A sweeping shortage of DRAM and NAND, driven by AI demand and global supply constraints, is pushing contract prices up by as much as 60% this quarter.

Memory-chip pricing is no longer inching upward — it’s jumping. Recent reports indicate that Samsung Electronics has raised contract prices for certain memory chips by up to 60% compared with September levels. For example, some 32 GB DDR5 modules are said to have moved from around US$149 in September to roughly US$239 in November. Analysts suggest that for the October–December quarter, Samsung may lift contract pricing 40–50% overall, well above the industry’s already-strong average increases.

The cause isn’t tariffs — it’s capacity. Memory manufacturers are prioritizing high-density DRAM and NAND for AI data-center build-outs, while output on older, mature nodes remains constrained. Inventory levels have fallen, and many buyers are now dealing with allocations instead of open, competitive supply. These supply constraints are global and affect the entire tech ecosystem, from enterprise servers down to consumer devices.

Market sentiment is reflecting the shift as well. Shares of major memory players such as Micron have rallied on expectations of stronger earnings as pricing power returns. While short-term prices for some PC-grade memory products may look less aggressive, the upstream contract hikes are real and will likely filter down across a broad range of components over time.

For buyers and specifiers of storage and memory components, this is not the moment to assume stability. For high-density enterprise SSDs, server DRAM, or large-format modules, it is reasonable to plan for an additional 10–20% in cost. For consumer-grade flash and USB devices, the move may be smaller (around 3–10%), but the bias is still clearly upward.

In short, the flash and memory market has pivoted from discounting mode to premium pricing mode. With AI data-center demand rising and supply constrained, contract pricing is tightening and discount channels are thinning. For tech buyers, locking in volumes early or budgeting for higher component costs is a prudent next step.

What Is a Security Dongle? (Summary)

A security dongle is a physical USB key that verifies software ownership through hardware-based authentication rather than cloud logins or passwords. Inside the dongle sits a secure chip that stores encrypted keys or runs protected code, making it extremely difficult to clone, spoof, or bypass. Because authentication happens locally on the device, security dongles remain a trusted and highly resilient form of software protection.

Introduced in the 1980s to prevent unauthorized copying of high-value software, dongles continue to be widely used in engineering, media production, industrial automation, and any environment where offline reliability matters. Although they require careful handling and introduce some logistical challenges, their unmatched ability to provide secure offline validation makes them indispensable in many professional workflows.

Read the full article here:

Full Article: What Is a Security Dongle?

A tiny design decision in 1996 didn’t just annoy us — it reshaped tech culture, product adoption, and billions of daily interactions.

This post was drafted on a napkin somewhere between a refill and a revelation.

Let me paint you a picture. It’s 1996. Somewhere in a conference room filled with beige computers and men wearing pleated khakis, a group of engineers is finalizing the design for a new kind of cable called USB.

And then… it happens.

Someone says, “Should we make it work both ways?” Someone else replies, “Nah, people will figure it out.”

That’s it. That was the moment. That was the butterfly wing flap that doomed humanity to decades of flipping a plug three times before it fits.

Fast-forward to today. Seven billion people have lived through the USB Shuffle:

1. Try to plug it in. Doesn’t fit.
2. Flip it. Still doesn’t fit.
3. Flip it back. Suddenly works, because the universe is mocking you.

If you haven’t cursed under your breath during step two, congratulations — you’re either lying or, I don’t know, you use wireless everything and hate productivity.

The Cost of the USB Struggle: Humanity’s Dumbest Time Sink

Let’s talk impact. Because this isn’t just inconvenience. This is a global time suck of biblical proportions.

Quick napkin math:

• Average person plugs in a USB 2× a day
• Each attempt wastes 3–5 seconds of flipping, inspecting, and questioning your life choices
• Multiply by 3+ billion USB users worldwide

We’re looking at millions of hours of collective human existence lost to a tiny, avoidable design flaw.

Think about that. We could’ve cured something. We could’ve written more books. We could’ve finally understood taxes. But no — we were busy rotating a rectangle like chimps trying to solve a puzzle box.

If USB Had Been Reversible From Day One