Meta’s AI could still scrape news sites, legal experts say
Meta has tweaked its business terms to remove language suggesting that it could freely train its AI models on news sites, like The Verge - but legal experts say these changes aren't enough to address their concerns. "This does nothing to restrict the 'associated with your products or services' [language] that would let Meta scrape entire sites," James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell Law School, tells Nieman Lab.
Initially, Meta's new terms for business accounts appeared to give the company permission to train its AI on news sites. The terms, which go into effect October 30th, stated that Meta "may use any …
Meta turns Muse sharing back on
Meta has re-enabled Muse sharing after security researchers had reported that public conversation links could be easy to find. The researchers said they had been able to find Muse pages like a marketing company's internal revenue review and a small business owner's loan application.
Researchers at Claroc reported earlier this week that Muse the web addresses for shared conversations from Muse were named after a conversation's title and written into public DNS. Ars Technica said Tuesday that Meta paused the sharing feature after it reached out about what was going on.
In a post today on X, Meta's David Singleton says that "The underlying is …
The FCC is beginning to block gadgets with ‘foreign surveillance chips’
On October 13th, Brendan Carr's FCC gave itself a new power - it can block gadgets for containing any computer chip made by any company on its list of potential threats to national security. Today, it's exercising that power for the first time, blocking two gadgets because they contain "foreign surveillance chips," the FCC claims.
The agency doesn't say which specific gadgets it blocked, and it didn't immediately respond to our request for comment, but it does name the "surveillance chip": it's a HiVision Hi3516CV610 UHD Smart Vision SoC, a chip that turns a raw camera sensor into a home security camera, a dashcam, or the like. It's often s …
Sure, let’s smoosh SpaceX and Tesla together, who cares
Oh sure, SpaceX's credit risk is pretty high because it's about to borrow another $40 billion to spend on Nvidia chips, but who cares about that? SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss a merger!
The degree to which you find this merger compelling likely has to do with the degree to which you believe Elon Musk about wanting to go to Mars, or "spread the light of consciousness," as he put it in this week's SpaceX earnings call (and earlier S-1). Now, a reasonably informed person knows that we don't have the technology - or, frankly, even the raw information to build the technology - in order to support human life in space. …
Teenage Engineering launched an instrument amp with a ton of built-in effects
Teenage Engineering is branching out into instrument amps with the previously leaked EP-35, a multi-input, multi-instrument, battery-powered amp with built-in effects. The back of the unit has a line-in port, as well as a 1/4-inch guitar input and an XLR input for mics, including mics that require phantom power. You can also stream audio to it via Bluetooth and connect multiple EP-35s together over Bluetooth using Auracast. If you have them paired in stereo, tilting a unit to the left or right sets it to the appropriate stereo channel, which is pretty neat.
There are separate effects processors for guitar and vocals, though you have limite …
Republican politicians have embraced anti-Indian racism — and it’s costing them votes
Two years ago, University of Houston student Vasant Bhatt was doing everything he could to help Republicans regain power. He knocked doors for Sen. Ted Cruz's reelection campaign and helped organize his community for Donald Trump, two victories he, like many other Republicans, celebrated in 2024. But this week, Bhatt did something unexpected: He voted for Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, and he publicly urged others to do the same.
Bhatt, whose father is a small-business owner, tells The Verge he was initially drawn to the Republican Party due to its economic principles. "The strong belief in individual liberty and limited …
Google tells Android users to update as parts of Canada adopt permanent daylight saving time
As the US gets closer to permanently adopting daylight saving time following the House advancing the Sunshine Protection Act in July, there could be some unforeseen consequences to getting an extra hour of sun in the evening all year long. Following the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba permanently switching to daylight saving this year, Google has shared some suggested fixes if Android devices are showing the incorrect time when clocks aren't turned back an hour there on November 1st.
In an announcement shared to the Android community help forums, Google suggests a simple fix for Canadians experiencing issues as a result …
Discord now formats Markdown previews right
Discord's latest update released today has a big improvement for Markdown previews: they should now render correctly instead of with "a bunch of symbols," according to the company. LLMs and AI agents often rely on Markdown files for instructions and context, so these improved previews could be helpful for people sharing information about AI projects on the platform.
"When you upload a Markdown (.md) file, you'll now see the file rendered all nice and neat and pretty instead of with a bunch of symbols," Discord says. "This includes tables, formatting, all that good stuff. Totally great for when you're doing a casual Sunday-night sharing READ …
The new Fire TV Stick 4K is already half off
Despite being announced just a few weeks ago, both Amazon and Best Buy are now offering the latest Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for 50 percent off, bringing the price down to an all-time low of $29.99. The most notable new feature is that the Fire TV Stick 4K no longer requires a separate power connection, meaning it can draw all the juice it needs from the USB port on your TV. It supports 4K at up to 60fps, with HDR10 Plus for higher contrast, although it’s worth noting that it doesn’t allow for side-loading apps like some older models.
Amazon updated the Fire TV OS earlier this year with a redesigned UI, closer Alexa Plus integration, and various improvements to the mobile app, all of which are supported on the new hardware. You’ll also get a revamped remote, which features a new asymmetrical design with a rounded bottom and buttons with a more tactile feel. For connectivity, the Fire TV Stick 4K has Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6.
Refurbished PS5 consoles include second controller for an extra $18
A lot of people are snagging a PlayStation 5 ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI’s November 19th launch. You could pay full price at one of many retailers, but why do that when you can save $100 on a Sony-refurbished console that has the same one-year warranty? It’s a great time to consider one because company has a new limited-time bundle.
Through this page, you can select either a refurbished digital or disc-based console for $499 or $549, respectively, and add a refurbished DualSense to your order that’s $40 off its usual price. For instance, a white DualSense tacks just $18 to your total, while one of the fancier colors, like sterling silver, adds $23. It’s an affordable way to stock up to cover a two-player household. The refurbished controller also includes a one-year warranty.
Sony PlayStation 5 slim (refurbished)
Where to Buy:
One thing to note about the refurbished consoles is that they include a 1TB SSD. Sony’s digital edition console at stores is currently equipped with 825GB of built-in storage (the disc edition still has 1TB), so it’s nice that this version includes a little extra space for games. Like all PlayStation 5 consoles, these support PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs equipped with heatsinks for extra storage, though like RAM, those are pretty pricey at the moment.