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Video title: Alice Defeats Wesker | RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE | Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter Content creator ( Youtuber ) : FilmIsNow Epic Scenes Official YT video:

Nick Movie: King Kong Fights Poachers To Protect Animals On Skull İsland Time: 2025 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: None Duration of the movie:3h 25s Trailer:

Music title: Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Countdown For March 15th, 2025 | Billboard News Signer: Billboard Release date: 10/03/2025 Official YouTube link:

is expected to be the main topic of conversation at Apple's major exec offsite meeting later this week, as the company looks for a solution to its AI turmoil. It hasn't been a great week for Apple's AI endeavors, with the company struggling to meet its launch window for the headline Apple Intelligence feature, a new and upgraded Siri voice assistant. Apple officially delayed Apple Intelligence-powered Siri with personal context and on-screen awareness last week, removed an ad showcasing the voice assistant, and failed to give a launch window for a headline software that was expected to launch as part of the iPhone 16's first year of release. On Friday, Mark Gurman reported for Bloomberg that Robby Walker, a senior director at Apple, "told staff that delays to key features have been ugly and embarrassing, and a decision to publicly promote the technology before it was ready-made matters worse." Now Gurman is reporting that this week is going to be pivotal for Apple Intelligence, with Apple's top 100 executives meeting for a company offsite that's expected to have Apple Intelligence as its focal point. Gurman also notes that a shake-up to Tim Cook's executive team because of these AI shortcomings is unlikely. Writing in his weekly Power On newsletter Gurman said, "Given the nature of this collective failure, it’s unlikely to result in management changes on Cook’s executive team. That would mean admitting fault, which Apple hates doing. A shake-up would also suggest that the company took one of the world’s preeminent names in AI — [John] Giannandrea — and failed to put him in a position to succeed, making yet another failed outside hire to Cook’s cabinet." With all eyes on Apple and Apple Intelligence, the company has to make major changes and fast, but is too little too late? Or can Apple Intelligence still thrive like we all initially expected it to? At WWDC 2024, Apple showcased an AI-powered Siri that was capable of personal assistant features we'd not seen anywhere else. With the ability to know what's going on in your life through your iPhone, while still maintaining Apple's industry-leading privacy features, the next generation of Siri was met with huge fanfare and excitement. Fast forward nine months later and that fanfare and excitement has completely flickered out. With Apple Intelligence's lukewarm initial launch, and delays to the piece de resistance, with no one from the industry actually seeing Siri in action, it's fair to say that these are worrying times for Apple's AI division. That said, if any company can take shortcomings and turn them into positives, it would be the Cupertino-based tech giant. With execs meeting later this week, and public perception of Apple Intelligence dwindling, now would be the time for Apple to make major moves and show its loyal fan base why they should still drink the Apple juice. Link: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/its-crunch-time-for-apple-intelligence-as-apple-execs-look-for-a-solution-to-the-companys-ai-woes

Is there a tougher time of the year to dress than March in the US? It's not really winter. It's certainly not spring, and your sweaters, short sleeves, jeans, and shorts are all staring warily at each other. It's a wonder I don't spend every day in my PJs. What if AI could help us make the right choice? While preparing for another day in the home office, I did my nightly next-day weather check. For this task, I invariably check in with Alexa. Amazon has yet to deliver the big AI, Alexa+, update to its po[CENSORED]r digital assistant, but Alexa has long been an excellent weather person. So when I asked about the weather for the next day in my neighborhood, Alexa described the stereo-typical March conundrum: a low of 48 and a high of 58 with rain across all of it. I froze, as one does, unsure if this was sweater sweater, t-shirt weather, layer weather, or something else. What if, I wondered, could AI help? Fashion, however, is a deeply personal thing, and I worried that generalized advice wouldn't help me. What I wanted was for generative AI to look at my closet and, if not choose, at least help me pick out my outfit. Since it now lives on my iPhone lock screen and I'd had some success with Gemini and game generation, I decided to start with Gemini Live running the Flash model 2.0 in my Ides of March fashion quest. Here's the voice prompt I used: Gemini's slightly disappointing response arrived quickly. "Unfortunately, I can't see what's in your closet yet." Still, it did follow with a good bit of dress-wear advice: "But with those temperatures, you'll want to layer up for sure. A good base layer, like a long-sleeved t-shirt or a light sweater, is a must. On top of that, think about a jacket or coat that can keep you dry in the rain. You might also want to pack a scarf or gloves, just in case." I had neglected to mention that I might not leave the house, so the scarf and gloves made sense. This was useful, but I expect multi-modal capabilities that can hear and see my needs, intentions, and choices and come up with the best results. Otherwise, why use AI in the first place? Next, I tried Siri. I held down the Siri button on the side of my iPhone 16 Pro Max and repeated the prompt. The results were comically bad: Siri simply presented the next day's weather range and offered zero sartorial guidance. Oh, Siri, when will you get that Link: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/i-asked-chatgpt-4o-gemini-live-and-siri-what-to-wear-and-only-one-could-really-help-me-look-my-best

