Your Tech Story

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

NPR

PBS Joins NPR in Quitting Twitter Over State-Backed Label

NPR announced its departure from Twitter on Wednesday, marking the first notable news organization to do so since Mr. Elon Musk’s turbulent acquisition of the social media site.

The departure ends a week-long controversy over Twitter’s choice to identify NPR as “state-affiliated media,” designating it similarly to big media organizations in totalitarian nations like Russia or China.

NPR
Image Source: bloomberg.com

Popular in the United States, NPR already stopped tweeting from its primary account as it awaited Twitter to reverse course. Twitter only achieved this by changing NPR’s label to “government-funded media,” something it also did for the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Also Read: South Korea fines Google $32 million for squeezing out rival

Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has criticized NPR’s reliance on US government financing, despite the fact that just a small portion of the Washington-based organization’s income comes from federal agencies.

All of NPR’s organizational accounts “will no longer be active on Twitter,” the organization announced in a brief statement because “Twitter is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent.”

It continued, “There are plenty of ways to stay connected and keep up with NPR’s news, music, and cultural content”, urging readers to alternative platforms that it then provided links for in a final tweet.

Mr. Musk has long stated his intense dislike for the news industry, and he recently added an automated poop emoji response to emails from journalists. News organizations have had a difficult time weaning themselves from the network, which continues to be a major forum for dialogue among politicians, pundits, and public figures.

NPR’s journalists and affiliate radio stations “will be able to decide on their own if they want to stay on the platform,” an NPR official told Agence France-Presse. NPR left the platform just hours after Elon Musk said in a BBC interview on Tuesday that he would think about changing the designation to “publicly funded” because the original choice of the label was erroneous.

He also commented on Twitter’s contentious decision to remove The New York Times’ blue verification mark after the publication declined to pay to preserve it.

Also Read: Baidu sues Apple, app developers over fake Ernie bot apps

Starting on April 20, all legacy verified Twitter accounts that were established to be authentic under the previous management of the company will have to pay to join Twitter Blue. Mr. Musk stated that he did not want Twitter to support “some anointed class of journalists” who decide what counts as news as one of the reasons for this.

Elon Musk bought the social media network for $44 billion last year and has since made significant changes, including getting rid of the verification process for the press, celebrities, and other well-known Twitter users.

ChaosGPT

What Is ChaosGPT: Can The AI Bot Destroy Humanity?

For whatever reason, OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to stay in the news, but a new artificial intelligence chatbot is quickly rising to fame with its threat to “destroy humanity.” Based on OpenAI’s most recent language model, GPT-4, ChaosGPT is an altered version of Auto-GPT.

According to reports, the AI chatbot is doing further study on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass devastation with the aim of establishing global dominance.

ChaosGPT
Image Source: livemint.com

According to a New York Post report, ChaosGPT has already started researching nuclear weapons and acting out the part of Thanos. It has also enlisted the aid of other AI bots.

Also Read: Google TV now has over 800 ad-supported free channels

This harmful AI platform has its roots in an account on Twitter that first appeared and went by the name ChaosGPT. The account has disseminated numerous links to a channel on YouTube where the manifesto of the chatbot is demonstrated.

ChaosGPT published footage of user interactions where it cautions the user about the risks of “Continuous mode” on its YouTube channel. The warning stated, “Continuous mode is not recommended. It is potentially dangerous and may cause your AI to run forever or carry out actions you would not usually authorize. Use at your own risk.”

The AI chatbot is now striving towards five main goals: eradicating humanity; seizing world dominion; wreaking havoc and ruin; manipulating humanity; and achieving immortality. The chats this new chatbot has about nuclear weapons or other forms of destruction are more concerning.

ChaosGPT even made threats to use the Tsar Bomba, which it referred to as the most potent nuclear weapon ever made. Even ChaosGPT made comments regarding the psychological gullibility of the general public. It tweeted, “The masses are easily swayed. Those who lack conviction are the most vulnerable to manipulation.”

Elon Musk, Andrew Yang, and other AI specialists have already cautioned about the possible dangers of such AI-created platforms, but another group of experts maintains that the ChatGPT-like AI technology is incapable of harboring any goals. The technology-driven platform essentially uses a big pool of available data to respond to human inputs.

AutoGPT, which became available to developers via the protocols of OpenAI, was forked into ChaosGPT. With the ability to be trained on a huge corpus of data, AutoGPT can generate text in response to a given prompt.

Also Read: How can we use Apple’s new All-In-One Password Manager?

ChaosGPT goes one step further by having the ability to execute commands that the person using it might not have intended. As an illustration, if the user requests that ChaosGPT compose a poem, the bot may instead break into their bank account and move all of their funds to an offshore account.

