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MAINGEAR and Phison have announced the launch of the new MAINGEAR PRO AI workstations. These workstations are equipped with Phison's aiDAPTIV+ technology, specifically designed to make Large Language Model (LLM) development and training more accessible and affordable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

The MAINGEAR PRO AI Shodan Workstations offer supercomputer-level LLM training capabilities without the hefty price tag associated with traditional AI training servers. As the complexity and demand for large-scale generative AI models continue to grow, the need for more powerful hardware has become apparent. Unfortunately, this has made model training costly and out of reach for many SMBs.

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Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has officially announced the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 Mobile Platform, which is primarily designed for premium Android smartphones. This latest addition to the Snapdragon 8 series is tailored to bring the most coveted capabilities to a broader range of future flagship smartphones, ensuring high quality performance across various aspects, including generative AI, photography, and gaming.

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 platform is designed to deliver an array of premium features, such as support for on-device generative AI, an always-sensing ISP, hyper-realistic mobile gaming, state-of-the-art connectivity, and lossless high-definition sound. It also supports a wide range of AI models, including popular large language models (LLMs) like Baichuan-7B, Llama 2, Gemini Nano, and Zhipu ChatGLM.

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As the US Congress talks about potentially banning TikTok, a new survey from Media.com shows that 70 percent of social media users are moderately to extremely concerned that misinformation will impact the 2024 US Presidential election.

Respondents are also inclined to hold social media companies accountable for misinformation and hate speech, with a slim majority (51 percent) favoring increased regulation and 62 percent calling for legal action for social platforms that allow misinformation to spread.

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Cloud has been a cornerstone of the computing industry for many years. As it enters its third decade in 2024, economic pressures, anti-monopoly moves and more mean things will look different for hyperscale providers.

We spoke to Amol Dalvi, VP of Product of Nerdio, to discuss what we can expect to see over the next 10 years.

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It is a rare month in which Microsoft releases an update for Windows that doesn't cause problems, and March sees the company maintaining this habit. The KB5035853 update released last week was supposed to fix a number of issues, including a persistent 0x800F0922 error, but it seems to have introduced problems of its own.

The KB5035853 update is a security update so it is being automatically installed for the majority of Windows 11 users, and this means that the issues associated with it are hitting a lot of people. Among the problems users are experiencing are BSoDs, slow boot times and reduced system performance.

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The 4MLinux project has announced the stable release of its 45.0 series (download here), delivering a ton of updates and new features. This lightweight Linux distribution continues to offer a quality experience for both desktop and server environments.

In this latest release, users can edit documents with the updated LibreOffice 24.2.1 and GNOME Office suite, including AbiWord 3.0.5, GIMP 2.10.36, and Gnumeric 1.12.56. Web browsing is covered with the latest versions of Firefox 123.0.1 and Chrome 122.0.6261.128, while Thunderbird 115.8.1 caters to email needs.

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Synthetic data is artificial material that was not generated by natural life events. As such, it can be created by computer programs and AI tools that use different techniques, with generative adversarial networks and diffusion models being among the most popular and effective today. Synthetic data may come in many forms, but images and textual information are currently the most feasible options.

If you are interested in AI and ML developments, you have probably heard the term already -- “sanitized” synthetic data is a recent hype in the AI training field that, it is believed, might solve pressing data privacy and ownership challenges posed by real data. However, it all sounds like sunshine and rainbows only until you stop and consider the fact that AI algorithms used to generate synthetic data still need to be trained on real data -- the very obstacle they offer to remove.

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Personal data is constantly being processed and transferred in numerous ways -- whether in healthcare applications, store loyalty programs, during purchases or while browsing online. With such a vast amount of personal data in circulation, the likelihood of errors occurring is heightened.

It feels like almost every day we hear a story of another company being breached -- with data being stolen by cybercriminals looking to steal an individual’s identity, access accounts or commit fraud. Things are also getting easier for cybercriminals, thanks to technology advancements like generative AI assisting with more convincing phishing emails and deepfake content.

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Burnaware has released PDF Shaper 14.0, a major new release of its freemium PDF toolkit for Windows PCs. In addition to changing the Professional edition title to Ultimate edition, PDF Shaper 14.0 adds a couple of new features to its paid-for tiers.  

The big change in PDF Shaper Free 14.0 -- replicated across the suite -- is the updated user interface and translations. There’s also new preview mode added to the built-in PDF viewer.

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Microsoft has announced that the next subscription-free version of its Office suite will launch later this year. A commercial preview of Office LTSC 2024 will be available from next month, with a full launch scheduled for later in the year.

The Office Long-Term Servicing Channel is supported for five years, and it holds great appeal for the many businesses that are not keen on the idea of software subscriptions. There will also be a consumer-focused version of the suite, Office 2024, available via a traditional "one-time purchase" model.

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  Technology is reshaping the way we work and the convergence of Audio Visual (AV) solutions with Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not only redefining how we communicate but it is also playing a pivotal role in digitizing workspaces and helping organizations achieve their sustainability objectives.

Research from technology analyst Valoir reveals that AI has the potential to automate 40 percent of the average working day, allowing business leaders to increase productivity levels like never before. This trend is expected to continue with the global market size anticipated to see an annual growth rate of over 15 percent between 2024 and 2030. 

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Over time, our devices tend to get cluttered with unnecessary data, eating up valuable storage. DearMob iPhone Manager, for Windows and macOS, lets you effortlessly declutter your iPhone, freeing up space and improving the overall performance of your Apple device.

With its user-friendly interface, you can easily secure all your precious memories and important documents, safeguarding them from the risk of permanent loss.

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Microsoft is preparing to discontinue support for Windows 10 in the near future, giving users the option to either upgrade to Windows 11 or wait for the anticipated successor, Windows 12.

We’re not expecting to see the arrival of the next-gen operating system this year -- Microsoft is focused on adding more AI functionality to Windows 11 at the moment -- but we do have an idea of what Windows 12 could look like.

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Guess what? Walmart has begun selling the MacBook Air with the M1 chip! This is significant, as it is the first time customers can purchase a Mac directly from that retail giant.

The MacBook Air with the M1 chip, known for its exceptional performance and long battery life, will be available on Walmart.com and soon in select Walmart stores for only $699. This price point is particularly noteworthy, as it brings a high-quality Apple product within reach of a broader audience.

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For those of you considering a switch from Windows 11, the latest update from SparkyLinux might just be the ticket. Sparky 7.3 "Orion Belt," the third quarterly update of Sparky 7, has been released, and it's packed with features that make it an attractive alternative to Microsoft's offering.

Based on Debian 12 "Bookworm," Sparky 7.3 offers compatibility and stability. The update brings all packages up to date with the Debian and Sparky stable repositories as of March 13, 2024. It includes the Linux kernel PC 6.1.67 LTS, with other versions like 6.8.0, 6.6.21-LTS, and 5.15.151-LTS available in the Sparky repositories.

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