Monthly Archives: November 2023

NASA Chooses Blue Origin's Rocket To Launch Smallsat Mission To Mars

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NASA selected Blue Origin in February to launch the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission, a pair of smallsats that will study the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere of Mars. The space agency now expects the mission will be on the first launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch vehicle next year. SpaceNews reports: Neither Blue Origin nor NASA disclosed exactly where in the manifest of New Glenn launches ESCAPADE would take place. “It will be an early New Glenn mission and we’re going to be ready,” one Blue Origin executive, Ariane Cornell, said at the Satellite 2023 conference in March. At a Nov. 20 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s human exploration and operations committee, Bradley Smith, director of NASA’s Launch Services Office, said he was “incredibly excited” about the ESCAPADE launch, which he said was scheduled for about one year. His charts, though, and past presentations, listed an August 2024 launch for ESCAPADE.

“It’s an incredibly ambitious first launch for New Glenn and we really appreciate the partnership,” he said. Later in the committee meeting, he confirmed that NASA expected ESCAPADE to be on the inaugural New Glenn launch. “We will very likely be the very first launch of New Glenn,” he said. That is acceptable, Smith said, since ESCAPADE is what NASA characterizes as a “class D” mission with a higher tolerance for risk. “We’re willing to take a little bit of risk with a price tag and a mission assurance model that reflects that risk.”

Besides the inherent technical risks in the first launch of a new rocket, there are also schedule risks. New Glenn development is years behind the original schedule Blue Origin put forward. The company has not provided recent updates about progress towards a first launch of the rocket, although Jarrett Jones, senior vice president for New Glenn at Blue Origin, said at World Satellite Business Week in September that the first flight vehicle would arrive at a Florida integration facility by the end of the year, with the company planning “multiple” launches of New Glenn in 2024.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – NASA Chooses Blue Origin’s Rocket To Launch Smallsat Mission To Mars

Broadcom closes its $61 billion megadeal with VMware

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Broadcom’s mega $61 billion VMware acquisition has closed following considerable scrutiny by regulators, the company announced in a press release. With China recently granting approval for the acquisition with added restrictions, the network chip manufacturer had secured all the required approvals. 

“Broadcom has received legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions,” the company said. “We are excited to welcome VMware to Broadcom and bring together our engineering-first, innovation-centric teams.”

The Broadcom/VMware deal lacked the glamour of tech’s other mega acquisition involving Microsoft and Activision. However, San Jose-based Broadcom’s products form the structure of much of the internet, as they’re widely used for data centers, cloud providers and network infrastructure. VMware, meanwhile, makes virtualization and cloud computing software that allows corporations to safely link local networks with public cloud access. 

That made VMware a logical target for Broadcom, but it also placed the acquisition in the crosshairs of regulators in multiple regions. The European Commission, for one, was concerned that Broadcom could harm competition by limiting interoperability between rival hardware and VMware’s server virtualization software. It also worried the company could either prevent or degrade access to VMware’s software, or bundle VMware with its own hardware products.

Broadcom gained EU approval for the deal in the summer though, mainly by providing IP access and source code for key network fiber optic components to its main rival, Marvell. The EU also concluded that fears of VMware bundling were unfounded and that Broadcom would still face competition in the storage adapter and NIC markets. 

There were also concerns that tensions between China and the US could scuttle the deal, after the Biden administration announced new rules in October making it harder to export high-end chips to China. However, approval in that market was announced yesterday, with conditions imposed by China on how Broadcom sells products locally. Namely, it had to ensure that VMware’s server software was interoperable with rival hardware, China’s regulator said in a statement. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/broadcom-closes-its-61-billion-megadeal-with-vmware-083915996.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Broadcom closes its billion megadeal with VMware

GameMaker Ditches Subscription Model For Indie Developers

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GameMaker announced that it will be free to use for noncommercial, non-console projects, breaking away from Unity and its massive pricing controversy that saw game developers boycotting the engine. The company is also “eliminating its indie / creator tier monthly subscription fee in favor of a one-time paid licensing fee of $99,” reports The Verge. “Additionally, if you’re currently enrolled at the indie / creator tier and wish to pay the licensing fee, the subscription fees you’ve paid will be discounted from the price.” The Verge: Russell Kay, head of GameMaker, said that the changes were a way for the company to express its thanks to users, explaining that, since 2021, GameMaker has seen its user base triple in size. Kay also had some subtle but effective shade for GameMaker’s competitors. “We have seen other platforms making awkward moves with their pricing and terms, so we thought, what if we did the opposite, something that could actually be good for developers?” Kay wrote in the announcement.

