Tag Archives: language|en-US

An old SEO scam has a new AI-generated face

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Over the years, Engadget has been the target of a common SEO scam, wherein someone claims ownership of an image and demands a link back to a particular website. A lot of other websites would tell you the same thing, but now the scammers are making their fake DMCA takedown notices and threats of legal action look more legit with the help of easily accessible AI tools. 

According to a report by 404Media, the publisher of the website Tedium received a "copyright infringement notice" via email from a law firm called Commonwealth Legal last week. Like older, similar attempts at duping the recipient, the sender said they're reaching out "in relation to an image" connected to their client. In this case, the sender demanded the addition of a "visible and clickable link" to a website called "tech4gods" underneath the photo that was allegedly stolen. 

Since Tedium actually used a photo from a royalty-free provider, the publisher looked into the demand, found the law firm's website, and upon closer inspection, realized that the images of its lawyers were generated by AI. As 404Media notes, the images of the lawyers had vacant looks in the eyes that's commonly seen in photos created by AI tools. If you do a reverse image search on them, you'll get results from a website with the URL generated.photos, which uses artificial intelligence to make "unique, worry-free model photos... from scratch." The publisher also found that the law firm's listed address that's supposed to be on the fourth floor of a building points to a one-floor structure on Google Street View. The owner of tech4gods said he had nothing to do with the scam but admitted that he used to buy backlinks for his website. 

This is but one example of how bad actors can use AI tools to fool and scam people, and we have to be more vigilant as instances like this will just likely keep on growing. Reverse image search engines are your friend, but they may not be infallible and may not always help. Deepfakes, for instance, have become a big problem in recent years, as bad actors continue to use them to create convincing videos and audio not just to scam people, but also to spread misinformation online. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-old-seo-scam-has-a-new-ai-generated-face-100045758.html?src=rss

An old SEO scam has a new AI-generated face

Posted on by

Over the years, Engadget has been the target of a common SEO scam, wherein someone claims ownership of an image and demands a link back to a particular website. A lot of other websites would tell you the same thing, but now the scammers are making their fake DMCA takedown notices and threats of legal action look more legit with the help of easily accessible AI tools. 

According to a report by 404Media, the publisher of the website Tedium received a "copyright infringement notice" via email from a law firm called Commonwealth Legal last week. Like older, similar attempts at duping the recipient, the sender said they're reaching out "in relation to an image" connected to their client. In this case, the sender demanded the addition of a "visible and clickable link" to a website called "tech4gods" underneath the photo that was allegedly stolen. 

Since Tedium actually used a photo from a royalty-free provider, the publisher looked into the demand, found the law firm's website, and upon closer inspection, realized that the images of its lawyers were generated by AI. As 404Media notes, the images of the lawyers had vacant looks in the eyes that's commonly seen in photos created by AI tools. If you do a reverse image search on them, you'll get results from a website with the URL generated.photos, which uses artificial intelligence to make "unique, worry-free model photos... from scratch." The publisher also found that the law firm's listed address that's supposed to be on the fourth floor of a building points to a one-floor structure on Google Street View. The owner of tech4gods said he had nothing to do with the scam but admitted that he used to buy backlinks for his website. 

This is but one example of how bad actors can use AI tools to fool and scam people, and we have to be more vigilant as instances like this will just likely keep on growing. Reverse image search engines are your friend, but they may not be infallible and may not always help. Deepfakes, for instance, have become a big problem in recent years, as bad actors continue to use them to create convincing videos and audio not just to scam people, but also to spread misinformation online. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-old-seo-scam-has-a-new-ai-generated-face-100045758.html?src=rss

Apple cuts over 700 jobs following its car and display project closures

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Over 700 people at Apple have recently lost their jobs, according to the latest WARN report posted by the Employment Development Department of California (EDD). Most of the people who were laid off worked at Apple's offices in Santa Clara, with 371 of them coming from the company location that primarily dealt with the company's now-defunct electric vehicle project. Under California law, companies are required to file a report with the EDD for each location affected by layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) program. 

Eight Apple locations in Santa Clara were hit by layoffs, including the main car office, though one of them worked on its in-house MicroLED display project that was reportedly scrapped in March due to costs and technical difficulties. The company was hoping to produce its own screens for iPhones, Macs and its smartwatches, but that clearly isn't happening anytime soon. 

Apple's original car ambitions were to build a fully autonomous vehicle without pedals and a steering wheel, until it decided to develop an electric vehicle instead. A previous Bloomberg report said Apple canceled the initiative internally called "Project Titan" after investing billions of dollars and a decade into it. The employees who were developing the vehicle were given the chance to transfer to Apple's other divisions, including its teams that are reportedly working on artificial intelligence and home robotics. But based on Apple's WARN report, it wasn't able to re-integrate everyone into the company. 

