Today we mourn the loss of another iconic and irreplaceable talent. James McCaffrey, actor and the voice of the titular character Max Payne in the beloved neo-noir shooter games, has passed away. He was 65.
Source: Kotaku – Alan Wake 2, Max Payne Voice Actor James McCaffrey Has Passed Away [Updated]
God of War: Ragnarök’s Valhalla DLC packs a lot of story into Kratos and Mimir’s roguelike journey through the titular hall of heroes. With Santa Monica Studio framing the sequel as the end of the series’ Norse mythology arc, there’s been a lingering question of what’s next for Kratos, his son Atreus, and the God of…
Source: Kotaku – God of War: Valhalla Ending Is A Hopeful Clue About The Series’ Future
In the grim dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only… contract negotiations? A year ago Games Workshop announced that it was working with Amazon Studios to bring the universe of its legendary sci-fi miniatures game Warhammer 40,000 to film and TV. Today it did so again, but now it’s even officialler.
Source: Gizmodo – Amazon’s Warhammer 40,000 Deal Is Now Really, Really Real
Flipboard is the latest mainstream app to officially join the fediverse, the collection of decentralized services that run on the ActivityPub protocol. The news reading app, which has been experimenting with Mastodon for nearly a year, now plans to become fully interoperable with Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse.
The news reading app is starting with the accounts of about two dozen publishers, including Polygon, Medium, Semafor, Kotaku and Mental Floss, whose Flipboard content will be discoverable across the fediverse. By next month, the company expects all public Flipboard accounts will be federated, meaning anyone on an ActivityPub-powered app will be able to view their posts and interact with them.
And beginning in April, according to Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, all fediverse content will also be readily available within the Flipboard app itself. This means users will be able to use Flipboard browse content shared to Mastodon, Pixelfed (a photo sharing app kind of like Instagram), PeerTube (a decentralized video platform) and the rest of the apps that make up the fediverse.
Flipboard’s official entrance into the fediverse comes at a moment where there is increasing enthusiasm for ActivityPub within the social media industry. Last week, Meta announced that it was taking its first steps toward making Threads compatible with Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse. “I think you’ll probably have more than 150 million people in the fediverse by the end of the next year,” McCue tells Engadget, “You have millions of Flipboard users, millions of Threads users all joining this network … it’s not going to take very long before this becomes the largest social network.”
McCue’s enthusiasm for Mastodon and the fediverse is especially notable given his once close ties to Twitter. The Flipboard CEO was a member of Twitter’s board between 2010 and 2012, and reportedly considered selling Flipboard to the company in 2015. But Elon Musk’s takeover of the company, and the disintegration of its API, prompted him to begin experimenting with Mastodon and Bluesky integrations earlier this year.
He now believes that momentum for the fediverse is so strong, Twitter may ultimately end up supporting ActivityPub too. “More and more companies will have to look at ActivityPub,” he predicts. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter ultimately decides they’re going to have to do this.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/flipboard-is-moving-to-the-fediverse-170426320.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Flipboard is moving to the fediverse
When a company, like Apple, releases a product, like the Apple Watch, you expect them to sell it for a while. But unfortunately for Apple, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 won’t be on shelves for much longer.
It all stems from an extended patent infringement legal battle between Apple and Masimo, a medical technology company. Masimo sued Apple in 2020 over 10 patents it believed the company infringed on. Then, back in January, a U.S. judge agreed Apple had infringed on one of these patents, specifically a pulse oximeter patent for recording blood oxygen levels. Apple has included a blood oxygen sensor on all Apple Watches since the Series 6 (minus the SE), so it wasn’t clear how widespread this ruling’s affects could be on Apple.
Following an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), however, the situation is now clear: Apple will stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 on its website starting Thursday, Dec. 21 and will pull the watches from its retail stores after Dec. 24. You can see Apple’s full statement to 9to5Mac below:
A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature. While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand. This includes pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple.com starting December 21, and from Apple retail locations after December 24.
Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features. Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers.
Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.
The Biden administration does have until Dec. 25 to veto the ruling, if it so chooses, but as it stands, the latest two Apple Watches are leaving Apple’s stores.
If you want to buy one of these Apple Watches from Apple, you’ll need to do so immediately. That said, third-party stores will be able to continue selling their stock of the watches, so they’ll likely be available for some time following Apple’s deadlines. However, the ruling blocks imports of the wearables going forward, and as they’re made outside the U.S., Apple will not be able to replenish its stock of watches. Once third-party stores sell out, they’re gone until this legal situation is sorted out.
Source: LifeHacker – New Apple Watches Are Being Pulled Off the Market Soon
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Chris Delmas)
The European Union has opened a formal investigation into whether Elon Musk’s X platform (formerly Twitter) violated the Digital Services Act (DSA), which could result in fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue. A European Commission announcement today said the agency “opened formal proceedings to assess whether X may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.”
