Ubisoft’s The Crew, which was released in 2014 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, has been delisted without warning. Its servers will shut off next year, too. And because the game is an always-online experience, Ubisoft has confirmed that it will become unplayable once that happens.
Source: Kotaku – Ubisoft Just Delisted A Game Without Warning And Will Kill Its Servers Next Year
Curious about Alan Wake 2 but never played the first? Well if you’re a PC gamer, I’ve got some good news: Grab a copy of Alan Wake 2 on the Epic Games Store during its holiday sale and you’ll get a free copy of the 2021 remastered version of the first game.
Source: Kotaku – Buy Alan Wake 2 And Get Alan Wake Remastered For Free On Epic Games Store
File photo of the US military’s X-37B test vehicle after a landing in 2012. (credit: Boeing)
China has launched its top-secret military spaceplane for a third time, days after the US military’s winged spacecraft was grounded for several weeks due to problems with its SpaceX rocket.
Observers believe China’s spaceplane looks much like the US military’s X-37B, a reusable craft that Pentagon officials are similarly tight-lipped about. But there’s a distinction in that US officials will publicly discuss, at least in broad terms, the purpose of the X-37B and release images of the spacecraft.
The US military has two X-37Bs in its inventory, each with a cargo bay that could fit a large refrigerator. They resemble small space shuttles, with dimensions about one-quarter those of NASA’s retired shuttle orbiters. The X-37B spaceplanes have flown in space six times, logging missions as long as two-and-a-half years, thanks to deployable solar panels that generate power for greater endurance.
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Source: Ars Technica – Space Force chief: Timing of Chinese spaceplane launch “no coincidence”
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is the latest public figure to question how Meta is moderating content during the Israel-Hamas war. In a letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, Warren raises several issues reported by Instagram users since October 7, and presses Meta for more information about its underlying policies and how much content the company has taken down related to the conflict.
In the letter, Warren cites reports from the media and human rights groups about inconsistencies in the company’s moderation practices since the start of the war. In particular, she notes that numerous Instagram users have accused the company of “shadowbanning” them for posting about the conditions in Gaza. She also references a third-party audit, commissioned by Meta and published last year, that found the company violated Palestinians’ right to free expression in 2021, the last time there was a major escalation in violence in the Gaza Strip.
“Reports of Meta’s suppression of Palestinian voices raise serious questions about Meta’s content moderation practices and anti-discrimination protections,” Warren writes. “Social media users deserve to know when and why their accounts and posts are restricted, particularly on the largest platforms where vital information-sharing occurs.”
The letter asks for detailed information about how Meta is enforcing its policies in the context of the war. For example, it asks Meta to disclose statistics about the number of posts that have been removed since October 7, and how many of those takedowns have been appealed. It also asks Meta to explain reports that the company hid numerous Instagram comments with Palestinian flags for being “potentially offensive.”
The letter gives Zuckerberg a January 5 deadline to respond to the questions. Meta didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Meta has come under increasing scrutiny for its moderation practices since October 7. The company has publicly blamed several issues on unspecified technical glitches and bugs, but has also acknowledged taking temporary emergency measures to slow the spread of potentially harmful content.
Meta’s independent Oversight Board is also fast-tracking two cases related to the Israel-Hamas war content, the first time the group has opted to expedite its usual months-long process. The board said at the time it had seen a surge in appeals from Facebook and Instagram users since the start of the conflict.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elizabeth-warren-is-demanding-more-transparency-from-meta-on-how-its-handling-content-about-palestine-on-instagram-220226606.html?src=rss
Source: Engadget – Elizabeth Warren is demanding more transparency from Meta on how its handling content about Palestine on Instagram
The big day is drawing near and so are those shipping cut-offs for getting everyone on your list a special fandom holiday gift. Don’t worry, io9’s latest gift guide inspired by the worlds of DC and the WB has some shopping tips at places that offer in-store pickup, including BoxLunch and Target.
