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Crude oil prices have risen as Iran and Israel trade attacks, but not as much as you might expect. One reason? OPEC+ could pump a lot more oil if it wanted to.

(Image credit: SAEID ARABZADEH/Middle East Images)

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Samsung recently announced that its PM9E1 NVMe Gen 5 SSD has entered mass production. The initial press release was pulled shortly after publication, but the details were later republished by TechPowerUp.

The PM9E1 is the successor to the PM9A1 SSD, which launched in 2021, and brings notable improvements in speed, capacity, and power efficiency.

The SSD appears to be mostly aimed at enterprise customers and those working with AI-driven workloads, offering enhanced storage solutions for data-heavy applications.

Large capacities

The PM9E1 SSD doubles both the read and write speeds of its predecessor, delivering 14.5GB/s read and 13GB/s write speeds. This is a significant improvement over the PM9A1's 7GB/s read and 5.2GB/s write speeds. According to Samsung, the PM9E1 is built with an in-house 5nm controller and eighth-generation V-NAND (V8) technology, which allows it to offer better performance and efficiency.

The drive will be available in four capacities - 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB - with the larger models aimed at users who need high-performance storage for AI-generated content, gaming, and high-resolution video processing. The 4TB option, in particular, is intended for demanding enterprise applications, providing ample space for handling large data sets and real-time AI tasks.

In addition to increased speed, the PM9E1 is 50% more power-efficient than its predecessor, which Samsung claims will extend battery life, making it ideal for on-device AI applications. The SSD also features security enhancements, including Device Authentication and Firmware Tampering Attestation, provided through the updated SPDM Version 1.2 protocol. These features help protect against supply chain attacks and ensure that the device’s firmware remains intact during the production and distribution process.

"Our PM9E1 integrated with a 5 nm controller delivers industry-leading power efficiency and utmost performance validated by our key partners," YongCheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning at Samsung, said. "In the rapidly growing on-device AI era, Samsung's PM9E1 will offer a robust foundation for global customers to effectively plan their AI portfolios."

While the initial press release was pulled without warning and there is no confirmed pricing or release date, it is clear that Samsung is positioning the PM9E1 as a key component for enterprise and AI-driven applications. More details regarding availability will hopefully be made available soon.

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Tesla's bizarre-looking Cybertruck has suffered through yet another recall. It's a sign that not only is the truck a bit like an experiment on wheels, but that Tesla is increasingly no longer the standard bearer for our EV aspirations.

"Elon Musk is the reason both cars in my driveway are electric. He’s also the reason neither of them are Teslas," wrote Firebird Music CEO Nathan Hubbard on Threads. The post encapsulates a growing sentiment among EV owners and EV curious: Tesla is not necessarily the electric car company that will own the future of the market it all but created.

Post by @nathanchubbard View on Threads

Look, I don't want to dive too deeply here into the unpleasant actions and social presence of Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk. Let's just say that the once inspiring entrepreneur has become, to put it lightly, a polarizing figure. It's not a good look for someone who wants to sell electric vehicles to everyone and not just those who share his world (and off-world) views.

There is, though, no denying that Musk has put Tesla fans in a difficult position and they are perhaps making different choices. As of Q2 2024, Tesla owned, according to the US Energy Information Administration 48.9% of the US EV market. The number is notable because Tesla no longer owns the "majority" of the market. Granted, what's left is split among numerous competitors, including major US auto manufacturers who, over the last few years, moved aggressively into the EV and Hybrid market. It hasn't all gone smoothly.

Earlier this year, Ford pulled back on its aggressive EV plans. Plus, consumers still appear more interested in half-measures. Hybrids, which combine combustion with one or two electric motors appear, based on recent United States Department of Transportation statistics, to be far out-pacing pure EV ones, which, is likely another cause for concern for Tesla.

United States Dept. of Transportation • Bureau of Transportation Statistics EV growth (Image credit: United States Dept. of Transportation)

The EV market continues to shift around Tesla, with more competitors offering comparable products that are, finally, approaching Tesla on the range front and often beating it on sticker price. The point is we now have choices. I know that when I finally make the EV move, it won't be with a Tesla. That's an important shift for me. I was a stalwart Tesla fan who wrote extensively about early Tesla Model S owners and remember fondly being among the first to experience a Model 3 test drive.

Now, though, I can't stomach the idea of enriching Elon Musk. I know Tesla employs over 140,000 people, and most of them probably don't agree with Musk's often publicly stated views, but he remains a highly visible and vocal leader.

