Author: abubakar
Everything We Know About Yellowjackets Season 2 So Far – CNET
Here’s all the buzz, buzz, buzz about season 2.
Here’s all the buzz, buzz, buzz about season 2.
This Father of Four Just Quit His Job for TikTok. How Much He Saved Before Making the Leap – CNET
Sal Farzin left a corporate job of 20 years to become a full-time creator, but not before checking these financial boxes.
Sal Farzin left a corporate job of 20 years to become a full-time creator, but not before checking these financial boxes.
A fierce Cocaine Bear debate is raging about whether the comedy-horror movie is good or not
Cocaine Bear has roared into theaters – but viewers can’t agree if the comedy-horror film is worth watching.
A fierce debate is raging online about whether Cocaine Bear should be considered a good movie or not.
We’re only two months into 2023 but, after the unprecedented success of M3GAN – thanks in part to the horror movie going viral online pre-release – another new horror movie in Cocaine Bear is cooking up a storm on social media.
What, you’ve never heard of Cocaine Bear? Allow us to paint you a picture. Loosely inspired by a true story centered around the infamous, well, ‘Cocaine Bear’, the Universal Pictures comedy-horror flick tells the 1985 tale of a grizzly bear that ingests a duffel bag of the psychostimulant drug.
the people have spoken and i be cokin’. pic.twitter.com/2Mc8MJfAl3February 23, 2023
In the film adaptation, the 500-pound bear – which, in the real world, is affectionately known as Pablo Eskobear (you know, after legendary drug kingpin Pablo Escobar) – goes on a drug-fuelled, bloodlust-style rampage across north Georgia, killing anyone in its path.
Following the release of its official trailer in December 2022, Cocaine Bear quickly gained traction online, with social media users drumming up support for the B-movie ahead of its theatrical release. However, with the film now out in theaters worldwide, Cocaine Bear has become the talk of the social media town, with millions of people debating whether it’s a good movie or not.
First up is the “it’s good!” camp. At the time of writing, Cocaine Bear has an 83% certified fresh rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Even more surreal is its rating among professional critics – Cocaine Bear earned a not-too-shabby 72% from 123 reviews. At one point, Cocaine Bear even had the seemingly unattainable 100% review rating on the same website, which is (or was) an utterly mind-blowing feat.
Cocaine Bear, you saved Hollywood’s ass pic.twitter.com/3Sd65ygVP0February 23, 2023
In the hours since its public release, Cocaine Bear is proving to be a certifiable hit. Twitter users, such as Edwin De Paz, have uploaded images of long queues of people waiting to see the movie in theaters. Some, including George Clark and Beck&Woods, have taken to social media to hail the film as one of the best flicks of 2023 so far, while others like ReedReads4 jokingly praised M3GAN and Cocaine Bear – both of which are owned by Universal – for saving the theater-going experience. Sorry, Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick – Steven Spielberg was wrong to say you saved cinema.
These two are saving cinema. #M3GAN #CocaineBear pic.twitter.com/GSsZtOSh5PFebruary 24, 2023
It’s not all been good news, though. There are plenty of people who just don’t get the appeal of Cocaine Bear, with Twitter users vibewitkeezy and internetmoso asking how such a dumb-looking film could be made in the 21st century. Elsewhere, Alan Zilberman said it was “bad and not in a fun way”, while Patrick Vicious wanted Cocaine Bear to be a ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of movie. Unfortunately for Patrick, he didn’t think it was.
#CocaineBear wasn’t bad BUT I WANTED IT TO BE BAD! I WANTED PURE INSANE RIDICULOUSNESS! WHY WAS I DENIED THIS?February 24, 2023
It’s unclear how much money Cocaine Bear will actually make. Per Variety, the Elizabeth Banks-directed movie made $2 million on opening night. With a reported budget of $20 million, it’ll need to sell a lot more tickets to recoup its production and marketing costs.
Still, it doesn’t seem like its box office performance will prevent Cocaine Bear from getting a sequel. According to those who have seen the film, a Marvel-style ‘Cocaine Bear will return’ tagline is shown after the credits have rolled. This could be a way of mocking superhero films and how they’re dominating the Hollywood landscape, but we’d like to think that Pablo Esokbear will be back for more gory misadventures in the future.
Even if it doesn’t get a follow-up, Cocaine Bear and M3GAN prove there’s still an audience for experimental, non-superhero films in today’s market. When supposedly heavy hitters like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have earned less-than-stellar reviews – read our Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania review for more – it’s heartwarming to see movies like Cocaine Bear dominate the moviegoing conversation.
Who knows what the next viral film hit will be? For now, though, Cocaine Bear rules the stage – and it’s prepared to take a hefty bite out of the competition while it’s in theaters (expect it to come to Peacock, Universal’s streaming service, sometime soon, too).
For more horror genre-based coverage, read our best horror movies article. Alternatively, see what the best horror movies are on Shudder, the world’s leading horror, thriller, and supernatural-centric streaming platform.
Signal could quit the UK amid Online Safety Bill row
Top private messaging app Signal says it would rather shut its UK operations than undermine or weaken its privacy policies to comply with the new law.
Signal, one of the best encrypted messaging apps around, would leave the UK if a proposed new security Bill becomes law.
In its current form, the UK government’s Online Safety Bill would undermine encryption by allowing authorities to check private messages in an effort to halt terrorists and pedophiles online.
Signal said it would rather shut its UK operations than undermine or weaken its privacy policies.
The fight against encryption
“We would absolutely 100% walk rather than ever undermine the trust that people place in us to provide a truly private means of communication,” Signal president Meredith Whittaker told the BBC.
“We have never weakened our privacy promises, and we never would.”
Launched in 2014, Signal now counts over 40 million monthly active users and more than 120 downloads. The app is very popular for its extra security features, like its disappearing messages mode, especially among those more in need of strong privacy such as journalists, activists and politicians.
Passing now in Parliament, the Online Safety Bill has long been criticized for its plans to undermine encryption. Under the current form, the Bill will give to its body regulator Ofcom the duty to scan encrypted messages for child sexual abuse or terrorism content.
The UK government said the Bill isn’t about ban end-to-end encryption, but rather a way to halt criminals lurking online. “It is not a choice between privacy or child safety – we can and we must have both,” wrote the Home Office in a statement.
Whittaker doesn’t fall for it, though, describing it as “magical thinking” to believe that the Bill could guarantee the privacy of those not breaking the law.
She also pointed out how this could allow both malignant state actors and criminals to exploit this “back door” for their gain.
She said to the BBC: “Encryption is either protecting everyone or it is broken for everyone.”
Signal isn’t the only app offering encrypted communications out there. WhatsApp, Apple’s iMessage, Facebook and Telegram all use E2E to secure users’ communications. Security software like VPN and secure email services might be tangled up under the UK law, too.
Even worse, also outside the UK governments are battling against encryption in the name of a safer online world. The EU Chat control, for example, is regulating something very similar to the Online Safety Bill.
Privacy advocates at The Electronic Frontier Foundation also warned about the risks of such law, describing “the censorious, anti-encryption Online Safety Bill” as a possible blueprint for repression around the world.
They wrote in August last year: “The next UK Prime Minister should abandon the bill in its entirety. If they won’t, Parliament should vote to reject it.”
The Best Movies on Apple TV Plus – CNET
Apple TV Plus has an assortment of options, from dramas to music documentaries and animated movies.
Apple TV Plus has an assortment of options, from dramas to music documentaries and animated movies.
Would you let ChatGPT control your smart home?
Josh.ai showed off a proof-of-concept ChatGPT integration using its voice assistant. The Josh system is currently only available through professional installers. | Image: Josh.ai
Today, you can ask Alexa to turn on the lights or have Siri tell you the temperature in your bedroom, and sometimes they’ll get it right. Or you may hear, “You have 15 devices named lights; which one would you like to control?” or “The current temperature in Kathmandu is 53 degrees.” But what if your voice assistant was not only always accurate but could also respond to nebulous comments like “I’ve had a rough day; what’s a good way to unwind?” with “intelligent” responses? For example, by lowering the shades, dimming the lights, adjusting the thermostat, and queuing up some goodies on Netflix?
That’s the potential of voice assistants powered by new AI language models, according to Alex Capecelatro, co-founder of the Josh.ai home automation system. Josh.ai has already started working on a prototype integration using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This proof-of-concept video shows Capecelatro asking the Josh assistant to open the shades, turn off the music, and tell him the weather (controlling three things at once is a capability Josh already has). He then goes on to use more natural voice commands for the smart home, like “I’m filming a video; it’s kind of dark in here,” to which the voice assistant responds — slightly clumsily — by turning up the lights in the room.
The possibility of improving smart home control by using AI language models to parse natural language is tantalizing. Capecelatro thinks it’s the future. ”We’re trying to figure out how good we can get it in controlling your environment in a more natural and intuitive way,” he says.
Today, voice assistants usually require precise language and often confuse basic smart home commands with requests for information, which results in frustrating and sometimes useless responses. This was the problem Josh.ai set out to solve when Capecelatro and Tim Gill (founder of Quark) started the company in 2015. Its eponymous voice assistant aims to be excellent at controlling your connected gadgets, no matter how you phrase the request.
“If we don’t adopt ChatGPT-type technology, businesses like mine won’t exist in a year. It is critical to the future of anyone doing voice control in the home.”
Using extensive knowledge graph models, Josh can parse when it hears “satellites” instead of “turn on the lights” and do the appropriate thing. “Open the drapes” may sound like “Get some grapes,” but Josh is smart enough to know you don’t live in a vineyard. “We spend a lot of time working under the hood to fix mishearing, work with different accents, understand imperfect sentences and the like, so even when you say ‘turn on the goddam lights,’ we know what you mean,” says Capecelatro.
Currently, Josh is only available as a voice control layer in custom smart home installations powered by the likes of Crestron and Control4. In that more protected environment, where the system is set up and largely controlled by a professional installer and using Josh.ai’s proprietary hardware, Josh has built a reputation for being a more reliable, more private voice assistant — albeit with a higher cost of entry. (While there is a cloud component to Josh, the majority of requests are processed locally on the Josh Core, and identifiable information is stripped out when using cloud-based APIs, says Capecelatro.)
Image: Josh.ai
The Josh.ai system comprises of a hub and two models of smart speakers as well as an app and integration with the Ava smart remote.
The company, which recently announced a partnership with Amazon, is now betting big on the new generation of large language models (LLMs) used by ChatGPT and other chatbots. Capecelatro believes that these systems will transform today’s voice assistants into something much more useful. “A year from now, no one’s going to be willing to tolerate the old way that Alexa, Google, Siri, and even Josh, operated. It’s just not going to be enough,” says Capecelatro. “If we don’t adopt ChatGPT-type technology, businesses like mine won’t exist in a year. It is critical to the future of anyone doing voice control in the home.”
For Josh.ai, which doesn’t have the depth of general knowledge that its competitors do, the knowledge base a ChatGPT integration adds to the voice assistant is a huge leap forward. “We’ve always wanted to make Josh as smart as possible, but we’re a small team,” says Capecelatro.
But for the smart home in general, the promise lies in combining the conversational abilities of AI language models with the context a home automation system can provide. For example, by knowing what smart devices you have in your home and details about how you use them, Josh could parse natural language commands into actions in your home. Say, “Hey Josh, it’s almost time for the kids to get home, and it’s getting dark. Can you make sure everything’s ready?” and the voice assistant could switch on the porch lights, start preheating the oven, lower the shades, and turn the lights on in the kitchen, for example.
Josh has also worked to use ChatGPT for media discovery in the smart home. Something that has been a missing link to date. “Voice control is not ideal if you don’t know what you want,” Capecelatro says. “We built out an integration with the Ava remote that you can use to browse the content you want to watch. By adding ChatGPT into the mix, you can say, ‘What are some really good shows on Netflix that are maybe romcoms and feature (this) actor.’ ChatGPT can compile a list and present it to you on the screen of the remote.” That’s family movie night sorted, then.
Josh’s AI upgrade isn’t live yet, and Capecelatro says the company is keeping a close watch on other companies’ burgeoning tech in this space in case they can offer a better model. Besides ChatGPT currently being very slow (the video was edited to speed it up), there is the very real issue of AI generating, well, bullshit. (And the fact that the dataset that ChatGPT was trained on ends in mid-2021. It’s worth noting that in the demo video when Josh is asked, “What are some shows to watch on Netflix,” the newest show it listed debuted in 2019.) But Capecelatro says some form of generative AI voice assistant is coming to the smart home.
Caution is definitely warranted. No company wants a racist, homophobic, homicidal voice assistant spewing its “opinions” into people’s homes through their hardware, a distinct possibility given examples of generative AI essentially regurgitating content with no filter. “We’re being extremely cautious. We could have gone live with the ChatGPT integration immediately,” says Capecelatro. “We’re not doing that. Because we don’t want to give people really bad data. We don’t want to lie.”
It’s not a leap to assume that Google, Apple, and Amazon are all looking at how to incorporate new AI language models into their voice assistants
The company plans to take its time to figure out how to put the right guard rails in place, which will be essential for this technology to translate into the smart home. “I think Microsoft and Google jumped the gun a bit [with their search ChatBot models], and they’re now seeing the consequences,” says Capecelatro of recent high-profile launches that went sideways quickly.
It’s not a leap to assume that Google, Apple, and Amazon are all looking at how to incorporate new AI language models into their voice assistants (heck, maybe Microsoft will bring back Cortana), and smart home enthusiasts have already figured out ways to use Siri Shortcuts to get ChatGPT into their smart home. It’s a lot easier to talk to a smart speaker than type into a web browser.
But do we really want this type of artificial intelligence in our homes? Is our desire for a voice assistant that “just works” so great we’d be happy with one that might also try and teach my eight-year-old about quantum physics? Personally, I think a reliable, voice-controlled smart home system that knows what I mean when I say “Turn off the goddam lights,” is the Holy Grail here, not an omniscient intelligence running my home.
While the promise of an inherently competent, eminently intuitive voice assistant — a flawless butler for your home — is very appealing, I fear the reality could be more Space Odyssey than Downton Abbey. But let’s see if I’m proven wrong.
Josh.ai showed off a proof-of-concept ChatGPT integration using its voice assistant. The Josh system is currently only available through professional installers. | Image: Josh.ai
Today, you can ask Alexa to turn on the lights or have Siri tell you the temperature in your bedroom, and sometimes they’ll get it right. Or you may hear, “You have 15 devices named lights; which one would you like to control?” or “The current temperature in Kathmandu is 53 degrees.” But what if your voice assistant was not only always accurate but could also respond to nebulous comments like “I’ve had a rough day; what’s a good way to unwind?” with “intelligent” responses? For example, by lowering the shades, dimming the lights, adjusting the thermostat, and queuing up some goodies on Netflix?
