Russia Successfully Disconnects From Global Internet To Test Its ‘Runet’ Network

By

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August 3, 2021

Russia has managed to disconnect from the global internet network during a series of tests carried out in June and July of this year to check the effectiveness of its ‘Runet’ network in the event of external threats.

The tests involved all Russian telecommunications companies and took place between June 15 and July 15. Furthermore, the result was quite successful. A series of documents from a working group dedicated to online security in Russia have revealed this event to the RBC daily.

“The purpose of the tests is to determine the ability of the ‘Runet’ to work in case of external distortions, blocks and other threats,” said the source.

Critical details for understanding the impact of this brief disconnection are unknown, for example, whether there were performance issues with internet traffic or specific web pages and services were affected.

The Russian executive was aware of these tests, hence his secrecy. According to Karen Kazaryan, director of the analysis company Internet Research institute, these tests were the sample that Russia had resumed the intention to advance with RuNet after a year of break due to the pandemic limitations.

In June 2019, Russia announced that the first tests of RuNet had been completed. This promises to be a free nationwide network — users are only able to connect to Russian sites and services, together with nodes located in Russia.

Telegram Users Can Now Make Group Video Calls With Up To 1000 Viewers

By

Adwaith

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August 1, 2021

Telegram Group Video Calls With 1000 Viewers

Telegram has released one of the biggest updates in recent times. The encrypted messaging app is now increasing its capacity of participants in group video calls to 1000 viewers from the previous limit of 30 — thus being able to hold mass events. In addition, the company will continue to increase the limit in subsequent updates.

Other changes that will come in the following updates are the increase in the resolution of video messages, the inclusion of a speed modifier of its video player, the function of scheduling the deletion of your messages in a chat after a while and new animated emojis. All of them will be well received on Telegram channels with the most users.

The update also introduced screen sharing for individual calls and introduced the ability to capture device audio during screen sharing. Ultimately, these changes make video-related content a more prominent aspect of the old text messaging system.

You can check out the details of the recent update in the official blog post.

Radeon RX 6600 XT: New AMD Graphics Card For Gaming In 1080p Without Breaking The Bank

By

Vishak

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July 31, 2021

AMD has presented its new graphics card, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. A card designed for gaming in 1080p resolution and that stands out for its official quality-price ratio.

This new 6000 series GPU uses the RDNA2 architecture that we saw in models like the Radeon RX 6700 XT, but at a lower price. In the United States, it is priced at $379.

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is designed to play in 1080p and will be the new entry-level solution capable of playing AAA games in Full HD with 60 FPS or more. According to AMD, it will offer more speed than the Radeon RX 5700 XT and GeForce RTX 3060.

The RX 6600XT uses the new smaller Navi 23 GPU with 2048 Stream Processors and 32 computing units. It reaches a turbo frequency of between 2359 and 2589 megahertz and uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory at 16 GHz with a 128-bit interface that produces a bandwidth of 256 GB per second. Power consumption is 160W and uses 32 megabytes of Infinity Cache.

In AMD’s words, the 6600 XT ranks higher than the previous graphics marketed by AMD in this segment, the RX 5600 XT. The power improvement is between 40 and 70%, although of course, this depends on the title we are playing. AMD compares it directly to Nvidia’s RTX 3060.

AMD, at its launch, cites an IDC research that claims that approximately two-thirds of gaming monitors were 1080p, and its argument for launching this graphic card is that most users have not yet made the leap to 4K resolution. Although the resolution is usually kept at 1080p, there has been a significant increase in sales of panels with high refresh rates.

The Radeon RX 6600XT will only be available through board partners, including ASRock, ASUS, Biostar, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire, XFX, and Yeston.

6 Steps to Becoming a Videogame Designer

By

Prabhul Kurup

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July 31, 2021

Being a videogame designer is a highly coveted position, regardless if you’re a gamer or not. The gamer population wants to contribute to the worlds they enjoy so much. And the non-gamers like to join the industry for the many opportunities it provides. And that’s not even to mention the pay a videogame designer gets.

Contents

1 What Does a Videogame Designer Do?
2 Are You Sure You Are Fit for the Job?
3 Finish Your Education
4 Get Experience
5 Build a Portfolio
6 Don’t Stop There

What Does a Videogame Designer Do?

This is a highly creative job, which is at the same time, very demanding. Their main job is developing the game’s plotlines, levels, obstacles, maps, characters and user interface. If you secure a job at a small independent company, you will most likely have to be an art director and a lead designer.

In a bigger company, you will probably have fewer tasks, but they will be harder and more detailed. You will also need to test the game’s difficulty, see if the obstacles fit the level organically and if they match the required level of difficulty.

All these tasks have more specialized roles covering them. And in big companies, a game designer usually oversees the creation and implementation of game mechanics into the game. So if you want to do something specific – you are better off looking for a role that deals with that. But in small companies, a game designer should be able to do it all. And extra knowledge of other fields won’t hurt either.

Are You Sure You Are Fit for the Job?

Video game designers are often quite specific people. You are highly creative and artistic, sensitive, often unstructured and maybe even chaotic at times. If you’re not one hundred percent sure this is what you want to do, it’s best to take a few job orientation tests, try different hobbies and see if this is something you will be able to do for a long time.

Taking a gap year is another great way to cut yourself some slack after a tense year of high school, and take time to think and reflect. Again, you can use this time to experiment and explore new things which is always exciting.

Finish Your Education

Whether you want to be an online paper writer or pursue an online degree in video game design, you need education first. Finish high school, then, take a relevant course in college. When entering high school, it’s very important to know what course you’re aiming at in college. If that’s the case, you can start taking relevant classes beforehand and hence, be above the competition. Take graphic design and computer programming if your school offers those. If not, try to go for extracurriculars or courses.

Scoring high on your ACT and SAT is also very important. Try to keep your GPA high, too. Of course, it’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself so think twice before taking this path.

Before going to college, you might want to research the job openings in your area. See if they require a college education or if high school is good enough. If they don’t need you to be a Bachelor, you might be able to save lots of money by taking an online course instead of college.

However, college education has been linked to higher income later in life, and you might not want to be a game designer forever. Also, even if higher ed is not required by a job listing, the recruiter will most likely consider a person with a Bachelor’s in fine arts or programming a better fit for the job.

Online courses are still an amazing opportunity for designers. If you cannot afford a college education or you think it has no use in such a rapidly evolving niche, go for courses. There are hundreds of incredible learning opportunities offered by Coursera, Masterclass and many others.

Get Experience

Nowadays, people are expected to have work experience even if they apply for an entry-level job. Scoring a job right out of college might not be an easy task, but here are some tips on how to do that.

Look for an opening in a similar but still relevant niche, like animation, software development or graphic design.
Look for a chance to take part in a volunteer project as a programmer.
Go for an internship or apprenticeship at your local videogame company.
Develop your own small games using YouTube tutorials or the knowledge gained at college.

Build a Portfolio

Perhaps even more important than a resume, building a portfolio is a must for any creative job. Collect all your best pieces you’ve been working on since college or high school. Add the games you’ve created independently. If you’ve created something as an intern or an employee of any company, it’s best to ask if you can use that, even if it’s for your portfolio.

Once you’ve piled up all your projects, go through them carefully and only leave the best. It doesn’t have to be a 20-page document, it might be just five or six pieces. But make sure this is truly the best you can do. Then, reach even higher.

Your portfolio might include:

link to download your game
game reviews
screenshots of the games you’ve developed
video recordings of gameplay

Also, be sure your portfolio includes a personal bio. Write about all your biggest achievements, your motivation and your work experience. If you have a touching story about what made you become a game designer, this is the perfect place for it.

Don’t Stop There

Once you get a job, you might feel like you’re all set now and you’re officially successful. Although it’s partly true, you still cannot stop there. Game design is an extremely competitive niche and if you want to stay on top of it, you need to keep growing, aiming higher and achieving more.

Your workplace might offer development opportunities, like courses, seminars, conventions and other events. You should always attend. Even if it looks like there won’t be any new information there, don’t forget about networking. These events are a perfect opportunity to meet new people, maintain old connections, exchange experience etc.

Keep on top of the industry news. Follow professional resources on social media and go for courses on your own. If you want to score a managerial position, take courses that would help you develop soft skills like leadership. Work on your communication, time management, organization and teamwork. Learn to delegate and develop your empathy.

Mark Zuckerberg Wants To Turn Facebook Into A ‘Metaverse’

By

Sabarinath

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July 31, 2021

The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has stated his intention to turn the company into a metaverse — a three-dimensional cyberspace parallel to the real and tangible world.

Zuckerberg wants to create an immersive virtual world in which, with respective avatars, users can interact with others from anywhere on the planet and acquire intangible assets. Also, the firm wants to have a strong virtual advertising presence.

The metaverse is an original concept of science fiction that first appeared in the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson in 1992. In it, two people use avatars to interact in a virtual space. Since then, this idea has been embodied in such well-known works as Ready Player One, a novel by Ernest Cline and adapted for film by Steven Spielberg.

The description of the metaverse is still very abstract; each author represents or describes it in a different way. Zuckerberg refers to” as an embodied internet, where instead of just viewing content — you are in it. And you feel present with other people as if you were in other places, having different experiences that you couldn’t necessarily do on a 2D app or webpage, like dancing, for example, or different types of fitness.”

The tycoon compares the metaverse to teleportation. The analogy invites us to think about virtual reality technology. Facebook has partnered with Ray-Ban for new augmented reality glasses, and the first product in this collaboration is launching soon. Also, smart glasses will be in charge of paving the way for the “metaverse” that Facebook intends to build.

But Zuckerberg clarifies that the metaverse is not just virtual reality. “It’s going to be accessible across all of our different computing platforms; VR and AR, but also PC, and also mobile devices and game consoles.” — he explains to The Verge in an interview.

“I think if we’re successful, then maybe five years from now, or seven years from now, people will primarily think about us as a metaverse company, rather than a mobile internet company, that’s kind of helping to build these kinds of experiences.”

Zuckerberg assures that this project cannot be the work of a single company but the work of the entire industry. However, not only Facebook has started this path, other companies have already expressed this intention as well. Sony has invested $1000 million to create a metaverse and has entrusted this giant task to Epic Games.

Titles like Fortnite, Roblox or Animal Crossing: New Horizons have announced that they will shape that metaverse. The video game industry has taken the lead in this project, but entertainment is not the only thing that could have a place in this cyberspace.

The ‘metaverse’ is intended to become an ecosystem for work, communication and shopping. And advertising remains an important part of Facebook’s social media strategy and will probably use it in the metaverse as well.

Surface Duo 2: First Images Of Microsoft’s Dual-Screen Android Smartphone Features A Giant Rear Camera

By

Vishak

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July 29, 2021

A new version of the Surface Duo, Microsoft’s dual-screen foldable Android phone, has been leaked. The first images of the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 is already circulating on the internet.

It is obvious that, in terms of design, the Surface Duo 2 is going to maintain a markedly conservative approach; that is, it will not introduce major changes compared to the Surface Duo — it will adopt the dual-screen format with a center hinge.

Among the novelties, spotted for the first time last month in Tech Rat YouTube video and confirmed by Windows Central, Surface Duo 2 should have a triple camera system on the rear. It would include a standard lens, a telephoto, and an ultra-wide angle.

Although the camera configuration of the supposed Microsoft Surface Duo 2 would mean a very important jump compared to the previous version, it would not be the only change to note. The new device would have the fingerprint sensor integrated into the power button and would feature the USB Type-C connector on the right side.

On the other hand, it would arrive equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, NFC and support for 5G networks. In terms of colors, the leaked photos show two variants — black and white. The launch date would be scheduled for September or October of this year, according to the available information.

AMD Doubles Sales And Quadruples Profits

By

Avinash A

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July 29, 2021

The second quarter of the year brought AMD once again more sales than expected and again shown strong growth compared to the previous year in all segments.

Compared to the previous year, sales rose from $1.932 billion to $3.850 billion and profits even increased from $157 million to $710 million.

AMD boss Lisa Su was delighted with the extremely positive business result, which shows that the company was able to increase its total sales by an impressive 99 percent in a direct year-on-year comparison. Operating income, in turn, was $831 million, a margin of 22 percent.

