Team Fortress 2 has now been with us for over 15 years, and for some reason, developer Valve just decided to jack the maximum number of players who can join a server at once up to 100. Valve doesn’t actually recommend you play with that many people, and warns that the game doesn’t properly support that many players,…
Source: Kotaku – Chaos Erupts As Team Fortress 2 Jacks Player Count Up To 100
The RokBlok 2.0 is a wireless portable record player that you can use almost anywhere, and it’s on sale for $89.99. This novel little record player made its debut on Shark Tank and makes a great gift for music lovers: It’s compact, portable, and can play 33 ⅓ and 45 RPM records, including EPs, LPs, and singles. It…
Source: LifeHacker – This Clever, Portable Record Player Is Right Now
Apple’s increasing use of “serialization,” which pairs hardware components with the logic board using proprietary software locks, is making simple repairs on devices like iPads and iPhones harder and more expensive. In a recent Forbes article, a repair expert claims the Apple Pencil won’t work properly on the iPad Pro if the display is replaced with a non-genuine Apple part, or even a screen from another iPad. From the report: This has now been extended to the displays of fifth and sixth generations of the iPad Pro 12.9-inch and third and fourth generation 11-inch tablets, repair expert Ricky Panesar, founder of iCorrect.co.uk, told me. While repairing a customer’s device, Panesar found that the Apple Pencil wasn’t delivering straight lines when the iPad display was replaced with a screen from another Apple iPad. “We found with the newer versions of the iPad that when you put a new screen on, even if it’s taken from another iPad, the pencil strokes don’t work perfectly.” Panesar explained to me.
“They have a memory chip that sits on the screen that’s programmed to only allow the Pencil functionality to work if the screen is connected to the original logic board.” He continued. In practice, Panesar found that lines drawn on the replaced display (Panesar says he doesn’t use aftermarket parts for repairs) with the Apple Pencil aren’t completely straight. He demoed this in the video [here]. Panesar isn’t the only person to discover this, a Reddit post from May complained about the same issue. The poster claimed to have bought a sixth generation iPad Mini from a reseller, which is having the same squiggly line problem. Commenters pointed out that the issue is likely related to serialization and linked to Panesar’s video.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Apple ‘Punishing’ iPad Pro Buyers With New Pencil Software Lockdown
Google’s earthquake warning system for Android is supposed to provide notices in time to reach safety, but that might not have happened following the quake in Turkey on February 6th. BBC investigators claim that none of the hundreds of people they talked to in three Turkish cities received an alert before the first tremor hit. Only a “limited number” got an alert for a second tremor, investigators say.
We’ve asked Google for comment. Product lead Micah Berman tells the BBC millions of people in Turkey received earthquake alerts, although the company hasn’t shared data indicating widespread notifications. Google did show a handful of social media posts from people who said they received a warning, but only one was for the first quake. Berman says he doesn’t have a “resounding answer” as to why social networks were quiet about alerts, but does note the nature of a quake and the reliability of internet access can affect the system.
The Android Earthquake Alert System uses the accelerometer (that is, motion sensing) in phones to effectively crowdsource warnings. If many phones vibrate at the same time, Google can use the collective data to find the epicenter and magnitude of the quake, automatically sending a warning to people who are likely to feel the brunt of the shaking. While there’s no more than a minute’s notice, that can be enough time to find cover or evacuate. The technology can theoretically help people in areas where conventional warnings are unavailable.
The concern is that the system might have failed during a strong (7.8-magnitude) earthquake. Even if it worked, it’s not clear how many people should and do receive warnings in cases like this, not to mention milder incidents. Without more data, it’s not certain that Android’s quake alerts are reliable substitutes for traditional warnings over radio and TV.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/androids-earthquake-warning-system-failed-in-turkey-according-to-the-bbc-210612253.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Android’s earthquake warning system failed in Turkey, according to the BBC
Rachel Smythe is now on hiatus, but she had one important stop to make before her break: San Diego Comic-Con, where she was a special guest and was also awarded her second Eisner for her hit Webtoon series Lore Olympus.
