Tag Archives: Tech

Bing outage shows just how little competition Google search really has

Getty Images reader comments 42 Bing, Microsoft’s search engine platform, went down in the very early morning today. That meant that searches from Microsoft’s Edge browsers that had yet to change their default providers didn’t work. It also meant that services relying on Bing’s search API—Microsoft’s own Copilot, ChatGPT search, Yahoo, Ecosia, and DuckDuckGo—similarly failed.… Read More »

New Windows AI feature records everything you’ve done on your PC

Enlarge / A screenshot of Microsoft’s new “Recall” feature in action. reader comments 142 At a Build conference event on Monday, Microsoft revealed a new AI-powered feature called “Recall” for Copilot+ PCs that will allow Windows 11 users to search and retrieve their past activities on their PC. To make it work, Recall records everything… Read More »

Archie, the Internet’s first search engine, is rescued and running

The Serial Code/YouTube reader comments 27 It’s amazing, and a little sad, to think that something created in 1989 that changed how people used and viewed the then-nascent Internet had nearly vanished by 2024. Nearly, that is, because the dogged researchers and enthusiasts at The Serial Port channel on YouTube have found what is likely the… Read More »

Google strikes back at OpenAI with “Project Astra” AI agent prototype

Enlarge / A video still of Project Astra demo at the Google I/O conference keynote in Mountain View on May 14, 2024. reader comments 28 Just one day after OpenAI revealed GPT-4o, which it bills as being able to understand what’s taking place in a video feed and converse about it, Google announced Project Astra,… Read More »

Robot dogs armed with AI-targeting rifles undergo US Marines Special Ops evaluation

Enlarge / A still image of a robotic quadruped armed with a remote weapons system, captured from a video provided by Onyx Industries. reader comments 184 The United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is currently evaluating a new generation of robotic “dogs” developed by Ghost Robotics, with the potential to be equipped with… Read More »

Microsoft ties executive pay to security following multiple failures and breaches

Enlarge / A PC running Windows 11. reader comments 56 It’s been a bad couple of years for Microsoft’s security and privacy efforts. Misconfigured endpoints, rogue security certificates, and weak passwords have all caused or risked the exposure of sensitive data, and Microsoft has been criticized by security researchers, US lawmakers, and regulatory agencies for… Read More »

AI in space: Karpathy suggests AI chatbots as interstellar messengers to alien civilizations

reader comments 57 On Thursday, renowned AI researcher Andrej Karpathy, formerly of OpenAI and Tesla, tweeted a lighthearted proposal that large language models (LLMs) like the one that runs ChatGPT could one day be modified to operate in or be transmitted to space, potentially to communicate with extraterrestrial life. He said the idea was “just… Read More »

The BASIC programming language turns 60

Enlarge / Part of the cover illustration from “The Applesoft Tutorial” BASIC manual that shipped with the Apple II computer starting in 1981. Apple, Inc. reader comments 71 Sixty years ago, on May 1, 1964, at 4 am in the morning, a quiet revolution in computing began at Dartmouth College. That’s when mathematicians John G.… Read More »

Here’s your chance to own a decommissioned US government supercomputer

Enlarge / A photo of the Cheyenne supercomputer, which is now up for auction. reader comments 72 On Tuesday, the US General Services Administration began an auction for the decommissioned Cheyenne supercomputer, located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The 5.34-petaflop supercomputer ranked as the 20th most powerful in the world at the time of its installation in… Read More »