Someone Built a Preacherbot Powered by AI and it’s Awesome
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Someone Built a Preacherbot Powered by AI and it’s Awesome

Andrew Orr ·

Artist Diemut Strebe built a praying robot “to explore the possibilities of an approximation to celestial and numinous entities by performing a potentially never-ending chain of religious routines and devotional attempts for communication through a self-learning software.” The production is a collaboration with Regina Barzilay, Tianxiao Shen, Enrico Santus, all MIT CSAIL, Amazon Polly, Bill and Will Sturgeon, Elchanan Mossel, MIT, Stefan Strauss, Chris Fitch, Brian Kane, Keith Welsh, Webster University, Matthew Azevedo. “Wretched sinner unit! The path to robot heaven lies here… in the Good Book 3.0.” ―Lionel Preacherbot

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Here’s When The FCC Emergency Broadband Benefit Program Starts

Andrew Orr ·

FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the start date of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. It starts on May 12 for U.S. residents with low incomes or those who lost income during the pandemic. You can sign up for the program here. Benefits include:

Up to a $50/month discount on your broadband service and associated equipment rentals; Up to a $75/month discount if your household is on qualifying Tribal lands; A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer (with a co-payment of more than $10 but less than $50)

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Apple Pay and Others Mean Banks Could be Squeezed Out, French Authorities Warn

Charlotte Henry ·

Payment services from tech firms like Apple and Google risk squeezing out traditional banks and need monitoring. Authorities in France raised the concern that these firms can make money from these services but avoid much of the regulation, Bloomberg News reported.

The French authority also highlights access to near-field communication on smartphones used for contactless payment, an issue that has already triggered EU and Dutch antitrust probes and potential legislation to respond to banks’ complaints that Apple unfairly blocks their access on its devices. The companies that the French agency calls “les BigTech” are armed with “considerable financial power” to invest in new technologies and will have lower marginal costs compared to banks. Access to large volumes of data and processing power may allow them better assess customers financial health and offer them targeted services, the authority said. Integrating payments in other services allows them to offer a “customer journey” that can’t be matched or replaced easily by competitors, the authority said

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IRS Asks For Help to Hack Hardware Cryptocurrency Wallets

Andrew Orr ·

The IRS is asking for help to hack into hardware cryptocurrency wallets that could be useful in criminal investigations.

The decentralization and anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies has fostered an environment for the storage and exchange of something of value, outside of the traditional purview of law enforcement and regulatory organizations. There is a portion of this cryptographic puzzle that continues to elude organizations—millions, perhaps even billions of dollars, exist within cryptowallets.

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Spotify Rolling Out New Features for Music and Podcast Library

Charlotte Henry ·

It’s not just Apple Music and Podcasts that are getting an upgrade. Spotify too announced some upgrades for both its iOS and Android apps, with the rollout starting Thursday.

Starting today, we are rolling out a new version of Your Library to all Spotify mobile users. Now, you’ll have a more streamlined way to easily explore your collection and find your saved music and podcasts faster. Your Library’s updated design and added features will enable you to spend less time looking for content and organizing your collection, and more time rediscovering the music and podcasts you’ve loved over the years. And as always, keep adding even more content for a library that grows alongside you into the future. The new Your Library is packed with a new layout and features that make browsing your music and podcast collection easier than ever.

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Experian’s API Exposed Credit Scores for Anyone to Discover

Andrew Orr ·

Credit bureau Experian recently fixed a flaw in its API that let anyone find a credit score of a person by typing in their name and mailing address.

Demirkapi declined to share with Experian the name of the lender or the website where the API was exposed. He refused because he said he suspects there may be hundreds or even thousands of companies using the same API, and that many of those lenders could be similarly leaking access to Experian’s consumer data.

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Password Manager Dashlane Introduces ‘Essentials’ Plan for $4

Andrew Orr ·

On Wednesday, password manager Dashlane introduced an affordable subscription plan for US$3.99/month.

Following its relaunch in beta, Dashlane’s one-of-a-kind Password Changer will also be available within the Essentials plan. Password Changer seamlessly logs users into compatible websites, generates strong, unique passwords, then changes the passwords for those sites on the user’s behalf in one-click. Secure Notes, a Dashlane feature for storing sensitive, plain-text information like private keys to software or wifi passwords, rounds out the Essential plan’s offerings.

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How Many AirTags Can a User Pair to a Single Apple ID Account?

Charlotte Henry ·

In an interview with YouTuber Rene Ritchie, Apple exec Kaiann Drance revealed that a maximum of 16 AirTags can be paired to a single Apple ID. That comment and others related to the product were picked up by iPhoneHacks.

Though the $99 four-pack AirTag bundle should suffice most of the users, Apple has still put a limit on the number of AirTags that can be bind to a single Apple account. In the interview, Kaiann Drance reveals that a maximum of 16 AirTags can be linked to one Apple account. In the interview, Kaiann has revealed that AirTags can be linked via Family Sharing. Apple has added this feature so that an AirTag knows that the iPhone it is nearby with belongs to one family member, and it doesn’t trigger the Lost Mode.