Microsoft has announced that Xbox Developer_Direct will return on January 23rd, 10 AM PST/1 PM EST. It will focus on three titles: id Softwares DOOM: The Dark Ages, Sandfall Interactives Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Compulsion Games South of Midnight.The development teams of each title will provide in-depth looks. While new gameplay seems a given, its possible that there may be release dates. DOOM: The Dark Ages has been rumored for release in May, while South of Midnight is allegedly coming sometime in March.Of course, as it usually does, Microsoft is teasing a fourth reveal, which could be the rumored remake of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Its reportedly developed by Virtuos, with a technical art director at its Shanghai studio recently listing an unannounced Unreal Engine 5 remake.Regardless, all titles are confirmed to launch on Game Pass this year. The length of the presentation is unknown, so stay tuned for updates and further details in the coming weeks.

Why weve suspended Partner Program accounts this weekAddressing response spam and abuse to make the Partner Program better for writers and readers, right now.Published inThe Medium Blog4 min readJust now--Image created by Jason CombsAs weve written here before, part of being a platform is dealing with spam and fraud. Yes, were building a place where anyone can share their knowledge, wisdom, and experience, and our goal is to deepen our collective understanding of the world through the power of stories. But we also know any platform is subject to a wide range of behavior.Perhaps recently youve logged in to Medium only to encounter a sea of responses like these on a story:A screenshot of responses from a recent Medium post.Obviously, responses like that arent what we set out to make happen with Medium. Its not why I get out of bed in the morning, or why anyone on our small but mighty team puts in the time they do. I hate seeing thoughtless comments like this on my writing here, frankly, or on your writing, or on anyones writing. We deserve better.But these responses are especially damaging when they are organized in order to misuse our Partner Program and take earnings from other writers. And theyre only one form of behavior trying to extract money through deceptive content weve also seen a massive recent uptick in low-quality, AI-generated posts behind the paywall, and coordinated activity like fake accounts created by a single person in order to engage with paywalled posts to generate earnings, and more.Weve heard your feedback and we see it ourselves, and we dont like it. This isnt the way to a better internet. Its worth pointing out this isnt limited to Medium; platforms everywhere are struggling with these challenges. So while this issue isnt unique to Medium and we cant control what people do, we can control how we respond and what measures we take to protect our community.Which is why we are taking bigger, more aggressive steps to prevent this kind of abuse of the Partner Program. This week, weve started suspending accounts we find engaged in this kind of non-genuine activity engagement circles, clap-for-clap rings, writers leaving hundreds of no-value responses in the hopes theyll help boost their earnings, and more.What is non-genuine engagement? We do not allow the following behaviors:Creating multiple accounts to engage with yourself, and generate earningsUsing responses solely to drive attention to your stories with the intention of creating reciprocal earningsWriting responses, clapping, following, or highlighting solely to generate earningsUsing AI-generated content to earn money for stories and responses in the Partner ProgramIn addition to suspending accounts weve found engaging in this behavior, weve made some tweaks to the way earnings are calculated to better reward genuine behavior and discourage gaming. Were making these changes to protect the writers and readers of the Medium community. As always we are and will continue to tune the Partner Program earnings calculations to make sure were rewarding great content from genuine writers.These are changes we can make today that we think will be effective in ensuring the most money goes to the most genuine writers. And well continue to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the health of the ecosystem we are trying to build. We know spam and fraud will continue to exist, and well continually come up with new and better ways to keep them out of your experience on Medium.If your account was suspended, I hope this message will be clear to you. The Medium Partner Program is designed to support thoughtful, compelling writing by sharing earnings with authors. It is not designed to support engagement rings organizing around generating passive income by encouraging non-genuine engagement. That is not what we want our members subscriptions to support, and it is not what our members want to pay for. As a platform, we reserve the right to allocate the money towards writing that makes Medium valuable to our members.If youre one of the vast majority of Medium writers who are acting in good faith, you might be asking whether you need to be concerned about your own account. The clearest answer is no write your best stories and engage authentically. As our Support team says, remember that Medium is human-first, and human behaviors are your path to success:H Hacks dont work: There are no shortcuts to quality and successU Use your own words: Dont use AI or plagiarism in your storiesM Make an effort: Be thoughtful and intentional in all your writingA Authentic engagement only: Dont engage just to earn or drive attentionN No exceptions: All accounts are held to these standardsThank you to all the writers sharing authentic stories and making Medium the great home for human stories and writing that it is today. And thanks to readers for the stories and actions youve flagged to our support team, and the feedback youve sent in. Were trying to make Medium better for you, and hope these steps are taking us all in a better direction.

