GAMDIAS, a substantial player in the realm of PC power and cooling components, has consistently garnered attention for its innovative approach to crafting gaming hardware solutions. The company emerged on the scene in 2012. Despite its relatively short history, this Taiwanese manufacturer has rapidly gained international recognition, positioning itself as one of the freshest yet promising names in the world of gaming peripherals and PC components.
In a market teeming with options, GAMDIAS has strategically honed its focus on the gaming sector, navigating the intricate balance between cost-effectiveness and ostentatious design. The company offers a wide range of PC power & cooling products, as well as peripherals and even furniture, all of which are designed to gratify a part of the gaming community.
Today, our attention is directed toward a product that targets the RGB-minded segment of the PC gaming market – the Kratos M1-750W PSU. While it may not bear the mantle of a flagship product designed for elite competition, the M1-750W PSU represents GAMDIAS’ venture into the territory where aesthetics is the primary selection feature. As we delve deeper into its intricacies, we will explore how GAMDIAS tries to strike a balance between cost and visual flair, making the Kratos M1-750W a viable proposition for users who seek a stylish PSU with RGB lighting without breaking the bank.
The addition of realtime support to Linux is a long story; it first shows up in LWN in 2004. For much of that
time, it has seemed like only a little more work was needed to get across
the finish line; thus we ran headlines like the
realtime preemption endgame — in 2009. At the 2023 Linux Plumbers Conference, Thomas
Gleixner informed the group that, now, the end truly is near. There is
really only one big problem left to be solved before all of that work can
land in the mainline.
Early Black Friday sales have been steadily rolling in, but few have been as practical heading into the long winter months as Google’s Nest Thermostat. The smart thermostat is typically $130 but is currently just $90 — a 31 percent discount and only $10 more than its all-time low.
Google’s Nest Thermostat came on the scene in 2020 as a cheaper but solid alternative to its Nest Learning Thermostat (retailing at $240). Both devices have the same goal: to save energy and money. The standard Nest Thermostat is Energy Star-certified and turns the temperature down when you leave to avoid any waste. If you’re heading home sooner than expected (or staying out later, for that matter), you can adjust the heat schedule right on the app from your phone, tablet or laptop.
While it can be a big help with keeping those heating bills in check, Google’s Nest Thermostat should work just as well with your air conditioning system come summer. Plus, it also provides tips for both through the Savings Finder on ways to adjust your heating or cooling schedule to save even more money.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-nest-thermostat-drops-to-90-in-a-black-friday-deal-133052800.html?src=rss
Users can access Dream Track by typing an idea into the creation prompt and choosing from one of the participating artists. It uses Google DeepMind’s Lyria — a new, powerful music generation model designed specifically for creating high-quality vocals and instrumentals while giving the user more control over the final product. Any content Lyria produces will also have a SynthID watermark, denoting it as such.
Charlie Puth and T-Pain created sample Dream Tracks, which YouTube has shared as inspiration. However, many of the artists involved expressed their apprehension about AI but hoped that collaborative work could create positive, non-exploitative opportunities. “When I was first approached by YouTube I was cautious and still am, AI is going to transform the world and the music industry in ways we do not yet fully understand,” singer CharliXCX said. “This experiment will offer a small insight into the creative opportunities that could be possible and I’m interested to see what comes out of it.”
Music AI Tools are also coming to YouTube, in collaboration with its Music AI Incubator. These tools can create guitar riffs from a hummed melody or turn a pop track into a reggaeton anthem. Producer and songwriter, Louis Bell, created a sample video to showcase it.
YouTube is walking a tightrope as it navigates the careful balance of introducing AI tools and protecting against misuse. The video platform recently announced new policies for labeling videos made using AI and letting public figures, such as musicians, report deepfakes.
Dream Track is currently only available to a select group of creators and artists, whereas participants of the Music AI Incubator should be able to test the tools out later this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtubes-first-ai-generated-music-tools-can-clone-artist-voices-and-turn-hums-into-melodies-132025817.html?src=rss
Analogue has just relaunched the Pocket in some new, charming colors. It brought back the OG colors of the Game Boy Advance and Pocket to its new Classic Limited Edition consoles. These colors are blue, green, indigo, spice orange, pink, red, silver, and yellow.
