Congress is moving closer to putting US election technology under a stricter cybersecurity microscope. Embedded inside this year’s Intelligence Authorization Act, which funds intelligence agencies like the CIA, is the Strengthening Election Cybersecurity to Uphold Respect for Elections through Independent Testing (SECURE IT) Act, which would require penetration testing of federally certified voting machines and… Continue reading A Senate Bill Would Radically Improve Voting Machine Security
Author: Wired Magazine
Instagram Will Let You Make Custom AI Chatbots—Even Ones Based on Yourself
Meta’a AI Studio handbook says that users can customize a chatbot by providing a detailed description, along with a name and image, and then specifying how it should respond to specific input. Llama will then draw on those instructions to improvise its responses. Meta says Instagram users can “customize their AI based on things like… Continue reading Instagram Will Let You Make Custom AI Chatbots—Even Ones Based on Yourself
The Bird Flu Threat Keeps Growing
Ongoing outbreaks of avian influenza have decimated poultry flocks and wild birds across the United States and worldwide. The virus, known as H5N1, is also increasingly adapting to mammals and has been found in cats, goats, and raccoons. In the US, it has spread to at least 170 dairy herds across 13 states. And in… Continue reading The Bird Flu Threat Keeps Growing
Donald Trump Backs ‘Strategic Bitcoin Stockpile’ in Speech to Crypto Faithful
Former president Donald Trump outlined a plan to turbocharge crypto growth and make the US a crypto mining powerhouse in his keynote address to the 2024 Nashville Bitcoin Conference on Saturday. Trump announced that if elected, he would create a strategic bitcoin reserve in the US. “It will be the policy of my administration to… Continue reading Donald Trump Backs ‘Strategic Bitcoin Stockpile’ in Speech to Crypto Faithful
The Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers in 2024, Tested and Reviewed
Is sleeping on your side good for you? If you’ve ever tried to consciously change your sleeping position (maybe because of a medical procedure or odd bed) you probably know it’s tough to fight your natural inclinations. The good news for side sleepers is the broad consensus among experts is that it’s at least as… Continue reading The Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers in 2024, Tested and Reviewed
Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Review: Cybertruck AirPods
I used to love Samsung’s wireless earbuds. They came in all types of magical shapes and sizes, with designs that genuinely seemed to embrace the new frontier that totally portable listening devices offered. Why on earth the brand shifted course and began imitating Apple (badly) for its third generation of wireless buds, I honestly can’t… Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Review: Cybertruck AirPods
Stop X’s Grok AI From Training on Your Tweets
The fallout from CrowdStrike’s deleterious software update came into full view this week as system administrators and IT staffers scrambled to get digital systems back online and return operations to normal. Elsewhere, the Olympics began this week, and Paris is ready with a controversial new surveillance system that hints at a future of ubiquitous CCTV… Continue reading Stop X’s Grok AI From Training on Your Tweets
Open Source AI Has Founders—and the FTC—Buzzing
Many of yesterday’s talks were littered with the acronyms you’d expect from this assemblage of high-minded panelists: YC, FTC, AI, LLMs. But threaded throughout the conversations—foundational to them, you might say—was boosterism for open source AI. It was a stark left turn (or return, if you’re a Linux head) from the app-obsessed 2010s, when developers… Continue reading Open Source AI Has Founders—and the FTC—Buzzing
Drew Afualo Will Never Stop Making Fun of Misogynist Men
Drew Afualo is never at a loss for words. On the topic of idiot men who get a rise out of shaming women online—nitpicking them over their weight, their dress, or their body count (when it comes to sexual partners)—she, in fact, won’t shut up. It is why her fans, and detractors, keep coming back.… Continue reading Drew Afualo Will Never Stop Making Fun of Misogynist Men
2024 Summer Olympics: A Self-Healing Pole Vault Pole Is One Great Leap for Sports Tech
The Swiss company CompPair focuses on composites with the goal of making products more repairable. Its hallmark composites rely on what CompPair calls HealTech technology to create a healable surface. The way it works is that when something gets scratched or dinged, heating up the resins that hold fibers together could soften them and let… Continue reading 2024 Summer Olympics: A Self-Healing Pole Vault Pole Is One Great Leap for Sports Tech