Call it aggressive styling or clever marketing, but Silicon Power’s latest solid state drive sports a design that “breathes like a shark,” the company says. Silicon Power is talking about its new XPower XS70, a high-performance SSD with a PCIe 4.0 interface to chomp through data transfers at up to 7,300MB/s, which is in the upper echelon of
Source: Hot Hardware – Silicon Power XPower XS70 SSD Delivers Shark-Like Cooling And Packs A 7,300MB/s Bite
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Social Media Bans of Scientific Misinformation Aren't Helpful, Researchers Say
Just let the anti-vaxxers, climate deniers, and 5G conspiracy theorists live without the constant threat of content removal and bans, lest they flee to even more radical hubs on niche sites and other obscure parts of the internet, the Royal Society has concluded.
Source: Gizmodo – Social Media Bans of Scientific Misinformation Aren’t Helpful, Researchers Say
Now You Can Pay Money to Use Instagram
Popular Instagrammers can now start charging you money to view their content, in a move that seemed pre-ordained from the moment that Facebook (now calling itself Meta) acquired the photo-sharing app.
Source: Gizmodo – Now You Can Pay Money to Use Instagram
The Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid proves electric motors improve the breed
Enlarge / Bentley’s Flying Spur sedan is now available as a plug-in hybrid. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
Over the last few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to drive many different vehicles, and one thing has become abundantly clear: electric motors make cars better. They’re highly efficient, and they can recapture energy that would otherwise be wasted under braking. They make massive amounts of torque almost instantly and respond in a fraction of the time it takes an internal combustion engine to take a deep breath. And they do all that in near-silence, which makes them ideally suited to applications in luxury cars.
And cars don’t get much more luxurious than Bentley’s new Flying Spur Hybrid.
The Flying Spur Hybrid is a big car, but it’s a relatively low-drag one as well. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
This new plug-in hybrid is Bentley’s second PHEV and follows the hybrid version of its Bentayga SUV ahead of the introduction of the brand’s first battery EV in 2025. As in the SUV, a 2.9L V6 gasoline engine sits under the expansive hood, generating 410 hp (306 kW) and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm).
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Source: Ars Technica – The Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid proves electric motors improve the breed
Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to IBM SPSS
IBM SPSS Statistics is a statistical software suite for data management and advanced analytics. What are open source alternatives to IBM SPSS?
The post Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to IBM SPSS appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to IBM SPSS
The Batman's Robert Pattinson and Parasite's Bong Joon Ho Will Team Up on a Sci-Fi Film
After a director wins an Oscar, the world is their oyster. More so than maybe any other time in their career, they have the chance to basically work on anything or with anyone. And in the case of Parasite director Bong Joon Ho, he’s decided to work with the star of The Batman.
Source: Gizmodo – The Batman’s Robert Pattinson and Parasite’s Bong Joon Ho Will Team Up on a Sci-Fi Film
The Fastest Way to Edit Audio From Your iPhone or Mac
Trimming audio on an iPhone is surprisingly hard—but doing so on a Mac is surprisingly easy. While there’s a dedicated audio trimming tool in the QuickTime app, the iPhone and iPad have no such option. Sure, there’s the built-in Voice Memos app, but it doesn’t support editing external audio files. Even so, you can…
Source: LifeHacker – The Fastest Way to Edit Audio From Your iPhone or Mac
Google is discontinuing its legacy free G Suite tier on July 31st
Over the years, Google’s productivity suite has had many names. What started as Google Apps became G Suite and is now known as Workspace. Over that same timeframe, the company has offered just as many ways to access that software, announcing new subscription plans while doing away with older ones. It now plans to sunset a tier that had survived the suite’s most recent rebranding.
In an email spotted by 9to5Google, the company told Workspace administrators it won’t offer G Suite legacy free edition as of July 1st, 2022. The company plans to transition those users to paid accounts starting on May 1st. Google says it will automatically select a subscription plan for users who don’t pick one on their own by the start of May, noting it will look at their current usage when making the decision. Any individual or organization the company migrates to a paid subscription plan automatically won’t be billed for at least two months. However, the company says it will suspend the accounts of individuals and organizations that don’t input their billing information by July 1st.
Business and enterprise Workspace accounts start at a monthly cost of $6 per user. The company will offer “deep” discounts to those affected by the decision. To be clear, if you’re using Gmail, Docs, Sheets and other apps through a free Google account, you won’t be affected by the move. What’s more, Google will continue to offer free Workspace plans to nonprofits and schools that qualify for its Fundamentals tier. That’s not changing with today’s announcement, nor do organizations with legacy G Suite Basic, Business, Education or Nonprofit subscriptions have to worry about a potential surprise bill.
