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Nvidia's play-anywhere GeForce Now service is finally here, and it demolishes Google Stadia – PCWorld

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Three long years after its CES 2017 reveal, and two years after its beta debuted on PCs, Nvidia’s GeForce Now game-streaming service is finally launching on PCs Tuesday. The wait was worth it. GeForce Now obliterates Google Stadia’s value proposition in every way, from game selection to pricing. It’s available in both free and paid forms, with a “Founders” premium tier costing just $5 per month.

While Google Stadia will eventually offer a “free” tier, it’s currently available only if you plunk down $129 for Stadia Founders Edition, then pay $10 per month for a Stadia Pro subscription. That Pro subscription gives you access to Destiny 2 and a couple of other games, but you’ll need to pay full price to stream any other titles in Stadia’s paltry library. Even if you own a game on another service, you can’t bring it over to Stadia. It’s like a locked-down console in the cloud.

GeForce Now, on the other hand, is essentially a powerful gaming PC on Nvidia’s servers that you can play anywhere.

How GeForce Now works

Nvidia’s service doesn’t sell you any games. Instead, GeForce Now taps into your existing game libraries from Steam, Uplay, the Epic Games Store, and the like, letting you play games you already own anywhere you want by signing into the service you own it on. That means the free tier can be truly free, unlike Stadia’s eventual “free” version. Nvidia’s service supports numerous popular free-to-play PC games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Apex Legends, Warframe, Path of Exile, and the free Destiny 2 base game—the crown jewel of Stadia’s launch lineup.

Nvidia

GeForce Now officially supports around 400 games, which you can find via the service’s search bar. That tally includes most of the more popular titles being played today, and Nvidia says it adds four or five new games every week or so. PUBG, Witcher 3, Skyrim, Borderlands 3, Dishonored 2, XCOM 2, and many, many more triple-A games work with GeForce Now, as do indie gems like Battletech, Stardew Valley, and Disco Elysium.

Supported games install almost instantly, appearing in your GeForce Now library bar, and launch just as quickly after that. Your save data persists between sessions with supported games, and they play nice with cloud saves when available, so you can hop between Doom on your proper gaming PC and Doom on GeForce Now on your laptop seamlessly. Nvidia keeps supported games updated with no effort on your end.

Brad Chacos/IDG

Your library of installed games appears in a row underneath GeForce Now’s splash screen.

GeForce Now can also work with about 1,000 more “single-session” games. These haven’t been officially optimized for the service yet, and they aren’t permanently stored on Nvidia’s servers, so you’ll need to download and install them every time you want to play one. Fortunately, Nvidia’s blazing-fast servers download games in the blink of an eye. Here’s how Nvidia’s Jordan Dodge describes single-session games:

“The single session installs are games that you can play after launching Steam, but ones that we haven’t had a chance to on-board yet (typically older games that you already own). The way it works is you log in to GeForce Now, and search for/click Steam as the “game” you want to play. Once connected, you can go into your Library and can try installing those games. These installs don’t persist from session-to-session (hence calling them single-session installs) but if the game supports cloud saves, you will be able to pick up where you left off during your next session.”

There’s bound to be some games you can’t run on GeForce Now, but between the supported and single-session games, there’s a huge chunk available.

How GeForce Now runs

Nvidia

Nvidia offers GeForce Now clients for PC, Mac, Android phones, and Android TVs (including its own excellent Nvidia Shield console). Soon, it’ll launch a WebRTC-based client so you can bring the power of PC gaming to Chromebooks, too. Apple’s mobile devices aren’t supported, however, with Nvidia representatives simply saying “ask Apple,” when I asked if iPhone or iPad support is in the works.

The games look incredible, as we noted in our impressions of the GeForce Now beta. Nvidia optimizes GeForce Now games to run well at 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution. (Unlike Stadia, there’s no 4K resolution support.)

Brad Chacos/IDG

GeForce Now’s streaming quality options.

