BetterHelp

betterhelp

The first time you experience a panic attack, it feels like you’re dying. Your heart is racing for seemingly no reason at all. Everything you see and hear becomes a threat that will either kill you or drive you to madness. You don’t know why, but you don’t have control over anything anymore and you don’t know if you can survive it. The sound of a chair scraping against the restaurant floor becomes the growl of something much more sinister. The butter knives on the table look much sharper than they did before. Dangerous. Anxiety and panic can drive the mind to dark places, exaggerating everything around you as if everything were made to hurt you. This is not the reality of the world, but a gross exaggeration of danger brought on by an uncontrollable influx of fear. My first-ever (and so far only) panic attack happened while I was at a 5-star restaurant. Worse, it happened on my honeymoon. I didn’t want to worry my wife so I kept everything bottled up inside. On the outside, I was calm as a cucumber. On the inside, my world was on fire. I didn’t know what was happening and I didn’t know how to stop it. I didn’t even know if it could be stopped. This is what going crazy feels like, I thought to myself. After the initial panic, the feeling of dread, fear, and anxiety in my chest wouldn’t subside. It’s like constantly being scared without a reason why. It’s terrifying. What finally helped me start to feel better was a combination of prayer (owing back to my upbringing in Roman Catholocism), guided meditation, and noise-canceling earphones. How I Got Through My First Panic Attack Let me be clear, this is not a paid advertisement for BetterHelp, Cyberblade, YouTube, or any of the products listed in this article. I would NEVER use something as serious as mental health to try to sell something to people who are vulnerable. However, in this article, I’d like to simply give a shoutout and thanks to the people and products that helped me get through that incredibly scary event in my life. Find Someone to Talk to I can’t stress enough how much better I felt as soon as I told someone (even just as a text message). However, finding someone to tell isn’t so easy. There is still a stigma around mental health and at least I felt embarassed to really tell anyone about this episode I was having. I was moreso not wanting to make my loved ones worried (especially my wife). BetterHelp Luckily, my company pays for a BetterHelp subscription for all its full-time employees. mental health I opened up the BetterHelp website, opened up a DM with my therapist and marked it as urgent. It was way outside of work hours when I messaged her so I didn’t expect an immediate reply, but she replied about 2 hours after, which is better than I was expecting! She told me: yes, you’re having a panic attack and all the symptoms you’re experiencing are absolutely normal. No, you are not going crazy. No, you are not dying. You’re going to be fine. Let’s schedule an appointment to chat as soon as you’re back home. She followed up with worksheets for me to do to verify whether or not I was having a panic attack, as well as exercises to do to calm the panic down. Honestly, just that brief text message from a mental health professional telling me I’m not going crazy was enough to dispel a lot of the anxiety I felt in my chest. The relief I felt just from hearing that inspired me to tell my wife the next morning, and just as my therapist said: saying the words out loud to someone you trust takes some intensity out of the feeling. It became less of a world-ending situation and just became a feeling that everyone experiences at some point in life: anxiety, panic. In short, talking to a therapist and telling someone I trusted made me feel a lot better. Find Something to Meditate to Throughout my journey of learning to live with anxiety, nothing has been more helpful than meditation. That night, when I thought my world was ending, I looked up meditation for anxiety and found this video that saved me and helped ease my panic: This YouTuber has nearly endless playlists for meditations tailored to those experiencing anxiety, stress, insomnia, and more. You should be able to find a meditation that suits your needs. Jason Stephenson The Storm Before the Calm But to make things worse for me that night, a huge storm rolled in. It was strong enough to ground airplanes the next morning. So while I was going through this panic, a heard thunder and loud torrents of rain outside. Normally, I loved those noises. But that night they served only to worsen the anxiety. I’ll be completely honest. I’ve never been a fan of noise cancelling earbuds. But after that night, they’re all I use. I was just fortunate enough to be in the middle of testing the new Cyberblade earbuds at the time. How the CyberBlade Helped Me Meditate I popped those in, and I couldn’t hear a single drop of rain outside. Nothing else existed except for the visualization the YouTube video was guiding me through. The audio was the clearest I’ve ever experienced in a pair of bluetooth earbuds. The combination of 100% or nearly 100% noise cancellation from the storm roaring outside and the clear voice and soothing music provided from the meditation helped calm me down tremendously. Before testing the and using it throughout this ordeal, I was the type of guy who only bought $30 earbuds from sketchy manufacturers on Wish or Ebay. Cyberblade However, now I totally understand why people are willing to shell out more money for quality earbuds like these. I don’t want to hype them up so hard because I worry you’ll think this is an ad and not my true feelings. But the truth is, when you experience something as scary as a panic attack, you feel immense gratitude to everyone and everything that helped get you through it. And I’m sure didn’t set out to build earbuds to help with anxiety, but these earbuds could’ve very well helped save my mind from spiraling into darker places. Angry Miao Now, whenever I’m in need of total silence when meditating, I use my Cyberblade earbuds every time. Of course, any good-quality noise cancelling headphones or earbuds should also work for this purpose. Go Back to What Makes You Feel Better Perhaps most importantly, in the darkest hours of that panic attack, I started praying. I had grown up Roman Catholic, and as a kid I was taught to pray when things got rough. In my college years I had lost my faith and at the time of the panic attack, I don’t know what I would consider myself. I had always believed in a higher power, but I didn’t think it had to be an old man in the sky. Nevertheless, in my desperation, I started praying. And for whatever reason (I’ll let you interpret it yourself), I started to feel better. Maybe it’s because God does exist. Maybe it’s because my mind was conditioned to feel better after prayer. Because of all of our varying religious and spiritual beliefs, I won’t tell you to pray. This tip is to remember the things in your life that have made you feel better before, and hopefully they can make you feel better again. Final Thoughts It always blows my mind how far has come and what it allows us to do. Imagine if I had been in this situation 30 years ago? Back then, there were no mental health smartphone apps through which I could message a therapist halfway across the world. technology Back then, we didn’t have endless meditation videos available at the click of a button. Noise cancelling headphones/earbuds weren’t even available to the general public. So to all of us who work in tech, I’d like to say that you never know what your creation or your company’s creation will do in the future. You never know how big or small an impact you can make on someone’s life. Thank you to Jason Stephenson (meditation YouTube channel), everyone who has worked to make BetterHelp a reality, and everyone at Angry Miao for the Cyberblade. I truly believe it was culmination of all of your efforts that helped me survive my first panic attack.