Though customers currently enrolled in an enterprise-level subscription will see no changes to their plans, it seems like GameMaker is counting on the pricing update to draw more people to the software. “Our success is measured by the number of people making games!” Kay wrote.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – GameMaker Ditches Subscription Model For Indie Developers

Google's Bard AI chatbot is getting better at understanding YouTube videos

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Google has updated the Bard AI chatbot so you can have deeper and more meaningful conversations with it when it comes to YouTube videos. In its most recent experiment update log, the company has announced that it has expanded the capabilities of Bard’s YouTube extension so that when it’s enabled, the generative AI can “understand some video content.” For example, Google said you’d be able to ask Bard how many eggs were used in a video for an olive oil cake recipe. As Android Authority suggested, you’ll also likely be able to ask it for the name of specific tools in DIY videos. For food reviews, Bard may be able to tell you where certain restaurants discussed in videos are located, or where a specific cuisine came from. 

Bard first gained the ability to pull data from YouTube in September after an update that integrates it with other Google products, including Docs, Maps, Lens, Flights and Hotels. It couldn’t parse a video’s contents, however, and couldn’t answer detailed questions about it. Google said it rolled out this update because it “heard you want deeper engagement with YouTube videos.” It also said that it has just taken the “first steps in Bard’s ability to understand YouTube videos,” which indicates that the technology could better analyze videos on the platform in the future. To be able to chat with Bard about YouTube videos, you’ll have to enable the YouTube extension on the chatbot’s web portal.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-bard-ai-chatbot-is-getting-better-at-understanding-youtube-videos-065614540.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google’s Bard AI chatbot is getting better at understanding YouTube videos

Seven tips to make holiday shopping easier. Really.

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Remember when the holidays meant waking up early and going down and opening up presents? When the only gift list you had to worry about was the gifts you were asking for. Last year, it was estimated that adults bought an average of nine presents and spent about $1500 on holiday gifts. Buying gifts doesn’t […]

Source: LXer – Seven tips to make holiday shopping easier. Really.

OpenAI Researchers Warned Board of AI Breakthrough Ahead of CEO Ouster

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Ahead of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s four days in exile, several staff researchers sent the board of directors a letter warning of a powerful artificial intelligence discovery that they said could threaten humanity, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The previously unreported letter and AI algorithm was a key development ahead of the board’s ouster of Altman, the poster child of generative AI, the two sources said. Before his triumphant return late Tuesday, more than 700 employees had threatened to quit and join backer Microsoft in solidarity with their fired leader. The sources cited the letter as one factor among a longer list of grievances by the board that led to Altman’s firing. Reuters was unable to review a copy of the letter.

According to one of the sources, long-time executive Mira Murati mentioned the project, called Q*, to employees on Wednesday and said that a letter was sent to the board prior to this weekend’s events. After the story was published, an OpenAI spokesperson said Murati told employees what media were about to report, but she did not comment on the accuracy of the reporting. The maker of ChatGPT had made progress on Q* (pronounced Q-Star), which some internally believe could be a breakthrough in the startup’s search for superintelligence, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), one of the people told Reuters. OpenAI defines AGI as AI systems that are smarter than humans. Given vast computing resources, the new model was able to solve certain mathematical problems, the person said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on behalf of the company. Though only performing math on the level of grade-school students, acing such tests made researchers very optimistic about Q*’s future success, the source said.

