The consensus is that 2016 was a bad year, and like every single other year, a lot of animals died. Unlike every other year, we went crazier over these animal deaths than we’ve ever gone.
Source: Gizmodo – The 10 Most Influential Animal Deaths of 2016
Traditionally, new iPhones sell pretty well in their first few months — often outperforming the previous model’s sales during the same quarter. That might not be the case with Apple’s latest handset: according to Nikkei, sluggish sales are forcing t…
Source: Engadget – The iPhone 7 may not be selling as well as Apple hoped
Looking more like the tiny single-prop planes that amateur pilots fly, this massive replica of an Airbus A-320 airliner is actually a remote control plane with a wingspan of almost 16 feet. What’s more impressive is that it weighs less than a pound and flies slow enough that it can be piloted indoors.
Source: Gizmodo – Giant 15-Foot-Wide RC Plane Weighs Less Than a Pound
Every weekend we round up our best guides and posts on a specific subject, from working better to upgrading your computer. Here’s a look back at this year’s best. You could say they’re our top 10 top 10s of the year.
Source: LifeHacker – Most Popular Top 10s of 2016
You gotta love Facebook’s totally BS excuse claiming that Santa’s account was “removed in error.” I might have believed that except for the fact that his account wasn’t restored even after he submitted his drivers license, then his passport, letters signed by the governor. Once the media was involved, *poof* account restored.
The social media company was contacted Tuesday about blocking Claus’ access. A spokeswoman said by email that the account was suspended by mistake, and the company released this statement: “We’re very sorry about this mistake. The account was removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate. Our team processes millions of reports each week, and we sometimes get things wrong.”
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Source: [H]ardOCP – Facebook Forced Santa To Prove His Identity
GIGABYTE has quietly announced its new small form-factor computer designed for performance-minded gamers. The new SFF PC not only packs high-performance components, such as the latest-generation CPU and GPU, but it uses desktop-class components and could be upgradeable.
High-performance PCs in small form-factor are not rare nowadays: various PC makers use mobile CPUs and GPUs to build such systems. Such computers demonstrate high-performance out-of-the-box, but their upgrade strategy is tricky because it is not easy to get MXM GPUs or mobile CPUs in retail. When developing the GIGABYTE Gaming GT desktop (GB-GZ1DTi7-1080-OK-GW and technically this PC belongs to the Brix family), engineers from GIGABYTE wanted to create a product that could use widely available processors and graphics cards and thus potentially offer an upgrade path to the owners.
The GIGABYTE Gaming GT desktop is not really a miniature system: it measures 276×384×128 mm and is approximately 10 liters in volume, which makes it just larger than Sony’s first-generation PlayStation 3. The PC is based on a custom motherboard (210×205 mm) that is a bit larger than Mini-ITX, but is still smaller when compared to microATX or FlexATX. The system uses a dual-chamber design (CPU, DRAM, SSD are located on one side of the PC, graphics card and other 2.5” storage devices are on the other side), but the chambers are not isolated completely because they use the same airflows generated by two system fans (we do not know how large they are, but theoretically they may be of 90 mm in diameter). It is noteworthy that the PC has an automated exhaust system that opens up exhaust flippers at the top of the computer when it needs to cool down the components.
The chassis can accommodate any double wide graphics card with a maximum size of 280 mm in length and 41 mm in depth, but nothing too custom with regards heatpipes and backplates because the space is constrained. GIGABYTE will ship the Gaming GT desktop with its own GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming 8 GB card, but they say the key thing is that it can be updated later. Since the card faces downwards, it has to use custom cables (bundled) to connect to displays. Audio and Ethernet cables also have to be angled, but at least it is not a big problem to find such cables in retail. On the bright side of things, the Gaming GT desktop uses a 400 W FlexATX PSU, which could be upgraded if needed.
