THē-GHōST

Nvidia has released a firmware update for the RTX 3080 Ti, and the RTX 3060, one that addresses a problem with the screen blanking when using DisplayPort. Currently, the screen will only turn on once your OS loads, which makes getting into the BIOS problematic. Given the need for users to get into the BIOS to turn on TPM options in preparation for Windows 11, this is obviously a timely fix. The issue is related to the DisplayID specification and will only surface if your monitor also uses DisplayID. It only affects the two 30-series cards mentioned, as well. Nvidia says only those experiencing screen blanks should apply the firmware update. The update will check whether the update is needed, and will only give you the option of updating it if this is the case. You can grab the firmware update from this Nvidia support page. Alternatively, if you are experiencing this problem, Nvidia recommends either using DVI or HDMI, booting using a different monitor, or using a different graphics card or the one that's integrated into your CPU—although not all CPUs have integrated GPUs these days, particularly on AMD's side. Another of its recommendations is to switch from using UEFI to Legacy mode in the BIOS, although, in order to switch that over, you'd need to get into the BIOS in the first place. UEFI is also a better system for modern computers, so this isn't ideal on many levels. Still, unless you've got a pile of monitors, cables, and different graphics cards to hand, this could be your only option.

Action sidescroller BATS—which stands for Bloodsucker Anti-Terror Squad—answers a question everyone has been asking for years: What if G.I. Joe was composed entirely of vampires The game begins in Washington D.C., where a vampire named Count Bloodbayne is awakened from peaceful slumber beneath the Lincoln Memorial—exactly where a government sponsored patriotic vampire would rest. It seems the dastardly Scorpion Supreme (a stand-in for Cobra Commander) has captured the four other members of BATS, the United States' heroic vampire strike team. Scorpion Supreme threatens to kill the members of BATS on live television. "It's going to be disgusting!" he says. "Like, really disgusting! People will vomit. Mwa-ha-ha!" That Scorpion Supreme is damn dastardly. As Bloodvayne, you need to fight your way through Supreme's lair, dispatching bad guys and bosses, chugging blood, and smashing through floors and ceilings with your vampire strength. Bloodvayne also has a special ability—when his blood meter is filled he can transform into a wolf for some serious rampages through Supreme's hideout. At the end of each level you can free another member of BATS and add them to your roster, then swap between them and use their different abilities. Sgt. Sabre is half-human, half-vampire, and can slice into enemies with a whirlwind blade attack. Mitzie has giant leathery wings and can fly, making her much more maneuverable than anyone else on the team. Rick Ghastly prefers to use a shotgun rather than claws or fists, and the most ancient vampire of the team, Nosferadude, drains more blood from enemies than anyone else, quickly filling his blood meter and allowing him to rampage more often. There are only five levels to play through (one to free each BATS member) but even when everyone is unlocked there's a boss rush mode and a special speedrun mode that will let you try to beat your record times using your vampire roster. One unfortunate note: The unalterable control scheme for BATS seems to have been designed to make you defy muscle memory. The action keys are lined up nicely: A, S, D, but those are assigned to jump, attack, and evade, and a lifetime of pressing spacebar to jump is a pretty hard habit to forget on the fly. Movement, meanwhile, is the left and right arrow keys. Maybe someone out there will feel right at home with these controls, but my fingers found them a bit baffling and it would be nice if we could change them. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/bloodsucker-anti-terror-squad-is-a-sidescroller-that-asks-what-if-gi-joe-were-vampires/

