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Blog Posts

Ad Revenue Issues in the Creator Economy and India’s AI Aspirations

The creator economy is evolving fast, and ad revenue alone isn’t cutting it anymore. YouTubers are launching product lines, acquiring startups, and building actual business empires. In fact, MrBeast’s company bought fintech startup Step, and his chocolate business is outearning his media arm. This isn’t just one creator’s strategy. For many, it’s the new playbook.  On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan unpack how creators are diversifying beyond ads, […]

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Researchers Perplexed by Finding of the Farthest Galaxy from Earth

On January 28, 2026, NASA revealed a remarkable finding made by the James Webb Space Telescope: the identification of the most distant galaxy observed so far, designated MoM-z14. This galaxy, observed as it existed only 280 million years after the Big Bang, poses challenges to current theories regarding early star formation because of its surprising brightness and chemical makeup. The detection of high levels of nitrogen and primordial hydrogen gas implies that massive stars emerged more swiftly than previously believed, indicating that the early universe consisted of more than merely neutral hydrogen.

The identification of MoM-z14 underscores the widening divide between existing astronomical knowledge and the realities of the universe, while also highlighting the possibilities for future discoveries. The James Webb Space Telescope’s capacity to view distant galaxies using infrared technology has already exceeded prior expectations, and with the impending launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA is set to explore the universe’s origins even further.

MoM-z14 is significantly brighter, more compact, and chemically richer than what was expected for its time. The galaxy’s light, which has been traveling for about 13.5 billion years, places it within a category of unexpectedly bright early galaxies. Scientists attribute this luminosity to “unusual nitrogen enrichment,” likely resulting from the swift formation of supermassive stars in the dense early universe. Moreover, the galaxy’s capability to disperse surrounding primordial hydrogen indicates that these stars produced sufficient energy to penetrate dense gases, a phenomenon termed “reionization.”

NASA’s employment of advanced telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope has greatly enhanced our comprehension of the early stages of the universe. Before this, the Hubble Space Telescope had discovered GN-z11, a galaxy dating from 400 million years post-Big Bang, which was the furthest known at that time. The James Webb Space Telescope has since validated this distance, further cementing its significance in revealing cosmic mysteries.

The outlook for NASA’s space exploration is bright, with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope scheduled to investigate dark matter and dark energy. Despite possible budgetary issues, recent actions by Congress have maintained funding for NASA’s vital missions, ensuring ongoing exploration of the universe’s deepest enigmas.

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Researchers Perplexed by Finding of the Farthest Galaxy from Earth
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Acclaimed James Bond Director Accountable for Infamously Bad Comic Book Film

Alan Smithee is a cinematic force that demands attention, and the mere sight of this name in a film’s credits often signals that what follows might be a disaster. However, Mr. Smithee isn’t a real individual; rather, it has been a pseudonym adopted for decades by Hollywood filmmakers seeking to separate themselves from a project they directed. While we exist in a realm that lauds both cinematic blunders (remember to support the 2026 Golden Raspberry Awards) as much as triumphs, it is occasionally surprising that the Smithee moniker isn’t more frequently utilized.

Renowned director Martin Campbell, despite committing one notable directorial error, has never embraced the alias. Campbell delighted many James Bond enthusiasts when his second Bond project, the 2006 film “Casino Royale,” premiered. The action-thriller, running over two hours, received widespread critical praise and impressive box office success, leading to four additional Bond films featuring Daniel Craig, culminating with 2021’s “No Time to Die.” This is the same Martin Campbell who helmed the notoriously criticized 2011 film “Green Lantern,” a superhero misfire that genre aficionados might label among the worst films ever made.

Featuring Ryan Reynolds as the lead character, the film narrates the protagonist’s voyage as he becomes the first human chosen for an intergalactic law enforcement team known as the Green Lantern Corps. Not only did “Green Lantern” scarcely break even financially — amassing $220 million on a $200 million budget — but it swiftly received a torrent of negative reviews across various media and aggregate review platforms like Rotten Tomatoes.

Most reviewers deemed Green Lantern a failure, and its director concurred.

In a conversation with Screen Rant, Martin Campbell revealed his thoughts on his Green Lantern endeavor: “I shouldn’t have done it [Green Lantern]. Because with something like Bond, I adore Bond, and I watched every Bond film before I ever directed one. Superhero films are not my preference, and for that reason, I should not have taken it on. But directors always have to shoulder the blame for the failures.” It’s somewhat bittersweet to hear Campbell admit his accountability in his directing role, yet the Hollywood system doesn’t thrive on responsibility; it thrives on production.

And the evidence is arriving soon: DC and HBO are preparing to launch a live-action Green Lantern series (entitled “Lanterns”) in the near future, which will further expand the larger DCU. As for Mr. Campbell, we are happy to note that his career has progressed beyond the Green Lantern downturn. Some of his more recent works include “Memory” (2022), “Dirty Angels” (2024), and “Cleaner” (2025) — the final one featuring Daisy Ridley, Clive Owen, and Taz Skylar.

It’s difficult to predict when a new James Bond installment will be released, but one can only speculate on how remarkable it would be with Campbell at the helm once more. If “Casino Royale” and “GoldenEye” serve as any measure, the outcome would likely be quite impressive.

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Acclaimed James Bond Director Accountable for Infamously Bad Comic Book Film
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9to5Mac Daily: February 20, 2026 – Summary of iPhone’s Satellite Capabilities and Other Enhancements

**9to5Mac Daily: Your Daily Source for Apple News and Insights**

In the rapidly evolving realm of technology, being informed about the latest news is vital, particularly for Apple fans. 9to5Mac Daily acts as a key resource, offering listeners a summary of the day’s major stories. This podcast is accessible on multiple platforms such as iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, and via a dedicated RSS feed for those who choose alternative podcast applications.

### What is 9to5Mac Daily?

9to5Mac Daily is a daily podcast that focuses on the most important happenings within the Apple ecosystem. Each episode is recorded on weekdays, ensuring subscribers get prompt updates on news, product launches, software releases, and industry developments. The podcast is hosted by Chance, who brings valuable insights and analysis to the table, making it essential listening for anyone passionate about Apple products and services.

### How to Listen

Listeners can conveniently subscribe to 9to5Mac Daily through their chosen podcast platform. By subscribing, you ensure that the latest episodes are sent automatically as soon as they become available. The podcast also provides an ad-free experience and additional content for subscribers who choose the 9to5Mac Daily Plus option.

### Featured Content

Every episode includes conversations on a range of topics pertinent to Apple users. Recent episodes have discussed:

– Examination of new product launches
– Insights on software updates and features
– Conversations about industry trends and competitor actions

Listeners are encouraged to interact with the content by sharing their opinions via email or rating the podcast on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Overcast. This interaction not only contributes to enhancing the show but also helps increase its audience reach.

### Special Offers

9to5Mac Daily is supported by Stuff, a productivity tool aimed at helping users manage their tasks and alleviate mental strain. New users can benefit from a special promotion by applying the code 9TO5 at checkout for a 50% discount on their first year.

### Conclusion

For individuals looking to remain updated on Apple and its ecosystem, 9to5Mac Daily is an indispensable resource. With its succinct format, engaging discussions, and ease of access, it is the ideal companion for your daily travels or while juggling tasks at home. Subscribe today to ensure you never miss an episode and stay ahead in the constantly changing world of technology.

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9to5Mac Daily: February 20, 2026 – Summary of iPhone's Satellite Capabilities and Other Enhancements
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Apple Researchers Develop On-Device AI Assistant for Application Engagement

**Ferret-UI Lite: A Milestone in On-Device GUI Engagement**

With only 3 billion parameters, Ferret-UI Lite either matches or exceeds the benchmark performance of models that are up to 24 times larger. Here are the specifics.

### A Brief Background on Ferret

In December 2023, a group of 9 researchers released a paper titled “FERRET: Refer and Ground Anything Anywhere at Any Granularity.” Within it, they introduced a multimodal large language model (MLLM) capable of comprehending natural language references to specific components of an image. Since then, Apple has published subsequent papers that broaden the Ferret model family, including Ferretv2, Ferret-UI, and Ferret-UI 2.

Ferret-UI variants particularly built upon the original FERRET functionalities, remedying the limitations of general-domain MLLMs. The foundational Ferret-UI paper underscored that despite significant progress in MLLMs, they frequently have difficulty effectively understanding and interacting with user interface (UI) displays. Ferret-UI was created to better interpret mobile UI screens, including “any resolution” to enhance details and utilize advanced visual features.

### Ferret-UI Lite

Recently, Apple enriched the Ferret-UI lineup with a paper titled “Ferret-UI Lite: Insights from Developing Compact On-Device GUI Agents.” Ferret-UI was founded on a 13B-parameter model aimed at mobile UI comprehension and fixed-resolution screenshots. In contrast, Ferret-UI Lite is a streamlined model crafted to operate on-device while competing with much larger GUI agents.

