For the first time in a decade, Halo is magical again. Halo 4 and 5 were fine, but they largely lacked the magic that defined previous games: the signature cocktail of oppositional plays that turn your vision red while also making you laugh so hard your lungs hurt. Halo Infinite has so far nailed that mix, as is clear…
Source: Kotaku – Wild Halo Infinite Flag Heist Pays Off
Libreboot 20211122 has been released as the downstream fork of Coreboot on providing fully free software boot firmware support…
Source: Phoronix – Libreboot 20211122 Rebases Against Newer Coreboot, Drops “Very Bloated” TianoCore
Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist’s own order. The BBC reports: The singer tweeted: “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.” The streaming service replied “anything for you”. A statement later hailed their “new premium feature… to make play the default button on all albums.” A Spotify spokesperson said they were “excited” to be rolling out the feature which was “long requested by both users and artists.” The spokesperson said Spotify users could still choose to shuffle an album, but the system would default to playing tracks in the order chosen by the artist. “As always, we will continue to iterate our products and features to create the best experiences for both artists and their fans,” the statement concluded.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Adele Gets Spotify To Take Shuffle Button Off All Album Pages
If the YouTube TV app on your Roku device isn’t working properly, you’re not the only one. Over on the company’s community forums, there are multiple reports of the latest Roku OS update causing the YouTube TV app to freeze after several minutes of use. In a tweet spotted by Gizmodo, an official YouTube support account said Google was aware of the issue and working on a potential solution.
“Sorry to hear about this — just to clarify, are you having this issue on Roku? If yes, we’re already aware of this issue, and our team is currently working on a fix,” the account said. “We’ll let you know as soon as we receive an update. Let us know if it’s something different.”
Sorry to hear about this – just to clarify, are you having this issue on Roku? If yes, we’re already aware of this issue, and our team is currently working on a fix. We’ll let you know as soon as we receive an update. Let us know if it’s something different.
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 20, 2021
At the moment, it’s unclear if the bug is the latest development in the ongoing feud between Google and Roku. Back in April, the two started publicly accusing one another of attempting to renegotiate their distribution deal in bad faith. When we reached out to Google, the company pointed us to the above tweet without offering any additional context. We’ve also reached out to Roku for comment.
As 9to5Google points out, what makes the situation worse is that one potential workaround to the problem doesn’t exist. Normally, in situations like this one you might uninstall the affected app and reinstall it to see if that fixes that problem. That hasn’t been possible since Roku pulled the YouTube TV app from its store back in April.
Source: Engadget – Roku’s latest update is causing issues with the YouTube TV app
Enlarge / Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. (credit: Flickr / Bobby Kotick)
Embattled Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told colleagues that he would consider stepping down and departing the organization if the company’s deep-running sexual harassment and other cultural problems are not resolved.
This is according to a Wall Street Journal report citing “people familiar with his comments.” The report didn’t go into much detail, beyond noting that Kotick said he was open to stepping down if things don’t improve quickly.
Earlier this year, the state of California announced a lawsuit over numerous complaints of sexual harassment and similar problems at the video game publisher and developer. Revelations and controversies have followed as numerous instances of employees facing a hostile work environment over the company’s history have come to light.
While some of the offenders were let go from the company either before or after the investigation began, many of Activision Blizzard’s concerned employees have organized to call for more action than the company’s leadership has taken.
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Source: Ars Technica – Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick says he would consider stepping down
One of the Netflix employees at the center of the worker-led movement to get the company to answer for a string of perceived homophobic comments made by comedian Dave Chappelle has officially resigned from the company.
Source: Gizmodo – Netflix Employee Who Organized Dave Chappelle Protests Has Resigned
Gizmodo says it will be making the “Facebook Papers” public, becoming the first media outlet to do so. These documents were leaked to U.S. regulators by a Facebook whistleblower earlier this year and “reveal that the social media giant has privately and meticulously tracked real-world harms exacerbated by its platforms,” reports the Washington Post. Yet it also reports that at the same time Facebook “ignored warnings from its employees about the risks of their design decisions and exposed vulnerable communities around the world to a cocktail of dangerous content.” Gizmodo explains how and why they’re making this move: We believe there’s a strong public need in making as many of the documents public as possible, as quickly as possible. To that end, we’ve partnered with a small group of independent monitors, who are joining us to establish guidelines for an accountable review of the documents prior to publication. The mission is to minimize any costs to individuals’ privacy or the furtherance of other harms while ensuring the responsible disclosure of the greatest amount of information in the public interest. The committee includes [experts from NYU, Mass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU]. While our group is itself largely American, our first decision was to require local experts when reviewing any document focused on another country. One of the committee’s chief responsibilities is to vet local experts to work alongside our reviewers.
[…] Beyond privacy reasons, the documents require additional review to ensure that we aren’t just handing criminals and spies a roadmap for undermining what controls Facebook does have in place to defend against propaganda that spreads lies, hate, and fear. That would undermine any benefit the world stands to reap from this act of whistleblower justice. Our work is just beginning, but we’re eager to release our first batch of documents as soon as possible. To get the ball rolling, the first release will likely consist mostly of documents that warrant the least amount of inspection. To learn more, check back for updates at the top of this article in the coming days.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Gizmodo Is Making the Facebook Papers Public
Enlarge / LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 19: Travelers at the United Terminal 7 at LAX airport as people prepare to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday. (credit: Getty | Al Seib)
Cases of COVID-19 are high and getting higher in the US as Americans head into a holiday week, marked by nationwide travel and jam-packed family gatherings
The country’s daily average of new cases has jumped 29 percent over the last two weeks, and the current average for daily new cases is nearing 94,000, according to data tracking by The New York Times. Previously, national cases were this high at the beginning of November last year and at the beginning of this past August—as the country headed into two of the largest surges in the pandemic so far.