Source: Gizmodo – Holiday Gift Guide: Must-Have DC and Warner Bros. Fandom Merch
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Hackers compromised the code behind a crypto protocol used by multiple web3 applications and services, the software maker Ledger said on Thursday. Ledger, a company that makes a widely used and popular crypto hardware and software wallet, among other products, announced on X (previously Twitter) that someone had pushed out a “malicious version” of its Ledger Connect Kit, a library that decentralized apps (dApps) made by other companies and projects use to connect to the Ledger wallet service.
“A genuine version is being pushed to replace the malicious file now. Do not interact with any dApps for the moment. We will keep you informed as the situation evolves,” Ledger wrote. Soon after, Ledger posted an update saying that the hackers had replaced the genuine version of its software some six hours earlier, and that the company was investigating the incident and would “provide a comprehensive report as soon as it’s ready.” After this story was published, Ledger spokesperson Phillip Costigan shared more details about the hack with TechCrunch and on X.
Costigan said that a former Ledger employee was victim of a phishing attack on Thursday, which gave the hackers access to their former employee’s NPMJS account, which is a software registry that was acquired by GitHub. From there, the hackers published a malicious version of the Ledger Connect Kit. “The malicious code used a rogue WalletConnect project to reroute funds to a hacker wallet,” Costigan said. Then, Ledger deployed a fix within 40 minutes of the company becoming aware of the hack. The malicious file, however, was live for round 5 hours, but “the window where funds were drained was limited to a period of less than two hours,” according to Costigan. Ledger also “coordinated” with WalletConnect which “quickly disabled the the rogue project,” essentially stopping the attack, according to Costigan. Costigan also said Ledger pushed out a genuine software update that is “safe to use.” “We are actively talking with customers whose funds might have been affected, and working proactively to help those individuals at this time,” the Ledger spokeperson said, adding that the company believes it has identified the hackers’ wallet.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Supply Chain Attack Targeting Ledger Crypto Wallet Leaves Users Hacked
Will we ever be finished re-litigating the Star Wars sequel trilogy? From The Last Jedi on, the movies have been a black hole of discourse that is near-inescapable if you have even a casual interest in the franchise. 2019’s The Rise Of Skywalker was such a rocky ending that it seems to have impeded Lucasfilm’s…
Source: Kotaku – Adam Driver Says Kylo Ren’s Redemption Was A Star Wars Switcheroo
The internet is a wild place. Some of it is appropriate to consume in any environment, but plenty of it is NSFW, for one reason or another. Whether you’re browsing the darker side of the internet at home or at work, there may be times when no one should see your screen—and if they do, you may be mortified, chewed out, or fired.
But what are you going to do: Only look at what the people around you expect you to? Don’t be ridiculous. It’s your right to watch Netflix at work, dammit. So the only thing to do is watch in existential horror, ready to pull the plug on your PC at the first sign of your boss.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Opera GX has a new feature it’s calling the “panic button.” With one press of the button, Opera mutes every tab open in your browser and hides all windows, replacing them with a preset selection of boring, SFW options. That way, should someone walk into the room you’re browsing in, you can “panic” your PC into a socially acceptable state.
The panic button is available now in Opera GX; to use it, make sure you’re running the latest version of the gaming browser on your Mac or PC. (This won’t be available in Opera’s standard browser, just FYI.) Once you open Opera GX, head to Settings, then, under GX, scroll down and click Early Bird. This section gives you the option to enable features that are currently being tested and aren’t available as default in the app. It just so happens panic button is one such feature. When you click Early Bird, all in-testing features will be enabled, not just panic button. Scan through the other options to see if they’re things you want in your browser: If not, toggle them off, then hit Relaunch to finalize your choices.
Now that panic button is enabled, try it out! Just hit F12, and, by default, Opera GX will randomly choose one of the following links to replace the windows you currently have open:
YouTube
Wikipedia
Google Docs
Twitch
Gmail
Github
Google News
Steam
Those options may be fine when browsing at home, but if you’re using Opera at work, your boss may raise an eyebrow when they see YouTube or Twitch on your screen. Luckily, you can customize this list to contain any sites you want. Just head back into Settings, then click on Panic button from just above the Early bird option. Add any new sites you want to the rotation, or edit or delete the defaults.
