Calculate Linux 23 is powered by Linux 5.15 LTS and comes with some of the latest and greatest desktop environments. Learn more here.
The post Calculate Linux 23 is Out With Xfce 4.18, Cinnamon 5.6, LXQt 1.2 appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Calculate Linux 23 is Out With Xfce 4.18, Cinnamon 5.6, LXQt 1.2
One of the early alternative spins of Ubuntu back in the day was Edubuntu as an education-focused flavor of Ubuntu shipping with various educational packages pre-installed and an optimized workflow for students. Edubuntu gradually faded away but in 2023 is looking to re-establish itself and become an official flavor under new leadership…
Source: Phoronix – Edubuntu Looks To Re-Establish Itself In 2023
Earlier this year, Google awarded a security researcher $107,500 for finding vulnerabilities in the company’s smart speakers. The researcher demonstrated that these vulnerabilities could be leveraged to link secondary accounts to Google smart home devices, then control the devices for nefarious ends, including eavesdropping on the owners of
Source: Hot Hardware – Security Researcher Exposes Alarming Wiretap Flaw In Google Home Smart Speakers
If you’ve read coverage—including ours—of any recent graphics hardware launches, you’ve surely seen mention of AV1 video codec support as one of the major benefits. It was a selling point for both Intel’s Arc graphics as well as AMD’s Ryzen 6000 mobile processors and Radeon RX 7900 Series GPUs, while NVIDIA’s top end Ada Lovelace GPUs even
Source: Hot Hardware – Key Handbrake Update Adds AV1 Support And A Bunch Of Upgrades For Video Creators
Demand for graphics cards significantly increased during the pandemic as some people spent more time at home playing games, whereas others tried to mine Ethereum to get some cash. But it looks like now that the world has re-opened and Ethereum mining on GPUs is dead, demand for desktop discrete GPUs has dropped dramatically. From a report: In fact, shipments of discrete graphics cards hit a ~20-year low in Q3 2022, according to data from Jon Peddie Research. The industry shipped around 6.9 million standalone graphics boards for desktop PCs — including the best graphics cards for gaming — and a similar number of discrete GPUs for notebooks in the third quarter.
In total, AMD, Intel, and Nvidia shipped around 14 million standalone graphics processors for desktops and laptops, down 42% year-over-year based on data from JPR. Meanwhile, shipments of integrated GPUs totaled around 61.5 million units in Q3 2022. In fact, 6.9 million desktop discrete add-in-boards (AIBs) is the lowest number of graphics cards shipped since at least Q3 2005 and, keeping in mind sales of standalone AIBs were strong in the early 2000s as integrated GPUs were not good enough back then, it is safe to say that in Q3 2022 shipments of desktop graphics boards hit at least a 20-year low.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Desktop GPU Sales Hit 20-Year Low
For the past several months, TikTok has been working on new ways to age-restrict certain types of content as part of a broader push to ramp up safety features for younger users. The app unveiled a new ratings system earlier this year, called Content Levels, to help it identify more “mature” content.
Now, the company has another update on those efforts. In a blog post, the company says that it’s launching a new version of its “borderline suggestive model,” which the company uses to automatically identify “sexually explicit, suggestive, or borderline content.” According to a TikTok spokesperson, the new model is better able to detect so-called “borderline content,” videos that don’t explicitly break the app’s rules, but may not be suitable for younger users.
TikTok isn’t the only platform to filter out this type of content from recommendations. Instagram has long attempted to weed borderline content out of its recommendations as well. But content with more “mature” themes, but that doesn’t contain explicit nudity, has long been more difficult for automated systems to consistently detect. TikTok didn’t offer specifics on how much more accurate the new system is, but it shared that in the last 30 days the company has “prevented teen accounts from viewing over 1 million overtly sexually suggestive videos.”
Elsewhere, the app is also rolling out the ability for creators to restrict their videos to adult viewers. This feature was previously only available for live videos, but will now be enabled for short-form clips as well.
Source: Engadget – TikTok says it’s getting better at detecting ‘borderline’ content
NVIDIA is expected to reveal its GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics card at CES next week, but it preemptively leaked the specs. Thanks to new rumors, we have a sense of the GPU’s likely price too.
The RTX 4070 Ti is slated to have 12GB of GDDR6X memory with 7,680 Cuda cores that can be boosted to 2.61GHz, as Tom’s Hardware notes. NVIDIA seemingly expects the card to deliver 4K gameplay at up to 240Hz, or 8K visuals at 60Hz with DSC and HDR enabled. The company claimed the RTX 4070 Ti will deliver around 3.5 times better performance than the 12GB RTX 3080 in Cyberpunk 2077 when the new RT Overdrive mode is enabled.