That’s the potential of voice assistants powered by new AI language models, according to Alex Capecelatro, co-founder of the Josh.ai home automation system. Josh.ai has already started working on a prototype integration using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This proof-of-concept video shows Capecelatro asking the Josh assistant to open the shades, turn off the music, and tell him the weather (controlling three things at once is a capability Josh already has). He then goes on to use more natural voice commands for the smart home, like “I’m filming a video; it’s kind of dark in here,” to which the voice assistant responds — slightly clumsily — by turning up the lights in the room.
The possibility of improving smart home control by using AI language models to parse natural language is tantalizing. Capecelatro thinks it’s the future. ”We’re trying to figure out how good we can get it in controlling your environment in a more natural and intuitive way,” he says.
Today, voice assistants usually require precise language and often confuse basic smart home commands with requests for information, which results in frustrating and sometimes useless responses. This was the problem Josh.ai set out to solve when Capecelatro and Tim Gill (founder of Quark) started the company in 2015. Its eponymous voice assistant aims to be excellent at controlling your connected gadgets, no matter how you phrase the request.
Using extensive knowledge graph models, Josh can parse when it hears “satellites” instead of “turn on the lights” and do the appropriate thing. “Open the drapes” may sound like “Get some grapes,” but Josh is smart enough to know you don’t live in a vineyard. “We spend a lot of time working under the hood to fix mishearing, work with different accents, understand imperfect sentences and the like, so even when you say ‘turn on the goddam lights,’ we know what you mean,” says Capecelatro.
Currently, Josh is only available as a voice control layer in custom smart home installations powered by the likes of Crestron and Control4. In that more protected environment, where the system is set up and largely controlled by a professional installer and using Josh.ai’s proprietary hardware, Josh has built a reputation for being a more reliable, more private voice assistant — albeit with a higher cost of entry. (While there is a cloud component to Josh, the majority of requests are processed locally on the Josh Core, and identifiable information is stripped out when using cloud-based APIs, says Capecelatro.)
Image: Josh.ai
The Josh.ai system comprises of a hub and two models of smart speakers as well as an app and integration with the Ava smart remote.
The company, which recently announced a partnership with Amazon, is now betting big on the new generation of large language models (LLMs) used by ChatGPT and other chatbots. Capecelatro believes that these systems will transform today’s voice assistants into something much more useful. “A year from now, no one’s going to be willing to tolerate the old way that Alexa, Google, Siri, and even Josh, operated. It’s just not going to be enough,” says Capecelatro. “If we don’t adopt ChatGPT-type technology, businesses like mine won’t exist in a year. It is critical to the future of anyone doing voice control in the home.”
For Josh.ai, which doesn’t have the depth of general knowledge that its competitors do, the knowledge base a ChatGPT integration adds to the voice assistant is a huge leap forward. “We’ve always wanted to make Josh as smart as possible, but we’re a small team,” says Capecelatro.
But for the smart home in general, the promise lies in combining the conversational abilities of AI language models with the context a home automation system can provide. For example, by knowing what smart devices you have in your home and details about how you use them, Josh could parse natural language commands into actions in your home. Say, “Hey Josh, it’s almost time for the kids to get home, and it’s getting dark. Can you make sure everything’s ready?” and the voice assistant could switch on the porch lights, start preheating the oven, lower the shades, and turn the lights on in the kitchen, for example.
Josh has also worked to use ChatGPT for media discovery in the smart home. Something that has been a missing link to date. “Voice control is not ideal if you don’t know what you want,” Capecelatro says. “We built out an integration with the Ava remote that you can use to browse the content you want to watch. By adding ChatGPT into the mix, you can say, ‘What are some really good shows on Netflix that are maybe romcoms and feature (this) actor.’ ChatGPT can compile a list and present it to you on the screen of the remote.” That’s family movie night sorted, then.
Josh’s AI upgrade isn’t live yet, and Capecelatro says the company is keeping a close watch on other companies’ burgeoning tech in this space in case they can offer a better model. Besides ChatGPT currently being very slow (the video was edited to speed it up), there is the very real issue of AI generating, well, bullshit. (And the fact that the dataset that ChatGPT was trained on ends in mid-2021. It’s worth noting that in the demo video when Josh is asked, “What are some shows to watch on Netflix,” the newest show it listed debuted in 2019.) But Capecelatro says some form of generative AI voice assistant is coming to the smart home.
Caution is definitely warranted. No company wants a racist, homophobic, homicidal voice assistant spewing its “opinions” into people’s homes through their hardware, a distinct possibility given examples of generative AI essentially regurgitating content with no filter. “We’re being extremely cautious. We could have gone live with the ChatGPT integration immediately,” says Capecelatro. “We’re not doing that. Because we don’t want to give people really bad data. We don’t want to lie.”
The company plans to take its time to figure out how to put the right guard rails in place, which will be essential for this technology to translate into the smart home. “I think Microsoft and Google jumped the gun a bit [with their search ChatBot models], and they’re now seeing the consequences,” says Capecelatro of recent high-profile launches that went sideways quickly.
