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Showing posts from September, 2023

The Raspberry Pi 5 has ruined my day

Reader, I must issue a formal apology. Despite, back in December 2022, reporting reports of comments made in an interview with the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s CEO Eben Upton, who then claimed a Raspberry Pi 5 wouldn’t be coming in 2023 , the sad truth is one actually is now coming soon . I let you down. I let myself down. In my defence, I am an embryo compared to everyone else I work with. I reached for the stars and the hubris of youth said, ‘no’. My line manager has responded in kind, with such withering ripostes as ‘lol at you’, and ‘so naive’. I deserve all of it, and will be taking some time out for self care. But I also feel like an idiot, because, about a month and a half ago, I decided, out of my own piggy bank, to get a Model B , mostly because baby needs a Plex server .  This article, though invariably described as ‘profitable’ by my line manager and ‘good’ by one (1) reader e-mail, was brought to you by experiences that broke my spirit and curiosity for tech, and the ...

The 'world's smallest' external GPU has been tested and it could be the best laptop upgrade yet — here’s why

GPD’s ‘GPU box’ might be one of the most effective ways to give your laptop the graphical upgrade it needs without shelling out for a new machine, or replacing the GPU yourself . The GPD G1 looks more like a docking station than anything else and actually may serve as one, given the plethora of ports it offers. But it comes with the added bonus of souping up your machine’s graphical capabilities.  Weighing 867g, and measuring  225 x 111 x 30mm, the lightweight GPU expansion unit includes a Radeon RX 7600M XT GPU armed with 8GB GDDR6 memory.  The Japanese publication PC Watch , which tested the device, claims its performance is close to the excellent Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card – which is hardly a slouch. The performance-boosting GPU box Benchmarking by PC Watch shows the effect it had in boosting gaming scores on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen9 enterprise notebook, equipped with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU running Windows 11 Pro. When benchmarked against Fi...

Quordle today - hints and answers for Sunday, October 1 (game #615)

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, around 18 months 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 Wordle hints , you'll probably need some 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 #615 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence.  SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quo...

Mortal Kombat 1 creator teases that a host of terrifyingly familiar faces may be on the way

Mortal Kombat 1 creator Ed Boon has teased that we may soon be welcoming a whole new raft of frighteningly new fighters to the roster. In a post on Twitter/X, Boon posted an image that contained some of horror's most iconic mascots, including Leatherface, Freddy, Michael Myers, Jason, Pinhead, Jigsaw, and Chucky. All the horror icons had either a tick or a question mark above their heads. Perhaps most interesting of all, however, was the inclusion of Scream's Ghostface, which adds some credence to rumors that voice lines pertaining to Ghostface popped up in a datamine not too long ago (thanks, Eurogamer ).  🐉🤔 pic.twitter.com/nCtuSz4VSY September 28, 2023 See more Will these horrible fiends join the roster in time for Halloween? It's hard to say. As always, though, we'll keep you posted should Boon tease anything else. Mortal Kombat 1 reportedly has a bug that could potentially impact every character in the game , giving an advantage to whoever happens ...

The Pokémon Company apologizes and blames "overwhelming demand" for its Van Gogh collab stock issues

The Pokémon Company says it is "actively working on ways" to restock its Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum collection after scalpers promptly cleaned out the limited edition items. Citing "overwhelming demand", the company apologized for disappointing fans who had missed out and said it would let them know about restock options "at a later day". "We apologize for all the fans eagerly awaiting our Pokémon Center x Van Gogh Museum release today," the company said across its social media channels. "Due to overwhelming demand, all our products from this collection have sold out. We understand this is disappointing to many who were looking to our official email and social media channels for guidance on how and when to purchase. "We are actively working on ways to provide more Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo cards for fans shopping at Pokémon Center in the future. Details will be released at a later date." Official statement regarding tod...

