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Meta isn't done pulling back some of its shopping features. Instagram has warned users that live shopping will shut down on March 16th. From that day on, shops can't tag products during livestreams — you'll have to wait until afterward (or rely on less-than-elegant links) to buy must-have items. The social network explained the move as a way to "help [it] focus" on core features.

The move comes right as Instagram is removing the shopping tab from the home screen, and months after Facebook wound down Live Shopping and pointed stores toward Reels. Shopping is still part of these social media apps in posts, Reels and Stories, but Meta has increasingly taken a back-to-basics approach. Live shopping first reached Instagram in 2020, right as many people were forced to shop online during the pandemic.

The decision isn't surprising. Meta is looking for ways to cut costs as a tough economy and an expensive metaverse pivot affect its bottom line, and it's particularly eager to slash initiatives that perform poorly. As Gizmodoexplains, that might include Instagram's live shopping. Social-based shopping was only expected to represent five percent of US e-commerce in 2022, according to Insider Intelligence. If that's true, Meta isn't earning much from purchases during live broadcasts.

Meta isn't alone in struggling with shopping features. TikTok was set to bring live shopping to North America late last year, but only using outsourced technology. The Financial Timessources claimed last summer that TikTok was scaling back its plans between a poor UK uptake and a mass exodus of employees. Simply speaking, there may not be as much of an audience for social shopping as tech giants expect.

Astronomers at the European Space Agency (ESA) used the James Webb Space Telescope to capture an image of a spiral galaxy that resembles our home, the Milky Way. The star system, LEDA 2046648, sits a billion light-years away from ours in the constellation Hercules; it contains thousands of galaxies, trillions of stars and countless planets.

The ESA released the picture on January 31 (highlighted this week by The NY Times). The space agency described it as a mere calibration image to “verify the telescope’s capabilities as it was prepared for science operations.” ESA astronomers snapped it on May 22, 2022, with the Webb telescope’s Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam).

That ultra-powerful camera can detect longer infrared wavelengths produced by light from this far away. Redshifting describes the stretching of light’s wavelength as it moves away from us, increasing until it appears redder than expected. It occurs because of the universe’s expansion: Distant systems like LEDA 2046648 keep moving farther from Earth.

European Space Agency

Most of the visible blobs surrounding LEDA 2046648 are also galaxies, although several stars can be discerned by their diffraction spike patterns. Some objects in the image could be as old as 300 million years after the Big Bang. Of course, an image of anything one billion light-years away means we’re viewing the galaxy’s light from a billion years ago. So astronomers are eager to study early galaxies like this one (and even older ones) to help clarify the types of stars that condensed out of the Big Bang — and how supermassive black holes ended up in most galaxies’ centers.

IKEA already has a side table that doubles as an air purifier, but now it has a way to gauge just how clean that air really is. The home store has introduced a smart indoor air quality sensor, the Vindstyrka, that gauges particulate matter levels (those smaller than 2.5 micrometers), humidity, temperature and the load of gaseous pollutants. Ideally, you'll know if your cleaning or cooking habits are making you sick.

Vindstyrka works by itself, but it unsurprisingly becomes more useful when connected to IKEA's Dirigera smart home hub. You can check air quality through the company's app, and have the monitor control other devices. It can tell a Starkvind purifier to ramp up the fan speed based on particulate levels, for instance.

IKEA plans to release Vindstyrka in all its markets starting in April. The company hasn't revealed pricing as we write this, but the feature set suggests it will be more affordable than high-end air quality monitors (such as Airthings' $299 View Plus) that also track CO2, radon and air pressure. It may be a viable option if the temperature and humidity sensors built into your smart speaker aren't enough.

Kia and Hyundai released a software update on Monday after a viral TikTok challenge taught users how to hack the vehicles. But for now, it’s only available to a selected one million vehicles, out of the four million cars that will eventually need the patch.

