All posts tagged: digital

Google’s billion bet on Africa’s digital future

Google’s $1 billion bet on Africa’s digital future

Published by skeptic

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. This article is an installment of Future Explored, Freethink’s weekly guide to world-changing technology. You can get stories like this one straight to your inbox every Saturday morning by subscribing above. It’s 2030, and more than two-thirds of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is now online. While this internet access is helping residents combat poverty, disease, illiteracy, and more, continuous effort will be required to ensure the benefits of the tech outweigh its potential harms. Africa’s “digital decade” It’s been 55 years since a team of researchers at UCLA sent a message from their university’s room-sized computer to another massive machine housed at Stanford, giving birth to the technology that would eventually become the internet. Since then, computers have gotten small enough to carry around in our pockets, the wires are optional, and two-thirds of the world’s population is now online.  For individuals, this internet access has meant opportunities in work, education, …

Digital maturity is associated with greater social connectedness among teens

Digital maturity is associated with greater social connectedness among teens

Published by José

A recent study published in Computers in Human Behavior suggests that digital maturity plays a key role in fostering social connectedness among adolescents. Researchers found that teens with higher digital maturity tend to feel more socially connected, but this connection is not simply a result of more active use of social media. Instead, factors such as engaging with real-life friends online and adopting compassionate goals in online interactions played mediating roles. The increasing role of digital technologies in adolescents’ lives has brought both opportunities and challenges for social connectedness. Social connectedness—the sense of belonging and having positive relationships—is crucial for emotional well-being. However, despite constant online connectivity, reports of loneliness among young people are on the rise. This paradox raises important questions: Does the way adolescents use digital tools determine whether their online interactions are beneficial? And could digital maturity—defined as the ability to use digital technologies in ways that support personal growth and societal integration—help explain differences in their experiences of social connectedness? Previous research has explored various factors affecting online social interactions, such …

Digital labels can help supermarkets produce less food waste

Digital labels can help supermarkets produce less food waste

Published by skeptic

Researchers from Texas McCombs have discovered an innovative new way to reduce food waste created by supermarkets through the use of digital labels. According to the food waste nonprofit ReFed, in 2022, US supermarkets wasted 5 million tonnes of food, with 35% of it going to landfills. Over half of that waste—2.7 million tonnes—was past the labels’ expiration dates. By moving from paper shelf labels to digital labels, supermarkets can easily lower prices and move older stock from their shelves to consumers’ homes. Using technology to quickly change prices on labels, a process known as dynamic pricing, benefits more than just consumers. Ioannis Stamatopoulos, associate professor of information, risk, and operations management at Texas McCombs, explained: “Everyone benefits when dynamic pricing is enabled. There’s less food waste and less emissions from food ending up in landfills.” Should supermarkets rush to perform these updates? Stamatopoulos, along with Naveed Chehrazi of Washington University in St. Louis and Robert Sanders of the University of California, San Diego, analysed two European grocery chains as they installed digital labels. One …

Hackers Can Jailbreak Digital License Plates to Make Others Pay Their Tolls and Tickets

Hackers Can Jailbreak Digital License Plates to Make Others Pay Their Tolls and Tickets

Published by skeptic

Digital license plates, already legal to buy in a growing number of states and to drive with nationwide, offer a few perks over their sheet metal predecessors. You can change their display on the fly to frame your plate number with novelty messages, for instance, or to flag that your car has been stolen. Now one security researcher has shown how they can also be hacked to enable a less benign feature: changing a car’s license plate number at will to avoid traffic tickets and tolls—or even pin them on someone else. Josep Rodriguez, a researcher at security firm IOActive, has revealed a technique to “jailbreak” digital license plates sold by Reviver, the leading vendor of those plates in the US. By removing a sticker on the back of the plate and attaching a cable to its internal connectors, he’s able to rewrite a Reviver plate’s firmware in a matter of minutes. Then, with that custom firmware installed, the jailbroken license plate can receive commands via Bluetooth from a smartphone app to instantly change its …

Behold a Digital Restoration of 655 Plates of Roses & Lilies by Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Greatest Botanical Illustrator of All Time

Behold a Digital Restoration of 655 Plates of Roses & Lilies by Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Greatest Botanical Illustrator of All Time

Published by José

Pierre-Joseph Red­outé made his name by paint­ing flow­ers, an achieve­ment impos­si­ble with­out a metic­u­lous­ness that exceeds all bounds of nor­mal­i­ty. He pub­lished his three-vol­ume col­lec­tion Les Ros­es and his eight-vol­ume col­lec­tion Les Lil­i­acées between 1802 and 1824, and a glance at their pages today vivid­ly sug­gests the painstak­ing nature of both his process for not just ren­der­ing those flow­ers, but also for see­ing them prop­er­ly in the first place. While Red­outé’s works have long been avail­able free online, the dig­i­tal forms in which they’ve been avail­able haven’t quite done them jus­tice — cer­tain­ly not to the mind of design­er and data artist Nicholas Rougeux. We’ve pre­vi­ous­ly fea­tured Rougeux here on Open Cul­ture for his online restora­tions of a host of ven­er­a­ble artis­tic pub­li­ca­tions that lav­ish­ly cap­ture the nat­ur­al world: Illus­tra­tions of the Nat­ur­al Orders of Plants; British & Exot­ic Min­er­al­o­gy; A Mono­graph of the Trochilidæ, or Fam­i­ly of Hum­ming-Birds; Werner’s Nomen­cla­ture of Colours; and Euclid­’s Ele­ments. Even hav­ing deep expe­ri­ence with those works, Rougeux can declare that, “sim­ply put, Redouté’s illus­tra­tions are stun­ning. His atten­tion to detail in stip­pling and …

