Intel Linux kernel graphics driver developers this week sent out their first batch of drm-intel-next i915 DRM driver changes to DRM-Next of new material to be introduced in the upcoming Linux 6.8 cycle…
Source: Phoronix – Intel Begins Readying Kernel Graphics Driver Changes For Linux 6.8
Monthly Archives: November 2023
The 63 best Cyber Monday deals you can get right now from Amazon, Target and others
Cyber Monday is right around the corner and this year, much like year’s past, we’re seeing plenty of Black Friday deals bleed into the new week. If you didn’t get the chance to shop on Friday, there’s still time to snag a few good deals on all kinds of tech, including AirPods, tablets, TVs, streaming devices, robot vacuums and more. We expect there to be a few surprises among the Cyber Monday deals — there always are — but we think most of the best Black Friday deals will transition into being the best Cyber Monday deals once the day actually arrives. In the meantime, here are the best Cyber Monday deals you can shop right now.
Best Cyber Monday Apple deals
$100 Apple Gift Card + $15 Amazon credit
If you purchase an Apple gift card totaling $100 or more from the retailer, you can get $15 in Amazon store credit for no extra cost. Just use the code APPLET5USA at checkout to see the offer. The deal applies to the digital version of the card; as of this writing, you can get the credit with a physical Apple gift card as well by using the code APPLET5USAP, though you may not want to clip the coupon on those cards’ product page, as Amazon’s listing says that will only give you a $10 credit. As a reminder, you can use an Apple gift card for App Store credit, subscription services like Apple Music or iCloud, and/or purchases made at a physical Apple store.
Apple AirTags
A four-pack of Apple’s AirTags have dropped to $80, which is just about $5 more than the pack’s record-low price. If you’re unfamiliar, AirTags are small Bluetooth trackers that you can keep in your bag or luggage or attach to items like your keys so you can keep track of their location. The only catch is that these only work with Apple devices as their host device, so Android users will have to pick a tracker from another brand to get similar benefits. AirTags connect to Apple’s Find My network, so you can see where your stuff is in that app and even force the gadgets to ring so you can more easily find your belongings (if you’re within close proximity).
Apple AirPods Pro (USB-C)
The latest version of Apple’s AirPods Pro is back on sale for $190 at Amazon and Target. That matches an all-time low and comes in $60 below the pair’s usual going rate. The AirPods Pro are the “best for iOS” pick in our wireless earbuds buying guide thanks to their easy pairing and deep integration with Apple devices. Effective active noise cancellation (ANC), a superb transparency mode and a pleasingly warm sound profile help as well, as does a new “adaptive audio” mode that can adjust the earphones’ noise control settings based on your surroundings. That said, their battery life is just average at six-ish hours per charge, and you really have to use an iPhone to get anything out of them.
We gave the Lightning-based version of the second-generation AirPods Pro a review score of 88 last year; this new iteration is almost identical, only it comes with a USB-C charging case and has a higher IP54 dust-resistance rating. If you don’t care about the updated charging port, note that the older Lightning version is on sale for $169 at Walmart.
Apple AirPods (3rd gen)
The third-gen Apple AirPods are back down to $140 at Amazon and Best Buy, matching the lowest price we’ve seen. Typically, the wireless earbuds have retailed between $10 and $20 higher over the past few months. We gave these AirPods a review score of 88 back in 2021: You can get better-sounding and more featured earbuds for much less, but if you’re an iPhone owner who hates the feeling of traditional in-ear headphones, it might suit you well. It has a mostly balanced sound despite its unsealed design, and it gets the usual AirPods conveniences like hands-free Siri, Find My device tracking and quick pairing with other Apple gadgets. Just don’t expect much in the way of deep bass or noise cancellation, as is the case with all earbuds with an “open” design.
Apple Watch Series 9
The new Apple Watch Series 9 has dropped to $329 at Amazon, Walmart and Target in a Cyber Monday deal. That’s $70 off its usual price and the lowest we’ve seen since it debuted in September. That’s the price you’ll pay for the 41mm model, but the 45mm models are now down to $359 with the same $70 discount. The Series 9 took the crown of the best smartwatch you can get right now in our guide thanks to its new S9 SiP that brings slightly speedier performance and on-device Siri processing, the new Double Tap feature and other improvements.
Apple Watch SE
The Apple Watch SE has dropped to a record low of $179 for Cyber Monday, which is $70 off its usual price. It may not have all of the advanced health tracking features of the Series 9, but the SE has all of the basics you’d want in a smartwatch, including smart notifications, all-day activity tracking and perks like Fall and Crash Detection and Emergency SOS. If you’re looking for a good entry-point into the Apple Watch space, or a gift for someone who has never worn a smartwatch before, the Apple Watch SE is a great option.
Apple iPad (9th Gen)
Apple’s 9th gen iPad is down to a new low of $230 at Amazon and Target. This is the budget pick in our iPad buying guide, and it earned a review score of 86 in 2021. It’s the last iPad to use Apple’s old design language, so it has thick bezels, a Lightning port, a Home button and a non-laminated display. This variant also comes with a paltry 64GB of storage. At this price, though, it’s hard to do better if all you want is a large screen for streaming video, playing games and browsing the web. If you need more storage space, the 256GB model is also down to a low of $380.
Apple iPad Air
The iPad Air M1 is back down to a record low of $500 right now ahead of Cyber Monday. All color options are discounted. The Air is still the best iPad for most people at the moment, although we expect to see a fresh lineup with the latest M-series processor debut early next year. However, if you want a new iPad immediately, the Air offers speedy performance, good battery life, a slim design and Apple Pencil 2 support.
Apple iPad (10th Gen)
The 10th-generation iPad is down to its lowest price ever at Amazon and Target. The 64GB model is just $349 for Cyber Monday in all four colors. That’s $100 off and $30 less than the previous low. We gave the revamped standard iPad an 85 in our review. Compared to the 9th-gen model, the new version ditches the Home button and comes with a larger, 10.9-inch display. The front-facing camera is now on the landscape edge, which is much more convenient for video calls, though the tablet (for some reason) still only works with the first generation Apple Pencil.
Apple Pencil
Apple now makes three different Apple Pencils. The first generation stylus recharges via Lightning. The second generation recharges wirelessly and the new USB-C looks a lot like the first generation, but charges via USB-C instead of lighting. Each one has different iPad compatibility with iPads, so you may want to check on that before you decide which to get. We’re fans of the Pencil overall, and named it one of the best accessories for your iPad.
Best Cyber Monday home deals
Dyson Airwrap
The coveted Dyson Airwrap is down to the cheapest price we’ve ever seen, just $480. This hair tool uses the Coanda effect to keep air flowing around its barrel, helping you style your hair more easily. It also maintains a safe temperature for hair, resulting in less damage overall. You’re getting a number of accessories with this Airwrap bundle as well, including two differently sized barrels, separate brushes for soft or firm smoothing, a Coanda smoothing dryer and more.
Google Nest Thermostat
Google’s Nest Thermostat is on sale for $90 right now, which is $40 off and close to a record low. It’s a pared-down version of the Nest Learning Thermostat, but it has plenty of smart features and should help you save on energy costs over time. This model is Energy Star-certified and will automatically turn temperatures down in your home when you leave the house, and you can adjust heating and cooling schedules from your phone.
TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug Mini
The smart plug we recommend for most homes is TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Plug mini. A four-pack is on sale for $35 which is about $3 more than it sold for during Amazon’s October Prime day sale, but still a decent $15 savings. Plugs like these are a simple way to add some smart capabilities to any home, letting you turn on lights with just your voice, set automated schedules and routines that are triggered by other activities. These would make a great stocking stuffer for anyone you know who’s curious about smart home connectivity but hasn’t yet taken the plunge.
TP-Link Deco EX75 Wi-Fi 6E mesh router
TP-Link’s Deco EX75 mesh router system with two beacons is $100 off and down to a record low of $200. This is our top pick for a Wi-Fi 6 mesh router system, and the two-pack should cover up to 5,500 square feet with stable connectivity. When we tested the three-pack, we were impressed by how well the system balances power with user friendliness. Its network is reliable and fast, and its companion app is easy to use and clearly shows you things like all of the devices connected to your network, current speeds and more.
Sonos Cyber Monday sale
Sonos’ Cyber Monday sale has brought a range of discounts on smart speakers and home theater gear. The deals include the flagship Sonos Arc soundbar down to $719, which is a $180 discount. The mid-range Sonos Beam (Gen 2) and the more basic Sonos Ray are also on sale for $399 and $223, respectively; that’s a $100 drop for the former and a $56 drop for the latter. All three devices are recommendations in our guide to the best soundbars. In other home theater deals, the Sonos Sub (Gen 3) subwoofer is $160 off at $639, while the more compact Sonos Sub Mini is $86 off at $343.
Elsewhere, the Sonos Roam portable speaker is down to $134 from its usual $179, while the Sonos Roam SL — which is effectively the same device sans built-in microphones — is down to $119 from its usual $159. For a smart home speaker, the Sonos Era 100 is $50 off at $199. We highlight the Roam and Era 100 in our guide to the best smart speakers. For those looking to add Sonos functionality to existing audio gear, the Sonos Amp is now $599, a $100 discount, while the Sonos Port is now $399, a $50 discount.
You can read our reviews of the Arc, Beam, Ray, Roam and Era 100 for more details on what to expect from those devices. We like Sonos speakers for delivering relatively clean and balanced sound and a straightforward app that lets you connect to numerous music services. Their main appeal, however, is their ability to link up with the company’s other devices in one connected audio system. Deals on any Sonos gear are fairly uncommon, so this is a good chance to save if you’re looking to build out your own system.
Amazon Echo Dot + TP-Link smart light bulb bundle
Almost the entirety of Amazon’s Echo speaker lineup is on sale for Cyber Monday, with most bundled alongside a TP-Link Kasa smart bulb for no extra cost. The offers include the Echo Dot back at an all-time low of $23, the Echo Dot with Clock for $35 (a $25 discount), the standard Echo within $5 of its all-time low at $55, the larger Echo Studio for $155 and the entry-level Echo Pop back at its Prime Day price of $18.
Of those, the Echo Dot and base Echo are likely your best bets — the former is the “best under $50” recommendation in our smart speaker buying guide, while the latter is our “best under $100” pick. The Echo Studio is still decent if you want better audio quality, though it’s harder to recommend when the Sonos Era 100 is also on sale, while the Echo Pop is essentially a weaker-sounding Echo Dot for only a few bucks less. But if you’re building a smart home around Alexa, each device offers similar functionality.
Amazon Echo Show 5 + TP-Link smart light bulb bundle
Most of Amazon’s Echo Show smart displays are also discounted. The recently updated Echo Show 8, for one, is on sale for a new low of $105, while the smaller 5.5-inch Echo Show 5 is back down to an all-time low of $40. Those two typically retail for $150 and $70, respectively. Again, both devices come bundled with a free LED smart bulb. You can also get an Echo Show 5 with a Ring Video Doorbell for $65.
The Echo Show 8 is the top Alexa pick in our guide to the best smart displays; compared to the Echo Show 5, it packs a better screen, richer speakers and a much sharper camera for video calls. But if you want something closer to a smart alarm clock for your nightstand, the smaller display still delivers most of the same Alexa smarts. If you want a larger panel, the rotating 10.1-inch Echo Show 10 is $90 off at $160 as well. We gave that one a score of 83 back in 2021, though our review found the Echo Show 8 to be a better value for most.
Echo Show 15
The Echo Show 15 is almost like four devices in one: It’s a smart display, TV, widget-driven bulletin board and Alexa assistant. This is why it’s one of our recommended gifts for tech folk. The 15-inch screen can be wall-mounted in portrait or landscape and can be operated with the remote, via touchscreen or with your voice. Right now, it’s down to $185, which is a 34 percent discount and the lowest price we’ve seen on the device yet.
Google Nest Hub
If you’re partial to the Google Assistant, Google’s Nest Hub is also on sale for $50 at Target and Walmart. That’s $10 higher than its all-time low but still $50 off Google’s list price. The Nest Hub is the top overall pick in our smart display buying guide, and we gave it a review score of 89 back in 2021. It has a 7-inch screen, so it’s a bit bigger than the Echo Show 5 but should still be compact enough to fit neatly in a bedroom or small office. While it lacks a built-in camera, that may be a selling point for those who especially sensitive to their privacy (though no smart display is truly privacy-conscious). If you want a larger model with a webcam and stronger speakers, the 10-inch Nest Hub Max is also on sale for $129.
Vitamix Explorian blender
The Vitamix E310 is on sale for $289 at Amazon, Target and directly from Vitamix, and while that’s not an all-time low, it’s still a $60 discount on a particularly powerful blender. It’s our favorite blender from our guide to kitchen tech because it goes beyond smoothie duty to create salsas, sauces, dips and even soups (which the blender can heat to steaming in the container due to shear friction). Anyone coming from a standard blender will be impressed with the way it renders even the hardest, chunkiest ingredients silky smooth.
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
Breville’s Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is 29 percent off and down to $320 for Cyber Monday. That’s the best price we’ve seen since the start of this year on one of our favorite air fryers. This Breville machine is much more than an air fryer, though — it has 13 cooking functions and a capacity that can handle a full turkey, so it’s more like a mini convection oven that sits on your countertop. It’s best for people who love to cook and have big families, or those who maybe don’t have a traditional oven and want a versatile (and relatively small) appliance for their kitchen.
Ooni Cyber Monday deals
Ooni Cyber Monday deals include some of the lowest prices we’ve seen on the company’s pizza ovens and accessories. The 12-inch Fyra is on sale for $244 right now, which is more than $100 off its normal price. It earned a spot on our best pizza oven list thanks to its compact profile and the fact that it runs on wood pellets instead of chunks, making it easier to refill and you’ll spend less time tending to its fire overall. Ooni’s handy pizza steel is also on sale for $70 in this sale.
Solo Stove Cyber Monday deal
Solo Stove’s Cyber Monday deals have knocked up to $245 off fire pit bundles, up to $100 off fire pits by themselves and even more. A standout is the Ranger Backyard Bundle 2, which is $145 off and down to $320. It includes the company’s most compact fire pit along with its accompanying shield, stand, lid and shelter. Everything you’d need for an easy setup right out of the box is included in this bundle, and the 2.0-version of the Ranger includes a removable base plate and ash pan, both of which make the fire pit much easier to clean.
