Error message

  • Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /home/cay45lq1/public_html/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: The each() function is deprecated. This message will be suppressed on further calls in menu_set_active_trail() (line 2405 of /home/cay45lq1/public_html/includes/menu.inc).

Technology

New forum topics

I tried the surprise sequel to the best ultra-cheap earbuds, and they offer amazingly good noise cancelling for under $30

TechRadar News - Sat, 09/14/2024 - 03:30

For the last few years, TechRadar’s audio team regularly raved about the JLab Go Air Pop – ultra-cheap earbuds that massively defied their low price with their performance and build quality. They were a stalwart of all our guides, from our best budget earbuds list up to our full list of the best wireless earbuds of any kind.

However, they’ve been getting harder to get hold of recently, so we started looking at alternatives to recommend… but it turns out the reason why is that their successor was getting ready to secretly drop at IFA 2024.

I say ‘secretly’, but JLab will quite happy tell you all about them if you visit its booth, and even gave me a pair to try, but the company has been mostly talking three other pairs of earbuds launched at the same time, and just kept very quiet about these initially.

Obviously, I found that unacceptable, so here’s what you need to know about the JLab Go Air ANC: they have active noise cancellation; they’re super small and light; they have a six-hours battery life in the buds and 24 with the case; they have a built-in USB-C charging cable; they have multi-point pairing; they’re going to come in cool 2000s-inspired translucent cases at a later date (they come in solid black, green and pink for now); they have IP55 waterproofing; and they’re still stupidly good value for their $29.99 asking price – so around £25 or AU$45, although unlike the confirmed US dollars MSRP, those last two figures are unofficial estimates.

I tried them out during my time at IFA, and it really does feel ridiculous that something so cheap delivers music as well-rounded as you get here. Obviously, compared to the AirPods Pro 2 I also had with me at the time, there’s much less depth to the bass, the details aren’t as sharp, and the mid-range is softer. But all seems fair considering they cost one seventh of the price.

The ANC is also staggering effective as well. I know you're expecting me to add "for $35" here, but based on my early testing, it's just straight-up good. With music, and the volume at 60% or so, they were as effective as I could need on my flight, a test more expensive earbuds have failed. It stumbles more if you're listening to podcasts, though, because the relative thinness of the mid-range and slightly soft detailing means the voices are more shadowed by the sounds that do come through. There's a transparency mode that's pretty crude but effective, too.

(Image credit: Future)

I love how light and discrete the buds are – if you like a bud that doesn’t seem like you’ve got a cybernetic attachment in your ears, these will be perfect for you. They have touch controls that include on-ear volume control, and you can also switch between ANC modes with a tap, and you can even switch EQ modes with a triple tap, though I haven't played with this yet.

I found them very comfortable, though with the medium ear tips, I found that the in-ear seal weakened enough to let in outside sounds depending on what positing my head was in, since it changes your ear shape a little. That's something we'll explore more in a full review, but is certainly a difference from more expensive buds.

The case is super-slim, which I always appreciate from a pair of buds. JLab has kept one of the odder foibles of the previous version, which is a built-in charging cable, though this time it's USB-C. JLab knows what it's doing, so I have to assume people want this, but it just seems a shame to remove the flexibility of being able to plug into different power sources to me – I bought my mum a pair of Go Air Pop buds, but I don't know if I'd buy her the Go Pop ANC because she doesn't have a single USB-C charger in her house, and if I need to buy one then it changes the value of the earbuds.

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, being an editor on the website TechRadar dot com, I've been running an all-USB-C house for a while – so if you're the same as a reader of that august publication, then perhaps this will seem like a silly complaint.

We'll have to do a more in-depth judgment on them, but let me leave you with my prevailing thought about what good value they are so far: more than once while using them specifically to test the ANC, I’d made my judgment and taken notes, and then didn't bother to switch back to the AirPods Pro 2 sitting right there in my pocket. The Go Pop ANC were doing the job perfectly nicely already, so I just kept using them. It’s not like I’d switch permanently from my premium buds to these or anything, but as a picky listener, the fact that I didn’t switch back instantly is kind of a miracle.