Source: Gizmodo – Lore Olympus Creator Rachel Smythe on the Big Wedding—and More
Twisted Metal is an adaptation of a 1995 PlayStation video games series that you probably remember, provided you were between the ages of 10 and 16 at the time. Within the universe of the game, Twisted Metal is the name of an annual vehicular combat tournament hosted by a man named Calypso, in which combatants in …
Source: LifeHacker – Where to Watch ‘Twisted Metal’ (and What You Should Know About It)
Micron just put out a press release crowing about its latest achievement: 8-high HBM3 Gen2 memory stacks with up to 24GB of capacity and a 50% improvement in per-pin transfer rate over extant HBM3. That raises the data rate to 9.2 Gbps, which sounds low until you realize that we’re talking about massively-parallel devices with a 1024-bit interface.
This
Source: Hot Hardware – Micron Claims World’s Fastest HBM3, Teases DDR5 Chips That Could Support 1TB Modules
Learn how to install Nvidia Drivers on AlmaLinux by utilizing the Nvidia RPM repository, which carries the most recent builds for Enterprise Linux 8 or 9.
Source: LXer – How to Install Nvidia Drivers on AlmaLinux
This afternoon AMD announced the availability of the HIP SDK for Microsoft Windows as a portion of their ROCm computing platform with support for various professional and consumer GPUs…
Source: Phoronix – AMD Releases HIP SDK For Windows
schwit1 shares a report from CNBC: Meta reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and said that its Reality Labs unit, which develops virtual reality and augmented reality technologies needed to power the metaverse, logged a $3.7 billion operating loss. Last year, Meta’s Reality Labs unit lost a total of $13.7 billion while bringing in $2.16 billion in revenue, which is driven in part by the company’s sales of Quest-branded VR headsets. Reality Labs lost $3.99 billion during the first quarter. That puts its total losses at about $21.3 billion since the beginning of last year.
Meta said in its earnings report that it expects operating losses in its Reality Labs unit “to increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in augmented reality/virtual reality and investments to further scale our ecosystem.” Despite Reality Labs’ operating loss, Meta reported revenue of $32 billion for its quarter ending in June, an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. “The company reported profits of $7.79 billion for the quarter, a 16% increase compared to last year, also beating analysts’ estimates,” adds CNN.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Meta’s Reality Labs Has Lost More Than Billion Since the Start of 2022
If you want to produce copy for your small business or personal landing page, this Wordplay AI Content Generator is on sale for $99.99. WordPlay has a guided mode that can generate full-length articles from an outline and a few basic questions, and its headline mode can generate an article based on a headline and…
Source: LifeHacker – This AI Content Creation Tool Is 0 Right Now
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)
A US senator is calling on the Justice Department to hold Microsoft responsible for “negligent cybersecurity practices” that enabled Chinese espionage hackers to steal hundreds of thousands of emails from cloud customers, including officials in the US Departments of State and Commerce.
“Holding Microsoft responsible for its negligence will require a whole-of-government effort,” Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a letter. It was sent on Thursday to the heads of the Justice Department, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Wyden’s remarks echo those of other critics who say Microsoft is withholding key details about a recent hack. In disclosures involving the incident so far, Microsoft has bent over backwards to avoid saying its infrastructure—including the Azure Active Directory, a supposedly fortified part of Microsoft’s cloud offerings that large organizations use to manage single sign-on and multifactor authentication—was breached. The critics have said that details Microsoft has disclosed so far lead to the inescapable conclusion that vulnerabilities in code for Azure AD and other cloud offerings were exploited to pull off the successful hack.
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Source: Ars Technica – US senator blasts Microsoft for “negligent cybersecurity practices”
X (formerly Twitter) continues to struggle to keep advertisers on board, and the brands that have stuck around are seeing ads show up in unexpected places. As reported by Media Matters, brands such as Honeywell, Discovery, Showtime and USA Today are having their ads placed alongside tweets from The National Socialist Network account, a neo-Nazi group that actively advocates for violence and terrorism. A job recruitment ad for the U.S. Border Patrol also appeared on the page.