BetterHelp, Cyberblade, YouTube, and Prayer Saved Me from a Panic Attack

This article is coreported with KFF Health News KFF Health News Read on our collaborator's site Read on our collaborator's site This article was coreported with KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF. Sign up for KFF Health News’s newsletters. This article was coreported with KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF. Sign up for KFF Health News’s newsletters. KFF Health News’s newsletters Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS’s website is not as private an experience as one might think. An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed. And CVS is not the only pharmacy sharing this kind of sensitive data. We found trackers collecting browsing- and purchase-related data on websites of 12 of the U.S.’s biggest drugstores, including grocery store chains with pharmacies, and sharing the sensitive information with companies like Meta (formerly Facebook), Google, through its advertising and analytics products, and Microsoft, through its search engine, Bing. The tracking tools, popularly called “pixels,” collect information while a website runs. That information is often sent to social media firms and used to target ads, either to you personally or to groups of people that resemble you in demographics or habits. In previous investigations, The Markup found pixels transmitting information from the U.S. Department of Education, prominent hospitals, telehealth startups, and major tax preparation companies. the U.S. Department of Education prominent hospitals telehealth startups major tax preparation companies Pharmacy retailer websites’ pixels send a shopper’s IP address—a sort of mailing address for a person’s computer or household internet—to social media giants and other firms. They also send cookies, a way of storing information in a user’s browser that in this case helps track a user from page to page as the user browses a retailer’s site. Cookies can sometimes also associate individuals on a site with their account on a social media platform. In addition to the IP address and cookies, the pixels often send information about what you’ve clicked or bought, including sensitive items such as HIV tests. “HIV testing is the gateway to HIV prevention and treatment services,” said Oni Blackstock, the founder of Health Justice and a former assistant commissioner for New York City’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, in an interview. “People living with HIV should have control over whether someone knows their status,” she said. Many retailers shared other detailed interaction data with advertising platforms as well. Ten of the retailers we examined alerted at least one tech platform when shoppers clicked “add to cart” as they shopped for retail goods, a capacious category that included sensitive products like prenatal vitamins, pregnancy tests, and Plan B emergency contraception. Supermarket giant Kroger, for instance, informed Meta, Bing, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest when a shopper added Plan B to the cart, and informed Google and Nextdoor, a social media platform on which people from the same neighborhood gather in forums, that a shopper had visited the page for the item. Walmart informed Google’s advertising service when a shopper browsed the page of an HIV test, and Pinterest when that shopper added it to the cart. A previous investigation from The Markup found that Kroger used loyalty cards to track, analyze, and sell an array of data about customers to advertisers. previous investigation Using Chrome DevTools, a tool built into Google’s Chrome browser, The Markup and KFF Health News visited the websites of 12 of the U.S.’s biggest drugstores and examined their network traffic. This monitoring tool allowed us to see what information about shopping habits and, in some cases, prescriptions were sent to third parties. Over the course of the investigation, retailers frequently changed their trackers—sometimes activating them, sometimes removing them. Some retailers appeared to be taking steps to limit tracking on sensitive items. For example, Walgreens’ website prevented some trackers from activating on the pages of some products, which included Plan B and HIV tests. This code didn’t prevent all tracking, though: Walgreens’ site continued sending Pinterest information about those sensitive items a user added to the cart. Walgreens shared a new policy after learning of The Markup and KFF Health News’s findings. Spokesperson Fraser Engerman said that while the chain already had a “robust privacy program,” it would no longer share browsing data related to reproductive health and HIV testing. Engerman also told us that “Pinterest confirmed that the data will be deleted and that it has not been used for advertising purposes.” Crystal Espinosa, a spokesperson for Pinterest, said the company “can confirm that we will be deleting the data Walgreens requested.” The Pharmacy vs. the Pharmacy Aisle In the U.S., drugstores and grocery stores with associated pharmacies are only partially covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. The prescriptions picked up from the pharmacy counter do have this protection. But in a separate section, sometimes confusingly called the pharmacy aisle, stores also often sell over-the-counter medications, tests, and other health-related products. Consumers might think such purchases have similar protections to their prescriptions, but HIPAA only covers the pharmacy counter’s clinical operations, such as dispensing prescriptions and answering patients’ questions about medication. This distinction can be confusing enough inside the brick-and-mortar location of a retailer. But the line can become even harder to make out on a website, which lacks the clarifying delineations of physical space. What’s more, descriptions about what will happen with retail data are generally in retailers’ privacy policies, which can usually be found in a link at the bottom of their webpages. The Markup and KFF Health News found them murky at best, and none of them were specific about the parts of the site that were covered by HIPAA and the parts that weren’t. In the “Privacy Notice for California Residents” part of its privacy policy, Kroger says it processes “personal information collected and analyzed concerning a consumer’s health.” But, the policy continues, the company does not “sell or share” that information. Other information is sold: According to the policy, in the last 12 months, the company sold or shared “protected classification characteristics” to outside entities like data brokers. privacy policy Kroger spokesperson Erin Rolfes said the company strives to be transparent and that “[i]n many cases, we have provided more information to our customers in our privacy notices than our peers.” Brokering of general retail data is widespread. Our investigation found, though, that some websites shared sensitive clinical data with third parties even when that information would be protected at a HIPAA-covered pharmacy counter. Users attempting to schedule a vaccine appointment at Rite Aid, for example, must answer a survey first to gauge eligibility. This investigation found that Rite Aid has sent Facebook responses to questions such as: Do you have a neurological disorder such as seizures or other disorders that affect the brain or have had a disorder that resulted from a vaccine?
Do you have cancer, leukemia, AIDS, or any other immune system problem?
Are you pregnant or could you become pregnant in the next three months? Do you have a neurological disorder such as seizures or other disorders that affect the brain or have had a disorder that resulted from a vaccine? Do you have cancer, leukemia, AIDS, or any other immune system problem? Are you pregnant or could you become pregnant in the next three months? The Markup and KFF Health News documented Rite Aid sharing this data with Facebook in December 2022. In February of this year, a proposed class action lawsuit based on similar findings was filed against the drugstore chain in California, alleging code on Rite Aid’s website sent Facebook the time of an appointment and an identifier for the appointment location, demographic information, and answers to questions about vaccination history and health conditions. Rite Aid has moved to dismiss the suit. proposed class action After the lawsuit was filed, The Markup and KFF Health News tested Rite Aid’s website again, and it was no longer sending answers to vaccination questions to Facebook. Rite Aid isn’t the only company that sent answers to eligibility questionnaires to social media firms. Supermarkets Albertsons, Acme, and Safeway, which are owned by the same parent company, also sent answers to questions in their vaccination intake form—albeit in a format that requires cross-referencing the questionnaire’s source code to reveal the meaning of the data. Using the Firefox web browser’s Network Monitor tool, and with the help of a patient with an active prescription at Rite Aid, KFF Health News and The Markup also found Rite Aid sending the names of patients’ specific prescriptions to Facebook. Rite Aid kept sharing prescription names even after the company stopped sharing answers to vaccination questions in response to the proposed class action (which did not mention the sharing of prescription information). Rite Aid did not respond to requests for comment, and as of June 23, the pixel was still present and sending the names of prescriptions to Facebook. Network Monitor Other companies shared data about medications from other parts of their sites. Customers of Sam’s Club and Costco, for example, can search names of prescriptions on each retailer’s website to find the local pharmacy with the cheapest prices. But the two websites also sent the name of the medication the user searched for, along with the user’s IP address, to social media companies. Many of the retailers The Markup and KFF Health News looked at did not respond to questions or declined to comment, including Costco and Sam’s Club. Albertsons said the company “continually” evaluates its privacy practices. CVS said it was compliant with “applicable laws.” Kroger’s Rolfes wrote that the company’s “trackers disclose product information, which is not sensitive health information unless one or more inferences are made. Kroger does not make any inferences linking the product information collected or disclosed by trackers to an individual’s health condition.” A Huge Regulatory Challenge Pharmacies are just one facet of a huge health care sector. But the industry as a whole has been roiled by disclosures of tracking pixels picking up sensitive clinical data. After an investigation by The Markup in June 2022 found widespread use of trackers on hospital websites, regulatory and legal attention has homed in on the practice. found widespread use of trackers In December, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights published guidance advising health providers and insurers how pixel trackers’ use can be consistent with HIPAA. “Regulated entities are not permitted to use tracking technologies in a manner that would result in impermissible disclosures” of protected health information to tracking technology or other third-party vendors, according to the official bulletin. published guidance If implemented, the guidance would provide a path for the agency to regulate hospitals and other providers and fine those who don’t follow it. In an interview with an industry publication in late April, the director of the Office for Civil Rights said it would be bringing its first enforcement action for pixel use “hopefully soon.” bringing its first enforcement action Lobbying groups are seeking to confine any regulatory fallout: The American Hospital Association, for example, sent a letter on May 22 to the Office for Civil Rights asking that the agency “suspend or amend” its guidance. The office, it claimed, was seeking to protect too much data. asking that the agency This year the Federal Trade Commission has pursued action against companies like GoodRx, which offers prescription price comparisons, and BetterHelp, which offers online therapy, for alleged misuse of data from questionnaires and searches. The companies settled with the agency. companies like GoodRx BetterHelp Health care providers have disclosed to the federal government the potential leakage of nearly 10 million patients’ data to various advertising partners, according to a review by The Markup and KFF Health News of breach notification letters and the Office of Civil Rights’ online database of breaches. That figure could be a low estimate: A new study in the journal Health Affairs found that, as of 2021, almost 99 percent of hospital websites contained tracking technologies. 99 percent of hospital websites One prominent law firm, BakerHostetler, is defending hospitals in 26 legal actions related to the use of tracking technologies, lawyer Paul Karlsgodt, a partner at the firm, said during a webinar this year. “We’ve seen an absolute eruption of cases,” he said. during a webinar Abortion and pregnancy-related data is particularly sensitive and driving regulatory scrutiny. In the same webinar, Lynn Sessions, also with BakerHostetler, said the California attorney general’s office had made specific investigative requests to one of the firm’s clients about whether the client was sharing reproductive health data. It’s unclear whether big tech companies have much interest in helping secure health data. Sessions said BakerHostetler had been trying to get Google and Meta to sign so-called business associate agreements. These agreements would bring the companies under the HIPAA regulatory umbrella, at least when handling data on behalf of hospital clients. “Both of them, at least at this juncture, have not been accommodating in doing that,” Sessions said. Google Analytics’ help page for HIPAA instructs customers to “refrain from using Google Analytics in any way that may create obligations under HIPAA for Google.” help page for HIPAA Meta says it has tools that attempt to prevent the transfer of sensitive information like health data. In a November 2022 letter to Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) obtained by KFF Health News and The Markup, Meta wrote that “the filtering mechanism is designed to prevent that data from being ingested into our ads.” What’s more, the letter noted, the tech giant reaches out to companies transferring potentially sensitive data and asks them to “evaluate their implementation.” November 2022 letter “I remain concerned the company is too passive in allowing individual developers to determine what is considered sensitive health data that should remain private,” Warner told The Markup and KFF Health News. Meta’s claims in its letter to Warner have been repeatedly questioned. In 2020, the company itself acknowledged to New York State regulators that the filtering system was “not yet operating with complete accuracy.” acknowledged to New York State regulators To test the filtering system, Sven Carlsson and Sascha Granberg, reporters for SR Ekot in Sweden, set up a dummy pharmacy website in Swedish, which sent fake, but plausible, health data to Facebook to see whether the company’s filtering systems worked as stated. “We weren’t warned” by Facebook, Carlsson said in an interview with KFF Health News and The Markup. set up a dummy pharmacy website Carlsson’s and Granberg’s work also found European pharmacies engaged in activities similar to what The Markup and KFF Health News have found. The reporters caught a Swedish state-owned pharmacy sending data to Facebook. And a recent investigation with The Guardian found the U.K.-based pharmacy chain LloydsPharmacy was sending sensitive data—including information about symptoms—to TikTok and Facebook. sending data to Facebook recent investigation In response to questions from KFF Health News and The Markup, Meta spokesperson Emil Vazquez said, “Advertisers should not send sensitive information about people through our Business Tools. Doing so is against our policies and we educate advertisers on properly setting up Business Tools to prevent this from occurring. Our system is designed to filter out potentially sensitive data it is able to detect.” Meta did not respond to questions about whether it considered any of the information KFF Health News and The Markup found retailers sending to be “sensitive information,” whether any was actually filtered by the system, or whether Meta could provide metrics demonstrating the current accuracy of the system. In response to our inquiries, Twitter sent a poop emoji, while TikTok and Pinterest said they had policies instructing advertisers not to pass on sensitive information. LinkedIn and Nextdoor did not respond. Google spokesperson Jackie Berté said the company’s policies “prohibit businesses from using sensitive health information to target and serve ads” and that it worked to prevent such information from being used in advertising, using a “combination of algorithmic and human review” to remedy violations of its policy. KFF Health News and The Markup presented Google with screenshots of its pixel sending the search company our browsing information when we landed on the retailers’ pages where we could purchase an HIV test and prenatal vitamins, and of data showing when we added an HIV test to the cart. In response, Berté said the company had “not uncovered any evidence that the businesses in the screenshots are violating our policies.” Editor’s Note: KFF Health News uses Meta’s pixel on its website to collect information that may be used by third-party websites to measure web traffic and performance data and to target ads on social platforms. You can read KFF’s privacy policy in its entirety. The Markup does not use Meta’s pixel or similar trackers. You can read our full privacy promise here. Editor’s Note: KFF’s privacy policy here Credits: Darius Tahir for KFF Health News, Simon Fondrie-Teitler Credits: Darius Tahir for KFF Health News, Simon Fondrie-Teitler Darius Tahir Simon Fondrie-Teitler Also published here Also published here here Photo by Amanda Dalbjörn on Unsplash Photo by Amanda Dalbjörn on Unsplash Amanda Dalbjörn Unsplash