Best Cyber Monday Xbox deals
Xbox Wireless Controller
If you need a spare gamepad for your Xbox, official Xbox Series X/S Wireless Controllers are as low as $40 at Microsoft. As with the DualSense deal above, this discount applies to various colors. Typically, we see the gamepad retail between $50 and $60 depending on the colorway. The Series X/S controller doesn’t have the DualSense’s advanced haptics and requires AA batteries for power by default — we recommend grabbing a rechargeable set — but some will always find its shape and asymmetrical joysticks more comfortable. It’s also simpler to set up and use on PC.
Xbox Series X
The Xbox Series X bundled with Diablo IV is down to $439 from Walmart. The console itself has a list price of $500 and the game is typically listed between $40 and $70, so this is like getting a $60 discount on the console plus a free copy of the huge action-RPG. If you’re a frequent Target shopper, note that the retailer is selling this same bundle with a $75 store gift card for $450.
Best Cyber Monday subscription deals
Peacock Cyber Monday deal
Peacock has discounted its monthly and annual subscription plans for Cyber Monday. You can access the services starting at $2 per month for the first year, instead of the usual $6 monthly price, with the code BIGDEAL. If you’d rather pay upfront for one year of access, you’ll spend only $20 with the code YEARLONG. The sale runs from November 22-27, and the offer excludes current Peacock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers. In addition to classic movies and new reality TV shows, Peacock has a smattering of live sports offerings that include Sunday Night Football, Big Ten Football and Premier League.
Audible Cyber Monday sale
A Cyber Monday deal on Amazon’s audiobook subscription service brings a Premium Plus membership down to just $6 per month for the first four months — that’s more than half off the typical $15-per-month cost of access. Plus, new subscribers can get a $20 Audible credit when they get this deal, and that can be used towards audiobook purchases in the future. Audible’s Premium Plus subscription comes with one credit every month to purchase a new or best-selling title. It’s a great digital gift to get friends or family if you’re not going to see them in person this holiday season.
Hulu Cyber Monday deal
Hulu’s Cyber Monday deal is a great one for anyone who has not subscribed to the ad-supported tier yet. You’ll get one year of the service for only $12, which comes out to just $1 per month. That’s 85 percent off the standard monthly price and a great deal if you’ve been wanting to see what all the hype is about for shows like The Bear and Only Murders in the Building. The deal is available to new subscribers, and returning subscribers who have not been paying for Hulu for at least one month.
Max Cyber Monday deal
Max, formerly known as HBO Max, is one of our favorite streaming services with must-watch fare like The Last of Us and Succession. For Cyber Monday, you can get six months of the ad-supported tier for 70 percent off. The Max with Ads plan drops the the price from $10 per month (or $100 per year) to $3 per month. At the end of the six-month promotion, you can either cancel or revert to paying full price. Both new and returning customers can access the deal, which is live now and runs through November 27 (aka Cyber Monday).
ProtonVPN Cyber Monday deal
Our favorite VPN service, ProtonVPN, is having a rare sale for Cyber Monday that brings a monthly subscription down to only $4 for a total of 30 months. That means you’ll pay $120 for two and a half years of access, which is a pretty good deal. ProtonVPN passed our tests with high marks, but what made it stand out among other VPN security services was its independently audited no-logs policy, and the fact that the company has proven they don’t comply with law enforcement requests to reveal data. If you want to jump in head-first with Proton services, the company has discounted Proton Unlimited, which includes access to VPN, Mail, Calendar, Drive and Pass, to just under $9 per month for the first year.
Best Cyber Monday Anker deals
Anker accessories sale
A slew of Anker chargers, cables, power adapters and other accessories are on sale for Cyber Monday at Amazon, with discounts ranging up to 37 percent. The deals extend to our favorite premium power bank, Anker’s Prime 20,000 mAH battery with charging base, which is $130 for the set and its lowest price ever.
One of the company’s 67W USB-C chargers is 37 percent off, bringing it to $38 and matching its all-time low. Our top 65W fast wall charger, Anker’s 735 GaNPrime, is down to a new low price after a 38 percent discount. And the Anker Nano Power Bank is seeing one of its first discounts since coming on the market a couple months ago.
Best Cyber Monday phone deals
Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphones
The entire Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone lineup is on sale for Cyber Monday: you can grab the S23 Ultra for $900, the S23+ for $800 or the S23 for $700. These are some of the best Android phones you can get right now, and we recommend springing for the S23 Ultra if you’re able to. It has a big, bold 6.8-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a total of five cameras and a built-in S Pen. It also has an impressive battery life thanks to its 5,000 mAh cell.
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Google’s latest flagship smartphones are up to $200 off for Cyber Monday, including the Pixel 8 Pro, which you can snag for $799. The standard Pixel 8 is as low as $549 depending on the storage capacity you choose as well. These are the best Android phones available right now thanks to some substantial upgrades Google brought to each handset this time around. They both have upgraded Tensor G3 processors, vivid OLED displays with 120Hz refresh rates, excellent cameras and solid battery lives.
Fitbit Charge 6
Fitbit’s newest fitness tracker, the Charge 6, is $60 off right now and down to a record low of $100. It’s the follow-up to one of our favorite fitness trackers, the Fitbit Charge 5, and it brings back the physical side button that previous generations had and integrates even more with Google services. It has an AMOLED touchscreen that displays all of your activity stats and smart notifications, a built-in GPS for mapping outdoor workouts, a week-long battery life and the ability to display turn-by-turn directions on its screen from Google Maps.
Best Cyber Monday earbuds and headphone deals
Sony WH-1000XM5
The Sony WH-1000XM5 is down to $328 at Amazon, B&H and others. Though this isn’t an all-time low, it’s about $70 off Sony’s list price and $20 lower than the headphones’ usual recurring sale price. The XM5 is the top recommendation in our guide to the best wireless headphones, as it offers a comfortable design, powerful ANC, crisp call quality and 30 or so hours of battery life. It also comes with a number of useful bonus features such as “Speak to Chat,” which automatically pauses your music when you start talking to somebody else. By default, its bass-heavy sound plays well with hip-hop and EDM, though you can easily customize the EQ curve through Sony’s app. We gave the XM5 a score of 95 in our review last year.
Sony WF-1000XM5
Sony’s WF-1000XM5, meanwhile, is the top choice in our guide to the best wireless earbuds, and it’s now down to a new low of $248 at Amazon, B&H and other retailers. Several other retailers have it for $2 more. Normally, these noise-canceling earphones go for $300. Like the over-ear XM5, this in-ear model delivers excellent ANC (with strong passive isolation), loads of helpful features and a warm sound that’s fun out of the box but can be customized if needed. Battery life is decent at seven or eight hours per charge and, notably, the design is lighter, smaller and altogether more comfortable than past Sony earbuds. The WF-1000XM5 earned a score of 87 in our review this past July.
Google Pixel Buds Pro
The Google Pixel Buds Pro are on sale for $115 at Wellbots. That’s the best price we’ve ever seen on what we consider to be the best wireless earbuds for Android users. Google learned from its previous generations of earbuds and made the best model yet with the Pros; they have improved sound quality, a comfortable design with reliable touch controls and good noise cancellation and battery life.
