March 2023 - online-internet-casino

Garmin’s best outdoor sports watch could get a huge sequel soon

Garmin is working on a super-sized new watch that could be a follow-up to its five-star outdoor sports watch, the Garmin Instinct 2, according to several listings on regulators’ websites.

First spotted by Flo of Fitness Tracker Test, who often reports tips and leaks about upcoming models, a list with the same registration number appeared on Singapore Government website (opens in a new tab) as good as US Federal Communications Commission (opens in a new tab). This has also been discussed on our sister site adventure.

The new watch listed in the @FCC under IPH-4600 is probably the Garmin Instinct 2X/2X Solar. The width is around 57mm, which is much larger than the Instinct 2’s 45mm. Source/Screenshot: #instinct2x #solar #outdoor #sport pic.twitter.com/p7pj3DZeG1March 12, 2023

The report details the watch as a “low-power communication device transmitter” with Instinct’s signature “screen-in-screen” design, suggesting the watch is part of the Instinct range and measures 57mm x 13mm, larger than any other watch from the Instinct series and even bigger than the Garmin Enduro 2.

If these dimensions are correct, it would be Garmin’s largest watch yet, although Flo adds that “I wouldn’t put too much weight on the dimensions found in the test reports other than the fact that the watch is larger than the Instinct 2.”

I wouldn’t attach too much importance to the dimensions found in the test reports, other than the fact that the watch is larger than the Instinct 2.March 12, 2023

This is exciting news as the Garmin Instinct 2 sits (at the time of writing) at the top of our list of the best Garmin watches. Two other versions of the watch – the Instinct 2 Solar, which includes Garmin’s life-extending Power Glass technology, and the analog hybrid Garmin Instinct Crossover – have been released since the first launch of the Instinct 2 in February 2022.

Since the Instinct 2 was only released last year, the big watch is believed to be the Instinct 2X, a larger version of the original watch, rather than the Instinct 3. However, we didn’t think the Garmin Forerunner 955 and 255 would get full-fledged sequels less than a year after launch; but here’s the Forerunner 965 and Garmin Forerunner 265 came out nine months after their predecessors.

(Image credit: Matt Evans)

Analysis: Garmin is getting bigger – but what about a better one?

The Garmin Instinct 2 is already one of the best Garmin watches for outdoor athletes. In terms of value for money, it is significantly cheaper than the ultra-premium Garmin Enduro 2, which at the time of writing is the largest watch in Garmin’s range.

The Enduro 2 is a watch beast, with a GPS battery that lasts over 100 hours, a massive dial, and all the bells and whistles you could need to get through multi-day endurance events. On the other hand, the Instinct 2 can be seen as a more affordable outdoor watch for all-day adventures. Does this increased size mean the lines between the two watches will be blurred? What will differentiate the Instinct 2X from the Enduro series?

Garmin is releasing more and more models at a faster pace than ever before – just look at the speed with which new Forerunners are released and you’ll notice that the intervals between watch releases are getting closer and closer. While rivals like Apple only have two or three models to choose from, a layman might not be able to tell the difference between different Garmin watches.

Fortunately, we’ve created a ranking of all the Garmin watches launched last year to help newbies get started. We’re currently testing the Forerunner 265, which transforms our fitness editor’s training with recommended sprint exercises.

This gang of cybercriminals will now stop at nothing to extort money using your private data

Ransomware (opens in a new tab) a group known as BianLian decided to part ways with its encryption tool and instead focus solely on data theft and extortion, according to experts,

A new report by Redacted cybersecurity researchers has noted that BianLian is trying to extort money from companies – without first encrypting their endpoints.

Scientists now speculate what motivated BianLian to change course, with two scenarios most likely.

Decryptor released

“The group promises that once they receive payment, they will not disclose the stolen data or otherwise disclose the fact that the victim’s organization has suffered a breach. BianLian offers these guarantees based on the fact that their “business” depends on their reputation,” he said in his analysis (opens in a new tab).

“In several cases, BianLian has addressed the legal and regulatory issues a victim would face if it was made public that the organization had suffered a breach. The group also went so far as to make specific references to subsections of several laws and statutes.”

Researchers have also found that the laws and statutes BianLian refers to are often localized and highly relevant to the victim. This led them to conclude that the group wanted to improve their negotiating skills in order to extort as much money as possible.

