THē-GHōST

If you've ever looked at a fully armored space marine from a Warhammer 40,000 game like Dawn of War, Battlesector, or indeed, Space Marine, and thought, "They must take ages getting ready to go out with all that on," then you'd be right. As a new animation from the official Warhammer YouTube channel shows, it's a heck of a process. To be fair, the marine in the video is one of the newer-model primaris marines wearing Mark X Tacticus Armor, which is why the helmet comes in multiple parts and the collar is fashionably popped. It probably doesn't take quite as long for your basic joe regular marines in older makes of power armor. And anyway, given that it contains life-support systems and a power pack, it's not like he needs to ditch it whenever he wants to go to the toilet or whatever. What this video really gets across is the amount of ritual involved in armoring up. There's a robed tech-priest overseeing the operation, skulls full of incense, and a lot of chanting and recitation. The Imperium is all about making things more baroque than they need to be. The scale of the gear comes across well too, with two servitors struggling with the weight of the chest piece, even with their cybernetic arms. The bolter looks massive, too. If that's got you excited to play a videogame about space marines, then good news: even more are coming. There's Space Marine 2, release date yet to be announced, and Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters coming on May 5. That one gives you a squad of Grey Knights to control, the psychic space marines dedicated to fighting Chaos daemons. They wear specially crafted Aegis Armor to ward them against the powers of the Warp, and probably take even longer getting ready to go out. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-what-it-takes-to-get-one-of-warhammer-40000s-space-marines-ready-for-a-fight/

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The previously announced, but unreleased GeForce RTX 3090 Ti finally has a launch date according to information received by Videocardz. The best and perhaps last Ampere generation card is set to launch on March 29th, with reviews due at the same time. Nvidia announced the RTX 3090 Ti at CES back in early January. Despite claiming that it would launch at the end of the month, the date came and went with no sign of the card. But now that we have a supposed date, you’ll be have a chance to grab one at last. You’ll probably have to be quick though and its certain that you'll need very deep pockets if you want to get your hands on Nvidia’s fastest ever graphics card. Nvidia never gave a reason for the delay. Speculation includes a lack of full fat GA102 GPUs to issues with clock speeds, GDDR6X temperatures and power consumption issues. The real reasons for the delay is perhaps a combination of all of the above.The RTX 3090 Ti may be the last Ampere RTX 30 series card to launch before the transition to the RTX 40 series begins later in the year. Its specs include 10752 CUDA cores with 24GB of 21Gbps GDDR6X memory connected to a 384-bit memory bus. This will deliver up to 1TB/s of bandwidth. It may come with PCIe Gen 5 16-pin power connectors, although custom cards may stick with current 8-pin connectors which would keep compatibility with current power supplies. Just about every gamer would love an RTX 3090 Ti sitting on their doorstep but it's looking like it could be among the most power hungry and expensive GPUs ever. Whatever the case, It will be fast!

