CTech's Book Review: Understanding the "Continuous Product" Framework - CTech

Gil Marx is the VP Product at Trullion, an AI-powered platform that automates manual work for finance and audit teams. He has joined CTech to share a review of "Escaping the Build Trap" by Melissa Perri

Title: "Escaping the Build Trap" Author: Melissa Perri Format: Book Where: Home

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Gil Marx, VP Product at Trullion

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The "build trap" is defined by Melissa Perri as a common pitfall that software development organizations can fall into. It occurs when the primary focus of the organization becomes building and releasing more features without a clear strategic direction or a deep understanding of customer needs.

"Escaping the Build Trap" is a transformative book that addresses the common challenges faced by software development organizations. The book emphasizes the importance of shifting from a feature-centric mindset to a customer-centric and outcome-driven approach. By understanding user needs and continuously validating assumptions, organizations can create products that deliver real value.

The author introduces the "Continuous Product" framework, advocating for seamless integration of product discovery, validation, delivery, and monitoring. This fosters cross-functional collaboration and empowers teams to take ownership of the entire product lifecycle. The book also encourages a culture of learning from failures and promoting experimentation to drive innovation.

By breaking free from the build trap and aligning product development efforts with strategic goals, "Escaping the Build Trap" provides a roadmap for creating successful and impactful products.

Important themes:

"Escaping the Build Trap" presents a comprehensive set of themes that promote a strategic and customer-focused approach to product development. By embracing these principles, organizations can break free from the build trap and deliver products that meet user needs, drive business success, and stay ahead in today's competitive market:

Customer-Centricity: One of the central themes of the book is the importance of being customer-centric. Perri emphasizes the significance of understanding the needs, pain points, and aspirations of users. By deeply empathizing with customers and involving them throughout the product development process, organizations can create products that truly address real problems and deliver genuine value.

Outcome-Driven Approach: The book encourages a shift from a feature-centric mindset to an outcome-driven approach. Rather than focusing solely on developing and delivering more features, the emphasis should be on achieving specific outcomes and business goals.

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Continuous Product Framework: The Continuous Product framework is a key concept introduced in the book. It advocates for integrating product discovery, validation, delivery, and monitoring into a seamless process. This approach promotes cross-functional collaboration, allowing teams to work together towards a shared vision and ensuring that the entire product development lifecycle is well-coordinated.

Culture of Learning and Experimentation: Embracing failure as an opportunity for learning and growth is another essential theme in the book. Organizations that foster a culture of experimentation and learning are better equipped to adapt quickly and stay ahead in the market. This mindset shift encourages teams to take calculated risks, validate assumptions, and iterate on products to continuously improve and innovate.

Strategic Alignment: The book underscores the importance of aligning product development efforts with the overall business strategy. By prioritizing initiatives that support the company's strategic goals and long-term vision, product managers can ensure that their work contributes to the organization's success.

Avoiding Wasteful Efforts: Building on the outcome-driven approach, the book cautions against wasting resources on low-priority or low-impact features. Instead, product teams should focus on initiatives that deliver real value to users and the business, avoiding unnecessary features that do not align with strategic objectives.

Empowering Product Teams: The book encourages product managers and leaders to empower their teams to make decisions and take ownership of the product development process, for example - by creating an environment where teams are trusted and have the autonomy to experiment and innovate.

What I’ve learned:

While the book covers themes which most are pretty common in product-oriented companies, it did help me clarify these important values:

1. Focus on MVP, down to the bone. I must admit that in the past I’ve launched features thinking they are required for an MVP when in fact, additional layers could have been peeled off (or left out in the first place).

2. Always engage with clients. While this was always a given, after reading the book I’ve doubled down on the efforts with outbound engagement. I’m proud to say that Trullion identifies being customer driven as one of its core objectives for every aspect of the company.

3. Fail fast. It can be helpful to set boundaries and budget for experimentation, as in "you can only spend $100K on this experiment (all-in), after which let's review what we've learned and we'll think about investing more."

4. A product leader in a product suite organization, should always go back to the fundamentals and continuously ask themself questions such as:

• How do all of our products work as a system to provide value to our customers?

• What unique value does each of the product lines offer that makes this a compelling platform?

• What overall values and guidelines should we consider when deciding on new product solutions?

• What should we stop doing or building because it does not serve this vision?

As mentioned, the above values and themes were always top of mind, but this book definitely refined some key points which I’ve applied in Trullion. Trullion’s Product Managers carry a strategic role (not just a tactical one) and own the entire lifecycle of the product, end-to-end, helping drive their products on a business level.

Related articles:

Critiques:

While "Escaping the Build Trap" has received widespread praise for its valuable insights and strategic approach to product development, I do have some criticism:

Limited Implementation Guidance: The book could provide more specific and practical guidance on how to implement the Continuous Product framework in different organizational contexts. Readers might benefit from more detailed case studies or examples to understand how to apply these ideas in their own companies.

Overlooking Constraints: The book might not adequately address the challenges and constraints that certain organizations face. Implementing the principles in resource-constrained environments or highly regulated industries could require additional considerations and adaptation, which may not be fully explored in the book.

Who should read this book:

I recommend this book to everyone who wants to learn the best practices for the Product Manager role. Product leaders will also enjoy it as it helps refine some day-to-day issues we struggle with.

As with any book, its value may vary depending on the reader's context and specific needs, but it undeniably provides a thought-provoking foundation for achieving successful product development and innovation.

