Technology – Page 177 – Michmutters

Category: Technology

Categories
Technology

Anvil Centurion Goes on Pledge Sale for Star Citizen

Anvil Centurion Goes on Pledge Sale for Star Citizen 2

Probably not the craft for those new to the rabbit hole of Star Citizen given it is a land-locked combat vehicle and the game spans primarily across the stars – but for those looking to factor in land combat in the early Star Citizen experience, Cloud Imperium Games has another unit up for pledge sale which may or may not be of interest to you. The Anvil Centurion, pitched as a “tactical solution for short-range anti-aircraft engagement” is now available to Star Citizen backers to pledge towards.

Defined as a ‘medium-sized’ anti-aircraft vehicle capable of going 35 m/s with 2x crew members (Driver & Gunner) – the tank will see you pew-pewing enemies with 1x S3 Laser Repeater and 4x S4 Laser Repeaters. Furthermore, you can customize your craft with four different paint jobs – from the classic ‘Base’ gray style to the sandy-brown ‘beach head style’. There are two standalone purchase options for the Anvil Centurion. Pricing here in Australia for the Warbond Edition including Lifetime Insurance in return for using all real cash will set you back $104.50 USD, while using any amount of store credit will jump the price to $121.00 USD.

Anvil Centurion Goes on Pledge Sale for Star Citizen 1
Anvil Centurion Goes on Pledge Sale for Star Citizen 2
Anvil Centurion Goes on Pledge Sale for Star Citizen 3

Promoted features of the Anvil Centurion include:

ANTI-AIRCRAFT TURRET

The Centurion’s custom anti-aircraft rig is factory equipped with four Size 4 Klaus & Werner laser repeaters. Lock down combat zones by rendering close-range airborne attacks all but moot, and never worry about downtime due to jams or reloading

AUXILIARY TURRET

The Centurion tackles ground targets and keeps its crew safe in hot combat zones thanks to its formidable auxiliary turret, factory equipped with a Size 3 laser repeater from Hurston Dynamics.

NO-FLY ZONE

When deployed alongside its Atlas Platform relative, the potent long-range Ballista, you can lock down any battlefield location by creating a no-fly zone the enemy won’t dare breach.

If the Anvil Centurion catches your eye, you can learn more about it by clicking HERE.

In development by Cloud Imperium Games and their studios across North America and Europe, Star Citizen is being helmed by Wing Commander (1990s) creator Chris Roberts. The game has currently been in a long-term alpha phase with no confirmed release date. Despite this, the studio has raised more than $435 million USD through on-going crowdfunding. Please keep in mind should you decide to purchase towards Star Citizen, that this is an incomplete project and that you are pledging towards an extended crowdfunding campaign with no 100% guarantee of a finished product.

Categories
Technology

Could this new programming language replace C++?

Could this new programming language replace C++?

Mintor showing C++.—Unsplash
Mintor showing C++.—Unsplash
  • New programming language known as Carbon could succeed C++.
  • Carbon is expected to be interoperable with C++ code,
  • Carbon has simpler grammar and optimized API imports.

Google believes that a new programming language known as Carbon can succeed C++, reported TechRadar.

New programming languages ​​that are easier to use keep replacing old ones. For example, Apple’s Swift language replaced its predecessor, Objective-C.

Some have called Rust a C++ successor but Google’s Principal Software Engineer Chandler Carruth said that it does not have “bi-directional interoperability” introducing a language barrier. This makes translation between different programming languages ​​difficult.

Carbon is expected to be interoperable with C++ code and users should find it easy to make the full switch.

According to Carruth, Carbon has simpler grammar and optimized API imports.

The project also has ethical motives like inclusivity making it even more beneficial for users.

Carbon’s source code can be downloaded as the programming language is currently just an experiment. Users can experiment on their own browsers with the Compiler Explorer web app.

