• Kids have been banned from the internet.  (The Verge)
  
  That's not what they are saying, but that's the likely result of the Senate passing the Kids Online Safety Act, which requires online services to actively monitor children using their services and protect them from all possible sources of harm, real or imaginary.
  
  Which is more than parents do.
  
  Far cheaper and easier to just ban children outright.
  
  Of course this nonsense passed by a 91-3 majority.  Senator Rand Paul called it a "Pandora’s box of unintended consequences."  
  
  I call it dogshit.
  
  There is a matching bill in the House but the article doesn't indicate the current status except that it hasn't been passed yet.

• Wait until it goes on sale.  (The Verge)
  
  The Amazon Echo Spot has no camera.  And no ads because the limited screen can't handle them.
  
  But it's also kind of dumb.  Smart for a clock/radio, which is what it really is, but still dumb.
  
  
  
• Apple is skipping Nvidia and going to Google for its AI platform.  (Tom's Hardware)
  
  It's not Nvidia's fault that everyone is throwing billions of dollars at them right now, but it's still annoying.
  
  
  
• Other companies are also seeking alternatives to Nvidia: AMD's datacenter revenue increased by 115% year-on-year.  (WCCFTech)
  
  Partly due to increased server market share but also partly thanks to the company's own datacenter GPUs for AI and other numerical loads.
  
  
  
• Meta (Facebook) is paying Texas $1.4 billion in fines over using customers biometric data without permission.  (Texas Tribune)
  
  Facebook was running facial recognition on every photo uploaded to the platform, without ever asking for permission.  This has been illegal under Texas law since 2009.
  
  
  
• Perplexity AI, an answerbot recently caught stealing everyone's content, has offered to share its stolen revenue with the people it stole it from.  (CNBC)
  
  Very generous.
  
  Also, many people are accepting the offer, because (a) it's cheaper than a decade-long lawsuit and (b) it gets Perplexity on your side to sue the next company that tries this.
  
  
  

Posted by: Rick C at Thursday, August 01 2024 02:12 AM (MItL9)

Posted by: Rick C at Thursday, August 01 2024 02:14 AM (MItL9)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thursday, August 01 2024 03:09 PM (PiXy!)

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