In todays information-rich digital landscape, navigating extensive web content can be overwhelming. Whether youre researching for a project, studying complex material, or trying to extract specific information from lengthy articles, the process can be time-consuming and inefficient. This is where an AI-powered Question-Answering (Q&A) bot becomes invaluable.This tutorial will guide you through building a practical AI Q&A system that can analyze webpage content and answer specific questions. Instead of relying on expensive API services, well utilize open-source models from Hugging Face to create a solution thats:Completely free to useRuns in Google Colab (no local setup required)Customizable to your specific needsBuilt on cutting-edge NLP technologyBy the end of this tutorial, youll have a functional web Q&A system that can help you extract insights from online content more efficiently.What Well BuildWell create a system that:Takes a URL as inputExtracts and processes the webpage contentAccepts natural language questions about the contentProvides accurate, contextual answers based on the webpagePrerequisitesA Google account to access Google ColabBasic understanding of PythonNo prior machine learning knowledge requiredStep 1: Setting Up the EnvironmentFirst, lets create a new Google Colab notebook. Go to Google Colab and create a new notebook.Lets start by installing the necessary libraries:# Install required packages!pip install transformers torch beautifulsoup4 requestsThis installs:transformers: Hugging Faces library for state-of-the-art NLP modelstorch: PyTorch deep learning frameworkbeautifulsoup4: For parsing HTML and extracting web contentrequests: For making HTTP requests to webpagesStep 2: Import Libraries and Set Up Basic FunctionsNow lets import all the necessary libraries and define some helper functions:import torchfrom transformers import AutoModelForQuestionAnswering, AutoTokenizerimport requestsfrom bs4 import BeautifulSoupimport reimport textwrap# Check if GPU is availabledevice = torch.device('cuda' if torch.cuda.is_available() else 'cpu')print(f"Using device: {device}")# Function to extract text from a webpagedef extract_text_from_url(url): try: headers = { 'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/91.0.4472.124 Safari/537.36' } response = requests.get(url, headers=headers) response.raise_for_status() soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser') for script_or_style in soup(['script', 'style', 'header', 'footer', 'nav']): script_or_style.decompose() text = soup.get_text() lines = (line.strip() for line in text.splitlines()) chunks = (phrase.strip() for line in lines for phrase in line.split(" ")) text = 'n'.join(chunk for chunk in chunks if chunk) text = re.sub(r's+', ' ', text).strip() return text except Exception as e: print(f"Error extracting text from URL: {e}") return NoneThis code:Imports all necessary librariesSets up our device (GPU if available, otherwise CPU)Creates a function to extract readable text content from a webpage URLStep 3: Load the Question-Answering ModelNow lets load a pre-trained question-answering model from Hugging Face:# Load pre-trained model and tokenizermodel_name = "deepset/roberta-base-squad2"print(f"Loading model: {model_name}")tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_name)model = AutoModelForQuestionAnswering.from_pretrained(model_name).to(device)print("Model loaded successfully!")Were using deepset/roberta-base-squad2, which is:Based on RoBERTa architecture (a robustly optimized BERT approach)Fine-tuned on SQuAD 2.0 (Stanford Question Answering Dataset)A good balance between accuracy and speed for our taskStep 4: Implement the Question-Answering FunctionNow, lets implement the core functionality the ability to answer questions based on the extracted webpage content:def answer_question(question, context, max_length=512): max_chunk_size = max_length - len(tokenizer.encode(question)) - 5 all_answers = [] for i in range(0, len(context), max_chunk_size): chunk = context[i:i + max_chunk_size] inputs = tokenizer( question, chunk, add_special_tokens=True, return_tensors="pt", max_length=max_length, truncation=True ).to(device) with torch.no_grad(): outputs = model(**inputs) answer_start = torch.argmax(outputs.start_logits) answer_end = torch.argmax(outputs.end_logits) start_score = outputs.start_logits[0][answer_start].item() end_score = outputs.end_logits[0][answer_end].item() score = start_score + end_score input_ids = inputs.input_ids.tolist()[0] tokens = tokenizer.convert_ids_to_tokens(input_ids) answer = tokenizer.convert_tokens_to_string(tokens[answer_start:answer_end+1]) answer = answer.replace("[CLS]", "").replace("[SEP]", "").strip() if answer and len(answer) > 2: all_answers.append((answer, score)) if all_answers: all_answers.sort(key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True) return all_answers[0][0] else: return "I couldn't find an answer in the provided content."This function:Takes a question and the webpage