It’s been a chaotic couple of days for Gamestop, Reddit (well, subreddit WallStreetBets) and Robinhood. Respectively, a gaming retailer that’s recently struggled, a forum for small-scale investors and an app aimed at casual stock traders. It all star…
Source: Engadget – The Morning After: Robinhood, Reddit and Gamestop
Monthly Archives: January 2021
Rocket Report: FAA grounds Starship, Biden’s big rocket dilemma
Enlarge / Northrop Grumman conducted a validation test of its GEM 63XL rocket motor on Jan. 21 at its Promontory, Utah, facility. (credit: Northrop Grumman)
Welcome to Edition 3.31 of the Rocket Report! Most of the news this week has happened with bigger rockets, with an especially interesting bit concerning the Falcon Heavy rocket and NASA’s Europa Clipper that’s worth checking out. It’s also exciting to see NASA and Boeing move the launch date for Starliner’s second test flight forward.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Firefly seeks to raise additional funding. Firefly Aerospace said this week it is looking to raise $350 million to scale up production and work on a new, larger vehicle, SpaceNews reports. Speaking during a webinar on Tuesday about investment in the space industry, Firefly CEO Tom Markusic said the funding would support its long-term growth as it brings the Alpha rocket into service while the company develops a medium-class launch vehicle named Beta.
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Source: Ars Technica – Rocket Report: FAA grounds Starship, Biden’s big rocket dilemma
Hands-On with the ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WiFi
One of the criticisms levied at AMD last year was that it released its new Threadripper Pro platform in September but it was vendor-locked at the time to the Lenovo Thinkstation P620. The P620 seems to have sold like hot cakes, and the system design is really neat (we have one in for testing), but the fact that interested parties only have Lenovo as an option was considered a limiting factor for some. Fast forward to the beginning of 2021, and AMD has announced that TR Pro will be made available at retail, allowing other OEMs to also build systems. Alongside this, three motherboard manufacturers have also showcased their upcoming motherboard offerings, and the most anticipated model that received the most plaudits on looks alone was the ASUS. Today, in what appears to be a worldwide exclusive, we have some hands-on access to the ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WiFi. Yes, it’s a mouthful to say.
Source: AnandTech – Hands-On with the ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WiFi
'Destiny 2' shifts away from weekly bounties to seasonal challenges
For the latest season of Destiny 2, Bungie is making some changes in how activities, rewards and challenges will work, the company announced. To that end, the company has eliminated the weekly bounty system that forced players to sign in and complete…
Source: Engadget – ‘Destiny 2’ shifts away from weekly bounties to seasonal challenges
New Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities Patched in All Supported Ubuntu Releases
A bunch of new Linux kernel vulnerabilities were patched today in all supported Ubuntu releases, along with a regression introduced by a kernel update in October 2020.
Source: LXer – New Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities Patched in All Supported Ubuntu Releases
Yakuza Producer Leaving Sega's Board Of Directors, But Staying At Company
Today, Sega announced that Yakuza executive director and producer Toshihiro Nagoshi will be stepping down from the corporate board of directors. He will, however, remain at Sega.
Source: Kotaku – Yakuza Producer Leaving Sega’s Board Of Directors, But Staying At Company
Open-Source NVIDIA Changes Sent In For Linux 5.12
Following NVIDIA RTX 30 open-source mode-setting support in Linux 5.11, the batch of feature changes slated for the Linux 5.12 kernel have now been submitted to DRM-Next…
Source: Phoronix – Open-Source NVIDIA Changes Sent In For Linux 5.12
Disney releases interactive short 'Baymax Dreams' on GeForce Now
Sundance Film Festival isn’t happening this year — not in person, anyway — so creators are finding new ways to showcase their creations. The folks at Disney, for instance, are offering an interactive short through NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, a streaming se…
Source: Engadget – Disney releases interactive short ‘Baymax Dreams’ on GeForce Now
AMDVLK 2021.Q1.2 Brings More Radeon RX 6000 Series Optimizations
AMDVLK 2021.Q1.1 released near the beginning of the month with various “RDNA 2” optimizations while now AMDVLK 2021.Q1.2 is out in closing out the month and bringing more Big Navi optimizations…
Source: Phoronix – AMDVLK 2021.Q1.2 Brings More Radeon RX 6000 Series Optimizations
Responsibly Recycling Computers in the Age of COVID-19
Recycling computers is costly – but there’s an easy way to avoid the cost while helping those economically affected by the COVID crisis.
Source: LXer – Responsibly Recycling Computers in the Age of COVID-19
Google will soon allow gambling apps on the Play Store in the US
Android users in regions other than the UK, Ireland, France and Brazil will soon be able to find and download real-money gambling apps from the Play Store. Google has updated its program policy allowing apps that “enable or facilitate online gambling…
Source: Engadget – Google will soon allow gambling apps on the Play Store in the US
Google To Allow Gambling Apps In the Play Store
Android users in the U.S. will soon gain access to betting and gambling apps through the Play Store, Google announced Thursday. CNET reports: As of March 1, online casino games, sports betting, lotteries and daily fantasy sports apps will be allowed in certain states. You can see a complete list of what types of gambling apps are allowed in each state on Google’s support website.
