A series of volcanic eruptions has been ongoing in the Reykjanes Peninsula, near the town of Grindavk, Iceland, since 18December 2023. The eruptions, of which there have been seven so far, began after an intense series of earthquakes in November2023. Although localised, seismic and volcanic activity has caused significant disruption across the western part of the peninsula, especially for the town of Grindavk. This Icelandic Meteorological Office photograph, taken on 18December 2023, shows the first eruption in the series, in the Sundhnksggar crater chain.Photograph credit: Icelandic Meteorological OfficeRecently featured: Mauritius fodyCaroline HillOrngeArchiveMore featured pictures

December 18: National Day in Qatar (1878)Atlas rocket carrying SCORE1622 Portuguese forces and their Imbangala allies defeated the Kongo army at the Battle of Mbumbi.1932 Playing indoors at Chicago Stadium on a modified American football field, the Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans in the first playoff game of the National Football League.1958 The United States launched SCORE (rocket pictured), the world's first communications satellite.1963 Ghanaian and other African students organized a protest in Moscow's Red Square in response to the alleged murder of medical student Edmund Assare-Addo.2017 An Amtrak Cascades passenger train derailed near DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring sixty-five others.Yaonian Yanmujin (d.933)Edith of Wessex (d.1075)Ty Cobb (b.1886)Keith Richards (b.1943)More anniversaries: December 17December 18December 19ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Saturday, December 14th, 2024Posted by Jim ThackerAdobe releases Substance 3D Stager 3.1 in betahtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241214_Substance3DStager_GenerativeBackground.mp4The composition of images generated by Substance 3D Stagers Generative Background text-to-image system can now be guided by placeholder 3D objects in a scene.Adobe has released Substance 3D Stager 3.1, the latest version of its scene layout and rendering software, in beta.The update adds new generative AI features, including the option to use 3D objects to guide the composition of images generated by Substance 3D Stagers Generative Background feature, and a complete new text-to-3D system, intended for generating background objects.An intuitive way for less specialist 3D artists to create virtual product photographsLaunched in 2021, Substance 3D Stager is a shot layout and rendering application.Aimed at designers as well as specialist 3D artists, it is intended to provide an intuitive workflow for creating photorealistic brand visualisations and product mockups.Users can lay out scenes using physics-based tools to place assets, and pick from libraries of readymade materials and environment stages mimicking real-world studio lighting.Use placeholder 3D images to guide Generative BackgroundThe update builds on the new generative AI features introduced in Substance 3D Stager 3.0, which added new text-to-image system Generative Background.Substance 3D Stager 3.1 adds the option to use placeholder 3D objects in a scene to guide the composition of the background image generated.It is also now possible to generate non-background images using a similar workflow.New text-to-3D system for background models and propsThere is also a new text-to-3D system to our knowledge, the first time one has been released publicly in an Adobe application or the web version of Firefly, its generative AI toolset.There is little information in the release notes, and Adobe doesnt seem to have released any images of its raw output, so its difficult to assess the quality of the models generated.However, its described as being intended as background objects and props, so presumably, theyre fairly low-resolution.Weve contacted Adobe to ask for more information about the feature itself, and the data set on which the AI model was trained, and will update if we hear back.Match Image now generates a 360-degree environment lightOther changes include update to Match Image, which automatically matches the camera perspective and lighting of a 3D scene to a background image.The feature now creates a panoramic 360-degree environment from the background image, using it to provide more accurate ambient lighting and reflections in the scene.It is possible to export the background light in PSD or EXR format.Workflow improvements include in-viewport camera controls, and a new contextual taskbar, for quick access to common controls.It is also now possible to render images in JPG format as well as the other standard file formats supported, and to import and export 8K textures in Substance 3D SBSAR materials.Price, system requirements and release dateSubstance 3D Stager 3.1 is compatible with Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+. The software is now rental-only, Adobe having discontinued the old Steam perpetual license at the start of the year.It is available as part of Adobes Substance 3D Collection subscriptions, which cost $49.99/month or $549.88/year for individuals; $1,198.88/year for studios.Read a full list of new features in Substance 3D Stager in the online release notesHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsCell Fluids 2.0 for Blender is outPopular lightweight Blender fluid simulation add-on now lets you art direct simulations with guide curves. Check out the other new features.Tuesday, December 17th, 2024Unigine 2.19.1 can now import and export USD filesGame engine now imports