Source: LifeHacker – Every Browser Should Have Opera GX’s New ‘Panic Button’
Agility Robotics shared a demo video Wednesday of one of its Digit robots upgraded with AI. Although that may conjure terrifying pop-culture images of sentient sci-fi machines taking over the world, the demo video reveals something much more pedestrian, if not boring. The bipedal warehouse robot ploddingly works to complete a slightly puzzling task without direct human control or detailed guidance. In the clip, it slowly but successfully interprets and executes the command, “Take the box that’s the color of Darth Vader’s lightsaber, and move it to the tallest tower in the front row.”
The company, which added a “head” and “hands” to Digit earlier this year, pitches the demonstration as a glimpse into how large language models (LLMs) can enhance its humanoid machines. It suggests it’s a natural fit, describing Digit as “a physical embodiment of artificial intelligence.”
“We created a demo space with a series of numbered towers of several heights, as well as three boxes with multiple defining characteristics,” Pras Velagapudi, Agility Robotics’ vice president of innovation and chief architect, explained in the clip. “Digit was given information about this environment, but was not given any specific information about its tasks. Just natural language commands of varying complexity to see if it could execute them.”
The clip shows Digit’s beat-by-beat inner monologue overlaid on the screen as the robot thinks its way through the task. For example, “I should find out what commands I can use,” “I should first assess the environment to see what items and locations are available,” and “Darth Vader’s light saber is red, and so the red box (box2) is the one I need to move. The tallest tower in the front row is tower4. I will first move to the location of box2.”
After moving to the location of the red box, Digit continues. “Now that I’m at the location of box2, I should pick it up,” it reasons. It continues, “Now that I have box2, I should move to the location of the tallest tower in the front row, which is tower4” and “Now that I’m at tower4, I should place box2 on it.” Finally, it declares its work finished: “I believe I have completed the task, as I have moved the box that is the color of Darth Vader’s light saber (red, box2) to the tallest tower in the front row (tower4).”
Agility Robotics, which pitches Digit as sparing human workers from the most taxing physical activities, says it created the demo to “show how LLMs could make our robots more versatile and faster to deploy.” The company is building an Oregon factory to produce 10,000 humanoid robots annually. It has also inked a deal with Amazon for the retailer to test Digit in a Seattle-area facility. Fiction-fueled fears aside, the robots are much more likely to hurt humans by stealing their warehouse jobs than by shapeshifting, murdering innocents or reenacting other Hollywood-fueled dystopian nightmares.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/agilitys-digit-warehouse-robot-understands-natural-language-commands-thanks-to-ai-smarts-214415066.html?src=rss
Enlarge / An assortment of Ubiquiti cameras. (credit: Ubiquiti)
Users of UniFi, the popular line of wireless devices from manufacturer Ubiquiti, are reporting receiving private camera feeds from, and control over, devices belonging to other users, posts published to social media site Reddit over the past 24 hours show.
“Recently, my wife received a notification from UniFi Protect, which included an image from a security camera,” one Reddit user reported. “However, here’s the twist—this camera doesn’t belong to us.”
The post included two images. The first showed a notification pushed to the person’s phone reporting that their UDM Pro, a network controller and network gateway used by tech-enthusiast consumers, had detected someone moving in the backyard. A still shot of video recorded by a connected surveillance camera showed a three-story house surrounded by trees. The second image showed the dashboard belonging to the Reddit user. The user’s connected device was a UDM SE, and the video it captured showed a completely different house.
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Source: Ars Technica – UniFi devices broadcasted private video to other users’ accounts
If you tend to feel sad during the darker months of the year, it’s well known that getting some sunlight can help. If you can’t get enough sunlight, a light therapy box (shining in your general direction while you eat breakfast) is the next best thing. But there is also a gadget that some people swear by–earbuds that act as tiny flashlights, shining light into your ear canals. Are they legit?