Anker Soundcore Space A40
The Anker Soundcore Space A40 is down to $54 for Cyber Monday, matching the lowest price we’ve seen. This is the top pick in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds: It’s comfortable, it supports wireless charging and multi-device pairing, it can last up to 10 hours a charge and its ANC is remarkably effective for a sub-$100 pair. Its bassy sound should please most by default, but it can also be customized through a clean companion app. The only big negatives are its middling call quality and lack of wear detection.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
The latest flagship noise-cancelling headphones from Bose, the QuietComfort Ultra is seeing a $50 discount at Amazon, Walmart and Bose direct, among others. These headphones debuted last month and retail for $429 at full price. One of our concerns in our review was that higher MSRP, so this deal takes some of the sting out of the purchase. We found this pair to offer exceptional ANC, a comfortable fit and sound quality that has more bass plus “increased clarity and enhanced warmth” compared to previous generations of the QC cans.
Best Cyber Monday vacuum deals
Dyson Cyber Monday deals
Dyson Cyber Monday deals include a $250 discount on the Dyson V15 Detect Absolute, bringing the cordless vacuum down to $500. It’s hard to tell if this is a record-low price, but considering the standard V15 Detect is going for between $650 and $750 across the internet, we consider this to be a good deal. In addition to its strong cleaning power, the V15 Detect has a laser-powered optic cleaner head that illuminates the floor before you as you’re cleaning so you can see dust and grime more clearly. It also has a piezo sensor, which sizes and counts dust particles as you clean and shows you that information on its LCD display.
Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 robot vacuum
This Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum is on sale for $300 for Cyber Monday, or half off its regular price. Shark makes some of our favorite robovacs, and this one has strong suction power, a self-cleaning brush roll and support for home mapping and voice control with Alexa and the Google Assistant. Shark’s machines also stand out because their self-emptying bases, like the one included here, are bagless, so you don’t have to constantly buy proprietary garbage bags to use with them.
iRobot Roomba 694
The Roomba 694 is on sale for $159 in this Cyber Monday deal. It’s our current favorite budget robot vacuum thanks to its strong suction power, easy to use mobile app and handy spot-clean function. It doesn’t come with a clean base, but it has Wi-Fi connectivity and voice control with Alexa.
Best Cyber Monday gaming deals
PlayStation DualSense Wireless Controller
Amazon, Walmart, PlayStation Direct and several other retailers have discounted a bunch of PlayStation DualSense controllers for Cyber Monday, including many of the colorways that typically go for $75. You can pick up Cosmic Red, Starlight Blue, Nova Pink and other models for $50 each, which is just about a record-low price. These controllers work with the PS5 as well as PC, and they sport adaptive L2 and R2 triggers, haptic feedback and a built-in mic array.
PS5 + Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 bundle
If you or someone you love hasn’t gotten their hands on a PS5 yet, a Cyber Monday bundle pairs the $500 console with the new (and critically acclaimed) Spider-Man 2 game for no extra cost. The PS5 remains one of the best gaming consoles you can get right now, and we found the open-world game to be even better than its predecessor in our review. In it, you can swap between playing as Peter Parker and Miles Morales, and it includes expanded combat mechanics.
Nintendo Switch OLED + Super Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle
The main Nintendo Switch deal for Cyber Monday bundles the $350 Nintendo Switch OLED with a digital copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and a three-month individual subscription to Nintendo Switch Online for no extra cost. This offer is available at Walmart, Target, GameStop, Best Buy and Nintendo’s own online store. Smash Bros. Ultimate was released way back in 2018, so it’s hard to call this an amazing deal, but the game remains one of the console’s best and still typically retails between $50 and $60 on its own. The Switch Online sub, meanwhile, goes for $8. If you’re late to the Switch bandwagon, you could do much worse for a free pack-in game — but keep in mind that Nintendo is expected to unveil its next console at some point in 2024.
PlayStation, Xbox and Switch video game sales
If you’re all set on the hardware front, a truckload of PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch games have dropped in price for Cyber Monday too. Both Sony and Microsoft have rolled out holiday sales on their respective digital storefronts, while a number of physical games are down to new lows at Amazon, Best Buy and others.
There are frankly too many deals for us to list them all here, but some highlights for PlayStation and Xbox owners include Assassin’s Creed Mirage for $40, God of War Ragnarök and the dramatic action-RPG Final Fantasy XV for $35 each, the rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush for $22, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West for $20 each and Halo: The Master Chief Collection for $10. Many of those make our lists of the best PS5 games and best Xbox games.
On the Switch side, the turn-based strategy game Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is on sale for $15, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Luigi’s Mansion 3 are each down to $40 and the excellent 2D platformer Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is down to a new low of $30. There are plenty more games on sale beyond those, and we expect to see more PC game deals over the course of the week.
Razer Basilisk V3
The Razer Basilisk V3 is the top overall recommendation in our guide to the best gaming mice, and it’s dropped to $40 for Cyber Monday at Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy. That’s an all-time low and $10 off the device’s usual street price. The Basilisk V3 isn’t the lightest mouse around at 100 grams, but its sturdy shape should be comfortable for users of each grip type and all but the smallest of hands. It has no major issues with latency or tracking accuracy, either, plus it comes with 11 customizable buttons, including a “sensitivity clutch” for moments where more precise aiming is required. Beyond that, its scroll wheel supports both left-right tilt and a faster free-spin mode — both helpful for navigating large documents — though it is on the noisy side.
Best Cyber Monday TV deals
Samsung The Frame QLED TV
The 55-inch Samsung The Frame smart TV is 35 percent off and down to a new record low of $978 at Amazon. Samsung itself has it for a couple bucks more. Other size options are also discounted. The Frame has been super popular thanks to its design, which mimics framed artwork when not in use. It has a matte, anti-reflective display and an included slim wall mount so you can get the true “artwork” effect when you hang it on the wall. As an actual TV, it supports 4K content and Quantum Dot technology, plus it runs on Samsung’s Tizen TV operating system.
Hisense U8K LED TV
The 55-inch Hisense U8K is available for $698, which is an all-time low and $50 less than its typical street price in recent months. Best Buy has it for $2 more. The 65-inch model is also at an all-time low of $897. Several reviews have praised the U8K as one of the year’s best values among midrange TVs, one that gets impressively bright and delivers strong contrast for an LED display. It comes with two HDMI 2.1 ports that play 4K video up to 144Hz, it supports all the major HDR formats and its Google TV platform is easier to use than most smart TV UIs. Its motion and color performance will still trail a good OLED TV, though, and reviews say it’ll wash out much more heavily when viewed from an angle. But if you want to stay under $1,000, it should be a good value.
Meta Quest 2 VR headset
The Meta Quest 2 VR headset is $50 off and down to $249 at several retailers. That matches the best price we’ve seen. At Target and Amazon, you can get the device with a $50 gift card or credit as well. Despite the launch of the impressive Quest 3, we still consider the Quest 2 to be one of the best VR headsets available right now — precisely because of its more affordable price. It’s still the best way to jump into VR without spending a ton of money, and the Quest 2 has the perks of being completely cordless and comfortable to wear for long sessions. The hardware includes fast-switching LCDs with a smooth 90Hz refresh rate, and it comes with Meta’s sold motion controllers.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Our top recommendation in our streaming devices guide is the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, which is 40 percent off and down to $30 at Target and directly from Roku. That’s about $5 more than it was last Cyber Monday, but still a decent savings on a dongle that will turn any screen into a smart TV, complete with Roku’s intuitive interface and its simple universal search function. The Roku Express 4K is on sale for $25. It has a shorter Wi-Fi range, lacks support for Dolby Vision and has a different format (a small set-top box instead of a stick that hides behind your TV) but is otherwise pretty similar for $5 less.
