MAKE AI WORK SMARTER
Asking ChatGPT to write your emails is so two years ago.
Generative AI tools are now going beyond the basic text-prompt phase. Take Google’s NotebookLM, an experimental “AI research assistant” that lets you upload not just text but also videos, links and PDFs. It will provide a summary of the content, answer questions about it, and even make a podcast-like “AI overview” if you want it to — all while organizing your original sources and notes.
Photo: Reuters
As AI tools advance, expect more features like this to be baked into everyday software. All the usual caveats of using AI apply: the responsibility for factchecking lies with you.
BREAK FREE OF THE ALGORITHM
If you’re stuck in a feedback loop of samey music or TV recommendations, go for a refresh. Some platforms, such as Netflix, let you delete your viewing history, which will help clear the slate (select “hide all” under “viewing activity” for a do-over).
Spotify is harder to crack: you’ll need to train it into offering a broader selection by diversifying your listening. Choose playlists that focus specifically on new music, or go old school and ask friends for their tips. Use the “private session” mode or select “exclude from your taste profile” to keep your guilty pleasures (or your kids’ nursery rhymes) from infecting future recommendations.
LEARN TO SPOT AI VIDEO
Manipulated videos, or “deepfakes,” might already be old hat, but you can expect to see more entirely AI-generated videos as text-to-video tools enter the mainstream.
OpenAI’s Sora and Meta’s Movie Gen are continuing to be developed, with impressive (or concerning, depending on your stance) results. Look for watermarks that show a video is AI-generated, and watch out for telltale mistakes, such as errors in anatomy or weird physics. Most importantly, use context clues: if something seems particularly shocking, unlikely, or out of place, be on guard.
LOOK UP, LOOK OUT, MAKE A BACKUP
So-called “snatch thefts” are at a high, with the equivalent of more than 200 such robberies occurring across England and Wales each day. Thieves, often on bikes or mopeds, grab phones to sell overseas. There’s not much you can do in the moment, but you can slightly soften the impact by making sure anything important on your phone is backed up. Many manufacturers offer to automatically sync all your files to a cloud service; alternatively, you can find options for specific media in the relevant phone or app settings.
TACKLE THE TECH DRAWER OF DOOM
Everyone has one: the drawer (or cupboard or box) of discarded devices, broken electronics and tangled cables hoarding valuable metals. Make this the year you reclaim the space from your unwanted e-waste. If your old stuff is in good nick, you can also try selling or donating it; remember to wipe personal data from laptops and phones by doing a factory reset or removing the hard drive.
When nature calls, Masana Izawa has followed the same routine for more than 50 years: heading out to the woods in Japan, dropping his pants and doing as bears do. “We survive by eating other living things. But you can give faeces back to nature so that organisms in the soil can decompose them,” the 74-year-old said. “This means you are giving life back. What could be a more sublime act?” “Fundo-shi” (“poop-soil master”) Izawa is something of a celebrity in Japan, publishing books, delivering lectures and appearing in a documentary. People flock to his “Poopland” and centuries-old wooden “Fundo-an” (“poop-soil house”) in
Jan 13 to Jan 19 Yang Jen-huang (楊仁煌) recalls being slapped by his father when he asked about their Sakizaya heritage, telling him to never mention it otherwise they’ll be killed. “Only then did I start learning about the Karewan Incident,” he tells Mayaw Kilang in “The social culture and ethnic identification of the Sakizaya” (撒奇萊雅族的社會文化與民族認定). “Many of our elders are reluctant to call themselves Sakizaya, and are accustomed to living in Amis (Pangcah) society. Therefore, it’s up to the younger generation to push for official recognition, because there’s still a taboo with the older people.” Although the Sakizaya became Taiwan’s 13th
For anyone on board the train looking out the window, it must have been a strange sight. The same foreigner stood outside waving at them four different times within ten minutes, three times on the left and once on the right, his face getting redder and sweatier each time. At this unique location, it’s actually possible to beat the train up the mountain on foot, though only with extreme effort. For the average hiker, the Dulishan Trail is still a great place to get some exercise and see the train — at least once — as it makes its way
Earlier this month, a Hong Kong ship, Shunxin-39, was identified as the ship that had cut telecom cables on the seabed north of Keelung. The ship, owned out of Hong Kong and variously described as registered in Cameroon (as Shunxin-39) and Tanzania (as Xinshun-39), was originally People’s Republic of China (PRC)-flagged, but changed registries in 2024, according to Maritime Executive magazine. The Financial Times published tracking data for the ship showing it crossing a number of undersea cables off northern Taiwan over the course of several days. The intent was clear. Shunxin-39, which according to the Taiwan Coast Guard was crewed
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