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Gizmodo: Cobie Smulders Is Invading Marvel's Secret Invasion Not like it’s that big of a secret, but Maria Hill is coming to Disney+. Cobie Smulders will reprise her role as the former SHIELD operative and Nick Fury’s right hand woman on the upcoming Disney+ Marvel show Secret Invasion.Read more... 27 mins ago

Gizmodo: Apple Apparently Wants to Replace iPhones with AR Glasses in 10 Years, but I'm Not Buying It Apple reportedly wants to replace the iPhone with augmented reality glasses in 10 years, a transition that would fundamentally change the way we interact with the digital world. Before you get excited about becoming Tony Stark, we should caution that these ambitions border on fanciful.Read more... 42 mins ago

CNET: Square to become Block as tech world sees shifts in names and leadership - CNET The change comes the same week that company CEO Jack Dorsey announced he'd leave his other CEO role at Twitter. 59 mins ago

CNET: Best continuous glucose monitors for 2021 - CNET If you're considering switching to a continuous glucose monitor, try one of these. 1 hour ago

Gizmodo: Biden Admin Calls for a New Kind of Global Space Governance About two weeks ago, Russian authorities conducted a massive missile test that blew up one of its own orbiting satellites, sending at least 1,500 pieces of dangerous debris showering across space and forcing both astronauts and nearby spacecraft to careen out of their path. Now, the Biden Administration is calling for…Read more... 1 hour ago

CNET: 10 great gift baskets for 2021 - CNET Give something you know they'll love -- tasty treats! 1 hour ago

Gizmodo: The Matrix Reloaded Has Always Been Divisive and It Absolutely Should Be The world’s excitement for the 2003 release of The Matrix Reloaded was quantifiable. When the original Matrix opened in 1999, it grossed a respectable $28 million on its opening weekend. Four years later, Reloaded grossed almost three times that to the tune of about $92 million, one of the biggest opening weekends…Read more... 1 hour ago

CNET: Capital One to eliminate overdraft fees next year - CNET The banking giant is the first of its size to eliminate the often criticized practice. 1 hour ago

Gizmodo: Siberian Cave Yields Oldest Fossils Belonging to Enigmatic Human Species The Denisovans, a mysterious group of extinct hominins closely related to Neanderthals, didn’t leave much fossil evidence behind. A fresh dig at their former stomping grounds in Siberia has now yielded three new fossils—the oldest yet found of this species. Read more... 2 hours ago

Gizmodo: 37 Percent of the World's Population Has Never Been Online, U.N. Report Finds Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population now have the opportunity to waste away their life online just like you. Specifically, around 2.9 billion (or 37%) of the world’s population have still never used the internet, with the vast majority of those people residing in developing countries. Those figures are part of…Read more... 2 hours ago

Wired: Autocomplete Interview - Jack Whitehall Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions Clifford the Big Red Dog star Jack Whitehall answers the web's most searched questions about himself. How posh is Jack Whitehall? What team does Jack support? Does he have tattoos? Jack answers all these questions and much more! 6 hours ago

Wired: 253 Last-Chance Cyber Monday Deals You Can Still Get Now These discounts are the last ones standing—for the moment. 1 day ago

Wired: Get More From Your Multicooker With These 5 Cookbooks If you’ve got an Instant Pot (or something like it), let these books guide you toward some exciting new flavors. 1 day ago

Wired: The Best Cyber Monday Deals on STEM Toys for Kids These games and services can help your little ones explore science, technology, engineering, math, or the arts. They won't even know they're learning. 1 day ago

Wired: Tech Support - Biologist Answers Biology Questions From Twitter Biologist Thor Hanson answers the internet's burning questions about biology. How do extinct species come back? How will the human species evolve? Are viruses alive? Thor answers all these questions and much more! 6 days ago

TechCrunch: Watch Apple’s ‘Unleashed’ event live right here Apple is set to announce new hardware today. The company is holding a (virtual) keynote at 10 AM PT (1 PM in New York, 6 PM in London, 7 PM in Paris). And you’ll be able to watch the event right here as the company is streaming it live.Rumor has it that the company is set to announce some new Macs. Over the past year, Apple has updated its entry-level computers with new custom-designed M1 chips. And now, the company could bring its own chips to higher-end computers, such as a 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, a new Mac Mini and a 27-inch iMac.Apple could use this opportunity to redesign its laptops from the ground up with new display technologies, a new array of ports and a new form factor in general. But that’s not all. Apple has also been working on an updated version of its entry-level AirPods.You can watch the livestream directly on this page, as Apple is streaming its conference on YouTube.If you have an Apple TV, you can open the TV app and look for the ‘Apple Special Event’ section. It lets you stream today’s event and rewatch old ones.And if you don’t have an Apple TV and don’t want to use YouTube, the company also lets you livestream the event from the Apple Events section on its website. This video feed now works in all major browsers — Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.Source: Tech crunch 1 month ago

