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2025-05-16 13:22:18 ·

How Measles, Polio and Other Eliminated Diseases Could Roar Back If U.S. Vaccination Rates Fall

May 16, 20254 min readSee the Dramatic Consequences of Vaccination Rates Teetering on a ‘Knife's Edge’As U.S. childhood vaccination rates sway on a “knife’s edge,” new 25-year projectionsBy Lauren J. Young edited by Dean VisserMeasles, rubella, polio and diphtheria—once ubiquitous, devastating and deeply feared—have been virtually eliminated from the U.S. for decades. Entire generations have barely encountered these diseases as high vaccination rates and intensive surveillance efforts have largely shielded the country from major outbreaks.But amid a major multistate measles outbreak that has grown to hundreds of cases, a recent study published in JAMA projects that even a slight dip in current U.S. childhood vaccination rates could reverse such historic gains, which could cause some of these maladies to come roaring back within 25 years—while just a slight increase in rates could effectively squelch of all four.“We were quite surprised that we’re right on that knife’s edge,” says the study’s lead author Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. “A little bit moreand things could be totally fine; a little less and things are going to be quite bad.”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.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization formally declare a disease eliminated when there is zero continuous transmission in a specific region for 12 months or more. The U.S. achieved this milestone for measles, a viral illness that can lead to splotchy rashes, pneumonia, organ failure and other dangerous complications, in 2000. Poliovirus, which can cause lifelong paralysis and death, was effectively eliminated from North and South America by 1994. The U.S. rid itself of viral rubella, known for causing miscarriages and severe birth defects, in 2004. And diphtheria, a highly fatal bacterial disease, was virtually eliminated after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. These are “key infectious diseases that we’ve eliminated from the U.S. through widespread vaccination,” says study co-author Nathan Lo, a physician-scientist at Stanford University.Kiang, Lo and their colleagues ran multiple scenarios of childhood vaccination rates over 25 years to see if the four diseases would return to endemic levels. Measles—which is a very contagious disease and requires high population immunity to prevent spread—was the most susceptible to fluctuations in vaccination coverage. The models estimated that a 5 percent coverage decline would lead to an estimated 5.7 million measles cases over 25 years, while a 5 percent increase would result in only 5,800 cases.Polio and rubella would require sharper vaccination rate downturnsbefore reaching comparable risks of reemergence.While projected diphtheria cases were notably lower, Lo notes that the illness has a relatively high fatality rate and can cause rapid deterioration: “Patients with diphtheria get symptomatic and within a day or two can die.”Routine childhood immunization numbers have been slowly but steadily falling in recent years for several reasons, including missed appointments during the COVID pandemic and growing—often highly politicized—public resistance to vaccinations. “The idea of reestablishment of measles is not outrageous and certainly in the moment where we’re looking at erosion of trust through our federal authorities about vaccination,” says Matthew Ferrari, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the study.Reduced U.S. vaccination rates can also cause “knock-on effects” that threaten disease eradication efforts around the world, Ferrari says. Additionally, recent funding cuts to international vaccine development programs such as USAID and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will “likely lead to increases in measles, rubella, diphtheria and polio elsewhere in the world,” he says. Outbreaks of these diseases in the U.S. largely start when unvaccinated American travelers pick one up while visiting a place where it’s more common. “If you now add the consequences of defunding vaccination around the world, then that’s going to increase the likelihood of these cases coming to the United States,” Ferrari says, adding that the study authors may have made “conservative assumptions” about these international factors.But Ferrari says the study’s scenarios assumed immediate—and in some cases unrealistically high—vaccination rate drop-offs without accounting for other possible public health efforts to control disease. “Even if we anticipated an erosion of vaccination in the United States, it probably wouldn’t happen instantly,” Ferrari says. “Detection and reactive vaccination weren’t really discussed in the paper, nor was the population-level response—the behavior of parents and the medical establishment. That’s something we can’t possibly know.... From that perspective, I think the scenarios were enormously pessimistic.”Lo and Kiang argue that politically driven shifts in vaccine policy, such as reduced childhood vaccination requirements or a tougher authorization process for new vaccines, could make a 50 percent slump in vaccination rates less far-fetched. “I think that there was a lot of pushback from very smart people that 50 percent was way too pessimistic, and I think that—historically—they would have been right,” Kiang says. “I think in the current political climate and what we’ve seen, it’s not clear to me that that istrue.”Kiang and Lo say that while their study shows the dangers of vast vaccine declines, it also highlights how small improvements can make a massive difference.“There’s also a more empowering side, which is that the small fractions of population that push us one way can also push us the other way,” Lo says. “Someone might ask, ‘What is my role in this?’ But small percentages, we find, can really push us back into the safe territory where this alternate reality of measles reestablishing itself would not come to pass.”
#how #measles #polio #other #eliminated

How Measles, Polio and Other Eliminated Diseases Could Roar Back If U.S. Vaccination Rates Fall
May 16, 20254 min readSee the Dramatic Consequences of Vaccination Rates Teetering on a ‘Knife's Edge’As U.S. childhood vaccination rates sway on a “knife’s edge,” new 25-year projectionsBy Lauren J. Young edited by Dean VisserMeasles, rubella, polio and diphtheria—once ubiquitous, devastating and deeply feared—have been virtually eliminated from the U.S. for decades. Entire generations have barely encountered these diseases as high vaccination rates and intensive surveillance efforts have largely shielded the country from major outbreaks.But amid a major multistate measles outbreak that has grown to hundreds of cases, a recent study published in JAMA projects that even a slight dip in current U.S. childhood vaccination rates could reverse such historic gains, which could cause some of these maladies to come roaring back within 25 years—while just a slight increase in rates could effectively squelch of all four.“We were quite surprised that we’re right on that knife’s edge,” says the study’s lead author Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. “A little bit moreand things could be totally fine; a little less and things are going to be quite bad.”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.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization formally declare a disease eliminated when there is zero continuous transmission in a specific region for 12 months or more. The U.S. achieved this milestone for measles, a viral illness that can lead to splotchy rashes, pneumonia, organ failure and other dangerous complications, in 2000. Poliovirus, which can cause lifelong paralysis and death, was effectively eliminated from North and South America by 1994. The U.S. rid itself of viral rubella, known for causing miscarriages and severe birth defects, in 2004. And diphtheria, a highly fatal bacterial disease, was virtually eliminated after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. These are “key infectious diseases that we’ve eliminated from the U.S. through widespread vaccination,” says study co-author Nathan Lo, a physician-scientist at Stanford University.Kiang, Lo and their colleagues ran multiple scenarios of childhood vaccination rates over 25 years to see if the four diseases would return to endemic levels. Measles—which is a very contagious disease and requires high population immunity to prevent spread—was the most susceptible to fluctuations in vaccination coverage. The models estimated that a 5 percent coverage decline would lead to an estimated 5.7 million measles cases over 25 years, while a 5 percent increase would result in only 5,800 cases.Polio and rubella would require sharper vaccination rate downturnsbefore reaching comparable risks of reemergence.While projected diphtheria cases were notably lower, Lo notes that the illness has a relatively high fatality rate and can cause rapid deterioration: “Patients with diphtheria get symptomatic and within a day or two can die.”Routine childhood immunization numbers have been slowly but steadily falling in recent years for several reasons, including missed appointments during the COVID pandemic and growing—often highly politicized—public resistance to vaccinations. “The idea of reestablishment of measles is not outrageous and certainly in the moment where we’re looking at erosion of trust through our federal authorities about vaccination,” says Matthew Ferrari, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the study.Reduced U.S. vaccination rates can also cause “knock-on effects” that threaten disease eradication efforts around the world, Ferrari says. Additionally, recent funding cuts to international vaccine development programs such as USAID and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will “likely lead to increases in measles, rubella, diphtheria and polio elsewhere in the world,” he says. Outbreaks of these diseases in the U.S. largely start when unvaccinated American travelers pick one up while visiting a place where it’s more common. “If you now add the consequences of defunding vaccination around the world, then that’s going to increase the likelihood of these cases coming to the United States,” Ferrari says, adding that the study authors may have made “conservative assumptions” about these international factors.But Ferrari says the study’s scenarios assumed immediate—and in some cases unrealistically high—vaccination rate drop-offs without accounting for other possible public health efforts to control disease. “Even if we anticipated an erosion of vaccination in the United States, it probably wouldn’t happen instantly,” Ferrari says. “Detection and reactive vaccination weren’t really discussed in the paper, nor was the population-level response—the behavior of parents and the medical establishment. That’s something we can’t possibly know.... From that perspective, I think the scenarios were enormously pessimistic.”Lo and Kiang argue that politically driven shifts in vaccine policy, such as reduced childhood vaccination requirements or a tougher authorization process for new vaccines, could make a 50 percent slump in vaccination rates less far-fetched. “I think that there was a lot of pushback from very smart people that 50 percent was way too pessimistic, and I think that—historically—they would have been right,” Kiang says. “I think in the current political climate and what we’ve seen, it’s not clear to me that that istrue.”Kiang and Lo say that while their study shows the dangers of vast vaccine declines, it also highlights how small improvements can make a massive difference.“There’s also a more empowering side, which is that the small fractions of population that push us one way can also push us the other way,” Lo says. “Someone might ask, ‘What is my role in this?’ But small percentages, we find, can really push us back into the safe territory where this alternate reality of measles reestablishing itself would not come to pass.” #how #measles #polio #other #eliminated

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How Measles, Polio and Other Eliminated Diseases Could Roar Back If U.S. Vaccination Rates Fall

May 16, 20254 min readSee the Dramatic Consequences of Vaccination Rates Teetering on a ‘Knife's Edge’As U.S. childhood vaccination rates sway on a “knife’s edge,” new 25-year projectionsBy Lauren J. Young edited by Dean VisserMeasles, rubella, polio and diphtheria—once ubiquitous, devastating and deeply feared—have been virtually eliminated from the U.S. for decades. Entire generations have barely encountered these diseases as high vaccination rates and intensive surveillance efforts have largely shielded the country from major outbreaks.But amid a major multistate measles outbreak that has grown to hundreds of cases, a recent study published in JAMA projects that even a slight dip in current U.S. childhood vaccination rates could reverse such historic gains, which could cause some of these maladies to come roaring back within 25 years—while just a slight increase in rates could effectively squelch of all four.“We were quite surprised that we’re right on that knife’s edge,” says the study’s lead author Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. “A little bit more [vaccination coverage] and things could be totally fine; a little less and things are going to be quite bad.”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.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization formally declare a disease eliminated when there is zero continuous transmission in a specific region for 12 months or more. The U.S. achieved this milestone for measles, a viral illness that can lead to splotchy rashes, pneumonia, organ failure and other dangerous complications, in 2000. Poliovirus, which can cause lifelong paralysis and death, was effectively eliminated from North and South America by 1994. The U.S. rid itself of viral rubella, known for causing miscarriages and severe birth defects, in 2004. And diphtheria, a highly fatal bacterial disease, was virtually eliminated after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. These are “key infectious diseases that we’ve eliminated from the U.S. through widespread vaccination,” says study co-author Nathan Lo, a physician-scientist at Stanford University.Kiang, Lo and their colleagues ran multiple scenarios of childhood vaccination rates over 25 years to see if the four diseases would return to endemic levels (sustained transmission in which each infected person spreads the disease to at least one other person, on average, for a 12-month period). Measles—which is a very contagious disease and requires high population immunity to prevent spread—was the most susceptible to fluctuations in vaccination coverage. The models estimated that a 5 percent coverage decline would lead to an estimated 5.7 million measles cases over 25 years, while a 5 percent increase would result in only 5,800 cases.Polio and rubella would require sharper vaccination rate downturns (around 30 to 40 percent) before reaching comparable risks of reemergence.While projected diphtheria cases were notably lower, Lo notes that the illness has a relatively high fatality rate and can cause rapid deterioration: “Patients with diphtheria get symptomatic and within a day or two can die.”Routine childhood immunization numbers have been slowly but steadily falling in recent years for several reasons, including missed appointments during the COVID pandemic and growing—often highly politicized—public resistance to vaccinations. “The idea of reestablishment of measles is not outrageous and certainly in the moment where we’re looking at erosion of trust through our federal authorities about vaccination,” says Matthew Ferrari, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the study.Reduced U.S. vaccination rates can also cause “knock-on effects” that threaten disease eradication efforts around the world, Ferrari says. Additionally, recent funding cuts to international vaccine development programs such as USAID and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will “likely lead to increases in measles, rubella, diphtheria and polio elsewhere in the world,” he says. Outbreaks of these diseases in the U.S. largely start when unvaccinated American travelers pick one up while visiting a place where it’s more common. “If you now add the consequences of defunding vaccination around the world, then that’s going to increase the likelihood of these cases coming to the United States,” Ferrari says, adding that the study authors may have made “conservative assumptions” about these international factors.But Ferrari says the study’s scenarios assumed immediate—and in some cases unrealistically high—vaccination rate drop-offs without accounting for other possible public health efforts to control disease. “Even if we anticipated an erosion of vaccination in the United States, it probably wouldn’t happen instantly,” Ferrari says. “Detection and reactive vaccination weren’t really discussed in the paper, nor was the population-level response—the behavior of parents and the medical establishment. That’s something we can’t possibly know.... From that perspective, I think the scenarios were enormously pessimistic.”Lo and Kiang argue that politically driven shifts in vaccine policy, such as reduced childhood vaccination requirements or a tougher authorization process for new vaccines, could make a 50 percent slump in vaccination rates less far-fetched. “I think that there was a lot of pushback from very smart people that 50 percent was way too pessimistic, and I think that—historically—they would have been right,” Kiang says. “I think in the current political climate and what we’ve seen, it’s not clear to me that that is [still] true.”Kiang and Lo say that while their study shows the dangers of vast vaccine declines, it also highlights how small improvements can make a massive difference.“There’s also a more empowering side, which is that the small fractions of population that push us one way can also push us the other way,” Lo says. “Someone might ask, ‘What is my role in this?’ But small percentages [of increased vaccination], we find, can really push us back into the safe territory where this alternate reality of measles reestablishing itself would not come to pass.”

