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The holiday travel season is coming up, which means loads of empty homes and packages sitting on porches, ripe for the plucking. All the more reason to gift the people on your list, and yourself, a Ring security device that will shine a spotlight on dark places around the house, alert them to when someone’s lurking, and let them know when packages arrive, all in real time. 

Check out these top Ring picks that’ll keep tabs on their space while they’re at grandma’s — and they can uplevel their device’s capabilities with a Ring Home plan.

A Raspberry Pi "HAT" or Hardware Attached on Top is a simple upgrade component you can add to compatible models of Raspberry Pi computers to expand what they can do and make many different projects far easier than they were before.

By default, Windows 11 shows the Home page when you open File Explorer, unlike Windows 10, which displays the "This PC" page. However, you can configure File Explorer in Windows 11 to open the "This PC" page instead of the "Home" page.

Chrome has some essential security features that help protect your browsing experience, from enhanced protection against malware to performing an online safety check. Here are some simple settings I use to ensure I'm browsing safely on Chrome.

If you're hosting the holidays at your home, chances are you're going to have a lot more people using your Wi-Fi network than usual. There will be extra strain, but there are several things you can do to prepare your network for that, as well as keep it and everyone using it safe from risks.

We all have that one friend who treats their pet like it’s their child or best friend (or both). If you have one or more pet-obsessed buddies and are struggling to find them a last-minute gift for the holidays, we suggest getting them something that will also benefit their animal companion.

The best gifts for pet owners range from useful pet tech like pet cameras and GPS collars, to enrichment toys, comfy beds, and more. There are a whole lot of great pet products out there for every dog mom, cat dad, and every type of pet owner in between.

Below, we’ve pulled together a group of fantastic gift ideas for the pet owner in your life and we’re confident you’ll discover something here that your recipient will love. Now, go make your fellow pet parent’s day (and their pet’s day, too).

If you haven't been following the development of AI image generation tools, you may not be quite up-to-date on what they are capable of. The truth is that AI image generators can in fact create photorealistic images, and that's both amazing and deeply problematic.

One of the most highly-anticipated AI-related products has just arrived: OpenAI's AI video generator Sora launched on Monday as part of the company's 12 Days of OpenAI event.

OpenAI has provided sneak peeks at Sora's output in the past. But, how different is it at launch? OpenAI has certainly been hard at work to update and improve its AI video generator in preparation for its public launch.

YouTuber Marques Brownlee had a first look at Sora, releasing his video review of the latest OpenAI product hours before OpenAI even officially announced the launch. What did Brownlee think?

What Sora is good at

According to Brownlee, his Sora testing found that the AI video generator excels at creating landscapes. AI generated overhead, drone-like shots of nature or famous landscapes look just like real-life stock footage. Of course, as Brownlee points out, if you are specifically well-versed in how the surroundings of a landmark look, one might be able to spot the differences. However, there's not too much that looks distinctly AI-generated in these types of Sora-created clips.

SEE ALSO: How to try OpenAI's Sora right now

Perhaps the type of video Sora is best able to create, according to Brownlee, are abstract videos. Background or screensaver type abstract art can be made quite well by Sora even with specific instructions.

Brownlee also found that Sora-generated certain types of animated content, like stop-motion or claymation type animation, look passable at times as the sometimes jerky movements that still plague AI video look like stylistic choices.

SEE ALSO: 7 wild Sora videos blowing up social media after its launch

Most surprisingly, Brownlee found that Sora was able to handle very specific animated text visuals. Words often show up as garbled text in other AI image and video generation models. With Sora, Brownlee found that as long as the text was specific, say a few words on title card, Sora was able to generate the visual with correct spelling.

Where Sora goes wrong

Sora, however, still presents many of the same problems that all AI video generators that came before it have struggled with.

SEE ALSO: OpenAI's Sora is officially here

The first thing Brownlee mentions is object permanence. Sora has issues with displaying, say, a specific object in an individual's hand throughout the runtime of the video. Sometimes the object will move or just suddenly disappear. Just like with AI text, Sora's AI video suffers from hallucinations. 