TechCrunch: How Bulletproof Is Pattinson's Batsuit In The Batman? Robert Pattinson’s Batman takes multiple bullets to the chest in the latest trailer for The Batman, indicating how bulletproof his version of the Batsuit is. Although he lacks superpowers, Batman fights crime in Gotham City with superlative fighting skills, a genius-level intellect, and state-of-the-art gadgetry. A common piece of equipment for live-action Batman adaptations is a Batsuit made of bulletproof material. Not all the Dark Knight's costumes have the same level of protection, so how does Pattinson’s suit compare to the others and the comic source material?In his first comic book appearances, Batman wore no armor, using a simple, lightweight, and flexible costume with an intimidating appearance instead. One of the earliest uses of an armored Batsuit comes from the first standalone Batman book in 1940, in which the Caped Crusader survives a gunshot wound from The Joker thanks to a layer of armor underneath the main suit. Modern comic iterations of Batman wear fully armored Batsuits, offering significant protection against gunshots; partially inspired by the various film adaptations and their many shout-outs.In the latest trailer for The Batman, Robert Pattinson’s Batsuit is put to the test multiple times. While fighting a gang of criminals in clown makeup, Batman is shot point-blank with a handgun, but he shrugs this off rather quickly and continues fighting. Later in the trailer, Batman walks towards a group of assault rifle-toting assailants, who pepper him with gunfire. Batman walks through the hail of bullets mostly unimpeded before counterattacking. This indicates that Pattinson’s Batman uses an extremely durable material that can withstand more gunfire than most versions of the Dark Knight.While Adam West’s Batman wore no armor, Michael Keaton’s iteration in the Tim Burton films had a highly durable suit that could take direct gunshots. However, as shown multiple times in Batman and Batman Returns, while the suit kept gunfire from proving immediately lethal, the force often knocked Batman off his feet and left him winded on some occasions. Pattinson’s gear provides more protection, allowing him to remain in fighting condition even when shot numerous times.Christian Bale’s first Batsuit in Batman Begins also offered protection from gunshots, though Lucious Fox explicitly advised against taking direct hits. While protective, the suit proved to be too restrictive, so Bale’s Bruce wore a modified` suit in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Bale’s second Batman suit offered far more flexibility, though it was even more vulnerable to gunfire, which Bruce learned firsthand when facing off against Two-Face. The only live-action Batman iteration whose suit provided similar levels of protection to Pattinson’s is the DCEU Batman. As shown in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck's Batman wears a light and flexible suit that allows him to take gunshots to the head at point-blank range with little impediment. The suit has some vulnerable points, as evidenced by an assailant’s knife puncturing the suit near the shoulder, but this may have been a lightly-armored area for the sake of articulation. Ben Affleck’s Batman armor, like Pattinson’s Batsuit in The Batman, is fully bulletproof, protecting Batman from gun-toting enemies. 1 month ago

TechCrunch: The Flash Trailer Confirms Batman Will Have A Bigger Role Than We Thought The latest The Flash trailer suggests that Michael Keaton's Batman has a bigger role in the film than many initially assumed. Ezra Miller makes his DCEU return as the Scarlet Speedster after starring in Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Directed by Andy Muschietti, The Flash's first trailer was released at DC FanDome 2021, offering a sneak peek at what to expect from the standalone flick.It's no secret that The Flash was in production limbo for quite some time with a few director changes. But, the movie finally kicked into production in 2021 and is currently filming. Specific plot details are still scant at the moment, although a few pertinent details have been confirmed. That includes the return of Kiersey Clemons as Iris West and the introduction of Sasha Calle as Supergirl/Kara Zor-El. Barry Allen is also joined by two Batman variations: the first one being Ben Affleck's and the other one being Michael Keaton's. Obviously there's a lot of excitement surrounding their involvement, but there's heightened anticipation about Keaton's Batman iteration simply because this is the first time he will reprise the superhero role in two decades.Considering the fact that it's the Flash's solo outing, it was initially unclear how involved Keaton would be in the film. Set photos revealed him back as the Bruce Wayne persona, and the actor's personal interviews confirmed that he's indeed wearing the cape and the cowl again. Still, with very little known about the movie's plot, there were questions about the extent of his appearance. Some argued that it wouldn't be anything more than an extended cameo, with the primary focus on Barry Allen instead. This makes sense since he is the movie's headlining character. However, The Flash's trailer suggests that Batman's role in the film is going to be more prominent than initially perceived; much of the trailer focuses on him, including both versions of the Flash visiting Tim Burton's Wayne Manor and then, his Batcave. It even ends with the tease of the 1989 Batmobile reveal.Interestingly, despite all the references to Keaton's Caped Crusader, the hero doesn't properly appear in The Flash trailer. Instead, there's only a shot of his iconic cowl looking outside the Batcave. But, the fact that he provides the narration for the majority of the trailer further indicates the extent of his appearance. At one point, it seems like the two Barry Allens and Supergirl recruit him for a mission, and it's safe to say that he at least considers joining his fellow DC heroes in the movie. It's worth noting that The Flash appears to be an adaptation of the Flashpoint storyline from the comics. Barry's time-traveling likely fractured space-time which has had ripple effects in other universes, including that of Supergirl and Keaton's Batman. The voice-over dialog is Bruce Wayne making sense of everything that's happening.The question now is, how does Affleck's Batman fit into all of this? Based on what's known about The Flash production, the actor didn't start to film his scenes until the middle of principal photography. Some theories suggest that Affleck's Batman dies in the movie, and that it could serve as motivation for Barry's time travel. Furthermore, many are also curious if Affleck's version of the hero will cross paths with Keaton's Caped Crusader. Fans will likely have to wait for the movie's debut to find out. 1 month ago

