Monthly Archives: November 2023

Dbrand is Suing Casetify For Ripping Off Its Teardown Designs

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New submitter Kiddo 9000 writes: Dbrand, a company known best for making cases for phones, game consoles, and laptops, has filed a lawsuit against case manufacturer CASETiFY over their “Inside Out” case lineup. Dbrand alleges that CASETiFY copied the designs from their Teardown skins and put them on their own products without permission. In a video published by JerryRigEverything, several easter eggs placed in the Teardown skins were found in the CASETiFY designs, alongside numerous tweaks and layout changes, and even Dbrand’s logo.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Dbrand is Suing Casetify For Ripping Off Its Teardown Designs

UE5 project reimagines Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the style of Studio Ghibli

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A YouTuber named RwanLink recreated Castle Town from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a Studio Ghibli film and released a digital short to show off their efforts. This is to celebrate the game’s 25th anniversary and the YouTuber made the environment and characters in Unreal Engine 5, putting in over 600 hours of work to complete the project. It was a one person job, aside from the music, as reported by Eurogamer.

It’s got a gorgeous opening cinematic in the style of, you guessed it, Studio Ghibli, which is followed up by gameplay in Castle Town. The gameplay recalls Wind Waker, obviously, and even newer cel-shaded Zelda titles like Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild. There are Gorons, Gerudo, Hylians aplenty and, oddly, some ladies who look pulled straight from the Renaissance. The big bad himself, Ganondorf, also shows up.

The gameplay looks a bit choppy, but it’s still extremely impressive. There are dozens upon dozens of NPCs just about everywhere, many more than would be present in an actual Zelda game. The music is on-point and it just looks, well, cute and fun to explore, like a Zelda title should.

This project comes just a couple of weeks after the official announcement of a live action Zelda movie. Some fans were a bit displeased with the whole idea of a live action film at all, as animation seems to be the best way to do the story and characters justice, particularly something that draws from Studio Ghibli. Still, we’ll see when the film releases if director Wes Ball, from the Maze Runner films, can pull a cucco out of a hat.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ue5-project-reimagines-zelda-ocarina-of-time-in-the-style-of-studio-ghibli-173030994.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – UE5 project reimagines Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the style of Studio Ghibli

Anthropic's Claude AI Chatbot Is Now Nearly 2X More Capable Than ChatGPT

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Anthropic's Claude AI Chatbot Is Now Nearly 2X More Capable Than ChatGPT
If you’re reading this site, you’re almost assuredly aware of the impressive GPT-4 language model, the basis of recent versions of ChatGPT as well as Bing Chat. OpenAI’s GPT family of AI models are only one of many different language models, though. Anthropic’s AI Claude is a similarly-capable language model in comparison to GPT-3, but it

Source: Hot Hardware – Anthropic’s Claude AI Chatbot Is Now Nearly 2X More Capable Than ChatGPT

Audible Premium Plus is only $6 for the first four months in an Amazon Black Friday deal

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Nearly 30 years after Amazon started as an online bookseller, products like the Kindle and services like Audible have kept quite an emphasis on reading. Now, in the lead-up to Black Friday (which Amazon also really focuses on), the company is running a massive sale on Audible subscriptions. Audible Premium Plus is currently 60 percent off — dropping to $6 per month from $15. Plus, it comes with a $20 Audible credit. It’s even cheaper than the basic Audible Plus plan, which costs $8 per month.

Audible is a great digital gift to get friends or family if you’re not going to see them in person this holiday season. Audible’s Premium Plus subscription comes with one credit every month to purchase a new or best-selling title. It also has thousands of included titles you can download anytime — including podcasts and Audible originals — and exclusive sales for members. 

The deal covers the first four months of the subscription before returning to $15 per month — though you can cancel any time. You also have until Monday, November 27, to participate (it’s Audible, so it’s not like you have to worry about stock running out). After that, the best deal is an Annual Premium Plus Plan, which, at $150 for the year, saves you $30. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audible-premium-plus-is-only-6-for-the-first-four-months-in-an-amazon-black-friday-deal-160016758.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Audible Premium Plus is only for the first four months in an Amazon Black Friday deal

ChatGPT Generates Fake Data Set To Support Scientific Hypothesis

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Researchers have used the technology behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT to create a fake clinical-trial data set to support an unverified scientific claim. From a report: In a paper published in JAMA Ophthalmology on 9 November, the authors used GPT-4 — the latest version of the large language model on which ChatGPT runs — paired with Advanced Data Analysis (ADA), a model that incorporates the programming language Python and can perform statistical analysis and create data visualizations. The AI-generated data compared the outcomes of two surgical procedures and indicated — wrongly — that one treatment is better than the other.

