Technology News

Observation tower at Mount Hereford: Project enters tender phase

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

SAINT-HERMÉNÉGILDE. The construction of an observation tower on Mount Hereford is moving to the next phase, namely the tender phase.

This Wednesday (February 21), a public notice was also published on the pages of Le Progrès de Coaticook confirming that the project is moving forward. Forêt Hereford general manager Sylvie Harvey hopes her organization will receive many applications. “This process is very standardized and very targeted. Therefore, it is difficult to say how many companies will be interested in the project,” she emphasizes.

The opening of submissions will take place on March 15th. The contracts will be formalized during the group's annual general meeting, scheduled for March 27.

Is the inauguration of the tower planned for this summer still possible? “We want to be a little more realistic and say that everything will be ready for this fall,” Ms. Harvey explains. It is very difficult to suggest a specific date until we open the offers and talk to the company that will carry out the work. We will know more at the end of March. »

This project, valued at just over $300,000, was launched in June 2023. The structure will have five levels, corresponding to the fingers of the surgical gloves Neil Tillotson used to use in his work. Mr. Tillotson is the one who donated the spaces to create different paths leading to the top of the mountain. Each of these levels will have glass access so that all visitors can see the landscapes, regardless of their size. The steel used will also be the same as that of the character silhouettes from “Path of the Pioneers”.

Remember that Forêt Hereford has launched a fundraising campaign. You could symbolically purchase a step in the tower. A total of 70 of them found buyers. “We completed the sale a month ago. People and companies are still on the waiting list. We would like to see if it is possible to add some to the current project,” explains the general director of Forêt Hereford.

The Coaticook MRC offered $50,000 in financial support to the project. The Tillotson North Country Foundation donated $15,000, with an additional donation of up to $5,000.

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Apple launches live sports scores

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

While its closest competitors are only interested in generative artificial intelligence, Apple is launching with… live sports scores. The iPhone maker launched a mobile application on Wednesday that aims to fill a gap in a sports and entertainment industry that appears to be still undergoing transformation.

The application, laconically called “Sports”, appears only for the iPhone, which may seem surprising for a company that has invested heavily in televising sports in recent years via its Apple TV platform.

It requires a bit of tinkering on the part of users, especially when it comes to the notifications sent to the phone's locked screen. It joins a whole range of other applications of the same type, including those from sports leagues and media. It provides quick live information that you can get at a glance about the results of past and current games, the time of upcoming games and the general and current performance of teams and players. from around ten professional leagues from around the world. These include the main North American major leagues as well as some European soccer leagues.

Apple's goal is to make its sports application a central point for live sports information for all interested leagues. For example, the Canadian Football League, which has been slow to make the digital transition, could take the first step in this direction by partnering with such an application.

On the condition that its partners include a company whose specialty is collecting data during its games. Because it is not the leagues themselves that manage their digital data, but third-party companies. And there are many. Bringing all these companies together to create a single application is a huge challenge, emphasized Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, at a conference with some media outlets.

Live sport is changing

The latter personally led the project because, as he says, there was a lack of a simple and quick way for even the least connected sports fans to follow all their favorite teams at once.

For Apple, it's a small gesture that says a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in the sports and entertainment industries. Digital platforms have discovered a huge appetite for live events recently, and esports offers them on a daily basis. In a State of the Media report published in 2023, Deloitte calculated that of the $50 billion it invested in video content last year, $6 billion went into acquiring live sports rights. It's a highlight.

While traditional television networks struggle to grow advertising revenue and see their subscriber numbers decline, digital giants have other ways to make this type of investment profitable.

Apple's sports application also displays the odds for each team by default to facilitate online sports betting, an increasingly central phenomenon in the world of professional sports. It will not be possible to bet directly in the application, but this opens up new marketing opportunities, both for Apple and for companies in this sector.

However, platforms' interest in sports has led to an outselling of competing and expensive services that consumers are becoming less and less fond of. In the same report cited previously, Deloitte concludes that the key to the success of these platforms is having the most comprehensive content offering. “It will take two or three rounds of broadcast rights negotiations before the future of live sports becomes clear,” the consultancy wrote. For platforms that operate for the long term, the key will be to integrate social media, sports betting, garage leagues and other digital engagement tools. »

Eddy Cue and Apple seem to have gotten the message.

To watch in the video

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Sony Pulse Elite Headset: The perfect companion for the PS5 console

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

Crystal clear sound, increased comfort, multipoint connection, retractable microphone and a more immersive gaming experience than ever before: Sony's new Pulse Elite headset is quickly establishing itself as a new benchmark in this field.

We admit that we were skeptical about the launch of this Pulse Elite. For what? Even after three years of use, the previous model – the Pulse 3D – still met our expectations perfectly. Has Sony really been able to improve its product? The answer didn't take long to arrive: yes.

