#REDSTAR ♪ ♫

Huawei takes it up a notch. Chinese news outlet IThome received word that Huawei is on the brink if launching the brand's new desktop PC (internally known as Pangu) for the domestic market. The system utilizes a variant of the company's Kunpeng 920, which is also known as the Hi1620. The report claims that the Kunpeng 920 3211K's multi-core performance is slightly better than the Intel Core i9-9900K Coffee Lake processor. The Kunpeng 920, which is based on Arm's Neoverse N1 (codename Ares) microarchitecture, boasts core configurations that span from 24 up to 64 cores, running between 2.4 GHz and 3 GHz. TSMC used to produce Kunpeng 920 for Huawei on its 7nm process node before cutting off all ties with Chinese tech giant due to new U.S. regulations. The Kunpeng 920 3211K in particular has 24 cores that max out at 2.6 GHz. Huawei pairs the processor with 8GB of SO-DIMM memory, a 512GB Samsung SSD and AMD’s Radeon 520 mobile graphics card. Huawei tailors the Pangu to government and enterprise markets, meaning the system is equipped with China's homemade Unified Operating System (UOS). User expansion and customization on the Pangu is close to zero. The Kunpeng 920 3211K is soldered to the motherboard and doesn't support other graphics cards. The UOS is cemented into the PC so you can't install Windows on it either. We suspect you may be able to upgrade the memory or SSD, but that's about it. The purported images of the Pangu show three USB Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port and a single 3.5mm headphone jack in the front of the case. There is also room for an optical drive. The rear of the case holds four USB Type-A ports, one Ethernet port, three 3.5mm audio jacks and a D-Sub port. IThome's report states that the Pangu comes with a 23.8-inch monitor with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 70% NTSC color gamut. Pricing and the exact release date for the Pangu is unknown. The IThome reader only insinuated that the Pangu will launch soon.

Google’s navigation apps in Apple’s CarPlay leave a lot to be desired Apple’s iOS 12 update didn’t bring many changes to the in-car CarPlay system that’s been around for a few years. But there is one notable improvement: it now supports third-party navigation apps. Yes, that’s right. That means you can now use Google Maps, Waze, or some other navigation app in CarPlay instead of Apple’s default Maps app. Both Google Maps and Waze have released updates to their iOS apps that added support for CarPlay already, and I’ve been testing them for the past week or so. Unfortunately, due to CarPlay’s inherent limitations and a number of bugs and performance issues, neither Google Maps or Waze are particularly compelling compared to their Android Auto counterparts or even Apple’s own Maps app. Enabling Google Maps and Waze in CarPlay is as simple as installing the latest updates from the App Store on your phone and plugging it into a compatible CarPlay head unit in your car. Both apps will show up as icons on the CarPlay home screen, which you can then tap for directions and navigation. If you’ve been using Apple Maps in CarPlay, you’re going to find that Google Maps and Waze look rather familiar. That’s because Apple imposes a lot of restrictions on the way CarPlay apps are allowed to look, so all of the information, buttons, and options are generally laid out in the same way across all three apps. Google Maps and Waze do have their own color schemes and some other app-specific features that aren’t available in Apple Maps, but the main interface and directions are presented in the same way as Apple’s app. What you won’t find in either Google Maps or Waze is the ability to get directions via Siri, through a microphone button on your steering wheel, the Hey Siri voice command, or long-pressing the home button on the CarPlay screen. Apple limits Siri interactions to its own apps. So just like how you can’t ask Siri to play something in Spotify, you also can’t ask it to give you directions to your house in Google Maps. That’s the first big frustration with using Google Maps or Waze because once you’re driving down the road, voice control is the primary way you’re able to interact with CarPlay apps. Doing so via a steering wheel button is extremely convenient. Google has built in its own voice control system to Google Maps and Waze, but to access it, you have to tap a button on the screen before issuing your command, which means you have to take your eyes off of the road for a second or two. The way around this is to program your destination before you start driving, but that’s not always possible. Google also provides one-tap buttons to frequent locations, such as home, work, saved places, and gas stations. One thing that Google Maps offers that Apple Maps lacks is a satellite view so you can see what the road and area you’re driving around actually looks like from above, as opposed to the standard map view. I’ve never found this particularly useful, but some people might like it. Waze also has its own special features related to its unique functions, so you can report a police car, accident, or construction on the road with just a couple of taps on the screen. Both Waze and Google Maps make it easy to take alternate routes instead of the default, which is something that’s harder to do in CarPlay. Waze also has its extensive traffic database that will reroute you to a faster path if it finds one, which is generally better than Apple or Google’s guidance. That’s probably the best reason to use it over Apple Maps, especially if you frequently drive in an area with heavy traffic. But if you’ve been using Waze on your phone for years, you’ll probably miss some features that aren’t available in the CarPlay version. There are no automatic prompts to start navigation to frequently driven destinations, and the map view in Waze won’t alert you when you’ve exceeded the speed limit. (It will tell you the speed limit on the road you’re traveling on, but it won’t alert if you’ve exceeded it.) It’s not clear to me if Waze is able to add these features later or if it’s just a limitation of what it can do in CarPlay, but I missed both of them while testing the apps. I tested the CarPlay versions of Google Maps and Waze in two different vehicles, one with an aftermarket CarPlay head unit and one with a CarPlay system built in from the factory. In the aftermarket unit, I had a lot of problems with Google Maps and Waze tracking my location and rerouting me when I went off the recommended path; Apple Maps had zero issues. Google Maps would also just freeze for minutes at a time and not update my location on the display. Neither Google Maps or Waze would switch to a night mode when my car’s headlights came on, despite the fact that Apple Maps does. It’s bad enough that I couldn’t rely on either of them for directions. (In the same vehicle with the same head unit, neither Google Maps or Waze had issues with routing or switching between day and night modes in Android Auto.) In the car with the factory-installed CarPlay system, I saw fewer tracking and routing issues, and both apps did switch to night mode when appropriate, but everything still felt buggier and less stable than Apple Maps. If I’m traveling somewhere unfamiliar, Apple Maps is just more reliable to use than Google Maps or Waze in CarPlay, which is frankly surprising to say. Hardcore users of Google Maps and especially Waze will likely appreciate having these new options in their CarPlay-compatible vehicles. But due to the limitations and bugs I’ve encountered while testing them, Apple Maps still provides the better CarPlay experience. Hopefully, both apps will improve over time after some updates, but there’s no fixing their lack of hands-free voice commands.

game information: Developed by: Nuchallenger Published by: Nuchallenger Genre(s): ActionBeat-'Em-Up2D First Released Mar 30, 2020 plate:Macintosh.Nintendo Switch.PC Treachery in Beatdown City takes on the style of an over-the-top late-'80s beat-'em-up that you might spot at an arcade, but from the second you start playing you can tell it’s doing much more than just emulating the past. Playing with the standard style of brawler games by utilizing smart humor and classic tactics mechanics, it creates an exciting amalgamation of genres that makes almost every punch fun. The game opens up with an alternate universe action-movie trailer explaining that the president, Blake Orama, just got kidnapped by ninja dragon terrorists. Everyone is scrambling. The corrupt billionaire mayor of the city doesn’t step up and the police can’t handle it, so the chief calls on the only people he knows can stop this madness: you and your fighting friends! You’re able to rotate between three street fighters, each with their own styles and witty banter. There’s Lisa Santiago, a boxer; Bruce Maxwell, a capoeira fighter; and Brad Steele, an ex-wrestler. They’re all introduced with gorgeous art and theme music showcasing them in awesome fighting stances. All of the fighters have their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to punching, kicking, and grappling. Before each duel you need to gauge the enemy type to make sure it’s a good matchup. The enemies have support, grappler, striker types as well, and these foes range from gentrifiers, racists and rude tech bros to cops and a biker gang. You have to think about your interactions with them, even in the early levels, because a mismatched fighter might just lose you an otherwise easy fight. Playing around with all of these character types makes the gameplay more focused than most brawlers, where you can usually mash buttons and progress. When a fight begins, you have access to a time-freezing tactical menu of all the punches, grapples, and combos you can string against your foes. The tactics layer of the game is easy to get the hang of because the system is laid out well, providing easy access to your catalog of attacks and suplexes that drain a slowly replenishing FP bar. New moves and combo rhythms are explained as you progress, too, so you can learn as you go. Combo variation is rewarded through bonus FP, so finding cool ways to tie moves together is worth the effort, especially if you’re almost out of health. The new moves you learn can also shake up the way you approach battles. There’s a point when Brad Steele, your resident grappler, eventually unlocks a "Toe Kick" that makes it way easier to confirm a grab. From the moment I unlocked it, the move became a staple in the combos I was running. It gave me way better options to topple even the toughest of street fighters. Every character learns a few abilities tailored to their playstyle like that, and those moves grant a lot of flexibility to your protagonists, making for longer and more thrilling extensions to your assortment of hits. Once you get in the groove of any of their movesets the game opens up in the way that makes you feel like an unstoppable strategic warrior. The game tends to keep its energy up, but midway through your quest in Beatdown City, there are a few moments where combat gets a bit monotonous. For example, there are enemies armed with weapons in later levels. The weapons are supposed to be a new obstacle, but they actually make most matchups easier to handle. Once you disarm your opponent, you can pick up the weapon for yourself and eliminate any enemy with a few quick hits. In those fights, you don't want to think of a long string of attacks to take down an enemy when you can just press A three times. Grudge matches also come into play later in the game; they’re rematches between one of the protagonists and a particularly rude person they met on the street. At first the grudge matches spice up the rotation of enemies and add some meaning to the battles, but after a few matches against the recurring characters you learn the exact approach to defeating them and it begins to feel stale. Those encounters put a few road bumps in the generally smooth ride. Before significant fights, there are short cutscenes where an altercation occurs, your character says a nice action hero one-liner, and then hand-throws ensue. These cutscenes do a great job breaking up portions with a lot of back-to-back fighting, and they raise the stakes in a comical way while consistently punching up. You’re always fighting a complete jerk; it could be someone mad because you didn’t buy their mixtape or just a flat-out racist, but regardless, Treachery in Beatdown City pokes fun at the overly-privileged in a way that stays clever and entertaining. At one point while you’re playing as Bruce, a black man, you’re approached by a preppy white guy named Dan. Dan puts on an atrocious Jamaican accent and asks for drugs, and Bruce replies, "I buy and sell stocks, not whatever it is you’re thinking," and then proceeds to kick his butt. Another altercation happens because a couple of influencers are blocking the sidewalk discussing the best way to take pictures of their food for "Snapstergram." Since everyone you encounter is sincerely the worst in their own way, those cutscenes make it fun to fight back and see that your character won’t let things slide. Treachery in Beatdown City uses humor skillfully as a tool to deal with contemporary issues with the gig economy, insidious tech company ploys, and obnoxious bigots. It has some lulls and a bit of an abrupt conclusion, but that’s overshadowed by how especially fun the conversations and combat are. The mechanics stand out and push against the standards of the brawler genre, injecting a strong tactics twist that lets you make some freestyle combos in the blink of an eye. In the end it was a short, satisfying playthrough that maintained its action movie aura the entire time. Treachery in Beatdown City is all about fighting, but it shines because at its core it’s about fighting back. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz or equivalent Memory: 3 GB RAM Graphics: 512MB GPU, DirectX 9, Shader Model 2.0 (XNA 4.0 Reach Profile) Storage: 354 MB available space Additional Notes: Xinput devices supported

Rumble in the budget graphics card segment. A Redditor somehow managed to uncover the marketing materials for the Radeon RX 5500 gaming graphics card. The documents, which date back to October 2019, are hosted on AMD's Marketing Asset Resource System (MARS), so they are as legit as they come. The first bit of interesting information lies with AMD's product stack. The chipmaker has placed the Radeon RX 5500 in the Performance category, which we don't necessarily agree with. However, the big surprise here is that the Polaris-based models, such as the Radeon RX 570, RX 580, and RX 590 are absent in the lineup. Strangely enough, the Radeon RX 560 is still listed. The dismissal of the three aforementioned models could be an indication that AMD is preparing to replace them with new Navi products. In addition to the Radeon RX 5500 and RX 5500M, there are three more AMD graphics cards that can potentially employ a variant of the Navi 14 die. One of them is obviously the Radeon RX 5500 XT, while the other two could be the Radeon RX 5300 and RX 5300M. If (or when) the Radeon RX 5500 XT launches, it'll probably slide into the same tier as the non-XT variant. AMD still hasn't reveal the Radeon RX 5500's pricing yet. However, the chipmaker did state that it's competing against the GeForce GTX 1650. The GeForce GTX 1650 retails for $149, so we can only assume AMD will price the Radeon RX 5500 similarly. The Radeon RX 5700 retails for $349, meaning there would be a $200 gap between it and the Radeon RX 5500. AMD could fill that gap with the Radeon RX 5500 XT. AMD made it clear during the Radeon RX 5500's announcement that it would be getting into the ring with the GeForce GTX 1650. Therefore, it doesn't come as a surprise that the chipmaker would compare both graphics cards in the Radeon RX 5500's 'How to Sell' guide. As with any internal testing, we'll need to approach the performance results with caution. According to AMD's results, Radeon RX 5500 seemingly delivers 49% more performance in AAA titles and 37% more performance in po[CENSORED]r eSports titles in comparison to the GeForce GTX 1650. There's a good chance that AMD created the document before the GeForce GTX 1650 Super's release. The GeForce GTX 1650 Super will arrive with significant improvements, including 384 more CUDA cores and the upgrade from 8 GB/s GDDR5 memory to 12 GB/s GDDR6 memory. So, it'll be mighty interesting to see whether the Radeon RX 5500 can outperform the GeForce GTX 1650 Super. Even though AMD has already announced the Radeon RX 5500, we still don't have a concrete date when they will hit the market. On the contrary, Nvidia has confirmed that the GeForce GTX 1650 Super will arrive on November 22, a little less than two weeks from today.

