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Google to delete inactive accounts starting December

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In an effort to minimize safety threats such as cyberattacks, Alphabet Inc.’s child company Google announced on Tuesday that it will deactivate accounts that had been inactive for two years beginning in December.

According to the business, accounts, and materials within Google Workspace, such as Gmail, Drive, Docs, and Meet, along with Calendar, YouTube as well as Google Photos, may be deleted if they have not been utilized or registered for a minimum of two years.

Inactive Accounts
Image Source: arabnews.com

The policy modification solely affects individual Google Accounts; it does not affect accounts used by corporations or institutions like schools.

Also Read: Google Launching Tools to Identify Misleading and AI Images

Google stated in 2020 that while it would erase the account itself, it was going to delete any content kept in a deactivated account.

Before deleting inactive accounts initiated on Tuesday, Google will be sending repeated reminders to the account’s email address including recovery mail.

“The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in at least once every 2 years,” the company’s policy says. “If you have signed into your Google Account or any of our services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.”

Source: nbcsandiego.com

Your account won’t be deleted if you’ve opened up your email, viewed a YouTube video, or installed an app from the Google Play Store, according to the firm.

Just individual Google Accounts are subjected to these rules and regulations, accounts used by companies and organizations like schools are not affected. This change restricts the duration of time Google keeps your inactive personal information and matches the policy with standard practices for account termination and preservation.

A Google Account can be kept active by just logging in no less than once every two years. If you have lately signed into your Google account and have utilized any of its various additional features, your Google account is considered active and won’t be deleted.

Also Read: WhatsApp Lock Feature to Protect ‘Extra Special’ Chats?

The steps that you can take when you log in or when logged into your Google Account may be considered activity include,

Read or send emails, use Google Drive, stream YouTube videos, install apps from the Google Play Store, use Google Search, and If you use a service or services from a third party and sign in using Google.

Your account will remain unaffected if you already have a membership set up via your Google Account, such as to Google One, a media outlet, or an app. They also take into consideration this account activity.

Mineplex

Why Is Minecraft Server Mineplex Shutting Down?

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Many gamers are shocked by the reports of Mineplex closure because at one point it was the biggest Minecraft server. This server broke records for online players by attracting tens of thousands of players each day.

It was renowned for its novel and distinctive games, including Super Paintball, Gem Hunters, Skyfall, and others. And many Minecraft players remember it from their early years. So what caused its demise and why is it closing down?

Mineplex
Image Source: dexerto.com

When Mineplex was first announced in early 2013, it offered players a variety of game styles. Mineplex was a well-known Minecraft server, but as time went on, it developed a number of troubles, including bugs, cheating concerns, and server outages.

Also Read: WhatsApp Lock Feature to Protect ‘Extra Special’ Chats?

Competition is one of the main factors that led to Mineplex’s downfall. Many servers developed their own mini-games and game types, including Hypixel, McWars, CubeCraft, and the Hive. Hypixel gained ground in the server race at the end of 2015.

The game modes that Mineplex provided were improved by Hypixel, and new, creative ones were added. Therefore, there was no incentive to continue using Mineplex.

They removed their earlier game modes in order to preserve their top game types. As a result, when the player base declined, those games were either broken or destroyed.

Hypixel outperformed Mineplex in another area thanks to its superior anti-cheat mechanism. The game experience was diminished by the abundance of hackers and cheaters in Mineplex. Players then choose to interact with other servers.

Mineplex’s faulty games and servers were its next problem. Numerous problems existed with the games, and they got worse with time. The game modes are no longer available, have been compromised by hackers, are rife with bugs, or have been neglected by the staff.

More broken game modes were also brought about by the recent Minecraft 1.9 version, which made significant modifications to the game. Together, these problems significantly contributed to Mineplex’s downfall.

Also Read: What is Google Help Me Write?

Mineplex is a popular Minecraft server network that offers a variety of multiplayer game modes and activities for players to enjoy. It was founded in 2013 and has gained a large player base since then. Mineplex provides a wide range of games such as survival mode, creative mode, minigames, player versus player (PvP) battles, and more.

One of the distinguishing features of Mineplex is its emphasis on minigames. They have a vast selection of unique and custom-designed minigames that can be played with friends or other players on the server.

