‘Flirty secretary’ smart assistant taken offline in China
IQiyi One of China’s largest tech companies has taken its “flirtatious secretary” virtual assistant offline, following a suggestion that it objectified women. The avatar, called Vivi, was designed to be built-in on a new virtual reality headset sold by iQiyi, the video platform owned by search giant Baidu. The voice-controlled assistant could recommend films and […]
Leeds Rhinos: ‘The three Geordies’ making their mark in Women’s Super League
Rugby league is tough – so to make a three-hour round trip, three times a week, to be battered, bruised and roughed up, has to be a sacrifice worth making. Just ask the Leeds Rhinos’ trio of back-rower Zoe Hornby, utility back Sam Hulme and hooker Orla McCallion. The trio all play for, and train […]
New ways into the lucrative world of data science
Getty Images Data science has become an in-demand and well paid field What is a data scientist? The job title sprang out of nowhere as technology firms have scrambled to find people to perform sophisticated analytical tasks over the last decade. Reports of six-figure salaries abounded as businesses competed for staff to slice and dice […]
How long could we live?
People over the age of 80 give their views on how to age the right way How long do you want to live – to 85, 90, 100 or beyond? More important than how long we live is the state of our health in old age. The oldest verified person to date was Jeanne Calment […]
Antrim women lose to Longford in All-Ireland Junior Football Final
Longford produced a stunning second-half fightback to beat Antrim 4-10 to 1-12 in Sunday’s All-Ireland Junior Ladies Football final at Croke Park. Seven minutes before half-time Longford trailed 1-8 to 0-2 but three unanswered points made it 1-8 to 0-5 at the break. Claire Timoney scored Antrim’s goal in the 12th minute of the game. […]
Domestic abusers ‘sewing GPS trackers into teddy bears’
BBC Domestic abusers have been known to sew trackers into their childrens’ toys or coats Technology is increasingly being used by domestic abusers to trap, control or hunt down their victims, Refuge has told the Victoria Derbyshire programme. “It made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach – am I going to be […]
Ferrari chairman John Elkann says team ‘100%’ moving in right direction
Ferrari’s last drivers’ title was won by Kimi Raikkonen in 2007,, external and their last constructors’ crown in 2008. Only four times in the 15 years since have they been in a position potentially to win the championship. In 2010 and 2012, Alonso drove out of his skin to take the fight to Sebastian Vettel […]
San Francisco is first US city to ban facial recognition
Reuters High-definition cameras “map” faces in a crowd and compare them to existing images Legislators in San Francisco have voted to ban the use of facial recognition, the first US city to do so. The emerging technology will not be allowed to be used by local agencies, such as the city’s transport authority, or law […]
United States Grand Prix: Marta Garcia wins first F1 Academy title
Plans to help the leading drivers in this year’s championship progress to the next level on the ladder to F1 will be unveiled in the coming days. Wolff would not reveal what they were, but said: “We are not just going to make sure that our winner progresses, I want my winner to progress with […]
Government under pressure to reveal Afghan refugee plan
PA Afghan interpreters worked with the Army in Helmand province The UK government is being urged to help provide safe routes out of Afghanistan for people at risk from violence and reprisals by the Taliban. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said there was an obligation to help those who had aided UK forces, and a […]