meshes, materials, lights and animation in USD format, including in the free Community edition.Monday, December 16th, 2024Boris FX releases Mocha Pro 2025Tracking app's new AI-powered roto workflow lets users isolate objects with a single click, then propagate the matte through an entire shot.Monday, December 16th, 2024Master Designing Sci-Fi Props for FilmDiscover how to create 3D designs that can be turned into physical movie props with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed tutorial.Monday, December 16th, 2024Adobe releases Substance 3D Stager 3.1 in betaScene layout and rendering app gets new generative AI features, including a new text-to-3D system for creating background models.Saturday, December 14th, 2024Nekki releases Cascadeur Mobile 1.2New iPad and iPhone edition of Nekki's AI-assisted character animation software can now import and export data in FBX format.Saturday, December 14th, 2024More Newsukasz Czy releases UVPackmaster 3 for MayaBlender add-on ClayPencil turns 2D animation into 3D 'claymation'Foundry releases Nuke 16.0 in betaChaos releases V-Ray 7 for SketchUpThe new V-Ray for Blender is available in betaFoundry releases Katana 8.0Foundry releases Mari 7.1Tutorial - Modeling for Film & TV: Hard-Surface VehiclesAutodesk open-sources USD for 3ds MaxGet Epic Games' free Project Titan Unreal Engine sampleMaxon releases Redshift 2025.2Maxon releases Cinema 4D 2025.1Older Posts

Aging makes you more yourselfPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter4 min read4 hours ago-- Were back with the Medium NewsletterIssue #230: silly days, weird color combos, and the fundamental attribution errorEver since turning 38, my favorite line to deliver with confidence is: Actually, Im almost 40. I smirk, ready to feed off people trying to shhh this fact away as if they were swatting a fly off my head. But you look so young!! And thank you, that was the point of this statement my quest to look and feel younger as I round a new decade.Aging is something I think about constantly. The World Health Organization has confirmed people are living longer, which makes me entertain the idea of taking The Substance even more. I think about aging when someone tells me about their high-interest savings account or that they need to call a roofer or that they just booked a trip to Japan or even that its a Tuesday night and they have plans. How old are they to be doing this stuff? Am I that age too? Have I passed that age? I need to contextualize myself as a single, childless renter in the midst of whatever story theyre telling me so I can feel slightly better about the clock ticking down to a colonoscopy appointment. My compulsion to defend the choices Ive made is also not innate comparing ourselves to others is actually a socially conditioned construct. Studies show there is a strong correlation between frequent comparison and heightened levels of depression and anxiety (about aging, among other things). Its so fun.However, just like therapist Crystal Jackson on Medium, part of me is ready for the Freedom of the Feral Forties. As Jackson writes, this is the decade for writing your own rules, getting weirder, and becoming even more yourself. The clock cannot be stopped, she explains, Im suddenly curious to see myself at all the ages Im fortunate enough to reach.Im also very aware that getting older comes with its downsides. My mom always says theres nothing golden about your golden years and Rodney Lacroixs Countdown to Extinction: A Top Ten List of the Worst Parts of Getting Old is proof (and it has me wondering if my mom is getting paid to ghostwrite these days).The scariest thing about aging, to me, is not my lack of a Roth IRA but the compounding loss I experience each year. More and more parents of close and childhood friends are dying. Friends are leaving doctors offices with scary, ugly diagnoses. All the pets my friends got in their twenties are now crossing the rainbow bridge. Ive never experienced as much tangential loss as I have this year alone. As coach Ronke Babajide, Ph.D., observes in That Thing We Always Forget About Aging, every day brings us closer to losing the people closest to us. A poignant read that reminds me how limited time is for those close to me the more we blow out the candles. What else were readingEvin Ibrahim and her husband, who is Syrian, react to the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad: I actually feel myself wanting to help rebuild my country. (Age of Empathy)Complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel, e.g. blue and orange) tend to dominate design, but halfway color combos (blue-green and purple) can feel more emotional and evocative. (Ruxandra Duru, Bootcamp)Its easy to be cynical about blatantly commercial awareness days (today is Maple Syrup Day, FYI, and everything I can find about it sounds like SEO bait). But! Dan Brotzel spent 365 days celebrating fake holidays and it kind of changed his life? He leaned into the silliness of Talk Like a Pirate Day, took full advantage of Eat a Bagel Day, and used some Days as excuses to chat up people hed never meet otherwise. On their respective Days, I had wonderful conversations with all sorts: a hermit, a lighthouse keeper, a town crier, a stationery fetishist. (Human Parts) Your daily dose of practical wisdomThe fundamental attribution error is our human tendency to think everyones out to get us basically, we overemphasize personal intentions and underemphasize how much everyones just responding to their circumstances. Most things are not about you.

