YouTube Shorts adds Veo 2 AI video tool.

OpenAI has partnered with Broadcom to design its own AI chip in a bid for some independence from Nvidia, and it's nearly ready.

Reflecting on her astronomic career rise, one of the leaders I coached once noted, I have always done better when my direct line manager was basically absentalternatively, they were mostly a barrier to my career advancement.She is not alone.At most companies, there are at least some managers who depend on their direct reports so muchnot least because they are actually doing their workthat they end up holding them hostage from moving up.There are also plenty of examples where the same talented employees transition from enjoying star treatment and executive sponsorship to becoming the very target of their line managers, who feel threatened by and jealous of their success, which they are eager to block.This goes beyond the anecdotal, as many scientific studies provide consistent evidence to explain why bosses are often the exact opposite of a champion, mentor, or sponsor to their direct reports, even when their sabotaging and boycotting goes undetected.Reason 1: Your boss doesnt want to let go of a high-performing employeeAs I found in my book The Talent Delusion, any manager who measures team productivity or collective output reliably will find that a vital few individuals in their team account for a disproportionately high chunk of the output. Just like its essential that they keep such individuals engaged, which may include giving them the star treatment, it is important that they retain them. But, ironically, being part of the vital few also makes you a high potential for the next career level and promotion, which will probably handicap their existing teams, and reduce the accomplishments of their existing manager.Unsurprisingly, research shows that one of the main reasons bosses become blockers of their reports career progression is their unwillingness to sacrifice or compromise their own team (and in turn individual) performance for the good of the employee or the organization.Reason 2: Your boss is blocking your career advancement as a part of office politicsAt times, career blocking may just be the product of wider organizational politics. For instance, even if your boss doesnt mind losing you despite the fact that they see you as one of the key members of their team, you may be hit by friendly fire if your boss is in a turf war with your potential new manager: think of it as your current and potential future boss fighting over an asset (you), not because they necessarily care about that asset, but because they are locking horns in a battle for power, influence, resources, and status. Its a bit like if you are leaving your husband or wife for someone elseusually a painful event for thembut that someone happens to be their nemesis or archenemyan unbearable provocation.Reason 3: Your boss is waiting for retirement Other times, managerial blocking may be due neither to fears of losing a star performer or vicious organizational politics, but simply due to existing retirement cycles, coupled with an unwillingness to distinguish between tenure and performance, not to mention potential. In other words, most people get stuck because their boss is waiting to retire, even if they have more or less retired from their current duties and role, albeit informally. As Max Planck, describing this in the context of academia, noted that science progressed one funeral at the time.To be sure, many tenured and senior leaders (and employees) are among the top performers in an organization, so there are many arguments to keep them for a long time, even before they reach minimum retirement age. That said, they may still be blocking or delaying up-and-coming employees from gaining a well-deserved career progression, which may risk losing them to other organizations, including their competitors.Reason 4: Your boss isnt willing to fight for you Managers may not be deliberately blocking their employees career advancement, and yet passively contributing to their stagnation. As we know, identifying high-potential employees, which includes the selection of potential future leaders and executives in the most successful organizations in the world isnt a science, but a mix of science and intuition.The intuition part includes the politics of championing and sponsoring people, especially when they report to you. It may well be that your boss likes you, values you, and has no objection to your advancement; however, they may decide its not really necessary for them to fight the heated battle for having ones own team members promoted ahead of those of your peers.While other bosses may actively campaign for their employees to be promoted, your boss may think that your achievements should speak for themselves, and that in a normal and rational culture, leaders should be able to make evidence-based decisions on career progression, rather than base it on popularity vote or who has the loudest and most powerful champion or sponsor. Sadly, your boss may be rightlogically and ethicallybut you will nonetheless lose out to some peers who are endorsed by politically active and powerful bosses.Reason 5: Your boss is a narcissistA final reason may be sheer narcissism, particularly vulnerable or insecure narcissism, which is not uncommon among bosses. Interestingly, narcissism may propel bosses to hire people who are just like themselves, and also designate them as successors: look at this brilliantly talented employee I brought into my team, they are amazingoh and they look much like myself.However, when those very bosses feel a competitive threat from those employees, or that more attention is on them than on themselves, they may get defensive and decide to retaliate. Imagine, for example, a manager and a right-hand employee who in some ways resembleat least from a personality perspectiveDonald Trump and Elon Musk; regardless of what you make of their talents, you can see how such romances may be short-lived, and how the amazing highs may be followed by incredible lows.Perhaps it is useful to remember that leadershipthe art of influencing others so they can collaborate effectively and form a high-performing teamis not just about impacting the people who formally report to you, but also your peers and bosses.So, just like we would expect a good boss to avoid the traps discussed above, we would also expect talented and high potential employees to be astute and politically skilled enough to persuade their own bosses to let them go, especially when that is likely to contribute not just to their own personal career success, but also the success of the organization. Managing up, then, ought to include persuading your boss to not be a barrier.

