Parrots are innately social creatures. In captivity, where they typically don’t have a flock to interact with, that can present some real challenges for keeping them happy and healthy. But recent research suggests technology may be able to help them meet more of their social needs. A new (very small) study led by researchers at the University of Glasgow and Northeastern University compared parrots’ responses when given the option to video chat with other birds via Meta's Messenger versus watching pre-recorded videos. And it seems they’ve got a preference for real-time conversations.

The research builds on findings from a series of small studies over the last few years, including one in which the team trained pet parrots to make video calls to each other (with human assistance) and another where they were taught to play tablet games. In the latest, nine parrot owners were given tablets to set up for their pets, who were then observed over a period of six months. During that time, the parrots — who’d been introduced to each other at the beginning over video chat — were able to engage in calls amongst themselves of up to three hours long over a total of 12 sessions. Half of these sessions featured pre-recorded videos, while the other half were live Messenger video chats.

Their caregivers, who recorded the sessions, reported that the birds seemed more engaged during the live interactions. They initiated more calls in those scenarios, and spent more time on average engaging with the birds on the other end. 

In each session, the parrots were allowed to make up to two calls, and the researchers found that those chatting over Messenger hit this limit 46 percent of the time, compared to almost half that when they were watching pre-recorded videos. Overall, they spent a combined 561 minutes video-chatting on Messenger compared to just 142 minutes watching the pre-recorded videos.

“The appearance of ‘liveness’ really did seem to make a difference to the parrots’ engagement with their screens,” said Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, though noting that further study would be needed before definite conclusions can be drawn. “Their behavior while interacting with another live bird often reflected behaviors they would engage in with other parrots in real life, which wasn’t the case in the pre-recorded sessions.” Still, the caregivers mostly reported that the live and pre-recorded calls both seemed to have a positive impact on the birds.

“The internet holds a great deal of potential for giving animals agency to interact with each other in new ways, but the systems we build to help them do that need to be designed around their specific needs and physical and mental abilities,” said Dr. Hirskyj-Douglas. “Studies like this could help to lay the foundations of a truly animal-centered internet.”

X is using Grok to publish AI-generated summaries of news and other topics that trend on the platform. The feature, which is currently only available to premium subscribers, is called “Stories on X,” according to a post from the company’s engineering account.

According to X, Grok relies on users’ posts to generate the text snippets. Some seem to be more news-focused, while others are summaries of conversations happening on the platform itself. One user posted a screenshot that showed stories about Apple’s earnings report and aid to Ukraine, as well as one for “Musk, Experts Debate National Debt,” which was a summary of a “candid online discussion” between Musk and other “prominent figures” on X.

If any of this sounds familiar, it’s also remarkably similar to Moments, the longtime Twitter feature that curated authoritative tweets about important news and cultural moments on the platform. The feature, which was overseen by a team of human staffers, was killed in 2022.

Like other generative AI tools, Grok’s summaries come with a disclaimer. “This story is a summary of posts on X and may evolve over time,” it says. “Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.” Grok, of course, doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to accurately interpreting current events. It previously generated a bizarre story suggesting that NBA player Klay Thompson went on a “vandalism spree” because it couldn’t understand what “throwing bricks” meant in the context of a basketball game.

Instagram just announced some new features coming to Stories, including a suite of interactive stickers. The music one is perhaps the most interesting, as it's an extension of the pre-existing Add Yours feature. The Add Yours Music sticker lets users share their favorite songs, along with a prompt for followers to get in on the fun by sharing their own related tracks. Of course, the song has to already be in Instagram’s music library to work.

To that end, Instagram has partnered with Dua Lipa to promote her new album, Radical Optimism. Many of the songs from the album are available for use in this way, and the artist herself has been posting Stories with Add Your Music stickers.

Instagram

Another nifty sticker added today is called Reveal. Opting for this sticker blurs the visuals of a story post and the only way followers can see the content is to DM the person who shared it. Direct messages have become a key factor behind Instagram’s continued growth, with site head Adam Mosseri stating that teens actually spend more time in DMs than anywhere else on the platform.

He also says that “virtually all” engagement growth over the past few years has come from DMs and Stories, according to reporting by Business Insider. So, yeah, this will most definitely be used as a hack by savvy creators looking to boost their engagement. The thirst traps will be thirstier and trappier than ever before.