Chromecast with Google TV
Google’s 4K Chromecast is down to a new low of $38 for Cyber Monday, while the standard HD model is only $20 for the shopping event. Key to both of these devices are the remotes that come with them that make navigating the revamped UI of Android TV much easier than in years past. The home screen will personalize recommendations for you based on your watch history, and its algorithm-based recommendations come in handy as well — plus, they’re pulling from services you’re already subscribed to, so you won’t be tempted by movies or shows that you don’t have access to. The 4K model is one of our favorite streaming devices thanks to all of those perks in addition to its support for Dolby Vision.
Fire TV Stick 4K Max
The latest generation of the Fire TV Stick 4K Max was just announced in September during Amazon’s Devices and Services event and it’s now down to its lowest price yet, which is $40 and a 33 percent discount off the $60 list price. In addition to handling 4K video, it also supports Wi-Fi 6E and has a faster processor and bigger storage capacity compared to the previous generation. It’ll also support Amazon’s latest Fire TV feature, the Ambient Experience which displays art and shows widgets for weather, calendars, reminders and more when the TV is in standby. Amazon’s most affordable Fire TV Stick is also down to $16 for Cyber Monday, which is only $1 more than its record-low price.
Best Cyber Monday laptop deals
Apple MacBook Air M2
The 13.6-inch Apple MacBook Air is down to $929 at B&H for an entry-level configuration with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and Apple’s M2 chip. If you need more RAM and storage space, a model with 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD is $200 off at $1,299. The M2 MacBook Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and this 13-inch model earned a score of 96 in our review last year. It’s worth noting that a refresh with Apple’s new M3 chip is reportedly planned for the first half of 2024, and the SSD in the entry-level config is technically slower than the storage in higher-capacity models. But if you need a new notebook right away, the M2 Air still ticks all the requisite design and performance boxes for everyday use.
MacBook Air M1
The older 13-inch MacBook Air that was released in 2020 and uses Apple’s M1 chip is also on sale, with an entry-level config available for $750. We’ve seen this deal a handful of times over the last few months, but it matches the lowest price we’ve seen. It’s really worth stepping up to the M2 Air if you can: It’ll get you a more modern design, a faster chip, a sharper webcam and improved speakers. The 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD in this config is only suitable for casual use, and this model will almost certainly be discontinued when we get the inevitable M3 refresh. But if you’re on a stricter budget and really want a MacBook, the M1 Air is still well-built, long-lasting and fast enough for the essentials. We currently highlight it in our guide to the best budget laptops.
Apple MacBook Pro (M3 Pro)
Apple only released its latest MacBook Pros last month, but the new notebooks are already discounted for Cyber Monday. The 14.2-inch MacBook Pro, for one, is down to $1,749 at B&H for a model with an M3 Pro chip, 18GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. That’s $250 off Apple’s list price. A 1TB model is $200 off at $2,199, while a variant with the more powerful M3 Max chip is $200 off at $2,999.
Meanwhile, a model of the 16.2-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip, 18GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is down to $2,299 at Amazon, B&H and Best Buy. That’s $200 off. A variant with 36GB of RAM is $2,649 (or $250 off), while another with an M3 Max chip and a 1TB SSD is $3,299 (or $200 off).
As the name suggests, the MacBook Pro is really meant for coders, multimedia editors and other professional types who’re willing to trade some portability for additional horsepower and a brighter and faster Liquid Retina XDR display. If you fall into that bracket, though, the new Pros are suitably fast, efficient and elegantly designed. We gave both MacBook Pros a score of 90 in our review earlier this month.
Microsoft Surface Pro 9
A configuration of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 9 with an Intel Core i5-1235U processor, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and Microsoft’s Surface Pro Keyboard is on sale for $1,000 at Best Buy. That’s $540 off Microsoft’s list price. If you don’t need the keyboard, a variant with a faster Core i7-1255U chip is down to a new low of $1,097 at Amazon, Microsoft, B&H and other retailers. That’s roughly $200 off the config’s usual street price. Another Core i7 model with 512GB of storage is on sale for $300 more.
In any event, the Surface Pro 9 tops our guide to the best 2-in-1 tablets. While its 12th-gen chip is about to be two generations old, this is still the device to get if you want the functionality of a laptop in the slim, touch-enabled design of a tablet. We’re past the point of the year when Microsoft would normally announce a refresh, but the current model should still be useful if you’re coming from an older Surface Pro that’s in desperate need of an upgrade.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is on sale for $379 at Best Buy, which is $120 off its list price. This is the most recent version of the top pick in our Chromebook buying guide: Its 14-inch, 1,920 x 1,200 IPS touchscreen is good for the money, it’s plenty fast for the kind of web browsing and light work you’d do with Chrome OS and both its keyboard and trackpad are comfortable. This model comes with a Core i3-1315U processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of eMMC storage, one USB-A port, two USB-C 3.2 ports and a microSD card slot. It also has a decent 1080p webcam. The chassis isn’t especially light at 3.6 pounds, and we found the battery to last roughly seven hours in testing, which is just OK. But for less than $400, this is a strong value for those who just want an affordable notebook for the basics.
Samsung T9 SSD
The latest Samsung T9 portable SSD is on sale for $110 right now for a 1TB drive, which is the best price it’s been since it came out last month. You can snag this Cyber Monday deal from Amazon or Samsung directly. The T9 is the newest iteration of Samsung’s popular portable drive that we’ve long been fans of, and it supports read and write speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s. It also has dynamic thermal guard to prevent overheating, plus it comes with a USB-C to C and USB-C to A cords so you can use it with a variety of devices.
Samsung microSD card sale
If you need a new microSD card for your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck or GoPro, a trio of Samsung microSD cards we recommend are also down their lowest prices to date. The 128GB version of the Samsung Pro Plus is down to $11 at Amazon, B&H and others, while the 256GB and 512GB models are down to $18 and $32, respectively. Beyond that, the 256GB Samsung Evo Select is on sale for a new low of $15 and the 256GB Samsung Pro Ultimate is available for $25.
The Pro Plus is the top overall pick in our microSD card buying guide, as it consistently ranked among the fastest cards we tested despite its relatively affordable price tag. The Pro Ultimate offers faster read speeds, so it could be worth the step up if you often move files between your card and a computer. The Evo Select is our “best value” pick: It’s slower than the other two, but it’s cheaper, and its losses won’t be hugely noticeable in devices that can’t take advantage of the extra performance such as the Switch. Each card comes with a 10-year warranty.
Additional Cyber Monday deals
Amazon Kindle
Amazon’s standard Kindle has dropped to $80 for Cyber Monday, which is $20 off its normal price and close to a record low. It’s only been cheaper this year during July Prime Day, when it dropped to $65. Even at its normal price, it’s the best budget ereader available right now, so this Cyber Monday deal makes it even more compelling. It has a 300ppi display with an adjustable front light, 16GB of storage for holding thousands of titles and a USB-C charging port. But as with most ereaders, you likely won’t have to charge this one often as it as a weeks-long battery life.
