Tag: technews

Here is all you need to know about where you can watch a live stream of the Warriors vs 76ers game tonight.

Which Foamstar is the real star of the show? Each character has their own weapon and abilities, so there’s an option for everyone. Here are the best picks.

PSG take on Brest in the Coupe de France Round of 16 today. If you live in the US, here are some ways you can watch a free live stream of the match.

We’ve gotten our first look at the Google Pixel Fold 2. And, uh … it sure is something.

Aston Villa and Chelsea meet in a replay of their fourth-round FA Cup tie today, and here’s how to watch the match live online if you’re in the US.

Even NASA is not immune to layoffs. The agency says it’s cutting around 530 employees from its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California amid budget uncertainty. That’s eight percent of the facility’s workforce. JPL is laying off about 40 contractors too, just weeks after imposing a hiring freeze and canning 100 other contractors. Workers are being informed of their fates today.

“After exhausting all other measures to adjust to a lower budget from NASA, and in the absence of an FY24 appropriation from Congress, we have had to make the difficult decision to reduce the JPL workforce through layoffs,” NASA said in a statement spotted by Gizmodo. “The impacts will occur across both technical and support areas of the Lab. These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget allocation while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation.”

Uncertainty over the final budget that Congress will allocate to NASA for 2024 has played a major factor in the cuts. It’s expected that the agency will receive around $300 million for Mars Sample Return (MSR), an ambitious mission in which NASA plans to launch a lander and orbiter to the red planet in 2028 and bring back soil. In its 2024 budget proposal, NASA requested just under $950 million for the project.

“While we still do not have an FY24 appropriation or the final word from Congress on our Mars Sample Return (MSR) budget allocation, we are now in a position where we must take further significant action to reduce our spending,” JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote in a memo. “In the absence of an appropriation, and as much as we wish we didn’t need to take this action, we must now move forward to protect against even deeper cuts later were we to wait.”

NASA has yet to provide a full cost estimate for MSR, though an independent report pegged the price at between $8 billion and $11 billion. In its proposed 2024 budget, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee ordered NASA to submit a year-by-year funding plan for MSR. If the agency does not do so, the subcommittee warned that the mission could be canceled.

That’s despite MSR having enjoyed success so far. The Perseverance rover has dug up some soil samples that contain evidence of organic matter and would warrant closer analysis were NASA able to bring them back to Earth. The samples could help scientists learn more about Mars, such as whether the planet ever hosted life.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasas-jet-propulsion-laboratory-is-laying-off-570-workers-185336632.html?src=rss

The Biden administration recently announced that it would be requiring large cryptocurrency mining operations to report electricity usage, via a press release from The Energy Information Administration. This follows concerns that the industry could pose a threat to the nation’s electricity grids and hasten the impacts of climate change.

To that end, the EIA has targeted 137 “identified commercial cryptocurrency miners” working in the US. These operations account for around 2.3 percent of national energy usage. This breaks down to 90 terawatt-hours per year, which is more than Finland, Belgium and Chile use in that same time period. The world’s crypto miners used as much electricity in 2023 as the entire country of Australia. That’s a whole lot of energy for Shiba Inu-branded internet money with no practical application.

The data collection started this week. The survey aims to get a sense of the industry’s growing demands and which parts of the country are the biggest crypto hotbeds, so as to refine policy later on. The EIA has already discovered that nearly 38 percent of all bitcoin is mined in the US, which is up from 3.4 percent in 2020.

“As cryptocurrency mining has increased in the United States, concerns have grown about the energy-intensive nature of the business and its effects on the US electric power industry,” the EIA said in a report that offered further details behind the survey.

The EIA went on to note that large crypto mining operations could strain the electricity grid during peak periods, force higher energy prices for average consumers and negatively impact energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Most of the electricity generated throughout the world comes from burning fossil fuels, and that process releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The clean energy advocacy group RMI estimates that US cryptocurrency mines release 25 to 50 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. That’s around the same amount as the yearly diesel emissions from the US railroad industry. 

The biggest mining operations in the country are scattered throughout 21 states, but largely clustered in Texas, Georgia and New York. This is especially dangerous for Texans, as the state’s energy grid is already notoriously fragile. Ben Hertz-Shargel, who leads energy research consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie, told Ars Technica that crypto mining operations are not only placing a higher burden on the state’s energy grid, but increasing prices for consumers. 

Energy costs in Texas are based on real-time demand, so Hertz-Shargel estimates that state residents see an increase of 4.7 percent in their monthly utility bills due to cryptocurrency mining. He also said that mining operations tend to open up shop next to pre-existing renewable energy facilities, which draws clean power away from nearby homes and businesses.

It’s not all doom and gloom in the crypto world. Back in 2022, Ethereum announced a software update to make mining ether more eco-friendly. The Ethereum Foundation claims this reduces the carbon emissions of its mining operations by more than 99 percent. However, ether accounts for just 17 percent of the global cryptocurrency market share.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-biden-administration-now-requires-large-cryptocurrency-miners-to-report-their-energy-use-182831778.html?src=rss

It might be weird to see a new device call back to a time less than a decade ago. But tech moves fast and with the OnePlus 12, it feels like someone made a phone for the pre-AI era. Instead of magic editors and a bunch of machine learning, OnePlus’ latest flagship is incredibly simple. It has a nice screen, a solid build, reliable cameras, great performance and even better battery life. So while it won’t help you summarize a meeting or remaster a photo, the OP12 covers all the basics with aplomb. And with a starting price of $800 ($200 less than a similarly equipped S24+), it’s a great deal too.