Instagram

Instagram has also unveiled a sticker called Frames. This tool throws a Polaroid-esque overlay over a photo, turning it into an instant print image. To reveal the contents, followers will have to channel Andre 3000 and shake their phones like a Polaroid picture, though there’s also a button. Creators can add captions which are also revealed upon shaking. This feature was originally revealed at this year’s Coachella festival.

Instagram

Finally, there’s a feature called Cutouts. This tool turns any part of a video or photo in your camera roll into a sticker, which can then be applied to a story or reel. Once a cutout is created, it gets saved into an easily-accessible sticker tray for future uses. This also works with photos posted to Instagram, though the pictures have to be shared by public accounts.

This has been a big month of changes for Instagram. In addition to the aforementioned new sticker systems, the social media app recently overhauled its algorithm to boost original content and deemphasize aggregator accounts. The company also changed the way Reels works to give smaller accounts a chance to expand their reach, though it remains unclear how this works. Instagram has also recently made Meta’s AI chatbot available in DMs, if you want some confident, yet absolutely wrong, answers to questions.

Peloton had a great pandemic. It’s a weird thing to say, but the company’s premium exercise equipment (expanding from bikes to treadmills and even weight-training tech) were the hot workout-from-home products. That boom made some people (not normal, sensible people) suggest we were never going back to bricks-and-mortar gyms once the world reopened.

But… we went back. Now, Peloton’s latest financial numbers and statements , with further cuts, nips and tucks now on the cards. Its shares have gone from $156 in 2021 to less than $3 today. Peloton is laying off 15 percent of its workforce, shuttering more of its showrooms and getting rid of its CEO, again. It also killed Mr. Big.

The company says it’s planning to expand overseas (it’s gained a foothold in the UK), but it might just be a case of the company resizing to fit the reality of at-home fitness in 2024.

— Mat Smith 

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Microsoft’s latest Windows security updates might break your VPN

Until the company issues a fix, the only workaround is to skip or uninstall it.

Microsoft says the April security updates for Windows may break your VPN. According to its own status update: “Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update.” It affects Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2008 and later. However, user reports on Reddit are mixed, with some commenters saying their VPNs still work. So you might get lucky.

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Olivia Rodrigo, Drake and other Universal artists return to TikTok

The companies signed a new deal.

Samir Hussein via Getty Images

TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have signed a deal so Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, The Weeknd and other artists can return to the platform. Universal pulled its song back in February. Now, a key part of the deal is artist protection from generative AI. “TikTok and UMG will work together to ensure AI development across the music industry will protect human artistry and the economics that flow to those artists and songwriters,” the companies wrote. Drake, also part of UMG, has had his own recent troubles with AI tools and music.

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X is changing how the block button works

Blocking will no longer hide your replies.

Elon Musk is not a fan of the block button. The button (and feature) persists for now, but X is changing how it works. X is tweaking the visibility of replies in a block. Previously, a user could block someone on X and still reply to their posts. The blocked person wouldn’t be able to view that reply, but other X users could. It’s a black-belt passive-aggressive X move. Now, users see direct replies even if the person posting has blocked them.

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TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have signed a deal that will allow Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, The Weeknd and other artists to return to the platform, the companies announced in a press release. Universal pulled songs from its roster of performers back in February and with some exceptions, its music hasn't been there since. Both sides are now "working expeditiously" to get content back on the platform that's home to a billion-plus users. 

A key part of the deal is artist protection from generative AI. "TikTok and UMG will work together to ensure AI development across the music industry will protect human artistry and the economics that flow to those artists and songwriters," the companies wrote. "TikTok is also committed to working with UMG to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform, as well as tools to improve artist and songwriter attribution."

Also part of the deal are "new monetization opportunities" from TikTok's recent expansion into e-commerce. TikTok will reportedly also assist artists by providing tools around analytics, integrated ticketing, an "Add to Music App" and more. 

Universal took the drastic move of pulling music earlier this year, forcing the platform to mute videos or replace tracks with options from other labels. "As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth," UMG said at the time. 