GoPro Hero 12 Black bundle
You can pick up the GoPro Hero 12 Black action cam with a bunch of accessories for only $350, which is $100 off the regular price of the bundle. The included accessories are a carrying case, a strap, an extra battery, a mount and other add-ons, so you’re getting most of the things you’d need to really use this action cam to the fullest. The Hero 12 Black is GoPro’s latest and greatest in this space, and it has an improved battery life when compared to its predecessor, and it now supports Bluetooth audio streaming.
DJI Osmo Action 3 Creator Combo
As part of a larger sale on DJI cameras and accessories, the DJI Osmo Action 3 is seeing a discount as part of a bundle that includes two batteries, a 32GB microSD card and a case. Separately and not on sale, the set would run you $379, but is now down to $319. This isn’t the newest version of DJI’s GoPro Alternative camera, that one, the Osmo Action 4 isn’t on sale. The newer version has a larger sensor and improved dynamic range, but at a higher price. But if you don’t plan on shooting a lot of low-light footage, you may be happy with the performance of the Action 3. We put it through its paces in our review and liked the excellent video quality, and found it to be on par with GoPro’s Hero 10. The the magnetic clip mount and long-lasting, fast-charging battery are also reasons to buy.
Your Cyber Monday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Cyber Monday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Cyber Monday tech deals. Learn about Cyber Monday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Cyber Monday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Cyber Monday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-63-best-cyber-monday-deals-you-can-get-right-now-from-amazon-target-and-others-140025770.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – The 63 best Cyber Monday deals you can get right now from Amazon, Target and others
Linux Kernel Developers Debate Priority-Based Shutdown Support
A Linux kernel mailing list discussion this holiday weekend that is seeing polarized views on the matter is around a new patch series proposed priority-based shutdown support for drivers/hardware…
Source: Phoronix – Linux Kernel Developers Debate Priority-Based Shutdown Support
The Wait is Over: OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 Debuts with Major Updates
OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 brings the latest KDE Plasma 5.27.9 desktop, powered by cutting-edge Linux kernel 6.6.2. Here’s what’s new!
Source: LXer – The Wait is Over: OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 Debuts with Major Updates
America's Bowling Pins Face a Revolutionary New Technology: Strings
There’s yet another technological revolution happening, reports the Los Angeles Times. Bowling alleys across America “are ditching traditional pinsetters — the machines that sweep away and reset pins — in favor of contraptions that employ string.
“Think of the pins as marionettes with nylon cords attached to their heads. Those that fall are lifted out of the way, as if by levitation, then lowered back into place after each frame… European bowling alleys have used string pinsetters for decades because they require less energy and maintenance.
“All you need is someone at the front counter to run back when the strings tangle.”
String pinsetters mean big savings, maybe salvation, for an industry losing customers to video games and other newfangled entertainment. That is why the U.S. Bowling Congress recently certified them for tournaments and league play. But there is delicate science at play here. Radius of gyration, coefficient of restitution and other obscure forces cause tethered pins to fly around differently than their free-fall counterparts. They don’t even make the same noise. Faced with growing pushback, the bowling congress published new research this month claiming the disparity isn’t nearly as great as people think.
Using a giant mechanical arm, powered by hydraulics and air pressure, they rolled “thousands of test balls from every angle, with various speeds and spins, on string-equipped lanes,” according to the article:
They found a configuration that resulted in 7.1% fewer strikes and about 10 pins fewer per game as compared to bowling with traditional pinsetters… Officials subsequently enlisted 500 human bowlers for more testing and, this time, reported finding “no statistically significant difference.” But hundreds of test participants commented that bowling on strings felt “off.” The pins seemed less active, they said. There were occasional spares whereby one pin toppled another without making contact, simply by crossing strings.
Nothing could be done about the muted sound. It’s like hearing a drum roll — the ball charging down the lane — with no crashing cymbal at the end.
Still, one Northern California bowling alley spent $1 million to install the technology, and believes it will save them money — partly by cutting their electric bill in half. “We had a full-time mechanic and were spending up to $3,000 a month on parts.”
The article also remembers that once upon a time, bowling alleys reset their pins using pinboys, “actual humans — mostly teenagers… scrambling around behind the lanes, gathering and resetting by hand,” before they were replaced by machines after World War II.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – America’s Bowling Pins Face a Revolutionary New Technology: Strings
Intel Iris Gallium3D Driver Overhauls Its Buffer Allocation System
While much of the modern graphics world these days is focused on the Vulkan API, there’s no signs of Intel’s open-source graphics driver engineers losing optimization focus with their OpenGL Linux driver by way of the Iris Gallium3D code. Merged this holiday week was a rather significant rework to its buffer object allocation system…
Source: Phoronix – Intel Iris Gallium3D Driver Overhauls Its Buffer Allocation System
PipeWire 1.0 Released For Managing Audio/Video Steams On The Linux Desktop
It has finally happened: PipeWire 1.0 has been released as this now very common software to the Linux desktop for managing audio and video streams. With time it’s proven to be a suitable replacement to the likes of PulseAudio and JACK while pushing forward the Linux desktop with its modern design and feature set…
Source: Phoronix – PipeWire 1.0 Released For Managing Audio/Video Steams On The Linux Desktop
LLVM Lands APX JMPABS Support, More Advanced Performance Extensions Work Landing
Intel compiler engineers remain quite busy working not only on AVX10 family support but also plumbing in the Advanced Performance Extensions (APX) to be found with future Intel processors…
Source: Phoronix – LLVM Lands APX JMPABS Support, More Advanced Performance Extensions Work Landing
OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 Is Out as the Last KDE Plasma 5 Release, Powered by Linux 6.6 LTS
The OpenMandriva project announced today the release and general availability of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 as the latest major release of this 100% community-driven GNU/Linux distribution.
Source: LXer – OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 Is Out as the Last KDE Plasma 5 Release, Powered by Linux 6.6 LTS
What Happened When California's State Government Examined the Risks and Benefits of AI?
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Los Angeles Times:
AI that can generate text, images and other content could help improve state programs but also poses risks, according to a report released by the governor’s office on Tuesday. Generative AI could help quickly translate government materials into multiple languages, analyze tax claims to detect fraud, summarize public comments and answer questions about state services. Still, deploying the technology, the analysis warned, also comes with concerns around data privacy, misinformation, equity and bias. “When used ethically and transparently, GenAI has the potential to dramatically improve service delivery outcomes and increase access to and utilization of government programs,” the report stated…
AI advancements could benefit California’s economy. The state is home to 35 of the world’s 50 top AI companies and data from Pitchfork says the GenAI market could reach $42.6 billion in 2023, the report said. Some of the risks outlined in the report include spreading false information, giving consumers dangerous medical advice and enabling the creation of harmful chemicals and nuclear weapons. Data breaches, privacy and bias are also top concerns along with whether AI will take away jobs. “Given these risks, the use of GenAI technology should always be evaluated to determine if this tool is necessary and beneficial to solve a problem compared to the status quo,” the report said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – What Happened When California’s State Government Examined the Risks and Benefits of AI?
