We refuse to confuse you with the tech news. We separate the true blues from the char truths
and diffuse our news through your views. So please, do peruse.
That joke wasn't going anywhere. After several 7000 X3 CPUs were fried into disuse,
a beta BIOS was released by ASUS. That's right, the whole episode will be like this.
ASUS released a beta BIOS for its motherboards at the end of last month,
which was meant to ensure that SOC voltage was capped at 1.3 volts
to prevent any more CPU shocks. Except according to the tech truth battalion
at Gamers Nexus, the shocks, both literal and metaphorical kept coming.
The Steve team found that their updated MOBO could still reach at least 1.41 volts.
Even worse, updating to the beta firmware that's supposed to stop your processor from frying
voids your warranty according to a disclaimer. Now, we were able to confirm with ASUS
that the disclaimer is standard boilerplate copy
that's attached to all their beta BIOS updates. And they are actually honoring warranties
on all boards affected by this issue. They said they were changing the disclaimer to reflect that,
but not all of their websites have been updated yet. So they should probably get on that
and also clarify that their support page makes it look like older BIOSes
never supported X3D chips, not because they're trying to retcon the past,
but because they want to make sure people install the right BIOS now.
Jayce2Sense has released a video announcing he is severing his partnership with the brand
because of myriad issues, including product quality and customer support.
And if you want to know where we stand, go listen to our boss Linus rant about it
on the WAN Show for 30 minutes.
We're recording this before the show, so it's anyone's guess. We know you're watching this after.
Happy Saturday. Reviews for the ASUS ROG Ally are out
and you might not believe this, but the handheld with newer hardware
than the Steam Deck performs better than the Steam Deck.
What you may have an even harder time accepting is that in a lot of ways, the Ally is worse.
On paper, ROG's handheld has a better screen, better APU. ASUS even decided to get its speakers, Dolby,
at most certified. Finally, you can watch Christopher Nolan films
the way the filmmaker intended. On a tiny screen, sandwiched between two circles of RGB,
while the other bus passengers work up the courage to complain.
Dark Knight ain't the only thing rising. And no one can understand it still.
I was raised in a bar. Fortunately for the strangers surrounding you,
the battery life is bad. ASUS gave the Ally a high resolution screen
and a more powerful APU than the Steam Deck, but thought the same 40 watt hour battery size
would be a-okay. If it isn't the battery, it's the controls.
At least one reviewer found that the touchscreen would register inputs when using the right thumbstick.
And there are multiple reports of the Ally's face buttons getting stuck in the depressed position,
which is very relatable. Just like me in high school. And YouTube is trying to block some users
from using ad blockers. You can't block a blocker.
To convince users to sit through ads, something no one enjoys,
the platform is weaponizing something even worse. Pop-ups.
Images of the pop-up first spread on Reddit, just like everything else you wish you could unsee.
The message reads that ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube and prompts users of certain anti-advertisement extensions
to either allow YouTube ads or try YouTube premium,
you broke bum. According to Google, this is yet another small experiment on the platform,
noting that ad blocker detection isn't new and that other sites do the same damn thing.
That's not a quote. It's worth noting that Google is planning on removing support for the Manifest V2 browser extension
API in Chrome, which will prevent some ad blockers from working in Chromium-based browsers,
which are most browsers. It almost feels like this is a well-orchestrated
and strategic business plan, but this is the Stadia company, so.
And the Google Bus company, the Google Duo company. They're no Elon, am I right?
It's not every episode that I get to introduce five short stories that we call quick bits
because I don't host every episode, but we do, we do it all the time. Google is working on an open source tool
that will allow you to game using only face movements.
Project Game Face is designed to help people
like Lance Carr, a streamer with muscular dystrophy. With only a webcam, the tech allows precise enough control
for Lance to write his name in a demo video. With this technology,
I can weaponize the frustration I feel playing from software games
by performing the first Elden Ring Playthrough controlled exclusively by swear words.
You use spells with f***ing f***ing f***ing die.
Twitter officially has a new CEO. After teasing a new hire yesterday,
Elon officially announced today that the new CEO is Linda Yacharino.
I think that it's too C, is that Italian? I'm Italian, so Yacharino,
formerly NBC Universal's chair of global advertising.
Yacharino officially left that job to accept the Twitter CEO position
so that Elon can step back and start being merely the executive chair
and CTO of the social platform. On a totally unrelated note,
I recently learned about the Glass Cliff, a phenomenon where women are more likely to be put
in leadership roles under precarious circumstances. Crazy, right?
Anyway, best of luck, Linda. Don't at your boss.
Anthropic has updated its chat GPT competitor, Clode,
with the ability to remember more than double the number of words that chat GPT can within the same interaction.
This amount is known as the Context Window, which sounds like something else
I would like to have on hand at all times. The free version of chat GPT can hold
about 3,000 words in its mind at once, upgrade to chat GPT plus,
and it can handle about 32,000. But the gifted kid of chatbots, Clode, Clode,
can now remember around 75,000 words, meaning he can hold the entirety of the great Gatsby
in its mind during a conversation. Never before seen by any high schooler.
As one does. And frankly, Anthropic is starting to rub the other moms
that chatbot elementary the wrong way. He also plays lacrosse and just holds his first painting.
He already has chest hair, but he shaves it. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority
has announced more restrictions for Microsoft in Activision after blocking the merger.
The two companies must now secure written consent
from the CMA if either of them acquires an interest
in the other company or acquires an interest in another business that holds an interest
in the other company. You follow me here? This sounds just like your parents trying to control
who you can and can't date. It's like capitalists of Montague, boring.
You say capitalists or? Capitalists. Meanwhile, the EU is expected to approve the merger
next week because there's nothing more European than having an interest in lots of company.
How about Orgis? And Wiz announced a new home monitoring system
that uses its motion sensing smart bulbs and an indoor camera.
The bulbs space sensing feature can detect changes in Wi-Fi signals caused by movement.
So the light bulbs can flash on and off at the intruders.
The app will also send alerts to your phone so you can check your cameras.
I assume to make sure your guests are enjoying the haunted house.
Another wet band is up with the answer. And you'll enjoy more tech news on Monday
if you come back here and watch it until then. Just watch this episode again.
Do it. Do it, I said.