Microsoft’s online gaming and digital media network, Xbox Live, experienced a massive outage Tuesday, and thousands of customers reported issues accessing it.

According to monitoring site Downdetector, user-reported Xbox Live difficulties began to surge at 2:15 p.m. ET Tuesday. At 2:25 p.m., the site had received over 23,000 outage reports, with more than three-fourths indicating login troubles. Some Xbox Live customers reported getting an error message indicating that the service was undergoing “scheduled maintenance.”

Xbox | XBox Image

Xbox Live Goes Down In Nearly Seven-Hour Outage

Other Microsoft-operated services, such as Minecraft and the Microsoft Store, also received many user issue reports on Downdetector.

The official Xbox Support account on X stated at 2:55 p.m. ET, “We are aware that some users have been disconnected from Xbox Live. We are conducting an investigation!” The notice led visitors to the Xbox status page, which was later modified to indicate that a serious outage of the “Account & Profile” service was reported at 2:07 p.m. ET.

Xbox

Xbox Live Goes Down In Nearly Seven-Hour Outage

“You may be unable to sign in to your Xbox profile, disconnected while signed in, or experiencing other related issues,” the statement on the Xbox status website read. “Features that require sign-in like most games, apps and social activity won’t be available.”

To play online games and access additional experiences on the Xbox console, Windows PC, and Xbox mobile apps, users must first create an Xbox Live account (which is free).

SOURCE – Variety 

Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Japanese icon, has implemented new climbing limits in response to concerns about overpopulation.

Beginning July 1, climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12.40) per person, and there is a daily limit of 4,000 climbers.

Mount Fuji | Japan Times

Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns

“By strongly promoting comprehensive safety measures for climbing Mount Fuji, we will ensure that Mount Fuji, a world treasure, is passed down to future generations,” stated Koutaro Nagasaki, governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, when he announced the new laws earlier this year.

“To revitalize traditional mountain climbing from the foot of Mount Fuji, we shall get a thorough grasp of the Fuji-ko and Oshi cultures that fostered Mount Fuji worship. We hope to connect different civilizations through mountain climbing, which is steeped in religious cultural values.”

Fuji-ko is a religion unique to the mountains.

Human traffic bottlenecks, garbage-strewn hillsides, and poorly dressed hikers – some attempting the trip in sandals – are among the challenges afflicting the renowned Japanese destination.

In addition, new guides will oversee trail safety and notify climbers if they violate mountain etiquette, such as sleeping along the trail, making a fire, or wearing inappropriate attire.

According to prefectural data, five million people hiked Mount Fuji in 2019, up three million from 2012.

“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions, and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, told CNN Travel last year.

In 2023, a volunteer named Tomoyo Takahashi told CNN that she planned to ask tourists to donate 1,000 yen ($6.20) to help maintain the mountain.

“Not everyone pays the 1,000 yen, which makes me sad. “There should be a much higher mandatory entrance fee so that only visitors who truly value Mount Fuji’s heritage come,” she stated.

Takahashi will finally achieve her wish.

Mount Fuji | CNN Image

Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns

The new limitations, however, only apply to Yamanashi prefecture, which has the most popular hiking trails. Fuji is also located in Shizuoka prefecture, which has yet to have any tariffs or visiting restrictions. Governor Nagasaki told reporters that he and Shizuoka’s governor will meet at the end of the climbing season to swap notes.

Overtourism has become a major issue in Japan since the country reopened during the pandemic.

Locals in Kyoto’s historic Gion area have expressed concern over tourists flocking to photograph and sometimes harass the geisha who live and work there, giving them the term “geisha paparazzi.”

While the city has posted signs and boards urging visitors not to photograph geisha, several locals told CNN Travel that more is needed. The neighborhood council proposed issuing fines or penalties.

Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has also been hit. The little hamlet is notable for its orange “floating shrine” torii gate, part of a 1,400-year-old Shinto complex.

In October 2023, the town started charging 100 yen (62 cents) for visitors to the temple. The “tourist tax” funds the site’s maintenance and infrastructure.

SOURCE – (CNN)

Google’s most recent generative AI model, Gemini, was just released. The well-known tech corporation regards Gemini as the most sophisticated and adaptable AI model. Google has said that it will expand and improve its large language model (LLM) in the next year. Because the LLM is multimodal, it can understand several data types, including text, audio, pictures, and video.

Google Gemini: What is it?

The most recent large language model (LLM), Google Gemini, created by Google AI’s DeepMind, has sophisticated multimodal processing skills. It can comprehend, work with, and combine many kinds of data, such as text, code, audio, pictures, and videos.

This potent AI has three variants: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. Each version is intended to tackle a certain task’s level of complexity. Gemini has outperformed benchmarks and current industry norms. Its versatility across platforms and adherence to moral AI standards—which have been put through rigorous safety and bias testing—set it apart. Google intends to include Gemini in its offerings, available via Google Cloud Vertex AI and Google AI Studio. Notably, the Gemini Pro edition is perfect for various jobs and is offered for free.

How is Google Gemini used?

How you use Google Gemini depends on the integrated product and version. With Google Bard, for instance, users can submit questions and get answers on everything from weather predictions to poetry writing to coding help—all while being protected from offensive material.

Gemini Nano connects with Gboard for Pixel 8 Pro users, offering recommended responses in messaging applications like WhatsApp. Moreover, Nano may summarize offline recorded talks in the Recorder app.

Although Gemini Ultra’s functionality is unknown, it seems designed for complex activities and may be aimed at academics and business users. Its projected inclusion with Google’s chatbot, Bard Advanced, promises further exploration of opportunities when it is released.

GPT 4 vs Google Gemini: What’s the difference?

With its remarkable multimodal processing powers, Google Gemini excels at managing text, code, audio, photos, and movies. Its ability to integrate and manipulate many kinds of data allows for flexible interactions across several modalities, which is its main strength. Conversely, GPT models like as GPT-3 and maybe GPT-4 do very well in natural language tasks, but they may not have Gemini’s broad capabilities to handle a variety of data formats outside of text. Gemini is unique in that it can handle jobs with a variety of data formats because to its skill with multimodal inputs, while GPT models are mostly used for text-based tasks.

Google displayed the results of eight benchmarks that included text, with Gemini coming out on top in seven. Google claims that Gemini won every single one of the ten multimodal benchmarks.

Though it’s not quite that simple, it would appear to suggest that Gemini is the better method. Gemini is effectively catching up to a nine-month-old #AI tool, since GPT-4 was released in March 2023. It’s difficult to determine which tool is now superior since we don’t know how powerful OpenAI’s next GPT version will be.

Furthermore, Google limited the competition for Gemini Ultra to GPT-4. This indicates that although the current state of Gemini Pro and Nano’s ability to compete with GPT-4 is unknown, OpenAI’s model most likely outperforms Gemini Pro and Nano given the often narrow margins separating GPT-4 and Gemini Ultra.

In summary

With its multimodal proficiency, Google Gemini proves to be a capable multitasker in a future where artificial intelligence fuels human interactions. Although it leads in most benchmarks, the competition with GPT-4 is still close, making the victor of the race still to be announced. The competition for dominance between the two systems is still ongoing as they develop, indicating a bright future for AI research.

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