Crunch Hype

Facebook plans to shell out some serious cash to get creators making content on its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds.The social media giant this week announced it’s put together a $10 million Creator Fund that will disburse to content creators and developers over the next year.Horizon Worlds (recently rebranded from its original name, just plain Horizon) is essentially an ultramodern version of computer game Second Life, where users interact with one another in shared virtual spaces using customized avatars. It’s been in development since at least 2019, and is currently in invite-only beta.

While Marvel Comics teams like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four are heroes to the world, saving the planet many times over, the X-Men are very different. Though they also are heroes who have saved the world more than once, humans hate and fear the them because they are mutants born with special powers and are, therefore, different.

Family and an attitude of volunteer heroism are major themes in Zack Snyder's three DCEU movies — Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League — lending themselves to moments in which the action moves to the wayside and wholesome feelings are allowed to breathe. This gives the characters a chance to show their softer, more vulnerable sides.

Finding the Stones of Barenziah is perhaps one of the most notorious quests in all of Skyrim, as players are required to scour the whole of the game's expansive map looking for the pieces of Barenziah's Crown. Many players may not even bother putting forth the effort, as it's notably difficult to locate the easily missable, unmarked items required. As a result, few ever receive the reward the quest offers. However, is the Stones of Barenziah reward even worth it in the first place?The quest "No Stone Unturned" begins when players discover their first Stone of Barenziah, a collection of 24 unusual gems scattered across the entire map. Upon bringing it to an appraiser - something that requires that the Dragonborn become a member of Skyrim's Thieves Guild and talk to Vex - it kicks off the objective of finding every last one of the unmarked gems. Once all of them have been recovered, players then have to retrieve the Crown of Barenziah, which can be recovered from Tolvald's Cave.

Picking up where Venom left off, Venom: Let There Be Carnage faces the wide-eyed symbiote with his greatest enemy: Carnage. First, though, Venom will have to come to terms with both his host body and his own place in the world.

Charles Xavier created the X-Men for two reasons. One was to teach young mutants how to use their powers safely. The second was to create a team that could act as heroes to ease the relationship between mutants and the humans who fear them. However, there are several X-Men who have been anything but heroic in their lives.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become quite adept at building up the stardom of those who play its most famous superheroes, elevating the likes of Chris Evans and Chris Pratt to action hero superstardom. However, many superheroes of the MCU are also portrayed by actors and actresses with lengthy and prestigious resumes.

The Fantastic Four count some of the greatest supervillains in Marvel Comics as their enemies, like Doctor Doom or Galactus. The majority of them are men, but a number of their adversaries in the last sixty years have been women. Some are fairly well known to comics readers, while others are a bit more obscure.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has clicked yet another cosmic wonder — an interaction event of two galaxies that are so closely intertwined that they are collectively labeled as a single entity. Galactic interactions are not a rare phenomenon. In fact, a large number of galaxies show some form of interaction either with their satellites or on a much larger scale with other galaxies. The latter category can include events such as collisions that end up in a merger of galaxies or lead to bursts of star formation.In scenarios of a collision and eventual merger, the larger galaxy might retain its shape after gobbling up the much smaller galaxy. The gravitational interaction between galaxies often leads to the formation of a larger irregular galaxy, but elliptical galaxies are also known to form as a result. Some of the best examples of galactic interactions are the Messler 81 group (includes the dominant M81 galaxy interacting with two smaller NGC 3034 and NGC 3077 galaxies) and the Cartwheel group which consists of four spiral galaxies in a beautiful ring outline.

As the competition heats up on The Voice season 21, this has been another eventful week of news stories, from coach Ariana Grande getting mixed reactions to Ed Sheeran joining the show as a mentor. With the introduction of Ariana as a new coach, The Voice season 21 premiered on Monday, September 20 on NBC. Since then, dozens of aspiring singers have performed in their Blind Auditions for a chance to join one of the coaches' teams.Alas, it's been harder than ever for coaches Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, and John Legend to convince singers to join their respective teams now that they're up against Ariana - one of the biggest pop stars in the world at the moment. This season, the coaches were once again tasked with filling up their initial teams with 12 contestants. With that said, it is important to note that this is only the first phase of The Voice season 21. There's still a lot of competition ahead of us.

Dancing With The Stars season 30 viewers are anticipating the upcoming two-part Disney Night, which is set to air this week. While there are typically numerous different themed nights throughout the duration of a DWTS season, Disney Night is surely the most beloved theme by fans. As the dancing couples are preparing their next live performances, fans are curious to know what the two-part Disney-themed night will entail.Last week, DWTS season 30 featured Britney Night, which consisted of the dancing duos performing to hit songs from pop singer Britney Spears. During the exciting night, duo Cody Rigsby and Cheryl Burke performed both virtually and individually from their homes for the first time in the history of the show. This was due to them recently testing positive for COVID-19. Cheryl has now been cleared to return to the ballroom in time for Disney Night, but it is unclear if Cody has been cleared as well.