Social media has a reputation for capturing ephemeral thoughts and images, but around the world, people are using Facebook for a different purpose, setting up groups to record and share images and memories of the past.Facebook history groups and pages have popped up in major cities like New York and Seattle and in small towns and suburbs across the U.S. Other groups focus on the histories of hobbies and interests from ham radio to cooking to punk rock, but geographical groups in particular often collect unique information that may not be found anywhere else on the internet. Members share personal photos, family stories, and ephemera tied to places in their hometowns from former schools to businesses that have changed hands.Therell be a corner store, and we have one name for it, and then people remember all of the owners over time, says John Marks, curator of collections and exhibits at Historic Geneva, a museum in Geneva, New York, that operates a Facebook page with frequent historic discussions.Historic Geneva frequently digitizes and posts photos from its collection of tens of thousands, and residents chime in with their own memories of bars, church groups, neighborhoods, and businesses, sometimes connecting with former neighbors in comment sections or following up with Historic Geneva to share details or artifacts with the museum.Say I post a picture of a factory that was here, and they say, you know, my mom worked there, and I have X, Y and Z from that factory,' Marks says. Ill reply to the post and say if you ever want to donate it, wed love to have you give me a call.Marks says he typically spends a few hours a month preparing and scheduling posts, researching what the museum knows about particular images to caption them as best as possible. Hell also try to record information Facebook users share about what he posts if it seems reliable, like the names of former owners of a business.And while some history pages are run by professional historians or museum workers like Marks, many others are run by amateurs who essentially volunteer their time to moderate posts, removing spam and other unwanted content like political arguments from groups that in some cases have hundreds of thousands of members.It never stops, says Mike McGinness, who founded a Florida history group that now has more than 300,000 members and 75,000 photos. Its a full-time job, just keeping the group civil, and keeping the group on track as to what our focus is.Photos posted in the group have helped old friends and even family members reconnect, he says, and well-captioned posts can be searched by users looking to find information about particular buildings or addresses. And about three years ago, McGinness and his co-admin Jeff Davies were contacted by publisher McIntyre Purcell, which led to a coffee table-style book of historic photos of Florida theyve since promoted at bookstores, houses of worship, universities, and festivals up and down the Sunshine State.Weve been, you know, promoting not even necessarily the book, but the Facebook group, and our brand of preserving Florida history, says Davies. Its always good to sell a book, but its also good to preserve history, so 20, 30, or 40 years from now, if someones driving down the street anywhere in Florida and they look at a building, they could see what was there before.Its really hard to get a hold of any support from FacebookMost Facebook history groups are probably run by inspired amateurs like McGinness and Davies, not professional historians, says Mark Tebeau, an associate professor at Arizona State Universitys School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and the coauthor of the Handbook of Digital Public History. And they help connect members with historical memories and materials in a way that local historical societies and museums might struggle to do, since they have limited budgets and space to archive and exhibit community materials at scale.The trouble is, Tebeau says, Facebook itself isnt designed to be a historical archive. Its not necessarily easy to browse or search material posted to Facebook groups, unless captions match search terms fairly precisely, and the lack of public APIs make it difficult for researchers to systematically access material stored on the site.These kinds of channels are not interested in these kinds of open internet practices that would be required for archivists like me to actually harvest and gather material from local communities, Tebeau says.Permissions and copyright issues can also