All posts tagged: installing

Meta Installing Software on Employee Computers to Track Everything They Do, Feed the Data to AI

Meta Installing Software on Employee Computers to Track Everything They Do, Feed the Data to AI

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech As if activity-monitoring software installed on your work computer that snitches on you if you’re away from the keyboard for too long wasn’t enough, Meta is taking the trend to its logical — and dystopian surveillance state-level — conclusion. As Reuters reports, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company is installing new tracking software on all of its US-based employees’ computers that tracks all of their mouse movements and keystrokes, data that will be used for training the company’s AI models. The company is reportedly looking to develop AI agents that can complete work tasks autonomously, in perhaps one of the more conspicuous efforts to automate human workers’s jobs we’ve come across as of late. Besides the ethical concerns of forcing employees to train their AI replacements, the news also raises thorny questions regarding data privacy. Meta, in particular, has garnered an incredibly poor reputation when it comes to protecting personal data. According to an internal memo obtained by Reuters, the …

How to rescue an old laptop by installing Linux on it

How to rescue an old laptop by installing Linux on it

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. No matter how sprightly and speedy your laptop was when you first bought it, it will inevitably slow down to a sluggish pace eventually. And it’s when you reach this point that you can’t really put off an upgrade any longer. However, there is an alternative way forward: Install Linux. While it’s not as well known as Windows or macOS, Linux has been around since the early 1990s and is comfortable running on laptops and desktop computers. It’s capable, well maintained and regularly updated, and completely free to use. Importantly for our purposes here, Linux is also lightweight. Its demands on your system can be much lower than software from Microsoft and Apple, and that means your old laptop components can be given a new lease of life. Due to the proprietary way Apple fuses its hardware and software together, this is really only something to attempt on Windows laptops (you can install Linux on a Mac, but it’s …

VinFast installing 150,000 electric motorcycle battery swap stations

VinFast installing 150,000 electric motorcycle battery swap stations

Published by skeptic

VinFast is making a bold push to electrify two-wheeled transport in Vietnam, with plans for a nationwide expansion of its electric scooter lineup alongside an ambitious battery swapping network that could reshape how riders think about charging. The Vietnamese automaker has already announced its plans to deploy up to 150,000 battery swapping stations across all provinces in the country, creating one of the largest such networks in the world. The rollout is currently underway, with thousands of stations already installed in major metropolitan areas like Ho Chi Minh City. That’s a staggering scale – potentially far denser than traditional gas station networks – and it highlights VinFast’s strategy of eliminating one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption: charging time. Alongside the infrastructure push, VinFast introduced new versions of its electric scooters designed specifically for battery swapping. These models use dual removable battery packs, each with a capacity of 1.5 kWh, offering up to around 85 km (53 miles) of range per battery under standard conditions. Advertisement – scroll for more content Instead of owning …

5 things your Android phone can do without installing any apps

5 things your Android phone can do without installing any apps

Published by skeptic

Scanning a document or sharing a large file often sends you straight to the Play Store. Those downloads build up, taking up storage and turning simple tasks into a scattered mix of one-time utilities. Modern Android phones already include tools that handle most of that work. Many are bundled with Google’s core services or built directly into the system, so they’re easy to overlook until you actually need them. Here are a few things your Android phone can do without installing anything new. Copy text from apps and images Copying text on Android is no longer limited to what can be highlighted inside a webpage or document. Modern Android phones can extract text from screenshots, photos, and even the recent apps screen. Opening the recent apps view lets you interact with the text visible inside an app preview. When you long-press a message, selection handles appear, making it possible to copy text even from apps that don’t normally allow it. Smart Select on Samsung phones expands this capability even further with built-in text recognition that …

This London borough is installing 500 curbside EV chargers

This London borough is installing 500 curbside EV chargers

Published by skeptic

Photo: char.gy The London Borough of Harrow is installing 500 new curbside EV chargers across the borough, targeting residents who don’t have access to off-street parking. The chargers are being deployed in partnership with UK charging provider char.gy and will primarily be mounted on existing lamp posts along residential streets. So far, 225 curbside EV chargers are live, with another 275 scheduled for installation in the London borough by October 2028. The objective is to make it easier for people to charge their EVs outside their homes. The lamp‑column chargers are low-powered units designed for overnight or long‑stay charging. That makes them especially suited to urban neighborhoods where drivers park on the street and leave their cars for hours at a time. Harrow council says all the new chargers run on 100% renewable electricity and offer variable pricing, including cheaper overnight rates for residents. Advertisement – scroll for more content “We’re putting residents first by making it easier to charge electric vehicles where people actually live,” said Councillor David Ashton, Harrow’s cabinet member for finance …

5 open-source apps I install immediately after installing Linux

5 open-source apps I install immediately after installing Linux

Published by skeptic

After procrastinating for a long time, I finally moved to Linux after eight long years from Windows. And it felt like a breath of fresh air. My old laptop was as snappy as it was on day one; every click felt responsive, and now it had an app store built right in. There are many good Linux distros to choose from, and this time around, I went with Zorin OS. It comes preloaded with many of the apps I need right out of the box, which is a plus, but I still needed a few. If you are switching to Linux, I believe you need these apps too. Timeshift Your system’s “undo” button If you are new to Linux, this must be the first app you install upon first boot. Timeshift creates a recovery point. Linux gives you the freedom to manage and fondle every aspect of the OS. It’s exhilarating, but it’s all fun and games until you install a rogue PPA or a botched configuration file and you break your Linux installation. This …

Boston Public Schools is installing 105 DC fast chargers – here’s why that matters

Boston Public Schools is installing 105 DC fast chargers – here’s why that matters

Published by skeptic

Photo: Eversource Boston Public Schools is adding another major block of depot-scale DC fast chargers as it pushes toward a fully electric bus fleet – a reminder that some of the biggest EV charging builds are happening far from highway rest stops. Orion Energy Systems says it’s installing 105 DC fast chargers at the district’s Freeport Bus Yard under a $4 million contract with Boston Public Schools. The project is being handled by Orion’s Voltrek division and is one of the larger single-site school bus charging installations in the region. The chargers are part of Boston’s effort to electrify 100% of its roughly 750 school buses – a program the district describes as the largest school bus electrification initiative in the Northeast. Orion and Voltrek have worked with Boston Public Schools on multiple projects tied to that transition, making the district one of the company’s biggest customers. At the Freeport Bus Yard, the chargers will use an above-ground mounting approach that relies on Jersey barriers rather than traditional trenching. It’s a setup that’s increasingly common …

The default TV setting I always turn off when installing one – and why experts mostly agree

The default TV setting I always turn off when installing one – and why experts mostly agree

Published by skeptic

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Default motion smoothing causes the unnatural “soap opera effect.” Experts recommend turning off motion smoothing for most movies and shows. Motion smoothing improves fast-paced action like sports and gaming. For many people, motion smoothing on TVs is only suitable for gaming and watching live sports; enthusiasts typically prefer to turn off the feature when watching anything else, as it can detract from the filmmaker’s original intent, making on-screen images appear artificial or hyper-realistic. This is what’s called the “soap opera effect.”  Also: Sony and TCL are teaming up to make your next TV, and it’s a bigger deal than you think It’s a perfectly descriptive metaphor that probably requires no explanation. You can see it all too well: the cinematic film should not look like a daytime soap; you shouldn’t feel like you’re on the set with the actors. But it is appealing to feel like you’re in the stadium watching your team with thousands of fans. The soap opera effect makes …