Google Duo for web group calls are on the way Google Duo wants to add fun to your everyday video calls with friends and family. The tech giant announced that Google Duo on the web will soon let you make group calls with up to 32 participants, Chrome Unboxed reports. The new Duo for web group call functionality will preview on Chrome in the coming weeks. A revamped layout will let you see more participants simultaneously, which should be a welcome feature for hosting online birthday parties and other events made difficult by stay-at-home orders. Anyone with a Google account will be able to join a group call via an invite link, like with Google Meet. Google Duo is traditionally a casual face-to-face free video calling app for mobile devices. Where Google Meet and Zoom are suitable for business videoconferencing and remote learning, Duo is the fun, consumer-friendly alternative video calling app. That makes it a direct competitor to the new Facebook Messenger Rooms. Duo's family mode features let you doodle or add cool effects on video calls. You can turn yourself into a flower, a dinosaur, or an astronaut with the app's adorable visuals. Use your Google account to sign into Duo, start a video call, and select "Family" to check it out. News about the Google Duo group chat update arrives just weeks after Google Meet became free for all users. Formerly, the video calling app was exclusive to G Suite and enterprise and educators. Google Duo works on Android, iPhones, web, tablets, and Nest Hub Max.

game information: Platforms:Xbox One, PC, Xbox Series X Developers:Obsidian Entertainment Publishers:Microsoft Features:Online Co-Op Multiplayer Release Date:July 28, 2020 When we first saw Grounded less than a year ago, the pitch was to adapt Obsidian’s signature RPG style into the survival genre. Having recently launched into Early Access on Steam and Xbox Game Preview (plus Game Pass), it’s currently much more of what you’d traditionally expect from the latter than it is influenced by the former. But what’s here so far is entertaining enough and, despite a few stumbles, clearly has a lot of room to grow. While Obsidian had previously said Grounded would incorporate strong story and RPG elements alongside the survival aspect, and while you can see hints of that, there’s not much to speak of yet. With no ongoing story beyond some collectible audio logs – I hit an “End of Story Content” message after less than an hour – it’s the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”-style setting that’s currently doing most of the heavy lifting. It doesn’t really diverge from the traditional survival game structure in any particularly meaningful ways – you pick an avatar from one of four teens who’ve been shrunken down to around one inch tall and spend your time exploring and gathering plants, rocks, and bug parts to craft items and build your tiny home. You can collect daily activity bounties like visiting specific locations or researching specific items from BURG-L, the only NPC – who handily provides the most Obsidian-esque material throughout – but beyond that your adventures are all in the pursuit of no hard goal beyond the ones you set for yourself. While it surely plays a little fast-and-loose with the relative sizes of certain objects and creatures, Grounded’s mega-sized take on a suburban backyard is fascinating to explore. From puddles turned into lakes to twisting branches under a garden hedge that more resemble the framework for an elven or Ewok village than “that place you quietly stuffed your beer can because you were too lazy to throw it out,” I was always intrigued to discover a new landmark or Easter egg that helped flesh out the world and my role in it. This is due in no small part to the fact that Grounded looks great. The miniaturized world you inhabit is rich and verdant, and it benefits heavily from some especially gorgeous lighting effects (although some of the depth-of-field effects lose their luster when you emerge from beneath the canopies of mushrooms and clover and realize the kid you’re playing as must just be incredibly nearsighted). Sunlight filtering through the branches of a tree in the early morning or bouncing through the chitinous exoskeleton of an ant the size of a German Shepherd were constant reminders to stop and savor the beauty of the environment, and the way moonbeams pierce through the light fog that blankets grass-blade forests (coupled with some truly great sound design) added a ton of eerie atmosphere to nighttime exploration. “Eerie” might not be the right word, though. “Terrifying” is probably more accurate, because Grounded is, at times, just as much a survival horror game as it is anything else. And it’s not just the 12-foot-tall spiders, either – though they’re far and away the big winner of the “scariest thing in the yard” award, even with the much-discussed Arachnophobia slider turned all the way up (WHO THOUGHT LEAVING THE EYES ON THEM WAS A GOOD IDEA?!). There are also plenty of other mini monstrosities out to get you, from other large bugs like acid-spraying bombardier beetles to the tiny mites that spring towards you from the ground like furious, fuzzy versions of Half-Life’s headcrabs. Exploring at night and running into a pack of pincered larvae or spelunking into an old anthill just to run into the spider who’d made its nest there provided some hair-raising scares and instilled a sense of tension that carried over into every step I took. There isn’t much variety in terms of weather, though. I’ve been running around for more than two in-game weeks and every day has been warm and sunny and every night mild with light fog around 3 am. It would have been interesting to experience a rainstorm at this size, or see Obsidian work in some of the other tropes of the “tiny-sized person” experience – though maybe “The Attack of the Kaiju-Sized Toddler” update is still to come. The sound of a car stereo blaring as it rounded a nearby corner or a jet engine passing overhead were some nice touches that remind players they’re still in the modern world, but it would have been cool to have some more dynamic threats that weren’t just the indigenous backyard wildlife. Of course, that doesn’t make those insects any less deadly. To not end up just another bug snack, you’ll need to make use of your superior human intellect and do what we do best: destroy the world around you with zero consideration for its delicate ecosystem and use what’s left to build cool stuff. A robust and interconnected crafting system is the hallmark of a solid survival game, and Grounded’s early-access offering definitely has a lot for players who enjoy the endless grind of harvesting materials to convert into other materials that you can then turn into a house, or a trampoline, or armor made from the carcasses of defeated enemies. Where Grounded stumbles hardest is that this process has trouble remaining continually enjoyable. It’s certainly satisfying to tear off the final piece of an ant you needed to complete your armor set, but the battles required to get all those ingredients stopped being particularly fun after I killed my fifth ant. Combat essentially boils down to circling around an enemy while it attacks, then darting in to chop, stab, or club away some of its HP and repeat. Sure, there’s a parry system that can help boost your chance to stun a creature, but even then your armor still takes damage so it was almost always more efficient to just keep strafing. Of course, you can always just climb up on a rock and fire an endless barrage of arrows at an enemy, too (though be prepared to bring a lot of arrows – I once trapped a wolf spider and unloaded 50+ arrows into in, only to knock off about 45% of its HP). Hostile AI seems to have little-to-no sense of self-preservation, which, while true to their insect brains, made all but the most stressful of battles a fairly boring affair. I also lost count of the number of times I made mental notes to use the “Submit Feedback” button when crafting new items or building up my base. It seems crazy that a game so heavily focused on crafting in 2020 wouldn’t have the foresight to feature a ‘Craft Max’ button, the ability to craft at a workbench using items from nearby storage bins, or an auto-craft function that automatically consumes the raw resources required to create something. Similarly, I realize inventory management is a key part of any good survival game, but it felt a little odd not to be able to craft more mobile storage, or at least build items that would let me create stacks of previously un-stackable items (like a sling to bundle spears together, for instance). Between the tools needed for harvesting and the weapons/armor needed for self-defense, it felt like my inventory was always at least half-full before I even left home base. None of these things are particularly awful, but it felt like a lot of minor inconveniences that added up to a decent amount of frustration. Adding friends to the mix doesn’t lighten the load, either. Since one player has to serve as the host, that means anyone joining their game will be starting from absolute zero every time. Progress doesn’t transfer back to your game world, either [clarification: it didn’t work in our experience, which was cross-platform between Xbox and PC] meaning if you want to have a consistent experience with friends you either have to be the group’s permanent host, or be totally fine doing all your building in someone else’s save file for the entirety of your game (and even then you’ll need to make sure you leave all of your gear in one of their storage bins before logging out). On top of all that, Grounded is – please forgive the pun – pretty buggy. There’s nothing that I would consider particularly game-breaking (though I did experience a couple of hard crashes on my 2015 Xbox One that caused some minor progress loss) but I ran into some pretty noticeable jank throughout my time with it. Bugs – particularly larger ones like spiders or ladybugs – often get stuck in, on, or against geometry, if you’re hunting a bug and it gets too far away after taking damage, its HP will often fully reset, and placing foundational elements of my bases (walls, stairs, etc.) often came down to me having to actively glitch the system to get them where I wanted them. Verdict Grounded has a lot going for it. It’s a really inventive setting, with some pitch-perfect opportunities for the team to deliver on “the Obsidian side” of its initial pitch in the future. Currently, however, it feels a bit sparse in terms of both available content and quality-of-life considerations. And while I really hope that Grounded grows and blossoms into the truly special adventure it could become, it’s still got a few yards to go. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 (SP1) 64bit Processor: Intel Core i3-3225 Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Storage: 8 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

