Daily Tech News 8 June 2026

Top Story

The Sound Blaster Katana V2X is a walking disaster. (Ars Technica)

It's a USB speaker. How bad can it be?

Well, it is a USB speaker, yes. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity for your mobile devices. At the same time.

And it makes it easy to upgrade the firmware should you need to do so.

Over Bluetooth. Without authentication. While it is plugged into your PC.

Meaning that anyone within Bluetooth range can reprogram it with arbitrary functionality. Make it open Powershell and wipe your hard drive? Sure. The only problem there is the lack of imagination.

Oh, and Bluetooth is always on, even when the device is powered down to "sleep" mode, so just turning it off won't save you.

Creative - the company that sells Sound Blaster devices - states that it does not regard this as a vulnerability, which leaves me to wonder what kind of creeping cosmic horrors they would regard as vulnerabilities.

Tech News

AMD's next-generation RDNA5 graphics cards are expected in the second half of next year. (Tom's Hardware)

A little over two years after we first saw RDNA4.

We may see RTX 6000 series cards from Nvidia around the same time, but that's a fuzzier prediction.
Suffering from the memory drought? Retropad is a Windows Notepad clone that weighs in at 2794 bytes. (Tom's Hardware)

Which was honestly never a lot.
ASML is now Europe's most valuable company at around $650 billion. (Tom's Hardware)

That's actually respectable, though it would only rank 15th on the US stock market - between AMD and Exxon Mobil.
The user manual - such as it is - for the Beelink Me Mini.

No, that's not on Beelink's website. Yes, that is the official link. No, I don't know either.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Two days, one night, complimentary late checkout. It's a package deal.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 BOING! AND BOOM!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 04:32 AM (ohSsM)

2 Big bada boom.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at June 08, 2026 04:32 AM (BLOW1)

3 Boom boodee boom boodee boom boom boom!

https://youtu.be/DUZCXaStvnc

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 04:36 AM (ohSsM)

4 Guten morgen, horde.

Posted by: clarence at June 08, 2026 04:37 AM (FLIKO)

5 Where's m? His people are featured here today.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 04:38 AM (ohSsM)

6 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2026 04:38 AM (Ia/+0)

7 Not sure I want to get up yet

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2026 04:39 AM (Ia/+0)

8 Well, let's hope no one at the FBI installs that speaker to a mainframe.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at June 08, 2026 04:40 AM (zZu0s)

9 Leeloo multipass!

Posted by: Leeloo at June 08, 2026 04:40 AM (/HDaX)

10 ASML is now Europe's most valuable country at around $650 billion.

Not sure if typo or snark.

Posted by: mikeski at June 08, 2026 04:41 AM (VHUov)

11 Hmmm, so ASML is also part of the AI bubble.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at June 08, 2026 04:44 AM (zZu0s)

12 Every AI chip is made with ASML's tools.

Posted by: mikeski at June 08, 2026 04:45 AM (VHUov)

13 I'm going with snark.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at June 08, 2026 04:45 AM (/HDaX)

14 A partial list from Bing AI:
The Pentagon removed roughly 180 religions in 2026, including Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick practitioners, New Age groups, Pagans, Rosicrucians, Shamans, Spiritualists, The Troth, Unitarian Universalists, and various Wiccan traditions.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

Fuckers.

In Basic mid 90s I identified as a Druid, NA, and insisted that my religion required that I go into the hinterlands with a case of beer and commune with nature from Friday night until Monday morning. Denied.
Then these same a-holes then made a big production about hiking out and camping over night in those same woods.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at June 08, 2026 04:45 AM (/lPRQ)

15 Disclaimer: Two days, one night, complimentary late checkout. It's a package deal.
****

At a Super 8, in Needles, on a Tuesday, in August.

Posted by: clarence at June 08, 2026 04:48 AM (FLIKO)

16 Speaking of the stock market, since tech companies observably discriminate against white men, I'm against them. If socialists would harm them, yay! I hate the people that hate me, and wish ill for them.

