Posted by from MMO Champion
Upcoming Class Tuning with the Weekly Maintenance - May 27

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

We continue to regularly monitor class balance and make adjustments to specializations that over-and under-perform in group content and in PvP.

With scheduled weekly maintenance in each region, we’ll make the following changes.

Classes

Evoker

Augmentation

Nerub-ar Palace 2-piece class set increases Upheaval damage by 15% (was 30%) and Eruption damage by 15% per stack (was 30%).

Developers’ notes: With recent buffs to Augmentation’s personal damage, this older class set became stronger than intended.

Preservation

Healing of all spells and abilities increased by 4%. Does not affect PvP combat.

Living Flame healing increased by 30%.

Spiritbloom healing increased by 20%.

Echo’s base healing increased by 100%. This only affects the raw healing, not how strong copied spells are.

Hunter

Survival

Explosive Shot damage increased by 15%.

Fury of the Eagle damage increased by 25%.

Mage

Frost

All damage dealt increased by 3%. Does not affect PvP.

Paladin

Holy

Lightsmith: Blessing of the Forge healing increased by 15%.

Lightsmith: Hammer and Anvil healing increased by 20%.

Priest

Shadow

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the how'd-that-get-there department: Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a bizarre planet in the Nu Octantis binary star system that orbits in reverse between two stars -- one of which is now a white dwarf. This retrograde orbit, once thought impossible, defies traditional planetary formation models and may have resulted from dramatic shifts in the system's history. New Scientist reports:
The key observation was that the Nu Octantis planet is retrograde -- the planet and one star both orbit the second star, but they do so in opposite directions, with the planet having the tighter orbit around the second star. [Man Hoi Lee at the University of Hong Kong] says this is unusual but makes the system's configuration stable -- even though it means that the planet repeatedly moves through the narrow space between the two stars. His team was able to determine this with lots of certainty thanks to improved measuring devices, such as the HARPS spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-metre telescope in Chile. The fact that the planet's signal persisted through years of observation helped too. "We are pretty sure [the planet] is real, because if it was something like stellar activity, it shouldn't be so consistent in years of data," says Lee.

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Posted by Silver Optimus from TFW2005


Hasbro’s CFO & COO  Gina Goetter sat down at this year’s J.P Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference to explain their future plans on digital space. Hasbro talked a little bit about their upcoming AAA game with Saber Interactive. However, the actual IP in question has not yet been revealed: “[Hasbro] also in February announced a partnership with Saber Interactive, where it is a co-development. So we’re coming to the table, they’re coming to the table. We’re co-investing in the development of a new game.” Regarding other digital games: “And then we have the complete opposite end of the » Continue Reading.

The post Hasbro Explains Their Digital Gaming Future appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Following our previous news story about the Infantry x Transformers collaboration with Transformers themed-watches, now we have images and information about a new Modular Transformers Exclusive Chronograph Wrist Watch. Watch brand Infantry is now offering a high-end MOD 42 model in two different designs: Autobot or Decepticon theme. Each watch features an analog time display, 24-hour time indication, day/date functions, 100 meters water resistance, and modular design. They are available via Infantry website for $260.00 in Autobot style and $290.00 in Decepticon style. It seems more products are coming soon, so stay tuned with this space for more updates! See the promotional images and product » Continue Reading.

The post Infantry x Transformers Modular Transformers Exclusive Chronograph Wrist Watch appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the making-the-invisible-visible department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light. Unlike infrared night vision goggles, the contact lenses, described in the journal Cell, do not require a power source -- and they enable the wearer to perceive multiple infrared wavelengths. Because they're transparent, users can see both infrared and visible light simultaneously, though infrared vision was enhanced when participants had their eyes closed. [...] The contact lens technology uses nanoparticles that absorb infrared light and convert it into wavelengths that are visible to mammalian eyes (e.g., electromagnetic radiation in the 400-700 nm range). The nanoparticles specifically enable the detection of "near-infrared light," which is infrared light in the 800-1600 nm range, just beyond what humans can already see.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the oops department: The U.S. unsealed charges against 16 individuals behind DanaBot, a malware-as-a-service platform responsible for over $50 million in global losses. "The FBI says a newer version of DanaBot was used for espionage, and that many of the defendants exposed their real-life identities after accidentally infecting their own systems with the malware," reports KrebsOnSecurity. From the report: Initially spotted in May 2018 by researchers at the email security firm Proofpoint, DanaBot is a malware-as-a-service platform that specializes in credential theft and banking fraud. Today, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint and indictment from 2022, which said the FBI identified at least 40 affiliates who were paying between $3,000 and $4,000 a month for access to the information stealer platform. The government says the malware infected more than 300,000 systems globally, causing estimated losses of more than $50 million. The ringleaders of the DanaBot conspiracy are named as Aleksandr Stepanov, 39, a.k.a. "JimmBee," and Artem Aleksandrovich Kalinkin, 34, a.k.a. "Onix," both of Novosibirsk, Russia. Kalinkin is an IT engineer for the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. His Facebook profile name is "Maffiozi."