“Our aim was to highlight that, in a few minutes, you can create a data set that is not supported by real original data, and it is also opposite or in the other direction compared to the evidence that are available,” says study co-author Giuseppe Giannaccare, an eye surgeon at the University of Cagliari in Italy. The ability of AI to fabricate convincing data adds to concern among researchers and journal editors about research integrity. “It was one thing that generative AI could be used to generate texts that would not be detectable using plagiarism software, but the capacity to create fake but realistic data sets is a next level of worry,” says Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist and independent research-integrity consultant in San Francisco, California. “It will make it very easy for any researcher or group of researchers to create fake measurements on non-existent patients, fake answers to questionnaires or to generate a large data set on animal experiments.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – ChatGPT Generates Fake Data Set To Support Scientific Hypothesis

10 Indie Games That Deserve A Spot On Your Steam Wishlist

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When over 50 indie games come out a day on Steam alone, it can feel impossible to keep up with what’s worth playing. One of the best techniques is to curate a wishlist, meaning games that deserve attention float to the surface on release. And that’s where we can help: here are ten games you’ve likely never heard of,…

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Source: Kotaku – 10 Indie Games That Deserve A Spot On Your Steam Wishlist

The Pop Culture We're Thankful for Getting Us Through 2023

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Beyond the basics of life that we all have to be thankful for, each and every year brings us pop culture that helps make our lives more enjoyable. That goes for movie, games, trends, characters—anything that has brought us some joy and happiness in the past year or so. And, as we’ve been doing the last few years,…

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Source: io9 – The Pop Culture We’re Thankful for Getting Us Through 2023

NYC Will Soon Be Home To 15 Robot-Run Vegetarian Restaurants From Chipotle's Founder

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The founder of Chipotle is opening a new endeavor called Kernel, a vegetarian fast-casual restaurant that will be operated mostly by robots. Steve Ells is opening at least 15 locations of Kernel, the first by early 2024; the remainder are on track for NYC in the next two years, a spokesperson confirms. From a report: Kernel will serve vegetarian sandwiches, salads, and sides, made in a space that’s around 1,000 square-feet or smaller. Each location would employ three workers, the Wall Street Journal reported, “rather than the dozen that many fast-casual eateries have working.” The menu pricing will be on par with Chipotle’s, and, Ells says, the company will pay more and offer better benefits for actual humans working than other chains.

As you’d expect from the former CEO of Chipotle — which had at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018, costing the company $25 million per the Justice Department — “the new system’s design helps better ensure food safety,” Ells told the Journal. It has taken $10 million in his personal funds to start Kernel, along with $36 million from investors. The company suggests customers may not want much interaction with other people — and neither do CEOs. “We’ve taken a lot of human interaction out of the process and left just enough,” he told the Journal. Yet in a 2022 study on the future of dining out conducted by commerce site, PYMNTS, of 2,500 people surveyed, 63 percent of diners believe restaurants are becoming increasingly understaffed, and 39 percent said that they are becoming less personal.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – NYC Will Soon Be Home To 15 Robot-Run Vegetarian Restaurants From Chipotle’s Founder

Apple Black Friday deals: The second-gen Apple Pencil drops to a new low of $82

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With Black Friday deals popping up all over the place for the last week or so, perhaps you’ve already treated yourself or a loved one to a new iPad. It may be that you (or the recipient) is someone who would like to sketch or take notes on the tablet. As such, you may be looking to pick up an Apple Pencil. There’s some good news in that case — all three Apple Pencil models are on sale on Amazon for Black Friday.

Of the trio, the second-gen Apple Pencil has the widest array of features. That model has dropped to a new record low price of $82, which is $47 off. The previous best price we’ve seen was $85.

The second-gen Apple Pencil is one of the best iPad accessories around. Apple designed it (and the other two models) specifically to work with the iPad, and it’s the best stylus you can snap up for the company’s tablets.

The second-gen model has a double-tap feature that you can customize to switch between preferred tools and it offers low latency. Other features include tilt sensitivity, pressure sensitivity and what Apple claims is “pixel-perfect precision.”

One big advantage that the second-gen Apple Pencil has over its two siblings is wireless charging. It attaches magnetically to the side of a compatible iPad while it recharges. This Apple Pencil works with iPad Pro 12.9-inch (third-gen and later), all iPad Pro 11-inch models, iPad Air (fourth and fifth generation) and the sixth-gen iPad mini.

The other two Apple Pencils are on sale too. The USB-C model, which Apple only started selling this month, has fallen from $79 to $71.10. It works with every iPad that has a USB-C charging port. It has some, but not all of the capabilities of the second-gen Apple Pencil, such as support for a hover feature on M2-powered iPads. This lets you sneak a peek at any mark you plan to make before it’s applied to your sketch, annotation or notes. You can also magnetically attach the USB-C Apple Pencil to the side of supported iPads, but it won’t charge wirelessly.

If you happen to have an older iPad that isn’t supported by those styluses, you can opt for the original Apple Pencil, which is on sale for $72.88. That’s 26 percent off the usual price of $99. It supports low latency, tilt sensitivity and pressure sensitivity.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-black-friday-deals-the-second-gen-apple-pencil-drops-to-a-new-low-of-82-160056239.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Apple Black Friday deals: The second-gen Apple Pencil drops to a new low of

NASA Caught A Laser-Beamed Message Sent To Earth From 10 Million Miles Away

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NASA Caught A Laser-Beamed Message Sent To Earth From 10 Million Miles Away
NASA caught a frickin’ laser beam from 10 million miles away and the space agency finds it groovy baby. No, the near-infrared laser beam was not from Dr. Evil’s deep space lair, but rather from NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment.