Categories: Technology

ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from the PS5 Pro to Apple's iPhone 16 launch

TechRadar News - Sat, 09/14/2024 - 02:00

Wowzas. Just as IFA 2024 was wrapping up we got an Apple iPhone event, a PS5 Pro announcement, and a new version of ChatGPT to try out, along with plenty of other major tech updates.

To help you get caught up to speed on it all we've rounded up the seven biggest tech news stories from the past week and condensed them all into this one quick ICYMI round up.

Once you're all caught up you should also check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows you need to stream this weekend across Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more.

7. Sony unleashed the PS5 Pro

(Image credit: Sony)

After months of increasingly strong rumors, Sony has finally revealed the PS5 Pro – a substantially more powerful version of the PS5.

With upgrades centered around graphical improvements, Sony claims that the PS5 Pro’s beefed-up graphics card will be able to render 45% faster than the base PS5. Throw in some advanced ray tracing capability, and new AI-drive upscaling tech called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and we could be in for some real treats, with the company pitching the console as a machine that will simply remove the need to choose between fidelity and performance modes in games.

It costs a pretty penny though as it’s set to launch at $699 / £699 – and won’t even come with a disc drive or vertical stand.

PS5 Pro pre-orders start at PlayStation Direct on September 26, and at other retailers in the US and UK on October 10.

6. It was Glowtime for the iPhone 16

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Apple unveiled four new phones that included new chips, new hardware, and new capabilities, and the jury is split on whether this is revolution or evolution. There’s that new Camera Control (not a button if you ask Apple) that gives you instant access to the iPhone 16 camera (yes, it’s on all the new phones) and is gesture sensitive for accessing further controls.

There are A18 chips for everyone, though the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max got the more powerful A18 Pro. Perhaps that extra power will help drive the now slightly larger screens on both devices. All that Apple Silicon will be tasked with powering Apple Intelligence (Apple’s brand of AI) which is set to arrive on these handsets shortly after they ship to consumers later this month.

All four iPhone 16 models got camera upgrades and we now have zoom parity between the two Pro models. There’s also consistent support for spatial photography (great news if you have a VR headset to view them on).

Finally, we have color and titanium hue upgrades across the board. The colors on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are particularly appealing.

Is it time to upgrade? It's too soon to tell but keep watching this space for more guidance.

5. Apple Watch got a Glow-up as well

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple used its Glowtime event to give us a brand new smartwatch as well, this time with a bigger brighter screen, a slimmer body, and some new features – including the ability to play music through its speaker as a backup when your AirPods run out of charge (though it’s slightly odd that wasn’t possible before), and sleep apnea detection.

The new smartwatch is launching on September 20 for $399 / £399 / AU$649 and we were somewhat impressed with it when we gave it a whirl for our hands-on Apple Watch Series 10 review.

The only major gripe we have so far is that Apple didn’t make room for a bigger battery – an ongoing issue with Apple’s smartwatches – though it did introduce faster charging which could help to mitigate this problem. We’ll have to wait and see.

4. We got new AirPods, and Apple hearing aids

(Image credit: Aplpe)

During the Glowtime festivities we also saw the arrival of the new Apple AirPods 4… well two new AirPods 4. One version (costing $179 / £179 / AU$299) comes with active noise cancellation and related features like a transparency mode so you can better hear the world around you, while the other cheaper model drops ANC to offer a more entry-level option (that only costs $129 / £129 / AU$219).

But the big announcement came for the AirPods Pro 2, which now have FDA approval to be used as hearing aids. They’ll offer hearing protection and a hearing test feature too, all at no additional cost. The AirPods Pro 2 won’t have the battery life of full-on hearing aids but they’re a lot cheaper and could act as a solid middle-ground option for people who might want to explore getting a hearing aid but aren’t ready to shell-out on something pricier.