The Worlds Largest Iceberg Is Free-Floating Again, and It Could Help Build Thriving EcosystemsAfter spending months stuck in a swirling ocean vortex, iceberg A23a is once again drifting through the Southern Ocean, offering scientists a glimpse into how it might affect waters in new regions The world's largest iceberg, A23a, is on the move again after spending the last few months stuck in an ocean vortex. Emily Broadwell / British Antarctic SurveyAfter spending the last few months stuck in a swirling ocean vortex, the worlds largest iceberg is floating freely once again.Called A23a, the massive hunk of ice spans roughly 1,500 square mileswhich makes it about the same size as Rhode Island. It weighs nearly one trillion metric tons and measures around 1,300 feet thick.A23a broke off from Antarctica in August 1986. It was part of the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf on the continents northwest side and had been home to a Soviet research station. (After the iceberg separated from Antarctica, however, Soviet scientists recovered their equipment.)A23a megaberg escapes after months in ocean vortex | British Antarctic SurveyWatch on A23a didnt travel far before becoming grounded on the floor of the Weddell Sea between Antarctica and South America. It stayed there, motionless, for decades.Then, in 2020, the iceberg started moving again. Ocean currents and the wind were pushing A23a through the Weddell Sea at a rate of up to three miles per day, researchers said late last year. But in August 2024, it got sidetrackedA23a became trapped in a spinning ocean vortex near the South Orkney Islands. It rotated roughly 15 degrees each day in whats known as a Taylor column, but did not move otherwise.Now, A23a has broken free from that aimless rotation and is on the move again. On Friday, the British Antarctic Survey announced that the mega-iceberg is drifting in the Southern Ocean.Scientists have been following A23as journey in hopes of learning more about how icebergs influence the worlds oceans. Last year, a team sailed aboard the research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough to take photos and gather data near A23a.More specifically, researchers took surface water samples from behind, next to and in front of A23a. They hope to understand how icebergs like A23a affect the waters around them.We know that these giant icebergs can provide nutrients to the waters they pass through, creating thriving ecosystems in otherwise less productive areas, says Laura Taylor, a biogeochemist with the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge, in a statement. What we dont know is what difference particular icebergs, their scale and their origins can make to that process.New animation shows track of giant A23a iceberg | British Antarctic SurveyWatch on Experts expect A23a to travel northward along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. It will likely head toward South Georgia Island, where warmer waters await. The higher temperatures will probably cause A23a to melt and break into smaller chunks.Large icebergs periodically break away from Antarctica as part of the natural growth cycle of ice shelves. Christopher A. Shuman, a cryospheric scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has compared the process to trimming your fingernails. Calving icebergs are like the white tips of fingernails, he told the New York Times Claire Fahy in 2021they separate from the ice sheet but are gradually replaced. Researchers studied A23a from the research vesselRRS Sir David Attenborough. Derren Fox / British Antarctic SurveyScientists say natural iceberg calving is not linked to climate change and that mega-icebergs do not contribute to sea-level rise. However, as global temperatures continue to increase, experts are concerned about melting ice sheets in Antarctica, as well as in Greenland.A23a may be the largest iceberg on the planet at the momentbut it hasnt always held that title. In July 2017, A68 became the worlds largest iceberg after it calved from the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. Measuring roughly 2,200 square miles, A68 drifted north toward South Georgia and split into smaller pieces.Similarly, in May 2021, A76 separated from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf and temporarily became the worlds largest iceberg. A76 split into three smaller pieces, however, leading A23a to reclaim its crown.The largest iceberg ever recorded was named B15. It broke off from Antarcticas Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000 and slowly drifted northward. At its peak, the iceberg had a surface area of 4,250 square milesmaking it bigger than Jamaica. But in 2015, even it broke down, separating into eight chunks that got smaller and smaller as they melted. By 2018, just four large segments remained, and they showed signs of degrading, too.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Sarah Kuta| READ MORESarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.Filed Under: Antarctica, Ecology, Nature, Oceans, Water

