#digital-tools

#digital-tools

One of the biggest hurdles for homebuyers in Washington, DC is affordability.Buying a home in the U.S. capital is a momentous achievement, yet mortgage rates and home prices remain high, as local buyers compete for a limited inventory of properties for sale.The key to navigating these challenges lies in modern online tools that streamline the homebuying process and make purchases more affordable.

Last year ended with images flooding Instagram, Twitter and group chats pictures of us, but not exactly.They were products of an app called Lensa AI, which can apply machine-learning tools to scan your selfies and generate portraits of you in a variety of artistic styles.This sort of thing seems to be a semiannual trend: Every few months, an app emerges to collect photos of your face and manipulate your image, reflecting and refracting it back to you anew.

Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the web has been an interactive place.In 2023, we expect user immersion to be integral to all facets of web design.That includes the technology to empower web users to participate in shaping their own experience of the web - not just in the metaverse or Web3 or whatever turn the digital zeitgeist takes next, but also in small yet meaningful parts of their daily internet use.

It's human nature to want to keep the memory of the deceased alive.Photography, for instance, has served as a powerful tool to help us do this.I've explored this with my 2020 project  ALIVE: Lost for Words, where I photographed people against a projected image of their lost loved ones.Recently, the pandemic left us feeling closer than ever to death, forcing us to confront our own mortality and the legacy we leave behind.

As the UK's National Health Service strains under the burden of the winter crisis, a new study has revealed that more than 13.5 million working hours are lost yearly in England's health service alone due to inadequate IT systems and equipment.The research [PDF] by the British Medical Association - the doctors' union with rights to negotiate with the government over health service pay and conditions - just 11 percent of UK doctors reported they "completely" had the necessary equipment to perform their job role.

Power Up Your Donation Week is here!Right now, your contribution to the Electronic Frontier Foundation will have double the impact on digital privacy, security, and free speech rights for everyone.Give today and get an automatic 2X match
A group of passionate EFF supporters created the Power Up Matching Fund and issued this challenge to all supporters of internet freedom: donate to EFF by December 6th and they'll automatically match it up to a total of $272,000!

In a year when many types of crime have risen in New York City, none has spiked more than car theft.As of Dec. 18, over 13,000 cars had been stolen in the city this year.That's a 32% jump compared to 2021 and it's more than any year since 2006, according to NYPD complaint data."Auto thefts are a major concern for New Yorkers, especially in car-reliant areas and transportation deserts like the outer boroughs," said Council Member Kamillah Hanks of Staten Island, who chairs the council's public safety committee.

Giuseppe Valditara, Italy's new minister for Education and Merit, delivered the order via a circular sent to Italian schools on Tuesday morning.The document notes that Italy has in fact had a ban on phones in classrooms for over 15 years  which might make some wonder why a new rule is required.The use of cellphones in class was disrespectful to teachers and created an element of distraction, Valditara wrote, adding that the move was intended to help to restore teachers' authority.