Tuesday, March 3

Life Style

You Can Now Pay to Generate More Sora AI Videos, and I’m Concerned
Life Style

You Can Now Pay to Generate More Sora AI Videos, and I’m Concerned

Sora, OpenAI's short-form AI video generator, has been out for just about a month now, and already, it's helping to spread disinformation on social media. Accounts share Sora generations without any transparency, sometimes with the Sora watermark removed, and while shrewd observers see through the AI, many people scrolling by don't think twice and believe things happened that didn't. That could be as innocuous as Jake Paul putting on makeup, or as dangerous as a fake interview meant to manipulate viewers towards a political bias. It's getting scary out there. So far, for the free model, Sora has capped video generations at 30 per day. If you pay for the Pro model, you get 100 generations a day. But if you're using Sora free of charge, once you produce your 30th video, you aren't able to ma...
Google Says Androids Get 58% Fewer Scam Texts Than iPhones, but I Have Some Questions
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Google Says Androids Get 58% Fewer Scam Texts Than iPhones, but I Have Some Questions

If you're getting more scam texts than your friends and family, it turns out it might be your mobile platform, at least going by a recent poll from Google and YouGov. According to Google, users on Android report receiving 58% fewer scam texts than those on iOS, and that number is even better on Pixel devices. Credit: Google That data comes from a survey Google and YouGov conducted of over 5,000 Android and iOS users across the U.S., India, and Brazil. The data says that Android users as a whole were "58% more likely than iOS users" to report that they had not received any scam texts in the week prior to the survey, and that iOS users were 65% mo...
Try ‘Habit Stacking’ to Make New Routines Stick
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Try ‘Habit Stacking’ to Make New Routines Stick

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Why is it so easy to form bad habits and so frustrating to try to form good ones? We crave routine, at least to some degree, so it's frustrating when you can't make productive or helpful habits stick. But consider that you already have a bunch of good, small habits, like putting the coffee on in the morning or washing your face before bed. As hard as you might be struggling with the bigger ones, you know you can do it because you've done it countless times before in smaller ways. In fact, those smaller routines can do more than prove your capability when it comes to building them; they can help you entrench larger habits and be even more productive. Let's go over a technique called habit stacking, which is basically li...
Magic Leap, One of the Biggest Flops in AR, Is Back with Smart Glasses
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Magic Leap, One of the Biggest Flops in AR, Is Back with Smart Glasses

Magic Leap is back. The tech company, now owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, today revealed a prototype for a pair of Android XR smart glasses made as a "reference design for the Android XR ecosystem," and announced it had extended its partnership with Google. The AR glasses have thicker-than-normal frames, but not ridiculously so, and seem to have a camera. But that’s about all we know: there's no word on availability or what the glasses actually do.While Magic Leap didn't reveal a ton of concrete details about its new shades, it did say they combine "Magic Leap’s waveguides and optics with Google’s Raxium microLED light engine" with the goal being an all-day AR wearable. "Magic Leap and Google’s collaboration is focused on developing AR glasses prototypes that balance visua...
Elon Musk’s ‘Grokipedia’ Is Certainly No Wikipedia
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Elon Musk’s ‘Grokipedia’ Is Certainly No Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a treasured online resource that, despite massive changes across the web, has managed to remained truly great to this day. I, alongside millions of other users, visit the site daily to learn something new or double-check existing knowledge. In an age of non-stop AI slop, Wikipedia is something of an antidote.If you look at Wikipedia and think "this is alright, but an AI version would be a lot better," you might just be Elon Musk. Musk's AI company, xAI, just launched Grokipedia—yes, that really is its name—an online encyclopedia that closely resembles Wikipedia in name and surface-level appearance. But under the hood, the two could hardly be any more different. Though it's early days for the new "encyclopedia," I'd say it's not worth using, at least not for anything real. Th...
This Nintendo Switch (With a Gray Joy-Con) Is Under $300 Right Now
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This Nintendo Switch (With a Gray Joy-Con) Is Under $300 Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Credit: Illustration by Zain Awais and product image courtesy of Amazon. The Nintendo Switch 2 is out, and it might not be worth the upgrade yet if you already own the original Nintendo Switch (especially at its $450 to $500 price point). If you don't, you can still get one and enjoy it before the Switch 2 really kicks off. Walmart is currently selling the Nintendo Switch Gray Joy-Con for $294.99 (originally $361.40). No other reputable seller has this version new on sale. If you're okay with a used console, GameStop has a pre-owned version for $209.99, ...
This 2-in-1 Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Is on Sale for Just $660 Right Now
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This 2-in-1 Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Is on Sale for Just $660 Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. This brand-new Microsoft Surface Pro 7 offers portability, flexibility, and power that still holds up for most people who want a dependable Windows machine without overpaying, and it's on sale for $659.99 at StackSocial right now. The 12.3-inch PixelSense touchscreen remains sharp and responsive, with a 2736x1824 resolution that makes documents, spreadsheets, and streaming look crisp. It’s lightweight at 1.7 pounds, and the built-in kickstand turns it from tablet to laptop on demand—something the Surface line has always nailed.The Surface Pro 7 is powered by a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, paired with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. ...
The Eufy SoloCam S340 Is Over $100 Off Right Now
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The Eufy SoloCam S340 Is Over $100 Off Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Eufy SoloCam S340 is designed for individuals who want complete control over their home’s security without a monthly subscription commitment. Now $223.99 at Walmart, down from $349.99, which is about $55 cheaper than Amazon’s current price of $279.98 (and an all-time low, according to price trackers), this outdoor home security camera delivers 3K resolution, 360-degree coverage, and solar-powered operation. Its two-lens setup captures both wide-angle and zoomed-in footage with surprising clarity. You can easily mount it anywhere—the solar panel connects via a 10-foot USB-C cable or sits neatly on top—so setup is as simple as pick...
What the Science Says About Red Light Therapy for Athletic Recovery (so Far)
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What the Science Says About Red Light Therapy for Athletic Recovery (so Far)

Red light therapy devices are everywhere—from lamps, to full-body mats, to those glowing face masks flooding my social media feed. I usually see red light therapy advertised for "younger-looking skin," but I'm not interested in these devices as a means to slow down aging—I'm interested in them as a recovery-obsessed athlete with very sore muscles.These gadgets promise to boost athletic performance, speed muscle recovery, and reduce inflammation, all by bathing your body in specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared light. But do these trendy tools live up to the hype, especially for muscle recovery?What red light therapy advocates claimRed light therapy devices typically emit light in the red (620-670 nanometers) and near-infrared (800-850 nanometers) spectrum. Manufacturers claim these...
ChatGPT’s AI Browser Has a Nasty Security Vulnerability
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ChatGPT’s AI Browser Has a Nasty Security Vulnerability

This week, OpenAI released ChatGPT Atlas, the company's first AI web browser. Atlas lets you surf the web like any other browser, but, as you might expect, comes with ChatGPT integration. You can log into your account and tap into the assistant via the sidebar menu, which will remember not only past conversations, but your browsing history as well. Like other AI browsers—namely Perplexity Comet—the browser has an "agent mode," which can take actions on your behalf. You can ask it to order you food through DoorDash or buy you plane tickets on Kayak instead of doing those things yourself.While that might sound useful to ChatGPT fans, I had trouble recommending the browser to people, considering the security vulnerabilities AI browsers are currently facing. Any browser that has agentic featur...