Technology News

According to the latest 2023 Afnic study, Succeeding with the web, VSEs/SMEs are confirming their online presence but still need to make progress in their practices. As they master the various online presence tools, there is room for improvement, particularly in raising awareness of security and privacy issues.

An online presence

The study shows a mapping of the online presence of micro-enterprises, VSEs and SMEs. 65% of the responding companies state that they have a website that already has a real online presence, even for very small structures. This percentage rises to 83% for SMEs and VSE. At the same time, 82% of them are active in social networks. In addition, 65% of companies declare that they systematically respond to comments and reviews on the web, while 58% work on the natural referencing of their website. If they have an online presence, 66% of those surveyed primarily want to present their activity, but for 49% it is also about being easily identified or even communicating with their customers and prospects (45%). Only 34% do this to sell their products and services online. Still, only 39% say they end up at the top of search engine results.

Best practices related to safety need to be strengthened

This Afnic study reveals indicators of the integration of security and privacy measures that show us that there is some awareness of business risks, but that needs to be strengthened through greater use of tools and adoption of best practices. Only 42% of them make regular backups of their data (sites, databases, etc.) and 31% of their configuration (system, CMS, etc.). It should be noted that 42% have implemented security solutions such as firewalls or antivirus programs (85% of SMEs) and that 41% regularly update security patches (system, software, extensions, etc.). Security audits are not popular as only 10% of them say they do security audits.

Work on your SEO

It remains necessary for SMEs to work on their referencing (or SEO for Search Engine Optimization) to increase visibility, since this control would allow them to increase the visibility of their website on search engines, which would generate organic traffic and attract new visitors . This work could also benefit them by allowing them to gain credibility or improve their content relevance. By working on both your SEO and the relevancy of your website’s content, you’ll effectively respond to internet user requests. This could help you better understand your target audience and improve user experience.

Some reflexes in cybersecurity

Here are some cybersecurity best practices that organizations can implement to protect their systems and data:

• Employee Awareness: Businesses should regularly educate and educate their employees on IT security risks, including phishing attacks, passwords, remote access, and general security practices.
• Regular Updates: Organizations should keep their systems, software and applications up to date with the latest security patches to avoid known vulnerabilities.
• Access Security: Businesses need to ensure access to their systems and data is secure, with strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Employee access should be limited to the information and tools they need to do their jobs.
• Regular Backups: Businesses should perform regular backups of their data to avoid data loss in the event of an incident.
• Use of security software: Businesses should use security software such as antivirus, firewall, and intrusion detection software to protect their systems.
• Mobile Device Management: Organizations should implement a mobile device management policy to protect corporate data stored on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.
• Physical Access Control: Organizations must control physical access to their premises and servers to prevent unauthorized individuals from entering and accessing systems and data.

Ubisoft, the developer of popular games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, has announced that it is using an AI ghostwriting tool to write dialogue for some of its games, aiming to make NPCs (non-playable characters) individually interesting and realistic make , with less manual labor.

The company states that the tool won’t replace video game scriptwriters, but instead allows facilitating the task of writing “barks,” which are phrases or sounds made by the NPCs during a triggered event . Ghostwriter generates early drafts to give writers more time to focus on the storytelling itself.

Chatter and barking from the crowd are central elements of player immersion in games – NPCs talking to each other, enemy dialogue during combat or a change triggered by entering an area, all of this offers a more realistic experience of the world and gives the Players have a sense that the game around them exists outside of their actions,” Ubisoft wrote in a blog post.

However, both require time and creative effort on the part of the writers that could be expended on other essential elements of the plot. Ghostwriter buys this time, but leaves the writers with a degree of creative control.

As games get bigger, it becomes more difficult for authors to make NPCs interesting and realistic. How do you make each interaction with them—especially if there are hundreds—separately? That’s where Ghostwriter comes in, an in-house AI tool developed by La Forge, Ubisoft’s research and development division.

