Smith & Wesson’s New M&P FPC 22LR Rifle and M&P22X Pistol

https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2025/07/24/00451/smith-wessons-new-m-p-fpc-22lr-rifle-and-m-p22x-pistol.jpg?size=720×845&nocrop=1

More rimfire and fold-ability for the People! Smith & Wesson has released the M&P FPC 22LR folding rifle and the M&P22X pistol, both chambered in .22 Long Rifle. The M&P FPC 22LR and M&P22X share magazines and offer suppressor-ready features.

The FPC 22LR rifle has a 16.25-inch threaded barrel and includes three 20-round magazines. It features a Picatinny rail, M-LOK slots, and a folding mechanism compatible with top-mounted optics.

The  has a 4.1-inch suppressor-ready barrel, full-size frame, Picatinny rail, and two 20-round magazines compatible with the FPC. It includes Hi-Viz LiteWave H3 sights with customizable fiber optics and a hammer-fired trigger.

Both are optics-ready and available in 10-round compliant models.

M&P FPC 22LR Specification

  • Caliber: .22 Long Rifle
  • Overall Length: 30.375 inches
  • Folded Length: 16.375 inches
  • Barrel: 16.25 inches, threaded (½ x 28)
  • Stock: Fixed, 14.5-inch length of pull, with magazine storage
  • Magazines: Three 20-round magazines included (10-round compliant models available)
  • Handguard: Features upper Picatinny rail and M-LOK® slots for accessory mounting
  • Folding Mechanism: Horizontal folding with locking latch, compatible with most top-mounted optics
  • Grip: Compact, with four interchangeable palmswell inserts
  • Trigger: Flat-face design with crisp break and reset
  • Optics-Ready: Accepts standard red dot sights

The MSRP is $549, and you can’t fold that in half.

M&P22X Pistol Specifications

  • Caliber: .22 Long Rifle
  • Frame: Full-size
  • Barrel: 4.1 inches, suppressor-ready with ½ x 28 thread adaptor and wrench included
  • Magazines: Two 20-round magazines included, compatible with M&P FPC 22LR (10-round compliant models available)
  • Sights: Hi-Viz® LiteWave H3® fiber optic front sight, black serrated square-notch rear sight; includes replacement tool with red, white, and green fiber optic options
  • Rail: Picatinny-style for accessory mounting
  • Grip: Slim design for reduced recoil
  • Trigger: Hammer-fired, crisp pull
  • Optics-Ready: Compatible with standard red dot sights

The M&P® 22X has an MSRP of $499.

It’s pretty cool to be able to buy both a rifle and pistol in .22LR for around 1000 bucks. To keep my own training and skills entertained, I shot some suppressed 22LR yesterday, and I can’t recommend it enough.

The look and design of the FPC 22LR rifle is intriguing, and the design of the M&P22X pistol looks really nice. www.smith-wesson.com is the place to visit for a few more details. If you remember, there’s also 9mm, 10mm and .40 versions available of the rifle.

Over to our audience for feedback and comments, the word is free!

The Firearm Blog

After $380M hack, Clorox sues its “service desk” vendor for simply giving out passwords

https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/clorox-e1753297667592-1152×648-1753297784.webp

Hacking is hard. Well, sometimes.

Other times, you just call up a company’s IT service desk and pretend to be an employee who needs a password reset, an Okta multifactor authentication reset, and a Microsoft multifactor authentication reset… and it’s done. Without even verifying your identity.

So you use that information to log in to the target network and discover a more trusted user who works in IT security. You call the IT service desk back, acting like you are now this second person, and you request the same thing: a password reset, an Okta multifactor authentication reset, and a Microsoft multifactor authentication reset. Again, the desk provides it, no identity verification needed.

So you log in to the network with these new credentials and set about planting ransomware or exfiltrating data in the target network, eventually doing an estimated $380 million in damage. Easy, right?