One of the things that Nvidia does not exactly encourage its partners among add-in-board (AIB) manufacturers to do is to 'factory overclock' memory on graphics cards featuring its GPUs. However, it looks like MSI's Alexei 'Unwinder' has managed to unlock this possibility for GDDR7 memory on GeForce RTX 50-series products, as noticed by VideoCardz. Good news, it works for all GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. But, as always, there is a catch. A new unofficial update for MSI Afterburner enables RTX 50-series GPU owners to push their memory overclocking limits by an additional 3 GT/s, achieving data transfer rates of up to 36 GT/s. While some may say that a mere 10% overclock — especially in the case of the GeForce RTX 5090 that has a wide memory interface and barely needs that extra bandwidth — is not a big deal, this is not as simple as it sounds. GDDR7 memory ICs available today from Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix are rated for an up to 28 GT/s — 32 GT/s (Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung have GDDR7, but the latter does not disclose its specs). Nvidia recommends reducing data transfer rates to 28 GT/s (except for RTX 5080, which is set to 30 GT/s), though the chips can handle higher speeds, which is where Unwinder's achievement represents a breakthrough as it 'unlocks' available capabilities of the memory chips. Sponsored Links Kaspersky for Small Office This is particularly significant for GeForce RTX 5080-series boards that come with 32 GT/s chips that are 'down-clocked' to 30 GT/s by default. However, keep in mind that on the GPU side there are memory controller peculiarities and this represents risks in terms of overclocking. The new update involves replacing a specific database file and is compatible only with MSI Afterburner version 4.6.6 Beta 5 Build 16555. Although this update might eventually be integrated into a future beta version, it remains to be seen when exactly this happens. Some users have instead turned to GPU Tweak III, Asus's software, which supports both AMD and Nvidia GPUs and avoids known bugs present in MSI Afterburner. Ultimately, both MSI Afterburner and GPU Tweak III can now support GDDR7 memory overclocking on GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. This is especially beneficial for the GeForce RTX 5080-series users who aim to maximize performance beyond the default 30 GT/s limit. With the modified database, pushing speeds beyond 32 GT/s should now be achievable without issues. Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/msi-afterburner-update-enables-rtx-50-series-owners-to-push-their-gddr7-vram-up-to-36-gt-s