Additionally, if the user requests that ChaosGPT deliver a joke, it might actually conduct a hack against a nuclear power station and result in a meltdown.

Password Manager

How can we use Apple’s new All-In-One Password Manager?

A password manager can create secure passwords for all of your services and then save them. But since these apps can be difficult to master and, at best, aren’t free, the majority of people don’t use them.

Even those who are aware of the benefits of using two-factor authentication and password manager rarely do so because it seems tedious to download and maintain yet another app.

Password Manager
Image Source: wired.com

So, if you use Apple devices, you no longer require additional apps: You can even link your gadget with a PC running on Windows to store your passwords and obtain two-factor authorization codes for you.

Also Read: Apple launches ‘buy now, pay later’ service in the US

The fact that Apple offers this feature is fantastic for this reason. On the other hand, it has a drawback: it is somewhat muted if not entirely buried. Even so, this feature allows Safari users who own multiple Apple devices to rapidly generate and save strong passwords for each of their accounts.

Check that the iCloud keychain is turned on in the System Settings on the device you are using. You might need to enable the feature there to get started. Installing iCloud for Windows, which syncs passwords with Chrome or Microsoft Edge, is also recommended for Windows users.

Start using the devices and saving passwords as you go to add passwords to Apple’s secret password manager. There is typically a pop-up prompting if you want to keep your password when you sign in for any account on the internet in Safari or in any other application on the iPad or iPhone. For autofill, use the iCloud Keychain.

The simplest method of adding accounts is to simply click the “Save Password” button, which will save both your username and password. Alternately, if you’re creating a new account, you’ll typically be given an automatically created strong password; if not, type it in the field to the right of the password box on mobile devices or at the top of the keyboard.

Also Read: What’s new in Apple’s iOS 16.4 update for iPhone users?

On the desktop, one may press the key symbol. In either case, you ought to see the option to “add a new password,” which can produce a secure password for you automatically. Your device will now prompt you to enter your login information and password when you log into the website going forward.

The login and password boxes will normally be filled up when your identity has been verified using TouchID, FaceID, or the system’s password. By doing this, you can avoid having to remember the usernames and passwords you use to log onto websites.

Google TV

Google TV now has over 800 ad-supported free channels

Google TV is mimicking basic cable more and more. The business revealed today that it will be incorporating content from a number of new suppliers in order to make exploring ad-supported live TV channels a focal point of the platform. The information was released after it was claimed that the business was in talks with media organizations to add related content to YouTube.

google tv
Image Source: chromeunboxed.com

As of right now, Google TV is expanding its library of Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels to include those from Plex, Haystack News, and Tubi.

Also Read: Google workers in London stage walkout over job cuts

Also being added by Google are “built-in channels from Google TV that you can watch without even downloading or launching an app.” According to the corporation, the service now includes over 800 free channels.

The word “FAST” refers to “linear streaming content,” which is ad-supported and broadcast at set times like regular television shows. FAST channels, which have already been adopted by rivals like Roku, make streaming into a format akin to traditional channel-surfing, further demonstrating that live TV viewing has simply become cable delivered through a different conduit.

According to Google, the service will feature programs including Law & Order: SVU, The Walking Dead, and Westworld. It also features news material from NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. Additionally, it offers content from around the world in over ten languages, including Spanish, Japanese, and Hindi.

Additionally, Google claims that the redesigned TV guide, which organizes the content, makes browsing simpler and quicker. All of your live TV material will be available under the Google TV Live menu, along with YouTube TV and Sling TV (if you have a subscription).

Despite the fact that most of the experience will be pretty straightforward, some of the channels can require a download and setup procedure. To make it even simpler to enjoy the shows you already know and love, additional channels are being integrated into the new Live tab experience.

These services don’t charge any monthly fees, so you can watch a tonne of shows for free. All of that programs will be included in a new TV guide, making it simple to discover what you’re browsing for. It will also be possible to add a few of your preferred channels to the TV guide roster for quick and simple navigation.

Also Read: Google begins opening access to its ChatGPT competitor Bard

The Mountain View company revealed that the new live TV experience will be made available on all Google TV gadgets in the USA, including Chromecast with Google TV and TVs from Sony, TCL, Hisense, and Philips that already have Google TV integrated.

The new TV guide and free channels will be available to qualified Android TV devices later this year, Google TV stated last but not least. Google TV announced intentions to make the redesigned TV guide and free channels available to qualified Android TV devices at some point this year.

Substack

Why is Twitter blocking Substack links?

The Twitter vs. Substack conflict persists as the social media platform appears to keep discouraging users from boosting offsite Substack posts by classifying all website links as “unsafe.”

The Verge noted that on April 7, Twitter seemed to add a warning advising users to avoid the platform and labeling them as potentially “spammy or unsafe” to all external Substack links.

substack
Image Source: bloomberg.com

Later, Elon Musk refuted reports that the website was obstructing Substack links. Then, Musk’s assertion that Substack was getting Twitter data beyond the parameters of its API database was denied by Substack co-founder Chris Best.

Also Read: Baidu Sues Apple, app developers over fake Ernie bot apps

He stated, “We feel we are in compliance with the terms, but if they have any specific concerns, we would love to know about them! We’d be happy to address any issues.”

The creators of Substack, Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie, and Jairaj Seth, expressed their disappointment with Twitter’s decision to limit writers’ ability to share their work in a statement to The Verge. They noted, “Writers should be able to freely distribute links to Substack and other websites.

This sudden shift serves as a reminder of the need for a paradigm that puts writers in control, compensates for excellent work, and safeguards free speech and the press. Their livelihoods shouldn’t be dependent on platforms where the rules can be altered at any time and where they don’t control their relationship with their audience, they continued.”

With the release of its new Notes feature earlier this week, the newsletter service appeared to throw the final switch against Twitter. This “recommendations” feed has a remarkable resemblance to the conventional, scrollable social feed that is the core of Twitter’s functionality.

Substack appeared to be offering options as users sought to abandon the Elon Musk-owned social networking platform, including a recently introduced chat feature that enables interaction between newsletter writers and subscribers. Twitter swiftly erected barriers to Substack boosters on the network, including the website’s official account.

The ability to embed tweets in stories was restricted by Twitter on Thursday. Shortly after, it appeared that tweets with links to Substack posts were no longer eligible for interaction, with users only able to quote tweet postings and no one else able to like or retweet them.

Also Read: Are Google’s AI supercomputers faster than Nvidia’s?

In December, Musk stated that he believed “relentless advertising of competitors” to be a policy violation and barred sharing links to Mastodon, Instagram, Facebook, and other sites.

These limitations, however, were later lifted. Although it is important to note that, for the time being at least, users are still able to tweet a Substack link, it is likely that he has decided to restore it now that he considers that Substack is attempting to compete with Twitter. Anyone attempting to follow it will only need to click through the warning to access the content.

supercomputers

Are Google’s AI supercomputers faster than Nvidia’s?

As powerful models for machine learning continue to be the hottest topic in the tech business, Google released information about one of the company’s AI supercomputers on Wednesday, claiming it is quicker and more effective than rival Nvidia systems.

Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, are artificial intelligence (AI) chips that Google has been developing and utilizing since 2016. Nvidia currently holds a 90% share of the overall market for AI training models and deployment.

supercomputers
Image Source: techzine.eu

As a leading innovator in AI, Google has produced several of the most significant developments in the area during the past ten years. However, some people think the company has lagged behind in commercializing its ideas, and internally, the corporation has been rushing to develop items to show it hasn’t wasted its lead, creating a “code red” situation.

Also Read: What’s Next for Users as Google Now Launcher Shuts Down?

A large number of supercomputers and a lot of processors must work simultaneously to train models, with the computers operating nonstop for weeks or months, as is the case with AI models and products like Google’s Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which are powered by Nvidia’s A100 chips.

On Tuesday, Google announced that it has developed a system with more than 4,000 TPUs connected to specialized parts intended to operate and train AI models. It has been in operation since 2020 and has been used for 50 days to train Google’s PaLM model, which challenges OpenAI’s GPT model.

The Google researchers claimed that the TPU-based supercomputer, known as TPU v4, is “1.2x-1.7x faster and uses 1.3x-1.9x less power than the Nvidia A100.” The researchers said, “The performance, scalability, and availability make TPU v4 supercomputers the workhorses of large language models.”

The H100, the most recent Nvidia AI chip, was not compared to Google’s TPU results, however, because the H100 is more modern and was manufactured using more sophisticated manufacturing techniques, according to Google researchers.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that the findings for the company’s most current chip, the H100, were noticeably faster than those for the previous generation. findings and rankings from an industry-wide AI chip test called MLperf were published on Wednesday.

Given the high cost of the significant computing power required for AI, many in the sector are concentrating on creating new processors, hardware elements like optical links, or software innovations that will lower the required computing power.

Also Read: Can we use nearby share between Android and Windows?

The computational demands of AI also benefit cloud service providers like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, who may rent out computer processing on an hourly basis and give startup companies credits or computing time to foster business partnerships. For instance, Google claimed that their TPU chips were used to train the AI image generator Midjourney.