As part of its holiday celebration we’re once again getting treated to a daily free game from the Epic Games Store, and today’s title is one of the best Soulslikes on PC. Remnant: From The Ashes was one of the most-lauded games of 2019 and it’s completely free, but only for the next 24 hours – so you better go grab it quick. PC gamers are still waiting on the inevitable port of From Software’s classic Bloodborne on PC, to say nothing of the delay of Elden Ring, but anyone looking to scratch that Soulslike itch could do far worse than give Remnant: Beyond The Ashes a try – especially as it’s currently free on the Epic Games Store for the next day. Remnant is a single-player or co-op action-focused survival RPG where, much like Dark Souls or similar titles, players much traverse the world and take every combat encounter seriously – underestimate a single enemy and you’ll likely die and lose a lot of progress to boot. Remnant has been free on the Epic Games Store before, of course, as it last popped in back in August 2020. For anyone who missed it, and who doesn’t have Microsoft’s newly-rebranded PC Game Pass, can pick it up today for the reasonable price of nothing whatsoever – provided you’re quick and grab it within the next 24 hours. Here’s the trailer to get you in the mood:

V1. Good text + good blur

Why it matters: Nvidia just announced some new laptop products which are coming early next year. Most odd is that one of them is a line of laptops featuring a never-before-revealed RTX 2050. It looks like another unexpected measure to work within the supply-choked GPU market. The new RTX 2050, MX570, and MX550 GPUs should give more choices to customers with different hardware requirements. We already have laptops equipped with the more recent Ampere generation’s RTX 3050, but perhaps the 2050 will be a cheaper option (3050 laptops go for around $800). Even at a lower price point, the RTX 2050 will have all the technologies associated with Nvidia’s latest graphics cards: RT cores, Tensor cores, DLSS, Nvidia Reflex, Nvidia Broadcast, Nvidia Encounter, and Nvidia Optimus. It’s hard to say how it will perform, though. TechSpot’s review of the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti laptop noted its paltry 4GB of VRAM hurt its ray-tracing performance. Nvidia did just release a 12GB desktop 2060 in another attempt to ease some pressure in the GPU market. So maybe a new laptop 20 series card won’t be short on RAM. The 3050 Ti review also questioned its place in the market compared to the cheaper 1650 or more powerful 3060. As for the other two cards, the newly announced MX570 is the fastest MX GPU yet. Nvidia hasn’t revealed detailed specs, but it will have more CUDA cores and faster memory. As the successor to the MX450, the GeForce MX550 will outperform integrated graphics with snappy performance in applications like Adobe Lightroom and Premiere Pro. All three cards are planned for Spring 2022, but Nvidia has not mentioned specific laptop models at this time.

In context: Even with YouTube and Facebook competing in the live streaming market, Twitch still reigns supreme. That could change soon, however, as a new contender approaches. TikTok is starting to take its first steps in streaming, launching the TikTok Live Studio app to select users worldwide. Users who've had access to the streaming app shared images of the UI, chat features, and the settings page to show what the software can do. TikTok Live Studio is rather basic in its current state, much like what Twitch Studio beta was when it was released. The current version of TikTok's streaming software allows users to record in landscape or portrait mode. It can also capture from a variety of sources including games, mobile, video, program, camera, text and images. Moreover, a chat component features a basic set of emojis. To try the new streaming app, you'll need to access the official website and sign in using a TikTok account. Once you've downloaded the app, open it and enter your account credentials. Then, you'll be able to stream content from your computer, phone, or gaming console directly to TikTok. A TikTok representative said Live Studio is nothing more than a test for now, and as such, it may never be widely released. The ongoing phase will allow the social media giant to evaluate how creators use the software. Based on these results, development will be adapted according to their needs. It's still unclear what the primary type of streamers TikTok is hoping to get with its offering, but based on marketing material, it seems aimed at gamers. Alternatives like OBS Studio and Streamlabs OBS are much more mature than Live Studio, but that's to be expected considering the app is still in a test phase.

