Month: August 2024
Sony may be considering the handheld market again, but please don’t let it be a repeat of the PS Vita
Sony may be thinking about reentering the handheld market – it could compete with the Steam Deck as long as it doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the PS Vita.
Remember when Sony released portable gaming systems that, at their peak, stood toe-to-toe with the handheld king Nintendo? Apparently, Sony remembers as well, at least according to a reported statement from the tech giant.
Well-known leaker, Tom Henderson, claims Sony is “paying very close attention to the current handheld market” due to its success with the PlayStation Portal. The Portal indeed has been a surprise hit since its release back in November 2023, with Sony stating sales exceeded its expectations and it reportedly becoming the best-selling PS5 accessory in 2024.
It’s not a bad bet considering how the PC handheld market has been booming in recent years due to Valve’s very successful Steam Deck, which was then followed by other strong entries like the Lenovo Legion Go, the Asus ROG Ally, its follow-up the Asus ROG Ally X, and more. And Sony is a veteran, knowing how to craft an incredibly successful portable that sells well in the millions, a la PSP.
However, there is one major blemish on Sony’s track record, one that caused the tech giant to pull out of the market and stay out since then — the PS Vita.
What happened to the PS Vita?
Despite the Vita having incredible hardware for its time (easy to develop for, excellent graphics, smooth UI filled with tons of features, and a very affordable price point), it soon floundered and failed to live up to sales expectations.
The worst part is that this failure was largely due to Sony’s own shortcomings. The first and biggest failure was the sheer lack of both first and third-party game support. Sony Japan Studio largely carried the first-party gaming charge, developing many titles for the portable but other than a few scant other ports there wasn’t much support on this front.
Third-party support was also more difficult to come by, as many developers chose to release titles for Nintendo’s 3DS which, despite its far weaker hardware, had a much higher install base and therefore would most likely return higher sales. And if the library of games is lacking on both fronts, what incentive does a gamer have to invest in this system?
Finally, there was the memory card issue. The PS Vita had very little memory in the micro SD card it came with, so buyers were required to purchase other SD cards. Not much of an issue, except that instead of making the system compatible with literally any brand of SD card on the market, you could only use first-party cards specifically made for it, which were marked up several times the price of regular ones and rarely went down in price.
To this day I still mourn the PS Vita, an incredible portable system that was mishandled so thoroughly. If Sony does decide to enter the PC handheld market, I truly hope it learned its hard-won lessons from the Vita and will ensure that it receives proper support without the memory price gouging.
Please Sony, don’t make the same mistake again.
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Google Meet’s automatic AI note-taking is here
You might not have to worry about taking meeting notes ever again. | Image: Google
Google Meet’s newest AI-powered feature, “take notes for me,” has started rolling out today to Google Workspace customers with the Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education Premium, or AI Meetings & Messaging add-ons. It’s similar to Meet’s transcription tool, only instead of automatically transcribing what everyone says, it summarizes what everyone talked about. Google first announced this feature at its 2023 Cloud Next conference.
Unfortunately, it only supports spoken English right now, but it seems like it could make missing an important meeting less stressful; it automatically takes notes in a Google Doc and will attach that file to the calendar event after the meeting is over, so you can reference them later on. It will also send that Google Doc to the meeting organizer and anyone else who turned the feature on.
Image: Google
Click on the pencil icon in the top right corner to have Google Meet start taking notes.
Running late to a meeting? Google says its new feature will also give you a summary of what you missed, so when you are able to join, you can quickly catch up — and no one should have to worry about repeating themselves. If you use Google Meet’s recordings and transcripts tool at the same time, links to those files will also be provided in the same Google Doc with the meeting notes.
This feature also sounds like a good accessibility tool for anyone (like me) who has trouble processing spoken language and taking notes at the same time. It might allow them to be more focused and fully present during meetings instead of having to ask someone to repeat what they said multiple times.
Google expects to complete the rollout to all Google Workspace customers by September 10th, 2024 — but there’s no guarantee how accurate Google Meet’s new feature will actually be.
AI can make a lot of mistakes; every time I’ve used Meet’s transcription tool, I have to go back through the automatically generated transcript to verify that it correctly captured the conversation. In my experience, that often entails listening to specific parts of the recording again and manually fixing the transcript. I’m skeptical but hopeful Google Meet will be a better note-taker than transcriber.
You might not have to worry about taking meeting notes ever again. | Image: Google
Google Meet’s newest AI-powered feature, “take notes for me,” has started rolling out today to Google Workspace customers with the Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education Premium, or AI Meetings & Messaging add-ons. It’s similar to Meet’s transcription tool, only instead of automatically transcribing what everyone says, it summarizes what everyone talked about. Google first announced this feature at its 2023 Cloud Next conference.
Unfortunately, it only supports spoken English right now, but it seems like it could make missing an important meeting less stressful; it automatically takes notes in a Google Doc and will attach that file to the calendar event after the meeting is over, so you can reference them later on. It will also send that Google Doc to the meeting organizer and anyone else who turned the feature on.
Image: Google
Click on the pencil icon in the top right corner to have Google Meet start taking notes.
