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NALA founder Ben Gulak on how to navigate the art market downturn with big data and direct connections

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NALA founder Ben Gulak on how to navigate the art market downturn with big data and direct connections

Ben Gulak, founder of the Networked Artistic Learning Algorithm (NALA), has seamlessly combined his diverse talents as a computer scientist, entrepreneur and professional painter to transform the art market. With the shift in the art landscape driven by external factors, the visionary shares valuable insights into navigating it by leveraging vast data and democratizing access to art.

Following the recent economic and geopolitical challenges, Ben shares an interesting perspective on the current art market. “The market is experiencing a decline,” he says. No segment is untouched — emerging artists, established names, galleries and even art fairs are all feeling the squeeze. “Almost every artist offers massive discounts to sell. Galleries are admitting sales are down, and fairs have been lackluster, to say the least,” the founder adds.

A large share of industry veterans are quick to say that this downturn was unexpected, but Ben argues many of the signs of fallout have been around for a while. Annual market reports showcased record numbers in the past few years, but concerns were growing at the lower end of the market.

Although the market’s restructuring is devastating for talent and galleries, the industry must become more resilient in the face of evolving challenges. Ben believes this era is an inevitable phase in the market’s cyclical nature, and will eventually birth a newer, more value-driven sector.

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Several factors may have contributed to the art market’s restructuring. Ben believes the ultra-high cost of living is the main reason why art has become less important. “If people struggle to keep their homes and cars filled with gas and buy groceries, then there’s simply less disposable money floating around,” Ben says. “Maybe on the high end of the market, people are holding onto their money and waiting on geopolitical issues, but I think most people are just struggling right now, and we have to accept that.”

In the first half of 2024, the art market saw a startling drop in sales. Galleries, artists and collectors have grappled with this setback in different ways. Overall, market inefficiencies have exacerbated and even existed when spending was higher due to low interest rates. The sector’s problems have persisted quietly in the background. “Galleries have dominated the industry, being the gatekeepers, determining who is deemed valuable, who is worth collecting and who can succeed,” Ben says. “The result is that the majority of the global artistic talent pool is kept out of the marketplace, and we are stuck in a quagmire of overpriced, market-manipulated items. With the explosion of the internet, a few big platforms have stepped in to handle online sales. But these cater almost exclusively to galleries, creating a fee structure that’s roughly 30% to the platform, 50% to the gallery, and whatever is left goes to the artists. The buyer, meanwhile, often still has a luxury import duty on the art they purchased.”

As people become more value-conscious, these fees and middlemen become undesirable. Ben believes a buyer’s market where buyers have the ability to go directly to artists and purchase items at a cost they can afford will become the norm.

Ultimately, art is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. “If you are looking to spend less than $20,000 on a work of art, you should get something you genuinely love and be happy for its artistic value, not because it might go up in value. I understand why some collectors are pulling their work from auctions to avoid seeing their collection value decrease. But that doesn’t mean sales can’t still happen. We are in a buyer’s market right now. Every artist is willing to negotiate, and every artist is hungry to keep doing what they love,” Ben explains.

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The art market is poised to recover at some point in the future as the demand for original, quality creations will never completely vanish. Humans inherently require some form of expression and creativity to find fulfillment in life, making art an indivisible part of society’s DNA. Ben echoes these sentiments, “The market lost sight of the importance of merit, allowing the cream to rise to the top, and instead, we got a very messy, bloated industry that needs to right itself. We need to rethink the entire sales process of how art is discovered and acquired. Too many artists were kept on the outskirts, and buyers never had an opportunity to truly select the best items with the old system. We need a leveling of the playing field and allow art lovers to trust their instincts, deal directly with artists and see what happens. As long as we have a business model that caters to the old system, we aren’t looking to the future. Every industry on the planet is going buyer/seller-direct.”

Soon, Ben predicts a shift toward value-driven demand and hopes a meritocratic ecosystem prevails, rewarding true artistic and creative talent while filtering out derivative and copycat artists. Authenticity must be celebrated. After all, art is meant to personify the human experience, make statements about social issues, or simply capture the beauty of life. If talent isn’t encouraged to march to their own drum, the prevalence of generic art will only grow.

After having straddled both the art world as a painter and agent of sorts in the tech world, Ben built NALA [Networked Artistic Learning Algorithm] as a way to broaden the art market and crack it wide open. “I believe that if we can create a marketplace where all artists can participate and buyers have access to see the best of what’s available and deal directly with artists, we have an opportunity to revolutionize the industry,” he says.

NALA works by matching art lovers with artists based on their unique personal preferences. Every time an art lover engages with an image on NALA, it learns their preferences and can find more artwork suited to them. This makes it possible to efficiently connect artists with art lovers and take no commissions. Ben is anticipating a major transformation in the art market within the next five years thanks to NALA’s pioneering technology. “With my NALA, we can create an open marketplace where all buyers have access to stunning pieces that artists are fairly compensated for,” Ben says.

