Over a decade has passed since Christopher Paolini last published a book in The Inheritance Cycle, and he returns to Alagaësia, this time following a fan-favorite character from the original series, Murtagh. Picking up a year after 2011’s Inheritance, Murtagh, alongside his dragon, Thorn, is searching for meaning in a…
Source: Gizmodo – Read an Excerpt from Murtagh, the Newest Book in the Inheritance Cycle
Google is coming for Honey and other deal-finding tools by introducing new features on Search and Chrome to help users find discounts. From a report: The tech giant announced on Tuesday that it’s adding a designated page for deals on Search, while Chrome is getting features that proactively look for discount codes and provide users with price insights. The new deals search results page on Search is designed to help users find products that are on sale from across the web in one designated spot. The page will display deals in categories like apparel, electronics, toys and beauty. You’ll also find deals from different types of merchants, including big box stores, DTC brands, luxury multi-brand retailers, designer labels and local stores.
Users can scroll through deals by category and also see popular stores that have deals on what you’re looking for. If you see something you’re interested in, you can click on the product or visit the merchant site to learn more. Google says that if you’re signed into your Google account, the page will take into account what you usually like to shop. To access the new deals page, you need to search “shop deals.” Or, if you’re looking for something specific, you can search for categories like “shop sneaker deals.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google Search and Chrome Are Getting New Tools To Help Users Find Discounts
Resident leaker @Zed__Wang on X (Twitter) leaked a photo of NVIDIA’s supposed new RTX 40 Super series branding, featuring the rumored GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER moniker. If the packaging material is legitimate, it confirms that NVIDIA will be launching a GeForce RTX 40 series SUPER refresh next year.
The photo reveals how NVIDIA’s new packaging
Source: Hot Hardware – NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Is Real If This Cheesy Packaging Leak Is Legit
Everyone’s talking about how creepy generative AI is, so Google Photos won’t let you edit pictures of your driver’s license, ID cards, or anything personally identifiable. If you try to use the Magic Editor with a compatible Pixel device, Photos pops up a window to let you know it can’t complete the action since it…
Source: Gizmodo – Google Photos Won’t Let You Use Magic Editor to Make a Fake ID
Google is rolling out AI features to all of its products, one after another. Bard is popping up in apps like Docs, Sheets, and Gmail, while artificial intelligence arrived on Google Maps a couple of weeks ago. Now, the AI revolution is coming to YouTube, but only to a limited group.
Source: LifeHacker – You Can Try These New YouTube AI Features Right Now
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood performers, has reportedly responded to studios’ “last, best and final” offer to end the strike, rejecting clauses that would let them re-use AI-created likenesses of high-demand and deceased performers without consent. The union allegedly plans to make a counter-offer that removes the current AI-related language. “They can’t have that loophole to exploit performers,” a union-side source told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday. “We could not allow that language to stand.”
THR reports that The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) proposed to “secure AI scans” for Schedule F performers (union members earning more than $32,000 per TV episode or $60,000 per film). The studios’ suggested deal would require them to pay once to scan the likenesses of Schedule F performers without paying for their use or re-use — essentially giving them eternal rights to their likenesses after paying once upfront.
An even more striking detail is that the way the proposal was written appears to advocate for limitless use of dead performers’ AI-created likenesses without proper permission. “The language currently in the AMPTP’s offer would see the studios and streamers secure the right to use scans of deceased performers without the consent of their estate or SAG-AFTRA,” writes THR. SAG-AFTRA reportedly wants to attach a consent requirement and compensation for each time a studio or streamer re-uses performers’ AI scans.
“We think it’s not just reasonable but is absolutely vital to the sustainability of the performance industry,” a source told THR. “[The Schedule F AI language in the AMPTP’s proposal] behooves them to have you dead in that they need consent when you’re alive but not when you’re dead.”
