https://techlife.app/tag/Microsoft https://techlife.app/archives/the-new-ipad-pro-interface-is-getting-a-major-overhaul-and-the-wonderfully-controlled-keyboard-will-be-updated-with-it.html 2022-08-08T18:02:00+08:00 Bringing the Mac back to "utility" is the change Apple has made to Apple computers as they enter the M-chip era.Even with the M1 Series chips with excellent power efficiency, Apple designed the new MacBook Pro, Mac Studio with Pro-level people in mind and prioritized the internal Pro Workflow team.So we have a Pro-class Mac with a stronger active cooling system, and room for cooling.And since it's not all about "thinness," Apple has also optimized the much-criticized butterfly keyboard, TouchBar, and sparse ports to turn the MacBook Pro back into a productivity tool rather than a "work of art.Quietly, the MacBook Pro 14 has become Apple's most cost-effective Mac of the moment, bar none, and even subsequent M2-chip offerings have failed to shake its status.▲ The MacBook Air that focuses on thinness, not performanceIn some ways, the new MacBook Pro may not be as thin and light as the MacBook Air, and it may not have the performance of the Mac Studio, but there's no denying that it's the 'most versatile' option available today.Such a trend may very well carry over to the iPad Pro lineup as well.The current iPad Pro has a shortcoming.After Apple announced iPadOS 16, the features began to align with macOS and began to pull away from iOS, as if iPadOS was a mobile system spun off from macOS.The horizontal screen represents the Pro-level sceneiPadOS 16 also emphasizes "landscape" operation, either standalone or with an external keyboard, or even with a large display "on fire"."With this feature, the iPad Pro is closer to a "personal computer" than it is to half productivity and half Lovecraft.In our previous experience, with iPadOS 16, the iPad Pro was more than capable of replacing our traditional Mac workflow at the moment, and iPadOS has somewhat unlimited potential.But it's the USB-C port that limits the iPad Pro's ability to play a more "productive" role.This is not a reference to the form of the interface, or the rate of the interface, rather, the iPad Pro already has the Thunderbolt 4 interface on it, which is already the highest specification for Apple products.Rather, the number of ports on the iPad Pro is so small that, similar to many smartphones, it offers only one USB-C port.Even though the Thunderbolt 4 has a decent amount of bandwidth and can be used for many needs all in one, for the Pro class, the single interface really limits the tooling attributes of the iPad Pro.In fact, as the iPad Pro has become more of a productivity tool, Apple has begun to make up for the number of ports.In addition to the universal connector USB-C (Lightning), the iPad Pro has been designed with a "three-pin smart connector" on its body since the first generation to facilitate the external smart keyboard.The "Smart Keyboard" category has been gradually expanded to three types: Smart Keyboard, Keyboard Smart Clip and Smart Control Keyboard.The keyboard has a USB-C port on the spindle, which is used to charge the iPad Pro via a "three-pin smart connector" between the body and the keyboard, so that the Thunderbolt 4 on the body can be used for expansion.But, the three-pin smart connector is only designed for connecting keyboards, perhaps because of bandwidth issues, and can't be used to transfer data and fast charging.The three-pin smart connector is arguably even more "closed" than the Lightning connector, so the expandability speaks for itself.Three stitches to four, one to twoAccording to conventional thinking, adding a Thunderbolt interface to the iPad Pro would turn it around, but the iPad Pro has its own "plans" for future interface configurations, as well as the Wonder Control Keyboard II.In terms of expandability, Macotakara, based on reliable supply chain sources, says that the new iPad Pro series will not change the design style, but will upgrade the "three-pin smart connector" to a "four-pin smart connector" and increase the number by one, on the top and bottom edges respectively.The "three pin" to "four pin" basically extends the bandwidth of the original connection and does not rule out a speed increase. And the increased number will most likely bring new accessories and new features to the iPad Pro.Previously, to ensure expansion, Apple was rumored to be considering introducing MagSafe magnetic charging for the iPad Pro.It was more commonly thought that the MagSafe on the iPad Pro would be similar to the iPhone, existing in a fixed area on the back and compatible with the current MagSafe charger.However, combined with Macotakara's report, the MagSafe on the iPad Pro may actually more closely resemble a similar charging form factor on the MacBook Pro, with MagSafe and Thunderbolt working in tandem.And the four-pin connector on the back cover not only brings fast charging to iPad Pro itself, but also powers peripherals attached to iPad Pro.To this end, iPadOS 16 also allows device manufacturers to create drivers for iPad by adding DriverKit.The new 'four-pin smart connector' is different from universal connectors such as USB-C, it will still be exclusive to iPad Pro and will need to be used with an additional official accessory.Back in April of this year, Apple was also granted a patent for the next generation of the Myriad Control Keyboard, which was published along with it. From the patent image, we can see that the biggest change of the new generation of Myo-controlled keyboard will probably be the folding form, as well as having Apple Pencil storage space.The iPad Pro's second keyboard now opens up to just one angle and laptop form, which is slightly one-dimensional.And the patented keyboard adds a "drawing pad mode" that provides a drawing pad form without disassembly.▲ Surface Laptop StudioIn fact, these two forms are very close to the '3-in-1' form of Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio.With more forms of the new Wonder Keyboard, and a more expandable iPad Pro, and with iPadOS 16, the iPad Pro has a brighter future.Has it really become practical?With a richer interface and a more powerful iPadOS, the iPad Pro is theoretically becoming 'practical' as well.Unlike the MacBook Pro, however, the extra four-pin Smart Connector is not a universal connector, and Apple has no plans to open up the protocol.Also, the reliability of the similar magnetic pin contact interface remains in doubt, with the first generation iPad Pro, and now the wonderfully controlled keyboard, having poor contact conditions.Extending connectivity by adding contacts is indeed easily achievable, but it's rather unprofessional for a Pro device to still use a less reliable interface instead.With the addition of the contact port, it is difficult for the old accessory to be compatible with the new device, very similar to the iPad Pro when the design was changed and the contacts changed position, connecting the official keyboard must require a new purchase.After the changeover, old accessories, old keyboards, etc. also tend to raise corresponding 'environmental' issues.The main change that makes the new MacBook Pro so "practical" is the variety and versatility of ports, from SD card slots to HDMI, and the availability of MagSafe 3 and Thunderbolt 4 for fast charging.▲ Image from: The VergeBut when it comes to the iPad Pro, if the rumors are true, the introduction of the "four-pin smart connector" is just an enhancement for today's needs, not a comprehensive consideration for the future.For the new iPad Pro to become even more useful, it's really just a matter of adding another USB-C to the body. https://techlife.app/archives/microsoft-releases-new-age-exposure-series-z-generation-cool.html 2022-08-01T17:08:00+08:00 If Microsoft and Apple were anthropomorphized, Microsoft would probably be the IT guy who dresses very grounded and would have a hard time catching up with Apple in terms of fashion.Yet this nail-biting decades-old 'fact' was overturned this July - Microsoft got cool!It used to look like this when you opened Microsoft's Instagram, properly techy.▲ Microsoft Instagram at Christmas time last yearBut after mid-July, the page visuals changed completely. If you didn't know the reason, you'd think Microsoft had been robbed.▲ Microsoft Instagram after JulyWhat exactly did Microsoft do?It's doing something very similar to what the LV bosses did in 2018 - in 2018, Virgil Abloh, the founder of streetwear brand Off-White, was brought in as LV's artistic director, and since then LV has changed its face to a younger one, gaining a large consumer base from Generation Z.Microsoft didn't change its director, but it did bring in Gavin Mathieu, founder of LA streetwear brand Supervsn, to co-brand its clothing line, Hardwear.Gavin, who shares Virgil's skin tone, is also an all-rounder. Gavin, a former graphic designer, gave Microsoft a "buy one, get one free" deal - he was asked to design the costume and the entire visual design, which led to Microsoft's new look.Gavin also modeled the lookbook himself and brought along Mark Peaced, an amazing photographer he's been working with for 10-15 years.Gavin, who models and directs the shoot, is flanked by his royal photographer. Photo from: MicrosoftGavin also arranged to add a little "spice" to the grass by sprinkling it with tiny white flowers.▲ Hardwear promo header image. Image from: Microsoft▲ Gavin's sketch for the location. Image courtesy of YouTube @MicrosoftMicrosoft interviewed Gavin on the green grass at the same time as the shoot, and realized that this capsule collection is really something.