Ghostwriter does not replace the video game screenwriter, but makes one of his most tedious tasks easier: writing boats. Ghostwriter actually generates the initial drafts of Barks – phrases or noises made by NPCs during a triggered event – giving screenwriters more time to refine the narrative elsewhere. Ben Swanson, R&D researcher at La Forge Montreal, is the creator of Ghostwriter.

The Beginnings of Ghost Writers

Ben’s interest in creative applications of natural language processing began during his PhD in Computer Science at Brown University, where he took a course in digital literature with two creative writers from Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design. This course introduced Ben to the idea of ​​creating artworks using generative models and has since explored the possibilities of combining this technology and creative writing. This interest led him to Google where he worked at Stadia Games and Entertainment in 2019, then from Latitude to AIDungeon where he continued his research on machine learning and published an article on the subject in 2021.

In 2021, Ben was inspired to join Ubisoft as he was intrigued by a GDC talk by the Watch Dogs team. I actually attended a Watch Dogs: Legion narrative design conference and was very impressed, he explains. “I thought I’d like to work on something like this with professional writing teams, so I applied.”

This coincidence allowed Ben to get in touch with Ubisoft La Forge, which was already looking for a solution to some of its technological issues. “It was the perfect timing because they were looking for someone who could do exactly what I wanted to do.

Ben’s desire to work with professional and like-minded teams materialized when he began working with team members from La Forge in China, whose expertise in UX/UI and web application development has enabled the creation of a tool that is now ready to go : ghostwriter.

The spirit of the AI ​​is present

Ghostwriter is the result of conversations with narrative designers that revealed a challenge, a challenge that Ben believes could be solved with an AI tool. Chatter and barking from the crowd are central elements of player immersion in games – NPCs talking to each other, hostile dialogue during combat, or a switch triggered by entering an area are all elements that offer a more realistic experience of the world and make the player feel like they want the game around them to exist outside of their actions. However, both types of dialogue require writers’ time and creative efforts that could be expended on other essential plot elements. Ghostwriter buys this time, but leaves the writers with a degree of creative control.

Rather than writing the initial drafts themselves, Ghostwriter allows authors to select and refine the patterns generated, Ben explains. In this way, technology is a tool used by teams to support them in their creative journey, with every interaction and feedback coming from the members using it.

Ubisoft has introduced Ghostwriter, an AI tool that generates NPC barks, the phrases said by characters when players interact with the game world. It should help screenwriters save time and create more realistic interactions.

Details: https://t.co/bY1FqOaFTe#ubisoft #HAVE pic.twitter.com/dYKY5EUI2U

— 80 LEVELS (@80Levels) March 22, 2023

To summarize the process, writers first create a character and some type of interaction or expression they want to create. Ghostwriter then offers a number of variants from which the author can then freely choose and modify according to his needs. This process uses pairwise comparison as an evaluation and improvement method. This means that Ghostwriter offers two choices for each variant generated, which are compared and selected by the author. Once the choice is made, the tool learns from the preferred choice and becomes more efficient and accurate after thousands of people have made choices.

Challenges and worldwide support

Working with Ubisoft La Forge with this cutting-edge technology has not been without its challenges. AI in video games is not a new concept as most associate this technology with NPC behavior. However, this concept of machine learning is restrictive in its real-world implications, as the industry now sees a place and need not only for AI tools, but also for machines that can learn through feedback. Ben’s research and work on ghostwriting, as well as his collaboration with teams around the world, has resulted in an AI infrastructure at Ubisoft that recognizes this potential, while working hand-in-hand with narrative designers to guide their storytelling and creativity support games.

However, working with like-minded teams and adopting the tool from the Ubisoft design was only half the battle, as Ben explains that the goal now is to support production adoption of the tool. Working closely with authors allows the team to understand their needs to better tailor the tool to each game’s unique worlds. Technologies such as ghostwriting require that authors not only learn to use the tool, but also integrate it into their video game production processes .