Researchers consider math to be a frontier of generative AI development. Currently, generative AI is good at writing and language translation by statistically predicting the next word, and answers to the same question can vary widely. But conquering the ability to do math — where there is only one right answer — implies AI would have greater reasoning capabilities resembling human intelligence. This could be applied to novel scientific research, for instance, AI researchers believe. Unlike a calculator that can solve a limited number of operations, AGI can generalize, learn and comprehend. In their letter to the board, researchers flagged AI’s prowess and potential danger, the sources said without specifying the exact safety concerns noted in the letter. There has long been discussion among computer scientists about the danger posed by superintelligent machines, for instance if they might decide that the destruction of humanity was in their interest. Last night, OpenAI announced it reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO. Under an “agreement in principle,” Altman will serve under the supervision of a new board of directors.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – OpenAI Researchers Warned Board of AI Breakthrough Ahead of CEO Ouster

New Jersey Moves To Ban New Gas Powered Vehicle Sales From 2035

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Brian Silvestro reports via Motor1.com: New Jersey announced a new rule set on Wednesday laying out plans to transition sales of light-duty vehicles in the state to 100-percent zero-emission by 2035. According to a statement released by the office of governor Phil Murphy, the law, titled the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, will come into effect starting in 2027, where manufacturers must ensure that zero-emissions vehicles represent 42 percent of sales in the state. That percentage will climb with each year until 2035, when it reaches 100 percent. Currently, EVs represent roughly 12 percent of all new vehicle sales, according to the governor’s office.

The new law will also put more stringent standards in place for traditional ICE-powered vehicles, with the goal of improving air quality in New Jersey communities and high-traffic corridors. While the announcement does not directly mention investment into charging infrastructure, the governor’s office points out its continued dedication to providing adequate charging locations across the state, claiming it has helped fund the installment of 2,980 charging stations with 5,271 ports at 680 locations. New Jersey is the ninth state to enact a ban on future ICE car sales, joining California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – New Jersey Moves To Ban New Gas Powered Vehicle Sales From 2035

Best Walmart Black Friday Dyson Vacuum Deals 2023

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As you know if you’ve been keeping up with us here at Lifehacker the past few weeks, you don’t have to wait until Black Friday to find vacuum deals that’ll help you keep those floors dust- and debris-free all year long.

The early Black Friday deals on vacuums rolled out weeks ago and the Dyson deals — from sales on the Dyson V15 Detect Absolute cordless vacuum (that’s the one with the green light) to the Dyson V8 Origin+ — are still going strong at Walmart.

This week’s Black Friday deal lineups include a dizzying array of deals on upright vacuums, stick vacuums, and cordless vacuums (oh, my). And if you’re interested in robot vacuums, check out our sister site Mashable’s roundup of the best robot vacuums for any budget — and the ones to look for on Black Friday.

If you’re having a hard time making the call on the right deal for you with so many options, not to worry, we’ve gathered deals on a few of Walmart’s most-searched vacuums for your perusal.

Dyson V8 Origin Plus Cordless Vacuum

This vacuum comes with a V8 suction motor, weighs 5.8 pounds, and has three different heads to choose from.

You can get the deal now. $224.99 (Originally $419.99)

Dyson V8 Absolute Cordless Vacuum

This silver vacuum comes with a V8 suction motor, weighs 5.8 pounds, and has three different heads to choose from.

You can get the deal now. $299 (Originally $519.99)

Dyson V15 Detect Absolute Cordless Vacuum

This iron and gold vacuum weighs 6.79 pounds and has laser illumination to reveal hard-to-see dust on hard floors.

You can get the deal now. $679.99 (Originally $799.99)

Find more Dyson vacuum deals at Walmart.

Reporting by Lifehacker staff writer Daniel Oropeza contributed to this story.



Source: LifeHacker – Best Walmart Black Friday Dyson Vacuum Deals 2023

Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Thursday, November 23, 2023

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It’s time to talk TURKEY about this food-themed puzzle: it’s not as food-themed as it looks at first glance. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Thanksgiving day (Thursday, November 23, 2023), read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for November 23, NYT Connections #165! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Connections board for November 23, 2023: CURRY, BOUQUET, TURKEY, TURNOVER, PIE, BIRD, POLAND, PARFAIT, RAPPORT, JORDAN, TART, TUNISIA, JAMES, JAPAN, RAGOUT, PASTY.

Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

If you know the flags of countries around the world and the names of certain sports icons…well, good luck anyway, this is a toughie. RAGOUT, by the way, is a French word meaning a simmered stew. It’s a relative of ragù, an Italian word often applied to meat sauce served on pasta. 

