Aleks NE

So some youtube videos I watched last week talked about a rumor that Nvidia would be releasing a 3GB Variant of the 1050 and it looks like it's been confirmed, this doesn't bode well for next gen cards launching anytime soon.
 
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/products/10series/geforce-gtx-1050/
 
looks like it will have a lower memory Bandwidth then the 1050 and 1050ti but the same Cuda Core count as a 1050ti.
 

Thanks Aleks, the S8 is another option, I think ill go contract and from what I see the S9 was on a deal I can get like £1-3 more a month over the S8. When you say wait, is there any release dates or good guesses on how long the wait might be as I am on a bit of a potential month deadline.
 
cheers,
Lewis

I'd wait for the OnePlus 6 or Pixel 3, or consider the S8. The S9 imo isn't worth it, as it's a tad better than the S8(2GB more ram, faster CPU for £350 more) .  

.........

Bugs and glitches in Siri have caused it to define the word "Mother" inappropriately.
 
 
This was discovered when a user on reddit suggested people try asking siri to define the word "Surprising" and Siri proceeded by asking the user to ask it to define "Mother" twice.
 
The user asked Siri to define "Mother".
 
Siri then proceeded to define "Mother".......
 
 
So yeah. Definitely not what I was expecting to be making a post about . As sad as it is, I found this actually quite hilarious.
Of course, be sure to post what you think below.
 
Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/iphones-weirdest-glitch-yet-ask-siri-to-define-mother-twice-learn-a-bad-word/

.....

I'd wait for the OnePlus 6 or Pixel 3, or consider the S8. The S9 imo isn't worth it, as it's a tad better than the S8(2GB more ram, faster CPU for £350 more) .  

I'm surprised by that as well

For years, Windows Phones fans have been speculating that a "Surface Phone" Device would one day exist. For years, this was deemed a fallacy that would never happen.
 
However, Windows 10 Redstone 5, the version of Windows 10 in development for an Autumn 2018 release, has gotten new Telephony APIs enabling Redstone 5 devices to make phone calls using supported hardware.
 
We can be sure this is not for Laptops, Tablets, Consoles and Desktops for hopefully obvious reasons (you probably don't want to hold a laptop to your ear to call someone) .
 
These new Telephony APIs may allow users to dial, call phone numbers and other phone related APIs. Something that has traditionally required Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile. And since the discontinuation of development on new Windows 10 Mobile Builds, we can be sure that if a Surface Phone were ever to exist, it would run Windows 10 proper with Composable Shell which was first introduced in Redstone 3 Insider Previews.
 
Image of potential Surface Phone dual display from Microsoft patent.

 
 
 
So yeah. Whilst this isn't 100% conclusive evidence of Surface Phone existing, just like the patents for it and the leaked info from a device matching it in China, this strongly suggests that it will one day exist.
 
Hopefully by the time it does launch, PWAs have become so prevalent that they replace regular applications on Mobile Devices.
 
Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/new-phone-apis-in-windows-renews-speculation-about-the-mythical-surface-phone/

The fun wont last long though. When next gen console comes, you can only play some games, not all. When the generation after that arrives, you're done with any new releases. If something goes wrong after the end of warranty, you're done for.
 
With a PC, you can still run most games 10 years after the machine's release as long as you turn down the settings to a minimal. If anything breaks after warranty, you can still fix it yourself, sometimes with dirt cheap parts. After it gets so old it's no longer good for any games, it can still play super high resolution videos with a modern graphics card, act as a paperwork machine and a storage PC.
 
in short, console for the lazybones.

The Netherlands Gaming Authority has conducted a study on 10 lootboxes and found that 4 of the 10 lootboxes contravene the law.
 
The reasoning behind this is that the content that can be won are chance based and that they can be sold outside of the game and have a market value. The gambling aspect of them (as lootboxes are a game of chance) was not authorized and thus the 4 offending lootboxes are entirely 100% illegal.
 
