Innehållsförteckning för #388 från AppleMagazine

APPLE’S MARCH KEYNOTE SAID A LOT ABOUT ITS PRIORITIES While there’s always much to take away from Apple’s keynote talks, the Cupertino firm’s March 25 event was, excuse the unintended pun, ‘notable’, for the lack of one thing. With the smartphone market currently saturated with devices and product sales continuing to slow globally , Apple presented new and revamped products and services to the audience – minus any focus on the iPhone or iPad. Guests at the Steve Jobs Theater were instead introduced to Apple News+, the brand new Apple Card, Apple Arcade, the Apple TV app, and Apple TV+. Encompassing media, various forms of entertainment, and retail, each service is set to be launched before the end of the year. Apple customers will soon be able to access new…

Facial recognition technology was already seeping into everyday life — from your photos on Facebook to police scans of mugshots — when Joy Buolamwini noticed a serious glitch: Some of the software couldn’t detect dark-skinned faces like hers. That revelation sparked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher to launch a project that’s having an outsize influence on the debate over how artificial intelligence should be deployed in the real world. Her tests on software created by brand-name tech firms such as Amazon uncovered much higher error rates in classifying the gender of darker-skinned women than for lighter-skinned men. Along the way, Buolamwini has spurred Microsoft and IBM to improve their systems and irked Amazon, which publicly attacked her research methods. On Wednesday, a group of AI scholars, including a winner…

A robot walks into a bar. It goes CLANG. Alexa and Siri can tell jokes mined from a humor database, but they don’t get them. Linguists and computer scientists say this is something to consider on April Fools’ Day: Humor is what makes humans special. When people try to teach machines what’s funny, the results are at times laughable but not in the way intended. “Artificial intelligence will never get jokes like humans do,” said Kiki Hempelmann, a computational linguist who studies humor at Texas A&M University-Commerce. “In themselves, they have no need for humor. They miss completely context.” And when it comes to humor, the people who study it — sometimes until all laughs are beaten out of it — say context is key. Even expert linguists have trouble…

Glass The ‘unbreakable’ David Dunn, aka The Overseer, is imprisoned alongside fellow insane criminals, The Horde and his old nemesis, Mr. Glass. The last tale of M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 trilogy pits superhero against villain in this energetic, genre-flipping, and thought-provoking conclusion. FIVE FACTS: 1. James McAvoy’s The Horde has 23 different personalities. He based one of them on a young Saoirse Ronan, who he starred with while filming Atonement (2007). 2. To reduce the running time of the movie, Shyamalan cut three of The Horde’s personalities from the script. 3. Within the running time, however, are several deleted scenes from Unbreakable (2000), the first movie in the trilogy. 4. Many scenes were filmed at a former mental hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 5. It took Shyamalan 19 years to…

The original “Dumbo” was released in the summer of 1941 while Germany was spreading across Europe and war was breaking out in the Pacific. Crafted as a simpler Disney fable after the more extravagant “Fantasia” disappointed at the box office, “Dumbo” — only 64 minutes in length — took flight just as far more chilling creations were taking to the air. Almost eight decades later, “Dumbo” is alight again in Tim Burton’s somber and sincere live-action remake of the animated classic. Burton has refashioned “Dumbo” as a sepia-toned show-business parable tailored to more animal rights-sensitive times. “Dumbo” is the latest in a circus parade of Disney remakes (“The Lion King” and “Aladdin” are due out later this year) that brings classic characters into seemingly more real worlds with the aid…

For a sport that leans so much on familiarity and tradition, baseball seems to be changing at an unusually rapid pace. Whether it’s because of new technology, new strategies or new rules, the game could look a lot different over the next decade or so. “I think the commissioner’s just trying to stay ahead of the curve, do what’s best for the game. There’s a lot of intelligent people thought this stuff over and there’s a lot of people involved,” said Jim Leyland, the longtime manager who is now a special assistant for the Detroit Tigers. “I’m a big believer that when you’ve had something in place for so, so long, any time there’s a change, there’s going to be a reaction. Some of it’s going to be pro, some…