Categories
Technology

Sydney beaches at risk of being washed away

Sydney beaches at risk of being washed away

Australian beaches could struggle to recover if a third La Nina weather event occurs this year after many of the most popular sandy stretches suffered back-to-back weather events that stripped away their sand.

As more extreme and intense weather events occur, once protected areas of beaches will become more exposed, threatening coastal communities, experts warn.

Dr Mitchell Harley, a senior lecturer at the University of NSW Water Research Laboratory, said Australian beaches are very dynamic and tend to fluctuate depending on the season. During storms, beaches lose more of their sand, while in warmer months beaches usually grow.

Beaches can take months to recover after an erosion event.

Beaches can take months to recover after an erosion event.Credit:Brook Mitchell

“We’ve been measuring Collaroy and Narrabeen beach for 46 years and, with those measurements, there have been fluctuations over a huge amount of space – up to 100 meters back and forth. The coastline is breathing in and out but when we look at long-term records they have generally been recently stable,” he said.

“During big storm events, like what we have seen over the past couple of years, what we see is that the waves strip the beaches of sand. It doesn’t disappear, it just moves into deeper water. The sand slowly returns to the beach during calming conditions.”

In normal summer months, waves move from a south or south-east direction. This typically means the northern end of the beach gets narrower and the southern ends get larger.

But during La Nina events, they shift slightly anti-clockwise and are more easterly, which leads to a higher risk of more erosion on the beach, particularly over the summer, and also “beach rotation” – where the beach realigns itself to the prevailing wind direction.

As a rule of thumb, it takes between five and ten days for every meter of sand from the shoreline to return to the beach, Harley said, and recovery can sometimes take months if beaches lose up to 40 meters of sand. But if there are back-to-back storm events, such as what has occurred over the past two years with La Nina, beaches may struggle to recover and begin to threaten infrastructure.

“If we do see more frequent events we are going to see continual pressure on beachfront properties,” he said. “Everyone wants to live next to the coast and there is always pressure to build more and more properties along the coast – but it creates legacy issues that generations in the future will have to address – particularly around climate change and the tremendous threats that can cause to the shoreline.”

For example, wave sizes and sea levels will increase as oceans continue to warm, which will cause greater damage to beaches.

The coastline around Sydney is expected to experience between 20 centimeters and just over a meter of sea level rise in the next seven decades. This means that the state’s coastline can be expected to change significantly as climate change intensifies.

Meanwhile, tropical cyclones are likely to damage once protected areas of the coastline as they move further down the NSW coastline.

“We haven’t seen that type of erosion in the past and this could create new erosion hotspots and so that is a big concern,” Harley said.

Harley is part of a team of researchers involved in a citizen science project which monitors beaches to gain a deeper understanding of how coastlines change over time.

Mark “Dippy” DePena, 67, has surfed the shores of Cronulla Beach since high school and said the coastline has changed dramatically in the past 55 years.

“The sea doesn’t forgive. Honestly, it’s very powerful,” he said. “We’ve had some weird weather but this is the worst I’ve seen Cronulla since 1974 and we are really starting to get concerned,” he said. “They had to move the lifeguard tower – physically dismantle it – because it was starting to go under.”

DePena is unsure if his beloved Cronulla Beach can withstand much more without mitigation action, but he is determined to do all he can to preserve the beach – or what’s left of it. Twelve years ago, I have teamed up with fellow surfer and friend, Andrew Pitt, to develop the Bate Bay Sand Placement Committee with the intention to improve the dedicated surf reserve and safeguard the shoreline.

Mark “Dippy” DePena, 67, has surfed the shores of Cronulla Beach since high school and said he has never seen the beach so badly eroded.

Mark “Dippy” DePena, 67, has surfed the shores of Cronulla Beach since high school and said he has never seen the beach so badly eroded.Credit:Brook Mitchell

“People want to live on the ocean, right? But these seas have actually stolen some of these front yards.”

Without proper mitigation and adaptation efforts from government, councils and community, ANU associate professor at Fenner School for Environment and Society Dr Liz Hanna said there would be impacts on people’s health. This includes displacement and loss of connection to the community.

