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cleverhottubmiracle · 3 hours ago

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We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Editors Rating What We LikeLightweight supreme comfort Affordable for all budgetsVarious color and style options What We Dont LikeLack of waterproof/water resistant options making most shoes only dry weather summer shoesGreat casual shoes, but not suitable for all occasionsBottom Line Hey Dude provides a lightweight, comfortable and affordable shoe that will keep up with you on your daily outings. They may not be the best option to don with your best suit but you'll find yourself reaching for them when you're catching up with friends over brunch or heading to the bar after work. Buy On Hey Dude Buy On Amazon If you’re looking to update your footwear collection, you’ll be glad you ended up here first. This Hey Dude shoes review will tell you everything you need to know about “Shoes so light, a butterfly could steal them.” [1] Now I like to think of myself as my own man. Ever since I was a child, I was confident in making my own sartorial choices. I never really cared about following the crowd. Even my mom recalls when I would stubbornly choose to wear a Robin costume when all the other kids were racing around as Batman. To balance out the stories (one for each parent, you know the drill), much to the annoyance of my dad, there was also a time when I insisted on wearing a clip-on tie with everything. It didn’t always work out when I had to go to soccer practice, but nevertheless, I persisted. Yet, despite my apparent reluctance to be influenced by others, I often find myself turning to online reviews—whether it’s checking out the ratings for the latest movie or flicking through Tripadvisor before booking my summer vacation. So I think it’s pretty clear why I was eager to jot down my feelings in this Hey Dude men’s shoes review. Helping you guys out, just as others have helped me. I’ve held them, felt them, and walked in them to give you the ultimate low-down. Plus, in the name of fairness, I’ve looked at what others have had to say too. Keep reading to learn more about Hey Dude Shoes and three of their top sellers. Watch Our Review Of The Hey Dude Wally Shoes Material: chambray-blend upper and lined with a soft, cotton lining and leather-lined insole | Laces: no-tie elastic laces | Size Range: Men’s US 7-15 | Care Instructions: remove insoles and wash with light detergent or spot clean/air-dry | Price: $59.95 | Return Policy: Initiate online here Hey Dude shoes offer a variety of designs to choose from, but the most popular option, by far, is the Wally. I would note this is the brand’s most casual option—perfect for everyday errands and general running around. The Wally will look just as good with a pair of straight-cut dad jeans as they would with any casual pants (think chinos). The biggest selling feature of this shoe, as with all of the brand’s shoes, is the utmost commitment to comfort. But that doesn’t mean they lack in the looks department. Oh no, definitely not. These shoes can still easily pair with clothes you already own. Fit The fit on the Wally is consistent with the rest of Hey Dude’s shoes. If you’re new here, the Wally shoe hits that magical sweet spot between too narrow and too wide. I would liken the comfort to a cushier croc, which makes sense considering they [Crocs] bought Hey Dude in early 2022. And I feel comfortable (which includes my feet) saying that Crocs knows what they’re doing. Having said that, the shoe can be pulled tighter with the elastic laces or left loose if you need a bit more space. Comfort aside, it’s important to know how to wear the shoe to fit best. I would consider this shoe a ‘low-rise’ as the side wall is supposed to hit just below the ankle bone, making them ideal to be worn without (my favorite style option) or with socks (check out our favorite socks for Hey Dudes). Size Range If you’re going to choose the Wally, stick to what you normally buy—they fit true to size. And because this shoe can be worn without socks, you want to make sure the fit isn’t too tight or loose enough to cause unwanted blisters. While the smallest they offer is a 7, they go all the way up to 15 (LeBron James, this Hey Dude shoes review has your back). Stock, like any brand, goes up and down, but it’s pretty good across the whole range. I did notice some of the popular Hey Dude styles are sold out in commonly bought sizes, though. Value You can’t put a price on comfort, right? Well, it seems like you can. And in my opinion, it’s worth every penny. At just under $60 for most pairs, you’re getting a whole lot of bang for your buck. Not only do you get a mattress for your feet, but there’s style to match and a whole range of color choices. The longevity of the shoes really depends on how hard you are on them. Like any shoes used regularly, they will begin to show signs of wear after a few months. However, tossing them in the washing machine on a cold delicate cycle with a little bit of liquid soap can do wonders for the canvas/hemp or linen options. In my mind, the ease of cleaning and comfort make the value unmatchable. Quality They might not be as durable as a pair of chunkier leather shoes, but the quality is clear to see (and feel). Each design boasts Flex and Fold technology (ahem, did we mention comfort already?) with an ultralight outsole and cushioned ankle collar. There’s also nice little touches like branding at the laces and heel. Much like other moccasin-style shoes, the comfort is all there. But in this case, stretch is a keyword in the quality. Don’t be fooled by the eco-friendly stamp; these materials are still designed to live up to regular use. There’s a good chance you may have to replace these every eight months to a year (with heavy regular use). But at the current price point, this Hey Dude shoes review still puts the Wallys at top quality. Price Unless you’re lucky enough to nab yourself a pair in the sale, you can expect to pay around $60. The majority of Wallys are priced the same. However, there is a small selection that retails $5-6 above the rest. The pricier versions tend to have slight variations in material, style, or soles (think leather). As stated earlier in the Hey Dude men’s shoes review, the price is something I considered when looking at quality because we all know shoes (especially shoes you love) don’t last forever. At under $100, I think the Wally shoe can give you everything you want—and you could still come back for more. Options The Wally is available in over 70 different styles, so there should be no trouble in finding something you like. They range from camo-print for the fashion-forward to more subtle designs in gray, navy, or white. What We Like The easy-on lace system makes them a breeze to slip on—saving you a helluva lot of trouble when you’re in a rush. They also work with many foot shapes, as you can leave them loose or tighten things up if needed. I would consider this a good staple for men with wide feet.Comfort is usually achieved by sacrificing some style, but this isn’t the case with the Wally. The two come hand in hand, thanks to the patented sole technology and timeless, simple designs that make your run-out-the-door looks effortlessly cool (and intentionally planned).Flaws But Not Dealbreakers Nowadays, many sneakers are versatile enough to be worn with pretty much anything (suits included). The Wally is great for smart-casual outfits, but it’s a little too relaxed for anything edging towards formal.Yes, there are plenty of styles to choose from (it's a big bonus to have enough choices to make any Wally shoe fit your own style). However, I have noticed the lack of water resistance, which does limit the shoe's versatility. I would personally love to see the comfort of the Wally in some sort of a duck boot design. Material: stretch-polyester fabric, leather-lined insole | Laces: no-tie elastic laces | Size Range: Men’s US 6-15 | Care Instructions: remove insoles and wash with light detergent or spot clean/air-dry | Price: $59.95 | Return Policy: Initiate online here The Sox collection is everything you love about the original Wally design, but with a big eco-friendly promise attached. Hey Dude is playing their part in saving the planet by sourcing materials from recovered plastic found in the ocean. The only noticeable difference is the organic cotton laces don’t have the same stretch as their other elastic versions. A small price to pay for the environment. Fit There’s not much to report on the fit—they’re cut regularly and should accommodate pretty much any foot shape. I have noticed a few people in the reviews say they come up a little narrow, but these do seem to be in the minority. Unless your feet are extra wide, I can’t see you having any problems. Size Range As with all Hey Dude shoes, sizes start at 7 and go up to 15. However, the stock levels did seem to be a lot lower on these. I’m assuming it’s because there aren’t as many options because the eco-friendliness is also a big draw (as it should be). It may also be more difficult to constantly source the material—potentially making this style worth the wait. Value I was quite surprised to find the Sox range is available at the same price point as the standard Wally. I would have expected to pay a little more, but the brand has stuck to their guns. Value for money gets a massive thumbs up from me. Quality You may be noticing the high-quality theme in this Hey Dude shoes review. The stretch knit upper looks great and feels it, too—no surprise there. They offer the kind of breathability you just don’t seem to get with your average pair of shoes or sneakers. The sole is lightweight but durable enough to wear every day. Plus, you just can’t beat the machine washable factor. Price At around $60 a pair, you really can’t grumble. Sure, you may be able to find something cheaper elsewhere, but you’d be hard-pressed to find something of similar quality (especially in the comfort department). Options Choices are limited on the Eco Sox collection, so there’s not too much to pick from. It would be nice to see some extra options, especially as there are so many others available in the standard Wally range—people who shop sustainably want to look good too. What We LikeI fully support anything that’s sustainably made. Being kinder to the environment is something I feel we should all get behind, so kudos to Hey Dude for playing their part.It’s quite common for eco-friendly products to cost more than the alternative. However, with the Wally Eco Sox, you’re paying the same price as the original version. This deserves a pat on the back.Flaws But Not DealbreakersThere are only a few options available, and sizes are limited, so I would definitely like to see more designs added to the range. They’re clearly popular, so I’m keen to find out if this is something Hey Dude has in the pipeline. Fingers crossed…Ultra-light. Knitted uppers. Breathable. Everything about the Wally Eco Sox makes it the perfect option for summer. Could it stand up to the harsh elements of winter? I’m not so sure. They certainly wouldn’t be my first choice. Material: Chambray-blend upper with cushioned ankle collar, leather-lined insole | Laces: elastic laces | Size Range: Men’s US 7-15 | Care Instructions: remove insoles and wash with light detergent or spot clean/air-dry | Price: $69.95 | Return Policy: Initiate online here The Paul Chambray is pretty much the Wally shoe on steroids. But don’t tell anyone, he likes everyone to think he’s natural… Just to clarify, I am actually talking about a pair of shoes here. Yet another quality addition to this Hey Dude shoes review. A classic choice for off-duty days, they feature a chambray-blend upper and have a chunkier ultra-grip sole. They even sport a leather-lined insole instead of the standard cork for a little extra panache. If you’re looking for the ultimate all-rounder, Paul is your guy. Fit Available in the Hey Dude standard fit, the Paul Chambray accommodates all foot shapes (unless you’re The Incredible Hulk or Shaquille O’Neal). But I will say the reviews are mixed for this one (in regards to fitting). Many customers are saying they run small or too large. I’m personally a true half size, so going up one more size was the only option for me. I still think in terms of fitting everyone’s feet and thus providing the highest level of comfort, Hey Dude shoes should provide those pesky half sizes. For the safest bet, I would size up and accept the fate of wearing the Paul Chambray shoes with socks or just tied a little tighter. Size Range Sizes range from 7 all the way up to 15, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding yours. You would like to think more styles will be added, but for now, they’re pretty limited. You may have to act quickly if you want to get a pair. Value You’ve got to give it to Hey Dude; they’re pretty bang on with their pricing. In terms of value for money, you can’t go wrong. You’re getting a stylish shoe that’s lightweight, comfortable, and easy to care for. Considering the cost, what more could you want? Quality No complaints from me on quality. The ultra-grip sole helps give this style a sturdier, more durable feel, while the slightly higher cushioned ankle really adds to the overall comfort. They’re lightweight but certainly don’t feel cheap. Price If you want to add the Paul Chambray to your basket, you’re going to have to come up with a little extra cash. Only $10 though—so they’re still very much affordable when you look at what you’re getting for your money. Options As I write this Hey Dude men’s shoes review, there are only two colors available. Annoyingly, one of those is almost out of stock. If you’re quite particular about what you’re looking for, you may find this isn’t the shoe for you. But if you’re a fan of classic neutrals, you’re in luck if they have your size. What We LikeThere’s no need to be afraid of getting these beauties dirty. Whether they’ve been trampled on at a festival or fallen victim to muddy fields, you can simply throw them in the washing machine and hang them up to dry.The soles on the Paul Chambray feature the brand’s ultra-grip technology for better traction on slippery paths and country lanes. There'll be no banana skin moment while wearing these bad boys.Flaws But Not DealbreakersGray and navy. If you were hoping to add something a little different to your footwear collection, you’re out of luck. What they do offer is a versatile color that will pair with pretty much everything.While they may have a grippier sole and slightly different design, the Paul Chambray still feels very much like the Wally. There’s nothing wrong with the Wally. It would just be nice if there was more of a notable difference. What are Customers Saying About Hey Dude? On the whole, I found the reviews for Hey Dude men’s shoes are positive. Pretty impressive, actually. You’ll come across the odd negative comment, but unfortunately, this will happen no matter what. Someone’s always going to complain about something, right? The general consensus is that their shoes are comfortable, light, and perfect for every day. Those that did raise concerns were usually questioning their durability and arch support. From The Hey Dude Site “I recently bought a pair of Hey Dudes and immediately fell in love with them!!! I came back and purchased 5 more pairs!!! Thank you Hey Dude for resetting my work/church/date night shoe closet!!!” – Anthony M. “Bought the Wally’s for my husband, and he absolutely LOVES them. He said it is like walking on air.” – Colleen D. From Hey Dude On Amazon “Arch support is not the best for prolonged standing or walking. Snug in the toe area. Wish half sizes were offered. Still a good-looking, fashionable shoe.” – Rick. Final Verdict If you’re looking for a shoe that offers an even dose of style and comfort, you’re going to love Hey Dudes. For those who are all about appearance and are usually a sucker for high-end sneakers, you may wish to look elsewhere. Regardless of your shoe preference, this Hey Dude men’s shoes review has proved there’s not much to dislike about what they offer. Free shipping on orders over $50 is a bonus, but they won’t deliver to international regions. My only real gripe is the fact they don’t come in half sizes. It’s a bit annoying for someone like me who literally is in-between. Having said that, if you just go for the next size up, you should be totally fine if you tighten the laces more. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the original Wally. To me, they offer everything you need in an everyday shoe: comfort, quality, support. And not forgetting style (with options to fit everyone’s personal flair). You can wear them on a first date, for lunch, or even to the office. They’ll slot effortlessly into your current rotation and pair perfectly with your go-to casual outfits. Alternative Options Listen, I get it, you can’t always be convinced by the first hey dude shoes review that you read (or maybe even the third, or fourth…). So if you’re still looking for other options or maybe something that fits your style better, check out some of our favorite alternatives below. This light and breathable sneaker is a stylish alternative to a slip-on shoe, with all the similar comfort and benefits you are looking for.View Tree Skippers My final favorite is similar to the moccasin style this Hey Dude Shoes Review focused on. This shoe still slides on with ease but would take you from the poolside to the wedding reception more seamlessly than many Hey Dude options would.View Spesiè FAQ You don’t need a special cleaning kit to bring Hey Dude shoes back to their former glory. As long as they’re not made from suede, leather or wool, you can simply pop them in the washing machine. But don’t forget to remove the laces and insoles. Use a small amount of liquid detergent and set your machine to a delicate cycle. Hang them up but keep them out of direct sunlight to dry. Hey Dude’s shoes sit firmly in the smart-casual market. Remember this, and it’s pretty easy to pair them with the majority of staples already in your wardrobe. You wouldn’t wear them with a suit, but they’re a match made in heaven for jeans, chinos, flannel shirts, and cargo shorts. If you’re looking for super comfortable, versatile shoes that are available in a wide range of styles, Hey Dude is a no-brainer. Their most expensive pair comes in at just under $70, so whatever design you choose, you’re not going to be breaking the bank. Billy is a content specialist and social media manager. His portfolio includes articles for publications such as British GQ, Esquire and Men’s Health. A self-confessed lover of luxury streetwear, he admits to an unhealthy obsession for baseball caps and high-end sneakers. Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 3 hours ago

