Boeing’s going down (again)
Things aren’t looking up for Boeing. When it isn’t jacking up numbers at the local morgue, it’s stranding astronauts in space. It’s that last bit the world seems to be focussing on – so much so that the aerospace company is debating whether to cut its losses and sell off its entire space hustle, meaning any ongoing projects involving the International Space Station (ISS) and, of course, the troubled Starliner itself.
That’s according to a report from The Wall Street Journal (paywall) citing sources familiar with the matter. The plan, still in the early stages, is coming from new CEO Kelly Ortberg to lessen the financial hit in the wake of the company’s stressful second half of the year.
“We’re better off doing less and doing it better than doing more and not doing it well,” Ortberg said in a call this week with analysts. “What do we want this company to look like five and 10 years from now? And do these things add value to the company or distract us?”
Should a deal come to fruition, it would be after Boeing sees through the Space Launch System (SLS) mission that NASA tasked it with building a few years back. It successfully got the rocket off the ground around two years ago, but has since faced issues surrounding production and “quality control issues.” Boeing should be familiar with that last bit.
Google Jarvis AI
As if Windows’ built-in Copilot AI wasn’t obnoxious enough (here’s how you can rid yourself of Copilot by the way), Google could be looking to bog down the already RAM-intensive Chromium browsers out there with something called ‘Project Jarvis’ – a “computer-using [AI] agent” that would lessen users’ cognitive functions even further in this AI-powered age by automating everyday tasks.
That’s the idea, anyway. Project Jarvis is still under wraps according to a report from The Information (via Engadget), though a preview for the AI agent may be ready as soon as December. How would ‘automating everyday tasks’ even work, we hear you ask? If the sources are correct, Jarvis “responds to a person’s commands by capturing frequent screenshots of what’s on their computer screen, and interpreting the shots before taking actions like clicking on a button or typing into a text field.”
The specifics are still murky, but Jarvis would seemingly be tasked to handle a user’s shopping, research, and finding you some plane tickets. It sounds mightily similar to Antrhopic’s new “computer-use” Claude AI, if somewhat less capable. While Anthropic’s efforts are already in beta, Google has the power of name recognition (and a monopoly) on its side to beat what Claude has cooked up.
Instagram wants views in exchange for quality
Ever wonder why some of those low-effort memes your coworkers send you appear blurrier than others? It all has to do with Reel performance, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri in an AMA over the weekend. Those glorious food videos that rack up millions of views in just a couple of hours look as good as they do because of the views, prompting Instagram to fiddle around in the back end and render it at a higher quality.
When asked why old story posts have depreciated in quality over time, Mosseri said, “In general, we want to show the highest-quality video we can. But if something isn’t watched for a long time — because the vast majority of views are in the beginning — we will move to a lower-quality video.”
That doesn’t mean your posts are doomed forever. Should a video – new or old – suddenly spike in views, Instagram’s algorithm can pick up on the change and “re-render the higher quality video.” Responding to a user’s concerns that the practice is unfair to smaller creators, Mosseri reckons the change in quality “isn’t huge” and that watchers care more for the content than the quality.
It all comes down to money. Instagram is more than willing to foot the increased storage bill on those higher-quality videos that bring in the views. It makes sense from a business standpoint, even if you aren’t all that thrilled by the outcome.
Elden Ring on… the Switch?
Not once have we lamented that From Software’s epic Elden Ring was unplayable on the Switch. Not only is Elden Ring the definition of a taxing game, but it also wouldn’t make sense. Nintendo’s clientele tends to lean towards cosy farming sims, perhaps due to its technical limitations. But a successor to the Switch? Now that we could see being worth the time and effort of a port.
That’s apparently what’s happening, according to a leaker by the name of Nash Weedle and a post he made on X. He claims that From Software, with the help of Virtuos, is working on bringing a new product – Elden Ring: Definitive Edition to Nintendo’s next console primed for release in late 2025, which seemingly bundles the base game and the recent Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
While Weedle isn’t what we’d call a reliable source on his own, a Definitive Edition made for a larger, more powerful Switch seems like a no-brainer. Not just for Elden Ring, but plenty of other games that initially skipped a Switch launch. Giving credence to the rumour is another leaker, Necro Felipe, corroborating the post with one of his own (now deleted).
“I heard the same back in March, but I cannot confirm the release schedule for this.”
It’s worth noting that Felipe’s past ‘leaks’ have proven to be hit-or-miss, leaning more on the side of ‘miss’. Keep that optimism in check until Nintendo confirms the release itself (or a more reputable leaker gets involved, at least).
