US Teen Wrote 27,000 Wikipedia Entries in Language he Doesn’t Speak

Consider this filed under “wacky Friday news”. A teenager in the U.S. created or edited 49% of the Scots language Wikipedia, despite having no understanding of the language.

[…] Michael Dempster, the director of the Scots Language Centre based in Perth, takes a more ameliorative approach and says he is now in conversation with the Wikimedia Foundation about the prospect of properly re-editing the teenager’s contributions.

“We know that this kid has put in an incredible amount of work, and he has created an editable infrastructure. It’s a great resource but it needs people who are literate in Scots to edit it now. It has the potential to be a great online focus for the language in the future.”

Walmart Enters the TikTok Purchase War

Why would a retail giant want to purchase a short-form video site? Perhaps the hundreds of millions of consumers at stake have something to do with it. Whatever the reason, Walmart is joining Microsoft to beat out Oracle in the TikTok purchase war.

AR Game ‘The Witcher: Monster Slayer’ Announced

An AR game called “The Witcher: Monster Slayer” is coming in the future. Evocative of Pokémon Go, this exploration game challenges you to become an elite monster hunter. See the world around you transformed into the dark fantasy realm of The Witcher, and explore once-familiar locations now infested with dangerous beasts as you start on the path as a professional monster slayer. A release date has not been announced but you can sign up to be notified via email.

Having Apple Gear in Dating Profile Photos Gets You More Matches

Owning Apple products has lots of advantages, but there is another, perhaps unexpected one. Having items like an iPhone or AirPods in your dating profile photos can land you up to 76 percent more matches, according to data from Comparemymobile.com, reported by 9to5 Mac.

Here’s the impact of having Apple kit visible in your dating photos, where the percentage is the increase in matches with the product visible in the photo: iPhone, +76% Apple Watch, +61% AirPods, +41%. The only positive impact seen with any other brand of smartphone was Samsung, with a 19% increase. All other brands tested had a negative effect.

Tim Cook: 'I’ve Never Been More Hopeful'

Tim Cook says that he’s “never been more hopeful than I am right now.” Writing in the September issue of Vogue, he highlighted the determination to tackle racial inequality and communities coming together in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for his positivity.

I think you have to look back 60 years to find an equivalent. You have to look back to the late John Lewis marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Or fast-forward a few years, and you have Stonewall. Both of these were key moments that kicked off a sudden change—for African Americans and for the LGBTQ community. And I think this is an exciting and hopeful time because as a nation we have struggled with racial equity for our whole existence—and it feels good to be at a point where there’s going to be significant, massive, positive change. The other thing I would say is that this pandemic is a crisis that we’re all facing. And if you look around, there are lots of good things happening: There are neighbors helping neighbors again, which was sort of a lost art for a while.

UK Has Worst 5G Speeds, U.S. Almost as Bad

The UK has the worst 5G speeds, with the U.S not far behind. That’s according to new data from 12 countries in tests conducted by Opensignal, reported 9to5 Mac.

The UK was worst, with average download speeds of 32.6Mbps, with the US almost as bad at 33.4Mbps. For reference, the US speed is only 1.8 times faster than 4G. This contrasts with the fastest 5G speeds, found in Saudi Arabia and Canada. In Saudi, average download speed was 144Mbps, or 14 times faster than 4G. Canada delivered 90Mbps, perhaps not surprising when you consider that its 4G speeds are already twice as fast as in the US. The US did better when it came to how often you’ll find yourself on 5G, at 19.3% of the time, putting it in first place. The UK was last, with a pathetic 4.5% of the time. Saudi Arabia again led the way, delivering a 5G connection 34% of the time.

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Dramatically Quits After Just Three Months

Kevin Mayer dramatically announced he was leaving video app TikTok after just three months as CEO on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The former top streaming exec at Disney also served as COO of Chinese parent company Bytdance.

Mayer was Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) top streaming executive before becoming chief executive officer of TikTok and chief operating officer of parent ByteDance on June 1. “In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” Mayer said in an letter to employees. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.” ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming said in a separate letter reviewed by Reuters that the company was “moving quickly to find resolutions to the issues that we face globally, particularly in the U.S. and India”. He said Mayer had joined just as the company was “entering arguably our most challenging moment.”

Will we see an Apple Search Engine in the Future?

Jon Henshaw of Coywolf speculates that we may see an Apple search engine in the future based on several factors.

Apple is investing heavily in search, as shown in their job postings for search engineers. The job listings reveal they incorporate AI, ML, NLP, and more into all of their services and apps.

In July 2020, Apple published a significant update to its About Applebot support page. The additions are very similar to the details Google provides to webmasters and SEOs.

It’s an interesting idea, for sure. It could be an Apple search engine, or Apple adding improvements to Siri.

Latest Version of Fortnite Not Available on iPhone

The latest version of Fortnite will not be available on the iPhone as the court battle between Epic Games and Apple continues. The games maker decried Apple’s App Store “monopoly” and updates of the game are no longer accessible on iOS.

Players of the popular game “Fortnite” on iPhones will not get updates after Epic Games on Wednesday decried Apple Inc’s App Store “monopoly” and said it will not remove a direct payment feature it recently enabled. A legal battle ensued after Epic rolled out its own method of in-game purchases for “Fortnite” on Apple’s App Store earlier this month, rather than using Apple’s required in-app purchase system that charges commissions of 30%.

 

Twelve South Introduces BookBook iPad Keyboard Case

BookBook Cover is a new product from Twelve South that combines its genuine leather case with a keyboard for iPads. BookBook looks like a vintage book. But the big story is the level of protection it delivers. Inside, soft micro-suede protects the iPad surface. Outside, hardback book covers with reinforced corners and a crush-proof spine protect iPad from drops, dings and other hazards. Dual-zippers let you charge iPad while keeping the case closed. As a bonus, BookBook disguises your iPad, keeping it hidden from from itchy fingers even when it’s in plain sight. You can pick one up for US$69.99.