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Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, takes a new step in using artificial intelligence models. After last month’s introduction of a conversational mode based on the same artificial intelligence model that powers ChatGPT, Bing is now tackling image generation. Microsoft’s chatbot can create corresponding visuals from a short description and a few keywords.

Bing Image Creator, a virtual artist powered by DALL∙E

With the launch of the new version of Bing that integrates its conversation robot, Microsoft has found the best way to convince Internet users to use its products. The Redmond-based company, which says it has had more than 100 million conversations with its chatbot, risks panicking its counters again by using Bing Image Creator.

This new module, integrated directly into Bing’s conversation mode, allows users to generate images with a simple description. In your own words, you can ask Microsoft’s search engine to create the visuals you want to see. The Bing chatbot, in addition to leveraging GPT-4, can now rely on the power of DALL∙E, the generative artificial intelligence model dedicated to the image developed by OpenAI.

“For those who already have access to the Bing Preview, Bing Image Creator will be fully integrated into the Bing Chat experience and will be launched in creative mode first. By entering a description of an image, providing additional context such as a location or activity, or selecting an art style, Image Creator creates an image of your own imagination,” Microsoft explains in its blog post. “Just type something like ‘Draw Image’ or ‘Create Image’ to launch your command prompt,” Microsoft continues with a screenshot.

©Microsoft

Microsoft also states that this preview of Bing Image Creator will be available in both Bing and Edge. To use it in Microsoft web browser, just click on the Bing Image Creator icon grafted to the toolbar on the right side of the window. By integrating Bing Image Creator into its browser, Microsoft Edge makes it the first and only web browser to integrate image generation tools powered by artificial intelligence.

©Microsoft

Bing Image Creator restricted against abuse

As with Bing’s Conversation mode, which derailed multiple times, Bing Image Creator will have safeguards, including clamps, to prevent misuse. Thus, the module automatically blocks any potentially harmful or dangerous images that could be generated by the prompting of a user who is warned at the same time. In addition, images created with Bing Image Creator are automatically identified. Microsoft intends to put the Bing icon on each of them to inform users who come across them that the image they are looking at is the result of an AI.

Microsoft says it has already started rolling out Bing Image Creator to users who already have access to Bing Preview, both on desktop and mobile. If you don’t yet have access to the latest version of Bing, you can Try Bing Image Creator by clicking this link.

Is it a question of money? Or simply a desire to offer enthusiasts an even more polished edition of a video game? The fact is that two years after the release of the original title, the developers of Obsidian and the publishers of Private Division have launched an “improved” version of the very good SF RPG The Outer Worlds… with a pile of problems and bugs .

The basic idea was enticing nonetheless: a game that’s already quite titanic, with several dozen hours of gameplay in reserve, including two very good pieces of additional content, Peril on Gorgon and Murder on Erianos, all of which are said to have been tweaked to better accommodate more varied and updated textures present lighting etc.

In short, everything you need to enjoy the excellent game developed by the same studio that had its first glory hours developing Fallout: New Vegas, which ironically is an extension of the Fallout 3 role-playing game, surely, but also well better game than its “big brother”.

The problem with this “Spacer’s Choice” edition, named after a ubiquitous enterprise on this planet that requires the player to solve many puzzles, in particular to rescue hundreds of thousands of colonists who have been trapped in an artificial sleep for decades and left in orbit , is twice as high.

First of all, there is reason to wonder why just three years after the launch of the original version of the game and just under two years after the release of the second and final expansion, the developers were called in to produce an “improved” version of Were the Big Bosses Featuring not satisfied with the original result? However, critics are dithyrambic for this title, which was also highly anticipated, increasing the pressure on the creators.

Did we just want to revive the attention that The Outer Worlds has been given without racking our brains to add another script piece to the puzzle and going through the trouble of creating a new expansion? It’s also a bit surprising – and disappointing – to realize that this update isn’t free, but instead is being offered for fifteen dollars, on top of the base game and the two expansions.

But what’s most annoying is that while the textures and lighting seem reasonably more interesting, the performance issues have been multiplied. When starting a new game, the first fight actually resulted in at least half a second of content being lost, so to speak. When pulling the trigger to use the first weapon offered to the player and knocking down an enemy, the game went straight from using the weapon to the moment when the enemy was on the ground and killed with a bullet to the head. no trace of the impact or fall of the body.

