Threads launched by Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms launched a new social media platform titled Threads. The new platform is closely linked with Instagram but unlike Instagram it is more focused towards text-based posts. This makes it functionally similar to Twitter and has been referred to as the "Twitter killer" in some circles.

Posts on Threads can be 500 characters long and can contain photos, links and videos (up to 5 minutes length). Twitter which started with 140-character limit in 2006, currently provides 280-character limit for posts. At this point the platform is available as mobile apps for Android and iOS only.

This screenshot shows how the profile page looks like the on the Android app.

The announcement from Instagram is here.

Facebook's press release about the launch is here.

A Visit to the Toledo Museum of Art - Random Travel Instinct

The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in the midst of a massive multiyear expansion plan to its 40-acre campus. The museum was founded by Toledo glassmaker Edward Drummond Libbey in 1901.

We visited the museum several times between 2018 and 2021 and this video is a slideshow of photos shot at the galleries.

If you are unable to play the video directly from this page here is the direct link to YouTube, https://youtu.be/4CvH8UYDlQ0

The official website of the museum is at https://www.toledomuseum.org/

Driving Around Traverse City, Michigan - Random Travel Instinct

This video is a drive around the Traverse City area in the Northern Michigan region. We drive through the roadways of Williamsburg, Traverse City over U.S. Route 31, Michigan highway M-72, Michigan highway M-88, Michigan highway M-37, and Michigan highway M-22.

If you are unable to play the video directly from this page here is the direct link to YouTube, https://youtu.be/0Kg08N_cXQk

A visit to Fort Meigs Historic Site, Perrysburg, Ohio - Random Travel Instinct

Fort Meigs was a United States fortification along the Maumee River in what is now Perrysburg, Ohio during the War of 1812. The British Army, supported by Tecumseh's Confederacy, failed to capture the fort during the siege of Fort Meigs. It is named in honor of Ohio governor Return J. Meigs Jr., for his support in providing General William Henry Harrison with militia and supplies for the line of forts along the Old Northwest frontier. The Ohio Historical Society reconstructed the fort in the late 1960s, and its museum, featuring numerous artifacts uncovered during excavation in connection with the rebuilding, opened in 1974. It is a National Historic Landmark.

This video has some moments that we captured during our visits in 2021 [YouTube].

 The official website of Fort Meigs is here.

Views of the Atal Foot Over Bridge, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India - Random Travel Instinct

The Atal Foot Over Bridge in Ahmedabad in Gujarat is a pedestrian truss bridge built on the banks of the Sabarmati Riverfront on Sabarmati River. The design is inspired by kites. The night view is particularly beautiful will the structure decorated with lights of various colors. The evenings are pretty busy with lots of visitors every day. This video combines short clips that I shot on a trip.

The direct link to YouTube is here.

Windows Killing Cortana Virtual Assistant

In a latest support document, Microsoft has announced the end of support for its virtual assistant Cortana in Windows starting August 2023. Though Cortana will continue to be available in Outlook mobile, Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams display, and Microsoft Teams rooms, this move signals Microsoft's roadmap to tread away from the Cortana ecosystem and venture into other AI-powered tools that it has started bundling with Bing (Chat AI) and Office 365 (Office 365 Copilot). They have also introduced Windows Copilot with its latest preview of Windows 11 in June 2023.

In January 2015, Microsoft announced the availability of Cortana for Windows 10 desktops and mobile devices as part of merging Windows Phone into the operating system at large. In my personal experience an Acer Aspire V 15 V3-574-7481 running Windows 10 was the first laptop that I used Cortana on. It was interesting but I was not impressed as much as the Google Voice Assistant. I have always kept it disabled on my devices since then.

Over the years Cortana has also been bundled in several 3rd-party voice-activated devices like Harman Kardon's INVOKE speakers, ecobee smart-thermostats, Johnson Controls Glas thermostats, Nest smart-thermostats Honeywell's Lyric and Total Connect Comfort smart-thermostats, LIFX smart-lights, TP-Link Kasa smart plugs, and Geeni smart home devices, Philips Hue smart-lights and Wink smart home devices.

In the last few years, Microsoft has removed Cortana from the Xbox, iOS and Android.

Microsoft's 2nd June 2023 statement on their support website is here.

Rich Woods writes about it here at XDA Developers.

WHO ends global health emergency declaration for COVID-19

The World Health Organization has lifted the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for COVID-19.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/05/05/1174269442/who-ends-global-health-emergency-declaration-for-covid-19