| From: Don Green | 6/16/2024 12:57:33 PM | | | | | | No Matter How You Package It, Apple Intelligence Is AIApple is eager to show us that its approach to artificial intelligence is safer, better, and more useful than the competition. Maybe that's just a hallucination, but it's working.
Steven Levy
Jun 14, 2024
Developers from all over the world attending WWDC24 at Apple Park.Courtesy of Apple
While companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and others had been upfront about their efforts in AI, for years Apple had been silent. Now, finally, its executives were talking. I got an advance look one day. Eager to shed the the impression that the most innovative of the tech giants was a laggard in this vital technology moment, its software leader Craig Federighi, services czar Eddie Cue, and top researchers argued that Apple had been a leader in AI for years but just didn’t make a big deal of it. Advanced machine learning was already deep in some of its products, and we could expect more, including advances in Siri. And since Apple valued data security more than competitors, its AI efforts would be distinguished by exacting privacy standards. How many people are working on AI at Apple, I asked. “A lot,” Federighi told me. Another executive emphasized that while AI could be transformative, Apple wanted nothing to do with the woo-woo aspects that excited some in the field, including the pursuit of superintelligence. “It’s a technique that will ultimately be a very Apple way of doing things,” said one executive. |
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| From: ig | 6/17/2024 1:57:46 AM | | | | | | Elon Musk Unveils Backpackable Starlink Device
Elon Musk announced the development of a new, highly portable Starlink device that can be easily carried in a backpack. This device is expected to provide high-speed internet access globally, with a latency of 23ms and the capability to support multiple 4K video streams simultaneously. The new Starlink device is anticipated to be more affordable than the standard version, with a lower purchase price and monthly subscription cost. Users and industry observers have expressed excitement and optimism about the potential impact of this technology, particularly in remote or underserved areas. - Grok
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| To: Don Green who wrote (1764) | 6/20/2024 9:24:40 AM | | From: ig | | | | Re: AI music
I'm not worried about musicians being put out of work. The world of music will simply continue to evolve. It's already full of high-tech, automated junk anyway -- the equivalent of Twinkies, Oreos, and Ho Hos. It will be interesting to see -- and hear -- how the music industry develops. |
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| From: Don Green | 6/23/2024 9:00:17 PM | | | | | | I've spent 48 hours with a Copilot Plus PC and I'm already worried
I was very excited when my Surface Laptop pre-order arrived two days ago, as I’ve been itching to try out these Arm-based, Snapdragon X-powered, Copilot Plus PCs (or whatever you want to call them) since the chipset was first announced in late 2023. Taking the battery-friendly, AI-ready, and ultra-connected benefits of the best smartphones and pairing it with performance that rivals best-in-class laptops sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, after just 48 hours with the new Surface Laptop, I’m starting to feel that might be accurate.
I should caveat this by stating that the office use element of the Copilot Plus PC experience is perfectly fine, great even. It’s flawlessly powering through writing this article with me, and the battery stats state that I’ve enjoyed two hours and 36 minutes of screen-on time since its last charge, and I still have 76% to go. The battery life on this thing seems pretty rock solid, so at least that’s one promise ticked off the list.
That said, several hiccups in the past 48 hours are undoubtedly pivoting my eventual review in a more negative direction. Namely, app emulation is hit-and-miss, and I don’t really see what all the AI fuss is about, given that Recall is on hiatus until later in the year.
Battery life is great for office workloads, but everything else is less convincing.
But before we get to that, let’s wrestle with this whole running Windows on Arm malarky. Yes, the battery-life benefits seem to be there (though more testing will tell), and the performance of native Arm applications is sublime if you can find them. And that’s the problem: I’m relying a whole lot on Microsoft’s Prism emulator layer to run x64 applications that aren’t yet natively built for Arm processors. Honestly, I’m surprised by how few of the apps I use on a daily basis don’t have native versions. Libre Office, Lightroom Classic, Discord, Asana, and any Steam game (of course) all rely on emulation. I knew my more niche apps from smaller developers, including Feishin and Jellyfin for media, would rely on emulation, but it’s surprising that so few big projects aren’t onboard by this stage. It’s not like Windows on Arm is new.
Unity game development on Arm and why it is important
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As for native support, I’ve used Photoshop, Slack, Spotify, Zoom, and the big three web browsers. The latter is where Microsoft gets its “90% of user minutes are running on Arm native” nonsense, but they all run great. Still, I’ve suffered a number of black screen glitches when running GPU-heavy pages in Edge with an external monitor that doesn’t appear with Firefox. Even native apps aren’t immune from issues, it seems.
