The recent Brian Epstein biopic Midas Man, a film about the manager of The Beatles, debuted not on a platform like Netflix or Amazon, but on a startup that bills itself as Shopify for filmmakers. So what, you might ask? The answer is that the new platform, Olyn, claims to offer a new model for film and video distribution that leans on the power of social referrals to spread la carte streaming content. Although any size of production from Hollywood blockbuster downwards can use the platform, the company claims it could be a game changer for the independent film industry, which tends to struggle against the marketing budgets of the bigger movies distributed on mainstream streaming platforms. California-based Olyn founded by Ana Maria Jipa, Jeremias Buireo, Kiran Thomas, and Malcolm Wood allows filmmakers to retain up to 90% of their revenue while giving audiences access to a streaming experience. Instead of films being sold to platforms like Netflix, the model hinges on the marketing budget of the filmmakers themselves, combined with influencers, film critics, and content creators acting as distribution partners by embedding purchase links within their content, blogs, and social channels.This peer-to-peer approach does away with the platform as a middleman and turns movie distribution into more of an e-commerce-style engagement.Jipa, Olyns CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch that the company provides filmmakers with the equivalent of a full-blown streaming platform. We provide all the tech that implies: from DRM, 4K streaming, casting, a full landing page that presents the film in the same way that it might appear on Netflix or Apple TV, plus all the other tools such as geo-targeting, analytics, and audience data. They promote their movie with PR, journalists, bloggers, film critics, etc, she said, adding that a recommendation from someone you trust carries far more weight than a suggestion by an algorithm on a streaming platform.Olyn also gives filmmakers analytics on viewership, such as which country the movie is doing well in, as well as minutes watched, and a database of users that have watched the movies. Filmmakers can spend years making a film but dont ever get to meet or own their audience at all. So we see this as a very powerful tool. It becomes an audience that you can directly address for your next movies and then grow from there, said Jipa.The question is, can Olyn compete with the convenience and scale of major streamers? While its model offers much higher revenue shares for filmmakers, it also means all the weight is placed on the shoulders of production teams to drive marketing and partnerships.Perry Trevers, a producer at Studio POW, which used Olyn to distribute Midas Man, sees the platform as a helpful step in the right direction. Olyn has enabled us to think beyond traditional platforms, letting us become our own streaming service [] Its about empowering filmmakers to market and distribute films in a way that mirrors the direct-to-consumer success of e-commerce [] Its a chance to retain control over our work and redefine how movies reach their viewers, he said in a statement.One of the most pressing issues in the film industry is piracy. Many users turn to illegal sources simply because a movie is unavailable in their country. Jipa argues that Olyns global reach can help combat this issue, because if someone can pay for a movie and watch it instantly, theyre much more likely to do so.Olyns foray into film streaming came about partly when entrepreneur and filmmaker Wood joined as a co-founder of the platform, which initially launched as a way to catalog physical assets. Wood launched his own film, The Last Glaciers, on the platform.The Olyn team.Independent filmmakers have already taken the financial risk to produce their movies themselves. Studio POW is self-financed. They created the Midas Man movie. They have the freedom to be able to sell those rights to whoever they want. They did a deal in the U.K. market with Amazon, but they felt that it was more profitable to go direct to their audience in the U.S. market using Olyn as a tool, he said.Wood feels Olyn can be best thought of as Shopify for filmmakers with a referral link. He noted the average film on Amazon in the U.K. gets only around 2,000 views per year. So theres a bunch of films that are getting millions of views, but the majority of films fall below the 2,000 view mark, he added.Major streaming services typically offer a lump-sum licensing deal, meaning filmmakers receive a one-time payment regardless of how many times their film is watched. Olyn flips this model on its head by allowing filmmakers to monetize directly based on viewership.With Olyn, a filmmaker can still sell their rights to the U.S. market and use that to pre-fund the film, but then also capitalize on going direct-to-consumer in, say, Asia, said Wood.But could the platform be used by the adult film industry to distribute pornography?Jipa acknowledged the challenge: Right now, this is not the tone we want to set, and it would be easy to attract that category, she said. At the beginning, we are setting the tone by ensuring that the films featured on Olyn are high quality.But in the long term, we aim to create a space where filmmakers, not the platform, decide what gets distributed, she added. We dont want to act as gatekeepers. Our vision is to allow filmmakers to have full control over what they distribute, eventually moving to a full SaaS model.Olyn has so far raised only a small amount of funding a total of $2.8 million in a combination of $1.8 million from U.S. VC firm Hard Yaka and a number of angel investors.

