All posts tagged: Automation

Your TV’s RS-232 port is a versatile automation tool – how to unlock its full potential

Your TV’s RS-232 port is a versatile automation tool – how to unlock its full potential

Published by skeptic

Adam Breeden/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Most TV ports go unnoticed once everything is plugged in — except perhaps HDMI and USB. But for advanced users, the RS-232 serial port can be a powerful tool for fine-tuned home theater and smart device control. Also: I found 7 low-cost ways to make my TV sound a lot better (even without a soundbar) With some patience and more than a little know-how, you can create a fully automated home entertainment system with timed content, simultaneous broadcasts to multiple rooms, and even diagnostic testing.   What is an RS-232 serial port, and what does it do? Take a peek at the back of your TV, and you may see — among the familiar HDMI and USB connections — an odd 9-pin port that doesn’t match any cable you have in the house (and may look familiar if you used a printer back in the 1990s). This is your TV’s RS-232 serial port, normally reserved for connecting professional calibration and diagnostic tools.  Technicians …

The Billion Chinese Startup Trying to Build Hands for Every Robot

The $6 Billion Chinese Startup Trying to Build Hands for Every Robot

Published by skeptic

If you could buy a humanoid robot for less than a smartphone, would you? Would you buy several robots to handle cooking, cleaning, babysitting, and even your job? This is the pitch being made by Zhou Yong, the 40-year-old founder and chief technology officer of LinkerBot, one of China’s leading manufacturers of dexterous humanoid hands. The startup’s hardware comes complete with five fingers and at least 11 joints and is sold for as little as $600 in China. LinkerBot’s hands can play piano, thread needles, tighten screws, and assemble electronics. In three to five years, Zhou predicts, the price for one will fall to just $200. Eventually, “everyone will own ten robots on average,” Zhou said in an exclusive interview with WIRED. Marketing spectacles like the humanoid robot marathon in Beijing have drawn attention to robots’ legs, but the real frontier in humanoids is hands. “The hands are the majority of the engineering difficulty of the entire robot,” Elon Musk said at an event last fall. Founded in 2023, LinkerBot has quickly emerged as a …

Uncovering coded antisemitism online takes both human expertise and AI automation

Uncovering coded antisemitism online takes both human expertise and AI automation

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — This article includes examples of antisemitic hate speech. The men accused of carrying out high-profile antisemitic attacks in the United States in recent years shared an important characteristic: They posted hate speech on their social media accounts beforehand. The FBI said the man who drove his truck into a synagogue outside Detroit in March 2026 posted on Facebook that “Israel is a cancerous/malignant growth” and “Israel is pure evil.” The online footprint of the gunman charged with shooting and killing two Israeli Embassy staffers at the Capital Jewish Museum in May 2025 contained anti-Israel comments. The shooter sentenced to death for killing 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018 frequently used antisemitic hate speech in his social media. Hate speech uses feelings, emotions and attitudes that seek to dehumanize individuals or groups. At times, animosity is clear. But it can also take a more hidden form, using code words or terms understood only by like-minded people. Coded hate speech can evade online content censors and recruit …

Quiz: Will AI Destroy Your Career?

Quiz: Will AI Destroy Your Career?

Published by skeptic

This spring, a team of top academic and think tank researchers tried to forecast AI’s effects on the economy between now and 2030. They surveyed dozens of economists, AI experts, and “superforecasters” about various scenarios, including one in which AI becomes so advanced that it can both write a “Pulitzer-caliber” book and negotiate its own publishing rights. In the survey, most experts said that higher-ranking occupations—CEO, administrative manager, senior official, legislator—would continue to grow, even under the “rapid” AI scenario. For most other people working a white-collar job, the forecast was murky. Researchers are in broad agreement that AI is doing something to the economy and that whatever it’s doing is very complex. Real numbers are hard to come by. That’s why WIRED has developed this thoroughly unscientific quiz, based on factors that researchers say might help determine who’s at risk. Is your job being affected by AI in ways this quiz didn’t capture? Contact Maddy securely on Signal at mvarner.01 or let us know in the comments below. Alternatively, you can submit a letter …

Hermes Agent /goal Feature: Complete Guide to AI Task Automation

Hermes Agent /goal Feature: Complete Guide to AI Task Automation

Published by skeptic

Hermes `/goal` is an advanced AI-driven feature designed to simplify complex workflows by automating tasks with minimal manual input. Highlighted by David Ondrej, this system operates through clearly defined objectives, allowing it to autonomously break down and execute intricate processes. For example, its sub-goal assignment capability allows the AI to dynamically adjust its approach, making sure tasks are completed efficiently and accurately. This functionality is particularly valuable in scenarios like managing marketing campaigns, refactoring software code, or streamlining business operations, where precision and adaptability are critical. Explore how Hermes `/goal` can enhance your workflows by using features such as interactive corrections for real-time adjustments and session persistence to maintain progress across interruptions. You’ll also gain insight into practical applications across industries, from automating inventory management to optimizing app testing. Whether you’re looking to save time, improve accuracy, or reduce oversight, this guide offers a comprehensive breakdown of how Hermes `/goal` can be tailored to meet your specific needs. How Hermes `/goal` Works TL;DR Key Takeaways : Hermes `/goal` revolutionizes task automation by using advanced AI …

Your Sonos smart speaker has an underutilized automation feature – 5 helpful ways I use mine

Your Sonos smart speaker has an underutilized automation feature – 5 helpful ways I use mine

Published by skeptic

Jada Jones/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Your Sonos speakers have a built-in voice assistant. Sonos Voice Control isn’t as smart as other assistants, but it’s not useless. Daily alarms, weather reports, and timers can elevate your experience. I’m not a smart-home enthusiast, but I do have several Sonos smart speakers around my house. Though I’m not a huge fan of automated voice assistants, I often use Sonos Voice Control. Aside from basic play/pause directives, I try to find every way to make my speakers smarter and more integral to my whole-home audio system. Also: I’m automating these 5 unexpected home devices – and life has been so much easier Whether it’s on my bedside, in my living room, or on the kitchen counter, as someone who works, rests, and is always trying to keep busy at home, I’m constantly commanding my speakers to do something. Here are my favorite commands. Bedside table Commands: Set a daily alarm clock; Give weather reports To start my day, I use a Sonos …

The future of IT service delivery is built on AI and automation

The future of IT service delivery is built on AI and automation

Published by skeptic

PixeloneStocker / Getty Images The traditional IT playbook is broken. As businesses scale, so do their threat surfaces, users, and support tickets. Each new client or service gap pushes an urgent need for another point solution and a surging headcount, adding to a hidden, compounding cost: tool sprawl, where teams are stuck in a relentless loop of monitoring dashboards, remote consoles, competing security alerts, and more.  For efficient scaling, layering on IT complexity is no longer sustainable. In one survey, more than half of managed service providers (MSPs) say they experience vendor sprawl, and the damage from the resulting operational drag goes far beyond lost efficiency and margins. It also breaks visibility, as techs spend crucial time between isolated platforms and face fatal blind spots in security posture.  Staying competitive demands maximizing growth per endpoint and technician, and to do so, enterprises need a more connected IT ecosystem. Kaseya helps IT decisionmakers lead more efficient teams with a variety of AI-powered IT management and cybersecurity solutions. Here, we outline why that matters as artificial intelligence …

Excel’s automation features are faster than ChatGPT, but most people never find them in the menus

Excel’s automation features are faster than ChatGPT, but most people never find them in the menus

Published by skeptic

It’s very likely that you’ve tried to clean, sort, or analyze your data using ChatGPT or another artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, assuming that it’s the fastest way to get the job done. However, Excel offers several automation features that can handle a wide range of data tasks with impressive speed. The challenge is that it’s not always obvious which tools to use or where to look for them. Once you understand which feature fits each task and know exactly where to find it, you won’t need to keep opening ChatGPT and similar tools to automate work that Excel can already handle on its own. Related I Let AI Handle Complex Excel Formulas for Me—You Should Too Let AI handle the syntax so you can focus on results. Power Query Import, clean, and reorganize without repeating yourself If you regularly pull data from external files, databases, or web sources and then spend time cleaning it up — splitting columns, fixing data types, and merging tables — Power Query is the feature designed to automate these tasks. …

Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions

Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions

Published by skeptic

Canva announced on Wednesday the dual acquisition of Simtheory, an AI collaboration and agent management platform, and Ortto, a customer data and marketing automation company. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Canva says the acquisitions are part of its continued investment in AI and marketing infrastructure.  Both companies were founded by Chris and Mike Sharkey, previously founders of vacation rental service Stayz, which was acquired by Fairfax Media. The pair will join Canva in leadership roles across the company’s AI and marketing technology teams. Canva says the acquisitions add strengths in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement, helping Canva evolve from a design tool into a system where teams do all of their work from start to finish. The additions extend Canva’s capabilities across the full workflow, from early ideas to campaign scaling and measurement. Image Credits:Simtheory Simtheory’s platform helps teams use AI to build assistants that understand their business, work across tools, and handle real tasks. Simtheory lets teams apply the latest models across diverse use cases and …

AI Worldbuilding Automation Workflow for Authors : Step-by-Step

AI Worldbuilding Automation Workflow for Authors : Step-by-Step

Published by skeptic

Worldbuilding is a fundamental part of writing in genres like fantasy and science fiction, but it can also be a complex and time-consuming task. The Nerdy Novelist shares how they used n8n, an open source automation platform, to streamline this process by integrating AI workflows. One example involves a JSON-based parser that expands brainstorming notes into detailed elements such as cultures, locations and artifacts, making sure consistency and depth across the fictional universe. Explore how genre-specific templates can assist in developing settings, magic systems and cultural details tailored to your story. Learn how logic checks can help maintain coherence across interconnected elements and see how organized profiles make it easier to manage and refine your world over time. This explainer provides actionable insights for writers looking to bring structure to their creative process. How Automation Enhances Worldbuilding TL;DR Key Takeaways : Worldbuilding is a critical yet complex aspect of storytelling and automation tools like n8n and AI-driven workflows can simplify the process while maintaining depth and creativity. Automation tools streamline worldbuilding by breaking it into …