3. Project Strawberry became the new ChatGPT

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The next generation of ChatGPT has arrived, and you can try it now, provided you’re a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, which costs $20 / £16 a month. Initially called Project Strawberry, the new chatbot is actually named as ‘o1-preview’ in the ChatGPT interface, and is accessible from the drop-down menu at the top left of the screen.

Strawberry is much better at solving math problems than previous versions of the popular chatbot, and OpenAI claims this more powerful o1-preview has performed “similarly to PhD students on challenging benchmark tasks in physics, chemistry, and biology.”

2. A Fitbit Premium feature went free

(Image credit: Andrew Williams)

The Google Pixel Watch 3 got Fitbit Premium’s daily readiness score as a free feature, and now older Fitbit trackers and smartwatches are getting the same treatment. The Daily Readiness Score is an overview of how ready you are to take on the day and a big workout based on your resting heart rate, heart-rate variability, and recent sleep patterns, and it’s useful for knowing if you should take things easy or push yourself a little harder.

Now, rather than need to pay for Fitbit Premium, users with a Pixel Watch, Pixel Watch 2, Sense, Sense 2, Versa 2, Versa 3, Versa 4, Charge 5, Charge 6, Inspire 2, Inspire 3, or Luxe can access this feature in their Fitbit app for free once they update to version 4.23.

1. Huawei debuted a world first tri-fold phone

(Image credit: Huawei)

Foldable phones still only account for around 1.5% of the global smartphone market, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese mobile giant Huawei from pushing the technology even further.

This week, the company debuted the Huawei Mate XT – the world’s first commercially available dual-hinged, triple-screen phone. Yes, you read that right: triple-screen phone. When collapsed, the Mate XT’s front-facing OLED display measures a traditional 6.4 inches, but when fully unfolded, the new device spans three separate screens and a whopping 10.2 inches.

Of course, all that display real estate comes at a price. The Huawei Mate XT – which is currently only available in China – starts at 19,999 yuan (around $2,810 / £2,150 / AU$4,220) for the model with 256GB of storage. For context, the cheapest version of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 – aka the most expensive of the best foldable phones in 2024 – costs $1,899.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,749. But since when did innovation come cheap?

Categories: Technology

Best Chef's Knives for 2024, Tested and Reviewed

CNET News - Sat, 09/14/2024 - 01:59
A good chef's knife has a razor sharp edge and is perfect for precise knife work. We've tested the very best -- across various prices -- to help you find the ideal one for your kitchen.
Categories: Technology

AI Has Helped Shein Become Fast Fashion’s Biggest Polluter

WIRED Top Stories - Sat, 09/14/2024 - 01:00
The company nearly doubled its emissions in 2023, making it the worst actor in a notoriously unsustainable industry.
Categories: Technology

Samsung shows insides of its 128TB SSD in all its glory but with a weird caveat — QLC-based BM1743 won't go on sale anytime soon and has a very short but strange 1-month retention

TechRadar News - Sat, 09/14/2024 - 00:03

High capacity SSDs are becoming increasingly important as data storage demands continue to surge. Companies like Samsung, Huawei and Phison have been teasing future 128TB SSDs this year. These drives will provide a massive storage boost, essential for industries like AI, big data, and cloud services where vast amounts of information need to be processed and stored efficiently.

Huawei's 128TB SSD, is set to be part of its Exabyte-capable OceanStor A800 range, highlighting the need for such drives in large-scale data environments. Phison’s enterprise SSD platform, with its potential for 128TB capacity, also demonstrates how these drives will play a critical role in handling high-performance, data-intensive applications.

Samsung recently showcased its new 128TB SSD, the BM1743, at the Future of Memory and Storage 2024 event (formerly Flash Memory Summit). The drive, which features 122.88TB of usable storage, was displayed with an exploded view, giving attendees a glimpse of its internals. ServeTheHome, which covered the event, shared details and photos of the SSD’s internal structure, including its two PCBs filled with NAND and DRAM chips. However, booth representatives did not allow additional photographs, limiting the angles available for viewing.