Enlarge/ Mare Imbrium and its vicinity. (credit: Katie’s Observing Log)
Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’re going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.
Good morning. It’s November 16, and today we’re looking very close to home, at our nearest celestial neighbor.
This strip of the Moon showcases the vast Mare Imbrium lava plain—it’s the large semi-circle that dominates much of the photo. Astronomers and planetary scientists believe this feature formed when a proto-planet struck the Moon about 3.9 billion years ago.
Western Digital is announcing today that it has begun volume shipments of its 24 TB hard drives based on conventional magnetic recording (CMR) to its full customer base. In addition, the company started to ramp up production of its 28 TB HDDs featuring shingled magnetic recording (SMR) that will be used by select customers.
The new lineup of 3.5-inch 7200 RPM hard drives includes Western Digital’s Ultrastar DC HC580 24 TB and WD Gold 24 TB HDDs, which are based on the company’s energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording (ePMR) technology. Both of these drives are further enhanced with OptiNAND to improve performance by storing repeatable runout (RRO) metadata on NAND memory (instead of on disks) and improve reliability.
The company is also preparing their Ultrastar DC HC680 SMR 28 TB hard drive, which relies on shingled ePMR and OptiNAND.
When it comes to performance, the new hard drives are a tad faster than predecessors due to higher areal density. Meanwhile, per-TB power efficiency of Western Digital’s 24 TB and 28 TB HDDs is around 10% – 12% higher than that of 22 TB and 26 TB drives, respectively, due to higher capacity and more or less the same power consumption. For CSPs and hyperscalers, the main value advantage of the new 24 TB drives is their higher capacity, which enables up to 612 TB of raw storage per rack using 102-bay 4U chassis.
All three models feature 10 platters and largely re-use the company’s current enterprise-grade platform for multi-drive environments, which was introduced over a year ago. The platform traditionally features a top and bottom attached motor as well as RV sensors to ensure consistent performance in vibrating multi-HDD chassis. The latest Ultrastar HDDs are generally being aimed at cloud service providers, hyperscalers, and large enterprises, whereas WD Gold are going primarily to VARs, enterprises, enterprise-grade NAS, and small businesses that need to store loads of data.
Western Digital is shipping WD Gold 24 TB hard drives through their distribution channel, so expect them to hit the market shortly. The Ultrastar DC HC680 and HC580 HDDs are now in the qualification phase with select CSPs, hyperscalers, and OEMs. They are also available for enterprises that deploy these devices internally. It looks like WD is just shipping the SATA versions of these drives initially, as the company is separating noting that that the SAS versions of the Ultrastar DC HC680 and HC580 HDD will be available in the first quarter of 2024.
“With these new offerings, Western Digital is once again proving that hard drives are not just keeping pace, they are forging a path forward, ensuring that data-intensive applications of today and tomorrow have a strong foundation to build on while the industry prepares for HAMR,” said Ed Burns, research director of HDD and storage technologies at IDC. “We are seeing strong momentum for Western Digital’s SMR HDDs and believe that SMR adoption will continue to grow as their new 28TB SMR HDD offers the next compelling TCO value proposition that cloud customers cannot ignore.”
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Federal Communications Commission has approved (PDF) a new set of rules aiming to prevent “digital discrimination.” It means the agency can hold telecom companies accountable for digitally discriminating against customers — or giving certain communities poorer service (or none at all) based on income level, race, or religion. The new rules come as part of the Biden Administration’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which requires the FCC to develop and adopt anti-digital discrimination rules. “Many of the communities that lack adequate access to broadband today are the same areas that suffer from longstanding patterns of residential segregation and economic disadvantage,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said following today’s vote. “It shows that minority status and income correlate with broadband access.”
Under the new rules, the FCC can fine telecom companies for not providing equal connectivity to different communities “without adequate justification,” such as financial or technical challenges of building out service in a particular area. The rules are specifically designed to address correlations between household income, race, and internet speed. Last year, a joint report from The Markup and the Associated Press found that AT&T, Verizon, and other internet service providers offer different speeds depending on the neighborhood in cities throughout the US. The report revealed neighborhoods with lower incomes and fewer white people get stuck with slower internet while still having to pay the same price as those with faster speeds. At the time, USTelecom, an organization that represents major telecom providers, blamed the higher price on having to maintain older equipment in certain communities.
