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Water is moist. |
In an updated support article spotted by Neowin |
the company is now recommending customers buy a new PC running the operating system |
rather than install it on their current machines. |
Some people are taking this to mean |
that Microsoft is recommending you throw out your old PC. |
But only because that's a direct consequence of what Microsoft is telling people to do. |
The only curse in this story are the Windows 11 system requirements, |
which still controversially necessitate a TPM 2.0 security chip. |
Though it's kind of ironic that because of that requirement |
millions of incompatible PCs will become unsecured. |
But hey, it's not all bad news. |
Microsoft will let you reprogram the new co-pilot key they started adding to laptops this year. |
Thanks to Microsoft for solving the problem they themselves created. |
Is there anything they can't do that I like? |
Growing up, uh, My mom told me |
I'd never get to host Quick Bits if I didn't eat my broccoli. |
And look at me now. |
Thanks, mom. |
Following its most recent microcode update |
Intel says that it's finally fixed the root cause of the instability in its Raptor Lake CPUs, |
and this time, They mean it. |
Intel has confirmed that V-min shift instability |
resulting in excessive voltage is at the heart of the problem |
something it was previously kind of cagey about. |
While Intel says their future chips won't be affected by this issue |
there's still no fixing the chips that are already damaged |
and no way of telling that a chip is damaged until it starts crashing. |
Intel is apparently working on developing such a diagnostic tool for that situation. |
But in the meantime |
I don't know |
enable autosave in your Word doc, you crazy adrenaline junkie. |
What are you doing? |
Living on the edge, okay. |
Japanese peripheral manufacturer, Elecom, |
has become the first company to get cable certified for USB 4 2.0. |
As fun as it is |
that it ended up being named USB 4 20 |
USB 4 2 is kind of dumb. |
Fortunately, the specs are far less stupid than the name. |
There are two cables with certifications. |
While they both are capable of 80 gigabits per second data transfer speeds |
one of them is also capable of 240 watts power delivery. |
The other delivers a more modest 60 watt. |
The USB-IF, who governs the USB standard |
said the cables will launch at the end of this year. |
But they also named the new standard USB 4 2.0. |
And I don't know if I can trust people like that. |
USB 4 2.0. |
Blaze it. |
Now with blazing fast speeds. |
An unusual number of M1 iMac users are reporting |
phantom lines appearing on their displays |
which is either screen degradation or this summer's hot new thriller. |
This has been a known issue since mid-2023 |
but Apple has yet to acknowledge the problem. |
This not-so-fashionable pinstripe pattern typically crops up |
after two years of use |
meaning that the device is already well out of warranty. |
Which is a real bummer in an expensive all-in-one device |
where you can't just buy a new monitor. |
At least one repair tech blamed the issue |
on a flex cable used to power the LCD gradually burning out. |
Replacing it typically means replacing the entire screen |
which costs about as much as an entire Mac Mini. |
And you couldn't even buy one of those instead |
because that doesn't have a display either! |
Scientists created an artificial plant |
that generates oxygen and electricity using photosynthetic bacteria. |
Wow. |
Mitochondria! |
Don't cut that. |
Mitochondria! |
While the energy output is currently less than one milliwatt |
researchers hope to increase it to more than a milliwatt. |
And add something like a battery to store the energy for later use. |
Right now it's just |
they're just pouring it down the drain. |
It just escapes in the air. |
They're just extra. |
According to the paper |
the artificial plant was nine times better than natural plants at reducing indoor CO2 level. |
Unfortunately for everyone, the plant is really ugly. |
Or at least it was before it took off its glasses and let its hair down. |
Let's get into some hybridization, baby. |
And Jason Allen, a man who won an art competition two years ago |
with an image generated using MidJourney, is appealing the U.S. |
Copyright Office's denial of copyright for his image. |
Why? |
Well, Allen thinks the question of AI art copyright needs answering. |
And he's kind of right there. |
But he's also upset |
that the lack of copyright gives his work a perceived lower value. |
And it's even been appropriated and sold without his permission. |
Kind of like the countless images that were appropriated |
and used to train Midjourney and other art generators. |
Guys, he's not making enough money from the picture the computer gave him. |
What is he supposed to do? |
Ask it for another picture? |
They all changed the rules already! |