Daily Tech News 12 June 2021

• It's the Queen's Birthday long weekend in certain parts of Oz. The last two long weekends here marked the start and the end of the problems related to the datacenter fire, so I not only didn't get long weekends then, I didn't get weekends at all. This time it looks like I'll at least get the normal two days off.
  
  I need to configure some new servers tomorrow, but they'll make my life a lot easier. And make our newly hired sysadmin's life a lot easier, which will make my life even more easier.
  
  
  
• Regular updates for Windows 10 will end in 2025. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  This doesn't mean that support and bugfixes will stop then, but it does indicate that there's an entirely new version of Windows on its way.
  
  We'll see what that brings. As long as they don't drop 32-bit application support like MacOS. I doubt that will happen, because there's still a 32-bit version of Windows and that can still run ancient 16-bit apps.

• Intel's new 11900KB seems to be nearly as fast as the 11900K at half the power consumption. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  That would be great if you could use it in your own desktop builds. But because this is Intel and we can't have nice things, that's not possible. It's a surface-mount BGA package and only useful to OEMs.
  
  
  
• HBM3 pushes data clocks to 5.2GT/s. (WCCFTech)
  
  Think of it as 5.2GHz. Technically it's half that because all memory these days is DDR - double data rate, transferring two bits of data per clock - but it doesn't matter unless you're actually designing hardware yourself.
  
  Since the idea behind HBM - high bandwidth memory - is that it would run at relatively low clocks but use very wide buses - 1024 bits for a single chip - pushing the clock up to 5.2GHz makes it very fast indeed.
  
  GDDR6X can currently reach 19GHz, but those chips are only 32 bits wide.
  
  
  
• TSMC is looking to add a chip packaging plant to its planned expansions in Arizona. (WCCFTech)
  
  The company has already expanded earlier expansion plans and is looking to build as many as six leading-edge fabs - chip factories - in the US, but those would produce raw silicon dies that would need to be shipped to another factory to be packaged. On this scale adding local packaging facilities makes sense.
  
  Also, the first of the new buildings looks like a WiFi router. I mean, you can see the ventilation slots and the RJ-45 ports and everything.
  
  
  
• BuzzFeed has won a Pulitzer Prize. (BuzzFeed)
  
  Before you scoff - I mean, go ahead and scoff anyway, just before that - they won the prize for documenting China's genocide of the Uyghurs. The New York Times won the same prize for covering up the Soviet genocide in Ukraine.
  
  It's progress. It's not much progress, but its something.
  
  
  
• Hackers broke into Electronic Arts by social engineering internal tech support via their Slack channel. (Vice)
  
  Rule One: Don't use Slack.
  Rule Two: When someone asks for a password, tell them to fill out Form 404.
  
  
  
• The Avaddon ransomware gang has called it quits and released decryption keys for their remaining victims. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  No, I don't know why. Water getting too hot with the recent spate of high-profile hacks? More profitable avenues to pursue? Government funding dried up? Don't know.
  
  
  
• The US Senate has just agreed on a $52 billion bailout for an industry currently making record profits. (ZDNet)
  
  It's not the dumbest thing they've ever done, not even close, but the three big companies lobbying for this handout have a combined market cap over $5 trillion.
  
  
  
• Meanwhile the New York Senate has passed a right to repair bill. (IFixit)
  
  Louis Rossman is currently in Florida, and could not be reached for - who am I kidding, here are his thoughts:
  
  
  
  Basically it looks like one step forward and then take the rest of the year off. What a certain blogger calls failure theater.
  
  
  
• Proposed federal and state legislation would force online marketplaces like Amazon to publish direct contact information for their sellers. (Ars Technica)
  
  Amazon hates this. Real companies that actually get sued for selling fake products are strongly in favour.
  
  
  
• Radeon 6800 and 6800 XT cards seem to be back in stock after going missing for several weeks. Supply is still limited, but they are there, and prices for the 6700 XT are heading back down into the troposphere with the higher-end cards trailing behind. The 6900 XT is still about 20% higher than it was a few weeks ago, but hopefully that will correct itself soon.
  
  I might get a new PC this year after all. I'm currently running on a Ryzen 1700 and a Radeon 580; I'm looking at a 5900X and a 6700 XT for the new build. That would be about 2.5 times as fast.
  
  Nvidia, as yet, need not apply. The RTX 3060 is currently priced as high as the 6700 XT despite being a much slower card.

posted by Pixy Misa at 03:44 AM

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