make it difficult for professional historians to systematically archive or use material from Facebook, Tebeau says. Its also not at all clear that Meta intends Facebook to be a long-term historical repository or what will become in the long run of one-of-a-kind photos and recollections shared exclusively on the site.I think people mistakenly think Facebook is forever, and its not, he says.Meta didnt respond to inquiries from Fast Company. But its clear that moderators of history groups have challenges getting help from the company, as is common with services from Meta and other big tech companies.Its really hard to get a hold of any support from Facebook, McGinness says. Weve had quite a few glitches happen with our group, and weve tried to communicate with them, and its very difficult.He and Davies try to control whos admitted to the group, weeding out obviously suspicious users with new accounts and no ties to Florida, and using moderation tools to flag posts with vulgarity and removing offenders, but McGinness says spammers do sometimes manage to slip into the group through means unknown. Mike and I have spent hours and hours going through members, trying to remove the ones that have slipped in, he says.And at the same time, bogus Florida history groups have popped up, sometimes using photos taken without attribution from their group, which they post intermixed with spam, Davies says.Other history groups and pages have struggled with cybersecurity issues, sometimes losing control of their groups to hackers. A Seattle group was hijacked last year, and, according to news reports, the administrators struggled to get the attention of Facebook or law enforcement until someone offered to connect them with a Meta employee, who was able to help restore access. The group admins didnt respond to inquiries from Fast Company.A Facebook page belonging to the Illinois State Historical Society, which has been active on the site for about 15 or 20 years, was similarly hacked last year, says executive director William Furry. The page had promoted historical content, events, and anniversaries from around the state, including promoting news from other historical societies in the state with limited resources for advertising. The historical society also saw some of its own content go viral, with plenty of comments from readers, including posts about the Radium Girls poisoned on the job in the early 20th century as they painted glow-in-the-dark clocks with the radioactive element.But when the hackers took over, they shortened the page name, removing mention of Illinois, and started posting a flood of Star Wars trivia and memes.The good news is it wasnt worse than that, Furry says.The hijacked page is now operated as Star Wars Society, albeit with a link to the historical society website and Furrys email address still posted. And while the real historical society has since started a new page, it hasnt regained a full complement of followers. Theres some stigma to being hacked, with followers potentially concerned theyll be more vulnerable by association, Furry says. And the group never regained access to its old content, though Furry says he considered everything posted on the page to be ephemeral to begin with, serving a purpose of bringing historical information to those who see it.What I want to emphasize is that the problem for me is that there is no help from the Meta organization to stop this sort of thing, he says. Its all on the victim for trying to resolve the problem, and theres no effort on the part of Meta to go after the perpetrators.In general, even without security issues, Facebook history groups and pages tend, like other online forums, to rely on a degree of volunteer admin work that may not be obvious to casual visitors and posters.Its a labor of love, says Rebecca Heimbuck, who spends a couple of hours a day administering the group Billings, Montana As She Was & Is.Heimbuck says she started the group partly to share her collection of historic postcardsyou can sit and look at your own stuffwhats the fun in that? she saysand partly to help dispel a notion that Billings is less historically interesting than other Montana cities. She made an effort to add detailed captions about the images shed post, and shes seen a steady stream of other people join to share their own memories and snapshots of Billings, adding more than 22,000 members in about three years.So, as long as theres an interest and as long as people like it, I hope to keep it up as long as I can, she says.

