Some Hyundai and Kia vehicle owners are able to receive free steering wheel locks as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to combat a recent spate of vehicle break-ins. The locks will be distributed alongside an upgraded anti-theft technology which the company rolled out last month to eligible vehicles including the…
Source: Gizmodo – Hyundai and Kia Offer Free Steering Wheel Locks After Rise in Vehicle Thefts
Cottage cheese is important to me. Without it, I would devolve into a hangry, pouty pile of woman, and I would definitely have a hard time meeting my daily protein goal—a goal I am still getting used to, even after a year of weight training. The concept of eating to get stronger feels novel, which is weird because…
Source: LifeHacker – Turn Cottage Cheese Into a Creamy, Protein-Packed Pasta Sauce
There’s good news and bad news for Lego fans next month. Unlike March, which brought with it some 45 new building sets, April arrives with just 14 new Lego introductions, and promises to be a little easier on budgets still recovering from last month.
Source: io9 – Budget Accordingly for the Best Lego Sets You Can Finally Buy in April
According to a leaked internal memo, Google Assistant appears to be taking a backseat to the company’s newest superstar Bard. Google launched Bard, a ChatGPT competitor, to the public last week.
The memo to Google employees on Wednesday was sent from Vice President and Lead of Google Assistant’s business unit, Sissie Hsiao. Titled “Changes
Source: Hot Hardware – Google Assistant’s Future Is In Question As Priorities Shift To Bard AI Chatbot
Have you ever wanted a gaming tablet that coordinates with street-style fashion? No? You’re getting one anyway. Hypebeastreports that ASUS is teaming up with German label Acronym to release the special edition ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 gaming tablet. The hybrid PC includes a chassis platform that both protects the machine and lets you attach slings that attach to Acronym jackets, like one that hangs the system off your chest. If you just have to play a game before you sit down, you can — although you will look like you should be selling hot dogs at a baseball game.
Other customizations include the usual abundance of branding on-screen and off. Even the detachable keyboard is themed around Acronym colors, although you might appreciate that touch when it highlights the WASD key combo used by so many first-person shooter games.
Thankfully, there’s some substance to back up the style. The Acronym ROG Flow Z13 runs on a Core i9, 32GB of RAM, GeForce RTX 40-series mobile graphics and a 1TB SSD. You’ll still get a 13.4-inch display with a full DCI-P3 color range and a 165Hz refresh rate. We wouldn’t expect great battery life given the mediocre runtime of past models, but that’s not really the point — this is a gaming PC that just happens to be usable as a Surface-style tablet in a pinch.
This isn’t the first collaboration between the brands. ASUS and Acronym previously released the ROG Zephyrus G14-ACRNM RMT01 laptop in 2020. This is a more elaborate project, however, and certainly the first where the computer and clothing are meant to work together.
The ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 should be available April 3rd for $2,500 through Amazon and ASUS. That’s a lot to pay for a gaming tablet, especially when you can buy the regular Z13 for $1,750. With that said, it’s not often you can buy any tablet PC that truly stands out. This is as much a conversation piece as it is a computer, especially if you’re determined to wear it as a fashion accessory.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/asus-high-fashion-gaming-tablet-is-a-must-have-for-hot-dog-vendors-everywhere-145117128.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – ASUS’ high-fashion gaming tablet is a must-have for hot dog vendors everywhere
As a general rule, the purpose behind mounting a filesystem is to make that
filesystem’s contents visible to the system, or at least to the mount
namespace where that mount occurs. For similar reasons, it is unusual to
mount one filesystem on top of another, since that would cause the contents
of the over-mounted filesystem to be hidden. There are exceptions to
everything, though, and that extends to mounted filesystems; a
“tucking” mechanism proposed by Christian Brauner is designed to hide
mounted filesystems underneath other mounts — temporarily, at least.
Source: LWN.net – [$] An operation for filesystem tucking
More new-gen exclusives are slowly starting to trickle out onto the PlayStation 5 and developers are now trying harder than ever to explain why they needed to ditch the PS4, and why it’s worth making a game a console exclusive. Previously it was Guerrilla Games with Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shores DLC which…
Source: Kotaku – Final Fantasy XVI Dev Is Out Here Promising Next-Gen PS5 Wind You Can Feel
India is hunting for new spyware with a lower profile than the controversial Pegasus system blacklisted by the US government, with rival surveillance software makers preparing bids on lucrative deals being offered by Narendra Modi’s government. Financial Times: Defence and intelligence officials from the South Asian country have decided to acquire spyware from less exposed competitors to the NSO Group, the Israeli makers of Pegasus, according to people familiar with the move, seeking to spend up to $120mn through new spyware contracts. About a dozen competitors are expected to join the bidding process, according to two people with knowledge of the talks, stepping into the void created by the pressure on NSO from human rights groups and the administration of US President Joe Biden.
India’s move shows how demand for this sophisticated — and largely unregulated — technology remains strong despite growing evidence that governments worldwide have abused spyware by targeting dissidents and critics. India has never publicly acknowledged being a customer of NSO. However, the company’s malware has been found on the phones of journalists, left-leaning academics and opposition leaders around India, sparking a political crisis. Pegasus can turn phones into surveillance devices and can hoover up encrypted WhatsApp and Signal messages surreptitiously. Modi government officials have grown concerned about the “PR problem” caused by the ability of human rights groups to forensically trace Pegasus, as well as warnings from Apple and WhatsApp to those who have been targeted, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – India Hunts For Spyware That Rivals Controversial Pegasus System
Drew Carey isn’t afraid of AI. Instead, The Price is Right host and longtime improv comedian is embracing the technology. During a recent episode of his SiriusXM radio show, “Friday Night Freakout,” Carey used an artificially generated version of his voice to handle most of his DJ work, reading a script written by ChatGPT. His AI voice kicked off the show, introduced upcoming songs and recapped what listeners were hearing. As an experiment to see just how far AI could go on the radio, the episode was mostly a success. But Carey’s fans weren’t happy about it.
“I violated a rule from Radio 101,” Carey told me. His Twitter fans complained that the voice sounded soulless, and that they missed the “real Drew.” “The reason FM stations and treasured radio stations still make money is because people like the personality of the DJs,” he said. “You don’t have to be like a big boss radio guy and be phony. You can just talk… that’s what listeners like.”
While his fans were ultimately forgiving of the experiment, Carey says he got the message: “Don’t do it again.”
For many entertainers, AI could be viewed as yet another threat in an increasingly precarious industry. Soon after ElevenLabs introduced a beta version of its AI voice tool — the same software Carey used for his radio show — online trolls used it to impersonate Emma Watson, Joe Rogan and other celebrities. Watsons’ simulated voice read portions of the Mein Kampf aloud, while other deepfaked voices made openly racist and transphobic statements, according to Vice.
Carey’s AI voice wasn’t perfect: It sounded a tad robotic, it didn’t have the inflections his fans have grown to love over the years, and the ChatGPT-written script was noticeably simplistic. But if you were driving down the highway late at night, and you just wanted a bit of company alongside some classic rock, it’s possible you wouldn’t notice the DJ wasn’t human. In fact, ElevenLabs recently partnered with Super HI-Fi to create “fully customized and personalized” AI driven radio stations.
“I was just playing with it, and I wanted to show what it was capable of,” he said. “Plus, I thought, oh, I don’t want to show everybody how to make an exact copy of my voice right now. I thought it might screw me over somehow. So I had that little fear in the back of my head.”
It took a weekend for Carey and a friend, who already had experience training ChatGPT and other AI tools, to create his AI voice. ChatGPT wrote 99 percent of his radio show’s script, though Carey made a few tweaks of his own. Funny enough, when he asked the chatbot to write a joke about how easy it was to use, it wrote the line “even Drew Carey can use it.” (Perhaps ChatGPT is just trying to snag a spot on the inevitable Whose Line Is It Anyway? revival.)
Carey envisions AI being used in the future for the grunt work of radio and other production. Perhaps it could read a script late at night, or churn out some ad copy. When I asked if that’s a potential problem for newcomers, he noted, “There are no blacksmiths anymore… If you’re a mechanic that works on internal combustion engine cars, if you don’t make the switch to electric soon, you’re out of a job.”
According to a recent Goldman Sachs report, up to 300 million jobs around the world could be automated thanks to recent advancements in AI. But the bank’s economists also point out that major innovations that replace some jobs typically lead to the creation of new roles. And for those who are only partially impacted by AI, they’ll likely be able to complement their work with generative intelligence.
For celebrities like Carey, AI could also be a way for them to continue working indefinitely, long after they’ve retired or passed on. James Earl Jones’s voice has already been reconstructed for the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he’s approved future work to “keep Vader alive.” Eventually, actors (and their estates) could sign off on AI clones that entertain us for generations to come.
Carey isn’t afraid of such an outcome. “You know what, if the price is right, anything can happen,” he said when I asked if he’d ever sell his digital likeness. “I’m not worried about CGI Drew Carey taking over, because people want to see me, they want some kind of host. They want that interaction.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/drew-carey-made-a-radio-show-with-ai-fans-werent-pleased-143014038.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Drew Carey made a radio show with AI. Fans weren’t pleased.
Swatting has become a game for some, and in this most recent case of fake cop calls, a kind of roleplay opportunity for those on the sidelines. On Wednesday, Federal law enforcement indicted a Seattle man and alleged “prolific swatter” on 10 counts of extortion and threats for placing more than 20 fake calls to police…
Source: Gizmodo – Feds Say Serial Swatter Had a Discord for Fans to Follow His Exploits
Most of the time, horror is ugly. Whether they’re chunky zombies in Dead Island 2 or grotesque titans in Attack on Titan, the objects of our attention are intrinsically repulsive to us. Hell’s Paradise tries a very different approach. The manga, which ran from 2018-2021, juxtaposes beauty with ugliness, and delicate…
Source: Kotaku – Most Horror Anime Is Dark And Gritty. This One Is Gorgeous
The cheeseball is an irresistible snack. It’s their versatility and inviting shape that make them so alluring. You can make them sweet or savory, grapefruit-sized or personal, and it turns out they provide a perfect canvas for theming. Let’s start with Easter and turn the cheeseball into a snack worthy of any egg hunt.
Source: LifeHacker – Give Your Cheeseball a Festive Easter Makeover
There’s something oddly ironic about an automaker selling booze but if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Elon Musk over the years, it’s that he’s willing to don his honey badger hat and buck convention. Hence you can head over to his Tesla storefront and order yourself a mini case of beer, each of which comes in a “Cybertruck-inspired
Source: Hot Hardware – Tesla Brews GigaBier, A Beer In A Collectible Bottle Inspired By The Cybertruck
CodeFormer is command-line software which offers blind face restoration. This aims at recovering high-quality faces from the low-quality counterparts suffering from unknown degradation, such as low-resolution, noise, blur, compression artifacts, etc.
Source: LXer – Machine Learning in Linux: CodeFormer – face restoration
Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications group, has plans to literally launch a 4G network on the moon to help with future human lunar expansion. One thing’s for sure: the monthly data rates will be astronomical.
According to CNBC, Nokia has booked a ride on a SpaceX rocket in the coming months to launch the initial infrastructure to establish
Source: Hot Hardware – Nokia Is Hitching A Ride On SpaceX To Build A 4G Network On The Moon, No Fooling
David Cronenberg is set to start filming what will likely be another horror masterpiece in April, and I’m looking forward to The Shroud more than I’m looking forward to my next birthday. From the Spider-verse, Thomas Hayden Church (who played the Sandman in various films) might be ready for a return to Marvel. Plus,…
Source: Gizmodo – Anya Taylor-Joy Promises Her Furiosa Prequel Is “Epic”
One of the biggest gripes I’ve heard about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom regards Nintendo’s decision to revisit the same location, especially given the limitations of the Switch. The fear is that we’re going to get a very incremental follow-up to one of the best games of all time. But the fact that it’s…
Source: Kotaku – Comparing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Map To Breath Of The Wild Sparks Juicy Fan Theories
Italy temporarily blocked access to ChatGPT on Friday, and the country’s data privacy regulator said it would begin an investigation into the company behind the popular chatbot, OpenAI.
Source: Gizmodo – Italy Bans ChatGPT and Says It Will Investigate OpenAI
US banks, already hesitant to work with crypto customers, are now even warier of providing services to the industry after a string of regional-lender collapses and amid heightened scrutiny by regulators. From a report: The closure of crypto-friendly Silvergate Capital and seizure of Signature Bank has left crypto firms struggling to find new banks for depository and payment services. While there’s no blanket ban on serving crypto clients, financial firms are imposing lengthy application procedures, turning away smaller companies and some retail platforms, and in some cases shutting the door on crypto businesses altogether, according to industry participants, investors and bank executives.
Cross River Bank, for example, received requests from more than 100 new clients — not all of whom were crypto companies — seeking a safe harbor for their deposits within days of SVB Financial Group’s Silicon Valley Bank and Signature collapsing, according to a person with direct knowledge of the bank’s business. The closely held company turned down almost all those requests, the person said. Among the few crypto companies that have won over the bank is stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial, which expanded a partnership with Cross River, announced after Silicon Valley Bank failed. Earlier this month, lenders that were bidding to buy failed Signature Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. specifically asked not to take on the digital-assets business, according to a person familiar with the process. Signature’s crypto business was not part of the eventual takeover by New York Community Bancorp, and the FDIC is still seeking to sell Signet, Signature’s real-time payments network for crypto firms.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Banks Warier of Serving Crypto Clients After Blowups, Scrutiny
