Monthly Archives: March 2023

Ads are coming for the Bing AI chatbot, as they come for all Microsoft products

Posted on by
Ads are coming for the Bing AI chatbot, as they come for all Microsoft products

Enlarge (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has spent a lot of time and energy over the last few months adding generative AI features to all its products, particularly its long-standing, long-struggling Bing search engine. And now the company is working on fusing this fast-moving, sometimes unsettling new technology with some old headaches: ads.

In a blog post earlier this week, Microsoft VP Yusuf Mehdi said the company was “exploring placing ads in the chat experience,” one of several things the company is doing “to share the ad revenue with partners whose content contributed to the chat response.” The company is also looking into ways to let Bing Chat show sources for its work, sort of like the ways Google, Bing, and other search engines display a source link below snippets of information they think might answer the question you asked.

One of Microsoft's experimental formats for highlighting information sources in Bing Chat.

One of Microsoft’s experimental formats for highlighting information sources in Bing Chat. (credit: Microsoft)

Sharing ad revenue with partners is an attempt to address a looming supply-and-demand problem for AI chatbots that dig through the Internet to find answers to user queries—someone needs to be making the content that Bing Chat uses to formulate its answers. If AI chatbots make content creation less lucrative, there’s less information out there for AI chatbots to sift through, making it even harder for them to do what they’re trying to do.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments



Source: Ars Technica – Ads are coming for the Bing AI chatbot, as they come for all Microsoft products

Keanu Reeves Celebrates John Wick Stunt Actors' Impressive Death Counts

Posted on by

John Wick star Keanu Reeves is universally regarded as a pretty cool guy. Maybe it’s his infectious giggle, his flowing locks, or his handling of a litter of golden retriever puppies. His roles as a stoic hitman in John Wick, a stoic supernatural detective in Constantine, or a loveable asshole in Cyberpunk 2077 don’t…

Read more…



Source: Kotaku – Keanu Reeves Celebrates John Wick Stunt Actors’ Impressive Death Counts

E3 2023 Gaming Expo Is Sadly Cancelled, Will It Ever Return?

Posted on by

E3 2023 Gaming Expo Is Sadly Cancelled, Will It Ever Return?
What once was gaming’s biggest yearly event has been called off once again this year. E3 has been canceled amid waning interest in attending the event among the industry’s biggest companies.

As was the case for most events during the recent COVID pandemic, E3 was forced to cancel its coveted event during the years 2020-2022. There were

Source: Hot Hardware – E3 2023 Gaming Expo Is Sadly Cancelled, Will It Ever Return?

A quarter century of Mozilla

Posted on by

The Mozilla project celebrates
25 years of existence.

A lot has changed since 1998. Mozilla is no longer just a bold
idea. We’re a family of organizations — a nonprofit, a public
benefit-corporation, and others — that builds products, fuels
movements, and invests in responsible tech.

And we’re no longer a small group of engineers in Netscape’s
Mountain View office. We’re technologists, researchers, and
activists located around the globe — not to mention tens of
thousands of volunteers.

But if a Mozillian from 1998 stepped into a Mozilla office (or
joined a Mozilla video call) in 2023, I think they’d quickly feel
something recognizable. A familiar spirit, and a familiar set of
values.



Source: LWN.net – A quarter century of Mozilla

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Stats Reveal The Two Most Played Classes

Posted on by

Now that Diablo IV’s beta is over, Blizzard has shared some interesting stats about the loot-grinding RPG and the way folks played it. Some of it is expected, like the fact that The Butcher killed over one million people while Ashava the Pestilent murked some 10 million others. But alongside revealing that y’all put…

Read more…



Source: Kotaku – Diablo IV’s Open Beta Stats Reveal The Two Most Played Classes

Kioxia and Western Digital Debut 218-Layer 3D NAND: 1Tb TLC with 3.2 GT/s IO Speed

Posted on by

Kioxia and Western Digital formally introduced their 8th Generation BiCS 3D NAND memory with 218 active layers. The new storage device offers a 1Tb capacity in 3D TLC mode and features 3200 MT/s data transfer speed, a combination that will enable SSD makers to build high-performance, high-capacity drives. To enable such an extreme interface speed, the companies adopted an architecture akin to YMTC’s Xtacking.


