Facepalm: One might imagine that with so many individuals caught smuggling hardware into China, people would decide it just wasn't worth the risk. But no. Not only has another person tried to avoid paying import taxes, but they also broke the record for the number of China-bound processors strapped to their body: an uncomfortable 239 CPUs, worth around $50,000. MyDrivers reports that the incident took place a few days ago. As is often the case, the smuggler made his way through the 'nothing to declare' lane at customs. But officials at Gongbei Port noticed he was wearing black baggy clothes. Nothing unusual there, you might think, but his appearance was said to be bloated and abnormal, which is usually a sign something is wrong. The man was taken aside by port authorities for further inspection. It was discovered that he had used the old, and rarely successful, technique of strapping computer hardware to his body. A massive 239 processors were wrapped in bags and taped to his … [Read more...] about Smuggler tries to sneak 239 CPUs past Chinese customs by strapping them to his body
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Apple Music Classical strikes its first note – here’s what it looks like
Originally set to launch on March 28, users in Australia and several Asian countries have managed to get their hands on the long-awaited Apple Music Classical ahead of schedule. Judging from screenshots posted on Twitter (opens in new tab) , the app looks exactly as it was shown in previews – for better or for worse. The purpose of this app is to better curate Apple Music's classical music library. You get over five million tracks with “thousands of recordings [supporting] spatial audio and 192 kHz/24-bit Hi-Res Lossless sound quality.” Apple Music Classical is live pic.twitter.com/5BuUTDireQ March 27, 2023 See more Its user interface has been specifically designed to help classical music nerds “search by composer, work, conductor, or even catalog number” if they have a specific favorite. Newcomers, on the other hand, will probably appreciate one of the “hundreds of Essentials playlists,” which offer deep dives into the composition. Currently, the app is … [Read more...] about Apple Music Classical strikes its first note – here’s what it looks like
These countries have the most exposed databases online
Leaving a database exposed online without a password can be extremely damaging for both businesses and their customers. Despite this risk, a new report (opens in new tab) from NordPass (opens in new tab) has identified a total of 9,517 unsecured databases containing more than 10bn entries filled with data such as emails, passwords and phone numbers. To conduct its research, the company behind the new password manager partnered with a white hat hacker who scanned Elasticsearch and MongoDB libraries between June of last year and this year looking for exposed, unprotected databases. The exposed databases were found across 20 different countries with China, the US and India at the top of the list. China had nearly 4,000 exposed databases with 2.6bn entries, the US had 2,703 with 2.4bn entries and India had just 520 with 4.8m entries. We've put together a list of the best business password management software Create strong passwords easily with the best … [Read more...] about These countries have the most exposed databases online
Playing Steam VR games is now way easier with this free Meta Quest 2 tool
You can turn your Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2) into “an almost-native Steam VR headset” that should also improve your VR performance thanks to an open-source tool. This free-to-download program is available on GitHub and was created by ItsKaitlyn03 (opens in new tab) late last year (via UploadVR (opens in new tab) ). This software engineer is an active member of the Oculus community and was the same person who discovered the Oculus code that referenced the Air Bridge a month ago. Their tool is called OculusKiller (opens in new tab) and it effectively “kills” the Oculus Dash function of the Oculus PC app and auto-launches Steam VR. If you only even play PC VR games from Steam - titles like Half-Life Alyx - then OculusKiller will make it way easier to load up these games quickly. What’s more, ItsKaitlyn03 found that removing Oculus Dash will save you around “200 MB of memory + GPU” which it eats up even when it’s not in use. This should mean … [Read more...] about Playing Steam VR games is now way easier with this free Meta Quest 2 tool
A front-runner emerges in the European small launcher race
There are essentially three areas in the world where clusters of private companies have started to develop small launch vehicles. The first such cluster emerged in the United States nearly two decades ago with SpaceX, which was then followed by Rocket Lab and about a dozen other serious companies. Next came China, with a profusion of quasi-private companies leveraging technology from the country's state-owned launch enterprises with private funding. The final region that has emerged in the last five years is in Europe. This European small launcher race has essentially followed a US model, with venture capital and investors backing a number of privately led efforts to develop commercially viable small satellite launchers. Much of this activity has been clustered in Germany and Great Britain, but Spanish and French companies are also in play. Because none of the dozen or so European companies have actually attempted an orbital launch attempt yet, it can be difficult to tell who is … [Read more...] about A front-runner emerges in the European small launcher race
How a beloved classic Porsche became a Transformer
"I didn't know what car Mirage was going to be at first," said Steven Caple Jr., director of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts . "Where I'm from, in Cleveland, Ohio, I'd never even been in a Porsche before," he continued. "My actual first introduction to Porsche was Bad Boys I , so shout out to Michael Bay—that's all I really had." Caple admitted in a panel during Austin's South by Southwest festival that the star car of the beloved action film Bad Boys inspired him to make Mirage a classic Porsche in the upcoming film. Mirage is a bit of a rebel himself, and the callback to the classic buddy-cop movie just felt right. Fortunately, extraterrestrial Autobots won't be tempted to pull over in any sketchy places to debate the merits of in-car snacking , but this does mean they have bigger nemeses that necessitate transforming into giant robots to handle. It can be more complicated than you'd expect to make a cool Porsche into an Autobot film star, though—in fact, Porsche has a … [Read more...] about How a beloved classic Porsche became a Transformer
PETA Outraged After Horse Dies on ‘Rings of Power’ Set
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is again demanding that Hollywood stop using live animals after a horse died on the set of the nearly billion-dollar Amazon series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power . The animal died on March 21 after suffering a cardiac arrest during rehearsals of the fantasy show’s second season on set in the United Kingdom, according to Variety . PETA used the death to push its agenda and called for an immediate end to the entertainment industry’s use of live animals. “It seems that living underground with the orcs is par for the course for the producers of ‘The Rings of Power,’ because they have the option to use CGI, mechanical rigs and other humane methods that wouldn’t run vulnerable horses to death on set,” PETA said in a statement. “PETA is calling on the show’s creators — and all other producers — to take on a new quest without using any real horses. If they can’t avoid exploiting animals for their art, they should … [Read more...] about PETA Outraged After Horse Dies on ‘Rings of Power’ Set
UK Hikes Ulster Terror Threat to ‘Severe’, Means Attack ‘Highly Likely’
LONDON (AP) – The U.K.´s MI5 intelligence service on Tuesday raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland´ to “severe” amid an increase in activity by dissident Irish republican militants. Severe is the second-highest rung on a five-point scale and means an attack is considered highly likely. The threat had stood one notch lower at “substantial” for the past year. Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland laid down their arms after the 1998 Good Friday peace accord largely ended three decades of violent conflict between Irish republican and British loyalist groups and U.K. security forces that killed more than 3,600 people. But small Irish Republican Army splinter groups have continued to launch sporadic attacks on security forces. U.K. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said that “in recent months, we have seen an increase in levels of activity relating to Northern Ireland-related terrorism, which has targeted police officers serving their communities and … [Read more...] about UK Hikes Ulster Terror Threat to ‘Severe’, Means Attack ‘Highly Likely’