Several amazing deals just went live as part of the Best Buy Black Friday Sale (seriously, you should check them out), but one of the big highlights are the massive discounts on the most popular Windows-based gaming handheld PCs. They include all three Asus ROG Ally models (including the newest ROG Ally X) and the Lenovo Legion Go. Currently no other retailer is offering the same discounts as Best Buy, although this might change (and we'll keep you updated if it does).Portable VersatilityOMEN Transcend 14It's not just for gaming, it's also for content creation, entertainment, and learning. Great Holiday Deals at Best Buy November 130: starting at $250 Off.See it at Best BuyFeatured in this articleLenovo Legion Go AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 512GB Gaming HandheldLenovo Legion Go AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 1TB Gaming Handheld$449.99 for My Best Buy Plus MembersAsus ROG Ally AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 512GB Gaming HandheldAsus ROG Ally AMD Ryzen Z1 512GB Gaming HandheldAsus ROG Ally X AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 1TB Gaming HandheldAsus ROG Ally XAsus ROG Ally X AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 1TB Gaming HandheldBest Buy drops $100 off the recently released Asus ROG Ally X, bringing the price down to $699.99. In our Asus ROG Ally X review, gaming guru Jacqueline Thomas wrote that "the Asus ROG Ally X is simply the best handheld gaming PC on the market right now. With more and faster memory and double the battery as the original Ally, the Ally X will run any modern game without dying in an hour and a half."The Asus ROG Ally X improves on the original ROG Ally in several ways, the biggest upgrades being a much bigger 80Whr battery with nearly the runtime, more RAM, a beefier cooling system, double the storage capacity on the base model, and better controls. It's not inexpensive starting at $799.99, but it's definitely an incredible piece of hardware.Lenovo Legion GoLenovo Legion Go AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 512GB Gaming HandheldLenovo Legion Go AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 1TB Gaming HandheldLenovo is teasing Black Friday with not one, but two excellent deals on the Lenovo Legion Go gaming handheld. The 512GB model is down to $499.99 (originally $700) and the 1TB model is $549.99 (originally $750). This was our pick for best Windows-based gaming handheld before the ROG Ally X came along. Even so, at a price that's $150-$200 less, this handheld is a very convincing purchase. The Legion Go shares similar specs as the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme model, but with a bigger and sharper display, detachable controllers, and a larger battery.Asus ROG Ally$449.99 for My Best Buy Plus MembersAsus ROG Ally AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 512GB Gaming HandheldAsus ROG Ally AMD Ryzen Z1 512GB Gaming HandheldBest Buy is taking up to $200 off ASUS ROG Ally models. The more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme edition is priced at $499.99, however My Best Buy Plus members get an extra $50 off. If you don't have the paid membership, I'd suggest you wait until Black Friday proper begins. This deal should be available to the general public at that time. The AMD Ryzen Z1 (non-Extreme) edition is down to $349.99, which is easily the best price we've seen and the cheapest cost of entry to the world of PC gaming handhelds.Is This a Better Choice For You Than the Steam Deck?We wrote up a guide comparing the pros and cons of an Asus ROG Ally versus a Steam Deck. The Steam Deck is an easier handheld to use for anyone who doesn't like to tinker and just wants everything to work right out of the box. The SteamOS interface is simple and intuitive. The ROG Ally and Legion Go have all the advantages and disadvantages of the Windows operating system. You'll get to run games that run on clients apart from Steam (like Mihoyo games, Battle.net, Origin, Xbox Game Pass, and more), and you'll benefit from more powerful hardware, but you'll need to deal with compatibility issues.PlayMust-Have Accessories for Any PC Gaming Handheld OwnerIf you end up getting a gaming handheld PC, we'd definitely recommend picking up a portable power bank for extended travels and a Micro SD card if you think you'll be running out of space even with the 1TB of storage. Fortunately, there are already a few options that are discounted for Black Friday.Anker 737 24,000mAh 140W Power BankAnker 737 PowerCore 24K 24,000mAh Power Bank with 140W USB Type-C Power DeliveryAs part of the Amazon Black Friday Sale, you can pick up the Anker PowerCore 737 24,000mAh 140W Power Bank at the best price I've ever seen. Right now, the price is down to $79.99 after a nearly 50% off discount. This is one of the best Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally X chargers you can get. I've actually owned this power bank for over a year now for ROG Ally and my kids' Switches; it has been on multiple flights and road trips and is still lasting strong.Anker Prime 20,000mAh 200W Power BankAnker Prime 20,000mAh 200W Power BankClip the 40% Off CouponAmazon is also offering the Anker Prime 20,000mAh USB Power Bank for only $77.99 after you clip the 40% off coupon on the product page. This is the best price we've seen for 2024 (the previous lowest price was $89.99 on Amazon Prime Day). The Anker Prime is the successor to the Anker 737 with a couple of noticeable upgrades like a higher power delivery output (200W vs 140W) and a higher charging rate through USB Type-A (65W vs 18W).SanDisk Ultra 1.5TB Micro SDXC CardSanDisk Ultra 1.5TB Micro SDXC CardIf you thought a 1TB Micro SD card was big, think again. Amazon currently has a massive SanDisk Ultra 1.5TB Micro SDXC Card for only $88.99. We've seen a 1.5TB Micro SDXC card drop below $90 only a few times this year, and it's fully compatible with the Steam Deck, Legion Go, and ROG Ally. When Is Black Friday 2024?The actual date of Black Friday in 2024 falls on November 29 this year, but the deals season began a lot sooner than that. Leading up to the big event, retailers have begun to open deals online. (This usually starts in the last week of October, just before Halloween.) Each week leading up to the event will slowly roll out more deals, which ultimately leads to massive discounts on Black Friday. Retailers will not reveal their biggest Black Friday deals until the big day, but most general deals will be available well in advance.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Nov 25, 2024Ravie LakshmananMalware / Windows SecurityCybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new malicious campaign that leverages a technique called Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) to disarm security protections and ultimately gain access to the infected system."This malware takes a more sinister route: it drops a legitimate Avast Anti-Rootkit driver (aswArPot.sys) and manipulates it to carry out its destructive agenda," Trellix security researcher Trishaan Kalra said in an analysis published last week."The malware exploits the deep access provided by the driver to terminate security processes, disable protective software, and seize control of the infected system."The starting point of the attack is an executable file (kill-floor.exe) that drops the legitimate Avast Anti-Rootkit driver, which is subsequently registered as a service using Service Control (sc.exe) to perform its malicious actions.Once the driver is up and running, the malware gains kernel-level access to the system, allowing it to terminate a total of 142 processes, including those related to security software, that could otherwise raise an alarm.This is accomplished by taking snapshots of the actively running processes on the system and checking their names against the hard-coded list of processes to kill."Since kernel-mode drivers can override user-mode processes, the Avast driver is able to terminate processes at the kernel level, effortlessly bypassing the tamper protection mechanisms of most antivirus and EDR solutions," Kalra said.The exact initial access vector used to drop the malware is currently not clear. It's also not known how widespread these attacks are and who are the targets.That said, BYOVD attacks have become an increasingly common method adopted by threat actors to deploy ransomware in recent years, as they reuse signed but flawed drivers to bypass security controls.Earlier this May, Elastic Security Labs revealed details of a GHOSTENGINE malware campaign that took advantage of the Avast driver to turn off security processes.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Plans to transform the 120-year-old Methodist Central Hall building on Corporation Street into a 150-bed hotel, along with bars and restaurants, were approved by Birmingham City Council in 2022.However, the consented schemes backer, Irish hospitality group Press Ups UK company, Creative Cedar, has since entered receivership.According to Companies House documents seen by the AJ, the building has since been handed over to London-based receivers Damian Webb and Christopher Lewis by Dublin-based lender AHG Properties.AdvertisementPress Up, which operated venues with sister company Oakmont, the project developer, blamed its debts on the Covid pandemic and Russias war against Ukraine, as well as VAT, as Irish outlet The Journal reported in September.The same report said Oakmount had recently sold off The Dean hotel chain, which was set to operate at the Methodist Central Hall following its conversion. The overhaul was initially earmarked to complete this year.Heritage campaigners told the AJ that the derelict building, which is on Historic Englands at risk register, was now at further risk of degradation following the delay to the TODD scheme, which is now in doubt.Joe Holyoak, chair of the Victorian Society's casework team for Birmingham and West Midlands, said that, while TODDs approved scheme was not perfect, the hotel and leisure-led proposal was the best, in that it had the least impact on the existing fabric, both internally and externally.Holyoak continued: The building is, admittedly, a difficult conversion to make, with a very fine, steeply-raked hall at its centre, of great distinction. It has been at risk for a long time, and this news puts it even more at risk. It is a prominent building, a distinctive landmark and a very important element of the Steelhouse Conservation Area.AdvertisementTODDs proposal would have seen the building, completed in 1904 to designs by Ewan Harper & James A Harper, revamped inside and out with the creation of food and drinks units, meeting rooms, a gym and shopping units on the ground and basement levels, with 155 hotel rooms above. Additionally, the auditorium would have been restored into an events space.The venue once had capacity for 2,000 members of the citys Methodist population and, from 1989 to 2017 was used as a nightclub and hosted the popular Birmingham Techno venue the Que Club.Press Ups sister company Oakmount later purchased the site and appointed TODD to draw up plans, with Heyne Tillet Steel working as building surveyor.TODD said in a statement to the AJ: We are disappointed at the news. This was a project that we were excited about realising, having obtained planning and listed building consent and prepared initial tender documentation alongside our design team partners.We remain hopeful that another developer will see potential in securing the future of a wonderful building within the Steelhouse Conservation Area.Birmingham City Council and Press Up have been contacted for comment.

Our Picks View details $70 at Walmart View details View details $46 at Walmart View details View details $56 at Walmart View details View details $450 at Amazon View details Table of Contents Tower fans are a great way to cool down a space in your home without compromising a sleek modern look or too much space. In addition to keeping the area cool, they will also improve the circulation throughout the area. They are very energy efficient and can help you save on your energy bill. Read more: Best Gifts Under $300 for 2024We love tower fans' capacity to enhance airflow through cross-ventilation, effectively lowering indoor temperatures at night and keeping your space cooler for far longer. Additionally, tower fans occupy less space than box fans or AC units, minimizing the risk of tripping hazards for you and your pets. Tower fans are also fairly light and designed to be easily picked up and moved from room to room. Plus, their smaller and slimmer size makes it easy to tuck these fans away without blocking walkways or obstructing views.In case you didn't know, the shape of a tower fan isn't just for looks -- it also ensures that a well-positioned one can quickly create a comfy temperature across an entire room. The best tower fans usually oscillate from side to side, covering the majority of a room -- ideal for living rooms so the whole family can enjoy the cooling effect. Furthermore, tower fans come in various designs, with features like programmable timers, quiet operation and oscillation. Some even have built-in air purifiers. Alongside these nifty features, brands like Lasko's Smart Oscillating Tower Fan are incorporating phone controls and voice activation via Alexa or Google Assistant.After hours upon hours of testing multiple models, our team of CNET experts selected several top tower fans for hot, humid days. Best tower fans $70 at Walmart $70 at Walmart $70 at Best Buy Tower fans generate noise, which might be a problem if you're planning on using one while you sleep or binge-watch your favorite TV shows. Fortunately, the quietest fan I tested, the Honeywell QuietSet, was also a pretty well-rounded appliance across the board.Along with holding its highest-speed setting to a best-in-class 41 decibels (measured at a distance of 30 inches), the QuietSet was also one of the most energy-efficient fans I tested, drawing just 36 watts at full blast. Speaking of settings, the QuietSet offers a whole bunch of them, ranging from a near-silent, 26-decibel Sleep setting and a comfortably quiet, 28-decibel White Noise setting up to Relax, Refresh, Cool and Power Cool settings that move greater masses of air while keeping the noise at bay. The slim, rocket-shaped design is sturdy and relatively compact, the batteries-included remote control docks neatly in the back when not in use and the upward-angled controls on top are easy on the eyes. You can customize the brightness of those LED lights on top too.I wish the warranty ran longer than one year, but that's just about my only criticism of this impressively quiet tower fan. It's also pretty affordable with a list price under $70. Photo Gallery 1/1 $46 at Walmart Best for small spaces TaoTronics TT-F001 Oscillating Tower Fan $46 at Walmart At less than $50, the TaoTronics TT-F001 isn't an inexpensive tower fan, but it makes up for it with a great mix of features and packing plenty of cooling power into a compact, 35-inch build. Among the fans I tested, its 60-watt power draw was second only to the Dyson, but its highest-speed setting was the second noisiest, ringing in at 48 decibels. Neither factor is a deal-breaker, particularly if you need a smaller tower fan but don't want to sacrifice cooling power.As for the features, the TT-F001 includes an ambient temperature reading on the admittedly dated-looking display. Those readings proved to be completely accurate when I used some of the thermocouples left over from my waffle maker tests to double-check them. Better yet, those readings let you run the fan in autopilot mode, where it automatically turns on whenever the temperature rises above 79 degrees Fahrenheit. Except for the Dyson, none of the other fans I tested offered an autopilot mode like that. I also appreciated the artificial breeze modes and the removable cover in the back, which makes the fan easier to clean. Photo Gallery 1/1 $56 at Walmart Best overall value Better Homes and Gardens 5-Speed Tower Fan $56 at Walmart Usually available at Walmart for around $50, this Better Homes and Gardens-branded tower fan appears to be a reskinned version of a well-rated model from HomeLabs. Alongside the sleep timer and the three speed settings, you'll find two additional modes that simulate a natural breeze. The remote attaches magnetically on top of the device when you aren't using it a nice, high-end touch not commonly found at this price.The sturdy, understated design features a grill that oscillates within a fixed base, making it less conspicuous than a tower fan that turns entirely from side to side. I found it plenty powerful enough to cool off a medium-to-large room on a hot day, it still managed to keep things a little quieter than smaller tower fans like the Vornado V-Flow and the TaoTronics TT-F001.I'd like it better if the warranty ran longer than a single year and if the build weren't quite so plasticky, but those trade-offs are more than fair at this price. If you're looking for a capable tower fan that feels more expensive than it actually is, this one fits the bill better than anything else I've tested. Photo Gallery 1/1

Baldur's Gate 3 restricts consoles to 100 mods per save because they "can only juggle so many files at once""Who plays with more than 100 mods in a single save? As it turns out, there's a handful of you."Image credit: Eurogamer / Larian News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Nov. 24, 2024 Introducing mod support for Baldur's Gate 3 has proved so successful, developer Larian Studios is restricting the number of mods console players can run at any one time.Given high mod usage is resulting in "slow loading times and game crashes" for some players, the studio is introducing a 100-mod limit for console players.Here's our Zoe with some console and Steam Deck tips for Baldur's Gate 3.Watch on YouTube"Now that there are more than 100 mods available to download on console, we need to have a serious chat. Who plays with more than 100 mods in a single save you might ask? Well, as it turns out, there's a handful of you," Larian confirmed in a post on the official website."Unlike PC, consoles can only juggle so many files at once. The more mods you have installed, the quicker this file limit is reached. Now that some of you have been trying to play with more than 100 mods, you've been letting us know that you're experiencing slow loading times or even game crashes."While we recommend only installing the mods you know you'll definitely continue playing with, to maximise stability, we're introducing a 100-mod limit for console platforms," the post concluded.This means that from here on in, if you're on console and running more than 100 mods, you'll get a message telling you that you won't be able to load your save "for the time being".If you move between PC and console via cross-save and have more than 100 mods, you'll need to disable the number of active mods from PC to load in and keeping playing on console.There's currently no workaround for games that already have more than 100 mods, but a "follow-up fix is planned to give you the means to restore these saves".For more, a very familiar voice is here to breakdown how Baldur's Gate 3 mods are curated for consoles.Back in October, Larian celebrated 50m mod downloads since it released Patch 7 (which introduced mod-support to the fantasy role playing game). At this same time, the developer said 10k of those mod downloads were players changing Baldur's Gate 3's mysterious Undead entity Withers' name to Bone Daddy.As for what's next? Larian previously confirmed Balder's Gate 4 was briefly toyed with before the studio decided to try something new instead. The developer is yet to formally reveal its next project, it has confirmed two games are currently in the works - both of which will be based on its own IPs and described as the studio's "best work ever".

Follow us today... Given the Cybertrucks radical design and all the attention it attracts, the general public is curious about the personality of the individual who chooses to daily drive the vehicle.Fortunately, a group of Cybertruck owners have shed light on the matter, giving us a peek into the thought process behind their purchase. The Cybertruck owners say the overwhelming attention associated with the vehicle isnt a drawback but rather the most desired feature.A dentist Tesla Cybertruck owner, Steven Shao, first shared this sentiment on Facebook, which several Cybertruck owners later echoed.Steven, writing about his Cybertruck ownership experience, saysYou worked hard, but your kids dont want to hang out with you, and your friends are too busy to visit. You are getting older every day, and your neck and back are complaining.You need a man cave, a Batmobile, and a powerhouse, and it would be nice to have something that makes people snap their necks and glare. You want an overpowered, overpriced, over-the-top giant fridge on wheels.They cant ignore you anymore.This is a rather sad reason to spend a hundred thousand dollars on a vehicle, and it says a lot about the state of the modern world.Continuing his post, Steven writesMaybe the attention isnt what you want, maybe its too radical for your neighbors but you dont careyou are old, tired, and cranky, and youve had it up to here with politics and the media.Sometimes, you just want to exit the parking lot by driving over the parking stops and on the sidewalk. You are over those brushes by the house but dont want to cut themdrive over them. Do you need 850hp in a 3-ton fridge? Who cares about what we need? We are animals driven by a passion for what we want.You deserve it. Life is tough; answer back tougher. The world is full of nonsense, so drive something that makes even less sense. Enough of people giving you headaches its time to give back.You WANT a Cybertruck because you deserve it.Below, Steven finishes his post by sharing a picture of his Cybertruck parked in a company-reserved space.This is Stevens entire post, and by the end, it starts to sound like some sort of bizarre ad for the Cybertruck, but overall, the message is, if youre not happy with the world, get a Cybertruck.Thats quite a surprising sentiment, especially given how expensive the Cybertruck is. However, what surprised me even more was the number of Cybertruck owners who agreed with Stevens reasoning for buying the truck.Another Cybertruck owner, Chadwick Robison, writes, The truth is spoken. I feel you. Sari Tyler simply agrees, writing, Yes. Schuyler Oliver responds, Yup!Joan McNamara writes, You nailed it. Rod MacQuarrie responds, Yup, that's me, alright. But you forgot bulletproof. Edwin C Liu writes, Well said! Thats why I got my Foundation Cyberbeast!Overall, other than a couple of dissenters, more than 40 Cybertruck owners agreed with Stevens reasons for buying a Cybertruck.Its hard for me to understand this mindset. However, please let me know what you think in the comments. Share your ideas by clicking the red Add new comment button below. Also, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.Image: Courtesy of Tesla, inc.For more information, check out: Parking Garages in New York are Refusing to Park Tesla Cybertrucks, They Say, Insurance Companies Have Asked Them Not toTinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.TeslaTesla CybertruckAdd new commentFollow us today... Comments

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is shaking off doomsday predictions about what AI means for humanityinstead laying out how he sees the technology vastly improving businesses and the work-life balance of their employees. Even Dimona fierce advocate of long-established career norms such as working hard, being prepared for anything and working in the officesays future generations of employees could work a day and a half less every week, thanks to AI.As well as the working week shrinking from five to three and a half days a week, Dimon also predicts that staff in the future could live to 100 years of age.Thousands of people at Americas biggest bank are already using the technology, Dimon told Bloomberg TV, adding that artificial intelligence is a living breathing thing that will shift over the course of history. The technology may be utilized by JPMorgan for a vast range of areaserrors, trading, research, and hedging to name a fewarguably illustrating fears that AI will take the jobs of human counterparts. Goldman Sachs predicts that approximately 300 million jobs will be lost to the technology, with around a quarter of the American workforce fearing in the future they will lose their roles to artificial intelligence.But the advance of technology is also something societies have grappled with before, Dimon pointed out, adding that with AI and large language models there are also huge opportunities to improve living standards. People have to take a deep breath, Dimon said. Technology has always replaced jobs. Your children are going to live to 100 and not have cancer because of technology, and literally theyll probably be working three and a half days a week.Employees could scale back on their working hours, thanks to the technology being used to automate some of their activities, McKinsey found in a report published last year.The report also found that generative AI and other emerging technologies have the potential to automate the tasks which take up 60% to 70% of employees time at the momentadding between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion to the global economy every year.And while businesses are still grappling with how quickly AI will transform their sector, arguments are already being made to reduce the number of days in the current working week.A British study of 61 organizations, carried out by the University of Cambridge, saw a 65% reduction in sick days during a four-day working week, while 71% of employees said they had reduced levels of burnout. As a result, 92% of the companies on the program said theyd be keeping a three-day weekend.Dimon and McKinsey are not the first economics leaders to predict that technology will lead to a shorter workweek, however. In a 1930 essay titled Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren, the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that his grandchildrens generation would be working 15-hour weeks because of increased productivity. The current average in Keyness U.K. is 36.4 hours.There are negativesLike many other thought leaders, Dimon is aware that the technology could prove to be a powerful weapon if it fell into the wrong hands. Echoing the concerns of individuals such as Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, Dimon said: Technology has done unbelievable things for mankind but, you know, planes crash, pharmaceuticals get misusedthere are negatives. This one, the biggest negative in my view, is AI being used by bad people to do bad things. Think of cyber warfare.Like Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Dimon also says he hopes to see guardrails introduced to the sector, though acknowledged this may take some time to come to fruition because the technology is relatively new. The billionaire boss of the New Yorkbased bank also noted some employees lives will be disrupted by the technology displacing their roles. In JPMorgan Chases case at least, Dimon said he hopes to redeploy any staff who are pushed out of a job by AI. He drew comparisons with JPMorgans acquisition of First Republic in May 2023, when the latter bank fell victim to a wave of banking instability before agreeing to a $10 billion deal.At First Republic weve offered jobs to 90% of people. They accepted, but we also told them some of those jobs are transitory. But we hire 30,000 people a year, so we expect to be able to get them a job somewhere local in a different branch or a different function if we can do that, Dimon explained. Well be doing that with any dislocation that takes place as a result of AI.A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on October 3, 2023.How many degrees of separation are you from the globe's most powerful business leaders? Explore who made our brand-new list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business. Plus, learn about the metrics we used to make it.

It's TimeStill playing Steam games on Windows 7 or 8? You might want to consider upgrading your operating system soonAll things must die, even software.Image credit: Valve News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Nov. 24, 2024 Those of you still using Windows 7 and 8 that avidly play Steam games might want to consider finally upgrading.When it comes to software these days, everything eventually comes to an end. That's doubly true for operating systems, as unsurprisingly companies like Microsoft and Apple don't want to have to continue supporting systems that most people don't use anymore. That too applies to developers of software that have been doing things for many years now, including Valve, who has been releasing games via Steam since the days of Windows XP. Back in January, Valve announced that official support for Windows 7 and 8 had officially ended, meaning Steam Support would not be able to offer any technical support for issues users might be facing on those operating systems.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Now (as spotted by PC Gamer), 11 months on, the first Steam update has arrived that users on Windows 7 and 8 will not be able to download. "This version of the Steam client will no longer run on Windows 7 or Windows 8," the update post reads. "Users on these OS versions will not automatically update to this new version of the Steam Client." There are obviously plenty of reasons someone might be using either Windows 7 or 8, computers are pretty expensive obviously and not everyone can afford to upgrade at all, but it is a decision that makes sense - October's Steam hardware survey found that only 0.29% of users are still on Windows 7.Interestingly, the report found that nobody at all uses Windows 8 anymore, but that's a good thing as Windows 8 was absolutely dreadful. It's surprising that Valve took this long to make the call to end support, particularly with more and more people shifting over to Windows 11, the most recent operating system from Microsoft, but hey ho, these things take time sometimes.

The Australian government has withdrawn a bill that would have fined online platforms up to 5 percent of their global revenue if they failed to stop the spread of misinformation.The bill, which was backed by the Labor government, would have allowed the Australian Communications and Media Authority to create enforceable rules around misinformation on digital platforms.In a statement, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the bill would have ushered in an unprecedented level of transparency, holding big tech to account for their systems and processes to prevent and minimise the spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation online.However, she said based on public statements and engagements with Senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate.When a revised version of the bill was introduced in September, Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), criticized it in a one-word post: Fascists.Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman was a vocal opponent of the bill, arguing that it would prompt platforms to suppress free speech in order to avoid fines. With the bill now seemingly dead, Coleman posted that it was a shocking attack on free speech that betrayed our democracy and called on the prime minister to rule out any future version of this legislation.Rowlands statement, meanwhile, called for Parliament support on other proposals to strengthen democratic institutions and keep Australians safe online, including legislation targeting deep fakes, enforcement of truth in political advertising for elections, and AI regulation.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also pursuing a plan to ban social media for children under 16.

Breakdown & ShowreelsConclave: VFX Breakdown by UPPBy Vincent Frei - 22/11/2024 Step into the secretive halls of the Vatican with Conclave! Discover the seamless invisible visual effects by UPP that bring this enigmatic world to lifewhere every shadow, corridor, and beam of light tells a story!WANT TO KNOW MORE?UPP: Dedicated page about Conclave on UPP website. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2024