I’m picturing meerkats popping up in unison as I write this. But the truth is that a lot of queer gamers were waiting with bated breath to see how things were going to play out. We knew that it would take about five minutes for the “Mix It Up” controversy to stir. And that means it was only going to take about five minutes for the transphobes and anti-queer gamers to come out of the woodworks to declare our collective outrage unmerited and silly....

While nostalgia is typically reserved for such consumer-facing things, the tech world can — and should — tap into it, too. Sure, technology has changed in nearly every possible way since the dot-com days, but startups and even more established companies could benefit from revisiting some of the business fundamentals that reigned supreme in the ‘90s. Too often, today’s founders are starting companies by creating culture first and believing (rather than confirming) that their ideas will attain marketability....

By the look of things, there is no doubt that an HVAC system is actually a very important appliance. However, for your HVAC system to perform optimally, there are a number of maintenance and care routine that you must carry out routinely and with an expert. One of them is replacing the air filter. The other could be cleaning the duct. These routine performances are vital. If you doubt, then read along to determine how leaving your air filter dirty would impact your HVAC system....

These remarkable statistics are a triumph of medicine and the single most effective public health measure in history: global vaccination programs. COVID-19, after the most rapid and sustained vaccine development program in history, now looks set to be joining this list of fatal diseases that can be easily prevented with a jab or two. The disease that has killed an estimated 1.3 million people (and rising), may have had its day....

You can’t have a discussion about killer robots without invoking the Terminator movies. The franchise’s iconic T-800 robot has become the symbol for our existential fears concerning today’s artificial intelligence breakthroughs. What’s often lost in the mix however, is why the Terminator robots are so hellbent on destroying humanity: because we accidentally told them to. This is a concept called misaligned objectives. The fictional people who made Skynet (spoiler alert if you haven’t seen this 35 year-old movie), the AI that powers the Terminator robots, programmed it to safeguard the world....

The Tesla Roadster was the company’s first vehicle. It was a sort of mutant offspring from high-performance electric vehicle startup AC Propulsion and British sports carmaker Lotus. Launched in 2008, it put Tesla on the automotive map and showed that electric cars didn’t have to be dull and boring. Remember, 2008 was dominated by snooze button cars like the Toyota Prius and G-Wiz. It was loved by Silicon Valley startup nerds, and ever since the first generation went out of production in 2012, we’ve been waiting patiently for the new version....

On October 22, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the Mayall Telescope in Arizona, US, achieved first light. This is a huge leap in our ability to measure galaxy distances – enabling a new era of mapping the structures in the universe. As its name indicates, it may also be key to solving one of the biggest questions in physics: what is the mysterious force dubbed “dark energy” that makes up the 70 percent of the universe?...

As someone whose built more than 4,000 audio/video studios, he knows a thing or two about getting a project started, getting over the wall, and seeing a vision come to life. Storyk’s one of those enigmatic and wonderful people with one foot planted firmly in the world of engineering and craftsmanship, and the other kicking dandelions in a world of art and passion. He talks about the architects who’ve inspired him – Frederick Keisler, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Cobusier – with the reverence of a storyteller....

As a teenager, I was witness to the last gasps of a 20th-century lexical leitmotif. The suffix ‘-tron’, along with ‘-matic’ and ‘-stat’, are what the historian Robert Proctor at Stanford University calls embodied symbols. Like the heraldic shields of ancient knights, these morphemes were painted onto the names of scientific technologies to proclaim one’s history and achievements to friends and enemies alike. ‘Stat’ signaled something measurable, while ‘matic’ advertised free labor; but ‘tron,’ above all, indicated control....

The Dutch banking giant has announced plans to launch a decentralized trade inventory platform in collaboration with Accenture and ING Bank, according to a press release (spotted by CoinDesk). Codenamed Forcefield, the project will employ Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices to provide “real-time insight into trade inventories.” ABN AMRO claims the platform’s monitoring features “will lead to more secure physical handling processes and a reduction of costs.” Upon launch, the project will focus on “refined metals,” but “functionality will be expanded across other dry bulk commodities” in the future....

