#High-Performance AI Development

[sharon-ai]

AI Infrastructure Solutions: The Backbone of High-Performance AI Development

Artificial Intelligence is transforming industries across the world, and to accomplish that, it needs a strong foundation in the form of infrastructure support for complex tasks like deep learning, machine learning, and data analysis. Advanced AI infrastructure solutions form the core on which AI models are developed, deployed, and optimized.

What is High-Performance AI Infrastructure?

High-performance AI infrastructure refers to a specific hardware-software combination that caters to intensive computational needs of AI-related tasks, such as deep learning models training, and predictions. Computer systems of conventional type rarely provide the capability for handling such operations; thus, advanced infrastructure is highly reliant.

These comprise of:

- Powerful GPUs:

 These are designed with parallel computing in mind so that they can accelerate any AI task far beyond any standard CPU.

- Massive Storage: 

AI models require vast amounts of data, requiring scalable and fast storage solutions.

- Efficient Networking: 

High-speed communication for smooth data flow during training and inference processes.

This infrastructure allows businesses to complete AI tasks more efficiently, enhancing innovation and accuracy.

Role of AI Workload Optimization

AI workload optimization services are an important way of enhancing the efficiency of processes in AI. The right services would ensure that data processing and model training are all done effectively.

Optimizing AI workloads provides numerous benefits.

- Reduces Processing Time:

 Proper infrastructure reduces the time for training models and making predictions.

- Increases Resource Utilization:

 Optimized workloads use computing power as much as is available.

- Cost Savings: 

Resource consumption management reduces hardware expenditure and energy consumption.

Optimization helps companies harness the full potential of infrastructure with high performance, giving better results and higher efficiency.

Why AI Infrastructure is So Important for Deep Learning

Deep learning needs unique infrastructure to handle massive data as well as computing power used in training complex models. Without proper infrastructure, deep learning projects can become slow, inefficient, and costly.

With the right AI infrastructure, businesses can:

Train complex models: Deep learning models require large datasets and quite a bit of processing power. High-performance infrastructure accelerates the training process.

Scale AI projects: As deep learning models evolve, businesses need infrastructure that can scale with increasing data and computational demands.

GPU-Powered Infrastructure: The Boost for AI Development

GPU-powered AI infrastructure accelerates both the training and inference processes of AI models. GPUs are better suited than CPUs for handling the parallel tasks common in machine learning and deep learning, making them essential for fast, efficient AI development.

Benefits include:

- Faster Training Times: GPUs can process multiple tasks simultaneously, significantly reducing training time.

- Faster Inference Speed: Once the models are trained, they make rapid predictions, a must for real-time applications.

The Future of AI Infrastructure

As AI keeps advancing, the call for powerful infrastructure will go only higher. Whether optimization of workloads, making use of GPU-powered systems, or scaling deep learning models, this requires businesses to invest in the right infrastructure to not get left behind. At Sharon AI, we provide customers with end-to-end solutions of AI infrastructure, whether workload optimization or GPU-powered AI systems, to accelerate business with AI capabilities. Ready to give your AI performance a boost? Explore our AI services today!

[fusiondynamics]

Cutting-Edge Network Services by Fusion Dynamics

Discover the future of networking with cutting-edge network services from Fusion Dynamics.

Specializing in innovative solutions that enhance connectivity and performance, Fusion Dynamics provides tailored services to meet the needs of modern businesses.

Fusion Dynamics is an IT infrastructure pioneer providing cutting-edge computing and data center solutions to various industries. Our team has conceptualized, designed, and deployed transformational digital infrastructure for a diverse set of organisations, with custom solutions tailormade for their unique requirements and challenges.

Discover top-notch services on cloud computing with Fusion Dynamics. From cloud migration and management to customized solutions, Fusion Dynamics offers scalable and secure cloud services that align with your business needs.

Optimize your infrastructure and enhance efficiency with our expert cloud computing solutions.

Why Choose Us

We bring a potent combination of over two decades of experience in IT solutions and a dynamic approach to continuously evolve with the latest data storage, computing, and networking technology. Our team constitutes domain experts who liaise with you throughout the end-to-end journey of setting up and operating an advanced data center.

With a profound understanding of modern digital requirements, backed by decades of industry experience, we work closely with your organisation to design the most efficient systems to catalyse innovation. From sourcing cutting-edge components from leading global technology providers to seamlessly integrating them for rapid deployment, we deliver state-of-the-art computing infrastructures to drive your growth!

Learn more about how we can transform your cloud strategy here: https://fusiondynamics.io

Contact Us

+91 95388 99792

aditya@fusiondynamics.io

Learn more about their services here: https://fusiondynamics.io.

[crazydiscostu]

Orbbec Femto Bolt ToF Camera

Techie Tech Tech!

The Orbbec Femto Bolt stands strong as a compact and high-performance device, aimed at meeting the demanding needs of AI developers and those engaged in 3D vision applications. This multi-mode Depth and RGB camera, is equipped with a USB-C connection for power and data, presenting itself as a versatile and cost-effective solution. Its capabilities make it an attractive option for developers…

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Month - August 2024

1.Negative Power Prices Hit Europe as Renewable Energy Floods the Grid

European power markets are experiencing a notable shift as renewable energy sources, particularly wind and solar, become a larger part of the energy mix. On Wednesday, power prices in several European markets, including Germany, dipped below zero due to a surge in green electricity production.

2. Taiwan introduces ban on performances by captive wild animals

Live performances by wild animals held in captivity, including performances by dolphins, tigers, and other non-domesticated mammals, will no longer be permitted in Taiwan under new Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) regulations.

3. FTC bans fake online reviews, inflated social media influence; rule takes effect in October

The FTC voted unanimously to ban marketers from using fake reviews, such as those generated with AI technology, and other misleading advertising practices.

The ban also forbids marketers from exaggerating their own influence by, for example, paying for bots to inflate their follower count.

4. Chinese drones will fly trash out of Everest slopes

Come autumn, Nepal will deploy heavy lifter drones to transport garbage from the 6,812-metre tall Ama Dablam, south of Everest. This will be the first commercial work an unmanned aerial vehicle does in Nepal’s high-altitude zone.

The heavy lifter from China’s biggest drone maker, Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), will take on tasks traditionally handled by Sherpas. Officials believe it will help reduce casualties on Everest.

5. Swiss scientists have found a way to use the whole cocoa fruit to make chocolate and not just taking beans and discarding the rest.

Kim Mishra (L) and Anian Schreiber (R) cooperated on the new chocolate making process

Food scientists in Switzerland have come up with a way to make chocolate using the entire cocoa fruit rather than just the beans - and without using sugar.

