Meta Takes on Twitter: Introducing Meta Verified

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Meta's Competitor to Twitter: Meta Verified
3. Decentralized App for Text-Based Updates
4. DuckDuckGo's AI-Powered Summarization Feature
5. Flat Hub's Roadmap for 2023
6. Updates to Elementary OS
7. Latest Developments in GNOME
8. Promising News from KDE Plasma
9. HP Dev1 Discontinued: Miscommunication from HP
10. Wine 8.3 Release and Steam Deck News

Meta's Competitor to Twitter: Meta Verified

In an attempt to rival Twitter, Meta has introduced its own version called Meta Verified. For a monthly fee of $12, users can have the privilege of a blue checkmark and support. However, Meta Verified still retains ads and Data Mining, raising concerns about privacy. But that's not all—Meta is also working on a dedicated application for text-based updates, similar to Twitter. Code-named P92, this app is led by the person in charge of Instagram and aims to integrate with the ActivityPub standard, making it interoperable with Mastodon and other fediverse applications. With features like embedded links, verification badges, image and video sharing, and the ability to follow and like posts, Meta's foray into the decentralized social media landscape may appeal to those who are skeptical or unfamiliar with Mastodon. However, it's worth noting that data will still be shared across other Meta platforms, resulting in the usual profiling and data mining.

Pros:

• Provides an alternative to Twitter with additional features
• Interoperability with Mastodon and other fediverse applications
• Potential desiloing of social networks by giant tech companies

Cons:

• Retains ads and data mining, compromising user privacy
• Potential duplication of features already offered by Mastodon
• Raises concerns about monopolization and stifling of application development

DuckDuckGo's AI-Powered Summarization Feature: Duck Assist

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused Search Engine, is not willing to lag behind in the AI arms race. They recently introduced an AI-powered summarization feature called Duck Assist. Comparable to Google's Bard AI and Microsoft's ChatGPT, Duck Assist utilizes ChatGPT technology and combines it with indexed data from Wikipedia and Britannia Encyclopedia. By doing so, it provides users with quick summaries in search results. Although Wikipedia serves as the primary source (accounting for 99% of the data), this feature is only available in DuckDuckGo applications and browser extensions, not on the web search engine itself. While no login is required, Duck Assist currently supports English language queries exclusively. This feature aims to minimize scrolling and streamline information retrieval, ensuring users receive accurate and concise answers. Although DuckDuckGo acknowledges that these automated summaries may not be 100% accurate, efforts have been made to display them only when there is a high probability of correctness.

Pros:

• Enables quick access to concise and accurate summaries
• Reduces the time spent searching for information
• Provides a direct answer to user queries
• Designed to appear only when the answer is highly likely to be correct

Cons:

• Limited to English language queries
• Relies heavily on Wikipedia, which may have inherent biases or inaccuracies
• Potential risk of users accepting automated summaries as fact without further verification

Flat Hub's Roadmap for 2023

Flat Hub, a popular app distribution platform, has outlined its roadmap for 2023. Acknowledging the challenges faced by app developers in distributing and promoting their work, Flat Hub has been instrumental in facilitating their empowerment. At Present, Flat Hub boasts 2,000 apps with a staggering 700,000 daily downloads, amounting to a colossal 88 terabytes of data per day. With the goal of evolving from a build service to a full-fledged app store, Flat Hub has been focusing on various enhancements to support this transition. Notably, they have introduced features in their web app, allowing users and developers to create accounts, make payments via Stripe, and ensure app ownership verification for pricing purposes. Furthermore, efforts are being made to establish a legal entity that can handle payments and donations, while also promoting transparency through a governance model. Flat Hub has also garnered $100,000 in funding and aims to reach $250,000 by the end of the year to facilitate further development and expansion. Expect a forthcoming redesign and the initiation of focus groups to Gather community feedback and ensure user satisfaction.