When trying to explain why the group decided to abandon the encryption program, two possible explanations emerged. First, the group realized that infecting endpoints with ransomware and carrying out the entire operation was too time-consuming, too expensive, and ultimately unnecessary. With the right extortion skills, data theft is enough for a successful attack.

Secondly, the group has not properly adjusted since Avast released a free decryptor in January this year. When this happened, the threat actor explained that the decryptor was not that intrusive because it only worked on older ransomware versions and actually damaged files encrypted by newer versions.

For a week Beeping Computer reports, BianLian has almost 120 victims on its extortion portal. The majority (71%) are based in the US.

By: Beeping Computer (opens in a new tab)

AWS has finally released a major update to its own-brand Linux build

Amazon finally has released (opens in a new tab) the latest major release of a native Linux distro after RC teased us last year.

Last year’s edition, aptly named AL 2022, consisted only of release candidates, leaving users waiting for full distribution, however the company finally announced AL 2023.

Like the 2022 release, AWS has promised full updates every two years and minor patches four times a year, however this time the promise may come true when AL 2023 is generally available.

Amazon Linux 2023

Its own Linux distribution is, as you might expect, optimized for the cloud (specifically AWS), with promises of “a high standard of security, a predictable lifecycle, and consistent updating.”

The second promise, bi-annual major releases and quarterly patches, is designed to make OS lifecycle planning and management easier.

The company also shared what minor updates might include: “major changes to the kernel, toolset, GLib C, OpenSSL, and any other system libraries and tools.”

The initial two-year support period is backed up by another three-year maintenance phase during which security updates will be pushed out, giving users until early 2028 before they really need to start considering an upgrade, by which time AL 2025 and AL 2027 are planned for release.

The timeline also shows the end of life of AL 1 for the security update, set for December 31, 2023 after 13 years. AL 2’s end of life follows shortly thereafter in mid-2025, which means around seven years of support.

The self-proclaimed “most used Linux distribution on AWS” is now generally available at no extra charge in all AWS regions.

The new Castle stereo speakers with a mahogany finish are all I need

The spherical white wireless speakers that talk to each other and send audio to certain rooms with a wave of the hand (or a tap on the app) are cute, but sometimes I miss a simpler time – a time when nothing distracted me from my evolving music collecting saves callers my parents’ landline. Then it was a frantic run to the receiver against my sister.

At the top of my nostalgic wish list from that time? A pair of top stereo speakers, I mean bookshelf hi-fi speakers – passive wooden boxes that allowed me to take the grilles off and see the cones vibrate as sound waves emanated from them. I’m talking about the speakers, which required some time and dedication to set up, as well as cabling and a separate preamplifier and power amplifier.

The Castle Windsor series takes me back to those times. Although the series includes two new pairs of bookshelf speakers – the Duke and Earl models – Castle has been a respected name in the loudspeaker industry for 50 years. And these are the first Castle speakers made entirely in my homeland in the UK in many years. Add to that the fact that they were designed by one of the most prolific hi-fi speaker brains in the world, Karl-Heinz Fink – the same Karl-Heinz Fink who won What Hi-Fi? Awards 2022 (opens in a new tab)sister publication TechRadar (where I sharpened my teeth as a staff writer) – and I’m in.

If you live in the UK like me, Castle Windsor Earl is £3,850 a pair (£4,250 with stands), while Windsor Duke is £4,500 (£5,000 with stands).

Worldwide, models ship with stands only, with the Windsor Earl priced at $5,250/$8,000 while the Duke costs $6,250/$9,250.

Analysis: Castle knows details are key, as every critical part of the two Windsor models has been developed in-house

Come on, you want a retro listening room too, right? (Image credit: castle)

Let’s look at two models: The Windsor Earl is slightly smaller than its Windsor Duke sibling (above and main image), but both are similar internally, featuring polypropylene mid/bass cones – 165mm in the Windsor Earl; 200mm at Windsor Duke.

However, instead of being simply manufactured by forming a film under vacuum, polypropylene is precisely cut into thin strips, woven back into a fabric type, and rejoined to form a solid film. This film is pressed to its final shape and cut to size. Why go to so much trouble? This time-consuming method helps minimize resonances by creating a flatter response curve, so…

The mid/bass driver magnet system also includes an aluminum compensating ring to limit pesky impedance fluctuations, and the cone housings are made of low-hysteresis rubber that won’t deteriorate over time. In addition, the voice coils are made of glass fiber bonded with high-temperature resin. This material has the same stiffness as aluminum without generating the eddy currents that aluminum has – yes, it’s all about the detail and transparency of the sound.