When the first big Lost Ark update was announced to be coming this month, the focus was on its endgame nerfs, aimed at making some of its Abyssal Dungeons and Guardian Raids easier, as well as the addition of a new activity called Abyss Raids. That update has now arrived, and the 5.9GB patch also includes a few surprising extras. Mainly, a grand prix. Only available for the next month, you can enter the Arkesia Grand Prix racing event once per day at the beginning of any even-numbered hour—you have to be there right on the hour to participate. The race transforms you into a naruni, one of Lost Ark's oddly adorable little triceratops creatures, and sends you off around a racetrack in one of two teams of seven players competing to make it to the finish line and apparently eat a bunch of cakes? Yeah, I don't know either. To participate in the grand prix you need to be at least level 50. Talk to the Arkesia Grand Prix Manager in whichever major city hub is nearest you to enter—they'll be highlighted on the map with a pink exclamation mark. Note that you can only enter once per roster. No sneaking back with a different character, though I guess if you've somehow got to level 50 on two different servers you could enter again that way The March update also adds a new set of skins to Lost Ark's surprisingly barren cosmetics store, though only the one outfit. Called the Omen set, it's dark and spooky and will make you look a bit like Reaper from Overwatch. The deluxe special package version also includes a wallpaper for the character select screen and a mount called the ghost horse to make your Dark Rider cosplay complete. It'll be available for the next 35 days, after which the April update will presumably arrive The previously announced Abyss Raid, which pits players against a boss called Argos, and the next story episode, called Kadan, are both included in the update for players who have somehow made it far enough to run out of other things to do already. Bug fixes mentioned in the full patch notes include fixes for the client becoming unresponsive after switching to fullscreen mode and then alt-tabbing, as well as issues with controller support. Those patch notes also mention the first season of competitive play in the Proving Grounds is due later this month. Wins and losses in a Team Deathmatch mode (which you'll be able to queue solo for) will be tracked in your Competitive Match Average score, and the better the score the better the rewards you get at the end of the season. Entry will be available to anyone who has reached Tier 1 in the Proving Grounds. More details, including the date it begins, are apparently on the way. Finally, a new set of daily log-in bonuses has arrived, with 25 rewards including honing materials, rapport items, card packs and the like. No repeat of last month's Tropical Chamkuri mount, though, so you have my sympathies if you missed out on scoring a sweet chocobo-looking bird to ride around on. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/lost-arks-march-update-just-added-a-grand-prix-race-and-new-skins/

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Same as your opinion and this will be implemented soon

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Samsung Galaxy A13, Galaxy A23, Galaxy M33, and Galaxy M23 smartphones have been unveiled. All the smartphones are equipped with a 6.6-inch TFT full-HD+ display. While the Galaxy M33, Galaxy A23, and Galaxy A13 come with quad rear cameras, the Galaxy M23 gets a triple rear camera setup. All these phones come with 50-megapixel primary cameras. Both the A-series phones look quite similar in terms of design, and specifications. The Galaxy M33 gets the highest 6,000mAh battery capacity of the quartet. Samsung Galaxy A13, Galaxy A23, Galaxy M33, and Galaxy M23 price Samsung hasn't revealed the prices of any of the new Samsung Galaxy A13, Galaxy A23, Galaxy M33, and Galaxy M23 handsets. However, the Galaxy A13 has been spotted (via GSMArena) on a Dutch retailer's website. The 4GB + 64GB storage model has been priced at EUR 190 (roughly Rs. 15,800), while the 4GB + 128GB storage variant price has been set at EUR 210 (roughly Rs. 17,500). Both these phones are available for pre-order in the country. The GSMArena report also suggests that the Galaxy M33 Galaxy M23 will launch in India. However, there has been no confirmation from the South Korean tech giant on the phones' availability. Samsung Galaxy A13 specifications Samsung Galaxy A13 runs Android 12-based OneUI 4.1. It sports a 6.6-inch TFT Infinity-V full-HD+ (1,080x2,408 pixels) display, which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Samsung hasn't revealed the exact model of the SoC, but the GSMArena report suggests that the phone sports an Exynos 850 SoC, which is paired with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. For photography, the Galaxy A13 gets a quad rear camera setup, headlined by a 50-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture lens. There is also a 5-megapixel ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 lens and two 2-megapixel macro and depth cameras with f/2.4 lenses. There is an 8-megapixel front camera paired with f/2.2 lens. Samsung Galaxy A13 comes with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 25W fast charging. The phone gets a Samsung Knox security, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. It measures 165.1x76.4x8.8mm, and weighs 195 grams. It will be available in Black, Blue, Peach, and White colour options. Samsung Galaxy A23 specifications Samsung Galaxy A13 and Samsung Galaxy A23 are identical in terms of display, camera, battery, and colour options. The difference is in the configuration. Samsung hasn't revealed the make of the SoC for the Galaxy A23 either, but mentions that the phone will come with up to 8GB of RAM and will have only two storage options: 64GB and 128GB. Samsung Galaxy M33 specifications Samsung Galaxy M33 runs Android 12-based OneUI 4.1. It sports a 6.6-inch TFT Infinity-V full-HD+ (1,080x2,408 pixels) display. Just like in the case of the A-series phones mentioned above, Samsung hasn't revealed the make of the SoC but mentions that the octa-core SoC can be paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage. For photography, the Galaxy M33 gets a quad rear camera setup with sensors identical to the Galaxy A13 and Galaxy A23. The phone packs a 6,000mAh battery, gets Samsung Knox security, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Sensors onboard include accelerometer, gyro, ambient light, and proximity. It will be available in Blue, Brown, and Green colour options. It measures 165.4x76.9x9.4mm, and weighs 215 grams. Samsung Galaxy M23 specifications Samsung Galaxy M23 sports the same display and runs the same software as the Galaxy M33. It also gets an unidentified octa-core SoC which is paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB storage. For photography, the Galaxy M33 gets a triple rear camera setup, highlighted by a 50-megapixel primary sensor paired with f/1.8 lens. There is an 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 ultra-wide angle lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor paired with f/2.4 lens. For selfies and video calling, the phone gets an 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 lens. The phone packs a 5,000mAh battery, gets Samsung Knox security, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Sensors onboard include accelerometer, gyro, light, and proximity. It will be available in Deep Green and Light Blue colour options. It measures 165.5x77x8.4mm and weighs 198 grams.