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category – This category is more than half baked!

  • Green category – Think French.

  • Blue category – World travelers will have an advantage here.

  • Purple category – These guys are shooting hoops.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

There’s one category based on the spelling/pronunciation of the words. Another relates to names. 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • PASTY can be an adjective meaning that somebody looks pale; it’s also a hand pie traditionally made for miners in England, constructed so you can hold the crust with your filthy, arsenic-tainted hands. (Today I learned that they are traditionally made with sweet filling at one end; you eat that side last, as dessert.) 

  • A PARFAIT is a dish made by layering something creamy with fruit or other fillings. A PARFAIT made with yogurt and granola can let you believe you are eating a healthy breakfast; a Peanut Buster PARFAIT made with ice cream, peanuts, and fudge was my favorite Dairy Queen order as a kid. The word comes from French and means “perfect.” The T is silent, just like in BOUQUET.

  • TURKEY is only a BIRD today on your Thanksgiving table. In this puzzle, it refers to the country (properly spelled Türkiye, but close enough).

  • CURRY is another simmered dish, and you can also CURRY favor or use a CURRY comb to groom a horse. Forget all of that today, though, and think of basketball player Steph CURRY. 

 

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: FOODS WITH CRUSTS

  • Green: ENDING IN A SILENT “T”

  • Blue: COUNTRIES WITH RED AND WHITE FLAGS

  • Purple: N.B.A. GREATS

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is FOODS WITH CRUSTS and the words are: PASTY, PIE, TART, TURNOVER.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ENDING IN A SILENT “T” and the words are: BOUQUET, PARFAIT, RAGOUT, RAPPORT.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is COUNTRIES WITH RED AND WHITE FLAGS and the words are: JAPAN, POLAND, TUNISIA, TURKEY.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is N.B.A. GREATS and the words are: BIRD, CURRY, JAMES, JORDAN.

How I solved today’s Connections

I love all the food words for a food themed holiday! My eye went straight to PIE, TART, and TURNOVER, and it only took a second to realize the last one was PASTY (not pastry), a British hand pie. 🟨

I puzzled over the rest for a long time. RAGOUT and CURRY are both foods made of a simmered mixture of ingredients. JAMES and JORDAN could both be names. TURKEY was one of five countries I saw on the board. Finally, I asked myself “what does RAPPORT have to do with anything?” and saw that it shared a silent T with BOUQUET, RAGOUT, and PARFAIT. 🟩

Still, I was stuck. I still had my five countries, and couldn’t make sense of the other three words. Aha! Larry BIRD and Michael JORDAN are both legendary basketball players; they go with Steph CURRY and LeBron JAMES. 🟪 Finally, I had four countries: TURKEY, POLAND, TUNISIA, and JAPAN. 🟦

Connections 
Puzzle #165
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!



Source: LifeHacker – Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Thursday, November 23, 2023

This Inflatable Kayak Is Only $85 for Black Friday

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You guys know I like to take a simple boat out on the lake; I’ve written about recreational kayaks, inflatable paddleboards, and even–yes–inflatable kayaks. Well, if you’d like to join me out in paddle-land, today is the perfect day to pick up a budget boat. Walmart has the Sevylor K5 inflatable kayak on sale for just $85.

How well does an inflatable kayak work? You can read my review of a similar model (the Intex K1 Challenger) here. An inflatable boat isn’t going to be quite as sturdy or steer quite as straight as a more traditional construction, but I was shocked at how well it performed. And the Sevylor K5 looks to be even better: it’s 10 feet long rather than nine, and has a maximum weight of 250 pounds. 

I consider myself something of a cheap boat connoisseur, and those stats aren’t bad at all. I like that this boat comes with a thicker material on the bottom to resist punctures, and spray covers to keep splashes and paddle drips from soaking your lap. The $85 package comes with a paddle and a backpack so you can carry it to your favorite lake, even if the lake is a bit of a hike from the nearest parking lot or from your campsite. It also includes a hand pump. Unlike paddleboards, which require a high-pressure pump to properly inflate, inflatable kayaks are easy to blow up with a simple hand pump like the one that comes in this package.

