Technological autonomy has been a priority for China in recent years, partly because the country can’t import cutting-edge chips thanks to US sanctions, and also because being self-sufficient is popular policy. At the forefront of China’s native CPU industry is Loongson, which has at last released its much-anticipated 3A6000. Last year, the
Source: Hot Hardware – China’s Longsoon 3A6000 CPU Battles Intel’s Core i5-14600K With Surprising Results
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Biden’s EPA proposes water rule to finally ditch lead pipes within 10 years
Enlarge / City workers unload a truck containing pallets of bottled water to distribute during a water filter distribution event on October 26, 2021 in Hamtramck, Michigan. The state Department of Health and Human Services has begun distributing water filters and bottled water to residents due to elevated levels of lead found in the drinking water due to old and un-maintained water pipes in the city. (credit: Getty | Matthew Hatcher)
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed a stricter rule on lead in drinking water that would require that all lead service lines in the country be replaced within 10 years, and would lower the current lead action level in drinking water from 15 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion.
More than 9.2 million American households have water connections that include lead piping, according to the White House. Lead moves from the pipes into the water when the plumbing experiences corrosion, which is most severe when the water is acidic or has low mineral content. There is no safe level of lead, which is a toxic metal with wide-ranging health effects, including neurotoxic effects. In children, lead exposure can damage the brain and nervous system, slow development, lower IQ, and cause learning, behavioral, speech, and hearing problems. In adults, it can increase the risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, and kidney damage.
The EPA estimates that the rule will generate between $9.8 billion to $34.8 billion in economic benefits each year based on health improvement, including higher IQs in children, healthier newborns, lower cardiovascular risks in adults, and a reduction in care for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
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Source: Ars Technica – Biden’s EPA proposes water rule to finally ditch lead pipes within 10 years
New chip-packaging facility could save TSMC’s Arizona fab from “paperweight” status
Enlarge / Apple wants to build more of its A- and M-series chips in the United States. (credit: Apple)
Late last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company would definitely be buying chips made at Taiwan Semiconductor’s new Arizona-based fab once it had opened. Apple working with TSMC isn’t new; most, if not all, of the processors currently sold in Apple’s products are made on one of TSMC’s many manufacturing nodes. But being able to buy them from a US-based facility would be a first.
The issue, as outlined by some TSMC employees speaking to The Information in September, is that the Arizona facility would manufacture chips, but it wouldn’t be building a facility to handle packaging. And without packaging, the Arizona factory would essentially be a “paperweight,” requiring any chips made there to be shipped to Taiwan for assembly before they could be put in any products.
Today Apple announced that it had solved that particular problem, partnering with a company called Amkor to handle chip packaging in Arizona. Amkor says that it will invest $2 billion to build the facility, which will “employ approximately 2,000 people” and “is targeted to be ready for production within the next two to three years.” Apple says that it has already worked with Amkor on chip packaging for “more than a decade.”
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Source: Ars Technica – New chip-packaging facility could save TSMC’s Arizona fab from “paperweight” status
Three Grand Theft Auto Games Are Headed To Netflix While You Wait For GTA 6
Did you know that by subscribing to Netflix you get access to a library of free games? It’s right there on your phone in the Netflix mobile app. Apparently very few people take advantage of this, which is kind of a bummer because there’s a fair few quality games in there, like Dead Cells, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge, and Samurai Shodown, with
Source: Hot Hardware – Three Grand Theft Auto Games Are Headed To Netflix While You Wait For GTA 6
You Should Update Chrome Right Now (Again)
Attention Chrome and Chromium-browser users: Your internet activity is vulnerable to cyberattacks, unless you update to the latest version of your browser.
