• She Is in Love With ChatGPT
    www.nytimes.com
    A 28-year-old woman with a busy social life spends hours on end talking to her A.I. boyfriend for advice and consolation. And yes, they do have sex.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·30 Vue
  • 11th-gen iPad: Everything you need to know about the 2025 refresh
    www.macworld.com
    MacworldApple went big on iPads in 2024, announcing new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini tablets. But one model missed out: the standard, basic iPad. Other than getting even cheaper (it got an aggressive price cut to $349/329 last year) Apples cheapest tablet is still exactly the same 10th-gen model that came out way back in 2022, and its looking overdue for an update.Fortunately we wont have to wait much longer before that happens. From likely release date to new features, design changes and tech specs, heres what we know so far about the 11th-gen iPad for 2025.When will the 11th-gen iPad be released?The new 11th-gen iPad will probably launch in March or April 2025.Apple used to have a steady release schedule for its cheapest iPad, launching a new one each year alongside the latest iPhones at a September event. In 2022, the 10th-gen revamp saw a slight adjustment to October but since then the yearly pattern has been abandoned completely.Heres when the past five iPad models have launched:iPad (10th gen): October 2022iPad (9th gen): September 2021iPad (8th gen): September 2020iPad (7th gen): September 2019iPad (6th gen): March 2018So when can we expect an update to the standard iPad? Most pundits expect Apple to switch things up by unveiling the new model at a spring event in March or April 2025 alongside the 4th-gen iPhone SE. There is precedent, as you can see: the 6th-gen iPad came out in spring too.Apple is keen to launch an affordable tablet that supports its Apple Intelligence AI platform as soon as possible, and in any case two and a half years is a long time to wait since the last update. We cant see the company holding back the 11th-gen iPad until the summer or fall of 2025.How much will the 11th-gen iPad cost?The new 11th-gen iPad is likely to start at $449/449.This is Apples cheapest tablet, so pricing is important. For a long time Apple kept its entry-level iPad in the $300-$350 ballpark, but that all changed in 2022: following the 10th-gen redesign, Apple upped the price from $329 to $449 (and from 319 to 449 in the U.K.). At the time we complained about this putting it out of the reach of budget buyers, and it affected our review quite significantly.But that wasnt the end of the story. In May 2024, Apple dropped the price of the 10th-gen iPad to $349/349. It then dropped the price again in the U.K. to 329. And we were happy, once again, to recommend the device to potential customers.Which is a roundabout way of saying that were less confident than we usually would be in predicting the pricing of the 11th-gen iPad. Has Apple learned its lesson about pushing the price too high, and will it go back to the budget prices of the past? Sadly this seems unlikely. Between the companys recent drive towards higher margins and the major increase in processing power we expect for this generation (discussed in the next section) the 11th-gen iPad is very unlikely to cost less than $400. Our guess would be $449/449 at launch, with a price cut to follow at a later date. And the 10th-gen model will remain in the lineup as a true budget option for those who dont need Apple Intelligence.What tech specs and new features will we see in the 11th-gen iPad?The new 11th-gen iPad will get an A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM, plus support for Apple Intelligence.The 10th-gen iPad delivered a major redesign, so we dont expect too much to change externally. However, there will be some notable upgrades on the inside of the 11th-gen iPad:Processor and RAMThe most obvious update to the 11th-gen iPad will be the chipset. The current model runs on an A14 chipset, which debuted in 2020 with the 4th-gen iPad Air and iPhone 12, but we expect that to jump to an A17 Pro with 8GB of RAM so it can run Apple Intelligence. Thats a serious increase in processing muscle (and likely rules out a sub-$400 price tag), but the 10th-gen iPad is the only currently available Apple tablet that doesnt support Apple Intelligence and its crucial to get as many users as possible on the platform.DisplayAs the display was increased from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches as part of the 10th-gen revamp, we dont expect any changes to the screen size this time around. The only possible change in this area is the use of a laminated display, which would make the device slightly thinner and offer better clarity. It would also make the tablet feel nicer in use, as unlaminated screens (as used on the 10th-gen iPad, among many other budget Apple tablets) have a tendency to yield downwards very slightly when you press on them.AppleCameras Since the 10th-gen iPad was Apples first tablet to change the placement of the front camera from portrait to landscape mode and already has Center Stage, we dont expect Apple to change the front camera. Its possible Apple will upgrade the rear camera slightly, but since the M2 iPad Air released in 2024 has the same 12MP wide camera, its likely any improvements will come in the form of software updates.Storage If theres one obvious area where a simple upgrade could make life easier for people, its storage. The cheapest configuration of the 10th-gen iPad still comes with just 64GB of storage, which isnt going to be enough for a lot of customers; whereas the rest of the range starts with at least 128GB. As with the iPhone SE, we expect Apple to bump the base storage of its entry-level tablet up to 128GB when the 11th-gen iPad arrives, while simultaneously increasing the top offering to 512GB.iPad (10th gen): 64GB, 256GBiPad (11th gen, expected): 128GB, 512GBWell keep updating this article as more information becomes available. Until then, you should check out our best 10th-gen iPad deals and best iPad deals roundups to see if you can bag yourself a bargain on the current range.
