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Things get weird when a neural net is trained on text adventure games

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The answer is pretty weird. Shane aptly describes the experience as “dreamlike,” with the setting frequently, and seemingly without reason, changing from scene to scene. For example, in one playthrough, the AI opened the game with a scene set in space only then to quickly transition things to a “labyrinth of twisty little passages, all alike.” If there’s a throughline to many of the scenarios, it’s Zork, one of the games used to train the neural net and a classic in the genre. The AI will frequently call on the 40-year-old game to react to the player, more often than not presenting trolls as an obstacle to progress. See below:

The troll steps out from beneath the bridge and blocks your way.
You are on the south side of the chasm.
A nod is given to the infinite wonder that is Urbzig.
A solid rainbow spans the chasm.

Another quirk of the game is that it doesn’t flow like a traditional narrative: there’s no beginning, middle and end to each scenario. Instead, each session is an endless marathon, with more trolls than bridges. And yet what’s remarkable about each scene is how they nail the tone of classic PC adventure games. There’s something about how the AI jumps from scenario to scenario that captures the atmosphere of those games. If you want to embark on your own AI-generated fever dream, you can do so by visiting the Google Colab document Nathan created. Just be prepared for a DOS-like experience. It’s part of the appeal.

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Amazon reportedly lists some toys before confirming they’re safe

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An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that the company requests safety documentation “very shortly” after a product is listed by a third party seller. In an email statement, the company said it regularly contacts selling partners to request safety documentation. Sellers who do not provide the required documentation are removed immediately.

That practice leaves a window in which unsafe toys could potentially be sold to consumers. To make matters worse, Amazon recently came under fire for selling thousands of items that federal agencies had deemed unsafe. After a Wall Street Journal investigation discovered everything from unregistered pesticides to banned toys on the site, three senators wrote a letter asking Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to launch a “sweeping internal investigation” into the company’s safety policies. It’s unclear if Amazon has taken any steps since then to improve consumer safety, but now, it will likely be under increased pressure to do so.

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'Control' DLC hints at an 'Alan Wake' tie-in

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Remedy's game worlds might collide in a very conspicuous way. The studio has shared a roadmap for Control's downloadable content through 2020, and a second paid expansion (AWE) due in mid-2020 hints at a not-so-subtle crossover between Jesse's adven…

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Scientists discover water vapor on an exoplanet with a rocky core

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A team at the Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the Université de Montréal published their findings yesterday. Led by Björn Benneke, their work (which has yet to be peer reviewed) points to the possibility that K2-18 b is habitable thanks to the presence of water and hydrogen, as well as the exoplanet’s location in the Goldilocks zone. The Goldilocks zone is a range relative to a star where the temperature is not too hot and not too cold to support life. But while the temperature range and presence of water are good signs, K2-18 b isn’t necessarily habitable. The exoplanet isn’t a gas giant, but it does have a thick, high-pressure atmosphere that likely envelops a large, rocky core. Due to the crushing pressure, humans wouldn’t be able to walk on the planet’s surface; it would be more of a Cloud City situation, with pods floating in the gaseous atmosphere.

K2-18 b is the least massive exoplanet to have water vapor detected in its atmosphere. The planet may even have rain clouds — though the researchers weren’t able to confirm that yet. As the water condenses into liquid, the drops would fall toward the core, then revert to gas as the atmospheric pressure increases. The gas would rise back up to the cloud layer and repeat the cycle.

Benneke and his fellow researchers will follow up their work in the 2020s, after the James Webb Space Telescope is launched in 2021. This new telescope is even more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, which the team used to analyze K2-18 b as it passed in front of its star. A more detailed look through the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm the presence of rain on the planet, and will allow researchers to find even more Earth-like planets.

Each passing decade has lead to a discovery that changes how we think about our universe: Dark energy was confirmed in the 2000s and the 2010s saw the first true confirmation of a black hole. The 2020s may be the decade when we find that the Earth, with its dry land and liquid oceans, isn’t quite as unique as we currently believe.

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Intel will use multi-camera, 3D athlete tracking in the 2020 Olympics

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Intel has already made big promises for the 2020 Olympics. It previously announced that it’s working on a 5G network for the games, and there’s a good chance we’ll see another drone-based light show. Today, Intel also shared that it’s working with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to bring VR training to summer games staff. That system will create VR models of competition venues. And Intel’s Core i5 processor chips will be used in a facial recognition system, “NeoFace,” that will be used to identify over 300,000 people at the games — including athletes, volunteers, media and staff.

Of course, Intel has used VR to enhance the viewing experience of past Olympic games, and it hasn’t always gone well. The company has had time to work on the tech, but we’ll have to wait until July 2020 to see if its 3DAT or VR training efforts make a noticeable difference.

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AppleCare+ for the iPhone and Watch is available as a monthly subscription

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The change was first spotted in a new AppleCare+ legal document and reported by 9to5Mac. It could benefit customers who plan to keep their phones, iPads or watches for more than two years. They’ll be covered for longer, and Apple will get a continuous stream of subscription revenue. But they could end up paying more. For AppleCare+ packages that cost $149 upfront, the monthly fee will be $7.99 per month, or $191 over the course of two years.

Apple

According to The Verge, if you already have AppleCare+ you won’t be able to opt in. This only applies to recent purchases, and you’ll have 60 days from the time of purchase to add the coverage. Like the two-year subscription, the monthly model will cover two incidents every 24 months.