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An Atlas of Rare & Familiar Colour by Atelier Édition A monograph produced in collaboration with the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums which encompasses over 2500 of the world’s rarest pigments. Visually excavating the museums’ extraordinary collection, the monograph examines the contained pigments and artefacts; their providence, composition, symbology and application. Simultaneously, the publication also explores the larger related fields of chromatics, the historical narratives of art and chemistry, and the innovations our species’ have sought for millennia, to better illustrate our aesthetic and expressive compulsions. Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love? The Coin by Yasmin Zaher A bold and unabashed novel about a young Palestinian woman’s unraveling as she teaches at a New York City middle school, gets caught up in a scheme reselling Birkin bags, and strives to gain control over her body and mindThe Coin’s narrator is a wealthy Palestinian woman with impeccable style and meticulous hygiene. And yet the ideal self, the ideal life, remains just out of reach: her inheritance is inaccessible, her homeland exists only in her memory, and her attempt to thrive in America seems doomed from the start. In enthralling, sensory prose, The Coin explores nature and civilization, beauty and justice, class and belonging—all while resisting easy moralizing. Provocative, wry, and inviting, The Coin marks the arrival of a major new literary voice. Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker Cassandra Edwards is a graduate student at Berkeley: gay, brilliant, nerve-wracked, miserable. At the beginning of this novel, she drives back to her family ranch in the foothills of the Sierras to attend the wedding of her identical twin, Judith, to a nice young doctor from Connecticut. Cassandra, however, is hell-bent on sabotaging the wedding.First published in 1962, Cassandra at the Wedding is a book of enduring freshness, insight, and verve. Like the fiction of Jeffrey Eugenides and Jhumpa Lahiri, it is the work of a master stylist with a profound understanding of the complexities of the heart and mind. Pitch Dark by Renata Adler Pitch Dark is a book about love. Kate Ennis is poised at a critical moment in an affair with a married man. The complications and contradictions pursue her from a house in rural Connecticut to a brownstone apartment in New York City, to a small island off the coast of Washington, to a pitch black night in backcountry Ireland.Composed in the style of Renata Adler’s celebrated novel Speedboat and displaying her keen journalist’s eye and mastery of language, both simple and sublime, Pitch Dark is a bold and astonishing work of art. The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer What’s the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can’t give yourself a beautiful life?From the day she watched her kindergarten teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit, Clover Brooks has felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living. After the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling, Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process.Clover spends so much time with the dying that she has no life of her own, until the final wishes of a feisty old woman send Clover on a trip across the country to uncover a forgotten love story––and perhaps, her own happy ending. As she finds herself struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friendship, Clover is forced to examine what she really wants, and whether she’ll have the courage to go after it.Probing, clever, and hopeful, The Collected Regrets of Clover is perfect for readers of The Midnight Library and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine as it turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life. The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis In this classic Southern cookbook, the “first lady of Southern cooking” (NPR) shares the seasonal recipes from a childhood spent in a small farming community settled by freed slaves. She shows us how to recreate these timeless dishes in our own kitchens—using natural ingredients, embracing the seasons, and cultivating community. With a preface by Judith Jones and foreword by Alice Waters. Miyoko Ito: Heart of Hearts Assembled by Pre-Echo Press and Jordan Stein The result of several years of research, Miyoko Ito: Heart of Hearts is the first book project dedicated to the life and work of Japanese-American artist Miyoko Ito (1918–1983). While Ito’s paintings have recently been the subject of critically acclaimed exhibitions, her elegant and mysterious artwork was scarcely known beyond Chicago, where she lived and was celebrated during her lifetime.Assembled by Pre-Echo Press and Jordan Stein – organizer of Ito’s first two solo institutional exhibitions in nearly 40 years – Heart of Hearts features well over 100 full-color plates gathered from the artist’s mature period, rare and out of print archival materials, a 1978 interview with the artist, and a 5000-word biographical essay by Jordan Stein that contextualizes Ito’s practice and aims to afford the artist her proper place within a history of postwar American art. Feathers by Thor Hansen Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: aerodynamic, functional, beguiling. Their story begins in the Jurassic and leads through the development of flight, fluff, and high fashion. This is a sweeping natural history of a common object with uncommon abilities to flutter, protect, adorn, attract, insulate, and more. In Between by Chloe Horseman Since 2019, Araks has had the pleasure of collaborating with the extraordinarily talented photographer Chloé Horseman. Chloé's keen eye for detail and her ability to capture the essence of quiet unexpected beauty have made her a part of our creative journey. Her work transcends the ordinary, revealing layers of emotion and artistry that resonate deeply with our philosophy. The photographer has just published her first monograph, In Between, a stunning collection that encapsulates her unique vision and profound sensitivity. This book is more than just a compilation of photographs; it’s a journey through moments that linger in the space between what is seen and what is felt. You can purchase In Between here on our website. Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 4 hours ago

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Are you ready to take on a sexy cheerleading appearance with confidence and style? Finding the ideal wardrobe and styling advice can be very difficult, whether your goal is to engage in lighthearted role-playing or you simply want to adopt the fearless and strong cheerleading image. With the help of this guide’s professionally directed advice on attire, makeup, accessories, and attitude, you can harness the enthusiasm, self-assurance, and charisma of a sexy cheerleader and become unstoppable. We’ll go over everything you need to achieve a beautiful cheerleader appearance with style and confidence, from traditional uniforms to bold lingerie outfits. Prepare to feel your best and attract attention! The Classic Cheerleader Uniform The early 20th century is when the traditional cheerleader uniform first appeared on the scene. The traditional cheerleader dress, which was first created for practical reasons that allowed for flexibility during athletic performances, has developed into a famous representation of school passion and youthful vitality. A cheerleader’s traditional outfit consists of a crop top or fitting top, a short pleated skirt, and a sweater or vest with the school’s colors and insignia on it. All of these components were made to allow cheerleaders to move freely when leading cheers and pulling off stunts during sports and events. Sexy Cheerleader Outfits for Adults Lingerie is the ideal method to express your inner cheerleader’s flirtatious and self-assured spirit. Adult sexy cheerleader costumes are made to accentuate your playful side, whether you’re playing role-playing games or simply want to feel strong and attractive in bed. To make you feel like the star of the show, Foxy Lingerie offers a large selection of lingerie sets with cheerleading themes. We provide styles for every taste and comfort level, whether it’s a bodysuit or a traditional crop top and pleated skirt. The sultry cheerleader lingerie, with its deep neckline, high-cut hems, and sheer fabrics, is a great choice for naughtiness lovers since it creates a small scene or image in the room. The pieces are likely to lift your spirits and make bedtime more enjoyable. Flirty and Feminine Details Cheerleader clothes are the embodiment of embracing your femininity via lively and seductive elements. Ruffles, whether at the neckline of a crop top or the hem of a skirt, provide a little movement and whimsical flair. A famous cheerleading accessory, bows are frequently used as an accent on skirts and hair accessories or at the front of tops. If you want to look like a cheerleader, you must have crop tops. They radiate confidence and youthful vitality while exposing just the right amount of belly. To truly embody the cheerleader attitude, pair a cropped top with a short skirt—the shorter, the better. Seek out skirts with ruffled hems or flirtatious pleats that will swing and move as you applaud and dance. Daring and Confident Colors When it comes to sexy cheerleading looks, colors are crucial since they convey boldness and confidence. The go-to colors that best convey the spirit of this enduring fashion are vivid blues, bold reds, and traditional black. Bold Reds: Adore the blazing intensity and irresistible charm of vivid red colors. These hues, which range from vivid scarlet to rich burgundy, have an alluring vitality that commands notice. Vibrant Blues: To add joy and playfulness, use vibrant blues to evoke the vibe of a vintage cheerleading dress. Classic Black: This is the best option for people who want a more understated yet sexy look because black cheerleader attire or lingerie conveys the refinement and mystery of subtly embracing one’s sultry side. It’s your color; choose the one that best expresses who you are and gives you the strength and self-assurance to embrace your new sultry cheerleading style. Accessorize Like a Pro To achieve the sultry cheerleader style, accessories are the chocolate on the cake. Pom poms are essential since they give your outfit a fun and flirtatious touch. Pick vibrant hues that go well with your attire, and don’t be scared to shake them enthusiastically! Knee-high socks are yet another crucial component that exudes “cheerleader chic.” In addition to lengthening your legs, they provide an otherwise bold ensemble a hint of innocence. To truly stand out, pick socks with eye-catching patterns or contrasting stripes. Adding hair ribbons would finish the cheerleading metamorphosis. Using ribbons in your team’s colors elevates any haircut, whether it’s a high ponytail or a pigtail. Makeup to Enhance the Look A sexy cheerleader outfit needs to have a fresh, young, and radiant look. Therefore, apply a lightweight hydrating foundation for a dewy finish. Warm-toned blush should be applied on the apples of your cheeks. Apply subtle highlighter to your face’s high points. Simple eyes are achieved with neutral or soft pink eyeshadow, volumizing mascara, and a hint of shimmer in the inner corners. Finish with a hydrating lip gloss or sheer pink lip tint for a natural playful-glowing look. Hairstyles to Complete the Ensemble Your sexy outfit can reach new heights with the perfect hairstyle when it comes to achieving the sultry cheerleader appearance. Ponytails and braids are two timeless choices that go well with this feminine and flirtatious look. Ponytails: An iconic cheerleader haircut that exudes confidence and youthful energy is the high ponytail. All of your hair should be gathered to the top of your head and secured with a hair knot. Braids: Another cheerleader-approved hairstyle is braids, which can be as simple and charming as they are complex and striking. Making two French or Dutch braids and weaving them from the front to the back is a traditional option. Whatever style you choose, do not forget the hairspray. This is essential to make sure your locks stay fresh all day or night long. With a hairstyle like this, you are sure to shine with confidence and charm, just like a real cheerleader. Confidence is Key Rocking the sexy cheerleader look is not just about the outfit; it’s about the attitude you bring. True confidence comes from within, and it’s the secret ingredient that takes this look from ordinary to extraordinary. Love your body and enjoy your skin. Everybody is lovely, and so worthy of love; it doesn’t matter what other people say. If you are fine with yourself, you feel good energy about yourself, and your cheering outfit will look fabulous. Remember that confidence is a desirable trait. Possess your appearance with grace and dignity. Walk with a smile on your face and your head held high. Allow your body language to convey assurance and ease. If you have complete faith in yourself, then others will too. Conclusion At Foxy Lingerie, we believe it’s all about the vibe: appear sleek and confident in your cheerleader attractive or other lingerie outfit. From the traditional cheerleading uniform to the more daring, flirtatious designs, we offer a great selection that would suit every taste and desire. We are a customer-friendly store. We appreciate the opinions of our consumers and work hard to make their shopping experience with us outstanding. We give you frank evaluations from real consumers who have bought the goods. Our dedication to quality and service is demonstrated by our outstanding customer satisfaction statistics, which we take great pride in. Related Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 5 hours ago

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[ad_1] The Switch is running on fumes. It might not be gong out with a whimper, but the needle is past empty. The 2024 release calendar was spotty at best, and even some of the more notable games that did come to the handheld hybrid, of which there were strikingly few, struggled to run on the nearly eight-year-old tech. Eight years, incidentally, is almost the stretch of time between the launch of the SNES and the PlayStation 2. The Week In Games: Return To HyruleNintendo has found a way to keep the Switch alive—just barely—heading into 2025, but this year mostly felt like being in line at the DMV, waiting for a glimpse of the Switch 2 only for the office to close just before you got called to the front desk. While everyone else was focused on the future, Nintendo was stubbornly attached to the Switch’s present, going so far as to wage an all-out war on Switch emulation enthusiasts and ROM pirates alike to stop the platform from completely transforming into a hacker’s paradise. 2024 was most notable for what we didn’t see or get than for any actual moves or announcements Nintendo made. No news about the Switch 2, other than it will be revealed in the next few months and will be backwards compatible with the existing one. No major Mario or Zelda game; instead we got two great but flawed smaller spin-offs from those franchises. No major changes to the Switch itself, as best evidenced by how much of a laggy slopfest the eShop still is. Not even a price drop for the $300 portable gaming tablet from 2017. Instead, the Switch’s 2024 was best spent continuing to play the best indie releases around, almost all of which came to Switch. It was also a good year to continue exploring in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom which, almost two years later, is still the system’s most ambitious and sprawling achievement. Anyone getting a Switch for the first time this holiday season ahead of the Switch 2 announcement might elicit pity, if not for the fact that Nintendo’s current console still has one of the best catalogs ever assembled in the history of gaming. The HardwareWhat’s left to say about the Nintendo Switch? The promise it offers of gaming on the go or on a big display is as compelling as ever, though its ability to truly deliver a smooth and seamless gaming experience has eroded with time. The difference between how even mid-range to smaller games perform on Switch versus other platforms like PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC has only continued to grow. Framerate hiccups, visual detail, and loading times have all gotten worse, while rival portables like the Steam Deck and Asus Rog Ally offer fewer tradeoffs at a slightly higher price, at least when it comes to third-party ports and indie releases. Image: NintendoAnd whither the Switch 2? Nintendo’s much-speculated-about successor has yet to be revealed but, if an ongoing torrent of alleged leaks are to be taken seriously, appears to be a more straightforward upgrade to the existing hardware than Nintendo’s done in quite some time. Whatever gimmicks it may offer, like magnetized Joy-Con that stick to the side of the screen rather than sliding on, don’t seem to be central to the pitch of the new console. It might even be called the Nintendo Switch 2.I’m not supposed to be spending this section on the state of the current Switch writing about the future one, but it’s a more accurate depiction of what most of 2024 has felt like for current Switch owners: pinning for what’s behind the red curtain as we growing increasingly impatient and frustrated with what’s already in our hands. As for things Nintendo actually did announce this year, there was a clock. It’s called Alarmo and it uses motion sensors to serenade users with video game music. Reviewers got their hands on it early but the actual thing won’t ship until early 2025. Fans did get a gold, Zelda-themed Switch Lite this year. It’s probably the best-looking special edition one yet. The SoftwareAlthough the Switch hardware is hanging on by the skin of its teeth, the UI, interface, and general feel of actually navigating the home screen, eShop, and app-only features has grown increasingly grim. It’s sluggish, poorly optimized, and messy. The sleekness of the central row of tiles belies a stark lack of options when it comes to customization or getting any kind of meaningful information about your system, games, or the wider Nintendo ecosystem at a quick glance. The eShop is a special point of pain. I quietly sigh every time I have to open the store to go and buy a game, check what’s on sale, or try to see what just came out. It feels like it takes a minor marathon for the store to boot up, and then even longer for the actual parts of it to individually load. Finally getting into the shop is just the start of the headaches, with shovelware and cheap rip-offs of famous games crammed throughout the catalog as you scroll. It’s not great, and it doesn’t help that Nintendo has seemed very unresponsive to the legitimate issues with it. It’s an ominous sign for how the digital purchasing experience may or may not end up changing when it comes to the Switch 2.The current console did get one tiny update to its feature set in 2024, but it was mostly just aimed at fixing an existing bug. October’s firmware update 19.0.1 made it so that games will still download when the console goes into sleep mode, a major boon to players buying a game at midnight and then waking up the next morning to see that it still hadn’t finished installing, and a good indicator overall of just how much Nintendo’s attention has moved beyond the current system.Instead of upgrading the current system, Nintendo spent most of 2024 vigorously threatening legal action against anyone making it possible to emulate Switch games elsewhere. It reached a settlement to have the creators of Yuzu, an emulator popular on competing PC gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck, abandon the software and take it offline. It did the same with another Switch emulator called Ryujinx. It sued people accused of pirating games or even just streaming them. It had Github take down backups and went after Switch Reddit groups. Some of it may have been a response to claims of one million copies of Tears of the Kingdom being pirated when it launched. The renewed crackdown could also be an attempt to lock things down ahead of the Switch 2's launch and avoid a repeat of how quickly homebrew enthusiasts managed to jailbreak its predecessor. Network & ServicesNintendo Switch Online has continued to expand. A parade of Game Boy Advance classics added throughout 2024 included Golden Sun 1 and 2, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords, and Metroid Zero Mission. Mother 3 even came to the service, though only in Japan. An eclectic batch of retro games joined the rest of the catalog as well, from Super R-Type on SNES to Vectorman on Sega Genesis. Xbox Game Studios brought over a bunch of games like Killer Instinct and Perfect Dark. And the original Game Boy library was inundated with Mega Man and Donkey Kong Country games.Image: NintendoIt’s an impressive offering across both the $20-a-year base service and the $50-a-year Expansion Pack add-on, though whether it’s still worth the actual money remains debatable. A big appeal of the Expansion Pack was access to new DLCs like the additional Mario Kart 8 Deluxe courses, but as Nintendo first-party releases have stalled and its online multiplayer games get quickly abandoned, that particular perk has languished. It’s also still a major blow to Nintendo’s retro offerings that none of the games can be purchased separately as Sony now allows with its PlayStation Classics. It’s 2024 and fans still have to pay $50 a year to rent The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time running on a Nintendo 64 emulator.However, the biggest addition to Switch Online this year wasn’t a game at all. It was a Nintendo Music streaming service that lets fans play game soundtracks from their phones, like Donkey Kong Country 2's enigmatic Bramble Blast and the chiptune title music for the original Metroid on the NES. If only fans could also buy that music and download it DRM-free. Additionally, Nintendo used Switch Online to launch a playtest for a secret project that seems like a mashup of an MMO and Minecraft. The service has also been used to offer week-long free trials of various eShop games like Cursed Golf and Vampire Survivors. Switch Online is more valuable than ever, but still lacks the one thing its competitors have going for it: access to a Netflix-like library of new games. The GamesNintendo is masterful when it comes to making an off year feel like it’s still full of big games. The Switch’s 2024 calendar was a mix of remakes and smaller spin-offs buoyed by a good year for indie games. The first half of the year ramped up with Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Princess Peach: Showtime!, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It then brought things home with The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and Mario & Luigi: Brothership. Image: NintendoThe quantity was there in 2024 for sure, but it definitely felt like a second-string year while Nintendo rested its starters. Echoes of Wisdom experimented with really neat and novel ideas but fell just short of greatness. Mario & Luigi: Brothership was a great RPG-lite sequel that didn’t quite manage to truly transform the series the way other Switch games have for their respective franchises. The best game Nintendo put on the Switch in 2024 was arguably Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a remake of a two-decade-old GameCube game that, in another universe, would have come to the platform without the HD upgrade simply the via Switch Online back catalog. Fortunately, the Switch also had another banner year for indie releases to fill in the gaps. Some of 2024's top games—Balatro, 1000xResist, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Animal Well, Arco, Botany Manor, Thank Goodness You’re Here, and Neva—all arrived in a timely manner, even if their ports to other consoles were delayed. Microsoft’s multiplatform push also saw the Switch get Pentiment, the excellent Renaissance-era murder mystery RPG, while some third-party GOTY contenders like Unicorn Overlord and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown were present day-and-date. The Switch’s 2024 library didn’t reach the same heights as it has in past years, but there was still plenty to play, an incredible feat for a console that should have been replaced long ago. And there’s still more coming. Ports of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Xenoblade Chronicles X arrive early in 2025. Metroid Prime 4, announced ages ago, is also still set to come to the platform, as will Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the next game in the hit franchise after an unprecedented year off from new Pokémon games. Nintendo is clearly saving its best for the launch of the Switch 2. In that context, a quiet year for the current Switch was still way better than it had any right to be. . [ad_2] Source link

