Well, the Microsoft purchase of Activision-Blizzard-King has finally closed, and we’re now observing what may well be the the first knock-on effect of the acquisition. Anyone who didn’t expect major ripple effects from the purchase hasn’t been paying attention to the actions of Microsoft’s previous acquisitions, like Bethesda Game Studios.
In
Source: Hot Hardware – Microsoft Jacks Up Some Activision Game Prices As Much As 2402% On Steam
It’s been a tumultuous decade but Rick Riordan is finally all in again on Percy Jackson and Hollywood. The creator of the popular book franchise was famously unimpressed about how Fox treated his characters with its two movie adaptations, 2010’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and 2013’s Percy…
Source: Gizmodo – Percy Jackson’s Creator Is Way More Excited About the Series Than the Movies
In this tutorial, learn how to install Memcached on Debian 12 Bookworm with two methods: APT or by downloading and compiling the source for the latest version.
The post How to Install Memcached on Debian 12 Bookworm appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – How to Install Memcached on Debian 12 Bookworm
A sweeping analysis of European and Asian genomes over the last 40,000 years reveals when and how some genetic exchange occurred between Homo sapiens and our closest cousins, Homo neanderthalensis. It also shows how the Neanderthals’ genetic footprint depended on later exchanges between members of our own species.
Source: Gizmodo – New Study Explores Why Some People Have So Much Neanderthal DNA
YouTube introduced a dedicated news-watching experience to help viewers across 40 countries find the latest stories from reputable sources, the company announced on Wednesday. The aim is to make reliable news more readily accessible with two added features including a watch page and a “Shorts Innovation Program.”
Source: Gizmodo – YouTube Launches What It Claims Is an ‘Authoritative News’ Hub
Google is making a few changes to the way its search and address bar — known as the omnibox — works in the Chrome browser. The changes are individually pretty small, but there’s an important and somewhat unexpected trend in them all: Google is making it easier for you to move around the web without having to do so many Google searches. From a report: If you’re in Chrome on desktop or mobile, the browser will now try and correct your URL typos, so when you type thevrege.com or ninteendo.com, you’ll get autocomplete suggestions based on the right site and not whatever is behind those misspelled domains. The omnibox’s autocomplete will now be smarter in general, predicting the site you’re looking for based on keywords rather than just guessing what URL you’re typing. Chrome can also now search within your bookmarks for sites and files related to what you’re typing.
All those features are based on your own browsing history and bookmarks, so it’s just Chrome becoming slightly more personalized. But the last change is web-wide and is pretty off-brand for Google: when you start to type in the name of a popular website, the omnibox will show that site’s URL in the list of suggestions, and you can select it to go right to that site. (You might have seen this one already: it’s been rolling out for a couple of weeks and should be live to everyone now.)
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google is Tweaking Chrome’s Search Bar To Make It Easier To Navigate the Web
This Gemelli Home pizza oven makes a great gift, and it’s on sale right now now for $399.97 (reg. $599.99). The pizza oven has six presets and a viewing window, and it mimics the heat distribution of a traditional brick oven. You can control each dual heating element between 170º F and 750º F, while the oven’s outer…
Source: LifeHacker – This Gemelli Pizza Oven Is 0 Off Right Now
The Internal Revenue Service will offer a pilot run of its free, electronic tax filing service, called Direct File, in thirteen states for the 2024 tax season.
Source: Gizmodo – The IRS Comes for TurboTax With Free ‘Direct File’ Service in 13 States Next Year
A change of routine when you need to work or study is a good thing. Hell, I’ve even recommended changing your clothes to get into study mode. The more traditional approach to shaking things up is heading to a coffee shop to get stuff done, but there are a few things you should keep in mind when selecting one (besides…
Source: LifeHacker – The Two Things You Need in a Coffee Shop to Actually Get Work Done
Enlarge / The ThinkPad P1 showing off its ThinkPad branding. (credit: Lenovo)
Today’s Dealmaster ranges from Lenovo laptops to Lego toys. As we head into the holiday shopping season, our list of deals includes popular tech favorites like Anker chargers, Apple AirTag trackers, LG OLED TVs, and Lenovo mobile workstations. Or, for a fun and whimsical gift, check out Lego’s Advent calendar to unwrap a small surprise each day.
Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.
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Source: Ars Technica – Dealmaster: Lenovo deals, sales on charging solutions, and more
Enlarge (credit: Steven Puetzer | The Image Bank)
X has confirmed a Fortune report revealing that the platform formerly known as Twitter has begun charging a $1 annual fee to new users in New Zealand and the Philippines. Unless new users in these locations cough up the dollar, they’ll be blocked from accessing basic platform features, including posting, replying, or quoting posts.
The new fee kicked in yesterday, X Support posted on X.
“Starting today, we’re testing a new program (Not-a-Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines,” X Support said. “New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post and interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Elon Musk launches test to see if users are willing to pay a year for X
Acceptable levels of “forever chemicals” in drinking water should be reduced tenfold and a new national chemicals agency created to protect public health, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has told the UK government. From a report: The chartered body wants to see a reduction in the cap on levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in tap water. PFAS are a family of about 10,000 widely used chemicals that do not break down easily in the environment. Some have been linked to cancers, liver and thyroid disease, immune and fertility problems, and developmental defects in unborn children.
