The CIA created Apple as we know it

The Hot Take: Interesting so going to Apple are you really more safe? Hmmmmm

The Fruity Cargo Cult, Apple’s modern empire may owe more to CIA cash than it will ever admit. Without a secretive US intelligence contract keeping NeXT alive, company co-founder Steve Jobs might have remained a Silicon Valley footnote rather than returning as messiah. The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA turned up at NeXT in 1986, when Jobs was still licking his wounds after being booted from Job’s Mob. The Cold War was roaring, Ronald Reagan was shovelling billions into defence and spy agencies wanted Silicon Valley kit before it…

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CXMT planned to use stolen Samsung IP to develop its DRAM, court hears — former Samsung engineer who jumped to Chinese memory maker now behind bars

The Hot Take: Corporate espionage, smh.

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China's largest maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), planned to obtain Samsung's IP related to its memory process technologies in a bid to develop its own production nodes, according to testimony given in a South Korean criminal case involving leaked Samsung technology, reports Maeil Business. The company's managers allegedly had no intention to develop an in-house process technology from scratch, so obtaining IP from Samsung was a strategic decision.Go deeper with TH Premium: Memory(Image credit:…

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Intel’s 28-Core bLLC Nova Lake-S Reportedly Draws 296 W PL2, 18% Higher Than Core Ultra 9 285K

The Hot Take: Bring it Intel! We need x86 competition and an eco system that isn't just SoC mid-range....

According to the latest leak, Intel's 28-core Nova Lake CPU could reach a staggering 296W at its PL2 power limit. Intel's 8+16+4 bLLC Chip Rumored to be one of the Nova Lake's Highest-End Single-Tile Designs Intel's upcoming Nova Lake-S desktop lineup appears to be one of the most aggressive ones, with power limits higher than previously expected. According to the user "Golden Pig Upgrade" (via Weibo), the Nova Lake-S CPU with a configuration of 8+16+4 will reportedly feature a PL2 (Power Limit 2) limit of 296W. This makes it potentially one…

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G.Skill pays out $2.4M settlement over misleading DDR4 and DDR5 speed marketing — buyers get $20 to $25 as vendor agrees to XMP and EXPO packaging warnings

The Hot Take: I hope that G.Skill can survive after this, seems the RAM market is condensing hard since Micron's exit to avoid legal responsibility for price fixing.

G.Skill, maker of some of the best RAM for PC gaming, has begun sending payments to claimants in the $2.4 million class action lawsuit over claims that it falsely advertised the speeds of its memory, misleading customers because the very fastest speeds could only be obtained by overclocking. According to screenshots from different users, reimbursements range from a paltry $20 to $25.Go deeper with TH Premium: Memory(Image credit: SK Hynix)AI data centers are swallowing the world's memory and storage supplySamsung debuts three next-generation…

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Id Software Rejects Unreal Engine 5 Switch After Xbox Layoffs, as Marty Stratton Vows Studio Stays a Tech Powerhouse

The Hot Take: Unreal is great but id tech is silky smooth and has great linux support.

The latest unfortunate wave of layoffs at Xbox, which will result in a loss of 3,200 jobs by July 2027, has affected pretty much every studio, ranging from those that went independent, like Tim Schafer's Double Fine, to those no one believed would be at risk, such as Bethesda. Among these, id Software was hit hard, so much so that the future of the id Tech engine, the impressive game engine that powers the DOOM series and MachineGames' Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, was put in question. According to the studio's Executive Producer Marty…

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GPU Suffers From Thermal Degradation Just Because GIGABYTE Forgot To Remove The Protective Film; Company Dismisses User’s Concerns Over Warranty Status

The Hot Take: d0h, glade I didn't stick with Gigabyte after gel-gate.

The user only found it when he opened up his GPU, but it was too late since the protective film had already caused thermal degradation. User Says RTX 3070 Suffered From Thermal Degradation for Nearly Five Years as GIGABYTE Forgot to Remove Protective Film From the VRM Thermal Pads GIGABYTE reportedly made a blunder in the GPU assembly, which was later discovered by the user u/buczi94. The user reports that the problem was discovered only after he disassembled his GPU after using it for nearly five years, which suffered from thermal degradation…

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Microsoft removes Windows Management InstrumentationCommand-line (WMIC) from Windows 11

The Hot Take: WMI dies finally. Whats next?

Microsoft has been on a drive to clean up Windows 11 by removing legacy features and components for some time now. The latest example of this is the company’s decision to remove Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) from the operating system. To the casual observer, this is something that has already been consigned to the history books as it was not included in a standard installation of Windows 11. However, the latest move sees Microsoft killing off the ability to add it as an optional Feature on Demand. The loss of Windows…

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Intel says it will launch new core with Nova Lake on desktop first, not in data center — VP Robert Hallock hopes enthusiasts ‘do the math’ compared to AMD

The Hot Take: I'm thinking in a bid to win back all the people that moved to AMD because of the issues.

Intel will launch its new core with Nova Lake on desktop first, not in the data center. Tom’s Hardware Premium recently sat down with Intel VP and general manager of the enthusiast channel business Robert Hallock and asked about his reaction to AMD launching Zen 6 first in the data center with new EPYC Venice CPUs — breaking with over a decade of AMD leading with a client release for its new architectures. Hallock opened up about Intel’s enthusiast roadmap and said the company is “very serious” about executing that roadmap. Go deeper with TH…

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The PC age began 45 years ago with the breakthrough Intel 8088 processor — 8-bit bus fueled 45 years of x86 dominance

The Hot Take: Always cool with history.

45 years ago, in August 1981, the PC age began in earnest with the launch of the IBM PC Model 5150. At its heart was the Intel 8088 microprocessor, a cheaper sibling of the processor that pioneered the x86 architecture, the famed Intel 8086. Intel’s new affordability-targeted processor, its IBM PC design win, and Big Blue’s decision to allow the making of PC clones would kickstart four and a half decades of PC compatibles dominating personal computing. Forty-five years ago, the @IBM PC, powered by the Intel 8088 processor, helped bring…

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