By a careful process of removal and reconfiguration, this practice has transformed a residence in Taiwan into a public buildingShen Ting Tseng Architects was shortlisted for the AR Emerging awards 2024. Read about the full shortlist here The Cheng Kung University FacultyDormitory was completed in 1982on the university grounds inTainan, in the south of Taiwan. One half of the symmetrically arranged accommodation was occupied until 2000 bythe university dean KunYen Huang. Following the deans death in 2012, in 2020the university decided to open the building to the public to designs by Shen Ting Tseng Architects.The party wall previously separating thedeans residence to the east from its adjacent western wing has been removed tocreate a single larger building. A pitched ceiling runs uninterrupted at the firstfloor level, unifying both halves into a coherent whole. The two original staircases have beenreconfigured so that they cross each other, and are set in a doubleheight space to bring a new sense of scale and verticality tothe building, according to practice director Shen Ting Tseng, facilitating thetransition froma residential to a public building. Theconverted residence now includes abookshop and kitchen on the ground floor, and an exhibition space, administrative office, and meeting and dining rooms upstairs. The architects adopted an approach thatidentifies new interventions within theexisting spaces, allowing visitors to recognise contrasts and expressions of memory. Thishas been achieved through aconsistent andcodified use of finishes. Additional structural walls are covered inglazed green tiles, while new partition walls are painted white to match the existing walls. The firstfloor has been finished in an unglazed version of the wall tiles, while any retained columns are picked out in grey paint. Themechanical and electrical services arecontained in visible pipes, themselves becoming sculptural elements within the space.Windows on the ground floor have beenreplaced with large, glazed openings, flooding the space with light. The new tiled structural walls deepen these openings and dramatically frame the views of the garden. This connection to the exterior is further accentuated by the laying of floor tiles at thewindows, extending from the interior tothe exterior, blurring the boundaries between the two.The architects hope that visitors will recognise contrasts and expressions of memoryShen Ting Tseng Architects have a diverse portfolio; they are also currently working ona playground, a landscape project and an underground car park ataschool in Chiayi City. The practice previously designed the Floating Pavilion for the Taipei Fine Arts Museums annual temporary pavilion competition, for which they were shortlisted for the AR Emerging awards in 2016.Shen also produces watercolour paintings, which allow him to negotiate the formal, spatial and programmatic constraints of architecture in a more abstract visual language. These ethereal artworks are aboutspace in his words, its freedom, itsabstraction and its emotion. He insists thathis paintings have no direct relationship to his buildings, though he admits to compositional similarities.

Uro Fink, Cosmic Explosion, Istria, Croatia. All images the photographers, courtesy of Capture the Atlas, shared with permissionLuminous Skies Star in the 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year ContestDecember 3, 2024NaturePhotographyKate MothesThis year, as we reach the solar maximum of the current solar cycle, the Northern and Southern Lights have been more active than ever, illuminating skies in unexpected places where theyve rarelyif everbeen photographed, say the organizers of the 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year contest.Bringing together the work of dozens of photographers around the world, the unique competition highlights the endless variety of landscapes, atmospheric conditions, and astronomical phenomena that combine into otherworldly visions of the sky.Baillie Farley, Lake Toolondo Aurora, Lake Toolondo, AustraliaWhen solar wind causes disturbances in the earths magnetosphere, we are sometimes treated to luminous, rippling skies. The phenomenon is often referred to as the northern lights, or aurora borealis, and in the southern hemisphere, its aurora australis. Coined by 17th-century astronomer Galileo, the names draw on ancient Greco-Roman deities who watched over the dawn (Aurora) and the northerly and southerly winds (Borealis and Australis, respectively).Presented by Capture the Atlas, which combines destination photo tours with guidance and tutorials for photographers of all skill levels, the competitions top 25 imagesa selection of our favorites included herespan locales from Spain to Namibia to Arizona. Uro Finks stunning capture from Istria, Croatia, foregrounds a brilliant aurora with a Perseid meteor shower. He described the moment like being treated to a multi-course menu of the night sky, in which he captured not only the greenish glow but also the Milky Way, the constellation Orion, Zodiacal light, and the distant glow of Jupiter and Mars. Other winners include Tom Raes glowing view of the Milky Way bathed in pink light, taken from Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, New Zealand, and Josh Beamess dramatic drone shot of an erupting volcano in Iceland set against a luminous green curtain.Explore all of the finalists in Capture the Atlass online gallery, and keep an eye out for updates about travel opportunities and the next contest on Instagram.Josh Beames, Magic o the North, IcelandTom Rae, Sky Fire, Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, New ZealandAdrian Cormier, Carpe Diem, Crater Lake National Park, U.S.Egor Goryachev, African Savanna Under the Lights of Southern Aurora, Spitzkoppe, NamibiaDavid Tanis, Gibson Glow, Victoria, AustraliaSergey Korolev, In the Rays of the Solar Wind, Rybachy Peninsula, RussiaEvan Watts, Canyon Lights, Yellowstone National Park, U.S.Edn Snchez, Auroras en el Infierno, Asturias, SpainHerry Himanshu, Paddling Under the Aurora, Banff National Park, CanadaPrevious articleNext article