Let’s be generous and say I have a 50/50 split of Arm and x64 apps installed. The problem remains that emulation performance feels so hit-and-miss. For instance, Lightroom Classic (just update it already, Adobe!) runs flawlessly when editing photos, but exporting JPEGs can bring it and other applications to their knees. On the other hand, Asana and Discord run like an egg and spoon race — stopping, starting, pausing, and loading. This is where Prism’s performance is a letdown; UI elements can temporarily freeze, sometimes system-wide, and I’ve even had music playback cut out for a split second. These issues don’t crop up very often, but when they do, you’re instantly reminded you’re not receiving the best Windows experience out there.
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
But that’s not the cardinal sin. No, the fact that most VPN apps don’t work because they don’t yet have native Arm versions might be an absolute deal breaker for some. I often need a VPN to check out regional website versions, and thankfully, I can still do that in my browser. However, many others have steeper requirements, including those in the enterprise space. Thankfully, VPNs are the only apps I’ve encountered that outright refuse to work.
Now, I’d cut Microsoft and developers some slack if Windows on Arm was a brand-new initiative, but Windows on Arm and Microsoft’s emulator have been around for seven freakin’ years, and we’ve had commercial products for six of them. How are we still discussing app development and emulation problems that Apple has eliminated in about half that time? It’s borderline ridiculous.
Windows has been emulating Arm for seven years, and it's still far from perfect.
OK, enough of the emulator bashing — the Snapdragon X Elite is powerful enough to brute-force its way through (most) of the minor issues. Let’s talk AI — it’s the key marketing material with these Copilot Plus PCs, after all. So what’s the Plus fuss all about? It’s a bit hard to tell. Windows Recall felt like the flagship feature, but that’s put on ice while Microsoft irons out some very warranted privacy concerns.
Without Recall, Copilot takes center stage as the most obvious user-facing AI feature, but the experience feels much the same as on regular PCs. Yes, the dedicated Copilot button to bring up a web app window is a nice touch (if you use AI a lot), but I still don’t trust Copilot (or any other text generator) for anything above mundane questions or reformatting the odd paragraph. With Copilot icons plastered across the toolbar and Edge browser, I’ve probably pressed the physical key three or four times in a couple of days. It hardly seems worth sacrificing good old right ctrl for.
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Other AI features are onboard, but they’re more niche. I haven’t yet found a use for the admittedly impressive Live Captions feature (yet), and asking Cocreator to draw anything with people in it is often horrifying. Still, I found Studio Effects more useful for a couple of Discord calls. Eye Contact looks a bit creepy, but auto-framing and the bokeh portrait feature work very well. That said, pretty much all conferencing apps have background options baked in without needing an NPU, so it hardly feels new and exciting.
The other AI feature I encountered was purely by accident. While benchmarking some AAA games, I noticed a popup in a couple of titles informing me that AI Super Resolution was activated. If you can live with a measly 1,152 x 768 resolution, AI upscaling pushes several games from sub-30fps to a much more comfortable 50-60fps. Snapdragon X’s ability to play AAA PC games is, surprisingly, not terrible and is probably the best showcase of the built-in NPU elevating the user experience meaningfully. Again, though, the list of supported titles is far from comprehensive, and the settings menu to manually configure .exes is tucked away well out of reach.
Hopefully, Copilot Plus PCs kickstart more meaningful app development for Arm.
And I think that sums up my whole experience with this Copilit Plus PC so far — it doesn’t feel finished. Are incomplete AI features and unpolished emulation acceptable trade-offs for better-than-average battery life? I’m not so sure at prices well over $1,000. I have a feeling that’s my eventual review summed up right there.
Still, perhaps we’re at the tipping point in this chicken-and-egg scenario: more powerful and interesting laptops mean that developers pay attention, kickstarting more native Arm builds, and the whole ecosystem quickly improves. Here’s hoping, but that’s no consolation for the bitter taste of disappointment I’m currently experiencing. The last two days don’t feel all that different from the last seven years of trying to justify the compromises.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 2024 Microsoft Surface Laptop 2024
Powerful performance • Longest battery life • AI enhancements |
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| From: S. maltophilia | 6/25/2024 2:29:30 PM | | | | | | Flooding the zone is dirt cheap:
....If that latter story sounds familiar that’s because it is a blatant, uncredited rip-off of a story I published on 404 Media the same day. I was able to publish it alongside 52 other articles that day all by myself because I created an entirely autonomous, ChatGPT-powered technology news site that steals other people’s original reporting for just $365.63.
It wasn’t hard to set up, and didn’t require one of the most advanced large language models in the world, but since this is the second technology news and investigations website I’m running these days, I outsourced its creation to a Fiverr freelancer in Turkey. I told him what I wanted, picked a layout, and two days later got a fully operational website.