Need to Buy Plan B or an HIV Test? Facebook Already Knows About It

Hello, wonderful HackerNoon community! 👋 We’re on a mission to make HackerNoon the best it can be, and we need your help. We’ve designed a quick global survey to better understand your experience with HackerNoon—what you love, what you’d like to see more of, and how we can improve. It takes less than five minutes to complete, and your feedback is invaluable in helping us make the platform even better for readers and writers alike. Here’s what we’d like to know: Usage & Preferences: How often do you visit HackerNoon? Which platform do you prefer (web or mobile)? If you’re not using the mobile app, we’d love to hear why.
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Writing Experience: If you’ve published with us, how was the process? Would you be interested in premium features to boost the reach of your stories? Take the Survey Now! Mobile App Users, We Want Your Thoughts Too! 📱 Are you using the HackerNoon app? We’d love to hear from you! In addition to our main survey, we’re running a special in-app survey just for mobile users. Your feedback will help us better understand your experience and make the app even better. You can find this survey on HackerNoon’s homescreen and on all story and profile pages within the app. Don’t have our app yet? Download it here. What’s in it for you? 🎁 As a token of our appreciation for completing the survey, we’re giving you an exclusive discount code for all HackerNoon merch. The code will be sent once you’ve finished the survey. But that’s not all. By helping us improve, you’ll automatically be entered into our prize draw for: 10 Free Story Boosts (each worth $159.99)
10 Free Story Translations into 12 languages for one of your published stories We’re giving these prizes to 20 lucky participants—each winner will receive either a Story Boost or a Story Translation to help increase their story’s reach. If you haven’t published yet, this is the perfect excuse to start typing—use this template to kick off your first piece! And for those who provide the most thoughtful feedback? 🎖️ The grand prizes are: 🏆 iPad 10th Gen, 64GB🏆 Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones 🏆Official HackerNoon Hoodie & Cap These prizes will be awarded to participants who provide the most valuable insights—but only if they have completed both the app and global surveys. Take the Survey Now! 🗓️ Winners will be announced in May 2025, so stay tuned! Every response helps us understand your needs better and ensures that HackerNoon continues to grow as a community-driven platform. So, what are you waiting for? Share your thoughts, help shape the future of HackerNoon, and win big! Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Happy surveying, Hackers! 🚀 Hello, wonderful HackerNoon community! 👋 We’re on a mission to make HackerNoon the best it can be, and we need your help. We’ve designed a quick global survey to better understand your experience with HackerNoon—what you love, what you’d like to see more of, and how we can improve. It takes less than five minutes to complete , and your feedback is invaluable in helping us make the platform even better for readers and writers alike. It takes less than five minutes to complete Here’s what we’d like to know: Usage & Preferences: How often do you visit HackerNoon? Which platform do you prefer (web or mobile)? If you’re not using the mobile app, we’d love to hear why. Content Preferences: What categories/topics are you reading? What would you like to see more of? Are there any areas you feel we’re underrepresenting? User Experience: How would you rate your overall experience? Is navigating the website easy? Have you encountered any issues? Writing Experience: If you’ve published with us, how was the process? Would you be interested in premium features to boost the reach of your stories? Usage & Preferences: How often do you visit HackerNoon? Which platform do you prefer (web or mobile)? If you’re not using the mobile app, we’d love to hear why. Usage & Preferences: Content Preferences: What categories/topics are you reading? What would you like to see more of? Are there any areas you feel we’re underrepresenting? Content Preferences: User Experience: How would you rate your overall experience? Is navigating the website easy? Have you encountered any issues? User Experience: Writing Experience: If you’ve published with us, how was the process? Would you be interested in premium features to boost the reach of your stories? Writing Experience: Take the Survey Now! Take the Survey Now! Take the Survey Now ! Take the Survey Now Mobile App Users, We Want Your Thoughts Too! 📱 Are you using the HackerNoon app? We’d love to hear from you! In addition to our main survey, we’re running a special in-app survey just for mobile users. Your feedback will help us better understand your experience and make the app even better. You can find this survey on HackerNoon’s homescreen and on all story and profile pages within the app. You can find this survey on HackerNoon’s homescreen and on all story and profile pages within the app. homescreen all story and profile pages Don’t have our app yet? Download it here. Don’t have our app yet? Download it here. Don’t have our app yet? Download it here . here What’s in it for you? 🎁 As a token of our appreciation for completing the survey, we’re giving you an exclusive discount code for all HackerNoon merch. The code will be sent once you’ve finished the survey. But that’s not all. 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If you haven’t published yet, this is the perfect excuse to start typing— use this template to kick off your first piece! 20 lucky participants either use this template use this template And for those who provide the most thoughtful feedback? 🎖️ The grand prizes are: 🏆 iPad 10th Gen, 64GB🏆 Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones 🏆 iPad 10th Gen, 64GB 🏆 Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones 🏆Official HackerNoon Hoodie & Cap 🏆 Official HackerNoon Hoodie & Cap Official HackerNoon Hoodie Cap These prizes will be awarded to participants who provide the most valuable insights—but only if they have completed both the app and global surveys. both Take the Survey Now! Take the Survey Now! Take the Survey Now ! Take the Survey Now 🗓️ Winners will be announced in May 2025, so stay tuned! 🗓️ Winners will be announced in May 2025, so stay tuned! Every response helps us understand your needs better and ensures that HackerNoon continues to grow as a community-driven platform. So, what are you waiting for? Share your thoughts, help shape the future of HackerNoon, and win big! Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Happy surveying, Hackers! 🚀

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Big Tech Broke Us—Can These 3 Companies Put Us Back Together?