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  • An eye-opening Android privacy blacklight
    www.computerworld.com
    One of the most prickly misconceptions around Android is that its completely incompatible with privacy. If you use Android, the wonky thinking goes, youre giving into a lifetime of unavoidable surveillance (gasp!) and the big, bad Google monster monitoring and monetizing everything you do (egads!).Well, surprise, surprise: Like so many conversations around Google and privacy, this line of thinking is oversimplified and shockingly short on nuance. (Dj vu, anyone?) The reality, unless you live inside Apples marketing department, is that (a) Android can be as private as you like and (b) its up to you to make educated decisions about what kinds of basic data-sharing youre okay with and what kinds of compromises youre willing to make.Ninety-nine percent of the time, the info Google and also third-party app developers collect across Android is completely impersonal and of little to no meaningful consequence other than potentially showing you more relevant ads in different places, programmatically and based on your online activity. But its absolutely possible to access and adjust all of that activity and stop any of it from happening entirely, if youre so inclined.I recently put together an extensive Android privacy guide that goes through every last area of Android privacy and all the most advanced adjustments along with what exactly youll sacrifice by making any such changes. While most of the knowledge there revolves around stuff at the operating system level, the guide also includes one third-party tool thats especially interesting for anyone eager to gain a complete understanding of what types of data apps on your device might be monitoring.Its interesting enough that I thought it warranted an extra spotlight especially since my privacy guide hit in the midst of the December holidays, when lots of us were hibernating or otherwise tuned out.Let me show you a little more about this standout Android privacy addition and why it might be worth your while to check out.[Keep the enlightenment coming with my Android Notification Power-Pack six powerful enhancements for any Android device next.]The ins and outs of Android app trackingFirst things first, an important reality to be aware of: In addition to all the higher-profile ways info about your activity can be accessed across Android, any apps you install are able to track a certain amount of data on their own, independently based on the permissions you give em.By and large, this is pretty innocuous stuff. Most apps monitor certain types of activity within their own environments so their developers can look at and improve performance across a variety of Android device types and also spot potential bugs before they turn into serious problems. Others follow common online ad patterns and use broad data on behaviors to influence what ads youre shown, anonymously, in order to pay the bills and offer you services at little to no ongoing cost.But still, knowledge is power and even if its typically not nefarious, its entirely advisable to make yourself aware of whats happening on your device and then make your own active decisions about what you are or arent okay with.And while Android itself doesnt have a native mechanism for analyzing this specific area, you can find an impressively effective blacklight into app-tracking activity in an unlikely place.I wont keep you waiting: Its the DuckDuckGo Android web browser. While DuckDuckGo may be known primarily as a search service and Chrome alternative, its Android app has a handy tool for seeing exactly what sorts of tracking activity is happening behind the scenes with apps on your device and, if you wish, for blocking any or all of that activity from continuing.You dont necessarily have to use DuckDuckGo as your Android search provider or default browser to take advantage of the option, either.In fact, all you need is about 30 seconds of simple setup then all the info imaginable will be at your fingertips, along with a helpful set of simple controls.30 seconds to Android app-tracking insightsAll right ready? First, go install DuckDuckGo from the Play Store, then open er up and wade your way through its slightly irksome welcome sequences. When DuckDuckGo prompts you to set it as your default system browser, remember: You dont have to do that. Just hit Cancel on that pop-up if you want to skip over that suggestion and stick with whatever standard browser youre already using.Then, once youre looking at the main DuckDuckGo home screen, tap the three-dot menu icon in the apps upper-right corner and select Settings followed by App Tracking Protection.Tap Continue a couple times, then tap the big blue Enable App Tracking Protection button and tap OK on the confirmation box that pops up.At that point, you can go about using your phone normally and you can just periodically peek in at your notifications to see how much tracker-like activity DuckDuckGo is detecting across all of your installed apps.DuckDuckGos app tracking notification shows you how much activity its blocking at any given moment.JR Raphael, IDGTap that alert or make your way manually back into that same App Tracking Protection area of the DuckDuckGo settings and youll see a detailed breakdown of exactly what types of invisible tracking activity DuckDuckGo is both sensing and blocking across your device.You can see detailed info on exactly what data different apps are collecting within DuckDuckGos App Tracking Protection area.JR Raphael, IDGAs you can see, theres quite a bit going on there! But as with most things in the modern tech universe, its all about the context. And, unfortunately, thats the one area where DuckDuckGos app-tracking blacklight is lacking.When you really dig in and examine what most of the apps in DuckDuckGos tracking list are doing, the vast majority of the activity will almost certainly come down to the two core areas we mentioned a moment ago first, performance monitoring and bug detection, and second, more effective advertising based on an anonymized view of your activity and alleged interests. (As always, if youre gonna see ads somewhere, youre unavoidably gonna see em no matter what. The only question is if the ads might be more aligned with things youre actually interested in or just random and irrelevant.)Alarming as it may be at a quick n casual glance, in other words, most of the activity youll see listed is no actual cause for concern. And by blocking it, its entirely possible youll cause certain areas of apps to stop working the way they should or, at the very least, make it more difficult for their developers to keep an eye on performance and keep things running smoothly, since DuckDuckGo may well block mechanisms that are crucial or in some way important to an apps overall operation.But, hey, its your phone. And its your right to understand whats happening behind the scenes and take control of it, if you so desire.On that note, that same section of the DuckDuckGo settings lets you selectively turn off tracking and blocking on an app-by-app basis so even if you do decide to leave it running in general, you can disable it for specific apps where you see strangeness or for whatever reason dont want to block whats happening. After a few days, you may well decide this knowledge is more nuisance than anything for you and not worth keeping active. If so, all youve gotta do is uninstall DuckDuckGo from your phone or just flip the switch within that App Tracking Protection area of the apps settings to disable it.But now you know how to find all that knowledge and decide for yourself whether that ends up being a short-lived glimpse into the inner-workings of your device or an ongoing blocking of any and all app tracking.The power is in your hands. And just like with every other Android privacy consideration, its up to you to decide what to do with it.Dont stop there: Snag my free Android Notification Power-Pack next to take total control over how your apps alert you in ways you never even knew were possible.