This is the commission’s first formal investigation under the Digital Services Act, which applies to large online platforms and has requirements on content moderation and transparency. The step has been in the works since at least October, when a formal request for information was sent amid reports of widespread Israel/Hamas disinformation.
The European Commission today said it “decided to open formal infringement proceedings against X under the Digital Services Act” after reviewing X’s replies to the request for information on topics including “the dissemination of illegal content in the context of Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel.” The commission said the investigation will focus on dissemination of illegal content, the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation on X, transparency, and “a suspected deceptive design of the user interface.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Musk’s X hit with EU’s first investigation of Digital Services Act violations
Following a tumultuous few weeks for Beeper, which has been trying to provide an iMessage-compatible Android app, a group of US lawmakers are pushing for the DOJ to investigate Apple for “potentially anticompetitive conduct” over its attempts to disable Beeper’s services. From a report: Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) as well as Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Ken Buck (R-CO) said in a letter to the DOJ that Beeper’s Android messaging app, Beeper Mini, was a threat to Apple’s leverage by “creating [a] more competitive mobile applications market, which in turn [creates] a more competitive mobile device market.”
In an interview with CBS News on Monday, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky and 16-year-old developer James Gill talked about the fight to keep Beeper Mini alive. Migicovsky told CBS News that Beeper is trying to provide a service people want and reiterated his belief that Apple has a monopoly over its iMessage service. The company created Beeper Mini after being contacted by Gill, who said he reverse-engineered the software by “poking at it” using a “real Mac and a real iPhone.” […] The lawmakers’ letter also pointed to a Department of Commerce report calling Apple a “gatekeeper,” mirroring language used in the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) that went into force earlier this year, regulating the “core” services of several tech platforms (though, notably, iMessage may not be included in this). They went on to cite Migicovsky’s December 2021 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony that “the dominant messaging services would use their position to impose barriers to interoperability” and keep companies like Beeper from offering certain services. “Given Apple’s recent actions, that concern appears prescient,” they added.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Lawmakers Push DOJ To Investigate Apple Following Beeper Shutdowns
There are so many good reasons to play video games with your family. From just having a great time with invading relatives, to bonding with your children, it’s a boundary-breaking, age-gap traversing activity. Also, it’s an excellent way to fill up the aching stretch of endless Sundays in the back half of December. So…
Source: Kotaku – The 9 Best Games To Play With Family This Holiday
By the time you hit 30 years old, you’re probably feeling some societal pressure to have reached certain financial goals. Save a year’s salary. Be debt-free. Have an excellent credit score. While financial planning at any age is a good idea, pegging certain money benchmarks to turning 30 is completely arbitrary. Let’s take a look at why you shouldn’t hold yourself to age-based money goals, and what you should be focusing on instead.
Personal finance is deeply personal and depends on your individual situation. Someone living paycheck to paycheck shouldn’t have to compare themselves to a friend living off generational wealth. There’s no universal standard for how much you should have amassed in investments or retirement accounts thus far based solely on crossing into a new decade of life. The priorities that serve someone else may not make practical sense for you.
For example, aggressively paying off student loan debt straight out of college made sense for your friend who graduated with an engineering degree. But if you have credit card debt with a 20% APR, it’s likely best to direct extra payments to credit cards first before rushing to tackle lower interest education debt.
Likewise, guidelines stating you should have one year’s income in savings by age 30 may not fit someone who lived at home after college to build savings faster or someone else who changed careers later, resulting in an income reset.
What matters more than arbitrary age targets is to keep growing your financial literacy. So while there are no one-size-fits-all personal finances rules, there are certain standards you could try to hold yourself to. At 20, 25, 30, and beyond, here are some key financial plans to have in place.
Even if you don’t understand big money topics, you should at least understand your own money. Outline your monthly income and expenses to get a clear picture of your cash flow. Look for areas where you can save, whether it’s cutting out unused subscriptions or eating out a little less. Here’s my guide to conducting a spending audit on yourself.
As we’ve previously advised, the typical rule of thumb is to aim for six months’ worth of living expenses in your emergency fund. When you’re figuring out that number, factor in expenses such as housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation, and debt payments. Non-essential expenses like vacations, entertainment, or dining out don’t belong in your “emergency” calculations.
For emergency funds, the money should go into an easily accessible account savings account (aka not a retirement-specific account) to cover issues like medical bills or car repairs.
If there’s one thing tanking most of our financial pictures, it’s debt. Don’t let a fear of debt stop you from making a plan to pay it down. Here’s our guide to getting organized to pull yourself out of debt. One place to start is by listing out debts by interest rate, paying what minimums you can, and putting any extra funds towards the highest-interest debt first. Again: What’s important here is to at least have a plan, even if you can only afford to take baby steps right now.
