While we are used to USB WiFi adapters, embedded devices typically use SDIO WiFi cards, and for good reasons – they’re way more low-power, don’t take up a USB port, don’t require a power-sipping USB hub, and the SDIO interface is widely available. However, SDIO cards and modules tend to be obscure and proprietary beyond reason. Enter ESP-Hosted – Espressif’s firmware and driver combination for ESP32 (press release)(GitHub), making your ESP32 into a WiFi module for either your Linux computer (ESP-Hosted-NG) or MCU (ESP-Hosted-FG). In particular, ESP-Hosted-NG his turns your SPI- or SDIO-connected ESP32 (including -S2/S3/C2/C3/C6 into a WiFi card, quite speedy and natively supported by the Linux network stack, as opposed to something like an AT command mode.

We’ve seen this done with ESP8266 before – repurposing an ESP8089 driver from sources found online, making an ESP8266 into a $2 WiFi adapter for something like a Pi. The ESP-Hosted project is Espressif-supported, and it works on the entire ESP32 lineup, through an SDIO or even SPI interface! It supports 802.11b/g/n and even Bluetooth, up to BLE5, either over an extra UART channel or the same SDIO/SPI channel; you can even get BT audio over I2S. If you have an SPI/SDIO port free and an ESP32 module handy, this might just be the perfect WiFi card for your Linux project!

There are some limitations – for instance, you can’t do AP mode in the NG (Linux-compatible) version. Also, part of the firmware has blobs in it, but a lot of the firmware and all of the driver are modifiable in case you need your ESP32 to do even more than Espressif has coded in – this is not fully open-source firmware, but it’s definitely way more than the Broadcom’s proprietary onboard Raspberry Pi WiFi chip. There’s plenty of documentation, and even some fun features like raw transport layer access. Also, of note is that this project supports ESP32-C6, which means you can equip your project with a RISC-V-based WiFi adapter.

Title image from [zhichunlee].

In un evento senza precedenti che sfuma i confini tra realtà e intelligenza artificiale, il mondo sta per assistere al primo concorso di bellezza esclusivamente dedicato a modelli e influencer creati dall’intelligenza artificiale. Questo rivoluzionario concorso, denominato “Miss AI”, metterà in competizione creazioni virtuali, valutandole non solo per la loro estetica, ma anche per la loro presenza online e le competenze tecniche dietro la loro creazione.

Il concorso Miss AI, programmato per il 10 maggio, promette di essere uno spettacolo unico, con i vincitori che verranno annunciati durante una cerimonia di premiazione online alla fine del mese. Il vincitore di questo evento rivoluzionario riceverà un premio di $20.000, segnando una pietra miliare come il primo concorso di bellezza al mondo dedicato a influencer AI.

I modelli generati dall’intelligenza artificiale saranno giudicati su una gamma più ampia di criteri che vanno oltre l’aspetto fisico. La valutazione terrà conto del numero di interazioni con i fan, dei tassi di crescita del pubblico e dell’uso delle piattaforme social, garantendo che l’impatto sociale di questi concorrenti virtuali sia adeguatamente riconosciuto.

Ad aggiungere entusiasmo all’evento, il concorso Miss AI sarà giudicato da una giuria composta da quattro eminenti personalità, inclusi due influencer AI: Aitana Lopez ed Emily Pellegrini, che vantano un seguito combinato di oltre 550.000 follower su Instagram. I giudici umani, Andrew Bloch, imprenditore e consulente di PR, e Sally-Ann Fawcett, storica e autrice di concorsi di bellezza, apporteranno la loro esperienza e intuizione a questo evento straordinario.

Il vincitore di Miss AI riceverà un premio in denaro di $5.000, insieme a promozione su Fanview e supporto PR. Anche i secondi e terzi classificati riceveranno premi in denaro, incentivando ulteriormente la creazione di questi influencer virtuali.

Per garantire l’equità e promuovere l’innovazione, le regole del concorso stabiliscono che tutti i partecipanti devono essere generati al 100% dall’intelligenza artificiale, senza restrizioni sugli strumenti utilizzati. Sono invitate a partecipare creazioni realizzate con qualsiasi tipo di generatore AI, come DeepAI, MidJourney o strumenti personalizzati.

Il concorso Miss AI non è solo un evento unico, ma rappresenta un segnale di futuri sviluppi entusiasmanti nel mondo dei contenuti generati dall’intelligenza artificiale. Gli organizzatori, i World AI Creator Awards (WAICA), hanno in programma ulteriori concorsi incentrati su temi come la moda, la diversità e i modelli maschili generati dal computer, spingendo i confini di ciò che è possibile con l’intelligenza artificiale.

Sally-Ann Fawcett, storica dei concorsi di bellezza, ha espresso il suo stupore per le possibilità offerte da questi creatori AI e per la rapidità con cui imparano e si evolvono. Il concorso Miss AI è una testimonianza del panorama in continua evoluzione della tecnologia e della sua intersezione con la creatività umana. Questo evento non solo celebra la bellezza, ma anche l’innovazione e il futuro dell’intelligenza artificiale nel mondo dell’intrattenimento e dei social media.

