Category: Technology

Guddu power plant: GE held responsible for damage

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Senate Standing Committee on Power has held General Electric (GE) as technically responsible for damage to Guddu 747MW combined cycle thermal power plant (Block-V) in February this year.

The sources said, Central Power Purchasing Generation Company (CPGCL) (GENCO-11) Guddu had signed a contract service agreement with M/s General Electric (GE) OEM, in respect of 747MW, combined cycle power plant Guddu for a period of 16 years.

Under the agreement GE is responsible for scheduled inspection, supply of initial spares, diagnostics and online performance monitoring, O&M advisory services, asset performance management operational excellence system as these are included in the scope of covered maintenance.

The BoD of CPGCL argued that major areas like legal, commercial were not covered in the report and stance of M/s GE had not been taken before arriving at conclusions. The Board has advised that a complete picture after covering all the commercial and legal aspects be placed before the Senate Standing Committee on Power or any other forum, as may be required.

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Gamers Galaxy, Pakistan’s biggest esports event with a prize pool of 2 Crores PKR, to be held in Islamabad

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Galaxy Racer Pakistan is excited to announce the launch of Gamers Galaxy, the largest esports event to take place in the history of Pakistan. Gamers Galaxy is set to happen on the 8th and 9th of January at the Pak-China Friendship Centre in Islamabad. The all-inclusive esports event will be free of entry to the public and will have a grand prize pool of 2 CRORE Pakistani Rupees.

The event will be jam-packed line-up of gamers’ favourite console, PC and esports. Each day will be closed with an exhilarating concert from some of Pakistan’s biggest musical superstars. The gaming festival will feature meet and greets and panels with the country’s most popular content creators, action-packed live entertainment, and so much more.

The event will also be televised in partnership with Ten Sports for the first time in the country’s history. The expansion of Galaxy Racer into Pakistan and the launch of Gamers Galaxy will boost the country’s gaming ecosystem and nurture gaming talent, giving them a platform for competitive esports. This also aligns with Galaxy Racer Pakistan’s vision of creating jobs and making the country one of the world’s gaming hubs.

Fakhr-e-Alam, CEO of Galaxy Racer Pakistan, said: “Pakistan has one of the largest young populations in the world, and we want to give that youth the opportunity to participate and compete globally. Our youth deserves the best esports experiences and through Galaxy Racer Pakistan and our flagship event Gamers Galaxy, we will provide the youth the right platform to compete and succeed on a global level.”

Walid Singer, Chief of Staff of Galaxy Racer Global, said: “We’re very excited to be hosting Pakistan’s biggest gaming event – it’s such an exciting market for us as it’s one of the youngest populations on earth. There is incredible talent that we just can’t wait to fully tap into, and this all begins with Gamers Galaxy.”

Get ready for a new era of gaming!

To sign up to attend or take part in the qualifiers, please head to https://gamersgalaxy.com.pk

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter to know more.

About Galaxy Racer:

Galaxy Racer (GXR) was founded in 2019 and is one of the fastest-growing global esports, gaming and lifestyle organizations in the world, with an impressive roster of twelve esports teams under Nigma Galaxy, the competitive esports team division of Galaxy Racer; in esports titles such as Dota 2, League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, Valorant, PUBG Mobile, BGMI and Free Fire.

GXR values diversity and equal representation in esports, with over 60 male and female esports athletes from over 20 countries, with over 100 content creators across Middle East North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia (SEA), amassing over 370 million followers and generating over 2 billion monthly views.

GXR has formed a global partnership with Waverider, an IP content creation and management company centred around pop culture and entertainment.

GXR has joined forces with Waverider, to organise the inaugural edition of POPC Live! in Dubai in March 2022, the Middle East’s biggest esports, comics and YouTubers’ pop culture festival, with the support of Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO).

Additionally, GXR is the organizer in Dubai for the Girl Gamer Festival – the first and only ‘Esports Festival’ to celebrate women’s competitiveness in video games.

GXR recently organized Australia’s largest independent Fortnite tournament for the esports community and Fortnite tournaments in India and Pakistan, each tournament with a US$10,000 prize pool.

