Xavier Harding
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Articles by Xavier Harding
PAID POST by Discover Puerto Rico — 24 Hours in Santurce
How music remains the cultural pulse of Puerto Rico “The Taíno, the Africans and the Spanish formed the heart of Puerto Rico,” the Cepeda family tells me. “They didn’t speak the same language, but they communicated through the music.” The patriarch of bomba, Puerto Rico’s first music genre, was Don Rafael Cepeda. As I sit with his granddaughter, I realize I’m graced by the presence of music royalty. “La bomba was a genre of resistance," Tata Cepeda says. “It isn’t just music and dance.
Lifestyle | Transportation | Cool Material
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The Best Affordable EVs
The electric vehicle industry has come a long way since Tesla first showed the world how to make a compelling consumer EV back in 2012. The company is known for offering cars that carry a hefty price tag—the biggest, baddest Cybertruck, for example, costs $100K. But the company makes cheaper models too. The Tesla Model Y’s $60K price tag helped make it the #1 most-sold car in the world this and last year, narrowly edging out the Toyota Corolla.
Deepfake Detector App? ChatGPT’s Creator May Have One On The Way
The deepfake trend refuses to let up. Fabricated images, audio and video are becoming easier to generate and harder to pick apart. Did President Biden actually call voters telling them not to vote, or was it a fake? Did Donald Trump actually pose with that crowd of people or was the photo a phony? With elections on the horizon, many worry about the heightened consequences deepfaked content will have on society this year. Enter: OpenAI’s deepfake detection tool.
AI Is Getting Bigger. Is Its Climate Impact Getting Badder?
Buying two T-shirts costs twice as much as one. This is obvious when we see the money leave our wallet. Driving twice the distance will cost you twice the fuel. Also obvious when we look at the gas tank indicator. If everything we do online costs the environment in some way, how much does a Google search cost? How does it compare to the cost of that same search on ChatGPT? As we move through the web — streaming, searching, downloading and more — we leave behind a footprint.
AI-Powered Facial Recognition Is Leading To Wrongful Arrests & Convictions — Here’s How
Artificial intelligence tools can contain many of the same biases that humans do — whether it be search engines, dating apps, or even job hiring software. The problem also exists in systems with even more dire consequences — specifically, the criminal justice system. Facial recognition software is far from perfect, and we’ve seen how it can be worse for dark-skinned individuals. Combine this with law enforcement’s increasing use of face detection software and it creates a gruesome intersection.
Are Dating Apps Racist? Here’s What Tinder And Others Can Do To Protect Users Of Color
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: the apps you use and the algorithms that power them contain bias. This affects your social media feeds, your search results and even your dating prospects. Your online meet-cute may feel as spontaneous as an in-person one, but algorithms on Tinder and Hinge are the invisible hand behind the scenes that make matches happen.
Want AI To Write Your Resume? Here’s What You Should Keep In Mind
ChatGPT’s arrival has changed nearly everything, from term papers to law school exams, from work emails to obituaries. “If AI is so capable,” you wonder, “why not have it get a job for me too?” It’s tempting to want to use AI tools like Rezi or ResumA.I. or even ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini to help write your resume and cover letter to land that dream gig.
Was This Video Generated Using AI? Here’s How To Tell
OpenAI released ChatGPT in late November 2022 and it’s almost laughable to think about how excited many of us were over AI-generated text. Now OpenAI is taking its talents to the video world. Sora is the company’s latest tool and will allow users to create high-definition video just off of a simple paragraph of text.
Audio Deepfakes Sound Like Trouble - This Company Uses Common Voice To Detect Them
Have you ever had one of those moments that makes you go, “I can’t believe President Biden would call people and tell them not to vote,” only to find out that President Biden did not in fact call people and tell them not to vote? Deepfakes are getting convincing and it’s becoming hard to tell what actually happened and what was generated by software. Enter Reality Defender, a service that helps you discern true footage from the fake stuff.
TikTok’s Algorithm Explained: Teens And Depression Content
When we last studied TikTok, it left us worried. Sure, the social media app is known for meme videos and dance challenges, but there were underlying problems. For one, political ads. TikTok banned them, yet some TikTok influencers, being paid by politicians, were allowed to spread political messaging.
Voice Clones on iPhones? Mozilla’s ‘Common Voice’ Project Has Thoughts
If you follow Mozilla on TikTok, you probably saw that iOS 17 on iPhone now lets you make a clone of your voice. The feature is equal parts creepy and cool — creepy because a copy of your voice can now live on your phone. But also cool, because those who have lost the ability to speak can use the feature to communicate out loud using their phone’s apps. We here at Mozilla Foundation know a thing or two about voice and AI.
iOS 17 Now Has An AI Voice Clone Feature On iPhone — Here's What You Need To Know
What New Features Are Coming To iOS 17? iOS 17 has finally been released to download and, if you own an iPhone, there’s a lot to dig into. “NameDrop” lets you exchange contact info just by bumping devices. “Check In” makes it easy to get live updates on whether or not your friends made it home safely. FaceTime now lets callers leave a video voicemail message if their call goes unanswered (that feature doesn’t have a snazzy Apple marketing name).
AI’s Carbon Footprint — Here’s How Much Carbon Everyday Internet Tasks Emit
Did you know that writing an email can send 17 grams or more of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? Or that going audio-only on Zoom calls reduces carbon emissions by up to 96%? It’s easy to think of our computers as clean, green productivity machines — it’s not like there’s a smokestack sticking out of our laptops or a tailpipe at the bottom of our smartphones. Still, internet use comes with an invisible carbon footprint.
Did ChatGPT write this? Here’s how to tell.
The AI wars are heating up. In late 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT made headlines for showing us what a new search engine could look like. ChatGPT (which stands for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer”) is a chatbot — one that can process queries and spit out relevant information to answer questions about historical facts, recipes, car dimensions and lots more.
Did ChatGPT write this? Here’s how to tell.
The AI wars are heating up. In late 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT made headlines for showing us what a new search engine could look like. ChatGPT (which stands for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer”) is a chatbot — one that can process queries and spit out relevant information to answer questions about historical facts, recipes, car dimensions and lots more.
AI-Generated Music - If Everyone Is Drake, Is Anyone?
AI can’t replace everything a producer like Justin does, but it can replace the hardest part — turning your voice into The Weeknd’s voice. So how does he feel about all this? In short, impressed. “I’ve been loving it,” Justin says. “The options are endless. It’s been cool to take my music and imagine, ‘What would it sound like if The Weeknd sang my song?’” ” In some of his most recent videos, Justin has started to experiment with AI himself, having Michael Jackson sing Bruno Mars songs, for example.
Justin Bernardez & Mozilla Interview: The Rise of AI-Made Music
That Drake song you just heard may not have been by Drake. The field of AI is heating up. Tools like ChatGPT have shown us how capable (and misguided) artificial intelligence can be. Deepfake images and video have shown us that seeing isn't always believing. Now the same is true for audio — just because a song like "Heart On My Sleeve" sounds like it features Drake and The Weeknd doesn't actually mean the two artists had anything to do with the song.
TikTok: Is it safe? Should you uninstall it?
TikTok is a global sensation with over 1 billion users worldwide and hundreds of millions of new app installs every year. But governments around the world are banning it from the phones of public officials and even talking about banning it from their countries altogether. Why? TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company founded in China.
Breaking Bias - Diverse Speech Training? For Virtual Assistants, It’s Virtually Non-Existent
“Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes.” Ten years ago this sentence wouldn’t have been considered an interaction with a computer, but nowadays it is. Virtual assistants and voice-based interactions with artificial intelligence have become commonplace. It isn’t just Amazon’s Alexa, which has somehow made its way into vacuums and refrigerators.
Breaking Bias: How Algorithmic Racism Goes Unaddressed
Here’s a not so fun fact: software can be racist. “But...how?”, you might ask, “how does software become discriminatory?” Humans provide algorithms with training data. This training data is a set of examples that teach the program how to interpret what it sees or hears. This data could be examples of cat photos or text from a Twitter feed or even the cost of a house based on location and size.