close How to bulk delete spam and old text messages on iPhonemp4 The CyberGuy shows how to quickly clean up an iPhone's Messages app to keep spam texts at bay. Are you tired of scrolling through endless spam and old text messages on your iPhone?You're not alone! Many of us struggle with cluttered inboxes filled with unwanted messages.Well, I've got some great news for you. I'm here to show you how to quickly clean up your iPhone's Messages app and keep those pesky spam texts at bay. A woman on her iPhone bulk deleting text messages (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to bulk delete unwanted conversationsLet's start with bulk deleting those unwanted conversations:Open up yourMessages app on your iPhone.Look for that Edit button in the top-right corner and give it a tap.Click Select MessagesNow, you can select multiple conversations at once by clicking theround circle next to all those spam threads or old chats you no longer want.Once you've made your selections, hit thatDeletebutton in the bottom-right corner.You'll be asked to confirm your decision by clickingDeleteagain. Boom, all those spam threads and old chats are gone in seconds. Steps to bulk delete unwanted conversations (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to filter out spam messages on iPhoneBut what if you could keep your Messages app free of spam or unwanted messages? Here's a nifty trick:Head over to your iPhone'sSettings and give it a tap.TapAppsThen clickMessagesScroll down to Message Filtering and toggle onFilter Unknown Senders Steps to filter out spam messages on iPhone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)This feature automatically sorts messages from people who aren't in your contacts into a separate list, making it easier to manage potential spam or unwanted messages. In the Messages App, tap Filters in the upper right corner, and you will seeUnknown Senders.WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? Steps to view unknown senders (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to set up automatic deletion of older messagesNow, for those who prefer to keep their message history down to a minimum, you can also set up automatic deletion of older messages. This feature is helpful if you're running low on device storage and sharing a lot of long videos, which can really fill up your storage fast. Plus, some of you might want to do this not just to save space but also to keep your conversations private.Here's how to set it up:Head over to your iPhone'sSettings and give it a tap.TapAppsScroll down and clickMessagesScroll down to Message History and tap onKeep Messages.You can choose to automatically delete messages after 30 days or 1 year.Just click on either30 days or1 year and tapDelete.Then, confirm your decision by tapping Delete Older Messages.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE Steps to set up automatic deletion of older messages (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)However, be cautious with this last option, as it will permanently delete older messages. If you often need to reference old messages, you may want to keep this setting on Forever to avoid losing important information.Kurts key takeawaysCleaning up your iPhone's Messages app doesn't have to be a chore. With these simple tips, you'll not only declutter your inbox but also enjoy a more organized messaging experience. So go ahead, give these methods a try and reclaim your space.Have you discovered any unique features or apps that help you keep your messaging organized? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading toCyberguy.com/Newsletter.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com.All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurts free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Organisations using Java face alicence fee hikeafter Oracles introduction of subscription pricing for Java SE.Analyst Forrester has previously written that the move to what Oracle calls the Java SE Universal Subscription promises to eliminate the burden of tracking installations. However, as Forrester points out, the cost may be steep.Youll need to identify all Java installations and, if possible, the associated agreement. Youll want to be sure to enforce oversight on new Java installations. Now, as much as or possibly more than ever, pay attention and maintain good Oracle software asset management practices. Doing so could save you from a big unbudgeted licensing fee surprise, the analyst firm said.IT departments need to use IT asset management tools to check that the Java software running in their organisations is licensed correctly.In2023, Gartner reportedthat in the 12-month period leading up to 31 December 2022, 52% of the Oracle software compliance and audit-related interactions focused on Oracle Java.This is an ongoing concern because Java is almost 30 years old and is embedded in applications across enterprise IT.As part of a recent study looking at Java, observability platform provider New Relic reported that Oracle was the most popular provider of the Java Developers Kit (JDK) in 2020. It estimated that Oracle accounted for almost three-quarters of the Java market.However, it noted that there has been a noticeable movement away from Oracle Java since then, following on from the introduction of a more restrictive licensing, which came into force with Oracle Java 11.While Oracle Java 17 is regarded as more open than Java 11, data fromobservability tools company New Relicshows that there has been a steady decline year over year (YoY) since then. While New Relics data shows the Oracle JDK was the most deployed version of Java in 2022 (34%), it slipped to 29% in 2023, and as of 2024, it now accounts for 21% of deployed Java. According to New Relic, this represents a 28% decrease in one year.While there are plenty of reasons why organisations have moved off Java, resulting in less Oracle JDK deployments, the cost of software licensing is regarded by many as a major contributing factor.Oracle offers three different licences for Java plus a host of Java products requiring Oracle licences, such as Java SE and Oracle Java SDK the software development toolkit for building Java applications. There is also the JRE, the Java runtime environment. Oracle offers OpenJDK, an open source version, which is released under the open source GNU General Public Licence v2, which further complicates Java audits.All the different permutations of Java products an organisation may have deployed complicates IT asset management, especially given that Java has been used in organisations for almost 30 years.Java licensing checklistRun a Java inventory to check which versions of the JDK are deployed.Audit commercially purchased applications, which may rely on specific versions of the JDK.Check whether the risk of running an older version that meets the requirements for the free Oracle binary code licence is worth taking.Decide on the subset of applications where the JDK will need upgrading to comply with Oracle no-fee terms and conditions licence.Prepare a list of applications to migrate from Oracle JDK to an OpenJDK distribution that is TCK-certified.All other applications that use the Oracle JDK will need to be covered by an Oracle Technology Network Licence agreement.Discussing the challenges, Simon Ritter, author ofOpenJDK migration for dummies, Azul special edition, says: For the Oracle JDK, there are three different licences.The first of these is the Oracle binary code licence (BCL), which is what Oracle inherited when it acquired Sun Microsystems. According to Ritter, this is basically aimed at embedded use and provides free use. Theres no requirement to buy a support subscription, he says.Oracle states that Java SE versions released prior to 16 April 2019 are the only versions licensed under the BCL licence. It is no longer used for new releases.The second licence is the Oracle Technology Network licence agreement, which requires a Java subscription for enterprise use. This can be extremely costly since Oracle bases the licence fee on the number of people employed in the organisation.The whole licensing thing is really quite complicated, Ritter says, because Oracle then introduced a third licence, which is called the no-fee terms and conditions licence (NFTC). Ritter says this allows organisations to use Java for free for internal business applications. However, the downside is that it only applies for three years, Ritter warns.On its website, Oracle states that the NFTC covers six-month releases of Java 22 and later. Releases of Java 21 are covered up to 2026. Java 18 is supported under the NFTC up to January 2024, while the free support is only available on Java 17 if organisations are on Oracle JDK releases prior to version 17.0.13.This new third option, according to Ritter, means one year after the next long-term support release of Oracle JDK, the licence will revert to the Oracle Technology Network Licence agreement, which requires customers to buy a Java SE subscription.It is complicated, but essentially means that if you want to avoid having to buy the subscription, you have to update Java every two years, when Oracle brings out a new long-term support release, says Ritter.Java 21 was released in September 2023. New Relic notes that this version offers notable improvements in virtual threads and upgraded libraries, as well as advancements to syntax. According to New Relic, these enhancements put Java on par with many more modern languages.There is also the fact that theJava runtime environmentprovides just-in-time compilation of source code. This means that optimisation occurs only when the Java application is run. The advantage of this approach is that a Java application can easily take advantage of the latest advances in processor technology.The latest data collected by New Relic, for its2024 State of the Java ecosystemreport, found that in the six months after the release of Java 21, 1.4% of applications monitored by New Relic were using it. This represents a 380% increase in adoption compared to when Java 17 was introduced.New Relic noted that the adoption rate of Java 17 far exceeded what the developer world saw when Java 11 was introduced. About a tenth (9%) of applications were using Java 17 in production in 2023, and now 35% of applications are using Java 17, representing a nearly 300% growth rate in one year. According to New Relic, it took years for Java 11 to reach this level.Azul is a company that sells analternative to the Oracle JDK. Others include JDKs fromAmazon, Microsoft, Red Hat and SAP among others.These tend to offer what is known as Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK)-certified, which guarantees Java SE compliance, as Ritter explains: If you move from Oracle to a different OpenJDK distribution, your application is going to run in exactly the same way as before.

The scene is a business hotel in a large US city on the Sunday morning before a major conference. You arrived yesterday evening on the late flight from Heathrow, and now, jetlagged and with a day to kill before your meetings, you are sitting in your room wondering whether to go out for coffee, or to text your colleagues to see if theyre awake yet.Idly doom-scrolling through social media, you realise that many hours and an ocean away, the 20 Formula One drivers are lining up on the grid for a race that may decide the World Drivers Championship. You turn on the TV and flick through the channels. All you get is local cable and rolling news.But not to worry. You connect your tablet to the hotel Wi-Fi, open up the F1TV app, tap on the livestream, and select the international commentary feed. The picture resolves and right there in your hotel room you hear the voices of David Croft and Martin Brundle, as if youd never left home.That you can do this at all is testament to the technological journey that Formula One has been on over the past seven years since its acquisition by Liberty Global. In January 2017, Liberty inherited a sport that had been controlled by one man, Bernie Ecclestone, for many years. In Ecclestones day, the bosss word was law, and if he didnt fancy something much, it wasnt going to happen.Prior to Liberty, we were very much a B2B organisation, Matt Kemp, F1 head of CRM and customer operations, tells Computer Weekly at Salesforces annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco a couple of days after the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, won by McLarens Oscar Piastri.We worked with local governments and promoters to host races, we put cables round the track to create a broadcast feed which we would then sell on to broadcasters. That created a fan base that allowed us to sell sponsorship and advertising rights and develop partnerships with licensees to sell merchandise and tickets, says Kemp.Bernie did trial some B2C products, he continues, but when Liberty took over, we had less than a million people in our database. They came in and said, Youre missing a huge opportunity here. If you understand what the data is and who your fans are, you can talk to them direct, youll be able to build your own B2C operation and monetise that base so much better.Backed by Libertys cash, F1s technical teams set to experimenting with a whole suite of new products and services. Kemp recalls the atmosphere being like an entrepreneurial startup, with loads of new concepts and ideas floating around.Some of these were successes, some failures. For example, the team realised early on that it needed to harmonise the data