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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 17 - 22 JUNE, 2024
Hello and Welcome,
Meeting TODAY
2024/06/15 — 14:00-16:00 — June, Sat — Web Design
Hi Everyone,
Our next Web Design meeting is today at 2 pm at the SMSA.
Yes, there is no track work, and I haven't got the lurgy, so we can meet in person.
My wife and I have been in Sydney for VIVID, so I am a bit behind in prep. However, I have found a few interesting topics on shapes, fluidity and a site that uses AI to create CSS animations, which we will be discussing in the meeting.
John has been adding some image enlargement to our test site. We had a look at zooming images on May 23, and I tried some on my woodys.info site. I see some improvements that could be made. We can have a look at that.
Your presence and input are highly valued, and I look forward to seeing you all today.
If you can't make it in, here are the Zoom details:
SPCTUG Web Design Zoom Meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86141133224
Meeting ID: 861 4113 3224
Passcode: WebDesign
Steve South
Meeting This Week
2024/06/18 — 10:00-12:00 — June, Tue — Tuesday Group
Meetings Next Week
NO MEETINGS
Schedule of Current & Upcoming Meetings
First Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Main Meeting
First Saturday 13:00-14:00 — Penrith Group
Second Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Programming
Third Tuesday 10:00-12:00 — Tuesday Group
Third Saturday 14:00-16:00 — Web Design
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Go to the official Sydney PC Calendar for this month's meeting details.
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Penrith meetings are held every 2nd month on the 1st Saturday from 1-2 pm.
The next scheduled meetings are in July, September and November 2024.
ASCCA News:Tech News:
YouTube Glitching Again For Adblocker Users
See the InfoPackets article by John Lister on June 10, 2024, at 02:06 pm EDT.
YouTube is slowing down your PC
Some users report finding it almost impossible to watch videos on YouTube while using an ad blocker. This is likely YouTube's latest attempt to crack down, but it seems to only work on specific ad blockers.
Over recent months, YouTube has displayed a warning message to people who use an ad blocker, telling them the video will not play until they switch it off. YouTube maintains that using an ad blocker violates its terms of service.
The company also argues that ad blocking hurts both creators and users. Without ad revenue, creators have less incentive to make videos, leaving users with less to watch. It also offers a premium service that does not include ads, though critics say this is overpriced and includes many other features they aren't interested in.
While some people simply refuse to watch advertising, many critics of YouTube say it's the execution of ads rather than the principle. Particular complaints include ad "breaks" not being proportional to video length and some videos being cut off mid-sentence to show ads.
Mute and Frozen
Now, some users of the Adblock tool are reporting that whenever they watch a video, it skips immediately to the end. Attempting to replay the video has a similar effect, but trying to start midway through causes an endless buffer.
Some other users have noticed videos only have audio for the first half-second before going mute. This only happens when an ad blocker is active.
YouTube Blames Performance Push
YouTube has now put out a slightly odd statement that neither directly confirms nor denies the suspicion this is a deliberate crackdown:
Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service, and we've been urging users for some time to support their favourite creators and allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.
An unrelated push to improve YouTube's performance and reliability may result in suboptimal viewing experiences for ad blocker users.
What's Your Opinion?
Do you use ad blockers when watching YouTube? Are such crackdowns a sensible move from YouTube? Would changing how ads are built into videos satisfy adblocker users, or would some people not watch ads?
Comments
uBlock Origin + Adlock + Adblock Plus — Submitted by Dennis Faas on Mon, 10/06/2024 — 14:17.
uBlock Origin + Adlock + Adblock Plus works well.
Ads or No Ads — Submitted by drobinson_nc_16614 on Mon, 10/06/2024 — 15:42.
If a user is paying for the service, the user shouldn't be "forced" to look at ads. On the other hand, if a service receives revenue from advertisers, then the service should be free of charge to users. NO DOUBLE DIPPING! So, if YouTube has a problem with users blocking the ads, don't charge any fees to the users. They get plenty of revenue from advertisers!
Fun Facts:
How to Change Process Priorities in Windows Task Manager
See the WikiHow article Written by Jack Lloyd | Last Updated: June 3, 2024.
This WikiHow teaches you how to change a Windows process priority in the Task Manager program. Changing a process priority determines how much of your computer's time, memory space and resources are devoted to that process.
Open the Task Manager with Ctrl/Shift/Esc.
Click the Details tab.
Find the process you're looking for, say xxx.exe.
Right-click this process. You'll get a pop-out menu.
Select the third option (Set priority).
Another pop-out list will appear with the following choices: Real-time (highest priority), High, Above Normal, Normal, Below Normal, and Low.
