If you’ve ever experienced even a mild electrical shock, you know how powerful—and frightening—it can be. There are more than 50,000 electrical fires in the U.S. every year, and close to 400 people are electrocuted annually. Even if getting a dose of voltage doesn’t kill you, it’s not a pleasant experience, and being…
Source: LifeHacker – All the Stuff in Your Home You Should Be Testing for Voltage
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
On Monday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on AI that outlines the federal government’s first comprehensive regulations on generative AI systems. The order includes testing mandates for advanced AI models to ensure they can’t be used for creating weapons, suggestions for watermarking AI-generated media, and provisions addressing privacy and job displacement.
In the United States, an executive order allows the president to manage and operate the federal government. Using his authority to set terms for government contracts, Biden aims to influence AI standards by stipulating that federal agencies must only enter into contracts with companies that comply with the government’s newly outlined AI regulations. This approach utilizes the federal government’s purchasing power to drive compliance with the newly set standards.
As of press time Monday, the White House had not yet released the full text of the executive order, but from the Fact Sheet authored by the administration and through reporting on drafts of the order by Politico and The New York Times, we can relay a picture of its content. Some parts of the order reflect positions first specified in Biden’s 2022 “AI Bill of Rights” guidelines, which we covered last October.
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Source: Ars Technica – Biden issues sweeping executive order that touches AI risk, deepfakes, privacy
The New Stack covers
a conference talk by Bjarne Stroustrup on turning C++ into a safer
language.
Stroustrup has arrived at his solution: profiles. (That is, a set
of rules which, when followed, achieve specific safety guarantees.)
They’d be defined by the ISO C++ standard, addressing common safety
issues like pointers and array ranges. In response to a later
question from the audience about the difficulty of adding new
tooling, Stroustrup pointed out that the C++ compiler itself is now
a pretty sophisticated static analyzer, and could also be tasked
with meeting the profile’s requirements.
Source: LWN.net – Bjarne Stroustrup’s Plan for Bringing Safety to C++ (The New Stack)
The GNU Linux-libre project announced today the release and general availability of the GNU Linux-libre 6.6 kernel for those who seek 100% freedom for their GNU/Linux computers.
Source: LXer – GNU Linux-Libre 6.6 Kernel Released for Software Freedom Lovers
An anonymous reader shares a report: PFAS stands for “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” a family of upwards of 15,000 or more human-made and incredibly durable chemical compounds that have been used in countless industrial and consumer applications for decades. Firefighting foams, waterproof hiking boots, raincoats, nonstick frying pans, dental floss, lipstick, and even the ink used to label packaging — all can contain PFAS. The compounds are ubiquitous in drinking water and soil, even migrating to Arctic sea ice. PFAS are called forever chemicals because once present in the environment, they do not degrade or break down. They accumulate, are transferred throughout the watershed, and ultimately persist.
The quest to reduce the amount of PFAS in the environment is what led me to an industrial park in a southern suburb of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The jar of PFAS concentrate in my hand is part of a demonstration arranged by my hosts, Revive Environmental, during a tour of the company’s PFAS destruction site, one of the first in the country to operate commercially and at scale. A few yards in front of me sits the company’s PFAS “Annihilator” in a white shipping container.
The Annihilator represents just one of several technologies now vying to break down and destroy PFAS. These span the gamut from established processes like electrochemical oxidation and supercritical water oxidation to emerging techniques relying on ultraviolet light, plasma, ultrasound, or catalyst-driven thermal processes. Some are deployed in field tests. Other companies are actively running pilot programs, many with various divisions of the US Department of Defense and other government agencies. And many other technologies are still undergoing laboratory research. There’s good reason for this. Not only are PFAS everywhere around us; they’re also in us. Humans can’t break down PFAS, and our bodies struggle to clear them from our systems. Studies suggest they’re in my blood and yours — the majority of Americans,’ in fact — and they have been linked to increased risks of kidney and testicular cancer, decreased infant birthweights, and high blood pressure. And that’s only what we know about now: researchers continue to grapple with the full impacts of PFAS on human and environmental health.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – The Race To Destroy PFAS, the Forever Chemicals
Amazon’s flagship Fire Max 11 tablet just dropped to a record-low price of $150, representing a savings of $80 from the MSRP of $230. That’s 35 percent off, for you math-heads out there. This deal is for the standard tablet and doesn’t include a stylus, keyboard or any other accessories. Being as this is an Amazon tablet, you also get those ads on the lockscreen, but they are fairly unobtrusive.
