- Microsoft shuts down operations in Pakistan after 25 years, former country head calls it a ‘sobering signal’ Hindustan Times
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Microsoft shuts down operations in Pakistan after 25 years, former country head calls it a ‘sobering signal’ – Hindustan Times
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Big Improvements For Qualcomm GPU Driver With Linux 6.17 – Especially For Snapdragon X
Sent out today by longtime Freedreno/MSM open-source Qualcomm GPU driver developer Robin Clark are the main set of MSM kernel graphics/display driver updates targeting the upcoming Linux 6.17 merge window. There are several exciting feature additions coming to this next kernel version for those relying on Qualcomm graphics capabilities.
First up, the MSM kernel graphics driver is landing VM_BIND support. VM_BIND can help with lowering CPU overhead for the user-space Mesa drivers to deliver better performance. Additionally, VM_BIND is needed for Vulkan sparse requirements. The VM_BIND support for the Qualcomm MSM driver has been in development for a while and amounts to dozens of patches with the main focus on being supporting the Vulkan sparse memory needs by the TURNIP Mesa driver.
Another notable feature addition is providing Qualcomm Adreno X1-85 GPU “speedbin” support. Speedbin is important for reaching the maximum performance capabilities on Snapdragon graphics processors. The Adreno X1-85 is interesting for being the graphics found on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptops. Long story short, with Linux 6.17 the graphics performance will hopefully be nicely improved thanks to the speedbin functionality now in place.
This open-source driver code also has Snapdragon X1-45 GPU support for that graphics processor found within the Snapdragon X Plus SoCs.
The MSM driver changes for Linux 6.17 also now provide a single source of truth for Universal Bandwidth Compression (UBWC) configuration handling, further decoupling between the GPU and KMS code, SM8750 support in the DPU and DSI and MDSS code, and various fixes.
More details on these pending Qualcomm MSM DRM driver improvements slated for Linux 6.17 via today’s pull request to DRM-Next. I’ll be working on some new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite benchmarks with the Acer X1E laptop once the Linux 6.17 cycle is underway.
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Sabrina Carpenter tones down show
Annabel RackhamCulture reporter
Reporting fromHyde Park, London
Getty ImagesA file photo of Sabrina Carpenter performing at the Grammy Awards earlier this year Sabrina Carpenter brought her signature sugary pop sound to a crowd of 65,000 at London’s BST Festival on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old has built a brand around sexual confidence and racy lyrics, which were noticeably toned down as the US singer embraced a more family friendly show in London’s Hyde Park.
At one point a graphic flashed up on screen advising “parental discretion” as Carpenter launched into album track Bed Chem. She ditched her usual sexually suggestive performance on song Juno and instead used a cannon to fire t-shirts into the crowd.
Despite these changes she was still at her best, storming through a 17-song tracklist that comprised her biggest hits, charming the crowd with her Hollywood smile and incredibly bouncy hair.
Getty ImagesCarpenter broke UK chart records in 2024 after becoming the first artist in 71 years to spend 20 weeks at the top of the singles chart Carpenter writes music for women of the dating app generation and her songs are filled with the type of anecdotes you’ve heard over Friday night drinks with the girls – from the anger over not getting closure to the fear of a man embarrassing you when they meet all your friends.
Perhaps that is what makes her so relatable. She’s a talented singer and dancer who shot to fame on the Disney Channel, but she could also so easily be your mate who brings over ice cream when you’re going through a break-up.
Her ability to switch from a sassy upbeat dance number to a vulnerable, acoustic solo performance is also impressive.
She’s an accomplished performer for someone whose breakout hit, Espresso, is little over a year old. But much to the surprise of many, she’s been in this game for a very long time.
The Pennsylvania-born star began posting videos of herself on YouTube at the age of 10 and came third in a competition to find the next Miley Cyrus a year later.
After starring in a few small acting roles, the singer became a bona fide Disney star in 2013 when she was cast in TV series Girl Meets World.
She began releasing music the following year and has released six albums to date, but has only recently received global recognition.
Carpenter became the first female artist to hold both the number one and number two positions on the UK singles chart for three consecutive weeks in 2024 and she also became the first artist in 71 years to spend 20 weeks at the top of the charts with Espresso.