Running late to a meeting? Google says its new feature will also give you a summary of what you missed, so when you are able to join, you can quickly catch up — and no one should have to worry about repeating themselves. If you use Google Meet’s recordings and transcripts tool at the same time, links to those files will also be provided in the same Google Doc with the meeting notes.
This feature also sounds like a good accessibility tool for anyone (like me) who has trouble processing spoken language and taking notes at the same time. It might allow them to be more focused and fully present during meetings instead of having to ask someone to repeat what they said multiple times.
Google expects to complete the rollout to all Google Workspace customers by September 10th, 2024 — but there’s no guarantee how accurate Google Meet’s new feature will actually be.
AI can make a lot of mistakes; every time I’ve used Meet’s transcription tool, I have to go back through the automatically generated transcript to verify that it correctly captured the conversation. In my experience, that often entails listening to specific parts of the recording again and manually fixing the transcript. I’m skeptical but hopeful Google Meet will be a better note-taker than transcriber.
X’s Grok will direct users to Vote.gov after bungling basic ballot question
After falsely stating that ballot deadlines passed, Grok sends users to Vote.gov.
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto )
Elon Musk’s X platform made a change to its AI assistant, Grok, that may prevent it from giving users false information on election ballot deadlines and other election-related matters. From now on, X says that Grok will direct users to Vote.gov when asked election-related questions.
X, formerly Twitter, made the change about two weeks after five secretaries of state complained to the company. “On August 21, 2024, X’s Head of US and Canada Global Government Affairs informed the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State [Steve Simon] that the platform has made changes to its AI search assistant, Grok, after a request from several Secretaries of State,” Simon’s office said in a press release yesterday.
Grok is developed by xAI, one of Musk’s other companies, and is available on X to paying subscribers.
Turns out Martin Shkreli copied his $2M Wu-Tang album—and sent it to “50 different chicks”
“Of course I made MP3 copies, they’re like hidden in safes all around the world.”
Enlarge / Martin Shkreli—he’s back, and he’s still got copies of that Wu-Tang Clan album. (credit: Getty | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez )
The members of PleasrDAO are, well, pretty displeased with Martin Shkreli.
The “digital autonomous organization” spent $4.75 million to buy the fabled Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which had only been produced as a single copy. The album had once belonged to Shkreli, who purchased it directly from Wu-Tang Clan for $2 million in 2015. But after Shkreli became the “pharma bro” poster boy for price gouging in the drug sector, he ended up in severe legal trouble and served a seven-year prison sentence for securities fraud.
He also had to pay a $7.4 million penalty in that case, and the government seized and then sold Once Upon a Time in Shaolin to help pay the bill.
NASA has to be trolling with the latest cost estimate of its SLS launch tower
“NASA officials informed us they do not intend to request a fixed-price proposal.”
Enlarge / Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program and primary contractor Bechtel National, Inc. continue construction on the base of the platform for the new mobile launcher at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (credit: NASA/Isaac Watson)
NASA’s problems with the mobile launch tower that will support a larger version of its Space Launch System rocket are getting worse rather than better.
According to a new report from NASA’s inspector general, the estimated cost of the tower, which is a little bit taller than the length of a US football field with its end zones, is now $2.7 billion. Such a cost is nearly twice the funding it took to build the largest structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa, which is seven times taller.
This is a remarkable explosion in costs as, only five years ago, NASA awarded a contract to the Bechtel engineering firm to build and deliver a second mobile launcher (ML-2) for $383 million, with a due date of March 2023. That deadline came and went with Bechtel barely beginning to cut metal.
Lyft is testing a new rider verification safety measure
Lyft is piloting its own rider verification program, much as Uber did earlier this year. This feature confirms to drivers that the person getting in their vehicle is who they say they are. The program is launching first in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Phoenix and Seattle.
Lyft will confirm riders’ legal names using third-party databases, but has not disclosed which services it is using. If a rider is unable to be verified in one of those unspecified databases, they can also provide a government ID, such as a driver’s license, passport or state ID card in order to be verified. Once a rider completes the process, drivers will see a verification badge on that person’s profile.
For now, at least, the verification process isn’t mandatory, although Lyft’s FAQ says that “riders are highly encouraged to participate.” If the program works as Lyft is expecting, then drivers may be more inclined to accept requests from verified riders (and unverified riders could see longer wait times.)
Ridesharing poses significant safety risks for drivers. Between 2017 and 2019, Lyft received more than 4,000 reports of sexual assault (though it did not differentiate between those allegedly committed against drivers vs passengers). Driving gig workers also face the risk of carjacking and other violent crimes. The hope is that verification programs like this one could make drivers feel more at ease when letting a stranger into their vehicle. One of Lyft’s other recent measures to improve driver safety is the Women+ Connect feature, which was expanded to more cities in February.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/lyft-is-testing-a-new-rider-verification-safety-measure-201515898.html?src=rss
Lyft is piloting its own rider verification program, much as Uber did earlier this year. This feature confirms to drivers that the person getting in their vehicle is who they say they are. The program is launching first in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Phoenix and Seattle.
