Study: Twitter’s algorithm favors the political right

If you’re a Twitter user, you’ll know that when scrolling through your home feed, in between posts from accounts you follow, you’ll sometimes see tweets tagged “you might like”. In other words, Twitter is recommending content to you that it deems may appeal to you. This is done using an algorithm based on your past activity on the platform, such as the tweets that you have liked or engaged with. It may also be based on your preferences on your profile, where you have indicated topics you would l

Good on Jeff Bezos for dismantling a historic bridge for his monster yacht

For most of us, the idea of getting a city to dismantle a historic bridge is ludicrous, but for the Big Dog Boss Man Jeff Bezos? Don’t make him laugh. Let’s backtrack: Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame is having a custom yacht built. Known as Y721, it’s set to become the world’s largest sailing yacht, reaching 127m tall when fully, uh, erect. It’s being made by a company called Oceanco in Rotterdam — but here’s where the Bald King has bumped into a problem: the Koningshaven bridge. Even with the central

18 future jobs our tiny monkey brains aren’t ready for

There’s no way around it: work is changing. However, regardless of what hundreds of uninformed articles will argue on the matter, working itself is not going away anytime soon, however worthy of our time that discussion may be. Work is, in fact, ever-changing, ever-evolving, always progressively, never at once, as we create new problems just as fast as we solve old ones. Case in point: technology has allowed us to “invent” the Gig Economy, which has led to the creation of an entirely new industr

How to ditch Spotify, and move your playlists and music library to another streaming service

When you’re thinking of switching one music streaming service to another, you don’t want to ruin your library. All of us want to migrate all our albums, songs, and playlists, and we want to carry over our meticulous curation to the new app. With that in mind, I’ve tested a bunch of apps that help you migrate your preferences and curated playlists from one streaming music service to another. Before you get started, it’s worth noting that none of these tools will transfer the songs you’ve uploaded

Researchers develop a unique sound to help you to hear escooters passing by

You might be irritated by the sight of toppled escooters on the sidewalk or people riding them with a beer in hand (hallo, Berlin), there’s a bigger problem afoot — how they sound, or rather, don’t. Escooter motors are silent, making it difficult for blind and partially sighted people to detect when a vehicle is approaching.  But now, they are being given their very own sound. This week, the University of College London’s specialist Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL), joined

Android users loved “Google Messages beta supports iPhone reactions”

As someone who has never owned an iPhone and generally does his best to avoid people who do (kinda sorta kidding), I remember being mystified when I’d receive a cryptic message from a friend telling me they “Loved” a text message I’d just sent. Gee, thanks for letting me know. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that this was just the way iOS reactions to text messages show up on Android. Reactions from iPhones as they appear on Android. After all these years, it seems Google has s

How to tell if you’re a cyborg

Cyborgs are usually depicted as human-machine hybrids in popular fiction. They’ll either be robots with human brains or people who’ve had some of their limbs replaced with machine parts. That’s pretty cool. But, let’s be honest: those are your grandparent’s cyborgs. Ours are better. In the modern world, the idea of putting a computer chip in your brain isn’t far-fetched at all. And robotic limbs are quickly becoming a reality. But neither of these cybernetic solutions are intended to augment hea

In the Joe Rogan, Neil Young, and Spotify debacle, everyone sucks

In case you’ve been living in a house made of cotton wool that exists under a rock, you’ll have heard about the debacle between Joe Rogan, Neil Young, and Spotify. And, in these troubling times, I’d like to share a message of solidarity and hope. Here it is: everyone sucks. Some people more than others, certainly, but it’s still all of them. The people all suck. Anyone involved? Sucks. By proxy, that means I also suck, but I’m not willing to submit my mind to this level of scrutiny just yet. Bef

India becomes global anomaly by taxing crypto earnings — even if you’ve made losses

India finally gave cryptocurrency and digital assets some recognition, although its proposal for a 30% tax on income from all virtual assets will upset many. This levy includes cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as NFT (Non-Fungible Token) trades. This move comes after a lot of uncertainty around the legality of cryptocurrency trades and exchanges created by rumors of a blanket ban last year. However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will present a new draft of the cry

Driverless cars won’t save the planet if we use them all the damn time

For years, self-driving car technology has remained tantalizingly just beyond the horizon. Bold predictions notwithstanding, fully automated vehicles still haven’t appeared in showrooms. But the technology appears poised for a leap forward in 2022. Companies including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Honda are bringing so-called Level 3 AVs to market that will let drivers take their hands off the wheel under specific conditions, and virtually every major auto manufacturer is testing self-driving systems.


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