Month: August 2024
Google Meet is fixing one of the most annoying parts of video conferencing in your browser
Google Meet calls will automatically launch a picture-in-picture view when switching tabs.
Losing track of your video calls when switching between browser tabs could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new Google Meet update.
The video conferencing service has launched a new tweak that will ensure users can always keep track of their meeting or call, with a picture-in-picture feed automatically opening when navigating into a different tab.
The feature should be incredibly useful for those who may have to search for relevant information or data in another tab, especially those users who juggle multiple tabs and windows at the same time.
Google Meet picture-in-picture
(Image credit: Google Workspace)
In a Google Workspace update blog post announcing the “simple, yet impactful update”, the company noted the feature was already present in Meet, but is now easier to use and much more reactive.
Previously, users would have needed to manually turn on the feature during a meeting, but picture-in-picture will now launch automatically when the user switches tabs. The feature can be switched off if needed via Google Chrome Settings, where it sits alongside the triggers for turning off camera and microphone feeds.
There are some restrictions – obviously you’ll need to be using Google Chrome as your browser, and the feature will only work on desktop and laptop devices for the time being.
The feature is rolling out now, and will be available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.
The news is the latest upgrade for Google Meet in recent weeks, following the announcement that the company’s Gemini AI platform will now automatically take notes during a meeting, letting users “drop the pen” and focus more clearly on the meeting instead of splitting focus between listening and taking notes on video conferencing calls.
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NYT’s The Mini crossword answers for August 27
Answers to each clue for the August 27, 2024 edition of NYT’s The Mini crossword puzzle.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times‘ revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player’s flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
Here are the clues and answers to NYT’s The Mini for Sunday, August 27, 2024:
Across
Point of transition between two zodiac signs
The answer is cusp.
Declare legally void
The answer is annul.
Providence, ___ Island
The answer is Rhode.
August zodiac sign
The answer is Virgo.
Olympic fencing sword
The answer is epee.
Down
Slice up, as a turkey
The answer is carve.
Not “with it”
The answer is unhip.
Be a noisy bedmate
The answer is snore.
Cutely pokeable bit of belly flab
The answer is pudge.
August zodiac sign
The answer is Leo.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Featured Video For You
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Mini Crossword.
Google has quietly confirmed that Android 15 is launching in October
Release notes for the Android 15 beta exit have been updated to mention an October release date.
Usually a new flagship Pixel phone would launch with a new version of Android, but this year Google did things differently, launching the Pixel 9 series earlier in the year than is typical for its new flagship phones.
And as for Android 15? Well, we’re still waiting for that. But the company has now at least revealed the month during which this software update will roll out.
As spotted by Android Authority, Google has now updated the release notes for the Android Beta Exit update, which is what users who choose to exit the Android 15 beta will see, and at the top of those release notes is a line stating that that Android 15 will be available in October.
Since these are official Google release notes we can take this as confirmation that this is when Android 15 will land, even though it’s an oddly low-key way for Google to make such a major announcement.
(Image credit: Google / Android Authority)
A one-month window
The notes don’t get more specific, so we don’t know exactly when in October the finished version of Android 15 will roll out, but Android Authority has heard from a source that Android 15 may roll out around the middle of the month.
So we could still be looking at quite a long wait, and even when it does roll out it will initially only land on Pixel phones, with other manufacturers having to prepare their own versions of Android 15 for their devices.
So if you own a Samsung, OnePlus, or other brand of Android phone, then you could be waiting weeks beyond that, or even longer in some cases.
Still, hopefully the Android 15 update will be worth the wait. Based on betas and leaks, it could include things like a battery health percentage, lock-screen widgets, a Private Space to hide sensitive apps, support for Bluetooth Auracast, and a whole lot more.
So it could breathe new life into aging Android phones, and should even be a desirable update for brand-new handsets like the Google Pixel 9 Pro.
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How AI is fueling the rise of edge networking
Our demand for GenAI is exacerbating the bandwidth and capacity requirements we need from networks – fueling the rise of edge networking.
Our unabating demand for generative AI is fueling the rise of a new type of network model: ‘edge networking’. We are now witnessing the global development of edge data centers positioned closer to the end-user to meet the real-time responsiveness and low latency performance demands of GenAI. To put this into figures: analyst firm, IDC, predicted that spending on edge computing is expected to reach $232 billion in 2024, up 15.4% from 2023.
Edge data centers are small data centers and compute locations that form part of a distributed network of data centers. They are based close to the areas they serve – significantly reducing latency and enhancing the performance of applications that require real-time data processing. This decentralized approach also helps to balance loads, ensures flows of data in the event of an outage and improves the overall resilience of a network.
Supporting GenAI
The case for edge networking is clear. AI applications are both data-heavy and compute-intensive. However, edge computing promises to overcome these technical challenges by enabling real-time decision-making with reduced latency, local data storage and processing and reduced data transfer to the cloud. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to the need for inferencing and localized processing of data.
