HiTLeR

T/c

Welcome

A huge discount on the planet's very best antivirus provider Bitdefender has spent the entirety of 2020 at the summit of TechRadar's best antivirus guide. In fact, it's been there for a few years now and never fails to impress us during our in-depth testing. And luckily for us, Bitdefender is in the habit of bringing out some pretty stellar antivirus deals, too. And right now there's quite possibly the company's best antivirus deal we've seen yet. Bitdefender has slashed a mighty 70% off all three of its cybersecurity packages. That means you can get a whole year's worth of cover from as little as $18/£12. Get 70% off Bitdefender for Cyber Monday: in the US | in the UK And at these prices, you could go all out and get Bitdefender's all-singing all-dancing Total Security. That gives coverage of up to five devices, so you can protect your iOS or Android mobiles along with your Windows and Mac computers. It also adds in handy extra features like device optimization and a basic VPN. You know it's a great discount, you know that it's market-leading antivirus - but you should also know that this internet security deal isn't going to last forever. You have until December 14 to grab it. Why do we think Bitdefender is the best antivirus? There's a multitude of reasons why we rank Bitdefender as the world's best antivirus, all of paramount importance to the user. The provider really does have all the bases covered when it comes to creating top-notch online security software. Naturally, it has powerful anti-malware and spam detection tools, but it's also incredibly easy to set up and use while having minimal impact on the performance of your devices. Below we have listed our top five reasons for why we consider this antivirus software to be the best: Protects all systems: If you’re worrying that it won’t be able to defend your device, Bitdefender’s Total Security covers Android, Mac and iOS systems. Security: In our rigorous tests, we found that Bitdefender was one of the most impressive services out there for pure blocking of malicious software. So it will give you peace of mind once installed. Anonymity: All of its antivirus software seeks to ensure you remain anonymous online, also offering file encryption, firewall and anti-spam perks. Affordable: Despite its lofty position in our best antivirus countdown, Bitdefender still has extremely competitive prices in comparison to other antivirus software. No compromise necessary: Bitdefender says that all of its antivirus software preserves your battery and the speed of your devices, so they keep running smoothly. We found that it doesn’t significantly interfere with your system’s speed or battery life, unlike other antivirus software.

IPS quality at a notable discount. If you've been holding out for an IPS monitor, check out this deal from Newegg on the Asus VZ249HE 24-inch IPS display. This is one of the lowest prices we've seen on this monitor since it was first released in 2018. We have plenty of IPS displays in our list of best gaming monitors--definitely check it out if you want to compare the VZ249HE to today's top-ranking screens. You can also explore our best deals on monitors for more offers and discounted displays. ASUS VZ249HE 24-Inch IPS: was $129, now $99 at Newegg This 24-inch monitor has an FHD @ 75Hz. This edition features a 23.8-inch IPS panel and is only $99 at Newegg via a mail-in rebate. The VZ249HE has an IPS panel with an FHD resolution, measuring in at exactly 1920px x 1080px. The refresh rate can reach as high as 75Hz. It's LED-backlit and spans 24-inches across. According to the specs, it has a response time for 5ms. It features both Asus Eye Care with Low Blue Light and Flicker Free technology. Users can use multiple video input options including both HDMI and VGA. Visit the Asus VZ249HE product page at Newegg for more details and checkout options. Be sure to check back throughout the holiday season as we continue to share the best deals on tech we can find.

