Eliana Willis

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  • 188 Shares143 Views

    in Robotics

    Grok 3 AI is now free to all X users – here’s how it works

    Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNETX’s new Grok 3 AI-powered chatbot is now free for anyone to use. Launched earlier this week, the latest flavor of Grok initially required a paid subscription, but that restriction has now been lifted, according to a new post from xAI, the AI company created by Elon Musk.Beyond the usual AI chat features, Grok 3 offers a DeepSearch mode. Similar to the Deep Research option from ChatGPT Pro, Gemini Advanced, and Perplexity AI, this capability uses a virtual agent to search the web on your behalf and present a detailed report about your topic. The latest version of Grok also provides a mode called Think, which uses a reasoning model to tackle challenging problems in math, science, and coding.Also: Yikes: Jailbroken Grok 3 can be made to say and reveal just about anythingThough the new AI is free for all X users, paid subscribers will still enjoy some advantages. X Premium+ and SuperGrok subscribers will score increased access to Grok and advanced features like Voice Mode. Due to be officially rolled out soon, Voice Mode will let the AI speak using different voices, transcribe audio, and share the transcriptions if you wish. But these subscriptions won’t come cheap.This week, X bumped the cost of X Premium+ More

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    in Robotics

    If COBOL is so problematic, why does the US government still use it?

    Matthew Busch for The Washington Post via Getty Images Some people think tens of millions of dead people are collecting Social Security checks. That’s not true. What’s really going on is people don’t understand its old, underlying technology.  The saga of 150-year-old Social Security recipients is a tale that intertwines aging technology, government systems, and modern […] More

  • 163 Shares135 Views

    in Information Technology

    American Airlines now lets you track your luggage with AirTags – here’s how

    ZDNETOne of the world’s biggest airlines is making it a little easier to track down your lost luggage.Last fall, Apple introduced “Share Item Location,” a feature that lets you share the location of an AirTag or Find My accessory with someone else. Apple partnered with a number of airlines, including Air Canada, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, and United, to incorporate this feature into official customer service protocols. Also: Finally, Bluetooth trackers for Android users that function even better than AirTagsOne more big name is now on that list. More

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    in Robotics

    I finally found a smartwatch that captures the analog aesthetic, and it’s feature-rich

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Withings Scanwatch Nova is available for pre-order now, starting at $599. It’s an elegant smartwatch with a one-month battery, water resistance up to 10ATM, and various health-tracking metrics. A $10/month subscription is required for some advanced metrics, and the watch is only available in one 42mm diameter. –> Healthy heart […] More

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    in Robotics

    Want to fight misinformation on Facebook? Join the Meta Community Notes editor waitlist

    ZDNETIf you’re tired of seeing misinformation online, here’s your chance to be part of the fight against it.Also: How to delete Facebook, Messenger, or InstagramLast month, Meta announced that it was ditching its third-party fact checkers in favor of X-style community notes on its social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Meta will officially roll out the feature in a few months, but you can join the waitlist now to be among the first community notes editors.  How to sign up and what the role entailsIf you’re not familiar, Meta will soon add community notes to posts with misleading information or missing context. A group of community editors will decide what notes a post will get. When editors see a misleading post, Meta says, they can “write a note with background info, a tip, or an insight people might find useful.” If the note is rated helpful by enough editors, Meta will add it to the post. Meta says it will not decide which posts get community notes. All community notes must follow Meta’s Community Standards. Notes must be under 500 characters and include a link. Also: How to protect your privacy from Facebook – and what doesn’t workThe general idea is that a group of individuals with different beliefs will provide better fact-checking than individuals. “Just like they do on X,” Meta explained, “Community Notes will require agreement between people with a range of perspectives to help prevent biased ratings.” For a community note to be published on a post, users who would normally disagree (based on how they’ve rated notes in the past) will have to agree that a note is helpful. Community notes will not be available for ads. To sign up, visit Meta’s community notes page. You’ll see a brief explanation of the program along with options to sign up for each individual platform. More

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    in Robotics

    Gemini’s new free feature can save you hours of tedious PDF analysis

    ZDNETThose of you who use Google Gemini for free can now take advantage of a feature formerly limited to paid subscribers. On Thursday, the Google Gemini account on X announced that the document upload capability is now available to all Gemini users.How it worksUsing this option, free users can upload a variety of file types to Gemini for analysis. These include PDFs, text files, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Google Docs files. After Gemini processes your uploaded file, you can request an AI-generated summary and ask questions about the content in the file. Also: How to use Gemini’s Deep Research to browse the web faster and betterThe new feature comes courtesy of Gemini 2.0 Flash, which aims to be faster and more robust than previous models. To use this feature, head to the Gemini website or launch the iOS or Android app. Click or tap the plus sign at the prompt. To upload a file from your PC or device, select Files. To upload a file from Google Drive, select Drive. Choose the file you want analyzed. Back at the prompt, you can start by asking Gemini to summarize the file. Beyond that, submit any question you want about the content to see how the AI responds. More

  • 150 Shares95 Views

    in Information Technology

    Is your phone truly waterproof? Here’s what the IP rating tells you

    Just how water-resistant is that box filled with electricity? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET I remember a time when you wouldn’t dare let water anywhere near a smartphone or power bank, as it would almost certainly mean disaster. Today, however, most smartphones are designed to be water- and dust-resistant to some extent, and even gadgets like power banks and portable power stations are following suit. Also: The best portable power stations you can buyBut how can you determine exactly how water- and dust-resistant a device is? And what’s the difference between something being water-resistant and truly waterproof? IP ratings explainedThis is where IP ratings come into play. IP, short for Ingress Protection, is an international standard used to measure a device’s resistance to water, dust, and other foreign objects. It’s expressed in the form of IPXX, where each “X” represents a numeral. The first digit indicates protection against solid particles, like dust, while the second digit measures resistance to liquids. The numbers for dust range from 0 (not dust-resistant) to 6 (dust-tight), while the numbers for liquids range from 0 (no protection) to 9 (protection against high-temperature, high-pressure water jets). Also: My favorite power bank for traveling is waterproof and surprisingly lightweightIf an X appears in the rating, that indicates unknown, meaning a test wasn’t carried out. For example, IPX5 means that no test was carried out for dust intrusion. IP RatingDust Protection (First Digit)Liquid Protection (Second Digit)XUnknownUnknown0No protection against dust or solid objectsNo protection against liquids1Protection against solid objects larger than 50 mm (e.g., hands)Protection against vertically falling water drops2Protection against solid objects larger than 12.5 mm (e.g., fingers)Protection against vertically falling water drops when the device is tilted up to 15°3Protection against solid objects larger than 2.5 mm (e.g., tools, wires)Protection against water sprays at an angle of up to 60°4Protection against solid objects larger than 1 mm (e.g., small wires)Protection against water splashes from any direction5Limited protection against dust (dust might enter but won’t interfere with operation)Protection against low-pressure water jets from any direction6Complete protection against dust (dust-tight)Protection against high-pressure water jets from any direction7N/AProtection against temporary immersion in water (up to 1 meter for 30 minutes)8N/AProtection against continuous immersion in water under conditions specified by the manufacturer (e.g., depth and time)9N/AProtection against high-pressure, high-temperature water jetsThis standardized system eliminates the ambiguity often caused by marketing claims, providing a clear and reliable measure of durability. More