Posted by from MMO Champion
Plunderstorm Ends Soon - Check Missing Rewards with the Plumber Addon

Plunderstorm wraps up next week on February 25, making this the perfect time to double-check any rewards you might still need from the Plunderstore. The quickest way to do that is with the Plumber addon, which now lets you filter out already-earned rewards for easier tracking!

New Plunderstorm Rewards | Plumber Addon

Press H to open the PvP Menu, then head to the Plunderstorm section and open the Plunderstore.



Enable the "Uncollected Only" option in the top right corner of the Plunderstore to hide already-earned rewards.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the existential-questions department: Lloyds Banking Group is assessing the skills of thousands of technology staffers in the UK to determine whether they can keep working at the bank once it upgrades its technology [alternative source]. Bloomberg: The British lender, which is carrying out a multiyear overhaul of its systems, put these workers on notice this month that they are at risk of losing their jobs and will be required to reapply for new positions across the bank, according to people familiar with the matter. In a company town hall last week, executives informed those staffers that they were in the process of assessing their technical skills based on a test they took last year to determine where, if anywhere, they can be placed within Lloyds, the people said, asking not to be named discussing non-public information.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the state-of-play department: A new report released by Cisco finds that 97% of CEOs surveyed are planning AI integration. Similarly, 92% of companies recently surveyed by McKinsey plan to invest more in generative AI over the next three years. Fortune: To that end, many companies are seeking tech-savvy finance talent, according to a new report by software company Datarails. The researchers analyzed 6,000 job listings within the CFO's office -- CFO, controller, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), and accountant -- advertised on job search websites including LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed, Job2Careers, and ZipRecruiter.

Of the 1,000 job listings for CFOs in January 2025, 27% included AI in the job description. This compares to 8% mentions of AI in 1,000 CFO job listings at the same time last year. Take, for example, Peaks Healthcare Consulting which required a CFO candidate to "continuously learn and integrate AI to improve financial processes and decision making," Datarails notes in the report. Regarding FP&A professionals, in January 2025, 35% of analyst roles mentioned AI competency as a requirement, compared to 14% in January 2024, according to the report.
Posted by AzT from TFW2005


Void Rivals issue #19 arrives in May: Jump starting the third story arc of the space opera, Void Rivals #19 serves as a standalone Skuxxoid epic. The breakout fan-favorite of the Energon Universe takes center stage. Who is Skuxxoid? What is Skuxxoid? This issue answers all of your burning questions and more! Plus, the First appearance of Wreck-Gar and the Junkions. Check out the details revealed so far, then sound off with fellow readers on the 2005 boards! From the Oblivion Song team of Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) and Lorenzo De Felici (Kroma), along with colorist Patricio Delpeche (The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country), and » Continue Reading.

The post Skybound’s Transformers Comics Solicitations: May 2025 appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by Zack Zwiezen from Kotaku
I’ve got some good news for all you fans of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and its various video game spin-offs, sequels, and remasters. A skateboarder recently claimed that he will be included in a yet-be-announced remaster of a Tony Hawk skateboarding video game. It’s yet one more piece of evidence that a new Tony Hawk game…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the up-next department: Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has updated its business registry information with key changes to personnel and operational scope, signaling a shift towards monetizing its cost-efficient-yet-powerful large language models. From a report: The Hangzhou-based firm's updated business scope includes "internet information services," according to business registry service Tianyancha. The move is the first sign of DeepSeek's desire to monetise its popular technology, according to Zhang Yi, founder and chief analyst at consultancy iiMedia.

With eyes on developing a business model, DeepSeek intends to shift away from being purely focused on research and development, Zhang added. "The move reflects that for a company like DeepSeek, which managed to accumulate technology and develop a product, monetisation is becoming a necessary next step," Zhang said. DeepSeek's previous business scope said it engages in engineering and AI software development, among others, hinting at a more research-driven approach.
Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


The official Hasbro Pulse Instagram and Facebook accounts have shared a small update of the Transformers Haslab Liokaiser. We have some extra images and bio of Gaihawk, Liokaiser’s right arm. A founding member of Deathsaurus’s elite Chest-force, Gaihawk is as ruthless as they come. Cold, calculating, and utterly disdainful of Autobots and their so-called “principles,” he prides himself on being the perfect warrior—at least in his own mind. Boasting about his unmatched skills, he’s the first to charge into battle and the last to leave, but when things go wrong? He’ll make sure someone else takes the blame. In jet mode, Gaihawk » Continue Reading.