The chocolate, developed at Zurich’s prestigious Federal Institute of Technology by scientist Kim Mishra and his team includes the cocoa fruit pulp, the juice, and the husk, or endocarp.

6. Six-year-old boy found in Vietnam forest after five days

A six-year-old boy who was missing for five days has been found deep in a forest in Vietnam. Dang Tien Lam, who lives in the northwestern Yen Bai province, was playing in a stream with his nine siblings on 17 August when he wandered into the hills and got lost, local reports said.

He was found on Wednesday by local farmers who heard a child's cry while they were clearing a cinnamon field close to the forest.

7. Lego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026

Lego plans to make half the plastic in its bricks from renewable or recycled material rather than fossil fuels by 2026, in its latest effort to ensure its toys are more environmentally friendly.

The Danish company last year ditched efforts to make bricks entirely from recycled bottles because of cost and production issues. At the moment, 22% of the material in its colourful bricks is not made from fossil fuels.

----------

That's it for this month :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to share this post with your friends.

[crippled-peeper]

Genuine question, I was really surprised by your take on AI because of how many disabled people use it to be able to draw, paint, etc. If you don't mind, what's your feeling on that? Love your blog btw

I think putting AI on the same level as something like mouth painting or using body machine interfacing to create art is kind of (and by kind of, I mean deeply) insulting to disabled artists that existed and made art before AI became widely available for public use

To be completely honest I can’t think of a community of developers who hate disabled people more than the “generative AI” art crowd. Virtually none of these programs are accessible, and when they are accessible, they cause a massive amount of damage to the environment by consuming tons and tons of CO2 and water every hour of every day

My father is a high performance computing specialist working in the field of AI and like 75% of his coworkers are raging racist, misogynistic, ableist transphobes who have weirdly specific fantasies about global domination like it’s a bowl of cereal. I don’t think AI companies are inherently evil but they don’t attract good people with morals. Especially since this entire sector of the economy is based on blatant theft of others work

[onlyonetifosi]

Behind the camera: chapter 1

<- previous series masterlist my main masterlist next ->

It was a warm summer afternoon in the small town of Monte Carlo, Monaco, where the Leclerc family resided. Yn and Charles, just three years old, were playing in their backyard, their laughter echoing through the air. Despite being twins, Yn and Charles had their distinct personalities and looks, yet they shared an unbreakable bond

"Charles, catch me if you can!" Yn giggled, running around the garden, her little feet barely keeping up with her enthusiasm

"Attends, Yn! I'm coming!" Charles called back, his eyes shining with excitement as he chased after his sister

Their playtime was always filled with joy and mischief, and today was no exception. Their older brother, Lorenzo, joined in the fun

"Lorenzo, regarde! Look at me!" Yn shouted as she tried to perform a somersault. "Je peux le faire! I can do it!"

Lorenzo clapped his hands, "Wow, Yn! That was great!"

Charles, feeling a little competitive, decided to show off too. "Watch this! Je vais faire un saut en hauteur! I'm going to do a high jump!"

Yn and Lorenzo watched in awe as Charles jumped, trying to touch the lowest branch of a nearby tree. He didn't quite reach it, but his attempt was still impressive.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the following weeks, Yn attended her ballet classes with enthusiasm, and her love for dancing only grew. Charles, on the other hand, developed an interest in racing from a young age. Hervé, a racing enthusiast himself, couldn't be happier to see his son's passion for speed and cars. He gifted Charles a small toy race car, which quickly became his most treasured possession

"Maman, look what I can do!" Yn twirled around clumsily, trying her best to imitate the graceful movements she had seen on TV. Her parents smiled lovingly, encouraging her tiny attempt at ballet

"Très bien, ma chérie! You're doing great," her mother praised, clapping her hands. "You'll be a wonderful little ballerina!"

"Charles, you should try too!" Yn beamed, hoping her brother would join in her enthusiasm for ballet.

Charles laughed and shook his head. "No, no, Yn. I want to be a race car driver like Papa! Vroom vroom!" He pretended to steer an imaginary car, and Lorenzo enthusiastically joined in the play

Pascale and Hervé watched their daughter with pride, celebrating every little step she took in her ballet journey. However, Yn's clumsiness soon caught the attention of the other girls in her ballet class, who began to tease and make fun of her

"Regardez-la, elle danse comme un éléphant maladroit! (Look at her, she dances like a clumsy elephant!)" one of the girls mocked, causing the others to giggle.

Yn felt her enthusiasm waning, her heart heavy with sadness. She couldn't understand why the other girls were mean to her, but she was determined not to let their words discourage her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the twins grew older, they started kindergarten, and Yn was excited to embark on this new adventure with her brother. However, things didn't go as smoothly as she had hoped. Charles, being the more outgoing and confident of the two, quickly made friends with the other children, while Yn struggled to connect with her peers

One day, after a particularly challenging day at school, Yn came home feeling downcast. She sat at the kitchen table with her parents, sharing her feelings

"Maman, Papa, pourquoi est-ce que Charles a toujours des amis, et moi, je n'en ai pas?" (Mom, Dad, why does Charles always have friends, and I don't?) Yn asked tearfully

Her parents exchanged understanding glances, and her father pulled her into a comforting hug. "Ne t'inquiète pas, ma chérie. Les amis viendront avec le temps. Tu es spéciale, tout comme ton frère." (Don't worry, my dear. Friends will come with time. You're special, just like your brother)

Yn nodded, trying to hold back her tears. She wished she could be as confident and popular as Charles, but it seemed like an impossible task

Months passed, and Yn tried her best to keep her feelings buried, not wanting to upset her brother or their parents. But one day, the weight of it all became too much to bear. Unable to hold back any longer, Yn confronted Charles during their walk home from school

"Charles, tu ne comprends pas. C'est difficile pour moi. Les autres se moquent de moi et je n'ai pas d'amis" she finally confessed, her voice quivering with emotion. (Charles, you don't understand. It's hard for me. The others make fun of me, and I have no friends)

Charles stopped in his tracks, finally seeing the pain in his sister's eyes that he had been blind to for so long "Je suis désolé, Yn. Je ne savais pas) he said, feeling regretful (I'm sorry, Yn. I didn't know)

They sat down on a nearby bench, and Yn poured her heart out to Charles about the loneliness she had been enduring. Charles listened attentively, his heart aching for his sister. He realized how selfish he had been, caught up in his own excitement without noticing the pain she was going through.