That’s why this special edition has the dubious slogan of the Spacer’s Choice company hanging in the game, which roughly means that the company offers products of dubious quality, but that you only have to buy their products, a step that several disappointed players quickly took.

Since launch, the developers have worked hard to fix issues and ensure this improvement is a real improvement, but first impressions are often the most important, even when gaming. And by the looks of it, it’s hard, if not impossible, to recommend spending $14 to end up with a less-than-pleasant experience. You may have to wait several months before changing your mind. Fortunately, in the meantime, the original game and its expansions are still available…

The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Editor: private department

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Windows (tested on Windows / Steam)

Game available in French (interface and subtitles)

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On the occasion of Francophonie Month, the Pieuvre.ca team would like to emphasize its attachment to the quality of the French language. That’s why we use Antidote every day to revise our lyrics.

A little over a year after its release, Elden Ring is still unleashing the passions of gamers around the world. You have to believe that the From Software game was able to find it the happy medium between difficulty and enjoyment in the development of its flagship title. Discover the reasons for this resounding success!

The Elden Ring Phenomenon

Elden Ring is an action role-playing game developed by From Software, available for PC and consoles since February 2022. Acclaimed by critics and playershe was holy Game of the Year at the Games Awards. This title is based on a rich universe, a complete combat system and a very well built open world. Since its release, millions of players have faced the many fearsome bosses and enemies.

Impressive statistics

To celebrate the game’s first anniversary, Bandai Namco has shared an infographic that reveals several notable stats:

• Players have initiated boss fights 5.9 billion times
• The total death toll is close to 9 billion, inclusive 2% due to invasion of other players

The list of the most tempting bosses

According to Bandai Namco, here is the ranking of the most frequently faced bosses:

Interestingly, two early game bosses are among the most tempting, namely the Limgrave Tree Sentinel and Margit The Fell Omen.

Malenia, the most feared boss

Despite the overall difficulty of the game, one boss in particular stands out for its complexity: Malenia, Blade of Miquella. With a total of 329 million attempts, she has become the most attempted foe by Elden Ring players. The popularity of this boss is not only due to its difficulty, but also to its design and compelling story.

Always a new challenge

Since its release in February 2022, Elden Ring has constantly inspired players to take on new challenges. Some hardcore fans try to push the boundaries by performing absurd and spectacular feats. For example, a player named Let me solo set out to complete a new challenge of defeating Malenia using only duplicates of Miquella’s sword.

A promising future for Elden Ring

With such enthusiasm for the game and numbers to testify to its popularity, Elden Ring seems to have a bright future ahead. The developers continue to support the title with regular updates as the community continues to grow. In 2023 it will be interesting to see how this video game phenomenon evolves and if new challenges will capture the imagination of players.

to play online

The broadest system portfolio, from cloud to edge, with support for NVIDIA HGX H100 systems, L40 and L4 GPUs, and OVX 3.0 systems

SAN JOSE, California, March 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Supermicro, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI), a comprehensive provider of AI/ML, cloud, storage and 5G/edge computing solutions, today announced that it has started shipping its new high-end GPU servers with the latest NVIDIA HGX H100 8- system has started. Supermicro servers integrate the new NVIDIA L4 Tensor Core GPU into a wide range of application-optimized servers, from the edge to the data center.

“Supermicro offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of GPU systems, including 8U, 6U, 5U, 4U, 2U, and 1U servers, as well as SuperBlade workstations and systems supporting the full range of new NVIDIA H100 GPUs said Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro. “With our new NVIDIA HGX H100 Delta-Next server, customers can expect a 9x performance increase over the previous generation for AI training applications. Our GPU servers feature an innovative airflow design that reduces fan speed, lowers noise levels, and consumes less power, reducing total cost of ownership (TCO). In addition, we offer complete rack-scale liquid cooling options for customers looking to future-proof their data centers. »

This new 8U GPU server, Supermicro’s most powerful, is now available in bulk. The new Supermicro 8U server is optimized for AI, DL, ML and HPC workloads and is powered by the NVIDIA HGX H100 8 GPU with the highest GPU-to-GPU communication with the most advanced NVIDIA NVLink® 4.0 technology and fast NVSwitch connections, and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand and Spectrum-4 Ethernet networks to break down AI barriers at scale. In addition, Supermicro offers several performance-optimized GPU server configurations, including direct attach/single root/dual root CPUs to GPUs and front or rear I/O models with AC and DC power supplies in standard and OCP CC rack configurations. The Supermicro X13 SuperBlade® chassis accommodates 20 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core PCIe GPUs or 40 NVIDIA L40 GPUs in an 8U chassis. Additionally, up to 10 NVIDIA H100 PCIe GPUs or 20 NVIDIA L4 Tensor Core GPUs can be used in a 6U chassis. These new systems offer optimized acceleration ideal for running NVIDIA AI Enterprise, the software layer of the NVIDIA AI platform.