Noise Beads have silently debuted as the latest entrant in the growing market of truly wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds in India. The new earbuds come with a metallic finish and are claimed to deliver up to 18 hours of listening time on a single charge. The Noise Beads also come with touch controls and include support for voice assistants. The earbuds feature a beads-like design and come in a compact charging case. Users also have two different colour options to choose from. Noise Beads price in India, availability Noise Beads price in India has been set at Rs. 1,499 for an introductory period, according to a listing on Amazon. The earbuds appear to be later available at Rs. 3,499. The Amazon listing also suggests that the Noise Beads will go on sale in the country starting 12pm (noon) on December 24. Noise Beads specifications The Noise Beads come in an ergonomic design with silicone tips for convenient fit. The earbuds include Bluetooth v5.1 connectivity that is paired with a proprietary Hyper Sync technology. Noise has also offered an IPX5 build to provide a splash-resistant design. Further, each Noise Beads earbud weighs 4.5 grams. Similar to other TWS earbuds, the Noise Beads are paired with the charging case that carries a USB Type-C port for charging. Each earbud also has a dedicated battery that is rated to offer seven hours of playtime on a single charge. The total playback time of the earbuds with the charging case is claimed to be up to 18 hours. The Noise Beads are equipped with touch controls and support both Google Assistant and Siri. Moreover, the earbuds can be paired with an Android phone or an iPhone.

Valve’s Steam Labs effort brings new ways to browse the mountains of games available on the platform, generally introduced with beta rollouts known as ‘experiments’. After a quiet 12 months, lucky experiment number 13 has landed, introducing Store Hubs with “new ways to browse every niche of Steam“. Store Hubs essentially serve as a gentle revamp for all of Steam’s genre and tag pages. Once you’ve opted into the experiment, all such pages will now have a recommendation carousel at the top, highlighting a number of games based on what you’ve played in the past and what your friends and followed curators are recommending. The games are highlighted with relevant tags and release info, plus a few seconds of footage from a highly compressed trailer. The revamped store pages also highlight new and upcoming events, push forward games you’ve wishlisted, and are more likely to present you with personalised recommendations. The newer, more robust sorting tools are also available here, letting you narrow down your niche even further. These features will eventually just become part of Steam – assuming, of course, that users like them. Valve’s Steam Labs experiments have been fairly quiet lately, as the last one was introduced back in December 2020, bringing additional features for browsing sales. Hopefully all this means that finding new PC games will be a bit easier.

DH1 DH2

Accepted

Why it matters: The chip shortage, high demand, and scalpers have all contributed to a situation where new hardware is hard to find in stock and consumers have to either pay a greatly inflated price or play the waiting game. In the case of DDR5 DRAM, it makes more sense to play the waiting game, as getting your hands on a kit that’s reasonably priced could remain a challenge in the coming months. If you’ve been contemplating a PC upgrade that involves DDR5 memory, chances are you already know that such kits suffer from poor availability, not to mention the continuing problem of scalpers grabbing every last one to sell at inflated prices that reach as high as $2,500. The main reason is, of course, the ongoing chip shortage. However, it’s not the lack of DDR5 chips, but rather the lack of power management integrated circuits (PMICs) that has led to this situation. Manufacturers are actively trying to improve production capacity, but that can’t exactly happen overnight. Availability won’t improve much in the coming months, but the average selling price could see a small decrease. According to a report from TrendForce, the cost of DDR5 modules could fall by anywhere between three to eight percent in Q1 2022. In the case of DDR4 modules, the price could decrease by as much as 10 percent as a result of PC OEMs trying to reduce inventory during the holiday shopping season. This won’t necessarily make a huge difference for your wallet but is indicative of a slow, gradual improvement in supply for DRAM that could eventually make DDR5 scalpers lose interest. Right now you can only use DDR5 with a handful of Intel Alder Lake CPUs, but that will change as Intel launches additional models and suppliers ramp up production. There is now an oversupply of mobile DRAM, but that hasn’t helped in the current context where phone makers have trouble securing a constant supply of various other components. TrendForce expects mobile DRAM prices to decrease between eight to 13 percent in the first quarter of next year, especially as smartphone sales have taken a hit and created inventory pressure for both suppliers and phone makers. In the case of graphics DRAM, suppliers are now gradually shifting from 8 Gb to 16 Gb GDDR6 chips, with Micron leading the transition. However, since most chips used for consumer graphics cards are still of the 8 Gb variety, the high demand means prices won’t improve and at best will remain flat in the coming months.

