Enlarge / Just because you’re still alive in a retro-futuristic-post-apocalyptic Commonwealth doesn’t mean you’re necessarily witty. (credit: Bethesda / ProfMajowski) Modders can change many things inside their favorite games, but dialogue from professionally voiced characters hasn’t been one of those things—at least until recently. AI voice generation could open up new modding avenues for some games, as it has already done with one Fallout 4 mod package. Roleplayer’s Expanded Dialogue (RED) is listed in the NexusMods catalog as a “Massive expansion of vanilla dialogue,” adding more than 300 entirely new lines of dialogue to the game. Those lines aim to solve an issue near to the hearts of fans of… Read More
Continue ReadingTwo more dead as patients report horrifying details of eye drop outbreak
Enlarge (credit: Getty | UniversalImagesGroup) Two more people have died and more details of horrifying eye infections are emerging in a nationwide outbreak linked to recalled eye drops from EzriCare and Delsam. The death toll now stands at three, according to an outbreak update this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 68 people in 16 states have been infected with a rare, extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain linked to the eye drops. In addition to the deaths, eight people have reported vision loss and four have had their eyeballs surgically removed (enucleation). In a case report published this week in JAMA Ophthalmology, eye doctors… Read More
Continue ReadingFramework’s DIY laptop shames Apple and Microsoft with its upgradable CPU and makes me excited for the future
Framework announced brand new upgrades for its DIY laptop line that should greatly improve performance. These upgrades can be installed into older models, with two main upgrades for the motherboards: one that brings them from the Intel 12th-gen CPUs to the 13th-gen CPUs, and another that brings AMD CPUs to Framework laptops for the first time. The 12th-gen Intel chips used in previous Framework laptops negatively affected battery performance but the manufacturer stated that 13th-gen chips are far more battery efficient and “firmware optimizations” will improve battery performance even further. The AMD upgrade is a bit more mysterious but we do know that it will combine Zen 4 CPU and… Read More
Continue ReadingThat TikTok hearing was pretty messed up, right?
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Yesterday continued Congress’s recent history of calling tech executives into a hearing to berate them about their excessive collection of users’ private data for financial means. But where Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai suffered through the hearings only to face little to no repercussions for their potentially egregious collection of data and anti-competitive practices, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was met with something far more defined — and the users of his platform immediately picked up on it. “Your platform should be banned,” was one of the first things Chew heard when the hearing started. That was from Chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA) in… Read More
Continue ReadingSome questions for the employees behind Google Docs
I have a lot of questions! | Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Why is the toolbar a different color? Why is it oval when the buttons it features are square? I have helpfully labeled my concerns. Are you aware that this is ugly? Seriously, what is the logic behind the oval / rectangle divide? Do you think it’s important for us to notice the toolbar? You know it’s kind of distracting to make it a different color, right? How many committee meetings went into that toolbar? Is anyone working on a Chrome extension to make Google Docs look less hideous? Are you evaluated for how many products you successfully… Read More
Continue ReadingTrying to recreate Mario Kart in the Fortnite editor could get you banned
This is from Epic’s Unreal Editor for Fortnite, but it’s not from any Mario Kart track that I’m aware of. | Image: Epic Games Epic Games’ new Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) toolset has only been out for two days, but the company is already having to threaten permanent bans for creators making content that violates copyright. That even goes for violating content that creators post about on social media and content that they aren’t going to actually publish. “All content in Fortnite must adhere to Fortnite’s game rating, Fortnite Island Creator Rules and intellectual property and DMCA guidelines,” Epic wrote in a blog post on Friday. “Those who create… Read More
Continue ReadingInsta360 teases new challenger for DJI’s class-leading smartphone gimbal
Action camera brand Insta360 is entering new territory as it’s set to reveal what appears to be a new smartphone gimbal on March 29. The 20-second teaser video doesn’t reveal a whole lot, but there are a few clues that we can use to paint a picture. For starters, the device will sport a small screen on the handle and some kind of folding mechanism for easier storage. Smartphones will sit on the gimbal via a magnetic clasp. In between the handle and clasp, it looks like there is a control panel with a wheel for changing various shooting modes on the side. The trailer zooms past this portion so… Read More