On October 10, Musk is expected to finally launch his Tesla robo taxi. That event will be notable, I think, for its lack of direct consumer appeal. There'll be no Model 3 update or a cheaper Tesla. Affordable is not in Tesla's vocabulary. The company recently stopped selling the cheapest version of the Model 3.

@lanceulanoff

♬ original sound - LanceUlanoff

I'd say there's no longer a point in waiting for a truly affordable Tesla. Generally, the automaker's appeal to everyday Americans is, I think, waning, and there may be no better evidence than the Cybertruck.

Over the last six months, I've noticed these awkward-looking vehicles in San Francisco and in New York. No matter when you see them, they look out of place. I've watched countless videos showing some of the odd and potentially dangerous design choices (like a hood that could almost remove a finger or edges that look likely to puncture something).

Considering all that, perhaps these recalls are unsurprising. The latest one from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration relates to rearview mirrors that deliver a feed from rear cameras as you back up. The problem, according to the NHTSA (PDF) is that when you start to back up, it takes an extra second for the feed to appear. Fortunately, the fix will arrive in an over-the-air software update.

Recalls are not inherently a disaster. Untold combustion engine vehicles get them. For Tesla, they're certainly not confined to the Cybertruck. The company has had dozens that range across its most popular models. Still, this is already the fifth recall for the relatively new Cybertruck and it often seems like the EV was built not based on practicality (watch it fail as a "truck"), or elegance but on the design whims and demands of Musk, who I think wanted something that looked more at home on the surface of Mars that it does on Earth.

You can wrap it in black but it still doesn't look normal. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

When I see a Cybertruck rolling through my neighborhood, I don't admire it; I gawk. It always looks out of place. I also think I instantly know the driver, not personally, but who this person is. They're clearly someone who's bought into not just the Tesla EV strategy but Musk's perspective on trucks, modern transportation, and maybe his twisted worldview. Why else would you spend over $100,000 to drive something that looks like it's well-equipped to survive a nuclear blast but ill-prepared for a casual run to the grocery store?

Cybertruck screams, "Look at me," but as sentiment about Tesla changes in the EV market, that scream sounds increasingly like a cry of desperation, "Look at me, please, while I try to remain relevant."

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Nearly 90% of likely Donald Trump voters say they are concerned about voter fraud in the general election, a new NPR/PBS News/Maris poll finds, compared with 29% of those who support Kamala Harris.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

Color inkjet printer, scanner & copier w/ 3 mo free ink.

Rust. The Western movie will premiere for the first time next month in Poland.'/>

The Western will premiere at a Polish film festival next month at a screening to honor the cinematographer. Hutchins was killed in 2021 after a loaded prop gun handled by actor Alec Baldwin went off.

(Image credit: Jae C. Hong)

At Samsung's Developer's Conference in San Jose, the company unveils new software updates for the smart home, along with a teaser of its latest OneUI. Check it out here.

I love a good deal, but flashy sales events aren't all they're cracked up to be.

NymVPN is a distributed privacy solution that seeks to address the trust limitations of traditional VPNs. By leveraging blockchain technology, Nym aims to decentralize control over privacy, shifting it away from VPN providers and into the hands of individual users.

This new model does away with the need to trust any of the VPN server providers in your network – and the innovative approach to privacy uses a Mixnet, which routes traffic through distributed nodes to obfuscate its origin.

While NymVPN promises cutting-edge privacy, it's still in beta (though this also means that it's free). Compared to our best VPNs, however, it's missing several core features. To see whether it's worth checking out, I'll take a look at NymVPN in more detail, evaluating its speed, feature set, privacy options, and how it measures up in the current VPN landscape.

Features

This is a weird one. There's plenty to talk about if you're interested in how NymVPN works, but as the client is still in beta it's pretty bare-bones.

There isn’t even a kill switch built into the app. Both a kill-switch and split tunneling are reportedly "on the way" but, in the meantime, you're left with a VPN that's little more than a connect button and a list of countries to choose from.

So, what does NymVPN promise? Unparalleled anonymity, eventually. The whole VPN is based on the concept of a "Mixnet".

Instead of a normal VPN, which routes your traffic through a single VPN server, NymVPN uses a distributed set of "nodes" that all route your traffic back and forth. If you're thinking that this sounds pretty similar to Tor, you'd be correct. The difference is that NymVPN bakes all of this functionality into a crypto-currency ecosystem that allows node operators to be rewarded for providing high-quality networking to the Mixnet. Bandwidth isn't free, after all.

NymVPN promises the ability to distribute its own Nym token to node operators based on how well they provide quality of service (less dropped packets, more traffic mixed, you get the idea). They call this "proof of mixing", which guarantees an objective, crypto-backed way to see which nodes are serving your traffic in an anonymous way.

The actual NymVPN blockchain also promises to integrate with current blockchains while scrubbing the metadata that many of these protocols leak – reducing the overall privacy of blockchain transactions.

There aren't a lot of extras in NymVPN's roadmap. It's focused solely on improving privacy and expanding the existing blockchain to integrate with other products, so even when NymVPN finally reaches release, if you're looking for a VPN that's part of an integrated security suite, then this one probably isn't for you.

Features score: 5/10

Server network

Most VPN providers either rent out networking servers hosted by a third party or use their own managed servers at locations they control. For example, ProtonVPN hosts one of its Secure Core network clusters in a disused military base in Iceland.

NymVPN takes a different approach, using entirely distributed servers provided by volunteers in what it calls a "Mixnet". You can actually see every server that provides either routing or endpoint services to the Mixnet through its own dedicated server explorer, but unless you're interested in how individual nodes are performing, you're probably better off sticking to the location selector inside the app itself.

Currently, there are only 29 countries to choose from across Europe and Asia. You also can't choose between specific locations in the app, although I suspect this may change with time. You can, however, choose both your entry node and your exit node to optimize your connection.

Server network score: 6/10

Apps

There are beta clients of NymVPN available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. They're all more of a "proof of concept" at the moment, so each app works more or less how you'd expect a normal VPN to work.

The actual app design is pretty pleasing. It's all minimalist greys and whites with orange highlights, which is easy on the eyes. If you prefer a less funky aesthetic, the available dark mode swaps white to black.

While there are relatively few options to choose from, they all come with helpful tooltips that explain more about the functionality, and in-depth explainers link out to the support pages if you fancy doing some heavier reading.

One issue I've got with the layout is that there's relatively little information available about your connection on the main connection page. You can't see your IP address at a glance or, more importantly, how long your current subscription is going to last.

You also need to enable the ability to choose your entry hop from the settings menu. This feels like something you'd always want to be able to change, and it's not like it clutters the connect page when you enable it.

Overall, the NymVPN clients are all functional and pleasing to look at. The biggest complaint I have is that occasionally the app fails to connect, but this is to be expected in a beta.

Apps score: 5/10

Ease of use

NymVPN is very easy to use once you get past the initial login. Much like ExpressVPN, NymVPN asks you for login credentials that are mailed to you when you sign up.

The app doesn't work until these details are entered, so it's a little confusing not being given a login page first. That said, the actual connection process is straightforward and simple. You choose between "Anonymous" or "Fast" connections, both of which are clearly explained, and then hit connect.

However, I can foresee NymVPN being harder to use in the future if you're not informed about how cryptocurrencies work. I don't know how it's going to work just from trying out the beta, but you're going to need to top up your VPN with crypto continually to keep it working once the full rollout is here.

Ease of use score: 8/10

Speed and performance

There's good and bad here. For clarity, I use a 100 Mbps line with Ookla Speedtest to get a reading on the average speeds a VPN provider offers. Anyway, reading through NymVPN's white paper, the first objection I had was: "Wouldn’t a mixnet make this VPN incredibly slow?"

The answer is: Yes. Yes it does.

It's been a long time since I've used a VPN where I felt the lag made it nigh-unusable, but NymVPN's Anonymous mode took me there.

I'm not sure whether this is going to change as the network scales upwards, but connecting to Germany gave me speeds of 0.87 Mbps. Yes, you did read that correctly. I thought this might be a fluke, so I tried out the UK servers, too. No dice. Reading into it, the "Anonymous" setting pushes my traffic through five different servers.

The "Fast" setting, on the other hand, only uses two mixnet servers, so maybe it's a little better, right? Turns out, it's a lot better. I saw an average of 59.91 Mbps download and 16.85 Mbps upload, which is more than enough to stream video. The latency isn't that bad either.

While I'm sure the Anonymous settings make NymVPN absolutely bulletproof, the browsing experience is worse than going through the Tor network, which is saying something. I really hope that NymVPN gives you the ability to choose how many mixnet servers you want to use in the full release. as it stands, there's basically no point in using anything other than the Fast setting.

Speed and performance score: 3/10

Unblocking

This isn't a self-styled streaming VPN, but NymVPN does fairly well for a product that focuses on anonymity over other VPN use cases.

To figure out how well a VPN provider unblocks streaming content, we test against Netflix across the US, UK, Japan, Canada, and Australia, as well as Disney+ and Amazon Prime. There are also some regional providers we test, such as BBC iPlayer, ITV, 9Now, and 10Play.