Kia’s first bespoke EV is another triumph for the brand, and a car that wears its £40k-plus list price with ease. It’s not quite as practical overall as its sibling, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, but it counters this with tighter body control for a slightly more sporty drive. Factor in great in-car tech and stellar battery management that’ll take you comfortably north of 300 miles on a single charge and you have one of the best EVs on sale today, at any price. Kia is on a roll with some of its more conventional models - such as the Sorento SUV, which has a healthy order bank and a waiting list that stretches well into 2022. But the firm is pushing ahead with electrification too. The likes of the e-Niro and Soul EV remain strong propositions, and now the Korean brand is about to introduce a new pure-electric flagship to its line-up: the EV6. We were impressed by a late prototype version of the car that we tried earlier this year, but now we’ve had a chance to sample more of the range, in full ready-to-buy form and on UK roads. To recap, the EV6 is a sportily styled crossover that sits on a new bespoke electric-car architecture, called E-GMP - the same platform that underpins our reigning Car of the Year, the Hyundai Ioniq 5. It’s available with two configurations to start with - 321bhp four-wheel-drive form, and the more affordable single-motor, 226bhp rear-drive version that we’re trying here. The usable battery capacity is 77.4kWh regardless of which motor set-up you choose - and for now at least, Kia UK has no plans to offer the smaller-battery version that’s available in other countries. A single motor means, of course, that the more modest version of the EV6 is actually the version that promises the greatest range - 328 miles, in this case, compared with the 314 miles offered by the four-wheel-drive edition. And all EV6s get an 800V electrical backbone that can deliver up to 350kW DC charging - enough to take the battery from 10 to 80 per cent of its capacity in just 18 minutes. You’ll need to allow around seven and a half hours to perform the same function on a home wallbox. The top speeds are identical between the rear-drive and four-wheel-drive cars, at 114mph, but having that extra motor will trim a couple of seconds from the 0-62mph time. Even so, the rear-drive car’s figure of 7.3 seconds could hardly be called slow. There’s still 350Nm of torque on tap here, in fact, and that’s enough to take the two tonnes of EV6 (it follows the Ioniq 5 by being a larger vehicle in the metal than it looks in images) up to the UK’s speed limits without any real drama. There’s lots of instant EV punch, even if you’re in the efficiency-focused Eco mode, and more than enough real-world performance for rapid cross-country driving and overtakes in the car’s Normal setting. Link: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/kia/ev6

When Randy Sue first saw a picture of Courtney on a friend’s wall, she jokingly called him her future husband. They finally met three years later, married and now live in Houston, Texas randy Sue was studying at college in Texas in the spring of 1966 when she went to visit a friend in Raymondville, near the Mexican border. “I spotted a picture of a handsome man on the wall and asked who it was. My friend told me it was her brother, Courtney, who was in Germany with the army,” she says. Randy Sue joked to her friend’s mother that she was going to be her daughter-in-law. “She hugged me and said she’d been praying for me,” she laughs. But when Courtney received a letter from his sister telling him she had met “his future wife”, he was less than impressed. “I was 5,000 miles away and definitely didn’t want my sister telling me what to do,” he says. In 1968, he returned to Texas and found a job at a company that made office equipment. His sister continued her matchmaking attempts. “She kept telling each of us that the other one really wanted to meet up,” says Randy Sue. “But I’d just seen it as a joke.” They finally met at Courtney’s sister’s wedding in 1969. Randy Sue says Courtney was “polite and kind”. When he asked if she wanted to “chase” the bride and groom – “a Texas tradition where you follow them in their car as a send-off” – she went along. A few days later, Courtney called to ask Randy Sue on a date, but she was busy. “She was dating other people, so by the time I called, her weekend was already booked up!” he laughs. Instead, they had long phone conversations. “He racked up a huge bill,” says Randy Sue. But before they could meet, Courtney told her that he would be spending the next few months in California for work. Then in October he found himself close to her home town, Corpus Christi. “I was obsessed with motorcycles at the time,” he says. “I wanted a four-cylinder Honda, but was struggling to find one.” Eventually, he discovered one that was available close to Corpus Christi. When he went to pick it up, he asked her if she was free for a ride. They spent their time together racing around the local roads. “He went so fast, he really blew it out. I loved it,” she says. A few weeks later, Courtney’s sister invited them to her house for a visit, where the couple shared their first kiss. The week after, they returned for Thanksgiving and Courtney told Randy Sue that he loved her. “We were sitting on his grandmother’s love seat, which we still own,” says Randy Sue. “We like to re-enact that first Thanksgiving every year.” Less than a week later, Courtney asked Randy Sue to marry him. “We’d spent so much time talking on the phone, and on the long drive to my sister’s house, that I just knew,” he says. In June 1970, they married. Their three daughters were born in 1975, 1981 and 1983. They lived in Courtney’s home town of Harlingen, Texas, before moving to Houston a decade later. Randy Sue started a childcare business when her children were young, before working as a teacher for children with autism. During the pandemic, they received an email from a cousin, who does family genealogy. “She told us that Courtney had a daughter from a previous short-term relationship,” says Randy Sue. Courtney adds: “I’d had a date with a woman when I lived in Europe, who I knew had later gone on to have a child. She never revealed the identity of the father, though.” Although it was a bit of a surprise, they have since built a relationship with Courtney’s first daughter, who lives in England. One day, when it is easier to travel, they hope to meet. Courtney has ADHD and autism, which he struggled to cope with during the early years of marriage. “It has been tough at times,” says Randy Sue. “We’ve found ways to manage some of his challenges since his diagnosis and it’s changed our relationship for the better. He is so intelligent, loving and compassionate.” Courtney recognises how much his wife has supported him. “I had a very difficult upbringing and I wasn’t always an easy person to live with. Now, I’m doing everything to be a good husband to her. The fact she’s still here is a blessing.” Link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/19/how-we-met-by-the-time-i-called-she-was-dating-other-people

