Month: October 2021

Enlarge / All that's missing are some batteries. (credit: Jia Yu / Getty Images)

The incredible plunge in the price of photovoltaic systems has made solar power an affordable option for much of the world. And, as long as solar is providing a small fraction of the power on a given grid, there's little holding back the addition of new photovoltaic facilities. But as the fraction of solar power grows, managing the fact that it only generates electricity intermittently becomes a significant grid-management challenge.

At that point, factors other than price become significant in determining how much solar energy makes sense. And those factors can vary from country to country. This means that understanding solar's potential requires a country-specific analysis. This week, researchers in China released an analysis of their country, indicating that solar has now reached a point where it's cost-competitive with coal. The report also states that solar (when coupled with storage) could handle nearly half of China's needs by midcentury.

A changing landscape

Like everywhere else, China has seen the cost of solar power dive over the last decade, with a 63 percent drop between 2011 and 2018 alone. In line with that, the installation of solar has risen dramatically. Currently, a third of the entire planet's new solar capacity is being commissioned in China; the country passed the installed capacity of the US in 2013 and Germany in 2015, and it now has over 250 GW active—well more than double what its economic plan had specified by this point.

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Drop’s Moon Shot keyboard uses tall, SA profile keycaps.

High-end mechanical keyboard and PC peripherals brand Drop (formerly Massdrop) today revealed its next lineup of prebuilt mechanical keyboards. The brand added options to three different series, with its most premium one, Paragon, priced at a whopping $500 apiece.

In addition to making its own products, Drop has a shop where keyboard fanatics can get everything from mechanical keyboard switches to unique and artisan keycaps, stabilizers, and even fancy, detachable cables. The keyboards released today are supposed to make it easier for people who don’t want to build their own clacker to get an enthusiast-level option without having to deal with group buys, which take many months before you actually get a product in hand.

Drop’s $500 Paragon keyboards

Drop announced two Paragon Series keyboards, both built on the same frame used in Drop’s CNC-milled, anodized aluminum Alt High-Profile keyboard.

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Enlarge / The BMW i4 M50 is the first BMW EV to benefit from the attention of the company's M division. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

MUNICH—For all of my existence, the BMW 3 Series has been the default choice for an upmarket compact sedan with good driving dynamics. Or it was until a few years ago, when the Tesla Model 3 arrived and started to eat the 3 Series' lunch. But now there is a battery electric vehicle that may turn things around for BMW, in the shape of a five-door fastback sedan called the i4.

After an early lead and then a bit of a stumble, BMW has recharged its electrification efforts. Last month, we went to Germany and drove the automaker's newest flagship, a technology-laden sporty SUV called the iX. But the iX isn't the only new BEV that BMW has been working on, and we got to spend a day with the range-topping $65,900 i4 M50 as well. The i4 is the first of BMW's electric cars to be blessed by its legendary M division, and it comes with a pair of electric motors wrapped up in a sleek 4 Series Gran Coupe body. At the risk of spoiling the rest of this review, it's really rather good.

The i4 M50 may not be a Nürburgring monster like the M3, but it's a fast and powerful electric sedan that rides well and features some clever technology. (credit: BMW)

Our first clue about the i4 came back in 2017, when BMW showed off an electric four-door concept called the i Vision Dynamics. Last year, the company followed up with something much closer to the production car, the Concept i4. In June, I got face time with—but didn't drive—the entry-level car, the $55,400 i4 eDrive40. That version makes do with a single motor driving the rear wheels, giving it 300 miles (483 km) of range.

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Enlarge / Beers sold by the Minocqua Brewing Company.

A Wisconsin brewery that says it's fed up with "anti-science," "Tucker Carlson-watching zombies" is funding a series of lawsuits against school boards that do not follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on COVID-19. So far, the Minocqua Brewing Company's Super PAC has helped parents sue two school districts and says it plans on "suing every school board in Wisconsin that doesn't follow CDC guidelines to protect the spread of COVID in schools."

In a Facebook post Sunday, brewery owner and Super PAC founder Kirk Bangstad answered a question that he said he was asked in "every interview" he did with news outlets last week: "Why is a brewery funding this lawsuit?"

"Our Super PAC should NOT be funding these lawsuits," Bangstad wrote. "We always thought that our government, the teacher's union, the ACLU, the hospitals, the nurse's unions, or any other number of progressive groups or 'academies of smart people who understand stuff' should be stepping up to block the alt-right, anti-science, and anti-history nonsense that has overcome school boards across our state. Wisconsin communities have exploded with the Delta variant because many school districts have dropped all forms of COVID mitigation that were in place last year due to the shrieking hordes of Tucker Carlson-watching zombies separated from their cerebrums and driven only by their lizard brains."