Add a slice of Pi to your Laptop. Sometimes a broken laptop is an opportunity for invention. This project was created and shared by a maker who goes by Ollie242. After a malfunctioning optical drive proved to be more of a burden than a feature, Ollie242 decided to remove it completely. With a gaping hole in the side of the laptop, the decision was made to install a Raspberry Pi Zero W in its place. The Raspberry Pi is embedded in the laptop hardware and even draws power from it. Ollie242 included a breadboard that slides out with the Pi that can be used for projects whenever you want. Ollie242 powers the Pi using a male to female slimline SATA cable connected directly to the laptop. To access the Pi, VNC is used to remote into the system, eliminating the need for any additional peripherals. The laptop screen, cursor and keyboard can be used to control the Pi. The unit is housed in a custom 3D printed housing. There is room on the side for a 28 x 132 OLED I2C display which Ollie242 uses to output the current IP address, making it easy to find what you need when connecting. The 3D printed housing is designed for a specific Thinkpad model, but if you want to check it out, you can find it on Onshape. If you want to explore this project in detail, you can find it on Instructables. Be sure to follow Ollie242 for more cool Pi projects!

Let go of Windows 7, people! Earlier this year, Microsoft yanked away its life support for Windows 7 and stopped providing technical assistance and software updates for the obsolete operating system. But for some odd reason, a significant number of devices are still running the Windows Vista successor, and the FBI is stepping in to encourage upgrade-shy users to ditch Windows 7, according to ZDNet. FBI warns the masses that Windows 7 is not safe When Microsoft announced Windows 7's end-of-life stage in January, 26% of devices were running Windows 7. It's now been seven months since the Redmond-based tech giant declared its end of support for Windows 7, but usage rates dropped by only 2%, according to NetMarketShare. Well aware of the security risks involved with Windows 7, the FBI stepped in to warn the masses about the operating system's high cyberattack vulnerability. "Continuing to use Windows 7 within an enterprise may provide cyber criminals access in to computer systems. As time passes, Windows 7 becomes more vulnerable to exploitation due to lack of security updates and new vulnerabilities discovered," the agency said. The federal agency explained that most customers are unable to maintain an unsupported Windows 7 operating system, and as a result, more cybercriminals will perceive Windows 7 users as the perfect target for malicious hacking. How Windows 7's security flaws are being exploited by cybercriminals The FBI illustrated how cybercriminals can exploit Windows 7's security vulnerabilities by pointing out hacking tools such as EternalBlue, a technique that exploits a security flaw in Windows 7's Server Message Block. The FBI also mentioned BlueKeep, which gives cybercriminals the opportunity to hack into Windows 7 devices using a security vulnerability found in Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol. To date, Microsoft allows Windows 7 users to upgrade their systems to Windows 10 for free, so what's the hold up? Some customers, the FBI noted, may be hesitant to upgrade because their dated hardware cannot support it and the cost of purchasing a new device may intimidate Windows 7 users, but the FBI explained that the cost of a cybercriminal attack is far more expensive. In addition to upgrading to Windows 10, the FBI is urging Microsoft consumers to equip their systems with anti-virus software, spam filters and up-to-date firewall protection. The FBI knows first hand about the sneaky tactics of cybercriminals, so if I were a Windows 7 user, I'd heed the federal agency's advice.

game information: Developed by: ORIGAME DIGITAL Published by: ORIGAME DIGITAL Genre(s): Adventure First Released May 19, 2020 plate:PC In Te Reo (Māori), "umurangi" means red sky--a perpetual sight in this first-person photography game, and a sign of the climate anomaly plaguing the city of Tauranga Aotearoa. You'll see this when raising your camera towards the flock of seagulls gathering at sunset, or a distant view of Mount Mauao amidst the billowing clouds of crimson and orange. Inspired by his personal experiences around the Australian bushfire crisis, Maori developer Naphtali Faulkner envisions a cyberpunk future that's so much more than a neon-soaked dystopia. As a result, Umurangi Generation becomes a shining example of what cyberpunk media should be; it boldly confronts the themes that underpin the genre, from its condemnation of capitalism to rebuking the corporate structures that govern its cities. Umurangi Generation makes its statements not through dialogue but by letting you explore its themes through the exploratory lens of photography--and its through this framing that the game's message is made all the more resounding. Akin to a bystander, you don't get to interact with the city's inhabitants in Umurangi Generation; you just quietly observe and snap pictures of things you see in your environment. This city is teeming with a distinct Maori culture, with Umurangi Generation drawing from the developer's Ngāi Te Rangi roots to eschew recycled cyberpunk tropes. The immediacy of this sci-fi dystopia thus is an affecting and authentic city that doesn't rely on the aesthetic of frivolous foreignism. One example is how the urban structures of this futuristic version of Tauranga Aotearoa aren't smothered in a bevy of inscrutable Japanese fonts to imply a sense of otherness--an outdated cyberpunk trope rooted in fears of Japan's technological superiority during the 1980s. Instead, the walls of its high-rise building and architecture are graffitied with contemporary Maori symbols such as the koru and the huia feathers, a proud and self-assured display of Maori identity. Some people, too, also wear the huia feathers as their headgear. Nonetheless, familiar visual cues that dominate cyberpunk are still there, including technopunks who tinker their mohawks with electronics that glow with fluorescent hues and the kaleidoscopic displays of electronic billboards and corporate logos adorning the skyline. It's a refreshing portrayal of cyberpunk outside the genre's typically Eurocentric stylings. In this metropolis, you're a young photographer working with the Tauranga Express to complete a checklist of photography bounties. These range from capturing static images of objects like disposable cameras and spray cans to searching for and snapping pictures of iconic landmarks strewn across Tauranga Aotearoa. Admittedly, some of these objectives can be obnoxiously tedious to unearth. One required me to take a picture of a snarky version of some warnings--the inane instructions slapped on items that belonged to the United Nations armed forces--that were a common sight in town. It was only after searching for close to half an hour that I accidentally chanced upon some scribbles of this text on a soldier's protective gear. Another had me hunting for the most suitable spot for photographing 10 solar panels within a single frame, and while using a specific lens too--a surprisingly challenging endeavor. Yet these are trivial concerns, as you'll soon grow familiar with the inner workings of the game world and its logic. Then there are bonus objectives you can fulfill as well: taking group pictures of your merry band of friends (three spirited youths and a deadpan penguin); collecting a certain number of film canisters, finishing your assignment under 10 minutes, and more. The more objectives you complete, the more equipment--from telephoto to fisheye lenses--you'll unlock. Eventually, this upgraded arsenal opens up a litany of new ways for you to compose your shots, which makes revisiting and exploring past levels particularly fulfilling. All these are grounded in real-world photography, where you can tinker with and edit your pictures with an expanded array of options such as color balance, contrast, and saturation. Umurangi Generation doesn't get too hung up on the way you take your photographs either. You won't be penalized for the quality of your pictures, although you can score more cash--just another bonus objective to attain--for pictures that do interesting things with color, composition, and content. While offering a sense of achievement, this still allows you to partake in the simple pleasures of shooting, of discovering vignettes of dystopian life and humanity that are impossible to look away from. That's the biggest trick Umurangi Generation has pulled: its purpose, really, is to invite you to look beyond the city's glistening surfaces and delve into the sobering narrative that exists outside--be it beneath or above--its infrastructure. That purpose is in the details, like those tucked within a newspaper that's discarded carelessly next to a boombox, that hint at the apocalyptic event taking place. It's in the countless memorials erected in the nooks and crannies of the city, dedicated to Maori pilots and civilians, that inform you of the grim reality of surviving through wartime. It's in the sight of forlorn vagrants dozing off against a wall of movie posters about heroic exploits against aquatic aliens, serving as a stark reminder of those who continue to occupy the lowest rungs of this high-tech society, unable to move out of poverty. It's also about your evolving role as a photographer--from capturing candid shots of youthful exuberance as a street photographer to documenting the effects of armed conflict as a war photographer--that nudges your perspective as you traverse the spaces within Umurangi Generation. Cyberpunk isn't just a fictional realm for people to escape into; traditionally, it has reckoned with and challenged the status quo that feeds real-world inequality, such as in stories like Blade Runner and Neuromancer. Umurangi Generation understands this implicitly, its universe reflecting the realities of current-day events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Australian bushfires, along with the inaction of the leaders managing them. News within Tauranga Aotearoa about its Prime Minister enjoying a long holiday in the midst of a disaster mirrors a similar vacation taken by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the bushfire crisis. Its youth--the eponymous Umurangi Generation who grew up seeing the red skies of Tauranga Aotearoa--are also a reference to the socially conscious generation of today's young people. Awashed in this rich setting and its blockish, lofi visuals, the metropolis feels alive and authentic, yet desolate and gritty. In one poem called "War Photographer" by Carol Ann Duffy, the effects of war are explored through the eyes of a war photographer. He trembles as he recalls his experiences during combat, replaying vivid memories as he develops his pictures in a dark room, his reaction a stark contrast to the apathetic readers that see his pictures on the Sunday papers. Even though readers may be momentarily moved by these images, they were ultimately unable to empathize, having been sheltered from the horrors of war, with reading the news becoming a simple activity to pass time between meals. Umurangi Generation wants to incite its players into taking up a more active role in this fictional crisis--not as a transhuman supersoldier with cybernetic implants, but as a photographer who's trying to make a living in this hellish, urban landscape. Not only is the game a realization of our anxieties about our current, looming future, it's also a powerful evocation of the corporatist state that threatens to overrun our lives, and a startling statement of resistance against them. For a game that's ostensibly about photography, Umurangi Generation achieves so much more. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-4130 Memory: 8 GB RAM Storage: 2 GB available space RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 10 Processor: i5 or i7 equivilent Graphics: 2GB-4GB Storage: 2 GB available space