▲ Gavin Mathieu, who is all over the Microsoft co-branded collection except for the hat. image via Microsoft01 Clothes that are as energetic as "hardware"The Hardwear capsule collection consists of nine pieces priced between $304-1013 ($45-$150). Each of these pieces is emblazoned with Hardwear in Microsoft's default font, Times New Roman.Hardwear is a word that looks familiar, but you can't even find it in the dictionary.It actually comes from Hardcover, a high-frequency word in Microsoft's thesaurus, which means "hardware." The cover after Hardcover itself has the meaning of covering, wrapping, and the English wear interchanged with clothes, then it becomes Hardwear.Clothing designed like hardware will focus more on the inside of the individual, rather than the superficiality of dressing. In essence, this is similar to the definition of Gavin's own brand, Supervsn - "a 100% energy company that energizes the masses".Hardwear is therefore a collection that is so comfortable and at ease that you don't have to think about how to dress up.Such a style is what Gavin considers to be Normcore (nationally known as 'sexually cool') - "My style is Normcore, and it's because I woke up and I was thinking, man, let's put on sweats and get to work".What Gavin calls the "studio painter's apron" is actually a super practical loose denim shirt with four pockets on the front and sides that can be worn alone or as a jacket. It's a slightly loose fit for guys, and a handsome boyfriend style for girls.The white print Inbox on the left breast pocket of the shirt is actually derived from Microsoft's software Outlook, which is dedicated to sending and receiving emails.When we open Outlook, we usually click on the Inbox icon first and take a look inside. The English Inbox next to the picture of the Inbox looks like a pocket - oh, it's not a pocket, it's our Inbox!Gavin also wanted to "do something" about the inside, which is not even visible when you put it on.The reverse side of the fabric near the back is printed with a quote - "This world is about creation. And this dress is also about creation. But the power is within you, not floating on the surface. So before you put on this dress, please remember that". Not forgetting to add a small series signature at the bottom, echoing the designer drop on the back of the jacket.Netizens were also buried in this jacket, which even the details were very attentive, and it was snatched up quickly after the sale opened.Another army green blazer was printed with the same quote on a bright orange lining. For the lookbook, Gavin also asked the model to show off the lining in a special way.This jacket looks weird because it uses the glossy fabric of an aviator jacket, but instead of making a proper aviator jacket with a knitted collar, it turns into a denim jacket 'same style'. Again, it's a unisex, versatile jacket.These work trousers, which are the same color set as the jacket, are the "most expensive item" in the collection.But there's a good reason why it's expensive, because once you unzip the knee, the trousers become knee-length shorts in seconds. It's like getting two pieces for the price of one ($1,013), and when you halve the price, the "most expensive item" becomes the "least expensive item" (except for the hat).▲ The army green shorts and trousers in the photo are actually the sameOf course, if you want to be trendy you can also do what the model did with one side of the shorts and the other side of the trousers and walk down the street with a 100% turnaround.It's worth noting that the zipper work is really well done - the raised stopper design hides the zipper perfectly, whether worn as long pants or shorts.Tucked into these pants is also the jacket's bright orange lining - poke around the pockets and this bright orange pocket cloth comes out.Unfortunately, the multi-wear work pants don't come in girls' sizes, and for the promotional photo shoot, the girls had to wear regular jeans with them.The men's and women's grey jumper set is also a popular choice for couples' wear in the collection. The fabric is made from 100% cotton composition French terry cloth, which is excellent in terms of wicking and warmth, and is soft and comfortable to the touch close to the skin.If you think a jumper with sweatpants is too casual, take a lesson from Gavin - wear a white T-shirt underneath, reveal a small section at the hem of the jumper, pair it with the work trousers from the collection underneath and wear a dark duck-tongued hat.While the hat on Gavin's head is a joint Fear of God and New Era release from last year, there's a similarly styled hat in the collection - Hardcover and a designer drop embroidered in white on navy chinos.There are also 3 short-sleeved t-shirts available for $406 ($60).The most popular is the t-shirt with the classic Microsoft desktop print on the back - Blue Sky Green Grass - available in mustard yellow and black colorways, which is now in a sold out state.Interestingly, outside the desktop pattern box, the mouse cursor is printed several times larger - it is now going to jump out of the box even though it is normally confined within the screen.This is a nod to thinking outside the box.——Gavin MathieuThe other t-shirt looks exactly like the Blue Sky Green Grass t-shirt on the front, but has a giant version of the drawing software icon printed on the back with the words "Never Not Creating" underneath. To accentuate the vibrant red, yellow, blue and purple of the icon, the fabric color also goes the premium grey route, offering both grey blue and grey green colorways.▲ "Never Stop Creating" T-shirt in grey and blueThere are also black and white t-shirts with "It's In You, Not On You" printed on them, making them a versatile piece in the collection.All of these styles have one thing in common - a fluorescent green wash label with oversized S, M, L and XL sizes, which Gavin "stole" from his own label, Supervsn. But there's something behind the Supervsn size chart, so I'd love to flip through the Hardwear collection's size wash labels and see if there's a surprise behind them.▲ Denim shirts and jackets from the Hardwear collection. Image via: Instagram @microsoft▲ T-shirt and size wash label by Supervsn. Image via: Instagram @supervsnThis collection really is the 'perfect basic' that you can't go wrong with just throwing on every morning, wearing all day without any tight discomfort, and having cool looking details, and it's also a limited edition that you can only get at Microsoft.02. Age-revealing inspirationFashion is a reincarnation. What's awesome about this collection is that Gavin is stepping right at the beginning of that cycle at the moment.On the day of the shoot, Gavin brought these sources of inspiration into the studio as well - old computers with Windows 98 systems, screens with Word documents, Excel sheets, Powerpoint slides, drawing software pages, and the old game Space Code from that era. The screens were filled with Word documents, Excel sheets, Powerpoint slides, drawing software pages, and the old game Space Code.These inspirations from the 90's are full of "childhood kill" to the post 85's and 90's, but to the post 95's and 00's generation, they are almost unseen.At 35 years old, Gavin is one of the post-85 generation himself. A self-taught designer, he first started designing with Ms Paint, the drawing software that came with his dad's computer.During the design process for Hardwear, he first thought of the icon for the Windows 95 version of the drawing software - a yellowish barrel with three brushes inside. The number 85 was written on it because the year of birth of the drawing software was 1985.This icon existed briefly from 1995 to 2001, and disappeared with the retirement of Windows in 2001. But it was Gavin's precious childhood, from 8 to 14 years old, and drawing software was an important companion in his early days of design.▲ Hardwear's new promotional animation. Image via: Instagram @microsoftThat's because he was already using Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator at the age of 15, when he also designed his own shop using Photozhop. Fast forward to 2013, and Gavin opened his first store, YOUth, in Fairfax, which became a showcase for young local creatives.The store became a major turning point for Gavin, when he realized - "Oh, I can design almost anything. I can design my time. I can do a stage, I can do a studio, I can do anything I want to do, I can design a community'.▲ Gavin poses with his kids. Photo via: Instagram @mizzlesupervsnSince then he has been on a "Never Not Creating" path, founding the label 4Hunnid with rapper YG, and having his own child, the streetwear brand Supervsn.▲ Supervsn branding video. Photo from: Instagram @supervsnThe phrase "never stop creating" is not only in the Hardwear line, but also on the back of Gavin's own label, Supervsn, but in a bold sans-serif font with a copyrighted ©️ underneath.The slogan was also turned into a label on the packaging of a Gavin-designed tupperware box. The cooler, which is filled with brains, is printed on a white T-shirt with the slogan "Wealth is in our heads, not our pockets. Protect it." -- thus launching the 2019 'Wealth Collection'. This could be interpreted as saying that having a brain is really wealthy.▲ Supervsn 'Fortune Collection' white t-shirt. Image via: Instagram @supervsn▲ Supervsn 'Fortune Collection' Grey Hoodie. Image via: Instagram @supervsnThis 'Fortune Collection' T-shirt was shipped in an actual clamshell, with the brains on the T-shirt visible through the clear clamshell.▲ Gavin with the clamshell packaging. image via: YouTube @ComplexSince then Gavin has designed a number of pop-up clothes with slogans, but all of them are related to inner creativity, and Gavin wants to use them to remind us to be more mindful of our inner being and to fuel our spiritual tanks with energy at all times.The Think Different slogan t-shirt is a product that Supervsn has had great feedback on and has been restocked repeatedly.The dress was a response to Gavin's frustration with the Repost phenomenon on social media, and he used the capsule collection to speak out - think for yourself, don't just follow the crowd!We've all seen interviews with Tupac, Nipsey, Steve Jobs, etc. We retweet, retweet ......Creating is not just about telling someone to 'think differently', it's about actually thinking differently about yourself and how to apply what we've learned in your actions. The only way to truly show that someone has inspired you is through your actions, not just retweets. Action starts with shifting your mindset.——Supervsn▲ Think Different Capsule Series Microfilm. Image via: Instagram @supervsnGoing back to the Hardwear collection with Microsoft, Gavin's new tagline for the T-shirt, "It's In You, Not On You," becomes easy to understand - creativity lives within us, not just what it looks like.As Gavin says in this interview, 'We all have a creative bone inside us'.▲ Hardwear Collection T-shirt. Image from: Microsoft03. Into the "streetwear chat room" of MicrosoftAfter the release of Microsoft's co-branded collection, a popular comment came from an industry insider on Twitter.Microsoft has entered the streetwear chatroom. They've teamed up with Supervsn designer Gavin Mathieu to create a Normcore-inspired line. A case of doing it right.