Tech News

Is This the Secret to Ending Your Toxic Phone Addiction? Our smartphones have become our lifelines to the world, but they can also be our greatest burden. We feel beholden to news, information, and live texts from our loved ones and we don’t know how to let go of these tethers. But for a growing number of people, the only way to free themselves from those obligations is to let their phones die—deliberately. Several people told The Daily Beast that they intentionally refrain from plugging in their iPhones to charge when it’s in the red battery zone, hoping it will drain completely, and momentarily rid themselves of their duties and connection to people and the internet. “This week alone, I’ve let it die twice,” said 31-year-old Los Angeles-based Nikki Dunlap, who started the practice earlier this year, and habitually lets her phone die about two to four times a week. “I do it because I feel like there’s a handcuff around my wrist connected to my phone. Source-Link: The Daily Beast

Microsoft will now let customers worldwide buy Office without Teams, following EU antitrust concerns Microsoft will no longer sell its Teams collaboration software as a bundled product with its Office 365 suite anywhere in the world, the company said Monday, in the face of antitrust concerns. The decision to separate Teams from Office globally extends a previous announcement last year affecting only the European Union. And it comes after rivals such as Salesforce’s Slack complained in 2020 that Microsoft’s practices were a form of anticompetitive self-dealing. Slack’s complaint led to a European Commission antitrust investigation of Microsoft that is still ongoing. Monday’s announcement appears aimed at allaying some of those concerns, allowing customers worldwide to buy Microsoft’s Office software without Teams included and the ability to buy Teams as a standalone product for business customers. Source-Link: Edition CNN

A faster, better way to prevent an AI chatbot from giving toxic responses A user could ask ChatGPT to write a computer program or summarize an article, and the AI chatbot would likely be able to generate useful code or write a cogent synopsis. However, someone could also ask for instructions to build a bomb, and the chatbot might be able to provide those, too. To prevent this and other safety issues, companies that build large language models typically safeguard them using a process called red-teaming. Teams of human testers write prompts aimed at triggering unsafe or toxic text from the model being tested. These prompts are used to teach the chatbot to avoid such responses. But this only works effectively if engineers know which toxic prompts to use. If human testers miss some prompts, which is likely given the number of possibilities, a chatbot regarded as safe might still be capable of generating unsafe answers. Source-Link: MIT

Top 10 Platforms To Learn JavaScript Coding in 2024 JavaScript has become a crucial foundation to website making, and webpages that operate smoothly today, utilize and owe their interactive and dynamic characteristics to JavaScript. Along with the programming language of JavaScript, which is a must for every web developer, the presence of excellent learning platforms emerges as an essential solution for the rising need of adept JavaScript developers. Whether getting started with coding as a newbie or a JavaScript developer ready to improve, these top-tier online platforms are like the best place to learn JS from. Source-Link: analyticsinsight

Google One is shutting down its VPN feature later this year At the moment, you can access One's VPN service if you're in one of the 22 countries where it's active, whether you're on iOS or Android. You can also use it to mask your internet usage on a Mac or Windows computer. Google didn't say when the VPN service will stop working completely, but it told 9to5Google that it's discontinuing the feature because "people simply weren’t using it." Instead of trying to drum up interest, it's redirecting its resources to support other and more in-demand One features. However, you'll still be able to use the free VPN that comes with Pixel devices even after One's shuts down through the Settings app on Pixel 7 devices and newer models. Source-Link: engadget

AI Can Now Read Your Daydreams Researchers developed methods to predict emotions in spontaneous thoughts using fMRI and machine learning. They crafted personalized narratives that participants read while their brain activity was monitored, aiming to decode the emotional dimensions of thoughts. By analyzing fMRI data, the team identified key brain regions involved in processing personal relevance and emotional valence. Their breakthrough offers insights into the emotional undertones of daydreams and could revolutionize mental health diagnostics. The study utilized fMRI and machine learning to predict subjective feelings during story reading and spontaneous thinking. Key brain areas like the anterior insula and midcingulate cortex were crucial in predicting personal relevance and emotional tone. The research suggests potential applications in understanding individual emotional experiences and improving mental health assessments. Source-Link: neurosciencenews

Microsoft is trying to convince Windows 10 users to upgrade with full-screen prompts Microsoft is trying to entice Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 with fullscreen prompts 18 months before the end of support cutoff. Reddit user Woopinah9 spotted a notification “while in the middle of working,” where Microsoft thanks Windows 10 “customers” for their loyalty with a full-screen message and then explains the end of support date. You might be expecting a free upgrade as part of this interruption, but unfortunately for this Reddit user, their PC can’t upgrade to Windows 11, so it’s more “hey check out this cool thing we have! oh but you cant have it,” as one Redditor puts it. While Some Windows 10 users will see this prompt and be able to upgrade to Windows 11, this Reddit user, in particular, has one of the many millions of PCs that isn’t able to upgrade due to Microsoft’s hardware requirements for Windows 11. Source-Link: The Verge

Google using AI to come up with search answers in UK trial Initially only a small proportion of logged-in UK users will see an AI-generated "overview" at the top of some search results. While Google is the most popular search engine, Microsoft's rival Bing already integrates its Copilot AI. But some publishers worry AI answers may reduce visits to their sites. They fear longer chatbot-style responses will satisfy users' curiosity without having to visit their websites, while AI answers will also contain fewer links and ads. Source-Link: BBC

Getty Images CEO Calls for Industry Standards Around AI The CEO of Getty Images, who is taking part in an innovation summit on artificial intelligence being held Wednesday at Cannes’ international TV market MIPTV, remains clear-eyed about the dangers generative AI could pose to the creative industries. “What concerns me is that not everyone wants there to be more creators, some want the creators to be automated away. You saw that play out in the LA strikes last year,” says Peters, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of his MIPTV session. “Not everybody wants to eliminate the societal issues that can come from this technology, there are people who want to exploit this technology…That’s what keeps me up at night.” Source-Link: Hollywood Reporter

WhatsApp working on a new feature, might let users view documents without downloading WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in India and has millions of followers across the globe. For most people, their day begins by checking WhatsApp messages and connecting with family as well as friends. And the Meta-owned company, in the last few months, has announced several new features to enhance the overall user experience. Now, WhatsApp is reported to be working on another feature that would make it easier for users to share documents. As per a report in WA Beta Info, WhatsApp is testing a new feature for Android. The messaging app, as per the report, is pondering over the idea of including document previews. This means when you share a document, you will see a small picture of it before you open it. Source-Link: India Today