Apple is believed to be in the very early stages of developing personal robotics for people's homes. One of the machines that's currently a work-in-progress is a robot that follows people around, while the other is a table-top device that uses a robot to move a display around, according to another Bloomberg report. The company's work on personal robotics is part of its efforts, which also include the Vision Pro, to find new sources of revenue. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-cuts-over-700-jobs-following-its-car-and-display-project-closures-061524777.html?src=rss

Apple cuts over 700 jobs following its car and display project closures

Posted on by

Over 700 people at Apple have recently lost their jobs, according to the latest WARN report posted by the Employment Development Department of California (EDD). Most of the people who were laid off worked at Apple's offices in Santa Clara, with 371 of them coming from the company location that primarily dealt with the company's now-defunct electric vehicle project. Under California law, companies are required to file a report with the EDD for each location affected by layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) program. 

Eight Apple locations in Santa Clara were hit by layoffs, including the main car office, though one of them worked on its in-house MicroLED display project that was reportedly scrapped in March due to costs and technical difficulties. The company was hoping to produce its own screens for iPhones, Macs and its smartwatches, but that clearly isn't happening anytime soon. 

Apple's original car ambitions were to build a fully autonomous vehicle without pedals and a steering wheel, until it decided to develop an electric vehicle instead. A previous Bloomberg report said Apple canceled the initiative internally called "Project Titan" after investing billions of dollars and a decade into it. The employees who were developing the vehicle were given the chance to transfer to Apple's other divisions, including its teams that are reportedly working on artificial intelligence and home robotics. But based on Apple's WARN report, it wasn't able to re-integrate everyone into the company. 

Apple is believed to be in the very early stages of developing personal robotics for people's homes. One of the machines that's currently a work-in-progress is a robot that follows people around, while the other is a table-top device that uses a robot to move a display around, according to another Bloomberg report. The company's work on personal robotics is part of its efforts, which also include the Vision Pro, to find new sources of revenue. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-cuts-over-700-jobs-following-its-car-and-display-project-closures-061524777.html?src=rss

Hatsune Miku in Crypt of the Necrodancer feels like the perfect crossover

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Crypt of the Necrodancer just won’t die — and that’s a good thing. The nearly decade-old roguelike rhythm game received new content on Thursday, bringing virtual pop star Hatsune Miku into the fold as a playable character.

Developer Brace Yourself Games says Hatsune Miku is one of the more challenging characters in the game. She can move in all eight directions and takes out foes by boogying her way through groups of enemies. The developer’s press release explains, “She doesn’t have a shovel like most characters, so she must use her dance-like dash attack to break through walls instead.” Hell yeah.

She has a “Sing!” ability — entirely new to the game — that charms nearby enemies. When one of these charmed foes strikes Miku, she heals instead of losing her health. Brace Yourself Games says it even reskinned all of the game’s armors as official Miku outfits, so you can put on new threads as you shimmy and groove your way through legions of ghosts and skeletons.

Closeup of a Hatsune Miku figure. She's waving a peace sign at the camera as a second figure in a different pose sits (blurred) behind.
Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget

If you aren’t familiar, Hatsune Miku is one of the world’s biggest virtual pop stars. She’s a perpetual 16-year-old because she’s the personification of a “Vocaloid,” software that synthesizes pre-recorded vocals to simulate human singing. The avatar has sold out 14,000-seat arenas, collaborated with Pharrell Williams and opened for Lady Gaga. She wasn’t the first digital celebrity, but she may be the most famous.

The Hatsune Miku DLC for Crypt of the Necrodancer is available now for $1.99 on the PlayStation Store and PC via Steam. The content arrives a little later on Switch — on April 13. Check out her moves in the trailer below.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hatsune-miku-in-crypt-of-the-necrodancer-feels-like-the-perfect-crossover-203138973.html?src=rss

Hatsune Miku in Crypt of the Necrodancer feels like the perfect crossover

Posted on by

Crypt of the Necrodancer just won’t die — and that’s a good thing. The nearly decade-old roguelike rhythm game received new content on Thursday, bringing virtual pop star Hatsune Miku into the fold as a playable character.

Developer Brace Yourself Games says Hatsune Miku is one of the more challenging characters in the game. She can move in all eight directions and takes out foes by boogying her way through groups of enemies. The developer’s press release explains, “She doesn’t have a shovel like most characters, so she must use her dance-like dash attack to break through walls instead.” Hell yeah.