UK-based robotics engineering startup Generative Machine is developing an open-source 5-axis fused filament fabrication (FFF) system by using Autodesks Fusion 360 software.By moving beyond the limitations of conventional 3-axis FFF 3D printers, which struggle with overhangs and complex geometries, the new system offers greater flexibility in part orientation with a tilting build platform. A multi-axis approach reduces material waste, improves surface quality, and enables the production of intricate designs that would typically require industrial equipment.According to Ric Real, PhD, Co-Founder of Generative Machine, when generative design is combined with parametric design methods, machine dimensions and performance characteristics can be dynamically adjusted, allowing new configurations to be generated instantly.Imagine just defining the required build volume, updating the parametric base configuration, and automatically regenerating an optimized machine to these new dimensions Its not difficult to see the concept of self-designing products and machines begin to emerge, and we can do it all in Fusion, he explained.Generative Machines 5-axis FFF 3D printers beta version. Photo via Autodesk.Leveraging generative design and multi-axis motion control According to Autodesk, Fusion 360s Generative Design feature played a key role in the machines structural development. The tool applies artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing to generate multiple design alternatives based on input parameters such as material properties, manufacturing constraints, and performance requirements.By exploring a range of possible configurations, the software refines each design for efficiency and durability. Optimizing the machines mechanical structure through this process enhances its strength-to-weight ratio while reducing unnecessary material usage.Moreover, Fusion 360 also facilitated the overall design and development of the beta version. The entire printer was modeled within the software, streamlining the iteration process.In addition to the machine itself, the UK-based startup used Autodesk Fusion to prototype metal components manufactured separately through an unspecified 3D printing method. Post-processing with CNC machining ensured these components met strict tolerances and maintained precise alignment between the printers moving axes, a critical factor in multi-axis systems where minor misalignments can significantly impact print accuracy.For motion control, the engineering startup is utilizing Duet3Ds ecosystem for motion control, enabling high-precision part production with closed-loop integration. Duet3Ds control boards, combined with RepRap firmware, provide flexibility in machine configuration, making it one of the few setups suitable for a 5-axis FFF printer.Integrating a single-board computer with the control board allows for the development of additional plugins, further expanding the platforms capabilities, highlighted Andrew Everitt, Co-Founder of Generative Machine.Fusion 360s sheet metal tools were used to design the electronics enclosure, ensuring a precise and functional housing for internal components. Custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) were also explored using Fusion Electronics, allowing Generative Machine to optimize the systems electrical architecture for a 5-axis platform.Expanding access to this technology, Generative Machine aims to make advanced 3D printing techniques more widely available to desktop users.Metal 3D printed parts post-processed using CNC machining. Image via Autodesk.Developments in 5-axis 3D printers Generative Machines 5-axis 3D printer joins the lineup of existing systems in the market. Last year, Austrian AM startup VENOX launched the V-REX, a 5-axis composite 3D printer designed for industrial and R&D applications. Having been developed since 2022 with support from Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) through the PreSeed DeepTech grant, the printer features a continuous fiber print head for aligning materials like carbon fibers along their natural direction, enhancing part strength.Its automatic tool changer supports up to six different print heads, enabling multi-material printing. With a print volume of 600 x 400 x 400 mm and extrusion temperatures reaching 500C, the V-REX accommodates a wide range of thermoplastics and composite materials. VENOX specializes in high-strength, multi-material 3D printing, integrating sensors, conductors, and hybrid manufacturing techniques in a single build.In 2020, Polish 3D printer manufacturer VERASHAPEs VSHAPER division introduced the VSHAPER 5AX, a 5-axis FDM 3D printer with machining capabilities aimed at engineering applications. Developed to overcome the limitations of conventional layer-by-layer printing, the system features a spinning and tilting build platform that enables multi-directional filament deposition, reinforcing part strength across multiple axes and reducing the need for support structures.The 5AX supports up to six interchangeable tool heads, including options for multi-material printing, milling, drilling, and burnishing. Originally announced in 2017, the system was developed with support from the Polish National Research and Development Center and underwent an open innovation program in 2018 to refine its design based on industry feedback.What3D printing trendsshould you watch out for in 2025?How is thefuture of 3D printingshaping up?To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, dont forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Twitter, or like our page on Facebook.While youre here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays.Featured image shows Generative Machines 5-axis FFF 3D printers beta version. Photo via Autodesk.

Saudi Arabia is spending big on IT, and on artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, in an effort to diversify from its historic, massive dependency on oil production and revenues.One huge advantage it has is that it has the cash, with $15bn of planned investment in AI announced at Leap 2025 near Riyadh last week.The event was wall-to-wall with speakers who wove a vision of Saudi Arabia as an IT-driven superpower, a regional datacentre hub and hive of digital innovation and transformation, all encapsulated in the kingdoms Vision 2030 plans.Speaker after speaker conjured persuasive impressions of Saudi Arabias actual and potential potency in IT terms, but to get there it will require a critical mass of tech company presence. That will also mean attracting talent and nurturing its own through education. It also requires infrastructure, physical and digital.Those are all recognised, as is the desire to transition from being an economy dominated by the state sector. So, how far is the kingdom along that road, and can it overcome the challenges it faces?As is often the case at events like this, it feels like theres a huge disparity between the visions of enthusiastic speakers and life beyond the doors of the event halls. And as a long-time visitor to and observer of the region with enough Arabic to get around independently it appears there are some key challenges in the path of Saudi Arabias ambitious plans to be a developed digital economy.In one sense, thats to be expected as the country is nearer the start of its journey rather than the end. But I was left wondering, was the show itself a microcosm that highlighted some of the obstacles?Take getting to the conference. The local taxi app, Careem, advertised 100% off for Leap attendees. It didnt work. When I arrived at the event via my first ride, I couldnt pay via the app, except by charging a wallet in UAE currency, which didnt seem practical or wise given that wasnt the country I was in. And so I couldnt get the discount because I had to pay using cash dollars (always a useful fallback).Meanwhile, the show lacked a taxi lane to take attendees to the right part of the site. Instead, I was dumped in a vast car park a long way from the main exhibition area, which covered a site of several km2. Uber drivers seemed to be persona non grata on-site, as one I went with quickly switched the placard in his window to Careem as he approached the venue.It was also impossible to hail an Uber to the site as the designated pickup spot seemed locked down by drivers set on chiselling the highest possible fare out of attendees. Drivers were understandably desperate to recoup the outlay inherent in having driven 60km from Riyadh and hanging around all day. On one such occasion, I had to threaten to call the police when a taxi driver suddenly announced a doubling of fare after a near two-hour journey from the event to Riyadh. A photo of his meter taken at 7:30pm showed it had been running from 10:30 that morning.Catching taxis often involved drama. I even had the interesting experience of hailing an Uber, the app telling me it had arrived and was then on its way to my destination without me in it. I wouldnt have taken so many taxis, but in Riyadh, if there was a main road in the way think eight lanes of high volume, high speed traffic it was the only way to get across.Read more about Saudi ArabiaSaudi puts $15bn into AI as experts debate next steps. The kingdoms Leap 2025 tech show is the backdrop for huge investment, plus debate over the future of artificial intelligence as a productivity tool but which can also potentially undermine human society.AI at Leap 2025: Huge potential but a threat to the fabric of society? Thought leaders in artificial intelligence gathered at Saudi Arabias Leap 2025 tech show to set out the next steps for enterprise AI and agentic AI, but also AIs potential danger to human society.Inside the event, speakers were scattered across numerous stages over a vast area. The show apps map was tiny, physical maps were non-existent and signage was only useful if you were already near where you wanted to go.There were many hundreds of staff. Their tabards said crowd control and they seemed mostly there to make sure the huge numbers of attendees walked on the right side of the walkways between stands or had badges scanned.Asking directions was overwhelmingly fruitless as crowd control staff rarely knew where anything was. I was reminded of the issue of underemployment, a phenomenon present historically among Arab armies and civil bureaucracies, where huge numbers of people do only basic work or none at all, and lack training and the initiative that can result from it.Meanwhile, if consulting the app map was needed, the Wi-Fi failed at just the wrong time. I missed numerous sessions because navigating the event was so difficult.Well leave aside the queues for male toilets that stretched 25 people long into the main halls.Whats all this got to do with achieving digital transformation goals? Well, as a UK-based journalist, I probably fit the description of skilled foreign worker, perhaps not of a dissimilar level to the kind of tech staff Saudi-based employers may want to attract.Talent retention involves making sure those peoples lives can run smoothly.Sure, you can overcome the daily hassles of life in Saudi by throwing money at them, providing drivers and fixers, and so on, but thats not removing an obstacle, its working around it.Meanwhile, many of the mundane issues of daily life I got a taste of are the result of the stratification and inequality in Saudi society, which has documented challenges in the number and condition of foreign workers as well as overcoming historic deficits in its education system.Again, sure, there are plenty of well-educated Saudis that speak flawless English, but that route is not one open to all members of society, and thats a restriction on the talent pool that developed countries dont face, or face to a far lesser extent.Thats compounded by the domination of the public sector, in which influence and family mean progression is likely often a case of who you know or are related to.Having said all of that, all the Saudis I met were warm, generous and hospitable to a level thats totally disarming to a northern European. And like people everywhere, if given the right chance, Im sure they will rise to the challenges in front of them. The question is, how painlessly can Saudi state and society navigate the change required for that to happen?

