Sunday, September 8, 2024

It's Your Last Chance to Snag a Lifetime Babbel Subscription for Just $140

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Latest Tech News

When a movie franchise puts out the last installment in its line of movies, it has the same feeling you get when you close the final page of a book – at least that’s what I felt when I watched Breaking Dawn Part Two, the last movie in the series of the Twilight movies. Now Netflix, the best streaming service, is set to revive the franchise with an animated series based on Stephenie Meyer’s novel Midnight Sun

While the series is still in early development and Netflix has yet to unveil an official release date, we already have a sense of how the storyline of the new Twilight series will unfold. The animated show will be adapted from the 2020 novel Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer – the writer of the Twilight novel series  – which retells the events of the first book from the perspective of Edward Cullen, the teenage vampire who falls for Bella Swan.  

Twilight Saga

(Image credit: Summit)

Returning to the Twilight production team will be none other than the franchise’s creator herself, Stephenie Meyer, who will assume the position of executive producer with Meghan Hibbett of Fickle Fish Films. Accompanying the two will be Sinead Daly, who’s previous writing experience on one of Netflix Australia's best TV shows The Get Down will be an asset to bringing Edward’s story to life.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart played the roles of Edward and Bella in the movie series, which raked in billions of dollars in box office revenue between 2008-2012, but the question as to who will be next to step into the roles for Netflix’s animated series remains unanswered. Regardless of who’s selected and however the series is received, I can tell you that I will be binging it on premiere day.

Netflix, you have my undivided attention 

A still from Twilight Breaking Dawn in which Bella and Edward are leaning on a branch and looking at something in a forest.

(Image credit: Summit Entertainment)

I can imagine that a lot of people will have many questions about Netflix’s upcoming animated series because, while the original movies were box office successes, the ratings from critics are catastrophic. As it stands, the first movie, Twilight (2008), has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 49%, which is tied with its final installment Breaking Dawn Part Two. Eclipse follows with 46%, then New Moon with 28%, and Breaking Dawn Part One comes dead last with 25%, meaning that none of them have made our list of best Netflix movies

As someone who not only lived through each movie release but once did a non-stop watch party where I watched all five movies in one day (it was lockdown), I admit that the films are objectively bad, but that’s why I’m obsessed with them. And what will undoubtedly annoy me about the upcoming animated series is the snobbish criticism it will receive, which will be purely based on its canon texts. The Twilight movies weren’t designed to be moving and thought-provoking pictures, so why stay mad? 

The beauty about the Twilight series is that the entire thing is powered by its failed seriousness, which is the case for a lot of young-adult book to movie adaptations of the early-mid 2010s – just look at movies like The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and the Divergent series (2014-2016). Netflix’s attempt at an animated Twilight series could absolutely crash and burn, and if it does, I’m here for it.  

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Saturday, September 7, 2024

Best Amazon Deals: Score Tech, School Supplies and Essentials for Less Than $100

Amazon always has amazing deals across all categories. Here are some of the best deals we could find for $100 or less.

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Declutter Your Gmail Inbox: How to Score 15GB of Free Storage

You can get to inbox zero by transferring all your old messages to a new Gmail account.

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Friday, September 6, 2024

Rocket Money Review September 2024

This popular budgeting app won a CNET's Editors' Choice award for its affordability and wide range of features.

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Thursday, September 5, 2024

Best VPN Service for 2024: VPNs Tested by Our Experts

We've tested dozens of the top VPN services. Our expert staff recommends these for VPNs for streaming, travel, gaming, torrenting and private browsing.

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Latest Tech News

IFA 2024 continues to deliver even more tech news, including the reveal of tons of AI PCs from top manufacturers. One such is Samsung’s Galaxy line, which is getting two new AI-based entries.

The first is the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360, powered by the Intel Core Ultra CPU (Series 2) and an NPU with up to 47 total TOPs. It also features an Intel Arc GPU, a 3K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate screen, a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with Vision Booster (which reduces glare), and according to the tech giant, reaches up to 25 hours of video playback battery life. Its specs also include 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.

The second laptop is the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus 8-core CPU and an NPU with up to 45 total TOPs. It features a 15.6-inch FHD display with anti-glare tech and comes in Sapphire Blue. Despite the thin and light design, the port selection is well-rounded, with USB Type-C, USB Type-A, HDMI, a combo jack, and a micro SD slot. Its specs also include 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.

Like other Windows-based AI PCs, the Book5 Pro 360 and the Book4 Edge utilize Copilot+ AI and its in-house AI tools and programs. The former is already available in the UK for £1,699 and will be available on September 24 in other regions. The latter will launch in the US, UK, and other regions starting October 10.

What’s the future of AI-powered CPUs? 

Like other AI PCs, Samsung is mixing up which AI-powered CPUs will be featured in different models. This move not only increases the options that buyers can choose from based on personal preference but most likely allows manufacturers to ‘test’ out which CPUs work best for their needs.