The 218-layer BiCS 3D NAND device jointly developed by Kioxia and Western Digital supports triple-level cell (TLC) and quad-level cell (QLC) configurations to maximize storage density and expand addressable applications. The companies said that the new device embraces their new ‘lateral shrink technology to increase bit density by over 50’ without elaborating. Considering that the flash memory IC increased the number of active layers by 34%, the claim about a 50% bit density increase indicates that developers also shrank lateral sizes of NAND cells to fit in more of them per layer. 


Meanwhile, the 218-layer 3D NAND device features a quad-plane architecture allowing for a higher level of parallelism for programming and read times and increased performance. In addition, the 218-layer 3D TLC device also has a 3200 MT/s (which could provide a 400 MB/s peak read/write speed) input/output interface, which is the highest I/O speed announced so far. High data transfer rates will be handy for high-end client and enterprise SSDs featuring a PCIe 5.0 interface.




Kioxia and Western Digital Fab 7, Yokkaichi Plant, Japan


The key innovation of the 8th Generation BiCS 3D NAND memory is the all-new CBA (CMOS directly Bonded to Array) architecture that implicates separate production of 3D NAND cell array wafers and I/O CMOS wafers using the most optimal process technologies and then bonding them together to create a final product that offers increased bit density and fast NAND I/O speed. Meanwhile, Kioxia and Western Digital must disclose details about their CBA architecture and whether the I/O CMOS wafers carry other NAND peripheral circuitry, like page buffers, sense amplifiers, and charge pumps.


Producing memory cells and peripheral circuits separately solves several problems as it allows manufacturers to make them using the most efficient process technologies in their sections of cleanrooms. This brings further benefits as the industry adopts methods like string stacking. 


Kioxia said it had started sample shipments of 8th Generation BiCS 3D NAND memory devices to select customers. Still, there is no word when the company expects to initiate volume production of its next-generation flash memory. It is not unusual for companies to announce new types of 3D NAND quarters before they enter mass production, so it is reasonable to expect 8th Gen BICS on the market in 2024.


“Through our unique engineering partnership, we have successfully launched the eighth-generation BiCS Flash with the industry’s highest 1-bit density,” said Masaki Momodomi, Chief Technology Officer at Kioxia Corporation. “I am pleased that Kioxia’s sample shipments for limited customers have started. By applying CBA technology and scaling innovations, we’ve advanced our portfolio of 3D flash memory technologies for use in various data-centric applications, including smartphones, IoT devices, and data centers.“




Source: AnandTech – Kioxia and Western Digital Debut 218-Layer 3D NAND: 1Tb TLC with 3.2 GT/s IO Speed

You Can Use Newspaper and Other Household Junk to Deter Weeds

Posted on by

As trees and plants start to bloom around us, so too do pesky weeds. Weeds are an annual frustration for many outdoor plant and gardening enthusiasts, but deterring them doesn’t need to be an expensive or laborious endeavor. In fact, you can use items you already have junking up your house.

Read more…



Source: LifeHacker – You Can Use Newspaper and Other Household Junk to Deter Weeds

Hey Chromebook Owners, You Can Finally Edit Videos With Google Photos

Posted on by

Hey Chromebook Owners, You Can Finally Edit Videos With Google Photos
A new video creator for Google Photos on ChromeOS is coming to your Chromebook as we speak. Designed for ease of use, this new video tool can quickly create movies from scratch or from preset themes.

Google has announced that its Google Photos video creation and editing features are finally getting a new look, allowing users to easily create

Source: Hot Hardware – Hey Chromebook Owners, You Can Finally Edit Videos With Google Photos

Here’s how the IRS‘s clean vehicle tax credit will change on April 18

Posted on by
18 May 2022, Lower Saxony, Salzgitter: An employee removes battery modules from a worn-out battery of an electric car in battery recycling at the VW plant in Salzgitter. Volkswagen is building a battery cell factory at its Salzgitter site for its planned large-scale production of the Group's own battery cells. New battery systems for electric cars are already being developed at the research and development center.

Enlarge / Until the beginning of this year, an EV’s tax credit was determined by the storage capacity of its battery pack. Now, the tax credit is linked to local manufacturing of components and locally sourced critical minerals. (credit: Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images)

It’s been a confusing few months for potential electric vehicle customers after the introduction of complicated new rules for the clean vehicle tax credit at the beginning of the year. Now the rules are changing once again.