GXR joined forces together with Arsenal superstar English Premier League footballer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his brother William-Fils “Willy” Aubameyang, by hosting the first-ever Fortnite esports tournament between Europe and the Middle East with a EURO 10,000 prize pool.

GXR has formed a partnership with eLaliga, the top professional football division of the Spanish league system. This partnership is the first time a Dubai-based esports organisation will team up with a significant worldwide FIFA event.

GXR has announced a three-year partnership with Spanish football league LaLiga. The partnership will see both entities collaborate to create an original content series that will feature players from LaLiga, as well as GXR’s influencers.

GXR provides live streaming and gaming talents with brand endorsement deals, streaming contracts, creator collaborations, digital rights management, monetization, offline event opportunities, managing their social media channels and content programming.

Galaxy Racer website: https://galaxyracer.gg 

For the latest Galaxy Racer news and activities, please follow us on: 

 YouTube:            https://www.youtube.com/c/GalaxyRacer  

 Instagram:         https://www.instagram.com/galaxyracerdxb 

 Facebook:          https://www.facebook.com/galaxyraceresports 

 Twitter:               https://twitter.com/galaxyracerdxb

 LinkedIn:            https://www.linkedin.com/company/galaxy-racer-dxb 

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WhatsApp ready to introduce 5 new features soon!

Posted on by Ali Qasim

WhatsApp is about to introduce a set of new features, five we could keep track of, that will be available for users around the world. Used by an estimated one billion people around the globe, it is natural that the instant messaging company has to keep itself updated with what users like or dislike.

We listed down five features, as per a few media reports, about the features WhatsApp intends on pushing out in the days, weeks and months ahead.

1. Time limit to delete messages

WhatsApp, as per reports, is working on changing the time limit for users in which they can delete their messages.

Currently, WhatsApp allows you to delete messages that are up to 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds old. Now, the company has been spotted testing a time-limit of 7 days and 8 minutes.

It was also earlier reported that WhatsApp was mulling changes in the time limit for deleting messages. However, that seems to have been changed.

2. Privacy setting for ‘Last Seen’, profile photo

Reports also indicate WhatsApp is testing a feature that allows users to hide their “Last Seen”, profile photo and status from specific contacts.

The feature is being tested on the beta versions of both Android and iOS. Currently, WhatsApp provides users three options: show their display picture, Last Seen and status to “Everyone,” “Nobody,” and “My Contacts.”

However, as per a report on WABetaInfo, WhatsApp will now add another option that will read: “My Contacts…Except,” and will allow users to select who all to hide their last seen status and profile picture from.

3. Photo editor

WhatsApp is also working on introducing an in-app photo editor that will allow users to add stickers and text, crop and rotate their photos on any WhatsApp screen.

The company had earlier announced that it is working on introducing the feature to WhatsApp Web first.

4. Sticker maker for WhatsApp

After WhatsApp launched the sticker-maker for its web version, reports are now doing the rounds on the internet that the app is focusing on introducing the same feature to its mobile app version as well.

Currently, WhatsApp only allows users to send stickers using pre-loaded or third-party sticker packs. However, a recent report in 91Mobiles hints that the company may allow iOS and Android users to create their own stickers soon.

5. Playback control for forwarded voice notes

WhatsApp is also working on speeding up forwarded voice notes. Currently, users can only speed up voice messages by increasing the speed to 2X level.

However, the same cannot be done with forwarded voice notes. You will have to hear the way it has been sent. If the latest reports are to be believed, that may change soon. 

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WhatsApp starts beta-testing of speed control for audio messages

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

WhatsApp has started the beta-testing of speed control of audio messages after enabling the same feature for changing the speed of playback of voice notes earlier this year.

The messaging app loses its playback speed button in an audio message which is a voice note but it is forwarded to another chat. In a forwarded voice note, the playback button disappears to choose 1.5x or 2x speed. According to reports, it may take some time for the company to introduce the feature on iOS and Android devices.

This feature will be available in a future update on WhatsApp beta for Android and iOS, according to WABETAINFO.

It added that the feature has been spotted in a recent version of WhatsApp beta for iOS, but it’s currently under development, and it’s surely coming on the next versions of WhatsApp beta for Android as well.