Big Tech ukax p’akintawayistu —¿Aka 3 Empresanakax mayamp mayachasipxaspati?

La gran tecnologia ens va trencar: aquestes 3 empreses ens poden tornar a unir?

Las grandes tecnológicas nos arruinaron: ¿pueden estas tres empresas reconstruirnos?

ビッグテックが私たちを破滅させた — これら 3 つの企業は私たちを再び元通りにすることができるでしょうか?

បច្ចេកវិទ្យាធំបំបែកយើង—តើក្រុមហ៊ុនទាំងបីនេះអាចធ្វើឱ្យយើងរួមគ្នាបានទេ?

Big Tech e Re Robile—Na Dikhamphani Tše 3 di ka Re Bušetša Mmogo?

Крупные технологические компании разорили нас. Смогут ли эти три компании собрать нас вместе?

Tiknoolajiyada Wayn ayaa na jebisay—3-da shirkadood miyay dib noo soo celin karaan?

Велика технологија нас је сломила — могу ли нас ове 3 компаније поново спојити?

ቢግ ቴክ ሰቢሩና-እዘን 3 ኩባንያታት ክመልሳና ይኽእላ ድየን?

Büyük Teknoloji Bizi Parçaladı - Bu 3 Şirket Bizi Tekrar Bir Araya Getirebilir mi?

I-Big Tech Yasiphula—Ingabe Lezi Zinkampani Ezi-3 Zingasibuyisela Ndawonye?

