Blender 4.0 was released on November 14, 2023, with significant updates and improvements in various areas such as animation, rigging, modeling, and more.
The release includes changes to the mesh format and new compatibility requirements for graphics cards.
The update also brings enhancements in areas like geometry nodes, shading, texturing, cycles, and the user interface, among others.
Users delved into different topics surrounding Blender, such as its release notes, job prospects in animation, and the use of linear algebra and programming in rendering and character animation.
The success of Blender as an open-source project and its user interface development were also discussed.
Users compared Blender to Adobe software and explored the potential for a built-in resource sharing feature.
The Civil Liberties Committee has approved new measures to protect children from online child sexual abuse.
Internet providers would be required to assess the risk of their services being misused and take steps to prevent child sexual abuse.
If prevention measures fail, court-validated detection orders could be used to locate illegal material, and an EU Centre for Child Protection would be established to enforce the rules.
The EU Parliament Civil Liberties Committee has removed chat control requirements and protected encryption in the proposed Chat Control regulation, but negotiations for finalization are still pending.
Concerns about the potential misuse of scanning messages for child sexual abuse materials have been raised.
The rejection of backdoors in encryption and scanning of private messages by the EU Parliament is seen as a victory for privacy advocates, but tech companies may lobby for exemptions.
Google has developed an AI model called GraphCast that can make more accurate and faster medium-range weather forecasts compared to traditional methods.
The model predicts weather conditions up to 10 days in advance, allowing for earlier warnings of extreme weather events like cyclones and floods.
GraphCast is trained on historical weather data using machine learning and graph neural networks, outperforming the industry gold-standard weather simulation system in terms of accuracy and providing better predictions for future weather.
The model's code has been open sourced, allowing scientists and forecasters worldwide to benefit from it and potentially save lives and support critical decision-making in various industries and societies.
Google DeepMind has developed a new AI weather forecasting model called GraphCast, which combines data from multiple numerical weather models using machine learning to improve accuracy.
The discussions revolve around the limitations of existing APIs, availability of historical weather data, and integration of data on extreme events.
There are potential benefits and challenges of using machine learning in weather prediction, as well as competition in the industry. This technology could have implications for various industries relying on accurate weather forecasts.
Multiple research teams at Google have discovered a bug in certain processors that can cause them to enter a glitch state, resulting in unpredictable behavior and system halt.
The bug involves the use of redundant rex prefixes and the fast short repeat move (FSRM) feature.
Intel has released updated microcode and a workaround to address this vulnerability, which has serious security implications for cloud providers.
"Reptar" is a CPU vulnerability that triggers machine check exceptions and processor halts, which has been discovered by Google and other research teams.
The article discusses the impact of "Reptar" on AMD CPUs and highlights the challenges faced in CPU design.
Another vulnerability affecting Intel processors is mentioned, potentially causing system crashes. The article also explores the use of formal methods in CPU design and the potential disruptions from sharing computing resources. The complexity of modern CPUs and the potential influence of AI on CPU design are also mentioned.
Vehicles with taller and more vertical front ends have been found to pose a higher risk to pedestrians, according to research by the IIHS.
Vehicles with hood heights above 40 inches are around 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes compared to those with hood heights of 30 inches or less and a sloping profile.
Vehicles with hood heights between 30 and 40 inches and a blunt front end also increase the risk to pedestrians. The study emphasizes the importance of designing vehicles with lower front ends and angled grilles to mitigate the danger to pedestrians.
The discussion encompasses multiple areas such as vehicle safety, regulations, consumer preferences, and urban planning.
Key topics include the effect of vehicle design on pedestrian safety, the call for more stringent regulations and penalties for accidents, the correlation between regulations and car size/fuel efficiency, the rise of SUV and truck popularity, and the advantages and disadvantages of different transportation modes.
The conversation showcases a diverse range of perspectives, highlighting the complexity of driving and transportation.
