HBO’s The Last of Us has been described as a show that breaks the video game adaptation curse, and it’s certainly unique in the way it has almost singlehandedly shifted the dialogue. If a third-person zombie game can be prestige television, can an Oscar for Mario and Luigi be far away?
Source: LifeHacker – 13 Video Game Adaptations Nearly As Good As ‘The Last of Us’
In one of the FBI’s most sophisticated cybercrime operations to date, agents infiltrated and spent approximately six months embedded in a prominent ransomware gang’s network, Justice Department officials announced Thursday. That gang, known as Hive, was disrupted earlier this week when agents seized its server…
Source: Gizmodo – The FBI Hacked and Infiltrated a Ransomware Gang for Months Before Dismantling It
Last April, Tennessee-based soil scientist Rose Abramoff was arrested after chaining herself to a White House fence. She was one of about 1,000 scientists around the world who engaged in civil disobedience that week, organized by Scientist Rebellion. They demanded “emergency decarbonization” and wealth distribution.
Source: Gizmodo – This Scientist Was Fired for Her Activism. She Says It’s Not Going to Stop Her
The Nintendo 64’s iconic James Bond FPS adventure, GoldenEye 007, is due to be released on modern platforms tomorrow with support for modern standards such as widescreen 16:9 and 4K Ultra HD depending on platform. From Friday, January 27, the remastered title will become available worldwide on Nintendo Switch plus Microsoft Xbox One & Series
Source: Hot Hardware – GoldenEye 007 Is Making A Glorious Comeback On Xbox And Switch Online
After making folks swoon with his daddy-ness in Stranger Things, David Harbour doesn’t seem to have ridden on the coattails of his handsomeness. He hid behind pounds of prosthetics in Hellboy, and got extra paunchy for his role as Red Guardian in Black Widow and Santa in Violet Night. But are you ready for the sad-…
Source: Gizmodo – Netflix’s We Have a Ghost Turns David Harbour Into a Supernatural Schlub
Audi has finally revealed the Activesphere EV concept it promised last summer. The crossover is built to go off-road, complete with a rugged underbody, a liftable suspension and easy ways to carry your sports gear. The rear can transform into a loading area with enough room for your e-bikes, for instance. It nonetheless features a sedan-like profile and the creature comforts of past concepts, including a spacious, bright interior designed for relaxing while the vehicle is in self-driving mode.
The cabin reflects Audi’s confidence in augmented reality. Occupants wear AR glasses that provide vital performance figures (for the driver) as well as infotainment and virtual assistant controls. You won’t find a conventional row of screens or gauges, and the eyewear can even track your health while you ride an e-bike on a trail. When you’re ready to take control, the dash and steering wheel lift into place. Audi clearly expects you to only occasionally take the helm, such as when you’re venturing beyond asphalt.
Most specifications aren’t available (this is a concept, after all). However, Audi claims a range of more than 372 miles and fast 270kW charging using an 800V architecture. The 100kWh battery pack can charge from 5 percent to 80 percent in 25 minutes, Audi says.
This is the fourth model in Audi’s “sphere” electric concept line. The company kicked off the initiative with the shapeshifting Skysphere roadster in August 2021, and followed that a month later with the upscale Grandsphere sedan. Last year’s Urbansphere was intended as the SUV for future cities, where your car is as much an office (or a refuge from the outside world) as it is transportation.
As with past experiments, the Activesphere isn’t a preview of a production model. It’s Audi’s vision of motoring in the near future, not to mention a demonstration of technical prowess. It’s just a matter of whether or not the concept influences future cars. Audi has played it relatively safe with its existing EV lineup, which largely revolves around familiar-looking SUVs and the Porsche Taycan’s sibling, the e-tron GT. The brand expects to dramatically expand its electric offerings by 2026, though, so we wouldn’t rule out Activesphere-inspired rides.
