Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Fat Animal Signs in 2023 (Iverson Lee)


Interesting topic for 2023 years that you have on your bazi chart that you have it you will be surprised that you will become fat animal signs in 2023. “Will I get fat in 2023?”.
You will learn how to detect this probability from your BaZi, how it could happen likely, and more importantly, the way to address it :) 

Monday, December 19, 2022

Alleged Intel Core i9-13900KS Performance Leaks


It seems that a new detail about Intel’s upcoming 13th Gen Core i9-13900KS has leaked. The source of the leak also happens to chi11leddog (@g0ld3nm4ng0), the very same source that leaked details about Intel’s non-K Raptor Lake CPUs a week ago.

To quickly recap, the 13900KS was announced earlier in September during Intel’s Technology Tour 2022. Like the 12900KS, the CPU is poised to be this generation’s highest-tier and fastest performing SKU, with speeds of up to 6GHz out of the box across not one, but two P-Cores. To be fair, it didn’t actually make that claim during its presentation, but as we said, if the chipmaker wishes to make this a trend, then who are we to stop them.

Other specifications of the 13900KS include a 24-cores, 32-threads configuration, comprising eight P-Cores and 16 E-Cores. It is also expected to have an increased TDP of 150W, up from the standard 125W that the current 13900K has.

Getting back to the leak, the leaked performance of the 13900KS seems to be from the same Cinebench R23 benchmark as chi11leddog produced with their previous leak and just as before, it details the CPU’s single-core and multi-core performance. Based on the graphs, the 13900KS obtained a single-core score of 2366 and multi-core score of 40998. By comparison to their 13900K’s performance of 2243 and 39689, that’s about a 5% performance improvement but it should be pointed out that in our review, our scores were actually on par with the yet-to-be-released CPU of the same test.


That being said, Chi11eddog’s results aren’t an official confirmation and as such, it would be wise to apply some level of skepticism. As the 13900KS is expected to have a single-core ( or dual-core) configuration running at 6GHz, the results might actually end up being higher than what is being shown here. As it stands, Intel did say that its overclocking team has managed to push it to run at 8GHz on all cores, but that’s with liquid nitrogen (LN2).

As for when we can expect to see the 13900KS, the latest rumour seems to point to a possible 12 January launch, which is about a week after CES 2023.

WhatsApp Rolls Out New Features For Video Calling


 WhatsApp has announced a slew of new features aimed specifically at improving users’ experience with video calling. The update actually brings a lot of features that were previously added to the app earlier this year for voice calls.

First up, you can now have up to 32 people on a video, four times the previous limit, if you’re feeling extra sociable. The increased limit was first introduced to voice calling alongside the Communities feature a few months back.


Large group calls now enable you to have more granular control over who you hear. WhatsApp says that when you long press on a participant, it will allow you to either mute them or message them separately without interrupting the ongoing video call.

iOS users are getting early access to a picture-in-picture tool for multitasking while you’re video calling. The company said that it’s currently in beta testing but the feature should be rolling out in the new year, though it’s unclear when Android users will get to use it.

Of course, there is the “call links” that were released back in September for both voice and video calls. The links provide a convenient method to let others join an ongoing call, though it still can’t replace video conferencing apps as it does not allow call scheduling.

In case you missed it, WhatsApp also launched a few other new features recently. Users can now officially customise their own avatars on the app, which will generate a 36-pack of stickers. In addition, an incredibly convenient feature called “Message Yourself” lets you use the app to message yourself as a makeshift notepad. In August, the Meta-owned platform unveiled the highly-requested ability to leave groups silently, with only admins being notified.

Oppo Debuts The Find N2 Foldable Phone


Oppo officially debuted the Find N2, its 2nd generation foldable smartphone for the market segment. A direct successor to the original Find N, the new phone comes with several upgrades and features.

Firstly, the Find N2 is slightly more narrow than its predecessor, with an overall thickness of 72.6mm when closed, which is 0.4mm thinner than the Find N. Oppo has also managed to reduce the weight to just 233g, which is just slightly above the weight of a pre-cooked steak. When opened, the entire phone’s thickness is 7.4mm.


Moving on, the Find N2 continues the compact foldable phone design with a new 17.7:9 aspect ratio, 5.54-inch cover display. While it sounds like a downsize from the 18:9 aspect ratio of the Find N, it does have thinner bezels and even supports a 120Hz refresh rate this round. Additionally, it also has a peak brightness of 1350 nits and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.