In brief: Would you like to win an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or some gaming gear? If your answer is "yes," then you might be interested in knowing Nvidia's allowing gamers to earn them by playing KovaaK's new system latency challenges and sharing a screenshot with the score on Twitter. In partnership with KovaaK's and its developer, The Meta, Nvidia is holding the "System Latency Challenge" to show gamers how its Reflex technology affects their gameplay. In addition, Nvidia will randomly select 27 winners that shared their challenge scores on Twitter to win sweet prizes, including GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPUs. Seeing how hard it's to buy a new graphics card at MSRP, it's nice to see Nvidia essentially giving out nine RTX 3080 Ti founder's edition graphics cards. However, there's more to win, including nine MSI Oculux NXG253R gaming monitors with a 360Hz refresh rate and nine Logitech Pro X superlight mice. To be eligible to win these prizes, you'll have to play one of the multiple "system latency challenge" modes available under Nvidia Experiments and screenshot your score from the leaderboard at the end of the challenge. Then, share it on Twitter with the hashtag #FramesWinGames and you're done. From December 14 until the 21st, KovaaK's aim trainer will be free to play so gamers can try Nvidia's system latency challenges without paying for it. Those who want to keep playing after the free trial ends can buy it with a 50 percent discount until December 22. Nvidia Reflex technology has proven to be helpful if you want to reduce latency in games, but the list of games supporting it is rather short. Truth be told, this feature is only worth using on fast-paced games like Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Valorant, so don't expect Reflex to be a widely adopted technology.

Samsung Galaxy A13 4G has been spotted in a Geekbench listing, offering some insights into the possible specifications of the upcoming smartphone from the South Korean company. The 4G handset is listed to be powered by an Exynos 850 SoC chip and run Android 12 out-of-the-box. Samsung Galaxy A13 4G has already been subject to numerous leaks and the production images of the phone had also surfaced towards the end of last month. Its predecessor, Samsung Galaxy A12 was re-released with the Exynos 850 chipset this August. The 5G variant of Galaxy A13 was launched in the US earlier this month. Samsung's upcoming entry-level smartphone, Galaxy A13 4G appeared in a GeekBench listing, as spotted by SamMobile, showing the 4G variant's possible processor, RAM capacity, and operating system. The handset — with model number SM-A135F — is listed to be powered by the in-house Exynos 850 SoC. The listing shows the handset with 3GB RAM, but there could be other variants as well. Production images of the Galaxy A13 4G had leaked online late last month. The images suggest that the new Samsung phone may include a quad camera unit on the back. Samsung Galaxy A13 4G also appears to have a polycarbonate back panel with a speaker grille, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a USB Type-C port arranged at the bottom. The Galaxy A12 had debuted with a MediaTek Helio P35 chipset and Samsung later re-released the phone with an Exynos 850 chip in select markets including India, owing to the ongoing global semiconductor shortage. Therefore, the Galaxy A13 will not be an upgrade over the A12 in terms of performance. The Geekbench listing indicated that the Galaxy A13 4G will ship with Android 12, unlike the Galaxy A13 5G which runs Android 11. Samsung Galaxy A13 5G was launched in the US earlier this month. The company's most affordable 5G smartphone is priced at $249.99 (roughly 18,700) in the US. Samsung Galaxy A13 5G comes with a 6.5-inch HD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate and a 5,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging support. The smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity SoC and comes with a 50-megapixel triple rear camera setup. The device runs on Android 11 with Samsung's One UI skin on top. Samsung has not shared details about the phone's launch in India, however the Galaxy A13 4G mass production is said to have recently started at the company's Greater Noida facility.

