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Showing posts from March, 2024

Poco X6 Neo Review: Budget Hero

Poco X6 Neo is a budget smartphone that comes with a slim design and slim display bezels. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6080 SoC and a large display that offers 93.3 percent screen-to-body ratio. Here’s our review of the new Poco X6 Neo. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/lUABocD

Quordle today – hints and answers for Sunday, March 31 (game #797)

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It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, more than two years after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's fun, but also difficult. But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for today's Wordle answer , you'll probably need some hints for this game too. SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers. Quordle today (game #797) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today? • The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4 *. * Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). Quordle today (game #797) - hint #2 - total vowels What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

You can get a MacBook Air for $699 and a Dell XPS 13 for just $599 - is this the best time ever for laptop buyers?

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Both the Apple MacBook Air and the Dell XPS 13 are outstandingly good premium laptops - and both are on sale for some of the lowest prices we've ever seen currently. For example, Walmart currently has the Apple MacBook Air M1 for just $699 , which isn't just a record-low price but a whopping $300 cheaper than the original retail price. Granted, it's an older 2020 model, but this is a superb deal for a machine that's still more than capable for most users in 2024. Over at the official Dell store, you can pick up a 2022 XPS 13 for just $599 - which is almost unbelievable considering how premium this Windows laptop is. With super-thin display bezels and a gorgeous aluminum chassis, this model is a great buy right now - just know that it's the configuration with the 256GB SSD (like the M1 MacBook above). Two outstanding good laptop deals Apple MacBook Air M1: was $999 now $699 at Walmart Processor:  Apple M1 RAM:  8GB SSD:  256GB The 2020 MacBook Ai

Black Friday-beating deals: save up to $600 on RTX 4070 and 4060 gaming laptops

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March isn't traditionally known for its gaming laptop deals, but there are some absolutely outstanding options on the market right now. Dell and Best Buy, in particular, are offering massive price cuts of up to $600 on some of our favorite gaming laptops.  Our top choice for those on a budget is this RTX 4060-equipped MSI Cyborg for $849 (was $1,099) at Best Buy - one of the cheapest machines we've ever seen to feature the powerful graphics card. Pound for pound, this machine is a great budget buy if you need something relatively powerful without breaking the bank. For something with a little more oompth, consider this outstandingly cheap MSI Crosshair for $1,199 (was $1,399) , which features an RTX 4070 graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD. This machine isn't the cheapest out there right now but it's really great value considering the level of specs you're getting here. And, for a premium gaming laptop where looks are as important as performance, consider

An ancient Linux flaw might be opening up users to dangerous cyberattacks

Many versions of Linux may be vulnerable to a flaw that allowed hackers to steal passwords, or change the contents of their clipboard. The vulnerability, however, comes with a major caveat that makes exploitations somewhat unlikely (or at least heavily limited). Cybersecurity researcher Skyler Ferrante recently discovered an “improper neutralization of escape sequences in wall” vulnerability, a flaw impacting the “wall” command. This command is usually used to broadcast messages to the terminals of all users logged to the same system. WallEscape With escape sequences not being properly filtered when processing input through command line arguments, a threat actor could, theoretically, launch a prompt to all connected users and have them type in their administrator password . Escape sequences could also be used to change the clipboard of a target user, although this method may not work with all terminal emulators. The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2024-28085, and dubbed WallEsca

SMBs believe AI is going to give them the edge when it comes to success

Small business owners are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to gain a competitive advantage in the market, new research has claimed. A GoDaddy study of over 500 US entrepreneurs found a growing confidence in the power of generative AI tools to drive business success. The findings indicate a positive shift in attitude towards AI among small and medium-sized businesses. Three in four believe that GenAI will give them an edge over similar-sized competitors. More than two-thirds (68%) also see AI as enabling them to compete better with larger enterprises. GenAI is helping SMBs Nearly three-quarters (73%) said that they’ve already experimented with the technology, and more than a quarter (26%) already use AI for business purposes – up from 11% in the year before. Generative AI really took off back in November 2022 when ChatGPT hit public preview, but SMBs are now expanding their use cases beyond simple content generation. More than two in five (44%) now use AI to enhanc

Helldivers 2 adds Quasar Cannon and Heavy Machine Gun Stratagems to accidentally shoot your friends with

