Search

Vox RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-14 01:37:07 ·

The tariffs are here. Inflation isn’t. What gives?
Over the course of April, President Donald Trump imposed large tariffs on goods from every country in the world, pushing America’s average levy on imports to its highest level in roughly a century.And inflation slowed.In April, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a 2.3 percent annual rate, its slowest pace since early 2021, according to a federal report released Tuesday morning.
Economists had expected that figure to be 2.4 percent.
Markets rallied on this happy surprise.Meanwhile, the Trump administration lowered its tariffs on China on Monday, bringing its levy on Chinese imports down from 145 percent to 30 percent for 90 days, as the two countries work toward a permanent agreement.
China, in turn, lowered its retaliatory tariff on American goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.Americans might look at these two developments and wonder: Does this mean the economy is going to be fine? Is Trump’s manufactured economic crisis ending before it even began?No one can answer these questions with certainty.
What we do know is:Trump’s trade war is still poised to raise prices and slow growth later this year.
The risk of a severe economic crisis has fallen significantly.RelatedWhy Trump is losing his trade war with ChinaPrice hikes are still comingTariffs reliably increase consumer prices.
When companies are forced to pay higher prices for foreign goods and imports, they generally pass on at least part of that cost to their customers.Given this, why didn’t April’s tariffs translate into higher inflation? The primary explanation is that US companies stocked up on foreign goods and inputs earlier this year, in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs.
So, they’ve been able to keep prices low by drawing down on those inventories.
As Morgan Stanley’s chief economist, Michael Gapen, told the Wall Street Journal, “What’s sitting on store shelves today is based on agreements that were made two to three months ago.”Trump’s tariffs on industrial inputs, such as those on steel and aluminum, will also take a while to register in consumer prices, since manufacturers must make new products with such materials before bringing them to market; cars and washing machines on sale today were generally built with metals purchased before Trump’s tariffs took effect.
But companies will eventually exhaust their pre-trade war inventories.
And when they do, prices will rise.
Mattel announced earlier this month that it will need to raise prices on its toys to offset tariff costs.
Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods conglomerate that produces Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, said that it will probably need to raise prices by July.
And signs of tariff-induced price increases were already visible in April’s CPI report.
Although overall price growth was modest last month, furniture costs jumped 1.5 percent relative to March.Trump’s retreat from 145 percent tariffs on China — which had effectively suspended trade between the world’s two largest economies — makes the outlook on prices less foreboding.
And yet, according to Yale’s Budget Lab, America’s average tariff rate remains at 17.8 percent, its highest level since 1934.
If Trump’s current tariff rates remain in place, the Lab expects prices to rise by 1.7 percent this year, costing American households $2,800 on average.The big question is whether tariffs will induce a one-time surge in prices or trigger an inflationary cycle, in which price growth becomes self-reinforcing.
On the one hand, tariffs are a bit like a sales tax.
And although a hike in US sales taxes would raise consumer costs, you wouldn’t expect that to spark inflation: The prices of affected goods would rise all at once, but then likely stabilize.
In fact, sales taxes can potentially slow price growth over the long-term by reducing consumer demand: Make everything slightly more expensive and people will soon have less disposable income to spend on goods and services, which could eventually force businesses to lower their prices in order to generate sales.
On the other hand, Trump’s tariffs remain so high and broad that they could disrupt supply chains and yield shortages.
At the same time, House Republicans are advancing a package of tax cuts that could increase the deficit by roughly $5 trillion over the next decade.
And when the government increases the deficit, it injects more money — and thus, demand — into the economy.So, it’s possible that demand for goods could spike later this year (or early in 2026), while their supply becomes constrained.
That scenario could generate an inflationary spiral as consumers rush to stockpile products before they become scarcer and more expensive, thereby making products scarcer and more expensive.
Meanwhile, if workers respond to tariff-induced price hikes by demanding higher wages — and employers respond to wage demands by raising prices — self-reinforcing inflation could become even more entrenched.For now, investors seem to believe that this scenario is unlikely, even as higher prices are all-but certain.The risk of a US recession has fallenAs Trump jacked up tariff rates in April, many Wall Street forecasters began projecting a recession by year’s end.
Last month, JP Morgan put the risk of a US recession in 2025 at 60 percent, while Goldman Sachs pegged it at 45 percent.
Following Trump’s deal with China on Monday, both brokerages slashed their recession odds.
Today, Goldman says that there is only a 35 percent chance of a downturn this year, while JP Morgan places the odds at a bit below 50 percent.Trump suggested that his goal in ongoing trade talks with Xi Jinping’s government is to “open up” China to American goods.Wall Street’s newfound optimism partly reflects the direct consequences of the US-China agreement.
According to the Budget Lab, that deal reduced the expected negative impact of Trump’s tariffs on prices and growth by 40 percent.But finance’s relief at Trump’s deal with China doesn’t reflect its official details alone.
After all, the agreement technically only pauses Trump’s 145 percent tariffs for 90 days, while trade talks continue.
Taken at face value, the agreement still holds the prospect of a complete cessation of trade between the US and China.
Yet the deal told us something about Trump that Wall Street was desperate to hear: that he’s willing to radically scale back his trade demands, in the face of souring economic conditions.
Crucially, Trump didn’t actually hold out for any substantive concessions before lowering his tariffs on China by 115 percentage points.
Beijing did not address any of the grievances that the president cited when he initially imposed vast tariffs on all Chinese goods.
China did reduce its retaliatory tariffs, but it only imposed those duties after Trump had launched his trade war.
Trump therefore felt comfortable drastically scaling back his tariffs with China, even in the absence of any face-saving “wins.” Apparently, mounting reports of quiet ports and impending shortages persuaded Trump to take a step back.What’s more, he suggested Monday that his goal in ongoing trade talks with Xi Jinping’s government is to “open up” China to American goods.
This is a significantly more modest goal than fully ending America’s trade deficit with China, which Trump had previously deemed a precondition for any agreement.
If Trump decides that what he really wants is to increase US soybean farmers’ share of the Chinese market, a permanent trade agreement between Washington and Beijing should not be hard to reach.Beyond its implications for US trade with China, Trump’s climbdown Monday makes it more plausible that he would back off some of his other tariffs, if inflation or unemployment began to surge.
All this means that the odds of America entering a severe economic crisis just fell significantly.
But tariff rates remain historically high.
And Americans are still poised to suffer higher prices and weaker economic growth in 2025, due to a trade war that Trump seems to be losing.See More:
Source: https://www.vox.com/economy/412910/trump-china-tariffs-inflation-recession" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.vox.com/economy/412910/trump-china-tariffs-inflation-recession
#the #tariffs #are #here #inflation #isnt #what #gives

The tariffs are here. Inflation isn’t. What gives?
Over the course of April, President Donald Trump imposed large tariffs on goods from every country in the world, pushing America’s average levy on imports to its highest level in roughly a century.And inflation slowed.In April, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a 2.3 percent annual rate, its slowest pace since early 2021, according to a federal report released Tuesday morning. Economists had expected that figure to be 2.4 percent. Markets rallied on this happy surprise.Meanwhile, the Trump administration lowered its tariffs on China on Monday, bringing its levy on Chinese imports down from 145 percent to 30 percent for 90 days, as the two countries work toward a permanent agreement. China, in turn, lowered its retaliatory tariff on American goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.Americans might look at these two developments and wonder: Does this mean the economy is going to be fine? Is Trump’s manufactured economic crisis ending before it even began?No one can answer these questions with certainty. What we do know is:Trump’s trade war is still poised to raise prices and slow growth later this year. The risk of a severe economic crisis has fallen significantly.RelatedWhy Trump is losing his trade war with ChinaPrice hikes are still comingTariffs reliably increase consumer prices. When companies are forced to pay higher prices for foreign goods and imports, they generally pass on at least part of that cost to their customers.Given this, why didn’t April’s tariffs translate into higher inflation? The primary explanation is that US companies stocked up on foreign goods and inputs earlier this year, in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs. So, they’ve been able to keep prices low by drawing down on those inventories. As Morgan Stanley’s chief economist, Michael Gapen, told the Wall Street Journal, “What’s sitting on store shelves today is based on agreements that were made two to three months ago.”Trump’s tariffs on industrial inputs, such as those on steel and aluminum, will also take a while to register in consumer prices, since manufacturers must make new products with such materials before bringing them to market; cars and washing machines on sale today were generally built with metals purchased before Trump’s tariffs took effect. But companies will eventually exhaust their pre-trade war inventories. And when they do, prices will rise. Mattel announced earlier this month that it will need to raise prices on its toys to offset tariff costs. Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods conglomerate that produces Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, said that it will probably need to raise prices by July. And signs of tariff-induced price increases were already visible in April’s CPI report. Although overall price growth was modest last month, furniture costs jumped 1.5 percent relative to March.Trump’s retreat from 145 percent tariffs on China — which had effectively suspended trade between the world’s two largest economies — makes the outlook on prices less foreboding. And yet, according to Yale’s Budget Lab, America’s average tariff rate remains at 17.8 percent, its highest level since 1934. If Trump’s current tariff rates remain in place, the Lab expects prices to rise by 1.7 percent this year, costing American households $2,800 on average.The big question is whether tariffs will induce a one-time surge in prices or trigger an inflationary cycle, in which price growth becomes self-reinforcing. On the one hand, tariffs are a bit like a sales tax. And although a hike in US sales taxes would raise consumer costs, you wouldn’t expect that to spark inflation: The prices of affected goods would rise all at once, but then likely stabilize. In fact, sales taxes can potentially slow price growth over the long-term by reducing consumer demand: Make everything slightly more expensive and people will soon have less disposable income to spend on goods and services, which could eventually force businesses to lower their prices in order to generate sales. On the other hand, Trump’s tariffs remain so high and broad that they could disrupt supply chains and yield shortages. At the same time, House Republicans are advancing a package of tax cuts that could increase the deficit by roughly $5 trillion over the next decade. And when the government increases the deficit, it injects more money — and thus, demand — into the economy.So, it’s possible that demand for goods could spike later this year (or early in 2026), while their supply becomes constrained. That scenario could generate an inflationary spiral as consumers rush to stockpile products before they become scarcer and more expensive, thereby making products scarcer and more expensive. Meanwhile, if workers respond to tariff-induced price hikes by demanding higher wages — and employers respond to wage demands by raising prices — self-reinforcing inflation could become even more entrenched.For now, investors seem to believe that this scenario is unlikely, even as higher prices are all-but certain.The risk of a US recession has fallenAs Trump jacked up tariff rates in April, many Wall Street forecasters began projecting a recession by year’s end. Last month, JP Morgan put the risk of a US recession in 2025 at 60 percent, while Goldman Sachs pegged it at 45 percent. Following Trump’s deal with China on Monday, both brokerages slashed their recession odds. Today, Goldman says that there is only a 35 percent chance of a downturn this year, while JP Morgan places the odds at a bit below 50 percent.Trump suggested that his goal in ongoing trade talks with Xi Jinping’s government is to “open up” China to American goods.Wall Street’s newfound optimism partly reflects the direct consequences of the US-China agreement. According to the Budget Lab, that deal reduced the expected negative impact of Trump’s tariffs on prices and growth by 40 percent.But finance’s relief at Trump’s deal with China doesn’t reflect its official details alone. After all, the agreement technically only pauses Trump’s 145 percent tariffs for 90 days, while trade talks continue. Taken at face value, the agreement still holds the prospect of a complete cessation of trade between the US and China. Yet the deal told us something about Trump that Wall Street was desperate to hear: that he’s willing to radically scale back his trade demands, in the face of souring economic conditions. Crucially, Trump didn’t actually hold out for any substantive concessions before lowering his tariffs on China by 115 percentage points. Beijing did not address any of the grievances that the president cited when he initially imposed vast tariffs on all Chinese goods. China did reduce its retaliatory tariffs, but it only imposed those duties after Trump had launched his trade war. Trump therefore felt comfortable drastically scaling back his tariffs with China, even in the absence of any face-saving “wins.” Apparently, mounting reports of quiet ports and impending shortages persuaded Trump to take a step back.What’s more, he suggested Monday that his goal in ongoing trade talks with Xi Jinping’s government is to “open up” China to American goods. This is a significantly more modest goal than fully ending America’s trade deficit with China, which Trump had previously deemed a precondition for any agreement. If Trump decides that what he really wants is to increase US soybean farmers’ share of the Chinese market, a permanent trade agreement between Washington and Beijing should not be hard to reach.Beyond its implications for US trade with China, Trump’s climbdown Monday makes it more plausible that he would back off some of his other tariffs, if inflation or unemployment began to surge. All this means that the odds of America entering a severe economic crisis just fell significantly. But tariff rates remain historically high. And Americans are still poised to suffer higher prices and weaker economic growth in 2025, due to a trade war that Trump seems to be losing.See More: Source: https://www.vox.com/economy/412910/trump-china-tariffs-inflation-recession #the #tariffs #are #here #inflation #isnt #what #gives

WWW.VOX.COM

The tariffs are here. Inflation isn’t. What gives?

Over the course of April, President Donald Trump imposed large tariffs on goods from every country in the world, pushing America’s average levy on imports to its highest level in roughly a century.And inflation slowed.In April, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a 2.3 percent annual rate, its slowest pace since early 2021, according to a federal report released Tuesday morning. Economists had expected that figure to be 2.4 percent. Markets rallied on this happy surprise.Meanwhile, the Trump administration lowered its tariffs on China on Monday, bringing its levy on Chinese imports down from 145 percent to 30 percent for 90 days, as the two countries work toward a permanent agreement. China, in turn, lowered its retaliatory tariff on American goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.Americans might look at these two developments and wonder: Does this mean the economy is going to be fine? Is Trump’s manufactured economic crisis ending before it even began?No one can answer these questions with certainty. What we do know is:Trump’s trade war is still poised to raise prices and slow growth later this year. The risk of a severe economic crisis has fallen significantly.RelatedWhy Trump is losing his trade war with ChinaPrice hikes are still comingTariffs reliably increase consumer prices. When companies are forced to pay higher prices for foreign goods and imports, they generally pass on at least part of that cost to their customers.Given this, why didn’t April’s tariffs translate into higher inflation? The primary explanation is that US companies stocked up on foreign goods and inputs earlier this year, in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs. So, they’ve been able to keep prices low by drawing down on those inventories. As Morgan Stanley’s chief economist, Michael Gapen, told the Wall Street Journal, “What’s sitting on store shelves today is based on agreements that were made two to three months ago.”Trump’s tariffs on industrial inputs, such as those on steel and aluminum, will also take a while to register in consumer prices, since manufacturers must make new products with such materials before bringing them to market; cars and washing machines on sale today were generally built with metals purchased before Trump’s tariffs took effect. But companies will eventually exhaust their pre-trade war inventories. And when they do, prices will rise. Mattel announced earlier this month that it will need to raise prices on its toys to offset tariff costs. Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods conglomerate that produces Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, said that it will probably need to raise prices by July. And signs of tariff-induced price increases were already visible in April’s CPI report. Although overall price growth was modest last month, furniture costs jumped 1.5 percent relative to March.Trump’s retreat from 145 percent tariffs on China — which had effectively suspended trade between the world’s two largest economies — makes the outlook on prices less foreboding. And yet, according to Yale’s Budget Lab, America’s average tariff rate remains at 17.8 percent, its highest level since 1934. If Trump’s current tariff rates remain in place, the Lab expects prices to rise by 1.7 percent this year, costing American households $2,800 on average.The big question is whether tariffs will induce a one-time surge in prices or trigger an inflationary cycle, in which price growth becomes self-reinforcing. On the one hand, tariffs are a bit like a sales tax. And although a hike in US sales taxes would raise consumer costs, you wouldn’t expect that to spark inflation: The prices of affected goods would rise all at once, but then likely stabilize. In fact, sales taxes can potentially slow price growth over the long-term by reducing consumer demand: Make everything slightly more expensive and people will soon have less disposable income to spend on goods and services, which could eventually force businesses to lower their prices in order to generate sales. On the other hand, Trump’s tariffs remain so high and broad that they could disrupt supply chains and yield shortages. At the same time, House Republicans are advancing a package of tax cuts that could increase the deficit by roughly $5 trillion over the next decade. And when the government increases the deficit, it injects more money — and thus, demand — into the economy.So, it’s possible that demand for goods could spike later this year (or early in 2026), while their supply becomes constrained. That scenario could generate an inflationary spiral as consumers rush to stockpile products before they become scarcer and more expensive, thereby making products scarcer and more expensive. Meanwhile, if workers respond to tariff-induced price hikes by demanding higher wages — and employers respond to wage demands by raising prices — self-reinforcing inflation could become even more entrenched.For now, investors seem to believe that this scenario is unlikely, even as higher prices are all-but certain.The risk of a US recession has fallenAs Trump jacked up tariff rates in April, many Wall Street forecasters began projecting a recession by year’s end. Last month, JP Morgan put the risk of a US recession in 2025 at 60 percent, while Goldman Sachs pegged it at 45 percent. Following Trump’s deal with China on Monday, both brokerages slashed their recession odds. Today, Goldman says that there is only a 35 percent chance of a downturn this year, while JP Morgan places the odds at a bit below 50 percent.Trump suggested that his goal in ongoing trade talks with Xi Jinping’s government is to “open up” China to American goods.Wall Street’s newfound optimism partly reflects the direct consequences of the US-China agreement. According to the Budget Lab, that deal reduced the expected negative impact of Trump’s tariffs on prices and growth by 40 percent.But finance’s relief at Trump’s deal with China doesn’t reflect its official details alone. After all, the agreement technically only pauses Trump’s 145 percent tariffs for 90 days, while trade talks continue. Taken at face value, the agreement still holds the prospect of a complete cessation of trade between the US and China. Yet the deal told us something about Trump that Wall Street was desperate to hear: that he’s willing to radically scale back his trade demands, in the face of souring economic conditions. Crucially, Trump didn’t actually hold out for any substantive concessions before lowering his tariffs on China by 115 percentage points. Beijing did not address any of the grievances that the president cited when he initially imposed vast tariffs on all Chinese goods. China did reduce its retaliatory tariffs, but it only imposed those duties after Trump had launched his trade war. Trump therefore felt comfortable drastically scaling back his tariffs with China, even in the absence of any face-saving “wins.” Apparently, mounting reports of quiet ports and impending shortages persuaded Trump to take a step back.What’s more, he suggested Monday that his goal in ongoing trade talks with Xi Jinping’s government is to “open up” China to American goods. This is a significantly more modest goal than fully ending America’s trade deficit with China, which Trump had previously deemed a precondition for any agreement. If Trump decides that what he really wants is to increase US soybean farmers’ share of the Chinese market, a permanent trade agreement between Washington and Beijing should not be hard to reach.Beyond its implications for US trade with China, Trump’s climbdown Monday makes it more plausible that he would back off some of his other tariffs, if inflation or unemployment began to surge. All this means that the odds of America entering a severe economic crisis just fell significantly. But tariff rates remain historically high. And Americans are still poised to suffer higher prices and weaker economic growth in 2025, due to a trade war that Trump seems to be losing.See More:

·17 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
TechSpot RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-14 01:34:29 ·

United becomes largest airline to deploy fast Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi

The big picture: United is rolling out fast, free in-flight Wi-Fi through Starlink's satellite network, offering passengers seamless connectivity across its domestic fleet.
This shift marks a significant upgrade in air travel, making uninterrupted internet access a new standard at 30,000 feet.

