Nike seems to be on a roll, innovating beyond the obvious territories. After its collaborative Monopoly Game Set with Hasbro, the Swoosh brand is now teaming up with German shoe company, Zellerfeld, to give its original Air Max a 3D printed makeover in a vibrant red laceless design.
Nike Air Max 1 originally designed by Tinker Hatfield has always had a special place in our hearts for the incredible future-forward design. Easily the greatest sneaker, the Air Max is now a revolution, which has come a long way since its inception with continuous air technology innovations with every new release. This time it’s not the sole or regular manufacturing, in fact, it’s the entire thought of the shoe that will rock the show at ComplexCon 2024.
Zellerfeld founded in 2015, is a shoe company that specializes in 3D-printing thoughtful designs. Nike collaborated with the German outfit to delve into Air Max legacy and bring out a 3D-printed re-imagination that would launch at the ComlexCon on November 16 and 17, 2024. The groundbreaking rendition of the iconic Air Max 1, the Nike Air Max 1000, showcases the evolution of air technology along with new manufacturing techniques.
This combination of Air and 3D printing creates an engaging underfoot experience that according to the design team produces “the same comfort and responsiveness” of the original silhouette. At the foundation of this new creation of course is Nike’s obsession with cushioning besides that Air band and the mudguard wave make apparent nuances that tag the 3D printed version to the original.
The wavy lines forming the mudguard and the air unit in the heel do not make the Air Max 1000 much different, but the sneaker’s laceless design truly propels it into a new fan category – delightfully pleasing in a bright red colorway. The blend of smooth and textured print in the upper half of the AM 1000, goes well with the single Swoosh banding and the carved outsole. There is no word on the price, but I believe, the sneaker is worth whatever it comes for!
Bluesky, which has surged in the days following the US election, said on Friday that it won’t train on its users’ posts for generative AI. The declaration stands in stark contrast to the AI training policies of X (Twitter) and Meta’s Threads. Probably not coincidentally, Bluesky’s announcement came the same day X’s new terms of service, allowing third-party partners to train on user posts, went into effect.
“A number of artists and creators have made their home on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns with other platforms training on their data,” Bluesky posted (viaThe Verge) on Friday. “We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.”
In a follow-up post, the decentralized social platform clarified that it does use AI to help with content moderation. “Bluesky uses AI internally to assist in content moderation, which helps us triage posts and shield human moderators from harmful content,” the company posted. Bluesky also added that it uses AI in the algorithms powering its Discover feed.
“None of these are Gen AI systems trained on user content,” Bluesky stressed.
The Verge points out that Bluesky’s robots.txt (the policy that dictates what outside parties can scrape from a website) doesn’t prevent OpenAI, Google or other leading GenAI companies from crawling its data. The company justified that potential hole by pointing to the platform’s open and public nature. “Just as robots.txt files don’t always prevent outside companies from crawling those sites, the same applies here,” spokesperson Emily Liu told The Verge. “That said, we’d like to do our part to ensure that outside orgs respect user consent and are actively discussing within the team on how to achieve this.”
Although Bluesky is still the underdog in a race with X and Threads, the platform has picked up steam after the US election. It passed the 15 million user threshold on Wednesday after adding more than a million in the past week.
A report from web analytics company SimilarWeb noted that the signup surge coincided with a spike in X deactivations. It found that “more than 115,000 US web visitors deactivated their [X] accounts” on November 7, “more than on any previous day of Elon Musk’s tenure.” In parallel, “web traffic and daily active users for Bluesky increased dramatically in the week before the election, and then again after election day.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-suddenly-hot-bluesky-says-it-wont-train-ai-on-your-posts-220034195.html?src=rss
Cargo e-bikes are built for convenience and functionality. Whether it’s carrying your child back from school; taking pet to the vet; picking groceries from the store; or hauling hard coolers to the camp; cargo e-bike will help you with all of that effortlessly. And who knows it better than Lectric? After the successful run of their XPedition, dubbed the most popular cargo eBike in America, Lectric eBikes has unveiled the XPedition 2.0, which it hails as the most advanced cargo bike yet!
Arriving with advanced features and an all-new design, the XPedition 2.0 by the Phoenix-based electric bike company is priced the same as the original XPedition at $1,399 and is now available for pre-order. When the prices of electric bikes are shooting through the roof and every new addition arrives with a steeper price tag, staying true to the cost and stuffing the bike with better looks and features, Lectric has pulled off a remarkable customer-winning move.
