Tech Meme

Alex Heath / The Verge: Sources: Meta plans to debut its Twitter rival, potentially named Threads, in mid-July and is pitching celebrities and creators to join a “sanely” run platform  —  Mark Zuckerberg is the overwhelming favorite to beat Elon Musk in a cage match.  Will it actually happen? Lees verder op Tech Meme

Mark Matousek / The Information: Social media startup IRL is shutting down after an investigation by its board concluded that 95% of its claimed 20M MAUs in 2022 were “automated or from bots”  —  Last year, the CEO of messaging app IRL repeatedly said it had 20 million monthly active users … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Washington Post: Sources: Mark Zuckerberg is using Instagram to promote an edgier image to court the “tech bros” captivated by Elon Musk’s online antagonism and offline antics  —  Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been trying to appear more relevant among the tech elite Lees verder op Tech Meme

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica: Midjourney adds a “zoom out” feature that builds out a larger scene around images generated within the AI service, simulating zooming out with a camera lens  —  Midjourney v5.2 features camera-like zoom control over framing, more realism.  —  On Thursday, Midjourney unveiled version 5.2 … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Rani Molla / Vox: Startups are using remote work to attract talent; report: 81% of companies with fewer than 5K employees offer remote work vs. 26% for those with 25K+ employees  —  How small tech companies are using remote work to compete with the big guys.  —  It used to be that Big Tech companies like Google … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Wired: How companies are repurposing military-grade AI, built by US defense contractors for intelligence, to identify labor organizing, internal leakers, and critics  —  Spycraft developed by defense contractors are now being sold to employers to identify labor organizing.  Regulators must step up to protect workers’ privacy. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Nico Grant / New York Times: NetBlocks: at least five Russian telcos block Google News and other ISPs reduce access to the service, as Russia’s feud with a mercenary leader intensifies  —  At least five telecommunications companies have blocked the service, which aggregates news from various sources … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jay Peters / The Verge: YouTube is testing Aloud, an AI-powered dubbing tool developed by Google’s Area 120, with “hundreds” of creators, starting with English, Spanish, and Portuguese  —  YouTube wants to make it easier to dub your videos in other languages by giving you some help with AI. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: A US federal court sentences UK citizen Joseph James O’Connor to five years in prison for helping hack into dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts in July 2020  —  Prosecutors called for the British hacker to serve at least seven years  —  Three years after one of the most visible hacks … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jay Peters / The Verge: Google adds a Perspectives tab to search results, featuring info from individuals posted on YouTube, Reddit, Stack Overflow, and more, after its May 2023 reveal  —  Google’s new search feature that shows you different perspectives (ideally, human ones) in search results will be available on Friday, the company said on Twitter. Lees verder op Tech Meme