Father’s Day is nearly here, and graduations, awkward as they might be this year, are still happening. Our Father’s Day gift guide has you covered if you need to get something for dad. And we also have gift ideas for grads. But if you’re on the hunt for good deals for graduates (and dads), read…
DetailsAir-taxi startup Beta Technologies debuted its new aircraft Friday with a dramatic helicopter airlift of the sleek white model across Lake Champlain from Burlington, Vermont, to Plattsburgh, New York. Code-named Alia, the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) airplane is the successor to Ava, a smaller prototype the company used to experiment with propulsion strategies and learn about…
DetailsThis week IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft all said they would halt sales of facial recognition to US police and called on Congress to impose rules on use of the technology.A police reform bill introduced in the House of Representatives Monday by prominent Democrats in response to weeks of protest over racist policing practices would do…
DetailsOne afternoon in late September 2012, Paul Calder Le Roux was sitting in a hotel room in Monrovia, Liberia, working out the final details of a large cocaine and methamphetamine deal with the head of a Colombian drug cartel. As the pair discussed prices and drop-off points, Le Roux—a programmer who had turned an online…
DetailsWe’re lucky that deepfake videos aren’t a big problem yet. The best deepfake detector to emerge from a major Facebook-led effort to combat the altered videos would only catch about two-thirds of them.In September, as speculation about the danger of deepfakes grew, Facebook challenged artificial intelligence wizards to develop techniques for detecting deepfake videos. In…
DetailsThis is the new PlayStation 5. Sony/Screenshot by Lauren Routt/CNET At its Future of Gaming event Thursday, Sony gave viewers a look at the new PlayStation 5 console. The company showed off the upcoming PS5 at the end of the event next to the new DualSense controller that we debuted back in April. Sony also…
DetailsBoss battles add another twist to the combat system. Instead of starting at the center of the circle, Mario will need to work his way from the outside in. To do damage to the boss in the middle, you’ll need to chart a path so that Mario can avoid any attacks that come his way.…
Details2020 remains a very tough hang — At least we’re holding onto hobbies that require no human interaction or travel. Ars Staff – Jun 13, 2020 1:30 pm UTC Let’s not mince words: 2020 has been an extremely tough hang. It sucks, frankly. We’re three months into a viral pandemic that continues to kill thousands…
DetailsWelcome to the summer of 2020, where hot dogs, beach balls, and road trips are joined by protests, oximeters, and arguments about section 230(c). And, every week, your Plaintext newsletter. The Plain ViewI have become a Citizen addict. Citizen is an app, currently active in 18 cities, that’s sort of a supercharged police scanner—its home…
DetailsAre machine-learning algorithms biased, wrong, and racist? Let citizens decide. Essentially rule-based structures for making decisions, machine-learning algorithms play an increasingly large role in our lives. They suggest what we should read and watch, whom we should date, and whether or not we are detained while awaiting trial. Their promise is huge–they can better detect…
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