How to Install RocketChat on Ubuntu 22.04
RocketChat is an open-source fully customizable communication platform written in Javascript. RocketChat offers a variety of features such as real-time communication, flexibility, and scalable solutions, and has high data protection standards. In this tutorial, we are going to guide you on how to install RocketChat on Ubuntu 22.04.
Source: LXer – How to Install RocketChat on Ubuntu 22.04
Eight Must See Smartwatch Deals Already Live For Cyber Monday

Now is the time to find great savings on a variety of smartwatches from popular brands such as Samsung, Apple, Google, and more. Don’t miss out on great savings on these wearable devices that can help keep track of fitness goals to shed all those holiday pounds.
Google Pixel Watch
The Google Pixel Watch comes complete with 15 months free
Source: Hot Hardware – Eight Must See Smartwatch Deals Already Live For Cyber Monday
ASRock Challenger ITX Intel Arc A380 Graphics Card
A brand-new discrete GPU design in a compact form factor is literally a game changer.
Source: LXer – ASRock Challenger ITX Intel Arc A380 Graphics Card
Meta Knowingly Collected Data on Pre-Teens, Unredacted Evidence From Lawsuit Shows
The New York Times reports:
Meta has received more than 1.1 million reports of users under the age of 13 on its Instagram platform since early 2019 yet it “disabled only a fraction” of those accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint against the company brought by the attorneys general of 33 states.
Instead, the social media giant “routinely continued to collect” children’s personal information, like their locations and email addresses, without parental permission, in violation of a federal children’s privacy law, according to the court filing. Meta could face hundreds of millions of dollars, or more, in civil penalties should the states prove the allegations. “Within the company, Meta’s actual knowledge that millions of Instagram users are under the age of 13 is an open secret that is routinely documented, rigorously analyzed and confirmed,” the complaint said, “and zealously protected from disclosure to the public….”
It also accused Meta executives of publicly stating in congressional testimony that the company’s age-checking process was effective and that the company removed underage accounts when it learned of them — even as the executives knew there were millions of underage users on Instagram… The lawsuit argues that Meta elected not to build systems to effectively detect and exclude such underage users because it viewed children as a crucial demographic — the next generation of users — that the company needed to capture to assure continued growth.
More from the Wall Street Journal:
An internal 2020 Meta presentation shows that the company sought to engineer its products to capitalize on the parts of youth psychology that render teens “predisposed to impulse, peer pressure, and potentially harmful risky behavior,” the filings show… “Teens are insatiable when it comes to ‘feel good’ dopamine effects,” the Meta presentation shows, according to the unredacted filing, describing the company’s existing product as already well-suited to providing the sort of stimuli that trigger the potent neurotransmitter. “And every time one of our teen users finds something unexpected their brains deliver them a dopamine hit….”
“In December 2017, an Instagram employee indicated that Meta had a method to ascertain young users’ ages but advised that ‘you probably don’t want to open this pandora’s box’ regarding age verification improvements,” the states say in the suit. Some senior executives raised the possibility that cracking down on underage usage could hurt Meta’s business… The states say Meta made little progress on automated detection systems or adequately staffing the team that reviewed user reports of underage activity. “Meta at times has a backlog of 2-2.5 million under-13 accounts awaiting action,” according to the complaint…
The unredacted material also includes allegations that Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg instructed his subordinates to give priority to boosting its platforms’ usage above the well being of users… Zuckerberg also repeatedly dismissed warnings from senior company officials that its flagship social-media platforms were harming young users, according to unsealed allegations in a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts earlier this month…
The complaint cites numerous other executives making public claims that were allegedly contradicted by internal documents. While Meta’s head of global safety, Antigone Davis, told Congress that the company didn’t consider profitability when designing products for teens, a 2018 internal email stated that product teams should keep in mind that “The lifetime value of a 13 y/o teen is roughly $270” when making product decisions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Meta Knowingly Collected Data on Pre-Teens, Unredacted Evidence From Lawsuit Shows
TUXEDO Sirius 16 Unveiled as TUXEDO Computers’ First All-AMD Linux Gaming Laptop
TUXEDO Computers unveiled today a new all-AMD Linux gaming laptop, the TUXEDO Sirius 16, powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 processor and AMD Radeon RX graphics, TPM 2.0, as well as up to 96 GB RAM.
Source: LXer – TUXEDO Sirius 16 Unveiled as TUXEDO Computers’ First All-AMD Linux Gaming Laptop
Google Confirms Its Schedule for Disabling Third-Party Cookies in Chrome – Starting in 2024
“The abolition of third-party cookies will make it possible to protect privacy-related data such as what sites users visit and what pages they view from advertising companies,” notes the Japan-based site Gigazine.
And this month “Google has confirmed that it is on track to start disabling third-party cookies across its Chrome browser in a matter of weeks,” writes TechRadar:
An internal email published online sees Google software engineer Johann Hofmann share with colleagues the company’s plan to switch off third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users from Q1 2024 — a plan that was shared months ago and that, surprisingly, remains on track, given the considerable pushbacks so far… Hofmann explains that Google is still awaiting a UK Competition and Markets Authority consultation in order to address any final concerns before “Privacy Sandbox” gets the go-ahead.
The Register explores Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” idea:
Since 2019 — after it became clear that European data protection rules would require rethinking how online ads work — Google has been building a set of ostensibly privacy-preserving ad tech APIs known as the Privacy Sandbox… One element of the sandbox is the Topics API: that allows websites to ask Chrome directly what the user is interested in, based on their browser history, so that targeted ads can be shown. Thus, no need for any tracking cookies set by marketers following you around, though it means Chrome squealing on you unless you tell it not to…
Peter Snyder, VP of privacy engineering at Brave Software, which makes the Brave browser, told The Register in an email that the cookie cutoff and Privacy Sandbox remains problematic as far as Brave is concerned. “Replacing third-party cookies with Privacy Sandbox won’t change the fact that Google Chrome has the worst privacy protections of any major browser, and we’re very concerned about their upcoming plans,” he said. “Google’s turtle-paced removal of third-party cookies comes along with a large number of other changes, which when taken together, seriously harm the progress other browsers are making towards a user-first, privacy-protecting Web.
“Recent Google Chrome changes restrict the ability for users to modify, make private, and harden their Web experience (Manifest v3), broadcasting users’ interests to websites they visit (Topics), dissolving privacy boundaries on the Web (Related Sites), offloading the battery-draining costs of ad auctions on users (FLEDGE/Protected Audience API), and reducing user control and Web transparency (Signed Exchange/WebBundles),” Snyder explained. “And this is only a small list of examples from a much longer list of harmful changes being shipped in Chrome.”
Snyder said Google has characterized the removal of third-party cookies as getting serious about privacy, but he argued the truth is the opposite. “Other browsers have shown that a more private, more user-serving Web is possible,” he said. “Google removing third-party cookies should be more accurately understood as the smallest possible change it can make without harming Google’s true priority: its own advertising business.”
The Register notes that other browser makers such as Apple, Brave, and Mozilla have already begun blocking third-party cookies by default, while Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge “provide that option, just not out of the box.”
