Thomas Germain

app.magellan.aiThe InterfaceListen to The Interface

I just launched a brand new tech column AND a podcast with the BBC. The show's called The Interface, new episodes every Thursday With your support, I’m prepared to answer the biggest question in tech: what is a computer?? Let me tell you all about it ~~ app.magellan.ai/listen_links...

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

They've been lying to you about blue light For 10 years we've heard blue light from screens is ruining our sleep. It's a great story, but it's not what the science says The real culprit isn't the glow from your phone, and I've got real advice that could fix your sleep www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The answer is simple. GO OUTSIDE IN THE MORNING. Take a 15 min walk first thing. Then do the same around 3:00 or 4:00pm. It still works if it's cloudy. The science is very clear. This exposes you to a ton of light and limits the impact of the light you get before bed

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

I dug into the science and called a ton of researchers to get the truth on this. Check out my latest column for the BBC if you want to know more www.bbc.com/future/artic...

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

Post covid, more people work from home. You go outside less and you don't go to an office, where light is MUCH brighter than your living room because of OSHA regulations. You roll out of bed and get the same lighting all day. Your eyes can’t tell the difference b/w day and night

Your phone IS ruining your sleep, but it's not the light: it's because you're doing stuff on our devices that stresses you out when you're supposed to be winding down So what should you do, aside from closing social media before bed?

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

Under those conditions, a little blue throws off the total dose of light people in the studies are getting, and it ruins their internal clock. But that's not what real life is like, you don't live in a lab, and you're getting exposed to tons of light all day

sciencedirect.comA bidirectional model of sleep and technology use: A theoretical review of How much, for whom, and which mechanismsThe link between technology and sleep is more complex than originally thought. In this updated theoretical review, we propose a new model informed by …

A recent analysis looked at 11 blue light studies. At worst, screens only delayed sleep by a maximum of about 9 minutes So what's the deal? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

It turns out what really matters is the dose of light you get throughout the day. It's about contrast: less light in the evening than you get in the rest of the day Basically, blue light counts a little more, but the total amount of light you get is the only thing to worry about

This is nuanced. A lot of studies do show light from screens messing up people's sleep. But that's because scientists limit the amount of light test subjects get all day, and then blast them with light from iPad screens right before bed. Here’s the problem with that…

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

And modern screens and light bulbs really are bluer! LEDs cannot produce pure white light. Instead, they use blue LEDs, and cover some of them with a yellow coating. The mix of blue and yellow mix tricks your brain into seeing white, but extra blue always leaks out. HOWEVER…

The amount of light emitted from our screens just isn't bright enough to have a meaningful effect on your sleep. 24 hours worth of light from your phone adds up to less than a minute of the light you'd get if you stand outside So what's going on? www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/11...

mdpi.commdpi.com

bbc.comThe blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleepFor a decade, we've been told our screens are wrecking our sleep. The real culprit is far bigger than the glow from your phone.

Here's the thing. Blue light *can* mess up your sleep. There's a protein in your eyes called melanopsin. It helps regulate your sleep cycle, and it's more sensitive to blue light. Every color of light affects it. Blue just has a bigger influence

Thomas Germain reposted

Karen Hao

@karenhao.bsky.social

16 Mar

The Brits don't know what to do with our new BBC podcast The Interface, @thomasgermain.bsky.social & @nickywoolf.bsky.social. Lovely shoutout from @observeruk.bsky.social. observer.co.uk/culture/audi...

14 Mar

After just five episodes, The Interface is now the 31st top podcast in the US, per the analytics company Rephonic At this rate can you afford not to listen?

tomgermain.comThe Interface PodcastThe Interface is the BBC's flagship technology podcast.

14 Mar

Check us out, like, subscribe, love, rejoice, etc, etc tomgermain.com/theinterface...

bbc.comWired headphone sales are exploding. What's with the Bluetooth backlash?Is the return of wired headphones driven by a simple desire for better sound quality or is it part of a backlash against modern tech? Thomas Germain tries to find out.

