Tech Boys

Apple is reportedly still working on glucose management — this time through software. Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman says the company tested an app this year for pre-diabetic people, helping them manage their diet and lifestyle. Apple is said not to have plans to launch the app to consumers, but it could play a part in future health products. The company reportedly tested the app internally, with employees confirmed through a blood test to be at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The subjects “actively monitored their blood sugar via various devices available on the market,” logging corresponding glucose changes. The app would then note correlations between dietary changes and blood sugar levels (for example, “don’t eat the pasta”). Gurman says Apple paused the test to focus on other health features. Bloomberg notes that the Apple Health app currently lacks meal tracking, something rival services offer . The publication also says Apple could eventually offer deeper third-party glucose ...

"You're not ugly; you're just not doing your makeup according to your facial contrast," starts one of the over 52,000 videos of women using the "What's your contrast" filter on TikTok . SEE ALSO: 'Beetlejuice lips' TikTok trend celebrates the natural creases of your lips The latest trend in beauty filters plays on women's insecurities to sell products, encouraging users to classify their faces based on the contrast between their features. The filter turns your face black and white, providing a model that categorizes faces into high, medium, and low contrast types. However, the standard for comparison is rooted in Eurocentric beauty ideals, offering only three skin tone options: light, medium, and dark. It suggests that the darker your features appear against your skin, the higher contrast you should assign to yourself. Each contrast level is linked to a recommended makeup style — low contrast calls for subtler looks, while high contrast...

The United Nations' Environmental Program has released a new report with yet more dire news about our odds of avoiding climate disaster caused by greenhouse gas emissions. According to this assessment, the current trajectory of international commitments will see the planet's temperature increasing 2.6 degrees Celsius or more over the course of this century. That amount of temperature change would lead to more catastrophic and life-threatening weather events. UN members are due to submit their latest Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of the COP30 conference in Brazil next year. The NDCs lay out each country's plan for reduced greenhouse gas emissions. One part of the NDCs are to reach the goal set by the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and one part targets keeping global temperature increases to within a less ideal 2 degrees Celsius. While the report says it is technically possible to reach the Paris Agreement goal, muc...

There’s time for one more Armageddon for Amazon’s Good Omens but not much. Amazon Prime Video announced that Good Omens would return for one final season last year, but TVLine reports it’s only going to have one 90-minute episode that will begin filming in Scotland soon. Amazon originally confirmed that author Neil Gaiman, who co-wrote the book upon which Good Omens is based with Discworld   creator Terry Pratchett, will continue through the final season as the show’s executive producer, writer and showrunner. TVLine says Gaiman “contributed to the episode’s writing,” but “he will not work on the production.” Gaiman has stepped out of the spotlight and away from several projects based on his works since his sexual assault allegations surfaced in July. The Tortoise Media podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman outlined the author’s alleged behavior with accounts from four women, one of whom signed a non-disclosure agreement. A fifth woman later stepped forward...

Elon Musk's X appears to be adding yet another fee for third party apps, according to an affected app developer. After acquiring then-Twitter, Musk made big sweeping changes to the platform's API, which allows third-party developers to integrate X into their platforms. The biggest change? Charging thousands of dollars just to access X's API, which used to be free to use for most developers. Under Musk, many app developers found that they'd have to pay $42,000 per month , in order to continue using X integration.  Some third-party companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo just removed X from their app. Many apps that depended on X API access had to shut down . However, some companies had no choice but to fork over the $42,000 per month just to access the lowest-priced tier of X's Enterprise API plan.  SEE ALSO: Why Elon Musk is skipping around on stage for Donald Trump Now, those companies that are paying tens of thousands of dollars to X per month are b...

Tom Hardy is a one-man comedy duo who deserves better than Venom: The Last Dance . The English actor has played a variety of tough guys, from gangsters ( Legend ) and supervillains ( The Dark Knight Rises ) to the ultimate road warrior ( Mad Max: Fury Road ). But he might be at his very best as the oft-frustrated journalist Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote Venom, who is basically intrusive thoughts in the form of a goo demon. And for three movies (more if you count post-cred cameos ), Hardy has been fighting valiantly for the love story that is Eddie and Venom's. From Venom to its sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage , Sony embraced what jaw-dropped audiences warmed to in the first film, which was chiefly the undeniable chemistry between Hardy and... himself. Sure, one was bolstered by explosively slick and sick CGI to make the alien come alive. But Hardy, grumbling excitedly as an alien ready to rage (in both the vengeance and party senses), was unabashedly entertaining. Now, ...

The FCC has fixed its watchful eye on the often lousy customer service we get from telecom providers. The agency said on Wednesday it’s opening a formal proceeding to review the customer support from cable, broadband, satellite TV and home voice service providers. The review will cover customers' friction points when contacting telecom industry providers. These include hard-to-cancel subscriptions, getting stuck in “doom loops” when trying to reach a human, sneaky automatic renewals and shoddy accessibility options for folks with disabilities. “We can and should expect consistent, transparent, and helpful customer service from the communications companies that provide so many services that are so vital in our day-to-day lives,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in a press release announcing the inquiry. “No one should get stuck in a doom loop trying to cancel a subscription or just get a human being to help resolve their service problems.” The FCC wants to simplify cust...

A Canadian research firm called TechInsights took a deep dive on one of Huawei’s artificial intelligence accelerators and found a chip manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Bloomberg spoke with several people familiar with the investigation who asked to remain anonymous since TechInsights’ report has been released to the public. The anonymous sources says TechInsights’ investigation found an Ascend 910B chip made by TSMC in one of Huawei’s AI accelerators. The company that conducted the investigation declined to comment. The US Commerce Department implemented additional trade restrictions against Huawei that barred the electronics company from obtaining chips made by foreign firms. Earlier this year, the US government tightened its restrictions even further by revoking its licenses with Intel and Qualcomm to produce chips for its devices. TSMC denied that it had a working relationship with Huawei since mid-September of 2020 in a statement provided to...

Car manufacturers will be able to develop new AI voice assistants for their cars thanks to a new partnership with Qualcomm and Google. Qualcomm announced earlier today that it’s working with Google on a new AI development system for carmakers. The new version is based on Android Automotive OS (AAOS) , Google’s infotainment platform for cars. Qualcomm is offering its Snapdragon Digital Chassis with Google Cloud and AAOS to generate new AI-powered digital cockpits for cars. Qualcomm also unveiled two new chips for powering driving systems including the Snapdragon Cockpit Elite for dashboards and the Snapdragon Ride Elite for self-driving features. The new interface will allow car drivers and passengers to interact with custom voice assistants, immersive maps and real-time driving updates. Carmakers can use the new system to create their own unique and marketable AI voice assistants that don’t require a connection to a smartphone. Other carmakers have taken steps to try to integrate...

Only Murders in the Building is a delight on many levels, from the joys of comedic cozy crime, to the thrill of playing along in trying to crack the case, to reveling in the incredible chemistry of its amateur sleuths. But one of the biggest joys is watching longtime friends and colleagues Martin Short and Steve Martin mercilessly mock each other in character and on the press tour. As rough as Oliver and Charles (or Short and Martin) are on each other, you can feel the deep bond of brotherhood that's spanned decades all the way back to the 1986 comedy gem The Three Amigos. And in the latest episode of Only Murders , they pulled from a real-life staple of their friendship for an emotional moment.  Charles and Oliver fight and make up in a very Steve and Martin way. Credit: Hulu In Season 4 episode 9, "Escape from Planet Klongo," Charles and Oliver get into a very public fight on the set of the latest Ron Howard movie. Pushed to the brink by Oliver's deman...