Which brings Brownlee to Sora's biggest problem: Physics in general. Photorealistic video seems to be quite challenging for Sora because it can't just seem to get movement down right. A person simply walking will start slowing down or speeding up in unnatural ways. Body parts or objects will suddenly warp into something completely different at times as well.

And, while Brownlee did mention those improvements with text, unless you are getting very specific, Sora still garbles the spelling of any sort of background text like you might see on buildings or street signs.

Sora is very much an ongoing work, as OpenAI shared during the launch. While it may offer a step up from other AI video generators, it's clear that there are just some areas where all AI video models are going to find challenging.

OpenAI officially launched Sora on Monday, Dec. 9, and people are already testing its capabilities.

The company showed off its AI video generator last year before launching it during its 12 Days of OpenAI series of announcements. It was made available to the U.S. and lots of countries earlier today. Mashable's Cecily Mauran has all the details about the launch.

SEE ALSO: OpenAI's Sora is officially here

The general idea behind Sora is that, much like a chatbot, you give the AI tool a prompt, and it spits out results. But instead of text or images, you get videos. That is both pretty amazing and quite concerning.

There are already a number of videos created by Sora that are going viral online. Here are seven examples.

1. Here's an AI-generated news clip from Marques Brownlee, the popular tech YouTuber, who got to test Sora early. Tweet may have been deleted 2. Brownlee showed off Sora's impressive ability to create landscape videos. Tweet may have been deleted 3. Here is some fake historical video from Sora. Tweet may have been deleted 4. Here's a pelican on a bike...for some reason. Tweet may have been deleted 5. This person made a quick clip of Plato speaking. Tweet may have been deleted 6. Ever seen flying jellyfish? Tweet may have been deleted 7. The Roman Empire is definitely this dude's Roman Empire. Tweet may have been deleted

The tool from OpenAI just dropped, and there are already a number of videos out there.

Obviously, with time, folks will get the hang of Sora, and there will be more and more AI-generated video on our social feeds. Just be sure to stay on your toes and look out for fakes designed to fool you for nefarious purposes.

SEE ALSO: How to identify AI-generated videos

Since the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a lot more going on than the Pixel 9 Pro, it comes at a greater cost, and that's all the more reason to protect it with a case. Why leave it exposed to the elements? Why risk dropping it without protection?

ChromeOS 131 is rolling out now to Chromebooks with a few useful improvements. Namely, it introduces the new "Safety reset" feature, which feels like a light version of a factory reset.

Sora is here.

On Monday, Dec. 9, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that users in "most countries" will have access to its AI video generator, Sora — all you have to do is head to Sora.com and use your ChatGPT account.

This was the company's biggest announcement so far in its ongoing 12 Days of OpenAI event, in which it discusses new products every day for the first 12 business days in December.

"This is going live today in most of the world," Altman said during the livestream, adding that it won't actually go live in most of Europe or the UK. "If you have an open AI Plus subscription, you get 50 generations a month. If you have an open AI pro, you get unlimited generations in our sort of slow queue mode and 500 normal faster generations. You can also get fewer generations at the higher resolution. And anybody with any account can enjoy the feed."

The livestream also featured a demo of Sora, showing users how to check out videos made in Sora by scrolling through them in the "Featured" tab, which you can find under "Explore." OpenAI showed off how to prompt video, choose resolutions, length and aspect radio, and took viewers through how to use its new Storyboard feature.

"We're really excited to see what you all will create," Altman said. "We're really excited to see all of the new ways that this new kind of entertainment and tool will be used. You all did incredible work on this. I'm super proud of the team. I love the product."

Microsoft Office’s assistant Clippy lives as an unkind memory among those of us old enough to remember it, seventeen years after it disappeared for good. But I reckon Clippy was ahead of its time. It doesn’t deserve the bad rep it had back then, and I’ll explain why.

OpenAI has officially launched Sora.

