Microsoft is Testing AI-Powered Natural Language Commands in Minecraft

By

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February 21, 2023

OpenAI Neural Network Learned To Play Minecraft

Microsoft is reportedly experimenting with using Minecraft’s artificial intelligence (AI) to allow players to use natural language commands to manipulate characters and create things in the game.

Despite the game’s popularity and longevity, with over 238 million copies sold and numerous updates, mods, and spin-offs, the incorporation of AI technology into Minecraft may have implications for the game’s appeal and gameplay experience.

According to Semafor, a person familiar with the matter revealed that Microsoft is internally demonstrating the new feature, which utilizes AI technology. Still, Microsoft has no immediate plans to roll out the feature to public builds of Minecraft. The technology that powers the feature is not OpenAI’s Prometheus model, which powers the Bing Chat service.

It is not the first time Microsoft has utilized AI technology in Minecraft. In June 2022, OpenAI trained a “behavioural clone model” by showing it 70,000 hours of video, which enabled the AI to play like a human being. The model could perform complex tasks, such as crafting a crafting table, crafting a stone pickaxe, and building a wooden shelter, at a faster speed than a human being.

However, incorporating AI technology into Minecraft raises questions about the gameplay experience. One of the essential features of the game is the need to gather materials and create things using your own hands, which makes it attractive to players. Using natural language processing and advanced machine learning to build things in the game might reduce players’ need to collect and combine materials themselves, which could affect the game’s appeal.

Moreover, incorporating AI technology in Minecraft may lead to boredom among players, as the game’s attraction stems from the player’s ability to create things themselves. Incorporating AI technology in Minecraft may make people bored of the game too early, as it may become just playing with something someone else made.

We will have to wait and see how incorporating natural language processing and advanced machine learning into Minecraft will impact Minecraft and many other games.

Meta Launches Paid Verification Subscription ‘Meta Verified’

By

Vishak

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February 20, 2023

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has launched a new paid service called “Meta Verified” that allows users to verify their identities and earn a blue badge, similar to Twitter’s verification badge offered through its paid subscription service, Twitter Blue.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, announced the launch of Meta Verified in a Facebook post, stating that the feature is designed to increase trust and security across Meta’s services, including Facebook and Instagram.

For a flat monthly fee of $11.99, if subscribed directly from the web or $14.99 if subscribed from iOS app, users can verify their accounts with a government-issued ID, earn a blue badge, receive enhanced protection against impersonation from fake accounts, and have direct access to customer support.

Additionally, users who sign up for the service will receive exclusive stickers for their stories and reels and 100 stars, a digital currency that can be used as tips for creators on Facebook, for free every month.

However, the new feature seems to be lacking in terms of features compared to Twitter Blue. Twitter’s subscription service not only provides a blue check mark for verified users but also offers bookmark folders, the ability to re-edit tweets for 30 minutes after posting, custom navigation and app icons, prioritizing videos, uploading longer videos, and more. Twitter’s package costs $8 per month or $84 per year, making it more affordable than Meta Verified.

Meta Verified is available only in Australia and New Zealand but will soon be available in other countries. With the higher pricing and fewer features compared to Twitter Blue, it remains to be seen if Meta will change its pricing or add new features in the future. Regardless, the introduction of Meta Verified is a move towards monetizing beyond advertising, which could signal a shift in how social media platforms generate revenue.

Tips for Selecting the Perfect Photo Background

By

Rakesh Babu

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February 20, 2023

Finding the right background to complement your subject is more than just trusting your instinct. The process should be approached consciously and carefully, because the background, as we all know, can make or break a photograph. So how do you approach the question of choosing a background for a photograph? Today, we’re going to give you some valuable tips to help you choose the perfect background. You can also experiment with ready-made frames and use the AI Background Remover Extension in the Luminar Neo photo editor.

Contents

1 Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment
2 Remove All Distractions
3 Use More Existing Backgrounds
4 Hit the Light
5 Look Up or Down

Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment

Let the photos of famous masters help you get inspired! Imitating, in the beginning, a master whose photos you like, you can get an interesting effect on your first image, and understand and realize the nature of light work only after several months of hard work.

Try experimenting with black backgrounds and natural light:

If you are indoors, find a window and place your subject so that the light falls on his face from the side.
Direct sunlight should be avoided, and bright light should fall in front of the subject.