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[ad_1] Sabrent's lineup of internal and external SSDs is popular among enthusiasts. The primary reason is the company's tendency to be among the first to market with products based on the latest controllers, while also delivering an excellent value proposition. The company has a long-standing relationship with Phison and adopts its controllers for many of their products. The company's 2 GBps-class portable SSD - the Rocket nano V2 - is based on Phison's U18 native controller, and has been available in the market for well over a year now. This review takes a detailed look at the Rocket nano V2 External SSD, including an analysis of its performance consistency, power consumption, and thermal profile. Introduction and Product Impressions Rapid advancements in flash technology (including the development of 3D NAND and improvements in TLC reliability) have been accompanied by the appearance of faster host interfaces for external devices in the last decade. Together, they have contributed to bus-powered direct-attached storage devices growing in both storage capacity and speeds. The Type-C standard has also achieved widespread acceptance in the consumer market. Protocols such as USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 / USB4 and Thunderbolt riding on top of the Type-C connector have enabled the introduction of palm-sized flash-based storage devices capable of delivering 2 GBps+ speeds. One of the primary challenges with high-speed storage devices is the thermal aspect. Bridge-based solutions with multiple protocol conversion chips tend to dissipate more power due to the additional components. High-performance portable SSDs in the past have had no option but to use them - first, with SATA bridges, and then with NVMe bridges. The introduction of native UFD controllers capable of hitting 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps from Phison and Silicon Motion has opened up yet another option in this category. The Crucial X6, equipped with the Phison U17, was reviewed in August 2021 and was one of the first retail products to surpass the SATA speeds barrier by hitting 800 MBps speeds without using a NVMe bridge. Around the same time, Silicon Motion's SM2320 powered the Kingston XS2000 to 2 GBps speeds without a bridge in the middle. Products based on Silicon Motion's SM2320 have gained a lot of consumer mindshare because they have typically been able to hit the interface speed limits for sequential accesses in both the 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps categories. Phison's U17 and U18 were introduced with slightly lower peak performance numbers, and despite vendors like Crucial picking them up for the X6, the products didn't make any waves. The best implementation of Phison's U17, in our opinion, was seen in the OWC Envoy Pro Mini. The introduction of faster flash has since allowed portable SSDs (PSSDs) based on the Phison's native UFD controllers to hit higher speeds. As a result, we have seen an uptick in their adoption. Products such as the PNY EliteX-PRO, Sabrent Rocket Nano v2, and the Corsair EX100U are based on the Phison U18 controller. The EliteX-PRO's performance was nothing to write home about. We reached out to Sabrent for a sample of the Rocket nano V2 to determine if it could be the 'OWC Envoy Pro Mini equivalent' for the U18 controller. The PNY EliteX-PRO, Corsair EX100U, and the Sabrent Rocket nano V2 all use the same hardware platform - Phison's U18 controller with 128L 3D TLC NAND from SK hynix. However, the firmware configuration, thermal solution, and case design are significantly different. The Rocket nano V2 is small at approx. 72mm x 32mm x 14mm, but has a solid feel to it, thanks to its aluminum construction and 50g weight. The drive has a silicone cover that lends it protection against dents and scratches on the metal segment while also providing for a limited amount of ruggedness. The Rocket nano V2 support S.M.A.R.T passthrough, as shown in the CrystalDiskInfo screenshots below. Despite TRIM not being noted in the features list, we found a NTFS volume on the PSSD successfully processing TRIM commands from Windows. All S.M.A.R.T features such as temperature read outs worked well. S.M.A.R.T Passthrough - CrystalDiskInfo Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TB Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB The table below presents a comparative view of the specifications of the different portable SSDs presented in this review. Comparative Direct-Attached Storage Devices Configuration Aspect Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBKingston XS2000 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TB Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBKingston XS2000 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB Downstream Port Native Flash Native Flash Upstream Port USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C (Female) Bridge Chip Phison U18 Silicon Motion SM2320 Power Bus Powered Bus Powered Use Case Compact and rugged 2GBps-class portable SSD in a pocketable form-factor 2GBps-class, IP66-rated, rugged palm-sized high-performance portable SSD with hardware encryption and a Type-C interface Physical Dimensions 72.4 mm x 32.5 mm x 14.5 mm 86.2 mm x 54.4 mm x 13.2 mm Weight 50 grams (without cable) 80 grams Cable 30 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C to Type-C 30 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C to Type-A 30 cm USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C to Type-C Attached Type-C female to Type-A male adapter (resultant Type-C to Type-A cable length : 31.8 cm) S.M.A.R.T Passthrough Yes Yes UASP Support Yes Yes TRIM Passthrough Yes Yes Hardware Encryption Not Available Yes Evaluated Storage SK hynix 128L 3D TLC YMTC 128L 3D TLC (packaged by Longsys) Price USD 182 $240 Review Link Sabrent Rocket nano V2 External SSD 2TB Review Lexar ARMOR 700 2TB Review Prior to looking at the benchmark numbers, power consumption, and thermal solution effectiveness, a description of the testbed setup and evaluation methodology is provided. Testbed Setup and Evaluation Methodology Direct-attached storage devices (including thumb drives) are evaluated using the Quartz Canyon NUC (essentially, the Xeon / ECC version of the Ghost Canyon NUC) configured with 2x 16GB DDR4-2667 ECC SODIMMs and a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD - the IM2P33E8 1TB from ADATA. The most attractive aspect of the Quartz Canyon NUC is the presence of two PCIe slots (electrically, x16 and x4) for add-in cards. In the absence of a discrete GPU - for which there is no need in a DAS testbed - both slots are available. In fact, we also added a spare SanDisk Extreme PRO M.2 NVMe SSD to the CPU direct-attached M.2 22110 slot in the baseboard in order to avoid DMI bottlenecks when evaluating Thunderbolt 3 devices. This still allows for two add-in cards operating at x8 (x16 electrical) and x4 (x4 electrical). Since the Quartz Canyon NUC doesn't have a native USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port, Silverstone's SST-ECU06 add-in card was installed in the x4 slot. All non-Thunderbolt devices are tested using the Type-C port enabled by the SST-ECU06. The specifications of the testbed are summarized in the table below: The 2021 AnandTech DAS Testbed Configuration System Intel Quartz Canyon NUC9vXQNX CPU Intel Xeon E-2286M Memory ADATA Industrial AD4B3200716G22 32 GB (2x 16GB) DDR4-3200 ECC @ 22-22-22-52 OS Drive ADATA Industrial IM2P33E8 NVMe 1TB Secondary Drive SanDisk Extreme PRO M.2 NVMe 3D SSD 1TB Add-on Card SilverStone Tek SST-ECU06 USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C Host OS Windows 10 Enterprise x64 (21H1) Thanks to ADATA, Intel, and SilverStone Tek for the build components The testbed hardware is only one segment of the evaluation. Over the last few years, the typical direct-attached storage workloads for memory cards have also evolved. High bit-rate 4K videos at 60fps have become quite common, and 8K videos are starting to make an appearance. Game install sizes have also grown steadily even in portable game consoles, thanks to high resolution textures and artwork. Keeping these in mind, our evaluation scheme for portable SSDs and UFDs involves multiple workloads which are described in detail in the corresponding sections. Synthetic workloads using CrystalDiskMark and ATTO Real-world access traces using PCMark 10's storage benchmark Custom robocopy workloads reflective of typical DAS usage Sequential write stress test In the next couple of sections, we have an overview of the performance of the Sabrent Rocket nano V2 in these benchmarks. Prior to providing concluding remarks, we have some observations on the drives' power consumption numbers and thermal solution also. Synthetic Benchmarks - ATTO and CrystalDiskMark Benchmarks such as ATTO and CrystalDiskMark help provide a quick look at the performance of the direct-attached storage device. The results translate to the instantaneous performance numbers that consumers can expect for specific workloads, but do not account for changes in behavior when the unit is subject to long-term conditioning and/or thermal throttling. Yet another use of these synthetic benchmarks is the ability to gather information regarding support for specific storage device features that affect performance. Sabrent claims transfer speeds of 1500 MBps, and that is backed up by the ATTO benchmarks provided below. ATTO benchmarking is restricted to a single configuration in terms of queue depth, and is only representative of a small sub-set of real-world workloads. It does allow the visualization of change in transfer rates as the I/O size changes, with optimal performance being reached around 512 KB for a queue depth of 4. ATTO Benchmarks TOP: Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TB BOTTOM: Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB CrystalDiskMark uses four different access traces for reads and writes over a configurable region size. Two of the traces are sequential accesses, while two are 4K random accesses. Internally, CrystalDiskMark uses the Microsoft DiskSpd storage testing tool. The 'Seq128K Q32T1' sequential traces use 128K block size with a queue depth of 32 from a single thread, while the '4K Q32T16' one does random 4K accesses with the same queue configuration, but from multiple threads. The 'Seq1M' traces use a 1MiB block size. The plain 'Rnd4K' one uses only a single queue and single thread . Comparing the '4K Q32T16' and '4K Q1T1' numbers can quickly tell us whether the storage device supports NCQ (native command queuing) / UASP (USB-attached SCSI protocol). If the numbers for the two access traces are in the same ballpark, NCQ / UASP is not supported. This assumes that the host port / drivers on the PC support UASP. CrystalDiskMark Benchmarks TOP: Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TB BOTTOM: Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB The performance of the Rocket nano V2 in these two synthetic benchmarks closely mirrors that of the PNY EliteX-PRO. Give the similarity in the platforms, it is not surprising. Overall, for small data spans such as 32 GB, the SM2320-based PSSDs surpass the performance of the U18-based ones. AnandTech DAS Suite - Benchmarking for Performance Consistency Our testing methodology for storage bridges / direct-attached storage units takes into consideration the usual use-case for such devices. A description of the AnandTech DAS Suite and its components is available here. Audio and Video ReadAudio and Video WriteBlu-ray Folder ReadBlu-ray Folder WriteDisk-to-Disk ReadDisk-to-Disk WriteISOs ReadISOs WritePhotos and Documents ReadPhotos and Documents WriteExpand All It can be seen that there is no significant gulf in the numbers between the different units for most workloads. For all practical purposes, the average user will notice no difference between them in the course of normal usage, but power users may find the SM2320-based PSSDs and bridge-based PSSDs better for casual transfers. Power users may want to dig deeper to understand the limits of each device. To address this concern, we also instrumented our evaluation scheme for determining performance consistency. Performance Consistency Aspects influencing the performance consistency include SLC caching and thermal throttling / firmware caps on access rates to avoid overheating. This is important for power users, as the last thing that they want to see when copying over 100s of GB of data is the transfer rate going down to USB 2.0 speeds. In addition to tracking the instantaneous read and write speeds of the DAS when processing the AnandTech DAS Suite, the temperature of the drive was also recorded. In earlier reviews, we used to track the temperature all through. However, we have observed that SMART read-outs for the temperature in NVMe SSDs using USB 3.2 Gen 2 bridge chips end up negatively affecting the actual transfer rates. To avoid this problem, we have restricted ourselves to recording the temperature only during the idling intervals. The graphs below present the recorded data. AnandTech DAS Suite - Performance Consistency TOP: Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TB BOTTOM: Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB The first three sets of writes and reads correspond to the AV suite. A small gap (for the transfer of the video suite from the internal SSD to the RAM drive) is followed by three sets for the Home suite. Another small RAM-drive transfer gap is followed by three sets for the Blu-ray folder. This is followed up with the large-sized ISO files set. Finally, we have the single disk-to-disk transfer set. These workloads show the first divergence point of the Sabrent Rocket nano V2 from the PNY EliteX-PRO. Thanks to its aluminum body and internal thermal solution, the drive is able to keep its cool, hitting a maximum of just 55C (compared to the 76C f the PNY EliteX-PRO). As a result, we do not have the thermal throttling during the disk-to-disk transfer set, and the full workload completes much faster than it did on the PNY EliteX-PRO. PCMark 10 Storage Bench - Real-World Access Traces There are a number of storage benchmarks that can subject a device to artificial access traces by varying the mix of reads and writes, the access block sizes, and the queue depth / number of outstanding data requests. We saw results from two popular ones - ATTO, and CrystalDiskMark - in a previous section. More serious benchmarks, however, actually replicate access traces from real-world workloads to determine the suitability of a particular device for a particular workload. Real-world access traces may be used for simulating the behavior of computing activities that are limited by storage performance. Examples include booting an operating system or loading a particular game from the disk. PCMark 10's storage bench (introduced in v2.1.2153) addresses this aspect with a variety of traces, as explained here. Component Scores The various component scores are graphed in the galler below. The Rocket nano V2 is consistently in the bottom half of the pack, but the delta is not extreme. Overall Scores PCMark 10 reports an overall score based on the observed bandwidth and access times for the full workload set. The score, bandwidth, and average access latency for each of the drives are presented below. Full System Drive Benchmark Bandwidth (MBps)Full System Drive Benchmark Latency (us)Full System Drive Benchmark ScoreExpand All The PCMark 10 Storage Bench workloads are relatively light, and not enough to bring out the delta between the PNY EliteX-PRO and the Rocket nano V2. They both end up with similar scores, while the bridge-based solution is on top and the SM2320-based PSSDs make up the middle of the pack. Miscellaneous Aspects and Concluding Remarks The performance of the storage bridges / drives in various real-world access traces as well as synthetic workloads was brought out in the preceding sections. We also looked at the performance consistency for these cases. Power users may also be interested in performance consistency under worst-case conditions, as well as drive power consumption. The latter is also important when used with battery powered devices such as notebooks and smartphones. Pricing is also an important aspect. We analyze each of these in detail below. Worst-Case Performance Consistency Flash-based storage devices tend to slow down in unpredictable ways when subject to a large number of small-sized random writes. Many benchmarks use that scheme to pre-condition devices prior to the actual testing in order to get a worst-case representative number. Fortunately, such workloads are uncommon for direct-attached storage devices, where workloads are largely sequential in nature. Use of SLC caching as well as firmware caps to prevent overheating may cause drop in write speeds when a flash-based DAS device is subject to sustained sequential writes. Our Sequential Writes Performance Consistency Test configures the device as a raw physical disk (after deleting configured volumes). A fio workload is set up to write sequential data to the raw drive with a block size of 128K and iodepth of 32 to cover 90% of the drive capacity. The internal temperature is recorded at either end of the workload, while the instantaneous write data rate and cumulative total write data amount are recorded at 1-second intervals. Sequential Writes to 90% Capacity - Performance Consistency TOP: Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TB BOTTOM: Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB The Sabrent Rocket nano V2 shines here with excellent performance consistency - maintaining close to 800 MBps through 90% of the drive's capacity. The temperature at the end was only 61C. The PNY EliteX-PRO with similar hardware presents a stark contrast - thermally throttling with temperatures ending up at 76C despite the write speeds falling to the 450 MBps range after less than 6 minutes of sustained traffic. Some of the SM2320-based PSSDs such as the Crucial X10 Pro and the Lexar ARMOR 700 present better numbers in this test, but the Rocket nano V2 stands out in the Phison crowd and against other SM2320-based PSSDs such as the LaCie Rugged Mini. Power Consumption Bus-powered devices can configure themselves to operate within the power delivery constraints of the host port. While Thunderbolt ports are guaranteed to supply up to 15W for client devices, USB 2.0 ports are guaranteed to deliver only 2.5W (500mA @ 5V). In this context, it is interesting to have a fine-grained look at the power consumption profile of the various external drives. Using the ChargerLAB KM003C, the bus power consumption of the drives was tracked while processing the CrystalDiskMark workloads (separated by 5s intervals). The graphs below plot the instantaneous bus power consumption against time, while singling out the maximum and minimum power consumption numbers. CrystalDiskMark Workloads - Power Consumption TOP: Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2TBLexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TB BOTTOM: Lexar ARMOR 700 2TBCrucial X10 Pro 2TBLaCie Rugged Mini 2TBSDP PRO-BLADE 2TBPNY EliteX-PRO 4TBKingston XS2000 2TBSabrent Rocket nano V2 2TB Sabrent slips up a little on the power front - the drive idles at 0.76W (around 100 mW higher than most other PSSDs based on native controllers). The sleep mode also triggers only after 50+ minutes of traffic absence - this is contrast to other PSSDs where the sleep mode can be observed in the graphs above (triggered within 20 minutes of the end of traffic). This could be a minor issue when the drive is used with notebooks, but doesn't matter for desktop usage. Final Words The Sabrent Rocket nano V2 2 TB version is priced at $182, which is around the same ballpark as other 2 TB PSSDs based on native controllers. The value proposition of the Rocket nano V2 may appear weak if only the advertised transfer numbers and performance over small workloads / access spans is considered. There is scope for improvement in terms of power management and performance over short bursts. However, the drive truly shines with excellent performance consistency for sustained writes over long durations (common, for example, in video recording scenarios). The excellent thermal design ensures that the internals do not get too hot, and the silicone cover ensures handling safety. Overall, it is a promising choice for many use-cases, and opting for it over drives like the Crucial X10 Pro and Lexar ARMOR 700 depends on the end-user's requirements and form-factor preference. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] Mobile Security Buying a pre-owned phone doesn’t have to mean compromising your security – take these steps to enjoy the benefits of cutting-edge technology at a fraction of the cost 09 Dec 2024 • , 5 min. read The modern smartphone has become an indispensable piece of technology. These powerful, pocket-sized computers enable us to do everything from hailing cabs to consulting with our local doctor. But costs can be prohibitive. Unsurprisingly, second-hand and refurbished devices have become an increasingly popular option, providing access to premium technology at a fraction of the price and appealing to budget-conscious consumers or those seeking sustainability. Smartphones are also often among the most desired gifts during the holiday season. The latest models may be out of reach for many due to their high price, so second-hand phones present a more affordable option for gift-givers. Also, any people upgrade their smartphones during the holiday season, either as gifts to themselves or because they’ve received a new phone as a present. This creates a secondary market for pre-owned devices as they sell or trade in their old models. The key problem is not knowing what condition these devices will arrive in. To avoid unwittingly exposing yourself to cyber-risk, take time out to consider the following tips. What are the risks of pre-owned phones? Thanks to persistently high interest rates and inflation across much of the Western world, second-hand phones are increasingly commonplace. In fact, sales generated over $13bn globally in the first quarter of 2023 alone, up 14% annually, according to one estimate. In a mature market like the UK, a quarter of all phones sold in 2023 were reportedly second-hand or refurbished. Yet this comes with certain cybersecurity risks. These include: Outdated software Some devices may no longer be supported by the manufacturer, meaning the underlying operating system doesn’t receive software updates. That’s bad news from a security perspective, as it means that when vulnerabilities are found by researchers or threat actors, your device won’t get a security patch to fix it. It will effectively be exposed to attackers. One 2020 study in the UK found that nearly a third of models being resold were no longer supported with security updates. Malware In some cases, a previous owner may even have (unwittingly or not) installed malicious software on the phone. This may be designed to do a variety of things, from steal your personal information and passwords to snoop on your calls and messages. It may even flood the device with unwanted ads or subscribe you to premium-rate services. The end goal is usually to make money in some way off you, either by stealing personal and financial information for use in fraud or digital extortion. No refurbishment checks Some pre-owned phones may not have undergone the kind of checks that reputable second-hand sellers perform to ensure they are operational and running on a supported OS. This may expose you to some of the risks outlined above. How to avoid cyber risks on second-hand devices Mitigating these risks takes a multi-pronged approach, starting with due diligence during the buying process. That effectively means doing your research. Second-hand devices are available from a wide variety of sources, from manufacturers themselves to high-street retailers, telcos, and private sellers. Put the time in to make sure the seller has good reviews and their offer is legitimate. A warranty of at least a year should be a baseline requirement to ensure quality. It's also best to avoid jailbroken or rooted devices, as these may have had security features disabled which make them more exposed to threats. Also, only choose devices that are still supported by the manufacturer; usually, phone-makers will support a handset for at least 2-3 years after it is released. To further mitigate security risks, consider the following after purchase: do a full factory reset, wiping any data that may have been left on the device by the previous owner, including contacts, photos, messages, browsing history, passwords and apps, update all the software on the device after purchasing to the latest, most secure version, and switch on automatic updates, keep an eye out for tell-tale signs that it might be compromised with malware, such as unwanted pop-ups or ads, apps appearing that you didn’t download, or sluggish performance and unusually high battery usage, install security software from a reputable provider and have it scan the device for threats. Once your device is up and running, consider the following best practices to mitigate ongoing security risks: set up a screen lock and PIN, password, or biometric authentication (face recognition/fingerprint scan) for secure access backup your data and set to automatic backups to the cloud in case the device is lost or stolen delete any unused apps to minimize your attack surface switch on device encryption for an extra layer of security always use multi-factor authentication to access your device and any software/accounts on it turn Bluetooth, tethering or Wi-Fi off when not in use, to avoid eavesdroppers snooping around check your app permissions – if some apps are requesting access to more than is necessary, that should be a red flag only download apps from official app stores and from reputable developers be on the lookout for phishing messages and emails. If in doubt, never click on links or open attachments contained in these messages. Always contact the supposed sender separately first, or open the message on a more secure machine avoid using public Wi-Fi without a VPN. If you’re still concerned about your pre-owned phone exposing you to security risks, don’t access any sensitive information or accounts when using it – such as mobile banking or syncing with your corporate accounts. In fact, if your employer allows BYOD handsets in the workplace, there may be an additional set of rules and policies you need to follow to ensure that your second-hand device can be used. The risks outlined above could be amplified if threat actors manage to use your handset as a stepping stone to reach corporate data and systems. That said, there’s no reason why a pre-owned phone should cause undue stress and security risk, as long as you follow these best practices. And if you decide to hand it on to someone else, remember to perform a full backup, data erasure and factory reset. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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Kate Middleton showcased her signature elegant and sophisticated style at this year’s British Royal Family Christmas service. Wearing a green Alexander McQueen coat and black Gianvito Rossi boots, she led the glamour as she joined the royal family on the traditional walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate. Along with Princess Kate, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Louis, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte also wore navy and green outfits. King Charles was the only member of the royal family to wear a different color for the event, choosing a brown coat with a light blue shirt and gray slacks. Catherine Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and William Prince of Wales coordinate in green and blue while King Charles III wears a brown coat with a light blue shirt and gray pants (Credit: John Rainford / Cover Images) Kate Middleton’s Timeless Elegance: Green Alexander McQueen Coat As I anticipated, the Princess of Wales radiated subtle elegance in her festive forest green tailored coat, which has a double-breasted style, notched lapels, a slit chest pocket, and front flap pockets. I love how well it fits Kate’s slender figure, which was to be expected given that it was a custom design made for her by one of her favorite fashion houses, Alexander McQueen. ICYDK, McQueen designed Kate’s Victorian-inspired lace wedding gown. I’m not sure what she wore underneath the coat, but she was most likely clad in a black shift dress, as she always does. Some might say Kate Middleton’s style is highly predictable and repetitive due to her penchant for classic pieces and muted hues. While true, I appreciate her wardrobe selections for their timeless and elegant appeal, befitting a royal. Kate Middleton looks elegant in her custom green Alexander McQueen double-breasted coat with notched lapels and front pockets (Credit: PA Images / INSTARimages) Why Kate Middleton’s Gianvito Rossi Suede Boots Are Perfect for Winter I assumed Kate would wear pumps as usual, but she wore boots instead, sticking to the wintry theme. She wore bespoke knee-high suede boots specially designed for her by one of her go-to footwear labels, Gianvito Rossi. They have pointed toes, slouchy knee-high shafts, and high block heels, adding a few inches to Kate’s impressive 5’8 3/4” height. Kate Middleton completes a wintry royal ensemble with bespoke Gianvito Rossi knee-high boots (Credit: Cover Images) Royal Accessory Spotlight: Kate Middleton’s Christmas Service Finishing Touches The Princess of Wales also often wears various classic and modest accessories. As royals do, she typically opts for pearls for her jewelry, a small clutch for her necessities, pumps for her shoes, and a hat, adding a touch of glamour and sophistication to her outfits. For the Christmas service, Kate donned the $7,676 Daystar Blue Topaz earrings by Robinson Pelham. They feature 10.11ct. blue topaz gems surrounded by 1.20ct. diamonds set in 14k gold. Although it was difficult to see through her long-sleeved coat, she wore a Halcyon Days Maya bangle in an 18k yellow gold-plated salamander torque with aquamarine end caps. Kate Middleton looks elegant with her Gina Foster fascinator, tartan scarf, and Robinson Pelham Daystar Blue Topaz earrings (Credit: Cover Images) In my opinion, a regal ensemble would be incomplete without a fascinator. Kate, who always wears one, opted for the “Meribel” beret hat by Gina Foster, one of the royals’ milliners. It has a structured look with a bow on one side. Kate wore the same hat during the 2013 Christmas service and the 2014 and 2018 St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Kate’s elegant winter ensemble was finished with a blue-and-green tartan scarf and $219 black merino wool gloves by Cornelia James. Regrettably, we could not fully appreciate the “Alice” gloves’ exquisite details, such as the velvet fourchettes and side bows, because the coat’s sleeves concealed them. But they certainly added a sense of sophistication to the look. They complement Kate’s black Grace Han “Love Letter” top handle bag, which honors love letters from the past, present, and future with its distinctive envelope flap closure and timeless, sophisticated silhouette. Kate Middleton carries her church necessities in a black Grace Han Love Letter top-handle bag (Credit: Cover Images) A Step Into Royal Style: Kate Middleton’s Most Iconic Boot Moments Kate Middleton’s boot choices seamlessly blend practicality with timeless elegance, making her a style icon for many. Here are some of her most memorable boot moments: Aquatalia by Marvin K. ‘Rhumba’ Boots: Kate has been spotted multiple times wearing these sleek, weatherproof knee-high boots, known for their narrow fit and water-resistant suede. She paired them with a classic trench and black tights during the official opening of St. George’s Park in 2012. Aquatalia by Marvin K. ‘Royalty’ Ankle Boots: The Duchess chose these espresso suede ankle boots, featuring buckles and stretchy panels, for a visit to the Only Connect charity event in London in 2013. She paired them with a brown patterned Orla Kiely dress, showcasing her penchant for repeating her favorite outfits. Stuart Weitzman for Russell and Bromley ‘HalfnHalf’ Boots: During a visit to the Hornsey Road Children’s Centre in 2017, Kate wore these black knee-high boots with a cream Goat ‘Redgrave’ coat and black tights, exemplifying her sophisticated yet approachable style. Penelope Chilvers Long Tassel Boots: Known for her love of these boots, Kate has been seen wearing them on various occasions, including outdoor events. The brown leather knee-high boots feature long tassels and have become a staple in her wardrobe. L.K. Bennett Boots: A loyal fan of the brand, Kate wore L.K. Bennett boots with a green Eponine dress during a visit to the Lavender Primary School in 2019, supporting Children’s Mental Health Week. Her association with L.K. Bennett has significantly boosted the brand’s popularity. Kate’s boot selections are a testament to her ability to combine functionality with fashion, inspiring many to emulate her classic and elegant footwear choices. Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] How we sort our mattresses Sort by Show 2 more Dream bigger, sleep deeper and start the new year feeling refreshed with a California king mattress. Whether you’re tall, share your bed with a furry friend or simply crave a little extra space for stretching out, a California king offers the perfect blend of length and luxury. While a standard king mattress gives you 76 inches of width for sprawling, the California king trades a bit of that width for added legroom, measuring 72 by 84 inches. We’ve tested countless mattresses to help you find the best California king for your unique sleep needs -- because better sleep isn’t just a gift for the holidays, it’s the foundation for your best days ahead.My team and I have tested around 300 different mattresses, giving us a large pool to pick from when selecting the best California king mattresses. We paid extra close attention to supportive constructions for couples, accommodating firmness levels, feel and overall value when making our choices. Regardless of what mattress type you're looking for -- a memory foam mattress, an innerspring mattress or a hybrid mattress, whether soft or firm -- here are the best California king mattress options we've found. (All prices listed are the regular, nonsale list price and reflect the costs of California king-size mattresses.) Video: Best California king mattresses for 2024Watch CNET video producer Owen Poole review the best California king size mattresses for 2024. What's the best California king mattress overall?If you want a comfortable, supportive and long-lasting bed, the Brooklyn Bedding Signature is one of our go-to recommendations. It has a strong hybrid construction made with foam and over 1,000 coils, multiple firmness levels to choose from and a neutral-foam feel that most people will find enjoyable. Plus, the Brooklyn Bedding Signature offers great value for what you're getting.Read more: Best Bed Sheets for Every Type of SleeperBest California king mattresses in 2024 Our take - When deciding on the best California king mattress overall, I wanted to pick a mattress suitable for singles, couples, all body types, most sleeping positions and most budgets. The Brooklyn Bedding Signature fits that bill to a tee and is more affordable than most competitors. Brooklyn Bedding manufactures its own mattresses, eliminating the need for a middleman, which allows it to sell you a mattress for less than the other big brands. You can get this quality California king bed for under $1,200 when you catch this mattress during a promo. Photo Gallery Firmness Soft: (3) Medium: (5) Medium firm: (7)Warranty 10-year limited warranty Pros & Cons Pros It has three firmness levels, making it good for all sleeping positionsIts hybrid construction is supportive of all body typesIt has a great bang for your buck Cons There is no true medium or 5 firmness level offered It's a comfortable, accommodating hybrid mattress that feels soft and springy. I'd compare it to the foam in your favorite comfy couch or like memory foam without that dense, "stuck" feel. It's available in three firmness levels, making the soft and medium models perfect for side and combination sleepers, while the firm model is ideal for back and stomach sleepers. Show more details Our take - The Layla Hybrid tops our list as the best California king mattress for side sleepers, mainly because this king bed is conveniently flippable, with a softer and firmer side to choose from. The soft side is extra plush and pressure relieving, perfect for any side sleeper who wants a cushiony feel. The firm side isn't super firm. It's around a six out of 10 on the firmness scale, making it great for most sleeping positions. I also think heavier side sleepers will like the firm end because it'll feel like a soft mattress with a good balance of support. Photo Gallery Type flippable hybrid mattressFirmness Medium to medium firm: (6)Warranty 10-year limited warranty Pros & Cons Pros Two firmness levels in one mattress (flippable design)Strong hybrid construction accommodates all body types Cons Its cost is on the expensive sideIt gives some resistance to combination sleepers The Layla Hybrid California king mattress consists of layers of gel memory foam, support foam, pocketed coils and a center layer of copper-infused foam. The center foam mattress layer is designed to draw heat away from the sleeper's body to help cool them off while they sleep, with antimicrobial properties to prevent bacteria buildup in the mattress. I think the memory foam feels light and airy compared to a bed like the Nectar, which feels denser and firmer.If you sleep with a partner, there will be sufficient space, and the edges will feel properly supportive (for those who sleep next to a bed-hog). This thick memory foam mattress has extra strong, 16-gauge coils around the perimeter to strengthen the edges. The memory foam also does a great job of isolating motion. Show more details Our take - The Saatva Classic is a supportive mattress with a combination of contouring latex foam, supportive innerspring coils and special lumbar technology that makes it great for back and stomach sleepers. The Luxury Firm model of this mattress is a solid medium-firm and its dual-coil construction is a unique feature that makes the Saatva bed incredibly supportive. As such, it's one of the best California king mattress models you can buy. Photo Gallery Warranty lifetime warranty Pros & Cons Pros Sleepers can choose between three firmness optionsDual-coil construction makes it extra durable and supportiveSuits all body types Cons Might be too firm for strict side sleepersIt's an expensive online mattress The Saatva Classic hybrid mattress is unique in the direct-to-consumer realm in that it doesn't arrive in a box (so make sure your doorways and stairs can fit a California king's dimensions). That means it can be made to order after you select your preference of firmness level as well as your choice of height: 11.5 inches or 14.5 inches. Based on my own testing, I found the beds range from medium to firm, depending on the firmness level you choose. Finally, the California king bed mattress reaches new levels of coziness with a three-inch Euro pillow top. All of this also works well for larger mattresses like the Cal king. Read more for our full Saatva mattress review. Show more details Our take - Nectar is a reputable bed-in-a-box brand that helped popularize the movement along with mattress bigwigs like Casper and Purple. The brand recently came out with its hybrid mattress models, taking what people loved about the Nectar Classic memory foam mattress and making it more durable and supportive. Photo Gallery Type memory foam hybrid mattressFirmness medium-firm or 6 to 7Warranty forever warranty Pros & Cons Pros Great for back, stomach and combination sleepersIt's a good pick for all body typesIt offers a good value Cons It's a little too firm for strict side sleepersProvides resistance to combination sleepers who switch positions The Nectar Hybrid mattress is 12 inches thick and will suit a range of body types, from petite to plus-size. It's made with memory foam but feels different from the flagship Nectar model. It's more of a neutralized memory foam feel in that it doesn't have that dense, contouring profile that's slow to respond to pressure. I chalk that up to the pocketed coils in the bottom layer that give it more bounce. It's still great at isolating motion if you're looking for the best California king mattress for couples.I'd rate the Nectar