WEDNESDAY, 29 JANUARY 2025, 01:00
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: A pseudonymous coder has created and released an open source “tar pit” to indefinitely trap AI training web crawlers in an infinitely, randomly-generating series of pages to waste their time and computing power. The program, called Nepenthes after the genus of carnivorous pitcher plants which trap and consume their prey, can be deployed by...
The order signaled that the president intends to promote an industry that faced scrutiny during the Biden administration — and that he has a personal stake in.
Pocketpair, creators of the game fans dubbed “Pokémon with guns,” is partnering with the studio behind Tales of Kenzera: Zau as it aims to publish more indie games.
The Pitt, Somebody Somewhere, and Dune: Prophecy are just a few of the shows you need to be watching on Max this month.
Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist Ian Tregillis and Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin have published a physics paper deriving a mathematical model for the Wild Cards virus, a fictional pathogen that kills 90% of those infected while granting survivors either mutations (“Jokers”) or superpowers (“Aces”). Published in the American Journal of Physics (February 2025), their paper...
US President Donald Trump blasted European Union regulators for targeting Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta, describing theircases against American companies as “a form of taxation.” From a report: The EU has established a reputation globally for its aggressive regulation of major technology companies, often sparring with major social media platforms, such as Facebook and X, over content...
The rumors are true: OpenAI today launched Operator, an AI agent capable of performing web-based tasks through its own browser, as a research preview for U.S. subscribers of its $200 monthly ChatGPT Pro tier. The agent uses GPT-4’s vision capabilities and reinforcement learning to interact with websites through mouse and keyboard actions without requiring API integration, OpenAI said in a blog...
The company that kicked off the AI chatbot craze now wants AI to do more than just talk.
The new tool, called Operator, can shop for groceries or book a restaurant reservation. But it still needs help from humans.
Google will remove URL breadcrumbs from mobile search results globally, displaying only domain names instead of the full hierarchical path marked by “>” symbols, the company said. The change affects all smartphone and tablet searches while desktop results remain unchanged. The company said it made the change because of limited screen space, noting breadcrumbs often get cut off on smaller...
The Hawks have yet to make arrests in several 5–7 year old investigations involving billions of rands that could have been used to fund all manner of criminal activity.
A Tanzanian entrepreneur is transforming cement bags into solar-powered backpacks, helping students study after dark in areas without electricity. Innocent James’s company, Soma Bags, sold 36,000 solar backpacks across Africa last year, with prices ranging from 12,000 to 22,500 Tanzanian shillings ($4-8), according to CNN. The innovation comes as 600 million Africans lack electricity access. In...
There have also been several thousand reports of problems from users of Smarty and ID Mobile.
The president’s meme-coin launch is being criticised as a stunt, while impatience grows for deregulation.
Fresh out of federal prison, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio suggests he’s still in charge as the far-right organization looks to regroup.
South Africa has a healthy market of used iPhones with prices for well-graded models starting from under R2,000.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is set to launch four new Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), including C4IR South Africa, which will be hosted at the University of Pretoria (UP). The Forum announced the signing of agreements for the four new Centres on 23 January 2025. C4IR South Africa, which will be formally […]
MellowVans has achieved something unprecedented for a South African vehicle maker.
Far-right lawmakers and extremist influencers the world over are celebrating Trump’s early days in office and advocating for similar efforts in their own countries.
The software firm announces the launch of its artificial intelligence skilling initiative, targeting to empower one million South Africans with growing in-demand digital skills by 2026.
Huawei is today proud to announce that a South African Seeds for the Future team will head to the global finals of the Huawei Tech4Good competition after an impressive showing at the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional finals held in China late last year. Cultivating the next generation of digitally skilled leaders is imperative to Huawei’s mission […]