Undeniably, the price is the most interesting aspect of this new release, but its reworked versatility to benefit a larger span of riders is more inspiring. “The XPedition has been the best-selling and most successful cargo eBike in the industry since its debut, and that’s due to its unmatched combination of performance and value,” CEO Levi Conlow informed. “With the XPedition 2.0, we’re doubling down on that commitment. Even in a year when many eBike prices have gone up, we’re delivering significant upgrades without increasing the price—something we believe will only amplify the continued success of this eBike.”
The XPedition 2.0 with its new aluminum frame and an extended wheelbase for carrying cargo more safely, arrives with the same 750W M24 hub motor in the rear which peaks at over 1,310 watts with a payload capacity of up to 450 lb as in the original. It now is upgraded with a torque sensor to deliver an all-new pedal assist experience: it produces 85 Nm torque and pedal assist of up to 28mph.
Featuring a rear rack in the redesigned frame with updated tubing, the XPedition 2.0 can carry just about any cargo or an extra passenger. The 35Ah battery – compatible with a 5-amp fast charger – ensures over 170 miles of range and the adjustable dual-spring 50mm front suspension fork makes travel smooth over street bumps. Interestingly, Lectric provides the new XPedition 2.0 Cargo e-bikes in three options and two colorways: Single 13Ah battery model for $1,399, dual 13Ah battery model for $1,699, and the dual 17.5Ah battery model for $1,999. All three come in Raindrop Blue and Stratus White colors with integrated hydraulic disc brakes, color LCD display, turn signal lights, and an extra-wide dual-leg kickstand for safer parking.
A damning report from the Anti-Defamation League published Thursday on the “unprecedented” amount of racist and violent content on Steam Community has prompted a US Senator to take action. In a letter spotted by The Verge, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) asked Valve CEO Gabe Newell how he and his company are addressing the issue.
“My concern is elevated by the fact that Steam is the largest single online gaming digital distribution and social networking platform in the world with over 100 million unique user accounts and a user base similar in scale to that of the ‘traditional social media and social network platforms,’” Warner wrote.
The senator also cited Steam’s online conduct policy that states users may not “upload or post illegal or inappropriate content [including] [real] or disturbing depictions of violence” or “harass other users or Steam personnel.”
“Valve must bring its content moderation practices in line with industry standards or face more intense scrutiny from the federal government for its complicity in allowing hate groups to congregate and engage in activities that undoubtedly puts Americans at risk,” Warner writes.
Congress doesn’t have the ability to take action on Valve or any platform except to shine light on the problem through letters and committee hearings. The Supreme Court overturned two state laws in June that prevented government officials from communicating with social media companies about objectionable content.
This also isn’t the first time that Congress has raised concerns with Valve about extremist and racist content created by users or players in one of its products. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary sent a letter to Newell in 2023 to express concerns about players posting and spouting racist language in Valve’s multiplayer online arena game Dota 2.
We reached out to Valve for comment. We will update this story if we receive a statement or reactions from Valve.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/adls-report-on-racist-steam-community-posts-prompts-a-letter-from-virginia-senator-214243775.html?src=rss
Designed merely as a prototype for TikTok, the Sliding Knife by Midgards Messer seems to have broken the EDC world by proposing something that’s equal parts ridiculous and intriguing. You see, when someone says “sliding knife”, chances are, you think of a switchblade or an OTF knife. What Midgards Messer’s knife does is something vastly more interesting. It’s your regular folding knife, but instead of having a standard pivot mechanism, it has a pivot-and-slide system. Open the blade out, and before you use it, slide it down to lock it in place. Why is it interesting, you ask? Well, it helps the knife achieve the power of a much bigger blade, while still being fairly tiny. Let me explain…
A big blade is usually better for heavy-duty tasks. It’s bulkier, adds more weight, and holds its shape without warping or bending. Think of an axe blade versus a sword – one of them is clearly surviving being used against a tree bark, right? Well, the bad thing with bigger blades is that they aren’t really portable. Try to incorporate a big blade into a small pocket knife isn’t easy. Making the blade big means the handle needs to fit the folding blade too – and a thicker handle isn’t easy to grip.
So the folks at Midgards Messer came up with a pretty cool-looking workaround. Keep the blade big and the handle small, but incorporate a sliding mechanism that allows the blade and handle’s spine to align while in use. The blade’s edge sits inside the handle when shut, with the rest of the blade peeking out. Open the blade and you notice that it sits at an offset, with the jimping being a little higher than expected. Push the blade down and it locks in place, creating the aesthetic of a fixed-blade knife with a larger, heavier front, while still being foldable and portable.
Although having a pivoting AND sliding mechanism isn’t ideal, this knife isn’t meant to be hyper-practical. It’s designed as a proof-of-concept and a prototype for a unique format that can be refined further. As far as this ‘Sliding Knife’ prototype goes, it’s fairly mid-sized, which means you’ve got an easy-to-grip handle (made presumably from metal), while the blade itself has a drop-point design that’s a lot ‘taller’ than your average folding knife. This makes it perfect for cutting, slicing, and piercing, but also holds up well to more heavy, sustained use.