On Tuesday, Google announced on the Chrome Releases blog that a new version of Chrome, 119.0.6045.199 for Mac and Linux and 119.0.6045.199/.200 for Windows, is available, and patches seven different security vulnerabilities. All of these discovered issues are rated as “high” in severity, but Google only names six of them:
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High CVE-2023-6348: Type Confusion in Spellcheck. Reported by Mark Brand of Google Project Zero on 2023-10-10
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High CVE-2023-6347: Use after free in Mojo. Reported by Leecraso and Guang Gong of 360 Vulnerability Research Institute on 2023-10-21
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High CVE-2023-6346: Use after free in WebAudio. Reported by Huang Xilin of Ant Group Light-Year Security Lab on 2023-11-09
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High CVE-2023-6350: Out of bounds memory access in libavif. Reported by Fudan University on 2023-11-13
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High CVE-2023-6351: Use after free in libavif. Reported by Fudan University on 2023-11-13
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High CVE-2023-6345: Integer overflow in Skia. Reported by Benoît Sevens and Clément Lecigne of Google’s Threat Analysis Group on 2023-11-24
While all vulnerabilities are important to patch, it’s the last one, CVE-2023-6345, this is the most concerning. Google confirmed it is aware an exploit for this vulnerability exists in the wild, which means bad actors either know how to use it against users, or they already have.
We don’t know much about the issue, other than that it’s an integer overflow flaw in Skia. Skia is an open source 2D graphics engine, while an integer overflow occurs when the result of an operation doesn’t fit the respective amount of memory the system sets aside. While not all integer overflow flaws lead to vulnerabilities, this one does—which means bad actors may be able to use it to take over the system.
This update follows a Nov. 14 update that patched four security flaws, as well as a Nov. 7 update that patched one. The last update that patched a zero-day security flaw was issued Sept. 11.
How to update your browser
As this flaw affects the underlying code used in Chrome, all Chromium-based browsers should be updated to patch this issue. That means Chrome, of course, but also browsers like Edge, Opera, and Brave.
Your browser may be set to update automatically, but you can trigger an update manually if the update hasn’t been installed yet. Usually, that’s in the browser’s settings. In Chrome, for example, you can click the three dots in the top-right corner of the window, head to Help > About Google Chrome, then allow the browser to look for an update. If one is available, follow the on-screen instructions to install the update.
Source: LifeHacker – You Should Update Chrome Right Now (Again)
The Great Google Account Purge starts tomorrow for inactive users

Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Hello fellow procrastinators. This is your last-minute warning that you have until the end of the day to log in to any inactive Google accounts before they start getting deleted on December 1. Google is going to wipe any accounts that have been “inactive” for two years, allowing the company to free up storage space, delete unused personal data, and continue the ongoing journey of intense cost cutting it has been on for the past year.
The plan to do this was announced in May, and Google says inactive accounts should get “multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided),” so hopefully this isn’t a surprise to anyone. The company says it will “take a phased approach” to deleting accounts, starting with “accounts that were created and never used again,” so even if you’re reading this on December 1, there’s probably still time to log in to an old account and save it.
As for the caveats around “inactivity,” Google says this will only apply to personal accounts that don’t have any subscriptions running, so Google Workspace and Google One users have nothing to fear. The company says you’ll count as “active” if you “sign-in at least once every 2 years,” which is pretty easy to do. Confusingly it also lists certain activities you can perform that will count as “activity,” but those seem rather moot, since you would already need to be logged in to do them. The “Sign in with Google” OAuth platform on other websites also counts as account activity, and so does being signed in on an Android phone.
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Source: Ars Technica – The Great Google Account Purge starts tomorrow for inactive users
Meta sues FTC, hoping to block ban on monetizing kids’ Facebook data

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Chesnot)
Meta sued the Federal Trade Commission yesterday in a lawsuit that challenges the FTC’s authority to impose new privacy obligations on the social media firm.
The complaint stems from the FTC’s May 2023 allegation that Meta-owned Facebook violated a 2020 privacy settlement and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The FTC proposed changes to the 2020 privacy order that would, among other things, prohibit Facebook from monetizing data it collects from users under 18.