Earlier in September, it was learnt that WhatsApp is planning to offer a voice message transcription feature. WaBetaInfo had reported that it has spotted a development underway that will provide transcriptions for WhatsApp voice messages.

However, it added that your messages won’t be sent to WhatsApp or Facebook server, but Apple will provide transcription. This will also help Apple improve its speech recognition technology. So, how this works?

The feature, whenever it’s out, will be available as an option. The users will be required to give WhatsApp access to their device’s Speech Recognition tech whenever they want to transcribe a voice message.

You will be able to use the transcription service once you give access permission to WhatsApp. It works the same way as the Text to Speech feature. The system reads your voice and writes it using the speech recognition feature.

When you play a voice message, a “Transcript” option will pop up where you will be able to read messages. You may also be able to play the voice message from any point.

 “When a message is transcripted for the first time, its transcription is saved locally in the WhatsApp database, so it won’t be needed to transcript it again if you want to see its transcription later,” WaBetaInfo said.

For now, it is not certain when the feature will roll out for Android users but the voice message transcription will soon be available for iOS beta users.

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WhatsApp web gets new features

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

WhatsApp has announced that it’s introducing a couple of feature updates for the messaging application’s desktop version, WABetaInfo reported Sunday.

One of the updates, incoming call ringtone and turn off all desktop incoming calls, give WhatsApp users more control to manage call notifications while using the application on the web.

“The second one is a new interface for Contact Info, Business Info, Group Info”, the website said, which is similar to the interface a user can see on their Android or iPhone when they are looking at a contact or group info.

The new features can be used by WhatsApp users when they are updating the WhatsApp Web version but some of them might not be able to see the updates right now. However, very soon their versions will be updated with more activations following.

WhatsApp desktop beta versions may be released for a specific platform in advance so the users have to wait for some days to get the new version for the platforms they are using.

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Facebook to shut down facial recognition system

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Facebook Inc announced on Tuesday it is shutting down its facial recognition system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos, citing growing societal concerns about the use of such technology.

“Regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use,” Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Facebook, wrote in a blog post. “Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.”

The removal of face recognition by the world’s largest social media platform comes as the tech industry has faced a reckoning over the past few years over the ethics of using the technology.

The news also comes as Facebook has been under intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over user safety and a wide range of abuses on its platforms.

The company, which last week renamed itself Meta Platforms Inc, said more than one-third of Facebook’s daily active users have opted into the face recognition setting on the social media site, and the change will now delete the “facial recognition templates” of more than 1 billion people.

The removal will roll out globally and is expected to be complete by December, a Facebook spokesperson said.

 

WhatsApp rolls out updates for web, mobile versions

Posted on by Ali Qasim

LAHORE (NUT-DESK)

Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp on Monday introduced several updates to its existing features, including desktop photo editor, sticker suggestion, and link previews.

Taking to Twitter, WhatsApp announced that with the new updates, users will now be able to add stickers and text or crop and rotate their photos from any WhatsApp screen, whether it’s a mobile phone screen or a desktop. 

In terms of sticker suggestions, users can now incorporate the perfect stickers into their messages as they type — just like emoji suggestions but better.

Similarly, with the latest updates, users will now know what they are clicking into as a preview will be shown beforehand. 

What’s more, a control bar for picture-in-picture videos is now available for beta testers. According to WABetaInfo, after rolling out a new interface on WhatsApp beta for Android 2.21.22.3 enabling users to watch videos from Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms directly within the app, the same interface will now be available for WhatsApp beta iOS users as well!

“The new interface implements a control bar: it allows moving the picture-in-picture view easily, and it also implements some shortcuts, like the possibility to end the video and to show it in full-screen mode,’ the website said.

 

 

Facebook changes its company name to Meta

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it would rebrand as Meta, a name change that comes as the company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, its algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its platforms.

The company said the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company’s live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference, said the new name reflected its focus on building the metaverse.

“Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future,” he said.

The tech giant said the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand. It said it would not change its corporate structure.

The metaverse, a term first coined in a dystopian novel three decades ago and now attracting buzz in Silicon Valley, refers broadly to the idea of a shared virtual environment which can be accessed by people using different devices.