Russia's President Vladimir Putin will not attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. No reason was given for the decision not to attend, but a Kremlin spokesperson said climate change was an "important" priority for Russia.COP26 takes place in Scotland's largest city from 31 October to 12 November.Russia's decision is seen as a blow to efforts to get leaders to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures. "Unfortunately, Putin will not fly to Glasgow," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that climate change was "one of our foreign policy's most important priorities". When asked about Mr Putin's decision, a spokesman for Boris Johnson said the UK prime minister had previously strongly encouraged leaders to attend "given this is a very critical moment in terms of tackling climate change". Mr Putin has not commented on the announcement of his non-attendance. He had previously said he would take part, but it appears now that will be virtually. Speaking at an international energy forum in Moscow on 13 October, Mr Putin said the coronavirus pandemic would be a factor in his decision to travel. Russia has seen record levels of Covid-related deaths. On Wednesday, Mr Putin ordered a nationwide week-long paid holiday from 30 October to 7 November to try to reverse both the rising number of infections and vaccination hesitancy. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also unlikely to attend COP26, though Chinese officials have reportedly not entirely ruled out a change of plans. Earlier in October, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attracted widespread criticism for suggesting he might skip the summit, but he later announced that he would indeed attend. COP26 is the biggest climate change conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015. Some 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, by 2030. Reducing global warming is essential to avoid the the worst consequences of climate change. Many observers will be watching how Russia and other major fossil fuel producers will be willing to reduce their reliance on them. A new UN report says oil and gas extraction are both set to rise sharply over the next decade. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58977993

