Month: May 2020

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AMD Is Sticking With Its AM4 Socket and That’s Great If You Want to Build a PC

https://gizmodo.com/amd-is-sticking-with-its-am4-socket-and-thats-great-if-1843593680

Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)

It’s a small thing that only people building and upgrading their own PCs will appreciate but to the delight of AMD enthusiasts, the company recently announced that it would make its future Zen 3 architecture compatible with the older X470 and B450 motherboards, and it would be sticking with its AM4 socket too. Initially, the company said its future CPUs would be compatible with only X570 and B550 motherboards and higher, while still keeping the AM4 socket, at least for one more generation of processors. Either way, AMD has made good on its 2016 promise of continuing support the AM4 socket through 2020, and likely into 2021 at this point. But how much longer can AMD use the same socket, especially when Intel has shown less inclination to do the same?

It actually all depends on the future schedule of I/O (input/output) technologies, or what sort of capabilities motherboards and other PC components will have in the future. BIOS updates aren’t a long-term solution, and AMD’s beloved AM4 socket, as well as its X470 and B450 motherboards, will have to become another piece of computer history at some point.

With the release of its Zen architecture and Ryzen 1000 series in 2017 AMD leveled the playing field against Intel. Every year it’s dominated the multicore space, and it was even the first of the two to make CPUs with 7nm transistors—all on the same AM4 socket. That is no small feat. As Robert Hallock, senior technical marketing manager at AMD, detailed in a recent blog, there was a time when PC builders had to replace their motherboards every CPU generation. That’s no longer the case. AMD has shown (Intel, too), that it can get around physical hardware changes with BIOS updates to their motherboards and extend compatibility into the next generation of processors.

While making the next generation of CPUs compatible with X470 and B450 motherboards is great for consumers in the short term (I have a X470 motherboard myself), there are lots of challenges that come with it, most notably constraints with SPI ROM (Serial Peripheral Interface Read-Only Memory) capacities in that generation of motherboards—or simply put, how fast and how much data those motherboards could send to and receive from other PC components and peripherals. AMD said that those motherboards’ BIOS sizes would not be large enough to support the full range of AM4 socket processors.

So if you install the BIOS for the next-gen CPUs, it will disable support for many existing AMD Ryzen CPU models, as AMD notes in its Reddit post, to create the ROM space it needs to support the new CPU. Not only that, but you won’t be able to flash back to an earlier BIOS version. Once you update, that’s it. And don’t expect to use a 400-series motherboard with a 5000-series or whatever numbered Ryzen desktop processor. AMD says its next-gen CPUs will be the end of the line, for real this time. So while AMD is continuing to offer support for older motherboards and chipsets the argument could be made that you might as well upgrade to a 500-series or higher motherboard and reap the benefits of those high capacity PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSDs—when the prices eventually come down, that is.

These are not uncommon issues that AMD and Intel have faced, and continue to face, when deciding what motherboards to support, when to update their sockets, and what CPUs will be supported by either. Intel just rolled out a new socket for its current-gen processors, after being on the LGA 1151 socket since 2015, to support improved power delivery and future incremental I/O features, which makes it seem like it’s trying to plan well in advance for whatever I/O features appear down the road. AMD will have to give up its beloved AM4 socket, too, for the same reason, but it’s focused on offering the same compatibility right now for as long as it can.

The AM4 socket isn’t as old as Intel’s now-retired LGA 1151. There’s still life left in it. How much is the question. It’s possible that AMD could stick with the same socket for as long as Intel stuck with its LGA 1151, but at least its CPU, chipset, and socket lineage is less complicated than Intel’s, something that I’ve always appreciated about AMD.

There are two versions of Intel’s LGA 1151 socket, and both of them support different CPUs and different motherboard chipsets. Revision one supported Intel’s 6th (Sky Lake) and (Kaby Lake) 7th-gen desktop processors. Revision two supported its 8th (Coffee Lake) and 9th-gen (Coffee Lake refresh) exclusively. So that means any of the later generation CPUs are not supported by 200-series motherboards and earlier, not because of a lack of a BIOS update, but because the updated socket reassigned some pins to support the requirements of 6-core and 8-core CPUs. So you could say that both LGA 1151 versions are actually different sockets even though they have the same number of pins and the same dimensions.

9th-gen CPUs work on the same 300-series motherboards as the 8th-gen, but those motherboards need a BIOS update to work with the 9th-gen. But the Z390 motherboard chipset doesn’t need the same BIOS update because it rolled out with the 9th-gen CPUs. Confusing? I know.

AMD’s compatibility is simpler and reaches further across generations, with some BIOS updates, of course, but no socket refreshes or completely new sockets. Leaving out AMD Ryzen desktop processors with integrated graphics, 1st-gen Ryzen works with 300 and 400-series motherboards. 2nd-gen Ryzen works with 300, 400, and 500-series, except the B550. 3rd-gen Ryzen works with 400 and 500-series, and now the next-gen will work with 400, 500, and 600-series, assuming it’s called the 600-series. I also assume 500-series motherboards will work with next-gen CPUs, too.

There are some perks to buying AMD’s most up-to-date motherboards though, like PCIe 4.0 support, which can handle double the amount of bandwidth as PCIe 3.0, but depending on your budget, that might not make much sense. If you’re mostly interested in a PCIe 4.0 SSD, one with a 1TB of storage could run over $200. SSDs speed doesn’t matter so much if you’re only gaming (Intel didn’t include PCIe 4.0 support at all on its latest 10th-gen compatible motherboards), so putting most of your money toward a better CPU while waiting to upgrade the motherboard is generally a better option considering the availability and pricing of such tech.

No, AMD won’t be able to keep the same socket forever, but unlike Intel, if your introduction to its Ryzen processors was with a first-generation CPU and a 400-series motherboard, you’ll be able to keep that motherboard for another processor generation, and that’s amazing for consumers, keeping the same motherboard and the same socket for four generations of processors. Say what you want about AMD versus Intel core counts and benchmarks; AMD has the more consumer-friendly upgrade path, and when you’re pinching pennies on a DIY desktop build, that sort of thing matters a lot.

via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com

May 25, 2020 at 12:06PM

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Hacked NES Power Glove controls a modular synth with finger wriggles

https://www.engadget.com/nes-power-glove-hack-controls-modular-synth-022731230.html

Never mind controlling a modular synth by twiddling knobs. If one modder has his way, one of Nintendo’s legendary controllers is the way of the future. Look Mum No Computer (aka Sam Battle) has hacked an NES Power Glove into a gesture controller for his modular synth setup. All he has to do is bend his fingers to adjust the filter cutoff, pitch, pulse width and volume. Yes, the result is just as strange and beautiful as it sounds — Battle just has to wriggle his fingers to add an extra flourish to an electronic tune..

To top it off, the inventor even created an animatronic hand that takes input from the synth to control the glove, which in turn controls the synth. It’s a one-of-a-kind feedback loop, to put it mildly.

There’s no guarantee the project will go any further, although Battle teased a possible follow-up. Not that you’ll necessarily need to wait for it. The DIY enthusiast has shared many of the details both in his video and in a circuit diagram, so you can build something like this yourself if you have a Power Glove you’re willing to tweak. Look at it this way: it might be a considerably cheaper approach to musical gloves than following in Imogen Heap’s footsteps.

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

May 24, 2020 at 09:30PM

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5 Inventions Showing Us the Future of Solar Energy

https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2020/05/25/5-inventions-showing-us-the-future-of-solar-energy/

When you imagine the energy of the future, solar power is probably in the picture – but in recent years, less than 2% of the world’s electricity has come from solar power. Here are 5 new inventions that are likely to change that.

[SciShow]

The post 5 Inventions Showing Us the Future of Solar Energy appeared first on Geeks are Sexy Technology News.

via [Geeks Are Sexy] Technology News https://ift.tt/23BIq6h

May 25, 2020 at 12:07PM

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Visualization Of The Most Watched Television Series From 1951 – 2019

https://geekologie.com/2020/05/visualization-of-the-most-watched-televi.php

most-watched-tv-series-visualization.jpg
This is an ever-changing bar graph visualization of the most watched television series from 1951 to 2019. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t depressing to watch, and not just because most of the modern shows suck, but because I knew I didn’t have anything better to do with my time than watch all twelve minutes. "It’s five o’clock somewhere." It’s eight o’clock somewhere too. "What do you mean?" I’m already drunk, let’s order pizza. Keep going for the video.

Thanks to Jeffrey S, who informed me he was just happy Alf briefly appeared in 1989.

via Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome https://geekologie.com/

May 22, 2020 at 11:59AM

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Yes, the Patriot Act amendment to track us online is real

https://www.engadget.com/yes-the-patriot-act-amendment-to-track-us-online-is-real-173055117.html

Just being able to calmly purchase toilet paper feels like reason enough to celebrate these days. But one thing a lot of people won’t be cracking champagne over this month is the renewal of the Patriot Act/USA Freedom Act — and its terrible inclusion of a provision to allow government collection of Americans’ internet browsing and search histories without a warrant.