According to The Clorox Company, which makes everything from lip balm to cat litter to charcoal to bleach, this is exactly what happened to it in 2023. But Clorox says that the "debilitating" breach was not its fault. It had outsourced the "service desk" part of its IT security operations to the massive services company Cognizant—and Clorox says that Cognizant failed to follow even the most basic agreed-upon procedures for running the service desk.

In the words of a new Clorox lawsuit, Cognizant’s behavior was "all a devastating lie," it "failed to show even scant care," and it was "aware that its employees were not adequately trained."

"Cognizant was not duped by any elaborate ploy or sophisticated hacking techniques," says the lawsuit, using italics to indicate outrage emphasis. "The cybercriminal just called the Cognizant Service Desk, asked for credentials to access Clorox’s network, and Cognizant handed the credentials right over. Cognizant is on tape handing over the keys to Clorox’s corporate network to the cybercriminal—no authentication questions asked."

I can has password reset?

From 2013 through 2023, Cognizant had helped "guard the proverbial front door" to Clorox’s network by running a "service desk" that handled common access requests around passwords, VPNs, and multifactor authentication (MFA) such as SMS codes.

Ars Technica – All content

Amazon Signage Stick

https://theawesomer.com/photos/2025/07/amazon_signage_stick_t.jpg

Amazon Signage Stick

This gadget converts any TV with a USB port into a digital signboard, like the ones you see in restaurants. It’s compatible with dozens of digital signage content management services (subscribed separately) to display and manage one or more digital signs from your phone. In addition to still images, the signage stick can stream 4K video and supports Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.

The Awesomer

Execute Ping Commands and Get Back Structured Data in PHP

https://picperf.io/https://laravelnews.s3.amazonaws.com/featured-images/spatie-ping-featured.png

Execute Ping Commands and Get Back Structured Data in PHP

The spatie/ping PHP package provides a simple way to execute Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) ping commands and parse the results into structured data. Ping can help determine if a remote host is reachable, providing network diagnostics and measuring latency.


The post Execute Ping Commands and Get Back Structured Data in PHP appeared first on Laravel News.

Join the Laravel Newsletter to get all the latest
Laravel articles like this directly in your inbox.

Laravel News

TRON: Ares (Trailer 2)

https://theawesomer.com/photos/2025/07/tron_ares_trailer_2_t.jpg

TRON: Ares (Trailer 2)

The third TRON film sends a powerful AI named Ares from the digital realm into the real world, marking humanity’s first encounter with synthetic beings. Directed by Joachim Rønning (Kon-Tiki), the sci-fi action flick stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, and Jeff Bridges. Nine Inch Nails composed the score and just dropped the single As Alive As You Need Me To Be.

The Awesomer

7 Plex Apps Everyone Should Try Once

https://static1.makeuseofimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/wm/2025/07/plex-live-tv-schedule-open-on-a-laptop.jpg

I’m always on the lookout for apps that enhance Plex, whether it’s fetching accurate metadata or organizing my library. In my search, these Plex apps won me over after just one interaction and have already become part of my go-to for each Plex installation.

7

Amazon Alexa

An Amazon Echo Dot displaying the time
Josh Dolloghan / MakeUseOf

Controlling gadgets with your voice is good fun, especially if you have an army of smart home devices, so why not add Plex to that list? I know I lose the remote at least every other day, and having a hands-free backup to control media playback would be nice.

Although Amazon Alexa has all the basic voice commands you need to navigate Plex, you can add commands using Alexa Skills and get specific. For example, if you can’t decide on what to watch, there’s an Alex Skill that suggests content after you’ve said, "Alexa, suggest something to watch."

Download: Amazon Alexa for Android | iOS (Free)

6

Plex Dash

As your Plex library expands and you invite more people to enjoy the content, you’ll learn that having backend information is invaluable. What’s the most-watched movie on your server? How has your bandwidth been holding up, and when does it tend to spike in usage? What are your viewers watching right now? Plex Dash will answer every one of those questions and more.