If youve ever used your phones flashlight to navigate a dark parking lot or rummage through your bag at night, you know its passable. Not great. A weak beam, battery drain, and the awkward grip make it a temporary fix at best. Thats the problem with phones and other multipurpose products. The flashlight built into your phone, or your power bank, or even your Garmin watch, isnt really designed to be the best flashlight ever. Its made to be compact and to get the job done. Enter the Hunt Proa titanium-built, 5-in-1 flashlight that makes your phone light look like a candle in a windstorm.Built with multiple LEDs (including white, red, green, blue, and UV diodes), the Hunt Pro gets you through all adventures, whether its navigating your house in a blackout, examining counterfeit bills, covertly navigating the wilderness, or even beaming SOS signals in an emergency. The tiny less-than-thumb-sized flashlight has 5 types of LEDs, 11 lighting modes, a pry bar, and a magnetic back, all encased in a durable titanium outer shell that can survive a journey to hell and back.Designer: Septem StudioClick Here to Buy Now: $75 $125 ($40 off) Hurry! Discount for limited time only.Envisioned by the folks at Septem Studio, the Hunt Pro is compact, powerful, and ridiculously well-built. It pumps out crisp, clear illumination in five different LED colors, letting you choose exactly the kind of light you need for the task at hand. The white light is the obvious go-to for most situations, but its the red, green, blue, and UV options that elevate this into something truly versatile. Red preserves night visionideal for stargazing or reading maps in the dark. Green and blue help with tasks like tracking, fishing, or low-light work. UV reveals hidden details, whether youre checking currency, spotting scorpions on a camping trip, orif you darescanning your hotel sheets for mystery stains.The titanium body is more than just a design choiceits what makes the Hunt Pro both lightweight and practically indestructible. Grade 5 titanium is strong enough to handle drops, scratches, and the general wear and tear of daily use while keeping the flashlight ultra-light. It also adds a level of corrosion resistance that makes it perfect for outdoor adventures, whether youre hiking in humid conditions or dealing with unexpected rain. And yes, its IPX6 waterproof, so while you dont want to take it scuba diving, itll handle rainstorms and splashes without a problem.Despite being tough, its ridiculously compact. You can clip it to a keychain, slip it into your pocket, or attach it to your backpack without feeling weighed down. And because it comes with a built-in magnetic clip, you dont always have to hold it. Stick it to your car while fixing a tire at night, attach it to a hat for a makeshift headlamp, or slap it onto any metal surface for hands-free lighting. Its tiny size makes it perfect for working with, and the hands-free aspect makes it a tad better than your smartphone, which may or may not come with a kickstand or MagSafe abilities.The different integrated LEDs make the Hunt Pro superior to not just your phone but pretty much any other portable flashlight. The standard white flashlight comes with 4 modes and a maximum brightness of 200 lumens (thats 4x brighter than your phone flashlight) and a max distance of 66 meters, making it a worthy work-horse for most low-light tasks. However, hit the button on the Hunt Pro and you get access to its other LEDs, like the red light that works as a visibility light that you can use in the pitch-black darkness without affecting your vision (the Apple Watch Ultra has a red interface for the same reason). Both the white and red lights have their own dedicated SOS mode too.The green and blue lights operate on different wavelengths, making them useful for low-light tasks like fishing, tactical use, or preserving detail. The final trick up the Hunt Pros sleeve is its UV light (or black light), which can be used to read invisible ink, spot nocturnal creatures, examine currency, or even potentially scout a crime scene.As tiny as the Hunt Pro may be, it also does pack another hidden detail in the form of a tapered end that serves as a pry-bar. This is where that titanium construction comes handy, allowing the Hunt Pro to effortlessly pry open even the toughest paint-box lids without breaking a sweat. The flat tip works as a flathead screwdriver too, allowing you to quickly tighten or loosen screws on the fly. If youve ever used a knife blade for a job it wasnt meant to do, youll immediately appreciate having a dedicated pry bar thats always on hand.Powering everything is a rechargeable 120mAh battery with USB-C compatibility, meaning no weird proprietary cablesjust plug it in with the same charger you use for your other devices. A quick 45-minute charge keeps it ready for action, giving it a whopping 15 hours of use on a full battery at its lowest brightness setting, or an average of 60 minutes if used normally. And since its IPX6 waterproof, it can handle heavy splashes and downpours without a problem.But wait the Hunt Pro isnt just for the hardcore survivalist. Sure, its perfect for the outdoorscamping, night hikes, fishing tripsbut its also the kind of everyday carry