Intel Core i9-10910 lands on Geekbench before official release The Intel Core i9-10910, which is believed to be an Apple-exclusive chip, has shown its face on Geekbench 5 again. Without confirmation from Intel, of course, we can't be positive of the accuracy of the results, spotted by @Leakbench. But this allows us to do an early pseudo-assessment of the CPU's performance. The Core i9-10910 in question, as well as the current Core i9-10900, belong to the 10th Generation Comet Lake-S family. The 14nm processors find their home inside the new LGA1200 CPU socket. They're equipped with 10 CPU cores, 20 threads and 20MB of L3 cache. One theory as to the Core i9-10910's existence is that Apple wants a custom chip for its iMac. For context, the Core i9-10900 has a 2.8 GHz base clock and a 5.2 GHz TVB (Thermal Velocity Boost) clock. Today's Geekbench 5 submission paints the Core i9-10910 with a 3.6 GHz base clock and a boost clock that almost hits 5 GHz. The most attractive aspect of the Core i9-10900 is the fact that the processor is rated for 65W, so it isn't overly demanding on cooling or power delivery. The finer details of the Core i9-10910 are still unknown at this point, so we don't know if there is a change in the TDP (thermal design power) or not. The two Geekbench 5 results depict exactly what the specifications already hinted. The Core i9-10910 excelled in single-threaded workloads but ultimately lost to the Core i9-10900 when multi-threaded workloads are involved. Despite the 28.6% higher base clock, the Core i9-10910 only delivered up to 6.9% higher single-core performance than the Core i9-10900 in Geekbench 5. The tables turned when it comes to multi-core performance though. The Core i9-10900 outperformed the Core i9-10910 by 9.6%. Assuming these results are correct, it shouldn't be hard to pick between a Core i9-10910 or Core i9-10900. You'd just have to identify the type of workloads you commonly execute on your system. The Core i9-10910 purportedly has better single-core performance, and the Core i9-10900 is expected to offer superior multi-core performance.

The Three Musketeers of productivity, all in one app All for one, and one for all! Why have your word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software separated when you can merge the Three Musketeers of productivity into one program? Microsoft has finally answered our prayers by launching an all-in-one app that consolidates Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The new Office app was first released to 10,000 users back in November for beta testing using Apple's TestFlight program. Feedback received from the sample of users compelled Microsoft to add third-party storage services (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud), and implement templates for new documents, spreadsheets and presentations, as well as other performance enhancements. The new Office app is currently available to all Android and iOS phone users, and Microsoft has plans to fully optimize the app for tablets, although the new all-in-one software currently only offers limited support for Android tablets. The best part of this Microsoft Office debut is that it's mostly free. "The app is free to use, even without signing in. However, signing in with a Microsoft Account or connecting to a third-party storage service will enable you to access and store documents in the cloud," Microsoft wrote. "An Office 365 or Microsoft 365 subscription will also unlock various premium features, consistent with those in the current Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps." Microsoft also plans to integrate useful features into the Office app in the coming months, including transforming voice into digital text, framing Excel sheets into a more convenient format for devices, and optimizing PowerPoint for users seeking a quick way to create outlines. The tech giant is still planning to keep Word, Excel and PowerPoint as individual apps for users who prefer standalone versions.

