Fast company - tech

Why the best iPad app for handwritten notes is going freemium

For those who prefer taking digital notes by hand instead of typing, Notability has long been an iPad must-have. The app lets users take handwritten notes on an iPad, ideally with an Apple Pencil. It supports an array of brush styles and paper formats, and it has a killer audio recording feature for lectures and interviews: Recordings and written notes are synchronized, so you can tap on what you wrote and hear the audio from that exact moment. (The app is also available for iPhones and Macs, wh

The company behind ‘Law & Order’ is bringing its storytelling savvy to NFTs

Since 2019, Wolf Entertainment, the TV and media empire behind such franchises as Law & Order and its trio of Chicago series (Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D.) has been looking for ways to expand into new media and connect with fans on platforms beyond their TV screens. The company has already ventured into podcasts with the launch of Hunted, an original audio series featuring Parker Posey as a U.S. marshal who hunts down the country’s most dangerous fugitives. Another ori

Silicon Valley wants to power the U.S. war machine

Michael Brown, director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) within the U.S. Department of Defense, declares war rather matter-of-factly. “It’s just not war in the way we typically think,” says the longtime Silicon Valley executive who transitioned into government service in 2016. But when adversaries get to the point of “shutting down pipelines and creating other damage,” he says, you’re seeing the “kinetic effects of cyber.” When Brown an

How telemedicine in the operating room will transform surgery

Throughout the history of modern surgery, training has been accomplished as a one-to-one apprenticeship in the operating room. High-volume surgical training programs offer the best opportunities to see surgery and experience rare cases. But the challenge is most surgical training programs only take a handful of applicants per year. For instance, Seattle’s University of Washington Department of Neurological Surgery, where I work, only takes three applicants per year for its seven-year trai

Review: Apple’s third-generation AirPods are a worthwhile upgrade for runners

When I go running, I take a whole set of wearables, from some high-priced running shoes to an Apple Watch to AirPods. They’re all important, but what’s going on in my ears may be the most important of all. That’s where the motivating voice of my running coach (Coach Bennett on the Nike Run Club app) is, as well as the podcasts and songs that distract me from the pain. So when the AirPods get an upgrade, it matters. Apple recently announced a new version of its wireless

These stunning ice sculptures are helping save communities ravaged by climate change

Glaciers are not just spectacular indicators of climate change as they shrink and disappear due to global warming. They are also, for many communities, an irreplaceable source of fresh water. During the melting season in summer, a portion of mountain glacier surface releases water that is essential to the ecosystem in the valleys below, supplying vast cities—and industries—in places like South America and India. But this meltwater is also essential to many remote rural communities

What making viral TikToks on vaginal health taught me about Gen Z

Are you wiping your vulva the right way? If you ever thought to ask yourself this question, you’d probably Google it. But for Generation Z, learning about sexual health comes more naturally on TikTok. That’s why my company, Cheeky Bonsai, has found huge success making fun videos about everyday sexual health questions on the Gen Z video app of choice, demonstrating the proper technique for vulva wiping on a watermelon (front to back, no double wiping), what your period color means,

Facebook is now ‘Meta.’ The hard part of building the metaverse comes next

At its virtual Connect conference on Thursday, Facebook gave a special presentation to show the world its vision for the metaverse, and announce that it had co-opted half the term as its new company name: Meta. The company says that it’s betting big on what it thinks will be the next big thing in personal computing, a virtual space where people can work, play, or socialize, all through the lenses of virtual reality (VR) headsets or augmented reality (AR) glasses. It expects to spend

This free streaming service has the local channels others lack

When the free streaming service Locast shut down last month after losing a crucial court battle with TV networks, it left millions of users without a cheap way to stream local TV channels. But Locast’s sudden collapse may have created an opportunity for LocalBTV, another service promising free streaming access to local channels without an antenna. The service is currently live in 16 U.S. markets, with an app that users can download on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV devices.

Facebook renames itself ‘Meta’ in preparation for the metaverse

Facebook said Thursday at its Facebook Connect event that it’ll rebrand itself as “Meta” to emphasize its newfound obsession with the metaverse—a digital space for work and play that may be accessed using mixed reality glasses and other devices. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as an iconic social networking brand,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. “Right now our brand is so tightly linked to one product.” “Over


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