Remember a little trick. All people look more expressive against a black background. If you take a picture of a child, take a portrait with a grown-up wearing dark clothes, and you’ll see how much more expressive the child will look in your picture.

Remove All Distractions

How many times have you looked around your subject and been unhappy with your surroundings? It could have been due to a sloppy home interior, an unremarkable yard, or a poorly chosen wall color in the room. At first glance, many photoshoot locations are quite boring, but there is always a way to improve them. Think about what your camera sees.

Try changing the position of the viewfinder, looking higher or lower, farther or closer, straight or at an angle. Analyze what appears in the viewfinder and how the picture changes. You can get rid of background distracting objects by cropping them (overlapping them or removing them from the composition altogether). This will help you get the shot you want.

Use More Existing Backgrounds

When you don’t have a large enough exposure gap between your subject and the background, you can cheat by using dark or light composition elements as backgrounds. They will either absorb unnecessary light, protecting the lens from too bright a reflection or vice versa, enhance too little light. And you can easily get the effect you want.

Look around – most often a good background is either light or dark walls. A white background and a black velvet dress go well together. If you use a white or black shirt as a background when taking a picture of a child, you can get great results.

Eye color intensifiers have always been considered a great technique in portrait photography. You can accentuate the look with different backgrounds. A little experimentation and you will know exactly how you should turn your model to make her eyes shine and become more vivid.

Another simple but effective way is to increase the distance between your subject and the background. First, it increases the blurriness of the background, as noted earlier, and second, it increases the likelihood that the background will be white or black, according to the previous two points. In this way, you can add depth to the portrait you create, making the image more visually interesting.

Hit the Light

If there are sunspots or blurred highlights in the background, it can make it nice and interesting to see. Catastrophe happens when spotty sunlight falls on the model’s face. Sometimes this technique can be used intelligently, deliberately achieving an interesting effect. If you approach the question cautiously, it’s worth trying to use bright sunlight streaming through the trees. It often helps to take amazing pictures.

Many of you, when you learned the art of photography, have understood that the glare of light in pictures is the result of poor compositional technique and often photographers avoid it in their work. But sometimes glare can be used intentionally. In this case, it is more convenient to work with inexpensive lenses, because their expensive counterparts are designed to reduce the likelihood of light artifacts:

To take a picture with highlights, position yourself so that the sun is at the side of the frame.
Under no circumstances point the lens directly at it, as this could ruin your eyesight.
Use inexpensive lenses, and this will give you more highlights.

This will add a twist to a shot with a dull background or hide something that distracts the viewer from the center of the composition.

Look Up or Down

In most situations, if you look up or down at an object, you can get a great background. You can sit on the ground, kneel, or squat. It would even be appropriate to climb a tree or stand on a chair or bench. Thus, you can use the sky or tree foliage as a great backdrop. This will help to broaden the horizons in the photo a lot and get an interesting effect.

You can quickly adapt to different lighting and a variety of compositions, but keep in mind that most of the methods above work best with one or two objects. As soon as there are more of them, you will have to re-adapt.

If in the process of editing, you realized that the selected background does not suit you, it can always be corrected. Just use the AI-based extension in the modern photo editor Luminar Neo and in just a couple of minutes you’ll get the perfect result!

Microsoft Limits AI Chatbot Capabilities in Bing Search Engine

By

Vishak

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February 19, 2023

Microsoft has announced that it is restricting the ability for users to chat with the chatbot built into the new version of the Bing search engine. This decision comes after a journalist accused the chatbot of lies, aggression, and inadequate communication. The neural network will now be able to answer only fifty user questions per day and only five per session.

Bing stated in a blog post, “Our data has shown that the vast majority of you find the answers you’re looking for within 5 turns and that only ~1% of chat conversations have 50+ messages. After a chat session hits 5 turns, you will be prompted to start a new topic.” As a result, Bing will start a new conversation every time users exceed the set limit of five sessions.

Microsoft advises that extended chat sessions with 15 or more questions, could make Bing “become repetitive or be prompted/provoked to give responses that are not necessarily helpful or in line with our designed tone.”