“People will have to pay for their own coastal protection – some can afford it and some cannot,” she said. “Adaptation is tricky, holding back the sea is awfully hard.”

She suggested that, among other efforts, planned retreats need to be considered before people are forced to be displaced. “We don’t really know how much time we have but we can all agree that twiddling thumbs is not the right answer,” she said.

The NSW government is working with local councils to plan for and respond to erosion, including monitoring what new developments are allowed to go ahead, ensuring the environmental and community benefits remain and providing funding for mitigation works.

The Department of Environment and Heritage also provides seven long-term offshore wave buoys and several ocean level recorders to measure the changes.

Over the next 50 years, the Insurance Council of Australia has estimated governments will need to invest at least $30 billion in coastal protection and adaptation projects.

loading

“As these events increase in frequency and intensity, a growing number of exposed properties in Australia will become uninhabitable,” a council spokesperson said. “Insurance coverage is limited in these areas due to the high and growing risks, creating a protection gap.”

The council found in a report released last year that governments across all levels would need to invest at least $30 billion in large-scale coastal protection and adaptation projects over the next 50 years. The CSIRO’s decadal megatrends report, published last week, found that 150 million people worldwide live on land that could be vulnerable to future sea-level rise by 2050.

Get to the heart of what’s happening with climate change and the environment. Our fortnightly Environment newsletter brings you the news, the issues and the solutions. Sign up here.

Categories
Technology

Dr. Disrespect Reveals ‘DEADROP,’ His FPS, Along With The First Real Gameplay Footage

Dr. Disrespect Reveals 'DEADROP,' His FPS, Along With The First Real Gameplay Footage

I continue to be interested in the saga of Dr. Disrespect, his studio Midnight Society and his new game, which now has an official name, DEADROP, after previously being called Project Moon.

The game caught my eye because of its use of NFTs to recruit players to be early players/testers, and its promise of a totally transparent development process involving giving those players frequent vertical slices of the game to play and give feedback about.

Now, besides the name debut, a live event provided those dedicated, NFT-holding Doc fans with their first live look at the game. It is definitely further along than screenshots from a blog post a few weeks ago indicated, though there’s plenty of pushback about how it does look, as well.

DEADROP (yes, it’s missing a D on purpose), is a Vertical Extraction Shooter, a new term Doc invented, but it seems to be some sort of spin on Escape from Tarkov mixed with elements of The Cycle or Warzone.

However, the early test footage from the gameplay reveal at the live event has not progressed all the way to showing an actual match. It’s mainly a firing range simulator and an exploration of part of the skyscraper environment. The general idea seems to be to fight your way past human and AI enemies to reach the top and be extracted by helicopter, but only the basics are shown in this early footage.

Does this footage look good? I mean, no, not really. The environments are okay, but the gun model/firing/reload looks pretty rough. Again, this is the first public build of the game ever, so that is going to be a common refrain used when things aren’t looking polished, but that’s what the Midnight Society has opened themselves up for with this new kind of ultra-transparent development.

People keep bringing up the fact that Doc said the following a few weeks back

“I could take a screenshot of our game right now, in-game, in-engine, and I don’t think anything [from Call of Duty] could match that screenshot.”

All of this remains somewhat strange because Dr. Disrespect is a “character” who frequently makes boasts of his own abilities and dunks on his competition, but Guy Beahm is now a developer making an actual video game. So which one said this, and how serious were they? Regardless, expect it to be brought up every time new footage is shown if it does not, in fact, surpass Call of Duty.

The plan now seems to be to produce more and more vertical slices for game founders showing off pieces of DEADROP. It’s unclear when it might expand outside the NFT-holding circle, but that seems pretty core to the concept of its “community building.” And it does seem a ways off from releasing something like a true beta. But yeah, I’m going to keep an eye on it, as all this continues to be fascinating.

follow me on Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls.

Pick up my sci-fi novels the hero killer series and The Earthborn Trilogy.