"Je suis vraiment désolé, Yn. Je ne voulais pas te faire du mal. Je serai là pour toi, quoi qu'il arrive" Charles said, his eyes filled with sincerity. (I'm truly sorry, Yn. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'll be there for you, no matter what happens)

Tears welled up in Yn's eyes as she hugged her brother tightly “Merci, Charles. Je t'aime” she whispered, feeling a rush of relief (Thank you, Charles. I love you)

From that day on, Charles made a conscious effort to include Yn in his circle of friends, and the two became inseparable. Yn also found solace in pursuing other hobbies and interests, such as drawing and storytelling, where her creativity and uniqueness were celebrated.

Their relationship grew stronger as they navigated through childhood together. Their parents often marveled at how inseparable they were, and even though they had their fair share of fights, their bond only deepened with time.

[mariacallous]

Russia—and China—had seemed to benefit from the Houthis’ attacks on shipping in the Red Sea because the militia spared their ships. But it turns out that Moscow has been more than a passive beneficiary. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, Russia has been providing the Houthis with targeting data for their attacks. Now that Russia has crossed this red line of actively aiding attacks on Western shipping, other hostile states may start sharing military-grade data with proxies of their choice.

One of the U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members is actively supporting attacks on global shipping. It’s a stark violation of the maritime rules, which grant merchant vessels the freedom and right to sail not only on the high seas but also through other countries’ waters and through internationally recognized straits without having to fear, let alone experience, acts of aggression.

The Houthis, you’ll remember, began their campaign against merchant vessels in the Red Sea last November, when they struck a string of vessels linked to Israel, supposedly in support of the people of Gaza. When the United States and Britain, and then the European Union, intervened in support of shipping in the Red Sea by sending naval vessels to protect merchant ships (of all nationalities), the group began attacking ships linked to these countries, too.

And so it has continued. Each month, the group launches a handful of attacks against ships in the Red Sea. Mostly, the Western naval vessels manage to thwart the attacks, but several merchant ships have been struck, and two of them have sunk. But bar a Russian shadow vessel struck—probably accidentally—this May, Russian and Chinese vessels have been spared.

The group has been so successful thanks to missiles and sophisticated drones provided by Iran. Having high-performance weaponry, though, brings little benefit if one strikes the wrong target, and the Houthis lack the technology that would allow them to discern a ship’s coordinates. That’s where, it has now emerged, Russia has turned out to be a most useful ally.

Russian coordinates have thus helped the Houthis keep up their attacks even as Western naval vessels have been trying to foil them. “Targeting covers a wide range of complexity,” said Duncan Potts, a retired vice admiral in the U.K. Royal Navy. “Hitting a static target on land can be as easy as using information on Google Maps. At the other extreme, you have mobile entities like ships at sea. Hitting them requires much higher-grade, precise, real-time targeting data that uses information from different sources. Such targeting is quite complicated even for Western navies.”

Since ships are mobile, the targeting data typically needs real-time information. Though details of the data provided by the Russians are naturally unavailable, it’s highly likely that real-time data is included. Either way, Potts said, “this development is certainly significant and notable, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

The fact that Russia is giving the Houthis specific information about vessels’ exact presence in the Red Sea is making this strategic waterway even more dangerous for Western-linked ships. “If you’re a Western-linked merchant ship traveling through the Red Sea with whatever naval escort is available, you’ll not be signaling your position by using AIS [automatic identification systems, a maritime GPS],” said Nils Christian Wang, a retired rear admiral and former chief of the Danish Navy. “That means the Houthis would struggle to know what ships are arriving and where they are, so this data would be extremely useful.” (Western naval forces in the Red Sea escort vessels regardless of their flag registration and country of ownership.)

It’s not exactly clear what kind of targeting data the Russians have been providing. “The Russians might help the Houthis get the right maritime picture to make sure they don’t hit Russian ships, but they may also be providing data to help the Houthis hit Western targets,” Wang said. “It’s one thing to give data to help protect your own ships, another to give them data that help them attack Western ships.”

Either way, the group’s attacks have already caused a dramatic drop in traffic in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the north. Between May 2023 and this May, traffic through the Suez Canal plummeted by 64.3 percent, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Mal reported. The number of ships transiting the canal monthly dropped from 2,396 in May 2023 to 1,111 this May.

Most Western-linked vessels instead sail around the Cape of Good Hope, but this entails an additional 10-12 days’ sailing and a 50 percent cost increase. Only a small number of Western shipping lines and insurers still dare to send their vessels through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea—but Western naval vessels have to remain there to provide some degree of order. In recent months, the Houthis have been attacking these ships, too.

Russia’s provision of targeting data may be followed by yet more support for the Houthis. According to Disruptive Industries (DI), a U.K. technology company that specializes in the closed-source discovery of global risks, there is extensive and unseen Russian activity in Houthi-held parts of Yemen, and there has been for some time. (Full disclosure: I’m a member of DI’s advisory board.)

Sharing targeting data is directly participating in a conflict. That’s why Western nations have refrained from sharing targeting data with Ukraine, a nation defending itself against an invader. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself weighed in on the issue. Western approval for the use of Western-provided long-range missiles that could strike Russia would mean involvement in the conflict because Western military personnel would have to provide the targeting data. “It is a question of deciding whether or not NATO countries are directly involved in a military conflict,” Putin told Russian state television.

By that point, Russia was already sharing targeting data with the Houthis.

“The Houthis’ attacks are certainly in line with Russia’s desire to remove the world’s focus from Ukraine,” Wang said. “One almost gets the suspicion that this is part of a manuscript. It’s so much in Russia’s interest to have these attacks happen.”

Now that the Kremlin has crossed this red line in the Red Sea without being punished for it, it may decide to share targeting data with other nonstate outfits. So may other regimes. Imagine, say, a Chinese-linked militant group in Myanmar or Indonesia targeting merchant vessels in nearby waters aided by targeting data from the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Western governments, shipping companies, and underwriters will need to pay close attention.

For now, the continuing strikes against Western vessels present a massive risk for Western-linked merchant vessels in the Red Sea and the Western naval vessels that are there to protect shipping. And the discovery that Russia is providing targeting data could convince the few remaining Western shipping lines still sending vessels through the Red Sea to give up on it (and the Suez Canal) altogether. One of the oldest routes of modern shipping could be abandoned—until Russia and the Houthis are bought to heel.