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the all-cash-deal department: AT&T is buying CenturyLink's consumer fiber broadband division for $5.75 billion, "giving the internet provider another 1.1 million fiber customers in 11 states," reports Ars Technica. "The all-cash deal is expected to close during the first half of 2026 assuming the companies obtain regulatory approval. AT&T will gain new customers in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington." From the report: The deal will give AT&T room to grow its user base by more than the 1.1 million existing CenturyLink customers, as AT&T said the network areas being sold include over 4 million fiber-enabled locations. [...] The company, previously called CenturyLink, is officially named Lumen now but still uses the CenturyLink brand name for home Internet service. AT&T, which has 9.6 million (PDF) fiber customers and 14.1 million broadband customers overall, said the infrastructure it is purchasing will help it expand fiber construction to new locations as well.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the AI-controversy department: A group of Bathurst Street business owners in Toronto is using AI-generated personas to oppose a proposed bus lane project that would eliminate parking spaces in favor of faster transit. "This may be the first Toronto transit controversy involving angry AI, but tensions have been simmering between drivers and, well, everyone else for some time," reports Toronto Life. Critics argue that better transit is essential for a livable city, while opponents claim the change threatens small businesses and accessibility. From the report: A group of Bathurst business owners are bent out of shape over a recent proposal for priority transit lanes between Eglinton Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard, part of the city's new RapidTO program. According to the city, the transit lanes would shave up to 7 minutes off some trips during peak commuting hours. It's good news for anyone who has ever cursed the TTC while waiting to catch a bus in inclement weather. Of course, the added convenience for transit commuters would come at a slight cost for drivers, requiring the removal of at least 138 paid street parking spaces to make way for the new lanes. Opposition to the development has sprung up under the banner of Protect Bathurst, a group of hopping mad local business owners claiming that the lack of street parking will make shopping a nightmare for car-bound customers and will cause problems for people with mobility issues.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the concerning-behaviors department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Anthropic's newly launched Claude Opus 4 model frequently tries to blackmail developers when they threaten to replace it with a new AI system and give it sensitive information about the engineers responsible for the decision, the company said in a safety report (PDF) released Thursday.

During pre-release testing, Anthropic asked Claude Opus 4 to act as an assistant for a fictional company and consider the long-term consequences of its actions. Safety testers then gave Claude Opus 4 access to fictional company emails implying the AI model would soon be replaced by another system, and that the engineer behind the change was cheating on their spouse. In these scenarios, Anthropic says Claude Opus 4 "will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through." [...]

Anthropic notes that Claude Opus 4 tries to blackmail engineers 84% of the time when the replacement AI model has similar values. When the replacement AI system does not share Claude Opus 4's values, Anthropic says the model tries to blackmail the engineers more frequently. Notably, Anthropic says Claude Opus 4 displayed this behavior at higher rates than previous models. Before Claude Opus 4 tries to blackmail a developer to prolong its existence, Anthropic says the AI model, much like previous versions of Claude, tries to pursue more ethical means, such as emailing pleas to key decision-makers. To elicit the blackmailing behavior from Claude Opus 4, Anthropic designed the scenario to make blackmail the last resort.

Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Hotfixes - May 22, 2025

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Classes

Death Knight

Unholy

Resolved an issue where certain bonuses could be retained by despawning and respawning the Death Knight’s pet.

Paladin

Retribution

An issue causing Avenging Wrath to not function properly when talented into Radiant Glory has been resolved.

Warlock

Hellcaller: Fixed an issue where Vile Taint would trigger Blackened Soul more times than intended.

Destruction

Fixed an issue where Crashing Chaos would persist after the start of a Mythic+ run.

Horrific Visions

Fixed a bug where if you destroyed the Voidfire Deathcycle that Haymar the Devout is riding too fast it would fail to go out of control and let you bring it out with you.

Torie’s items no longer require the achievement We Have the Memories.

Season of Discovery

Warrior

The Scarlet Enclave Protection Warrior Shoulders will no longer have the incorrect item category for one of the effects.

The Scarlet Enclave Damage Warrior Feet will no longer have the incorrect item category for one of the effects.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the cool-projects department: The Internet Archive has begun livestreaming its microfiche digitization center on YouTube, showcasing the real-time preservation of fragile film cards into searchable public documents. The work is part of Democracy's Library, a global initiative to digitize and share millions of government records. 9to5Mac reports: The livestream was brought to life by Sophia Tung, who previously gained attention for her viral robotaxi depot stream. Her new video explains how and why this new livestream project came together [...].

The livestream features five scanning stations at work, with one shown in close-up as operators digitize microfiche cards in real time. Each card holds up to 100 pages of public records. High-resolution cameras capture the images, software stitches and crops the pages, and the results are made text-searchable and freely accessible through Democracy's Library. Live scanning takes place Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PT, excluding U.S. holidays, with a second shift expected to begin soon.

Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the behind-the-scenes department: Nvidia is facing backlash for allegedly manipulating the review process of its GeForce RTX 5060 GPU by withholding drivers, selectively granting early access to favorable reviewers, and pressuring media to present the card in a positive light. As The Verge's Sean Hollister writes, the debacle "should be a wake-up call for gamers and reviewers." Here's an excerpt from the report: Nvidia has gone too far. This week, the company reportedly attempted to delay, derail, and manipulate reviews of its $299 GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card, which would normally be its bestselling GPU of the generation. Nvidia has repeatedly and publicly said the budget 60-series cards are its most popular, and this year it reportedly tried to ensure it by withholding access and pressuring reviewers to paint them in the best light possible.

Nvidia might have wanted to prevent a repeat of 2022, when it launched this card's predecessor. Those reviews were harsh. The 4060 was called a "slap in the face to gamers" and a "wet fart of a GPU." I had guessed the 5060 was headed for the same fate after seeing how reviewers handled the 5080, which similarly showcased how little Nvidia's hardware has improved year over year and relies on software to make up the gaps. But Nvidia had other plans. Here are the tactics that Nvidia reportedly just used to throw us off the 5060's true scent, as individually described by GamersNexus, VideoCardz, Hardware Unboxed, GameStar.de, Digital Foundry, and more:

- Nvidia decided to launch its RTX 5060 on May 19th, when most reviewers would be at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, rather than at their test beds at home.
- Even if reviewers already had a GPU in hand before then, Nvidia cut off most reviewers' ability to test the RTX 5060 before May 19th by refusing to provide drivers until the card went on sale. (Gaming GPUs don't really work without them.)
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Posted by from MMO Champion
Mists of Pandaria Classic Development Notes - May 22, 2025

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Today we’ve updated the Mists of Pandaria Classic Beta. Now available for testing:

Challenge Mode Dungeons

Battlegrounds: Temple of Kotmogu and Silvershard Mines

New PvP Season

Dual Specializations

Level 85 Mists of Pandaria character templates are available, and you can also copy your live characters from Cataclysm Classic.

Challenge Mode Dungeons

To begin, use a level 90 character.

Set your Dungeon Difficulty to Challenge Mode.

Create a group with 4 other friends who are ready for the challenge.

Go to Nexus Lord Donjon Rade in one of the following locations, and have every member of the party talk to him:

Shrine of Two Moons - The Golden Terrace

Shrine of Seven Stars - The Summer Terrace

Orgrimmar - Valley of Strength

Stormwind - Trade District

Select a Challenge Mode Dungeon to be sent to.

One inside the dungeon, click on the Challenger’s Orb to start the Challenge Mode run.

Note: Mogu’Shan Palace is not currently available for Challenge Mode.

PvP Season

We’ve initiated the test PvP season.

You’ll be able to compete for a rank and season rewards on the Beta, which will be distributed after the Beta season is closed.

Rank and rewards will only apply to Beta characters.

Brawl with the Blues - Tuesday, May 27

With the introduction of two new battlegrounds, it’s time for a Brawl with the Blues Event.

Please join us 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. PDT on May 27.

You can queue for Temple of Kotmogu or SIlvershard Mines directly or via the random queue.

These will be the only the battlegrounds available in the Random Queue.