San Francisco Names a Street For the Photographer Who Captured Marines Raising an American Flag at Iwo JimaJoe Rosenthal is famous for his Pulitzer Prize-winning image. But he spent most of his career photographing San Francisco, where he lived for many years Joe Rosenthal holding a print of his famous photographin 2000 David Hume Kennerly / Getty ImagesIn early 1945, the Associated Press photographerJoe Rosenthal captured an iconic shot of troops raising an American flag on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. It became one of the most famous images from World War II, and it won thePulitzer Prize for photography later that year.Sure, I took the photo, Rosenthal said when complimented on his winning image, per theAPs Janie Har and Terry Chea. But the Marines took Iwo Jima.This month, Rosenthal, who died in 2006, is being honored in San Francisco, where he lived for most of his life: Officials have renamed a downtown block of Sutter Street Joe Rosenthal Way. As speakers emphasized at the recent renaming ceremony, Rosenthals contribution to World War II photography was the highlight of a long career mostly spent covering local events for the San Francisco Chronicle. The Battle of Iwo Jima took place between February 19 andMarch 26, 1945. Joe Rosenthal / Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsThe Bay Area cityhome to pivotalNavy shipyards during the 40sis a fitting location to honor a World War II photographer, as Aaron Peskin, leader of the citys Board of Supervisors, tells Ryan Curry of KCRA, a local news channel. San Franciscos modern history is inextricably linked to World War II, he says. Its U.S. history, and [Rosenthal] is a son of San Francisco.Born in Washington, D.C. in1911, Rosenthal moved to San Francisco just after graduating high school. He became a newspaper photographer in the early 30s and joined the AP in 1941. When he became an AP war correspondent in 1944, he was sent to thePacific Theater.Rosenthal captured many U.S. assaults, includingGuam,Angaur and Peleliu. But he didnt take his celebrated photo untilIwo Jima, where U.S. Marines invaded on February 19, 1945. Some 22,000 Japanese soldiers died in the ensuing 36-day battle, and roughly 24,000 American soldiers were killed or injuredthehighest number of single-action casualties in Marine Corps history.USA: IWO JIMA PHOTOGRAPHER - JOE ROSENTHALWatch on No man who survived the beach can tell you how he did it, Rosenthal later said, per theChronicles Peter Hartlau. It was like walking through rain and not getting wet.On the Battle of Iwo Jimas fifth dayFebruary 23Rosenthal observed two Marines attempting to place a 150-pound flagpole atopMount Suribachi. Other soldiers arrived to help, working in tandem to hoist the flag, and Rosenthal snapped a photo. Rosenthal died in 2006 at age 94. Nancy Wong via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0His image became a poster advertisingwar bonds, which citizens could purchase to fund the military, and the ad helped raise $26 billion in 1945, per the AP. After the war, Rosenthal returned to the Bay Area, and he spent more than three decades taking photos for the Chronicle before retiring in 1981.As Rosenthals daughter Anne tells KCRA, her father fell in love with San Franciscos beauty and people. She says she feels very honored about the renaming of Sutter Street, adding: Of course, [I] wish my dad were here to see this.In Rosenthals post-war decades with the Chronicle, he captured pro baseball playerWillie Mays, SenatorDianne Feinstein, children running out of their last day of school in 1965 and countless other moments and figures.He had this 50-year career35 with the Chronicleand he was known for one photograph, Tom Graves, chapter historian for the U.S.Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, tells the Chronicle. From kindergarten to parades to professional and amateur sports games, he was the hometown photographer. I think thats something that San Francisco should recognize and cherish.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: American History, Arts, Cities, History, Japan, Journalism, Photographers, Photography, Photojournalism, San Francisco, Warfare, World War II

The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards has announced the highly anticipated results of its tenth annual contest. On December 10, the competition unveiled an overall winner, nine category winners and ten highly commended entries in an entertaining gallery. Having garnered 9,000 submissions, 2024 marks the most competitive year yet of the self-described funniest and most popular photography competition in the world.The contest was founded in 2015 by photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam with the aim of organizing a refreshing, fun and free photography competition unlike any other to raise awareness about conservation, according to a statement emailed to Smithsonian magazine.Issues of wildlife conservation and sustainability are gaining momentum globally, yet the messages and images tend to be negative, depressing and enervating, Joynson-Hicks says on the contests website.Instead, the page continues, this comedic competition accesses our empathy by showing how alike we really are. You dont need to cover your eyes or look away. We want our viewers to share our enjoyment of nature and take the time to