Running a movie studio has proven to be challenging for reality television mogul turned Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. As 2023 comes to an end, he looks to the upcoming year to continue to answer for the choices being made.
Source: Gizmodo – David Zaslav Says Universally Unpopular Movie Scrapping Was Brave, Actually
Ikea has launched a new smart home product family called the Vallhorn, Parasoll, and Badring, which are “designed to give customers a greater sense of control and comfort, allowing them to stay connected to their homes, even when they are away.” Thankfully, these smart home products are inexpensive and don’t require the ever-fun Ikea assembly,
Source: Hot Hardware – IKEA Releases 3 Ultra-Affordable Smart Home Sensors, No Assembly Required
The idea was bonkers from the start—a reality competition based on a fictional series about a reality competition in which players fight to the death—but perhaps unsurprisingly, given the runaway success of its gruesome source material, Netflix’s controversial Squid Game: The Challenge is a certified hit. Even without…
Source: Gizmodo – Netflix’s Controversial Squid Game Reality Show Is a Hit
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Alexander Koerner)
Google Play has reversed its latest ban on a web browser that keeps getting targeted by vague Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices. Downloader, an Android TV app that combines a browser with a file manager, was restored to Google Play last night.
Downloader, made by app developer Elias Saba, was suspended on Sunday after a DMCA notice submitted by copyright-enforcement firm MarkScan on behalf of Warner Bros. Discovery. It was the second time in six months that Downloader was suspended based on a complaint that the app’s web browser is capable of loading websites.
The first suspension in May lasted three weeks, but Google reversed the latest one much more quickly. As we wrote on Monday, the MarkScan DMCA notice didn’t even list any copyrighted works that Downloader supposedly infringed upon.
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Source: Ars Technica – Web browser suspended because it can browse the web is back on Google Play
No music streaming service is perfect, and most of Apple Music’s biggest weaknesses center around sharing and collaboration. Sure, you can send your playlists to others, but until now, there was no way to create a collaborative playlist on the service. That all changes with iOS 17.2, which Apple is soon to release. If you want to try creating a shared playlist today, you can install the iOS 17.2 public beta. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait for Apple to drop the update in coming weeks. Either way, once you have it installed, you’ll find the option to create Apple Music playlists that you are your friends can perfect together. Here’s how it works.
Once you’ve updated to iOS 17.2, open any of the playlists you’ve previously created in the app. You’ll notice an icon above the playlist search bar featuring two people. Tap the icon and you’ll see a popover menu with the title ‘Invite Friends to Join.’ This is where you can start inviting people to join your existing playlists.
By default, Apple allows anyone with your playlist link to add or remove songs, and to reorder them. To limit this, enable the Approve Collaborators option. That way, you can check who wants to join your collaborative playlists and approve the people you’d actually like to share music with. You also have an option to edit your name and photo that will appear when working on a playlist. Tap the Edit button next to your name to change this to your liking. Once you’re ready, tap Start Collaboration.
This will open the share sheet allowing you to send an invite link to your friends or family. From there, they’ll be able to tap the link and join your playlist. To manage your playlist in the future (or invite more people), you can hit the people icon up top once again. Here you’ll see the name of your playlist and two options to share an invite—via an invite link (valid for seven days from the time you send it) as well as a QR code that others can scan to quickly join your playlist as a collaborator.
From the same menu, you also have the ability to stop collaboration at any point, and to add or remove collaborators. Apple Music allows you to disable manually approving collaborators as well, if you’re sure only people you know and trust will obtain the link (and thus the ability to join your collaborative playlist).
Once all of this is done, you’ll notice a few changes to your playlist. A profile picture will appear next to all the songs to help identify who added which one. And at the end of the playlist, you’ll see a list of all the collaborators, so you’ll know exactly who to thank for their contributions (assuming they have good taste, of course).