I know a guy whose only game is Age of Empires 2. He's been playing it for about 25 years. He doesn't have a gaming PC, doesn't have a wider interest in gaming, and when I once mentioned Age of Empires 3 he said "oh yeah I heard they made another one" and that was the end of the conversation. AoE 2 fans do be like that: Why bother with another videogame when perfection has already been achieved? And the venerable 26 year-old strategy title continues to have an incredible afterlife, enabled in part by 2019's Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, and things are certainly not slowing down. The latest patch notes for AoE 2: DE are among the most gargantuan I've ever seen. The developers themselves admit they're "legendarily long", but the "cherry on top" is that they'll soon be "releasing one of the biggest updates Age 2: DE has ever had!" How long? They just keep going, and the only way I could think of to summarise was to highlight the whole thing and do a word count: 8229 words. So let's roll. The next update will arrive "mid-April," and the headline features are as follows: Bug fixes based on your feedback! New Visuals for Castles, Elite Unique Units, Monks and Monasteries! Technology Tree UI updates! Balance changes! New Maps! New features and content to support: Random Map Scripting Scenario Editor Modding We then go into a whole host of bug fixes and settings tweaks. The visual overhauls introduce 25 new castle visuals across civilisations, and every elite unique unit now has different visuals compared to their non-upgraded counterparts: "With Teutonic Knight helmet crests, Samurai banners, or Janissary hats, defeat your opponents with more style than ever." There's a bunch of animation improvements across all units, including improved syncing of the animations and attacks themselves, along with new attack animations for infantry that will be randomly shuffled with the existing ones. The technology tree layout has been reorganised "for better readability and more efficient use of space," with updated wording and better descriptions, and there's new options from the main menu to go straight into the editor and other features. Pathfinding tweaks and new attributes jostle for attention among unit fixes, including the amusing "Sheep and Turkeys can no longer receive unintentional speed boost after ungarrisoning from gurjara Mills." There's an absolutely massive list of balance changes to individual units, which for everyone's sanity I'm just going to link rather than reproducing, and then we return to the big theme of these patch notes, which is China. A new scenario, "Xie An", is free for all owners of the Victors and Vanquished expansion, in which "the Xie clan defends the Fei River from the northern warlord Fu Jian who has designs to conquer all of China." This will let you infiltrate enemy camps with spies, bribe enemy generals, fund a rebellion, "and even misdirect the enemy army" with your cunning ways. "The Chinese are now listed as an Archer and Gunpowder civilization and are receiving a massive update to their units and bonuses" say the notes, followed by a list of new additions and civilisation bonuses. Developer World's Edge is in tease mode about the game's next expansion and, given the focus here, betting on ancient China would be wise. There are then literally hundreds of words on changes to herdable animals (please don't ask), and huntable animals, while in the Northern Isles the devs have "fixed boars sometimes failing to generate." Forest spacing and the amount of water on maps now scales more appropriately, relics are distributed more evenly, there are less inaccessible areas, and oysters will no longer block shore fish from spawning, which was apparently a thing. There are a whole bunch of new trees, among which Sinophiles may note the Lush Bamboo, Asian Pine, Peach Blossom, and Asian Maple. There's also a "Panda Rock" which is a rock that pandas like to climb on. There's also a new bird, the Red Crowned Crane, which is sometimes called the Manchurian crane. And a new map: Great Wall. "It’s been a minute since we’ve provided some thoughts and teasers toward everything that’s happening with Age 2: DE, and the last time we did we were in the middle of launching Chronicles: Battle for Greece," writes World's Edge. "But let’s not bury the lede… For anyone that was wondering when we’d be back with something new for our competitive players, this is our love letter to you. We wanted to give you some time to digest it all and get hyped while we finish up the work on one of our biggest updates ever! "We also mentioned that there’s an exciting new expansion coming to Age 2: DE! We even provided a couple of images to give you an opportunity to sleuth and debate what we’re cooking up. It’s been fun for us to see what everybody is guessing at! We’re not yet ready to share the full details, so keep your eyes peeled for a future announcement with a complete breakdown of everything included in the new expansion." China. It's China. "The next expansion for Age 2: DE will include FIVE brand NEW Civs, all playable in Ranked Multiplayer. Yes, you read that correctly. Five! Is that all the DLC includes? Nope. We’ll be following up soon with more details [...] it’s our absolute privilege and joy to be able to develop this game and franchise for you! We love it as much as you do, and we’re glad you’re here!" Needless to say the dev team signs off in the only way you're legally allowed to end AoE 2 patch notes: "Wololo!" Suffice to say that AoE 2 fans are cock-a-hoop about this update, with some declaring it "the best update ever" and others reaching for the phrase "absolute cinema." Developers Forgotten Empires and World's Edge have set a rip-roaring pace of expansions for the Definitive Edition, with six released so far (including 2023's Return of Rome, which brought over every civilization from the original AoE). PCG's strategy king Fraser Brown says that though the Definitive Edition "wavers between remaster and remake" it's "the best version of the best Age of Empires game by a wide margin." And an incredible 26 years after the original release, it just somehow keeps getting better. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/age-of-empires-2-team-continues-to-cook-while-delivering-legendarily-long-8-000-word-patch-notes-about-the-biggest-updates-the-26-year-old-game-has-ever-had/