that proves its worth in more mundane situations. Power outage at home? Light up the room. Need to find something in your car at night? Use the hands-free clip. Encounter a jammed latch or stuck zipper? The pry bars got you covered. Youd use the flashlight on your phone in a heartbeat, so why not upgrade to something thats just as small/portable, but 4x as bright and 10x as useful? Bet your iPhone doesnt have a built-in blacklight or the ability to pry open a paint can.The Hunt Pro measures a mere 57mm (2.2 inches) from top to bottom, but packs features that punch well above its weight-class. With 5 lights, 11 modes, a pry-bar, a magnetic clip, and an all-titanium construction, the Hunt Pro makes for a stellar add to your EDC collection and can easily be strung around your keychain and forgotten about until you need it. Thats honestly what good EDCs meant to be invisible when you dont need it, life-saving when you do.Starting at $75, the Hunt Pro comes in polished silver and stone-washed grey, with stretch goals unlocking vibrant options like Green Grid, Blue Nebula, Tan Camo, and Vivid Skull. Whether youre a gear junkie, an outdoor adventurer, or just someone who appreciates a well-designed tool, the Hunt Pro is up for grabs now, with shipping as early as June 2025.Click Here to Buy Now: $75 $125 ($40 off) Hurry! Discount for limited time only.The post This Tiny Indestructible Titanium Flashlight Packs a 200 Lumen LED, a UV Light, and even an SOS Mode first appeared on Yanko Design.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has frozen efforts to aid states in securing elections, according to an internal memo viewed by WIRED.

For whatever reason, Sony doesnt hold PlayStation Showcases with the sort of regularity many hope for, which means we hear demands of a new event only, oh I dont know, all the fricking time. But seriously, we reallyneed a new PlayStation Showcase now.But lets back up, because its not like there hasnt been any PlayStation event in a while. In fact, we had one just now. Sony held the years first State of Play recently, and it was underwhelming- from a certain perspective, at least. It was a forty-minute-plus presentation as advertised, and to be entirely fair, its not like it didnt feature anything noteworthy. In fact, on paper, just looking at a list of all the games that it featured, some might even consider it a solid show. We got new trailers for the likes of Borderlands 4,the long-awaitedLost Soul Aside,Split Fiction, MindsEye, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Lies of Ps expansion,Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Directive 8020,and more. On top of that, there were also some solid new announcements, with Returnaldeveloper Housemarquesthird-person roguelite shooterSarosbeing perhaps the most prominent one.To say that this most recent State of Play had nothing of note to show wouldnt entirely be accurate. Why, then, has it been deemed less-than-satisfactory by many (yours truly included)? Well, because it came at a time where PlayStation fans had already been hoping for something much more prominent and large-scale for much longer than ideal.To be fair, the company has never really positioned State of Play as that kind of an event. The distinction between a State of Play and a PlayStation Showcase has always been abundantly clear to all concerned, with the latter generally featuring way more of the shiny, headline-grabbing announcements and reveals youd ordinarily expect to see at, say, The Game Awards, or at an E3 showcase (back when E3 was still a thing, at least). Admittedly, 2023s PlayStation Showcase was pretty disappointing- which the next one hopefully will not be.Which brings us back to where we kicked this off- wedoneed a PlayStation Showcase now. Sonys first-party lineup has looked shockingly and uncharacteristically sparse for about a couple of years at this point (at least as far as the companys trademark premium AAA story-driven games are concerned), but slowly yet surely, that lineup is beginning to fill out again. Given the fact that PlayStation Showcases are generally where Sony likes to show off the bulk of its first-party titles, many have hoped for some time that another one of those events wont be too far away, given that updates on quite a few titles seem due at this point. Frustration with how the most recent State of Play event turned out seems much more understandable in that context. In fact, State of Plays do often feature major first-party titles (from Ghost of Yotei to Astro Bot to even the aforementioned Saros), so the fact that Sony seems to be holding first-party announcements and updates back seems particularly confusing.Death Stranding 2: On the Beach,for instance, is due out sometime this year, and many had hoped that wed get a new trailer for the game soon, maybe even with a release date announcement. Hideo Kojima himself had dropped a couple of teases in recent days that suggested that he was at work on a new trailer for the upcoming open world title, after which it seemed almost like a lock for the State of Play that just happened. Of course, we now know that a dedicatedDeath Stranding 2panel is going to happen on March 9, with Kojima in attendance to reveal