With GenAI requiring even faster processing, there will be many existing and new applications where networks will need to deliver ultra-low-latency. The more time-critical the application is, the more that data should be stored and processed at the edge. Take AI inferencing (using an AI model to conclude from new information or data) for example.
Processing data at the edge can reduce the time for a result from a few seconds to a fraction of a second. In addition, several other emerging industry use cases highlight why compute must be placed close to the end-user – whether that be content generation applications like ChatGPT, interactive customer service agents, immersive AR experiences, smart healthcare and smart retail and predictive maintenance. In these scenarios where every millisecond counts, the user will enjoy a higher quality experience if the compute is hosted as close as possible to them.
The sustainability argument
A recent TechRadarPro article argued that we do not have the power to handle the current data center demand boom, due to AI. This is why we must build out data centers outside central locations at the edge. According to Goldman Sachs, a ChatGPT enquiry requires almost 10 times as much electricity to process as a Google search. Despite the inevitable spike in electricity expenditure from GenAI, edge data centers offer the advantage of reducing grid power consumption in central locations. By distributing the computing burden across the network, power demand is spread, not concentrated. By running applications at the edge, data can be processed and stored nearer to the end user’s devices, rather than relying on data centers that are hundreds of miles away.
Investing in an AI-ready network
Investment in high-speed connectivity will connect edge sites in the network more practically and sustainably. Fiber-optic cables provide significantly lower latency and higher bandwidth than traditional copper cables. This allows for faster data transfer rates. High-speed fiber networks are easily scalable so as demand for data grows, additional bandwidth can be provisioned without significant infrastructure changes. Fiber networks also consume less power than traditional infrastructure, contributing to lower operational costs and a smaller carbon footprint. With advancements in pluggable optical technology, the same economic, sustainability and technology benefits derived from fiber are now being delivered inside the data center.
However, while projects such as the UK’s Project Gigabit and the US’ Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program are a necessary step in the right direction, governments must prioritize building out the network edge and better connecting data centers – not just expanding fiber-to-the-home (FTTH).
The key to unlocking AI success
As countries race to become leaders in AI, bolstering start-ups and defining regulation parameters are top of the agenda. However, AI success will depend on the country’s fixed network infrastructure and its ability to carry significant amounts of data with little to no latency. If networks cannot cope with the influx of traffic generated by ‘always on’ Large Language Models (LLMs), AI ambitions may falter.
This is why respective AI strategies must focus on the size, location and quality of the underlying network infrastructure. Despite widespread investment in ‘traditional’ data centers snowballing across the world, such as Google’s new $1 billion data center in the UK announced earlier in the year and Microsoft’s AUD$5 billion investment in building data centers in Australia, there has been less of a focus on edge data centers. To meet AI demands, data center buildout needs to be supplemented by edge buildout.
A hybrid model?
A hybrid approach of strategically placed data centers at the edge of the network, in combination with central data centers, will be essential to manage the rapid information flow cost-effectively and sustainably. This is particularly crucial for AI inferencing, where data flows go to the edge for processing and then back to core data centers for distribution. Time-critical applications will be served better closer to the edge of the network, but data-heavy and less time-critical applications will be better served in central data centers.
With major companies like Microsoft having ambitious targets to triple its data center capacity within the next year to deliver AI, we must also see edge data centers being a considered part of the strategy – not only to meet the low latency requirements of GenAI applications but to take the power pressure off the central grid.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
Tesla Chargers Are Still Closed to Most Electric Cars
Elon Musk’s plan to open Tesla’s charging network is proceeding slowly. Nobody is entirely sure why, or when that might change.
Elon Musk’s plan to open Tesla’s charging network is proceeding slowly. Nobody is entirely sure why, or when that might change.
NYT Strands hints, answers for August 27
The NYT Strands hints and answers you need to make the most of your puzzling experience.
If you’re reading this, you’re looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game.
Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Pixar fare
These words are a delicious combination.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
The answers all relate to ingredients for a Pixar movie namesake dish.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Ratatouille.
NYT Strands word list for August 27
Peppers
Onions
Ratatouille
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Eggplant
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
How I Saved Money Repairing My iPhone Without AppleCare
When my battery needed service, I used this credit card perk to save $46.
When my battery needed service, I used this credit card perk to save $46.
‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 review: Murder at the movies
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez star in Season 4 of “Only Murders in the Building,” which remains as fun and twisty as ever.
At its core, Only Murders in the Building has always been about storytelling: the personas we build, the alibis a criminal constructs, even the narratives we make up about the neighbors around us we don’t really know. The show reflects this love of stories by highlighting different modes of storytelling from season to season. Seasons 1 and 2 took on true crime podcasting, Season 3 took a turn for the theatrical, and Season 4 jets off to Hollywood for a movie-centric whodunnit.