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Researchers develop accelerated synthesis method for ultralong graphene nanoribbons - Graphene-Info

Researchers from POLYMAT at the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and the University of Aveiro have reported an accelerated iterative approach enabling the synthesis of a series of length-controlled, ultralong atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). The longest GNR displays a 920-atoms core with a 35.8-nm long (147 linearly fused rings) backbone that has been obtained in just three synthetic steps from building blocks of ∼2 nm in length. 

A Lego-like synthesis previously produced record-breaking nanoribbons of 30, then 53 fused rings. Now, a similar ‘accelerated’ modular methodology made a molecular nanoribbon that is triple the longest ever made – in just three simple steps. The resulting graphene nanoribbon is almost 36nm long, with its 147 linearly linked rings and a conjugated core of 920 atoms. The first experiments, although preliminary, envision applications in electronics and optoelectronics, thanks to fluorescence features that reportedly outperform state-of-the-art quantum dots.

The team developed a straightforward synthesis approach from smaller nanoribbons, which outperforms existing solutions in both length and precision. Different small structures just 2nm long constitute the basic building blocks, the Lego pieces – each of them has complementary terminations, with either carbonyl or amine groups. The appropriate acidic conditions trigger the click-like condensation reactions to join them together. Each iteration forms an exponentially longer nanoribbon, eventually forming the record-breaking 36nm structure.

The small sequence of steps avoids excess separations and purifications – usually a drawback of making macromolecules incrementally. The 147-ring nanoribbon is surprisingly soluble, thanks to a twisted backbone, and a substantial supply of side chains with bulky alkyl and silyl functional groups. This allows researchers to use standard synthetic chemistry techniques to purify and characterize the structure.

The nanoribbons’ solubility also simplified the study of structural, electronic and optoelectronic properties. The team notes that its nanoribbons break records in terms of fluorescence, with absorption and emission values that surpass carbon quantum dots, and competes head-to-head with the best inorganic quantum dots. This could open the door to applications in LEDs, photovoltaics, imaging and much more. Moreover, the length of the nanoribbon enabled measurements of conductivity and carrier mobility with terahertz spectroscopy, a technique that’s ineffective in smaller structures. The results, supported by DFT simulations, reveal relatively high charge mobility values, which could convey new uses in electronics.

The researchers also observed a correlation between the length of graphene nanoribbons and properties like light absorption, fluorescence and conductivity. This unprecedented understanding opens opportunities in terms of the tailored design of ultralong nanoribbons for specific applications.

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Zenocutuzumab by Merus for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Likelihood of Approval - Pharmaceutical Technology

GlobalData tracks drug-specific phase transition and likelihood of approval scores, in addition to indication benchmarks based off 18 years of historical drug development data. Attributes of the drug, company and its clinical trials play a fundamental role in drug-specific PTSR and likelihood of approval.

Zenocutuzumab overview

Zenocutuzumab (MCLA-128) is under development for the treatment of solid tumors that harbor Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) gene fusions, HER2 low expressing and HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma , non-small cell lung cancer, Cholangiocarcinoma, metastati castration resistant prostate cancer and other solid tumors. It is administered by intravenous route as an infusion. The therapeutic candidate is a full-length IgG bi-specific antibody that acts by targeting HER2 and HER3. It is an antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC)-enhanced Biclonic, that is developed based on Biclonics ENGAGE platform.

It was also under development for the treatment of ovarian cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, epithelial tumor, gastric cancer, endometrial cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Merus overview

Merus is a pharmaceutical company that discovers and develops antibody therapeutics for cancer indications. The company is investigating MCLA-128, for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and solid tumors; ONO-4685, for the treatment of autoimmune disease. It is also evaluating MCLA-158 and MCLA-129, to treat solid tumors and MCLA-145, a T-cell agonist targeting hematological malignancy and solid tumors. Merus utilizes Multiclonics, Biclonics and Triclonics technology platforms for developing antibodies to treat cancer. The company works in collaboration with Incyte Corporation, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Betta Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd. Merus is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

For a complete picture of Zenocutuzumab’s drug-specific PTSR and LoA scores, buy the report here.

GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Likelihood of Approval analytics tool dynamically assesses and predicts how likely a drug will move to the next stage in clinical development (PTSR), as well as how likely the drug will be approved (LoA). This is based on a combination of machine learning and a proprietary algorithm to process data points from various databases found on GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center.

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Israeli Professor Leads Research Into Antibiotic Use And Offspring Behavior - I24NEWS - i24NEWS

Professor Koren, of Bar-Ilan University, says 'if successful, this study will enable women to take antibiotics even during pregnancy and while breastfeeding'

World renowned Israeli microbiology researcher, Professor Omry Koren, was the recipient of a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant, for his research into the effects of antibiotic use during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Koren started the project, at Bar-Ilan University, to examine the increased use of antibiotics and its potential impact on the maternal microbiome and fetal development, which can lead to long-term behavioral changes, including aggression.

To date, research at Koren's Microbiome Research Laboratory has shown promising results supporting the hypothesis that behaviors are partially affected by gut bacteria and associated metabolic compounds. 

As a result, Professor Koren started developing a postbiotic (microbial metabolites) that can be taken daily after antibiotics were used during pregnancy and breastfeeding, which would restore the form and function of the microbiota and thus attenuate changes in the baby's behavior. 

Mychele Daniau (AFP/Archives)Illustration - A ​​pregnant woman in a hospital.

Koren's project, known as PRO-MOM, will build on these discoveries and evolve into a preclinical model aimed to reduce aggressiveness and other side effects associated with antibiotic use during pregnancy or lactation.