Unfolded, the main display of the Find N2 still measures in at 7.1-inches and even retains the same 9.6:9 aspect ratio. The screen is an LTPO panel, meaning that your refresh rate will range anywhere from 1Hz to 120Hz. Like the cover display, it is also very bright but has a higher peak brightness at 1550 nits.

More importantly, the Find N2’s Flexion hinge has also been vastly improved. Firstly, it now only uses 100 parts, down from the 138 parts that the original Find N initially had. As an indirect effect, the reduction of moving parts also reduces the overall weight of the phone. Further, the new hinge design also reduces the crease of the foldable display by 67%, thus making it less visible. Also, unlike its predecessor, it can now be folded into different angles.

Specs-wise, the Find N2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 SoC, supports Oppo’s 67W VOOC fast-charging technology, and has a 4520mAh battery internally. Camera-wise, main module houses a triple-camera array, comprising a 50MP main Sony IMX 890 sensor; a 48MP IMX581 ultrawide, and a 32MP IMX709 telephoto. All these sensors, by the way, are powered by the brand’s new MariSilicon X processor, co-developed by Hasselblad and designed with features like AI Noise Reduction, 4K Ultra HDR Video recording, and FlexForm Capture, to name a few.


The only thing missing from the list right now is local pricing and availability of the Find N2. We’ve reached out to Oppo’s local rep for the details, but even they are saying that they won’t be able to provide us the information until a later date.

Apple Reportedly Plans To Launch Updated MacBook Pro Lineup In Early 2023


Apple is expected to launch several new MacBook Pros and other Mac products with updated internals next year, along with a few external monitors in the works. This comes as the company seems to be failing to meet its 2022 deadline of completely transitioning its lineup of products away from Intel to its in-house Apple Silicon.

Reliable Apple leaker, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, claims that Apple will launch updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros early next year, offering the highly-anticipated M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets. Reports from earlier this month also hint at the updated models getting faster LPDDR5X RAM that would provide more bandwidth and consume less power.


Apple still only sells an Intel-powered high-end version of the Mac mini but that will apparently change soon as the tech giant reportedly plans to replace it with an M2 Pro-powered offering. The Mac Pro is expected to receive its long-delayed Apple Silicon treatment with a high-powered chip that Gurman speculates will be the M2 Ultra.

The report claims that the M2 Ultra is set to be equipped with up to 24 CPU cores, 76 graphics cores, and will be able to be configured with up to a whopping 192GB of memory. A higher-end variant dubbed the M2 Extreme would have offered double the amount of CPU and GPU cores, but Gurman says that this was scrapped because of the cost and complexity of fusing four M2 Max chips together, which would have apparently priced the Mac Pro at a minimum of US$10000 (~RM44220).


In related news, the Cupertino-based company is purportedly working on several new external monitors as an update to the Pro Display XDR. Just like this year’s Studio Display, the new monitors will be powered by Apple Silicon to use fewer resources from the attached machine.

The US$2 trillion (~RM8.84 trillion) firm is predicted to shift its Mac Pro assembly from Texas to Vietnam. It was forced to do the assembly in the US after political pressure from the Trump administration but with the new government, Apple can move its production back to Asia.

Sunday, December 18, 2022

OPPO Find N2 Flip: Here Comes The Brand’s First Clamshell Phone

OPPO recently continues its foldable adventure by unveiling the Find N2 which is the follow-up to the brand’s first-ever foldable phone that was released last year. Interestingly, the company decided to add another foldable this year in the form of Find N2 Flip.

The new model is indeed the company’s first attempt at a foldable clamshell form factor. While the Find N2 Flip’s general shape may not look that different from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4, you can easily tell it apart by the phone’s massive 3.62-inch AMOLED cover display that has a native resolution of 720 x 382 and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.


Inside the phone, OPPO has provided the new model with a 6.8-inch AMOLED Full HD+ screen with variable refresh rate capability that can go as high as 120Hz. Also equipped with the display is a 32MP f/2.4 auto-focus selfie camera.

As for the phone’s Hasselblad-branded main camera, it features a Sony IMX890 50MP f/1.8 autofocus camera which is accompanied by a Sony IMX355 8MP ultra-wide f/2.2 camera. Being a foldable clamshell phone with a poseable hinge, users can utilize the Find N2 Flip’s main camera and its huge cover display to capture selfies too.


 Unlike the Find N2 which is a Qualcomm Snapdragon-based device, its Flip counterpart is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor instead alongside LPDDR5 RAM and UFS3.1-based storage. The clamshell phone does not support a memory card though but it still carries the MariSilicon X image processing chip which was developed in-house by OPPO and has been previously used in Find X5 Pro as well as Reno8 Pro.

