All Newslinks - Page: 15
| Stuff.co.nz - 8 hours ago (Stuff.co.nz)Opinion: Cyclists Campbell Stewart and Emily Shearman have a chance of winning a medal in Paris, writes Peter Lampp. Read...Newslink ©2024 to Stuff.co.nz | |
| | | PC World - 8 hours ago (PC World)You only have to read a few PC gaming hardware posts on Reddit to see how many gamers there are out there unsure if their low-spec potato of a gaming PC will run the latest AAA games.
I know the feeling. In fact, I too find myself in the precarious position of having a low-spec potato PC after many years of thinking about upgrading but not pulling the trigger on it — I tend to spend any extra cash I have on holidays, and yes, even the odd Funko Pop for my car’s dashboard.
But because I’m in this position I’ve worked a few things out. And, let me tell you, you really don’t want to be wasting time waiting for replies on forums to serious hardware questions like, “Can my PC run this game?”
Forums are great for a lot of things, but PC specs tend to be so specific that getting anyone with a remotely similar setup to your own can be like locating a lost sock in the Bermuda Triangle. And the advice when it finally does come? A scattershot answer is usually the best you can expect.
You also don’t want to be wasting your time trying to match the minimum spec requirements for games to your own PC’s hardware just by looking. Personally, I’d never base a purchasing decision on a list of specs the devs have most likely pulled out of hat and not tested their games on themselves.
One thing’s for sure, the devs certainly aren’t developing their games with programs like Unreal Engine on PCs powered by Intel Celeron N4100 CPUs.
I’m almost certain that minimum specs lists have just been created to torture poor souls like us, to give us a glimpse of the fun times we could be having if only we had an AMD Threadripper CPU, when the actual gameplay we will get is so poor it will be as much fun as nailing Jell-O to the wall.
Benchmarks in websites like Technical City can be helpful in giving you a rough indication of what games you can at least get operational. But let me be clear: Running a game is an entirely different kettle of fish from getting an acceptable level of performance in it — and that’s something apps and websites can’t tell you.
Personally, I’d never base a purchasing decision on a list of specs the devs have most likely pulled out of hat…
You can find AAA games like Final Fantasy XIV Online among Steam’s free demos.
You can find AAA games like Final Fantasy XIV Online among Steam’s free demos. Square Enix
You can find AAA games like Final Fantasy XIV Online among Steam’s free demos. Square Enix
Square Enix
No, to truly see if your PC has the muscle to run a game there’s really nothing like a real-life playtest, an experiential trial; getting your hands dirty, your frame rates cranking, and your CPU’s core temperature rising.
Thankfully you don’t have to go out and buy a heap of games and test them out one by one, draining your bank account in the process. Steam’s free demo section is a goldmine of titles just beckoning to be raided for your homestyle performance experiments.
You might not find the game you’re looking to buy among the demos, but chances are there’s a game with very similar specs that will act as an excellent performance trial run.
The beauty of Steam’s free demo list, too, is you can find games of all kinds: old and new, different genres, different hardware requirements — all of them can form a broad testing base.
For instance, you can test out AAA titles like Final Fantasy XIV Online, Call of Duty: Warzone, Lost Ark, CounterStrike 2, and DOTA 2, alongside lower-budget games like Tavern Keeper and Hidden Cats Invade Venice.
If you like spreadsheeting, it’s a great idea to record the performance you get in each demo as a way to keep a reference handy.
In fact, I’ve created a rough list of my rig’s performance capabilities just by taking notes about my frame rates in each demo. My PC can keep action smooth in CounterStrike 2, from which I’ve extrapolated I should be able to get decent performance in most of Valve’s other games, something I would have only known about by downloading and testing the game.
My list is nowhere near as comprehensive as Reddit user mrman1mrman1, though, who has gone through the whole shebang even categorizing the demos into categories. They’ve gleaned some handy nuggets of information to help other gamers too — like after trialing the game Attack on Titan 2 they noted: “Not laptop friendly but I can get 30+ FPS with my Radeon 550.”
So, don’t wait for answers on forums. Instead, try taking the proactive approach and get your game compatibility answers in real time. You may have to do a ton of installing, but on the bright side, you’ll know your rig’s capabilities inside out. Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 hours ago (PC World)Elon Musk, the divisive CEO of Tesla and more recently the owner of Twitter (now known as X), is a fierce critic of the AI industry—but now also a deeply invested participant in that very same industry.