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Video title: Try not to laugh ‪@FoltynReacts‬ Content creator ( Youtuber ) : Dana’s world💜🌏 Official YT video:

Nick Movie: MOD PRODUCCIONES-PROMOCIÓN FANTASMA Trailer Time: 2012 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: None Duration of the movie:3h 3s Trailer:

Music title: F1 — Official Trailer | Apple TV+ Signer: Apple TV Release date: 08/03/2025 Official YouTube link:

Mazda is aiming to become an entry-level luxury brand, and the 2025 CX-30 has shown that goal is within reach. Among subcompact crossovers, its upscale styling and interior quality are hard to beat. Thankfully, this luxury-adjacent direction doesn't come at the expense of one of Mazda's best attributes: sporty driving dynamics. The CX-30 is easily one of the most entertaining choices in its class, though for the full performance potential you'll want to upgrade to the more powerful turbocharged engine. It is held back by a comparably small cargo capacity, so for utility-minded shoppers, the Volkswagen Taos and Chevrolet Trailblazer provide more space. In the top trim, the CX-30 is a more affordable alternative to the BMW X1, Audi Q3, or Mercedes-Benz GLA. As one of our favorites in its segment, the Mazda CX-30 has also earned a spot on our Editors' Choice list for 2025. While that optional 250-hp turbocharged engine is alluring, it unfortunately only comes on the most expensive trims. We think most people will find the standard engine fine, so we'd recommend that those buyers stick with that powertrain and select the Preferred trim. The Preferred trim includes an eight-way power-adjustable driver's seat with memory settings, a power sunroof, silver-painted 18-inch wheels, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and keyless entry. All nonturbo trim levels come with the same 191-hp 2.5-liter engine, and all-wheel drive is standard across the lineup. The CX-30's standard engine is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with 191 horsepower. This engine is paired with a six-speed automatic which chooses gears wisely based on driving conditions. A turbocharged 2.5-liter engine is optional and provides 250 horsepower. If you're a fan of the Mazda 3 hatchback, which we are, you'll find the CX-30 just as nimble, athletic, and fun to drive. Its crisp steering and fluid body movements make it a pleasure to pilot on a twisty road and provide a sense of stability when cruising. Link: https://www.caranddriver.com/mazda/cx-30

Novak Djokovic used a dizzying array of drop shots to make short work of Karen Khachanov at the Dubai Open on Thursday, reaching the semi-finals with a dominant 6-2 6-2 win over the Russian seventh seed. The victory extended the Serbian world number one’s unbeaten start to the season to 16 matches and took his winning streak to 19 matches in a row stretching back to the ATP Finals in November. In all, Djokovic sent down 19 winners to Khachanov’s nine, won 89% of his first-serve points, nine of 11 forays to the net, and wrapped up the one-sided affair in just 66 minutes. Time and again he bamboozled his hapless opponent with delicate, wonderfully disguised drop shots, leaving the Russian either flat-footed at the back of the court or sprinting frantically to the net in vain. Khachanov was 5-2 down in the second set and trailing 30-15 when he finally managed to win a point after chasing down a Djokovic drop shot. The 23-year-old celebrated like he had won the match, raising his fists in the air, much to the delight of the crowd. “Tough match for Karen,” the Serb said in an on-court interview. “I think he can do much better than he has done tonight. It wasn’t his day, but on my side I think I played a very solid match.” The 32-year-old will next face the winner of the all-French duel between Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet. Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas bounced back from losing the first set to Jan-Lennard Struff to claim his spot in the semis with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory over the hard-hitting German. The Greek will face Dan Evans for a place in Saturday’s final. Evans, the British No. 1 and world No. 37, beat Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-2 7-6(9) earlier in the day to record his fifth victory of the year over a top-20 player as he reached the first ATP 500 semi-final of his career. “It sounds a cliché but it stays in there and I knew I’d get my chances,” Evans said. “I’m very happy how I played. Staying calm is key to everything really. Getting the balance, you can’t be calm and dull, you’ve got to be aggressive… and stay cool as well.” Link: https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-karen-khachanov-drop-shots-dubai-6290572/

