Posted by from MMO Champion
Mists of Pandaria Beta Stress Test #2 - June 25

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Our first stress test helped us identify several critical issues, so we’re planning to host another stress test for MoP Classic on Wednesday, June 25 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PDT.

Once again, during this time time, we’re asking as many players as possible to join us on the Beta to help simulate launch conditions. Level 85 templates, character copies, and all classes and races will be accessible.

Testers may begin gathering and setting up characters at 2:00 p.m. PDT, and starting quests will become active at 2:50 p.m. PDT. Thereafter, you can storm Pandaria and give us lots of data about how the transports are doing! If you encounter any issues during the test, please submit them using the in-game bug reporting tool.

This stress test will be available to all players, regardless of your previous Beta access, and like last time-- there will be shenanigans.

Thank you!

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the when-everyone-has-a-doctorate department: The number of doctoral graduates globally has grown steadily over recent decades, creating a massive imbalance between PhD holders and available academic positions. Among the 38 OECD countries, new doctorate holders almost doubled between 1998 and 2017.

China's doctoral enrollment has exploded from around 300,000 students in 2013 to more than 600,000 in 2023. This growth has forced PhD graduates into non-academic careers at unprecedented rates. A 2023 study of more than 4,500 PhD graduates in the United Kingdom found over two-thirds were employed outside academia.

In South Africa, 18% of more than 6,000 PhD graduates reported difficulty finding jobs related to their expertise. Some countries have begun adapting their doctoral programs. Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom now offer training and paid internships during doctoral studies, including "industrial PhD" programs where students conduct research in collaboration with companies.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the security-woes department: Hackers suspected of working on behalf of the Chinese government exploited a maximum-severity vulnerability, which had received a patch 16 months earlier, to compromise a telecommunications provider in Canada, officials from that country and the US said Monday. ArsTechnica: "The Cyber Centre is aware of malicious cyber activities currently targeting Canadian telecommunications companies," officials for the center, the Canadian government's primary cyber security agency, said in a statement. "The responsible actors are almost certainly PRC state-sponsored actors, specifically Salt Typhoon." The FBI issued its own nearly identical statement.

Salt Typhoon is the name researchers and government officials use to track one of several discreet groups known to hack nations all over the world on behalf of the People's Republic of China. In October 2023, researchers disclosed that hackers had backdoored more than 10,000 Cisco devices by exploiting CVE-2023-20198, a vulnerability with a maximum severity rating of 10. Any switch, router, or wireless LAN controller running Cisco's iOS XE that had the HTTP or HTTPS server feature enabled and exposed to the Internet was vulnerable. Cisco released a security patch about a week after security firm VulnCheck published its report.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the trash-to-tylenol department: Bacteria can be used to turn plastic waste into painkillers, researchers have found, opening up the possibility of a more sustainable process for producing the drugs. From a report: Chemists have discovered E coli can be used to create paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, from a material produced in the laboratory from plastic bottles. "People don't realise that paracetamol comes from oil currently," said Prof Stephen Wallace, the lead author of the research from the University of Edinburgh. "What this technology shows is that by merging chemistry and biology in this way for the first time, we can make paracetamol more sustainably and clean up plastic waste from the environment at the same time."

Writing in the journal Nature Chemistry, Wallace and colleagues report how they discovered that a type of chemical reaction called a Lossen rearrangement, a process that has never been seen in nature, was biocompatible. In other words, it could be carried out in the presence of living cells without harming them. The team made their discovery when they took polyethylene terephthalate (PET) -- a type of plastic often found in food packaging and bottles -- and, using sustainable chemical methods, converted it into a new material.

Posted by from MMO Champion
New Mounts from Heroic and Mythic Dimensius in Patch 11.2 Ghosts of K'aresh

Patch 11.2 datamining has revealed two new mounts from Heroic and Mythic Dimensius in the upcoming Manaforge Omega raid. Check out the mount models below!

Royal Voidwing - Reward from the quest A Twilight Oath's End, obtained by defeating Heroic or Mythic Dimensius, the All-Devouring in the Manaforge Omega raid. As with most end-of-expansion mounts, the Royal Voidwing should remain available throughout the Midnight pre-patch until the expansion officially releases.