Choose the priority you want.
You then get warning messages:
Do you want to change the priority of "xxx.exe"?
Changing the priority of specific processes could cause system instability. Choose "Change priority" or "Cancel".
Click "Change priority".
Don't choose Real-time, High or Above Normal. It'll take SEVERAL MINUTES to regain control of the mouse to reset the priority to Normal, Below Normal or Low again! [ — Ed.]
Close Task Manager.
Ed:
You wouldn't normally want to change anything because normal programs run at "Normal" priority and don't affect any other programs.
However, I've recently encountered one program that takes over the CPU, and the result is that using an editor is almost impossible. For example, running down the text with the down-arrow key takes several down-arrows faster than Windows can send them to the screen, and the cursor keeps going down when you take your finger off the key. I've never seen that before!
One program is the amazing Integer Factoring Program YAFU (Yet Another Factoring Utility). When it starts, the program seems to run normally, but near the end of its run, the Task Manager says it is using 99% of the CPU, and you can't do any internet browsing, editing or emailing.
However, Task Manager shows it is running at Normal priority, but after changing it to Low, I get my computer back.
Task Manager showing YAFU running at LOW
So, if you have rogue programs like this, Task Manager is your Friend.
China's No. 2 short video app, Kuaishou, unveils Sora-style product amid rush to catch up in AI
See the SCMP (South China Morning Post) article by Wency Chen in Shanghai | Published: 7:00 pm, June 7 2024.
In the trial stage, the Kling AI Model can turn text prompts into video clips up to 2 minutes long and 1080p resolution.
Chinese short-video app Kuaishou, the primary rival of TikTok's sister app Douyin, has launched a text-to-video service similar to OpenAI's Sora. This is the latest sign that Chinese Big Tech firms are trying to catch up with their US counterparts in artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
The Kling AI Model, which is in the trial stage, can process text into video clips up to 2 minutes long with 1080p resolution and support various aspect ratios, app operator Kuaishou Technology said. It can also interpret prompts to generate videos that mimic the physical world and create imaginative scenes from text instructions.
Among a series of demonstration videos posted by Kuaishou, a white cat is seen driving a car through busy city streets, with skyscrapers and pedestrians in the background; a child rides a bicycle in a garden, experiencing the changing seasons.
AI — Cat driving a Black car
AI — Child Riding a Bike
Kuaishou is one of several Chinese tech companies racing to launch challengers to Sora. In April, local start-up Shengshu Technology, in collaboration with Tsinghua University, launched a similar tool called Vidu. Zhipu AI, one of China's leading generative AI start-ups, reportedly plans to release its counterpart later this year.
The text-to-video feature is Kuaishou's latest AI innovation, following its KwaiYii large language model (LLM) and text-to-image model Kolors, launched in May. An "AI Dancer" feature, available in the Kuaishou app and the video production application Kwaiying, allows users to upload a still photo to generate videos of the character dancing to specific rhythms and movements. The company said an image-to-video feature — also based on the Kling Model's capabilities — will be launched soon.
Fu Ruiji, a tech leader at Kuaishou's Knowledge Graph and LLM projects, left the company in May to "prepare for an AI start-up project," as reported by Chinese media outlet LingTai. This move is in line with the AI start-up boom in China's tech industry.
Meanwhile, Chinese social media and video gaming giant Tencent Holdings claimed that its Hunyuan LLM is now among the world's best. It has been enhancing its AI models to create images and videos based on text prompts, according to company president Martin Lau Chi-ping, who called the endeavour "the most important for us this year" on a March conference call with the media.
Kuaishou posted strong quarterly results on May 22, with a net profit of 4.12 billion yuan (US$575.1 million), compared with a net loss of 876 million yuan a year earlier. Its revenue rose 17 percent to 29.41 billion yuan year on year, driven largely by online marketing services and its e-commerce business. Total e-commerce gross merchandise value grew 28 percent to 288.07 billion yuan during the quarter.
I Tried Kling AI, China's Insane New Text-to-Video Generator (And You Won't Believe What It Can Do!)
See the Medium article by *How to Guide | 12 June 2024.
Have you heard of Kling AI yet? If not, get ready to have your mind blown! Kling AI is a powerful new text-to-video generator developed by Chinese tech giant Kuaishou (think TikTok's biggest rival). And let me tell you, this thing is insane!
My First Experience with Kling AI
I first came across Kling AI while scrolling through tech news last week. The videos being shared looked too realistic to be AI-generated — a...
AI — Enjoying a Hamburger
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Bob Backstrom
~ Newsletter Editor ~
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