One skin care TikToker, @emmahoareau1, posted a brief review of her LED headphones for people who “get seasonal affective disorder like me,” concluding that they were “absolutely life changing.” A follow-up video went viral, and commenters began arguing whether it’s possible for light to usefully reach your brain from this device.
The most obvious question is: does the light actually get to your brain, and if so, does the brain know it’s there? Surprisingly, the answers to these questions are: yes, and probably.
Scientists have been studying that first question–whether light can shine through brain tissues–for decades. In a 1963 study, a light detector (sort of like a mini solar panel) was mounted on the end of a needle, and then the needle was stuck into brain of a sheep, dog, rabbit, or rat–in some cases dead, in others alive but anesthetized. The investigators shone a bright light at different parts of each animal’s head. They did some of the tests indoors and some in sunlight, and they shielded different parts of the head with aluminum foil to figure out where the light was coming in. Their conclusions: light does reach the brain pretty easily, especially through the temples, where the bone is particularly thin.
We also know that there are light-detecting proteins found in various body parts, including the brain. They may help birds to know what season it is, for example, but so far there is no clear explanation of why humans have these proteins or whether they play a role in seasonal mood disorders.
In 2016, a different group of researchers found evidence that light in the ear canals does something detectable to the brain, but it’s not clear whether that’s good, bad, or whether it accomplishes anything meaningful at all.
The researchers took a photo of a cadaver skull with a Valkee device (similar to the one in the TikTok) in its ears. The light is bright enough to shine through bone into the brain. That’s not the same as saying that the device works, though: “Whether chronic bright light delivery via the ear canals bears clinically applicable benefits is beyond the scope of this study.”
It’s a big leap between “light can reach the brain” to “this will cure your seasonal affective disorder,” and that’s where this product gets stuck.
The light therapy headset used in the TikTok–which is, as far as I can tell, the only major brand of these–is made by Valkee. Their current product is called the HumanCharger, and it retails for $200.
The company commissioned several studies on their product, and in the early years of their marketing they seemed to lean on these pretty heavily. A 2012 television program in Finland, where Valkee is based, confronted the company about their marketing claims and pointed out to viewers that their studies don’t hold up to scrutiny. Many don’t have adequate placebos, all have conflicts of interest (with company founders and board members as authors), and most were not published in peer-reviewed journals. At the time, their only peer-reviewed paper was in Medical Hypotheses, a journal dedicated to exploring “radical hypotheses which would be rejected by most conventional journals.”
At the time, the company’s website mentioned migraine and jet lag among the conditions their product could treat; notably, the current HumanCharger website avoids any such claims. A marketing video shows a woman entering a hotel room, suitcase rolling behind her, alongside a caption saying the device “gives you a boost of energy.” In another shot, it says that the device combats “the blues.”
Research since then hasn’t been any more promising. One 2014 study whose authors include Valkee employees and shareholders claimed that the device decreased people’s scores on depression surveys. But there was no control group; the researchers were just looking for evidence that people who got the highest dose of light would fare better than those who got the lowest dose. They didn’t.
An unrelated group of researchers, experts in chronobiology, tested people’s melatonin levels, subjective sleepiness, and their performance on attention tasks after using a Valkee device. They found no difference between people who used the device versus a “sham” version that didn’t emit light. (Visible light produced a strong response, as you would expect.) They titled their paper: “Extraocular light via the ear canal does not acutely affect human circadian physiology, alertness and psychomotor vigilance performance.”
Other studies on circadian rhythm have not found any solid evidence that our body clock can be entrained by light from the ears, behind the knees, or any other location except the eyes. Interestingly, our eyes’ ability to sense daylight seems to be separate from our sense of vision. Many blind people find that their circadian rhythms get out of sync with daylight, but some have their light-detecting systems intact even without vision.
So there’s no strong evidence for the idea that light-up earbuds do anything; and there’s a decent amount of evidence suggesting that they’re probably bullshit. I feel happy for everyone who bought this device and feels their life is better as a result (lord knows I have my own emotional-support placebos), but I would recommend that you, dear reader, save your money.