| GIGABYTE Gaming GT Spefications | |
| GB-GZ1DTi7-1080-OK-GW | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K Quad Core with HT 4.0 GHz/4.2 GHz 91 W |
| PCH | Intel Z170 |
| Graphics | GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming 8 GB GDDR5X 2560 stream processors 160 texture units 64 raster operations pipelines |
| Memory | 32 GB of DDR4 (2×16 GB DDR4) |
| Storage | 240 GB SSD (PCIe/SATA?) 1 TB 2.5″ HDD (7200 RPM) 1×2.5″ bay for HDD/SSD (SATA) |
| Wi-Fi | Intel 1×1 Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165NGW 802.11ac + BT |
| Ethernet | Rivet Networks Killer E2400 Gigabit LAN |
| Display Outputs | 1 × DVI-D DL 1 × HDMI 2.0b 1 × HDMI 1.4 (uses iGPU) 3 × DisplayPort 1.4 |
| Audio | 5.1-channel audio Realtek ALC1150 codec TI Burr Brown OPA2134 operational amplifier |
| USB | 5 × USB 3.0 Type-A (5 Gbps) 1 × USB 3.1 Type-A (10 Gbps) 1 × Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Type-C (10 Gbps) |
| Other I/O | – |
| Dimensions | 276 mm × 384 mm × 128 mm 10.86 × 15.11 × 5 inches |
| PSU | FlexATX 400 W |
| OS | Windows 10 Home |
The custom motherboard of the GIGABYTE Gaming GT PC is based on the Intel Z170 PCH and thus supports all LGA1151 processors, including the upcoming Kaby Lake chips. The manufacturer will ship the system with the Intel Core i7-6700K CPU (so, overlocking seems to be possible, but keep in mind temperatures and noise), but eventually the chip might be switched to something more powerful.
The GIGABYTE Gaming GT PC will come with 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory, a 240 GB SSD (M.2 form-factor, but no word on performance), a 1 TB HDD with a 7200 RPM spindle speed and an additional 2.5” bay for an extra drive. For those, who are not satisfied with an M.2 SSD and two 2.5” HDDs/SSDs, GIGABYTE even installed one Thunderbolt 3 port to connect external high-performance storage devices or special-purpose hardware. When it comes to other I/O, then the Gaming GT desktop offers a dual-band 1×1 802.11ac + BT 4.2 wireless module, Gigabit Ethernet (Killer E2400), five USB 3.0 Type-A ports, one USB 3.1 Type-A (10 Gbps) port, 5.1-channel audio (the Realtek ALC1150 with the TI Burr Brown OPA2134 amplifier) and so on.
Finally, to give its Gaming GT system a distinctive look, GIGABYTE installed a series of RGB LEDs on top of it. The LEDs can work in different modes and can be controlled using the company’s Ambient LED application.
Pricing and availability dates for the GIGABYTE Gaming GT SFF PCs were not available at press time. Keep in mind that actual configuration of the PC will differ based on the regions, which means that their prices will vary as well. Chances are we’ll see it at CES next week.
Related Reading:
Source: AnandTech – GIGABYTE’s New Console: The ‘Gaming GT’ PC Launched with Core i7-K, GTX1080, TB3
The idea that Darth Vader had a home somewhere in a galaxy far, far away isn’t a new one. Star Wars concept designer Ralph McQuarrie came up with the idea decades ago, but no filmmaker has been able to fit the idea into the franchise yet. Until Rogue One.
Source: io9 – The Intriguing Backstory of Darth Vader’s Castle in Rogue One
From a report on TorrentFreak: 2016 has been a memorable year for torrent users but not in a good way. Over a period of just a few months, several of the largest torrent sites vanished from the scene. From KickassTorrents, through Torrentz to What.cd, several torrent giants have left the scene.Another notable website which vanished is TorrentHound. ThePirateBay is back, but is often facing issues. Not long ago, ExtraTorrent noted that it was on the receiving end of several DDoS attacks.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Bad Year For Piracy: 2016 Was The Year Torrent Giants Fell
2016 was a big year for nerdy perverts. Overwatch alone probably started an entire sex industry, VR porn became the face of virtual reality, and more games tackled raunchy subjects.
Source: Kotaku – The Year In Video Game Sex, 2016
Our sweet photo of the day comes from beautiful sunny Southern California.
Source: TreeHugger – Photo: Ring in the New Year with this perfect little hummingbird
For those of us who actually live in rustic homes in cold climates, the household items that define the ‘hygge’ decorating trend are a matter of survival.
Source: TreeHugger – I grew up in a house that looked like a ‘hygge’ postcard. It was a lot of work.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography has gotten a few more tech upgrades. Scientists aboard research vessel Sally Ride recently tested a pair of drones and a remote control kayak in an effort to get different views and readings of their subjects.
Source: Engadget – Drones and RC kayaks offer fresh views of the ocean
This week, researchers at UCSF announced they’d uncovered a key to making their genetically-engineered creations a lot less likely to accidentally destroy the world: a way to turn-off modifications made with the powerful gene-editing technique CRISPR. Think of it like a kill-switch for genetic engineering.