Jimmy Carter tries to comfort 6-year-old Ruhama Issah at Savelugu Hospital in Ghana as a Carter Center technical assistant dresses Issah's Guinea worm wound. In May 2010, Ghana reported its last case of Guinea worm disease and announced it had stopped transmission a year later. The Carter Center / L. GubbAbout a year after Jimmy Carter left the White House, he founded the Carter Center in 1982, based on a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. That mission launched him into a post-presidency that was singularly successfulin its efforts to beat back the scourges of humanity, from civil war to disease.One of Carters foremost achievementsnot for me, but for the people that have been afflicted, as he told ABC News George Stephanopoulos in a 2015 interviewwas the near-total eradication ofGuinea worm, a vicious parasite passed on to humans by drinking stagnant, infected water in Africa and Asia.Once youve seen a small child with a two- or three-foot-long live Guinea worm protruding from her body, right through her skin, you never forget it, Carter wrote in a 1990 op-ed for the Washington Post after visiting Ghana with his wife Rosalynn. He described walking through villages and witnessing hundreds of men, women and children in agony.Nobody was doing anything about it, and it was such a spectacularly awful disease, Donald Hopkins, the Carter Centers special advisor for Guinea worm eradication, tells Russ Bynum and Sam Mednick of the Associated Press.In 2015, as he suffered from cancer, the former president quipped to reporters that hed like for the last Guinea worm to die before I do. When Carter died on December 29, 2024, at 100 years old, he had come tantalizingly close to realizing that wish. Now, experts say the parasites eradication is on the horizon.The Carter Center joined the fight against the neglected tropical disease in 1986, when Guinea worms tormented some 3.5 million people across 21 countries in Africa and Asia each year. By 2023, only 14 provisional human cases remained, according to the Centers data. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter asks Ghanaian children outside Savelugu Hospital, "who here has had Guinea worm disease?" The Carter Center / L. GubbThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that symptoms of Guinea worm disease, caused by consuming the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, might not manifest until a year after infection. But at that time, a pregnant female Guinea wormwhich can measure up to three feet in lengthbegins to break through the humans skin and emerge to expel her larvae into a body of water. The process is excruciating for the afflicted human, as the worm slowly pulses out, usually through the legs or feet.Having the worm pulled out is more painful than giving birth, Nyingong Aguek, one of 500 residents of Jarweng, a village in South Sudan, tells the AP. She points to scars from four worms on her left leg.Although the disease is not fatal, it can rip through entire villages via shared water sources in a process that NPRs Jason Beaubien describes as an evil little trick. Just as the worm emerges, it burns and stings the skin, often encouraging the victim to seek relief by plunging their infected extremity into a body of water. Then, it releases the new larvae, which are consumed by tiny crustaceans and transferred to humans when they drink the water. The cycle begins again.Carters deep sympathy for the victims of Guinea worm disease came in part from his background as a peanut farmer who grew up in a farmhouse with no electricity or running water. He understood how a parasite could curse an entire community by crippling farmers for weeks during the planting or harvest seasons, by preventing children from going to school and by keeping mothers from caring for their infants and toddlers, as he wrote in the Washington Post. Guinea worms are thin, thread-like parasites that can grow up to three feet long within the human body, before emerging through the skin. The Carter CenterHumans cannot develop resistance to the worms, according to Scientific Americans Charles Schmidt, and the traditional process of removing them is painstaking: gently winding an emerging worm around a stick and pulling it slowly out, usually just an inch or two each day, in a process that can last for weeks. Pulling too fast or too hard might cause the worm to break off in the body, leading to secondary infections. When victims suffer from multiple wormssuch as Abdullahi Rabiu, a Nigerian man who had a record-setting 84 in his body at one timethe excruciating recovery work compounds.If Guinea worm disease were to be destroyed, it would become only the second human disease (after smallpox) to be eradicated by humans, the only parasitic disease to be eradicated and the only disease to be eradicated without a vaccine or medicine, according to the Carter Center.To think that you could eradicate a disease without any tools is really still just a crazy idea, Julie Jacobson, a global health worker and doctor who helped secure funding for the Carter Centers work, tells ABC News Mary Kekatos. He did it with