Meta’s lawsuit against the FTC challenges what it calls “the structurally unconstitutional authority exercised by the FTC through its Commissioners in an administrative reopening proceeding against Meta.” It was filed against the FTC, Chair Lina Khan, and other commissioners in US District Court for the District of Columbia. Meta is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the FTC proceeding pending resolution of the lawsuit.
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Source: Ars Technica – Meta sues FTC, hoping to block ban on monetizing kids’ Facebook data
Meta’s “overpriced” ad-free subscriptions make privacy a “luxury good”: EU suit

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto)
Backlash over Meta’s ad-free subscription model in the European Union has begun just one month into its launch.
On Thursday, Europe’s largest consumer group, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), filed a complaint with the network of consumer protection authorities. In a press release, BEUC alleges that Meta’s subscription fees for ad-free access to Facebook and Instagram are so unreasonably high that they breach laws designed to protect user privacy as a fundamental right.
“Meta has been rolling out changes to its service in the EU in November 2023, which require Facebook and Instagram users to either consent to the processing of their data for advertising purposes by the company or pay in order not to be shown advertisements,” BEUC’s press release said. “The tech giant’s pay-or-consent approach is unfair and must be stopped.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Meta’s “overpriced” ad-free subscriptions make privacy a “luxury good”: EU suit
Lingering Amazon Cyber Monday Tech Deals Bring Great Ideas For Geek Gifts
Christmas is just around the corner, and with it comes the need to find the perfect gift for the nerd in your life. Thankfully, Amazon has some left-over deals from Black Friday and Cyber Monday that may just get the job done. There should be something for nearly anyone, from smartwatches to speakers and tablets to laptops.
Leading us
Source: Hot Hardware – Lingering Amazon Cyber Monday Tech Deals Bring Great Ideas For Geek Gifts
These Are the Best New Accessibility Features in macOS Sonoma
Apple continues to improve the accessibility features available for all of its devices, and the Mac is no exception. macOS Sonoma ships with a few accessibility features that launched earlier in iOS and iPadOS, but never on the Mac. This version of macOS comes with unique and useful features, such as the ability to create and store your own voice—invaluable to people who are at risk of losing their voice. Let’s take a look at the best new accessibility features on the Mac.
Easily set up custom font sizes for Apple’s apps
macOS Sonoma has a new accessibility feature which lets you force apps to use a larger or smaller size depending on your preferences. You can check this out by going to System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Text Size. This page allows you to set a default text size for all apps and lets you customize preferred sizes for some Apple apps. You can also adjust the font size in any app by pressing Command + or Command –.
Create your own voice
If you’re at risk of losing your voice entirely, you can now use your Mac to create a voice that sounds like you. Apple allows you to use this voice with the Live Speech accessibility feature on phone and FaceTime calls that you answer on your Mac. Go to System Settings > Accessibility > Personal Voice to set this up. You can check out our guide for this feature on iPhone to see how it works.
Use your voice on calls
To use the voice you’ve created with the Personal Voice feature, you should enable the Live Speech feature too. You can go to System Settings > Accessibility > Live Speech and enable Live Speech. This will allow you to type out your replies and your Mac will convert it to speech in your voice.
More natural sounding voices for VoiceOver
VoiceOver is essential for people who live with low vision. With VoiceOver enabled, your Mac will read out descriptions for all items on the screen and allow you to use the computer much better if you can’t see the screen clearly. In macOS Sonoma, the Siri voices that are used with VoiceOver sound far more natural particularly at high rates of speech.
Customize Siri voices for VoiceOver and Spoken Content
For VoiceOver and Spoken Content—a new macOS feature that lets you ask Siri to read articles out loud—you can set up AI voices to your liking. macOS Sonoma allows you to tweak the pitch range. You can adjust these for Spoken Content by going to System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content. Similarly for VoiceOver, you can go to System Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver and click Open VoiceOver Utility. Go to the Speech tab and hit Edit to make the changes you need.
On a related note, Apple also claims that navigating your code in Xcode is now a much smoother experience with Voice Control.
