{"video_id":"YHttCyvIp7c","title":"Their Battle will be Legendary...","channel":"TechLinked","show":"TechLinked","published_at":"2024-05-04T14:53:29Z","duration_s":572,"segments":[{"start_s":0.0,"end_s":5.6,"text":"Tech news, I love tech news. I mean, you start talking about connector tables,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":3.2,"end_s":8.84,"text":"CPUs, software updates. Is it getting hot in here? Do you mind? I might need","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":6.88,"end_s":12.64,"text":"the room. Intel's next-gen GPUs, code-named Battlemage, will launch this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":11.0,"end_s":18.36,"text":"fall, according to industry sources who spoke to German tech outlet ComputerBase","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":15.16,"end_s":20.48,"text":"at Embedded World 2024. These mysterious","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":18.36,"end_s":24.64,"text":"beings reportedly indicated that Intel wants Battlemage graphics cards to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":22.12,"end_s":29.2,"text":"arrive before Black Friday, aka November 29th, aka the OG Prime Day. If this is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.72,"end_s":33.56,"text":"true, it means Battlemage could go head-to-head with NVIDIA's Blackwell","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":31.64,"end_s":38.8,"text":"gaming GPUs, which are set for a launch in Q4, according to equally mysterious","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":35.68,"end_s":40.72,"text":"board partners. Although the RTX 5090 is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":38.8,"end_s":44.68,"text":"rumored to launch first, and if Intel follows their Alchemist launch playbook,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":42.76,"end_s":49.04,"text":"they'll lead with an upper to mid-tier card. So, it might be more like going","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":46.56,"end_s":53.12,"text":"head to sternum, which I have seen work well. Linus be Luke.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":51.28,"end_s":57.76,"text":"Right now though, Intel is taking on NVIDIA in the AI chip space. Team Blue","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":55.64,"end_s":63.48,"text":"just announced their Gaudi 3 accelerator, which they say can beat","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":59.8,"end_s":65.64,"text":"NVIDIA's H100 every sometimes running","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":63.48,"end_s":69.72,"text":"certain models. But hey, at least that's better than the new ARM-based Axion data","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.76,"end_s":74.48,"text":"center chip that Google just announced. That thing won't run AI language models","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.76,"end_s":78.92,"text":"at all, because it's a CPU, not an AI accelerator. Well, that's all for me.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":76.8,"end_s":83.64,"text":"John? After years of inaction, a bipartisan pair of legislators has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":81.24,"end_s":88.72,"text":"released a discussion draft for new federal data privacy legislation titled","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":86.6,"end_s":92.68,"text":"the American Privacy Rights Act. How appropriate. The","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.76,"end_s":96.32,"text":"Never again, guys. The act would create a national standard","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.64,"end_s":100.56,"text":"for data privacy that preempts the current state-by-state patchwork of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":98.28,"end_s":104.56,"text":"privacy legislation. It would also limit what kinds of information companies can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":102.44,"end_s":109.4,"text":"collect and create a set of consumer data rights similar to the EU's General","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.68,"end_s":112.8,"text":"Data Protection Regulation GDPR. Many businesses actually like the idea","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":111.36,"end_s":117.08,"text":"of a national privacy standard, primarily because that would reduce the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.84,"end_s":120.68,"text":"difficulty and cost of compliance. However, this also means that the bill","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":118.72,"end_s":125.28,"text":"is likely to receive opposition from both states that currently have much","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.68,"end_s":129.08,"text":"higher and states that have much lower consumer protections, which is what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":127.2,"end_s":132.72,"text":"scuttled Congress' last attempt at fixing this mess. Look, you can't just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":131.08,"end_s":136.64,"text":"stick California and Texas in the same room and expect them to get along.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":134.44,"end_s":140.16,"text":"They're like cobras and mongooses, mortal enemies. But there's a lot of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":138.64,"end_s":145.32,"text":"reasons to think that regulations like this can help. The EU's GDPR has forced","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":143.48,"end_s":148.64,"text":"companies to make significant changes to how they handle data, and their new","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":146.96,"end_s":152.8,"text":"antitrust rules making it easier to switch browsers on most devices seem to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":150.68,"end_s":156.28,"text":"have resulted in small browsers making significant gains in terms of market","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.6,"end_s":160.36,"text":"share in the region. What? Competition? Without new","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.24,"end_s":164.64,"text":"legislation though, most of the pushback against American companies that mistreat","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.72,"end_s":168.92,"text":"their customers is coming extremely gradually through regulatory bodies.