Users get a Twitter-like microblogging experience, according to screenshots provided to media, suggesting that Meta Platforms has been gearing up to directly challenge the platform after Musk's tumultuous ownership has resulted in a series of unpopular changes that have turned off users and advertisers.

Meta's Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.

The bank provides an immersive 3D experience for customers to perform traditional banking activities using their digital avatars.

The 52-year-old Tesla founder has previously said that his rocky takeover of Twitter last year was "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," a reference to the X.com company he founded in 1999, a later version of which went on to become PayPal, a payments giant.

New data apps tracking firm Sensor Tower indicates the hype has died down and Threads has seen a 20% decrease in active users and a 50% reduction in time spent on the app, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.

Meta has been designing prototypes for chatbots that can have humanlike discussions with its users, as the company attempts to boost its engagement with its social media platforms, according to the report, citing people with knowledge of the plans.

The success of Threads raises questions about Twitter's future. Amid massive layoffs and declining ad revenue, Twitter faces a turbulent time, further exacerbated by Elon Musk's renaming of the platform to X.

X announced in July that TweetDeck, a popular program that allows users to monitor multiple accounts and lists of users at once, would be available only to "verified" account holders from August.

For decades, scientists have tried to harness the unique properties of carbon nanotubes to create high-performance electronics that are faster or consume less power -- resulting in longer battery life, faster wireless communication and faster processing speeds for devices like smartphones and laptops.

read more

Two years ago, a research team led by the University of Oxford revealed that, when plucked like a guitar string, spider silk transmits vibrations across a wide range of frequencies, carrying information about prey, mates and even the structural integrity of a web.

read more

DNA, our genetic material, normally has the structure of a twisted rope ladder. Experts call this structure a double helix. Among other things, it is stabilized by stacking forces between base pairs. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have succeeded at measuring these forces for the very first time on the level of single base pairs. This new knowledge could help to construct precise molecular machines out of DNA.

read more

NASA's Terra satellite and a NASA animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided views of Hurricane Newton as it neared landfall in Baja California, Mexico, today, Sept. 6.

read more

A University of Oklahoma study demonstrates for the first time that remote sensing data from weather surveillance radar and on-the-ground data from the eBird citizen science database both yield robust indices of migration timing, also known as migration phenology. These indices can now be used to address the critical gap in our knowledge regarding the cues that migrants use for fine tuning their migration timing in response to climate.

read more

Precision time signals sent through the Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronize cellphone calls, time-stamp financial transactions, and support safe travel by aircraft, ship, train and car.

read more

Krishnan will be overseeing the rollout of the recently enacted Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, which is the outcome of almost five years of five years of drafts and consultations. From a digital economy perspective, there are some good features in the DPDP act but it also has some gaps which have been identified by several legal experts.

The proposed e-commerce policy in India will not include provisions for an independent regulator for online retail platforms or cover data-related issues. The policy is in its final stages and will be presented to the Prime Minister's office soon. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade recently held discussions with e-commerce firms and domestic traders, resulting in a broad consensus on the proposed policy.

The European Commission in September opened investigations to assess whether Microsoft's Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising as well as Apple's iMessage should be subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The draft AI rules have to be agreed by the European Parliament and European Union member states. They have so far been discussed three times in trilogues, which are meetings between parliament and EU states to thrash out the final versions of laws.

“To ensure the sustainability of the CoE, robust collaboration with the Industry, and the creation of commercially viable outputs, the MeitY will not own any IP generated by the CoE. The IP generated can be retained by the idea generator or by the CoE.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal would subject companies like Alphabet, Apple, PayPal and Block's CashApp to bank-like supervision, with CFPB examiners inspecting their privacy protections, executives' conduct and compliance with laws barring unfair and deceptive practices.

The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to use Geo-Information System (GIS) to survey the number of properties in the city and also use artificial intelligence (AI) for assessing the size of the multi-storied buildings.

The survey was conducted with more than 20,000 engineering graduates from various streams across India. It revealed that the average score of women stood at 27% against 31% of men in 2020, which increased to 40% as against 39% of men in 2021, thereby showcasing how women were better prepared for employment than men. However, in 2020, the average score of women declined to 25% as against 28% of men, the first decline in three years mainly due to the adoption of the hybrid mode of learning.

With its demerger journey spiked the transformation need, the article decodes how Haleon reboots its strategy

The new AI-powered Project Market Scanner (PMS) engine helped the developers increase their reach by 65% and the lead-to-impression ratio on its platform by 80%.

To celebrate the winter solstice, please join Andrew Doran, Director of Collections, for a behind-the scenes walking tour of conifer (cone-bearing) plants in the Garden. You will explore the diversity of conifers including pines, spruces, firs, hemlocks, redwoods and cypresses to name a few. We will have light refreshments and introductions before heading into the Garden.Learn more and register here

Make a UCBG holiday wreath at home! Register for this Kit pick-up and make a one-of-a-kind wreath at home. Come to the Garden to pick up your prepared wreath-making kit, full of unique and special materials from the UC Botanical Garden collection. Then make it at your own pace at home. Registration includes all the materials you need to make a wreath (wreath form, wire, plant material and adornments), plus a how-to tutorial of the process.