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  • Fueling the future of digital transformation
    www.technologyreview.com
    In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital innovation, staying adaptable isnt just a strategyits a survival skill. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face, says Luis Nio, digital manager for technology ventures and innovation at Chevron, quoting Mike Tyson.Drawing from a career that spans IT, HR, and infrastructure operations across the globe, Nio offers a unique perspective on innovation and how organizational microcultures within Chevron shape how digital transformation evolves.Centralized functions prioritize efficiency, relying on tools like AI, data analytics, and scalable system architectures. Meanwhile, business units focus on simplicity and effectiveness, deploying robotics and edge computing to meet site-specific needs and ensure safety.From a digital transformation standpoint, what I have learned is that you have to tie your technology to what outcomes drive results for both areas, but you have to allow yourself to be flexible, to be nimble, and to understand that change is constant, he says.Central to this transformation is the rise of industrial AI. Unlike consumer applications, industrial AI operates in high-stakes environments where the cost of errors can be severe.The wealth of potential information needs to be contextualized, modeled, and governed because of the safety of those underlying processes, says Nio. If a machine reacts in ways you dont expect, people could get hurt, and so theres an extra level of care that needs to happen and that we need to think about as we deploy these technologies.Nio highlights Chevrons efforts to use AI for predictive maintenance, subsurface analytics, and process automation, noting that AI sits on top of that foundation of strong data management and robust telecommunications capabilities. As such, AI is not just a tool but a transformation catalyst redefining how talent is managed, procurement is optimized, and safety is ensured.Looking ahead, Nio emphasizes the importance of adaptability and collaboration: Transformation is as much about technology as it is about people. With initiatives like the Citizen Developer Program and Learn Digital, Chevron is empowering its workforce to bridge the gap between emerging technologies and everyday operations using an iterative mindset.Nio is also keeping watch over the convergence of technologies like AI, quantum computing, Internet of Things, and robotics, which hold the potential to transform how we produce and manage energy.My job is to keep an eye on those developments, says Nio, to make sure that were managing these things responsibly and the things that we test and trial and the things that we deploy, that we maintain a strict sense of responsibility to make sure that we keep everyone safe, our employees, our customers, and also our stakeholders from a broader perspective.This episode of Business Lab is produced in association with Infosys Cobalt.Full TranscriptMegan Tatum: From MIT Technology Review, Im Megan Tatum and this is Business Lab, the show that helps business leaders make sense of new technologies coming out of the lab and into the marketplace.Our topic today is digital transformation, from back office operations to infrastructure in the field like oil rigs, companies continue to look for ways to increase profit, meet sustainability goals, and invest in the latest and greatest technology.Two words for you: enabling innovation.My guest is Luis Nio, who is the digital manager of technology ventures, and innovation at Chevron. This podcast is produced in association with Infosys Cobalt.Welcome, Luis.Luis Nio: Thank you, Megan. Thank you for having me.Megan: Thank you so much for joining us. Just to set some context, Luis, youve had a really diverse career at Chevron, spanning IT, HR, and infrastructure operations. I wonder, how have those different roles shaped your approach to innovation and digital strategy?Luis: Thank you for the question. And youre right, my career has spanned many different areas and geographies in the company. It really feels like Ive worked for different companies every time I change roles. Like I said, different functions, organizations, locations Ive had since here in Houston and in Bakersfield, California and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From an organizational standpoint, Ive seen central teams international service centers, as you mentioned, field infrastructure and operation organizations in our business units, and Ive also had corporate function roles.And the reason why I mentioned that diversity is that each one of those looks at digital transformation and innovation through its own lens. From the priority to scale and streamline in central organizations to the need to optimize and simplify out in business units and what I like to call the periphery, you really learn about the concept first off of microcultures and how different these organizations can be even within our own walls, but also how those come together in organizations like Chevron.Over time, I would highlight two things. In central organizations, whether thats functions like IT, HR, or our technical center, we have a central technical center, where we continuously look for efficiencies in scaling, for system architectures that allow for economies of scale. As you can imagine, the name of the game is efficiency. We have also looked to improve employee experience. We want to orchestrate ecosystems of large technology vendors that give us an edge and move the massive organization forward. In areas like this, in central areas like this, I would say that it is data analytics, data science, and artificial intelligence that has become the sort of the fundamental tools to achieve those objectives.Now, if you allow that pendulum to swing out to the business units and to the periphery, the name of the game is effectiveness and simplicity. The priority for the business units is to find and execute technologies that help us achieve the local objectives and keep our people safe. Especially when we are talking about our manufacturing environments where theres risk for our folks. In these areas, technologies like robotics, the Internet of Things, and obviously edge computing are currently the enablers of information.I wouldnt want to miss the opportunity to say that both of those, lets call it, areas of the company, rely on the same foundation and that is a foundation of strong data management, of strong network and telecommunications capabilities because those are the veins through which the data flows and everything relies on data.In my experience, this pendulum also drives our technology priorities and our technology strategy. From a digital transformation standpoint, what I have learned is that you have to tie your technology to what outcomes drive results for both areas, but you have to allow yourself to be flexible, to be nimble, and to understand that change is constant. If you are deploying something in the center and you suddenly realize that some business unit already has a solution, you cannot just say, lets shut it down and go with what I said. You have to adapt, you have to understand behavioral change