The team’s goal is to bring these AI capabilities to narrative designers, who will eventually be able to create their own AI system, customized to their own design needs. To do this, they created an easy-to-use website called Ernestine, which allows anyone to create their own machine learning models to be used in Ghostwriter. They hope teams will consider ghostwriting before they start storytelling and create their models with a vision in mind, making the technology an integral part of the production pipeline.

Source: Ubisoft

And you ?

What is your opinion on the topic?

See also:

Epic Games has to pay $245 million for tricking users into paying unwanted fees. FTC will use the money to compensate consumers

Star Citizen is still a long way from a beta, but it’s experiencing server outages after launching its biggest update, which includes Persistent Entity Streaming technology.

SpaceX has ordered the destruction of newly launched next-generation Starlink satellites.

A Starlink satellite entering the atmosphere // Created via Midjourney by Frandroid

In February 2023, SpaceX launched 21 next-generation Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. These satellites, which are about twice as heavy (about 790 kg), should be able to offer four times the data rate of the first generation.

They will also enable satellite communication via smartphones and other mobile devices, but also vehicles (e.g. cars). However, not everything goes as planned.

Not everything goes as planned

Experts quickly observed that the new “Starlink V2 Mini” models behaved unusually shortly after their launch. Your height was wrong. SpaceX has just confirmed that some of the satellites are being intentionally destroyed.

Lots of new technologies in Starlink V2, so as expected there will be some issues.

Some sats will be deorbited, others will be thoroughly tested before increasing altitude above the space station.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 22, 2023

As confirmed by Elon Musk, part of the 21 satellites will therefore be destroyed. According to the SpaceX co-founder, they use “a lot of new technology,” so SpaceX expected difficulties might arise. These satellites are therefore destroyed when they enter the earth’s atmosphere. The others will continue to be “extensively tested” and then carefully launched into higher orbits.

Although destroying these satellites is costly, SpaceX cannot afford to take risks by leaving defective satellites in orbit. This could cause significant damage to the space environment and other orbiting satellites.

One of the most ambitious technological projects of the decade

The development of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious initiatives of the decade. As a reminder, the project aims to provide a faster and more reliable global internet connection through tens of thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit. 40,000 are planned, SpaceX has already launched more than 2,600 satellites. This fleet already represents more than a third of the approximately 6,000 artificial satellites in Earth orbit and two thirds of the American satellites.

However, the rapid development of Starlink brings with it many problems. The new technologies and advanced manufacturing processes required to build thousands of satellites at a rapid pace increase the risk of system failure and quality issues. However, the strong competitiveness in this area encourages SpaceX to take risks. The American company has to work fast to stay ahead of its competitors. Obviously, the financial stakes for SpaceX are enormous and any mistake is extremely costly.

Despite these risks, SpaceX has no choice. Consumer expectations for Internet connectivity are increasing and providers must respond quickly to these demands. SpaceX aims to maintain its leading position in the industry while new players such as Amazon come into play, which wants to compete with Starlink with its project called Kuiper. It is far from the only one, several constellation projects are deployed.

Our colleagues at are launching Watt Else, their newsletter dedicated to future mobility. Sign up here to make sure you get the next issue!

“It’s kind of a symbiotic relationship that I think we’ve both benefited from,” he said in an interview about the role of technology in education, adding, “Apple and China have grown together.”

Tim Cook’s speech comes at a time when Apple, the world’s largest company by market cap, is trying to shift manufacturing activities out of China.

Sales of Apple products have been penalized by factory production restrictions in 2022 due to China’s so-called “zero Covid” policy.

US controls on exports of high-tech components also threaten Apple’s supply chain. A subject Mr. Cook did not address during this exchange.

However, the Apple CEO stressed the need to bridge the education gap between schools in urban and rural areas. And he also encouraged young people to learn to code and develop their critical thinking.