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.88,"end_s":173.56,"text":"Today, the FCC rolled out its new broadband consumer labels, which are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":171.36,"end_s":178.64,"text":"standardized across different ISPs and must clearly list every single fee, cap,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":176.2,"end_s":182.32,"text":"and charge associated with the plan, and must be clearly displayed for all","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":180.16,"end_s":186.2,"text":"customers at sign-up. The labels are also explicitly based on nutrition","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":184.2,"end_s":190.12,"text":"labels, like you'd find on the back of a box of cornflakes, which makes me wonder","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":188.04,"end_s":193.56,"text":"how many calories are in a wireless router. Are they higher in protein or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":191.8,"end_s":197.88,"text":"carbs? And what is the latency of my next bowel movement? Several major AI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.44,"end_s":201.08,"text":"image generators are struggling to depict interracial relationships,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":199.6,"end_s":205.6,"text":"especially Asian men in relationships with white women. Mia Sato of The Verge","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":204.16,"end_s":209.68,"text":"first reported this issue a few weeks ago with Instagram's AI, which would","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":208.2,"end_s":213.92,"text":"consistently produce pictures of two people of the same race when asked to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":211.36,"end_s":217.0,"text":"create mixed-race couples. Strangely, while it was basically impossible to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.4,"end_s":221.32,"text":"coax it into creating an image of an Asian man and a white woman, it was far","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":219.52,"end_s":224.92,"text":"easier to get it to create images of a white man with an Asian woman or a black","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":223.4,"end_s":229.68,"text":"man with a white woman. Even then, it struggled with prompts","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":226.72,"end_s":233.48,"text":"like black man and white girlfriend, but not with white woman and black","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":231.52,"end_s":237.4,"text":"boyfriend. Several other news outlets jumped on the idea and replicated these","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":235.4,"end_s":241.52,"text":"results. Shortly after, Meta seems to have blocked prompts with keywords like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":239.28,"end_s":245.64,"text":"Asian man, though this was mysteriously reversed after Mia Sato asked them about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":244.04,"end_s":249.48,"text":"it. But it also turns out that this isn't an issue exclusive to Meta.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":247.44,"end_s":254.04,"text":"OpenAI's DALL-E 3 almost managed to create a mixed Asian-white couple by","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":251.48,"end_s":259.32,"text":"somehow creating the most Asian-looking white women known to man, or men? When","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":257.12,"end_s":263.16,"text":"prompted with Asian man with white wife, Midjourney also produced a lot of oddly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":261.239,"end_s":267.4,"text":"Caucasian-Asian women, as well as inexplicably a black man and a white","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":265.64,"end_s":270.68,"text":"woman in what appears to be traditional Chinese clothing. Verge writers were","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.24,"end_s":274.28,"text":"eventually able to get Midjourney to create an image of an Asian man and a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":272.48,"end_s":279.44,"text":"white woman, but this only worked when the prompt was clearly platonic and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.48,"end_s":283.52,"text":"mentioned academia. This is amazing. Google's Gemini wasn't able to produce","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":281.12,"end_s":287.56,"text":"interracial couples of any kind in any time, Viking or whatever, of course,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.88,"end_s":291.6,"text":"because Google shut down its ability to generate images of people after the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":289.64,"end_s":295.48,"text":"racially diverse Nazis incident back in February. The feature was supposed to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":293.56,"end_s":299.4,"text":"return in March, so we can assume Google's still trying to get it to stop","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":297.44,"end_s":303.12,"text":"generating images of Schindler's List as cast by the Lin-Manuel Miranda. I bet","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":301.68,"end_s":308.2,"text":"the rap solos are going to be awesome in that. Schindler's Hermanos. Now it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.16,"end_s":312.12,"text":"time for Quick Bits, brought to you by Paperlike. They make screen protectors","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":310.24,"end_s":316.2,"text":"that not only protect your iPad, but also make it feel better to write and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":314.04,"end_s":319.68,"text":"draw on it. The Paperlike 2.1 is manufactured in Switzerland and is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":317.88,"end_s":323.88,"text":"designed to help you write and draw on your iPad just like how you would on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":321.56,"end_s":329.36,"text":"paper. It uses their exclusive microbead technology called Nanodots TM to emulate","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":327.52,"end_s":333.84,"text":"the stroke resistance