with many retailers starting their holiday sales weeks before the day itself. But while the bombardment of promos can be annoying, it also presents a good chance to beat the rush and finish holiday shopping ahead of time, without paying more than you have to.

To help you cut through the noise, we’re rounding up the best early Black Friday deals we can find in one easy place. While most major tech retailers haven’t started their early sales in earnest just yet, we’ve seen more than a few new discounts on gadgets we recommend pop up this week, bringing the iPad Air, Bose QuietComfort Headphones and Hisense 4K TVs, among others, down to their lowest prices to date. We’ll continuously update this post as more Black Friday sales pop up, so if you’ve been eyeing something else, be sure to check back.

Photos of Apple’s 13-inch iPad Air, released in 2024

The Apple iPad Air (M2). (Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget)
  • Apple Pencil Pro for $93 at Amazon ($36 off): While this deal is a couple bucks higher than the lowest price we’ve ever seen for Apple’s top-of-the-line iPad stylus, it’s still a sizable drop compared to buying from Apple directly. Just be aware that Pencil Pro is only compatible with the most recent iPad Airs and iPad Pros. Also at Walmart.

  • Apple AirTag (4-pack) for $74 at Amazon ($25 off): The AirTag is, unsurprisingly, the top pick for iPhone users in our guide to the best Bluetooth trackers, as it uses Apple’s giant network of Apple devices and ultrawideband tech to locate items accurately. Its effectiveness has had deeply unfortunate side effects, but if you use it as intended, it can provide a little extra peace of mind. While not an all-time low, this deal is a welcome drop from the usual $80 street price we’ve seen for a four-pack in recent months. Also at Best Buy.

  • Apple MacBook Air (13.6-inch, M2) for $700 at Amazon ($300 off): This matches the all-time low for Apple’s last-gen MacBook Air, which remains a perfectly competent notebook for everyday use. The caveat is that this model only comes with 8GB of RAM, so it’s really only meant for lower-power tasks. Apple (finally) made 16GB of memory the standard across its MacBook lineup earlier this week, so this might be an instance of Apple trying to clear out old inventory. Still, this is a great value if you only need a laptop for basic web browsing, emailing and word processing. Clip the on-page coupon to see the full discount.

Beats Solo 4 headphones laying on a wooden table with a notebook and an iPhone underneath.

The Beats Solo 4. (Billy Steele for Engadget)
  • Anker Soundcore Space A40 for $45 at Amazon ($35 off, Prime only): The Space A40 is the longtime top pick in our guide to the best budget earbuds, as it delivers the kind of robust feature set we expect from pairs that cost three times as much. Call quality isn’t the best, and it won’t auto-pause when you take out an earbud, but its warm sound, powerful ANC, eight-ish hours of battery life and comfy design all impress for the money. This deal ties the lowest price we’ve seen — it’s only available to Prime subscribers at Amazon, but you can also grab it at Anker’s online store with an on-page coupon.

  • Beats Solo 4 for $100 at Amazon ($100 off): The Solo 4 is light on features and may be uncomfortable on larger heads, but its even-handed sound and 50+-hour battery life make it worth considering if you prefer a more compact on-ear design instead of traditional over-ears. We gave it a score of 79 in our review. This discount ties an all-time low and is also available at Walmart, Target and Best Buy. The full-size Beats Studio Pro is discounted as well, but that pair is a bit harder to recommend over the top picks in our wireless headphone buying guide.

  • Bose QuietComfort Headphones for $199 at Amazon ($150 off): This ties the lowest price we’ve seen for Bose’s mid-tier noise-canceling headphones. At this price, their effective ANC and light fit make them a worthy alternative to higher-end pairs like the Sony WH-1000XM5 (our favorite pair overall). That said, their bass-heavy sound won’t be for everyone, and the XM5 has a more comprehensive feature set. Also at Bose.com, Target and Best Buy. The higher-end QuietComfort Ultra, meanwhile, are $100 off and put out even stronger ANC, though we still prefer the XM5 for around the same price.

  • Anker Soundcore Motion+ for $69 at Amazon ($31 off): We recommend the Soundcore Motion+ in our guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers. While it isn’t especially light or compact, it pumps out a more spacious sound than most speakers in its price range, it’s waterproof and it lasts a decent 12 to 15 hours per charge. We’ve seen this discount a few times before, but it comes within a few bucks of the lowest price we’ve tracked. Also at Anker’s online store with an on-page coupon.

Anker's Soundcore Motion+ portable Bluetooth speaker.