.

Categories
Technology

New Approach Allows Robots to Learn Faster Using Fake Data Sets

New Approach Allows Robots to Learn Faster Using Fake Data Sets

To get robots to learn in much the same fashion as humans, engineers from the University of Michigan have developed an approach that allows robots to work with soft materials, like rope and fabrics, with increased performance. In simulations, the larger training data sets doubled the success rate of a robot looping a rope around an engine block and improved it by more than 40% from that of a physical robot executing the same task. The novel method could cut learning time for robots working with new materials and working in new environments down from weeks to just hours.

“That task is among those a robot mechanic would need to be able to do with ease,” explains Dmitry Berenson, associate professor of robotics at UM. “But using today’s methods, learning how to manipulate each unfamiliar hose or belt would require huge amounts of data, likely gathered for days or weeks.” During that time, the robot would manipulate that rope until it understood the number of ways the hose could move and contour, a long, drawn-out process.

To reduce that amount of time, the team altered an optimization algorithm to enable a computer to make some of the generalizations we humans do, such as predicting how dynamics observed in one instance might repeat in others. In one example, a robot pushed cylinders on a surface populated with obstacles. During trial runs, the cylinder didn’t hit anything, while in others, the cylinder collided with other cylinders, moving those in the process. If the cylinder didn’t collide with anything, that motion could be repeated anywhere on the table where the trajectory doesn’t bump into other cylinders. While this is intuitive for humans, robots need to garner that data. Rather than performing time-consuming experiments, the engineer’s program can create variations on the initial result from that first experiment that the robot can utilize in the same fashion.

To produce that fabricated data, the engineers focused on three qualities: it needed to be relevant, diverse and valid. For example, if the focus is centered on moving cylinders on a table, then information on the floor is not relevant. That data must also be valid, so simulations with two cylinders occupying the same space would be invalid and need to be identified so that the robot knows it isn’t possible.

The engineers put their findings to the test for the rope simulation by expanding the data sets using the extrapolated position of the rope to other locations in a virtual environment and having the rope behave the same way it did in the initial experiment. Using traditional training methods showed that the robot could wrap the rope around an engine block 48% of the time while using their new method pushed that success rate to 70%.

Categories
Technology

Sony partners with Backbone to give gamers a tailored Playstation experience

Sony partners with Backbone to give gamers a tailored Playstation experience

The Backbone One for Android just launched about a month ago, and with it, gave anyone with a Google, Samsung, or other Android phone a fantastic alternative to the GameSir X2. Along the launch of the mobile gaming controller, a $65 USD in value of free Stadia Pro, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and Discord Nitro were given away to promote it.

Now, Sony has partnered directly with Backbone to create an accessory that PlayStation gamers will appreciate. We actually saw this device last year and thought that maybe the gaming giant was working on its own to pair with PS Remote Play as an alternative to the PlayStation Vita and as a companion to the PlayStation 5, but it looks like it was a collaborative design all along.

The Backbone One – PlayStation Edition is meant for use with Apple’s iOS devices (like the iPhone 13 Pro/Max), and features the same colors, face buttons, and overall design as Sony’s new DualSense controller for its latest generation console. It’s collapsible while not in use, and has a Lightning charging pass-through port for your phone.

You’ll also be happy to know that it has something that’s become incredibly rare in recent years – a 3.5mm headphone jack! While those familiar with these sorts of accessories will already know that this doesn’t come with an internal battery of its own (it’s just a controller that interfaces with your phone), I feel the need to mention this for those new to the space and who may be interested in expanding their gameplay options.

You can download the Backbone app from the Apple App Store for additional functionality, but don’t be mistaken – this isn’t just and only for PS Remote Play usage! You can use any Backbone device to play other things too like cloud gaming services (Stadia, Nvidia GeForce NOW, etc.) as well as App Store games built with gamepad support.