of paper without sacrificing screen clarity. Check out","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":331.4,"end_s":337.76,"text":"Paperlike at the link below. A quick bit is only really a quick bit if it comes","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":335.92,"end_s":341.64,"text":"from the quick uh region of France, otherwise it's really technically","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":339.92,"end_s":347.08,"text":"sparkling tech news. On Monday, we talked about how version 24H2 of Windows","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":344.4,"end_s":352.04,"text":"11 is blocking third-party modifying apps that alter the OS's UI. But it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":349.68,"end_s":356.4,"text":"turns out that these changes actually go much, much further. A sizable list of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":354.44,"end_s":361.04,"text":"apps, drivers, and hardware IDs can trigger an update hold on Windows 11","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.44,"end_s":366.2,"text":"version 24H2, including two Intel drivers, a Realtek wireless USB 2.0","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":363.72,"end_s":371.04,"text":"adapter driver, an AMD Radeon software executable, and an iCloud services","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":368.36,"end_s":375.4,"text":"executable. While Microsoft often blocks older software that is likely to cause","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.0,"end_s":378.76,"text":"instability, several of these newly blocked apps and executables were","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":376.8,"end_s":382.64,"text":"released relatively recently. This is likely because Microsoft is making some","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.56,"end_s":387.64,"text":"pretty extensive changes in the new version, mostly related to the AI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":385.44,"end_s":391.44,"text":"features it wants to mix into the OS like mint through chocolate, in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":389.56,"end_s":395.88,"text":"sense that a lot of us do not want it there. And don't come at me, mint","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":393.36,"end_s":401.2,"text":"lovers. It's like the cilantro of OS. Yes. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Cilantro's great.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":399.2,"end_s":406.72,"text":"It's great for you. I'm a mutant. TikTok is working on a new","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":403.48,"end_s":409.36,"text":"app called TikTok Notes, and you guessed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":406.72,"end_s":413.64,"text":"it, it has nothing to do with notes or note-taking. It's a photo posting app.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":412.28,"end_s":417.08,"text":"This isn't the first we've heard about this. Last month, a leak suggested","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":415.68,"end_s":421.52,"text":"TikTok was working on an Instagram competitor called TikTok Photos, a name","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":419.64,"end_s":426.4,"text":"that apparently made too much sense to everybody. Even more offensive, no one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":424.04,"end_s":431.24,"text":"at TikTok, not a single person, named the photo app PicTok. If they want to do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.92,"end_s":435.04,"text":"so now, they have to pay Jacob Rush $7 million, and I get royalty rights for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":433.0,"end_s":438.96,"text":"saying it first on camera. Automatic, the parent company of WordPress, has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":436.48,"end_s":441.92,"text":"acquired Beeper, the message company that You remember these guys? They spent","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":440.52,"end_s":447.08,"text":"the last several months getting their iMessage bridging service repeatedly blocked by Apple. That being said,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":445.36,"end_s":451.44,"text":"Beeper will apparently operate as a mostly independent subsidiary. Automatic","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":449.72,"end_s":455.12,"text":"does however plan to eventually merge with Beeper with its other messaging","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.04,"end_s":459.12,"text":"service text.com. Beeper had only around 115,000 users","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":457.56,"end_s":463.84,"text":"prior to acquisition, but they've also got a waitlist of over 450,000.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":462.08,"end_s":467.6,"text":"An entire Oakland's worth of people. Luckily for them, Beeper's new Android","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":465.56,"end_s":472.28,"text":"app is also leaving beta, though there's no word on when or if iMessage bridging","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":470.04,"end_s":476.88,"text":"will return, for Timothy Cook of Apple guards his blue bubbles most jealously.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":475.16,"end_s":482.4,"text":"Texas Education Department will be introducing an AI-powered grader called","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":479.68,"end_s":486.92,"text":"Auto Scoring Engine, or ASE, for written questions on standardized tests. The","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":484.72,"end_s":490.52,"text":"only subjects excluded from computer grading appear to be Spanish","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":488.44,"end_s":496.04,"text":"assessments. So, get ready to find out what a robot thinks of your essay on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":492.44,"end_s":498.68,"text":"George Orwell's 1984 essay. A S S A?","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":496.04,"end_s":502.56,"text":"While the ASE is intended to replace human graders, which would save the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":500.48,"end_s":506.8,"text":"state an estimated 15 to 20 million dollars per year, around 25% of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":504.88,"end_s":511.44,"text":"tests will be sent for further human review as a measure of quality control.