(Image credit: Samsung) One month retention

The Samsung BM1743, showcased as the industry’s largest QLC SSD, boasts a massive 128TB capacity with sequential read speeds of 7,500 MB/s and write speeds of 3,000 MB/s, along with a notable 45 percent improvement in power efficiency.

The drive does have an interesting caveat of offering just one month of data retention however, meaning that without power, data stored on the SSD may degrade after 30 days. This suggests that the BM1743 is designed for environments where data is continuously in use and regularly accessed, such as large AI or cloud computing systems, rather than for long-term data storage.

The BM1743 uses QLC NAND designed to increase storage capacity while keeping costs lower. Samsung revealed that the SSD can achieve 45K random write IOPS at 16KB, reflecting a shift in the industry towards higher performance benchmarks from the traditional 4K IOPS measurements. The larger 16KB standard is becoming more common, especially in drives intended for high-capacity environments.

While the BM1743 was a key feature at Samsung's booth, it is not yet available for purchase in its high capacity. The focus on it at the event does suggest that Samsung is preparing for its release, but there's currently no indication of when that will happen.

More from TechRadar Pro
Categories: Technology

Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sept. 14

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 23:13
Here are the answers for the NYT Mini Crossword for Sept. 14.
Categories: Technology

DreamCloud Memory Foam Mattress Review 2024: An Expert Analysis

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 22:59
Do you want to swap out your aged mattress with one that has supportive foam layers and new technology? The DreamCloud memory foam is a firm mattress you should watch. Our CNET sleep experts tried it out first-hand, and here’s everything you need to know.
Categories: Technology

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Sept. 14, #461

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 22:00
Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 461 for Sept. 14.
Categories: Technology

Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Sept. 14, #195

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 22:00
Here are some hints, and the answers, for the Sept. 14 Strands puzzle, No. 195.
Categories: Technology

Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Sept. 14, #1183

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 22:00
Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1183 for Sept. 14.
Categories: Technology

Best Cordless Drill of 2024

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 20:36
Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or a professional, the best cordless drills will surely add convenience and efficiency to your projects. Here are the top options tested by our experts.
Categories: Technology

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Saturday, September 14 (game #195)

TechRadar News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 18:02

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #195) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Elements of style

NYT Strands today (game #195) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • TALE
  • STALE
  • GLASS
  • SEAS
  • BEET
  • SWEET
NYT Strands today (game #195) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

You complete me

NYT Strands today (game #195) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: bottom, 3rd column

Last: top, 5th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #195) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #195, are…

  • BELT
  • HANDBAG
  • SCARF
  • JEWELRY
  • WATCH
  • GLASSES
  • SPANGRAM: ACCESSORIZING
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

Anyone who knows me will be aware that fashion is not my strong suit. I just do not care about it. So the concept of ACCESSORIZING is a little alien to me – I just wear jeans and a t-shirt, I don't need to add anything to that. Despite this inherent disadvantage, I managed to solve this Stands puzzle pretty easily – because it is indeed pretty easy.

I'm not sure that the theme clue, Elements of style, gave me much help, but finding BELT and HANDBAG by accident definitely did, and after that is was simply a question of wracking my brains for things that fashionable people might wear. After a bit more time than I probably should have needed, I got them all.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday 13 September, game #194)
  • COWBOY
  • SHERIFF
  • DUEL
  • BOUNTY
  • HORSE
  • SALOON
  • OUTLAW
  • SPANGRAM: WESTERNS
What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Categories: Technology

NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Saturday, September 14 (game #461)

TechRadar News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 18:02

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #461) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • LION
  • SWITCH
  • RETRO
  • BURGER
  • VINTAGE
  • SUB
  • PROM
  • SLIDER
  • SUPER
  • GRAPE
  • BUTTON
  • CALIFORNIA
  • REGION
  • KNOB
  • PRO
  • WINERY
NYT Connections today (game #461) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • Yellow: Read the label
  • Green: Touch this
  • Blue: They go before
  • Purple: Blank [royal title]