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Liquid cooling on these servers is also supported by many GPU servers. In addition, Supermicro announces a liquid-cooled AI development system (in tower or rack configuration) with two CPUs and four NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs that is ideal for office and home office environments and in departmental and corporate groups can be used.

Supermicro systems support the new NVIDIA L4 GPU, which multiplies acceleration and power efficiency over previous generations. The same applies to AI inference, video streaming, virtual desktops and graphics applications in enterprise, cloud and edge. Powered by NVIDIA’s AI platform and comprehensive approach, the L4 is optimized for large-scale inference across a wide range of AI applications such as recommendations, voice assistants, chatbots, research, and contact center automation to deliver the best personalized experiences. As NVIDIA’s most efficient accelerator for consumer servers, the L4 delivers up to 4x better AI performance, increased power efficiency, and more than 3x better video streaming capacity and efficiency with support for AV1 encode/decode. The L4 GPU’s versatility for inference and visualization, along with its small size, energy efficiency, one-slot, low profile, and low power consumption (72W) make it ideal for global deployments, including in peripheral areas.

“By arming Supermicro servers with the unprecedented performance of the new NVIDIA L4 Tensor Core GPU, customers can efficiently and sustainably accelerate their workloads,” said Dave Salvator, director of accelerated computing products at NVIDIA. “Optimized for consumer applications, the NVIDIA L4 features a low-profile form factor that operates in a low-power 72W envelope and enables new heights of AI performance and efficiency at the edge. »

Supermicro’s new accelerated PCIe solutions enable the creation of 3D worlds, digital twins, 3D simulation models and industrial metaverses. In addition to supporting previous generations of NVIDIA OVX™ systems, Supermicro offers an OVX 3.0 configuration with four NVIDIA L40 GPUs, two NVIDIA ConnectX®-7 SmartNICs, one NVIDIA BlueField®-3 DPU, and the latest NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise™ software at.

To learn more about all of Supermicro’s new advanced GPU systems, visit: https://www.supermicro.com/en/accelerators/nvidia

Learn more about Supermicro at NVIDIA GTC 2023 – https://register.nvidia.com/events/widget/nvidia/gtcspring2023/sponsorcatalog/exhibitor/1564778120132001ghs2/?ncid=ref-spo-128510

About Super Micro Computers, Inc.

Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a leading global provider of application-optimized computing solutions. Supermicro was founded and operates in San Jose, California. It strives to provide market-leading innovations for enterprise, cloud, AI and 5G telco/edge computing infrastructures. We are transforming into a comprehensive IT solution provider with server, AI, storage, IoT and switch systems, software and services while providing advanced motherboards, power supplies and high-volume chassis. Products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the United States, Taiwan and the Netherlands), leveraging and optimizing global operations for scale and efficiency to improve total cost of ownership and reduce environmental impact (green IT). Server Building Block Solutions® award-winning product portfolio enables customers to optimize their workloads and applications by choosing from a wide range of systems comprised of our flexible, reusable building blocks, which include a full range of form factors, processors, memory and Graphics processing support devices, storage, networking, power and cooling solutions (air conditioning, free air cooling or liquid cooling).

Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and “We Keep IT Green” are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Other brands, names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Still in this context of expectation, given the conclusions of the CMA expected on April 26, Microsoft and Sony are engaged in an unprecedented media and diplomatic duel. Microsoft said today that the versions of Call of Duty destined for Sony consoles may turn out to be better optimized, but that’s not the only argument Microsoft has to use to try and push the acquisition.

10 years access to Call of Duty, enough for Sony to develop a new FPS?

These new statements come from Microsoft’s response to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Redmond-based company renews its desire to release every new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation on the same day as on Xbox for a period of ten years, with full parity in terms of content and features.