Posted by: SciVo at June 08, 2026 04:49 AM (Sy6m/)

17 They don't allow Magick the gathering? What's next, pinochle?

Posted by: Dark L at June 08, 2026 04:49 AM (W5mpo)

18 ASML is exactly what corporate fascists want: one point of control.
The Humidity has arrived for the summer.

Posted by: Accomack at June 08, 2026 04:52 AM (/Chlc)

19 10 ASML is now Europe's most valuable country at around $650 billion.

Not sure if typo or snark.
Posted by: mikeski
****

Ace of Spades, pixy misa, oh dark thirty: always snark.

Posted by: clarence at June 08, 2026 04:52 AM (FLIKO)

20 In Basic mid 90s I identified as a Druid, NA, and insisted that my religion required that I go into the hinterlands with a case of beer and commune with nature from Friday night until Monday morning. Denied.
Then these same a-holes then made a big production about hiking out and camping over night in those same woods.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at June 08, 2026 04:45 AM (/lPRQ)

Well, good on you. I mean you were stupid but so were they, and making them show it is a good thing.

Posted by: SciVo at June 08, 2026 04:54 AM (Sy6m/)

21 Byron Donald's-Candidate for Governor of Florida-recalls when he gave his life to Jesus:

https://tinyurl.com/2dac2n3a

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 08, 2026 04:55 AM (n3VHW)

22 w00t

Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 04:58 AM (6wpGE)

23 I've got some Creative (maker of the Soundblaster above) speakers hooked to this computer.

Mine are the "Pebble X Plus" with left & right ball-shaped speakers and a separate subwoofer box.

I don't use the Bluetooth functionality with it and hook it up through USB, though. Creative sends out firmware updates occasionally, and I haven't seen anything in the upgrade notes about Bluetooth vulnerability.

I hope this problem is limited to the Soundblaster speaker, but I'm not too worried about a Bluetooth hack here in the house to be honest.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 04:58 AM (6ydKt)

24 Dance off between lamb and vet in Texas:

https://tinyurl.com/454ckt9m

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 08, 2026 04:59 AM (n3VHW)

25 This is one of the flowers spouse and I saw our walk yesterday . I like it, not only because it's pretty,, but because of the name "yellow toadflax":

https://tinyurl.com/4eyhewyd

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 08, 2026 05:02 AM (n3VHW)

26 5 Where's m? His people are featured here today.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 04:38 AM (ohSsM)

haha

M People - One Night in Heaven

Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 05:03 AM (6wpGE)

27 I hope this problem is limited to the Soundblaster speaker, but I'm not too worried about a Bluetooth hack here in the house to be honest.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 04:58 AM (6ydKt)

Well, I hope that is a thing not weirdo.

Posted by: SciVo at June 08, 2026 05:03 AM (Sy6m/)

28 M People - One Night in Heaven

I kinda like that!

Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 05:07 AM (6wpGE)

29 Hi folks, has anyone set up one of those Beelink 6-bay Me Mini NAS boxes? I can't seem to find any documentation that might have come with mine. And trying to find anything on Beelink's site seems to be a fool's errand.

I've finally got enough drives to give it a go, but I'm wondering what steps are needed to make it useful. Like, what OS to put on it, what RAID software to use and so on. I suppose I could just fire it up and see what it says, but what's the use of laziness if you're not going to use it?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 08, 2026 05:07 AM (CHHv1)

30 wikipedia

M People are an English dance music band that formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is derived from the first letter of the first name of band member Mike Pickering, who formed the group.

Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 05:09 AM (6wpGE)

31 10 ASML is now Europe's most valuable country at around $650 billion.

Not sure if typo or snark.
Posted by: mikeski

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but more of a tiredpo. A typo I made because I'm tired.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at June 08, 2026 05:10 AM (BLOW1)

32
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at June 08, 2026 05:11 AM (AMvSw)

33 31 10 ASML is now Europe's most valuable country at around $650 billion.