Midgards Messer made this as a one-off prototype (which promptly sold out instantly on their website), but is open to taking reservations for future models it manufactures. The Sliding Knife starts at $349, which is pretty reasonable for something this game-changing, and even though I don’t recommend it as an everyday-use tool, it definitely belongs in the EDC collector showcase!
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said this week it’s pressing criminal charges against X (Twitter) in France related to a Kremlin disinformation campaign that used the nonprofit as a prop to spread fake news. The organization said legal means are its “last resort” in its fight against the bogus stories, designed to foster pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine sentiment, that festered on the platform. “X’s refusal to remove content that it knows is false and deceitful — as it was duly informed by RSF — makes it complicit in the spread of the disinformation circulating on its platform,” RSF director of advocacy Antoine Bernard said in a statement.
“These legal proceedings seek to remind X, a powerful social media company, and its executives that they can be held criminally responsible if they knowingly provide a platform and tools for disseminating false information, identity theft, misrepresentation, and defamation — offences punishable under the French Penal Code,” RSF attorney Emmanuel Daoud wrote.
RSF published an investigation in September detailing how a fabricated video was planted and spread by Russia on the Elon Musk-owned social platform. The fake clip was made to look like a BBC-produced one, including the news organization’s logo. It made the erroneous case that RSF conducted a study that revealed a large number of Ukrainian soldiers sympathizing with Nazism.
False claims that Ukraine is a pro-Nazi nation have been a common propaganda tactic used by Russia since its 2022 invasion. The narrative is designed to engender support for the Kremlin-initiated war, which is estimated to have killed a million or more Ukrainian people.
RSF’s investigation revealed that an account called “Patricia,” claiming to be a translator in France, planted the seed for the disinformation. However, the report discovered that the account’s profile picture was found on a Russian website featuring photos of blond women designed “to make avatars.”
RSF says that even the account’s name seemed to have been automatically generated by X. In addition, the organization says Grok, X’s AI chatbot with access to live data about the platform, claimed the account has “very strong opinions, often in support of Russia and Vladimir Putin, while severely criticizing Ukraine and its supporters in Europe.”
The investigation found the video then took off, spreading through a chain that included a pro-Kremlin Irish entrepreneur living in Russia, a Kremlin propagandist with a large following on Telegram and even Russian officials. It was also shared by “highly influential bloggers” known for unflinching support of Vladimir Putin.
“In this story, the Russian authorities have acted a bit like they were laundering dirty information,” an RSF representative said in a video about the investigation (translated from French) in September. “They took false information, they laundered it through official channels. And then, this piece of information that wasn’t actual information was reintroduced into public discourse to make it look credible.”
Russia’s bogus video was widely shared on X and Telegram. Reporters Without Borders says the clip’s viewership reached half a million combined views by September 13. To capture its frustration with the blow to its credibility, the nonprofit cited the quote (of unknown origin but often attributed to Mark Twain): “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”
RSF says it filed 10 reports with X of illegal content through the social channel’s reporting system required by the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). “After a series of rejections from X and requests for additional information — which RSF provided — none of the reports resulted in the removal of the defamatory content targeting our organisation and its advocacy director,” RSF wrote.
In July, the US Justice Department said it uncovered and dismantled a Russian propaganda network using nearly 1,000 accounts to push pro-Kremlin posts on X. The DOJ claimed the accounts posed as Americans and were made using AI. In October, The Wall Street Journalreported that Elon Musk held multiple private calls with Vladimir Putin from 2022 into this year, describing the contacts as a “closely held secret in government.”
“X’s refusal to remove content that it knows is false and deceitful — as it was duly informed by RSF — makes it complicit in the spread of the disinformation circulating on its platform,” RSF director Bernard wrote in a statement. “X provides those who spread falsehoods and manipulate public opinion with a powerful arsenal of tools and unparalleled visibility, while granting the perpetrators total impunity. It’s time for X to be held accountable. Pressing criminal charges is the last resort against the disinformation and war propaganda that RSF has fallen victim to, which is proliferating on this ‘Muskian’ network.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reporters-without-borders-says-its-pressing-charges-against-x-200005117.html?src=rss
WhatsApp, the most popular messaging platform on the planet, finally has a drafts feature. Why did it take until the tail-end of 2024 to institute a seemingly simple tool that has been available for rival platforms for years? Who knows, but it’s here now.
