Technology News
- Randy Travis gets his voice back in a new Warner AI music experimentby Wes Davis on May 5, 2024 at 10:45 pm
Randy Travis in 1987. | Photo: Mark Junge / Getty Images For the first time since a 2013 stroke left country singer Randy Travis unable to speak or sing properly, he has released a new song. He didn’t sing it, though; instead, the vocals were created with AI software and a surrogate singer. The song, called “Where That Came From,” is every bit the kind of folksy, sentimental tune I came to love as a kid when Travis was at the height of his fame. The producers created it by training an unnamed AI model, starting with 42 of his vocal-isolated recordings. Then, under the supervision of Travis and his career-long producer Kyle Lehning, fellow country singer James DuPre laid down the vocals to be transformed into Travis’ by AI. Besides being on YouTube, the song is on other streaming platforms... Continue reading…
- Bluesky confirms Jack Dorsey is no longer on its boardby Wes Davis on May 5, 2024 at 8:38 pm
Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is no longer on the board of Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform he helped start. In two posts today, Bluesky thanked Dorsey while confirming his departure and adding that it’s searching for a new board member “who shares our commitment to building a social network that puts people in control of their experience.” The posts come a day after an X user asked Dorsey if he was still on the company’s board, and Dorsey responded, without further elaboration, “no.” As TechCrunch points out, Dorsey was on a tear yesterday, unfollowing all but three accounts on X while referring to Elon Musk’s platform as “freedom technology.” Neither Bluesky nor Dorsey himself seem to have said how or why... Continue reading…
- Tesla plans to charge some Model Y owners to unlock more rangeby Wes Davis on May 5, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Image: Tesla Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on Friday that the Standard Range rear-wheel drive Model Y the company has been building and selling “over the last several months” actually has more range than the 260 miles they were sold with. Pending “regulatory approval,” he wrote that the company will unlock another 40–60 miles of total range, depending on which battery Model Y owners have, “for $1,500 to $2,000.” Tesla replaced the Standard Range Model Y with a 320-mile range version for $2,000 more. The car now starts at $44,990, or about $37,490 if you qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. The “260 mile” range Model Y’s built over the past several months actually have more range that can be unlocked for $1500 to $2000 (gains 40 to 60 miles... Continue reading…
- How to Factory-Reset Your Phone Before You Sell Itby Simon Hill on May 5, 2024 at 3:00 pm
Upgrading to a shiny new device? Here’s how to restore your old phone to its factory settings.
- The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks tonight — here’s how to see itby Wes Davis on May 5, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Photo taken during the Eta Aquarid meteor shower in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka on May 5th. | Photo: Thilina Kaluthotage / NurPhoto via Getty Images If you’ve got clear skies and want an excuse to get away from town, the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is roughly at its peak and should be going strong tonight. Made up of remnants of Halley’s Comet that the Earth passes through, this annual shower is active from April 15th to May 27th and can show up at a rate of about 10–30 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society. You can see the Aquarids starting around 2AM local time in the Northern Hemisphere, radiating from the Aquarius constellation (though you’ll want to look 40–60 degrees around Aquarius to see them). Weather permitting, conditions are pretty good for watching them since the moon is in its late waning period and won’t be reflecting much light. Try to plan your... Continue reading…
GovCon News
- Meet finalists for the ‘Oscars of public service:’ the Sammie Awardsby Molly Weisner on May 6, 2024 at 1:00 am
A glimpse at who might, eventually, be dubbed Federal Employee of the Year.
- Defense Secretary makes final pitch on FY25 military budget this weekby Leo Shane III on May 6, 2024 at 12:00 am
Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of May 6, 2024.
- Biden, Trump worlds apart on most issues, including federal workforceby The Associated Press on May 5, 2024 at 7:17 pm
Trump vows an overhaul of the federal bureaucracy, which he has long blamed for stymying his first term agenda.
- Dick Rutan, Vietnam War pilot and record-breaking aviator, dies at 85by Nick Perry, The Associated Press on May 5, 2024 at 2:56 pm
A decorated Vietnam War pilot, Dick Rutan, along with co-pilot Jeana Yeager, completed the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling.
- Addressing and closing critical skills gaps in the federal workforceby wfedstaff on May 4, 2024 at 3:27 am
How do you know if you have skills gaps in your agency and how can you address them? The post Addressing and closing critical skills gaps in the federal workforce first appeared on Federal News Network.
Business News
- Today’s ‘Wordle’ #1052 Hints, Clues And Answer For Monday, May 6thby Erik Kain, Senior Contributor on May 5, 2024 at 11:00 pm
Hints, clues and commentary to help you solve today's Wordle and sharpen your guessing game.
- AI Vs. AI: McAfee And Intel’s Innovative Approach To Stop Deepfakesby Tony Bradley, Senior Contributor on May 5, 2024 at 11:00 pm
McAfee worked with Intel to improve performance of McAfee Deepfake Detector on systems that have a Neural Processing Unit integrated into Intel Core Ultra processors.
- NYT ‘Strands’ #64 Hints, Spangram And Answers For Monday, May 6thby Erik Kain, Senior Contributor on May 5, 2024 at 10:00 pm
Looking for help with today's NYT Strands puzzle? Here's an extra hint to help you uncover the right words, as well as all of today's answers and Spangram.
- Today’s ‘Quordle’ Hints And Answers For Monday, May 6by Kris Holt, Contributor on May 5, 2024 at 10:00 pm
Looking for some help with Monday's Quordle words? Some hints and the answers are right here.
- How Bats And Lizards—From Opposite Ends Of The Earth—Tell The Story Of ‘Parallel Evolution’by Scott Travers, Contributor on May 5, 2024 at 9:30 pm
Have you ever wondered how seemingly different organisms end up developing strikingly similar traits? Here's the evolutionary explanation.