Can My Boss Read My Slack DMs-And Other Workplace Wonderings
What about emails? Can my boss see those if they wanted? You already know employers can access your Microsoft email account (eDiscovery works on Outlook too), so what about another big email provider: Google. If your employer uses Gmail, the company notes that administrators have access to “any data you store in this account,” which likely includes emails, docs, chats, and other data you’ve got tucked inside your work Google account.
Breaking Bias: Search Engine Discrimination? Sounds About White
Google isn’t alone though. Algorithms created by other companies have exhibited unintentional bias as well. On TikTok, go to a user’s page and suggestions of who you should follow next weirdly surface more people of the same ethnicity and hair color. Or on Twitter, where the service’s image cropping algorithm would unfairly prioritize white people over Black people when using AI to crop a photo. AI-driven racial bias exists offline too.
It’s Prime Day! Meaning Amazon is old enough to know better
By Xavier Harding | June 18, 2021 Amazon’s Prime Day is a lot like Black Friday — a fake holiday that makes a ton of cash. Last year, in just two days, Prime Day raked in $3.5 billion. The event is meant to celebrate Amazon’s birthday, but the company in 2021 is very different from what it was in 1994. We’ve seen Amazon go from bookseller to everything-seller to full-on gadget-maker. That third part worries us.
Mozilla Explains: How Dating Apps Might Be Keeping You Single
There’s Something About AI In normal times, online dating was already on the rise — 30% of adults in the US have used a dating app or website while 12% have found a long-term relationship through an app. In pandemic times the numbers only get bigger — OKCupid saw a 700% increase in dates while Tinder reached a record 3 billion swipes. You’re probably wondering, with all those people swiping to find love, how does the app know who to show you next?
'Zelda: Breath of the Wild' Fire: How to start a campfire to cook food and pass time
Just like in the actual wild, in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, survival is the name of the game. Not only do you have to fend off enemies, but you're required to find food and cook it up. Or, in Link's quiet moments, the Hylian hero is required to pass large amounts of time to get to the next day. Both of these tasks can be accomplished with the help of Prometheus — we're talking setting stuff on fire. But many of these survival techniques, including making a fire, are new to the Zelda world.
Mozilla Explains: Ethical AI - The Choice Is Not Yours (Sometimes)
Ah AI, Our Old Friend By now you know what AI is. Not just that it stands for artificial intelligence but that it takes in information and uses it to make predictions and decisions. AI powers the social media feed that suggests the next post, it informs the commercials that show up on your streaming service, it drives the software that just auto-completed this sentence. In more serious situations it can determine if you qualify for bail or a home loan.
‘Pokémon Go’ Legendary Birds Event: Here’s why the raids are for a limited time only
Rare legendaries in Pokémon Go are one of many features fans of the game have been asking for since the start. For a year, Pokémon Go users have filled up their Pokédex only to find notable omissions like Mewtwo, Celebi and the legendary birds of the Red and Blue games. The latter three have finally arrived, but there’s just one problem: The legendary birds of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres will only be available during specific times, one per week, until things wrap up Aug. 14. What’s the deal?
Paying $50K In Student Loans In 1.5 Years
Originally posted here In part 1, I told you my story: When I was 18, I didn’t know what I was signing up for. When I agreed to take out student loans to attend the college of my choice, I clicked “Yes” and signed my name on dotted lines faster than someone agreeing to a Terms of Service they definitely didn’t read just so they could use an app. Then I graduated, and the loans came due. I couldn’t pay them back, so I ignored them. I didn’t even know how much I owed. $48,000 was the amount.
Superhero movies are really white. Here are 6 diverse heroes who deserve their own film.
Marvel’s Black Panther won’t hit theaters until Feb. 16, but the excitement for the movie is palpable. Trailers have Twitter aflutter and ticket sales are breaking records. Rooms across the country are filled with people in Black Panther cosplay as they impatiently wait for the film. There’s strong turnout at conventions like New York City’s Black Comic Book Festival at Schomburg Center, showing that people of color will show up in a passionate way if they’re represented in these stories.
