Eliana Willis

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  • 188 Shares129 Views

    in Robotics

    This is the best Linux email client I’ve found – and I’ve tested them all

    Geary/ZDNETI’ve used every Linux email client on the market, from the terminal-based Alpine (originally just Pine) to the Evolution groupware, and everything in between. Some of those email clients I stuck with for years, but eventually walked away from them for one reason or another — too ugly, too inefficient, too outdated, too slow, too broken, etc.Also: How to use Linux without ever touching the terminalHad you asked me five years ago which email client I would take to my grave, the answer would have been Thunderbird. Between then and now, I’ve found that email client to be a bit too outdated in the UI and a bit too slow for my needs. There is one email client that I went back and forth on for a while, but eventually came back to and, unless someone develops something new and amazing, will most likely stick with Geary for some time. Why?Let me answer that question. 1. The clear interface One of my issues with several Linux email clients is outdated UI. But it doesn’t end with looking more like early 2000s software; some of those clients have a UI that’s too busy to be efficient. Sure, that old-school interface worked for a long time, but with nearly every Linux distribution now enjoying highly modern desktop environments, the apps that go along with those operating systems should at least look like they came from sometime during the last five years. One of the few clients to do that is Geary, and I’m all for it. Also: 6 features I wish Linux would borrow from MacOSThe Geary UI is clean and modern enough to blend right into nearly all Linux desktops. Even with multiple email accounts configured for Geary, it’s still a cleaner UI than Thunderbird or Evolution. 2. The one-trick pony of it all For those who need a groupware suite, Evolution is your way forward. If you’re like me, however, you’d prefer your email client to do only one thing — email. I have other tools I use for calendars, contacts, and tasks, so I don’t need or want my email client to offer those same features; it’s a redundancy I don’t need. Also: The best Linux distros for beginnersGeary is a one-trick-pony app; it does email and that’s it. The good news is that Geary does its one trick really well. I’ve found Geary to be as good at handling email as Thunderbird, but it doesn’t get bogged down with the other features. More

  • 163 Shares169 Views

    in Information Technology

    Want to avoid a drone disaster? Don’t skip your pre-flight and post-flight checklists

    Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETI’ve been flying drones, both recreationally and commercially, for over a decade — and hold a handful of drone licenses and certifications. Over those hundreds of hours of flying, I’ve yet to lose a drone. Yet, almost daily, I come across stories on social media of people losing their drones. Some drones crash on their first flight, some after months or years of problem-free service. Also: I tested DJI’s new foldable drone, and would recommend it to both beginners and professionalsI attribute my success, luck, and good fortune in part to experience, but mostly to the fact that I carry out regular safety checks on my drone. A drone is an aircraft, and just as you wouldn’t put a plane in the sky that hadn’t had safety checks carried out on it, I wouldn’t put a drone in the sky without doing the same. So, what tests should you do, and when?I have three sets of checks that I do: pre-flight checks, post-flight checks, and checks carried out every two weeks to a month (depending on how often I’m flying… the more I fly, the more often I check). Why pre-flight and post-flight checks? One set is to catch damage that might have occurred while storing or transporting the drone (and anything I might have missed after the last post-flight check). The post-flight checks are there to catch anything that might have happened during the flight. Also: The DJI Mini 2 SE drone is a great starter droneThe biweekly/monthly checks are there to again take a fresh look at the drone, as well as a deeper look at things like the batteries. And it’s not just looking at the drone. Pre-flight checks take into consideration other things that can affect your drone. Pre-flight checks Drone checksCarefully check the drone for any visible damage to the frame, propellers, or landing gear. You’re looking for anything from cracks and chips to bending and seams popping open.Ensure propellers are securely attached and free of cracks or chips. Propellers are cheap, your drone isn’t. Replace them if they show any signs of damage. I always recommend using genuine propellers rather than third-party accessories.Ensure that all the propeller motors rotate freely.Check that the battery is fully charged and securely fitted. The last thing you want to happen is for the battery to fall out mid-flight (yes, that does happen).Also: I tested DJI’s palm-sized drone, and it captured things I had never seen before More

  • 138 Shares199 Views

    in Robotics

    Open AI, Anthropic invite US scientists to experiment with frontier models

    Khanchit Khirisutchalual/Getty Images Partnerships between AI companies and the US government are expanding, even as the future of AI safety and regulation remains unclear. On Friday, Anthropic, OpenAI, and other AI companies brought 1,000 scientists together to test their latest models. The event, hosted by OpenAI and called an AI Jam Session, gave scientists across […] More

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    in Robotics

    Opera is now the first major web browser with AI-based agentic browsing

    Opera/ZDNETThe team behind the Opera web browser has announced a new AI agent called Browser Operator, capable of performing browsing tasks for users. This new agentic browsing marks a paradigm shift that could mark the next evolution of web browsers. Also: Which AI agent is the best? This new leaderboard can tell youAccording to Krystian Kolondra, EVP at Opera, “For more than 30 years, the browser gave you access to the web, but it has never been able to get stuff done for you. Now it can. This is different from anything we’ve seen or shipped so far.” Kolondra continues, “The Browser Operator we’re presenting today marks the first step toward shifting the role of the browser from a display engine to an application that is agentic and performs tasks for its users.” Key features of AI agentics include: AutonomyPerceptionDecision-makingAction ExecutionLearning and AdaptingMajor efficiency boostVia the AI agentics, the Browser Operator is designed to give the user a major efficiency boost. This is accomplished by allowing the user to explain what they need to do in natural language, and the browser will then perform the necessary tasks. Also: Crawl, then walk, before you run with AI agents, experts recommendFor example, you could ask Browser Operator to buy you a pair of pink running shoes from Nike in a size 8.5. The Browser Operator will then perform the task. As Browser Operator performs the task, the user can see what’s happening at any point in the process, so they are in control the whole time. User-focused ecosystemEssentially, Opera is turning the browser into more of a user-focused ecosystem that uses native client-side solutions to complete tasks while protecting user privacy.Also: How businesses are accelerating time to agentic AI valueThe Browser Operator runs natively inside the browser and uses the DOM Tree and browser layout data to get context. According to Opera, that makes the solution faster because the browser doesn’t need to “see” and understand what’s on the screen from its pixels or navigate with a mouse pointer. Browser Operator can access an entire page at once, without the need to scroll, which means it reduces overhead and time required. And because it all happens natively within the browser, the Browser Operator doesn’t require a virtual machine or cloud server. More

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    in Robotics

    Apple’s new MacBook Air M4 will likely be announced this week – here’s what we know

    MacBook Air M3 Kerry Wan/ZDNETApple is gearing up to launch its lineup of MacBook Air laptops with the M4 chip — and they’re coming this week. Apple CEO Tim Cook posted a short teaser video on X this morning that reads “There’s something in the air.” To seal the deal, the caption simply states “This week.” There’s nothing else in the video to suggest which device will be launching, but speculation has been floating for months that it will be the MacBook Air with the new M4 processor. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this month that both the 13-inch and 15-inch configurations are expected to drop at the same time, just like last year’s M3 Air models. The M4-Mac family will be complete The much-anticipated addition of the MacBook Air to the M4 family will round out all of the consumer laptop products with Apple Silicon’s latest in processor technology, as the iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook, and MacBook Pro all launched with it in the fall of 2024. We’ve seen some competitive sale prices on the MacBook Air M3 More