TechCrunch: How Supergirl Revamped Superman IV's Story And Made It Work Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Supergirl season 6, episode 15, "Hope For Tomorrow."The Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow" enhanced the story of the Superman movie Superman 4: The Quest For Peace in every respect. The final movie to star Christopher Reeve as Kal-El of Krypton, Superman 4 is widely considered to be the worst of the classic Superman films. Given that, it would be all but impossible for Supergirl to revamp The Quest For Peace and not improve it, but the episode "Hope For Tomorrow" successfully addressed nearly every common complaint about the movie.The central storyline of the second half of Supergirl season 6 found Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) competing with the exiled 5th Dimensional Princess Nyxly (Peta Sergeant) for control of seven magical totems, tied to the seven cosmic forces of Hope, Love, Courage, Humanity, Dreams, Destiny and Truth. Each totem required its wielder to pass a test proving their mastery of each force. The Test of Hope in the Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow" proved particularly difficult, as it required the victor to "inspire a hope that burns longer and brighter than the sun." While this might ordinarily have been an easy task for Supergirl, this test came at a time when nuclear war seemed imminent between the nations of Kaznia and Corto Maltese and hope was in short supply. The story of Superman 4: The Quest For Peace, was likewise based around the fear of nuclear war and Superman acting to end the threat after receiving a letter from a concerned boy. Sadly, the movie did so poorly it sunk any chance of a Superman 5. While the story of Superman 4 made a noble effort to tackle a serious issue, the film suffered from budget cuts and editing issues that eliminated most of the film's more thoughtful moments in favor of recycled flight scenes and nonsensical padding. The Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow" takes most of the story elements from Superman IV and builds upon the base concepts to create something far better.Roughly halfway through the Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow," Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) asked the same question as the worried boy in Superman 4: The Quest For Peace; why can't Supergirl just take away all the nuclear weapons and throw them into the sun? Kara gave the same basic answer as Superman in the movie, saying that she was "forbidden from interfering in human history." However, Kara further explained to her friend Lena Luthor that human nations needed to be free to determine their own destinies without some all-powerful alien imposing their beliefs on them. Kara also pointed out that even if she could get rid of all the nuclear weapons in the world, it wouldn't solve the conflicts that lead to war. (Ironically, Kara did wind up having to throw several nuclear missiles into the sun before the episode's end.)This point was driven home by another scene, in which the United States diplomat overseeing the peace talks between Kaznia and Corto Maltese asked J'onn J'onzz (David Harewood) to use his telepathic powers to make the leaders of the two delegations sign a peace treaty. The Martian Manhunter refused, saying that while he was glad to use his powers to pacify the two leaders after Nxyly used the Totem of Courage to make them afraid of looking weak during the negotiations, he refused to directly control their actions. Both of the Supergirl scenes did a far better job of showing why heroes have a responsibility not to use their powers than every speech Superman made regarding that point in Superman 4: The Quest For Peace.The Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow" featured a subplot that centered around Esme, a foster child adopted by Alex Danvers/Sentinel (Chyler Leigh) and Kelly Olsen/Guardian (Azie Tesfai), and the Super Friends' efforts to help the young girl get acclimated to her new home. A victim of an abusive situation in her previous foster home, Esme was shy and fearful of being sent back to the group home she had been in. Restoring Esme's hope in the future went beyond being a test of Supergirl's ability to inspire hope and became a test for the whole team, as well as a central part of the theme of "Hope For Tomorrow." By contrast, despite being the inspiration of Superman's effort to bring an end to nuclear war in Superman 4: The Quest For Peace, the boy who wrote to Superman disappeared from the movie after Superman took him to the United Nations to hear him speak.Originally set up as a romantic interest for Kara Danvers in Supergirl season 5, reporter William Dey (Staz Nair) has been one of the more divisive characters created for the Arrowverse, with many fans finding the character annoying and wondering what purpose he served after he and Kara agreed to be just friends in Supergirl season 6. Comparisons could be drawn between William Dey and Lacy Warfield (Mariel Hemingway) whose only purpose in Superman 4: The Quest For Peace was acting as a hostage and pushing an unconvincing love triangle between herself, Lois Lane and Clark Kent. However, the Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow" redeemed William, who was far from a passive figure after being taken captive by Nyxly. Indeed, it was William's quick thinking that enabled the Super Friends to take the Totem of Courage away from Nyxly.While Superman 4: The Quest For Peace saw legendary actor Gene Hackman return as Lex Luthor, his role in the film was far from extensive. Apart from creating the monstrous Nuclear Man, Luthor had surprisingly little to do with the action of the film and most of his scenes were comedic non-sequiturs. By contrast,  the Arrowerse Lex Luthor does not appear on camera in the Supergirl season 6 episode "Hope For Tomorrow," but nevertheless had a major impact on the episode's final scene.As "Hope For Tomorrow" came to a close, Supergirl elected to throw the Totem of Hope into the sun, knowing that Nxyly needed all seven totems as part of her scheme to defeat Supergirl and the Super Friends. Shortly after Nxyly learned what Supergirl had done, a box fell through a portal in front of her. The box contained a watch and a note from a secret admirer telling her not to "lose hope." When Nyxly put on the watch, it formed one of Lex Luthor's trademark armored Lexo-Skeletons around her, revealing the identity of her mysterious new ally in a clever fashion. It was certainly more subtle than most of Gene Hackman's scenes trolling Superman in Superman 4: The Quest For Peace. This, coupled with the other connections throughout the episode, highlight how Supergirl was able to successfully revitalize the failed film's story arc. 1 month ago