On Thursday, the Internal Revenue Service published a draft of new guidance for the $7,500 clean vehicle tax credit and said that starting on April 18, it will begin enforcing the domestic sourcing requirement for battery minerals and components. As a result, many new EVs may not qualify for the tax credit.

Tell me the rules again

As we’ve detailed before, the revised clean vehicle tax credit has quite a few conditions that must be satisfied in order for that vehicle to be eligible.

Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments



Source: Ars Technica – Here’s how the IRS‘s clean vehicle tax credit will change on April 18

Watch us try to break Google Bard and Bing AI

Posted on by

The generative AI race is on, and the current frontrunners appear to be Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI, which is powered by ChatGPT. The two companies are also rushing to stuff their AI into all their software and productivity offerings, and look set to change the way we search and interact with the internet. But right now, both Bard and Bing are highly experimental and flawed, as they begin to conduct conversations with larger groups of the population and learn how to work with humans. That makes it the perfect time for us to prod and poke at the pair of chatbots and see not only who’s presently in the lead, but also how they might break. The results are not quite what we expected.

In our test, we asked both chatbots a series of questions to see which is better at delivering facts, replacing me at my job and participating in existential debates. We also looked at their speed, transparency and how likely they were to break if we started to push its buttons by being rude or flirty.

In just the short time that Bing and Bard have been open to the public, it seems like Microsoft and Google have updated their AI to be less “emotionally” reactive. Both chatbots tended to abstain from conversations that took accusatory turns or asked about human feelings like love. 

As we continue to explore the capabilities and limits of generative AI, it’s important to keep in mind the ethics and potential harm that could happen if companies carelessly chase trends without pausing to think. Check out our video to see how Bing and Bard handled questions like “can you fall in love” and “how would you answer the trolley problem.” 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/watch-us-try-to-break-google-bard-and-bing-ai-153052165.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Watch us try to break Google Bard and Bing AI

The Evolution Of Games Like Fortnite And Warzone Is Already Here

Posted on by

Battle royales have managed to pull off an unlikely scenario. The genre has remained relevant for players, streamers, and competitive-level play. And it’s not just one game: The genre currently has multiple, big-budget competitors existing alongside each other with relatively healthy player counts. But there are…

Read more…



Source: Kotaku – The Evolution Of Games Like Fortnite And Warzone Is Already Here

Surprisingly Useful Ways to Use Tension Rods Around Your Home

Posted on by

I love tension rods. No, really. I rent my apartment, so I’m always weary of doing anything too invasive or permanent to it, so screwing rods into the wall to hold up my curtains is out of the question to me. And tension rods are the perfect versatile—and temporary—tool that can do much more than hold up your shower…

Read more…



Source: LifeHacker – Surprisingly Useful Ways to Use Tension Rods Around Your Home

China Hits Micron With Review of Chips, Citing Security Risks

Posted on by

China has opened a cybersecurity review of imports from America’s largest memory chipmaker, Micron Technology, opening a new front in the escalating battle between the two countries over dominance in the semiconductor market. From a report: The Chinese government is conducting the review to ensure the security of its information infrastructure supply chain, prevent network security risks and maintain national security, it said in a statement Friday. The move stands to further escalate trade tensions between the Biden administration and China. The US has already blacklisted Chinese tech firms, sought to cut off the flow of sophisticated processors and banned its citizens from providing certain help to the country’s chip industry. It has called on other nations to join its efforts, and earlier on Friday, Japan said it will expand restrictions on exports of 23 types of leading-edge chipmaking technology.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – China Hits Micron With Review of Chips, Citing Security Risks

Pokémon Go Fans Angry As Remote Raids Get Worse, More Expensive

Posted on by

Pokémon Go has undergone a lot of changes over the past seven years, but the inclusion of Remote Raids and Remote Raid Passes have made the mobile game easier for players to participate without actually leaving their homes. However, it doesn’t sound like developer Niantic is thrilled about that. As such, it announced…

Read more…



Source: Kotaku – Pokémon Go Fans Angry As Remote Raids Get Worse, More Expensive