Carpenter performed the first of two sold out shows at London Hyde Park’s BST Festival From watching her live, it appears she’s been waiting patiently for this moment for quite some time, to perform on the biggest stages around the world and to thousands of fans – something she references a few times between songs.
She told the crowd she was “so, so grateful” that the audience had chosen to spend their Saturday evening with her, gushing that “London is so fun and there’s so much to do here”.
Much of the cheekiness she has built her brand on was weaved in throughout her performance, including 1950s style infomercials advertising sprays that erase no-good men from your life and mattresses that are perfect for “activities”.
But aside from a racy rendition of Bed Chem and a snippet of Pony by Ginuine (one for the Magic Mike fans) the show was more PG than expected.
Perhaps it was due to the large volume of young children stood in the crowd amongst us Gen Zs and millennials.
Or perhaps the pop princess needs a break from making headlines.
The first was back in March, when her Brit Awards opening performance was criticised for being too racy for pre-watershed television.
Media watchdog Ofcom received more than 800 complaints, with the majority relating to Carpenter’s choreography with dancers dressed in Beefeater outfits.
Then in June this year she was once again under fire for sharing artwork for her new album, Man’s Best Friend, which showed her on her hands and knees in a short dress whilst an anonymous man in a suit grabbed her hair.
Carpenter then revealed alternative artwork she said was “approved by God” and shows her holding the arm of a suited man.
Criticism for the original artwork came from charities including Glasgow Women’s Aid which supports victims of domestic abuse. It said Carpenter’s album cover was “regressive” and “promotes an element of violence and control”.
Heather Binning of Women’s Rights Network, also told the BBC that violence against women should “never be used as satire”.
But what Saturday’s performance showed is that Carpenter is a true professional, someone who can easily adapt both her style and setlist to cater to different audiences.
She ended the show perfectly, taking to a crane that panned across the huge mass of people, thrilling fans and giving them the opportunity for a close-up video to post on their social media.
“Damn nobody showed up,” she joked, adding: “London thank you so much for having us tonight, this has to be one of the biggest shows I’ve played in my entire life.”
She wrapped up with Espresso, marking the end of the show by downing some in martini-form from a crystal glass.
There were a few mutters from the crowd, who perhaps were expecting a special guest or two, but it was clear from the offset that this would be a defining moment in the popstar’s career and one where she only wants the spotlight on her.
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China’s EV price war reaches Thailand
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BANGKOK:Hyper-competition in China’s electric vehicle sector is spilling over to its biggest market in Asia, Thailand, as smaller players struggle to compete with dominant BYD, putting ambitious local production plans at risk.
Neta, among the earliest Chinese EV brands to enter Thailand in 2022, is an example of a struggling automaker finding it difficult to meet the requirements of a demanding government incentive programme meant to boost Thai EV production.
Under the scheme, carmakers are exempt from import duties, but were obligated to match import volumes with domestic production in 2024.
Citing slowing sales and tightening credit conditions, carmakers asked the government to adjust the scheme and the 2024 production shortfall was rolled over into this year.
Neta has said that it cannot produce the required number of cars locally and the government has withheld some payments to the EV maker, said Excise Department official Panupong Sriket, who received a complaint filed last month by 18 Neta dealers in Thailand seeking to recover over 200 million baht ($6.17 million) of allegedly unpaid debt.
The complaint, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, also detailed missed payments by Neta related to promised support for building showrooms and after-sales service. “I stopped ordering more cars in September because I sensed something was wrong,” said Neta dealership owner Saravut Khunpitiluck. “I’m currently suing them.”
Neta’s parent company, Zhejiang Hozon New Energy Automobile, entered bankruptcy proceedings in China last month, according to state media.
Neta’s share of Thailand’s EV market peaked at around 12% of EV sales in 2023 when the industry was growing, according to Counterpoint Research data, with BYD having a 49% share that year.
The number of Chinese EV brands has doubled in the last year to 18, placing pressure on those that lack the reach of BYD. In the first five months of this year, new registration of Neta cars – a proxy for sales – slumped 48.5% from the prior year and its share of EV registrations was down to 4%, according to government data.
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How Meghan Markle has ‘intelligently’ influenced Prince Harry
How Meghan Markle has ‘intelligently’ influenced Prince Harry Prince Harry has been called out for being under the influence of his wife.
The Duke of Sussex, who is currently living with the Duchess of Sussex in California, is mocked for coming under the influence of his wife.
Royal expert Esther Krakue told The Sun: “We know that King Charles said something about him being whipped.
“We keep hearing things consistently coming out from courtiers and people that are close to the Royal Family.”
She said: “The Queen’s opinion of Meghan involved, and it’s much like how the country’s opinion evolved.
“And much like the public, I think the Queen thought Meghan was a breath of fresh air.
“Very intelligent, very well-spoken, obviously from her acting background.
“And she worked, she welcomed her. I think, like much of the country with open arms, I think where things went wrong was clearly the cultural clash.”
She added: “And I think in some ways Meghan thought she was marrying a billionaire, but was marrying a millionaire with like sort of a reduced status.
“So that might have been not appealing eventually.
“But also I just I don’t think she fully understood or was even interested in what the role was supposed to become,” she said.
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Historic 500th Win for All Blacks in Tight Clash with France
Three disallowed All Blacks tries, relentless French defence, and TMO interventions throughout all combined to continue the special rivalry between the two sides before New Zealand achieved its 500th Test victory in the first Lipovitan-D series clash in Dunedin on Saturday.
The unfancied French belied all the controversy surrounding their selection for the tour with a gutsy display that was not quelled until the final moments of the game.
It was a reminder that the French in the mood can cause problems for any All Blacks side, and they took advantage of the home side’s first Test of the year to unsettle their chances of making combinations. And they gave the All Blacks a reminder of their need for better execution in the air.
There was satisfaction in the introduction of new players, with lock Fabian Holland making his mark as the All Blacks dominated the lineouts 19-5. No8 Christian Lio-Willie made some powerful runs with ball in hand, while prop Ollie Norris and flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi got a taste of how torrid Test matches can be during the final quarter especially.
France had their heroes with fullback Theo Attissogbe who under pressure, especially from the All Blacks kicking, pulled off some remarkable saves that contributed to the effectiveness of the French defence, who made 224 tackles to 121 by the All Blacks, while captain and second five-eighths Gael Fickou was a constant presence in the backline.
There was disappointment for the All Blacks 15 minutes into the game when they appeared to have scored after a break by halfback Cameron Roigard and a link with second five-eighths Jordie Barrett, who crossed. But the TMO ruled the ball had been knocked on earlier when prop Fraser Newell appeared to have completed a catch.
From the scrum, France moved the ball when Attissogbe made ground on the outside before the ball was moved inside to centre Emilien Gailleton and Fickou, who went close to scoring before No8 Mickael Guillard picked it up to cross in the 17th minute.
The response was immediate. In attempting to clear their line from the restart, French halfback Nolann Le Garrec had his kick charged down by lock Scott Barrett. The ball was moved to the left before it came back right, where Beauden Barrett threw a long ball to Will Jordan on the wing, and he crossed for his 39th try.
He was moved to the wing after Sevu Reece failed an HIA after a first-minute head knock when attempting a tackle.
The All Blacks got back into the French 22m area and built pressure before the ball emerged for replacement Damian McKenzie, who tap-danced his way through five tackles and, while finally put down, quick ball was moved by Roigard to flanker Tupou Vaa’i, who scored under the crossbar.
Capping their improved second quarter, the All Blacks made the most of some burrowing, bullocking running by flanker Ardie Savea, who gave the attack momentum. The ball was released, and while the French defence affected the fluidity, the combination of Beauden Barrett and Jordan got the ball to Jordie Barrett, who had to take a low pass and work his way around a tackle attempt to ground the ball in the corner for a 21-13 lead at the break.
A mistake at the restart by the All Blacks gave France a sniff, which they took, with Fickou taking the ball to the line before it was released to wing Gabil Villiere to score to get France back within a point.
However, the All Blacks burst back after Roigard broke to the line to create a 46th-minute chance, which saw Beauden Barrett feed the ball to Jordan running from depth to break through two tackles to score his second.
The French struck back when they made five changes for immediate effect, with Jacobus van Tonder breaking into space and only being pulled down by Roigard’s chasing tackle. However, in the goalmouth assault, it was fellow replacement Cameron Woki who scored.
After Villiere was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown, the All Blacks looked to have scored when Billy Proctor touched down, but a knock-on was ruled and the try scrubbed.
However, within five minutes, the pain increased when the obstruction was ruled against Pasilio Tosi, which resulted in a third try being denied to Jordan.
The win broke the run of three consecutive losses to France, while their 500th win lifted their overall Test percentage success rate of 76.80
New Zealand 31 ( Will Jordan 2, Tupou Vaa’i, Jordie Barrett tries; Beauden Barrett 4 con, pen) France 27 (Michael Guillard, Gabil Villiere, Cameron Woki tries; Joris Segonds pen; Nolann Le Garrec 3 con, pen). [HT: 21-13]
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie.France: 15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Tom Spring, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Gael Fickou (captain), 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Mickael Guillard, 7 Killian Tixeront, 6 Alexandre Fischer, 5 Tyler Duguid, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Giorgi Beria.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Jacobus van Tonder, 22 Baptiste Jauneau, 23 Antoine Hastoy.Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
TMO: Damon Murphy (Australia)Continue Reading
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Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds past resurfaces amid Blake vs Justin
Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds are back in the news years after their quiet divorce, as the actor’s current wife Blake Lively deals with a legal fight with her co-star Justin Baldoni.
While Ryan and Lively are now seen as one of Hollywood’s most stable couples, some fans are revisiting his past with Johansson.
The two actors were once married, though their time together was short and mostly kept away from the spotlight.
The Jurassic World actress and the Deadpool & Wolverine actor began dating in 2007, not long after Reynolds ended his engagement to singer Alanis Morissette.
And by May 2008, the former couple were engaged and later held a private wedding ceremony in Vancouver Canada.
But the marriage did not last as work kept them away too often and that became too much to handle.
However, Scarlett was the one who ended things in 2010 and their divorce was finalised in 2011.
Years later, the actress said that she was only 23 and Ryan was 31 at the time and did not really know what marriage meant back then.
An insider revealed at that time: “They are being very civil about it. The big problem with their relationship is the distance. They spent a lot of time apart when they are working… She’s been unhappy for a while.”
Scarlett and Ryan are back in the buzz as Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni. She claims he entered her trailer while she was topless and crossed the line during a kiss scene in their film It Ends With Us.
Justin then hit back with a lawsuit against both Blake and Ryan, claiming their team tried to ruin his name and demanded 400 million dollars in damages.
The legal fight is still far from over and for now, all eyes are on how this battle will play out.
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Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4 to Stream on Crunchyroll in 2026 – Crunchyroll
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Hollywood, on her terms: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who is promoting her latest film Heads of State in London, says she tries to take on characters that have agency
Success is constant evolution, says actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a popular Hindi cinema star, who is now firmly focused on expanding her filmography in the West. In her latest Hollywood project Heads of State, Priyanka plays Noel Bisset, an MI6 agent with a past with the British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba). The actress said she has had a great run in India and is looking for something similar in her work in Hollywood.
Advertisement“It is constant evolution for sure. I would’ve never imagined where I am today when in 2002, I started my first movie. But I feel like I’m really nascent in my work in the West so far. I have a major filmography in my Indian work. I’ve been able to work in various genres, work with the most incredible actors and filmmakers.”
The actor has played central roles in shows and movies such as Quantico, Baywatch, Citadel, The Matrix Resurrections and Love Again. Priyanka said Heads of State, which is now streaming on Prime Video, was a fun film to do. “I want to be proud of the work that I take on. I try to take on characters that have agency and are strong and have something to do in the movies versus being ornamental.”
Both Priyanka and Cena, who has a massive fan following in India for being a WWE wrestler before turning to acting, first met each other on the set of the Ilya Naishuller-directed movie.
“I knew of John from his WWE days in India. He’s so well known in the country. It’s hard to not know him, especially when he made his transition into movies. I thought that was very interesting and his choice of parts were great. So, I was very excited to do this movie with him,” she said.
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I replaced my Ethernet cables with optical DACs and I won’t go back
I’ve been upgrading my home network lately, and while I was figuring out how some of the wired connections would go, I opted for RJ45 SFP+ modules because some of my devices have 10GbE NICs. I could have gone with a mix of Ethernet and fiber, but I wanted everything to be the same, so it’d be easier to install and have some spare parts.