Co-op shooter Helldivers 2 is back with yet another update, this time adding two all-new Stratagems that seem specifically designed to help combat the brutal Automaton enemy type. The official Helldivers 2 X / Twitter account confirmed these powerful weapons with a neat, lore-appropriate graphic that shows off the LAS-99 Quasar Cannon and the MG-101 Heavy Machine Gun. Both can be earned in-game and distributed to players on the battlefield by calling them in via their Stratagem loadout. The post states that these Stratagems "are available now for use against the Automaton horde," implying that these powerful weapons are particularly effective against the deadly robotic faction. Helldivers, support has arrived! The LAS-99 Quasar Cannon and the MG-101 Heavy Machine Gun are available now for use against the Automaton horde. pic.twitter.com/EZSzXJWSPn March 28, 2024 See more For those not in the know, Stratagems are powerful items in Helldivers 2 that can seriously

256TB SSDs could land before 2026 with a surprisingly low price — but will most likely use a controversial and popular trick borrowed from tape technology

ScaleFlux has announced its latest SSD controller in what could be a significant step up for the company. The SFX 5016, the successor to the SFX 3016, incorporates several design advancements, including an upgrade from PCIe 4.0 to PCIe 5.0, doubling the host interface speed and bandwidth. The new controller has been designed to support a maximum storage capacity of up to 256TB, a volume which JB Baker, VP of Products at ScaleFlux believes can be achieved sooner than expected, by taking a leaf out of tape technology. 256TBe drives are coming Reaching 256TB is a big aim for SSD makers, and one that has some challenging hurdles to overcome. For starters, the physical space, determined by the size and form factor of the SSD, dictates how many NAND components it can accommodate. The density of these components also plays a part, with higher densities providing more storage capacity. The SSD's overall capacity can be limited by the controller's ability to handle a certain numbe

Ray framework flaw exploited for hackers to breach servers

The Ray framework, an open source tool for AI and Python workload scaling, is vulnerable to half a dozen flaws that allow hackers to hijack the devices and steal sensitive data.  This is according to cybersecurity researchers from Oligo, who published their findings on a new hacking campaign they dubbed “ShadowRay”.  Apparently active since early September 2023, ShadowRay’s operators abused five distinct Ray vulnerabilities to target firms in education, cryptocurrency, biopharma, and other verticals. "Shadow vulnerability" Four of the vulnerabilities are tracked as CVE-2023-6019, CVE-2023-6020, CVE-2023-6021, and CVE-2023-48023, and Anyscale, Ray’s developer, fixed them. The fifth one, deemed a critical remote code execution (RCE) flaw by researchers, and tracked as CVE-2023-48022, was not fixed. Anyscale argues that this was not a bug, but a feature: "The remaining CVE (CVE-2023-48022) - that Ray does not have authentication built in - is a long-standing design d

A new ZenHammer attack is targeting more AMD CPUs

The infamous Rowhammer DRAM attack can now be pulled off on some AMD CPUs as well, academic researchers from ETH Zurich have proved. As reported by BleepingComputer , the researchers dubbed the attack ZenHammer, after cracking the complex, non-linear DRAM addressing functions in AMD platforms. For the uninitiated, the Rowhammer DRAM attack revolves around changing data in Dynamic Random Access-Memory (DRAM), by repeatedly “hammering”, or accessing, specific rows of memory cells. Memory cells keep information as electric charges. These charges determine the value of the bits, which can either be a 0, or a 1. As the density of the memory cells in today’s chips is fairly big, “hammering” can alter the state in adjacent rows, or “flip” the bit. By flipping specific bits, the attackers can pull cryptographic keys, or other sensitive data , BleepingComputer explained. Purely theoretical? This means that AMD has joined Intel and ARM CPUs who were already known to be vulnerable to hammeri

Google Search is rolling out its AI-generated answers – whether you want them or not

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Google is reportedly experimenting with its search results and looking to add AI overviews for more users. Previously, the feature was being tested for people who had opted into the Google Search Generative Experience (SGE),  which would allow them to try Google’s latest innovations with generative AI. Google claims that this update will give users more information and context to users’ searches. Users can sign up to try search features that Google is testing and looking to receive feedback on via Search Labs. The Google Search Experience that Google has been working on displays an AI-generated answer which would be followed by the usual search result listings we’re used to. The AI-generated answer would be pre-empted by a very explicit ‘Generative AI is experimental’ disclaimer, and would be indicated visually by being sectioned off with a differently-colored background.  Google will also show citations for where its AI model would source its information to give you your answer. Y