Source: LifeHacker – You Can Finally Make Collaborative Apple Music Playlists
The live-service video game economy runs on microtransactions, and Xsolla is one of the companies that helps process them. The payment platform works with Epic Games, Unity, Roblox, and others to collect money from players all over the world. Now a new lawsuit alleges that Xsolla has mishandled $40 million and fired…
Source: Kotaku – Massive Game Microtransaction Company Sounds Super Shady
Enlarge / Nikola Tesla’s Wardenclyffe plant on Long Island circa 1902 in partial stage of completion. (credit: Public domain)
Back in 2012, a crowdfunding effort on Indigogo successfully raised the funds necessary to purchase the Wardenclyffe Tower site on Long Island, New York, where Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla once tried to build an ambitious wireless transmission station. The goal was to raise additional funds to build a $20 million Tesla Science Center there, with a museum, an educational center, and a technological innovation program. The nonprofit group behind the project finally broke ground this April after years of basic restoration work—only to experience a devastating setback last week, two days before Thanksgiving, when a fire broke out.
Over 100 firefighters from 17 local departments responded and battled the flames throughout the night, as residual embers led to two additional outbreaks. One firefighter sustained bruised ribs after falling off a ladder, but there were no other injuries or fatalities. Once the blaze was extinguished, the TSC group called in their engineers to assess the damage and make recommendations for repairs. While an investigation is ongoing as to the cause of the fire, Fire Chief Sean McCarrick said during a press conference on Tuesday, November 28, that they had ruled out arson. According to project architect Mark Thaler, there was nothing flammable in the lab that could have caused the fire, although the back buildings had wood-frame roofs.
The original brick building, designed by Stanford White, is still standing, although there is considerable damage to the structure of the roof, steel girders, chimney, cupola, and a portion of a wall. Some elements have been irreparably destroyed, but fortunately all museum artifacts in TSC’s collection were stored offsite. The most pressing concern is that water from the firehoses saturated the brick walls, according to Thaler, since the upcoming colder winter temperatures could freeze that moisture and cause the brick work to break apart and collapse. The engineers have also recommended adding strategic wall supports to both the interior and exterior to shore up the structure.
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Source: Ars Technica – Nikola Tesla’s historic Wardenclyffe lab site at risk after devastating fire
Dan Houser, who co-founded Rockstar Games and was the lead writer on multiple Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption games, has finally revealed what his new studio is working on. If you were expecting a video game…well, you’ll have to keep waiting.
Source: Kotaku – Rockstar Co-Founder & GTA Lead Writer Finally Reveals What He’s Been Working On
Remember that Alienware M18 R1 laptop that we made some fuss about awhile back? We reviewed the original NVIDIA-powered version, but there’s a new AMD Advantage model that uniquely comes with a mobile variant of Navi 31 called the Radeon RX 7900M. Sadly, reviewers and early adopters have complained of black screens, stuttering games, and even
Source: Hot Hardware – Dell Offers Work-Around For Alienware M18 Gaming Laptop Display Issue With RX 7900M
Netflix continues to bet big on gaming. The streamer just announced that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition will hit its platform on December 14. The game will be free to play for Netflix subscribers, like the rest of its library. Each of the three titles included in the collection have been updated for mobile. These games include the iconic Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. They’ll be playable via the Netflix app, but also available as standalone apps on Android and iOS.
The gameplay’s a bit dated by modern standards but Grand Theft Auto III basically invented the open-world genre, and the sequels further refined the model. Many players actually point to San Andreas as being a high watermark for the series, even outpacing more recent titles. In any event, this trilogy can hold you over until the eventual release of Grand Theft Auto VI. To that end, the forthcoming Rockstar sequel should be getting a trailer any day now.
Netflix has been snagging all kinds of games for its ever-growing library, from the massively popular roguelike Hades to the equally popular, uh, roguelike Dead Cells. The platform’s library also includes Braid, Death’s Door, Katana Zero and other hit indies.
The company’s also developing its own games, thanks to snatching up developer Night School, the team behind Oxenfree and Afterparty. This acquisition has already borne fruit, as Oxenfree II: Lost Signals released earlier this year to wide acclaim. Incidentally, the sequel isn’t stuck on Netflix, as it’s also available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5 and PC via Steam. So the streamer might not be using games as just a way to lure in new subscribers. Netflix could be in it for the long haul.
