Depending on how old you are, you might remember the concept of “The Weekend Game,” as in the title you rented or borrowed from a friend and beat in like 2 or 3 sittings between Friday and Sunday. And that was it. Maybe you replay a few levels to grab some collectibles, but nothing more than that. You had a good time,…
Source: Kotaku – New Vampire Horror Evil West: A Modern PS2 Action Game, In All The Best Ways
Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, is back on Twitter after owner Elon Musk reinstated his account on Sunday. Musk restored Ye’s Twitter account two weeks after it was locked for his antisemitic posts that went against Twitter’s hate speech policies.
Source: Gizmodo – Elon Musk Welcomes Ye’s Return to Twitter
Enlarge / The fourth-generation Echo device is a cloth-covered sphere with a halo at the base, contrasting with the squat plastic cylinders of earlier-generation Echoes. (credit: Amazon)
Amazon is going through the biggest layoffs in the company’s history right now, with a plan to eliminate some 10,000 jobs. One of the areas hit hardest is the Amazon Alexa voice assistant unit, which is apparently falling out of favor at the e-commerce giant. That’s according to a report from Business Insider, which details “the swift downfall of the voice assistant and Amazon’s larger hardware division.”
Alexa has been around for 10 years and has been a trailblazing voice assistant that was copied quite a bit by Google and Apple. Alexa never managed to create an ongoing revenue stream, though, so Alexa doesn’t really make any money. The Alexa division is part of the “Worldwide Digital” group along with Amazon Prime video, and Business Insider says that division lost $3 billion in just the first quarter of 2022, with “the vast majority” of the losses blamed on Alexa. That is apparently double the losses of any other division, and the report says the hardware team is on pace to lose $10 billion this year. It sounds like Amazon is tired of burning through all that cash.
The BI report spoke with “a dozen current and former employees on the company’s hardware team,” who described “a division in crisis.” Just about every plan to monetize Alexa has failed, with one former employee calling Alexa “a colossal failure of imagination,” and “a wasted opportunity.” This month’s layoffs are the end result of years of trying to turn things around. Alexa was given a huge runway at the company, back when it was reportedly the “pet project” of former CEO Jeff Bezos. An all-hands crisis meeting took place in 2019 to try to turn the monetization problem around, but that was fruitless. By late 2019, Alexa saw a hiring freeze, and Bezos started to lose interest in the project around 2020. Of course, Amazon now has an entirely new CEO, Andy Jassy, who apparently isn’t as interested in protecting Alexa.
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Source: Ars Technica – Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose billion this year
ASUS is introducing two versions of the GeForce RTX 4090 and 4080 in its Republic of Gamers and TUF Gaming lines, giving gamers stylish and robust options for the latest graphics cards.
Source: AnandTech – Sponsoed Post: Trying to Pick Out Your New RTX 40 Series GPU? ASUS Has Two Mighty Options For You
Anytime you have someone new over your house, one of the first questions they’ll ask is, “What’s the wifi?” Sure, you could tell them, but do you even know? To be honest, I don’t. If you’re like me, you have some convoluted wifi name and password combo on the bottom of your router you need to consult every time it’s…
Source: LifeHacker – Do This to Seamlessly Connect Guests to Your Wifi
In this guide you are going to learn how to install File browser on Ubuntu 22.04 and configure it with Nginx reverse proxy. We will also create a configuration file to specify the root directory and a systemd file to start file browser as a service using a specific user which Nginx uses www-data.
Source: LXer – How to Install File Browser on Ubuntu 22.04 with Nginx
Michael Larabel, reporting for Phoronix: This summer AMD announced the Radeon Raytracing Analyzer “RRA” as part of their developer software suite for helping to profile ray-tracing performance/issues on Windows and Linux with both Direct3D 12 and the Vulkan API. Initially the RRA 1.0 release was binary-only but now AMD has made good on their “GPUOpen” approach and made it open-source.
As noted back in my original article from July on the Radeon Raytracing Analyzer release:
“Radeon Raytracing Analyzer is hosted on GitHub but the only content in the actual Git repository right now is documentation, so it would appear that at least initially this is a closed-source package though some documentation also says it’s MIT licensed.”
Last week that was cleared up with the Radeon Raytracing Analyzer source code going public. There are build instructions for compiling the RRA 1.0 sources on both Microsoft Windows and Linux while the Linux instructions are tailoring to Ubuntu use. Building the Radeon Raytracing Analyzer depends upon the Qt 5.15 toolkit.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – AMD Finally Opens Up Its Radeon Raytracing Analyzer ‘RRA’ Source Code
The second phase of Lucasfilm’s High Republic era is making some big moves—mostly ones backwards, as we leap away from the dramatic climax of the transmedia campaign’s first phase to a time hundreds of years before it. And now, io9 has your look inside one of the next big steps of that sophomore chapter.