How Claude 3.5 Enhances Personalization in Digital Experiences

How Claude 3.5 Enhances Personalization in Digital Experiences

Published by skeptic

Imagine opening an app and feeling like it was designed just for you, anticipating your needs and preferences with uncanny accuracy. This isn’t just a futuristic fantasy—it’s rapidly becoming a reality thanks to the rise of AI agents like Anthropic’s Claude 3.5. These advanced AI tools are not only changing how apps and websites are developed but are also paving the way for a new era of hyper-personalization. Learn  how Claude 3.5 is transforming the digital landscape by automating complex coding tasks and creating tailored experiences that resonate with each user uniquely. With AI-driven development, apps can now adapt to your individual preferences, whether it’s a fitness app that tailors workouts to your progress or a news aggregator that curates articles based on your reading habits. This transformation is powered by Claude 3.5’s ability to generate and integrate components seamlessly, offering a glimpse into a future where technology doesn’t just serve us but understands us. Anthropic Claude AI TL;DR Key Takeaways : Claude 3.5 is revolutionizing app development by enhancing personalization and automating coding tasks, …

Avoiding value decay in digital transformation

Avoiding value decay in digital transformation

Published by skeptic

“Most implementations are viewed as IT projects,” says Tim Hertzig, a principal in Deloitte’s Technology practice and global product owner of Deloitte’s Ascend digital transformation solution. “These projects fail to achieve the value they initially aspire to, because they don’t factor in change management that ensures adoption and they don’t consider industry-leading practices.”’ Technology rarely drives value alone, according to Kristi Kaplan, Deloitte principal and US executive sponsor of Deloitte’s Ascend platform. “Rather it’s how technology is implemented and adopted in an organization that actually creates the value,” she says. To deliver business results that gain momentum rather than fade away, executives need a long-term transformation plan. According to Deloitte’s analysis, the right combination of digital transformation actions can unlock as much as $1.25 trillion in additional market capitalization across all Fortune 500 companies. On the other hand, implementing digital change for its own sake without a strategy and technology-aligned investments—“random acts of digital”—could cost firms $1.5 trillion. Best practices for implementation To unlock this potential value, there are a number of best practices leading …

The Francis Review must usher in the digital assessment age

The Francis Review must usher in the digital assessment age

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Imagine a world in which we start developing our school curriculum from scratch. Does anyone seriously believe digital would not be at the heart of how it could be assessed?  I’m immensely relieved that we are not embarking on any such blank-slate enterprise and that the government is adopting an ‘evolution, not revolution’ posture towards curriculum and assessment reform.  But the fact is that much of what we need to pull off educationally can be better enabled by deploying digital cleverly. And (this should be music to ministers’ ears) at a better cost. In short, digital is key to getting everything this government most wants: better outcomes, more fairly and more inclusively.  At AQA, we think it’s our responsibility not simply to present arguments and positions about this, but actually to show people what it might look like. That’s why we’ve been working on several fronts to demonstrate digital’s potential and address understandable anxieties.  Where to begin? Rather than argue for wholesale digitisation of high-entry exams, we’ve argued consistently …

Job title of the future: digital forest ranger

Job title of the future: digital forest ranger

Published by skeptic

It takes forest soil decades to recover after being compacted by heavy logging equipment. That’s why Roth has digitally mapped all the logging trails and equipped tree harvesters with high-precision satellite antennas so the machines can precisely follow the same route for decades and easily find them in the chaotic aftermath of a storm. GPS data is used to record how much timber was extracted from which location—a crucial upgrade in a forest with many different owners. A digital reality: Since most of his work can now be done on a mobile device, Roth is spending more time outdoors: “I take the digital steps outside on site, against the backdrop of reality.”  His most recent project is combining body camera footage with AI. “[Usually] you mark the trees, they’re felled, and you have no idea how much timber you’ll end up with—how many cubic meters, what quality, which tree species,” he explains. Now AI, “looking” through his body camera, automatically recognizes the tree species he has marked and estimates the amount of timber it will produce, …

Evolving in the Digital Landscape

Evolving in the Digital Landscape

Published by skeptic

Libraries have long been bastions of knowledge, community hubs, and quiet sanctuaries for bookworms. But as we hurtle through the digital age, these venerable institutions face a crossroads. Will they become relics of the past, or will they evolve to meet the changing needs of our tech-savvy society? Let’s explore how libraries are adapting to the digital revolution and what the future holds for these beloved institutions. The Changing Face of Libraries From Book Repositories to Digital Knowledge Centers Gone are the days when libraries were solely about books. Today’s libraries are transforming into multifaceted digital knowledge centers. Here’s how: E-book Collections: Many libraries now offer extensive e-book and audiobook collections, accessible from the comfort of your home. Digital Archives: Historical documents and rare books are being digitized, making them available to a global audience. Online Databases: Libraries provide access to academic journals and research databases, supporting students and researchers. Tech-Savvy Spaces Modern libraries are embracing technology in various ways: Makerspaces: Areas equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, and other high-tech tools for creative projects. …