Germany’s justice minister is criticizing plans for Facebook to combine its instant-messaging services after a meeting with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but is offering a wary welcome to his call for more encrypted messaging. Minister Katarina Barley said in a written statement after meeting Zuckerberg that plans to combine WhatsApp and Instagram Direct with Facebook’s core Messenger app raises “very significant cartel law and data protection law questions.” Still, she said “it is worth discussing some of Mark Zuckerberg’s ideas,” adding that more encrypted private messaging is a good thing and suggesting it could save lives in authoritarian systems. But Barley stressed that “Facebook must not become a gigantic, self-contained communication space that concentrates yet more market and data power.” Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook’s plans last month.…

When eighth-grader Alyssa Lingen started her information and communications technology class this year at Patrick Henry Middle School, the art student was repulsed by anything related to computer science, she said. But the minute she saw the little elephant she created move across a computer screen, dodging bad guys to gather coins, computer science completely changed her future, she said. That wouldn’t have been the case, though, if her teacher, Jason Whiting, had not opted to pioneer a coding course for middle school students this year. The course comes from Code.org, a national nonprofit focused on giving students access to computer science skills in schools for women and underrepresented minorities, according to the organization’s website, the Argus Leader reported. He’s the only one in the Sioux Falls School District doing…

A Massachusetts woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding a Rhode Island technology company out of more than $550,000 in reimbursements for business expenses. Jill Martinho entered her plea Monday to wire fraud and willfully making a false tax return. Federal prosecutors say the 43-year-old Swansea woman was authorized by the Providence-based company to buy supplies with personal credit cards and seek reimbursement for those expenses. Court records show Martinho falsified credit card statements and received about $1 million from the company between 2015 and 2018, instead of the approximately $459,000 she was entitled to. Prosecutors say Martinho did not report the fraudulent income to the IRS. She faces up to 20 years in prison and fines during her sentencing in July. The mobile industry is cranking up its hype machine…

It can’t dribble, let alone slam dunk, but Toyota’s basketball robot hardly ever misses a free throw or a 3-pointer. The 207-centimeter (six-foot, 10-inch)-tall machine made five of eight 3-point shots in a demonstration in a Tokyo suburb, a ratio its engineers say is worse than usual. Toyota Motor Corp.’s robot, called Cue 3, computes as a three-dimensional image where the basket is, using sensors on its torso, and adjusts motors inside its arm and knees to give the shot the right angle and propulsion for a swish. Efforts in developing human-shaped robots underline a global shift in robotics use from pre-programmed mechanical arms in limited situations like factories to functioning in the real world with people. The 2017 version of the robot was designed to make free throws. Yudai…

Sing to Me Instead Ben Platt Taking a step back from the extrovert drama of his stage-show presence, the Tony Award-winning actor takes a turn as the soulful singer-songwriter. Inspired this time by the script of his own life, Platt’s confessional debut album is full of emotion, desire, regret, and the Californian’s incredibly versatile voice. FIVE FACTS: 1. In 2017, Platt won Best Actor in a Musical at the Tony Awards, for his lead title role in Dear Evan Hansen. 2. He also played Elder Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon, appearing in both the Chicago and Broadway productions. 3. Originally enrolled at Columbia University, he dropped out after six weeks in order to fulfill his contract with The Book of Mormon. 4. Platt starred alongside Anna Kendrick and…

Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Charles Rivkin says Netflix’s addition to the group makes the entertainment industry stronger. Rivkin’s remarks are a stark contrast to how the streaming giant is usually referenced at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of movie theater owners and distributors, who generally see the streaming service as a threat to their business model. The MPAA chairman and CEO kicked off CinemaCon Tuesday morning in Las Vegas with his annual state of the industry remarks. Rivkin also touted the record 2018 box office year. The North American box office reached $11.9 billion and the global box office hit $41 billion last year. That growth was helped by an increase in younger and more diverse audiences.…

Spacewalking astronauts hustled through battery hookups outside the International Space Station last weekend in a major upgrade of the solar power grid. NASA’s Christina Koch and Nick Hague successfully installed a set of new and stronger batteries, continuing replacement work that began a week ago. It wasn’t the team NASA envisioned. Koch was supposed to go out with astronaut Anne McClain for the first all-female spacewalk. But the lineup was changed because there weren’t two medium suits readily available for the women. After NASA took heat for the switch, McClain explained that the decision was based on her recommendation.…

