Month: March 2023
These angry Dutch farmers really hate Microsoft
Tech giants want to build massive, “hyperscale” data centers in the Netherlands.
Enlarge (credit: Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images)
As soon as Lars Ruiter steps out of his car, he is confronted by a Microsoft security guard, who is already seething with anger. Ruiter, a local councillor, has parked in the rain outside a half-finished Microsoft data center that rises out of the flat North Holland farmland. He wants to see the construction site. The guard, who recognizes Ruiter from a previous visit when he brought a TV crew here, says that’s not allowed. Within minutes, the argument has escalated, and the guard has his hand around Ruiter’s throat.
The security guard lets go of Ruiter within a few seconds, and the councillor escapes with a red mark across his neck. Back in his car, Ruiter insists he’s fine. But his hands shake when he tries to change gears. He says the altercation—which he will later report to the police—shows the fog of secrecy that surrounds the Netherlands’ expanding data center business.
At Liverpool, Man City Means a Red Alert
A rough stretch, starting with Saturday’s game against Manchester City, will define Liverpool’s season. The harder work comes after that.
A rough stretch, starting with Saturday’s game against Manchester City, will define Liverpool’s season. The harder work comes after that.
Google Bard is switching to a more ‘capable’ language model, CEO confirms
People haven’t exactly been impressed in the short time since Google released its “experimental conversational AI service” Bard. Coming up against OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing Chat (also powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4) users have found its responses to not be as knowledgeable or detailed as its rivals. That could be set to change, however, after Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed on The New York Times podcast “Hard Fork” that Bard will soon be moving from its current LaMDA-based model to larger-scale PaLM datasets in the coming days.
When asked how he felt about responses to Bard’s release, Pichai commented: “We clearly have more capable models. Pretty soon, maybe as this goes live, we will be upgrading Bard to some of our more capable PaLM models, so which will bring more capabilities, be it in reasoning, coding.”
To frame the difference, Google said it had trained LaMDA with 137 billion parameters when it shared details about the language-based models last year. PaLM, on the other hand, was said to have been trained with around 540 billion parameters. Both models may have evolved and grown since early 2022, but the contrast likely shows why Google is now slowly transitioning Bard over to PaLM, with its larger dataset and more diverse answers.
Pichai claims not to be worried about how fast Google’s AI develops compared to its competitors. When Bard first debuted in February, he acknowledged its reliance on LaMDA gave it a smaller scale, but framed having less computing power as a benefit, giving more users the change to test it out and provide feedback. Pichai also ensured that Google would be doing its own analysis of Bard’s safety and quality once provided with real-world information.
To that end, Pichai expressed that Google doesn’t want to release a “more capable model before we can fully make sure we can handle it well. We are all in very, very early stages. We will have even more capable models to plug in over time. But I don’t want it to be just who’s there first, but getting it right is very important to us.”
That thought is on the minds of over 1,800 people (including tech leaders and AI researchers) who have signed an open letter calling for a minimum six month pause on the development of AI technology “more powerful than GPT-4.”
Pichai doesn’t think this can be effectively done without involving the government, but agrees with the need for guidance: “AI is too important an area not to regulate. It’s also too important an area not to regulate well. So I’m glad these conversations are underway.” This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-bard-is-switching-to-a-more-capable-language-model-ceo-confirms-133028933.html?src=rss
People haven’t exactly been impressed in the short time since Google released its “experimental conversational AI service” Bard. Coming up against OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing Chat (also powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4) users have found its responses to not be as knowledgeable or detailed as its rivals. That could be set to change, however, after Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed on The New York Times podcast “Hard Fork” that Bard will soon be moving from its current LaMDA-based model to larger-scale PaLM datasets in the coming days.
When asked how he felt about responses to Bard’s release, Pichai commented: “We clearly have more capable models. Pretty soon, maybe as this goes live, we will be upgrading Bard to some of our more capable PaLM models, so which will bring more capabilities, be it in reasoning, coding.”
To frame the difference, Google said it had trained LaMDA with 137 billion parameters when it shared details about the language-based models last year. PaLM, on the other hand, was said to have been trained with around 540 billion parameters. Both models may have evolved and grown since early 2022, but the contrast likely shows why Google is now slowly transitioning Bard over to PaLM, with its larger dataset and more diverse answers.