United Airlines has started rolling out SpaceX's Starlink internet on its planes, marking a shift for in-flight Wi-Fi.
Last week, the airline hosted a demo aboard an Embraer E-175 regional jet, offering a glimpse at a future without spotty signals or sky-high fees.
The abbreviated test flight departed from and returned to the same gate at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, offering fast, gate-to-gate connectivity with speeds rivaling in-home broadband.
Speedtest data showed Starlink averaged 128 Mbps downloads, peaking above 230 Mbps during taxi and takeoff, with uploads averaging around 24 Mbps.
United will launch Starlink service on commercial routes starting May 15, initially covering short-haul flights between Chicago and Detroit.
This rollout happens ahead of schedule, surpassing the airline's original target of late 2025.
The airline plans to equip its fleet of 1,026 aircraft, beginning with two-cabin regional jets and eventually expanding to mainline aircraft.
United customers can access wireless Starlink internet at no cost by signing up for the airline's free MileagePlus program.
The connection supports seamless browsing, streaming, gaming, and even limited video conferencing.
However, United is implementing common-sense usage guidelines.
The rules prohibit voice and video calls – distinguishing them from video conferencing – while requiring passengers to wear headphones for audio.
"Offensive content" is also banned, keeping the environment respectful.
"We're bringing Wi-Fi from just like your living room to the skies," United Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman told The Verge.
During the trial, passengers streamed video, played games, and used multiple devices without noticeable slowdowns, thanks to Starlink's low Earth orbit satellite network, which has grown to over 7,000 satellites.
Unlike traditional satellite internet systems that rely on geostationary satellites, Starlink's low-latency network reduces the signal's travel time, dramatically improving performance.

// Related Stories
This architecture has also paved the way for faster advertising technologies.
United plans to implement real-time ad targeting, leveraging sub-100 millisecond latency – suggesting how the free service could eventually generate revenue.
"What the Starlink connectivity allows us to do in real time, because of the latency and the low earth orbit satellite technology… means that we can make some real-time, less than 100 millisecond ad decisions to serve up in a hyper-personalized world," said United MileagePlus CEO Richard Nunn.
United isn't the first airline to adopt Starlink.
Although the airline announced its plans last year, Hawaiian Airlines and JSX had already integrated the service.
However, United is now the largest airline to offer Starlink.
As the technology rolls out across its domestic fleet, the airline has not yet confirmed when it will expand to international routes or how it will integrate into the Star Alliance network.

Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/107906-united-becomes-largest-airline-deploy-fast-starlink-flight.html" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.techspot.com/news/107906-united-becomes-largest-airline-deploy-fast-starlink-flight.html
#united #becomes #largest #airline #deploy #fast #starlink #inflight #wifi

United becomes largest airline to deploy fast Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi
The big picture: United is rolling out fast, free in-flight Wi-Fi through Starlink's satellite network, offering passengers seamless connectivity across its domestic fleet. This shift marks a significant upgrade in air travel, making uninterrupted internet access a new standard at 30,000 feet. United Airlines has started rolling out SpaceX's Starlink internet on its planes, marking a shift for in-flight Wi-Fi. Last week, the airline hosted a demo aboard an Embraer E-175 regional jet, offering a glimpse at a future without spotty signals or sky-high fees. The abbreviated test flight departed from and returned to the same gate at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, offering fast, gate-to-gate connectivity with speeds rivaling in-home broadband. Speedtest data showed Starlink averaged 128 Mbps downloads, peaking above 230 Mbps during taxi and takeoff, with uploads averaging around 24 Mbps. United will launch Starlink service on commercial routes starting May 15, initially covering short-haul flights between Chicago and Detroit. This rollout happens ahead of schedule, surpassing the airline's original target of late 2025. The airline plans to equip its fleet of 1,026 aircraft, beginning with two-cabin regional jets and eventually expanding to mainline aircraft. United customers can access wireless Starlink internet at no cost by signing up for the airline's free MileagePlus program. The connection supports seamless browsing, streaming, gaming, and even limited video conferencing. However, United is implementing common-sense usage guidelines. The rules prohibit voice and video calls – distinguishing them from video conferencing – while requiring passengers to wear headphones for audio. "Offensive content" is also banned, keeping the environment respectful. "We're bringing Wi-Fi from just like your living room to the skies," United Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman told The Verge. During the trial, passengers streamed video, played games, and used multiple devices without noticeable slowdowns, thanks to Starlink's low Earth orbit satellite network, which has grown to over 7,000 satellites. Unlike traditional satellite internet systems that rely on geostationary satellites, Starlink's low-latency network reduces the signal's travel time, dramatically improving performance. // Related Stories This architecture has also paved the way for faster advertising technologies. United plans to implement real-time ad targeting, leveraging sub-100 millisecond latency – suggesting how the free service could eventually generate revenue. "What the Starlink connectivity allows us to do in real time, because of the latency and the low earth orbit satellite technology… means that we can make some real-time, less than 100 millisecond ad decisions to serve up in a hyper-personalized world," said United MileagePlus CEO Richard Nunn. United isn't the first airline to adopt Starlink. Although the airline announced its plans last year, Hawaiian Airlines and JSX had already integrated the service. However, United is now the largest airline to offer Starlink. As the technology rolls out across its domestic fleet, the airline has not yet confirmed when it will expand to international routes or how it will integrate into the Star Alliance network. Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/107906-united-becomes-largest-airline-deploy-fast-starlink-flight.html #united #becomes #largest #airline #deploy #fast #starlink #inflight #wifi

WWW.TECHSPOT.COM

United becomes largest airline to deploy fast Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi

The big picture: United is rolling out fast, free in-flight Wi-Fi through Starlink's satellite network, offering passengers seamless connectivity across its domestic fleet. This shift marks a significant upgrade in air travel, making uninterrupted internet access a new standard at 30,000 feet. United Airlines has started rolling out SpaceX's Starlink internet on its planes, marking a shift for in-flight Wi-Fi. Last week, the airline hosted a demo aboard an Embraer E-175 regional jet, offering a glimpse at a future without spotty signals or sky-high fees. The abbreviated test flight departed from and returned to the same gate at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, offering fast, gate-to-gate connectivity with speeds rivaling in-home broadband. Speedtest data showed Starlink averaged 128 Mbps downloads, peaking above 230 Mbps during taxi and takeoff, with uploads averaging around 24 Mbps. United will launch Starlink service on commercial routes starting May 15, initially covering short-haul flights between Chicago and Detroit. This rollout happens ahead of schedule, surpassing the airline's original target of late 2025. The airline plans to equip its fleet of 1,026 aircraft, beginning with two-cabin regional jets and eventually expanding to mainline aircraft. United customers can access wireless Starlink internet at no cost by signing up for the airline's free MileagePlus program. The connection supports seamless browsing, streaming, gaming, and even limited video conferencing. However, United is implementing common-sense usage guidelines. The rules prohibit voice and video calls – distinguishing them from video conferencing – while requiring passengers to wear headphones for audio. "Offensive content" is also banned, keeping the environment respectful. "We're bringing Wi-Fi from just like your living room to the skies," United Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman told The Verge. During the trial, passengers streamed video, played games, and used multiple devices without noticeable slowdowns, thanks to Starlink's low Earth orbit satellite network, which has grown to over 7,000 satellites. Unlike traditional satellite internet systems that rely on geostationary satellites, Starlink's low-latency network reduces the signal's travel time, dramatically improving performance. // Related Stories This architecture has also paved the way for faster advertising technologies. United plans to implement real-time ad targeting, leveraging sub-100 millisecond latency – suggesting how the free service could eventually generate revenue. "What the Starlink connectivity allows us to do in real time, because of the latency and the low earth orbit satellite technology… means that we can make some real-time, less than 100 millisecond ad decisions to serve up in a hyper-personalized world," said United MileagePlus CEO Richard Nunn. United isn't the first airline to adopt Starlink. Although the airline announced its plans last year, Hawaiian Airlines and JSX had already integrated the service. However, United is now the largest airline to offer Starlink. As the technology rolls out across its domestic fleet, the airline has not yet confirmed when it will expand to international routes or how it will integrate into the Star Alliance network.

·23 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
80 Level RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 23:53:19 ·

We Spoke to Is This a 3D Model? About AI, 3D Modeling & The Goal of Their Twitter Page
Could you please share a few words about yourself and your artistic background?Is This a 3D Model?: I think the best word to describe myself is "Teapot," because that is what I am, but I'd also say I'm a "3D model lover," because I am also that.
I am a self-taught professional 3D Artist, and I am most proficient in ZBrush and 3ds Max.
Have I mentioned I love 3D models? I just think they're so neat!Back when the so-called "AI-boom" kicked off in mid-2022, many artists were initially optimistic about the concept, what was your reaction when the first text-to-image AIs started popping up?Is This a 3D Model?: My first reaction to the "AI-boom" was, "These are not 3D models, so who even cares?" But I tried many tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, and was consistently underwhelmed by the results.
I found much better inspiration and ideas by looking up artists' work online.
I've tried many times to "adapt AI into my workflow," but I often found it made my workflow worse, both quality and productivity-wise.
So now I call it out for what it is – stinky!Were you among those whose opinion on generative artificial intelligence changed over time, or were you anti-AI from the beginning? When would you say most creators started to recognize the unfair practices and overall shady behavior of AI companies and their language models?Is This a 3D Model?: I always hated how companies collected people's work without permission, and I always laughed at AI bros who pretended to be fine artists because they typed a prompt! But in the beginning, I thought the tech had more promise and potential.As time went on, I tried it more and didn't see much value in it.
To this day, there is very little it can actually help me with (and I still try).
I also observed many instances of shady behavior from AI companies, they act very sus on Twitter.
And can you believe, some of these gen-3D companies have the nerve to call a model "high quality" when it looks terrible? Like, c'mon man, have you looked at a 3D model at any point in the last few years? Totally embarrassing!I might be mistaken here, but I think the first instance of mass protests against AI took place in December 2022 with the "Say No to AI Images" movement on ArtStation.
What were your thoughts as that protest unfolded? In your opinion, are such online campaigns effective or not?Is This a 3D Model?: I thought the protest was rad! I even uploaded a "No AI" Image on my personal portfolio when it happened.
I don't know if banning AI entirely will ever be possible, but ArtStation was being a total butt and could have done a better job allowing users to filter AI out or report people who are misrepresenting their skill sets.
It is a professional portfolio site after all.Let's talk about Is This a 3D Model?, when was the page created? What first inspired you to start it? What goal do you ultimately want to achieve with your work?Is This a 3D Model?: This Twitter page started as a joke about a year ago.
Whenever I would post negative comments on AI on my main 3D art account, AI bros would show up in my comments with some weird Midjourney images and try to tell me "give up, bro, it's over for you!" However, because AI bros don't know much about art, technology, or, well, anything, I would politely inform them that what they posted was not a 3D model.Over time, this became very frequent for people to post "3D modeling workflows of the future," where the final result was not a 3D model.
I decided someone needed to take a stand for all the poor, defenseless 3D models out there!As the page grew, I decided I wanted to use it more to highlight the great work 3D Artists are doing and trying to make more "yes" posts than "no" posts.
I hope to call out a lot more of these bad workflows that AI accounts are trying to promote as "the future" and encourage more 3D Artists to stay on the course and learn valuable skills.
There are a lot of forces discouraging people from creating art these days.
But I truly think genAI is not as capable as it's being made out to be, and all this does is prevent more people from discovering the joy of creation.
And that is lame!How do you make sure you're answering the "Is this a 3D model?" question correctly for dozens of projects each week?Is This a 3D Model?: It's actually a lot easier than you think in most cases! I usually check the source, if the poster has an art portfolio, pretty safe bet it's a 3D model – AI bros don't have art portfolios.
Also, when you've looked at 3D work for a long time, sometimes you can just develop the eye and tell! Can you see the faceted edges around the shape? Does it look suspiciously overly polished with no attention to literally any details? Are they calling it 3D but posting a Midjourney SREF? I think some of the ones I've classified that are the most surprising are ones that try to create the vibe of N64 games, and I suspect people are either too young to know what N64 games actually look like or just forgot.Based on your experience running the Is This a 3D Model? page, could you please share a brief guide our readers can use to confidently tell whether a given project is truly 3D? What specific signs should we look out for to be sure?Is This a 3D Model?: We implement something called the SIP method (Get it? Like sipping tea? I didn't just make this up for this interview, I promise):Source: Who is posting it? Do they look like a 3D Artist? Do they have a portfolio? Or do they mostly post Midjourney images or 3-second video clips of people talking with robot voices and explosions?Investigate: Look at the image! Can you see weird AI artifacts that make no sense? Can you see faceted edges? Does it look like a consistent 3D model with a well-executed idea?Polygons: If all else fails, can you find a screenshot of the topology? It won't exist with AI images.
And if you can, does it make any sense? Some people even make fake wireframes with AI, I've attached a great example of that below.
While this may look like a 3D wireframe, if you look closely, the details don't make sense.
Why is a simple cylindrical cup so messy? Why do the trucks on the shirt turn into a drawing? It's all because an AI Image generator made a JPG of a wireframe.
How silly!Usually, using one or all of these techniques, you can determine pretty quickly if what you're looking at is a safe, lovely 3D model or gross, yucky AI.Regarding the digital art industry as a whole, who would you say are the worst offenders – be it AI developers, companies, individuals, art platforms, you name it – on the matter of AI?Is This a 3D Model?: A lot of companies have sadly succumbed to the AI fad, be it fearmongering or overhyping.
The worst offenders by far are the companies developing these AI products.
They often don't even pretend to be professional companies and do all sorts of weird things.
There is one generative 3D company where the owner resorts to posting fake endorsement comments all over Reddit.
Embarassing!The second worst are all the grifters on Twitter who just post "Hollywood is Dead Part 85" over and over again.
If AI is so good, you all wouldn't need to post so much slop! For the Is This a 3D Model family personally, I have to say one of the biggest offenders is some guy who compared our account to nazis because I said "no" on one of their posts.
Wild!AI is, unfortunately, everywhere, but artists are also everywhere.
Seek out the many talented 2D and 3D Artists on all the platforms and fill your feed with them! The majority of artists don't use AI and for a good reason.
Pretty soon, your feed will be full of lovely art and 3D models, and you'll have brief moments where you forget AI slop even exists!Lastly, what are your hopes for digital art going forward? How do you think the industry will look in, let's say, 5-10 years? What can we all do to combat the spread of generative AI?Is This a 3D Model?: I would like to end this on a message of hope.
While a lot of jobs will be impacted in the short term, I think in 5-10 years, the limitations of AI tools will be much more well-known than they are today.
I also think AI will plateau at a certain look and style that people are already getting sick of today.
A lot of companies that rudely get rid of artists will quickly realize they got scammed by AI companies, and they still need those artists because AI will fall short in many ways.
Plus, many companies simply won't want their video games or their commercials to look like the weird slop plaguing Facebook.The best thing we can do moving forward is to keep focusing on the skills that matter.
Learn art fundamentals, drawing, sculpting, anatomy, color theory, and, of course, 3D modeling! Don't listen to "adapt or get left behind!" AI tools are designed for babies! If you spend your time grinding your art skills and developing your artistic eye, even if you are one day forced to use AI tools, you will be the most qualified to use them.
Does anyone really think in 5-10 years, "prompt engineering skills" will still exist? Puh-LEASE.
Using an AI is already as easy as googling, and it will just get easier.
People will always want people who are competent and know what they're doing, and the best way you can do that is by showing you've got your own skills!Art is a historically challenging field for anyone.
It always has been! The only way you'll make it is by working hard at it, challenging yourself, and not letting yourself get discouraged.
I always recommend people to have backup plans and figure out what a viable career path is.
This was important even before AI.I was one of those people who gave up on art jobs, I never thought I'd have one.
Thought it was too competitive and focused on a different career entirely.
But I kept doing 3D as a hobby because I LOVE POLYGONS.
I would dedicate time every night to work in ZBrush for fun, and now I'm a professional 3D Artist! Part of why I run this account is that I know what it's like to be discouraged from pursuing art.
And I know if I ever extinguished that flame, I wouldn't be living my dream right now.
I hope one day in 5-10 years someone reading this today can say this motivated them to put in the time and effort to become an incredible artist, despite all the naysayers, and got one of those jobs that supposedly wasn't going to exist anymore!Is This a 3D Model, 3D ArtistInterview conducted by Theodore McKenzie
Source: https://80.lv/articles/we-spoke-to-is-this-a-3d-model-about-ai-3d-modeling-the-goal-of-their-twitter-page/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://80.lv/articles/we-spoke-to-is-this-a-3d-model-about-ai-3d-modeling-the-goal-of-their-twitter-page/
#spoke #this #model #about #modeling #ampamp #the #goal #their #twitter #page