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الرجاء تسجيل الدخول , للأعجاب والمشاركة والتعليق على هذا!
Building Design شارك رابطًا

2025-05-16 13:21:34 ·

Images released of Feilden Fowles and Tom Stuart-Smith’s new Clore Garden at Tate Britain

Designs include a freestanding classroom, new planting and integrated sculptures intended to link art, nature and learning

Source: Tom Stuart-Smith StudioThe proposed new Clore Garden
Tate Britain has unveiled proposals for a new public garden and education facility at its Millbank site, developed by Feilden Fowles and landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith Studio.
The Clore Garden project seeks to transform the approach to the Grade II* listed gallery into a planted landscape incorporating accessible pathways, public art and a new garden classroom.
According to Tate, the project aims to enhance biodiversity and increase opportunities for community engagement, while offering a new civic green space in central London.
The landscape design features a network of pathways set within densely planted zones and intends to create varied conditions for seasonal planting, wildlife habitats and informal gathering. The garden will include new seating areas, a café terrace, a wildlife pond and spaces for programmed outdoor activities. Sculptures from Tate’s collection are expected to be integrated into the landscape.
Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, said: “We are enormously excited to share a first look at designs for Tate Britain’s new garden, a significant green space uniting art and nature and encouraging biodiversity.
“These sumptuous, innovative designs demonstrate the role museums can play in our cities, places where contemplation and relaxation can go hand in hand with joy and creativity. We hope the garden will offer new ways to engage with Tate’s Collection, for both visitors and local residents alike.”

The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio

The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio

The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio

The proposed new gardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio

1/4
show caption

Tom Stuart-Smith said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to create a haven for people, plants and sculpture right in the heart of London and to transform the setting of the gallery into a beautiful garden that is really engaging, biodiverse and sustainable.”
Planting selections are being developed with input from the Royal Horticultural Society to include a range of species suited to creating a garden for year-round public use and to support local biodiversity.
The project will include a single-storey classroom structure to be designed by Feilden Fowles. No images have so far been released of the building.
Feilden Fowles and Tom Stuart-Smith Studio were selected to lead the project in early 2024 following an open design competition. A planning application is expected in the summer, with construction scheduled to begin in the autumn and completion anticipated by 2026.
#images #released #feilden #fowles #tom

Images released of Feilden Fowles and Tom Stuart-Smith’s new Clore Garden at Tate Britain
Designs include a freestanding classroom, new planting and integrated sculptures intended to link art, nature and learning Source: Tom Stuart-Smith StudioThe proposed new Clore Garden Tate Britain has unveiled proposals for a new public garden and education facility at its Millbank site, developed by Feilden Fowles and landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith Studio. The Clore Garden project seeks to transform the approach to the Grade II* listed gallery into a planted landscape incorporating accessible pathways, public art and a new garden classroom. According to Tate, the project aims to enhance biodiversity and increase opportunities for community engagement, while offering a new civic green space in central London. The landscape design features a network of pathways set within densely planted zones and intends to create varied conditions for seasonal planting, wildlife habitats and informal gathering. The garden will include new seating areas, a café terrace, a wildlife pond and spaces for programmed outdoor activities. Sculptures from Tate’s collection are expected to be integrated into the landscape. Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, said: “We are enormously excited to share a first look at designs for Tate Britain’s new garden, a significant green space uniting art and nature and encouraging biodiversity. “These sumptuous, innovative designs demonstrate the role museums can play in our cities, places where contemplation and relaxation can go hand in hand with joy and creativity. We hope the garden will offer new ways to engage with Tate’s Collection, for both visitors and local residents alike.” The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio The proposed new gardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio 1/4 show caption Tom Stuart-Smith said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to create a haven for people, plants and sculpture right in the heart of London and to transform the setting of the gallery into a beautiful garden that is really engaging, biodiverse and sustainable.” Planting selections are being developed with input from the Royal Horticultural Society to include a range of species suited to creating a garden for year-round public use and to support local biodiversity. The project will include a single-storey classroom structure to be designed by Feilden Fowles. No images have so far been released of the building. Feilden Fowles and Tom Stuart-Smith Studio were selected to lead the project in early 2024 following an open design competition. A planning application is expected in the summer, with construction scheduled to begin in the autumn and completion anticipated by 2026. #images #released #feilden #fowles #tom

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Images released of Feilden Fowles and Tom Stuart-Smith’s new Clore Garden at Tate Britain

Designs include a freestanding classroom, new planting and integrated sculptures intended to link art, nature and learning Source: Tom Stuart-Smith StudioThe proposed new Clore Garden Tate Britain has unveiled proposals for a new public garden and education facility at its Millbank site, developed by Feilden Fowles and landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith Studio. The Clore Garden project seeks to transform the approach to the Grade II* listed gallery into a planted landscape incorporating accessible pathways, public art and a new garden classroom. According to Tate, the project aims to enhance biodiversity and increase opportunities for community engagement, while offering a new civic green space in central London. The landscape design features a network of pathways set within densely planted zones and intends to create varied conditions for seasonal planting, wildlife habitats and informal gathering. The garden will include new seating areas, a café terrace, a wildlife pond and spaces for programmed outdoor activities. Sculptures from Tate’s collection are expected to be integrated into the landscape. Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, said: “We are enormously excited to share a first look at designs for Tate Britain’s new garden, a significant green space uniting art and nature and encouraging biodiversity. “These sumptuous, innovative designs demonstrate the role museums can play in our cities, places where contemplation and relaxation can go hand in hand with joy and creativity. We hope the garden will offer new ways to engage with Tate’s Collection, for both visitors and local residents alike.” The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio The proposed new Clore GardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio The proposed new gardenSource: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio 1/4 show caption Tom Stuart-Smith said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to create a haven for people, plants and sculpture right in the heart of London and to transform the setting of the gallery into a beautiful garden that is really engaging, biodiverse and sustainable.” Planting selections are being developed with input from the Royal Horticultural Society to include a range of species suited to creating a garden for year-round public use and to support local biodiversity. The project will include a single-storey classroom structure to be designed by Feilden Fowles. No images have so far been released of the building. Feilden Fowles and Tom Stuart-Smith Studio were selected to lead the project in early 2024 following an open design competition. A planning application is expected in the summer, with construction scheduled to begin in the autumn and completion anticipated by 2026.

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الرجاء تسجيل الدخول , للأعجاب والمشاركة والتعليق على هذا!
World Architecture Community شارك رابطًا

2025-05-16 13:21:27 ·

Latvia Pavilion: Living on NATO's Edge and the Impacts of Geopolitical Conflict

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" ";
A unique insight into the reality of NATO's eastern boundary is provided by the Latvian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The exhibition, titled Landscape Of Defence, examines how defense infrastructure affects daily living, the land, and public perception. Located in the center of the Biennale's main display path, Campo della Tana provides entrance to the Artiglierie of the Arsenale, where the Pavilion is housed.The Pavilion, which was designed by Latvian architecture studios Sampling and Nomad and curated by Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby, explores the junction of the military and civilian environments along Latvia's borders with Belarus and Russia, posing significant questions.What does it mean to be on the periphery of NATO during a geopolitical conflict? How are lives and landscapes shaped by defensive measures?, asked the curators. National and NATO-wide defense are now a part of everyday life in Latvia and are not merely a government mandate.Visitors are urged to reevaluate the concept of "border" in a time of global unrest by use of an impactful and provocative exhibition design. The curators present opposing viewpoints: Architect and designer Liene Jākobsone, who holds a PhD in product design, is the director of the Art Academy of Latvia's Institute of Contemporary Art, Design, and Architecture and co-founder of the firm Sampling.Her research focuses on the relationship between cultural creation and geographical activity. The independent publishing company Ruby Press, which focuses on architecture and spatial activities, was co-founded by author and curator Ilka Ruby. She offers a more comprehensive analysis of the political and social function of architecture through a critical and transdisciplinary perspective.Road signs, watchtowers, fences, barbed wire, and other man-made structures found in the Latvian borders are among the natural elements, vernacular architecture, and remnants of everyday life that are documented in a photographic collage that is shown behind a wide circular curtain that defines the exhibition area. Anti-tank hedgehogs, dragon's teeth, a surveillance pole, and rustic wooden benches are among the items from the military and civil worlds that are replicated in the center using luminous, abstract material that changes their look and encourages critical thought.Six television screens provide the illusion of a control room: footage, shown in Latvian with English subtitles, switches between shots of the surrounding terrain and testimony from border residents. A second, 4.5-meter-tall curtain on one wall displays a sizable, historically-inspired map of the 30-kilometer border zone. From the standpoint of military defense, informative writings and firsthand accounts provide a human and spatial context. The pavilion's technical details and curatorial text are also displayed on the same curtain.The Latvian Pavilion highlights the complexity involved in developing defense infrastructure rather than offering answers. In the face of actual threats, walls and barriers might be required, but they also present moral, environmental, and aesthetic issues. The goal is to encourage discussion among visitors as well as with military and political stakeholders on the interrelationships between security, space, and society.A folded-out catalogue in postcard size, published by Ruby Press, is included with the exhibition. It features original pictures by Latvian photographer Reinis Hofmanis, who received the Fuji Global Grant for his borderlands investigation, as well as an essay by Liene Jākobsone. The publication, which resembles a passport, emphasizes the relationship between territory and identity, the experience of crossing, and the importance of the border."The eastern border of Latvia has been fortified in such a way over the past few years. Work is still underway, but the territory has changed significantly. The border is not just a line, but an area. A whole landscape of defence has been created along with imposing fortifications," as Jākobsone writes in the postcard leporello. "The border itselfmarks the end of the country and, in this case, of a much wider region — that of Europe.These postcards from the very edge of Europe are not only a testimony to its diversity and its values, but also offer an opportunity for this landscape of defence to be represented to those it is intended to defend.""In Berlin, where I live, you still feel every day how the fall of a physical and systemic border can transform a city’s urban fabric. That frontier has now shifted to the border between Latvia — and Europe — and Russia. Our goal is to understand the effects that such fortifications can have on landscapes and lives," added Ruby.Uncertain characters, halfway between tour guides and sentinels, greet guests at the Pavilion while wearing outfits created by Latvian fashion designer Laima Jurča.The Pavilion's suspended atmosphere, which reflects the entrance of a militarized zone where the public is faced with the tension between security and threat, welcome and surveillance, freedom and control, is heightened by their subdued yet noticeable presence, which evokes gestures and postures of control."What does it mean to live on NATO’s external border in times of geopolitical conflict?," wrote the curators Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby. "The exhibition focuses on the military defence of the Latvian state from the perspective of the inhabitants of the border area. We want to highlight the specific conditions of Latvia’s geographical situation – the reason why its population lives under a constant threat of attack," the curators explained."The exhibition aims to offer the international architectural discourse a study of the relationship between military defence and spatial condition in the Latvian context. We want to draw attention to the impact of defence measures on people and the landscape.""It is an invitation not only to architects, but also policy makers and military defence specialists to take part in the conversation on spatial qualities, encouraging them to consider the physical footprint of defence strategies on a territory and the emotional impact on its population," the curators added.The Latvian Pavilion is commissioned by Jānis Dripe, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The exhibitors are Samplingand Nomad architects. The 19th International Architecture Exhibition will take place from 10 May to 23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice, Italy. Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. All images © Michiel De Cleene.> via Latvian Pavilion
#latvia #pavilion #living #nato039s #edge

