David Hanak In this summary article, we recall the most important events that took place in the IT world over the past 7 days.
It could be interest you
People are destroying 5G transmitters in the UK
Conspiracy theories about 5G networks aiding the spread of the coronavirus have been rife in the UK in recent weeks. The situation has reached such a point that the operators and operators of these networks are reporting more and more attacks on their equipment, whether it is substations located on the ground or transmission towers. According to information published by the CNET server, almost eight dozen transmitters for 5G networks have been damaged or destroyed so far. In addition to damage to property, there are also attacks on operators who manage this infrastructure. In one case, there was even a knife attack and an employee of a British operator ended up in hospital. There have already been several campaigns in the media aimed at refuting misinformation about 5G networks. So far, however, it looks like it hasn't quite succeeded. The operators themselves ask that people do not damage their transmitters and substations. In recent days, protests of a similar nature are also beginning to spread to other countries – for example, several very similar incidents were reported in Canada over the past week, but vandals did not damage transmitters working with 5G networks in these cases.
Another Thunderbolt security risk has been discovered, affecting hundreds of millions of devices
Security experts from Holland came up with a tool called Thunderspy, which revealed several serious security flaws in the Thunderbolt interface. The newly published information points to a total of seven security flaws that affect hundreds of millions of devices worldwide, across all three generations of the Thunderbolt interface. Several of these security flaws have already been fixed, but many of them cannot be fixed at all (especially for devices manufactured before 2019). According to researchers, an attacker only needs five minutes of solitude and a screwdriver to access highly sensitive information stored on a target device's disk. Using special software and hardware, the researchers were able to copy information from the compromised laptop, even though it was locked. The Thunderbolt interface boasts enormous transfer speeds due to the fact that the connector with its controller is more directly connected to the computer's internal storage, unlike other connectors. And it is possible to exploit this, even though Intel has tried to make this interface as secure as possible. The researchers informed Intel about the discovery almost immediately after its confirmation, but it showed a somewhat more lax approach, especially with regard to informing its partners (laptop manufacturers). You can see how the whole system works in the video below.
Epic Games presented a new tech demo of their 5th generation Unreal Engine, running on PS5
The performance has already taken place on YouTube today 5st generation very popular Unreal Engine, behind which developers from Epic GAMES. The new Unreal Engine boasts a huge amount innovative elements, which includes the ability to render billions of polygons along with advanced lighting effects. It also brings a new engine new animation, materials processing and a ton of other news that game developers will be able to use. Detailed information about the new engine is available on the website Epicu, for the average player is mainly commented techdemo, which presents the capabilities of the new engine in a very effective form. The most interesting thing about the whole record (besides the visual quality) is probably that it is a part-team yield from the console PS5, which should also be fully playable. This is the first sample of what should be new PlayStation capable. Of course, the visual level of the technology demo does not correspond to the fact that all games released on PS5 will look like this in detail, rather it is demonstration of what the new engine can handle and what it can handle at the same time hardware PS5. Anyway, it's a very nice one example what we will more or less see in the near future.
GTA V temporarily free on Epic Game Store
A few hours ago, an unexpected (and considering congestion entire services also extremely successful) event during which the popular title GTA V is available to all users for free. In addition, this is an improved Premium edition, which offers a large number of bonuses for multiplayer in addition to the basic game. It is currently down due to overloading of both the client and the web service. However, if you are interested in GTA V Premium Edition, don't despair. The promotion should run until May 21st, so until then you can claim GTA V and connect to your Epic account. GTA V is a relatively old title today, but it enjoys considerable popularity thanks to its online component, which is still played by tens of thousands of people. So if you've been hesitating over the purchase for years, now you have a unique opportunity to try the title.
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nVidia held the GTC Technology conference from the kitchen of its CEO
The GTC conference usually focuses on all directions in which nVidia operates. It is by no means an event intended for gamers and PC enthusiasts who buy regular consumer hardware - although they were also represented to a limited extent. This year's conference was special in its execution, when the CEO of nVidia Jensen Huang presented it all from his kitchen. The keynote is divided into several thematic parts and all of them can be played on the company's official YouTube channel. Huang covered both data center technologies and the future of RTX graphics cards, GPU acceleration and involvement in scientific research, with a large part of the keynote taking up technologies related to artificial intelligence and deployment in autonomous driving.
For ordinary computer users, the official unveiling of the new Ampere GPU architecture is probably the most interesting, or the unveiling of the A100 GPU, on which the entire upcoming generation of professional and consumer GPUs will be built (in more or less modifications by cutting down the main big chip). According to nVidia, it is the most intergenerationally advanced chip in the last 8 generations of GPUs. It will also be the first nVidia chip to be manufactured using the 7nm manufacturing process. Thanks to this, it was possible to fit 54 billion transistors into the chip (it will be the largest ever microchip based on this manufacturing process). You can view the complete GTC 2020 playlist <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/200721_ODSTOUPENI_BEZ_UDANI_DUVODU__EN.pdf?v=1595428404" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">here</a>.
Facebook buys Giphy, GIFs will be integrated into Instagram
The popular website (and associated applications and other services) for creating and sharing GIFs Giphy is changing hands. The company was bought by Facebook for a reported $400 million, which intends to integrate the entire platform (including a huge database of gifs and sketches) into Instagram and its other applications. Until now, Facebook has used the Giphy API to share gifs in its apps, both on Facebook as such and on Instagram. However, after this acquisition, the integration of the services will be complete and the entire Giphy team, together with its products, will now function as a functional part of Instagram. According to Facebook's statement, nothing changes for current users of Giphy apps and services. Currently, the vast majority of communication platforms use the Giphy API, including Twitter, Pinterest, Slack, Reddit, Discord, and more. Despite Facebook's statement, it will be interesting to see how the new owner behaves with regard to the use of the Giphy interface by some competing services. If you like to use GIFs (Giphy, for example, has an extension directly for iMessage), beware.