new information- so hopefully thats where well get that new trailer and that release date announcement.Then theresGhost of Yotei, another game that Sony is officially set to release this year- which means marketing is going to pick up the pace in the months to come. Expectations of a new imminent trailer dont seem entirely unreasonable, then. Theres alsoMarvels Wolverine, which may not be due for 2025, but having been announced close to four years ago at this point, and having had no new trailers or updates in that time, a new look is long overdue- especially if the game is indeed targeting a 2026 release as leaks have claimed.And thats not all, in terms of officially announced first-party PlayStation games.Fairgame$has been radio silent since its announcement a couple of years ago, and that silence has grown deafening in the aftermath ofConcordsdisastrous implosion- all of which has raised countless questions about when (or if) Sony will show the game again.Marathonis in the works at Bungie, and it, too, hasnt had a single showing since its 2023 announcement. Guerrillas co-op Horizon game was officially confirmed to be in development a while back, and has seemingly been in the works for quite some time, to the point where its likely to be the next game that the studio releases- and yet, an announcement remains elusive. Theres also Intergalactic, of course- though that was onlyjustannounced in December, and doesnt even have a release window yet, which means we may not see it again for a while.Beyond that, leaks have spoken about (among other things) a new God of Wargame set in back Greece and starring a younger Kratos, a remastered collection of the olderGod of Wartitles, and in the past, about a Spider-Manspinoff starring Venom. The point is that theres no shortage of games that Sony can (and needs to) talk about- whether thats officially announced titles in need of new looks and updates, or games that it seems to be on the verge of announcing (assuming, of course, that those leaks are accurate). Common sense would suggest that Sony is saving up all of those announcements to have a big, splashy PlayStation Showcase, one where it will have a long list of major first-party announcements to make (in addition, hopefully, to a fair few third-party ones as well). Either that, or Sony continues to have nothing to say about all (or most) of those aforementioned games in the pipeline- which would be concerning, to say the least.Itisworth keeping in mind that PlayStation Showcases dont keep to a fixed schedule. They stuck to an annual cadence in 2020 and 2021, before skipping 2022, then returning in 2023, and then skipping 2024 again. Does that mean Sony will be back with another PlayStation Showcase this year? It could. Then again, given Sonys unpredictability in this department, two consecutive years where theres no PlayStation Showcase might also be on the cards.Our hope is that we get a new showcase in the coming months. Summer is when Sony usually holds these events, so were keeping our fingers crossed that May or June will bring a new PlayStation Showcase. Were also hoping that it will be an actual, proper showcase that justifies the two years that we will have waited for it (if it does happen), unlike what happened in 2023. If Sony does showcase a good number of its upcoming first-party titles (especially the non-live service ones), we likely wont have anything to worry about on that front. Until the company actually officially announces the event in question, however, were really just counting our chickens before theyve hatched, so heres hoping a PlayStation Showcase 2025 does indeed happen.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Most modern visualization authoring tools like Charticulator, Data Illustrator, and Lyra, and libraries like ggplot2, and VegaLite expect tidy data, where every variable to be visualized is a column and each observation is a row. When the input data is in a tidy format, authors simply need to bind data columns to visual channels, otherwise, they need to prepare the data, even if the original data is clean and contains all the information. Moreover, users must transform their data using specialized libraries like tidyverse or pandas, or separate tools like Wrangler before they can create visualizations. This requirement poses two major challenges the need for programming expertise or specialized tool knowledge, and the inefficient workflow of constantly switching between data transformation and visualization steps.Various approaches have emerged to simplify visualization creation, starting with the grammar of graphics concepts that established the foundation for mapping data to visual elements. High-level grammar-based tools like ggplot2, Vega-Lite, and Altair have gained popularity for their concise syntax and abstraction of complex implementation details. More advanced approaches include visualization by demonstration tools like Lyra 2 and VbD, which allow users to specify visualizations through direct manipulation. Natural language interfaces, such as NCNet and VisQA, have also been developed to make visualization creation more intuitive. However, these solutions either require tidy data input or introduce new complexities