Please Let Me Talk to a Person: Automated Phone Menus Are the Worst - CNET

Commentary: Four reasons automated phone menus are their own brand of hell, and five ways they can be improved.

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Medicare Price Changes for 2023: Part B Premiums Will Be Cheaper - CNET

The cost of Medicare premiums is changing next year. We'll explain how much.

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Election Day 2022: These 5 States Are Voting on Abortion Rights - CNET

The 2022 midterms include the highest number of abortion-related referendums in history.

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Latest Tech News

Apple appears to have started tracking user activities while in the App Store, making some suspect the company significantly deviated from its “privacy is a human right” ideals. 

Two researchers going by the alias Mysk discovered iOS was sending Apple a detailed log of how users interact with the App Store, including where they tap while interacting with the store. The information is being delivered to the company in real-time via a JSON file, it was said.

This newly discovered tracking feature could be connected to Apple recently introducing new ad placements to the mobile app repository, some believe, with others suggesting that Apple has been tracking user behavior this way since the release of iOS 14.6 back in May 2021. 

New ad placements

Apple has not commented on the matter just yet, but some researchers have noted that these findings seem to be linked with new ad positions being introduced to the App Store.

In late October 2022, the company emailed iOS developers of new app-related ads being rolled out in the marketplace's main Today tab, as well as in the “You Might Also Like” section at the bottom of individual app listings. 

Read more

> You could soon be seeing a lot more ads on your iPhone

> Your App Store ad problem is about to get worse

> Check out the best VPN services around

9to5Mac also reminds that developers now have access to some statistics about how their ads are performing, which this data being sent even when the Personalizerd Ads option is turned off.

Apple’s had a relatively rough start with its new ad placements, with recent reports claiming unethical or irrelevant content (for example gambling, or dating apps) was making its way to these new placement, sparking outrage among the wider community. 

Apple responded by temporarily suspending ads for these types of ads, but whether or not that changes in the future is anyone’s guess. If media reports are anything to go by, Apple will introduce even more ads in the future. 

TechRadar Pro has contacted Apple for comment.

• Here are the best business VPNs right now

Via: 9to5Mac

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Which Apps Are Draining Your Mac's Battery the Most? Here's How to Find Out - CNET

It only takes a click to check.

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Latest Tech News

Zoom and AMC have linked up for a partnership that will turn movie theater locations throughout the United States into video conferencing venues.

Users will be able to book their preferred theater online, and will then receive a three-hour block of time to virtually host their event as a Zoom Rooms across selected theaters across the country.

AMC and Zoom will provide the necessary equipment for the entire Zoom Rooms experience, as well as providing the option of snacks and beverage offerings, movie viewings, and concierge-style personalized handling of the meetings. 

Zoom cinemas

The collaboration is set to launch in 17 major US markets some time in 2023, and typical auditorium sizes are expected to range between 75 and 150 seats, depending upon the theater.

These innovative attempts to drum up new revenue shouldn’t really come as that much of a surprise, both companies' fortunes have been uneven as of late.

Wall Street analysts have predicted a loss per share of 25 cents for AMC's upcoming Q3 financial results, with factors such as high sanitation costs eating into its earnings, though these have recovered substantially since the pandemic devastated the cinema industry.

Zoom's valuation has also seen better days, its stock price is more than 80% down from its October 2020 peak.

READ MORE:

> Zoom and Google Meet are coming closer together at last

> You'll soon have to update Zoom a lot more frequently

> Our guide to the best video conferencing tools 

“Now through this partnership of Zoom and AMC, we have the best of both worlds — the spectacular communications platform of Zoom combined with the comfort, size, scale, and state-of-the-art sight and sound capabilities of AMC’s centrally located theatres,” said Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC Theatres.

”This creates an all-new product in major cities across the U.S. for companies and meeting planners.”

• Check out our guide to the best online collaboration tools

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Gears of War Film, Animated Series in the Works at Netflix - CNET

Will Marcus Fenix finally get his screen debut?

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Latest Tech News

Ahead of the official PC Gaming Show 2023, Future and Intel announced a preview event called the PC Gaming Show: 2023 Preview which will happen later this November.

The PC Gaming Show: 2023 Preview event is the second time the larger show got a preview, and the new preview will happen on Thursday, November 17 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 6PM BT through Twitch, YouTube, and Steam. It will also air a mix of both trailers and gameplay from upcoming global titles currently in development.

Some of the games set to be announced during the event include Kerbal Space Program 2, a new game from League of Geeks (the creators of Armello and the recently announced reboot of Solium Infernum), Shadows of Doubt, and The Great War: Western Front. There will also be a ‘The Top 5 Most-Wanted Games of 2023,’ which will be selected by PC Gamer.

The preview event will be hosted by Frankie Ward, who’s been with PC Gaming Show since 2018. Along with Intel, the show is also supported by Starry Studio, Team Miaozi, Plaion, Ravenage, Fireshine Games, Frontier, SEGA, tinyBuild, Fatshark, Hashbane, Wired Productions, Top Hat Studios, and Avalanche Studios Group.

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I Bonds: How to Buy the Best Low-Risk Investment Right Now - CNET

The new rate for Series I savings bonds still beats other comparable investments.

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Latest Tech News

There have already been tons of rumors and conjectures surrounding the existence of an Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti in development. But now it seems the tech grapevine might have some new intel on the supposed GPU, as well as the RTX 4080 16GB version.

According to new leaks that were reported on by Neowin, we may have some early benchmark scores for the RTX 4090 Ti. In the Blender 3.3 test, there’s a mysterious ‘Nvidia Graphics Device’ listed alongside the 4080 and other GPUs. The unnamed card scored 12,906.07 points, which puts it 6.6% higher than even the RTX 4090 and lends to the rumor that this could be the 4090 Ti. Meanwhile, the 4080 scored 9,478.64 points, which is about 22.5% lower than the 4090’s score of 12,107.64.

For the Geekbench 5 benchmark, there were leaked scores for the 4080 OpenCL, CUDA, and Vulkan tests for the RTX 4080. The GPU scored 258,372, 300,728, and 148,838, respectively. Compared to the scores for the 3080, which was also tested, the score increases are quite high. 

Finally, there’s the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark, in which the 4080 scored 28,599 points for the 1440p test and 14,178 points for the 4K test. These are significant gains compared to the RTX 3080, the AMD RX 6950 XT, and the AMD RX 6900 XT.

Putting these benchmark scores into perspective 

The RTX 4090 Ti’s supposed existence is rather interesting since rumors seem to swing wildly between the Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti reportedly being canned due to sky-high power consumption and it being almost definitely a thing that’s releasing eventually. In fact, the source of the former rumor, Moore’s Law is Dead, explained that the 4090 Ti could actually be a new RTX Titan Ada. Titans are massively expensive graphics cards that are aimed more at creative professionals.

But judging from this most recent leaked benchmark, it seems like the performance matches better to it being a 4090 Ti rather than a super professional GPU.

Meanwhile, the leaked benchmarks for the RTX 4080 16GB are quite impressive, showing off significant gains over older GPU models from both Nvidia and AMD. This is a major improvement over the former RTX 4080 12GB version, which had to be officially ‘uncancelled’ by Nvidia due to its lackluster specs.

So far it seems that these upcoming next-gen cards might actually be a huge leap from their predecessors, though the prices are still a little too steep for them to be affordable to all but the most hardcore of gamers.

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SpaceX's Starship Could Launch Just Weeks After NASA's First Artemis Mission - CNET

A pair of monster rockets are set to make history before the new year.

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Latest Tech News

The vast majority of internet users admit that they don't have a password protecting their home Wi-Fi connection, possibly leaving them open to potential cyberattacks, new research has found.

A report from PC Matic found 89% of people don’t have a password set up on their router, while 7% weren’t even sure if they had a password or not.

Changing passwords also seems to be an issue, as only 9% of users that said they do protect their Wi-Fi with a password have never actually changed it. Furthermore, 9% admit they wouldn't know how to do that, and 37% haven’t changed their passwords since initially setting the router up and replacing the factory settings.

Basic internet security

However it isn't all bad news, as there are some people who pay more attention to the cybersecurity of their virtual premises. Almost a quarter (23%) said to be changing their Wi-Fi passwords once a year, and a further fifth (22%) once a month (up 4% year-on-year). 

Securing the router is arguably the most important thing to do, when defending your home, or business, from cyber-incursions. Routers serve as the hub for all internet-connected endpoints, such as computers, smartphones, but also IoT devices such as smart speakers, smart home appliances, and others. 

Read more

> How to find your Wi-Fi password

> How to change your router password

> What is a password manager and how does it work

With an unsecured router, a threat actor could not only use up all the data and slow the performance of the network down, but could also use known vulnerabilities in the routers, or in the devices themselves, to access sensitive data, or even steal it for future identity theft and similar cyberattacks.

Besides protecting the home Wi-Fi with a password, users are advised to regularly update the firmware of their routers, as these updates protect the devices from dangerous vulnerabilities. 

• These are the best business password managers around

Via: AtlasVPN

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God of War Ragnarok: Release Date and What To Know Before Playing - CNET

The biggest PlayStation release of the year arrives on Nov. 9. Here are the story details you need to know before diving in.

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More People Should Tune In to This Engrossing Horror Anthology Series - CNET

Old Gods of Appalachia is a gripping must-listen.

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Why Andrew Tate Is Banned From Almost Every Social Media Platform - CNET

Andrew Tate was removed from multiple online platforms.

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