Dealmaster: Get a Dell Core i7 laptop with a 256GB SSD for $600

Plus deals on portable hard drives, 4K TVs, TurboTax, and more.

Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our friends at TechBargains, we have another round of deals to share. Today the Dealmaster is looking out for those who need a decent laptop but can't spend the big bucks, as we've got Dell's 14-inch Inspiron 14 7000 marked down to $600. That's about $100 off its current going rate, and it's a solid price for a notebook with an aluminum chassis, 1080p IPS display, 256GB solid state drive, and Core i7-7500U processor. While that Intel chip is a generation old at this point, it's still likely to be plenty strong enough for people shopping in the budget range.

If that doesn't interest you, the rest of the rundown includes deals on several other laptops, 4K TVs, and Seagate's popular portable hard drives, among other items. Take a look for yourself below.

(credit: TechBargains)

Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

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As House passes surveillance bill, Wyden and Paul vow filibuster

The House just passed a bill extending NSA spying powers for six years.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has vowed to filibuster extension of FISA spying powers without additional privacy protections. (credit: Sen Ron Wyden)

The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would extend a controversial government spying power known as "Section 702" for another six years—without new privacy safeguards that had been sought by civil liberties groups.

Debate over the legislation now shifts over to the Senate, where it faces a filibuster threat from both Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

"If this Section 702 bill comes to the Senate, I will filibuster it," Wyden wrote in a tweet shortly after the House bill passed.

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Windows Phone Internals 2.3 released, unlocks all Lumia bootloaders

Microsoft may have largely abandoned its Lumia smartphones with Windows software. But if you’ve got one lying around now you can unlock the bootloader and root the phone. As promised last month, the developer of Windows Phone Internals has releas…

Microsoft may have largely abandoned its Lumia smartphones with Windows software. But if you’ve got one lying around now you can unlock the bootloader and root the phone. As promised last month, the developer of Windows Phone Internals has released a new version that can unlock and root just about any Lumia device. Windows Phone […]

Windows Phone Internals 2.3 released, unlocks all Lumia bootloaders is a post from: Liliputing

The corpse of Circuit City will rise again on February 15

Follows similar promises of a relaunch from 2016 that never quite came together.

Enlarge (credit: Circuit City)

Circuit City is coming back, and this time, the license holders propping up the ancient big-box retail chain say they mean it.

Following a tease of a CES announcement, current company CEO Ronny Shmoel confirmed on Monday that something called Circuit City will arrive as "a new, more personalized online shopping experience" starting February 15. The announcement event, which was reported by tech-business outlet Twice, included promises of AI-driven recommendations fueled by IBM's Watson platform, plus unexplained "augmented reality" and "search by photo" features.

Curiously, Shmoel also promised "real-time tech support via video chat," but it's unclear whether this feature will include two-way video feeds—and, thus, whether Circuit City is prepared for a deluge of Chatroulette-caliber video surprises from trolls.

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Bodo eCard: Bodensee-Oberschwaben führt guthabenbasiertes E-Ticket ein

Seit dem Jahreswechsel hat der Verkehrsverbund Bodensee-Oberschwaben das E-Ticket Deutschland eingeführt. Im Unterschied zu vielen anderen Verbünden mit E-Ticket gibt es im Süden Deutschlands einige Vorteile für den Kunden. Das System ist vergleichswei…

Seit dem Jahreswechsel hat der Verkehrsverbund Bodensee-Oberschwaben das E-Ticket Deutschland eingeführt. Im Unterschied zu vielen anderen Verbünden mit E-Ticket gibt es im Süden Deutschlands einige Vorteile für den Kunden. Das System ist vergleichsweise transparent und ersetzt die alte Bodocard. (E-Ticket, ÖPNV)

Ars community gives more than $36,000 in annual charity drive

Hundreds of readers provide much needed funds for EFF, Child’s Play.

Enlarge

Over the last month or so, I've been pestering Ars readers to give as much as they could in our 2017 Charity Drive sweepstake. All told, Ars Technica readers donated $36,738.11 to Child's Play and the EFF through our 2017 charity drive. That's a bit below the roughly $38,000 pace in the last two years, but the total is still much higher than every other year we've run the drive. Good job!

Thanks to everyone who gave whatever they could. We're still very early in the process of selecting and notifying winners of our swag giveaway, so don't fret if you haven't heard if you're a winner yet. In the meantime, enjoy these quick stats from the 2017 drive.