Mr. Cook specifically pledged to increase Apple’s spending on its education program in rural China to 100 million yuan ($15.1 million).

He visited an Apple store in downtown Beijing on Friday and snapped a selfie with singer Huang Ling that went viral on Chinese social media.

© 2023 AFP

Très haut de gamme oblige, ces deux références promptly monts et merveilles en photo. Elles ne disposent toutefois pas de la même configuration. Oppo s’appuie sur des capteurs de 50 megapixels pour ses modules grand-angle et ultra grand-angle (f/1,7 et f/2,2), tandis qu’un troisième capteur de 13 Mpx, avec a teleobjectif équivalent à 52 mm, allowed to offer a size x2.

Côté Samsung, on s’appuie also sur a principal de 50 Mpx (grand-angle f/1.9), tandis qu’un second capteur de 50 Mpx est associé à an optic ultra grand-angle (f/2.2 ), and qu’un troisième de 10 Mpx est flanqué d’un objective au zoom optic 3x.

Comme vous pouvez le constater, les deux appareils se livrent un duel interesting. Le Find X5 Pro prend toutefois l’avantage grace à un rendu plus doux et naturel, notamment de nuit, meme si la colorimétrie se révèle un little plus froide. Comme tous les other models de sa gamme, le S23+ a une tendance à la surexposition qui le dessert sur notre scene de test. C’est beaucoup moins flagrant lors de prizes de vue réelles.

Le Galaxy S23+ ne démérite donc pas. La scene est nice et lisible, et des éléments compliqués à retranscrire (comme les cartes et leurs reflets) sont bien gérés. En revanche, on remarque une perte de detail assez importante sur les autres capteurs. C’est assez flagrant sur l’ultra grand-angle en journée, où le Oppo propose un rendu plus convaincant. Cette polyvalence lui permet de conserver l’avantage.

Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars will appear in the same part of the sky from nightfall, giving the illusion of their alignment. The ideal evening of observing is scheduled for Tuesday 28th, binoculars in hand.

Starting this Saturday, March 25, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars offer amateurs a beautiful optical illusion: that of their planetary alignment in the night sky, which can be observed for several days, weather permitting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXmWoy94tA

The star parade of the solar system

The affair begins at nightfall after a ballet, during which they take turns on stage and face west. The parade begins with Mercury and Jupiter, followed by the appearance of Venus, Mars, and Uranus, with the five planets of the solar system falling into this alignment for a brief moment before Mercury and Jupiter disappear fairly quickly an hour after dark.

Jupiter and Mercury, explains astronomy website Starwalk, will be “located in the constellation of Pisces, separated by about one degree. Higher in the sky, Venus will shine in the constellation of Aries,” near Uranus, which will require the use of binoculars will be necessary. It will be “at a distance of about 2° from Venus. Mars will join the alignment higher in the sky, near the first quarter Moon in the constellation of Gemini.”

Five planets will be visible from Earth this month, a great planetary alignment not to be missed! https://t.co/NODtHh6EMm pic.twitter.com/ARUtt8IW0g

—Abdulsatar Bochnak (@AbdulsatarBoch1) March 23, 2023

Tuesday, ideal evening if the weather cooperates

Specifically, Sud Ouest explains: “To see Jupiter and Mercury, you have to look down, at the horizon”. Venus, Le Figaro continues, will be the easiest to isolate because the evening star is “the third brightest object in the sky.” If you look up you should find “Uranus being close and Mars joining the alignment higher in the sky.”

This alignment, which actually corresponds to the simultaneous grouping of the five stars on the same side of the Sun, will be visible starting Saturday. It is “easiest” to watch on Tuesday and repeats until dusk on Wednesday evening. However, Sud Ouest and Starwalk remind us, “It remains a visual phenomenon. These planets aren’t really aligned in space. It’s all a matter of vantage point and view” from Earth.