Between email, calls, texts, and now an unending torrent of AI slop, I feel like I’ve been fighting off scammers every single day for basically my entire adult life. And now that my creaky adult body is starting to succumb to the inexorable forces of entropy, the scammers are coming for my health insurance. I suppose that only makes sense. Existence is suffering–existence on the internet, more so. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation says that there’s been a huge uptick in scammers pretending to be health insurance representatives. Based on the short news bulletin (spotted by PCMag), it’s a familiar setup. In the same way that scammers pretend to be communicating from a bank or a government official, they’ll pretend to be a healthcare or insurance representative, hoping to put people off their guard. Once the initial panic sets in, they’ll be more likely to share “protected health information, medical records, personal financial details, or providing reimbursements for alleged service overpayments or non-covered services.” From there, a scammer can start in on the usual identity theft two-step, either trying to break into your personal accounts with said info or simply trying to register for new bank accounts, credit cards, et cetera as you. Since this is the FBI we’re talking about, presumably the scammers are targeting Americans, who are already on edge for the most expensive medical care in the world thanks to our health insurance system. Ongoing attempts to cut Medicare and Medicaid programs have elevated concerns for millions. Of course, there’s nothing stopping the same scammers from targeting people in other countries with a little tweaking. Generative AI systems have made these scam packages easy to create and deploy to victims en masse. As usual, the advice is simple, if not exactly easy to follow in the heat of the moment. Don’t follow links from email addresses or texts from phone numbers you don’t know. Verify information in another tab, or even another device, instead. Don’t share any personal information, especially logins or passwords, with anyone you can’t independently verify. Oh, and maybe pass this info along to anyone in your family who’s a little less technical. Read...

NASA will soon stream its live broadcasts on Netflix, Engadget reports. These are the same broadcasts that are also available through NASA+ (formerly NASA TV), and they’ll be available to all users worldwide. The US space agency will live stream everything, from rocket launches and spacewalks to broadcasts from the International Space Station (ISS). The live broadcasts are expected to appear on Netflix later this summer, but an exact launch date for the streams isn’t yet known. NASA+ also offers self-produced documentaries, but these don’t appear to be part of the new partnership with Netflix. Read...

Over on The Full Nerd podcast, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 is known as The GOAT, the graphics card that still hasn’t been beaten for value, gains over its predecessors, and performance in its time. But its time might just be up. Nvidia is ending support for Unix graphics for the Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta series of GPUs…which means that the last batch of major GTX cards might be on their way out. If you’re a bit confused, it’s understandable. Unix support shouldn’t have anything to do with gamers that are overwhelmingly using Windows, right? Unfortunately, Nvidia tends to drop all support for graphics card architecture once it stops the Unix development, according to VideoCardz. That means that the 580 release of the graphics card driver package will probably be the last one for GTX 700, 900, and 10-series cards, no matter what operating system you’re using. The slightly newer GTX 16 series (1630, 1650, 1650 Super, 1660, 1660 Ti, 1660 Super) which started hitting shelves in 2019 might hang on a little longer, as they’re more affordable cards based on the same Turing architecture as the initial RTX 20 series. And it’s not as if missing out on game-ready drivers will suddenly make the older cards (released from 2014-2017) suddenly stop working — they just won’t get optimizations for new games. But it would certainly be the end of an era, and a frustrating push to upgrade for those users still holding on to these cards as GPU prices have skyrocketed. Read...

Ask a smattering of PC gamers combing through the aisles of a Micro Center for the best PC parts whether they’re building an AMD or Intel-based desktop, and most of them will say the former. That’s because AMD’s Ryzen X3D chips absolutely slap for gaming with 3D V-cache. But a new rumor indicates that Intel is working on an equivalent tech for its new chips, hoping to claw back some gamer cred. The scuttlebutt is that there are two new Nova Lake processors slated for the upcoming LGA1954 socket. Techspot quotes a Twitter leaker claiming that said chips will use 125 watts of power, with eight performance cores and a mix of four Low-Power Efficiency cores and either 12 or 16 standard efficiency cores. None of that is particularly noteworthy, but it’s the inclusion of bLLC, Big Last Level Cache, that’s turning heads. This extra pool of low-latency L3 cache could perform the same function as AMD’s 3D V-cache feature, which dramatically boosts highly demanding tasks including gaming and media creation. AMD has been lighting up the CPU sales charts since it introduced the feature with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D back in 2022. It’s since become the go-to pick for PC gaming on the desktop, expanding it into X3D variant CPU models in the Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series, and back-porting the 3D V-cache feature into several 5000 series chips (on the apparently immortal AM4 socket) to offer it to budget gamers. We should stress that, at least at the time of writing, this is only a rumor. Nova Lake is set to arrive in 2026, so even if Intel is cooking up these chips with an eye towards better competition with AMD’s gaming-focused models, there’s no guarantee that they’ll arrive in the same state. Techspot also notes that Intel representatives denied plans to compete directly with AMD’s 3D V-Cache chips as recently as November of last year. Even so, bLLC is a feature of Intel’s newest server CPUs, so clearly the tech is good enough for at least some finished products. And considering how much of a beating Intel is taking in the larger market, a little appeal to the consumer side of things couldn’t hurt. Read...