game information: Developed by: ACE Team Published by: Modus Genre(s): Action First Released Jul 21, 2020 plate:Nintendo SwitchPCPlayStation 4StadiaXbox One Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break is a carefree hop, skip, and jump through world history, art, and absurdist meme culture. One moment it's 800 BC and the set is dressed in the myths of ancient Greece, the next it's 1500 AD and the sun god gazes down on Tenochtitlan, then a bit later it's the very beginning of time and everything is spaghetti and meatballs. It never dwells, never stops to make sense of it all. Historical figures pop their cartoonish heads into view for a brief visual gag before disappearing, bit players tossed aside in a bygone round of whack-a-mole. Fittingly, Rock of Ages 3 is best enjoyed with the same restless approach in mind. Structured as a series of discrete challenges, each hectic bout of arcade action lasting no more than a couple of frantic minutes, it feels designed to be experienced in short, sharp bursts. Don't linger. Dip in and, when you feel the frustration levels rising, dip out, move on to a new challenge, or simply come back later. The core conceit revolves around the idea that all war, throughout all history, is essentially fought by lobbing rocks at each other. The Rock of Ages series has so far focused on one very specific interpretation of this idea: You have to roll a rock through a trap-laden obstacle course to attack the enemy castle at the end. Controlling the roll takes some adjustment. The initial temptation is to embrace the top speed of your chosen boulder and should be resisted. Move too fast and you won't have the handling to steer through the crowded tracks, let alone slow down in time to make the next corner. Rocks don't have brakes as such, and it took me some time to get used to easing off the accelerator when required and knowing when my built-up momentum was optimal to negotiate what lay ahead. A couple dozen playable rocks are unlocked via the story mode, each sporting slightly different characteristics. Most are conventional variants--one's a bit heavier but accelerates slower, another is faster but more easily damaged, and so on. But some opt for more novel traits, like being a ball composed entirely of sheep, its uneven surface adding some extra rock to your roll. To be honest, though, as charmingly silly as it is to unlock a new rock that is literally a giant stone cube, I found the default option (he's a real all-rounder) the most suitable in almost every situation. Courses are treacherous, too. Battering rams will bash you off the track, springboard traps will fling you sideways, cannons and catapults and tanks and trebuchets all launch their payloads in your direction, and various cows, bulls, elephants, and even people will do their best to impede your progress. Though you can destroy many of these obstacles by crashing into them at the right angle and with enough speed, you'll sustain damage in doing so and run the risk of not being able to complete the circuit. Instead, all obstacles are best avoided by charting a nimble passage between, around, or occasionally over the top of whatever's in your way. Running the gauntlet through a particularly dangerous section of track and emerging unscathed feels exhilarating, as if you've pulled off an instinctual stunt-driving masterclass full of death-defying near-misses and escapes by the seat of your pants. Screw up your run and that exhilaration can turn to frustration. It can be funny to round a corner and run straight into a large frog that bounces you back the way you came, or crash through a wall only to trigger a springboard trap that throws you off the track. Sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh. However, I found such gallows humour would swiftly give way to bitterness. Grievances pile up as a seemingly unavoidable chain reaction of catastrophe interrupts your flow--that frog bounces you back into an exploding barrel, the bull does its jump attack to immobilise you, and now you're an easy target for the cannon--and your entire run lies in ruins. The game's turned against you and soon every little bump is a grave annoyance, exemplary of an unjust world. It's not that these things are capricious or arbitrary. The injustice isn't a result of a random roll. Hit that bump at the wrong angle and you know it's going to end poorly. Enter that series of S-bends too fast and you've only got yourself to blame when the sticky cows take you out. It's more that the courses are so chaotic, so congested with angles and projectiles that it's nigh impossible to calculate the correct trajectories and evasive manoeuvres on the fly. Get it right and it's thrilling, even if at times you'll marvel at how you managed it. Get it wrong--always the more likely scenario--and it's exhausting. Not helping matters is the maddening inconsistency of the respawn placement of your rock after a fall. The paths you follow are typically narrow and always edged by sheer drops--fall off and ideally you are reset close to where you exited the track. Sometimes it feels fair, returning you just before the corner that messed you up. Other times it drops you too far back, punishing you further by having to repeat a large section of the course against the clock. Yet other times it returns you too close to the jump you missed, and you find yourself having to slowly reverse in order to gain the longer run-up required. I ended up quitting out of countless challenges because I felt the respawn had robbed me in some fashion. Rolling your rock, in all its alternately thrilling and aggravating glory, is the primary concern of the "Break" part of the Rock of Ages 3 equation. The story mode found here serves up six variations of your central gate-crashing objective that are just different enough from each other to alleviate any pent-up frustration. Keep failing at one and it does feel like a clean slate when you switch over to a new challenge. The Time Trial mode makes a virtue of its stop-start nature. To beat the times necessary to earn a gold medal, you have to learn the courses inside out, a knowledge gained only through countless restarts. The skill ceiling here is towering, demanding precision control of your chosen rock as well as both the audacity to identify preposterous shortcuts and the thumbstick dexterity to pull off the moves necessary to traverse them. I was able to secure a bronze medal on every course on the first or second time, but the silver remained out of reach on many, and the gold medal times still often look like witchcraft. Gradually I found I could shave seconds off my time by taking this line through those sections, by performing risky jumps to cut corners, or by clipping these pillars to help me change direction without having to reduce my speed. Mining the track for further secrets threw up several daring shortcuts I would never have noticed during a normal run, though I'm still honing my ability to execute them seamlessly. Even in the pre-release period, where the time trial leaderboards were po[CENSORED]ted only by a handful of developers, testers and reviewers, it remained thoroughly rewarding to see my new best time inch its way into the top 10. In the main War challenge variant, you are also tasked with laying traps to prevent enemy rocks from reaching your castle. The field presents two identical courses: on one you'll be rolling to avoid the enemy's traps, and on the other the enemy will be rolling to avoid yours. Viewing the track from a bird's-eye perspective, you get a couple of minutes to lay down your traps before you and the enemy are allowed to start rolling. Three runs are usually necessary to completely destroy the enemy's castle, and so in between each round you get another chance to lay down some more traps to hinder your opponent's run. It's a neat idea. The base course is the same for you and the enemy, so when you're on your first run you can take note of the best--or rather, worst--spots to lay traps. When you hit a snag somewhere, it's painful but also provides useful intelligence. Immediately you start thinking about how much worse you could make it for your opponent with a few cunning additions. Further, you are limited in the type and amount of traps you can lay, and there's a genuine tactical element at play here as you survey the track and make interesting choices about which finite resources you're going to deploy and where. The War challenge can also be incredibly tense. The rounds aren't strictly defined--you have to wait for a cooldown before you can start your next run, but you don't start it automatically--so there's a clever push and pull over whether to start your run now and get ahead of your opponent, or delay it a little longer while you keep laying down traps. There's even a great siren sound effect to alert you to when your opponent begins their run, and a little picture-in-picture window showing you exactly where they are. Being able to witness the enemy roll into your carefully laid trap, or just completely mess up some innocuous jump, as you overtake them through the same section of the track is a joy that never grows stale. More throwaway are the Obstacle Course and Skee Boulder challenges. The former has you race side-by-side with an AI rock through a course pre-po[CENSORED]ted with traps for both of you while the latter is a cleaner course littered only with points targets for you to hit and the chance of a bonus multiplier if you reach the finish line first. Neither possesses the depth of the time trials or the War challenge, and tend to expose the limitations of the AI's rolling ability. The Break mode is rounded out with two even more underwhelming challenges. The Unit Challenge is a stripped-down version of War, limiting your options of one or two prescribed traps and rushing you through its planning and rolling phases in an unsatisfying hurry. And, finally, Avalanche presents just the trap-laying aspect, and asks you to prevent a dozen or so enemy rocks from breaching your castle. The more leisurely pace is a welcome change, but it's simply too easy to beat, especially once you've clocked that the AI struggles to navigate certain traps more than others. Away from the story mode of Break, Rock of Ages 3 also lets you "Make" in a comprehensive challenge editing tool. Here you can create your own course and, once you've proved it can be completed, upload it to the Rock of Ages 3 server to share with other players. It's basically Rock of Ages Maker. The scope of the terrain editor is impressive. You can click and drag to carve out a track, while another click and drag allows you to widen, narrow, raise, or lower it at any point. You can even assign nodes that make it easy to branch the track in multiple directions. There are different sets based on the eras depicted in the story mode with all the environmental objects, traps and obstacles are available for you to drop in wherever you like. It's great that all these props are readily available, but it does mean the courses you build will look a lot like the ones in the base game. Despite some fiddliness with selecting things amongst terrain of varying heights--an issue that also plagues the trap-laying aspects of the Break mode--it's a powerful tool that makes it surprisingly easy and fast to build a course. I built my first, and admittedly slightly barebones, course in about five minutes. I was able to jump in and test it at the click of a button and it was actually a blast to play, even if I do say so myself. The Make servers are already brimming with courses to sample, drawn I assume from the beta tests run earlier this year and likely the developers themselves. While I downloaded a few courses that were clearly someone's first test level, I did play quite a few that were easily on par with anything in the story mode, though these did tend to be significantly more challenging. The only real downside of the Make tools are that they're limited to relying on the same challenge types found in the Break mode--you can't customise the parameters of the challenge or stretch the rules of rolling a big rock in more adventurous ways. Together, Make and Break showcase the strengths and weaknesses of Rock of Ages 3 overall. At its best, it's a thrilling and often hilarious ride through an imaginative and surreal landscape. At its worst, its formula is too rigid, its challenges too rote, and it can feel like your frustration with its idiosyncrasies could boil over at any moment. Thankfully, in such times, the bite-size structure comes to the rescue, and you can roll into something new. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Required) Processor: Intel Core i5-760 2.8 GHz / AMD Athlon X4 740 3.2 GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 5 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Required) Processor: Intel Core i7-4771 3.5 GHz / AMD FX-9370 4.4 GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4 GB VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 470 (4 GB VRAM) DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 5 GB available space