Latvia Pavilion: Living on NATO's Edge and the Impacts of Geopolitical Conflict
html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "; A unique insight into the reality of NATO's eastern boundary is provided by the Latvian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The exhibition, titled Landscape Of Defence, examines how defense infrastructure affects daily living, the land, and public perception. Located in the center of the Biennale's main display path, Campo della Tana provides entrance to the Artiglierie of the Arsenale, where the Pavilion is housed.The Pavilion, which was designed by Latvian architecture studios Sampling and Nomad and curated by Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby, explores the junction of the military and civilian environments along Latvia's borders with Belarus and Russia, posing significant questions.What does it mean to be on the periphery of NATO during a geopolitical conflict? How are lives and landscapes shaped by defensive measures?, asked the curators. National and NATO-wide defense are now a part of everyday life in Latvia and are not merely a government mandate.Visitors are urged to reevaluate the concept of "border" in a time of global unrest by use of an impactful and provocative exhibition design. The curators present opposing viewpoints: Architect and designer Liene Jākobsone, who holds a PhD in product design, is the director of the Art Academy of Latvia's Institute of Contemporary Art, Design, and Architecture and co-founder of the firm Sampling.Her research focuses on the relationship between cultural creation and geographical activity. The independent publishing company Ruby Press, which focuses on architecture and spatial activities, was co-founded by author and curator Ilka Ruby. She offers a more comprehensive analysis of the political and social function of architecture through a critical and transdisciplinary perspective.Road signs, watchtowers, fences, barbed wire, and other man-made structures found in the Latvian borders are among the natural elements, vernacular architecture, and remnants of everyday life that are documented in a photographic collage that is shown behind a wide circular curtain that defines the exhibition area. Anti-tank hedgehogs, dragon's teeth, a surveillance pole, and rustic wooden benches are among the items from the military and civil worlds that are replicated in the center using luminous, abstract material that changes their look and encourages critical thought.Six television screens provide the illusion of a control room: footage, shown in Latvian with English subtitles, switches between shots of the surrounding terrain and testimony from border residents. A second, 4.5-meter-tall curtain on one wall displays a sizable, historically-inspired map of the 30-kilometer border zone. From the standpoint of military defense, informative writings and firsthand accounts provide a human and spatial context. The pavilion's technical details and curatorial text are also displayed on the same curtain.The Latvian Pavilion highlights the complexity involved in developing defense infrastructure rather than offering answers. In the face of actual threats, walls and barriers might be required, but they also present moral, environmental, and aesthetic issues. The goal is to encourage discussion among visitors as well as with military and political stakeholders on the interrelationships between security, space, and society.A folded-out catalogue in postcard size, published by Ruby Press, is included with the exhibition. It features original pictures by Latvian photographer Reinis Hofmanis, who received the Fuji Global Grant for his borderlands investigation, as well as an essay by Liene Jākobsone. The publication, which resembles a passport, emphasizes the relationship between territory and identity, the experience of crossing, and the importance of the border."The eastern border of Latvia has been fortified in such a way over the past few years. Work is still underway, but the territory has changed significantly. The border is not just a line, but an area. A whole landscape of defence has been created along with imposing fortifications," as Jākobsone writes in the postcard leporello. "The border itselfmarks the end of the country and, in this case, of a much wider region — that of Europe.These postcards from the very edge of Europe are not only a testimony to its diversity and its values, but also offer an opportunity for this landscape of defence to be represented to those it is intended to defend.""In Berlin, where I live, you still feel every day how the fall of a physical and systemic border can transform a city’s urban fabric. That frontier has now shifted to the border between Latvia — and Europe — and Russia. Our goal is to understand the effects that such fortifications can have on landscapes and lives," added Ruby.Uncertain characters, halfway between tour guides and sentinels, greet guests at the Pavilion while wearing outfits created by Latvian fashion designer Laima Jurča.The Pavilion's suspended atmosphere, which reflects the entrance of a militarized zone where the public is faced with the tension between security and threat, welcome and surveillance, freedom and control, is heightened by their subdued yet noticeable presence, which evokes gestures and postures of control."What does it mean to live on NATO’s external border in times of geopolitical conflict?," wrote the curators Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby. "The exhibition focuses on the military defence of the Latvian state from the perspective of the inhabitants of the border area. We want to highlight the specific conditions of Latvia’s geographical situation – the reason why its population lives under a constant threat of attack," the curators explained."The exhibition aims to offer the international architectural discourse a study of the relationship between military defence and spatial condition in the Latvian context. We want to draw attention to the impact of defence measures on people and the landscape.""It is an invitation not only to architects, but also policy makers and military defence specialists to take part in the conversation on spatial qualities, encouraging them to consider the physical footprint of defence strategies on a territory and the emotional impact on its population," the curators added.The Latvian Pavilion is commissioned by Jānis Dripe, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The exhibitors are Samplingand Nomad architects. The 19th International Architecture Exhibition will take place from 10 May to 23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice, Italy. Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. All images © Michiel De Cleene.> via Latvian Pavilion #latvia #pavilion #living #nato039s #edge

WORLDARCHITECTURE.ORG

Latvia Pavilion: Living on NATO's Edge and the Impacts of Geopolitical Conflict

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" A unique insight into the reality of NATO's eastern boundary is provided by the Latvian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The exhibition, titled Landscape Of Defence, examines how defense infrastructure affects daily living, the land, and public perception. Located in the center of the Biennale's main display path, Campo della Tana provides entrance to the Artiglierie of the Arsenale, where the Pavilion is housed.The Pavilion, which was designed by Latvian architecture studios Sampling and Nomad and curated by Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby, explores the junction of the military and civilian environments along Latvia's borders with Belarus and Russia, posing significant questions.What does it mean to be on the periphery of NATO during a geopolitical conflict? How are lives and landscapes shaped by defensive measures?, asked the curators. National and NATO-wide defense are now a part of everyday life in Latvia and are not merely a government mandate.Visitors are urged to reevaluate the concept of "border" in a time of global unrest by use of an impactful and provocative exhibition design. The curators present opposing viewpoints: Architect and designer Liene Jākobsone, who holds a PhD in product design, is the director of the Art Academy of Latvia's Institute of Contemporary Art, Design, and Architecture and co-founder of the firm Sampling.Her research focuses on the relationship between cultural creation and geographical activity. The independent publishing company Ruby Press, which focuses on architecture and spatial activities, was co-founded by author and curator Ilka Ruby. She offers a more comprehensive analysis of the political and social function of architecture through a critical and transdisciplinary perspective.Road signs, watchtowers, fences, barbed wire, and other man-made structures found in the Latvian borders are among the natural elements, vernacular architecture, and remnants of everyday life that are documented in a photographic collage that is shown behind a wide circular curtain that defines the exhibition area. Anti-tank hedgehogs, dragon's teeth, a surveillance pole, and rustic wooden benches are among the items from the military and civil worlds that are replicated in the center using luminous, abstract material that changes their look and encourages critical thought.Six television screens provide the illusion of a control room: footage, shown in Latvian with English subtitles, switches between shots of the surrounding terrain and testimony from border residents. A second, 4.5-meter-tall curtain on one wall displays a sizable, historically-inspired map of the 30-kilometer border zone. From the standpoint of military defense, informative writings and firsthand accounts provide a human and spatial context. The pavilion's technical details and curatorial text are also displayed on the same curtain.The Latvian Pavilion highlights the complexity involved in developing defense infrastructure rather than offering answers. In the face of actual threats, walls and barriers might be required, but they also present moral, environmental, and aesthetic issues. The goal is to encourage discussion among visitors as well as with military and political stakeholders on the interrelationships between security, space, and society.A folded-out catalogue in postcard size, published by Ruby Press, is included with the exhibition. It features original pictures by Latvian photographer Reinis Hofmanis, who received the Fuji Global Grant for his borderlands investigation, as well as an essay by Liene Jākobsone. The publication, which resembles a passport, emphasizes the relationship between territory and identity, the experience of crossing, and the importance of the border."The eastern border of Latvia has been fortified in such a way over the past few years. Work is still underway, but the territory has changed significantly. The border is not just a line, but an area. A whole landscape of defence has been created along with imposing fortifications," as Jākobsone writes in the postcard leporello. "The border itself (...) marks the end of the country and, in this case, of a much wider region — that of Europe. (...) These postcards from the very edge of Europe are not only a testimony to its diversity and its values, but also offer an opportunity for this landscape of defence to be represented to those it is intended to defend.""In Berlin, where I live, you still feel every day how the fall of a physical and systemic border can transform a city’s urban fabric. That frontier has now shifted to the border between Latvia — and Europe — and Russia. Our goal is to understand the effects that such fortifications can have on landscapes and lives," added Ruby.Uncertain characters, halfway between tour guides and sentinels, greet guests at the Pavilion while wearing outfits created by Latvian fashion designer Laima Jurča.The Pavilion's suspended atmosphere, which reflects the entrance of a militarized zone where the public is faced with the tension between security and threat, welcome and surveillance, freedom and control, is heightened by their subdued yet noticeable presence, which evokes gestures and postures of control."What does it mean to live on NATO’s external border in times of geopolitical conflict?," wrote the curators Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby. "The exhibition focuses on the military defence of the Latvian state from the perspective of the inhabitants of the border area. We want to highlight the specific conditions of Latvia’s geographical situation – the reason why its population lives under a constant threat of attack," the curators explained."The exhibition aims to offer the international architectural discourse a study of the relationship between military defence and spatial condition in the Latvian context. We want to draw attention to the impact of defence measures on people and the landscape.""It is an invitation not only to architects, but also policy makers and military defence specialists to take part in the conversation on spatial qualities, encouraging them to consider the physical footprint of defence strategies on a territory and the emotional impact on its population," the curators added.The Latvian Pavilion is commissioned by Jānis Dripe, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The exhibitors are Sampling (Manten Devriendt, Liene Jākobsone) and Nomad architects (Marija Katrīna Dambe, Florian Betat). The 19th International Architecture Exhibition will take place from 10 May to 23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice, Italy. Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. All images © Michiel De Cleene.> via Latvian Pavilion

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2025-05-16 13:19:55 ·

How to Keep a Consultant from Stealing Your Idea

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorMay 16, 20255 Min ReadSkorzewiak via Alamy Stock PhotoA great IT idea is as good as gold. That's why an unscrupulous consultant may decide to take one of your organization's original methods or practices to another client -- perhaps even a rival -- without first asking for permission. While most consultants play fair, issues do sometimes come up, observes John Pennypacker, a vice president at AI technology firm Deep Cognition. "Someone working at your office learns your methods on Monday -- by Tuesday those same tricks might help another client," he says in an online interview. Tech companies face the biggest danger. "Your special formula or unique program code gives you your market advantage." Most consultants are professionals who play by the rules, but idea theft still happens, says Adhiran Thirmal, senior solutions engineer at security service and technology provider Security Compass. "Some consultants work across multiple companies in the same industry, and the temptation to reuse a good idea is real," he warns in an online discussion. "It's not always malicious -- sometimes they don't even realize they're crossing a line." That's why ensuring legal protection and building clear communication channels upfront are important. Proving Originality It’s all about holding onto detailed documentation, Thirmal says. "Keep track of emails, meeting minutes, whiteboard sketches -- anything that shows when and where the idea was created," he advises in an email interview. If it's a major innovation, consider filing for a patent, copyright, or trademark to establish official ownership. "Even small things, such as internal Slack messages or version histories, can serve as proof, if needed." Related:Before engaging a consultant, be sure to put protections into place, recommends Iliyan Paskalev, founder of MyHumanoid, a robotics and humanoids information website. "Clearly define within the contract that all ideas, strategies, and materials shared remain the property of your organization," he notes in an online interview. Paskalev also suggests closing any loopholes by using work-for-hire agreements explicitly stating that any contributions made by the consultant belong to your company. Preventive Steps The best defense is a good offense, Thirmal says. Before sharing any sensitive information, get the consultant to sign a non-disclosure agreementand, if needed, a non-compete agreement. "These legal documents set clear boundaries on what can and can't do with your ideas." He also recommends retaining records -- meeting notes, emails, and timestamps -- to provide documented proof of when and where the idea in question was discussed. "If possible, develop key parts of the idea internally first before bringing in outside help." Related:Control what the consultant can see, Pennypacker advises. "Share only what they must know to do their job," he says. Document everything. "Keep emails, notes from meetings, and early drafts -- they prove where ideas started." Pay close attention to what the consultant or consulting team do daily. "Make sure they follow the rules you set." Move fast when you see your ideas being stolen, Pennypacker says. "Look for certain danger signs." Has a product like yours appeared after your project ended? Did your methods show up in competitors' offerings? Has the consultant broken the secrecy agreement? These signs all indicate it may be time to consult a lawyer. Remediation Actions If a consultant takes an idea and commercializes it, or shares it with a competitor, it's time to consult legal counsel, Paskalev says. The legal case's strength will hinge on the exact wording within contracts and documentation. "Sometimes, a well-crafted cease-and-desist letter is enough; other times, litigation is required." If you suspect a consultant has taken your idea and used it elsewhere, gather all of the evidence -- emails, agreements, and meeting records, Thirmal recommends. Then, try to address the matter informally. "If that doesn’t work, and the stakes are high -- such as lost revenue or competitive advantage -- it’s time to bring in a lawyer," he suggests. "If they broke an NDA or misused proprietary information, you may have legal grounds for action." Related:Compensation depends on the amount of damage inflicted. "If the theft results in a loss of market advantage, organizations can demand licensing fees, royalties, or outright financial damages," Paskalev says. "In some cases, businesses have successfully negotiated settlements or forced a buyout of their stolen IP rights." Last Thoughts The best way to protect ideas isn't through contracts -- it's by being proactive, Thirmal advises. "Train your team to be careful about what they share, work with consultants who have strong reputations, and document everything," he states. "Protecting innovation isn’t just a legal issue -- it's a strategic one." Innovation is an IT leader's greatest asset, but it's also highly vulnerable, Paskalev says. "By proactively structuring consultant agreements, meticulously documenting every stage of idea development, and being ready to enforce protection, organizations can ensure their competitive edge." Pennypacker has one final bit of advice: "Guard your company's thinking like you would guard its bank account." About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like
#how #keep #consultant #stealing #your