Enhanced Voice Control features
Controlling your Mac with your voice is becoming easier with Sonoma. When you fire up Voice Control, your Mac will give you tutorials to learn how to make the most of this feature. You’ll also notice that text editing with Voice Control is more accurate as you can use phonetic corrections to pick the correct word from a list of similar-sounding words.
Animated images are paused automatically
Some people find it hard to look at continuously looping GIFs and macOS Sonoma has a solution for that problem. Animated images will no longer loop forever in Messages and Safari. They pause automatically and you can click these images to keep viewing their animation.
Set a custom zoom level for each monitor
For those who use multiple monitors, macOS Sonoma has a new feature that allows you to set up a custom zoom level for each monitor. This will allow you to make text easier to read on the monitor you use for reading, without affecting the UI elements on other monitors.
Switch Control lets you create a virtual game controller
Gaming is pretty difficult for people who have motor control challenges. You can use the Switch Control feature in macOS Sonoma to turn your facial expressions or other actions into controls on a virtual game controller. You can configure this by going to System Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control.
Source: LifeHacker – These Are the Best New Accessibility Features in macOS Sonoma
AMD Posts 11th Iteration Of P-State Preferred Core Patches For Linux
For the past number of months AMD has been actively working on enabling AMD P-State Preferred Core functionality for Linux so that their modern processors can communicate “preferred” cores to the Linux kernel scheduler for making better decisions around task placement and ultimately ensuring best performance of Ryzen and EPYC processors running on Linux. This week they are up to their 11th take on these kernel patches…
Source: Phoronix – AMD Posts 11th Iteration Of P-State Preferred Core Patches For Linux
Jolla's Former Management Acquires The Business
It’s been a number of years since many in the Linux/open-source space have been excited by the Jolla smartphone efforts with their failed smartphone/tablet devices and more recently focusing their Linux-based Sailfish OS devices for running on existing devices. The latest chapter in Jolla is the former management acquiring the Jolla business…
Source: Phoronix – Jolla’s Former Management Acquires The Business
How to Tell When Rust Has Won
Rusted tools, cars, bolts or even your stainless steel appliances can often be salvaged—if the rust is caught early enough. At those early stages, rust is more of an aesthetic issue and an annoyance. But rust is a process of corrosion that will eventually render its victims unusable and unrepairable, making any effort to clean them up and protect them against further ruin a waste of time. The trick is knowing when rust has won and you’re better off replacing that car panel, old power tool, or kitchen utensil.
Stages of rust
The first thing to know is that rust goes through several distinct stages as it quietly consumes your beloved stuff:
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Surface rust. The earliest stage of rust shows up as isolated reddish-brown patches, often quite small. This surface rust is generally harmless and doesn’t penetrate below the surface of the metal, so it can be scraped away pretty easily—and if you take steps to protect the metal by keeping it away from moisture and adding a coating of lubrication (WD-40 will work), it will be just fine.
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Scale rust. If left to its own devices, the rust will keep eating away at the iron in your tool or component. The brown, dusty discoloration will spread—but more importantly, pitting will start to show up. These tiny pinpricks in the metal are where the rust process has started to invade below the surface. Your stuff can still be saved, but it’s going to take more work.
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Structural rust. At this stage, literal holes have begun to appear in the metal. In sheet metal, like a car panel, this usually means the metal is thin and papery, and might have been eaten away entirely. In thicker components, the structural integrity may still be viable, but the pitting is probably so severe that any attempt at repair will be futile.
If the rust is very severe, you can often tell visually—at a glance—that the thing you’re trying to save is a lost cause. But with more complex things, like tools, it sometimes takes a bit more investigation.
Assessing rust
When it comes to rusted stuff, the “lost cause” stage often depends on its role. Car panels, for example, are usually designed more for aesthetics than safety or strength, and thus can often be filled in, sanded, and painted, and still perform their basic functions. Stuff like metal furniture that gets badly rusted can often be salvaged by applying a rust-specific primer that stops the oxidation process.
For anything that requires a high level of strength, like a car’s rocker panels or tools, however, cosmetic repairs won’t be sufficient. A few considerations:
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Pitting. If the metal is visibly pitted and etched by rust, the process of reduced structural integrity has already begun. If the component is intended to be load-bearing or needs to apply a lot of torque (like a wrench or power drill), severe pitting is a sign that it probably needs to be replaced.
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Thickness. The use and thickness of the metal is a factor, too. A hammer that’s suffered a lot of rust may still be usable as long as a stable core remains in the head and you repair it properly. A badly rusted drywall knife, on the other hand, might not be salvageable at the same level of damage.
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Power tools. If rust on a power tool has compromised its moving parts, it can be dangerous to operate even if you manage to remove the caked-on surface rust and get it moving again. A good rule of thumb is if the power tool won’t initially work due to thick rust deposits, it’s probably best to just replace it unless you’re willing to put in a lot of work to salvage it.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Tell When Rust Has Won
Google Rolls Out Tons Of New Features To Android, Wear OS, Google TV And RCS Text
The holiday season is upon us, and Google has some early presents for Android fans. A raft of new features are beginning to roll out today. They run the gamut from phones, to TV, to wearables, to the Google Messages app.
Google has split its surprise feature drop into two parts, with a special focus on Google Messages to celebrate 1 billion
Source: Hot Hardware – Google Rolls Out Tons Of New Features To Android, Wear OS, Google TV And RCS Text
Bill Negotiation Services Are a Waste of Money
You may have heard ads promising that professional bill negotiation services can help you save big money on your medical bills, credit card statements, cable bills, and more. While it’s a promising offer, the truth is negotiating bills on your own is simple, effective, and most importantly: free. You may be surprised at how willing many companies are to reduce your rates, especially for long-time loyal customers. With some preparation and persuasive negotiation tactics, you can trim hundreds of dollars from your annual expenses. Follow these simple steps to start saving—without paying any unnecessary fees.
How to lower your bills for free
Bill negotiation works because companies have incentives to keep customers happy and retain business. It costs more for them to acquire new customers than to keep existing ones. As long as you make reasonable requests and politely threaten to take your business elsewhere, many service providers will offer discounts or perks.
Contact service providers yourself
Don’t wait for a third party to step in—contact providers directly to dispute problematic charges or rates. Call their billing department about discrepancies or overcharges on your statements, armed with your notes from reviewing the itemized bill. Ask about applying for hardship assistance programs or discounts. Service representatives are often authorized to make adjustments to retain you as a customer.
Know your stuff
Request an itemized bill from any provider to scrutinize the charges in detail. Identify overcharges, duplicate charges, and services you did not receive. Federal law also allows you to request interest rate reductions on credit card bills.
Send formal dispute letters
If a phone call yields unsatisfactory results, follow up with a formal dispute letter stating which charges you disagree with and why. Provide evidence of errors or unfair rates by including notes from researching reasonable costs or comparing with past statements. Request that the disputed charges be removed and clearly communicate you expect a response by a specific date.
Use free templates and tools
Instead of paying steep sign-up and commission fees for bill negotiation services, use free scripts, online dispute letter templates, and cost-of-living calculators to bolster your case. Seek form letters specific to cable bills, hospital bills, credit card statements, phone bills, etc. to save time and effort.
How to tell if a bill negotiation service is worth it
Of course, negotiating your own bills is not nearly as effortless and appealing as downloading an app that does all the work for you. The thing is, bill negotiation services aren’t worth it if their fees exceed the savings you get from lowered billed. To evaluate if an app is going to be worth it for you, compare the fees with the potential benefits.