It’s not a leap to assume that Google, Apple, and Amazon are all looking at how to incorporate new AI language models into their voice assistants (heck, maybe Microsoft will bring back Cortana), and smart home enthusiasts have already figured out ways to use Siri Shortcuts to get ChatGPT into their smart home. It’s a lot easier to talk to a smart speaker than type into a web browser.
But do we really want this type of artificial intelligence in our homes? Is our desire for a voice assistant that “just works” so great we’d be happy with one that might also try and teach my eight-year-old about quantum physics? Personally, I think a reliable, voice-controlled smart home system that knows what I mean when I say “Turn off the goddam lights,” is the Holy Grail here, not an omniscient intelligence running my home.
While the promise of an inherently competent, eminently intuitive voice assistant — a flawless butler for your home — is very appealing, I fear the reality could be more Space Odyssey than Downton Abbey. But let’s see if I’m proven wrong.
The ‘Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’ edition Nintendo Switch OLED is finally back in stock
This is one of those restocks where you’ll need to act fast, so we’ll just get to the point: The popular Pokémon Scarlet & Violet edition of the Nintendo Switch OLED is finally back in stock at the Nintendo Store. It sold out fast last time, so if you want one, we recommend grabbing one right now.
Note that the new Pokémon games don’t come with the Switch — you’ll have to buy either Scarlet or Violet separately (annoying, we know). You’ll forget about that bothersome fact, though, once you see your brand-new Nintendo Switch OLED, complete with a gorgeous Pokémon Scarlet & Violet-themed design. It’s not just the console itself, either — the dock and Joy-Con controllers also feature custom artwork that you won’t see anywhere else.
SEE ALSO:
‘Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ is the game every kid imagined Pokémon would be
Aside from aesthetics, this special edition Switch is part of Nintendo’s newest iteration of the handheld console. The Nintendo Switch OLED is the best the Switch has ever been, boasting serious upgrades in just about every area. For starters, you’ll get that beautiful new OLED screen that’ll deepen the visual fidelity of every game you boot up (it’s also bigger than the OG version). The OLED version also features increased battery life, more storage space, enhanced speakers, and an improved kickstand. If you already own a previous Switch model, it may be worth the upgrade, and if you don’t already own one, it’s a no-brainer.
Enough waxing poetic about the Nintendo Switch, it’s time to get your own — pick up the Pokémon Scarlet & Violet edition of the Nintendo Switch OLED at the Nintendo Store for $359.99.
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Credit: Nintendo
Nintendo Switch OLED ‘Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’ Edition
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$359.99 at Nintendo
Get Deal
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This is one of those restocks where you’ll need to act fast, so we’ll just get to the point: The popular Pokémon Scarlet & Violet edition of the Nintendo Switch OLED is finally back in stock at the Nintendo Store. It sold out fast last time, so if you want one, we recommend grabbing one right now.
Note that the new Pokémon games don’t come with the Switch — you’ll have to buy either Scarlet or Violet separately (annoying, we know). You’ll forget about that bothersome fact, though, once you see your brand-new Nintendo Switch OLED, complete with a gorgeous Pokémon Scarlet & Violet-themed design. It’s not just the console itself, either — the dock and Joy-Con controllers also feature custom artwork that you won’t see anywhere else.
Aside from aesthetics, this special edition Switch is part of Nintendo’s newest iteration of the handheld console. The Nintendo Switch OLED is the best the Switch has ever been, boasting serious upgrades in just about every area. For starters, you’ll get that beautiful new OLED screen that’ll deepen the visual fidelity of every game you boot up (it’s also bigger than the OG version). The OLED version also features increased battery life, more storage space, enhanced speakers, and an improved kickstand. If you already own a previous Switch model, it may be worth the upgrade, and if you don’t already own one, it’s a no-brainer.
Enough waxing poetic about the Nintendo Switch, it’s time to get your own — pick up the Pokémon Scarlet & Violet edition of the Nintendo Switch OLED at the Nintendo Store for $359.99.
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8 PlayStation VR2 launch games you should definitely check out
PlayStation VR2 is finally here, at long last. But what can you actually play on Sony’s new headset?
With a launch lineup about 30 games deep, PSVR2 has a lot to offer on day one. However, there’s a big caveat to that: Almost all of the launch games are also available on Meta Quest or other PC-centric VR headsets. There’s very little that’s both new and exclusive here.
SEE ALSO:
PlayStation VR2 is a killer headset in need of a killer app
That said, PSVR2 might be your first foray into the virtual world. If that’s the case, here are a bunch of games you should really consider trying with your shiny new headset.
No Man’s Sky
Flying a ship in VR is pretty sweet.
Credit: Hello Games
Price: $60 (but constantly on sale)
Remember No Man’s Sky? Originally released in 2016, this survival game lets you explore a nearly infinite galaxy filled with nearly infinite, randomly generated planets to discover, explore, and mine for resources. You can start a science base, do some gardening, or even control a vast fleet of starships.
The PS5 version of No Man’s Sky got a patch this week enabling VR support and it’s a real doozy. The controls take a few minutes to grasp, but eventually you’ll be zipping around with a jetpack and mining carbon with little effort. Just don’t go too high in the jetpack if you have a fear of heights.