The post Transformers Haslab Liokaiser – Meet the Bot: Gaihawk, The Relentless Aerial Menace appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the up-next department: An anonymous reader shares a report: Later this month, Intuitive Machines, the private company behind the first commercial lander that touched down on the moon, will launch a second lunar mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The plan is to deploy a lander, a rover, and hopper to explore a site near the lunar south pole that could harbor water ice, and to put a communications satellite on lunar orbit. But the mission will also bring something that's never been installed on the moon or anywhere else in space before -- a fully functional 4G cellular network.

Point-to-point radio communications, which need a clear line of sight between transmitting and receiving antennas, have always been a backbone of both surface communications and the link back to Earth, starting with the Apollo program. Using point-to-point radio in space wasn't much of an issue in the past because there never have been that many points to connect. Usually, it was just a single spacecraft, a lander, or a rover talking to Earth. And they didn't need to send much data either. "They were based on [ultra high frequency] or [very high frequency] technologies connecting a small number of devices with relatively low data throughput," says Thierry Klein, president of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research, which was contracted by NASA to design a cellular network for the moon back in 2020.
Posted by Ethan Gach from Kotaku
Magic: The Gathering has been on a cross-over binge lately, and the next property up is Final Fantasy. The card set inspired by the Square Enix RPG series arrives in June, and Wizards of the Coast recently revealed four pre-constructed decks led by commander-style hero cards: Terra (FFVI), Cloud (FFVII), Tidus (FFX),…

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Posted by Kenneth Shepard from Kotaku
Avowed is officially out for everyone today, February 18. Obsidian’s latest RPG in the Pillars of Eternity universe is pretty damn good, and fans who paid up for the game’s Premium Edition have been playing it a few days early. The aspect I’m most looking forward to in Avowed, beyond the character creator, is a…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the promising-signs department: A new family of superconductors is exciting physicists. Compounds containing nickel have been shown to carry electricity without resistance at the relatively high temperature of 45 kelvin (-228C) -- and without being squeezed under pressure. Nature: Physicists at the Southern University of Science and Technology (Sustech) in Shenzhen, China, observed the major hallmarks of superconductivity in a thin film of crystals of nickel oxide, which they grew in the laboratory. They published their work in Nature on 17 February. "There's a huge hope that we could eventually raise the critical temperature and make [such materials] more useful for applications," says Dafeng Li, a physicist at the City University of Hong Kong.

Nickelates now join two groups of ceramics -- copper-based cuprates and iron-based pnictides -- as 'unconventional superconductors' that operate at room pressure and temperatures as high as 150K (-123C). This new data point could help physicists to finally explain how high-temperature superconductors work, and ultimately to design materials that operate under ambient conditions. This would make technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging, radically cheaper and more efficient.

How unconventional superconductors operate at warmer temperatures remains largely a mystery, whereas the mechanism behind how some metals can carry electricity without resistance at colder temperatures, or extreme pressures, has been understood since 1957. The ability of the Sustech researchers to precisely engineer the material's properties is huge boon in trying to use nickelates to unravel the theory behind unconventional superconductivity, says Lilia Boeri, a physicist at the Sapienza University of Rome. "The idea that you have a system that you can sort of tune experimentally, is something quite exciting."
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: SCMP: Chinese scientists have developed a revolutionary repair technology that could make lithium-ion batteries last over six times longer. Announcing their discovery in the journal Nature on Wednesday, the researchers said this low-cost, eco-friendly technology could soon be ready to enter the market.

