Carnegie Mellon professor Uju Anya, who unleashed a social media storm last week when she wished the late Queen Elizabeth II “excruciating pain” in death in a tweet, is back on Twitter. In an update, she thanked the people who supported her, and assured them that nothing was going to happen to her job at the…
After making the first TikTok video while aboard the International Space Station, Samantha Cristoforetti is making history once again as she’s been chosen to command the orbital outpost, making her the first European woman to do so.
In a surprising turn of events, Sega has released Yakuza series spinoffs Judgment and Lost Judgment on Steam. The former first arrived on PlayStation 4 in 2018 before making its way to current generation consoles and Stadia last year. Judgment casts players as Takayuki Yagami, a private detective investigating a serial murder case in a fictional part of Tokyo modeled after the city’s famous Kabukicho district. The game’s 2021 sequel, Lost Judgment, takes place three years later and has a darker tone and new gameplay elements.
The likelihood of the Judgment franchise ever making its way to PC seemed bleak before this week. According to a report published last year by Japan’s Nikkan Taishu (via Kotaku), the series was unlikely to continue due to a dispute between Sega and the talent agency representing Takuya Kimura, the actor who lent his likeness and voice to its protagonist. Kimura’s agency was reportedly against a PC release, fearing it would hurt its business model. At one point, the two sides were so far apart it seemed unlikely Sega would make another Judgment game.
But that was before and now you can buy Judgment and Lost Judgment on Steam either separately or as part of a bundle that includes the sequel’s Kaito Files expansion.
Rail workers could be going on strike soon for the first time in nearly 30 years, which could result in enormous impacts on the wider economy and supply chains.
I am so over yelling in complete sentences to the Google Assistant. Although I run all the digital assistants—it’s my job, you know—Google primarily controls my smart home. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to yell out a complete command while strapping down your toddler during a full-blown meltdown.…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a rare foray outside Ukraine’s capital and highlighted Moscow’s embarrassing retreat from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
It’s been a month and a half since devastating floods tore through Eastern Kentucky. A historic, so-called thousand-year rainfall overflowed rivers and streams, and it carried strip mining waste down into valley communities across the region.
Setting up a personal cloud might be the storage solution you need to end limitations without spending a fortune.
President Joe Biden announced in a speech today that $900 million of federal funding will go toward increasing the number of electric vehicle chargers nationwide. This funding is the first chunk of money allocated to building EV chargers from a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law signed last year.
Amazon still can’t avoid lawsuits over third-party prices. The New York Timesreports California has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of violating both the Cartwright Act and state competition law through its pricing rules. The internet giant is stifling competition by preventing sellers from offering lower prices on other sites, according to Attorney General Rob Bonta. If they defy Amazon, they risk losing buy buttons, prominent listings or even basic access to Amazon’s marketplace.
If successful, the lawsuit would bar any contracts deemed anti-competitive and notify sellers that they’re free to reduce prices elsewhere. Amazon would also have to pay damages, return “ill-gotten gains” and appoint a court-approved overseer.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said California had the situation “exactly backwards.” Third-parties still have control over prices, Amazon claimed, and inclusion in the “Buy Box” space supposedly shows that a deal is truly competitive. It further contended that the suit would raise prices. You can read the full statement below.
The case is similar to a District of Columbia lawsuit. The region’s Superior Court dismissed that case in March citing a lack of evidence, but Attorney General Karl Racine is appealing the decision.
Amazon is facing increasing government scrutiny of its practices. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating issues ranging from major acquisitions through to withheld driver tips, while EU pressure prompted Amazon to revise its seller program and improve third parties’ chances of competing with direct sales. The tech firm has balked at these moves, and went so far as to both demand the FTC chair’s recusal as well as fight agency requests to interview executives. Don’t expect either side to back down any time soon, in other words.
“Similar to the D.C. Attorney General—whose complaint was dismissed by the courts—the California Attorney General has it exactly backwards. Sellers set their own prices for the products they offer in our store. Amazon takes pride in the fact that we offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively. The relief the AG seeks would force Amazon to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law. We hope that the California court will reach the same conclusion as the D.C. court and dismiss this lawsuit promptly.”
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