Morning - are you ready to Wordle? How's your Saturday going... for us, it's literally opening our eyes, tapping letters into a grid, (hopefully) finding the Wordle answer and rushing to the laptop to share it with the world. Well, the answer for Wordle #259 is both simple enough and likely to catch out a number of people around the world... so rather than just cheating and finding the answer, why not let us help you with some hints and tools We've saved streaks for others this week - here's how we can help you. And don't forget to get your dost of resident pro word wrangler Lance Ulanoff's daily Wordle solution diary - follow how he found his way to the Wordle answers this week and you'll be a done-in-three pro in no time. (But if you just want the answer, get scrolling down the page, skipping the hints and tools. You've probably got a meal to make or a date at the cinema, so nobody needs to waste time on Wordle). Oh man, we're grumpy with Wordle today. Not because it's fiendish (although we would call it 'on the trickier side') but because we did a stupid thing: tried to think laterally. Don't do that. Have an idea and go for it - trying to decide how obscure a word is and whether it's the likely answer is a fool's errand. The good news is that Google trends suggests that the world isn't having too much trouble with today's Wordle solution - which makes sense, as it's a pretty common word structure.Compare that to yesterday's 'AHEAD' and that seemed to flummox most people - probably because of the position of that 'A' at the start. Anyway, here are today's hints: It's got two vowels, split apart. It starts with the 17th most po[CENSORED]r letter in the English language. It ends with an E We weren't sure whether that last hint would make it too easy - once you know where that is, you should be onto a winner. Instead of scrolling to the Wordle answer section below, why not try a 5 letter word generator? There are loads of great tools online that can help you learn a bit more about the world of Wordle and how to get the right letters first - how about you check one of those out One of our favorites is WordFinderX, which allows you to put in letters at the start and the end if you know them and, crucially: allows you to enter any letters that don’t fit. Started to take advantage of the Words with Friends craze, this website has blatantly had a huge rise in traffic of late, but it really does do the job. You can also try WordTips, which does the same thing but with a slightly kinder UI. We also like The Free Dictionary, but that only lets you use 'contains', 'ends with' or 'starts with' - as well as 'unscramble'. And finally - check out this useful grid that shows the hottest letter pairings - it can really help focus your mind on what might go where, and helps us know if the puzzle is tricky or not. Right, now you can have the Wordle answer for today Want today's Wordle answer for #259? It's BRINE. Yep, that's right, BRINE. Not BRIDE as we thought it was first - despite leaping to BRINE first in our mind. 'No, that's too obscure,' we said. 'NY Times has made it easier, so BRIDE is more likely,' we mentally opined. No, it was BRINE. We wasted a go trying to be clever. It could also have been BRIBE, thinking about it - thanks NY Times for not making it that hard. We would have wasted another go, for sure. What's the definition of BRINE? Well, it basically means - as a noun - water heavily impregnated in salt: Dave dove into the brine - the deep seas swallowing his body and, momentarily, his soul. He was at peace for just a brief second, before the pressures of life pulled him back to the surface. Dave was quiet for the rest of the day. It can also be used as a verb - to soak in salty water: Dave brined his gobstopper. It was a terrible idea and he had to throw it out. The po[CENSORED]rity of BRINE is on the wane since the mid-70s, which is likely due to the trend for using it as food preservation back then - in the last 30 years it's fallen to its lowest use ever, so it's quite an archaic word.

