Things weren’t what they appear to be this week. Screen protectors don’t protect much, Google wants reward you for figuring out what the heck quantum computing is for, and a tech billionaire is giving away money after getting some heat for buying land in Hawaii. For those watching the Oscars, make sure to check out a conspiracy theory hidden in Oppenheimer, and read the rest of the top tech stories of the week.
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When you’re buying a new smartphone, salesmen love pestering you to buy some increased protection — insurance, a case, and, obviously, a screen protector. The screen protector has long been hailed as a necessity, costing anywhere from $10 to $60. These little slips of plastic and glass have ballooned to a $50 billion industry, but there’s a dirty secret underneath it all. Your screen protector may not be essential anymore. - Maxwell Zeff Read More
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The “Meth Lab Oompa Loompa Lady,” whose real name is Kirsty Paterson, has been through a lot over the past week, but even she wasn’t ready for the latest twist in her story. After being forced to learn an AI-generated script for a disastrous Willy Wonka-themed event in Scotland and facing hordes of hate on X/Twitter, Paterson got a message from someone she never expected: Chrissy Teigen. - Jody Serrano Read More
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There’s so much talk about AI and ChatGPT these days, but what is it really good for? If you’ve been struggling to figure out how to actually use AI in your everyday life, you’re not alone. Many of us are feeling lost about AI, but the practical use cases of ChatGPT are not as obvious as you might think. These magical AI chatbots are supposed to be taking our jobs and rapidly improving the world, but do you even really trust them to write an email? - Maxwell Zeff Read More
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If you’ve ever wondered what quantum computers actually do, you’re not alone. The truth is, no one knows what modern problems this technology can solve. Google launched a multi-year, global competition on Monday to find real-world use cases for quantum computing, and the finalists will split $5 million. - Maxwell Zeff Read More
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Oppenheimer was an enormous success at the box office last summer and has been nominated for 13 Oscars at the Academy Awards this Sunday, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. But now that you’ve had plenty of time to see the movie, it’s time to talk about a scene that many people missed. In fact, it’s just two seconds of the film and it might change how you see some of these historical characters. - Matt Novak Read More
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Truth Social, the social media platform launched by Donald Trump in 2022, suffered a widespread outage on Thursday. And it’s unfortunate timing for the former president. He was right in the middle of furiously tweeting (or Truth-ing, to use the site’s tortured parlance) about President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech. - Matt Novak Read More
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Security researchers report they uncovered a design flaw that let them hijack a Tesla using a Flipper Zero, a controversial $169 hacking tool. Partners Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry of Mysk Inc. said the attack is as simple as swiping a Tesla owner’s login information, opening the Tesla app, and driving away. The victim would have no idea they lost their $40,000 vehicle. Mysk said the exploit takes minutes, and to prove it all works, he stole his own car. - Thomas Germain Read More
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Last week, it was revealed that Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff had been buying up lots of land in Hawaii at an accelerating clip. Benioff, who is worth billions and billions of dollars, has procured approximately $100 million in land parcels throughout the Big Island via a series of nondescript LLCs. He’s been quite cagey about what most of this land is for and was more than a little bit hostile with the NPR journalist who broke the story about it. Now, in what really seems like an effort to save face, Benioff has announced he’ll be donating $150 million to regional hospitals. - Lucas Ropek Read More
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Gizmodo chats with LinkedIn about a few of their premium AI tools that help assist users get work.
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There’s petty, and then there’s Apple’s beef with Epic Games. Apple terminated Epic’s developer account on Wednesday, blocking the company’s ability to make its own Epic Games Store for iOS. Why? All because CEO Tim Sweeney wouldn’t stop dunking on Apple’s unfair practices on Twitter/X. - Maxwell Zeff Read More
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Source: Gizmodo