content as inputHandles long content by processing it in chunksUses the model to predict the answer span (start and end positions)Processes multiple chunks and returns the answer with the highest confidence scoreStep 5: Testing and ExamplesLets test our system with some examples. Heres the complete code:url = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence"webpage_text = extract_text_from_url(url)print("Sample of extracted text:")print(webpage_text[:500] + "...")questions = [ "When was the term artificial intelligence first used?", "What are the main goals of AI research?", "What ethical concerns are associated with AI?"]for question in questions: print(f"nQuestion: {question}") answer = answer_question(question, webpage_text) print(f"Answer: {answer}")This will demonstrate how the system works with real examples.Output of the above codeLimitations and Future ImprovementsOur current implementation has some limitations:It can struggle with very long webpages due to context length limitationsThe model may not understand complex or ambiguous questionsIt works best with factual content rather than opinions or subjective materialFuture improvements could include:Implementing semantic search to better handle long documentsAdding document summarization capabilitiesSupporting multiple languagesImplementing memory of previous questions and answersFine-tuning the model on specific domains (e.g., medical, legal, technical)ConclusionNow youve successfully built your AI-powered Q&A system for webpages using open-source models. This tool can help you:Extract specific information from lengthy articlesResearch more efficientlyGet quick answers from complex documentsBy utilizing Hugging Faces powerful models and the flexibility of Google Colab, youve created a practical application that demonstrates the capabilities of modern NLP. Feel free to customize and extend this project to meet your specific needs.Useful ResourcesHere is the Colab Notebook. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitterand join ourTelegram ChannelandLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our85k+ ML SubReddit. Mohammad AsjadAsjad is an intern consultant at Marktechpost. He is persuing B.Tech in mechanical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Asjad is a Machine learning and deep learning enthusiast who is always researching the applications of machine learning in healthcare.Mohammad Asjadhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/mohammad_asjad/DeltaProduct: An AI Method that Balances Expressivity and Efficiency of the Recurrence Computation, Improving State-Tracking in Linear Recurrent Neural NetworksMohammad Asjadhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/mohammad_asjad/PydanticAI: Advancing Generative AI Agent Development through Intelligent Framework DesignMohammad Asjadhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/mohammad_asjad/TxAgent: An AI Agent that Delivers Evidence-Grounded Treatment Recommendations by Combining Multi-Step Reasoning with Real-Time Biomedical Tool IntegrationMohammad Asjadhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/mohammad_asjad/Building a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) System with FAISS and Open-Source LLMs

Originally launched as a free service to rival Xbox Live in 2010, PlayStation Plus has evolved significantly since its humble beginnings in 2010. The current iteration of PlayStation Plus is a subscription-based service for PS5 and PS4 users that is mandatory for online play, but also features additional tiers that add benefits such as a catalog of downloadable games, cloud streaming, and more.While Sony used to offer free trials for new users to its online service, PlayStation Plus does not currently offer any free trials.Can You Get PS Plus For Free in Other Ways?Although PlayStation Plus doesn't offer free trials to everyone, certain countries or regions may occasionally have access to a limited-time free trial according to Sony's website. Unfortunately, Sony doesn't reveal exactly who these free trials are for or when they are available, so you'll need to keep your eyes peeled. PlayStation also occasionally has free multiplayer events with no PS Plus subscription required, although these are often unpredictable.PlayStation does have occasional deals on PlayStation Plus subscriptions, however, they are often only available for new or expired members. Come on, Sony, share the love!What PS Plus Alternatives Have Free Trials?There really isn't a direct replacement for PS Plus as it's required for online play on PS5 and PS4, but there are some alternatives with free (or close to free) trials that offer a catalog of games to stream, if you so desire. However, most (if not all) of these alternatives require either a different console, a PC, or a mobile device to use the service. 