The FCC was nearly divided on the new set of rules, as it passed with a 3-2 vote. Critics of the new policy argue the rules are an overextension of the FCC’s power. Jonathan Spalter, the CEO of USTelecom, says the FCC is “taking overly intrusive, unworkably vague, and ultimately harmful steps in the wrong direction.” Spalter adds the framework “is counter” to Congress’ goal of giving customers equal access to the internet. Still, supporters of the new rules believe they can go a long way toward improving fractured broadband coverage throughout the US. The FCC will also establish an “improved” customer portal, where the agency will field and review complaints about digital discrimination. It will take things like broadband deployment, network upgrades, and maintenance across communities into account when evaluating providers for potential rule violations, giving it the authority to hopefully finally address the disparities in internet access throughout the US.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is keeping a close eye on internet providers to make sure they provide Americans with equal access to broadband services regardless of customers’ “income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion or national origin.” Two years after the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law became official, the FCC has adopted (PDF) a final set of relevant rules to enforce.
The Commission will have the power to investigate possible instances of “digital discrimination” under the new rules and could penalize providers for violating them. It could, for instance, look into a company’s pricing, network upgrades and maintenance procedures to decide whether a provider is keeping an affluent area well-maintained while failing to provide the same level of service to a low-income area. As The Wall Street Journal explains, it could even hold companies like AT&T and Comcast liable even if they weren’t intentionally discriminatory, as long as their actions “differentially impact consumers’ access to broadband.” If the FCC does receive complaints against a particular provider, though, it will take into account any technical and economic challenges it may be facing that prevents it from providing equal access to its services.
According to The Journal, the FCC approved the new rules in a 3-2 vote. Their critics — mainly internet providers and Republican members of the Congress — argued that the decision could affect investments and that the commission is taking things too far by penalizing unintentional discrimination. But FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel found the rules to be reasonable, especially since the agency will “accept genuine reasons of technical and economic feasibility as valid reasons.”
In addition to adopting a set of rules for digital discrimination, the FCC has also updated its protections against SIM swapping and port-out scams (PDF). It will now require wireless providers to notify customers immediately when a SIM change or a port-out is requested for their account and phone number. Further, providers are required to take additional steps to protect their subscribers from the schemes. Finally, the FCC has voted to begin a formal inquiry (PDF) to look into the impact of artificial intelligence on robocalls. It could, after all, be used to block unwanted voice and text messages, but it could also be used to more easily defraud people through calls and texts.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-will-crack-down-on-isps-to-improve-connectivity-in-poorer-areas-125041256.html?src=rss
Enlarge/ The Trek FX+ 2 e-bike (credit: Eric Bangeman)
When it came time to buy our son his “adult” bike, the Trek FX 2 was an easy choice. Not only is the candy-red color eyepopping, but the hybrid offers hydraulic disc brakes and an aggressive riding position for $749. So when Trek offered us the chance to review the FX+ 2, we jumped at the chance to take it for a ride or three.
It’s not often that we get to review an electrified version of a bike we are familiar with, so we’ll start with the differences between the FX+ 2 and the FX 2. Let’s get the biggest one out of the way: the price. The Trek FX+ 2 retails for $2,499, over three times the price of its unelectrified sibling (also significantly higher than some hybrid e-bikes, many of which are made by new companies most of us have never heard of). Some of the price difference comes from the motor and battery—the motor itself sells for $450—but you’re also getting an integrated bike computer with cadence and speed sensors along with a power meter. All you need to access the integrated gear is the Trek Connect app.
Component-wise, the FX+ 2 is very similar to the FX 2. They use the same Shimano shifter and cassette, the same aluminum wheels, and the same Alpha Gold aluminum frame. The differences between the two mostly come down to modifications needed for the electric bits and the tires. The FX+ 2 comes with 700×40 mm tires instead of 35s and has a max tire size of 50 mm, whereas the FX 2 is capped at 38 mm. Lastly, the FX+ 2 has a rear rack, fenders, and integrated headlight and taillight.
