Tag Archives: Ushers

BlueSky ushers in a new era of social media with proprietary algorithms

Posted on by
Reply

Bluesky sign-ups continue to grow

Anna Barclay/Getty Images

As a technology reporter, I like to think of myself as an early adopter. I first signed up for the social network Bluesky about 18 months ago, when the platform saw a small spike in users dissatisfied with Elon Musk’s approach to what was then still called Twitter. Ta.

It didn’t stick. Like many people, I found Twitter too tempting and deleted my Bluesky account, but it has returned in recent weeks. I’m not alone. Xodus began as Musk continues to transform his social platform, now called X, while taking on a role in President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. Blue Sky acquired 12 million users in 2 months which is approaching 20 million users. This time I’m going to stay here – and I think others will too.

The main reason is that I want to have a social media experience without being bombarded with hate speech, gore, and porn videos. All of these have been complaints from X users in recent months. But I also have my eye on Bluesky. Because we think this signals a more fundamental change in how social media works.

Social media algorithms, the computer code that determines what each user sees, have long been a source of controversy. Fears of disappearing down the “rabbit hole” of radicalization, or of becoming trapped in an “echo chamber” of consensual and sometimes conspiratorial viewpoints, have dominated the scientific literature.

Displaying information from followers in chronological order creates a confusing quagmire for the average user to process, so using algorithms to filter information has become the norm. Sorting and filtering what’s important or what’s likely to keep users interested has been key to the success of platforms like Facebook, X, and Instagram.

But by controlling these algorithms, we can have a huge say in what people read. One of the problems many users have with X is its “For you” algorithm. Under Musk, comments by and about him appear to be pushed into users’ timelines, even if they don’t directly follow him.

Bluesky’s approach is not to do away with algorithms, but instead to have more than the average social network. in Blog Posts in 2023 Bluesky CEO Jay Graber outlined the ethos of the platform. Bluesky is promoting a “market of algorithms” rather than a single “master algorithm”, she wrote.

In practice, this means users will be able to see posts from users they follow on the app, and will be Bluesky’s default standard view. But they can also choose to see What is popular among your friends? selects posts that your peers will enjoy based on an algorithm. There is Feed exclusively for scientists curated by people who work in or work in the field. to promote black voices often decimated by algorithmic filtering.

Specifically one feed Promoting “Quiet Posters” – Users who post infrequently and whose opinions are drowned out by users who share all their opinions with their followers.

This menu of options allows Bluesky to serve the dual purpose of bridging the past and future eras of social media. The platform has the potential to function as a “de facto public town square” once it reaches a certain number of users. Musk’s Twitter dubbing before he buys it. Given that X has steered toward excluding many mainstream voices, and competitors like Threads have chosen to avoid promoting politics and current events, perhaps Bluesky will have a place in such a forum. It is probably the only one left.

But beyond feeds, Bluesky lets you tailor the app to your needs through other elements, like a starter pack of recommended users to jump-start your niche, and blocking tools to silence unruly voices. You can also.

No doubt, there are still problems. Finding the right feed for you can be difficult, but creating your own is even more complicated and requires third-party tools. But it’s exciting to be able to see the big picture of public conversations and delve into smaller debates within wider clusters and communities of society. This is a new social media model where users, rather than large corporations or mysterious individuals, control what they see. And if Bluesky continues to add users, it could become the norm. Come with me – I @stokel.bsky.social.

Chris Stokel-Walker is a freelance technology journalist.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Civilization 7 ushers in a new era, bringing the tumultuous history of humanity to life in a more accessible manner | Gaming

Posted on by
Reply

IIt’s been eight years since Civilization 6 launched, the latest in the long-running strategy game series in which you lead a nation from the first town in prehistoric times through centuries of development to the space age. Since 2016, the game has accumulated a plethora of expansions, scenario packs, new nations, modes, and systems for players to master, but Dennis Shirk, series producer at Firaxis Games, feels like he’s had enough. “It was getting out of hand,” he says. “It was time to build something new.”