Organisations should build their own generative artificial intelligence-based (GenAI-based) on retrieval augmented generation (RAG) with open sources products such as DeepSeek and Llama.This is according to Alaa Moussawi, chief data scientist at New York City Council, who recently spoke at the Leap 2025 tech event in Saudi Arabia.The event, held near the Saudi capital Riyadh, majored on AI and came as the desert kingdom announced $15bn of planned investment in AI.But, says Moussawi, theres nothing to stop any organisation testing and deploying AI with very little outlay at all, as he described the councils first such project way back in 2018.New York City Council is the legislative branch of the New York City government thats mainly responsible for passing laws and budget in the city. The council has 51 elected officials plus attorneys and policy analysts.What Moussawis team set out to do was make the legislative process more fact-based and evidence-driven and make the everyday work of attorneys, policy analysts and elected officials smoother.To that end, Moussawis team built its first AI-like app a duplicate checker for legislation for production use at the council in 2018.Whenever a council member has an idea for legislation, its put into the database and timestamped so it can be checked for originality and credited to the elected official who made that law come to fruition.There are tens of thousands of ideas in the system and a key step in the legislative process is to check whether an idea has been proposed before.If it was, then the idea must be credited to that official, says Moussawi. It is a very contentious thing. Weve had errors happen in the past where a bill got to the point of being voted on and finally another council member recalled they had proposed the idea, but the person who had done the duplicate check manually had somehow missed it.By todays standards, its a rudimentary model, says Moussawi. It uses Googles Word2Vec, which was released in 2013 and captures information about the meaning of words based on those around it.Its somewhat slow, says Moussawi. But the important thing is that while it might take a bit of time five or 10 seconds to return similarity rankings its much faster than a human and it makes their jobs much easier.The key technology behind the duplicate checker is vector embedding, which is effectively a list of numbers the vectors that represent the position of a word in a high-dimensional vector space.That could often consist of over a thousand dimensions, says Moussawi. A vector embedding is really just a list of numbers.Moussawi demonstrated the idea by simplifying things down to two vectors. In a game of cards, for example, you can take the vector for royalty and the vector for woman and they should give you the vector for queen if you add them together.Strong vector embeddings can derive these relationships from the data, says Moussawi. Similarly, if you added the vectors for royalty and men, you can expect to get the vector for king.Thats essentially the technology in the councils duplicate checker. It trains itself by using the full set of texts to generate its vector embeddings.Then it sums over all the word embeddings to create an idea vector, he says. We can measure the distance between this idea for a law and another idea for a law. You could measure it with your ruler if you were working with two-dimensional space, or you apply the Pythagorean theorem extended to a higher dimensional space, which is fairly straightforward. And thats all there is to it the measure of distance between two ideas.Moussawi is a strong advocate that organisations should get their hands dirty with generative AI (GenAI). Hes a software engineering PhD and a close student of developments through the various iterations of neural networks but is keen to stress their limitations.AI text models, including the state-of-the-art models we use today, are about simply predicting the next best word in a sequence of words and repeating the process, he says. So, for example, if you ask a large language model [LLM], Why did the chicken cross the road?, its going to pump it into the model and predict the next word, the, and the next one, chicken and so on.Thats really all its doing, and this should somewhat make you understand why LLMs are actually not intelligent or dont have true thought the way we do.By contrast, Im explaining a concept to you and Im trying to relay that idea and Im finding the words to express that idea. A large language model has no idea what word is going to come next in the sequence. Its not thinking about a concept.According to Moussawi, the big breakthrough in the scientific community that came in 2020 was that compute, datasets and parameters could scale and scale and you could keep throwing more compute power at them and get better performance.He stresses that organisations should bear in mind that the science behind the algorithms isnt secret knowledge: We have all these open source models like Deepseek and Llama. But the important takeaway is that the fundamental architecture of the technology did not really change very much, We just made it more efficient. These LLMs didnt learn to magically think. All of a sudden, we just made it more efficient.Coming up to date, Moussawi says New York City Council has banned the use of third-party LLMs in the workplace because of security concerns.This means the organisation has opted for open source models that avoid the security concerns that come with cloud-based subscriptions or third-party APIs.With the release of the first Llama models, we started tinkering on our local cluster, and you should too. There are C++ implementations that can be run on your laptop. You can do some surprisingly good inference, and its great for developing a proof-of-concept, which is what we did at the council.The first thing to do is to index documents into some vector database. This is all work you just do once on the back end to set up your system, so thats ready to be queried based on the vector database that youve built.Next, you need to set up a pipeline to retrieve the documents relevant to a given query. The idea is that you ask it a prompt and youd run that vector against your vector database legal memos youve stored in your vector database or plain language summaries or other legal documents that youve copied from wherever, depending on your domain.This process is known as retrieval augmented generation or RAG and its a great way to provide your model with scope regarding what its output should be limited to. This significantly reduces hallucinations and, since its pulling the documents that its responding with from the vector database, it can cite sources.These, says Moussawi, provide guardrails for your model and give the end user a way to ensure the output is legitimate because sources are being cited.And thats exactly what Moussawis team did, and his message while he awaits delivery of the council data science teams first GPUs is: What are you waiting for?Read more about AI and Saudi ArabiaStorage technology explained: Vector databases at the core of AI: We look at the use of vector data in AI and how vector databases work, plus vector embedding, the challenges for storage of vector data and the key suppliers of vector database products.Saudi Arabia calls for humanitarian AI after tightening screws on rights protesters: Oppressive state wants global digital identity system at the heart of all AI, to make it trustworthy and prevent it being used for unauthorised surveillance.

