Ah, the digital detox—much discussed, harder to come by. In recent years, stepping away from smartphones has carried a hefty price tag and an exclusive air, from international retreats to slimmed-down devices, like Kendrick Lamar’s recent limited-edition Light 2 (which sold out in a day).
But an unlikely champion dares to ask: What if curtailing the ubiquity of the smartphone looked a little less glamorous? Less 2080, more 2008?
The Iris Flip, a new feature p
As we come to the end of a year marked by hype and turmoil, it’s becoming more and more clear that artificial intelligence isn’t magic. No amount of holiday wishing will suddenly give AI the power to put the perfect gift under the Christmas tree—or fuel meaningful automated experiences all eight nights of Hanukkah.
But that doesn’t mean AI and automation can’t make the holidays a little brighter for businesses. In fact, the areas where AI has prove
Porch piracy—the theft of packages delivered when the consumer isn’t home—is a $20 billion annual problem that last year included the disappearance of some 260 million packages, according to a CNBC report.
As the retail economy heads into the holiday shopping season, merchants and law-enforcement officials are bracing for a surge as we prepare to ship almost 3.5 billion packages across the U.S. alone.
The problem is straining retail and local law-enfor
In Morgan Housel’s new book, Same as Ever: A Guide To What Never Changes, he posits that we should stop trying to predict the future. Instead, we should use what we know from the past to help us react to changes as they inevitably come up. After writing the bestseller The Psychology of Money where he looked at spending habits to understand how people make sense of the world, Housel decided to address the collective. “I think in some ways The Psychology of Money is an exploration
Quantum advantage is the milestone the field of quantum computing is fervently working toward, where a quantum computer can solve problems that are beyond the reach of the most powerful non-quantum, or classical, computers.
Quantum refers to the scale of atoms and molecules where the laws of physics as we experience them break down and a different, counterintuitive set of laws apply. Quantum computers take advantage of these strange behaviors to solve problems.
There are s
Before the Chromebook’s “Everything” key, the PC’s Windows key, and even the Mac’s cloverleaf-like “Command” key, the Apple II keyboard’s space bar was flanked by two modifier keys bearing Apple’s iconic logomark. On the left sat a black silhouette of the apple known “Closed Apple,” and on the right, a hollow outline called “Open Apple.”
In the decades since the Apple II’s heyday, the d
Think about everything that happens as you arrive at an airport: the sensory overload of honking horns and police telling drivers to “keep moving” on the Departures level. Inside the ticketing area, you find anxious, luggage-toting travelers trying to make their way to the right line.
Checking a bag? Head to a kiosk and enter your record locator.
“Is this your trip?” the kiosk asks. (Yes.)
“What do you need to do? Print a boardi
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Does Altman’s return signal a victory of vested interests over AI safety?
The tech industry was still reverberating from OpenAI’s surprise firing of CEO Sam Altman late last week when the announce
On Tuesday night, OpenAI announced that it had reached an agreement in principle for cofounder and recently ousted CEO Sam Altman to return to the company. As part of the arrangement, the $80 billion company will also have a new board composed of Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo—the latter of whom is the sole holdover from the previous board. Former president Greg Brockman, who quit in protest of Altman’s firing, will also return to his old post.
Th
The controversial Israeli spyware maker NSO Group hints Israel has been searching for hostages using Pegasus, its notorious spyware platform linked to rampant human rights abuses. The claim comes as the tech firm mounts a renewed push to get its name off of a U.S. government blacklist.
Even after an agreement reached between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday to release 50 hostages, there are still more than 180 hostages who remain—which, if NSO’s suggestions are true, woul