Month: February 2023

Enlarge / Motorola is shipping two big pieces of satellite connectivity hardware to the US.

The launch of the iPhone 14 made satellite messaging the hot new feature in smartphones. You've been able to get big, bulky, ugly satellite phones for years with full satellite calling and messaging, but it turns out if you scope down the feature to only "emergency SOS," and heavily compress everything, you can connect to a satellite from a normal smartphone form factor. Since the iPhone announcement, everyone in Android land has been eager to copy this, and we've seen satellite connectivity announcements from Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, and Huawei and news that some kind of satellite support will be built into Android 14. Mostly these are chip and software announcements—not many companies have been talking about satellite products end users will actually be able to buy—until now.

Bullitt—a British phone manufacturer best known for licensing the heavy machinery "Caterpillar" brand for ruggedized smartphones—is launching what sounds like a full end-to-end solution that will bring satellite messaging to non-iPhone users. It's launching the "Bullitt Satellite Connect" service, an app to connect to it called the "Bullitt Satellite Messenger," and a "Cat S75" smartphone with satellite connectivity. It's teaming up with Motorola to introduce a second satellite messaging phone, the "Motorola Defy 2," and a satellite messaging hotspot called the "Motorola Defy Satellite Link." There's a lot to go over.

The app and service

First up is the service. Unlike the iPhone, which can only contact emergency services over satellite one way, Bullitt Satellite Connect claims to be a two-way messaging service and "the most advanced mobile satellite messaging platform in the world." Satellite service starts at $4.99 per month, with "other flexible and heavier usage plans" available if you want to be a serious satellite texter. "SOS Assist," which offers "24/7 access to emergency response centers provided by FocusPoint International" is included in the price of every plan and free for the first year even if you just buy the hardware.

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

Last week, I visited a friend and, for the first time, saw a mechanical keyboard on her desk. This is someone I've known for decades and who's not into tech, so this was a surprise. But her job became partially remote since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so she needed something comfortable with a numpad to use at home. The keyboard was a cheap, quick buy off Amazon that earned its keep by looking cute and being "so clicky," she informed me.

My friend isn't alone in her newfound use of mechanical switches. Demand for more tactile and durable typing, gaming, and number crunching has led to prebuilt mechanical keyboards being incredibly easy to find. And while they can still be extremely costly, newcomers like my friend are able to find sub-$100 options that enthusiasts may scoff at but still represent an upgrade over a membrane or laptop keyboard.

This widespread acceptance of mechanical keyboards has led to an even deeper corner of the hobby getting more attention of late: DIY customization.

Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards / Ars Technica)

On Friday, Meta announced a new AI-powered large language model (LLM) called LLaMA-13B that it claims can outperform OpenAI's GPT-3 model despite being "10x smaller." Smaller-sized AI models could lead to running ChatGPT-style language assistants locally on devices such as PCs and smartphones. It's part of a new family of language models called "Large Language Model Meta AI," or LLAMA for short.

The LLaMA collection of language models range from 7 billion to 65 billion parameters in size. By comparison, OpenAI's GPT-3 model—the foundational model behind ChatGPT—has 175 billion parameters.

Meta trained its LLaMA models using publicly available datasets, such as Common Crawl, Wikipedia, and C4, which means the firm can potentially release the model and the weights open source. That's a dramatic new development in an industry where, up until now, the Big Tech players in the AI race have kept their most powerful AI technology to themselves.

Enlarge (credit: James Randklev)

The pros and cons of moonlighting—taking up an extra job in addition to full-time employment—are hotly debated. But in biology, moonlighting is not uncommon, as individual proteins often perform multiple functions. For many years, scientists knew that the Unusual Floral Organ (UFO) protein seems to do some moonlighting.

Based on the protein's structure, its role in plants is thought to target proteins for destruction. But it also works with the Leafy (LFY) protein to aid flower formation. A team of scientists from France has now shed light on how this protein performs two roles.