--Clayton Chambers (brand marketing consultant)Chatroom' is the perfect word to describe the joint collaboration between Microsoft and Gavin, as only their collaboration could make this new collection - Microsoft's pragmatism and Gavin's street style finally collide to create something that is recognized as 'cool' by the younger demographic and very wearable.Microsoft, which hasn't brought in Gavin yet, has also sold clothes - Windows 95, Windows XP and drawing software-themed holiday sweaters that the Internet has called "ugly sweaters".No comparison no harm, this now can feel the Hardwear series inside the will drawing software icon that dress, or cool.It's a good thing that these ugly sweaters haven't got their claws into that blue sky and green grass desktop wallpaper.This wallpaper has an official working title - Bliss - and was Microsoft's default desktop when it launched Windows XP in 2001, and a billion people are said to have seen this photo.This one was taken by American photographer Charles O'Rear. He was driving along Highway 121 that day, intending to find his then-girlfriend (now wife), when he passed through southern Sonoma County and took this photo with his Mamiya RZ67 camera.Because of the brightly colored Fujifilm used, the colors of the original image were just stunning. A few years after he uploaded the image to the website Corbis, he received the good news that Microsoft was going to buy it for a sky-high price.Because the deal had a non-disclosure agreement, the exact sale price has not been made public to this day, and Artsy said in 2017 that it was the second-highest fee a living photographer had ever received for a single photograph.▲ Image via: Instagram @kidd.gorgeousThis classic-too-classic photo is being interpreted in more interesting versions by the internet in the present day.Perhaps because he has worked as a graphic designer, Gavin's clothing designs are a bit like graphic design on a canvas of clothing shapes, with simple, wearable patterns but distinctive, personalized patterns that could be an image or a slogan.It's also Supervsn's secret to creating pop-ups. So much so that a VOGUE list of black-led brands introduces the brand with the phrase - "Supervsn Studio is based in Los Angeles and sells hoodies, sweatshirts and T-shirts with graphics.▲ Gavin on the set of the shoot. Photo courtesy of YouTube @MicrosoftThis is exactly what Microsoft wants. Microsoft launched an apparel line that doesn't require complicated clothing models or advanced matching skills, but rather a way to showcase the culture Microsoft has accumulated over the years, specifically in the clothing with patterns.▲ Microsoft desktop graphic on Hardwear collection t-shirtMicrosoft has accumulated so much good stuff in its history that it seems to be keeping a big vault, and if it can't turn it into a commodity that the public can use, then the vault will just become a museum. Over time, these great things will be forgotten by the public and will gradually lose their original value.▲ Hardwear Collection Work Pants DetailAlthough there are only 9 items in the Hardwear collection, it is a successful test. In the words of Microsoft - "Each piece of clothing has a unique intention, and each style in the Hardwear collection has a deep meaning behind it. https://techlife.app/archives/configure-these-new-features-for-wsl-and-experience-full-linux-without-a-virtual-machine.html 2022-07-07T22:07:00+08:00 Configure these new features for WSL and experience full Linux without a virtual machineWindows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Microsoft's subsystem for supporting Linux environments under the Windows platform, has been a hit with major developers since its introduction.If you are also a deep learning researcher, most of the new articles in the research community are based on research experiments in Linux environments, while the computers we use every day are Windows platforms. A normal Linux virtual machine cannot access the graphics card to get deep learning acceleration. On the other hand, some of the research experiments open source their toolkit, but they are developed in a Linux desktop environment and are not available on a Linux server.Now, over time, WSL has seen its share of enhancements, namely WSL2, NVIDIA CUDA on WSL, and WSLg, each of which addresses different development challenges for WSL in the above scenarios.「Microsoft loves Linux」This post is a tutorial guide to installing and configuring WSL to make it work with the new features mentioned above.The complete Linux experience with second generation WSLMain differencesThere are currently two major versions of WSL, called WSL1 and WSL2. The major difference is that WSL1 is based on dynamic translation of Linux system calls into Windows NT (the kernel of the Windows operating system) system calls, while WSL2 is virtual machine-based, creating a full Linux kernel.The problem that developers have encountered with WSL1 is that some linux commands do not run successfully. This is a very annoying thing when you encounter this problem. For example, WSL1 could not run docker successfully because it required linux system calls about namespaces, which WSL1 did not support. Eventually, Microsoft decided to use virtualization technology to overcome this problem.A comparison of other key features between WSL1 and WSL2 can be found in the table in this Microsoft document.WSL2 is significantly better than WSL1 in terms of the number of features supported, with the exception of the item of cross-OS file system performance. Later we will illustrate how to avoid cross-OS file access to avoid performance problems, based on actual paths.Enable WSL2First of all, WSL2 can be enabled in Windows 11 or Windows 10, Version 1903, Build 18362 or higher version numbers.Method 1: Command line method. There is no quicker way than the command line to enable and install a single command, wsl --install. This command will help the user to enable the necessary system components, download the latest Linux kernel, set WSL2 as the default version, and download and install Ubuntu as the initial version.If you want more granular control over the installation options, you can enable them manually using way two below.Mode 2: Graphics tab. Since the WSL2 implementation is based on a virtual machine format, there are two key components that need to be opened in the Windows Features menu, "Virtual Machine Platform" and "Windows Subsystem for Linux". Otherwise there is no way to create a disk, boot and enter WSL2, while WSL1 only needs to have "Windows Subsystem for Linux" open. After restarting the computer, the new feature checked will be activated. Open a terminal and enter the command wsl --set-default-version 2 to set the WSL version to use WSL2.PS C:\Users\someone> wsl --set-default-version 2 For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2 The operation completed successfully.Installing a Linux distribution should go without saying, with a single click through the Windows App Store. By default, both installation methods will install WSL to the system disk. If you want to install WSL to a non-system drive, you can refer to this article below.WSL2 cross-system access to filesSince WSL2 is now a virtual machine, the formerly convenient Explorer access to the Linux directory tree is no longer easy to find, as shown above, it is all consolidated into one virtual disk ext4.vhdx file.However, the Linux directory tree can be accessed via the smb protocol by typing \\wsl$\Ubuntu-20.04\home\user in explorer, or you can bind it to a network location for quick access.Caption: dotfiles XDG Base Directory SpecificationBeing able to use the system's explorer to access the VM's files is really handy. In my usage scenario, I would use it to view the images generated by the results of the experiment run to initially determine the effectiveness of the target detection. Until then, I need to start an HTTP service to view them or make a copy via scp to the local machine to view them.WSL's graphic pigtail: WSLgCaption: Figure source https://github.com/microsoft/wslgWSLg is a technology stack developed by Microsoft to bring Linux GUI applications senselessly into the Windows operating system. In simpler terms, it is possible to run a graphical application for Linux from the Start menu without the user perceiving that it is actually running in WSL2.Previously, to run Linux graphical applications, we needed to install a full Linux desktop system using a physical/virtual machine to do so. A bit more advanced would require an XServer installation on the Windows side and then rendering the graphical via X11 forward forward forwarding.WSLg implements the same functionality and is much more feature-rich. First, without the need for a full desktop system environment, WSLg is lighter and only includes the display server (X Window Manager). Secondly, the XServer only supports applications such as X11 App, while WSLg further supports Wayland App. Finally, the WSLg solution introduces a native remote desktop solution for RDP to display GUI applications, enabling maximum support for a number of Windows habits such as copy-paste switching of applications.If you want to experience the current software ecosystem under Linux, WSLg is one of the most richly supported solutions out there, and you can also uninstall WSL2 completely afterwards, clean and fresh.Install WSLgWSLg should be enabled in Windows 11 or later, note that Windows 10 users will not be able to use this feature.The installation of WSLg is much simpler and is actually included in the above steps. When you run wsl --install, WSLg is also installed. As you can see below, I did a fresh install and the components required by WSL were automatically installed, and then I only had to reboot the system to start the feature. For those who already have WSL2 installed, you can run wsl --update.Caption: Note that it needs to be run with administrator privilegesYou can install x11-apps via apt and then run xeyes to confirm the installation was successful.However, WSLg doesn't work perfectly for all graphics applications either, and there are quite a few posts on the web indicating that most of the difficulties many users have encountered point to systemd and graphics driver related issues. This can also be used as your initial judgment to see if WSLg will meet your needs.Practical applicationsIn my day job, I also need to perform data analysis on experimental data. I often use python to call the matplotlib library to illustrate my papers, and WSLg makes it easy to render and display the drawn illustrations directly, so I can quickly iterate to adjust the details of the illustrations.Up until this point, I've been doing the mapping through Google Colab. But when experimenting with more and larger artifacts, it took a lot of effort to figure out how to sync the artifacts to Colab's runtime, or to have Colab use the local runtime to access the artifacts via port forwarding, but either way, it wasn't as straightforward and convenient as WSLg.Caption: using my favorite sine function for the demoFor many GUI applications that have Linux as their first priority support, I think it is also well worth using WSLg, for example, the famous simulation software GAZEBO, the robotics package ROS, the bioinformatics tool Blast, etc.Caption:showcasesIf you happen to be practicing and familiarizing yourself with Linux, then I recommend installing and using the app Timeshift. It creates a backup of the path you specify as a restore point, and then you can toss WSL2 around to learn Linux and quickly restore it if you run into problems.Caption: source Timeshift's github home pageIf you're in the habit of