Month: March 2020

Enlarge / WireGuard will be in tree for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (pictured), as well as the upcoming 5.6 kernel. (credit: WireGuard)

We've been anticipating WireGuard's inclusion into the mainline Linux kernel for quite some time—but as of Sunday afternoon, it's official. Linus Torvalds released the Linux 5.6 kernel, which includes (among other things) an in-tree WireGuard. Phoronix has a great short list of the most interesting new features in the 5.6 kernel, as well as a longer "everything list" for those who want to make sure they don't miss anything.

If this is the first time you're hearing about WireGuard, the TL;DR is that it's a relatively new VPN (Virtual Private Network) application that offers a leaner codebase, easier configuration, faster connect times, and the latest and most thoroughly peer-reviewed and approved encryption algorithms. You can find a more detailed introduction in our initial August 2018 coverage.

Can I use this on Windows? Mac? BSD? Android? IOS?

Although WireGuard is now version 1.0.0 in the Linux world, its Windows package is still 0.1.0—early alpha stages. We've used the Windows package a fair amount now, and most users will find it very usable—but it is not yet guaranteed free of platform-specific "security quirks" or other minor issues not present in the more heavily tested Linux side of things.

Enlarge / All of these consoles are pretty hard to find at retailers these days... (credit: Photo Illustration by Guillaume Payen/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

As citizens worldwide self-quarantine to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, major retailers are selling out of the Nintendo Switch, leading to second-hand price markups similar to those seen just after the console's successful launch.

The Switch is currently unavailable at Amazon, GameStop, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and other major online retailers, though some local stores may still have spotty availability. When new stock does come in to these online stores, it tends to be gone in less than an hour, according to listings from retail tracker NowInStock.

"Nintendo Switch hardware is selling out at various retail locations in the US, but more systems are on the way," Nintendo said in a statement late last week. "We apologize for any inconvenience."

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  The Galaxy S20's camera assembly. [credit: Ron Amadeo ]

Samsung never changes. The company's flagship smartphone strategy has always focused on designing for marketability rather than the end-user experience, and the result is always devices with gigantic spec sheets, gimmicky new features, and questionable user benefits. If it demos well in a Verizon showroom or helps win an Internet spreadsheet comparison, toss it in! The Galaxy S20 is the latest paper tiger from the company, and this cynical approach to smartphone design oozes from every IP68-rated pore of Samsung's new flagship.

Just look—but not too closely—at all the whiz-bang features the Galaxy S20 offers. The camera has an industry-leading 100x zoom (it's actually a 4x optical zoom, and the camera autofocus is terrible). There's a 120Hz, 1440p display (you can't actually run the display at 120Hz and 1440p). And who could forget the revolutionary 5G connectivity (5G is probably not available in your area).

The Galaxy S line is bigger than ever this year, and each model comes with Samsung's biggest-ever price tags. The phones now start (start!) at $1,000, while the bigger Galaxy S20+ is $1,200, and the even bigger S20 Ultra is an astonishing $1,400.

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  The Resident Evil series' Nemesis creature. Just what we need during these dark times. [credit: Capcom ]

A few months ago, Resident Evil 3 Remake sounded like a slam-dunk idea for a good video game. Take everything that made last year's Resident Evil 2 Remake a gorgeous, haunting surprise, then sprinkle a dash of RE3's exclusive, terrifying "Nemesis" character into the formula.

Of course, nobody could have predicted how on the nose RE3's plot, derived from the 1998 PlayStation 1 original, would feel at the dawn of spring 2020. As in: prior games' viral zombie outbreaks, which were mostly contained inside of classic environments like mansions and police stations, explode into the streets. A city panics. A government responds.

Hmm.