Month: May 2024
The business behind Unnecessary Inventions’ millions of followers
Becca Farsace
On the dance floor at the Webby Awards in 2023, a very dapper man in a subtle paisley suit came up to me with a huge smile and said “I love your content.” It’s always nice hearing that someone likes your work, but I’d never heard it from someone with an internet presence quite like his. It was Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions, a creator who has amassed millions of followers across just about every social network by making and displaying all sorts of strange, eccentric, and perplexing gadgets to improve our daily lives.
As I said thank you and tried not to blush, I yelled to Matty that I was trying to launch a video series about creators and “maybe we could link up.” Over a year later, I found myself in the heart of Burlington, Vermont, where Matty lives and works, ready to hear how his videos come together.
As I walked into Matty’s sprawling studio, I was struck by the sheer amount of unique things. There was a wall of 3D printers, an assortment of Supreme collector items, shelves of camera gear and hard drives, and of course many Unnecessary Inventions.
These inventions are what Matty describes as unique solutions to first-world problems. They range from a pair of glasses with built-in sponges that soak up tears to a funnel that catches falling ingredients from a burrito and neatly sorts it into a taco below. It’s these funny creations that have kept folks returning again and again to Matty’s videos for the last five years and helped him build a successful business as a creator.
In this first episode of my new video series that profiles internet creators, I spend a whole day with Matty to figure out how he makes his inventions and how he makes a living from posting about them. Because, as a lover of YouTube, I have always wondered how individual folks can turn the making of silly videos into a full-time job. Tune in to the video above to learn more about Matty’s process, and let me know who you want me to profile next!
Becca Farsace
On the dance floor at the Webby Awards in 2023, a very dapper man in a subtle paisley suit came up to me with a huge smile and said “I love your content.” It’s always nice hearing that someone likes your work, but I’d never heard it from someone with an internet presence quite like his. It was Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions, a creator who has amassed millions of followers across just about every social network by making and displaying all sorts of strange, eccentric, and perplexing gadgets to improve our daily lives.
As I said thank you and tried not to blush, I yelled to Matty that I was trying to launch a video series about creators and “maybe we could link up.” Over a year later, I found myself in the heart of Burlington, Vermont, where Matty lives and works, ready to hear how his videos come together.
As I walked into Matty’s sprawling studio, I was struck by the sheer amount of unique things. There was a wall of 3D printers, an assortment of Supreme collector items, shelves of camera gear and hard drives, and of course many Unnecessary Inventions.
These inventions are what Matty describes as unique solutions to first-world problems. They range from a pair of glasses with built-in sponges that soak up tears to a funnel that catches falling ingredients from a burrito and neatly sorts it into a taco below. It’s these funny creations that have kept folks returning again and again to Matty’s videos for the last five years and helped him build a successful business as a creator.
In this first episode of my new video series that profiles internet creators, I spend a whole day with Matty to figure out how he makes his inventions and how he makes a living from posting about them. Because, as a lover of YouTube, I have always wondered how individual folks can turn the making of silly videos into a full-time job. Tune in to the video above to learn more about Matty’s process, and let me know who you want me to profile next!
Ex-OpenAI Director Says Board Learned of ChatGPT Launch on Twitter
Helen Toner, a former OpenAI board member, said that the board didn’t know about the company’s 2022 launch of its chatbot ChatGPT until afterward — and only found out about it on Twitter. From a report: In a podcast, Toner gave her fullest account to date of the events that prompted her and other board members to fire Sam Altman in November of last year. In the days that followed Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman’s sudden ouster, employees threatened to quit, Altman was reinstated, and Toner and other directors left the board. “When ChatGPT came out in November 2022, the board was not informed in advance about that,” Toner said on the podcast. “We learned about ChatGPT on Twitter.”
