AI for all

July 25, 2024

AI for all: Meta just released Llama 3.1, the biggest open-source AI model yet. It can process a novel’s worth of text (128,000 pieces of info) in eight languages, write better computer code and solve more complex math problems. Try it on Meta AI with your Facebook or Instagram account. Outside the U.S.? Go to HuggingChat. (Bonus: Meta’s AI also generates amazing pics.)

Tags: computer, Facebook, Instagram, Meta

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Virtual cards vs. digital wallets: Which should you use and when?

Your nephew’s birthday is coming up, so you go online and find a $300 Little Tikes playground set on sale for $60. But when the party rolls around, your money’s gone and that gift never showed up. So you head to the grocery store to buy some birthday treats instead … only to get caught by a card skimmer at checkout. Ouch.

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Companies are going all in on digital twins

Imagine if you could have a virtual double to attend meetings for you, see a drug’s side effects before you take it or, my personal favorite, do the laundry. Analysts say the digital twin market will be worth $379 billion in 2034 — 10 times what it is today. That’s why I’m telling you about it; I always want to keep you ahead of the tech curve, not left in the dust.

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Jury Duty: Easy Money from Your Couch!

Love watching courtTV and other true crime shows? Why not get paid for your entertainment?

2 beats per minute

Slowdown in song speeds per decade as musicians age. It’s not just you; even rock stars get slower with age (paywall link). Scientists studied musicians from Eddie Vedder to Dolly Parton and found after their 30s, the songs they wrote got sleepier (read: slower). My fave Dolly quote? “I’m not offended by dumb blonde jokes. I’m not dumb and I’m not blonde.”

Amy Chan's Dating Bootcamp

If you think women want to receive 🍆 pics in the middle of the day, then Amy Chan’s dating bootcamp is perfect for you.

2 pounds

The weight of a hairball pulled from a woman’s stomach. By the time doctors got to it, the hairball was so big that it could be felt from the outside. She was probably suffering from a hair-eating disorder called trichophagia. If you’re feeling brave, take a peek. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

2 pizzas

Can feed any team at Amazon. And that’s just how Bezos likes it. In the early days, he enacted the “two-pizza team rule” to keep Amazon efficient. The rule says any team should be small enough to be fed by — you guessed it — two pizzas. Oh, you’re a real pizza work!

What caused the Windows outage?

Here’s the full story as to what caused airlines, emergency services, and banks to shutdown.

$108,150 salary

To be a cop in Plano, Texas. Big-city police departments were having trouble recruiting, so they pulled out all the stops (paywall link). Perks include take-home cars, paid workout hours and a relaxed tattoo policy. It’s working — more officers joined in 2023 than in the four years prior.

$44.6 million

For a stegosaurus named “Apex.” The 27-foot-long skeleton sold on auction for 10 times more than expected, making it the world’s most valuable fossil. Apex was discovered in Colorado just two years ago and is thought to have lived well into old age. Must’ve been taking his Flintstones vitamins …