Posted by Joe Moore from The Toyark


Back in 2017, Hot Toys released a Jack Sparrow 1/6 Scale Figure based on his appearance in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Hot Toys has announced a reissue of the figure, along with two alternate versions ...

The post Hot Toys Reissuing The Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – Jack Sparrow Figure appeared first on The Toyark - News.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the rest-in-peace department: Longtime Slashdot reader kriston writes: Core PostgreSQL developer Simon Riggs dies in airplane crash in Duxford, England. Riggs was the sole occupant of a Cirrus SR22-T which crashed on March 26 after performing touch-and-go maneuvers. Riggs was responsible for much of the enterprise-level features in PostgreSQL, including point-in-time recovery, synchronous replication, and hot standby. He also was the head of the company 2ndQuadrant that provides PostgreSQL support. Riggs' last community contribution was the presentation of the keynote at PostgreSQL Conference Europe 2023 in Prague, which you can watch on YouTube.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Dragonflight Season 4 - Awakened Raid Rotation

Dragonflight Season 4 brings back the "Fated Raids" system from Shadowlands Season 4, with a new rotation that includes all 3 Dragonflight raids! Every week, bosses within one raid will be empowered and drop higher item level loot.



Dragonflight Season 4 - Awakened Raid Rewards

Raid Achievements
tbody>tr" data-default-sort-slug="name" data-default-sort-order="asc"> Name Reward Category
Awakening the Dragonflight RaidsComplete all three Awakened raids on Normal difficulty or higher in Dragonflight Season 4.
Mount Reward: Voyaging Wilderling
Feats of Strength

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Posted by Jacer from TFW2005


Thanks to TFW2005 user, Onilink we have our first potential look at Masterpiece Ginrai with Godmaster originating from Baidu. Ginrai appears to be a December 2024 release, and is 24,200 JPY. Surprisingly the figure does not come with the trailer, hopefully that will be coming later! For now enjoy the image and hopefully more come soon! Will you be adding this figure to your collection? Share your thoughts in the thread!

The post Transformers Masterpiece MP-60 Ginrai Possible First Look appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the unprecedented-situation department: According to a new study published in the journal Nature, timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks around 2029 because the planet is rotating faster than it used to. The Associated Press reports: "This is an unprecedented situation and a big deal," said study lead author Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. "It's not a huge change in the Earth's rotation that's going to lead to some catastrophe or anything, but it is something notable. It's yet another indication that we're in a very unusual time." Ice melting at both of Earth's poles has been counteracting the planet's burst of speed and is likely to have delayed this global second of reckoning by about three years, Agnew said.

"We are headed toward a negative leap second," said Dennis McCarthy, retired director of time for the U.S. Naval Observatory who wasn't part of the study. "It's a matter of when." It's a complicated situation that involves, physics, global power politics, climate change, technology and two types of time. [...] McCarthy said the trend toward needing a negative leap second is clear, but he thinks it's more to do with the Earth becoming more round from geologic shifts from the end of the last ice age.

Three other outside scientists said Agnew's study makes sense, calling his evidence compelling. But Levine doesn't think a negative leap second will really be needed. He said the overall slowing trend from tides has been around for centuries and continues, but the shorter trends in Earth's core come and go. "This is not a process where the past is a good prediction of the future," Levine said. "Anyone who makes a long-term prediction on the future is on very, very shaky ground."
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the consumer-rights-movements department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Oregon Governor Tina Kotek today signed the state's Right to Repair Act, which will push manufacturers to provide more repair options for their products than any other state so far. The law, like those passed in New York, California, and Minnesota, will require many manufacturers to provide the same parts, tools, and documentation to individuals and repair shops that they provide to their own repair teams. But Oregon's bill goes further, preventing companies from implementing schemes that require parts to be verified through encrypted software checks before they will function. Known as parts pairing or serialization, Oregon's bill, SB 1596, is the first in the nation to target that practice. Oregon State Senator Janeen Sollman (D) and Representative Courtney Neron (D) sponsored and pushed the bill in the state senate and legislature.

Oregon's bill isn't stronger in every regard. For one, there is no set number of years for a manufacturer to support a device with repair support. Parts pairing is prohibited only on devices sold in 2025 and later. And there are carve-outs for certain kinds of electronics and devices, including video game consoles, medical devices, HVAC systems, motor vehicles, and -- as with other states -- "electric toothbrushes." "By eliminating manufacturer restrictions, the Right to Repair will make it easier for Oregonians to keep their personal electronics running," said Charlie Fisher, director of Oregon's chapter of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), in a statement. "That will conserve precious natural resources and prevent waste. It's a refreshing alternative to a 'throwaway' system that treats everything as disposable."
TMNT Collab First Look 2024-03-27 20:25:02
Posted by Mechafire from TFW2005


Just in from a (now-unavailable) Amazon product listing is our first look at the upcoming TMNT Collab! “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: Transformers robots have always been — More Than Meets the Eye — and now fans can experience Transformers characters as they mash-up with iconic characters who share this same quality TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES X TRANSFORMERS COLLABORATIVE: Get the party started with this van that’s the main vehicle for the crime-fighting turtle brothers CONVERTS FROM VEHICLE TO ROBOT: Party Wallop 7-inch (17.5 cm) figure converts between party wagon mode and robot mode in 20 steps. Inspired by » Continue Reading.

The post TMNT Collab First Look appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the optimistic-thinking department: Neil Irwin reports via Axios: The dearth of productivity growth over the last couple of decades has held back incomes in the U.S. and other rich countries, according to a report out Wednesday from the McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the global consultancy. Productivity growth has been weak in the U.S. and Western Europe since the 2008 global financial crisis, but things looked better among many emerging markets. The McKinsey report finds that global labor productivity growth was 2.3% a year from 1997 to 2022, a rapid rate that has increased incomes and quality of life in large parts of the world. China and India account for the largest portion of that surge -- half of overall global productivity improvement, with other emerging markets accounting for another 25%, led by Central and Eastern Europe and emerging Asian economies.

In the U.S., the report finds that the decline in capital investment following the 2008 financial crisis has resulted in a $4,500 lower per-capita GDP in 2022 than it would have if pre-crisis trends had continued. Rapid advances in manufacturing technology, especially for electronics, petered out in the same time period, subtracting another $5,000 from per-capita GDP. "Digitization was much discussed as the main candidate to rev up productivity again, but its impact failed to spread beyond" the tech sector, the authors write. The authors are optimistic that a confluence of factors will make the years ahead different.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the shady-practices department: Poland has fined Amazon close to $8 million for misleading consumers about the conclusion of sales contracts on its online marketplace. The sanction "also calls out the e-commerce giant for deceptive design elements which may inject a false sense of urgency into the purchasing process and mislead shoppers about elements like product availability and delivery dates," reports TechCrunch. From the report: The country's consumer and competition watchdog, the UOKiK, has been looking into complaints about Amazon's sales practices since September 2021, following complaints from shoppers, including some who did not receive their purchases. The authority opened a formal investigation into Amazon's practices in February 2023. Wednesday's sanction is the conclusion of that probe. The UOKiK found consumers who ordered products on Amazon could have their purchases subsequently cancelled by the tech giant as it does not treat the moment of purchase as the conclusion of a sales contract, despite sending consumers confirmation of their order -- even after consumers have paid for the product. For Amazon, the conclusion of a sales contract only occurs once it has sent information about the actual shipment. [...]

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WoW Hotfixes - March 27, 2024 2024-03-27 16:30:02
Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Hotfixes - March 27, 2024

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Achievements

Fixed bugs causing mounts related to A World Awoken to be unavailable, including Bestowed Ottuk Vanguard, Bestowed Trawling Mammoth, Bestowed Thunderspine Packleader, Bestowed Sandskimmer, Bestowed Ohuna Spotter, Coralscale Salamanther, Stormtouched Bruffalon, and Taivan.

Player versus Player

Fixed an issue that prevented Splintered Sparks of Dreams from dropping from PvP sources while eligible for catch-up.

Plunderstorm

The Storm’s fury swells! Lightning strikes during the final stage of the Storm are faster and more dangerous than before.

There is now a delay of 20 seconds after being revived where players no longer drop collected Plunder.

Additional enemies now spawn at Witherbark Village, the wild area northeast of Go’Shek Farm, and the wild area between Witherbark Village and Boulderfist Hall.

Fixed an issue where swapping back to default sword and gun appearances were not saving correctly.

Fixed an issue so that now, picking up an additional rank 2 spell while the same rank 2 spell is equipped properly grants the rank 4 version of the spell.

The Captain’s Orders quest “X Marks the Spot” now requires 1 item to be picked up (was 2 items).
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the walled-garden department: Chris Plante reports via Polygon: Phil Spencer doesn't just want Xbox games on other consoles. He wants other video game retailers on Xbox, too. In an interview with Microsoft's CEO of Gaming during the annual Game Developers Conference, Spencer told Polygon about the ways he'd like to break down the walled gardens that have historically limited players to making purchases through the first-party stores tied to each console. Or, in layperson terms, why you should be able to buy games from other stores on Xbox -- not just the official storefront. Spencer mentioned his frustrations with closed ecosystems, so we asked for clarity. Could he really see a future where stores like Itch.io and Epic Games Store existed on Xbox? Was it just a matter of figuring out mountains of paperwork to get there? "Yes," said Spencer. "[Consider] our history as the Windows company. Nobody would blink twice if I said, 'Hey, when you're using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have [by picking where to buy games]. There's real value in that." Spencer believes console players would benefit from that freedom too -- and so would console makers like Microsoft.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the explain-yourself-Apple department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: Several Apple customers recently reported being targeted in elaborate phishing attacks that involve what appears to be a bug in Apple's password reset feature. In this scenario, a target's Apple devices are forced to display dozens of system-level prompts that prevent the devices from being used until the recipient responds "Allow" or "Don't Allow" to each prompt. Assuming the user manages not to fat-finger the wrong button on the umpteenth password reset request, the scammers will then call the victim while spoofing Apple support in the caller ID, saying the user's account is under attack and that Apple support needs to "verify" a one-time code. [...]

What sanely designed authentication system would send dozens of requests for a password change in the span of a few moments, when the first requests haven't even been acted on by the user? Could this be the result of a bug in Apple's systems? Kishan Bagaria is a hobbyist security researcher and engineer who founded the website texts.com (now owned by Automattic), and he's convinced Apple has a problem on its end. In August 2019, Bagaria reported to Apple a bug that allowed an exploit he dubbed "AirDoS" because it could be used to let an attacker infinitely spam all nearby iOS devices with a system-level prompt to share a file via AirDrop -- a file-sharing capability built into Apple products.

Apple fixed that bug nearly four months later in December 2019, thanking Bagaria in the associated security bulletin. Bagaria said Apple's fix was to add stricter rate limiting on AirDrop requests, and he suspects that someone has figured out a way to bypass Apple's rate limit on how many of these password reset requests can be sent in a given timeframe. "I think this could be a legit Apple rate limit bug that should be reported," Bagaria said.
Posted by Mechafire from TFW2005


We now have a first look at the upcoming Target Legacy United Multipack courtesy of TFW’s Jtprime17 and Bardsexual. This contains a very random assortment of figures: • Cyberverse Tarn, Legacy Tarn repaint • G1 Squeezeplay, Titans Return Mindwipe retool • Prime Cliffjumper, Legacy Chase retool • Beast Wars Tarantulas, Kingdom Tarantulas retool Preorders go live tomorrow at 9 AM EST, with an MSRP of $79.99 and a release date of June 21st. Check out the images, let us know your first impressions and stay tuned for the official reveal.