As for the downsides of an inflatable kayak, we’ve already mentioned that it’s more for tootling around than for speeding toward a destination. (If you want a touring or racing kayak, go buy a touring or racing kayak.) Another important drawback is that the boat is easy enough to unfold before you get in the water, but once you’re headed home that thing is going to be wet. And maybe muddy. If you can give it some time to dry in the sun, that would be ideal; otherwise, make sure to spread it out to dry once you get home. 



Source: LifeHacker – This Inflatable Kayak Is Only for Black Friday

Robocar Tech Biz Sues Nvidia, Claims Stolen Code Shared In Teams Meeting Blunder

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Dan Robinson reports via The Register: Nvidia is facing legal action in the U.S. for theft of trade secrets from a German automotive company, which alleges its ex-employee made an epic blunder of showing something he shouldn’t have when minimizing a Powerpoint slide at a joint Microsoft Teams meeting both companies were attending. The automotive firm, Valeo Schalter und Sensoren, claims the flashing of its source code for the assisted parking app on the call is evidence to support its accusations that the ex-staffer stole the IP before leaving to join Nvidia. The two tech companies were both on the call as they were each suppliers on contract for a parking and driving assistance project with a major automotive OEM that was not named in the suit. Under the terms of the contract with the OEM, the suit states, engineers from both Valeo and Nvidia had to schedule collaboration meetings so that “Nvidia employees could ask Valeo employees questions about Valeo’s ultrasonic hardware and data associated with the hardware.”

The complaint [PDF], filed by Valeo in the US District Court for Northern California, goes on to allege misappropriation of trade secrets by Nvidia, through which the company claims the GPU-maker attempted to take a shortcut into the automotive marketplace by using its stolen software. Nvidia is a relative newcomer to the automotive market, introducing its Nvidia Drive platform at the CES trade show in 2015. Valeo says that it only discovered the theft during a conference call on March 8, 2022 between its engineers and those of Nvidia to collaborate on work for an automotive OEM, a customer of both companies. Valeo develops automotive hardware such as cameras and sensors, in addition to software to processes the data from the hardware. The court filing states that Valeo previously provided the OEM in question with both hardware and software for its autonomous vehicle technology, but in this instance, it asked Valeo to provide ultrasonic hardware only. For the software side, the OEM instead chose Nvidia. One of the Nvidia engineers on the call, named as Mohammad Moniruzzaman, was a former employee of Valeo, and during the call, made using Microsoft’s Teams software, he shared his screen in order to give a presentation containing questions for the Valeo participants.

Yet also visible on his screen after the presentation finished – or so the complaint alleges – was a window of source code, which the Valeo participants recognized as belonging to their company. According to the filing, one of the Valeo engineers succeeded in capturing a screenshot as evidence. According to Valeo, the source code file names that were allegedly visible in the screenshot were identical to those used in its source code, and it also claims the source code appeared to be identical to proprietary code maintained in Valeo’s repositories. The company says in the suit that it then conducted a comprehensive internal forensic IT audit, and alleges it discovered that Moniruzzaman had copied four repositories containing the code for Valeo’s parking and driving assistance software, prior to leaving the company in May 2021. […] The claim is that Valeo’s source code and documentation has been used in the development of Nvidia’s software, and this provided the GPU giant and its engineers with a shortcut in the development of its parking assistance code, saving Nvidia perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in development costs.

According to the court filing, Nvidia said it removed Moniruzzaman’s additions to its code. However, those additions underwent “a peer review process of 10-30 iterations of feedback loops” before the code was fully merged into Nvidia’s database. Valeo contends that this process of extensive edits by others means it is not realistic that Nvidia could have fully remove Moniruzzaman’s contributions. Valeo claims it has suffered competitive harm as a result of Nvidia’s action and as a result is seeking damages, to be determined at trial, as well as an injunction prohibiting Nvidia or its employees from using or disclosing Valeo’s trade secrets. A date for jury trial has yet to be announced.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Robocar Tech Biz Sues Nvidia, Claims Stolen Code Shared In Teams Meeting Blunder

The Key to Better Studying Is Self-Explanation

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If you think about studying conceptually, it’s sort of like teaching yourself the material. That’s the whole point, right? But simply memorizing flashcards probably isn’t the best approach for long-term retention. It turns out there’s another important step: self-explanation, the part of learning that comes after you go over your notes, texts, and other materials. This concept of self-explanation may help students retain knowledge more effectively, rather than just regurgitating facts and figures. Let’s go over how to put it into practice. 