reading ebooks on your computer, and you've heard the jargon that "Windows font rendering is terrible," try the somewhat better font-rendering Linux reader Foliate. It's a bit of a curveball, but it's not a bad solution.Caption: Source Foliate Home PageAttack of the WSL with CUDACUDA, or "Compute Unified Device Architecture", is a parallel computing development kit for Nvidia's GPU graphics cards. CUDA is a development kit that provides direct access to the stream processors in the GPU to perform large and repetitive simple calculations more efficiently.Since GPUs are more powerful than CPUs for parallel computing, they are more suitable for tasks such as matrix computing, graphics rendering, etc. Deep learning techniques, which are currently very popular, rely heavily on CUDA because of the heavy use of matrix computation.I need to work on deep learning techniques in my day job, and now that WSL also supports CUDA, it's easier for me to reduce the need for a server, write the basic code and run tests on a local machine, and then sync to the server for large-scale experiments.Install CUDACUDA on WSL can be enabled in Windows 11 or Windows 10, Version 21H2 and higher.Many students read the Microsoft and Nvidia documentation related to CUDA on WSL and are still confused. Apart from the fact that there are a lot of English descriptions, it's also because neither of them tells you in a concise manner that the whole installation process is actually very simple for the user.The entire installation process can be broken down into three steps.upgrading the Linux kernel on the Windows side.install Nvidia's graphics card drivers.install the development kit for Nvidia CUDA within WSL.Caption: A simple diagram of the architectureThe first step is to upgrade the Linux kernel, which needs to be discussed here in three cases.If you installed WSL fresh with the above steps, then you can skip this step as the initial installation is the latest kernel version.If you use Windows on a daily basis with automatic updates turned on (up to 21 days off), then you don't have to upgrade either, as it will do it for you on a daily basis.If you really need to install it manually, the wsl --install command does it in one click.Finally you can confirm that the kernel version is greater than 5.10.43.3 by using the wsl cat /proc/version command.PS C:\Users\someone> wsl cat /proc/version Linux version 5.10.102.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 (oe-user@oe-host) (x86_64-msft-linux-gcc (GCC) 9.3.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.34.0.20200220) #1 SMP Wed Mar 2 00:30:59 UTC 2022The second step is to install the Nvidia graphics card drivers. This is actually already installed on most PCs configured with Nvidia graphics cards, otherwise you won't be able to use the graphics card's features properly at all. If you can see Nvidia GeForce Experience in the system tray, then you have installed it. If not, go to the Nvidia driver website and select your graphics card model to download the installer all the way to the next point.Although Nvidia doesn't say exactly what version number is required, only mentioning that the latest drivers can support it. But personally I would also recommend manually updating to the latest version occasionally for more stable and efficient driver performance and higher gaming performance.Step 3: Install Nvidia's CUDA development kit. WSL-Ubuntu&target_version=2.0&target_type=deb_local) has kindly treated WSL as a standalone Linux distribution, so you can install the CUDA development kit by selecting the options shown below and following the instructions shown below. The whole process is no different from any other distribution installation, and there is no additional learning cost at all. From a deep learning user's perspective, I don't recommend mindlessly installing the latest CUDA version unless one is clear on what the scope of impact is. In general, using deep learning environments such as pytorch and tensorflow with the recommended version installed on the official website will get the least buggy experience. Therefore, the recommended version on the CUDA official website, select Archive of Previous CUDA Releases to get the installation instructions for historical releases.Running commands such as nvidia-smi under WSL will confirm that the CUDA package is correctly installed.At this point, you have installed all the dependencies for CUDA under WSL and can install and use it normally as a normal Linux environment Deep learning environment now.Practical applicationsLike most deep learning researchers, I generally use CUDA to run deep learning applications. In the WSL environment, the coding experience is exactly the same as on the server side, but since I don't have to think about time-sharing the GPU with my classmates, coding and testing are able to alternate more frequently. The difference in running speed was also not noticeable with the same RTX2080Ti graphics card. Similarly, Intel and AMD have CUDA equivalent development kits, oneAPI and ROCm respectively. www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/tools/oneapi/overview.html#gs.53ka13) and ROCm. Microsoft and Intel have each announced support for oneAPI in WSL2 in their blogs, but nothing about ROCm has been seen yet. Readers who have a need for the other two's hardware can explore them.postscriptThere are so many different software features, but the constant is that what works for you is what works for you. If you have similar needs and want to juggle a lot of common software on your Windows system, then WSL2 is ideal from this point of view, so give it a try. Feel free to leave your comments in the comments section about any pain points and more suitable scenarios and software recommendations for using WSL2.Associated Reading.Enable NVIDIA CUDA on WSLCUDA on WSL User Guide https://techlife.app/archives/15-years-ago-today-no-one-believed-the-iphone-would-work.html 2022-06-30T22:03:00+08:00 Fifteen years ago, the first iPhone went on sale and crowds filled the Apple Store, a sight that has lasted until the current iPhone launch.▲ Image from: wiredApple has always had this magic of gathering crowds outside Apple Stores around the world when new products go on sale. They even [stay] outside the Apple Store (https://www.flickr.com/photos/gruber/662408737/in/photolist-21x2pn-21x23i-21x1PH/) a day early to get a head start.On the morning of June 29, 2007, many Apple executives went to Apple Stores in different cities to witness this historic moment.▲ Steve Jobs at the iPhone's first sale day Photo from: paloaltoonlinePhil Schiller (VP of Global Marketing) went to Chicago, Jony Ive (Chief Designer) and the design team went to San Francisco, and Steve Jobs showed up at the Palo Alto Apple Store, just a mile and a half from his home news/article-2051060/Steve-Jobs-life-celebrated-Apple-stores-close-America.html).Jobs was joined by former Mac team spirits like co-founder Steve Wozniak and Bill Atkinson.▲ Steve Jobs at iPhone launch day Photo via: Yahoo!The iPhone is undoubtedly the most important product in Apple's history, and it's rare to see Apple executives, or the creators of the iPhone, all together at the Apple Store, along with many other users.No one believes the iPhone will workThere was a six-month gap between its release in January 2007 and its launch in late June 2007.The iPhone was officially launched at MacWorld 2007 Photo from: MashableIt wasn't just the development team that was suffering to meet the schedule during this time, outside analysts and senior media weren't idle either, though they weren't cheering Apple on or giving it credit.Rather, it's a complete move to the opposite side of the spectrum, a collective bearishness.Microsoft CEO, RIM CEO, Bloomberg, BusinessWeek, etc. all think the iPhone simply can't win, and is an overkill in front of BlackBerry, Nokia, and Motorola.The reason for this lament is essentially the form and logic of the first iPhone.In the fourth quarter of 2006, a total of 22 million smartphones were sold worldwide, largely split between Nokia, BlackBerry, Motorola and Palm.At the time, their phones were basically a rectangular box with a screen on the top half and buttons on the bottom half. And, at that time, people had already decided that this was what a phone looked like, and that one-way access to information from the screen and input on the keyboard was the way people were used to interacting.Before the iPhone came along, no one probably knew that you could flip through photos like a book, pinch to shrink pictures with your fingers, and tap an avatar to make a call directly.▲ Image from: voxAt the January 2007 MacWorld conference, after Jobs clicked on Ive's avatar and spoke to Ive in the audience at the [MacWorld]() conference in January 2007, many compared the call to the Bell call from a century ago, a snapshot of the era.But it's interesting to note that when Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world, it was still an unfinished product with significant problems with both the hardware and the iPhone OS.In order to make the Jobs demo go smoothly, the iPhone development team has developed a strict process, such as playing only part of a song or video, sending emails before going online, etc.▲ Crowds waiting to buy iPhones Photo from: wiredAnd in the less than six months that followed, even with all the industry opposition, on June 29th, Apple still solved many of the problems and delivered as scheduled.Unexpectedly, the iPhone faced the biggest problem of being too popular, and the AT&T network nearly crashed due to excessive data access.Richard Sprague, then senior marketing director at Microsoft, was certain that the iPhone wouldn't sell more than 100,000 units by 2008. In reality, however, the first iPhone sold more than 1 million units in just 74 days.▲ Steve Ballmer image from: gifcenSteve Ballmer, then CEO of Microsoft, in an April 2007 USA Today interview, similarly argued that the iPhone had no chance of doing well in the marketplace.Fifteen years later, the iPhone alone accounts for 40 percent of the global mobile phone market, contributes nearly 60 percent of Apple's revenue, and there are already more than 1 billion iPhones in the world.iPhone was born, actually for the music businessIt's only been two years since the idea of building a phone was conceived and finally brought to market. And this two-year development process is almost a microcosm of Apple's thirty years of technology accumulation.In 2004, the iPod was on a roll, almost single-handedly disrupting the entire traditional record industry.▲ iPods: Photo by: musictechBut instead of getting carried away by the victory, Apple VP of marketing Greg Joswiak is monitoring other phone makers to see if they're ready to integrate music players into their phones and thus threaten the iPod's status.Rather than wait, Apple didn't want to build a phone because Jobs thought there were too many rules and regulations for carriers to build and design the way they wanted, but it didn't want to give up that part of the music business as it watched the phone market grow.