The Spanish company Multiverse Computing just raised 25 million Euros at a 100 million Euro valuation. The company makes software that uses "quantum-inspired tensor networks" to compress LLMs. "Quantum-inspired tensor networks" work by leveraging tensor network structures, which are mathematical tools originating from quantum mechanics, to develop efficient and interpretable machine learning schemes.
This cocktail, by the way, is jamaica (hibiscus tea), lime juice and mezcal with worm salt.
In the Gastronomad Experience Journal newsletter and blog, I talk about why travel is a necessary. (Spoiler: Because most of the best and most interesting wines are never exported and because wineries, cellars and vineyards is where a real wine education happens.) Read the blog.
We travel the world in search of the most incredible food, wine, human connection and other joys of the table. Along the way, we find ourselves transported — spiritually, emotionally and even transported in time.
Our Gastronomad Experiences always bring us to a thrilling state of mind, a feeling of being cast back into centuries past. Sometimes the modern world, with its technology and stress and industrialism is suddenly…. nowhere to be found. We can’t see it. And we can’t even feel it. And we ask ourselves: What century is this?
Our friends Dylan and Jessica, plus Amira and I, had a great weekend in Tasmania's upper east side. The Bay of Fires has incredible beaches and famous orange rocks. We stopped off at a gourmet shop and picked up some cheese, bread, wine and other goodies. Jessica also found a really nice picnic basket. The friends, scenery, shade and food made this an absolutely perfect picnic.
From Mike's List: "We know from its history of patent applications that Apple thinks different about smart rings. In addition to all the health tracking applications, Apple also sees smart rings as a gesture-controller for TVs, iPhones, iPads and Apple Vision Pro."
I'm on TWiT with host Leo Laporte and fellow guests Janko Roettgers and Alex Kantrowitz!
We cover recent events from Nvidia, Google, AT&T, Walmart, Wyze, Reddit, Microsoft, SpaceX and more!
A wallaby looks like a small kangaroo. They're everywhere here in Tasmania, which does not have kangaroos.
The place was a super nice organic bakery called Summer Kitchen in Ranelagh, Tasmania.
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He stood there looking at me and chewing for a minute before hopping off.
I selected "Not sure."
We all know by now that many business leaders want their employees to work in the office instead of at home. But most don’t understand why.
And we know that many employees want to work from home instead of the office. And most don’t understand why, either.
As a result, we have a standoff at many companies where corporate leadership is imposing return-to-office (RTO) mandates, and employees are resisting.
It’s time for everyone to really understand what’s driving the standoff.
The newest entry into the AI glasses category comes from Brilliant Labs, the company that brought us that funky “Monocle” product I told you about last year. (I told you about it because someone customized it by adding ChatGPT functionality.) The product, called Frames, weigh 39 grams, which is an average weight even for ordinary prescription glasses.
Like Ray-Ban Meta glasses, Frames cost less than $400 — in this case, $349 — and also support prescription lenses. But unlike Ray-Ban Metas, these have a see-through screen interface visible to the wearer in the right frame only. Unlike Apple Vision Pro, where visual objects appear to be anchored in the real world, Frame glasses are heads-up displays like Google Glass, where the visual objects move with the head.
Augmented reality glasses like Xreal Air 2 can act as a screen for TV, video games and smartphones. This is different.
Frames show you AI content — specifically enabling interaction with the Perplexity genAI product I told you about in the last issue of Mike’s List. They give you “AI superpowers,” according to the company.
No matter what, the meetings you attend are about to get… weird. In the short term, some of the people you meet with will become cartoon characters. In the long term, people will look like they’re streaming video, but will in fact be synthetic media avatars, and the person behind the avatar will be optional.
And, of course, if you’re willing to wear a headset, you’ll be meeting with holograms.
One of the cows even hit the car. (Video via Ray-Ban Meta glasses)
The question over whether to allow employees to work from home has been settled. Here’s the new normal.
Apple's pricey Vision Pro augmented reality platform is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2024. But by the end of the year, I predict the platform of the year will be — drum roll, please — AI glasses!
Wait, what?
That's right. Glasses that let you interact with artificial intelligence (AI) from the comfort of your own face will be the sleeper hit of the year. In fact, the buzz around market leader Meta has already begun.
The Tulum site was "discovered" in 1843 by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in 1843, and this sketch was drawn by Frederick Catherwood a year later.
When Amira and I visited, you could pay extra to use the beach and site after closing, and we were the only ones visiting. The security guard, who's job is to keep people off the ruins, insisted that I sit on the ruins for a photo. So I pretended to use my laptop for the picture.
Technologies and trends that have been developing for years will go mainstream in the new year, changing how, when, and where we work. Read my column in Computerworld.
Read my Computerworld column debunking hyperbolic rumors about OpenAI's Q* and setting the context for the actual slow pace of change in the AI field.
"Coffee badging" is the practice of hybrid workers to show up to the office just to show their face and "make an appearance" to create the false impression that they're spending more time in the office than they really are. Some 58% of hybrid workers admit to "coffee badging," according to a June survey by Owl Labs.
Some see it as a passive-aggressive protest against back-to-office mandates. But "Coffee badging" may be driving high levels of employee engagement. But it could reveal other cultural problems within the organization.