This artistic impression depicts our Solar System neighbour Venus, where scientists have confirmed ... [+] the detection of phosphine molecules.ESO/M. Kornmesser & NASA/JPL/CalEach Monday, I pick out North Americas celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also applies to northern hemisphere mid-northern latitudes). Check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.The Night Sky This Week: Feb. 17-23, 2025From post-sunset views of a brilliant Venus to the moon rising alongside the rival of Mars, heres everything you need to know about stargazing and astronomy this week:Monday, Feb. 17: Venus At Its BrightestVenus will be the brightest it gets above the western horizon after sunset. Venus has been shrinking to a crescent as it gets closer to Earth, and today, just 23% of it is lit. Despite thatand because of both its closeness and its reflective cloud coverit will today shine at a brilliant magnitude of -4.6.Thursday, Feb. 20: Last Quarter MoonToday, we will see a Last-Quarter (or Third-Quarter) Moon, which will appear half-illuminated and rise around midnight. The moons rising and setting times shift later by about 50 minutes each night, which means this weekend will feature moonless nights. We're about to enter a fine period for stargazing.Thursday, Feb. 21: Waning Gibbous Moon, Antares And Paikauhale StellariumThursday, Feb. 21: Waning Gibbous Moon, Antares And PaikauhaleLook to the southeast horizon from about 3:00 a.m. local time through dawn to see a waning gibbous moon appearing to be about half a degree from Antares, the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. Antares will be above the moon. If you have a keen eye, look for the hypergiant star Paikauhale below the moon. Both stars are in Scorpius.Antares is one of the largest stars astronomers know of. gettyMORE FOR YOUStar Of The Week: AntaresAntares is a red supergiant star 12 times the sun's mass, one of the biggest stars we know of. Distinctly orangey-red to the observer (primarily through binoculars) and known as the rival of Mars because of its ruddy color and because Mars passes it closely every 26 months. If you put it in the solar system, it would reach almost as far as where Jupiter orbits.The times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information, consult online planetariums like Stellarium.Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

The ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp Combo includes a laptop stand, full size foldable keyboard and a wireless ... [+] mouse.ProtoArcTwo innovations have freed many of us from the tyranny of the office and our desks. The laptop and the internet mean that we can now work from almost anywhere in the world and need no longer be tied to a desk. Whether we choose to work from our local branch of Starbucks or a sunny beach caf, the way we work has changed radically.Some of the drawbacks of using a laptop on the move is the cramped keyboard, small screen and lack of a mouse. Not everyone finds a trackpad conducive to productive working. However, for those of us who still prefer a full-sized keyboard and mouse, there are options. For example. I recently reported on Logitechs Casa portable office. Today Im looking at an alternative to Casa in the form of the latest ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp Combo.Housed in a handy zippered carry case, the ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp is a portable office consisting of a tri-fold Bluetooth keyboard, a mouse and a fold-out stand that can accommodate most types of laptops or tablets. Its the kind of setup that might appeal to digital nomads who often find themselves working in the most unusual locations.The The ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp Combo is housed in a zippered case that holds the keyboard, mouse and ... [+] laptop stand.ProtoArcThis update to the ProtoArc product lineup includes the original foldable and full-size Bluetooth keyboard with a numeric keypad. There is an ultra-thin wireless mouse and a redesigned laptop stand. Everything can be packed away into the compact travel case, enabling the user to set up a workable office almost anywhere with some table space.MORE FOR YOUThe keyboard folds out into three sections and has 105 keys including a numpad, but no backlight on the keys. There is a separate row of function and multimedia keys that can work with both Windows and macOS computers. The keyboard also plays nicely with iOS and Android devices. A battery inside the thin keyboard can be recharged via a USB-C port at the rear.There are three Bluetooth buttons on the keyboard for pairing with up to three separate devices which can then be switched between with a keypress. In addition, the keyboard can also connect to a host device using the 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle stowed away in the body of the mouse.The low-profile wireless optical mouse in the kit is powered by a long-lasting rechargeable battery and there is also a USB-A Bluetooth dongle. The mouse can pair with up to three devices and will easily switch between them with a press of a button on the underside of the mouse. As well as the usual three buttons, the ProtoArc mouse also has a scroll wheel with fine increments of more scrolling accuracy.With the addition of a second monitor, the The ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp Combo can provide an extensive ... [+] portable office setup.ProtoArcThe laptop stand in the kit is a scissor design made from aluminum alloy and painted black. The stand opens to produce a sturdy platform for any laptop between around 13 and 17 inches. Adjustments can incline that stand at an angle ranging from 10 to 40 degrees to achieve the optimum viewing angle for the user.The underside of the stand is protected with rubber silicone pads that stop it and the laptop from sliding around. The pads also protect any delicate or polished surfaces that it may be used on.All three of the pieces that make up the ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp Combo can stowed neatly away in the padded and zippered case, which is small enough to slip in a backpack with a laptop but tough enough to protect the peripherals. A USB cable is also supplied for charging the keyboard and mouse when the batteries are depleted.There is little doubt about how much flexibility the modern laptop and internet have brought us. But if, like me, you struggle using a laptop keyboard and trackpad, the ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp could be the solution for anyone who finds themselves working in an unfamiliar location where they need a full-size keyboard and the flexibility of using a mouse without being weighed down with full-sized peripherals which can be both bulky and heavy.Pricing and Availability: The ProtoArc XKM01 CaseUp Combo is shipping now and costs $99.99 / 74 / 99.Tech Specs:KeyboardDimensions folded (H x W x D): 215.50 x 119.70 x 20.95mm.Dimensions expanded (H x W x D): 386.39 x 119.70 x 12.35mm.Keys: 105, including numeric keypad and shortcut row.Switches: Scissor.Connectivity: Dual mode (2.4G and Bluetooth), compatible with Windows, macOS, and Android.Battery: USB-C rechargeable; 150 days standby time.MouseThree buttons and a scroll wheel.Dimensions H x W x D): 23.3 x 58.98 x 108mm.DPI settings: Adjustable DPI.Battery: USB-C rechargeable; 200 days standby time.Laptop standDimensions: 256 x 55 x 8mm (folded).Material: Aluminum alloy.Compatible laptop sizes: 13 17.3-inchesAdjustment Angle Range: 10/20/25/30/35/40.

