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“Right to Repair enshrined in Oregon’s Legislation”

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Oregon Governor Tina Kotek on Tuesday signed Senate Bill 1596 into law, joining California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts and Minnesota in a growing list of states embracing a right to repair for citizens. The bill’s coauthors Janeen Sollman and Representative Courtney Neron took inspiration from California’s Senate Bill 244, which passed toward the tail end of 2023. The iPhone maker, which had previously issued an unprecedented open letter in favor of the California bill, has said that it is mostly in favor of Oregon’s bill, with the above caveat. We entertained many of the changes that Apple brought forward that are in the California bill. “By eliminating manufacturer restrictions, the Right to Repair will make it easier for Oregonians to keep their personal electronics running.

Change Your Fashion Game with Google’s Swipe Right and Swipe Left Options

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Google will let you swipe right or swipe left on clothes to get better fashion recommendationsGoogle is rolling out a new update that makes it easier for users to find personalized shopping results, the company announced on Wednesday. The new feature lets users rate different products in order to get style recommendations when shopping for apparel, shoes and accessories. After you have rated a selection of products, Google will display personalized results for you to parse through. Google will remember your preferences, so if you ever search for men’s polo shirts again, you will see style recommendations based on what you liked in the past. The company says people shop on Google more than a billion times a day and see more than 45 billion products in their results.

Farm Equipment Transforms into Data-Collecting AI with Revolutionary Orchard Vision System

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We’ve seen systems that pick apples and berries, kill weeds, plant trees, transport produce and more. A huge piece of any of these products’ value prop is the amount of actionable information their on-board sensors collect. In a sense, Orchard Robotics’ system is cutting out the middle man. The system cameras can capture up to 100 images a second, recording information about every tree its passes. Then the Orchard OS software utilizes AI to build maps with the data collected.

Data-Driven Solutions for Transportation Infrastructure: The Innovation of Cyvl.ai

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In the summer after his freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, an engineering school in Worcester, Massachusetts, Cyvl.ai co-founder and CEO Daniel Pelaez needed a job. And during my time there, I quickly saw firsthand they had no data on anything,” Pelaez told TechCrunch. He saw an opportunity that would eventually become Cyvl.ai, a firm that helps municipalities and civil engineering firms bring a digital layer to tracking the conditions of transportation infrastructure. “Our core vision and why we started the company in the first place is to help the entire world build and maintain better transportation infrastructure,” he said. The $6 million investment was led by Companyon Ventures with participation from Argon Ventures, AeroX Ventures and Alumni Ventures.

Robinhood Changes the Game with New Credit Card Offering Cash Rewards in Addition to Investment Opportunities

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Robinhood’s new credit card goes after Apple Card with ability to invest cash-back perksEight months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, Robinhood announced today the launch of its new Gold Card, with a list of features that could even give Apple Card users envy. Apple, for instance, offers 3% cash back on all purchases made at Apple, and on purchases made at select merchants when using the Apple Card with Apple Pay. In general, purchases made on Apple Card with Apple Pay earn users 2% back. It’s why we started Robinhood…” Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev said in a written statement. “Today’s announcements…bring us one step closer to the goal of giving everyone better access to the financial system.”Robinhood Gold Card, explained:What are the requirements to apply for a Robinhood Gold Card?

Amazon Ordered to Release Advertising Library in the EU

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Amazon will have to publish an ads library in EU after allAmazon will have to provide information about the ads running on its platform in a publicly accessible online archive after all, following a decision by the European Union’s highest court Wednesday. Other tech giants designated under the DSA have complied with the ads transparency provision. However, on Wednesday, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) reversed the September decision by the EU General Court to grant Amazon the partial suspension. It is also a win for platform transparency as it will force Amazon to be more open about the ads it displays and monetizes. In a statement following the CJEU decision provided to TechCrunch, and attributed to an Amazon spokesperson, the company said:

Poland imposes fine on Amazon for deceptive dark design tactics

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Amazon has been fined in Poland for misleading consumers about the conclusion of sales contracts on its online marketplace. For Amazon, the conclusion of a sales contract only occurs once it has sent information about the actual shipment. “Thus, Amazon misleads consumers as to the moment of conclusion of the sales contract,” the authority wrote [in Polish; this is a machine translation]. It also found the e-commerce giant failed to provide information about the “Delivery Guarantee” in the purchase confirmation sent to shoppers. Amazon was contacted for comment on the sanction but at the time of writing it had not responded.

Enhancing Biogas Production from Wastewater Sludge: Wase Utilizes Microbes to Boost Efficiency

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Fudge’s company, Wase, is offering them an alternative: treat the water on site, and get some free energy to boot. The UK-based startup says its system is significantly smaller and can squeeze about 30% more methane from the sludge. “They’re in the soil in the ground, they’re in wastewater sludge, they’re in anaerobic digestion systems, but they don’t have the environment where they can really thrive.”Basically, Wase built a contraption to make these bacteria happy. Each colony contains a diversity of species and strains, and they evolve over time as they grow accustomed to the particular sludge they’re processing. Wase is developing a control system that will maintain wastewater flow through the system to keep the bacteria at their best.

“Maximize Your Earnings: Robinhood’s Innovative Credit Card Offers Investment Options for Cash-Back Rewards”

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Eight months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, Robinhood announced today the launch of its new Gold Card, with a list of features that could even give Apple Card users envy. However, it will only be available for Robinhood Gold members, which costs $5 a month, or $50 annually. Apple, for instance, offers 3% cash back on all purchases made at Apple, and on purchases made at select merchants when using the Apple Card with Apple Pay. The new credit card is part of Robinhood’s evolving business model and offerings over the years. Gold Membership, a requirement to get the Gold Card, increases the eligible match to up to 3% match.

Undercover Project: Facebook Monitored Snapchat Traffic Without Users’ Knowledge, According to Confidential Documents

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In 2016, Facebook launched a secret project designed to intercept and decrypt the network traffic between people using Snapchat’s app and its servers. The goal was to understand users’ behavior and help Facebook compete with Snapchat, according to newly unsealed court documents. The newly released documents reveal how Meta tried to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors, including Snapchat and later Amazon and YouTube, by analyzing the network traffic of how its users were interacting with Meta’s competitors. Given that Snapchat encrypted the traffic between the app and its servers, this network analysis technique was not going to be effective. Later, according to the court documents, Facebook expanded the program to Amazon and YouTube.