The tweeter voice coil features a copper cap to greatly reduce distortion and intermodulation, and the cabinet’s MDF panels are even separated by a thin layer of specially formulated acoustic adhesive (yes, acoustic adhesive) to suppress midrange resonance.

Look, going back to the ’70s would be a mistake – and looking at the new materials and techniques used here, Castle agrees. I’m also a big fan of musical convenience – I love Tidal, Apple Music, my old iPod Classic, my Sonos-certified turntable, and Focal Bathys wireless headphones. But there is a place for traditional hi-fi in our lives, and it’s been a while since a set of speakers excited me more than those options from Castle.

Oh, and when I’m here, this Is it’s good to have our own personal phones now instead of running around for a “rental phone”. Though Jo, I’d kill to race you again…

Apple Arcade players can now enjoy some of the best iOS controllers

This is great news for iOS device owners and Apple Arcade subscribers, as 8BitDo has updated its excellent third-party controllers to support Apple phones, tablets, and computers.

8BitDo announced today that its controllers are now officially compatible with iOS, tvOS, and macOS devices. This includes the iPhone 14, MacBook Air, and Apple TV 4K streaming device. You just need to make sure you have the latest firmware update installed on your hardware of choice.

Supported controllers include the excellent 8BitDo Ultimate and 8BitDo Pro 2. You’ll also need to make sure your controller is updated to the latest firmware, which can be streamed wirelessly via the 8BitDo mobile app.

8BitDo also confirmed to TechRadar Gaming that the controllers’ packaging will be updated to reflect iOS support, as well as support for consoles like Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch, and top Android phones.

Here is a list of controllers that 8BitDo has confirmed have iOS support now. The company has stated that more of its pads will also receive an update in the future.

The best 8BitDo controller
8BitDo Pro 2
8BitDo SN30 Pro+
8BitDo Pro
8BitDo SN30 Pro for Android
8Bitdo Lite SE

8BitWin

(Image credit: 8BitDo)

I have highly praised 8BitDo controllers in the past. The 8BitDo Ultimate, for example, tops our Nintendo Switch controller buying guide. And for my money, it’s a better quality pad than the official Nintendo Switch Pro controller. This is largely thanks to the Ultimate’s excellent build quality, remapping rear buttons, and decent battery life.

I believe this is a big win for Apple Arcade players in particular. Apple’s game subscription service gets better and better over time with a library of compelling exclusives and availability across the entire Apple ecosystem at a low monthly cost. Now the ability to use some of the industry’s best third-party controllers makes Apple Arcade even more enticing.

I’d also like to see the 8BitDo wireless slot machine get an iOS compatibility update somewhere down the line. Ranking among our best fighting sticks, it would be a great fit for Apple Arcade thanks to the largely fast-paced nature of its game library.

This free app stops the AI from stealing your graphic style

Researchers have created a free tool that they claim can help stop text-to-image conversions artificial intelligence tools copying the artist’s style.

Known as Glaze, the University of Chicago research project allows artists to add a layer of masking to their work, making it harder for AI art generators to rip off artists’ work.

Glaze – which is still in beta – puts so-called “style cloaks” on artwork before it goes online. “These capes impose barely noticeable perturbations on the images, and when used as training data, they confuse generative models that try to emulate a particular artist” according to the creators (opens in a new tab).

And you thought AI was smart

Signaling a radical change in the way we create and consume artwork, AI graphics generators allow users to enter text prompts to generate unique (and often bizarre) masterpieces. They offer creators and businesses a more efficient way to create content.

However, this controversial technology has been making headlines lately for all the wrong reasons – is that true? Adobe uses art to train its Sensei tool Or artists and photography sites chasing rigs through the courts.

This is a problem that apps like Glaze can solve. Because despite the fanfare surrounding its arrival, the text-to-image generative AI isn’t as smart as users might think – yet.

On their official website, the team notes that “the Achilles heel of AI models was a phenomenon called adversarial examples – small tweaks to inputs that can make huge differences in how AI models classify inputs.”

