Remember when there wasn't any tech news and instead people would just hunt and gather?
If so, how do you remember that? How old are you?
Samsung's latest flagship SSD is dying faster than whatever the opposite of Keith Richards is.
Robbie Kahn of news site Neowin reported that his 990 Pro SSD's health rating,
which reflects the capacity and effectiveness of the drive, dropped to 98% in a few days before
even filling the two terabyte capacity. For reference, the drive is rated for at least
1200 terabytes written, which basically means that Kahn should have been able to overwrite
the entire capacity of the drive 11 times over before its health dropped by 2%. If I've learned
anything from the dairy aisle, a lot of people seem passionate about 2%, so it matters.
That also seemed to be the case when Kahn posted his findings on Reddit before he
published the article. Many commenters stated that they were seeing a similar,
quicker-than-normal SSD death. One user on Twitter said he saw his health drop by 36%
after writing less than two terabytes. Kahn said he tried to armay the faulty SSD,
but Samsung sent it back to him saying there was no defect found. They eventually reversed
course after the story gained traction because they truly care about what their customers think
about how they treat their other customers. Google is being sued again, but this time,
it's the US Department of Justice. Again, actually the lawsuit was filed this Tuesday
by the DOJ and eight states, making the ongoing games of Google lawsuit bingo a bit more interesting.
This new lawsuit focuses squarely on Google's hold on the digital advertising market,
with the US Attorney General leveling accusations that Google had weakened if not destroyed
competition in the ad tech industry. Okay, that's not fair. Meta helped destroy it too.
In a press release yesterday, the DOJ took issue with the tech giant's control of the largest
ad exchange, the tools to sell ads, and even the tools to buy ad inventory. The government body
accuses Google of multiple counts of anti-competitive behavior, including acquiring competitors,
though I'm sure Google likes to think of it as making new friends, but buying them and then
consuming them and spitting out the ones that are no longer necessary. That's BFF's 101.
And there's been a major leak about Apple's upcoming mixed reality headset, courtesy of dependable
source Mach-German, or as I like to call them, Girm-Tung, Grima-Girm-Tung. Apparently the headset
is likely to be named Reality Pro, which sounds like a subscription upgrade for existence. I'll
take a side of death, and will feature hand-to-eye tracking capabilities to allow you to launch
applications without a controller. Whatever, we've seen that before. What is intriguing is the avatar
functionality. Supposedly, when you FaceTime another headset user one-on-one, the headset will
realistically render your faces and bodies in VR to make you feel like you're speaking in the same
room. If you add any more people to the call, it won't work since it would require too much
processing. I mean, this one's supposed to cost just $3,000. You want VR parties, you'll have to
get the Pro Reality XDR. Fittingly, the headset will also be able to function as an external display
for the Mac, which makes it only the second most expensive Mac monitor Apple has ever made.
Allegedly, Apple's in discussion with the likes of Disney and other companies regarding
development of VR content for the device, which may have to do with the headsets' purported
immersive video functionality. Finally, you can reach out and touch your favorite Disney characters
without having to go to a theme park and harass out-of-work actors.
Leave Gaston alone! But his bulge! Seriously, how do you remember the Stone Age? Do you own an Animus?
Anyway, quick bits. The fruit company we haven't shut up about yet has reportedly cut the 2023
MacBook Pro's SSD performance. Another SSD story, baby! Multiple outlets have shown that the new
$2,000 entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro's 512GB SSD has significantly slower read and write speeds
than its 2021 counterpart. Honestly, though, it's the entry-level MacBook Pro. If you want better
performance than a two-year-old laptop, you'll have to cough up a bit more than spare change.
Maybe try the thrift store? Hackers attempted to blackmail Riot Games after getting their hands on the source code for League
of Legends, TeamFly Tactics, and a legacy anti-cheat platform. The hackers wanted $10 million,
so I'm guessing they must have wanted to buy a fully-spec MacBook Pro to avoid the SSD issue.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Riot stated they wouldn't be paying the fee and that they are
working hard to investigate the methods used and impact of the attack. Proving that Riot is way
better at taking an L than Riot's player base. Don't at me.
NASA has announced they are going to test nuclear thermal rockets in partnership with the Pentagon's
Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA. Such rockets produce thrust by harnessing the
heat created by a nuclear fission reactor. The space agency said the partnership with DARPA
will benefit both agencies, and probably the middle class. NASA will get rockets that could
reduce transit times for future Mars missions, but I'm not sure what the Pentagon will get
out of creating rocket-propelled thermonuclear reactors. A Twitch streamer has started a
playthrough of Elden Ring using their brain as the controller. Harry Carriel hooked herself up to an
electroencephalogram, or EEG, and mapped different brain signals to button inputs.
In a video posted online, you can see the streamer thinking attack, and watch her character perform
an attack. She has a master's degree in psychology, so if my experience is anything to go by,
she probably did this to get her parents to shut up about how her job has nothing to do with her
education. Are you happy now? All I do is think panic and then do that. And appliance manufacturers,
who work so hard to add smart device capabilities to their products, just cannot fathom why you
won't connect your dishwasher to the Wi-Fi. Apparently, only half of smart appliance buyers
connect them to the internet. I mean, if you ignore privacy concerns, the annoying subscription offers,
the attempts to sell you replacement parts, and the fact that it's getting harder and harder to
buy a normal dumb appliance, I can't think of a single reason why someone wouldn't want their
dishwasher on their private home network. But I do know why you should come back on Friday,
because you're apparently an immortal being like a highlander or something, and there can be only
one. And I want to challenge you to a duel and absorb your power, baby. That can be only fun.