The appropriately-named Message Drafts offers “a new and easy way to find your unfinished messages on WhatsApp.” Just look for the “Draft” indicator at the beginning of a message. The platform says that these unfinished messages will move to the top of the chats list so “people can quickly locate them.”
It’s a drafts feature, so there really isn’t anything else to say. The tool’s available now across the globe via the app. Finally, we will have no pressure to actually finish messages. We can tinker with them occasionally until the heat death of the universe. It’s a procrastination mitzvah!
This is just the latest update to WhatsApp, as the platform has been busy. It recently unveiled custom lists, to help people keep track of conversations, and introduced a program that allows users to add contacts from any device.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/whatsapp-finally-has-a-drafts-feature-194516831.html?src=rss
The Internet Archive is one of the very best things on the web, so it's great that the repository is up and running again after recent DDoS attacks. It hosts more than old versions of web pages, though. It hosts a trove of video (I'm forever thankful to whoever uploaded the wonderful Lucha Underground in its entirety), software, text, audio recordings and games as well. There have been two notable additions on the latter front in the form of Unreal and Unreal Tournament, seemingly with the blessing of Epic Games.
You can now freely download disc images of the arena shooters from the Internet Archive via direct links for Unreal and Unreal Tournament. Alternatively, as Game Developer points out, the site OldUnreal offers installers for Unreal and UT, both of which pull the disc images from the Internet Archive and include the latest community-created patches.
The installers are Windows-only for now, but the OldUnreal team is working on Linux and macOS versions. You'll also need to put in a little extra effort to get online with the games and savor their true multiplayer flavors. Heck, you might still even be able to join an Unreal clan.
Epic delisted the Unreal games from Steam and shut down their servers quite some time ago, so this is a nice boost for game preservation. It comes on the heels of GOG introducing a new label for older titles that the platform is maintaining for current hardware. Unreal was one of the first PC games I played as a kid, so it's neat to learn that it will be available in perpetuity through the Internet Archive.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/two-early-unreal-games-are-now-permanently-free-via-the-internet-archive-190501047.html?src=rss
Elon Musk’s X is taking the state of California to court over a new law that prevents the spread of AI-generated election misinformation. Bloomberg reports that X filed a lawsuit against AB 2655, also known as the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, in a Sacramento federal court.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on September 17, creating accountability standards for using false political speech faked with AI programs close to an election. The legislation prevents the distribution of “materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate within 60 days of an election at which the candidate will appear on the ballet.”
X argues that the law will create more political speech censorship. The complaint says the First Amendment “includes tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms.”
Newsom signed AB 2655 into law as part of a large package of bills addressing concerns about the use of AI to create sexually explicit deepfakes and other deceptive material. The next day, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the law and other bills from Newsom’s signing.
California has become one of the epicenters of debate over the use and implementation of AI. Concerns about the use of AI in film and television projects, among other issues, prompted SAG-AFTRA to go on strike in 2023. SAG eventually reached a deal that included AI protections for actors prohibiting studios from using their likeness without permission or proper compensation. The following year, the state of California passed AB 2602, a law that makes it illegal for studios, publishers and video game studios to use someone’s likeness without their permission.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/x-sues-california-over-deceptive-ai-made-election-content-ban-185010406.html?src=rss
As the competition between Bluesky and Threads heats up, Meta is adding a new feature to Threads that will likely look familiar to Bluesky users: custom feeds. The Meta-owned service is starting to test a feature that allows users to pin topic-based feeds to the home screen of the app.
The change will give people additional feeds beyond the algorithmic “for you,” which will remain the default view, and their “following feed.” Users can add custom feeds by searching a keyword like “skincare” and then tapping the “...” menu and selecting “create new feed.” These feeds can be further customized by adding specific profiles of people whose posts you want to see in that feed. Users are able to add up to 128 custom feeds in the app, a Meta spokesperson said, though it’s still only a test for now so not all users have access to it just yet.
The feature is similar in many ways to Bluesky’s custom feeds, which the company introduced last year. But while there are dozens of user-created algorithmic feeds in the app, making a new one is still a technical process. Meta’s version of the feature, however, is more straightforward. It could also address some users’ complaints about Threads’ main algorithmic feed.
The latest Threads feature comes as Bluesky has had a particularly good month. Though the service is still far smaller than Threads, which has more than 275 million users, Bluesky, which has just under 17 million users at the time of this writing, has been gaining momentum. The decentralized service added a million new users in the week following the election, and added another million new sign-ups in a single day this week. That’s striking considering Threads has also been growing by about a million users a day, according to a recent post from Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. If Bluesky is able to sustain that level of growth for very long, Meta may feel even more pressure to borrow some ideas from its smaller rival.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-testing-custom-feeds-for-threads-183948414.html?src=rss
