Free Republic 3rd Qtr 2025 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $6,140
7%  
Woo hoo!! 3rd Qtr 2025 FReepathon is now underway!!

Computers/Internet (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • These Tiny Magnetic Robots Can Navigate Obstacles and Carry Heavy Objects

    12/23/2024 12:20:49 PM PST · by BenLurkin · 21 replies
    thedebrief.org ^ | December 20, 2024 | Kenna Hughes-Castleberry·
    Scientists in South Korea have unveiled swarms of tiny magnetic robots that mimic the collaborative strength of ants to achieve incredible tasks, from carrying heavy cargo to navigating complex environments. These microrobots, described in a study published in the journal Device, could one day tackle challenges such as clearing clogged arteries or precisely guiding organisms. The team, led by Jeong Jae Wie from Hanyang University in Seoul, developed the robots to operate under a rotating magnetic field, enabling them to work together in swarms. Their potential applications include minimally invasive medical treatments and other tasks in difficult-to-reach environments. Wie and...
  • Received a package from an unknown sender? Experts warn of new ‘brushing’ scam — here’s how to protect yourself this Christmas (QR code)

    12/23/2024 3:55:39 AM PST · by Libloather · 31 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/21/24 | Brooke Kato
    Don’t brush off this warning. As a flurry of holiday gifts arrive on people’s doorsteps this season, unsuspecting shoppers could also receive packages addressed to them that they never ordered. With a scam known as “brushing,” cybercriminals will ship packages with no return address that contain a QR code, prompting the confused recipient to scan the code to reveal who sent the package. Unbeknownst to the recipient, the code could expose sensitive information from their smartphones or download malicious software onto the devices. “A scammer’s QR code could take you to a spoofed site that looks real but isn’t. And...
  • Jim Carrey Reveals How His Suffering Led Him to God - One Minute Video YouTube

    12/22/2024 8:03:03 AM PST · by dennisw · 60 replies
    Jim Carrey ^ | Mar 6 2023 | Jim Carrey
    Jim Carrey Reveals How His Suffering Led Him to God | #shorts 213K Likes 2,013,030 Views 2023 "Sometimes it's through suffering that we relate to the forgiveness Jesus gave us through the cross. 2nd Corinthians 4:17 says "our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine.""
  • Questions to ChatGPT about casting one's worries on God — A demonstation of ChatGPT's performance. (vanity)

    12/21/2024 7:19:41 AM PST · by RoosterRedux · 32 replies
    I thought some of you might be interested in this.I have lots of conversations with ChatGPT about many different issues. Though I am curious about its responses, I am also curious about how well it can figure out what I am asking if I use terse prompts. Here's a conversation I had with ChatGPT about turning one’s worries and concerns over to Jesus. I intentionally kept my questions short and vague. My question: In Christianity, we are told to turn all our worries and concerns over to Jesus. This would mean that we not only stop worrying about things but...
  • Digital Dementia? AI Shows Surprising Signs of Cognitive Decline

    12/21/2024 6:39:53 AM PST · by BenLurkin · 35 replies
    SciTech Daily ^ | 12/18/2024
    Almost all leading large language models, or “chatbots,” show signs of mild cognitive impairment when tested using assessments commonly used to detect early dementia, according to a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. The study also found that older versions of these chatbots, much like aging human patients, performed worse on the tests. The authors suggest that these findings “challenge the assumption that artificial intelligence will soon replace human doctors.” The instructions given to the LLMs for each task were the same as those given to human patients. Scoring followed official guidelines and was evaluated by a...
  • The Mamas & The Papas’ ‘California Dreamin’’ Joins Spotify’s Billions Club

    12/20/2024 4:03:09 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 56 replies
    Udiscovermusic ^ | December 20, 2024 | Sam Armstrong
    Released in 1965, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.The Mamas & The Papas’ classic 1965 version of “California Dreamin’” has joined Spotify’s Billions Club. It’s the seminal California band’s first time achieving the milestone. The group, fronted by Mama Cass, originally sang backup on the song, first released in 1963 by Barry McGuire. But their version would go on to endure as one of the most popular hits of the era. ‘Jingle Bell Rock’: Bobby Helms’ Rockin’ Christmas Classic Cara Delevingne Stars As Elton John In New ‘Step Into Christmas’ Video US Battle...
  • Oops! Newly Discovered Infinities Might Have Broken The Mathematical Universe..."This changes completely the landscape of large cardinals."