Hybrid around a medium to a medium-firm, so it's a little softer than the original Nectar and better suited for people who like to sleep on their side. Nectar is known for its reasonable prices and big bundles. If you wait until this Nectar mattress goes on sale (which is pretty often, not just big holidays), you can snag a California king bed for $1,000 or less. Show more details Our take - Having enjoyed a hands-on test of the Avocado Green mattress, I can say from experience that it's a joy to sleep on. On top of being highly comfy, especially for back, stomach and heavy sleepers, this Cal king mattress is also eco-friendly; Avocado's mattresses are made of organic wool, cotton and latex. Photo Gallery Firmness 7 or medium-firm with the pillow top (9 or firm without)Warranty 25-year limited warranty Pros & Cons Pros It's backed by a significant number of certificationsMade with eco-friendly and sustainable materialsGood for back, stomach and combination sleepers Cons It's a bit too firm for side sleepersLike other organic products, it's on the expensive side In addition to using organic materials, Avocado sources its wool from its own co-owned Indian wool farm, where more than 200,000 sheep roam freely across 40 organic hectares. If you'd prefer a vegan mattress without wool of any kind, Avocado also makes the same mattress in a vegan variety, which also comes in a California king. The company also grows and processes its own organic Dunlop latex. Each mattress is handcrafted in its California factory, where the company bypasses the use of toxic glues by implementing a traditional hand-tufting technique. If that's not enough, their mattresses are all tested to ensure low emissions, guaranteeing that they meet air quality standards. If you need a firm mattress to support a larger or taller body, the Avocado Green in California king size is a great choice. You can also buy the pillow-topper for $500 which softens up the feel to a medium-firm. It's an ideal firmer mattress for back and stomach sleepers, as well as those with back pain. A little extra space lengthwise gives the healing body plenty of room to do its thing. Read more at our full Avocado mattress review. Show more details Photo Gallery Firmness Medium firm: (7)Warranty 15-year limited warranty Pros & Cons Pros Good option for back, stomach and combination sleepersIt has a strong hybrid construction ergonomically designed for supportIt has a good value Cons Not worth the money for people who weigh under 150 poundsHeavier side sleepers may want a softer bed As long as the 7-to-8 firmness level rating doesn't bother you (it's a medium to firm feel), this mattress is likely to be a superb match. Providing excellent pressure relief, the Helix Plus Cal king mattress offers just enough give to maintain support while letting the sleeper get cozy in the contours of the memory foam. This mattress also offers fantastic motion transfer, so you may not even notice your sleeping partner getting in and out of bed.The California king size of the Helix Plus contains all the extra support, higher density foam and conveniently low motion transfer of the smaller versions, providing a longer mattress and the width of a spacious king. For any bigger or taller folks who may sleep better with a little more space between them, this size is ideal. Read more in our full Helix mattress review. Show more details Our take - The bigger the mattress size, the more you have to pay when it comes to buying a new bed. If you're in search of the best California king mattress that fits a more wallet-friendly budget, Allswell is a hybrid bed that offers a good bed for your buck. It's made by Walmart, which is known for its price-friendly products, and you can get a California king-size mattress for under $500. Photo Gallery Firmness Medium to medium firm: (6)Warranty 10-year limited warranty Pros & Cons Pros It's one of the most affordable hybrid beds on the marketDurable and supportive for all body typesIdeal for back, stomach and combination sleepers Cons Side sleepers will probably find it too firm The Allswell mattress is 10 inches thick and more on the firm side, rated around a six to seven on the firmness scale. I'd say it's best for back and stomach sleepers, and it'll be pressure-relieving enough for side sleepers over 230 pounds. Still, it's a little too firm for strict side sleepers under that weight range. It feels like a neutral foam mattress with added bounce, and you sleep more on top of the bed than you do inside it. This makes it really easy to switch positions, and it doesn't give that "stuck in the mud" feel that traditional memory foam beds do. Read more about this bed in our full Allswell mattress review. Show more details The CNET Sleep editors use their knowledge from their extensive mattress testing experience to curate our bedding best lists. They collectively have rolled around on 100-plus beds and are considered experts on the subject. With all the mattresses our editors have tested, some quality beds aren't able to make the cut, but we still think they deserve some credit. Tuft & Needle mattress: If you want a large California king mattress but you're more of a budget-conscious shopper, the Tuft & Needle Essential mattress is a great option. It's only two layers and is a simple bed without any extra bells and whistles. It is a comfortable and accommodating bed for just about any sleeping position. It feels like your favorite soft couch, it's made with a neutral foam that's quicker to respond to pressure than memory foam is. Tuft & Needle is also one of the most prominent online mattress brands, so its beds are popular for a reason. Layla mattress: This is the original predecessor to the Layla Hybrid mattress above. It omits the pocketed coil layer found in the hybrid, but it's a little cheaper and more affordable. This model is best for people who weigh under 230 pounds and who like the memory foam feel of Layla without the extra cost of the hybrid design. It's flippable, so you get one firm side and one soft side. It's also made with copper-infused memory foam, making it sleep cooler than the standard material. Show more CNET editors select the products and services we write about based on editorial merit. When you buy through our links, we may receive a commission. Read more about how we test mattresses. Show more Contrary to popular belief, California king mattresses are just longer than king mattresses, not wider. While standard king mattresses are 76 inches wide by 80 inches long, California kings are 72 inches wide by 84 inches long. Knowing the difference between the two helps you make better-informed shopping choices and ensures no unwelcome surprises. Remember, California king mattresses are all about length. Show more A California king mattress is the best choice if you're on the taller side, say 6-foot-3 and above. With a California king-size mattress, you can stretch your legs and never stress about having too many decorative pillows up top. The California king bed frame also has the optimal dimensions if you have a particularly long and narrow or rectangular-shaped room. You get all the perks and grandeur of a luxuriously large and comfortable bed without sacrificing a set of nightstands.The California king mattress and bed framework best in rooms with dimensions of at least 12 feet by 12 feet. If you're more concerned with having a wider bed than a longer one (like if you have a partner who loves to wiggle), a standard king mattress is probably the best mattress type for you. Show more A California king bed will be worth the money if you have a lot of extra space in your bedroom, are a big and tall individual or want a mattress that offers more space for your furry friends. California king beds are narrower than a standard king but are longer to allow for more leg and foot room. Many California king mattresses will cost you around $1,200 to $1,600, especially if you're looking for a premium bed. Luxury California king mattresses are known to retail for $1,800 or more, but you can also find a budget California king mattress like Allswell for under $500. If you have animals that sleep on the bottom of your mattress, you're over 6 feet, 5 inches (or taller) or you just want the extra leg space, a California king is a good option because it offers more length than your standard king bed. If you expect your kiddos to be snuggling up next to you in bed, you might want a wider standard king bed to fit all your loved ones. It's worth noting that brands often price their king and California king beds the same, so you usually don't end up paying more for one or the other. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script', ' fbq('set', 'autoConfig', false, '789754228632403'); fbq('init', '789754228632403'); [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] The arrival of Mew and its Mythical Island special set in Pokémon TCG Pocket brings with it some very disruptive cards. Clearly intended to mess with the current meta and mix things up for people relying on the same three decks in all their battles, it should make online competition far more interesting until the arrival of a full new set in January. We’ve highlighted the best of the 68 new options.What’s Coming Out Beyond Pokémon: The Indigo Disk | The Week In GamesGrass decksGrass decks get their first decent chance in the meta, with some very powerful additions among the nine new cards. There’s the Exeggcute/Exeggutor cards, for instance, which let you add two energy each turn to the former to power up the 80+ attack on the latter. The plus is another 20 attack for every energy attached to the opponent’s active Pokémon, which is an excellent counter for people playing Lapras or Blastoise, and even gives you a better chance against the Charizard ex.Then there’s Celebi ex with a 50x attack offering a coin flip for every energy it has attached, and perhaps most powerfully, a Stage 2 Serperior that, while sitting on your bench, has an Ability called Jungle Totem that means every Grass energy attached to any of your cards counts double. So, yeah, combine that with the Exeggutor or the Celebi and crikey, you’re in business.Fire decksFire decks didn’t need any help, and accordingly only have marginal new additions among the seven new arrivals. Ponyta and Rapidash have slightly better attacks, and Salandit and Salazzle are given poison attacks. Perhaps the most interesting new twist is Volcarona, which will do 80 damage to any opponent Pokémon of your choice, but will discard two of the three energy it cost to deliver.Electric decksElectric decks get six new cards, and offer a cute change with a new Pikachu who has an attack that does 10 damage per benched monster, like a mini-version of the Pikachu ex’s skill. It then gets a lot less cute with the new Raichu which, for three energy, does 60 damage to your opponent’s active Pokémon, but also 20 each to everything on the bench. Unleash that on a Water deck, and you’re hitting everything on the bench for 40 each, which could be devastating against those Starmie decks the kids love so much.Psychic decksPsychic decks, which were already the most OP in the game, are being handed a fistful of more power among the ten new cards. Mew is fairly modest, hitting for 20 and revealing the opponent’s hand, but Mew ex has a Ditto-like ability to mimic any attack of your opponent’s active card, and for three Normal energy, meaning it can be used in any deck of any stripe. Beheeyem arrives and, while dishing out only 10 damage on its own, will add another 20 for every card the opponent has benched. That’s a tidy 70 on a bloody Pikachu ex deck setup, for just one energy. The rest of the purple additions are filler.Fighting decksFighting decks are, as ever, given underwhelming options amongst the eight additions, but Golem can now dish out 120 and reduce the next attack against it by 30—although that’s for four energy. However, this might also be the most disruptive deck to play, with the new Aerodactyl ex that prevents your opponent from evolving their active Pokémon just by being on the bench. That’s going to mess with a whole bunch of the meta, even if playing Fighting is still going to be boring as hell.Dark decksDark decks have a nice new twist with Weezing, whose 50-damage attack will also force your opponent to coin flip to see if their following attack can work, ensuring Dark remains the game’s best griefing option. There are seven new cards, but most are filler.Dragon decksDragon decks still aren’t really a thing, given there are so few cards, but for those brave enough to risk the multi-energy options with their Dragonites, there’s now a Druddigon that hits for 90 and does 20 damage when hit, but that’s literally the only new card.Normal decksThere’s then a bunch more disruption on offer among the six new Normal type cards, including a Stage 2 Pigeot ex that is a super-powered version of the Beheeyem mentioned above—it does 80 damage, plus another 20 for each card on your enemy’s bench. So yeah, if someone’s playing Pikachu ex and only has two Pokémon on their bench, you’ll whack them for 120, enough to take out the Pikachu in one hit!Tauros joins in with Fighting Tackle, a 40+ attack that adds on another 80 if the opponent’s Pokémon is an ex. Again, enough to crush a Pikachu, and take a serious chunk out of everything else.Water decksAnd then there’s Water decks. Best guess is that someone at The Pokémon Company is a big Squirtle fan or something, because this already enormously powerful option is getting even more so with these eight extra cards. Gyarados is getting an ex, because presumably Blastoise ex, Lapras ex, Starmie ex and Articuno ex wasn’t enough. The 180HP Stage 1 card has a 140 attack for four energy, that also discards a random energy from a random card on either side!And that’s not even the real danger. That comes with Vaporeon, whose underwhelming card in Genetic Apex can now be dropped straight into bulk. The Mythical Island incarnation has an ability called Wash Out, which lets you move Water energy freely from your benched to active Pokémon as much as you like, whenever you like. That, combined with Misty’s ability to let you load up on as many energy as you can flip heads in a row, means anyone playing one of those five different Water ex cards is going to get loaded up stupid-fast.Trainer cardsAs with Genetic Apex, the number of Item and Trainer cards remains extremely low when compared with the physical game. There are only five new additions (and for some reason a repeated card with Old Amber, which is entirely unchanged), but they’re going to make a big difference.Mythical Slab lets you peek at the top card of your deck, but unlike Pokédex, lets you do something with it. If it’s a Psychic Pokémon, you can add it to your hand. If it’s not, whatever it is goes to the bottom of your deck.Trainer Blue is a hail Mary lifesaver, reducing all incoming attacks on the next turn by 10, while Trainer Leaf is the tactic-changing option to reduce the retreat cost for that turn by two. However, both are Supporters, and as such mean you won’t be able to play the other, or a Professor’s Research, Misty, Giovanni, etc.The other new Trainer is Budding Expeditioner, who has the rather specific ability to take your Mew ex from your active spot and back into your hand. I guess that’s going to figure into people’s games?The very strangest addition, however, is Pokémon Flute. This card puts a Basic Pokémon from your opponent’s discard pile onto their bench. This might at first read like something that could be actively aiding the enemy, but it’s actually a rather gloriously trolly option. Beyond the most obvious use—if you’re using attacks that are boosted by the number of cards on the opponent’s bench—if someone is leaving space for their vital Ralts to support their Mewtwo, or a Charmander that stubbornly won’t come out to build their Charizard, filling that slot with whichever card they sacrificed up front would be extremely funny.. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] In our fast-moving world, a smartwatch does more than tell time—it shows off your style, helps you stay on top of things, and fits into modern life. Whether you’re into fitness, run a business, or just want to stay in touch, a smartwatch can be your best friend. But with so many options to choose from, how do you pick the right one? This blog will show you the top 5 smartwatches for women you can buy in the UAE. These watches look great, work well, and fit all kinds of lifestyles.From sleek and stylish watches to the ones that can track your workouts and keep an eye on your health, we’ve got you covered! Stay up-to-date, check your health, get your messages, and look good doing it—all with one device. Want to see how style and tech come together? Let’s take a look at the best picks for women in the UAE!Hezire watches combine new ideas with fashion, giving women in the UAE elegant high-quality watches that work well for daily use and special events. These smartwatches have top-notch features and put comfort first helping you stay in touch while looking good. Let’s have a look at their extensive watch collection.H-Watch Commando:The Hezire H-Watch Commando is an activity smartwatch designed especially for the active woman, boasting a large 2.1″ full touch display, plus IP67 water resistance, built to stand up to your most intense adventures. Boasting a powerhouse of 520 mAh battery with up to 10-14 days of usage per charge, this watch ensures long-lasting performance. Packed with health and activity tracking, 100+ sports modes, Bluetooth calling, and remote music & camera functions, it is a versatile companion for every lifestyle. This added functionality comes with an integrated LED torch. This powerhouse is priced at an affordable price making it one of the most suitable smartwatches for women.H-Watch Commando Desert Camo: The H-Watch Commando Desert Camo is where rugged toughness meets style. This adventure-ready smartwatch boasts its stunning 2.1″ full-touch display—whether you are conquering outdoor challenges or breezing through everyday life, its IP67 water resistance won’t let the elements get in your way. Equipped with the LED torch and a big 520mAh battery, you will enjoy ten to fourteen days of uninterrupted use. It’s crammed with over 100 sports modes, health and activity tracking, Bluetooth calling, remote music, and camera control— so it keeps you connected and on top of your game. The best part? It won’t break the bank!H-Watch Prime: The Hezire H-Watch Prime is a very versatile powerhouse, bringing premier features for less than 200 AED; therefore, this is one of the best smartwatches for women in the UAE. Excellent for activity and health tracking, it supports hands-free Bluetooth calls using the built-in microphone and speaker. Its lightweight design with a full IP68 waterproof rating makes this smartwatch suitable for sports activities, like swimming. Besides fitness, the H-Watch Prime comes equipped with AI voice assistant activation, text/message notifications, remote camera and music controls, and even a stopwatch—all with up to 7 days of battery life. It is undoubtedly a top pick for style, functionality, and affordability!H-Watch Sport:Hezire H-Watch Sport is the perfect companion for all the sporty women out there! Befittingly, the smartwatch features a highly robust and toughened zinc alloy frame that will not flinch under hard conditions, coupled with explosion-proof glass and an IP67 rating of dust and waterproof protection. It comes with a 1.83″ HD full-touch display which delivers a smooth experience to the user, further ensured by accurate health and activity tracking. Packed with Bluetooth hands-free calling, message notifications, and up to 10 days of battery life, this watch is one of the best smartwatches for women who are looking for durability and performance!H-Watch Commando Jungle Camo:Buy smartwatches for women online and discover the Hezire H-Watch Commando Jungle Camo— a stylish yet rugged activity smartwatch built for adventure. This watch comes with an IP67 water-resistant design, a large 2.1\” full-touch display, and an integrated LED torch. It has a huge 520 mAh battery to provide 10-14 days of usage per charge. From comprehensive health and activity tracking to 100+ sports modes, Bluetooth calling, and remote music and camera functions, H-Watch Commando combines versatility with affordability, and for the modern active woman, it is a top choice.Why choose smartwatches for women from Hezire?Smartwatches for women at Hezire are a perfect blend of fashion, functionality, and durability. Hezire’s smartwatches are designed to be aesthetically appealing and compliment any outfit while delivering high-performance performance. They boast advanced features such as health and activity monitoring, Bluetooth calling, remote music and camera control, and AI voice assistant capabilities. Built to last, Hezire watches use robust materials like zinc alloy and explosion-proof glass for everyday wear and off-road escapades. Then there’s the up to 14-day battery life of the connected watches that ensures you stay in touch and untethered from the recharging cycle.ConclusionWhether you are looking for