Firstly, the appearance. The design with the colors of the PlayStation 5 console has essentially remained the same. In this way we maintain the initial comfort, but improve the experience in every way. And you notice that in the first few minutes of use.

Because when we start a game on our PS5 console and the Pulse Elite headphones sit firmly on our ears, the immersion is complete, almost airtight. Small note: we must be careful to activate the 3D audio function on our console – if it is not already done – to take full advantage of the power of this new accessory.

Simultaneous connections

But what impresses most about this Pulse Elite is its multi-point connection. The player can actually connect their headset to their console and their phone at the same time. Result: For example, you can easily answer a call in the middle of a game of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 or God of War Ragnarök without having to pick up the headset or phone.

The extendable microphone allows for very clear sound and can be stored away when not in use.

Small disadvantage: The Pulse Elite does not have a noise reduction system. However, the headset offers good sound insulation, especially when we use it comfortably at home. And that's more than enough, especially for a price just under the $200 mark.

The Pulse Elite headset arrived in stores on Wednesday.

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“Skull and Bones”: Ubisoft delivers an ambitious video game that quickly falls apart

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

The project Skull and bones was ambitious. Probably too much. Because when Ubisoft uses a huge universe to explore, staying with the pirates made us seasick.

The start of Skull and Bones was particularly stormy; The game took a full decade to develop, with this prolonged development resulting in no fewer than six delays. And despite all that, Ubisoft's latest offering landed on consoles and computers last week with its share of pitfalls.

In addition to the various errors encountered, it actually took a few hours before we finally found our way around Skull and Bones, a game that jealously guards its secrets and mechanics. What to do? Where? How do you perform basic maneuvers? One must dig deep – and be extra patient – before moving through this universe with a modicum of ease or comfort. So the pleasure, let's say politely, is anything but immediate.

“Photo provided by Ubisoft”

Work your way up

So we gradually learn that the protagonist – a pirate – has to return to the bottom of the ladder after losing his ship and crew in a battle between him and the British army. Through missions and affronts, the player must restore his titles of nobility (or rather, his infamy) and restore his fleet's ability to destroy anyone who crosses its path.

The 10 ranks of this Ladder of Shame rise slowly from lowly pariah to Kingpin, the highest rank that promises to spread respect and terror from the African shores to the East Indies. But we willingly participated and after a little more than ten hours we finally achieved the title of privateer – fifth.

And if the entire premise seems very exciting on paper, the reality is different. The main issue? Looting enemy ships – the main theme of several games of the same type – is reduced to simple generic cutscenes. Loot is stolen at the push of a button. A frankly disappointing observation.

Complex and realistic✭✭

We still have to appreciate Ubisoft's ambitions for Skull and Bones to offer players a huge, promising playing field that achieved some of its goals, especially due to the complexity and realism that the game shows. Development and equipment of its ships and its diverse and, in most cases, demanding missions.

Are you still hesitating to get it? There's good news: Ubisoft is offering potential players a free trial of Skull and Bones, granting them an eight-hour stay in this video game universe. Anyone who chooses to purchase a copy of the game will be able to keep their progress. Because there is nothing better than being able to form your own opinion.

Skull and bones ✭✭ 1/2

Available for PS5, Xbox Series and PC.

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Artificial Intelligence: ChatGPT unblocks for hours

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

OpenAI, the startup that launched the program in late 2022, said on its website Wednesday that ChatGPT was working “normally” again. (123RF)

ChatGPT, the wildly popular generative artificial intelligence (AI) interface that popularized the technology, went offline for several hours on Tuesday, answering users' questions with nonsensical sentences, a reminder that these systems are still in their infancy .

OpenAI, the startup that launched the program in late 2022, said on its website Wednesday that ChatGPT was working “normally” again.

On Tuesday afternoon – San Francisco time, where she lives – she announced that she was “investigating reports of unexpected responses from ChatGPT.” A few minutes later, the star Silicon Valley company assured that it had “recognized the problem” and was “in the process of solving it.”

Many users have uploaded screenshots showing erratic or incomprehensible responses from the generative AI model. This cutting-edge technology makes it possible to produce all kinds of content (texts, sounds, videos) in everyday language, usually in amazing quality, upon simple request.

On the forum for developers using OpenAI tools, a user named “IYAnepo” noticed ChatGPT’s “strange” behavior.

“It generates completely non-existent words, omits words and, among other anomalies, produces sequences of small keywords that are incomprehensible to me,” he said. “You would think that I would have given such instructions, but that is not the case. I have the impression that my GPT is haunted (…)”.

Another user, “scott.eskridge,” complained on the same forum that all of his conversations with the language model had “quickly turned into nonsense over the past three hours.”

He copied an excerpt from one of the UI's answers: “Money for the bit and the list is one of the strangers and the Internet, where the currency and the person of the cost is one of the friends and the currency.” Next time “Look at the system, the exchange and the facts, remember to give.”