The researchers observed that traditional GUI agent methodologies often depend on extensive foundation models because of their robust reasoning and planning abilities. However, these models are usually too substantial and resource-intensive for effective on-device functionality. Consequently, they created Ferret-UI Lite, a variant with 3 billion parameters, comprising crucial elements driven by insights on training compact language models.

Ferret-UI Lite harnesses:

– Authentic and synthetic training datasets from various GUI sectors.
– On-the-fly cropping and zooming techniques to enhance understanding of specific GUI segments.
– Supervised fine-tuning and reinforcement learning strategies.

The outcome is a model that either closely resembles or even surpasses rival GUI agent models that possess up to 24 times its parameter count.

### Innovative Techniques

The infrastructure of Ferret-UI Lite encompasses real-time cropping and zooming methods. The model makes an initial prediction, crops around that prediction, and subsequently re-predicts within the cropped area, compensating for its restricted capacity to process extensive numbers of image tokens.

Another significant advancement is the capability to generate its own training data. The researchers established a multi-agent system that directly interacts with live GUI platforms to create synthetic training examples on a large scale. This system captures the nuances of real-world interaction, including mistakes and unforeseen states, which are hard to replicate with pristine, human-annotated data.

Notably, while Ferret-UI and Ferret-UI 2 evaluated themselves with iPhone screenshots and other Apple interfaces, Ferret-UI Lite was trained and assessed in Android, web, and desktop GUI settings, employing benchmarks such as AndroidWorld and OSWorld. This decision likely mirrors the accessibility of reproducible, large-scale GUI-agent test scenarios.

### Performance and Applications

The researchers discovered that although Ferret-UI Lite excelled in short-horizon, low-complexity tasks, it did not perform as robustly in more intricate, multi-step interactions, a trade-off anticipated due to the limitations of a compact, on-device model. However, Ferret-UI Lite provides a local and private agent capable of autonomously interacting with app interfaces based on user demand, thereby enhancing user experience without relying on cloud processing.

To explore further about the study, including detailed benchmark analyses and outcomes, follow this link.

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The Top E-Reader to Purchase Today

Any ebook reader will let you cram a Beauty and the Beast-sized library’s worth of books in your pocket, but so will your phone. An ebook reader offers a more book-like reading experience, with fewer distractions and less eye strain, and many include extra features, like adjustable frontlighting. Some really are pocketable. Others are waterproof […]

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The Top E-Reader to Purchase Today
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Four Obstacles NASA’s Artemis II Needs to Overcome Prior to Launch

returning to the moon after more than five decades has many thrilled about the possibility of Artemis II finally launching and heading towards the stars. Yet, as the date approaches for the upcoming lunar mission, numerous individuals are becoming increasingly worried about several aspects related to Artemis II and its primary vehicle, the Orion capsule.

There is no doubt that the launch of Artemis II is significant for NASA and all of humanity. While it’s exciting to think about what the mission will achieve, it is equally vital that every issue is addressed in a cautious and secure manner to ensure the astronauts’ safe return home. Although some of these concerns also affected the Artemis I mission, others have emerged more recently, further casting a shadow on the potential safety of Artemis II.

Indeed, NASA has already experienced several challenges delaying the launch of Artemis II. The agency still aims to launch the rocket around March. However, it must resolve these challenges to proceed with a successful launch and guarantee the safety of the four astronauts on board. These complications, alongside the overall expenses of the Artemis program, have led some to speculate that humanity’s return to the moon might already be jeopardized.

Liquid hydrogen leaks

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Four Obstacles NASA's Artemis II Needs to Overcome Prior to Launch
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Survey Uncovers Surprising Preferred AI Chatbot Among Users

In a recent survey carried out by Android Central, Microsoft’s Copilot stood out as the leading preference for AI chatbots, outpacing well-known alternatives such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The survey, which collected over 1,600 responses, indicated that 61% of respondents preferred Copilot, mainly due to its integration with Microsoft Office and its dependability in providing consistent answers without “hallucinating” or “gaslighting” users. Gemini took the second position with 17% of the votes, whereas ChatGPT received a mere 8%.

The survey points to a preference among users for AI chatbots that blend effortlessly into their current workflows, with Copilot being lauded for its human-like engagement and research skills. Despite its popularity, some individuals still depend on ChatGPT for routine tasks, while others appreciate Gemini’s image generation features, although they find them somewhat limited in practical application.

