Month: July 2024
Goals To Stop Decline of Nature in England ‘Off Track,’ Report Warns
Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned. From a report: An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government’s legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environment Act was passed in 2021 after Brexit.
The report found that there was no data to measure many of the metrics such as habitat creation for wildlife and the status of sites of special scientific interest. It also highlighted that the government was off track to meet its woodland creation targets, and that water leakage from pipes had in fact increased since the targets were set. The Labour party announced on Tuesday that it would overhaul these goals. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, said the government would lay out detailed delivery plans for each target, such as tree planting and air quality, working with environment groups to do so.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned. From a report: An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government’s legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environment Act was passed in 2021 after Brexit.
The report found that there was no data to measure many of the metrics such as habitat creation for wildlife and the status of sites of special scientific interest. It also highlighted that the government was off track to meet its woodland creation targets, and that water leakage from pipes had in fact increased since the targets were set. The Labour party announced on Tuesday that it would overhaul these goals. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, said the government would lay out detailed delivery plans for each target, such as tree planting and air quality, working with environment groups to do so.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple’s entry-level AirPods have already returned to their Prime Day low
Apple’s second-gen earbuds are down to $69.99, which is a price we’ve seen only a handful of times. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Amazon Prime Day brought discounts on a whole swath of Apple products, from iPads and AirTags to the latest 15-inch MacBook Air. We also saw deals across Apple’s entire earbuds lineup — including a terrific deal on the second-gen AirPods, which quickly sold out at Amazon. Luckily, if you missed it the first time around, Apple’s entry-level earbuds are once again on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $69.99 ($60 off), effectively matching their lowest price to date.
Admittedly, Apple’s second-gen earbuds can’t rival the latest AirPods Pro with USB-C or even the third-gen AirPods, for that matter. However, the vanilla buds do offer excellent wireless performance and reliable battery life, allowing you to eke out five hours of music playback or 24 hours with the included Lightning charging case. They also boast hands-free Siri access, audio sharing, and the ability to quickly switch between Apple devices, making them a great budget pick if you’re tapped into Apple’s ecosystem and want a no-fuss pair of wireless earbuds. What you don’t get are more modern perks like active noise cancellation and multipoint pairing, but it’s hard to complain given their current price tag and great ease of use.
Read our AirPods (second-gen) review.
A few more deals and discounts
If you’re not turned off by black geometric wall art, Best Buy is selling Nanoleaf’s Shapes Ultra Black Triangles Smarter Kit for an all-time low of $175.99 ($44 off). The limited edition, nine-panel set functions as an all-black version of its Shapes Triangle panels, meaning the modular LED light bars can still display 16 million colors and work with Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home. They can also play a host of clever lighting animations in case you prefer the look of a simulated waterfall over a simple color pattern.
Nothing’s newest pair of noise-canceling earbuds, the Nothing Ear, are down to $129 ($30 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon. They aren’t going to provide the kind of ecosystem tricks you’d get with a pair of Apple or Samsung earbuds, but they can certainly match them in terms of sound. What’s more, the earbuds offer wireless charging, IP54 dust and water resistance, multipoint connectivity, and ChatGPT integration (if you’re using a Nothing phone), which is a lot for the price. Read our initial impressions.
The PlayStation 5 “slim” is on sale at Amazon for $449 ($50 off) while its digital-only counterpart is down to $399 ($50 off) at Walmart, which is an all-time low in both instances. Sony’s midcycle refresh is slightly smaller than the original model released in 2020, yet despite the sleeker build, it can tackle all the same games at the same 4K graphical fidelity. Plus, both the standard configuration and the Digitial Edition come with 1TB of built-in storage (up from 825GB on the OG model). Read our hands-on impressions.
Apple’s second-gen earbuds are down to $69.99, which is a price we’ve seen only a handful of times. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Amazon Prime Day brought discounts on a whole swath of Apple products, from iPads and AirTags to the latest 15-inch MacBook Air. We also saw deals across Apple’s entire earbuds lineup — including a terrific deal on the second-gen AirPods, which quickly sold out at Amazon. Luckily, if you missed it the first time around, Apple’s entry-level earbuds are once again on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $69.99 ($60 off), effectively matching their lowest price to date.
