“Zoom” may have overtaken “Skype” as the preferred abbreviation for video calling, but Microsoft’s chat service has gone nowhere. The latest Skype upgrade brings an Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) setting for desktops and laptops that filters out background noise while keeping your voice audible.

The feature is based on the same machine learning-based noise cancellation technology that Microsoft uses for team calls. In other words, the AI ​​is trained to recognize the difference between speech patterns and ambient noise. This is how the magic happens.

You can enable ANC in the Skype audio and video settings on Windows and macOS apps. However, ANC is not available on the web-based desktop client and skips Skype’s mobile apps on iOS and Android – which could potentially benefit even more from an ANC feature. But at least the new noise cancellation technology will help keep your upstairs neighbor’s footsteps away from your weekly Skype sessions on PC.

How to enable active noise cancellation in Skype

Screenshot: Brendan Hesse

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1. Open the Skype app on your Windows or Mac PC.
2. Press Ctrl +, To open the settings menu, or click the three-dot button in the top left of the contact column and click “The settings.”
3. Choose “Audio Video.”
4. Scroll to the Audio section of the menu, then select the level of noise cancellation that you want to apply to your call audio: “Low”, “High”, “Auto” or “Out.” Of course, Low filters out less noise, High filters out more. Auto is the standard option and dynamically switches between noise cancellation and noise cancellation depending on the background noise level. However, switching to Low or High manually can be helpful if you find that the ANC is too inconsistent.
5. After you have made your selection, you can close the Settings window. The next time you’re on the phone, Skype will automatically apply its noise-canceling magic to your microphone audio.

Photo: Hummel Dee (Shutterstock)

The Vatican was released a statement This week they reaffirm their support for same-sex relationships but vow they will not bless their unions in the Catholic Church. The bulletin claims that the Church will continue to bless individuals in the LGBTQ + community who follow Church teaching but firmly believe that they “cannot justify these relationships and make them legitimate objects of ecclesiastical blessing as the positive elements exist in them the context of a union that does not conform to the creator’s plan. ”

The statement contradicts the growing acceptance of LGBTQ + members in the Catholic Church. In 2014, the Pew Research Center found that 85% of Catholics Age 18-29 supports same-sex relationships and marriage, and a Survey taken in 2015 54% of Christian groups accepted same-sex relationships. Like the Vatican or not, there are churches and religious groups around the world that affirm same-sex unification.

What does this mean for the Catholic LGBTQ community?

This attitude does not come as a shock to the history of the company Catholic Church and Same-Sex Relationships, but it’s a detriment to the advances that have been made for the love and welfare of the LGBTQ + community. The federal government only passed the law in the last six years Legalize same-sex marriage in the United States.

Despite this affirmation of human rights, specific laws have been put in place in the name of religion to prevent same-sex couples from enjoying civil rights. States like Tennessee signed a bill Adoption agencies may deny same-sex couples access to adoption services based on religious freedom. If the Catholic Church refuses to give its blessings to same-sex association, it only encourages such discrimination.

Fortunately, several churches and priests denounce the position of the Vatican and will continue to hold same-sex ceremonies. Pastors in Austria told the story Reuters“In solidarity with so many, we will not reject any loving couple in the future who asks to celebrate God’s blessing, which they experience every day, including in a church service.” Austrian priests join a number of priests and churches who have vowed to honor the union of same-sex couples.

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How to find churches and religious institutions that embrace same-sex marriage

The site gaychurch.org, while not the most comprehensive name, advertises itself as “the world’s largest welcoming and affirming directory of churches”. The home page of the site displays the rainbow flag and a search button in the front and center. Once you hit “Search” you will be taken to the “Find a Church” card where you can enter your zip code or address.

I typed in my own zip code and found a list of 100 affirmative churches in my area, including the names, addresses of the churches, a map of their locations, and their websites. The list also includes the denomination of the Church and a line item indicating whether or not they are entering into same-sex marriages. The website also offers resources on “Homosexuality and the Bible, ” Booksand a list of same-sex denominations.

Photo: Fizkes (Shutterstock)

Of the US-approved COVID-19 vaccines, one (Pfizer) is available for people aged 16+ and the other two (Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) are available for people aged 18+. But all three companies are testing the vaccine in younger children, and if all goes well, vaccines for younger teenagers may be available by fall this year.

The process is slow as companies use data from each age group to plan the next age group study. Instead of assuming that an adult vaccine is safe for babies, companies are working their way down: a study in 12-15 year olds, for example one in 5-11 year olds, then at 2 years old and above, then Baby. (This is an example. The exact breakdown of age groups varies from company to company.)

Children are at lower risk of complications from COVID than adults, which is why they did not participate in studies at all. It is easy for the benefits of a vaccine to outweigh its risks in a high-risk group, less so for a population group who rarely becomes very ill with the virus.

But children get the virus and some who have developed a virus severe syndrome known as MIS-C. You may also be able to pass it on to others without experiencing symptoms yourself. Hence, immunizing children will likely be key to creating herd immunity that protects vulnerable people who cannot get the shot.

Investigators will look out for security issues as the trials progress. You can also test different doses in case the most suitable amount of vaccine for children is different from that for adults.

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The trials

Moderna recently announced that they started giving children the vaccine in their KidCOVE study. The participants are between 6 months and 12 years old.

The president of the company too said on the Today Show that their TeenCOVE study (ages 12-17) has completed enrollment and that the results should be in this summer. If all goes well, the company could apply for an emergency permit shortly thereafter (the same type of permit as the existing adult COVID-19), and teens could potentially be vaccinated before school this fall.