Last month, Taylor Swift's songs returned to TikTok, likely because she has full control of her own catalogue and was able to strike a separate deal. Some songs by other UMG artists, including Ariana Grande, also started appearing on the platform.

The dispute appears to be water under the bridge, but it's the least of TikTok's problems at the moment. US Congress recently voted in favor of a bill that would see TikTok banned in a year unless owner ByteDance sells the app. 

Facebook’s News Feed algorithm has long been at the center of debates about some of Meta’s biggest problems. It’s also been a near constant source of complaints from users. But, if a newly filed lawsuit is successful, Facebook users may be able to use the social network with a vastly different feed. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is suing Meta on behalf of a researcher who wants to release a browser extension that would allow people to “effectively turn off” their algorithmic feeds.

The extension was created by Ethan Zuckerman, a researcher and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He argues that Facebook users would be better off with more control over their feeds. “The tool, called Unfollow Everything 2.0, would allow users to unfollow their friends, groups, and pages, and, in doing so, to effectively turn off their newsfeed—the endless scroll of posts that users see when they log into Facebook,” the lawsuit explains. “Users who download the tool would be free to use the platform without the feed, or to curate the feed by refollowing only those friends and groups whose posts they really want to see.” (Meta officially renamed the News Feed to “Feed” in 2022.)

Zuckerman isn’t the first to come up with such a tool. He was inspired by a similar project, also called “Unfollow Everything,” from 2021. Facebook sued the U.K man who created that extension and permanently disabled his account. Zuckerman is trying to avoid a similar fate with his lawsuit. The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court Wednesday, asks the court “to recognize that Section 230 protects the development of tools designed to empower people to better control their social media experiences.”

The case could be a novel test of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which is mostly known as the law that shields online platforms from legal liability for the actions of their users. But unlike recent Supreme Court cases involving the statute, Zuckerman’s case “relies on a separate provision protecting the developers of third-party tools that allow people to curate what they see online, including by blocking content they consider objectionable.”

A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment on the lawsuit. The company has a history of heavy-handed tactics when it comes to independent researchers. In addition to shutting down the earlier version “Unfollow Everything,” the company disabled the Facebook accounts of a group of NYU researchers attempting to study political ad targeting in 2021. Those types of tactics have led to some researchers pursuing “data donation” programs, which recruit volunteers to “donate” their own browsing data for academic studies.

If released, Zuckerman’s browser extension would also have a data donation component, allowing users to opt-in to sharing “anonymized data about their Facebook usage.” The data would then be used for research into the effects of Facebook’s feed algorithm.

Sony just announced an interesting feature coming to the PS5 that should streamline the whole process of wrangling people into a multiplayer game. The new tool will let you invite people into a game even when they aren’t at a console or using the PlayStation app. The system generates a link, via the app, that can be shared anywhere online. When the recipient clicks the link, they will be able to hop into a multiplayer session. You don’t even have to be friends. Easy peasy. That sure beats having to send out a lengthy numerical code (side-eyes Nintendo.)

The obvious use case scenario here? You meet some people online via social media and want to jump into a game quickly, without having to pass usernames back and forth. Sony says you’ll be able to “start playing together right away.” The tool will also generate a QR code along with the link, which is something PS5 owners are already familiar with when it comes to multiplayer games. 

There are some caveats. This feature isn’t coming until later in the year and it’s only for PS5 games. Sony also warns that some titles may require an update before everything works seamlessly. Of course, most PS5 games require a PlayStation Plus subscription to use multiplayer, and those subscriptions went up in price last year.

Sony has even developed a custom live widget for multiplayer invites in Discord. When you share a link via Discord, the widget automatically refreshes to show whether or not a multiplayer session is active or not, so you won’t jump into an empty lobby to watch tumbleweeds roll by. Just like the forthcoming invite tool, the Discord widget is only available for PS5 games.

Sony

Finally, the company’s working on a related tool that will let people share their PlayStation Network profile on any messaging or social app by generating a link on the PlayStation app, similar to how the aforementioned feature will work. This is also coming later this year.

One of the main reasons it has been difficult to recommend the $500 Quest 3 VR headset over the $200 Quest 2 is a lack of exclusive titles, as most games have to support both models. This means we haven’t really seen the power of the Quest 3 yet, but the tides are turning. Meta just announced Batman: Arkham Shadow, which is fully exclusive to the company’s newest headset.