Source: Gizmodo – How Scientists Are Trying to Keep Genetic Engineering From Ruining the World
This is a video of Destin from Smarter Every Day detailing the unique mechanical properties of a Prince Rupert’s drop, which is made by dripping a string of molten glass in a bucket of cold water (not to be confused with a Prince Albert’s drop, which is made by piercing a man’s wiener and inserting a piece of jewerly). Destin previously demonstrated the properties of a Prince Rupert’s drop by smacking them with a hammer back in 2013. Now he’s shooting them with a gun. Let me copy/paste some Wikipedia for you since I can’t even explain how to use a vending machine without overpaying and getting your arm stuck in the chute.
The water rapidly cools the molten glass on the outside of the drop, while the inner portion of the drop remains significantly hotter. When the glass on the inside eventually cools, it contracts inside the already-solid outer part. This contraction sets up very large compressive stresses on the surface, while the core of the drop is in a state of tensile stress. It is a type of toughened glass.
The very high residual stress within the drop gives rise to counter-intuitive properties, such as the ability to withstand a blow from a hammer on the bulbous end without breaking, but experiencing explosive disintegration if the tail end is even slightly damaged.
While the head of the drop can be hit with a hammer or struck with a bullet without breaking, when any portion of the tail is damaged, the large amount of potential energy stored in the internal structure is released, causing fractures to propagate through the glass toward the head at very high speeds which breaks the entire structure into flakes and powder.
Pretty fascinating, right? The video of those things shattering from the tail down is amazing. They look like sperm exploding. “Oh no, somebody beat me to the egg, initialize self-destruct sequence!” Just kidding, sperm don’t explode. Mine do sometimes tie themselves in knots though. “No, the egg is this way. NO, IT’S THIS WAY. Wait a minute…this is a plastic cup!” Haha — later guys, I just made $40!
Keep going for the video, but skip to 2:00 if you just want to see the shootings.
Source: Geekologie – Fascinating: Bullets Vs Glass Prince Rupert’s Drops Filmed In Ultra Slow-Motion
The Kaby Lake-U (KBL-U)series with 15W TDP CPUs was introduced along with the 4.5W Kaby Lake-Y ones in Q3 2014. The first set of products with Kaby Lake-U were ultrabooks. However, ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) PCs were not long behind. There are already three vendors in the market with Kaby Lake UCFF PCs – ASRock (Beebox-S), GIGABYTE (BRIX), and MSI (Cubi 2). MSI was the first to launch KBL-U UCFF PCs in the North American market. Read on for our evaluation of the Cubi2-005B and how it compares against UCFF PCs from the last couple of generations.
Source: AnandTech – MSI Cubi 2 Kaby Lake UCFF PC Review
If you have kids that like to play with LEGO toys, here’s an easy way for them to bring their favorite toys on the road. All you need is an empty DVD case.
Source: LifeHacker – Turn an Old DVD Case Into the Perfect LEGO Travel Set
The United States has not updated its nuclear weapons program in decades, but in February President Barack Obama allocated more than $1 trillion to the modernization of the country’s nuclear stockpile. Perhaps he got tired of hearing jokes about serv…
Source: Engadget – The US is preparing to modernize its nuclear weapons systems
Tsunamis are very probably the scariest natural disaster out there because they ravage everything in their path. But learning about how big they can get makes tsunamis even scarier. It’s just ridiculous. It’s like skyscraper big, man.
Source: Gizmodo – Just How Big Can a Tsunami Get?
Foxconn Electronics is automating production at its factories in China in three phases, aiming to fully automate entire factories eventually, according to general manager Dai Jia-peng for Foxconn’s Automation Technology Development Committee. From a report on DigiTimes: In the first phase, Foxconn aims to set up individual automated workstations for work that workers are unwilling to do or is dangerous, Dai said. Entire production lines will be automated to decrease the number of robots used during the second phase, Dai noted. In the third phase, entire factories will be automated with only a minimal number of workers assigned to production, logistics, testing and inspection processes, Dai indicated.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Foxconn Boosting Automated Production in China
You guys really have to watch this video. The way the bullets shatter on impact is just amazing to see in slow motion. Seriously, this is worth the time to watch.
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Source: [H]ardOCP – Cool ‘Bullet vs. Glass at 150,000 FPS’ Video of the Day
