A Black man says a passport photo he submitted was rejected by the British government because the AI software couldn’t recognize his “melanated hotness.” Joris Lechêne, a model and racial justice activist, said ina TikTok videothat his photo met every rule in the application guidelines: But lo and behold, that photo was rejected because the artificial intelligence software wasn’t designed with people of my phenotype in mind. Lechêne shared a screenshot of the photo he submitted....

A 14-year-old Black girl has become another victim of a facial recognition failure. Lamya Robinsonwas kicked out of a skating rink in Michigan after a facial recognition system misidentified the teen as someone who’d been banned by the business. The incident has escalated concerns about machine-driven segregation. But let’s dive into what exactly happened. Not even skating is safe from facial recognition When Robinson tried to enter the roller skating rink, staff stopped her because, they said, she had previously been involved in a fight at the venue....

Rumours suggestingRIM was building support for Android apps into its BlackBerry operating system are beginning to sound a lot more credible after app developers ShopSavvy stated the Android version of their shopping app was found to be running on a number of different BlackBerry devices. ShopSavvy reporteddeployments of its Android app on three separate BlackBerry devices; the BlackBerry 8300, BlackBerry 8600 and BlackBerry 8520 were all logged accessing the applications over a three week period, emerging from Waterloo, Ontario – which also happens to be where RIM’s headquarters are based....

It seems the Dakota wasn’t just the only device leaked today, updates at foot of the post. The guys over atBoyGeniusReporthave gotten their hands on what looks to be RIM’s next flagship smartphone called the BlackBerry Dakota, a touch-QWERTY device that looks set to utilise the very best in smartphone technology. Both a high-resolution image and specifications were forthcoming, leading us to believe this wasn’t so much of a leak but a controlled and clever piece of marketing by the Canadian smartphone manufacturer, so soon after CES....

As theriotsthat plagued London over the weekend continue onto Monday,spreadingfrom Tottenham in the north down to Brixton in the south, the technology used by the rioters to coordinate their efforts is being called to account. Earlier today we wrote about the roleTwitterplayed in the London riots, but it transpires that BlackBerrys may also have been instrumental in organizing the riots. It seems thatBlackBerry Messenger(BBM) is the perfect instant messaging tool for rioters, given that it’s free to use (unlike text messages), and you can instantly see when someone has read a message....