ICYMI: Eye surgery, bot style
Today on In Case You Missed It: The Axsis microsurgery robot is designed to work remotely so that doctors can more minutely control the removal of cataracts. The machine can’t cut too deeply into the cornea since it’s designed to avoid that most common of human pitfalls.
Meanwhile, the big news in the Ukraine is that nuclear accident site Chernobyl just got a massive building to block radiation placed over its exploded reactor, funded by more than 40 countries to the tune of $1.5 Billion. The hijinks of crazyRussianHacker are here and Google’s time-lapse photos of Earth; here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
‘Gears of War 4’ gets cross-platform multiplayer this weekend
Since the dawn of time, comment sections have had vicious debates on which gamers own the superior platform. This weekend, Microsoft are giving them the opportunity to put their K/D where their mouths are. Between December 2nd and December 5th, Microsoft will be trialing cross-platform competitive play on Gears of War 4 allowing PC and Xbox One players to duke it out.
Cross-play was a key focus of Xbox’s E3 presentation this year, but until now the two platforms have only been able to interact in cooperative modes. While Gears of War 4 has long supported inter-platform play on its co-op missions and Horde mode, developer The Coalition says this limited trial could pave the way for permanent competitive cross-platform support.
Where games like Microsoft’s Shadow Run have attempted this in the past, the difference in input methods have meant that players on either platform could be put at a disadvantage. With many PC players preferring the more accurate mouse and keyboard setup, and console gamers requiring generous aim assist, the results of this trial will be interesting to say the least.
Thankfully, this daunting battleground will be isolated to a ‘crossplay’ multiplayer playlist, meaning that participating in the player war isn’t mandatory. If you’re feeling brave enough though, this is one fight you can proudly tell your bemused grandkids about in years to come.
Source: Gears Of War Forum
Pros and cons: Our quick verdict on the Surface Studio
Arguably the most interesting computer released this year wasn’t an ultra-thin laptop or even a tablet hybrid — it was a desktop computer. The Surface Studio is hardly the first all-in-one desktop, but it’s the first from Microsoft, and the company even managed to make this classic form factor feel fresh. In particular, we’re fans of the optional “Surface Dial” accessory, which gives users an additional way to get around menus and control on-screen objects. (The included pen works well too.) This is also just a very well-crafted product, with a sturdy build and an articulating screen that comes in handy for creative work.
The main problem is the price. Well, and the specs you get for the money. Though the Studio is powerful, it’s limited by the fact that it runs mobile, not desktop, processors. Also, though there are configurations beyond the $3,000 base model, the machine itself isn’t user-upgradeable. And that could be a problem for the sort of niche the Studio is aimed at.
‘Ark: Survival Evolved’ stomps its way onto PS4 next week
After a lengthy wait, PS4 owners will finally be able to play Ark: Survival Evolved this week, with the game launching on December 6th. Since the game became a runaway success on Steam in 2015, PS4 owners have been waiting patiently to play the Early Access survival hit and now they will be able to purchase not only the latest build of Ark but also the recently released Scorched Earth expansion. To make up for the delay, buying Ark: Survival Evolved on PS4 will also net you two PlayStation exclusive items: the Bionic Giganotosaurus skin and a Manticore armor set. Developer Wildcard has also promised that PS4 players will receive the same updates as the Steam Early Access and Xbox One versions and at ” a similar tempo”.
For the uninitiated, Ark: Survival Evolved is a prehistoric survival game that sees you aiming to hold your own in a dangerous online world. Tasked with crafting food and weapons, players can build their own dwellings and defend them against terrifying creatures and worse still, other players.
The game’s release comes a surprise, largely due to Sony’s policy on Early Access releases. Games in Steam Early Access are unfinished, allowing players to purchase them for a discounted price and play them as they’re being developed. Due to its incomplete nature,previously Sony stated that the game would need to be finished before it would appear on PS4. It appears that Sony was happy enough with the state of Ark however, as PS4 owners will now be playing long before the game’s full release in Spring 2017. It still hasn’t been announced whether PlayStation gamers will be getting the same mode support as PC and Xbox One players, however.