Combating Loneliness in a Digital World: What Works and What Doesn’t

Mental health apps typically promise to alleviate symptoms, provide helpful information, or enable self-directed treatment. Their services are often reasonably priced — compared to professional help — or even free, contributing to their rising popularity. All of this sounds too good to be true. Is it? What Are Mental Health Apps? Mental health apps are mobile or desktop applications users can use to enhance their emotional, psychological, or social well-being. They typically gamify treatments to keep users coming back. There are several categories, each targeting unique conditions or behaviors. Professional Support Many mental health platforms offer one-on-one telemeetings with handpicked therapists, psychologists, or instructors. These platforms are often considered substitutes for traditional avenues of care because they make professional help more accessible and affordable. Self-Care Wellness apps fall under the mental health umbrella. They focus on mood monitoring, mindfulness, stress management, and sleep tracking. Their features often include activities like guided meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy exercises, or journaling. Symptom Tracking Symptom-tracking apps let patients track moods, outlook, symptoms or thoughts. Providers can use these records to see how much a patient is psychologically or socially affected by their stress levels, physical conditions, or mental health episodes. Social Support Sometimes, people who feel their mental health is suffering prefer a network of people in the same position over a professional. Social support platforms give them a place to gather, enabling them to vent their frustrations or discuss effective treatments. Why Are These Apps Popular? While mental health platforms have existed for years, their popularity exponentially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. People were cut off from professional help when lockdowns forced them inside and medical facilities were overrun. Of course, many were navigating loss and chronic anxiety for the first time. Mobile apps were a port in the storm. The destigmatization of mental health has also contributed to these apps’ popularity. Many continued performing well after the pandemic because the general public is more accepting — individuals are no longer afraid to be frank about their emotional or psychological struggles. These platforms have become popular alternatives to traditional avenues of professional care. Experts believe their value potential is promising. In fact, they expect the mobile health (mHealth) app market will reach $105.9 billion by 2030, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 11.8% from 2021 to 2030. The Implications of Popularity The exponential increase in mental health app popularity has impacted the mental health space for the better in many ways. In 2021, just under half of the approximately 20% of people in the U.S. with a mental illness received professional help. Since most people have a smartphone or computer, apps are one of the most effective ways to make care accessible. The platforms that have dominated the mHealth market spend millions of dollars advertising on sites like Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram. They reach tens of millions of people, simultaneously raising awareness and further destigmatizing mental health. As a result, they expose more people to therapists, support groups, and informational resources. That said, the recent surge in mHealth popularity also has negative implications. When companies are competing for market dominance, they may engage in unethical practices or make unsubstantiated claims. Moreover, the rapid market growth has outpaced regulatory action, creating room for dishonest businesses or even scammers. Out of the tens of thousands of mental health apps available online, only five have been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to date. Unlike most platforms, which offer the same care to all users, these apps cover particular age groups, mental health conditions, and treatment strategies. Are Mental Health Apps Effective? Although mobile mental health is a relatively new concept, various studies on its efficacy exist. While these apps can be effective, their clinical efficacy has yet to be proven. Further, research suggests they may not outperform alternatives. Mental Health App Efficacy Claims Many apps promise improvements regardless of consumers’ minds, goals, or moods. However, just 5% of mental health apps have been studied for efficacy. While larger companies produce their own studies, they have a clear conflict of interest — not to mention that self-reports are often inaccurate or biased indicators. At best, such unsubstantiated claims are misleading. At worst, they are malicious — they may adversely affect people’s mental well-being or prevent them from seeking professional care. For those with complex problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, or suicidal ideation, that action could have genuine consequences. How Mental Health Apps Compare Research suggests treatment only works when users believe in it. One study compared Headspace — a self-described all-in-one mental health app — to a fake wellness app over six weeks. While both groups reported an increase in mindfulness and critical thinking, the researchers didn’t find evidence to support those claims. The placebo effect was likely at play. Does it matter that the placebo effect may be why users feel like they get something out of these platforms? To some extent, it doesn’t. However, telling people they’ll get better when no proof exists — or evidence suggests otherwise — is misleading at best and deceptive at worst. People with complex conditions who need genuine intervention are adversely affected. The Consequences of mHealth This industry skirts traditional regulations and guidelines the medical sector must follow. For instance, it isn’t a covered entity — meaning a provider, insurer, or clearinghouse — under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a result, many operating within it don’t preserve the privacy or security of personal health care information (PHI). Even some of the most well-known names in the industry are prone to these mistakes. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently issued BetterHelp — a mental health platform that provides remote therapy sessions — a $7.8 million fine for exposing users’ PHI after it promised not to. It also sold names, IP addresses, birth dates, and contact details. Crucially, BetterHelp didn’t create a clause requiring the buyers — which included Facebook, Pinterest, and Snapchat — to only use PHI and personally identifiable information (PII) for advertising. They could sell, use, or analyze that data however they wanted. At no point was any of this disclosed to users. In fact, the company lied to regulators when it was initially confronted. While few situations are as significant or egregious as BetterHelp’s case, they are more common than app users think. This is an issue since the value of PHI on the black market is 10 times higher than that of credit or debit card details. A person can’t change their medical history the same way they could get a new card — that data remains marketable for a lifetime. What Should Developers Do? Mental health platforms are generally effective when used to supplement professional help. Even if people use an app as a stand-alone intervention, it is better than going without care altogether. However, the complete disregard for privacy and data security these businesses show — coupled with their dubious claims — is a problem. One report from the Mozilla Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to keeping the internet open and free — revealed that 59% of the mental health apps it investigated in 2023 participated in dishonest data practices despite dealing with highly sensitive PII and PHI. Crucially, the Mozilla Foundation noted its 2022 report motivated some companies to do better. Almost 33% improved their practices year over year. Frankly, if the tech industry is going to mingle with the mental health space, it must do better. Until regulators catch up, developers must listen to criticism from nonprofits like these or create their own governance strategies. Adhering to HIPAA is ideal for data security and patient privacy. As mHealth’s popularity rises and more people turn to mobile mental health, agencies like the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services may even require it. Developers should also safeguard their platforms against man-in-the-middle attacks using encryption and firewalls. The Future of Mental Health Apps Mobile mental health’s popularity is growing exponentially, outpacing regulatory action and skirting rules that apply to the medical sector. For this industry to remain stable and profitable, companies must prioritize privacy and security. Protecting PHI and PII is essential, especially when caring for vulnerable groups. Mental health apps typically promise to alleviate symptoms, provide helpful information, or enable self-directed treatment. Their services are often reasonably priced — compared to professional help — or even free, contributing to their rising popularity. All of this sounds too good to be true. Is it? Mental health apps typically promise to alleviate symptoms, provide helpful information, or enable self-directed treatment. Their services are often reasonably priced — compared to professional help — or even free, contributing to their rising popularity. All of this sounds too good to be true. Is it? What Are Mental Health Apps? What Are Mental Health Apps? Mental health apps are mobile or desktop applications users can use to enhance their emotional, psychological, or social well-being. They typically gamify treatments to keep users coming back. There are several categories, each targeting unique conditions or behaviors. Professional Support Professional Support Many mental health platforms offer one-on-one telemeetings with handpicked therapists, psychologists, or instructors. These platforms are often considered substitutes for traditional avenues of care because they make professional help more accessible and affordable. Self-Care Self-Care Wellness apps fall under the mental health umbrella. They focus on mood monitoring, mindfulness, stress management, and sleep tracking. Their features often include activities like guided meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy exercises, or journaling. Symptom Tracking Symptom Tracking Symptom-tracking apps let patients track moods, outlook, symptoms or thoughts. Providers can use these records to see how much a patient is psychologically or socially affected by their stress levels, physical conditions, or mental health episodes. Social Support Social Support Sometimes, people who feel their mental health is suffering prefer a network of people in the same position over a professional. Social support platforms give them a place to gather, enabling them to vent their frustrations or discuss effective treatments. Why Are These Apps Popular? Why Are These Apps Popular? While mental health platforms have existed for years, their popularity exponentially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. People were cut off from professional help when lockdowns forced them inside and medical facilities were overrun. Of course, many were navigating loss and chronic anxiety for the first time. Mobile apps were a port in the storm. The destigmatization of mental health has also contributed to these apps’ popularity. Many continued performing well after the pandemic because the general public is more accepting — individuals are no longer afraid to be frank about their emotional or psychological struggles. These platforms have become popular alternatives to traditional avenues of professional care. Experts believe their value potential is promising. In fact, they expect the mobile health (mHealth) app market will reach $105.9 billion by 2030, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 11.8% from 2021 to 2030. will reach $105.9 billion will reach $105.9 billion The Implications of Popularity The exponential increase in mental health app popularity has impacted the mental health space for the better in many ways. In 2021, just under half of the approximately 20% of people in the U.S. with a mental illness received professional help. Since most people have a smartphone or computer, apps are one of the most effective ways to make care accessible. just under half of just under half of approximately 20% of people approximately 20% of people The platforms that have dominated the mHealth market spend millions of dollars advertising on sites like Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram. They reach tens of millions of people, simultaneously raising awareness and further destigmatizing mental health. As a result, they expose more people to therapists, support groups, and informational resources. That said, the recent surge in mHealth popularity also has negative implications. When companies are competing for market dominance, they may engage in unethical practices or make unsubstantiated claims. Moreover, the rapid market growth has outpaced regulatory action, creating room for dishonest businesses or even scammers. Out of the tens of thousands of mental health apps available online, only five have been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to date. Unlike most platforms, which offer the same care to all users, these apps cover particular age groups, mental health conditions, and treatment strategies. only five have been formally approved only five have been formally approved Are Mental Health Apps Effective? Although mobile mental health is a relatively new concept, various studies on its efficacy exist. While these apps can be effective, their clinical efficacy has yet to be proven. Further, research suggests they may not outperform alternatives. Mental Health App Efficacy Claims Many apps promise improvements regardless of consumers’ minds, goals, or moods. However, just 5% of mental health apps have been studied for efficacy. While larger companies produce their own studies, they have a clear conflict of interest — not to mention that self-reports are often inaccurate or biased indicators. 5% of mental health apps 5% of mental health apps At best, such unsubstantiated claims are misleading. At worst, they are malicious — they may adversely affect people’s mental well-being or prevent them from seeking professional care. For those with complex problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, or suicidal ideation, that action could have genuine consequences. How Mental Health Apps Compare Research suggests treatment only works when users believe in it. One study compared Headspace — a self-described all-in-one mental health app — to a fake wellness app over six weeks. While both groups reported an increase in mindfulness and critical thinking, the researchers didn’t find evidence to support those claims. The placebo effect was likely at play. reported an increase in mindfulness reported an increase in mindfulness Does it matter that the placebo effect may be why users feel like they get something out of these platforms? To some extent, it doesn’t. However, telling people they’ll get better when no proof exists — or evidence suggests otherwise — is misleading at best and deceptive at worst. People with complex conditions who need genuine intervention are adversely affected. The Consequences of mHealth This industry skirts traditional regulations and guidelines the medical sector must follow. For instance, it isn’t a covered entity — meaning a provider, insurer, or clearinghouse — under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a result, many operating within it don’t preserve the privacy or security of personal health care information (PHI). Even some of the most well-known names in the industry are prone to these mistakes. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently issued BetterHelp — a mental health platform that provides remote therapy sessions — a $7.8 million fine for exposing users’ PHI after it promised not to. It also sold names, IP addresses, birth dates, and contact details. a $7.8 million fine a $7.8 million fine Crucially, BetterHelp didn’t create a clause requiring the buyers — which included Facebook, Pinterest, and Snapchat — to only use PHI and personally identifiable information (PII) for advertising. They could sell, use, or analyze that data however they wanted. At no point was any of this disclosed to users. In fact, the company lied to regulators when it was initially confronted. While few situations are as significant or egregious as BetterHelp’s case, they are more common than app users think. This is an issue since the value of PHI on the black market is 10 times higher than that of credit or debit card details. A person can’t change their medical history the same way they could get a new card — that data remains marketable for a lifetime. is 10 times higher is 10 times higher What Should Developers Do? Mental health platforms are generally effective when used to supplement professional help. Even if people use an app as a stand-alone intervention, it is better than going without care altogether. However, the complete disregard for privacy and data security these businesses show — coupled with their dubious claims — is a problem. One report from the Mozilla Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to keeping the internet open and free — revealed that 59% of the mental health apps it investigated in 2023 participated in dishonest data practices despite dealing with highly sensitive PII and PHI. 59% of the mental health apps 59% of the mental health apps Crucially, the Mozilla Foundation noted its 2022 report motivated some companies to do better. Almost 33% improved their practices year over year. Frankly, if the tech industry is going to mingle with the mental health space, it must do better. Until regulators catch up, developers must listen to criticism from nonprofits like these or create their own governance strategies. Adhering to HIPAA is ideal for data security and patient privacy. As mHealth’s popularity rises and more people turn to mobile mental health, agencies like the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services may even require it. Developers should also safeguard their platforms against man-in-the-middle attacks using encryption and firewalls. The Future of Mental Health Apps Mobile mental health’s popularity is growing exponentially, outpacing regulatory action and skirting rules that apply to the medical sector. For this industry to remain stable and profitable, companies must prioritize privacy and security. Protecting PHI and PII is essential, especially when caring for vulnerable groups.

The Rise of Mental Health Apps: What Are the Consequences?