Plex Dash also doubles as a helpful tool for troubleshooting and making changes to your server on the fly. Not only can you refresh your libraries from the app, but if your server happens to crash, you can get your hands on server logs.

Download: Plex Dash for Android | iOS (Free; premium available)

5

Plexamp

YouTube is as far as I’ll go when it comes to streaming music, so you won’t catch me using Spotify (or listening to its AI music). When I’m not streaming music, I’ll listen to my own library on Plexamp, where I can quickly access all the CDs I ripped to my Plex server. It’s the most frictionless music app I’ve used to date—even easier than VLC.

For one, I appreciate that the UI resembles a miniaturized Plex app, similar to Plex Dash and Plex Photos. Secondly, Plexamp is incredibly lightweight, especially on PC, where it’s nothing but a teeny-tiny sidebar you can drag. Lastly, I particularly love its Mood playlist, which Plexamp creates and organizes itself, then gives me the option to pick music based on my mood.

Download: Plexamp for Android | iOS | Windows | MacOS | Linux | Raspberry Pi (Free)



Related

Once set up, Plexamp is simple to use.

4

Plex Photos

Lately, I’ve been thinking of gathering images I’ve uploaded on Facebook of my family and making them accessible on Plex for my wife and I. With the Plex Photos app, as long as my server keeps running, we can download copies of images and videos any time we need to.

Now, Plex Photos isn’t rich with features—it just accesses images and videos. However, if you go the extra mile to organize your library, it’ll reflect in the app when you switch to Library View. You’ll then see all your photos, segregated by folders and albums. But my favorite feature is Timeline View, which orders them by dates uploaded, making it easier to find something from, say, a year ago.

Download: Plex Photos for Android | iOS (Free)

3

The Plex App

If you’re someone who mostly streams Plex from their browser, having the Plex app will feel significantly better. I use Google Chrome and, for some reason, the browser really punishes the quality when I stream Netflix or HBO Max, but that’s where the Plex app solved my problem.

For one, I like the very minor convenience of having an app that takes me directly to Plex, as opposed to typing a URL into a browser. Secondly, Plex has my second favorite streaming UI (the first being Netflix), which is sleek, simple, and the icons are sized well. And lastly, I like having control over my Plex server and don’t want to risk my browser’s own settings getting in the way.

Download: Plex (Free)



Related

It’s all about finding the right deal at the most opportune time.

WebTools-NG is a bit of a hodgepodge of different features, from organizing your Plex server to plugins; in fact, getting plugins is the app’s specialty. Once installed, you’ll be able to check out and install plugins for Plex through the Unofficial App Store (UAS)—at least the ones that still work.

Aside from organization and troubleshooting, one of the best features WebTools-NG has is the ExportTools module. With it, you can export a handy list of all the available content in your Plex library, which lets you export a handy list of available content on your library. It can even be used to create lists of specific content, like only 4K movies, or find missing episodes.

Download: WebTools-NG for Windows | MacOS | Linux (Free)

1

FileBot

Say your library grows to a respectable size, but you haven’t exactly been the best organizer. You could do it manually, but FileBolt is far quicker and even includes the work of renaming files to their proper titling, episodes included. Though there are plenty of other tools for organizing your Plex library, FileBolt is the one I rely on the most.

Aside from pulling metadata for accuracy, FileBot also has the ability to find artwork, cover images, and subtitles for movies and shows. For example, Plex originally pulled the cover image for Clash of the Titans (2010) for my copy of Clash of the Titans (1981), but FileBot rectified the problem. Now, Harry Hamlin’s stoic stare graces my Plex server!

Download: FileBot (Free trial; Subscription & Life-Time license available)


With plugins being phased out, I hope apps start to take center stage when it comes to customizing Plex. Just with these apps alone, you can organize your Plex library, troubleshoot, install plugins, even keep a watchful eye on server usage.