We Spoke to Is This a 3D Model? About AI, 3D Modeling & The Goal of Their Twitter Page
Could you please share a few words about yourself and your artistic background?Is This a 3D Model?: I think the best word to describe myself is "Teapot," because that is what I am, but I'd also say I'm a "3D model lover," because I am also that. I am a self-taught professional 3D Artist, and I am most proficient in ZBrush and 3ds Max. Have I mentioned I love 3D models? I just think they're so neat!Back when the so-called "AI-boom" kicked off in mid-2022, many artists were initially optimistic about the concept, what was your reaction when the first text-to-image AIs started popping up?Is This a 3D Model?: My first reaction to the "AI-boom" was, "These are not 3D models, so who even cares?" But I tried many tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, and was consistently underwhelmed by the results. I found much better inspiration and ideas by looking up artists' work online. I've tried many times to "adapt AI into my workflow," but I often found it made my workflow worse, both quality and productivity-wise. So now I call it out for what it is – stinky!Were you among those whose opinion on generative artificial intelligence changed over time, or were you anti-AI from the beginning? When would you say most creators started to recognize the unfair practices and overall shady behavior of AI companies and their language models?Is This a 3D Model?: I always hated how companies collected people's work without permission, and I always laughed at AI bros who pretended to be fine artists because they typed a prompt! But in the beginning, I thought the tech had more promise and potential.As time went on, I tried it more and didn't see much value in it. To this day, there is very little it can actually help me with (and I still try). I also observed many instances of shady behavior from AI companies, they act very sus on Twitter. And can you believe, some of these gen-3D companies have the nerve to call a model "high quality" when it looks terrible? Like, c'mon man, have you looked at a 3D model at any point in the last few years? Totally embarrassing!I might be mistaken here, but I think the first instance of mass protests against AI took place in December 2022 with the "Say No to AI Images" movement on ArtStation. What were your thoughts as that protest unfolded? In your opinion, are such online campaigns effective or not?Is This a 3D Model?: I thought the protest was rad! I even uploaded a "No AI" Image on my personal portfolio when it happened. I don't know if banning AI entirely will ever be possible, but ArtStation was being a total butt and could have done a better job allowing users to filter AI out or report people who are misrepresenting their skill sets. It is a professional portfolio site after all.Let's talk about Is This a 3D Model?, when was the page created? What first inspired you to start it? What goal do you ultimately want to achieve with your work?Is This a 3D Model?: This Twitter page started as a joke about a year ago. Whenever I would post negative comments on AI on my main 3D art account, AI bros would show up in my comments with some weird Midjourney images and try to tell me "give up, bro, it's over for you!" However, because AI bros don't know much about art, technology, or, well, anything, I would politely inform them that what they posted was not a 3D model.Over time, this became very frequent for people to post "3D modeling workflows of the future," where the final result was not a 3D model. I decided someone needed to take a stand for all the poor, defenseless 3D models out there!As the page grew, I decided I wanted to use it more to highlight the great work 3D Artists are doing and trying to make more "yes" posts than "no" posts. I hope to call out a lot more of these bad workflows that AI accounts are trying to promote as "the future" and encourage more 3D Artists to stay on the course and learn valuable skills. There are a lot of forces discouraging people from creating art these days. But I truly think genAI is not as capable as it's being made out to be, and all this does is prevent more people from discovering the joy of creation. And that is lame!How do you make sure you're answering the "Is this a 3D model?" question correctly for dozens of projects each week?Is This a 3D Model?: It's actually a lot easier than you think in most cases! I usually check the source, if the poster has an art portfolio, pretty safe bet it's a 3D model – AI bros don't have art portfolios. Also, when you've looked at 3D work for a long time, sometimes you can just develop the eye and tell! Can you see the faceted edges around the shape? Does it look suspiciously overly polished with no attention to literally any details? Are they calling it 3D but posting a Midjourney SREF? I think some of the ones I've classified that are the most surprising are ones that try to create the vibe of N64 games, and I suspect people are either too young to know what N64 games actually look like or just forgot.Based on your experience running the Is This a 3D Model? page, could you please share a brief guide our readers can use to confidently tell whether a given project is truly 3D? What specific signs should we look out for to be sure?Is This a 3D Model?: We implement something called the SIP method (Get it? Like sipping tea? I didn't just make this up for this interview, I promise):Source: Who is posting it? Do they look like a 3D Artist? Do they have a portfolio? Or do they mostly post Midjourney images or 3-second video clips of people talking with robot voices and explosions?Investigate: Look at the image! Can you see weird AI artifacts that make no sense? Can you see faceted edges? Does it look like a consistent 3D model with a well-executed idea?Polygons: If all else fails, can you find a screenshot of the topology? It won't exist with AI images. And if you can, does it make any sense? Some people even make fake wireframes with AI, I've attached a great example of that below. While this may look like a 3D wireframe, if you look closely, the details don't make sense. Why is a simple cylindrical cup so messy? Why do the trucks on the shirt turn into a drawing? It's all because an AI Image generator made a JPG of a wireframe. How silly!Usually, using one or all of these techniques, you can determine pretty quickly if what you're looking at is a safe, lovely 3D model or gross, yucky AI.Regarding the digital art industry as a whole, who would you say are the worst offenders – be it AI developers, companies, individuals, art platforms, you name it – on the matter of AI?Is This a 3D Model?: A lot of companies have sadly succumbed to the AI fad, be it fearmongering or overhyping. The worst offenders by far are the companies developing these AI products. They often don't even pretend to be professional companies and do all sorts of weird things. There is one generative 3D company where the owner resorts to posting fake endorsement comments all over Reddit. Embarassing!The second worst are all the grifters on Twitter who just post "Hollywood is Dead Part 85" over and over again. If AI is so good, you all wouldn't need to post so much slop! For the Is This a 3D Model family personally, I have to say one of the biggest offenders is some guy who compared our account to nazis because I said "no" on one of their posts. Wild!AI is, unfortunately, everywhere, but artists are also everywhere. Seek out the many talented 2D and 3D Artists on all the platforms and fill your feed with them! The majority of artists don't use AI and for a good reason. Pretty soon, your feed will be full of lovely art and 3D models, and you'll have brief moments where you forget AI slop even exists!Lastly, what are your hopes for digital art going forward? How do you think the industry will look in, let's say, 5-10 years? What can we all do to combat the spread of generative AI?Is This a 3D Model?: I would like to end this on a message of hope. While a lot of jobs will be impacted in the short term, I think in 5-10 years, the limitations of AI tools will be much more well-known than they are today. I also think AI will plateau at a certain look and style that people are already getting sick of today. A lot of companies that rudely get rid of artists will quickly realize they got scammed by AI companies, and they still need those artists because AI will fall short in many ways. Plus, many companies simply won't want their video games or their commercials to look like the weird slop plaguing Facebook.The best thing we can do moving forward is to keep focusing on the skills that matter. Learn art fundamentals, drawing, sculpting, anatomy, color theory, and, of course, 3D modeling! Don't listen to "adapt or get left behind!" AI tools are designed for babies! If you spend your time grinding your art skills and developing your artistic eye, even if you are one day forced to use AI tools, you will be the most qualified to use them. Does anyone really think in 5-10 years, "prompt engineering skills" will still exist? Puh-LEASE. Using an AI is already as easy as googling, and it will just get easier. People will always want people who are competent and know what they're doing, and the best way you can do that is by showing you've got your own skills!Art is a historically challenging field for anyone. It always has been! The only way you'll make it is by working hard at it, challenging yourself, and not letting yourself get discouraged. I always recommend people to have backup plans and figure out what a viable career path is. This was important even before AI.I was one of those people who gave up on art jobs, I never thought I'd have one. Thought it was too competitive and focused on a different career entirely. But I kept doing 3D as a hobby because I LOVE POLYGONS. I would dedicate time every night to work in ZBrush for fun, and now I'm a professional 3D Artist! Part of why I run this account is that I know what it's like to be discouraged from pursuing art. And I know if I ever extinguished that flame, I wouldn't be living my dream right now. I hope one day in 5-10 years someone reading this today can say this motivated them to put in the time and effort to become an incredible artist, despite all the naysayers, and got one of those jobs that supposedly wasn't going to exist anymore!Is This a 3D Model, 3D ArtistInterview conducted by Theodore McKenzie Source: https://80.lv/articles/we-spoke-to-is-this-a-3d-model-about-ai-3d-modeling-the-goal-of-their-twitter-page/ #spoke #this #model #about #modeling #ampamp #the #goal #their #twitter #page

80.LV

We Spoke to Is This a 3D Model? About AI, 3D Modeling & The Goal of Their Twitter Page

Could you please share a few words about yourself and your artistic background?Is This a 3D Model?: I think the best word to describe myself is "Teapot," because that is what I am, but I'd also say I'm a "3D model lover," because I am also that. I am a self-taught professional 3D Artist, and I am most proficient in ZBrush and 3ds Max. Have I mentioned I love 3D models? I just think they're so neat!Back when the so-called "AI-boom" kicked off in mid-2022, many artists were initially optimistic about the concept, what was your reaction when the first text-to-image AIs started popping up?Is This a 3D Model?: My first reaction to the "AI-boom" was, "These are not 3D models, so who even cares?" But I tried many tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, and was consistently underwhelmed by the results. I found much better inspiration and ideas by looking up artists' work online. I've tried many times to "adapt AI into my workflow," but I often found it made my workflow worse, both quality and productivity-wise. So now I call it out for what it is – stinky!Were you among those whose opinion on generative artificial intelligence changed over time, or were you anti-AI from the beginning? When would you say most creators started to recognize the unfair practices and overall shady behavior of AI companies and their language models?Is This a 3D Model?: I always hated how companies collected people's work without permission, and I always laughed at AI bros who pretended to be fine artists because they typed a prompt! But in the beginning, I thought the tech had more promise and potential.As time went on, I tried it more and didn't see much value in it. To this day, there is very little it can actually help me with (and I still try). I also observed many instances of shady behavior from AI companies, they act very sus on Twitter. And can you believe, some of these gen-3D companies have the nerve to call a model "high quality" when it looks terrible? Like, c'mon man, have you looked at a 3D model at any point in the last few years? Totally embarrassing!I might be mistaken here, but I think the first instance of mass protests against AI took place in December 2022 with the "Say No to AI Images" movement on ArtStation. What were your thoughts as that protest unfolded? In your opinion, are such online campaigns effective or not?Is This a 3D Model?: I thought the protest was rad! I even uploaded a "No AI" Image on my personal portfolio when it happened. I don't know if banning AI entirely will ever be possible, but ArtStation was being a total butt and could have done a better job allowing users to filter AI out or report people who are misrepresenting their skill sets. It is a professional portfolio site after all.Let's talk about Is This a 3D Model?, when was the page created? What first inspired you to start it? What goal do you ultimately want to achieve with your work?Is This a 3D Model?: This Twitter page started as a joke about a year ago. Whenever I would post negative comments on AI on my main 3D art account, AI bros would show up in my comments with some weird Midjourney images and try to tell me "give up, bro, it's over for you!" However, because AI bros don't know much about art, technology, or, well, anything, I would politely inform them that what they posted was not a 3D model.Over time, this became very frequent for people to post "3D modeling workflows of the future," where the final result was not a 3D model. I decided someone needed to take a stand for all the poor, defenseless 3D models out there!As the page grew, I decided I wanted to use it more to highlight the great work 3D Artists are doing and trying to make more "yes" posts than "no" posts. I hope to call out a lot more of these bad workflows that AI accounts are trying to promote as "the future" and encourage more 3D Artists to stay on the course and learn valuable skills. There are a lot of forces discouraging people from creating art these days. But I truly think genAI is not as capable as it's being made out to be, and all this does is prevent more people from discovering the joy of creation. And that is lame!How do you make sure you're answering the "Is this a 3D model?" question correctly for dozens of projects each week?Is This a 3D Model?: It's actually a lot easier than you think in most cases! I usually check the source, if the poster has an art portfolio, pretty safe bet it's a 3D model – AI bros don't have art portfolios. Also, when you've looked at 3D work for a long time, sometimes you can just develop the eye and tell! Can you see the faceted edges around the shape? Does it look suspiciously overly polished with no attention to literally any details? Are they calling it 3D but posting a Midjourney SREF? I think some of the ones I've classified that are the most surprising are ones that try to create the vibe of N64 games, and I suspect people are either too young to know what N64 games actually look like or just forgot.Based on your experience running the Is This a 3D Model? page, could you please share a brief guide our readers can use to confidently tell whether a given project is truly 3D? What specific signs should we look out for to be sure?Is This a 3D Model?: We implement something called the SIP method (Get it? Like sipping tea? I didn't just make this up for this interview, I promise):Source: Who is posting it? Do they look like a 3D Artist? Do they have a portfolio? Or do they mostly post Midjourney images or 3-second video clips of people talking with robot voices and explosions?Investigate: Look at the image! Can you see weird AI artifacts that make no sense? Can you see faceted edges? Does it look like a consistent 3D model with a well-executed idea?Polygons: If all else fails, can you find a screenshot of the topology? It won't exist with AI images. And if you can, does it make any sense? Some people even make fake wireframes with AI, I've attached a great example of that below. While this may look like a 3D wireframe, if you look closely, the details don't make sense. Why is a simple cylindrical cup so messy? Why do the trucks on the shirt turn into a drawing? It's all because an AI Image generator made a JPG of a wireframe. How silly!Usually, using one or all of these techniques, you can determine pretty quickly if what you're looking at is a safe, lovely 3D model or gross, yucky AI.Regarding the digital art industry as a whole, who would you say are the worst offenders – be it AI developers, companies, individuals, art platforms, you name it – on the matter of AI?Is This a 3D Model?: A lot of companies have sadly succumbed to the AI fad, be it fearmongering or overhyping. The worst offenders by far are the companies developing these AI products. They often don't even pretend to be professional companies and do all sorts of weird things. There is one generative 3D company where the owner resorts to posting fake endorsement comments all over Reddit. Embarassing!The second worst are all the grifters on Twitter who just post "Hollywood is Dead Part 85" over and over again. If AI is so good, you all wouldn't need to post so much slop! For the Is This a 3D Model family personally, I have to say one of the biggest offenders is some guy who compared our account to nazis because I said "no" on one of their posts. Wild!AI is, unfortunately, everywhere, but artists are also everywhere. Seek out the many talented 2D and 3D Artists on all the platforms and fill your feed with them! The majority of artists don't use AI and for a good reason. Pretty soon, your feed will be full of lovely art and 3D models, and you'll have brief moments where you forget AI slop even exists!Lastly, what are your hopes for digital art going forward? How do you think the industry will look in, let's say, 5-10 years? What can we all do to combat the spread of generative AI?Is This a 3D Model?: I would like to end this on a message of hope. While a lot of jobs will be impacted in the short term, I think in 5-10 years, the limitations of AI tools will be much more well-known than they are today. I also think AI will plateau at a certain look and style that people are already getting sick of today. A lot of companies that rudely get rid of artists will quickly realize they got scammed by AI companies, and they still need those artists because AI will fall short in many ways. Plus, many companies simply won't want their video games or their commercials to look like the weird slop plaguing Facebook.The best thing we can do moving forward is to keep focusing on the skills that matter. Learn art fundamentals, drawing, sculpting, anatomy, color theory, and, of course, 3D modeling! Don't listen to "adapt or get left behind!" AI tools are designed for babies! If you spend your time grinding your art skills and developing your artistic eye, even if you are one day forced to use AI tools, you will be the most qualified to use them. Does anyone really think in 5-10 years, "prompt engineering skills" will still exist? Puh-LEASE. Using an AI is already as easy as googling, and it will just get easier. People will always want people who are competent and know what they're doing, and the best way you can do that is by showing you've got your own skills!Art is a historically challenging field for anyone. It always has been! The only way you'll make it is by working hard at it, challenging yourself, and not letting yourself get discouraged. I always recommend people to have backup plans and figure out what a viable career path is. This was important even before AI.I was one of those people who gave up on art jobs, I never thought I'd have one. Thought it was too competitive and focused on a different career entirely. But I kept doing 3D as a hobby because I LOVE POLYGONS. I would dedicate time every night to work in ZBrush for fun, and now I'm a professional 3D Artist! Part of why I run this account is that I know what it's like to be discouraged from pursuing art. And I know if I ever extinguished that flame, I wouldn't be living my dream right now. I hope one day in 5-10 years someone reading this today can say this motivated them to put in the time and effort to become an incredible artist, despite all the naysayers, and got one of those jobs that supposedly wasn't going to exist anymore!Is This a 3D Model, 3D ArtistInterview conducted by Theodore McKenzie