1. PC Game Pass (14 Days for $1 - $11.99/month14 Days For $1Microsoft PC Game PassSee it at XboxHundreds of games available to playPlay Xbox Game Studios titles on day oneIncludes an EA Play subscription and Riot Games benefits2. Nintendo Switch Online (7-Day Free Trial) - Starting at $3.99/month7 Days FreeNintendo Switch OnlineSee it at NintendoIncludes dozens of NES, SNES, and Game Boy gamesNintendo Music app included in subscriptionAccess to discount game vouchers, retro game controllers, and limited-time games3. Amazon Luna+ (7-Day Free Trial) - $9.99/month7 Days FreeAmazon Luna+See it at AmazonAccess a catalog of over 100 gamesPlay games up to 1080p/60fpsAvailable on PC, Mac, and mobile devices4. Apple Arcade (1-Month Free Trial) - $6.99/month1 Month FreeApple ArcadeSee it at AppleAccess a growing library of over 200 ad-free gamesAvailable across all your Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro)Share your subscription with up to five family membersOther services like Ubisoft+ and EA Play feature publisher-specific catalogs of games to stream, but they don't currently offer any free trials.Matthew Adler is a Commerce, Features, Guides, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

If youve been experiencing issues when trying to access some of Apples online services, its not just you. The App Store and other Apple services are facing an outage and are currently down for some users.App Store, Apple Music and more are currently downThe outage was confirmed by Apple on its System Status website. According to the company, the App Store, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Podcasts have been affected. The outages began around 2:33 PM PT.Users are experiencing a problem with this service. We are investigating and will update the status as more information becomes available, the company says. Although Apple claims that all users are affected, some users can still access the App Store and Apple Music.Apple doesnt provide a timeframe for fixing the outage, so if youve been affected, we recommend trying to access Apples online services later.Well update this article once Apple fixes the outage.Are Apples online services down for you this Friday night? Let us know in the comments section below.Gadgets I recommend:Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Key Highlights:Flexible schedule with the freedom to create therapy groups and utilize evidence-based practices you're passionate about.Collaborative work environment where youll provide biopsychosocial assessments, individual and group therapy, and work alongside your team to coordinate care across various substance use disorder treatment settings.Remote work with the autonomy to work from home while making a positive impact on our members' lives.Were looking for someone eager to join a dynamic team and contribute to the well-being of substance-exposed populations. If youre a passionate clinician looking for a role with flexibility and purpose, wed love to hear from you!Compensation: Potential to earn up to $75,000 a year based on your clinical hours, plus amazing benefits.How you'll contribute:Assess, plan and implement care strategies that are individualized by member and directed toward the most appropriate and least restrictive level of care.Collaborate with member, family and healthcare providers to develop an individualized plan of care.Conduct individual counseling and group therapy with adolescents and adults.Identify and initiate referrals for social service programs including financial, psycho-social, community and state supportive services.Advocate for members and families as needed to ensure the patients needs and choices are fully represented and supported by the healthcare team.Utilize approved clinical criteria to assess and determine appropriate level of care for members.Document all member assessments, care plan and referrals provided.Responsible for achieving set goals; Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).Learning the StrongWell model and taking responsibility and ownership for outcome based care.Participate in interdisciplinary team meetings and utilization management rounds and provides information to assist with safe transitions of care.Promote responsible and ethical stewardship of company resources.Maintain excellent punctuality and attendance during work hours.Comprehensive Benefits Package includes:Medical, Dental and Vision InsuranceSupplemental Life InsuranceShort Term and Long Term Insurance paid by Mindoula401k, with a company match3 weeks paid vacation each year, 4 mental wellness days and 11 holidaysParental Leave: 8 weeks of paid parental leavePersonal Development Program: $500 credit reimbursement per calendar yearQualifications:LCSW, LMFT, LPC, with a Louisiana license.Preferred experience with substance abuse population.Background in maternal; substance abuse preferred.Experience with adults and adolescents.Familiarity with Medicare and Medicaid procedures.Remote Work Experience.Come be part of the solution!

Commentary: I tried the Minecraft-themed McNuggets sauce. It might just be the hottest sauce Mickey D's has ever offered.