The Anker Soundcore Motion+. (Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget)
  • Amazon Fire HD 10 for $75 at Amazon ($65 off): No Fire HD tablet comes close to matching the performance, build quality and app support of an iPad, but they’re significantly more affordable, and they still work well enough if all you need is something for casual streaming, e-reading and web browsing. At this price, the 10.1-inch Fire HD 10 is likely a better value than the smaller Fire HD 8, as it has a sharper display, it’s a tick faster and it can last slightly longer on a charge. Just be ready to deal with a bunch of ads for Amazon’s own apps and services. This discount ties an all-time low, and it’s also available at Best Buy and Target.

  • Amazon Echo Show 5 for $50 at Amazon ($40 off): We highlight the Echo Show 5 in our guide to the best smart displays. While the Echo Show 8 — which isn’t majorly discounted yet — has a roomier display, louder speakers and sharper cameras, this 5.5-inch model provides most of the same functionality in a design that’s easier to fit on a nightstand. If you’re already onboard the Alexa train, it’ll work nicely as a smart alarm clock. This deal is $10 more than the all-time low we saw last Black Friday, so it may drop further in the weeks ahead, but for now it matches the best price we’ve seen in 2024. Also at Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy.

  • Blink Outdoor 4 (6-pack) for $180 at Amazon ($300 off): The Outdoor 4 is a wireless, IP65-rated outdoor security camera we highlight in our guide to the best smart home gadgets. It captures decent (if not class-leading) 1080p video, it’s relatively painless to install and it supports features like night vision, motion alerts, local storage and two-way talking. The catch is that it locks things like person detection and cloud storage behind a subscription plan. Still, it’s a solid value on balance, and this deal furthers that. We’ve seen this price on a six-camera bundle for a few weeks, but it’s still an all-time low. An eight-camera pack is also on sale for $250, another low.

  • Audible Premium Plus (3-month) for $1 at Amazon ($29 off): Those who don’t currently subscribe to Audible can get three months of the audiobook service’s Premium Plus plan for $1. Normally, the service costs $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. As a refresher, Premium Plus is Audible’s upper tier: In addition to giving access the full Audible Plus library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. We wouldn’t call it essential, but if you’ve been on the fence, this is a good way to see if it’d work for you. Just note that the plan will auto-renew until you cancel.

A small smart display with a white border, the Amazon Echo Show 5, sits on a wood table next to various desktop accessories, displaying the time and the title of a currently playing podcast.

The Amazon Echo Show 5. (Amazon)
  • Hisense U7N 4K TV (65-inch) for $700 at Amazon ($300 off): Various reviews around the web suggest that the U7N is one of the year’s better TV values, with impressive brightness and contrast for the money. It supports up to a fast 144Hz refresh rate in 4K, which is great for gaming, and it runs on the easy-to-grok Google TV platform. Its image can wash out when viewed at an angle, though, and it’s limited to two HDMI 2.1 ports. This discount is a new low for the 65-inch model. Also at Best Buy.

  • Hisense U8N 4K TV (55-inch) for $728 at Amazon ($371 off): The U8N is the next step up from the U7N in Hisense’s TV lineup, so it should provide better colors, contrast and brightness across the board. If you don’t mind buying a smaller panel for around the same price, this is another new low. Also at Best Buy.

  • Backbone One (PlayStation Edition) for $60 at PlayStation Direct: The Backbone One is an comfy gamepad that snaps around your phone and lets you play mobile or cloud-based games without having to rely on touch controls. We’ve recommended it before. This deal on the PlayStation-themed version isn’t an all-time low, but it’s $10 to $20 less than the usual discounts we’ve seen over the past year. Sony’s listing doesn’t specify whether this is the first- or second-gen model — the latter can fit a wider range of phones and cases — but that shouldn’t be a major hindrance if you use an older iPhone or Android device. Both the USB-C and Lightning variants are on sale.

Black Friday 2024 lands on November 29 this year.

We expect some Black Friday deals to start as early as November 1. Over the past few years, retailers have been kicking off the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier. This trend will continue in 2024, and you’ll likely find early Black Friday deals available online and in stores in the weeks before the actual shopping event.

Advertisement

Some Black Friday deals will end immediately on Saturday, November 30. But those will likely be few and far between. Along with starting deals earlier and earlier, retailers have also extended Black Friday deals past the day for a while now, too. In the tech space, we’ve seen many Black Friday deals in the past run through Cyber Monday.