Unbound Star-Eater - Drops from Mythic Dimensius, the All-Devouring in the Manaforge Omega raid. The Unbound Star-Eater will be a guaranteed drop until the Midnight expansion officially releases, after which it will become a rare 1% drop.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the closer-look department: Microplastics are present in all beverages, but those packaged in glass bottles contain more microplastic particles than those in plastic bottles, cartons or cans. This was the surprising finding of a study conducted by the Boulogne-sur-Mer unit of the ANSES Laboratory for Food Safety. The scientists hypothesised that these plastic particles could come from the paint used on bottle caps. Water and wine are less affected than other beverages. These findings have highlighted a source of microplastics in drinks that manufacturers can easily take measures to address.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the moving-forward department: FICO credit scores will begin incorporating buy-now-pay-later data for the first time. From a report: With over 90 million Americans expected to use BNPL for purchases this year, critics argue that existing credit scores paint an incomplete picture of an individual's ability to pay back loans. Fair Isaac Corp., which runs FICO, said Monday that it will launch two separate credit scores including BNPL data.

FICO Score 10 BNPL and FICO Score 10 T BNPL will "represent a significant advancement in credit scoring, accounting for the growing importance of BNPL loans in the U.S. credit ecosystem," the company said in a statement. "These scores provide lenders with greater visibility into consumers' repayment behaviors, enabling a more comprehensive view of their credit readiness which ultimately improves the lending experience," FICO added.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the closer-look department: An anonymous reader shares a report: AI firm DeepSeek is aiding China's military and intelligence operations, a senior U.S. official told Reuters, adding that the Chinese tech startup sought to use Southeast Asian shell companies to access high-end semiconductors that cannot be shipped to China under U.S. rules. The U.S. conclusions reflect a growing conviction in Washington that the capabilities behind the rapid rise of one of China's flagship AI enterprises may have been exaggerated and relied heavily on U.S. technology.

[...] "We understand that DeepSeek has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support to China's military and intelligence operations," a senior State Department official told Reuters in an interview. "This effort goes above and beyond open-source access to DeepSeek's AI models," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to speak about U.S. government information. Chinese law requires companies operating in China to provide data to the government when requested. But the suggestion that DeepSeek is already doing so is likely to raise privacy and other concerns for the firm's tens of millions of daily global users.

Posted by Joe Moore from The Toyark


A new assortment of Mega Man 1/12 Scale Action Figures have been announced by Jada Toys. Wave 3 includes Wood Man, Bubble Man, and a new version of Mega Man. Pre-orders are scheduled to open today from sponsor Big Bad ...

The post Mega Man Wave 3 by Jada Toys appeared first on The Toyark - News.

Posted by Joe Moore from The Toyark


Photos and info have been shared by NECA for their upcoming Terrifier – Art The Clown Ultimate 7″ Scale Figure. The figure includes multiple swap out faces, interchangeable hands, a wide assortment of weapons, and a trash bag. It will ...

The post Terrifier – NECA Art The Clown Ultimate Figure appeared first on The Toyark - News.

Posted by Joe Moore from The Toyark


Medicom has revealed a number of upcoming MAFEX action figures. For general release, there is the T-800 and John Connor 2-Pack, and the T-1000 from Terminator 2 Judgment Day, as well as a re-release of the Marvel Comics Miles Morales ...

The post New MAFEX Reveals – T2, Marvel, The Boys, DC appeared first on The Toyark - News.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the vowel-movements department: IYO filed a trademark infringement lawsuit [PDF] against OpenAI and Jony Ive's company earlier this month, alleging the defendants deliberately adopted a confusingly similar name for competing products. The lawsuit surfaced after the Microsoft-backed startup quietly pulled promotional materials about its $6.5 acquisition billion deal with Ive's firm.

The Northern District of California complaint targets OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of "IO Products, Inc.," announced May 21, 2025. IYO, which spun out from Google X in 2021, produces the "IYO ONE," an ear-worn device that allows users to interact with computers and AI through voice commands without screens or keyboards.

IYO has invested over $62 million developing its audio computing technology, it says in the filing. According to the complaint, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive's design studio LoveFrom met with IYO representatives multiple times between 2022 and 2025, learning details about IYO's technology and business plans. In March 2025, Altman allegedly told IYO he was "working on something competitive" called "io." IO Products, formed in September 2023, develops hardware for screenless computer interaction similar to IYO's products. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the marching-ahead department: New York will construct the first major new U.S. nuclear power plant in more than 15 years, with Governor Kathy Hochul directing the state's public electric utility to add at least one gigawatt of nuclear generation capacity. The New York Power Authority will identify an upstate location and determine reactor design, either independently or through private partnerships.