The printer manufacturers’ proprietary drivers have been a thorn in Microsoft’s side for some time now. According to the company, nine percent of Windows security problems are caused by the printing system. In 2021, for example, a security vulnerability in the printer spooler was found that allowed attackers to gain system rights. System rights are one level above administrator rights and allow the installation of arbitrary applications and almost unlimited changes to Windows settings. As new patches had to be developed for several months to close the gap, it was finally given the name “Print Nightmare”. In Windows 11 24H2, Microsoft has now integrated the Windows Protected Print mode, or WPP for short, which was announced some time ago. It replaces the manufacturer’s drivers on many printers and at the same time prevents the installation of new printer drivers. This is intended to prevent malicious code from entering the computer via the drivers. It also ensures that the common tasks of the printer spooler are no longer executed with system rights, but only with user rights. In this way, Microsoft is closing the security gap that led to the Print Nightmare. Windows 11 24H2 contains the new Windows Protected Print mode, which you must first switch on via the “Settings”. Sam Singleton WPP is based on the Internet Print Protocol (IPP) and uses a standardized IPPClass driver. This works with all printers and multifunction devices that have been certified by the Mobile Printing Alliance (Mopria). Mopria was originally founded by Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox and today all major printer manufacturers are members of the Alliance. To avoid compatibility problems, WPP is not active by default in Windows, but must be switched on by the user. You can look up whether your printer or MFC is compatible at https://mopria.org/certified-products. If it is, you can easily switch to WPP: Open “Settings” in the Start menu and go to “Bluetooth and devices” -> “Printers and scanners”. Scroll down to “Windows Protected Print Mode” and click on “Set up”. After you have answered the two security questions with “Yes, continue”, Windows will do the rest. Windows then takes control of the print jobs with its WPP driver. If the manufacturer’s original driver provided extended functions for printing, you may find corresponding tools for the WPP drivers in the Microsoft Store. If you want to deactivate WPP again, just click on “Remove” under “Bluetooth and devices”->”Printers and scanners”-> “Windows-protected print mode” and confirm with “Yes”. Just be aware that you must then reinstall the manufacturer’s old drivers. Read...

Microsoft recently released preview updates for Windows 11 and also announced that Windows 11 25H2 is coming along with the changes it will bring. Some dynamic updates have also been delivered. But on top of all this, Microsoft has quietly “force-installed” another update on Windows 10 and 11 PCs, according to Neowin. The “secret” patch with update code KB5001716 has already arrived for some users, but others are apparently still waiting. (We have not yet discovered it on our own Windows 11 PCs.) What’s in the KB5001716 update? Update KB5001716 isn’t an “update” in the classic sense. It’s more of an auxiliary update for Windows Update itself. The release note for the patch explains how KB5001716 works: “When this update is installed, Windows may attempt to download and install feature updates to your device if it is approaching or has reached the end of support for your currently installed Windows version. Feature updates offer new functionality and help keep your device secure.” “After this update is installed, Windows may periodically display a notification informing you of problems that may prevent Windows Update from keeping your device up-to-date and protected against current threats. For example, you may see a notification informing you that your device is currently running a version of Windows that has reached the end of its support lifecycle, or that your device does not meet the minimum hardware requirements for the currently installed version of Windows.” In other words, it appears the main purpose of update KB5001716 has mostly to do with the approaching end of support for Windows 10 and is intended to help deliver feature updates to PCs with Windows versions that have already expired or will soon expire. What this means for you Microsoft recently announced that Windows 10 will receive another year of free security updates under some circumstances. Nevertheless, warnings about the approaching end of support will continue to be shown on affected Windows PCs. According to Microsoft, notifications will “respect full screen, game, quiet time and focus assist modes.” Users can also continue to check whether their hardware is sufficient for Windows 11 and consider switching. Meanwhile, Microsoft is trying to convince users of the improved performance of Windows 11 and point out that the user experience is not only more secure but better. If you receive the KB5001716 update, it means your version of Windows will soon expire or will no longer be supported. That includes versions Windows 10 22H2 and 21H2 as well as Windows 11 21H2. Further reading: How to save your PC at Windows 10’s end of life Read...