On Monday, CEO Sam Altman immediately kicked off the livestream by announcing the Sora public release. As of today, Sora will be available today to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users in the U.S. and other countries — excluding the UK and countries within the EU.

SEE ALSO: Sora reportedly shipping as part of '12 Days of OpenAI' livestream marathon Tweet may have been deleted

Early last year, OpenAI introduced the AI video generator. But it has been quietly in development to a select group of testers, until being unleashed to the public today, allowing plenty of hype to build up in between. Early demos of Sora's photorealistic details and advanced sense of physics and accuracy has wowed AI enthusiasts. But it has also drawn controversy over how it got so good. OpenAI hasn't revealed what Sora was trained on, but reportedly transcribed over a million hours of YouTube videos, suggesting the AI video was trained on videos from the web without the credit or compensation of the video creators. Recently, a group of artists working as early testers for Sora leaked the API credentials in protest of what they call "art washing."

Perhaps, in an indirect response to criticisms that tools like Sora are exploiting and replacing the work of creatives, Flynn emphasized that "Sora is a tool" and an "extension for the creator behind it."

In the livestream, OpenAI product lead Rohan Sahai and product designer Joey Flynn wasted no time in sharing Sora's capabilities. The tool lives on a standalone website, sora.com, with an explore tab for discovering what other users are creating. By clicking into one of the videos, users can see the methods used to the create the video, such as simple text prompt, video or image extension, or Sora's storyboarding tool.

In the library tab, users can get started making their own video with a text prompt or uploading an image. From here, users can select aspect ratio, resolution up to 1080p, duration up to 20 seconds, and multiple variations of the prompt. There are also certain default presets like "stop motion" and "balloon world."

Sora also comes with a more advanced tool called Storyboard, which allows users to shape the video with specific directions. Storyboard bears a similar resemblance to other video editing tools with frame views on the bottom and various editing tools. Each "storyboard card" or frame can be generated from a text prompt or image upload. Users can use the recut feature to shift cards around, the remix feature to describe specific changes to the sequence, the loop tool to play the video on repeat, or blend to create a transition between multiple scenes.

In OpenAI's announcement, the company shared some of its safety measures. All Sora-generated videos come with C2PA invisible watermarks, and visible watermarks by default. Sora will block "damaging forms of abuse, such as child sexual abuse materials and sexual deepfakes," and limits uploads of people.

ChatGPT Plus users get 50 videos a month at 480p (or 720p for less videos) and ChatGPT Pro users get 10 times more usage.

SAVE $25: The rarely on sale Kindle Paperwhite is $25 off at Best Buy and Amazon. Get it now for $134.99 and 16% off.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kindle Paperwhite $134.99 at Amazon
$159.99 Save $25.00 Get Deal

Amazon is known for good deals, even on their own products, discounting Fire tablets and Echo devices frequently. However, when it comes to their Kindle e-readers, the deals are few and far between. Unless it's a shopping event like Prime Day or Black Friday, Kindles rarely see discounts, and you're left paying full price. Yet, a week after Cyber Monday, Best Buy is offering a sweet discount on the latest Kindle Paperwhite.

Back in October, Amazon launched its 2024 line-up of Kindles that included the upgraded basic Kindle as well as the Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition. Luckily, during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we saw record low prices on the devices. However, as quickly as the deals came, off they went when Cyber Week ended.

The Kindle Paperwhite is my favorite e-reader. It's Amazon's fastest e-reader, turning pages quickly, and not stuttering when switching between books. The screen has a crisp, high-contrast screen with adjustable warmth so you can read at night without any eye strain. Plus, with its Libby integration and Kindle Unlimited, you can read all you want without spending a dime.

As a special holiday treat, Best Buy is offering $25 off the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite. This brings the e-reader down to $134.99, giving you 16% off — this is just $5 more than it's lowest price ever. And since first spotting this deal at Best Buy, Amazon has decided to get in on the savings too, matching Best Buy's price. That gives you the freedom to buy from your preferred retailer.