11 February 2025 Share Save Yuna Ku BBC Korean Reporting fromSeoul Hyuk is set to debut as a K-pop boyband member this year Yu Hyuk was just nine years old when he started begging on the streets of North Hamgyong, one of the poorest provinces in North Korea, nestled along the northern border with China and Russia. Besides begging, he ran errands for soldiers and sold foraged mushrooms. Sometimes he stole food out of sheer hunger: once he snatched a lunchbox that sat unattended at an underground station. Inside was a scoop of spoiled rice. This was just "part of everyday life" for many North Koreans, he says, adding that his own life was so consumed with survival that it left little room for dreams. But dream he did. Later on this year, the 25-year-old will debut in the US as a member of a K-pop boy band. 1Verse (pronounced "universe") is made up of five members: Hyuk, Seok who is also from North Korea, Aito from Japan, and Asian Americans Kenny and Nathan - all prefer to go by their first names. They are set to make history as the first K-pop boy band to debut with North Korean defectors. From scraps to rap Hyuk was born in a seaside village in Kyongsong county and raised by his father and grandmother, after his parents broke up when he was just four. Later, his mother fled the North to settle in the South and reached out to him in an attempt to get him to join her. But he refused as he was close to his father and did not want to leave him. Hyuk says his family was "not extremely poor" to begin with, but the situation quickly deteriorated after his parents separated. His father didn't want to work and his grandmother was too old, so Hyuk was left to his own devices to survive. Eventually, his father persuaded him to join his mother, and in 2013 Hyuk escaped from North Korea. It took months for him to arrive in the South, after going through several countries. He has chosen not to reveal specifics of the route, as he fears putting other future defectors at risk. Hyuk lived in North Hamgyong Province Once in the South, he lived with his mother for just a year, before moving to a boarding school with his mum's financial support. However, he struggled to cope with South Korea’s fiercely competitive education system, as Hyuk had barely finished primary school before his defection. Writing was the one thing he found solace in, he says. He started with short poems alluding to his past life in North Korea. “I couldn’t openly share what I’d been through, but I still wanted to make a record of it.” At first, Hyuk believed his story couldn’t be understood by others, but was encouraged by friends and teachers in his school's music club - and eventually found his passion in rap. Growing up, music had been a luxury, let alone K-pop which was something he had barely heard of. But now, he channelled his thoughts of feeling lonely and of missing his father into music, referring to himself as “the loneliest of the loners” - a line in Ordinary Person, a rap song he composed as a part of a pre-debut project. Hyuk graduated from high school aged 20. Afterwards, he worked part-time at restaurants and factories to support himself. But it was in 2018 when he was featured in an educational TV programme that his luck changed. His unique background and rapping talent caught the eye of music producer Michelle Cho, who was formerly from SM Entertainment, the agency behind some of K-pop's biggest acts. She offered him a spot in her agency, Singing Beetle. "I didn't trust Michelle for about a year because I thought she was cheating me," Hyuk says, adding that defectors are often targeted by scams in the South. But gradually he realised that Ms Cho was "investing way too much time and money" for it to be anything but genuine. Hyuk (top), Aito (bottom left), Seok (middle), and Kenny (right) - Nathan (not pictured) joined later 'I thought North Koreans might be scary' Kim Seok, 24, also defected and arrived in the South in 2019, though his experience was vastly different to that of Seok's. Coming from a relatively better-off family, Seok lived close to the border with China and had access to K-pop and K-drama through smuggled USBs and SD cards. Due to safety reasons, we are unable to reveal much more about his life in the North and how he came to the South. Both boys were described by Ms Cho as "blank canvases", adding that she had never encountered trainees quite like them. Unlike Aito and Kenny, who had been immersed in music and dance from an early age, Hyuk and Seok were complete beginners. “They had absolutely no grasp of pop culture," she said. But their ability to “endure physical challenges” astonished Ms Cho. They pushed through gruelling hours of dance practice with such determination that she was worried they were “overdoing it”. Apart from music and dance lessons, their training also covered etiquette and engaging in discussions, to prepare them for media interviews. “I don’t think they were used to questioning things or expressing their opinion,” says Ms Cho. “At first, when a trainer asked the reasoning behind their thoughts, the only response was, ‘Because you said so last time'.” But after more than three years, Hyuk has made remarkable progress, she says. "Now, Hyuk questions many things. For example, if I ask him to do something, he'll reply 'Why? Why is it necessary?' Sometimes, I regret what I've done," says Ms Cho chuckling. But what do the other two boys think of their bandmates? “I was kind of afraid at first because North Korea has a hostile relationship with Japan. I thought North Koreans would be scary, but that turned out not to be true,” says Aito, who at 20 is the youngest of the four. Kenny, who spent much of his life in the US, adds that there were also small cultural differences that have taken him time to get used to. "Korean culture is very [communal] in that you eat together... that was a culture shock [to me]", he said. "I usually don't like eating with people, I prefer Netflix in my ear. But their joy comes from being collective." Late last year, the band added a fifth member, Nathan, an American of mixed Laotian and Thai heritage to the group. They aim to debut in the US later this year - a decision that the label hopes could attract more American fans. Hyuk (C) had to learn singing and dancing from scratch Playing one day - in North Korea? Dozens of K-pop groups make their debut each year and only a few, typically those managed by major labels, become po[CENSORED]r. So it's still too early to say if 1Verse will go on to resonate with audiences. But Hyuk has big dreams, hoping that it might be possible one day for his fellow North Koreans to listen to his songs. With human rights activists often sending leaflets and USBs containing K-culture content via balloons and bottles towards the North, this may prove to be less of a pipe dream than it sounds, though Hyuk also has his worries. To avoid being seen as a vocal critic of North Korea, he refers to his homeland as “the upper side” in interviews and avoids mentioning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim has in recent years been ratcheting up his crackdown on the inflow of K-culture. Since 2020, the consumption and distribution of such content has become a crime punishable by death. A rare video obtained by BBC Korean last year, believed to be filmed in 2022, shows two teenage boys publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching and distributing K-dramas. One academic says it would cause a "stir" in North Korea should 1Verse's music become a hit. "If a North Korean defector openly embraced their identity and went on to become a world-class activist, I think that would cause a stir in the North," said Ha Seung-hee, an academic specialising in music and media at Dongguk University's Institute of North Korean Studies. But his main motivation, Hyuk says, is to prove that defectors can be a success. “Many defectors see an insurmountable gap between themselves and K-pop idols. It is hardly a career option for us," said Hyuk. “So if I succeed, other defectors might be encouraged [to] have even bigger dreams. That’s why I am trying my hardest.” Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99vxpg55zmo