perseverance and working with people in the grassroots within communities.Since Guinea worm disease doesnt have any vaccines or treatments, the Center, alongside global health agencies and governments of the countries where the disease dwelled, doesnt fight the parasites with the sleek, precise instruments of modern epidemiology. Instead, it works to promote prevention and education. With Carter Center support, Nigeria reported its last case of Guinea worm disease in November 2008 and was certified free of Guinea worm by the WHO in 2013. The Carter CenterThe goal is to break the worms life cycle so it cannot continue infecting humans and reproducing in bodies of water. Workers from the Carter Center provide villages with cloth screens to filter larvae from their water. They construct barriers to isolate contaminated water sources and to keep the infected away from seeking relief in water. Villagers are encouraged to identify and report new cases, sometimes for cash rewards, according to the AP.Although cases of Guinea worm disease recently hit an all-time low, eradication efforts are complicated by the presence of the parasites in stray dogs, according to NPR. Still, the World Health Organization aims to eliminate the disease by 2030, and officials at the Carter Center are confident that the scourge of Guinea worm disease will be over even sooner.I would still like to think we will beat the timeline, Adam Weiss, the director of the Centers eradication program, says of the 2030 goal to the AP. The Carter Center is committed to this, obviously, no matter what.Carter himself asked for updates about his group's efforts, even after he went into hospice care. He was steadfast, caring and committed to his work alleviating human suffering until the very end.The last mile is the hardest, Kashef Ijaz, the Carter Centers vice president for health programs, tells Scientific American. We have to stay committed and remain more focused than ever before.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Africa, American Presidents, Disease, Disease and Illnesses, Health, James Carter, Mollusks, Worms, Sponges, Starfish, South Asia, Sudan, Water

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreDiffbot, a small Silicon Valley company best known for maintaining one of the worlds largest indexes of web knowledge, announced today the release of a new AI model that promises to address one of the biggest challenges in the field: factual accuracy.The new model, a fine-tuned version of Metas LLama 3.3, is the first open-source implementation of a system known as graph retrieval-augmented generation, or GraphRAG.Unlike conventional AI models, which rely solely on vast amounts of preloaded training data, Diffbots LLM draws on real-time information from the companys KnowledgeGraph, a constantly updated database containing more than a trillion interconnected facts.We have a thesis: that eventually general-purpose reasoning will get distilled down into about 1 billion parameters, said Mike Tung, Diffbots founder and CEO, in an interview with VentureBeat. You dont actually want the knowledge in the model. You want the model to be good at just using tools so that it can query knowledge externally.How it worksDiffbots Knowledge Graph is a sprawling, automated database that has been crawling the public web since 2016. It categorizes web pages into entities such as people, companies, products and articles, extracting structured information using a combination of computer vision and natural language processing.Every four to five days, the Knowledge Graph is refreshed with millions of new facts, ensuring it remains up-to-date. Diffbots AImodel leverages this resource by querying the graph in real time to retrieve information, rather than relying on static knowledge encoded in its training data.For example, when asked about a recent news event, the model can search the web for the latest updates, extract relevant facts, and cite the original sources. This process is designed to make the system more accurate and transparent than traditional LLMs.Imagine asking an AI about the weather, Tung said. Instead of generating an answer based on outdated training data, our model queries a live weather service and provides a response grounded in real-time information.How Diffbots Knowledge Graph beats traditional AI at finding factsIn benchmark tests, Diffbots approach appears to be paying off. The company reports its model achieves an 81% accuracy score on FreshQA, a Google-created benchmark for testing real-time factual knowledge, surpassing both ChatGPT and Gemini. It also scored 70.36% on MMLU-Pro, a more difficult version of a standard test of academic knowledge.Perhaps most significantly, Diffbot is making its model fully open-source, allowing companies to run it on their own hardware and customize it for their needs. This addresses growing concerns about data privacy and vendor lock-in with major AI providers.You can run it locally on your machine, Tung noted. Theres no way you can run Google Gemini without sending your data over to Google and shipping it outside of your premises.Open-source AI could transform