IAmAndre

Summary
 X, formally known as Twitter forces url substitution to X.com, making users potentially vulnerable to phishing.  Twitter rolls back feature after community pushback.
 
Quotes
 
My thoughts
 This article is a few weeks old, but it would be a really interesting WAN Show discussion.  This is another example of Twitter/X making sudden decisions without much thought to how it would impact the platform.  At what point do users decide to leave the platform, in search of one with more stability?  I love how the user base has become unpaid employees of the platform, since they have reduced their workforce so much that no one seems to see issues with these features until they make it to production.
 
Sources
 https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/xs-enforced-url-substitution-to-x-com-domains-an-invitation-to-phishing-attacks/

LG Mobile died and left millions of devices with no updates AND a firmware lock that's impossible to bypass except in some very old devices (Android 2.2/4.0), so you can't even install alt roms to those things.
Lineage isn't a magic bullet that solves everything, only a tiny amount of devices are compatible with it, it's mostly for high end/premium lineups of phones from the big manufacturers, so if you have a low end phone or something noname you're stuck with ewaste if there's no way to update the software anymore. Same goes for Cyanogen or any other alternative Android with or without Google services.
 
Ignoring all the Google stuff the #1 reason I don't have a smartphone it's obsolescence, living in a third world shithole I don't have access to high end devices where I could install custom ROMs after official support ends, and I know buying "cheap" (in US prices) noname China devices would be wasting my money because they're the worst kind of phones you can imagine, we're talking 4GB storage and 512MB RAM stuff that lags if you open the calculator, and they're not cheap at all here with one being ~$50 considering the average income is somewhere around $25/mo for a full-time job. It's that bad.
Reason #2 is I don't need one, I mean it's not that complicated, I already have a computer to surf the net, it's not justified.
 
Fun story time.
The hospital my mom works at runs DOS and 9x machines in a local network because they just work. I get to fix some of those from time to time, most technicians are getting to retirement age and young people don't care or have no clue how it all works, they're already used to phones because it's what most families can afford (almost no one uses computers at home, and "computer class" is only a thing in a few select schools)
It's not uncommon to see boxes of floppy disks at government offices (social security, taxes, education, etc.) because most software was bought during the 80s and is written for early versions of DOS and apparently we don't have any programmers here that can replicate the same but for Windows or *nix.
Businesses have to file taxes using typewriters and put Lotus copies in a 720K floppy as backup. At work most of the basement is room after room with shelves, cabinets and countless boxes filled with stacks of papers that they MUST keep from day 1 until closure.
 
Anything involving the goverment is insanely inefficient and tedious for everyone involved but they're still stuck in the 80s because that way millions of jobs still have a reason to exist.
Think you have 100 people filling forms by hand in big books, then 100 typists that copy that information using machines, and finally 100 secretaries -"IBM girls" we call them- that transfer that to a digital format, so, 300 jobs instead of 30, or 3.
 
Why is my man Sun the bad guy here?
Oh my sweet summer child, why do you think the billionaires, trillionaires and megacorporations are so interested in rocket science, the Moon and Mars now? because they wanna help us? nah fam they're looking for a way out, they've realised underground vaults and bunkers won't be enough if the world burns or freezes in nuclear winter, and they're aiming for other celestial bodies now.
And morons clap and cheer when Musk's rockets land successfully.

I volunteer at a place where we restore old desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets and then forward them to people in need who can't afford them. Many of the Windows laptops are over 10 years old, up to 15 in some cases. Sadly, we can't afford the time to restore devices that are 20 years or older, but at least in theory, they could be brought back to life and be used.
 
On the tablet side of things, Apple or Samsung, things are different. A couple weeks ago, I had an iPad Mini 1st gen that was borderline useless. One no longer can update the software, download any apps, or use most of the provided apps. It can solely be used for browsing Wikipedia or watching YouTube videos in a horrendously low quality, 360 or so, while the screen is almost 1080p. The device looks like new, feels like new, the battery works fantastically, yet the device is relegated to e-waste because using it only for the camera and browser is something nobody really wants. If the people could at least download newer versions of YouTube, a game or a navigation system, the device could still be used.
 
Another case with Samsung as the representative of the Android side. "Hurr durr Android freedom no walled garden"-BUUUULLSHIIIIT! The device is barely 10 years old and stuck on Android 4. You can't update the software, you can't update the apps, the apps refuse to work in their old versions, and you can't update the Playstore. The device is basically e-waste. THEORETICALLY you can install LineageOS or some other bullcrap, but doing that on an Android device is 4 times as difficult as installing Windows on a normal PC and nobody wants to deal with that crap except for the hardcore enthusiasts. The device is relegated to e-waste for NO REASON other than Samsung's greed, and Apple's greed, and general capitalist-corporate-greed.
 