·106 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
NeowinFeed RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 23:49:49 ·

Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Here’s how it works.
Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service
David Uzondu
Neowin
·

May 13, 2025 15:36 EDT

NordVPN has launched a new graphical user interface for its Linux application.
This changes things quite a bit because before this, Linux users only had access to the command line interface (CLI).
While seasoned Linux users might not mind typing commands, it made the NordVPN app less approachable compared to the simple, clickable versions available on Windows or macOS.
Bringing a GUI to Linux gives users the ease of a visual interface alongside the powerful features the service is known for.
Now you can connect to servers, check settings, and manage your connection just by clicking, similar to how the app works on other desktop platforms.
NordVPN, over the years, has brought its service to lots of platforms like Apple TV and, more recently, Windows on ARM devices.
The announcement explains that the new Linux GUI is an evolution of their existing CLI app:
With this new GUI, you get the best of both worlds — all the security of the CLI version, now with an easy-to-use, visually engaging experience.
Existing features like Dedicated IP, Double VPN, Onion Over VPN, Kill Switch, and Threat Protection (via DNS filtering) are supported in the GUI.
You even get light and dark modes.
However, some advanced features like Meshnet are still only accessible through the CLI for now.
Don't worry if you rely on those; the CLI remains fully functional right alongside the new GUI.
Getting the new GUI is simple if you have installed NordVPN on Linux before.
It follows the same process as the CLI installation, but you just specify the GUI version.
You can install it with the following command in your terminal:
sh
The GUI is initially available via DEB and RPM packages, with a Snap version coming in the future.
Tags
Report a problem with article
Follow @NeowinFeed

Source: https://www.neowin.net/news/good-news-for-linux-users-nordvpn-now-offers-a-gui-for-its-service/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.neowin.net/news/good-news-for-linux-users-nordvpn-now-offers-a-gui-for-its-service/
#good #news #for #linux #users #nordvpn #now #offers #gui #its #service

Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service David Uzondu Neowin · May 13, 2025 15:36 EDT NordVPN has launched a new graphical user interface for its Linux application. This changes things quite a bit because before this, Linux users only had access to the command line interface (CLI). While seasoned Linux users might not mind typing commands, it made the NordVPN app less approachable compared to the simple, clickable versions available on Windows or macOS. Bringing a GUI to Linux gives users the ease of a visual interface alongside the powerful features the service is known for. Now you can connect to servers, check settings, and manage your connection just by clicking, similar to how the app works on other desktop platforms. NordVPN, over the years, has brought its service to lots of platforms like Apple TV and, more recently, Windows on ARM devices. The announcement explains that the new Linux GUI is an evolution of their existing CLI app: With this new GUI, you get the best of both worlds — all the security of the CLI version, now with an easy-to-use, visually engaging experience. Existing features like Dedicated IP, Double VPN, Onion Over VPN, Kill Switch, and Threat Protection (via DNS filtering) are supported in the GUI. You even get light and dark modes. However, some advanced features like Meshnet are still only accessible through the CLI for now. Don't worry if you rely on those; the CLI remains fully functional right alongside the new GUI. Getting the new GUI is simple if you have installed NordVPN on Linux before. It follows the same process as the CLI installation, but you just specify the GUI version. You can install it with the following command in your terminal: sh The GUI is initially available via DEB and RPM packages, with a Snap version coming in the future. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed Source: https://www.neowin.net/news/good-news-for-linux-users-nordvpn-now-offers-a-gui-for-its-service/ #good #news #for #linux #users #nordvpn #now #offers #gui #its #service

WWW.NEOWIN.NET

Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service David Uzondu Neowin · May 13, 2025 15:36 EDT NordVPN has launched a new graphical user interface for its Linux application. This changes things quite a bit because before this, Linux users only had access to the command line interface (CLI). While seasoned Linux users might not mind typing commands, it made the NordVPN app less approachable compared to the simple, clickable versions available on Windows or macOS. Bringing a GUI to Linux gives users the ease of a visual interface alongside the powerful features the service is known for. Now you can connect to servers, check settings, and manage your connection just by clicking, similar to how the app works on other desktop platforms. NordVPN, over the years, has brought its service to lots of platforms like Apple TV and, more recently, Windows on ARM devices. The announcement explains that the new Linux GUI is an evolution of their existing CLI app: With this new GUI, you get the best of both worlds — all the security of the CLI version, now with an easy-to-use, visually engaging experience. Existing features like Dedicated IP, Double VPN, Onion Over VPN, Kill Switch, and Threat Protection (via DNS filtering) are supported in the GUI. You even get light and dark modes. However, some advanced features like Meshnet are still only accessible through the CLI for now. Don't worry if you rely on those; the CLI remains fully functional right alongside the new GUI. Getting the new GUI is simple if you have installed NordVPN on Linux before. It follows the same process as the CLI installation, but you just specify the GUI version. You can install it with the following command in your terminal: sh The GUI is initially available via DEB and RPM packages, with a Snap version coming in the future. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed

·68 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
Business Insider RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 22:37:31 ·

See the US's presidential aircraft fleet that Trump wants to add to with a $400 million gift

President Donald Trump is considering using a Qatari Boeing 747-8 given as a gift as Air Force One while the new presidential jet faces delays.The ruling family of Qatar gifted the US president the $400 million luxury jumbo jet, and Trump said he would "never be one to turn down that kind of offer."The potential plane deal faced pushback from critics and even some Trump allies over security concerns and the legal and ethical issues associated with using a foreign-origin aircraft as Air Force One, the president's airborne command center.Besides Air Force One, the presidential fleet includes other fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft depending on the mission.
Presidential aircraft fleet
A VC-25A aircraft and a VH-3D Sea King helicopter taxi following former President Joe Biden's sendoff ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.
US Air Force photo by Hayden Hallman

Air Force One is a call sign that refers to any US Air Force aircraft transporting the president, though it is commonly recognized by its blue-and-white livery.The Air Force has two "specially configured" Boeing 747-200B jets that are primarily used as Air Force One.
The VC-25A aircraft is uniquely modified to serve as an airborne command-and-control center for the president, staff, and guests with the same level of safety and security as the White House.Other than the number of passengers it can carry, the main differences between the VC-25 and the standard Boeing 747 include more advanced electronic and communications equipment, a self-contained baggage loader, and the capability for in-flight refueling.The VC-25 also has a rest area and mini-galley for the aircrew, six passenger lavatories, and a compartment with medical supplies and equipment for minor in-flight emergencies.
Marine One
Nighthawk 46 arrives for the 46th president's send-off ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.
US Air Force photo by Hayden Hallman

For shorter distance trips, especially to and from the White House, the president flies in Marine One, which includes military helicopters like the VH-3D Sea King and the VH-60N White Hawk.In service for nearly five decades, both military helicopters are set to be phased out and fully replaced with modernized rotary-wing aircraft, the VH-92A.The next-generation Marine One is designed to be a militarized variant of the Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot.
Other aircraft
An 89th Airlift Wing C-40 and C-37 sit near UH-1N Iroquois helicopters and a C-17 Globemaster III at Joint Base Andrews.
US Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt.
Kevin Wallace/RELEASED

The presidential fleet also includes other fixed-wing aircraft besides the modified 747.
The C-32A, a modified Boeing 757-200, is better suited for smaller airports or low-profile missions.The C-40, based on the Boeing 737, can be used to fly the president but is more often used for Cabinet members or other VIP individuals.Based on General Dynamics' Gulfstream long-range business jets, the C-37 is used to transport high-ranking government and Defense Department officials for worldwide missions.
'Next Air Force One'
An artist rendering of the "Next Air Force One," the VC-25B, which will succeed the current Air Force One, VC-25A.
Courtesy rendering/US Air Force

The two planes currently being used as Air Force One have been in service for nearly four decades.
They are set to be replaced by a modernized variant dubbed the "Next Air Force One."Officially designated the VC-25B, the new presidential aircraft is set to feature "electrical power upgrades, a mission communication system, a medical facility, an executive interior, a self-defense system, and autonomous ground operations capabilities," according to an Air Force release.The two future VC-25B jets were initially scheduled to be fielded in 2024, but supply chain issues and shifting requirements could postpone their delivery to 2029.Facing pressure from the White House to have the new aircraft ready before Trump leaves office in January 2029, the Air Force and Boeing are aiming to have the new aircraft delivered by 2027, according to Darlene Costello, the Air Force's principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics.
A 'security nightmare'
US President Donald Trump's motorcade is parked next to a Qatari Boeing 747 on the tarmac of Palm Beach International Airport.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

An Air Force official told Air and Space Forces Magazine that the service is coordinating with the White House and Boeing "to further define the requirements and acceleration options while ensuring we provide a safe, secure, and reliable aircraft for the president."Trump has previously expressed his frustration with receiving the next-generation Air Force One, suggesting earlier this year that he may seek "alternatives, because it's taking Boeing too long."Despite the backlash, the president doubled down on his proposal to use the Qatari jet as Air Force One, saying he doesn't plan on using it after his term and would donate it to a future presidential library."I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane,'" Trump told reporters Monday.Though free in cost, there's still a major cost to overhaul and retrofit the plane with the strict security requirements needed to serve as Air Force One."Along with the obvious ethical and legal issues, a $400M gifted luxury jet is not Air Force One," US Rep.
Joe Courtney of Connecticut wrote on X.
"Retrofitting a plane from Qatar would create huge costs & a security nightmare that would impede the work underway to deliver the actual AF1 by 2027."

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-aircraft-trump-boeing-747-2025-5" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-aircraft-trump-boeing-747-2025-5
#see #the #us039s #presidential #aircraft #fleet #that #trump #wants #add #with #million #gift

See the US's presidential aircraft fleet that Trump wants to add to with a $400 million gift
President Donald Trump is considering using a Qatari Boeing 747-8 given as a gift as Air Force One while the new presidential jet faces delays.The ruling family of Qatar gifted the US president the $400 million luxury jumbo jet, and Trump said he would "never be one to turn down that kind of offer."The potential plane deal faced pushback from critics and even some Trump allies over security concerns and the legal and ethical issues associated with using a foreign-origin aircraft as Air Force One, the president's airborne command center.Besides Air Force One, the presidential fleet includes other fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft depending on the mission. Presidential aircraft fleet A VC-25A aircraft and a VH-3D Sea King helicopter taxi following former President Joe Biden's sendoff ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. US Air Force photo by Hayden Hallman Air Force One is a call sign that refers to any US Air Force aircraft transporting the president, though it is commonly recognized by its blue-and-white livery.The Air Force has two "specially configured" Boeing 747-200B jets that are primarily used as Air Force One. The VC-25A aircraft is uniquely modified to serve as an airborne command-and-control center for the president, staff, and guests with the same level of safety and security as the White House.Other than the number of passengers it can carry, the main differences between the VC-25 and the standard Boeing 747 include more advanced electronic and communications equipment, a self-contained baggage loader, and the capability for in-flight refueling.The VC-25 also has a rest area and mini-galley for the aircrew, six passenger lavatories, and a compartment with medical supplies and equipment for minor in-flight emergencies. Marine One Nighthawk 46 arrives for the 46th president's send-off ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. US Air Force photo by Hayden Hallman For shorter distance trips, especially to and from the White House, the president flies in Marine One, which includes military helicopters like the VH-3D Sea King and the VH-60N White Hawk.In service for nearly five decades, both military helicopters are set to be phased out and fully replaced with modernized rotary-wing aircraft, the VH-92A.The next-generation Marine One is designed to be a militarized variant of the Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot. Other aircraft An 89th Airlift Wing C-40 and C-37 sit near UH-1N Iroquois helicopters and a C-17 Globemaster III at Joint Base Andrews. US Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Wallace/RELEASED The presidential fleet also includes other fixed-wing aircraft besides the modified 747. The C-32A, a modified Boeing 757-200, is better suited for smaller airports or low-profile missions.The C-40, based on the Boeing 737, can be used to fly the president but is more often used for Cabinet members or other VIP individuals.Based on General Dynamics' Gulfstream long-range business jets, the C-37 is used to transport high-ranking government and Defense Department officials for worldwide missions. 'Next Air Force One' An artist rendering of the "Next Air Force One," the VC-25B, which will succeed the current Air Force One, VC-25A. Courtesy rendering/US Air Force The two planes currently being used as Air Force One have been in service for nearly four decades. They are set to be replaced by a modernized variant dubbed the "Next Air Force One."Officially designated the VC-25B, the new presidential aircraft is set to feature "electrical power upgrades, a mission communication system, a medical facility, an executive interior, a self-defense system, and autonomous ground operations capabilities," according to an Air Force release.The two future VC-25B jets were initially scheduled to be fielded in 2024, but supply chain issues and shifting requirements could postpone their delivery to 2029.Facing pressure from the White House to have the new aircraft ready before Trump leaves office in January 2029, the Air Force and Boeing are aiming to have the new aircraft delivered by 2027, according to Darlene Costello, the Air Force's principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics. A 'security nightmare' US President Donald Trump's motorcade is parked next to a Qatari Boeing 747 on the tarmac of Palm Beach International Airport. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images An Air Force official told Air and Space Forces Magazine that the service is coordinating with the White House and Boeing "to further define the requirements and acceleration options while ensuring we provide a safe, secure, and reliable aircraft for the president."Trump has previously expressed his frustration with receiving the next-generation Air Force One, suggesting earlier this year that he may seek "alternatives, because it's taking Boeing too long."Despite the backlash, the president doubled down on his proposal to use the Qatari jet as Air Force One, saying he doesn't plan on using it after his term and would donate it to a future presidential library."I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane,'" Trump told reporters Monday.Though free in cost, there's still a major cost to overhaul and retrofit the plane with the strict security requirements needed to serve as Air Force One."Along with the obvious ethical and legal issues, a $400M gifted luxury jet is not Air Force One," US Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut wrote on X. "Retrofitting a plane from Qatar would create huge costs & a security nightmare that would impede the work underway to deliver the actual AF1 by 2027." Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-aircraft-trump-boeing-747-2025-5 #see #the #us039s #presidential #aircraft #fleet #that #trump #wants #add #with #million #gift

WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM

See the US's presidential aircraft fleet that Trump wants to add to with a $400 million gift

President Donald Trump is considering using a Qatari Boeing 747-8 given as a gift as Air Force One while the new presidential jet faces delays.The ruling family of Qatar gifted the US president the $400 million luxury jumbo jet, and Trump said he would "never be one to turn down that kind of offer."The potential plane deal faced pushback from critics and even some Trump allies over security concerns and the legal and ethical issues associated with using a foreign-origin aircraft as Air Force One, the president's airborne command center.Besides Air Force One, the presidential fleet includes other fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft depending on the mission. Presidential aircraft fleet A VC-25A aircraft and a VH-3D Sea King helicopter taxi following former President Joe Biden's sendoff ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. US Air Force photo by Hayden Hallman Air Force One is a call sign that refers to any US Air Force aircraft transporting the president, though it is commonly recognized by its blue-and-white livery.The Air Force has two "specially configured" Boeing 747-200B jets that are primarily used as Air Force One. The VC-25A aircraft is uniquely modified to serve as an airborne command-and-control center for the president, staff, and guests with the same level of safety and security as the White House.Other than the number of passengers it can carry, the main differences between the VC-25 and the standard Boeing 747 include more advanced electronic and communications equipment, a self-contained baggage loader, and the capability for in-flight refueling.The VC-25 also has a rest area and mini-galley for the aircrew, six passenger lavatories, and a compartment with medical supplies and equipment for minor in-flight emergencies. Marine One Nighthawk 46 arrives for the 46th president's send-off ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. US Air Force photo by Hayden Hallman For shorter distance trips, especially to and from the White House, the president flies in Marine One, which includes military helicopters like the VH-3D Sea King and the VH-60N White Hawk.In service for nearly five decades, both military helicopters are set to be phased out and fully replaced with modernized rotary-wing aircraft, the VH-92A.The next-generation Marine One is designed to be a militarized variant of the Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot. Other aircraft An 89th Airlift Wing C-40 and C-37 sit near UH-1N Iroquois helicopters and a C-17 Globemaster III at Joint Base Andrews. US Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Wallace/RELEASED The presidential fleet also includes other fixed-wing aircraft besides the modified 747. The C-32A, a modified Boeing 757-200, is better suited for smaller airports or low-profile missions.The C-40, based on the Boeing 737, can be used to fly the president but is more often used for Cabinet members or other VIP individuals.Based on General Dynamics' Gulfstream long-range business jets, the C-37 is used to transport high-ranking government and Defense Department officials for worldwide missions. 'Next Air Force One' An artist rendering of the "Next Air Force One," the VC-25B, which will succeed the current Air Force One, VC-25A. Courtesy rendering/US Air Force The two planes currently being used as Air Force One have been in service for nearly four decades. They are set to be replaced by a modernized variant dubbed the "Next Air Force One."Officially designated the VC-25B, the new presidential aircraft is set to feature "electrical power upgrades, a mission communication system, a medical facility, an executive interior, a self-defense system, and autonomous ground operations capabilities," according to an Air Force release.The two future VC-25B jets were initially scheduled to be fielded in 2024, but supply chain issues and shifting requirements could postpone their delivery to 2029.Facing pressure from the White House to have the new aircraft ready before Trump leaves office in January 2029, the Air Force and Boeing are aiming to have the new aircraft delivered by 2027, according to Darlene Costello, the Air Force's principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics. A 'security nightmare' US President Donald Trump's motorcade is parked next to a Qatari Boeing 747 on the tarmac of Palm Beach International Airport. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images An Air Force official told Air and Space Forces Magazine that the service is coordinating with the White House and Boeing "to further define the requirements and acceleration options while ensuring we provide a safe, secure, and reliable aircraft for the president."Trump has previously expressed his frustration with receiving the next-generation Air Force One, suggesting earlier this year that he may seek "alternatives, because it's taking Boeing too long."Despite the backlash, the president doubled down on his proposal to use the Qatari jet as Air Force One, saying he doesn't plan on using it after his term and would donate it to a future presidential library."I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane,'" Trump told reporters Monday.Though free in cost, there's still a major cost to overhaul and retrofit the plane with the strict security requirements needed to serve as Air Force One."Along with the obvious ethical and legal issues, a $400M gifted luxury jet is not Air Force One," US Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut wrote on X. "Retrofitting a plane from Qatar would create huge costs & a security nightmare that would impede the work underway to deliver the actual AF1 by 2027."