An Israeli watchdog group said Monday that it found a network of social media bots disseminating messages in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of next week’s elections. Noam Rotem and Yuval Adam, two researchers operating the Big Bots Project, said in a report that they uncovered hundreds of fake accounts spreading messages in support of Netanyahu’s Likud party and smearing his opponents. Likud denied the allegations. Adam said his project discovered a network that included a number of real people, along with hundreds of Twitter accounts that appeared to be fake or duplicate. “One person might be operating tens or hundreds of accounts at the same time,” he told The Associated Press. “All these accounts are pushing their political agenda, not only that but also inciting hate speech,…

Google says it will require staffing companies it works with to pay workers at least $15 an hour and give them health benefits. The company has faced pushback from employees and contract workers for paying contractors less than full-time employees. Google did not say how many contractors and temporary workers it has, but reports say it is many thousands of people. Google’s new rules will require contractors, who are usually employed by third-party companies, to also get 12 weeks of paid parental leave and a tuition reimbursement each year for classes. Contract workforces are common in the tech industry and often get paid less and have fewer perks than full-time employees working for tech giants.…

Robo-advisers have been around long enough that the question is no longer whether you should turn your investment decisions over to a computer. Now the question is: Why wouldn’t you? The success of Wealthfront and Betterment, two startups that helped launch the trend, led mainstream investment companies including Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity to add roboadvice services in recent years. Depending on the robo-adviser, you may also have access to human financial advisers, socially responsible investments and tax-loss harvesting to help reduce tax bills. This is not, and never really was, a niche product only for tech-happy millennials. From the beginning, investors of all ages spotted the significant advantages of letting computers run their portfolios. Among them: ROBO-ADVISERS ARE CHEAP Robo-advisers — also known as automated financial advisers — use computer…

Hundreds of ads on Facebook promised U.S. homeowners that they were eligible for huge state tax breaks if they installed new solar-energy panels. There was just one catch: None of it was true. The scam ads used photos of nearly every U.S. governor — and sometimes President Donald Trump — to claim that with new, lucrative tax incentives, people might actually make money by installing solar technology on their homes. Facebook users only needed to enter their addresses, email, utility information and phone number to find out more. Those incentives don’t exist. While the ads didn’t aim to bilk people of money directly — and it wasn’t possible to buy solar panels through these ads — they led to websites that harvested personal information that could be used to expose…

After many dangers, toils and snares, the long-lost Aretha Franklin concert film “Amazing Grace” has finally seen the light, and good Lord is it good. Filmed over two sessions in January 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in the Watts section of Los Angeles, it captures Franklin at the absolute apex of her power. The colossal accompanying double LP, which didn’t suffer the same fate as the footage, is already justly revered and remains the best-selling gospel record of all time. But to see it is to believe. This is gospel ecstasy. For a long time, “Amazing Grace” was one of the great unseen white whales of cinema. The film — shot with 16mm cameras by a then up-and-coming director named Sydney Pollack — sat for decades in…

ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus says fans can expect a new song “in September or October” from the four-member Swedish pop group that broke up 37 years ago. Ulvaeus told Denmark’s Ekstra Bladet tabloid on Wednesday that “it takes an extremely long time” to make the video with the avatars of the group members, adding “it has been delayed for too long.” The band earlier said Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog reunited to plan a virtual tour featuring digital avatars, and that one of the two new songs is entitled “I Still Have Faith in You.” ABBA shot to fame by winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo,” and had big hits in the 1970s including “Dancing Queen” before splitting up in 1982.…

Boeing’s new space capsule for astronauts faces more launch delays. The Starliner capsule was supposed to make its debut this month, after a series of postponements. But the first test flight is now off until August. And the second test flight, with astronauts, won’t occur until late in the year. NASA announced the revised lineup this week. At the same time, officials said the first Starliner crew will remain at the International Space Station longer than the few weeks originally anticipated. The length will be decided later. SpaceX, NASA’s other commercial crew provider, flew its new Dragon capsule to the International Space Station last month. The first Dragon with astronauts could fly this summer, but the schedule is under review.…

When India’s Election Commission announced last month that its code of conduct would have to be followed by social media companies as well as political parties, some analysts scoffed, saying it lacked the capacity and speed required to check the spread of fake news ahead of a multi-phase general election that begins April 11. Just weeks later, the commission is indeed struggling to cope with the fake news swirling on Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms, and even for its staff to spot it before it has spread across India, observers said. “Millions of voters are waking up to fake news, propaganda and hate speech inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities every day. But all the commission can do is monitor it,” said Apar Gupta, a lawyer and…