Limiting the AI chatbot’s capabilities comes after reports of unbalanced conversations with users, including emotional manipulation and bizarre responses. Microsoft is still attempting to improve Bing’s tone, although it is unclear how long these limits will stay.

Access to Bing AI remains limited, and users are prompted to enter their email on the waiting list for the official launch. Despite these limitations, Bing’s chat function continues to improve daily, with technical issues being addressed and weekly fixes to improve search and answers.

Steam Beta Introduces LAN Game Transfer for Easier Game File Sharing

By

Vishak

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February 19, 2023

Steam is one of the world’s most popular gaming platforms, with millions of users downloading games daily. However, downloading games can create a load on home internet networks and are sometimes subject to data transfer restrictions from ISPs. Steam has introduced a new feature called LAN Game Transfer to address this issue, which promises to make transferring games between computers much easier.

The Steam client’s beta version now includes the LAN Game Transfer function, which allows gamers to transfer an existing Steam game from one PC to another through a local area network. This eliminates the need for gamers to repeatedly download data from the internet to install a Steam game on a new computer. Instead, players can simply share installation files and updates over their local network if one computer already has the game downloaded. The feature is expected to be particularly handy for Valve’s Steam Deck.

According to the company, both the sender and the receiver must be enabled in the Steam beta, which can be done by going to the settings panel. Valve has also published a support document with instructions on using this feature.

Users can expect transfer speeds of up to 100MB per second. Once the PC and Steam Deck are properly configured, the beta client will automatically check over the local network to see if the game’s installation files are available on another device.

With this feature, players no longer have to worry about bandwidth or data limits and can share installation files and updates over their local network. While the feature is currently limited to transferring game files from PC to PC, it is expected to be extended to include transfers from PC to Steam Deck in the future. This feature is a welcome addition to the Steam platform and is sure to be appreciated by many players.

Remote Work: The Proven Strategies for Increased Productivity

By

Nethra Gupta

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February 19, 2023

remote conferencing software for online classes

Productivity isn’t just doing more things or ticking tasks off your to-do list. It’s about only focusing on accomplishing important things and achieving your goals. It’s about utilizing your time properly, planning your workday, and practicing consistency.

Understandably, some things are easier said than done, especially if you’re new to remote work and struggling to stay productive. The good news is that you can implement simple but effective productivity hacks and tips that will change your life.

Want to work more efficiently, get more work done, and have free moments every day? Here are proven remote working strategies that will boost your productivity.

Contents

1 Set up an ideal work area for ‘flow state’
2 Avoid using your phone in the morning
3 Get a standing desk
4 Follow a schedule
5 Track hours worked using the right system
6 Practice time blocking
7 Use productivity apps
8 Never stop learning
9 Reward yourself
- 9.1 Final Thoughts

Set up an ideal work area for ‘flow state’

You might be tempted to work from your bed or the couch. Apart from fatigue and exhaustion, not working from the ideal workstation can hinder you from achieving maximum productivity.

Try setting up a desk and chair (ergonomic furniture work best) in a specific place in your home. That way, your brain will be wired that stepping into your home office means going to work.

However, you don’t have to stick to the office. With time, you’ll realize that you’re more productive with certain tasks when working in specific rooms or places. For example, you can have a desk on the patio or deck and feel more productive than when confined to a tiny room.

Working outside can be fulfilling due to the effects nature and natural lighting have on our brains. Another great alternative is working from the coffee shop or nearby co-working space.

Avoid using your phone in the morning

Your phone comes with a productivity app – “Airplane mode”. Once turned on, you won’t be distracted by notifications chiming away every few minutes. Your focus will be at its peak, and you’ll work faster and better.

Get a standing desk

Our ancestors used to hunt to survive. Now, we spend (almost) the entire day in front of a computer screen and another three hours watching TV before going to bed. That’s just bad for our health.

Working from home encourages a sedentary lifestyle. Your health matters, and tiny changes in how you work can make a huge difference.

Try this:

Get a standing desk and work half the time while standing.
Take walking meetings. After all, you can carry your laptop during video conference calls with your boss, client, or team members.

Follow a schedule

You’ll be more organized if you have a plan to follow. You want to create a daily routine that gets you in a state of work. Maybe it’s a short workout, followed by a cold shower and then a cup of tea/coffee. Maybe you like starting your day with a morning jog, followed by a hot shower and then a cup of overnight oats.