The project tests President Trump's May executive orders aimed at accelerating nuclear development through regulatory overhaul, expedited licensing, and expanded use of federal lands for reactors. Only five new commercial reactors have come online since 1991, while nuclear capacity has declined more than 4% from its 2012 peak. Potential sites include grounds of New York's three existing plants owned by Constellation Energy. The state is already collaborating with Constellation on federal grant applications for reactor additions at the Nine Mile Point facility in Oswego and studying Ontario's small modular reactor initiatives.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the sad-spell department: Apple has quietly removed its day-old "The Parent Presentation" video from YouTube. From a report: The Parent Presentation is a customizable slideshow that explains why a Mac is a useful tool in college. [...] Students can customize the presentation slides, and then show it to their parents to convince them to buy them a Mac. In an accompanying YouTube video shared by Apple, comedian Martin Herlihy showed a group of high school students how to effectively use The Parent Presentation. Some users described the ad as "cringe" and "gross."

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the breaking-news department: The U.S. House chief administrative officer has banned WhatsApp from congressional staffers' government devices citing data vulnerability concerns. The cybersecurity office deemed the messaging app "high-risk" due to lack of transparency in data protection, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks, according to an email obtained by Axios.

Staff cannot download or keep WhatsApp on any House device, including mobile, desktop, or web browser versions.

Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the what-could-possibly-seep department: Bruce66423 writes (slightly edited to add more context): A former potash mine at Wittelsheim in Alsace now entombs about 42,000 tonnes of toxic industrial waste, and scientists warn that, over time, contaminants could seep upward into the Alsace aquifer, which in turn feeds the transboundary Upper Rhine groundwater system supplying drinking water to millions in France, Germany and Switzerland. Campaigners argue that leaving the waste underground instead of removing it creates a long-term 'time-bomb' for people and wildlife.

Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


Coming to us via Weibo user NOTRAB we have a very nice gallery of in-hand images of the hightly anticipated Transformers Studio Series 86 Leader Class G1 Megatron. We have clear shots of the robot mode, showing off posability, accessories, tank alt mode and some comparison images next to Studio Series Commander Optimus Prime. Robot mode will sure please your optics. Now, while this figure is already up for pre-order in China and other Asian markets, we are still waiting for US pre-orders. We could bet that Studio Series Megatron official reveal and pre-orders for the US market will happen tomorrow » Continue Reading.

The post Transformers Studio Series 86 Leader Class G1 Megatron Additional In-Hand Images appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.

Posted by from MMO Champion
World of Warcraft at Gamescom 2025: Midnight Expansion Preview

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

World of Warcraft will be at gamescom 2025! Join us for five days of non-stop community celebration. Get ready for a Mythic Dungeon and Arena Showcase, Cosplay Showcase, Developer and Creator Meet and Greets, and much more.

During the show you’ll get exclusive news and updates on the next chapter of the World of Warcraft®: Worldsoul Saga—Midnight —directly from the development team, along with a few additional surprises we have in store.

Where: World of Warcraft booth in Hall 8

When: Wednesday, August 20 – Sunday, August 24 in Cologne, Germany

We can’t wait to see you there! Can’t attend? We’ll have you covered on the official news site and social media channels. Stay tuned for more as we get closer to the event.

Posted by Joe Moore from The Toyark


Blitzway is relaunching their Ghostbusters 1/6 Scale Figures with updated sculpts and new accessories. Pre-orders went live over the weekend. The figures are based on the original Ghostbusters movie from 1984, and includes Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman, and ...

The post Ghostbusters Version 2 1/6 Scale Figures by Blitzway appeared first on The Toyark - News.

Posted by Joe Moore from The Toyark


Pre-orders opened for a new COPS ‘N CROOKS – Bulletproof 1/12 Scale Action Figure over the weekend. The new figure is based on the classic toyline from the late 80’s. The figure stands at 6″ tall, with a removable fabric ...

The post COPS ‘N CROOKS – Bulletproof 6-Inch Figure appeared first on The Toyark - News.