Completing the device’s general specifications, OPPO has opted to implement a split battery design into the Find N2 Flip which together delivered a total battery capacity of 4300mAh. 44W SuperVOOC fast charge tech is also a standard on the device but both its charging speed and battery life were not revealed by OPPO.


While the status of the oversea release for Find N2 is still murky at the moment, OPPO has generally confirmed that the Find N2 Flip will be making its way outside of China next year. That being said, the clamshell model was not shown at the OPPO Malaysia INNO Day Experience Event earlier this week which made us wonder whether it will actually be released in Malaysia or otherwise.

Then again, OPPO Malaysia was also not even able to confirm if Find N2 will make its way to this market even though it was the main star of the event. So, we have to wait until next year to see whether these new OPPO foldable devices will be made available in Malaysia.


Still, if you need an indication of its price tag, the Find N2 Flip with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage can be obtained in China for CNY5,999 (~RM3,806). The device is also available with 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB setups which are priced at CNY6,399 (~RM4,061) and CNY6,999 (~RM4,441), respectively.

Saturday, December 17, 2022

2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 Receives LEGO Speed Champions Treatment


 Hate it or love it but the Fast & Furious movie franchise has had a huge impact on both pop and automotive culture. It even made its way into the LEGO universe as the company is preparing to release the iconic Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 from the 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious very soon.

Even though 2 Fast 2 Furious was panned by critics and many audiences alike but if you love cars, then it is hard to forget the R34 although its role as the hero’s car was taken over by Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII in the latter part of the movie. In case you have never seen it before, here is a preview:


If you are a purist, then you might be irritated to see that none of the aftermarket brands that were on the car’s hood and bumpers made their way to the LEGO replica. Then again, this is a Lego Speed Champions release after all which is meant for kids aged above 8 years old and accuracy is not exactly the main objective.

Nevertheless, LEGO has fairly recreated the car’s paint job and blue stripes for the replica as well as making it a right-hand drive vehicle just like in the movie. Furthermore, the company has included a Brian O’Conner (played by the late Paul Walker) minifigure with it.




Expected to be available worldwide this coming January, the new 2 Fast 2 Furious’s R34 LEGO Speed Champions replica has already appeared on LEGO Malaysia’s website. However, its actual availability date and pricing in our market are not yet known at the moment though.

For those who are wondering, this is not the first vehicle F&F features by LEGO though. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the 1970 Dodge Charger R/T from the original Fast & Furious movie which comes complete with a minifigure iteration of its driver, Dominic Toretto that was played by Vin Diesel.


In case you want to get your hands on it right now in anticipation of the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 release, the LEGO Speed Champion replica of Dom’s Charger can be obtained for RM119.90 from LEGO Certifies Stores all over the country including Brick Magic and Box Of Bricks.

US Court Charges Eight “Influencers” Over 12 Fraud Cases Worth US$114 Million


Eight individuals who portrayed themselves as social media influencers in the US were recently charged with 12 counts of fraud by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The suspects and scammer group are said to have conspired to run a pump-and-dump scheme, where they would target companies and purchase thousands of dollars in stock, and then scam people by selling them as “hot tickets” on their respective social media accounts.

Collectively, the 8-member scammer group had around 1.5 million followers on Twitter, but they also had a server on Discord called “Atlas Trading”. In order to lend credibility to their schemes, the group also claimed to be Wall Street experts on a trading podcast called “Pennies: Going in Raw”, hosted by two of the scammer group’s cohorts, Daniel Knight and Mitchell Hennessey.


It should be noted that the scammer group believed that their conversations on Discord were private, but investigators had reportedly recorded their discussions or retrieved transcripts of them. Naturally, it doesn’t help their case that the documents contain really damning statements, several of which have members of the group outrightly acknowledging that what they’re doing could and will get them into hot water with the law.

One member of the scammer group, Knight, practically admitted that what his group did was akin to robbing folks; during a Discord chat, when the participants were discussing targetting a company called GTT Communications and buying its stocks “in the right way”, Knight simply responded with the followed reply:

“The f**king right way? We’re robbing f**king idiots of their money.”

Both the US DOJ and SEC state that in the two years that the scammer group was in business, it collected more that US$114 million (~RM502 million) in profits, in small increments over the period. As an example of how that works: the group bought over 300000 shares in GTT Communications at US$1.76 (~RM7.76) per share. Following their purchase, it would then dump all the shares at US$1.99 (~RM8.77) after misleading its followers by claiming that they were on the verge of “something big”.

