Enlarge/ Hurricane Ian, as seen from the International Space Station. (credit: NASA)
The Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on Wednesday, bringing to a close the six-month period when the vast majority of tropical activity occurs in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.
Prior to the season, forecasters generally expected a busier-than-normal season. However, six months later, overall activity this year has come in slightly below normal. One of the more scientifically rigorous measurements of seasonal activity—based on the length and intensity of storms—is Accumulated Cyclone Energy. This year’s value, 95, is about three-quarters of the normal value of 126.
That bland statistic belies the fact that this was an odd season. After three weak early-season storms, the Atlantic basin produced zero named storms between July 3 and August 31. This was the first time since 1941 that the Atlantic had no named storm activity during this period. Then, a light came on. Four hurricanes formed in September, along with three more in November. This brought seasonal activity to near-normal levels.
Despite tech magnate Elon Musk’s recent and constant drama with Twitter, his newest company, there can be no doubt that the man still has legions of adoring followers. One group of fanboys took their devotion to the next level this past Saturday, delivering a $600,000 sculpture of Musk to Tesla headquarters in Austin,…
Over the weekend, you might not have seen the shocking footage coming out of several major Chinese cities, with thousands upon thousands of protesters taking to the streets chanting “stand up,” or “down with [Chinese president] Xi Jingping.” You may not have seen the rare display of cohesion from the protesters around…
The BPF subsystem, which allows code to be loaded into the kernel from user
space and safely executed in the kernel context, is bound to create a number of
challenges for the kernel as a whole. One might not think that allocating
memory for BPF programs would be high on the list of problems, but life
(and memory management) can be surprising. The attempts to do a better job
of providing space for compiled BPF code have, to date, only been partially
successful; now Song Liu is back with a new
approach to finish the job.
FFmpeg is an indispensable tool for
working with
audio and video streams, but it can be challenging to learn to use well. FFmpeg — The
Ultimate Guide, posted by Csaba Kopias, can help. “This guide
covers the ins and outs of FFmpeg starting with fundamental concepts and
moving to media transcoding and video and audio processing providing
practical examples along the way.“
At a time when superheroes are ridiculously omnipresent in popular culture, Batman is among the most prevalent of all. No matter the medium, stories starring or featuring DC’s flagship hero come out with such a frequency that it can sometimes be hard for particular stories to stand out. Even in the stories that focus…
BlockFi, a cryptocurrency lender and financial services firm, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, becoming the latest company in the crypto industry hobbled by the implosion of the embattled exchange FTX. From a report: BlockFi had been reeling since the spring, when the collapse of several influential crypto firms pushed the market into a panic, sending the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin plunging. In June, FTX agreed to provide the company with a $400 million credit line, which BlockFi’s chief executive, Zac Prince, said would provide “access to capital that further bolsters our balance sheet.” The deal also gave FTX the option to buy BlockFi.
But that agreement meant that BlockFi was financially entangled with FTX, and its stability was thrust into uncertainty this month after a series of revelations about corporate missteps and suspicious management at FTX. A few days after the exchange collapsed, BlockFi suspended withdrawals, explaining that it had “significant exposure” to FTX, including undrawn amounts from the credit line and assets held on the FTX platform. BlockFi is not the first crypto lender to collapse in a devastating year for the industry. After the spring crash, in which Bitcoin fell 20 percent in a week, two other lenders, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital, filed for bankruptcy. BlockFi, which is based in Jersey City, N.J., was created in 2017 and, as of last year, claimed more than 450,000 retail clients who can obtain loans in minutes, without credit checks. “We are just at the beginning of this story,” Flori Marquez, a co-founder of BlockFi, told The New York Times in September. But its business has attracted close scrutiny from regulators.
Maybe you’ve been going back and forth about whether you should pick up a new TV while many are on sale for Cyber Monday. Undoubtably, now is a great time to do so if you want to save some money in the process. Cyber Monday TV deals are in full swing, and they discount a number of 4K and OLED sets from brands like Samsung, Sony, LG and others. While, yes, if you want an OLED set, you’re still going to pay a premium for it, but most of these sale prices are much easier to stomach than the standard prices of high-end OLED sets. And if you’re just looking for an upgraded 4K TV, there are plenty of great deals to choose from. Here are the best Cyber Monday 2022 TV deals we could find this year.