What prompted me to write this rant was a random comment I stumbled upon while searching for a solution. The comment went something like "There is no good reason to use an Android 4 device at [current year], move on and buy a new device."
 
The honestly just plain stupid people like the commenter are the reason why modern devices suck, die way too soon, or are killed off by force; they are the reason why fighting climate change is an impossible task and why humanity is going to suffer a genocide executed by the fucking Sun.
 
There are many, many, many good reasons why you would want to use such an old device, and I will list some of them:
you want to experience old games or video media in the way it was experienced in the past, similarly to why people still use MP3 players or record players;
you want to experience using older versions of existing software for the thrill of it;
you are actively using a software that no longer receives support but works on that device, but you don't want to deal with all your other apps not working (might disproportionally affect people with disabilities);
you want to have a functioning backup device;
you want to give an older device to little children or people with disabilities and not be sorry if they accidentally break it;
you want to experiment with software and hardware on an older device so you are not financially ruined if you break it;
and the most important of all: you don't want to create unnecessary e-waste when you can use a device that still fucking works.
Do I think companies should be forced to support a 10 year old device?
HELL NO! I can understand that companies need to innovate and earn money and sell new products. I want them to do that.
What I don't want them to do is to wall-off functioning devices so that is nearly impossible for casual users to install an OS. People still use Windows XP era machines (both with XP and other OSs, regardless if Windows or Linux distros) for various reasons, including creating backups, digitizing analog media, or for retro gaming.
 
Companies should be forced to unlock bootloaders and to make installing an alternative OS super-easy and even provide tutorials on how to do it once they decide that their old device is not making them money. Companies should be forced to provide documentation. Companies should provide minimal server infrastructure to update the software to the newest version or release the needed files to the public so we can store it somewhere else.
 
If a company can't provide the minimum of keeping an old device somewhat running after 10 years, if that is really the straw that will break the corporate overlord's back, then I not only don't care - I want that company fucking gone off the face of the Earth, never to be remembered again.
 

I would say 100% Nothing 2(a). I'm actually getting it for my mom over the A55 for the following reasons:
MUCH better OS. It's far cleaner than OneUI MUCH better battery and incredibly MUCH shorter charging times Much better design: thinner bezels around the screen, but also overall look and feel with the LEDs Now the other aspects are very comparable to the A55, including the screen quality and overall performance. Benchmarks don't mean everything and none of these phones are high performers. I would also take it over the Pixel 8a because if it's anything like the Pixel 8, we can expect a relatively short battery life and poor network performance. The SoC also performs poorly compared to other alternatives in this price range.

Ghostrunner offers a unique single-player experience: fast-paced, violent combat, and an original setting that blends science fiction with post-apocalyptic themes. It tells the story of a world that has already ended and its inhabitants who fight to survive.
 
 
https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/ghostrunner
 

 
note: he do be runnin'

I would say 100% Nothing 2(a). I'm actually getting it for my mom over the A55 for the following reasons:
MUCH better OS. It's far cleaner than OneUI MUCH better battery and incredibly MUCH shorter charging times Much better design: thinner bezels around the screen, but also overall look and feel with the LEDs Now the other aspects are very comparable to the A55, including the screen quality and overall performance. Benchmarks don't mean everything and none of these phones are high performers. I would also take it over the Pixel 8a because if it's anything like the Pixel 8, we can expect a relatively short battery life and poor network performance. The SoC also performs poorly compared to other alternatives in this price range.

Summary
PS5 Pro specs have now been reportedly confirmed by The Verge, with a primary focus on enhancing ray tracing capabilities
 
Quotes
PS5 Pro Specs pictured with comparison
Specifications in writing
Expected performance uplifts from Sony
New features and potential release date
My thoughts
The first thing that caught my eye was the sheer amount of Teraflops, 33.5! More than 3x more than the PS5 non pro. At first I was a bit confused on why they went Zen 2 but now that I think of it it would be more cost efficient to do so as the CPU is already up to shape even for the new GPU in the Pro, so Sony is most likely preparing Zen 4 for the PS6. Overall, looks good from Sony! If they can get it around the $600 mark with 50% more performance it'll be a great deal, though I think it's more likely they'll aim for $500.
 
Sources
https://videocardz.com/newz/playstation-5-pro-to-get-faster-zen2-cpu-mode-and-about-45-faster-gpu-rendering
Sony’s PS5 Pro is real and developers are getting ready for it - The Verge
Sony PlayStation 5 Pro Specifications Confirmed, Console Arrives Before Holidays | TechPowerUp

Try creating a new user account first. It takes less time than a full install but usually solves inexplicable little issues.

Some updated pictures.

What? rent free.
 
Not everything men say is "sexual harassment".

