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What to read this weekend: Existential sci-fi, a repair manual for the climate crisis, EC Comics resurrected
03 Aug

What to read this weekend: Existential sci-fi, a repair manual for the climate crisis, EC Comics resurrected

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New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.Toward Eternity by Anton HurToward Eternity does not waste any time in getting to the drama. The novel by Anton Hur begins in the not-so-far-off future, and opens with a moment of crisis: a patient in a nanotherapy research clinic has seemingly vanished into thin air. This patient had been undergoing a new type of treatment that uses android cells (dubbed “nanites”) to cure cancer by replacing the body’s own cells. In doing so, however, it transforms the body entirely into a nanodroid, giving rise to “nano humans” that are…
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Prison Architect 2 is delayed indefinitely
03 Aug

Prison Architect 2 is delayed indefinitely

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Prison Architect 2, the sequel to the 2015 cult hit, isn't coming out this year as its creators had planned. The prison construction simulator's publisher, Paradox Interactive, has announced that its release has been delayed indefinitely. In its post, Paradox has admitted that its internal reviews and beta testing feedbacks surfaced the areas that need more attention, mainly the game's performance and content. "We need to raise the quality a bit more to meet the standards we'd like to achieve with this sequel," it wrote.This latest development comes after a series of delays. Prison Architect 2 was supposed to come…
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Meta is reportedly offering millions to use Hollywood voices in AI projects
03 Aug

Meta is reportedly offering millions to use Hollywood voices in AI projects

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A future artificial intelligence product by Meta could have you chatting with celebrities. According to Bloomberg and The New York Times, the company is in talks with Awkwafina, Judi Dench and Keegan-Michael Key, among other celebrities from various Hollywood agencies for its AI projects. The company apparently intends to incorporate their voices into a conversational generative AI-slash-digital assistant called MetaAI, which is similar to Siri and Google Assistant.Meta plans to record their voices and to secure the right to use them for as many situations as possible across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and even the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Bloomberg says…
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Court blocks the FCC’s efforts to restore net neutrality… again
03 Aug

Court blocks the FCC’s efforts to restore net neutrality… again

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The Federal Communications Commission's voted to restore net neutrality protections back in April, but the process isn't as smooth-sailing as its proponents would like. According to Reuters and Fast Company, the Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked the rules from taking effect because the broadband providers' legal case challenging their reinstatement will likely succeed. A group of cable, telecom and mobile internet providers sued the FCC shortly after its three Democrat commissioners voted to restore net neutrality protectionsUnder net neutrality rules, broadband services are classified as essential communications resources. That gives the FCC the power to regulate…
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Apple is fighting Tencent and ByteDance over in-app payments in China
03 Aug

Apple is fighting Tencent and ByteDance over in-app payments in China

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Apple has been pressuring ByteDance and Tencent to close loopholes in China that funnel customers to external payment systems for making in-app purchases, . Anyone living in the West knows the drill here. Apple wants that 30 percent commission.Reporting indicates this pressure campaign began in May. Apple allegedly warned Tencent that it would reject crucial WeChat updates if it didn’t eliminate the ability for users to make payments outside of Apple’s ecosystem. Tencent complied with the original request, issuing an update in July, but Apple went one step further.WeChat is home to thousands of third-party mini-games and experiences. Apple asked…
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Valorant is now out of beta on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S
03 Aug

Valorant is now out of beta on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S

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After a on consoles to iron out some bugs,  is now properly available on and in some regions. You can dive into the free-to-play tactical shooter on the consoles if you're in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan or Brazil. Riot plans to open up the to console players in other regions down the line.Riot says it optimized the gameplay for consoles, which included the addition of a new Focus shooting mode that's a bit like hipfire, but with lower sensitivity for greater precision. There won't be any support for crossplay between PC and consoles so as to maintain competitive integrity,…
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Watch THQ Nordic’s digital showcase at 3PM ET
03 Aug

Watch THQ Nordic’s digital showcase at 3PM ET

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THQ Nordic is holding a livestream showcase event at 3PM ET and you can watch it live via the placed below. If YouTube isn’t your bag, the event will also stream on the company’s and its .The company says the digital showcase will offer updates on a bunch of games, like Titan Quest II, Way of the Hunter, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed and the upcoming remake of Gothic 1. The press release does suggest that there will be more games spotlighted during the event, but didn’t name names. It also says there will be “new announcements.”There’s a car-shaped elephant in…
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Turkey has blocked Instagram amid a dispute over Hamas-related content
03 Aug

Turkey has blocked Instagram amid a dispute over Hamas-related content

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Instagram is blocked in Turkey amid a dispute over Hamas-related content on the platform. The app has been inaccessible in the country since Friday morning. Netblocks, an organization that tracks internet and social media outages, that Instagram had been restricted in the country.Turkish regulators didn’t specify why the block was in place but, as Bloomberg , the crackdown on Instagram appears to be related to its handling of Hamas-related posts on the platform. On Friday, Turkey’s head of communications Fahrettin Altun, said in on X that Instagram “is actively preventing people from posting messages of condolences” for Ismail Haniyeh, the…
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Game Informer magazine is shutting down after 33 years
03 Aug

Game Informer magazine is shutting down after 33 years

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Another giant name in the gaming press is shutting down its operations. Game Informer announced today that it’s been shut down by its parent company GameStop after 33 years in the business. The entire website and its archives have also been removed and now redirect to the magazine’s final statement of thanks to its readers.“After 33 thrilling years of bringing you the latest news, reviews and insights from the ever-evolving world of gaming, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of Game Informer,” the publication’s statement reads.Several social media posts confirmed the sad news about the…
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Google will no longer air an Olympics ad that showed a child using AI to write a fan letter
03 Aug

Google will no longer air an Olympics ad that showed a child using AI to write a fan letter

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Google is phasing out an Olympics ad after for its AI-powered chatbot, Gemini, after receiving widespread criticism of showing a father use AI to help his daughter write a fan letter to her favorite athlete. The 60-second commercial, which is still available on YouTube, shows a father using Gemini to write a fan letter to an idol, Olympic track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, on behalf of his young daughter.“She wants to show Sydney some love and I am pretty good with words, but this has to be just right,” the dad says in the commercial. “So Gemini, help my daughter write…
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