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VentureBeat newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.

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Ask Price| Dell PowerEdge 2900 Tower Server | Refurbprice

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Ask Price| Dell PowerEdge 2900 Tower Server | Refurbprice



Are you Looking for Refurbished Tower Servers| Price List | Get Best Price
here all are different kinds of refurbished tower servers available in the markets. those Nowadays,
you can find tower servers based on the requirements your business. refurbprice allows you to buy refurb or new tower servers at the best price and low prices.

https://www.refurbprice.com/refurbished-dell-tower-servers-price-list/dell-tower-server-price-dell-PowerEdge-2900-tower-server-0TW792

#AskPrice #DellPowerEdge2900 #TowerServer #Refurbprice

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Unexpected Upcycling: building a new server from an OLD server! IBM System X3400

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Unexpected Upcycling: building a new server from an OLD server! IBM System X3400



I wanted to build a tower server with lots of hot-swap SAS disk bays, but case options are few and far between. However, with some creativity and hackery, one can retrofit ATX parts into semi-proprietary IBM System X (now known as Lenovo ThinkSystem/ThinkServer) Tower Servers. These machines are cheap (i bought mine for 60GBP incl. shipping) and spacious, and are therefore well suited for customization and modernization. The generous number of 3×5.25″ bays and 8x hot-swappable 3.5″ SAS/SATA bays on this machine was particularly attractive to me.

This video demonstrates the conversion of an IBM System X3400 to allow the use of standard modern components – an ATX PSU and motherboard – as well as modifying the electric wiring for the proprietary SAS backplane as well as the front USB and power button/led panels. This conversion is an excellent option for those looking to build a custom NAS.

Thanks to @victorbart for your x3400 teardown video – the details provided there allowed me to look at the case and parts in great detail, giving me confidence that my project had at least some chance of success 🙂

Thanks to Grant Emsley at www.emsley.ca for providing the SAS backplane pinout – without having it in advance I might not have opted in to modify this specific machine.

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Some of the tools used in this video:
* Dremel 4250 Rotary Tool Kit (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0949FBVRR/?&tag=trp0b-21)
* Cheap and good tweezer set (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N2QGS75/?&tag=trp0b-21)
* UNI-T UT139C Digital Multimeter (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08FCD7R9P/?&tag=trp0b-21)
* Wiha Plier Set (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001J71KC0/?&tag=trp0b-21) .

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Starship Troopers: Extermination debuts on console and PC

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Starship Troopers: Extermination debuts on console and PC

Get ready for some overly enthusiastic campy dialogue.

Incoming message from the United Citizen Federation! Offworld—in collaboration with Sony Pictures Consumer Products, and Knights Peak— has launched Starship Troopers: Extermination.

Coming out of early access, the game is now live on Steam and Epic Games Store on the PC and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. It will be interesting to see how this game does alongside the similar Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2, which was a hit in the late summer.

In addition to its trademark explosive co-op multiplayer action, the 1.0 and console editions of Starship Troopers: Extermination are loaded with brand-new features, including the mighty Tanker Bug enemy directly inspired by the 1997 film, the new ice planet Boreas, and a solo play tutorial mode featuring none other than General Rico himself, Casper Van Dien.

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It’s time to join the Deep Space Vanguard, grab your rifle, and do your part. The price is $50.

A fight with a Tanker bug in Starship Troopers: Extermination.

Starship Troopers: Extermination combines squad-based gunplay with base-building and resource extraction against swarms of diverse arachnid foes. Choose from six distinct classes and work together to complete objectives, acquire resources, build and defend your base, and extract critical materials in intense battles.

The game features new solo play tutorial mode. Johnny Rico Reprised by Casper Van Dien – Chapter One of an new story featuring General Rico of the 1997 movie will introduce players to the different gameplay aspects of Starship Troopers: Extermination.

Chapter Two will follow in post-launch updates. There’s a new planet, Boreas, which was a toxic, frozen wasteland before it was hit with a Bug Meteor, allowing the Arachnids to evolve in this extreme environment.

You can join the first landing parties sent to explore its surface and destroy the frigid Arachnids. There’s a new enemy in the former of the Tanker Bug – 1.0 finally introduces the iconic movie bug.

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Fighting a swarm of bugs in Starship Troopers: Extermination

These giant Bugs serve as armored assault units in the Arachnid army and are capable of swiftly decimating whole platoons of Mobile Infantry. When the Tanker emerges, it will require the whole team’s attention to take it out. It can be encountered in company operation missions.

The Galactic Front provides new missions to company members, connecting individual players to the broader Starship Troopers community. Victory Points earned by the entire community contribute towards different outcomes, affecting “Spoils of War” rewards and influencing the ongoing story of the Starship Troopers: Extermination universe.

Players can now build their own company of dedicated troopers, just like Johnny Rico and his Roughnecks. Within each company, players work together to achieve goals on the Galactic Front via special company operations.

