Techmeme
February 5, 2024, 6:40 AM

Top News

CNN:
A Hong Kong-based firm's employee was tricked into paying $25M to fraudsters who used deepfake tech to pose as the company's CFO and staff during a video call  —  A finance worker at a multinational firm was tricked into paying out $25 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology to pose …
Charlie Sorrel / iFixit News:
Apple Vision Pro teardown: not great repairability-wise, an unforgivable proprietary battery plug, and a lenticular lens layer that makes EyeSight look blurry  —  The strangest thing about the Vision Pro is also the thing that makes it most uniquely Apple: it's got a big shiny bubble glass front …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: some Tesla and SpaceX directors have consumed drugs with Elon Musk feeling there is an expectation to do so, raising concerns about their independence  —  Board members have reaped hundreds of millions from stock awards and separate investments, even as some have done drugs with Musk …
Washington Post:
Amid mass tech layoffs, some workers with years of experience or deep technical expertise are having trouble getting hired again while some seek non-tech jobs  —  Google, Amazon, Microsoft and a raft of others fired thousands of workers in January, continuing a layoff wave that began in 2022.
Nitish Pahwa / Slate:
A look at the decline of Quora, which used to stand out as an accuracy-focused, knowledge-centric platform but is now filled with bizarre, AI-generated entries  —  This raised the issue of consent and ownership, as Quorans had to decide whether to consent to the new terms or take their work and flee.
Umar Farooq / ProPublica:
US police departments are using AI software from Chicago-based Truleo and other companies to analyze millions of hours of unreviewed body-cam footage  —  Black Boxes: How Police Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras  —  Body-worn cameras were supposed to deliver a revolution in transparency and accountability to policing.
Malena Carollo / The Markup:
Q&A with Andrew Farnsworth, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientist, about BirdCast, a project that uses AI to process weather data and predict how birds migrate  —  Machine learning is powering new insights into how birds migrate—and forecasts about where they'll go next
Forums: r/artificial
Gabriel J.X. Dance / New York Times:
A look at the dispute between Bitcoin miners in Arkansas and residents, who say the noise is ruining lives, lowering property values, and driving away wildlife  —  Pushed by an advocacy group, Arkansas became the first state to shield noisy cryptocurrency operators from unhappy neighbors.
Rebecca Jennings / Vox:
How social media is forcing writers and artists to build personal brands and become influencers, making many artists uncomfortable and feel like sellouts  —  So you want to be an artist.  Do you have to start a TikTok?  —  When Rachael Kay Albers was shopping around her book proposal …

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More News

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Earlier Picks

Pkl Blog:
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Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google: