57833361
submission
crazyeyes writes:
Last week, Tencent removed at least 40 WeChat public pages, allegedly at the behest of the Chinese government. Of course, this isn't the first time WeChat has censored its pages for the Chinese government. Early in January 2013, they censored and banned words or Chinese characters that referred to the Southern Weekly, which had then called for "certain reforms and greater respect for constitutional rights".
This may sound like hyperbole, but this incident could well be the beginning of the end for WeChat as an international text and voice messaging service. The Chinese people may have no other decent options, but those of us outside the Great Firewall of China have a lot more choices. Better choices even.
For our part, we are uninstalling our WeChat messengers, partly because there are better (and less annoying) instant messengers, and partly because we don't care for censorship. Join us in uninstalling WeChat, if you don't care for censorship either. China can keep their Instant Messenger of Much Insecurity.
Original article at http://www.techarp.com/showart...
56985371
submission
crazyeyes writes:
Here's an interesting look at the SSL bug in Apple's iOS and OS X operating systems : There is speculation that this could well be the security hole which the NSA exploited to insert the DROPOUTJEEP software implant, probably using automatic updates via SSL. DROPOUTJEEP, whose existence was revealed by Edward Snowden, targets the Apple iPhone (but could conceivably be used on all other iOS devices) and allows the NSA to "remotely push/pull files from the device. SMS retrieval, contact list retrieval, voicemail, geolocation, hot mic, camera capture, cell tower location, etc. Command, control and data exfiltration can occur over SMS messaging or a GPRS data connection.All communications with the implant will be covert and encrypted.”
Apple, of course, denies that the NSA can access or are accessing iOS devices as Snowden's leaked documents claim. Still, there is no denying that such a bug is a major flaw, and allows iOS and Mac OS to be exploited by malicious persons.
47585867
submission
crazyeyes writes:
This article looks at using the Linux kernel as a more accurate and sensitive stability test for overclocked PCs :
"Using an overclocked PC is not a problem, provided that the PC is stable at the overclocked settings. Several programs are available to assess system stability by stress-testing the overclocked system. However, most overclockers do not know that the Linux kernel is an exquisitely sensitive tool to detect instabilities in an overclocked system. In fact, it is more accurate and sensitive than either Prime95 or IBT/LinX.
The Linux kernel supplies users with a dead simple method for measuring hardware instabilities — like those caused by an 'unstable' overclock. There is nothing special to install as this functionality seems to be naively included in the kernel itself. To use it, simply run a standard stress test such as Prime95 or Linpack and watch the output from dmesg. If the system is unstable due to insufficient voltage settings, excessive heat, it will report...
45463801
submission
crazyeyes writes:
If your wireless keyboard or mouse sometimes don't behave, it's not the batteries or a bug. It's just USB 3.0 interfering with the receiver! Tech ARP investigates this problem and reveals the whys and hows . The solution is simple — move them as far apart as possible!
36103083
submission
crazyeyes writes:
This is the mighty battle of the ancient HDDs against the young SSD upstarts! The HDDs are represented by their finest warriors — the Western Digital VelociRaptors, and the SSDs by their favorite representatives — the Intel 520 Series and X25-M series.
Will the HDDs prevail, or will the SSDs triumph and declare the beginning of the end of the HDD era? FIGHT!
31131395
submission
crazyeyes writes:
There is a leak on NVIDIA's upcoming secret trick for their Kepler GPUs — the NVIDIA Ninja Graphics Technology . It claims to give NVIDIA gamers a random chance at evading bullets in FPS games through the manipulation of 3D primitives. Here's the key explanation :
"Normally, primitive data is converted to vertex points in 2D space before textures are applied and the scene is rendered. However, when an NVIDIA Kepler-based graphics card detects a game that supports Ninja Graphics, the GPU will automatically replicate an extra set of 3D primitive data for each frame and modify one copy with a random variable so that there are two slightly different primitives. The modified data will be sent back to the game, while the unmodified data sent to the vertex shaders and rendered normally.
Why do that at all? Well, the modified primitive data tricks the game into showing the player at a slightly different position in the game's world space. What this means is that the player appears slightly off to one side or another to other players (or the game's non-player characters) even though he is exactly where he's supposed to be. Perhaps this is why NVIDIA calls it Ninja Graphics — the player appears to be there, but isn't actually there."
31062049
submission
crazyeyes writes:
Is there a glut in Sandy Bridge CPUs? Too many people waiting for Ivy Bridge? That may be the reason why Intel has delayed the launch of 8 Ivy Bridge processors from April to June . They also delayed the Core i3 Ivy Bridge CPUs to Q4 2012.
21001502
submission
crazyeyes writes:
This is a major driver update from NVIDIA, so go download it now. On top of the 15% performance boost, you will get automatic updates and better scaling on your HDTVs
18716588
submission
crazyeyes writes:
Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 is out! Web release will be on February 18 but you can download a copy today!
17911524
submission
crazyeyes writes:
NVIDIA just gave the gaming community a Xmas gift when they launched the GeForce GTX 570. It's faster than the GeForce GTX 480 but priced at just $349!
If you cannot afford that, you will be happy to note that they are pushing the price of the GeForce GTX 470 down to just $259. Will AMD follow suit?
17615122
submission
crazyeyes writes:
TechARP reviewed the first 3 TB hard disk drive — the 3 TB Western Digital Caviar Green, with a ton of benchmarks. They also have an article about installing this hard disk drive properly in Windows Vista .
17559068
submission
crazyeyes writes:
The 3 TB hard disk drives are here, but they are not so easy to set up, particularly in Windows Vista. Experts can skip this guide, but n00bs should read the 3 TB hard disk drive installation guide before trying.
17429328
submission
crazyeyes writes:
Or so they claim!
Their ridiculously skewed charts show the GeForce GTX 580 and GeForce GTX 480 trashing the AMD Radeon HD 5870 and 6870 by up to 8x! Talk about going crazy...