From Roblox to Fortnite, Minecraft has actually gained competition for the title of ‘biggest game in the world’ over the past few years. But when it comes to the crown of ‘biggest game on YouTube’, it seems Minecraft cannot be stopped. The block-builder has reached over a trillion views on YouTube, the first game in the platform’s history to reach that milestone. The numbers themselves are neat and all, but the fun bit is the special stat site YouTube put together to commemorate the milestone (and enjoy a little co-marketing with Microsoft, of course). Minecraft has actually gotten exponentially bigger over the years, and the graphs balloon after about 2020. Minecraft reached 500 billion views late in 2018. By the start of 2019, it had reached 554.3 billion. So the other half of those trillion views have come in within just a fraction of Minecraft’s overall lifespan. If Minecraft’s life ever runs out, it certainly seems like it won’t be any time soon. Mojang has created a special video commemorating Minecraft’s history on YouTube, filled with easter eggs referencing particularly notable videos. (Minecraft FIREE WTFFFFFFF!!!!! Is a personal favourite.)

News "There's no space inside," shouts a beleaguered hospital worker as he tries to push back a frantic crowd of mothers and babies hoping to receive nutrition packs. "It's like this every day," he yells out to us over their heads, "it's been like this for the last four or five months... It was bad last year too, but not like this." The war in Afghanistan is over, but its economy is collapsing and at this hospital, in the remote, central province of Ghor, they're struggling to cope with the fallout. International support, which propped up the previous government, was withdrawn after the Taliban takeover in August, whilst the country's foreign reserves, totalling around $10bn, have been frozen - chiefly by the United States. Afghanistan has seen unemployment and food prices soar, whilst the value of its currency is plummeting and banks have set limits on cash withdrawals. For the women outside the malnutrition triage centre in Ghor, life has always been difficult, but now it's getting even harder. "We have nothing, no food. My children are sick and we don't have medicine," pleads one mother. "Why aren't we getting any help?" There are twice as many cases now compared with this time last year, one senior doctor tells us. Inside a small room, a nurse wraps a measure around the stick-like arm of a young baby. It indicates "red" - the child is severely malnourished. They're witnessing a sharp rise in cases of malnutrition here and across the country, with both mothers and young infants in particular unable to get enough food. The UN has warned that one million children are at risk of dying due to starvation over the coming months. At the malnutrition ward, they're running out of space. "Right now, we have two babies and their mothers in a single bed," Dama, a nurse tells me. "At times we have three." Temperatures can drop well below -10C at night, but there's only enough wood in the heater to last for a couple of hours each day. Under the previous government, the hospital was also badly under-resourced, but at least the Ministry of Health was able to provide them with enough fuel. Now, with funds cut off, the Taliban's government simply doesn't have the money. Even the small pile of wood in the ward's heater has been donated by an international charity. Someone has shoved an empty medicine box and a crisp wrapper inside the stove too, to try and provide a few extra minutes of warmth. Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor province, is around 10 hours drive from the capital Kabul, much of it along a dirt road. The mountains along the way are picturesque, but there's less snow on them than usual - a sign of the continuing drought that's adding to the humanitarian crisis. As we arrive at the province's only hospital, staff are receiving their salaries for the first time in five months, thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Medicine supplies, for now are still dangerously low, however. They have only about a week's worth left, so most patients are told to buy their own from nearby pharmacies. "We don't have anything… no medicines," says Dr Safar, his voice cracking with emotion as he holds up a prescription he's writing, "we are suffering, sometimes we are crying." Many struggle to cover the costs of treatment. Gulfiroz, 20, is recovering from a Caesarean section. Her baby, Benyahim, is doing well, but the procedure has driven her family into debt. "We didn't even have 10 Afghani (9c; 6p) for a taxi here," her mother-in-law tells the BBC. "We couldn't afford to buy her meat, just milk… We had to buy lots of medicines. We asked everyone we know to lend us the money." At times hospital staff hold their own collections on behalf of patients, despite not having received pay checks for months themselves. Dr Parsa, the head of the hospital, has been paying out of his own pocket for six extra nurses, just to keep essential services running. Western governments are anxious about resuming funding, concerned they will be strengthening the new Taliban government. But Dr Parsa says his hospital needs support. "My message to the international community is: this is the worst situation we have ever faced… please send us humanitarian aid. Negotiate with the Islamic emirate [the Taliban government] and unfreeze their foreign reserves." It's not just a rise in malnutrition that hospital staff are witnessing, but also of cases of severe pneumonia as winter sets in. "We don't have fuel, shawls or warm clothes," says one elderly woman accompanying her baby granddaughter in the emergency ward. "We don't have a real life… we're displaced refugees." It's in the measles ward we come across the starkest example of the consequences of the lack of hospital resources. The hospital is struggling to cope with the number of cases of the infectious disease - vaccination campaigns were recently disrupted by both Covid and, until the Taliban takeover, armed clashes. The night before we arrived a baby boy died, because doctors couldn't provide him with enough oxygen. "We needed pure oxygen in cylinders… they're expensive," says another doctor, Dr Musa. A cylinder would have cost them around $50. That can be the difference between life and death in Afghanistan. In fact, there are a few dozen empty cylinders just outside the measles ward. The hospital has a machine to produce its own oxygen, but there's no electricity to power it. At the moment, there's no electricity across the whole city, apart from private solar power in some residents' homes. The city used to be powered by a fuel-run power plant, but there's no money to turn it on. The hospital has its own generators, but they're not enough. Dr Khatera heads the maternity unit, and is the wife of Dr Parsa, who is in charge of the whole hospital. Despite the billions of dollars of international support over the past two decades, she reels off a list of equipment and resources they have long been in need of. Now, the situation is even worse. The International Committee of the Red Cross is committed to providing emergency support for the next six months. Dr Parsa is grateful, but also deeply worried about the future. "If we don't get international help, and this situation continues, my fear is the hospital will shut down. That would be the end of the health service in this province," he warns.