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The Framework Laptop is a thin and light notebook with a 13.5 inch display and an Intel Tiger Lake processor. But what really makes the notebook stand out is its modular design and emphasis on repairability and customization.

When the Framework laptop went up for pre-order earlier this year, customers could choose from a couple of different configuration options. But now Framework has launched a Marketplace, which were you purchase Expansion Cards to further customize the laptop, as well as replacement parts that let you swap out keyboards, batteries, displays, and even motherboards and processors.

One of the most most unusual thing about the Framework laptop is is modular Expansion Card system. Each laptop has four expansion slots that can be used for ports, storage, or other hardware.

Now you can purchase four of those modules from the Marketplace:

• USB-C port Expansion Card for $9
• MicroSD card reader Expansion Card for $19
• 250GB storage Expansion Card for $69
• 1TB storage Expansion card for $149

Framework also plans to add HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-A modules soon, with prices ranging from $9 to $19.

But the other unusual thing about the Framework is that pretty much all of the hardware is designed to be easily removed and replaced by end users, not just professionals. So if the battery on your Framework laptop starts to go, or you just want to buy a spare, you can pick one up for $59.

Need a replacement for the fan and heat sink? That’s $39. An audio board is $14. Speakers are $19. A replacement fingerprint reader is $29. A Display will set you back $179. A webcam module is $29. And a replacement touchpad will set you back $39.

You can also buy cables, case components (like the top or bottom cover), or wireless cards. Not all of the modules are available for purchase yet, but prices are listed for those that are “coming soon.”

Framework is also offering replacement keyboards in a variety of languages and layouts, allowing users to adapt the notebook for their native tongue. There will even a Blank ANSI keyboard option.

The company will also offer mainboard replacements. These include a motherboard, processor, heat sink, and fan. Like the Framework laptop itself, these boards will come with a choice of Intel Core i5-1135G7, Core i7-1165G7 or Core i7-1185G7 processors, so theoretically you could purchase an entry-level Framework laptop and upgrade the processor sometime down the line (although that’s an expensive upgrade – mainboard prices range from $449 to $1049).

All Framework laptops feature 13.5 inch, 2256 x 1504 pixel displays with 3:2 aspect ratios, Intel Tiger Lake processors with Iris Xe graphics, DDR4-3200 memory, PCIe NVMe solid state storage, 1080p webcams, backlit keyboards, 55 Wh batteries, 3.5mm audio jacks, and 4 user-selectable expansion cards which can be swapped out at any time depending on your needs.

The laptop measures 11.7″ x 9″ x 0.6″ and weighs 2.9 pounds. Prices start at $749 for a fully customizable DIY Edition (pick your own memory, storage, and OS or supply your own), or $999 for a  pre-configured model.

via Framework Blog

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As far back as 2012, Adobe was planning for the eventual demise of its iconic Flash Player. Gradually superceded by new technologies, the importance Flash diminished over time and as dawn broke on 2021, Adobe ceased to develop and support it. Well, sort of.

While Adobe has indeed stopped shipping new global versions of Flash, the technology is still supported in two markets – Enterprise and China via Flash.cn – a site managed by Zhong Cheng Network, the only authorized distributor of Flash in China.

This was a significant move for local companies that still rely on Flash Player but also provided a limited opportunity to keep Flash alive, something of importance to those who don’t want historic Flash content to be rendered useless.

Flash Content Consigned to History?

By effectively abandoning Flash, Adobe consigned huge volumes of reliant content to the history books, including games and other interactive content. For many of today’s internet users looking only for the next big thing, that isn’t much of an issue but there are those who view Flash’s contribution to the web as worthy of preservation.

The problem, however, is obtaining a working copy of Flash outside China that is also secured by frequent updates and isn’t a risk to users’ machines.

Clean Flash Installer

The Chinese version of Flash receives one security update per month and can be freely downloaded from Flash.cn but also has significant strings attached. It comes preinstalled with an adware program called Flash Helper which, according to security sources, exhibits malicious behavior. Developed by ‘darktohka’ and previously located on Github, Clean Flash Installer solves these problems and more.

“Clean Flash Installer installs this up-to-date freely available version of Flash, but it comes WITHOUT the adware program,” darktohka informs TorrentFreak.

“As such Clean Flash Installer can be used by anyone to use a relatively secure version of Flash Player after the support for Flash ended.”

The developer says that he was inspired to create his tool to keep Flash content alive, something which he says was a huge part of his childhood. Adobe appears to be less enthusiastic about his work and following a DMCA notice filed with Github, the developer platform has nuked the project.

DMCA Takedown Notice

In a DMCA complaint filed with Github on October 4, 2021, a legal representative acting for Adobe explains that the Clean Flash Installer project breaches copyright law.

“Adobe Inc. is the copyright owner and I am authorized to act on its behalf. Our Adobe Flash Player software has been infringed. The files in question contain our proprietary Adobe Inc. owned copyrighted materials (software code),” it reads, adding that the project must be removed.

