Hey!I want to share a technique that I use when making muzzle flashes.Its pretty useful for adding some extra variety to muzzle flashes and getting more out of your flipbooks.The basic idea is that you dont really run through the entire flipbook on one particle but instead you use random segments of that flipbook to decrease the chances that any two particles in sequence will look too similar.In Unitys Shuriken it could look something like this if you use a custom shader:You would specify the range of the curve (How many frames will play during the particles lifetime) and then you would set a random start frame which will control where on the flipbook the curve starts.The start frame would work like this:See how its animating over 4 frames but the starting frame is being controlled by you. You can either set a Random between two constants to offset this starting frame or use random between two curves.If youre using VFX Graph you can set it up like this:In both cases you need to make sure you dont exceed the maximum number of frames otherwise itll looks super weird when it starts at 0 again.Happy blasting!

On land he acquired from family, Dwight Wellington Pierce (1816-1901) erected this large, temple-front Greek Revival estate just outside Cornwall Village in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Mr. Pierce farmed this land and built barns across the street from his residence on Popple Swamp Road, where he kept his livestock. The Pierce house is unique in Cornwall as a temple-front Greek Revival style house and features a two-story portico with four Doric columns, the center two are rounded and fluted with the ends square. The elongated house is seven bays wide and must have been quite the sight when it was built in the mid-19th century.

CW+ Premium Content/Computer WeeklyThank you for joining!Access your Pro+ Content below.14 January 2025Generating customer experience at NatWest BankIn this weeks Computer Weekly, we find out how NatWest Bank is using generative AI to enhance its customer experience. Our latest buyers guide examines the emerging regulatory compliance environment affecting IT leaders. And we learn how Toyota is turning to automation to improve its helpdesk support service for employees. Read the issue now.Access this CW+ Content for Free!Already a member? Login hereFeaturesin this issueInterview: Wendy Redshaw, chief digital information officer, NatWest Retail BankbyMark SamuelsThe retail bank is moving at pace to introduce generative AI into key customer-facing services as part of a wider digital transformation across the organisationPreparing for AI regulation: The EU AI ActbyCliff SaranThe EU AI Act builds on existing cyber security, privacy and data governance regulations such as GDPRView Computer Weekly ArchivesNext IssueMore CW+ ContentView AllE-HandbookComputer Weekly 25 March 2014

Everyone and their dog is getting into AI, but Red Hat has serious plans, and acquiring Neural Magic will help bring them to fruition.

'Macross Frontier' is now available on Hulu.BIGWESTWhat with, almost, all of Macross now available on Hulu, its worth looking back at the sagas huge popularity and what that now means for Gundam internationally.Back in the early 80s, Macross came onto the scene and pretty much blew most of its competition out of the water. Gundam had only just managed to pick itself up off the floor after the TV series had tanked, and the one two punch of a movie trilogy and model kits had saved it.Macross, on the other hand, tackled the new real robot craze head-on, not only with its narrative but also with its more believable treatment of its mecha, designed by both Shoji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake. This was then backed up by amazing transformable toys and model kits, along with something Gundam and the other mecha anime lacked: an enormous amount of music.Gundam and its ilk worked because its mecha design sat across the super robot and real robot tendencies. It channeled elements of the samurai in its mecha design, and the anime was mostly there to promote sales of mecha model kits.Macross was a very different beast by comparison. It not only had the right kind of military-leaning model kits, but it also abandoned all the samurai elements and treated the mecha as actual vehicles.MORE FOR YOUThe fact that the VF-1 Valkyrie was very clearly inspired by the F-14 Tomcat also helped to ground the setting and its mecha in the minds of the viewers. Macross was also tied into the transforming robot toy craze of the early 80s in Japan of Diaclone and Microman, of which many of the same mecha designers worked on.So why does this hasty history lesson have any relevance to todays global anime market?Gundam didnt really and properly come westward until 10-15 years ago. Yes, a few outlying series were released, but they werent from the main Universal Century timeline. Consequently, the cultural backbone of Gundam didn't come into being in the US until very recently.You also still have the problem that the Gundam mecha designs are still channeling elements of samurai armor even today, which is great for Asia but has less cultural overlap with the US.In fact, Gundam has covered a lot of ground in the last decade due to the uptake of its model kits, which the anime, now more prevalent outside of Japan, helps to promote.By contrast, Macross came Westward back in the mid-80s as Robotech, and many