  • 2017 Fundraising total: $36,012.37 (down $2,848.69 from 2016)
    • Total given to Child's Play: $13,876.76 (down $1,162.98)
    • Total given to the EFF: $22,135.61 (down $1,562.76)
  • Number of individual donations: 545 (down 120)
    • Child's Play donations: 265 (down 85)
    • EFF donations: 277  (down 38)
  • Average donation: $66.44 (up $8.19)
    • Child's Play average donation: $52.37 (up $9.51)
    • EFF average donation: $79.91 (up $4.45)
  • Median donation: $25 (even)
    • Median Child's Play donation: $25 (up $0.04)
    • Median EFF donation: $25 (even)
  • Top single donation: $1,500 (to EFF)
  • Donations of $1,000 or more: 4
  • Donations of $100 or more: 119
  • $1 donations: 4 (every little bit helps!)
  • Total charity donations from Ars Technica drives since 2007 (approximate): $282,715.24
    • 2016: $38,738.11
    • 2015: $38,861.06
    • 2014: $25,094.31
    • 2013: $23,570.13
    • 2012: $28,713.52
    • 2011: ~$26,000
    • 2010: ~$24,000
    • 2009: ~$17,000
    • 2008: ~$12,000
    • 2007: ~$10,000

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FBI security expert: Apple are “jerks” about unlocking encrypted phones

“Apple is pretty good at evil genius stuff,” FBI official laments at conference.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Boonrit Panyaphinitnugoon)

Federal Bureau of Investigation officials are continuing to voice their displeasure with Apple's approach to iPhone security, with one FBI official reportedly calling the company "jerks" and an "evil genius" this week.

Apple has repeatedly made it more difficult to access data on encrypted iPhones, making Apple customers safer from hackers but also preventing the FBI from breaking into phones used by suspected criminals.

"At what point is it just trying to one-up things and at what point is it to thwart law enforcement?" FBI forensic expert Stephen Flatley said yesterday while speaking at the International Conference on Cyber Security in Manhattan, according to a report by Motherboard. "Apple is pretty good at evil genius stuff."

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YouTube finally hands down punishment to creator for posting dead body video

After nearly two weeks, YouTube removes Logan Paul from Google Preferred.

Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino)

About one year after the YouTube ad-pocalypse shook up the online video website, the company is handing down a punishment to another YouTube star for posting an obscene video. Logan Paul, a YouTube creator with 15 million subscribers, has been removed from Google's Preferred ad platform. YouTube also won't feature Paul in the fourth season of Foursome, a YouTube Red show, and Paul's other Originals projects have been put on hold. This comes nearly two weeks after Paul posted a video of him visiting Aokigahara in Japan, also known as the "suicide forest," and prominently featuring a dead human body in the video and in the video's thumbnail.

YouTube's punishment comes after the company made this original statement about this incident:

Our hearts go out to the family of the person featured in the video. YouTube prohibits violent or gory content posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner. If a video is graphic, it can only remain on the site when supported by appropriate educational or documentary information and in some cases it will be age-gated. We partner with safety groups such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to provide educational resources that are incorporated in our YouTube Safety Center.

Amidst outrage from the YouTube community and some celebrities, Logan Paul removed the video from YouTube and issued two apologies before announcing he would take time off from YouTube "to reflect."

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Supercomputer: EU investiert 1 Milliarde Euro für 1 Exaflops an Leistung

Bis 2023 will die EU stark in Supercomputer investieren. Für 1 Milliarde Euro sollen Systeme mit kombinierter Rechenleistung von einem Exaflops entstehen. Der erste Schritt: Die Anschaffung von zwei kleineren Systemen mit 10 Petaflops an Rechenleistung…

Bis 2023 will die EU stark in Supercomputer investieren. Für 1 Milliarde Euro sollen Systeme mit kombinierter Rechenleistung von einem Exaflops entstehen. Der erste Schritt: Die Anschaffung von zwei kleineren Systemen mit 10 Petaflops an Rechenleistung. (Supercomputer, Computer)

Deals of the Day (1-11-2018)

The Wonderboom Bluetooth speaker from Ultimate Ears is a compact, waterproof gadgets that provides 360-degree audio and which receives excellent reviews for providing suprisingly decent audio for such a compact device. I have a much older UE Bluetooth …

The Wonderboom Bluetooth speaker from Ultimate Ears is a compact, waterproof gadgets that provides 360-degree audio and which receives excellent reviews for providing suprisingly decent audio for such a compact device. I have a much older UE Bluetooth speaker, and it sounds great and offers long battery life. I’ve been tempted to upgrade for years, […]

Deals of the Day (1-11-2018) is a post from: Liliputing