Christmas is a time of bringing a bit of magic into people’s lives, and there’re very few things quite as magical as riding a Velociraptor while firing a machine gun.
Source: Studio Wildcard
ULA justifies pricey space launches with ‘RocketBuilder’ site
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V is the world’s most reliable rocket, with a 100 percent mission success rate over 67 total missions. However, at a base launch rate of $109 million, it’s a lot more costly compared to newcomer SpaceX, which has a starting price of $62 million. The raw launch is not the only cost, though, so ULA launched the RocketBuilder website to let potential clients, the press, academics and students configure a rocket like “building a car.”
Like buying a car online, building an Atlas V rocket is fun — it’s paying for it that sucks. After you select a launch date and payload, the system will calculate the type of nose cone and number of boosters. You can then pick service options like an onboard video system (who wouldn’t want that), “expanded mission rehearsals” and even a VIP experience for up to 100 clients.
With a Q2 2018 launch date, geosynchronous orbit and four ton payload (which gives me a four meter fairing), plus the “Signature Pro” and “Rocket Marketing” service, my total tab was $125 million.
ULA says with expensive (and sometimes priceless) payloads, launch customers pay an average of $12 million less for insurance on the reliable Atlas V. It also claims an average launch delay of just two weeks, compared to three to six months for other providers, for an additional mean gain of $27 million. It can also lengthen satellite services times by up to two years, it says, on “variable injection” missions, gaining clients another $30 million. That puts the price “after added value” at $60 million, a hair under the cost of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.
We imagine that competitors would dispute some of these numbers and if you launched without any delays or problems, you’d still get there cheaper with SpaceX. However, Elon Musk’s company has suffered two failures in the past two years, and with satellites costing around $300 million on average, that’s likely weighing on clients’ minds. “Nobody really chooses to have low reliability, to blow their rocket up, or to be late,” said ULA CEO Tory Bruno at a Washington, DC press conference. “It’s something they strive to avoid, but it’s very difficult to obtain.”
ULA still buys its main kerosene and liquid oxygen-powered engine from Russia, something that has caused it grief of late with US Congress, which may explained why it held the RocketBuilder press conference in Washington. However, the company is working on a replacement rocket called the Vulcan, which will probably be powered by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin BE-4 motor. Testing on the new rocket could reportedly start as early as 2019.
Via: The Verge
Source: ULA
Engadget giveaway: Win a smart home surveillance kit courtesy of Synology!
What’s the cat doing? Did I leave the window open? Who’s been eating my cereal? Keeping track of your pets and home security is easier than ever, and with Synology’s latest Surveillance Station software running on one of its NAS products, there’s more than just security. This well-known brand in network attached storage (NAS) offers your own personal and remotely accessible DLNA media server, letting you access photos, data, stream video and backup your files without third party services. The Surveillance Station package provides a video management system that lets you watch live feeds from multiple cameras, play back recorded video and even integrates with other security products like door controllers. This week, Synology has provided us with its DS416j NAS along with four 3TB drives and two Amcrest ProHD cameras for one extremely lucky reader. Just head on down to the Rafflecopter widget for up to three chances at winning this home security and media server package from Synology America Corp!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) winner will receive one (1) Synology DiskStation DS416j including four (4) 3TB Seagate IronWolf NAS HDDs and two (2) Amcrest ProHD cameras.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Engadget and AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until Dec. 2nd at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
Facebook wants to demystify AI
Though movies and TV shows would have us believe that artificial intelligence means machines rising up against us, the truth is much more benign. Indeed, many of us use AI on a regular basis: Just ask Siri for directions to a restaurant or tell Shazam to name a song. This is certainly true of Facebook too, which uses AI and machine learning for a variety of tasks such as identifying images, translating languages and, yes, ranking your News Feed. With such a vested interest in AI, Facebook is releasing a series of videos today to offer a brief introduction to what it is and how it works.
