Gizmodo

On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. Joined by eight state attorneys general, the federal government said the tech giant is running an illegal monopoly in the digital ad market, and it wants the courts to compel Google to sell its subsidiary ad businesses, breaking the…Read more...

This week, io9 was invited to preview Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway— Disney Parks’ latest attraction—just in time for the Disney100 celebration, which kicks off at the Disneyland Resort this week.Read more...

The first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were very well defined. Phase Four? Not so much. We have a feeling the same won’t be said about Phase Five, though, which kicks off next month with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.Read more...

Donald Trump is coming back to Facebook and Instagram.

After getting caught using an algorithm to write dozens of articles, the tech publication CNET has apologized (sorta) but wants everybody to know that it definitely has no intention of calling it quits on AI journalism.Read more...

The only non-English language film in the Midnight section of this year’s 2023 Sundance Film Festival, In My Mother’s Skin is a gut-wrenching horror story about a girl placed in a desperate situation who makes a choice she quickly regrets. It takes place in the Philippines near the end of World War II, but its themes…Read more...

Android users in India will soon have more control over their devices, thanks to a court ruling. Beginning next month, Indian Android wielders can choose a different billing system when paying for apps and in-app smartphone purchases rather than default to going through the Play Store. Google will also allow Indian…Read more...

An asteroid is on its way to Earth, but don’t worry—the end is not here. The asteroid, dubbed 2023 BU, is about the size of a box truck and is not projected to impact our planet during its flyby on Thursday. However, it will be “one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded,” according to a…Read more...

If Tesla was any other company, most analysts would think it a shining diamond compared to the hard time most other tech-related companies have had at the end of 2022. But this is Tesla, driven by the (cough) magnificent billionaire Elon Musk.Read more...

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Translating media from one language into another is always going to be a fraught process—from trying to retain a style and nuance between dialogue, to navigating fanbases that often perceive any kind of difference in localization as censorship. But there’s a difference between that, and what’s happened to Titan’s Kamen…Read more...

Investigators are looking into Snapchat’s alleged role in fentanyl-laced pills being distributed through the popular video and messaging app. Bloomberg is reporting that the FBI and Justice Department’s investigation is part of a broader probe into the nation’s counterfeit drug problem.Read more...

For the first book in the Dragonlance Heroes series, The Legend of Huma, the story of the greatest knight in Krynn was told, and how he banished the Dragon-goddess Takhisis and saved the world. Now, in the third installment of the series, Michael Williams’ Weasel’s Luck, we have the tale of… some kid who’s primarily…Read more...

MoviePass is back with a sequel and, counter to past fake-outs, this time it seems to be real. This past August, the movie ticket subscription service announced it was re-booting itself with a beta version that required advance sign-up to secure a spot on the waitlist.

Read any article about the clean energy revolution, and chances are you’ll run into some staggering numbers about how demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other minerals and metals is projected to rise over the next few decades.

In 1982, the Department of Justice wrapped up a 13-year antitrust case against IBM. The DOJ lost, but so did IBM. The tech landscape changed, and IBM was distracted and had to move slowly under the increased scrutiny. Microsoft and Apple swooped in and knocked IBM off its perch. 20 years later, the same thing happened…Read more...

On December 12, from 156 miles above the surface of Mars, the HiRise camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a peculiar sight: the face of a bear, peering up from the crust of the Red Planet.Read more...

Rick and Morty co-creator and voice actor Justin Roiland has lost another gig now that he’s facing felony domestic abuse charges. Hulu, home to Roiland projects Solar Opposites and Koala Man, has also parted ways with him.Read more...

Digital recyclers are having a hard time breaking into secondhand Macbooks that have retailed for as much $3,000. The problem? The laptops won’t let anyone other than the owner log in even after a wipe, so now these perfectly good computers are being sold for scrap.

After just one day after being reinstated back on Twitter thanks to owner Elon Musk’s blanket pardon of hate figures, white nationalist and anti-Semite Nick Fuentes has once again been kicked off the platform.Read more...

Critical Role, the popular Dungeons & Dragons actual play that raised $11 million dollars a few years ago to bring its first campaign to life, will probably never need to resort to fan fundraising again. Amazon Studios announced a multi-year “exclusive overall television and first look deal” with Critical Role,…Read more...

The right-wing outrage machine has moved on from gas stoves to a seemingly innocuous Xbox console update that focuses on power-saving features for lower energy consumption.

Mexico’s government is building a new train project that could have big economic benefits, but the tracks are going to be laid at the expense of fragile ecosystems and indigenous artifacts, alarming the country’s environmentalists.Read more...

Today Dungeons & Dragons, a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, announced the next book in its quarterly publishing schedule: a heist-themed adventure anthology titled Keys From the Golden Vault. The book has been in production for years, and while its release date is unfortunately close to the controversy surrounding …Read more...

The vetting process on dating apps may become more stringent as governments around the world look at perhaps implementing mandatory background and ID checks for those who use the apps. Strategies and considerations of how to better protect people searching for love online were discussed at roundtable talks in Sydney,…Read more...