Activision will be giving away 10,000 beta keys for the upcoming title this weekend, The Verge reports. The giveaway will take place as part of the first Call of Duty League championship, which will go down on August 30 at 4PM ET. Viewers of the stream can qualify for beta keys by tuning in to the stream on the league’s official website. [Read more: 4 ridiculously easy ways you can be more eco-friendly] To become eligible, you’ll have to sign up or log into your Activision account, and link it to the Call of Duty League site or companion app....

On this occasion, Adobe is bringing four AI-powered features to its desktop and iPad apps. On a call earlier this week, executives said they were looking to introduce more features powered by the company’s Sensei engine, which was launched in 2016. On desktop, the company is bringing content-aware filling for multiple objects on one go. This feature lets you remove objects and fill the space with the present background, based on your selection....

Historically, insurers have had to consider only the human aspect of parties involved in any insurable matter. Today, things are a lot more complex. As AI development has increased in scope, we have been left with programs with the sophistication to be integrated into areas of infrastructure that have effectively given them direct input into life-or-death situations. Today we have everything from driverless cars to advanced scanning platforms that can identify a patient’s need for immediate treatment....

The energy these computers consume is unusually high. Police in the UK recently raided what they believed to be an extensive indoor marijuana-growing operation, only to discover that the huge electricity usage that had aroused their suspicions was actually coming from a bitcoin-mining setup. Thousands of similar setups, around 70% of which are currently based in China, continue to demand more and more energy to mine bitcoins. This has understandably prompted environmental concerns, with Elon Musk tweeting in May 2021 that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin as payment for its vehicles on account of its poor green credentials....

After all, the city is very different from the other large urban contenders New York City, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington DC. With its beaches, art deco architecture and multi-cultural flavor, Miami is generally characterized by its booming tourism and real estate industries. However, in the same way as Miami earned its nickname ‘The Magic City’ for its rapid urban growth in the late 19th century, over the last seven years the city has placed itself on the map as a quickly growing international tech and startup hub....

The update is rolling out today on “select Pixel, Oneplus, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Realme phones,” with other partners to follow. Indeed, the update is already available on my Pixel 4 XL. If you have a compatible device, here are some of the best reasons you should consider upgrading. Conversations are a priority Android 11 includes two big improvements to text conversations on your phone. Firstly, Google now keeps your conversations separate from your other notifications, giving them priority near the top of your notifications shade....

Those who know what an IP address is will already know most of these searches are coming from people who understand what they’re searching for. But for the rest of us, a more relevant question might be: what is an IP address? Across the globe, there are billions of computing devices that connect to the internet. To communicate, each device needs an address, just like our homes. Our home address is typically structured along the lines of “number, street, city, postcode, country”....

Tim Cook announced two major things that’ll have a large impact on the industry. The first is a long awaited redesign of the Podcasts app. Cook mentioned that each show will have a dedicated page, as well as a browsing function that will help people discover more shows. This is sorely needed — as anyone who has uses the current Apple Podcasts app is well aware of its limitations. But the big news is the launch of Apple Podcast Subscriptions....

Instead, these new iMacs look the same as the old iMacs, but with some substantial improvements to the internals. The key upgrades for the popular 27-inch model include: 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake processors, up to a 5.0GHz 10-core i9 Double the memory throughout the range of SKUs, and up to 128GB total A 1080p webcam (up from 720p) Graphics up to AMD’s 5700XT with 16GB VRAM 10 Gigabit ethernet option T2 security chip for on-the-fly encryption and secure booting ‘Nano-texture’ matte display (as seen on the Pro Display XDR) option as a $500 upgrade...

In an embarrassing U-turn, the UK government announced yesterday that it was dumping its home-grown app for one based on Apple and Google’s decentralized model. Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed the transition would be simple, as the country had “backed both horses” by testing the two systems before scrapping its in-house app. Hancock said that the National Health Service (NHS) would now work to combine its proximity-detection technology with the Apple-Google system....