Using Glaze to add a masking layer to your content changes the way these models interpret individual artworks. It effectively protects the artist’s style – even though they’ve already shared a lot of their work online and have seen it used to train AI in the past.

The researchers explained that as AI models are constantly refining and adopting new training data, “the more masked images you post online, the more your style will change in the AI model’s feature space, getting closer to your target style (e.g.). At some point, when the change is significant enough, the AI model will start generating Van Gogh-esque images when asked about your style.”

While the focus is now on individual artists, expect companies like Disney to implement tools like Glaze in the future to protect their art and prevent copyright infringement.

Artists can download Glaze for free for non-commercial use by clicking here Here (opens in a new tab).

Counterfeit Samsung SSDs can make upgrading your PC or PS5 a nightmare

The Samsung 980 Pro may be three years old, but it’s still a fairly popular PCIe 4.0 solid-state drive (SSD) that remains more affordable than its successor, the Samsung 990 Pro. However, it seems that the huge popularity of SSDs has resulted in counterfeits that infiltrate the market Tom’s equipment.

As one of best SSDs there news is not so much of a surprise, although it is definitely something consumers should be aware of when planning to buy a drive.

We’ve seen fake microSD cards plague Amazon in the past, so it’s worrying that fake SSDs are a thing too. Twitter user @harukaze5719 came across an imitation Samsung 980 pro and posted it on page a Baidu Tieba forum.

According to the user, the fake drive looked like a real one Samsung 980 Pro; it had a Pro 2TB sticker on it, and the firmware even suggested it was a 980 Pro – although that turned out to be false. Apparently, the counterfeit was so good that the drive even fooled Samsung’s Magician software, which is used to manage users’ SSDs.

(Image credit: Baidu Tieba)

[FAKE] Samsung 980 PRO SSD pic.twitter.com/OXbEqz9AvdMarch 14, 2023

The retailer sold fake Samsung 980 Pro 2TB SSDs on Taobao’s Xianyu aftermarket for 880 yuan ($128), and it even comes in Samsung’s official packaging. However, the price of the drive is a good indicator that the SSD is a fake as the original costs $169.99 in the US market. The recipient of the fake SSD reportedly didn’t have the computer on hand when the drive arrived, so couldn’t test it for ten days after receiving it.

According to user-supplied benchmarks, the drive had read and write speeds of around 4.8Gbps and 4.5Gbps respectively, well below what the true Samsung 980 Pro offers, which offers read and write speeds of 7Gbps and 4.5Gbps, respectively. 5 Gbps depending on capacity . So obviously the performance numbers were off and a clear present that the user wasn’t working with the original.

The risk of buying counterfeit computer hardware is always present in the secondary market, no matter how prominent the online retailer may be. Sneaky sellers are always plentiful on platforms like this, prepared to take advantage of unsuspecting customers. Be sure to pay attention to too good to be true prices, and remember that everything has a price. You should always only buy from trusted sources and make sure each seller has good customer reviews before purchasing

Intel is apparently canceling its most intriguing hybrid CPU

Intel’s project, which took about two years to complete (and possibly a few more years of research), has been cancelled, meaning the company will no longer be focusing its efforts on creating a CPU-VPU hybrid, at least for now.

Intel, codenamed Thunder Bay, has been working on a system-on-chip (SoC) combining CPU cores from the Xeon processor with VPU cores from Movidius, having acquired the company in 2016 for vision processor designs.

However, a patch for Linux discovered by Foronix (opens in a new tab) now reads “Remove specific Thunder Bay code as product has been canceled and has no end customers or users.”

Intel Thunder Bay canceled

While details about Thunder Bay have been scarce, it is likely that the SoC may have found its way into IoT applications as smart technology becomes more ubiquitous.

In addition to the SoC processor aspects, VPUs would be well-suited to machine vision applications, being low-power microprocessors and AI accelerators designed to offload traditional CPUs.

It’s unclear why Intel pulled the plug on Thunder Bay, although it’s likely the company is still facing economic pressures that led it to lay off at least 500 employees in the San Francisco area earlier this year (through releases.for information (opens in a new tab)).

One Reddit (opens in a new tab) a user wrote, “I know people who worked on it and thought it was going to be a big product line, too bad.”

Another asked, “What will Intel cancel next!?” Earlier this year, Intel killed its RISC-V development environment while many of its products, including Xeon, have experienced long delays recently.

