China Launches Moon Probe 2024-05-03 11:45:02
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the moving-forward department: China launched an uncrewed lunar mission Friday that aims to bring back samples from the far side of the moon for the first time, in a potentially major step forward for the country's ambitious space program. From a report: The Chang'e-6 probe -- China's most complex robotic lunar mission to date -- blasted off on a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan island, where space fans had gathered to watch the historic moment. The country's National Space Administration said the launch was a success. The launch marks the start of a mission that aims to be a key milestone in China's push to become a dominant space power with plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and build a research base on its south pole.

It comes as a growing number of countries, including the United States, eye the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration in an increasingly competitive field. China's planned 53-day mission would see the Chang'e-6 lander touch down in a gaping crater on the moon's far side, which never faces Earth. China became the first and only country to land on the moon's far side during its 2019 Chang'e-4 mission. Any far-side samples retrieved by the Chang'e-6 lander could help scientists peer back into the evolution of the moon and the solar system itself -- and provide important data to advance China's lunar ambitions.
Posted by Claire Jackson from Kotaku
I recently decided to play a phenomenal old game called Metal Gear Solid via the recently released Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, hoping to show my friends the scene where I could see a man’s bare ass after he gets his lights knocked out and his clothes stolen. But censorship has struck again as I came to find…

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Posted by Willa Rowe from Kotaku
Almost a decade after the game’s Kickstarter campaign first launched, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is about to get its final update. The Castlevania: Symphony of the Night spiritual successor from former series producer Koji Igarashi released in 2019 and has been getting steady content updates ever since. These…

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This Week in WoW - May 3, 2024 2024-05-03 11:00:02
Posted by from MMO Champion
This Week in WoW - May 3, 2024

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Catch up on all the latest World of Warcraft news from the last week—embrace the spirit of spring with May's Trading Post, take a dive into Norhrend Cup, mark your calendars for the next content update for Dragonflight—Dark Heart, learn more about the Cataclysm Classic Pre-Expansion, and more!




The Cataclysm Classic Pre-Expansion Patch is Now Live

You’ve toppled the undead armies of the Lich King and ended Arthas' reign. Now, Deathwing, The Worldbreaker, bursts from the heart of the Maelstrom, unleashing his rage. Reignite the fire and help usher in a new Azeroth.

The Cataclysm Classic pre-expansion patch ushers in the shattering of Azeroth and the changed landscape in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, a variety of systems changes along with new class and race combinations, and the new Worgen and Goblin races. Players can also begin learning the new Archaeology profession, use Reforging to upgrade your gear, and more.

New Player Races: Goblin and Worgen

New Race and Class Combinations

Leveling Updates: Level through a changed landscape in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms from level 1 through 60.

Class Updates: New Talents, Trees, spells and More

New Profession: Archaeology

New Feature: Transmog Collection

Updated Character and Gear Stats

Your new journey begins with the pre-expansion patch—the Shattering of Azeroth—and continues with the launch of Cataclysm Classic on May 20, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. PDT worldwide. Learn more about what's in store for Azeroth from our official Cataclysm Classic overview.


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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: An anonymous reader shares a report: A software engineer has been keeping nearly 7,500 Firefox tabs open on her Mac computer for over two years -- and doesn't plan on closing them anytime soon. The Firefox power user, who goes by the pseudonym "Hazel" online, posted a screenshot showing 7,470 tabs open earlier this week after finding the browser initially unable to restore all the tabs. Hazel was able to bring the tabs back to life via a Firefox profile cache, however, and tells PCMag that reloading the full session took "no more than a minute."

"I feel like a part of me is restored," Hazel wrote on X once the Firefox tabs had returned. The Firefox fan tells PCMag in a message that she keeps so many tabs open for nostalgia reasons. "I like to scroll back and see clusters of tabs from months ago -- it's like a trip down memory lane on whatever I was doing/learning about/thinking about," she says. Surprisingly, all those tabs haven't impacted the computer's performance. "Firefox is quite memory efficient and isn't actually loading the websites unless I click on the tab -- so it's not very resource intensive," Hazel says.
Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Unique Toys Weibo account have been updated with images of the gray prototype of their new R09 Red Destroyer (Masterpiece Scale Age of Extinction Stinger). Unique Toys is bringing us a very promising AOE Stinger which looks very movie-accurate in both modes. We still have no concrete information about price or release date, but stay tuned with this space for more updates. See the images after the jump and then sound off on the 2005 Boards!