Storage technology continues to evolve, delivering faster speeds, greater efficiency, and more compact designs. NVMe SSDs remain the go-to choice for new systems, offering blazing-fast performance far beyond traditional SATA drives. Whether you're upgrading a gaming PC, a creative workstation, or a laptop, the latest NVMe options push the limits of speed and reliability.For bulk storage needs, traditional hard drives still provide the best cost-per-terabyte value, making them ideal for large media libraries and backups. Meanwhile, external SSDs offer a balance of speed and portability, ensuring quick access to data on the go. As usual, our top storage picks are categorized by form factor and use case, helping you find the best option for your specific needs.Best SSDs for Desktop PCsCorsair MP600 Pro | WD Black SN850X | Crucial T500In numbers Price: $146 on AmazonWith companies using different types of flash memory and varying capacities for the same drive, it's hard to determine what drive is the best without mentioning capacity. For capacities up to 4TB, our top recommendation is the Corsair MP600 Pro.Leveraging Micron's 176-layer TLC NAND, the Corsair MP600 Pro offers sustained write speeds up to twice as fast as those of other popular PCIe 4.0 drives. In shorter transfers, it saturates the PCIe 4.0 interface with speeds reaching 7,000 MB/s. While the Phison E18 controller is no longer the most efficient, it still holds its own in terms of pure random performance. This drive is available with multiple heatsink options, though the no-heatsink (NH) version is the most affordable.If you don't often fill a large portion of the device's free space at once, you may prefer the Samsung 990 Pro, which offers better efficiency and slightly faster app load times but significantly slower sustained write speeds.For those needing 8TB of storage, the WD Black SN850X currently provides much better value than the Corsair drive. Thanks to its denser flash memory, it maintains performance parity with the 4TB model by using the same number of NAND dies.PCIe 5.0: Is It Worth It?PCIe 5.0 drives, such as the Crucial T705 and Corsair MP700 Pro SE, promise double the sequential performance, but factors like cooling and flash density complicate the equation. Modern SSDs are designed to use a portion of their free space as cache for writing at full speed. Depending on how much free space the drive has, PCIe 5.0 drives will fill this cache a few seconds faster. After that, writing speed will be similar to that of the MP600 Pro. Costing about twice per TB, it's simply not worth it.That said, slightly older PCIe 5.0 models, like the Crucial T700 and Corsair MP700 Pro strike a more interesting compromise between value and peak performance.Best for Laptops: Crucial T500For laptop users, the Crucial T500 is a fantastic choice. It utilizes Micron's 232-layer flash and a smaller 4-channel controller, delivering exceptional efficiency for a RAM-equipped SSD. Its main drawback is inconsistent performance in sustained writes.Previously known as the Solidigm P44 Pro, the SK Hynix Platinum P41 performs more consistently in long writes while being almost as efficient as the T500.Best for Older PCs and LaptopsWith Crucial seemingly phasing out the old but trusted MX500, the Samsung 870 Evo remains the only decent SATA SSD on the market, utilizing onboard DRAM and TLC flash. If you want to upgrade an older desktop or laptop that only supports the SATA interface, this is your go-to option. Back to top Best for Mobile DevicesCorsair MP600 MiniIn numbers Price: $74 on AmazonTo expand storage on devices like the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, or Surface Pro tablet, your only option is a short 2230 M.2 drive. Upgraded with the Phison E27T controller in 2024, the Corsair MP600 Mini is essentially a shorter version of the MP600 Elite, one of the best DRAM-less SSDs available.For Steam Deck compatibility, all chips are placed on one side of the PCB, which requires denser flash memory for 2TB models. However, since the Steam Deck only supports PCIe 3.0 speeds, there's no noticeable difference in performance between the MP600 Mini and the older Western Digital SN770M, which doesn't fully utilize the PCIe 4.0 interface.While other 2230 M.2 options exist, they either offer lower capacities or use QLC flash, making them a poor value if they provide any savings at all. Back to top Best Portable SSDsSamsung T7 Shield | Crucial X9 ProIn numbers Price: $99 on AmazonHaving speedy, portable storage can be a lifesaver in some situations and a routine necessity in others. External drive enclosures allow you to convert an internal drive into an external one (and vice versa in the future), offering features like USB-3.2 ("Gen 2 x 2") or USB4 speeds, along with water/shock resistance.However, if you're looking for a new storage device, all-in-one external drives offer great value these days.The Samsung T7 Shield is a great example. Provided you have a USB 3.1 (or USB 3.2 Gen 2) connection, it delivers up to 1,050 MB/s read and 1,000 MB/s write speeds that remain consistent in sustained workloads. It's also built to last, with a 3-meter drop rating and IP65 water and dust resistance.The 2TB ($160) and 4TB ($280) models offer solid value, while the 1TB version is available for $99.The Crucial X9 Pro is typically available for a similar price per terabyte, and it's the best choice for gamers, thanks to its dedicated DRAM, especially when the drive houses hundreds of GBs. It has slightly lower durability, with a 2-meter drop rating and IP55 water/dust resistance, and may require a USB-C to USB-A adapter. However, if these limitations aren't a concern, it's an excellent choice.Need for Speed?For on-the-move professionals and enthusiasts who regularly transfer hundreds of gigabytes of data, faster options are worth considering albeit at a higher cost.Samsung T9 and Crucial X10 Pro can reach up to 2,100 MB/s if your system has a USB 3.2 Gen 22 port.SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 offers blazing-fast 3,100 MB/s reads and 2,700 MB/s writes, but requires a Thunderbolt 3 connection.For everyone else, our standard recommendations of the Samsung T7 Shield and Crucial X9 Pro will easily meet if not exceed expectations. Back to top Best Hard DriveWD Red Plus | WD BlueIn numbers Price: $97 on AmazonFor years, the WD Red Plus and Seagate IronWolf have been the go-to choices for secondary PC storage or home NAS setups, while their higher-end counterparts the WD Red Pro and IronWolf Pro cater to larger servers.The problem is, these models are updated frequently (often without a name change) and rarely reviewed by major outlets. In their current iterations, both drives are essentially equivalent, offering a three-year warranty, 256MB of cache, and high-density platters that compensate for their relatively slow spinning speed, resulting in quiet operation.Our advice comes down to buying experience: Seagate still sells 2022 models alongside the faster and quieter 2024 ones, and it's