Source: Engadget – Google is discontinuing its legacy free G Suite tier on July 31st
Biden To Expand National Security Agency Role in Government Cybersecurity
President Biden on Wednesday expanded the National Security Agency’s role in protecting the U.S. government’s most sensitive computer networks, issuing a directive intended to bolster cybersecurity within the Defense Department and intelligence agencies. From a report: The memorandum signed by Mr. Biden mandates baseline cybersecurity practices and standards, such as two-factor authentication and use of encryption, for so-called national security systems, which include the Defense Department and intelligence agencies and the federal contractors that support them. It effectively aligns the cybersecurity standards imposed on national security agencies with those previously established for civilian agencies under an executive order Mr. Biden signed last May. Affected agencies will soon be expected to implement various cybersecurity protocols, including use of certain cloud technologies and software that can detect security problems on a network. Cybersecurity failures have plagued the U.S. government for decades, including thefts of detailed personnel records and military secrets that have been blamed on Russia, China and other adversaries. While national security agencies are generally seen as more secure than their civilian counterparts, they have endured significant breaches, too.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Biden To Expand National Security Agency Role in Government Cybersecurity
Canon's EOS R5 C Hybrid Camera Employs Active Cooling To Record Super Crispy 8K Video
The Canon EOS R5 C brings seemingly unlimited 8K video recording in a small form factor to content creators. The hybrid camera trades out the in-body image stabilization found in its counterpart EOS R5, for a fan-powered cooling system that allows users to shoot 8K video until the battery runs out or the memory card fills up.
Content creation
Source: Hot Hardware – Canon’s EOS R5 C Hybrid Camera Employs Active Cooling To Record Super Crispy 8K Video
Autonomous battery-powered rail cars could steal shipments from truckers
Enlarge / Two Parallel Systems rail vehicles transport a container down a test track in Southern California. (credit: Parallel Systems)
For the last 200 years, freight trains haven’t changed much; massive locomotives still move relatively dumb freight cars. Certainly, rail fans could argue that plenty has changed—they’re not wrong!—but from a distance, trains work pretty much the same today as they did in the 1800s.
That may change, though, if three former SpaceX engineers have placed their bets properly. Today, their startup, Parallel Systems, has emerged from stealth mode with a prototype vehicle that promises to bring advances in autonomy and battery technology to the relatively staid world of freight railroads. In the process, they hope to not just electrify existing routes but also bring freight rail service to places that don’t have it today.
Whether their bet pays off will hinge on whether freight railroads and their customers will buy into a new way of operating. Parallel Systems isn’t just taking an existing freight train and swapping its diesel-electric locomotive for a battery version. Instead, it’s taking the traction motors and distributing them to every car on the train. It’s how many electric passenger trains operate, but it’s a system that has been slow to migrate to the freight world.
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Source: Ars Technica – Autonomous battery-powered rail cars could steal shipments from truckers
Call Of Duty: Warzone's Flying Car Problem Is Back In Latest Map
If you’ve played Call of Duty: Warzone recently, you might’ve seen flying objects in the sky that appear to be aircrafts like helicopters or planes. Well, you’re wrong. They’re actually regular old vehicles such as motorbikes and SUVs that cheaters have hacked to take to the skies…again. Yes, again, as this isn’t a…
Source: Kotaku – Call Of Duty: Warzone’s Flying Car Problem Is Back In Latest Map
Light Hallucination Hack Could Make Amazon Delivery Drones Vulnerable To High-Tech Porch Pirates
Imagine it’s the year 20XX. Hopefully you’re healthy. You’re also sitting on your front porch watching Amazon’s package drones whiz through the skies while awaiting your own delivery. It slowly starts to prepare for landing before suddenly veering off somewhere else! What happened!? Well, Michigan State University (MSU) Computer Science &
Source: Hot Hardware – Light Hallucination Hack Could Make Amazon Delivery Drones Vulnerable To High-Tech Porch Pirates
This Basic Skincare Routine Won't Overwhelm You
As someone who has done little more than wash with Target-brand face cleanser and use $4 Suave lotion on my face for the better part of four decades, when it comes to skincare, I’m a newbie. Through a mix of cluelessness, willful ignorance, and a little luck, I didn’t need to understand proper skincare or devote…
Source: LifeHacker – This Basic Skincare Routine Won’t Overwhelm You
AT&T and Verizon finally switch on their C-Band 5G networks
Verizon and AT&T have at last switched on their C-Band 5G services after a six-weekdelay. While the networks won’t be available near many airports for the time being after the companies’ tussle with the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines, people in some areas of the US will have access to the services starting today.