Beyond Oxenfree II, other original games to hit the platform include Slayaway Camp 2: Netflix & Kill and a whole lot of titles based on pre-existing TV shows. There’s a game based on the recently-canceled fantasy epic Shadow and Bone and forthcoming titles inspired by Money Heist and The Dragon Prince, among others.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-adding-the-gta-trilogy-to-its-games-library-on-december-14-190357966.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Netflix is adding the GTA Trilogy to its games library on December 14
The first trailer for the new James Wan/Blumhouse production, Night Swim, already creeped us out. Two teens playing Marco Polo in the dark and a demon joins in? Freaky. Now, the full trailer is here and it reveals that the teaser was just the tip of the iceberg. What hides beneath the surface is far, far more…
Source: Gizmodo – Blumhouse’s Killer Pool Movie Gets a Genuinely Terrifying New Trailer
Remembering things can be difficult, yes, but there are all kinds strategies to make it easier. One way is by using association, or creating links between unrelated, easy-to-recall concepts or items and the ones you’re struggling to remember. A more advanced version of that is called the Shaper System and once you master it, you can more easily recall up to 100 things.
The Shaper System was developed by Erol Ozvatan, author of How to Memorize: The Science & Art of Memorizing. The goal of the system is to convert two-digit numbers into shapes that help you make associations, going way above and beyond what the standard number association system of 0 – 9 covers.
Each number is supposed to look like something. For instance, a zero can be an egg, a three can be a butterfly, and a seven can be a boomerang. Ozvatan has created his own list of images to be associated with every number from 00 to 99; while these are great, go through the list and make sure you really see each of the images in their corresponding numbers. If you don’t, you can use your own image. The goal is to create images and associations that make sense for you.
Once you’ve figured out the shapes that work best for you (or think you have a good idea), try practicing with the Shaper System. Practice with a decently long list, like the US states in order of size. Imagine something like this:
Alaska: If your 00 is represented by two eggs, imagine an ice fisherman eating two eggs.
Texas: If your 01 is a plate and knife, imagine a Texan cutting into some barbecue on a plate.
California: If your 02 is a swan, imagine it walking down Rodeo Drive.
Montana: If your 03 is a rabbit, imagine the bunny admiring the glaciers.
New Mexico: If your 04 is a chopping board and big knife, imagine Bigfoot using it to prepare a meal.
Arizona: If your 05 is a lantern with a handle, imagine someone peering into the Grand Canyon with one, trying to illuminate all the crevices.
Nevada: If your 06 is a golf ball and club, this one’s easy. Imagine someone at Topgolf in Vegas.
Colorado: If your 07 is a megaphone, imagine someone skiing and yelling into one.
Wyoming: If your 08 is a pool ball, imagine someone shooting pool in Jackson Hole.
Oregon: If your 09 is a tennis ball and racket, imagine someone playing tennis in downtown Portland.
This can go on and on, but only works if you really commit your images and their associations with numbers to your mind first, so create your associations from 00 to 99 before tackling any big lists.
Source: LifeHacker – Use the Shaper System to Easily Recall up to 100 Things
Enlarge / The active cooling chips are labeled and located in the upper-left corner near a custom heatsink in the 15-inch MacBook Air. (credit: Frore Systems)
What if laptops could get fan-level cooling without moving parts? We could get thinner laptops, for one. We could also potentially squeeze more performance out of today’s already impressively thin designs.
That’s what San Jose, California startup Frore Systems is trying to convince laptop makers of as it looks for the first OEM to adopt what it describes as the first solid-state active cooling chip.
Most recently, the company equipped the M2 15-inch MacBook Air with three of its chips, dubbed AirJet Minis. Media witnesses to a recent demonstration reported that the chips helped bring MacBook Pro-comparable performance to sustained heavy workloads on the MacBook Air.
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Source: Ars Technica – MacBook Air gets solid-state active cooling in intriguing demo
It’s hard to completely scrub something off the internet, and Ubisoft is finding that out the hard way after accidentally leaking a remaster of its 2003 action-adventure game Beyond Good & Evil to some lucky Ubisoft+ subscribers.