Enlarge/ A composite of three DALL-E 3 AI art generations: an oil painting of Hercules fighting a shark, a photo of the queen of the universe, and a marketing photo of “Marshmallow Menace” cereal. (credit: DALL-E 3 / Benj Edwards)
In October, OpenAI launched its newest AI image generator—DALL-E 3—into wide release for ChatGPT subscribers. DALL-E can pull off media generation tasks that would have seemed absurd just two years ago—and although it can inspire delight with its unexpectedly detailed creations, it also brings trepidation for some. Science fiction forecast tech like this long ago, but seeing machines upend the creative order feels different when it’s actually happening before our eyes.
“It’s impossible to dismiss the power of AI when it comes to image generation,” says Aurich Lawson, Ars Technica’s creative director. “With the rapid increase in visual acuity and ability to get a usable result, there’s no question it’s beyond being a gimmick or toy and is a legit tool.”
With the advent of AI image synthesis, it’s looking increasingly like the future of media creation for many will come through the aid of creative machines that can replicate any artistic style, format, or medium. Media reality is becoming completely fluid and malleable. But how is AI image synthesis getting more capable so rapidly—and what might that mean for artists ahead?
November 24 might be a few days away yet, but that hasn’t stopped swathes of the industry from posting their deals early. Engadget’s crack team of coupon-heads has pored over countless listings to find you some absolutely jaw-dropping bargains. That includes hefty bits of cash knocked off the price of a new Mac Mini M2, iPad, Meta Quest and Apple Watch. Even better, you can pick up a pair of Sony XM5s, long regarded as the best in their class, for just $328. Well, you can. Your humble narrator is in the UK, so is ineligible to grab any of these utterly sweet early deals.
— Dan Cooper
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The Problem with Jon Stewart was, in theory, the ideal vehicle for the combative former Daily Show host. A well-heeled venture where Stewart could go deep on tough political topics, backed by a megacorporation too rich to be cowed by advertiser pressure. Except, so the rumors go, Apple pulled the plug on the series to prevent episodes critical of AI and China. Now, a bipartisan group from the House of Representatives is querying what happened and why.
The Game Boy-aping Analogue Pocket will soon be available in eight gorgeous new colors to give us all some retro-gaming feels. Given they’re limited editions, and Analogue units sell out pretty quick, you’d better have your fingers ready when pre-orders open on November 17.
Gorgeous, expensive and… not as good as its cheaper rivals.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
Master & Dynamic hasn’t quite become a dominant, class-topping force in the world of true wireless earbuds. Its latest entry, the MW09, has been put through its paces by audio guru Billy Steele. Sadly, while it’s an improvement on previous offerings, it’s still not good enough to whip better, more affordable products into shape.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-best-early-black-friday-deals-for-2023-121527436.html?src=rss
Google is scaling up Search Generative Experience (SGE) for holiday shopping. The company announced Thursday that its AI-powered search bot can now spit out gift ideas, photorealistic images of product types and virtual try-ons of men’s tops.
Google SGE launched in May, offering AI-driven answers and suggestions to complement the search engine’s standard web results. The company has since added follow-up queries, better translations and interactive definitions in more complex subjects. The tool requires Chrome on desktop or the Google mobile app on smartphones.
Google
The search giant says 20 percent of apparel searches are five words or longer, suggesting people often look for something particular when seeking info about fashion products. Now, Google SGE can generate “photorealistic images” of the item you’re picturing. You can then tweak the image with follow-up prompts before SGE uses the generated output as a foundation to search for actual products it thinks come the closest.
“Let’s say you want a new winter coat — a colorful, patterned puffer jacket — and you haven’t found quite what you’re looking for,” wrote Julie Black, Google’s Director of Shopping Product, in an announcement blog post. “With generative AI in Search, just look for that style and tap the ‘Generate images’ button to see photorealistic, generated images that match your vision. From there, you can refine the images in real time — so if you’d prefer a colorful metallic jacket instead of patterned, just enter that refinement in the text box. Then you’ll see a new set of photorealistic images. Once you’ve found one you like, just scroll down to see similar shoppable products.”
Google
Google also wants SGE to help you formulate the perfect gift. If you search for “great gifts for home cooks” on a compatible device / browser combo, it can produce ideas organized into subcategories like specialty tools, artisanal ingredients, culinary subscriptions and cooking classes. Google says you can refine the query to be ultra-specific, using examples like gifts for home cooks who love pasta or gift ideas for a seven-year-old who wants to be an inventor.