"If successful, this study will enable women to take antibiotics even during pregnancy and while breast-feeding in the knowledge that they will do no harm to their offspring," Professor Koren said.

The Proof of Concept (PoC) Fellowship provides funding to researchers who are currently funded or have previously been funded by the ERC to enable their ideas to progress along the path from cutting-edge research to innovation. 

The PoC grant, worth $165,547, helps researchers bridge the gap between the discoveries of exploratory research and practical application of the results, including the early stages of commercialization. Koren previously received an ERC Consolidator fellowship, awarded to outstanding researchers with highly promising scientific experience, for his preliminary research linking microbiota, hormones and aggression.

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Hollywood-quality video tech startup secures $3m in early stage financing - The Times of Israel

Voia, a startup co-founded by Israeli serial entrepreneurs that has developed an app that harnesses AI to help creators produce Hollywood production quality videos from every iPhone, has secured an initial $3 million in pre-seed funding from private investors.

The startup was founded in 2022 by Israeli entrepreneurs Avner Braverman, former co-founder and CEO of Reshuffle, which was bought up by Twitter; Haim Helman, co-founder of Octarine, acquired by VMWare, and co-founder of XIV, bought by IBM; and computer vision expert Noam Malali, a former machine learning adviser at AppsFlyer.

The other two founders are Mitch Singer, an entertainment and tech veteran, formerly with Sony Pictures; and Bryan Barber, previously VP Digital Initiatives at Warner Bros.

Voia, which employs 14 people across the US, says its app allows creators to enhance the quality of the videos they shoot on their phone to upload on social video platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. The production quality is comparable to those in the film industry which requires budgets exceeding $1 million and the need for specialized 3D software and a professional studio setting.

“We founded Voia to bring Hollywood to every iPhone,” said Voia CEO Braverman. “We believe that when everyone can create such cinematic videos, we will see an explosion of creativity and engaging content in quantities and quality never before seen.”

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The app uses advanced AI tools to enable video creators using their iPhones to produce visual effects with Hollywood production quality and bridge the large gap that exists between video quality on social networks, and the quality of music videos, TV ads and indie films.

Co-founders at startup Voia. (Courtesy)

“The challenges of achieving the Hollywood look using AI, require that we push the limits of our AI algorithms, and that we build a multidisciplinary product to enable creators to produce realistic visual effects,” said Malali who also serves as the head of AI at Voia. “We need to produce cinematic videos at near real time speeds, so that users don’t have to wait hours to see their final videos.”

“We will continue to push the envelope of technologies that enable every creator to produce Hollywood quality,” he added.

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Google Maps: How AI is Revolutionizing the Navigation Experience - Fagen wasanni

Google has recently introduced artificial intelligence (AI) into Google Maps, aiming to provide users with a more efficient and practical driving experience. This AI integration replaces the previous speech recognition feature, and will be gradually rolled out to Android devices with a minimum version of 9.0.

To utilize the Google Maps AI, users simply need to tap the microphone icon within the application. This activates the Google Assistant, which presents cards with suggested topics for voice assistant inquiries, resulting in faster interactions and easy access to necessary information. The integration of advanced voice recognition technology and AI algorithms from the virtual assistant aims to enhance the accuracy of Google Maps’ functions.

One major benefit of incorporating the Google Assistant into Maps is the introduction of Driving Mode. This feature allows users to perform hands-free tasks while driving by utilizing voice commands. With Driving Mode, users can safely read messages, make calls, and access other features without distraction.

In addition to these updates, Google Maps also offers a unique feature called “travel back in time.” To use this feature, open Google Maps on your computer, search for the desired location, and click on the Street View Pegman doll. From there, navigate to the specific point and wait for the latest image to load. Generally, the most recent images captured by Google Maps cars have higher resolution than older ones.

Overall, Google’s implementation of AI in Maps aims to improve user experience and accessibility. By combining advanced voice recognition technology and practical features like Driving Mode, Google Maps becomes a more efficient and safer navigation tool for users.

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You Can Update Megadap's New Sony to Nikon Z AF Adapter Through the Camera - PetaPixel

Megadap has announced its third generation Sony E-mount lens to Nikon Z-mount camera autofocus adapter, the ETZ21 Pro. It retains the super-thin design but ditches the USB port and can now be updated through the attached Nikon camera instead.

The company says that its ETZ21 Pro builds on the foundation set by the previous ETZ21, which in PetaPixel‘s review was found to be an outstanding way to dramatically expand the number of lenses available to a Nikon mirrorless camera by giving it access, seamlessly, to the entire massive E-mount optical lineup.

Megadap says that the ETZ21 Pro delivers the same autofocus functionality and capability while also incorporating “mechanical enhancements” to offer “a more seamless and user-friendly experience.” The company says it took customer feedback into consideration to make two changes that it believes significantly elevates the performance of this new adapter.

Firstly, Megadap changed how the adapter’s firmware is updated. When before it needed to be updated by plugging the adapter into a computer with a USB cable, the new ETZ21 Pro can be updated directly through the Nikon camera. The company doesn’t specify if this is done via a memory card or through the camera’s USB port.

Secondly, as a result, the company was able to refine the design of the new adapter and the connecting pads that were previously used for USB cable firmware updates has been removed which makes what was already a very svelte adapter evenmore streamlined to the point that it is even more invisible than the last model — an already super-thin adapter.

It also features a redesigned lens release button that Megadap says should ensure a smoother and more effortless lens detachment action. Specifically, Tamron lens owners will find that the mechanical fittings are better tailored to those third party lenses.