Admittedly, Apple’s second-gen earbuds can’t rival the latest AirPods Pro with USB-C or even the third-gen AirPods, for that matter. However, the vanilla buds do offer excellent wireless performance and reliable battery life, allowing you to eke out five hours of music playback or 24 hours with the included Lightning charging case. They also boast hands-free Siri access, audio sharing, and the ability to quickly switch between Apple devices, making them a great budget pick if you’re tapped into Apple’s ecosystem and want a no-fuss pair of wireless earbuds. What you don’t get are more modern perks like active noise cancellation and multipoint pairing, but it’s hard to complain given their current price tag and great ease of use.
Read our AirPods (second-gen) review.
A few more deals and discounts
If you’re not turned off by black geometric wall art, Best Buy is selling Nanoleaf’s Shapes Ultra Black Triangles Smarter Kit for an all-time low of $175.99 ($44 off). The limited edition, nine-panel set functions as an all-black version of its Shapes Triangle panels, meaning the modular LED light bars can still display 16 million colors and work with Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home. They can also play a host of clever lighting animations in case you prefer the look of a simulated waterfall over a simple color pattern.
Nothing’s newest pair of noise-canceling earbuds, the Nothing Ear, are down to $129 ($30 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon. They aren’t going to provide the kind of ecosystem tricks you’d get with a pair of Apple or Samsung earbuds, but they can certainly match them in terms of sound. What’s more, the earbuds offer wireless charging, IP54 dust and water resistance, multipoint connectivity, and ChatGPT integration (if you’re using a Nothing phone), which is a lot for the price. Read our initial impressions.
The PlayStation 5 “slim” is on sale at Amazon for $449 ($50 off) while its digital-only counterpart is down to $399 ($50 off) at Walmart, which is an all-time low in both instances. Sony’s midcycle refresh is slightly smaller than the original model released in 2020, yet despite the sleeker build, it can tackle all the same games at the same 4K graphical fidelity. Plus, both the standard configuration and the Digitial Edition come with 1TB of built-in storage (up from 825GB on the OG model). Read our hands-on impressions.
Meta’s AI Studio Can Create a Copy of Your Favorite Influencer. Here’s Why That Matters
Instagram and Facebook’s parent company is quickly breaking down the walls between fantasy and reality.
Instagram and Facebook’s parent company is quickly breaking down the walls between fantasy and reality.
OpenAI starts rolling out its Her-like voice mode for ChatGPT
Image: OpenAI
OpenAI’s new advanced voice mode for ChatGPT is starting to roll out to a small number of people who subscribe to ChatGPT Plus. The feature, which OpenAI showed off at its GPT-4o launch event in May, was criticized for sounding similar to Scarlett Johansson and was later delayed for safety reasons.
At OpenAI’s event, the new voice mode appeared to be noticeably more capable than ChatGPT’s current voice mode. Onstage, OpenAI employees were able to interrupt and ask the chatbot to tell a story in different ways, and the chatbot took their interruptions in stride to adjust its responses.
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The advanced mode was set to release in alpha in late June, but OpenAI delayed the rollout by one month to “reach our bar to launch.” As part of that delay, the company said it was “improving the model’s ability to detect and refuse certain content.” OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson says the company tested the voice model’s capabilities with more than 100 external red teamers (people who try to attack technologies to find weaknesses). The company has recently faced a lot of scrutiny about its safety policies, so this pause may have been the right choice. OpenAI has also “added new filters that will recognize and block certain requests to generate music or other copyrighted audio,” Christianson says.
During OpenAI’s event, one of the key criticisms of the new mode was how much the onstage voice, dubbed “Sky,” sounded like Johansson, who played an AI personality in the movie Her. While the voice had been in ChatGPT before OpenAI’s spring demo, the company pulled it shortly before Johansson revealed she had sent letters to OpenAI asking how the voice was made. Christianson says that ChatGPT’s new mode will only use four preset voices it made with voice actors, adding, “We’ve made it so that ChatGPT cannot impersonate other people’s voices, both individuals and public figures, and will block outputs that differ from one of these preset voices.”
OpenAI plans to bring the new mode to all ChatGPT Plus users in the fall, according to Christianson.
Image: OpenAI
OpenAI’s new advanced voice mode for ChatGPT is starting to roll out to a small number of people who subscribe to ChatGPT Plus. The feature, which OpenAI showed off at its GPT-4o launch event in May, was criticized for sounding similar to Scarlett Johansson and was later delayed for safety reasons.