Game Information Initial release date: 2020 Engine: REDengine 4 Basic Information: Xbox Series X and Series S, Google Stadia, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows Software developers: CD Project, CD Project Red Designers: Mike Bondsmith, Konrad Thomazkywicz Publishers: CD Project, CD Project Red Early on in Cyberpunk 2077, there's a series of side quests that has you tracking down rogue taxis run by faulty AI. You have to talk one of the taxis down from suicide as it contemplates driving off a bridge, while another needs to be brute-forced into behaving, and a third is an obvious reference to a famous video game AI that mani[CENSORED]tes you as you chase it down. It's one of the best minor questlines in the game, an intriguing and surprisingly human substory that rewards you with lots of much-needed cash. It's also an excuse to send you to every corner of Night City, a clever introduction to all the areas you haven't yet been. I spent a lot of my playtime following side-quest threads like this one, excited about the premise and hoping to find something as interesting or fun or rewarding at the end and, in many cases, I did. But now, after finishing the main story, I can't see how most of those activities fit into the overall narrative or the character I was playing. The main story doesn't even gel with itself. Cyberpunk 2077 draws heavily from its source material, with everything from the world itself to the life and death of Johnny Silverhand coming from its pen-and-paper inspiration. But unlike in a tabletop RPG, you aren't playing a role of your own creation in Cyberpunk 2077; you're playing V, and this is V's story, not yours. I often felt like I was role-playing two different characters: one V for the side quests and one more limited V for the main story. That's mostly because the main story puts you on a clock. It's not literally on a timer, but it is very urgent in the way that RPG stories often are, and it has the same pitfalls as a result. It feels weird to do throwaway fun stuff when you have a serious, ever-present threat to attend to, and in V's case, it just doesn't make sense to dally. You have more freedom to play the character you really want to during side activities, but main-story V has clearly defined priorities. I often couldn't find the character I'd been developing via side quests when I returned to the main plot--not in how I'd been shaping her personality as she reacted to events, nor in the hacker I built as she was forced into more traditional boss fights. Welcome To The Machine I knew from the outset that I wanted to play as a hacker, so I sped through the character creator, gave my V points in intellect and cool for hacking and stealth, respectively, and started the game. I had picked the Nomad lifepath out of the three total options because it was the only one that positioned V as an outsider to Night City; I figured that I didn't know Night City yet as a newcomer to the game, so why should V? From what I can tell, that lifepath choice didn't affect more than the way the game starts and some dialogue options throughout (and possibly some minor side quests). Now that I've finished the story, I'm much more curious about the Corpo lifepath, in which V used to work at antagonist corporation Arasaka, and how that fits into what I played, but it doesn't feel like a majorly important decision in my experience. The real RPG core is in your five main stats, which are further split into two or three different skill trees, each providing various benefits to combat, stealth, hacking, and so on. Using these subskills will passively level them up and give you additional benefits, ensuring you grow according to how you play in addition to how you actively invest points as you level up. The parent skills mainly govern what dialogue options you can use and what kinds of doors you're able to open, at least in the moment-to-moment (they otherwise provide minor stat boosts). Because of this, I tended to invest skills based on my curiosity in conversations or to access areas I wanted to explore. For example, I'd bank points until I found myself in front of a door that required X points in body to force open, and then I'd level up right there and then so I could see what was behind the door. Because the subskills have their own leveling and points system, I found I could freely invest overall skill points without sacrificing my hacking goals--at least when it came to the traditional RPG progression. Hacking into computers and transferring money to your account is one thing; it only requires enough points in the intellect parent skill, just like how body allows you to open certain doors. On the other hand, quickhacking, which allows you to mani[CENSORED]te cameras, turrets, enemies, and more in hostile scenarios, requires a lot of cyberware investment. Specifically, you need a good cyberdeck--which determines how many different quickhacks you can equip--that has enough RAM so you can use ones that demand more memory. Cyberware in general is not cheap. On top of that, an early story mission is gated by a significant sum of money, so I had to do a lot of grinding before I could afford a proper cyberdeck that made my quickhacks truly effective. Until then, I felt like I had to use guns a lot more than I wanted to, which didn't fit with how I initially built my character. I didn't mind the guns overall, though; while it's not on par with dedicated first-person shooters, the gunplay is decent. It's a little clunky, even after tweaking my sensitivity settings, but the aim assist does the heavy lifting. Once I got a good cyberdeck and equipped better quickhacks, combat really picked up for me. I had a quickhack that reset an enemy's optics--pretty much everyone in Night City has cyberware in place of organic eyes--and temporarily blinded them, which allowed me to sneak past. I was able to shut off entire camera systems easily and set turrets to "friendly mode" so they wouldn't shoot me on sight. I approached most encounters like a puzzle: I'd hack into the camera systems to see how many enemies I'm dealing with, then figure out who to distract and in which direction so I could move from room to room undetected. If that didn't work, I at least knew I could jam their weapons or shock their systems from afar. When I found my rhythm and found the cash, I really enjoyed quickhacking as an alternative approach to combat, and it was always satisfying to get in, steal a bunch of money off some computers, and get out without being spotted. Because I was so focused on this aspect of my character (and saving money to invest in it), I didn't end up spending much time on other approaches; I got the mantis blades, which are cyberware swords that spring out of your arms, so late in the game that I barely used them. Other cyberware upgrades, like a leg modification that gives you a double-jump, were so expensive that I'd have to opt to take on side jobs just to afford them, though this becomes easier later in the game when those gigs have bigger payouts. In fact, most nice things in Night City are prohibitively expensive, and I found that money was often the only obstacle when it came to progression. Granted, I was playing Cyberpunk on a tight deadline, so I couldn't spend much time doing odd jobs. But there is a ridiculous amount of stuff to buy and seemingly endless moneymaking jobs to take on. There's even a whole section in your quest journal dedicated to all the cars people have offered to sell you--though you start the game with a car, and I got multiple free vehicles for completing side quests, so I never bought a car and couldn't find a real reason to. Mad City That's emblematic of the world of Cyberpunk 2077. It is so full of things to buy, to do, to see, and yet so much of it doesn't feel essential. Night City is massive, and while you can fast travel from specific points, you'll often need to walk or drive a bit to your destination. I started to compare prices from one ripperdoc to the next--they're how you upgrade your oh-so expensive cyberware--but stopped after the third because I didn't want to drag myself across the