Needless to say, darktohka is very unhappy that Adobe has taken his project down.

Developer Rejects Claims of Copyright Infringement

“As this is my passion project, I am deeply disappointed with Adobe’s action. The repository in question only hosts the installer code for the project, which was written by myself and does not contain any infringing code,” he explains.

“Adobe Flash was a huge part of our childhood, and it’s gut-wrecking that Adobe would rather have everyone use super out-of-date versions of the software when versions with security updates are freely available. It makes no sense for them to DMCA an installer that was written independently and makes use of the freely available and downloadable version of the project.”

To find out why Adobe took the project down and learn the basis for its copyright complaint, TorrentFreak reached out to Adobe. The software company did not respond to our requests for comment so that leaves us with the developer’s explanation of how Clean Flash Installer works and why the repository wasn’t infringing.

According to darktohka, the repo did not include any Adobe code and the Adobe DMCA complaint clearly states that there were no anti-circumvention issues. The installer is a .NET framework project that was written from scratch, without using any Adobe assets.

It’s simply a tool to install Flash without the Flash Helper system service, he insists, noting that security companies consider it to be malicious.

Flash Helper Has Other Issues

Another reason cited by darktohka for disposing of Flash Helper is that it contains a killswitch that can be activated by Adobe at any time to deactivate newer versions of Flash.

“The reason why Flash Helper is a separate application is because Adobe Flash is signed by Adobe itself, but they presumably do not want to sign malware. Therefore, Flash Helper is a completely separate entity that Adobe Flash only communicates with,” he says.

“By default, if Flash Helper is not installed, Flash will cease to work after 3 seconds (and will show that Flash Helper must be installed).”

Overall, darktohka is disappointed with Adobe’s takedown notice since all he hoped to achieve with his project was the effective preservation of Flash content to be played in a safe and secure environment. Whether that will be possible moving forward is unclear but in the meantime, the project is still available on Gitlab.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Enlarge / SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL. (credit: SteelSeries)

Many beloved electronics have fallen victim to a spilled glass of water. No matter how careful you are, spills happen. The next time you spill something at your desk, though, you could have one less thing to worry about if you pick up SteelSeries' tenkeyless (TKL) keyboard released today for $45.

SteelSeries says its new Apex 3 TKL is both water and dust resistant, thanks to IP32 certification and a polymer frame. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) rating guarantees that the keyboard won’t be damaged by dripping water “when the enclosure is tilted at any angle up to 15 degrees.” IP32 certification also means that the Apex 3 TKL is safe from dust that is at least 2.5 mm large.

SteelSeries’ Apex 3 TKL is simply a numpad-less version of the SteelSeries Apex 3, which has the same certification. Other gaming keyboards, such as Corsair’s K68 mechanical keyboard, come with the same IEC stamp, but finding a water-resistant keyboard in the TKL form factor is rare.

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Amazon is running sales on select PCs components, while eBay is offering 15% off a whole bunch of different tech, home, and fashion products.

Meanwhile Woot is selling Amazon’s first-gen Echo Buds True wireless earbuds for $40. That’s the lowest price to date for these earbuds with  Bose active noise reduction (rather than cancellation) and IPX4 water resistance.

Here are some of the day’s best deals.

Sales

• Save up to 33% on select HP Chromebooks – Amazon
• Save up to 30% on select PC components – Amazon
• Save up to 14% on select Acer monitors – Amazon
• Save 15% on select tech and other products – eBay (coupon: SAVESPOOKY15)
• Save 15% on chargers, power banks, & Bluetooth audio from Anker – eBay (coupon: SAVESPOOKY15)

Chromebooks

• HP Chromebook 11 w/MT8183/4GB/32GB for $132 – Amazon
• Samsung Chromebook 4 11.6″ w/Celeron N4020/4GB/32GB for $135 – Walmart

Media Streamers

• Roku Express 4K+ for $29 – Amazon
• Roku Streaming Stick+ 4K HDR media streamer for $35 – Amazon
• Amazon Fire TV Stick for $25 – Amazon (Prime member price)
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for $35 – Amazon (Prime member price)

Smart Displays

• Amazon Echo Show 5 (1st-gen) for $45 – Amazon
• Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd-gen) for $100 – Amazon
• Amazon Echo Show 10 (2nd-gen) for $150 – Woot

Other

• Amazon Echo Buds (1st-gen) true wireless earbuds for $40 – Woot
• Aukey 12W USB Type-A dual-port wall chargers (2-pack) for $12 – Newegg

Downloads & Streaming

• Hallmark Movies Now 1-month subscription for $1 – Amazon Prime Channels
• Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphic novels (Kindle Edition0 for $4 and up (or $46 for 11 books) – Amazon

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