At OpenAI’s event, the new voice mode appeared to be noticeably more capable than ChatGPT’s current voice mode. Onstage, OpenAI employees were able to interrupt and ask the chatbot to tell a story in different ways, and the chatbot took their interruptions in stride to adjust its responses.
The advanced mode was set to release in alpha in late June, but OpenAI delayed the rollout by one month to “reach our bar to launch.” As part of that delay, the company said it was “improving the model’s ability to detect and refuse certain content.” OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson says the company tested the voice model’s capabilities with more than 100 external red teamers (people who try to attack technologies to find weaknesses). The company has recently faced a lot of scrutiny about its safety policies, so this pause may have been the right choice. OpenAI has also “added new filters that will recognize and block certain requests to generate music or other copyrighted audio,” Christianson says.
During OpenAI’s event, one of the key criticisms of the new mode was how much the onstage voice, dubbed “Sky,” sounded like Johansson, who played an AI personality in the movie Her. While the voice had been in ChatGPT before OpenAI’s spring demo, the company pulled it shortly before Johansson revealed she had sent letters to OpenAI asking how the voice was made. Christianson says that ChatGPT’s new mode will only use four preset voices it made with voice actors, adding, “We’ve made it so that ChatGPT cannot impersonate other people’s voices, both individuals and public figures, and will block outputs that differ from one of these preset voices.”
OpenAI plans to bring the new mode to all ChatGPT Plus users in the fall, according to Christianson.
CatDog Token Rallies 22%, Climbing DEXTools Rankings as Pepe Unchained Presale Heats Up
CatDog (CATDOG), a playful combination of iconic cartoon characters, has made it onto the top 10 Hot Pairs list on… Continue reading CatDog Token Rallies 22%, Climbing DEXTools Rankings as Pepe Unchained Presale Heats Up
The post CatDog Token Rallies 22%, Climbing DEXTools Rankings as Pepe Unchained Presale Heats Up appeared first on ReadWrite.
CatDog (CATDOG), a playful combination of iconic cartoon characters, has made it onto the top 10 Hot Pairs list on DEXTools, capturing investor attention with its unique concept and promising early performance.
With a market cap hovering around $50 million, the token has demonstrated significant price fluctuations, hinting at potential explosive growth.
CatDog (CATDOG) price analysis and price prediction
With a market cap of $50 million and a token price of $0.0005431, $CATDOG sits in the sweet spot of $20 million to $100 million, a range where many projects start to gain significant momentum.
Though $CATDOG hasn’t yet debuted on CoinMarketCap, early indicators, including its recent No. 4 ranking on DEXTools’ Hot Pairs list, suggest a promising trajectory.
The project’s chart reveals a notable pump a few days ago, followed by a period of consolidation. This pattern, coupled with the formation of a triple bottom, hints at potential bullish behavior. While market predictions are never certain, the project’s early performance is worth noting.
At the heart of $CATDOG is a playful concept that captures the age-old rivalry between cats and dogs. However, instead of choosing sides, $CATDOG combines the two, offering a narrative that follows the intertwined lives of a cat and a dog.
This storyline provides a unique twist, making $CATDOG stand out in the crowded meme coin market. Despite its early stages, $CATDOG exhibits significant potential. The project’s market cap of $50 million, coupled with a unique concept and strong community engagement, positions it for future growth.
While the project is still in its early stages, it has already shown impressive gains, with a 22% increase in the past 24 hours alone. Investors are keenly watching $CATDOG, recognizing its potential for further pumps.
As the project continues to develop and expand its utility, it may become an even more attractive investment opportunity.
$CATDOG roadmap and development
$CATDOG has a clearly defined roadmap outlining its development trajectory. The initial phase focuses on launching the token and fostering community growth through platforms like Twitter, aiming to build a strong and engaged holder base.
Subsequently, the project will undergo development, coupled with robust marketing efforts and strategic partnerships with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). To enhance media exposure and provide exclusive digital assets to the community, $CATDOG plans to develop an NFT generator.
Furthermore, the project aims to achieve significant milestones by listing on top centralized exchanges and collaborating with leading market makers.
This comprehensive roadmap underscores $CATDOG’s commitment to growth and community engagement, which are crucial for long-term success. $CATDOG distinguishes itself with several unique features. Firstly, it boasts a 100% liquidity allocation, ensuring stability and transparency.
Additionally, the project adopts a zero-tax policy, appealing to investors seeking straightforward investment opportunities. To further solidify security, the liquidity pool has been burned. $CATDOG operates with a total supply of 100 billion tokens.
To enhance community engagement and entertainment, the project incorporates engaging comics that narrate the $CATDOG journey.
Community engagement and branding of the Catdog project
CatDog (CATDOG) has successfully cultivated a vibrant community on social media platforms like Twitter. Recently, the project celebrated an all-time high, signaling positive momentum and growing interest.
The clean and appealing branding further enhances $CATDOG’s market presence. While this token has been performing well and trending on DEXTools, another Pepe-themed token is also gaining traction.
Currently, it is about to hit its soft cap of $6.4 million, and analysts are watching it closely as the potential next big Pepe token. For those seeking alternative investments, check out our 2024 guide to the best meme coins to buy.
Pepe Unchained: High Potential Alternative Investment
Pepe Unchained is a novel blockchain initiative centered around the popular Pepe meme. This presale venture has already garnered over $6.4 million in funding, signifying substantial investor interest.
Distinguishing itself with a suite of compelling features, Pepe Unchained offers instant bridging between Ethereum (ETH) and Pepe, thereby significantly enhancing liquidity and usability.
Moreover, the project distinguishes itself by charging exceptionally low transaction fees, making it a cost-effective option for users. With a transaction processing capacity 100x faster than Ethereum, Pepe Unchained is poised to efficiently handle elevated transaction volumes.
Starting the week with Pepe like… pic.twitter.com/zl0l7Bvkup
— Pepe Unchained (@pepe_unchained) July 30, 2024
To further incentivize participation, investors have the opportunity to earn passive income through token staking.
The convergence of innovative features and substantial fundraising success positions Pepe Unchained as a promising endeavor within the blockchain landscape. To take part in the $PEPU token presale, visit pepeunchained.com.
Conclusion
Both CatDog and Pepe Unchained highlight innovative developments within the cryptocurrency market. CatDog’s unique combination of feline and canine elements, along with its early market success and engaged community, positions it as a noteworthy investment.
Pepe Unchained (PEPU), on the other hand, shows potential through its advanced blockchain solutions and strong presale performance.
These projects exemplify the evolving nature of the crypto landscape and present interesting prospects for those seeking new investment opportunities. If you’re interested in the absolute best initial coin offerings (ICOs) of 2024, explore our comprehensive guide featuring the most promising options.
Related
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Can Pepe Achieve a 3X Surge to $15 Billion Market Cap Amid the New Pepe-Themed Presale Frenzy?
The post CatDog Token Rallies 22%, Climbing DEXTools Rankings as Pepe Unchained Presale Heats Up appeared first on ReadWrite.
Proofpoint email filter flaw exploited to send out millions of phishing messages
Phishing emails “perfectly” spoofed major brands including Disney and Coca-Cola.
Cybercriminals found a way to send millions of “perfectly spoofed” phishing emails thanks to a vulnerability in Proofpoint’s email relay servers.
Experts from Guardio Labs revealed the phishing campaign started in January 2024, and was sending out an average of three million emails daily. In early June, it peaked with 14 million emails being disseminated.
The researchers dubbed the campaign “EchoSpoofing”, noting the crooks were able to get their phishing emails properly DKIM signed, and SPF approved. What tipped researchers off, though, was that all of the emails were dispatched from one specific family of relay servers – pphosted.com – which is owned and operated by the email security vendor Proofpoint.
Bypassing spam filters
To the recipient, the email looks as if it is coming from a legitimate business. The businesses being spoofed here all seem to be Proofpoint’s customers, mostly Fortune 100 companies. These include Disney, IBM, Nike, Best Buy, and Coca-Cola, to name a few.
“These emails echoed from official Proofpoint email relays with authenticated SPF and DKIM signatures, thus bypassing major security protections — all to deceive recipients and steal funds and credit card details,” the researchers concluded.
Guardio Labs said that all major email platforms, including Gmail, failed to flag these emails as spam, and instead allowed them straight into people’s inboxes. The emails scared the victims with fake account expirations, payment and renewal requests, and similar, all with the goal of harvesting payment and personally identifiable information.
Proofpoint said it had been keeping an eye on the EchoSpoofing campaign since March 2024, and that it provided new settings, and advice, on how to prevent such attacks in the future. The company provided a detailed guide on how users can add anti-spoof checks, and more.
Via BleepingComputer
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