The service offers a variety of streaming quality presets. Balanced uses 10GB of data per hour and offers the best blend of image quality and responsiveness. Data saver only uses 4GB per hour, which requires some compromises, but still promises “good image quality and gameplay.” Competitive uses 6GB and focuses purely on lowering latency, sacrificing visual quality for responsiveness when it needs to. You can also custom-configure your streaming settings, adjusting resolution, bitrate, V-Sync, and whether you want to stream at 60 fps or 30 fps.

Nvidia ensures you’re running the company’s latest and greatest Game Ready drivers, too.

GeForce Now played games like a champ in beta, assuming you met the modest system requirements, but will Nvidia be able to keep up once the floodgates open at the service’s proper launch? That’s the real question. Nvidia says that once you’re up and running in a game, the quality should stay consistent, but if the servers are full, you may need to wait for a few minutes before you’re able to boot into your gaming PC in the cloud.

That’s where GeForce Now’s subscription tiers come in.

GeForce Now: Free vs. Founders subscriptions

Nvidia

The beta version of GeForce Now was free throughout its lifetime, and the full launch continues that tradition. GeForce Now beta testers will automatically get converted to the free plan. Free users get standard access to Nvidia’s servers, and their play sessions end after an hour. You can hop back in immediately after—there is no limit to how many sessions free users get—but you can’t just play games endlessly without interruption. That should help keep the queue for the service moving smoothly.

The GeForce Now “Founders” tier lets you play for up to six straight hours, as often as you want, with priority queue access that should get you into your games immediately. GeForce Now Founders can also enable real-time ray tracing in games that support it, so if you can’t afford a $300 EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 KO, you can subscribe to Nvidia’s streaming service for cheap and try out the cutting-edge lighting technology for yourself. Not all ray-traced games are officially supported—Control, Battlefield V, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider are noticeable no-shows—but Metro Exodus is there with Wolfenstein Youngblood and Deliver Us to the Moon, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available in single-session mode. (Metro Exodus is the one to try if you’re just interested in ray tracing’s eye candy.)

Nvidia

Deliver Us to the Moon with ray tracing enabled.

Nvidia’s going for Stadia’s jugular with pricing, too. The GeForce Now Founders edition only costs $4.99 per month for 12 months, and you’ll get a free 90-day introductory period before your subscription timer kicks in. The pricing will increase sometime later, Nvidia says, so give the introductory period a try now and lock in the cost if you’re interested.

Nvidia

So to sum it up: Nvidia’s GeForce Now launches in full today, giving you the power of a full kick-ass gaming PC on almost any Internet-connected device. It’s a lot cheaper than Google Stadia, plays vastly more games than Google Stadia, runs cutting-edge ray tracing effects that Stadia doesn’t, and even offers no-cost access to Destiny 2, the big draw of Google’s pricey Stadia Pro subscription. What’s not to like?

We’ll see how Nvidia’s servers hold up once the grubby gaming hordes descend upon them, but on paper, GeForce Now looks like the cloud gaming service we’ve been waiting for—the opposite of Google Stadia’s stunning disappointment.

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Slack researcher discusses the fear, loathing and excitement surrounding AI in the workplace

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Artificial intelligence‘s recent rise to the forefront of business has left most office workers wondering how often they should use the technology and whether a computer will eventually replace them.

Those were among the highlights of a recent study conducted by the workplace communications platform Slack. After conducting in-depth interviews with 5,000 desktop workers, Slack concluded there are five types of AI personalities in the workplace: “The Maximalist” who regularly uses AI on their jobs; “The Underground” who covertly uses AI; “The Rebel,” who abhors AI; “The Superfan” who is excited about AI but still hasn’t used it; and “The Observer” who is taking a wait-and-see approach.

Only 50% of the respondents fell under the Maximalist or Underground categories, posing a challenge for businesses that want their workers to embrace AI technology. The Associated Press recently discussed the excitement and tension surrounding AI at work with Christina Janzer, Slack’s senior vice president of research and analytics.

Q: What do you make about the wide range of perceptions about AI at work?