Source: LifeHacker – No, Light-Emitting Headphones Won’t Cure Your Seasonal Depression
The Federal Communications Commission has taken a step toward prohibiting early termination fees charged by cable and satellite TV providers. From a report: If given final approval, the FCC action would also require cable and satellite providers to provide a prorated credit or rebate to customers who cancel before a billing period ends. The new rules are being floated in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that the FCC voted to approve this week in a 3-2 vote, with both Republicans dissenting. The NPRM seeks public comment on the proposed rules and could lead to a final vote in a few months or so.
“Today’s action proposes to adopt customer service protections that prohibit cable operators and DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) providers from imposing a fee for the early termination of a cable or DBS video service contract,” the FCC said. “Additionally, the NPRM recommends the adoption of customer service protections to require cable and DBS providers to grant subscribers a prorated credit or rebate for the remaining whole days in a monthly or periodic billing cycle after the subscriber cancels service.”
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said, “Consumers are tired of these junk fees. They now have more choices when it comes to video content. But these friction-filled tactics to keep us subscribing to our current providers are aggravating and unfair. So today we kick off a rulemaking to put an end to these practices.” Cable lobby group NCTA-The Internet & Television Association opposes the plan and said it will submit comments to support “consumer choice and competitive parity.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – FCC Floats Ban on Cable TV ‘Junk Fees’ That Make It Hard To Ditch Contracts
Kanopy is one of the best streaming deals around: it’s free and doesn’t have any ads breaking up its content, though you must have a library card or be part of a college, university, or other institution to make an account. Released today, the service’s 30 most-watched films of 2023 definitely reflect those academic…
Source: Gizmodo – Everything Everywhere All at Once Tops Kanopy’s List of Most-Watched Films of 2023
At Linux Foundation‘s AI dot dev event this week, the non-profit organization that is home to a vast array of open-source efforts across the technology landscape attempted to stake its claim for relevancy in the generative AI era. The Linux Foundation is an umbrella group for several open-source efforts, including the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), the PyTorch Foundation and the LF AI and Data project.
The post Linux Foundation Advances Open-Source Vision With Generative AI Commons appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Linux Foundation Advances Open-Source Vision With Generative AI Commons
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)
Chrome has finally announced plans to kill third-party cookies. It’s been almost four years since third-party cookies have been disabled in Firefox and Safari, but Google, one of the world’s largest ad companies, has been slow-rolling the death of the tracking cookie. Ad companies use third-party cookies to track users across the web, and that web activity is used to show users relevant ads. Now that Google’s alternative user-tracking ad system, the “Privacy Sandbox,” has launched in Chrome, it’s finally ready to do away with the previous form of ad tracking. The new timeline to kill third-party cookies is the second half of 2024.
Google’s blog post calls the rollout “Tracking Protection” and says the first tests will begin on January 4, where 1 percent of Chrome users will get the feature. By the second half of 2024, the rollout should hit everyone on desktop Chrome and Android (Chrome on iOS is just a reskinned Safari and is not applicable). The rollout comes with some new UI bits for Chrome, with Google saying, “If a site doesn’t work without third-party cookies and Chrome notices you’re having issues—like if you refresh a page multiple times—we’ll prompt you with an option to temporarily re-enable third-party cookies for that website from the eye icon on the right side of your address bar.” Since other browsers have been doing this for four years, it’s hard to imagine many web admins not being ready for it.
Chrome’s new third-party cookies controls. (credit: Google)
Google says the rollout is “subject to addressing any remaining competition concerns from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.” Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox switch represents the world’s most popular browser (Google Chrome) integrating with the web’s biggest advertising platform (Google Ads) and shutting down alternative tracking methods used by competing ad companies. So, some regulators are naturally interested in the whole process.
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Source: Ars Technica – Four years after Apple, Google will finally kill third-party cookies in 2024
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year—unless you don’t celebrate it. Then you’re stuck in a mostly shut down world with seemingly nothing to do. Fortunately, you still have quite a few options, whether you’re along or with friends, to make Dec. 25 a fun day off, regardless of your observances.