Last month, Intel laid out plans to enter the cryptocurrency mining space. A blog post from the company's Raja Koduri mentioned an upcoming application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) named Bonanza Mine (BMZ2), the design for which now appears to now be coming to fruition. Cryptocurrency mining has become something of a trend recently, and an unwelcome one across much of the gaming community. Everyone and their mums have been setting up a crypto wallet and using their gaming GPU to rake in a little extra dollar—a trend that has been met with much disdain from anyone having trouble bagging a GPU, thanks to the current stock shortage. Then there's the extreme side of things, such as people building mining rigs in the back of expensive cars "just to annoy gamers." But big companies have been catching on, and cashing in on the trend, which sounds pretty dystopian, but could actually spell good things for us gamers. Our friends over at Tom's Hardware recently uncovered an SEC filing that outlines the price and performance of the second-gen BMZ2 Bitcoin mining device Intel has been plotting, which looks like it's going to be one of the most efficient, and inexpensive bits of cryptocurrency mining kit ever to hit the market. The listing notes the device's efficiency rating as 135TH/s with 26J/THs, and chugs along at 3,510W, according to further calculations from Tom's Hardware. That puts the BMZ2 at 15% more efficient than the BMZ2's main competitor, the Bitmain S19. And although it's not quite as efficient as the market-leading Bitmain S19j Pro, it comes in at just $5,625—that's around half its price. The Bitmain S19j Pro often sells at around $10,455, although that price does tend to waver pretty wildly. The SEC listing comes from one of Intel's premier partners, crypto-mining startup GRIID, which means custom Bonanza Mine system designs with differing performance and pricing are likely to pop up from companies such as BLOCK. It's evident GPU stock has been affected by the recent boom in cryptocurrency mining, but Intel's entry into the crypto arena brings more hope for the pretty dismal GPU stock situation. How much of a difference it's likely to make is difficult to say, but with hardware like this floating around, there's less likelihood your next GPU will end up in the hands of a Bitcoin farmer.

The team behind Halo Infinite has a lot going on, turns out, and a new blog post outlines where their priorities are and what they have in mind for a release schedule moving forward. Right now, they're working primarily on completing Season 2, which will release on May 3rd. They're also working on co-op play for the campaign, which won't release at the same time as Season 2, but will release during it. They're also then working on Forge, so you can make your own stuff, and Season 3 for release later this year. Above all of that, however, they're focusing on fixing what they call "Hotlist" problems, your bugs and unacceptable quality of life fixes and such. That's stuff like your problems with Spartan Career, or holes in anti-cheat, or the Big Team Battle matchmaking issues that plagued the mode. Season 2 will be themed around Lone Wolves. "Lone Wolf Spartans are hunters. Trackers. They’re resourceful improvisers, operating deep in enemy territory without resupply or support," says 343 Industries. The core concepts for that is above, while the Fracture armor core for this season looks really, really cool. Also coming in Season 2 are an arena map called Catalyst and a Big Team Battle map called Breaker. New modes will include Last Spartan Standing, Land Grab, and an updated King of the Hill. More info about Season 2 will come in April. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/halo-infinite-co-op-coming-some-time-in-season-2-other-fixes-much-sooner/