[animentality]

not to be a boomer, but I do worry about the current generation of kids being raised with iPads.

first off. some of them literally can't hold a pencil because their parents never gave them physical toys to grip and play with, developing their fine motor skills.

you might ask why do we even need to learn how to write physically anymore- well, frankly, because if you're stranded on an island somewhere and you need to write HELP, you might not have the strength to hold a pencil, but you can at least hold a stick.

but on a more general note.

writing by hand helps you remember things better. it forces you to focus in a way that typing something word for word does not. a person can transcribe what a professor says without even thinking about it.

someone writing notes has to consider what to write and what to omit. it also activates more parts of your brain, forcing you to flex the parts of your brain related to learning and communicating, while also engaging the part of your brain dedicated to muscle control and precision.

but in general, I think the issue isn't even oh technology is bad and kids are getting dumber.

you can have PowerPoints AND take physical notes. that could help you learn even better than the olden days where you just had to remember everything that was thrown at you. or read very limited, out of date books.

the problem is that the generation that raised/is raising this generation of children just doesn't understand the true impact that all this technology will have on their kids. or they just don't care.

because our generation had the internet yes, but it wasn't widely accessible for most of us, sharing our computers with the entire family in the kitchen. it was also the internet in its infancy, where it wasn't quite so predatory, when it was lawless and disturbing, yes, but it wasn't weaponized by corporations trying to sell you things and steal your data, it wasn't flooded with bots and ai and all sorts of things that the human brain can't even distinguish as real or fake, especially when you're just a little kid.

that generation still played with physical toys. we celebrated when it snowed and we could stay home.

we also came from a gen that still, vaguely, cared about some form of community and had third spaces for kids to hang out.

90s children, who still had some memories of both playing outside on a playground and playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64 with their friends, who both went out to the mall and had a club penguin account.

we grew up with laptops and smart boards. maybe some of us had them in high school or college, but we still physically went to class and developed relationships. learned uncomfortable things about ourselves and others, the way humans do.

met new people and were exposed to new ideas, away from our parents. but not from some fucking influencer trying to sell us Sephora products.

we had to study for things, instead of just being able to Google shit for some bullshit online test.

which is also something that really concerns me. so many kids today can so easily Google answers for every test, and while tests don't ultimately matter in the real world, they still provide some basis for things that do matter.

like I'm just imagining medical students googling how to perform an appendectomy on the day of, and just using a YouTube tutorial to guide them through, and shuddering.

there are some things that the Internet can't teach you.

there always will be.

but I don't think my generation is really helping their kids find the balance that we were given naturally growing up.

the boomers and gen xers had fist fights and we had bullying someone online until they committed suicide.

and now kids use AI to spread fake nudes of girls.

but the laws haven't caught up with a lot of this stuff yet, and certainly won't while we have dinosaurs running our government. and culture takes even longer to change than laws.

I also worry because I know how badly covid affected kids worldwide. how they struggle to read and do math, because remote learning just isn't good for kids.

and I can't even blame them!! I literally teleworked for 4 years and even I can admit that I'm not nearly as good at focusing at home as I am in the office.

it's hard for kids with social anxiety and disabilities, yes I know, I know, trust me, I have social anxiety, and as a hybrid worker ATM, I highly doubt I'd be able to handle 5 days a week in the office.

but it's also not particularly good for kids to stay home ALL the time, entertaining themselves in their room and never being challenged, and never meeting people other than their parents.

the iPad is more of a symbol of that problem than the direct problem.

if your entire... world view is limited to what you can see on your iPad... I mean what a terrible world view you'll have.

you're a 10 year old using TikTok and all you ever see is the same opinion over and over until you can scarcely comprehend people who have an opposing opinion.

you see fake videos that seem so real. that must be real, and so comforting, aren't they, those videos that seem so real?

you let 30 year old influencers who are trying to grift people shape your world view.

and it's not even your fault.

your parents aren't doing anything to help you.

you're young and you're being barraged with entertainment and fake educational videos and how to guides that accidentally create mustard gas in your toilet.

your parents should be teaching you to find a balance between these things. they should be telling you what's real and caution you about the things you see.

they should limit your fucking time on the iPad actually. take you to a fucking park and let you roll in the mud or some shit.

and then when you're a teenager and a young adult, then you can start deciding for yourself what you believe.

but a lot of these weird millennial/gen z parents, man. just let your 1 year old scroll through vids on TikTok while you don't even talk to them or look at them once.

maybe it's because they don't see the harm in it, but I don't get it.

adults can watch TikTok all day and know, ahhh this is bad for me. I'm not doing anything I actually want to be doing.

adults can see other adults doing dumb shit and say ah you're sponsored. someone paid you money to say and do that. silly.

but kids are just kids.

they don't have discipline and frankly, that's not their responsibility. that is yours.

you should be teaching them that they can't have everything in life at their finger tips at all times, actually.

the iPad doesn't solve all of your problems, nor will it think critically for you.

so I worry about if humanity can really keep up with its own technology.

our species is still in its infancy, believe it or not.

so maybe these are just growing pains, and future generations will be able to look back on this era and know the proper balance.

but as someone living in 2024.

I wonder just how much pain is left before we really mature and either make it or break it.

[topazadine]

How to Build a Sustainable Writing Habit Through SCIENCE (Fuck Off, NaNoWriMo)

This is a lightly edited repost from a previous post on my mostly-defunct blog, topazadine.com. I feel like it's an excellent thing to highlight now that everyone's wondering what the hell do to after NaNoWriMo showed their ass as anti-creative idiots.

I have never liked NaNoWriMo and think, frankly, that it is a garbage tool for new writers. If you've done it and enjoyed it, that's great, but overall, it is not the best way to build motivation. At all.

But why is NaNoWriMo so bad? (Other than the current controversy.)

It encourages younger writers to think of writing as something they do during the months of October through November. Not something they do all year round, day in and day out. People will prep for weeks to do a whole novel in one month and hinge all their writerly hopes on that one singular month.

We won't even get into the fact that November is the absolute shittiest month to try to get a novel done because the holidays are coming up, and many working-class people are busting their asses off to get extra hours in before Christmas.

Writing is something you do all. the. time. It is not bound by a singular month. It is not limited to a certain time of year. And when you are working to complete a draft, it doesn't matter season it is. What matters is that you get it done.

So let me show you something better. But first, why should you listen to me? And why is my method an improvement over a shitty organization's AI-riddled contest?

I wrote the first draft of my novel, Poesy (104,323 words) in 39 days.

That’s an average of 2,647 words per day. It is also about twice as much as the typical person aims for during NaNoWriMo. I did not set out to get it done in any given time period, but I still completed way, way more than NaNoWriMo would require in just about the same amount of time (plus 9 days).

I didn't have a buddy group. I didn't have checkins. I just had me and my keyboard and my secret weapon, which I'll show you in a bit.

How is it possible to get so much more done without that external motivator?

Simple: I compete with myself.

You Need to Develop Intrinsic Motivation

What in the world is intrinsic motivation?

Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence. When intrinsically motivated, a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external products, pressures, or rewards. Frontiers in Neurobiotics

That is, in essence, what we do when we’re writing for fun; or, rather, it should be what we’re doing when we write for fun.

A lack of intrinsic motivation is why people who see novels as a get-rich-quick scheme tend to burn out when they realize that most writers make less than minimum wage. That's called extrinsic motivation, and it doesn't work well for things like writing, where there may not be any easily-defined goals or motivators. Most of us are not going to become rich from our writing.

Here's why extrinsic motivation is unhelpful:

Extrinsic motivation does not always work best; sometimes it can make us perform poorly at certain tasks. For instance, studies reveal that high stake rewards, like cash bonuses, can hinder cognitive capacity. This happens because they shift our focus away from the task and onto the outcome. We can become preoccupied with rewards and all the things that come with them, such as our social status, instead of just doing the work. Extrinsic rewards also tend to narrow our focus on a defined goal and reduce our ability to see other possibilities, hindering creativity. Studies find people perform worse on tasks requiring imagination and ingenuity when they are offered extrinsic rewards, such as higher pay. Nir and Far

And, well, note that "performing worse on tasks requiring imagination and ingenuity." Extrinsic motivation is literally the WORST motivator for writing specifically.

NaNoWriMo is extrinsic motivation, which is not anywhere near as powerful or sustaining as intrinsic motivation. You want to get the shiny achievement award, so you just bang out 50,000 words of slop because you want to say you did it.

You're not motivated by anything but the outcome. That does not a sustainable writing practice make.

But there’s something about intrinsic motivation I want to highlight, because it’s crucial to what I am about to show you: the challenge.

Sometimes writing is a total slog because we’re worrying about all the other things and not on the words themselves. We’re fussing about whether we will ever get published, if we’ve added enough tension in a certain part, if our mom is going to read our porn and realize what a freak they raised.

You cannot think about those things while actively writing.

Instead, you need to focus on the writing process itself. John Schinnerer, a psychologist and life coach, explains further:

Remember as you are in the process of achieving your goals that the enjoyment comes from the doing not the attaining. It is important to find contentment in the act of pursuing the goal while placing less weight on the actual fulfillment of the goal itself.  PsychCentral

So we know you need to find the challenge fun, and you need to focus on the act of putting the words on the page.

In other words, you need to make it a contest with yourself. Here’s how.

Use a Word Count Spreadsheet

Finally! We get to why I’m telling you this! It's free, it's easy, it can be done all year round.

A daily word count spreadsheet is an amazing way to stay motivated and to keep pushing yourself to write because you can literally see the wins rack up. Every day, the word count jumps significantly, which can be much more motivating than just “oh, I’m at 8,453 words.”

More importantly, you’ll start to want to beat your “high score” from the day before.

I’ve highlighted one of the cells so that you can see the simple formula that you need to set up: it’s just yesterday’s count minus today’s count.

Put that in one cell, then click and drag the bottom righthand corner of the cell, and it will populate the rest of the cells in that column with the adjusted formula (B4-B3, and so on).

This is very easy to create. All you have to do is copy-paste the wordcount from your document into your spreadsheet, make sure you have that super-simple formula, and you're done. I have severe dyscalculia and can still use it.

But you can see how much this really helped me:

Things started to really ramp up right at the end because I was getting so motivated by the word counts of the day previous. I wanted to beat yesterday’s high score and keep going.

At the beginning, I was writing maybe 1.9k words; by the end, I was an absolute demon, regularly breaking over 2.8k and then some. On the last day, when the rest of the family was in a post-Christmas hangover, my butt was glued to my chair, banging out those last few thousand words.

Psychologists and life coaches agree that self-competition, a type of intrinsic motivation, is one of the best ways to improve.

Michelle Gibbings, a workplace expert, explains:

When you compete with yourself, you don’t become fixated on what other people are doing; you set the direction and speed. You put yourself in the driver’s seat and control your progress, setting meaningful goals rather than focusing on the progress of others. Michelle Gibbings

Making a word count spreadsheet like this is the definition of setting your own speed and controlling your progress. You can decide on a threshold you always want to hit and then feel very satisfied when you go beyond that.

I set my threshold at 1.5k words every day so that I didn’t feel bummed out when I had an off day and couldn’t get a lot done, but I really wanted my average to be around 2k, so I’d periodically check how close I was to that. If I had a terrible day or was busy, then I’d want to make up for lost time and write more the next day so I kept my average.

Now, I live a life that is quite advantageous to consistent writing: I’m single, I’m childless, I work from home, and most of my hobbies are pretty low-key.

Your life doesn’t look like mine, and that’s totally okay.

There’s no need to match the speed I showed here.

What matters is that your schedule works for you, and that you are consistent.

If you’re a caretaker or have a strenuous job, then set your threshold at just 100 words and aim for an average of 500. However, you’ll be sad if your spreadsheet has a blank cell, so you’ll want to get down at least something, even if you only have 15 minutes to write.

Plus, it’s so encouraging to see the word count go up day by day: much more satisfying than just seeing it in tiny font at the bottom of a Word document or Google Doc.

Or getting some dumb t-shirt from an organization that is actively trying to murder creativity for commercial gain. (Oh, and they protected an actual pedophile from consequences for months on end while he continued to groom children. But that was last year's controversy.)

There’s another reason why this particular method works so well for writers, though.

Word Counts Banish the Urge to Edit

You know you shouldn’t, but you do it anyway. A single word here. A removed sentence there.

The first draft is just about getting everything out, not fixing everything that needs fixing. That part comes later during your five billion revisions where you tweak every single word.

Revising means you have less to work with, which means you have less development. You can get rid of anything that shouldn’t be there when you’ve gotten to that very satisfying “The End” page.

If you are motivated by the spreadsheet method, then you are screwing yourself over if you edit.

Your word count went down! It looks like you did less than you did! You’re losing! Best add more, and fast!

(I had to include my placeholder chapter names; it was obligatory.)

Use strikethrough! Now you know exactly what you’ll be getting rid of when you get to the end of your draft, but you’re not decimating your word count. I removed the entire beginning of the book; that scene is super cute, though, so I later turned it into its own one-shot on my AO3 page.

I prefer doing that because then, if you find that you actually wanted to keep that scene or move it elsewhere, all you have to do is copy-paste from the old version, remove the strikethrough, and you’re all good.

So that’s my tool. It’s really that simple.

But even though it’s so simple, it works wonders for your motivation and consistency, which are crucial for a good writer.

Are you going to give it a whirl? You may find it nervewracking at first, but I encourage you to sample this method, especially if you have a hard time getting motivated.