▲ iTunes Phone with Motorola Image from: CultofMacSo Apple found Motorola to implant the iTunes Store service into the Rokr, a compromise of sorts for Jobs.In parallel, Apple software VP Scott Forstall has also formed a small team to develop the corresponding software for what is still Project Purple, the software.▲ Jobs loves purple Image from: dialoguereviewFor the next few months, they would brief Jobs in a small room on the 2nd floor of Apple's headquarters, impress Jobs, and then present to other Apple executives.In 2005, the Motorola Rokr performed rather poorly (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/223401/becoming-steve-jobs-by-brent-schlender-and-rick-tetzeli- with-a-new-foreword-by-marc-andreessen/), coupled with the Apple software team bringing very forward-thinking interaction ideas, allowed Jobs to push Project Purple forward.You can see almost all of Apple's products in the iPhoneThe multi-touch interaction led by the iPhone has actually existed within Apple for a long time, but it came about by accident when Apple engineer Brian Huppi solved the problem of not having a mouse to control the computer.Initially, Jobs dismissed the idea, arguing that dropping the Mac's interface onto the trackpad would look clunky. And the trackpad was not elegant enough for the size of a desktop.▲ Ten out of ten Ive's Leica TOn a side note, Ive switched gears and said that if this technology appeared on the back of the camera, the buttons on the back of the digital camera would be able to be removed so that a whole screen could be used.The "multi-touch" technology that was eventually retained became the basis for what would eventually become iPhone interaction.The idea of a whole screen on the back of the camera eventually appeared in the Leica T. The one-piece CNC cut, combined with the interaction logic of the whole screen, is the same as Ive's original idea.Leica's designer Andreas Kaufmann also said in an interview that, as a fan of Ive's design style, he was just trying his best to emulate Jony Ive.▲ Ive in Supervision Photo from: iMoreThe Apple design team led by Jony Ive used to be one of the souls of Apple products. As an industrial designer, Ive has not only studied lines and curves.Over the years he has also refined his and his team's understanding of industrial materials. Since 2004, he has been working to control the black streaks that occur in the manufacture of aluminum, even delving into the supply chain to learn how to dope a quantitative amount of magnesium and iron to maximize the original color and hardness of the aluminum.After the release of the iPhone, Ive's design team became increasingly populated with materials experts, even acquiring Chicago-based QuesTek Innovations, which holds the patents for making the appropriate steel for racing cars and rockets.For this reason, on the first Apple Watch, Apple also introduced three different materials in one breath, appearing in stainless steel and solid gold cases in addition to aluminum and magnesium.The iPhone is the result of Steve Jobs' control of software and Ive's attention to detail in industrial design, but behind both of them is Tim Cook, the man who brought the iPhone from his desk on the second floor of Apple's headquarters to Apple Stores around the world.In December 2006, on the eve of the iPhone launch, Ive traveled across the Pacific Ocean to Foxconn in Shenzhen, and in a conference room, selected thirty of the hundred or so pre-production iPhones to bring to the launch event.Nick Forlenza, Ive's vice president of design for turn and pass, said that any one of these could have gone to Jobs and they would have been as exquisite as a camera made by Canon.Foxconn's production process gave Ive the confidence that Apple could build millions of equally sophisticated phones and he wouldn't have to travel thousands of miles to supervise the work.Tim Cook, the man behind the iPhoneTim Cook was famous for managing the supply chain at Compaq before joining Apple, and choosing Shenzhen Foxconn for OEM was also part of Tim Cook's job description.Not only that, but early iPhones had a touch screen that wasn't glass but plastic, and Jobs happened to notice that it was easily scratched. So in the production version, the decision was made to use glass.Then, Jobs called Corning, and the two companies hit it off, not only bringing strong glass to the iPhone, but also saving Corning.But behind the scenes, it's not easy to take a technology that's never been mass-produced and produce enough glass in less than six months. Together with Corning, Cook has done the near-impossible by turning a glass factory in Kentucky into a manufacturer of iPhone screens, and on time for the first sale.▲ Apple has subsequently continued to invest in Corning to develop new glass for it Image from: cnetThese jobs aren't as glamorous as the software engineers and industrial designers in the front office, and are secret jobs that are hard to see for the common man."His unseen work has become Apple's secret weapon."For the 1984 Super Bowl finale, Apple aired the famous "1984" commercial, alluding to the Mac's challenge to old-time IBM to re-establish the PC.The iPhone, released and launched in 2007, ushered in a new era of "smartphones" and a new digital lifestyle.Reference.On the Origin of the iPhone Becoming Steve Jobs After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company https://techlife.app/archives/qualcomm-poached-apple-chip-engineers-and-wants-to-build-a-core-to-beat-the-m-chip.html 2022-06-26T20:02:00+08:00 In 2017, right after Apple launched its newly designed MacBook Pro line, Qualcomm, with its nose for mobile chips, began working with Microsoft to build the Windows on Arm ecosystem together.At the time, Qualcomm was offering SoCs for the Windows platform based on the Snapdragon platform, which did not take advantage of the energy efficiency of the Arm architecture. Instead, it revealed its weak performance and high price, which made it difficult to attract consumers who were willing to try it.▲ Surface Pro X Image via: thevergeEven when Microsoft followed up by pulling in its own Surface line with an Arm-based Surface Pro X, it failed to reverse the lukewarm status of Windows on Arm.It was only with the advent of the M1, or rather Apple's strong entry, that the Arm chip broke through on the PC platform for good.Last year along with the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 flagship SoC, Qualcomm also launched the Snapdragon 8cx Gen3, 7c+ Gen3 chips for PCs along with a significant leap forward promised at launch.Recently, the ThinkPad X13s with Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip was launched as expected, and then the related theoretical tests surfaced.The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is indeed a significant improvement over its predecessor, with GeekBench scores showing a 40% improvement in single-core and 85% improvement in multi-core.However, compared to Apple's M1, which was released a year ago, there is still a very noticeable gap in multi-core, not to mention the "core monsters" like M1 Pro and M1 Max.▲ Apple M1 Chipset SkyQualcomm, which has achieved such success, does not seem to be discouraged, but instead has prepared a chip codenamed "Hamoa" to compete with Apple's M chip, which is scheduled for 2023.Beat the apple with the appleEven though the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is a significant improvement, it's still a bit "fanciful" to try to catch up with Apple's established M-chip system in just a few years.What's more, Qualcomm's mobile SoC journey has not been smooth in recent years, with flagship chips performing half as well as half as well, and even though GPU, baseband, AI, ISP and other modules have been significantly improved, they will be pinned down by Arm's public version of the architecture.In order to master its core competencies, Qualcomm is also aiming at self-designed IP architecture cores, which means that it has licensed Arm and designed its own cores, just like Apple.With this in mind, Qualcomm acquired Arm chip design company NUVIA for $1.4 billion in March 2021.Crucially, NUVIA was co-founded by former Apple chip engineers Gerard Williams III, John Bruno and Manu Gulati.William has been involved in the development and design of the A7~A12X, and has been in a leadership role. In addition to chip design, he also worked on the layout design of the A chip during the first few years of founding NUVIA.▲ The three people who co-founded NUVIA Photo from: NUVIAAnd NUVIA was founded with the goal of developing an Arm-based server chip that would shake up the industry.After being taken under Qualcomm's wing, NUVIA's target has also shifted to consumer-grade Arm chips, aimed squarely at PCs.▲ Arm Public Edition Core IP Image from: ArmIn other words, Qualcomm indirectly from the corner of the core team of Apple chip, this may be Qualcomm a few years to catch up with one of the bottom of the M chip.Similar to Apple's M chips, Qualcomm is leveraging the design capabilities of NUVIA's own core to move away from its dependence on Arm Cortex public IP.Of course, autonomous core IP goes beyond Arm chips for PC platforms, and Qualcomm VP Keith Kressin emphasized in an anandtech interview that "each metric is evaluated and the right design is selected for the appropriate product.It is not excluded that the Snapdragon 8 series SoCs for smartphones will also have an autonomous architecture in the future.▲ Apple's M-Chip Splicing SpreeThe rumored "Hamoa" chip that will be available in 2023 will most likely be a NUVIA designed CPU with Adreno GPU, Hexagon DSP and other modules.It may be difficult for Qualcomm to catch up to Apple's M chips with a single acquisition, but how about aiming to play up the power efficiency ratio of the Arm architecture first?Catching up on hardware is easy, ecology is notThe CPU cores of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 are actually taken from the combination of the mega-core X1 and the big-core A78 of the Snapdragon 888.The Hamoa chip, on the other hand, could be a qualitative improvement in CPU, and closing the gap with the M chip is a definite possibility.