Misinfo Monday: How to Spot Misinformation Like The Pros
By Xavier Harding | Aug. 3, 2020 — Misinfo Monday is a weekly series by Mozilla where we give you the tools, tips and tricks needed to cut the crap and find the truth. For more, check back weekly on our blog, or on our Instagram. — It's always important to cut the crap, but first you must spot the crap. Misleading news content, or misinformation as the experts call it, is all around us — in our phones and on our feeds; in our timelines and on our screens.
When Default is the Default
Look to your left. Now look to your right. If both people you looked at are black millennials, one of them has almost definitely went into default on their student loans. By now, you know the most popular stats: 44 million people owe $1.5 trillion in student debt. The average amount owed is $25K for undergrad degrees and $45K for graduate degrees.
Brunch with Aric Jenkins
Name: Aric Jenkins Debt load: $54K Location: A diner in Williamsburg (even though I suggested a place in Fort Greene.) (The diner had terrible service.) • Xavier Harding: I feel like there’s two lines of thinking — live for the moment or plan for the future. Where do you land on that scale? Aric Jenkins: Our philosophies vary greatly. There’s no right or wrong way, but my way is definitely the wrong way. Or at the very least, not what you’re supposed to do.
Paying loans properly - Snowball? Avalanche? SNAVALANCHE!
In 2018, I decided I would get out of default and get serious about paying back my student loans (ideally by 30). I didn’t know where to start. Like most millennials, I searched the internet for answers. Books like Broke Millennial and articles on the internet all referred to the same advice: the snowball method and the avalanche method, both techniques made popular by Dave Ramsey. So what are they? The Snowball Method List out all of the balances you owe in order of their principal balances.
Apple's Credit Card Will Launch in August. Will Its Rewards Perk up iPhone 11 Sales?
It's official: Apple's credit card is coming this month. On the Apple website, consumers can be notified when they can apply for the Apple Card, a process that happens entirely on their iPhone. But that would take place on their existing handset. Will the Apple Card's rewards entice its customers to upgrade to a new iPhone 11 when it (presumably) comes out in September? In an investor call on last week, CEO Tim Cook announced that the Apple Card will be made to consumers this month.
Apple and Google Suspend Listening to Audio Recorded By Virtual Assistants
Both Apple and Google have suspended the controversial practice of having human workers listen to audio captured by Siri and Google's virtual assistant. Apple's decision comes one week after the Guardian revealed that the company had hired contractors to listen to and analyze audio picked up by its virtual assistant.
Apple Has a Million Dollar Bug Problem—And It's Only Paying Thousands to Squash Them
Details of six new vulnerabilities in Apple's iOS mobile operating system were made available on Tuesday. Discovered by researchers with Google, several of the security flaws were particularly worrisome because they could potentially let hackers compromise iPhones without making owners aware. Many of the bugs were disclosed months ago, and all but one has already been patched.
The Fortnite World Cup Finals May Be the Biggest Thing in Sports This Weekend. Here’s How to Watch
The Fortnite World Cup final will take place this weekend, July 26-28, in New York City. Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, has set aside $30 million in prizes for the final rounds of its tournament event. A free-to-play title for both mobile devices and traditional game consoles, Fortnite has taken the world by storm, ever since its battle royale mode became free for players in September 2017.
Tinder App Joins Fortnite in Sidestepping Google Play Store Payments
Tinder and Fortnite are free for users to download on Android and iOS, with both apps offering a bevy of purchases that let users enhance their online dating and gaming experiences. The mobile battle-royale game first made waves when it sidestepped the Google Play Store, in an effort to avoid giving the search company up to 30% of its revenue. Now Tinder, one of Android's highest grossing apps, is following suit.
In March, Apple revealed its first credit card: Apple Card, a thin slab of titanium that would provide shoppers with 3% cash back at Apple stores, 2% at anywhere Apple Pay is available, and 1% everywhere else. Many observers quickly pointed out Apple Card's limited earning potential for customers. Citi's Double Cash card, for example, provides shoppers with 2% back everywhere, not just at stores with Apple Pay.