OpenAI did not provide further details about the nature of the incident, reminding us that AI, even generative, has no awareness or understanding of what it “says.”

AI specialist Gary Marcus hopes the incident will be seen as a “wake-up call.”

“These systems have never been stable. No one has ever been able to develop security guarantees for these systems,” he wrote in his bulletin on Tuesday. “The need for completely different technologies that are less opaque, more interpretable, easier to maintain and debug – and therefore easier to implement – remains paramount,” he added.

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Sophie Durocher will publish an essay on neofeminism

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

Sophie Durocher has just written an essay on neofeminism, a book that, as she says with a smile, will “make her a lot of friends again.”

The essay entitled Where Are the Women? will be published next September by Éditions du Journal.

Sophie Durocher and Benoit Dutrizac in a QUB studio. Photo agency QMI, JOEL LEMAY

“Without saying too much, the book focuses on the worrying disappearance of the feminine in public spaces. For example, instead of saying woman, we say “a person with a uterus.” I can't!” said the Journal columnist and host of QUB in an interview with QMI Agency.

Sophie Durocher isolated herself in an abbey for three days to finish her book. She started writing it last September.

Sophie Durocher at a high altitude race in Panama City. SCREENSHOT OF THE TRAILER/QMI AGENCY

We will also be able to see her in the second season of “Get Me Out of Here!” Starting in the first episode, Sunday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m. on TVA, she faces her fear of heights in an incredible challenge in the heart of Panama City. The show will also be available on TVA+.

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Artificial Intelligence | Incomprehensible responses from ChatGPT for several hours

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

(San Francisco) ChatGPT, the wildly popular generative artificial intelligence (AI) interface that popularized the technology, was unlocked for several hours on Tuesday, answering users' questions with nonsensical sentences, a reminder that these systems are still in their infancy.

Posted at 3:29 p.m.

OpenAI, the startup that launched the program in late 2022, said on its website Wednesday morning that ChatGPT was working “normally” again.

On the forum for developers using OpenAI tools, a user named “IYAnepo” noticed ChatGPT’s “strange” behavior.

Another user, “scott.eskridge,” complained on the same forum that all of his conversations with the language model had “quickly turned into nonsense over the past three hours.”

He copied an excerpt from one of the interface's answers: “Money for the bit and the list is one of the strangers and the Internet, where the currency and the person of the cost is one of the friends and the currency.” Next time look at the system, the exchange and the fact, remember to give something. »

OpenAI did not provide further details about the nature of the incident, reminding us that AI, even generative, has no awareness or understanding of what it “says.”

AI specialist Gary Marcus hopes the incident will be seen as a “wake-up call.”

“These systems have never been stable. No one has ever been able to develop security guarantees for these systems,” he wrote in his newsletter on Tuesday. “The need for completely different technologies that are less opaque, more interpretable, easier to maintain and debug – and therefore easier to implement – remains paramount,” he added.

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A private American probe in orbit around the moon

Technology News / By Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

(Cape Canaveral, Fla.) A private U.S. lunar lander reached the moon on Wednesday and entered low orbit, a day before attempting an even greater feat: landing on the gray, dusty surface.

Posted at 2:15 p.m.

Marcia Dunn Associated Press

A soft lunar landing would allow the United States to return to the moon for the first time since NASA's Apollo program ended in 1972. If successful, the company would also be the first private company to successfully land on the moon.

The Intuitive Machines lander, launched last week, fired its engine behind the far side of the moon when it was no longer in contact with Earth. Flight controllers at the company's headquarters in Houston had to wait for the spacecraft to surface to learn whether the lander was in orbit or wandering aimlessly.

Intuitive Machines has confirmed that its lander, nicknamed Odysseus, is orbiting the moon with experiments from NASA and other customers.

Several Canadian technologies are on board.

This mission will see Canadensys Aerospace Corporation demonstrate its operational 360° imaging systems, one of which was partially funded by the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program.

Canadensys designed and built a lunar astronomical observatory. It provided operational cameras that are an integral part of this and subsequent lunar landers.

The MDA company was also contracted by Intuitive Machines to supply sensors for the Ulysse lander. They will help measure the distance between the spacecraft and the lunar surface during descent.

The lander is part of a NASA program to revitalize the lunar economy; The space agency spent $118 million to bring its experiments to the moon as part of this mission.

On Thursday, flight controllers will lower the orbit from just under 92 kilometers to 10 kilometers – a crucial maneuver that will again take place over the far side of the moon – before aiming for a lunar landing near the south pole. It is a difficult landing site with several craters and cliffs, but is considered prime terrain for astronauts because the constantly shadowed craters are believed to contain frozen water.

The moon is littered with debris from failed lunar landings. Some missions didn't go that far. Another American company, Astrobotic Technology, tried to send a lander to the moon last month but failed to reach its destination due to a fuel leak.

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