▲ Surface Pro X with the weird Arm ecosystem Image via: MicrosoftIt's just that the lack of hardware power was not the root cause of the previous Qualcomm-Microsoft joint effort to create Windows on Arm.With the later Surface Pro X, the hardware wasn't the shortcoming, it was the ecology.Even with Microsoft's hands-on Arm platform, many of its own programs have failed to migrate, let alone the professional-grade tools and productivity environment on Windows.Not to mention, Microsoft's voice in ecological appeal, many traditional PC manufacturers are still waiting on the sidelines. After the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 release, it's taken until now for consumer devices to appear, and the pace is just too slow compared to the M chips next door.Apple gave the Mac two years to move from x86 to Arm, and during the two-year transition period, Apple provided Rosstta 2's translation technology to minimize the impact of the transition on users.Ironically, after the Mac moved to Arm, Microsoft was the first to adapt the Arm version for Office, and Adobe was quick to do the same.And incidentally, a corresponding Arm version for Windows was also made available, with many people jokingly calling Microsoft the best developer for Apple.In addition to the inefficiency of adapting and translating programs in Windows on Arm, it is also difficult for Microsoft to call on third-party software to actively adapt to the compatible Windows ecosystem.So, in the current Windows on Arm environment, Qualcomm may need to call on third-party vendors to abandon the x86 platform and move to Arm before it can make a mark.To make the move to Arm in a few years' time, exactly as successful as Apple's, will require Qualcomm, Microsoft, and third-party vendors to work together, not just a processor with a superior power efficiency ratio to decide.▲ Apple's 'computers'Apple's All in Arm strategy has been very successful in the last two years, with the M chip's superior performance really shining through, but behind it all is Apple's unprecedented control of the ecology that ultimately makes the Mac that embraces Arm so impressive.Arm architecture PC is the futureTo be precise, portable PCs with Arm chips are the future.The advantages of Arm chips are power efficiency, portability, low price, and customizability. PCs with Arm chips can be the ultimate in thinness and lightness, as well as being able to reduce costs and allow hardware vendors to participate in customization.▲ Google's Deeply Customized Tensor SoCIt's not just Qualcomm, but Google and Microsoft are all forming their own Arm teams to get into the emerging Arm market.But unlike Qualcomm, Google and Microsoft are closer to customizing their Arm chips to fit the needs of their devices, and Google's Tensor is one example, with an architecture that's almost a customized version of Samsung's Exynos chip.Google, however, has reorganized the AI performance, CPU core mix, and other aspects to suit its needs. And in the future, it will extend Tensor to ChromeOS devices.According to a study by Strategy Analytics, Qualcomm accounted for 34 percent of the Arm processor market in 2021, compared to 31 percent for Apple, a difference of just a few percentage points.If you switch to the Arm PC market, Apple eats up 90 percent of the revenue, with Qualcomm at just 3 percent. And, with the strength of the M chips, Apple Macs already accounted for 9% of the PC segment in 2021, a 26% increase from the previous year's share.▲ Apple has a head startQualcomm is betting on the Arm PC for its future potential, as the Arm PC market is still emerging as opposed to the stable smartphone market.Qualcomm is banking on NUVIA's technology to make a breakthrough on Arm chips and catch up with M chips. But to achieve what the Mac has achieved, Qualcomm will need to work with Microsoft to implement the Arm ecosystem and convince traditional PC makers to abandon x86 chips.Either one would be an epic challenge for Qualcomm. https://techlife.app/archives/meta-microsoft-qualcomm-huawei-and-more-than-35-other-companies-set-up-a-meta-universe-standards-forum-but-there-s-no-apple-in-s.html 2022-06-23T04:01:00+08:00 The metaverse that many companies have entered is, in their view, the future of the Internet and the virtual world that people will step into in the future. The emergence and development of every new field always goes through a 'figuring out' phase. After people's curiosity about the metaverse has gone through a roller coaster of ups and downs, a joint organization in the industry has finally emerged.▲Image from: TwitterJust recently, a number of leading companies joined forces to form the Metaverse Standards Forum. The intention is to promote the development of interoperability standards for an open and inclusive metaverse and to accelerate its development and deployment through pragmatic, action-based projects.The Forum, which brings together leading standards organizations and companies, is designed for industry-wide collaboration on the interoperability standards needed to build an open metaverse. Founding members of the Metaverse Standards Forum already include Meta, Microsoft, Huawei, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Epic Games, Unity and Adobe, Ikea and more than 35 other companies.▲Image from: Metaverse Standards ForumIn addition to the founding members, this 'forum' is also free and open to any for-profit or non-profit organization (including companies, standards organizations, industry associations or universities) and amounts to a venue for collaboration between standards organizations and companies.It also means that this 'forum' is not an organization that creates new standards, but it coordinates requirements and resources to facilitate the creation and development of standards within standards organizations working in related areas. In short, what it wants to do is to promote interoperable standards for the open meta-community by leveraging the cooperation of leading standards organizations and companies.▲ Image via Gettys ImagesAccording to the 'Forum' description, this forum will focus on certain project implementations, such as hackathons, plugin festivals, and open source tools to accelerate testing and adoption of standards, while developing consistent terminology and deployment guidelines. The range of projects the forum plans to focus on includes, but is not limited to, interactive 3D assets, financial transactions, and human-machine interface programs such as AR and VR.▲Image from: Metaverse Standards ForumIt's worth noting that this industry 'forum', which brings together several tech giants, does not feature Apple, which has naturally led to a lot of speculation.Apple, the tech giant that's already back at number one in terms of market cap, is also currently working on an AR/VR headset, which clearly isn't entirely unintentional to the meta-universe. After all, Cook mentioned his vision for AR again in an interview only a short while ago: 'I'm very excited about the opportunities we see in this space.'▲Image from: ShutterstockBut perhaps the reason Apple hasn't joined the Forum is precisely because of the AR/VR headset the company is developing. meta, a founding member of the Forum, is also working on its next-generation headset, the Quest 2 Pro, which many believe couldn't be more obvious competition to Apple's headset in this space.In addition, Epic Games, a founding member of the forum, also has legal entanglements with Apple, and these 'beefs' and rivalries may have prevented Apple from stepping into the 'forum'.▲Image from: Financial TimesBut they always say that there are no permanent rivals in the mall. Adding to the fact that the meta-universe seems to have become a 'battleground' for tech companies these days, then perhaps Apple's choice to join the 'Forum' is because, in the tech giant's opinion, the current organization doesn't seem necessary to join just yet, or perhaps, it wants to create its own meta-universe ecology.▲Image from: Metaverse Standards ForumThe future of the metaverse is yet to come, everything is still uncertain, and the direction of the metaverse with the Forum as a joint organization is still full of unknowns and "surprises" https://techlife.app/archives/microsoft-disables-facial-recognition-what-ai-thinks-may-not-be-what-you-express.html 2022-06-22T06:01:00+08:00 Expressing emotions with facial expressions is an ability that is almost innate in every human being, and people are used to facial expressions to guess other people's emotions, but nowadays, when technology has advanced at a rapid pace, AI (artificial intelligence) also recognizes people's facial conditions and expressions.▲Image from: ResearchGateNot long ago, Microsoft, which has been focusing on developing facial recognition technology, released a guide with the theme 'A framework for building AI systems responsibly'. Publicly sharing Microsoft's standards for responsible AI, this is the framework that guides how Microsoft builds AI systems.▲Image from: MicrosoftThe article mentions Microsoft's decision to discontinue facial recognition features - Azure Face Services - because they can be used to try to infer emotional states and internal identity attributes that, if misused, could subject people to stereotyping, discrimination or unfair denial of service.Currently, Face Services are only available to Microsoft hosted customers and partners; existing customers will have one year to transition, but must discontinue these features by June 21, 2023; new users can request access using the Face Recognition Request Form.▲Image from: MicrosoftIn fact, Microsoft isn't disabling the feature altogether, but rather integrating the technology into 'controlled' accessibility tools such as 'Seeing AI' for people with visual impairments. It describes objects and text, reads signs, interprets someone's facial expressions, and provides navigation for the visually impaired, and currently supports English, Dutch, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.▲Image from: MicrosoftThe guidance, published by Microsoft, illustrates the tech company's decision-making process, including a focus on principles such as inclusivity, privacy and transparency, and is the first major update to the standard since its launch in late 2019.Making such a big change to the facial recognition feature, Microsoft says it's because it recognizes that for AI systems to be trustworthy, they need to properly address the problems they're designed to solve.▲Image from: MicrosoftAs part of the effort to align Azure Face Services with the requirements of responsible AI standards, Microsoft will also disable the ability to infer emotional states (happy, sad, neutral, angry, etc.) and identity attributes (such as gender, age, smile, facial hair, hair, and makeup).In the case of emotional states, Microsoft decided not to provide open API access to technologies that scan people's faces and claim to be able to infer their emotional state based on their facial expressions or movements.