Source: Gizmodo – Get a Look Inside Star Wars: The High Republic Phase 2’s First Adult Novel, Convergence
Elon Musk’s displayed willingness to quickly burn bridges with anyone who opposes him at his assortment of companies might be biting him in the ass. In the most recent case, Neuralink’s former president, who parted ways with the company last year, now has his own rival brain company with $160 million in total funding.…
Source: Gizmodo – Neuralink Co-Founder Unveils Rival Company That Won’t Require Patients to Drill Holes in Their Skull
I received a notice in the mail some months ago that I was involved in a data breach a certain massive, multi-national telecomm company was settling. Like many people involved in such settlements, I was not offered a ludicrously small amount of money as a reward for being an unwitting victim. Instead, I was given the…
Source: LifeHacker – Identity Theft Protection Is Mostly Worthless
An image of an upcoming triple fan, triple slot, glowing red PowerColor graphics card has been shared by PowerColor on various social media channels. PowerColor is done being coy, and thus here we see a full-frontal picture of a substantial graphics card, which its social media team described as “The darkness dominator: Red Devil.” Also, PowerColor
Source: Hot Hardware – PowerColor Shows Off Its Radeon RX 7900 XTX Red Devil GPU And It’s HOT
Code sleuths at Mysk are challenging Apple’s vaunted focus on privacy. The developers claim Apple’s anonymous usage data for some in-house apps includes a Directory Services Identifier (DSID) uniquely linked to your Apple ID and iCloud data. Apple could potentially use this DSID to pinpoint your App Store browsing habits, according to Mysk. This seemingly contradicts Apple’s assertion that “none” of the data is personally identifying, and appears to extend to iOS 16.
The researchers previously shared findings that iOS 14.6 sends large volumes of first-party app activity to Apple, even if you completely disable device analytics or otherwise limit collection. This includes your iPhone model, keyboard languages and other details that could theoretically be used to fingerprint your device. Gizmodo notes that users filed a class action lawsuit against Apple after Mysk published its privacy data.
🚨 New Findings:
🧵 1/6
Apple’s analytics data include an ID called “dsId”. We were able to verify that “dsId” is the “Directory Services Identifier”, an ID that uniquely identifies an iCloud account. Meaning, Apple’s analytics can personally identify you 👇 pic.twitter.com/3DSUFwX3nV— Mysk 🇨🇦🇩🇪 (@mysk_co) November 21, 2022
We’ve asked Apple for comment, and will let you know if we hear back. Mysk pointed out that Apple’s tool to prevent third-party app tracking debuted in iOS 14.5, so this shouldn’t affect other software you use on your devices.
Just what Apple sees isn’t clear. As Gizmodoexplains, Apple encrypts the usage data and isn’t necessarily processing personal and general info together. The problem, as you might guess, is that Apple doesn’t detail its analytics collection practices. There’s a concern Apple might not be honoring its privacy promises, even if the data gathering is limited.
Source: Engadget – Researchers say iPhone usage data isn’t as anonymous as Apple claims
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plans to bring its most advanced technology to Arizona, the founder of the chip giant said Monday. From a report: TSMC’s plans come as tensions between Washington and Beijing are rising over chips, with President Joe Biden imposing a sweeping set of controls on the sale of advanced chips and chip-making equipment to Chinese firms. Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that the Chinese Communist Party claims as its own territory despite having never controlled it, has also faced growing military aggression from Beijing in recent months — throwing a spotlight on the critical role the island plays in the global chipmaking industry. TSMC accounts for an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced computer chips, supplying tech giants including Apple and Qualcomm.
“Chips are very important products,” TSMC’s founder Morris Chang said Monday at a press briefing in Taipei. “It seems that people are only starting to realize this recently, and as a result, lots of people out there are envious of Taiwan’s chip manufacturing.” Chang has retired but remains an influential force within the industry. […] Advances in chip manufacturing require etching ever-smaller transistors on to silicon wafers. Chang said its plant in Arizona will produce 3-nanometer chips, TSMC’s most advanced technology. In 2020, the company had already committed at least $12 billion to build its first facility in Arizona. At the time, the tech giant had said that the facility will “utilize TSMC’s 5-nanometer technology for semiconductor wafer fabrication” and “create over 1,600 high-tech professional jobs directly.” Production is expected to begin in 2024.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – TSMC To Bring Its Most Advanced Chip Manufacturing To Arizona
Mali Elfman’s Next Exit is a dark comedy that is deeply concerned with investigating life, death, and the veil in between—all things io9 discussed, along with the possibilities of ghosts, in a video interview with the writer-director.
Source: Gizmodo – Next Exit Is About Being Vulnerable While Facing Death
Rolling out a flaky pie crust is a pain in the ass. It’s temperature sensitive, needs beauty rest in the fridge, and even under the best conditions, it might crack under pressure. Well, good news: You never need roll out another pie crust. You can stop the precarious transfer of dough from counter to pie plate.…
Source: LifeHacker – Don’t Roll Out Your Pie Crusts and Do This Instead
NASA’s Orion spacecraft has successfully completed one of the key maneuvers of its maiden journey: a flyby of the Moon during which it got as close as 81 miles to the lunar surface. This was important for a few reasons, not least because it marked a critical test for the propulsion system.
