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Special edition vinyl albums - fans delight or cynical marketing ploy?

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Special edition vinyl albums cause some fans delight – but others suspect a cynical marketing ploy Glenn Fosbraey , University of Winchester Streaming may still be the preferred method of music consumption for the vast majority of us in 2024, but vinyl, cassettes, and even the long-unloved CD format have shown resurgence in recent years . In fact, physical sales are so healthy that HMV has risen from the ashes and returned to its flagship store on Oxford Street . And much of this can be attributed to pop star Taylor Swift, who currently has seven of her albums in the vinyl charts , including all of the top three places via 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and Midnights. According to Lawrence Montgomery , the managing director of Rough Trade record stores, Swift owes her success in part to appealing to a younger contingent of fans by turning her albums into collectables. She has done this through the release of multiple alternate album covers or disc colou
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Sam Bankman-Fried convicted for massive FTX fraud, in stark reminder of risks of crypto trading

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Sam Bankman-Fried convicted for massive FTX fraud, in stark reminder of risks of crypto trading John Hawkins , University of Canberra It is not just crypto tokens that have spectacular downfalls. So can crypto personalities. Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX, one of the world’s largest exchanges for so-called cryptocurrencies, which collapsed last year owing billions of dollars. Now he has gone from being hailed as potentially the world’s first trillionaire to a lengthy term in prison. After a month-long trial, a New York jury took less than five hours to find him guilty on seven counts of fraud and money laundering. Bankman-Fried’s conviction highlights the risks of crypto markets, where people trade tokens with no fundamental value via hugely complex and poorly regulated financial machinery. The Australian government is currently considering how to protect consumers in such markets. Treasury has commenced a consultation process . But it will not be an easy task when so mu
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Self-driving buses that go wherever you want? How the UK is trying to revolutionise public transport

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Self-driving buses that go wherever you want? How the UK is trying to revolutionise public transport Scotland’s CAVForth self-driving bus service began in May 2023, serving a 14-mile route that crosses the Forth Road Bridge on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Stagecoachbus.com Stephen Potter , The Open University ; Matthew Cook , The Open University , and Miguel Valdez , The Open University Futurology is littered with predictions that failed to materialise, not least in the field of transport technology. In Edwardian times, when public transport was largely powered by horse or steam, a number of new concepts emerged which were hailed as the “future of public transport”. In 1910, the Brennan Monorail was a gyroscopically stabilised, diesel-powered monorail train that ran on a circular test track at the White City in London. One of the early passengers on this 50-person prototype was then-home secretary Winston Churchill, who insisted on dri
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Four ways criminals could use AI to target more victims

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Four ways criminals could use AI to target more victims Building a profile of someone can make it easier for criminals to gain access to their personal accounts. Metamorworks / Shutterstock Daniel Prince , Lancaster University Warnings about artificial intelligence (AI) are ubiquitous right now. They have included fearful messages about AI’s potential to cause the extinction of humans, invoking images of the Terminator movies. The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has even set up a summit to discuss AI safety . However, we have been using AI tools for a long time – from the algorithms used to recommend relevant products on shopping websites, to cars with technology that recognises traffic signs and provides lane positioning . AI is a tool to increase efficiency, process and sort large volumes of data, and offload decision making. Nevertheless, these tools are open to everyone, including criminals. And we’re already seeing the early stag
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Google turns 25

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Google turns 25: the search engine revolutionised how we access information, but will it survive AI? Flickr/sergio m mahugo, Edited by The Conversation , CC BY-NC-SA Mark Sanderson , RMIT University ; Julian Thomas , RMIT University ; Kieran Hegarty , RMIT University , and Lisa M. Given , RMIT University Today marks an important milestone in the history of the internet: Google’s 25th birthday. With billions of search queries submitted each day, it’s difficult to remember how we ever lived without the search engine. What was it about Google that led it to revolutionise information access? And will artificial intelligence (AI) make it obsolete, or enhance it? Let’s look at how our access to information has changed through the decades – and where it might lead as advanced AI and Google Search become increasingly entwined. Google’s homepage in 1998. Brent Payne/Flickr , CC BY-SA
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Robots are coming and the fallout will largely harm marginalized communities

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Robots are coming and the fallout will largely harm marginalized communities Those who are most affected in the labour market by robots are those who tend to already be marginalized. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) Constantine Gidaris , McMaster University COVID-19 has brought about numerous, devastating changes to people’s lives globally. With the number of cases rising across Canada and globally , we are also witnessing the development and use of robots to perform jobs in some workplaces that are deemed unsafe for humans. There are cases of robots being used to disinfect health-care facilities, deliver drugs to patients and perform temperature checks . In April 2020, doctors at a Boston hospital used Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot called Spot to reduce health-care workers exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 . By equipping Spot with an iPad and a two-way radio, doctors and patients could communicate in real-time.
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Debate: How to stop our cities from being turned into AI jungles

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Debate: How to stop our cities from being turned into AI jungles In the city of London, security cameras can even be found in cemeteries. In 2021 the mayor’s office launched an effort to establish guidelines for research around emerging technology. Acabashi/Wikimedia , CC BY Stefaan G. Verhulst , New York University As artificial intelligence grows more ubiquitous, its potential and the challenges it presents are coming increasingly into focus. How we balance the risks and opportunities is shaping up as one of the defining questions of our era. In much the same way that cities have emerged as hubs of innovation in culture, politics, and commerce, so they are defining the frontiers of AI governance. Some examples of how cities have been taking the lead include the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights , the Montreal Declaration for Responsible AI , and the Open Dialogue on AI Ethics . Others can be found in San Francisco’s ban of facial-rec
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