of the mecha also ended up in BattleTech and the later MechWarrior games. The mecha are also based on US military aircraft, for the most part, and there is far greater cultural alignment compared to Gundam and its vestigial samurai design motifs.That means Macross has been part of the cultural background in the US for far longer than Gundam and makes more cultural sense.This means that, after multiple decades, the Macross boom of the 1980s may once again occur in the US.However, much of this still depends on merchandising, and a large chunk of toys and model kits for Macross are handled by Bandai, who dont own the intellectual property for Macross and are thus less motivated to promote it over Gundam, which they do own. The other aspect to this is that the original Macross TV series and movie Do You Remember Love? are still landlocked to Japan.These points are by no means trivial obstacles, but the difference now is that almost all of Macross is available to stream on Hulu. There are also multiple other companies handling toy and model kit merchandising, and we havent even touched on the huge musical component to MacrossIn short, the next few years are going to be very interesting, and if people think Gundam has it locked in outside of Asia, they really dont know their mecha anime history at all.Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.

Through the looking glass: In an era when the American Civil War dominated headlines, an English sheep farmer in New Zealand penned a letter that would prove remarkably prophetic. On June 13, 1863, The Press newspaper of Christchurch published a missive titled "Darwin among the Machines," which may contain the first published argument for halting technological progress to prevent machines from dominating humanity. As we grapple with the implications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, a letter penned in 1863 resonates with a chilling clarity: "Day by day, however, the machines are gaining ground upon us; day by day we are becoming more subservient to them."Recently, this letter has resurfaced on social media, thanks to Peter Wildeford of the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy, bringing Butler's prescient warnings to a new generation grappling with the implications of artificial intelligence.The author, Samuel Butler, writing under the pseudonym Cellarius, drew direct parallels between Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and the rapid development of machinery. Butler suggested that machines could evolve consciousness and eventually supplant humans as Earth's dominant species.Butler's letter delved into the taxonomy of machine evolution, discussing mechanical "genera and sub-genera" and pointing to examples like the evolution of watches from "cumbrous clocks of the thirteenth century." He even suggested that, like some early vertebrates, mechanical species might get smaller as they became more sophisticated. // Related Stories"We are ourselves creating our own successors," Butler wrote. "We are daily adding to the beauty and delicacy of their physical organisation; we are daily giving them greater power and supplying by all sorts of ingenious contrivances that self-regulating, self-acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race."Butler portrayed humans becoming subservient to machines, initially serving as caretakers who would maintain and help reproduce mechanical life. He compared this relationship to that between humans and their domestic animals, before it later inverts and machines take over.These themes of machine dominance and human subservience would later find their way into numerous works of science fiction. Isaac Asimov's "The Evitable Conflict" explored the concept of machines subtly controlling human society. Frank Herbert's Dune novels featured the "Butlerian Jihad," a crusade against thinking machines, possibly inspired by Butler's warnings. The Matrix films further popularized the idea of a world where machines have subjugated humanity.Also see: The Terminator at 40: the sci-fi cult classic that still shapes how we view the threat of AIButler didn't end his letter with passive acceptance of this fate and instead called for immediate and drastic action: "War to the death should be instantly proclaimed against them. Every machine of every sort should be destroyed by the well-wisher of his species. Let there be no exceptions made, no quarter shown; let us at once go back to the primeval condition of the race."What makes Butler's vision particularly remarkable is that he was writing in a vastly different technological context. The most advanced calculating devices of 1863 were little more than mechanical calculators and slide rules. The first working program-controlled computer wouldn't appear for another 70 years.While there were no "computers" as we think of them today in the late 1800s, there were significant advancements in mechanical computing devices and concepts. Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine (1837 - never fully built) is considered the first design for a general-purpose computer.The debate Butler started continues today. In recent years, the world has grappled with what one might call the "great AI takeover scare." The release of advanced AI models has inspired open letters signed by AI researchers and tech executives warning of potential extinction-level risks posed by advanced artificial intelligence.These modern concerns bear a striking resemblance to Butler's 19th-century call for pausing mechanical progress. Even if machines never become truly intelligent, Butler's predictions about our dependence on the ways they algorithmically regulate our lives seem eerily accurate.