Category: Technology

Leaders at Discord have decided to cut its staff by 17 percent, according to an internal memo first reported on by the Verge. Concerns over how the chat app has yet to become profitable have played a role in the decision. CEO Jason Citron said that staff across departments will be impacted once the layoffs begin.

According to the memo, Citron believes the company hired too many people since 2020. This, he wrote, led the workforce to take on projects that made Discord “less efficient.” He added that the company needs to sharpen its focus, however, he did not give any insight about any particular strategies moving forward except that the cuts “put us in the best position to continue building a strong and profitable business.”

Discord will continue to provide short term pay and benefits to the 170 staffers it is letting go. This also isn’t the first time the company has resorted to staff cuts. The company recently laid off four percent of its staff at the end of last year and before that, it made an undisclosed number of staffing cuts 2019.

The company has notably endured some internal struggles lately. Discord refused to have its CEO testify about its children protection policies when called upon by the US Senate Judiciary Committee. That came after a damning NBC News report on the issue, which claimed that children on the platform were being groomed and extorted. It also faced backlash for a small data breach that exposed the personal information of some users last year.

Discord is far from alone among tech companies which have recently initiated layoffs. Just one month into the new year, Duolingo and Unity announced they would be trimming staff. In big tech, Meta, Amazon and Google also have also announced plans to lay off hundreds of workers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/discord-lays-off-170-workers-in-latest-round-of-cuts-211541127.html?src=rss 

The US attorney’s office in Massachusetts says eBay will pay a $3 million penalty to resolve criminal charges following a harassment campaign conducted by several former executives. Several ex-employees targeted a couple who wrote a newsletter that was critical of the company.

The Justice Department charged eBay with two counts of stalking through interstate travel, two counts of stalking through electronic communications services, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of justice. The $3 million fine was the statutory maximum for the felonies. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement with authorities, eBay also needs to improve its compliance program and retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for three years.

The US attorney’s office says eBay “admitted to a detailed recitation of all the relevant facts about its conduct.” In August 2019, the company’s former senior director of safety and security Jim Baugh and six others carried out a harassment campaign against Ina and David Steiner of Massachusetts. The couple wrote about litigation involving eBay and higher-ups at the company were said to have been frustrated about the negative coverage.

Baugh and his co-conspirators harassed the couple by, among other things, sending them a fetal pig, a funeral wreath and live spiders and cockroaches. According to prosecutors, three of the former eBay employees traveled to the Steiners’ home in the aim of planting a GPS tracking device on their car. The campaign also involved sending harassing messages via Twitter (now X).

Baugh and several others were convicted and sent to prison. One other has admitted to their part in the campaign but has yet to be sentenced.

In a victim impact statement published on their website, the Steiners wrote that “eBay’s actions against us had a damaging and permanent impact on us — emotionally, psychologically, physically, reputationally, and financially — and we strongly pushed federal prosecutors for further indictments to deter corporate executives and board members from creating a culture where stalking and harassment is tolerated or encouraged.”

The pair and Steiner Associates, the publisher of their EcommerceBytes newsletter, have filed a civil lawsuit against eBay and the former employees. A trial has been scheduled for March next year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ebay-will-pay-3-million-to-resolve-criminal-charges-in-a-bizarre-cyberstalking-case-213050834.html?src=rss 

Credential stuffing, or using compromised login information to take over accounts, has been around as long as we’ve used passwords to secure our accounts. But, perhaps in part because it’s gotten easier for hackers to perform this type of attack, credential stuffing made headlines in recent months.

Look at the 23andMe breach affecting nearly 7 million users. While not every account was compromised via credential stuffing, it was how the hackers initially got in, and then they used a social feature called DNA Relatives to keep going. Hackers gained access to sensitive information like full names and locations, specifically targeting groups like Ashkenazi people, offering the data for sale in bulk online.

Hacking conjures an image of sophisticated, high tech break-ins, but what makes credential stuffing so lucrative is that it’s surprisingly “pretty unsophisticated,” Rob Shavell, CEO of online personal information removal service DeleteMe, told Engadget. Hackers will use educated guesses to figure out your password, or just buy old passwords from leaks online to see if they work for different accounts. Tactics used by hackers include using personal information found online to guess passwords or asking a generative AI program to come up with usable variations on a password to get into an account.