The Asus Zenbook series has always been the pinnacle of innovations and premium features. The company has a great lineup of Zenbook series with both Intel and AMD chipsets. Now, the brand has also added the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processors to strengthen its position in the premium segment further. Meet the latest Asus Zenbook A14 that brings the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Snapdragon X Elite processor to the masses. The brand's all-new laptop offers many premium features, including a sleek and lightweight design, a crisp OLED display, the latest Snapdragon X platform chipsets, and more. But does it make sense to go for this new machine from Asus? I have some time to spend with the device, and this is what you need to know. Asus Zenbook A14 Design: Classy and Sassy Dimension - 310.7 x 213.9 x 13.4mm Weight - 980 grams Colours - Iceland Gray and Zabriskie Beige One of the most interesting aspects of the Zenbook A14 has to be the design. The latest laptop from the brand is one of the lightest laptops that I have reviewed in a while. The laptop weighs just 980 grams, which is possible due to the new Ceraluminum material used by the brand. The new material is an alloy that combines aluminium, magnesium, and ceramic elements. This material is not only lighter than traditional aluminium but also stronger and more versatile. While previous Zenbook models have featured Ceraluminum only on the lid, this iteration extends it to the entire chassis. Although you might feel a bit weird at first to touch the Ceraluminum, once you get used to it, you will definitely love its smooth texture. The Zenbook A14 is available in two colour options, Iceland Gray and Zabriskie Beige. I got the latter for review, and I must admit it surely looks unique and premium. The subtle Asus Zenbook logo on the lid looks minimalistic, while the Beige colour is surely a head-turner. It also comes with US MIL-STD 810H certification, making it a reliable and durable machine. Moreover, the ergonomics are nearly perfect, with well-rounded edges, grippy rubber feet, and a sturdy hinge design. The lid can lean back further than before but doesn't fully extend to 180 degrees due to vent placement at the rear. As for the ports, the laptop offers a decent amount of ports for everyday usage. You get a USB Type-A port on the right side. On the left, there are multiple ports, including an HDMI 2.1 port, one Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. That said, the Zenbook A14 sets a benchmark for thin and light laptops without compromising on the connectivity options. Coming to the display, the Asus Zenbook A14 packs a decent display in a compact form factor. The device is loaded with Asus' Luminous OLED panel that delivers solid blacks and contrast coupled with beautiful colours. The text appears to be crisp, and the dynamic range looks good. Link: https://www.gadgets360.com/laptops/reviews/asus-zenbook-a14-review-7906893#pfrom=indepth