Apple Maps and Weather apps are now showing Crimea as a part of Ukraine — another move by the Cupertino giant to distance itself from Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine. The change is applicable to all users outside Russia. Up until now, Apple was not showing Crimea as a part of any country when viewing from countries except Russia. The company is, however, still showing the Black Sea peninsula as a part of Russia when viewed within the country. The pre-installed Apple Maps and Weather apps on Apple devices have started showing Crimea within Ukraine when viewing from outside Russia. The change appears to be a part of Apple's ongoing efforts to cut its ties with the Russian Federation over its war against Ukraine. In 2019, Apple complied with Moscow's demands to start showing Crimea as a part of Russia when used in the country. The move was denounced by Ukraine at the time. Apple also later clarified that it reviews domestic laws alongside international law and relevant US laws before making a determination in labelling its Maps. As reported by Mashable, Apple is not bringing any changes to its users in Russia. The update is, however, in place for all Apple users in other countries. Gadgets 360 has reached out to Apple for a comment on the change and will update this article when the company responds. Unlike Apple, Google Maps is still showing Crimea as an independent region for users outside Russia. The status of Crimea is disputed. The peninsula in Eastern Europe was seized by Russian troops and annexed by Moscow in March 2014. The move has since been criticised by Ukraine. Earlier this week, Apple stopped sales of its devices including the iPhone in Russia to show support for Ukraine in the midst of the Russian invasion. The company also removed apps of Russian state media from the App Store in countries outside of Russia. Additionally, Apple Pay has been suspended in the country as a result of the sanctions imposed by the US government and European Union as well as the restrictions considered by the Central Bank of Russia.

Spotting potential security threats such as phishing scams on Google Workspace should soon be a lot easier thanks to a new update to the software suite. Google has revealed it is releasing an upgrade to its online collaboration platform that will provide more information on who is tagging you in comments or questions. This means that whenever you are mentioned in a comment on a Google Docs document, Sheets spreadsheet or Slides slideshow, it should be easier to spot that the notification is legitimate. Previously, only the name of the commenter was included in email alerts sent to a user after they had been mentioned in a comment. Google says that in order to provide more security and insight, it will now also include the commenter's email address, showing they are a legitimate user. "We hope that by providing this additional information, this will help you feel more confident that you’re receiving a legitimate notification rather than a spam or phishing attempt by a bad actor," the company noted in a blog post announcing the news. The feature is rolling out now, and is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers, and users with personal Google accounts. The move is the latest addition from Google Workspace to improve security for its users. The company added end-to-end encryption to the platform back in June 2021 in what was a slightly late move, but one that added a significant protection boost for its entire software collection. This launch also saw Google enabling businesses to set up their own in-house key service, enabling them to take charge of their encryption keys. The company is also looking to draw in more new users with the launch of Workspace Migrate, which offers an easier way for admins to assess and plan migration projects to its platform. This includes looking to move a large amount of enterprise data, such as that from Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft OneDrive, file shares, and Box migrations.

Steam Deck users will be pleased to hear that Valve has just released a new SteamOS image. Sadly it's not a full SteamOS 3 many of us have been waiting for, but that will be coming soon, says Valve. That doesn't mean the news isn't welcome, however, as the SteamOS image will give Steam Deck users plenty of recovery options, should something go wrong with their new, portable gaming device. What's more, people are already trying it out on devices other than the Steam Deck as a way of coping with their lack thereof. With the use of this SteamOS image, Steam Deck users running into boot issues, or those who've installed another operating system like Windows on the Steam Deck and want to revert back to Steam, now have several recovery options. The 2.5GB image should be copied onto a 32GB USB flash drive or higher, with something akin to GNOME Disks, for Linux users, or Rufus if you're using Windows. Once loaded onto the problem device, it'll give users the ability to "re-image" the Steam Deck, which is essentially a full factory reset; "clear local user data," so as to reformat any personal settings, stripping it of a specific user's data and games; "reinstall Steam OS," to clear the OS files while preserving your personal content and games; and it also has a granular "recovery tools" option that lets you make changes to the Steam Deck boot partition. Recovery instructions can be found in the Steampowered FAQ if you're running into issues, and with the instructions comes a warning. Valve has made it clear that, for any tinkerers who might be looking to install it on other devices, it might not work so well... especially on your toaster. "For all the tinkerers out there, please note that this system image is not quite SteamOS 3 yet. Depending on what you try to install it on (desktop, another handheld, refrigerator, toaster), it may not work properly. "SteamOS 3 proper will come out sometime after launch (and even then it may not work on your toaster)." Reddit users eagerly awaiting their Steam Deck delivery from Gabe, have already started jamming the recovery image onto other devices in anticipation. One user, Mattchew_X, managed to get it running on an old iMac with just a couple of lines of code. Valve promises that Steam Deck production will "be in the hundreds of thousands" within a month, so users can rest assured they won't be relegated to playing Elden Ring on their refrigerator, as much as we'd love to see it. Just in case, here's a list of Steam games you can play on your toaster.