Orion carried out four trajectory correction burns on its way to the Moon, but this time around, the orbital maneuvering system engine fired for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This accelerated Orion at a rate of more than 580MPH. At the time the burn started, the uncrewed spacecraft was traveling at 5,023MPH, 238 miles above the Moon. Shortly after the burn, it was 81 miles above the lunar surface and it was traveling at 5,102MPH.
The flyby burn was one of two necessary maneuvers for Orion to enter its retrograde orbit around the Moon. Next up is the distant retrograde orbit insertion burn, which is slated to take place on Friday at 4:52PM ET. Orion will remain in this orbit for around a week to test various systems, including guidance, navigation, communication, power and thermal control. Of note, the distant retrograde orbit will take Orion 40,000 miles past the Moon. The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on December 11th.
NASA will reveal more details about the flyby burn and offer updates on post-launch assessments for the Space Launch System rocket and Exploration Ground Systems (including the launch tower) at a press conference on Monday at 5PM ET. Meanwhile, engineers have been looking into RAM faults in the star tracker system, which have been resolved with power cycles. Another team examined an issue that has caused one of the eight service mobile units suppling solar array power to the crew module to open on a few occasions without a command. NASA says there have been no mission impacts as a result of these hiccups.
Source: Engadget – NASA’s Orion crew vehicle successfully completes Moon flyby
We’re less than a week into the life of Warzone 2.0, an upgraded version of the hit free-to-play battle royale spinoff for Call of Duty, and players already think they’re dying at the hands of invisible opponents. While Activision hasn’t officially acknowledged the potential bug, players are already swapping tales of…
Source: Kotaku – Warzone 2.0 Players Think They’re Being Killed By Invisible Foes
Enlarge (credit: Google)
This week is everyone’s favorite shopping holiday: Black Friday. Google’s Black Friday deals are already running on the Google Store and Amazon. Many of these represent the first discounts for Google’s new hardware announced last month.
First up, we have phones, with Google offering $150 off the Pixel 7 Pro (Google, Amazon) and Pixel 6a (Google, Amazon), and $100 off the Pixel 7 (Google, Amazon). That Pixel 6a deal is a serious head-turner: $150 off the already-good $449 price makes for a $300 device that will meet most people’s basic smartphone needs. Remember that the Pixel 6a has a near flagship-class Google Tensor 1 SoC. With Google (and really every other Android SoC vendor) not doing much performance-wise year over year, you’ll get nearly the same benchmarks from the Pixel 6a as the normally $900 Pixel 7 Pro, but now for a third of the price. It has a great camera, water resistance, Wi-Fi 6e support, and a fast and clean build of Android with day-one updates. You’re not going to wow anyone with a 60 Hz display, but if you just need a basic smartphone, this is a steal for $300.
The Pixel 7 Pro for $150 off is also a great deal. That makes for $750 for a phone with all the fancy extras, like a 120 Hz display and wireless charging.
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Source: Ars Technica – Google’s Black Friday deals: It’s hard to say no to a 0 Pixel 6a
The iPhone 14 was released market just two months ago, but speculation about the iPhone 15 is already in full swing. We’re going to take this opportunity to outline what new features, functions, and even sizes we might see coming in Apple’s next mobile flagship.
Much like the iPhone 14, the iPhone 15 is expected to have four releases, the
Source: Hot Hardware – Apple iPhone 15 Pro Rumor Roundup: Design, Features And Everything We Know So Far
When you think of podcast recording, you probably picture someone sitting in a studio with a Neumann microphone that costs more than your rent. Spotify wants to change that, making podcast creation something you can do in noisy environments and without expensive gear. The company’s one-button voice isolation feature, Podcast Audio Enhancement, debuts today in Spotify’s Anchor app for podcast creators.
The feature requires a single button press in the Anchor app. Doing so drowns out background noise, bringing your voice to the forefront. So if you want to record your latest episode on a crowded convention floor or at home with barking dogs or crying babies, you theoretically can, though we can’t say how effective it is just yet. In addition, the Anchor app lets you toggle the feature on and off during playback to compare the results.
Spotify isn’t the only Big Tech company to invest in voice isolation, as AI advances lead to better filtration without expensive dynamic microphones. For example, Zoom and Google Meet offer background noise reduction tech in virtual-meeting apps. But Spotify trying to improve audio to the point where it’s good enough to release as a podcast feels a bit tougher than just clearing things up on a video call.
After facing a Joe Rogan PR crisis earlier this year, Spotify continues its push to make itself a one-stop shop for podcast listening and creation. The push began in 2017 and accelerated in the following years as it became more evident how lucrative podcasts can be. The streaming service acquired publishing companies, struck a now-defunct deal with the Obamas and snatched up online production tools like Soundtrap. Spotify bought Anchor in 2019 for over $150 million and has since used it to make podcast creation as simple and effortless as possible.
Source: Engadget – Spotify adds one-click audio enhancement for podcast creators
