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Yesterday β€” 23 July 2026Tech

Microsoft responds to LG monitors installing McAfee ads on Windows

23 July 2026 at 16:47

LG is reportedly pulling a McAfee pop-up ad from a controversial app that some of its monitors have stealthily installed on connected computers.

An example of the pop-up ad is seen in a still from Gamers Nexus' video. An example of the pop-up ad is seen in a still from Gamers Nexus' video. Credit: Gamers Nexus/Windows/YouTube

The app, LG Monitor App Installer, installs itself through a Windows Update alongside monitor driver updates. LG Monitor App Installer then pushes ads for a 30-day free trial for McAfee, as well as other software, via a pop-up on affected systems, multiple users have reported.

This has drawn negative attention recently, with complaints surfacing on Reddit and a subsequent video from YouTube channel Gamers Nexus. In the video, editor-in-chief Steve Burke said that the publication paid $1,200 for an LG UltraGear 3GX900A-B gaming monitor (the monitor’s price dropped to $600 two days later, Burke said) for testing and replicated the behavior β€œseveral times” across β€œmultiple” Windows 11 systems.

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Β© LG

Before yesterdayTech

RIP bargain bin: The price impact of Sony's disc-free PlayStation plan

20 July 2026 at 14:06

Since Sony announced that it was planning to stop producing physical PlayStation discs in 2028, many people have been justifiably worried about how they will maintain ownership and long-term game access in a disc-free world. But halting production of PlayStation discs also means eliminating the market for cheap used PlayStation discs, which are often available for well below the price of a digital download.

How much is this disc-based discount worth? To find out, Ars analyzed how the prices of 19 current top-selling PlayStation games varied between digital downloads and physical discs (both new and used). We found that, while used discs are the cheapest option for most games for most of the year, the frequent and periodic deep discounts offered on the PlayStation Store often undercut the cheapest game disc options. That state of affairs will likely persist even in a future without PlayStation discs.

Our prices are so low, you'll think we've suffered brain damage

For our analysis, we started with Sony's list of the bestsellers on the PlayStation Store. We eliminated any games that weren't available on a physical disc, then used the database over at PlatPrices.com to determine both the "Standard" price and the lowest "Discount" price offered for those games on the PlayStation Store in the last year (as well as the total number of days the discount price was offered).

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Β© Getty Images

A Feature-Rich Drum Machine

20 July 2026 at 14:30

A little over a month ago, we featured a project from [Igor] who built 64 bits of DRAM from scratch using discrete components. Jokes about memory pricing aside, he did have a use case for such a small amount of memory β€” he is using it in a custom-built drum machine. But featuring the memory build and not the drum machine was perhaps putting the cart before the horse, so in this video, [Igor] shows off the construction of each part of his impressive 16- or 64-step sequence drum machine.

This isn’t Igor’s first drum machine, either, although his previous build was a bit more limited. It had fewer steps in the sequence and didn’t quite have the range of his newer model. The upgraded version can play more steps but also includes force-sensitive drum pads based on piezo sensors and more voices (drums) as well. Each voice is built electronically using various op-amps and passive components, and [Igor] has the schematics for each of them, as well as every other part of the drum machine, for those looking to recreate any part of this on their own. There’s a lot going on in this lengthy video as well, so for the musically inclined, it’s worth taking a look in full.

Now that our horse is in the correct position in front of the cart, it’s worth going back and looking at the memory build if you missed it when it first ran. A small amount of memory makes the machine programmable rather than just playable, and truly expands the capabilities of a machine like this in the recording studio.

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