How to Keep a Consultant from Stealing Your Idea
John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorMay 16, 20255 Min ReadSkorzewiak via Alamy Stock PhotoA great IT idea is as good as gold. That's why an unscrupulous consultant may decide to take one of your organization's original methods or practices to another client -- perhaps even a rival -- without first asking for permission. While most consultants play fair, issues do sometimes come up, observes John Pennypacker, a vice president at AI technology firm Deep Cognition. "Someone working at your office learns your methods on Monday -- by Tuesday those same tricks might help another client," he says in an online interview. Tech companies face the biggest danger. "Your special formula or unique program code gives you your market advantage." Most consultants are professionals who play by the rules, but idea theft still happens, says Adhiran Thirmal, senior solutions engineer at security service and technology provider Security Compass. "Some consultants work across multiple companies in the same industry, and the temptation to reuse a good idea is real," he warns in an online discussion. "It's not always malicious -- sometimes they don't even realize they're crossing a line." That's why ensuring legal protection and building clear communication channels upfront are important. Proving Originality It’s all about holding onto detailed documentation, Thirmal says. "Keep track of emails, meeting minutes, whiteboard sketches -- anything that shows when and where the idea was created," he advises in an email interview. If it's a major innovation, consider filing for a patent, copyright, or trademark to establish official ownership. "Even small things, such as internal Slack messages or version histories, can serve as proof, if needed." Related:Before engaging a consultant, be sure to put protections into place, recommends Iliyan Paskalev, founder of MyHumanoid, a robotics and humanoids information website. "Clearly define within the contract that all ideas, strategies, and materials shared remain the property of your organization," he notes in an online interview. Paskalev also suggests closing any loopholes by using work-for-hire agreements explicitly stating that any contributions made by the consultant belong to your company. Preventive Steps The best defense is a good offense, Thirmal says. Before sharing any sensitive information, get the consultant to sign a non-disclosure agreementand, if needed, a non-compete agreement. "These legal documents set clear boundaries on what can and can't do with your ideas." He also recommends retaining records -- meeting notes, emails, and timestamps -- to provide documented proof of when and where the idea in question was discussed. "If possible, develop key parts of the idea internally first before bringing in outside help." Related:Control what the consultant can see, Pennypacker advises. "Share only what they must know to do their job," he says. Document everything. "Keep emails, notes from meetings, and early drafts -- they prove where ideas started." Pay close attention to what the consultant or consulting team do daily. "Make sure they follow the rules you set." Move fast when you see your ideas being stolen, Pennypacker says. "Look for certain danger signs." Has a product like yours appeared after your project ended? Did your methods show up in competitors' offerings? Has the consultant broken the secrecy agreement? These signs all indicate it may be time to consult a lawyer. Remediation Actions If a consultant takes an idea and commercializes it, or shares it with a competitor, it's time to consult legal counsel, Paskalev says. The legal case's strength will hinge on the exact wording within contracts and documentation. "Sometimes, a well-crafted cease-and-desist letter is enough; other times, litigation is required." If you suspect a consultant has taken your idea and used it elsewhere, gather all of the evidence -- emails, agreements, and meeting records, Thirmal recommends. Then, try to address the matter informally. "If that doesn’t work, and the stakes are high -- such as lost revenue or competitive advantage -- it’s time to bring in a lawyer," he suggests. "If they broke an NDA or misused proprietary information, you may have legal grounds for action." Related:Compensation depends on the amount of damage inflicted. "If the theft results in a loss of market advantage, organizations can demand licensing fees, royalties, or outright financial damages," Paskalev says. "In some cases, businesses have successfully negotiated settlements or forced a buyout of their stolen IP rights." Last Thoughts The best way to protect ideas isn't through contracts -- it's by being proactive, Thirmal advises. "Train your team to be careful about what they share, work with consultants who have strong reputations, and document everything," he states. "Protecting innovation isn’t just a legal issue -- it's a strategic one." Innovation is an IT leader's greatest asset, but it's also highly vulnerable, Paskalev says. "By proactively structuring consultant agreements, meticulously documenting every stage of idea development, and being ready to enforce protection, organizations can ensure their competitive edge." Pennypacker has one final bit of advice: "Guard your company's thinking like you would guard its bank account." About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like #how #keep #consultant #stealing #your

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How to Keep a Consultant from Stealing Your Idea

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorMay 16, 20255 Min ReadSkorzewiak via Alamy Stock PhotoA great IT idea is as good as gold. That's why an unscrupulous consultant may decide to take one of your organization's original methods or practices to another client -- perhaps even a rival -- without first asking for permission. While most consultants play fair, issues do sometimes come up, observes John Pennypacker, a vice president at AI technology firm Deep Cognition. "Someone working at your office learns your methods on Monday -- by Tuesday those same tricks might help another client," he says in an online interview. Tech companies face the biggest danger. "Your special formula or unique program code gives you your market advantage." Most consultants are professionals who play by the rules, but idea theft still happens, says Adhiran Thirmal, senior solutions engineer at security service and technology provider Security Compass. "Some consultants work across multiple companies in the same industry, and the temptation to reuse a good idea is real," he warns in an online discussion. "It's not always malicious -- sometimes they don't even realize they're crossing a line." That's why ensuring legal protection and building clear communication channels upfront are important. Proving Originality It’s all about holding onto detailed documentation, Thirmal says. "Keep track of emails, meeting minutes, whiteboard sketches -- anything that shows when and where the idea was created," he advises in an email interview. If it's a major innovation, consider filing for a patent, copyright, or trademark to establish official ownership. "Even small things, such as internal Slack messages or version histories, can serve as proof, if needed." Related:Before engaging a consultant, be sure to put protections into place, recommends Iliyan Paskalev, founder of MyHumanoid, a robotics and humanoids information website. "Clearly define within the contract that all ideas, strategies, and materials shared remain the property of your organization," he notes in an online interview. Paskalev also suggests closing any loopholes by using work-for-hire agreements explicitly stating that any contributions made by the consultant belong to your company. Preventive Steps The best defense is a good offense, Thirmal says. Before sharing any sensitive information, get the consultant to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and, if needed, a non-compete agreement. "These legal documents set clear boundaries on what can and can't do with your ideas." He also recommends retaining records -- meeting notes, emails, and timestamps -- to provide documented proof of when and where the idea in question was discussed. "If possible, develop key parts of the idea internally first before bringing in outside help." Related:Control what the consultant can see, Pennypacker advises. "Share only what they must know to do their job," he says. Document everything. "Keep emails, notes from meetings, and early drafts -- they prove where ideas started." Pay close attention to what the consultant or consulting team do daily. "Make sure they follow the rules you set." Move fast when you see your ideas being stolen, Pennypacker says. "Look for certain danger signs." Has a product like yours appeared after your project ended? Did your methods show up in competitors' offerings? Has the consultant broken the secrecy agreement? These signs all indicate it may be time to consult a lawyer. Remediation Actions If a consultant takes an idea and commercializes it, or shares it with a competitor, it's time to consult legal counsel, Paskalev says. The legal case's strength will hinge on the exact wording within contracts and documentation. "Sometimes, a well-crafted cease-and-desist letter is enough; other times, litigation is required." If you suspect a consultant has taken your idea and used it elsewhere, gather all of the evidence -- emails, agreements, and meeting records, Thirmal recommends. Then, try to address the matter informally. "If that doesn’t work, and the stakes are high -- such as lost revenue or competitive advantage -- it’s time to bring in a lawyer," he suggests. "If they broke an NDA or misused proprietary information, you may have legal grounds for action." Related:Compensation depends on the amount of damage inflicted. "If the theft results in a loss of market advantage, organizations can demand licensing fees, royalties, or outright financial damages," Paskalev says. "In some cases, businesses have successfully negotiated settlements or forced a buyout of their stolen IP rights." Last Thoughts The best way to protect ideas isn't through contracts -- it's by being proactive, Thirmal advises. "Train your team to be careful about what they share, work with consultants who have strong reputations, and document everything," he states. "Protecting innovation isn’t just a legal issue -- it's a strategic one." Innovation is an IT leader's greatest asset, but it's also highly vulnerable, Paskalev says. "By proactively structuring consultant agreements, meticulously documenting every stage of idea development, and being ready to enforce protection, organizations can ensure their competitive edge." Pennypacker has one final bit of advice: "Guard your company's thinking like you would guard its bank account." About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

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2025-05-16 13:19:22 ·

iOS 19: The one small feature I hope to see at WWDC

We are less than a month away from WWDC 2025, where Apple is set to announce a redesigned and less glitchy iOS 19 alongside what it’s been cooking over the past year for its other operating systems.
While rumors abound regarding what’s to come to iOS 19, there’s one feature I hope to see make its way into the new system. Sadly, it’s probably not going to happen.

HDR is excellent…
Apple introduced HDR video playback support in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017, the same year Apple TV gained the feature.
In a nutshell, HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is a technology that expands the range between dark and bright areas, handling both simultaneously without losing detail in shadows or highlights.
It also enhances color accuracy, which is great if you’re watching a movie or TV show that really goes the distance to carefully make the most of this exciting capability.
If you’ve watched the final season of Better Call Saul, you know what I’m talking about.
It didn’t take long for the streaming world to adopt HDR. In fact, Apple worked with streaming platforms and movie studios to make the most of this new feature. Here’s Eddy Cue, at the September 2017 special event:

To experience 4K with HDR, you also need great content. And we’ve been working with the large Hollywood studios to bring all of their 4K and HDR movie titles to iTunes.In addition to iTunes, we’ve been working with leading streaming providers like Netflix to bring their 4K HDR titles to Apple TV and, later this year, Amazon Prime Video, with all of their 4K HDR titles and originals as well.

When Apple introduced HDR video recording to the iPhone 12, the YouTube app added HDR playback support right away, which was great for creators who go the extra mile to create something that really stands apart.
Then, in 2022, Snapchat got support for it. That’s when things started going awry.
…until it’s not
Today, every major social platform supports HDR, which sounds great in theory. In practice, it just means every third casually taken photo or video looks uncomfortably bright as it zips across the screen. Unlike a properly mastered show, movie, or even a YouTube video.
And while it makes sense that social apps would add HDR support, since they have been trying to compete with actual streaming services, currently, having that enabled on Instagram, for instance, makes for an uncomfortably worse experience than if everything was in good old SDR.
In an ideal world, Apple would allow for individually selecting which apps would get to display content in HDR in Settings. But honestly, at this point, I’d settle for a global toggle.

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iOS 19: The one small feature I hope to see at WWDC
We are less than a month away from WWDC 2025, where Apple is set to announce a redesigned and less glitchy iOS 19 alongside what it’s been cooking over the past year for its other operating systems. While rumors abound regarding what’s to come to iOS 19, there’s one feature I hope to see make its way into the new system. Sadly, it’s probably not going to happen. HDR is excellent… Apple introduced HDR video playback support in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017, the same year Apple TV gained the feature. In a nutshell, HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is a technology that expands the range between dark and bright areas, handling both simultaneously without losing detail in shadows or highlights. It also enhances color accuracy, which is great if you’re watching a movie or TV show that really goes the distance to carefully make the most of this exciting capability. If you’ve watched the final season of Better Call Saul, you know what I’m talking about. It didn’t take long for the streaming world to adopt HDR. In fact, Apple worked with streaming platforms and movie studios to make the most of this new feature. Here’s Eddy Cue, at the September 2017 special event: To experience 4K with HDR, you also need great content. And we’ve been working with the large Hollywood studios to bring all of their 4K and HDR movie titles to iTunes.In addition to iTunes, we’ve been working with leading streaming providers like Netflix to bring their 4K HDR titles to Apple TV and, later this year, Amazon Prime Video, with all of their 4K HDR titles and originals as well. When Apple introduced HDR video recording to the iPhone 12, the YouTube app added HDR playback support right away, which was great for creators who go the extra mile to create something that really stands apart. Then, in 2022, Snapchat got support for it. That’s when things started going awry. …until it’s not Today, every major social platform supports HDR, which sounds great in theory. In practice, it just means every third casually taken photo or video looks uncomfortably bright as it zips across the screen. Unlike a properly mastered show, movie, or even a YouTube video. And while it makes sense that social apps would add HDR support, since they have been trying to compete with actual streaming services, currently, having that enabled on Instagram, for instance, makes for an uncomfortably worse experience than if everything was in good old SDR. In an ideal world, Apple would allow for individually selecting which apps would get to display content in HDR in Settings. But honestly, at this point, I’d settle for a global toggle. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel #ios #one #small #feature #hope

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iOS 19: The one small feature I hope to see at WWDC