LG TV deals
LG
Both 2021 and 2022 LG TVs have been discounted for Cyber Monday. If you have your heart set on an OLED, the 65-inch A2 model is over $500 off and down to just under $1,200, while this 65-inch LG G2 Gallery Edition OLED TV is just over $800 off and down to $2,200. While that’s still expensive for a TV, the Gallery Edition sets are some of the best that LG makes. On the more affordable side of things, this 55-inch QNED80 Mini-LED smart TV is $150 off and down to just under $650.
Sony has discounted a number of its higher-end 4K TVs and a few OLED sets as well for Cyber Monday. One of the best smart TV deals overall is this 65-inch Sony X80K 4K set for just under $700. It’s a 2022 TV that has the company’s 4K HDR Processor X1 that produces smooth, clear video, and it has support for Dolby Vision and Atmos, too. On the OLED side, you can pick up this 2022 65-inch A95K Bravia XR OLED set for $1,000 less than usual.
Now’s a great time to grab a Samsung TV for much less than usual. Whether you’re interested in one of the more affordable Q60B or Q80B sets or a higher-end Neo QLED TV, there are a bunch of good Cyber Monday deals to consider. This 65-inch OLED model is 40 percent off and down to $1,800, while this massive 85-inch QLED set is on sale for only $1,600. There are even a few Frame TVs on sale as well, including this 55-inch 2022 model for less than $1,000.
Most of Hisense’s TVs are on sale for Cyber Monday. If you’re looking to spend as little as possible on a still-decent TV, then you can’t get much better than Hisense’s 43-inch R6-Series Roku TV for $200. It supports 4K content and Dolby Vision, plus it runs on Roku’s smart TV operating system.
The 4K Chromecast with Google TV has dropped to $40 for Cyber Monday. It’s one of the most affordable ways to get Google’s streaming OS into your home, along with 4K content support. We like this Chromecast’s compact design, handy remote and its smart integration with the Google Assistant.
Roku Streambar
The Roku Streambar has been discounted to $80 for Cyber Monday, which is $50 less than usual and a record low. It’s one of the easiest ways to up your TV’s audio game, and get 4K streaming technology as well. The compact Streambar offers much better sound quality than most TV’s built-in speakers can provide, plus it’ll turn your set into a Roku smart TV as well. And if you want to use it as a Bluetooth speaker, you have that option as well.
Roku Ultra
Roku’s 2022 Ultra set-top box has dropped to a new low of $70 for Cyber Monday. The actually box itself hasn’t changed much since the previous version: it still supports 4K HDR10+ content, Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth. Most of the upgrades are in the Voice Remote Pro that comes bundled with the streamer. The new remote has a 3.5mm headphone jack for private listening, two programmable shortcut buttons and a mic-disable button.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K is on sale for $25 right now, or half off its usual price. This small dongle connects directly to your TV’s HDMI port and streams content in 4K, supports Dolby Vision and offers voice command capabilities via its remote. This updated model also has fast, long-range WiFi and a private-listening feature that lets you listen to your TV’s audio video the Roku mobile app.
Roku Express
Roku’s Express has dropped to only $18 for Cyber Monday, which is one of the best prices we’ve seen. If you just want an inexpensive streaming device with basic features, the Express is a solid option. It comes with a high-speed HDMI cable to connect it to your TV, and it supports HD content plus private listening via Roku’s mobile app.
Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon’s most affordable streaming stick is on sale for only $15 right now, which is half off its usual price. This is a good option if you want to upgrade an old, “dumb” TV in your home into a smart one. The Fire TV Stick Lite provides access to Amazon’s Fire TV OS, through which you can access services like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and others. The TV Stick Lite supports FHD content, and you can use the included Voice Remote Lite to ask Alexa to show you the content you want to watch. If you want to upgrade a bit to Dolby Atmos, you can get the standard Fire TV Stick for only $5 more.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K has dropped to $25, which is 50 percent off its normal price. This dongle provides 4K streaming support with Dolby Vision and HDR10+, plus Dolby Atmos audio capabilities. Also, if you have Alexa-compatible home security cameras set up, you can use the streaming stick’s live picture-in-picture feature to check out those camera feeds directly from your TV.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
Amazon’s most capable streaming stick, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, is down to only $35 for Cyber Monday. It has all of the features of the standard Fire TV Stick 4K: UHD streaming capabilities, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, and the live picture-in-picture feature. But on top of that, it has WiFi 6 support and a bit more RAM than all other Fire streaming sticks, improving its overall performance.