Most importantly, flying ships is cool as hell in No Man’s Sky VR. One hand manually controls the throttle while another manually controls the flight stick. You can easily give yourself motion sickness by doing barrel rolls, so try to avoid that, if possible.
Runner
Unfortunately, I don’t think you can do the ‘Akira’ slide in this game.
Credit: Truant Pixel/Steam
Price: $15
If you want to feel very cool in VR without spending a lot of money, there are worse ways to do it than by playing Runner.
Set in a neon-lit future dystopia with an aesthetic that leans heavily on 1980s and 90s anime, Runner is basically a game about driving the motorcycle from Akira really fast. You’ll speed down urban highways while shooting at police robots and vehicles with a variety of upgradeable weapons. It’s simple enough to understand, but the difficulty is no joke.
Sure, dying sucks, but it’s worth it for the thrill shooting the explosive cores of police motorcycles while going 150mph. Runner is rad. You should play it.
Tetris Effect Connected
Credit: Enhance/Steam
Price: $40
Tetris Effect might be the coolest game ever made. Imagine Tetris but with psychedelic visuals and songs where some guy raps about how we need to heal our divisions. Now imagine that in VR.
This isn’t Tetris Effect’s first go-round in VR, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth experiencing. I found myself becoming hyper-focused on the action in VR, leading to more skillful play than I usually exhibit when playing Tetris. Plus, the visuals and music are so, so good that you can’t help but be drawn into the proceedings.
Hot tip from me to you: Cannabis doesn’t hurt the experience, either.
Rez Infinite
Cyberspace is out of control.
Credit: Enhance/Steam
Price: $30
The only reason I couldn’t definitively declare Tetris Effect the coolest game ever made is that Rez Infinite exists.
This one goes all the way back to the Sega Dreamcast and PS2. Rez is a sort of 3D rail-shooter (think Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon) set inside cyberspace where your shots sync up and even create the music in every level. It looks and sounds incredible anywhere, but in VR, it’s astounding.
Rez Infinite was also a PSVR1 standout, so it’s not new, but it is worth playing. The PSVR2 version adds the ability to aim with your eyes, which is trippy and pretty damn cool. Just play Rez if you haven’t.
Horizon: Call of the Mountain
Get good at aiming or pay the price.
Credit: PlayStation
Price: $60
Horizon: Call of the Mountain distinguishes itself from the rest of this list in a couple of major ways. First, it’s a full-priced game. Second, it’s a brand new, PSVR2-exclusive title from Sony, the only one of its kind available at launch.
From playing the first couple of hours, I can say that people who want maximum spectacle out of their PSVR2 headset will be pleased with Call of the Mountain. The massive robot dinosaurs of the Horizon universe become much larger and more imposing in VR. On top of that, this game uses the power of the PS5 to create easily the best-looking PSVR2 game I’ve seen.
It also happens to be a fairly fully featured game. You’ll do a ton of climbing up mountains (don’t look down, trust me), which can actually be pretty tiring for your arms. There’s also a robust combat system that demands a certain level of archery skill out of you. Not only do you need to aim precisely at specific enemy parts, but you need to do so while dodging their attacks.
It’s pretty fun and challenging, and Horizon fans will dig it. I’d call this perhaps the biggest standout in the PSVR2 launch lineup.
Kayak VR: Mirage
Nice and relaxing.
Credit: Better Than Life/Steam
Price: $30
Kayak VR: Mirage was the first PSVR2 game I played and it really couldn’t be simpler to explain.
It’s just a kayaking game. You’ll move your arms like you would in an actual kayak, and the physics feel pretty realistic. You can kayak around in a training pool or in real-life locations like Antarctica. The visuals are gorgeous, the vibes are serene, and it’s just a pleasant way to spend 15 to 20 minutes.
Resident Evil: Village
Price: $40
You can take everything I just said about Kayak VR: Mirage and say the exact opposite about Resident Evil: Village. These vibes are anything but serene, and I wouldn’t call anything about the experience “pleasant.”
The visuals are still great, though.
But seriously, this is exactly what you think it is. If you played RE: Village when it came out in 2021, you can play it again in VR. If you didn’t, well, get ready for a gory, bizarre trip through the European countryside. The VR elements here are very well thought out, with manual gun reloading (and shotgun pumping), tons of different movement options, and even some cutscenes being re-framed for a full 3D display.
And yes, the tall lady looks very tall.
Thumper
Imagine being fully immersed in this.
Credit: Drool/Steam
Price: $20
Thumper originally launched in 2016 and stole the hearts of rhythm game fans (and drummers) everywhere. It’s got freaky, abstract visuals and a soundtrack that’s bassy, percussive, and only barely registers as “music” sometimes.
This PSVR2 version of Thumper doesn’t radically change the gameplay. It’s just Thumper in VR. The sense of speed is awesome, as is being fully immersed in Thumper’s vaguely sinister rhythm highways. What more do you need?
