It Will Be a Budget-Busting Star Wars Day With All the Best Lego Sets You Can Finally Buy in May

Once known for bringing flowers after April’s showers, May is now better known for May the Fourth, a.k.a. Star Wars day, when fans are encouraged to empty their pockets for even more merchandise—including eight new Star Wars sets debuting with the rest of all the new Lego sets that are finally available to purchase in…

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Source: Gizmodo – It Will Be a Budget-Busting Star Wars Day With All the Best Lego Sets You Can Finally Buy in May

Nuke-launching AI would be illegal under proposed US law

An AI-generated image of a nuclear mushroom cloud.

Enlarge / An AI-generated image of a nuclear mushroom cloud. (credit: Midjourney)

On Wednesday, US Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Representatives Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) announced bipartisan legislation that seeks to prevent an artificial intelligence system from making nuclear launch decisions. The Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act would prohibit the use of federal funds for launching any nuclear weapon by an automated system without “meaningful human control.”

“As we live in an increasingly digital age, we need to ensure that humans hold the power alone to command, control, and launch nuclear weapons—not robots,” Markey said in a news release. “That is why I am proud to introduce the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act. We need to keep humans in the loop on making life or death decisions to use deadly force, especially for our most dangerous weapons.”

The new bill builds on existing US Department of Defense policy, which states that in all cases, “the United States will maintain a human ‘in the loop’ for all actions critical to informing and executing decisions by the President to initiate and terminate nuclear weapon employment.”

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Source: Ars Technica – Nuke-launching AI would be illegal under proposed US law

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Inundated With Bad Steam Reviews, Giant Day One Patch

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is out today and facing tons of issues on PC. A torrent of negative Steam reviews complain about poor performance, while even fans who pre-loaded the game are waiting to install a giant 128 GB day-one update.

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Source: Kotaku – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Inundated With Bad Steam Reviews, Giant Day One Patch

Ex-Apple employee sentenced to three years in prison after $17 million fraud scheme

A former Apple employee who pled guilty to defrauding the company out of over $17 million has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains. Dhirendra Prasad, who primarily worked as a buyer in Apple’s Global Service Supply Chain department during his time at the company, admitted to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States in November. As iMore notes, two charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering were dismissed during sentencing.

Prasad joined Apple in 2008 and carried out his schemes between 2011 and 2018. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, he conspired with two vendors to conduct fraud against Apple by “taking kickbacks, stealing parts, inflating invoices and causing Apple to pay for items and services it never received.” Prasad is said to have used his insider knowledge of Apple’s fraud detection practices to avoid being caught for several years.

The government has already seized $5.5 million worth of assets from Prasad, who a judge ordered to pay an additional forfeiture money judgment of $8.1 million. On top of that sum and the $17.4 million Prasad has been told to give back to Apple, he was ordered to pay $1.9 million to the Internal Revenue Service — he conceded that he did not pay tax on the proceeds of his schemes. Following Prasad’s time in prison, he will have to serve three years of supervised release.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ex-apple-employee-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison-after-17-million-fraud-scheme-160225741.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Ex-Apple employee sentenced to three years in prison after million fraud scheme

Sony WH-CH720N review: Budget-friendly headphones with premium sound

Sony has a great track record when it comes to budget headphones. The company’s WH-CH710N were excellent, but overpriced initially. Sony made them an incredible value at $150 after it cut the price shortly after their debut in 2020. Great sound quality, capable ANC, good battery life and a comfy fit made the WH-CH710N a compelling, affordable alternative to the premium WH-1000XM3, which was the company’s flagship model at the time. Earlier this year, the company debuted the follow-up to that three-year-old set: the WH-CH720N.

On paper, the 2023 edition should keep Sony’s reputation for solid mid-range and budget headphones as alternatives to the pricey WH-1000XM5. The WH-CH720N houses the same V1 chip from the M5, which powers both active noise cancellation (ANC) and overall sound quality. There’s also an updated design and a lower price following another early cut ($130), but battery life remains the same at 35 hours. So, is the WH-CH720N another mid-range hit for Sony?

Let’s start with the design. The WH-CH720N takes cues from Sony’s more recent 1000X headphones and the WH-XB910N, primarily the headband and ear cup hinges. The outside of the ear cups are flatter and they’re just hard plastic – no soft-touch material here. Like previous mid-range Sony models, the WH-CH720N has physical controls with a power/pairing button on the left beside the USB-C charging port and 3.5mm jack. On the right side, there’s a dedicated noise canceling button that cycles between ANC and transparency mode. There’s also the typical three-button array with volume controls flanking the multi-function track and call button. That center control also summons your preferred voice assistant. While the buttons work reliably, the raised dash on the middle button is low, so it’s difficult to place your thumb quickly.

Like the WH-CH710N, this new model is supremely lightweight and comfy. I can easily wear these for hours at a time. There’s also ample cushioning in the ear pads and the headband hinge isn’t wound so tight it pinches my head. I liked a lot of what the 710N had to offer, but overall comfort was near the top of the list, so it’s great to see that Sony didn’t overlook this aspect when designing the follow-up version. The only real issue is that it uses a lot of plastic. While this helps keep the weight down, it also ensures the 720N look decidedly cheap.

The suite of features for the WH-CH720N inside the Sony Headphones app is where you’ll notice key differences from the WH-1000XM5. Most notably, the 720N doesn’t have Speak-to-Chat, a feature that automatically pauses audio when it detects you’re talking. Related, this new model also doesn’t have automatic pausing when you take them off your head.

Sony has been king of the headphone heap for a while with its 1000X line, but the company is staking its claim on the mid-range too. With the WH-CH720N, the company continues its track record of great sound quality and a comfy fit in a set of more affordable headphones. You’ll have to forgo some premium features, but there’s still plenty to like here.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Despite a few omissions, there are still some handy tools available. First, Adaptive Sound Control allows the app to automatically adjust settings based on your location or activity. This allows you to turn on ANC when you arrive at the office or activate transparency mode when you start a run, for example. Here, and in the general sound settings, you can specify a level of ambient sound and choose to pipe in voices while this mode is active.

Additionally, Sony offers an EQ slider for manual adjustments as well as a separate bass adjustment. There’s also a collection of audio presets if you’re in a hurry. 360 Reality Audio is available on the WH-CH720N (with a compatible streaming subscription) and the app gives you the option of DSEE upscaling to improve compressed content. The app also allows you to activate multipoint Bluetooth for two devices and a Safe Listening feature is there to help preserve your hearing.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the WH-CH710N was the overall sound quality. I was amazed at what Sony managed in a set of headphones that cost half as much as its flagship model. There was ample bass with an open soundstage and great clarity in the details. Thankfully, the WH-CH720N is more of the same. These headphones allow the subtleties of boygenius’ the record to shine, from the somber guitar effects to the quieter keyboard/organ parts of songs like “True Blue.” There are lots of more subdued parts on the record that you can easily pick up on. The fingerpicked acoustic guitar and banjo on “Cool About It” are also quite dynamic and textural.

Heavier, more chaotic genres fare just as well. Better Lovers’ gritty, thrashy metal track “30 Under 13” is quite a ride. Even the fastest, grindiest riffs are captured with surprising clarity. All the instruments stand on their own, and at no point do they become a smashed together mess. The dynamics of tracks like O’Brother’s “Halogen Eye” also come through well. There’s plenty of grainy, thick distortion on the verses and these headphones get every bit of that texture, in addition to reverb and other effects that create the band’s atmospheric, moody soundscape.

Lastly, on Nickel Creek’s Celebrants – a modern bluegrass record – the WH-CH720N allows you to feel like you’re in the room with the band. Helped in part by the positioning of the guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass in the mix, the headphones keep the sensation of sitting in on a private performance rather than simply listening to a recorded track.

Sony has been king of the headphone heap for a while with its 1000X line, but the company is staking its claim on the mid-range too. With the WH-CH720N, the company continues its track record of great sound quality and a comfy fit in a set of more affordable headphones. You’ll have to forgo some premium features, but there’s still plenty to like here.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

In terms of noise cancellation, I think the WH-CH720N are a slight step back from the 710N. The ANC will do just fine for you in most cases, especially with constant noise. However, these headphones really struggle with human voices, which doesn’t make them the best option if your primary aim is to block out a nearby phone call or chatty colleagues. Transparency mode offers a great natural sound that comes in especially handy when you’re taking video and voice calls. Speaking of calls, the 720N does a decent job blocking background noise and the overall audio quality makes you sound better than speakerphone and most earbuds. It’s not pristine, but it’s a cut above the status quo.

When it comes to battery life, Sony promises up to 35 hours with ANC on. During what I consider normal use – a mix of noise canceling and transparency mode for music and calls, plus powering off a few times overnight – the app showed 40 percent remaining after 28 hours. The Bluetooth menu in macOS backed this up. The company says you can expect up to 50 hours with ANC off, so my mixed-use trials were on par with that. Battery life estimates have never been a problem on Sony headphones and that’s not the case here either. Plus, 35 hours is on par with most flagship models these days, even if it’s the same figure as the previous model.

The WH-CH720N is a strong contender to replace the current budget pick in our best headphones guide, but if you need a solid alternative look to Audio-Technica. While the $79 M20xBT is our current low-cost selection, the M50xBT2 is a more apt comparison. The M50 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation, but they do have a more refined design, physical controls and warm, inviting sound. If you don’t need extra help blocking out distractions, they’re currently available for $199 – $69 more than the 720N. Sony introduced the WH-CH520 alongside the WH-CH720N, which could be an option if you’re really pinching pennies. This on-ear model doesn’t have ANC either, but it does have 50-hour battery life and multipoint connectivity alongside onboard controls. What’s more, they’re only $50.

Sony has managed to build another compelling set of affordable noise-canceling headphones without cutting too many corners. Sure, there are some premium features you’ll have to live without, but the WH-CH720N covers the basics well. Good sound quality with specific attention to finer details and ample bass is combined with a handy transparency mode and automatic sound profile switching. The noise cancellation does a decent job, but it’s not the best, and you’ll have to make do without automatic pausing. Still, for well under $150, you’d be hard pressed to find a better option at this price.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-wh-ch720n-review-160032871.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Sony WH-CH720N review: Budget-friendly headphones with premium sound

Many Public Salesforce Sites are Leaking Private Data

A shocking number of organizations — including banks and healthcare providers — are leaking private and sensitive information from their public Salesforce Community websites, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. From the report: The data exposures all stem from a misconfiguration in Salesforce Community that allows an unauthenticated user to access records that should only be available after logging in. Salesforce Community is a widely-used cloud-based software product that makes it easy for organizations to quickly create websites. Customers can access a Salesforce Community website in two ways: Authenticated access (requiring login), and guest user access (no login required). The guest access feature allows unauthenticated users to view specific content and resources without needing to log in.

However, sometimes Salesforce administrators mistakenly grant guest users access to internal resources, which can cause unauthorized users to access an organization’s private information and lead to potential data leaks. Until being contacted by this reporter on Monday, the state of Vermont had at least five separate Salesforce Community sites that allowed guest access to sensitive data, including a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that exposed the applicant’s full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, email, and bank account number.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Many Public Salesforce Sites are Leaking Private Data

Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Bought a Robot Vacuum

I love my Roomba, and I hate my Roomba. The endearing little beeps and boops, the hypnotic but inexplicable path it takes across my floor, the possibility of training woodland animals to ride it across the floor…there’s a lot to like. But, three years into its use, I have some bones to pick. Here are all the things…

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Source: LifeHacker – Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Bought a Robot Vacuum

Daimler is setting up a $650 million charging network for commercial EVs

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Source: Ars Technica – Daimler is setting up a 0 million charging network for commercial EVs

Intel Reports Q1 2023 Earnings: A Record Losing Quarter Goes Better Than Expected

Kicking off our coverage of the first earnings season of the year for the tech industry, we as always start with Intel. The blue-hued blue-chip is the first out of the gate to report their results for the first quarter of 2023, with Intel picking up the pieces after a rough end to 2023, and a rather painful start to 2023. With revenue down on a yearly basis almost across the entire board thanks to a major, industry wide slump in client and server sales, Intel’s focus has been on battening down the hatches to weather this rough period, while preparing for an eventual (if modest) upturn in the market later this year.

For the first quarter of 2023, Intel booked $11.7B in revenue, a precipitous 36% drop from the year-ago quarter. As was the case in Q4, Intel is in the midst of a major industry slump, which has hit revenues hard and operating/net incomes even harder. Intel closed the quarter in the red on an operating income basis, losing $1.5B, and the company’s overall net loss was a staggering $2.8B on a GAAP basis.



