Tootfinder

Various Artists – HB Parade 2
#acoustic

The News/Media Alliance says the webhost of 12ft.io, which helped users bypass paywalls, took down the site on July 14 following the trade association's efforts (Emma Roth/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/news/709209/news-media-alliance-12ft-io-takedo…

News publishers take paywall-blocker 12ft.io offline
The News/Media Alliance has announced that it has “successfully secured” the takedown of the paywall bypassing tool, 12ft.io.

The News/Media Alliance says the webhost of 12ft.io, which helped users bypass paywalls, took down the site on July 14 following the trade association's efforts (Emma Roth/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/news/709209/news-media-alliance-12ft-io-takedo…

News publishers take paywall-blocker 12ft.io offline
The News/Media Alliance has announced that it has “successfully secured” the takedown of the paywall bypassing tool, 12ft.io.

Meta Battles an ‘Epidemic of Scams’ as Criminals Flood Instagram and Facebook (WSJ, 15 May 2025)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/meta-fraud-facebook-instagram-813363c8
Paywall free version:

Effect of Signal Quantization on Performance Measures of a 1st Order One Dimensional Differential Microphone Array
Shweta Pal, Arun Kumar, Monika Agrawal
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.15463

Effect of Signal Quantization on Performance Measures of a 1st Order One Dimensional Differential Microphone Array
In practical systems, recorded analog signals must be digitized for processing, introducing quantization as a critical aspect of data acquisition. While prior studies have examined quantization effects in various signal processing contexts, its impact on differential microphone arrays (DMAs), particularly in one-dimensional (1D) first-order configurations, remains unexplored. This paper investigates the influence of signal quantization on performance of first-order 1D DMAs across various beampa…

Social and Political Framing in Search Engine Results
Amrit Poudel, Tim Weninger
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.13325 https://arxiv.org/p…

Social and Political Framing in Search Engine Results
Search engines play a crucial role in shaping public discourse by influencing how information is accessed and framed. While prior research has extensively examined various dimensions of search bias -- such as content prioritization, indexical bias, political polarization, and sources of bias -- an important question remains underexplored: how do search engines and ideologically-motivated user queries contribute to bias in search results. This study analyzes the outputs of major search engines u…

Public Acceptance of Cybernetic Avatars in the service sector: Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in Dubai
Laura Aymerich-Franch, Tarek Taha, Takahiro Miyashita, Hiroko Kamide, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Paolo Dario
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.14268

Public Acceptance of Cybernetic Avatars in the service sector: Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in Dubai
Cybernetic avatars are hybrid interaction robots or digital representations that combine autonomous capabilities with teleoperated control. This study investigates the acceptance of cybernetic avatars in the highly multicultural society of Dubai, with particular emphasis on robotic avatars for customer service. Specifically, we explore how acceptance varies as a function of robot appearance (e.g., android, robotic-looking, cartoonish), deployment settings (e.g., shopping malls, hotels, hospital…

Simple ways of preparing qudit Dicke states
Noah B. Kerzner, Federico Galeazzi, Rafael I. Nepomechie
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.13308 https://

Simple ways of preparing qudit Dicke states
Dicke states are permutation-invariant superpositions of qubit computational basis states, which play a prominent role in quantum information science. We consider here two higher-dimensional generalizations of these states: $SU(2)$ spin-$s$ Dicke states and $SU(d)$ Dicke states. We present various ways of preparing both types of qudit Dicke states on a qudit quantum computer, using two main approaches: a deterministic approach, based on exact canonical matrix product state representations; and …

Max, soon to be called HBO Max, says it is working on an AI tool that will identify "standout" scenes from its shows and movies to play as video previews (Emma Roth/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/news/688313/max-video-previews-autoplay-update…

Max will show autoplaying video previews picked by AI
Max is rolling out an update that will show video previews of shows and movies as you scroll over them. It will use an AI tool to help pick which scenes to feature.

Advancing Loss Functions in Recommender Systems: A Comparative Study with a R\'enyi Divergence-Based Solution
Shengjia Zhang, Jiawei Chen, Changdong Li, Sheng Zhou, Qihao Shi, Yan Feng, Chun Chen, Can Wang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.15120

Advancing Loss Functions in Recommender Systems: A Comparative Study with a Rényi Divergence-Based Solution
Loss functions play a pivotal role in optimizing recommendation models. Among various loss functions, Softmax Loss (SL) and Cosine Contrastive Loss (CCL) are particularly effective. Their theoretical connections and differences warrant in-depth exploration. This work conducts comprehensive analyses of these losses, yielding significant insights: 1) Common strengths -- both can be viewed as augmentations of traditional losses with Distributional Robust Optimization (DRO), enhancing robustness to…