Lots of Overwatch fans read the game’s proud, pink-haired Russian lady soldier Zarya as gay. While perhaps not a huge deal on its own, that interpretation conflicts with homophobic views widely held in Russia and backed by the state, forcing Russian Overwatch players to reconcile two clashing interpretations of a widely admired character.
Source: Kotaku – Zarya From Overwatch Has Become A Gay Icon, Ironically
After its initial Seattle launch in April, BMW is ready to beef up its ReachNow car sharing service. According to GeekWire, the automaker saw some 13,000 members sign up to use its fleet of 370 i3s, 328xis and Mini Coopers in the first month. To deal…
Source: Engadget – BMW expands ReachNow car sharing service in Seattle
Anyone that has read our recent editorials knows what this article is saying is right on the money. Speaking of money, AMD has been in financial trouble for some time and, unless the company turns things around, bankruptcy is a very real possibility. For everyone’s sake, let’s keep our fingers crossed that AMD does eventually turn things around.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) has been a financially distressed firm over the recent years and discussions about its future have often resulted in heated debates. While some believe the chipmaker is making the right moves to stage a successful turnaround, others are convinced that its bankruptcy is imminent going forward.
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Source: [H]ardOCP – AMD – Bankruptcy Or A Turnaround?
What the!?!? Common sense coming from the courts? This is unbelievable. Finally a judge that realizes anyone with access to the router in question could have downloaded the movie including family members, friends or someone across the street jumping on your open Wi-Fi connection.
In what’s believed to be a first of its kind ruling, a federal court in Oregon has dismissed a direct infringement complaint against an alleged movie pirate from the outset. According to the judge, linking an IP-address to a pirated download is not enough to prove direct copyright infringement.
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Source: [H]ardOCP – Judge Dismisses Piracy Case, Says IP Address Doesn’t Prove Anything
We’ve seen our fair share of cheap Bluetooth ear buds, but how about on-ears? Mpow’s Muze headphones are wireless, foldable, well-reviewed, and even noise-canceling. That’s a heck of a package for $40. Remember, your next phone might not have a headphone jack, so this is as good a time as any to get accustomed to wireless.
Source: LifeHacker – Slip on a Pair of Wireless, Noise-Canceling On-Ear Headphones For
Virtual, or La Caja de Pandora (translation: Pandora’s Box), packs an awful lot of video-game theatrics, grimy real-world atmospherics, and fiery special effects into 15 minutes—no wonder creator Daniel Hernández Torrado, an avowed lover of science fiction and video games, had dreams of making it into a feature film.
Source: io9 – Reality Sucks (With Good Reason) for Futuristic Gamers in Short Pandora’s Box
Marines forces on either side of the Atlantic have depended on air support from the versatile AV-8B Harrier jump jet and its marvelous Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capability to lift into flight without a runway. But the venerable aircraft ha…
Source: Engadget – F-35 completes first transatlantic flight on delivery to UK
We already know the Raspberry Pi makes a great photo frame
, but DIYer Paul Stamatiou took it another step and integrated in Google Photos.
Source: LifeHacker – Build an Automatically Updating Digital Photo Frame with a Raspberry Pi and Google Photos
Source: Engadget – HTC is spinning off Vive into a separate company
Increasingly, the Steam mobile app is vital if you want to make optimal use of Steam’s features. Using the Steam marketplace to buy and sell items is a horrible chore without it, among other things. And yet, for years it’s been restricted to iOS and Android. Thankfully, Valve’s finally changed that.
Source: Kotaku – The Steam Mobile App Is Finally On Windows Phones
No one is impressed by your dumb choreographed videos, OK Go. It’s old. It’s masturbatory. Your hurting yourselves and the people closest to you, and AJJ wants you to stop.
Source: Gizmodo – Video Perfectly Skewers the Assholery of OK Go
If you were looking to further explore Fallout 4’s modding community as a PlayStation 4 owner, unfortunately you’re going to have to wait a little longer. Bethesda has announced a delay to the PS4 Mods Beta, and hasn’t yet given an ETA on when we can…
Source: Engadget – Delays plague PlayStation 4 ‘Fallout 4’ mod update
The improbable love triangle between Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, and Veronica Lodge is a core part of the classic version of America’s Favorite Teenager. But last year’s reboot
changed all of that
. Last week, Veronica moved in with Archie. Things got weird.
Source: io9 – Archie Only Has One Girlfriend Now
Mac: You can do just about anything from the command line on a Mac, but with so many utilities, it’s hard to remember what commands do what. Mac CLI is a set of utilities that simplifies that.
Source: LifeHacker – Mac CLI Is a Massive Collection of Command Line Tools for Developers
Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad sits down to talk about music—its purpose, its function, its meaning—with filmmaker Mac Premo in this wildly frenetic video and somehow manages to explain why music is so special. Abumrad says that unlike words, which are basically just a code or an agreement between people, music just is what it is, and the response we have is innate. Music can magically get around a person’s rational defenses and is something that makes us who we are.
Source: Gizmodo – What Is Music and Why Is It So Special?
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it is making some changes to its algorithm that powers the News Feed to better showcase posts from friends and family members over posts from publishers. Mark Wilson, writing for BetaNews:The problem we currently face, Facebook says, is that there is “far too much information for any one person to consume.” This is where algorithms come into play, meddling with timelines and newsfeeds in ways that never please everyone. The latest change promises that content from “the friends you care about” will appear “higher up in your News Feed.”The move comes as Facebook struggles to get people to interact and post more on its social network. This is yet another blow to publishers that rely heavily on social media exposure. In recent years, Facebook has not only downranked stories that have misleading and unclear headlines but also cut the traffic it was once sending publishers’ way. It is worth pointing out that these events have happened in the lights of Facebook launching its own publishing network called Instant Articles on the social media and encouraging publishers to directly publish on its platform instead of their respective websites.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Facebook Tweaks Its Newsfeed To Better Showcase Posts From Friends Instead Of Publishers
NVIDIA just underscored one of the advantages of having a high-powered streaming media hub: you can roll out new video features before anyone else. It’s delivering an update to its Shield set-top box that introduces high dynamic range Netflix video…
Source: Engadget – Your NVIDIA Shield now plays Netflix videos in HDR
A day after we asked the question “Why are so few people talking about Preacher?”, AMC confirmed big-time that it still has confidence in the show by announcing it will get a second season.
Source: io9 – Preacher Will Return For Season Two With 13 Total Episodes
We’ve seen omnidirectional wheels installed on forklifts that have to deftly maneuver around crowded warehouses, but William Liddiard has invented a set that allow his Toyota Echo to move in any direction, spin 360-degrees, and slide into a parking spot making parallel parking easier than actual driving.
Source: Gizmodo – Magical Wheels Let This Car Roll in Any Direction
This guy is not the sharpest tool in the shed but his laser bazooka is kinda cool in a “it’ll put your damn eyes out” kinda way. If you are in a hurry, skip to the 1:30 minute mark to see the laser bazooka in action.
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Source: [H]ardOCP – Homebuilt 200W Laser Bazooka!