It looks like this title is actually set in the pre-existing Arkham universe, but it's not being developed by franchise steward Rocksteady Studios. It’s being created by Oculus Studios and a developer called Camouflaj, which made the surprisingly great Iron Man VR experience. The track record is pretty spotty when it comes to other developers playing in Rocksteady’s sandbox, but the inclusion of Camouflaj makes me cautiously optimistic.

There’s a trailer, seen above, but it's devoid of any actual gameplay. For that, we’ll have to wait until Summer Game Fest in June, according to Geoff Keighley. The trailer does indicate the presence of a little-known member of Batman’s rogues gallery called Ratcatcher. He controls rats to commit crimes. It’s a whole thing.

This isn’t the first time that Batman donned a VR headset. Back in 2016, Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham VR. The game was praised for being immersive, but dinged for being just an hour long. Hopefully, this one is a bit longer, though I’m actually into short VR experiences that are done really well. There’s only so much time to wander around the house like a doofus with a headset attached to my face.

While this is certainly the highest profile Quest 3 exclusive, it's not the first to be announced. Starship Home is a mixed-reality adventure that looks like it should have been a launch exclusive for the Vision Pro. The horror-tinged Alien: Rogue Incursion isn’t quite a Quest 3 exclusive, as it's also releasing on Steam and PSVR2, but it is a “next-gen” VR game that doesn’t have to run on the antiquated Quest 2. All three titles will be released by the end of the year.

Another day, another company tests Apple's resolve. This time, it's TikTok allegedly violating the company's rules for apps, with the video platform seemingly allowing some users to purchase its coins directly from its website. TikTok has apparently given some iOS users the option to "Try recharging on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees" — namely Apple's 30 percent commission on purchases.

According to photos shared on X (formerly Twitter) by David Tesler, co-founder of the app Sendit, TikTok is prompting users to save around 25 percent when purchasing coins (used to tip creators) thanks to lower third-party service fees. They can then use Apple Pay, PayPal or a credit or debit card to complete their transaction. It's unclear why only some users have access to this circumnavigation; one hypothesis is the feature was turned on for individuals who previously purchased a large number of coins.

Apple notably kicked Fortnite off its app store in 2020 after Epic Games introduced discounts on the game's currency for anyone who directly purchased it. The incident set off a multi-year legal battle, with Apple reinstating Epic Games' developer account in March after the European Union began looking into the situation. More recently, Apple has faced pushback from Spotify and rejected updates that would have displayed the music streamer's pricing and allowed in-app plan purchases. 

LinkedIn, the professional network known for job listings and unsolicited career advice, is jumping into gaming. The platform is officially introducing a set of Wordle-style puzzle games, weeks after they were first spotted in the app.

The company is starting with three games: Pinpoint, a word game where players must guess the theme that ties a series of words together; Queens, a puzzle game that’s a bit like a cross between Sudoku and Minesweeper; and Crossclimb, a trivia game that involves guessing a series of four-letter words and placing them in the correct order.

LinkedIn describes them as “thinking-oriented games,” though the format will likely look familiar to fans of The New York Times Games app. Each game can only be played once a day, and players can share their score with friends in cute emoji-filled messages reminiscent of the “Wordle grid.” The service will also keep track of “streaks,” to encourage players to come back every day. Given the similarities, it shouldn’t be surprising that games were developed by LinkedIn’s news team, which recently hired a dedicated games editor.

Games have been a boon for The New York Times since it acquired Wordle in 2022, and other publications have tried to emulate that success with their own lineup of word and puzzle games. I asked LinkedIn’s editor-in-chief and VP of Product Dan Roth if the company was inspired by the success of Wordle and the NYT’s Games app. He said that the inspiration was actually much older: “the very first crossword puzzle” in the New York World newspaper more than 100 years ago. He added that there aren’t currently plans for a standalone gaming app.

“These games aren't designed to be just played,” Roth told Engadget. “We're not getting into the gaming world to get into the gaming world. The idea is games that can help you think differently and connect with your network.”

You can try out the new games on LinkedIn.