It started as the “Kia Challenge” dating back to at least May on TikTok, demonstrating how “Kia Boys” use USB cords to hot-wire cars. Owners soon caught on to the widespread theft and began suing the car manufacturers for a lack of response. The class action lawsuit said that certain models of Kia and Hyundai cars lacked engine immobilizers, a common device that prevents car theft, making it easy to gain access, TechCrunch reported last September.

Car owners of affected models like the 2017-2020 Elantra, 2015-2019 Sonata and 2020-2021 Venue can visit a local dealership to install the anti-theft update, Hyundai said in a release. The updates include an anti-theft sticker to deter attack, a longer alarm, and the need for a physical key, rather than just a push start, to turn the vehicle on. Updates for other affected vehicles will be available by June, and you can find the whole list on Hyundai’s website.

In the meantime, Kia and Hyundai have provided about 26,000 steering wheel locks to vehicle owners to prevent theft, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA got involved in the saga after thefts sparked by the Kia Challenge resulted in at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, the agency said, turning it into a matter of public safety.

Starting today, Meta is rolling out a new version of its “Why am I seeing this ad?” tool. The company says the redesigned interface is meant to provide users with more information about how their activities on Facebook and beyond inform the machine learning models that power its ad-matching software. If you’re unfamiliar with the tool, you can access it by clicking or tapping the three dots icon next to an ad on Facebook or Instagram.

Once you have access to the updated tool, you’ll see a summary of the actions on Meta’s platforms and other websites that may have informed the company’s machine-learning models. For instance, the page may note that you’re seeing an ad for a dress or suit because you interacted with style content on Facebook. Users will also see new examples and illustrations that attempt to explain how Meta’s machine learning algorithms work to deliver targeted ads. At the same time, the company says it has made it easier to access its Ads Preferences. You’ll see a link to those settings from more pages accessible through the “Why am I seeing this ad?” tool.

Meta

“We are committed to using machine learning models responsibly. Being transparent about how we use machine learning is essential because it ensures that people are aware that this technology is a part of our ads system and that they know the types of information it is using,” Meta said in a blog post published Tuesday. “By stepping up our transparency around how our machine learning models work to deliver ads, we aim to help people feel more secure and increase our accountability.”

The company notes it worked with “external privacy experts and policy stakeholders” to collect input on how it could be more transparent about its ads system. Meta doesn’t say as much, but the changes likely represent an effort to ensure the company is compliant with the European Union’s Digital Services Act when it becomes law in 2024. The legislation has several provisions that apply directly to Meta, including one that mandates more transparency around how recommendation systems work. The law will also ban ads that target individuals based on their religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or political affiliation.

More broadly, the changes come after Apple’s ad-tracking changes in iOS 14 significantly hurt Meta’s bottom line. One early report after iOS 14.5 went live estimated only four percent of iPhone users in the US opted into app tracking. Since then, Meta has seen revenue growth shrink significantly. More recently, in combination with its virtual and augmented reality spending, Meta saw its first-ever revenue decline in the second quarter of 2022.

Meta's Oversight Board says it will review more cases and fast-track some within as little as 48 hours. "Increasing the number of decisions we produce, and the speed at which we do so, will let us tackle more of the big challenges of content moderation, and respond more quickly in situations with urgent real-world consequences," the board wrote in a blog post.

Although previous versions of the Oversight Board's bylaws mentioned expedited reviews of Facebook and Instagram content moderation cases, it has not used this process so far. Under the board's revised charter and bylaws, Meta can now refer expedited cases to the board with relevant information and an explanation as to why it felt an urgent review was necessary. If the board's co-chairs decide to take on an expedited case, Meta "agrees to be bound by the board’s ultimate determination," the bylaws state.

A panel (instead of the board's entire 23-strong membership) will review expedited cases and come to a decision that's posted on the Oversight Board's website within as little as 48 hours. The board notes, however, that this process can take up to 30 days. The target timeframe for standard decisions that demand more in-depth reviews is 90 days.

The board won't take public comments into account for expedited cases due to time constraints. It might also choose to carry out expedited reviews of user appeals.