Scopri di più su questo evento rivoluzionario e sui prossimi sviluppi visitando il sito: World AI Creator Awards.

L'articolo Miss AI: Il Primo Concorso di Bellezza per Influencer Artificiali proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

Recently [Stefan] of CNC Kitchen took a gander at using his gaggle of 3D printers to try injection molding (IM). Although the IM process generally requires metal molds and specialized machinery, 3D printers can be used for low-volume IM runs which is enough for limited production runs and prototyping before committing to producing expensive IM molds. In the case of [Stefan], he followed Form Labs’ guidance to produce molds from glass-infused Rigid 10K resin (heat deflection temperature of 218 °C). These molds are very rigid, as the ceramic-like noise when [Stefan] taps two together attests to.
Injection molded bolt, with imperfections on the head. (Credit: Stefan, CNC Kitchen)
The actual injection process is where things get more hairy for [Stefan], as he attempts to push the clamped-shut mold against the nozzle of the FDM printer to inject the molten plastic, rather than using an IM press. With PLA at standard extrusion temperature the plastic barely gets into the mold before solidifying, however. Following this, higher temperatures, different materials (PETG, TPU) and high flow-rate extruders are attempted, with varying results.

Many of the struggles would seem to be due to poor mold design, rather than fundamental issues with using an FDM. The Form Labs document details some of the basics, such as opening up the injection gate (to decrease pressure inside the mold), adding air vents to improve flow and so on. Commentators to the video with professional experience point out many of these issues as well, along with the benefits of preheating the mold.

With the caveat that most of the challenge is in making a good mold, we’ve even injection molding done with nothing more exotic than a hot glue gun. If you’ve got a friend, or a long enough lever, you can even inject the plastic by hand.

youtube.com/embed/4xXs9go-Ieg?…

One of the joys of the UK’s Electromagnetic Field hacker camp lies in the junk table, where trash turns to treasure in the blink of an eye. This year I returned relatively unscathed from my few days rifling through the tables,but I did snag a few pieces. One of them is a wired telephone, which would be a fairly unremarkable find were it not for its flip-up LCD screen and QWERTY keyboard.

My prize is a 2002 Amstrad E-m@iler Plus, one of a series of internet-equipped telephones from the British budget electronics company. The device itself and the story behind it make for a fascinating tale of a dotcom-era Internet flop, and a piece of hardware that could almost tempt today’s hackers.

You’ve Heard Of The Dotcom Boom, But Have You Heard Of The Hardware?

In the late 1990s, everything was about the Internet, but seemingly few outside the kind of people who read Hackaday really understood what it was really about. I’ve written before on these page about how hype blinded the CD-ROM industry to the shortcomings of its technology, but while that had in reality only gripped the publishing business, the Internet hype which followed had everyone in its thrall. You’re probably familiar with the story of the dotcom boom and crash as startup companies raised millions on shaky foundations before folding when they couldn’t deliver, but in parallel with that there was also a parallel world for hardware. The future was going to be connected, but on what and whose hardware would that connection happen?
This was considered stylish back in 2002.
It was clear that bulky desktop PCs weren’t exactly convenient, and the mobile phone manufacturers wouldn’t figure out the potential of their nascent smartphones for another decade, so there was a brief period when a host of internet browsing appliances attempted to grab the market. These were usually either set-top boxes or all-in-one stripped-down PCs, and were often sold through consumer electronics outlets rather than computer stores. Among them were even a few unexpected outings for familiar operating systems, for example the BeOS-powered Sony eVilla with its portrait CRT, or the Bush set-top box which would become sought-after among Acorn Archimedes fans because it ran RiscOS.

Many large consumer electronics companies dipped their toe into this market, and in the UK it caught the attention of Sir Alan Sugar’s Amstrad. At the time they were a huge name in consumer electronics in these isles, having specialised in the flashy-but-budget end of the sector. Their existing computer business had equipped Brits with CP/M word processors and proprietary PC clones for years, and it’s fair to say that Sir Alan had a keen eye for what was likely to work with consumers. The E-m@iler was a standard wired phone with an internet appliance built-in, at first as the name suggests as an email terminal, and then with later models featuring a web browser, and later on a camera for video calling. It was for its time a very well-thought-out product that was perfect for older or less technically-inclined customers, and when it was launched in 2000 it caused quite a bit of excitement.

Such A Good Product, Shame About The Business Model

If the E-m@iler was a great piece of hardware for its time then, it had an Achilles’ heel in its business model. Sold at a loss, it relied on a subscription-based ISP with a premium-rate phone line and a per-email charge. It couldn’t be used with any ISP other than Amstrad’s Amserve, and thus although it won a small and loyal customer base, it hardly flew off the shelves. By the end they could be picked up in the UK supermarket Tesco for under £20, and despite those new models appearing, by 2010 they were gone. In a later interview Sir Alan revealed that the product did break even from the user base it had gathered, but was nowhere near a runaway success.