Is AMD making progress in the GHz race too? Over at Igor's Lab, sources have indicated that the upcoming Ryzen 9 4950X will have a boost frequency of 4.8 GHz, which is seriously impressive given that it's expected to be a 16-core, 32-thread part. As with any leaked information, we do have to take it with a grain of salt, though, and preliminary specs are always subject to change. The information comes from an OPN code Igor managed to get his hands on, which reads "100-000000059-52_48/35_Y." Decoding that, the 35 at the end signifies the 3.5 GHz base clock, with 4.8 telling us the boost clock is 4.8 GHz. Reports indicate that this also pertains an engineering sample of the 16-core part, making it the successor to the 3950X, likely to be called the 4950X -- unless AMD jumps straight to the 5000 nomenclature for the Zen 3 "Vermeer" parts, in which case it will likely be called the 5950X. A move such as this wouldn't be all too surprising given that the current 4000-series chips are APUs based on the Zen 2 architecture. AMD has also already confirmed that it will release the first Zen 3 based processors this year, which paired with this rumor could spell some serious number-crunching hardware from Team Red. Although Intel might be running behind in the process node race, it has always had the upper hand in the GHz race, which is what most games tend to favor in the end. If this rumor is true that AMD's top Zen 3 part will boost to 4.8 GHz, then it might also end up taking the crown for best gaming CPU soon. A new architecture, paired with these high frequencies could lead AMD to win both on per-core performance as well as multi-core performance. For comparison, the current Zen 2 based 3950X has a base clock of 3.5 GHz and a boost clock of up to 4.7 GHz, which isn't much lower. It's surprising to see AMD's chips boosting to 4.8 GHz, but it's only 100 MHz more than the current-gen parts, and AMD has shown as that its silicon yields are good enough for high boost frequencies, as proven by the new XT line of processors. But, we do have to play the devil's advocate. There is nothing here to prove that this product actually exists, or that this OPN belongs to a 16-core Zen 3 part. With many CPU leaks, we often have an entry in a digital databank to prove that a test was actually run on the hardware, but all we have to go by with this leak is an OPN code from a source we cannot confirm.

Microsoft wants Windows users to steer clear of this disk-cleaning app Don't install CCleaner, Microsoft warns. Microsoft Defender Antivirus, formerly known as Windows Defender, is flagging the po[CENSORED]r junk-file remover as a "potentially unwanted program," Bleeping Computer reported (via our sister site Tom's Guide). What is CCleaner? CCleaner is a disk-cleaning app that's been around since 2004. It is owned by Piriform, a company Avast purchased in 2017. CCleaner claims to boosts PC performance — improving speed, safety and security — by removing unwanted, space-consuming files. Why is CCleaner being flagged by Microsoft Defender Antivirus? Microsoft Defender Antivirus has it out for CCleaner. Why? According to the Redmond-based tech giant, CCleaner installers are often bundled with superfluous, needless applications — and Microsoft isn't having it. "While the bundled applications themselves are legitimate," Microsoft wrote on its Security Intelligence blog, "bundling of software, especially products from other providers, can result in unexpected software activity that can negatively impact user experiences." Software applications that are often bundled with CCleaner include Google Chrome, Google Toolbar, Avast Free Antivirus and AVG Antivirus Free. Microsoft added that while the CCleaner installer offers users the option to opt-out of unnecessary software, many Windows users end up inadvertently installing the programs. In order to "protect" Windows users, Microsoft Defender Antivirus flags CCleaner as a potentially unwanted application (PUA). CCleaner's rocky history with Microsoft Piriform and Microsoft haven't had the best relationship. In the fall of 2019, the Redmond-based tech giant censored CCleaner from its support forums to block members from recommending the junk-file remover tool. Microsoft shortly backpedaled on this decision. It's unclear what caused Microsoft to blacklist CCleaner in the first place, but the conglomerate always had an aversion to registry cleaners. "Microsoft does not support the use of registry cleaners. Some programs available for free on the internet might contain spyware, adware, or viruses. If you decide to install a registry cleaning utility, be sure to research the product and only download and install programs from publishers that you trust," Microsoft wrote in 2018. In 2017, CCleaner suffered a loss of reputation; hackers injected malware into the legitimate application to steal data from users. With CCleaner trying to clean up its image as an authentic program over the years, Microsoft Defender Antivirus isn't helping by flagging the disk-cleaning software as a PUA. “We are in the process of engaging with Microsoft to understand why CCleaner was recently detected as PUA. We surmise the issue appears to be around bundling, and we believe we have addressed this so that our product is now no longer flagged," a CCleaner spokesperson told TechRadar. With Google apps being included in CCleaner's bundles, we can't help but wonder if Microsoft is only penalizing CCleaner to stifle one of its biggest competitors.