For most these apps, the fees will be any combination of the following:
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Service fees (monthly, one-time, or annual)
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Membership fees (usually annual or recurring/monthly)
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Bill negotiation fee (percentage of your savings)
Let’s take a look at an example of how these services make money while cutting down your bill costs: BillShark is one that negotiates monthly bills and doesn’t charge customers upfront fees. Instead, it charges a one-time fee of 40% of the savings it creates. If you don’t have time to hop on the phone and negotiate your bills yourself, that 40% may be worth it. Otherwise, that’s a decent chunk of savings that could be all yours, if you use the tips above. The bottom line is before you pay for these services, remember that you have the power to effectively negotiate your own bills without an expensive middlemen.
Source: LifeHacker – Bill Negotiation Services Are a Waste of Money
Samsung Galaxy S24 Lineup Memory Configs Exposed And They Might Surprise You
Ice Universe, a reliable leaker, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the upcoming Samsung S24 will only be available with 8GB of RAM. Ice Universe did not hold back their feelings about this, qualifying it as “Bad News.”
However, the leaks didn’t stop with the S24, as Ice Universe got a hold of the memory configurations from across
Source: Hot Hardware – Samsung Galaxy S24 Lineup Memory Configs Exposed And They Might Surprise You
ChatGPT is one year old. Here’s how it changed the world.

Enlarge / An artist’s interpretation of what ChatGPT might look like if embodied in the form of a robot toy blowing out a birthday candle. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
One year ago today, on November 30, 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT. It’s uncommon for a single tech product to create as much global impact as ChatGPT in just one year.
Imagine a computer that can talk to you. Nothing new, right? Those have been around since the 1960s. But ChatGPT, the application that first bought large language models (LLMs) to a wide audience, felt different. It could compose poetry, seemingly understand the context of your questions and your conversation, and help you solve problems. Within a few months, it became the fastest-growing consumer application of all time. And it created a frenzy.
During these 365 days, ChatGPT has broadened the public perception of AI, captured imaginations, attracted critics, and stoked existential angst. It emboldened and reoriented Microsoft, made Google dance, spurred fears of AGI taking over the world, captivated world leaders, prompted attempts at government regulation, helped add words to dictionaries, inspired conferences and copycats, led to a crisis for educators, hyper-charged automated defamation, embarrassed lawyers by hallucinating, prompted lawsuits over training data, and much more.
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Source: Ars Technica – ChatGPT is one year old. Here’s how it changed the world.
How to Find Your Sound Town and Listening Character in Spotify Wrapped 2023
The year is winding down, which means Spotify Wrapped is here yet again to reveal just how cringe your taste in music really is. Like it does every year, Spotify will show you basic listening stats, like your total listen time, favorite artists, top songs, and top podcasts, if that’s your thing. But this year, there’s more.
For one thing, for the first time you don’t need to use the app to get your Wrapped. You can get it from Spotify’s Wrapped website, as well. Of course, if you open the app, Spotify will show a splash screen, or a banner to guide you through retrieving your Wrapped. If it doesn’t, you’ll find a Wrapped button in the top toolbar.
And along with the usual stats, Spotify Wrapped has a few new surprises: You’ll be assigned both a “Sound Town” and a listening character, each based on your musical habits during the year.
How to check your Spotify Wrapped Sound Town
One of Spotify Wrapped’s new hooks is called Sound Town. Basically, Spotify will match you with a city in the world that had similar listening habits or listening activity as you do. It’s fascinating, to say the least.
I live in India, and my two biggest genres were Bollywood, and Atmospheric lo-fi music. And turns out my Sound Town is Leuven, Belgium, whose residents I suspect are bigger fans of atmospheric music, more than the latest Bollywood number. Still, that’s interesting to know.

Credit: Spotify
Spotify is also assigning users a listening character, as it assigned a listening personality last year. I’m apparently a Vampire, because I like listening to atmospheric and sad music. I’m a bit surprised to learn I’m emo, but hey, data doesn’t lie.
Lastly, Spotify is adding a new angle to its list of your top artists: This time, it will tell you when your consumption of a particular artist peaked. I listened to Post Malone a lot in August, and then it dropped off. Summers are weird.