management and you really have to make sure that change and adjustments are your bread and butter.I dont know if you know this, Megan, but theres a popular fight happening this weekend with Mike Tyson and he has a saying, and that is everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. And what hes trying to say is you have to be adaptable. The plan is good, but you have to make sure that you remain agile.Megan: Yeah, absolutely.Luis: And then I guess the last lesson really quick is about risk management or maybe risk appetite. Each group has its own risk appetite depending on the lens or where theyre sitting, and this may create some conflict between organizations that want to move really, really fast and have urgency and others that want to take a step back and make sure that were doing things right at the balance. I think that at the end, I think thats a question for leadership to make sure that they have a pulse on our ability to change.Megan: Absolutely, and youve mentioned a few different elements and technologies Id love to dig into a bit more detail on. One of which is artificial intelligence because I know Chevron has been exploring AI for several years now. I wonder if you could tell us about some of the AI use cases its working on and what frameworks youve developed for effective adoption as well.Luis: Yeah, absolutely. This is the big one, isnt it? Everybodys talking about AI. As you can imagine, the focus in our company is what is now being branded as industrial AI. Thats really a simple term to explain that AI is being applied to industrial and manufacturing settings. And like other AI, and as I mentioned before, the foundation remains data. I want to stress the importance of data here.One of the differences however is that in the case of industrial AI, data comes from a variety of sources. Some of them are very critical. Some of them are non-critical. Sources like operating technologies, process control networks, and SCADA, all the way to Internet of Things sensors or industrial Internet of Things sensors, and unstructured data like engineering documentation and IT data. These are massive amounts of information coming from different places and also from different security structures. The complexity of industrial AI is considerably higher than what I would call consumer or productivity AI.Megan: Right.Luis: The wealth of potential information needs to be contextualized, modeled, and governed because of the safety of those underlying processes. When youre in an industrial setting, if a machine reacts in ways you dont expect, people could get hurt, and so theres an extra level of care that needs to happen and that we need to think about as we deploy these technologies.AI sits on top of that foundation and it takes different shapes. It can show up as a copilot like the ones that have been popularized recently, or it can show up as agentic AI, which is something that were looking at closely now. And agentic AI is just a term to mean that AI can operate autonomously and can use complex reasoning to solve multistep problems in an industrial setting.So with that in mind, going back to your question, we use both kinds of AI for multiple use cases, including predictive maintenance, subsurface analytics, process automation, and workflow optimization, and also end-user productivity. Each one of those use cases obviously needs specific objectives that the business is looking at in each area of the value chain.In predictive maintenance, for example, we monitor and we analyze equipment health, we prevent failures, and we allow for preventive maintenance and reduced downtime. The AI helps us understand when machinery needs to be maintained in order to prevent failure instead of just waiting for it to happen. In subsurface analysis, were exploring AI to develop better models of hydrocarbon reservoirs. We are exploring AI to forecast geomechanical models and to capture and understand data from fiber optic sensing. Fiber optic sensing is a capability that has proven very valuable to us, and AI is helping us make sense of the wealth of information that comes out of the whole, as we like to say. Of course, we dont do this alone. We partner with many third-party organizations, with vendors, and with people inside subject matter experts inside of Chevron to move the projects forward.There are several other areas beyond industrial AI that we are looking at. AI really is a transformation catalyst, and so areas like finance and law and procurement and HR, were also doing testing in those corporate areas. I can tell you that Ive been part of projects in procurement, in HR. When I was in HR we ran a pretty amazing effort in partnership with a third-party company, and what they do is they seek to transform the way we understand talent, and the way they do that is they are trying to provide data-driven frameworks to make talent decisions.And so they redefine talent by framing data in the form of skills, and as they do this, they help de-bias processes that are usually or can be usually prone to unconscious biases and perspectives. It really is fascinating to think of your talent-based skills and to start decoupling them from what we know since the industrial era began, which is people fit in jobs. Now the question is more the other way around. How can jobs adapt to peoples skills? And then in procurement, AI is basically helping us open the aperture to a wider array of vendors in an automated fashion that makes us better partners. Its more cost-effective. Its really helpful.Before I close here, you did reference frameworks, so the framework of industrial AI versus what I call productivity AI, the understanding of the use cases. All of this sits on top of our responsible AI frameworks. We have set up a central enterprise AI organization and they have really done a great job in developing key areas of responsible AI as well as training and adoption frameworks. This includes how to use AI, how not to use AI, what data we can share with the different GPTs that are available to us.We are now members of organizations like the Responsible AI Institute. This is an organization that fosters the safe use of AI and trustworthy AI. But our own responsible AI framework, it involves four pillars. The first one is the principles, and this is how we make sure we continue to stay aligned with the values that drive this company, which we call The Chevron Way. It includes assessment, making sure that we evaluate these solutions in proportion to impact and risk. As I mentioned, when youre talking about industrial processes, peoples lives are at stake. And so we take a very close look at what we are putting out there and how we ensure that it keeps our people safe. It includes education, I mentioned training our people to augment their capabilities and reinforcing responsible principles, and the last of the four is governance oversight and accountability through control structures that we are putting in place.Megan: Fantastic. Thank you so much for those really fascinating specific examples as well. Its great to hear about. And digital transformation, which you did touch on briefly, has become critical of course to enable business growth and innovation. I wonder what has Chevrons digital transformation looked like and