Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development plans to spend nearly 60 billion roubles ($660 million) over the next five years to enhance its Internet censorship system known as Technical Measures to Combat Threats (TSPU), reportsReutersciting Forbes Russia. The goal is seemingly to strengthen tools that block virtual private networks (VPNs) and restrict access to content deemed illegal or restricted by the Russian government. TSPU blocks VPNs and websites Russia’s homegrown TSPU system uses deep packet inpsection (DPI) to monitor and block access to services and websites that the Russian government considers harmful....

Beelink has launched its latest SER9 mini-PC, powered by AMD’sRyzen AI 300(Strix Point) processor and priced at a whopping $999. If one takes the official listing page at face value, the SER9 is supposedly discounted from $1,249. When similarly-specced rivals are available for much cheaper, it’s understandable why Beelink’s price point is somewhat controversial. While the pricing is questionable, the SER9’s features don’t seem bad. Using AMD’s top-of-the-line Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, the device has 12 cores, four Zen 5 cores, eight Zen 5c cores, and 24 threads....

If you’re in the market for a newer model SSD, you should look at this offer on theSamsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB SSD. It usually costs around $109, but right now, it’s available for just $89. As of this writing, we’re not sure how long it will be available at this price. There are 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB versions of this Samsung 990 EVO Plus available atAmazon, but this offer is only for the 1TB version....

A research collaboration between the University of Bayreuth in Germany and the University of Melbourne has successfully devised an optically switchable photonic unit for storing and reading binary information using light. This development may be a big step towards a fully optical computer, where we use light energy (or photons) to process and store data. The team behind the research, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Köhler, Prof. Dr. Mukundan of the University of Bayreuth, and Prof....

Asecurityvulnerability on American trains was discovered in 2012, but the American Association of Railways (AAR) has refused to act on it until theCybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)published an advisory a few days ago. According to Hardware Security Researcher Neils onX (formerly Twitter), they first discovered the issue in 2012 when software-defined radios (SDR) started becoming more popular. All American trains were equipped with an End-of-Train (EoT) module attached to the last carriage, which reports telemetry data to the front of the train wirelessly....

Japanese storefront Shigezone has recently listed a USB PD (Power Delivery)-operated reflow oven. The top plate reaches a maximum temperature of 280 degrees Celsius at default settings or 350 degrees Celsius with modified settings, per a report fromgdm.or.jp. The device retails for ¥4400 Japanese yen, which converts to roughly $29 USD before shipping and other import fees are applied. The size of the top plate of this USB PD Reflow Plate is 55 x 55 millimeters, which is noted by the original shop page to be capable of “easily accommodating anArduinoUno....

The Steam overlay is a feature that allows you to seamlessly use all of Steam’s community features without having to tab out of your game. But there are times when the overlay simplyrefuses to open on a gameorbecomes unresponsive right after opening it. This issue is most prominent if the overlay process isglitched,corrupted, orinterrupted by other third-party overlay applications. you may start the repair process byenabling the overlayandchecking the key binds....

If you’ve been waiting to upgrade to a new processor, now is a great time to check out this offer fromAmazonon theRyzen 7 5700X3D. This gaming processor debuted earlier this year at around $249. However, you’re able to pick it up today for just $199. As of this writing, Amazon has not specified an expiration date for the offer, so we don’t know how long you’ll be able to pick it up at this price....

AMDhas officially unveiled its Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series, a new wave of Zen 5-based high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, scheduled to launch on July 31. With up to 64 cores, 128 threads, and boost clocks peaking at 5.4 GHz, this lineup aims to push multi-core performance and memory bandwidth to new heights while maintaining the aggressive pricing of its predecessor, the Threadripper 7000 series. These SKUs wereannounced earlier this yearand haveleaked countless times, but we’ve finally reached the actual launch....

Tokyo Electron hasintroduced its Acrevia, a new gas cluster beam (GCB) system tailored for refining patterns created by EUV lithography. The tool, which uses low-damage surface processing, can be used for several things, including reducing the usage of EUV multi-patterning for upcoming nodes, enhancing line edge roughness to reduce performance variability, reducing stochastic litho defects, and ultimately cutting chipmaking costs and improving yields. Modern EUV lithography tools with 0.33 numerical aperture optics (Low-NA EUV) can achieve critical dimensions of 13 nm to 16 nm for high-volume production with a single exposure....

According to a TSMCpress release, European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (ESMC), ajoint venturebetween TSMC, Bosch, Infineon Technologies, and NXP Semiconductors, has officially begun preparing land for its first fab near Dresden, Germany. This facility will be one of Europe’s most advanced semiconductor production facilities that will use process technologies featuring FinFET transistors. Total investment in this project is expected to exceed €10 billion, with significant backing from the European Commission. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by key European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz....

AMD is purportedly preparing to raise the TDP for theRyzen 7 9700XandRyzen 5 9600X, which rival thebest CPUson the market. According to hardware leakerChi11eddog on X, an upcoming AGESA 1.2.0.1a Patch A update will reportedly increase the TDP of the two Zen 5 chips from 65W to 105W. Since it’s a rumor, take the information with a big grain of salt. Assuming the rumor has some belief, the increased TDP for the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X suggests AMD wants to improve both CPU’s multi-core performance to increase their competitiveness against Intel’s outgoing 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs and prepare against the forthcoming Arrow Lake army....

According to theBBC, The U.K.’s Labour government was elected in July, and one of its first acts after about a month in power was to put the funds for the GBP 800 million supercomputer at Edinburgh University and GBP 500 million A.I. Research Resource on hold. The former was a priority project by the previous Conservative government, while the latter was part of its outstanding commitment to “science, research, and innovation, including U....