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsHow many software updates does the OnePlus 13 get?How many software updates does the OnePlus 13R get?Why security updates matterThe OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R are the companys latest entries in the western market, with the OnePlus 13 designed to serve as a sort of flagship and the 13R to take the role of a midrange, entry-level phone. The OnePlus 13 starts at $900, while the 13R retails for $600 for its 12GB RAM/256GB storage configuration.Considering the price of other flagships, the OnePlus 13 is more wallet-friendly than most. But does that come with a tradeoff, and will the phone be worth considering in two or three years? The simple answer is yes, although there are several factors you should be aware of.Recommended VideosThe OnePlus 13 will receive four years of major software updates and six years of security updates. This means the OnePlus 13 will reach the end of its lifespan on Android 19, although it will still be a viable phone for a couple of years after, thanks to the security updates.RelatedThat might not sound like much, but few companies offer such long-term support. Even the Samsung Galaxy S24 is limited to seven years of updates across both OS and security patches. The first reason is to encourage you to purchase a new phone; after all, who do you know who is still using a model from seven years ago?The second reason is that maintaining long-term support for older operating systems demands resources that could be better spent on developing newer, better-performing OS versions.The OnePlus 13R will get the same amount of updates as its flagship cousin, with four years of Android updates and six years of security updates. Like the OnePlus 13, this means the 13R will end functional support on Android 19.The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, the closest equivalent to the OnePlus 13R, will also receive seven years of updates. Thats actually longer than the S23 FE, which only received four OS updates and five years of security patches.Joe Maring / Digital TrendsMobile device updates tend to fall into one of two camps. The first are numbered OS updates iOS 18, Android 15, etc. These updates usually introduce new and exciting features to the device and are what many announcements are focused around.Security updates are the second type. These tend to introduce patches for bugs and security vulnerabilities, allowing you to continue using your phone for a longer period of time. More security flaws are discovered as operating systems age. Think of security updates like shoring up an old mineshaft: It doesnt completely eliminate the danger, but it makes it far less likely.Once a phone no longer receives security updates, that specific device becomes an easier target for bad actors, malware, and other threats.Editors Recommendations

not too much longer? Report: After many leaks, Switch 2 announcement could come this week Reveal will reportedly focus on hardware, with game announcements to come later. Andrew Cunningham Jan 13, 2025 1:34 pm | 56 The original Nintendo Switch is pushing eight years old. Credit: Nintendo The original Nintendo Switch is pushing eight years old. Credit: Nintendo Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNintendo may be getting ready to make its Switch 2 console official. According to "industry whispers" collected by Eurogamer, as well as reporting from The Verge's Tom Warren, the Switch 2 could be formally announced sometime this week. Eurogamer suggests the reveal is scheduled for this Thursday, January 16.The reporting also suggests that the reveal will focus mostly on the console's hardware design, with another game-centered announcement coming later. Eurogamer reports that the console won't be ready to launch until April; this would be similar to Nintendo's strategy for the original Switch, which was announced in mid-January 2017 but not launched until March.Many things about the Switch 2's physical hardware design have been thoroughly leaked at this point, thanks mostly to accessory makers who have been showing off their upcoming cases. Accessory maker Genki was at CES last week with a 3D-printed replica of the console based on the real thing, suggesting a much larger but still familiar-looking console with a design and button layout similar to the current Switch.On the inside, the console is said to sport a new Nvidia-designed Arm processor with a much more powerful GPU and more RAM than the current Switch. Dubbed "T239," Eurogamer reports that the chip includes 1,536 CUDA cores based on the Ampere architecture, the same used in 2020's GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards on the PC.This might not sound terribly exciting for PC gamers; this is a four-plus-year-old architecture with fewer CUDA cores than the budget-minded RTX 3050 (2,304 or 2,560 cores, depending on the version you buy). However, the original Switch uses 256 GPU cores based on 2014's Maxwell GPU architecture, just one-sixth as many cores based on a much older design. The new chip will give the Switch 2 a huge boost, relatively