Month: February 2024
Star Wars game cancelled as EA cuts 670 jobs
Electronic Arts says it will focus on its existing titles, as the gaming industry job cuts continue.
Electronic Arts says it will focus on its existing titles, as the gaming industry job cuts continue.
Domain registrars can now block users from registering typo-laden domains for nefarious purposes
Block similar domains to protect your company and stop malicious activity (so long as you’re willing to pay thousands).
Domain registrars like GoDaddy and 101domain are now using tools to allow businesses to block domain names that bear certain similarities or spellings, or that otherwise infringe on their brand name.
The groundbreaking solution, GlobalBlock, is set to revolutionize the space, which has previously relied on businesses registering similar domains before others do.
A business may want to do this for one of several reasons, including preventing others from having similar names as well as reducing the spread of unsolicited malware that looks to be (but isn’t) associated with the business.
Domain blocking is here
GlobalBlock is meant to eliminate the need for businesses to register countless other similar domains by allowing them to subscribe and reserve a portion of the domain space.
One of the more serious types of instances that this can prevent is homograph attacks, where a threat actor may use a capital ‘i’ in place of an ‘l’ to impersonate a brand and spread malware or conduct other malicious activity.
GlobalBlock+ covered unregistered and registered trademarks, geographical indicators, marks protected by statute or treaty, company names, and even celebrity names.
Users will have to pay for the privilege, because as with any new technology or product, costs can be high. Prices vary from $5,999 to $8,999 per year, making it a significant investment for businesses looking to fortify their digital presence and brand.
However, it’s a cost that could quickly be recuperated by saved staff time. There’s also the potential that the tool could protect a business from more than a business may be able to without any help, further boosting security.
On the flip side, some have already started to express concerns about the suppression of potentially legitimate domains having an impact on genuine individuals and businesses.
As ever, there are two sides to any story, but this at least represents a significant step forward in the way businesses can protect their online presence.
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AMD admits RX 7900 GRE GPU has a bug holding it back – and some PC gamers will benefit when the fix arrives
There’s a bug which is limiting how far the RX 7900 GRE graphics card can be pushed with overclocking.
AMD’s RX 7900 GRE graphics card has been making waves since its official launch in the US (and elsewhere outside of China), and we’re now finding out that the GPU will soon perform better than it already does – for those looking to overclock it, that is.
The RX 7900 GRE sits between the RX 7800 XT and 7900 XT, and we’ve been impressed with this fresh addition to the mid-range GPU market from AMD, which was originally released as a China-only product. (Hence the GRE label which stands for ‘Golden Rabbit Edition,’ although this shows its age – at this point the variant should be the ‘Golden Dragon Edition’ strictly speaking).
At any rate, while the RX 7900 GRE has seen some considerable positive acclaim, there’s been some puzzlement, too, around the overclocking potential with this graphics card.
As Tech PowerUp observed in its review (via Tom’s Hardware), the 7900 GRE appears to be artificially limited to 2,803MHz for its boost speed (and 2,316MHz for the memory clock).
AMD confirmed to Hardware Unboxed’s Steve Walton that the graphics card is indeed hampered in this respect, and that it’s a glitch causing this.
Walton informed us that: “AMD has told me that extremely limited overclocking of the GRE cards is a bug and it will be addressed shortly.”
Analysis: Overclockers are golden here
So, there you have it – that bug should soon be fixed, and it’ll mean the RX 7900 GRE is potentially even better value for money. For those who will push the GPU harder via overclocking, that is, who’ll be able to get a bit more mileage in performance due to that. (Note that the bug fix won’t make any difference to default clocks, so out of the box, the 7900 GRE will still perform with the same base and boost clock speeds – only overclockers will benefit here).
This is another green tick for custom RX 7900 GRE models, which will have an expanded scope for overclocking. (Those are the boards with custom cooling solutions that allow for better overclocking in comparison to reference cards, although we should note that they are pricier, and you’ll pay more than the MSRP, especially for the highest-end models).
There are some gamers out there scratching their heads about the way AMD has gone about deciding the spec of the RX 7900 GRE, questioning some decisions such as running with a slower memory speed and bandwidth than the 7900 XT, and dropping overall power usage.
But Team Red was always going to have to ensure that this graphics card fit and made sense as a bottom-tier 7900 offering, and its performance seems well-judged in this respect, nicely shaking up the mid-range GPU market as we concluded in our review.