Design and display: A old-school silhouette with modern specs

The shape of the OnePlus 12 seems to be inspired by older phones like the Galaxy S10+, featuring tapered edges and rounded corners. This makes the phone very comfortable to hold, the downside is that there is some distortion around the screen where it curves. Thankfully, OnePlus’ 6.8-inch 3,168 x 1440 panel looks so good you may not notice. It features a nominal peak brightness of 1,600 nits that can go all the way up to 4,500 nits in certain situations (like direct sunlight), so it never looks dull or washed out. The screen also supports a 120Hz variable refresh alongside a new 2,610Hz PWM (pulse width modulation) technique to help prevent the screen from flickering when set to very low brightness (under 70 nits).

Around back there’s a huge and somewhat ungainly camera module surrounded by a sheet of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 with a lovely matte finish. It’s more textured than your typical frosted glass but not as scratchy as the company’s old-school sandstone backs and it feels so good I would have a hard time covering it with a case. The OP12 also sports an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, which isn’t quite as good as what you get from rival Samsung and Google phones. However, this is the highest rating ever on a OnePlus and it’s still more than enough to handle things like rain and splashes. And unlike most handsets these days, OnePlus included an IR blaster so you can easily adjust settings on your TV or soundbar without needing a dedicated remote.

Performance: Super speedy

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

While the OP12 may have a nostalgic design, its performance is as good as it gets for Android handsets. It features a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip along with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Despite some underwhelming benchmarks (which other outlets have also encountered), the phone feels incredibly fluid. Flipping between apps is super smooth while games load and play without a hint of stuttering. To help ensure frequently used apps are always at the ready, OnePlus has a memory optimization feature that can keep up to six apps suspended in the background for up to 72 hours, so you don’t need to reload your favorite game unnecessarily.

Cameras: Hasselblad’s bulky module delivers

The OP12’s triple-lens setup holds up well against the Galaxy S24 family with a 50-MP main cam, a 48-MP ultra-wide and a 64-MP telephoto camera. During the daytime, photos were bright and lively and I appreciate OnePlus’ more neutral white balance compared to Samsung’s warmer tones. At night, while images were just a touch softer and darker than comparison shots I took using the S24 Ultra, they weren’t far behind. Finally, using the 3x telephoto camera I managed to capture a very sharp picture of a squirrel despite its best efforts to dart away. Just make sure you disable the option to add a Hasselblad watermark to your photos the first time you launch the camera app.

Battery life and charging: The best yet

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

One of the best things about the OnePlus 12 is its battery life and charging speeds. On our local video rundown test, the phone’s 5,400 mAh cell lasted 26 hours and 40 minutes, which is the longest time we’ve seen on any handset. That’s more than two hours longer than the S24 Ultra (24:29) and a more than six hour improvement on last year’s OP11 (19:45).

OnePlus proprietary charging tech also delivers breakneck wired and wireless charging speeds. When using its included power brick and cable, the phone went from 10 to 55 percent battery in just 10 minutes. Alternatively, when placed on the company’s wireless pad (which is available separately for $50), the OP12 went from 10 to 37 percent battery in 10 minutes. To put that into context, when I performed the same test with the S24U, it only managed to go from 10 to 30 percent battery in 10 minutes using a Samsung charger and a compatible cable. Unfortunately, you’ll only get those speeds with OnePlus’ first-party accessories, so if you use standard USB-PD or Qi chargers, things are slower.

Wrap-up

Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Compared to other big-name phones that are turning to AI to improve their capabilities, the OnePlus 12 is an uncomplicated device that combines good hardware with a solid build. It has a large, punchy display with great performance and unparalleled battery life. And while OnePlus does plan on adding AI features via future software updates, the 12 doesn’t need them to offer a compelling package. And with a starting price of $800, it’s $200 cheaper than an equivalent Galaxy S24+ and that’s before you consider OnePlus’ offer that knocks off another $100 with the trade-in of any phone, regardless of age or condition. In a world where smartphones are becoming increasingly complex, the OnePlus 12 is a straightforward alternative that handles all the most important things with ease.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oneplus-12-review-a-no-nonsense-flagship-for-a-great-price-180050960.html?src=rss

One year after fully embracing generative AI chatbots, Microsoft is giving Copilot a fresh lick of paint. Copilot now has a more streamlined design on the web and in its mobile apps. The company says there’s a cleaner look and feel for the chatbot’s responses, while Copilot will display a carousel of suggested prompts to highlight what it can do.

The redesign comes just ahead of the Super Bowl. Microsoft is running an ad for the big game for the first time in four years. The commercial shows off Copilot (surprisingly enough) and some of the things users can do with the chatbot’s mobile app.

Microsoft debuted the AI-powered Bing Chat a year ago today. The company says that so far, folks have taken part in 5 billion chats and generated 5 billion images through its various Copilot experiences. It notes that Copilot (which is now its catch-all branding for chatbots with “Bing Chat” being phased out) has helped it increase the market share of Bing and Edge, though perhaps not by as much as it would have hoped.

Meanwhile, Copilot now has more image-editing and creation options. Designer in Copilot (at least in some territories) now allows you to edit images you’ve generated without having to leave the chatbot. You can turn an image into pixel art or blur the background, for instance. Copilot Pro subscribers can resize images between landscape and square formats and regenerate them without having to exit the chat. Microsoft will also soon debut Designer GPT inside Copilot. It says this will provide users with “an immersive, dedicated canvas inside of Copilot where you can visualize your ideas.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-redesigns-copilot-for-the-web-and-mobile-173036164.html?src=rss

LG’s Business Cloud CMS will let customers monitor the status of connected LG digital signage in real-time and control it remotely.