As usual, the two major divisions of the AMD brand, graphics chips and processors, are largely responsible for this. The Radeon and Ryzen department was able to increase its sales from $1.367 billion to $2.225 billion, and the profit was $526 million.

The growth in Enterprise and Semi-Custom is even more significant, with AMD booking its Eypc CPUs for servers and console SoCs for the Playstation 5, the Xbox Series X/S and Valve’s Steam Deck, among others. Instead of $565 million, sales reached $1.6 billion and profits multiplied from $33 million to $398 million.

For the third quarter of 2021, AMD expects sales of a high $4.1 billion, and for the full year, sales are now expected to increase by 60 percent instead of 50 percent. This would be around $15 billion, which would be a new record.

The official presentation of the quarterly figures for Q2/2021 provides further details and even deeper insights.

Meanwhile, AMD has announced a share buyback program worth $4 billion and the $35 billion takeover of Xilinx is scheduled to be completed as planned in 2021.

4 Reasons Why Online Security Matters for Your Business

By

Jenna Jose

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July 29, 2021

Individuals who run companies must watch out for all kinds of internal and external problems. There are competitors trying to take over the top spot in your industry. You might also have to deal with cash flow issues, ineffective marketing, trying to get your website to rank highly on Google, and more.

Online security, though, is one issue that you need to be particularly cognizant of if you want to run a successful company. If you neglect your online security, that can prove disastrous.

Let’s talk about some reasons why you need to adhere to strict online security protocols in a professional setting.

Contents

1 You Can’t Allow Hackers to Access Your Network
2 You Want Your Workers to Trust You
3 You Need Your Customers to Trust You
4 You Don’t Want Any Service Interruptions

You Can’t Allow Hackers to Access Your Network

There are all kinds of security measures you can set up and utilize for your company. You might look into IT automation since it is convenient and usually comes with more robust security features. You could look into two-factor authentication when someone logs into your proprietary software suite.

Whatever security measures you take, though, you should do it with one thing in mind: blocking hackers from accessing your network. You don’t want anyone unauthorized learning your trade secrets.

If you allow some of your employees to work remotely now, security matters even more. You might have workers accessing your network from many different locations instead of a single, central one. If so, it can be easier for hackers to get around your security efforts unless you have the latest technology working for you that your industry has to offer.

You Want Your Workers to Trust You

You certainly want your workers to feel like they can trust you when they give you their personal information. They have to do that because you need their info to report to state and federal government entities for tax purposes. That means your workers have to give up their full names, phone numbers, physical addresses, social security numbers, and more.

If someone gets access to all of that and wants to use it for nefarious purposes, that can lead to identity theft. So many hackers like to steal an individual’s identity and use it to create havoc in their lives. They might open up new bank accounts, try to borrow money, etc.

Your security measures can stop that from happening. If your workers know you have excellent security, they won’t mind giving you that info. They will also be loyal to the company, which means less turnover.

You Need Your Customers to Trust You

You’ll also want online security measures for your company because you need your customers and would-be customers to trust you. If there are constant data breaches because you don’t care about your security very much, then no one will want to buy the products you sell or the services you offer. You will get a poor industry reputation, and it can be tough to overcome that once the public knows about it.

If someone visits your business’s website and considers buying something from you, they are much more likely to turn over their credit card information if they know you’ve never had a data breach.

Reputation matters a lot, regardless of your niche or industry. Online security is going to bring more customers to you, while lax security will drive them away.

You Don’t Want Any Service Interruptions

There are all kinds of reasons why hackers do what they do. Some of them do it for profit, such as when they steal someone’s identity and try to empty their bank account. However, others do it simply because they want to cause turmoil and chaos.

You might have to deal with hackers who want to crash your business’s website. Even if they don’t gain anything from it financially, they get to brag to their friends that they brought down a company’s site for hours or even days.

Service interruptions hurt your business in multiple ways. They show customers that you don’t have suitable security measures, but also, if your site is down, that means people can’t order from you for a while, so you’ll lose money.

If hackers bring down your site because you don’t have adequate security measures in place, that’s going to hurt your bottom line. You won’t be able to make your sales quotas, and you might end up in the red for that quarter or year.

There’s no other way to say it: online security is something that companies need to focus on more than nearly anything else.