April 4, 20255 min readThe Crucial Role of Damage Surveys in Tornado ScienceDamage surveys provide crucial information about when, where and how strong U.S. tornadoes are to better understand disaster riskBy Andrea Thompson edited by Dean VisserStructural damage is visible at Christ Community Church after a tornado struck on April 3, 2025, in Paducah, Ky. Michael Swensen/Getty ImagesThe U.S. National Weather Service forecasts tornado outbreaksoften days in advanceand issues the watches and warnings that help people know when and how to prepare and when to take cover. NWS researchers also perform another task that is less recognized but crucial: conducting damage surveys in the wake of tornadoes such as those that struck parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana this week.To learn more about why these surveys of the devastation wrought by tornadoes is so important, Scientific American spoke with tornado researcher Jana Houser of the Ohio State University.[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Why do researchers conduct damage surveys after a tornado hits?The biggest reason is to develop a climatological database for when tornadoes are occurring, where tornadoes are occurring and how intense tornadoes are.With a hurricane, you send a hurricane hunter aircraft in the air, and it drops an instrument package called a dropsonde through the hurricane. That instrument, as it is descending, acquires information about the temperature, the pressure, the winds, the moisture, etcetera. And those wind measurements are what we use to understand how intense the hurricane is.Tornadoes pose a challenge with this type of technique because theyre very small. Theyre also very intense, and theyre very difficult to predict. And oftentimes they dont occur anywhere where we could even put an instrument in it in the first place. So the best way we have available to us to determine how intense tornadoes are is looking at how much damage is caused by the tornado after the fact.A lot of people try to argue, Well, why dont we use radars, for example, to look at tornadoes? And the biggest problem with radars is the distance between the radar and the tornado. Also, where the radar is actually measuring in the tornado is not at the groundit tends to be very high. And theres not a standard height that we can always get information at, so we cannot compare apples to apples by using radar data.What does a damage survey involve?When you actually go to perform a damage survey, the first thing we want to do is figure out where the tornado started causing damage in the first place. So you want to establish a start point, and that is typically informedat least as kind of a first-order guessby radar data.Ive seen bits of straw stuck into the concrete berms of sidewalks. Jana Houser, tornado researcherWe have a list of 28 damage indicators, where we have very specific types of buildings and other objects. This is going to be, like, a hospital or a house or a gas station with an awning or a hardwood tree or a softwood tree. Meteorologists have worked intimately with civil engineers and wind engineers, using wind tunnels and tornado simulators and all of this fancy stuff, to really figure out, like, How much wind does it actually take to suck a roof off of a house? So [the amount of damage to] each one of those objects has a wind speed category associated with it [on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale]: EF1, EF2, EF3, etcetera. We use what we know about the damage incurred to back calculate the winds. We put all the various pieces together at the end of the day, and the rating assigned to a tornado is based on the most intense damage across the entire path of the tornado.Can you tell us about some of your experiences with damage surveys?Ive seen some interesting and kind of frankly gruesome things with these. I think some of the most memorable moments were after the Greensburg, Kan., tornado in May 2007. That was the very first EF5 tornado of the whole new EF scale that happened in 2007 [when it replaced the former Fujita scale].That was my first real experience with catastrophic tornado damage. The town was just leveledlike, 90 percent of the town just was wiped off the map. There were buildings where the slabs were just basically bare. There was a fire hydrantI will never forget thisthis fire hydrant was literally sucked out of the ground with, I dont know, at least six feet of pipe. And nothing was bentit was, like, perfectly straight. That just speaks to the intensity of the vertical winds that happen. You dont just have horizontal winds in a tornado.And Ive seen road scouringthis is when the tornado basically sucks pavement up off of roads. And Ive seen bits of straw stuck into the concrete berms of sidewalks. When you make that into a projectile thats moving 200-plus miles per hour, it has enough impact to literally stick into the side of a curb.If meteorologists cant get out right away to do a survey, or cant do so at all, can they use photographs?It all depends on the quality of the photograph and what the photographer knows or doesnt know about damage surveys. If you have someone out there who knows what theyre looking for and is zooming in on, for example, the connections between floor joists and the foundation [which can tell them how much wind a structure should be able to withstand], you can get a pretty good feeling for the damage.The challenge with photographs is that theyre point sources. Youre not necessarily guaranteeing full time-space coverage, unless theyre really doing thousands and thousands of pictures from different angles.And then, obviously, the challenge with not getting a damage survey crew out immediately is that people start cleaning up immediately, muddying the waters a little bit.How crucial is it to always do these surveys?Damage surveys are critically important to informing our U.S. tornado climatology. If we stop having the ability to go out and actually do damage surveys consistently, that is going to throw off our whole understanding of whats happening with tornadoes in time.We could get a false sense that there are fewer tornadoes because we dont have crews that are actually going out to survey some of these weaker tornadoes. Or, if offices are pressed for time, we might end up actually getting inaccurate EF scale ratings because they are short-staffed and are dealing with limited resources.This, then, has implications on the big question that everybody wants to know, which is: How are tornadoes changing in a world of a changing climate? If we dont have adequate data, we cant answer that question accurately.