Chinese restaurants and movie theaters traditionally stay open on Christmas day for those of us who don’t celebrate and/or have nowhere else to go. Just getting some orange chicken and seeing what’s playing at the multiplex can make for a fun Christmas day. While this guide will include ways to find other activities, you shouldn’t rule out these tried-and-true non-Christmas activities. They’re staples of the un-holiday for a good reason.
Finding a Chinese restaurant that’s open on Christmas doesn’t take much work. Just search Yelp for options near you. A few phone calls should find you a meal pretty quickly. If you’re in a larger city with a large cluster of Chinese restaurants (e.g. a Chinatown), you can head straight there—but don’t forget to make a reservation, even if it’s just dinner for you or a small party. Popular restaurants sometimes receive so much overflow business on Christmas day that they can’t accommodate everyone. You may not run into a problem, but it’s always better to be prepared.
If Chinese food isn’t your thing (or your reservation doesn’t work out), look at restaurants serving any non-European cuisine. This is a good time to check out that Vietnamese place you’ve been eyeing, or to get some Halah Thai food. Plenty of establishments that serve non-Western dishes do close on Christmas because they feel they won’t get enough business to justify the cost of staying open, so check the hours online or give them a call to make sure.
For Christmas entertainment, movies are the traditional choice. Several new ones always come out on Christmas day, because theaters attract both people who don’t celebrate Christmas, and people who celebrate the holiday but want to get away from their families. Going to the movies on Christmas is so popular, it’s a good idea to get your tickets ahead of time—hit up Fandango, MovieTickets.com, or order directly from your theater of choice. Consider hitting up the out-of-the-way or pricier theater with the table service or the cushy recliners that you usually don’t go to, which can make it feel like more of an occasion.
If there’s a nearby theater that provides seat assignments, consider going there even if you have to drive a little further. Christmas is a very busy time at the movie theater and you don’t want to get stuck in the front row. Regardless of assigned seats, however, you should still arrive a little early. People traffic and parking can make you late on a busy day.
Chinese restaurants and movie theaters aren’t the only establishments open on Christmas. A number of other retail chains—and even some local stores—keep limited hours for the minority who do not celebrate the holiday.
Several attractions remain open on Christmas day, especially in larger cities. As always, call ahead before making plans. Here are some options:
Go skiing or snowboarding: Most mountains are open on Christmas and the lift lines are blissfully empty. There’s no better way of celebrating a winter-based holiday than on a wide open mountain.
Pretend to be a tourist: Tourist attractions tend to stay open on Christmas, especially in larger cities. This includes places like Madame Tussaud’s and Ripley’s Believe It or Not as well as zipline and Segway tours. Find out what’s local to your area and chances are they’ll have special Christmas hours. Of course, many tourist attractions don’t have to remain open for you to enjoy them. If want to check out a monument or historical landmark, they’re still around on Christmas and will cost you nothing.
Visit a park or skating rink: It may be cold outside (in some places), but if you bundle up you can enjoy a park or skating rink. Bring some friends and get a game of snow football together. Take a sled with you if your park has a big hill. When you get home, make some hot chocolate and enjoy being warm again.
Get a room: If you’ve got some spare cash lying around and have nothing better to do, get a room at a hotel. Hotels can’t really close on Christmas, and they typically offer plenty of amenities. As always, be sure to call ahead and find out if there are any Christmas day restrictions.
Volunteer: Not having anything to do on Christmas isn’t exactly a big life problem that needs solving. Other people have nowhere to go and nothing to eat. If you’ve got nothing to do, use that time to volunteer and help people who need it. Check your local homeless shelters and non-profit organizations for possibilities. Look at VolunteerMatch if you can’t locate anything easily. Your local Craigslist has a volunteer board you can look at as well.
Use Christmas as a catch-up day: Is everyone out of town? Have you been neglecting chores, work, your hobbies, or even working on a few DIY projects? While getting things done may not be anyone’s first choice on their day off, Christmas or otherwise, you can spend at least part of your day knocking a few things off your to-do list and the rest of the time relaxing. That way you’ll get a break and still feel accomplished.
