Month: April 2022

“Implausible:” Zero deaths in Shanghai’s COVID spike spurs skepticism

Low vaccination among elderly and reports of deaths in hospitals raise questions.

A worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a resident for a COVID-19 test in a neighborhood placed under lockdown in Shanghai, China, on Saturday, April 9, 2022.

Enlarge / A worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a resident for a COVID-19 test in a neighborhood placed under lockdown in Shanghai, China, on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

Shanghai and more than a dozen other cities in China are now under full or partial lockdown as the country faces its most significant spike of COVID-19 cases yet in the pandemic. But amid rapid increases in cases from the ultratransmissible omicron variant and China's relatively low vaccination rate among its elderly, some experts are left scratching their heads over the lack of reported deaths.

In Shanghai, a city of around 26 million that functions as the country's financial hub, residents' patience has run out as they enter a second week of full, draconian lockdown. Videos have circulated online of people screaming from their apartments and berating officials over food shortages. There are reports of people being denied medical care and forced into crowded quarantine facilities. At the beginning of lockdowns, officials were widely criticized for separating parents from young children, including breastfeeding infants.

China reported more than 200,000 infections in Shanghai since the outbreak began last month. The vast majority of those are said to be mild or asymptomatic. So far, Chinese officials have reported that only one case in the city has been considered severe, and no deaths from COVID-19 have been reported.

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MINISFORUM Elitemini TH650 is a compact computer with Intel Core i5-11260H

MINISFORUM has begun taking pre-orders for a mini desktop computer powered by a 45-watt Intel Core i5-11260H processor based on Intel Tiger Lake architecture. The MINISFORUM Elitemini TH60 has a retail price of $639 for a model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of solid state storage, but it’s up for pre-order now for $539. The […]

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MINISFORUM has begun taking pre-orders for a mini desktop computer powered by a 45-watt Intel Core i5-11260H processor based on Intel Tiger Lake architecture.

The MINISFORUM Elitemini TH60 has a retail price of $639 for a model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of solid state storage, but it’s up for pre-order now for $539. The little computer is expected to begin shipping by the end of May.

The computer is powered by Intel’s 6-core, 12-thread processor with support for speeds up to 4.4 GHz. While that should help the Elitemini TH60 deliver decent CPU performance, this might not be the best choice for gaming or video and graphics work, as the computer features Intel UHD integrated graphics with 16 execution units rather than Intel’s higher-performance Iris Xe graphics.

The Elitemini TH60 measures 7.2″ x 7″ x 1.4″ and features room inside for up to 64GB of DDR4 memory (with two SODIMM slots) and a PCIe 4.0 x1 slot for solid state storage as well as an M.2 2230 slot occupied by a wireless card. There’s also a fan inside the case for active cooling.

Ports include:

  • 1 x HDMI (4K @ 60 Hz)
  • 1 x DisplayPort (8K @ 60Hz)
  • 1 x USB Type-C (4K @ 60 Hz)
  • 1 x 3.5mm mic input (rear)
  • 1 x 3.5mm audio out (rear)
  • 1 x 3.5mm headset jack (front)
  • 1 x 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port
  • 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports
  • 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports

There are also two built-in mics that can be used for voice controls or calls. MINISFORUM says the computer can support up to three displays at once and the company ships the Elitemini TH60 with Windows 10 Pro software.

via AndroidTVBox.eu

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Fitbit gains FDA approval for new atrial fibrillation-detection feature

The Google-owned company adds a feature previously seen in the Apple Watch.

The Fitbit app showing information on irregular rhythm notifications.

Enlarge / The Fitbit app showing information on irregular rhythm notifications. (credit: Google)

Google-owned wearable brand Fitbit announced Monday that it will soon introduce a new atrial fibrillation-detection feature to its devices.

According to a blog post from Google, Fitbit received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), clearing the way for the feature to be deployed to Fitbit wearables in the near future.

Google cites data from a global disease study to state that atrial fibrillation affects around 33.5 million people around the world. Citing another study, it claims that those who suffer from atrial fibrillation have five times as much stroke risk as others.

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The simple, 9-minute, no-attack method for beating Elden Ring

Speedrunners use glitches to warp through the entire map without killing a single enemy.

Elden Ring doesn't look that hard in this sub-nine-minute speedrun...

In the nearly two months since Elden Ring was released, the average player has reportedly needed dozens of hours to finish the "main story" portion of the game. Given that, the fact that the speedrunning community can now demonstrate a complete start-to-finish Elden Ring run in under nine minutes might be a little surprising.

Even for experienced Elden Ring players, watching Distortion2's takedown of the game in 8 minutes, 56 seconds—a run in which he doesn't attack a single enemy—can be confusing. So let us help you out with a quick primer on the short history of Elden Ring speedrunning thus far and the glitches and exploits that are driving players through the Lands Between in ever-shorter amounts of time.

Wrong warps and flying horses

Just days after Elden Ring's late February release, players marveled at traditional deathless runs that clocked in at just under 2.5 hours. Soon, though, players were dipping into old Dark Souls speedrunning tricks to bypass tough bosses or reach new map sections via careful, barely survivable jumps. That led to the first public, sub-hour Elden Ring speedrun by Twitch streamer LilAggy on March 9, just 12 days after the game's release.

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Vivo Pad is an 11 inch Android tablet with a 120 Hz display and Snapdragon 870

Chinese phone maker Vivo has introduced its first tablet. The Vivo Pad is a mid-range device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor and featuring an 11 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. First announced in China in April, the tablet is now available globally. You can pick up […]

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Chinese phone maker Vivo has introduced its first tablet. The Vivo Pad is a mid-range device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor and featuring an 11 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel display with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

First announced in China in April, the tablet is now available globally. You can pick up a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage from Banggood for $460. If you happen to be in China, you can probably pick one up a little cheaper – it sells for 2,599 CNY ($390) in that country.

Note that the price covers a tablet, but not optional accessories like a keyboard and pressure-sensitive pen.

The Vivo Pad features LPDDR4x memory, UFS 3.1 storage, and features a microSD card slot for up to 256GB of removable storage.

The tablet also has quad speakers with Dolby Sound, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, an 8,040 mAh battery, support for 44W fast charging, and support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC.

Other features include dual rear cameras (13MP primary + 8MP ultra-wide) and an 8MP front-facing camera, a 3.5mm audio jack, and Android 11 software with Vivo’s OriginOS user interface. The tablet weighs 498 grams, or about 1.1 pounds and measures 6.55mm (0.26 inches) thick.

via Vivo (Weibo) and GizmoChina

This article was first published April 11, 2022 and most recently updated May 6, 2022. 

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Apparent software signing issue breaks updates for some Studio Displays

Apple appears to have fixed the server-side update issue as of Sunday night.

Apple's Studio Display.

Enlarge / Apple's Studio Display. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

One thing that makes Apple's Studio Display monitor unique—aside from the native 5K display resolution—is that there's basically an iPad inside of it. The monitor includes an Apple A13 chip and 64GB of storage to power some of its smart features, and like any of Apple's other iDevices, it can receive iOS-based firmware updates to add new features and fix bugs.

But also like Apple's other iDevices, this means that you'll sometimes run into problems installing the latest updates for your Studio Display. That was the case over the weekend for some users of the new Studio Displays from Apple who found that they couldn't update the factory firmware (version 15.3) to the latest version (15.4).

The reason the update stopped working is likely related to how Apple handles iOS software updates. Apple verifies an iOS update file's digital signature before allowing installation to prevent the installation of updates that contain malware or other modifications. And to prevent downgrading to older iOS versions, Apple will typically only allow installation of the one or two most recent iOS updates at any given time. When a new iOS version is released, as iOS 15.4.1 was on March 31, Apple will stop signing the previous version (in this case, iOS 15.4) shortly after.

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Piracy Numbers Drop After Indonesia Blocks Over 3,500 Pirate Sites

The Government of Indonesia continues to crack down on piracy. The country’s list of blocked sites and services has grown to more than 3,500 domain names. According to the Coalition Against Piracy, these actions resulted in a 75% decrease in pirate site traffic, while the use of legal alternatives has tripled.

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

indonsiaIndonesia has been very active on the anti-piracy front in recent years, with the government ordering Internet providers to block thousands of pirate sites.

The government action began in mid-2009 and at the start of this month, the local blocklist had grown to include over 3,500 domain names

These interventions are cheered on by the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP). The organization, which includes Hollywood players such as Disney, Fox, HBO Asia and NBCUniversal, plus sports leagues such as the Premier League and the NBA, sees Indonesia as one of the most successful anti-piracy pioneers in Asia.

Legal Options Flourish as Pirate Traffic Drops

CAP is keeping a close eye on the evolvement of online piracy in the Asian region. Its own data shows that traffic to pirate sites decreased by 75% in Indonesia since the blocking efforts started. At the same time, visits to legitimate streaming platforms have tripled.

“Indonesia is leading the way when it comes to regulatory site blocking in the Asia Pacific region, if not the world, and the Indonesian government is to be congratulated for the strong stance they have taken in this area,” CAP’s General Manager Matthew Cheetham says.

The positive findings are backed up by CAP’s recent YouGov study which found that more than half of all Indonesian consumers say that they cut back or stopped using pirate services due to the blocking efforts.

The same survey also found that 76% of Indonesian consumers say they now pirate less and use legal services more often. At the same time, over a quarter of the respondents said they’ve subscribed to a legal service due to pirate site blockades.

Challenges Remain

According to CAP, pirate site blocking efforts are also driving traffic to legal sources in other countries in the Asia Pacific region. However, piracy remains a concern, particularly in Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines, where more than 60% of the public uses pirate sites.

The anti-piracy group realizes that there is still a long way to go before piracy is no longer a concern. However, it believes that site blocking is here to stay as it helps people get on the right track.

“It is now clearly evident that site blocking, particularly regulatory blocking, is effective,” Cheetham previously said, noting that blocking efforts also help to curb the spread of malware and other threats.

“The benefits are multi-fold, not only are consumers being directed towards legitimate content, but in being blocked from accessing pirate sites, they are also protected from the serious risks that previous CAP studies have proven are inherent in accessing pirate sites.”

In addition to site blocking, it’s also crucial that affordable legal options are widely available. Academic research previously found that, when Netflix failed to launch in Indonesia in 2016, piracy numbers significantly increased compared to neighboring countries.

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