how enterprises handle sensitive dataThe release comes at a pivotal moment in AI development. Recent months have seen mounting criticism of large language models tendency to hallucinate or generate false information, even as companies continue to scale up model sizes. Diffbots approach suggests an alternative path forward, one focused on grounding AI systems in verifiable facts rather than attempting to encode all human knowledge in neural networks.Not everyones going after just bigger and bigger models, Tung said. You can have a model that has more capability than a big model with kind of a non-intuitive approach like ours.Industry experts note that Diffbots Knowledge Graph-based approach could be particularly valuable for enterprise applications where accuracy and auditability are crucial. The company already provides data services to major firms including Cisco, DuckDuckGo and Snapchat.The model is available immediately through an open-source release on GitHub and can be tested through a public demo at diffy.chat. For organizations wanting to deploy it internally, Diffbot says the smaller 8-billion-parameter version can run on a single Nvidia A100 GPU, while the full 70-billion-parameter version requires two H100 GPUs.Looking ahead, Tung believes the future of AI lies not in ever-larger models, but in better ways of organizing and accessing human knowledge: Facts get stale. A lot of these facts will be moved out into explicit places where you can actually modify the knowledge and where you can have data provenance.As the AI industry grapples with challenges around factual accuracy and transparency, Diffbots release offers a compelling alternative to the dominant bigger-is-better paradigm. Whether it succeeds in shifting the fields direction remains to be seen, but it has certainly demonstrated that when it comes to AI, size isnt everything.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.

Ubisoft has told investors it intends to take "decisive steps" to reshape the company.The Assassin's Creed maker has indicated that changes are needed in order to "deliver best-in-class player experiences, enhance operational efficiency and maximize value creation."Ubisoft confirmed it will continue to "drive significant coast reductions" and now intends to take a more selective approach to investments. Game Developer has reached out to Ubisoft to clarify whether layoffs are expected to be part of those ongoing cost reduction plans."Ubisoft announced today that it has appointed leading advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders," reads an investor update."This process will be overseen by the independent members of the Board of Directors. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materializes. Operationally, the company will continue to drive significant cost reductions, together with a highly selective approach to investments, and now expects to exceed 200 million ($206 million) in reduction of its fixed cost base by FY2025-26 vs. FY2022-23 on an annualized basis."Ubisoft indicates big shake-up is on the horizonIn October 2024, it was reported that Ubisoft majority shareholders the Guillemot family were exploring buyout options in partnership with Tencent. Ubisoft refused to comment on those rumblings during a strategic call update earlier today.The company did, however, reiterate that it wants to improve the quality of its releases. Last year, flagship title Star Wars Outlaws delivered lower-than-expected sales, while live-service shooter XDefiant was canceledresulting in the shutdown of two development studios in Osaka and San Francisco. It also laid off 45 employees in August.Ubisoft has now decided to delay Assassins Creed Shadows by one month to "better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months and help create the best conditions for launch." The title had been slated to launch on February 14, 2025.Ubisoft noted that Q3 net bookings are now expected to total around 300 million ($309 million), largely because of "lower-than-expected holiday sales, mainly for Star Wars Outlaws, as well as the discontinuation of XDefiant.""We made good progress on the strategic and execution reviews initiated a few months ago and are confident that this will position Ubisoft for a stronger future. We have taken decisive steps to reshape the Group in order to deliver bestin-class player experiences, enhance operational efficiency and maximize value creation. We also recently appointed leading advisors and are actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options to unlock the full value potential of our assets," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot."We are convinced that there are several potential paths to generate value from Ubisofts assets and franchises. Additionally, we are all behind our teams efforts to create the most ambitious Assassins Creed opus of the franchise and made the decision to provide an extra month of development to Shadows in order to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months that will enable us to fully deliver on the potential of the game and finish the year on a strong note."