Among the many things to love about warmer weatherthe repopulation of parks, the breeze from an open window, the annual crocus revealare the spring sales events poking their heads up like fresh blooms. On our first sweep, weve clocked eco-friendly Naturepedic mattresses marked down for Earth Day, breezy Boll & Branch robes at 20% off, plus outdoor dining sets tempting us from the sale bin at Design Within Reach.After Amazons big spring sale helped us celebrate the season earlythese promos from some of our favorite bedding and furniture retailers are picking up the baton. In the spirit of a spring refresh, were shopping linen sheets for warmer nights, air purifiers for sucking up seasonal allergens, and chaises for poolside tanning.Boll & BranchDates: April 3 to April 15Boll & Branch knows the way to our heartnamely: exceptional, fair-trade products and a 20% off discount with no minimum spend for AD readers, using the code AD20. (Is it possible this writer typed up this post in her very own Boll & Branch dream robe? Yeah, its possible.) Weve previously lauded their down duvet insert as a best-of as well as their signature hemmed sheet set, which commerce director Rachel Fletcher called some of the softest sheets Ive ever tried.Boll & Branch Down Duvet InsertBoll & BranchRachel FletcherBoll & Branch Signature Hemmed Sheet SetNaturepedicDates: April 4 to 28Naturepedic mattresses have appeared prominently among our best mattress brands and mattress-in-a-box roundups. Our commerce director Rachel Fletcher is especially taken with hers because of their high-quality latex, wool, and cotton materials. I love knowing that each element of this mattress has been rigorously tested and certified to be 100% organic, she previously noted. The brand is offering 22% off sitewide from April 4 to 28 with the code EARTH22.Naturepedic Down PillowNaturepedic EOS Classic Organic MattressBrooklinenDates: OngoingWe wrote an entire ode to Brooklinen, including a list of all our favorite bedding buys. That includes their Luxe Sateen Core Sheet Set (15% off), which is loved by multiple AD staffers for having, as commerce director Rachel Fletcher puts it, a super classic, smooth, and crisp feel.Commerce writer Julia Harrison just fell hard for their newest releasethe washed linen set (also 15% off). This has none of the scratch of new linen and all of the softness of lived-in bedding. This is also the time to indulge in some of their bestsellersthe down alternative comforter (the perfect mix of cool and comfort, says social media manager Rebecca Grambone), the down pillow, or the bath towelswhile theyre marked down.Brooklinen Down Alternative ComforterBrooklinen Plush Turkish Cotton Bath TowelsDesign Within ReachDates: April 1 to 21This one-stop shop for iconic designer pieces is offering an aptly timed 25% off deal on all outdoor furniture. We recently clocked Hays Palissades set in this Colorado home designed by Heidi Caillier, which is on sale among other chaises, table umbrellas, and outdoor dining sets for all your spring entertaining needs.HAY Palissade Dining SetHeller Fortune ChairCastleryDates: April 7 to May 11

Physical pre-orders are now live.The Switch 2 has officially locked in a release date and while a lot of games have already been confirmed for the platform, it looks like we might have one more.It seems Konami will be releasing its Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster package on the Switch 2, with listings for this game already popping up on sites like Play-asia. It will apparently be made available alongside the launch of the system on 5th June 2025 and it's priced at $34.99 USD (or your regional equivalent) with pre-orders now live.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

A new study appears to lend credence to allegations that OpenAI trained at least some of its AI models on copyrighted content.OpenAI is embroiled in suits brought by authors, programmers, and other rights-holders who accuse the company of using their works books, codebases, and so on to develop its models without permission. OpenAI has long claimed a fair use defense, but the plaintiffs in these cases argue that there isnt a carve-out in U.S. copyright law for training data.The study, which was co-authored by researchers at the University of Washington, the University of Copenhagen, and Stanford, proposes a new method for identifying training data memorized by models behind an API, like OpenAIs. Models are prediction engines. Trained on a lot of data, they learn patterns thats how theyre able to generate essays, photos, and more. Most of the outputs arent verbatim copies of the training data, but owing to the way models learn, some inevitably are. Image models have been found to regurgitate screenshots from movies they were trained on, while language models have been observed effectively plagiarizing news articles.The studys method relies on words that the co-authors call high-surprisal that is, words that stand out as uncommon in the context of a larger body of work. For