by focusing on low-level specifications similar to Falx.A team from Microsoft Research has proposed Data Formulator, an innovative visualization authoring tool built around a new paradigm called concept binding. It allows users to express their visualization intent by binding data concepts to visual channels, where data concepts can either come from existing columns or be created on demand. The tool supports two methods for creating new concepts: natural language prompts for data derivation and example-based input for data reshaping. When users select a chart type and map their desired concepts, Data Formulators AI backend infers the necessary data transformations and generates candidate visualizations. The system provides explanatory feedback for multiple candidates, enabling users to inspect, refine, and iterate on their visualizations through an intuitive interface.Data Formulators architecture is built around the core concept of treating data concepts as first-class objects that serve as abstractions of existing and potential future table columns. This design fundamentally differs from traditional approaches by focusing on concept-level transformations rather than table-level operators, making it more intuitive for users to communicate with the AI agent and verify results. The natural language component of the tool utilizes LLMs ability to understand high-level intent and natural concepts, while the programming-by-example component offers precise, unambiguous reshaping operations through demonstration. This hybrid architecture allows users to work with familiar shelf-configuration tools while accessing powerful transformation capabilities.Data Formulators evaluation through user testing revealed promising results in task completion and usability. Participants completed all assigned visualization tasks within an average time of 20 minutes, with Task 6 requiring the most time due to its complexity involving 7-day moving average calculations. The systems dual-interaction approach proved effective, though some participants needed occasional hints regarding concept type selection and data type management. For derived concepts, users averaged 1.62 prompt attempts with relatively concise descriptions (average of 7.28 words), and the system generated approximately 1.94 candidates per prompt. Most challenges encountered were minor and related to interface familiarization rather than fundamental usability issues.In conclusion, the team introduced Data Formulator which represents a significant advancement in visualization authoring by effectively addressing the persistent challenge of data transformation through its concept-driven approach. The tools innovative combination of AI assistance and user interaction enables authors to create complex visualizations without directly handling data transformations. User studies have validated the tools effectiveness, showing that even users facing complex data transformation requirements can successfully create their desired visualizations. Looking forward, this concept-driven visualization approach shows promise for influencing the next generation of visual data exploration and authoring tools, potentially eliminating the long-standing barrier of data transformation in visualization creation.Check outthePaper and GitHub Page.All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,feel free to follow us onTwitterand dont forget to join our75k+ ML SubReddit. Sajjad AnsariSajjad Ansari is a final year undergraduate from IIT Kharagpur. As a Tech enthusiast, he delves into the practical applications of AI with a focus on understanding the impact of AI technologies and their real-world implications. He aims to articulate complex AI concepts in a clear and accessible manner.Sajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/ByteDance Introduces UltraMem: A Novel AI Architecture for High-Performance, Resource-Efficient Language ModelsSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Adaptive Inference Budget Management in Large Language Models through Constrained Policy OptimizationSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Microsoft AI Researchers Release LLaVA-Rad: A Lightweight Open-Source Foundation Model for Advanced Clinical Radiology Report GenerationSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/ACECODER: Enhancing Code Generation Models Through Automated Test Case Synthesis and Reinforcement Learning [Recommended] Join Our Telegram Channel