New day, new Nintendo Switch 2 leaks. Nintendo is getting ever-closer to its April 2025 deadline to reveal its Switch successor, but thanks new renders from OnLeaks and 91Mobiles, we may now have an even better idea of what the new console might look like.If youve been following our coverage of other Switch 2 leaks, these renders shouldnt look too surprising. According to the new renders, the console will resemble the original Switch, but it will be bigger, with an 8.4-inch screen. Interestingly, OnLeaks and 91Mobiles report that the screen will most likely be an OLED panel previous reports have said the console would have an LCD screen.RelatedThe renders show that the top of the Switch 2 will feature a power button, a volume rocker, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a game card slot, and, new for the Switch 2, a USB-C port. OnLeaks and 91Mobiles also say that there also seems to be a sensor of sorts and they speculate that this might be an ambient light sensor or something else. These renders also have a U-shaped kickstand that has appeared in other leaks. As for the Joy-Cons, OnLeaks and 91Mobiles renders show the mysterious second new button on the right Joy-Con. However, they say the new button is above the Home button; other leaks have included the new button below it. The Joy-Cons in the renders have the large buttons in the back that are apparently used to detach the controllers from the console, which are apparently attached magnetically.The renders also show an interesting color scheme for the Joy-Cons: they are mostly black but have color accents light blue on the left one and orange on the right under the joystick pads and on the bumped-out part of the controllers with the SL and SR buttons. A similar design popped up earlier this month for an alleged Switch 2 left Joy-Con with light blue accents. I love it, personally.Hopefully, given the tidal wave of recent leaks, we dont have to wait too much longer for Nintendo to officially announce the new console. But whenever the console actually launches, its going to have some stiff competition.

Amazon is selling the tech behind its $50 billion ad business to other retailersAmazon is selling the tech behind its $50 billion ad business to other retailers / Selling ad spots in its store, and now in other stores too, is a big business for Amazon.By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Jan 9, 2025, 5:33 PM UTCShare this story Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

If there were some common themes among the chargers and portable power solutions announced at CES this year, it would be more power and more convenience through built-in cables. Its not a new idea, but with most devices now being USB-C-compatible, its easier for companies to integrate charging cables without having to accommodate competing charging standards.Here are some of the standout charging solutions making their debut at CES this year.Ugreen Nexode Desktop Charger 500W Image: UgreenIf youve got a desk overflowing with laptops and a power strip overpacked with adapters, Ugreen has upgraded its Nexode desk charger with 500W of power output. Thats shared across five USB-C ports and a single USB-A port. The topmost USB-C port delivers up to 240W of power, while the other five share 260W. Thats enough power to charge five laptops simultaneously, assuming four of them dont need more than 60W. Its expected to be available as soon as March 2025.Anker Charger (140W) with display Image: AnkerAs the size and power output of Ankers wall chargers increased, they had a tendency to succumb to gravity and not stay plugged in. Ankers latest solution to that problem is a redesigned wall charger that positions three USB-C plus a single USB-A port on the underside, improving its center of gravity. Two of the USB-C ports can output up to 140W, but only one at a time, as thats the chargers maximum power output. Its available now for $89.99 and includes a small screen showing how much power each port is drawing.Sharge Shargeek 300 Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The VergeSharge debuted another eye-catching power bank with a transparent design and an aluminum case at CES. The Shargeek 300 can deliver up to 300W of power to four devices simultaneously from its 24,000mAh battery and up to 140W to two devices simultaneously, so you can fast-charge a pair of laptops. Its got a color screen showing the power draw on each port and how much battery life its got left. When its dead, it can recharge at up to 140W speeds, replenishing its battery from zero to 50 percent in just 20 minutes. Sharge will be launching it through Kickstarter in April for under $300.Baseus PrimeTrip VR2 Max Image: BaseusYour car might feature a couple of USB ports on the dashboard for charging devices, but did you remember to grab a charging cable on your way out the door? With the Baseus PrimeTrip VR2 Max car charger, you dont have to. It features a pair of retractable USB-C cables over 31 inches in length plus an additional USB-A and USB-C port. It provides a total of up to 240W of power across all four ports and up to 105W through a single port, letting you charge a power-hungry laptop on the road. Its expected sometime in April 2025 for $44.99.Anker Power Bank (165W) Image: AnkerAnkers new soda can-sized 25,000mAh power bank includes a few welcome conveniences. It can deliver up to 165W of power shared across a USB-C port, a USB-A port, a short 8.6-inch USB-C cable that can be used as a carrying strap, and a 27.2-inch USB-C cable that fully retracts. Maximum output to a single USB-C port is 100W, so you can fast-charge a laptop, and you can monitor how much power each port is drawing on a small screen. Its available now for $99.99.Baseus Enercore CJ11 Image: BaseusCharging cables excel at mysteriously going missing, which is the most compelling reason to consider the Enercore CJ11 wall charger. Available as early as April 2025 for $69.99, it features two retractable USB-C cables, each over 32 inches long, that cant be swiped. The charger has an additional USB-C port for connecting cables with other connectors and can deliver up to 67W of power with a single device connected or share a maximum of 65W with two or three ports in use.Baseus EnerGeek MiFi Power Bank Image: BaseusIn need of a power bank that delivers more than just power? Baseus EnerGeek MiFi incorporates a 20,000mAh battery that can deliver up to 67W of power to two USB-C ports, a single USB-A port, and through an integrated USB-C cable that serves as a carrying strap. The power bank also doubles as a mobile hotspot, allowing up to 10 devices to wirelessly connect to the internet over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi at 4G speeds. Baseus hasnt announced how much mobile data plans will cost, but the power bank is expected to release in April 2025 for $89.99.