The rest of the features of the last generation adapter remain, including full autofocus support, support for customizable buttons, support for both Nikon full-frame and APS-C cameras, full EXIF data transmission, in-camera lens correction, and the ability to shoot high-speed continuous bursts. Basically, the lens will act as though it is a native Nikon Z lens. Megadap says that it has also made sure that the adapter is fully compatible with the Nikon Z8 and Z9 cameras.

Now that the Pro version is available, Megadap has discontinued production of the original ETZ21 and will replace it with the new model.

The new ETZ21 Pro will cost the same as last year’s ETZ21, $249, and is available to purchase through Megadap’s website.

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Image credits: Megadap

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Discover time-saving magic of the new Google Maps upgrade - get it now! - SAMAA English

Google Maps has received a significant upgrade for Android users, and you might not have noticed it yet. The update quietly rolled out, enhancing the speed and functionality of voice controls within the app.

Now, when you open Google Maps and tap the microphone icon in the search bar, you’ll experience a “faster way” to search.

By simply stating your destination, the new and improved Google Assistant swiftly provides directions.

Notably, it even suggests the quickest mode of transport when asked for the fastest route from point A to B.

Previously, voice controls on Google Maps were a bit sluggish, and typing out directions felt equally fast.

Additionally, misunderstandings could lead to wasted time waiting for incorrect directions. However, the revamped Google Assistant now makes asking for directions using your voice feel much quicker.

As you speak, the app displays a large readout of your input, making it easier to catch any misinterpretations and correct them promptly.

One impressive feature is the onscreen category options that can be tapped instead of spoken. These categories quickly display a list of nearby services that match your selection.

While some may find them redundant as the main Google Maps screen already provides categories, they don’t interfere with the experience.

During testing, the improved voice control proved to be notably faster, and it even seems that using the phone’s Google Assistant to get directions in Google Maps has also become quicker.

The update has likely already been applied to your phone, and you don’t need to remember updating Google Maps recently.

It’s a server-side update from Google, so no new app version needs to be installed to enjoy the faster search functionality.

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Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini (Gen 8) review: Giving the Mac Mini a run for its money - XDA Developers

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Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini (Gen 8) review: Giving the Mac Mini a run for its money  XDA Developers
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Google Maps new upgrade is a massive time-saver - Tom's Guide

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Google is giving Maps a big speed boost when it comes to voice commands by migrating it over to the Google Assistant. Previously, the navigation app used Google’s Speech Services, which has been around since 2013 and is really showing its age.

As pointed out by the Google News Telegram channel, implementing Assistant into Maps will make the whole experience quicker and easier when you’re trying to talk to it. Although Google Maps beats out Waze or Apple Maps for most people, many users may not bother with voice commands because of the clunky implementation.

The change has been made on the server side, which means there’s no big app update that users will notice. However, when you tap the microphone button in the search bar while using Maps, the upgrade becomes apparent.

A new Google Assistant card will pop up, along with a suggestion carousel, informing you that Maps has a new, faster way to search by voice.

Tom’s Guide tested out the feature and can confirm it’s up and running already and text is noticeably faster to appear once you’ve started speaking. Ultimately, this is another way to save time when you’re loading up your navigation for a big trip and will help you get on the road faster.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Last year, Google Maps changed up the way it calculates routes to take into account real-time traffic conditions as well as eco-friendly options designed to save you money on fuel. Because the Google Assistant is bursting with AI algorithms, you can simply tell it what kind of trip you want to have. 

For example, you could specify to avoid the highway or simply take the fastest option. I live in the U.K and asked the Assistant to plot a navigation to the Lake District National Park along the fastest route. It correctly suggested I take the M6 motorway and noted there are tolls along the way. And the whole experience seemed snappier and more accurate than any previous time I’ve tried to talk to the app.

If you’re looking for more ways to make Google Maps more useful, here are 9 hidden Google Maps features everyone should know.

More from Tom's Guide

UK Editor In Chief

Jeff is UK Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide looking after the day-to-day output of the site’s British contingent. Rising early and heading straight for the coffee machine, Jeff loves nothing more than dialing into the zeitgeist of the day’s tech news.

A tech journalist for over a decade, he’s traveled around the world testing any gadget he can get his hands on. Jeff has a keen interest in fitness and wearables as well as the latest tablets and laptops.

A lapsed gamer, he fondly remembers the days when problems were solved by taking out the cartridge and blowing away the dust.

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This $20 Aluminum Camera Fan Has an OLED Display and Internal Battery - PetaPixel

Ulanzi has announced a camera cooling fan that operates with its own internal battery and suctions to the back of Sony, Canon, and Fujifilm camera bodies to help keep them cool during video recording or live streaming.

The company says its Camera Cooling Fan is designed to provide efficient and stable cooling of a wide range of cameras that might struggle with overheating since they don’t have dedicated active cooling hardware. After flipping out a vari-angle rear LCD display on a target camera, the small fan mounts to the back using a set of suction cups.

“Simply apply the film to the camera, align it, and press to achieve a stable suction that won’t deform or detach easily,” Ulanzi says.

The Ulanzi fan can be toggled to low or high speed (as well as off) and has its own built-in 200mAh battery that can last for up to 85 minutes when on Mode 1 (low speed for “silent” cooling) or up to 70 minutes when on Mode 2 (high speed, for rapid cooling that Ulanzi no longer refers to as silent). The fan has a single button for toggling between these three modes.

Also on the back is a small OLED display that shows the camera’s temperature (or at least the temperature of the the point where the fan touches the camera) as well as the fan level and remaining battery.