Retirement may seem forever away in your thirties, but starting to save now is key. Take full advantage of any 401(k) match from your employer. Open a Roth IRA to supplement workplace retirement accounts. Consult a retirement calculator to find out how much you may need to have saved, but to reiterate: There’s no magic number. No matter your age, you can still take advantage of compound interest, too, even with a small initial investment. What matters is that you start to save and invest ASAP.
Insurance feels unnecessary when you feel invincible. But protections for health, auto, renters or homeowners, disability, and life are services you hope to rarely use, but are invaluable when you need them. here are more types of insurance than you’re ever likely to need, but some of them are absolutely essential.
Everyone’s money situation is different. Stay proactive by making informed money decisions for your situation, not chasing some false ideal of financial achievement. What you really need is to keep acquiring financial literacy, so that you can keep making sound decisions. Consistent saving and working towards financial goals matters more than some random net worth number. This race has no set finish line.
Source: LifeHacker – These Are the Financial Milestones You Should Actually Hit by Age 30
Nothing short of surprising, Carl Pei might have a Nothing phone to show the world during the next Mobile World Congress (MWC) in 2024. Small, but pertinent details have leaked about a mid-range device called the Nothing Phone 2a and it looks like it could be a winner. That is, if Pei and company can keep the price competitive with other options
Source: Hot Hardware – Nothing Phone 2a Specs And Photos Leak Months Ahead Of MWC 2024 Unveil
Apple’s recently-released tvOS 17 update allows for native VPN apps and big-name providers are wasting no time. ExpressVPN dropped an app a couple of weeks ago and now the same is true of one of its primary competitors. NordVPN now has an official Apple TV app available for download.
This is the real deal and works with your current NordVPN subscription, if you have one. The setup is simple. Just download the app and sign in. If you’re new to the service, download the app and create an account. Once connected, you’ll have access to the company’s global array of secure servers.
The app encrypts all network traffic and uses the company’s NordLynx protocol to speed up the connection, which should offer an optimized streaming experience with minimal buffering. Of course, this will likely depend on the locations of your actual network connection and virtual network connection.
Back when Apple first announced that native VPNs would be coming to tvOS 17, NordVPN expressed doubts, telling The Verge that the company was “concerned that there may be some limitations.” It looks like it got over those doubts.
So, why would you even want or need a dedicated VPN on your Apple streaming box? There are a couple of reasons, all of which involve traveling with the diminutive device. You can customize settings, like preferred server location, which helps get around geographic restrictions regarding streaming content. Nobody’s gonna stop you from binging Foundation while on vacation. Even without geo-restrictions, bringing your Apple TV into a hotel room will allow you to stream whatever you want instead of relying on, gag, cable.
Before tvOS 17, you couldn’t configure a VPN on these devices. You’d have to install a VPN client on the router, which is notoriously complicated. Kudos to Apple on this one. NordVPN isn’t the only available VPN on the Apple TV App Store. There’s the aforementioned ExpressVPN, PureVPN and several more. You can install VPN apps on Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K devices, running tvOS 17 or later.
Speaking of tvOS 17, the company just dropped an update. The latest and greatest tvOS 17.2 brings a redesigned interface and the ability to answer FaceTime calls directly from the TV.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nordvpn-comes-to-the-apple-tv-162030095.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – NordVPN comes to the Apple TV
The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s X on Monday examining the platform’s role in spreading ‘illegal content’ around the Israel and Hamas war. X has come under fire recently for antisemitic content on the platform, losing a slew of advertisers in the process.
Source: Gizmodo – Elon Musk’s X Under Investigation for Spreading ‘Illegal Content’ on Israel and Hamas in EU
Season two of Prime Video’s Wheel of Time had a lot of high-stakes fantasy storylines to explore—but none so moving or haunting as the ordeal of Egwene, played in the Robert Jordan adaptation by Madeleine Madden. io9 got a chance to speak to the actor about her character’s harrowing, powerful journey.
Source: Gizmodo – Wheel of Time’s Madeleine Madden on Egwene’s Powerful Journey
Southwest Airlines is still paying for its meltdown during the 2022 holidays that stranded millions of travelers — and the tab is growing. From a report: The U.S. Transportation Department has ordered Southwest to pay a $140 million civil penalty, part of a broader consent order after the airline’s operational failures a year ago. That penalty is by far the largest the DOT has ever levied for consumer protection violations, according to a statement from the department. “This is not just about Southwest,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition on Monday. “This is about the entire industry, sending a signal that you should not be cutting corners — because if you fail your passengers, we will hold you accountable.”