X’s Grok generative AI product is being integrated into the web and mobile versions of the social network, and training itself on billions of tweets thanks to an automatic opt-in for all users. (All large language model (LLM) AI tools need to be trained on massive amounts of text, which is why ChatGPT periodically releases new versions with an updated core database.)
Well, it seems like a constantly refreshed pool of conversations from some of the web’s most active users was simply too much for company xAI to resist, which now automatically scans your “posts as well as your interactions, inputs, and [Grok search] results.”
At the moment, X is using Grok as a chatbot for premium users and to replace human-made summaries of late-breaking news stories, with predictable issues resulting. The flippant and “rebellious” tone of the Grok model’s responses has been criticized by initial users, and its reliance on constantly updated data from X seems to make it particularly susceptible to deliberate misinformation campaigns.
All X/Twitter users are automatically opted into having their data scanned by Grok, whether they pay for premium features or not. Thankfully, it’s possible to opt out manually… though not particularly straightforward.
To keep Grok from scanning your content, go to X’s Settings menu on the web (the option is not available in the official app). Click Privacy & Safety, then Grok, then remove the checkmark from Allow your posts…to be used for training and fine-tuning.
At this point, I can’t help but point out that the word “grok” (a verb meaning “to understand deeply”) entered the mid-century lexicon from Robert Heinlein’s 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein, who also wrote sci-fi staples like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers, is iconic for both his expansive speculative fiction and heavy-handed libertarian themes. He’s a favorite among Silicon Valley tech CEOs like Musk.
Heinlein was also famously obsessive about the need for privacy and the dangers of losing it, something that he expressed both in his fiction and his personal life. I wonder how he’d feel about a ubiquitous social network scanning every word you’ve written on it (and beyond) without so much as a “by your leave,” for the purpose of training an AI tool. Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 hours ago (PC World)As someone who frequently types in lots of numbers for works, using a laptop or keyboard without a numpad is pure torture. But I also don’t want a numpad all the time because it takes up space.
Which is why I absolutely love this Bluetooth numpad, which is currently half off and available for just $30 on Amazon. It’s a fantastic deal on a sleek accessory that’s perfect for smaller laptops and compact keyboards that lack numeric keypads.
The number pad has an ergonomic tilt to ensure comfortable data entry, and it’s small enough that you can toss it into your laptop bag and forget about it. It doesn’t just feature the number pad, by the way—it also has navigation arrows, page up, page down, and so on.
This numpad connects to your computer via Bluetooth for a convenient, cable-free experience. It also has a rechargeable battery that uses a USB-C input and lasts about two weeks with regular activity. And when you aren’t using it, it automatically goes to sleep.
The Lekvey Bluetooth Number Pad is compatible with pretty much any device, including Windows, Macs, and Androids. As long as your device has Bluetooth connectivity or a Bluetooth dongle, you should be good. (The only exception is that it does NOT work with Chromebooks!)
So, if you need a numpad but only sometimes, you really should consider the Lekvey Bluetooth Numpad for just $30 on Amazon. This awesome deal won’t last forever so make your decision quick!
This sleek Bluetooth numpad is only $30 right nowBuy now on Amazon Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | BBCWorld - 9 hours ago (BBCWorld)The National Wax Museum say it will remake a waxwork of the late Irish singer after an unveiling. Read...Newslink ©2024 to BBCWorld | |
| | | PC World - 9 hours ago (PC World)If you have any files on your PC worth keeping long-term, then you need some kind of backup system—one that combines local backups (to quickly protect huge amounts of data) with cloud-based uploads (to protect against local data loss).
Right now, you can get both solutions wrapped into one with Acronis True Image backup software for $29.99, or 45% off sticker price.
Acronis True Image 2025 Advanced includes the core software (which can locally back up selected folders, drives, or entire computer images) plus 50GB of protected online storage. The local system works forever, the cloud system for a year—far cheaper than other major cloud services. After the year ends, you can continue via paid subscription if you like.
You can set local backups to run automatically, incrementally saving the changes on your drive so that your recent work is always protected. With scheduling, it’s a complete “set it and forget it” operation. Or you can mirror two PCs to keep the same set of files identical on both of them.
Acronis True Image 2025 Advanced works on any Windows machine (from Windows 7 to Windows 11) as well as macOS.
