Sean Hollister

Senior Editor

Sean HollisterMay 10, 2023

Sundar is pumped about AI.

Sean HollisterMay 10, 2023

Genuinely curious: would Korean coders appreciate this from their English-speaking colleagues?

One of Google’s many AI examples from Google I/O. This one uses Google’s just-announced PaLM 2 language model.

Sean HollisterMay 9, 2023

Fix your Framework Laptop’s vampire battery drain.

If you’ve got an HDMI or DisplayPort expansion card, it might be sucking down juice — but Framework will now let you flash firmware (DP) and solder a jumper wire (HDMI) to fix the issue. The company will also ship the new versions by default with its new AMD and Intel 13th Gen laptops, and you can buy ‘em from the company’s parts store soon.

Getting ready to ship 13th Gen and announcing power saving Expansion Cards

[Framework]

See the first five Lego sets designed in a competition anyone can enter

Sean HollisterMay 8, 2023

Sean HollisterMay 6, 2023

Midjourney just turned on free trials again, this weekend only.

The AI image generator’s free demos are back! Submit your prompts in this Discord’s “newbie” rooms, starting with the /imagine command. The company halted its free trials back in March, blaming an influx of new users; it might also have to do with how v5.0’s images looked too real. The new v5.1 is more artistic, at least to my eye.

You can also try -- niji to get anime-inspired art like the one I made below.

prompt: all four members of Blackpink performing at Coachella, in the daytime, underneath a blue sky, landscape, 4K wallpaper, by Makoto Shinkai — niji 5

See alt text for full prompt.

Image: Midjourney

Sean HollisterMay 5, 2023

Valve’s massive Steam makeover continues.

The biggest UI refresh in ages, a floating notepad, and today Valve has also updated search to surface tags, series, devs and pubs. Check out Arkane’s full catalog to see just how far Redfall fell from the tree — or maybe find a better “co-op” game to play?

Search can now detect misspellings too — but can be weird. Why would “mster” surface results for Modern Warfare instead of The Master Chief Collection?

Updated Steam store search

[Steam News Hub - Valve]

Sean HollisterMay 3, 2023

See-thru screen-equipped supercap SSD.

The Dockcase Explorer Edition is the coolest-looking M.2 enclosure money can buy. A little half-baked, though. If you’re a transparent gadget connoisseur, this see-through USB-C hub is also on the way.