We are less than a month away from WWDC 2025, where Apple is set to announce a redesigned and less glitchy iOS 19 alongside what it’s been cooking over the past year for its other operating systems. While rumors abound regarding what’s to come to iOS 19, there’s one feature I hope to see make its way into the new system. Sadly, it’s probably not going to happen. HDR is excellent… Apple introduced HDR video playback support in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017, the same year Apple TV gained the feature. In a nutshell, HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is a technology that expands the range between dark and bright areas, handling both simultaneously without losing detail in shadows or highlights. It also enhances color accuracy, which is great if you’re watching a movie or TV show that really goes the distance to carefully make the most of this exciting capability. If you’ve watched the final season of Better Call Saul, you know what I’m talking about. It didn’t take long for the streaming world to adopt HDR. In fact, Apple worked with streaming platforms and movie studios to make the most of this new feature. Here’s Eddy Cue, at the September 2017 special event: To experience 4K with HDR, you also need great content. And we’ve been working with the large Hollywood studios to bring all of their 4K and HDR movie titles to iTunes. (…) In addition to iTunes, we’ve been working with leading streaming providers like Netflix to bring their 4K HDR titles to Apple TV and, later this year, Amazon Prime Video, with all of their 4K HDR titles and originals as well. When Apple introduced HDR video recording to the iPhone 12, the YouTube app added HDR playback support right away, which was great for creators who go the extra mile to create something that really stands apart. Then, in 2022, Snapchat got support for it. That’s when things started going awry. …until it’s not Today, every major social platform supports HDR, which sounds great in theory. In practice, it just means every third casually taken photo or video looks uncomfortably bright as it zips across the screen. Unlike a properly mastered show, movie, or even a YouTube video. And while it makes sense that social apps would add HDR support, since they have been trying to compete with actual streaming services, currently, having that enabled on Instagram, for instance, makes for an uncomfortably worse experience than if everything was in good old SDR. In an ideal world, Apple would allow for individually selecting which apps would get to display content in HDR in Settings. But honestly, at this point, I’d settle for a global toggle. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

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Marktechpost AI شارك رابطًا

2025-05-16 13:17:33 ·

DanceGRPO: A Unified Framework for Reinforcement Learning in Visual Generation Across Multiple Paradigms and Tasks

Recent advances in generative models, especially diffusion models and rectified flows, have revolutionized visual content creation with enhanced output quality and versatility. Human feedback integration during training is essential for aligning outputs with human preferences and aesthetic standards. Current approaches like ReFL methods depend on differentiable reward models that introduce VRAM inefficiency for video generation. DPO variants achieve only marginal visual improvements. Further, RL-based methods face challenges including conflicts between ODE-based sampling of rectified flow models and Markov Decision Process formulations, instability when scaling beyond small datasets, and a lack of validation for video generation tasks.
Aligning LLMs employs Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, which trains reward functions based on comparison data to capture human preferences. Policy gradient methods have proven effective but are computationally intensive and require extensive tuning, while Direct Policy Optimizationoffers cost efficiency but delivers inferior performance. DeepSeek-R1 recently showed that large-scale RL with specialized reward functions can guide LLMs toward self-emergent thought processes. Current approaches include DPO-style methods, direct backpropagation with reward signals like ReFL, and policy gradient-based methods such as DPOK and DDPO. Production models primarily utilize DPO and ReFL due to the instability of policy gradient methods in large-scale applications.
Researchers from ByteDance Seed and the University of Hong Kong have proposed DanceGRPO, a unified framework adapting Group Relative Policy Optimization to visual generation paradigms. This solution operates seamlessly across diffusion models and rectified flows, handling text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video tasks. The framework integrates with four foundation modelsand five reward models covering image/video aesthetics, text-image alignment, video motion quality, and binary reward assessments. DanceGRPO outperforms baselines by up to 181% on key benchmarks, including HPS-v2.1, CLIP Score, VideoAlign, and GenEval.
The architecture utilizes five specialized reward models to optimize visual generation quality:

Image Aesthetics quantifies visual appeal using models fine-tuned on human-rated data.
Text-image Alignment uses CLIP to maximize cross-modal consistency.
Video Aesthetics Quality extends evaluation to temporal domains using Vision Language Models.
Video Motion Quality evaluates motion realism through physics-aware VLM analysis.
Thresholding Binary Reward employs a discretization mechanism where values exceeding a threshold receive 1, others 0, specifically designed to evaluate generative models’ ability to learn abrupt reward distributions under threshold-based optimization.

DanceGRPO shows significant improvements in reward metrics for Stable Diffusion v1.4 with an increase in the HPS score from 0.239 to 0.365, and CLIP Score from 0.363 to 0.395. Pick-a-Pic and GenEval evaluations confirm the method’s effectiveness, with DanceGRPO outperforming all competing approaches. For HunyuanVideo-T2I, optimization using the HPS-v2.1 model increases the mean reward score from 0.23 to 0.33, showing enhanced alignment with human aesthetic preferences. With HunyuanVideo, despite excluding text-video alignment due to instability, the methodology achieves relative improvements of 56% and 181% in visual and motion quality metrics, respectively. DanceGRPO uses the VideoAlign reward model’s motion quality metric, achieving a substantial 91% relative improvement in this dimension.

In this paper, researchers have introduced DanceGRPO, a unified framework for enhancing diffusion models and rectified flows across text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video tasks. It addresses critical limitations of prior methods by bridging the gap between language and visual modalities, achieving superior performance through efficient alignment with human preferences and robust scaling to complex, multi-task settings. Experiments demonstrate substantial improvements in visual fidelity, motion quality, and text-image alignment. Future work will explore GRPO’s extension to multimodal generation, further unifying optimization paradigms across Generative AI.

Check out the Paper and Project Page. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit.
Sajjad AnsariSajjad Ansari is a final year undergraduate from IIT Kharagpur. As a Tech enthusiast, he delves into the practical applications of AI with a focus on understanding the impact of AI technologies and their real-world implications. He aims to articulate complex AI concepts in a clear and accessible manner.Sajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Reinforcement Learning, Not Fine-Tuning: Nemotron-Tool-N1 Trains LLMs to Use Tools with Minimal Supervision and Maximum GeneralizationSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/RL^V: Unifying Reasoning and Verification in Language Models through Value-Free Reinforcement LearningSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Offline Video-LLMs Can Now Understand Real-Time Streams: Apple Researchers Introduce StreamBridge to Enable Multi-Turn and Proactive Video UnderstandingSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/AI That Teaches Itself: Tsinghua University’s ‘Absolute Zero’ Trains LLMs With Zero External Data
#dancegrpo #unified #framework #reinforcement #learning

DanceGRPO: A Unified Framework for Reinforcement Learning in Visual Generation Across Multiple Paradigms and Tasks
Recent advances in generative models, especially diffusion models and rectified flows, have revolutionized visual content creation with enhanced output quality and versatility. Human feedback integration during training is essential for aligning outputs with human preferences and aesthetic standards. Current approaches like ReFL methods depend on differentiable reward models that introduce VRAM inefficiency for video generation. DPO variants achieve only marginal visual improvements. Further, RL-based methods face challenges including conflicts between ODE-based sampling of rectified flow models and Markov Decision Process formulations, instability when scaling beyond small datasets, and a lack of validation for video generation tasks. Aligning LLMs employs Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, which trains reward functions based on comparison data to capture human preferences. Policy gradient methods have proven effective but are computationally intensive and require extensive tuning, while Direct Policy Optimizationoffers cost efficiency but delivers inferior performance. DeepSeek-R1 recently showed that large-scale RL with specialized reward functions can guide LLMs toward self-emergent thought processes. Current approaches include DPO-style methods, direct backpropagation with reward signals like ReFL, and policy gradient-based methods such as DPOK and DDPO. Production models primarily utilize DPO and ReFL due to the instability of policy gradient methods in large-scale applications. Researchers from ByteDance Seed and the University of Hong Kong have proposed DanceGRPO, a unified framework adapting Group Relative Policy Optimization to visual generation paradigms. This solution operates seamlessly across diffusion models and rectified flows, handling text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video tasks. The framework integrates with four foundation modelsand five reward models covering image/video aesthetics, text-image alignment, video motion quality, and binary reward assessments. DanceGRPO outperforms baselines by up to 181% on key benchmarks, including HPS-v2.1, CLIP Score, VideoAlign, and GenEval. The architecture utilizes five specialized reward models to optimize visual generation quality: Image Aesthetics quantifies visual appeal using models fine-tuned on human-rated data. Text-image Alignment uses CLIP to maximize cross-modal consistency. Video Aesthetics Quality extends evaluation to temporal domains using Vision Language Models. Video Motion Quality evaluates motion realism through physics-aware VLM analysis. Thresholding Binary Reward employs a discretization mechanism where values exceeding a threshold receive 1, others 0, specifically designed to evaluate generative models’ ability to learn abrupt reward distributions under threshold-based optimization. DanceGRPO shows significant improvements in reward metrics for Stable Diffusion v1.4 with an increase in the HPS score from 0.239 to 0.365, and CLIP Score from 0.363 to 0.395. Pick-a-Pic and GenEval evaluations confirm the method’s effectiveness, with DanceGRPO outperforming all competing approaches. For HunyuanVideo-T2I, optimization using the HPS-v2.1 model increases the mean reward score from 0.23 to 0.33, showing enhanced alignment with human aesthetic preferences. With HunyuanVideo, despite excluding text-video alignment due to instability, the methodology achieves relative improvements of 56% and 181% in visual and motion quality metrics, respectively. DanceGRPO uses the VideoAlign reward model’s motion quality metric, achieving a substantial 91% relative improvement in this dimension. In this paper, researchers have introduced DanceGRPO, a unified framework for enhancing diffusion models and rectified flows across text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video tasks. It addresses critical limitations of prior methods by bridging the gap between language and visual modalities, achieving superior performance through efficient alignment with human preferences and robust scaling to complex, multi-task settings. Experiments demonstrate substantial improvements in visual fidelity, motion quality, and text-image alignment. Future work will explore GRPO’s extension to multimodal generation, further unifying optimization paradigms across Generative AI. Check out the Paper and Project Page. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit. Sajjad AnsariSajjad Ansari is a final year undergraduate from IIT Kharagpur. As a Tech enthusiast, he delves into the practical applications of AI with a focus on understanding the impact of AI technologies and their real-world implications. He aims to articulate complex AI concepts in a clear and accessible manner.Sajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Reinforcement Learning, Not Fine-Tuning: Nemotron-Tool-N1 Trains LLMs to Use Tools with Minimal Supervision and Maximum GeneralizationSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/RL^V: Unifying Reasoning and Verification in Language Models through Value-Free Reinforcement LearningSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Offline Video-LLMs Can Now Understand Real-Time Streams: Apple Researchers Introduce StreamBridge to Enable Multi-Turn and Proactive Video UnderstandingSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/AI That Teaches Itself: Tsinghua University’s ‘Absolute Zero’ Trains LLMs With Zero External Data #dancegrpo #unified #framework #reinforcement #learning

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DanceGRPO: A Unified Framework for Reinforcement Learning in Visual Generation Across Multiple Paradigms and Tasks