“Even completing the whole game is a struggle,” says designer Ed Beach, citing a key problem Firaxis is trying to solve with the upcoming Civilization 7. While the early turns of Civilization 6’s campaign may be quick, when you’re only deciding what the inhabitants of a single town will do, “after a while you explode with the number of systems, units, and entities you have to manage,” Beach says. From turn one to victory, a single campaign can take more than 20 hours, and as you start to fall behind other nations, you might want to start over long before you see the endgame.

To that end, Civilization 7’s campaign is split into three eras — Ancient, Exploration, and Modern — with each era ending in a dramatic explosion of global crisis. “By dividing the game into chapters, we’re giving people a better sense of history,” Beach says.




Mongolian city in Civilization 7. Photography: Firaxis Games

When you start a new campaign, you choose a leader and civilization to rule, and lead your people to establish their first settlements and encounter other peoples in a largely undeveloped land. Choose which technologies to research, which cities to expand, and who to befriend or conquer. Every turn completed and every scientific, economic, cultural and military milestone passed adds points to a meter running in the background. When the meter reaches 200, you and all other surviving civilizations on the map will move on to the next era.

Choose and lead a new civilization as you move from Ancient to Exploration and from Exploration to Modern. You’ll keep all the cities you previously controlled, but you’ll have access to different technologies and attributes. This may seem odd, but it’s designed to reflect history – think of London, once ruled by the Romans, then replaced by the Anglo-Saxons. No empire lasts forever, but not all fall.

Dividing Civilization 7 into chapters also gives the campaign a new rhythm. As you approach the end of an era, you start to face global crises. In ancient times, for example, you see a surge of independent factions similar to the tribes that toppled Rome. “We don’t call them barbarians anymore,” Beach says. “It’s a more nuanced way of describing it.” These crises increase and intensify until you reach the next era. “It’s like a sci-fi or fantasy series that has a big, crazy ending, and then the next book is a calm, feel-good beginning,” Beach says. “There’s a moment of relief when you get to the next era.”

Veteran players will recognize the flow of Civilization 7’s franchise-wide offerings, but this new structure is certainly a radical change, introducing more chaotic and dramatic moments to every campaign. Whereas previously you were assured of victory (or defeat) after a few hours of play, each new era brings with it climactic crises and plenty of opportunities for game-changing moments. “Not everyone will survive,” Shirk says. “It’s a lot of fun to play.”

Skip Newsletter Promotions

  • Civilization 7 is scheduled to release on February 11, 2025 for PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation 4/5, and Nintendo Switch.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Extreme weather ushers in the start of summer, from scorching temperatures to devastating floods

Posted on by
Reply

summary

  • In the last week alone, extreme weather has wreaked havoc in many parts of the United States and around the world.
  • Climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme temperatures and heavy rainfall such as those seen recently.
  • This year has been the warmest on record so far, with ocean temperatures breaking new records for more than 15 months.

Summer is quickly becoming a brutal season: Last week alone, record-breaking June heat forced schools to close across the Northeast and slowed some trains, flooding caused bridges to collapse in the Midwest and inundated towns across three states, and tropical storm-force winds prompted disaster declarations for 51 Texas counties.

The threat of climate change lurks behind many recent events.

“Last year, of course, was the warmest year on record by a pretty large margin, and this year, so far, has been the warmest on record for this time of June,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said at a briefing on Monday.

While it will take time for climate scientists to understand and calculate the impact of global warming on individual weather events, the science is clear that as the planet warms, the likelihood of extreme temperatures increases, and the risk of heavy rains increases because a warmer atmosphere can hold and release more moisture.

As a result, the effects of climate change will be more noticeable in the summer, Swain said.

“It’s not surprising that we’re seeing another wave of record-breaking heat and record-breaking rainfall. It’s exhausting, but I think it’s really important that we don’t forget or let it slip away,” he said. “And this heat is especially pronounced in the summer, because, of course, the Northern Hemisphere summer is when most people on the planet experience the hottest weather.”

Extremely heavy rainfall over the weekend flooded communities in at least 80 counties in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota, temporarily isolating the town of Spencer, Iowa, of 11,000 people from the rest of the state. About 2,000 structures, including hundreds of homes, were damaged in Iowa alone.

Source: www.nbcnews.com