To be eligible, app makers must complete a gambling application form, comply with state and country laws where the app is being used and have a valid gambling license for each state or country it wants to operate in. These apps must be rated adult only and display information about responsible gambling. Apps must also ensure they prevent minors from being able to use the app, and the app cannot be a paid app on Google Play or use Google Play in-app billing. Other countries gaining access to betting and gambling apps include: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google To Allow Gambling Apps In the Play Store
How to lighten the load on your container registry using Quay.io
Using Buildah, Skopeo, and Quay.io to create a container registry. In this post, I show you how to use Quay.io to host container images, and how to avoid over-taxing your container registry by limiting unnecessary requests for images.
Source: LXer – How to lighten the load on your container registry using Quay.io
Tesla's Roadster won't go into production until 2022
Since Tesla launched its sleek and wildly fast next-gen Roadster supercar EV back in 2017, we haven’t heard a ton about it. In a recent tweet, however, Elon Musk said that Roadster production isn’t set to start until next year (2022), confirming that…
Source: Engadget – Tesla’s Roadster won’t go into production until 2022
Linux maintainer says long-term support for 5.10 will stay two years unless companies step up and actually use it
‘So far the jury is still out… are you willing to help with this?’ Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman has responded to complaints that the current promise of two years for 5.10 is not enough, explaining that support is not automatic but requires commercial help.…
Source: LXer – Linux maintainer says long-term support for 5.10 will stay two years unless companies step up and actually use it
Phone battery explodes after a man bites into it
This is a video of a phone battery exploding after a man in China bit into it. If you’re looking for a reason why he did it, none was given beyond, “He likes to put things in his mouth.” Seriously.
“I’m the person involved,” she wrote. “…I haven’t been disfigured; thanks for your concern. He didn’t [bite the battery] because he wanted to test its authenticity; actually my partner just has the habit of putting things into his mouth and nibbling on them. I’m okay, just my bangs were burnt a little bit. My first reaction was ‘Are my eyebrows okay?'”
She added that the battery her partner had bitten into wasn’t a genuine iPhone battery.
Look, I like to eat phone batteries as much as the next person, but I save that kind of stuff for the privacy of my own home. Also, don’t eat batteries. You’ll die. Also they’ll make you fat.
Keep going for the full video.
Source: Geekologie – Phone battery explodes after a man bites into it
Facebook is reportedly building a newsletter tool for indie writers
Facebook is building its own newsletter tools, according to The New York Times. The social network is reportedly working on the initiative to offer more services to independent writers and journalists as part of the Facebook Journalism Project. It’s…
Source: Engadget – Facebook is reportedly building a newsletter tool for indie writers
Google Deletes 100,000 Negative Reviews of Robinhood App From Angry Users
Google removed at least 100,000 negative reviews of the stock trading app Robinhood from the Google Play app store after angry users sent a flood of critical reviews that caused the app’s rating to plummet on Thursday. The app’s rating went from roughly four stars out of five on Wednesday to just one star on Thursday.…
Source: Gizmodo – Google Deletes 100,000 Negative Reviews of Robinhood App From Angry Users
XWayland 21.1 Planned For Release In Mid-March
Plans are moving forward for providing standalone XWayland packages that would ship the latest XWayland code for allowing X11 clients within Wayland environments, separate from X.Org Server releases as has been the bundling case to date…
Source: Phoronix – XWayland 21.1 Planned For Release In Mid-March
Apple Crosses 1 Billion Active iPhone Users
According to CEO Tim Cook, there are now more than 1 billion iPhones being used by customers around the world. The new milestone comes as the company earned over $100 billion in a single quarter for the first time in the company’s history. 9to5Mac reports: Cook shared the new milestone in an earnings-focused interview with Reuters. The new metric is part of an overall increase of active devices around the world, reaching 1.65 billion compared to 1.5 billion this time last year: “Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told Reuters in an interview that the company now has an active installed base of 1.65 billion devices, compared with 1.5 billion devices a year ago. Cook also said Apple now has an installed base of more than 1 billion iPhones, an increase over the 900 million the company most recently disclosed in 2019.”
In the interview, he cites Apple’s growth opportunity in China as a source of the company’s success: “‘We had two of the top three selling smartphones in urban China,’ Cook told Reuters in an interview, adding that many of the company’s other products and services also sold well. Cook said that Apple gained iPhone sales in China both from customers switching from rival Android devices as well as existing customers upgrading devices, but said ‘upgraders in particular set an all-time record in China.'”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Apple Crosses 1 Billion Active iPhone Users