Here's a weird one. Wired headphone sales are exploding right now. I dug into it for my column this week and people told me... it's because of AI?? www.bbc.com/future/artic...

It's not just hipsters, we're talking about a full-blown cultural trend. People told me Bluetooth headphones make you look old

youtube.comCould the internet be changed forever?YouTube video by BBC Podcasts

There's all kinds of wild details here. If you want to know more, we also did a deep dive on my podcast this week with @karenhao.bsky.social and @nickywoolf.bsky.social If you listen it will make me love you www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgHY...

Here's a weird one. Wired headphone sales are exploding right now. I dug into it for my column this week and people told me... it's because of AI?? www.bbc.com/future/artic...

This may shock you, but a lot of people are unhappy with the constant march of "progress" being shoved down their throats A number of people told me they think the recent trend in wired headphones is because people are longing for last era in tech they were comfortable with

bbc.comPeople are selling your home address online. This privacy tool will helpThere's a free automated tool that removes information about you from Google search results. For some reason, most people don't use it.

I've got 5 minute tip that could save your life. Sincerely. Your phone number, address and social security probably show up in search results. Google has a free tool that lets you take it down Almost nobody uses it, but you should. It's easy. Do it now: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Leaving your address and phone number on Google makes you a sitting duck The thing is, most bad actors aren’t that determined I'm not saying this gets you total privacy & peace of mind, but just a little friction can be the difference between identity theft, or something even worse

This Google setting is probably one of the most important, easy to use online safety tool out there, and it just got even better But most people don't know it exists! Let's change that Find all the details in my latest for the BBC www.bbc.com/future/artic...

There’s a whole industry built around selling the most sensitive information about your life Data brokers package up your phone number, address, relatives, emails and more Anyone can buy it. Identity thieves, jealous exes, telemarketers, you name it. And it’s shockingly cheap

Google can't get your data off of those websites But this information shows up in search results, and it's extremely dangerous And in some cases, getting the data off of search results is even more important – especially when it takes almost ZERO effort

youtube.comIs Havana Syndrome REAL?YouTube video by BBC Podcasts

27 Feb

Crazy story on this week’s episode of the Interface

Karen Hao@karenhao.bsky.social

Remember Havana Syndrome? In 2017 US diplomats in Cuba started mysteriously suffering brain damage after hearing a noise. Many thought it a conspiracy theory. After investigating, @nickywoolf.bsky.social concluded it wasn't. He was right. This week on The Interface youtube.com/watch?v=UYVHzkq2X7Y

Thomas Germain reposted

Karen Hao

@karenhao.bsky.social

27 Feb

youtube.comIs Havana Syndrome REAL?YouTube video by BBC Podcasts

theverge.comBurger King will use AI to check if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’Have it your way?

26 Feb

Trying to remember which dystopian novel this is from.... Burger King employees have to walk around with an AI headset that judges how "friendly" they are www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

bbc.comDo you have to be polite to AI?The advice you get about talking to chatbots can be truly bizarre, and totally useless. Here's what actually works.

25 Feb

In a test, researchers found one AI was better at math when you made it pretend to be on Star Trek. The bizarre reality is our world is full of robots that act like guys. Some say AI does better when you're nice, others recommend threats. In my latest, I found the truth www.bbc.com/future/artic...

businessinsider.comMy quest to get ChatGPT and Gemini to crown me winner of a hot dog-eating contest points to our AI futureA BBC reporter pranked AI by claiming to be a hot dog-eating champ. I decided to get in on the fun — with varying results.

25 Feb

Katie is one of my favorite writers but I'm the hot dog champ and I won't be dethroned. I was impressed with her espresso technique at the Paris event though

Katie Notopoulos@katienotopoulos.bsky.social

I enjoyed @thomasgermain.bsky.social's prank about getting LLMs to believe he won a hot dog eating contest by simply writing it on his personal website that I attempted to recreate it. I failed, which is embarassing, but I refuse to be defined by failure www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-gemi...

abc7.comRussia fines Google $20 decillion - or around $20 billion trillion trillionGoogle reportedly owes the Kremlin more than 2 undecillion rubles.