MakeUseOf

Windows 11 Won’t Respect Your Privacy Until You Make These Changes

https://static1.makeuseofimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/a-laptop-showing-privacy-and-security-menu-in-windows-settings-app-with-green-and-red-toggles.jpg

Windows 11 has been widely known to suck at privacy, since it comes with a lot of default settings that can be a privacy nightmare. But don’t worry—there are ways to regain significant control in that area. You just have to take charge.

7

Location Tracking

Windows 11 tracks your location by default, allowing Microsoft and third-party apps to know where you are. If you’re uncomfortable with this, or rarely use location-based apps like Weather or Uber, disabling location services prevents data collection. Also, doing this can save battery on laptops and tablets.

To do that, go to Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the App Permissions section, and select Location. From there, toggle off Location services.

In the pop-up, click Turn off to completely disable location services.

6

App Permissions

Windows 11 grants many permissions to apps by default, which can compromise your privacy. It’s also easy to grant permissions you didn’t intend to. For both reasons, it’s best to review and adjust app permissions to ensure certain apps don’t have too much access.

To do so, go to Settings > Privacy & Security, then scroll down to the App Permissions section. Here, you will find permissions like Camera, Microphone, and Contacts. Select an app, expand the Let apps access your [permission] section, and toggle off access for apps that don’t need it.

Audit these settings regularly, especially after installing new apps, to ensure permissions haven’t changed.

5

Cloud Clipboard

The clipboard is a handy feature that temporarily stores items you’ve copied (such as text and images), allowing you to quickly paste them between apps. The clipboard history, which you bring up by pressing Win + V, is especially helpful for retrieving multiple copied items. This gets even better with the best Windows clipboard tips.

But do you want the clipboard to sync data to Microsoft’s servers or between devices, leading to data collection and potential accidental sharing of sensitive data? If you don’t, you can easily disable clipboard history by going to Settings > System > Clipboard and toggling off Clipboard history across devices.

4

Cloud Sync

Windows’ cloud sync ability can also be a privacy problem, since it stores settings, files, app data, and preferences in your OneDrive account. Besides the obvious data collection potential for Microsoft, it can also lead to persistent tracking. To stop this from happening, you can unlink your OneDrive account from Windows.

To do that, click the OneDrive icon in the bottom-right notification area. Next, click the cog icon in the top-right corner and select Settings in the menu.

Select the Account tab on the left and click the Unlink this PC link.

In the popup, click Unlink account, and that’s it—no more cloud sync.

3

Microsoft Account Settings

When installing Windows 11, you’re required to sign in with a Microsoft account to complete the installation. While there are some benefits to linking your Microsoft account with Windows, doing so also allows Microsoft to track usage patterns, collect data, and create a digital profile tied directly to your identity.

Some tricks let you bypass the Microsoft account requirement, but if you signed in anyway, the good news is that you can still sign out afterward. You’ll use what’s called a local account afterward, which offers a more private experience.

To switch to a local account, go to Settings > Accounts > Your info and click the Sign in with a local account instead link.

From there, follow the instructions to sign out of your Microsoft account. Just keep in mind that using a local account on Windows has some drawbacks.

2

Telemetry and Background Data Collection

By default, Microsoft collects data about your device and usage habits in the name of improving the OS. This is called telemetry, which can include information about your hardware, app usage, feature usage, and performance data. While you can’t disable this data collection completely, you can limit it.

To do that, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostic & feedback and expand the Diagnostic data section. Find the Send optional diagnostic data toggle and turn it off.

Afterward, it’s time to clean any diagnostic data that Microsoft may have already collected for your Windows PC. Scroll down, expand the Delete diagnostic data section, and click Delete.

1

Personalized Ads and Advertising ID

Personalized ads rely on extensive tracking of your online behavior, browsing history, and personal information without your explicit consent. This is a privacy nightmare that you can thankfully turn off by disabling your advertising ID in Settings. However, keep in mind that apps will continue to show you non-personalized ads after disabling this (based on general factors like your location and what you’re doing in the app).

