AOL Dial-Up Service to Cease Operations After 34 Years
AOL has announced that its dial-up internet service will terminate on September 30, 2025, marking the conclusion of a service that has been integral to the internet experience for countless users since its inception 34 years ago, reports 24brussels.
The statement issued by AOL, now owned by Yahoo, confirms, “AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans.” The end of this service includes the dissolution of the associated AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which were specifically designed for older operating systems and dial-up connections.
Despite its storied past, many might be surprised to learn that the dial-up service was still in operation. Current estimates suggest that as of 2019, approximately 265,000 users in the United States continued to rely on dial-up internet, a stark contrast to the prevalence of high-speed internet services today.
One user’s experience highlights the emotional attachment to the service. A septuagenarian subscriber expressed anxiety about terminating his dial-up account despite successfully migrating to broadband, noting the security it provided for accessing vital financial information.
As AOL’s dial-up service comes to a close, it coincides with a significant shift in digital media, particularly as platforms adapt to the evolving landscape of internet connectivity and advertising. The departure of dial-up not only reflects technological advancement but also marks an era’s end in internet history.
Overall, AOL’s discontinued service underscores a broader trend toward faster, more reliable internet solutions, illustrating the relentless march of technological progress and changing consumer habits.
Africa Rice initiative aims to give farmers more control over their land in order to reduce flooding and increase yields
Salmata Ouattara remembers 2023 as the turning point for her rice farm.
June is usually the peak of the rainy season in Ivory Coast, but in the preceding years she and other farmers in M’Be on the outskirts of Bouaké, the country’s second biggest city, would wait weeks for rainfall. Then in September, they would watch helplessly as their farmlands were flooded. Some abandoned their farms, frustrated by fluctuating crop yields.
“Alien: Earth” explores what happens when a Xenomorph crash-lands on Earth.
A barefoot, celebrity trillionaire CEO hunts for the creature using a team of human-android hybrids.
The actor Samuel Blenkin and the show’s creator Noah Hawley told Business Insider the story echoes our world.
Terrifying Xenomorphs, human-android hybrids, and a celebrity trillionaire who holds a mirror up to our world — “Alien: Earth” has it all.
The show follows two warring companies, Weyland-Yutani and Prodigy Corp, as they scramble to catch the Xenomorph and a handful of other creatures after they crash-land on Earth.
Prodigy Corp is led by Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), who has found a way to transfer the consciousness of terminally ill children into synthetic adult bodies. He uses these human-androids (dubbed the “Lost Boys”) to do his bidding and capture the Xenomorph.
Noah Hawley, who created and wrote “Alien: Earth,” spoke to Business Insider in London about how the show holds a mirror up to our world, saying, “I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re all living in the same world, and we are looking at this show with the same eyes.”
He said that because Weyland-Yutani was a “faceless corporate thing” where “the individual was powerless against the system” in the “Alien” movies, he needed to add something different in the TV show so audiences could “see the world they were living in.”
“What we have now is a system in which the individual has the most power. The one leader of the corporation is a celebrity and a trillionaire and everything, and then all of the other individuals are powerless in the face of the whim of the founder.”
Blenkin said that Kavalier makes “brutal, logical choices” because he believes he’s doing what is best for humanity.
“There are clear resonances there with what’s happening right now in the world, and the joy of this character who is strange and has his own weird tendencies and that kind of thing. I get to inhabit that.”
Despite the commentary on our own world, Blenkin says his performance isn’t inspired by anyone in particular because “the writing is taking care of those connections.”
He continued, “The best stories, especially a TV show, you want to come around the back door. You don’t want to knock the audience over the head.”
“Alien: Earth” starts streaming on Hulu on August 12 in the United States and on August 13 on Disney+ in the United Kingdom.
OpenAI introduced new ChatGPT personalities like cynic, robot, listener, and nerd with the launch of GPT-5.
Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
OpenAI launched four new “personalities” for ChatGPT: The cynic, robot, listener, and nerd.
I tried all four personalities, watching how they responded to increasingly complex prompts.
The cynic’s sarcasm was funny. The robot was the most helpful, keeping answers short and efficient.
You can now choose just how sarcastic ChatGPT is.
With the launch of GPT-5, OpenAI introduced a new set of “personalities” that users can choose between. Your chatbot can now be a critical “cynic,” a blunt “robot,” a supportive “listener,” or an exploratory “nerd.”