The Ulanzi fan charges via USB-C and can even be attached to an external power bank or a wall outlet while it is in use. Ulanzi does not mention of the additional heat generated by charging will affect the fan’s ability to cool the camera.

The company says the fan will work with a wide range of cameras, but specifically notes the Sony ZV-E1, ZV-E10, a7R IV, a7 SIII, a7C, FX30, and a6700. The company also notes the Canon R8, R7, R6 Mark II, R5 as well as the Fujifilm X-S10, X-T4, X-H2S. and X-S20.

Attaching an external fan to the back of a camera in order to extend recording times isn’t a new idea, of course. There are even first-party options.

Fujifilm currently sells a cooling fan accessory that promises to perform the same task, but it’s a lot more expensive than Ulanzi’s option at $200 and also is powered from the camera and doesn’t have its own internal battery. In his review of the Fujifilm X-S20, PetaPixel‘s Jordan Drake saw a significant bump in recording times when using the fan compared to recording without it. The embed below is timestamped for the relevant section:

Ulanzi’s option is not only significantly cheaper, but it also adds multiple fan modes, an OLED display that shows camera temperature, and it doesn’t rely on the camera body for power. Similar to other third-party manufacturers who are pushing the envelope when it comes to features in camera batteries, Ulanzi seems to be attempting to reframe what should be expected from a cooling fan — and how much that should cost.

The Ulanzi Camera Cooling Fan is currently available to pre-order for $20 (which is positioned as a 50% discount) and is expected to ship on August 30. It is available in either silver or black.

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Image credits: Ulanzi

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Yongnuo launches its first Fujifilm lens - and it has a built-in screen - Digital Camera World

Yongnuo has launched its first lens for the Fujifilm X-mount. The YN50mm F1.8X DA DSM PRO lens not only offers autofocus, but also offers a small OLED information panel (like that seen on some Nikon Z lenses).

Taking the APS-C sensor size of Fujifilm mirrorless cameras into account, the new lens offers an effective focal length of 75mm, making this an affordable, fast portrait lens with its f/1.8 maximum aperture. 

The LED panel is also a first for Yongnuo - but only appears to show the set aperture. But this pairs cleverly with a switch that converts the manual focus ring into an aperture control ring. Other lens manufacturers that have lenses with similar info panels include Zeiss, Viltrox, and Nikon.

(Image credit: Yongnuo)

(Image credit: Yongnuo)

The lens is constructed from 11 elements in eight groups, and has a nine-bladed diaphragm. It can focus down to 0.45m, and has a USB-C connector to facilitate firmware updates. It measures 68x85mm and weighs in at 387g. There is a front 58mm filter ring, and the lens is supplied with a lens hood.

Fujifilm opened up its lens mount to third-party manufacturers in 2020 - a move that has greatly increased the range of primes and zooms available for the X-mount. Other manufacturers making Fujifilm mirrorless AF lenses include Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and Viltrox

The Yongnuo YN50mm F1.8X DA DSM PRO is on sale through Yongnuo's website for $265. 

See also our guide to the best Fujifilm lenses

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Best gaming chair deals: Save on Alienware, Razer, and more - Digital Trends

Razer / Razer

If you’re one of those gamers who takes on the best PC games for hours at a time, you’re going to need the right chair for doing so. Gaming chairs are designed for extended sitting sessions, and they can spell the difference between enjoying and hating your gaming experience. They sometimes come in at a higher prices than standard office chairs, but they make a worthy investment, and right now they’re a great way to pocket some savings. There are quite a few gaming chair deals taking place right now, and we’ve rounded them all up to make your gaming experience as affordable as it is comfortable.

Today’s best gaming chair deals

There are quite a few gaming chair deals to take advantage of right now, with premium names in the gaming business like Alienware and Razer offering discounts on some of their chairs. You’ll also find more affordable options and prices on several chairs well under $200. One of the best values is the deal you’ll find on the Arozzi Mugello Special Edition gaming chair. This gaming chair sees a $50 price drop and a sale price of just $180. The chair itself offers some premium design and plenty of comfort that will make it a more affordable option to the higher end chairs you’ll find deals on right now.

When is the best time to shop gaming chair deals?

Any holiday season is going to be the best time to land a deal on something akin to the best gaming chairs, though it’s pretty easy to find a gaming chair deal throughout the year. Your best bet at landing the largest discount will be major sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and Prime Day has become a major event of its own. But with Prime Day behind us and the year’s remaining major shopping season still several months away, right now is as good a time as any to shop gaming chair deals. There’s plenty of savings to be had right now, and there’s plenty of great chairs available at a discount.

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Podcast: Google's Matt Brittin on AI's impact on advertising, media, and talent - The Media Leader

The Media Leader Podcast

Google’s EMEA president Matt Brittin spoke to Omar Oakes at the recent Cannes Lions advertising festival to discuss how the online advertising and media behemoth is approaching AI and how it’s being discussed with advertisers, publishers and media agencies.

Plus: ever wondered what it takes to become a senior exec at a massive tech company? Brittin’s background and career journey may surprise you.

Listen to whole conversation below and hit ‘subscribe’ to download the episode on your favourite podcast player, as well as get notified about future episodes:

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Lessons Learned From Computer Conversations And Taming AI 70 Years Ago - Forbes

Conversation is the new computer interface says the founder of a 3-month-old AI startup, already valued at $4 billion and backed by Microsoft, Nvidia and billionaires Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt. Inflection’s Mustafa Suleiman and other entrepreneurs and investors riding the “tidal wave” of chatbots, generative AI and deep learning, stand on the shoulders of giants that have chatted with machines for the last seven decades.