Economy Boohoo has said a surge in customers returning clothes is likely to hit its business, as people increasingly swap loungewear for dresses. The online retailer said it had sold an "exceptionally high" proportion of dresses in the quarter to November. A Boohoo spokeswoman said people were more likely to return expensive clothing from its brands such as Karen Millen and Coast. It added overseas delivery delays and higher shipping costs will hit profits. Shares in Boohoo sank 14% after the news. Boohoo said it expects its full-year underlying earnings to grow by between 6% and 7%, compared to previous forecasts of a 9-9.5% increase. "This is due to significantly higher returns rates impacting net sales growth and costs, with continued extended delivery times impacting international demand," it said. "[This is] consequently driving lower returns on marketing expenditure, and significant ongoing pandemic-related inbound freight cost inflation." Pandemic disruption Boohoo said it expected freight costs to the UK to be about £20m higher this year, while consumer uncertainty and delivery delays were hampering European and overseas trade. Sales are now set to grow by between 12% and 14%, far short of previous expectations of 20% to 25% growth. The firm said sales rose in the UK over the three months to November 30, but fell sharply in Europe, the US and the rest of the world. John Lyttle, group chief executive, said international sales had been significantly hit by "ongoing service disruption due to the pandemic" which, added to higher consumer uncertainty due to the spread of the Omicron variant, had dragged on its performance. But he expected sales to get better as "pandemic-related disruption begins to ease". The group said it was having to deliver all international sales through its UK distribution network due to shipping and air freight disruption, which is leading to lengthy customer delivery delays. This has meant the expected recovery in the US has not happened, while trade in Europe has stumbled since a bounce back in September, due to consumer worries. Freight costs have also rocketed over the financial year, by around £20m into the UK and £45m outside the UK. Boohoo is planning to turn its international business around by investing in its global distribution network. Boohoo has expanded significantly in recent years. It acquired Karen Millen and Coast in 2019, bought Warehouse the following year and more recently took over the brand and website of failed department store chain Debenhams.