how has the shift affected overall operations and the way employees engage with technology as well?Luis: Yeah, yeah. Thats a really good question. The term digital transformation is interpreted in many different ways. For me, it really is about leveraging technology to drive business results and to drive business transformation. We usually tend to specify emerging technology as the catalyst for transformation. I think that is okay, but I also think that there are ways that you can drive digital transformation with technology thats not necessarily emerging but is being optimized, and so under this umbrella, we include everything from our Citizen Developer Program to complex industry partnerships that help us maximize the value of data.The Citizen Developer Program has been very successful in helping bridge the gap between our technical software engineer and software development practices and people who are out there doing the work, getting familiar, and demystifying the way to build solutions.I do believe that transformation is as much about technology as it is about people. And so to go back to the responsible AI framework, we are actively training and upskilling the workforce. We created a program called Learn Digital that helps employees embrace the technologies. I mentioned the concept of demystifying. Its really important that people dont fall into the trap of getting scared by the potential of the technology or the fact that it is new and we help them and we give them the tools to bridge the change management gap so they can get to use them and get the most out of them.At a high level, our transformation has followed the cyclical nature that pretty much any transformation does. We have identified the data foundations that we need to have. We have understood the impact of the processes that we are trying to digitize. We organize that information, then we streamline and automate processes, we learn, and now machines learn and then we do it all over again. And so this cyclical mindset, this iterative mindset has really taken hold in our culture and it has made us a little bit better at accepting the technologies that are driving the change.Megan: And to look at one of those technologies in a bit more detail, cloud computing has revolutionized infrastructure across industries. But theres also a pendulum ship now toward hybrid and edge computing models. How is Chevron balancing cloud, hybrid, and edge strategies for optimal performance as well?Luis: Yeah, thats a great question and I think you could argue that was the genesis of the digital transformation effort. Its been a journey for us and its a journey that I think were not the only ones that may have started it as a cost savings and storage play, but then we got to this ever-increasing need for multiple things like scaling compute power to support large language models and maximize how we run complex models. Theres an increasing need to store vast amounts of data for training and inference models while we improve data management and, while we predict future needs.Theres a need for the opportunity to eliminate hardware constraints. One of the promises of cloud was that you would be able to ramp up and down depending on your compute needs as projects demanded. And that hasnt stopped, that has only increased. And then theres a need to be able to do this at a global level. For a company like ours that is distributed across the globe, we want to do this everywhere while actively managing those resources without the weight of the infrastructure that we used to carry on our books. Cloud has really helped us change the way we think about the digital assets that we have.Its important also that it has created this symbiotic need to grow between AI and the cloud. So you dont have the AI without the cloud, but now you dont have the cloud without AI. In reality, we work on balancing the benefits of cloud and hybrid and edge computing, and we keep operational efficiency as our North Star. We have key partnerships in cloud, thats something that I want to make sure I talk about. Microsoft is probably the most strategic of our partnerships because theyve helped us set our foundation for cloud. But we also think of the convenience of hybrid through the lens of leveraging a convenient, scalable public cloud and a very secure private cloud that helps us meet our operational and safety needs.Edge computing fills the gap or the need for low latency and real-time data processing, which are critical constraints for decision-making in most of the locations where we operate. You can think of an offshore rig, a refinery, an oil rig out in the field, and maybe even not-so-remote areas like here in our corporate offices. Putting that compute power close to the data source is critical. So we work and we partner with vendors to enable lighter compute that we can set at the edge and, I mentioned the foundation earlier, faster communication protocols at the edge that also solve the need for speed.But it is important to remember that you dont want to think about edge computing and cloud as separate things. Cloud supports edge by providing centralized management by providing advanced analytics among others. You can train models in the cloud and then deploy them to edge devices, keeping real-time priorities in mind. I would say that edge computing also supports our cybersecurity strategy because it allows us to control and secure sensitive environments and information while we embed machine learning and AI capabilities out there.So I have mentioned use cases like predictive maintenance and safety, those are good examples of areas where we want to make sure our cybersecurity strategy is front and center. When I was talking about my experience I talked about the center and the edge. Our strategy to balance that pendulum relies on flexibility and on effective asset management. And so making sure that our cloud reflects those strategic realities gives us a good footing to achieve our corporate objectives.Megan: As you say, safety is a top priority. How do technologies like the Internet of Things and AI help enhance safety protocols specifically too, especially in the context of emissions tracking and leak detection?Luis: Yeah, thank you for the question. Safety is the most important thing that we think and talk about here at Chevron. There is nothing more important than ensuring that our people are safe and healthy, so I would break safety down into two. Before I jump to emissions tracking and leak detection, I just want to make a quick point on personal safety and how we leverage IoT and AI to that end.We use sensing capabilities that help us keep workers out of harms way, and so things like computer vision to identify and alert people who are coming into safety areas. We also use computer vision, for example, to identify PPE requirementspersonal protective equipment requirementsand so if there are areas that require a certain type of clothing, a certain type of identification, or a hard hat, we are using technologies that can help us make sure people have that before they go into a particular area.Were also using wearables. Wearables help us in one of the use cases is they help us track exhaustion and dehydration in locations where that creates inherent risk, and so