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":509.2,"end_s":516.52,"text":"Texas has clarified that the AI powering the ASE is not ChatGPT, but an AI model","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":514.2,"end_s":520.32,"text":"purpose-built for grading. Regardless, this move brings us one step closer to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":518.32,"end_s":524.76,"text":"the future dystopia where all schooling, both homework and grading, is completely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":522.56,"end_s":528.52,"text":"AI-generated. Let the robots handle it. Leave me out of it. And according to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":526.6,"end_s":533.6,"text":"Cloudflare, Monday's solar eclipse managed to depress US internet traffic","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.0,"end_s":537.88,"text":"by 8%, though that's less impressive when you consider that nearly 100% of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":535.52,"end_s":542.16,"text":"what I see on the internet depresses me on a daily basis. For example, I learned","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":540.48,"end_s":547.0,"text":"from the internet that Google searches for eyes hurt spiked during the eclipse","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":544.84,"end_s":550.48,"text":"in both the United States and Canada. Nothing makes me lose faith in humanity","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":548.56,"end_s":554.92,"text":"more than people being confused as to why they have eyeball pain after they","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":552.56,"end_s":557.64,"text":"optically raw-dogged the sun. The first thing you learn about the sun is don't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":556.28,"end_s":561.44,"text":"look at it. But it won't be a pain for you to come back on Friday for more tech","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":559.48,"end_s":565.16,"text":"news. The best part is you can stare at us for as long as you like,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":563.44,"end_s":569.6,"text":"but maybe don't for too long. Don't Don't Don't Don't make it weird.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":567.2,"end_s":573.32,"text":"We like the watch time, but there's a lot You will go blind.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Tech news, I love tech news. I mean, you start talking about connector tables, CPUs, software updates. Is it getting hot in here? Do you mind? I might need the room. Intel's next-gen GPUs, code-named Battlemage, will launch this fall, according to industry sources who spoke to German tech outlet ComputerBase at Embedded World 2024. These mysterious beings reportedly indicated that Intel wants Battlemage graphics cards to arrive before Black Friday, aka November 29th, aka the OG Prime Day. If this is true, it means Battlemage could go head-to-head with NVIDIA's Blackwell gaming GPUs, which are set for a launch in Q4, according to equally mysterious board partners. Although the RTX 5090 is rumored to launch first, and if Intel follows their Alchemist launch playbook, they'll lead with an upper to mid-tier card. So, it might be more like going head to sternum, which I have seen work well. Linus be Luke. Right now though, Intel is taking on NVIDIA in the AI chip space. Team Blue just announced their Gaudi 3 accelerator, which they say can beat NVIDIA's H100 every sometimes running certain models. But hey, at least that's better than the new ARM-based Axion data center chip that Google just announced. That thing won't run AI language models at all, because it's a CPU, not an AI accelerator. Well, that's all for me. John? After years of inaction, a bipartisan pair of legislators has released a discussion draft for new federal data privacy legislation titled the American Privacy Rights Act. How appropriate. The Never again, guys. The act would create a national standard for data privacy that preempts the current state-by-state patchwork of privacy legislation. It would also limit what kinds of information companies can collect and create a set of consumer data rights similar to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation GDPR. Many businesses actually like the idea of a national privacy standard, primarily because that would reduce the difficulty and cost of compliance. However, this also means that the bill is likely to receive opposition from both states that currently have much higher and states that have much lower consumer protections, which is what scuttled Congress' last attempt at fixing this mess. Look, you can't just stick California and Texas in the same room and expect them to get along. They're like cobras and mongooses, mortal enemies. But there's a lot of reasons to think that regulations like this can help. The EU's GDPR has forced companies to make significant changes to how they handle data, and their new antitrust rules making it easier to switch browsers on most devices seem to have resulted in small browsers making significant gains in terms of market share in the region. What? Competition? Without new legislation though, most of the pushback against American companies that mistreat their customers is coming extremely gradually through regulatory bodies. Today, the FCC rolled out its new broadband consumer labels, which are standardized across different ISPs and must clearly list every single fee, cap, and charge associated with the plan, and must be clearly displayed for all customers at sign-up. The labels are also explicitly based on nutrition labels, like you'd find on the back of a box of cornflakes, which makes me wonder how many calories are in a wireless router. Are they higher in protein or carbs? And what is the latency of my next bowel movement? Several major AI image generators are struggling to depict interracial relationships, especially Asian men in relationships with white women. Mia Sato of The Verge first reported this issue a few weeks ago with Instagram's AI, which would consistently produce pictures of two people of the same race when