“From day one, we’ve been chasing the target of creating the ‘authentic troopers experience,’” said Gareth Woods, head of marketing at Offworld, in a statement. “We poured over the source material to find the essence of what it means to be a Trooper in the Deep Space Vanguard and did our best to bring that to life.”

“It’s been an epic journey through Early Access, and our squad has been nothing short of extraordinary. I’m so proud of what our team has been able to achieve on systems like Carnage, which is brand-new tech we weren’t even sure was possible,” said Peter Maurice, project lead at Offworld, in a statement. “Seeing those bodies pile up and change the environment without performance being impacted is something to behold. But we aren’t getting too comfortable—this is just the beginning! We’re charging full speed ahead into the future, and we can’t wait to share what’s next for Starship Troopers: Extermination.”

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Originating from humble roots within the modding community, Offworld is now a game studio responsible for the ongoing development of Starship Troopers: Extermination, the hit FPS shooter Squad, and the WW2 shooter Squad 44.


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Dell 1950 Rack Server. A quick look | DrRunCMD

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Dell 1950 Rack Server. A quick look | DrRunCMD



#DELL #1950 #SERVER

Lets get in to some old hardware. I’m talking rack servers from 12 years ago. The Dell PowerEdge 1950 rack server.

Built to last with ancient technology!

⇛ Support me on Pateron – https://www.patreon.com/DrRunCMD
⇛ Website – https://www.passkisafe.co.uk/drruncmd

Social Media:

⇛ Follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ChrisCoe19
⇛ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopher.coe.127

⇛ Show your support and buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/drruncmd

#DELL1950 #rackserver #fileserver .

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✅ Best Server for Small Business 2024 [ SBE Buyer's Guide ]

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✅ Best Server for Small Business 2024  [ SBE Buyer's Guide ]



Server for Small Business: Hey guys, in this video, we’re going to review the pros and cons of the top 5 best Server for Small Business for sale right now.
► Links to the Server for Small Business listed in the video ✅
5️⃣ BUFFALO TeraStation 1400D: (Amazon) https://geni.us/tdarxRC
4️⃣ Dell PowerEdge T40: (Amazon) https://geni.us/7WpZ
3️⃣ HPE ProLiant Gen10: (Amazon) https://geni.us/EFJyLe
2️⃣ Hewlett Packard 835851-S01: (Amazon) https://geni.us/C618
1️⃣ Synology DiskStation DS918+: (Amazon) https://geni.us/KJXYbd

🎁 You get FREE SHIPPING with Amazon Prime! Register here and get a 30-DAY FREE TRIAL 👉 https://geni.us/primeamazon

🎁 Get a 30-DAY FREE TRIAL for AUDIBLE here 👉 https://geni.us/audibleamazon

▬ ABOUT THIS VIDEO ▬
As a small business grows, there is a need to make dramatic changes, and one of these changes is getting a server for your business. You would probably like to run your own branded emails, manage the security updates and permissions on your fleet of computers. To achieve this, you need to know which Server is suitable for your needs.

In today’s video, we are going to look at the top five best Server for Small Business available on the market today. We have made this list based on our own opinion, research, and customer reviews. We have considered their quality, features, and values when narrowing down the best choices possible. If you want more information and updated pricing on the products mentioned, be sure to check the links above.

(paid links)
00:00 Intro: Server for Small Business
00:37 5️⃣ BUFFALO TeraStation 1400D
02:45 4️⃣ Dell PowerEdge T40
05:03 3️⃣ HPE ProLiant Gen10
07:07 2️⃣ Hewlett Packard 835851-S01
09:09 1️⃣ Synology DiskStation DS918+

#topreviews #server #pcgaming
►Disclaimer◄
Some of the footage used in this video is not original content produced by TYCLW. Portions of stock footage of products were gathered from multiple sources including, manufactures, fellow creators, and various other sources. If something belongs to you, and you want it to be removed, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Techs You Can’t Live Without is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. .

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You must watch this amazing presentation about a bespoke McDonald’s mural

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You must watch this amazing presentation about a bespoke McDonald’s mural

I know there’s a lot to do on the internet, but you really should stop what you’re doing and watch this 19-minute talk about a bespoke mural that once lived inside a McDonald’s.

The talk, given by Cabel Sasser of Panic at XOXO Fest 2024, was filled with silliness and deep dives down unexpected rabbit holes. (I’d expect nothing less from the founder of Panic, the company behind whimsical things like the Playdate handheld and Untitled Goose Game.) Much of the presentation is about the little-known artist behind the mural, the late Wes Cook, who also made some incredible designs that exist in real theme parks. It’s fascinating to learn so much about Cook, and the ending of Sasser’s speech is just fantastic.

Every minute of the speech is worth it; seriously, take the time to watch this so you can see what happens for yourself.

Oh, and here’s an image of the mural, if you’re curious.

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It’s so good!
Image: Cabel Sasser from his XOXO 2024 talk

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