Owing to the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the software industry has been leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) for code completion, debugging, and generating test cases. However, LLMs follow a generic approach when developing test cases for a different software, which prevents them from considering the softwares unique architecture, user requirements and potential edge cases. Moreover, different outputs are obtained from the same prompt when using other software, which raises the question of the prompts reliability. Due to these issues, critical bugs can go undetected, which increases the overall expenditure and ultimately hinders the softwares practical deployment in sensitive industries like healthcare. A team of researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Harbin Institute of Technology, School of Information Technology, and some independent researchers have introduced MAPS, the prompt alchemist for tailored optimizations and contextual understanding.Traditional test case generation approaches rely on rule-based systems or manual engineering of prompts for Large Language Models (LLMs). These methods have been foundational in software testing but exhibit several limitations. Most researchers use manual methods to optimize prompt engineering for test case generation, which requires significant time investment. These methods are also difficult to scale due to the increase in complexity. Other methods are often generic in nature, producing bugs. Therefore, a new approach is needed for test case generation that can prevent labor-intensive manual optimization and does not lead to suboptimal outcomes.The proposed method, MAPS, automates the prompt optimization process, aligning the test cases with real-world requirements significantly reducing human intervention. The core framework of MAPS includes:Baseline Prompt Evaluation: LLMs are assessed on their performance on test cases generated using basic prompts. This assessment is foundational to further optimization efforts needed.Feedback Loop: Based on the evaluation results, suboptimally performing test cases are set aside and tweaked to better align with software requirements. This information is fed back into the LLM, allowing for continuous improvement in a feedback loop.LLM-Specific Tuning: The reinforcement learning techniques are used for dynamic prompt optimization. This opens a space for customizations in the prompt by taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of the LLMs.The results showed that MAPS significantly outperformed the traditional prompt engineering techniques. Its optimized prompts had a 6.19% higher line coverage rate than static prompts. The framework identified more bugs than the baseline methods, exhibiting its ability to effectively generate edge case scenarios. Test cases generated with optimized prompts exhibited improvement in semantic correctness, which reduced the need for manual adjustments.In a nutshell, MAPS is a state-of-the-art optimization technique for prompt generation, particularly targeted to LLMs used in the software testing domain. Some of the weaknesses of the available test case generation techniques have been addressed through multi-pipeline-stage architectures that incorporate baseline evaluations, iterative feedback loops, and model-specific tuning. These new characteristics of the framework not only automate prompt optimization but enhance the quality and reliability of outputs in automated testing workflows, thus making it an indispensable tool for software development teams looking for efficiency and effectiveness in their testing processes.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Afeerah Naseem+ postsAfeerah Naseem is a consulting intern at Marktechpost. She is pursuing her B.tech from the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kharagpur. She is passionate about Data Science and fascinated by the role of artificial intelligence in solving real-world problems. She loves discovering new technologies and exploring how they can make everyday tasks easier and more efficient. [Recommended Read] Nebius AI Studio expands with vision models, new language models, embeddings and LoRA (Promoted)