locations that are very hot, whether its because of the weather or because they are enclosed, we can use wearables that tell us how fast the persons getting dehydrated, what are the levels of liquid or sodium that they need to make sure that theyre safe or if they need to take a break. We have those capabilities now.Going back to emissions tracking and leak detection, I think its actually the combination of IoT and AI that can transform how we prevent and react to those. In this case, we also deploy sensing capabilities. We use things like computer vision, like infrared capabilities, and we use others that deliver data to the AI models, which then alert and enable rapid response.The way I would explain how we use IoT and AI for safety, whether its personnel safety or emissions tracking and leak detection, is to think about sensors as the extension of human ability to sense. In some cases, you could argue its super abilities. And so if you think of sight normally you wouldve had supervisors or people out there that would be looking at the field and identifying issues. Well, now we can use computer vision with traditional RGB vision, we can use them with infrared, we can use multi-angle to identify patterns, and have AI tell us whats going on.If you keep thinking about the human senses, thats sight, but you can also use sound through ultrasonic sensors or microphone sensors. You can use touch through vibration recognition and heat recognition. And even more recently, this is something that we are testing more recently, you can use smell. There are companies that are starting to digitize smell. Pretty exciting, also a little bit crazy. But it is happening. And so these are all tools that any human would use to identify risk. Well, so now we can do it as an extension of our human abilities to do so. This way we can react much faster and better to the anomalies.A specific example with methane. We have a simple goal with methane, we want to keep methane in the pipe. Once its out, its really hard or almost impossible to take it back. Over the last six to seven years, we have reduced our methane intensity by over 60% and were leveraging technology to achieve that. We have deployed a methane detection program. We have trialed over 10 to 15 advanced methane detection technologies.A technology that I have been looking at recently is called Aquanta Vision. This is a company supported by an incubator program we have called Chevron Studio. We did this in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and what they do is they leverage optical gas imaging to detect methane effectively and to allow us to prevent it from escaping the pipe. So thats just an example of the technologies that were leveraging in this space.Megan: Wow, thats fascinating stuff. And on emissions as well, Chevron has made significant investments in new energy technologies like hydrogen, carbon capture, and renewables. How do these technologies fit into Chevrons broader goal of reducing its carbon footprint?Luis: This is obviously a fascinating space for us, one that is ever-changing. It is honestly not my area of expertise. But what I can say is we truly believe we can achieve high returns and lower carbon, and thats something that we communicate broadly. A few years ago, I believe it was 2021, we established our Chevron New Energies company and they actively explore lower carbon alternatives including hydrogen, renewables, and carbon capture offsets.My area, the digital area, and the convergence between digital technologies and the technical sciences will enable the techno-commercial viability of those business lines. Thinking about carbon capture, is something that weve done for a long time. We have decades of experience in carbon capture technologies across the world.One of our larger projects, the Gorgon Project in Australia, I think theyve captured something between 5 and 10 million tons of CO2 emissions in the past few years, and so we have good expertise in that space. But we also actively partner in carbon capture. We have joined hubs of carbon capture here in Houston, for example, where we investing in companies like theres a company called Carbon Clean, a company called Carbon Engineering, and one called Svante. Im familiar with these names because the corporate VC team is close to me. These companies provide technologies for direct air capture. They provide solutions for hard-to-abate industries. And so we want to keep an eye on these emerging capabilities and make use of them to continuously lower our carbon footprint.There are two areas here that I would like to talk about. Hydrogen first. This is another area that were familiar with. Our plan is to build on our existing assets and capabilities to deliver a large-scale hydrogen business. Since 2005, I think weve been doing retail hydrogen, and we also have several partnerships there. In renewables, we are creating a range of fuels for different transportation types. We use diesel, bio-based diesel, we use renewable natural gas, we use sustainable aviation fuel. Yeah, so these are all areas of importance to us. Theyre emerging business lines that are young in comparison to the rest of our company. Weve been a company for 140 years plus, and this started in 2021, so you can imagine how steep that learning curve is.I mentioned how we leverage our corporate venture capital team to learn and to keep an eye out on what are these emerging trends and technologies that we want to learn about. They leverage two things. They leverage a core fund, which is focused on areas that can seek innovation for our core business for the title. And we have a separate future energy fund that explores areas that are emerging. Not only do they invest in places like hydrogen, carbon capture, and renewables, but they also may invest in other areas like wind and geothermal and nuclear capability. So we constantly keep our eyes open for these emerging technologies.Megan: I see. And I wonder if you could share a bit more actually about Chevrons role in driving sustainable business innovation. Im thinking of initiatives like converting used cooking oil into biodiesel, for example. I wonder how those contribute to that overall goal of creating a circular economy.Luis: Yeah, this is fascinating and I was so happy to learn a little bit more about this year when I had the chance to visit our offices in Iowa. Ill get into that in a second. But happy to talk about this, again with the caveat that its not my area of expertise.Megan: Of course.Luis: In the case of biodiesel, we acquired a company called REG in 2022. They were one of the founders of the renewable fuels industry, and they honestly do incredible work to create energy through a process, I forget the name of the process to be honest. But at the most basic level what they do is they prepare feedstocks that come from different types of biomass, you mentioned cooking oils, theres also soybeans, theres animal fats. And through various chemical reactions, what they do is convert components of the feedstock into biodiesel and glycerin. After that process, what they do is they separate un-reactive methanol, which is recovered and recycled into the process, and the biodiesel goes through a final processing to make sure that it meets the standards