▲Image from: MicrosoftMicrosoft's page shows that recognition can be done by 27 facial markers of a person, and there are various facial attributes that can be determined, such as whether a given face is blurred, whether it has accessories, estimated gender and age, whether it wears glasses, the type of hair, whether it wears glasses, and whether it has a smiling expression ......Experts inside and outside Microsoft have highlighted the lack of scientific consensus on the definition of 'emotion' and the high level of privacy issues surrounding this capability. So Microsoft has also decided that it needs to carefully analyse all AI systems designed to infer people's emotional states, whether the system uses facial analysis or any other AI technology.▲Image from: MicrosoftIt's worth noting that Microsoft isn't the only company taking a careful look at facial recognition, as IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna has also written to the US Congress revealing that the company has pulled out of the facial recognition business. Both companies have made such decisions for reasons that are inseparable from the previously sensational 'Freud's death' incident.▲ Image from: BBCThis is because of the fear that this technology may provide law enforcement agencies with surveillance tools that could lead to some human rights violations, as well as the fear that citizens' privacy will be compromised, and because current legislation in the United States in this area is not very well developed.So the companies that hold the technology decided to start by disciplining themselves so that the technology is not abused and so that citizens have more safeguards for their privacy and human rights. When the use of a technology is not regulated by sound norms, it may be a better option to regulate it from the technology development itself. https://techlife.app/archives/surface-laptop-go-2-experience-the-affordable-book-in-the-5-000-price-range.html 2022-06-16T08:05:00+08:00 In 2020, Microsoft released a low-key entry-level slim notebook: the Surface Laptop Go. The epidemic forced the cancellation of a new Microsoft Surface hardware launch scheduled for October, making the product finally only available in the form of an official Twitter feed.Two years later, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Go 2, with a new Sencha Green color scheme compared to its predecessor, an upgraded processor from Gen 10 to Gen 11, and 0.5 hours more battery life."It starts with the face, stays with the face" lookI have to admit that Microsoft has reached a state of perfection in color mixing. This time, with the change of light and distance, the color scheme of sencha green is similar to the understated and dark gray of the MacBook Air from a distance, while up close it looks like a light layer of matcha powder poured over taro balls.The unibody aluminum molding and the silver-stamped "field" logo on the A-side add a touch of quality to this thin and light notebook in the $5,000 price range.To ensure that the body is thin and light enough (1.127KG), the Surface Laptop Go 2 retains only one USB-A, one Type-C, one 3.5mm headphone jack, and one Surface connect charging port on its entire body.The only downside is that it doesn't come with an SD card slot. The only downside is that it doesn't have an SD card slot, which may not be as friendly to photographers or media professionals, who need to carry another card reader on the go.The magnetic charging port on the right side of the enclosure, paired with the 39 W 'slate', allows the Surface Laptop Go 2 to get back on its feet quickly. However, the Surface Laptop Go 2's 'little slate' is slightly less portable than the MacBook Air's 30W 'little slate'.The B-side features a 12.4-inch PixelSense touchscreen with a 3:2 screen ratio, 1536 × 1024 resolution, 148 PPI, and 330 nits peak brightness.Looking at the parameters alone, this isn't a great screen, and the Surface Laptop Go 2's screen brightness is more than a little underwhelming in brighter light scenarios.The lower PPI, and the non-2K resolution, also makes the screen slightly awkward, especially when taking screenshots, where the content displayed on the image becomes slightly blurry.And the touch operation of the screen gives it a 'snake in the rough' feel - after all, the Surface Laptop Go 2's screen doesn't support 180° flips.In real world experience, I rarely use touch screen operation. Generally speaking, the keyboard and trackpad are the best way to interact with a laptop, while touchscreen operation is more suitable for phones and tablets. Plus, the Windows system itself is not suited for touch screen operation, so I would just subconsciously ignore the touch screen operation of this screen.The front-facing 720P camera is not as clear as it could be, but it's more than adequate for some video conferencing, online classes, and other scenarios.Note that this front-facing camera does not support Windows Hello face unlock feature.Putting the screen aside for a moment, the other big thing I like about the Surface Laptop Go 2, apart from its looks, is the C-side keyboard. With 1.3 mm of key travel, it feels great in your hand, and you can clearly feel the passages between each key.A closer look reveals that the power button is made of a slightly different material than the other buttons, with a smoother looking surface similar to a layer of glass covering it. In fact, this button has an integrated fingerprint recognition module, and when the laptop is in the lock screen, users can simply place their finger on the power button, accompanied by a ring of surround light effect, to complete the unlock.To briefly summarize, the Surface Laptop Go 2 doesn't come with a good screen and SD card slot, which is somewhat of a shame, but considering the price of over $5,000, the nice design, the high-end computer feel, the weight of less than 1.2KG, and the great keyboard and trackpad feel, and of course the brand power of Microsoft Surface, for the light office crowd, the previous The two disadvantages mentioned earlier may not be important at the other end of the scale.For indoor work scenarios, you can connect an external display to make up for the lack of a Surface Laptop Go 2 screen, and for outdoor use, you can bring an extra card reader or docking station to solve the problem of not having an SD card slot on your body.Not a 'vase', but a 'productivity tool'When judging a thin and light notebook, you can't look at the value alone, the focus should still be on performance.The Surface Laptop Go 2 is configured as follows.11th Generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 Quad-Core ProcessorIntel Torch X Graphics8GB LPDDR4x RAM+256GB SSDSupports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 technologyIn the CINEBENCH R23 stress test, the CPU scored 3154 pts multi-core and 1282 pts single-core, which is not an eye-catching score for a laptop, and is moderate for an i5-1135G7 processor. Of course, performance is a relative concept, and the 11th generation Core i5 is not an incompetent processor, so it's hard to go to the top of the performance charts, but it's easy to handle the daily office.Unlike the CINEBENCH R23, PCMARK10 focuses on comprehensive benchmarking for modern office-oriented scenarios such as video conferencing, photo editing, document processing, and more.As we can see, the Surface Laptop Go 2 has a final overall score of 3856, which is about as good as a mid-range laptop can get, which means it's basically fine for everyday use.Of course, theoretical tests aren't exactly representative of real-world office performance. I also used the Surface Laptop Go 2 for some text work, writing in Word while using the Edge browser to review information in split-screen mode, and the computer ran smoothly throughout the experience, with no lag.I also used Photoshop 2022 to edit the images, such as adding filters, AI algorithm keying, etc., and the whole experience was smooth.The CPU's performance is primarily focused on multitasking, while the GPU is more oriented towards image rendering. There's no doubt that the Surface Laptop Go 2 comes with integrated graphics, rather than a single-person display.In the 3DMARK Time Spy benchmark test, the Surface Laptop Go 2's GPU scored a final score of 1293. That score may not hold up compared to other laptops with a single-person display, but when you put it in an integrated graphics card, the overall performance is still respectable.While the Surface Laptop Go 2 isn't great for playing some 3A games, basic online games run smoothly.For example, the national online game LOL can maintain a frame rate above 100 FPS even when running at full effect, and occasionally drops to around 90 FPS in group battles. If you set the game to medium effects, the frame rate will not fall below 100 FPS.However, I personally don't recommend using the Surface Laptop Go 2 for gaming without plugging it in, as this will result in an accelerated reduction in its battery life. While the official claim is that the Surface Laptop Go 2 lasts up to 13.5 hours, that doesn't mean you'll be able to last that long playing games on it.If the GPU affects the frame rate of the game graphics, then the hard drive affects the loading speed of the game. In theory, SSDs are much faster to read and write than mechanical drives. However, there are good and bad SSDs, and a good SSD will give the user a perceived stronger experience.The Surface Laptop Go 2's SSD reads up to 2680.07 MB/s and writes up to 1038.97 MB/s, according to AS SSD Benchmark, so you don't have to worry about the drive not being fast enough to read and write. The Surface Laptop Go 2's SSD performance is excellent.$5,000 price point for 'affordable books'To describe the Surface Laptop Go 2 in one sentence, it's "high value," "thin and light enough," "functional," and "reasonably priced.Compared to the previous generation of netbooks that focused on online education, this generation tends to be more of an all-around thin and light notebook, becoming less parochial, daily office, light entertainment, the Surface Laptop Go 2 can basically handle it all with ease.Unlike before, the Surface Laptop Go 2 is aimed at users who are no longer limited to students, but more those who like the ultimate in thinness and lightness, need some performance, and have a budget of less than $6,000. https://techlife.app/archives/watching-vr-Rorn-in-the-office-alleged-sexual-harassment-microsoft-hololens-chief-to-leave.html 2022-06-09T04:01:00+08:00 In the race to the meta-universe, there's no shortage of Meta, but Microsoft is actually one of the 'seeds', although both companies have had some recent ups and downs with personnel changes.An internal memo from Meta reveals that David Mortenson, the head of data centers and infrastructure within the company, is stepping down, with Santosh Janardhan, the current VP of engineering, taking over the role later this month. Despite leaving his position, David will not be leaving Meta for the time being, but will be taking a long break.