Today in tiny, hyper-specific details that might end up having grave ludonarrative consequences: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)’s multiplayer avatars can wear watches. These watches display whatever time it is where you are, opening the door to a grim future in which somebody can land a perfect headshot on you…
Source: Kotaku – Characters’ Watches In The New Call Of Duty Will Display Real-World Time
Now that we’re on Beta 5 of Android Q, we’re getting very close to the official release of the new version of the operating system. Google has only intended to release six total betas before the final release candidate goes live, and the company has narrowed the Android Q launch window down to the “third quarter” of…
Source: LifeHacker – When Is Your Samsung or Motorola Phone Getting Android Q?
Comcast users will soon be able to access their Amazon Music playlists with their voice remote. The cable company announced today that the streaming music service will be integrated with Xfinity’s X1 and Flex platforms and will roll out over the next…
Source: Engadget – Comcast customers can now play Amazon Music on their TVs
It’s been 20 years since The Blair Witch Project launched and left moviegoers scared and wondering if the film was actually based on real events. There have been video games based on the franchise before, but they were forgettable, and many likely don’t know they ever existed. A new game is on the way called Blair Witch from Lionsgate Games
Source: Hot Hardware – First Blair Witch Official Gameplay Trailer Is Terrifying And Not For Weak Bladders
Doctors at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas are warning about a less-recognized danger of summer heat: pavement burns. Their recent study suggests that people in hot places can end up in the hospital with serious burn injuries caused by contact with sizzling pavement.
Source: Gizmodo – Hot Pavement Is More Dangerous Than You Realize
This is a video of Nicolas Cage’s 40-second cameo from Never On Tuesday, a not good any day of the week movie from 1989 in which he plays a freaky, Ferrari driving, rubber nosed weirdo. Some more info of how Nic Cage’s character came to be, per 20-year old at the time director Adam Rifkin:
The way it worked with Nicolas Cage is, he was given free rein to do whatever he wanted. That was the caveat. He said he’d do it if he could do whatever he wanted. So, he came, with a big rubber nose, that he wanted applied, and he wanted to play this insane character, which we thought was hilarious.
Now, there’s an uncut version of his scene that needs to be unearthed, from somewhere, where he says way more crazy things. That is not the version that ended up in the final film, sadly. But, now, I wish we could find it, because it’s really really bizarre. But that’s the story of how his character ended up in the film and became such a weird character.
“Is anybody hurt?” Man, it’s nice to know Nic Cage has been weird for so long. I find comfort in that. I also find comfort in knowing what I’m going to be for Halloween this year. “Nic Cage in Never On Tuesday?” What? No — a Ninja Turtle. Always a Ninja Turtle.
Keep going for the video while I fire up National Treasure.
Source: Geekologie – WTF Was That?: Crazy Nic Cage Cameo From A 1989 Straight To VHS Movie
fping is a small command line tool to send ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) echo request to network hosts
Source: Linux Today – Fping – A High Performance Ping Tool for Linux
The scariest horror comes from the most unexpected places, such as a group of children surviving in the streets of Mexico.
Source: io9 – Supernatural Horror Blends With Brutal Reality in the Trailer for Tigers Are Not Afraid
Every summer, there are scary news stories about people who catch infections—and sometimes die—from germs in the water. Here’s what you should know about some of the high-profile (but rare!) infections that have been in the news lately.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Protect Yourself From Infections While Swimming
AMD took the PC enthusiast community by storm with the release of its 7nm Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 processors, and a new leak suggests that the company is looking to expand the family and fill in some gaps with respect to pricing. A Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) listing has been uncovered that makes reference to three unannounced processors:
Source: Hot Hardware – AMD Ryzen 9 3900, Ryzen 7 3700 And Ryzen 5 3500 Zen 2 CPUs Allegedly Outed By EEC
Before the Trump administration declared a ‘national emergency’ effectively banning Huawei, Google and Huawei were reportedly months away from launching a Huawei-branded smart speaker. The companies allegedly planned to reveal the speaker at a trade…
Source: Engadget – Huawei and Google scrapped their smart speaker due to US ban
Work on the KDE Plasma 5.17 desktop environment is ongoing and it looks like there will be a lot of interface changes, as long time KDE developer Nate Graham revealed today.
Source: LXer – KDE Plasma 5.17 Linux Desktop to Modernize the Settings, Add Many UI Changes
Ten years after Vancouver’s Burrard Street Bridge bike lanes opened, it is no longer controversial.
Source: TreeHugger – Is this the busiest bike lane in North America?
At least 200 law enforcement agencies around the country have entered into partnerships with Amazon’s home surveillance company Ring, according to an email obtained by Motherboard via public record request. From a report: Ring has never disclosed the exact number of partnerships that it maintains with law enforcement. However, the company has partnered with at least 200 law enforcement agencies, according to notes taken by a police officer during a Ring webinar, which he emailed to himself in April. It’s possible that the number of partnerships has changed since the day the email was sent. The officer who sent the email told Motherboard that the email was a transcribed version of handwritten notes that he took during a team webinar with a Ring representative on April 9. Additional emails obtained by Motherboard indicate that this webinar trained officers on how to use the “Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal.” This portal allows local police to see a map with the approximate locations of all Ring cameras in a neighborhood, and request footage directly from camera owners. Owners need to consent, but police do not need a warrant to ask for footage.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Amazon Told Police It Has Partnered With 200 Law Enforcement Agencies
Kershaw Cinder (1025X) Multifunction Pocket Knife | $7 | Amazon
Source: io9 – This Kershaw Pocket Knife is Selling For a Low
Alphabet owns both DeepMind and Waymo, and the two subsidiaries are working together to train AIs that operate Waymo self-driving cars. The way the duo are training the AI is using the technique that DeepMind calls population-based training (PBT) that was developed and used previously by DeepMind for training the video game algorithms used
Source: Hot Hardware – Waymo And DeepMind Collaborate To Teach Self-Driving Cars Like Video Game AI
The Duffer Brothers’ love for classic sci-fi and horror films has been baked into every season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, but the show’s always been so reference-dense that, at times, it could be a little difficult to pick up on all of the winks and nods featured in each episode. In a new interview with Wired,…
Source: io9 – The Duffer Brothers Break Down All of Stranger Things’ Movie References
Farming Simulator, a game about planting and harvesting crops using giant pieces of agricultural machinery, held its first tournament since launching an esports league this past weekend. The results were surprisingly chill and wholesome to watch.
Source: Kotaku – Competitive Farming Simulator Is Like An Adorable Tortoise Race
It’s time again for another PSA about updating your old- to semi-old Android devices, this time to protect your smartphones and tablets from a newly discovered exploit that could let hackers take control of an Android device via malicious code embedded in video files played on the device.
Source: LifeHacker – Update Your Android Nougat, Oreo, or Pie Device to Block Video Malware
Youth activist Greta Thunberg is hopping on a carbon-free racing boat to make the United Nations Climate Summit in New York on September 23. The Swedish founder of Fridays for Future—a now-global effort where youth skip school on Fridays to protest in the name of climate change and their future—figured out how to make…
Source: Gizmodo – Greta Thunberg Is Sailing Carbon-Free to the UN Climate Summit, But What About Youth Activists of Color?