Source: AnandTech – Intel Reports Q1 2023 Earnings: A Record Losing Quarter Goes Better Than Expected

Old smartphones should be usable as single-board computers, just as this one is

Samsung Galaxy S7

Enlarge (credit: Ron Amadeo)

David Hamp-Gonsalves had two things quite a few people have these days: old phones lying around and a slowly building desire to get another Raspberry Pi for a quirky personal project.

The project this time was a personal music streaming server (detailed in full on GitHub). While Pi inventories are slowly improving, they’re still not quite what they were, as a glance at rpilocator shows. What is far more readily available is the old Samsung Galaxy S7 phone in your drawer. Hamp-Gonsalves had one with a broken charging port, and a friend had another one with a bad battery, and one transplant later, he had a test model.

You can read David’s full post for the details (which we first saw at Hackaday). The gist is that he tried three solutions, with varying degrees of fiddling and success, to get the Navidrome personal music service running:

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Source: Ars Technica – Old smartphones should be usable as single-board computers, just as this one is

Researchers Make A Seismic Martian Discovery That Shakes Mars To Its Core

Researchers Make A Seismic Martian Discovery That Shakes Mars To Its Core
Researchers detected two separate quakes that shook the Red Planet to its core. The seismic waves were detected in 2021 by NASA’s InSight mission, and were the first ever identified to actually enter another planet’s core.

The massive quakes were outlined in a new research paper published earlier this week in the Proceeding of the National

Source: Hot Hardware – Researchers Make A Seismic Martian Discovery That Shakes Mars To Its Core

Microsoft is Done With Major Windows 10 Updates

Windows 10 22H2 will be the final version of the operating system, Microsoft said in a blog post on Thursday. From a report: Moving forward, all editions of Windows 10 will be supported with monthly security updates until October 14th, 2025, when Microsoft will end support. (Some releases on the Long-Term Servicing Channel, or LTSC, will get updates past that end of support date.) Microsoft is encouraging users to now transition to Windows 11 because Windows 10 won’t be getting any new features.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Microsoft is Done With Major Windows 10 Updates

Comics Publisher IDW Hit By Massive Layoffs

IDW, generally considered the fifth-largest comic book publisher, has laid off 39% of its workforce this week. Editorial has also been gutted, and “half” remain. This move was done in an effort to “preserve capital, and put the Company in the strongest position possible to unlock value from its assets, including its…

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Source: Gizmodo – Comics Publisher IDW Hit By Massive Layoffs

Get a Free Sandwich From Dave's Hot Chicken

Dave’s Hot Chicken started as a single popup in a Los Angeles parking lot in 2017. Today, it’s in 20 states and Washington D.C., and it’s on track to be the fastest-growing chain after opening its 100th location in Brooklyn, NY, with 14 more to open in Queens and Long Island over the next five years. In celebration…

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Source: LifeHacker – Get a Free Sandwich From Dave’s Hot Chicken

The Toughest Gym Leaders In Each Pokémon Game

Gym leaders in the Pokémon games are often touted as these great challenges trainers will have to face on their journey, but in a lot of cases, it’s a simple game of Rock Paper Scissors to weaken each gym’s signature Pokémon type. Because most of them are simple affairs, when a gym leader sticks out as a challenge,…

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Source: Kotaku – The Toughest Gym Leaders In Each Pokémon Game

Intel loses $2.8 billion in another not-great quarter, down 36% year over year

Intel's flagship desktop CPU, the Core i9-13900K.

Enlarge / Intel’s flagship desktop CPU, the Core i9-13900K. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Intel has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2023, and the numbers aren’t good: The company brought in $11.7 billion, a drop of 36 percent from Q1 of 2022. Because of the decline in revenue, Intel lost $2.8 billion, the biggest loss in the company’s history. Intel’s two biggest divisions—its client computing group that sells products made for end users and its data center group that sells server products—were down 38 and 39 percent, respectively.

If there’s any kind of silver lining for Intel in the earnings report, it’s that the company did slightly better than it expected to do this quarter; three months ago, Intel predicted revenues of 10.5 to 11.5 billion for Q1.

The company has instituted layoffs and has cut pay for managers and executives to help stem losses. It has also canceled some product lineups recently, like its Blockscale series of Bitcoin-mining ASICs.