Companies frequently fail to protect your data, sticking you with the burden of preventing credential stuffing accounts to the best of your ability. In fact, credential stuffing has become so prevalent, that you’ve likely already fallen victim. Nearly a quarter of all login attempts last year met the criteria for credential stuffing, according to security company Okta’s 2023 State of Secure Identity Report that surveyed more than 800 IT and security decision-makers across fields. Verizon’s 2023 analysis of data breaches found that about half of breaches involved stolen credentials. Checking an email address on sites like Have I Been Pwned can show you which passwords may have been compromised, meaning if you’ve reused it on another account, it could be a matter of time until hackers try to use it to get in.

Credential stuffing works because we tend to stick to certain patterns when creating passwords, like using your mother’s maiden name or a childhood address, with small variations to make them easier to remember. “Because we’re lazy, and because we have 50 passwords now, it is the default to just pick one password and use it many places,” chief information security officer at cloud company Akamai Steve Winterfeld said. “The problem is you then are not taking appropriate risk measures.”

That level of risk varies widely. The one-off account you used to try out World of Warcraft years ago and doesn’t have any personal or financial information attached to it probably doesn’t concern you. But hackers are betting you’ve reused an email, username and password for a more lucrative account, like your bank or social media, and they will use credential stuffing to get in. “I have one username and password that I use for things that I’m okay if they’re compromised … that would not financially or brand impact me,” Winterfeld said.

Minimizing the risks you’re taking online by using strong passwords will make it a lot more manageable to start protecting yourself against credential stuffing. Changing passwords frequently, or making the switch to passkeys, can also help. There are other ways you can protect yourself, too, as companies have made it clear that they’ll do anything in their power to shirk responsibility for protecting your information.

First, understand that once a credential is leaked, it can be used to gain access to other accounts, Frank Teruel, CFO at bot prevention firm Arkose Labs, said. So, change passwords for any accounts where you may have repeated it, especially high-profile targets linked to financial or other sensitive institutions. This is where a password manager comes in handy, because some will even flag if a password has been found in a breach and suggest that you change it to a stronger option.

Taking some time to purge accounts you no longer use will greatly reduce the number of password leaks to worry about, too, Teruel said. In the meantime, make it a habit not to reuse passwords or small variations on them, and to change passwords frequently to limit risk.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-is-credential-stuffing-and-how-do-you-keep-your-accounts-safe-from-it-190044846.html?src=rss 

Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launches next week, but players are likely to encounter an amusing bug as they make their way through the game, as reported by IGN. One of the game’s NPCs is voiced by a text-to-speech program, complete with the slightly robotic tones we’ve come to associate with these services. 

It’s not quite Siri or Alexa, but it’s close and certainly doesn’t fit the game’s Persian-inspired setting. The NPC-in-question is a tree spirit named Kalux and seems to be voiced by a TTS program that’s available online for free and typically used by streamers.

This isn’t an “AI is coming for your jobs” type thing, but rather a mistake on Ubisoft’s part, as each and every other NPC is attached to a voice actor. IGN notes that Kalux doesn’t have a voice actor in the credits. Additionally, Kalux only has a few lines, so it likely won’t be a tough fix to assign an actor to deliver that dialogue. Ubisoft has readied a day-one patch, but it won’t handle the Kalux issue. Look for another patch in late January or early February that replaces the bot with a human.

Ubisoft confirmed the error and said that the “English version of these eight lines of text for this character were not properly implemented,” going on to note that the game has more than 12,000 lines of dialogue across multiple languages. Game developers often use TTS services and AI voices to create placeholder dialogue, which is eventually replaced by human actors. The company just forgot to handle this one character.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown releases on January 15 for just about every platform out there, including the Nintendo Switch and PC. It’s the first franchise installment since 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. This is a Metroidvania-style platformer that brings the series back to its 2D roots. Reviews are mostly positive, with many praising it for offering a true AAA Metroidvania experience in the spirit of Nintendo’s recent-ish Metroid Dread.

However, just because this particular instance was a mistake, doesn’t mean that AI-enhanced TTS services aren’t going to radically change the industry. CD Projekt Red recently used AI to include a deceased actor’s voice in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and SAG-AFTRA recently struck a deal with an AI voice acting platform to make it easier for actors to license their voice as a digital replica for use in games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-accidentally-used-text-to-speech-to-voice-a-character-in-the-new-prince-of-persia-game-193448687.html?src=rss 

The following article discusses medical procedures.