recognize its value.In that spirit, photographers of all levels and ages are invited to send in submissions.This years competition received a record number of entries, each one a testament to the power of photography in evoking emotion, Stefan Maier, senior general manager of marketing at Nikon Europe, says in the statement. We look forward to continuing to inspire the next generation of wildlife photographers through these wonderful awards.Without further ado, here are this years winners: Overall winner: "Stuck Squirrel" byMilko Marchetti Milko Marchetti / Nikon Comedy WildlifeMilko Marchetti from Italy was crowned the overall winner for his photograph called Stuck Squirrel, earning him the title of Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The five finalists were all within a few points of each other, according to the statement, but Marchettis image was popular across the board with the judges, and ultimately took first place.I have taken many, many photographs of squirrels in many situations over the years in Italy, but this one struck me as really funny and such a strange position, because it is that exact moment when the squirrel is detaching its back legs from the trunk to enter its hide, Marchetti explains in the statement. Whenever I show this image at the nature seminars at my local photography club, the audience always explode with raucous laughter, so I had to enter it!Marchetti captured the photograph on April 23, 2022, in a park frequented by a few red squirrels. He clicked the shutter at just the right time to make the animal look stuck, only partially in the tree.The photograph brilliantly captures the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting, Maier says in the statement. As the overall winner, Marchetti will receive a Kenyan safari, a handmade trophy from Tanzania and a photography bag. Insect category winner: "Mantis Flamenca" byJose Miguel Gallego Molina Jose Miguel Gallego Molina / Nikon Comedy WildlifeJose Miguel Gallego Molina from Spain won the insect category with his image called Mantis Flamenca.On my way back from my photo walk in a swamp near my town (Pantano el Sitjar), I suddenly stopped my car on the road when I saw someone ordering me to stop. This was when I saw my friend the Flemish Mantis for the first time, he recounts. You can imagine the faces of the other cars passing by, seeing a car with the indicators on and the door open, stopped on the roadside and a madman lying on the ground with his camera in his hand. Nikon young photographer category winner: "Awkward smiley frog" by Kingston Tam Kingston Tam / Nikon Comedy WildlifeKingston Tam from Australia won the Nikon Young Photographer Award, a category for photographers 25 years old or younger, with his picture titled Awkward smiley frog. He says he developed a passion for herping several years ago, or looking for reptiles and amphibians.My goal for my images is to bring attention to our scaly or moist friends, showing that not only fluffy animals can be cute and beautiful, Tam adds. Ultimately, I wish my work could bring more conservation awareness to these amazing reptiles and amphibians, and thats been my motivation to keep doing what Im doing. Nikon junior photographer category winner: "Smooching Owlets" bySarthak Ranganadhan Sarthak Ranganadhan / Nikon Comedy WildlifeSarthak Ranganadhan from India took home 2024s Nikon junior category for 16-year-olds and under, with Smooching owlets.Our parents always find a way to embarrass us, explains Ranganadhan, who is 16 years old. I guess thats also true in the case of spotted owlets.It was truly a funny sight to see two owlets trying to get some privacy as their little offspring stood next to them with a grin shut eyes, Ranganadhan adds. However, he was not the youngest winner in this years competition.That distinction goes to 10-year-old Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb from England, who isnt just this years youngest winner, but the youngest category winner in the competitions history. He took home the top prize in the portfolio category with a series of four images featuring a squirrel playing with a stick. Describing the creatures apparent action in each shot, he named the portfolio Dancing to the Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting. / An image from the portfolio category winner, Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb's "Dancing to the Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting." Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb / Nikon Comedy Wildlife / An image from the portfolio category winner, Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb's "Dancing to the Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting." Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb / Nikon Comedy Wildlife / An image from the portfolio category winner, Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb's "Dancing to the Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting." Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb / Nikon Comedy Wildlife / An image from the portfolio category winner, Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb's "Dancing to the Music, Rock Guitar, Roly Poly, Weight Lifting." Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb / Nikon Comedy WildlifeThe judges gave the video category to Kevin Lohman from the United States for his aptly named Fox with the zoomies! clip, which captures a red fox rolling around on a cold morning.I had been watching this fox walking slowly across the grass when it suddenly got the zoomies like my dog does after its bath. It started rolling around on the ice-covered grass, then sliding, then shaking it off like nothing happened, he says. Video category winner: "Fox with the zoomies" byKevin Lohman Kevin Lohman / Nikon Comedy WildlifeOther category winners include Eberhard Ehmke, who captured a frog with its head in a bubble to win the reptile category; Damyan Petkov, who won the bird category with a whiskered terns crash landing; Przemyslaw Jakubczyk, who won the fish and other aquatic animals category with a photo that seems to show a fish chasing an eagle; and Tapani Linnanmki, who won the peoples choice category with a white-tailed eagle ruffling its feathers. / Reptile category winner: Frog in a balloon byEberhard Ehmke Eberhard Ehmke / Nikon Comedy Wildlife / Bird category winner: Whiskered Tern crash on landing byDamyan Petkov Damyan Petkov / Nikon Comedy Wildlife / Fish and other aquatic animals category winner: Unexpected role swap byPrzemyslaw Jakubczyk Przemyslaw Jakubczyk / Nikon Comedy Wildlife / Peoples choice category winner: Shake ruffle rattle and roll" byTapani Linnanmki Tapani Linnanmki / Nikon Comedy WildlifeGet the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Baby Animals, Birds, Conservation, Fish, Frogs, Insects, Nature, Nature Photography, Photographers, Photography, Squirrels, Weird Animals, wildlife

Agave Games announced today that it has secured $18 million in funding as part of its Series A round, following a successful seed round earlier this year. Felix Capital and Balderton Capital co-led the round, with E2VC participating. According to Agave, it plans to use the funding to expand its popular mobile puzzle title, Find the Cat, as well as explore development of new games and expand its team at its Istanbul location.Find the Cat is a casual puzzle game where players must, as the name implies, find the cat. According to Agave, the game had over 10 million downloads in its first quarter on the market. Alper Oner, Agave Games CEO, said in a statement, This investment allows us to double down on Find the Cats success while exploring new ideas that will redefine casual puzzle gaming. Were excited to take our studio to the next level by expanding our team and portfolio with games that set new standards within established genres.As stated, the studio is planning to develop new casual puzzling titles to follow up on Find the Cat, with plans to launch at least two of them in the coming year. According to Agave, it plans to focus on innovative gameplay mechanics and social features, while also using a dual monetization focus with in-app advertising and in-app purchases. Baran Terzioglu, Agaves CPO and co-founder, said in a statement that the new games will push the boundaries of what players expect from casual games, introducing new concepts that we believe will resonate globally.Rob Moffat, partner at Balderton Capital said in a separate statement, Find the Cat is an overnight success two years in the making. Agave have put together an exceptional team and worked super hard to identify and optimize new genres and produce polished games. Find the Cat is just the start, I am excited to see more of their pipeline go live in 2025.GB DailyStay in the know! Get the latest news in your inbox dailyRead our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

The UAE-backed institute has released Falcon 3 in four different sizes with the goal of democratizing access to advanced AI capabilities.Read More

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreOn the ninth day of its holiday-themed stretch of product announcements known as 12 Days of OpenAI, OpenAI is rolling out its most advanced model, o1, to third-party developers through its application programming interface (API).This marks a major step forward for devs looking to build new advanced AI applications or integrate the most advanced OpenAI tech into their existing apps and workflows, be they enterprise or consumer-facing.If you arent yet acquainted with OpenAIs o1 series, heres the rundown: It was announced back in September 2024, the first in a new family of models from the ChatGPT company, moving beyond the large language models (LLMs) of the GPT-family series and offering reasoning capabilities.Basically, the o1 family of models o1 and o1 mini take longer to respond to a users prompts with answers, but check themselves while they are formulating an answer to see if theyre correct and avoid hallucinations. At the time, OpenAI said o1 could handle more complex, PhD-level problems something borne out by real world users, as well.While developers previously had access to a preview version of o1 on top of which they could build their own apps say, a PhD advisor or lab assistant the production-ready release of the full o1 model through the API brings improved performance, lower