Tech
Leica Celebrates Disney’s 100th Anniversary With a Limited-Edition Camera Collaboration
Leica — the premium German purveyor of tech-forward cameras and sports optics — has been in the game for over 100 years. Celebrating its revolutionary legacy in image-making, the brand has tapped Walt Disney, who precisely 100 years ago began crafting his world through animated filmmaking, for a special limited-edition Leica Q2 camera, dubbed "100 Years of Wonder."The design resembles a model sheet created by one of Walt Disney Studios' top animators, Don Towsley, in 1937, with a Mickey Mouse print covering its top plate. Notably, it's decorated with a sentimental material that calls back to the tracing paper that Disney's initial creators used to craft scenes and characters, offering a unique touch for collectors.Disney's path-forging work in the animated film space is in part thanks to L...
After deepfakes go viral, AI image generator Midjourney stops free trials citing ‘abuse’
Artificial Intelligence/ Tech / A spate of images generated using AI have gone viral after improvements in realism. In response, popular free image generator Midjourney has halted free trials. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Will Joel / The Verge AI image generator Midjourney has halted free trials of its service after a number of its generations — including fabricated images of Donald Trump being arrested and the pope wearing a stylish jacket — went viral online, with many mistaking the fakes for real photographs. Midjourney CEO and founder David Holz announ...
The Last of Us on PC gets a first patch to fix some performance issues
/ Naughty Dog is moving quickly to address the disappointing launch of The Last of Us Part I on PC.
Elon Musk and AI Experts Pen Open Letter Demanding Pause on “Giant AI Experiments”
A group of AI researchers has penned an open letter asking labs to stop working on advanced AI programs, at least for the time being. Published by the nonprofit organization Future of Life Institute, the signatories – which include Elon Musk, Andrew Yang and leading authorities in AI and computer science – are calling attention to “an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds” without regard for the potential consequences.“AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs,” the letter opens. “As stated in the widely-endorsed Asilomar AI Principles, ‘Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned f...
Elon Musk is now the most-followed person on Twitter
/ The billionaire has dethroned former President Barack Obama as the most popular person on Twitter.
Google denies Bard was trained with ChatGPT data
/ The Information published a report Wednesday including allegations from a former Google AI researcher that the company used a rival’s responses to train its own chatbot. Google denies that Bard uses that data.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi5 S2 Earbuds Get a Spring Makeover in Sage Green
British premium audio brand Bowers & Wilkins has just launched a new color option for its Pi5 S2 true wireless earbuds.The ready-for-spring "Sage Green" finish adds to the three colours that were available at launch in January, representing the widest range of colour choices the brand has had to date.Built with bespoke 9.2mm drivers in each bud, the Pi5 S2 continues its predecessors award-winning pursuit of class-leading sound at an affordable price. Improvements from the S1 include battery life (now at five hours) and better Bluetooth connectivity (now up to 82 feet), with two microphones per ear ensuring high call quality and an additional 19 hours of battery life via its charging case.The earbuds are further enhanced by using the Bowers & Wilkins Music App which allows users to ...
Rekkie’s New Goggles Utilize AR for a Smart Snowboarding Experience
Rekkie is seeking to create a state-of-the-art mountaintop experience with its new Smart Snow Goggles. Combining function, style and AR, the goggles utilize a built-in Heads Up Display (HUD) that lends itself to the ultimate group snowboarding or skiing session.The lens of the goggles doubles as a sort of dashboard for the (HUD), where notifications and information will appear as semi-transparent text. The HUD is capable of showing where one’s friends are located via a real-time compass, making it easier to keep track of everyone on the mountain. It will also show incoming texts and phone calls, and allows the user to answer and end calls.For those who listen to music on the mountain, the smart goggles cater to pausing, playing and skipping tracks too. And as for stats, the goggles will sh...
Fortnite now shows how many people are playing Battle Royale — and every other island
/ The game’s new player counts could help creators see how their islands stack up with Epic’s own popular creations. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Epic Games Fortnite’s Discover tab, which lets you pick from Epic Games-made modes like Battle Royale or experiences from non-Epic creators, now show how many players are currently participating in any given experience. The change was officially rolled out on Wednesday, and it could be an important tool for creators to benchmark their work against Epic’s official modes. You can see the player counts in the game’s Discover tab, ...
iPhone users on Google Fi can finally use 5G
/ For Fi users, updating to iOS 16.4 could literally make your cell service faster.
Lamborghini’s first plug-in hypercar is the Aventador-replacing Revuelto
Revuelto (pronounced rey-WEL-to) either means ‘unruly’ or refers to a dish of creamy scrambled eggs. Either way, it will replace the Aventador as Lamborghini’s flagship vehicle. Share this story
Asteroid City’s first trailer is the most Wes Anderson thing you’ll see today
/ Asteroid City looks and feels exactly how you’d think a Wes Anderson coming-of-age movie about stargazing in the desert would. Whether there are actually aliens hiding somewhere in Searchlight Pictures’ Asteroid City from director Wes Anderson is up for debate. What’s quite clear, though, is that the movie’s playing to all of Anderson’s strengths and going to give all of his fans exactly what they showed up for. Set in a fictional American town during the mid-1950s, Asteroid City tells the story of a beleaguered widower (Jason Schwartzman) who’s busy schlepping his four children across the country to see their grandfather (Tom Hanks) when their car suddenly breaks down. Inconvenienced as everyone is by having to stop in Asteroid City while their car is fixed, the fact that an annual juni...