Join Chris Carmichael and Garden volunteer Susan Greef in search of both resident and migrant birds in the Garden’s many bird-friendly micro habitats. Both beginning and experienced bird watchers are welcome. Bring binoculars if you have them. Learn more and register here

Come have a fabulous time enjoying light refreshments and finding beautiful and unusual gifts for the holidays at our special holiday shopping party in the Garden’s Julia Morgan Hall. Choose from a unique selection of gifts from local vendors as well as unique hand-crafted gifts from the Garden. We currently have 2 arrival time windows to choose from: 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm and 5:30 pm - 7:00pm. Please enter the number of people in your group for selected entry time and plan on arriving during that timeframe. Each member is allowed two additional non-member.Special Event Give-Away!If you register and attend, you will be entered into our $50 Garden Shop gift certificate give-away!Learn more and register here

Explore the art of natural perfumery at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley with Jessica Mennella of FLWR Napa Valley. Learn the foundation and techniques of natural perfumery using the Slow Scent® method of perfuming developed by renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel. Jessica Mennella, trained by Aftel, will be your instructor for this hands-on and interactive class. During the workshop, you will have the opportunity to explore 18 botanicals whose complexity of scent is linked directly to the plants and flowers from which they are derived. You will also learn the basic structure of Slow Scent® natural perfume formulation and blending techniques. No prior experience is necessary, and all materials will be provided. By the end of the workshop, you will have created your own signature perfume using the formula you developed in class. Additionally, you will receive a guide to the process of making natural perfumes. The art of natural perfumery is rooted in the history and beauty of botanical materials. And among our senses, scent has the unique ability to instantly transform our mood and life experience. Come perfume in the gardens and discover for yourself how scent can take you to another place and time. Whether you are new to natural perfumery or have attended previous workshops, you are welcome to join us!

Make your audio meetings are more inclusive, easier to participate in and easier to manage. With HD quality voice, noise suppression and voice separation, our new BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice service takes audio conferencing to a different level. And because this is an IP call, it complements your Unified Communications strategy. Integrating with Cisco WebEx and Microsoft Lync, so that you can use it with what you have already invested in and save money on access costs.

In the real-time economy, the demand for cloud services keeps growing with the hybrid cloud as the optimal architecture for handling the inevitable complexity of the agile company’s IT infrastructure.

Auto Contact, our range of self-service solutions, can help free up agents to handle more complex and revenue-generating calls –and at the same time improve the overall customer experience whilst reducing costs.

Nxtra by Airtel in India pledges to RE100, contracting 422,000 MWh renewable energy. With a commitment to net-zero goals by 2031, the company focuses on operational efficiency and environmental sustainability through innovative strategies.

​​ Global IT Centre will focus on cutting-edge technologies such as cloud engineering, data platforms, digital health applications, hyper automation, and artificial intelligence and machine learning, it further said.

According to Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO), data centers consumed 21 percent of all metered electricity consumption in 2023, up from five percent in 2015 and 18 percent in 2022.

While major absorption has been recorded in hyperscalers across major cities, colocation services followed closely witnessing significant growth. This shift, as per Savills, can be attributed to factors such as high capital expenditure and operating expense.

Geothermal power is a renewable energy source that uses the Earth's internal heat to produce electricity and heat water. One-hundred and fifty megawatts is roughly enough electricity to power 38,000 homes.

Investments in Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and peering networks are set to increase in India due to the data center boom. Companies like Extreme Infocom and DE-CIX India are planning significant investments, aiming to enhance data exchange infrastructure and support growing IT workloads and data consumption by mobile users.

The investment banking company expects the data center market to undergo significant structural changes, through the introduction of new business models and new investment profiles. Cloud computing is likely to remain the main driver of expansion for the data center industry.

Abhinav Srivastava, CIO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, talks about how technology is reshaping automotive safety.

Suresh Khadakbhavi, CEO of Digi Yatra, envisions a seamless travel experience through innovative technology, emphasizing privacy, efficiency, and sustainability while transforming air travel into a contactless, user-friendly journey.

Satellite data from NASA revealed that powerful storms in Super Typhoon Meranti were generating almost a foot or almost 300 millimeters of rainfall per hour. The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite measured the heavy rainfall on one side of the Category 5 super typhoon.

read more

Using high-tech human heart models and mouse experiments, scientists at Johns Hopkins and Germany's University of Bonn have shown that beams of light could replace electric shocks in patients reeling from a deadly heart rhythm disorder.

read more

Like any other CIO I get several mails and calls and meeting requests from vendors – small and big, old companies and startups, current partners and potential partners. I must admit, I do not entertain most of the requests.

I did not bad mouth my predecessor. However, I never attempted to defend him or any of his actions. I fixed them!

A CIO talks about the need to make judicious technology spends in the good times.

Companies such as Meta have said such a move would not solve the telcos' financial problems and ignores hefty investments by tech companies.

Germany is in intensive discussions with Intel, the economy ministry said on Friday, without commenting on how much state funding the company is set to receive for the project.

The 24% quarterly growth follows a slower-than-expected 16% growth in the January to March quarter, as reported by ET in May. While certain segments like pharma and eye wear have grown at a faster clip, senior ecommerce industry executives said there is an emerging trend of slowdown in online sales of low-priced items across categories like fashion, appliances, etc.

Meta announced the LLaMA in February this year in several sizes (7B, 13B, 33B, and 65B parameters) so it can be used by a range of users and companies. At I/O 2023, Google also talked about multiple LLMs that are suited to companies of different sizes.