city all day. I went clothing shopping only once for the same reason, and I'd managed to loot more than one cute outfit off of corpses anyway. There's even an entire crafting and item upgrade menu that I never actually needed to use, given that I was regularly looting better gear and items off my numerous enemies; at least in my playthrough, I had no reason to engage with these systems at all. Night City is beautiful and vile. The architecture is often stunning, and some of my favorite sections of the game were when I drove from one district to the next, radio turned up, taking in all the neon lights and monolithic megabuildings piercing the sky. Then I'd get out of the car and hear one of the oft-repeated advertisements blaring out onto the street and quickly snap out of the reverie of driving. There's one ad that's just a man making a long, exaggerated orgasm sound that tended to pierce through any conversation I was having. It's a tough world and a hard one to exist in, by design; with no apparent purpose and context to that experience, all you're left with is the unpleasantness. The ads are one of many, many aesthetic choices in Cyberpunk 2077 that are grating with no real point. There's one ad in particular that was the topic of much discussion pre-release; it features a feminine person with a giant, exaggerated, veiny erection in their leotard and advertises a drink called Chromanticore with the tagline "mix it up." It is everywhere. And while the "purpose" of it may be to show what a sex-obsessed, superficial, exploitative place Night City is, there's nothing in the main story or any of the side quests I did that gives it even that much context--I found just one message on one of the many computers I logged into that commented on how low-brow Night City culture is. The result is that there's a fetishization of trans people at every turn, in a game with only one very minor trans character (that I found, at least) and no way to play as an authentically trans character yourself. I found and read tons of text logs, scoured people's private messages, listened to radio and TV programs and random NPC conversations, and I struggled to find justifications for many of Cyberpunk's more questionable and superficial worldbuilding choices. It's a world where megacorporations rule people's lives, where inequality runs rampant, and where violence is a fact of life, but I found very little in the main story, side quests, or environment that explores any of these topics. It's a tough world and a hard one to exist in, by design; with no apparent purpose and context to that experience, all you're left with is the unpleasantness. There are instances where the game does start to do more with an initially superficial choice, but these threads are often dropped quickly. For example, in the pen-and-paper game, the Voodoo Boys were a group of mostly white men who used "voodoo" stereotypes to scare people. In 2077, they are a group of Haitian people displaced by natural disaster (by my interpretation, one caused by climate change). At one point in the main story, you can ask a Voodoo Boys member what the name is about, given they don't actually do anything associated with "voodoo"; he tells you to ask the people that call them that and refuses to tell you what they call themselves. There's a seed of an interesting idea here--the labels given to the "other," diaspora, the trauma of losing your home--but none of this is ever explored again in the main story as I played it, nor in any of the many side quests I played, either. I didn't find another opportunity to interact with the Voodoo Boys at all. There's so much to cover that I can't possibly touch on everything, but my experience is that there are aspects of the game that feel lost in translation, invoking cultures that aren't adequately explored or contextualized. Characters in one side quest use the word "ofrenda" as if it means "funeral" when it's actually a particular kind of altar primarily for Day of the Dead--it's unclear to me if this is a translation issue or an overall misunderstanding of Mexican customs, since you do put together an altar during the event that's being called "the ofrenda." As another example, you can go to a clothing store in Japantown and buy "yukata" that are just wrap shirts bearing only the slightest resemblance to real yukata. It's not that Cyberpunk always gets everything wrong in its incorporation of a variety of cultures and backgrounds but that the world is so big and unruly that I never knew what I would find around any corner or understand what the intent behind it was--I just grew to accept that whatever I did find, at least in terms of setting and worldbuilding, would likely be superficial. With A Little Help From My Friends That's the case for the world overall and its background characters, anyway. You meet a lot of people in Night City, many of whom die in your wake like you're some sort of curse, while others just call from time to time with a job for you to do. The few that don't die and have proper arcs make up V's friends and love interests, and these are the characters that rightfully stand out. The first is Panam Palmer, who wins the award for the best name in the game. She's a rough-around-the-edges type of girl trying to make her own way in Night City and leaving her Nomad family behind in the process. This was the one instance where I felt my Nomad lifepath actually enhanced the experience--by choosing the Nomad-related responses, I actually felt like I was bonding with Panam over our similar backgrounds. Her quests are often fun, poorly thought-out heists, and by the end, I really did feel like I'd made V a lifelong friend who would drop everything to help her out. My favorite character, though, is Judy Alvarez, an earnest, hot-tempered, beautifully human character with the best arc in the game. She edits braindances, which are kind of like VR movies where you can acutely feel the recorder's emotions (and they're often used for porn). Judy is an incredibly gifted BD editor, and she's also a member of the Moxes, a gang of sex workers that look out for one another. Judy's story unfolds thanks to her fierce and endless desire to fight for her friends, which leads to some of the most interesting quests in the game--and some of the only ones that give you the ability to properly fight back against such a bleak, exploitative world. The final section of Judy's arc was my favorite in the entire game. It's a quiet respite from the lights and sounds of the city, an intimate look into the soul of her character, and provided you meet the requirements, contains the only sex scene I saw that didn't make me want to die on the spot. Romance doesn't play a major role in Cyberpunk, at least in what I saw and played, but you can sleep with sex workers and the occasional random NPC--although I wouldn't recommend it. The sex scenes are all POV-style to fit with the game's first-person perspective, and they are awkward. One was so awful that I actually rolled back my save and told the guy I'd rather be friends instead. He took it like a champ. Keanu Reeves: The Man, The Legend Legendary rockerboy Johnny Silverhand is with you for the vast majority of the game, showing up in pretty much every mission to try to influence your decisions, make snide remarks, or just kick back on a bed in the background while you talk to someone. His relationship with V is often antagonistic, sometimes playfully so, and other times outright hostile. Johnny is, simply put, an asshole. It's a testament to Keanu Reeves' performance that I actually liked him. He treated his friends badly and women worse. As dialogue options routinely point out, he may or may not qualify as a terrorist; before he died in 2023, he planted a nuke inside Arasaka Tower, an attack against corporate imperialism that ended up killing a lot of people and an important event in the original tabletop game. He's the kind of guy who gets away with far too much, and based on what I learned about him throughout the game, I'm surprised he died at the hands of Adam Smasher rather than by choking on his own vomit after a bender. Johnny