She has a “Sing!” ability — entirely new to the game — that charms nearby enemies. When one of these charmed foes strikes Miku, she heals instead of losing her health. Brace Yourself Games says it even reskinned all of the game’s armors as official Miku outfits, so you can put on new threads as you shimmy and groove your way through legions of ghosts and skeletons.

Closeup of a Hatsune Miku figure. She's waving a peace sign at the camera as a second figure in a different pose sits (blurred) behind.
Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget

If you aren’t familiar, Hatsune Miku is one of the world’s biggest virtual pop stars. She’s a perpetual 16-year-old because she’s the personification of a “Vocaloid,” software that synthesizes pre-recorded vocals to simulate human singing. The avatar has sold out 14,000-seat arenas, collaborated with Pharrell Williams and opened for Lady Gaga. She wasn’t the first digital celebrity, but she may be the most famous.

The Hatsune Miku DLC for Crypt of the Necrodancer is available now for $1.99 on the PlayStation Store and PC via Steam. The content arrives a little later on Switch — on April 13. Check out her moves in the trailer below.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hatsune-miku-in-crypt-of-the-necrodancer-feels-like-the-perfect-crossover-203138973.html?src=rss

A new series of Star Wars shorts premieres on Disney+ next month

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Disney just pulled a fast one. Star Wars movies and shows are typically announced years before being released, but the company just revealed a new TV program that premieres next month. Tales of the Empire is an animated show produced by Dave Filoni, the man who cut his teeth on cartoons like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels before moving onto live action stuff like Ahsoka.

As the name suggests, this is something of a companion piece to 2022’s Tales of the Jedi. It’s an anthology series that spotlights different characters within the empire as they, uh, heroically try to defeat the nefarious rebels and bring order to the galaxy. You can expect appearances by many of your dark side faves, including Grand Admiral Thrawn, General Grievous and the Grand Inquisitor.

Just like how Tales of the Jedi put the spotlight on two characters, Ahsoka and Count Dooku, this new series will have its own duo to follow. There’s Morgan Elsbeth, a primary antagonist in Ahsoka and one episode of The Mandalorian, with the trailer indicating that Tales of the Empire will reveal how Thrawn and Elsbeth became besties. The show will also focus on Barriss Offee, a former Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side during the Clone Wars.

Despite being animated, the characters will be played by their live action actors. Lars Mikkelsen returns as Thrawn and Matthew Wood is once again portraying Grievous, the evil cyborg who is in dire need of some cough syrup. Diana Lee Inosanto is back as Elsbeth and Meredith Salenger is voicing Offee.

The show premieres on everyone’s favorite corporate-sponsored pseudo-holiday, May the Fourth, also known as May 4. All six episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ upon the release date. The live action Star Wars: Acolyte follows this with a premiere on June 4.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-series-of-star-wars-shorts-premieres-on-disney-next-month-190007395.html?src=rss

A new series of Star Wars shorts premieres on Disney+ next month

Posted on by

Disney just pulled a fast one. Star Wars movies and shows are typically announced years before being released, but the company just revealed a new TV program that premieres next month. Tales of the Empire is an animated show produced by Dave Filoni, the man who cut his teeth on cartoons like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels before moving onto live action stuff like Ahsoka.

As the name suggests, this is something of a companion piece to 2022’s Tales of the Jedi. It’s an anthology series that spotlights different characters within the empire as they, uh, heroically try to defeat the nefarious rebels and bring order to the galaxy. You can expect appearances by many of your dark side faves, including Grand Admiral Thrawn, General Grievous and the Grand Inquisitor.

Just like how Tales of the Jedi put the spotlight on two characters, Ahsoka and Count Dooku, this new series will have its own duo to follow. There’s Morgan Elsbeth, a primary antagonist in Ahsoka and one episode of The Mandalorian, with the trailer indicating that Tales of the Empire will reveal how Thrawn and Elsbeth became besties. The show will also focus on Barriss Offee, a former Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side during the Clone Wars.

Despite being animated, the characters will be played by their live action actors. Lars Mikkelsen returns as Thrawn and Matthew Wood is once again portraying Grievous, the evil cyborg who is in dire need of some cough syrup. Diana Lee Inosanto is back as Elsbeth and Meredith Salenger is voicing Offee.

The show premieres on everyone’s favorite corporate-sponsored pseudo-holiday, May the Fourth, also known as May 4. All six episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ upon the release date. The live action Star Wars: Acolyte follows this with a premiere on June 4.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-series-of-star-wars-shorts-premieres-on-disney-next-month-190007395.html?src=rss

Who exactly is YouTube’s multicam Coachella stream for?

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YouTube is hyping its exclusive Coachella streaming coverage, which starts next week. The headlining feature is the platform’s multiview experience (already familiar to sports fans) for the two-weekend festival. Our question from this announcement is, who wants to watch several different artists’ sets at the same time — when you can only listen to one?