Attack on Titan Revolution Update 2.5 is kicking off 2025 for Roblox fans with a new Armored Titan Raid, a rework for Fritz, new Abnormal variants, and more.The update, which is live now for players across all platforms, launched earlier today and seeks to set the Attack on Titan simulator up for a colossal year. Arriving alongside the ongoing Christmas festivities, every gameplay tweak and cosmetic addition gives players new anime-themed gear and challenges to enjoy.The aforementioned Armored Titan Raid tops the list of additions, with the team behind Attack on Titan Revolution describing it as a two-phase event that tasks soldiers with defending rescue boats while fighting off the plated beast. With this comes new Raid Artifacts, such as the Scars and Rifle, and cosmetics, like the Young Reiners Outfit and Marleyan Band.Attack on Titan Revolution Update 2.5 is out now.The Fritz rework, meanwhile, includes extra defense and support perk slots with an assortment of smaller tweaks, as well as the skills Founders Vengeance, Founders Will, and Chaos. As for those new Abnormal variants, Roblox players can expect to fight off the Leader, Rager, Ducker, and Iceburst, with each featuring unique qualities to keep players on their toes. The Leader, for example, stands apart with glowing yellow marks and can buff titans in close proximity.Another headline from Attack on Titan Revolution Update 2.5 involves the new Thunderspear gear. The full patch notes detail the obtainment method, which involves reaching Prestige 1 and completing a series of quests, and how the new explosive tools can be used to gain the upper hand in battle. Finally, fans can expect a series of quality-of-life changes, bug fixes, and other smaller, foundational changes to greet them when logging in for Update 2.5 for the first time. Highlights include an automatic detonation setting for Spears, an extension for battle pass 2, and an additional free memory storage slot.Attack on Titan Revolution is kicking off 2025 with more content themed after one of animes most popular stories. For more on how to enjoy this Roblox take on omnidirectional action, you can find our full list of active codes here. You can also check out the full 2.5 Update patch notes below.Attack on Titan Revolution Update 2.5 Patch NotesUpdate 2.5 + Christmas EventNew Christmas Event:Christmas 2D LobbyChristmas-Themed 3D LobbyNew Winter Tokens CurrencyObtained from killing titans with Christmas hatsSpawn Rates:Elf Hat titans have a 1/5 chance to spawn and drop 1 Winter Token Santa Hat titans have a 1/50 chance to spawn and drops 10 Winter Tokens.Can also be obtained through robuxNew Event Cosmetics:Grumpy (Exclusive) [Armored Titan Skin]Santa Hat (Exclusive)Elf Hat (Exclusive)New Event Market Section + Buying BoostsChristmas Crate Cosmetics:All cosmetics have an equal chance of appearing at 11.11%Candy Cane BladesChristmas GearChristmas SheathCookieGingerbread BladesHot ChocolatePointy Candy Cane BladesSanta SackSnowman HeadArmored Titan Raid:Defend the rescue boats while fighting the Armored TitanTwo phases: Phase 1: Weaken the Armored Titan - During this phase, players must attack weak points on the Armored Titan in order to expose its nape. This phase ends when the Armored Titans HP reaches 50.0%.Phase 2: Defeat the Armored TItan - During this phase, the Armored Titan has been sufficiently weakened, allowing all parts of its body to take damage.New Raid Artifacts:Scars (Mythical)Rifle (Legendary)Backpack (Epic)New Raid Cosmetics:Young Reiners Outfit (Legendary)Marleyan Band (Rare)Fritz Rework:Passives:Unlock any family exclusive shifter skillsExtra Defense Perk SlotExtra Support Perk Slot20.0% Shifter Stats15.0% Crit Chance/Damage10.0% Damage in Raids10.0% Gem Gain10.0% Damage10.0% CD Reduction10.0% Awakening Bar Gain10.0% Gold/Bar XP Gain for all party membersSkills:Founders VengeanceFounders WillChaosThunderspears:Obtainment Method: (Requires Prestige 1+)Thunderspear Quests:Thunderspear Handle:Create 3 watch towers in Outskirts [Skirmish Objective]Escort 1 horse carriage in Outskirts [Skirmish Objective]Thunderspear Thruster:Collect 3 Ice Burst Stones in Utgard [Skirmish Objective]Thunderspear Base:Retrieve 3 Missing Supply Crates in Giant