Source: Kotaku – Ubisoft Tries To Unleak Beyond Good & Evil Remaster After Fans Start Playing It
A review of Ultramarine Linux 39, which brings the Fedora 39 base, the latest Kernel and customized desktops.
Source: LXer – Ultramarine Linux 39 Review: Fedora for Everyone
Enlarge / A vintage 1981 BBC Micro computer. Fun fact: it was rather tricky to determine which version of BBC Basic a Micro was actually running. (credit: Getty Images)
BBC Basic did a lot of things, and often quite well. During the early 1980s, it extended the BASIC languages with easier loop structures, like IF/THEN/ELSE, and ran faster than Microsoft’s version. It taught an entire generation of Brits how to code, both in BASIC and, through an inline interpreter, assembly language. And it’s still around to teach newcomers and anybody else—except it’s now on far, far more platforms than a mail-order computer from the telly.
BBCSDL, or BBC Basic for SDL 2.0, uses Simple DirectMedia Layer’s OS abstraction to make itself available on Windows, x86 Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi’s OS, Android, iOS, and inside browsers through WebAssembly. Version 1.38a arrived in mid-November with quite a few fixes and niceties (as first noticed by Hackaday and its readers). On the project’s website, you can see BBCSDL running on all these devices, along with a note that on iOS and in browsers, an assembler and a few other functions are not available, due to arbitrary code-execution restrictions.
BBCSDL, or BBC Basic for SDL 2.0, running on iOS devices, in graphical mode. (credit: Richard Russell / R.T. Russell)
Richard Russell has been working on ports, interpreters, and other variations of BBC BASIC since 1983, starting with interpreters for Z80 and Intel processors. By 2001, BBC BASIC for Windows was available with a graphical interface and was still compatible with the BBC Micro and Acorn computers from whence it came. BBCSDL has been in development since 2015, providing wider platform offerings while still retaining decent compatibility with BBC BASIC for Windows.
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Source: Ars Technica – BBC BASIC remains a remarkable learning tool, and now it’s available everywhere
Enlarge / The researchers identified novel materials by using machine learning to first generate candidate structures and then gauge their likely stability. (credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab)
Google DeepMind researchers have discovered 2.2 million crystal structures that open potential progress in fields from renewable energy to advanced computation, and show the power of artificial intelligence to discover novel materials.
The trove of theoretically stable but experimentally unrealized combinations identified using an AI tool known as GNoME is more than 45 times larger than the number of such substances unearthed in the history of science, according to a paper published in Nature on Wednesday.
The researchers plan to make 381,000 of the most promising structures available to fellow scientists to make and test their viability in fields from solar cells to superconductors. The venture underscores how harnessing AI can shortcut years of experimental graft—and potentially deliver improved products and processes.
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Source: Ars Technica – Google’s DeepMind finds 2.2M crystal structures in materials science win
A 20th-anniversary edition of the cult classic Beyond Good & Evil is coming in early 2024. Details about the previously unannounced remaster popped up on the Xbox Store, and an incomplete version of the game was briefly available on Ubisoft Plus. Ubisoft used the opportunity to formally acknowledge the game’s existence, promising official details later. The since-deleted synopsis promised “up to 4K, 60 fps with improved graphics, controls, and audio, along with brand-new autosave and cross-save features.”
“An early development version of Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition was recently released to some Ubisoft+ subscribers by mistake,” Ubisoft posted on X. “We apologize for any confusion and want to assure our community that this version is not indicative of the final game.”
Ubisoft said the version of the game posted to Ubisoft Plus wasn’t the final one. IGN reports the deleted Xbox Store blurb promised a speed run mode, updated achievements and an anniversary gallery with behind-the-scenes glimpses into the cult classic’s development. The synopsis said it supported Smart Delivery, ensuring you get the best version of the game for your Xbox hardware.
