Places and Things

AI Audiobooks From Apple: ‘Digital Narration Technology’ To Deliver Audio For Millions Of Books Apple quietly launched digital narration technology today that uses artificial intelligence to generate human-sounding narration for books. Continue Reading . . . https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2023/01/05/ai-audiobooks-from-apple-digital-narration-technology-to-deliver-audio-for-millions-of-books/

Mercedes-Benz and ChargePoint are going to install thousands of EV fast chargers in the US Mercedes-Benz, MN8, and ChargePoint are joining forces to install 400 fast electric vehicle charging hubs across the US in a major bid to boost EV sales and improve the nation’s struggling EV charging infrastructure. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/5/23538898/mercedes-benz-chargepoint-ev-charging-stations-build

Volcanic Activity on Mars Upends Red Planet Assumptions For decades, planetary scientists assumed Mars was dead. Geologically, that is. Smaller than Earth, the planet would have cooled faster than ours after it formed. It was, for a time, quite volcanically active. Continue Reading . . . https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/volcanic-activity-on-mars-upends-red-planet-assumptions/

MacBook owners have two months to claim up to $395 over butterfly keyboard woes If you bought an Apple MacBook with an ill-fated butterfly keyboard and ended up having to replace either individual keycaps or the whole keyboard, you may be eligible to claim part of a $50 million settlement reached after a class-action lawsuit. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/4/23538548/macbook-class-action-lawsuit-claims-faulty-butterfly-keyboard

Nanoleaf’s new light switches will learn when you need them Nanoleaf is finally bringing its whole-home smart lighting ambitions to fruition with the launch of its first-ever smart switches — and they come with a twist designed to make them smarter than that of the competition. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/3/23530049/nanoleaf-sense-plus-learning-smart-switches-specs-pricing-ces23

Twitter says it will allow more political ads as it tries to claw back revenue Twitter is going to “expand” the political advertising it allows on the platform in “the coming weeks,” the Twitter Safety account tweeted on Tuesday. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/3/23537947/twitter-political-cause-based-ads

Keep your eyes peeled for this comet in 2023 Here’s something to look forward to in the new year: 2023 could give us a once-in-a-generation chance to see a new comet grace our skies. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/30/23532397/new-comet-visible-naked-eye-january-february-2023