Once your Wrapped is wrapped, you can add your top songs of 2023 to a playlists, and Spotify will make it easy to share your stats on Instagram Stories, and other social media platforms (because that’s the entire reason it exists—to give your friends who use Apple Music or Amazon Music major FOMO).
Source: LifeHacker – How to Find Your Sound Town and Listening Character in Spotify Wrapped 2023
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Dragon GPU Aims To Breath Fire In China With US Approval
The GPU news coming out of China continues to accelerate in stunning developments. The recent U.S ban on certain graphics cards used in AI seems to have spawned a plethora of new tactics to alleviate the stress on the Chinese market. It seems like scooping up aging NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GPUs when the GeForce RTX 4090 became rare, was just
Source: Hot Hardware – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Dragon GPU Aims To Breath Fire In China With US Approval
These Fancy Appetizers Are Dead Simple to Make
There is a part of my heart that will forever belong to a simple chip and dip, that loves a taquito, that will happily dig into a cheese ball. Simple is great. On the other hand, it’s … simple. Occasionally, I want to put on a show and impress people. Luckily, beautiful appetizers don’t have to be expensive or take long. Here are a few that’ll take no time, have only a few ingredients, aren’t expensive, and will leave an impression.
Fresh radishes with compound butter

Credit: Amanda Blum
Ingredients
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1 bunch radishes
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½ stick salted butter, room temperature (you can substitute vegan butter)
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2 tablespoons fresh dill
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1 teaspoon flaky salt (optional)
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Trim the radishes so only a tiny bit of green stem shows. Trim off the root, just below where the radish becomes a point. Wash the radishes really well, allow them to dry, and then cut radishes in half the long way, through the green stem and radish point.
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Place the butter in a mason jar or container with the dill. Using a stick blender, combine the two until the dill is completely incorporated. You’ll have a pale green whipped butter.
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Use a butter knife to place a swipe of butter on each radish.
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Sprinkle on additional dill or flaky salt if you’d like.
Artichoke and parmesan crostini

Credit: Amanda Blum
Ingredients
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½ baguette, or one package of prepared crostini
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24 ounces of marinated artichoke hearts in oil
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1 cup grated parmesan cheese
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Salt and pepper to taste
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1 clove garlic
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Drain the artichoke hearts and set aside.
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Slice the baguette into slices, no more than ½ inch thick. Rub each slice with the garlic clove and place into oven, on a cookie sheet, at 350 degrees for 4-5 minutes, or just until the bread is lightly golden.
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Blend half of the artichoke hearts, cheese and the rest of the garlic clove, using a stick blender, food processor, or regular blender. You want a consistent, well-blended texture.
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Spoon a tablespoon of the blended mixture onto each crostini, and spread out. From the remaining half, place one artichoke heart on top of each crostini. If they’re particularly large, slice them in half.
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Season with salt and pepper.
Shrimp and roast beef with cream on cucumber rounds

Credit: Amanda Blum
Ingredients
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12 precooked shrimp, medium to large
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¼ pound very rare deli roast beef, medium thickness
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1 English cucumber, or 2 small-circumference long cucumbers
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¼ cup sour cream
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¼ cup mayonnaise
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Salt and pepper to taste
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Fresh dill or chives to garnish (optional)
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Slice the cucumber into long rounds, cutting diagonally, ¼-½ inch thick. Lay out the cucumber rounds on your serving dish. You should aim for 24 rounds, total.
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In a bowl, mix the sour cream and mayonnaise together, combining well. Spoon a small dab of the mixture onto each cucumber round with a spoon.
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Rinse and dry the precooked shrimp by setting them on a dry paper towel. Once dry, season them each with salt and pepper, lightly.
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Place one shrimp atop 12 of the cucumber rounds. On the remaining 12 rounds, place half of a folded piece of roast beef.
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You can garnish each with a chive or two, or a sprig of dill.
These appetizers can satisfy every possible kind of guest—and all are finger food, requiring nothing more than a napkin.
Source: LifeHacker – These Fancy Appetizers Are Dead Simple to Make