I could access Netflix in the US, UK, and Japan, but it wouldn't let me access any content in either Japan or Australia. Disney+ and Amazon Prime worked, as well as BBC iPlayer, but I couldn't get ITV, 9Now, or 10Play to let me in despite connecting several times and bouncing between Fast and Anonymous settings.

This isn't terribly surprising, as the service relies on a mixnet of several different node providers to route your traffic.

There's no port forwarding option, but torrenting works as long as you're not looking for the absolute best speeds from the fastest VPN. Choosing the "Anonymous" option won't make a massive amount of difference to your unblocking capabilities for streaming, either, as your endpoint node will be the same regardless.

I'd say it might be worth it using the "Anonymous" feature for torrenting, but in practice the speeds you get are so abysmally slow that it actually causes connection issues with torrent clients. Even if you can maintain a connection with a peer, it'll take days to download even a few GB – so it's really not a good idea.

Unblocking score: 4/10

Privacy and security

NymVPN is being developed as a privacy-first network, drawing inspiration from the decentralized design of the Tor network as well as distributed VPN projects like Orchid. The way NymVPN works is quite complex, so I'll break down the basics of how the network functions and what it aims to achieve.

Nym operates using a protocol similar to onion routing, where traffic travels through multiple nodes between the entry and exit points. Each node encrypts the data differently, making it difficult for an adversary to track individual packets or streams of traffic.

The key difference between NymVPN and Tor is in their threat models: NymVPN is built on the assumption that a sufficiently large adversary, such as a government, could correlate traffic across both entry and exit nodes on the network. We're talking about powerful entities with access to vast amounts of data, and potentially even the ability to control a significant portion of the network's traffic.

To combat this, NymVPN sends traffic to multiple nodes on the network, mixing several traffic streams together from different users to obfuscate where and when traffic is being sent.

NymVPN also generates fake traffic and mixes it with real data to obscure traffic patterns, making correlation attacks far more difficult. However, this comes with a significant overhead cost compared to traditional VPNs, which impacts your overall speeds more as you use more Mixnet nodes.

The technology behind NymVPN is impressive, but since it's still in beta, it's not yet fully equipped to handle all of your privacy needs

As I've already mentioned, I noticed the absence of a kill switch feature. Without a kill switch, you are vulnerable to attacks where an adversary could force you to disconnect from the NymVPN network, causing your device to fall back on an unencrypted connection.

I've also noticed DNS and IPv6 leaks while using the client, which undermines the privacy of the app. DNS is a somewhat separate challenge from encrypting internet traffic, so I have to assume that NymVPN is going to solve this one by eventually supporting DNS servers inside the Mixnet as well. Time will tell.

Privacy and security score: 5/10

Track record

NymVPN doesn't have much of a track record as a VPN provider as it's still in beta and not yet an established player in the VPN market.

However, Nym itself is an established blockchain vendor with a strong commitment to building privacy solutions. The Nym blockchain has been in development since 2018, with its public mainnet being deployed in 2021. Since then, it has partnered with Google, Brave, and Signal amongst other notable partners.

It's not just all big-name tech companies, either. Nym has gained significant support from privacy advocates and academics across the industry, including notable figures like Chelsea Manning, a well-known data privacy advocate.

That said, it's difficult to recommend NymVPN based solely on its VPN track record. If you're looking for a more experienced, commercial VPN provider with a proven history, you may want to consider other options.

Track record score: 4/10

Customer support

Don't expect to find a 24/7 support team here. Sending an email ticket through the support page is the best chance you have of getting in touch with a NymVPN developer directly, although it does have Telegram and Discord accounts where you can chat with other users.

There's plenty of literature on how Nym's blockchain works and how the design enhances your privacy, but the actual support pages are a little lacking. Admittedly, NymVPN itself is still in beta and doesn't have a lot of extra knobs to turn, but it does feel like the support section is an afterthought.

Customer support score: 2/10

Pricing and plans

NymVPN is currently in beta testing – which means it's free to use for now. The VPN will eventually adopt a fast, crypto-based payment system using the Nym blockchain. Essentially, it acts as an anonymous bridge for onboarding and offboarding cryptocurrencies.

In simple terms, you'll be able to use various cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero, that can be converted into Nym's proprietary token. This token is then used to pay for your VPN connection on the network.

In practice, this means there's no traditional subscription model. Instead, you fund your account with cryptocurrency and your usage is billed based on bandwidth consumption, making it quite different from other VPN providers.