The batteries are key for many modern technologies, from smartphones to electric vehicles. However, as these batteries age, they often become less efficient -- a process that cold weather accelerates. The researchers said they could counter this problem with the "injection" of a special solution to rejuvenate "sick" batteries. At present, lithium-ion batteries rely on sophisticated materials used to generate lithium ions -- whose movement through electrolyte is key to their performance -- and then protect them to ensure a decent lifespan.

Typically these lithium ions move from the positive terminal to the negative when the battery is charging, a process which is then reversed when it is generating power. The battery is considered to have expired when the supply of lithium ions runs low -- for example some electric car batteries have a lifespan of around 1,500 charge cycles -- but other components in the battery still remain in good working order after this happens. This insight prompted the two lead researchers, Gao Yue and Peng Huisheng from Fudan University's macromolecular science department, to see if they could revive a battery by replenishing the supply of active lithium ions.
Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Coming to us via the official Blokees YoutubeWeiboTwitter and Facebook accounts, we have mew promotional images and a new stop-motion video of the new Blokees Transformers Galaxy Version Defender Wave 2 – The Overthrow collection. These are small 5.5 cm tall “chibi” style figures with 14 articulation points, packaged in blind boxes. This new wave consists of 8 robots, 4 vehicles and 4 chase figures. Robots Bumblebee Wheeljack Ironhide (Shattered Glass version) Soundwave (Golden version) Starscream Inferno Bonecrusher Ultra Magnus (White Optimus Prime redeco) Vehicles Inferno Bonecrusher Bumblebee Hook Chase figures Metallic Starscream Shattered Glass Bumblebee Armored Coronation Starscream Armored » Continue Reading.

The post Blokees Transformers Galaxy Version Defender Wave 2 – The Overthrow Promotional Stop Motion & New Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by Brandon Morgan from Kotaku
If you want to obtain new abilities and enhance your current skill set in Path of Exile 2, you need more Support Gems. Every ability in the game can be enhanced with unique affixes and effects that change how the spell, summon, or strike performs.

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Posted by Ethan Gach from Kotaku
Long gone are the days of companies quietly banning the players who cheat in their games. It’s become increasingly common for developers to name and shame those involved, though Epic Games recently escalated things even further. It not only sued a Fortnite pro who cheated while qualifying for a championship…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the up-next department: Acer will raise laptop prices in the United States by 10% next month due to Trump administration tariffs on Chinese imports, CEO Jason Chen said. "We will have to adjust the end user price to reflect the tariff," Chen said. "We think 10 percent probably will be the default price increase because of the import tax."

The Taiwan-based company, the fifth-largest computer seller in the U.S. market behind HP, Dell, Lenovo and Apple, could add hundreds of dollars to its high-end laptops that cost up to $3,700. Chen said Acer is exploring manufacturing options outside China, including possible U.S. production. The company has already moved desktop computer assembly out of China following earlier 25% tariffs during Trump's first term. The 10% tariff imposed this month affects nearly 80% of U.S. laptop imports from China.
Posted by Samuel Moreno from Kotaku
Marvel Rivals, with its wide variety of heroes familiar to comic book readers and movie-goers alike, features some deeper cuts. But it should be no surprise that the roster launched with the forever-popular friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. If you struggled with the recent buggy PC release of Spider-Man 2 and are…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the closer-look department: India's Tata Consultancy Services allegedly manipulated U.S. visa programs by falsifying management credentials for foreign workers, according to lawsuits and federal data obtained by Bloomberg News. TCS, India's largest IT services firm, received upwards of 6,500 L-1A visas for managers from October 2019 through September 2023, more than the next seven largest recipients combined. In contrast, TCS categorized fewer than 600 of its 31,000 U.S.-based employees as executives and managers in a 2022 federal report.

Former TCS manager Anil Kini alleged in a lawsuit that in January 2017, a senior manager ordered him to alter organizational charts to hide discrepancies for employees without management responsibilities. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found "credible documentary evidence" that TCS "frequently falsifies documents in support of L-1 visa applications," according to a 2019 letter. L-1A visas for managers, unlike H-1B visas, have no pay requirements or caps.