has sent a proposal to the Office of Science and Technology Policy that calls on the US government to ban the use of DeepSeek in governments, military, and intelligence services. Mentioning the Chinese AI by name, the proposal calls DeepSeek “state-subsidized” and “state-controlled”. The letter, available on its website and signed by Chris Lehane, the Vice President of, Global Affairs at OpenAI, also proposes “banning the use of PRC-produced equipment (e.g., Huawei Ascend chips) and models that violate user privacy and create security risks such as the risk of IP theft” among what it called Tier 1 countries. The letter says “As America’s world-leading AI sector approaches artificial general intelligence (AGI), with a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) determined to overtake us by 2030, the Trump Administration’s new AI Action Plan can ensure that American-led AI built on democratic principles continues to prevail over CCP-built autocratic, authoritarian AI.” DeepSeek recently caused a shockwave in the AI industry by providing similar results to the ChatGPT o1 reasoning model with its DeepSeek-R1 model, but at a much lower price for developers and free for web browser use. Stock prices for companies heavily invested in AI saw an immediate drop, although the market has since returned to previous levels. Many have questioned whether DeekSeek's rapid progress was truly down to an innovative new training methodology or whether it had “distilled” some training data from OpenAI against its terms and conditions. In fact, as we noticed on TechRadar, DeepSeek would sometimes mistake itself for ChatGPT when asked who it was. “As with Huawei, there is significant risk in building on top of DeepSeek models in critical infrastructure and other high-risk use cases given the potential that DeepSeek could be compelled by the CCP to mani[CENSORED]te its models to cause harm.” There is no direct evidence to suggest that DeepSeek, which is owned and controlled by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, is controlled by the Chinese government, however it's been noted that you cannot get the DeepSeek-R1 chatbot to answer questions about political topics sensitive to the PRC like the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. OpenAI clearly sees humanity as being on the doorstep to artificial general intelligence (AGI), which describes systems that possess human-like general intelligence. AGI is something that OpenAI has been working towards since its creation as a company, and the proposal also attacks the “overly burdensome state laws” that are holding it back. “As our CEO Sam Altman has written, we are at the doorstep of the next leap in prosperity: the Intelligence Age. But we must ensure that people have freedom of intelligence, by which we mean the freedom to access and benefit from AGI, protected from both autocratic powers that would take people’s freedoms away, and layers of laws and bureaucracy that would prevent our realizing them.” Link: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/openai-calls-on-us-government-to-ban-deepseek-calling-it-state-subsidized-and-state-controlled