points it was collecting from fans, so they put in place a data aggregator and a data warehouse, which by Kemps own admission was not particularly well thought through.It was all very reactionaryEvery race weekend was like Groundhog Day, he says. We would segment the data and segment the data and segment the data, and wed build emails from scratch, the imagery, the content, everything.There were a number of things we were trying to achieve at that stage as a business, says Kemp. Liberty saw an opportunity in gathering that data and how we could use that data, but there was a belief that our fans were aging and therefore we need to start to diversify that fanbase. How do we create products and services and solutions that diversify and bring in a new fanbase today?There was also a belief that the glory days of racing were over, and our fans were getting a little bit bored of the sport, because it was just almost like cars going round a track one after the other. So, how do we inject changes that make racing exciting again?It was clear for Formula One that it needed to engage differently with fans by using new platforms and augmenting its core product. Old school fans who stuck with the sport will recall some of these changes probably the biggest of which were the launch of F1TV in 2018 and the tie-up with producers at Netflix that produced the successful Drive to survive documentary seriesAnd the statistics bear out. F1s fanbase now skews younger, almost 50% now falls into the 18-34 age bracket, and there are far more women watching too. The second point is a rather more subjective one, but compared to 2023, when 19 of 22 races were won by Max Verstappen, the 2024 season has certainly been more competitive.This year, I think, is...all that work over the past few years [coming] to fruition, says Kemp.Over the past few years, Formula Ones relationship with Salesforce has been an integral part of the changes the fans are seeing. The two organisations first teamed up in 2019 when Formula One took on Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, having realised that its ticketing solution was unmanageable and unfit for purpose.We knew we needed a CRM system because our commercial teams were all working off Excel spreadsheets. Theres no way, in this day and age, a company like Formula One should be working off Excel spreadsheets, so that all had to change in a very short space of time, says Kemp.Now, almost six years on, fan engagement is ramping up, and Formula One is moving rapidly away from the week-by-week approach to one where it is able to create always-on journeys that are personalised and tailored to the individual fans. Kemp says this is a game changer. Were getting really smart at it, he adds.From a base of pretty much nothing, Salesforce has helped Kemp create a single pane-of-glass profile for every fan, and the organisation is now able to cross-pollinate various segments to get better about how it targets fans. We understand what your favourite team is, who your favourite driver is, and [whether] you are more likely to be interested in tickets or in merchandise, says Kemp.Having built these fan profiles, Formula One is also using Salesforce to personalise the fans journeys. Among other things, it is using its tech to establish what content is most valuable to whom, accounting for factors such as who is reading it, how long they read it for (dwell times) and how relevant it is to their individual fan profile, and positioning it higher up in tailored email outreach. According to Kemp, since starting this practice, Formula One has seen a 27% uplift in open rates on emails to fans.The next piece is how we join that data together, says Kemp. For example, if someone buys a ticket for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as soon as they buy that ticket, they will go on a journey, and that journey will consist of understanding what they need to do in the lead-up.For example, they may be open to being upsold a better ticket, or merchandise. A few days prior to the event, they will start receiving information about their day at the track is it going to be raining and might they want a branded umbrella? This is admittedly unlikely in Las Vegas, but for Silverstone or Spa-Francorchamps, it could prove a hot-ticket item.On the day itself, they will get more immediate information to make the experience better, such as where to park, what shuttle buses to catch, where to access the grandstand, where the food concessions are, and so on.For fans who have bought extras, such as Paddock Club access and pit lane walks, Kemp wants to build even more premium experiences, so that the teams in the hospitality suites can greet them by name, or have their favourite drink ready and waiting when they walk in. All this kind of stuff, says Kemp, is what we are now able to start to think about.That sounds cool, but ultimately, less than 1% of Formula 1 fans actually go to a race, and a good number dont even particularly care about the racing they prefer the glamorous lifestyle content and want to know not how Lewis Hamilton is doing in the drivers championship, but what designer he was photographed wearing, his off-track work supporting black artists and creators, or updates on his dog, Roscoe.None of this would have even been considered during the Ecclestone era, but now, its something the sport can start to tap into.As Salesforce gears up to go big on its AgentForce agentic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, launched amid great fanfare at Dreamforce 2024, Formula One is experimenting with bringing even more capabilities to bear within its fan engagement processes, specifically, in dealing with queries from fans.And fans do have a lot to ask. Currently, about 70% of Formula Ones inbound contacts relate, unsurprisingly, to the F1TV app, but it will also naturally receive inquiries about ticketing and merchandising, questions about the sporting rules or regulations, and technical asks about the cars, such as how the drag reduction system (DRS) actually works.And well get requests for charity, well get wedding invitations, says Kemp. Well get questions like, Why are you racing in Saudi Arabia?. We get all sorts, anything and everything!Weve actually been implementing GPT [Generative Pre-Trained Transformer] within Salesforce for a couple of months, he continues. This November is the next phase and this is where it will become really exciting.The initial tests we have run so far show that about 70% of our processes, or contacts, can go through GPT and that can take our