SAG-AFTRA reportedly updated union members about negotiations on Monday, assuring them it won’t agree to a lousy contract. “Please know every member of our TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee is determined to secure the right deal and thereby bring this strike to an end responsibly,” the union wrote to its members. “There are several essential items on which we still do not have an agreement, including AI. We will keep you informed as events unfold.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hollywood-studios-reportedly-want-to-recycle-dead-actors-ai-likenesses-without-family-permission-202227014.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Hollywood studios reportedly want to recycle dead actors’ AI likenesses without family permission
We probably agree that “Modern Warfare III” is a bad name for a brand-new Call of Duty game. It doesn’t help that 2011 first-person shooter Modern Warfare 3 is, to this day, a fan-favorite title in the neverending war series, while series reboot Modern Warfare III, which releases officially on November 10, is…
Source: Kotaku – Modern Warfare III Haters Are Review-Bombing The Wrong Game
There has been a lot of action for the Python C API in the last month or
so—much of it organizational in nature. As predicted in our late September article on using the “limited”
C API in the standard library, the core developer sprint in October was the
scene of some discussions about the API and the plans for it. Out
of those discussions have come two PEPs, one of which describes the API,
its purposes, strengths, and weaknesses, while the other would establish a C
API working group to coordinate and oversee the development and maintenance
of it.
Source: LWN.net – [$] Progress in wrangling the Python C API
Early last week, Israel’s Arrow 2 missile system successfully intercepted and destroyed a suborbital ballistic missile suspected of launching from Yemen. It’s a notable technological achievement, but one with potentially serious legal and geopolitical implications.
Source: Gizmodo – Humanity Just Witnessed Its First Space Battle
Discover my new favorite console-based media player, known as Spectrum, with a built-in equalizer and fantastic look, and learn its installation and usage instructions.
Source: LXer – Spectrum is a CLI Music Player for Linux
Texas will vote on whether to give the oil and gas industry billions to make its barely-working power grid more reliable while ignoring the benefits of renewable energy. This comes two years after a winter storm shut off power for millions of Texans, and a heat wave this past summer that pushed the power grid to its…
Source: Gizmodo – Texas’ Screwed-Up Power Grid Is on the Ballot
Tech groups have called on ministers to clarify the extent of proposed powers that they fear would allow the UK government to intervene and block the rollout of new privacy features for messaging apps. FT: The Investigatory Powers Amendment Bill, which was set out in the King’s Speech on Tuesday, would oblige companies to inform the Home Office in advance about any security or privacy features they want to add to their platforms, including encryption. At present, the government has the power to force telecoms companies and messaging platforms to supply data on national security grounds and to help with criminal investigations.
The new legislation was designed to “recalibrate” those powers to respond to risks posed to public safety by multinational tech companies rolling out new services that “preclude lawful access to data,” the government said. But Meredith Whittaker, president of private messaging group Signal, urged ministers to provide more clarity on what she described as a “bellicose” proposal amid fears that, if enacted, the new legislation would allow ministers and officials to veto the introduction of new safety features. “We will need to see the details, but what is being described suggests an astonishing level of technically confused government over-reach that will make it nearly impossible for any service, homegrown or foreign, to operate with integrity in the UK,” she told the Financial Times.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Tech Groups Fear New Powers Will Allow UK To Block Encryption
My oldest son and I have a tradition every Sunday afternoon: we watch a movie that his younger brother isn’t old enough to see yet. We started with the Toho Godzilla series and moved to live-action Disney movies, free from language and intense violence.
Source: LifeHacker – The Best PG-13 Movies to Watch With Your Kid
A very enticing performance optimization was merged yesterday into the OpenZFS codebase to enhance the write performance scalability…
Source: Phoronix – OpenZFS Lands Sync Parallelism To Drive Big Gains For Write Performance Scalability
Ubisoft Montreal just laid off 98 people as part of a corporate restructuring and reorganization effort, as reported by Kotaku. The cuts primarily impact workers in business administration services and IT. Ubisoft says it will support “all affected Canadian employees” with severance packages and “career assistance to help them navigate their transition.”
The Montreal office is widely considered to be the most reputable subsidiary of Ubisoft and its largest in-house development team, employing around 4,000 people. Ubisoft Montreal is responsible for many of the company’s big-wig franchises, from Assassin’s Creed to Far Cry and Rainbow Six Siege.