Some of the most popular minigames on Mineplex include Block Hunt, Super Paintball, Skywars, Bridges, Cake Wars, and Champions. These games offer a diverse and entertaining experience for Minecraft players.

Google

Google Launching Tools to Identify Misleading and AI Images

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In order to stop the spread of false information, especially now that photorealistic fakes are so easy to make thanks to artificial intelligence capabilities, Google is introducing a pair of updates to its image search.

The first new feature from Alphabet Inc. is named “About this image,” and it provides more information by indicating when an image or ones that are similar to it were originally indexed by Google, where they initially appeared, and other places they have appeared online.

Google
Image Source: finance.yahoo.com

The purpose is to assist users in identifying the original source while contextualizing an image with any discrediting information that may have been supplied by news organizations.

Also Read: Apple to open the first online shop in Vietnam

Every AI-generated image produced by Google’s tools will be marked as such, and the company is collaborating with other platforms and services to ensure that the markup is included in the files they distribute.

Among the publisher’s Google has on board are Midjourney and Shutterstock, and the objective is to make sure that every AI material that appears in search results is tagged as such.

Google noted in a blog post, “You’ll be able to find this tool by clicking on the three dots on an image in Google Images results, searching with an image or screenshot in Google Lens, or by swiping up in the Google App when you’re on a page and come across an image you want to learn more about.

Later this year, you’ll also be able to use it by right-clicking or long-pressing on an image in Chrome on desktop and mobile. ”

Google is expanding its image search with new features. The ‘About this image’ drop-down will offer more context, such as the date an image or one similar to it was originally indexed by Google, the location of that indexation, and the source of the image. Every AI-generated image that is made by the tech giant’s technologies will be marked.

Google announced that any image created using its own generative AI tools would have metadata indicating if it was created using AI. Using the same technology, both creators and publishers would be enabled to label their photographs.

Also Read: EU antitrust regulators seeking more info on Apple Pay

In the age of AI, the provenance of online photos is a rising problem, and several businesses are developing solutions for verification and authentication. For instance, Truepic Inc., which is supported by Microsoft, provides solutions that guarantee an image hasn’t been altered from capture to transmission.

Although Google’s new features, which are being released throughout this year, are relatively low-tech, they could have a greater positive impact if they receive enough industry backing.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp Lock Feature to Protect ‘Extra Special’ Chats?

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The makers of WhatsApp have released a new option to prevent nosy close friends or even close relatives from reading your private conversations. The business announced a new Chat Lock feature on Monday to protect your private logs from prying eyes.

Users can now choose to lock any chat by simply touching on any single or group chat twice and using the lock option, according to a statement from Meta. This places the chat’s who, what, and when information in a separate folder. Although locked chats now conceal the message and the sender, notifications still appear.

Whatsapp
Image Source: livemint.com

On the main WhatsApp interface, locked chats don’t automatically show up; instead, users must scroll down to the inbox to see the dedicated folder. Users can access password-protected chats using their passwords or a biometric ID, such as their fingerprint.

Also Read: How to use Amazon Prime’s new ‘Dialogue Boost’ feature?

The business explained in a blog post that Chat Blocks are for situations where a family member or close friend is holding your phone in case someone on an “extra special chat” sends you a message. The piece also included a video that showed a man’s agonizing attempts to prevent his family from discovering that he has been texting someone special.

Although it’s simple to assume that someone would want to lock down specific chats for sinister reasons, it does seem like a helpful option for anyone who doesn’t want to frequently explain to whom they were speaking and why.

Meta stated in a blog post, “Over the next few months, we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locking for companion devices, creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password from your phone’s.” In the upcoming months, Meta plans to expand Chat Lock’s features, notably the ability to assign a unique password to each closed chat.

This is not the first time the business has developed a way to lock off private chats, More users in nations where the app is blocked can now access the chat functions thanks to the app’s creation of a proxy server earlier this year.

Also Read: What is Google Help Me Write?

This new capability does little to address the issue that users who also have access to a phone number can still more easily hijack a user identity. WhatsApp has suggested it would have to leave the UK if the country passed its internet safety measure because it already has end-to-end encryption features.

The parent firm Meta, which recently strengthened the verification mechanism to thwart potential scammers and introduced more alternatives to deal with missing messages, has been working really hard to maintain WhatsApp trustworthy and safe.