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
Coming Month XXhttps://t.co/Z6Hv1Vv7olpic.twitter.com/7sudSwgsFZ— 188号 (@momomo_us) December 30, 2022
It has been widely believed that the latest card would essentially be a rebranded version of the 12GB RTX 4080. In October, NVIDIA reversed plans to release that model and suggested it would rebadge the GPU.
Meanwhile, rumors indicate NVIDIA will sell the RTX 4070 Ti for $799. It was previously expected that the price would be $899, but NVIDIA may have lowered it after the US delayed tariffs on GPUs that were set to resume on January 1st. Based on the RTX 4070 Ti’s expected performance, Wccftech ran the numbers and found that, on a teraflop-to-dollar ratio, the GPU will offer 97 percent of the value proposition of the $1,599 RTX 4090.
We should find out official details about the RTX 4070 Ti, perhaps including the release date, very soon. NVIDIA has scheduled a CES edition of its GeForce Beyond event for January 3rd at 11AM ET.
Source: Engadget – NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti leaks reveal specs and potential price
Dubbed “Masters of War,” siduction 2022.1 is powered by Linux 6.1 to provide users with the best possible hardware support. Learn more here.
The post siduction 2022.1 Arrives With Linux Kernel 6.1, Xfce 4.18, LXQt 1.2 appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – siduction 2022.1 Arrives With Linux Kernel 6.1, Xfce 4.18, LXQt 1.2
The FBI is investigating the 3Commas data breach, CoinDesk is reporting. From the report: The investigation comes after weeks of criticism from users of the Estonia-based crypto trading service, who say its CEO repeatedly brushed off warning signs that the platform had leaked user data. This week, 100,000 Binance and KuCoin API keys linked to 3Commas were leaked by an anonymous person. On Thursday, two 3Commas users told CoinDesk that they were contacted by agents from the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office in connection to the leak.
Over the last several months, dozens of 3Commas users found that the service had, without their consent, traded away funds on crypto exchanges they’d linked to it. Initially, 3Commas said that these users were most likely phished and insisted that the platform was safe. The API database leaker insinuated that the 3Commas keys had been sold by someone from within the company, but 3Commas CEO Yuriy Sorokin said in a statement on Thursday that “3Commas stresses that it has found no evidence during the internal investigation that any employee of 3Commas was somehow involved in attacks against the API data.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – FBI Investigating 3Commas Data Breach
Filmed amid Iceland’s distinctive, beautiful yet eerie landscape and inspired by that country’s folklore, The Rock of Ages creates a vivid fantasy world in just over 15 minutes—complete with a hapless protagonist you soon realize you’re rooting against, and a pipe-smoking rock who not only talks, but swears like a…
Source: Gizmodo – A Chatty Rock Meets a Reckless Soldier in This Gory and Delightful Fantasy Short
KDE Plasma 5.25.5, Xfce 4.18, MATE 1.26.0, Cinnamon 5.6.5, LXQt 1.2, and newly added containerization tools shine in the brand-new release of Gentoo-based Calculate Linux 23.
Source: LXer – Calculate Linux 23: Updated Desktop Environments and New Tools
Ukrainian developer GSC Game World released the first game in its S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, Shadow of Chernobyl, way back in 2007. Reviews came pouring in not long after its release touting the survival horror game’s excellence. Fans of the series should get excited because there’s finally a new gameplay trailer for the title, which even gives
Source: Hot Hardware – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart Of Chornobyl 4K Trailer Teases Nail-Biting Open World Gameplay
The proposal has angered many of Japan’s neighbors, particularly those with the most direct experience of unexpected exposure to dangerous levels of radiation. From a report: Every day at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, officials flush over a hundred tons of water through its corroded reactors to keep them cool after the calamitous meltdown of 2011. Then the highly radioactive water is pumped into hundreds of white and blue storage tanks that form a mazelike array around the plant. For the last decade, that’s where the water has stayed. But with more than 1.3 million tons in the tanks, Japan is running out of room. So next year in spring, it plans to begin releasing the water into the Pacific after treatment for most radioactive particles, as has been done elsewhere. The Japanese government, saying there is no feasible alternative, has pledged to carry out the release with close attention to safety standards. The plan has been endorsed by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
But the approach is increasingly alarming Japan’s neighbors. Those in the South Pacific, who have suffered for decades from the fallout of a U.S. nuclear test in the Marshall Islands, are particularly skeptical of the promises of safety. Last month, a group representing more than a dozen countries in the Pacific, including Australia and the Marshall Islands, urged Tokyo to defer the wastewater releases. Now, Japan is poised to forge ahead even as it risks alienating a region it has tried in recent years to cultivate. Nuclear testing in the Pacific “was shrouded in this veil of lies,” said Bedi Racule, an antinuclear activist from the Marshall Islands. “The trust is really not there.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – In the Pacific, Outcry Over Japan’s Plan To Release Fukushima Wastewater
James Cameron has been everywhere lately, promoting Avatar: The Way of Water—now his latest billion-dollar blockbuster. But if you aren’t completely tired of hearing him deliver headline-grabbing soundbites, head over to Empire to read a new interview, which uses the fun gimmick of getting other famous people to ask…
Source: Gizmodo – James Cameron Is Just Fine With Only Making Avatar Movies Going Forward
Traditionally speaking, Pokémon has been a fairly linear game where you proceed from area to area after overcoming the challenges in each zone. The latest titles in the series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, broke that mold and took the franchise in an open world direction. Of course, Pokémon wasn’t the only series to go open world this year.