Google SGE added virtual clothing try-ons for women’s tops in June, which the company says have led to “significantly more high-quality interactions from shoppers.” Virtual try-ons for men’s tops arrive today. If you search for women’s or men’s tops from a supported brand, you’ll see 40 virtual models representing different shapes, sizes, heights and skin tones. You can choose one that looks the closest to you or the person you’re shopping for to get an AI-powered view of how the product may look on them. Supported labels at launch include Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, JCrew and Under Armour.
If you haven’t already enrolled, you’ll need to activate SGE for your account before trying it. Visit the Search Labs page or activate SGE in the Google app by tapping the beaker icon on the upper left.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-ai-powered-search-tool-can-help-tackle-your-holiday-shopping-120028149.html?src=rss
Mesa 23.3 is gearing up for release in a week or two while out now is Mesa 23.3-rc4 for the latest weekly release candidate to this collection of open-source graphics drivers…
Countless aspects of generative AI have caused rampant debate, including its access to copyrighted material. Now, the vice president of audio at Stability AI, Ed Newton-Rex, has resigned due to his belief that training generative AI models using copyrighted content doesn’t qualify as “fair use,” he wrote in an op-ed on Music Business Worldwide. He joins the likes of artists such as Bad Bunny, who recently spoke out against a viral TikTok song that used AI to mimic his voice.
Meanwhile, AI companies have steadfastly supported fair use (training models with copyrighted material without asking permission or providing compensation), and Newton-Rex’s decision marks a unique change from the norm. In his public resignation letter, Newton-Rex explains that he believes Stability AI has a more “nuanced view” than some of its competitors. However, he had an issue with the company’s recent submission to the United States Copyright Office, which argued that AI development should fall under fair use.
“I disagree because one of the factors affecting whether the act of copying is fair use, according to Congress, is ‘the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work,'” Newton-Rex stated. “Today’s generative AI models can clearly be used to create works that compete with the copyrighted works they are trained on. So I don’t see how using copyrighted works to train generative AI models of this nature can be considered fair use.”
Newton-Rex is a published classical composer and founded Jukedeck, which created music using AI, in 2012. He became the product director of TikTok’s in-house AI lab after the company purchased Jukedeck in 2019 and subsequently worked at Voicey (acquired by Snap) before joining Stability AI in November 2022.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-music-pioneer-quits-after-disagreement-over-fair-use-of-copyrighted-works-114546092.html?src=rss
With Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) continuing to prove popular mot only for end-users and independent developers but within organizations as well for having easy access to a Linux environment from the confines of Windows 11, Microsoft has added new enterprise-focused security options for WSL…
Even though Facebook has been moving away from providing its users with easy access to news over the past year, it apparently still remains a go-to source for current affairs in the US. According to Pew Research, three out of ten adults in the country still regularly get their news from Facebook, which has outpaced all the other social media websites in the center’s study. YouTube comes next in the list, with 26 percent of US adults getting news from the video hosting website, while Instagram takes third place with 16 percent. While apparently not as popular as the first three when it comes to news, TikTok (14 percent), X (12 percent) and Reddit (8 percent) also serve as news sources for the US populace.
When it was reported a year ago that Meta will no longer be paying publishers to run their content on Facebook’s News Tab, a spokesperson said “[m]ost people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn’t make sense to over-invest in areas that don’t align with user preferences.” But according to the study, 43 percent of users still get their news regularly from the platform. That is, however, admittedly smaller than the 54 percent of users who used to go to the social network to keep themselves updated and read about the latest events back in 2020. Meanwhile, 43 percent of TikTok users say they’re getting news from the app now, compared to 22 percent three years ago. Out of all the social networks in the study, though, X (formerly known as Twitter) has the highest percentage of users (53 percent) who go to the website for news.
Based on the study’s responders, men mostly rely on Reddit to keep them abreast of current events, followed by Twitter and YouTube. Meanwhile, women consume news from Nextdoor the most, followed by Facebook and Instagram. In addition, most of the people who get their news from social media are Democrats or lean Democratic, though “there is no significant partisan difference among news consumers on Facebook, X or Nextdoor.” Bottom line is, a lot of people still look to social media websites to read about the latest happenings and new information as they come out. These companies will have to continue keeping a close eye on the spread of misinformation on their platforms, even if they do decide not to focus on news anymore.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/three-in-ten-us-adults-still-get-their-news-from-facebook-110526907.html?src=rss