Vietnam

Apple to open the first online shop in Vietnam

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In response to slow-moving iPhone sales in China, Apple announced on Friday that it would launch its first online shop in Vietnam the following week.

Only a few weeks have passed since the first Apple stores in India, in Mumbai and Delhi, were launched by the Cupertino, California-based business.

Vietnam
Image Source: siliconangle.com

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is placing his bet on developing regions, where there are fewer iPhones and a younger age group, which will present more growth potential.

Also Read: UK restricts Microsoft, Activision from buying interest in each other

Apple did not specify when it will be opening actual retail outlets in Vietnam, which comprises a “100 million-person” population.

“We’re proud to be expanding in Vietnam,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Retail stores frequently open before they go online. Licensed retailers currently sell Apple gadgets in Vietnam, and the company has several suppliers who assemble its devices there for exportation.

During India’s holiday shopping season in 2020, Apple opened its first online shop there.

“We’re proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People. “We know our users are relying on technology to stay connected, engage in learning, and tap into their creativity, and by bringing the Apple Store online to India, we are offering our customers the very best of Apple at this important time.”

Source: apple.com

Discounts according to a federal plan to increase domestic mobile manufacturing in India were granted in October for 16 companies, including prominent Apple suppliers.

After staging a protest over unpaid salaries in December of that same year, contract employees at Apple partner Wistron’s Bengaluru facility trashed the building. Apple placed the plant on probation before allowing it to resume manufacturing two months later.

In December 2021, after over 250 female employees who live in one of the business dorms received medical treatment for food poisoning, riots broke out at the Foxconn facility in Tamil Nadu.

The facility was shut down for more than three weeks when Apple discovered that the facilities did not satisfy the necessary standards.

The same year, the competition regulators in India request a probe into Apple’s in-app pricing scheme because it initially believed the iPhone manufacturer had broken several antitrust regulations.

Pegatron, a supplier of Apple, opened its first iPhone assembly facility in the Tamil Nadu province in September 2022.

Foxlink, an Apple vendor that makes iPhone chargers, temporarily ceased operations at its manufacturing factory in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh for several weeks in February 2023 after a significant fire caused a portion of the structure to collapse.

Dialogue Boost

How to use Amazon Prime’s new ‘Dialogue Boost’ feature?

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One of the most annoying situations when watching TV is when you are able to hear the explosions and background music of a particular scene but not the speech. Dialogue Boost, please.

In order to prevent consumers from being compelled to enable subtitles even when they don’t want to, Amazon Prime Video is introducing a new accessibility tool that enables users to boost the volume of dialogue without adding background music or effects.

Dialogue Boost
Image Source: guidingtech.com

Raf Soltanovich, the vice president of technology at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, stated in a statement, “At Prime Video, we are committed to delivering an inclusive, egalitarian, and pleasant streaming experience for all our consumers.

Also Read: What is Google Help Me Write?

“Our library of captioned and audio-described content keeps expanding, and by utilizing our technological capabilities to develop industry-first innovations like Dialogue Boost, we are taking another step towards creating a more accessible streaming experience,” the company said.

In order to use the feature choose a movie/series that offers this feature. You may check the title’s detail page if this feature is available. Start the movie and click the drop-down menus for the audio and subtitles on your screen. From the available options, select the Dialogue Boost level that you desire.

Based on how much you want to strengthen the dialogue, you can choose between “English Dialogue Boost: Medium” and “English Dialogue Boost: High”. You can choose between the Low, Medium, or High Dialogue Boost tracks.

Try them all out to determine the one that works most effectively for you since each level gives different levels of amplification, as their names suggest. Take pleasure in the title’s louder and more understandable dialogue.

Also Read: How is the new Google AI search different from the Bard chatbot?

In order to distinguish the conversation from the background noise in a movie or television show, it looks for instances where it is being overpowered by other sounds. Later, it uses AI to raise the dialogue’s quality.

In this manner, Dialogue Boost does not amplify the entire sound of the dialogue, simply the portions that require it before it is made available more broadly, the feature will first be made available globally for a select group of Amazon Original programs, including “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel,” and others.

It is accessible on all platforms that Prime Video supports. Even though Amazon is the very first global streaming platform to offer this capability, other platforms, including Roku, also offer a feature called “speech clarity.”