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California’s Attempts to Curb Big Tech Self-Preferencing Fall Short After Apple-Supported Lobbying Initiatives

**BASED Act Disappoints Following Vigorous Lobbying Efforts**

Recently, California state Senator Scott Wiener proposed the BASED Act (Blocking Anticompetitive Self-preferencing by Entrenched Dominant platforms Act), designed to regulate how leading digital platforms prioritize their own offerings over those of their rivals. The legislation specifically focused on firms with a market capitalization of at least $1 trillion, forbidding them from favoring their own services, manipulating search outcomes, and limiting data portability and interoperability.

The intended law aimed to create a fair marketplace for smaller companies by stopping dominant platforms from exploiting their market strength to disadvantage competitors. It featured measures allowing users to access their data in a transferable format, bolstering consumer rights and fostering competition.

Nevertheless, the bill encountered substantial resistance from influential tech lobbyists. The California Chamber of Commerce and the tech advocacy group Chamber of Progress spearheaded an initiative against the BASED Act, marking it as a crucial objective to overturn. This initiative commenced even before Senator Wiener finalized his introduction of the bill, underscoring the urgency and fervor of the opposition.

The Chamber of Progress, founded in 2020, includes notable corporations such as Amazon, Apple, Google, OpenAI, and Uber among its members. The organization rallied constituents to reach out to legislators, contending that the bill could adversely affect popular services by diminishing the effectiveness of search results, delaying deliveries, and jeopardizing security.

Although the BASED Act moved forward through an initial committee vote, it eventually faltered in a vital privacy committee. Senator Wiener voiced his dissatisfaction over the overwhelming lobbying efforts against the bill, describing it as a “tidal wave” that left supporters at a disadvantage.

In response to the setback, Senator Wiener suggested he might reconsider the proposal, indicating that additional efforts could be made to tackle the challenges raised by the BASED Act in the future.

For more information, you can access Bloomberg’s complete report on the issue.

FCC Targets Broadcast Licenses of Disney-Owned ABC Stations

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered the ABC stations owned and operated by Disney to file for an early license renewal, as reported earlier by The New York Times. In a filing on Tuesday, the FCC claims it made the decision as part of an investigation into Disney’s policies on diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI). […]

Spotify Introduces Complimentary Workout Videos for Premium Subscribers

The fitness hub is accessible within the Spotify application on mobile, desktop, and TV, showcasing workout videos from numerous content creators.

Spotify Premium subscribers can also enjoy over 1,400 ad-free classes from the Peloton library, which could be an additional justification for choosing Spotify for particular workouts. Spotify stated in a press release that the Peloton library will encompass various exercise types, including outdoor running, strength training, cardio, yoga, and meditation. Featured Peloton instructors include Rebecca Kennedy, Ally Love, and Rad Lopez, whom Spotify refers to as “fan favorites.” According to a Peloton announcement, the Peloton content will be offered in English, Spanish, and German.

Spotify Free users will gain access to numerous curated playlists, with Spotify showcasing particular workout classes from creators that will be initially available in the app. Yoga with Kassandra, Caitlin K’eli Yoga, Sweaty Studio, Chloe Ting Home Workouts, Pilates Body by Raven, Abi Mills Wellness, and Sophiereidfit are some of the video classes accessible to Free users at this time. Spotify mentions that additional creators will be featured, and it is probable that the roster of content creators producing fitness videos will expand over time.

What motivates Spotify’s entry into fitness?

NASA Uncovers Large Area of ‘Dragon Scales’ on Mars

NASA blog post, the agency has previously encountered similar polygon-patterned rocks, yet what distinguishes this specific patch is its “dramatic abundance,” covering a considerably larger expanse of the planet’s surface than anything seen before. They can be viewed as raw images on NASA’s site labeled Sol 4859. Researchers have a working theory regarding the formation of these rocks, but are gathering more “images and chemical data” to gain a clearer understanding of how the distinctive honeycomb textures came to be.

At present, it is thought they are connected to the drying of wet mud or ice crystals underneath the surface, which were revealed by “nature’s drill,” the craters found on Mars. Curiosity has previously uncovered signs of ancient water on Mars through ripples in rock surfaces and other formations, similar to the scale-like rocks. Recent studies also suggest that Mars was predominantly a desert planet, which provides NASA with insights into the fate of the water that once existed on the red planet.

NASA’s Mars rovers have encountered strange rock formations for years

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Gemini to Launch Timely, Customized Recommendations for Users

Gemini may become quite active if you permit it.

Important information to consider

  • Speculation suggests that Google is developing “Proactive Assistance,” a feature intended to aid the AI in providing timely “recommendations” throughout the day.
  • There is a possibility that Google aims to allow Gemini to utilize your Personal Intelligence data and applications, like Gmail, by factoring in your notifications.
  • This latest speculation aligns with an earlier report that indicated Gemini might acquire the “Your Day” feature, akin to Samsung’s Now Brief.

With reports indicating that Google is developing new capabilities for Gemini, the recent information could serve as the overarching concept connecting them all.

The most recent discovery was reported by 9to5Google, which asserts that the company is working on a “Proactive Assistance” feature for the Gemini application. This feature is said to be constructed to utilize your selected connected applications to provide “tailored recommendations.” The publication references an APK examination it performed, which allegedly underscored the feature’s secure management of your information.

It notes that this is feasible because Proactive Assistance can access your data from Gmail and Calendar.

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By utilizing the information from these apps (potentially including other Workspace-related applications), Proactive Assistance will incorporate “your notifications and what is displayed on your screen,” according to the article. This is still relatively basic, as the publication’s APK analysis only revealed these references within the code of the Gemini app. It remains uncertain how Proactive Assistance will function and what methods it will employ. Additionally, the article mentions that Google’s preliminary code highlights its capability to deliver recommendations “at the proper moment.”

Perhaps this aligns with the arrival of an email, as the code indicated that notifications were included in this functionality. There exists a possibility that Gemini could actively extract any significant dates from there with an option to insert them into your Calendar app.

Busy, active Gemini

This is where the intrigue deepens because, as previously mentioned, earlier speculations hinted at Gemini becoming more proactive with its users. A report from earlier this month claimed that Google

“Splitwise App: The Definitive Answer for Dividing Group Travel Costs in 2026”

This application enhances your financial management for shared group expenditures.

If you’ve ever taken on the responsibility of financial coordination or monitoring for a collective expense, you understand how messy, puzzling, and occasionally, outright chaotic, it can become.

Whether you’re organizing a birthday celebration or a road trip with friends, basic note-taking applications just don’t suffice. Splitwise adopts a more methodical strategy, clarifying the entire process and making it exceptionally convenient to see who owes what, and how much.

I discovered the app to be highly beneficial when arranging longer trips with a group, particularly during international travels.

An uncomplicated group expense manager for the crew

How many friend circles have you witnessed disintegrate after a group vacation strained relationships? I’ve seen it occur repeatedly and have had several personal experiences as well. In my early 20s, I was frequently responsible for devising the travel itinerary and establishing a budget for everyone. There would nearly always be one person who was dissatisfied with the accounts, or claimed that the expenses didn’t align with their perspective of the finances.

Shared accountability, transparency, and responsibility avert any conflicts or uncertainties from arising. This is precisely why I’m so fond of Splitwise. It allows for no room for mistakes, everyone involved can make adjustments to the accounts and access them at any time, and it’s available on both iOS and Android, so compatibility issues are nonexistent.

Splitwise enables you to create a group for each collective expense, and you can label it as needed. Even individuals who are not using the app can be included in a group via email or phone number. Each group member can view who covered each expense, and an automatic tally indicates how much they owe or are owed and who needs to reimburse whom to settle the balance.

You really don’t need to upgrade to the paid version of this app

The app offers a paid “pro” version, but the basic “core” version is more than sufficient for managing shared expenses. Here are the core features provided with the free version of the app:

– Create groups and invite friends
– Divide expenses, track debts
– Equal or unequal distributions
– Split by percentage or shares
– Calculate total balances
– Simplify debts
– Recurring expenses
– Offline mode
– Cloud synchronization
– Spending totals
– Categorize expenses
– 7+ languages
– 100+ currencies
– Payment integrations

As you can see, the app provides detailed control over each transaction. Not only can you select the currency, include images, specify the date, or add notes for each recorded expense, but the method of splitting each expense can also be extensively customized. You can even establish a recurring expense.

Whether you wish to share a single or multiple expenses equally, unequally, by shares, by percentages, or through adjustments, everything is achievable within the Splitwise app.

Thanks to the app’s “simplify debts” feature, it doesn’t matter who paid for what, and how the bills were divided. The app performs the complicated calculations for you based on how much each individual contributed and how each expense should be apportioned.

A single group can handle multiple currencies, and no one has to puzzle over conversions because Splitwise does that for you! This is particularly advantageous for international journeys. Unfortunately, currency conversion is a premium feature, although you can still log expenses in various currencies within one group in the free version of the app.

Regular international travelers benefit the most from the pro version

The app’s pricing structure is quite reasonable, and you can avail yourself of a free one-month trial to determine if Splitwise Pro is worth your investment. Paying $4.99/month or $39.99/year is definitely justified given the extensive premium features it unlocks, such as unlimited expenses, currency conversions, and more.

Here’s a comprehensive list of the premium features:

– Unlimited expenses
– Transaction import
– Currency conversion
– Receipt scanning
– Itemization
– Charts and graphs
– Expense search
– Save default splits
– An entirely ad-free experience
– Early access to new features

To date, I haven’t found a reason to purchase Splitwise Pro. Whether on a weekend getaway to Jakarta with friends, going to the movies with my siblings, or organizing date night with my partner, the free basic Splitwise has sufficiently met my needs thus far.

Since the daily expense count is capped at just five currently, I don’t believe the day when I will need to upgrade is far off. However, before committing to Splitwise Pro, I recommend exploring free alternatives, as that’s precisely what I plan to do when the time arrives.

You may discover an unexpected gem of an app. I might be late to the Splitwise experience, but I can suggest a few free alternatives that I’ve heard positive remarks about. Check out apps like AiMoola, Settle Up, MemoGo,