Not sure if typo or snark.
Posted by: mikeski

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but more of a tiredpo. A typo I made because I'm tired.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at June 08, 2026 05:10 AM (BLOW1)

tiredpo

; )

Still making us laugh!

Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 05:12 AM (6wpGE)

34 33 31 10 ASML is now Europe's most valuable country at around $650 billion.

Not sure if typo or snark.
Posted by: mikeski

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but more of a tiredpo. A typo I made because I'm tired.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at June 08, 2026 05:10 AM (BLOW1)

tiredpo

; )

Still making us laugh!
Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 05:12 AM (6wpGE)

I read right through it; never saw it!

Posted by: m at June 08, 2026 05:13 AM (6wpGE)

35 In a stunning come from behind victory Ramen Noodles, the third place finisher on election night in the LA mayor race is suddenly in second place after over half of the mail-in ballots were cast in favor of the Communist candidate and is now being declared the winner of the second position for the runoff election in November. The weird part is she only received about 20% of the vote on election Day.

And if any of you get it in your head that this is a stolen and corrupt election you are going to be placed in a locked room with Kirsten Welker for a week where she will hector you, yell at you, and interrupt you non-stop until you get your mind right.

Rule one of elections in California: the reason vote counting is so slow is so it can be determined how many votes for the candidate preferred by the Democrat party need to be ginned up for the inevitable stunning come from behind victory.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:14 AM (glnUu)

36 Sorry to disappoint everyone, but more of a tiredpo. A typo I made because I'm tired.
****

Am disappoint. See my #19.

Posted by: clarence at June 08, 2026 05:15 AM (FLIKO)

37 My speaker doesn't allow firmware updates via Bluetooth, or at least it doesn't appear to.

I've got to disconnect the power and USB from the head speaker, then press a button on the speaker to set it to Firmware Update Mode, then reconnect everything for it to update.

It's actually a PITA so I rarely do it.
There's a firmware update waiting now for a month or more that I haven't bothered with yet.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 05:16 AM (6ydKt)

38 Rule one of elections in California: the reason vote counting is so slow is so it can be determined how many votes for the candidate preferred by the Democrat party need to be ginned up for the inevitable stunning come from behind victory.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:14 AM (glnUu)

He who votes decides nothing. He who counts the votes decides everything.

Posted by: Josef Vissarionovich Dzugashvili at June 08, 2026 05:17 AM (T6aVk)

39 Sorry to disappoint everyone, but more of a tiredpo. A typo I made because I'm tired. Posted by: Pixy Misa

Kill joy. That was the best thing I read all weekend and now you ruined it. Sigh.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:17 AM (glnUu)

40 29 Hi folks, has anyone set up one of those Beelink 6-bay Me Mini NAS boxes? I can't seem to find any documentation that might have come with mine. And trying to find anything on Beelink's site seems to be a fool's errand.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm

See the (new) last entry in today's post. It comes with a pre-installed operating system which is the easiest way to run it.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at June 08, 2026 05:18 AM (BLOW1)

41 I suppose I could just fire it up and see what it says, but what's the use of laziness if you're not going to use it?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 08, 2026 05:07 AM (CHHv1)

I'd try searching on YouTube and see if anybody on there has a setup video for the Beelink NAS.

Chances are somebody has.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 05:20 AM (6ydKt)

42 Biden's Dog, did Haifa get hit?

Posted by: Ben Had at June 08, 2026 05:20 AM (5P5DO)

43 I am sorry you are tired, Pixy. Thanks very much for the good work you do here and elsewhere. Don't worry about the "tiredpos" and take care of yourself.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 08, 2026 05:24 AM (OYsYV)

44 @40 thank you very much, Pixy, it is greatly appreciated. I note on their site that the item has nearly doubled in price.

Thank you again!

