Author: Geek Planet

Google DeepMind’s impressive video generation tool Veo just picked up an update, bringing a long-awaited feature to users. The tool now supports native vertical video output, making it ideal for creating content for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok. In its announcement, Google notes that Veo now lets users generate videos in a 9:16 aspect ratio, eliminating the need to crop or reframe clips for vertical-first platforms. To create portrait videos, users only need to upload a vertical image and Veo will maintain the aspect ratio and orientation. The update also brings improvements to the tool’s Ingredients to Video capabilities,…

As the data center faces unprecedented demand and a critical shortage of skilled technicians, energy tech firm Schneider Electric has launched an initiative to recruit and train 400 U.S. military veterans for customer-facing service roles supporting data centers, power systems and critical facilities. The timing couldn’t be more opportune. Data center demand is projected to grow 33% annually by 2030, while the industry struggles to find qualified candidates for increasingly complex systems. Veterans already comprise 7.2% of Schneider’s U.S. workforce, exceeding the federal benchmark of 5.1%. The company was recently named a 2025 Gold Military Friendly Employer. Those who may…

One of my favorite books of all time is the Book of Lists. It contained weird and interesting lists. Here is a list of a dozen of these lists, i.e. a list of lists:    10 Famous Insomniacs 10 Really Unusual Medical Conditions 9 Cats Who Traveled Long Distances to Return Home 15 Famous People Who Worked in Bed 11 Most Unusual Objects Sold on eBay 10 Celebrated People Who Read Their Own Obituaries 16 Famous Events That Happened in the Bathtub The World’s Greatest Libel Suits People Suspected of Being Jack the Ripper Worst Places to Hitchhike Dr. Demento’s…

Generative AI, or AI for short, is the most controversial technology of the 21st century. Some believe it will lead to rapid increases in productivity, others say the opposite, believing it represents an existential risk to humanity, while still others believe it is the biggest financial bubble of all time (one estimate is $35 trillion). I belong to the third category and have written many articles and a book (Unicorns, Hype and Bubbles) about this claim, often with Gary Smith. I also admit that I was mystified by why more people don’t agree with me until I read Steven Pinker’s…

If you’re shopping for a lightweight “daily driver” laptop and you don’t want to spend midrange money, Best Buy has the ASUS Vivobook 14 (Copilot+ PC) down to $349.99. That’s $400 off (about 53%) for a modern Windows laptop with Snapdragon X, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD, which is a lot of hardware for this price tier. What you’re getting This model pairs a 14-inch display with a taller 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) resolution in an IPS panel with 300 nits brightness and a 60Hz refresh rate. On the portability side, the product specs call out 3.28 lb weight…

AI chatbots have upended how people search online, creating a zero-click environment and reducing traffic to traditional search results. Publishers have taken the brunt of it, seeing dips in traffic to news coverage. Marketers too, however, are feeling the effects of lower site traffic, creating less first-party data and fewer opportunities to retarget shoppers, according to six agency execs.Some media agencies have already started to scrutinize paid search adjustments amid the zero-click signal confusion even as Google remains the go-to search engine with more than half of U.S. consumers reportedly preferring to use it over AI platforms, according to eMarketer.…

No sense burying the lead. After Bowman points at the Monolith, he becomes a giant floating baby in space. The character is referred to as Star Child. I am not calling him that. Bowman is Space Baby, period. If this is my “the emperor has no clothes moment,” then so be it. The idea of a floating baby with a force field around it is ridiculous. I don’t care that this movie is a classic. I don’t care that Stanley Kubrick made it. This is nonsense.             The ludicrous visual aside, it’s nonsensical from a narrative standpoint. The idea here…

Smartphone price hikes have been widely predicted for months, but 2026 is now shaping up to be the year those warnings turn into reality. Analysts, leaks, and supply chain reports have all been pointing out how this year will be uniquely bold and worrisome for phone buyers. Now, Nothing CEO Carl Pei has laid out why smartphone prices are rising and why there may be no easy way around it. In a long post on X, Pei said the smartphone industry is facing a shift it has not seen in more than a decade, and it all comes down to…

Absolutist, Prohibitionist, and Luddite? Oh, My! Source link

This Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s more likely shoppers turn to ChatGPT to help with their holiday wish lists. Over the past year, AI platforms have gone mainstream with more users using them to research products, compare brands, hunt for deals and even automate purchasing.The changes in how people shop online has caused marketers to reconsider their SEO strategies to maintain brand visibility in the new zero-click search landscape. As this year’s holiday shopping season gets underway, it could prove to be a major inflection point in determining if AI search can be a tool from discovery to conversion. …