fitness monitoring combined with advanced health monitoring, seamless hands-free communication, or just a more elegant watch designed for your wardrobe, there’s always a smartwatch tailored for your needs. Long battery life, flexible sports modes, and sleek designs not only add to your lifestyle but empower you to stay connected and efficient; investing in the right smartwatch will ensure that you have the best companion that will support not only your active endeavours but also professional ones with ease and sophistication.Do you wish to wear the future, a paragon of precision and sync with success? Your wrist deserves the absolute best! Explore Hezire’s collection of smartwatches for women and find the perfect blend of style and functionality today! Get in touch with us today- hezire.com [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] The ability of LLMs to execute commands through plain language (e.g. English) has enabled agentic systems that can complete a user query by orchestrating the right set of tools (e.g. ToolFormer, Gorilla). This, along with the recent multi-modal efforts such as the GPT-4o or Gemini-1.5 model, has expanded the realm of possibilities with AI agents. While this is quite exciting, the large model size and computational requirements of these models often requires their inference to be performed on the cloud. This can create several challenges for their widespread adoption. First and foremost, uploading data such as video, audio, or text documents to a third party vendor on the cloud, can result in privacy issues. Second, this requires cloud/Wi-Fi connectivity which is not always possible. For instance, a robot deployed in the real world may not always have a stable connection. Besides that, latency could also be an issue as uploading large amounts of data to the cloud and waiting for the response could slow down response time, resulting in unacceptable time-to-solution. These challenges could be solved if we deploy the LLM models locally at the edge. However, current LLMs like GPT-4o or Gemini-1.5 are too large for local deployment. One contributing factor is that a lot of the model size ends up memorizing general information about the world into its parametric memory which may not be necessary for a specialized downstream application. For instance, if you ask a general factual question from these models like a historical event or well-known figures, they can produce the results using their parametric memory, even without having additional context in their prompt. However, it seems like this implicit memorization of training data into the parametric memory is correlated with “emergent” phenomena in LLMs such as in-context learning and complex reasoning, which has been the driving force behind scaling the model size. However, this leads to an intriguing research question: Can a smaller language model with significantly less parametric memory emulate such emergent ability of these larger language models? Achieving this would significantly reduce the computational footprint of agentic systems and thus enable efficient and privacy-preserving edge deployment. Our study demonstrates that this is feasible for small language models through training with specialized, high-quality data that does not require recalling generic world knowledge. Such a system could particularly be useful for semantic systems where the AI agent’s role is to understand the user query in natural language and, instead of responding with a ChatGPT-type question answer response, orchestrate the right set of tools and APIs to accomplish the user’s command. For example, in a Siri-like application, a user may ask a language model to create a calendar invite with particular attendees. If a predefined script for creating calendar items already exists, the LLM simply needs to learn how to invoke this script with the correct input arguments (such as attendees’ email addresses, event title, and time). This process does not require recalling/memorization of world knowledge from sources like Wikipedia, but rather requires reasoning and learning to call the right functions and to correctly orchestrate them. Our goal is to develop Small Language Models (SLM) that are capable of complex reasoning that could be deployed securely and privately at the edge. Here we will discuss the research directions that we are pursuing to that end. First, we discuss how we can enable small open-source models to perform accurate function calling, which is a key component of agentic systems. It turns out that off-the-shelf small models have very low function calling capabilities. We discuss how we address this by systematically curating high-quality data for function calling, using a specialized Mac assistant agent as our driving application. We then show that fine-tuning the model on this high quality curated dataset, can enable SLMs to even exceed GPT-4-Turbo’s function calling performance. We then show that this could be further improved and made efficient through a new Tool RAG method. Finally, we show how the final models could be deployed efficiently at the edge with real time responses. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GvaGL9IDpQ[/embed] Demo of TinyAgent-1B along with Whisper-v3 running locally deployed locally on a Macbook M3 Pro. The framework is open sourced and available at Figure 1: Overview of the LLMCompiler Function Calling Planner. The Planner understands the user query and generates a sequence of tasks with their inter-dependencies. These tasks are then dispatched by the LLMCompiler framework to accomplish the user command. In this example, Task \$1 and \$2 are fetched together to retrieve the email addresses of Sid and Lutfi independently. After each task is performed, the results are forwarded to Task \$3 which creates the calendar event. Before executing Task \$3, LLMCompiler replaces the placeholder variables (e.g., the variable \$1 and \$2 in Task \$3) with actual values. As mentioned above, our main interest is applications where the AI agent translates the user query into a sequence of function calls to complete the tasks. In such applications, the model doesn’t need to write the function definition itself since the functions (or APIs) are mostly pre-defined and already available. Therefore, what the model needs to do is to determine (i) which functions to call, (ii) the corresponding input arguments, and (iii) the right order of calling these functions (i.e. function orchestration) based on the required interdependency across the function calls. The first question is to find an effective way to equip SLMs to perform function calling. Large models such as GPT-4 are able to perform function calling, but how can this be achieved with open source models? LLMCompiler is a recent framework from our group that enables this by instructing the LLM to output a function calling plan that includes the set of functions that it needs to call along with the input arguments and their dependencies (see the example in Figure 1). Once this function calling plan is generated, we can parse it and call each function based on the dependencies. The critical part here is to teach the model to create this function calling plan with the right syntax and dependency. The original LLMCompiler paper only considered large models, such as LLaMA-2 70B, which have complex reasoning capabilities to create the plan when provided with sufficient instructions in their prompts. However, can smaller models be prompted the same way to output the correct function calling plan? Unfortunately, our experiments showed that off-the-shelf small models such as TinyLLaMA-1.1B (or even the larger Wizard-2-7B model) are not able to output the correct plans. The errors ranged from problems such as using the wrong set of functions, hallucinated names, wrong dependencies, inconsistent syntax, etc. This is rather expected because these small models have been trained on generic datasets and primarily targeted to achieve good accuracy on general benchmarks which mostly test the model’s world knowledge and general reasoning or basic instruction following capability. To address this, we explored if fine-tuning these models on a high-quality dataset specially curated for function calling and planning can improve the accuracy of these small language models for a targeted task, potentially outperforming larger models. Next, we first discuss how we generated such a dataset, and then discuss the fine tuning approach. Figure 2: TinyAgent is an assistant that can interact with various MacOS applications to assist the user. The commands can be given to it through either text through a spotlight input, or through voice. As a driving application, we consider a local agentic system for Apple’s Macbook that solves user’s day-to-day tasks, as shown in Figure 2. Particularly, the agent is equipped with 16 different functions that can interact with different applications on Mac, which includes: Email: Compose a new email or reply to/forward emails Contacts: Retrieve phone numbers or email addresses from the contacts database SMS: Send text messages to contact(s) Calendar: Create calendar events with details such as title, time, attendees, etc. Notes: Create, open, or append content to notes in various folders Reminder: Set reminders for various activities and tasks File management: Open, read, or summarize documents in various file paths Zoom meetings: Schedule and organize Zoom meetings Predefined Apple scripts exist for each of these functions/tools, and all that the model needs to do is to take advantage of the predefined APIs and determine the right function calling plan to accomplish a given task, such as in Figure 1. But as discussed previously, we need some data for evaluating and training small language models since their off-the-shelf function calling capability is subpar. Creating handcrafted data with diverse function calling plans is both challenging and not scalable. However, we can curate synthetic data using an LLM like GPT-4-Turbo. Such an approach is becoming a common method where a capable LLM is instructed to generate data similar to a given set of sample examples or templates (see LLM2LLM and Self-Instruct). In our work, we used a similar approach, but instead of providing the LLM with generic user queries as templates, we provide it with various sets of functions and instruct it to generate realistic user queries that require those functions to accomplish the task, along with the associated function calling plan and input arguments, like the example shown in Figure 1. To verify the validity of the generated data, we incorporated sanity checks on the function calling plan to make sure that they form a feasible graph, and that the function names and input argument types are correct. With this approach, we created 80K training data, 1K validation data, and 1K testing data, with a total cost of only ~$500. Figure 3: Graph Isomorphism Success Rate. The model scores a success rate of 1 only if the DAG of its generated plan is isomorphic to the DAG of the ground truth plan; and 0 otherwise. In above example, for the top case, although the order of the get_email_address calls are different from the ground truth plan (the ground truth plan gets the email address of Lutfi before Sid, and the generated plan gets the email address of Sid before Lutfi), since the two DAGs are isomorphic to each other, the plan gets 1 success rate. For the bottom case, since the predicted DAG contains a wrong node, corresponding to a wrong function call, the plan gets 0 success rate. With our dataset in place, we can now proceed to fine-tune off-the-shelf SLMs to enhance their function calling capability. We started with two base small models: TinyLlama-1.1B (instruct-32k version) and Wizard-2-7B. For fine-tuning these models, we first need to define a metric to evaluate their performance. Our objective is for these models to accurately generate the right plan, which involves not only selecting the right set of functions, but also correctly orchestrating them in the right order. Therefore, we define a success rate metric that assigns 1 if both criteria are met, and 0 otherwise. Checking whether the model has selected the right set function calls is straightforward. To additionally ensure that the orchestration of these functions is correct, we construct a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) of the function calls based on the dependencies, as shown in Figure 3, where each node represents a function call and a directed edge from node A to B represents their interdependency (i.e. function B can only be executed after the execution of function A). Then we compare if this DAG is identical to that of the ground truth plan to verify the accuracy of the dependencies. After defining our evaluation metric, we applied LoRA to fine-tune the models for 3 epochs using a learning rate of 7e-5 over the 80K training examples, and selected the best checkpoint based on validation performance. For fine-tuning, our prompt included not only the descriptions of the ground truth functions (i.e. functions used in the ground truth plan) but also other irrelevant functions as negative samples. We found the negative samples to be particularly effective for teaching the model how to select appropriate tools for a given query, hence improving the post-training performance. Furthermore, we also include several in-context examples demonstrating how queries are translated into a function calling plans. These in-context examples are selected through a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) process based on the user query from the data in the training dataset. Using the above settings, we fine-tuned TinyLlama-1.1B/Wizard-2-7B models. After fine-tuning, the 1.1B model improved the success rate from 12.71% to 78.89%, and the 7B model performance improved from 41.25% to 83.09%, which is ~4% higher than GPT-4-Turbo. Figure 4: Efficient Tool Selection Based on User Input. Not all user inputs require all available tools; hence, it is imperative to select the right set of tools to minimize the prompt size and increase performance. In this case, the LLM only needs the functions that get email addresses and create a calendar event in its prompt to accomplish its task. Our primary goal is to be able to deploy the TinyAgent model locally on a Macbook, which has limited computational and memory resources available as compared to the GPUs that closed-source models like GPT are deployed on. To achieve efficient performance with low latency we need to ensure that not only the model size is small, but that the input prompt is as concise as possible. The latter is an important contributor to latency and computational resource consumption due to the quadratic complexity of attention on sequence length. The fine-tuned TinyAgent model discussed previously was fine-tuned with the description of all available tools in its prompt. However, this is pretty inefficient. We can significantly reduce the prompt size by only including the description of relevant tools based on the user query. For instance, consider the example shown in Figure 4 above, where the user is asking to create a calendar invite with two people. In this case, the LLM only needs the functions that get email addresses and create a calendar event in its prompt. To take advantage of this observation, we need to determine which functions are required to accomplish the user’s command, which we refer to as Tool RAG given its similarity with how Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) works. However, there is an important subtlety. If we use a basic RAG method where we compute the embedding of the user query and use that to retrieve the relevant tools, we get very low performance. This is because completing a user’s query often requires using several auxiliary tools which may be missed with a simple RAG method if the embedding of the auxiliary tool is not similar to the user query. For instance, the example shown in Figure 4 requires calling get_email_address function even though the user query is just asking about creating a calendar invitation. This can be addressed by treating the problem as a classification of which tools are needed. To that end, we fine-tuned a DeBERTa-v3-small model on the training data to perform a 16-way classification as shown in Figure 5. The user query is given as an input to this model, and then we pass the CLS token at the end through a simple fully connected layer of size 768x16 to transform it into a 16 dimensional vector (which is the total size of our tools). The output of this layer is passed through a sigmoid layer to produce the probability of selecting each tool. During inference, we select the tools that have probably higher than 50%, and if so, we include their description in the prompt. On average we noticed that only 3.97 tools are retrieved with a recall of 0.998, whereas the basic RAG requires using the top 6 tools to achieve a tool recall of 0.968. Figure 5: Overview of our Tool RAG scheme. We formulate tool retrieval as a multi-label classification problem. The user query is given as input to the fine-tuned DeBERTa-v3-small model, which outputs a 16-dimensional vector indicating tool probabilities. Tools with probabilities higher than 50% are selected, averaging 3.97 tools per query compared to 6 tools in basic RAG. We evaluated the model performance after incorporating Tool RAG. The results are shown in Table 1 below, where we report the performance of the simple RAG system along with the fine-tuned DeBERTa approach. As one can see, the DeBERTa based Tool RAG method achieves almost perfect recall performance, improves the baseline accuracy, while reducing the prompt size by ~2x tokens. Table 1: Comparison of TinyAgent performance with DeBERTa to Basic RAG and no RAG settings. Tool RAG Method Tool Recall Prompt Size (Tokens) TinyAgent 1.1B Success Rate (%) TinyAgent 7B Success Rate (%) No RAG (all tools in the prompt) 1 2762 78.89 83.09 Basic RAG 0.949 (top 3) 1674 74.88 78.50 Fine-tuned DeBERTa-v3-small (Ours) 0.998 (tools with >50% prob) 1397 80.06 84.95 Deploying models at the edge, such as on consumer MacBooks, can still be challenging even for small models of O(1B) parameters, since loading the model parameters can consume a large portion of the available memory. A solution to these issues is quantization, which allows us to store the model at a reduced bit precision. Quantization not only reduces the storage requirements and model footprint, but also cuts down the time and resources needed to load model weights into memory, thereby reducing the overall inference latency as well (see this for more information on quantization). For more efficient deployment of the models, we quantized the models into 4-bit with a group size of 32, which is supported by the llama.cpp framework with quantization aware training. As shown in Table 2, the 4-bit models result in 30% better latency, along with a 4x reduction in the model size. We also notice slight accuracy improvement which is due to the additional fine-tuning with simulated quantization. Table 2: Latency, size, and success rate of TinyAgent models before and after quantization. Latency is the end-to-end latency of the function calling planner, including the prompt processing time and generation. Model Weight Precision Latency (seconds) Model Size (GB) Success Rate (%) GPT-3.5 Unknown 3.2 Unknown 65.04 GPT-4-Turbo Unknown 3.9 Unknown 79.08 TinyAgent-1.1B 16 3.9 2.2 80.06 TinyAgent-1.1B 4 2.9 0.68 80.35 TinyAgent-7B 16 19.5 14.5 84.95 TinyAgent-7B 4 13.1 4.37 85.14 Below is the demo of the final TinyAgent-1.1B model deployed on a Macbook Pro M3 which you can actually download and install on your Mac and test as well. It not only runs all of the model inference locally on your computer, but it also allows you to provide commands through audio. We process the audio locally as well using the Whisper-v3 model from OpenAI deployed locally using the whisper.cpp framework. The greatest surprise for us was that the accuracy of the 1.1B model exceeds that of GPT-4-Turbo, and is markedly fast while deployed locally and privately on device. To summarize, we introduced TinyAgent and showed that it is indeed possible to train a small language model and use it to power a semantic system that processes user queries. In particular, we considered a Siri-like assistant for Mac as a driving application. The key components for enabling it is to (i) teach off-the-shelf SLMs to perform function calling through LLMCompiler framework, (ii) curate high quality function calling data for the task at hand, (iii) fine-tune the off-the-shelf model on the generated data, and (iv) enable efficient deployment by optimizing the prompt size through only retrieving the necessary tools based on the user query through a method called ToolRAG, as well as quantized model deployment to reduce inference resource consumption. After these steps, our final models achieved 80.06% and 84.95% for the TinyAgent1.1.B and 7B models which exceed GPT-4-Turbo’s success rate of 79.08% on this task. We would like to thank Apple for sponsoring this project, as well as support from NVIDIA and Microsoft through Accelerating Foundation Models Research