Windows 11 kicked off its wide rollout on Tuesday. Microsoft launched its new operating system and began rolling it out to eligible devices on Oct. 5, and the upgrade is free to everyone already using Windows 10. However, because Microsoft is rolling out the OS in phases, your system might not show the option to upgrade just yet. An August blog post from Microsoft said the company expects "all eligible devices to be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 by mid-2022." Don't want to wait? Read on to find out how the Windows 11 Installation Assistant is your shortcut to Windows 11.If you're not in a rush, however, the Windows 11 update will be pushed to your device at some point in the coming months when Microsoft's data indicates the upgrade is ready for that device. When the new OS is available to you, the upgrade process will feel similar to a normal Windows 10 update, as long as your device is compatible and meets the minimum requirements needed. (And even if it doesn't, Microsoft will offer a workaround, but your Windows 11 installation won't be supported by the company.)Don't want to wait until next year? You still have the option to manually download Windows 11 and check out its new features, such as widgets, snap layouts, virtual desktops and the new Microsoft Store. We'll tell you how below. Before your download, here's everything you need to know about Microsoft's new software.To see if your current Windows 10 PC is eligible for the free upgrade to Windows 11, you can check in a few different ways. And if you buy a new PC, that computer will also be eligible for the free upgrade.If you haven't updated to Windows 10 yet, don't worry -- there's a trick for downloading Windows 10 free that still works. Now would be a good time to make the switch to prepare your machine for the Windows 11 upgrade. That trick will be the same one you use if you want to manually upgrade an older machine to Windows 11, though Microsoft doesn't encourage doing this as it may not be eligible for the same updates.Source:CNET, Microsoft

With Android 12 going open source on Monday, Google today detailed what’s new in the OS for enterprise admins and end-users. The latter benefits from more privacy controls, while the former can impose more measures to secure corporate data.One particularly interesting capability lets IT admins “slice their 5G network and dedicate connectivity to all apps on a fully-managed device.” This priority cell service can also be limited to Work Profile apps, with enterprises – in partnership with carriers – having “wider control over quality of service and security of work data.”Meanwhile, administrators can limit the USB-C port on company-owned devices so that only charging works. This reduces the risk of USB-based attacks, though not all devices support the ability to disable USB data signaling.Companies can similarly restrict what input methods are available in personal profiles. In requiring people to use the default input (e.g. Gboard on Pixel), there’s a reduced risk of a “rogue keyboard that could capture data on the device.”

The Punisher has become one of Marvel Comics’ most well-known antiheroes and has managed to keep fans’ attention through his brutal vigilantism and cruel delivery of justice. After his initial introduction, the Punisher landed his own series which spun off into many more after that including Punisher: War Journal and the highly acclaimed Punisher: MAX. It is safe to say fans have had the chance to read many stories starring the Punisher, but one Marvel Comics writer just revealed that there are “mountains” of unpublished stories!In a Tweet posted by comic writer Dan Slott, the writer reveals that he once worked with legendary Silver Age comic artist Gil Kane on a Punisher book that never saw the light of day, a revelation which was announced while discussing an entirely different comic. Slott’s original post was about a fairly obscure Marvel Comics character named the Two-Gun Kid. Slott said that he worked with Kane on a particularly violent Two-Gun Kid issue which was censored before publishing but was then published in its gratuitous entirety in a special Gil Kane tribute issue. The high-octane violence and his working relationship with Gil Kane naturally progressed the thread into a revelation about mysterious and unpublished Punisher books.

Marvel's Black Widow is now available on Disney+ as well as on home and digital release, and here's all you need to know about the film's 11 deleted scenes. Set during the end of Captain America: Civil War, Cate Shortland's Black Widow introduced viewers to Natasha Romanoff's first family - and set up the future of the Black Widow franchise.While Black Widow was released on Disney+'s Premier Access model, that didn't include any deleted scenes. Marvel has saved those for the digital and home releases, which feature eight deleted scenes and an alternate ending; two more were added when Black Widow became available for general viewers on Disney+. It's always fascinating to get a look at Marvel's deleted scenes, to figure out how the story would have been subtly different had they been kept. .

Apple is reportedly planning to add a ton of new features to CarPlay that would grant it more control over some core functions in a car such as controlling the climate functions, making seat adjustments, wider control over in-car audio hardware, and deeper integration with other sensors such as the speedometer and fuel instruments. The journey of CarPlay has been one of a steady rise so far when it comes to adoption by carmakers, and Apple has also added new capabilities such as digital car keys and third-party navigation app support to rope in more brands as well as users.And even though the fate of a few features and their widespread adoption remains uncertain, Apple has been expanding the ecosystem of compatible car models steadily over the years. One might also argue that the company is speeding up the CarPlay development in anticipation of its hotly debated self-driving electric car project, but the departure of top executives from the car division and Apple’s radio silence suggests that the car project is still years away.