is, simply put, an asshole. It's a testament to Keanu Reeves' performance that I actually liked him. Reeves is somehow able to make all of this interesting and kind of charming rather than extremely off-putting. For the most part, Johnny is a well-written character in that I was always curious to hear what he had to say and how he interpreted the situations we were in--I was never quite sure if his advice was any good or if his opinions had any merit, but I wanted to hear him out every time. It's Reeves' delivery of these lines, which often involve Johnny chastising you for something or other, that really sells the "lovable jerk" vibe that I would normally find overplayed. The push-and-pull of Johnny's opinions and your own adds a lot of color to even run-of-the-mill missions. At one point I didn't heed Johnny's condescending warnings and accepted a deal from a character who ended up tricking me, which also resulted in a lot of people dying (oops); another time, I pursued a side quest only because he practically begged me to do it, saying it was the most interesting thing we'd stumbled upon in a long time (and it did end up being unlike anything else in the game). The dynamic is compelling and left me on my toes, always wondering if I should listen to Johnny or follow my initial instincts. I'm not sure if there were necessarily any completely right or wrong choices in a lot of those missions, but Johnny's presence, and the ambiguity it brings, is supposed to have an effect on V's psyche, for better or for worse--it's a factor of the circumstances that put him in V's head in the first place. That Johnny could affect my decision-making, as well as how I interpreted each interaction, is a clever way to convey that. Bullet In The Head Aside from character highlights, side quests are far and away the best part of the game. Like the rogue taxi one I mentioned at the beginning of this review, there are quite a few clever, interesting, goofy, and sad side quests that I really enjoyed. On a gameplay level, they often provide more a nice change of pace from the more combat-focused main story; sometimes you just talk to people, while a more involved one has you doing favors for Johnny since he's, you know, technically dead. One especially intriguing side quest had me playing detective, investigating a mysterious break-in at the apartment of a Night City mayoral candidate. Mechanically, it's a simple open-world "use your ability to highlight clues" gimmick, but what follows is a fascinating and kind of creepy look at Night City corruption, gaslighting, and whether it's better to tell someone the truth if it means it could get them killed. Conversely, I also did a really silly quest that involved a clown man with a grenade for a nose that had no point but was delightful in a weird way. Side quests amounted to around 35 hours of my total playtime, and they were what propelled me through. While not every one lands, there are some that feel essential in a way that very little else in the game does. These include Judy's story arc and the taxi excursion as well as a much shorter story about a depressed man who lives in V's apartment building. Even on the tight review deadline, I kept finding myself seeking out just one more side quest before bed just because I was eager to see what I would find. All that said, when I finished the game, I felt empty. All the friends I had made, what I learned about Johnny, the way I developed my V as a character--much of it didn't seem to matter. Making friends in a lonely, sad city doesn't affect the urgency of V's main quest, and it doesn't seem to affect her priorities related to it. Discovering a police-sponsored murder coverup or the depths of corporate control of Night City life doesn't seem to change V's ambitions to be remembered as a legendary Night City merc. Falling in love didn't even give my V what she wanted. I got a lot out of the side quests and some of the characters, but I got very little out of the overall story. I don't quite understand the ending I got, but it made me sad. It didn't reflect the V I felt I'd developed, one who helped her friends and followed her curiosity. Worst of all, I have no idea what Cyberpunk 2077 is even trying to say. There's an overall theme of identity that is dashed by the dissonance between the V you actually play and the V you get in the end; otherwise, I couldn't tell you what Cyberpunk is trying to do with its beautifully grotesque world. I got a lot out of the side quests and some of the characters, but I got very little out of the overall story. 2+2=5 It also bears a mention: Cyberpunk 2077 is phenomenally buggy. I played a pre-release build that was updated during the review period, and there's a day-one patch planned as well, but the scale of technical issues is too large to reasonably expect immediate fixes. I encountered some kind of bug on every mission I went on, from more common, funnier ones like characters randomly T-posing to several complete crashes. I didn't notice much of an improvement after the update, either. In a very late-game, very important fight, the game froze on me--twice. I ended up taking a break out of frustration before attempting, and finally succeeding, the third time. These bugs, more than any game I've played in years, took me out of the experience often. Non-interactable items like cardboard boxes will explode when you interact with something next to them; UI elements will stay on-screen long after they're meant to, which is only solved by reloading a save; characters will interrupt themselves during proper dialogue sequences by repeating a throwaway line they'd say in the overworld, seriously disrupting key moments; I died once and, upon reloading my last save, found my hacking ability no longer worked, forcing me to roll back to an autosave 10 minutes prior. The list is extensive. The technical problems not only took me out of the game literally but also led me to question whether certain things throughout the game were intentional. It often took me a moment or two to determine whether a visual glitch was supposed to be happening due to V's cyberware, which is a major part of the story, or if I needed to reload the game. There were a few instances where I couldn't tell if dialogue or an event had been skipped due to a bug or by design, since there are times where the game will skip you ahead in time as part of a scene. I also found some exploration sequences frustrating because it was incredibly hard to tell if I was just missing the clue I was supposed to find or if it hadn't popped up at all, and I ended up leaving areas and coming back later on multiple occasions out of confusion and frustration. At least once, I didn't get a dialogue hint indicating what to do until I left the area and came back. I was playing on a gaming laptop well above the minimum specs announced for Cyberpunk 2077, while another GameSpot player experienced the same severity and frequency of bugs (though no hard crashes) on an even higher-end desktop PC. Your mileage may vary, but in our experience, the bugs are obtrusive and substantial across the board, often forcing us to reload saves or exit the game entirely. It's hard to get really into a world you constantly have to leave. But then it's hard to get into Cyberpunk 2077's world in general. So much of it is superficial set dressing, and there's so much happening all around you--ads going off at all times, gunfights breaking out in the streets, texts coming in about cars you'll never buy--that a lot of the game feels superfluous. The side quests and the characters they showcase are the shining beacon through the neon-soaked bleakness of Night City, and they give you room to explore the best the core RPG mechanics have to offer. These are what carried me through an otherwise disappointing experience. Here are the Cyberpunk 2077 System Requirements (Minimum) CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K or AMD FX-8310. OS: Windows 7 or 10. VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 or AMD Radeon RX 470. FREE DISK SPACE: 70 GB. DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 3 GB.

