October 31, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

💻 Apple's new chips and Macs

🎮 Microsoft crackdown hits some Xbox gamers

🖥️ Building a PC for the price of one Nvidia GPU

✋ Deep space's 'ghostly cosmic hand'

UP FIRST

Apple unveils new gear at its 'Scary Fast' event

Apple has refreshed its Mac computers with a new family of chips

Apple’s Scary Fast event on Monday showcased its new M3 chips, along with refreshed MacBook Pros and an iMac that all contain the new processor.

The 30-minute live stream was predictably slick, packed with superlatives, and, somewhat surprisingly, shot entirely on an iPhone.

Apple has ditched the base 13-inch MacBook Pro and replaced it with a 14-inch model with the M3 chip that can also be configured with the more powerful M3 Pro or M3 Max processors. The 16-inch Pro, meanwhile, only offers the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips. MacBook Pros with the Pro and Max chips also come in a new color: Space Black.

The Cupertino, California-based company also updated the 24-inch iMac for the first time since its launch two years ago, fitting it with the M3 chip.

Be sure to check out Digital Trends’ article for pricing and details on new specs ...

GAMING

Microsoft cracks down on unauthorized Xbox controllers and accessories

One affected company, Brook Gaming, says it will 'spare no effort in identifying potential solutions'

Microsoft is cracking down on the use of unauthorized controllers and accessories for its Xbox machines, blocking gamers from using them when they’re connected to the console, according to WindowsCentral.

Gamers using the unauthorized devices are starting to see the error code 0x82d60002 when they connect them to the console.

“This means that one of the accessories you’re trying to connect was not manufactured by Microsoft or another licensed Xbox hardware partner,” the company explains on its website.

It adds that from the moment an unauthorized controller or accessory prompts the appearance of the error code, the gamer will have two weeks before it’s blocked by the console.

The blunt advice offered by Microsoft is to “contact the store or manufacturer where you obtained the accessory to get help with returning it" ...

EXPERIENCE by Monica J. White

I made an entire PC build for the price of one Nvidia GPU

'Now that both AMD and Nvidia have plenty of hardware up for grabs, it's a good time to build a PC'

Nvidia makes some of the best graphics cards, but most of them are ridiculously expensive. In fact, some of them are so pricey that you could build a whole gaming PC for the price of one GPU. This is where AMD has an edge – it doesn't just have more affordable graphics cards, but it also makes processors to match.

By choosing AMD, you might be able to get more bang for your buck than if you were to pick an Intel CPU and an Nvidia GPU.

So I did it, picking out all the components for a build you could go out and build today for the price of a single GPU.

Now that both AMD and Nvidia have plenty of hardware up for grabs, it's a good time to build a PC ...

HALLOWEEN

NASA releases 'ghostly cosmic hand' image

It exists 16,000 light-years from Earth so has no chance of scaring the bejesus out of you tonight

To mark Halloween, NASA has released a spooky image of what it describes as a “ghostly cosmic hand."

It actually shows MSH 15-52, a cloud of energetic particles that resembles a human hand.

NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) telescopes worked together to capture the amazing image.

Chandra first observed the pulsar PSR B1509-58 in 2001, with scientists quick to notice how its pulsar wind nebula (MSH 15-52) bore a striking resemblance to a part of the human body.

Pulsar wind nebulae form from intense winds of particles and jets of matter flowing away from the poles of a pulsar, which is a highly magnetized and rapidly rotating collapsed star. The bright white spot near the base of the palm is the pulsar itself and is located around 16,000 light-years from Earth ...

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