not always easy to tell them apart. WD is more straightforward you can be fairly certain that you're getting the latest 2023 models.Current highlights of the lineup include 4TB for $100, 6TB for $133, and 10TB for $200.Budget Option: WD BlueIf you're adding a single drive to your PC and don't need vibration resistance, the WD Blue and Seagate Barracuda are your main choices. Our recommendation goes to WD again, for a different reason: most of the current models use conventional magnetic recording (CMR), rather than shingled (SMR), which allows creating denser platters at the expense of performance.The best current offers are 4TB for $70, and 8TB for $120. Back to top Best External Hard DriveWD My Book | WD My Passport UltraIn numbers Price: $162 on AmazonThe cost and capacity advantages of mechanical drives make them an excellent choice for storing data outside your PC. Backups, media files, and other large datasets often requiring terabytes of space are best stored externally for added safety. For the most reliable external storage, consider placing one of our recommended internal drives inside an external enclosure with a power connector. This approach ensures you won't lose access to your data due to a broken external connector.But if you prefer the convenience of a plug-and-play solution, WD's My Book stands out above the competition by offering lots of reliable storage space on the cheap. Models range between 4TB and 18TB. Currently, some of the better options are the 4TB drive for $105, the 8TB model for $175, and the 12TB version for $225.The My Book comes pre-formatted with the exFAT file system and includes WD's Backup software for Windows and macOS. It is also compatible with Apple's Time Machine. However, with a slow-spinning mechanical disk and a USB 3.0 interface, this drive isn't built for speed. Its sequential read and write speeds of 170 180MB/s are mediocre, with even slower random transfer and I/O performance. While these speeds would be unacceptable for a boot drive, they are sufficient for the My Book's primary purpose cost-effective, reliable storage for infrequently accessed data.There are a few minor drawbacks to consider. The My Book uses a Micro-B USB 3.0 to USB-A connector instead of the more common USB-A/USB-C interfaces. Additionally, it lacks an activity light and requires a separate 12V power adapter (included), making it better suited for fixed workspaces. On the plus side, it comes with password-protected 256-bit hardware encryption and a three-year warranty, which is longer than its Seagate rival. Overall, the WD My Book is the best budget-friendly external storage option available today.A Compact Alternative: WD My Passport UltraFor those seeking portable storage on a budget, WD's My Passport Ultra hits the middle ground in terms of capacity, performance, portability, and price.With a sleek, pocket-friendly design, the 5TB model currently offers the best value at $140, while the 6TB version provides the highest capacity. Smaller 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB options are also available at lower prices. This model features a modern USB-C port (with a USB-A adapter included) and additional perks such as an activity light, onboard hardware encryption, useful software utilities, and a class-leading 3-year warranty.Performance-wise, the My Passport Ultra isn't groundbreaking, but its ~130MB/s read and write speeds are on par with the competition. Given its affordability, feature set, and ease of use, these speeds are more than acceptable for everyday storage needs. Back to top Best Home NASQNAP TS-464-8G | Synology DS224+In numbers Price: $550 on AmazonIf you don't have the need for a desktop PC, a pre-built NAS can be a compact and power-efficient alternative for backing up files from all your portable devices. These days, QNAP seems to offer the best balance of features and ease of use.One of the best options is the QNAP TS-464-8G, with support for up to four SATA hard disks or SSDs in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 or 10, and up to 72TB in total capacity without an expansion unit. It also supports two 2TB SSDs in PCIe 3.0 x 1 mode (still faster than SATA) for cache or storage without expansion cards. The unit is powered by an Intel Celeron N5095 processor and comes with 1 8GB of RAM, expandable to 2 8GB. It features two 2.5Gb Ethernet ports with trunking support, two USB 3.1 ("3.2 Gen 2") ports, and an HDMI 2.1 port for 60Hz 4K video output.For $1,009, you can get the device pre-configured with four 4TB WD Red Plus or Seagate IronWolf drives, set up in RAID 5, providing 12TB of usable storage with protection against the failure of a single drive.Synology AlternativesIf you have a preference for Synology's NAS models or their software, the DS923+ is a powerful $600 4-bay NAS that supports up to 64TB of raw capacity. It also allows for two NVME SSDs for either cache or storage, and a total of nine drives with a separate expansion unit.It's powered by a quad-thread AMD Ryzen R1600 processor, the DS923+ includes 4GB of DDR4 RAM (expandable up to 32GB), support for PCIe 3.0 x2 network cards, and an eSATA port. With more drives, RAID 5, 6, and 10 become available.For less, their entry-level two-drive DiskStation DS224+ is an excellent choice starting at $299. It comes with two empty drive bays, supporting up to 32TB of maximum storage with 3.5-inch SATA HDDs and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs.Essentially a refresh of the popular DS220+, it features a quad-core Celeron J4125, 2GB of DDR4 RAM (expandable up to 6GB), two 1Gb LAN ports with link aggregation, and two USB 3.0 ("3.2 Gen 1") ports. It also supports 4K transcoding for high-quality media streaming, while RAID options include SHR, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, and RAID 1. An M.2 slot is still lacking here though, and there's no support for an expansion unit to add more storage down the road. Back to top

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Generating headaches Reddit mods are fighting to keep AI slop off subreddits. They could use help. Mods ask Reddit for tools as generative AI gets more popular and inconspicuous. Scharon Harding Feb 17, 2025 6:00 am | 0 Credit: Aurich Lawson (based on a still from Getty Images) Credit: Aurich Lawson (based on a still from Getty Images) Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLike it or not, generative AI is carving out its place in the world. And some Reddit users are definitely in the don't like it" category. While some subreddits openly welcome AI-generated images, videos, and text, others have responded to the growing trend by banning most or all posts made with the technology.To better understand the reasoning and obstacles associated with these bans, Ars Technica spoke with moderators of subreddits that totally or partially ban generative AI. Almost all these volunteers described moderating against generative AI as a time-consuming challenge they expect to get more difficult as time goes on. And most