This paper is under CC 4.0 license. available on arxiv Authors: (1) Ryen W. White, Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA. Table of Links Abstract and Taking Search to task AI Copilots Challenges Opportunities The Undiscovered Country and References ABSTRACT As many of us in the information retrieval (IR) research community know and appreciate, search is far from being a solved problem. Millions of people struggle with tasks on search engines every day. Often, their struggles relate to the intrinsic complexity of their task and the failure of search systems to fully understand the task and serve relevant results [58]. The task motivates the search, creating the gap/problematic situation that searchers attempt to bridge/resolve and drives search behavior as they work through different task facets. Complex search tasks require more than support for rudimentary fact finding or re-finding. Research on methods to support complex tasks includes work on generating query and website suggestions [21, 62], personalizing and contextualizing search [4], and developing new search experiences, including those that span time and space [1, 64]. The recent emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the arrival of assistive agents, or copilots, based on this technology, has the potential to offer further assistance to searchers, especially those engaged in complex tasks [41, 61]. There are profound implications from these advances for the design of intelligent systems and for the future of search itself. This article, based on a keynote by the author at the 2023 ACM SIGIR Conference, explores these issues and charts a course toward new horizons in information access guided by AI copilots. ACM Reference Format: Ryen W. White. 2023. Navigating Complex Search Tasks with AI Copilots. Under review at REDACTED. October, 2023 1 TAKING SEARCH TO TASK Tasks are a critical part of people’s daily lives. The market for dedicated task applications that help people with their “to do” tasks is likely to grow significantly (effectively triple in size) over the next few years.[1] There are many examples of such applications that can help both individuals (e.g., Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks, Todoist) and teams (e.g., Asana, Trello, Monday.com) tackle their tasks more effectively. Over time, these systems will increasingly integrate AI to better help their users capture, manage, and complete their tasks [60]. In information access scenarios such as search, tasks play an important role in motivating searching via gaps in knowledge and problematic situations [3, 15]. AI can be central in these search scenarios, too, especially in assisting with complex search tasks. 1.1 Tasks in Search Tasks drive the search process. The IR and information science communities have long studied tasks in search [42] and many information seeking models consider the role of task directly [3, 15]. Prior research has explored the different stages of task execution (e.g., pre-focus, focus formation, post-focus) [53], task levels [39], task facets [29], tasks defined on intents (e.g., informational, transactional, and navigational [8]; well-defined or ill-defined [23]; lookup, learn, or investigate [32]), the hierarchical structure of tasks [68], the characteristics of tasks, and the attributes of task searcher interaction, e.g., task difficulty and, of course, a focus in this article, task complexity [11, 26]. As a useful framing device to help conceptualize tasks and develop system support for them, tasks can be represented as trees comprising macrotasks (high level goals), subtasks (specific components of those goals), and actions (specific steps taken by searchers toward the completion of those components) [42]. Figure 1 presents an example of a “task tree” for a task involving an upcoming vacation to Paris, France. Examples of macrotasks, subtasks, and actions are included. Moves around this tree correspond to different task applications such as task recognition (up), task decomposition (down), and task prediction (across). Only actions (e.g., queries, clicks, and so on) are directly observable to traditional search engines. However, with recent advances in search copilots (more fully supporting natural language interactions via language understanding and language generation), more aspects of macrotasks and subtasks are becoming visible to search systems and more fully understood by those systems. Challenges in working with tasks include how to represent them within search systems, how to observe more task-relevant activity and content to develop richer task models, and how to develop task-oriented interfaces that place tasks and their completion at the forefront of user engagement. Task complexity deserves a special focus in this article given the challenges that searchers can still face with complex tasks and the significant potential of AI to help searchers tackle complex tasks. 1.2 Complex Search Tasks Recent estimates suggest that half of all Web searches are not answered.[2] Many of those searches are connected to complex search tasks. These tasks are ill-defined and/or multi-step, span multiple queries, sessions, and/or devices, and require deep engagement with search engines (many queries, backtracking, branching, etc.) to complete them [21]. Complex tasks also often have many facets and cognitive dimensions, and are closely connected to searcher characteristics such as domain expertise and task familiarity [38, 58]. To date, there have been significant attempts to support complex search tasks via humans (e.g., librarians, subject matter experts) and search systems (both general Web search engines and those tailored to specific industry verticals or domains). The main technological progress so far has been in areas such as query suggestion and contextual search, with new experiences also being developed that utilize multiple devices, provide cross-session support, and enable conversational search. We are now also seeing emerging search-related technologies in the area of generative AI [35]. Before proceeding, let us dive into these different types of existing and emerging search support for complex tasks in more detail. Researchers and practitioners have long developed and deployed support such as query suggestion and trail suggestion, e.g., [21, 45], including providing guided tours [51] and suggesting popular trail destinations [62] as ways to find relevant resources. This coincides with work on contextual search and personalized search, e.g., [4, 47, 63], where search systems can use data from the current searcher such as session activity, location, reading level, and so on, and the searcher’s long-term activity history, to provide more relevant results. Search engines may also use cohort activities to help with cold-start problems for new users and augment personal profiles for more established searchers [48, 69]. • Suggestions, personalization, and contextualization: Devices have different capabilities and can be used in different settings. Multidevice experiences, e.g., [64], utilizing multiple devices simultaneously to better support complex tasks such as recipe preparation, auto repair, and home improvement that have been decomposed into steps manually or automatically [73]. Cross-device and cross-session support [1, 56] can help with ongoing/background searches for complex tasks that persist over space and time. For example, being able to predict task continuation can help with “slow search” applications that focus more on result quality than the near instantaneous retrieval of search results [46]. • Multi-device, cross-device, and cross-session: Natural language is an expressive and powerful means of communicating intentions and preferences with search systems. The introduction of clarification questions on search engine result pages (SERPs) [71], progress on conversational search [20], and even “conversations” with documents (where searchers can inquire about document content via natural language dialog) [49], enable these systems to engage more fully with searchers to better understand their tasks and goals. There are now many emerging opportunities to better understand and support more tasks via large-scale foundation models such as GPT-4[3] and DALL·E 3,[4] including offering conversational task assistance via chatbots such as ChatGPT.5 • Conversational experiences and generative AI: All of these advances, and others, have paved the way for the emergence of AI copilots, assistive agents that can help people tackle complex search tasks. [1] https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/task-management-softwaremarket/ [2] https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/02/07/reinventing-search-with-a-new-aipowered-microsoft-bing-and-edge-your-copilot-for-the-web/ [3] https://openai.com/gpt-4 [4] https://openai.com/dall-e-3 [5] https://openai.com/chatgpt

Navigating Complex Search Tasks with AI Copilots: Abstract and Taking Search to task