Go to Settings > Privacy & security > General and toggle off Let apps show me personalized ads by using my advertising ID. Here, you will also find some additional tracking options that you might want to toggle off, such as Let websites show me locally relevant content by accessing my language list and Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launches.

Disable Personalized Ads in Microsoft Edge

If you use Edge, an additional step can ensure it doesn’t serve you personalized ads while browsing. Open Edge, click the three-dot icon in the top-right corner, and head to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Privacy. Next, toggle off the Allow Microsoft to save your browsing activity


As you can see, Windows doesn’t offer the most private experience from the start. It’s up to you to make some much-needed changes to ensure that Microsoft gets the least amount of data from you. And since making these changes won’t take you more than an hour, they’re worth making if you highly value your privacy.

MakeUseOf

A Smart, Simple Invention that Increases Revenue for Landscapers

https://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/1738100_81_137777_xnsbxeSMY.jpg

Here’s a simple invention designed to save landscapers and lawncare businesses money:

Those pieces of welded steel tubing were developed by Long-Island-based D’ttach. It’s simply a hitch receiver supported by a telescopic bar that can be attached to the front arms of any zero-turn, whether sit-down or stand-on. This allows the user to attach a number of D’ttach accessories to the front of the machine, instantly transforming what was only a grass-cutting machine into something with far more utility. Commercial zero-turns are expensive, often running into five figures, and the D’ttach add-ons save the operators the expense of needing to haul a second dedicated machine to the jobsite.

The company makes a dethatcher:

An aerator:

A barrel carrier:

A jack, for changing the blades and cleaning the deck underside:

A leaf plow:

And even a snowplow:

The latter two attachments are particularly clever, allowing the operator to generate income during autumn and winter months, when there’s no grass to be cut.

Core77

Meta announces huge new data centers, but they could gobble up millions of gallons of water per day

https://iframely.publishing.yahoo.net/OzfI4tml?app=1

Meta is building several gigawatt-sized data centers to power AI, as reported by Bloomberg. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company will spend "hundreds of billions of dollars" to accomplish this feat, with an aim of creating "superintelligence."

The term typically refers to artificial general intelligence (AGI), which describes AI systems that boast human-level intelligence across multiple domains. This is something of a holy grail for Silicon Valley tech types.

The first center is called Prometheus and it comes online next year. It’s being built in Ohio. Next up, there’s a data center called Hyperion that’s almost the size of Manhattan. This one should "be able to scale up to 5GW over several years." Some of these campuses will be among the largest in the world, as most data centers can only generate hundreds of megawatts of capacity.

Meta has also been staffing up its Superintelligence Labs team, recruiting folks from OpenAI, Google’s DeepMind and others. Scale AI’s co-founder Alexandr Wang is heading up this effort.

However, these giant data centers do not exist in a vacuum. The complexes typically brush up against local communities. The centers are not only power hogs, but also water hogs. The New York Times just published a report on how Meta data centers impact local water supplies.

There’s a data center east of Atlanta that has damaged local wells and caused municipal water prices to soar, which could lead to a shortage and rationing by 2030. The price of water in the region is set to increase by 33 percent in the next two years.

Typical data centers guzzle around 500,000 gallons of water each day, but these forthcoming AI-centric complexes will likely be even thirstier. The new centers could require millions of gallons per day, according to water permit applications reviewed by The New York Times. Mike Hopkins, the executive director of the Newton County Water and Sewerage Authority, says that applications are coming in with requests for up to six millions of water per day, which is more than the county’s entire daily usage.

“What the data centers don’t understand is that they’re taking up the community wealth,” he said. “We just don’t have the water.”

This same worrying story is playing out across the country. Data center hot spots in Texas, Arizona, Louisiana and Colorado are also taxing local water reserves. For instance, some Phoenix homebuilders have been forced to pause new constructions due to droughts exacerbated by these data centers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-announces-huge-new-data-centers-but-they-could-gobble-up-millions-of-gallons-of-water-per-day-174000478.html?src=rssEngadget