On the fringes of each and every CES, there are products worthy of attention, even if they can’t be called “consumer electronics.” A prime example is Adam-X, a medical training tool that takes the idea of a CPR dummy and dials it up to eleven… thousand. Unlike the dolls you learned basic CPR with, Adam-X is a fully-featured robotic patient used for a wide variety of medical training.

Adam-X is equipped with a realistic skeleton, muscles and lungs that’ll behave much like the real things do. Depending on the scenario, the dummy will give you physical feedback depending on how successful you are at treating it. For instance, the pupils will dilate, cheeks will flush, the tongue will swell and the extremities will turn blue, depending on what you’re doing at the time. Right now, Adam is even able to make some vague noises but his makers pledge that an update at some point this year will add in a GPT-enabled communication feature to train medics how to keep patients engaged and calm. 

As well as CPR training, you can use this device to teach intubation, administering an IV, applying a blood pressure cuff and using a defibrillator. And much as the system itself will respond to what you’re doing, its suite of sensors can examine your technique and offer feedback. For instance, Adam-X was set into CPR mode and required me to keep it alive, but I wasn’t sure I was getting my chest compressions correct; after all, I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. But, by looking at the laptop Adam was connected to, I could see how far my hands were away from the ideal position. 

There’s plenty of other things I wasn’t able to test in the crowded show floor at CES, including the fact that Adam has pressurized blood vessels. Medics who need to clear the airway by cutting the trachea, for instance, may be surprised to see a spurt of (artificial) blood. Similarly, if one of the independently-pressurized lungs collapses, you’ll be able to use a real needle to puncture the chest to reinflate it. Not to mention swapping out the regular limbs for ones that have simulated wounds, that require surgical intervention or to add in an intravenous drip to a vein. (Adam even has working genitalia and can pass urine or blood depending on the training scenario.)

Unfortunately, unless you’re a medical school or other training facility with $70,000 grand or so lying around, you probably won’t be able to buy one. But you should watch the video and see how very cool it is to practice keeping someone alive while getting a little more feedback than with the regular CPR doll. 

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-cpr-dummy-of-the-future-can-piss-blood-165533305.html?src=rss 

Swarovski has turned up at CES 2024 in Las Vegas with its first ever pair of smart binoculars that will identify the bird you’re looking at. All you have to do is point the gear at a bird and make sure the view is in focus, and then press down an action button. Within a few seconds, the system will overlay a bird’s name over your view, using data pulled from the Merlin Bird ID database. That has over 9,000 species tagged, and will even let you know the degree of certainty it has if the bird in question is in an unexpected location. And if this was the only feature these binoculars had, it’d be enough to justify the purchase, but that’s only the beginning of what these things can do.

Between the eyepieces, there’s a function wheel similar to one you would find on a camera that lets you cycle between various features. That includes a Wildlife ID version which hooks into its built-in Mammal, Dragonfly and Butterfly ID databases. Plus, there’s a camera which lets you send pictures and video to a paired smartphone, which would similarly be plenty to justify the expense. But the system is also designed to be expandable, with the focus wheel including space for any future custom databases you might need. For instance, one idea could be to build a database for stars, or airplane types for aviation fans to spot the make and model of what’s flying overhead.

Then there’s the discovery sharing feature, which enables you to share something you’ve found with whoever you’re outdoors with. All you need to do is tag whatever you’ve found, and then hand the AX Visio over to them, where a series of flashing arrows will guide them to where you were looking. Even in the busy halls of CES, one of the company’s representatives was able to pinpoint a far-off fire exit sign before handing me the binoculars and asking me to find it. All you need to do is follow the arrows straight to what you’re meant to be looking at with a system that’s as elegant as it is useful. There’s even a built-in compass that’ll let you identify which direction you’re gazing toward to help you navigate.

You might notice from the pictures that there are three lenses, with the central one holding the 13-megapixel sensor shooting HD-quality (1,920 x 1,080) pictures and video. There’s 8GB storage, which should hold up to an hour of video or 1,700 photos before needing to be cleared off. Beyond the smarts, the binoculars magnify up to 10x with 88 percent light transmission, thanks to the company’s high-end lenses. Swarovski says its glassware offers almost flat, distortion-free images with plenty of contrast and color fidelity.