i like DH4 more than other , nice music ❤️

What app did you use more than any other in 2020? I'll give you a hint, it's one that you probably never touched before. If you answered Zoom Cloud Meetings, the video app, you're right. Zoom, which changed the way we work and learn from home, is Apple's most downloaded iPhone and iPad app of the year. Apple doesn't release sales stats for its year-end charts, it just notes which apps were more downloaded than others. Google Play also released a year-end Android app chart Tuesday, but doesn't categorize apps with rankings. It gave "Users Choice" nods to Disney+, the new streaming service that launched in Nov. 2019 for overall app, and "SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-off" for game. Google Play editors said "Loona: Bedtime and Relax," was the best app of the year. Beyond Zoom, familiar names topped the Apple charts. TikTok, the controversial social app president Donald Trump sought to ban (the issue is tied up in courts) is No. 2, followed by Disney+, YouTube and Instagram. Google's YouTube was the No. 1 downloaded app in 2019 and 2018, per Apple, while in 2017 it was Snapchat's Bitmoji. The rest of Apple's top five has more familiar names: Facebook, Snapchat, Facebook's Messenger, Gmail and Cash App, the social payment app. Similar to Venmo, Cash is owned by Square, the payment platform used by many small merchants. Zoom was also named top iPad of the year, followed by Disney+, YouTube, Netflix, Google Chrome, TikTok, Amazon Prime Video, Gmail, Hulu and Google Classroom. Additionally, Apple, like Google, at the end of the year makes editorial judgements about the apps in the iOS App Store, naming best of the best. Zoom got Apple's nod as the best iPad app of the year, although neither Apple nor Zoom would disclose whether more people used Zoom on an iPad vs. phone and laptops, which is where most people were thought to have their video meetings. Apple's top app picks for 2020: iPhone App of the Year: Wakeout! An exercise app that offers quick workout routines that can be done in minutes as short breaks such as using pillows or pots and pans. The app starts at $4.99 monthly. Mac App of the Year: Fantastical. This is an app that's been around for nearly 10 years, and switched to a subscription format in 2020, for $39.99 yearly. The idea is to have a more robust calendar app, and the subscription brings in use among Macs, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, and features like extended weather forecasts and adding and starting Zoom meetings within the app. Apple TV App of the Year: Disney+ has quickly emerged as the third most subscribed to streaming service, with 73 million subscribers, compared to 150 million for Amazon Prime and nearly 200 million for Netflix. Games: Genshin Impact. A role playing game from Chinese developer miHoYo was selected for the iPhone and by Google Play editors as the best Android game. Apple also selected Legends of Runeterra for iPad and Disco Elysium for Macs. In the trends categories, Apple chose the Shine meditation app, which previously won the Best of 2018 app, "for helping users practice self care," the Explain Everything education app "for helping bring remote classrooms to life," Caribu kids video calling app "for connecting families to loved ones" and ShareTheMeal charity donation app "for helping users make a difference."