Feedback from users such as Agonist87 and James Lawson highlights Copilot’s stability and efficiency, especially in professional environments. Conversely, users like Vince Lupe and Randall Uyeno reflect a rising tendency to use multiple AI chatbots for various tasks, signaling a move towards a more varied strategy in utilizing AI technologies.

In summary, the survey findings imply that while Copilot currently excels in user preference, the realm of AI chatbots continues to evolve, with users investigating diverse options to cater to their distinct requirements.

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iOS 26 Launches Trendy iPhone Ringtone: Tune In Now

### ‘Dreamer’ in iOS 26 is a Stunning Reinvention of the Default iPhone Ringtone

In the continually changing world of mobile technology, ringtones have largely become secondary, eclipsed by the vast array of features that smartphones present today. Nevertheless, Apple has made a significant push to revitalize this element of the iPhone experience with the launch of new ringtones in iOS 26.

With this latest update, users of the iPhone have access to seven all-new ringtones, most of which are inventive variations of the cherished default ‘Reflection’ ringtone. Among these, the highlight is indisputably ‘Dreamer,’ which has quickly garnered favor among numerous users.

#### The Nostalgic Appeal of Ringtones

Thinking back to the pre-smartphone days, ringtones were a vital aspect of mobile phones, often acting as a means of personal expression. As smartphones advanced, the relevance of ringtones declined, yet Apple’s choice to unveil new options in iOS 26 underscores an acknowledgment of their cultural importance.

#### A New Perspective on a Classic

The ‘Reflection’ ringtone has reached iconic status since it first appeared, and Apple’s decision to reimagine it instead of merely presenting entirely different sounds is praiseworthy. Each of the six new variations captures the spirit of the original while incorporating distinctive elements that enrich the auditory experience.

‘Dreamer’ shines with its charming lo-fi spin, offering a revitalizing interpretation of the recognizable tones. The additional options, including ‘Surge’ and ‘Reflected,’ also provide enjoyable listening experiences, demonstrating Apple’s dedication to excellence in their audio design.

#### Instructions to Change Your Ringtone

For those excited to try out the new ringtones, altering your iPhone’s ringtone is straightforward. Head to Settings, then select Sounds & Haptics, and tap on Ringtone to explore the new selections.

#### Conclusion

With the rollout of new ringtones in iOS 26, Apple has effectively reignited interest in this often-neglected feature. Whether you favor the nostalgic ‘Reflection’ or the innovative sounds of ‘Dreamer,’ there’s something available for everyone to appreciate. Have you tested any of iOS 26’s new ringtones yet? Which one do you like best?

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iOS 26 Launches Trendy iPhone Ringtone: Tune In Now
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Protect Your Family’s Privacy by Removing Personal Information from the Internet

**Safeguarding Your Family’s Privacy in the Digital Era**

In the current digital environment, securing your family’s privacy is more important than ever. The rise of data brokers—businesses that gather and sell personal details—has made privacy protection a pressing issue for numerous households. With hundreds of such entities in operation, manually removing your family’s information from the web can be overwhelming and labor-intensive.

**The Difficulty of Data Elimination**

Even with the legal framework that permits data brokers to trade personal information, individuals frequently encounter obstacles in opting out of these databases. Each data broker follows its own protocols, often intentionally complicated and tedious, making it hard for individuals to effectively request the deletion of their data. Even after managing to opt out, there is no assurance that the data won’t reappear, as brokers can obtain new information at any time.

**Streamlining the Process with Incogni**

Luckily, there are options to ease this procedure. One such option is Incogni, a data removal tool created by the team behind Surfshark. Incogni manages the heavy lifting by contacting over 250 data brokers and people search platforms on your behalf, insisting on the elimination of personal information for you and your family members.

The service not only aids in the initial removal of data but also consistently tracks for any re-emergence of your information in new databases, issuing takedown requests as necessary. This forward-thinking strategy significantly mitigates the risk of spam, junk mail, and possible identity theft for your family.

**Exclusive Offer for Family Safety**

Incogni presents a family plan that extends protection to you and up to four additional family members. Each user can add multiple contact details, ensuring thorough coverage. Currently, a promotional offer is available allowing users to receive a 55% discount on the annual plan by applying the code “9to5Mac.” Moreover, Incogni provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, enabling you to test the service without risk.

In summary, taking proactive measures to protect your family’s privacy is vital in an era where personal data is a coveted asset. Utilizing services like Incogni can streamline the data removal process and ongoing oversight, offering peace of mind in a progressively intricate digital landscape.

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