I was wrong. I should have gone for the mix, because I noticed some issues with the Ethernet runs. More specifically, the ones that use RJ45 SFP+ modules, where the transceiver gets way too warm for comfort even when idle. But I’ve also noticed issues with the 10GbE NICs on my motherboards glitching. If that’s through heat, it’s not fixable; if it’s driver issues, I’m not equipped to do that either, so it’s time to add some new adapters.
I’ve never been so glad to have ATX motherboards with extra PCIe slots. I’ve added ex-enterprise networking cards and am now using SFP+ active optical DACs for the main connections around my office, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ll add more to the mix wherever I can, but I’m also looking at fiber runs with modules to have more flexibility over speeds and upgrades.
Related
4 reasons that Power over Ethernet now rules my home network
I hate cables, so fewer is better.
Ethernet is fine, really
But RJ45 transceivers get super hot and I hate it
I’m not knocking Ethernet here, as with the correct CAT specification, I could get faster speeds than I already have. It’s not about speed, at least not here; it’s about reliability and temperature. Those are intertwined anyway, as the rising temperatures of my 10GbE ports and modules are affecting the stability and reliability of my network.
How much of an effect is harder to quantify. I could set up network monitoring and see how many packets have to be re-sent, or do some deep performance analysis and get hard numbers, but I don’t have the time or inclination for my home lab. Not when I can fix the issue for a few bucks, which is what I did. If I had more than a few devices to upgrade, then I’d have run the numbers because the upgrade cost would have been more substantial.
Some of my network gear has RJ45 10GbE but not enough ports
I do have some hardware on my network with 10GbE-capable RJ45 ports, but they’re few and far betweenand are currently wired to my NAS and a Wi-Fi 7 access point. Some of my computers have 2.5 GbE ports and need a new NIC anyway, so why not get fiber-capable ones? The only piece I haven’t added yet is an all-SPF+ switch, but that’ll be the next thing that goes in, and then most of my office will be fiber runs.
It was time for a change
I now have faster speeds, and future upgrades are cheaper
While looking for replacement network cards, I prioritized reliability over all else. If some level of upgradeability was available, that would be nice, too. Going to 10GbE was already a big jump, but I didn’t want to have to upgrade again if I hit the network’s limits. I wasn’t sure if I would, as the only thing hitting anywhere near 10GbE was my RAID when dealing with big file transfers, but after not planning the last network upgrade properly, I needed to do this the right way.
10GbE SPF+ cards with one or two ports are fairly inexpensive, but they mostly use Intel chipsets, and I noticed many forum threads discussing issues. Not what I wanted to hear (or deal with!), but non-Intel cards were expensive. Or so I thought, as I headed to eBay, I found hundreds of older Mellanox adapters that were capable of 10/25GbE, with two ports, and for less than the Intel-based cards.
A couple of purchases (and days) later, I had new-to-me networking cards and active optical DACs to replace the copper wires I was using. I knew I might run into firmware issues with the cards, but I had a list of resources to flash them with the correct firmware, and it turned out I didn’t need them as they got recognized straight away.
Now I’ve got a more stable network, with less heat in my office, and optical cables that are much easier to route than the thick Ethernet cables I was using. Plus, it taught me a bit more about networking, including how enterprise hardware is easier to work with in terms of firmware flexibility, which was a nice surprise. And with every card having two ports, I can use them to link between my desktops, making it less of a hassle to run the cables.
Related
5 reasons I’m still hard-wiring Ethernet even when I have a Wi-Fi 7 AP
Wi-Fi is pretty fly but I’m a consistency guy.
Even though I love these optical DACs for my office, I still have a few Ethernet runs I can’t remove
I’ve now got the bulk of my bandwidth-hogging devices on SFP+ active optical DACs, but I can’t switch out a few cable runs because I need PoE++ to power things like access points and other switches. Eventually, I’ll pull fiber through and replace the Cat5e that’s in my walls, but that day is far off. I need time to plan where power is coming from and save up for the eventual electrician bill. But until then, I know that the devices that need fast, stable networking are all handled by lasers, and I love the thought of that.
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