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An anonymous reader quotes a report from UploadVR: Software developer Stijn Spanhove used the newest SDK features of Snap OS to build a prototype of [a real-world ad blocker for Snap Spectacles]. If you're unfamiliar, Snap Spectacles are a bulky AR glasses development kit available to rent for $99/month. They run Snap OS, the company's made-for-AR operating system, and developers build apps called Lenses for them using Lens Studio or WebXR. Spanhove built the real-world ad blocker using the new Depth Module API of Snap OS, integrated with the vision capability of Google's Gemini AI via the cloud. The Depth Module API caches depth frames, meaning that coordinate results from cloud vision models can be mapped to positions in 3D space. This enables detecting and labeling real-world objects, for example. Or, in the case of Spanhove's project, projecting a red rectangle onto real-world ads. However, while the software approach used for Spanhove's real-world ad blocker is sound, two fundamental hardware limitations mean it wouldn't be a practical way to avoid seeing ads in your reality. Firstly, the imagery rendered by see-through transparent AR systems like Spectacles isn't fully opaque. Thus, as you can see in the demo clip, the ads are still visible through the blocking rectangle. The other problem is that see-through transparent AR systems have a very limited field of view. In the case of Spectacles, just 46 degrees diagonal. So ads are only "blocked" whenever you're looking directly at them, and you'll still see them when you're not.

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A former prisoner and Palestine Action activist said the British state had made a 'miscalculation' in locking him up - and he had persuaded others to join the 'intifada' or 'uprising'.

Boss Stuart Machin took aim at the changes which are being introduced despite Labour's claim to have reset EU relations.

A missing TikToker was found dead and dismembered near a water treatment plant in Lima, Peru, earlier this month. Fabiola Alejandra Caicedo Piña, 19, was originally from Venezuela.

Patients' ratings of hospitals will be directly to the funding they receive from the government, under Prime Minister Keir Starmer's plans to overhaul the NHS.

Kim Kardashian had fans in a frenzy as she seemingly made the 'wedding of the century' all about herself.

Oprah Winfrey flaunted her toned curves at the wedding of the year on Friday. The media mogul, 71, was one of the many guests at the wedding of billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.

Facebook is prompting users to opt into a feature that uploads photos from their camera roll -- even those not shared on the platform -- to Meta's servers for AI-driven suggestions like collages and stylized edits. While Meta claims the content is private and not used for ads, opting in allows the company to analyze facial features and retain personal data under its broad AI terms, raising privacy concerns. TechCrunch reports: The feature is being suggested to Facebook users when they're creating a new Story on the social networking app. Here, a screen pops up and asks if the user will opt into "cloud processing" to allow creative suggestions. As the pop-up message explains, by clicking "Allow," you'll let Facebook generate new ideas from your camera roll, like collages, recaps, AI restylings, or photo themes. To work, Facebook says it will upload media from your camera roll to its cloud (meaning its servers) on an "ongoing basis," based on information like time, location, or themes. The message also notes that only you can see the suggestions, and the media isn't used for ad targeting. However, by tapping "Allow," you are agreeing to Meta's AI Terms. This allows your media and facial features to be analyzed by AI, it says. The company will additionally use the date and presence of people or objects in your photos to craft its creative ideas. [...] According to Meta's AI Terms around image processing, "once shared, you agree that Meta will analyze those images, including facial features, using AI. This processing allows us to offer innovative new features, including the ability to summarize image contents, modify images, and generate new content based on the image," the text states. The same AI terms also give Meta's AIs the right to "retain and use" any personal information you've shared in order to personalize its AI outputs. The company notes that it can review your interactions with its AIs, including conversations, and those reviews may be conducted by humans. The terms don't define what Meta considers personal information, beyond saying it includes "information you submit as Prompts, Feedback, or other Content." We have to wonder whether the photos you've shared for "cloud processing" also count here.

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CCTV shows the thug storm into the Armadale Premier in Bathgate, West Lothian, at around 8.15pm yesterday evening.

Adult film star Kylie Paige died at the age of 28 from unknown causes.

In a year when average air temperatures consistently breached the 1.5C warming threshold, global COâ-equivalent emissions from energy rose by 1%, marking yet another record, the fourth in as many years. From a report: Wind and solar energy alone expanded by an impressive 16% in 2024, nine times faster than total energy demand. Yet this growth did not fully counterbalance rising demand elsewhere, with total fossil fuel use growing by just over 1%, highlighting a transition defined as much by disorder as by progress. Crude oil demand in OECD countries remained flat, following a slight decline in the previous year. In contrast, non-OECD countries, where much of the world's energy demand growth is concentrated and fossil fuels continue to play a dominant role, saw oil demand rise by 1%. Notably, Chinese crude oil demand fell in 2024 by 1.2%, indicating that 2023 may have reached a peak. Elsewhere, global natural gas demand rebounded, rising by 2.5% as gas markets rebalanced after the 2023 slump. India's demand for coal rose 4% in 2024 and now equals that of the CIS, Southern and Central America, North America, and Europe combined.

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The lavish and theatrical nuptials will take place overlooking a Venice lagoon and the ceremony will be attended by 200 A-list guests including Ivanka Trump, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates

The 27-year-old business woman and social media personality seems to have missed one of the most important wedding memos of all - don't wear white.

When AI is a nesting doll of networks, so why reinvent the wheel when you can license it instead

feature  GPUs dominate the conversation when it comes to AI infrastructure. But while they're an essential piece of the puzzle, it's the interconnect fabrics that allow us to harness them to train and run multi-trillion-parameter models at scale.…

When police come to investigate tech support, make sure you have your story straight

On Call  Welcome once again to On Call, The Register's Friday column that celebrates the frolicsome fun that readers have experienced when asked to deliver tech support.…

The singer, who is well known for hits such as Baby Jane and Maggie May, said he thinks the Reform UK leader is coming across well.

The couple, who have been married for 11 years, could barely keep their hands off of one another as they attended the festival while their two children were nowhere to be seen.

Leonardo DiCaprio was mocked over his bizarre penchant for a low sitting baseball cap as he attended Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez ' Venice wedding this week.

A group of experts investigating Covid origins on behalf of the World Health Organization revealed they still aren't sure how the pandemic began and have sided with China's theories.

Germany's data protection commissioner has urged Apple and Google to remove Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from their app stores due to concerns about data protection. Reuters reports: Commissioner Meike Kamp said in a statement on Friday that she had made the request because DeepSeek illegally transfers users' personal data to China. The two U.S. tech giants must now review the request promptly and decide whether to block the app in Germany, she added, though her office has not set a precise timeframe. According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores numerous pieces of personal data, such as requests to its AI program or uploaded files, on computers in China. "DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users' data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union," [Commissioner Meike Kamp] said. "Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies," she added. The commissioner said she took the decision after asking DeepSeek in May to meet the requirements for non-EU data transfers or else voluntarily withdraw its app. DeepSeek did not comply with this request, she added.

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