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man in blue denim jacket facing turned on monitor
NZ

An Xtra Headache for the BFD

* I am republishing this article because Xtra’s actions are costing us memberships Readers of the BFD who have signed up for our FREE newsletter with an Xtra e-mail address have been contacting us for months now because Xtra keeps blocking and bouncing our e-mails to them. We have tried

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What Happens When You Replace Frontline Workers With AI?

What Happens When You Replace Frontline Workers With AI?

Mark Tsagas University of East London theconversation.com AI chatbots are already widely used by businesses to greet customers and answer their questions – either over the phone or on websites. Some companies have found that they can, to some extent, replace humans with machines in call centre roles. However, the

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Anyone Know Where the 10mm Socket Is?

Anyone Know Where the 10mm Socket Is?

We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to find that damned 10mm socket, but imagine working in one of the most secure labs on Earth… and realising that you’ve got the wrong toolkit entirely. A cornucopia of scientific revelation lies before you – and you can’t open it.

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Tech Talk: Choice Is King for Linux
NZ

Tech Talk: Choice Is King for Linux

This series is designed to help people to understand modern technology, and become more confident in using computing devices. It is not designed to educate experts. The author is involved in tutoring older students at SeniorNet, a New Zealand wide organisation. SeniorNet hopes that students will feel more confident in

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Tech Talk: Easy Update
NZ

Tech Talk: Easy Update

This series is designed to help people to understand modern technology, and become more confident in using computing devices. It is not designed to educate experts. The author is involved in tutoring older students at SeniorNet, a New Zealand wide organisation. SeniorNet hopes that students will feel more confident in

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man in blue denim jacket facing turned on monitor
NZ

An Xtra Headache for the BFD

Readers of the BFD who have signed up for our FREE newsletter with an Xtra e-mail address have been contacting us for months now because Xtra keeps blocking and bouncing our e-mails to them. We have tried repeatedly to get them to stop blocking and bouncing our e-mails but nothing

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A Barn Find to Drool Over

A Barn Find to Drool Over

In a key plot point in the Back to the Future films, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), stuck in 1885, secretes the DeLorean time machine in an abandoned goldmine. Seventy years later, the machine is retrieved – dusty but intact and almost fully functional. The still, dry air of the mine, away

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black digital device at 5

What Are We Trying to Escape?

Susan Carland Academic, author and social commentator Whitney Monaghan Lecturer, Communications and Media Studies, Faculty of Arts Davide Orazi Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, Monash Business School Michael W Clune Author; Knight Professor of Humanities, Case Western Reserve University Clem Bastow Author and cultural critic lens.monash.edu Everyone wants

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people walking on street during daytime

Reaching the Peak of Human Performance

Simon Angus Simon pursues a thoroughly multi-disciplinary research agenda as a complexity and data scientist. He uses computational and data science techniques to study socioeconomic, biological, or physical phenomena. Simon’s interest in computational and algorithmic thinking started very early with much time spent on the family’s first computer

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NZ Police Are Using AI

NZ Police Are Using AI

Alexandra Sims University of Auckland theconversation.com The use of artificial intelligence (AI) by New Zealand police is putting the spotlight on policing tactics in the 21st century. A recent Official Information Act request by Radio New Zealand revealed the use of SearchX, an AI tool that can draw connections

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a group of coins

The EU Digital ID Wallet Pilots Roll Out

Stavroula Pabst Stavroula Pabst is a writer, comedian, and media PhD student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Athens, Greece. Her writing has appeared in publications including Propaganda in Focus, Reductress, Unlimited Hangout and The Grayzone. brownstone.org As 2023 continues, the European Commission appears busy developing

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Has the DOD Thought through Weaponized Robots?

Has the DOD Thought through Weaponized Robots?

Dave Patterson National Security Correspondent at LibertyNation.Com. Dave is a retired US Air Force Pilot with over 180 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller and has served in executive positions in the private sector aerospace and defense industry. In addition

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The Mounting Threats From AI –

The Mounting Threats From AI –

Andrew Lensen Victoria University of Wellington theconversation.com As the 2023 election campaign enters its final days, there is an elephant in the room that politicians seem keen to ignore: the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what it will mean for New Zealand’s economy, politics and society. Developments

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Tech Talk: Dark Patterns
NZ

Tech Talk: Dark Patterns

This series is designed to help people to understand modern technology, and become more confident in using computing devices. It is not designed to educate experts. The author is involved in tutoring older students at SeniorNet, a New Zealand wide organisation. SeniorNet hopes that students will feel more confident in

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broken car covered with flame

Battery Fires: We Ain’t Seen Nuthin’ Yet

Back at the dawn of the automobile era, people were so concerned about these new-fangled infernal machines that drivers had to employ someone to walk in front of them waving a warning flag. But if the same people had had the mindset of the Climate Cult, they’d have been

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Money for Nothing? Some Thoughts on UBI

Money for Nothing? Some Thoughts on UBI

Steven Tucker mercatornet.com Would you like to be paid for sitting at home all day doing nothing? If so, you could try getting in touch with Autonomy, a British-based think-tank currently seeking £1.6m in funding to give away £1,600 per month over the course of two years

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