The town of Grindavík in Iceland has suffered damage from earthquakes and a deformation moving towards an underground magma intrusion.
A large fissure has appeared in the town, damaging buildings and infrastructure like a hot water pipe and the sports center.
Residents have been given limited time to gather their belongings and rescue teams are on standby, although no buildings have been completely destroyed. The authorities are closely monitoring the situation.
The discussions are centered around different aspects of the .NET ecosystem, including positive experiences, areas for growth, and the development of cross-platform apps.
Participants suggest alternative frameworks like Xamarin and Livecode for cross-platform UI development and discuss the challenges in this area.
Some participants express a preference for Go due to its simplicity and cross-platform capabilities, but note limitations in GUI development and C++ interop.
Backblaze monitored over 263,992 hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) in their data centers in Q3 2023.
The quarterly failure rate for all drives decreased from 2.2% to 1.47% compared to the previous quarter.
Backblaze retired 4,585 aging 4TB drives and will closely monitor a small number of drives that exceeded their maximum temperature to compare their failure rates with drives operating within manufacturer specifications. The overall lifetime failure rate for all drives remained consistent at around 1.4%.
The article discusses the impact of temperature on the lifespan of hard drives and suggests comparing drives with stable temperatures to those with fluctuations.
The importance of data disposal and the security of encryption are emphasized, noting the need to physically destroy hard drives.
Comments from users cover topics like drive reliability, backup software, and user experiences, with positive experiences shared alongside concerns about firmware errors and the trustworthiness of certain backup solutions.
The discussion revolves around multiple facets of nuclear energy, such as the US's reentry into the nuclear fuel market and safety concerns.
It also includes a cost comparison between nuclear energy and coal, as well as the possibility of reprocessing spent fuel.
The conversation delves into the challenges, limitations, advantages, and disadvantages of nuclear energy, including its integration with batteries in the power grid and China's adoption of renewables.
The discussion focuses on software updates in the automotive industry, highlighting the risks and challenges of deploying updates to a large number of devices.
Topics covered include the importance of testing and phased rollouts, as well as ensuring that software updates do not cause critical issues.
Debates revolve around the complexities of infotainment systems, the use of OTA updates, and the potential hazards of updating software while driving. There is also criticism directed towards Rivian for a recent software update error.
The author raises concerns about relying solely on crates.io as a repository for Rust code and proposes an alternative distribution method similar to Linux distributions like Debian.
The author commends Debian's Rust packaging team for curating a collection of Rust libraries, which reduces the dependency risks associated with relying solely on crates.io.
This alternative approach increases the author's confidence in using Rust in the future.
The article explores the challenges of using third-party libraries and managing dependencies in languages like C and C++, including build setup difficulties, maintenance issues, and version compatibility problems.
Rust's packaging system, crates.io, is highlighted as a solution to these challenges, offering better control over dependencies and ensuring compatibility.
The need for improved security measures, such as protection against supply chain attacks, is emphasized, along with the importance of managing dependencies securely and utilizing scanning tools and curated library repositories.
The author discusses their experience and challenges in developing the Inko programming language, including the decision to switch to static typing and difficulties in self-hosting and code generation.
Building a solid language and ecosystem is essential, with challenges in performance, platform support, syntax, and user acquisition.
It is recommended to focus on semantics and use existing syntax when prototyping, with guidance from specific resources and communities.
Growing the user base and libraries requires time and investment, prioritizing functionality over performance initially.
Developing a widely used and successful language takes at least 10-15 years of development.
Understanding the target users and problems is crucial when developing a programming language.
Implementing type checking can be challenging, and starting with simpler languages is recommended.
There is a debate between gradual typing and static typing, with some advocating for gradual typing's bug-catching and documentation benefits, while others prefer static typing.
The choice between static and dynamic typing should be based on individual preference and productivity.
Integrating dynamic typing into statically typed languages is also discussed.
The discussion emphasizes the various approaches to language design and type checking, the challenges they pose, and the pros and cons of different typing systems.