The post Target Legacy United Multipack First Look appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by Black Convoy from TFW2005


We had reported a new Transformers AR Card Game By Vanch Studios released for the Chinese market while back in 2022. Now we can confirm that this game will get its first international release in the UK. 2005 Boards member Dann86 found an official listing for this AR game via Game UK website for the Autobot Premium pack. This pack contains: 47 Vanchcards 1 ID Card (Autobot) 1 Device Stand (Autobot) 1 Extra Large Vanchcard (Autobot) 1 Card Box (Autobot) 1 Playmat with Manual 2 Card Case (Autobot) 1 Card Book Pre-orders are live for £44.99 and scheduled for release in 12/04/2024. » Continue Reading.

The post Transformers AR Card Game By Vanch Studios To Be Released In The UK appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the lawsuit-or-settlement-imminent department: TikTok is being investigated by the FTC over its data and security practices, "a probe that could lead to a settlement or a lawsuit against the company," reports the Associated Press. From the report: In its investigation, the FTC has been looking into whether TikTok violated a portion of federal law that prohibits "unfair and deceptive" business practices by denying that individuals in China had access to U.S. user data, said the person, who is not authorized to discuss the investigation. The agency also is scrutinizing the company over potential violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parents' consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.

The agency is nearing the conclusion of its investigation and could settle with TikTok in the coming weeks. But there's not a deadline for an agreement, the person said. If the FTC moves forward with a lawsuit instead, it would have to refer the case to the Justice Department, which would have 45 days to decide whether it wants to file a case on the FTC's behalf, make changes or send it back to the agency to pursue on its own.
Posted by Zack Zwiezen from Kotaku
Cheech and Chong, the comedy pair famous for their albums and movies from the 1970s and ‘80s, will be added to Call of Duty as part of the upcoming Season 3.

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Posted by Claire Jackson from Kotaku
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth features a lot of fighting. And while the game’s flexible materia system lets you customize your fighting style, you can also adjust the difficulty with three different options at the beginning, plus a fourth once you finish the game.

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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the energy-intensive-computing department: Two Texas-based bitcoin miners have turned to the foothills of the Andes mountains in Argentina to mine bitcoin using flared natural gas. CNBC reports: Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh, both graduates of Texas A&M University, have been mining bitcoin on the oil fields of East Texas since 2019. That's when they founded Giga Energy with the goal of taking flared natural gas and turning it into electricity to run bitcoin mines, which are notoriously power-thirsty. On Tuesday, Giga announced its first foray into Argentina, following expansion across the U.S. and into Shanghai. The company is partnering with Phoenix Global Resources, an oil and gas company with operations in Mendoza, and with IT services company Exa Tech to launch a two megawatt bitcoin mine on top of Vaca Muerta.

Giga's system involves placing a shipping container full of thousands of bitcoin miners on an oil well, then diverting the natural gas into generators, which convert the gas into electricity that's used to power the miners. The process reduces CO2-equivalent emissions by about 63% compared to continued flaring -- or burning -- of unused gas, according to research from Denver-based Crusoe Energy Systems. It also turns wasted energy into a valuable asset for oil producers.

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Posted by Levi Winslow from Kotaku
Amazon-owned livestreaming platform Twitch has disciplined content creators again. Just as a new meta began dominating the site earlier this month, in which streamers started playing games like Fortnite on green-screened boobs and butts, Twitch has updated its Terms of Service to strictly prohibit this kind of risque…

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Posted by Zack Zwiezen from Kotaku
About halfway through the first mission in South Park: Snow Day, I found myself pausing the game and checking my phone as I desperately looked for entertainment. That’s what we professional and very serious critics call: Not a good sign.

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