A major winter storm last December caused travel disruptions across the country as airlines canceled thousands of flights. But while other airlines recovered relatively quickly, Southwest fell apart. The airline ultimately canceled 16,900 flights, stranding more than 2 million passengers. In a statement, Southwest described the agreement as “a consumer-friendly settlement.” The airline says it has taken steps since last year’s disruption to improve its operational resiliency and customer care.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Southwest Will Pay a 0 Million Fine For Its Meltdown During the 2022 Holidays
Apple AirPods is the most ubiquitous name in wireless audio—but not all AirPods are created equal. Apple currently sells four models of AirPods, which is actually the company’s overarching brand name for all of its wireless headphones and earbuds. Which means it can get confusing: If someone in your life asks for “AirPods” as a gift, which should you buy?
Three of the four models are in-ear wireless earbuds, while the fourth is an over-the-ear pair of headphones. Each has its particular set of features, pros and cons, and, of course, price point. Let’s take a look at all the AirPods Apple currently sells, and how much each costs.
Pick up any of the AirPods listed here on Amazon:
AirPods Pro (2nd generation): $249, on sale for $199.99
AirPods (3rd generation): $169, on sale for $139.99
AirPods (2nd generation): $129, on sale for $99
AirPods Max: $549, available for as low as $479
The 2nd generation AirPods are identical to the original AirPods in look and shape, so if you prefer that long-stem, this is the pair for you. This model also has an H1 chip, so you get classic features like automatic switching between Apple devices and higher sound quality. However, compared to the Pros or the AirPod 3, these are a little simple, which is why it’s the most affordable pair of AirPods at the moment. The AirPods (2nd generation) costs $129, currently on sale for $99.
The third-generation AirPods are the best bet for anyone who want some of the newest AirPods tech Apple has to offer, but doesn’t like the silicone tips of the Pros. These one-size-fits-all AirPods are sweat and water resistant, but not dust resistant. You get an H1 chip and spatial audio, but miss out on active noise cancellation and a few other AirPods Pro features. The AirPods (3rd generation) is priced at $169, but are currently $139.99.
The second-generation AirPods is the best pair of in-ear wireless headphones that Apple makes right now. This model has an H2 chip and supports cool features like Conversation Awareness, Adaptive Audio, and Personalized Volume. You also get the benefit of spatial audio and active noise cancellation, which can be your best friend at concerts and other loud environments, plus you can adjust the volume level from the stem. The AirPods Pro ships with a case that supports wireless charging, and is also dust, sweat, and water resistant. Plus, there are interchangeable silicone tips, so you can find the right fit for your ear shape. All of these features are yours for $249, but you can find them on sale for $199.99 currently.
The AirPods Max is the only over-ear headphone in Apple’s AirPods lineup. It’s also the most expensive AirPods model at $549 (but you can find them for as low as $479). Unfortunately, the AirPods Max hasn’t been updated in a while, and still has the older H1 chip, as opposed to the H2 in the AirPods Pro. It misses out on Adaptive Audio and other newer features, but you do get active noise cancellation and spatial audio. It offers a similar level of sound quality as the AirPods Pro 2, but will appeal to those who prefer an over-ear design over earbuds.
Source: LifeHacker – The Four Types of AirPods (and How Much They Cost)
It’s time to look back at spaceflight in 2023, a real “two steps forward, one step back” kind of year, filled with highs, lows, and everything in between.
Source: Gizmodo – The Soaring Highs and Stark Lows of Spaceflight in 2023
Google is giving its Stadia Controllers a reprieve from becoming e-waste by extending the deadline for the ability to switch it to Bluetooth mode. The new deadline for owners of the controller is now December 2024, an extension of one year from the prior deadline of December 2023.
It’s a big deal as there are quite a few of these devices
Source: Hot Hardware – How To Switch Your Stadia Controller To Bluetooth Before Google’s New Deadline
Mark Zuckerberg is worth over $100 billion. What does the world’s sixth-richest person do with all that money, besides lighting lots of it on fire to try to bring a Ready Player One-style metaverse to life? Apparently, he builds a sprawling mansion complex with a massive underground bunker that sounds like a cross…
Source: Kotaku – Mark Zuckerberg’s 0 Million Bunker Sounds Right Out Of A Video Game
Give credit to Valve for popularizing handheld gaming in the PC space, a realm that was mostly concentrated on Nintendo’s various portable consoles (Switch, Game Boy, etc) before the Steam Deck arrived. Almost overnight, PC gaming handhelds became a viable category. It’s still early, with the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally being the primary
Source: Hot Hardware – A New Gaming Handheld With Rage Mode Is Coming To Battle The ROG Ally
Though it didn’t snag the GOTY at this year’s Game Awards, there’s no doubting that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of 2023’s many gaming highlights. Featuring an intuitive and versatile crafting system, players are free to accomplish tasks in the open-world RPG in wild, unexpected ways. But in a…
Source: Kotaku – Tears Of The Kingdom Devs Reveal The One Zelda Spin-Off They’d Never Make