Artist: M. S. Subbulakshmi Real Name: Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi Birth Date /Place: 16 September 1916 Madurai, Madras Presidency, India Age: 106 Social status (Single / Married): Married Artist Picture: Musical Genres: Indian classical music Awards: -- Top 3 Songs (Names): vishnu sahasranamam , sri venkateswara suprabhatham , brahma kadigina Other Information: Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) was an Indian Carnatic singer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.[1] She is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award, often considered Asia's Nobel Prize,[2] in 1974 with the citation reading "Exacting purists acknowledge Srimati M. S. Subbulakshmi as the leading exponent of classical and semi-classical songs in the carnatic tradition of South India. She was the First Indian who performed in United Nations General Assembly in 1966. Subbulakshmi (Kunjamma to her family) was born on 16 September 1916 in Madurai, Madras Presidency, India to veena player Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother Akkammal was a violinist. She started learning Carnatic music at an early age and trained in Carnatic music under the tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and subsequently in Hindustani music under Pandit Narayanrao Vyas. Her mother, from the devadasi community, was a music exponent and a regular stage performer, and Subbulakshmi grew up in an environment very conducive to musical learning. Her musical interests were also shaped by regular interactions with Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhagavathar and Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.

Musician Name: Amjad Ali Khan Birthday / Location: 9 October 1945 (age 76) Gwalior, Gwalior State, British India Main instrument: sarod Musician Picture: Musician Awards & Nominations:-- Best Performance: -- Other Information: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (born 9 October 1945) is an Indian classical sarod player, best known for his clear and fast ekhara taans. Khan was born into a classical musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan in 2001. Khan first performed in the United States in 1963 and continued into the 2000s, with his sons.[1][3] He has experimented with modifications to his instrument throughout his career.[4] Khan played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and worked as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico.[2] In 2011, he performed on Carrie Newcomer's album Everything is Everywhere. In 2014, along with his two sons, Ayaan Ali Khan and Amaan Ali Khan, he performed[5] 'Raga For Peace' in 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Khan was awarded 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award. Khan received Padma Shri in 1975, Padma Bhushan in 1991, and Padma Vibhushan in 2001, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1989 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2011.[6][7] He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004.[8] The U.S. state Massachusetts proclaimed 20 April as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984.[9] Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, in 1997, and of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2007.[9] He received the Banga-Vibhushan in 2011. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (1990), a Gulzar directed Indian documentary film on Amjad Ali Khan won the Filmfare Award for Best Documentary in 1990.

Live Performance Title: Sonu Nigam Live at Maria Wedding Reception-Part 3 | Wedding Story Bangladesh Signer Name: Sonu Nigam Live Performance Location: Bangladesh Official YouTube Link: Your Opinion About the Track (Music Video):---

Music Title: SHAYAD - Jokhay | JJ47 | Talhah Yunus Signer: Jokhay | JJ47 | Talhah Yunus Release Date: 14 Dec 2021 Official Youtube Link: Informations About The Signer:--- Your Opinion About The Track (Music Video):---

