Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the gloves-come-off department: An anonymous reader shares a report: Kevin Systrom, the co-founder of Instagram, testified on Tuesday in a landmark federal antitrust trial that he left Meta in 2018 because his company was denied resources. The government has argued that Meta purchased Instagram in 2012 as part of a "buy-or-bury strategy" to illegally cement its social media monopoly by killing off its rivals. Last week, current and former Meta executives testified that the social media giant, formerly known as Facebook, used its deep pockets to invest in Instagram after its purchase.
In testimony at the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, Mr. Systrom painted a different picture, saying he left Meta because Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive, wasn't investing enough. At that time, Instagram had grown to 1 billion users, about 40 percent of Facebook's size, yet the photo-sharing app had only 1,000 employees compared to 35,000 employees at Facebook, he said. "We were by far the fastest growing team. We produced the most revenue and relative to what we should have been at the time, I felt like we should have been much larger," said Mr. Systrom, who is expected to testify for six hours.
Mr. Systrom said he found the decisions baffling. When asked by an F.T.C. lawyer why Mr. Zuckerberg might have decided to give Instagram fewer resources, Mr. Systrom said it was a consistent pattern during his tenure at Meta. "Mark was not investing in Instagram because he believed we were a threat to their growth," he said, referring to Mr. Zuckerberg's prioritization of Facebook.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Nightfall Scenario: Take up Arms and Defend the Arathi
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
The fall of Queen Ansurek has spurred the Sureki forces into action within Hallowfall as they seek revenge upon the Arathi. Take up arms beside a new faction, Flame’s Radiance, and defend against the invading forces for Azeroth, glory—and a variety of new rewards.
A Radiant Call
Players will begin their journey when they speak with the Flame’s Radiance Recruiter in Dornogal near the map table. You’ll travel to Hallowfall to meet up with Mylton Wildbraun at the Flame’s Radiance camp at Morgaen’s Tears to the southwest of Mereldar near the Veneration Grounds. Speaking with Mylton will offer a variety of quests including Daily Quests to take up around Hallowfall and Azj’Kahet along with a weekly quest for the Nightfall Scenario. You’ll earn Flame’s Radiance Reputation and Resonance Crystals along the way to gain access to and purchase new rewards.
Nightfall Scenario
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Posted by from MMO Champion
The Winds of Mysterious Fortune Are Gusting In
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Winds of Mysterious Fortune Event
When: April 22 - May 20
The winds of fortune blow in your favor during this event. While questing and adventuring in certain Dragonflight and The War Within zones, players below level 80 can gain Mysterious Satchels bursting with goodies while looting creatures or as a bonus reward from completing quests.
Mysterious Satchels contain various unique and valuable items, including temporary stat boosts, visual alterations, a chance for bonus gear appropriate to your level and specialization, and 10% experience potions that stack with the 20% experience buff to a maximum of 30%. If you think Mysterious Satchels are amazing, then you’ll love Pristine Mysterious Satchels. The first Mysterious Satchel drop you earn daily will be Pristine quality, giving you a greater chance to earn even more valuable rewards.
Experience potions are a Warbound-bound item that can be consumed during the event or saved until after the event is over for use on your other level 10–79 characters. However, any stat or elemental potion effects will not work in Mythic+ Raids or rated PvP content.
A Buff to Speed Things Along
Take advantage of the Winds of Mysterious Fortune 20% experience buff to get characters level 10–79 up to speed. Catch up on your alts, finish missed content and unlocks, and dive into the latest content in The War Within.
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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: An anonymous reader shares a report: In a shocking development, Google won't roll out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies in Chrome. It's a move that amounts to a U-turn on the Chrome team's earlier updated approach to deprecating third-party cookies, announced in July last year, with the latest development bound to cause ructions across the ad tech ecosystem.
"We've made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies," wrote Anthony Chavez, vp Privacy Sandbox at Google, in a blog post published earlier today (April 22). "Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome's Privacy and Security Settings." However, it's not the end of Privacy Sandbox, according to Google, as certain initiatives incubated within the project are set to continue, such as its IP Protection for Chrome Incognito users, which will be rolled out in Q3.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the embarrassing-episode department: Apple has quietly removed the "available now" designation from its Apple Intelligence marketing page following a National Advertising Division review. The change came after the NAD recommended Apple "discontinue or modify" the claim, which "reasonably conveyed the message" that all promoted AI features were immediately available with iPhone 16 devices.
The NAD, part of the Better Business Bureau, determined Apple's footnote explaining feature availability was "neither sufficiently clear and conspicuous nor close to the triggering claims."
Further reading:
Apple Delays 'More Personalized Siri' Apple Intelligence Features;
'Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino';
Apple Shakes Up AI Executive Ranks in Bid to Turn Around Siri.
For nearly as long as Bethesda has been making big open-world RPGs, there have been dedicated modders tweaking, updating, and improving these games. So it’s a bit odd that Bethesda’s recently released remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion doesn’t officially support modding.
The Great Tapestry, according to South of Midnight, wraps around the entire world, a place where every person’s story is just one tiny thread, and it’s up to weavers like our dear trackstar heroine Hazel to smooth out the knots when they happen. But while South of Midnight presents us with a half-dozen lurid tales of…
Season 2 of Marvel Rivals is here, and there are quite a few balance changes and additions to mark its arrival. A new battle pass, the Flower of Krakoa, is here alongside an incredible new character, Emma Frost. Let’s go over what’s changed in the meta for this wildly popular superhero shooter.
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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered launched earlier today, and while the standard edition of the game includes all the DLC released for the OG RPG, there is an extra DLC pack available that adds a few things, including new horse armor. Yes, in 2025, Bethesda is charging for horse armor again.
Though we’ve known it’s coming for a few days now, today Bethesda showed off its fancy new remaster of 2006's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and it looks spectacular. It’s also out, like, right-friggin-now! If you want to check out the whole reveal, you can do so here. But if you just want to peruse some lovely…
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