This is the most powerful Fire tablet out there, with an 11-inch LCD screen, a slim aluminum frame and Alexa-powered smart home controls. You get a fingerprint sensor in the power button, WiFi 6 support and split-screen/picture-in-picture features. We were impressed by the inherent value of the tablet at its full price, so we are 35 percent more impressed now.
The Fire Max 11 is also light, weighing around a pound, and is designed around multi-tasking, with an octa-core MediaTek processor that is nearly twice as fast as any other Amazon-branded tablet. In other words, this is a far cry from the kinds of affordable, kid-friendly tablets the company typically releases.
There’s a keyboard and stylus available for this device, but you’ll pay extra for the added functionality. There are bundles that include these accessories that are also on sale, ranging from $185 to $275.
Speaking of sales, this is part of a larger early Black Friday event that includes many other Amazon tablets. You can snag the Fire HD 10 for $75, which is half off, or the Fire 7 Kids edition for just $55. The Fire 10 Plus and the Fire 10 Kids Pro tablets are also both on sale for a limited time.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-fire-max-11-tablet-just-dropped-to-a-record-low-price-of-150-163018884.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Amazon’s Fire Max 11 tablet just dropped to a record-low price of 0
With news of actor Matthew Perry’s passing over the weekend, fans are understandably reacting by re-watching episodes of Friends, the hit NBC sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004 and featured an ensemble including Perry as Chandler Bing. All 10 seasons are streaming on Max, and the streamer has added a tribute to the…
Source: Gizmodo – Max Adds Matthew Perry Tribute to Each Friends Season Opener
Enlarge (credit: Getty | UniversalImagesGroup)
The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to ditch 26 over-the-counter eye drop products found at big retailers—including CVS, Rite Aid, and Target—due to a risk of infection. Consumers should not buy any of the products and should immediately stop using them if they’ve already purchased them.
The products include Target’s branded Up & Up Dry Eye Relief Lubricant Eye Drops and Up & Up Extreme Relief Dry Eye, as well as Lubricant Eye Drops and Lubricant Gel Drops branded by CVS Health and Rite Aid. The warning also includes eye drop products branded as Rugby and Leader (both from Cardinal Health) and Velocity Pharma. A full list can be found here, as can links to report adverse events.
In an advisory posted Friday, the FDA reported that no infections or adverse events have been linked to the products so far. But the agency said it “found insanitary conditions in the manufacturing facility and positive bacterial test results from environmental sampling of critical drug production areas in the facility.”
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Source: Ars Technica – FDA warns of infection risk from 26 big-brand eye drops; stop using immediately
The 6.6 kernel was released,
right on schedule, on October 29. This development cycle saw the
addition of 14,069 non-merge changesets from 1,978 developers — fairly
typical numbers for recent releases. The time has come for LWN’s
traditional look at where the changes in this release came from, along with
a look at the longer development “supercycle” that (probably) ends with
6.6.
Source: LWN.net – [$] Some 6.6 development statistics
Google’s Pixel Tablet is one of the more compelling options for those in the market for an Android tablet, as it’s designed to double as a smart display when you aren’t holding it. If you’ve been thinking of picking one up, now looks like a good time to do so: The 11-inch slate is on sale for $399 at multiple retailers, including Amazon, Target, Best Buy and Google’s own online store. While there’s always a chance we see a better offer on Black Friday, this $100 discount marks a new all-time low. It’s also $10 less than the previous low we saw during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale earlier this month. This price applies to the base models with 128GB of storage; if you need more space, the 256GB versions are also $100 off at $499. Google says the offer will run through November 5.
We gave the Pixel Tablet a score of 85 in our review this past June, and we highlight it in our guide to the best tablets. While we don’t think it’s better purely as a tablet than our top Android pick, the vibrant Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, it’s a good ways cheaper, and it’s still more than competent for streaming video, playing games and doing most of the other casual things people do with a tablet. Its 2,560 x 1,600 LCD is crisp and punchy, its Tensor G2 chip is fast enough, its 5,000mAh battery should last a full day and the hardware doesn’t feel cheap. This is still an Android tablet, so some apps aren’t as optimized for this large display as they are on an iPad, but Google at least promises to supply the device with OS and security updates through June 2026 and June 2028, respectively.
That smart display functionality is the Pixel Tablet’s big selling point, though. Included with the device is a dock that both charges the device and provides a dedicated speaker — plop the Pixel Tablet on, and the slate becomes something like a detachable Nest Hub Max. You can use it to control and monitor smart home devices, access the Google Assistant, cast video from your phone, display photos, stream music and so on.