A: It shows people are experiencing AI in very different ways, so they have very different emotions about it. Understanding those emotions will help understand what is going to drive usage of AI. If people are feeling guilty or nervous about it, they are not going to use it. So we have to understand where people are, then point them toward learning to value this new technology.

Q: The Maximalist and The Underground both seem to be early adopters of AI at work, but what is different about their attitudes?

A: Maximalists are all in on AI. They are getting value out of it, they are excited about it, and they are actively sharing that they are using it, which is a really big driver for usage among others.

The Underground is the one that is really interesting to me because they are using it, but they are hiding it. There are different reasons for that. They are worried they are going to be seen as incompetent. They are worried that AI is going to be seen as cheating. And so with them, we have an opportunity to provide clear guidelines to help them know that AI usage is celebrated and encouraged. But right now they don’t have guidelines from their companies and they don’t feel particularly encouraged to use it.

Overall, there is more excitement about AI than not, so I think that’s great We just need to figure out how to harness that.

Q: What about the 19% of workers who fell under the Rebel description in Slack’s study?

A: Rebels tend to be women, which is really interesting. Three out of five rebels are women, which I obviously don’t like to see. Also, rebels tend to be older. At a high level, men are adopting the technology at higher rates than women.

Q: Why do you think more women than men are resisting AI?

A: Women are more likely to see AI as a threat, more likely to worry that AI is going to take over their jobs. To me, that points to women not feeling as trusted in the workplace as men do. If you feel trusted by your manager, you are more likely to experiment with AI. Women are reluctant to adopt a technology that might be seen as a replacement for them whereas men may have more confidence that isn’t going to happen because they feel more trusted.

Q: What are some of the things employers should be doing if they want their workers to embrace AI on the job?

A: We are seeing three out of five desk workers don’t even have clear guidelines with AI, because their companies just aren’t telling them anything, so that’s a huge opportunity.

Another opportunity to encourage AI usage in the open. If we can create a culture where it’s celebrated, where people can see the way people are using it, then they can know that it’s accepted and celebrated. Then they can be inspired.

The third thing is we have to create a culture of experimentation where people feel comfortable trying it out, testing it, getting comfortable with it because a lot of people just don’t know where to start. The reality is you can start small, you don’t have to completely change your job. Having AI write an email or summarize content is a great place to start so you can start to understand what this technology can do.

Q: Do you think the fears about people losing their jobs because of AI are warranted?

A: People with AI are going to replace people without AI.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Biden administration to provide $325 million for new Michigan semiconductor factory

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it would provide up to $325 million to Hemlock Semiconductor for a new factory, a move that could help give Democrats a political edge in the swing state of Michigan ahead of election day.

The funding would support 180 manufacturing jobs in Saginaw County, where Republicans and Democrats were neck-in-neck for the past two presidential elections. There would also be construction jobs tied to the factory that would produce hyper-pure polysilicon, a building block for electronics and solar panels, among other technologies.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters that the funding came from the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. It’s part of a broader industrial strategy that the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, supports, while Republican nominee Donald Trump, the former president, sees tariff hikes and income tax cuts as better to support manufacturing.

“What we’ve been able to do with the CHIPS Act is not just build a few new factories, but fundamentally revitalize the semiconductor ecosystem in our country with American workers,” Raimondo said. “All of this is because of the vision of the Biden-Harris administration.”

A senior administration official said the timing of the announcement reflected the negotiating process for reaching terms on the grant, rather than any political considerations. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss the process.

After site work, Hemlock Semiconductor plans to begin construction in 2026 and then start production in 2028, the official said.

Running in 2016, Trump narrowly won Saginaw County and Michigan as a whole. But in 2020 against Biden, both Saginaw County and Michigan flipped to the Democrats.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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The Internet is Littered in ‘Educated Guesses’ Without the ‘Education’

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Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.

The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.

Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.

The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.

Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.

On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.

The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.

More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.

Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:

  • You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
  • This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
  • In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!

Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.

Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.

There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.

Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.

Successful people tend to be secretive.

Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.

Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.

Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.

______________________________________________________________

 

Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s

on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan.

 

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