This is a story about one of these giants, Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, and the taming of computers.

Bar-Hillel was an Israeli philosopher, mathematician and linguist and a pioneer in the field of machine translation. After a post-doc with Rudolph Carnap at the University of Chicago in 1950, Bar-Hillel moved to MIT where he organized the first international Conference on Mechanical Translation, in 1952.

His practical experience convinced Bar-Hillel that machine translation can work only in situations that are of “a low degree of complexity or are artificially arranged to be so,” where “the rigid mechanical brain can exhibit superiority over the flexible human brain."

Generalizing further from the impossibility of high-quality machine translation to the possibility of computers matching or surpassing human intelligence, Bar-Hillel wrote and talked about “the fallacy of the first step.” The distance from the inability to do something to doing it badly is usually much shorter than the distance from doing something badly and doing it correctly. Many people think, argued Bar-Hillel, that if someone demonstrates a computer doing something that until very recently no one thought it could perform, even if it’s doing it badly, it is only a matter of some further technological developments before it will perform flawlessly. You only need to be patient, so goes the widespread assertion, and eventually you will get it there. But reality proves otherwise, time and time again, cautioned Bar-Hillel.

A dozen years after his machine translation disappointment, at the First Annual Cybernetics Symposium of the American Society for Cybernetics (held on 26-7 October, 1967, with the theme of "Purposive Systems: The Edge of Knowledge"), Bar-Hillel was preparing to talk about AI fallacies and "The Future of Man-Machine Language Systems." MIT’s Seymour Papert, however, pre-empted Bar-Hillel the day before, to tell two stories.

The first story was about child psychologist and educator Edouard Claparède who was Jean Piaget’s predecessor at the University of Geneva—Papert was one of Piaget's protégés. Claparède, according to Papert, advised newly-minted teachers to spend three months in a circus before starting their teaching careers. Why? Because in the circus, if you try to teach the lions a certain trick and you don’t succeed, you can blame only yourself. (and, I guess, suffer the consequences)>

What Papert wanted the audience to learn from this story is that you can teach the computer any trick possible and if someone is not successful within a year or two in writing a program for a certain task (hint: Bar-Hillel), then they should only blame themselves (hint: and not the computer).

The second story was about MIT’s Richard Greenblatt who managed to write a computer chess program that achieved the level of a talented chess player with at least two years’ experience, so Papert claimed. This was achieved, explained Papert, because Greenblatt abandoned the old idea of letting the computer learn from its mistakes and instead proceeded to tame it. (Note that machine learning was an “old idea” in 1967, at least at MIT’s Architecture Machine Group which later became the MIT Media Lab, where Papert collaborated with AI pioneer Marvin Minsky). As Bar-Hillel later observed, Papert did not explain what was the nature of the taming of the computer and what is the difference between taming and learning.

In his talk the next day, Bar-Hillel explained the fallacy of the first step with the example that if a computer plays well for the first six or seven chess moves, one cannot deduce from that that it would know how to play well for the rest of the game. He hastened to add to his prepared remarks, however, that based on what he just heard from Papert, it looked like he was proven wrong. Bar-Hillel admitted he was sad to learn of his blunder but happy to hear that a computer had surpassed his previous assessment.

Disappointed at his own failed estimation of the capabilities of computers, Bar-Hillel later went to MIT and got permission to play chess with Greenblatt’s computer. The computer did very well, making all its moves “by the book.” At the 10^th move, Bar-Hillel was fed up with how the game went and chose a move that was not one that would be recommended by chess experts as the best move in this situation. The computer “thought” hard for about a minute and a half (as opposed to previously making its moves within a second or so) and then made such a spectacularly wrong move that it was very clear that Bar-Hillel would win the game. It turned out that the best chess program in the world at the time had some serious defects and weaknesses.

What Bar-Hillel concluded was that the taming of the computer, at least in this case, was all bunk and hogwash. Someone was tamed, but it was Greenblatt, not the computer. The failures of the machine served to train him to write better programs. The cooperation between man and machine is important and it works when programmers learn from their mistakes and improve their programs. But don’t call it “the taming of the shrewish machine,” Bar-Hillel implored AI adherents.

At the Cybernetics conference, Bar-Hillel started his talk with a story of a student of Claparède who got to MIT and asked permission, before he started teaching, to spend three months in a circus. He was allowed to do it and began teaching chess to the lions. Towards the end of the third month, he started working also in the evenings, but the lions still did not make progress in chess. As he learned from his master, he blamed only himself and asked for a three-month extension in which he decided to tackle an even more difficult task—to teach the lions to conduct an intelligent conversation. He (and the lions) made very little progress and when the last night of the third month arrived, he asked permission to stay all night in the lions’ cage.

He was never heard from again.

The lesson, which applies also to computers, is that it is ridiculous to try to make lions do something they simply cannot do because of their (limited compared to humans) innate abilities. As far as we know, the ability to converse intelligently is exclusively human, argued Bar-Hillel. Unfortunately, we don’t know what is it that enables us to do it. If we knew, surmised Bar-Hillel, it is possible that we could, at a significant cost, build a computer or develop a program that could react intelligently to our conversation.

The outstanding gains made by computers have created many illusions and delusions, then and now. Bar-Hillel believed that the great achievements by the very smart people who made great progress with computers simply made them insane. They developed, he said, the ‘conversational mode’ where you converse with the computer line by line. This required special programming and they did some impressive things with it. But they never succeeded in establishing a real foundation for their dreams. The time has not yet come, said Bar-Hillel in late 1960s, for fulfilling their expectations for an intelligent conversation, in “natural language,” with computers.

