Meta turned Threads algorithm complaints into an official feature

Threads users have complained about its recommendation algorithm since the dawn of time 2023. Users even started writing posts addressed to the algorithm, specifying the topics they wanted to see more of. Now, that’s part of the system: Users can write a post that begins with “dear algo” to adjust their preferences, officially.

For example, you could write: “Dear algo, show me more posts about sous vide recipes.” You can also ask to see fewer posts about topics you don’t want to see, like “Dear algo, stop showing me posts about air fryers.” You can even retweet other users’ “dear algo” posts to have those topics reflected in your feed. “Dear algo” posts will work for Threads users in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, with more countries coming “soon.”

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories in tech you might have missed.

I think that’s a Drag Race song.

With a bigger focus on the Moon, Elon Musk is making some wild new plans. According to audio heard by The New York Times, Musk said xAI needed to build an AI satellite factory on the Moon with a gigantic catapult to launch the satellites into space. Sometimes you just want to be the Bond villain.

“You have to go to the Moon” to build the required AI capabilities, Musk told employees. “It’s difficult to imagine what an intelligence of that scale would think about, but it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see it happen.” Such a catapult would certainly need to be powerful — though the Moon has only one-sixth Earth’s gravity, the minimum escape velocity required for orbit is still around 3,800 mph, or five times the speed of sound. That’s currently possible with electromagnetic railguns, but the satellites would have to withstand that force.

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Stardew Valley + Animal Crossing X Pokémon.

In a bid to distract from a lot of things, Nintendo’s new Pokémon game is a gently paced game where, instead of playing as a generic trainer, you take control of a sole Ditto.

As a Ditto, you can transform into other Pokémon, though the process is sort of incomplete, meaning you can only learn one skill from the monsters you befriend. Instead of using tools, you can transform into other Pokémon (like Lapras or Dragonite) to use their abilities to traverse obstacles or shape the world around you.

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Facing tougher competition.

Sony unveiled the latest entry in its best wireless earbud series, the WF-1000XM6, featuring yet another redesign, both inside and out. Once again, strong features and audio performance remain, but competition from all sides is tougher than ever. As Billy Steele explains in his review, if you want the strongest active noise cancellation, that will be Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. If the best sound quality is your goal, the Technics AZ100 is your best bet in this price range. I’ll also mention Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 4, which offers great sound quality, respectable ANC and a comfier fit than the M6. The WF-1000XM6 is available now for $330.

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