Of course, plenty of testing had to have been done before launch to ensure that buyers would have the best products. However, the most reliable way to find out the true performance and limits of these AI CPUs and NPUs is to wait for official benchmarks and thorough testing from professionals.

As AI PCs are a new concept and we haven’t seen the full range of what all the CPUs can accomplish yet, it’ll be fascinating to see which ones actually turn out to be winners. However, we’ve at least seen the first Snapdragon chips, and so far, they’ve been extremely promising, with the Dell XPS 13 (2024) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 being notable examples.

While I do have faith in AMD putting out solid AI CPUs that could potentially rival Snapdragon, my worries lie more with Intel’s output. Lunar Lake should technically be more than sufficient to compete with and surpass its competitors, but considering the ongoing stability issues with Intel’s 13th and 14th-gen processors, there are still some doubts as to what Team Blue can accomplish in reality.

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Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Connect All the Things for Less Thanks to This Deal on Ugreen's Uno 6-in-1 USB-C Hub

Save 20% on this USB-C hub that can handle a variety of devices and make file transfers happen in the blink of an eye.

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Latest Tech News

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is flawed, and needs to be fixed. Repairing this protocol would minimize data theft, extortion, state-level espionage, as well as the disruption of security-critical transactions. This is the conclusion of a new roadmap document, published earlier this week by the White House.

The document is called “Roadmap to enhancing internet routing security”, and it discusses the problems, and potential solutions, of BGP.

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the primary routing protocol used to exchange routing information between different autonomous systems (AS) on the internet. In other words, it’s the glue that holds the entire internet together.

Espionage and data theft

It enables routers to determine the most efficient paths for data to travel across the vast expanse of interconnected networks that make up the internet. BGP is crucial for maintaining a stable and scalable internet by allowing networks to share reachability information and make routing decisions based on a variety of policies.

But the protocol was designed back in 1989, and security was more of an afterthought. As a result, BGP has been abused multiple times throughout the years in some high-profile attacks. For example, in 2008, a Pakistani ISP wanted to block access to YouTube within Pakistan but accidentally announced a more specific BGP route that led to YouTube’s global traffic being redirected through Pakistan. This caused a worldwide outage of YouTube for several hours.

Two years later, China Telecom advertised incorrect BGP routes that caused a significant amount of global internet traffic, including that of U.S. government and military sites, to be routed through China for about 18 minutes. China claimed it was an incident, while some researchers in the west thought it was a deliberate attempt at cyber-espionage.

In 2018, attackers hijacked BGP routes for Amazon’s Route 53 DNS service to redirect traffic intended for MyEtherWallet, a popular cryptocurrency wallet service, to a malicious server. The attackers then stole users' cryptocurrency by tricking them into entering their credentials on the fake site.

The solution is an authentication scheme called Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) - a security framework designed to enhance the security of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) by providing a way to cryptographically verify the ownership of IP address blocks and the authorization of networks to announce specific routes.

“To that end, this document serves as a roadmap to increase the adoption of technologies that address critical vulnerabilities associated with the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and drive improvements in Internet inter-domain routing security and resilience,” the White House’s document concludes.

“This roadmap is not a technical guide on how to implement routing, but rather points to best-available guidance and practices, details United States Government (USG) actions to promote BGP security, and makes recommendations to improve routing security throughout the Internet ecosystem.”

Via The Register

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Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Review in Progress: A New Design Goes a Long Way

Google's second-gen foldable phone feels like what the first one should have been.

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Latest Tech News

With the iPhone 16 reveal just around the corner at Apple’s “Glowtime” event on September 9, the major talking point of the next best iPhone is likely its Apple Intelligence integration rather than a hardware bump.

Apple’s suite of AI features is expected to headline the marketing of the next-generation iPhone lineup, but customers will have to wait until iOS 18.1 launches later in the year to get a taste of what Apple Intelligence can do. 

While we won’t have long to wait after the launch of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro to try out Apple Intelligence, some of the major features we’ve all been clamoring for won’t arrive until 2025, the biggest of which is Siri 2.0.

With that in mind, we’ll examine what the next generation of Siri will look like and why you should be excited to use the AI-powered voice assistant when it arrives next year.

Siri 2.0

Three iPhones on a blue and red background running Apple Intelligence

(Image credit: Apple)

First of all, here’s a brief breakdown of the expected Apple Intelligence launch according to top insiders like Mark Gurman at Bloomberg. Apple Intelligence’s initial features, like proofreading, summarizing, phone call recording, Clean Up, and other useful tools, will arrive as part of iOS 18.1, which is set to launch later this year, potentially in October. 

That means that, on day one, iPhone 16 owners won’t have any Apple Intelligence features on their iOS 18-powered smartphone. It’s a bummer but considering iOS 18.1 is in beta right now, it hopefully won’t be too long before your whole contact list is sending AI-generated responses to AI-generated questions with Genmoji over iMessage.

In iOS 18.1, Siri will get an overhaul with a new stylish design that appears on the edges of your iPhone, pulsating as you speak. It looks gorgeous, and you’ll also be able to double-tap the bottom of your device to use ‘Type to Siri’ when speaking out loud, which is convenient. From my testing, Siri is definitely improved in iOS 18.1, but it’s nowhere near as clever as the Siri Apple showed off at WWDC in June. 

For that version of the voice assistant, which we’ll call 2.0, Gurman suggests they’ll “go into beta testing for developers in January and then debut publicly around the springtime — part of an iOS 18.4 upgrade that’s already in the works."

The wait for a smarter Siri will be worth it

An iPhone on a blue-green background showing Siri

(Image credit: Apple)

At WWDC, Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, showed an example of Siri’s AI capabilities, pulling information from an event's poster to determine whether he could move his meeting and still make his daughter’s theater performance. Apple Intelligence was able to know who his daughter was and the event in question, and on top of all that, contacted those involved and created new calendar events. 

It was seriously impressive stuff and all possible thanks to the major improvements coming to Siri, which let the voice assistant become your on-device personal assistant. Apple made a huge deal about Siri using Apple Intelligence’s ability to read personal context, interact with what’s on your device’s display, and act wiser than we’ve ever seen before. Siri will ultimately, just like Gemini on the latest Google Pixel 9 phones, become the cornerstone of Apple Intelligence on Apple devices moving forward.

That said, until Siri 2.0 launches next year, Apple will have to make a conscious effort to explain to the mass market that Siri included in iOS 18.1 with its snazzy design overhaul isn’t the voice assistant we’ve been promised. 

Otherwise, Apple Intelligence’s launch could be met with disappointment as users use AI on iPhones for the first time only to quickly realize that, outside of some nifty new features, it isn’t quite the AI-fuelled future just yet. 

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Monday, September 2, 2024

Save $50 on These Anker Headphones at Amazon This Labor Day

These Anker headphones were already budget friendly, and now they're an extra $50 off during Amazon's Labor Day sale.

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Latest Tech News

Netflix's new Jeff Goldblum show, Kaos, features the actor playing god: quite literally, because he's the Greek god Zeus. The show is a very modern spin on one of mythology's oldest characters, and while the reviews have been decidedly mixed Kaos looks like it's another big hit for the streamer. And if myths are your thing, there's plenty more best Netflix shows to keep you entertained. Here are three of our favorites with god-like Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Blood of Zeus

Originally known as Gods & Heroes, this adult animated series is set in Ancient Greece and follows Heron, the demigod son of Zeus, as he tries to save both Olympus and Earth. Heron is an invention of the series, although there were plenty of demigods hinted at in the original myths. Season 1 has the full 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and so does the second season. Espinof says it's "one of the most entertaining animated series available". 

According to ScreenAnarchy, "Resplendent in darkly beautiful animation, Blood of Zeus feels like a graphic novel brought to life" while Paste Magazine would clearly give season 2 of the show more than 100% if they could: "We finally have a follow-up season that largely matches and, in many cases, surpasses its predecessor thanks to compelling bad guys, improved visuals, and similarly clever allusions to age-old narratives."

Ragnarok

Now in its third season, Ragnarok takes place in a small town poisoned by pollution and rattled by melting glaciers where the End Times feel imminent. It's a coming-of-age story with a dark mythological twist and some pitch-dark humor, centring on two young men who just happen to be the latest incarnations of Thor, god of thunder, and Loki, god of mischief. 

According to Book and Film Globe: "Ragnarok is awkward and bizarre at its best" and that's a compliment: the original myths are awkward and bizarre too, and "the young characters in this show actually feel genuinely angry in a way that's appropriate for youth, particularly in terms of the kinds of problems youths these days face".

The Sandman

We're in two minds about recommending this given the allegations against creator Neil Gaiman, but it'd be a shame if the great work and performances on display here were overshadowed by its writer. We rated The Sandman very highly, describing it as "oh-so-nearly brilliant" and paying particular regard to a "supremely talented cast who breathe life into The Sandman's eclectic cast of characters":

Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, Jenna Coleman and Mason Alexander Park. It's the story of Morpheus, one of seven mythical beings, who becomes trapped on Earth and who discovers that the Dream Dimension he called home has fallen into ruin. 

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Sunday, September 1, 2024

Best Internet Providers in Warwick, Rhode Island

Looking for an internet provider in Warwick? Verizon Fios is our top pick but there are other options worth considering as well.

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Never Worry About a Dead Car Battery Again With This Portable Jump Starter, On Sale for Labor Day

The Powrun P-One battery pack can bring your car back to life without the mess of traditional jumper cables. And it's discounted for Amazon's Labor Day sale.

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Could Apple's New Adaptive Power Feature Extend Your iPhone's Battery Life?

With this new feature being tested in the iOS 26 developer beta, you may be able to ditch the Low Power Mode setting in the future. from C...