To make progress, concluded Bar-Hillel, one needs to significantly reduce one’s ambitions.

The entrepreneurs and investors insisting today that they are on the brink of creating artificial general intelligence or AGI ignore Bar-Hillel’s warnings about the fallacy of the first step and having impossible-to-achieve ambitions. Isn’t it better to reduce one’s ambitions (hallucinations?) and focus on achieving a better understanding of human language and communications and, as a result, error-free human-computer conversations? Bar-Hillel thought this would be a “serious intellectual achievement.”

In 1968, Stewart Brand opened the first Whole Earth Catalog with the statement “We are as gods and might as well get used to it.” This sentiment, this hubris, has been driving the pursuit of artificial general intelligence or AGI by entrepreneurs, researchers and investors. They have been ignoring, to the detriment of the ultimate success of their endeavors, Bar-Hillel’s contention that there are many things “between heaven and earth” that we know very little about.

In 1968, Terry Winograd completed his PhD dissertation at MIT, succeeding in moving natural language processing (NLP) forward by reducing ambitions, i.e., creating a closed, made-up world for interacting with a computer. More on today’s chatbots, Bar-Hillel, and Winograd in the following posts.

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Lessons Learned From Computer Conversations And Taming AI 70 Years Ago - Forbes
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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Hands-On: Bigger Display, More Personal Customizations - CNET

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip 5 gains a significantly larger cover screen, an upgraded hinge and a new processor that should improve performance and photography, addressing some of the Galaxy Z Flip 4's biggest shortcomings. It launches on Aug. 11 starting at $1,000 (£1,049, AU$1,649), showing that consumers still have to pay a high price to get their hands on phones that fold in half.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung's most popular products.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5's biggest upgrade is its new cover display, which I found compelling during my brief time using the device. With this upgrade, the external display actually feels functional and useful rather than just cosmetic, helping Samsung's flip phone catch up to those made by Motorola and Chinese tech giant Oppo.

Samsung introduced the new flip phone at its Galaxy Unpacked event in Seoul on Wednesday, alongside a bevy of other products such as the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Watch 6 series and Galaxy Tab S9 family. The launch underscores Samsung's bet that foldable designs are the future of high-end smartphones, especially as a differentiator to Apple just ahead of iPhone launch season. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 (left) and Galaxy Z Flip 4 (right).

Rich Peterson/CNET

The Galaxy Z Flip 5's cover display, which Samsung now calls the Flex Window, measures 3.4 inches compared to the Z Flip 4's 1.9-inch external display. That makes it just slightly smaller than the 3.6-inch front screen on the Motorola Razr Plus.

Most people will still use the Z Flip 5's 6.7-inch internal screen for tasks like reading the news, playing games and browsing social media. But the bigger cover display could make the Z Flip more useful in other ways. When I reviewed the Razr Plus, for example, I was enamored with the phone's spacious cover screen. I loved propping it open like a tent while playing music, and even typing to quickly respond to a text message.

Watch this: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Hands-On: A Bigger Screen Goes a Long Way

04:17

Samsung is attempting to provide a similar experience with the Z Flip 5. During my brief time with it, I scrolled through Google Maps, typed in the messages app and even watched the Barbie movie trailer on YouTube without opening the phone. You can't do any of that on the Z Flip 4's cover screen. Although you can on the Razr Plus. 

But you won't be able to use every app on the front display. For the most part, Samsung limits cover screen apps to ones it believes have a good reason to be there, like Google Maps, YouTube and WhatsApp. Samsung wants to focus on use cases that make sense for the cover screen, like quickly checking directions or replying to a text, which is why only about 10 apps will be available on the Flex Window at launch. That differs from the Razr Plus, which can run just about any app (including TikTok) on the front screen.

If you want to try other apps on the cover screen you can install Good Lock, an app for Samsung devices that lets people customize their phones' interface. 

Samsung; GIF by Arielle Burton/CNET

Cover screen apps seamlessly transition to the 6.7-inch internal display when you open the phone. But this doesn't work the other way around, as it does on the Motorola Razr.

The cover screen feels like it was primarily designed to run widgets more than full apps. These widgets are the first thing you see when turning on the cover screen, and they provide a larger view of the weather, your calendar, alarms, connected device controls and other tidbits of information compared to the Z Flip 4's minuscule screen. You can remove or reorder these widgets, either on the cover screen or in the phone's settings menu.

Samsung: GIF by Arielle Burton/CNET

The Z Flip 5 also has a new hinge, which Samsung calls the Flex Hinge. This enables the device to fold completely closed, like the Razr Plus, without the wedge-shaped gap found on previous Galaxy Z Flip and Fold devices. 

This not only makes the phone feel more compact, but it should improve durability, according to Samsung. The new hinge has fewer moving parts compared to the previous version, which should make it less susceptible to damage. Both of Samsung's new foldables have an IPX8 water resistance rating, which should allow them to withstand submersion in 1.5 meters (roughly five feet) of water for up to 30 minutes. That's the same durability rating as last year's devices.

The cover screen and hinge are the Galaxy Z Flip 5's biggest upgrades. Otherwise, the phone gets a routine processor upgrade to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. It's the same chip that powers the Galaxy S23 lineup, which helped improve the battery life and image processing. I'm looking forward to seeing whether that holds true for the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Samsung is leaning on this chip to shoulder the burden of extending the Z Flip 5's battery life since it has the same 3,700-mAh battery capacity as the Z Flip 4. The base storage is also increasing from 128GB to 256GB on the Z Flip 5 compared to the Z Flip 4, a change that Samsung also made to the Galaxy S23 Plus earlier this year. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 with its cover screen.