Samsung Freestyle projector
Samsung’s Freestyle projector has dropped to $500 for Cyber Monday, which is 44 percent off its usual price. This compact projector weighs less than two pounds, allowing you to easily move it around as you wish. It also has auto focus and auto leveling features that should help it properly align whatever you’re watching, no matter where you place it. The Freestyle supports a display size up to 100 inches with a 1080p resolution, and it has a 180-degree cradle stand, so you can point it to the ceiling to watch things from above.
Anker Nebula Solar HD projector
Anker’s Nebula Solar HD projector is down to $448 for Cyber Monday for Prime members only. It earned a spot in our best projectors guide for its rich feature set, especially considering its relatively affordable price. It provides 400 lumens of brightness, which will help if you’re using it ourside, plus a powerful 2×3 speaker system, built-in Android TV and an adjustable stand.
Vizio V21t-J8 soundbar
Our favorite budget-friendly soundbar is on sale for only $118 right now, which is 26 percent off its usual price and a near record low. You’re getting a 2.1-channel setup with this accessory, plus a 4.5-inch wireless sub along with it. It may not have WiFi connectivity, but that’s the main tradeoff you’ll have to make. Otherwise, it supports HDMI ARC/eARC, DTS Virtual:X and Bluetooth, and it has a 3.5mm aux jack as well.
Vizio Elevate soundbar
Vizio’s Elevate soundbar is $300 off and down to $500 for Cyber Monday. This is a great pick for movie lovers or anyone who wants a cinematic audio experience in their home. The soundbar system has adaptive height speakers that automatically rotate upward or forward when playing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. Plus, it has a redesigned wireless subwoofer and integrated tweeters and woofers, as well.
The internet is full of talented engineers and designers building all kinds of weird and wonderful vehicles that, quite frankly, look absolutely terrifying to climb aboard. Like The Q’s self-balancing skateboard, reminiscent of the Onewheel, but built around a beefy Formula 1 wheel.
Whether you’re taking a long vacation away from the cold winter temps or your employer is sending you on an extended trip overseas, you need to pack and you need to do it smartly. Living out of your suitcase seems fun for a while, but it can get old fast. I once did it for four weeks and was miserable by the time I…
Following the NVIDIA 525.53 Linux beta from earlier this month, NVIDIA is closing out November by releasing the v525.60.11 driver as their first stable Linux driver in the R525 series…
You won’t have much success finding news of China’s growing protests if you search the country’s larger cities on Twitter. As TechCrunchreports, analysts have noticed a surge in bots peddling porn and gambling around these queries just as demonstrations flared in Beijing and other cities over the past three days in response to China’s “zero-COVID” policies. The spam is making it harder to track the rallies, particularly for local activists who are using Twitter through a VPN to avoid Chinese government censorship of the protests on domestic social networks.
Twitter has effectively dissolved its communications team and hasn’t officially commented on the matter. However, The Washington Postnotes a Twitter employee told a researcher that the company is “working to resolve” the bot problem. It was easier to find word of the protests by late Sunday, but spam was still cluttering results. A former staffer told The Post that government-linked Twitter accounts have previously spammed en masse, but usually to attack individual accounts or small groups.
Thread: Search for Beijing/Shanghai/other cities in Chinese on Twitter and you’ll mostly see ads for escorts/porn/gambling, drowning out legitimate search results. Data analysis in this thread suggests that there has been a *significant* uptick in these spam tweets. pic.twitter.com/Ao46g2ILzf
The protests largely grew in the wake of a deadly fire at an apartment in Xinjiang province’s capital city Urumqi. Critics blamed the Chinese government’s strict COVID-19 lockdown measures for delaying firefighters and otherwise contributing to deaths. Working conditions at a Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, including concerns about inadequate COVID safety measures, also led to protests. The street action is rare in its intensity — some protesters have called on President Xi Jinping and other members of the Communist Party to resign. Those demands could easily lead to prison time in the country.
There are concerns that Elon Musk’s aggressive job cuts may have exacerbated the situation. TechCrunch pointed out that the entrepreneur laid off Twitter’s anti-propaganda team, leaving only the core moderation group. Where Twitter previously reacted quickly to China’s attempts to undercut Hong Kong protests, it took days to begin curbing spam this time around. The company has resumed hiring, but it’s not clear how much support the anti-misinformation unit will get.
The spike also challenges Musk’s stance on bots. He tried to back out of the Twitter acquisition over claims the social network was hiding the true number of fake accounts. Spammers and other bogus users may now be more of a problem than they were before, if just because Twitter isn’t as well-equipped to deal with the threat.
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The holidays only mean one thing for a certain type of person: a bounty of new video games to play.
It’s predicted that this year’s Cyber Monday shopping frenzy will set a sales record as retailers offer up aggressive discounts on all kinds of items. Whatever you’re looking to buy, it’s probably marked down today. That includes a plethora of storage and memory cards from SanDisk and Western Digital for your Nintendo Switch and other game
Avatar: The Way of the Water officially gets a PG-13 rating, surprising no one. Tobin Bell is back as Jigsaw in some behind-the-scenes Saw X photos. And our first look at the new Transformers in the new ˆmovie—Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Airazor, and Cheetor—may have come from… a promotional coffee mug? Please buckle…
Complicated cleaning hacks can be fun projects, but we love a damn simple one. And this one is really simple: You can use the lid of a pot or pan to clean your carpets and fabrics. It works like a charm, which is why it’s been all over TikTok lately.
Apple said the Watch Ultra would be more useful for divers once a key app arrived, and that moment is finally here. Hush Outdoors and Apple have released Oceanic+, effectively giving Ultra owners a recreation-oriented dive computer. The software tracks fundamentals like depth, no-decompression time (a figure used to set duration limits for given depths) and water temperature. The app is designed to be used without the touchscreen, and you can set compass headings using the action button. Even the haptic feedback is strong enough to be felt through a wetsuit.
You can plan dives to make the most of your trips, including the tides and currents. An after-dive review will show data that includes your water entry and exit locations. You’ll find more information on your iPhone, such as depth graphs and the temperature ascent rate.
Apple
Basic Oceanic+ functionality such as depth, time and dive logging is free. You’ll want to pay $10 per month or $80 per year for decompression tracking, location planning and other more advanced features. A $129 per year family plan allows access to five people. The app requires at least watchOS 9.1 as well as an iPhone 8 or later using iOS 16.1.
Apple is quick to caution that Oceanic+ isn’t for professional scuba divers. This won’t track remaining air like some dive computers, for example — the Apple Watch Ultra doesn’t support transmitters that connect to your tank. This is strictly for enthusiast use, and only down to 130 feet. The watch can officially survive depths of 328 feet.
Even so, the launch could be important. This fulfills a promise Apple made in early September, and makes the Watch Ultra considerably more useful if you frequently plunge underwater. The timepiece launched with only basic depth tracking that wasn’t much help if you wanted to avoid the bends or find your way back. While this won’t replace dedicated hardware for particularly committed divers, it might save money if you wanted one watch you could wear both above and below the surface.
While the weather outside might be frightful, the deals on Cyber Monday are quite delightful. Save up to 50% on Fire TV and Roku streaming devices and be sure to catch all the new shows this coming year.
As more and more people cut the cable cord, many are turning to streaming devices such as the Fire TV Stick from Amazon. This handy little
AmiMoJo writes: A hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees with no loss of pay, a milestone in the campaign to fundamentally change Britain’s approach to work. The 100 companies employ 2,600 staff — a tiny fraction of the UK’s working population — but the 4 Day Week Campaign group is hoping they will be the vanguard of a major shift.
Proponents of the four-day week say that the five-day pattern is a hangover from an earlier economic age. They argue that a four-day week would drive companies to improve their productivity, meaning they can create the same output using fewer hours. For some early adopters the policy has also proven a useful way of attracting and retaining employees. The two biggest companies that have signed up are Atom Bank and global marketing company Awin, who each have about 450 staff in the UK. They have been accredited by the four-day week campaign, meaning they have demonstrated that they have genuinely reduced hours for workers rather than forcing them into longer days.
