Granular

LinkedIn's feed has come a long way since the early days of assembling the machine-learning infrastructure that powers it. Recently, a major update to this infrastructure was released. We caught up with the people behind it to discuss how the principle of being people-centric translates to technical terms and implementation.  Introduction How do data and machine learning-powered algorithms work to control newsfeeds and spread stories? How much of that is automated, how much should you be able to understand and control,…

Sonicware is back with another quirky standalone synthesizer in its fairly crowded Liven line. The Liven Texture Lab was in Berlin and features a near-identical layout to some of the other Liven products, with that iconic case and button configuration, but that’s where the similarities end. At its heart, Texture Lab is a granular synthesizer, which is when a waveform is sliced and sliced (and sliced) into extremely small pieces, which are called grains. The engine manipulates these grains in various ways to create unique…

I routinely state that the Arturia MicroFreak is one of my favorite budget synths. But honestly, I’m doing it a disservice. I think the MicroFreak is one of the best synths out there at any price. That has as much to do with the versatility of its sound engine as it does with Arturia’s relentless updates. Since being introduced in 2019 this little synth has seen countless updates, most of them adding fairly significant new features. The forthcoming update to firmware version 5.0 is arguably one of the biggest. It adds a…

As a white man in America with no discernible regional accent, I can simply assume that modern consumer technologies — virtual assistants like , and my phones’ camera — will work seamlessly out of the box. I assume this because, well, they do. That’s namely because the nerds who design and program these devices overwhelmingly both look and sound just like me — if even a little whiter. Folks with and extra don’t enjoy that same privilege. Tomorrow’s chatbots and visual AIs will only serve to exacerbate this bias unless…

WhatsApp is widely rolling out rolling out improved privacy controls to users. The features allow users granular control over their privacy settings, to specify who can see their last seen, about, and profile photo on the messaging app. They were spotted in development last year, after which Meta-owned messaging service began to roll out the feature to beta testers. The privacy improvements come days after the company announced that it was adding support for transferring chats from a smartphone running Android to an…

A couple of years ago Arturia ventured simulations of vintage synths and into audio effects territory. The FX Collection wasn't as clear of a must have as the V Collection, but the company has slowly built out its stable of effects with the new FX Collection 3 growing to 26 from the original 15. New to the collection are Dist Tube-Culture, Dist OpAmp-21, Fragments and Tape Mello-Fi. Now, the latter two were already available — Mello-Fi originally as a free offering during the 2021 holiday season, and Fragments launched in…

WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out new granular privacy controls to certain testers on the latest beta version of the app for iOS, that allows advanced management of privacy settings on the app. First spotted in development last year, the feature is designed to give users granular control over who can see their last seen, about, and profile photo on the messaging service. While some testers can now access these features on the beta versions for iOS and Android, WhatsApp is yet to announce when these privacy settings will…