The post Unique Toys R09 Red Destroyer (Masterpiece Scale Age of Extinction Stinger) Prototype Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by Tony_Bacala from The Toyark


Hasbro just wrapped their almost-May The 4th live stream with reveals for several new items.  Included were: Star Wars: The Vintage Collection X-Wing Pilot 4-Pack, Star Wars: The Black Series Darth Sidious, Super Battle Droid,  Yoda & Clone Commander Gree, The Phantom ...

The post Star Wars Stream for May 3 2024 – X-Wing 4 Pack, Ep 1 3 Pack, SBD, Sidious & More appeared first on The Toyark - News.
Posted by Alyssa Mercante from Kotaku
WonderCon 2024, the three-day March convention held in Anaheim, California’s convention center, always has some great cosplay. This year was no exception, with folks bringing the heat with Star Wars looks, X-Men fits, and gigantic power armor that looks ripped from the Fallout TV series.

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Posted by Moises Taveras from Kotaku
For some time now, the Helldivers 2 community has wanted clearer data on the galactic war that it’s been fighting, and earlier this week, Arrowhead Game Studios finally delivered. Specifically, the studio deployed the “Super Commas,” which implemented dividing commas into the existing in-game stats so that they didn’t…

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Posted by Levi Winslow from Kotaku
It’s almost Star Wars Day, and just ahead of May 4, Microsoft has announced a free trial for one of the best games based on George Lucas’ space opera franchise. I’m talking about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order, and if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you can play a full five…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the fwiw department: Microsoft is making security its number one priority for every employee, following years of security issues and mounting criticisms. The Verge: After a scathing report from the US Cyber Safety Review Board recently concluded that "Microsoft's security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul," it's doing just that by outlining a set of security principles and goals that are tied to compensation packages for Microsoft's senior leadership team. Last November, Microsoft announced a Secure Future Initiative (SFI) in response to mounting pressure on the company to respond to attacks that allowed Chinese hackers to breach US government email accounts.

Just days after announcing this initiative, Russian hackers managed to breach Microsoft's defenses and spy on the email accounts of some members of Microsoft's senior leadership team. Microsoft only discovered the attack nearly two months later in January, and the same group even went on to steal source code. These recent attacks have been damaging, and the Cyber Safety Review Board report added fuel to Microsoft's security fire recently by concluding that the company could have prevented the 2023 breach of US government email accounts and that a "cascade of security failures" led to that incident. "We are making security our top priority at Microsoft, above all else -- over all other features," explains Charlie Bell, executive vice president for Microsoft security, in a blog post today. "We will instill accountability by basing part of the compensation of the company's Senior Leadership Team on our progress in meeting our security plans and milestones."
Posted by Claire Jackson from Kotaku
Shortly after getting tossed out of the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the party will find themselves in need of breaking out of the Dustbowl, also known as Corel Prison. To do so, you’ll have to get some feed for your chocobo to participate in a race. Part of that quest will have you finishing off random…

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Posted by Eric Schulkin from Kotaku
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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the moving-forward department: Plumpaquatsch writes: Investigators teamed up with colleagues from the Balkans and Lebanon in raids set up by months of intense surveillance. Authorities say the operation thwarted over 10 million euro in damages and led to 21 arrests.

Dubbed 'Operation Pandora,' the sting began in Germany in December 2023, after a suspicious bank teller contacted police when a 76-year-old customer from Freiburg sought to hurriedly withdraw 120,000 euro ($128,232) from her savings account to hand over to a fake police officer. When real police investigators tracked the internet-based telephone number that had been used to lure the woman, they discovered a veritable goldmine.

Rather than shutting down the number, authorities instead went on the offensive, setting up their own call center in which hundreds of officers from Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin and Saxony worked around the clock monitoring some 1.3 million calls in real time, as the number from the initial scam was tied to an entire network of fraud call centers. Police were able to trace and record data from the calls, as well as warn potential victims of what was in fact happening, in turn winning valuable time to put together the April 18 sting. Police say their efforts allowed them to thwart some 10 million euro in damages in roughly 6,000 cases of attempted fraud.
Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Via Tmo Hobbies Store Facebook (China based), we have our first in-package look a the new Hot Wheels x Transformers G1 Bumblebee Car. While we had some images of the toy itself some days ago, now we finally have a closer look at a carded item. This figure will be part of the 2024 Hot Wheels mainline K case. Time to get ready to hunt this Bee. Update: Via WS Mart Diecast on YouTube, we have additional in-card images plus an image of the case assortment. Also, friend site and sponsor Entertainment Earth has got a listing of the Hot Wheels » Continue Reading.

The post Hot Wheels x Transformers G1 Bumblebee Car In-Package Image & Additional Information appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by Willa Rowe from Kotaku
As far as superheroes on film go, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is one of the most iconic portrayals of a comic book character ever. From the first X-Men movie in 2000 to 2017’s Logan, Jackman was synonymous with the character until he hung up the claws. But the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine sees him convinced to pick them…

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Posted by Levi Winslow from Kotaku
I’m having a great time with Stellar Blade, the new character action game from developer Shift Up that launched as a PS5 exclusive on April 26. As I embark on a second playthrough thanks to New Game Plus, I fall ever more in love with the combat, the story, and the world. I’m also finding more and more outfits for our…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the oops department: samleecole writes: Utah set up an online form for people to accuse other citizens and public establishments of violating the state's recently-enacted transphobic "bathroom bill." The submission form is being flooded with memes and troll comments, and the auditor also left the submissions database open to the public -- without a password, authentication, or any other protections that would keep anyone from viewing other people's submissions.

After 404 Media contacted the auditor's office for comment, they changed the permissions to require authentication. The form link has been posted to Twitter, and people have repeatedly posted screenshots of themselves uploading memes. In the database, those included photos of Barry Wood, characters from Bee Movie, and Shutterstock images of bull testicles. Twitter users have also found a link to the database that the form is connected to, which is hosted on a public Google cloud console bucket that as of Thursday, required no authentication to view. I tested the form, and found that my submission -- a photo of the yelling table cat meme -- appeared instantly in the Google Console bucket. The submission form offers anonymity with the option for the state auditor to contact submitters for more details. I haven't seen names and contact information shared in the database, but comments and image attachments were easily viewable.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: Google has asked a U.S. judge not to impose sweeping changes to the Alphabet unit's app store Play that were proposed by "Fortnite" maker Epic Games in the companies' closely-watched antitrust fight. From a report: Google made its filing late on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, where Epic last year persuaded a jury that the tech giant unlawfully stifled competition with its controls over apps downloads on Android devices and payments to developers for in-app transactions. Epic's proposal "would make it nearly impossible for Google to compete," Google's filing said.

The gaming company in March asked U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco to force Google to make it easier for users to download apps from other sources and to allow developers more flexibility in offering and charging for purchases. The Cary, North Carolina-based company also said it should be allowed to bring its Epic Games Store to Android "without delays and barriers." Google agreed in December to pay $700 million to resolve the states' case and, among other reforms, will allow more alternative billing options for in-app purchases.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the time-to-face-the-music department: A Miami-based CEO will serve over six years in prison for selling counterfeit Cisco equipment to numerous buyers on Amazon and eBay, with some of the shoddy hardware ending up in sensitive US government systems. From a report: On Wednesday, 40-year-old Onur Aksoy was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for raking in at least $100 million from the counterfeit sales. Aksoy committed the fraud from at least 2013 to 2022 -- the year he was arrested -- by buying the fake Cisco equipment from suppliers in China. The counterfeits were then resold as legitimate Cisco products for an estimated retail value of over $1 billion.

"Aksoy sold hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of counterfeit computer networking equipment that ended up in US hospitals, schools, and highly sensitive military and other governmental systems, including platforms supporting sophisticated US fighter jets and military aircraft," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri said in a statement.
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