    12/20/2024 1:14:13 PM PST · by Red Badger · 77 replies
    IFL Science ^ | December 19, 2024 | Dr. Katie Spalding
    It’s an idea straight out of the schoolyard: that you might one day accidentally count so high that you break the laws of math. A new preprint (that has not yet been peer-reviewed) seems to have done just that, however – and it could have huge ramifications for how we ought to understand infinity. It’s fitting that such a baffling result would have come from set theory: it’s an area with a reputation for being abstract and often counter-intuitive; it has its own esoteric alphabet and language; and it’s famous for results that seem either too basic to have even...
  • Women’s Google Reviews bare trauma at seeing their aborted babies: ‘You see that whole fetus’

    12/20/2024 12:27:41 PM PST · by Morgana · 15 replies
    Live Action News ^ | December 17, 2024 | Isabella Childs
    Abortion is often presented as a simple and safe solution to the perceived problem of an unintended, unwanted pregnancy. However, abortion kills innocent human beings and is an extremely risky procedure for the woman and her body. The effects of an abortion on a woman can be long-lasting and traumatic — especially when they see the bodies of their deceased babies after taking the abortion pill. Live Action previously published a report, entitled. “I Saw My Baby,” which documented the testimonies of multiple women who spoke about how they saw their babies after they induced abortions via the abortion pill...
  • The IBM PC: The Most Influential Non-Invention

    12/20/2024 11:07:55 AM PST · by Red Badger · 92 replies
    Techspot ^ | December 17, 2024 | Amir Shoam
    What makes the IBM PC so significant in the history of personal computing? Its impact goes far beyond being a simple product – it's a symbol of standardization and accessibility that reshaped the industry for decades to come. Think of this in today's terms... what differentiates a gaming desktop from a home console? Is it the ability to choose any parts and peripherals you want? Or perhaps the support for games created decades before the computer itself? In the past, the main difference would be a keyboard. A typical early-1980s computer. Image: Miles Bintz These days, Apple is the only...
  • World's first see-through 4K OLED TV from LG is out now at $60,000

    12/20/2024 8:36:56 AM PST · by Red Badger · 95 replies
    New Atlas ^ | December 19, 2024 | Abhimanyu Ghoshal
    LG's new TV creates a nifty illusion of on-screen content floating in mid-air After stealing the show at CES 2024 in January, LG's totally transparent TV is finally available to buy. The 77-inch Signature OLED T can be yours for an eye-watering US$60,000. With that kind of scratch, you could buy three top-of-the-line 85-inch Samsung 'The Terrace' Full Sun Neo QLED 4K outdoor TVs designed to be used in direct sunlight – or a 2025 BMW 5-series car. Anyway, you're here about the Signature OLED T. We're talking about a 4K 120 Hz OLED TV you can literally see through...
  • OpenAI makes ChatGPT available for phone calls and texts

    12/18/2024 12:53:39 PM PST · by Callahan · 3 replies
    CNBC ^ | 12/18/2024 | Hayden Field
    OpenAI is giving users a new way to talk to its viral chatbot: 1-800-CHATGPT. By dialing the U.S. number (1-800-242-8478) or messaging it via WhatsApp, users can access an “easy, convenient, and low-cost way to try it out through familiar channels,” OpenAI said Wednesday. At first, the company said callers will get 15 minutes free per month. The news follows a barrage of updates from OpenAI as part of a 12-day release event. The most notable announcement was the official rollout of Sora, OpenAI’s buzzy AI video-generation tool. OpenAI recently hired its first chief marketing officer, indicating plans to spend...
  • How to use Grok: X/Twitter's 'edgy' AI chatbot is now free for everyone

    12/18/2024 7:14:30 AM PST · by Red Badger · 37 replies
    www.standard.co.uk ^ | December 18, 2001 | Saqib Shah
    The bot could even start showing up alongside your tweets with more info on what you’re posting With X facing fierce competition from rival platforms Bluesky and Threads, Elon Musk has decided to give away a feature that was previously locked behind a paywall. Now, everyone can use X’s edgy AI chatbot, known as Grok, to help with their writing, whip up images and fetch the latest news. What separates Grok from its peers is its “rebellious streak” and witty retorts, according to Mr Musk, who has previously slammed OpenAI and Google’s AI tools as being too “woke”. One thing’s...
  • openSUSE Unable to Find Board Candidates After Banning Conservatives

    12/18/2024 4:31:42 AM PST · by grundle · 33 replies
    YouTube ^ | December 17, 2024 | Bryan Lunduke
    Over the last 2 years the famous Linux project has attacked and mass-banned non-Leftists. Now there's nobody left to run openSUSE.
  • What are AI ‘world models,’ and why do they matter?

