Monthly Archives: June 2024

Amazon reportedly investigating Perplexity AI after accusations it scrapes websites without consent

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Amazon Web Services has started an investigation to determine whether Perplexity AI is breaking its rules, according to Wired. To, be precise, the company's cloud division is reportedly looking into allegations that the service is using a crawler, which is hosted on its servers, that ignores the Robots Exclusion Protocol. This protocol is a web standard, wherein developers put a robots.txt file on a domain containing instructions on whether bots can or can't access a particular page. Complying with those instructions is voluntary, but crawlers from reputable companies have generally been respecting them since web developers started implementing the standard in the '90s. 

In an earlier piece, Wired reported that it discovered a virtual machine that was bypassing its website's robots.txt instructions. That machine was hosted on an Amazon Web Services server using the IP address 44.221.181.252 that's "certainly operated by Perplexity." It reportedly visited other Condé Nast properties hundreds of times over the past three months to scrape their content, as well. The Guardian, Forbes and The New York Times had also detected it visiting their publications multiple times, Wired said. To confirm whether Perplexity truly was scraping its content, Wired entered headlines or short descriptions of its articles into the company's chatbot. The tool then responded with results that closely paraphrased its articles "with minimal attribution." 

A recent Reuters report claimed that Perplexity isn't the only AI company that's bypassing robots.txt files to gather content used to train large language models. However, it seems like Wired only provided Amazon with information on Perplexity AI's crawler. "AWS’s terms of service prohibit abusive and illegal activities and our customers are responsible for complying with those terms," Amazon Web Services told us in a statement. "We routinely receive reports of alleged abuse from a variety of sources and engage our customers to understand those reports." The spokesperson also added that the company's cloud division told Wired it was investigating information the publication provided as it does all reports of potential violations. 

Perplexity spokesperson Sara Platnick told Wired that the company has already responded to Amazon's inquiries and denied that its crawlers are bypassing the Robots Exclusion Protocol. "Our PerplexityBot — which runs on AWS — respects robots.txt, and we confirmed that Perplexity-controlled services are not crawling in any way that violates AWS Terms of Service," she said. Platnick told us that Amazon looked into Wired's media inquiry only as part of a standard protocol for investigating reports of abuse of its resources. The company has apparently not heard from Amazon about any type of investigation before Wired contacted the company. Platnick admitted to Wired, however, that PerplexityBot will ignore robots.text when a user includes a specific URL in their chatbot inquiry. 

Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, also previously denied that his company is "ignoring the Robot Exclusions Protocol and then lying about it." Srinivas did admit to Fast Company that Perplexity uses third-party web crawlers on top of its own, and that the bot Wired identified was one of them.

Update, June 28, 2024, 2:20PM ET: We have updated this post to add Perplexity's statement to Engadget.

Update, June 28, 2024, 8:27PM ET: We have updated this post to a statement from Amazon Web Services. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-investigating-perplexity-ai-after-accusations-it-scrapes-websites-without-consent-133003374.html?src=rss

Remote control redesign lets you use the device without even looking

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Even with the advent of smart TVs and streaming, remote controls are still an indispensable part of that user experience, imperfect as it may be. The basic design of remote controls has changed very little, save for the extra minimalist variants that, in exchange for simplicity, sometimes make you crawl through menus and options just to get to the function you need. More importantly, however, the complexity of these electronic accessories has made them too stressful to use, and their tendency to get stuck in the corners of couches was a meme even before there were memes. This concept tries to revolutionize the remote control design to deliver a more tactile experience that lets you operate or even pick it up without looking at it at all.

Designer: Gisung Han

The traditional remote control design has always been one of practical convenience rather than comfort or enjoyment. It’s meant to let you quickly change channels or the volume, but the irony is that it often takes more time to look for the right button or, worse, look for the remote itself. Even with more minimal designs that reduce the buttons to half a dozen or so, the rectangular shape of the device itself lends it to being lost too easily.

The Sightless Remote Control proposes a rather drastic change to the standard design in order to address these issues. Instead of a flat rectangle, the remote has a T-shaped form that ensures it won’t slip through the gaps in couches and chairs. It also makes it easy to pick up the remote, whether from those corners or from the top of a table, all without even looking at the remote and just using our sense of touch instead.

The same is true for the buttons themselves, which are no longer distinct circles or ovals. Instead, there’s a single column in the middle of the remote’s top surface with wedge-like shapes rising on opposite sides almost like waves in the ocean. Instead of using printed icons, text representing the functions are instead embossed, again allowing for “blind” use by letting your fingers do the seeing. It will still require a bit of muscle memory to help place that finger in the right area, but it won’t be as tedious as on a typical remote with very smooth buttons.

More than just enabling sightless use of the device, this design tries to bring back the joy of using an analog device in an age of smartphones and touchscreens. It makes entertainment not just a pleasure for our eyes and ears but also for our sense of touch, all while helping reduce the cognitive overload that multi-functional screens and phone apps bring to our brains.

The post Remote control redesign lets you use the device without even looking first appeared on Yanko Design.

