When does a journalist become a hacker?
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images Some laws operate like hidden trap doors — everyone walks across the trap at one point or another, but only a handful of us actually fall through. For the rich, it’s the law against insider trading; for the rest of
Read moreAs Techstars retools, some former staffers say it lost focus on what made it successful
Well-known accelerator group Techstars announced a slew of changes to its operations this week, including the shuttering of some of its city-based programs. Criticism from former members of its decisions lit social media channels who argued that the famed startup accelerator has lost focus on the very thing that historically
Read moreTechstars CEO defends changes, says physical presence in a city is not necessary for investment
Earlier this week, accelerator group Techstars announced changes to its operations. But what was planned internally to be an exciting new chapter for the organization ended up being somewhat of a PR nightmare. Techstars found itself facing criticism for some of its decisions and execution after announcing it would shut
Read moreGoogle court filing reveals new business details of DuckDuckGo and Neeva
A court filing in the U.S. Department of Justice’s case against Google over its alleged monopoly in the search market has revealed a few notable tidbits about the state of the search market competition, including the inner workings, revenue, and, in some cases, exit prices of would-be Google competitors, like
Read more‘Embarrassing and wrong’: Google admits it lost control of image-generating AI
Google has apologized (or come very close to apologizing) for another embarrassing AI blunder this week, an image-generating model that injected diversity into pictures with a farcical disregard for historical context. While the underlying issue is perfectly understandable, Google blames the model for “becoming” oversensitive. But the model didn’t make
Read moreDown the rabbit hole in the Stack Exchange network
On this home team episode: Discussions on Stack Overflow is a new feature that allows users to engage in open-ended conversations outside the site’s primary Q&A structure. The team explores deep-cut Stack Exchange questions about the nature of consciousness and the availability of corrective lenses for medieval knights. Plus: The
Read moreVirtual Staging AI helps Realtors digitally furnish rooms within seconds
House staging is a significant part of the real estate industry, and while Realtors have traditionally staged houses physically before posting a listing, it’s an expensive and time-consuming process. A startup called Virtual Staging AI is making it possible for Realtors to virtually stage a house with the help of
Read moreCyber Security Today, Week in Review for week ending Friday, Feb. 23, 2024
Welcome to Cyber Security Today. From Toronto this is the Week in Review edition of the podcast for the week ending Friday, Feb. 23rd, 2024. I’m Howard Solomon, contributing reporter on cybersecurity for ITWorldCanada.com and TechNewsday.com in the U.S. In a few minutes Terry Cutler of Cyology Labs will be
Read moreTreating a chatbot nicely might boost its performance — here’s why
People are more likely to do something if you ask nicely. That’s a fact most of us are well aware of. But do generative AI models behave the same way? To a point. Phrasing requests in a certain way — meanly or nicely — can yield better results with chatbots
Read moreUncovering names masked with stars
Sometimes I’ll see things like my name partially concealed as J*** C*** and think “a lot of good that does.” Masking letters reveals more than people realize. For example, when you see that someone’s first name is four letters and begins with J, there’s about a 70% chance they’re male
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