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Source: Ars Technica – Intel loses .8 billion in another not-great quarter, down 36% year over year

Razer Blade 16 review: A miraculous display in a laptop you can probably skip

The Razer Blade 16 is one of the most unique laptops we’ve ever seen – I just wish I could recommend it as easily as the Blade 15. It can handle 4K gaming just as well as high-speed 1080p gameplay, thanks to a dual-mode screen. And it’s one of the fastest notebooks around, featuring Intel’s latest CPUs and NVIDIA’s newest GPUs. And notably, it can be configured with an RTX 4090.

But all of that comes at a cost. It’s noticeably heavier than the Blade 15, and you’ll have to pay at least $3,300 to own one with the dual-mode display. It’s like Razer put another Razer tax on top of its already high prices.

For some, though, the cost will be worth it. The Blade 16’s MiniLED display can natively handle 4K+ 120Hz (meaning it can show up to 120fps gameplay), and 1080p+ 240Hz. You could always configure a 4K panel to scale down to 1080p or lower resolutions, but that usually leads to a muddy mess, and 4K screens are typically limited to 120Hz at best. What’s special about the Blade 16 is that it delivers those resolutions as sharply as standalone monitors.

According to Razer, the Blade 16’s dual-mode MiniLED technology was developed together with the display maker AUO. The screen is natively a 4K+ 240Hz panel that can sync pixels together to accurately scale down to 1080p, something that looks far better than typical downscaling. Razer says there’s no mobile GPU or data pipeline that can effectively deliver 4K at 240Hz, so that refresh rate is only possible in 1080p. (It’s still rare to find 4K 240Hz on desktop monitors, and even a 4090 would have trouble hitting 240fps at that resolution.)

Previously, you’d have to choose between a 4K screen with a much lower refresh rate, or a faster 1080p or 1,440p display. The Blade 16 lets you have your gaming cake and eat it too. The only downside is that switching between those two modes requires a complete reboot. Given how miraculous technology seems, though, I don’t think that’s a huge problem. If you care more about resolution, stick with the 4K 120Hz mode until you need to dive into some fast-paced competitive gaming.

Maybe instead of thinking of the Blade 16 as a slight upgrade from the 15-inch model, it’s better to think of it as a shrunken down Blade 17. That’s another massive and expensive computer, but potential buyers are likely aware of its downsides. More importantly, the Blade 17 was the fastest Razer laptop for years — now that title belongs to the Blade 16 and the new Blade 18.

Razer Blade 16 dual mode monitor option
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Both of these laptops feature Intel’s 13th-gen mobile CPUs, as well as NVIDIA’s more powerful RTX 4080 and 4090 GPUs. This is the first time we’ve seen NVIDIA’s 90-series hardware on any notebook, so that alone is sure to be a hook for power hungry gamers. Strangely, though, Razer’s dual-mode display is only available on the Blade 16 — the tech likely isn’t there yet to make it happen on the bigger computer.

In practice, the Blade 16 excelled at both 4K and 1080p gaming. Cyberpunk 2077 and Halo Infinite looked absolutely crisp in 4K with their graphics and ray tracing settings maxed out. Both games also looked far brighter than I’ve ever seen on a laptop thanks to the MiniLED panel. That’s particularly useful for bright HDR highlights, something most notebooks and monitors handle poorly.

None

PCMark 10

3DMark (TimeSpy Extreme)

Geekbench 5

Cinebench R23

Razer Blade 16 (Intel i9-13950HX, NVIDIA RTX 4090)

7,364

8,667

1,943/18,227

2,024/15,620

Razer Blade 18 (Intel i9-13950HX, NVIDIA RTX 4060)

7,326

5,009

1,980/13,658

1,900/15,442

Razer Blade 15 (2022, Intel i7-12800H, NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti)

7,085

4,798

1,795/9,529

1,661/10,464

ASUS Zephyrus G14 (2022, AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, Radeon RX 6800S)

7,170

3,821

1,543/9,839

1,521/12,212

Given the sheer power of the RTX 4090 in our review unit, the Blade 16 was also able to play games in 4K well beyond 60fps. Depending on your graphics settings, you may even be able to reach 120fps to fully max out its screen. Halo Infinite hit a very playable 80fps with ultra graphics settings, while Cyberpunk 2077 hit 70fps with Ultra ray tracing settings thanks to DLSS 3.