Safari is my preferred browser on macOS. However, from my experience, some of its default settings, despite being helpful, can slow down browsing, drain system resources, and even create security risks. To improve both security and performance, I make sure to keep these Safari features turned off.

SAVE $6.98: As of Dec. 9, select Verizon customers can get Netflix and Max (with ads) for just $10 a month, a $6.98 savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Verizon Netflix & Max (with ads) Get Deal

If your subscription services are pinching your wallet, you might be able to save money with the latest Verizon bundle.

As of Dec. 9, select Verizon customers can get Netflix & Max (with ads) for just $10 a month. That’s about $6.98 off per month if you subscribe to Netflix Standard and Max with Ads separately.

To get this deal, you’ll need to be a Verizon Unlimited Ultimate ($65/month), Unlimited Plus ($55/month), or an Unlimited Welcome ($65/month) customer. Verizon customers with 5G Home, LTE Home, and Fios home internet plans are also eligible.

If you’re already on an eligible plan and a current Netflix or Max subscriber, all you have to do is sign into your Verizon account (select “services & perks” or “recommended perks”) and add the bundle. It’ll ask for your login credentials, and you'll be all set.

Lego sets from retailers like Lego, Target, and Amazon for up to 30% off or more on Dec. 9th, ahead of the holidays. Plus, order now and get 2x Lego Insiders points when you buy direct from the Lego webstore.

Best Lego holiday deals Best Lego webstore deal Lego Jade Rabbit $11.99 (Save $8) Get Deal Best Lego Star Wars deal Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama Build and Display Set 75380 $54.99 (Save $25) Get Deal Best Lego flower deal Lego Icons Poinsettia Building Set $34.99 (Save $15) Get Deal Best Lego Creator deal Lego Creator 3 in 1 Medieval Castle & Dragon Toy Set 31120 $79.99 (Save $20) Get Deal

There are a ton of great Lego deals live right now ahead of the holidays. Black Friday came and went but the Lego deals never stopped, and right now major retailers like Target, Amazon, and the Lego webstore are all dropping major sets for sale prices hitting prices up to 30% off or more. It's a great time to nab a Lego gift.

Shop now to nab Lego Creator sets, Star Wars collaborations, and festive Lego flowers for excellent prices, and until Dec. 10th, when you shop on the Lego webstore, you'll earn 2x Lego Insiders points.

Best Lego webstore deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Jade Rabbit $11.99 at Lego
$19.99 Save $8.00 Get Deal Why we like it:

Not only is it incredibly cute, but the Lego Jade Rabbit is also 40% off. This small set is one of the best Lego deals we've seen out there this week.

To make a great thing even better, the Lego webstore is currently running a special deal, where direct orders give 2x Lego Insiders points, helping you earn Lego perks even faster. What collector could resist?

Best Lego Star Wars deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego / Star Wars Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama Build and Display Set 75380 $54.99 at Target
$79.99 Save $25.00 Get Deal Why we like it:

There are lots of ways to use Lego. For some, Lego is all about building custom designs. For others, Lego collab-sets are memorabilia: a way to build and commemorate favorite moments from movies. This Lego Star Wars diorama set is the latter.

Star Wars fans will love building this Mos Espa Podrace set. Built for display, this 718 piece Lego set is a perfect decoration to accent a DVD collection or mantle.

Best Lego flower deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Icons Poinsettia Building Set $34.99 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $15.00 Get Deal Why we like it:

Reinventing what it means to have a green thumb, Lego's collection of flowers are vibrant display sets. The Lego Icons Poinsettia Building Set is a perfect holiday gift or home accent.

Poinsettias are classic holiday flowers. This set will bloom year after year, whether you reassemble it every December or display it year round. Best of all, you won't need to water it.

Best Lego Creator deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Creator 3 in 1 Medieval Castle & Dragon Toy Set 31120 $79.99 at Target
$99.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal Why we like it:

At their core, Legos are about building, and Lego Creator sets get to the root of that. This Lego Creator set celebrates classic Lego subject matter: castles and dragons.