Why was the RX 7900 GRE made available outside of China? Well, for the mentioned added competitivity against Nvidia’s new mid-range Lovelace products (namely the RTX 4070 Super), and bulking out the volume of mid-range Radeon products (with last-gen GPUs in this space now drying up). Furthermore, this GPU is a way of getting rid of the bottom segment of Navi 31 yields (with the GRE’s cut-down core count).
Whatever AMD’s reasoning for a global launch, the RX 7900 GRE is a welcome new mid-range contender. And even more so when this bug is fixed and overclockers aren’t hampered by said limitations – increasing the already favorable odds that this might be a GPU that’ll soon find a spot in our roundup of the best graphics cards.
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Today’s Mortgage Rates for Feb. 29, 2024: Rates Move Upward Over the Last Week – CNET
A few notable mortgage rates increased. Here’s what experts say is next for the housing market this year.
A few notable mortgage rates increased. Here’s what experts say is next for the housing market this year.
Today’s Refinance Rates, Feb. 29, 2024: Rates Increase for Homeowners – CNET
Multiple key refinance rates ticked up this week, making it harder to find a lower rate on a home loan.
Multiple key refinance rates ticked up this week, making it harder to find a lower rate on a home loan.
‘Iwájú: A Day Ahead’ trailer goes behind the scenes of the Disney series
If you’re not watching Disney’s latest animated series, “Iwájú”, get on it. Then watch the documentary.
If you’re not watching Disney’s latest animated series, Iwájú, get on it. And once you’re done, you can check out the behind-the-scenes documentary now streaming alongside it.
A collaboration between Pan-African media company Kugali and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Iwájú has one hell of a origin story, involving sticking it to Disney itself. This story and others feature in Iwájú: A Day Ahead which sees director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola, production designer Hamid Ibrahim, and cultural consultant Toluwalakin Olowofoyeku, explaining how this futuristic Nigerian series came to life.
You can also check out Mashable’s interview with the Kugali team about how Iwájú made it to your screen, and our deep dive into the tech featured in the series’ near-future city of Lagos.
Netflix’s ‘Chicken Nugget’ trailer has to be seen to be believed
Netflix has released the trailer for ‘Chicken Nugget’ and it simply must be seen to be believed.
If you didn’t wake up today thinking you needed a series about a woman who suddenly becomes a chicken nugget in your life, we’re here to surprise you.
Netflix has released the trailer for Chicken Nugget and it simply must be seen to be believed.
The elevator pitch? It’s the surreal tale of Choi Sun-man (Ryu Seung-ryong) whose daughter, Min-ah (Kim You-jung), indeed transforms into a nugget after tinkering with a weird machine. (Of all the things to turn into! Gregor Samsa at least got to be a cockroach.) With the help of his intern Ko Baek-joong (Ahn Jae-hong), who pines for Min-ah, Sun-man has to figure out how to turn her back into a human.
Directed by Extreme Job and Be Melodramatic‘s Lee Byeong-heon, Chicken Nugget looks like a wild ride. Next time you go for a nugget, is it your own child?
Microsoft is facing another major EU investigation – this time around blocking security software purchases
Yet another EU investigation into Microsoft, this time for security products
Regulators in the European Union are once again taking aim at Microsoft, this time concerning its security software practices.
Microsoft has been on the regulatory radar for some time over non-competitive practices, and is now being investigated for restricting its customers from using rival security software.
The company is also being investigated for its investments in Mistral AI, a relatively small but incredibly buzzworthy company that builds AI models.
Regulatory hurdles for tech giant
The Information says the European Commission is investigating claims that Microsoft is restricting competitor security software, specifically customers of Office 365 being unable to use alternative security products.
Google’s investments in AI company Mistral AI are also apparently on the books to be investigated by the European Commission. Google’s Cloud President Amit Zavery recently criticized Microsoft’s cloud business practices, stating that Microsoft “are creating this whole walled garden, which is completely controlled and owned by Microsoft, and customers who want to do any of this stuff, you have to go to Microsoft only.”
“We worry about Microsoft wanting to flex their decade-long practices where they had a lot of monopoly on the on-premise software before and now they are trying to push that into cloud now.”
A statement by European Commission spokesperson Lea Zuber remarked that, “The Commission is looking into agreements that have been concluded between large digital market players and generative AI developers and providers. In this context, we have received the mentioned agreement, which we will analyze.”
Microsoft has been under increasing regulatory pressure after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the US Federal Trade Commission launched similar investigations into Microsoft’s OpenAI partnerships.
Amazon is also facing investigations in the UK, EU and US, and it’s lobbyists have been banned from the European Parliament after MEPs called for their removal due to alleged breaches of labour laws at Amazon sites in the European Union.
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