All of Big Tech may have finally agreed on something, and that something is preventing generative artificial intelligence from bamboozling voters. You see, 2024 is an important year: it's the year that millions of people around the globe vote for who will govern them next. The big one is, of course, the 2024 US Presidential Elections which would see incumbent Joe Biden take on former commander-in-chief Donald Trump. However, voters will also be coming out in other major regions including Mexico, the United Kingdom, and even India. All in all, experts say that countries representing 41% of the world's population will hold elections this year — a record number. So, what does this have to do with big tech and generative AI? Well.. while democratic forces campaign to convince voters to bring them into power, some bad actors or (even political opponents) may be tempted to harness the power of the machines to tip the scales in favor of one candidate or the other. Deep fakes, like the ones made of Obama, were already pretty damn good half a decade ago. And the recent Taylor Swift debacle is just a grim reminder of how far generative AI has come since then. It is this destructive potential of generative AI that has big tech banding together to better help voters, lest they interact with AI-generated video, audio, or text without even realizing it! Last week at the Munich Security Conference, big tech’s poster children who traditionally compete against each other, said they'd be working together to prevent the misuse of AI during elections taking place this year. Nevermind the fact that they'll be continuing to build more powerful AI in the background. (In fact, OpenAI has now launched an AI model that turns text into video!) Remember that time when people from all over the world penned a letter to OpenAI to ask it to stop development of a more powerful ChatGPT? Yeah… that's now in the past because OpenAI and its backer Microsoft are going to be working with competitor(s) Google, Meta and Amazon to "detect and counter" harmful AI content through educational campaigns and by tracking the source of misleading election-related content, including audio, video, and images that provide false information to voters. One of the signatories to the pledge is Elon Musk's X, which is interesting because the world's richest man is developing his own AI company on the side and has been a vocal critic of OpenAI ever since he was ousted from the company. TikTok and Snap also lent their name to the pledge which included up-and-coming AI startups Anthropic and Inflection in the list of signatories – the former backed by Amazon and Google and the latter by Microsoft and Nvidia. All in all, 20 tech companies, arguably the ones that matter, signed the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections (it's a mouthful, we know!). Politics. Who would've thought that's where AI would have the most impact? Microsoft, Meta's Instagram, and Google dominated the top three positions on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings this week. 👋 You’re reading HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. Microsoft takes first step to blur lines between consoles 🎮 Is it us or are the current generation of gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft middling at best? More and more it feels like the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series S/X offer very little in terms of value when considering things like exclusives and features. In fact, Sony has already flagged that the Playstation 5 is at the tailend of its lifecycle, and Microsoft's Series S/X? Well.. what can we even say about the console that has sold even worsethan the original Xbox? To make up for the slack, Microsoft has decided tocross over some of its exclusives onto the Playstation and Nintendo Switch. Which games, you ask? We don't know yet, but it's likely we will find out in the coming months. This wouldn't necessarily be the first time a first-party console game crosses over to another platform. In fact, we have some great examples of Sony exclusives being ported to PC for major success, like God of War, certain Persona games, Last of Us Part 1, and even some Uncharted games! But games crossing over to a rival’s console? That's a little unheard of; however, it could be the trend moving forward as consumers become platform-agnostic and seek more flexibility with the hardware they purchase. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said as much recently when he noted that exclusivity across the video game industry will shrink further in the next five to 10 years. To us, that sounds like buying a console is no longer going to limit consumers to a single ecosystem and the hardware could become cheap stand-ins for PCs. So, now that the first domino has fallen, will we see Halo on the Playstation? Demon's Souls on Xbox? We certainly hope so! Or better yet, games just releasing everywhere. And we mean everywhere. Nvidia inches closer to $2 trillion valuation 🤑 What a phenomenal 12 to 16 months it has been for Nvidia, the company selling the *literal* virtual shovel during the ongoing AI gold rush. Not only has the success of ChatGPT turned the company from profitable to mega profitable, but demand for its hardware has never been higher as more and more organizations try to build their own AI models to compete with the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that due to the overwhelming interest in Nvidia and its stock, the company's valuation has ballooned so high that not only is it now the third most valuable US company in the world, it is now more valuable than Amazon, Google, and even Meta. With a market capitalization of nearly $1.8 trillion, it is only a matter of time before Nvidia reaches the $2 trillion mark because it doesn't look like the stock is going to come down anytime soon. Funnily, it hasn't even been a full year since Nvidia hit a trillion dollars in valuation, which means that it's very, very likely that it would hit $2 trillion before the twelve-month anniversary of when it entered the trillionaire club. Not only is Nvidia a valuable company overall, it is also one of the most valuable chipmakers in the world, way ahead of competitors AMD, Intel and/or Arm Holdings who combined are around $600 billion in market capitalization. Ouch! Nonetheless, investors are slowly piling on companies that are either competing against Nvidia or are subject to its interest, presumably because it's just so much more expensive to buy Nvidia stocks at the moment than it was a year or so ago. It will be great to see where Team Green heads next. In Other News.. 📰 UK Minister Expects Stablecoin and Staking Legislation Within Six Months — via CoinDesk
The women in AI making a difference — via TechCrunch
The EU opens formal probe into TikTok over protection of children — via CNN
Neuralink's first human patient able to control mouse through thinking, Musk says — via Reuters
Quantum computers move closer to the assembly line — via Axios
Nintendo shares fall nearly 6% after report that the Switch 2 will be delayed until 2025 — via CNBC – And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. All of Big Tech may have finally agreed on something, and that something is preventing generative artificial intelligence from bamboozling voters. You see, 2024 is an important year: it's the year that millions of people around the globe vote for who will govern them next. The big one is, of course, the 2024 US Presidential Elections which would see incumbent Joe Biden take on former commander-in-chief Donald Trump. However, voters will also be coming out in other major regions including Mexico, the United Kingdom, and even India. finally All in all, experts say that countries representing 41% of the world's population will hold elections this year — a record number. So, what does this have to do with big tech and generative AI? Well.. while democratic forces campaign to convince voters to bring them into power, some bad actors or (even political opponents) may be tempted to harness the power of the machines to tip the scales in favor of one candidate or the other. say say bad actors bad actors Deep fakes, like the ones made of Obama , were already pretty damn good half a decade ago. And the recent Taylor Swift debacle is just a grim reminder of how far generative AI has come since then. It is this destructive potential of generative AI that has big tech banding together to better help voters, lest they interact with AI-generated video, audio, or text without even realizing it! ones made of Obama ones made of Obama Taylor Swift debacle Taylor Swift debacle Last week at the Munich Security Conference, big tech’s poster children who traditionally compete against each other, said they'd be working together to prevent the misuse of AI during elections taking place this year. Nevermind the fact that they'll be continuing to build more powerful AI in the background. (In fact, OpenAI has now launched an AI model that turns text into video!) launched launched Remember that time when people from all over the world penned a letter to OpenAI to ask it to stop development of a more powerful ChatGPT? Yeah… that's now in the past because OpenAI and its backer Microsoft are going to be working with competitor(s) Google , Meta and Amazon to "detect and counter" harmful AI content through educational campaigns and by tracking the source of misleading election-related content, including audio, video, and images that provide false information to voters. penned a letter penned a letter OpenAI OpenAI Microsoft Microsoft Google Google Meta Meta Amazon Amazon One of the signatories to the pledge is Elon Musk's X , which is interesting because the world's richest man is developing his own AI company on the side and has been a vocal critic of OpenAI ever since he was ousted from the company. X X developing developing vocal critic vocal critic TikTok and Snap also lent their name to the pledge which included up-and-coming AI startups Anthropic and Inflection in the list of signatories – the former backed by Amazon and Google and the latter by Microsoft and Nvidia . TikTok TikTok pledge pledge Amazon and Google Amazon and Google by Microsoft and Nvidia by Microsoft and Nvidia All in all, 20 tech companies, arguably the ones that matter, signed the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections (it's a mouthful, we know!). Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections Politics. Who would've thought that's where AI would have the most impact? that's Microsoft, Meta's Instagram, and Google dominated the top three positions on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings this week. 👋 You’re reading HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. 👋 You’re reading HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. You’re reading HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief , a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. Tech Company News Brief Tech Company News Brief here complete Microsoft takes first step to blur lines between consoles 🎮 Microsoft takes first step to blur lines between consoles 🎮 Is it us or are the current generation of gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft middling at best? More and more it feels like the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series S/X offer very little in terms of value when considering things like exclusives and features. In fact, Sony has already flagged that the Playstation 5 is at the tailend of its lifecycle , and Microsoft's Series S/X? Well.. what can we even say about the console that has sold even worse than the original Xbox? tailend of its lifecycle tailend of its lifecycle even worse even worse To make up for the slack, Microsoft has decided to cross over some of its exclusives onto the Playstation and Nintendo Switch. Which games, you ask? We don't know yet, but it's likely we will find out in the coming months. cross over cross over find out find out This wouldn't necessarily be the first time a first-party console game crosses over to another platform. In fact, we have some great examples of Sony exclusives being ported to PC for major success, like God of War, certain Persona games, Last of Us Part 1, and even some Uncharted games! But games crossing over to a rival’s console? That's a little unheard of; however, it could be the trend moving forward as consumers become platform-agnostic and seek more flexibility with the hardware they purchase. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said as much recently when he noted that exclusivity across the video game industry will shrink further in the next five to 10 years. To us, that sounds like buying a console is no longer going to limit consumers to a single ecosystem and the hardware could become cheap stand-ins for PCs. said as much recently said as much recently So, now that the first domino has fallen, will we see Halo on the Playstation? Demon's Souls on Xbox? We certainly hope so! Or better yet, games just releasing everywhere. And we mean everywhere . everywhere everywhere everywhere Nvidia inches closer to $2 trillion valuation 🤑 What a phenomenal 12 to 16 months it has been for Nvidia , the company selling the *literal* virtual shovel during the ongoing AI gold rush. Nvidia Nvidia *literal* virtual shovel virtual shovel Not only has the success of ChatGPT turned the company from profitable to mega profitable , but demand for its hardware has never been higher as more and more organizations try to build their own AI models to compete with the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT. profitable to mega profitable profitable to mega profitable So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that due to the overwhelming interest in Nvidia and its stock, the company's valuation has ballooned so high that not only is it now the third most valuable US company in the world, it is now more valuable than Amazon, Google, and even Meta. With a market capitalization of nearly $1.8 trillion, it is only a matter of time before Nvidia reaches the $2 trillion mark because it doesn't look like the stock is going to come down anytime soon. Funnily, it hasn't even been a full year since Nvidia hit a trillion dollars in valuation, which means that it's very, very likely that it would hit $2 trillion before the twelve-month anniversary of when it entered the trillionaire club. full year full year Not only is Nvidia a valuable company overall , it is also one of the most valuable chipmakers in the world, way ahead of competitors AMD , Intel and/or Arm Holdings who combined are around $600 billion in market capitalization. Ouch! valuable company overall valuable company overall AMD AMD Intel Intel combined Ouch! Nonetheless, investors are slowly piling on companies that are either competing against Nvidia or are subject to its interest , presumably because it's just so much more expensive to buy Nvidia stocks at the moment than it was a year or so ago. competing against competing against subject to its interest subject to its interest It will be great to see where Team Green heads next. In Other News.. 📰 In Other News.. 📰 UK Minister Expects Stablecoin and Staking Legislation Within Six Months — via CoinDesk The women in AI making a difference — via TechCrunch The EU opens formal probe into TikTok over protection of children — via CNN Neuralink's first human patient able to control mouse through thinking, Musk says — via Reuters Quantum computers move closer to the assembly line — via Axios Nintendo shares fall nearly 6% after report that the Switch 2 will be delayed until 2025 — via CNBC UK Minister Expects Stablecoin and Staking Legislation Within Six Months — via CoinDesk CoinDesk CoinDesk The women in AI making a difference — via TechCrunch TechCrunch TechCrunch The EU opens formal probe into TikTok over protection of children — via CNN CNN CNN Neuralink's first human patient able to control mouse through thinking, Musk says — via Reuters Reuters Reuters Quantum computers move closer to the assembly line — via Axios Axios Axios Nintendo shares fall nearly 6% after report that the Switch 2 will be delayed until 2025 — via CNBC CNBC CNBC – And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. Tech Company Rankings Tech Company Rankings