game information: Developed by: Calappa Games Published by: NussoftMastiffPlayism Genre(s): Action3DFighting First Released Jul 29, 2020 Nintendo SwitchPC Fight Crab, a game about crustaceans fighting other crustaceans, begins innocently enough. You start as a plucky young snow crab, defending his rock pool from other, invading crabs. The next thing you know, that same snow crab is now kaiju-sized, fighting in city streets against a similarly kaiju-sized lobster wielding a giant knife and revolver pistol. Things, incredibly, only escalate from there. What if crabs had weapons? That's the ridiculous notion that Fight Crab bases itself on, and it commits to it wholeheartedly with an involved combat system and a variety of scenarios that grow increasingly bizarre. The game often exceeds your expectations of what you might anticipate from a game that pits these hard-shelled creatures against one another. At times the joke can start to wear thin, but it's hard to forget the delightful, laugh-out-loud surprises it continues to throw at you. A third-person, physics-based fighting game, Fight Crab is reliant on your ability to flip your shelled opponents onto their backs and make sure they don't get up. Damage dealt by striking with your claws, environmental objects, or weapons is tracked by a percentage meter, and higher percentages make it harder for crabs to regain their upright posture--a system that draws from Super Smash Bros., and one that allows for the occasional, unbelievable near-death comeback and matches that come down to the wire. Each of your crab's pincers is assigned to your controller's left and right analog sticks, allowing for a free range of movement to push, lift, and swing. Left and right triggers thrust your claws forward, and bumpers pinch them--it's used as a blocking maneuver or to grab your opponents and other objects. Movement is assigned to the D-pad, where you command your crab's little legs to automatically move in a direction until you tell it to stop again, which feels like mani[CENSORED]ting a conveyor belt. A combat mechanic that boosts your damage and allows for an area-effect attack is mapped, bizarrely, to the View/Select button. Turning your crab requires you to move both arms either left or right, and you turn the camera by clicking the analog sticks. It is no doubt a convoluted and inelegant system that makes any kind of maneuver feel like a hard task--you're never entirely in control of all your functions at once, and it often feels like you're trying to steer a runaway tank. But from all that awkwardness is where the beauty of Fight Crab blooms. Those clumsy controls, combined with a combat system informed by object physics, create a wonderful kind of chaos together. Fights are often ungraceful, like a desperate slap fight between two drunkards who have never thrown a punch in their life before. There are a lot of extended arms trying to keep flailing limbs at bay and bodies crashing into each other, with a considerable mess being made in the process. It sounds pitiful, but these are giant crabs we're talking about, which makes the spectacle of it something fascinating to behold. Throw in some environmental weapons like trees and cars, a sword or two, boomerangs, rocket boosters, and maybe a lightsaber, and it's hard not to light up in a confused glee when witnessing the pandemonium. Never feeling like you're completely in control can take its toll though, especially on harder difficulties. The inability to quickly react can be frustrating; often, it feels like you're fighting in slow motion, and there were times I had to double-check that my game's frame rate hadn't tanked. You'll sometimes find yourself in uninteresting stalemates with both crabs disarmed, bashing their arms together, trying to find a clear opening or advantage. Fight Crab makes it difficult to break the lock-on camera in order to survey the environment to rearm yourself; the rules of crab combat dictate that you always have to stare your opponent in the eyes. But the system still allows for some wonderfully rewarding maneuvers if you can anticipate your opponent. Having such control over your limbs let me do things like grab an enemy crab's arm as it was bringing a ridiculously large war hammer down onto me and hold it up as I pummeled and pinched its beady little eyes with my other arm. I once managed to pry away a crab's raised shield with the hook of a crowbar and follow up with a point-blank gunshot, which was magical. Even the relatively simple act of snatching a sword from your opponent's claws or successfully table-flipping them onto their back is immensely satisfying, given the finesse required. These beautiful moments make you want to shout in joy. The game's primary mode is a campaign which throws you into different arenas to go up against a series of opponents one after the other, survival style. If you find yourself on the back foot and losing your grip on the controls, the constant onslaught can be disheartening. Thankfully, the game allows you to simply resume your progress beginning from the opponent who beat you. More importantly, the game's escalating ridiculousness with regard to its enemies and stages is certainly enough of an incentive to keep you pushing through it--some fond memories of mine involve fighting a nunchaku-wielding crab atop a table located in a Chinese restaurant, going against a pair of ninja crabs equipped with shuriken and sai, tumbling around in a daycare with a couple of chainsaws, and going up against two crabs riding Vespas swinging around chains. There are certainly many parts of Fight Crab that leave a lot to be desired--the UI and menus are garish at best, and outside of the crabs themselves and the energetic J-rock theme song, the audiovisual work is only serviceable. The game's currency, levelling up, and weapon shop system are left unmentioned; you stumble across them on your own. Fight Crab also features online co-op for its campaign, online competitive ranked multiplayer and casual lobbies--all modes which I unfortunately failed to find a match for during the launch week. Perhaps not enough people have heard about how great the act of fighting crabs can be, and that needs to change. Like the crab combatants themselves, Fight Crab feels like it smashed its ridiculous concept into a clunky, physics-based fighting system with gusto and didn't let up until something kind of worked. And a lot of the time, it does work. There's magic here--it's impossible not to be charmed by the silly, uproarious dynamic of watching two crabs having a knife fight. It's sloppy and ugly at times, but so is life. Fight Crab taught me that sometimes you just need to stop, take a minute to appreciate the beauty that lies within those colliding carapaces, and let yourself smile. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: OS: Windows 8.1 or 10 Processor: Intel Core i3 Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 1 GB available space RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i5 or higher Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 1 GB available space

Is Ampere just around the corner? According to a source at MyDrivers.com (shoutout to VideoCardz for spotting it), Nvidia is discontinuing the RTX 2070 Super graphics card, having shipped the last batch of chips to its board partners. Starting now, it will not be manufacturing any more GPUs for this card, and the last remaining inventory will be sold. Of course, there is a logical explanation for this move: Nvidia's Ampere cards are around the corner, and it is healthy for Nvidia to sell off the old stock and discontinue the product line early for a handful of reasons. Unsold stock when the new cards come out naturally gets expensive as it has to be discounted to sell, but discontinuing the old line also ensures that the RTX 2000 series don't end up competing (too much) with the RTX 3000 series. Surely you remember when the RTX 2070 launched two years ago: despite early discontinuation, the GTX 1080 was still readily available at the RTX 2070 launch, which lead to low 1080 prices and somewhat slow initial adoption of the new RTX cards -- of course, that can be seen as a win for consumers, but we doubt Nvidia wants that scenario to play out for too long. Now, according to MyDrivers the RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 Super, and the RTX 2070 Super have all been discontinued, with just the RTX 2060 series and GTX 1660 remaining in the Turing line. If we may speculate a little, seeing Nvidia discontinue the entire high-end RTX lineup so quickly tells us that Nvidia is planning on launching the new high-end cards all in close succession. Reports around the web have the launch of the first RTX 3000 series cards pinned in September, with Nvidia completing the lineup in October. But don't think you'll be able to buy the new cards immediately at launch. The new Ampere cards will undoubtedly be quite scarce at first with high prices, and AIC partners will be busy coming out with their own variants. Long story short, you'll want to give the entire GPU market some time to shift and settle down, which is among the reasons we believe that right now is a terrible time to buy a graphics card, especially in the high-end segment. Meanwhile, if you want to know more about what to expect from the RTX 3000 series graphics cards, check out our all-we-know summary for more.

Microsoft has pushed out an out-of-band, i.e. emergency, update to all Windows users to resolve a serious security flaw in Internet Explorer -- and the printing problem that was caused by the first version of the same security fix. The company initially released the fix for the Internet Explorer vulnerability on Sept. 23. But it had to be manually downloaded and installed, and the instructions Microsoft included to do so, if you could even find them, were pretty confusing to anyone who wasn't an IT administrator. By contrast, the patch released yesterday (Oct. 3) is available through the regular Windows Update channel, which means the machine will download and install it for you as soon as you let it. "We recommend that you install this update as soon as a possible and restart your PC to fully apply the mitigations," Microsoft said in yesterday's advisory. How to update now To make sure you get the update, go to the Control Panel in Windows 7 through 10 and find the Windows Update icon (in Windows 10, type "control panel" into the search field on the bottom left of the screen), or click the Windows icon in Windows 10, select the gear icon for Settings and click Update & Security. Check for updates to see if there's anything outstanding. If you're unsure whether you have this latest update, go into Update History and see if there's an entry for KB4524147 dated Oct. 3 or later. While you're at it, decide whether you want updates to download and install automatically, download automatically but wait for your authorization to install, or do nothing until you manually check for updates. Flaw actively being attacked Not many details are available about the Internet Explorer vulnerability being fixed, but the flaw is being exploited in the wild by an undisclosed adversary. The flaw was discovered by Google researchers and apparently permits remote code execution. An attacker could use a malicious crafted web page to reach out over the internet to install and run malware on your PC, but only if you are running Internet Explorer in an administrator account with full software-modification privileges. For precisely, such reasons, we at Tom's Guide recommend that you perform day-to-day computing tasks in a limited account that cannot install or modify most software. We also recommend avoiding Internet Explorer, as it is still the most attacked browser despite its dwindling market share; Microsoft Edge is much better. Microsoft's original, manual release of this patch on Sept. 23 appeared to cause printing problems, so the new, automatic version fixes those problems as well. Microsoft

well i vote for DH2 nice rhythm a very nice song

DH1 DH2