Meanwhile, the Oversight Board plans to publish its first summary decisions. It said that after a committee chooses a list of cases that the board may consider, Meta sometimes reverses its original decision. The company has done so around 80 times so far, mostly to restore content it originally yanked. The board notes that while it has published full decisions on some of these cases, they've largely been summarized in transparency reports.

Moving forward, a committee will choose some of these cases in which Meta changed its mind. A panel (not the full board) will review them and publish summary decisions. These will include details about the original decision that Meta walked back and they won't take public comments into account. "We believe that these cases hold important lessons and can help Meta avoid making the same mistakes in the future," the board said.

Since it formed just over two years ago, the board has published 35 case decisions relating to moves by Facebook and Instagram to remove content or allow it to remain on the platforms. Last quarter alone, Meta users submitted 193,137 cases for review.

While it's unlikely that the board's latest steps mean it will review anything close to the full number of cases it receives, the group should be able to address high-profile, urgent cases more quickly, such as Meta's decision to indefinitely suspend former President Donald Trump from its platforms due to his influence over the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. The company restored his accounts earlier this month, but Trump has yet to post on them again.

Meanwhile, the Oversight Board has published its latest quarterly transparency report (PDF). The body says it has now made 196 policy recommendations to Meta, "many of which are already improving people’s experiences of Facebook and Instagram." By the end of October, the company had fully implemented 24 of the recommendations and had made progress on enacting dozens of others (Meta did not provide its fourth quarter update to the board before the transparency report was published).

The Oversight Board has also added a new board member. Kenji Yoshino is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law and the Director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. The board noted that he specializes in constitutional law; antidiscrimination law; and law and literature.

Apple released security updates to its operating systems on Monday to resolve a security flaw. While such updates are common, the company said in the announcement that the issue “may have been actively exploited,” meaning hackers could’ve taken advantage of the issue to access Apple devices.

Apple issued security updates for its macOS Ventura, latest iPhone and iPad products and its Safari web browser. Security updates for its AppleTV and Apple Watch operating systems were also slated to be released on Monday, according to the Apple security updates website, but details have not been released at the time of publication. While the security flaws vary across devices, WebKit, its open-source browser engine, was a common target.

Apple does not have additional details to share on the exploits beyond the update release notes, spokesperson Scott Radcliffe told Engadget.

The company credited Xinru Chi of Pangu Lab, Ned Williamson of Google Project Zero, Wenchao Li and Xiaolong Bai of Alibaba Group and an anonymous researcher for finding the flaws, with additional recognition to The Citizen Lab at The University of Toronto’s Munk School for their assistance.

Patches for security flaws exploited on Apple devices aren’t unusual, but keeping devices up-to-date can help keep users protected from falling victim to attack. Apple generally doesn’t reveal details of an exploit until a patch is publicly available. In August, the company released similarly timely patches for its iPad, iPhone and macOS users.

The Citizen Lab has not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

BuzzFeed’sAI-powered quizzes have arrived. Starting today, there are six for readers to try. As you can probably imagine, the majority are themed around Valentine’s Day. Want help writing the perfect breakup text? How about a brief synopsis for a romcom starring your favorite actor as you? Those are just a few of the “Infinity Quizzes” BuzzFeed has on offer.

Each works in more or less the same way. You pick the quiz you want to complete and then answer a few questions to give Buzzy the Robot, an algorithm based on OpenAI’s public API, the material it needs to generate a personalized response to your prompts. “It’s like having a really smart coworker that you can bounce ideas off of and collaborate with who is always available and never eats at their desk,” BuzzFeed says of the software.

BuzzFeed

According to the outlet, each quiz was created by a human writer who wrote the framing, headline and questions. The personalized outcomes you see are the result of Buzzy combining the inputs from both the quiz writer and you the reader. “It’s a collaborative effort and we couldn’t do it without all three,” BuzzFeed said. “Human creativity is always at the center of our work, and our quizzes, but with the magic of AI we can now create things that were never possible before, like infinite results personalized just for you.”