In a statement provided to the TED podcast, OpenAI’s current board chief, Bret Taylor said, “We are disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to revisit these issues.” He also said that an independent review of Altman’s firing “concluded that the prior board’s decision was not based on concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI’s finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners.” […] In the podcast, Toner also said that Altman didn’t disclose his involvement with OpenAI’s startup fund. And she criticized his leadership on safety. “On multiple occasions, he gave us inaccurate information about the formal safety processes that the company did have in place,” she said,”meaning that it was basically impossible for the board to know how well those safety processes were working or what might need to change.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Helen Toner, a former OpenAI board member, said that the board didn’t know about the company’s 2022 launch of its chatbot ChatGPT until afterward — and only found out about it on Twitter. From a report: In a podcast, Toner gave her fullest account to date of the events that prompted her and other board members to fire Sam Altman in November of last year. In the days that followed Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman’s sudden ouster, employees threatened to quit, Altman was reinstated, and Toner and other directors left the board. “When ChatGPT came out in November 2022, the board was not informed in advance about that,” Toner said on the podcast. “We learned about ChatGPT on Twitter.”
In a statement provided to the TED podcast, OpenAI’s current board chief, Bret Taylor said, “We are disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to revisit these issues.” He also said that an independent review of Altman’s firing “concluded that the prior board’s decision was not based on concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI’s finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners.” […] In the podcast, Toner also said that Altman didn’t disclose his involvement with OpenAI’s startup fund. And she criticized his leadership on safety. “On multiple occasions, he gave us inaccurate information about the formal safety processes that the company did have in place,” she said,”meaning that it was basically impossible for the board to know how well those safety processes were working or what might need to change.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Beats Solo Buds Available to Order June 18, Launching June 20
Following a late April announcement, the upcoming Beats Solo Buds will be available to order starting Tuesday, June 18, with a launch coming two days later on Thursday, June 20.
Priced at $79.99, Beats Solo Buds deliver 18 hours of battery life and come in the smallest case ever designed for Beats earbuds. The case does not contain its own battery, and an external power source must be connected to the case via USB-C to recharge the buds.
Beats Solo Buds feature a custom-built acoustic architecture and an ergonomic design with four ear tip size options for a precise fit. There is no active noise cancelation on the Beats Solo Buds, but they do offer passive noise isolation to improve audio quality. A custom microphone design paired with an advanced noise-learning algorithm help deliver improved call quality.
Beats Solo Buds will be launching at Apple and authorized resellers and will be available in four colors: Matte Black, Storm Gray, Arctic Purple, and Transparent Red. In the United States, the Arctic Purple color will be exclusive to Apple and Target, both in-store and online.Tag: BeatsThis article, “Beats Solo Buds Available to Order June 18, Launching June 20” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Following a late April announcement, the upcoming Beats Solo Buds will be available to order starting Tuesday, June 18, with a launch coming two days later on Thursday, June 20.
Priced at $79.99, Beats Solo Buds deliver 18 hours of battery life and come in the smallest case ever designed for Beats earbuds. The case does not contain its own battery, and an external power source must be connected to the case via USB-C to recharge the buds.
Beats Solo Buds feature a custom-built acoustic architecture and an ergonomic design with four ear tip size options for a precise fit. There is no active noise cancelation on the Beats Solo Buds, but they do offer passive noise isolation to improve audio quality. A custom microphone design paired with an advanced noise-learning algorithm help deliver improved call quality.
Beats Solo Buds will be launching at Apple and authorized resellers and will be available in four colors: Matte Black, Storm Gray, Arctic Purple, and Transparent Red. In the United States, the Arctic Purple color will be exclusive to Apple and Target, both in-store and online.
This article, “Beats Solo Buds Available to Order June 18, Launching June 20” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Challenges to potential TikTok ban to be heard by US Court in September
A fast-track schedule has been set by the U.S. appeals court to consider legal challenges to the new law requiring… Continue reading Challenges to potential TikTok ban to be heard by US Court in September
The post Challenges to potential TikTok ban to be heard by US Court in September appeared first on ReadWrite.