Despite a few signs of suffering, the company remains hopeful for the year ahead as it navigates what CEO Pat Gelsinger described as a series of “short-term” challenges. It’s unclear if this means it will return to discontinued designs when possible, but at least for now the CPU-VPU hybrid is over.

Police arrest BreachForums owner on cybercrime charges

According to reports, the alleged owner and super administrator of the underground hacking forum BreachForums has been arrested.

The FBI arrested a person named Conor Brian FitzPatrick, who confirmed to law enforcement that he used the alias Pompompurin – the owner and administrator of BreachForums.

“When I arrested the defendant on March 15, 2023, he stated to me essentially and in part that: a) his name was Conor Brian FitzPatrick; b) uses the pseudonym “Pompompurin” and c) is the owner and administrator of “BreachForums”, the website to which the data breach alleges in the complaint relates, said FBI Special Agent John Longmire.

Sale of unauthorized access devices

According to a statement from Pompompurin, FitzPatrick was charged with “one count of conspiracy to solicit individuals to sell unauthorized access devices.”

The suspect was released on $300,000 bail and is expected to appear in District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia later this week.

By then, he had surrendered his papers and was only allowed to travel within the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia in preparation for his trial. He is also said to be barred from contacting witnesses, co-defendants or co-conspirators, although no other names have been mentioned.

BreachForums is probably one of the most popular hacking forums today. Whenever cybercriminals target business networks or endpoints, or manage to steal sensitive data, they post it on BreachForums, often trying to sell the loot, and sometimes just to brag.

For example, data stolen in the Shanghai Covid app hack last summer went up for sale on a forum, and a cybercriminal named XJP touted a database containing sensitive information about 48.5 million users. In a separate incident also last summer, a cybercriminal demanded $30,000 in exchange for thousands of Twitter accounts.

By: Beeping Computer (opens in a new tab)

An iPhone 15 Pro leak suggests it could make a controversial button change

A new iPhone 15 Pro leak suggests that the upcoming smartphone may ditch a design feature that has always been present in iPhones: the mute switch.

As noted Mac rumors (opens in a new tab), leaker ShrimpApplePro posted a video leaked to its Chinese TikTok counterpart that shows some new CAD (computer-aided design) images of the iPhone 15 Pro series. This video suggests that the “Pro” models of the iPhone 15 series could make some significant button tweaks.

The images confirm previous rumors that next-gen phones will replace the traditional double volume buttons with a single button. More controversially, it looks like the “mute switch” that has existed since the first iPhone in 2007 will now be turned into a button.

More cads images Buttons! Source in video pic.twitter.com/sxy9GaNCreMarch 20, 2023

While this may not sound like a ground-shattering design change, it would likely divide opinion – especially among those who are used to the mute switch and volume buttons, which have a completely different feel and action, for tweaking “no looks”.

Rumors also suggest that both the volume and mute buttons will use haptic feedback rather than mechanical movement to provide the feel of a button press. It’s something we’re seeing more and more on both smartphones and laptops, and Apple is likely aiming to make everything tactile.

If you don’t like the sound of these button changes, you’ll be happy to hear that they’re apparently not coming to every new iPhone this year. Rumors suggest that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models will still have two separate volume buttons and a mute switch if you want to rely on the iPhone’s usual muscle memory.

A wise decision?

Even the earliest iPhones, such as the original model and iPhone 3G (above), had a dedicated mute switch. (Image credit: Apple)

The removal of the mute switch in the new iPhone 15 Pro series can be seen as a step backwards – after all, generations of iPhone users know a distinctly different way to operate the switch than the volume buttons.

But there may also be a method to Apple’s apparent meddling. An extra button on the side of the iPhone 15 Pro series could open the door to some software customizations that could make it a bit more versatile.

If instead the mute function were simply toggled on or off in software, that button could become, for example, the very distinct camera shutter button that now doubles as a “volume up” button. Since the latter seems similar to its “volume down” counterpart, it’s easy to press the wrong button when taking photos.

Of course, this is all speculation for now, but if Apple is indeed changing a design feature that has been present in the iPhone for 15 years, it probably has a good functional reason for doing so, aside from simply needing a design refresh.

There’s still plenty of time for more leaks in the run-up to the expected launch of the iPhone 15 in the first half of September, so expect more design hints – including the prospect of the slimmest iPhone 15 Pro Max ever – in the coming months.