Ubisoft wrote in a statement provided to Kotaku that it feels the “utmost gratitude and respect” for the impacted employees and noted that these cuts do not extend to the various production teams, likely to assuage consumers worried about game delays. In addition to the 98 that have already been let go, Ubisoft Montreal anticipates about two dozen more layoffs in the near future.
Ubisoft has been on a firing spree this past year, laying off over 1,000 people from its various global branches, according to its most recent earnings report. This has led to some game cancellations, like the arena battler Project Q, among others. Despite these layoffs, the company still employs over 19,000 people worldwide.
This is, of course, part of a larger trend that finds multiple game studios laying off people as a cost cutting measure. Epic Games slashed its workforce by 16 percent earlier this year and CD Projekt Red, the company behind Cyberpunk 2077, laid off 100 employees back in July. The same thing has been happening across the entire tech space, as Google, Microsoft, Meta, IBM and many more companies turned 2023 into a bonanza of pink slips.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-montreal-lays-off-98-people-as-part-of-a-corporate-restructuring-effort-195616771.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Ubisoft Montreal lays off 98 people as part of a corporate restructuring effort
The next Mass Effect game has been shrouded in mystery since its 2020 Game Awards reveal. November 7 is N7 Day, when BioWare and fans celebrate the science-fiction RPG series. But this year’s a little different. The studio gave us a couple teasers for the next game, at the same time as laid-off QA workers are picketing…
Source: Kotaku – New Mass Effect Teasers Finally Confirm What We’ve All Been Guessing
Revenant Hill, an adventure game about cute animals and shitty landlords, was supposed to be the next project from the makers of the critically-acclaimed 2017 GOTY contender, Night in the Woods. Today, indie collective The Glory Society announced it would effectively be canceled following unexpected medical…
Source: Kotaku – Night In The Woods Devs Cancel Highly Anticipated Follow-Up
Four episodes in, season seven of Rick and Morty has already introduced new voices (who sound just like old voices), as well as packed in fan-favorite side characters and guest stars. But amid the partying, grotesque mutations, and horrifying spaghetti reveals, the biggest theme so far has been the importance of…
Source: Gizmodo – Rick and Morty’s Dan Harmon on Bringing Rick’s Nemesis Into Season 7
This summer, I became a bit of a boat girl. My boyfriend got a boat and suddenly, I was learning about fishing, docking, navigating, and the uniqueness of marina culture. Perhaps the most valuable thing I learned, though, was about soft scrub. I’d never used it before, but this abrasive cleaner became a deeply…
Source: LifeHacker – Make This Cheap and Easy DIY Soft Scrub
Nature has retracted a controversial paper claiming the discovery of a superconductor — a material that carries electrical currents with zero resistance — capable of operating at room temperature and relatively low pressure. From a report: The text of the retraction notice states that it was requested by eight co-authors. “They have expressed the view as researchers who contributed to the work that the published paper does not accurately reflect the provenance of the investigated materials, the experimental measurements undertaken and the data-processing protocols applied,” it says, adding that these co-authors “have concluded that these issues undermine the integrity of the published paper.”
It is the third high-profile retraction of a paper by the two lead authors, physicists Ranga Dias at the University of Rochester in New York and Ashkan Salamat at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Nature withdrew a separate paper last year and Physical Review Letters retracted one this August. It spells more trouble in particular for Dias, whom some researchers allege plagiarized portions of his PhD thesis. Dias has objected to the first two retractions and not responded regarding the latest. Salamat approved the two this year. “It is at this point hardly surprising that the team of Dias and Salamat has a third high-profile paper being retracted,” says Paul Canfield, a physicist at Iowa State University in Ames and at Ames National Laboratory. Many physicists had seen the Nature retraction as inevitable after the other two — and especially since The Wall Street Journal and Science reported in September that 8 of the 11 authors of the paper — including Salamat — had requested it in a letter to the journal.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Nature Retracts Controversial Superconductivity Paper By Embattled Physicist