That is, if Congress gets its collective shit together and passes it to the Oval Office for a signature. Right now, the Act has crossed the Senate and is going back to the House, with a fight over amendments already boiling over.

Yet, it was the one amendment that didn’t pass which has privacy fans ready to break their champagne bottles on a rock and use them as shivs. That amendment, from Senator Ron Wyden, would have specifically excluded internet browsing and search history from what the government is allowed to collect.

Wyden’s amendment would have countered Senate GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s amendment, which “will expressly permit the FBI to warrantlessly collect records on Americans’ web browsing and search histories,” reported Daily Beast with the scoop. The outlet added, “In a different amendment, McConnell also proposes giving the attorney general visibility into the ‘accuracy and completeness’ of FBI surveillance submissions to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court.”

To recap: McConnell added warrantless surveillance of Americans’ browsing and search, Wyden countered it with the Senate version of LOLNO, and then Wyden’s amendment failed by just one vote. Engadget senior editor Richard Lawler pointed out that “Washington senator Patty Murray would have voted yes, but was still flying back to D.C. when the votes were cast.”

“Under the McConnell amendment, Barr gets to look through the web browsing history of any American—including journalists, politicians, and political rivals—without a warrant, just by saying it is relevant to an investigation,” Wyden told Daily Beast.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to reporters following a closed Senate Republican policy lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 19, 2020. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Yuri Gripas / Reuters

Citing the Wyden-Daines amendment, Rep. Zoe Lofgren said that “it’s now the House’s responsibility to curb this violation of Americans’ rights,” Politico reported. “I know it’s still within our grasp as lawmakers to push for the significant privacy reforms we need.” 

Because we have enough past experience that this kind of surveillance will be abused, and accountability, like Elvis, has left the Capitol building, the pushback on 2020’s version of NSA-PRISM is big enough to almost allow us a decadent sliver of hope. Organizations from the ACLU and DuckDuckGo to HumanRightsWatch and the NAACP have asked lawmakers (including Speaker Pelosi) to urgently add Wyden’s changes.

All of this is why you probably saw a bunch of histrionic headlines fly by saying the US government was going to play collect-them-all with our searches for “how to get off this planet” and our visits to websites about how to become an expat and not catch COVID-19 in ten easy steps. They weren’t wrong. But there are some interesting things you should know about how this kind of collection will probably be done.

You’re not alone if you instantly envisioned a giant NSA/FBI data warehouse in the middle of some ominous Fallout desert scene, where all of the country’s (and probably the world’s) phone calls were being Hoovered up and stored. So much data that it’s searched by agents and AI, sadly dispelling everyone’s favorite, the personal FBI agent meme.

This is probably the same fantasy some of the internet data surveillance ghouls are salivating over right now — Facebook-level access to our internet lives (Facebook being just a different flavor of slobbering ghouls). But why do the (surveillance) work when others have done it for you? I’m sure McConnell and company are thinking of it like how they’ve seen humans on TV simply go to the store for whatever it is that humans eat and drink. In this case the stores would be Google, Apple, Microsoft, and everyone else who has authorities showing up with warrants for internet search and browsing data. Just go to Big Browser! They’ll have whatcha need.

Those channels are already there: they are among the same government spying and data surveillance/collection problems for consumers and at-risk groups that existed before. Right now, there’s a step that must be satisfied unless those authorities want to be turned away by the people at those companies whose jobs it is to look at a warrant and say “yes this warrant is acceptable” or “nice try pal, this is not what you say it is.” (All of which ends up essentially paraphrased in company transparency reports.)

As Patriot Act/USA Freedom stands now, this step would be removed.

Revolution or protests. Hands holding smartphones

Interestingly, one “Big Browser” company has a feature that’s a useful tool in this context. Like the way Apple can’t “read” your iPhone’s data (specifically, Apple can’t decrypt it), Google can only share what it can “read.” You can password protect your Chrome data by following the instructions here. 

Anyway, to validate the concerns a lot of you are having about your surveillance and privacy defenses, it’s important to know that the company running your browser goes on your Patriot Act 2020 “adversary” list. Even though, in this instance, companies like Apple and Google (etc.) are the ones having changes forced on them — putting them in a position that’s sure to destroy user trust at scale. Engadget reached out to Apple and Google for comment on this matter and did not receive a response by time of publication.

Now, I know some of you are reading and saying, that’s it, I’m just going to use DuckDuckGo from now on, I know for a fact they oppose this and they’ve got my back. DuckDuckGo, a VPN, and a full-body condom ought to do it. Except you’ll need a VPN that already doesn’t cooperate with FISA warrants. It’s possible. Interestingly, NordVPN’s Warrant Canary has strong language stating it has never handed over user data. But to order those body condoms, you still need internet access.

