The U.K., Portugal, and Spain are partnering on a small-sat constellation to improve disaster monitoring

The U.K. intends to join Spain and Portugal to build a new small-sat constellation to improve climate change research and disaster monitoring.

The U.K. Space Agency announced its plan last week to participate in the Atlantic Constellation project, an initiative led by the Iberian nations, at the U.K. Space Conference in Belfast.

The details

The first phase of the constellation will include four spacecraft—three built by Portugal and one built by the U.K.

The Supreme Court is set to consider giving First Amendment protections to social media posts

The First Amendment does not protect messages posted on social media platforms.

The companies that own the platforms can—and do—remove, promote, or limit the distribution of any posts, according to corporate policies. But all that might soon change.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear five cases during this current term, which ends in June 2024, that collectively give the court the opportunity to reexamine the nature of content moderation&#x20

TikTok owner ByteDance to lay off hundreds as it winds down its failed gaming division

Layoffs have hit the tech industry hard in 2023, and now another round is hitting even more employees. The latest company to lay off employees is ByteDance, owner of TikTok. The layoffs, which are expected to officially be announced today, will hit employees working for its Nuverse gaming division, Reuters first reported.

According to the report, ByteDance will wind down its Nuverse gaming division after the fledgling unit has failed to compete with other mobile gaming giants like N

In a generative AI world, analog film photography is making a comeback

I love the photographs I take with my iPhone 15 Pro, but I know I’m not really doing most of the work. Sure, I frame the shot. But once I press the shutter button, the iPhone runs the image through tens of thousands of processes to give me the best photo possible. This is known as “computational photography,” and while it makes my photos look stunning, it also means the resulting photo is 10% mine, 90% the iPhone’s.

Now, computational photography, which s

What part of ‘get rid of my data’ don’t companies get?

The letters I get from companies informing me of a data breach exposing my information vary in their apologetic language, with some groveling more than others for the carelessness. But I’ve yet to see one lead off with a commitment to keep less of my data.

That’s despite years of advice from privacy professionals about the importance of data-minimization practices—as in, minimizing the data you retain to limit  the potential damage from a data breach.

Why Coda is the most underrated productivity tool of 2023

Coda is surprisingly useful. It’s more powerful than Google Docs and more flexible than Airtable or Notion. You can use Coda to manage projects, organize research, or make interactive, collaborative documents. And as of October it has the most robust AI features of any document tool. (More on the new AI features below. Coda is so useful that I’m surprised how few people I know talk about it. Read on for Coda’s best features, example docs, and caveats.

How to turn your iPad into an HDMI-capable TV or monitor

Well, this is a handy trick. My sixth-generation iPad Mini is now pulling double duty as a portable TV.

That’s thanks to the free and excellent Orion app, which, when paired with an inexpensive USB-C to HDMI adapter, turns any compatible iPad into a display capable of connecting to just about any output device.

Here’s how it works.

Why it’s so hard to ask coworkers ‘how are you’—and how to move past that

Do you ever feel like if you were to ask a coworker how they’re doing, you’d open a Pandora’s box that robs you of getting work done?

You’re not alone.

Since COVID-19, things beyond our control constantly get in the way of work. The pandemic itself pushed us out of our offices. That was followed by the presidential election, the war in Ukraine, the BLM movement, the stop-the-Asian-hate hashtag, the Supreme Court abortion ruling, and now the terr

Consumer Cellular is calling Gen Z and boomers with its new flip phone. Will anyone pick up?

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

Supplement the call center with a chatbot this holiday season

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


Căutare