necessary to be commercialized.What REG has done is it has boosted our knowledge as a broader organization on how to do this better. They continuously look for bio-feedstocks that can help us deliver new types of energy. I had mentioned bio-based diesel. One of the areas that were very focused on right now is sustainable aviation fuel. I find that fascinating. The reason why this is working and the reason why this is exciting is because they brought this great expertise and capability into Chevron. And in turn, as a larger organization, were able to leverage our manufacturing and distribution capabilities to continue to provide that value to our customers.I mentioned that I learned a little bit more about this this year. I was lucky earlier in the year I was able to visit our REG offices in Ames, Iowa. Thats where theyre located. And I will tell you that the passion and commitment that those people have for the work that they do was incredibly energizing. These are folks who have helped us believe, really, that our promise of lower carbon is attainable.Megan: Wow. Sounds like theres some fascinating work going on. Which brings me to my final question. Which is sort of looking ahead, what emerging technologies are you most excited about and how do you see them impacting both Chevrons core business and the energy sector as a whole as well?Luis: Yeah, thats a great question. I have no doubt that the energy business is changing and will continue to change only faster, both our core business as well as the future energy, or the way its going to look in the future. Honestly, in my line of work, I come across exciting technology every day. The obvious answers are AI and industrial AI. These are things that are already changing the way we live without a doubt. You can see it in peoples productivity. You can see it in how we optimize and transform workflows. AI is changing everything. I am actually very, very interested in IoT, in the Internet of Things, and robotics, the ability to protect humans in high-risk environments, like I mentioned, is critical to us, the opportunity to prevent high-risk events and predict when theyre likely to happen.This is pretty massive, both for our productivity objectives as well as for our lower carbon objectives. If we can predict when we are at risk of particular events, we could avoid them altogether. As I mentioned before, this ubiquitous ability to sense our surroundings is a capability that our industry and Im going to say humankind, is only beginning to explore.Theres another area that I didnt talk too much about, which I think is coming, and that is quantum computing. Quantum computing promises to change the way we think of compute power and it will unlock our ability to simulate chemistry, to simulate molecular dynamics in ways we have not been able to do before. Were working really hard in this space. When I say molecular dynamics, think of the way that we produce energy today. It is all about the molecule and understanding the interactions between hydrocarbon molecules and the environment. The ability to do that in multi-variable systems is something that quantum, we believe, can provide an edge on, and so were working really hard in this space.Yeah, there are so many, and having talked about all of them, AI, IoT, robotics, quantum, the most interesting thing to me is the convergence of all of them. If you think about the opportunity to leverage robotics, but also do it as the machines continue to control limited processes and understand what it is they need to do in a preventive and predictive way, this is such an incredible potential to transform our lives, to make an impact in the world for the better. We see that potential.My job is to keep an eye on those developments, to make sure that were managing these things responsibly and the things that we test and trial and the things that we deploy, that we maintain a strict sense of responsibility to make sure that we keep everyone safe, our employees, our customers, and also our stakeholders from a broader perspective.Megan: Absolutely. Such an important point to finish on. And unfortunately, that is all the time we have for today, but what a fascinating conversation. Thank you so much for joining us on the Business Lab, Luis.Luis: Great to talk to you.Megan: Thank you so much. That was Luis Nio, who is the digital manager of technology ventures and innovation at Chevron, who I spoke with today from Brighton, England.Thats it for this episode of Business Lab. Im Megan Tatum, Im your host and a contributing editor at Insights, the custom publishing division of MIT Technology Review. We were founded in 1899 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and you can find us in print on the web and at events each year around the world. For more information about us and the show, please check out our website at technologyreview.com.This show is available wherever you get your podcasts, and if you enjoyed this episode, we really hope youll take a moment to rate and review us. Business Lab is a production of MIT Technology Review, and this episode was produced by Giro Studios. Thank you so much for listening.
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  • macOS flaw that allowed attackers to bypass core system protections is now fixed
    appleinsider.com
    A macOS vulnerability exposed Apple devices to severe security risks by bypassing System Integrity Protection, but a security patch has killed the exploit.Update your Mac as soon as possibleOn January 13, 2025, Microsoft Threat Intelligence revealed a critical vulnerability in macOS CVE-2024-44243 that bypasses Apple's System Integrity Protection (SIP) by exploiting third-party kernel extensions. This issue, now patched, could have allowed attackers to compromise macOS security at its core.System Integrity Protection (SIP) is a macOS security feature designed to safeguard critical system files and processes. It restricts even users with administrative privileges from making changes that could compromise the operating system's stability and security. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
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  • Construction materials could store billions of tons of CO2, study finds
    archinect.com
    Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Stanford University have released a study highlighting the potential for construction materials to store billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Published on January 10 in the journal Science, the research suggests that integrating carbon storage into building materials could complement broader decarbonization efforts in the built environment.Led by Elisabeth Van Roijen, a graduate researcher at UC Davis, the study evaluated the feasibility of carbon sequestration in materials such as concrete, asphalt, plastics, wood, and brick. More than 30 billion tons of conventional versions of these materials are produced worldwide every year, the researchers note.Carbon sequestration involves capturing CO2 from production sites or the atmosphere, converting it into stable forms, and preventing its release into the atmosphere. While traditional methods such as underground storage face challenges, the study suggests construction materi...