The results Buzzy produces are predictably hit-and-miss. I enjoyed the breakup text it produced, but it took a few attempts and a few different quizzes before I got a result that made me chuckle. More than anything, BuzzFeed’s Infinity Quizzes highlight how hard it is to teach humor. However, I will say it’s a better use of the technology than we’ve seen from CNET, which tried and failed to use an AI to write financial explainers.

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed’s foray into generative AI comes after the company laid off 12 percent of its newsroom this past December. However, it’s far from the only business turning to generative AI to improve its fortunes. In the same week that it came out BuzzFeed had plans to embrace the technology for both editorial and business operations, Microsoft announced a multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI’s text generation systems. The tech giant has since announced it’s working on AI-enhanced versions of Bing and Edge. Whether it's funny or not, generative AI is here to stay. 

You've probably noticed a steep increase in the ridesharing fares you pay, but your drivers haven't necessarily received the benefits. UCLA Labor Center researchers have published a study indicating that median Uber and Lyft fares increased by 50 percent between February 2019 and April 2022, but media driver pay only climbed 31 percent. The companies' profits reportedly jumped from nine percent to 20.7 percent over the three-year span.

The authors recommended that authorities cap the amount companies can take from passenger fare, with proportionate increases in pay and enforced minimum rates. They also call for increased transparency around both the rideshare commission and drivers' trip data. The study team further called for more detailed data, such as different ride types and surge pricing.

The companies object to the study's conclusions. In a statement to Engadget, Uber claims the researchers made errors and that its April 2022 take was 16.4 percent. Government fees are 18 percent, the company adds. Lyft, meanwhile, tells Engadget pay has been "consistently above" $1,100 per week since the start of 2021, and that commission caps would "dramatically" increase fares and hurt lower-income communities.

Study co-author Vivek Ramakrishnan tellsMotherboard the group purposefully excluded government fees, however. The project is meant to show the growing profits, not the overall price increases. One study at Cornell University claimed drivers in Seattle made healthy wages of $23 per hour in 2019, but earlier Berkeley and Economic Policy Institute studies determined that workers made roughly $9 per hour after expenses.

The findings come just as the fight heats up over wages. A judge recently blocked a pay increase for New York City ridesharing drivers in January after Uber sued the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) over an allegedly flawed methodology for calculating raises. That raise may still kick in following a March 1st hearing, but it's evident the companies aren't eager to adjust pay on authorities' terms.

Discord is expanding Stage Channels, its Clubhouse- and Twitter Spaces-style feature that puts a spotlight on a small group of speakers broadcasting a conversation to a larger audience. Stage Channels debuted almost two years ago as an audio-only feature, but that's all about to change as Discord is adding video feeds, screen sharing and text chat to the mix.

Up to five participants can share their video feed. Someone else can can share their screen at the same time. As ever, no audience members' audio or video will be broadcast unless they're invited to join the speakers.

Because video uses a lot more bandwidth than audio, Discord has imposed some limits. Any server with the free Community features switched on can enable video and screen sharing in Stages with up to 50 people, including the hosts. Still, Discord points out that's double the maximum viewer limit for video chat in regular voice channels. Boosted servers can have up to 150 people in a video Stage at Tier 2 and 300 at Tier 3.

Discord

Text chat, meanwhile, is the same as in voice channels. You can select "Show Chat" on the top right of the panel and ask questions or comment on what speakers are discussing. Additionally, moderators have the ability to only allow users with certain assigned roles to share video or their screen on a server.

Meanwhile, as you're waiting for a Stage to begin, Discord will now play waiting room music. If you'd rather not hear it, you can switch off the music by hitting the eighth note (♫) button.

Although Discord users won't be able to broadcast their video Stage chats to as many users as they can on the likes of Twitch, this will surely be a welcome update for users. Folks have used Stage Channels to run AMAs, fireside chats, live podcast recordings, beatboxing contests and other events. Now, creators can use the feature for premium gameplay streams if they want.

Adding video to the mix gives users more flexibility without moderators having to mute and unmute too many people. It's useful for audience members too, since it'll be harder to accidentally unmute yourself during a Discord video presentation. Make sure your mic muting hotkey isn't one you press often, folks!