It should be noted that all 10 of the lootboxes studied were addictive and that socially vulnerable groups are being encouraged to play games of chance.
 
The authority has said that the 4 lootboxes did contain some elements of Slot Machine mechanics.
 
During the studying of these lootboxes, their risk factor and several other figures were tested using tools originally designed for traditional forms of gambling. This is one area that authorities in general throughout the world need to work on.
 
The lootboxes which have a higher risk factor to players were found to be comparable to Blackjack or Roulette in terms of Addiction potential.
 
Game Publishers are not you friend. Most haven't put in measures to curb possible addiciton issues and would benefit off of any addiciton issues if any arose.
 
Whilst the source I have linked was unable to determine the 4 games that were at fault. Don't quote me on this, but I think I have read elsewhere that the 4 games were Fifa, Rocket League, Team Fortress 2 and PUBG.
 
So yeah, some lootboxes are definitely gambling and definitely illegal. Hopefully the EU takes a better look into them and conducts a study of their own although admitedly we wouldn't see the results for quite a while if they did.
 
Source:
 
Note to mods: Didn't see the earlier post but it's not in compliance with TNR guidelines. Please use your judgement as to what to do. Thanks .

Hello Aleks, a simple USB DAC such as the one we sell here or a Syba CM-UAUD (same chipset) should work fine to solve this issue. It's just EMI from your motherboard and surrounding electronics. 
 
You can use it just for the mic, turn it to ~40-60% volume, AGC on, and you'll be good to go.

Members of the US Goverment such as Governor Jay Inslee and some of his associates have recently visited Bungie, the Game Developer responsible for Destiny and Destiny 2, to have a chat.
 
While we do not know the full nature of their visit, we can assume the US Government is putting Bungie and other game developers on notice. This could be to make them aware that they are going to be dealing with Lootboxes in video games, one way or another
 
And in case you're wondering about if the government officials who visited Bungie actually care about consumers, Governor Inslee was among the officials that implemented the first state Net Neutrality law in the country.
 
Washington State has prosecuted companies that it deemed were engaging in illegal activities because they were literally setting up online casino mobile games.
 
Washington State looks like it is trying to get a better understanding about the game making process and understanding videos games in order to be better prepared when they introduce new legislation.
 
And again, we don't know what was discussed but can we make a fair guess that at least a small part of the discussion involved LootBoxes and/or Micro-transactions.
 
So yeah, I certainly hope this makes Activision Blizzard, EA,  and other companies and their developers shake in their boots. Because this lootbox BS has to come to an end and the Goverment is putting game companies on notice. In cases like CS:GO, Rocket League and PUBG, those are literally gambling as Dutch Authorities have stated so hopefully it isn't too long before US and more EU legislators catch up to this.
 
Source:
 

What a pillock.

Sounds fine, Ill join you when back home. 
Also, the time zone is perfect. 

Just spotted this:

 
same guy:

Time to watch the world burn trial by fire firewall
 

And....the US and UK government probably have departments *that* have probably been doing the same

Huh.. I was wondering why my router is all in Russian now.
j/k
 

Anyone surprised? 

Yes, that's true but I've also noticed that things are becoming less obsolete too, for example, Smartphones as we get more and more features we don't really get as excited (or is it just me). 

Hell yeah my evga g3 will live FOREVER.

The sad part about tech is that in a few years, a lot of the stuff we buy will be outdated.  Out of curiosity, I looked around my home and thought about what I had purchased 5-10 years ago that is still good as ever right now, and I've come up with some of these: bedding, furniture and clothes (assuming ones of good quality were bought).  Also, anything audio related does not become obsolete.  While audio gear does have some improvements over the years, there's a lot of gear from 10 or even 20 years ago that are still great and suitable for professional and ethusiast application today.

When it comes to computer specific stuff -
PSU.  A good PSU has a long warranty and the way new hardware is developed to save as much power as possible (usually) you don't need a more powerful unit to run a new system.

I get what you mean, but thats the fun in the computer business, theres always something new coming out that we look forward too.