The current limit in UK drinking water, which is a guideline and not a statutory cap, is 100 nanograms a litre for individual PFAS. The RSC wants this reduced to 10ng/l and a new overall limit introduced of 100ng/l for a wider range of PFAS in drinking water. “In the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s (DWI) own words, levels above 10ng/l pose a medium or high risk to public health,” said Stephanie Metzger, a policy adviser at the RSC. “We’re seeing more studies that link PFAS to a range of very serious medical conditions, and so we urgently need a new approach for the sake of public health.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Scientists Call on Ministers To Cut Limits For ‘Forever Chemicals’ in UK Tap Water
Last year, NVIDIA encountered a United States ban on certain chip exports to China in an effort to control the latter’s growth in edge computing, military capabilities, and artificial intelligence. At that time, the graphics card company moved to sidestep those restrictions; however, it seems that avenue has been quashed with the latest export
Source: Hot Hardware – NVIDIA Discloses US Ban On GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics Cards Exports To China
When The Hunger Games movie came out in 2012, the world was set on fire. Jennifer Lawrence became a superstar, the books stayed on bestseller lists for months, and another three films were quickly announced. The prequel story based on the newly released book of the same name, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds…
Source: Gizmodo – The Hunger Games Films Were Exceptional But Got Overshadowed
After rumors began to swirl that Sam Altman’s OpenAI tapped Jony Ive on a secret piece of hardware, the company’s wunderkind CEO says he has no plans to compete with the smartphone market.
Source: Gizmodo – OpenAI’s Sam Altman Says He Has ‘No Interest’ in Competing With Smartphones
Following other Intel oneAPI components like Embree and OpenVKL introducing GPU acceleration via SYCL, today Intel released the open-source OSPRay 3.0 that rolls out initial GPU support for this portable ray-tracing engine…
Source: Phoronix – Intel Releases OSPRay 3.0 With Initial GPU Acceleration
The Roth IRA is a powerful retirement savings tool. For young people especially, it’s the best way to take full advantage of compound interest while minimizing your tax exposure. The money you contribute grows tax-free, and most people can withdraw funds in retirement tax-free, too. However, make some wrong moves…
Source: LifeHacker – Don’t Make These Mistakes With Your Roth IRA
Google is expanding a feature that allows Android users to add their state ID or driver’s license to Wallet. Starting today, folks in Arizona, Colorado and Georgia can store a digital version of their ID in the app. Google first enabled the option in Maryland in June. Apple also allows folks in certain locales to add a digital copy of their ID to Apple Wallet.
For now, you’ll be able to use a digital ID stored in Google Wallet at TSA PreCheck lines at select airports. Google plans to enable more ways to use the digital version of your ID later this year, such as for renting a car through an app. The idea is that the app will only gain access to necessary information, such as your name and driving eligibility.
Digital IDs that are added to Google Wallet are encrypted, so no one will have access to personal information stored there unless you choose to share it. Authentication such as a fingerprint unlock is needed to access the ID. You’ll also be able to select which information fields you share when you present your digital ID.
To add an ID issued by Arizona, Colorado, Georgia or Maryland to Google Wallet, your device will need to be running Android 8 or newer. First, open the Google Wallet app, tap the Add to Wallet button, select the ID Card option and choose the state that issued the ID. Then you’ll need to scan the ID and take a quick selfie video to verify that you’re the person to whom the ID belongs. Google will then authenticate your ID with the issuer.
If you lose your phone or someone steals it, you can delete your digital ID remotely via your Google account settings. You can also ask your state’s DMV to remove the ID from Google Wallet.
Meanwhile, it’s now possible to create a digital pass in Google Wallet by taking a photo or screenshot of any barcode or QR code. The aim is to let you add passes that Wallet doesn’t natively support, such as your library card or gym membership, to the app.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/android-users-in-arizona-colorado-and-georgia-can-now-add-state-ids-to-google-wallet-165536898.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Android users in Arizona, Colorado and Georgia can now add state IDs to Google Wallet
An experimental gene therapy that uses a modified herpes virus shows promise as a brain cancer treatment, according to new research. The Phase I study found evidence that the virus could safely induce an immune response that attacked the often-fatal cancer. It also seemed to extend the length of survival in those who…
Source: Gizmodo – Experimental Therapy Fights Brain Cancer with Modified Herpes Virus
Google security researchers say they have found evidence that government-backed hackers linked to Russia and China are exploiting a since-patched vulnerability in WinRAR, the popular shareware archiving tool for Windows. From a report: The WinRAR vulnerability, first discovered by cybersecurity company Group-IB earlier this year and tracked as CVE-2023-38831, allows attackers to hide malicious scripts in archive files that masquerade as seemingly innocuous images or text documents. Group-IB said the flaw was exploited as a zero-day — since the developer had zero time to fix the bug before it was exploited — as far back as April to compromise the devices of at least 130 traders.
Rarlab, which makes the archiving tool, released an updated version of WinRAR (version 6.23) on August 2 to patch the vulnerability. Despite this, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) said this week that its researchers have observed multiple government-backed hacking groups exploiting the security flaw, noting that “many users” who have not updated the app remain vulnerable. In research shared with TechCrunch ahead of its publication, TAG says it has observed multiple campaigns exploiting the WinRAR zero-day bug, which it has tied to state-backed hacking groups with links to Russia and China.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Russia and China-backed Hackers Are Exploiting WinRAR Zero-Day Bug, Google Says