AMD has a new trick to make games run smoother – but only for RX 7000 GPUs

All the focus has been on FSR 3 launching yesterday (finally), but AMD has also implemented a separate Fluid Motion Frame feature at a driver level, which aims to boost frame rates considerably using frame generation tech. What’s the difference between these technologies? We’ll come back to that in a moment, but the key thing to know about AMD’s Fluid Motion Frame (AFMF) tech is that as it’s a driver capability, it can be applied to games without the developer having to incorporate support (as is necessary with FSR 3). What does it do? AFMF literally sticks in extra frames (engages in frame generation) for the game to increase the frames per second (fps) count. The result is an artificially smoother experience for the frame rate. As VideoCardz reports, there are some initial catches. Firstly, AFMF is still in beta, only having been released in AMD’s Adrenalin preview driver, and it officially supports 12 games right now (including Starfield – check out the full list below). A P...

ICYMI: the 7 biggest tech stories of the week, from Meta Quest 3 to Raspberry Pi 5

The tech launches show no sign of slowing down as we head into October, with this week serving up another generous round of tech treats to help us wash down last week's helpings of Microsoft Copilot, Amazon's Alexa AI and iOS 17. This time, it was Meta's turn to take to the stage at Meta Connect, where it made the unsurprising full announcement of the Meta Quest 3, alongside some big AI news. You can read about both of those below, alongside our verdict on DJI's new Mini 4 Pro drone (spoiler: it's great). In between all of that, we were sorely tempted to pre-order a new Raspberry Pi 5 so that it can sit on our shelf collecting dust again, and we also found time to celebrate Google's 25th birthday. So if you were too busy this week living in actual reality rather than virtual reality, let us fill you in on all the tech news you missed... 7. Google turned 25 – and we celebrated in style (Image credit: Google) Okay, most birthday celebrations include p...

A Windows 11 PC that’s smaller and lighter than the iPhone 15 Pro has been tested — just wait till someone hacks it into a Windows smartphone

Although it looks more like a smartphone – or even a hard drive – the Windows 11-powered Zepan RY-P1 is actually a mini PC that’s soon to become a reality after smashing its crowdfunding target. This lightweight device, which its makers dub a ‘true mobile office’, weighs just 140g – about the same as a rice ball. It also boasts surprisingly sleek dimensions of 122 x 63 x 10mm, which is smaller than the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone 15 which itself measures 148 x 72 x 7.8mm. The makers of the RY-P1 have raised more than $43,000 at the time of writing, which is 3,200% more than their original crowdfunding goal, meaning this mini PC is set to ship by December 2023. Pocket-sized computing Zepan’s RY-P1 mini PC sits somewhere in the entry-level camp, but you can barely complain given its astonishing size. It’s fitted with an Intel J4125 CPU and Intel UHD Graphics 600, complemented with 8GB DDR4 RAM as well as a 128GB SSD storage. The device also supports Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6 , and ca...

Researchers find a way to make photos and muted videos ‘speak’ – here’s what it could mean for your privacy

Capturing audio from a still image may feel like something out of a sci-fi novel, but one scientist has actually devised a way to do it, with the helping hand of AI. By creating a machine learning tool called Side Eye, a team led by professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at Northeastern University, Kevin Fu, can read into images to an extraordinary degree. By applying Side Eye to a still image, they can determine the gender of a speaker in the room, where the photo was taken, and the words they spoke, according to TechXplore . They can also apply the tool to muted videos. An AI-powered privacy nightmare? "Imagine someone is doing a TikTok video and they mute it and dub music," Fu told the publicaton. "Have you ever been curious about what they're really saying? Was it 'Watermelon watermelon' or 'Here's my password?' Was somebody speaking behind them? You can actually pick up what is being spoken off camera....