example, the word radar in the sentence Jack and I sat perfectly still with the radar humming would be considered high-surprisal because its statistically less likely than words such as engine or radio to appear before humming. The co-authors probed several OpenAI models, including GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, for signs of memorization by removing high-surprisal words from snippets of fiction books and New York Times pieces and having the models try to guess which words had been masked. If the models managed to guess correctly, its likely they memorized the snippet during training, concluded the co-authors.An example of having a model guess a high-surprisal word.Image Credits:OpenAIAccording to the results of the tests, GPT-4 showed signs of having memorized portions of popular fiction books, including books in a dataset containing samples of copyrighted ebooks called BookMIA. The results also suggested that the model memorized portions of New York Times articles, albeit at a comparatively lower rate. Abhilasha Ravichander, a doctoral student at the University of Washington and a co-author of the study, told TechCrunch that the findings shed light on the contentious data models might have been trained on.In order to have large language models that are trustworthy, we need to have models that we can probe and audit and examine scientifically, Ravichander said. Our work aims to provide a tool to probe large language models, but there is a real need for greater data transparency in the whole ecosystem.OpenAI has long advocated forlooser restrictionson developing models using copyrighted data. While the company has certain content licensing deals in place and offers opt-out mechanisms that allow copyright owners to flag content theyd prefer the company not use for training purposes, it has lobbied several governments to codify fair use rules around AI training approaches.

Autodesk has added the Golaem plug-in in the latest release of its Design & Make software for Media & Entertainment Collection, to simplify the process of creating large-scale crowd scenes.Crowd simulation has long been a challenge, and our mission has always been to make it accessible to all, said Nicolas Chaverou, Golaem co-founder and principal technical product manager at Autodesk. Now, as part of Autodesks M&E Collection, were thrilled that Golaem is in the hands of more studios and can empower more artists to create stunning, large-scale scenes with ease.Golaems Layout tool allows studios to adjust and customize characters directly in the Maya viewport without altering simulations, while the built-in procedural animation engine helps control multiple characters at once. Once the simulation is set up in Maya, it can be transferred to 3ds Max, Houdini, Unreal, or Katana using Golaems dedicated plug-ins.Meet the new M&E Collection with Autodesk Golaem:Major industry formats are supported, including OpenUSD. The Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection allows running Arnold on up to 5 machines, making crowd rendering faster and more cost-efficient.Were breaking down long-standing technical barriers to get artists into the creative zone faster, said Ben Fischler, Autodesks director of product management for content creation. With new crowd simulation, AI-powered tools, and Flow-connected workflows, our latest updates help you reach that last 80% - where the real fun begins, and you can focus on making your shot work for the story.Flow Animating in Context integrates surrounding shots from Flow Production Tracking (formerly ShotGrid) directly into Mayas timeline, and allows users to switch between different pipeline steps. The latest updates to Maya and 3ds Max also include hundreds of enhancements and fixes, including:Modeling improvements The powerful Volume Booleans tool is now available in Maya and 3ds Max, creating a more unified Boolean engine between the two tools. This update makes it easier to explore freeform shapes and build complex organic forms from simple primitives.Liquids Bifrost's new liquid simulation feature is now available directly within the Bifrost graph. The new FLIP solver offers adaptive resolution for efficient computation, particle-based foam, and improved velocity estimation. You can also emit and blend colored liquids. It is perfect for large-scale, non-viscous fluids.OpenUSD enhancements Improvements continue across both Maya and 3ds Max OpenUSD, with added support for axis and scale adjustments in Maya and recently, an Attribute Editor in 3ds Max. A long-requested feature, Light Linking, is also now available in both tools, giving you greater control over rendering.OpenPBR integration OpenPBR is now the default shading option in both Maya and 3ds Max, bringing enhanced artistic controls, more accurate material representation across tools and improved interchange with other software.Source: Autodesk Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologistL'Wrenbrings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.