Amazon Games has pressed pause on plans for a Russian localisation of New World following the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Speaking to TechRadar, Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann said: "We were looking into localising New World for Russia, and we stopped that." Following Hartmann's comments, a spokesman confirmed that it was due to the ongoing invasion. Amazon has also promised to match any employee donations made to Ukrainian relief organisations. While the team has put a stop to a Russian localisation, it appears that the game will still be available to purchase and play in the country. The publisher joins a rapidly-growing line of games industry figures who have pulled support and sales from Russia and Belarus in one way or another. This week has seen the likes of CD Projekt Red and Bloober Team remove their games from the sale, while EA has removed Russian teams from FIFA and NHL. Ukraine's deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov has been pledging for the industry to pull any and all support from Russia—including closing any studio offices in Russia and cancelling any esports tournaments due to take place in the country. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/new-world-suspends-russian-localisation-amidst-ukraine-invasion/

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An Indian tax investigation on China's Huawei has found that the telecoms equipment maker mani[CENSORED]ted account books to reduce its taxable income in the country, an Indian government source told Reuters on Thursday. Without naming the company, India's Ministry of Finance said that a major telecoms group "failed to provide any substantial and appropriate justification" on tax claims during income tax raids on its offices in three Indian cities last month. A Huawei spokesperson in India did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In February, the IT department conducted searches at multiple premises of Chinese telecom company Huawei in the country as part of a tax evasion investigation, official sources said. The raids were launched at the company's premises in Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru. Sources said the officials looked at financial documents, account books and company records as part of a tax evasion investigation against the company, its Indian businesses and overseas transactions. Some records have been seized too, they said. The company said its operations in the country were "firmly compliant" with the law. "We have been informed of the visit of Income Tax team to our office and also of their meeting with some personnel. Huawei is confident our operations in India are firmly compliant to all laws and regulations. We will approach related Government departments for more information and fully cooperate as per the rules and regulations and follow the right procedure," the company said in a statement. The government has kept Huawei out of trials for 5G services. However, telecom operators have been allowed to source telecom gear from Huawei and ZTE under their old agreements for maintaining their networks but they will need approval of the government before getting into any new business agreement as per National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector. Why is 5G taking so long? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Microsoft has decided to delay its planned price increase of Office 365 for an additional two weeks for some of its reseller partners. Back in August of last year, the software giant announced in a blog post that its first “substantive” price increase since launching Office 365 in 2011 was set to occur on March 1 of 2022. For those unfamiliar with Microsoft's pricing changes, Microsoft 365 Business Basic will increase from $5 to $6 per user per year, Microsoft 365 Business Premium will go from $20 to $22, Office 365 E1 will go from $8 to $10, Office 365 E3 will go from $20 to $23, Office 365 E5 will go from $35 to $38 and Microsoft 365 E3 will go from $32 to $36. Thankfully though, pricing will not increase for consumers or Microsoft's education customers at this time but businesses that use Microsoft's office software can expect to pay quite a bit more depending on how many employees they have when they need to renew their subscriptions. In a support document published at the end of February, Microsoft informed its reseller partners that it had created a “transitional grace period” due to high demand by businesses looking to renew their subscriptions before the company's pricing changes went into effect. As a result, Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) now have until 5pm PDT on March 14 or 12am UTC on March 15 to submit transactions and have them invoiced at the software giant's February 2022 pricing. This means that the next few weeks will likely be quite busy for CSPs as businesses try to renew one last time with the old Office 365 pricing. While Microsoft did wait over a decade to raise the price of both Office 365 and Microsoft 365, some businesses could turn to Google Workspace or other Microsoft Office alternatives following the implementation of the company's planned price increase.

