Designed to look like an audio waveform, scanning these official barcodes with a smartphone will prompt the device to play a specific song on the app. In the past few years, many music fans have chosen to get these tattooed on their body, often sharing them on social media. But as the trend drags on, some are realizing that the tattoos, even just a year later, quickly begin to stop working.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/spotify-tattoos-stop-scanning
When tech entrepreneur Ian Leaman needed to buy a website address for his new artificial intelligence start-up he found that he had an expensive problem. One web address, npc.ai, was sold for $250,000 this year, while another, service.ai, went for $127,500, according to one report. Such head-turning figures are a side effect of the feverish buzz surrounding AI start-ups and technology.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67284936
Humane, a five-year-old artificial intelligence startup founded by former Apple designers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, announced its first product on Thursday — a $699 pin you wear on your lapel. The Humane AI Pin is designed to replace your smartphone, allowing the user to make calls, send texts and look up information through voice controls. It also has a laser display, turning your palm into a mini screen that can show the time, date or what’s nearby.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/09/former-apple-designers-at-humane-launch-hands-free-ai-powered-pin.html
Omegle, a chat service that pairs users with a random person so they can talk via text or video, is shutting down. Leif K-Brooks, who launched the service when he was 18 years old, announced its closure and talked about its humble beginnings, as well as how it grew organically because "meeting new people [is] a basic human need." While he didn't delve into the specific reasons for Omegle's shutdown, he admitted that "some people misused [the service], including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes." In the end, he found the "existing stress and expense of operating Omegle, and fighting its misuse" to no longer be sustainable, both financially and psychologically. "Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s," he added.
https://www.engadget.com/omegle-shuts-down-after-14-years-of-random-chats-125007355.html
TikTok only launched its Creator Fund a few years ago, but is already shutting it down in favor of a new monetization scheme that arrived earlier this year. "Starting December 16, 2023, the Creator Fund will be discontinued in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany," a spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. "All creators currently enrolled in the Creator Fund can upgrade to the Creativity Program."
https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-is-shutting-down-its-2-billion-creator-fund-and-steering-users-to-the-creativity-program-091023832.html
Intuit Inc. announced this week that it will shut down Mint on Jan. 1, 2024. The company’s decision to discontinue the popular budgeting app could leave millions of users scrambling to find a replacement.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/intuit-is-shutting-down-the-mint-budgeting-appheres-how-long-you-have-to-find-a-new-service-41e82db7?ref=biztoc.com
The innocuous black-and-white Quick Response (QR) codes pervasive across retailers, airports, bars, hotels (and more) are the threat surfaces no one talks about. But attackers see them as the perfect Trojan Horse for hijacking phones and stealing digital identities.
https://venturebeat.com/security/how-a-simple-qr-code-can-take-control-of-your-phone-and-digital-life/