Big Tech Wants to Prevent Election Fraud

বিগ টেক নির্বাচনে জালিয়াতি রোধ করতে চায়

Big Tech will Wahlbetrug verhindern

Las grandes tecnológicas quieren prevenir el fraude electoral

Big Tech veut prévenir la fraude électorale

बिग टेक चुनावी धोखाधड़ी को रोकना चाहता है

大手テクノロジー企業は選挙不正を阻止したい

거대 기술업체는 선거 사기를 방지하고 싶어합니다.

Big Tech quer prevenir fraude eleitoral

Крупные технологические компании хотят предотвратить фальсификации выборов

Big Tech Seçim Sahtekarlığını Önlemek İstiyor

Big Tech muốn ngăn chặn gian lận bầu cử

大型科技公司希望防止选举舞弊

Since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been a Hollywood juggernaut. And even 15 years later, it still has millions of fans around the world. But many would agree that the peak of the MCU’s popularity is already in the past, particularly, it seemed to peak in the third phase. The MCU’s phase 3 was a time of extreme hype. There really was nothing quite like it, and it’s something that could most likely never be successfully replicated again. If you missed out on it, don’t worry. Here are all the MCU Phase 3 movies in chronological order. The MCU Phase 3 Movies in Order 1. Captain America: Civil War 2. Doctor Strange 3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 4. Spider-Man: Homecoming 5. Thor: Ragnarok 6. Avengers: Infinity War 7. Ant-Man and the Wasp 8. Captain Marvel 9. Avengers: Endgame 10. Spider-Man: Far From Home 1. Captain America: Civil War (2016) The beginning of the phase started off with a bang because in Captain America: Civil War, trouble was brewing, and not just because of the supervillains. There was trouble brewing within the Avengers. The government and the public were fed up with the mistakes of the Avengers, and they wanted to hold them accountable by forcing them to work for the United Nations. Captain America and a few other heroes were extremely against this while Iron Man and his side were in favor. The two sides can’t see eye-to-eye and clash in epic fashion. 2. Doctor Strange (2016) After an accident leaves him with shaky hands, Doctor Stephen Strange’s days as a surgeon are over forever. However, what happens next no one could expect as Strange then begins his journey to be a sorcerer. First, he only does so for selfish reasons. But the more time he spends training, the more he realizes that he wasn’t meant to be a rich and selfish surgeon; he was meant to be the Sorcerer Supreme. In simpler terms, he was destined to be a superhero. 3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Jumping from the mystical side of the MCU to the cosmic one, everyone’s favorite rag-tag team of mischiefs returns for a second adventure. In the first movie, it’s heavily implied that Peter’s father is an important figure and somebody we’ll one day get to see. Well, in Vol. 2, we finally meet the mysterious man. And nothing is ever the same for the Guardians of the Galaxy. But beyond that, we get to meet the interesting Mantis, flesh out more of Gamora and Nebula’s relationship, and get to know another side of Rocket. 4. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) It was a long time coming, but it finally happened. One of the most popular superhero characters of all time finally got his own movie in the MCU. After making his debut in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man goes back to living a “regular” life as a teenager in Brooklyn. As regular as can be when you’re a superhero that is. But he quickly realizes that he won’t just be nabbing purse snatchers and petty thieves. He’ll have to deal with his own supervillain in the form of the Vulture. Even though he’s already gone toe-to-toe with some of the Avengers, this may be his biggest challenge yet. 5. Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Although this was the third movie for Thor, it felt like a fresh beginning. This version of Thor was more silly and comedic, and although future installments played too much into this, he was perfect in Thor: Ragnarok. In fact, everything about this movie is amazing. After their sister returns, Thor and his brother Loki find themselves in a strange new world that they can’t seem to escape of. That doesn’t matter though because they need to figure out a plan quickly before their sister destroys all of Asgard. Luck is on their side, however, as two allies are also stranded on the strange planet. Together, the 4 of them do everything they can to stop Hela. 6. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Since his small teaser at the end of the first Avengers movie, Thanos had been built up as the final boss of the Avengers. A bigger threat than they could ever dream of. And in Infinity War, we find out if they’re up to the task. Still reeling from the prior events of Civil War, the Avengers (alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy) fight the Mad Titan before he can reclaim all of the Infinity Stones. Because it’s just not Earth that is being threatened but the entire universe. 7. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) While the Avengers are fighting for their lives, Ant-Man and the Wasp have their own mini (ha) adventure in San Francisco. The Wasp’s mom, Janet van Dyne, is stuck in the Quantum Realm after she shrunk too small. Decades later, Ant-Man and the Wasp believe they have the power and know-how to bring her back. Unfortunately, it won’t be an easy journey. Along the way, they’ll have to deal with both Sonny Burch and Ghost, 2 opponents who have their own agendas. 8. Captain Marvel (2019) Captain Marvel was released toward the tail-end of Phase 3, but it actually takes place before most of the other movies in the MCU. It follows a mysterious Kree soldier who suffers from memory loss. As more of her memories get uncovered, she has to ask herself, “Who can she trust?”  This question itself opens up doors and reveals secrets she never thought possible and allows her to become Captain Marvel. 9. Avengers: Endgame (2019) This was it. The culmination of the 21 movies that came before it. The Avengers once again have to come together and join forces to fight Thanos for a second and hopefully final time. But a lot has changed since they last encountered him, and many of the Avengers have changed (some for better and some for worse). None of that matters, however, because the stakes are higher than ever, and only the Avengers can make everything right. Although there was one more movie in Phase 3, Avengers: Endgame seemed to be a fitting conclusion to the saga. 10. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Even though Peter Parker isn’t finished with high school, he’s had enough adventure and excitement for a lifetime. But the hits keep on coming for Spidey. On a school trip to Europe, he’ll come across other superpowered beings such as the Elementals and Mysterio who will turn his life upside down. And if that wasn’t enough, he still has to deal with being a teenager: getting bullied, having girl problems, and having a love-sick best friend. Conclusion Phase 3 of the MCU was one of its best, and this article should help you get on track to relive the journey or start it for the first time. Feature image source Also published here Read More: The Apollo Justice Trilogy: The 5 Best Cases The New Tomb Raider Games in Order Persona 3 Remake Officially Announced: Everything We Know So Far

The MCU Phase 3 Movies in Order

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