Pichai claims not to be worried about how fast Google’s AI develops compared to its competitors. When Bard first debuted in February, he acknowledged its reliance on LaMDA gave it a smaller scale, but framed having less computing power as a benefit, giving more users the change to test it out and provide feedback. Pichai also ensured that Google would be doing its own analysis of Bard’s safety and quality once provided with real-world information.
To that end, Pichai expressed that Google doesn’t want to release a “more capable model before we can fully make sure we can handle it well. We are all in very, very early stages. We will have even more capable models to plug in over time. But I don’t want it to be just who’s there first, but getting it right is very important to us.”
That thought is on the minds of over 1,800 people (including tech leaders and AI researchers) who have signed an open letter calling for a minimum six month pause on the development of AI technology “more powerful than GPT-4.”
Pichai doesn’t think this can be effectively done without involving the government, but agrees with the need for guidance: “AI is too important an area not to regulate. It’s also too important an area not to regulate well. So I’m glad these conversations are underway.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-bard-is-switching-to-a-more-capable-language-model-ceo-confirms-133028933.html?src=rss
The best ways to play Tetris in 2023
Tetris Effect. | Image: Enhance Experience
The new Tetris movie on Apple TV Plus plays fast and loose with facts, but there’s one thing it gets right: the game absolutely rules. Watching the movie is very likely to give you the urge to get back to moving falling blocks around until your eyes bleed. And there are a lot of ways to do that.
The best way remains grabbing the original cartridge and slotting it into a Game Boy (or an Analogue Pocket, if you’re fancy). But many of the other options are terrible, like the main mobile app, which is riddled with lengthy ads and a Candy Crush-like structure that sucks the joy out of the game.
Luckily for you, I have multiple versions of Tetris installed on basically every device I own, so I’ve pulled together a few options of the best ways to play the game on modern hardware.
Tetris Effect
Switch, PC, PlayStation, Xbox, VR
No modern interpretation of Tetris understands the game as much as Tetris Effect. At its best, the game is a meditative experience, where you lose yourself in the process of making blocks line up perfectly. There’s an entire phenomenon named after how it influences your brain. Tetris Effect doesn’t mess with that — it amplifies it. The gameplay is pretty straightforward Tetris, but it’s augmented with beautiful and trippy visuals and soundscapes that make it easier to slip into that zone. It even tells a story along the way, and it’s surprisingly great in VR.
Tetris Beat
Apple Arcade
Much like Tetris Effect, Tetris Beat mostly augments the classic experience. It has a kick-ass soundtrack to play along to and also introduces a very interesting mode called “tap” where you have to drop blocks in time to the beat. It’s a bit like Tetris meets Lumines (which is fun in a circular sort of way given how Tetris clearly influenced the latter). It also has remarkably solid touch controls, which aren’t easy to pull off for a game that requires such a level of precision. The only hitch is that you’ll need an Apple Arcade subscription to check it out.
Image: Nintendo
Tetris on Nintendo Switch Online.
Tetris
Nintendo Switch Online
If you’re looking for the classic experience without the classic hardware, you might want to splurge on a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Nintendo recently added Game Boy games to the service, and Tetris was part of the first batch. This is the game in its purest form: the original music, simple visuals, and not even the option to hold a piece for later use. It also looks very crisp and clean when you set it to GBC color mode and play on an OLED display, exactly what the $350 handheld was built for.
Image: Arcade Archives
Tetris the Grand Master.
Arcade Archives Tetris the Grand Master
Switch and PlayStation
If you don’t want to fuss with a subscription, Tetris the Grand Master is a good bet. Arcade Archives is a huge collection of classic arcade games ported to both the Switch and PS4 — seriously, just look at this giant list — and this is a port of an arcade version of Tetris from 1998. Aesthetically it’s… let’s say, interesting, with a pulsing electronic soundtrack and very ’90s backdrops. But the gameplay is solid Tetris without any unnecessary frills.
Tetris Effect. | Image: Enhance Experience
The new Tetris movie on Apple TV Plus plays fast and loose with facts, but there’s one thing it gets right: the game absolutely rules. Watching the movie is very likely to give you the urge to get back to moving falling blocks around until your eyes bleed. And there are a lot of ways to do that.
The best way remains grabbing the original cartridge and slotting it into a Game Boy (or an Analogue Pocket, if you’re fancy). But many of the other options are terrible, like the main mobile app, which is riddled with lengthy ads and a Candy Crush-like structure that sucks the joy out of the game.