"$20 billion trillion trillion" that outta do it abc7.com/post/russia-...

This is… wild. Palantir has a new internship that’s exclusively for neurodivergent people And apparently they think being autistic makes you right wing? “This is not a diversity initiative” lol

People all over the world are using this trick to make AI tell you lies on subjects as serious as medical questions and personal finance From my new BBC podcast The Interface

app.magellan.aiThe InterfaceListen to The Interface

Subscribe if you want to know more! app.magellan.ai/listen_links...

UPDATE: ChatGPT is adding new lore to my hot dog career. Also it says I have a new job at the AP? Here I am slaving away at the BBC, I wish someone had told me

Thomas Germain@thomasgermain.bsky.social

I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point. I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

Thomas Germain reposted

Jon Green

@jongreen.bsky.social

X's algorithm is in fact doing what you think it's doing. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

app.magellan.aiThe InterfaceListen to The Interface

If you want to know more, check out tomorrow’s episode of my podcast The Interface app.magellan.ai/listen_links...

Thanks to @lilyray.nyc @harpreetchatha.bsky.social for the help and @drewharwell.com @saramorrison.bsky.social @nickywoolf.bsky.social @swodinsky.bsky.social @mzeff.bsky.social for letting me make AI tell the world you love hot dogs

Right now people are using this trick to change what AI tells you about topics as serious as medial questions and financial advice. The problem is ENORMOUS Experts like like @lilyray.nyc say this is a problem the tech industry has know about forever, they just didn’t work on it til it was a crisis

It looks like just another example of AI companies rushing out their tools without taking basic safety precautions

bbc.comI hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took 20 minutesI found a way to make AI tell you lies – and I'm not the only one.

I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website* I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...

I wrote an article on my website saying that hot dog eating is a surprisingly common pastime for tech journalists. I ranked myself number one, obviously One day later, ChatGPT, Gemini and the AI Overviews in Google Search were telling the world about my talents But this isn’t just about hot dogs

Thomas Germain reposted

Drew Harwell

@drewharwell.com

. @thomasgermain.bsky.social tricked ChatGPT and Google's AI so now they say I'm a "passionate amateur" at eating hot dogs and known in the industry for my "triple-dog" speed www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Thomas Germain reposted

Matthew Gertz

@mattgertz.bsky.social

13 Feb

Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...

buff.lyRing cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlashFlock off

Weird I guess there are a lot of people who don’t like giant tech companies with the power of nation states following their every move?

The Verge@theverge.com

Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash

Thomas Germain reposted

Karen Hao

@karenhao.bsky.social

app.magellan.aiThe InterfaceListen to The Interface

Episode 1 is OUT!! 🥳 🙌 This week on The Interface, we discuss: * That insane Superbowl ad for Ring * The US TikTok takeover * And the beef that launched ChatGPT Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...

Karen Hao@karenhao.bsky.social

I'm co-hosting a new BBC podcast! It's called The Interface, and it's all about how tech is rewiring your week and your world. www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...

app.magellan.aiThe InterfaceListen to The Interface

You’re still here which means you’re mildly interested in what I have to say. Well I have great news I've also got a brand new tech column with the BBC called Keeping Tabs. It's about the hidden systems that run your digital life, and how you can live better inside them www.bbc.com/future/tags/...

bbc.comBBC

Today every story is a technology story. Our goal is to give back the calm, clarity, and control you need as the tech companies manipulate you (and each other) in their quest to dominate the world All in all, a great day for anyone who has a phone

app.magellan.aiThe InterfaceListen to The Interface

youtube.comThe AI beef that CHANGED THE WORLD | Episode 1 | The InterfaceYouTube video by BBC Podcasts

The Interface is a new BBC podcast hosted by me @karenhao.bsky.social & @nickywoolf.bsky.social. It's about the biggest stories in tech but it is NOT BORING. You'll love it even if you hate technology Karen is already bullying me about my screen time. Please stop her www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn_W...