These 7 Apps are Android Stalkerware, Delete Them Now
Google has removed seven apps from its Google Play Store that were designed for spying on employees, romantic partners, and children. On Tuesday, security company Avast reported four apps to Google that let people track a user's whereabouts, see their contact list, text messages and even call history. The next day, the same company detected three more apps that were also intended for snooping.
Google Squashes Project Dragonfly, its China-Specific Censored Search Engine
Google revealed this week that it has ceased all work on Project Dragonfly, its search engine tailor-made for China. During a Senate Judiciary hearing, Karan Bhatia, Google's vice president of public policy, stated, "We have terminated Project Dragonfly," after being questioned by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). The company has said little about Project Dragonfly since the China-specific search engine was first revealed back in August 2018.
Twitter, Unable to Control Its Worst Elements, Rolls out a New Site Layout Design
On Monday, Twitter officially launched its updated interface on desktop for the web. The social media site began testing the new version of its site back in September 2018. The new look better resembles the site's experience on modern smartphones. At the start, the new look was optional, and only available to some. Now, the redesign will mandatory for Twitter users, disabling their ability to switch to the social network's legacy layout.
Google Home Records Far More Than Users Realize, Report Says
Contractors hired by Google have been listening to audio recorded by its virtual assistant—even files recorded after the "OK, Google" wake word wasn't invoked—reports Belgian outlet Vrt Nws. According to the story, the news outlet listened to many recordings, some that didn't start with Google's wake word, containing personal conversations, professional phone calls with private information, interactions between kids and their parents, and other sensitive information.
Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor That Devastated the Region Is Finally Sealed—33 Years After the Explosion
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday inaugurated a giant structure built to confine radioactive debris at the nuclear reactor that exploded in Chernobyl in 1986. The confinement structure for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's Reactor No. 4 cost 1.5 billion euros (almost $1.7 billion) to build, and the entire project cost 2.2 billion euros (about $2.5 billion).
McDonald's Wants a Chick-fil-A-style Fried Chicken Sandwich
McDonald's wants a Southern fried chicken sandwich to call its own. Reflecting the competitive urgency for this sandwich, the National Owners Association of McDonald's franchisees likens its importance to the U.S. landing on the moon. "JFK called for a man on the moon, our call should be a category-leading chicken sandwich," reads a Wednesday email from NOA's board to fellow McDonald's operators, according to CNBC.
While Heads Rolled at Deutsche Bank, These Tailors Took Measurements
On the very morning Deutsche Bank scheduled massive staff cuts, a series of other snips, tucks and measurements was going down in a corner of the German titan’s London headquarters. Ian Fielding-Calcutt and Alex Riley, two up-market tailors, were on the premises of Deutsche Bank in the City of London measuring up a selection of the bank’s top managers for new suits. Elsewhere in the building staff were getting the sack.
Fashion Retailers Sidestepping Trump's Trade War with China
For the first time in 30 years, Newage Group, a Bangladesh-based garment manufacturer, is sensing an opportunity to sell in the U.S. And it has President Donald Trump’s battle with China to thank. Newage, a supplier to Hennes & Mauritz AB, has been doing business with European companies for three decades but is now getting inquiries from Macy’s Inc. and Gap Inc., Asif Ibrahim, vice-chairman of Newage Group, said in an interview.
Switch Lite Is Exactly What Nintendo Needs to Lift Sales, Analysts Say
Nintendo's unveiling of a handheld video game player, Switch Lite, on Wednesday marks a major opportunity for the company, analysts said. Nintendo on Wednesday took the wraps off its Nintendo Switch Lite, and said that it will focus on the handheld gaming market, so players can play Nintendo games and titles from third-party developers wherever they are.
Fuel Tank Issues Prompt Recall of 58,000 Ford Focus Vehicles
Ford is recalling 58,000 vehicles after discovering an issue with the powertrain control module software that could result in a deformed fuel tank. The most recent recall affects select 2012 and 2017 Focus vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter GDI engines and 2013-14 Focus ST vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter GTDI engines. Ford says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue. The issue is connected to a recall that originated last October.
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