Luckily for you, I have multiple versions of Tetris installed on basically every device I own, so I’ve pulled together a few options of the best ways to play the game on modern hardware.
Tetris Effect
Switch, PC, PlayStation, Xbox, VR
No modern interpretation of Tetris understands the game as much as Tetris Effect. At its best, the game is a meditative experience, where you lose yourself in the process of making blocks line up perfectly. There’s an entire phenomenon named after how it influences your brain. Tetris Effect doesn’t mess with that — it amplifies it. The gameplay is pretty straightforward Tetris, but it’s augmented with beautiful and trippy visuals and soundscapes that make it easier to slip into that zone. It even tells a story along the way, and it’s surprisingly great in VR.
Tetris Beat
Apple Arcade
Much like Tetris Effect, Tetris Beat mostly augments the classic experience. It has a kick-ass soundtrack to play along to and also introduces a very interesting mode called “tap” where you have to drop blocks in time to the beat. It’s a bit like Tetris meets Lumines (which is fun in a circular sort of way given how Tetris clearly influenced the latter). It also has remarkably solid touch controls, which aren’t easy to pull off for a game that requires such a level of precision. The only hitch is that you’ll need an Apple Arcade subscription to check it out.
Image: Nintendo
Tetris on Nintendo Switch Online.
Tetris
Nintendo Switch Online
If you’re looking for the classic experience without the classic hardware, you might want to splurge on a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Nintendo recently added Game Boy games to the service, and Tetris was part of the first batch. This is the game in its purest form: the original music, simple visuals, and not even the option to hold a piece for later use. It also looks very crisp and clean when you set it to GBC color mode and play on an OLED display, exactly what the $350 handheld was built for.
Image: Arcade Archives
Tetris the Grand Master.
Arcade Archives Tetris the Grand Master
Switch and PlayStation
If you don’t want to fuss with a subscription, Tetris the Grand Master is a good bet. Arcade Archives is a huge collection of classic arcade games ported to both the Switch and PS4 — seriously, just look at this giant list — and this is a port of an arcade version of Tetris from 1998. Aesthetically it’s… let’s say, interesting, with a pulsing electronic soundtrack and very ’90s backdrops. But the gameplay is solid Tetris without any unnecessary frills.
Lack of cybersecurity training is leaving businesses at risk
Employees are constantly bombarded with phishing but very few are getting support from their employers.
Businesses are putting themselves at risk of all kinds of cyber-attacks due to poor practices when it comes to educating and training the workforce.
A new report from Yubico, found less than half (42%) of UK businesses it surveyed held mandatory, frequent, cybersecurity training.
There are many things employees could be taught, which would improve the cybersecurity posture of organizations, the report further suggested. For example, roughly half (47%) often write down, or share their passwords – which is one of the most common mistakes when it comes to safeguarding a password.
Resetting the password
Elsewhere, the report found that many workers (33%) allow other people to use their work-issued device, while more than half (58%) use personal devices for work.
A similar percentage (49%) do vice-versa, as well, by using a work-issued device for personal use, which is another cybersecurity red flag. Finally, half (48%) have been exposed to a cyberattack such as phishing, without reporting the incident to their IT and cybersecurity teams.
Even when an employee gets exposed to a cyberattack, their organization does very little to amend the issue. “Very few” companies implemented phishing-resistant cybersecurity methods in response to being targeted, a third (28%) simply had their passwords reset, and just a quarter (28%) were made to attend cybersecurity training.
“Cyber attacks, and how to prevent them, should be top of mind for every organization. However, our research reveals a remarkable disparity between the risks of cyber-attacks and businesses’ attitudes toward them,” commented Niall McConachie, regional director (UK & Ireland) at Yubico.
For McConachie, businesses should deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA) as soon as possible, and consider FIDO2 security keys. The latter “have been proven to be the most effective phishing-resistant option for business-wide cybersecurity”, he says.
“By removing the reliance on passwords, MFA and strong 2FA are more user-friendly and can be used for both personal and professional data security. This is especially important as cyber-attacks are not limited to companies but can directly target customers and employees too.”
One of the most used-used passwords – “123456” – is still in use today, despite being known by virtually every cybercriminal out there, the report concluded.
Here are the best firewalls