Program. We also thank Sunjin Choi for his insights in energy cost associated with local and cloud deployment. Our conclusions do not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of our sponsors, and no official endorsement should be inferred. BibTex for this post: @misc{tiny-agent, title=TinyAgent: Function Calling at the Edge, author=Erdogan, Lutfi Eren and Lee, Nicholas and Jha, Siddharth and Kim, Sehoon and Tabrizi, Ryan and Moon, Suhong and Hooper, Coleman and Anumanchipalli, Gopala and Keutzer, Kurt and Gholami, Amir, howpublished={\url year=2024 [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] Whether you knew you needed it or not, locally-hosted AI is the next big thing in PCs, and AMD is at the forefront of this movement. The company was first to market with consumer processors sporting AI-accelerating Neural Processing Units (NPUs), and it's now on its third generation of processors for "AI PCs." That's the justification for the new model naming convention, by the way. These upcoming Ryzen mobile processors are the third generation of NPU-equipped chips from AMD. The first were the Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" chips, and the second were the Ryzen 8040 "Hawk Point" processors that quickly followed. So, now we're looking at the third generation, the Ryzen AI 300 series, codenamed Strix Point. Introducing The AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series Quixotic naming aside, these new processors really are a big step forward for AMD. Not only are they fabricated on TSMC's advanced 4nm process, but they're also sporting fresh architectures across all three major IP blocks of the SoC. That means we have Zen 5 for CPU cores, XDNA 2 for the NPU block, and RDNA 3.5 for the GPU architecture. All three of these are significantly improved from previous hardware. These architectural revisions give Strix Point up to 50 TOPS of AI horsepower from its XDNA 2 NPU, twelve Zen 5 CPU cores, and then eight RDNA 3.5 WGPs (equivalent to 16 old-school compute units.) AMD accurately points out that this is the most "big" cores ever offered in a dedicated laptop processor as well as the fastest NPU and the biggest integrated GPU. The processors do feature a mix of Zen 5 and smaller Zen 5C cores, however. We'll look at some more specific performance claims here in a bit, but it's curious that, right now, AMD is only launching two Ryzen AI 300 Series processors -- the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and the Ryzen AI 9 365. You can see the specifications above, the non-"HX" processor takes cuts to the CPU cores, the clock rate, and the GPU core count. And if you're confused by that "HX" as we were, well, take a look: AMD Ryzen AI 300 Branding Explained Whereas previously AMD was following in Intel's footsteps and using "HX" to indicate the highest range of power limits for its mobile processors, the branding has changed and "HX" in this case is now a "Brand Level". In other words, "HX" simply means you're looking at the highest tier of Ryzen AI processor. In addition to the information about the GPU core counts, this slide also includes a mention that Strix Point uses a mix of Zen 5 and Zen 5C CPU cores. Both Ryzen AI 9 chips include four Zen 5 CPU cores, but the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 gets the full allotment of eight Zen 5C dense cores while the Ryzen AI 9 365 loses a pair and their associated 1MB of L2 cache. We've already written a fair bit about Zen 5; you can head over to our coverage of the Ryzen 9000 desktop processors if you'd like to read about it. The short version is that Zen 5 should offer on average about 16% more performance per clock on CPU-limited tasks compared to Zen 4. Meanwhile, XDNA2 is straight-up five times as fast as XDNA 1.Some of this is due to the size of the NPU array being much larger than it was on Hawk Point, but it is a revised architecture as well, and AMD says that the new NPU offers double the power efficiency thanks at least in part to those architectural advancements. AMD Ryzen AI 300 Expected Performance AMD compares its new XDNA 2 NPU against the neural processors found in all of its main competitors and finds them lacking. Going by AMD's own numbers, it does seem that the Ryzen AI 300 NPU will outperform its competitors. Of course, we have yet to see what Intel's Lunar Lake can actually do, and there's also the question of power efficiency to consider—a major concern when the point of NPUs is efficient acceleration of AI workloads. AMD notes that for applications supporting 16-bit data types, it can offer the same performance as its competitors using INT8 without requiring the quantization step that those figures need. In other words, it should be easier to set up and deploy existing AI workloads on Ryzen AI 300 without sacrificing performance or precision. Of course, AI isn't the only thing people will do on "AI PCs." In fact, it may be a small part of what they do at first. Fortunately, AMD has some comparisons against the competition, including not only Intel's Core Ultra 9 185H but also Apple's M3 and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite. Unsurprisingly, the CPU with twelve full-fat Zen 5 CPU cores outperforms everyone else's processors that rely on lower-power efficient cores to pump up core counts. Remember, AMD's "dense" cores, ending in "C", aren't less capable or notably "weaker" than the "standard" cores from the same architecture. In other words, Zen 5C is just as good as Zen 5. The only difference is that it uses less power at lower clocks, and more power at higher clocks. Of course, AMD has to get in a dunk on Intel in the area of gaming performance. The idea of a Radeon-equipped APU demolishing all comers in gaming isn't exactly a given. Intel's Arc-powered IGP in Meteor Lake is pretty capable. Still, with the revised RDNA 3.5 architecture and four more compute units at its behest, Strix Point seems to dominate the competition, at least according to AMD's numbers. You won't have to wait too long if you want a Ryzen AI processor, since they're expected to start showing up in July. AMD says that it has "100+ platforms" on the way sporting these CPUs, which means individual laptop models. It names Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and MSI as its partners for the launch, but you can bet that lesser-known companies like Ayaneo, GPD, and Minisforum are chomping at the bit for these chips as well. Notably absent from these announcements were any of the other rumored Zen 5-based mobile processors, including the massive Strix Halo and the miniature Kraken Point. We imagine these will come along in future announcements. Given the limited number of SKUs, we suspect this launch was accelerated in response to Qualcomm and Intel both releasing capable mobile processors very soon. For our part, we can't wait to get a Snapdragon X Elite, a Lunar Lake, and a Strix Point in the same room and have them go at it, so stay tuned for that. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] “Who has X near me?” This customer FAQ has become all the more important since 2020, with the public relying heavily on the Internet to help them remotely source goods and services while spending as little time as possible on business premises. Google gets this, and is taking one step after another to position itself as the intermediary for this foundational query. Becoming the “transaction layer of the Internet” is how my friend and colleague David Mihm of Near Media describes Google’s aims when it comes to online shopping and the role they plan to play in it. As local businesses everywhere have scrambled to implement e-commerce and delivery features, Google has been very busy, too, with its own developments. Perhaps the simplest of all these opportunities to get started with is Google My Business Products — a sort of virtual window shopping interface that can really spruce up your listings. Located in eligible GMB dashboards and with an output that’s visible on several local search interfaces, this feature could not be easier to use.This illustrated tutorial will walk you through adding your most important products and services to Google My Business Products, building your confidence that you are keeping apace with local search expanding to encompass local shopping search. Who can and can’t add Google My Business products to their listings? If you sign into your Google My Business dashboard, and you see a tab in the left menu for “products” you are eligible, with the exception of the products listed here that you can’t upload. If you lack the “products” link but see that your competitors are using it, it’s likely that they have a Google My Business category you’re missing. Use the GMB Spy Chrome Extension to see all of the competitor’s GMB listing categories so that you can consider adding whatever is necessary to prompt the “products” option to appear in your dashboard. Google’s documentation of this feature states that it’s intended for small-to-medium local businesses, and that they prefer large, multi-locations brands to provide product data through Local Inventory Ads. It would be helpful if Google would update this page to give a numeric cutoff between a medium-sized business and a large chain. Meanwhile, if you’re marketing a restaurant, please note that Google prefers you to use the popular dishes and menu functions for showcasing your offerings, rather than the products option. Also for restaurants and service-oriented businesses, be aware that adding items to the products function will delete any meal or service menus that have been created for you by a third party. You’ll need to recreate them with the aforementioned, Google-based menu function or the Services tab in your GMB dashboard. What can be added as a product to Google My Business listings? You can list the following as products: There’s a strong argument to be made for listing your services as products, in fact, because they are more visible and have those strong, linked calls-to-action. As far as I’ve seen, Google has no problem with you having both products and services listed, so you can do both! How to add products to your Google My Business dashboard in 10 easy steps To keep yourself organized, create a spreadsheet (or make a copy of this freebie I created for you) containing all the products you plan to list, and include a field in it for: Product imageProduct nameCategoryPriceDescriptionButtonLink BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Note that the last product you add will be the one that shows up first on your profile. So, save the best for last. Made a mistake? You can delete a product and re-add it as the newest item, which will make it show first, or you can edit a product in some minor way and the edit will also trigger re-ordering of the product lineup. Now you’re ready to get going! Step 1: Sign into your Google My Business dashboard for the listing you want to add products to, and click on the Products tab in the left-hand navigation menu: Step 2. This will bring up a popup telling you how many people saw your listing last month and prompting you to add your products. Click the “get started button”. Step 3. This brings up the simple wizard for adding your products Step 4: Begin by adding a 1200 x 900 photo representing your first product. I recommend using original photos and graphics rather than stock photos, and it can make a bold visual statement if you choose to overlay the name of the product in text on the image. Step 5: Give your product a name: Step 6: Create a category for the product. If this is the very first product you’ve added to your listing, there will be nothing in the dropdown. As you add more products and categories, though, the categories you’ve previously created will appear in the dropdown and you can select them to apply to the next product you add, or you can create further, new categories. Step 7. Optionally, enter the price. You can either enter a single price, or use the little grey toggle on the right to enter a minimum and maximum price range. Don’t use letters or symbols in this field or Google will reject them. Our product pricing structure at Moz is complex, with special offers and different pricing for monthly vs. annual customers, so we chose to leave this field blank, but if your pricing is simple and not subject to frequent change that would require you to be updating pricing on a regular basis, it’s a good idea to add it. Step 8: Add a product description of up to 1000 characters. It’s optional to do this, but you should definitely make the most of this opportunity to talk about the benefits of the product. I included a short explanation of the Moz Pro product, plus a customer’s testimonial. Step 9: Add a call-to-action button from among the choices of Learn More, Buy, Order Online, or Get Offer. There’s also the option not to add a button, but why forego the chance to bring customers from your listing to your website? In the “link for your button” field, add the URL of the page you want this button to take the customer to on your website. If you want to measure how your product listings are performing, use UTM tagging in the link you enter, and you can track engagement in Google Analytics, though not in GMB Insights, sadly. Step 10: Take a second look at all you’ve entered to be sure you’re happy with your entry and then hit the blue “save” button. Google will then show you the product in your dashboard: And as you add more products and product categories, you can see them tabbed in the “Products” section of your GMB dashboard: And, presto! Within minutes to a couple of hours, you should see your products appearing on your Google Business Profile when you search for you brand name (or brand name + city, if Google is a bit confused): Customers can click on the “view all” link to see all the products you’ve listed: Or, they can explore using the product categories you’ve created. Look at how big and bold these category buttons are, highlighting key offerings of your business! And it will also show up on the Google Local Finder version of your GMB listing, though as far as I have seen, not in the Google Maps version of your listing: The big question: Should you use GMB products? Can and should are never the same thing. You’ve just learned whether you can upload your inventory via GMB products and you can definitely do it! But to determine whether you should invest the time in doing this, consider all of the following: Maybe, yes! Adoption of Google My Business products is so low as of yet, that if you add your products, it will really make your listing fuller than the bulk of your competitors in most markets. This is a definite competitive difference maker.If you’ve got the ability to take good quality photos or have a graphic designer in-house who can efficiently design some imagery for you, product photos add a very appealing visual element to your listings. If you’d like to make a rather plain listing more inviting, this is a great option.If you have an inventory that’s relatively stable, meaning you won’t be having to continuously editing existing product listings to avoid customer letdown when items become unavailable, that’s a good bet. If your pricing on stable products changes, you may want to opt out of showing prices.If you need to drive any additional traffic you can to your website and shopping cart, this is surely an opportunity. Added bonus that this traffic is likely to be qualified traffic, because the searcher is looking for something particular.If you’ve not yet been able to invest in a full e-commerce solution for your local business, consider GMB products a first step towards alerting shoppers that you have inventory for sale, even if you can’t yet fulfill their desire to buy it online. Finally, a “yes” vote on adding products to your GMB listings can be consistent with your company’s culture of empathy. Regardless of where you do business, your community is full of elders, neighbors with serious health issues, and unvaccinated small children who are staying at home for safety’s sake for as long as the pandemic is with us. You can think of GMB products as a kind of virtual window shopping for these valued community members, and if you can connect your product showcase with curbside pickup or home delivery, your efforts are making your town a more caring and better-resourced place to call home. Use the description field and buttons to let people know how you can get your products safely into their hands. Maybe, no! If your inventory changes constantly, you’ll need to evaluate whether you have the internal resources to regularly edit your product set in the GMB dashboard.If your inventory is large, you may not want to add every single product. Instead, you could add a representative product for each major category of goods, and write the description to make it clear that you have a wide selection of this type of item.Mobile phones can take great pictures these days, but if your photos just don’t look great, it could be off-putting to customers seeing low-quality images. You might want to hold off on adding products until you learn to take photos that create a professional impression of the quality of your goods and services.Some business owners may feel qualms about Google’s increasing involvement between them and their customers, and prefer to work on their own website rather than devoting additional resources to Google My Business features.If your resources are limited, you may prefer to skip Google My Business products for now and go straight to Google Shopping, with its more sophisticated interface. Overall, most local businesses will benefit from devoting some time to adding Google My Business products. Google has given us every reason to believe they are intently focused on shopping, with two major signs being their debut of the Shopping Graph at I/O this past spring and making it free to upload products to Google Shopping in 2020. We’ve all learned together over the past few decades that when Google zooms in on an area of search, we should at least be paying attention to how their efforts might be put to work for our local brands. You have multiple opportunities to explore for enhancing the online visibility of your inventory, and right now, Google My Business products are the easiest way to wade into this work. The holiday shopping season is, incredibly, just around the corner, and if you start uploading products today, it will be your listing that stands out as the place that has what local customers want in December. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] The PS5 Pro is the much-anticipated upgrade to Sony’s PlayStation 5, and one of the most exciting features rumored to accompany it is enhanced ray tracing support. Since the launch of the PS5, ray tracing has been a game-changer, making graphics look more realistic by simulating the behavior of light with unprecedented accuracy. Games that support ray tracing can display highly realistic reflections, shadows, and lighting effects, creating a visually immersive experience. But as games become more demanding, there’s always room for improvement in hardware performance, and the PS5 Pro is anticipated to take ray tracing to the next level.This article explores whether the PS5 Pro will indeed offer improved ray tracing capabilities, how it might achieve this, and what it could mean for gamers. In doing so, we'll look at the advancements in hardware that are anticipated, the role of ray tracing in modern gaming, and how Sony could leverage new technologies to stay competitive in a market where visual fidelity is becoming a major selling point.What is Ray Tracing?Ray tracing is a rendering technique that produces incredibly lifelike lighting effects by tracing the path of light as it interacts with objects in a scene. Traditional rendering methods, like rasterization, approximate light to save processing power, which can sometimes produce less realistic results. In contrast, ray tracing calculates how light interacts with surfaces, including how it reflects, refracts, or absorbs on various materials. This approach has been widely adopted in the film industry for CGI, but its application in real-time video games has only become feasible with the recent generation of gaming consoles and GPUs.While the PS5 supports ray tracing, it comes at a cost in terms of performance, often requiring games to run at lower frame rates or resolutions to accommodate this demanding feature. With the PS5 Pro, however, gamers are hoping for a smoother experience—one where they can enjoy high-quality ray tracing without sacrificing frame rate or resolution.Expected Hardware Improvements in the PS5 ProTo enable improved ray tracing, the PS5 Pro would need substantial hardware enhancements over the base PS5 model. Here are a few anticipated upgrades:Enhanced GPU: The PlayStation 5 is equipped with a custom AMD RDNA 2 GPU, which supports ray tracing at a basic level. However, for significant improvement in ray tracing performance, the PS5 Pro will likely need a more powerful GPU, possibly based on AMD’s RDNA 3 or RDNA 4 architecture. These architectures are designed with better ray tracing support, offering more ray tracing cores and improved parallel processing capabilities. An upgraded GPU would allow the PS5 Pro to render more complex ray tracing effects in real time, potentially at higher resolutions and frame rates.Increased Compute Power: Ray tracing requires intense computational resources, especially for real-time gaming. The PS5 Pro could see an increase in compute units or clock speeds, enabling it to handle more ray tracing calculations simultaneously. This would translate to better quality ray tracing without compromising performance, which is essential for an immersive gaming experience.More Advanced AI Integration: AI-driven upscaling techniques, like AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), may play a role in the PS5 Pro’s ability to deliver high-quality visuals without requiring as much raw power. AI-driven techniques are already used in some high-end graphics cards to enhance image quality and performance. With FSR or similar technology, the PS5 Pro could upscale lower-resolution ray-traced images to a higher resolution, allowing it to allocate more resources to other visual enhancements without compromising on quality.Increased Memory and Bandwidth: Ray tracing effects demand significant memory bandwidth to process data-heavy lighting calculations in real time. A PS5 Pro with more memory and higher bandwidth could process these effects more efficiently, reducing bottlenecks and delivering smoother, more detailed visuals.The Potential Impact of Improved Ray TracingEnhanced ray tracing support on the PS5 Pro could dramatically improve the quality and realism of the gaming experience. Here are some ways that improved ray tracing might manifest:Improved Reflections: One of the most visually striking applications of ray tracing is realistic reflections. While the PS5 can already render reflections with ray tracing, there are limits to how accurately it can display them in real time. The PS5 Pro’s upgraded hardware might support even more detailed reflections, such as accurately depicting reflections on rough surfaces or more dynamic, multi-layered reflections in mirrors and water surfaces. Gamers could expect to see more reflective surfaces and detailed reflections of characters, enemies, and environmental objects.Enhanced Shadows and Ambient Occlusion: Shadows play a critical role in creating a sense of depth and realism. Ray-traced shadows are more accurate and can display finer details, like softer shadows on translucent objects or shadows that blur with distance. With improved ray tracing, the PS5 Pro might display shadows that are dynamic and lifelike, adapting to the game’s lighting conditions and objects in real time. Similarly, ambient occlusion, which calculates how light behaves in corners and crevices, could be enhanced, adding an extra layer of depth and realism.More Realistic Lighting: Perhaps the most transformative impact of improved ray tracing is its effect on lighting. By simulating real-world light behavior, ray tracing can create more atmospheric lighting that enhances the mood of a game. Whether it’s the warm glow of a sunset or the eerie darkness of a shadowy alley, enhanced ray tracing on the PS5 Pro could make these effects more immersive, helping players feel more connected to the game world.Faster and More Efficient Ray Tracing: With a more powerful GPU and additional memory, the PS5 Pro could support ray tracing in more intensive gaming environments without compromising frame rates. This could make ray tracing viable in fast-paced games where frame rate is critical, like shooters or racing games, where high performance and visual fidelity go hand in hand.How Improved Ray Tracing on the PS5 Pro Could Impact Game DevelopmentEnhanced ray tracing capabilities on the PS5 Pro would not only benefit gamers but also open new creative opportunities for developers. With the ability to handle more complex lighting and reflections, developers could experiment with new game mechanics and storytelling techniques that rely on realistic visual effects. Here are a few ways game development could evolve with the PS5 Pro’s anticipated ray tracing improvements:More Detailed and Dynamic Game Worlds: With enhanced ray tracing, game developers could create worlds that feel more responsive to the player’s actions. For example, a stealth game might use more realistic shadows to enhance gameplay, with enemies reacting to the player’s shadow. Similarly, reflections in water or mirrors could reveal hidden items or clues, making these elements a part of the gameplay experience.Enhanced Visual Storytelling: Lighting and shadows are powerful tools for storytelling. With better ray tracing, developers can create more cinematic moments, using light and shadow to convey emotion or set a particular tone. This can make narratives feel richer and more impactful, allowing players to feel more emotionally connected to the story.Future-Proofed Games: With more powerful ray tracing capabilities, developers could future-proof their games to some extent. By creating games with high-quality ray-traced assets, developers can ensure that their games will still look impressive on future hardware, making it easier to scale up graphics as new consoles and PCs are released.Conclusion: Will the PS5 Pro Deliver Improved Ray Tracing?Although Sony has not officially confirmed the specifications of the PS5 Pro, the industry buzz suggests that it will indeed feature significant improvements in ray tracing. Enhanced hardware, including a more powerful GPU, additional memory, and potentially AI-driven upscaling techniques, would enable the PS5 Pro to deliver ray tracing effects with greater fidelity and performance.Read Also: What Games Will Be Optimized for PS5 Pro?For gamers, this means more immersive experiences, with visually stunning worlds that react realistically to light and shadow. For developers, it opens up new avenues for creativity and storytelling, with ray tracing providing a tool to craft more lifelike and engaging game environments. As we await official announcements, the potential for improved ray tracing on the PS5 Pro has sparked excitement across the gaming community, promising a leap forward in how we experience and interact with virtual worlds. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] 1Password and Bitwarden are two very popular password managers. In this article, you will also get a gist of 1Password and Bitwarden, as well as a guided comparison based on their safety, organization, support, and price. With this, you will be able to decide which password manager is the best for you. Do you ever find it hard to manage all your passwords? We also agree that it gets difficult for people to keep track of all their passwords in today’s dynamic era. One cannot compromise the safety and security of one’s password. Having a strong password is not only recommended but necessary, too. Thus, a need for a password manager arises. Two of the most popular and reliable password managers are 1Password and Bitwarden. But how do you decide which one is more suitable for you? To learn more about 1Password vs Bitwarden, read this article carefully. What is a password manager? A password manager allows users to create and store their passwords. You must be familiar with the desire of every other site to create your account and set a password for the same. However, you need to think of a unique password every time, making it difficult to remember. If you use the same password for all your accounts, it can be a problem. Meanwhile, if you use a password manager, your details will be stored safely. It is just like a bank locker, isn’t it? 1Password vs Bitwarden: Learn the basics Before getting into much detail and analyzing which one is the better among them, let’s first understand what each of them is. What is Bitwarden? Bitwarden is a freemium open-source password management service that stores the users’ credentials. One can stay assured that their passwords would remain safe with Bitwarden, as it takes care of hackers as well as other threats such as bugs. What is 1Password? 1Password is another password manager that is compatible with almost all platforms. One can trust this entirely as it has multi-factor authentication and a data breach monitor as well. 1Password allows you to create and store passwords easily and safely. Those who wish to protect their accounts can use this password manager. Bitwarden vs 1Password: Which one is better? Now that you know about both password managers, you might wonder which one is better for you. Honestly, this completely depends on you and your needs. To determine which one you should use, take a look at the comparison below between Bitwarden and 1Password. 1. Security One of the main reasons why you have come to our page is the security concerns. Bitwarden First of all, it is important to note that Bitwarden does not access your passwords. They do not have any of your confidential data. You can also enable the two-factor authentication on Bitwarden and decide how you want to verify yourself. You can also share your important files with the help of a link. Not only this, but you can also encrypt your export settings to make sure that the safety of your data is protected. 1Password 1Password gives users a secret key for their gadgets. It is highly similar to the zero-knowledge encryption of Bitwarden, as it also disallows hackers to access your data. Not only this, but it also notifies users whenever there is a security breach of their passwords. Its Secure Remote Password (SRP) feature also makes sure that hackers find it impossible to get into your credentials. 2. Password Organization The organization and management process must be easy; otherwise, what is the use of a password manager? Bitwarden The process of storing your credentials in Bitwarden is very easy. One can choose the folders to store their password and can add usernames as well. The new passwords can be added along with the notes. You can find them in the vault sections. You would be surprised to know that you can even add the passwords of your most used websites to your favorites. 1Password With 1Password, you can generate and organize your password efficiently. Like Bitwarden, you can also add your most usable passwords to your favorites. For better organization, users can add notes to their passwords. Not only this, but 1Password is also a reliable platform for your credit cards and other protected information and documents. 3. Compatibility For easy accessibility, it is important to compare the compatibility of both password managers across different browsers and devices. Bitwarden This password manager can be used on all types of devices. One can also access it easily by logging into their website. Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have Bitwarden apps for iOS and Android apps. You can access your login details by signing into the Bitwarden website on your computer. 1Password Just like Bitwarden, 1Password also has apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is mostly used by businesses and enterprises; thus, its limited browser compatibility can also be neglected. Those browsers are Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Firefox. 4. Affordability Now, we will talk about the cost of using both of these password managers. It is important to know that their functionalities vary, and so does their cost. Bitwarden Bitwarden has two options for users: personal and professional. If you opt for a paid version, you have to give money annually. Its free version is sufficient for use, but the premium version has a few additional features. You can choose an individual plan and a family plan as a personal option. FreePremiumFamiliesFree$10 per year$40 per year Talking about the professional version, it depends on whether it’s for a team or an enterprise. TeamsEnterprise$48 per user per year$72 per user per year 1Password Surprisingly, 1Password does not offer a free plan. However, you can get a 14-day free trial before taking a paid version. IndividualFamiliesTeams Starter PackBusiness$2.99 per month$4.99 per month$19.95 per month$7.99 per month Conclusion To sum it up, both Bitwarden and 1Password are very good password managers. For normal purposes, Bitwarden could be a better option as it offers a free plan to individuals. Meanwhile, 1Password is more suitable for businesses and organizations because of its low monthly rate. Nonetheless, both provide almost the same benefits and are among the top password managers. [ad_2] Source link

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cleverhottubmiracle · 6 hours ago

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[ad_1] Overview Cyberattacks on a country’s critical infrastructure have become a growing malicious trend globally. The surge in cybercrime threats and its growing impact on national security, businesses, and individuals has led experts to closely examine which regions face the most cyberattacks. A recent study from the World Cybercrime Index (WCI) compiled by an international team of researchers, shed light on the most targeted countries, ranking them based on the severity of cyberattacks, the skill of the perpetrators, and the professionalism of the cybercriminals involved. As of 2024, these countries face the highest levels of cybercrime threats, driven by a complex mix of geopolitical factors, technological infrastructure, and economic conditions. This blog explores the top 10 countries that are most impacted by cyberattacks and why they are at the forefront of the global cybersecurity challenge. 10. India: A Victim of Cybercrime Amid Rapid Digitalization India ranks tenth in the global cybercrime index, experiencing an uptick in cyberattacks due to its rapid digital transformation. The country’s massive online population and growing e-commerce sector make it an appealing target for cybercriminals. Phishing scams, financial fraud, and ransomware attacks are common in India, with both individuals and organizations being affected. The Indian government has been working to bolster cybersecurity, but the increasing maliciousness of cybercriminals presents an ongoing challenge for the country. Read also: 9. Brazil: A Growing Cybercrime Hotspot in Latin America Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, has witnessed a surge in cyberattacks, particularly those targeting its financial sector and government institutions. Brazil’s growing digital economy has made it an attractive target for cybercriminals involved in fraud, data breaches, and ransomware. The WCI places Brazil ninth, citing its vulnerability to cybercrime despite efforts to improve cybersecurity regulations. Cybercriminal groups operating in Brazil often specialize in online fraud, identity theft, and other forms of financial cybercrime. Read also: 8. United Kingdom: A Rising Cyberattack Target The United Kingdom faces major cybersecurity threats, ranking eighth on the WCI. As a major financial and technological hub, the UK is often targeted by both cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors. Ransomware attacks and data breaches have been particularly impactful, with high-profile incidents affecting public and private sector organizations. The UK government has increased its efforts to combat cybercrime, but the country remains a target due to its global standing and the increasing digitization of its economy. 7. North Korea: Cyber Warfare and Financial Theft North Korea’s cybercriminal activities are well-documented, with the country’s state-sponsored hackers playing a prominent role in cyberwarfare and financial cybercrime. The regime has been linked to several high-profile cyberattacks, including the infamous WannaCry ransomware attack and attacks on South Korean entities. North Korea’s cyber units, such as Lazarus Group, are involved in stealing funds through cybercrime to finance the country’s regime. Their targets are often financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, and government agencies, making North Korea a critical player in the global cybercrime arena. 6. Romania: A Hotbed for Cybercrime Groups Romania is a big player in the global cybercrime ecosystem, ranking sixth on the WCI. The country is home to several notorious cybercriminal groups involved in ransomware attacks, data theft, and financial fraud. Romanian hackers are known for their technical expertise and ability to deploy malware across multiple sectors. The Romanian government has made efforts to crack down on cybercrime, but the country remains a hotbed for cyberattacks on countries worldwide, particularly targeting financial institutions and online businesses. Read also: 5. Nigeria: A Leading Hub for Cybercrime in Africa Nigeria has earned a place on the list of the top cyberattack countries due to its increasing involvement in online fraud, scams, and cybercrimes. Known for its widespread involvement in “419” fraud (advance-fee fraud) and cyber scams targeting both individuals and corporations globally, Nigeria’s cybercriminal activities are a growing concern. The country is also home to highly organized cybercrime groups, some of which use cybersecurity tools to launch phishing campaigns and steal sensitive data. The lack of sufficient cybersecurity infrastructure and regulatory enforcement contributes to the persistent cybercrime problem in Nigeria. 4. United States: A Prime Target and Source of Cyberattacks The United States is not only a major source of cyberattacks but also one of the most heavily targeted nations globally. As the world’s largest economy and a hub for technological innovation, the U.S. faces an array of cyberthreats, from cybercriminals seeking financial gain to nation-state actors pursuing espionage objectives. The U.S. has witnessed high-profile cyberattacks, including those targeting critical infrastructure, government agencies, and multinational corporations. Ransomware attacks, data breaches, and election interference campaigns are just a few examples of the cybercrimes affecting the U.S., positioning it as one of the countries most impacted by cyberattacks. Read also: 3. China: A Major Player in Cyber Espionage China ranks third in the global cybercrime rankings, largely due to its involvement in large-scale cyber espionage operations. The country has been accused of conducting numerous cyberattacks aimed at stealing intellectual property and accessing sensitive government and corporate data across the globe. Chinese cybercriminals are notorious for their high level of technical skill and have been linked to various attack methods, including Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). China’s rapid technological growth and its economic prominence have made it both a source and a victim of cyberattacks, making it one of the top cyberattack countries. 2. Ukraine: A Geopolitical Hotspot for Cyberattacks Ukraine is another country that faces immense cybercrime threats. Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Ukraine has been subject to numerous state-sponsored cyberattacks, primarily from Russia. The country has been the target of ransomware attacks and power grid disruptions, making it a prominent example of cyberwarfare in the 21st century. The WCI ranks Ukraine second due to its vulnerability to cyberattacks, especially amid ongoing political tensions and military conflicts with Russia. Ukrainian government agencies, critical infrastructure, and businesses have been the focus of cyber attackers. Read also: Hackers Target Ukrainian Army with Fake Military Apps to Siphon Authentication and GPS Data 1. Russia: The Epicenter of Cybercrime Russia remains the undisputed leader in terms of cybercriminal activity. Ranked number one on the World Cybercrime Index, Russia has been a hub for various cybercrime types, including state-sponsored attacks, ransomware campaigns, and hacking for espionage purposes. The country’s role in cyberattacks on countries globally, particularly targeting political opponents, is well-documented. Read also: Russian State Hackers Biggest Cyber Threat to US, UK and EU Elections The troubling nature of cybercriminal operations in Russia, coupled with their expertise in developing malware, makes the nation a constant threat to others. Conclusion: The Global Fight Against Cybercrime As we move into 2025, cyberattacks on countries are increasingly impacting vital sectors like government, finance, and healthcare. Countries such as Russia, Ukraine, China, and the United States are at the forefront of this growing global issue. To combat these threats, governments, organizations, and cybersecurity experts must collaborate to strengthen defenses and proactively monitor cybercriminal activities. Cyble, a leader in AI-powered cybersecurity, is playing an important role in this effort. Cyble offers multiple threat intelligence platforms that offer real-time monitoring, which processes vast amounts of dark web data and provides actionable insights. By leveraging AI-driven platforms like Cyble, organizations and government sectors can protect their infrastructure and respond to cyberattacks more effectively, helping to ensure a more secure future. References Related [ad_2] Source link

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