The Backbone One will cost $99.99 USD and is available in the US, UK, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Mexico, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands with other locations gaining access to it as time progresses. I really hope Android users get a PlayStation version of this device as well, as this would scratch my itch for a new PlayStation Vita, which I’m almost certain will never happen.

Categories
Technology

Riddells Creek’s James McDonell prepares to tour with Australian Ballet

Close up of a chiseled jaw young man wearing stage makeup.

Not every young farm roustabout dreams of gracing the stage of Australia Ballet’s famed productions performing to scores by musical geniuses such as Tchaikovsky.

A young man dressed in ballet shorts in full flight mid-air of his dance routine.
James McDonell in full flight at The Australian Ballet.(Supplied: The Australian Ballet)

But for James McDonell it’s becoming a reality as he prepares to perform across regional Australia for the next few weeks, taking him from the family farm in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges to the center of the troupe’s Swan Lake Variations, choreographed by the Australian Ballet’s former artistic director David McAllister.

McDonell, 19, grew up in the country surrounded by dogs, cats, some pet sheep, and alpacas, and started dancing at the age of nine at a local dance school in Riddells Creek.

Speaking to ABC Central Victoria, McDonell said he loved the feeling of being on stage and being able to use his body to express emotion and make people feel something.

“I kind of realized that it suited my body,” he said.

“And I just loved the way it felt. And as the years went on, it really resonated with me in my body and how the lines that you can make with your body and shapes and how movement can be created with your body.

“I love the aesthetic of it, really, the way of transforming your body to make stunning shapes, and then being able to show that to an audience as well. I think that’s the pinnacle thing for me.”

An alert dog sits on grass in the autumn sun of a farm with an alpaca in the distance.
James McDonell relaxes from his busy ballet schedule on the farm with his dog and alpaca in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.(Supplied: James McDonnell)

A great teacher matters

A young man in ballet tights in full stretch as he dances ballet.
James McDonell dancing with The Australian Ballet.(Supplied: The Australian Ballet)

It was under the guidance of his first dance tutor, Val Sparshot, that McDonell began to find his love of ballet after trying his hand at tap and jazz.

“She kind of pushed me to do ballet because it wasn’t really the top of my list. I started doing jazz and tap and for two years straight she would say, ‘Do ballet, do ballet’. And I was like, ‘ Nah, not really me’,” he said.

“And then she finally convinced me, and I started ballet, and then from there, I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t actually too bad. I kind of like this’.”

In 2015, he moved to The Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School at the age of 12 where he stayed for five years before joining The Australian Ballet School in 2020.

Selfie of a relaxed young man with a sheep.
At home on the farm with friends.(Supplied: James McDonell)

pinnacle of dance

Swan Lake Variations is a classical piece celebrating the joy of dance and the beauty of Tchaikovsky’s famous score. This will be the second time McDonell takes to the stage across regional towns after performing with the company last year.

“I have had to sacrifice, I guess you could say, a normal life,” McDonell said.

“I trained six days a week, 8:30am until 6pm. So that comes with sacrificing things most people my age would be going out or doing. But I can’t afford to be doing that as much as others.”

Regional audiences will also get the opportunity to see dancers perform the exciting Flames of Paris Pas de Deux and the dramatic dance sequence Pas d’Action from La Bayadère.

McDonell will join the Australian Ballet’s regional tour as it stops over in Bendigo on August 5 and 6 for three performances at the Ullumbarra Theater and a youth masterclass.

“I know my parents are coming, but I’m sure others might accompany them as well,” he said.

.

Categories
Technology

Struggling To Keep Your Plants Alive? LEGO Has The Solution.

Struggling To Keep Your Plants Alive? LEGO Has The Solution.

Everyone knows the pain. Buying a beautiful plant…only for it to die within a couple of weeks or even days. Yes, there are ways to extend the life of indoor plants. However, with our busy lives, sometimes we simply forget to tend to them.

We all want a luscious home garden that’s still easy to maintain. Well, we’ve found a solution to this conundrum.