are hoping that Reddit will release a tool to help their efforts.It's hard to know how much AI-generated content is actually on Reddit, and getting an estimate would be a large undertaking. Image library Freepik has analyzed the use of AI-generated content on social media but leaves Reddit out of its research because it would take loads of time to manually comb through thousands of threads within the platform, spokesperson Bella Valentini told me. For its part, Reddit doesn't publicly disclose how many Reddit posts involve generative AI use.To be clear, we're not suggesting that Reddit has a large problem with generative AI use. By now, many subreddits seem to have agreed on their approach to AI-generated posts, and generative AI has not superseded the real, human voices that have made Reddit popular.Still, mods largely agree that generative AI will likely get more popular on Reddit over the next few years, making generative AI modding increasingly important to both moderators and general users. Generative AI's rising popularity has also had implications for Reddit the company, which in 2024 started licensing Reddit posts to train the large language models (LLMs) powering generative AI.(Note: All the moderators I spoke with for this story requested that I use their Reddit usernames instead of their real names due to privacy concerns.)No generative AI allowedWhen it comes to anti-generative AI rules, numerous subreddits have zero-tolerance policies, while others permit posts that use generative AI if it's combined with human elements or is executed very well. These rules task mods with identifying posts using generative AI and determining if they fit the criteria to be permitted on the subreddit.Many subreddits have rules against posts made with generative AI because their mod teams or members consider such posts low effort or believe AI is counterintuitive to the subreddits mission of providing real human expertise and creations."At a basic level, generative AI removes the human element from the Internet; if we allowed it, then it would undermine the very point of r/AskHistorians, which is engagement with experts," the mods of r/AskHistorians told me in a collective statement.The subreddit's goal is to provide historical information, and its mods think generative AI could make information shared on the subreddit less accurate. "[Generative AI] is likely to hallucinate facts, generate non-existent references, or otherwise provide misleading content," the mods said. "Someone getting answers from an LLM cant respond to follow-ups because they arent an expert. We have built a reputation as a reliable source of historical information, and the use of [generative AI], especially without oversight, puts that at risk."Similarly, Halaku, a mod of r/wheeloftime, told me that the subreddit's mods banned generative AI because we focus on genuine discussion. Halaku believes AI content cant facilitate organic, genuine discussion and can drown out actual artwork being done by actual artists.The r/lego subreddit banned AI-generated art because it caused confusion in online fan communities and retail stores selling Lego products, r/lego mod Mescad said. People would see AI-generated art that looked like Lego on [I]nstagram or [F]acebook and then go into the store to ask to buy it, they explained. We decided that our community's dedication to authentic Lego products doesn't include AI-generated art.Not all of Reddit is against generative AI, of course. Subreddits dedicated to the technology exist, and some general subreddits permit the use of generative AI in some or all forms."When it comes to bans, I would rather focus on hate speech, Nazi salutes, and things that actually harm the subreddits," said 3rdusernameiveused, who moderates r/consoom and r/TeamBuilder25, which don't ban generative AI. "AI art does not do that... If I was going to ban [something] for 'moral' reasons, it probably wont be AI art."Overwhelmingly low-effort slopSome generative AI bans are reflective of concerns that people are not being properly compensated for the content they create, which is then fed into LLM training.Mod Mathgeek007 told me that r/DeadlockTheGame bans generative AI because its members consider it a form of uncredited theft," adding:You aren't allowed to sell/advertise the workers of others, and AI in a sense is using patterns derived from the work of others to create mockeries. I'd personally have less of an issue with it if the artists involved were credited and compensatedand there are some niche AI tools that do this.Other moderators simply think generative AI reduces the quality of a subreddit's content."It often just doesn't look good... the art can often look subpar," Mathgeek007 said.Similarly, r/videos bans most AI-generated content because, according to its announcement, the videos are annoying and just bad video 99 percent of the time. In an online interview, r/videos mod Abrownn told me:It's overwhelmingly low-effort slop thrown together simply for views/ad revenue. The creators rarely care enough to put real effort into post-generation [or] editing of the content [and] rarely have coherent narratives [in] the videos, etc. It seems like they just throw the generated content into a video, export it, and call it a day.An r/fakemon mod told me, I cant think of anything more low-effort in terms of art creation than just typing words and having it generated for you."Some moderators say generative AI helps people spam unwanted content on a subreddit, including posts that are irrelevant to the subreddit and posts that attack users."[Generative AI] content is almost entirely posted for purely self promotional/monetary reasons, and we as mods on Reddit are constantly dealing with abusive users just spamming their content without regard for the rules," Abrownn said.A moderator of the r/wallpaper subreddit, which permits generative AI, disagrees. The mod told me that generative AI "provides new routes for novel content" in the subreddit and questioned concerns about generative AI stealing from human artists or offering lower-quality work, saying those problems aren't unique to generative AI:Even in our community, we observe human-generated content that is subjectively low quality (poor camera/[P]hotoshopping skills, low-resolution source material, intentional "shitposting"). It can be argued that AI-generated content amplifies this behavior, but our experience (which we haven't quantified) is that the rate of such behavior (whether human-generated or AI-generated content) has not changed much within our own community.But we're not a very active community[about] 13 posts per day ... so it very well could be a "frog in boiling water" situation.Generative AI wastes our timeMany mods are confident in their ability to effectively identify posts that use generative AI. A bigger problem is how much time it takes to identify these posts and remove them.The r/AskHistorians mods, for example, noted that all bans on the subreddit (including bans unrelated to AI) have an appeals