While cases are largely holding steady at high levels in the South and West, the Northeast and Midwest are seeing rapid surges. In the Northeast, Connecticut is seeing the fastest rise in cases nationwide, with a 117 percent jump in new daily cases over the last two weeks. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts rank after Connecticut for the country’s sharpest case increases. Maine, meanwhile, is seeing its highest levels of cases and hospitalizations yet in the pandemic.
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Source: Ars Technica – COVID surge underway with daily cases already above 93K ahead of holiday
After more than a year since the Pinta 1.7 release, Pinta 1.7.1 comes as not only a bug fix release, but it also includes a few minor features / enhancements. This is likely the last GTK2-based Pinta release because, according to the release notes, “the GTK3 / .NET 6 version is nearly ready”.
Source: LXer – Pinta Image Editor 1.7.1 Available For Download (Likely The Last GTK2 Release)
Bright Memory Infinite is an ambitious first-person shooter action game that fuses the futuristic samurai combat of something like Warframe with the epic adventure and platforming of games like Tomb Raider. But while FYQD-Studio’s game is an improvement upon its 2020 build, Bright Memory, there is still much to be…
Source: Kotaku – This Lightning-Fast Action Game Is Like A Cyberpunk Tomb Raider With Warframe’s Swordplay
We’re surrounded with loaded language. Whether it’s mass media, politics, or the people around us, someone is always trying to use words and phrases to support their agenda and to change our minds in bad faith.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Recognize the Weasley, Smarmy, and Otherwise Loaded Language That People Use Against You
If you happen to own an iPhone 12 or 12 Pro and have recently experienced some annoying speaker issues, you may be in luck and eligible for a free Apple repair.
Source: Gizmodo – Apple Will Repair Faulty iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Speakers for Free
Anime conventions are twilight zones of highly questionable purchasing decisions. The colorful displays are ruthlessly effective at pressuring con-goers into spending their money on the basis of emotions, rather than logic or fiscal responsibility. When I was a high schooler, I would often buy large prints that I…
Source: Kotaku – I Bought A Genshin Impact Titty Mouse Pad, And I Love It
The Matrix Resurrections is now just one month from release and we still know very little about it. Case in point are these brand new character posters revealed on the movie’s official Twitter account. Oh, sure, we know Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss’s deal. But who are some of the other characters and actors who…
Source: Gizmodo – The Latest Matrix Resurrections Posters Reveal Characters New and Old
Gizmodo has been following ongoing court proceedings in Sines v. Kessler, the federal civil rights case brought by those harmed by the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. This page may be updated to reflect further developments in the case.
Source: Gizmodo – Everything You May Have Missed About the Trial That Could Bankrupt the Far-Right
Enlarge / Technician standing near some of the segments of the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror. (credit: NASA)
A short update on the projected launch date of the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope came out of NASA on Monday, and it wasn’t exactly a heart-warming missive.
The large, space-based telescope’s “no earlier than” launch date will slip from December 18 to at least December 22 after an “incident” occurred during processing operations at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. That is where the telescope will launch on an Ariane 5 rocket provided by the European Space Agency.
“Technicians were preparing to attach Webb to the launch vehicle adapter, which is used to integrate the observatory with the upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket,” NASA said in a blog post. “A sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band—which secures Webb to the launch vehicle adapter—caused a vibration throughout the observatory.”
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Source: Ars Technica – An “incident” with the James Webb Space Telescope has occurred
Adobe Lightroom is a creative image organization and image manipulation software. What are the best free and open source alternatives to Adobe Lightroom?
The post Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Adobe Lightroom appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Adobe Lightroom
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Indian police said on Saturday they had charged senior executives of Amazon.com’s local unit under narcotics laws in a case of alleged marijuana smuggling via the online retailer. Police in the central Madhya Pradesh state arrested two men with 20 kg of marijuana on Nov. 14 and found they were using the Amazon India website to order and further smuggle the substance in the guise of stevia leaves, a natural sweetener, to other Indian states.
State police said in a statement that executive directors of Amazon India were being named as accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act due to differences in answers in documents provided by the company in response to police questions and facts unearthed by discussion. Police did not disclose how many executives were charged. The police, who had previously summoned and spoken to Amazon executives in the case, estimate that about 1,000 kg of marijuana, worth roughly $148,000, was sold via Amazon.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – India Police Charge Amazon Execs In Alleged Marijuana Smuggling Case
While Fortnite remains banned from Apple’s walled garden, there’s no shortage of battle royales to play on Android and iOS devices, especially with big-names like Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile available. But we now have a new PvEvP experience that fills the Epic Games-sized hole left in the App Store. It comes…
Source: Kotaku – Final Fantasy 7 Battle Royale Doesn’t Just Work, It’s Tight
High intensity interval training packs a hard workout into a short period of time, which makes it sound like it should be an efficient, superior way to work out. But HIIT doesn’t have as many advantages as we’re led to believe, and often steady-state cardio is the better option. Let’s look at a few factors to keep in…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Choose Between HIIT and Steady Cardio Workouts