Source: Hot Hardware – See Pokémon Scarlet As Never Before In This Wild Elden Ring Mod
Google has agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who accused the company earlier this year of “deceiving users and invading their privacy.” Google has also agreed to change some of its practices, primarily concerning how it informs users about collecting, storing and using their location data.
“Google leads consumers to believe that consumers are in control of whether Google collects and retains information about their location and how that information is used,” the complaint, which Racine filed in January, read. “In reality, consumers who use Google products cannot prevent Google from collecting, storing and profiting from their location.”
Racine’s office also accused Google of employing “dark patterns,” which are design choices intended to deceive users into carrying out actions that don’t benefit them. Specifically, the AG’s office claimed that Google repeatedly prompted users to switch in location tracking in certain apps and informed them that certain features wouldn’t work properly if location tracking wasn’t on. Racine and his team found that location data wasn’t even needed for the app in question. They asserted that Google made it “impossible for users to opt out of having their location tracked.”
The $9.5 million payment is a paltry one for Google. Last quarter, it took parent company Alphabet under 20 minutes to make that much in revenue. The changes that the company will make to its practices as part of the settlement may have a bigger impact.
Folks who currently have certain location settings on will receive notifications telling them how they can disable each setting, delete the associated data and limit how long Google can keep that information. Users who set up a new Google account will be informed which location-related account settings are on by default and offered the chance to opt out.
Google will need to maintain a webpage that details its location data practices and policies. This will include ways for users to access their location settings and details about how each setting impacts Google’s collection, retention or use of location data.
Moreover, Google will be prevented from sharing a person’s precise location data with a third-party advertiser without the user’s explicit consent. The company will need to delete location data “that came from a device or from an IP address in web and app activity within 30 days” of obtaining the information
“Given the vast level of tracking and surveillance that technology companies can embed into their widely used products, it is only fair that consumers be informed of how important user data, including information about their every move, is gathered, tracked, and utilized by these companies,” Racine said in a statement. “Significantly, this resolution also provides users with the ability and choice to opt of being tracked, as well as restrict the manner in which user information may be shared with third parties.”
Engadget has contacted Google for comment.
Source: Engadget – Google will pay .5 million to settle Washington DC AG’s location-tracking lawsuit
A production version of the liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooling pot which was instrumental in the recent headline-making 9GHz Intel Raptor Lake overclocking achievements is now up for pre-order. An ElmorLabs Volcano LN2 Container can be yours for $250, with shipping expected to start from January 5, 2023.
It seems pricey, but this niche contraption
Source: Hot Hardware – You Can Preorder The Same LN2 Pot That Chilled Raptor Lake To A 9GHz World Record
HandBrake 1.6 adds long-anticipated AV1 video encoding support through the implementation of SVT-AV1 and Intel QSV AV1 video encoders.
The post HandBrake 1.6 Finally Brings AV1 Video Encoding appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – HandBrake 1.6 Finally Brings AV1 Video Encoding
Chinese police can set up “alarms” for various protest activities using a software platform provided by Hikvision, a major Chinese camera and surveillance manufacturer, the Guardian has learned. From the report: Descriptions of protest activity listed among the “alarms” include “gathering crowds to disrupt order in public places,” “unlawful assembly, procession, demonstration” and threats to “petition.” These activities are listed alongside offenses such as “gambling” or disruptive events such as “fire hazard” in technical documents available on Hikvision’s website and flagged to the Guardian by surveillance research firm IPVM, or Internet Protocol Video Market. The company’s website also included alarms for “religion” and “Falun Gong” — a spiritual movement banned in China and categorized as a cult by the government — until IPVM contacted the company.
The findings come a month after mass protests against the country’s zero-Covid policies erupted across China. Though the demonstrations resulted in the government easing restrictions, many protesters later received calls from police. The US government has long had its sights set on Hikvision. The company was placed on a commerce department blacklist that restricts the use of federal funds to purchase equipment manufactured by the firm as well as US exports to the surveillance firm for its complicity in human rights violations associated with China’s mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. In November, the Federal Communications Commission also introduced new rules that prohibited imports and sales of future Hikvision communications equipment in the US.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Police in China Can Track Protests By Enabling ‘Alarms’ on Hikvision Software