Rejoice, PC builders! The AMD Ryzen 5000 series of desktop CPUs are seeing massive price cuts. Given these span several retailers and a wide range of chips, this is likely a permanent price drop, rather than a one off sale, which is even better news for everyone's wallets. Spotted by WCCFTech, AMD's Ryzen CPUs have dropped in price at Microcenter, Newegg, Amazon, and BestBuy. Prices have gone down by a significant amount too, between $60 USD and $170 chip depending. So far this seems to be true for the United States and the UK, so hopefully we'll see this discount spread further across the globe with a little time. So far Amazon and BestBuy appear to have some of the best deals for the highest end chips. The top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 5950X is going for $600 or around £530 GBP, which is at least 25% off its previous MSRP. These are a great all round performance chip, with excellent power efficiency. In fact, one of our main complaints is that these were a bit pricy for what you're getting. At this new price point they're a banger of a deal, putting it slightly cheaper than Intel's comparable i9 12900k, which has fewer cores and threads. But the same could be said for the somewhat cheaper Ryzen 9 5900X. Now priced at $450 at all of the mentioned retailers, this is a seriously good deal for our favourite AMD gaming chip. Again, our main complaint against this chip at launch was the price. Otherwise it's a great performance CPU with more threads than you'd ever want. At $450 USD, it's an easy one to recommend for people looking to build a great new powerful and somewhat budget conscious PC. The truly budget conscious are looked after here too. CPUs like the Ryzen 7 5800X were sitting at around $450 but are now as cheap as $300 at Microcenter. Others have them closer to $350 which we still think is a pretty good deal. You can get even cheaper again if you're willing to drop to a Ryzen 5 5600X which both Microcenter and BestBuy currently have for $230. This is far cheaper than we've ever seen these units, and we've had them earmarked as a pretty good deal for a while now. The Ryzen 5 5600X is listed as one of our favourite affordable CPUs for gaming, and given these price drops the case for that is only stronger now. Again, due to the breadth of retailers displaying the discounts, it's very likely this price drop comes from AMD. This means we're likely to see it spread to other retailers, and hopefully other regions fairly quickly. If there's supply to match the prices, it seems like a lot of nifty AMD powered rigs are about to join new households.

Rimworld developers have stated that Steam Deck updates to help the game run better on the platform have been delayed. This is due to Russia's current attack on Ukraine, which happens to be where the developer who was working on these updates lives. In an update on the Rimworld Steam community page, a blogpost explains that while Rimworld technically runs on the newly released Steam Deck, it could use a few fixes. Mostly it sounds like the game is fine, and fairly playable. However, a few UI troubles and some general issues are hampering the experience, and due to the current situation those fixes are understandably delayed. The post explains that initially it took extra time to get a Steam Deck to this Ukrainian developer, and now the Russian invasion on his home country has clearly made things worse. Piotr Walczac, Rimworld's tech lead has stepped in to help lead the Steam Deck integration, but they're understandably not expecting a speedy turnaround on that patch. Hearteningly, the comment section didn't let me down this time. Almost all the responses are from well wishers hoping for the safety of this dev and their loved ones, as well as an end to the war. These are sentiments that are clearly much more important than how well the UI works on Valve's new portable console. This is thankfully also echoed among much of the gaming and tech community, with game studios banding together to support Ukraine during the invasion. SpaceX has helped provide satellite internet to help with communications in the country and Ubisoft has donated emergency housing and funding to the cause. Stalker devs have halted production and are seeking donations and the folks behind Euro Truck Simulator are releasing DLC to raise money. These efforts are unlikely to stop as more studios and companies jump on the cause, and it appears to be helping. Ukraine has even officially asked the games and esports industry to temporarily pull support from Russia, including banning esports teams from competition. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-deck-support-improvements-delayed-for-rimworld-due-to-ongoing-ukraine-conflict/

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