accepted

happy birthday

Adding @Mr.Talha as Member / Welcome to Team

Welcome

Huawei Enjoy 20e is gearing up for a launch sometime soon as the smartphone has been listed on the company's online store along with a starting price. A post by Huawei on Weibo teases that the Huawei Enjoy 20e will launch next month. The listing teases a few key specifications of the smartphone such as the battery capacity, screen size, and the available onboard storage. Additionally, the listing also shows the design and the colour options that the Huawei Enjoy 20e will get, once it is launched. Huawei Enjoy 20e price (expected) A post by Huawei on Weibo teases that the Huawei Enjoy 20e is expected be launched on November 11 and will be priced at CNY 999 (roughly Rs. 11,700). The post shows the two colour options that will be available — Green and Purple — on the soon-to-be-launched budget friendly smartphone. Huawei Enjoy 20e specifications (expected) As mentioned, the Huawei Enjoy 20e has also been spotted on the official online store — Vmall. The banners visible on the online store show that the smartphone will pack a 5,000mAh battery. The smartphone is also shown to sport a 6.3-inch HD display and 128GB of onboard storage. The banners also show the design of the upcoming Huawei Enjoy 20e. The back panel of the smartphone is shown to house a dual rear camera setup with the LED flash mounted between the two unspecified lenses. Alongside, the images also show a rear mounted fingerprint scanner. The renders of the Huawei smartphone also show two curved stripes running across the length of the back panel. As per the banners, the 6.3-inch HD display is surrounded by thick bezels on three sides and an even thicker chin. The selfie camera is shown housed in a waterdrop-style notch. The right spine of the smartphone is shown with a volume rocker and a power button, while the left side gets a SIM-tray.

Finding the best free android apps on the Google Play Store can be a real chore, what with all the options out there. Who knew, when Google launched Android 13 years ago, that there would be this many available apps to choose from. You can find one to cater for every need, whim, or desire. And, a lot of them come with that magic price tag, free, so that you’re just a few clicks away from taking your phone to the next level. But, just because there’s such a glut of apps out there doesn’t mean that most of them are quality. There’s a lot that you should probably skip. In fact, the Play Store gives you a lot of tools to parse through all the noise, from Editor’s Picks for different categories to recommendations for new releases or for apps based on your prior downloads. You can also narrow the search by reading reviews and ratings or searching for an app you have and seeing what similar results pop up. With that said, there are so many in the store’s library, that a free android app that’s worth downloading can still get lost in the shuffle. To help you find the best android apps that are free, we’ve collected our top picks here to make sure you have all the apps you could want or need on your phone or tablet, sorted into categories so you can more easily find what you're looking for. These are the world's very best Android phones What's the best phone of 2020? Stay safer online with an Android VPN app Best new free Android app Every few weeks we add a new app to this list and you'll find the latest addition below. Google Keep Google Keep isn’t new, but it is one of the best note-taking and list-making apps around, rivalling the likes of Evernote. In fact, if you don’t want to pay a subscription then Google Keep arguably has the edge over Evernote, as some features that come at a premium on that are free here – such as the ability to make and sync notes across unlimited devices. You can also share and collaborate on notes, color code them, add photos, record voice memos (which Keep will transcribe), set location based reminders, add labels, and access Google Keep on most types of devices, including Android and Apple phones and tablets, computers, and even Wear OS smartwatches. Aesthetically we’re not huge fans of it, and we’d really like to see the option to password or fingerprint protect either individual notes or the entire app, but for the most part Google Keep is a feature-packed app that’s quick and easy to use, and it’s completely free.

The Raspberry Pi is hardly what you'd call a performance machine. Even so, with each iteration, it has been getting faster and more capable—to the point where you can now use the Raspberry Pi 4 Model 4 as a desktop PC. Well, Claude Schwartz has taken the little machine and has pushed it harder than anyone else has managed so far, pumping the clock up to a cool 3GHz. Claude Schwartz (via Tom's Hardware) didn't actually overclock the standard RPi 4 but instead overclocked the near-identical Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, which is sort of a headless version of the Model B, as in it doesn't have any video outs or any of the standard IO ports. This possibly made the overclock that little bit easier. For reference the RPi 4 normally has a core clock frequency of 1.5GHz, although with some passive cooling you can hit 1.8GHz fairly easily. Mount a decent fan on the RPI board, and 2.3GHz is within reach. 3GHz is definitely a push above what you can normally hit, and indeed that was only possible by cooling it with ice spray—so this isn't an overclock that is particularly practical. It isn't particularly easy for normal hardware hackers to achieve either, as there are limits in the firmware that stop you from hitting anything above 2.5GHz. Claude bypassed these by setting the PLL directly, which essentially dictates the system clock, along with tweaking the voltages. He also used Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal under the heat spreader to improve heat dissipation. Obviously, this isn't intended to be an overclock that just anyone can do, but it's still absolutely an impressive feat and shows what's possible with the right know-how. And Claude Schwartz absolutely does know what he's doing, as he's also the man behind PiStorm, which uses a Raspberry Pi to boost the performance of an Amiga A500.