Now, here’s the thing, my father-in-law is a serious ornithologist who is respected, at least among his peer group. His ability to spot the genus and species of a bird in flight is extraordinary and I’m often left bewildered at the depth of his knowledge. I don’t think I’d have the ability, patience or time to even get within a hundred miles of his capability. But, with a device like this, it might mean that I can at least vaguely keep up with him when we’re out on the trails.

The AX Visio is, however, not messing around with price, and Swarovski is charging €4,600 (around $5,000) for you to get this into your hands. While bird fans often have to be patient, this should start arriving at people’s homes at some point in February.

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/swarovskis-smart-binoculars-identify-the-birds-youre-looking-at-173151637.html?src=rss 

I’ve been interested in solar generators for a long while, but very few of them ever felt worthy of specific comment. Many of them historically boasted of running laptops, TVs or coolers, but their constrained outputs made them incapable of powering kettles, washing machines or air conditioners. CES 2024 has shown that the industry has moved beyond those limitations, with newer units capable of fulfilling the promise inherent in their names.

Take the new EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra, the company’s flagship whole-home backup, which can pump out 7,200W. The company claims the unit is strong enough to power a three ton central air unit, one of the most demanding appliances in the home. Plus, because it’s a modular design, you can add up to three of these units to the same home for a cumulative output of 21.6kW — and, with enough batteries, a total storage capacity of 90kWh.

Solix, Anker’s big battery division, was here at CES showing off its new F3800 portable power station. The company moved into the home battery market in the summer of 2023 but even something designed to be wheeled around is shorn of the older limitations. The F3800 can pump out a peak of 6,000W – a figure you can double if you buy two – enough to add juice to an EV in a pinch. And, best of all, it’s currently available to buy for $3,499 which, depending on how much solar you pair it with, should mean payback considerations are less than five years.

Jackery, which has been a name in this market for a long while, will sell you its 2000 Plus, complete with two 200W solar panels, for just $3,300. That small unit, if you use the right accessory, can be wired into your home’s breaker box and similarly has a surge peak of 6,000W. It’s not quite as muscular as some of its competitors, but the low cost means that it’s hard to argue against if you’re looking to dip a toe into this world.

Cost for solar panels and batteries have fallen dramatically in the last few years, with Our World in Data reporting that the cost of a panel has dropped from $2.32 per watt in 2010 to just $0.26 per watt in 2022. BloombergNEF reported that lithium ion battery prices have fallen from $780 per kWh in 2013 down to $139 per kWh in 2023. And it’s this that has enabled this surge in home battery uptake.

Emma Ross, who heads up communications for Jackery, says that customers are drawn to these falling prices. She added that, second to cost, the plug-and-play element of the gear is key, offering “the perfect combination of convenience and environmental friendliness.” The low cost and ease of installation means these systems “require less investment than other, larger solar options,” making it a “less intimidating” way for wary neophytes to get involved.

Nick Bowers, head of business development at EcoFlow in the US, says that consumers are frustrated with the domestic energy market. He claims rate increases, natural disasters, power outages and climate change have all driven people toward buying solar gear. “The pain points pushing people toward renewables,” he said, “will only grow more acute,” with users looking to “be less reliant on the grid.”

And the solar industry writ large is gearing up to address a surge in demand expected to come as these prices fall. Eric Villines, head of global communications at Anker, says that the only roadblock right now is the fact most homeowners aren’t investing in storage alongside their solar gear. “In 2022, only ten percent of installed home solar systems in the US included energy storage,” he told Engadget, “preventing homeowners from securing protection against blackouts.” To address this, the company surveyed users and found most were either put off by the high price, or didn’t even know that it was a viable option for them.

Which is why the knock-down prices on hardware the likes of which we’ve seen at CES 2024 is hopefully going to address some of those issues. After all, whereas some of this gear would have cost tens of thousands of dollars a few years ago, they’re now less than half that price. Perhaps these units will serve as a gateway drug to investments into more expansive whole home batteries further down the line. And that’s a good first step towards our bigger, and hopefully brighter solar future.

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/its-a-great-time-to-buy-a-solar-generator-175705763.html?src=rss