And if you enjoyed this article, maybe you'll consider purchasing my debut novel, 9 Years Yearning.

This is not the book I drafted last year; it is in fact a prequel of sorts to that first novel. However, it helps set the scene for Poesy (the sixth book in the Eirenic Verses) so that you'll be all prepped for the masterpiece.

9 Years Yearning is a coming of age romance that follows the life of two young soldiers as they go from sorta-enemies, to frenemies, to friends, and then finally to lovers. It is a short read; you can probably finish it in about 2 hours all the way through. Perfect for a weekend romp.

If you do read my book, please don't forget to leave a review!

Reviews are essential to success on Amazon as they boost visibility. (Yes, even bad ones.) Always leave reviews, no matter how short, to support indie authors!

[ozzgin]

Dear Ozzgin,

Is your new addition to the repertoire, the yandere android, a Mixture of Experts like GPT-4.5, or something else entirely? Would his performance / 'humanness' degrade if he were talking to another machine (an inhuman one, not designed to be Spacer-ly human) for a long time?

Any random lorebits on Spacers you did not include but would have had you felt less constrained?

Hah, okay, I see you've gotten into the technical aspects. I'm about to go on a ramble so I'll do a cut here for everyone else to not clog your feeds. Feel free to read if you're into this kind of stuff. :D

First, I just wanted to point this out because I've read your hashtags and comment: the CCD sensors were a bit of an asspull because it's one thing I'm more knowledgeable about, but I don't feel like it'd be a realistic choice, if I am to be nitpicky. They're expensive to produce and are mostly used for really high performance work (telescopes), but a humanoid robot wouldn't need such advanced digital imaging for daily life use. So, you know, it's arguable whether or not there are better alternatives when it comes to a mass-produced agent processing the immediate environment.

Now to your actual question: I've used the machine learning approach because this is currently our most advanced way of developing AI, but it would not be enough to explain the Android's perfect understanding of human speech. ChatGPT analyzes sentences and their meaning purely based on grammar and associations, but there's many examples of it struggling against anything more intricate than literal context. So yeah, that kind of sarcastic dialogue and implied meaning is wishful thinking of times far away sadly. I'm only wildly guessing he wouldn't struggle with today's impediments. There's a black box somewhere in there that fills the gaps and variables we don't have.

If at some point you find yourself with time to spare, I'd recommend reading the book directly. It's very interesting to see how people viewed the "future" back then, and you will detect a lot of optimism regarding computers - such as Daneel (the original Android) being a flawless human. Funnily enough, the book was published shortly before the Dartmouth Conference, so Asimov was this close to discover that language recognition is, in fact, a terribly tangled business and not as simple as they had originally expected.

I think I covered the basics when it comes to Spacers, but then again I cannot tell how easy it is to follow for someone that isn't familiar with the original work. I also didn't want to reproduce every fact, mot a mot, from Caves of Steel, especially since this is less about politics and more about romance. I'd suspect the people reading the story are not too bothered by the only briefly mentioned murder. Cause is less important when the effect is a tall robot boy with a crush on you 👀 if you feel me.

Anyways, I'm very glad you like the story, every now and then I'll insert little facts and technical details - as it usually is when you study Physics and CS but have no friends in the field - so it's definitely nice to have someone recognize the stuff! :)

[fusiondynamics]

Advanced Cooling Solutions for Optimal Performance at Fusion Dyn

Explore advanced cooling solutions tailored for efficiency and performance. Fusion Dynamics provides innovative cooling technologies to enhance your data center operations.

Maximize Efficiency with Direct Liquid Cooling: Cutting-Edge Thermal Management for High-Performance Computing

Fusion Dynamics is an IT infrastructure pioneer providing cutting-edge computing and data center solutions to a wide gamut of industries. Our team has conceptualised, designed, and deployed transformational digital infrastructure for a diverse set of organisations, with custom solutions tailormade for their unique requirements and challenges.

Explore advanced cooling solutions tailored for efficiency and performance. Fusion Dynamics provides innovative cooling technologies to enhance your data center operations.

Maximize Efficiency with Direct Liquid Cooling: Cutting-Edge Thermal Management for High-Performance Computing

Fusion Dynamics is an IT infrastructure pioneer providing cutting-edge computing and data center solutions to a wide gamut of industries. Our team has conceptualised, designed, and deployed transformational digital infrastructure for a diverse set of organisations, with custom solutions tailormade for their unique requirements and challenges.

Cooling

Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) is a modern cooling technology for data centres that captures heat from server components to maximise their performance and lifetime. DLC uses a coolant liquid that flows close to heat-generating components of the chip, such as the processors, VRM, Power Supply and GPUs. The hot liquid is then pumped towards a heat exchanger that dissipates the heat, thus cooling the liquid for reflow. Using DLC, organisations can utilise their server resources efficiently and sustain optimal temperatures for server performance, hence solving complex problems more effectively.

Advantages of our Cooling product offerings

End-to-End Solution

At Fusion Dynamics , we offer a complete, closed-loop cooling system for your servers. Our cooling unit includes flow-optimised copper cold plates, best-in-class Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs) with fault-detection sensors, and DLC-enabled Rear Door Heat Exchangers that can be deployed standalone or as part of a larger DLC system....

Reliability and Performance Boost

Our DLC systems not only increase the lifetime of individual components but also allow for more reliable operation of servers by reducing failure rates. Using effective heat dissipation, they also allow for denser component packing, thereby leading to higher performance. In addition, our CDUs are equipped with sensors to monitor coolant temperature and flow rates and to detect any leakage or fault in the cooling system for seamless operations.

Overhead Reduction

With our DLC solutions, organisations can also reduce their expenses on secondary cooling systems like CRACs and chillers, and in some cases, eliminate their requirement altogether. Overall, Direct Liquid Cooling results in a space- and cost-efficient system.

Faster and Efficient Cooling

DLC dissipates heat up to 25 times faster than air cooling due to the high thermal conductivity of liquid coolants. Our copper cold plates contain carefully crafted microchannels that allow the optimal flow of liquid coolant. These compact cold plates can be mounted directly over the heat-generating components. Furthermore, our heat exchangers are rear-mounted on server racks and allow the rapid dissipation of heat close to the source. Therefore, Fusion Dynamics  DLC solutions are more efficient than air cooling and thus reduce your energy costs.

Easy to Deploy and Monitor

Our DLC components can be seamlessly integrated to allow quick setup and operation of your cooling unit. In addition, the unit includes feedback sensors that enable intelligent monitoring of your cooling system, ensuring easy fault prevention and detection.

Contact Us

+91 95388 99792

aditya@fusiondynamics.io

[auideas]

Ermmm sorry if this is weird but do u maybe have any like, ““original”” cyberpunk prompts? I want to write something cyberpunk for an au but I just don’t have any ideas right now no matter how long I brainstorm

Exploring Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a very unique genre, which is why so many people are both attracted to it and stumped when attempting to develop plots within an unknown world. Think of Black Mirror created by Charlie Brooker (TV show), Blade Runner written by Philip K. Dick (a movie based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a classic Cyberpunk novel), Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (modern Cyberpunk novel), etc. -- each of these were incredibly influential in their own right, but they all also build their worlds gradually while having a single easy-to-explain concept that can spawn an entire universe. To be more specific, each story establishes an issue created by an advanced society ignorantly abusing technology, then allow their characters to explore that problem and try to find a solution in a manner that isn't explicitly black or white for society as a whole, but every shade of grey.

For Black Mirror, each episode anthologically builds upon a high-tech future within the same universe and explores how its characters interact with problems created by new pieces of said technology, both good and bad.

For Blade Runner, the story establishes that androids seem to be malfunctioning, but the bounty hunter charged with hunting them down discovers that the true issue lies in society's understanding of what it means to be human.

For Altered Carbon, the novel explores the issue derived from the obscene length of time it would take for humans to travel between planets stretched across the universe, then dives into more detail regarding how a solution has been abused.

How to Construct a Cyberpunk Concept

What we'd recommend is to start by asking the right questions and looking in the right places. Black Mirror takes its inspiration from a variety of technology, both new and old; Blade Runner explores the idea of AI and androids during the 80's when robotics was on the forefront of innovation; Altered Carbon took note of our increasing ability to travel in an interstellar fashion, then posed a simple question regarding the limits of humanity (specifically, time).

This may sound strange, but the best thing you can do is seek out trends online and scientific journals about new breakthroughs, then ask questions about what may go wrong. For example, an old post we featured here on AUideas that has since been removed from ~2017 because it's in the process of being developed into a script (sorry guys, our bad!) called Dreamscape Co. uses this exact method. When the prompt was made, Admin M was in the process of reading a scientific journal about how neurologists had been able to project a person's thoughts into an image. Although the technology was rudimentary at the time, Admin M posed the question "if dreams can be viewed, what if dreams can be watched in real time with a high quality image? What if they could be immersive? What would that industry look like? Who would pay how much to see a certain person's dreams?" This spun out into a sweeping cyberpunk mini-series, yet came from a simple news article.

Some Cyberpunk Inspiration

When performing a quick search, some amazing ideas seemed to jump out from technology news headlines these past couple weeks alone:

Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal (FLC) Technology Being Used in 3D Displays

Unlike holograms, this technology uses liquid crystals that exhibit spontaneous polarization, meaning their orientation can be influenced by an electric field. They're high-speed, low-power, and have innumerable applications in the future. So, what could go wrong?

How could this technology impact the medical field? Although this may not be possible, consider what could occur if FLCs were injected into human bodies and influenced by electric fields to perform different tasks and functions, such as replacing an organ, attacking cancer cells, etc. How could such a technology be abused or go wrong? How many could die with a simple pulse, like an EMP?

Real-Life Freeze Ray Technology Created for the US Airforce

This technology hasn't been developed to be used as weaponry, but instead to replace large amounts of coolant that must be used on space and air crafts to prevent the machinery from overheating (coolant is heavy and can reduce efficiency yet is absolutely necessary due to the fact that space is a vacuum and therefore does not cool heat like air would on Earth). This "freeze ray" technology utilizes plasma's strange property that seems to break the second law of thermodynamics: it chills down when touching another object before heating up, which experts have proposed is because it vaporizes the ultra-thin layer of carbon and water on an object upon contact, similar to how water evaporates off your skin when stepping out of a pool. The question must be asked: how could such technology be used for not just utilitarian means, but outside of the Airforce's intentions?

Perhaps the technology could be manipulated and over-chill an aircraft, or otherwise damage internal engineering.

Consider its potential applications here on Earth: what could benefit from being chilled with something light-weight and low-power? How could it be integrated into homes? What could be disastrously destroyed with such technology?

Breakthrough in Enhanced Geothermal Systems Technology May Completely Replace Carbon Energy Sources

Google and Fervo have successfully developed geothermal technology that has increased its efficiency and broke records by changing existing rock formations in the Earth's crust. For a natural geothermal energy system to produce electricity, it has to have the right amount of heat, fluid, and rock permeability -- these Goldilocks conditions can be difficult to find 'in the wild'. However, this new Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) targets the most-easily found aspect (rocks with high heat) then creates the necessary permeability artificially by drilling to the intended rock formation and injecting fluid to create fractures in the rock, achieving the necessary Goldilocks conditions. Sure, this may be carbon-free energy, but what would happen if this were employed on a mass scale?

When energy is prioritized by a high-tech society over food and water, how could citizens gain access to those resources?

What long-term effects could such a system have on the Earth as a whole? Could the ground become unstable? Maybe earthquakes crumble city after city? Maybe the entire Earth's crust loses its integrity and disintegrates, pulling only a lucky few deep underground and forcing them to survive off the left over fluid injected into the Earth's crust and whatever they can find.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see from above, there's a crazy amount of inspiration that can be drawn from current technology events. What's important to remember is that yes, we've been talking about complicated technology, but only you have to understand how it functions in your universe down to the molecule, not your audience. Deep technology topics can be dry to a certain extent, and over-explaining your world can be damaging to your story. Explanations regarding how technology works in each of the stories we discussed is limited for that same reason (Black Mirror's overarching concepts, specifics about how Blade Runner's Replicant technology are rarely discussed, etc.). Leave some mystery surrounding how your cyberpunk world functions and allow how your characters room to breathe and interact with that world -- it can speak for itself. Your audience may first love the idea behind your story, but what they'll remember and relate to is how your protagonists and antagonists suffer and prevail within your universe.

We hope this answered your question, and feel free to follow up if you'd like some more guidance and advice on how to construct your Cyberpunk story! In addition, feel free to check out our other post which outlines more information on how to build a Cyberpunk world.

Now get to writing, and have an awesome week!

-- Admin M x

[shoko-komi]

The Komi Report - Communication 460

This week in Komi Can't Communicate:

A Shosuke mystery...

...and an eccentric performance.

Read It: Mangareader Mangakakalot Viz Media Mangadex

Phew... something chunkier to eat after a few lean weeks. It's been so long since we spent time with the little siblings, and now here we are with an apparent Shosuke arc.

I've always loved this group. Hitomi is like Najimi but with a sharp, cunning edge. I think of her as being cheeky in a concerted way where Najimi is cheeky more by impulse. And her relationship with Shosuke puts a cute twist on the Komi/Tadano dynamic: Shosuke can socialize but doesn't want to, and is tormented by friendship being imposed upon him. Importantly, the degree of suffering Shosuke endures has never been much more than inconvenience and a few headaches, so it never becomes sad or annoying. These chapters have always been fun, funny, and light.

Now the classic emoi surprise attack is imminent (assuming the payoff is good).

Important Shosuke lore is dropping but short hair Komi is shrimply too cute. She's stealing the scene.

I feel like went through a similar change around that age

What did Hitomi bribe AI with to get her to be in this?

I take it back, this girl has a flair for theatrics and is clearly in this by choice.

the sketch got a little laugh out of me

he didn't laugh but he did make a way more expressive face than we usually see out him.

girl, breaking boards with your fist isn't a joke alsdknlaksd. They lost track of the point and just started doing a variety show

Laugh? Quarter smile? Internal giggle? These moments happen where Shosuke seems like he's feeling something, but it's always impossible to tell what. Which is the point I suppose, but still

She was totally stalking him to catch him ducking into a secluded alleyway to vent a little chuckle

she's so annoying (high praise)

She probably can't believe her luck. A once in a lifetime opportunity to pry into Shosuke's past....

Alright, let's take bets:

Personally, I think this narrative path has potential. I've become highly skeptical of Oda's choices, and this development is pretty abrupt... but I like it in theory. It's about time this group got some character development.

The sketch portion of the chapter was alright - not especially funny, but fun. And the ending leaves us with a compelling question. What happened in Shosuke's past? We shall see.

Until then, stay safe! I'll see you next time

[rhapsodynew]

#Music from A to Z

GRAMMYS 2025 (Part 2)

in the nomination Best Rock Performance:

Now and Then nominated for 2 Grammy nominations-2025: "Best Rock Performance" and "Record of the Year"

The Beatles song, restored with the help of AI, was nominated for a Grammy.

The Beatles received a Grammy Award nomination almost 50 years after the breakup. Their latest song Now and Then, completed with the help of artificial intelligence, is up for an award in the "Record of the Year" category. Released in 2023, the track started by John Lennon in the 70s was restored using machine learning technology developed by director Peter Jackson's team, which allowed Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to complete the recording, which is more than 40 years old, The Verge reported.

In addition to the main nomination, Now and Then is also presented for "Best Rock Performance", where it competes with bands such as Green Day and Pearl Jam. The song meets the requirements of the Grammy Awards, which allow the participation of recordings with AI elements, while the main condition remains the human contribution to the creative component.

The ceremony, which will announce whether The Beatles will win their new awards, will be held on February 2, 2025.

• «Beautiful People (Stay High)» — The Black Keys

• «The American Dream Is Killing Me» — Green Day

"It's rude and emotional. Funny and disturbing. It's laughing at pain, crying in happiness," the band commented on the atmosphere of the album "Saviors".

• «Gift Horse» — IDLES

• «Dark Matter» — Pearl Jam

The fact that Pearl Jam are the most successful team of the so-called "big four grunge" (although it is clear from the very first album that it is not grunge at all) is easily explained. The band has never broken up, they have no problems with alcohol and drugs, and the music is the most diverse and in constant and consistently successful search compared to all the other values. We add here a high level of discipline and skill, stability in the release of albums, as well as a conditional "mainstream" sound. That's the whole recipe.

• «Broken Man» — St. Vincent

 "I needed to delve deeper into the search for my own sound dictionary. I like to think about [the record] As for post-plague pop music, it has a lot about heaven and hell - metaphorical kinds. Which is quite appropriate, because sitting alone in the studio for so many hours, I would say, is such a version of hell."

Best Rock Song:

To be continued....

[theomeganerd]

PlayStation 5 Pro Revealed Out Nov 7th for $699.99

We developed PS5 Pro with deeply engaged players and game creators in mind – as many have asked for a console that runs even higher fidelity graphics with smoother frame rates at 60FPS. We achieved this on PS5 Pro with several key performance features.*

Upgraded GPU: With PS5 Pro, we are upgrading to a GPU that has 67% more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28% faster memory. Overall, this enables up to 45% faster rendering for gameplay, making the experience much smoother.

Advanced Ray Tracing: We’ve added even more powerful ray tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. This allows the rays to be cast at double, and at times triple, the speeds of the current PS5 console.

AI-Driven Upscaling: We’re also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling that uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.

PS5 Pro provides gamers with amazing graphics at high frame rates. You can hear Mark Cerny, lead architect for PS5 Pro, discuss the key innovations from PS5 Pro in the following video presentation. This presentation provides a deep dive into the key performance features that make PS5 Pro truly special.

More details here

[mariacallous]

Actors in the video game industry are going on strike. On Thursday, the union representing voice and motion-capture performers announced they would be walking off the job after talks with major video game companies broke down over concerns regarding AI protections. The work stoppage is set to begin Friday.

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members,” Fran Drescher, the president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents the performers, said in a prepared statement. “Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live—and work—with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.”

Several members of SAG-AFTRA are currently at Comic-Con International in San Diego for panels and other appearances. They will still be able to honor their obligations this weekend “given the close proximity” of the strike announcement to the event, which runs through Sunday. “Solidarity,” Dragon Age: The Veilguard voice actor Erika Ishii posted on X. “We’ll be fulfilling contracts at SDCC but afterwards we hold the line.” Last year’s Hollywood strikes greatly reduced the number of performers able to participate in Comic-Con events.

Tensions over AI between SAG members and major video game companies have been high for months. Negotiations between the two sides began in earnest in October 2022. Members voted to authorize a strike in September 2023. “Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable AI protections, but rather flagrant exploitation,” Sarah Elmaleh, SAG’s negotiating chair for the Interactive Media Agreement (IMA) that covers video game workers, said in a statement. “We refuse this paradigm—we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait for sufficient protection any longer.”

In the video game industry, actors regularly lend their voice, likeness, and even movements to projects. Voice acting and motion-capture are a crucial part of game development, even as AI begins to change the way developers create their games. Despite success on other points, video game companies and SAG have been unable to find common ground on AI.

“We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations,” Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game companies involved in the negotiations said in a statement to WIRED. That group includes companies such as Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, Take-Two, and Warner Bros., among others.

“We have already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases and additional safety provisions,” Cooling said. “Our offer is directly responsive to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and extends meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers working under the IMA. These terms are among the strongest in the entertainment industry.”