This RGB flaming tree topper is totally LIT. This year I decided to tech-out my Christmas tree with an Alexa controlled light strip and a one-of-a-kind RGB tree topper. 2020 is the year of unexpected tech, right? In this article, I’ll build a flaming tree topper using a Raspberry Pi and an 32x8 flexible RGB LED matrix. No real fire was lit in the creation of this tutorial. How does the Raspberry Pi RGB Flaming Tree topper work? The idea is to gently bend your 32x8 flex NeoPixel matrix around the top of your tree while looping simulated flame images. I designed this 3D printed frame to hold my RGB matrix in place on top of my tree with a cut-out for the top of the tree and wire pass-through. The Raspberry Pi (via Python code), translates 10 JPG images of flames (you can substitute with your own images) into color coordinates displayed on the RGB matrix. With this project, you can loop your own images and control pause time between each image as it is displayed on your 32x8 RGB matrix. What You’ll Need Raspberry Pi 3, Raspberry Pi 4, or Raspberry Pi Zero W with pre-soldered GPIO headers or you can solder them yourself. Power supply/Keyboard/Mouse/Monitor/HDMI Cable (for your Raspberry Pi) 32x8 Flexible NeoPixel RGB LED Matrix Set of jumper wires (M-to-F, M-to-M, and F-to-F) 5V Power Supply with wall-plug and barrel to screw terminal adapter. 1000 µF capacitor Optional: Scrap cloth to diffuse RGB Matrix 3D Printed frame for RGB Matrix Part 1: Setup Your RGB Matrix In this step, we will perform a basic wiring and run the sample code provided by Adafruit’s NeoPixel Uberguide. This project requires 2 power sources, one for the Raspberry Pi and a 2nd power source for the RGB Matrix. Fortunately powering the RGB matrix can be as simple as purchasing a 5V Power Supply with wall-plug, or repurposing an old USB connector. We will use 2 sets of connections from your RGB matrix: 1) Power 2) Data. I am repurposing the flexible 32x8 RGB Matrix from my Scrolling Text Face Shield tutorial with soldered connections. I attached (with hot glue) a scrap piece of fabric over the matrix to help diffuse the RGB LEDs.

Here's the full list of K.K. Slider songs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including all the secret songs that K.K. only plays by request. After you've completed Project K in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and fulfilled Tom Nook's dream of convincing K.K. Slider to visit your island, the wandering musician will return there every Saturday to perform a small concert, just as he did in previous Animal Crossing games. You'll find K.K. sitting in front of your Resident Services building the entire day, but he'll only play music for you between 6 PM and midnight your time. As in past titles, you can either let K.K. play a random song or request to hear a specific tune, and he'll give you a record of the first song he performs that night. While you can purchase most of these songs through the Nook Shopping terminal, there are a handful of "secret" songs that K.K. will only play by request, so if you want to get your hands on those records, you'll need to specifically request them. Below, we've rounded up the full list of K.K. Slider songs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The secret songs that K.K. only plays by request are denoted in bold. Keep in mind that you'll need to type each song title out as it is written below (meaning you need to have the proper punctuation and capitalization) when requesting the songs; if you spell the title incorrectly, K.K. will instead play a backup song that you can't take home as a record and say he didn't understand your request. If you have friends visiting your island while K.K. is around, you can all watch him perform together. To do so, every player will need to be seated before the player who requests the song sits down; if you sit too late, you'll miss out on the performance. We have a ton of other guides to help you out in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including a turnips guide with tips on how to play the stalk market, as well as a deserted island guide detailing all the Mystery Tours you can embark on.

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Japan’s government may be preparing to ban the sale of new, gasoline-powered cars by 2030, according to public broadcaster NHK. The move would bring the list of countries considering a ban to at least 18. This comes shortly after the U.K. moved its own date for a ban up to 2030. Closer to home, California’s governor has issued an executive order requiring that all sales of new cars and trucks in the state be emissions-free by 2035. To be clear, that order is expected to face significant legal challenges and triggered an immediate conflict with a federal government that does not appear ready to take similar steps. Still, the movement to ban gasoline-powered cars is gaining steam outside the U.S., with proposed bans in cities on every continent but Africa and Antarctica. EV pressure grows In the short term, the bans will likely have little effect on Americans shopping for a new car. But in the medium term, they will add to the pressure for automakers to build and sell more electric and alternative fuel cars like the Nissan Leaf EV. After all, every automaker that sells cars in the U.S. also sells them overseas, with Japanese companies making up about 40 percent of the American market in recent years. Just this week, Hyundai announced plans for 23 new EVs in just the next five years, while Cadillac began buying out dealerships that don’t want to move to an all-electric model. There are enough electric cars for sale on the U.S. market today to require our list of the best electric cars. The movement is also likely to transform the market for used cars – keep an eye on our lists of the best used cars in each market segment and price point. You’re likely to see prices decline and supply increase as EVs take over more of the market.

During 11 games in a row, English international goalkeeper Jordan Pickford played ten of them mainly, Everton's team failed to maintain a clean sheet in the Premier League, and the goalkeeping position became one of its clear weaknesses, which disrupted its promising start early this season. Pickford, who was a national hero in England after the distinguished levels he showed in the 2018 World Cup, his career deteriorated sharply, especially during the current year, which affected the great ambitions with which Everton started his season under the leadership of veteran Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti. Beckford conceded a long-shot goal by Irish player Robbie Brady of Burnley, before his team equalized during the opening confrontation of the eleventh round, to make Everton falter again in the local competition. Brady’s shot is the fifth from outside the penalty area that Pickford has received in the Premier League during the current season, a number that no goalkeeper has received in the competition from long shots. Beckford has conceded 39 goals from long shots since wearing the Everton shirt in 2017, a number that confirms the international goalkeeper's suffering with shots that have become a real threat to his team during all matches. Former English star Darren Bennett publicly criticized Pickford at the end of last September, after a series of mistakes, especially after he scored twice against Fleetwood, which competes in the third division, during the third round match of the English Professional League Cup "Carabao Cup". Everton nets have conceded 18 goals in 11 games in the Premier League, as the worst line of defense in the competition, behind 17th-placed Fulham, which prompted Ancelotti to seek the help of Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen against Newcastle in the seventh round, before Pickford regained his place again, except That incident did not change anything, nor did the veteran goalkeeper's levels improve. The negative facts of the English goalkeeper did not stop at his levels and the negative numbers that his team suffered from, and extended to causing the Dutch defender Vergil Van Dyck, the star of the Liverpool team, to sever the cruciate ligament, after a violent intervention that was widely blamed for him. Many stars criticized the way Beckford interfered with the giant Dutch defender, which exposed him to an injury that would keep him out of action for months, led by Brazilian Allison, Liverpool goalkeeper and England's Wayne Rooney, the current Derby County coach and one of the Premier League legends. The Beckford position as a main goalkeeper for the English national team has become threatened, in light of its modest levels during the current season, but he was lucky to return Dean Henderson to the ranks of Manchester United after a loan starring during which he starred in Sheffield United last season, where he remained a substitute for the Spanish David de Gea, as well as the decline in results Burnley, after goalkeeper Nick Pope's remarkable brilliance last season.