speaking. Ampere also opens the door to things like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS upscaling, which Nvidia just updated with improved transformer models that should lead to improved image quality even on older GPU architectures if Nintendo and third-party developers take advantage of them.It has been nearly eight years since the original Switch was released, and the console's internal specs haven't been updated since it launched. Consoles manufactured after mid-2019 included a chip made using a newer 16 nm manufacturing process, which boosted battery life but mostly didn't affect performance. A rumored "Switch Pro" refresh with beefed-up hardware was supposedly scuttled because of pandemic-era supply-chain issues; the OLED edition of the Switch we eventually got in late 2021 had a nicer screen but the same chip as before.We know that the new Switch will play games made for the original, but we still don't know if that extends to physical game cards or just digital downloads. We also don't know if controllers or other accessories for the original Switch will work with the Switch 2. We should hear a bit more about these kinds of details after the console is announced.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 56 Comments

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. In December, our small but mighty AI reporting team was asked by our editors to make a prediction: Whats coming next for AI? In 2024, AI contributed both to Nobel Prizewinning chemistry breakthroughs and a mountain of cheaply made content that few people asked for but that nonetheless flooded the internet. Take AI-generated Shrimp Jesus images, among other examples. There was also a spike in greenhouse-gas emissions last year that can be attributed partly to the surge in energy-intensive AI. Our team got to thinking about how all of this will shake out in the year to come. As we look ahead, certain things are a given. We know that agentsAI models that do more than just converse with you and can actually go off and complete tasks for youare the focus of many AI companies right now. Building them will raise lots of privacy questions about how much of our data and preferences were willing to give up in exchange for tools that will (allegedly) save us time. Similarly, the need to make AI faster and more energy efficient is putting so-called small language models in the spotlight. We instead wanted to focus on less obvious predictions. Mine were about how AI companies that previously shunned work in defense and national security might be tempted this year by contracts from the Pentagon, and how Donald Trumps attitudes toward China could escalate the global race for the best semiconductors. Read the full list. Whats not evident in that story is that the other predictions were not so clear-cut. Arguments ensued about whether or not 2025 will be the year of intimate relationships with chatbots, AI throuples, or traumatic AI breakups. To witness the fallout from our teams lively debates (and hear more about what didnt make the list), you can join our upcoming LinkedIn Live this Thursday, January 16. Ill be talking it all over with Will Douglas Heaven, our senior editor for AI, and our news editor, Charlotte Jee. There are a couple other things Ill be watching closely in 2025. One is how little the major AI playersnamely OpenAI, Microsoft, and Googleare disclosing about the environmental burden of their models. Lots of evidence suggests that asking an AI model like ChatGPT about knowable facts, like the capital of Mexico, consumes much more energy (and releases far more emissions) than simply asking a search engine. Nonetheless, OpenAIs Sam Altman in recent interviews has spoken positively about the idea of ChatGPT replacing the googling that weve all learned to do in the past two decades. Its already happening, in fact. The environmental cost of all this will be top of mind for me in 2025, as will the possible cultural cost. We will go from searching for information by clicking links and (hopefully) evaluating sources to simply reading the responses that AI search engines serve up for us. As our editor in chief, Mat Honan, said in his piece on the subject, Who wants to have to learn when you can just know? Now read the rest of The Algorithm Deeper Learning Whats next for our privacy? The US Federal Trade Commission has taken a number of enforcement actions against data brokers, some of which have tracked and sold geolocation data from users at sensitive locations like churches, hospitals, and military installations without explicit consent. Though limited in nature, these actions may offer some new and improved protections for Americans personal information. Why it matters: A consensus is growing that Americans need better privacy protectionsand that the best way to deliver them would be for Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation. Unfortunately, thats not going to happen anytime soon. Enforcement actions from agencies like the FTC might be the next best thing in the meantime. Read more in Eileen Guos excellent story here. Bits and Bytes Meta trained its AI on a notorious piracy database New court records, Wired reports, reveal that Meta used a notorious so-called shadow library of pirated books that originated in Russia to train its generative AI models. (Wired) OpenAIs top reasoning model struggles with the NYT Connections game The game requires players to identify how groups of words are related. OpenAIs o1 reasoning model had a hard time. (Mind Matters) Anthropics chief scientist on 5 ways agents will be even better in 2025 The AI company Anthropic is now worth $60 billion. The companys cofounder and chief scientist, Jared Kaplan, shared how AI agents will develop in the coming year. (MIT Technology Review) A New York legislator attempts to regulate AI with a new bill This year, a high-profile bill in California to regulate the AI industry was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Now, a legislator in New York is trying to revive the effort in his own state. (MIT Technology Review)