Shutterstock, one of the internet’s biggest sources of stock photos and illustrations, is now offering its customers the option to generate their own AI images. In October, the company announced a partnership with OpenAI, the creator of the wildly popular and controversial DALL-E AI tool. Now, the results of that deal…Read more...

Social media and peer pressure can be powerful tools in modern society and both play a huge, horrifying role in the super smart and scary new film Talk to Me. Directed by YouTubers RackaRacka (real names Danny and Michael Philippou), this Australian horror film follows a group of friends who meet up to try this new,…Read more...

NASA says the Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph is currently unavailable for science operations following a software glitch earlier this month.

Amazon fulfillment center laborers in the United Kingdom have launched the first company strike involving warehouse employees in the country’s history. The strike began yesterday in Coventry, demanding more than the 50 pence per hour wage increase that the company offered.

AstroForge has announced an ambitious commercial mission to observe a distant asteroid—an important step for the California startup as it strives to become the world’s first deep space mining company.

Contestants on the upcoming Squid Game reality show reportedly faced hardships that even the contestants of the satirical hit Netflix series didn’t even have to face. Reports out of the UK where filming for Squid Game: The Challenge is taking place noted sub-zero temperatures early this week, and contestants…Read more...

Science fiction is often several steps ahead of the real world when it comes to conjuring up new technologies. Back in 1991, ground breaking visual effects helped bring the shape-shifting liquid metal T-1000 robot to life in James Cameron’s Terminator 2, but 32 years later, shape-shifting robots now exist in real like…Read more...

Common viral infections may be having far-reaching effects on our brain health, new research suggests. The study found a link between dozens of different viral exposures and a later increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. More research will be needed to untangle the true role, if any, these…Read more...

Most typical detective shows are all about “whodunit.” The lead character pieces together clues to ultimately unmask a person who committed a crime. The new Peacock show Poker Face, however, takes that inspiration and evolves it. Each story, confined to its own episode, shows you who committed the crime in the very…Read more...

Jonathan Frakes has thoughts on the still very mysterious Star Trek: Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover. Daredevil: Born Again gets a slew of intriguing new writers. Superman & Lois has found its new Lex Luthor in a Walking Dead star. And more, of course. Spoilers, spoil away!Read more...

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Today sees the launch of TMNT: The Last Ronin - The Lost Years, a new anthology series looking back at the past and to the future of IDW’s beloved apocalyptic Ninja Turtles offshoot. But it’s not just a return for these beleaguered iterations of the turtles, but for Last Ronin artist Ben Bishop—and the continuation of…Read more...

It’s not just you. Microsoft 365 services, including popular apps like Outlook and Teams, are down in countries throughout the world. Microsoft is aware of the problem and has rolled out fixes to address it.Read more...

On closing day for Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World, wait times exceeded three hours. Fans of the Magic Kingdom’s 1989 water log attraction gathered to say goodbye; among them were folks genuinely looking forward to the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure re-theme. Then there were the disgruntled extremists who were still…Read more...

The FBI says that cybercriminals connected to the North Korean regime are responsible for an attack on a U.S.-based crypto project, Harmony Protocol, that led to over $100 million in losses last year.

As the old adage goes: Time is money. And now there’s one more reason to watch the clock. Lyft has quietly added wait time fees to its cost scheme. If you request a car and aren’t present at the pick up point within two minutes (or 5 minutes for luxury rides) of the scheduled arrival time, the rideshare app will now…Read more...

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SoundHound, a voice AI company that laid off 40% of its employees earlier this month, announced Tuesday that it had successfully raised $25 million in equity investment. That funding brings good news for the laid off staff, three of whom previously said what measly severance they were offered—just two weeks, no health…Read more...

Here’s the answer for all the Rick and Morty fans who were wondering what was going to happen to the popular Adult Swim series after it came to light that its co-creator and distinctive voice actor, Justin Roiland, had been charged with felony domestic violence: Roiland is off the show, and for that matter—he’s off…Read more...

Twitter has reversed course on its extremely unpopular decision to make an algorithmically generated timeline the default for all Twitter users. On Tuesday, the company’s support page said that Twitter users could again default to seeing posts from accounts they follow in chronological order.Read more...

Crash diet alert: Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf has slimmed down by about 256 billion tons. As part of a major calving event, an iceberg nearly the size of Houston, Texas, separated from the continent on Sunday, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

N.K. Jemisin made history when her trilogy of books—The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky—each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in the year of its release. After a few delays, the world of the Broken Earth trilogy is finally coming to a roleplaying game.Read more...

One of the bigger questions surrounding NASA’s interest in sending a crewed mission to Mars surrounds the best way to get there, and it appears the agency might have found its answer. NASA announced today that it will be developing a nuclear thermal rocket engine in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research…Read more...

Some unsettling imagery out of Europe last week: The Drina river, a 215-mile waterway that constitutes much of the border of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, has been covered in trash.Read more...

Heartbreak and body horror intersect in Laura Moss’ Birth/Rebirth, a homage to Frankenstein and David Cronenberg’s visceral nightmares that also puts motherhood—in various senses of the word—under the microscope. It just premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and will stream on Shudder later this year.Read more...