Tech job interviews, hackathons, robotic jellyfish and more / Daily digest

March 07, 2024

Tech job interviews, hackathons, robotic jellyfish and more / Daily digest

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On my radar

Why Tech Job Interviews Became Such a Nightmare

Rising interest rates led tech companies to become more demanding of potential hires. From lowball offers to endless interviews, it’s tough out there for coders seeking jobs.

Trump supporters target black voters with faked AI images

Donald Trump supporters have been creating and sharing AI-generated fake images of black voters to encourage African Americans to vote Republican.

The AI wars heat up with Claude 3, claimed to have “near-human” abilities

Willison: "No model has beaten GPT-4 on a range of widely used benchmarks like this."

CompTIA plans AI certification roadmap to meet skills demand

The nonprofit IT certification and training organization is creating new products and programs to address the growing AI jobs market.

WOMEN IN TECH

4 ways higher ed can close the tech industry’s gender gap

While it’s acknowledged that diversity drives business innovation and creates a strong cultural foundation, the tech industry and higher education institutions fall short when it comes to supporting and channeling more women into tech fields.

TIPS

Five tips for digitizing handwritten data

Need to digitize field notes or historical documents? Researchers share their best practices.

CAREER

The persistent irony of the Dunning-Kruger Effect

Robert D. McIntosh and Sergio Della Sala explore issues around over confidence and expertise.

Organizing and Running Successful Hackathons

Hackathons are fun for engineers, beneficial for businesses, and a good way to shake things up. This article suggests approaches for running successful hackathons – and whether you should hold one.

CYBERSECURITY

Avoid the Scammers: 12 Tips for Public Wi-Fi Hotspot Security

Public Wi-Fi hotspots can be a hacker's paradise. Following these basic security tips can mean the difference between safe surfing and an ID theft or data-loss nightmare.

Retired Army officer charged with sharing classified information about Ukraine on foreign dating site

Washington — A retired Army lieutenant colonel was arrested Saturday and accused of illegally disclosing sensitive national defense information on a foreign dating site, according to charging documents.

LAW

Apple has been hit with a fine of nearly $2 billion by the European Commission over music-streaming restrictions

The European Commission fined Apple 1.8 billion euros for abusing its market dominance.
Apple restricted app developers from informing users about other, cheaper music services, it found.
The company plans to appeal, arguing the decision lacks credible evidence and benefits Spotify.

Cool Technology

Speedy biohybrid jellyfish are part-gelatinous, part-machine

If you want to gather climate-change data from the deep ocean, why not just hitch a ride with an organism that's going down there anyways? That's the thinking which led to the creation of "biohybrid jellyfish" which pack not one but two speed-boosting technologies.

Micro mirage: the infrared information carrier

Researchers fabricate the world’s smallest QR code that, invisible to the naked eye, encrypts information to only be visible by an infrared camera lens.