Well you can use a power bank. I'm able to charge my MBA at 65W with my 20,000 maH power bank, which is around 75Wh. There are bigger ones out there. This same power bank is also able to charge my 2023 LG Gram, with its core i7 1360p and RTX 3050. The 2024 version is even more power efficient so it's a good time to be an ultrabook owner, whether it's a Mac or not.
I don't find this particularly relevant. The Intel CPU is still more powerful and MUCH cheaper than the Mac Pro. Since none of them relies on a battery, it would take forever for the energy cost savings to make up for the actual price of the hardware. I would still consider Intel but more particularly AMD as the better option on the desktop side.
 

Not necessarily, there are people whose job it is to do this sort of research as well as bug bounties by Apple and others to incentivize them. Not that I think apple silicon macs are unpopular, just that this isn't really an indication of either.
Not to mention the ability to expand your memory.

Basically every major modern chip has some form of zero day bugs, Ryzen, core et al
 
All the tricks we like to do to keep pushing performance has a cost

I agree to some extent. The battery life is usually better on MacBooks but Ryzen and even Intel CPUs have caught up a lot over the past few years. I'm getting 8 hours of use at work on my 16" 13th gen Intel laptop and I could get much more with less intensive use cases, and the results are better on the 14th gen. Still not Apple-level but pretty close and I would take that over the Apple tax and still enjoy the extra flexibility on the Windows side. The performance also exceeds what I would get on the M2 MBA that I was considering getting.
 
In any case, as my colleague pointed out this morning, for us it just means that we can ask our employer to upgrade our work MacBook Pros as soon as the M4 chips become available if they don't want their "highly" confidential data to be compromised.

Because the phone to tablet ratio is off the charts and developers be lazy.

Friendly reminder to not allow your topic to be hijacked by other people's opinion on what is good for their needs/wants in a tablet and not that of yours which you have clearly stated.
 
I am seeing sweeping statements being made on an entire product segment without any explanation, suggesting that not one of the many models within said segment is suitable for your use case.
 
Which sounds incredible if you ask me. I do not think it wise to spend a lot more than what you originally intended, in order to get things you never asked for.

No info on budget or country
 
I suggest the S24 Ultra

lineage 2
genshin impact
cod
pubg
modern combat 5
dead trigger 2
gta all three
KOTOR 1 and 2
 

End to end encryption is designed precisely to make this impossible.
That's also possible... the article only says it was "assumed" the message was read through the wifi network:
Also worth noting that the network being open or not is pretty much irrelevant if airport security has control of it.
 
Also yeah spain doesn't have a leg to stand on to get reimbursed for the jets as far as I'm concerned, it's not illegal to joke and there is no law (at least afaik) that makes it illegal on airport grounds either. It's one thing if he shouted "BOMB!" for everyone to hear, but he had no way of knowing anyone but his friends would read this.

I still wonder about the technical specifics of this "detection" by the public Wi-Fi. Even though Snapchat is not E2E, it should still be using HTTPS. 

Interesting, weird they dont e2e encrypt the message, but the media is. Still, would they not be encrypted with HTTPS?

Text messages on snapchat are not encrypted:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/01/09/snapchat-adds-end-to-end-encryption-protect-users-messages/
 

Summary
A student sent a private message over Snapchat before boarding a plane, joking about blowing up the plane. Security picked up the message because he was connected to public Wi-Fi in the airport.
 
  
 
Quotes
 
My thoughts
How did they read the message if it was end-to-end encrypted? Should be be made to pay for the £19k fees as it was a private message and a joke to his friends? I'm interested to see how it plays out in the next couple of days.
 
Sources
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68056421

You nailed it. I remember getting downvoted just earlier this week for saying that maybe Samsung knew what they were doing and should be at least given the benefit of the doubt and the chance to show us what they've been working on. I also saw that modem argument being thrown here and there, which doesn't make sense because the other Exynos like the one in the S23 Fe don't have any issue like that. For many, Exynos had to be bad no matter what.

That sounds promising.
 
I will remain optimistic but skeptical until we get some more tests, preferably from the likes of geekerwan.
I do think it's funny seeing the absolute meltdown at Reddit /r/Android right now though. A bunch of people claiming benchmarks don't matter (even though I never saw that when everyone agreed Exynos was worse) and some are even going so far as to say it's a conspiracy theory by Samsung. That they are deliberately ruining the Snapdragon results in an attempt to make Exynos look better.
Seems like a lot of the people who previously said Exynos was shit because of performance and power have now shifted to "Exynos is bad because of them modem", even though we don't have any tests for that yet. Just a bunch of assumptions.
 
 
Call me weird, but I prefer Samsung's software over Google's.
 
 
The Tensor processors are designed and manufactured by Samsung. 
Google asks Samsung to make some modifications like using standard arm designed GPU cores instead of the AMD GPU cores, and include the Google-designed NPU, but other than that they are pretty much just rebranded Exynos chips.