AT&T is taking a relatively cautious approach to its rollout. Its C-Band 5G services are live in “limited parts” of eight metro areas, including Detroit and Chicago as well as Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston in Texas. Folks in three regions in Florida — Jacksonville, Orlando and South Florida — can also use AT&T’s C-Band network.
Verizon (Engadget’s former parent company) says that 100 million more people will gain access to its 5G Ultra Wideband network this month in more than 1,700 cities, including C-Band coverage. So, most metro areas should have at least some C-Band 5G coverage from Verizon in the coming weeks.
The C-Band spectrum has more bandwidth than the low-band spectrum AT&T and Verizon used in their previous 5G rollouts. That should enable faster download and upload speeds than earlier iterations of 5G. Verizon claims its C-Band 5G is up to 10 times faster than 4G LTE, with download speeds that have exceeded 1 Gbps in some areas.
AT&T and Verizon initially planned to switch on C-Band 5G in December, but they pushed back the activation following concerns from the FAA and airlines. The companies said on Tuesday that, even though 40 other countries have enabled C-Band 5G without issue, they are voluntarily delaying the rollout near several airports. Earlier this month, the two said they’d create buffer zones around 50 airports.
Source: Engadget – AT&T and Verizon finally switch on their C-Band 5G networks
The Walking Dead's Final Season Looks Like Pure Chaos in Its New Trailer
There are only 16 episodes left of The Walking Dead, the former-megahit series that once ruled TV. But even if viewership has declined, the show’s final season looks like it’s going to go out with a bang, beginning when the second of three sets of episodes premiere next month, at least according to this new trailer.…
Source: Gizmodo – The Walking Dead’s Final Season Looks Like Pure Chaos in Its New Trailer
Khronos Establishing A Camera API Working Group
In recent years The Khronos Group has been expanding a lot and forming a number of new open industry standards around 3D commerce, analytics rendering, and more. The latest is Khronos now establishing a Camera API working group…
Source: Phoronix – Khronos Establishing A Camera API Working Group
Wi-Fi 7 hardware demos herald next-gen wireless networking
Enlarge (credit: Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images)
Wi-Fi 6E products only started arriving in the US last year, but the tech world is always looking toward what’s next. Wi-Fi 7 represents the next generation of the wireless network protocol, and today marks the first time someone has claimed to make the technology work.
Wi-Fi 7 isn’t available yet, since the Wi-Fi Alliance is still creating the standard. Also known as the IEEE 802.11be standard, Wi-Fi 7 is expected to provide a max throughput of “at least 30GBps,” according to the Wi-FI Alliance, which is quite a bump from Wi-Fi 6’s 9.6GBps claim and an even bigger jump from WiFi 5’s 3.5GBps. Keep in mind, however, that all three speeds are theoretical. Don’t expect to hit these numbers while surfing the web at home.
The next Wi-Fi standard aims to manage the growing networking needs of evolving technologies, like 4K and 8K streaming, virtual and augmented reality, and cloud gaming and computing, by reducing latency and jitter through improvements to the physical (PHY) layer and medium access control (MAC).
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Source: Ars Technica – Wi-Fi 7 hardware demos herald next-gen wireless networking
EU Wants To Build Its Own DNS Infrastructure With Built-in Filtering Capabilities
The European Union is interested in building its own recursive DNS service that will be made available to EU institutions and the general public for free. From a report: The proposed service, named DNS4EU, is currently in a project planning phase, and the EU is looking for partners to help build a sprawling infrastructure to serve all its current 27 member states. EU officials said they started looking into an EU-based centrally-managed DNS service after observing consolidation in the DNS market around a small handful of non-EU operators. “The deployment of DNS4EU aims to address such consolidation of DNS resolution in the hands of few companies, which renders the resolution process itself vulnerable in case of significant events affecting one major provider,” officials said in the DNS4EU infrastructure project revealed last week. But EU officials said that other factors also played a role in their decision to build DNS4EU, including cybersecurity and data privacy.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – EU Wants To Build Its Own DNS Infrastructure With Built-in Filtering Capabilities
How to install and manage fonts on Linux
Fonts are a really important part of the user experience. On the most commonly used Linux-based distributions, there are many packaged fonts which can be installed using the native package manager. Sometimes, however, we may want to install some fonts manually. In this tutorial we see how to perform such operation, and, more generally, how fonts are managed on Linux.
Source: LXer – How to install and manage fonts on Linux