What is self-explanation?

Self-explanation occurs when you take the new information you’ve learned and relate it to information you already know. This means that instead of just reading and taking in the material, you’re setting aside part of your study session to think deeply about what it actually means and how it applies to real life. The explanation comes in when you explain to yourself how the new ideas relate to ideas you already understand well, whether in other academic areas or in the real world. 

Ideally, you should do this after you complete a chapter or segment of your reading and reviewing. Set aside five to 10 minutes after each chapter to engage in self-explanation, using one of the methods below. 

How to use self-explanation when studying

It may feel abstract and a little silly to schedule time to sit and think quietly about how what you’re learning relates to other ideas, so here are some concrete ways you can actually engage in self-explanation. 

Retrieval practice

First, any kind of retrieval practice, wherein you actively work to pull information from your memory, will help you get started. The methods you usually employ for retrieval practice—using flashcards, summarizing chapters, or taking a practice quiz, for instance—will be useful for starting to thin more deeply about the material and make sure it springs to mind easily. The self-explanation comes into play while you’re doing those. For instance, you can try a think-pair-share activity to talk over the new material with a classmate or group, focusing not only on what you learned, but on its practical application and associations with other materials or real-world events. 

Blurting

If you’re on your own, try adapting the blurting method to meet the needs of self-explanation. In blurting, you write down everything you can remember about what you just studied, then use your notes and text to identify gaps in your memory. Here, you can instead try to blurt or write a “minute paper” about what the material actually means. For instance, if you’re studying bonds in accounting class, you don’t just want to be able to state whether a bond is being sold at a discount or premium; you want to understand the implications that has for the person or entity holding the bond. In your blurt or minute paper, describe what the reason for trading a bond at a discount might be and what the result would be for the entity doing it. Don’t just review how you would journalize that if you were an accountant, but consider why the journal entry would look how it does and what such an entry would be used for in real life. Understanding why something is done the way it is—not just that it’s done a certain way—will help you grasp and remember the material better, even if you just need to pass a test and don’t plan on making your living as an accountant. 

Keep asking “why?”

If you come across anything you can’t easily apply to other concepts you already understand, go back to your text and notes for additional information. Seek more info from outside sources, like other publications or even ChatGPT, and keep asking “why?” until it starts to make sense. At the end of self-explanation, you should be able to explain why the facts you studied are true and what makes them important. Even if that won’t be on the test, it will help you remember the facts better when you need them—and give you even more of a foundation for self-explanation in your other classes. 



Source: LifeHacker – The Key to Better Studying Is Self-Explanation

Sam Altman's Involvement In Worldcoin Is 'Not Expected To Change'

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Sam Altman may have been asked to leave OpenAI, but his involvement in crypto project Tools for Humanity, which is building Worldcoin, remains uninterrupted, a source close to the project told TechCrunch. Altman has “consistent and valuable” engagement with Tools for Humanity and “that is not expected to change,” the source said. The source added that Altman is still chairman and co-founder of the project, confirming that the information on the project’s website is up to date.

News of Altman’s ouster sent the Worldcoin token, WLD, plummeting to a low of $1.84 on Saturday, but the token recovered over the weekend and is currently trading on par with previous levels at $2.40, per CoinMarketCap data. Worldcoin raised $115 million in May in a Series C round led by Blockchain Capital. As of March, Altman was on the project’s board, but was not involved in day-to-day operations. “Proof of personhood is becoming increasingly important in the rapidly advancing age of AI,” The Worldcoin Foundation told TechCrunch late on Monday. The team supporting Worldcoin is still focused on the project’s mission, “building a more human internet and a more accessible global economy through World ID, a privacy-enhancing way to verify humanness and uniqueness online,” the company said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Sam Altman’s Involvement In Worldcoin Is ‘Not Expected To Change’

Walmart’s Black Friday Deals on Fitness Equipment Are Really Strong

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If you’re looking for deeply discounted weights, machines, benches, and more, these 2023 Black Friday deals from Walmart are worth checking out. 