Flowers and a UFO

When it comes to flower formation, the Leafy (LFY) protein is a veritable workhorse. Flowers are built from parts named sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels, which are arranged in whorls. The LFY protein, acting alone or in combination with other proteins, is responsible for activating genes essential for creating each of these parts. LFY combines with UFO to help form petals and stamens.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)

The last few years have, after much inaction, seen a flurry of new policies informed by the looming threat of climate change. Among these has been the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which will spend almost $5 billion by 2027 in order to build out a national network of fast-charging stations along federal interstate highways.

But where are those chargers being installed, and will they be reliable when someone turns up and needs to charge? We spoke to Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which was created to oversee the government's EV charging investment, to find out more.

Klein's office is meant to act as a "front door" for the federal government for charging infrastructure. "We are made up of staff from DOT and DOE as well as in the national labs, and we are really focused on bringing technical expertise, alignment between government and the private sector, helping to facilitate industry standards, along with our partners," Klein told Ars recently.

Enlarge / Cohasset Police Department found electrical wires, temporary duct work, and numerous computers confirmed to be a cryptomine operating illegally. (credit: Cohasset Police)

After a former town employee of Cohasset, Massachusetts, was accused of stealing thousands of dollars in electricity from a local middle/high school to operate a secret cryptocurrency mine in a seemingly overlooked crawlspace, police grew concerned when the suspect missed a court date and couldn’t be located.

A warrant was then issued for the accused, 39-year-old Nadeam Nahas, who resigned his position at the Town of Cohasset last year, police said. That warrant got quickly pulled, though, after Nahas appeared in court today, Cohasset Police Department (CPD) communications specialist Justin Shrair told Ars.

The department can’t share any other new information at this time, Shrair told Ars. But he confirmed that the possible cryptocurrency mining operation was discovered in December 2021, when the director of Cohasset Middle/High School conducted a routine inspection and “noticed electrical wires, temporary duct work, and numerous computers," which "seemed out of place.”

Enlarge / Cohasset Police Department found electrical wires, temporary duct work, and numerous computers confirmed to be a cryptomine operating illegally. (credit: Cohasset Police)

After a former town employee of Cohasset, Massachusetts, was accused of stealing thousands of dollars in electricity from a local middle/high school to operate a secret cryptocurrency mine in a seemingly overlooked crawlspace, police grew concerned when the suspect missed a court date and couldn’t be located.

A warrant was then issued for the accused, 39-year-old Nadeam Nahas, who resigned his position at the Town of Cohasset last year, police said. That warrant got quickly pulled, though, after Nahas appeared in court today, Cohasset Police Department (CPD) communications specialist Justin Shrair told Ars.

The department can’t share any other new information at this time, Shrair told Ars. But he confirmed that the possible cryptocurrency mining operation was discovered in December 2021, when the director of Cohasset Middle/High School conducted a routine inspection and “noticed electrical wires, temporary duct work, and numerous computers," which "seemed out of place.”

Enlarge / You are a glowing dog. The humans lack all purpose. You must direct them to their final ascension. That's the game. (credit: Enhance)

Is it a bad time or the perfect time to release a game about humans mindlessly marching toward their doom unless an ethereal Shiba Inu guides them toward the light?

Humanity, a new puzzle-and-somewhat-platformer game from the publisher of Tetris Effect, was shown off in a trailer at Sony's State of Play event last night, and in many ways, it stole the show from more traditional big-name titles. It was originally announced in 2019 but is looking much more defined, surreal, and beautiful ahead of its May 2023 launch. You can play a demo on PS4, PS5, PSVR, PSVR 2, and PC from now until 3 am on March 6. I highly recommend that you do.

The premise will be familiar to fans of the Amiga classic Lemmings, but the execution is markedly different. You are a glowing dog. Faceless, polygonal humans—said to be "without soul, without intellect, without a will of their own—are shambling out of an entry point in a blocky 3D landscape. You hear a voice telling you to guide them toward the light. You do this by putting various instructions onto the cubic tiles, forcing the humans to turn, jump, float, and otherwise divert from their death by falling, trampling, or other means. Some amount must reach a tile that lifts them into a glowing sky, but not all of them.