average contact handling time from about 18 minutes down to two, and it increases the quality of those responses. Our fan satisfaction is already at 90%, we think we can push that as high as 95% using GPT, but only if we can ground those responses better.How will AgentForce help do this? Kemp explains: What youre really doing is putting all that unstructured data into a database and its searching all of those previous responses, looking for where they have been successful, to provide a much more contextualised, personalised response based on our past experience of past data.It means that instead of a 50% reduction in average handling time were potentially looking to as much as a 70% to 90% reduction in average handling time because its able to just look at past responses, he says.AgentForce should, in theory, say, Well, I dont care if you want to go for 70%, I can look at everything youve done before if Ive got a couple of examples of it and I can use those as a template, and I can provide a response for that. An agent may still need to edit it, but at least now weve got a response you can work with, which means that for the 30% we werent dealing with before well be able to reduce that average handling time as well.Therell always be that human at the helm, he stresses, but that average handling time and the quality of that response will increase exponentially and so will the consistency of the response.But eventually this may be just one ingredient in the solution Formula One still has all its other Salesforce tools in play, so Kemp hopes to one day go beyond providing responses to questions, but also to understand if the fan was happy with the response and how it was dealt with.Did it deal with what they need? What do the propensity scores look like? Have they got a propensity to churn or to purchase? Is there an opportunity, if someones given a thumbs up and says theyre happy, to then sell to them? Is there upsell or cross sell? We can now start to think about building all that, he says.Like other speakers and attendees at the 2024 Dreamforce event, Kemp has a lot to say about the red lines red flags in Formula 1 parlance that AI cannot be allowed to cross, and the guardrails that need to be put in place to ensure its safe and ethical use.He makes it very clear that Formula 1 is not for now putting Salesforces AI directly in front of the fans. All the technology is currently empowered to do is create a template for a human to assess whether or not their outreach or response is appropriate.This is not something were going to serve directly at fans. We dont believe the technology currently is mature enough to go there, he says, and we want to measure those thresholds so we can start to see how many of the AI responses we are editing. Were not going to be happy with just 90% being successful, we cant let that loose. Its got to be 100% successful for a brand like Formula 1.Is there a future in which a fan might engage directly with AI? I think wed have to look at it on a process-by-process basis, he says. It would need to be something as simple as, I want to reset my password. Maybe we can get to the threshold where we can meet a 100% accurate response to that relatively quickly, whereas with a charity request or a really complex tech issue, getting to that 100% mark is going to be tough because the responses differ significantly.Ultimately, maintaining trust in the AIs output is the most important thing for Formula One, because it is working not with its own data, but with its fans data. Therefore, the organisation has to be able to be sure that its getting good answers that are augmenting the work its human staffers do to make them more efficient.Thats where we see one of the successes going forward. We believe that AgentForce is a really great way to augment our team to do faster, quicker, higher quality output, he concludes.Formula One fans might like to know that, at the time of writing, Roscoe Hamilton was spending quality time on the beach, to the delight of nearly 40,000 Instagram followers, amid a busy few days promoting a new sweet potato and peanut butter dog treat. Oh, and Max Verstappen won the championship.Read more about agentic AIRival sets of tools meant to better support AI apps on developer platforms have hit the market as an even bigger wave of change looms in agentic AI.Orchestration all the way down: Experts say multiple levels of autonomous coordination and oversight will guide the near- and mid-term evolution of AI and computing.Agents represent a step-change in the use of artificial intelligence in the enterprise as attendees at Salesforces 2024 conference saw first hand but do not come without their risks.

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat's the deal?Cyber Monday is over, but this discount isn't. The Fender x Teufel Rockster Crossis $50 off right now -- you can purchase this powerful, long-lasting Bluetooth speaker for $200.ZDNET's key takeawaysTheFender x Teufel Rockster Crossspeaker is available now on Amazon for $250 (currently $200).With massive sound and an immersive option to punch up the highs and lows, this speaker is a brilliant option for those who love it loud.The Rockster Cross immersive option might be a bit harsh for some listeners.Bluetooth speakers are a dime a dozen. You can find them on the end caps at your neighborhood drug store, and if we could somehow meld the 80s and now, you'd probably find them as toy surprises in cereal boxes (yeah, I just aged myself).Also:Best Cyber Monday deals live nowOf course, not all Bluetooth speakers are created equal. Bluetooth speakers are almost always a "get what you pay for" proposition, meaning cheap speakers will often sound like cheap speakers. Once you get into the midrange prices, you'll find plenty of speakers that sound pretty good. Every so often, you land on a mid-priced speaker that redefines what a Bluetooth speaker in the $200 to $300 range can be. details View at Amazon Such is the case with the Fender x Teufel Rockster Cross Bluetooth speaker. This speaker is a part of the collaboration between Fender and Teufel (a popular European audio brand), which includes three different speakers and a backpack. The Rockster Cross is the mid-sized speaker in the lineup.Also: The best Black Friday headphone deals 2024: Early sales live nowWhen I first unboxed this speaker, it immediately conjured images of guitar amps, with its gray metal grill and Fender logo. I wanted to grab my old Kramer guitar, channel the spirit of Randy Rhodes, and crank it up. Speaking of Randy