There is no one place to buy all of the best Black Friday deals, but you can expect the big retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target to have many of the same Black Friday deals available — both in the lead up and on the day itself. We also recommend checking direct-to-consumer sites like Apple, Samsung, Sonos and others to make sure you’re getting the best deal before you cross things off your list.

You typically will not find cash discounts on Apple’s website for Black Friday, though it has offered various gift card bundles during Black Friday in recent years. You may be able to find local Apple store discounts on accessories, but Apple isn’t a retailer known for slashing prices on its products. However, you can find more traditional Apple Black Friday deals at other retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Technology

Is Amazon’s robotaxi company trying to sidestep federal safety laws?

Published

on

Is Amazon’s robotaxi company trying to sidestep federal safety laws?

This week, Zoox cofounder and CTO Jesse Levinson announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 that it would start rolling out its purpose-built autonomous vehicles in San Francisco and Las Vegas in the coming weeks.

But little was said about the ongoing investigation into the Amazon-owned company’s claims that its vehicles — which are shaped like giant toasters and lack traditional controls like steering wheels and pedals — comply with federal safety rules.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has an open investigation into Zoox’s claim that its vehicles are self-certified, a spokesperson confirmed this week. And NHTSA has not granted the company an exemption from these rules. The spokesperson declined to comment on the investigation itself.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has an open investigation into Zoox’s claim that its vehicles are self-certified

Advertisement

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) require vehicles to have certain traditional controls, like steering wheels (which include airbags), pedals, and rear and sideview mirrors. The rules are very specific, often detailing the exact position of certain controls down the centimeter. Automakers who build vehicles without these controls are supposed to file petitions with the government for temporary exemptions to these rules so they can deploy their steering wheel-less vehicles.

Zoox, however, contends that it won’t need exemptions because it self-certifies that its vehicles meet current safety standards. “From the beginning, we challenged ourselves to create a vehicle that would be compliant with FMVSS requirements within the current regulatory structure,” the company wrote in a July 2022 blog post. And then later, in November 2023, Zoox said it had achieved this goal.

“Today, Zoox has reached a critical milestone in our journey to launch our robotaxi on public roads: becoming the first company to self-certify a purpose-built, fully autonomous, all-electric passenger vehicle to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS),” the company wrote on November 3rd.  

Other companies have sought exemptions, with varying degrees of success. Nuro received the first exemption in 2020 to produce its R2 delivery vehicles, which lack traditional controls and aren’t even large enough for a human operator. Meanwhile, GM sought a similar exemption for its Origin vehicles, submitting a request to NHTSA in 2022. But while Cruise seemed confident it would eventually receive the exemption, the company became bogged down in controversy after a pedestrian was injured by one of its robotaxis in San Francisco. (GM eventually put the Origin vehicle on indefinite hold.)

Advertisement

“The first company to self-certify a purpose-built, fully autonomous, all-electric passenger vehicle”

Zoox’s shuttles are similar to the Origin, designed to travel in either direction, with a cabin featuring passenger seats facing each other. The vehicles are currently permitted by the California DMV to operate in a “limited area” in Foster City, California, where the company is headquartered.

At Disrupt, Levinson said Zoox would start out with employees as passengers in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco as well as the Las Vegas Strip. But safety advocates say that the company is skipping a key step in its rush to launch a commercial service.

“Our belief is that a deployment of these vehicles on public roads is a violation of the Safety Act,” said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. “Zoox isn’t so much exploiting a gray area as they are putting a foot over the red line and challenging NHTSA to call their bluff.”

Advertisement

Of course, the burden is on NHTSA to enforce its own rules — and the agency has only recently started to show more backbone in how it approaches autonomous vehicle operators. NHTSA is currently investigating Waymo and Zoox for alleged safety lapses, as well as Ford and Tesla for fatal crashes involving their driver-assist features. If it determines there’s a problem, it could force a recall.

During Disrupt, TechCrunch transportation editor Kirsten Korosec asked Levinson whether he was worried the federal government could derail Zoox’s planned rollout. He maintained that the company’s vehicle is “fully FMVSS compliant” and that Zoox would continue to address NHTSA’s concerns as they emerge. But ultimately he was confident in his company’s approach to the rules.

“We’ve spent an incredible amount of money and time and people complying with the FMVSS regulations as they are,” Levinson said, “and because there aren’t traditional manual controls, in some cases, that requires, you know, interpreting them in a way that is relevant to a robotaxi.”

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 WordupNews.com