Not surprisingly, the Blade 16 had no issue getting above 200fps in Halo Infinite and Overwatch 2 when I flipped over to 1080p mode. Personally, I’ve never really seen the point of gaming screens beyond 120Hz — I just can’t really perceive much of a difference by bumping up to 144 or 240Hz. But after switching between the Blade 16’s various modes, I noticed that I played better as I approached 200fps — I hit headshots more regularly, and I was faster to react whenever enemies popped up. Maybe it was just luck, or me feeling more comfortable over time — or maybe those extra frames actually helped.

As much as I enjoyed the Blade 16’s gorgeous display and incredible performance, I didn’t love lugging it around my house or hauling it in a bookbag. It weighs 5.4 pounds, a full pound heavier than the Blade 15. Now that might not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference for portability. Living with the Blade 15 was no different than most other 15-inch notebooks, but the Blade 16 feels noticeably bulkier.

Razer Blade 16 overhead view of the keyboard

But again, maybe I should be judging it against the Blade 17 instead, which weighed a little over 6 pounds. When compared to that, the Blade 16 seems like a remarkable engineering feat. That’s not the way most people think of 16-inch notebooks though: The MacBook Pro 16 replaced the 15-inch model, and many other laptop makers are following suit with their larger notebooks.

On the non-gaming front, the Blade 16 also excelled at everything I threw at it. Scrolling through websites and documents was a dream, thanks to that high refresh rate screen. And while it doesn’t include a mechanical keyboard like Alienware and other competitors, the Blade 16’s typing experience was solid. The trackpad is also far larger than the Blade 15’s, but it’s just as smooth and responsive. And you can actually expect to do a decent amount of work before recharging: In PCMark 10’s battery benchmark, it lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes, two hours more than the Blade 18. It also has every port you’d want: three USB 3.0 Type A connections (two on the left side, one on the right), HDMI, two USB-C ports (one of which supports Thunderbolt 4) and a microSD card slot.

Razer Blade 16 USB ports and SD card slot
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

As I spent time with the Blade 16, I couldn’t help but ask myself: Is it really worth spending more for a dual-mode screen, when fast 1,440p laptops are becoming increasingly affordable? Personally, I think that resolution sits at a sweet spot between delivering more pixels than 1080p, but also achieving faster refresh rates than any 4K panel. For most people, a 1,440p laptop (like the Zephyrus G14) simply makes more sense – especially when you can find them for $1,000 (or more) less than the Blade 16.

Given its added heft, as well as its higher $2,700 starting price (with an RTX 4060), I can’t recommend the Blade 16 to most buyers – not when the Blade 15 is still around and starts at $2,000 with a 3070 Ti. If you want the 4060, be prepared to shell out another $500. And if you’re mainly intrigued by the dual-mode display on the Blade 16, that costs $3,300 with an RTX 4070. Honestly, that’s a ridiculously high price for a laptop with that GPU. Our review unit cost a whopping $4,300 with the Core i9-13950HX, RTX 4090, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.

But, just like much of Apple’s hardware, the Razer tax may be something we have to pay for innovation. The Blade 16’s dual-mode screen is one of the most remarkable things I’ve seen in a gaming laptop lately – but for most shoppers, the Blade 15 will be far more practical.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razer-blade-16-review-4k-1080p-miniled-screen-151100229.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Razer Blade 16 review: A miraculous display in a laptop you can probably skip

What the US needs for future nuclear power tech to get off the ground

Image of a row of white tanks connected by support infrastructure.

Enlarge / The next generation of reactors may be small and modular and use different coolants. (credit: Getty Images)

“The race against climate change is both a marathon and a sprint,” declares a new report from the US National Academies of Science. While we have to start decarbonizing immediately with the tech we have now—the sprint—the process will go on for decades, during which technology that’s still in development could potentially play a critical role.

The technology at issue in the report is a new generation of nuclear reactors based on different technology; they’re smaller and easier to build, and they could potentially use different coolants. The next generation of designs is intended to avoid the delays and cost overruns that are crippling attempts to build additional reactors both here and overseas. But their performance in the real world will remain an unknown until next decade at the earliest, placing them squarely in the “marathon” portion of the race.

The new report focuses on what the US should do to ensure that the new generation of designs has a chance to be evaluated on its merits.

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Source: Ars Technica – What the US needs for future nuclear power tech to get off the ground