Wired reports that OpenAI is testing a new "Persistent mode" for Codex that would let the agent keep working until explicitly "put to sleep," proactively creating follow-up tasks for itself across sessions and using prior interactions and knowledge of the user to decide what to do next. Code alluding to the feature was spotted in the product's code base, though it has not been rolled out or officially announced yet. From the report: Persistent mode appears in Codex's "reasoning effort" menu, in which users can select the level of computing power, tokens, and time they want to allow for an AI model to "think" before answering a prompt. It seems to be one of OpenAI's most computationally intensive settings. When users have selected Persistent mode, OpenAI's code base reads that Codex will "continue working until put to sleep." That's a stark contrast to currently available modes, which will stop working on a task after a few minutes or hours, even if it's not complete.

In another file in the code base, OpenAI describes a feature within Persistent mode called "proactivity." This appears to be a type of system prompt for agents in Persistent mode, which are told that their work is not done when they finish answering a user's request. Instead, the agent is instructed to proactively create follow-up tasks for itself. The agent is capable of working on those tasks across sessions and using past user interactions and "knowledge of the user" to decide what to work on. It also has a tool to message the user without being asked but is told to send these sparingly.

The instructions also set limits for the agent, according to the file. The agent is told that Persistent mode does not expand what it is allowed to do and that altering anything outside the user's own system requires the user's approval first -- seemingly intended to limit how dangerous a persistent AI agent could be. The file sits in the shared core of Codex rather than in the code specific to the terminal, seeming to suggest the proactivity feature is intended for more than the command line tool.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google is imposing new memory-use limits on Android apps as the AI data center boom contributes to a broader memory chip shortage that could leave lower-cost phones with less RAM. Developers will have until February 2027 to meet new thresholds for memory and bitmap usage. To aid developers, Google is adding tools to flag apps that exceed the limits and help prevent slowdowns and crashes. TechCrunch reports: The company explains that the mobile industry is now facing "significant hardware supply constraints that are altering device memory availability," which can then, in turn, affect the consumer's experience with their devices. To address this, Google is now establishing new performance thresholds across several areas, like dynamic memory usage and bitmap usage. In addition, Google is adding code optimization requirements designed to prevent things like app slowdowns and crashes related to performance.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

photo-tez has added a photo to the pool:

YOKOHAMA

uchi uchi has added a photo to the pool:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

uchi uchi has added a photo to the pool:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

WASHINGTON (ANP/RTR) - De Amerikaanse immigratiedienst ICE koopt 6000 paar handschoenen waarmee agenten elektrische schokken kunnen uitdelen. Met de bestelling is 16,7 miljoen dollar (14,2 miljoen euro) gemoeid. Mensenrechtenorganisaties hadden eerder hun zorgen geuit over de aanschaf.

ICE heeft zonder aanbesteding een contract gesloten met het Amerikaanse bedrijf Compliant Technologies, blijkt uit een melding in een overheidsdatabase. De handschoenen kunnen pijnlijke elektrische schokken geven en zijn bedoeld om het vermogen van een persoon om te reageren tijdelijk te verstoren.

De Amerikaanse burgerrechtenorganisatie ACLU waarschuwt dat agenten hiermee onopvallend ernstige pijn kunnen veroorzaken. Het ministerie van Binnenlandse Veiligheid, waaronder ICE valt, noemt de handschoenen juist een middel voor "afleiding en de-escalatie".

ICE speelt een belangrijke rol in het strengere immigratiebeleid van president Donald Trump. Het optreden van de dienst leidde de afgelopen tijd tot protesten en kritiek van mensenrechtenorganisaties.

CARACAS (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - Venezuela overweegt uit oliekartel OPEC te stappen, melden ingewijden aan persbureau Bloomberg. Het mogelijke vertrek is onderwerp geweest van gesprekken met Amerikaanse functionarissen. Een definitief besluit is nog niet genomen.

Venezuela was ruim zestig jaar geleden een van de oprichters van de Organisatie van Olie-exporterende Landen (OPEC). De betekenis van het land binnen het kartel is de afgelopen jaren echter afgenomen. Amerikaanse sancties en economische crises hebben de Venezolaanse olie-industrie hard geraakt. In juli produceerde het land volgens gegevens van Bloomberg 1,16 miljoen vaten olie per dag, minder dan de helft van tien jaar geleden.

Een vertrek van Venezuela heeft daardoor naar verwachting op korte termijn weinig gevolgen voor de wereldwijde oliemarkt. Het zou wel nieuwe twijfels kunnen oproepen over de eenheid binnen OPEC. Vier maanden geleden kondigden ook de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten aan uit het oliekartel te stappen.

ajpscs posted a photo:

"Once you see it, you can't unsee it”

EXPOSE MORE
the SQUARE
TOKYO DAY WALK
© ajpscs

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

I think they tried to exorcise me! For some time now, I've felt that, in a way as cruel and invasive as an exorcism, there's an attempt to strip away everything I love most about the creative process: the time, the failure, the trying, the playing, the experimenting! I can't stand being bombarded anymore with ads and stupid excuses regarding artificial intelligence! It's as if everything and everyone around me is endlessly saying that one of the things I love most in this world, something that saved me and continues to save me every day, is something that needs to be "cast out" of me, of you, of those yet to be born! And that puts me in such a state of fury that I actually seek possession! So, every time they try to exorcise me, I'm seized by an overwhelming urge to try, to fail, to play, and to experiment, taking all the time I need, even if it means taking the longest path in the world! This animation was made just like that: I experimented with and embraced every impulse that arose

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

John from Brisbane has added a photo to the pool:

Here we are back at Shelly Beach, Caloundra in Queensland but looking south as opposed to the shot of the same beach yesterday 180 degrees looking north. Comparing the two images you will note that the journey south from here along the beach changes from sand to a rock wave platform below cliffs (until Kings Beach) as the seascape changes from Pacific Ocean into Moreton Bay.

We haven't walked along the platform for years which is a bit sad as it was a fun place as kids and also replete with opportunities for images of rock life in the many cracks and hidey holes in the platform. Good at low tide, a bit more treacherous as the waves break over the edge at high tide.

The two people returning from the walk have just washed the sand off their feet with the beachside shower and tap.