Chocolate, cinnamon, caramelised almonds – rice pudding, but not as you know it This spiced rice pudding can be made well in advance, but if you do so the rice will soak up most, if not all of the milk, so you’ll need to add a little more to loosen the kheer when you reheat it. Prep 5 min Cook 45 min Serves 4 For the kheer 100g basmati rice 750ml non-dairy milk – I like Oatly or Bonsoy 80g caster sugar ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp ground fennel ⅓ tsp ground cardamom 1/8 tsp cloves 1/8 nutmeg 1 pinch ground black pepper 20g cocoa For the chikki (AKA caramelised almonds) 1 tbsp coconut oil 50g flaked almonds ½ tsp ground fennel seed ½ tsp ground ginger 40g caster sugar 1 pinch salt Rinse the rice in a sieve under the cold tap until the water runs clear, then put in a bowl, add cold water to cover and leave to soak. Meanwhile, make the chikki. Put the coconut oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat and, once hot, add the almonds and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, until they turn pale gold. Add the ground fennel, ground ginger, sugar and salt, stir-fry for a minute more, until caramelised, then tip out on to a plate and leave to cool. Now back to the kheer. Put the milk, sugar and all the spices in a deep saucepan and, over a low to medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Drain the soaked rice and tip it gently into the spiced milk. Bring the mixture back up to a slow boil, then turn down the heat to a mere whisper and cover the pan. Leave to cook for about 25 minutes, stirring every now and then to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pan; if the mixture gets too dry, add more milk, a little at a time. Stir in the cocoa, then leave to cook for another 10 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Serve in small bowls with the chikki scattered over the top. Fiona Beckett’s drinks match Even though this kheer is already spiced, I’d be tempted to go for a chai with it, too – a homemade one, ideally, though you could buy a pre-mixed one such as The Tea Makers’ Masala Chai (from £6.50 for 50g).

The US State Department announced, on Saturday, that it will cancel 5 exchange programs with the United States funded by China, describing them as "propaganda tools." In a statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that these five programs, "disguised as cultural exchanges, are fully financed and managed by the government of the People's Republic of China" and are "tools of propaganda and soft power." He added that these programs, which are organized within the framework of US legislation called the "Educational and Cultural Exchange Act" (Mutual Education and Charles Exchange Act), are "tools for advertising and soft power." The US Secretary of State added that “other programs that were established” under this law are beneficial to both parties, but the five programs in question are fully funded and operated by the government of the People's Republic of China as tools for propaganda and soft power. He believed that these five programs "provide carefully orchestrated access to officials of the Chinese Communist Party, not to the Chinese people, who do not enjoy freedom of expression and assembly." The cancellation of these programs is the latest expression of outgoing President Donald Trump's deeply contentious relationship with China. On Friday, the New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump's administration had issued new rules restricting travel for Chinese Communist Party members and their families to the United States. The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying that the new policy sets a maximum month for travel visas for party members and their families, and for entry only once. The director of US intelligence, John Ratcliffe, had warned the incoming Joe Biden administration against "politicizing intelligence" and urged it to "be honest" and "recognize" that China is "the biggest national security threat we face."

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Analysis of billions of passwords reveals a lot about favourite cities, sports teams, and even swear words What you choose for a password might be revealing more about you that you ever thought, according to new analysis. CyberNews.com analysed over 15 billion passwords from users around the world, finding out some intriguing details about exactly what users from different countries use to create supposedly strong logins. Examining what letters and number made up the passwords, the company was able to extrapolate a lot of information, including the most po[CENSORED]r cities, sports teams, and even swear words. Check out our list of the best password management software around Here's our list of the best security keys available We've built a list of the best password managers right now Password info The CyberNews.com team collected its passwords from publicly leaked data breaches, including the Breach Compilation, Collection #1-5, and more, with the data anonymized and the passwords detached so that it could be examined in isolation. The data revealed that many users tie personal information to their passwords, primarily a year, a name, or a city in the world. 2010 was found to be the most po[CENSORED]r year included in passwords, with nearly 10 million versions of this year used in passwords, followed by 1987 at 8.4 million, and the third was 1991 at nearly 8.3 million. Eva was the name most used in passwords, appearing over 7.1 million times, followed by Alex, Anna, Max, and Ava - although the researchers noted that out of the 15 billion passwords analyzed, less than 1% used a first name in their password creation. Abu Dhabi (included as just "abu") was the most used city, appearing in over 2.3 million passwords followed by Rome, Lima, Hong Kong and Milan. Many users also included food and drink mentions in their logins, with "tea", "pie", "nut" and "fish" all appearing in over two million passwords each. When it came to favourite sports teams, the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team was found in over 1.1 million passwords, followed by the Miami Heat (909,558) and Cincinnati Reds MLB baseball team (686,716). However there was also three soccer teams in the top ten, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal all featuring highly. Interestingly, of the 15,212,645,925 passwords examined by the company, only 2,217,015,490 were unique, raising questions about the security habits of users around the world. CyberNews flagged that the majority of passwords used had eight or fewer characters, potentially making them easier to guess, with the company urging users to create long, strong passwords, or use a password manager.

