CD Projekt Ransomware Hack Severely Disrupts Work on Cyberpunk Updates

CD Projekt SA said Wednesday it will delay a promised update to the much-criticized role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077, pinning the blame for its slow progress on a recent security breach. From a report: What the Polish publisher didn’t say is that most of its employees have been locked out of their workstations for the past two weeks, according to people familiar…

Parler Apparently Temporarily Blocked Its Own Co-Founder and Former CEO

“Parler, the social media site popular among conservatives, appeared to have banned its cofounder and former CEO on Friday,” reports BuzzFeed News, “before restoring his access later in the day.” An anonymous Slashdot reader shares their report:
John Matze, whom Parler’s management fired earlier this month, told BuzzFeed News that he believed he had been banned after making several posts and comments…

Upheaval and extinctions linked to magnetic reversal 42,000 years ago

42,000 years ago, a breakdown in Earth’s magnetic field led to environmental catastrophes and mass extinctions. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/magnetic-field-reversal-42000-years-ago-neanderthal-extinction…

Parler is Back Online, More Than a Month After Tangle With Amazon Knocked it Offline

Parler is back online following several weeks of darkness after the social media site popular with supporters of former president Donald Trump was knocked offline. From a reportL: Parler effectively fell off the Internet in January when Amazon refused to provide technical cloud computing support to the site after the tech giant determined Parler was not doing enough to moderate and…

Cryptocurrency Magnate’s Plan to Turn 67,000 Acres into Blockchain-Based ‘Smart City’

“A cryptocurrency company that owns 67,000 acres in rural northern Nevada wants state government to grant technology companies power to form local governments on land they own,” reports the Associated Press. Jeffrey Berns, CEO of Nevada-based Blockchains LLC, ultimately envisions “a city where people not only purchase goods and services with digital currency but also log their entire online footprint —…

Chrome OS 88 Turns Your Chromebook Into An Impromptu Smart Display

Google has started rolling out Chrome OS 88. The update includes a couple of enhancements, the most notable of which is a new screen saver you can use to get more functionality out of your computer’s lock screen. Engadget reports: By enabling the feature, your Chromebook will be able to display images from your Google Photos library, including those you’ve organized…

Is Letterboxd Becoming a Blockbuster?

Early last decade, Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, web designers based in Auckland, New Zealand, were seeking a passion project. Their business, a boutique web design studio called Cactuslab, developed apps and websites for various clients, but they wanted a project of their own that their team could plug away at when there wasn’t much else to do. From a…

Facebook’s Small Advertisers Say They’re Hurt by AI Lockouts

Small advertisers that rely on Facebook to spread marketing messages are up in arms over the social network’s automated ad systems, complaining that inflexible account blocking tools and a lack of customer assistance are hurting business. From a report: One digital marketer, Chris Raines, was setting up an advertising campaign on Facebook last week when his account abruptly stopped working. Raines…

Google Stadia Arrives on iOS

Google’s cloud gaming service now supports the iPhone and iPad. As expected, the company is using a web app to access the service. From a report: Google also says that you need to update to iOS 14.3, the latest iOS update that was released earlier this week. If you want to try it out with a free or paid Stadia account,…

Reddit Is Buying TikTok Rival Dubsmash

Reddit said in a statement on Sunday that it has acquired TikTok rival Dubsmash. It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. CNN reports: Dubsmash allows users to create and share video content, and it’s especially popular with young, diverse audiences. About 25% of Black teens in the United States use the app. Women make up 70% of Dubsmash…