Abandoned developer Blue Box Game Studios says it's received numerous death threats over the last few months, "online but unfortunately also physically." The studio has been dealing with a looming conspiracy theory that started in June. Despite the game's announcement having relatively little fanfare in April, some Silent Hill fans are now convinced that the game is secretly a new instalment in the survival horror series. It's spawned its own subreddit called The Blue Box Conspiracy, which has a healthy mix of light ribbing and real convoluted, messy theories. Despite numerous protests from Blue Box Game Studios on its Twitter page and an attempt from director Hasan Kahraman to defuse the rumours, the Silent Hill theory still runs rampant. The developer has played into the speculation on occasion, but still firmly maintain that it has no relation to Konami, Silent Hill or Kojima. The whole situation has drawn a lot of attention to Abandoned and Blue Box, unfortunately not all of it good. The developer released a statement on Twitter earlier this week, revealing it's been dealing with death threats over the last few months, seeing a recent uptick. "We have been dealing with death threats the past few months and the last few days we have been dealing with it again, especially physically. This not only affects us as a team, but everyone within our environments," the statement read. The studio also threatened to "take action" against anybody sending death threats. "We are fully aware of the negative situation that we have created and we truly understand your frustration," the statement continued. "But what we don't understand are the death threats." It's unclear specifically what the studio means by physical death threats—whether that be people turning up to the studio's address or otherwise. Despite frustrations around Abandoned, death threats are never okay. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/blue-box-game-studios-says-its-getting-death-threats-over-kojima-conspiracy/

If the automotive world worked logically, it’d be all the small cars becoming electric first. These types of vehicles are frequently driven on short trips in more densely po[CENSORED]ted areas; their lack of tailpipe emissions would offer the most benefit to public health. Practically speaking, though, things are different. EV batteries are big and heavy, so you need space for a decent range, and it makes sense to store them under the floor, so a jacked-up ride height is handy to package them. Throw in buyers’ tastes, and it’s no surprise that SUVs and crossovers dominate the electric landscape so far. One of the latest arrivals is the BMW iX3. It spearheads a rapidly expanding EV range from the firm, and it will be followed by the i4 saloon and iX SUV. It’ll have its work cut out here though. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is our reigning Car of the Year. It has already blown away more mainstream rivals, so now it’s time to find out if it can go toe-to-toe with some premium competition. Volvo’s range might be smaller than its rivals here, but its electric ambitions are every bit as great. All new Volvos since 2019 have featured some form of electrification, and the firm’s entire line-up will be full EV by 2030. The XC40 Recharge is the first to appear – but can it keep up with the competition The iX3 Premier Edition Pro tested here is priced at £60,945. However, this is a pre-facelift model, which existed only briefly. Order an iX3 today and you’ll receive a facelifted car with slightly tweaked styling; the trims available are M Sport and M Sport Pro, which cost £59,730 and £62,730 respectively BMW slightly mistimed the arrival of the iX3 in the UK, because it went on sale just before a range-wide update. As a result, the car you see here, a pre-facelift model, has almost instantly been replaced with a version that benefits from minor cosmetic upgrades outside (slimmer headlights, revised tail-light graphics and new bumpers) plus a few other minor tweaks. While we can take all that into account in the final reckoning here, what matters most is that mechanically, the pre-and post-facelift models are identical, and the iX3 benefits from the brand’s fifth generation of electrical drive systems. BMW claims that it’s up to 30 per cent more power-dense than previous systems, with a more compact battery for the capacity and a more efficient motor, which is now in a combined housing with the transmission and power electronics. The single motor here drives the rear wheels, with the iX3 sitting between its two rivals when it comes to output – 282bhp and 400Nm is more than enough for a family SUV, even one that weighs 2,208kg. Step inside and as with the standard X3, few rivals can touch this electric version for build quality. Everything feels incredibly solid, and the materials are a cut above its rivals here – neither of which feels particularly cheap. The driving position offers a huge range of adjustment, and a panoramic sunroof makes the space feel more open. Link: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/x3/356283/bmw-ix3-vs-ioniq-5-vs-volvo-xc40-recharge