Pfizer announced in January that the study is fully enrolled for children 12 years and older. Experiments for younger age groups are also in progress. One of the investigators in the process USA Today said They also hope that their vaccine will be available for children over the age of 12 by the beginning of the 2021/22 school year.

Johnson & Johnson also has said that they have experiments for children from the age of 12 and for children from “birth to [under] 18. ”This information was included in the material the company provided to the FDA in approving its adult vaccine New York Times reported.

The availability of the vaccine to children depends on how the studies go. Therefore, it is too early to predict exactly what will happen. The test results are blind even to the investigators during the running time, so we don’t even have preliminary data. Even so, vaccines that are safe and effective in adults are often safe and effective in children too, so there is reason for hope.

Photo: Mohsen Vaziri (Shutterstock)

Imagine this: you visit your big neighborhood store hoping to buy a PlayStation 5 and it’s just there. It’s on the shelf. You can pay for it, you can leave the store with it, and it is yours. You don’t have to sit at your desk all day refreshing browser tabs. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

On November 12, 2020, Sony released the PS5 in a handful of markets. The following week it was released worldwide. Four months later the time had come remains almost impossible to get your hands on one – a shortage you can link to a perfect storm of scalpers, production problems, and an unprecedented global pandemic. Worse, the situation is showing no sign of easing and may even last into the second half of summer.

“The biggest challenge here is the semiconductor shortage that affects virtually everything in the world from cars to computers and graphics cards to PS5s,” said Mat Piscatella, executive director and video game consultant at the NPD group, told me about a Zoom call recently. “It looks like it’s going to be a challenge for a while, probably in Q2 or Q3 or even later, depending on a number of factors.”

As the Harvard Business Review It was detailed last month that the shortage of semiconductors and chips is both due and not due to the pandemic. In the past year, two large production plants in Japan were essentially shut down during fires: one for the production of fiber optics (for the construction of computer parts) and one for the production of electronics. The automotive industry also played a role. When the pandemic first hit last spring and confined millions to the home, automakers cut orders for nearly all production parts, including chips that are essential to many modern automobiles. Then, as vehicle travel picked up again later in the year, the same companies increased orders for chips. And then there’s Donald Trump, who really messed things up Kickstart a badly advised trade war, regulate selling American-made semiconductors to China-based companies (forcing those companies to stockpile) and Director the federal government will blacklist China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

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Additionally, as HBR points out, air freight has experienced significant restrictions in recent months due to a number of factors including the overriding need to ship Covid-19 vaccines and the general decline in passenger traffic (meaning, that companies cannot use these flights to ship inventory the grounding in February a Boeing fleet.

Wrap it all up in a global pandemic that has transformed the supply chain in too many ways to list. You can see the production of the most anticipated game console on the market come to a standstill.

An oversold PS5 display at a retailer in Frankfurt (November 14, 2020). Photo: ms_pics_and_more (Shutterstock)

The PlayStation 5 uses a chip developed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a California-based semiconductor manufacturer that makes graphics cards, processors, and the like. (AMD didn’t respond to a request for comment from Kotaku.) Earlier this year, AMD CEO Lisa Su told CNBC said the company expects chip manufacturing bottlenecks at least in the first half of the year. How reported This is what Su said on an AMD earnings call from January.

“Production lines can only deliver that many units per hour. A mapping of production lines that can build things like a new console is not infinite. So we’ve seen that in the past every successful new console has faced bottlenecks of one kind or another, usually in the first six months to a year. But this is only because the demand always significantly exceeds the production capacity. So we would still reach the limits of our capacity. Right now these chips add an additional capacity challenge, ”said Piscatella. He also noted that the number of new consoles currently being manufactured is not significantly different from previous generations of consoles. The main contrast is that you can usually point to some sort of increase in production at this point in the cycle. This time it is not. (Piscatella was unable to provide specific numbers due to data agreements between console manufacturers and NPD.)

But hey, it’s the turn of the White House. Last month, President Biden problematic an instruction to investigate the causes of this semiconductor deficiency. The abstract states that pending the results of the review, this order would essentially result in the US producing more semiconductors domestically. It remains to be seen whether this will mean anything at all. According to research Under the guidance of consulting firm McKinsey, it can take up to two years to establish a semiconductor factory and at least another year or more to actually ramp up production.

What does this mean for you and your potential PS5? That dream where you can just go to your local Best Buy – or Target or GameStop or Walmart or wherever – and buy an off-the-shelf PS5? When did that happen?

Sony did not say. A Sony representative said he would look into the matter if asked for a comment about when widespread, regular availability could occur for the PS5 – at least according to the company.

Piscatella is a little more optimistic: “If nothing else goes wrong, then hopefully we’ll see a little more inventory for people in August and September.”

Let’s say you’re seriously in the mood for an all-digital PS5 and, in the meantime, you’re lucky with a single-drive model. (This also applies to people who find themselves in an inverted situation.) Chances are, your best bet is to just reach for the first model you come across.

“I don’t know if people will be able to choose [between models]especially in the next six months, ”said Piscatella. “If you want one, all you have to do is grab the one that’s available to you because it won’t wear off anytime soon.”

In other words, the PS5, just like all of us, is in tune with the whims of 2020 Part II: 2021.

“Hopefully sometime this year they’ll be on a shelf somewhere and you can just pick one up,” Piscatella said. “But, you know, 2021. It’s chaos. Everything is uncertain. “

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