World’s first Thunderbolt 5 cable offers 80 Gbps bi-directional and 120 Gbps video bandwidth

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Thunderbolt 5

Ever struggled with slow data transfers or laggy video streams? You’re not alone. Many of us have faced the frustration of outdated cables that just can’t keep up with our modern needs. Enter the Thunderbolt 5 cable by Cable Matters. This innovative solution offers unprecedented performance, ensuring you never have to deal with sluggish connections […]

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Life is Strange spiritual successor delayed to avoid Life is Strange sequel

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Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a brand-new game from the creators of Life is Strange. It's been described as a spiritual successor to that series and was previously scheduled to arrive in late 2024. However, publisher Don't Nod has opted to delay Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and release it in early 2025 instead.

In fact, the delay is in large part due to a new Life is Strange game from another studio. Life is Strange: Double Exposure marks the return of the original game's protagonist Max Caulfield. The sequel, from Square Enix and developer Deck Nine Games, is set to hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in October, with a Switch release planned for later.

Don't Nod says it wanted to give Lost Records: Bloom & Rage some breathing space to succeed following "an in-depth assessment of recent trends and developments in the industry." But a quote from CEO Oskar Guilbert makes the reasoning more explicit. "We know that many of our fans are eagerly awaiting this game, just as they are the recently announced next installment of Life is Strange," Guilbert said in a statement. "Let's give both titles the space they need to be enjoyed by our players within the large community we have built." 

While this update might be disappointing for those who were looking forward to Lost Records, it's a smart call. It gives fans plenty of time to experience both games without too much overlap. 

In the meantime, Don't Nod reckons that Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, a surprisingly emotional action RPG from earlier this year that I enjoyed quite a bit, will boost its bottom line, especially in the long term. It also released the thoughtful climbing puzzle game Jusant late last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/life-is-strange-spiritual-successor-delayed-to-avoid-life-is-strange-sequel-124553471.html?src=rss

From Science Fiction to Reality: How Sunlight Could Transform Water Desalination – MIT Research

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water desalination MIT

Picture a world where we can efficiently desalinate seawater using just the power of sunlight, or where our cooling systems are powered by light instead of electricity. This might sound like science fiction, but thanks to a recent discovery by MIT researchers, it could soon become reality. They’ve identified a new phenomenon called the photo […]

The post From Science Fiction to Reality: How Sunlight Could Transform Water Desalination – MIT Research appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

APC Back-UPS Pro gaming uninterrupted power supply (UPS)

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gaming UPS

Ever had your gaming session abruptly cut short by a sudden power outage? It’s one of the most frustrating experiences for any gamer. But what if there was a way to keep your gaming setup protected and running, no matter what happens to the power grid? Schneider Electric has just announced the European availability of […]

The post APC Back-UPS Pro gaming uninterrupted power supply (UPS) appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

Otto AI designed to streamline your spreadsheet Data Management

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Excel Data Management

If you ever find yourself overwhelmed by the endless data and tasks required to analyze data within spreadsheets in wish there was another way to make data management less of a chore. You might be interested to know that you’re not alone and many Excel spreadsheet users spend countless hours manually inputting data, switching between […]

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Microsoft reveals further emails compromised by Russian hack

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An attack on Microsoft by Russian hackers had further implications than initially reported. The tech giant is notifying additional individuals that emails between them and Microsoft were accessed, Bloomberg reports. A group known as Midnight Blizzard or Nobelium orchestrated this attack, along with the 2020 SolarWinds hack. The US government has previously linked Midnight Blizzard to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. 

Microsoft previously informed some individuals that their emails were viewed, but the company is now sharing specifics. "This week we are continuing notifications to customers who corresponded with Microsoft corporate email accounts that were exfiltrated by the Midnight Blizzard threat actor, and we are providing the customers the email correspondence that was accessed by this actor," a Microsoft spokesperson stated. "This is increased detail for customers who have already been notified and also includes new notifications." Microsoft is making customers aware via email, which initially led to concerns that the notification was a phishing scam.

Microsoft first disclosed the hack in January, stating that a password spray attack gained the group access to "a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts" in late 2023. Employees with compromised emails included members of the senior leadership, cybersecurity and legal teams.

At the time, Microsoft said vulnerabilities in its systems were not to blame for the attack but that it would be improving security. However, the US government has brought the heat against Microsoft, with a March report from the Cyber Safety Review Board finding the company's "security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul." In April, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an order requiring federal agencies to analyze hacked emails and secure Microsoft cloud accounts, among other measures. CISA notified all impacted agencies and required them to provide regular updates on the steps taken to thwart this "grave and unacceptable risk."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-reveals-further-emails-compromised-by-russian-hack-130014275.html?src=rss

Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra Gets Unboxed

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Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra

The highly anticipated Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra has finally arrived, and it’s ready to make waves in the flip phone market. This latest iteration of the iconic RAZR series brings a host of impressive upgrades and features that are sure to capture the attention of tech enthusiasts and casual users alike. From its innovative camera technology […]

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Sharkoon SHARK Force 3 affordable gaming mouse €15

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affordable gaming mouse

What if you could have a gaming mouse that not only enhances your performance but also keeps your hand comfortable during long sessions at an affordable price of just €15? Meet the Sharkoon SHARK Force 3, the ultimate ergonomic gaming mouse. Equipped with a high-resolution 12,800 DPI optical sensor and eight customizable buttons, this mouse […]

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