are morning people better than night owls? I was delighted to discover that they are not. The “morning morality effect” – the notion that our capacity to resist lying and cheating dwindles through the day – applies only to larks, research shows; nighthawks behave better in the evenings. Morning people do, however, have a reputation for getting stuff done. Early rising is associated with energy, optimisation and efficiency; it is a foundational principle of all manner of self-help and self-actualisation programmes. “If you look at many of the most productive people in the world, they’ll have one thing in common: they were early risers,” says one wide-eyed zealot in the trailer for the motivational guru Hal Elrod’s film about his “miracle morning”, as Oprah Winfrey, Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein flash past. Elrod’s Savers routine – silence, affirmations, visualisation, exercise, reading, scribing – is a classic of the genre, but he is only one of many urging us to seize the day super-early. The entrepreneur and trainer Adrienne Herbert has created a successful podcast (and now a book) around her concept of a “power hour” in the morning. “First, it’s because solitude is so hard to find at any other time. It’s also about starting the day as you mean to go on,” she says. “That is going to set you up for the day, for better or worse. Without that, you just kind of roll the dice.” It is also a way of putting yourself first, she says: “It’s quite empowering. I’m completely in control of my time before I’m on call for anyone else.” My own routine is a 7.15am alarm, followed by bleary horizontal doomscrolling until my elderly dog’s complaints become overwhelming, then a slow trudge to pick up his poo, followed by a pint of tea at my desk. I am not empowered, effective or optimised. “What if you could change anything about your life just by changing the way you start your day?” asks Elrod’s film. Time to find out. Wake at dawn The idea There is a simple, earnest romance to rising with the dawn, like a Thomas Hardy character before the harvest fails and tragedy looms. The writer and Observer Food Monthly editor Allan Jenkins is a horrifyingly early riser, sometimes up at 3am or 4am. In his book Morning: A Manifesto, he writes about the dawn light like a lover, observing its shifts and moods, the colours it wears. “I’m a light-driven person,” he says. “Being somewhere on your own with light coming up – it’s slightly magical.” It is good for you, too: research has demonstrated that exposure to early morning light increases alertness, improves sleep and decreases stress levels. I want all those things, obviously, so I leave my curtains open and switch off the alarm.The verdict I don’t know where the people who suggest this live – the Outer Hebrides, maybe, or the 18th century – but where I live, leaving the curtains open means a massive assault of artificial light, from street lamps to neighbours’ security lights going on and off every time a cat walks past. Light is good for you, but so is dark. I can’t sleep with the curtains open without wearing an eye mask, but I can’t witness the dawn if my eyes are covered. You see the problem. Get physical The idea Fitting exercise into my day is, hmm, I will say “tricky”, but “vanishingly unlikely” also works. Getting it done first thing is the best way to maximise your chances. Herbert is an eloquent advocate for early-morning movement: she started her power hour in 2017, with only 14 weeks to train for a marathon. “The almost meditative beat of my feet striking the ground brings a feeling of invincibility,” she says. “My worries don’t seem so big any more. I can think clearly. I have more energy and anything seems possible.” It doesn’t hurt that Herbert is a glowing, inspirational picture of health and vitality. Count me in. The verdict Imagine a cinematic montage of me falling out of bed, fighting with a sports bra and dozing off as I lace my trainers. My Monday run is bearable. Obviously, I hate getting up, but, after a barrage of online advice, I set my kit out the night before, giving myself one less excuse. The misty dawn is beautiful, as is my smug glow. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I do early online classes, one called Your Mum’s VHS, the other Boyband Barre. The former involves high-energy bouncing à la Jane Fonda (although the 90s music suggests the mum in question is me, which stings). The latter, meanwhile, is a brutally painful way to start the day – even the instructor appears to be suffering – and no amount of Take That can drown out the screaming from my glutes. On Thursday, I try the app Zombies, Run!, a post-apocalyptic audio tale that provides running prompts. I enjoy running in darkness through a desolate wasteland po[CENSORED]ted by the undead, desperately searching for food and fuel: it is perfect preparation for Christmas 2021 Link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/19/meditation-vodka-and-vinegar-can-the-morning-routines-of-the-rich-and-famous-make-me-a-better-person