Most of Apple’s other products will still require the upfront, two-year AppleCare+ commitment. But the company did just add an AppleCare+ option for AirPods and Beats earphones and headphones. That add-on costs $29 and gets you an additional year of hardware repair coverage. We’ll see if Apple changes the AppleCare+ model for its Macs, TVs and other products next.

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Google’s Nest Mini with wall mount and audio port hits the FCC

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Included in the filing is a diagram (pictured above) that shows the bottom of the upcoming device. The diagram clearly depicts the wall mount — in this case, a simple hole and screw affair — and an additional cutout on the outside rim of the speaker. We can’t say for sure, but the added cutout is likely the headphone jack mentioned in previous reports. Additionally, the diagram shows Google may print a setup code on the bottom of the device. As 9 to 5 notes, setup codes are something we’re used to seeing on Nest products but not necessarily on Google Home devices.

Nest Mini ad leak

Alongside the FCC listing, perennial device leaker Evan Blass shared what may be our first look at the Nest Mini. In a private tweet, Blass posted what looks like an ad for the upcoming smart speaker. If what we’re looking at is the Nest Mini (and not just the Home Mini), it, unsurprisingly, looks nearly identical to its predecessor. In a separate tweet, Blass suggests Google may hold its fall hardware event this year on October 15th. In which case, we’ll see whether all the reports are accurate in just over a month.



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Apple’s keyboard folio shouldn’t cost half the price of its new cheap iPad

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A couple of years ago, I borrowed a first-generation iPad Pro, with their smart keyboard folios and pencils, to see if they could replace a laptop. Nothing I do here at Engadget requires a lot of brute force computing power, but it does demand versatility. I need to get in, write a document, edit some photos, and get it all published to our ancient CMS for the world to read.

For this specific use case, it worked well, and iPadOS has fixed most of the issues I griped about in that original piece. It now has a desktop-class browser and supports Bluetooth mice, so it’s something I could see myself using instead of a laptop. It has one great perk, too: It’s a perfect distraction-free writing machine.

I’m not going to spend a grand on an iPad Pro and keyboard, because I don’t need it to replace my laptop, just supplement it. That’s why the new $329 base model, with its older A10 chip and Lightning port would make sense for me. I don’t need the bells and whistles that come from the more premium models, but I do want that form factor to be my most portable work machine.

And that’s where the cost issue comes in, because Apple is still expecting laptop money for a machine that’s not quite there. Maybe you don’t get why I’m so attached to Apple’s own keyboard over a cheaper, third-party option — a lot of my colleagues don’t. Logitech makes a case that’s well-regarded by plenty, including our friends over at The Wirecutter. But Logitech’s alternative isn’t as elegant.

I’m still resentful that Apple knows that keyboards make iPads genuinely useful, but won’t sell them bundled as one unit.

The keyboard folio is also the only place where Apple’s blighted butterfly switches make sense. The keys are covered by the rubberized surface, meaning there’s little to no risk of debris gumming up the mechanism. It’s also as flexible as Apple’s other iPad cases, and it’s always on, with no fretting over battery life or connectivity. The kick of being able to flip one out and get working almost instantly is a great perk.

I can’t get over how Apple can charge almost half as much again to make sure that the iPad becomes a useful tool. The $329 base model is also marketed as a tool for education users, so why not make a cheaper, more affordable keyboard to go alongside? The cynic in me knows that it’s because Apple need to keep the average selling price of its hardware high. The average price for an iPad is $463, more than the base model iPad sells for.

It’s just a little bit too nickel-and-dime from a company that’s gradually becoming infamous for nickeling-and-diming its customers. A couple of bucks for a headphone dongle here, a couple of bucks for a Lightning to USB-C adapter there. It all adds up — and with this iPad, it’s a bit too much for me.

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Google Chrome makes it easier to send web pages between devices

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While you can already see open tabs across devices via the History section, this option can ensure that you’ll be able to access a particular page even if your mobile internet doesn’t work. You can also send a page from your phone to a desktop or laptop, in case you were reading something during commute and want to move to a bigger screen when you get home. Simply tap on the three-dot “more” menu in your mobile browser and choose Share to see an option that says “Send to your devices,” which brings up the devices you can send a page to. We were able to toss open tabs from an Android phone to Chrome for Mac and vice versa, though the feature is already live for iOS and Windows devices, as well.

Chrome

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Seat wants to sell its Cupra Tavascan EV concept some day

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The Tavascan is more defined by its aggressive looks and performance. It’ll ride on parent Volkswagen’s MEB platform used by the numerous ID and Audi vehicles and pack a potent drivetrain. The twin motor, four-wheel drive system delivers 302 horsepower, accelerating the Tavascan from 0 to 62 mph in 6.5 seconods. With a 77 kWh battery, it’ll go around 280 miles on a charge on the WLPT driving cycle (considerably less via EPA standards).

Following Honda, Byton and others, Seat plans to flip this concept into production more quickly than usual. The company told Auto Express that it already has a model code and that it has dropped development of two other vehicles (the Ibiza and Arona) to focus on the Tavascan. “If you have the chance to do a Cupra Ibiza or a Cupra Tavascan, which would you do?” Seat’s Axel Andorff told Auto Express. “Even if this is hard for some people to hear, sometimes you have to say no.”

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