“We want to tell people it’s not magic,” says Yann LeCun, Facebook’s director of AI research. “This is not The Terminator. It’s real technology that’s useful.” In a blog post released today, LeCun and Joaquin Candela, Facebook’s director of applied machine learning, wrote that there is nothing artificial about AI: “AI is a rigorous science focused on designing intelligent systems and machines, using algorithmic techniques borrowed from the human brain.” This, LeCun and Candela say, includes the ability to learn from the past and recognize patterns.
For example, in one of the videos, LeCun says that in order for a computer to figure out if an image is of a car or a dog, it needs a learning algorithm. This requires millions of samples — after all, there are hundreds of different kinds of cars and dogs and thousands of ways they can be shown in a photo — and then that algorithm has to have a “generalization ability” in order to take what it has learned and apply it to images it’s never seen before. The result might seem magical, yet the process is anything but.
“It’s more prevalent than you suspect,” says Candela. “A lot of experiences simply wouldn’t work without AI.” That’s why one in four engineers at Facebook is well-versed in some form of AI. Facebook uses AI to vocally describe what’s in a photo to those who are visually impaired and offer quick translations of foreign languages.
This groundwork of AI and machine learning paid off when Instagram started to experiment with ranking instead of showing photos in reverse chronological order. “If none of that had existed, it would’ve taken a very long time,” says Candela. But since the company already had years of work on this subject, the team was able to implement the algorithm quickly.
Yet these algorithms have had their fair share of critics. Recent revelations about the rise of fake news on Facebook raise questions about how Newsfeed ranks these stories. LeCun and Candela say, however, that this is largely a product issue and not one with the technology itself.
“One thing that is important to explain is that different layers are involved in building an experience with AI or machine learning,” says LeCun. He compares AI to that of an unbiased oracle. “It might tell me the probabilities that it’ll rain in Mountain View, for example. It doesn’t have an opinion. It’s likely to have an error in both directions. You can take those unbiased oracles and then build a product experience from that.” Essentially, Lecun says that when it comes to issues that deal with content, that’s more about policies and product design rather than the underlying technology.
However, Candela says that the AI team could help in coming up with guidelines on how to avoid certain pitfalls and dangers. That’s one of the reasons why Facebook’s AI team is open-sourcing their efforts: so they can improve the dialogue surrounding such matters.
As for why they think this AI education is so important: “AI is going to affect our lives,” says LeCun. “It’s very important for people to have some idea on how it works and what it can do.”
Source: Facebook
Movie studio Annapurna Pictures now makes games
Annapurna Pictures, the production company behind blockbuster films like Her and Zero Dark Thirty, announced today that it will publish and produce games as Annapurna Interactive. It’s no secret that video games are big money and now it seems that, once again, the movie industry wants a piece of gaming’s lucrative pie.
Run by a team responsible for games like Mortal Kombat, Journey and God of War, Annapurna Interactive aims to publish interactive experiences that are “personal, emotional and push boundaries”.
The first two games the company will publish are Giant Sparrow’s PS4 exclusive, What Remains of Edith Finch and a mobile puzzle game called Gorogoa. What Remains of Edith Finch features a collection of intriguing first-person stories revolving around a cursed family and will be the developer’s second game after indie hit The Unfinished Swan. Gorogoa, on the other hand, is the debut title from lone developer Jason Roberts and promises a “unique” panel-moving mechanic.
As well as publishing other people’s games, the studio will also be producing its own titles. Annapurna Interactive is working on a few projects with big names attached to them, including a game from the lead designer of Monument Valley, Ken Wong. The studio has also revealed it’s releasing a game from creator of the beloved Katamari Damacy franchise, Keita Takahashi, as well as publishing a new game from Luna creators Funomena.
With Steam becoming increasingly flooded with titles, it’s now harder than ever for developers to get consumers to even notice their game, let alone purchase it. With a big-name studio like Annapurna coming along to champion more arty and ambitious projects, it could prove to be a winning move for both indie devs and consumers alike.