My daughter is in her senior year of high school and in the middle of the college search phase.As her mom, I'm trying to be helpful while letting her lead the way to finding the ideal school.I'm only suggesting schools to visit and reminding her that I'm always here to help.My daughter is currently in the midst of the college search phase, and with so many college and university options, you might imagine that this journey is both complex and exciting.As a parent, I want to help make my child's senior year as stress-free as possible by assisting her during the process, but I also want to step back a bit as she begins the transition to adulthood. With this in mind, finding a way to be just the right amount of helpful is so important.As my second child who's heading to college her older brother is in his junior year this isn't my first experience in the college search phase. However, as parents know, each kid in the family is different and has their own distinct style as to how they proceed with tasks and achieve their goals.During her brother's college search, it was a new experience for all of us including the path to finding the ideal university plus all of the other important parts of the process, including the application procedures, financial aid steps, and the final step of him narrowing down the options to his chosen school. This time, we have the experience and can pursue the college search phase with a bit more confidence. With that said, it's so important for me to take a step back and let my daughter find a school that works best for her.I'm letting her apply to schools without setting too many restrictionsThe first way I've taken a step back during this college search phase is by letting her apply to a wide array of schools without setting too many restrictions.Of course, this doesn't mean that every school will be a top choice for her or that we'll be able to afford it. It just gives her more freedom to explore potential schools that may meet her personal requirements for a good fit and gives her peace of mind knowing she's considered different options.From that point onward, we can discuss the finer details of each school, including the pros and cons and feasibility factors.I'm suggesting on-campus visits, but enabling her to choose the must-see optionsCollege visits have expanded in options compared to years ago when I went to school. In the past, you could visit the school in person or take a chance that it may be a good fit simply by reading the brochures.Fast-forward to today, where prospective students have many exploration options, from virtual college visitation sessions to social media.These are all excellent research options; however, I feel that it's always good to visit the school in person when able to do so. Therefore, I tell my daughter that we should visit as many schools in person as possible, especially if she's really interested in a few specific universities.That said, she can pick the ones that really interest her, and then we'll go explore those colleges.I'm still providing feedback with negotiable viewpointsAlthough I'll stand back and let my daughter form her own opinions as to the individual schools, I'll always provide feedback.This doesn't mean my view is the right one or that my feedback contains non-negotiable terms. I just think it's important to provide her with details she may not have thought of and also let her know my thoughts due to my experience and having gone through the college search process on my own albeit many years ago.The feedback will also revolve around cost and location. For example, even with access to scholarships and grants, attending certain schools may not be possible due to financial reasons.I may also want to provide insight into the pros and cons of schools within driving distance versus colleges that require airline travel. In addition, safety factors may also be discussed when comparing different schools. However, I don't want this feedback to be a definitive response but instead talking points to discuss when deciding which universities and colleges may be right for her.I'm reminding my daughter I'm always here for herMost importantly, I make it a point to let her know that although she will take the lead in finding her ideal university, I'm always here for her when she needs advice, information, or simply a parent's loving guidance.As a mom, I'm going into this college search process, hoping to provide the best possible guidance for my daughter as she takes the initial steps toward adulthood while giving her the space to find her way and make her own decisions.Ultimately, I know that she will choose the college or university that is right for her as she embarks on this new and exciting journey.