Recent advances in generative models, especially diffusion models and rectified flows, have revolutionized visual content creation with enhanced output quality and versatility. Human feedback integration during training is essential for aligning outputs with human preferences and aesthetic standards. Current approaches like ReFL methods depend on differentiable reward models that introduce VRAM inefficiency for video generation. DPO variants achieve only marginal visual improvements. Further, RL-based methods face challenges including conflicts between ODE-based sampling of rectified flow models and Markov Decision Process formulations, instability when scaling beyond small datasets, and a lack of validation for video generation tasks. Aligning LLMs employs Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), which trains reward functions based on comparison data to capture human preferences. Policy gradient methods have proven effective but are computationally intensive and require extensive tuning, while Direct Policy Optimization (DPO) offers cost efficiency but delivers inferior performance. DeepSeek-R1 recently showed that large-scale RL with specialized reward functions can guide LLMs toward self-emergent thought processes. Current approaches include DPO-style methods, direct backpropagation with reward signals like ReFL, and policy gradient-based methods such as DPOK and DDPO. Production models primarily utilize DPO and ReFL due to the instability of policy gradient methods in large-scale applications. Researchers from ByteDance Seed and the University of Hong Kong have proposed DanceGRPO, a unified framework adapting Group Relative Policy Optimization to visual generation paradigms. This solution operates seamlessly across diffusion models and rectified flows, handling text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video tasks. The framework integrates with four foundation models (Stable Diffusion, HunyuanVideo, FLUX, SkyReels-I2V) and five reward models covering image/video aesthetics, text-image alignment, video motion quality, and binary reward assessments. DanceGRPO outperforms baselines by up to 181% on key benchmarks, including HPS-v2.1, CLIP Score, VideoAlign, and GenEval. The architecture utilizes five specialized reward models to optimize visual generation quality: Image Aesthetics quantifies visual appeal using models fine-tuned on human-rated data. Text-image Alignment uses CLIP to maximize cross-modal consistency. Video Aesthetics Quality extends evaluation to temporal domains using Vision Language Models (VLMs). Video Motion Quality evaluates motion realism through physics-aware VLM analysis. Thresholding Binary Reward employs a discretization mechanism where values exceeding a threshold receive 1, others 0, specifically designed to evaluate generative models’ ability to learn abrupt reward distributions under threshold-based optimization. DanceGRPO shows significant improvements in reward metrics for Stable Diffusion v1.4 with an increase in the HPS score from 0.239 to 0.365, and CLIP Score from 0.363 to 0.395. Pick-a-Pic and GenEval evaluations confirm the method’s effectiveness, with DanceGRPO outperforming all competing approaches. For HunyuanVideo-T2I, optimization using the HPS-v2.1 model increases the mean reward score from 0.23 to 0.33, showing enhanced alignment with human aesthetic preferences. With HunyuanVideo, despite excluding text-video alignment due to instability, the methodology achieves relative improvements of 56% and 181% in visual and motion quality metrics, respectively. DanceGRPO uses the VideoAlign reward model’s motion quality metric, achieving a substantial 91% relative improvement in this dimension. In this paper, researchers have introduced DanceGRPO, a unified framework for enhancing diffusion models and rectified flows across text-to-image, text-to-video, and image-to-video tasks. It addresses critical limitations of prior methods by bridging the gap between language and visual modalities, achieving superior performance through efficient alignment with human preferences and robust scaling to complex, multi-task settings. Experiments demonstrate substantial improvements in visual fidelity, motion quality, and text-image alignment. Future work will explore GRPO’s extension to multimodal generation, further unifying optimization paradigms across Generative AI. Check out the Paper and Project Page. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit. Sajjad AnsariSajjad Ansari is a final year undergraduate from IIT Kharagpur. As a Tech enthusiast, he delves into the practical applications of AI with a focus on understanding the impact of AI technologies and their real-world implications. He aims to articulate complex AI concepts in a clear and accessible manner.Sajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Reinforcement Learning, Not Fine-Tuning: Nemotron-Tool-N1 Trains LLMs to Use Tools with Minimal Supervision and Maximum GeneralizationSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/RL^V: Unifying Reasoning and Verification in Language Models through Value-Free Reinforcement LearningSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/Offline Video-LLMs Can Now Understand Real-Time Streams: Apple Researchers Introduce StreamBridge to Enable Multi-Turn and Proactive Video UnderstandingSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/AI That Teaches Itself: Tsinghua University’s ‘Absolute Zero’ Trains LLMs With Zero External Data

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The Verge شارك رابطًا

2025-05-16 13:17:05 ·

Acer&#8217;s Swift Edge laptop is gunning for the MacBook Air

Acer is announcing a whole slew of new laptops at the Computex 2025 computer show in Taiwan, including the Swift Edge 14 AI that weighs half a pound less than the MacBook Air, and the Predator Triton 14 AI for a mix of both gaming and content creation. There are over a dozen new models from Acer, many using some of the latest chips from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, and a couple examples running Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Windows on Arm. There are also some new gaming and creator-focused monitors to go with them all. The new laptops stretch across the wide Acer range of notebooks, like the Predator and Nitro lines, the Swifts, and Aspire. Like Lenovo, Acer isn’t announcing US pricing or availability for any of its new products just yet — that’s reserved for regions like Europe. Details for the US are expected closer to their eventual release, no doubt thanks to the ongoing back-and-forth with tariffs.The Swift Edge 14 AI is one of Acer’s new laptops I find particularly intriguing. It’s a 14-inch Copilot Plus PCwith Intel’s Lunar Lake chip options, a 2880 x 1800 OLED display, and up to 32GB of RAM / 1TB SSD. It’s also just 0.37- to 0.65-inches thick, and weighs slightly under 2.2 pounds. For comparison, the M4 MacBook Air is 0.44-inches thick from front to back and weighs 2.7 pounds. The Swift Edge is obviously following the Air’s mold, but Acer manages to fit two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and even an HDMI 2.1 port in such a small and light chassis. It’s expected to start at €1,599in Europe with availability beginning in June.The new Acer Predator Triton 14 AI and its included trackpad stylus. Image: AcerOn the gaming side, Acer made a fairly big deal in my briefing call about the upcoming Predator Triton 14 AI. Unlike thicker gaming laptops that are purely gaming-focused, the Triton seems poised to compete with more portable models like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighs around 3.5 pounds and measures just 0.68 inches at its thickest point, so it’s meant to easily go places. It’s got a 14.5-inch 2880 x 1800 120Hz OLED display that should be fit for both games and content creation, as well as a jumbo-sized haptic trackpad that supports an included stylus. Chip-wise, it’s got an Intel Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 288V processor and a GPU up to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070, with compatibility for Nvidia Studio drivers. But it won’t come cheap, with a starting price of €2,999when it launches in Europe in July.Other upcoming laptops from Acer include the Aspire 14 AI / 16 AI, Swift Go 14 AI and Swift Go 16 AI, and the Predator Helios Neo 14.1/9The Predator Triton 14 AI is pretty thin and has a bunch of ports. Though, it has a microSD card slot, not full-size SD. Image: AcerFor monitors, Acer has a pair of 27-inch QD-OLEDs, with its flagship Predator X27 X able to hit 240Hz at 4K and the 2560 x 1440 X27U F5 able to hit a very high 500Hz. They’re expected to run €1,099and €899, respectively, when they arrive in Q3. There are also lower-cost 32-inch and 34-inch Nitro monitors, and rounding out the non-gamer offerings are a 6K ProCreator PE320QXT and a line of portable monitors.Acer is flooding the zone with new laptops, as it often does. We’ll have to see what US pricing and availability are like as each of them gets closer to release.See More:
#acerampamp8217s #swift #edge #laptop #gunning

Acer&#8217;s Swift Edge laptop is gunning for the MacBook Air
Acer is announcing a whole slew of new laptops at the Computex 2025 computer show in Taiwan, including the Swift Edge 14 AI that weighs half a pound less than the MacBook Air, and the Predator Triton 14 AI for a mix of both gaming and content creation. There are over a dozen new models from Acer, many using some of the latest chips from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, and a couple examples running Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Windows on Arm. There are also some new gaming and creator-focused monitors to go with them all. The new laptops stretch across the wide Acer range of notebooks, like the Predator and Nitro lines, the Swifts, and Aspire. Like Lenovo, Acer isn’t announcing US pricing or availability for any of its new products just yet — that’s reserved for regions like Europe. Details for the US are expected closer to their eventual release, no doubt thanks to the ongoing back-and-forth with tariffs.The Swift Edge 14 AI is one of Acer’s new laptops I find particularly intriguing. It’s a 14-inch Copilot Plus PCwith Intel’s Lunar Lake chip options, a 2880 x 1800 OLED display, and up to 32GB of RAM / 1TB SSD. It’s also just 0.37- to 0.65-inches thick, and weighs slightly under 2.2 pounds. For comparison, the M4 MacBook Air is 0.44-inches thick from front to back and weighs 2.7 pounds. The Swift Edge is obviously following the Air’s mold, but Acer manages to fit two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and even an HDMI 2.1 port in such a small and light chassis. It’s expected to start at €1,599in Europe with availability beginning in June.The new Acer Predator Triton 14 AI and its included trackpad stylus. Image: AcerOn the gaming side, Acer made a fairly big deal in my briefing call about the upcoming Predator Triton 14 AI. Unlike thicker gaming laptops that are purely gaming-focused, the Triton seems poised to compete with more portable models like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighs around 3.5 pounds and measures just 0.68 inches at its thickest point, so it’s meant to easily go places. It’s got a 14.5-inch 2880 x 1800 120Hz OLED display that should be fit for both games and content creation, as well as a jumbo-sized haptic trackpad that supports an included stylus. Chip-wise, it’s got an Intel Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 288V processor and a GPU up to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070, with compatibility for Nvidia Studio drivers. But it won’t come cheap, with a starting price of €2,999when it launches in Europe in July.Other upcoming laptops from Acer include the Aspire 14 AI / 16 AI, Swift Go 14 AI and Swift Go 16 AI, and the Predator Helios Neo 14.1/9The Predator Triton 14 AI is pretty thin and has a bunch of ports. Though, it has a microSD card slot, not full-size SD. Image: AcerFor monitors, Acer has a pair of 27-inch QD-OLEDs, with its flagship Predator X27 X able to hit 240Hz at 4K and the 2560 x 1440 X27U F5 able to hit a very high 500Hz. They’re expected to run €1,099and €899, respectively, when they arrive in Q3. There are also lower-cost 32-inch and 34-inch Nitro monitors, and rounding out the non-gamer offerings are a 6K ProCreator PE320QXT and a line of portable monitors.Acer is flooding the zone with new laptops, as it often does. We’ll have to see what US pricing and availability are like as each of them gets closer to release.See More: #acerampamp8217s #swift #edge #laptop #gunning

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Acer&#8217;s Swift Edge laptop is gunning for the MacBook Air

Acer is announcing a whole slew of new laptops at the Computex 2025 computer show in Taiwan, including the Swift Edge 14 AI that weighs half a pound less than the MacBook Air, and the Predator Triton 14 AI for a mix of both gaming and content creation. There are over a dozen new models from Acer, many using some of the latest chips from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, and a couple examples running Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Windows on Arm. There are also some new gaming and creator-focused monitors to go with them all. The new laptops stretch across the wide Acer range of notebooks, like the Predator and Nitro lines (gaming), the Swifts (general purpose laptops — not Swifties), and Aspire (the cheapest of the cheap). Like Lenovo, Acer isn’t announcing US pricing or availability for any of its new products just yet — that’s reserved for regions like Europe. Details for the US are expected closer to their eventual release, no doubt thanks to the ongoing back-and-forth with tariffs.The Swift Edge 14 AI is one of Acer’s new laptops I find particularly intriguing. It’s a 14-inch Copilot Plus PC (like all the models Acer brands with “AI” in the name) with Intel’s Lunar Lake chip options, a 2880 x 1800 OLED display, and up to 32GB of RAM / 1TB SSD. It’s also just 0.37- to 0.65-inches thick (from its thinnest to thickest points), and weighs slightly under 2.2 pounds. For comparison, the M4 MacBook Air is 0.44-inches thick from front to back and weighs 2.7 pounds. The Swift Edge is obviously following the Air’s mold, but Acer manages to fit two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and even an HDMI 2.1 port in such a small and light chassis. It’s expected to start at €1,599 (about $1,800) in Europe with availability beginning in June.The new Acer Predator Triton 14 AI and its included trackpad stylus. Image: AcerOn the gaming side, Acer made a fairly big deal in my briefing call about the upcoming Predator Triton 14 AI. Unlike thicker gaming laptops that are purely gaming-focused, the Triton seems poised to compete with more portable models like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighs around 3.5 pounds and measures just 0.68 inches at its thickest point, so it’s meant to easily go places. It’s got a 14.5-inch 2880 x 1800 120Hz OLED display that should be fit for both games and content creation, as well as a jumbo-sized haptic trackpad that supports an included stylus. Chip-wise, it’s got an Intel Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 288V processor and a GPU up to Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070, with compatibility for Nvidia Studio drivers. But it won’t come cheap, with a starting price of €2,999 (about $3,350) when it launches in Europe in July.Other upcoming laptops from Acer include the Aspire 14 AI / 16 AI (each configurable with AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm chips), Swift Go 14 AI and Swift Go 16 AI (the cheaper entries in the thin-and-light Swift line), and the Predator Helios Neo 14 (a lower-cost entry in Acer’s flagship gaming line).1/9The Predator Triton 14 AI is pretty thin and has a bunch of ports. Though, it has a microSD card slot, not full-size SD. Image: AcerFor monitors, Acer has a pair of 27-inch QD-OLEDs, with its flagship Predator X27 X able to hit 240Hz at 4K and the 2560 x 1440 X27U F5 able to hit a very high 500Hz. They’re expected to run €1,099 (about $1,230) and €899 ($1,000), respectively, when they arrive in Q3. There are also lower-cost 32-inch and 34-inch Nitro monitors, and rounding out the non-gamer offerings are a 6K ProCreator PE320QXT and a line of portable monitors.Acer is flooding the zone with new laptops, as it often does. We’ll have to see what US pricing and availability are like as each of them gets closer to release.See More:

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VentureBeat شارك رابطًا

2025-05-16 13:16:30 ·

The $1 Billion database bet: What Databricks’ Neon acquisition means for your AI strategy