There are still issues: There’s no headphone jack, the display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and we had a few software quirks with the tablet’s “Hub Mode” during the review process. Generally speaking, though, the Pixel Tablet is a clever melding of two useful devices. A few other Google devices are also on sale this week, including the unlocked Pixel 7a for $374, the Pixel Buds Pro for $119 and the indoor Nest Cam for $70, among others.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-pixel-tablet-is-on-sale-for-a-new-low-of-399-161521267.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Google’s Pixel Tablet is on sale for a new low of 9
As part of the next phase of human spaceflight beyond Earth, one question remains when it comes to the exploration, and possible colonization, of another world: Can we have babies in space?
Source: Gizmodo – Scientists Grow Mouse Embryos in Space for the First Time
After 30 minutes or so with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, I was fully invested. A broad grin crept across my mug as my Na’vi bounded from platform to platform up a mountain in the sky. The rousing music, lush vegetation and minimal user interface pulled me into Ubisoft’s take on Pandora. Having ikran, the distant moon’s answer to dragons, swooping around during my ascent helped me feel like I was actually exploring this alien environment.
The journey up to the ikran rookery was the highlight of my two hours or so with the game, closely followed by having the chance to explore Pandora from the skies after bonding with my new companion. Calling your new irkan flying friend to swoop in and rescue you in mid-air is thrilling, and your sidekick can land pretty much anywhere.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is an open-world adventure game from Ubisoft studio Massive Entertainment. It’s a canonical part of James Cameron’s fictional universe and it’s set shortly before the events of Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to the original 2009 film. Frontiers of Pandora was initially supposed to arrive at around the same time as The Way of Water, but Ubisoft pushed it back to this year.
As massively successful as the Avatar movies have been at the box office, they’ve hardly made much of a lasting cultural impact. I saw Avatar three times in theaters because of its absorbing spectacle, but had forgotten almost everything within a year and had to rewatch it before checking out the long-delayed sequel. I appreciate the technical wizardry and astonishing visuals of the films, as well as their salient points about environmentalism and colonialism, but the plots are largely rudimentary.
With more time and scope, the game has a chance to tell a richer narrative. Your character and some other Na’vi were kidnapped at a young age and were trained to serve under the RDA, a human military operation that’s harvesting resources from Pandora. Something goes wrong and the protagonist is put into emergency cryosleep. After waking up 15 years later, you’re effectively an outsider and need to relearn the ways of the Na’vi.
That’s a setup that effectively draws the player in as someone who needs to gradually understand how everything works. Naturally, as one of the Na’vi, you’ll square off against the RDA and try to drive them from Pandora.
My demo started with a modest fetch mission. I had to harvest some nectar needed for a ritual. After taking a few minutes to drink in the unusual flora and get my bearings, I made my way over to a mangrove hive. Harvesting the nectar involves a minigame that I’m sure will become annoying after having to do it a few times. You need to use a thumbstick to find the correct angle to pull an item from a plant or tree. Thankfully, Ubisoft offers the option to turn off this special interaction, much like you can skip the irritating pickpocketing minigame in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
The publisher’s most recent open-world title is a blast. That was largely helped by Ubisoft showing restraint and avoiding much of the bloat for which it’s become notorious over the last several years. I was worried that Ubisoft would revert back to its old habits and stuff too many things into Frontiers of Pandora; it’s difficult to say whether that’s the case, based on a relatively brief look at an early section
Between side missions, looting, crafting and exploring, there’s certainly going to be lots to keep you busy outside of the main quests. You’ll be able to experiment with cooking by combining ingredients and seeing what happens (a familiar task to anyone who has played a recent Zelda game). This doesn’t seem too complex as you can only cook with two ingredients at once. Eating food can be helpful as meals can provide temporary boosts to things like base health and damage delivered while in stealth. It can also help you recover health. There are the expected multiple skill trees to juggle too, focused on survival, combat, hunting, crafting and ikran riding.
Most of these features seem additive rather than things that will pull you too far from the main story. On that note, it’s too early to say whether the narrative of the game will be much better than the humdrum narratives of either Avatar film (I’m still not over the rare mineral humans were mining from Pandora being called “unobtainium”).
After learning how to use your ikran, you’ll need to disable some aerial devices that are disrupting a Na’vi clan and then take out an enemy base. Destroying those floating beacons isn’t too difficult. You’ll need to use your hacking tools to disable the device before blowing it up. This section gave me a chance to try out aerial combat as RDA aircraft hover around the beacons to protect them. Playing on normal mode, I found that it was pretty easy to take down the flying machines with an automatic rifle (your Na’vi is pretty comfortable with guns after their RDA training).
Defeating mechs and human opponents is relatively straightforward too — unless you get overeager and rush headlong into an RDA base, only to get overwhelmed by enemies. I did just that a couple of times and died on each attempt. Taking a stealthy approach was both more successful and satisfying. Your Na’vi is powerful, so their bows are effective against humans and mechs alike. Taking out a soldier from a long distance with the longbow and thunking large arrows into mechs using the heavy bow helps to thin out the numbers without causing too much of a ruckus.
I deftly snuck between tunnels and pipes as I disabled drill towers and generators. When the enemies eventually discovered me, I made good use of my rifle as well as the staffsling to hurl explosives at them. Frontiers of Pandora affords you a lot of freedom when it comes to combat, and I enjoyed figuring out the best approach to various encounters.
The side missions I was able to try add some flavor too. One will see you taking out RDA installations and outposts to reduce pollution. Elsewhere, you’ll free animals that the military operation has captured.
Some aspects of the demo were unintuitive, however. I spent a few minutes figuring out how to ascend a steep cliff face before realizing I had to shoot a plant with my bow so it would drop a climbable vine. That was a little frustrating, as was not immediately knowing how to use the hacking tool — you need to apply just enough pressure to the controller’s trigger to line up two circles.
Overall, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is showing a lot of promise. I went into the demo with low expectations after a gameplay showcase in June left me underwhelmed, much like the two Avatar movies did. But now I can’t wait to jump back in and once again soar through the skies on my own ikran.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Amazon Luna on December 7.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/avatar-frontiers-of-pandoras-adventurous-spirit-might-just-win-you-over-160024430.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s adventurous spirit might just win you over
OpenAI is rolling out new beta features for ChatGPT Plus members right now. Subscribers have reported that the update includes the ability to upload files and work with them, as well as multimodal support. From a report: Basically, users won’t have to select modes like Browse with Bing from the GPT-4 dropdown — it will instead guess what they want based on context. The new features bring a dash of the office features offered by its ChatGPT Enterprise plan to the standalone individual chatbot subscription. I don’t seem to have the multimodal update on my own Plus plan, but I was able to test out the Advanced Data Analysis feature, which seems to work about as expected. Once the file is fed to ChatGPT, it takes a few moments to digest the file before it’s ready to work with it, and then the chatbot can do things like summarize data, answer questions, or generate data visualizations based on prompts.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – ChatGPT Plus Members Can Upload and Analyze Files in the Latest Beta
Samsung’s One UI 6 update brings a number of features to the Galaxy camera that promise to improve your photos. These six new features are marketed to both serious photographers as well as the average smartphone user.
Source: Gizmodo – Samsung’s One UI 6 Update Adds AI Camera Features to Level Up Your Photography
Right now, this Seido Japanese eight-piece knife set—designed with strong high-carbon stainless steel—is on sale for $129.97 (reg. $429) through Oct. 31. Typically, western knife blades have a 25-degree angle, but these Japanese knives have a 15-degree angle, which creates a distinguished, sharper-cutting face.
Source: LifeHacker – This Eight-Piece Japanese Knife Set Is 0 Right Now
A recently uncovered Rockstar Games patent suggests the developer could be using new technology to make NPCs in its games more immersive, particularly when it comes to the highly anticipated action-adventure crime sim GTA VI.
Source: Kotaku – GTA VI Patent Hints At Rockstar’s Most Immersive Game Yet
There are a lot of Earths in the vast, varied, and occasionally blown-up Marvel multiverse—realities that have now grown to encompass the alternate universes not just in comics, but games, cartoons, live action TV, and yes, movies. But now Marvel is set to draw the ire of very specific nerds, and also presumably The…
Source: Gizmodo – New Marvel Book Designates MCU as Earth-616, Creating More Multiversal Headaches
If multiple people in your household use your Apple Music account, chances are your recommendations are all messed up. Since Apple Music’s algorithms use your listening history to suggest music you might like, other people can easily “corrupt” your history by bringing their preferences into your account.
Source: LifeHacker – You Can Automatically (Temporarily) Disable Your Apple Music Listening History
Japanese researchers have successfully grown mouse embryos in space for the first time. While doing such a thing may sound pointless on the surface, it is vital to research if humans ever propagate during future space travel as we look to set foot on distant planets.
As space agencies continue to move forward with plans to one day have
Source: Hot Hardware – Researchers Grow Mouse Embryos In Space For The First Time, Why This Matters
European Union antitrust regulators set a Feb. 14 deadline to approve Amazon’s $1.4 billion purchase of iRobot, the maker of Roomba, according to a report Reuters Monday. The extended deadline gives the European Commission two more months to approve the deal, which Amazon has lowered its bid for amid regulatory delays…
Source: Gizmodo – Amazon’s iRobot Takeover on Course for Approval by February