What I learned from this experiment is that flooding the internet with an infinite amount of what could pass for journalism is cheap and even easier than I....
https://www.404media.co/email/18c1328f-ac22-4786-8157-981a9eafe2fc/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter |
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| From: Don Green | 6/28/2024 4:33:35 PM | | | | | | 1000R vs. 1500R vs. 1800R Curved Monitors - What’s the difference? Which one is better?
Curved monitor specifications often list a number followed by the letter ‘R,’ like 1000R, 1800R, etc. If you’re wondering what this means, how they differ, and how it affects your buying choices, you’ve come to the right place.
What is Monitor Curvature?
A curved monitor can bend sharply or gradually, and its curvature indicates how much a particular monitor curves. This monitor curvature is measured in millimeters and denoted by ‘R.’
As you can see in the image above, a curved monitor’s shape is simply an arc (section of a circle). The smaller the radius of this arc, the more its curvature.
Not coincidentally, the human field of view is also curved. Hence, curved monitors help even the edges of a large monitor stay within the confines of your vision. What’s more, it does this while minimizing the strain on your eyes and neck.
On the other hand, when you’re using a relatively larger flat screen monitor, you inevitably will have certain parts of the screen (edges) that are at a much sharper angle to you compared to the rest of your display. There are two key issues here –
- It can cause perceivable distortion to images at the edges of your display
- You could suffer from increased eye fatigue due to constant changes in your eyes’ plane of view while glancing across the screen.
Different Monitor Curvatures: 1000R, 1500R, and 1800R
You’ve probably figured this out already, but here’s how it goes – the shorter the radius, the smaller the circle and, thus, more pronounced the curve. So, a 1000R curved monitor is more curved than an 1800R curved monitor. The R stands for ‘Radius’; the number preceding it indicates the radius (in mm) of a monitor’s curvature.
What is a 1000R Curved Monitor?
As you’ll recall, a monitor’s curve is simply a section of a complete circle (also called an arc). The radius of this circle (and the arc) is that number you see before the ‘R.’ So, to answer your question – a 1000R curved monitor indicates a curved monitor that forms a complete circle with a radius of 1000mm or 1 meter.
A 1000R curved monitor most closely matches the curvature of our field of vision, which allows it to deliver the most comfortable viewing experience of any curved monitor.
What are 1500R and 1800R Curved Monitors?
A 1500R Curved Monitor completes a circle with a radius of 1500mm (1.5 meters), while an 1800R Curved Monitor indicates a curvature with a radius of 1800mm (1.8 meters).
Advantages of Going 1000R vs. 1800R or 1500R for Gaming
When you’re gaming, you want as broad a view of the battlefield while also ensuring a relaxing experience during those long hours spent in front of a screen. Here are a few advantages gamers can enjoy when using a 1000R Curved Gaming Monitor:
? The natural curve of a 1000R Curved Gaming Monitor helps you stay focused on what’s happening, even on large monitors.
? Better depth perception enhances how immersed you feel in expansive game worlds.
? It matches the curvature of how we humans see the world. Not only does this make a 1000R curve much easier on the eyes as you scan across the screen, but it also helps blur the boundary between the real and virtual world.
? Boosts realism in simulation games like Forza Horizon 4 or Microsoft Flight Simulator.
? Because the periphery of a 1000R Curved Monitor sits within your natural field of view, you’ll be more reactive in fast-paced, competitive shooters as well.
? It helps you reduce strain on both your eyes and neck as you no longer have to move your head side-to-side to accommodate the edges of your display. Instead, a 1000R Curve brings those edges into as much focus as the center of your screen.
1000R Curved Monitors: Just Perfect
Matching the curvature of our field of view is no mean feat. It ensures that you remain at the center of all that action on-screen, while also granting you access to so much additional screen real estate. A combination of expansive game worlds and gorgeous graphics transports you into virtual worlds like never before.
Whether you’re playing the latest games or enjoying the latest shows on Netflix, a 1000R curved monitor is one of the best ways to ensure complete, near-perfect immersion.
If you’re still not too sure whether a 1000R curve will be ‘too curved’ for you, check out our “ 5 Reasons Why You Should Upgrade to a 1000R Curved monitor ".
See More Information: msi.gm |
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| From: S. maltophilia | 7/3/2024 2:54:43 PM | | | | | | Google Says AI Could Break Reality
Emanuel Maiberg
· Jul 3, 2024 at 8:14 AM
“While these uses of GenAI are often neither overtly malicious nor explicitly violate these tools’ content policies or terms of services, their potential for harm is significant.”
Generative AI could “distort collective understanding of socio-political reality or scientific consensus,” and in many cases is already doing that, according to a new research paper from Google, one of the biggest companies in the world building, deploying, and promoting generative AI.
The paper, “Generative AI Misuse: A Taxonomy of Tactics and Insights from......
404media.co |
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