happy birthday

Happy birthday bro. Wish you all the best 🙂

In a nutshell: A recent BIOS update for EVGA’s graphics cards increased the RTX 3080 Ti’s mining performance by up to 21 percent. Non-EVGA 3080 Tis can flash this BIOS, though not without serious risk. The situation could worsen an already struggling GPU market for those just interested in playing games. During the summer, users discovered that EVGA’s factory VBIOS contained a hidden power limit that downclocked GPUs during high-memory usage (a mining trait). An EVGA firmware update removes the limit, improving mining and rendering performance. It may also positively affect gaming performance, but there has been no solid confirmation on that front. Bravo_char1 on Reddit last month observed that removing the limit took EVGA’s 3080 Ti XC3 from roughly 66 million hashes per second (MH/s) to around 80. Users wanting the update should get it through EVGA Precision X, then deactivate the features “Fast Boot” and “CSM Support” in the motherboard’s BIOS. One can also flash that updated BIOS to cards from other manufacturers. YouTuber Red Panda Mining used it to get 90MH/s out of an Inno3D 3080 Ti. However, Reddit user HelloAtilla warns that flashing it on non-EVGA GPUs can brick them. This new BIOS could make 3080 Tis even more desirable for miners in a time when most GPUs are selling for at least double their MSRP. News aggregator 3DCenter’s latest price tracker for December 2021 this week shows German retail graphics card prices holding at around 200 percent above MSRP since October, without factoring in the 3080 Ti. TechSpot’s checkup from last month shows the 3080 Ti’s eBay price inflated by 60 percent -- significantly less than the over 100 percent inflation seen with all the other Amperes and most of the Radeon 6000 line.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for new rules covering the use of autonomous weapons as a key meeting on the issue opened in Geneva. Negotiators at the UN talks have for eight years been discussing limits on lethal autonomous weapons, or LAWS, which are fully machine-controlled and rely on new technology such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition. But pressure has increased in part due to a UN panel report in March that said the first autonomous drone attack may have already occurred in Libya. "I encourage the Review Conference to agree on an ambitious plan for the future to establish restrictions on the use of certain types of autonomous weapons," Guterres said at the start of the five-day talks. The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons has 125 parties including the United States, China and Israel. Some participating states such as Austria call for a total ban on LAWS while others including Washington have been more reticent and have pointed to potential benefits of such weapons which might be more precise than humans in hitting targets. Amnesty International and civil society groups are calling for countries to start negotiating an international treaty and will present a petition to negotiators later on Monday. "The pace of technology is really beginning to outpace the rate of diplomatic talks," said Clare Conboy of Stop Killer Robots. "(This) is a historic opportunity for states to take steps to safeguard humanity against autonomy in the use of force." France's Disarmament Ambassador Yann Hwang, who is president of the talks, called for "key and vital decisions" to be taken this week. However, diplomats say the body, which requires consensus, is unlikely to reach an agreement launching an international treaty, with Russia among There is not enough support to launch a treaty at this stage but we think some principles could be agreed for national implementation," said a diplomat involved in the talks. If no agreement can be reached, countries might move talks to another forum either inside or outside the United Nations.

In brief: If you really love voice assistants, and tend to use them for everything you possibly can in your life -- including playing your music -- you might be pleased to hear that Apple Music's Siri-only plan is available now as part of iOS 15.2. Dubbed the "Voice Plan," it comes at a significantly reduced cost compared to the service's other non-Student plans, but it has some drawbacks as a result. We covered the Voice Plan in greater detail a couple months ago, but we'll briefly summarize its functionality again here. If you sign up for the plan, you'll only be paying $5 a month for the same, unlimited access too all of Apple Music's 90 million songs, "tens of thousands of playlists," or its various Radio stations. Then there's the catch: you can only access that content by asking Siri to play it for you. Depending on what device you're using to play music, you may or may not be able to control it using on-screen controls. The iPhone is one device where this feature works -- you have to use Siri to start a song, but you can pause, play, and adjust the progress bar through an on-screen panel (not the full Music app, however). It's pretty simple, to be honest; there aren't really any hidden complexities to be aware of. It's just honest-to-goodness discounted music streaming with stripped-back features. It's not ideal for those who want more granular control over their music-playing experience, but it could be viewed as a significant step-up over the ad-supported model of Spotify's free plan (to name one example). If you're new to Apple Music, you can try any of the service's plans out at no cost for three months. After the trial is up, you'll be auto-billed $5, $10, or $15 per month depending on the plan you selected at sign-up. Other notable features arriving with iOS 15.2 today include additional protections for minors using the Messages app and the "Digital Legacy" tool, which lets you effectively designate an heir for your iCloud account and other personal data in the event of your death (assuming Apple is still around when that day comes).