latency, and new features that make it easier to integrate into real-world applications.OpenAI had already made o1 available to consumers through its ChatGPT Plus and Pro plans roughly two and a half weeks ago, and added the capability for the models to analyze and respond to imagery and files uploaded by users, too.Alongside todays launch, OpenAI announced significant updates to its Realtime API, along with price reductions and a new fine-tuning method that gives developers greater control over their models.The full o1 model is now available to developers through OpenAIs APIThe new o1 model, available as o1-2024-12-17, is designed to excel at complex, multi-step reasoning tasks. Compared to the earlier o1-preview version, this release improves accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility. OpenAI reports significant gains across a range of benchmarks, including coding, mathematics, and visual reasoning tasks. For example, coding results on SWE-bench Verified increased from 41.3 to 48.9, while performance on the math-focused AIME test jumped from 42 to 79.2. These improvements make o1 well-suited for building tools that streamline customer support, optimize logistics, or solve challenging analytical problems.Several new features enhance o1s functionality for developers. Structured Outputs allow responses to reliably match custom formats such as JSON schemas, ensuring consistency when interacting with external systems. Function calling simplifies the process of connecting o1 to APIs and databases. And the ability to reason over visual inputs opens up use cases in manufacturing, science, and coding.Developers can also fine-tune o1s behavior using the new reasoning_effort parameter, which controls how long the model spends on a task to balance performance and response time.OpenAIs Realtime API gets a boost to power intelligent, conversational voice/audio AI assistants OpenAI also announced updates to its Realtime API, designed to power low-latency, natural conversational experiences like voice assistants, live translation tools, or virtual tutors. A new WebRTC integration simplifies building voice-based apps by providing direct support for audio streaming, noise suppression, and congestion control. Developers can now integrate real-time capabilities with minimal setup, even in variable network conditions.OpenAI is also introducing new pricing for its Realtime API, reducing costs by 60% for GPT-4o audio to $40 per one million input tokens and $80 per one million output tokens.Cached audio input costs are reduced by 87.5%, now priced at $2.50 per one million input tokens. To further improve affordability, OpenAI is adding GPT-4o mini, a smaller, cost-efficient model priced at $10 per one million input tokens and $20 per one million output tokens.Text token rates for GPT-4o mini are also significantly lower, starting at $0.60 for input tokens and $2.40 for output tokens.Beyond pricing, OpenAI is giving developers more control over responses in the Realtime API. Features like concurrent out-of-band responses allow background tasks, such as content moderation, to run without interrupting the user experience. Developers can also customize input contexts to focus on specific parts of a conversation and control when voice responses are triggered for more accurate and seamless interactions.Preference fine-tuning offers new customization optionsAnother major addition is preference fine-tuning, a method for customizing models based on user and developer preferences.Unlike supervised fine-tuning, which relies on exact input-output pairs, preference fine-tuning uses pairwise comparisons to teach the model which responses are preferred. This approach is particularly effective for subjective tasks, such as summarization, creative writing, or scenarios where tone and style matter.Early testing with partners like Rogo AI, which builds assistants for financial analysts, shows promising results. Rogo reported that preference fine-tuning helped their model handle complex, out-of-distribution queries better than traditional fine-tuning, improving task accuracy by over 5%. The feature is now available for gpt-4o-2024-08-06 and gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18, with plans to expand support to newer models early next year.New SDKs for Go and Java developersTo streamline integration, OpenAI is expanding its official SDK offerings with beta releases for Go and Java. These SDKs join the existing Python, Node.js, and .NET libraries, making it easier for developers to interact with OpenAIs models across more programming environments. The Go SDK is particularly useful for building scalable backend systems, while the Java SDK is tailored for enterprise-grade applications that rely on strong typing and robust ecosystems.With these updates, OpenAI is offering developers an expanded toolkit to build advanced, customizable AI-powered applications. Whether through o1s improved reasoning capabilities, Realtime API enhancements, or fine-tuning options, OpenAIs latest offerings aim to deliver both improved performance and cost-efficiency for businesses pushing the boundaries of AI integration.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.