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 08, 2026 05:25 AM (CHHv1)

45 This guy unboxes and sets up his Beelink Me Mini with TrueNAS:

https://youtu.be/TkFfTekB3eM

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 05:26 AM (6ydKt)

46 Biden's Dog, did Haifa get hit?

Posted by: Ben Had at June 08, 2026 05:20 AM (5P5DO)
-

Zilch up north got hit.

In the center of Samaria, some homes were damaged by intercepted missiles which landed close enough for the shock waves to make a mess:

https://tinyurl.com/bdhz8tfb

Parents of bratty school-age children hardest hit.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 05:28 AM (ohSsM)

47 Wendell from Level1Techs (I really trust his expertise) also plays with a Beelink Me Mini, and runs through setting it up using Proxmox, and troubleshooting problems, etc. here:

https://youtu.be/KPilnjN72Ls

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 05:29 AM (6ydKt)

48 Happy Monday, one and all.

In Basic mid 90s I identified as a Druid, NA

Had a guy in Boot that claimed he was an atheist. My Senior DI had him in tears as he made him justify his beliefs.

Posted by: NR Pax at June 08, 2026 05:30 AM (svLOV)

49 Thank you, SpeakingOf. I appreciate the information and the links; I also appreciate the search you made.

I generally find YouTube videos great info for certain things. So many times I've watched some where the person's hands cover up what they're doing to remove or replace a component. Yelling at the screen doesn't help.

Thank you again. I'm going back to see if there's any sleep to be found.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 08, 2026 05:30 AM (CHHv1)

50 Biden's Dog, thank you. Last I saw about 1 am my time was IDF 20. IRGC.0

Posted by: Ben Had at June 08, 2026 05:33 AM (5P5DO)

51 What I need are USB/Bluetooth speakers/earbuds that can reproduce music like they are the sound system in an IMAX theater, and undo the hearing loss due to age and excessive youthful rock and roll. Do that and we can then talk about any related security issues.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:35 AM (glnUu)

52 It is time for the Israeli military to create an internal economic blockade inside Iran by knocking out all their modern infrastructure.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:36 AM (glnUu)

53 @NR Pax, re Tech News, Friday June 5, comment 90:

"I'll have to see them at home but you gave me something to look forward to."

Did you manage to get to see those three memes? They were linked at my #89 comment that day.

https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=420019
(Don't accidentally post in old threads!)

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 08, 2026 05:37 AM (O7YUW)

54 51 What I need are USB/Bluetooth speakers/earbuds that can reproduce music like they are the sound system in an IMAX theater, and undo the hearing loss due to age and excessive youthful rock and roll. Do that and we can then talk about any related security issues.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:35 AM (glnUu)

I like the sound quality of the Raykon buds, but phone calls kind of sound like you and them are at the bottom of different wells.

A friend has had some hearing loss and she uses the apple buds.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 08, 2026 05:38 AM (p7PcC)

55 It is time for the Israeli military to create an internal economic blockade inside Iran by knocking out all their modern infrastructure.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:36 AM (glnUu)
-

Way overdue.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 05:38 AM (ohSsM)

56 A friend has had some hearing loss and she uses the apple buds.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

These come up short when it comes to inspiring lengthy air guitar sessions.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:40 AM (glnUu)

57 Did you manage to get to see those three memes?

Oh yes. And I knew the perfect people to forward them to. The whole thing was hilarious.

Posted by: NR Pax at June 08, 2026 05:45 AM (svLOV)

58 * Ship's whistle * * Voice of James Cagney as Capt. Morton *

Now hear this! Now hear this! This is the captain speaking. Yes, it's Monday. Get over it. Remember what you were told in basic? "Compared to being on the wrong side of the ground, even a bad Monday is pretty small kumquats, nicht wahr?"