North Korea has fired a suspected submarine-launched ballistic missile into waters off the coast of Japan, South Korea's military has said. Pyongyang unveiled the missile in January, describing it as "the world's most powerful weapon". It comes weeks after South Korea unveiled a similar weapon of its own. North Korea has carried out a flurry of missile tests in recent weeks, including of what it said were hypersonic and long-range weapons. Some of these tests violate strict international sanctions. The country is specifically prohibited by the United Nations from testing ballistic missiles as well as nuclear weapons. The UN considers ballistic missiles to be more threatening than cruise missiles because they can carry more powerful payloads, have a longer range and can fly faster. EXPLAINER: North Korea's missile and nuclear programme FEATURE: A high-profile defector opens up on Kim's N Korea On Tuesday South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said one missile had been launched from the port of Sinpo, in the east of North Korea where Pyongyang usually bases its submarines. It landed in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan. They said it was suspected to have been a submarine-launched ballistic missile. South Korean media reported that this particular missile was believed to have travelled about 450km (280 miles) at a maximum height of 60km. Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said two ballistic missiles had been fired, calling the launches "very regrettable". Why 'submarine-launched' is significant In October 2019, North Korea tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile, firing a Pukguksong-3 from an underwater platform. At the time, state news agency KCNA said it had been fired at a high angle to minimise the "external threat". However, if the missile had been launched on a standard trajectory, instead of a vertical one, it could have travelled around 1,900km. That would have put all of South Korea and Japan within range. Being launched from a submarine can also make missiles harder to detect and allow them to get closer to other targets. The latest launch comes as South Korea develops its own weapons, in what observers say has turned into an arms race on the Korean peninsula. Seoul is holding what is said to be South Korea's largest ever defence exhibition this week. It will reportedly unveil a new fighter jet as well as guided weapons like missiles. It is also due to launch its own space rocket soon. North and South Korea technically remain at war as the Korean War, which split the peninsula into two countries and which saw the US backing the South, ended in 1953 with an armistice. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said last week that he did not wish for war to break out again. He said his country needed to continue developing weapons for self-defence against enemies, namely the US which he accused of hostility. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58963654

v2 good text and effect

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Oppo K9 Pro will get a new Neon Silver colour option soon, the company confirmed. The phone was unveiled last month and it was launched in two colour options — Obsidian Black and Glacier Blue. Oppo has confirmed that the new colour option will launch on October 20. Oppo K9 Pro is equipped with a triple camera setup at the back with a 64-megapixel main camera. It packs a 4,500mAh battery with 60W Flash Charge support. The phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimnesity 1200 SoC and has an under screen fingerprint sensor on board. The company posted on Weibo to announce the arrival of a new colour option for the Oppo K9 Pro. The new colour option will be called Neon Silver and it will have an alloy texture with a glossy camera module that has multi-coloured rings around the sensors. The new Neon Silver option will launch on October 20, alongside the Oppo K9s. Apart from the new colour option, the Oppo K9 Pro specifications are likely to remain unchanged. The new smartphone is priced starting at CNY 2,199 (roughly Rs. 25,100). On the specifications front, the Oppo K9 Pro runs on ColorOS 11.3 based on Android 11. It features a 6.43-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,400 pixels) display with 120Hz refresh rate. The phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC pared with up to 12GB RAM. Internal storage is listed to be up to 256GB. Coming to the cameras, the Oppo K9 Pro has a 64-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel super-wide angle camer, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. Up front, the Oppo K9 Pro has a 16-megapixel selfie camera. It packs a 4,500mAh battery wth 60W super flash charging support. There is also an under screen fingerprint sensor on board. Connectivity options include USB Type-C port, Bluetooth v5.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, 5G support, NFC, and more.