Other games to try
I am but one person and didn’t have time to try every single game in the PSVR2 launch lineup. However, here are a few that seemed worth checking out based on some quick trial runs:
Demeo: A turn-based tactics game with a tabletop-in-your-parents’-basement setting. You can zoom way in on the proceedings to actually feel like you’re in a dungeon, or watch from the comfort of said basement.
Song in the Smoke: A survival game with a heavy emphasis on smashing objects against other objects to create new objects. It’s got a pretty dream-like art style, and the first entity you meet in the game is a freaky three-headed crow.
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge Enhanced Edition: This is just a souped up version of a game we liked a lot when it came out on Quest a few years back. If you dig Star Wars, this is a no-brainer.
Many of these games will be old hat to longtime VR vets, but for first-timers, PSVR2 has a lot to offer. Now seriously, go play Rez and Tetris Effect. You can thank me later.
PlayStation VR2 is finally here, at long last. But what can you actually play on Sony’s new headset?
With a launch lineup about 30 games deep, PSVR2 has a lot to offer on day one. However, there’s a big caveat to that: Almost all of the launch games are also available on Meta Quest or other PC-centric VR headsets. There’s very little that’s both new and exclusive here.
That said, PSVR2 might be your first foray into the virtual world. If that’s the case, here are a bunch of games you should really consider trying with your shiny new headset.
No Man’s Sky
Credit: Hello Games
Price: $60 (but constantly on sale)
Remember No Man’s Sky? Originally released in 2016, this survival game lets you explore a nearly infinite galaxy filled with nearly infinite, randomly generated planets to discover, explore, and mine for resources. You can start a science base, do some gardening, or even control a vast fleet of starships.
The PS5 version of No Man’s Sky got a patch this week enabling VR support and it’s a real doozy. The controls take a few minutes to grasp, but eventually you’ll be zipping around with a jetpack and mining carbon with little effort. Just don’t go too high in the jetpack if you have a fear of heights.
Most importantly, flying ships is cool as hell in No Man’s Sky VR. One hand manually controls the throttle while another manually controls the flight stick. You can easily give yourself motion sickness by doing barrel rolls, so try to avoid that, if possible.
Runner
Credit: Truant Pixel/Steam
Price: $15
If you want to feel very cool in VR without spending a lot of money, there are worse ways to do it than by playing Runner.
Set in a neon-lit future dystopia with an aesthetic that leans heavily on 1980s and 90s anime, Runner is basically a game about driving the motorcycle from Akira really fast. You’ll speed down urban highways while shooting at police robots and vehicles with a variety of upgradeable weapons. It’s simple enough to understand, but the difficulty is no joke.
Sure, dying sucks, but it’s worth it for the thrill shooting the explosive cores of police motorcycles while going 150mph. Runner is rad. You should play it.
Tetris Effect Connected
Credit: Enhance/Steam
Price: $40
Tetris Effect might be the coolest game ever made. Imagine Tetris but with psychedelic visuals and songs where some guy raps about how we need to heal our divisions. Now imagine that in VR.
This isn’t Tetris Effect’s first go-round in VR, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth experiencing. I found myself becoming hyper-focused on the action in VR, leading to more skillful play than I usually exhibit when playing Tetris. Plus, the visuals and music are so, so good that you can’t help but be drawn into the proceedings.
Hot tip from me to you: Cannabis doesn’t hurt the experience, either.
Rez Infinite
Credit: Enhance/Steam
Price: $30
The only reason I couldn’t definitively declare Tetris Effect the coolest game ever made is that Rez Infinite exists.
This one goes all the way back to the Sega Dreamcast and PS2. Rez is a sort of 3D rail-shooter (think Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon) set inside cyberspace where your shots sync up and even create the music in every level. It looks and sounds incredible anywhere, but in VR, it’s astounding.
Rez Infinite was also a PSVR1 standout, so it’s not new, but it is worth playing. The PSVR2 version adds the ability to aim with your eyes, which is trippy and pretty damn cool. Just play Rez if you haven’t.
Horizon: Call of the Mountain
Credit: PlayStation
Price: $60
Horizon: Call of the Mountain distinguishes itself from the rest of this list in a couple of major ways. First, it’s a full-priced game. Second, it’s a brand new, PSVR2-exclusive title from Sony, the only one of its kind available at launch.
From playing the first couple of hours, I can say that people who want maximum spectacle out of their PSVR2 headset will be pleased with Call of the Mountain. The massive robot dinosaurs of the Horizon universe become much larger and more imposing in VR. On top of that, this game uses the power of the PS5 to create easily the best-looking PSVR2 game I’ve seen.
It also happens to be a fairly fully featured game. You’ll do a ton of climbing up mountains (don’t look down, trust me), which can actually be pretty tiring for your arms. There’s also a robust combat system that demands a certain level of archery skill out of you. Not only do you need to aim precisely at specific enemy parts, but you need to do so while dodging their attacks.
It’s pretty fun and challenging, and Horizon fans will dig it. I’d call this perhaps the biggest standout in the PSVR2 launch lineup.
Kayak VR: Mirage
Credit: Better Than Life/Steam
Price: $30
Kayak VR: Mirage was the first PSVR2 game I played and it really couldn’t be simpler to explain.