During its journey to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the Psyche spacecraft

Source: Hot Hardware – NASA Caught A Laser-Beamed Message Sent To Earth From 10 Million Miles Away

Scientists May Have Figured Out Why Red Wine Gives You a Headache

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New research may eventually help solve a mystery relevant to holiday drinkers. Scientists at the University of California Davis and elsewhere believe they’ve figured out why some people quickly develop headaches after drinking red wine but not other alcoholic beverages: too much of a particular flavonoid that mixes…

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Source: Gizmodo – Scientists May Have Figured Out Why Red Wine Gives You a Headache

Former GTA Developer Silenced By Rockstar For Sharing Fun Anecdotes

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Former Rockstar North developer Obbe Vermeij had been enjoying a few weeks of sharing some decades-old tales. Reminiscing on his many days with the GTA developer, Vermeij took to his personal blog to recall revealing inside stories behind games like San Andreas and Vice City, and everyone was having a good time. Until…

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Source: Kotaku – Former GTA Developer Silenced By Rockstar For Sharing Fun Anecdotes

Game On! Huge Black Friday Deals On PS5, Xbox And Switch Titles Are Live

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Game On! Huge Black Friday Deals On PS5, Xbox And Switch Titles Are Live
Like a band of seductive sea nymphs tempting sailors to change course, retailers are luring gamers with Black Friday discounts on games for every major platform. Only instead of using alluring voices to ultimately steer anyone to a rocky demise, retailers are singing the song of savings to prevent gamers from paying full price (gross!) for

Source: Hot Hardware – Game On! Huge Black Friday Deals On PS5, Xbox And Switch Titles Are Live

Imagination PowerVR Open-Source GPU Driver To Be Introduced In Linux 6.8

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It’s been well over a decade since many were wanting open-source Imagination PowerVR graphics when their graphics IP was more common among SoCs, but with the Linux 6.8 kernel in early 2024 there will finally be an upstream, open-source PowerVR DRM kernel graphics driver! But before getting your hopes too high, this is the effort that’s only around the newer PowerVR graphics and not the prior generation hardware from many years ago…

Source: Phoronix – Imagination PowerVR Open-Source GPU Driver To Be Introduced In Linux 6.8

Anthony Levandowski Reboots Church of AI

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Anthony Levandowski, a tech entrepreneur and self-driving car pioneer, said he’s rebooting his AI church in a renewed attempt at creating a religious movement focused on the worship and understanding of artificial intelligence. From a report: Levandowski’s so-called Way of the Future was founded in 2015 but shut its doors a few years later. The congregation at the new church, which shares the original’s name, has “a couple thousand people” coming together to build a spiritual connection between humans and AI, its founder said.

Levandowski made the remarks during an interview for the latest episode of the Bloomberg Originals series AI IRL, available to stream now. “How does a person in rural America relate to this? What does this mean for their job?” he said. “Way of the Future is a mechanism for them to understand and participate and shape the public discourse as to how we think technology should be built to improve you.”

The existence of the original church became public in 2017, years before the viral success of ChatGPT brought AI into mainstream consciousness. Levandowski’s idea raised eyebrows, both because of the church’s focus on “the realization, acceptance, and worship of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence developed through computer hardware and software,” and because of Levandowski himself. At the time, he was at the center of a high-profile legal battle related to the theft of trade secrets, sentenced to 18 months in prison, then pardoned by former President Donald Trump.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Anthony Levandowski Reboots Church of AI

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite drops to $120 for Black Friday

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Ereaders like the Kindle Paperwhite make great gifts — especially when they’re on sale. The Paperwhite adds a few perks over the standard Kindle, including a warm backlight, a waterproof build and a larger screen. As part of Amazon’s Black Friday sale, it’s now $20 off the list price, bringing it down to $120. This is the 8GB model with lockscreen ads, which usually promote Kindle books.

Other Amazon ereaders are also on sale, including the standard Kindle, which is down to $80. That’s $15 more than the members-only price during Prime Day in July, but the lowest it’s sold for since. We tested a number of ereaders for our guide and named the standard Kindle the best budget pick. It doesn’t have a warm backlight and isn’t waterproof, but it the 300ppi screen is crisp and clear and it grants access to local library books, audiobooks and Kindle’s own ebook trove, which is the largest out there thanks to Kindle Exclusive titles that you can’t find elsewhere. 

The read/write Kindle Scribe is also discounted, down to $240 for the 16GB model with the Basic Pen. That’s $100 discount and the lowest price ever, beating it’s members-only Prime Day price by $15. We gave the Scribe an 85 review score, praising the roomy, 10.2-inch screen and premium build. It’s also our favorite E-Ink tablet that’s does double duty as an ereader. We particularly liked how low the latency is between the pen and the tablet. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-kindle-paperwhite-drops-to-120-for-black-friday-140004428.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite drops to 0 for Black Friday