Quordle today - hints and answers for Saturday, September 30 (game #614)

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, around 18 months 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 Wordle hints , you'll probably need some 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 #614 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence.  SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quo...

iCloud gets a makeover with a revamped look and quality-of-life upgrades

Following updates to iOS , iPadOS , and macOS , it’s now iCloud’s turn as Apple is redesigning the website as well as introducing a variety of new features. It’s not a complete overhaul for iCloud mind you, as the quick-glance widgets from last year’s update are still here. The difference this time is users will be able to do more with them. You can now “customize what you see in Tiles”, from choosing a specific folder from the Notes app on your iPhone to picking out your favorite photographs. It’s even possible to have multiple layouts of the same tile displayed on the front page.  (Image credit: Future) Quality-of-life changes Next, Quick Actions are being added, allowing you mark reminders as complete or flag a particular email among other things. You can perform these by hovering over your files on iCloud then selecting the three dots that appear to reveal the menu. Apple states “on a touch device” just swipe left. Also, if you’re a PC user, you’re now able to rece...

Pixel Watch 2 could get some Fitbit-style features to measure your stress levels

Google’s next Pixel event is less than a week away, and yet new details about the device keep leaking . This time, we’ve learned that the wearable will be gaining the Body Responses feature seen previously on the Fitbit Sense 2 . This batch of information comes from industry insider Evan Blass on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter). The watch face will display how your body reacts to stress at certain times of the day, according to the images he posted. Each time period will be accentuated with an emoji making a face befitting the mood. For example, a user might feel particularly stressed out at 11 am, feel fine at noon, then feel a little off at 1 pm. 9To5Google points out this is better than what the Fitbit Sense 2 has because the user interface is cleaner than before and a lot “easier to understand at a glance.”   What’s particularly interesting is this indicates the Pixel Watch 2 may have an “electrodermal activity sensor”, EDA for short, which is something the...

Mojang has confirmed that Minecraft Dungeons' 1.17 update is its last, and the team has "moved on to new projects"

Minecraft Dungeons has amassed 25 million players since its launch in 2020, which Mojang was happy to praise in a blog post . But, despite its large player base, it has been confirmed that no further content for the game is planned.  According to the team, “It was the love of our players that made it [ Minecraft Dungeons ] grow and thrive, allowing us to continue the adventure and venture further into the Nether, the End, and eventually the mysterious Tower. It exceeded our wildest dreams, and it makes us both proud and grateful for having had the pleasure of building a game together with a community like this one.” Mojang has confirmed that the update that rolled out in November 2022, 1.17, will be the final update Minecraft Dungeons receives. The game will no longer receive new content or features, and the team has “moved onto new projects that continue to explore experiences in the Minecraft universe.” The post continues: “We do intend to continue bringing new experiences...

NYT Connections answers today for September 29

The NYT Connections answers for today (September 29), along with our hints as to the categories, will help you solve today's puzzle, which looks set to be a fairly tricky one. You get four mistakes in NYT Connections and must work out each group, one at a time. They all have different difficulties too, meaning you can slowly whittle away the options of each puzzle, making things steadily easier for yourself. It's a little more involved than something like Wordle , and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. While the core puzzles that feature in Connections can be easy on some days, others can be very tricky indeed. That’s where we come in, as we've included some Connections hints and clues for today’s puzzle below. If you really can’t work things out, don’t fret, as you’ll find the answer in this article as well. Keep reading for today’s Connections hints and answers. NYT Connections hints for September 29 (#110) Here's some ...

Ryder Cup 2023 live stream: players, schedule and how to watch golf online, what TV channel

The 44th edition of the Ryder Cup gets underway on Friday at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club as Team Europe look to regain the trophy in Italy. Despite losing 19-9 two years ago at Whistling Straits, the omens look good for the Europeans as they have not lost on home soil since 1993.  You can watch every drive, chip and putt with our guide to getting a Ryder Cup live stream - no matter where in the world you are. It's FREE in Italy, too.  Watch Ryder Cup 2023 live stream Dates: September 29 - October 1  Start times: Fri and Sat at 6am BST / 1am ET / 3pm AEST and Sunday at 9am BST / 4am ET / 6pm AEST  Venue: Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome, Italy TV coverage: stream NBC and Golf Channel (via Peacock TV , Sling TV or FuboTV in US | Sky Sports in UK FREE live streams: RAI (Italy) Watch anywhere: grab our No. 1 rated VPN 100% risk-free Two years ago in Wisconsin, the triumphant American players partied hard after a crushing victory...