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The FBI secretly launched an encrypted messaging system for criminals

An encrypted phone service called Anom was secretly run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a yearslong international sting operation. Law enforcement agencies across Europe, the US, and Oceania revealed Anom’s origins earlier today, saying they had arrested 800 criminal suspects based on intercepted communications. According to public statements, the FBI and other agencies… Read more

Razer’s Plastic Hunting Robot Aims To Clean up the Oceans

Home News (Image credit: Razer) The latest release from Razer, creator of some of the “most interesting” products ever to grace a desktop, is a partnership with ClearBot a marine waste cleaning enterprise with a prototype AI robot. The AI powered boat is designed to detect and collect some of the 11 million tons of… Read more

Fortnite season 7 has Superman, flying saucers, and a virtual influencer

As expected, aliens have invaded Fortnite’s battle royale island. The game’s latest season — Chapter 2: Season 7 — is called “Invasion,” and it’s just kicked off with a sci-fi vibe that’s a big change from last season’s prehistoric theme. Among the changes are flying saucers that players can hack and then pilot, weapons like… Read more

Apple lets users see family members’ Health data

Apple will let people share the data from their Health app with family members or others, the company announced. It’s one of a new slate of health features for iPhone. With permission, someone can share access to their overall heart rate and movement data. They’ll also be able to share access to alerts, which will… Read more

YouTube’s TikTok competitor Shorts will soon let users sample audio from any YouTube video

Being able to sample audio from other users’ videos is one of TikTok’s greatest strengths. It allows memes to percolate across the platform and lets users discover new content by watching videos with the same sound. Soon, YouTube will expand this feature in its TikTok competitor, Shorts, letting users sample sounds from any content uploaded… Read more

Square will invest $5 million to build solar-powered bitcoin mining facility

Financial services firm Square Inc. will partner with blockchain technology provider Blockstream Mining to build an open-source, solar-powered bitcoin mining facility, Blockstream announced in a press release Saturday. Square confirmed the news in a tweet, saying it was “committed to driving further adoption and efficiency of renewables within the bitcoin ecosystem.” According to the release,… Read more

Hackers reportedly used a compromised password in Colonial Pipeline cyberattack

An analysis of the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline found that the hackers were able to access the company’s network using a compromised VPN password, Bloomberg reported. The hack led to a ransomware payout of $4.4 million, and resulted in gas prices around $3 per gallon for the first time in several years at US gas… Read more

Intel: 3.2TB Optane SSD P5800X Due This Year

Home News (Image credit: Intel) Intel’s Optane SSD P5800X introduction late last year included four models with different capacities. So far, the company has brought the 400GB, 800GB, and 1.6TB SKUs to market, but the flagship 3.2TB model still isn’t available and Intel recently removed the product listing from its website. That is a bit surprising because… Read more

Twitter blocked in Nigeria after deleting a tweet by its president

Twitter is suspended “indefinitely” in Nigeria, “for the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence,” according to a statement (threaded on Twitter) from the country’s minister of information and culture. The move comes days after the platform removed a threatening tweet by president Muhammadu Buhari which Twitter… Read more

Future Games Show Powered by WD_BLACK to Air June 13th

Home News (Image credit: Future) Just in time for E3 2021, the next edition of the Future Games Show is set to air. Run by our sister site, GamesRadar+, with sponsor WD_BLACK, the Future Games Show will feature game announcements, trailers and updates from more than 40 new PC and console titles when it airs… Read more

Taiwan Chip Packaging Hub Halts Production After COVID-19 Outbreak

Home News (Image credit: King Yuan Electronics) King Yuan Electronics, a top 10 outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) contractor in the world, announced Friday that it is halting production for two days after several employees were tested positive for COVID-19. A two-day shutdown shouldn’t devastate the market, but amid an ongoing chip shortage — largely stemming… Read more

COVID-19 hospitalization rates in adolescents went up during March and April

In March and April, when COVID-19 vaccinations were starting to keep older adults out of the hospital, more and more children between 12 and 17 years old were being admitted. Many were seriously sick: around one-third of kids in this age group who were in the hospital for COVID-19 this year were in the intensive… Read more

TikTok updates US privacy policy to collect ‘faceprints and voiceprints’ (but won’t explain what they are)

TikTok has updated its privacy policy in the US to notify users that the app might, in future, collect new types of biometric information including “faceprints and voiceprints.” But when reached by The Verge, TikTok was unable to explain what types of data these terms referred to, or why the app might need to access… Read more

EU and UK open antitrust investigations into Facebook Marketplace

The European Commission and UK regulators have opened antitrust investigations into Facebook over concerns its Marketplace service is unfairly distorting competition for classified ads. Both are interested in whether or not Facebook unfairly used advertising data to compete in the classified ads market, and are collaborating as part of the investigation. “Facebook collects vast troves… Read more

AMD’s Discrete GPU Sales in Q1: Up Sequentially, Down Year-over-Year

Home News (Image credit: Nvidia) Sales of discrete GPUs in the first quarter were up both sequentially and year-over-year due to high demand for PCs in general and gaming PCs in particular, according to Mercury Research. Nvidia continued to dominate the market, AMD has been gaining CPU sales and market share in the recent years… Read more