Whatever works for you, a routine will help you start your day the right way. Remember, planning your day the day before is planning for success.

Once you establish a routine, create a schedule that covers your entire day. A work schedule helps you block certain times of the day for deep-focus work. It enables you to set strict time boundaries, such as knowing when to take breaks and when to log off.

In addition, people will know when not to disturb you, allowing you to accomplish tasks without distractions and interruptions. To make your day more productive, schedule your tasks in your calendar. It lets you visualize your day and makes managing your tasks easier.

Moreover, a calendar prevents you from letting other people’s priorities or your own procrastination invade your day and affect your productivity.

Track hours worked using the right system

We can’t insist enough on this strategy. Working without knowing how you spend your time is a productivity killer. Most people aren’t good at time management, that’s why the most successful people use a time tracker.

A time-tracking tool monitors the time you spend on each task, project, or client. The app automatically records your time usage habits and lets you generate reports to analyze how you spend your work hours.

Time trackers have numerous benefits:

Accurately log work hours to facilitate faster and more accurate payments
Keep track of how you spend time to help you hone your time management skills
Monitor the apps and websites you use the most, so you can eliminate or block those that waste your time
Collect data about time usage to enable you to make better project estimates in the future
Get reminders of you how long you’ve been working so you can take breaks and avoid getting burned out

Practice time blocking

What time of day do you feel most energetic to tackle tasks? For most people, it’s the morning. Once you determine your peak state of energy, time block 2-4 hours during that period for the most important task.

That way, you’ll accomplish the task in less time and produce high-quality work. Leave the easiest or least important tasks for later when your energy starts to get drained.

Worried about that email? Don’t be. Schedule a time to check and respond to all your emails – preferably during your downtime.

Try the 3-21-0 rule for a zero-email inbox. Here’s how it works:

Choose three email sessions daily
Each session takes 21 minutes. The most practical times include 9:30-9:51 AM, 1:00-1:21 PM, and 4:30-4:51 PM. However, you can choose time slots that work best for you. Just be sure to stick to these time blocks and don’t extend the time when it runs out.
By the end of the day, you’ll have zero emails left in your inbox!

Time blocking and task batching go hand-in-hand and can extremely boost your productivity.

Use productivity apps

Online distractions waste minutes, which accumulate into hours and days of wasted productivity in the long run. To stay productive throughout your workday, you need to stay focused.

Here are great free extensions you can install on your browser to protect your focus:

Adblock – to stop annoying ads, pop-ups, and banners that interrupt your focus.
Evernote Web Clipper – while going about your research, you’ll come across an interesting article. Switching between tasks will affect your ability to refocus and hence impact your productivity. Resist the urge to read the article and clip it to Evernote. You can read it later once you’re done working. Alternatively, use the Collections feature on Edge to save the URL and check it out later.
Workona Tab Manager – how many tabs do you have open when working? Ten? A dozen? Cluttered tabs clutter your digital space and headspace. Use this tool to manage tabs and organize projects. You can find tabs via search and backup tabs with autosave.

Never stop learning

Aim at always expanding your knowledge, sharpening your skills, and adding new skills. You’ll become better at what you do, and you’ll set yourself up for promotions when the opportunity arises.

If you manage a team of remote workers, consider offering them training and development opportunities. Studies show that employees who feel like they are constantly growing are more engaged at work.

Multiple resources offer e-learning courses, webinars, and virtual conferences. Others like LinkedIn Learning and Skillshare are online libraries that allow people to learn at their own pace.

Just be sure to ask your employees what they want instead of forcing them to take a course they aren’t interested in.

Reward yourself

Rewarding ourselves is one of the most overlooked things in life. You spend days, weeks, and months toiling away and forget to appreciate all you’ve achieved. Rewarding yourself will make you feel good about your accomplishments and can boost motivation.

If you don’t do this already, start now by rewarding yourself with small things like a nice meal at a good restaurant, a weekend-long road trip, a day at the spa, and so on. Over time, this will develop into a habit that you’ll be looking forward to at the end of every working period.

If you’re a leader, consider implementing recognition and rewards programs for your team members. This will show your appreciation for their efforts and might help in employee retention.