While Allison Argent (Crystal Reed) wasn't in all six seasons of Teen Wolf, she had a profound effect on the audience. Forever remaining one of the most likable characters on Teen Wolf, fans absolutely loved both watching her grow into a strong and empowered hunter and witnessing her epic, star-crossed lovers' romance with Scott McCall (Tyler Posey).

For a game that has become famous for its modding community, it should come as no surprise that there is a Witcher Mod available for the Skyrim Special Edition. Longtime Skyrim fans will be familiar with the process of finding and downloading mods for the game, but newer players might not have that same know-how. Follow this quick tutorial to download and play the Witcher Mod for Skyrim.Since 2011, players have been creating mods that range from introducing new playable characters to mods that upgrade the user interface in Skyrim. Unlike other game developers, Bethesda Game Studios is happy to see the community create mods for their games. Bethesda’s game engine is even designed to allow for easy modding. In addition to game improvement, Skyrim fans have even modded characters and stories in from other games, most recently from The Witcher.

Jake Gyllenhaal says Tom Holland helped him cope with anxiety while filming 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home. This December will see the release of the MCU's third and potentially final solo Spider-Man movie, titled No Way Home. The Jon Watts-directed film will pick up where Far From Home left off, with Peter Parker's (Holland) identity having just been revealed to the world. Now that everyone knows he's Spider-Man, Peter's life gets turned upside down, which prompts him to seek out Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for assistance.Not only is Peter's secret identity gone, but he's also been framed for the murder of Mysterio (Gyllenhaal). Spider-Man: Far From Home initially positioned Mysterio as a hero from another universe who was the only one with the ability to defeat destructive creatures known as the Elementals. However, as fans familiar with Spider-Man lore knew all too well, Mysterio was little more than a villainous charlatan who pretended to be a hero when in reality, he was creating fake chaos. Peter got the upper hand by the end, but Mysterio's reach will still be felt well into Spider-Man: No Way Home.

What We Do In The Shadows’ Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou) is bound to ascend to the Supreme Council of vampires. A 500-year-old vampire of Romani descent, Nadja had a very disadvantaged life as a human. But in What We Do In The Shadows season 3, Nadja – along with her roommates Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Colin (Mark Proksch) – are promoted to become the leaders of the local Vampiric Council.In the final episode of What We Do In The Shadows season 2, the group is summoned by the Vampiric Council to be executed for killing Baron Afanas (Doug Jones). However, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) breaks out his masters and kills the council members in the process. While this makes the vampires fear retaliation from the other elders, the Supreme Council instead recognizes the massacre as a sign of strength. And as a result, Nadja’s group was promoted into the new leaders of the local Vampiric Council.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has demanded the removal of a cockfighting mini-game included in Far Cry 6. Ubisoft's newly-released first-person shooter brings players to the fictional Caribbean island of Yara, which is ruled by dictator Antón Castillo. Far Cry 6 features several animal companions which serve to add variety to gameplay, but PETA is quite critical of the title's treatment of animals.There are multiple animal Amigos for players to choose from in Far Cry 6, with each of them bringing their own strengths and weaknesses into battle. The adorable dachshund Chorizo is an amputee, but he possesses a wheelchair to help him maneuver the battlefield. Though the pup is quite small and unthreatening, his wheelchair includes a wagon which can carry additional supplies for the player. Chorizo is also breathtakingly adorable, which can distract enemies before the player takes them out. Guapo, meanwhile, is a trained crocodile who can butcher enemies just as efficiently as the player. A chicken Amigo named Chicharrón is also present in Far Cry 6, and possesses the ability to attack foes with large talons.