Rhodes, the opening of "Mr. Crowley" gave me sufficient chills through the Rockster Cross. Oh, yeah. Maria Diaz/ZDNETInstead, I had to settle for cranking up a song or two featuring Mr. Rhodes (RIP).The word of the day is "wow."Before I get into it, let's talk specs.Also:This Bluetooth speaker produces booming sound and fits in the palm of your handThe specsSpeakers - two fabric tweeters, a single 5" fabric subwoofer, and two passive radiatorsFrequency range - 50 Hz to 20,000 HzEnclosure - closedConnectivity - Aux, Bluetooth 5.0, Micro USB, aptX, Bluetooth microphoneBattery - 16 hours at medium volumeAmplifier channels - threeDimensions - 15" x 6.3" X 5.1"Weight - 5.3 poundsPrice - $249 on AmazonMy experienceWhen I first connected the Rockster Cross, I did my usual playthrough of Rush's "Signals" album. My initial reaction was, "That sounds pretty good." I cranked up the volume beyond what would normally be acceptable outside my office, and my reaction evolved to, "Okay, that's impressive."Also: Amazon Echo Studio review: My buying advice after testing with the Sonos EraThen I hit the immersive sound button on the back panel and took a turn for the "OMG." All of a sudden, every track I tossed at the speaker came to life in ways a Bluetooth speaker should not be capable of. The Immersive button is directly to the left of the Power button. Jack Wallen/ZDNETAfter going through "Signals," I cranked up Devin Townsend's new single, "Powernerd," and rejoiced in the brilliance of that mad musical scientist. I cranked the speaker up yet again and found it to handle the increased decibels without distortion. Once I hit roughly 80 dB, I started worrying about our cat's comfort and turned it down.Yeah, it handled it far better than I would have thought because this thing rocks.Also:One of the loudest Bluetooth speakers I've tested is also one of the most affordableOkay, let's talk about the sound quality. One thing I should mention is that I was weened on the mastering of early Van Halen albums, so my ears tend to prefer a good balance of lows and highs. If you've listened to enough albums mastered in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, you understand what I'm talking about.The Rockster Cross is a perfect match for such an EQ curve. For some, there might be too much in the low-to-mid treble (between 2K and 5K). With the wrong music (at the right volumes), that frequency range can wear on you. If you find that's the case, disable the immersive sound feature, and you'll find the sound a bit more comfortable. In true Fender fashion, the speaker comes with a flexible guitar strap. Maria Diaz/ZDNETAs far as bass is concerned, this baby has plenty of punch. Place your hand on the speaker, and you can feel the sub doing its thing. Although the lows might not be defined enough to please an audiophile, if you want your music to sound big, crank it up, and you'll get just that.Also: The most immersive soundbar I've tested is not made by Vizio or JBLThe soundstage (the space between instruments) gets crowded with the Rockster Cross, but that's fairly common in Bluetooth speakers. That's not to say there is no soundstage with this speaker, but if it's your priority, you'll want to look elsewhere (and into much higher price ranges).One of my favorite choral numbers, "The Long Road" by riks Eenvalds was breathtaking as it spilled from the Rockster Cross. If you've never heard that song, do yourself a favor and listen to VOCES8's take on it. It's gorgeous, and this Fender speaker does it justice. Each voice is present and distinct (which is saying something because some speakers tend to blend them a bit too tightly). The grab handles make it easy to carry the speaker without worrying that you might drop it. Jack Wallen/ZDNETSound aside, one of my favorite aspects of this speaker is the side handles, which allow you to grab and go without concern that you might drop the Rockster Cross. Given the device's very grippy rubber coating, you can snatch this up with confidence. On top of that, you don't have to worry about it sliding off whatever surface it's on when the decibels hit the rafters.ZDNET's buying adviceI'm not going to say this is a perfect Bluetooth speaker. It's not. Regularly priced at $250, though, I'm hard-pressed to think of a more impressive speaker than the Rockster Cross. I love how this thing handles volume gracefully and never falters in clarity. Although not everyone will appreciate the immersive sound feature, the standard sound is still good enough to get the party moving, the people dancing, and the music blasting. When will this deal expire? It's difficult to say for sure when the deal will expire. The $50 price drop has been a consistent discount since Black Friday and could remain well into Cyber Week.Deals are subject to sell-out or expire at any time, though ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best product deals for you to score the best savings. Our team of experts regularly checks in on the deals we share to ensure they are still live and obtainable. We're sorry if you've missed out on this deal, but don't fret -- we're constantly finding new chances to save and sharing them with you at ZDNET.com. Featured reviews

adventtr/Getty ImagesAiming for a successful AI transformation is great, but if you can't lead the initiative effectively, you won't deliver the results the business demands.With experts suggesting increasing numbers of companies areturning their attention from digital to AI transformation, here are five ways to ensure your organization reaps the rewards from emerging technology. Also: 4 ways to turn generative AI experiments into real business value1. Partner with your peersGabriela Vogel, senior director analyst in the Executive Leadership of Digital Business practice at research firm Gartner, said digital leaders must focus urgently on exploiting emerging technology effectively."CIOs who don't understand the focus on value -- and make promises about AI without thinking about what they are getting involved with -- might not stay at the top. They will lose power, they will lose inference, and potentially even lose their jobs."Vogel told ZDNET that CIOs often lead AI initiatives, but other executives are interested."The CFO is taking this technology seriously and trying to understand, 'How are we going to make money out of AI?'" she said."They're spending a decent amount of time trying to understand this area, more than many other executives within the C-suite, and so they're going to have an influence."Also:The secret to successful