Author: Vidya Saras

Have you ever wanted to travel through time to see what your future self might be like? Now, thanks to the power of generative AI, you can.Researchers from MIT and elsewhere created a system that enables users to have an online, text-based conversation with an AI-generated simulation of their potential future self.Dubbed Future You, the system is aimed at helping young people improve their sense of future self-continuity, a psychological concept that describes how connected a person feels with their future self.Research has shown that a stronger sense of future self-continuity can positively influence how people make long-term decisions, from one’s likelihood…

A California man accused of failing to pay taxes on tens of millions of dollars allegedly earned from cybercrime also paid local police officers hundreds of thousands of dollars to help him extort, intimidate and silence rivals and former business partners, the government alleges. KrebsOnSecurity has learned that many of the man’s alleged targets were members of UGNazi, a hacker group behind multiple high-profile breaches and cyberattacks back in 2012. A photo released by the government allegedly showing Iza posing with several LASD officers on his payroll. A federal complaint (PDF) filed last week said the Federal Bureau of Investigation…

Before the season kicked off, you would have been hard-pressed to find many pundits, or fans for that matter, that predicted Ipswich Town would remain in the Premier League, and understandably so. However, we are now six games in, and even though the newly promoted side have played three of last season’s top four, they are sat in 15th place with four points to their name, and most importantly, they look like they belong in the top-flight. Kieran McKenna has his side playing some great football, and the draw against Aston Villa on Sunday is evidence of that, with a…

Getty ImagesTens of thousands of dockworkers have gone on strike indefinitely at ports across much of the US, threatening significant trade and economic disruption ahead of the presidential election and the busy holiday shopping season.Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walked out on Tuesday at 14 major ports along the east and gulf coasts, halting container traffic from Maine to Texas.The action marks the first such shutdown in almost 50 years.President Joe Biden has the power to suspend the strike for 80 days for further negotiations, but the White House has said he is not planning to act.What is…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Financial services myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Accounting firm BDO lost celebrity clients led by the rapper Jay-Z following accusations that a staff member had been stealing money from customer accounts.People familiar with the matter said Jay-Z and Megan Thee Stallion were among the stars to have severed relationships with BDO’s Miami operations, which manages personal and business finances ranging from paying bills to filing taxes on behalf of the rich and famous.Jay-Z’s departure stemmed from anger over how BDO dealt with accusations in 2022 that a staff member…

Before Netflix returns us to the world of crazy, cheese-loving British inventors with Vengeance Most Fowl, the next entry in Aardman’s beloved Wallace and Gromit series, the original TV movies are getting a lush new re-release that would have Wallace grinning even further from ear to ear, even if his head wasn’t already shaped like that. Today Shout Factory confirmed it would release a new Wallace & Gromit collection (suitably called the Complete Cracking Collection) this December, to tie in with Netflix’s release of Vengeance Most Fowl later this winter. The set includes the four original short films that kickstarted the series—1989’s A…

Follow Aaron on Nostr or X. It’s difficult to find a more fundamental threat to Bitcoin’s continued existence than mining centralization. If —say— there are only a few mining pools, there is a very real possibility that these organizations face regulatory pressure of the kind that exchanges have also had to deal with: they could be forced to only include KYC’ed transactions into blocks. Since censorship resistance is arguably its core value proposition, I seriously doubt that Bitcoin would, in this scenario, have much long-term viability at all.To that end, it was great to see Ocean launch DATUM (Decentralized Alternative…

A look back at 2023, and a glimpse at what lies ahead in 2024 2023 was an excellent year for the team behind the ethereum.org website, and its community — we already feel a little nostalgic, but it’s important to make space for celebrating the things the ethereum.org community helped us build in 2023 and continue the momentum in 2024. In that spirit, we prepared a recap with our 2023 highlights of the ethereum.org community — enjoy the reading! The highlights 📚 ethereum.org Translatathon 56 languages, 217 participants, and 1.47 million words (🤯) translated in a one-week online competition, the…

UK water company Severn Trent Water and Sensat have partnered to use digital twins to improve project planning of water projects conducted by Severn Trent Water. Sensat will supply the digital twin infrastructure software aiding undertakings like the water company’s Ilkeston Flood Alleviation Scheme. The software platform will provide insights into flood risk and underground utilities, creating a virtualized digital twin of complex data gathered during projects. It will also assist in mitigating any possible risks, ensuring that the right and most effective decisions can be made to improve the efficiency of water schemes and speed at which projects can…

VeeFriends, the brainchild of entrepreneur and media personality Gary Vaynerchuk, is stepping into the world of animated content. In collaboration with Moonbug Entertainment—the force behind popular kids’ brands like CoComelon and Blippi—and VaynerWatt, VeeFriends is launching its first animated series on YouTube Kids on September 30, 2024. Produced by Moonbug, a part of Candle Media, the series promises to blend entertainment and education in 20 fast-paced, three-minute episodes. The first three episodes of this exciting series are already available, with new ones airing every Saturday. What to Expect: Characters and Themes The VeeFriends animated series is aimed at kids aged…