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The importance of databases to modern enterprise AI operations cannot be overstated.
Data helps to train and ground AI, and multiple research reports show that without proper data, AI efforts tend to fail. With trends like vibe coding and agentic AI, it’s also increasingly important to have database technology that can be spun up as needed in a serverless approach to modern development efforts.
In that environment, it should come as no surprise that databases are a particularly valuable commodity.
This week, that fact was on display with Databricks‘ acquisition of privately held serverless PostgreSQL startup Neon, which was founded in 2022. The deal is reportedly valued at a staggering billion, which is shocking given that barely two years ago, the company raised million in a series B round of funding.
What is also particularly interesting is that Databricks itself is a data vendor, with its data lakehouse platform. At various points in the company’s history, it has positioned itself as an alternative to traditional databases, providing a data lake structure where users can make queries. So what was missing, and why did Databricks need to spend a billion dollars? What does it mean and say about what enterprise AI really needs?
Functionally, it’s all about meeting developers’ needs to build agentic AI applications. According to Neon, over 80% of the databases created on its platform were created by AI agents.
What is serverless PostgreSQL and why does it matter?
While Neon is a startup, the core database technology that it’s based on is not new.
PostgreSQL is one of the oldest and most established open-source database platforms, dating back to 1996. It’s a relational database technology, meaning it has tables and rows alongside extremely stable features that organizations have trusted for decades. The core open-source PostgreSQL database is now updated in a yearly release cadence. The most recent stable update was PostgreSQL 17, which debuted in Sept. 2024.
As an open-source technology, PostgreSQL has enjoyed broad adoption and contributions. At one point, it was often compared to other proprietary relational database options, including Oracle as an alternative option. In 2025, though, PostgreSQL stands on its own.
DB-Engines currently ranks PostgreSQL as the fourth most popular database in use today, behind Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and Oracle. The state of PostgreSQL 2024 report from Timescale identifies the open-source database’s rising prominence as the database of choice for AI applications. The database’s well-established and understood nature and broad availability are among the numerous factors that make it attractive.
PostgreSQL on its own is just the database, though. Running it as a serverless offering is an operational and deployment activity. The promise of any serverless database is ease of operations. Rather than requiring a dedicated database deployment that continually runs with dedicated resources, serverless is spun up on demand as needed. It’s a deployment option that is particularly attractive to developers as a way to build applications quickly. AI-based development is even more appealing as databases can be built and deployed programmatically.
The serverless PostgreSQL landscape has a lot of vendors
Every cloud hyperscaler has some form of PostgreSQL service and has for years.
Google has multiple offerings, including AlloyDB, Microsoft has Azure Database for PostgreSQL, while AWS has Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Amazon Aurora. Each of them also has some flavor of serverless offering, that is, a database available on demand.
Numerous smaller vendors exist, including Timescale, EDB and NetApp Instaclustr. In fact, nearly two years ago, Databricks acquired serverless PostgreSQL vendor bit.io, which was also an early rival of Neon.
As it turns out, the goals and capabilities of bit.io are quite different from Neon.
“Together with the Neon team, we look forward to building the most developer and AI-agent-friendly database platform,” Phil Shin, senior director of corporate development and ventures at Databricks, told VentureBeat. “In contrast, the bit.io acquisition was not actually about Postgres but targeting developer experiences, especially in the trials and self-service process.”
Shin added that the bit.io acquisition had a big impact on Databricks’ seamless signup experience.
How serverless PostgreSQL fits into the enterprise database landscape
While Neon has only been around for a few years with its serverless PostgreSQL implementation, commercial vendor EDB has been in business since 2004. EDB has a series of its own commercially supported PostgreSQL offerings.
Matt Yonkovit, VP of Product for EDB, told VentureBeat that the acquisition of Neon is a strong vote of confidence in Postgres as a foundational technology for AI and analytics.
“It reinforces what we’ve long believed: Postgres is increasingly central to modern data stacks,” Yonkovit said. “Serverless is a great fit for dev/test environments and for quickly jumpstarting AI projects—but as those use cases scale, enterprises need the performance, compliance, and control of a sovereign platform.”
Yonkovit noted that serverless is well-suited for short bursts and smaller workloads. It can scale up and down quickly or shut off entirely when idle, which significantly reduces costs associated with compute, power and storage. However, in his view, there are tradeoffs.
“A significant challenge with serverless is that sovereign data management can become messy because you can’t control where the data is processed unless you have a well-restricted pool of resources,” Yonkovit said.
The power of serverless PostgreSQL for agentic AI
Neon’s serverless PostgreSQL approach separates storage and compute, making it developer-friendly and AI-native. It also enables automated scaling as well as branching in an approach that is similar to how the Git version control system works for code.
Amalgam Insights CEO and Chief Analyst Hyoun Park noted that Databricks has been a pioneer in deploying and scaling AI projects.
“One of the big challenges in AI is managing the storage and compute associated with the data,” Park told VentureBeat. “Each of these needs will be increasingly hard to predict in an agentic world where end-user prompts and requests may quickly lead to unexpected demands in storage or compute to solve the problem.
Park explained that Neon’s serverless autoscaling approach to PostgreSQL is important for AI because it allows agents and AI projects to grow as needed without artificially coupling storage and compute needs together. He added that for Databricks, this is useful both for agentic use cases and for supporting the custom models they have built over the last couple of years after its Mosaic AI acquisition.
What it means for enterprise AI leaders
For enterprises looking to lead the way in AI, this acquisition signals a shift in infrastructure requirements for successful AI implementation.
Data is critical for AI; that’s not a surprise. What is particularly insightful, though, is that the ability to rapidly spin up databases is essential for agentic AI success. The deal validates that even advanced data companies need specialized serverless database capabilities to support AI agents that create and manage databases programmatically.
Organizations should recognize that traditional database approaches may limit their AI initiatives, while flexible, instantly scalable serverless solutions enable the dynamic resource allocation that modern AI applications demand.
For companies still planning their AI roadmap, this acquisition signals that database infrastructure decisions should prioritize serverless capabilities that can adapt quickly to unpredictable AI workloads. This would transform database strategy from a technical consideration to a competitive advantage in delivering responsive, efficient AI solutions.

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The $1 Billion database bet: What Databricks’ Neon acquisition means for your AI strategy
Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More The importance of databases to modern enterprise AI operations cannot be overstated. Data helps to train and ground AI, and multiple research reports show that without proper data, AI efforts tend to fail. With trends like vibe coding and agentic AI, it’s also increasingly important to have database technology that can be spun up as needed in a serverless approach to modern development efforts. In that environment, it should come as no surprise that databases are a particularly valuable commodity. This week, that fact was on display with Databricks‘ acquisition of privately held serverless PostgreSQL startup Neon, which was founded in 2022. The deal is reportedly valued at a staggering billion, which is shocking given that barely two years ago, the company raised million in a series B round of funding. What is also particularly interesting is that Databricks itself is a data vendor, with its data lakehouse platform. At various points in the company’s history, it has positioned itself as an alternative to traditional databases, providing a data lake structure where users can make queries. So what was missing, and why did Databricks need to spend a billion dollars? What does it mean and say about what enterprise AI really needs? Functionally, it’s all about meeting developers’ needs to build agentic AI applications. According to Neon, over 80% of the databases created on its platform were created by AI agents. What is serverless PostgreSQL and why does it matter? While Neon is a startup, the core database technology that it’s based on is not new. PostgreSQL is one of the oldest and most established open-source database platforms, dating back to 1996. It’s a relational database technology, meaning it has tables and rows alongside extremely stable features that organizations have trusted for decades. The core open-source PostgreSQL database is now updated in a yearly release cadence. The most recent stable update was PostgreSQL 17, which debuted in Sept. 2024. As an open-source technology, PostgreSQL has enjoyed broad adoption and contributions. At one point, it was often compared to other proprietary relational database options, including Oracle as an alternative option. In 2025, though, PostgreSQL stands on its own. DB-Engines currently ranks PostgreSQL as the fourth most popular database in use today, behind Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and Oracle. The state of PostgreSQL 2024 report from Timescale identifies the open-source database’s rising prominence as the database of choice for AI applications. The database’s well-established and understood nature and broad availability are among the numerous factors that make it attractive. PostgreSQL on its own is just the database, though. Running it as a serverless offering is an operational and deployment activity. The promise of any serverless database is ease of operations. Rather than requiring a dedicated database deployment that continually runs with dedicated resources, serverless is spun up on demand as needed. It’s a deployment option that is particularly attractive to developers as a way to build applications quickly. AI-based development is even more appealing as databases can be built and deployed programmatically. The serverless PostgreSQL landscape has a lot of vendors Every cloud hyperscaler has some form of PostgreSQL service and has for years. Google has multiple offerings, including AlloyDB, Microsoft has Azure Database for PostgreSQL, while AWS has Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Amazon Aurora. Each of them also has some flavor of serverless offering, that is, a database available on demand. Numerous smaller vendors exist, including Timescale, EDB and NetApp Instaclustr. In fact, nearly two years ago, Databricks acquired serverless PostgreSQL vendor bit.io, which was also an early rival of Neon. As it turns out, the goals and capabilities of bit.io are quite different from Neon. “Together with the Neon team, we look forward to building the most developer and AI-agent-friendly database platform,” Phil Shin, senior director of corporate development and ventures at Databricks, told VentureBeat. “In contrast, the bit.io acquisition was not actually about Postgres but targeting developer experiences, especially in the trials and self-service process.” Shin added that the bit.io acquisition had a big impact on Databricks’ seamless signup experience. How serverless PostgreSQL fits into the enterprise database landscape While Neon has only been around for a few years with its serverless PostgreSQL implementation, commercial vendor EDB has been in business since 2004. EDB has a series of its own commercially supported PostgreSQL offerings. Matt Yonkovit, VP of Product for EDB, told VentureBeat that the acquisition of Neon is a strong vote of confidence in Postgres as a foundational technology for AI and analytics. “It reinforces what we’ve long believed: Postgres is increasingly central to modern data stacks,” Yonkovit said. “Serverless is a great fit for dev/test environments and for quickly jumpstarting AI projects—but as those use cases scale, enterprises need the performance, compliance, and control of a sovereign platform.” Yonkovit noted that serverless is well-suited for short bursts and smaller workloads. It can scale up and down quickly or shut off entirely when idle, which significantly reduces costs associated with compute, power and storage. However, in his view, there are tradeoffs. “A significant challenge with serverless is that sovereign data management can become messy because you can’t control where the data is processed unless you have a well-restricted pool of resources,” Yonkovit said. The power of serverless PostgreSQL for agentic AI Neon’s serverless PostgreSQL approach separates storage and compute, making it developer-friendly and AI-native. It also enables automated scaling as well as branching in an approach that is similar to how the Git version control system works for code. Amalgam Insights CEO and Chief Analyst Hyoun Park noted that Databricks has been a pioneer in deploying and scaling AI projects. “One of the big challenges in AI is managing the storage and compute associated with the data,” Park told VentureBeat. “Each of these needs will be increasingly hard to predict in an agentic world where end-user prompts and requests may quickly lead to unexpected demands in storage or compute to solve the problem. Park explained that Neon’s serverless autoscaling approach to PostgreSQL is important for AI because it allows agents and AI projects to grow as needed without artificially coupling storage and compute needs together. He added that for Databricks, this is useful both for agentic use cases and for supporting the custom models they have built over the last couple of years after its Mosaic AI acquisition. What it means for enterprise AI leaders For enterprises looking to lead the way in AI, this acquisition signals a shift in infrastructure requirements for successful AI implementation. Data is critical for AI; that’s not a surprise. What is particularly insightful, though, is that the ability to rapidly spin up databases is essential for agentic AI success. The deal validates that even advanced data companies need specialized serverless database capabilities to support AI agents that create and manage databases programmatically. Organizations should recognize that traditional database approaches may limit their AI initiatives, while flexible, instantly scalable serverless solutions enable the dynamic resource allocation that modern AI applications demand. For companies still planning their AI roadmap, this acquisition signals that database infrastructure decisions should prioritize serverless capabilities that can adapt quickly to unpredictable AI workloads. This would transform database strategy from a technical consideration to a competitive advantage in delivering responsive, efficient AI solutions. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured. #billion #database #bet #what #databricks

VENTUREBEAT.COM

The $1 Billion database bet: What Databricks’ Neon acquisition means for your AI strategy

