Mar 12
“I love when dogs put themselves to bed. Yes you self-care king, listen to your body and do what feels right.”
Mar 12
Following a plea from Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov for gaming companies to cease operations in Russia and Belarus last week, Niantic announced it would be shutting down support for Pokémon Go in those countries.
Niantic says downloads of Pokémon Go have already been disabled in those regions, with gameplay set to be suspended “shortly”. The move by Niantic comes amidst a wave of similar decisions from fellow gaming companies that have decided to suspend business or services in those countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine late last month.
We stand with the global community in hoping for peace and a rapid resolution to the violence and suffering in Ukraine. Niantic’s games are no longer available for download in Russia and Belarus, and gameplay will also be suspended there shortly.
— Niantic 🧭 (@NianticLabs) March 11, 2022
Sony has already suspended sales of both games and consoles in Russia, with Microsoft halting all sales in the country. Last weekend, Nintendo turned off sales of digital games on its eShop after disabling transactions in rubles, and more recently, announced that it would stop shipping products including the Switch to the country.
And while some game publishers like Bungie continue to provide limited service for its titles by continuing to support the free base version of Destiny 2, players in Russia no longer have the ability to buy DLC content, cosmetics, or Silver (Destiny 2’s in-game currency). Meanwhile, other gaming companies including Epic, Ubisoft, CD Projekt Red, Take-Two, EA and others have stopped selling their games there entirely.
Currently, it’s unclear how long Niantic’s suspension of service in the region will last. But with the company making this decision to encourage a “rapid resolution to the violence and suffering in Ukraine,” there won’t be any online monster catching happening via Pokémon Go in Russia or Belarus until some kind of peace agreement can be brokered.
Mar 12
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s regular round up of the coolest toys and merchandise around. This week, The Batman descends on Hot Toys for some gloriously expensive collectibles, Miles Morales swings in for a peculiar Lego build, and get ready to ThunderCats Ho with your very own sword of omens. Check it out!
Mar 12
Grand Jury Clears Police Officer Who Shot And Killed 16-Year-Old Ma’Khia Bryant
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe killing led to a Justice Department review of the police department in Columbus, Ohio.
Mar 12
Meta employees scheduled to return to the office on March 28th will have to find another place to take their dirty laundry. Facebook’s parent company is cutting its free laundry and dry-cleaning service and pushing back dinnertime to a later hour, reported the New York Times. It’s a change in response to the new hybrid work schedule at Meta, where most employees will still be working from home at least a few days of week. Fewer time in the office equals fewer office perks, or at least that’s the logic of Meta leadership. But for many employees at Facebook, Instagram, Reality Labs and other Meta companies, it’s an unwelcome hassle at what is normally a grueling work environment.
“As we return to the office, we’ve adjusted on-site services and amenities to better reflect the needs of our hybrid workforce,” a Meta spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Times.
Meta will also begin serving dinner at 6:30 pm PT, a full half-hour after the last shuttle departs campus. Meaning that employees will have to choose between a free meal or a free ride home. Decisions, decisions! While some Meta employees interviewed by NYT are unhappy about the change, many others have seen such perks as a ploy to keep employees working long hours.
Tech companies are famous for providing incredible office perks to compensate for a strenuous workload, such as free meals, laundry, fitness classes, backup childcare and more. But a shift to a hybrid work environment means fewer employees will be in need of these things. To Meta’s credit, the company is fattening up annual employee wellness stipends — from $700 to $3000 per year — to account for the change.
At least for Meta’s Mountain View employees, free, unlimited food was already a thing of the past. After Google and Meta’s free, round-the-clock food service for employees left local businesses in the dust, the city passed an ordinance that banned tech companies from offering unlimited free food. But Facebook’s other Bay Area offices have access to free meals, as well as an unlimited snack larder if you get hungry between mealtimes. According to Eater, Facebook’s Bay Area office routinely stores about $300,000 worth of food in its snack pantry.
Mar 12
Welcome to a new space where we explore the latest in realms you can visit that make the worlds of entertainment real through theme parks, pop-ups, cinematic destinations, immersive installations, themed food, and inspired libations.
Mar 12
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened the door for self-driving vehicles to operate without manual controls under updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. While fully autonomous vehicles are likely several years away from going on sale, the new rule paves the way for automakers to remove the steering wheel and pedals.
“Through the 2020s, an important part of [the Department of Transportation’s] safety mission will be to ensure safety standards keep pace with the development of automated driving and driver assistance systems,” transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “This new rule is an important step, establishing robust safety standards for [Automated Driving Systems]-equipped vehicles.”
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards regulate all elements of production cars, as Roadshow notes. The latest rule stipulates that whether or not they have a steering wheel and pedals, vehicles with automated driving systems need to offer the same level of protection to drivers and passengers as other cars.
Fully autonomous (Level 5) cars aren’t on the market yet. Teslas are at Level 2 (they have some autonomy, but a human driver needs to be ready to take control). Volkswagen is making a Level 4 version of its ID.Buzz EV, while pilot projects for robotaxis and self-driving shuttles are underway. At CES 2022, Cadillac showed off a luxury concept EV without a steering wheel or pedals.
NHTSA acknowledged uncertainty about the development and deployment of vehicles equipped with ADS. “Nevertheless, NHTSA believes it is appropriate to finalize this action at this time in anticipation of emerging ADS vehicle designs that NHTSA has seen in prototype form,” the agency said.
Mar 12
Dead Space Remake Hit With A Delay
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe latest iteration of Dead Space for PC, PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X has been delayed by EA Games beyond the end of the year 2022.
Mar 12
Back to the Future: The Musical: A Song-by-Song Breakdown of the Original Cast Recording
Posted in: Today's ChiliOver a decade in the making, Back to the Future: The Musical reached the stage just as a pandemic was about to turn the world upside down, thus far limiting its audience to a lucky few in a run cut short in Manchester, England, and then on London’s West End beginning last summer. Now fans of the classic 1985 movie…
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