TCS has denied wrongdoing, saying it "strongly refutes these inaccurate allegations by certain ex-employees, which have previously been dismissed by multiple courts."
Posted by John Walker from Kotaku
Nintendo has announced, with no explanation as to why, that it will be discontinuing Nintendo Gold Points on March 24. The scheme, where points were awarded when buying both physical and digital editions of games, could then be redeemed for discounts. But, ahead of the (still unknown) launch of the Switch 2, they will…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the better-late-than-never department: PAjamian writes: Two years ago Red Hat announced an end to its public source code availability. This caused a great deal of outcry from the Enterprise Linux community at large. Since then many have waited for a statement from the Free Software Foundation concerning their stance on the matter. Now, nearly two years later the FSF has finally responded to questions regarding their stance on the issue with the following statement: Generally, we don't agree with what Red Hat is doing. Whether it constitutes a violation of the GPL would require legal analysis and the FSF does not give legal advice. However, as the stewards of the GNU GPL we can speak how it is intended to be applied and Red Hat's approach is certainly contrary to the spirit of the GPL. This is unfortunate, because we would expect such flagship organizations to drive the movement forward. When asked if the FSF would be willing to intervene on behalf of the community they had this to say:As of today, we are not aware of any issue with Red Hat's new policy that we could pursue on legal grounds. However, if you do find a violation, please follow these instructions and send a report to [email protected]. Following is the full text of my original email to them and their response: Subject: Statement about recent changes in source code distribution for Red Hat Enterprise LinuxDate: 2023-07-16 00:39:51 > Hi,>> I'm a user of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Rocky Linux and other Linux> distributions in the RHEL ecosystem. I am also involved in the EL> (Enterprise Linux) community which is being affected by the statements> and changes in policy made by Red Hat at> https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/furthering-evolution-centos-stream and> https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hats-commitment-open-source-> response-gitcentosorg-changes> (note there are many many more links and posts about this issue which> I> believe you are likely already aware of). While a few of these> questions are answered more directly by the license FAQ some of them> are> not and there are a not insignificant number of people who would very> much appreciate a public statement from the FSF that answers these> questions directly.>> Can you please comment or release a statement about the Free Software> Foundation's position on this issue? Specifically:> Thank you for writing in with your questions. My apologies for the delay, but we are a small team with limited resources and can be challenging keeping up with all the emails we receive. Generally, we don't agree with what Red Hat is doing. Whether it constitutes a violation of the GPL would require legal analysis and the FSF does not give legal advice. However, as the stewards of the GNU GPL we can speak how it is intended to be applied and Red Hat's approach is certainly contrary to the spirit of the GPL. This is unfortunate, because we would expect such flagship organizations to drive the movement forward. > Is Red Hat's removal of sources from git.centos.org a violation of the> GPL and various other Free Software licenses for the various programs> distributed under RHEL?>> Is Red Hat's distribution of source RPMs to their customers under> their> subscriber agreement sufficient to satisfy the above mentioned> licenses?>> Is it a violation if Red Hat terminates a subscription early because> their customer exercised their rights under the GPL and other Free> Software licenses to redistribute the RHEL sources or create> derivative> works from them?>> Is it a violation if Red Hat refuses to renew a subscription that has> expired because a customer exercised their rights to redistribute or> create derivative works?>> A number of the programs distributed with RHEL are copyrighted by the> FSF, some examples being bash, emacs, GNU core utilities, gcc, gnupg> and> glibc. Given that the FSF has standing to act in this matter would> the> FSF be willing to intervene on behalf of the community in order to get> Red Hat to correct any of the above issues?> As of today, we are not aware of any issue with Red Hat's new policy that we could pursue on legal grounds. However, if you do find a violation, please [follow these instructions][0] and send a report to . [0]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html If you are interested in something more specific on this, the Software Freedom Conservancy [published an article about the RHEL][1] situation and hosted a [panel at their conference in 2023][2]. These cover the situation fairly thoroughly. [1]: https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/jun/23/rhel-gpl-analysis/[2]: https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/jul/19/rhel-panel-fossy-2023/
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