Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has released the GeForce 390.65 WHQL drivers. These drivers come game-ready for “Fortnite,” including support for ShadowPlay Highlights in the “Battle Royale” mode of the game. The drivers also introduce NVIDIA Freestyle technology, which lets you apply custom post-processing effects for your game, or choose from several included post-FX filters. More importantly, the drivers introduce security updates against “Spectre” variant 2 (CVE-2017-5753) vulnerability. The drivers also provide pop-up notifications when an external GPU is connected or disconnected.

You can download the new GeForce 390.65 WHQL Game Ready Graphics Drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.

Source: TechPowerUp!

Microsoft late-Monday halted Meltdown and Spectre security patches to machines running AMD processors, as complaints of machines turning unbootable piled up. Apparently the latest KB4056892 (2018-01) Cumulative Update causes machines with AMD processors (well, chipsets) to refuse to boot. Microsoft has halted distributing patches to PCs running AMD processors, and issued a statement on the matter. In this statement, Microsoft blames AMD for not supplying its engineers with the right documentation to develop their patches (while absolving itself of any blame for not testing its patches on actual AMD-powered machines before releasing them).

“Microsoft has reports of customers with some AMD devices getting into an unbootable state after installing recent Windows operating system security updates,” said Microsoft in its statement. “After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown,” it added. Microsoft is working with AMD to re-develop, test, and release security updates, on the double.

Update (09/01): AMD responded to this story, its statement posted verbatim is as follows.

AMD is aware of an issue with some older generation processors following installation of a Microsoft security update that was published over the weekend. AMD and Microsoft have been working on an update to resolve the issue and expect it to begin rolling out again for these impacted shortly.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Cooler Master Announces New Case Lineup for The First Half of 2018
• Razer Announces the No Battery, Wireless Razer Mamba HyperFlux Gaming Mouse
• Digital Storm Unveils Project SPARK Gaming PCs
• Easily Build a Quiet and Gorgeous System with NZXT’s N7 Z370 Motherboard
• Razer Introduces Nommo Speaker Line
• Vertagear Unveils the World’s First Wireless LED/RGB Gaming Chair – VIDEO
• Thermaltake New Level 20 Full-Tower Chassis Astounds at CES 2018
• Thermaltake Unveils the New View 91 Tempered Glass RGB Edition Super Tower Chassis
• Apacer Adds BLADE FIRE DDR4-3200MHz 64GB Memory To Lineup
• Alienware Launches the AW3418HW Monitor on CES 2018: 34″, WFHD, 3800R, G-Sync
• CORSAIR Launches New PSU, Coolers and Case at CES 2018
• CORSAIR Launches Full Range of Wireless Gaming Peripherals at CES 2018
• Acer Unveils 65-inch Predator Big Format Gaming Display with NVIDIA G-Sync
• ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces ROG Swift PG65 Big Format Gaming Display with NVIDIA G-SYNC
• D-Link’s McAfee-Powered AC2600 Router Automatically Protects Connected Devices
• GIGABYTE AORUS X470 Gaming 7 WiFi is the First Motherboard for Zen+
• HyperX Unveils World’s First Infrared Synchronized DDR4 RGB Memory
• MSI Brings Award-Winning Gear to CES 2018

Near an abandoned French farm in 1918 field telephones crackled with orders in a language that baffled German eavesdroppers—and the code talkers were born

By Richard Selcer @ Historynet.com

During World War II the United States used American Indian code talkers to thwart enemy decoding of battlefield radio and telephone traffic. The exploits of these men—almost all of whom were Navajos serving with the Marines the Pacific—are justly famous, thanks to several popular written histories and the 2002 film Windtalkers.

Yet few people realize that U.S. reliance on code talkers during wartime did not originate with Navajos on some jungle-covered South Sea island. It was, instead, on the shell-pocked Western Front battlefields of World War I that American Indians—mostly Choctaws in Army uniforms—were first tasked with transmitting crucial military communications in languages the enemy could not decipher.

Read on…

We have a bit more information in regards to the Meltdown security exploit which primarily affects Intel’s CPUs, but also has been confirmed to affect some ARM CPU designs. Also the Spectre exploit that every high-performance processor ever made – Intel, AMD, ARM, and POWER – is thought to be vulnerable to. Intel has begun issuing updates for all types of Intel-based computer systems, and Microsoft has issued patches via Windows Update (Windows 10 only). Also there are a few news stories about when and if Intel knew of these security issues for an extended period of time.

• Intel Issues Updates to Protect Systems From Security Exploits
• Microsoft Starts Rolling Out Emergency Patches to Fix Disastrous Chip Bugs
• Intel Aware of CPU Flaws Before CEO Brian Krzanich Planned $24M Stock Sale
• Intel Released “Coffee Lake” Knowing it Was Vulnerable to Spectre and Meltdown
• Intel Hit With Three Class Action Lawsuits Related to Security Vulnerability
• AMD Issues Statement Regarding Processor Security
• AMD Big Winner from Chip Flaw Fiasco – More than $11 Billion in Intel Stock Value Wiped Out
• ARM Processor Security Update
• Apple’s Response to Meltdown and Spectre Exploits
• Amazon Rolls Out Patches for Meltdown Exploit
• Google Android Security Bulletin
• Google Updates its Cloud Infrastructure
• Potential Impact on Processors in the IBM POWER Family

Source: TechPowerUp!

Making good on its post-New Year promise, AMD late Thursday released its first Radeon Software Adrenalin iteration for the year, version 18.1.1 Alpha. Being flagged “Alpha,” these are very early drivers, the use of which are not backed by any warranties. They’re not fully tested to work by AMD.

Version 18.1.1 Alpha addresses critical bugs that caused some of the older games to break following Adrenalin 17.12 release. The games, which are nearly a decade old, are AAA blockbusters which are based on the older DirectX 9 API. A number of older DirectX 9 games, such as EA’s “Command & Conquer 3,” “Command & Conquer 4″ series, “Battle for Middle Earth 1-2,” and “The Witcher Enhanced Edition” had simply refused to start following the 17.12 driver update.

The new Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.1.1 Alpha drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.

New trailer reveals first playable faction leader, plus new details and victory conditions revealed

Alfred the Great’s victory at the Battle of Edington, in which he stood fast against the Viking invaders and changed the future of the British Isles, marks the player’s historical starting point of 878 AD in the forthcoming game Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia.

See King Alfred alter the course of history in the first in-engine cinematic trailer HERE.

Like Alfred, each playable faction leader will face a series of unique events and branching dilemmas based on historical events. The choices made will have far-reaching and impactful consequences allowing players to write their own story and re-write history.

Players can attempt to achieve victory in a number of ways: by aggressively expanding through force of arms, by increasing their faction’s fame through construction, advanced technology and influence, and by completing a series of unique objectives based on their chosen faction’s history. A final, ultimate victory condition can also be aimed for, presenting the player with a unique and significant late-game challenge.

Further new details on Thrones of Britannia can be found on the games Steam page.

What To Know About New Exploits That Affect Virtually All CPUs

By Ryan Smith @ AnandTech

Security researchers working for Google’s Project Zero group, along with other research groups and academic institutions, have discovered a series of far-ranging security risks involving speculative execution. Speculative execution is one of the cornerstones of high-performance execution on modern CPUs, and is found in essentially all CPU designs more performance than an embedded microcontroller. As a result, essentially every last high-performance CPU on the market or that has been produced in the last couple of decades is vulnerable to one or more of a few different exploit scenarios.

Read on…

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• AMD Plans to Fix Adrenalin Driver’s DX9 Issues
• Mad Catz is Back in the Game - Legendary Gaming Hardware Brand Returns
• ASUS Announces AiMesh Whole-Home Wi-Fi for ASUS Routers
• Lenovo Announces New ThinkVision Series X24, P32U Monitors
• Creative Announces the Zen-Inspired Creative Pebble Desktop Speakers
• In Win Rolls Out the 305 Mid-Tower Chassis
• AMD Ryzen “Pinnacle Ridge” Processors Launch in March
• ID-COOLING Announces DF-12025-RGB-TRIO Fan Set
• G.SKILL Releases New Sniper X DDR4 Memory Series
• Lian Li To Release new PC-O11 cases and LanCool Makes a Return
• Plextor Debuts Gaming PCIe SSD with M9Pe Series Launch
• Mirage NP900, First Consumer NVMe SSD with Silicon Motion’s SM2262 Controller
• New Hardware Vulnerability Found in Intel Processors

Battlestate Games kick off the load testing of the Escape from Tarkov game servers before the official start of the Open Beta testing at the beginning of 2018. Also the studio starts a holiday event which will allow the game to be purchased with a 25% discount during the week, and some of the users will receive a free 7-day access to the game. A full description of the event, participation requirements and instructions for redeeming the gift can be found on the project website in the news section.

Moreover developers released the last update of the game in 2017. This version of the game introduces the complete Shoreline map along with new weapons and weapon modifications, including AKMS, AKMN, Gyurza pistol and Trijicon REAP-IR thermal sight, as well as new equipment like customizable Ops-Core helmets. Moreover, several gameplay systems have been seriously redesigned, most importantly, deployment and extraction system, weapon mastering and dynamic changing of its size. Other notable changes include customization of helmets and head gear slots. The end of the Raid screen now features the opportunity to view the list of characters killed during the game session. Furthermore, players can now take dogtags off deceased enemies, which contain info on nickname, level and PMC affiliation. The complete list of new developments and changes can be found on the official project Forum and in social network communities.

At this point, users purchasing any game package get access to the Beta testing and can start playing immediately after purchase.

Learn more about the project testing plans and the estimated completion time frame, and purchase the game on the official website of the project.