A fast-track schedule has been set by the U.S. appeals court to consider legal challenges to the new law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban in its biggest market.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ordered the case that looks at the arguments against the ban to take place in September.
This comes after ByteDance, TikTok, and a group of content creators asked the Justice Department earlier in April to ask the court for a quick schedule.
A lawsuit was filed on May 14 by the creators as they say the app has had “a profound effect on American life,” after TikTok and its parent company ByteDance filed a similar lawsuit on May 7.
They have until June 20 to file legal briefs and the Justice Department will send over reply briefs by August 15.
A ruling has then been sought to seek review from the Supreme Court if needed by December 6.
The potential ban has been brought about due to fears over national security concerns due to TikTok’s Chinese ownership and its links to the Beijing government.
The United States Senate passed the bill at the end of April, with President Biden seeing it as a milestone for non-US apps.
The future of TikTok in the US is still unknown
Since the Chinese-owned platform has gained huge popularity in the United States, it’s created new careers for thousands of people. In some cases, people have generated annual wealth in the millions as they develop community bases on the app.
The group that filed the lawsuit in favor of TikTok staying includes a diverse group. There’s s North Dakota college coach making sports content, a Mississippi hip-hop artist, a Marine veteran, a recent college graduate who advocates for the survivors of sexual assault, and a person giving parenting advice while baking.
Featured Image: Photo by Collabstr on Unsplash
The post Challenges to potential TikTok ban to be heard by US Court in September appeared first on ReadWrite.
How to Buy an AV Receiver in 2024 – CNET
Want to experience surround sound at home? Then ditch the soundbar and get an AV receiver. Here’s what you should know.
Want to experience surround sound at home? Then ditch the soundbar and get an AV receiver. Here’s what you should know.
Ticketmaster breached — data of over 500 million users allegedly put up for sale online
Database claiming to be from Ticketmaster contains some pretty important information, including partial payment data.
Ticketmaster appears to have suffered a huge data breach, causing it to lose sensitive data on hundreds of millions of users.
A report from Hackreadclaims a group known as ShinyHunters published a 1.3TB database of compromised customer data, on the newly-reopened BreachForums criminal site.
The database contained sensitive information on 560 million users, including payment data, but also containing people’s names, postal addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, ticket sales and event details, order information, and even partial payment card data, for sale. The partial payment card data includes cardholder names, the last four digits of the cards, expiration dates, and some customer fraud details.
Publicity stunt
The hacking group is asking for $500,000 in exchange for the database.
Prior to offering the database for sale, ShinyHunters reached out to Ticketmaster-Live Nation in an extortion attempt, the group told Hackread – however the company allegedly did not respond to the group’s attempt to communicate.
The timing of the leak is quite curious, given the recent relaunch of BreachForums, one of the most popular underground hacking forums in the world, just weeks after it was seized by the FBI, and one of its key administrators, alias Baphomet, allegedly arrested.
The other key administrator was none other than ShinyHunters, a hacking collective who bragged about being out of the FBI’s reach in this case.
Following the shutdown of BreachForums, the same group said it would restart it, so today’s leak might very well be a publicity stunt to get hackers interested in the new forum.
$500,000 might sound like a lot of money, but for hacking collectives with deeper pockets, it could be a worthy investment. Information found there could be used in different ways, including phishing attacks, identity theft, and more, which could rake in the buyers millions of dollars.
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Germany’s financial regulator ends anti-money laundering cap on N26 signups after $10M fine
After the Wirecard scandal, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin started to look more closely at young fintech startups that wanted to grow at a rapid pace — it’s better to be safe than sorry. In particular, N26, a Berlin-based banking startup that raised hundreds of millions of euros and quickly became a unicorn, has had a
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
After the Wirecard scandal, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin started to look more closely at young fintech startups that wanted to grow at a rapid pace — it’s better to be safe than sorry. In particular, N26, a Berlin-based banking startup that raised hundreds of millions of euros and quickly became a unicorn, has had a […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.