digital initiatives is pretty simple, according to GartnerVogel said CFOs don't want to be the executives responsible for emerging technology, but they want to be known as the individuals who helped deliver its benefits."So, the CFO is a great person to partner with if you want to make that shift into the business," she said. "I would say they're the best partner you could have now."2. Create a working groupJames Fleming, CIO at Francis Crick Institute, said the digital leader's role in AI is to provide oversight within the IT department and across the business. "There's got to be a degree of leading from the front and making it OK for your team to think about these questions and become experts in them, and then you've got to guide the rest of the organization along that journey."Fleming told ZDNET his world-leading research institute established a working group to assess AI. This group includes representatives from across the organization, including science, operations, legal, and HR."We posed several questions to that group, 'How should we use it? What restrictions should we put on it, if any? Is there a case for investment in any of this? Should we buy enterprise licenses for ChatGPT tomorrow, for example?'" he said. Also:Technologist Bruce Schneier on security, society, and why we need 'public AI' modelsFleming said the group didn't find a killer use case that justified a huge investment in generative AI (Gen AI).Instead, the group saw smaller, point use cases for new best-practice processes. "We continue to pose those questions to the group about potential applications as we go," he said."So, for example, the Crick is hugely multinational, and many researchers are writing grant applications in English, which is not their first language. Writing fluently can be an incredible boon when trying to get your ideas across."3. Optimise your resourcesBruno Marie-Rose, chief information and technology officer of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said the key to leading AI transformations is turning new personal habits into business benefits."Maturity is crucial for the International Organizing Committee," he said. "Having an approach where you can say, 'I'm four years ahead of the Opening Ceremony and need to progress, what do you advise?'"Marie-Rose told ZDNET that one area where AI can prove beneficial is using data to help optimize the use of resources across the Olympics. Also:Generative AI doesn't have to be a power hog after allProof-of-concept studies during the Games examined how emerging technology could be applied, including using data to optimize on-site resources."For the Media Center, do you need a 200-square-meter room permanently? Or will this room only be fully utilized for the finals of the 100 meters? If that's true, how could we optimize the number of journalists and the space?" said Marie-Rose. "So, it will be key for the future to optimize the resources that we provide as an Organizing Committee, with all the difficulties we face, and having insight from emerging technology to enable that flexibility is a crucial part of the approach."4. Reduce people's fearsOllie Wildeman, vice president of customer services at travel specialist Big Bus Tours, said executives who explore AI will discover three types of people are worried. "It will be the people on the front line who think their jobs will be replaced, it will be the people who manage those guys, and stakeholders will worry about the money you're putting in and what will happen to the customer satisfaction scores in the long run," he said.Wildeman told ZDNET how Big Bus Tours uses Freshworks' Customer Service Suite omnichannel support software, including AI-powered chatbots and ticketing. As the executive leading the implementation, he has proven that emerging technology can have a positive impact. Front-line staff have seen how AI makes their work easier."We're using our agents for more things, more value," said Wildeman. "Rather than using an agent to respond to a query that could be read on the website, we're using them to make a sale or respond in a personalized manner to reviews. The agents can see there are more diverse things to do."Also: AI is making us smarter, says AI pioneer Terry SejnowskiManagers, meanwhile, have seen a well-trained AI can be trusted to push high-quality answers to customers. "The people managers I spoke to at first said, 'Ah, yeah, but if you get an AI, it's just going to push out the same canned response to every customer. It's going to seem robotic.' However, in reality, Gen AI varies the language, so you have a better customer-facing product." Wildeman said happy customers mean happy stakeholders. His organization ensures customers know they're interacting with a bot to keep satisfaction levels on track."We always indicate that we're using a generative system. We don't pretend it's an agent." 5. Don't poison the wellJon Grainger, CTO at legal firm DWF, said successful AI transformations ensure the data that feeds IT systems is well-managed and trustworthy."You can't do stuff without your data being right," he said. "You can go much deeper -- and be much more solid on your outcomes and what you're trying to achieve -- as your data gets better."Microsoft Copilot is available to DWF employees. The rollout process starts with Teams and proceeds to Office once checks are complete. Grainger told ZDNET the technology is used to transcribe meetings and provide meeting recaps, which can be particularly useful if you return to a conversation after an event.Also:3 ways to build strong data foundations for AI implementation, according to business leadersHe said organizations can already do some cool stuff with Gen AI, even when data is unstructured -- but AI leaders should create as much structure as possible."Generative AI might not necessarily know the difference between two identical documents," he said. "If one document has poor content and the other one has good content, the basis of probability means it might select either of those documents for your results."Grainger said placing data quality at the heart of the firm's business strategy has helped to bring structure to information management processes."We talk about not poisoning the well," he said. "You want to have a very well-curated, contained set of content. Then you say to your Copilot, 'Don't look anywhere else apart from what's in that well.' And that approach is part of our strategy."Artificial Intelligence

The real breakthrough in modern sales isn't just about automationit's about intelligent orchestration.