Nevertheless, in response to a question from the CMA, Microsoft also claims that 10 years would be enough for Sony to develop a competitor or at least a serious alternative to Call of Duty:

“Microsoft believes 10 years for Sony as the leading console publisher and platform is sufficient to develop alternatives to CoD.

The 10-year period extends to the next generation of consoles. Additionally, the fix’s practical impact extends beyond the 10-year period, as games downloaded in the last year of the fix can continue to be played for the life of that console (and beyond, thanks to backwards compatibility). ).”

Knowing the cultural impact and popularity of the Call of Duty license, we may have questions about this new claim from Microsoft. On the contrary, Sony declared that it would be impossible to replace Call of Duty when the license disappeared from its consoles, and this remark seems quite realistic.

This is certainly not the Redmond company’s best argument, but it will have to await the verdict of the CMA, which has until April 26 to rule on the agreement.

To find all the key points of the affair between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, we recommend that you watch our summary video to understand everything about the issues surrounding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, as well as our full dossier on the subject.

Jean Benoit Legault, The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — A new initiative involving the organization Les Petits Frères aims to tackle malnutrition among the elderly, a scourge that existed before the pandemic but seems to have increased during the health crisis.

The project, announced on Tuesday, details of which were first revealed to The Canadian Press, aims primarily to equip the organization’s volunteers to be better able to recognize and address malnutrition that seniors can suffer from to react.

The three factsheets developed will also be distributed online to “multiply the eyes” that can spot the problem, explained Professor Nancy Presse, an expert from the University of Sherbrooke who is taking part in the initiative.

“Senior citizens who live alone are behind closed doors, behind apartment or house doors,” said Ms. Presse. We asked ourselves how to identify those who have problems such as B. Difficulty shopping for groceries, financial difficulties… how do we find them? And we came up with the idea of ​​calling community organizations (…) that have volunteers in contact with seniors.”

A survey conducted last fall of around 300 seniors accompanied by Les Petits Frères found that 25% of them were not eating three meals a day and were struggling to get groceries at an affordable price. All survey participants were 75 years and older and lived on the island of Montreal or Longueuil.

In another survey conducted online between June and December 2022 of 68 seniors accompanied by the Little Brothers volunteers, 41% of participants said they had lost weight involuntarily. “Unintentional, unintentional weight loss is always a red flag,” Nancy told Presse. Always.”

A quarter of the seniors surveyed said they had difficulty eating. Mobility problems, health problems and a grocery store far from home are cited as the main explanations.

Almost half of the participants stated that they find it difficult or sometimes difficult to prepare meals, mainly because they lack the motivation to do so. Almost eight out of ten seniors reported having difficulty eating because of physical problems such as pain or loss of strength. 44 percent named problems with chewing, swallowing and choking.

“We get updates on (elderly malnutrition) quite a lot, but personally I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Joanne Parmenter, area director of Les Petits Frères du Grand Montréal.

A little under half of the 1,000 seniors the organization supports in the area can no longer eat properly, she continues, often because they are now alone and don’t want to eat alone.

Additionally, during the online survey, 31% of respondents said that “eating in good company” would help them increase their appetite. 37 percent of seniors reported eating alone every day.

“These people still have a pride,” Ms. Parmenter said. They raise their hands less and less to get help, they no longer have the energy to fight to actually get their needs met. What’s the use, they say to themselves, because they really are being left alone.

An empty fridge, a fridge full of expired groceries, seemingly innocuous phrases or baggy clothing are among the signs that could draw the attention of those who work with seniors, whether volunteers or neighbors.

One of the files is therefore dedicated exclusively to these alarm signals. Another attempts to publicize senior malnutrition, and a final offers some ways to deal with the problem.

“We wanted it to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Everyone,” Ms. Parmenter said. What do you need to know to keep elders from falling into the malnutrition spiral?”

The goal is not to turn volunteers into health workers, Ms. Presse said. On the other hand, we want to empower them to start a dialogue with the senior, make them understand that they have a problem and see how we can accompany them in finding community organizations that can help them.

Not all seniors have access to the internet or are comfortable using it, she added. It can then be difficult for them to find the available resources, further increasing their isolation.

“It will make sure that we don’t find (the older person) in six months at 87 pounds very thin and then very fragile to get all sorts of infections or fall because he lost his muscle mass,” the researcher illustrated.

In addition to the Sherbrooke University Research Center and the Les Petits Frères organization, the City of Montreal and the Regional Health Department are also involved in this project.