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Hey! If you have fond memories playing Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy on your family TV, youll love The Rubber Keyed Wonder. Its a new documentary chronicling the birth, life, death and rebirth of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum that premieres today. The crowdfunded film is an adoring look at the iconic and legendary artifact of computing history with plenty of high profile contributors. Two thumbs up! Go watch the film now, theres no need for you to keep reading beyond this point, I hope you have loads of fun! If youre a die-hard fan, theres no need to keep reading! (Hopefully theyve gone now.) It was while watching The Rubber Keyed Wonder that I realized what makes me itchy about the current crop of pop-culture documentaries going around. A documentary should be an authored essay offering a point of view, an argument, or at least educating you about a subject matter. Theyre usually deeply one-sided, but they normally have something to say beyond hey, isnt this neat? Thats what Ive found lacking in documentaries like this and GoldenEra, since they dont have much at all to say beyond that. Which is heartbreaking when the films subject matter is nowhere near as neat and far more interesting as it's made out to be here. If youre unfamiliar, Sir Clive Sinclair was a British inventor whose work made a huge impact on the electronics industry. He developed ultra-small transistor radios, pioneered the pocket calculator, the digital watch and the portable TV. His interest in green transport saw him build a single-rider electric vehicle decades before the advent of the e-scooter. But all of that is a footnote to his range of affordable home computers, the most notable being the Spectrum. The Britain Sinclair grew up in was broke, and he made it his lifes mission to produce products that were affordable enough for anyone to buy. His cheap, mass-market products were big hits and deeply undercut the competition, especially in home computers. Unfortunately, the low cost also meant his gear was badly-made, unreliable and severely underpowered. But the affordability and limitations sparked a creative boom that is credited with creating the UKs computer games industry. The heads of several major British studios cut their teeth on developing and selling games for the ZX Spectrum. And the second-order effects of Sinclairs work left a far deeper impact on the technology industry more broadly. Sinclairs protégé turned rival Chris Curry left to build Acorn Computers and, from there, founded ARM. The founder of what would become Rockstar North worked on the Sinclair production line in Dundee. Sinclair was also reportedly difficult to work with, had severe temper tantrums and quite a big ego, too. He was fairly bad at business, and his refusal to listen to other people wound up costing him both of his companies, once during a fight with the UKs National Enterprise Board in 1976 and once again in 1985. Then there was his habit of rushing out unfinished products to keep money flowing into his company at the cost of his reputation. The reason I bring all of those things up is because every single one is either given the briefest of attention or elided completely. The Rubber Keyed Wonder would much rather streamline its focus to the Spectrum itself and its impact, erasing the more interesting story around it. But if you know anything about the territory, and how bound up the machine and its idiosyncratic founder were, these omissions hurt the story. But I understand why: This isnt a documentary that aspires to being a serious examination of a very interesting period in computing history. Instead, its a product of the fan-nostalgia industrial complex, where the most insightful comments are buried in favor of misty-eyed rememberings. Thats not to say it isnt honest; even the Spectrums most ardent fans are happy to admit the machine sucked on several fundamental levels. Even the Sinclair employees joke that they knew they were selling barely-functional crap a lot of the time, but that the hobbyists who bought them loved it nevertheless. The film cant help but be informative, delving into the broader ecosystem that cultivated around the Spectrum. Theres its genesis, the games that made it famous, and the culture it spawned from independent computer stores to the cottage industry of magazines focused on it. But theres also plenty of time-sucking montages of playthrough footage from Spectrum games that sap the films momentum in favor of squeezing the audiences member berries. Thats not to say The Rubber Keyed Wonder is a waste of time, especially given the dearth of material on the subject*. Theres plenty in there that I learned for the first time, and found some of the games Id not encountered as a kid to be seriously impressive. Its just a shame that you will probably leave this film with a nagging desire to answer some of the questions its just not at all interested in engaging with. * Its probably the law that I have to mention Micro Men, the tongue-in-cheek BBC comedy that satirizes the feud between Sinclair and Curry. Both men went on the record to decry its factual inaccuracies, with Curry saying the film was very unfair on Clive Sinclair. It is, however, quite a fun watch so long as you accept that its mostly fictional. You can probably find it for free online if you look hard enough.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-rubber-keyed-wonder-is-an-adoring-portrait-of-the-sinclair-zx-spectrum-170047407.html?src=rss
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Keeping ChatGPT running is expensive as heck, so OpenAI needs access to plenty of cash to make sure the lights stay on. A day after the company said it had secured $6.6 billion in funding the biggest ever funding round for a startup it confirmed that it has a new $4 billion revolving line of credit. OpenAI has yet to tap the credit line, which it obtained from JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Santander, Wells Fargo, SMBC, UBS and HSBC. Some of those banks are also among OpenAI's customers. All told, OpenAI now has a war chest of over $10 billion in liquid funds. The company says that will give it the ability to invest in new projects and research, expand its infrastructure and hire top talent. This credit facility further strengthens our balance sheet and provides flexibility to seize future growth opportunities, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-now-has-a-4-billion-credit-line-on-top-of-66-billion-in-funding-163230350.html?src=rss
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Google is adding more AI to search. On Thursday, the company unveiled a long list of changes, including AI-organized web results, Google Lens updates (including video and voice) and placing links and ads inside AI Overviews. One can suspect that AI-organized search results are where Google will eventually move across the board, but the rollout starts with a narrow scope. Beginning with recipes and meal inspiration, Googles AI will create a full-page experience that includes relevant results based on your search. The company says the AI-collated pages will consist of perspectives from across the web, like articles, videos and forums. Googles AI Overviews, the snippets of AI-generated info you see above web results, are getting some enhancements, too. The company is incorporating a new link-laden design with more prominent links to supporting webpages within the section. Google says its tests have shown the design increased traffic to the supporting websites it links to. Ads are also coming to AI Overviews an inevitable outcome if ever there was one. The company says theyre rolling out in the US, so dont be shocked if you start seeing them soon. left to right: Google Lens speak to search, ads in AI Overviews, Lens video searchGoogle Circle to Search is getting Shazam-like capabilities. The feature will now instantly search for songs you hear without switching apps. Google also noted that Circle to Search is now available on over 150 million Android devices, as its expanded in reach and capabilities since its January launch. Google Lens, the companys seven-year-old visual search feature for mobile, is getting some upgrades, too. It can now search via video and voice, letting you ask complex questions about moving images. The company provides the example of seeing fish at an aquarium and using Lens to ask it aloud, Why are they swimming together? According to Google, the AI will use the video clip and your voice recording to identify the species and explain why they hang out together. Along similar lines, you can now ask Google Lens questions with your voice while taking a picture. Just point your camera, hold the shutter button and ask whatevers on your mind the same way youd point at something and ask your friend about it, the company wrote. Google Lens is also upgrading its shopping chops. The company describes the upgraded visual product search as dramatically more helpful than its previous version. The AI results will now include essential information about the searched product, including reviews, prices across different retailers and where to buy. The Google Lens capabilities are all rolling out now, although some require an opt-in. Video searches are available globally for Search Labs users; youll find them in the AI Overviews and more experiment. Voice input for Lens is now available for English users in the Google app on Android and iOS. Finally, enhanced shopping with Lens starts rolling out this week.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-stuffs-more-ai-into-search-160003918.html?src=rss
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