Source: Engadget – Audi’s Activesphere EV concept is built for off-roading and augmented reality
CNet’s AI SNFAU turned out to be merely the first pebble kicked down the slippery slope. In a Thursday morning internal memo acquired by the Wall Street Journal, Buzzfeed Chief Executive Jonah Peretti announced plans to embrace AI in both editorial and business operations and utilize text generation systems similar to CNet’s to produce, for example, the memeable quizzes that originally built Buzzfeed’s following.
Such AI-powered quizzes could provide more personalized answers based on the user’s more specific responses rather than based on a score range or ranked choice system like they are today. Peretti envisions AI not only producing content on its own but drawing inspiration from human writers. We squishy meat sacks would serve as idea sources for AI text generators, or as Peretti described members of his own species, “cultural currency” and “inspired prompts.” He further argues that within the next two decades, AI will “create, personalize, and animate the content itself” rather than simply regurgitate (read: plagiarize) already existing works.
This announcement comes after Buzzfeed laid off 12 percent of its newsroom in December, blaming “challenging macroeconomic conditions.” On Monday, news broke that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has been paying Buzzfeed millions to help generate creator content for Facebook and Instagram.
On one hand, this seems a foolhardy move given the Low Orbit Ion Cannon-level fallout that CNet’s reputation has suffered since news broke that it had employed AI text generation systems to produce nearly 75 financial explainers since late 2022. More than half of those posts had to be updated on account of shoddy math (you’d think a computer would be better at that), plus the whole plagiarism thing. On the other hand, a lot of the flack that CNet took in the early days of the controversy was that it had tried to be cute and sneak in the fact that it was having chatbots write entire feature posts without actually telling anybody. Peretti’s announcement Thursday, at least does that.
Of course, Buzzfeed is far from alone in the burgeoning “pivot to ChatGPT” movement. Microsoft announced this week a multiyear, “multi-billion dollar” investment in OpenAI’s text generation systems — exactly two days before announcing that despite $52.7 billion in Q2 revenue, it would be laying off ten thousand (10,000) people on account of challenging macroeconomic conditions.
Source: Engadget – BuzzFeed is the latest publisher to embrace AI-generated content
The $200 PlayStation 5 Dualsense Edge controller Sony announced last year is meant to provide ultimate try-hard gamers with new options to stomp their opponents. However paying the extra $130 over than the original DualSense’s $70 to access those extra bells and whistles also means cutting a marathon gaming session…
Source: Gizmodo – Size Does Matter: PlayStation Edge Controller’s Shrunken Battery Explains Its Shorter Operating Life
I’ve been dealing with a surplus of French toast recently, but such is the life of a recipe tester. I ate what I could, but the remaining slices either went in the fridge or the freezer for future snacks or breakfasts. Luckily for me, today is the future, and I’ve decided to forgo the syrup in favor of meats and…
Source: LifeHacker – Build Your Next Breakfast Sandwich on French Toast
A Yandex source code repository allegedly stolen by a former employee of the Russian technology company has been leaked as a Torrent on a popular hacking forum. From a report: Yesterday, the leaker posted a magnet link that they claim are ‘Yandex git sources’ consisting of 44.7 GB of files stolen from the company in July 2022. These code repositories allegedly contain all of the company’s source code besides anti-spam rules.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Yandex Denies Hack, Blames Source Code Leak on Former Employee
Apple Console is a system utility which collects log messages that are generated from your computer and connected devices. The output lets users check performance issues and resolve problems.
Source: LXer – Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Console
In our latest episode of 2.5 Geeks, we cover Intel and AMD’s beefiest, baddest processors that were announced this month for desktop PCs and the data center, including Sapphire Rapids, AMD EYPC Genoa, and the Core i9-13900KS. We also discuss the best we saw at CES 2023…
Show Notes:
00:00 Countdown Begins
05:00 Dave’s Intro
05:23 Upcoming
Source: Hot Hardware – 2.5 Geeks: Genoa, Sapphire Rapids, Core i9-13900KS: POWERFUL CPUs And The Best Of CES 2023
Owners of Google’s Pixel 6 and 7 smartphones are saying that there is a major problem with the January Play system update. According to some Pixel owners on Reddit, the latest update is not actually doing anything.