It’s just a kayaking game. You’ll move your arms like you would in an actual kayak, and the physics feel pretty realistic. You can kayak around in a training pool or in real-life locations like Antarctica. The visuals are gorgeous, the vibes are serene, and it’s just a pleasant way to spend 15 to 20 minutes.
Resident Evil: Village
Price: $40
You can take everything I just said about Kayak VR: Mirage and say the exact opposite about Resident Evil: Village. These vibes are anything but serene, and I wouldn’t call anything about the experience “pleasant.”
The visuals are still great, though.
But seriously, this is exactly what you think it is. If you played RE: Village when it came out in 2021, you can play it again in VR. If you didn’t, well, get ready for a gory, bizarre trip through the European countryside. The VR elements here are very well thought out, with manual gun reloading (and shotgun pumping), tons of different movement options, and even some cutscenes being re-framed for a full 3D display.
And yes, the tall lady looks very tall.
Thumper
Credit: Drool/Steam
Price: $20
Thumper originally launched in 2016 and stole the hearts of rhythm game fans (and drummers) everywhere. It’s got freaky, abstract visuals and a soundtrack that’s bassy, percussive, and only barely registers as “music” sometimes.
This PSVR2 version of Thumper doesn’t radically change the gameplay. It’s just Thumper in VR. The sense of speed is awesome, as is being fully immersed in Thumper’s vaguely sinister rhythm highways. What more do you need?
Other games to try
I am but one person and didn’t have time to try every single game in the PSVR2 launch lineup. However, here are a few that seemed worth checking out based on some quick trial runs:
Demeo: A turn-based tactics game with a tabletop-in-your-parents’-basement setting. You can zoom way in on the proceedings to actually feel like you’re in a dungeon, or watch from the comfort of said basement.
Song in the Smoke: A survival game with a heavy emphasis on smashing objects against other objects to create new objects. It’s got a pretty dream-like art style, and the first entity you meet in the game is a freaky three-headed crow.
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge Enhanced Edition: This is just a souped up version of a game we liked a lot when it came out on Quest a few years back. If you dig Star Wars, this is a no-brainer.
Many of these games will be old hat to longtime VR vets, but for first-timers, PSVR2 has a lot to offer. Now seriously, go play Rez and Tetris Effect. You can thank me later.
Dealmaster: The best deals on Intel laptops
Save up to $500 on Ultrabooks and gaming and convertible laptops.
Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino)
Whether you need a lightweight laptop with a long battery life or something more powerful with discrete graphics, we’ve found savings across a variety of notebook form factors. Most of the laptops in our list come with Intel’s 12th Gen mobile processor, and a few include discrete GPUs.
Even though it’s on the premium end of the pricing spectrum, the best deal we found is on Dell’s XPS 15 laptop, which is available for $500 off its retail price. This versatile notebook may look buttoned up in its appearance, but it has the power inside to do double-duty as a mobile workstation or gaming rig. Another solid deal is on Lenovo’s Yoga 7i, a convertible notebook that includes a 16-inch display and 12th Gen Core i5 processor—the laptop is on sale for $600. Check out our full curated list below for the best savings on Intel-powered notebooks.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5-inch for $1,100 ($1,300) at Best Buy: This Intel Evo laptop comes with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 512GB solid-state drive. Available in a “sage” colorway, the Surface Laptop 5 gets a cool $200 discount.
DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit To Block Adobe’s $20 Billion Figma Deal
The Justice Department is preparing an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition of startup Figma, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: A case is expected to be filed as soon as next month, although the timing could slip, said one of the people, all of whom asked for anonymity to discuss the confidential probe. The deal needs approval from several antitrust authorities and the merger agreement allows for a possible extended regulatory review with an outside completion deadline of March 2024. Adobe had a meeting with the DOJ yesterday, according to another person.
The deal also faces an antitrust review in the European Union after the bloc’s antitrust watchdog said it had received requests from national regulators to look into the deal. The UK Competition and Markets Authority is reviewing the merger as well, and the three jurisdictions often coordinate on their investigations. The antitrust division, which has taken a more aggressive approach to mergers under President Joe Biden, is concerned the deal — one of the largest takeovers of a private software maker — would reduce options for design software used by creative professionals.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Justice Department is preparing an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition of startup Figma, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: A case is expected to be filed as soon as next month, although the timing could slip, said one of the people, all of whom asked for anonymity to discuss the confidential probe. The deal needs approval from several antitrust authorities and the merger agreement allows for a possible extended regulatory review with an outside completion deadline of March 2024. Adobe had a meeting with the DOJ yesterday, according to another person.
The deal also faces an antitrust review in the European Union after the bloc’s antitrust watchdog said it had received requests from national regulators to look into the deal. The UK Competition and Markets Authority is reviewing the merger as well, and the three jurisdictions often coordinate on their investigations. The antitrust division, which has taken a more aggressive approach to mergers under President Joe Biden, is concerned the deal — one of the largest takeovers of a private software maker — would reduce options for design software used by creative professionals.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.