Only Murders in the Building‘s focus on film adds a new layer of chaos to Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel’s (Selena Gomez) adventures this season. Not only are they investigating the disappearance of Charles’ stunt double, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), they’re also dealing with a nonstop parade of Hollywood executives and demanding actors, any of whom could be homicidal. But don’t let the trio’s excursions to Los Angeles fool you — Only Murders in the Building is still firmly rooted in the Arconia, a setting that remains as twisty, intriguing, and fun as the series itself.
Charles, Oliver, and Mabel take Hollywood in Only Murders in the Building Season 4.
Credit: Disney / Eric McCandless
As Season 4 opens, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel receive some potentially life-changing news: Their Only Murders in the Building podcast has been optioned for a movie adaptation, and the studio is fast-tracking the production. So our trio is off to Hollywood, where they’ll sign away their life rights to producer Bev Melon (Molly Shannon) and meet the actors playing their movie counterparts. Enter Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria, all playing exaggerated versions of themselves in their quests to embody Charles, Oliver, and Mabel.
Yet despite all the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, something doesn’t feel quite right to Charles. Following Oliver’s Death Rattle Dazzle opening night party, Sazz has seemingly fallen off the face of the earth. Audiences will remember that she got shot in Charles’s kitchen at the end of Season 3, but by the start of Season 4, all traces of her have vanished from his apartment, leaving our podcasters in the dark. As Charles begins to piece together that something bad might have happened to his dear old friend — and that he may have been the intended target — he and his co-hosts return to New York for more sleuthing, with the film production following close behind.
Once there, Only Murders in the Building Season 4 adds several new twists to what we already know about the Arconia, including introducing a whole crew of suspicious tenants living in the building’s West Tower. Played by the likes of Richard Kind, Kumail Nanjiani, and Daphne Rubin-Vega, the “Westies” are an eclectic bunch, with hobbies ranging from ultra-competitive card game nights to overzealous Christmas decor. (But could their interests extend… to murder?) This batch of suspects fits right in with the rest of the Arconia’s kooky residents, proving that even after three seasons, Only Murders in the Building still has plenty elements of its titular building to explore.
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 is a grand time at the movies.
Credit: Disney / Eric McCandless
On top of the Westies, Season 4’s film elements keep Only Murders in the Building feeling fresh, just as the Broadway storyline did in Season 3.
Take the addition of Levy, Galifianakis, and Longoria. Their appearance here feels like the logical progression of Only Murders in the Building‘s tradition of having major guest stars like Sting, Matthew Broderick, and Mel Brooks play themselves. Only instead of being quick cameos, Levy, Galifianakis, and Longoria are in it for the long haul, appearing across multiple episodes and serving as funhouse mirrors through which our characters see themselves.
This new trio of actors also gives Only Murders in the Building several new character pairings to play with. The usually chipper Oliver has a tough time with Galifianakis, who points out his every flaw and dismisses him at every turn. Elsewhere, Levy and Martin prove a bumbling match in comedy heaven, and Longoria brings a healthy dash of Desperate Housewives energy to her scenes with an often-confused Mabel.
Beyond its casting, Only Murders in the Building uses its focus on movies as an opportunity to pay homage to some classics. Each episode takes its name from a movie, including Once Upon a Time in the West and Valley of the Dolls, and often features a callout (some more direct than others) to said film. The result is a winding road through the movies and a love letter to how they get made, spotlighting writers, directors, stunt men, and more.
Exploring films across time also prompts Only Murders in the Building to experiment a bit with its own form, including a documentary-style episode that, while sometimes feeling a bit forced, still shows that the series is ready and willing to take more risks. All it needs is a great story and a desire to tell it, and Season 4 has both in spades.
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 premieres Aug. 27 on Hulu, with a new episode every Tuesday.
How to watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys online for free
Watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.
TL;DR: Watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys in the Champions League for free with a 30-day trial of Prime Video. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The Champions League fate of Galatasaray and Young Boys is still unclear. The two sides battled it out last week in a thrilling first-leg matchup, with Young Boys taking a 3-2 advantage back to Turkey. They might be behind, but Galatasaray will be confident of securing a win in front of their passionate support.
If you want to watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Galatasaray vs. Young Boys?
Galatasaray vs. Young Boys in the Champions League starts at 3 p.m. ET on Aug. 27. This fixture takes place at Rams Park in Istanbul, Turkey.
How to watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys for free
Galatasaray vs. Young Boys is available to live stream on Prime Video in the UK, but you don’t need to be subscribed to Amazon Prime to watch all the action. Instead, you can watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys (plus more Champions League fixtures) for free with a 30-day trial of Prime Video.
Fans from outside the UK will need to use a VPN to watch the Champions League for free on Prime Video. This process is straightforward:
Sign up for a 30-day Amazon Prime trial (if you’re not already a member)
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
Watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys for free from anywhere in the world on Prime Video
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ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Galatasaray vs. Young Boys on Prime Video without committing with your cash. This isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select Champions League fixtures before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for Prime Video?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Prime Video, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
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