Are you hoping to nab an excellent monitor at a budget price this summer? Today might be that day. Check out this 27-inch Samsung Odyssey G3 that’s only $130 on Amazon. That’s $100 off its already affordable original price, bringing it down to its best-ever price—a no-brainer buy if you’re looking for a modest-but-high-value gaming display. This is Samsung’s 27-inch gaming monitor with a standard 1080p resolution but fast 180Hz refresh rate. The resolution and aspect ratio may be unimpressive, but that much refresh is perfect for mid-range gaming setups. You’ll experience smooth motion and high frame rates—assuming your PC can push out those frames—and minimal input lag. That means an edge over your opponents in competitive online multiplayer. For connectivity, we’re looking at HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, but no USB-C video with power delivery so probably not the best for beefy gaming laptops. Other nifty features include AMD FreeSync for reduced image tearing, a Black Equalizer for seeing better in dark areas, and a Virtual Aim Point that puts a crosshair directly on the screen. What are you waiting for? This is the best price it’s ever been, so grab the Samsung Odyssey G3 for $130 while you can! Otherwise, check out PCWorld’s picks for the best monitors and keep an eye on them over the next week. Don’t forget, Prime Day is coming soon! Save 43% on Samsung`s 27-inch 1080p 180Hz gaming monitorBuy now at Amazon Read...

AI is reshaping networking and security, driving their convergence as enterprises tackle new challenges to protect and optimise evolving AI-driven infrastructure. Read...

New leaks reveal exciting details on the upcoming Super variants of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series graphics cards, which are set to offer more performance and memory. The new Super models should score points with more video memory and higher computing power, but they’ll also require a lot of power, reports Tom’s Hardware. The cards could inspire more enthusiasm again—as long as the price is right. According to well-known leaker @kopite7kimi, we’re expecting three new GPUs: the RTX 5070 Super, the RTX 5070 Ti Super, and the RTX 5080 Super. With these new variants of the RTX 50 series, Nvidia could make up for the shortcomings of previous launches. The Super variant leaks in detail The Super models mainly offer more video memory (VRAM). The RTX 5070 Super is said to be equipped with 18GB of GDDR7 RAM at 28Gbps on a 192-bit bus. According to Tom’s Hardware, Nvidia could use 3GB memory modules (instead of the previous 2GB modules) to increase performance. The card uses the Blackwell GB205 chip, with 6,400 CUDA cores (four percent more than the RTX 5070) and requiring 275 watts instead of 250 watts. The RTX 5070 Ti Super uses the GB203 chip, with 8,960 CUDA cores and 24GB of GDDR7 RAM at 28Gbps on a 256-bit bus. The power consumption increases to 350 watts, 50 watts more than the normal version. The RTX 5080 Super should also have 24GB of GDDR7 RAM, but with 32Gbps and 10,753 CUDA cores. Its power consumption climbs to a whopping 415 watts, as software engineer @Tech_Meld_ adds. Graphics cardRTX 5080 SuperRTX 5070 Ti SuperRTX 5070 SuperArchitectureGB203GB203GB205VRAM (GDDR7)24GB24GB18GBVRAM bus256-bit256-bit192-bitCUDA Cores10,7528,9606,400TGP415W350W275W These new cards could be ideal for 4K gaming, AI applications, or other demanding programs. However, the high power consumption will require powerful power supply units, which is a source of debate. In initial reports, some users praise the increase in VRAM while others fear high prices, as is usual with new Nvidia graphics card releases. The specifications are still unconfirmed and Nvidia has not yet commented on them. However, if the leaks are true, the RTX 50 Super models could set new standards—provided the prices are reasonable. Gamers should keep an eye on the announcements. Read...

Hyland has named Nanette Lazina Senior VP of Global Channels and OEMs to drive growth and partner strategy, leveraging her 20 years at SAP. Read...