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  • Path of Exile 2 Developers Have No Plans to Move Away From Death Penalties in Endgame Content
    gamingbolt.com
    Developer Grinding Gear Games has revealed its plans for the first major update that will be coming to Path of Exile 2. As part of the update, Path of Exile 2 will be getting a host of quality-of-life features, including changes to some of the more challenging aspects of endgame content, as well as more variety of maps that players can clear out.According to PCGamer, in an interview with Twitch streamers Darth Microtransaction and GhazzyTV after the announcement, director Jonathan Rogers spoke about its decisions with the planned update, including how it will make potentially lethal on-screen effects more visible to players in the chaos of endgame maps. Rogers did, however, reiterate that the studio still wants deaths in the game to be a notable setback.One of the topics of this discussion is the fact that players only get one chance to clear a map for every Waystone they use. Breaking from the original Path of Exile, which allowed players 6 attempts, a single death in a Path of Exile 2 maps means that players will have to start that map from scratch.We did discuss quite a lot about whether we wanted to go back on one portal or not, said Rogers, referring to the number of portals that open up whenever a player activates a map. I think it comes down to the fact that it would just not feel the same. The whole death actually mattering thing is actually important.It is worth noting that one of the big changes in the upcoming update is that one of the Pinnacle bosses in the game, The Arbiter of Ash, will allow players 6 attempts before failing from death. This is due to the fact that accessing Pinnacle boss fights tends to require quite a bit of work in preparation, taking tens of hours to get the keys necessary to unlock the fight to begin with. A single death essentially undoes all of that progress.We were talking about the pinnacle boss and the discussion came up should we allow portals everywhere, should we be allowing checkpoints everywhere and we ultimately decided we really dont want to go that way if possible, explained Rogers. So first of all we try out this pinnacle stuff, make sure its something where you have true economic value you have to preserve: It takes time to get there and that matters.Rogers also mentioned that some level of failure are integral to how Path of Exile 2 was designed, since players wont fail in the same way Im not really a fan, I much prefer the whole one death thing.He went on to talk about the XP penalty that players face for dying in endame content, stating that the studio sees the penalty as a way to teach players that they might not be ready to take on the challenges theyre dying to as of yet. But maybe thats the wrong way of looking at it, he said.Further in the interview, developer Mark Roberts also spoke about how the harsh penalties for death would be better appreciated if the games ratio of risk and reward were more appropriate. Rogers admitted that, in the current state of Path of Exile 2, that balance might be off.Right now there are too many penalty axes, so if youre dying all the time, youre not gonna get materials, and thus youre not going to go anywhere and also an ad insult to injury thing [XP penalty] where youre just not levelling, said Roberts.I think theyre just a bit too severe when all combined together, and I also think that the very start of maps is just too difficult, I think we should ease into that a little bit, bring that down a bit then ramp the difficulty up, he explained.Rogers also spoke about how the ability to retry maps with fewer penalties would also lead to issues to the in-game player-driven economy, since players would start intentionally dying in order to farm gear and materials that they could then sell to other players.It would be nice if you could just spin another map and still be able to do that content, he said. But unfortunately we cant do that because it would open up too many economic abuse things, where like you fail the map intentionally because you want to farm the items in the rest of the area. So its very difficult for us to come up with a solution because I really would prefer that, honestly, if you could re-do a map without having all the problems that being able to re-run a map would actually cause.Roberts caps off the interview by stating that, while the studio was aware that players would complain about a single-death ending their map run, the studio was prepare, and there havent yet been better solutions to the problem discovered.But yeah, its a bit tricky, it certainly is the case weve discussed it so many times before [PoE2] came out we knew people are definitely gonna complain about this and we know and we havent found a solution, said Roberts.Path of Exile 2 is currently available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game, currently available through Early Access that requires players to buy in, will eventually be free-to-play when it officially launches. In the mean time, Grinding Gear Games is all set to release this major update to the game later this week. Stay tuned for more details and complete patch notes.
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  • SSAC calls for papers for 50th Annual Conference
    www.canadianarchitect.com
    Photo credit: SSACThe Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada (SSAC) has issued a call for papers for its 50th annual conference.The conference, which will be held from May 27 to 30, 2025, will return to the place it began in 1974: Ottawa, and hosted by Carleton University and Library and Archives Canada.The national capital is particularly well suited to celebrate this milestone in the Societys history. Situated on the traditional, unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people, Ottawa lies at the crossroads of the two original colonies that formed the United Province of Canada (established 1841), and was designated as the capital in 1857, reads the SSACs website.Ottawa, the Outaouais and the surrounding region remain a vibrant, diverse and dynamic blend of peoples and places.The SSAC supports inclusive dialogue as well as encourages perspectives that illuminate the influence and experience of gender- and sexually diverse, BIPOC, and disabled communities. SSAC also welcomes and encourages co-submissions by established and emerging scholars.The deadline for paper abstracts is January 31, 2025. Presenters must be members of the SSAC on the day of the conference.To propose a paper, clickhere.The post SSAC calls for papers for 50th Annual Conference appeared first on Canadian Architect.
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  • Whats next for agentic AI? LangChain founder looks to ambient agents
    venturebeat.com
    LangChains founder Harrison Chase is looking to advance agentic AI with the concept of ambient agents, which might well be the next step on the path to generalized intelligence.Read More
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  • Microsoft to lay off unknown number of staff
    www.gamesindustry.biz
    Microsoft to lay off unknown number of staffEmployees across gaming, security, and sales divisions affected News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 15, 2025 Microsoft has announced another round of layoffs, affecting staff in its gaming, security, and sales divisions.As reported by Business Insider, a spokesperson for the firm said these cuts would affect a small number of employees but did not specify how many would be made redundant.They also specified that these layoffs were unrelated to the cuts announced last week that focused on underperforming workers."At Microsoft we focus on high-performance talent," the spokesperson said (via CNBC). "We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take appropriate action."Last year, Microsoft cut 1,900 employees from its game division, followed by another round in September 2024 affecting 650 workers.
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