Spend time with friends and family at home: Not celebrating Christmas doesn’t mean you can’t spend the day with family and/or friends. Get together with your family )(or family of choice) and play games, watch a movie, cook together, talk, or whatever else you’ll all enjoy. You don’t have to go out to have fun, so don’t rule out staying in with people you care about.
These are just a handful of options. A few local activities and attractions, such as arcades, laser tag, spas, and sports clubs often stay open on Christmas day. We couldn’t possibly list them all here, but call a few places to find out if they’re open. You might be surprised.
Some national chain restaurants remain open on Christmas day, so if you aren’t a fan of Chinese food you can often count on them. There’s a restaurant chain open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for all tastes, from Applebee’s, to Benihana, to Denny’s, Fogo de Chão, and more. Keep in mind that all franchises often do not follow the same schedule, so while one Burger King may be open on Christmas, another may not. Call ahead first.
You won’t find much to celebrate at a store, but many chains traditionally stay open for a short time on Christmas day, including Walgreens, CVS, and 7-Eleven. Grocery store chains are generally not open on December 25—Costco, Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and many others will be shuttered for the holiday.
Because so many places are closed on Christmas day, the one thing you must do is plan ahead. This won’t take more than 15-20 minutes in most cases, and can ensure you won’t run into any unwanted disappointments during the day. Just follow these steps:
Make a list of the places you want to go.
Call nearby locations to confirm they’ll be open, as not every chain follows corporate holiday hour recommendations. It’s always a good idea to find out their exact hours for Christmas day, too.
Make reservations at any restaurant(s) you plan to visit.
Put together a basic timeline of the day, accounting for travel time, so you don’t lose any reservations, miss a movie, or arrive after the store closes.
If you follow those steps you’ll be ready to enjoy a very special non-Christmas, whether you’re going solo or enjoying the day with others.
Source: LifeHacker – What to Do on Christmas When You Don’t Celebrate
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s second DLC, The Indigo Disk, is a far less damning encapsulation of the base game than The Teal Mask expansion. The second half of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero embodies the best parts of Scarlet and Violet—even if it never quite matches its highest highs. It’s still the buggy, ugly…
Source: Kotaku – Pokémon Scarlet And Violet: The Indigo Disk: The Kotaku Review
Final Fantasy XVI is a wonderful game with many flaws. One of the low-key biggest is a grimy, dark pink sky that eclipses the world near the end of the game. It can make completing every side-quest and monster hunt real depressing. Fortunately, players will get a much-needed vacation from the ugliness when the …
Source: Kotaku – Final Fantasy XVI’s Leviathan DLC Lets Players Escape The Game’s Gross Gray Sky
For the past 40-plus years, Indiana Jones has meant nothing but fortune and glory. Each of the franchise’s first four films was one of the top three highest-grossing films in the U.S. the year they were released. Raiders of the Lost Ark was #1 in 1981, Temple of Doom was #2 in 1984, Last Crusade was #2 in 1989 and King…
Source: Gizmodo – James Mangold Has Some Thoughts on Indiana Jones 5’s Box Office
Twitch users have finally pushed the interactive livestreaming service to allow more nudity after years of banning mostly female-presenting streamers who were penalized for violating sexual content policies that Twitch now admits were too confusing.
In one prominent example, just two days before the policy change, Twitch banned OnlyFans model Morgpie for posting “topless” streams. Although Morgpie’s videos were shot to imply nudity, they “never actually showed content that explicitly violated Twitch’s sexual content policies,” TechCrunch reported. To critics, Twitch’s rationale for banning Morgpie remains unclear.
In a blog, Twitch Chief Customer Trust Officer Angela Hession wrote that Twitch “received consistent feedback from streamers that our current policies around sexual content are confusing and that it can be difficult to know how their content will be interpreted based on these policies.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Twitch finally updates “overly punitive,” “confusing” sexual content policy