Warning: Contains spoilers for What If...? episode 9.Marvel’s What If…? introduced a version of Peggy Carter who became a Super-Soldier instead of Steve Rogers, and as Captain Carter, she might be the strongest Super-Soldier yet. Captain Carter might not have had as much to do as either the original Captain America or Sam Wilson, but what little she has done gives credence to the idea that she stands at the top.The season one finale of What If…? opens with Captain Carter going through the beginning of her version of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Just like in that movie, Captain Carter and Black Widow are tasked with rescuing S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel being held hostage by a group of pirates led by one Georges Batroc, who's better known as Batroc the Leaper. Just like Captain America before her, Captain Carter ends up in a one-on-one fight with Batroc where she willingly takes his bait to forego fighting with her shield and settle things with pure fisticuffs, the personal specialty of Batroc the Leaper. This is when the difference in the strength levels of the different Captains becomes readily apparent.Related: Captain Carter Should Lead An MCU A-Force MovieBoth Captain Carter and Captain America are able to defeat Batroc with relative ease despite not using their signature shields, but there are slight differences in their respective fights that might say a lot about their skill levels. Both before and after discarding his shield, Steve's martial arts couldn't prevent him from taking several hits from Batroc throughout the fight, but throughout the entirety of her fight with Batroc, Peggy rarely ever took a hit as she dodged nearly every attack he threw out and was pretty much the only one landing hits between the two of them.While there isn’t an explicit comparison being made between the two Captains, based on their performances, it’s easy to conclude that Peggy, at least at that point in time, was stronger than Steve was at the same point in time. Similarly, the same can also be said when comparing the fight to Sam’s fight with Batroc in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where Sam had a far more even match with Batroc and takes more hits than Steve and Peggy, even with the shield and accessories of his suit aiding him.It makes sense that Sam would have the most difficulty dealing with Batroc since he’s the only Captain who isn’t a Super-Soldier, but as for Steve falling short of Peggy, it could be a combination of Peggy possibly being stronger due to being more physically fit than Steve was then serum was used and Batroc simply being a powerful opponent, in general. Whatever the case, What If…? gives us possibly the strongest Super-Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain Carter, and if she shows up in season two, her appearances would probably further exemplify that with ease.More: Captain Carter Vs Captain Britain: What The MCU Changed

Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeGoogle will no longer allow advertisers, publishers, and YouTube creators to monetize content that denies the existence of climate change. The company detailed the changes in a support document on Thursday.“Today, we’re announcing a new monetization policy for Google advertisers, publishers and YouTube creators that will prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change,” the Google Ads team said in the document. “This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to...long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change.”Google says it will use a mix of automated tools and human reviews to enforce the policy. “When evaluating content against this new policy, we’ll look carefully at the context in which claims are made, differentiating between content that states a false claim as fact, versus content that reports on or discusses that claim,” Google said. Ads will still be allowed on climate topics like public debates on climate policy, research, and more, according to Google

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel's What If...? season 1 finale.The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) explicitly turned down Iron Man (Mike Wingert) as a potential member of the Guardians of the Multiverse in Marvel's What If...? finale, why? Marvel Studios' first animated series wrapped up with a culmination of everything that transpired in its first season. Forced to intervene after Ultron (Ross Marquand) with all six Infinity Stones threatened the multiverse, the Watcher forged a partnership with Doctor Strange Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch), and together, they hatched a plan on how to neutralize the unhinged villain.That's where the idea of the Guardians of the Multiverse came from. Soon after, the Watcher scoured the multiverse to assemble his dream team. Heroes from previous episodes were recruited to the mission including Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), T'Challa's Star-Lord (Chadwick Boseman), King Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), Party Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a variant of Gamora (Cynthia McWilliams), and Doctor Strange Supreme. Meanwhile, Black Widow (Lake Bell) from Ultron's universe eventually joined the group. Each one of them has previously appeared in What If...? except for Gamora, who was with Iron Man in Nidavellir when the Watcher found her.

Warning: SPOILER for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 9 - "weJ Duj (Three Ships)".Captain Kirk's infamous opening scene in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is parodied by Star Trek: Lower Deckswith Ensign D'Vana Tendi and Dr. T'Ana potentially finishing the one mission Kirk never did. In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 9, "weJ Duj (Three Ships)," the Lower Deckers aboard the USS Cerritos pair up with a "bridge buddy" for some rest and recreation during a long-haul warp flight. Tendi and T'Ana decide to recreate Kirk's Yosemite vacation gone wrong in Star Trek 5.The William Shatner-directed Star Trek V ranks as least-loved of the movies starring the cast of Star Trek: The Orignal Series and scenes like Kirk at Yosemite National Park are partly why. After a prologue introduces Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), the half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy), the action turns to Kirk climbing El Capitan at Yosemite. The Captain's ascent is interrupted by Spock, who is wearing a pair of hover boots that allow him to fly. Kirk is so distracted by Spock that he loses his footing and ends up plummeting off the mountain. Of course, Spock saves his best friend. Kirk and Spock later join Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) around the campfire later that night to sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" before they are summoned back aboard the Starship Enterprise.

Apple's newsroom and leadership pages are both currently experiencing some errors, leading to the appearance of some changes to Apple's leadership.

The pauses come amid reports of possible rare side effects from the Moderna jab, including heart inflammation.Swedish health agency says it will pause using Moderna for people born in 1991 and after data pointed to an increase of myocarditis and pericarditis among youths and young adults who had been vaccinated [Rogelio V Solis/AP Photo]