Carry on. That is all.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 05:47 AM (wzUl9)

59 It is time for the Israeli military to create an internal economic blockade inside Iran by knocking out all their modern infrastructure.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:36 AM (glnUu)
-

Way overdue.
Posted by: Biden's Dog

I would say it is time for Israel and the USA to do this but The Donald it's too busy doing his Charlie Brown imitation when Lucy yanks the football away. The Iranians have no intention of ever signing a peace deal voluntarily let alone honoring it. That leaves it to other powers to get the Iranians to "voluntarily" come to the table in a manner that would be quite familiar to the Germans and Japanese at the end of World War II. Rubble has a way of clarifying the minds of fanatics.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:47 AM (glnUu)

60 And a good evening and morning to all. June is one-fourth over, or almost. Whatchoo doin'?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 05:49 AM (wzUl9)

61 I would say it is time for Israel and the USA to do this but The Donald it's too busy doing his Charlie Brown imitation when Lucy yanks the football away.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at June 08, 2026 05:47 AM (glnUu)
-

Yup. This just in:

https://tinyurl.com/yfxs3r6u

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 08, 2026 05:52 AM (ohSsM)

62 Now I should get up

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2026 05:54 AM (Ia/+0)

63 I got dragged to the local German-American Center yesterday for a talk about German immigrants to America in the 19th Century and how the speaker's great (x3?)-grandfather wound up getting shot in California, and his great (x2)-grandfather set up shop as an oyster broker in coastal Lousyana . . . only to be wiped out by an October 1893 hurricane. Pretty interesting stuff, I admit. Apparently this hurricane hit at such an angle and at such a setup of tides that the village of Cheniere Caminada, set on (slightly) higher ground, was inundated by three interlocking sets of waves, including a tidal wave some thirty feet high. Two thousand people died. The village was almost obliterated.

The survivors were offered money, I forget from whom, to go back and rebuild. And almost nobody took the benefactors up on it. They had learned about hurricanes and wanted nothing to do with living near them again.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 05:55 AM (wzUl9)

64 A friend has had some hearing loss and she uses the apple buds.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at June 08, 2026 05:38 AM (p7PcC)

The newer AirPods 2 & 3 are actually being used as hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

Supposed to do a pretty good job at it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 05:58 AM (6ydKt)

65 It's the usual nasty 78 with high humidity here before dawn. It won't be any better later this week, so I need to get my (short) workout in today.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 06:05 AM (wzUl9)

66 They had learned about hurricanes and wanted nothing to do with living near them again.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 05:55 AM (wzUl9)

A lot of people said the same thing after Camille and Katrina I'm sure.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 06:07 AM (6ydKt)

67 Supposed to get to 92 this afternoon here.
95 by the end of the week.

Summer is coming.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026 06:08 AM (6ydKt)

68 A lot of people said the same thing after Camille and Katrina I'm sure.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at June 08, 2026

***
The sensible ones with the resources to move away.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 06:09 AM (wzUl9)

69 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: You can check out any time you want.
But you can never leave.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at June 08, 2026 06:11 AM (amcLV)

70 A British police officer who stood firm in his Christian convictions has achieved a significant legal victory after being punished for simply asking questions during a mandatory diversity training session.

It sounds like the UK government is reading the writing on the wall and doing their best to stop things from getting ugly.

Posted by: NR Pax at June 08, 2026 06:13 AM (svLOV)

71 Somehow this Iran thing is not total war. If it was every military assets would be a target today and onward.with no let up

Posted by: Skip at June 08, 2026 06:13 AM (Ia/+0)

72 I've used Kim.com's mega as a cloud backup for many years and it's worked well and never bothered me. I think I get 50 free gigs and I've never used that much.

Posted by: meh at June 08, 2026 06:16 AM (kK7U2)

73 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 08, 2026 05:55 AM (wzUl9)

That sounds interesting. My soon- to-be new hometown of Fredericksburg was founded by German immigrants in the 1800s, and many of their families are still mainstays of the community. It was a rough place to live, with frequent Indian raids and harsh weather.

Posted by: LASue at June 08, 2026 06:23 AM (lCppi)

74 LASue, Fredericksburg is lovely. Congratulations on you upcoming move.

Posted by: Ben Had at June 08, 2026 06:25 AM (5P5DO)

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