The company unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Thursday, replacing its thumbs-up “Like” logo with a blue infinity shape.

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What will Facebook’s new name be?

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Zuckerverse. Timesuck. Faceplant. They’re just a few of the suggestions being bandied around online following reports that Facebook plans to rebrand itself with a new group name.

The company refused to comment on rumor or speculation, of course, but the Twitterati had no problem.

The debate careered from sensible to screwball to strange.

“Meta” was one of the more sober trending suggestions, referring to Facebook’s reported desire to assume a name that focuses on the metaverse, a virtual environment where users can hang out.

Bookface, Facegram, Facetagram, FreeFace, FreeTalk, World Changer.

On the wilder side, Twitter user Dave Pell drew a comparison with musician Kanye West who recently changed his name to “Ye”.

“It would be awesome if Facebook changes its name to Ye,” he said.

Several humorous suggestions reflected online speculation that the alleged rebrand was driven by founder Mark Zuckerberg’s yearning to make Facebook “cool” once more.

The platform has been deserted by many younger users who have moved to apps like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, and has become increasingly populated by older people.

“Teenage Wasteland”, one wit suggested.

“The Old People’s App because that’s what us younger people call it,” college student Vittoria Esteves told Reuters in Rome.

“Boomerville”, suggested Marco, referring to so-called baby boomers born in the years following World War II.

‘STREISAND EFFECT’

The online naming feast was sparked by a report on the Verge tech site that a newly named group would act as a parent for all the company’s brands, including Facebook itself, Instagram and WhatsApp, and reflect a focus on virtual and augmented reality.

An announcement is expected next week, according to the report.

Many suggestions however reflected the public’s concern about how the company handles user safety and hate speech. Internal documents leaked by a whistleblower formed the basis for a U.S. Senate hearing last week.

“Fakebook”, for example. Tracebook.

Other people were sceptical whether a name change would be enough to detract from the growing legal and regulatory scrutiny that has tarnished the company’s reputation.

“It’s going to be the Barbra Streisand effect thing going on,” said 20-year old Glasgow student Thomas van der Hoven, referring to the phenomenon where seeking to suppress something inadvertently turbo-charges popular interest in it.

“So they’re going to try and change it, and then that’s just going to put the spotlight on the fact that they’re changing it. Why are they changing this?” he added. “So it’s probably going to spit back in their face at some point.”

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PM Imran Khan seeks to shield innocent minds from online pornographic content.

Posted on by Ali Qasim

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Prime Minister Imran Khan directed authorities to ensure effective gate-keeping of online content to shield innocent minds against the “ruthless onslaught” of immoral and pornographic content online. The prime minister’s directives came as he chaired a meeting on blocking pornographic websites in the country, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“Character building is very crucial in the modern tech-savvy era. The proliferation of tech gadgets and 3G/4G internet technology has made all sort of content available to everyone,” the prime minister said.

“We need to protect our youth, especially kids, from being exposed to immoral and unethical content available online,” he added.

The prime minister was told that Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), particularly Cloudfare, having 1-2% of total internet traffic share, have complaints against them of serving pornographic content, the statement said. According to the statement, “other CDNs don’t serve pornographic material as per their policies”.

The prime minister was also informed that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) needs to work with internet service providers (ISPs)/CDNs for blocking pornographic content through CDNs, particularly Cloudfare, the statement added.
He was informed that PTA also needs to “enhance its Warehouse Management System (WMS) capability by integrating with some global and regularly updated databases of pornographic sites to block them at URL and domain level”.

Moreover, he was briefed that PTA is working on the feasibility of this project whose implementation time is about 2 months, the statement added.  Two days back, during the Rehmatul-lil-Alameen conference in Islamabad on the occasion of Eid Milad un Nabi, the premier had expressed his concern about the youth of the country and said that bringing them towards the path of righteousness is a challenge.

The prime minister said that parents are unable to take away mobile phones from children by force and cannot block their social media.
“Although there is no compulsion in religion, we can show them the right way. We can, at least, train our children and talk to them about the bad effects of [Western] culture,” he said.

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