process, and making these assessments and reviewing AI appeals means were spending a considerable amount of time on something we didnt have to worry about a few years ago.They added:Frankly, the biggest challenge with [generative AI] usage is that it wastes our time. The time spent evaluating responses for AI use, responding to AI evangelists who try to flood our subreddit with inaccurate slop and then argue with us in modmail, [direct messages that message a subreddits mod team], and discussing edge cases could better be spent on other subreddit projects, like our podcast, newsletter, and AMAs, providing feedback to users, or moderating input from users who intend to positively contribute to the community.Several other mods I spoke with agree. Mathgeek007, for example, named "fighting AI bros" as a common obstacle. And for r/wheeloftime moderator Halaku, the biggest challenge in moderating against generative AI is a generational one.Some of the current generation don't have a problem with it being AI because content is content, and [they think] we're being elitist by arguing otherwise, and they want to argue about it, they said.A couple of mods noted that its less time-consuming to moderate subreddits that ban generative AI than it is to moderate those that allow posts using generative AI, depending on the context.On subreddits where we allowed AI, I often take a bit longer time to actually go into each post where I feel like... its been AI-generated to actually look at it and make a decision, explained N3DSdude, a mod of several subreddits with rules against generative AI, including r/DeadlockTheGame.MyarinTime, a moderator for r/lewdgames, which allows generative AI images, highlighted the challenges of identifying human-prompted generative AI content versus AI-generated content prompted by a bot:When the AI bomb started, most of those bots started using AI content to work around our filters. Most of those bots started showing some random AI render, so it looks like you're actually talking about a game when you're not. There's no way to know when those posts are legit games unless [you check] them one by one. I honestly believe it would be easier if we kick any post with [AI-]generated image... instead of checking if a button was pressed by a human or not.Mods expect things to get worseMost mods told me its pretty easy for them to detect posts made with generative AI, pointing to the distinct tone and favored phrases of AI-generated text. A few said that AI-generated video is harder to spot but still detectable. But as generative AI gets more advanced, moderators are expecting their work to get harder.In a joint statement, r/dune mods Blue_Three and Herbalhippie said, AI used to have a problem making handsi.e., too many fingers, etc.but as time goes on, this is less and less of an issue.R/videos' Abrownn also wonders how easy it will be to detect AI-generated Reddit content as AI tools advance and content becomes more lifelike.Mathgeek007 added:AI is becoming tougher to spot and is being propagated at a larger rate. When AI style becomes normalized, it becomes tougher to fight. I expect generative AI to get significantly worseuntil it becomes indistinguishable from ordinary art.Moderators currently use various methods to fight generative AI, but they're not perfect. r/AskHistorians mods, for example, use AI detectors, which are unreliable, problematic, and sometimes require paid subscriptions, as well as our own ability to detect AI through experience and expertise, while N3DSdude pointed to tools like Quid and GPTZero.To manage current and future work around blocking generative AI, most of the mods I spoke with said theyd like Reddit to release a proprietary tool to help them.I've yet to see a reliable tool that can detect AI-generated video content, Aabrown said. Even if we did have such a tool, we'd be putting hundreds of hours of content through the tool daily, which would get rather expensive rather quickly. And we're unpaid volunteer moderators, so we will be outgunned shortly when it comes to detecting this type of content at scale. We can only hope that Reddit will offer us a tool at some point in the near future that can help deal with this issue.A Reddit spokesperson told me that the company is evaluating what such a tool could look like. But Reddit doesnt have a rule banning generative AI overall, and the spokesperson said the company doesn't want to release a tool that would hinder expression or creativity.For now, Reddit seems content to rely on moderators to remove AI-generated content when appropriate. Reddit's spokesperson added:Our moderation approach helps ensure that content on Reddit is curated by real humans. Moderators are quick to remove content that doesn't follow community rules, including harmful or irrelevant AI-generated contentwe don't see this changing in the near future.Making a generative AI Reddit tool wouldnt be easyReddit is handling the evolving concerns around generative AI as it has handled other content issues, including by leveraging AI and machine learning tools. Reddit's spokesperson said that this includes testing tools that can identify AI-generated media, such as images of politicians.But making a proprietary tool that allows moderators to detect AI-generated posts won't be easy, if it happens at all. The current tools for detecting generative AI are limited in their capabilities, and as generative AI advances, Reddit would need to provide tools that are more advanced than the AI-detecting tools that are currently available.That would require a good deal of technical resources and would also likely present notable economic challenges for the social media platform, which only became profitable last year. And as noted by r/videos moderator Abrownn, tools for detecting AI-generated video still have a long way to go, making a Reddit-specific system especially challenging to create.But even with a hypothetical Reddit tool, moderators would still have their work cut out for them. And because Reddit's popularity is largely due to its content from real humans, that work is important.Since Reddit's inception, that has meant relying on moderators, which Reddit has said it intends to keep doing. As r/dune mods Blue_Three and herbalhippie put it, its in Reddits best interest that much/most content remains organic in nature." After all, Reddit's profitability has a lot to do with how much AI companies are willing to pay to access Reddit data. That value would likely decline if Reddit posts became largely AI-generated themselves.But providing the technology to ensure that generative AI isn't abused on Reddit would be a large challege. For now, volunteer laborers will continue to bear the brunt of generative AI moderation.Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica parent Cond Nast, is the largest shareholder of Reddit.Scharon HardingSenior Technology ReporterScharon HardingSenior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Toms Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 0 Comments