TechCrunch: Dark Souls 3 & Bloodborne DLCs' Final Bosses Fight Each Other In New Mod A new mod for Dark Souls 3 pits the final boss of the game's last DLC against the final DLC boss from fellow FromSoftware title Bloodborne. FromSoftware has developed a reputation for challenging bosses over the past decade and seems to be continuing that trend with the upcoming Elden Ring, which fans have been awaiting eagerly for some time now following its initial reveal at E3 2019. A more in-depth trailer released at Summer Games Fest earlier this year revealed many of the hallmarks fans have come to expect from the upcoming title.Another unique aspect FromSoftware titles have cultivated over the years is a dedicated modding community that still puts out content for installments as far back as the original Dark Souls. As with other communities, the mods cover a wide range of changes and additions, including one that brings sports into Dark Souls 3. Thanks to the work of the modding community, one fan was recently able to answer a unique question: who is the ultimate final DLC boss?YouTuber Garden of Eyes started their channel at the end of 2020 with the focus of pitting Bloodborne bosses against one another. Since then, however, that goal has expanded to encompass more FromSoftware titles, and their latest fight features Dark Souls 3's Slave Knight Gael from "The Ringed City" DLC against Bloodborne's Orphan of Kos from "The Old Hunters." The video consists of three bouts between the two bosses, featuring an updated version of Orphan of Kos from a mod named "Call of the Abyss." Each fight takes place in a different boss arena from Dark Souls 3. Despite a victory in round one, the Orphan of Kos ends up losing to Slave Knight Gael in the following two rounds, culminating in a neck and neck competition in the finals.Watch Slave Knight Gael and the Orphan of Kos do battle on YouTube here.Boss vs boss battles are not the only FromSoftware content Garden of Eyes posts. Sometimes the fights feature NPCs or notoriously difficult mini bosses taking on the actual bosses as well as one another. The channel also features some unique FromSoftware mods such as a Bloodborne first-person camera mod. It goes to show how much creativity can be found in the gaming industry, even in the player base of such a brutally difficult franchise as Dark Souls.There is an undeniable appeal in watching Dark Souls and Bloodborne bosses savagely beating each other instead of a helpless player. It comes from a shared struggle every player of From Software's games has had at some point, particularly when going through these titles for the first time. It also helps that the bosses themselves are imposing figures, and make for thrilling adversaries when turned against each other. Elden Ring will likely add more notable bosses that will not only make seasoned players feel right at home, but bring a new generation of players into the fold that have not yet taken on the FromSoftware experience. Until then, however, players can continue to fight against what came before and, if ever things become too difficult, watch the likes of Gael and the Orphan smack each other around for a change.Source: Garden of Eyes/YouTube 1 month ago