Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the passwordless-future department: During this week's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled a secure import/export feature for passkeys that addresses one of their biggest limitations: lack of interoperability across platforms and credential managers. The feature, built in collaboration with the FIDO Alliance, enables encrypted, user-initiated passkey transfers between apps and systems. Ars Technica's Dan Goodin says it "provides the strongest indication yet that passkey developers are making meaningful progress in improving usability." From the report: "People own their credentials and should have the flexibility to manage them where they choose," the narrator of the Apple video says. "This gives people more control over their data and the choice of which credential manager they use." The transfer feature, which will also work with passwords and verification codes, provides an industry-standard means for apps and OSes to more securely sync these credentials.
As the video explains: "This new process is fundamentally different and more secure than traditional credential export methods, which often involve exporting an unencrypted CSV or JSON file, then manually importing it into another app. The transfer process is user initiated, occurs directly between participating credential manager apps and is secured by local authentication like Face ID. This transfer uses a data schema that was built in collaboration with the members of the FIDO Alliance. It standardizes the data format for passkeys, passwords, verification codes, and more data types. The system provides a secure mechanism to move the data between apps. No insecure files are created on disk, eliminating the risk of credential leaks from exported files. It's a modern, secure way to move credentials."
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the big-moves department: Shopify is launching stablecoin payments for its merchants later this year, starting with USDC in collaboration with Coinbase and Stripe. Fortune reports: The publicly traded tech company lets merchants -- including vintage clothes sellers, cosmetics businesses, and electronics companies -- set up their own online marketplaces. By late June, Shopify will let a select group of users accept payments in USDC, a stablecoin issued by the crypto company Circle, which recently had one of the year's hottest IPOs. "In our own philosophical framework, we are extremely aligned with everything that crypto stands for," Tobias Lutke, the CEO of Shopify and a Coinbase board member, said onstage at a Coinbase conference on Thursday.
Shopify will then gradually expand access to merchants across its network in the U.S. and Europe before opening up stablecoin payments to every merchant who uses its platform. The e-commerce company worked with Coinbase to develop a payments protocol to handle chargebacks, refunds, and other intricacies of retail payments on Coinbase's blockchain, Base. It also collaborated with fintech giant Stripe, one of Shopify's payments processors, to integrate stablecoins into the e-commerce company's existing software stack. "I think other payment processors will look at what Shopify is building and be like, 'Holy crap,'" Jesse Pollak, a Coinbase executive who oversees the crypto exchange's wallet and blockchain divisions, told Fortune.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Mists of Pandaria Classic Development Notes: Celestial Dungeons & Class Updates
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Today we’ve updated the Mists of Pandaria Classic Beta with lots of changes!
Weekend Raid Testing
In our eighth week of Beta, It’s finally time to take on our remaining 2 early-expansion raids:
Delve into the rotting home of the Klaxxi and confront their sha-tainted queen in the Heart of Fear.
Chase the Sha of Fear to the Terrace of Endless Spring, where it has caused the guardians to devolve into fits of terror. Defeat it to restore peace to this sacred place.
Raid Testing Schedule
Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Springs raid testing will begin on Friday, June 13 at 1:00 p.m. PDT and end on Monday, June 16 at 10:00 a.m. PDT.
Level 90 template characters will be available for the raid, with item level 463 gear (Heroic Dungeon rewards).
Vendors are available in the following locations:
Shrine of Two Moons – The Golden Terrace
Shrine of Seven Stars – The Summer Terrace
Orgrimmar – Valley of Strength
Stormwind – Trade District
Vendors include:
Instructaur, to teach you max-level professions.
Flaskataur, for all of your flask, potion, enchant, and gem needs.
Glyphtaur, to acquire your glyphs.
Dungeontaur, to acquire Heroic Pandaria dungeon loot (including rare and epic pieces) and reputation tokens for the major Pandaria factions.
Donjon Rade, to teleport you to the raid.
Celestial Dungeons
Celestial Dungeons is a new optional game mode that’s now available for testing. Please leave any feedback on this feature in
FEEDBACK: Celestial Dungeons thread.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the first-of-its-kind department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Last week, electronics engineer Lorentio Brodesco announced the completion of a mock-up for nsOne, reportedly the first custom PlayStation 1 motherboard created outside of Sony in the console's 30-year history. The fully functional board accepts original PlayStation 1 chips and fits directly into the original console case, marking a milestone in reverse-engineering for the classic console released in 1994. Brodesco's motherboard isn't an emulator or FPGA-based re-creation -- it's a genuine circuit board designed to work with authentic PlayStation 1 components, including the CPU, GPU, SPU, RAM, oscillators, and voltage regulators. The board represents over a year of reverse-engineering work that began in March 2024 when Brodesco discovered incomplete documentation while repairing a PlayStation 1.
