Deal Dive: VCs are no longer gunshy about firearm startups
Kai Kloepfer started biometric “smart” gun startup Biofire as a science fair project after the Aurora, Colorado, mass shooting in 2012 brought the U.S.’s gun violence problem close to home. Kloepfer began thinking of ways to solve the problem using what he knows: technology. Twelve years later, that project has
Read moreFactoring pseudoprimes
Fermat’s little theorem says that if p is a prime number, then for any positive integer b < p we hve bp-1 = 1 (mod p). This theorem gives a necessary but not sufficient condition for a number to be prime. Fermat’s primality test The converse of Fermat’s little theorem
Read moreNotion acquires privacy-focused productivity platform Skiff
Notion launched its new calendar based on Cron last month, but its productivity suit can soon have more privacy-focused offerings. The company announced today that it has acquired Skiff, a platform that offers end-to-end encrypted file storage, docs, calendar events, and email. Skiff was started in 2020 by Andrew Milich
Read moreWith Disney’s magic, Fortnite is poised to win the metaverse
We may not be using the M word much these days, but the race to build an interconnected avatar-driven virtual world didn’t take the last year off. The metaverse, a tech buzzword sandwiched in between the hype eras of NFTs and AI, is still being built, regardless of what we’re
Read moreHow to fake a robotics demo for fun and profit
In March 2008, a roboticist in winter wear gave Big Dog a big kick for the camera. The buzzing DARPA-funded robot stumbled, but quickly regained its footing amid the snowy parking lot. “PLEASE DO NOT KICK THE WALKING PROTOTYPE DEATH MECH,” pleads the video’s top comment. “IT WILL REMEMBER.” “Creepy
Read moreMeet Goody-2, the AI too ethical to discuss literally anything
Every company or organization putting out an AI model has to make a decision on what, if any, boundaries to set on what it will and won’t discuss. Goody-2 takes this quest for ethics to an extreme by declining to talk about anything whatsoever. The chatbot is clearly a satire
Read more‘World’s biggest casino’ app exposed customers’ personal data
The startup that develops the phone app for casino resort giant WinStar has secured an exposed database that was spilling customers’ private information to the open web. Oklahoma-based WinStar bills itself as the “world’s biggest casino” by square footage. The casino and hotel resort also offers an app, My WinStar,
Read moreApple defends parts pairing as Oregon mulls right-to-repair bill
Oregon may soon become the latest state to pass right-to-repair legislation. Last month, Google lent its support in an open letter, calling Senate Bill 1596 “a compelling model for other states to follow.” The bill, sponsored by a sextet of state senators and representatives, was inspired in part by California
Read moreTech sector navigating layoffs while riding GenAI wave, says GlobalData
The technology industry, says GlobaData, has already witnessed substantial changes in 2024, including layoffs by big companies such as Google, Amazon and Meta, a trend, it adds, that began last year, affecting over 191,000 employees, driven by factors like post-COVID-19 pandemic adjustments and a focus on emerging tech like artificial
Read moreTwitter alternative Bluesky shows off custom Super Bowl feeds (both with and without Taylor Swift)
Twitter/X alternative Bluesky is gearing up for one of the biggest weekends in social media with the launch of custom feeds prepped for Super Bowl fans. One feed focuses on conversations around the big game itself while the other also includes news about Taylor Swift, who’s expected to attend to
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