Rich Peterson/CNET

Cameras have always been an important part of the Galaxy Z Flip series, but the Z Flip 5 has similar camera hardware compared to last year's model. That includes a 12-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 10-megapixel selfie camera. The difference this year is that the cameras have a new lens coating that should reduce lens flare. Hopefully this, combined with the new processor, will improve the Galaxy Z Flip's cameras from what my colleague Patrick Holland called "B-grade cameras" in his review last year. And of course, the Z Flip 5's enlarged cover screen also means you'll have a roomier viewfinder for taking selfies when the phone is closed.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5's software experience is largely the same as that of the Z Flip 4, but Samsung added more integrations with its new Galaxy Watch 6. For example, when the camera app is open and you fold the Flip 5 halfway to put it in Flex Mode and you'll see the icon for the camera controller app pop up on your Galaxy Watch 6's watch face. This lets you see a preview of what you're shooting and change angles from your wrist. The app itself isn't new, but the watch's ability to surface it when it detects that you're taking a photo in Flex Mode is.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 feels like Samsung's attempt to address the previous generation's biggest compromises: A cover screen that felt too tiny to be useful, a relatively short battery life and a hinge that didn't fold as flat as some competitors. Whether I'll recommend this phone depends on how well Samsung executes on that goal.

Samsung; GIF by Arielle Burton/CNET

But most importantly, I hope the cover screen gives the Z Flip 5 a clearer purpose. Having a phone with a built-in tripod that can fit in your pocket more easily is helpful, but it's not enough to convince most people to switch to a $1,000 flip phone for. The Razr Plus' larger external display proved that flip phones can be about more than just portability. With the Z Flip 5, I'll be expecting Samsung to push that idea further.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 specs vs. Motorola Razr Plus, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, Motorola Razr 2023

	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5	Motorola Razr Plus	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 5G	Motorola Razr 2023
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate, brightness	Cover: 3.4-inch AMOLED (728 x 720 pixels); internal: 6.7-inch AMOLED (2,640 x 1,080 pixels), 1-120Hz	Cover: 3.6-inch OLED (1,066 x 1,056 pixels); internal: 6.9-inch (2,640 pixels x 1,080)	Cover: 1.9-inch AMOLED (512 x 260 pixels); internal: 6.7-inch (2,640 x 1,080 pixels)	Cover: 1.5-inch, OLED (194 x 368 pixels); internal: 6.9-inch (2,640 pixels x 1,080)
Pixel density	Cover: 306 ppi, Internal: 425 ppi	Cover: 413 ppi, internal: 413ppi	Cover: 302 ppi, internal: 425 ppi	Cover: 282 ppi, internal: 413 ppi
Dimensions (inches)	Open: 6.5 x 2.83 x 0.27 in; closed: 3.35 x 2.83 x 0.59 in	Open: 2.91 x 6.73 x 0.28 in; closed: 2.91 x 3.48 x 0.59 in	Open: 2.83 x 3.3 x 0.67 in; closed: 2.83 x 6.5 x 0.27 in; hinge: 0.59 in (sagging)	Open: 2.91 x 6.73 x 0.29 in; closed: 2.91 x 3.47 x 0.62 in
Dimensions (millimeters)	Open: 71.88 x 165.1 x 6.89 mm; closed: 71.88 x 85.09 x 14.99 mm	Open: 73.95 x 170.83 x 6.99 mm; closed: 73.95 x 88.42 x 15.1 mm	Open: 71.9 x 165.2 x 6.9 mm; closed: 71.9 x 84.9 x 17.1 mm; hinge: 15.9 mm (sagging);	Open: 73.95 x 170.82 x 7.35 mm; closed: 73.95 x 88.24 x 15.8 mm
Weight (grams, ounces)	187 g (6.6 oz)	189 g (6.64 oz)	187 g (6.59 oz)	189 g (6.65 oz)
Mobile software	Android 13	Android 13	Android 12/13	Android 13
Camera	12-megapixel (main), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)	12-megapixel (main), 13-megapixel (ultrawide)	12-megapixel (main), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)	64-megapixel (main), 13-megapixel (ultrawide)
Front-facing camera	10-megapixel	32-megapixel	10-megapixel	32-megapixel
Video capture	TBD	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2	Snapdragon 8 Gen 1	Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1	Snapdragon 7 Gen 1
RAM/storage	8GB + 256GB/512GB	8GB + 256GB	8GB+ 128GB/256GB/512GB	8GB + 128GB
Expandable storage	None	None	None	None
Battery	3,700 mAh (dual-battery)	3,800 mAh	3,700 mAh	4,200 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	Side	Side	Side	Side
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None	None	None
Special features	5G-enabled, IPX8 water resistance, 25W wired charging, wireless charging, wireless power share, dual SIM	IP52, 5G-enabled, foldable display, 30W wired charging, wireless charging	IPX8, 5G enabled, foldable display, wireless charging, 25W fast charging	IP52, 5G-enabled, foldable display, 30W wired charging, 5W wireless charging
US price off-contract	$1,000	$1,000	$999	TBA
UK price	£1,049	Converts to £780	£999	TBA
Australia price	AU$1,649	Converts to AU$1,475	AU$1,499	TBA

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Hands-On: Bigger Display, More Personal Customizations - CNET
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