"This isn't an emulator. It's not an FPGA. It's not a modern replica," Brodesco wrote in a Reddit post about the project. "It's a real motherboard, compatible with the original PS1 chips." It's a desirable project for some PS1 enthusiasts because a custom motherboard could allow owners of broken consoles to revive their systems by transplanting original chips from damaged boards onto new, functional ones. With original PS1 motherboards becoming increasingly prone to failure after three decades, replacement boards could extend the lifespan of these classic consoles without resorting to emulation.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the new-and-shiny department: Microsoft quietly teased its next-generation Xbox by showcasing its collaboration with Asus "to bring two Xbox Ally handhelds to the market later this year," writes The Verge's Tom Warren. From the report: The Xbox Ally handhelds run Windows, but the Xbox team has worked with Windows engineers to boot these PC handhelds into a full-screen Xbox UI. The Windows desktop doesn't even fully load, and you use the Xbox app UI as a launcher to get to all your games (even Steam titles) and apps like Discord. While the combination of Windows and Xbox here is intriguing, it's the way that Microsoft is positioning these devices that really caught my attention.
"This is an Xbox," said Microsoft during the reveal, clearly expanding its marketing push beyond a single console to every screen and device. It all felt like a true Xbox handheld reveal. There was even an 11-minute-long behind-the-scenes video on the Xbox Ally handhelds, filmed in a similar style to Microsoft's "Project Scorpio" Xbox One X reveal from nearly nine years ago. "This is a breakthrough moment for Xbox," Carl Ledbetter, a 30-year Microsoft design veteran, says in the video. Ledbetter helped design the original IntelliMouse, the Xbox 360 Slim, the Xbox One X, and plenty of other Microsoft devices. When Ledbetter is involved, you know it's more than just a simple partner project with Asus.
"For the first time, a player is going to be able to hold the power of the Xbox experience in their hand, and take it with them anywhere they want to go," says Xbox president Sarah Bond, in the same video. Microsoft thinks of the Xbox Ally handhelds as Xbox consoles with the freedom of Windows, and I think the next-gen Xbox is going to look very similar as a result.
Related
Posted by from MMO Champion
Legacy of Arathor Content Update Notes
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Take your adventures further in the Legacy of Arathor update. You’ll amp up the challenge in Overcharged Delves, go Lorewalking with Lorewalker Cho, get a helping hand with the new Assisted Highlight and Single-Button Assistant… and more.
NEW CAMPAIGN QUESTLINE - RISE OF THE RED DAWN
While attention has been focused on Khaz Algar, a new enemy has risen in the Arathi Highlands, threatening to shatter the tenuous peace between Stromgarde and Hammerfall. Join Faerin, Danath, and Geya'rah as they attempt to expose a conspiracy, defuse tensions, and grapple with the legacy of Arathor. Experience this new storyline with branching viewpoints based on your character’s faction as you brave the journey ahead. [
LEARN MORE]
Players will receive a few new rewards for their efforts:
Alliance players will receive a new Stromgarde Tabard and the title “[Name] of Stromgarde”.
Horde players will receive a new Hammerfall Tabard and the title “[Name] of Hammerfall”.
All players will receive the Lamplighter’s Pauldrons transmog inspired by Faerin’s own shoulders.
GO LOREWALKING WITH LOREWALKER CHO
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the meeting-rising-needs department: The World Bank is lifting its decades-long ban on financing nuclear energy, in a policy shift aimed at accelerating development of the low-emissions technology to meet surging electricity demand in the developing world. From a report: In an email to staff on Wednesday, Ajay Banga, the World Bank president, said it would "begin to re-enter the nuclear energy space" [non-paywalled source] in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog which works to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons.
"We will support efforts to extend the life ofÂexisting reactors in countries that already have them, and help support grid upgrades andÂrelated infrastructure," the email said. The shift follows advocacy from the pro-nuclear Trump administration and a change of government in Germany, which previously opposed financing atomic energy due to domestic political opposition to the technology. It is part of a wider strategy aimed at tackling an expected doubling of electricity demand in the developing world by 2035. Meeting this demand would require annual investment in generation, grids and storage to rise from $280 billion today to $630 billion, Banga said in the memo seen by the Financial Times.