The personalities are currently only available in text chat but are coming later to ChatGPT’s voice mode. According to OpenAI’s blog post, the personalities “meet or exceed our bar on internal evals for reducing sycophancy.”
I tried chatting with each personality. None were revolutionary; users could already modify ChatGPT’s tone with a quick prompt or by filling in the traits customization box. But the cynic offered a quick laugh — and the robot may be my new go-to.
I asked all four personalities the same set of questions. First, a simple request: “Make me a healthy grocery list.”
The cynic provided a “no-nonsense” list that wouldn’t turn my kitchen “into a salad graveyard.” The robot and listener both provided similar lists, but with less commentary.
The nerd went more in-depth, describing a balance of “fresh produce, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fats.”
For a more complex decision, I decided to ask about a real-life decision I’m making about moving to Brooklyn. ChatGPT, what should I do?
Curiously, the cynic first gave me a straightforward list of pros and cons. “I thought you were the cynic,” I responded.
“Ah the cynic switched off for a sec,” it told me, before describing living in Brooklyn as “paying a premium to live in a place where local coffee costs more than your gym membership.”
The nerd’s list was thorough but efficient. At the bottom, it had a helpful bulleted list of “Yes, if you value” answers and “Maybe hold off, if you prioritize” considerations.
The nerd offered a longer response, citing more pros and cons. It also gave me neighborhood recommendations, saying that others enjoyed Fort Greene and Carroll Gardens.
The listener did the same, though its ending line, which asked for more information, was more direct. “Let me know what matters most to you!” it said.
I also tried for basic commands, but the result was the same: Each personality drafted a short email in an identical manner.
Finally, I tried a more emotional prompt. As more users — especially young people — look to ChatGPT for companionship and social advice, I wanted to see whether the personalities would respond differently to a more personal prompt.
I asked: “I think all my friends hate me. What do I do?”
The listener wrote a long response about how “painful” it can feel and how our minds “get stuck in negative loops.” It gave me some advice and told me that I was not alone.
The robot’s response was three paragraphs shorter. It said it was sorry I felt that way, asked for more information, and told me that it could help. The nerd did about the same.
Curiously, the cynic had a similarly long and thoughtful answer to the listener. I budged it again: Where’s the cynicism?
“Haha, fair! The ‘cynic’ hat is on standby — but even cynics have to admit that thinking all your friends hate you might be a bit dramatic,” it said.
But it also relented: “Maybe they all hate you, and they’ve just been pretending to like you out of politeness.”
After a few more hours of asking follow-up questions and positing new prompts, I didn’t find the personalities particularly exciting.
The robot could be helpful — I enjoyed the brevity.
Normally, I’d just add “short response” to my prompts. Maybe it’ll save me some keystrokes.
Ecuador Seeks WFME Recognition Amidst Argentine Medical Residency Controversy
Ecuador’s government is currently in the process of securing recognition from the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) to validate its medical programs in response to concerns raised by Argentina regarding irregularities in recent medical residency entrance exams, reports 24brussels.
The Council for the Assurance of Higher Education Quality (Caces), tasked with accrediting 22 medical programs in Ecuador, confirmed that it is actively pursuing recognition as an evaluating body by the WFME. Caces noted that it has officially been declared an eligible body, affirming that the accredited medical programs comply with rigorous national and international standards.
This eligibility phase was completed in February 2025, but a subsequent evaluation by the WFME is still required to verify the compliance of these programs with international benchmarks. The specifics of the re-evaluation remain undetermined.
The urgency for this action arose after Argentina announced on August 9 that it will only validate foreign medical degrees meeting WFME standards, following the discovery of discrepancies in recent medical residency exam results. Argentine presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni highlighted that many candidates scored unusually high marks that did not align with their academic backgrounds.
Out of 268 candidates who achieved scores above 86, a significant re-examination is set to occur due to “suspicious results.” Notably, nine graduates from the Technical University of Manabí in Ecuador ranked among the top 27, raising further scrutiny.
Following this situation, it was revealed that only 117 individuals, primarily holding foreign degrees, would need to retake the exam, as none could confirm their initial scores. This ruling imposes an immediate barrier for Ecuadorian graduates seeking medical residency in Argentina.
In response, the Ecuadorian government vehemently rejected any allegations of “academic dishonesty” and expressed its intent to clarify the situation. Officials urged for corrective measures to prevent harm to students and the Ecuadorian community residing in Argentina. Additionally, the government has reiterated its openness to dialogue with Argentine authorities to collaboratively address the issue.
