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Respectful Design: Why Removing Features Can Frustrate Users and Break Trust Introduction Imagine opening an app that you use every day to organize your emails, manage tasks, or track your health. You've developed a rhythm with it—everything is where you expect it to be, and your workflow is seamless. But today, something's off. A feature you've relied on is suddenly missing, and another one has moved. You feel an immediate frustration as your trusted app no longer fits your needs. This scenario plays out more often than you'd think, and it highlights why removing features is a practice that should be avoided at all costs. The User’s Perspective When users interact with a product, they do so based on habits formed over time. Features become more than just tools—they are integral parts of the user’s daily routine. Removing or changing a feature without warning not only disrupts that routine, but it also erodes the sense of familiarity and ease that users rely on. It’s as...

Gemini Live: Google’s New AI Assistant Explained AI-Powered Voice Assistant Google has recently introduced Gemini Live, its latest AI-powered voice assistant designed for more natural, real-time conversations. Rolling out initially for Gemini Advanced subscribers, the service is now available to all Android users. While Gemini Live operates in a similar vein to other AI assistants, it aims to surpass traditional Google Assistant by allowing more fluid and human-like interactions. Engineered to Offer Deeper Engagement Unlike previous voice assistants that handle simple commands, Gemini Live is engineered to offer deeper engagement. Conversations with Gemini Live aren’t just transactional—users can interrupt or change topics mid-conversation without losing context. This enhanced fluidity is key to Google’s vision of creating an assistant that feels more intuitive and capable of solving real-life problems, whether you're navigating a calendar, managing to-dos, or discussing more compl...

Apple Backs Out of OpenAI Investment Talks Amid Ongoing AI Race Introduction In a surprising move, Apple has reportedly withdrawn from discussions to invest in OpenAI, the company behind the revolutionary ChatGPT AI chatbot. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple was poised to join a major funding round expected to raise $6.5 billion for OpenAI, but recently dropped out without offering a public explanation. The decision comes at a time when the artificial intelligence sector is more competitive than ever, with companies vying to stake their claim in the rapidly evolving landscape. A Missed Opportunity or a Strategic Shift? Apple’s withdrawal raises eyebrows, given the massive valuation attached to OpenAI, which is projected to exceed $100 billion after this funding round. OpenAI's ChatGPT launched in 2022 and quickly became the flagship product of a burgeoning AI boom. Apple’s participation in this round would have cemented its involvement in a high-profile AI venture at a cr...

Navigating the Arcane World of Domain Hosting: DNS and Nameservers Explained Dealing With Domain Hosting and DNS For many people, dealing with domain hosting and DNS settings is the part of building a website that sparks the most confusion. While coding and programming might feel straightforward, the invisible infrastructure of the internet—DNS, nameservers, and record types—can feel like stepping into an ancient temple full of mysterious rituals. Dive into Technical Details In this article, we’re not going to ask you to roll up your sleeves and dive into the technical details. Instead, we’re going to walk through some of the terms and concepts you might encounter on a typical domain registrar dashboard, explaining what they mean and how they affect your website. Then, you can confidently collaborate with your hosting company’s live agents when you need to make changes. DNS (Domain Name System): The Internet’s Phonebook At its heart, DNS is like the phonebook of the internet. When you ...

Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W: Brings Wi-Fi to the Newest Pico Device Mysterious Raspberry Pi RM2 Wi-Fi Chip The Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W has arrived on the microcontroller scene, bringing with it a groundbreaking feature—the mysterious Raspberry Pi RM2 Wi-Fi chip. This board represents a significant step forward for the Pico family, building on the success of the Raspberry Pi Pico and Pico W with enhanced connectivity and storage. With Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and expanded memory, the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W sets a new benchmark for versatile, small-scale computing. A Powerful Evolution of the Pico Series At the core of the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W lies the RP2350B, a dual-core SoC offering either Arm Cortex M33 or RISC-V Hazard3 architecture, with a clock speed of up to 150 MHz. This processing power is complemented by 8MB of PSRAM and 16MB of QSPI flash storage, a substantial upgrade from the 4MB flash in the Raspberry Pi Pico 2. With these specs, the Pico Plus 2 W is poised to handle more complex tas...

Bython: Python's Fun New Twist—Braces Included! Python and Indentation Python has long been beloved for its clean syntax and readable code, allowing developers to focus on writing efficient, elegant programs. But there’s one thing that’s sparked debate: the reliance on indentation. While some find Python’s whitespace rules charming, others—particularly those coming from brace-heavy languages—wish for more structural clarity. Enter Bython, the Python with braces, giving developers the best of both worlds: Python’s simplicity with the structure of languages like C and Java. Why Bython Exists...And Why You Should Care Let’s face it: for some, Python’s whitespace sensitivity is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it forces clean code, but on the other, it’s easy to trip up on invisible formatting issues. Bython solves that by bringing back good old braces {} to structure code blocks, just like the “classics.” Now...

Raspberry Pi's AI Ambitions Spark Excitement with First AI Product Release Raspberry Pi AI Kit Raspberry Pi, a company known for democratizing computing with affordable hardware, has taken its first step into the artificial intelligence space with the release of its AI Kit, an accessory designed to pair with the newly released Raspberry Pi 5. Launched in June, the AI Kit has already generated significant demand, pointing toward a future where AI use cases may become a central part of Raspberry Pi’s offerings.  Intended for Machine Learning and AI Projects CEO Eben Upton is optimistic, describing the AI Kit as a mass-market product rather than a niche tool, highlighting its appeal to both hobbyists and industrial users. “We’ve seen very, very robust demand for this product,” Upton said during an analyst briefing. The AI Kit is intended for machine learning and AI projects, showing Raspberry Pi’s shift toward more advanced computing solutions. More AI Products in the Near Future Perh...

Unlocking AI Vision with the Raspberry Pi AI Kit: A Game Changer for Computer Vision Enthusiasts Brings AI-Based Vision Apps to Your Raspberry Pi 5 Artificial Intelligence can seem like an exclusive domain—complex, resource-hungry, and reserved for the big players. But the Raspberry Pi AI Kit changes the narrative, especially if your interests lie in computer vision. Developed with Hailo, this AI Kit is designed to bring high-performance AI-based vision applications to your Raspberry Pi 5, empowering makers and hobbyists to explore real-time neural networks without breaking a sweat. At just $70, it opens the door to AI-powered camera projects that once seemed out of reach. Elevating Your Camera Projects For many enthusiasts, the idea of real-time object detection or pose estimation feels like something reserved for research labs or cutting-edge tech companies. However, the Raspberry Pi AI Kit makes it possible to run advanced computer vision applications right from your desk. With the ...

OpenAI Rolls Out Advanced Voice Mode with New Features and Voices Advanced Voice Mode OpenAI has officially launched its Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) for a wider set of users, bringing more natural-sounding conversations to ChatGPT. This rollout, initially available to paying customers in the Plus and Teams tiers, marks a significant step forward in how users can interact with the AI via voice. Enterprise and educational users are set to receive access in the coming week. New Design As part of this update, AVM comes with a fresh design overhaul. A blue animated sphere now represents the feature, replacing the earlier animated black dots that were first showcased in May. Users will see a notification within the app when AVM is available, conveniently located next to the voice icon. New Voices and Enhanced Personalization Alongside the design update, OpenAI has introduced five new voices: Arbor, Maple, Sol, Spruce, and Vale. This expands the total number of voices to nine, all of which are ...

Amazon’s New Entry-Level Kindle Shines Brighter, Gets Faster 12th Generation Entry-Level Kindle Amazon is about to release the 12th generation of its entry-level Kindle, and if you’re a fan of e-readers, this new model brings several exciting upgrades. A leaked listing from a Spanish retailer indicates the device could hit shelves as early as September 30, 2024. This new Kindle packs a sharper display, faster performance, and a sleek design that should delight both first-time e-reader users and seasoned Kindle fans alike. A Brighter, More Crisp Reading Experience The most significant improvement in this 12th-gen Kindle is its six-inch, 300ppi E Ink display. With a screen that’s 25% brighter than its predecessor, you’ll be able to read comfortably in more environments, from the sunny outdoors to dimly lit rooms. Amazon has also improved the contrast, ensuring that text appears crisper and more defined. If you’re someone who likes to read before bed, the new dark mode, which inverts scre...

Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024): The Chromebook That’s Ready for Gaming and Productivity Powerful New Features Chromebooks have long been seen as budget-friendly, web-centric devices. But in recent years, companies like Acer have been pushing the boundaries, bringing in powerful features designed to make Chromebooks versatile enough for cloud gaming. The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) is the latest in this trend, with a few new tweaks and updates that keep it among the top picks for Chromebook enthusiasts. While the improvements are subtle, this device stands as a great option for those who want a machine that’s equally adept at work and cloud gaming. A Minor Processor Bump but Major Versatility For those already using last year’s 516 GE model, the upgrades in the 2024 version might not seem worth the leap. The most noticeable change is the processor upgrade from an Intel Core i5-1240P to an i5-120U. In real-world use, you likely won’t notice a significant boost in speed. Howeve...

RP2350 Chip Flaw Causes Setbacks in Raspberry Pi's Latest Offering Significant Obstacle Uncovered The tech world buzzed with excitement in August when Raspberry Pi unveiled its RP2350 microcontroller in its Pico 2 microcontroller. This quad-core dual-architecture chip, featuring RISC-V cores, was poised to be the successor to the wildly popular RP2040, which is at the heart of the Pico 1 microcontroller. However, the path to innovation is rarely smooth, and the RP2350 has encountered a significant obstacle that's causing ripples throughout the maker community. Erratum RP2350-E9: A Flaw in the Silicon At the heart of the issue lies a hardware fault dubbed "erratum RP2350-E9." This flaw causes general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins to "latch" at approximately 2.15V, creating a persistent high state that refuses to return to a low state. Initially discovered and reported by Ian Lesnet of Dangerous Prototypes, this bug has proven to be more pervasive than init...

Linux on Chromebook: Unlocking the Power of Debian Introduction Chromebooks have come a long way from being simple devices designed primarily for web browsing. One of the most exciting developments in their evolution is the introduction of Linux on Chromebook, often simply referred to as Linux in the settings. This feature allows users to run a full Linux environment alongside Chrome OS, significantly expanding the device's capabilities.  Crostini and Debian While tech enthusiasts may recognize terms like Crostini and Debian, these names don’t appear in the interface. Chrome OS users only see the word "Linux" when enabling this feature.  Let's take a look at these two names that are associated with Linux on Chromebook. What’s Behind the Name? Crostini was the internal codename for the project at Google that brought Linux to Chromebooks. While this term is still sometimes used by those deeply familiar with the development of Chrome OS, it's not a term you'll fi...

More Fun With CSV Files in Linux: Sorting, Swapping, and Appending with csvtool Introduction CSV files are a flexible and widely-used format, and Linux provides some excellent tools for working with them. One tool that often flies under the radar is csvtool , a lightweight utility that lets you perform basic operations like sorting, swapping rows and columns, and even appending multiple files. In this article, we'll explore these features and work through a few examples using  csvtool  to manipulate CSV files on Linux.  Installing  csvtool Before we dive into the commands, let’s ensure  csvtool  is installed on your system. $ sudo apt update <ENTER> $ sudo apt install cvstool <ENTER> This will install  csvtool  and allow you to start working with CSV files right away. Sorting CSV Files Sorting CSV files is a helpful way to organize your data. Let's start with a simple CSV file called  data.csv : $ cat data.csv <ENTER> Name,A...

  Fun with CSV Files in Linux: Viewing, Editing, and Parsing Introduction CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files are a widely used and simple format for storing tabular data. While they are often associated with spreadsheet applications, CSV files play a significant role in system administration, programming, and data science due to their versatility. In this article, we’ll explore how to view, edit, and parse CSV files in Linux, leveraging powerful command-line tools that make working with this format a breeze. Create a CSV File For this lesson, let's first begin by creating a CSV file we can work with.  In vi or  vim  or nano , create a file called yourfile.csv and enter the following text: Name,City,Age,Amount Joe,Dallas,29,1000 Henry,Fort Worth,33,500 Kelly,Tulsa,40,2000 John,Houston,37,5000 Viewing CSV Files in Linux When working with CSV files, your first step is often to view their conte...