Latest Stories from Jamie
Disney invests $1.5bn in Epic Games to create new Fortnite universe
Disney has just secured a $1.5bn stake in Epic Games to develop a new Fortnite universe incorporating all of its major properties – including Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, ESPN, and more. Epic Games has done it again! The latest major coup for the publisher comes in the form of a hefty $1.5bn investment sum from Disney, and surprise, Fortnite is at the heart of the deal. The entertainment giant’s minority stake will...
SpaceX probed for claims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination
Female ex-employees of the company have condemned a ‘frat’-style culture allegedly rampant with gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Elon Musk’s aerospace’s company, SpaceX, is under the microscope of the Californian Civil Rights Department (CCRD) following an influx of alarming claims made in January. A civil rights complaint from a group of former employees describes regular instances of discrimination, crude sexual humour, and harassment, culminating in an ongoing ‘frat’-style culture in the...
Opinion – Apple’s attempt to redefine ‘screen time’ is eerie
The Apple Vision Pro has the ability to pin virtual screens and notices throughout your home and keep them there. Though the tech is far from mainstream, this could be a nod to the future – and it’s eerie as hell. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to be more present and significantly decrease the amount of time we spend staring at screens. This is easier said than...
Extraction of raw materials to reportedly rise by 60% by 2060
An unpublished UN document acquired by The Guardian claims that the globe’s extraction of raw materials will increase by 60% by 2060. Such rapid acceleration would inevitably have huge implications for our climate. Despite the fact that the extraction of rare earth metals and minerals accounts for roughly 60% of anthropogenic global warming, the industry is tipped for exponential growth by 2060. According to an unreleased United Nations document –...
Google’s Lumiere generates realistic AI videos from text prompts
AI video is fast turning from uncanny valley to genuinely realistic, and Google’s Lumiere is the most sophisticated text-to-video generator we’ve seen to date. Evoking a sense of awe – and a hefty dose of unease – Google recently exhibited how sophisticated AI video has become in just a few years of development. In the same way that text-to-image generators like Bing Image Creator, DALL-E, and Midjourney can create original images...
Study says using AI is way more expensive than human labour
MIT researchers conducted a study to see whether or not AI was more cost-effective than employing human workers across 800 occupations. Your job is probably secure, for now. When revolutionary technologies spring to life, it’s common for people to fear the unknown. The age-old prophecy that ‘machines will take our jobs’ isn’t immediately in the offing, however. This placating assurance arrives courtesy of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then...
Xbox gamers are not happy about full-screen ads
Unexpected changes to the Xbox dashboard have become commonplace in recent years, but the unsolicited introduction of full-screen ads is arguably the worst to date. If there’s one unforgiving community you really don’t want to antagonise, it’s gamers. A bona fide way of doing so is to immediately interrupt our sessions the instant the dashboard loads. Alas, Microsoft has deemed this start-up window as the perfect opportunity to hit Xbox owners...
Is burning trash really the lesser evil of waste management?
A significant number of trash incinerators are operating across the US. Proponents of this type of waste management proclaim it environmentally preferable to landfill, but how much of a lesser evil is it – if at all? A proverbial ‘steaming pile of garbage’ has no redeemable qualities, but there is a notable upside to be gleaned from real-life trash incineration. For well over a century now, parts of the US have...
Study lays bare Meta’s intrusive data gathering for targeted ads
Facebook has anything but a clean record when it comes to the intrusive data gathering of its consumers. Now, data watchdog Consumer Reports has revealed that tens of thousands of companies send Facebook data on single users. Your phone isn’t actually listening to you, don’t worry about turning your mic settings off. When you’re sent targeted ads for something overly specific, it’s far more likely that you’ve been ingratiated into a...
Big Oil to be fined for methane emissions following new climate law
Under a new climate law introduced by the Biden administration, US oil and gas companies will soon have to pay a fee for methane emissions that exceed a certain threshold. Could this be an effective deterrent for repeat offenders? It’s a poorly kept secret that methane is an ecological scourge on our planet. In-fact, the gas is responsible for a quarter of recorded climate warming linked to greenhouse gas emissions. Within...