The multiview experience will let you watch up to four stages simultaneously, letting you pick which one to hear: exactly how multiview works for March Madness, NFL games or any other sporting event. Here’s how YouTube pitches the feature: “Two of your favorite bands playing on different stages at the same time? No problem, multiview will have you and your friends covered to catch both sets at the same time via the YouTube app on TV at no additional cost.”

Maybe I’m of the wrong generation and have too long of an attention span, but who wants to watch an artist’s set without hearing it? That’s what will happen to the three stages you aren’t listening to. Wouldn’t it be better to... watch the one you’re hearing? And then catch up on the others on-demand when you can listen to them as well?

Sports multiview makes sense because there are scores to track and timeouts, halftimes and blowouts to divert your attention to another game. You don’t need to hear an NBA game to keep an eye on the ball. (Depending on the commentators, you may prefer not to listen to it.) It’s primarily a visual experience; the audio is secondary.

But music, even when played live with all the light shows, fog machines and dancing accompanying it, is still an auditory experience first and foremost. If multiple artists you like play at once, you still can’t (and wouldn’t want to) hear more than one simultaneously. In YouTube’s multiview, you pick one stage to hear and the rest to… watch them sing and dance on mute in a little box alongside two other muted performances. Yay?

It sounds like a solution looking for a problem — YouTube applying its existing tech (which, to be fair, works very well with sports) to a music festival. Never mind that it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Perplexed rants aside, YouTube will have six livestream feeds to bounce between (but, again, only four at once in multiview). That includes Sonora for the first weekend and Yuma for the second. This year’s headliners include Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, No Doubt and Tyler, the Creator.

Between sets, YouTube will stream “special editorial content” from the artists onsite. Each day after the night’s final set, YouTube’s Coachella channel will repeat that day’s sets until the livestream returns the next day. That sounds like a better way to catch up on the sets you didn’t see live.

The event takes place in Indio, California, about 130 miles east of LA, from April 12 to 14 and April 19 to 21. You can tune in on YouTube’s Coachella channel.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/who-exactly-is-youtubes-multicam-coachella-stream-for-183744741.html?src=rss

Who exactly is YouTube’s multicam Coachella stream for?

Posted on by

YouTube is hyping its exclusive Coachella streaming coverage, which starts next week. The headlining feature is the platform’s multiview experience (already familiar to sports fans) for the two-weekend festival. Our question from this announcement is, who wants to watch several different artists’ sets at the same time — when you can only listen to one?

The multiview experience will let you watch up to four stages simultaneously, letting you pick which one to hear: exactly how multiview works for March Madness, NFL games or any other sporting event. Here’s how YouTube pitches the feature: “Two of your favorite bands playing on different stages at the same time? No problem, multiview will have you and your friends covered to catch both sets at the same time via the YouTube app on TV at no additional cost.”

Maybe I’m of the wrong generation and have too long of an attention span, but who wants to watch an artist’s set without hearing it? That’s what will happen to the three stages you aren’t listening to. Wouldn’t it be better to... watch the one you’re hearing? And then catch up on the others on-demand when you can listen to them as well?

Sports multiview makes sense because there are scores to track and timeouts, halftimes and blowouts to divert your attention to another game. You don’t need to hear an NBA game to keep an eye on the ball. (Depending on the commentators, you may prefer not to listen to it.) It’s primarily a visual experience; the audio is secondary.

But music, even when played live with all the light shows, fog machines and dancing accompanying it, is still an auditory experience first and foremost. If multiple artists you like play at once, you still can’t (and wouldn’t want to) hear more than one simultaneously. In YouTube’s multiview, you pick one stage to hear and the rest to… watch them sing and dance on mute in a little box alongside two other muted performances. Yay?

It sounds like a solution looking for a problem — YouTube applying its existing tech (which, to be fair, works very well with sports) to a music festival. Never mind that it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Perplexed rants aside, YouTube will have six livestream feeds to bounce between (but, again, only four at once in multiview). That includes Sonora for the first weekend and Yuma for the second. This year’s headliners include Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, No Doubt and Tyler, the Creator.

Between sets, YouTube will stream “special editorial content” from the artists onsite. Each day after the night’s final set, YouTube’s Coachella channel will repeat that day’s sets until the livestream returns the next day. That sounds like a better way to catch up on the sets you didn’t see live.

The event takes place in Indio, California, about 130 miles east of LA, from April 12 to 14 and April 19 to 21. You can tune in on YouTube’s Coachella channel.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/who-exactly-is-youtubes-multicam-coachella-stream-for-183744741.html?src=rss