September 2024

Sunday Night News Nuggets (5 Comments) (link)  Sunday, 29-September-2024  22:18:41 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN Meta fined $102M for storing passwords in plain text. Whoops! The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) is levying a $102 million fine against Meta for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles of integrity and confidentiality. After a five-year investigation, the watchdog found that the social media giant was inadvertently storing user passwords in plaintext, without any kind of protection or encryption. News of a possible broadband tax on 4G and 5G fixed wireless ... What a time to be alive! The ACCC has made a case for the ‘broadband tax’ on NBN-equivalent services to be expanded to 4G and 5G fixed wireless, after years of resistance to lobbying by NBN Co. In a submission to a review of the scheme, first reported by CommsDay, the competition watchdog said it would conditionally support 4G and 5G fixed wireless users paying the ‘tax’. Known as the regional broadband scheme (RBS), it is an $8.26 monthly levy on NBN-like services that ultimately goes to NBN Co to fund its “loss-making non-commercial fixed wireless and satellite services.” LinkedIn scraping user data, and users cant opt out? Why I never heard of such a thing. There's an old saying with social media: the users are the product. That used to mean that if you posted on a service like Reddit, then your data would be sold to advertisers, either individually or in aggregate. That has only become more true with the advent of AI, as companies race to acquire the data necessary to train models. Microsoft's career-oriented LinkedIn has joined its more consumer-focused rivals, but for existing users it seems that the only way to win this game is not to play. Tor says it's still private as the feds kick down doors. The Tor Project is seeking to allay fears that its veil of privacy has been pierced. A new report on German efforts to remove illicit content from the Tor network spiked fears that law enforcement had devised a way to unmask users of the service. According to the project, the attacks leveraged in the German case don't change the game, but Tor users are advised to make sure all their software is updated. Isambard 2, the world's first Arm-based supercomputer, retires after six years of service. It didn't even get long service leave. First deployed in May 2018, this 10,000-core machine used 64-bit Armv8 ThunderX2 processors developed by Cavium and manufactured by TSMC, plus a few Nvidia P100 GPUs. The new supercomputer, Isambard 3, is still powered by Arm processors, but this time, it will have Nvidia Grace CPU Superchips with 34,272 cores. Social media sites and user surveillance? No? Colour me surprised! The government’s battle with social media is nothing new. The US Senate held a hearing at the beginning of this year, in which Senators took turns grilling social media CEOs, such as Mark Zuckerberg, about their roles in the safety of children on their respective platforms. Senators also passed the so-called TikTok bill in late April, which could effectively ban the Chinese-owned social media site in the US unless it sells to a US owner. Now, the FTC is raking social media and video streaming services over the coals over privacy concerns and the safety of teens and children on the popular sites. scarletxfi thought this was pretty cool :) Misc Pics (13 Comments) (link)  Friday, 27-September-2024  13:31:52 (GMT +10) - by Agg Thanks to metamorphosis and MUTMAN this week! Friday Morning Reviews (2 Comments) (link)  Friday, 27-September-2024  01:07:55 (GMT +10) - by Agg Portable & Prebuilt: ASUS Zenbook S16 Laptop Review - Showcasing AMD's Strix Point APU on Tweaktown. AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 / ASUS ZenBook S 16 (Zen 5 Mobile / RDNA 3.5) on Guru3D. Dell Latitude 7455 – Snapdragon X Elite Premium Notebook on StorageReview. HP ZBook Power G11 and G11 A on StorageReview. Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Review: Lunar Lake Tested In Dell’s XPS 13 on HotHardware. ASUS Zenbook S14 Laptop Review - Lunar Lake and Intel Xe2 on Tweaktown. Acemagic X1 Dual-Screen Laptop on Guru3D. Alienware M18 R2 (2024 Edition) Gaming Laptop on Tweaktown. Cases: Montech XR chassis on TechPowerUp. Corsair 3500X ARGB on TechPowerUp. Input Etc: VAXEE XE-S Wireless mouse on TechPowerUp. Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed Gaming Mouse on MadShrimps. Power Supply: Tutorial for the Anker Solix Solarbank 2 E1600 Plus with Shelly 3EM Smart Meter on FunkyHome. AlphaESS VitaPower VT1000 and 2x VitaMate VM1000 all-in-one balcony solar system video on FunkyHome. Storage: HighPoint RocketAIC 7749M2W 128TB Review - World's Highest Capacity AIC Storage Device on Tweaktown. ACER Predator GM7 PCIe 4.0 M.2 4TB SSD Review @ Madshrimps.be on MadShrimps. Orico O7000 2 TB on TechPowerUp. Cooling: PCCOOLER RZ820 dual-tower CPU cooler on TechPowerUp. Corsair iCUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB Liquid CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers. Software: God of War Ragnarök Handheld Performance on TechPowerUp. God of War Ragnarök: DLSS vs. FSR vs. XeSS Comparison on TechPowerUp. God of War Ragnarök Performance Benchmark Review - 35 GPUs Tested on TechPowerUp. Misc: WELOCK PCB41 Smart Keypad Door Lock on NikKTech. Fractal Design Refine Gaming Chair on ThinkComputers. V-Color Manta XFinity RGB 48GB DDR5-8400 CL40 Memory Kit on FunkyKit. JBL Xtreme 4 Portable Waterproof Speaker on NikKTech. Intel Launches Xeon 6900P, 128 P-Core Granite Rapids Arrives To Battle AMD EPYC CPUs on HotHardware. Saturday Night Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Saturday, 21-September-2024  22:17:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg Audio Visual: Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 42-inch OLED Gaming Monitor on OCInside. Sharkoon Skiller SGH10 analog gaming headset on TechPowerUp. Elgato Stream Deck + and XLR Dock Bundle on FunkyKit. Ultimate Ears BOOM 4 Portable Bluetooth Speaker on Tweaktown. Input Etc: ASUS ROG Azoth Extreme keyboard - Beautifully Weird on Guru3D. Epomaker Brick 87 TKL Triple Mode Mechanical Keyboard on NikKTech. Cooling: SilverStone IceMyst 360 Premium AIO Liquid Cooler on NikKTech. Noctua NH-D15 G2 Cooling Tower: Cooler and Quieter on StorageReview. Cases: Gigabyte C102 Glass Ice case on TechPowerUp. Fractal Design Era 2 on TechPowerUp. HYTE Y70 on TechPowerUp. Portable & Prebuilt: GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024 Edition) Gaming Laptop on Tweaktown. HP EliteBook 1040 G11 Review: A Road Warrior’s Secret Weapon on HotHardware. Storage: Lexar PLAY 2280 4TB PCIe 4.0 SSD on FunkyKit. Crucial P310 2230 2TB Solid State Drive on APHNetworks. TerraMaster F4-424 NAS on TechPowerUp. Synology DiskStation DS423+ Home NAS on Tweaktown. Kingston NV3 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD on NikKTech. Seagate Game Drive 2TB SSD Review - The Ultimate PlayStation Accessory on Tweaktown. Seagate Game Drive PS5 SSD on StorageReview. ASUSTOR Drivestor 4 Pro AS3304T v2 NAS on Tweaktown. IBM Storage FlashSystem 5300 Review on StorageReview. KLEVV CRAS C925 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD on FunkyKit. Crucial P310 2280 2TB SSD Review - Full-Size Elite QLC on Tweaktown. Samsung EVO Select 1TB on StorageReviews. Software: Final Fantasy XVI Performance Benchmark on TechPowerUp. Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2 Handheld Performance on TechPowerUp. Misc: Tripp Lite AVR750UNC UPS on StorageReview. Sapphire PURE Radeon RX 7700 XT FP2 (FrostPunk 2 edition) video cards on Guru3D. MSI Roamii BE Lite Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System on Tweaktown. Colorful iGame Loong Edition DDR5-7200 32 GB CL32 memory on TechPowerUp. Retro Misc Pics (7 Comments) (link)  Friday, 20-September-2024  13:32:59 (GMT +10) - by Agg In planes and airports all day today, so here's Misc Pics from Nov 2011: 4th Nov 2011: eleveneleveneleven: 18th Nov 2011: 25th Nov 2011: Monday Reviews, An After Dinner Mint (0 Comments) (link)  Monday, 16-September-2024  21:19:37 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN Audio Visual: ASUS ROG XG27UCS @ cowcotland OnePlus Buds Pro 3 @ HotHardware Titan Army P32A2S2 @ TechPowerUp ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG @ TweakTown Fosi MC351 @ cowcotland XPG PRECOG Studio @ TechPowerUp AOC 16T3EA 15.6? Portable Monitor @ ThinkComputers MOONDROP COSMO Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones @ TechPowerUp AVerMedia X'TRA GO GC515 @ TweakTown ASUS ROG XG27ACS @ cowcotland Keyboard, Mouse: Epomaker Shadow-S Wireless Mechanical Keyboard @ aphNetworks Epomaker P75 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard @ aphNetworks LIV Plus Wireless @ cowcotland Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse @ TechPowerUp Epomaker EK98 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard @ aphNetworks Cases and Cooling: Thermaltake View 380 TG ARGB Mid Tower Chassis @ FunkyKit MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ Mid-Tower Chassis @ TweakTown Corsair iCUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB AIO @ FunkyKit ASUS ROG STRIX LC III 360 aRGB @ guru3D Storage: ADATA Legend 970 Pro 2 TB @ TechPowerUp Lexar ARMOR 700 2TB USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Portable SSD @ NikKTech Patriot Transporter Lite 2TB External Portable SSD @ Madshrimps Motherboard, Memory: Crucial Pro Overclocking 32GB DDR5-6000 @ Madshrimps ASRock B760I Lightning WiFi Intel LGA1700 @ OCinside G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal NEO 32GB DDR5 6000MHz @ NikKTech ASRock Z890 Taichi Motherboard @ HotHardware Proxmem Kerberos TUF 6800 MHz CL34 @ guru3D PSU: FSP VITA GM 1000W ATX3.1 PSU @ FunkyKit Software and Benchmark: Warhammer: Space Marine 2 Performance Benchmark @ TweakTown AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 "Strix Point" APU: Windows 11 23H2 vs. 24H2 @ TweakTown Portable & Prebuilt: HP Omen 14-Inch Transcend Laptop @ SMBtech | High Performance Laptops Misc: Best Thermal Paste for CPUs 2024: 90 Pastes Tested and Ranked @ tomshardware Misc Pics (19 Comments) (link)  Friday, 13-September-2024  12:40:27 (GMT +10) - by Agg Friday the 13th! Oooh, spooky. Monday Morning (25 Comments) (link)  Monday, 9-September-2024  00:13:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg Tweaktown compared some AI PC Processors. The AI PC processor battle is forming: AMD Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" vs. Intel Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" vs. Qualcomm Snapdragon X. HighPerformanceLaptops are visiting the "Innovation For All" show in Berlin, and report back with a heap of laptop news. The world's largest consumer and electronics show. At IFA 2024 we will bring together 1,800+ global exhibitors, 125 incredible speakers and more than 182,000+ visitors from 139 countries. A game collector has set a new Guinness World Record by connecting 444 consoles to one TV. In a world where playing classic games on consoles is usually left to emulators (and/or maybe an older console or two we have laying around), there's someone like Ibrahim Al-Nasser who can pull off playing those games on their OG consoles anytime he wants, because he owns hundreds of consoles, controllers, and games in his massive collection. His latest claim to fame is he currently holds the world record for 444 machines connected to a single TV. Linux reached 4.45% desktop market share in July, according to StatCounter. While this percentage might seem small to those unfamiliar with the operating system landscape, it represents a significant milestone for Linux and its dedicated community. What makes this achievement even more thrilling is the upward trajectory of Linux's adoption rate. Actually at the time of writing it is saying 4.55%. This is kinda neat, a landscape painting on a CPU using multi-coloured thermal paste. As seen in the video Cooler Master posted on its X account, the company is taking the marketing for its Cryofuze 5 thermal paste to a whole new and happy level. Yes, it literally summoned the Bob Ross inside it and painted a CPU using the Cryofuze 5 paste. Sunday Night Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Sunday, 8-September-2024  21:38:02 (GMT +10) - by Agg Audio Visual: PMG Audio Apx SE In-Ear Monitors Review - Redefining a Flagship on TechPowerUp. OBSBOT Meet 2 4K AI Powered Webcam on NikKTech. Input Etc: SKYLOONG GK104 Pro Dual Screen Wireless Keyboard on TechPowerUp. Redragon K1NG 4K Pro mouse on TechPowerUp. ASUS ROG Delta II Wireless Gaming Headset on ThinkComputers. Misc: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X CPU on Tweaktown. Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 DDR5-8200 48 GB CL38 memory on TechPowerUp. Corsair 3500X ARGB PC Case on Guru3D. Noctua NH-D15 G2 HBC CPU Cooler on APHNetworks. Origin PC EON15-SL Gaming Laptop Review - 15-inch Gaming at 240Hz 1600p on Tweaktown. Asus RT-BE88U: A Proper Wi-Fi 7 Router that lacks the 6GHz band on Guru3D. Whoops (8 Comments) (link)  Friday, 6-September-2024  18:13:53 (GMT +10) - by Agg If you just signed up for the forums with a username ending in "thepetrock" I just accidentally denied your sign up. I blame my fat fingers on mobile. Feel free to sign up again! Misc Pics (17 Comments) (link)  Friday, 6-September-2024  13:45:32 (GMT +10) - by Agg Thanks to Dan and mpot this week! Friday Lunchtime (1 Comments) (link)  Friday, 6-September-2024  11:40:11 (GMT +10) - by Agg I'm sad to hear that Anandtech is shutting down. After over 27 years of covering