It’s clear that not only is X still allowing hate groups to exist on the platform, it’s allowing them to monetize their tweets. The National Socialist Group’s leader Thomas Sewell was found guilty of “recklessly causing injury and array” following a 2021 attack. Other members of the group have pleaded guilty to “possessing documents and records of information for terrorist acts.” Yet, the group’s Twitter account is still active.
Media Matters also reports that the account joined shortly after owner Elon Musk purchased Twitter. It has been “verified since July 2023,” and according to Musk, all verified accounts are eligible to receive a share of ad revenue on the platform.
Earlier this week, Twitter started slashing new ad booking prices by 50 percent through the end of the month. The company says that the discount is necessary to allow advertisers to “gain reach during crucial moments” such as sporting events. Twitter was also asking brands to spend at least $1,000 per month on ads or verification in order to retain their verified badge on the platform.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-placed-ads-from-discovery-showtime-and-usa-today-on-a-neo-nazi-account-202133800.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – X placed ads from Discovery, Showtime and USA Today on a neo-Nazi account
Whipping up a batch of BLTs or umami-packed burgers calls for a hefty portion of bacon. And not just any bacon, but the flat, crispy kind you can layer, and that stays put. Here’s how to avoid making soft, chewy bacon that pulls out of the sandwich on the first bite.
Source: LifeHacker – The Best Way to Make Flatter, Crispier Bacon for Sandwiches and Burgers
Try walking outside on a midsummer day in New York City. You’re sweating buckets. You can smell garbage rotting by the side of the road. The sunlight and heat seem to reflect from the steaming pavement, which is so hot to the touch it burns your skin.
Source: Gizmodo – 41 Million Americans Are Simmering on Urban Heat Islands
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: When Google announced that trackers would be able to tie in to its 3 billion-device Bluetooth tracking network at its Google I/O 2023 conference, it also said that it would make it easier for people to avoid being tracked by trackers they don’t know about, like Apple AirTags. Now Android users will soon get these “Unknown Tracker Alerts.” Based on the joint specification developed by Google and Apple, and incorporating feedback from tracker-makers like Tile and Chipolo, the alerts currently work only with AirTags, but Google says it will work with tag manufacturers to expand its coverage.
For now, if an AirTag you don’t own “is separated from its owner and determined to be traveling with you,” a notification will tell you this and that “the owner of the tracker can see its location.” Tapping the notification brings up a map tracing back to where it was first seen traveling with you. Google notes that this location data “is always encrypted and never shared with Google.” Further into the prompts, you can make the tracker play a sound, “without the owner of the tracker knowing,” Google says. If you bring the tracker to the back of your phone (presumably within NFC range), some trackers may provide their serial number and information about their owner, “like the last four digits of their phone number.” Google indicates it will also link to information about how to physically disable a tracker. Finally, Google is offering a manual scan feature, if you’re suspicious that your Android phone isn’t catching a tracker or want to see what’s nearby. The alerts are rolling out through a Google Play services update to devices on Android 6.0 and above over the coming weeks. Google is working to finish the joint tracking specification “by the end of this year.”
The company added: “At this time, we’ve made the decision to hold the rollout of the Find My Device network until Apple has implemented protections for iOS.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Android Phones Can Now Tell You If There’s an AirTag Following You
What We Do in the Shadows is back for season five, and the hilarious vampire sitcom is funnier and weirder than ever. In honor of all the quirky vampires out there and those of us who love them, I’ve got 21 tabletop roleplaying games to recommend.
Source: Gizmodo – Tabletop Games for All the Vampires Hiding in the Shadows
I am not what anyone would call “organized.” I don’t have a planner, I rarely write in the hundreds of notebooks I’ve accumulated over the years, and I do not meal plan, even though it would greatly benefit me to do so. Instead, I float through life, eating meals comprised of whatever happens to be in my fridge and…
Source: LifeHacker – The Sous-Vide Circulator Is a Forgetful Cook’s Best Friend
On Thursday, the Artifact news app announced it was adding speech-to-text features that will allow users to listen to articles with an AI voice powered by Speechify. The update should be available free for all iOS users, and the feature should be out on Android sometime in the near future.
Source: Gizmodo – Artifact’s App Forces an AI Snoop Dogg to Read the News to You