Quick-select adjustable dumbbells for $150 each

The ultimate home gym buy is a set of quick-adjustable dumbbells, but they’re pricey. Even on sale for Black Friday, a pair of Bowflex SelectTech 1090s will run you $299 each. (That’s 25% off the regular price, though, so definitely snap those up if you want the name brand.) This FitRX Smartbell is a similar design, adjusting from 10 to 90 pounds with the turn of a dial. 

This XTERRA rower is 80% off

Is this a Concept2? No. But can you get a new Concept2 for 300 smackers? You cannot. This XTERRA rower looks like a pretty solid alternative, and it’s a whopping 80% off. 

Get a barbell set with bumpers for just $250

A barbell is a fundamental component of a “real” home gym in my opinion, but it can be hard to find a good set on the cheap. Bumper plates, especially, are great for home gyms (less noise and floor damage) but they tend to be expensive. 

Good thing, then, that this weight set is affordable to start and dirt cheap now that it’s on sale. For the price, you get a full-size barbell with one pair each of 45-pound, 25-pound, and 10-pound bumper plates. That will let you build a barbell that weighs up to 205 pounds–yes, you count the weight of the bar. To round out the set, I’d recommend getting one pair each of 2.5-pound and 5-pound plates, and another pair of 10-pounders, and this way you’ll be able to make every 5-pound increment from 45 up to 205. 

205 pounds is plenty for most beginner lifters to get started (especially kids and lightweight women), but eventually you’ll outgrow the set. If you’d rather buy a bigger set to start with, there’s also a 370-pound set that works out to 415 pounds including the barbell. 

A squat rack for just $170

Now that you have your barbell, how are you going to squat it? Consider this budget power cage your entry-level option. (Don’t forget the spotter arms, which have a 400-pound capacity and are sold separately for $34.99)

$300 off a two-cable functional trainer

If you’re interested in a cable machine, the style sometimes known as a “functional trainer” makes a ton of sense for a small space. These have two vertical cable stacks, which you can use together or separately, and they’ll come with a variety of attachments that you can use for tons of different exercises. These types of machines are a staple of hotel gyms because they really do let you do a lot of different exercises, especially for the upper body, in a small footprint. 

This machine from Centr (Centr by Chris Hemsworth, I’m told) comes with a 165-pound weight stack on each cable, and includes a tablet holder if you’d like to follow along with Centr’s digital workouts. (The machine comes with a 3-month free trial.) That said, we have plenty of ideas for how to use a cable machine to build your own workouts. 

A trap bar for under $100

The trap bar, or hex bar, is an excellent tool for deadlifting. If you need to compete in a sport that requires straight-bar deadlifts, fine; but if you just want to pick something up off the ground without thinking about it too much, a trap bar is the perfect piece of equipment to do that with. This trap bar is only $75 for the traditional kind, and $70 for the “open” type that not only allows you to carry it while you walk, but also lets you prop it up to change the plates. This would be a great addition to the bumper plate set above.

A folding bench for just $100

Whether your home gym uses dumbbells, barbells, or both, you’ll want a bench to sit on for bench presses and seated exercises. This bench has six incline settings and can even be folded for storage. It’s got a padded top and a 600-pound capacity, counting both you and the weight you’re lifting. 



Source: LifeHacker – Walmart’s Black Friday Deals on Fitness Equipment Are Really Strong

ChatGPT's Voice Chat Feature Is Rolling Out To Android and iOS

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OpenAI’s “ChatGPT with voice” feature announced in September is now rolling out to all free users on mobile. Engadget reports: When the company first introduced voice chats, it admitted that the capability to create “realistic synthetic voices from just a few seconds of real speech” presents new risks. It could, for instance, allow bad actors to impersonate public figures or anybody they want. As a result, it decided that ChatGPT’s voice feature will focus on conversations. It’s powered by a text-to-speech model that can generate “human-like audio from just text and a few seconds of sample speech.” OpenAI worked with voice actors to create the capability and offers five different voices to choose from.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – ChatGPT’s Voice Chat Feature Is Rolling Out To Android and iOS