    12/17/2024 9:40:19 PM PST · by BenLurkin · 21 replies
    techcrunch ^ | 12/14/2024 | kyle wiggers
    World models take inspiration from the mental models of the world that humans develop naturally. Our brains take the abstract representations from our senses and form them into more concrete understanding of the world around us, producing what we called “models” long before AI adopted the phrase. The predictions our brains make based on these models influence how we perceive the world. ... While the concept has been around for decades, world models have gained popularity recently in part because of their promising applications in the field of generative video. ... While a generative model trained on years of video...
  • Google claims it has accessed “parallel universes” with its new supercomputer

    12/15/2024 5:51:07 PM PST · by Ronaldus Magnus III · 69 replies
    Google’s quantum computing breakthrough on Monday has left the physicist who heads the project a believer in ‘the idea that we live in a multiverse.’
  • Grok AI is now free for everyone. Via X - Twitter.

    12/14/2024 5:00:21 PM PST · by dennisw · 72 replies
    Elon Musk - X - Twitter ^ | 14 December 2024 | Elon Musk
    Elon Musk @elonmusk Try Grok for answering any question, creating any images & analyzing any images, even medical scans! It’s by far the best at answers requiring latest information, due to integration with 𝕏. You’ll be surprised at how much Grok can do & it only gets better from here! Quote xAI @xai · 3h Grok is now free for everyone Our AI assistant is faster, sharper, and includes all new-image generation. Available for free on 𝕏 today.
  • OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji found dead by suicide in San Francisco apartment

    12/14/2024 3:31:39 AM PST · by Libloather · 19 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/14/24 | Shane Galvin
    A former OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower was found dead last month in his San Francisco apartment by way of suicide, according to authorities. Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead on Nov. 26 by San Francisco police officers who went to the apartment after being called to conduct a wellness check, The Mercury News reports. The medical examiner’s office has ruled that there was no evidence of foul play and that his death is believed to be self-inflicted, according to the outlet. Prior to his death, Balaji publicly accused OpenAI of violating US copyright law with its generative AI app, ChatGPT. The California...
  • Friday the 13th Computer Question!

    12/13/2024 10:24:58 PM PST · by Paul R. · 47 replies
    Me | 12/14/2024 | Paul R.
    Is there a good way in Windows 10 or 11 to search multiple files for specified text? For example, let's say I've saved multiple ODT or DOC files into a specific folder and then want to go back and find any instances of the text string "Tahoe SSV" residing within those files. Alternately, the string might be a part number such as "283-75589A". Basically, this is similar to a standard Web search, but for offline content on one's own SSD or whatever drive. I CAN do a Windows file search, specifying "file contents" but while it works for pdf files,...
  • What Does Google's Quantum Computing Chip Mean for Bitcoin?

    12/13/2024 2:24:07 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 37 replies
    CoinDesk ^ | Dec 10, 2024 | Shaurya Malwa|
    What does the uber-powerful Quantum supercomputer Willow mean for bitcoin and crypto security.-Quantum computing does indeed pose significant threats to current security systems. -Bitcoin uses algorithms like SHA-256 for mining and ECDSA for signatures, which might be vulnerable to quantum decryption. -But don't sell your coins just yet. Google’s new quantum computing chip could mean bitcoin (BTC) is finished. That was the sentiment for some on Monday as the internet giant unveiled Willow, a quantum supercomputer that can perform certain computational tasks in just five minutes that would take classical supercomputers an astronomical amount of time—specifically, 10 septillion years...
  • Farmers Say Intelligent Tractors "Acted Like They Were Demon Possessed" After Signal Out of Space [Ordinary Solar Activity]

    12/13/2024 7:34:02 AM PST · by BenLurkin · 28 replies
    msn ^ | 12/13/2024 | Victor Tangermann
    Modern tractors rely on precise GPS coordinates to navigate fields. But with charged particles distorting radio signals from GPS satellites, some of them started acting erratically, stopping abruptly or weaving back and forth. "I would guess 80 percent or more of all farmers in the Midwest use at least basic GPS for something — whether it's auto-steer or yield mapping," John Deere service manager Ethan Smidt told SpaceWeather. "At least 50 percent of all farmers are VERY reliant on GPS and use it on every machine all year long." During particularly violent solar storms, charged particles fill the Earth's ionosphere,...