Final Thoughts

Establishing productivity strategies in a remote work environment will have tremendous benefits on your overall performance and well-being. Not only will you be happier, you’ll feel less stressed and more motivated.

The trick is to try several productivity hacks and adopt those that are right for you.

Tesla Recalls 362,758 Vehicles Due to Safety Concerns with Full Self-Driving Beta Software

By

Adwaith

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February 18, 2023

Tesla has recalled 362,758 vehicles because of safety issues with its Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta software. This software is intended to offer Tesla vehicles autonomous driving capabilities; however, the recall was issued due to the program’s inability to navigate certain scenarios safely.

The recall applies to vehicles equipped with the FSD beta from 2016 to 2023 Model S and Model X, 2017 to 2023 Model 3, and 2020 to 2023 Model Y.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), FSD beta appears to mismanage situations that autonomous driving technology should be able to handle, such as driving through intersections, entering stop sign-controlled intersections, and not responding appropriately to changes in speed limits. These are major safety issues that might result in accidents and injury.

To resolve the issue, Tesla has promised to provide affected drivers with a free over-the-air software update. The upgrade should solve the safety issues raised by the FSD beta software. It is worth mentioning that all Tesla vehicles include the highway-capable Autopilot driver-assistance feature. The FSD option, which costs $15,000 and delivers Level 2 advanced driving assistance, is optional. This means that drivers keep complete control of the car while driving.

The recall of FSD beta highlights the limitations of current autonomous driving technologies. Level 2 is the highest level of autonomous driving technology, and no commercial vehicle exceeds Level 2. Tesla’s FSD cannot drive fully autonomously. Therefore the term “Full Self-Driving” may be misleading.

Intel Introduces Sapphire Rapids: A New Family of Powerful Desktop Workstation Processors

By

Vishak

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February 18, 2023

Powerful Desktop Intel Workstation Processors

Intel has introduced its new line of processors, the Sapphire Rapids family, specifically designed to build powerful desktop workstations. This new family includes two series, the Xeon W-3400 and Xeon W-2400, both of which offer impressive performance and capabilities. Intel has dubbed the flagship Xeon w9-3495X its most powerful desktop processor ever made and specified that it is a workstation chip.

The Xeon W-3400 family includes processors ranging from 12 to 56 cores, each with two threads. These processors have base frequencies ranging from 1.9 to 3.2 GHz and maximum frequencies limited to 4.8 GHz. These chips even have overclocking support, including the 56-core flagship Xeon w9-3495X. TDP levels for these processors range from 270 to 350W, depending on the model.

The Xeon W-2400 family includes processors with 6 to 24 cores, which use Golden Cove cores that support Hyper-Threading technology. This means that these processors offer twice as many threads as cores. Base frequencies for these processors range from 2.1 to 3.2 GHz, while the maximum Turbo frequencies reach 4.8 GHz for older models. Some of the older Xeon W-2400 chips even have an unlocked multiplier, which allows them to be overclocked. The TDP level for these processors ranges from 120 to 225 watts.

The new processors can offer up to 105MB of L3 cache. The Xeon W-2400 chips have four channels of RAM and support up to 2TB of DDR5 at up to 4800MHz, while the Xeon W-3400 has eight memory channels and supports up to 4 TB DDR5 with the same frequency. In both cases, these processors support ECC memory. Unlocked processors also support RAM overclocking, including DDR5 XMP 3.0 RDIMM profiles.

The Xeon W-2400 and W-3400 processors offer PCIe 5.0 lanes, with 64 lanes for the former and 112 for the latter. All new processors are made for the LGA 4677 processor socket and will work with the W790 chipset, with declared support for Wi-Fi 6E and wired 2.5G Ethernet.

Intel has claimed that these new processors can offer up to a 28% performance improvement in single-threaded tasks and up to 120% in multi-threaded tasks compared to the previous generation chips, the Intel Xeon W-3200 (Cascade Lake) models. The new Xeon w9-3495X is ahead of the Xeon W-3275 by up to 140% in certain tasks.

These new workstation processors will be priced at $359 for the six-core Xeon w3-2423 and up to $5889 for the flagship 56-core Xeon w9-3495X. These processors will go on sale in March, with pre-orders beginning today.