The True Image package also includes a protection suite with ransomware protection, real-time process monitoring, and automatic recovery of your backups if something goes wrong. Check out our full review of the Editors’ Choice Award-winning 2024 version here. You can get it on the PCWorld software store for just $29.99, nearly half off the retail price.
Be sure to check out the rest of the PCWorld Software Store while you’re there. We’ve got jaw-dropping discounts on a wide range of top-name programs, from 60 percent off legit Windows licenses and Norton 360 Antivirus for $20.
Acronis True Image 2025 Advanced is only $30Buy now on PCWorld Software Store Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 9 hours ago (PC World)Secure Boot, a tool that’s built into hundreds of millions of PCs to keep them from loading unverified software via UEFI, is a fundamental cornerstone of modern computer security. It uses cryptographic signatures in hardware components to make sure that nothing connected to your PC can load up code that you (or at least the PC) haven’t verified. That’s why cryptographic key leaks are such a big deal.
Related: How to improve your Windows 11 security
Security research firm Binarly reports that leaked cryptographic keys have compromised hardware from several major vendors in the PC industry, including Dell, Acer, Gigabyte, Supermicro, and even Intel. Eight percent of firmware images released in the last four years are compromised, with 22 untrusted keys discovered immediately.
And according to an Ars Technica post, “more than 200 device models” from these vendors are affected by one particular key that was posted to an open GitHub repository in late 2022.
Binarly is calling the exploit “PKfail.” The meat and bones of the situation is that a lot of devices in both the consumer and B2B spaces are now vulnerable to attacks on the boot process. This is one of the most dangerous ways in which a computer can be compromised, though attacks do need to be particularly complex to succeed.
It’s the kind of exploit that state-sponsored hackers love, because it’s possible to target extremely specific devices and run code that’s almost undetectable once you get into Windows or a similar OS. (Larger-scale attacks on general users are also possible, but less likely.)
One of the more upsetting issues highlighted by the report is that several vendors actually shipped devices with firmware labeled “DO NOT TRUST” or “DO NOT SHIP,” indicating that they knew about the compromised state of the keys… and ignored it.
It should be easy enough for hardware vendors to update device firmware and remove the compromised binary files, though the breadth of the vulnerability means that some PCs could require multiple firmware updates to cover all affected components.
Binarly has created an online tool for PKfail detection that lets you scan firmware files to see if the corresponding devices are using the compromised keys. Ars Technica’s post goes into more depth and has a full list of the affected hardware models.
Perhaps the most disturbing revelation in all of this is that a single careless post, which was in no way malicious, can instantly make so many devices from so many manufacturers unsafe. And due to the nature of Secure Boot, there doesn’t seem to be any way to stop it from happening again aside from being extremely careful.
Further reading: Warning signs that your PC has been hacked Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | RadioNZ - 10 hours ago (RadioNZ)Is it harder to have sex when there`s so much going on in the world? And why is intimacy still important when there`s seemingly bigger issues at play? Read...Newslink ©2024 to RadioNZ | |
| | | RadioNZ - 10 hours ago (RadioNZ)The move ends days of speculation over whether the former president would support Harris` White House bid. Read...Newslink ©2024 to RadioNZ | |
| | | PC World - 10 hours ago (PC World)Power strips are essential for any workstation because you have so many devices to keep plugged in, from your computer to your monitors to your chargers and everything else. But power strips get in the way.
Unless you have this desk-clamping power strip with surge protection, which is down to just $25 right now from its original $59.
This versatile power station securely mounts to the side or back of your desk using an edge-mount bracket, freeing your workspace of clutter while keeping all your devices accessible within arm’s reach.
It has three power outlets, two 20W USB-C PD ports, and two USB-A ports, so you can fast charge multiple devices at once while also powering your computer, monitors, and accessories.
This desk-clamping power strip features a flat plug on a 6-foot power cord, so it’s long enough to reach your wall outlet even if you hook this up to a standing desk. In this way, even when you raise your desk, the power strip has enough slack for any height.
Installation is super simple, too. No screws or drill holes needed. The clamp is wide enough that it will fit desks up to 1.6 inches thick.
Ready to level up your workstation? Grab yourself this desk-clamping power strip for just $25 on Amazon and simplify your desk setup.
This desk-clamping power strip is 58% offBuy now on Amazon Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
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