LEGO has recently added two new additions to its Botanical Collection, now including orchids, succulents, a flower bouquet and a bonsai tree, all beautifully designed and will survive at the hands of even the worst plant carer.

LEGO

Since launch, the collection has been gaining popularity on TikTok with people excited that they’ve finally found the solution to keeping their flowers alive.

Check out these videos from popular TikTok creators:

@raposo.rafaella arranges her LEGO flowers

Check out @raposo.rafaella arranging her new LEGO flowers in a beautiful vase. Paired with other trinkets, this is definitely the best bedside table arrangement.

@vtnat showcases this super cute LEGO bonsai tree

Amassing over 315K likes and 1.6M views, this video gives us a closer look at the cute bonsai tree.

@soft.pinec0ne creates a photo-worthy bouquet

This video gives us another look at how the LEGO bouquet can be displayed to enhance the interior design of any home.

@plumsoju demonstrates how to set up the orchid

Like us, @plumsoju has trouble keeping his plants alive. Take a look at how fun and easy it is to assemble the orchid!

The Botanical Collection is available on LEGO’s website or at any LEGO stockist!

Categories
Technology

Ferrari 296 GT3 Race Car Revealed

Ferrari 296 GT3 Race Car Revealed

This jumping virtual barriers to immerse ourselves in track news is something we do not usually do, but after so many years of being a regular on the tracks is a bit normal that we delight us with the photos and data of what will be the new piece of Ferrari competition GT’s level.

This new ferrari gt3 is designed to replace the chassis of the 488 that we all know and love. This new car will be available in January, and we will see it in many competitions, as well as presumably in simulators, once the licenses and scans are completed.

Here is a brief summary of Ferrari’s note:

Born to win, built to dazzle. Introducing the new Ferrari 296 GT3, our future in Gran Turismo competitions, which allow for the closest customer relationships and the greatest transfer of technology and innovative solutions to production cars.

We have designed the 296 GT3 around the needs of teams, professional drivers and gentleman drivers, on whom we have always focused. We have meticulously studied every detail, observing the dictates of the new GT3 regulations, to pick up the winning baton from the 488 GT3, but with the aim of writing new chapters in Ferrari’s motorsport history.

We have designed the 296 GT3 around the 120° 6V engine with the turbochargers housed in the “Vee”, lowering and bringing it forward, to achieve better balance and a lower center of gravity.

Around the “little 12-cylinder”, the chassis and the distribution of the elements have been optimized to make pit operations extremely fast, while the bodywork took on a sinuous shape that develops around the volumes of the 296 GTB, but redefines them according to the demands of the track and performance.

More information on its page.

Categories
Technology

Meta ups price of Quests VR headsets as Reality Labs loses money

Meta ups price of Quests VR headsets as Reality Labs loses money

Que?

Meta (or Facebook for us oldies) is upping the price of its Meta Quest range of VR headsets (or Oculus Quest for the rest of us) at the same time Reality Labs (or Oculus) has advised of a net $2.8 billion USD loss in over the last three months.

First, the companies — of which Meta is parent over Reality Labs — first announced that the price of the Meta Quest 2 would go up $100 USD across its two configurations. The 128GB model has moved from $299 USD to $399 USD, and the 256GB model is not $499 USD rather than $399.

Explaining the price hike, Meta said that it was “adjusting the price of our Meta Quest 2 headsets to enable us to continue investing in ways that will keep driving this increasingly competitive industry forward for consumers and developers alike.”

Those who buy the more expensive headset will receive a free copy of Beat Saber, valued at $30 USD.

The headsets were first brought to market in October 2020.

Following the announcement, Reality Labs advised of its net loss during a quarterly financial results report.

“We do plan on continuing to invest in Reality Labs,” Meta CFO Dave Wehner said to investors in a follow-up call. “In terms of our expense growth from 2021 to 2022, the bulk -the largest component of the expense growth is Family of Apps, but we do think that Reality Labs will continue to be an investment area for us.”

This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.