·130 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
TechSpot RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 22:35:11 ·

Trivia: How much did the first CD recorder cost?

Choose wisely! The correct answer, the explanation, and an intriguing story await.

Correct Answer:
$20,000
A little background
Although it wasn't initially intended for the general public, the first commercial audio CD recorder made its debut in 1991 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas (later simply known as the NAB Show).
Japanese electronics maker Denon introduced the DN-770R, a pro-grade Compact Disc recorder designed to appeal to radio stations and audio production facilities.
These institutions could use the device to master demo discs, archive broadcasts, or distribute pre-recorded content to affiliate stations more efficiently than analog tape allowed.
According to an article written by The Syracuse Newspapers at the time, the Denon DN-770R was the first of its kind and was being tendered by the electronics maker for $20,000: "Denon DN-770R audio CD recorder debuts as the first of its kind...The CDs it produces can be played on any CD player."
However, the DN-770R was far from a plug-and-play solution.
Contemporary reports noted that to make the system fully functional, users also needed around $100,000 worth of ancillary equipment, such as digital audio processors, mastering consoles, and synchronization gear.
The cost of consumables added further barriers: blank CDs sold for approximately $35 to $40 each and could only be recorded once.
Unlike cassette tapes, which were cheap, reusable, and ubiquitous in both professional and consumer audio environments, CD-Rs were a costly and rigid medium at the time.
Despite the early limitations, the introduction of CD recording technology marked a turning point in digital audio.
Until then, the compact disc – first launched commercially in 1982 – had been a strictly read-only format used for music distribution.
The arrival of CD recording devices opened new possibilities for content creation and data storage.
Denon's innovation was clearly aimed at a niche audience and focused solely on audio playback.
The first modern CD burners were introduced between 1991 and 1992, when Sony, Philips, (the two creators of de CD format) and Yamaha each released CD recorders around the same time.
The Philips CDD521, Sony CDW-900E, and Yamaha YPR-201 were some of the entry-level professional models still sold for over $10,000.
Throughout the early 1990s, CD recorders remained out of reach for most consumers, however the landscape began to change rapidly in the years that followed.
In 1995, Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP SureStore 4020i, one of the first CD-R drives marketed to consumers.
Priced at $995, it was a significant milestone in making CD recording accessible to small businesses, hobbyists, and eventually the mass market.
The 4020i could write both data and audio CDs.
This democratization of CD recording paved the way for a surge in home media production during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
It enabled users to burn custom music CDs, back up data, and share multimedia content in a way that had previously required professional studio equipment.
As the price of CD-R drives and blank media continued to fall, the format became an essential part of personal computing and digital media until it was gradually overtaken by DVD, flash storage, and eventually cloud-based solutions.

Source: https://www.techspot.com/trivia/85-how-much-did-first-cd-recorder-cost/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.techspot.com/trivia/85-how-much-did-first-cd-recorder-cost/
#trivia #how #much #did #the #first #recorder #cost

Trivia: How much did the first CD recorder cost?
Choose wisely! The correct answer, the explanation, and an intriguing story await. Correct Answer: $20,000 A little background Although it wasn't initially intended for the general public, the first commercial audio CD recorder made its debut in 1991 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas (later simply known as the NAB Show). Japanese electronics maker Denon introduced the DN-770R, a pro-grade Compact Disc recorder designed to appeal to radio stations and audio production facilities. These institutions could use the device to master demo discs, archive broadcasts, or distribute pre-recorded content to affiliate stations more efficiently than analog tape allowed. According to an article written by The Syracuse Newspapers at the time, the Denon DN-770R was the first of its kind and was being tendered by the electronics maker for $20,000: "Denon DN-770R audio CD recorder debuts as the first of its kind...The CDs it produces can be played on any CD player." However, the DN-770R was far from a plug-and-play solution. Contemporary reports noted that to make the system fully functional, users also needed around $100,000 worth of ancillary equipment, such as digital audio processors, mastering consoles, and synchronization gear. The cost of consumables added further barriers: blank CDs sold for approximately $35 to $40 each and could only be recorded once. Unlike cassette tapes, which were cheap, reusable, and ubiquitous in both professional and consumer audio environments, CD-Rs were a costly and rigid medium at the time. Despite the early limitations, the introduction of CD recording technology marked a turning point in digital audio. Until then, the compact disc – first launched commercially in 1982 – had been a strictly read-only format used for music distribution. The arrival of CD recording devices opened new possibilities for content creation and data storage. Denon's innovation was clearly aimed at a niche audience and focused solely on audio playback. The first modern CD burners were introduced between 1991 and 1992, when Sony, Philips, (the two creators of de CD format) and Yamaha each released CD recorders around the same time. The Philips CDD521, Sony CDW-900E, and Yamaha YPR-201 were some of the entry-level professional models still sold for over $10,000. Throughout the early 1990s, CD recorders remained out of reach for most consumers, however the landscape began to change rapidly in the years that followed. In 1995, Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP SureStore 4020i, one of the first CD-R drives marketed to consumers. Priced at $995, it was a significant milestone in making CD recording accessible to small businesses, hobbyists, and eventually the mass market. The 4020i could write both data and audio CDs. This democratization of CD recording paved the way for a surge in home media production during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It enabled users to burn custom music CDs, back up data, and share multimedia content in a way that had previously required professional studio equipment. As the price of CD-R drives and blank media continued to fall, the format became an essential part of personal computing and digital media until it was gradually overtaken by DVD, flash storage, and eventually cloud-based solutions. Source: https://www.techspot.com/trivia/85-how-much-did-first-cd-recorder-cost/ #trivia #how #much #did #the #first #recorder #cost

WWW.TECHSPOT.COM

Trivia: How much did the first CD recorder cost?

Choose wisely! The correct answer, the explanation, and an intriguing story await. Correct Answer: $20,000 A little background Although it wasn't initially intended for the general public, the first commercial audio CD recorder made its debut in 1991 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas (later simply known as the NAB Show). Japanese electronics maker Denon introduced the DN-770R, a pro-grade Compact Disc recorder designed to appeal to radio stations and audio production facilities. These institutions could use the device to master demo discs, archive broadcasts, or distribute pre-recorded content to affiliate stations more efficiently than analog tape allowed. According to an article written by The Syracuse Newspapers at the time, the Denon DN-770R was the first of its kind and was being tendered by the electronics maker for $20,000: "Denon DN-770R audio CD recorder debuts as the first of its kind...The CDs it produces can be played on any CD player." However, the DN-770R was far from a plug-and-play solution. Contemporary reports noted that to make the system fully functional, users also needed around $100,000 worth of ancillary equipment, such as digital audio processors, mastering consoles, and synchronization gear. The cost of consumables added further barriers: blank CDs sold for approximately $35 to $40 each and could only be recorded once. Unlike cassette tapes, which were cheap, reusable, and ubiquitous in both professional and consumer audio environments, CD-Rs were a costly and rigid medium at the time. Despite the early limitations, the introduction of CD recording technology marked a turning point in digital audio. Until then, the compact disc – first launched commercially in 1982 – had been a strictly read-only format used for music distribution. The arrival of CD recording devices opened new possibilities for content creation and data storage. Denon's innovation was clearly aimed at a niche audience and focused solely on audio playback. The first modern CD burners were introduced between 1991 and 1992, when Sony, Philips, (the two creators of de CD format) and Yamaha each released CD recorders around the same time. The Philips CDD521, Sony CDW-900E, and Yamaha YPR-201 were some of the entry-level professional models still sold for over $10,000. Throughout the early 1990s, CD recorders remained out of reach for most consumers, however the landscape began to change rapidly in the years that followed. In 1995, Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP SureStore 4020i, one of the first CD-R drives marketed to consumers. Priced at $995, it was a significant milestone in making CD recording accessible to small businesses, hobbyists, and eventually the mass market. The 4020i could write both data and audio CDs. This democratization of CD recording paved the way for a surge in home media production during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It enabled users to burn custom music CDs, back up data, and share multimedia content in a way that had previously required professional studio equipment. As the price of CD-R drives and blank media continued to fall, the format became an essential part of personal computing and digital media until it was gradually overtaken by DVD, flash storage, and eventually cloud-based solutions.

·124 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
Scientific American RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 22:26:56 ·

How to Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’
May 12, 20257 min readPhysicists Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’ in the LaboratoryAstronomical amounts of energy could be extracted from black holes—to build a gigantic bomb, for example.
Experts have now implemented this principle in the laboratoryBy Manon Bischoff edited by Lee BillingsAn artist’s rendition of a black hole surrounded by a glowing accretion disc of material, the light from which is warped by the strong gravity.
In principle, energy could be harvested from a spinning black hole—and lab-based demonstrations are beginning to show physicists how this could occur.
Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesA bomb from a black hole would probably be the most destructive weapon in the universe.
Hypothetically, it could be created by wrapping one of these cosmic monsters in mirrors and waiting for it to go “boom.” Now Hendrik Ulbricht of the University of Southampton in England and his colleagues have demonstrated this principle, called superradiance, in the lab using a rotating metal cylinder instead of a black hole.
They submitted their results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, to the preprint server arXiv.org in late March.“This work shows that a ‘black hole bomb’ can actually be built in the laboratory,” says physicist Vitor Cardoso of the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, who was not involved in the study.
“It thus provides a solid basis for studying the entire physics of black holes.”Among the strangest objects in the universe, black holes pack so much mass into such a small space that they can radically warp spacetime.
A black hole’s gravitational pull is so strong that within a certain distance, nothing can escape it—not even light.
Theorist Roger Penrose is one of the pioneers who first studied black holes mathematically in detail—work for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020.
And amid that early work, he realized something surprising.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing.
By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.As Penrose knew, nothing stands still in our cosmos, not even black holes.
These massive monsters can spin, distorting spacetime in the process to form a kind of vortex.
An approaching object can be caught up in this vortex and spiral around the spinning black hole.
Even before the object passes the event horizon, beyond which not even light can escape gravity’s clutches, it reaches an area that physicists call the “ergosphere.” There the object would have to move faster than light to escape the rotation around the black hole.This ergosphere is a strange place, as Penrose noted, because objects there can possess negative energy.
A particle, for example, could split into two equal-but-opposite parts: one with negative energy and another with positive energy.
The former would then crash into the black hole (thus reducing the black hole’s energy), allowing the latter to escape the cosmic behemoth’s mighty grip.
An external observer would see a particle with a certain energy falling toward the black hole, only to apparently rebound outward with higher energy.
The black hole loses part of its rotational energy in the process.Black Hole Mining and SuperradianceIn principle, this would allow black holes to serve as gigantic sources of energy.
The process could not only imbue massive objects with more energy but also amplify electromagnetic waves in a phenomenon called superradiance.
This realization spurred some physicists to even imagine how advanced alien civilizations might use superradiance to generate energy.
But despite how relatively simple it is to describe on paper, no one knew how the signal of superradiance could be observed in real black holes.
Thus, the concept initially remained mere speculation.In 1971, however, two years after Penrose first described this phenomenon, physicist Yakov Zel’dovich published research that suggested that black holes aren’t the only objects that can be tapped as superradiant energy sources.
Any rotating, axially symmetrical body that absorbs electromagnetic radiation—such as a metal cylinder—can also exhibit superradiance under certain circumstances.
“Roughly speaking, the rotating absorber must rotate faster than the phase rotation of the incident radiation,” explains physicist Maria Chiara Braidotti of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who was involved in the latest work.
“If this condition is met, the absorption coefficient of the cylinder changes sign, thus amplifying the radiation.”Zel’dovich even went one step further by showing that superradiance could also take place in a vacuum and wouldn’t require an incoming electromagnetic wave.
That’s because on quantum scales the vacuum is anything but empty.
At any time, pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles can pop into existence, although they typically immediately annihilate each other again.
The phenomenon is known as vacuum fluctuation.
And these fluctuations could also be amplified in the vicinity of black holes —or a rotating metal cylinder.
“Stephen Hawking didn’t believe this idea and tried to refute it,” explains Marion Cromb, a researcher in Ulbricht’s group at the University of Southampton and a contributor to the new work.
“Not only did [Hawking] admit that Zel’dovich was right but he was also able to prove that even nonrotating black holes—without an ergosphere—spontaneously emit radiation.” This realization led to the discovery of Hawking radiation.According to the theoretical calculations, however, vacuum-based superradiance would be so faint that it could not be detected—unless, that is, it was somehow amplified.
As Zel’dovich described, the rotating body (black hole or metal cylinder) could be encased in mirrors to reflect the amplified radiation back to the rotating body, intensifying it over and over again.
As physicists William Press and Saul Teukolsky realized, so much energy could accumulate inside the mirrors that a gigantic explosion would occur.
Press and Teukolsky, therefore, referred to the setup as a black hole bomb.Depending on how much rotational energy the black hole or the metal cylinder has, a result other than a gigantic explosion is conceivable, though.
Cardoso and his colleagues described this possibility in a paper published in 2004 that showed how superradiance can cease if the black hole or metal cylinder loses too much angular momentum, thus defusing the explosion.Explosions in the LaboratoryUlbricht, Braidotti and their colleagues now wanted to test all these theoretical predictions in the laboratory.
“Originally, we thought it would be too difficult to observe the actual effect,” Braidotti says, nothing that a cylinder would have to rotate so fast that it would be destroyed in the process.
For this reason, she initially turned her attention to simpler systems in which superradiance can occur, including a setup with sound waves.
“The breakthrough was our noticing how to reduce the frequencies of electromagnetic fields in a very simple way so that they are smaller than the rotation frequencies of the metal cylinders,” Ulbricht explains.
The researchers only needed alternating current circuits for this.
“This finding opened up the possibility of conducting the experiment with electromagnetic waves,” Braidotti says.The team then turned its attention to electromagnetic superradiance.
“The experimental setup itself is quite simple: it consists of a rotating cylinder and the stator coils of a commercially available induction motor, combined with some capacitors and resistors,” Cromb says.
These devices were placed around the metal cylinder to generate a magnetic field inside it, which produced electromagnetic radiation.
At the same time, these devices also served as mirrors because they reflected the electromagnetic waves back toward the cylinder.“The biggest difficulty was that things were constantly exploding,” Cromb says.
“It was a balancing act between measuring a reasonable signal and overloading the system.
When the current through the coils became too high, the resistors in the circuit exceeded their rated voltage and burned out.
This interrupted the electrical circuit, thus destroying the ‘mirror.’”The researchers initially feared that these overloads would prevent any observation of superradiance.
But they were lucky.
“The reinforcement was large enough to overcome the loss and enter the area of instability,” Cromb says.
In fact, the team was able to show that the voltage in their structure increased exponentially, as predicted by Zel’dovich.
This underpins the researchers’ claim of the first-ever lab-based demonstration of an electromagnetic version of a black hole bomb.Note, however, that despite the martial connotations of the name, the “bomb” Ulbricht and his team built in their lab isn’t anything like a military-grade munition—or even a firecracker.
It would be quite useless as a weapon because its yield is only on the order of a millijoule of energy—that is, about the same amount involved in pressing a single key on a mechanical keyboard.Radiation-Free Superradiance?Next, Cromb and the team used their setup to study whether superradiance can also take place in a vacuum: Would an electromagnetic signal arise in their apparatus even without a magnetic field? Because the experiment took place at room temperature, thermal fluctuations overshadowed any vacuum fluctuations—meaning that the team could not directly detect the latter.
But that very same thermal background noise, the researchers realized, would spontaneously generate electromagnetic waves that could theoretically be amplified.And that is what they did manage to demonstrate: by choosing the appropriate rotation speed of the cylinder, they generated electromagnetic waves out of nowhere, so to speak.
Their work also confirmed the “defusing” scenario predicted by Cardoso: the metal cylinder was able to lose enough rotational energy to halt superradiance and stave off any explosion.According to Ulbricht, the most special thing about the work is its sheer simplicity.
“Many physicists think that all the simple experiments have already been done and that new insights into the fundamentals of physics can only come from very complex and very expensive projects,” he says.
“We proved the opposite.”“I didn’t expect that someone would be able to carry out such an experiment now,” Cardoso says.
On the day the new work was posted to arXiv.org, he recalls, he was giving a series of lectures at Bangalore University in India.
“I talked about superradiance and told the audience that no one had ever proven the electromagnetic superradiance or the bomb effect in the laboratory.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the paper shortly afterwards!”The new work could lead to deeper insights about black holes, Cardoso says.
“Superradiance is a little-known classical effect that plays an important role in the physics of black holes,” he explains.
For example, extremely light particles, such as axions or special types of photons considered candidates for dark matter, could absorb the rotational energy of black holes, amplifying their signals.
“This means that black holes can be used as gigantic particle detectors,” Cardoso explains.
With a lab-based black hole bomb, physicists could test such hypotheses more precisely than ever before.In the future, Ulbricht would like to carry out the quantum version of the experiment, which would entail observing the spontaneous generation of electromagnetic waves and their amplification from the vacuum.
Such direct experiments with vacuum fluctuations could open up completely new possibilities for the scientific community and the world, he says, potentially representing “a major breakthrough for physics.” Perhaps, Ulbricht muses, that work could allow researchers “in a few decades to understand whether it is possible in principle to generate energy from the vacuum—which would be an inexhaustible new source of energy.”
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-build-a-black-hole-bomb/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-build-a-black-hole-bomb/
#how #build #black #hole #bomb

How to Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’
May 12, 20257 min readPhysicists Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’ in the LaboratoryAstronomical amounts of energy could be extracted from black holes—to build a gigantic bomb, for example. Experts have now implemented this principle in the laboratoryBy Manon Bischoff edited by Lee BillingsAn artist’s rendition of a black hole surrounded by a glowing accretion disc of material, the light from which is warped by the strong gravity. In principle, energy could be harvested from a spinning black hole—and lab-based demonstrations are beginning to show physicists how this could occur. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesA bomb from a black hole would probably be the most destructive weapon in the universe. Hypothetically, it could be created by wrapping one of these cosmic monsters in mirrors and waiting for it to go “boom.” Now Hendrik Ulbricht of the University of Southampton in England and his colleagues have demonstrated this principle, called superradiance, in the lab using a rotating metal cylinder instead of a black hole. They submitted their results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, to the preprint server arXiv.org in late March.“This work shows that a ‘black hole bomb’ can actually be built in the laboratory,” says physicist Vitor Cardoso of the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, who was not involved in the study. “It thus provides a solid basis for studying the entire physics of black holes.”Among the strangest objects in the universe, black holes pack so much mass into such a small space that they can radically warp spacetime. A black hole’s gravitational pull is so strong that within a certain distance, nothing can escape it—not even light. Theorist Roger Penrose is one of the pioneers who first studied black holes mathematically in detail—work for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020. And amid that early work, he realized something surprising.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.As Penrose knew, nothing stands still in our cosmos, not even black holes. These massive monsters can spin, distorting spacetime in the process to form a kind of vortex. An approaching object can be caught up in this vortex and spiral around the spinning black hole. Even before the object passes the event horizon, beyond which not even light can escape gravity’s clutches, it reaches an area that physicists call the “ergosphere.” There the object would have to move faster than light to escape the rotation around the black hole.This ergosphere is a strange place, as Penrose noted, because objects there can possess negative energy. A particle, for example, could split into two equal-but-opposite parts: one with negative energy and another with positive energy. The former would then crash into the black hole (thus reducing the black hole’s energy), allowing the latter to escape the cosmic behemoth’s mighty grip. An external observer would see a particle with a certain energy falling toward the black hole, only to apparently rebound outward with higher energy. The black hole loses part of its rotational energy in the process.Black Hole Mining and SuperradianceIn principle, this would allow black holes to serve as gigantic sources of energy. The process could not only imbue massive objects with more energy but also amplify electromagnetic waves in a phenomenon called superradiance. This realization spurred some physicists to even imagine how advanced alien civilizations might use superradiance to generate energy. But despite how relatively simple it is to describe on paper, no one knew how the signal of superradiance could be observed in real black holes. Thus, the concept initially remained mere speculation.In 1971, however, two years after Penrose first described this phenomenon, physicist Yakov Zel’dovich published research that suggested that black holes aren’t the only objects that can be tapped as superradiant energy sources. Any rotating, axially symmetrical body that absorbs electromagnetic radiation—such as a metal cylinder—can also exhibit superradiance under certain circumstances. “Roughly speaking, the rotating absorber must rotate faster than the phase rotation of the incident radiation,” explains physicist Maria Chiara Braidotti of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who was involved in the latest work. “If this condition is met, the absorption coefficient of the cylinder changes sign, thus amplifying the radiation.”Zel’dovich even went one step further by showing that superradiance could also take place in a vacuum and wouldn’t require an incoming electromagnetic wave. That’s because on quantum scales the vacuum is anything but empty. At any time, pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles can pop into existence, although they typically immediately annihilate each other again. The phenomenon is known as vacuum fluctuation. And these fluctuations could also be amplified in the vicinity of black holes —or a rotating metal cylinder. “Stephen Hawking didn’t believe this idea and tried to refute it,” explains Marion Cromb, a researcher in Ulbricht’s group at the University of Southampton and a contributor to the new work. “Not only did [Hawking] admit that Zel’dovich was right but he was also able to prove that even nonrotating black holes—without an ergosphere—spontaneously emit radiation.” This realization led to the discovery of Hawking radiation.According to the theoretical calculations, however, vacuum-based superradiance would be so faint that it could not be detected—unless, that is, it was somehow amplified. As Zel’dovich described, the rotating body (black hole or metal cylinder) could be encased in mirrors to reflect the amplified radiation back to the rotating body, intensifying it over and over again. As physicists William Press and Saul Teukolsky realized, so much energy could accumulate inside the mirrors that a gigantic explosion would occur. Press and Teukolsky, therefore, referred to the setup as a black hole bomb.Depending on how much rotational energy the black hole or the metal cylinder has, a result other than a gigantic explosion is conceivable, though. Cardoso and his colleagues described this possibility in a paper published in 2004 that showed how superradiance can cease if the black hole or metal cylinder loses too much angular momentum, thus defusing the explosion.Explosions in the LaboratoryUlbricht, Braidotti and their colleagues now wanted to test all these theoretical predictions in the laboratory. “Originally, we thought it would be too difficult to observe the actual effect,” Braidotti says, nothing that a cylinder would have to rotate so fast that it would be destroyed in the process. For this reason, she initially turned her attention to simpler systems in which superradiance can occur, including a setup with sound waves. “The breakthrough was our noticing how to reduce the frequencies of electromagnetic fields in a very simple way so that they are smaller than the rotation frequencies of the metal cylinders,” Ulbricht explains. The researchers only needed alternating current circuits for this. “This finding opened up the possibility of conducting the experiment with electromagnetic waves,” Braidotti says.The team then turned its attention to electromagnetic superradiance. “The experimental setup itself is quite simple: it consists of a rotating cylinder and the stator coils of a commercially available induction motor, combined with some capacitors and resistors,” Cromb says. These devices were placed around the metal cylinder to generate a magnetic field inside it, which produced electromagnetic radiation. At the same time, these devices also served as mirrors because they reflected the electromagnetic waves back toward the cylinder.“The biggest difficulty was that things were constantly exploding,” Cromb says. “It was a balancing act between measuring a reasonable signal and overloading the system. When the current through the coils became too high, the resistors in the circuit exceeded their rated voltage and burned out. This interrupted the electrical circuit, thus destroying the ‘mirror.’”The researchers initially feared that these overloads would prevent any observation of superradiance. But they were lucky. “The reinforcement was large enough to overcome the loss and enter the area of instability,” Cromb says. In fact, the team was able to show that the voltage in their structure increased exponentially, as predicted by Zel’dovich. This underpins the researchers’ claim of the first-ever lab-based demonstration of an electromagnetic version of a black hole bomb.Note, however, that despite the martial connotations of the name, the “bomb” Ulbricht and his team built in their lab isn’t anything like a military-grade munition—or even a firecracker. It would be quite useless as a weapon because its yield is only on the order of a millijoule of energy—that is, about the same amount involved in pressing a single key on a mechanical keyboard.Radiation-Free Superradiance?Next, Cromb and the team used their setup to study whether superradiance can also take place in a vacuum: Would an electromagnetic signal arise in their apparatus even without a magnetic field? Because the experiment took place at room temperature, thermal fluctuations overshadowed any vacuum fluctuations—meaning that the team could not directly detect the latter. But that very same thermal background noise, the researchers realized, would spontaneously generate electromagnetic waves that could theoretically be amplified.And that is what they did manage to demonstrate: by choosing the appropriate rotation speed of the cylinder, they generated electromagnetic waves out of nowhere, so to speak. Their work also confirmed the “defusing” scenario predicted by Cardoso: the metal cylinder was able to lose enough rotational energy to halt superradiance and stave off any explosion.According to Ulbricht, the most special thing about the work is its sheer simplicity. “Many physicists think that all the simple experiments have already been done and that new insights into the fundamentals of physics can only come from very complex and very expensive projects,” he says. “We proved the opposite.”“I didn’t expect that someone would be able to carry out such an experiment now,” Cardoso says. On the day the new work was posted to arXiv.org, he recalls, he was giving a series of lectures at Bangalore University in India. “I talked about superradiance and told the audience that no one had ever proven the electromagnetic superradiance or the bomb effect in the laboratory. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the paper shortly afterwards!”The new work could lead to deeper insights about black holes, Cardoso says. “Superradiance is a little-known classical effect that plays an important role in the physics of black holes,” he explains. For example, extremely light particles, such as axions or special types of photons considered candidates for dark matter, could absorb the rotational energy of black holes, amplifying their signals. “This means that black holes can be used as gigantic particle detectors,” Cardoso explains. With a lab-based black hole bomb, physicists could test such hypotheses more precisely than ever before.In the future, Ulbricht would like to carry out the quantum version of the experiment, which would entail observing the spontaneous generation of electromagnetic waves and their amplification from the vacuum. Such direct experiments with vacuum fluctuations could open up completely new possibilities for the scientific community and the world, he says, potentially representing “a major breakthrough for physics.” Perhaps, Ulbricht muses, that work could allow researchers “in a few decades to understand whether it is possible in principle to generate energy from the vacuum—which would be an inexhaustible new source of energy.” Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-build-a-black-hole-bomb/ #how #build #black #hole #bomb

WWW.SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM

How to Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’

May 12, 20257 min readPhysicists Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’ in the LaboratoryAstronomical amounts of energy could be extracted from black holes—to build a gigantic bomb, for example. Experts have now implemented this principle in the laboratoryBy Manon Bischoff edited by Lee BillingsAn artist’s rendition of a black hole surrounded by a glowing accretion disc of material, the light from which is warped by the strong gravity. In principle, energy could be harvested from a spinning black hole—and lab-based demonstrations are beginning to show physicists how this could occur. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesA bomb from a black hole would probably be the most destructive weapon in the universe. Hypothetically, it could be created by wrapping one of these cosmic monsters in mirrors and waiting for it to go “boom.” Now Hendrik Ulbricht of the University of Southampton in England and his colleagues have demonstrated this principle, called superradiance, in the lab using a rotating metal cylinder instead of a black hole. They submitted their results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, to the preprint server arXiv.org in late March.“This work shows that a ‘black hole bomb’ can actually be built in the laboratory,” says physicist Vitor Cardoso of the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, who was not involved in the study. “It thus provides a solid basis for studying the entire physics of black holes.”Among the strangest objects in the universe, black holes pack so much mass into such a small space that they can radically warp spacetime. A black hole’s gravitational pull is so strong that within a certain distance, nothing can escape it—not even light. Theorist Roger Penrose is one of the pioneers who first studied black holes mathematically in detail—work for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020. And amid that early work, he realized something surprising.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.As Penrose knew, nothing stands still in our cosmos, not even black holes. These massive monsters can spin, distorting spacetime in the process to form a kind of vortex. An approaching object can be caught up in this vortex and spiral around the spinning black hole. Even before the object passes the event horizon, beyond which not even light can escape gravity’s clutches, it reaches an area that physicists call the “ergosphere.” There the object would have to move faster than light to escape the rotation around the black hole.This ergosphere is a strange place, as Penrose noted, because objects there can possess negative energy. A particle, for example, could split into two equal-but-opposite parts: one with negative energy and another with positive energy. The former would then crash into the black hole (thus reducing the black hole’s energy), allowing the latter to escape the cosmic behemoth’s mighty grip. An external observer would see a particle with a certain energy falling toward the black hole, only to apparently rebound outward with higher energy. The black hole loses part of its rotational energy in the process.Black Hole Mining and SuperradianceIn principle, this would allow black holes to serve as gigantic sources of energy. The process could not only imbue massive objects with more energy but also amplify electromagnetic waves in a phenomenon called superradiance. This realization spurred some physicists to even imagine how advanced alien civilizations might use superradiance to generate energy. But despite how relatively simple it is to describe on paper, no one knew how the signal of superradiance could be observed in real black holes. Thus, the concept initially remained mere speculation.In 1971, however, two years after Penrose first described this phenomenon, physicist Yakov Zel’dovich published research that suggested that black holes aren’t the only objects that can be tapped as superradiant energy sources. Any rotating, axially symmetrical body that absorbs electromagnetic radiation—such as a metal cylinder—can also exhibit superradiance under certain circumstances. “Roughly speaking, the rotating absorber must rotate faster than the phase rotation of the incident radiation,” explains physicist Maria Chiara Braidotti of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who was involved in the latest work. “If this condition is met, the absorption coefficient of the cylinder changes sign, thus amplifying the radiation.”Zel’dovich even went one step further by showing that superradiance could also take place in a vacuum and wouldn’t require an incoming electromagnetic wave. That’s because on quantum scales the vacuum is anything but empty. At any time, pairs of virtual particles and antiparticles can pop into existence, although they typically immediately annihilate each other again. The phenomenon is known as vacuum fluctuation. And these fluctuations could also be amplified in the vicinity of black holes —or a rotating metal cylinder. “Stephen Hawking didn’t believe this idea and tried to refute it,” explains Marion Cromb, a researcher in Ulbricht’s group at the University of Southampton and a contributor to the new work. “Not only did [Hawking] admit that Zel’dovich was right but he was also able to prove that even nonrotating black holes—without an ergosphere—spontaneously emit radiation.” This realization led to the discovery of Hawking radiation.According to the theoretical calculations, however, vacuum-based superradiance would be so faint that it could not be detected—unless, that is, it was somehow amplified. As Zel’dovich described, the rotating body (black hole or metal cylinder) could be encased in mirrors to reflect the amplified radiation back to the rotating body, intensifying it over and over again. As physicists William Press and Saul Teukolsky realized, so much energy could accumulate inside the mirrors that a gigantic explosion would occur. Press and Teukolsky, therefore, referred to the setup as a black hole bomb.Depending on how much rotational energy the black hole or the metal cylinder has, a result other than a gigantic explosion is conceivable, though. Cardoso and his colleagues described this possibility in a paper published in 2004 that showed how superradiance can cease if the black hole or metal cylinder loses too much angular momentum, thus defusing the explosion.Explosions in the LaboratoryUlbricht, Braidotti and their colleagues now wanted to test all these theoretical predictions in the laboratory. “Originally, we thought it would be too difficult to observe the actual effect,” Braidotti says, nothing that a cylinder would have to rotate so fast that it would be destroyed in the process. For this reason, she initially turned her attention to simpler systems in which superradiance can occur, including a setup with sound waves. “The breakthrough was our noticing how to reduce the frequencies of electromagnetic fields in a very simple way so that they are smaller than the rotation frequencies of the metal cylinders,” Ulbricht explains. The researchers only needed alternating current circuits for this. “This finding opened up the possibility of conducting the experiment with electromagnetic waves,” Braidotti says.The team then turned its attention to electromagnetic superradiance. “The experimental setup itself is quite simple: it consists of a rotating cylinder and the stator coils of a commercially available induction motor, combined with some capacitors and resistors,” Cromb says. These devices were placed around the metal cylinder to generate a magnetic field inside it, which produced electromagnetic radiation. At the same time, these devices also served as mirrors because they reflected the electromagnetic waves back toward the cylinder.“The biggest difficulty was that things were constantly exploding,” Cromb says. “It was a balancing act between measuring a reasonable signal and overloading the system. When the current through the coils became too high, the resistors in the circuit exceeded their rated voltage and burned out. This interrupted the electrical circuit, thus destroying the ‘mirror.’”The researchers initially feared that these overloads would prevent any observation of superradiance. But they were lucky. “The reinforcement was large enough to overcome the loss and enter the area of instability,” Cromb says. In fact, the team was able to show that the voltage in their structure increased exponentially, as predicted by Zel’dovich. This underpins the researchers’ claim of the first-ever lab-based demonstration of an electromagnetic version of a black hole bomb.Note, however, that despite the martial connotations of the name, the “bomb” Ulbricht and his team built in their lab isn’t anything like a military-grade munition—or even a firecracker. It would be quite useless as a weapon because its yield is only on the order of a millijoule of energy—that is, about the same amount involved in pressing a single key on a mechanical keyboard.Radiation-Free Superradiance?Next, Cromb and the team used their setup to study whether superradiance can also take place in a vacuum: Would an electromagnetic signal arise in their apparatus even without a magnetic field? Because the experiment took place at room temperature, thermal fluctuations overshadowed any vacuum fluctuations—meaning that the team could not directly detect the latter. But that very same thermal background noise, the researchers realized, would spontaneously generate electromagnetic waves that could theoretically be amplified.And that is what they did manage to demonstrate: by choosing the appropriate rotation speed of the cylinder, they generated electromagnetic waves out of nowhere, so to speak. Their work also confirmed the “defusing” scenario predicted by Cardoso: the metal cylinder was able to lose enough rotational energy to halt superradiance and stave off any explosion.According to Ulbricht, the most special thing about the work is its sheer simplicity. “Many physicists think that all the simple experiments have already been done and that new insights into the fundamentals of physics can only come from very complex and very expensive projects,” he says. “We proved the opposite.”“I didn’t expect that someone would be able to carry out such an experiment now,” Cardoso says. On the day the new work was posted to arXiv.org, he recalls, he was giving a series of lectures at Bangalore University in India. “I talked about superradiance and told the audience that no one had ever proven the electromagnetic superradiance or the bomb effect in the laboratory. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the paper shortly afterwards!”The new work could lead to deeper insights about black holes, Cardoso says. “Superradiance is a little-known classical effect that plays an important role in the physics of black holes,” he explains. For example, extremely light particles, such as axions or special types of photons considered candidates for dark matter, could absorb the rotational energy of black holes, amplifying their signals. “This means that black holes can be used as gigantic particle detectors,” Cardoso explains. With a lab-based black hole bomb, physicists could test such hypotheses more precisely than ever before.In the future, Ulbricht would like to carry out the quantum version of the experiment, which would entail observing the spontaneous generation of electromagnetic waves and their amplification from the vacuum. Such direct experiments with vacuum fluctuations could open up completely new possibilities for the scientific community and the world, he says, potentially representing “a major breakthrough for physics.” Perhaps, Ulbricht muses, that work could allow researchers “in a few decades to understand whether it is possible in principle to generate energy from the vacuum—which would be an inexhaustible new source of energy.”