Forest [Skirmish Objective]Defend the Missing Supply Crates in Giant Forest [Skirmish Objective]New Thunderspear Skills:Offense:Grasp BlastFlashbangHellfire BarrageMeteoric RainDual ShotRevolving PierceDefense:Homing MissileCombustive CounterAckerman/ShikiThunder BarrageLightning BoltAdditional Thunderspear Information:Has a max kill cap (TS limbs hit) of 3 by default.The number on the left is the distance the player is away from being able to trigger the thunderspearThe more green it is, the closer the player is, and the redder it is, the further the player is from the thunderspearThere is a setting to control whether you want to detonate the thunderspear manually or automatically after unlocking Scouts InstinctThunderspears will automatically explode if:It has been in the air for 5 seconds without hitting anythingIt has been 10 seconds since its hit somethingThe player is 1000 studs away from the thunderspearSeason 2 Battlepass:New Cosmetics for Thunderspears:Icarus Equipment [Tier 75] (Premium) Icarus Gear [Tier 100] (Free)New Abnormal Variants:Leader:Titan with glowing yellow marks that buffs nearby titans by screaming.Causes nearby titans to become enhanced with 25% stat boost in walkspeed, nape health, and damage.The enhancement from Leader variants is cancelled when the leader is killed.Rager:Titan with glowing red marks, a 100% stat buff in speed, and the ability to scream.Ducker:Titan that has no cosmetic indicators at first sight, but evades nape attacks by rolling backwards, and can thrash wildly when attacked from the front or sides.Iceburst:Spawn exclusively in Utgard map on Hard+ difficultyDrops ice burst stones for thunderspear questIn order to defeat them, players must hit their nape 3 times in quick succession (within 7.5 seconds after each hit) which causes an explosion, making their nape vulnerable.New Thunderspear Perks:Maximum Firepower (Body) [Mythical]Spear Speed increases by 20.0%~40.0%Spear Count increases by 2~4Spears no longer have recoil when being firedEverlasting Flame (Offense) [Mythical]Blast Radius increases by 15.0%~30.0%Each explosion does 10.0%~30.0% burn damageMunitions Master (Support) [Legendary]Spear Count increases by 2~4Munitions Expert (Support) [Epic]Spear Count increases by 1~2Thunderspear Conversion Stats: (When Thunderspears are equipped, these stats will convert for perks and artifact substats)ODM Damage = TS DamageODM Control = TS ControlODM Gas = TS GasODM Speed = TS SpeedODM Range = TS RangeBlade Durability = 0.5x Conservation ChanceSwing Duration = Blast RadiusODM Limbs hit = 0.5x TS Limbs hitNew Thunderspear Memories (Can only be rolled after unlocking thunderspears):Afterimages (Offense) [4-Star]Spear explosions create a smaller explosion in their wake, doing 30.0% DMGSteel Frame (Defense) [3-Star]All explosions deal 25.0% less self DMG and grant immunity to any explosions for 5sMarksman (Offense) [3-Star]Increase DMG by 0.4% for each 5m traveled per spear (Max 465m)Surgeshot (Offense) [1-Star]Holding your Spears M1 for longer increases the BLAST RADIUSNew Gamepasses:Memory BagIncrease the maximum amount of memories that you can hold by 3 (Default 1 without gamepass)Auto SellAutomatically sell selected rarities for perks/artifacts that are obtained from crafting/missions/raidsBalancing:Talent "Overslash" now procs from where the titan dies instead of where your player isSkill "Command" now affects stat "Conservation Chance"To get the 'Warbringer' achievement, you now need 25.0% damageArmored Shard cost lowered to 24,999QOL Changes:Added Setting 'Automatic Detonation' for SpearsAdded 1 free memory storage slotBattlepass 2 extension that lasts 2 weeksBug Fixes:Fixed perk "Tyrant's Stare"Reduced lobby loading times a bit(?)Maybe fixed losing random body parts when ragdolled(?)Fixed perk slots sometimes just not appearingFixed perk slots sometimes not being interactableMisc. Changes:No titans spawn in raids after 15 minutesAdded Follow rewards in the Main Menu (PERMANENT buffs)Added Onikiri Spear Gear and Onikiri Spear Equipment obtainable from the Onikiri Raid (Must be using Thunderspears while in this raid for TS related drops).0.3% (Hard)0.9% (Severe)3.0% (Aberrant)Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.