That’s why your internet service provider (ISP) should probably go higher on your Patriot Act 2020 “adversary” list than Big Browser. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into AT&T, Comcast, Google Fiber, T-Mobile, and Verizon after “T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T were selling their mobile customers’ location information to third-party data brokers despite promising not to do so,” according to Ars Technica. And in case you didn’t know the background on it, the EFF proved in court that “Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T [participated] in the NSA’s mass telephone records collection under the Patriot Act.”

(If you want to get into the details of ISPs, DNS, and protecting data in that context, check out what Mozilla is trying to do in The Facts: Mozilla’s DNS over HTTPs)

In infosec lingo, when it comes to Patriot Act 2020, your ISP is an attacker in a privileged position. And right now we depend on the internet for, well, almost our very lives. Lives which require privacy — a human right.

2020 is many things, and one of those things seems to be an agonizingly long version of the infamous “Leave Britney Alone” video, except it’s us, and we’re at the tear-streaked breaking point over our data privacy. Now that we’re essentially trapped online most of our waking hours, we feel more used, stressed, poked, prodded, extorted, angry, tricked, and helplessly subjected to violations about our data than ever. It’s exhausting at a time when everything seems exhausting.

For now, we can focus on how to control the things we can, like doing privacy self-checks or take inventory of app settings. We get to know tools like VPNs and start to use things that end-to-end encrypt our communications — we practice doing things that shore up our defenses a bit more than before. 

While we do that, we’ll have to flex one of the less popular survival skills — we wait. The ghastly changes to the Patriot Act, a thing that was already a shambling disaster of failed protections and rights violations, may still face a challenge or two before getting an Oval Office signature. Though even if McConnell’s amendment doesn’t squeak through this time, we now know that lawmakers at the top want an unprecedented, Facebook-level of spying and control over our online lives. 

We just thought that trajectory was the stuff of implausible video games and far-out films — which, turns out, are a lot less entertaining to live through.

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

May 22, 2020 at 12:42PM

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Hacker Permanently Solves Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift With a Touchpad Upgrade

https://gizmodo.com/hacker-permanently-solves-nintendo-switch-joy-con-drift-1843605860

After shutting down its US-based repair centers over two months ago as a result of the pandemic, Nintendo is starting to reopen them again, which is good news for Switch owners still dealing with Joy-Con drift. Hacker Matteo Pisani came up with a different solution: a Switch without joysticks is a Switch that never experiences drift problems, so he upgraded his console with a touchpad instead.

It’s an idea that was not only inspired by an embarrassing hardware gaffe from a company otherwise known for quality consoles, but by the unorthodox approach to gamepads that Valve took with its now-deceased Steam Controller. In addition to a single joystick, the Steam Controller featured a pair of vibrating haptic touchpads that Valve promised provided as much precision as a mouse and keyboard. The Steam Controller didn’t take the gaming world by storm, but it did show that using a touch-sensitive control scheme for action games wasn’t a completely awful idea.

Pisani hadn’t actually experienced the Joy-Con drift problem with his Switch yet, but he figured this hack—which he’s exhaustively detailed in a Medium post—would ensure it was a problem he’d never encounter if he managed to pull it off. Starting with a transparent green Joy-Con housing (an unnecessary upgrade but one that certainly adds some retro charm for those who owned the lime green Donkey Kong 64-themed N64) he transplanted the guts of his Switch’s left Joy-Con while removing the joystick components in the process.

The electronics were upgraded with a digital potentiometer, a capacitive touchpad wrapped in a custom 3D-printed enclosure, and an Arduino Pro Mini (among other bits) which is used to translate the digital signals from the touchpad to analog joystick signals the Switch is expecting. The hacked Joy-Con isn’t as pretty as Nintendo’s original hardware, but Pisani plans to optimize and miniaturize the added electronics so that everything fits inside the Joy-Con enclosure, allowing it to be used either attached or detached.

Gamers used to the tactile experience of ramming a joystick in all directions will probably turn their nose up at this one, as will anyone who’s struggled to play an action game on a touchscreen device like a smartphone using virtual joysticks. The one advantage Pisani’s hack has is the touchpad’s circular design which provides tactile limits so you can feel when your finger has reached the edge, preventing it from accidentally moving out of range as often happens with virtual on-screen controls. It’s not perfect, but one thing’s for certain: it’s never going to experience annoying drift.

via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com

May 22, 2020 at 09:00AM