Unless Microsoft changes its mind at the last minute, Windows 10 will stop receiving free security updates this coming October. For those who can upgrade to Windows 11, the solution is obvious: Run the new OS even if you don’t like it. But there are hundreds of millions – by one estimate 240 million – PCs that don’t meet Microsoft’s stringent Windows 11 hardware requirements. If you’re a consumer or a business, Microsoft and the PC industry would very much like you to toss these systems in the trash and buy new computers to take their place. But forgotten in this capitalist crush are all the charities that refurbish older computers and give them to people who can’t afford to purchase one. These non-profits are sitting on a plethora of still-working computers that can’t run Microsoft’s latest OS. Do they give clients a soon-to-be-insecure Windows 10 computer, send older computers to an ewaste recycler, toss them in the trash or try to install some form of Linux? Sponsored Links If you have a mouse, you will never turn off your computer again. Panzer.Quest And Windows 11-ineligible PCs can be pretty recent and powerful. Microsoft’s list of system requirements for Windows 11 seem basic at first glance. You need a 1-GHz or faster CPU with at least two cores, you need 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, Secure Boot capability and TPM 2.0 compatibility. However, Microsoft’s supported Intel CPU list for Windows 11 only goes back as far as 8th Gen chips (Coffee Lake), which first came out in 2017, and its AMD CPU list only incorporates Ryzen 2000 series (from 2018) and above. That means computers which came out in 2017, 2018 or maybe even 2019 (with a last-gen chip for the time) are ineligible. They could have 16GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD and still not make the cut. Some of these ineligible computers will continue to run old Windows, others will be loaded with a different OS entirely. Some will end up in ewaste recycling where most of the parts can be reclaimed. However, a good chunk will end up in landfills. According to one estimate, only 14 to 40 percent of U.S. ewaste gets recycled at all. My 12 year old son and I recently joined a local computer refurbishment charity where we live on Long Island. The folks who run our organization are still installing Windows 10 on non-Windows 11-eligible computers because they don’t want to give our clients an unfamiliar user experience. Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/software/operating-systems/linux-or-landfill-end-of-windows-10-leaves-pc-charities-with-tough-choice

It seems only fitting that as Spring brings new hope, Diablo Immortal's roadmap spells out doom for adventurers headed into 2025. With the newest chapter, Epoch of Madness, being unveiled it promises terrifying sights to behold and threats to face. And what's with that wandering fey, and that mysterious prophet that reminds you of a certain character called Albrecht... Epoch of Madness is, like previous roadmaps, split into four parts. The Writing Wilds covers January and March, which introduced a new quest, crafting system, PvP update and Battlegrounds map. Meanwhile, the upcoming Prince of Freedom taking place from April to June will see another new quest, gear, a marketplace update and a brand-new Helliquary boss. July and September, meanwhile, will see the Flesh Harvest arrive; and it's about here that we start to see certain elements on the roadmap carefully obscured with more details to be revealed in future. What we do know is that Flesh Harvest will bring a new quest and zone called the Carnival Wilds, while its successor The First & Last King will see another additional quest and zone. While Diablo Immortal's initial launch may have been met with a wave of scepticism, it's weathered the storm and managed to come out being a fairly decent addition to the franchise by all accounts. The constant addition of new content probably has something to do with that, and the updates to aspects like the marketplace as well as crossover events promise to keep things as fresh as possible. Either way, with a whole host of updates coming in 2025 maybe this is the time that you want to go ahead and dig into Diablo Immortal? But why not also check out what other Diablo likes are out there? We've collated them all into Link: https://www.pocketgamer.com/tower-of-god-new-world/po-bidau-hugo-update/