"TMAF, The Manhattan Airport Foundation, wants to cut down Central Park in order to build an airport there. Apparently 9/11 was not dangerous enough for some." ~ Yasha Harari
Fresh Baked Goods
Laughzilla the Third (2012)
The Third Volume in the Funny Stuff Cartoon Book Collection Available Now.
Never did I think, 25 years ago, that this little corner of the internet would still be around all these years later, serving up laughs and content to zillions of folks all over the world, every moment of every day.
The Royal Navy has installed VR simulators at three military training sites in the UK. The simulators, built by Portsmouth-based Metaverse VR, recreate the bridge of a warship. A bridge, or wheelhouse, is like an aeroplane cockpit for ships. The Navy hopes that the new simulators will make training sailors faster and more lifelike. “You feel like you are stepping onto the bridge of a warship,” said Stephen Smallman, 28, a trainee warfare officer. “It is very easy to become immersed in the situation – it makes everything feel much more real.” The Royal Navy hopes the new simulators will…
Russian voters who do not believe the 2024 presidential election was a just affair can now raise their voices via a blockchain-secured and encrypted referendum through the app Russia2024. This year’s presidential elections in March saw tens of thousands of Russian nationals queue up to cast their ballot at embassies around the world. Outside of the embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, voters — many of whom carried protest banners — waited for hours in order to make their voices heard. In theory. No one was surprised when Vladimir Putin again was announced the winner with 88% of the votes. Not…
AI ethicists have called for urgent safeguards against an emerging “digital afterlife” industry. The concerns centre on chatbots that mimic the appearances, speech, and personalities of dead people. Known as “deadbots” or “griefbots,” these AI clones are trained on data about the deceased. They then provide simulated interactions with virtual recreations of the departed. This “postmortem presence” can social and psychological harm, according to researchers from Cambridge University. Their new study highlights several risks. One involves the use of deadbots for advertising. By mimicking lost loved ones, deadbots could manipulate their vulnerable survivors into buying products. Another concern addresses therapeutic applications. The researchers…
Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about protein powder and carbon capture, Europe’s potential answer to Starlink, Disney’s R&D department, how many browser tabs you can keep open, and more. The guest of the show is Peter Sarlin, CEO and founder at Silo AI. He has some strong opinions on the European AI ecosystem and its future, which we discussed in detail —…
A team of researchers have built a vision implant with tiny electrodes the size of a neuron, seeking to help blind people see again. The development of vision implants first emerged in the 1990s. The technology targets patients suffering from damage to the eye, but whose visual cortex— the brain’s visual centre — is active and able to receive signals. But despite the solution’s potential, existing methods are limited by the large size of electrodes and metal corrosion. The research team claims to have addressed both challenges. A new, nano-sized implant Vision implants contain electrodes that send signals to the brain…