Meta is reportedly looking at using competing AI models to improve its apps

Meta is reportedly looking at using competing AI models to improve its apps

Meta may be interested in more than Google and OpenAI's employees when it comes to artificial intelligence. According to The Information , Meta is considering using its competitors' models to improve its own apps' AI features. The report said that leaders at the Meta Superintelligence Lab have looked at integrating Google Gemini into its Meta AI chatbot to help it provide a conversational, text-based solution to its users' search questions. Not only with Google Gemini , Meta has also had discussions about using OpenAI's models to power Meta AI and the AI features found in its apps, according to the report. A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the company is taking an "all-of-the-above approach to building the best AI products," which includes partnering with companies, along with building its own AI models. According to the report, using external AI models will be a temporary measure to help Meta improve its own Llama AI models so that it can remain competitive in the market. Meta employees already have access to Anthropic's AI models that help power the company's internal coding assistant, according to The Information . Meanwhile, Meta has been offering lucrative compensation packages as part of its attempts to recruit AI researchers from Google and OpenAI to form its Superintelligence Lab . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-is-reportedly-looking-at-using-competing-ai-models-to-improve-its-apps-182209841.html?src=rss

Purgatory, tied to online community The Com, claims responsibility for swatting attacks on US universities, airports, and more, charging $20 to $95 per incident (David Gilbert/Wired)

Purgatory, tied to online community The Com, claims responsibility for swatting attacks on US universities, airports, and more, charging $20 to $95 per incident (David Gilbert/Wired)

David Gilbert / Wired : Purgatory, tied to online community The Com, claims responsibility for swatting attacks on US universities, airports, and more, charging $20 to $95 per incident —  WIRED spoke to a self-proclaimed leader of an online group called Purgatory, which charged as little as $20 to call in fake threats against schools.

How to turn a USB flash drive into a portable games console

How to turn a USB flash drive into a portable games console

A lot of gamers go to great lengths to find a portable retro gaming device with the lightest and most compact kit. The Linux powered Raspberry Pi 5 does a decent job on that front. But what many players don’t know is that an even smaller and lighter solution is available by turning the humble USB flash drive into a portable gaming console. You still need a PC to play, but it means you can get around with more compact gear. Here’s how to do it for under $100… What you’ll need… A USB flash drive: I’m using the SanDisk 512GB drive , but you can also use one with a smaller or larger capacity. A small wireless keyboard: Here’s one on Amazon I found for just $10 that will do the job just fine. It also has a compartment in the back to store your USB flash drive. A gamepad: A lot of USB gamers rate the 8BitDo Pro 2 . It supports USB-C, so you can just plug it into your PC without any fuss. Adam Patrick Murray What to do… Install the OS on your flash drive Your flash drive needs to be set up with the open-source OS Batocera to play. Here are the steps: Plug your USB flash drive into your PC. Go to the Batocera website . Then select the x64 Windows version of the OS and wait until it downloads. Now download and install the BalenaEtcher tool which you will need to flash the Batocera OS to your flash drive. Open BalenaEtcher, click Flash from File and choose the downloaded Batocera file. Choose your USB flash drive and select Flash to flash the OS to the device. When the flashing is done, hit Cancel or Ignore on all the windows that pop up. Boot into your flash drive Now that the OS is installed, you need to boot into your flash drive. There are two ways to do this, so if the right options don’t appear the first way, try the second way. Method 1 Type recovery options into the Windows start menu and under Advanced Startup hit Restart now . Now select Use a device and then UEFI: Removable Device . Batocera should boot now. If you didn’t see the option to select the UEFI: Removable Device, use the next method. Method 2 Power down your PC and power it up again. While your PC is powering up hit the F12 key to enter your PC’s BIOS menu. When given the choice to pick a boot device select UEFI: USB, Partition (your USB flash device). This should boot you into Batocera. Further reading: Best external drives Load games into Batocera Now that you have Batocera installed you’re going to want to populate the OS with some games. Batocera is an emulation frontend that supports a large number of game emulators for retro game consoles. PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo 3DS games are just a small fraction of the game types you can play using Batocera. The OS does come with a limited number of game ROMs preloaded, which are free and legal to use, but if you want more than that you’ll need to install your own ROMs. Dominic Bayley / IDG I can’t tell you where to get these from. It’s illegal to use ROMs without a license, so you’ll want to own each and every one. Here’s how to load them up. In Batocera press F1 to launch the file manager. Find the location of the ROM files on your computer, or else plug in the storage device that has the ROMs (USB stick or hard drive) and select it from the list on the left-hand side. Highlight and right click on the files you want to copy. Click on ROMs down the left-hand side. Find the folder for the appropriate game emulator and paste the game files into it. Now your games will be visible, but some may not have artwork. To apply artwork to each game, find the game in Batocera and long press the X button (number 3 button) on your controller. Now select Scrape . You will have to be connected to the internet for this to work. You should be up and running now and can use your flash drive on any PC to play retro games. As a general rule any PC with mid-range specs will work a treat; you should hit about 60fps in most games. Some things to take note of This whole process can be done with an SD card or a portable hard drive instead of a USB flash drive. Personally, I find a USB flash drive is the ideal size to carry, being neither too small, nor too large. To get the best out of Batocera and your games, it’s also worth watching a few “How to” videos to familiarize yourself with the OS. You’ll want to learn how to adjust the video settings and resolution for specific emulators, for example, so that your games will look great. For these and more tutorials, a great source of information is the YouTube channel Batocera Nation . That’s all for now. Happy retro gaming! Further reading: Is your USB flash drive trustworthy? These tips will tell you

TransUnion data breach impacts 4.4M U.S. customers

TransUnion data breach impacts 4.4M U.S. customers

TransUnion has confirmed it has been the victim of a breach, with the data of more than 4.4 million customers now at risk. TransUnion logo On July 28, TransUnion was the subject of a major credit breach. One of the biggest credit reporting agencies in the United States, TransUnion confirmed that there was an incident on Thursday, in filings to the Maine and Texas attorney general's offices. The breach was a major one that apparently involved an attacker accessing a third-party application. TechCrunch reports it was an application that stored the personal data of customers in its U.S. consumer support arm. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums