Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s New Photo-Sharing App Has a Design From the Stone Age

image via gizmodo.com
image via gizmodo.com

As explained by Mayer, the app aims to help people easily create and share photos of trips, parties, or hangouts with friends. Shine does this by creating shared albums, to which you and others can add photos in their original resolution. If you’re too lazy to go through the photos you’ve taken to decide which ones you want to upload, you can turn on the app’s AI-powered “Manual Mode.”

https://gizmodo.com/marissa-mayer-new-app-shine-photo-sharing-yahoo-design-1851368662

Canva acquires Affinity to fill the Adobe-sized holes in its design suite

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

Web-based design platform Canva has acquired the Affinity creative software suite, positioning itself as a challenger to Adobe’s grip over the digital design industry. Canva announced the deal on Tuesday, which gives the company ownership over Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher — three popular creative applications for Windows, Mac, and iPad that provide similar features to Adobe’s Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign software, respectively.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/24112277/canva-affinity-acquisition-design-software-suite-adobe-rival

Spotify tests video courses to teach everything from music production to Excel

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

Starting with a rollout in the U.K., Spotify is testing the waters for an online education offering of freemium video courses. Produced in partnership with third parties like the BBC and Skillshare, at least two lessons will be free, with the cost of a total course ranging from £20 to £80 on average. The prices will be the same, regardless of whether you are a basic or premium user, at least for now.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/25/spotify-courses-learning/

Windows Notepad’s midlife renaissance continues with spellcheck and autocorrect

image via arstechnica.com
image via arstechnica.com

An updated version of Notepad currently rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels is adding two more modern features to the old app: spellcheck and autocorrect. Per usual, spellcheck in Notepad highlights misspellings with red squiggly underlines, and right-clicking the word or pressing Shift + F10 will pop up a short menu of suggested fixes.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/windows-notepads-midlife-renaissance-continues-with-spellcheck-and-autocorrect/

Apple slams DOJ case as misguided attempt to turn iPhone into Android

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Apple said: This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology. We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/21/apple-slams-doj-case-as-misguided-attempt-to-turn-iphone-into-android/

Facebook Is Making Insane AI-Generated Fever Dreams Go Viral for Gullible Boomers

image via futurism.com
image via futurism.com

Facebook is quickly being overrun by dubious, AI-generated junk — which is somehow attracting huge amounts of attention from its aging user base. Last week, screenshots of a Facebook post drawing in hundreds of likes and comments with pictures of a "shrimp Jesus" went viral on X-formerly-Twitter. Judging by the comments, the researchers found that "many users are unaware of the synthetic origin of the images, though a subset of users post comments or infographics alerting others."

https://futurism.com/facebook-ai-generated-images-viral

LinkedIn plans to add gaming to its platform

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that LinkedIn is working on a new games experience. It will be doing so by tapping into the same wave of puzzle-mania that helped simple games like Wordle find viral success and millions of players. Three early efforts are games called “Queens”, “Inference” and “Crossclimb.”

https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/16/linkedin-wants-to-add-gaming-to-its-platform/