Continue ReadingBing’s showing ‘AI-generated stories’ in some search results
Screenshot: Mitchell Clark / The Verge Microsoft continues to add AI features to its Bing search engine, even outside of the GPT-powered chat features it’s been pushing. According to a feature roundup blog post, Bing will now “craft AI-generated stories” for some searches, giving you a small multimedia presentation about the thing you looked up. The company says it’s a way to let you “consume bite-sized information” while searching certain topics. The stories look similar to the ones you’d find on social media platforms like Instagram or Snapchat, with a progress bar to tell you when it’s going to advance to the next slide. Slides have text explaining the thing… Read More
Continue ReadingMicrosoft wins battle with Sony as UK reverses finding on Activision merger
Enlarge / Sony’s PlayStation 5. (credit: Sony) UK regulators reviewing Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard reversed their stance on a key question today, saying they no longer believe Microsoft would remove the Call of Duty franchise from Sony’s PlayStation consoles. Last month, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) tentatively concluded that a combined Microsoft/Activision Blizzard would harm competition in console gaming. At the time, the CMA said evidence showed that “Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own consoles (or only available on PlayStation under materially worse conditions).” The agency also raised concerns about the merger affecting rivals in cloud gaming. The… Read More
Continue ReadingXencelabs’ new display drawing tablet gives Wacom a run for its money
Unlike the Wacom Cintiq Pro 27, the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 includes a stand and ExpressKey accessory as standard. | Image: Xencelabs Graphics hardware manufacturer Xencelabs has announced the Pen Display 24 Studio Series, a new display drawing tablet designed for creative professionals. The 24-inch display is the company’s first drawing tablet with a built-in display to join its range of standard pen tablets and comes equipped with features that rival Wacom’s Cintiq series. The biggest advantage that Xencelabs has against Wacom is affordability — at $1,899, the Pen Display 24 is considerably less expensive than the $3,500 Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 and includes accessories like a stand and a… Read More
Continue ReadingMeta says big tech firms shouldn’t pay for their own network costs
Meta has slammed rumblings in the EU and US that Big Tech companies should be effectively taxed in order to finance the development of broadband infrastructure. The growing sentiment in those territories is that, as their heaviest users and beneficiaries, Big Tech companies should pay a fair share of the cost of network infrastructure construction. In February 2023, the European Commission opened an exploratory commission to gather views and insight on the idea of charging tech giants on the issue, and it remains open until May. And, per Ars Technica, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote in Newsweek in 2021 that “Big Tech has been enjoying a free ride on our… Read More
Continue ReadingThese 3 fintech trends are key to building an inclusive future
Michael Schlein will be speaking at TNW Valencia 2023 about How fintech innovation can drive inclusive growth. Check out this discussion on the Impact stage on Thursday, March 3oth. The world has changed so much over the past few years. The global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, worsening climate change, widespread social unrest — all these challenges have had major consequences for families, small businesses, and communities globally. For the first time in our lifetimes, global poverty and hunger are on the rise, and the economic environment remains uncertain and unstable. As challenges evolve, so do solutions. While today’s challenges… This story continues at The Next Web Or just read… Read More
Continue ReadingScientists discover a hot Neptune that shouldn’t exist
1800 light-years away, an unlikely survivor orbits an aged star. This rare planet is called a hot Neptune, and it’s one of only a small handful of hot Neptunes astronomers have found. Hot Neptunes are so close to their stars that the overpowering stellar radiation should’ve stripped away their atmospheres, leaving only a planetary core […] The post Scientists discover a hot Neptune that shouldn’t exist appeared first on Knowridge Science Report. …read more Source:: Knowridge Science Report
Continue ReadingWhy sitting with crossed legs could be bad for you
Are you sitting comfortably? Just pause for a moment and without adjusting, notice your posture. What are your legs doing? Are they crossed? And are you a right or left crosser? Some 62% of people cross right over left, 26% go the other way and 12% have no preference. There are typically two ways to […] The post Why sitting with crossed legs could be bad for you appeared first on Knowridge Science Report. …read more Source:: Knowridge Science Report
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