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It’s hard not to be awed by Framework’s commitment to its original 13-inch modular laptop, which it has been updating every year since it launched. When a new Intel (or AMD) chip rolls around, it builds new mainboards that can be swapped in to keep your machine on the cutting edge. And it’s done plenty of work to ensure that the still-working mainboards that you no longer use can have a second (or third) life.

This year, the company is bringing Intel’s new Core Ultra (Series 1) processors to its mainboards with the Ultra 5 125H, Ultra 7 155H and the Ultra 7 165H all available. These offer more efficient power use, better thermals and the option to add up to 96 GB of DDR5 RAM. To accompany the new silicon, the company has launched a second-generation webcam and display.

Given the need to fit into an existing template, the mainboards are almost identical to their predecessors. Except for the fact the thermal system has been tweaked to hopefully keep things cooler without as much noise. Intel’s new Core Ultra Chips are meant to be a little more gentle with their power consumption and how much heat they kick out. Existing Framework machines are notorious for spinning their fans to full whenever they get the slightest amount of workout.

Sadly, I haven’t had the upgrade in long enough to make any serious benchmarks, but it does appear to be a lot faster than its predecessor. The company says you should expect to see improvements in power efficiency, battery life and video and gaming performance. As for the fan noise, it’s a bit quieter than the previous model, especially when running games — which it can now do quite easily. You’ll still hear the fan when playing a game like Grand Theft Auto V, but it won’t sound like a jet engine taking off.

I have fewer meaningful things to say about the 2,880 x 1,920, 120Hz display. The only really notable difference is that while the original display had a peak brightness of 400 nits, this one will go all the way up to 500. The extra backlight is a mercy, especially in bright weather, but I’m less whelmed by the extra resolution.

Framework’s first-generation webcam was no slouch but even that is subject to the whims of time’s ceaseless march. The space constraints of laptop lids means it’s only now we can see better sensors, like the sort we see in phones, shrinking to the point of fitting in that gap. The OXO8X is a 9.2-megapixel sensor with backside illumination and pixel binning: the former allowing for better low-light performance; the latter crunches the 9.2-megapixel picture to get a higher-quality 1080p image than we’ve seen before. In front of the sensor is a five-element, f/2.0 lens with an 87-degree field of view, again with the promise of better picture quality.

Installation of the webcam — and everything else — is, as usual, a breeze. But while putting the new module in is fine enough, the image you get out the other end isn’t a massive improvement. The colors are still pretty muted and I’m not sure, apart from some better detail, that I can see enough of a difference between both models to consider upgrading. And while the pixel binning does make the picture sharper, it’s not a night and day shift. While new buyers will get the new module as a matter of course, those with existing Framework Laptop 13s shouldn’t feel like they’re missing out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/framework-nips-and-tucks-its-13-inch-laptop-160053383.html?src=rss 

Several months after a hacking group claimed to be selling nearly 3 billion records stolen from a prominent data broker, much of the information appears to have been leaked on a forum. According to Bleeping Computer, the data dump includes 2.7 billion records of personal info for people in the US, such as names, Social Security Numbers, potential aliases and all physical addresses they are known to have lived at.

The data, which is unencrypted, is believed to have been obtained from a broker called National Public Data. It’s said that the business assembles profiles for individuals by scraping information from public sources and then sells the data for the likes of background checks and looking up criminal records. (A proposed class-action suit was filed against National Public Data over the breach earlier this month.)

In April, hacking collective USDoD attempted to sell 2.9 billion records it claimed was stolen from the company and included personal data on everyone in the US, UK and Canada. The group was looking for $3.5 million for the whole 4TB database, but since then chunks of the data have been leaked by various entities.

Previous leaks included phone numbers and email addresses, but those reportedly weren’t included in the latest and most comprehensive dump. As such, you won’t be able to check whether your information has been included in this particular leak by punching your email address into Have I Been Pwned?

The data includes multiple records for many people, with one for each address they are known to have lived at. The dump comprises two text files that amount to a total of 277GB. It’s not really possible for any independent body to confirm that the data includes records for every person in the US, but as Bleeping Computer points out, the breach is likely to include information on anyone who is living in the country.

The publication states that several people confirmed the information that the dump has on them and their family members (including some dead relatives) is accurate, but in other cases some SSNs were associated with the wrong individuals. Bleeping Computer posits that the information may have been stolen from an old backup as it doesn’t include the current home address for the people whose details its reporters checked against the data.

In any case, it’s worth taking some steps to protect yourself against any negative repercussions from the leak, such as fraud and identity theft. It’s worth being extra vigilant against scammers and phishing attacks that look to obtain access to your online accounts. Keep an eye on credit reports to see if there has been any fraudulent activity on your accounts and inform credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and TransUnion if so. You can ask the bureaus to put a freeze on your credit files to stop anyone else opening a bank account, taking out a loan or obtaining a credit card under your name.

You can sign up for services that offer identity fraud protection and remove your personal information from the public web to reduce the chances that you’ll be negatively impacted. However, such services often charge a fee.

Be sure to use two-factor authentication wherever possible (preferably with you obtaining codes from an authenticator app rather than SMS). And, as always, we highly recommend using a password manager, never reusing the same login credentials for different services and regularly changing the password on your most sensitive accounts.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/hackers-may-have-leaked-the-social-security-numbers-of-every-american-150834276.html?src=rss 

Paramount is laying off 15 percent of its US workforce, according to reporting by Deadline. This follows a lean second quarter earnings report in which total revenue fell short from an expected $7.21 billion to $6.81 billion. The layoffs will impact around 3,000 people.

“The industry continues to evolve, and Paramount is at an inflection point where changes must be made to strengthen our business,” company CEOs wrote in a staff memo.

Paramount representatives say these cuts will happen in three stages, with layoffs beginning today and 90 percent of all cuts being completed by the end of September. The layoffs will primarily impact employees involved in marketing and communications, though the company’s legal and finance arms will also face cuts.

Paramount already laid off three percent of its workforce back in February, and this was after a three percent increase in revenue growth that was largely credited to its streaming and film businesses. So, a three percent increase of revenue translated to a three percent reduction of Paramount’s workforce and missing revenue expectations by around four percent is leading to layoffs accounting for 15 percent of company employees. Workers can’t catch a break.

All of these layoffs are likely being used to clear the runway, so to speak, for the forthcoming merger with Skydance. The merger was announced back in June and will soon head to the regulatory review process. Paramount has also been raising prices for its streaming service and, of course, deleting whole libraries of content for reasons that make a lot of sense to corporate executives but not so much to regular people.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/paramount-laying-off-another-15-percent-of-its-us-workforce-153119425.html?src=rss