We’re excited to announce that the official launch is set for early 2024, and we’re dedicated to making it an experience that truly honors the legacy of the original. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
— Beyond Good and Evil 2 (@bgegame) November 29, 2023
Beyond Good & Evil was a critically acclaimed commercial dud when it arrived in November 2003. The game tackled subjects like moral ambiguity, government conspiracies, identity and rebellion — not exactly a recipe for financial success in a United States still in shock from 9/11 and reactively fist-pumping the US invasion of Iraq. Although its gameplay wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking in any single area, it successfully blended action-adventure, puzzles, stealth, platform and racing elements with a polish and alluring atmosphere rarely seen in that era outside of Zelda games.
As psyched as some fans will likely be about the anniversary edition, it probably isn’t the franchise news they hoped for. Beyond Good & Evil 2, initially teased in 2008 and officially announced in 2017, still hasn’t materialized. Although it’s easy to dismiss the comically long-anticipated sequel as the quintessential example of vaporware, Ubisoft insists it isn’t. Despite intermittent reassurances that it’s progressing, Bloomberg reported in 2022 that Beyond Good & Evil 2 was still in pre-production.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beyond-good–evil-is-getting-a-20th-anniversary-edition-in-early-2024-183535329.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Beyond Good & Evil is getting a 20th anniversary edition in early 2024
Meta has paused sales of the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery at retail, reportedly over a charging defect affecting some customers, according to Road to VR. Meta told the outlet that it’s not recalling the faulty device but is working to send out updated replacements to affected customers and retailers.
Source: Gizmodo – Meta Pauses Sales of Quest 3 Elite Strap With Battery Over Charging Issues
Many people find themselves behind financially in their 30s, 40s, or even later in life. Maybe you’re a financial procrastinator, or you faced setbacks like job loss or health issues that hampered your earnings—or you simply didn’t make finances a priority in your youth. Regardless of the reason, there are steps you can take to improve your money situation, no matter your age.
First, take an honest look at your current financial habits. Document everything you spend for a month. Look for areas where you can cut back, even in small ways. Use the data to make a realistic budget based on your income and essential costs. Having a budget is key to freeing up more to put toward your financial goals. To make your goals more actionable, look into budgeting apps or other tools to automate and remind you of key tasks and deadlines.
Start by rerouting some of your expenses. If you haven’t already, make a list of all the things you spend money on, and consider which non-essential expenses could go to your emergency fund instead.
Tackle just one or two small financial tasks that you’ve been putting off. Build the habit of acting right away on manageable tasks. Getting down on yourself for your money habits can backfire in the form of fear-based decision-making. It can help to zoom out and celebrate your personal finance strengths so you have the confidence to keep making smarter financial decisions down the line. Small wins add up, and you may find your finances aren’t as bad as you think.
Next, make a debt payoff plan. List all debts by interest rate and focus on eliminating high rate credit card balances first before moving onto lower rate debts (like cars or student loans). Consider consolidating debts to lower rates where possible. And you should always aim pay off your statement balance in full and on time.
When it comes, specifically, to getting out of debt, you don’t want to live in fear and stay in the dark. Here’s our guide to getting organized enough to pay off your debt.
Failure to save and invest early on can mean losing out on years of potential compound growth. Begin saving whatever you can each month. Even $20 or $50 a month is a start towards building saving. Sign up for a high yield online savings account and set up automated transfers from your checking account monthly. Having a dedicated savings makes it easier to leave the money alone and watch it grow with compound interest over time.
Consult an advisor like a fee-only certified financial planner to review your unique situation and map out a specific plan toward your monetary goals. An outside expert perspective can help you identify blindspots as well as provide accountability on follow through. Seek second opinions if needed until you have a workable roadmap. Here’s our guide to hiring a financial advisor who won’t rip you off.
Finally, explore options for increasing your income streams to have more money to put towards debt repayment and reaching future financial aims. Take on freelance work in your off hours, look for a higher paying job, negotiate a raise at your current job, or pick up extra shifts. The more you can dedicate toward financial priorities now, the faster you can exit the late bloomer category for good.
The key is to not get discouraged, but instead get to work mapping out a comeback plan. Regardless of your current financial standing, implementing budgetary discipline, making smart repayment and savings choices, and increasing earnings can all help you gain considerable financial ground—even later in life. For more, check out these steps to start healing your relationship with money.
Source: LifeHacker – What to Do When You’re a Financial Late Bloomer