asked to create mixed-race couples. Strangely, while it was basically impossible to coax it into creating an image of an Asian man and a white woman, it was far easier to get it to create images of a white man with an Asian woman or a black man with a white woman. Even then, it struggled with prompts like black man and white girlfriend, but not with white woman and black boyfriend. Several other news outlets jumped on the idea and replicated these results. Shortly after, Meta seems to have blocked prompts with keywords like Asian man, though this was mysteriously reversed after Mia Sato asked them about it. But it also turns out that this isn't an issue exclusive to Meta. OpenAI's DALL-E 3 almost managed to create a mixed Asian-white couple by somehow creating the most Asian-looking white women known to man, or men? When prompted with Asian man with white wife, Midjourney also produced a lot of oddly Caucasian-Asian women, as well as inexplicably a black man and a white woman in what appears to be traditional Chinese clothing. Verge writers were eventually able to get Midjourney to create an image of an Asian man and a white woman, but this only worked when the prompt was clearly platonic and mentioned academia. This is amazing. Google's Gemini wasn't able to produce interracial couples of any kind in any time, Viking or whatever, of course, because Google shut down its ability to generate images of people after the racially diverse Nazis incident back in February. The feature was supposed to return in March, so we can assume Google's still trying to get it to stop generating images of Schindler's List as cast by the Lin-Manuel Miranda. I bet the rap solos are going to be awesome in that. Schindler's Hermanos. Now it's time for Quick Bits, brought to you by Paperlike. They make screen protectors that not only protect your iPad, but also make it feel better to write and draw on it. The Paperlike 2.1 is manufactured in Switzerland and is designed to help you write and draw on your iPad just like how you would on paper. It uses their exclusive microbead technology called Nanodots TM to emulate the stroke resistance of paper without sacrificing screen clarity. Check out Paperlike at the link below. A quick bit is only really a quick bit if it comes from the quick uh region of France, otherwise it's really technically sparkling tech news. On Monday, we talked about how version 24H2 of Windows 11 is blocking third-party modifying apps that alter the OS's UI. But it turns out that these changes actually go much, much further. A sizable list of apps, drivers, and hardware IDs can trigger an update hold on Windows 11 version 24H2, including two Intel drivers, a Realtek wireless USB 2.0 adapter driver, an AMD Radeon software executable, and an iCloud services executable. While Microsoft often blocks older software that is likely to cause instability, several of these newly blocked apps and executables were released relatively recently. This is likely because Microsoft is making some pretty extensive changes in the new version, mostly related to the AI features it wants to mix into the OS like mint through chocolate, in the sense that a lot of us do not want it there. And don't come at me, mint lovers. It's like the cilantro of OS. Yes. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Cilantro's great. It's great for you. I'm a mutant. TikTok is working on a new app called TikTok Notes, and you guessed it, it has nothing to do with notes or note-taking. It's a photo posting app. This isn't the first we've heard about this. Last month, a leak suggested TikTok was working on an Instagram competitor called TikTok Photos, a name that apparently made too much sense to everybody. Even more offensive, no one at TikTok, not a single person, named the photo app PicTok. If they want to do so now, they have to pay Jacob Rush $7 million, and I get royalty rights for saying it first on camera. Automatic, the parent company of WordPress, has acquired Beeper, the message company that You remember these guys? They spent the last several months getting their iMessage bridging service repeatedly blocked by Apple. That being said, Beeper will apparently operate as a mostly independent subsidiary. Automatic does however plan to eventually merge with Beeper with its other messaging service text.com. Beeper had only around 115,000 users prior to acquisition, but they've also got a waitlist of over 450,000. An entire Oakland's worth of people. Luckily for them, Beeper's new Android app is also leaving beta, though there's no word on when or if iMessage bridging will return, for Timothy Cook of Apple guards his blue bubbles most jealously. Texas Education Department will be introducing an AI-powered grader called Auto Scoring Engine, or ASE, for written questions on standardized tests. The only subjects excluded from computer grading appear to be Spanish assessments. So, get ready to find out what a robot thinks of your essay on George Orwell's 1984 essay. A S S A? While the ASE is intended to replace human graders, which would save the state an estimated 15 to 20 million dollars per year, around 25% of the tests will be sent for further human review as a measure of quality control. Texas has clarified that the AI powering the ASE is not ChatGPT, but an AI model purpose-built for grading. Regardless, this move brings us one step closer to the future dystopia where all schooling, both homework and grading, is completely AI-generated. Let the robots handle it. Leave me out of it. And according to Cloudflare, Monday's solar eclipse managed to depress US internet traffic by 8%, though that's less impressive when you consider that nearly 100% of what I see on the internet depresses me on a daily basis. For example, I learned from the internet that Google searches for eyes hurt spiked during the eclipse in both the United States and Canada. Nothing makes me lose faith in humanity more than people being confused as to why they have eyeball pain after they optically raw-dogged the sun. The first thing you learn about the sun is don't look at it. But it won't be a pain for you to come back on Friday for more tech news. The best part is you can stare at us for as long as you like, but maybe don't for too long. Don't Don't Don't Don't make it weird. We like the watch time, but there's a lot You will go blind."}