I always approach crypto projects that use proprietary tokens with a healthy dose of skepticism. Paying DVPN server operators sounds great in practice, but if the token you're paying them with is worthless, then you're doomed to failure.

However, the underlying technology here appears sound. Nym has the ability to easily onboard and offboard multiple cryptocurrencies from different blockchains which means you won't be stuck with an unusable token. That said, it remains to be seen how stable the economics of this model will be in practice when NymVPN is monetized.

Pricing and plans score: 5/10

Should you use NymVPN?

Right now, NymVPN is an interesting experiment in crypto-driven anonymity. It's not a VPN I would recommend for day-to-day usage, however, as it's still missing some critical privacy features that make it useful as a secure VPN.

It's also somewhat slower than other VPNs that use WireGuard, but this is to be expected given the unique Mixnet setup.

However, it's definitely one to watch when it comes out of beta. I've seen plenty of decentralized VPNs that claim to revolutionize the market, but NymVPN looks like it has a real shot at doing so.

Time will tell whether it can make the monetization work and incentivize its node operators properly but, in the meantime, you should look to a traditional VPN provider for best-in-class privacy and security.

NymVPN alternatives

1. NordVPN – from $3.09 per month
The best VPN overall
NordVPN is a provider with over a decade of experience. It offers VPN servers in over 140 locations, along with a "Double VPN" feature, which routes your traffic through two separate servers. This makes it more difficult to correlate your VPN traffic. NordVPN also provides obfuscated servers, which wrap your VPN connection in an HTTP layer, helping to bypass VPN blocks in countries with strict censorship, such as China. On top of that, NordVPN excels at unblocking streaming content. View Deal

2. ExpressVPN – from $6.67 per month
The best VPN for beginners and the most secure
ExpressVPN offers lightning-fast speeds across the globe and has one of the best server networks of any VPN we’ve reviewed. This is due in part to its custom Lightway protocol, which delivers faster speeds compared to traditional VPNs while also reducing battery usage, particularly on mobile devices. View Deal

NymVPN FAQs What is NymVPN?

NymVPN is a decentralized privacy solution built on blockchain technology. It uses a Mixnet architecture to route traffic through multiple nodes, enhancing your anonymity compared to traditional VPNs.

How does NymVPN differ from traditional VPNs?

Unlike centralized VPNs, NymVPN routes traffic through a network of independent nodes operated by volunteers. This decentralized approach ensures that no single entity has full control of the network, providing additional privacy.

Is NymVPN free to use?

During the beta phase, NymVPN is indeed free to use. However, once the full version is released, it will adopt a pay-per-use model based on cryptocurrency transactions.

How secure is NymVPN?

NymVPN offers strong privacy protections through its Mixnet architecture but is still in beta and lacks essential features like a kill switch. DNS and IPv6 leaks were observed during testing, so it's not yet fully reliable for privacy-sensitive tasks.

Parents of newborns are reporting symptoms including diarrhea, twitching, and “complete toddler meltdowns” after giving them Pure Body Extra detox treatment.

Tropical storm Helene caused 'catastrophic' damage to Asheville’s water treatment and distribution system, cutting off at least 70% of the city’s drinking water supply. 

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The number of phishing emails that masquerade as notifications from Microsoft services is skyrocketing, a new report from Check Point has warned.

In the report, the researchers said that just in September, its service caught more than 5,000 such emails - and to make matters worse, the attackers have gotten extremely good at creating a legitimate-looking email.

The usual suspects - spelling and grammar, color scheme, the email’s outline - all of these things have been brought to perfection: “The language is perfect. The style is familiar. The graphics look impeccable,” the researchers said. “So, what should organizations do?” Furthermore, these emails now come with copy-pasted Microsoft privacy policy statements, or links to Microsoft and Bing, all of which makes spotting the ruse with the naked eye almost impossible.

Training and AI

Ultimately, even the ‘sender’ field in the email looks believable now. Instead of the usual private, or unknown domains, these emails appear to be coming from organizational domains impersonating legitimate administrators.

All of this means there is a higher chance of organizations losing sensitive information, or becoming infected with malware and even ransomware.

In response, organizations need to invest heavily into user awareness training, since employees will no longer be able to hunt for spelling and grammar mistakes in phishing emails, Check Point argues.

Also, they should deploy AI-powered email security, essentially fighting AI with AI, and finally, always keep their software and hardware updated.

We would add that deploying multi-factor authentication wherever possible, and even pivoting towards zero-trust network architecture, can only help in today’s diverse landscape.

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