Category Information Technology

What is Metaverse?

The latest buzzword in internet circles is ‘Metaverse’! It is making headlines, especially with Facebook even rebranding itself as Meta! It is expected to create a major impact in the digital world.

What is Metaverse?

Put simply, the metaverse is a 3D (three-dimensional) version of the internet. It can be considered a place parallel to the physical world, where you spend your digital life. In the metaverse, you and others in it will have an avatar. You will interact with each other through avatars. It is a shared virtual space, which is interactive and has an immersive experience.

Let’s look at some examples. You may have used the metaverse in some form or the other while playing video games. A basic form of the metaverse has been adopted in the online shooter game Fortnite, where gamers have their own personal avatars to engage with the avatars of other players.

In the stimulation video game Second Life, users experience virtual reality in which their avatars can do everything they can in real life, including eating, sleeping, shopping, etc.

The term ‘metaverse’, first cropped up in the science fiction novel “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson in 1992. In the book, the author referred to the metaverse as an all-encompassing digital world that exists parallel to the real world.

Tools needed

You will need a VR (Virtual Reality) headset, a controller and a powerful laptop to enter the metaverse. You will also need digital currency to live in the metaverse.

Future impact

The metaverse will make gaming more realistic and increase the user’s immersive experience. Travelling around the world without leaving your room will become possible. Healthcare and education are expected to gain the most from the metaverse. The metaverse has the potential to radically transform the digital and global economy.

Currently, there is no single metaverse but there are many. All of them are, however, still under development.

Picture Credit : Google 

How can you hide your profile photo from specific contacts on WhatsApp?

If any of your WhatsApp contacts ask unnecessary questions, pass comments or misuse your profile photo, you can now hide it from them. First, make sure WhatsApp is updated on your phone (check the App Store or Google Play Store) or you won’t see the new privacy settings. Go to Settings> Account > Privacy>Profile Photo. Choose ‘My contacts except… Select the contacts from whom you want to hide your profile photo and tap on done/check mark. This takes you to the previous menu, where you can see how many contacts you’ve excluded. These contacts won’t be able to see your current or upcoming profile photos either. (You can also hide Last Seen, Status and About info from specific contacts the same way.)

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WHAT IS MORAVEC’S PARADOX?

Artificial intelligence can simplify complicated tasks but it may still be unable to do what humans do instinctively.

It is a concept in computing put forward by Austrian artificial intelligence (AI) researcher Hans Moravec in the 1980s. He theorised that while it is easy to make computers do highly intelligent tasks such as calculating complicated mathematical equations, it is very difficult to make them do simple tasks such as walking. According to Moravec, humans have evolved over millions of years. to perfect simple physical tasks such as walking and running. Such tasks, which we take for granted, are a result of the process of natural selection.

Moravec’s paradox states that it is difficult to build a machine that has the skills of a one-year-old child with the instinctive ability to move around, recognise faces, and avoid danger. It takes a lot of difficult computations to instruct a computer to do what a human being can do without thinking twice. On the other hand, humans acquired sophisticated skills such as abstract reasoning and logical thinking that result in excellence in the fields of engineering, mathematics and art, about hundred thousand years ago. It is easy to devise algorithms for these skills for computers. That is why it is easy to build a computer that can defeat a professional chess player or play music.

Moravec’s paradox can be interpreted in different ways. Some scholars believe that it means that Al can render people with high-level jobs such as stock analysis or engineering unemployed, while the jobs of cooks and gardeners are safe. Others take it to mean that Al will always need human supervision.

Picture Credit : Google

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SURFACE WEB AND THE DEEP WEB?

The Surface Web contains less than 10% of the info that is on the Internet.

The Deep Web consists of websites and content that are not searchable by standard search engines such as Google If Google can find the content you are searching for, then its on the Surface Web! The Surface Web contains less than 10 per cent of the information that is on the Internet.

Most people are unaware that the Deep Webs contains benign sites. Examples are your password-protected email and bank account certain sections of paid subscription services like Netflix and sites that can be accessed only through an online form. The Deep Web is estimated to be many many times larger than the Surface Web.

Picture Credit : Google 

Which is the first computer virus?

The Creeper program is regarded as the first virus. The idea of a computer virus- a metaphor derived from biological viruses for a computer program that when executed, replicates itself to affect machines-was discussed in a series of lectures in the late 1940s by mathematician John von Neumann.

The Creeper program created by Bob Thomas of BBN in 1971 is often regarded as the first vinus Designed as a security test, it was an attempt to see if self-replicating programs were possible. It had no malicious intent and simply displayed the message: TM THE CREEPER. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Viruses have come a long way in half a century and are no longer a laughing matter.

Estimates suggest that 3.50,000 new pieces of malware are discovered every single day in a world that is more connected than ever before, the damaging costs of these are also spiraling out of control with conservative estimates placing a figure of $55 billion in annual costs.

An experimental computer network, ARPANET, was created in 1969 and was the precursor to the internet. It was designed to send communications from computer to computer over long distances, without the need for a dedicated phone connection between each computer. To achieve this required a method of dividing and sending data that is now known as packet switching. It’s few early users were mostly computer scientists. Imagine theirsurprise when one day in 1971, connected teletype computer screens displayed the phrase: “I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!” Although they didn’t know it at the time, they were the first computer virus victims. But what did the mysterious message mean, and who sent it? It turns out it wasn’t a hacker who coded the first computer virus, and it wasn’t sent with malicious intent. Bold, Beranek, and Newman* (now Raytheon BBN Technologies) were pioneers in packet switching networks like ARPANET and the internet. One of its researchers, Bob Thomas, had created Creeper as an experimental computer program.

Creeper was a worm — a type of computer virus that replicates itself and spreads to other systems. In this case, its targets were Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) computers which were linked to ARPANET. But it wasn’t malware like we associate with today’s computer viruses; displaying its enigmatic message was all Creeper did. It didn’t encrypt files, demand a ransom, destroy data, steal Social Security numbers, or render centrifuges inoperable. It only displayed its taunting challenge.

Credit : Exabeam

Picture Credit : Google 

What are Google Tasks?

Create lists of to-do items and check them off once completed with Google’s new to-do app. Tasks syncs across devices and integrates into the desktop version of Gmail and Google Calendar. You can add additional information like a description, date and sub tasks to your tasks, and create separate lists that you can switch between. In the new re-designed desktop Gmail, tasks are located to the right of your screen, so you don’t have to open the app on your smartphone if you’re at your computer. Drag emails from your inbox into the Tasks panel to automatically create new tasks around them. Free for iOS and Android. Aside from its simplicity, Google Tasks’ best feature is its deep integration with Gmail. Your inbox isn’t the best to-do list—so Google Tasks gives you somewhere to list those important messages that need a reply or action on your part. Drag an email from anywhere in Gmail to the Google Tasks sidebar to instantly turn it into a task. It’ll keep the email’s subject as the task name, with a link to the email underneath. You can then archive or move the message and still open it easily from the Google Tasks link.

Much like a paper to-do list, the most direct way to use Google Tasks is to jot down basic things you need to do and check them off as they’re completed. But if you’d rather plan, rearranging your tasks into the order you should complete them, you can do that too. Just click on a task and drag it to the order you want. Move a task with subtasks? Just drag to move the whole set together. Or, if you decide a subtask should be its own task, drag it out, and it’ll turn into a standalone task.

Credit : Zapier

Picture Credit : Google