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #461) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: WINE BOTTLE INFO
  • GREEN: CONSOLE INPUTS
  • BLUE: PREFIXES
  • PURPLE: ___ KING

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #461) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #461, are…

  • YELLOW: WINE BOTTLE INFO GRAPE, REGION, VINTAGE, WINERY
  • GREEN: CONSOLE INPUTS BUTTON, KNOB, SLIDER, SWITCH
  • BLUE: PREFIXES PRO, RETRO, SUB, SUPER
  • PURPLE: ___ KING BURGER, CALIFORNIA, LION, PROM
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: 2 mistakes

Today's Connections is another fairly simple one. For starters, it doesn't require too much specialist knowledge – BUTTON, KNOB, SLIDER and SWITCH, for instance, are just generally used words. And while the WINE BOTTLE INFO group might be easier for people who drink wine, none of the answers are remotely obscure.

The one I didn't technically solve was blue – which in hindsight was one of the easiest. That group was PREFIXES, with the answers being PRO, SUB, RETRO and SUPER – all of which really should have occurred to me. But instead I focused on the [blank] king group, having spotted BURGER, LION and PROM. Trouble was, I couldn't find the fourth one, guessing SUPER and PRO (randomly) before finally going for CALIFORNIA to complete the set. I don't know what a CALIFORNIA KING is, but I solved it in the end, so who cares…

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 13 September, game #460)
  • YELLOW: VITALITY ENERGY, JUICE, LIFE, ZIP
  • GREEN: PALINDROMES FEATURING “E” LEVEL, PEP, REFER, TENET
  • BLUE: FEATURED IN “JACK AND THE BEANSTALK” BEANS, COW, GIANT, JACK
  • PURPLE: CAR MODELS BEETLE, CIVIC, FOCUS, VOLT
What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Categories: Technology

Quordle today – hints and answers for Saturday, September 14 (game #964)

TechRadar News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 18:02

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #964) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #964) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #964) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #964) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #964) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• E

• G

• W

• C

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #964) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #964, are…

  • ESSAY
  • GENRE
  • WIMPY
  • CHUTE

You don't hear the word WIMPY often, do you? But here it is in today's Quordle, lurking within those squares and waiting to trip you up. In fact, all four of today's words are potentially difficult – there are repeated letters in ESSAY and GENRE, while CHUTE is another fairly uncommon word – but I wouldn't place it among the most difficult overall. There are none of those really obscure letters, for starters – you know the ones, X and Q and Z and J – and plenty of vowels scattered throughout. File this was under 'middling'.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #964) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #964, are…

  • YIELD
  • SLEPT
  • BEECH
  • PENNY
Quordle answers: The past 20
  • Quordle #963, Friday 13 September: LEANT, ORGAN, FILLY, PLAIT
  • Quordle #962, Thursday 12 September: ARBOR, STARK, LEAVE, GOOFY
  • Quordle #961, Wednesday 11 September: ROUGH, CACTI, SAVOY, ODDER
  • Quordle #960, Tuesday 10 September: PLUMB, SEIZE, EARLY, ASSET
  • Quordle #959, Monday 9 September: CHIRP, BEADY, THETA, MINUS
  • Quordle #958, Sunday 8 September: TEASE, AGATE, PRIDE, PLATE
  • Quordle #957, Saturday 7 September: LASSO, TILDE, BUNCH, PRONG
  • Quordle #956, Friday 6 September: FARCE, WOOLY, LOCAL, NIGHT
  • Quordle #955, Thursday 5 September: SNIDE, EGRET, AMONG, SHINY
  • Quordle #954, Wednesday 4 September: POINT, WITTY, GAFFE, ABUSE
  • Quordle #953, Tuesday 3 September: ATOLL, ANGER, OCEAN, SWEEP
  • Quordle #952, Monday 2 September: HABIT, LODGE, PLAIN, DRIFT
  • Quordle #951, Sunday 1 September: RABBI, CRAWL, GUPPY, BRAND
  • Quordle #950, Saturday 31 August: AWOKE, TIBIA, ITCHY, SNACK
  • Quordle #949, Friday 30 August: ARISE, OLDER, ISSUE, ERUPT
  • Quordle #948, Thursday 29 August: DECAY, DRUID, AVOID, KNEED
  • Quordle #947, Wednesday 28 August: VIOLA, GONER, CAVIL, SHARE
  • Quordle #946, Tuesday 27 August: ABYSS, DAILY, AGONY, MUSKY
  • Quordle #945, Monday 26 August: NEVER, CHUNK, AUNTY, CROUP
  • Quordle #944, Sunday 25 August: APTLY, LEVER, STORK, WIDOW
Categories: Technology