Google has had something of a rough patch with its Pixel flagship smartphones as of late. The Pixel 6 had its share of issues,
Source: Hot Hardware – Pixel 7 And 6 Owners Are Getting Google’s January Play System Update But There’s A Problem
Sega and its Ryu Ga Gotoku studio announced that some big stars in the worlds of professional wrestling and Hollywood will make cameos in the upcoming samurai Yakuza spin-off, Like A Dragon: Ishin!
Source: Kotaku – The Samurai Yakuza Game Will Guest-Star A World-Famous Wrestler And An Internet Hottie
Avoid having the rm command delete files without asking you by familiarizing yourself with the rm command’s options first.
The post What You Need to Know About the rm Command in Linux appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – What You Need to Know About the rm Command in Linux
Africa is less safe, secure and democratic than a decade ago, with insecurity holding back progress in health, education and economic opportunities, according to an assessment of the continent. From a report: The Ibrahim index of African governance, which examines how well governments have delivered on policies and services, including security, health, education, rights and democratic participation, said Covid had contributed to the stalling of progress over the past three years.
Mo Ibrahim, a Sudan-born businessman who launched the index in 2007, said economic opportunities and human development had improved “quite a lot” across Africa over the past 10 years. “But on the other hand, we see other forces pulling us back. The security and safety of our people is deteriorating,” he said. Ibrahim said he was concerned the climate crisis would lead to more conflict over resources, as already seen in parts of Nigeria, Darfur and the Sahel, and worried about the impact of the war in Ukraine on development indicators across the continent.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Africa Has Become ‘Less Safe, Secure and Democratic’ in Past Decade, Report Finds
The Legend of Vox Machina has been so successful that it was no surprise when Prime Video announced a third season of Critical Role’s animated fantasy was in development—or when the streamer confirmed that the beloved TTRPG’s second campaign, The Mighty Nein, is now getting an adaptation of its own.
Source: Gizmodo – What You Need to Know About Critical Role’s Mighty Nein
We all know walking is good for us. While the old “10,000 steps” goal was never really based on science, studies have shown that generally speaking, the more you walk, the healthier you are. But the United States is a country custom-built for the car. While more than half of our trips outside the home are typically…
Source: LifeHacker – How Your Community’s ‘Walk Score’ Directly Impacts Your Life
A white supremacist killed 10 people and injured three others in a Buffalo, New York supermarket in May 2022. While the gunman was carrying out his heinous act of violence, he was also livestreaming the shooting on Twitch. For months leading up to the attack, the shooter posted about his plans on Discord. The 19-year…
Source: Gizmodo – National Threat Assessment Center Releases First of Its Kind Report on Mass Attacks
Microsoft is working on an overhaul of the File Explorer app in Windows 11, according to a report from Windows Central. The new Explorer will allegedly feature redesigned and more touch-friendly navigation, better photo viewing with larger previews, keyword and color tagging for organizing files, and tighter integration with Microsoft 365 and OneDrive.
An internal mock-up of the new interface shows a new “recommended” section of files alongside the existing areas for pinned and recent files, with large previews of various documents and information about where the files are located (OneDrive, SharePoint, and the local Downloads folder are all listed) and information about recent updates to the files. The new look will also come with “more modern code” under the hood.
The report says Microsoft wants to release the new Explorer before the end of the year. It could be part of this year’s annual Windows update in the fall, but Microsoft has taken a “whenever they’re ready” approach to releasing new Windows features in the Windows 11 era—it could be released at any time, or never.
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Source: Ars Technica – Microsoft said to be working on an overhauled File Explorer for Windows 11