Microsoft says Russian companies will be forced off its cloud services within days

Despite recent reports that Microsoft was all set to ban Russian companies from its suite of cloud services from March 20, it turns out this still isn’t in effect, but should be by the end of March 2024 - this week - instead, after the company held discussions with IT platform Softline, one of its customers. As a reminder, the ban isn’t a political move on Microsoft’s part, but several cloud storage providers’ hands being forced by economic sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russian-owned companies back in December 2023 as a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The latest update on the imminent blockade, from BleepingComputer , is that the delay so far appears to only be something that Microsoft is offering, in response to correspondence with Softline, despite the latter issuing a press release (Russian language, machine-translated by us) last week in which it claimed that it has ‘all the necessary resources’ to ensure a smooth transition to its own infrastruct

Samsung Finally Adopts Android’s Seamless Updates Starting With Galaxy A55 5G: Here’s How It Works

Apart from its refreshed design and Exynos-powered hardware, the Galaxy A55 5G, which was recently announced alongside the Galaxy A35 5G has another trick up its sleeve. The Galaxy A55 5G also happens to be the first Samsung smartphone that offers Google’s Seamless Updates feature. The feature basically offers less downtime during the update process allowing users t... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/SeiQEbX

Quordle today – hints and answers for Monday, March 25 (game #791)

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It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off.  Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, more than two years after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's fun, but also difficult. But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for today's Wordle answer , you'll probably need some hints for this game too.  SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers. Quordle today (game #791) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today? • The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4 *. * Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).  Quordle today (game #791) - hint #2 - total vowels What is the total number of vowels in Quordle toda

1200TB SSD modules are in the pipeline thanks to Pure Storage — but you definitely won't be able to plug one in your workstation PC and it will be shockingly expensive

In March 2023, we reported that Pure Storage planned to sell 300TB SSDs within three years.  While 300TB is unquestionably an impressive amount of storage, the company has revealed that it expects to be able to deliver 1200TB SSD modules... eventually. Shawn Rosemarin, Pure VP for R&D, explained to Blocks & Files that the limitations of DRAM prevent commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) SSDs from exceeding 30TB capacities. Typically, he said, 1GB of DRAM is needed for every 1TB of raw NAND capacity, which means a 30TB drive would require 30GB of DRAM. The problem arises when considering larger capacities, as the amount of DRAM required matches or even exceeds the amount found in current servers. 300TB and beyond Rosemarin highlighted three main issues with using more DRAM. Firstly, DRAM fails more frequently than NAND. Secondly, DRAM is significantly more expensive. Lastly, DRAM's energy efficiency is much lower, leading to higher energy consumption. DRAM is required for

Obscure Chinese tablet maker quietly unveiled a tablet with a sought-after feature no other tablet vendor dare launch — a 4K display that not even Apple, Google or Samsung can match

Doogee has unveiled a low cost tablet with a surprising selling point. The Doogee T30 Max, a new and upgraded version of the firm’s T30 series tablet, sports a 12.4 inch IPS 4K Display. Yes, 4K. That’s an impressive achievement for any tablet, let alone one retailing for $329 (or $296 when you apply the 10% off coupon code available on the website). For comparison, Apple's iPad Pro has a slightly larger screen (12.9 inch) and a resolution of 2732 x 2048 pixels or 2.7K. We recently reported on NEC’s LAVIE Tab T14 which we said had “probably the highest ever resolution on a tablet”, and even that only manages 3000 x 1876 (QHD+) and costs nearly $1,000. Doogee T30 Max has an 87.5% high screen ratio, and is reasonably thin at just 7.9mm. For comparison again, the iPad Pro is 6.4mm thick. Android 14 Doogee’s new tablet runs on Android 14 and is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 Octa Core processor. This comprises two high performance Arm Cortex-A76 processors clocking up to 2.2GHz,

Quordle today – hints and answers for Sunday, March 24 (game #790)

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It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off.  Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, more than two years after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's fun, but also difficult. What's more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently.  But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for today's Wordle answer , you'll probably need some hints for this game too.  I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #790 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence. SPOILER WARNING: