Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the happy-birthday department: ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols marks Reddit's 20 years of being "the front page of the internet," recalling its evolution from a scrappy startup into a cultural powerhouse that shaped online discourse, meme culture, and the way millions consume news and entertainment. Slashdot is also given a subtle nod in the opening line of the article. An anonymous reader shares an excerpt: In 2005, if you were into social networks focused on links, you probably used Digg or Slashdot. However, two guys, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, recent graduates from the University of Virginia, wanted to create a hub where users could find, share, and discuss the internet's most interesting content. Little did they know where this idea would take them. After all, their concept was nothing new. Still, after Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, the startup accelerator and seed capital firm, had shot down their first idea -- a mobile food-ordering app -- they pitched what would become Reddit to Graham, and he gave it his blessing. Drawing inspiration from sites like Delicious, a now-defunct social bookmarking service, and Slashdot, Huffman and Ohanian envisioned Reddit as a platform that would combine the best aspects of both: a place for sharing timely, ephemeral news and fostering vibrant community discussions of not just technology, but any topic users cared about. Their guiding mission was to build "the front page of the internet," a simple, user-driven site where anyone could submit content, and the community, not algorithms or editors, would decide what was most important through voting and discussion. They deliberately prioritized user participation and conversation over flashy features or heavy editorial control.

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Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Following our first look at the full line up of the Blokees Galaxy Version Wave 7 Transformers One, now we have some official images of this small and easy-to-build model kits via the official Blokees Twitter/X. We have images of the previous 9 characters and one chase figure revealed plus a new one. The new images also reveal that these figure will have improved articulation. Read on for details: B-127 Cogged D-16 Alpha Trion Elita-1 Orion Pax Cogged Starscream Soundwave Shockwave Silver Tracker (new) Megatron Final Form Megatron Final Form Chase (Metallic deco) See the mirrored images attached to this news » Continue Reading.

The post Blokees Galaxy Version Wave 7 Transformers One Official Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Coming to us via the official Blokees Twitter/X, we have images of their new Blokees Transformers Galaxy Version Defender Wave 3 – Heavy Metal War. These are small 5.5 cm tall “chibi” style figures with 14 articulation points, packaged in blind boxes.We have images of the following characters: Shattered Glass Optimus Prime Shattered Glass Optimus Prime Vehicle Mode Glittering Shockwave Brilliant Megatron Skywarp Special Armor Type-Grimlock  Special Armor Type-Soundwave (with Ravage) Stay tuned with this space for more updates! See all the mirrored images after the break and then sound off on the 2005 Boards!

The post Blokees Transformers Galaxy Version Defender Wave 3 – Heavy Metal War First Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by Randall Munroe from XKCD
P.S. If you have time travel, come to my birthday party Saturday!

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the stranger-things department: Requesting concise answers from AI chatbots significantly increases their tendency to hallucinate, according to new research from Paris-based AI testing company Giskard. The study found that leading models -- including OpenAI's GPT-4o, Mistral Large, and Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet -- sacrifice factual accuracy when instructed to keep responses short.

"When forced to keep it short, models consistently choose brevity over accuracy," Giskard researchers noted, explaining that models lack sufficient "space" to acknowledge false premises and offer proper rebuttals. Even seemingly innocuous prompts like "be concise" can undermine a model's ability to debunk misinformation.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the shape-of-things-to-come department: An anonymous reader shares a report: After weeks of news about Google's antitrust travails, the tech giant will try to reset the narrative next week by highlighting advances it is making in artificial intelligence, cloud and Android technology at its annual I/O developer conference.

Ahead of I/O, Google has been demonstrating to employees and outside developers an array of different products, including an AI agent for software development. Known internally as a "software development lifecycle agent," it is intended to help software engineers navigate every stage of the software process, from responding to tasks to documenting code, according to three people who have seen demonstrations of the product or been told about it by Google employees. Google employees have described it as an always-on coworker that can help identify bugs to fix or flag security vulnerabilities, one of the people said, although it's not clear how close it is to being released.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the AI-innovation department: Google has launched the AI Futures Fund, a new initiative to invest in AI startups that are building with the latest tools from Google DeepMind. TechCrunch reports: The fund will back startups from seed to late stage and will offer varying degrees of support, including allowing founders to have early access to Google AI models from DeepMind, the ability to work with Google experts from DeepMind and Google Labs, and Google Cloud credits. Some startups will also have the opportunity to receive direct investment from Google.

"The AI Futures Fund doesn't follow a batch or cohort model," a Google spokesperson told TechCrunch. "Instead, we consider opportunities on a rolling basis -- there's no fixed application window or deadline. When we come across companies that align with the fund's thesis, we may choose to invest. We're not announcing a specific fund size at this time, and check sizes vary based on the company's stage and needs -- typically early to mid-stage, with flexibility for later-stage opportunities as well." Startups can apply here.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Via Chuckdawg1999 on YouTube we have images of the new Transformers Crash & Combine Heroes Optimus Prime & Bumblebee. This Amazon exclusive 2-pack was recently revealed and consists of re-releases of two Robots In Disguise 2015 molds. The Optimus Prime torso is a redeco of the Optimus Prime figure included in the RID 2015 Crash Combiners Wave 4 Grimlock / Optimus Prime (Primelock) and the Bumblebee legs are a straight yellow redeco of Dragstrip from the Dragstrip / Wildbreak (Dragbreak) pack. They came in a new Evergreen packaging and it is available and ready to ship via Amazon for $14.99. See the images after the » Continue Reading.

The post Amazon Exclusive Transformers Crash & Combine Heroes Optimus Prime & Bumblebee In-Hand Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Following up our first official images of the new Auldey Transformers Alpha Action Elite Wave 2 , now we have our first look at the chase figures of this new wave, via the official AuldeyWeibo account. This is a new line of small and poseable G1 action figures, packaged in blind-boxes. The special chase figures have been revealed: G1 Goldbug Shattered Glass Bumblebee See the mirrored images after the jump and sound off on the 2005 Boards!

The post Auldey Transformers Alpha Action Elite Wave 2 Chase Figures Revealed appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Via Chinese company Audley Weibo account we have our first official images of the new Transformers Alpha Action Elite Wave 2. This is a new line of small and poseable G1 action figures, packaged in blind-boxes. Characters are in scale to each other standing about 13 cm to 5.5 cm tall. Following up the previously released first wave of characters, now we have images of Wave 2 Elita-1, Perceptor, Bumblebee and Kickback & Ravage. Update #1: Official images of Megatron and Skywarp added via Audley Weibo. Update #2: Official images of Nemesis Prime added via Audley Weibo. See the » Continue Reading.

The post Auldey Transformers Alpha Action Elite Wave 2 Official Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the right-to-repair department: Philips has launched a new initiative called "Philips Fixables," offering free, officially drafted 3D-printable replacement parts to encourage self-repair and sustainability. The program is initially available in the Czech Republic but aims to expand over time. Tom's Hardware reports: This is a new idea, so only one component is available right now for download. The piece happens to be a 3mm comb for one of their shavers, but Philips assures there will be more components made available for more of their devices over time. This isn't the release of a grand library of parts by any means, but it does showcase a shift in supporting communities in search of businesses that support repairable hardware. [...]

The official Philips Fixables web page has a link for anyone in the general public to submit a request to add a specific component. Philips will notify customers with a download link if the component they suggested is able to be shared to Philips Fixables. It's not clear what sort of turnaround time to expect for these requests and whether there are limitations on what components will be made available.

According to Philips, consumers must adhere to the recommended print settings for their components to get the best results. This is the only way to ensure the replacement part is sturdy enough to stand in for a repair. Compromising on fill space for time could make or break your user experience, for example, but if done correctly, a replacement 3D print can be a useful long term solution.
You can check out the files over at Printables.com.

Posted by from MMO Champion
Resurrections for Hardcore Deaths due to DDoS - April 24 and May 3

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

We have identified and resurrected characters who died due to circumstances caused by distributed denial-of-service attacks on the Doomhowl realm on April 24, and on the Doomhowl and Defias Pillager realms on May 3. We are done with these restorations, and affected players should be able to select the ghost character on the Doomhowl and Defias Pillager realms and log into it to complete the process.

Please be reminded:

If we decide to restore characters lost to a DDoS attack, we will only restore characters that remain on their Hardcore realm. A character cannot be restored if the character was transferred to another realm.

Blizzard Customer Support cannot assist with issues related to characters who have died on Hardcore realms.

Please do not contact Blizzard Customer Support with any inquiries regarding character deaths on Hardcore realms.

Thank you very much!

Additional Resurrections for Hardcore Deaths due to DDoS - April 24 and May 11

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

We’ve completed a second pass on characters lost during the April 24 DDoS, and additionally resurrected characters that died during the DDoS yesterday, May 11.

All of the above took place on the Doomhowl realm.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: The new owners of VPN provider VPNSecure have drawn ire after canceling lifetime subscriptions. From a report: The owners told customers that they didn't know about the lifetime subscriptions when they bought VPNSecure, and they cannot honor the purchases.

Posted by Zack Zwiezen from Kotaku
Nintendo’s upcoming video game console, the Switch 2, will include a nifty feature that will help protect your battery and keep it running for a long time. And all you have to do is sacrifice a bit of playtime.

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Posted by Ethan Gach from Kotaku
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an irresistible melting pot of old and new ideas, combining classic JRPG tropes with modern storytelling sensibilities and new gameplay flourishes. It’s in some ways fitting, then, that the 2025 GOTY contender includes optional challenges inspired by Final Fantasy’s most infuriating…

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the modern-warfare department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Countries are meeting at the United Nations on Monday to revive efforts to regulate the kinds of AI-controlled autonomous weapons increasingly used in modern warfare, as experts warn time is running out to put guardrails on new lethal technology. Autonomous and artificial intelligence-assisted weapons systems are already playing a greater role in conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza. And rising defence spending worldwide promises to provide a further boost for burgeoning AI-assisted military technology.

Progress towards establishing global rules governing their development and use, however, has not kept pace. And internationally binding standards remain virtually non-existent. Since 2014, countries that are part of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) have been meeting in Geneva to discuss a potential ban fully autonomous systems that operate without meaningful human control and regulate others. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has set a 2026 deadline for states to establish clear rules on AI weapon use. But human rights groups warn that consensus among governments is lacking. Alexander Kmentt, head of arms control at Austria's foreign ministry, said that must quickly change.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the G-is-for-gradient department: Google is updating its iconic 'G' logo for the first time in 10 years, replacing the four solid color sections with a smooth gradient transition from red to yellow to green to blue. "This modernization feels inline with the Gemini gradient, while AI Mode in Search uses something similar for a shortcut," notes 9to5Google. The update has already rolled out to the Google Search app on iOS and is in beta for Android. From the report: It's a subtle change that you might not immediately notice, especially if the main place you see it is on your homescreen. It will be even less noticeable as a tiny browser favicon. It does not appear that Google is refreshing its main six-letter logo today, while it's unclear whether any other product logos are changing. In theory, some of the company's four-color logos, like Chrome or Maps, could pretty easily start bleeding in their sections.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the government-intervention-gone-right department: Ticketmaster will now show full ticket prices upfront -- fees included. "The company announced the 'All In Prices' initiative on Monday as part of its efforts to comply with the Federal Trade Commission's ban on junk fees, which goes into effect on May 12th," notes The Verge. From the report: Now, when you're shopping for tickets, Ticketmaster will display a ticket's full price, alongside a dropdown menu that you can select to see how much you're paying for the "Face Value" of a ticket and the service fee. You still won't see local taxes or delivery fees until checkout.

Ticketmaster says it has made some improvements to its queue as well, by offering real-time updates about ticket availability and when wait times are expected to last more than 30 minutes. It also allows customers to see exactly how many people are ahead of them in the queue.

Posted by Ethan Gach from Kotaku
Stellar Blade finally has a release date on PC. The very good, vibes-filled action-RPG that began as a PlayStation 5 exclusive will hit Steam in June, according to an apparent early leak of the trailer on YouTube. I can’t wait to see how the modding community reacts.

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Posted by Billy Givens from Kotaku
There are multiple ways to get weapon skins in Doom: The Dark Ages. You can find them scattered throughout levels (indicated by a paintbrush icon), or earn them by completing mission challenges and milestones, both of which you can find by looking through your menus. You can even get some skins for the Doom Slayer,…

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