At the time I thought that the E-m@iler was a great idea well-executed far as the hardware went, even though its business model made no sense. A friend of mine’s elderly father had one, and it was easy for him to use it to keep in touch. Looking at mine in front of me today I still like it, but I want to know more. Time for a closer look.

Peering Inside, Is It Hackable?

The mainboard is dominated by the Connexant telephony chipset.
My device appears to be unused as it still has protective plastic over its handset, but sadly try as I might I couldn’t get it to power up. Cracking it open I find its motherboard, centred around a Sharp ARM processor and a Connexant phone line and modem chipset. On the back there are serial and USB sockets as well as the modem, and though it’s not populated there’s also space for a parallel printer port. Meanwhile on the sides of the unit are a smart media card slot, a smartcard slot driven by a daughter board, and what looks like another serial connection for Amstrad’s pocket databank range.

Digging around online for pages from two decades ago I find that the later version with the video camera had a TI OMAP main processor and ran MontaVista Linux under the hood, but sadly there’s much less info to be found for my second-generation one. A TV advert on YouTube reveals it running Microsoft Mobile Internet Explorer so it’s either Windows CE or something proprietary underneath all the Amserve interface, thus perhaps it’s not as hackable as I’d hoped. Still, it’s not without interesting possibilities, as that slide-out keyboard has a PS/2 interface.

Here in 2024 the idea of accessing the Internet through a wired phone seems laughable. Indeed the wired phone itself has become an endangered breed in many places. But a device like the E-m@ailer made sense two decades ago, for which I will give Sir Alan his due: I believe he was right. It’s sad then that it completely missed its opportunity in a rare case of Amstrad getting it so wrong on the subscription model. Now it’s little more than a paperweight, but I can’t help looking at it with speculative eyes. Should I put it back on the swap table at the next event I go to, or should I bring it back to life with a decent screen and a Raspberry Pi?

One of the great things about new tech tools is just having fun with them, like embracing your inner trickster god to mess with ‘Milton’, an AI trapped in an empty room.

Milton is trapped in a room is a pixel-art game with a simple premise: use a basic paint interface to add objects to the room, then watch and listen to Milton respond to them. That’s it? That’s it. The code is available on the GitHub repository, but there’s also a link to play it live without any kind of signup or anything. Give it a try if you have a few spare minutes.

Under the hood, the basic loop is to let the user add something to the room, send the picture of the room (with its new contents) off for image recognition, then get Milton’s reaction to it. Milton is equal parts annoyed and jumpy, and his speech and reactions reflect this.

The game is a bit of a concept demo for Open Souls whose “thing” is providing AIs with far more personality and relatable behaviors than one typically expects from large language models. Maybe this is just what’s needed for AI opponents in things like the putting game of Connect Fore! to level up their trash talking.

Dopo 5 anni di ingiusta detenzione nel carcere di massima sicurezza di Belmarsh, a Londra, Julian Assange è finalmente un uomo libero Oggi la notizia che attivisti e organizzazioni di tutto il mondo aspettavano da oltre 5 anni: Julian Assange, giornalista e fondatore di WikiLeaks, è libero e si riunirà presto con la sua famiglia […]

freeassangeitalia.it/julian-as…

Avete mai provato a chiedere ad un surfista di qualsiasi parte del mondo che cosa rappresenta il surf per lei o per lui? Sono certa al 100% che tutti vi daranno la stessa risposta: Libertà. Perché nulla al mondo dona quella sensazione come scivolare su un’onda, come remare verso il largo, circondati dal rosso del cielo e dal caldo del sole che tramonta. Pensateci bene, che cos’è la libertà? Per davvero intendo. @Feddit Un'istanza italiana Lemmy

iyezine.com/gaza-surf-chronicl…

GAZA SURF CHRONICLES E1

GAZA SURF CHRONICLES E1 - Quante volte abbiamo sentito questi termini dando per scontato una certa distanza tra noi e i soggetti in questione. Come se ci fosse non solo una distanza fisica, ma anche e soprattutto morale.

^{Valentina Sala (In Your Eyes ezine)}

Non si poteva resistere al richiamo dei supereroi monobanda, e allora InYourEyes ha risposto "presente" a un appuntamento davvero imperdibile, @Musica Agorà

iyezine.com/bob-log-iii-one-ma…

BOB LOG III / ONE MAN BUZZ - LIVE REPORT (13-6-2024)

BOB LOG III / ONE MAN BUZZ - LIVE REPORT (13-6-2024) - Non si poteva resistere al richiamo dei supereroi monobanda, e allora InYourEyes ha risposto "presente" a un appuntamento davvero imperdibile, incentrato sulle "one man band", che si è tenuto a P…

^{Reverend Shit-Man (In Your Eyes ezine)}