·173 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
The Verge RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 22:22:09 ·

Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired
What initially appeared to be a power play by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take over the US Copyright Office by having Donald Trump remove the officials in charge has now backfired in spectacular fashion, as Trump’s acting replacements are known to be unfriendly — and even downright hostile — to the tech industry.
When Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden last week and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter over the weekend, it was seen as another move driven by the tech wing of the Republican Party — especially in light of the Copyright Office releasing a pre-publication report saying some kinds of generative AI training would not be considered fair use.
And when two men showed up at the Copyright Office inside the Library of Congress carrying letters purporting to appoint them to acting leadership positions, the DOGE takeover appeared to be complete.But those two men, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, were not DOGE at all, but instead approved by the MAGA wing of the Trump coalition that aims to put tech companies in check.
Perkins, now the supposed acting Register of Copyrights, is an eight-year veteran of the DOJ who served in the first Trump administration prosecuting fraud cases.
Nieves, the putative acting deputy librarian, is currently at the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, having previously been a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee, where he worked with Rep.
Jim Jordan on Big Tech investigations.
And Todd Blanche, the putative Acting Librarian of Congress who would be their boss, is a staunch Trump ally who represented him during his 2024 Manhattan criminal trial, and is now the Deputy Attorney General overseeing the DOJ’s side in the Google Search remedies case.
As one government affairs lobbyist told The Verge, Blanche is “there to stick it to tech.”The appointments of Blanche, Perkins, and Nieves are the result of furious lobbying over the weekend by the conservative content industry — as jealously protective of its copyrighted works as any other media companies — as well as populist Republican lawmakers and lawyers, all enraged that Silicon Valley had somehow persuaded Trump to fire someone who’d recently criticized AI companies.Sources speaking to The Verge are convinced the firings were a tech industry power play led by Elon Musk and David SacksThe populists were particularly rankled over Perlmutter’s removal from the helm of the Copyright Office, which happened the day after the agency released a pre-publication version of its report on the use of copyrighted material in training generative AI systems.
Sources speaking to The Verge are convinced the firings were a tech industry power play led by Elon Musk and “White House A.I.
& Crypto Czar” David Sacks, meant to eliminate any resistance to AI companies using copyrighted material to train models without having to pay for it.“You can say, well, we have to compete with China.
No, we don’t have to steal content to compete with China.
We don’t have slave labor to compete with China.
It’s a bullshit argument,” Mike Davis, the president of the Article III project and a key antitrust advisor to Trump, told The Verge.
“It’s not fair use under the copyright laws to take everyone’s content and have the big tech platforms monetize it.
That’s the opposite of fair use.
That’s a copyright infringement.”It’s the rare time that MAGA world is in agreement with the Democratic Party, which has roundly condemned the firings of Hayden and Perlmutter, and also zeroed in on the Musk-Sacks faction as the instigator.In a press release, Rep.
Joe Morelle (D-NY) characterized the hundred-plus-page report, the third installment of a series that the office has put out on copyright and artificial intelligence, as “refus[ing] to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.” Meanwhile, Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-OR), who told The Verge in an emailed statement that the president had no power to fire either Hayden or Perlmutter, said, “This all looks like another way to pay back Elon Musk and the other AI billionaires who backed Trump’s campaign.”The agency’s interpretation of what is or isn’t fair use does not have binding force on the courtsPublications like the AI report essentially lay out how the Copyright Office interprets copyright law.
But the agency’s interpretation of what is or isn’t fair use does not have binding force on the courts, so a report like this one functions mostly as expert commentary and reference material.
However, the entire AI industry is built on an expansive interpretation of copyright law that’s currently being tested in the courts — a situation that’s created dire need for exactly this sort of expert commentary.
The AI report applies the law of fair use to different kinds of AI training and usage, concluding that although outcomes might differ case by case, “making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries.” But far from advising drastic action in response to what the Office believes is rampant copyright infringement, the report instead states that “government intervention would be premature at this time,” given that licensing agreements are being made across various sectors.“Now tech bros are going to steal creators’ copyrights for AP profits”The unoffending nature of the report made Perlmutter’s removal all the more alarming to the MAGA ideologues in Trump’s inner circle, who saw this as a clear power grab, and were immediately vocal about it.
“Now tech bros are going to steal creators’ copyrights for AP profits,” Davis posted immediately on Truth Social, along with a link to a CBS story about Perlmutter’s firing.
“This is 100% unacceptable.” Curiously, just after Davis published the post, Trump reposted it, link and all.
None of Trump’s purported appointees have a particularly relevant background for their new jobs — but they are certainly not DOGE people and, generally speaking, are not the kind of people that generative AI proponents would want in the office.
And for now, this counts as a political win for the anti-tech populists, even if nothing further happens.
“Sometimes when you make a pitch to leadership to get rid of someone, the person who comes in after isn’t any better,” said a source familiar with the dynamic between the White House and both sides of the copyright issue.
“You don’t necessarily get to name the successor and fire someone, and so in many cases, I’ve seen people get pushed out the door and the replacement is even worse.”RelatedThe speed of the firings and subsequent power struggle, however, have underscored the brewing constitutional crisis sparked by Trump’s frequent firing of independent agency officials confirmed by Congress.
The Library of Congress firings, in particular, reach well past the theory of executive power claimed by the White House and into even murkier territory.
It’s legally dubious whether the Librarian of Congress can be removed by the president, as the Library, a legislative branch agency that significantly predates the administrative state, does not fit neatly into the modern-day legal framework of federal agencies.
(Of course, everything about the law is in upheaval even where agencies do fit the framework.) Regardless, the law clearly states that the Librarian of Congress — not the president — appoints the Register of Copyrights.At the moment, the Library of Congress has not received any direction from Congress on how to move forward.
The constitutional crisis — one of many across the federal government — remains ongoing.
Elon Musk and xAI did not respond to a request for comment.Additional reporting by Sarah Jeong.See More:
Source: https://www.theverge.com/politics/666179/maga-elon-musk-sacks-copyright-office-perlmutter" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.theverge.com/politics/666179/maga-elon-musk-sacks-copyright-office-perlmutter
#elon #musks #apparent #power #play #the #copyright #office #completely #backfired

Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired
What initially appeared to be a power play by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take over the US Copyright Office by having Donald Trump remove the officials in charge has now backfired in spectacular fashion, as Trump’s acting replacements are known to be unfriendly — and even downright hostile — to the tech industry. When Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden last week and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter over the weekend, it was seen as another move driven by the tech wing of the Republican Party — especially in light of the Copyright Office releasing a pre-publication report saying some kinds of generative AI training would not be considered fair use. And when two men showed up at the Copyright Office inside the Library of Congress carrying letters purporting to appoint them to acting leadership positions, the DOGE takeover appeared to be complete.But those two men, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, were not DOGE at all, but instead approved by the MAGA wing of the Trump coalition that aims to put tech companies in check. Perkins, now the supposed acting Register of Copyrights, is an eight-year veteran of the DOJ who served in the first Trump administration prosecuting fraud cases. Nieves, the putative acting deputy librarian, is currently at the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, having previously been a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee, where he worked with Rep. Jim Jordan on Big Tech investigations. And Todd Blanche, the putative Acting Librarian of Congress who would be their boss, is a staunch Trump ally who represented him during his 2024 Manhattan criminal trial, and is now the Deputy Attorney General overseeing the DOJ’s side in the Google Search remedies case. As one government affairs lobbyist told The Verge, Blanche is “there to stick it to tech.”The appointments of Blanche, Perkins, and Nieves are the result of furious lobbying over the weekend by the conservative content industry — as jealously protective of its copyrighted works as any other media companies — as well as populist Republican lawmakers and lawyers, all enraged that Silicon Valley had somehow persuaded Trump to fire someone who’d recently criticized AI companies.Sources speaking to The Verge are convinced the firings were a tech industry power play led by Elon Musk and David SacksThe populists were particularly rankled over Perlmutter’s removal from the helm of the Copyright Office, which happened the day after the agency released a pre-publication version of its report on the use of copyrighted material in training generative AI systems. Sources speaking to The Verge are convinced the firings were a tech industry power play led by Elon Musk and “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar” David Sacks, meant to eliminate any resistance to AI companies using copyrighted material to train models without having to pay for it.“You can say, well, we have to compete with China. No, we don’t have to steal content to compete with China. We don’t have slave labor to compete with China. It’s a bullshit argument,” Mike Davis, the president of the Article III project and a key antitrust advisor to Trump, told The Verge. “It’s not fair use under the copyright laws to take everyone’s content and have the big tech platforms monetize it. That’s the opposite of fair use. That’s a copyright infringement.”It’s the rare time that MAGA world is in agreement with the Democratic Party, which has roundly condemned the firings of Hayden and Perlmutter, and also zeroed in on the Musk-Sacks faction as the instigator.In a press release, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) characterized the hundred-plus-page report, the third installment of a series that the office has put out on copyright and artificial intelligence, as “refus[ing] to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.” Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who told The Verge in an emailed statement that the president had no power to fire either Hayden or Perlmutter, said, “This all looks like another way to pay back Elon Musk and the other AI billionaires who backed Trump’s campaign.”The agency’s interpretation of what is or isn’t fair use does not have binding force on the courtsPublications like the AI report essentially lay out how the Copyright Office interprets copyright law. But the agency’s interpretation of what is or isn’t fair use does not have binding force on the courts, so a report like this one functions mostly as expert commentary and reference material. However, the entire AI industry is built on an expansive interpretation of copyright law that’s currently being tested in the courts — a situation that’s created dire need for exactly this sort of expert commentary. The AI report applies the law of fair use to different kinds of AI training and usage, concluding that although outcomes might differ case by case, “making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries.” But far from advising drastic action in response to what the Office believes is rampant copyright infringement, the report instead states that “government intervention would be premature at this time,” given that licensing agreements are being made across various sectors.“Now tech bros are going to steal creators’ copyrights for AP profits”The unoffending nature of the report made Perlmutter’s removal all the more alarming to the MAGA ideologues in Trump’s inner circle, who saw this as a clear power grab, and were immediately vocal about it. “Now tech bros are going to steal creators’ copyrights for AP profits,” Davis posted immediately on Truth Social, along with a link to a CBS story about Perlmutter’s firing. “This is 100% unacceptable.” Curiously, just after Davis published the post, Trump reposted it, link and all. None of Trump’s purported appointees have a particularly relevant background for their new jobs — but they are certainly not DOGE people and, generally speaking, are not the kind of people that generative AI proponents would want in the office. And for now, this counts as a political win for the anti-tech populists, even if nothing further happens. “Sometimes when you make a pitch to leadership to get rid of someone, the person who comes in after isn’t any better,” said a source familiar with the dynamic between the White House and both sides of the copyright issue. “You don’t necessarily get to name the successor and fire someone, and so in many cases, I’ve seen people get pushed out the door and the replacement is even worse.”RelatedThe speed of the firings and subsequent power struggle, however, have underscored the brewing constitutional crisis sparked by Trump’s frequent firing of independent agency officials confirmed by Congress. The Library of Congress firings, in particular, reach well past the theory of executive power claimed by the White House and into even murkier territory. It’s legally dubious whether the Librarian of Congress can be removed by the president, as the Library, a legislative branch agency that significantly predates the administrative state, does not fit neatly into the modern-day legal framework of federal agencies. (Of course, everything about the law is in upheaval even where agencies do fit the framework.) Regardless, the law clearly states that the Librarian of Congress — not the president — appoints the Register of Copyrights.At the moment, the Library of Congress has not received any direction from Congress on how to move forward. The constitutional crisis — one of many across the federal government — remains ongoing. Elon Musk and xAI did not respond to a request for comment.Additional reporting by Sarah Jeong.See More: Source: https://www.theverge.com/politics/666179/maga-elon-musk-sacks-copyright-office-perlmutter #elon #musks #apparent #power #play #the #copyright #office #completely #backfired

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired

What initially appeared to be a power play by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take over the US Copyright Office by having Donald Trump remove the officials in charge has now backfired in spectacular fashion, as Trump’s acting replacements are known to be unfriendly — and even downright hostile — to the tech industry. When Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden last week and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter over the weekend, it was seen as another move driven by the tech wing of the Republican Party — especially in light of the Copyright Office releasing a pre-publication report saying some kinds of generative AI training would not be considered fair use. And when two men showed up at the Copyright Office inside the Library of Congress carrying letters purporting to appoint them to acting leadership positions, the DOGE takeover appeared to be complete.But those two men, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, were not DOGE at all, but instead approved by the MAGA wing of the Trump coalition that aims to put tech companies in check. Perkins, now the supposed acting Register of Copyrights, is an eight-year veteran of the DOJ who served in the first Trump administration prosecuting fraud cases. Nieves, the putative acting deputy librarian, is currently at the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, having previously been a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee, where he worked with Rep. Jim Jordan on Big Tech investigations. And Todd Blanche, the putative Acting Librarian of Congress who would be their boss, is a staunch Trump ally who represented him during his 2024 Manhattan criminal trial, and is now the Deputy Attorney General overseeing the DOJ’s side in the Google Search remedies case. As one government affairs lobbyist told The Verge, Blanche is “there to stick it to tech.”The appointments of Blanche, Perkins, and Nieves are the result of furious lobbying over the weekend by the conservative content industry — as jealously protective of its copyrighted works as any other media companies — as well as populist Republican lawmakers and lawyers, all enraged that Silicon Valley had somehow persuaded Trump to fire someone who’d recently criticized AI companies.Sources speaking to The Verge are convinced the firings were a tech industry power play led by Elon Musk and David SacksThe populists were particularly rankled over Perlmutter’s removal from the helm of the Copyright Office, which happened the day after the agency released a pre-publication version of its report on the use of copyrighted material in training generative AI systems. Sources speaking to The Verge are convinced the firings were a tech industry power play led by Elon Musk and “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar” David Sacks, meant to eliminate any resistance to AI companies using copyrighted material to train models without having to pay for it.“You can say, well, we have to compete with China. No, we don’t have to steal content to compete with China. We don’t have slave labor to compete with China. It’s a bullshit argument,” Mike Davis, the president of the Article III project and a key antitrust advisor to Trump, told The Verge. “It’s not fair use under the copyright laws to take everyone’s content and have the big tech platforms monetize it. That’s the opposite of fair use. That’s a copyright infringement.”It’s the rare time that MAGA world is in agreement with the Democratic Party, which has roundly condemned the firings of Hayden and Perlmutter, and also zeroed in on the Musk-Sacks faction as the instigator.In a press release, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) characterized the hundred-plus-page report, the third installment of a series that the office has put out on copyright and artificial intelligence, as “refus[ing] to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.” Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who told The Verge in an emailed statement that the president had no power to fire either Hayden or Perlmutter, said, “This all looks like another way to pay back Elon Musk and the other AI billionaires who backed Trump’s campaign.”The agency’s interpretation of what is or isn’t fair use does not have binding force on the courtsPublications like the AI report essentially lay out how the Copyright Office interprets copyright law. But the agency’s interpretation of what is or isn’t fair use does not have binding force on the courts, so a report like this one functions mostly as expert commentary and reference material. However, the entire AI industry is built on an expansive interpretation of copyright law that’s currently being tested in the courts — a situation that’s created dire need for exactly this sort of expert commentary. The AI report applies the law of fair use to different kinds of AI training and usage, concluding that although outcomes might differ case by case, “making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries.” But far from advising drastic action in response to what the Office believes is rampant copyright infringement, the report instead states that “government intervention would be premature at this time,” given that licensing agreements are being made across various sectors.“Now tech bros are going to steal creators’ copyrights for AP profits”The unoffending nature of the report made Perlmutter’s removal all the more alarming to the MAGA ideologues in Trump’s inner circle, who saw this as a clear power grab, and were immediately vocal about it. “Now tech bros are going to steal creators’ copyrights for AP profits,” Davis posted immediately on Truth Social, along with a link to a CBS story about Perlmutter’s firing. “This is 100% unacceptable.” Curiously, just after Davis published the post, Trump reposted it, link and all. None of Trump’s purported appointees have a particularly relevant background for their new jobs — but they are certainly not DOGE people and, generally speaking, are not the kind of people that generative AI proponents would want in the office. And for now, this counts as a political win for the anti-tech populists, even if nothing further happens. “Sometimes when you make a pitch to leadership to get rid of someone, the person who comes in after isn’t any better,” said a source familiar with the dynamic between the White House and both sides of the copyright issue. “You don’t necessarily get to name the successor and fire someone, and so in many cases, I’ve seen people get pushed out the door and the replacement is even worse.”RelatedThe speed of the firings and subsequent power struggle, however, have underscored the brewing constitutional crisis sparked by Trump’s frequent firing of independent agency officials confirmed by Congress. The Library of Congress firings, in particular, reach well past the theory of executive power claimed by the White House and into even murkier territory. It’s legally dubious whether the Librarian of Congress can be removed by the president, as the Library, a legislative branch agency that significantly predates the administrative state, does not fit neatly into the modern-day legal framework of federal agencies. (Of course, everything about the law is in upheaval even where agencies do fit the framework.) Regardless, the law clearly states that the Librarian of Congress — not the president — appoints the Register of Copyrights.At the moment, the Library of Congress has not received any direction from Congress on how to move forward. The constitutional crisis — one of many across the federal government — remains ongoing. Elon Musk and xAI did not respond to a request for comment.Additional reporting by Sarah Jeong.See More:

·121 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
Smithsonian Magazine RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 22:21:18 ·

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species
Today, tegus are considered invasive creatures in Florida, but a new paper suggests they’ve lived in the southeastern United States at least once before—millions of years ago

Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) were brought to the United States in the 1990s by exotic pet traders.
They've since proliferated in the wild and been deemed an invasive species.
Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0
Years ago, Jason Bourque was digging through storage at the Florida Museum of Natural History when he came across a mysterious vertebra from an unknown animal.
He returned to the fossil again and again, trying to figure out which creature it had once belonged to, but he kept coming up empty.
Now, Bourque finally has an answer.
The half-inch-wide bone likely came from a previously unknown, extinct species of lizard known as a tegu, according to a statement from the museum.
Today, tegus in Florida are invasive, having been introduced from South America.
But the discovery suggests a similar reptile had prehistoric roots in the region.
Bourque, a fossil preparator in the Florida Museum’s vertebrate paleontology division, and his colleague Edward Stanley, who directs the museum’s digital imaging laboratory, described the new species in a paper published last month in the Journal of Paleontology.They named the creature Wautaugategu formidusi.
“Wautauga” comes from the name of a forest located near where the fossil was initially unearthed in the early 2000s, according to the statement.
It was discovered by workers at the Gragg Mine, a fuller’s earth clay mine located just north of the Florida border in southwest Georgia, right before the mine closed.
“Formidus,” meanwhile, is the Latin word for “warm.” This part of the name is a nod to the particularly warm period in which the lizard lived, called the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum.
At that time, between roughly 15 million and 17 million years ago, sea levels were higher than they are now, and most of Florida was underwater.
The historic coastline, for example, could have been in north Florida, not far from where the fossil was discovered.
Because modern tegus are strong swimmers, the researchers suspect W.
formidusi may have swum from its native South America to the present-day southeastern United States, per the statement.
But after that warm period ended and temperatures began to plummet, the cold-blooded W.
formidusi likely struggled to reproduce.
Eventually, the species died out completely.
“We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event,” Bourque says in the statement.
“It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period.”
Based on the lack of fossils, it appears W.
formidusi only enjoyed a brief stay in North America.
But Bourque hopes to visit the Florida-Georgia border to search for more W.
formidusi fossils, which might offer further insights into the creature’s sojourn.
Tegus are terrestrial lizards that hail from South America.
But roughly three decades ago, exotic pet traders began bringing Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) to the United States.
Eventually, though, the pet lizards either escaped or were released into the wild, where they established breeding populations and quickly multiplied.
Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly five feet long and weigh up to ten pounds.
They’re problematic because they feast on the eggs and hatchlings of many different native creatures, including some that are threatened or endangered, like gopher tortoises.
In Florida, they’re now considered an invasive species and, as of 2021, it’s illegal to own, breed or sell them (though existing pet tegus are allowed to live out the rest of their lives in captivity, with a permit).

A reptile rescuer holds an Argentine black and white tegu at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Brighton, England, in 2015.
The animals are kept as exotic pets and became invasive in Florida after being introduced to its environment.

Carl Court / Getty Images
The newly identified fossil adds an earlier chapter to this story.
The findings suggest tegus have lived in Florida at least once before, millions of years ago, though any relation between the two species isn’t clear.
Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue perfecting the novel technique they used to identify the fossil.
First, they took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the vertebra to create a detailed, 3D image.
Then, they carefully measured and noted the location of any “landmarks” on the image—things like holes, bumps, ridges and grooves.
Finally, they used artificial intelligence to compare the 3D image with more than 100 other 3D images of lizard vertebrae in an online database.
The machine learning technique helped them identify the creature as a tegu and even located the vertebra’s original position in the middle of the lizard’s spine.
This method, the researchers say, speeds up the identification of fossils, a process that typically relies on the time and specialized knowledge of experienced paleontologists.
“There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted, because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley says in the statement.
“This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting [to] see where it goes from here.”
Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-fossil-found-in-museum-storage-turned-out-to-be-a-new-extinct-lizard-species-180986618/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-fossil-found-in-museum-storage-turned-out-to-be-a-new-extinct-lizard-species-180986618/
#mysterious #fossil #found #museum #storage #turned #out #new #extinct #lizard #species

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species
Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species Today, tegus are considered invasive creatures in Florida, but a new paper suggests they’ve lived in the southeastern United States at least once before—millions of years ago Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) were brought to the United States in the 1990s by exotic pet traders. They've since proliferated in the wild and been deemed an invasive species. Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 Years ago, Jason Bourque was digging through storage at the Florida Museum of Natural History when he came across a mysterious vertebra from an unknown animal. He returned to the fossil again and again, trying to figure out which creature it had once belonged to, but he kept coming up empty. Now, Bourque finally has an answer. The half-inch-wide bone likely came from a previously unknown, extinct species of lizard known as a tegu, according to a statement from the museum. Today, tegus in Florida are invasive, having been introduced from South America. But the discovery suggests a similar reptile had prehistoric roots in the region. Bourque, a fossil preparator in the Florida Museum’s vertebrate paleontology division, and his colleague Edward Stanley, who directs the museum’s digital imaging laboratory, described the new species in a paper published last month in the Journal of Paleontology.They named the creature Wautaugategu formidusi. “Wautauga” comes from the name of a forest located near where the fossil was initially unearthed in the early 2000s, according to the statement. It was discovered by workers at the Gragg Mine, a fuller’s earth clay mine located just north of the Florida border in southwest Georgia, right before the mine closed. “Formidus,” meanwhile, is the Latin word for “warm.” This part of the name is a nod to the particularly warm period in which the lizard lived, called the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. At that time, between roughly 15 million and 17 million years ago, sea levels were higher than they are now, and most of Florida was underwater. The historic coastline, for example, could have been in north Florida, not far from where the fossil was discovered. Because modern tegus are strong swimmers, the researchers suspect W. formidusi may have swum from its native South America to the present-day southeastern United States, per the statement. But after that warm period ended and temperatures began to plummet, the cold-blooded W. formidusi likely struggled to reproduce. Eventually, the species died out completely. “We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event,” Bourque says in the statement. “It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period.” Based on the lack of fossils, it appears W. formidusi only enjoyed a brief stay in North America. But Bourque hopes to visit the Florida-Georgia border to search for more W. formidusi fossils, which might offer further insights into the creature’s sojourn. Tegus are terrestrial lizards that hail from South America. But roughly three decades ago, exotic pet traders began bringing Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) to the United States. Eventually, though, the pet lizards either escaped or were released into the wild, where they established breeding populations and quickly multiplied. Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly five feet long and weigh up to ten pounds. They’re problematic because they feast on the eggs and hatchlings of many different native creatures, including some that are threatened or endangered, like gopher tortoises. In Florida, they’re now considered an invasive species and, as of 2021, it’s illegal to own, breed or sell them (though existing pet tegus are allowed to live out the rest of their lives in captivity, with a permit). A reptile rescuer holds an Argentine black and white tegu at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Brighton, England, in 2015. The animals are kept as exotic pets and became invasive in Florida after being introduced to its environment. Carl Court / Getty Images The newly identified fossil adds an earlier chapter to this story. The findings suggest tegus have lived in Florida at least once before, millions of years ago, though any relation between the two species isn’t clear. Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue perfecting the novel technique they used to identify the fossil. First, they took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the vertebra to create a detailed, 3D image. Then, they carefully measured and noted the location of any “landmarks” on the image—things like holes, bumps, ridges and grooves. Finally, they used artificial intelligence to compare the 3D image with more than 100 other 3D images of lizard vertebrae in an online database. The machine learning technique helped them identify the creature as a tegu and even located the vertebra’s original position in the middle of the lizard’s spine. This method, the researchers say, speeds up the identification of fossils, a process that typically relies on the time and specialized knowledge of experienced paleontologists. “There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted, because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley says in the statement. “This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting [to] see where it goes from here.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-fossil-found-in-museum-storage-turned-out-to-be-a-new-extinct-lizard-species-180986618/ #mysterious #fossil #found #museum #storage #turned #out #new #extinct #lizard #species

WWW.SMITHSONIANMAG.COM

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species Today, tegus are considered invasive creatures in Florida, but a new paper suggests they’ve lived in the southeastern United States at least once before—millions of years ago Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) were brought to the United States in the 1990s by exotic pet traders. They've since proliferated in the wild and been deemed an invasive species. Bernard Dupont via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 Years ago, Jason Bourque was digging through storage at the Florida Museum of Natural History when he came across a mysterious vertebra from an unknown animal. He returned to the fossil again and again, trying to figure out which creature it had once belonged to, but he kept coming up empty. Now, Bourque finally has an answer. The half-inch-wide bone likely came from a previously unknown, extinct species of lizard known as a tegu, according to a statement from the museum. Today, tegus in Florida are invasive, having been introduced from South America. But the discovery suggests a similar reptile had prehistoric roots in the region. Bourque, a fossil preparator in the Florida Museum’s vertebrate paleontology division, and his colleague Edward Stanley, who directs the museum’s digital imaging laboratory, described the new species in a paper published last month in the Journal of Paleontology.They named the creature Wautaugategu formidusi. “Wautauga” comes from the name of a forest located near where the fossil was initially unearthed in the early 2000s, according to the statement. It was discovered by workers at the Gragg Mine, a fuller’s earth clay mine located just north of the Florida border in southwest Georgia, right before the mine closed. “Formidus,” meanwhile, is the Latin word for “warm.” This part of the name is a nod to the particularly warm period in which the lizard lived, called the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. At that time, between roughly 15 million and 17 million years ago, sea levels were higher than they are now, and most of Florida was underwater. The historic coastline, for example, could have been in north Florida, not far from where the fossil was discovered. Because modern tegus are strong swimmers, the researchers suspect W. formidusi may have swum from its native South America to the present-day southeastern United States, per the statement. But after that warm period ended and temperatures began to plummet, the cold-blooded W. formidusi likely struggled to reproduce. Eventually, the species died out completely. “We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event,” Bourque says in the statement. “It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period.” Based on the lack of fossils, it appears W. formidusi only enjoyed a brief stay in North America. But Bourque hopes to visit the Florida-Georgia border to search for more W. formidusi fossils, which might offer further insights into the creature’s sojourn. Tegus are terrestrial lizards that hail from South America. But roughly three decades ago, exotic pet traders began bringing Argentine black and white tegus (Salvator merianae) to the United States. Eventually, though, the pet lizards either escaped or were released into the wild, where they established breeding populations and quickly multiplied. Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly five feet long and weigh up to ten pounds. They’re problematic because they feast on the eggs and hatchlings of many different native creatures, including some that are threatened or endangered, like gopher tortoises. In Florida, they’re now considered an invasive species and, as of 2021, it’s illegal to own, breed or sell them (though existing pet tegus are allowed to live out the rest of their lives in captivity, with a permit). A reptile rescuer holds an Argentine black and white tegu at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Brighton, England, in 2015. The animals are kept as exotic pets and became invasive in Florida after being introduced to its environment. Carl Court / Getty Images The newly identified fossil adds an earlier chapter to this story. The findings suggest tegus have lived in Florida at least once before, millions of years ago, though any relation between the two species isn’t clear. Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue perfecting the novel technique they used to identify the fossil. First, they took a computed tomography (CT) scan of the vertebra to create a detailed, 3D image. Then, they carefully measured and noted the location of any “landmarks” on the image—things like holes, bumps, ridges and grooves. Finally, they used artificial intelligence to compare the 3D image with more than 100 other 3D images of lizard vertebrae in an online database. The machine learning technique helped them identify the creature as a tegu and even located the vertebra’s original position in the middle of the lizard’s spine. This method, the researchers say, speeds up the identification of fossils, a process that typically relies on the time and specialized knowledge of experienced paleontologists. “There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted, because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley says in the statement. “This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting [to] see where it goes from here.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

·107 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!
The Verge RT hat einen Link geteilt

2025-05-13 20:58:31 ·

TikTok will let you use an AI prompt to turn a photo into a video

TikTok has a new AI-powered tool called “AI Alive” that will let you turn photos into video with a prompt to describe what you want the video to look like.
It’s a little different from other
You can access the tool from TikTok’s Story Camera, and it uses “intelligent editing tools that give anyone, regardless of editing experience, the ability to transform static images into captivating, short-form videos enhanced with movement, atmospheric and creative effects,” according to a blog post.
I tested the tool with a few pictures from my camera roll.
After picking the photo, I could enter a prompt; TikTok initially filled the prompt box with “make this photo come alive.” Uploading usually took a few minutes, though the videos themselves were just a few seconds long.
It also failed to make a picture where I asked it to make a cat jump and have an anime style into an anime.
TikTok says it has some safety measures in place for the videos.
“To help prevent people from creating content that violates our policies, moderation technology reviews the uploaded photo and written AI generation prompt as well as the AI Alive video before it’s shown to the creator,” TikTok says in the blog post.
“A final safety check happens once a creator decides to post to their Story.” The video will also be labeled as AI-generated and will have C2PA metadata embedded.
Let’s hope this tool doesn’t add in brand new people, like what has happened with TikTok’s AI “sway dance” filter.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/666268/tiktok-ai-alive-prompt-photo-image-video" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.theverge.com/news/666268/tiktok-ai-alive-prompt-photo-image-video
#tiktok #will #let #you #use #prompt #turn #photo #into #video

TikTok will let you use an AI prompt to turn a photo into a video
TikTok has a new AI-powered tool called “AI Alive” that will let you turn photos into video with a prompt to describe what you want the video to look like. It’s a little different from other You can access the tool from TikTok’s Story Camera, and it uses “intelligent editing tools that give anyone, regardless of editing experience, the ability to transform static images into captivating, short-form videos enhanced with movement, atmospheric and creative effects,” according to a blog post. I tested the tool with a few pictures from my camera roll. After picking the photo, I could enter a prompt; TikTok initially filled the prompt box with “make this photo come alive.” Uploading usually took a few minutes, though the videos themselves were just a few seconds long. It also failed to make a picture where I asked it to make a cat jump and have an anime style into an anime. TikTok says it has some safety measures in place for the videos. “To help prevent people from creating content that violates our policies, moderation technology reviews the uploaded photo and written AI generation prompt as well as the AI Alive video before it’s shown to the creator,” TikTok says in the blog post. “A final safety check happens once a creator decides to post to their Story.” The video will also be labeled as AI-generated and will have C2PA metadata embedded. Let’s hope this tool doesn’t add in brand new people, like what has happened with TikTok’s AI “sway dance” filter. Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/666268/tiktok-ai-alive-prompt-photo-image-video #tiktok #will #let #you #use #prompt #turn #photo #into #video

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

TikTok will let you use an AI prompt to turn a photo into a video

TikTok has a new AI-powered tool called “AI Alive” that will let you turn photos into video with a prompt to describe what you want the video to look like. It’s a little different from other You can access the tool from TikTok’s Story Camera, and it uses “intelligent editing tools that give anyone, regardless of editing experience, the ability to transform static images into captivating, short-form videos enhanced with movement, atmospheric and creative effects,” according to a blog post. I tested the tool with a few pictures from my camera roll. After picking the photo, I could enter a prompt; TikTok initially filled the prompt box with “make this photo come alive.” Uploading usually took a few minutes, though the videos themselves were just a few seconds long. It also failed to make a picture where I asked it to make a cat jump and have an anime style into an anime. TikTok says it has some safety measures in place for the videos. “To help prevent people from creating content that violates our policies, moderation technology reviews the uploaded photo and written AI generation prompt as well as the AI Alive video before it’s shown to the creator,” TikTok says in the blog post. “A final safety check happens once a creator decides to post to their Story.” The video will also be labeled as AI-generated and will have C2PA metadata embedded. Let’s hope this tool doesn’t add in brand new people, like what has happened with TikTok’s AI “sway dance” filter.

·75 Ansichten

Please log in to like, share and comment!

Suchergebnis

Login

Sprachen

The tariffs are here. Inflation isn’t. What gives?

United becomes largest airline to deploy fast Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi

We Spoke to Is This a 3D Model? About AI, 3D Modeling &amp; The Goal of Their Twitter Page

Good news for Linux users: NordVPN now offers a GUI for its service

See the US's presidential aircraft fleet that Trump wants to add to with a $400 million gift

Trivia: How much did the first CD recorder cost?

How to Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’

Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired

Mysterious Fossil Found in Museum Storage Turned Out to Be a New, Extinct Lizard Species

TikTok will let you use an AI prompt to turn a photo into a video

We Spoke to Is This a 3D Model? About AI, 3D Modeling & The Goal of Their Twitter Page