All eight members of the scammer group now stand accused of 11 counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud by the DOJ. Each count carries a life sentence, which is 25 years in the US. That means if they are found guilty on all counts, they’ll be in jail for nearly 300 years. Mind you, that’s just the criminal indictments; the SEC has its own issues against the group as well, and the government body could strip away the group’s ill-gotten gains, as well as impose additional financial penalties too.

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Breaking: Soyuz MS-22 leak


Breaking: Soyuz MS-22 leak
 

Intel 13th Gen Non-K CPUs Supposedly Up To 64 Percent Faster Than Previous Generation

Intel’s 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs and their performance shows how the chipmaker was able to retake the lead from AMD’s current Ryzen 7000 Series, in just one generation. Recently, a new leak seems to suggest that the brand’s non-K desktop CPU lineup is prepared to do the same, only this time, it’s against its predecessor.

The leak in question comes from a Twitter user who goes by the handle chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0), and technically contains the performance metrics of the non-K 13th Gen CPUs. Specifically, they are graphs from Cinebench R23’s single-core and multi-core tests and more to the point, the tests were conducted on a total of five CPUs.



The non-K 13th Gen CPUs on the list are the 13900, 13700, 13600, 13500, and the 13400, which are essentially every CPU under the Core i9, i7, and i5 SKUs. On the multi-core test, the 13th Gen processors clearly have an edge over their 12th Gen Alder predecessors. The 13500, specifically, shows a performance improvement of up to 64% on the test, with the 2nd highest-performing CPU being the 13600.

On the single-core test, the 13th Gen’s 13900 was very clearly the CPU that has the most gains, with a 10% increase in performance over the last generation’s 12th Gen 12900. Overall, the worst-performing CPU on this list is the 12500, but that being said, it is still relatively decent. However, the 13900 of Intel’s 13th Gen Raptor Lake is expected to run 500MHz faster than the 12900 and also has eight more E-Cores than its predecessors. So, it really doesn’t come as a surprise that it would perform significantly better on the multi-core tests too.

As for when we can expect to see all five of these CPUs, Intel is expected to the launch its non-K 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs on 3 January, which is also when CES 2023 kicks off in Las Vegas. What makes them all that more appealing is that, while not overclockable, they all have a default TDP of 65W, nearly half of what their K-powered counterparts draw. At the same time, the chipmaker is also expected to announced its new B760 motherboard series.

TSMC Is Building A Second Fab In Arizona

TSMC, the Taiwan-based semiconductor manufacturer, recently provided an update regarding its status in Arizona, US. With the first fab set to begin production of the N4 process by 2024, it is now making plans to construct a second fab that will start production of the 3nm process by 2026.

TSMC says that the construction of the second fab will also provide jobs for more than 10000 construction workers, along with an additional 10000 high-paying high-tech jobs, 4500 of which will be direct jobs from the company itself. In total, the semiconductor company will also be investing around US$40 billion (~RM176 billion), making it the most significant foreign direct investment in the state’s history.


“When complete, TSMC Arizona aims to be the greenest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States producing the most advanced semiconductor process technology in the country, enabling next-generation high-performance and low-power computing products for years to come,” Dr. Mark Liu, TSMC Chairman, said. “We are thankful for the continued collaboration that has brought us here and is pleased to work with our partners in the United States to serve as a base for semiconductor innovation.”

Once completed, both of TSMC’s fabs will be able to manufacture over 600000 wafers per year, with an estimated end-product value of more than US$40 billion (~RM176 billion). The first fab itself, which went into construction back in 2020, will have a production capacity of 240000 wafers a year and is where not only the N4 process will be conducted, but also N4P and N4X.


The announcement marks a shift in the global manufacturing supply chain, due in no small part to the ongoing economic conflict between the US and China. Because of sanctions and restrictions put in place by both economic powerhouses, tech giants and manufacturers have had little or no choice but to shift their factories and manufacturing plants out of the latter country, TSMC being one such entity.

Of course, TSMC isn’t the only manufacturer and chipmaker to establish a presence in the US. Last year, Samsung announced that it would be opening a new semiconductor plant in the state of Texas, to the tune of US$17 billion (~RM75 billion).

Gatita Yan Allegedly Gets Invited To DJ at Jackson Wang’s Party, Later Rejects to Keep BF Happy


By now, most Malaysians are familiar with this Insta famous influencer/YouTuber Gatita Yan. Not long ago, she announced that just like Ms. Pui Yi, she will also start a new career path which is being a DJ.

Just yesterday, Gatita announced on her Instagram story that she will be attending Jackson Wang’s after party at a club in Solaris. In her story, she mentioned that she was “invited” to be the DJ for his after party.

