Enlarge / Still from a demo video showing ACT-1 performing a search on Redfin.com in a browser when asked to “find me a house.” (credit: Adept) Yesterday, California-based AI firm Adept announced Action Transformer (ACT-1), an AI model that can perform actions in software like a human assistant when given high-level written or verbal commands….
Monthly Archives: September 2022
Enlarge (credit: Google) Google CEO Sundar Pichai seems to be on a cost-cutting mission. After he said that the company’s productivity was “not where it needs to be” in July, Google axed the Google Hardware laptop division and spun off what was left of Project Loon to try to survive as an independent company. The…
Discord’s Forum Channels feature. [credit: Discord ] Discord announced a new feature on Wednesday called “Forum Channels” to allow for more organized and asynchronous discussions within servers. The intent with Forum Channels seems to be to make it easier for specific conversations to continue for extended periods without the worry that a topic change or…
Enlarge (credit: Ernst Haas / Contributor | Ernst Haas) A popular parent-teacher messaging app called Seesaw was hacked this week, resulting in families across the US receiving a Bit.ly link displaying one of the most widely shared shock images to ever befoul the Internet. Vice posted a blurred screenshot of the text message that some…
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Yuichiro Chino) Ethereum developers today executed the “Merge,” an upgrade that eliminates mining and dramatically reduces the energy consumption of the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency. Today’s action “completed Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake consensus, officially deprecating proof-of-work and reducing energy consumption by ~99.95 percent,” the Ethereum.org Merge page said. The Ethereum blockchain…
Enlarge / A rendering of a public wireless charging station. In fact, WiTricity expects most wireless chargers to be installed in homes. (credit: WiTricity) In our recent explainer on electric vehicle charging, you might have noticed that we didn’t mention wireless EV charging. Now common on smartphones, wireless charging works the same way on cars,…
I have used Discovery Education for several years, and the gradual change to invoke students’ voices has revolutionized my classroom for the better. I have witnessed the steady improvement in my students’ writing based on “feeling” to evidence. Students apply methodical thinking and evaluation like scientists and engineers to address abstract problem solving and reflect…
With the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II as my commute companion, the drone of the Metro train faded into the background. Tony Ware After decades of negotiations, I’ve agreed to a settlement with the voices in my head. I pipe blackened music constantly into my cortex, they stop murmuring I should play with madness. The voices…
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. Campbell Brewer and Patagonia Yvon Chouinard, the “reluctant billionaire” and owner of outdoor apparel company Patagonia, as well as his spouse and two adult children have given away their ownership in the company. Chouinard founded the popular company in 1973 and now all profits from the company will go to to…
Escend is a U.K.-based startup that must have figured that scooters were too big, instead deciding to shrink micromobility even further (what are we calling this — picomobility?), adding a battery pack and motors to rollerblades. The company started selling its ‘blades today. The blades use regenerative braking, and have been designed to last; between…