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More The importance of databases to modern enterprise AI operations cannot be overstated. Data helps to train and ground AI, and multiple research reports show that without proper data, AI efforts tend to fail. With trends like vibe coding and agentic AI, it’s also increasingly important to have database technology that can be spun up as needed in a serverless approach to modern development efforts. In that environment, it should come as no surprise that databases are a particularly valuable commodity. This week, that fact was on display with Databricks‘ acquisition of privately held serverless PostgreSQL startup Neon, which was founded in 2022. The deal is reportedly valued at a staggering $1 billion, which is shocking given that barely two years ago, the company raised $46 million in a series B round of funding. What is also particularly interesting is that Databricks itself is a data vendor, with its data lakehouse platform. At various points in the company’s history, it has positioned itself as an alternative to traditional databases, providing a data lake structure where users can make queries. So what was missing, and why did Databricks need to spend a billion dollars? What does it mean and say about what enterprise AI really needs? Functionally, it’s all about meeting developers’ needs to build agentic AI applications. According to Neon, over 80% of the databases created on its platform were created by AI agents. What is serverless PostgreSQL and why does it matter? While Neon is a startup, the core database technology that it’s based on is not new. PostgreSQL is one of the oldest and most established open-source database platforms, dating back to 1996. It’s a relational database technology, meaning it has tables and rows alongside extremely stable features that organizations have trusted for decades. The core open-source PostgreSQL database is now updated in a yearly release cadence. The most recent stable update was PostgreSQL 17, which debuted in Sept. 2024. As an open-source technology, PostgreSQL has enjoyed broad adoption and contributions. At one point, it was often compared to other proprietary relational database options, including Oracle as an alternative option. In 2025, though, PostgreSQL stands on its own. DB-Engines currently ranks PostgreSQL as the fourth most popular database in use today, behind Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and Oracle. The state of PostgreSQL 2024 report from Timescale identifies the open-source database’s rising prominence as the database of choice for AI applications. The database’s well-established and understood nature and broad availability are among the numerous factors that make it attractive. PostgreSQL on its own is just the database, though. Running it as a serverless offering is an operational and deployment activity. The promise of any serverless database is ease of operations. Rather than requiring a dedicated database deployment that continually runs with dedicated resources, serverless is spun up on demand as needed. It’s a deployment option that is particularly attractive to developers as a way to build applications quickly. AI-based development is even more appealing as databases can be built and deployed programmatically. The serverless PostgreSQL landscape has a lot of vendors Every cloud hyperscaler has some form of PostgreSQL service and has for years. Google has multiple offerings, including AlloyDB, Microsoft has Azure Database for PostgreSQL, while AWS has Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Amazon Aurora. Each of them also has some flavor of serverless offering, that is, a database available on demand. Numerous smaller vendors exist, including Timescale, EDB and NetApp Instaclustr. In fact, nearly two years ago, Databricks acquired serverless PostgreSQL vendor bit.io, which was also an early rival of Neon. As it turns out, the goals and capabilities of bit.io are quite different from Neon. “Together with the Neon team, we look forward to building the most developer and AI-agent-friendly database platform,” Phil Shin, senior director of corporate development and ventures at Databricks, told VentureBeat. “In contrast, the bit.io acquisition was not actually about Postgres but targeting developer experiences, especially in the trials and self-service process.” Shin added that the bit.io acquisition had a big impact on Databricks’ seamless signup experience. How serverless PostgreSQL fits into the enterprise database landscape While Neon has only been around for a few years with its serverless PostgreSQL implementation, commercial vendor EDB has been in business since 2004. EDB has a series of its own commercially supported PostgreSQL offerings. Matt Yonkovit, VP of Product for EDB, told VentureBeat that the acquisition of Neon is a strong vote of confidence in Postgres as a foundational technology for AI and analytics. “It reinforces what we’ve long believed: Postgres is increasingly central to modern data stacks,” Yonkovit said. “Serverless is a great fit for dev/test environments and for quickly jumpstarting AI projects—but as those use cases scale, enterprises need the performance, compliance, and control of a sovereign platform.” Yonkovit noted that serverless is well-suited for short bursts and smaller workloads. It can scale up and down quickly or shut off entirely when idle, which significantly reduces costs associated with compute, power and storage. However, in his view, there are tradeoffs. “A significant challenge with serverless is that sovereign data management can become messy because you can’t control where the data is processed unless you have a well-restricted pool of resources,” Yonkovit said. The power of serverless PostgreSQL for agentic AI Neon’s serverless PostgreSQL approach separates storage and compute, making it developer-friendly and AI-native. It also enables automated scaling as well as branching in an approach that is similar to how the Git version control system works for code. Amalgam Insights CEO and Chief Analyst Hyoun Park noted that Databricks has been a pioneer in deploying and scaling AI projects. “One of the big challenges in AI is managing the storage and compute associated with the data,” Park told VentureBeat. “Each of these needs will be increasingly hard to predict in an agentic world where end-user prompts and requests may quickly lead to unexpected demands in storage or compute to solve the problem. Park explained that Neon’s serverless autoscaling approach to PostgreSQL is important for AI because it allows agents and AI projects to grow as needed without artificially coupling storage and compute needs together. He added that for Databricks, this is useful both for agentic use cases and for supporting the custom models they have built over the last couple of years after its Mosaic AI acquisition. What it means for enterprise AI leaders For enterprises looking to lead the way in AI, this acquisition signals a shift in infrastructure requirements for successful AI implementation. Data is critical for AI; that’s not a surprise. What is particularly insightful, though, is that the ability to rapidly spin up databases is essential for agentic AI success. The deal validates that even advanced data companies need specialized serverless database capabilities to support AI agents that create and manage databases programmatically. Organizations should recognize that traditional database approaches may limit their AI initiatives, while flexible, instantly scalable serverless solutions enable the dynamic resource allocation that modern AI applications demand. For companies still planning their AI roadmap, this acquisition signals that database infrastructure decisions should prioritize serverless capabilities that can adapt quickly to unpredictable AI workloads. This would transform database strategy from a technical consideration to a competitive advantage in delivering responsive, efficient AI solutions. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

·9 مشاهدة

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2025-05-16 13:13:13 ·

Cebas releases thinkingParticles 7.4 for 3ds Max

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" ";

New features in thinkingParticles 7.4, the latest version of the 3ds Max particles plugin. The video also shows features added in thinkingParticles 7.3 and its service pack updates.

Cebas Visual Technology has released thinkingParticles 7.4, the latest version of its particle effects and multiphysics plugin for 3ds Max.The update extends thinkingParticles’ ME-L scripting language with new functions for manipulating meshes, and adds a SplineForce node for guiding particles along splines.
Other features added in recent updates include the Explosion Tool, a set of readymade nodes for creating explosion effects.
A versatile simulation tool for 3ds Max-based VFX pipelines

First released two decades ago, thinkingParticles is a procedural simulation tool that has been used by leading VFX studios including Scanline VFX, FuseFX and Bottleship VFX.Originally geared towards particle-based destruction and gaseous fluid simulations, it later added a SPHsolver for liquids and soft bodies, MPM solvers for granular fluids and elastic materials, and tools for manipulating OpenVDB data.
The software is also now bundled with finalRender, cebas’s GPU renderer.
ThinkingParticles 7.4: new ME-L functions for controlling meshes

ThinkingParticles 7.4 further extends the capabilities of ME-L, the plugin’s new scripting language.Initially a means to manipulate OpenVDB data, it was broadened out into a more general-purpose system for creating custom particle simulations in thinkingParticles 7.3.
ME-L scripts have “almost unrestricted access” to the core simulation data created by the plugin, making it possible to create most of the same effects as through its standard node-based workflow, but since evaluation of particle data via the ExpressionME-L node is multi-threaded, unlike most of the standard nodes, performance can be much greater.
The 7.4 update introduces over 160 new ME-L functions for modifying meshes, making it possible to perform operations like edge subdivision and dynamic remeshing.
You can see examples of simulations created using the new functions in the video embedded at the top of this story.

New SplineForce node, plus updates to SimpleDeform and the MPM Sand solver

Other new features in thinkingParticles 7.4 include the SplineForce node, which creates a virtual force along the length of a spline curve.Particles within the radius are drawn along the curve, making it possible to create “stylized trails, flows, and guided motion effects”.
The existing SimpleDeform node, for using particles to deform meshes, gets new Pose Matching controls, enabling the meshes to “maintain or revert to their original pose even after extreme deformation”.
In addition, the MPM Sand solver now has a moisture-based activation threshold, for realistic damp-to-dry granular fluid simulations.

Added in the previous service pack release: new Explosion Tool

Other features added in recent releases include the Explosion Tool: a collection of readymade nodes for creating explosions.It includes nodes for generating the initial burst of the explosion, the shockwave it generates, and trails of debris thrown up by the blast.
Price and system requirements

thinkingParticles 7.4 is compatible with 3ds Max 2024+. The software is available on a rental-only basis. Subscriptions cost /year.Read an overview of the new features in thinkingParticles on cebas’s website

Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X. As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.
#cebas #releases #thinkingparticles #3ds #max

Cebas releases thinkingParticles 7.4 for 3ds Max
html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "; New features in thinkingParticles 7.4, the latest version of the 3ds Max particles plugin. The video also shows features added in thinkingParticles 7.3 and its service pack updates. Cebas Visual Technology has released thinkingParticles 7.4, the latest version of its particle effects and multiphysics plugin for 3ds Max.The update extends thinkingParticles’ ME-L scripting language with new functions for manipulating meshes, and adds a SplineForce node for guiding particles along splines. Other features added in recent updates include the Explosion Tool, a set of readymade nodes for creating explosion effects. A versatile simulation tool for 3ds Max-based VFX pipelines First released two decades ago, thinkingParticles is a procedural simulation tool that has been used by leading VFX studios including Scanline VFX, FuseFX and Bottleship VFX.Originally geared towards particle-based destruction and gaseous fluid simulations, it later added a SPHsolver for liquids and soft bodies, MPM solvers for granular fluids and elastic materials, and tools for manipulating OpenVDB data. The software is also now bundled with finalRender, cebas’s GPU renderer. ThinkingParticles 7.4: new ME-L functions for controlling meshes ThinkingParticles 7.4 further extends the capabilities of ME-L, the plugin’s new scripting language.Initially a means to manipulate OpenVDB data, it was broadened out into a more general-purpose system for creating custom particle simulations in thinkingParticles 7.3. ME-L scripts have “almost unrestricted access” to the core simulation data created by the plugin, making it possible to create most of the same effects as through its standard node-based workflow, but since evaluation of particle data via the ExpressionME-L node is multi-threaded, unlike most of the standard nodes, performance can be much greater. The 7.4 update introduces over 160 new ME-L functions for modifying meshes, making it possible to perform operations like edge subdivision and dynamic remeshing. You can see examples of simulations created using the new functions in the video embedded at the top of this story. New SplineForce node, plus updates to SimpleDeform and the MPM Sand solver Other new features in thinkingParticles 7.4 include the SplineForce node, which creates a virtual force along the length of a spline curve.Particles within the radius are drawn along the curve, making it possible to create “stylized trails, flows, and guided motion effects”. The existing SimpleDeform node, for using particles to deform meshes, gets new Pose Matching controls, enabling the meshes to “maintain or revert to their original pose even after extreme deformation”. In addition, the MPM Sand solver now has a moisture-based activation threshold, for realistic damp-to-dry granular fluid simulations. Added in the previous service pack release: new Explosion Tool Other features added in recent releases include the Explosion Tool: a collection of readymade nodes for creating explosions.It includes nodes for generating the initial burst of the explosion, the shockwave it generates, and trails of debris thrown up by the blast. Price and system requirements thinkingParticles 7.4 is compatible with 3ds Max 2024+. The software is available on a rental-only basis. Subscriptions cost /year.Read an overview of the new features in thinkingParticles on cebas’s website Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X. As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects. #cebas #releases #thinkingparticles #3ds #max

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Cebas releases thinkingParticles 7.4 for 3ds Max

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" New features in thinkingParticles 7.4, the latest version of the 3ds Max particles plugin. The video also shows features added in thinkingParticles 7.3 and its service pack updates. Cebas Visual Technology has released thinkingParticles 7.4, the latest version of its particle effects and multiphysics plugin for 3ds Max.The update extends thinkingParticles’ ME-L scripting language with new functions for manipulating meshes, and adds a SplineForce node for guiding particles along splines. Other features added in recent updates include the Explosion Tool, a set of readymade nodes for creating explosion effects. A versatile simulation tool for 3ds Max-based VFX pipelines First released two decades ago, thinkingParticles is a procedural simulation tool that has been used by leading VFX studios including Scanline VFX, FuseFX and Bottleship VFX.Originally geared towards particle-based destruction and gaseous fluid simulations, it later added a SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) solver for liquids and soft bodies, MPM solvers for granular fluids and elastic materials, and tools for manipulating OpenVDB data. The software is also now bundled with finalRender, cebas’s GPU renderer. ThinkingParticles 7.4: new ME-L functions for controlling meshes ThinkingParticles 7.4 further extends the capabilities of ME-L (Math Expression Language), the plugin’s new scripting language.Initially a means to manipulate OpenVDB data, it was broadened out into a more general-purpose system for creating custom particle simulations in thinkingParticles 7.3. ME-L scripts have “almost unrestricted access” to the core simulation data created by the plugin, making it possible to create most of the same effects as through its standard node-based workflow, but since evaluation of particle data via the ExpressionME-L node is multi-threaded, unlike most of the standard nodes, performance can be much greater. The 7.4 update introduces over 160 new ME-L functions for modifying meshes, making it possible to perform operations like edge subdivision and dynamic remeshing. You can see examples of simulations created using the new functions in the video embedded at the top of this story. New SplineForce node, plus updates to SimpleDeform and the MPM Sand solver Other new features in thinkingParticles 7.4 include the SplineForce node, which creates a virtual force along the length of a spline curve.Particles within the radius are drawn along the curve, making it possible to create “stylized trails, flows, and guided motion effects”. The existing SimpleDeform node, for using particles to deform meshes, gets new Pose Matching controls, enabling the meshes to “maintain or revert to their original pose even after extreme deformation”. In addition, the MPM Sand solver now has a moisture-based activation threshold, for realistic damp-to-dry granular fluid simulations. Added in the previous service pack release: new Explosion Tool Other features added in recent releases include the Explosion Tool: a collection of readymade nodes for creating explosions.It includes nodes for generating the initial burst of the explosion, the shockwave it generates, and trails of debris thrown up by the blast. Price and system requirements thinkingParticles 7.4 is compatible with 3ds Max 2024+. The software is available on a rental-only basis. Subscriptions cost $660/year.Read an overview of the new features in thinkingParticles on cebas’s website Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

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