Man composing a song for acoustic guitar, writing chords in a notebook at homegettyMusic creators will lose billions because of generative AI, the first-ever global study of the economic impact of AI on the sector shows.The research, for the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, finds that the market for generative AI music and audiovisual content will rise from 3 billion ($3.2 billion) now to 64 billion ($67 billion) in 2028.Good news for the tech companiesbut not so great for music and audiovisual creators, who are predicted to see their revenues hit by 24% and 21% respectively, with a total loss of 22 billion ($23 billion) over the next five years."CISAC commissioned this study from PMP Strategy to show the enormous value that copyright works bring to Gen AI companies," said CISAC director general Gadi Oron."Its conclusions point to a fundamental flaw that is opening up in the market, with creators works being unfairly and unethically appropriated to boost the revenues of Gen AI providers, while leaving the creators themselves out of this growth."By 2028, the researchers calculated, generative AI music will account for around 20% of traditional music streaming platforms takings, along with roughly 60% of music libraries revenues.Translators and adaptors for dubbing and subtitling will be hardest-hit, with 56% of their revenue at risk, while screenwriters and directors could see their revenues fall by 15 to 20%."AI tools can profoundly support our work as story tellers and film makers. But there is an enormous anxiety that in the rush to exploit and monetise generative AI, creators will be treated like an afterthought, lacking the right to authorize uses of their work, unprotected by transparency rules and unable to receive fair remuneration," said CISAC vice-president, film director and screenwriter ngeles Gonzlez-Sinde Reig.MORE FOR YOU"We must not forget that it is human creators who provide the fuel of the AI world and who must be at the center of policy making and regulation."CISAC says that some countries are handling the situation fairly, highlighting the EUs AI Act as an important first step, as it requires tech companies to seek permission from rights-holders to use copyrighted materials for AI training.And, launching the report, CISAC president and former ABBA band member Bjrn Ulvaeus, said that Australia and New Zealand were leading the world in protecting creators."By setting a gold standard in AI policy, one that protects creators rights while fostering responsible and innovative technological development, Australia and New Zealand can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human creativity rather than replace it," he said.In the US, the US Copyright Office is considering submissions on how the use of creative content for AI training should be regulated."There is a critical message here for policy makers: they must act urgently to safeguard human creators, culture and creativity. They must ensure that human creators are protected, can exercise their legal rights and can demand transparency from AI services," said Oron."With these principles enshrined in the AI environment, this can be a win-win for creators and the tech industry rather than a threat to our culture and creative sector."

In brief: It appears that AMD is continuing to capitalize on Intel's failings. With the Raptor Lake stability issues and Arrow Lake proving a disappointment, Team Red is killing it in CPU and motherboard sales. During the recent Black Friday event, almost 90% of the motherboards sold by German retailer Mindfactory came from AMD, which is also dominating the US Amazon sales charts. Mindfactory sold 4,350 motherboards during Black Friday week, according to data posted by TechEpiphany. Of that amount, 3,800, or 87.3%, were AMD boards, with just 550, or 12.6%, from Intel.AMD also dominated the motherboard revenue share for the week, taking an 86.5% slice of the pie ($644,584) while Intel managed 13.5% ($100,564).Breaking down the individual socket types, AMD's AM5 was the most popular with 2,730 sales. It was followed by the AM4 socket with 1,070 sales.Most of Intel's motherboard sales were the LGA 1700 variety, used for the Alder Lake and Raptor Lake chips, which saw 490 sales. It was followed by the new 1851-socket boards (40 sales), and the older LGA 1200 socket boards (20 units).Courtesy of TechEpiphanyThe data also includes the average selling price (ASP) for the boards. Intel's products were more expensive with an ASP of $183, while AMD's ASP was $170. // Related StoriesIt's not just in Germany where AMD is dominating. Eight of the top ten best-selling motherboards on Amazon are AMD mobos, including the top two best sellers.Best-selling motherboards on AmazonNot surprisingly, Amazon's top ten best-selling CPUs paint a similar picture: only one is from Intel the fourth place Core i7-12700K.Best-selling CPUs on AmazonAMD's charge is being reflected in the latest Steam survey. The company's CPU share among participants of Valve's survey has reached a record high of 35.7%, as it closes the gap on Intel with every passing month.Intel's Arrow Lake desktop CPUs have proved very disappointing, especially when it comes to gaming. AMD's Zen 5 chips proved quite underwhelming too, admittedly, but then the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D arrived and was crowned the new gaming CPU king. The processor was so popular that it sold out everywhere, leading to scalpers selling it on eBay for up to $1,500.Intel is going through the roughest patch the company has endured in decades. The situation has become so dire that the board forced out CEO Pat Gelsinger this week.