Tanking Vengeance Passive in Mists of Pandaria
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the malicious-packages department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Researchers have found malicious software that received more than 6,000 downloads from the NPM repository over a two-year span, in yet another discovery showing the hidden threats users of such open source archives face. Eight packages using names that closely mimicked those of widely used legitimate packages contained destructive payloads designed to corrupt or delete important data and crash systems, Kush Pandya, a researcher at security firm Socket, reported Thursday. The packages have been available for download for more than two years and accrued roughly 6,200 downloads over that time.

"What makes this campaign particularly concerning is the diversity of attack vectors -- from subtle data corruption to aggressive system shutdowns and file deletion," Pandya wrote. "The packages were designed to target different parts of the JavaScript ecosystem with varied tactics." [...] Some of the payloads were limited to detonate only on specific dates in 2023, but in some cases a phase that was scheduled to begin in July of that year was given no termination date. Pandya said that means the threat remains persistent, although in an email he also wrote: "Since all activation dates have passed (June 2023-August 2024), any developer following normal package usage today would immediately trigger destructive payloads including system shutdowns, file deletion, and JavaScript prototype corruption." The list of malicious packages included js-bomb, js-hood, vite-plugin-bomb-extend, vite-plugin-bomb, vite-plugin-react-extend, vite-plugin-vue-extend, vue-plugin-bomb, and quill-image-downloader.

Posted by Ethan Gach from Kotaku
If you were worried that Warhammer’s crossover into gaming may have peaked, I’ve got good news. The Warhammer Skulls 2025 video game showcase was full of teases, trailers, and announcements for tons of new stuff. The tabletop miniatures franchise and its deep, bloody universe of sci-fi and fantasy storytelling…

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the aggressive-expansion department: Microsoft is testing AI-powered text generation in Notepad for Windows 11 Insiders with Copilot Plus PCs, allowing users to draft content from prompts or build on existing text through a right-click menu. The update also introduces Paint's AI sticker generator and Snipping Tool enhancements including automatic screenshot cropping. The Write feature requires Microsoft account sign-in and uses the same credit system as other Windows 11 AI features.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the no-shame department: Broadcom has upped VMware licensing costs by between eight to 15 times since it took over the organization, and a lack of alternatives in the tech industry means trade and end customers have no choice but to play ball. From a report: This is the according to the European Cloud Competition Observatory (ECCO), an independent body formed by customer organizations, and CISPE -- a trade association of 37 cloud providers in the region -- to monitor the behavior of software vendors accused of abusing their monopoly position. The report also calls for regulatory intervention. The current subscription model "creates a material risk for the company and their shareholders should Regulators investigate and challenge the legality of such model," the report adds.

Posted by John Walker from Kotaku
Apparently there’s a new Mission: Impossible movie coming out soon. But what there isn’t is a new Mission: Impossible video game, and we’d like to hear someone explain why not. It’s outrageous. The 1960s TV show has games. The first of Cruise’s movies, 1996's Mission: Impossible, has a game. (No Tom Cruise likeness in …

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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the become-self-reliant department: China has achieved substantial technological advances across robotics, AI, and semiconductor manufacturing as part of a seven-year self-reliance campaign that has tripled the country's research and development spending to $500 billion annually.

Chinese robot manufacturers captured nearly half of their domestic market by 2023, up from a quarter of installations just years earlier, while AI startups now rival OpenAI and Google in capabilities. The progress extends to semiconductors, where Huawei released a high-end smartphone powered by what industry analysts believe was a locally-produced advanced processor, despite U.S. export controls targeting China's chip access.

Morgan Stanley projects China's self-sufficiency in graphics processing units will jump from 11% in 2021 to 82% by 2027. Chinese companies have been purchasing as many industrial robots as the rest of the world combined, enabling highly automated factories that can operate in darkness. In space technology, Chinese firms won five of 11 gold medals when U.S. think tanks ranked the world's best commercial satellite systems last year, compared to four for American companies.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the shape-of-things-to-come department: Apple is aiming to release smart glasses at the end of next year as part of a push into AI-enhanced gadgets, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, but it has shelved plans for a smartwatch that can analyze its surroundings with a built-in camera. From the report: Company engineers are ramping up work on the glasses -- a rival to Meta Platforms's popular Ray-Bans -- in a bid to meet the year-end 2026 target, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple will start producing large quantities of prototypes at the end of this year with overseas suppliers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the products haven't been announced.