Though Marvel Rivals is still a relatively new game, players are already dreaming of big additions. Recently, rumors have spread of a potential PvE boss fight, leading some to speculate that a PvE mode is right around the corner. Unfortunately, NetEase recently clarified that it doesn't have plans for such a mode...yet.We spoke to Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas this week, and asked him about any plans for a PvE mode. This was his response:"For now we don't have any kind of a PvE plan, but our development team is continuously experimenting with new game play modes. So if we found that a new specific game mode is entertaining enough, fun enough, we would of course bring it to our audience."PlayAfter he said this, Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo hopped in to ask if I wanted a PvE mode in Marvel Rivals, and I told him I did. Wu continued:"Yeah, we believe there are some of our audience that would like the PvE mode. But also, you can see that if we come up with a hardcore PvE experience, that will be totally a different distinctive experience from what we have right now. So our development team has been continuously experimenting with different approaches to achieve that goal, maybe a lighter mode, in a lighter sense of that, and to see what would work best for our game."So for now, it sounds like there are no concrete plans for PvE, but Wu does seem to be suggesting that NetEase is playing around with ideas for a "lighter" game mode of some kind, perhaps like a one-off event or something similar. For now, NetEase isn't saying much more.Marvel Rivals is still being updated every month and a half with new characters, with the Human Torch and The Thing set to be the latest heroes joining the game on February 21. We also spoke to Wu and Koo about the possibility of a Nintendo Switch 2 release for Marvel Rivals, which you can read about here, and we also confronted them about whether or not they were trolling dataminers with fake hero "leaks" in the code.Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Marvel Rivals dataminers think the developers are trolling them with lists of potential future characters hidden in the game's code. But NetEase and Marvel say they have better things to do...like actually make the game.Last month, dataminers began sharing names of potential future heroes hidden in the code of Marvel Rivals, a few of whom seemed to be confirmed pretty quickly as real when the Fantastic Four were officially announced. However, as the list of datamined heroes grew, a different rumor began to circulate in the community: some of the names were fake, planted there by developers to mislead dataminers. Even now, there's disagreement in the community as to which, if any of the datamined characters are really being seriously considered for the game. We recently had the opportunity to directly ask Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo if they're secretly performing an elaborate troll. And while it sounds like there are no pranks being pulled here, we should still take all the names being found in the code with a grain of salt. Here's what Wu had to say:"So firstly we want to say that we don't recommend anybody to make adjustments to the files [of the game]," he began. "Also, you can see that for each character's design actually we come through a very complicated process and we make a lot of concepts, trials, prototypes, development, et cetera. So there could be some information left in the code, and it might mean that we have tried those directions and they may appear or may not appear in our future plans. And whether or not they will appear in our future pipeline is highly depending on what kind of gameplay experience our players would expect in our game."Koo added, "If I could have a ten-year plan, it'd be great. But the team experimented with a lot of play styles, heroes. It was like there's someone doing scratch paperwork and then just left a notebook there, and someone [a dataminer] decided to open it with no context."I pushed a little, asking them point-blank if they were deliberately trolling people. Koo replied, "No. We would rather spend our time developing the actual game."PlayIn the same conversation, we also discussed how a character gets chosen to be added into Marvel Rivals in the first place. The two told me that the team plans updates roughly a year in advance, and is committed to keeping its current pace of adding new characters every month and a half. For each update, NetEase first looks at what type of character and skillset is needed to balance out the rest of the game and add variety to the roster, and come up with a list of several different possible additions. Wu told me that part of NetEase's strategy for achieving game balance is to focus less on aggressively tweaking existing characters to be perfectly fine-tuned, and more on adding new characters and experiences to keep things fresh, fill gaps, support characters that are a bit weak with new team abilities, or counter characters that might be a little too strong.Once they have a list of possibilities, NetEase then takes these suggestions to Marvel Games, and begin working on initial designs. From there, they look at what the community is currently excited about, as well as what's planned a year in advance in other Marvel divisions, such as if a big film or comic arc is coming that they can tie a character in with. That helps them come to a final decision on who's going in. All this explains why there might be a lot of different heroes listed in the code - NetEase just has a lot of ideas it's tossing around all the time.Marvel Rivals was great at launch, and each new character only seems to make it more powerful, with the Human Torch and The Thing set to be the latest heroes joining the game on February 21. We also spoke to Wu and Koo about the possibility of a Nintendo Switch 2 release for Marvel Rivals, which you can read about here.Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.