▲Image from: IronFXNot long ago, in an email sent by Scott Guthrie, head of Microsoft's Cloud and AI division, it was mentioned that Alex Kipman (Alex Kipman), the executive responsible for leading the Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality platform project, was leaving the company, but not immediately, and that he would help the team with the transition over the next two months before leaving.▲Alex Kipman, image via: NewTechTownIn addition, the Mixed Reality hardware team will be reorganized to join the Windows + Devices division led by Panos Panay, formerly head of Surface. The Mixed Reality Presence and Collaboration team will join the Teams group in the Experiences + Devices division, led by Jeff Teper.▲ Panos Panay, photo from: Microsoft NewsIn an email, Scott Guthrie wrote: Over the past few months, Alex Kipman and I have been talking about the team's path forward, and together we decided that now was the right time for him to leave the company to pursue other opportunities. I thank Alex for the tremendous vision he has provided to Microsoft over the years and for all he has done to advance our meta-universe of products.While the email doesn't state the reason for Alex Kipman's somewhat abrupt departure from Microsoft, recent events within the company suggest that his allegedly abusive and sexually harassing misconduct towards colleagues should be among the reasons for leaving.▲Scott Guthrie, photo from: CNBCIn May, it was reported that about 25 Microsoft employees had filed an internal report about Kipman's alleged misconduct. The report accused the executive of watching VR porn videos in an office with co-workers present, as well as making inappropriate verbal and physical contact with female employees.There has been no positive response from Microsoft to these incidents and accusations, but Alex Kipman's departure may also be an implicit indication of how the company is handling this.▲Image from: TheGamerAs the subject of the accusation, Alex Kipman's departure should be considered good news for the employee who made the accusation. As the head of the mixed reality project, Kipman's departure also makes one wonder what the future holds for the HoloLens line of mixed reality devices he developed, and how Microsoft will proceed from here in terms of mixed reality and even the meta-universe.In Scott Guthrie's email, it actually reveals Microsoft's 'big move' on mixed reality: Microsoft will work with the U.S. Army and the IVAS program (Integrated Visual Augmentation System) to build a next-generation solution where every soldier will use a mixed reality headset and get official approval from the U.S. Army to enter the operational test (OT) phase .▲Image from: Microsoft NewsIt's not only the technology but also the ideas of the developers that are blended in the process of the product taking shape. If the behavior of the head of the development team causes controversy, it will naturally have an impact on the product as well. whether HoloLens 3 will still be available is currently unknown, but Microsoft's competition on the track does not seem to be affected too much. https://techlife.app/archives/xps-13-plus-is-the-most-beautiful-laptop-of-the-year-but-only-represents-half-of-what-s-to-come.html 2022-06-06T16:55:00+08:00 Ever since Dell announced the newly redesigned XPS 13 Plus at CES this year, there's been no end of controversy about it.The Verge even wrote that the XPS 13 Plus is the most extreme of all the replacement design manufacturers.To that end, WindowsCentral launched a reader survey that found 78 percent of readers liked the redesigned XPS 13 Plus, while the remaining 22 percent disagreed.▲ I also voted Yes. image from: WindowsCentralThe disagreement is not over the overall design style, but mainly over a few "innovations" in the XPS 13 Plus that are specific to the traditional design.One, touch-sensitive function keys, and two, a gridless keyboard, and a seamless touchpad.▲ By 'seamless' I actually mean the B-side of the XPS 13 Plus. Image via: TheVergeAs for these controversial design changes, Dell officials say that the main focus is on the "seamlessness" concept and that this will be a major trend in the future of PCs, laptops, and that the XPS 13 Plus is leading the innovation.XPS 13 Plus is essentially a traditional laptopThin and light is arguably one of the biggest labels for the Dell XPS.▲ Dell XPS 13-9300.The initial XPS was an instant hit with its extremely narrow bezel screen, and through the years the XPS line has been optimized based on traditional design styles, with the keyboard keys becoming larger, the bezels thinner, and the body becoming smaller.It's just that the XPS line has never been able to break through, but has been somewhat stubborn due to past feats.The XPS 13 Plus, on the other hand, completely upsets that balance with a re-divided lineup that certainly frees up the hands and feet.The innovative industrial design can be described as future-focused and what a flagship product should look like today.The touch-enabled function buttons are reminiscent of the Touch Bar found on the MacBook Pro - cool, but not practical.▲ Touch Bar on MacBook Pro.Dell's concept is actually not quite the same as the Touch Bar. It's still a touchable 'physical button' and will give some feedback using touch simulation.In addition, when you press the Fn button on the keyboard, the "Media" button in the touch area switches to the F function key.This design was actually market researched, and the traditional function buttons are less used but take up some space.By 'optimizing' them to capacitive touch buttons, in addition to being more aesthetically pleasing, it also saves some space for laying out the heat sink and improving cooling performance.If this is a more restrained change, the integrated palm rest and trackpad are far more radical.Not only is the use of materials consistent, but for visual uniformity, Dell doesn't mark the boundaries of the trackpad, thereby potentially affecting the accuracy of dragging.It's also the biggest point of contention about the XPS 13 Plus design, with the majority of the 22 percent of dissenting opinions in a WindowsCentral reader poll due to the all-in-one trackpad.Dell has argued in interviews that people can easily develop muscle memory when using a laptop's trackpad, and will unconsciously remember the effective touch area, somewhat similar to keyboard blind typing.This integrated design is not a case of 'putting the cart before the horse'.The keyboard function area and trackpad have been made seamless, while the keyboard area has been given a similar treatment, removing the traditional laptop grid and enlarging each keycap to look as if a piece of aluminum has been cut into multiple keys.However, the keyboard construction remains the traditional 'scissor foot' and the key travel remains 1mm, similar to the rest of the XPS.The new design of the XPS 13 Plus is focused almost entirely on the B-side, and rather than 'seamless', 'integrated' would be more accurate.With three major improvements that make its B-side more unified and completely distinguish it from traditional laptops, the XPS 13 Plus is radical and pioneering enough in terms of design language.The A-side of the XPS 13 Plus is more similar to the XPS 13.But back in terms of use, it's actually still geared towards the present day, with the traditional scissor-foot keyboard structure remaining virtually unchanged and the touch keys designed with great restraint.As well, in terms of laptop form, the XPS 13 Plus remains traditional, with no 2-in-1 or 360-degree swivel.At this point in time, the XPS 13 Plus looks more like a traditional laptop that introduces an 'all-in-one' design concept. It's still geared towards 'practicality' rather than radical innovation."Integration" is the future, but not the presentIn fact, it is safe to conclude that almost all consumer electronic devices are evolving towards 'integration'.The process of integration is not just a stylistic change in the industrial design of the exterior, it also requires a lot of technological upgrades behind the scenes.The Tapic Engine in the iPhone simulates multiple levels of vibration. Image from: Dice InsightThe changes to the B-side of the Dell XPS 13 Plus, especially the touchpad integration and touch buttons, are a way for the development team to bring the touch feedback found on smartphones to laptops to give them a similar experience in terms of touch experience.The XPS 13 Plus comes with 28W TDP Intel XII processors (i5-1240P and i7-1280P), which unleashes better performance compared to the previous 15W CPUs, which is actually an upgrade due to the increasing processor performance.▲ Intel Core i7-1280P.However, the XPS 13 Plus has reduced bezels, but still fails to pull away from other thin and light notebooks in terms of thickness and weight, and the x86 architecture processor still requires active cooling and is still a little bit away from being truly all-in-one.The emergence of desktop CPU, or SoC, concepts in the Arm architecture in recent years, and especially the success of Apple's M1 series, has made it possible to create extremely thin and light products that are even more "all-in-one".▲ Apple MacBook. image via: The VergeOnce Apple's MacBooks had extreme thickness, dramatically streamlined internals, and used only passive cooling in an attempt to make the MacBook line synonymous with extreme thinness by replacing the MacBook Air.Unfortunately, the Core M series was not as energy efficient as it could be in the extreme space, and the corresponding MacBook series fell out of favor.Then, with Apple's iPad line becoming "your next computer," the MacBook line came to a complete halt, and even with the advent of the M1 power-efficient SoC, the MacBook, which had the most potential to become an "all-in-one" laptop, was not revived.On the other hand, with the M1 chip, iPad Pro's performance is already comparable to that of a Mac, and most importantly, iPad is already very close to being "all-in-one" and "seamless" in form. Whether or not it becomes the new personal PC is just a matter of waiting for the evolution of iPadOS.The XPS 13 Plus is the ultimate traditional PC. Image from: Game News 24The keyboard on a traditional PC has been relegated to an accessory for the iPad, a trade-off Apple has made with the all-in-one PC, and the iPad is good enough to move quickly toward all-in-one, just like smartphones.It's just that among traditional manufacturers, laptops in traditional form still have mechanical structures such as spindles, keyboards, and fans, and even though it's like the XPS 13 Plus, which is considered to be the "future" of laptops, it's still not radical enough to get rid of these structures and become more integrated.The Dell XPS 13 Plus is still essentially a traditional laptop, even in the brainy Microsoft Surface range, where 'all-in-one' isn't yet the main theme and the ever-changing form factor is, so they're both still geared towards the present rather than the 'future' in the true sense of the word.