the wide – and wild – world of computing hardware, today is AnandTech’s final day of publication. For better or worse, we’ve reached the end of a long journey – one that started with a review of an AMD processor, and has ended with the review of an AMD processor. It’s fittingly poetic, but it is also a testament to the fact that we’ve spent the last 27 years doing what we love, covering the chips that are the lifeblood of the computing industry. They were always one of the standout sites for high-quality articles and one of the few oldschool tech sites still standing - but no more. Discussion in this thread. Thanks to Tired and IntelInside for sending that in. Australians now have the right to disconnect outside of work hours. The new law allows employees to ignore communications after hours if they choose to, without fear of being punished by their bosses. A survey published last year estimated that Australians worked on average 281 hours of unpaid overtime annually. More than 20 countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America, have similar rules. The NSW Government wants to know what you think about social media use and impacts. The information gathered from the survey will directly inform the discussions at the summit and help the government formulate practical solutions to address the issues posed by social media, with the goal of supporting everyone to have a safer and more positive online experience. Meanwhile there's a petition to stop killing games by making them unplayable when they are no longer supported. An increasing number of videogames are sold as goods, but designed to be completely unplayable for everyone as soon as support ends. The legality of this practice is untested worldwide, and many governments do not have clear laws regarding these actions. It is our goal to have authorities examine this behavior and hopefully end it, as it is an assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media. Retro Gaming September 2024 (0 Comments) (link)  Wednesday, 4-September-2024  16:12:24 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN This month's "Retro Let's Play" for September is Double Dragon from 1987. Double Dragon is the classic beat 'em up arcade game first released in 1987. Play as one of two brothers, Billy and Jimmy Lee, who fight their way through various levels to rescue Billy's girlfriend, Marian, who has been kidnapped by a gang. The game is known for its cooperative gameplay, where two players can team up to defeat enemies. It introduced several elements that became staples in beat 'em up games, such as weapon pickups and combo attacks. Players use a combination of punches, kicks, and various weapons, such as bats and knives. click for the thread! Wednesday Arvo Reviews (1 Comments) (link)  Wednesday, 4-September-2024  16:09:33 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN Network: EnGenius affordable ECW526 WIFI7 Cloud7 @ guru3D Audio Visual: Majority Bard Internet Radio Music System @ NikKTech ALOGIC Clarity Pro Touch @ TweakTown Keyboard, Mouse: Varmilo Muse65 HE Hall Effect Keyboard @ TechPowerUp Cooler Master MK770 Space Grey Hybrid Wireless Keyboard @ OCinside La Keris II Ace @ Hardware's Farm XTRFY K5 COMPACT SILENT RED PBT @ Madshrimps Mountain Everest Max Mechanical Keyboard @ aphNetworks Case, Cooling: be quiet! Light Loop 360 ARGB AIO @ TechPowerUp Lian Li HydroShift LCD 360S @ Vortez be quiet! LIGHT LOOP 360, un AIO @ Hardware's Farm Noctua NH-D15 G2 CPU Cooler @ ThinkComputers Montech HyperFlow ARGB 360 AIO @ TechPowerUp Yeyian Mirage X @ TechPowerUp Granzon GAISC Digital @ TechPowerUp FSP CUT593A Full-Tower Chassis @ TweakTown Corsair 2000D ITX Build @ Neoseeker Storage: Kingston NV3 2TB SSD @ TweakTown Silicon Motion SM2508 SSD @ TechPowerUp Kingston NV3 @ TechPowerUp TeamGroup PD20M Mag 2TB Portable SSD @ FunkyKit Memory, CPU: ANACOMDA D5 RGB 32GB DDR5 7200MHz CL34 @ NikKTech G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal 8000 MT/s CL40 @ Hardware's Farm AMD Ryzen 9 9950X @ TweakTown Intel Xeon w7-2595x @ HotHardware KLEVV FIT V DDR5-6000 32 GB CL32 @ TechPowerUp PSU: FSP VITA GM 1000 @ Hardware's Farm Software, Benchmark: Star Wars Outlaws Handheld Performance @ TechPowerUp Star Wars Outlaws: DLSS vs. FSR vs. XeSS Comparison @ TechPowerUp Star Wars Outlaws Performance @ TechPowerUp Portable & Prebuilt: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro And Pixel 9 @ HotHardware Misc: HBADA E3 @ Hardware's Farm gamescom 2024 Coverage @ OCinside

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