EFF senior staff technologist Jacob Hoffman-Andrews told The Register that “When Google Chrome finishes the project on some unspecified date in the future, it will be a great day for privacy on the web. According to the announcement, the actual phased rollout is slated to begin in Q3 2024, with no stated deadline to reach 100 percent. Let’s hope Google’s advertising wing does not excessively delay these critical privacy improvements.”
TechRadar points out that after the initial testing period in 2024, Google will begin its phased rollout of the cookie replacement program — starting in June.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google Confirms Its Schedule for Disabling Third-Party Cookies in Chrome – Starting in 2024
Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, November 26, 2023
Today’s board takes us from a LITTLE TOWN to a CAPITAL CITY—or at least that’s how it may appear at first. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, November 26, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for November 26, NYT Connections #168! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Credit: Connections/NYT
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
There’s one phrase relating to soccer, and a few to banking, but nothing too obscure.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
-
Yellow category – Places to live.
-
Green category – Methods in the kitchen.
-
Blue category – Money matters.
-
Purple category – Out of your league?
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
There’s a fill-in-the-blank category for purple again.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
-
A CAPITAL can be a CITY, a non-lowercase letter, or a word for investment money.
-
Your PULSE can be your heartbeat, or it can be the way you operate a food processor when you want to CHOP things roughly.
-
EQUITY can be a social concept, or a term for an ownership INTEREST.
-
JUSTICE is a word with one meaning and many uses. (A judge in the Supreme Court, for example.) I also learned from Joy Buolamwini’s new book, Unmasking AI, that the term “JUSTICE League” predates the superhero franchise; there was an Equal JUSTICE League of Young Women formed in 1911 (for women’s suffrage), a JUSTICE League for workers’ rights in 1914, and a civil rights organization in 1923 called the Race JUSTICE League. Buolamwini founded the Algorithmic JUSTICE League to fight bias in AI.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
-
Yellow: MUNICIPALITIES
-
Green: BLENDER BUTTONS
-
Blue: FINANCIAL TERMS
-
Purple: ____ LEAGUE
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is MUNICIPALITIES and the words are: CITY, COUNTY, TOWN, VILLAGE.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is BLENDER BUTTONS and the words are: CHOP, GRIND, PULSE, PUREE.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is FINANCIAL TERMS and the words are: CAPITAL, EQUITY, INTEREST, STOCK.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is ____ LEAGUE and the words are: IVY, JUSTICE, LITTLE, PREMIER.
How I solved today’s Connections
EQUITY can mean a concept that connects equality with JUSTICE, but it can also mean ownership of monetary value. In that sense, it goes logically with INTEREST, STOCK, and CAPITAL. 🟦
On to the GRIND: Once I stopped thinking about the word by itself, and softened my eyes to see the whole board, I realized it went with PUREE, PULSE, and CHOP as settings on a food processor or blender. 🟩
CITY, TOWN, and IVY had me thinking of college towns; then I realized I was close with IVY league. The board also contains a LITTLE league, a JUSTICE league, and (once I remember that Europe exists) a PREMIER league. 🟪
Finally, I’ve got some locations: CITY, COUNTY, TOWN, and VILLAGE. (I recall these each having a specific technical meaning in New York state; there are also “hamlets” in New York but those are unofficial. New York does not, to my knowledge, do “townships.”) 🟨
Connections Puzzle #168 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
Source: LifeHacker – Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, November 26, 2023
Proxmox VE 8.1 Introduces Secure Boot Compatibility
Proxmox Virtual Environment 8.1 debuts with Debian 12.2 base, Linux kernel 6.5, QEMU 8.1.2, and LXC 5.0.2, enhancing virtual environments.
Source: LXer – Proxmox VE 8.1 Introduces Secure Boot Compatibility
Why Do So Many Sites Have Bad Password Policies?
“Three out of four of the world’s most popular websites are failing to meet minimum requirement standards” for password security, reports Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. Which means three out of four of the world’s most popular web sites are “allowing tens of millions of users to create weak passwords.”
Using a first-of-its-kind automated tool that can assess a website’s password creation policies, researchers also discovered that 12% of websites completely lacked password length requirements. Assistant Professor Frank Li and Ph.D. student Suood Al Roomi in Georgia Tech’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy created the automated assessment tool to explore all sites in the Google Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), a database of one million websites and pages.
Li and Al Roomi’s method of inferring password policies succeeded on over 20,000 sites in the database and showed that many sites:
– Permit very short passwords
– Do not block common passwords
– Use outdated requirements like complex characters
The researchers also discovered that only a few sites fully follow standard guidelines, while most stick to outdated guidelines from 2004… More than half of the websites in the study accepted passwords with six characters or less, with 75% failing to require the recommended eight-character minimum. Around 12% of had no length requirements, and 30% did not support spaces or special characters. Only 28% of the websites studied enforced a password block list, which means thousands of sites are vulnerable to cyber criminals who might try to use common passwords to break into a user’s account, also known as a password spraying attack.
Georgia Tech describes the new research as “the largest study of its kind.” (“The project was 135 times larger than previous works that relied on manual methods and smaller sample sizes.”)
“As a security community, we’ve identified and developed various solutions and best practices for improving internet and web security,” said assistant professor Li. “It’s crucial that we investigate whether those solutions or guidelines are actually adopted in practice to understand whether security is improving in reality.”
The Slashdot community has already noticed the problem, judging by a recent post from eggegick. “Every site I visit has its own idea of the minimum and maximum number of characters, the number of digits, the number of upper/lowercase characters, the number of punctuation characters allowed and even what punctuation characters are allowed and which are not.”
The limit of password size really torques me, as that suggests they are storing the password (they need to limit storage size), rather than its hash value (fixed size), which is a real security blunder. Also, the stupid dots drive me bonkers, especially when there is no “unhide” button. For crying out loud, nobody is looking over my shoulder! Make the “unhide” default.
“The ‘dots’ are bad security,” agrees long-time Slashdot reader Spazmania. “If you’re going to obscure the password you should also obscure the length of the password.” But in their comment on the original submission, they also point out that there is a standard for passwords, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology:
Briefly:
* Minimum 8 characters
* Must allow at least 64 characters.
* No constraints on what printing characters can be used (including high unicode)
* No requirements on what characters must be used or in what order or proportion
This is expected to be paired with a system which does some additional and critical things:
* Maintain a database of known compromised passwords (e.g. from public password dictionaries) and reject any passwords found in the database.
* Pair the password with a second authentication factor such as a security token or cell phone sms. Require both to log in.
* Limit the number of passwords which can be attempted per time period. At one attempt per second, even the smallest password dictionaries would take hundreds of years to try…
Someone attempting to brute force a password from outside on a rate-limited system is limited to the rate, regardless of how computing power advances. If the system enforces a rate limit of 1 try per second, the time to crack an 8-character password containing only lower case letters is still more than 6,000 years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Why Do So Many Sites Have Bad Password Policies?
Affordable $100 Banana Pi BPI-R4 Router Board Featuring 2x10G SFP Ports
The Banana Pi BPI-R4 is a high-performance, open-source router board, equipped with MediaTek Filogic 880 SoC and designed to cater to a wide range of networking applications requiring multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports and wireless connectivity. A key feature of the BPI-R4 is its MediaTek Filogic 880 chipset, a premier network processor that enhances both wired […]
Source: LXer – Affordable 0 Banana Pi BPI-R4 Router Board Featuring 2x10G SFP Ports