This AI bot will check for you if Bigfoot is real

TechRadar News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 17:00

Urban legends and outlandish stories often send people to Snopes in search of a reality check. Now, the fact-checking site has an AI tool called FactBot to help you win a bet about Bigfoot or confirm a story about your favorite celebrity. Aimed at addressing misinformation, FactBot uses Snopes' archive and generative AI to answer questions without having to comb through articles using more traditional search methods. 

When you ask a question, FactBot goes through Snopes' collection of information and writes a conversational answer. Snopes built Factbot using Anthropic's Sonnet 3.5 AI model released earlier this year, working with California Polytechnic's Digital Transformation Hub (DxHub) as well as Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

Of course, AI models are famous for occasionally offering nonsensical or outright wrong answers they hallucinate. Snopes, being keen to keep up its (sometimes contested) reputation as a reliable source of facts, had to address that issue. By keeping to Snopes' databases for its responses, Factbot avoids hallucinations or obsolete answers. All of the answers include links to the articles used to compose them. And if there's not enough information to answer the question, FactBot just tells you that it doesn't have enough information to respond.

(Image credit: Snopes) Factbot Fun

The website sees FactBot as a way of speeding up fact-checking not just for its audience but internally. The AI chatbot has been incorporated into Snopes' newsroom to help spot trending topics based on what people are asking. That way, they can pursue popular topics that Factbot may not be able to answer yet. 

"Monitoring internet and social media trends will continue, but the chatbot represents an improvement to Snopes' current contact flow," Snopes CEO Chris Richmond explained. "Instead of only monitoring those sources and an inbox of emails from users with story ideas, links, and questions, staff will also hear back from the chatbot on what the most frequent topics of conversation are, offering a new story-idea pipeline."

Snopes isn't unique in seeing AI chatbots as a tool for answering questions about facts. The Washington Post created Climate Answers to do something similar, relying on its climate journalism to answer questions directly on the topic. These are only the early examples and almost certainly won't be the last. As AI technology continues to develop, tools like FactBot are likely to play an increasingly important role in trying to make the internet a reliable source of information, or at least in attempting to tamp down on the endless flood of misinformation, pranks, and outright lies.

You Might Also Like
Categories: Technology

56 Best Advent Calendars You Can Get in 2024

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 16:41
These Advent calendars are filled with everything from tea and chocolate to Legos and much more.
Categories: Technology

Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card: Delta's Most Valuable Airline Card

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 16:19
With this airline card you can fly first class, enjoy Delta Sky Clubs and get priority boarding.
Categories: Technology

Best Windows Laptop for 2024

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 16:12
Looking for a new laptop? Check out our favorite Windows laptops, tested and reviewed by CNET's laptop experts.
Categories: Technology

Here's the Best (and Fastest) Way to Make Crispy Bacon

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 16:00
You can make sizzling hot, crispy strips of bacon in as little as 8 minutes at home. Here's the method.
Categories: Technology

Who Deserves to Win This Year's Emmy Awards? We've Got the Answers

CNET News - Fri, 09/13/2024 - 15:47
We cast our own votes for big titles and performers we would like to see earn an award this year.
Categories: Technology

Pages

Subscribe to The Vortex aggregator - Technology