Google tapes out first own SoC for Pixel handsets. Makers of smartphones and PCs are always eager to offer their customers an experience not available from their rivals. Back in the day, vendors competed for the best ergonomics, software, and some exclusive features. Still, more recently, companies like Apple, Huawei, and Samsung started to develop their own system-on-chips (SoC) to differentiate at all levels. A report says that Google is now following their steps with its own silicon for Pixel smartphones and Chromebooks. Google recently successfully taped outs its codenamed Whitechapel SoC and has been playing with it for several weeks now, reports Axios, citing one source with knowledge of the matter. The processor packs eight Arm cores and some additional silicon designed to speed up Google's machine learning algorithms (i.e., a small TPU for inference) and improve the performance of the Google Assistant app. The chip was reportedly made using Samsung's 5LPE (5 nm) process technology. Since it usually takes about a year for a new mobile SoC to reach commercial products, expect the Whitechapel to power Google's Pixel smartphones sometime in late 2021 if everything goes as planned and the chip provides competitive performance. Google's silicon ambitions do not stop with the Whitechapel. The company is allegedly mulling developing processors for its Chromebooks. Given its vast resources, it can design its own SoC for PCs, but the company would likely prefer to obtain experience in chip design first with its own processors for smartphones. High-end off-the-shelf system-on-chips from Qualcomm or MediaTek used by the vast majority of smartphone makers provide very high general-purpose as well as graphics performance, therefore enabling manufacturers to innovate with their cameras and software. However, because they are off-the-shelf, they do not carry any custom-designed exclusive hardware that could differentiate a device in terms of performance and capabilities. be quite powerful when compared to x86 processors from Intel, based on early reviews. Furthermore, its M1 chip carries numerous special-purpose accelerators that enable performance and capabilities not accessible to off-the-shelf CPUs, which changes the way Apple's PCs can be used. For Google, a leading high-technology company with smartphone and PC ambitions, it makes great sense to tap into silicon design in a bid to differentiate its own Pixel smartphones and Chromebooks as well as bring all-new features to the market. Yet, there is a catch. When Huawei designs its own SoC for its own smartphones, it competes against other players in the Android ecosystem. But when Google comes out with its hardware powered by its own silicon, it competes against its own partners among SoC developers and hardware manufacturers, which hardly makes them happy. Meanwhile, if Google wants to innovate its Android and Chrome OS platforms quickly and stay competitive with Apple and Microsoft, own SoCs are one of the ways to go since it is considerably easier to implement certain features into in-house designed silicon than persuade a third party to incorporate something into their SoC.

Certain Fire- and Ice-type Pokemon like Gigantamax Centiskorch and Lapras will appear in Max Raid dens all December long. December is officially here, and new Max Raid event is now underway in Pokemon Sword and Shield. All month long, certain Ice- and Fire-type Pokemon will appear in Max Raid dens more frequently than usual across the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra, including Gigantamax forms of Lapras and Centiskorch. From now until December 31, players will be more likely to encounter Weavile, Avalugg, Lapras, Turtonator, and their pre-evolved forms in Max Raid battles in both Sword and Shield. Kantonian Ponyta and Rapidash will be appearing in Raids during the event as well. These forms are rare in the Gen 8 games, making this a good chance to add them to your collection if you haven't already. As previously mentioned, Gigantamax Lapras and Centiskorch will also be appearing more frequently during this month's Max Raid event. Gigantamax Pokemon are normally incredibly hard to find outside of these events (although you can teach compatible Pokemon how to Gigantamax in the Isle of Armor), so you'll want to take advantage of their increased spawn rate if you haven't already caught them. In order for the event Pokemon to begin appearing in your game, you'll first need to refresh your Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting the Y-Comm online or by going into Mystery Gift from the menu screen and selecting Get the Wild Area News. The Max Raid event runs until 3:59 PM PT / 6:59 PM ET / 11:59 PM UTC on December 31. In other Pokemon news, Pokemon Go support was recently added to Pokemon Home, meaning you can now transfer Pokemon directly from the mobile game to the storage service. Everyone who brings a monster over will receive a special Pokemon as a gift: a Gigantamax-capable Melmetal. 2021 also marks the Pokemon series' 25th anniversary, and The Pokemon Company has teased upcoming news for the big milestone.

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DH1 better Than , nice music ❤️

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DH2 Better Than DH1 , Nice song ❤️