Browsing Twitter might leave you feeling like you’ve wandered through the depths of hell, but now you can actually do that on the platform by playing Doom. Yep, that's right, the classic FPS game is now playable on Twitter (provided you’re good at coding and love trial and error). This isn’t the first weird place we’ve seen the game series crop up. Users have managed to play Doom games on a wide range of console alternatives from pregnancy tests to smart fridges proving that you don't need a PS5 after all. Doomguy is even making an appearance in the family-friendly Super Smash Bros. Ultimate via a Mii costume. But can this unstoppable force keep charging ahead? Can we actually play Doom on anything How Doom changed PC gaming forever Read our Doom Eternal review How to play Doom on Twitter If you want to play Doom on Twitter for yourself you need to head over to Tweet2Doom and reply to its pinned tweet. By following the input instructions in the images you’ll be able to issue commands to a bot which will then play them out in Doom and provide you with the rendered video of the results. Through trial and error and across multiple replies players have been tasked with completing an entire run of the game. The first chain to traverse through a level, as well as those who can beat the level fastest, will be shared on the Tweet2Doom page as a reward. The creators are also asking for fan-submitted achievements so that players can race to complete specific goals that aren’t just ‘finish the level’. Doom has two advantages going for it that allow the series to be playable across so many different consoles. The biggest is the simplicity of the original title that came out in 1993. While at the time it was truly ground-breaking, Doom's once mind-blowing graphics and controls don't compete with the kinds of games we have today. However, that makes it incredibly simple to run – so as long as you have even the most bare-bones computing components you can cobble together a version of the game that will work. Its second advantage is Xbox Cloud Gaming. This tool allows you to play certain games – including the Doom series – on devices that can connect to the internet. It's intended for smartphones, consoles, and computers, but as we saw with the Samsung smart fridge you can find a way to make a cloud game playable on just about any modern display. As our devices incorporate more and more smart features, and computing components crop up in progressively stranger places we'll undoubtedly see Doom follow just behind – why not Doom on a smart blender, or an electric toothbrush For as long as Doomguy continues his fight against the forces of hell, so too will he serve as a reminder of just how prevalent technology is in our lives today.

Windows 11's first update is out, and despite various warnings to users on unsupported hardware that they might not receive updates for the OS, it looks like many have at least received the initial one. Microsoft currently warns users with older hardware not officially supported by its new OS that they won't be entitled to receive updates. But I guess there's a difference between whether Microsoft deigns your PC worthy and whether a specific update is rolled out to your machine anyways. In the case of Windows 11's first update, which arrived on October 12, users' may have luck on their side. Multiple reports from across the web (Reddit, WinFuture, Digital Trends, to name a few) suggest that the latest update is being automatically downloaded onto technically unsupported machines. The update itself includes security improvements and fixes an issue present with Intel Killer and SmartByte networking software. So potentially an important fix if that bug has been bothering you. What the update hasn't yet fixed, however, is an issue with Ryzen L3 cache latency, which is reportedly slowing down AMD processors significantly. But here's hoping Microsoft's willingness to update unsupported hardware continues, although doing so once doesn't preclude Microsoft from closing the door to older CPUs with later updates. If you still haven't made the switch to Windows 11 yet, we don't blame you, but also you'll need to check your PC passes the Microsoft 11 security test, along with the PC requirements. Any 8th Gen Intel or Ryzen 3000-series processor or newer is ready to go, while some older processors pass the test, but not all.