Meta blocks news on Facebook and Instagram for users in Canada

Facebook and Instagram, which are owned by Meta, is preventing users in Canada to post or view news content. In June 2023, the Canadian government passed its Online News Act, Bill C-18, which requires big tech giants like Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms. Darren Major writes about the event here on CBC. Here is a full text of the act.

How AI Large Language Models work: Explained in simple English

LLM (Large Language Models) are considered to be the foundation for text-based generative AI. These models, such as the GPT model of ChatGPT, are designed to generate human-like text based on the input they receive. In the large scheme of things, LLMs are the models that are trained to predict the next word when they generate textual output.

This article by Tim Lee on Ars Technica explains in simple terms about word vectors, transformers, and how the language models are trained.

Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India by Joseph Lelyveld

Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India by Joseph Lelyveld is a biographical exploration of Mahatma Gandhi, the iconic leader of India's independence movement. Lelyveld delves into Gandhi's life, his philosophy of nonviolence, and his complex relationship with India's struggle for freedom. The book sheds light on Gandhi's personal struggles, his impact on India's history, and his controversial aspects. It discusses his beliefs, activism, and the challenges he faced. Lelyveld provides a comprehensive portrait of the man behind the legend, offering a nuanced perspective on Gandhi's role in shaping India's destiny and his enduring legacy.

How to export your Last.fm Scrobbles

I have used the Last.fm Scrobbler for several years in the past but I realized that there was no way to take out your data right out of their official website. Then I found this tool that lets you do just that.

I like this tool and it should have been part of the main Last.fm product itself.

It is simple to use. Just enter your Last.fm username, select the type of data to export and the file format and start exporting. In fact, you can enter any Last.fm username and it will scrape the data for you.

Here is a screencap of my data being exported. 😊

Thanks to Ghan64 for this useful tool.

Today I Learned: Voyager 1 is almost 15 billion miles away from Earth and still can communicate

Today I Learned: Voyager 1 space probe is almost 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away from Earth and still can communicate with the ground antennas of the Deep Space Network (DSN).

The DSN antennas are located at Goldstone, near Barstow, California; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. [Source]

World's largest wind turbine has been switched on

A 16-megawatt MySE 16-260 turbine, the world's largest wind turbine which was designed by Mingyang Smart Energy, has been switched on.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

The turbine is part of a wind farm installed by China Three Gorges Corporation near Fujian province.

Laura Simmons writes about the announcement at IFLScience.

Overture Maps Foundation released it's first Open Map Dataset

The Overture Maps Foundation (OMF) released its first dataset consisting of about 60 million places which are separated into four unique data layers: Places of Interest (POIs), Buildings, Transportation Network, and Administrative Boundaries.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Developers can use this dataset to build their mapping applications. This service is similar to what Google Maps API already provides so this makes OMF a competitor.

The Overture Maps Foundation was founded in December 2022 by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta, Microsoft, and TomTom.

This Overture Maps Foundation blog post details the press release.