“I’ve been practicing for so long. I’ve never practiced this long for a show before, I’m so grateful that I was invited to be a part of Jackson Wang’s after party DJ. I have so much gratitude”, she said.

Hours after she posted the story, she then posted another story saying that she’s getting a lot of hate for the announcement she made.

“Since there are so many people who have been commenting on this issue and making it a big deal, the hate has spread to the point where even my Middle Eastern boyfriend has heard about it”, she added.


She then revealed that her Middle Eastern boyfriend is not in the entertainment/media industry and couldn’t stand the fact that she is receiving this much hate and backlash from netizens.

She then ended her Instagram story saying,

“I don’t want my boyfriend to be upset over this matter and I’ve decided to cancel the DJ show.”

Following that, many netizens were quick to call her out and speculated that this was all a “one-woman show”.

“It’s so sad to see you become someone so desperate and sad. There’s nothing real about you or this matter.”

“She’s so good at putting up a show.”

“I believe a lot of DJs out there are treating as a joke and laughing about it.”

What do you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments below.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Apple Might Finally Allow App Sideloading On iPhone

Apple is reportedly planning to allow alternative app stores and sideloading on iPhones, a major u-turn from the company’s long-standing policies. This is seen as the tech giant’s compliance with new European Union laws that are set to go into effect soon.

According to Bloomberg, engineers in the company are preparing to make Apple’s platform more open by finally allowing users to bypass the App Store when installing third-party software on their iPhones and iPads. This would allow them to avoid the company’s strict restrictions as well as the infamous 30% commission taken from developers on purchases.


The move is apparently a response to a new EU law titled the Digital Markets Act. The legislation will start being applicable in May 2023 but companies will have until early 2024 to actually comply. Companies that will be subjected to the law are those that have a valuation of at least EUR75 billion (~RM351 billion) and have a minimum of 45 million monthly users in the EU. Failure to comply could result in penalties amounting to 10% of a firm’s worldwide turnover and up to 20% for repeated infringements.

The act mandates that companies that fall under its purview allow the installation of third-party apps and allow users to change default settings with ease. Interestingly, it also requires messaging apps to work together, putting up the possibility of popular messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal, and others becoming interoperable.


Apple has spent years lobbying against sideloading and third-party apps with senior vice president Craig Federighi calling the practice a floodgate for malware last year and more recently, CEO Tim Cook lamented sideloading’s damage to digital privacy. The firm has apparently not yet decided on whether or not to comply with the EU law’s provision allowing developers to install in-app third-party payment systems, something the Cupertino-based company has famously fought against.

While no country or region outside the EU has yet to enact similar legislation, it is unlikely that the system overhaul would be limited to just Europe. On a related note, another EU legislation will force Apple to use USB-C on iPhones, which the company has confirmed. That being said, it remains to be seen if the shift will apply to Apple devices sold worldwide in the near future.

Could This Be The First Look At Apple Store TRX?

There are five Apple Stores in Southeast Asia with three of them being in Singapore and two in Bangkok, Thailand. It goes without saying that Apple users felt a little bit left out and it has been rumoured for quite some time that an Apple Store will be opened in the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) at Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.

According to the last major update regarding the rumour last April, it was estimated that Apple Store TRX could be opening its doors in 2022. As the year is going to end in less than three weeks with The Exchange TRX is not exactly ready for the public just yet, you can generally take that estimation out of the equation.


But, not the rumour itself though. As shown above, this particular image which claimed to be the first glimpse of Apple Store TRX has made its way to the Klang Valley Shopping Malls thread on the Skyscraper City forum. Unfortunately, the image has since been deleted although it has since spread like a wildfire.

The deletion may have strengthened its authenticity but it is still rather hard to verify whether the image was really taken at TRX since we were not able to see the view outside the scaffoldings. The resolution of the image is also not high enough for us to zoom in to check the logo on the safety jackets worn by the workers.

Naturally, we have also tried reverse search the image but didn’t receive any good results. So, do take this image with a grain of salt, if you must.


Meanwhile, the Project Director for The Exchange TRX, Mitch Wilson has recently stated that the area is currently scheduled to be open sometime in Q4 2023. The statement also noted that there will be more than 400 stores and 100 dining outlets throughout its four retail levels.

He also revealed some of the confirmed tenants which include Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), a Seibu department store, and a supermarket by Hong Kong’s Dairy Farm Group. The Exchange TRX will also feature a 10-acre public park on its rooftop.

The 'Fatty' Chinese Zodiac Forecast in 2024 (Iverson Lee)

Interesting topic for 2024 years that you have on your bazi chart that you have it you will be surprised that you will become the fatty anim...