The LEGO Creator 3 in 1 Medieval Castle & Dragon Toy Set 31120 comes with a whopping 1,426 pieces. Creators might build this set following instructions, then rebuild it a hundred different ways. If you're looking for a present for a Lego fan that like to dive into creating, then this is a perfect set.

More Lego deals:

• Lego Hidden Side Wrecked Shrimp Boat 70419 $39.99 $49.99 (save $10)

• Lego Dungeons & Dragons minifigures $3.99 $4.99 (save $1)

• Lego Porsche 963 $19.99 $24.99 (save $5)

• Christmas Tree Toy Building Set 40573 $30.99 $44.99 (save $14)

Reddit is launching an AI search tool to simplify all the instances in which you need to find an answer to a particular problem.

We've all been there before — usually, for me, it's some weird tech issue — where you're in a pickle that seems resolvable only through the collective experience and knowledge of the Reddit hive-mind. The social media company's new AI tool, called Reddit Answers, aims to be the place you go for such searches instead of trawling through Google.

Wrote the company in a blog post announcing the tool:

"With Reddit Answers, redditors can ask questions and receive answers using a new, AI-powered conversational interface. Once a question is asked, curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit will appear, including links to related communities and posts. Redditors can easily read relevant snippets and answers inline from real redditors, jump into the full conversations, and go deeper in their search with their own or suggested follow-up questions."

With Reddit Answers, you can search a specific problem and, theoretically, have the tool deliver conversational answers with direct links and quotes to actual Reddit posts. The Verge's Jay Peters got an early look at Reddit Answers and wrote they've "liked what [they've] seen" in limited testing.

SEE ALSO: Reddit's traffic is way up – but why? It's Google.

If you search Google for Reddit results, of course, it surfaces a bunch of links whereas Reddit Answers, in theory, makes it more digestible via summaries and bullet points. It's worth considering, however, that Reddit's AI tool could publish incorrect or incomplete summaries and answers — pretty much every AI tool has had that issue.

Reddit said it's rolling out Answers to a limited number of users, with English being the only available language for the time being. Interested Redditors can check the company's site to track if it's available in their area.

EA games — maker of the popular Sims, FIFA, and Madden franchises — is investing in more robust game development for people with disabilities.

In honor of International Day of People with Disabilities (Dec. 3), the electronic gaming company announced it will be expanding its Patent Pledge to include dozens more patents for accessible technologies that would put the power of more inclusive design in the hands of game developers. EA's Patent Pledge is a commitment to providing royalty-free IP to the gaming industry at large, and a promise not to enforce EA patent infringements for the accessible technologies the company offers.

SEE ALSO: X got a new AI image generator called Aurora

The 23 new technologies include six audio and sound technologies, as well as a new opensourced photosensitivity analysis plugin for the Unreal Engine 5 builder. The plug-in allows designers to test their games using EA's IRIS tech in real-time — IRIS makes gameplay easier for people with epilepsy or other photosensitivities. The audio patents include tech for improved and simplified speech recognition and more personalized speech options, including text-to-speech in the voice of video game characters and machine-learning powered voice aging. These options make in-game expression more inclusive for gamers.

"Among other things, these patented accessibility technologies could be used to improve the gameplay experience of players who have speech disability or who prefer or need assistance with verbally expressing themselves," explained EA. "They could make it possible for those players’ speech to be more effectively recognized and reflected in-game in a way that is representative of their age, emotion, language and speaking style."

The video game titan has introduced several other accessibility patents, including personalized music and sound settings for those with specific hearing needs, haptic and touch screen technologies, and a tool known as Fonttik, which ensures visual fields and on-screen text are accessible to those with low vision. The offerings are part of EA's larger accessibility efforts.

"By making this technology available to others royalty-free, we want to encourage the industry to work together to make video games more inclusive by removing unintended barriers to access," wrote EA senior vice president Kerry Hopkins.