Lyft will confirm riders’ legal names using third-party databases, but has not disclosed which services it is using. If a rider is unable to be verified in one of those unspecified databases, they can also provide a government ID, such as a driver’s license, passport or state ID card in order to be verified. Once a rider completes the process, drivers will see a verification badge on that person’s profile.
For now, at least, the verification process isn’t mandatory, although Lyft’s FAQ says that “riders are highly encouraged to participate.” If the program works as Lyft is expecting, then drivers may be more inclined to accept requests from verified riders (and unverified riders could see longer wait times.)
Ridesharing poses significant safety risks for drivers. Between 2017 and 2019, Lyft received more than 4,000 reports of sexual assault (though it did not differentiate between those allegedly committed against drivers vs passengers). Driving gig workers also face the risk of carjacking and other violent crimes. The hope is that verification programs like this one could make drivers feel more at ease when letting a stranger into their vehicle. One of Lyft’s other recent measures to improve driver safety is the Women+ Connect feature, which was expanded to more cities in February.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/lyft-is-testing-a-new-rider-verification-safety-measure-201515898.html?src=rss
US Says Genetically Modified Wheat Safe To Grow, Pending Trials
A type of genetically modified wheat developed by Argentina’s Bioceres may be safely grown and bred in the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. From a report: Bioceres must still complete additional steps, including field trials, that will take years before it can commercialize HB4 wheat, modified to tolerate drought, industry group U.S. Wheat Associates said. Still, USDA’s finding moves genetically modified wheat closer to production in the U.S. in a potential win for farmers grappling with drought and more severe weather, despite concerns among some consumers.
“Wherever wheat is grown in the world, drought takes its toll on yields and quality, so an innovation like HB4 holds a lot of interest for growers like me,” said Michael Peters, an Oklahoma wheat farmer and past chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates. Genetic modification involves altering a plant’s makeup by transferring DNA from one organism to another and is common in crops such as corn, used for livestock feed. Some consumer groups oppose genetic modification of wheat over concerns about human health since it is widely used to make bread and pasta, and therefore consumed directly by people. USDA’s decision on HB4 wheat is farther than the agency has ever gone with genetically modified wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A type of genetically modified wheat developed by Argentina’s Bioceres may be safely grown and bred in the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. From a report: Bioceres must still complete additional steps, including field trials, that will take years before it can commercialize HB4 wheat, modified to tolerate drought, industry group U.S. Wheat Associates said. Still, USDA’s finding moves genetically modified wheat closer to production in the U.S. in a potential win for farmers grappling with drought and more severe weather, despite concerns among some consumers.
“Wherever wheat is grown in the world, drought takes its toll on yields and quality, so an innovation like HB4 holds a lot of interest for growers like me,” said Michael Peters, an Oklahoma wheat farmer and past chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates. Genetic modification involves altering a plant’s makeup by transferring DNA from one organism to another and is common in crops such as corn, used for livestock feed. Some consumer groups oppose genetic modification of wheat over concerns about human health since it is widely used to make bread and pasta, and therefore consumed directly by people. USDA’s decision on HB4 wheat is farther than the agency has ever gone with genetically modified wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
This cybercrime group claims it can help hackers beat CAPTCHA locks
CAPTCHA are a great way to filter out bots and malicious actors, but this group thinks it can beat them.
Cybersecurity experts have reported discovering an threat actor selling CAPTCHA-solving services to its customers.
Arkose Cyber Threat Intelligence Research (ACTIR) says the Greasy Opal group is allegedly based in the Czech Republic and has, in the past decade and a half, sold all kinds of software, both legitimate and illegal. However, it drew the attention of the researchers with the CAPTCHA-solving tool.
CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It’s a type of challenge-response test used to determine whether the user is human or a bot. CAPTCHAs are designed to prevent automated software (bots) from doing things like creating accounts, sending email, accessing secure websites, and similar. If you opened at least one website in the last half a decade, you probably saw a CAPTCHA. It is usually a grid of up to nine images, in which the user is asked to select a few similar ones. There are different variants, though.
“Notably fast”
According to ACTIR, Greasy Opal’s tool is a “notably easy, fast, and flexible tool for the automatic recognition of a wide array of CAPTCHAs.”
“Greasy Opal positions its service as enhancing recognition velocity significantly (up to 10 times faster) and is therefore a replacement for competitive CAPTCHA-solving solutions,” such as AntiGate, RuCaptcha, or DeCaptcher, the researchers said.
The tools Greasy Opal offers are apparently bundled, and cost $70 to acquire. Furthermore, there is an additional $10 monthly subscription. Finally, those with deeper pockets can shell out an additional $100 to upgrade to the beta version and get the latest bells and whistles.
A bundle that includes all of Greasy Opal’s tools costs $190, with the additional $10 subscription fee. The researchers believe Greasy Opal raked in at least $1.7 million last year.
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Expert Tips on How to Change the Color of Your Hydrangeas
Changing your hydrangea flowers to blue, pink or purple isn’t a magic trick, but a super doable science experiment.
Changing your hydrangea flowers to blue, pink or purple isn’t a magic trick, but a super doable science experiment.