Yet this isn’t the first time a movie studio has created a games division. Movie companies like Lucasarts were responsible for gaming classics throughout the 90s and early 2000s, but even their behemoth brands weren’t enough to keep them afloat. Universal Studios also spent a decade flirting with video games, seeing great success with the like of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon before losing interest and selling its game studios.
Warner Brothers is one of few movie publishers with a game division still standing, single-handedly redeeming the movie tie-in field with the Batman: Arkham series. Disney had less luck, however, recently announcing the demise of its once-successful toys-to-life series Disney: Infinity. Since Annapurna is focusing on smaller indie titles, though, the relatively low cost of funding the games could prove to be a fruitful investment.
Source: Annapurna Interactive
Apple Updates Boot Camp Drivers to Fix Major Issue Causing Blown Speakers on New MacBook Pros
Apple has released updated audio drivers to fix a major issue causing blown out speakers on new MacBook Pro models running Windows 10 with Boot Camp.
Earlier this month, a number of users began noticing crackling or distorted sound coming from the left, right, or both speakers on the new MacBook Pro, oftentimes shortly after installing and running Windows 10 with Boot Camp. These issues persist even when affected users boot back into macOS Sierra.
MacRumors reader tianhuailiu — edited slightly for clarity:
“I used Boot Camp to install Windows and the right speaker started producing crackling sounds. It sounds like something broke inside the speaker. Every time I log in on Windows and try doing something with the speaker driver, either the left or right speaker produce a crackling sound. I have to return the MacBook Pro right now. Right now both my speakers crash both in macOS Sierra and in Windows, and they can only produce half of the original volume.
The damage to the speakers appears to be permanent once it occurs, requiring users to contact Apple to exchange their new MacBook Pro for a replacement unit. Unfortunately, due to limited stock, some of these users are now faced with waiting several weeks for their MacBook Pros to be swapped out.
The new Boot Camp audio drivers are available through Apple Software Update on the Windows side for both 13-inch and 15-inch models, although the issue appears to primarily affect the larger of the two. The new drivers, of course, are of no help to users who have already blown out their speakers.
While new drivers are available, late 2016 MacBook Pro users should exercise caution when running Windows 10 with Boot Camp due to the severe nature of the problem. As a temporary workaround, some users have plugged in headphones during the booting process until installing the updated drivers.
After installing the updated drivers, some MacBook Pro users appear to be experiencing issues with low volume on both Windows 10 and macOS Sierra, but the underlying problem remains unclear. Affected users should contact Apple or schedule a Genius Bar appointment for further support.
The issue does not affect older MacBook Pro models or Windows virtualization software such as VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop for Mac.
Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: Windows 10, Boot Camp
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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Plex’s new Kodi plugin lets you enjoy the best of both worlds
If you’ve dabbled with building your own media center, it’s likely that you will have encountered Plex or Kodi. Both started life as offshoots of the famed XBMC software, but over time their propositions have diverged, with Plex embracing subscriptions and Kodi remaining open-source. In the past, that meant you’d pick the project that would best organize your media collection or utilize a third-party service that combined the two, but Plex has decided to embrace its streaming counterpart by launching an official Kodi plugin.
The new plugin includes most of the features you’d come to expect from Plex, which means it’ll play back nearly any video or music format and cleverly categorize your media library. It simply lets you run the two media centers simultaneously without losing any of your customizations. It’s currently only available to Plex Pass subscribers (it will be released publicly soon) and it doesn’t yet work with Plex Companion remote control, but it does sport a brand new user interface (UI) that Plex says helps to “showcase some of our new thinking.”
To please free users, Plex is making its Media Player app, which launched about a year ago, available to all. It’s also integrated its “powerful” web app inside the Media Player, allowing you to switch between an easy-to-use desktop window and dedicated full-screen TV UI with the click of a button.
Via: Plex Blog
Source: Plex for Kodi
AIVAnet 