Connect with us
DAPA Banner
DAPA Coin
DAPA
COIN PAYMENT ASSET
PRIVACY · BLOCKDAG · HOMOMORPHIC ENCRYPTION · RUST
ElGamal Encrypted MINE DAPA
🚫 GENESIS SOLD OUT
DAPAPAY COMING

Tech

A Doom developer says Microsoft “destroyed an immense amount of value” at id Software

Published

on

Connecting the dots: A developer who worked on the FPS classic Doom has slammed Microsoft’s top management for the way it has handled its gaming division in recent years. The criticism comes just days after a former Obsidian Entertainment developer called Xbox a “cancer” and confessed to not owning a single game on the console.

In an interview with Game Developer, the unnamed developer, who was one of the 3,200 Xbox employees fired by Microsoft earlier this month, criticized Redmond for announcing the job cuts a day before the launch of the new Doom DLC. The layoffs accounted for 20% of the total staff at Xbox and reduced the id Software workforce by 75%.

Accusing Microsoft of destroying “an immense amount of value,” the developer lamented that id Software and its employees did not benefit in any meaningful way after being acquired by the company. He also warned that the mass layoffs could hurt Microsoft as the “entire thing is going to fall apart” because the development teams depend heavily on one another to create quality content.

The Doom developer’s views on Microsoft are shared by his former boss, id Software co-founder and Doom creator John Carmack, who recently admitted that his earlier optimism about Microsoft’s acquisition of id Software hasn’t stood the test of time. In a social media post, Carmack wrote, “My ‘Microsoft will probably be a good steward of the brand’ statement isn’t aging well.”

Advertisement

Carmack, however, said that he understood why id Software was never a priority for a multitrillion-dollar company like Microsoft. “I’m saddened, but I can’t muster anger or outrage over it,” he stated, adding that he has no reason to doubt the Bloomberg report that claimed most of the smaller studios owned by Microsoft are being funded by Minecraft revenue.

Microsoft also recently confirmed plans to cut hundreds more jobs at Bethesda and its parent company, ZeniMax Media. The layoffs will reportedly impact 166 employees in Rockville and 213 in Cockeysville. The announcement has prompted widespread protests, with hundreds of Bethesda and ZeniMax employees rallying outside ZeniMax’s headquarters during lunchtime on Wednesday.

In addition to cutting thousands of jobs, Microsoft is also separating from at least four game studios that it acquired in recent years. According to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, the company will sell Ninja Theory and Undead Labs to third-party buyers, while Compulsion Games and Double Fine will become independent.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Tech

Apple planned two more Mac Pro models before discontinuing the line

Published

on

Apple has dropped the Mac Pro entirely, but for a time it was planning to keep it at the top of the range, giving it twice the processing power of the company’s Ultra chips — and maybe even one last Intel model.

The once beloved Mac Pro went out with a whimper in March 2026 as Apple discontinued it. But according to Bloomberg, there had originally been big plans for its future.

What eventually caused the end of the Mac Pro was how powerful the much more cost-effective Mac Studio was. From early on in the development of Apple Silicon, though, the plan was reportedly that the Mac Studio could get Apple’s Ultra processors, but the Mac Pro would get more.

It’s not known what Apple would have called these processors, but in 2022 there were reports of an M2 Extreme being planned for a Mac Pro. The new report says that the intention was that this processor would offer twice as many processing cores and graphics cores as the Ultra from the same period.

Advertisement

Reportedly both M2 and M3 versions of this processor were developed. Apple ultimately cancelled the processors, though, because of their cost and concerns over whether there would be demand for them.

Mac Pro hardware

As well as the processors, the new report says that there were intended to be two new models of Mac Pro. Significantly, one of them was going to be an Intel-based Mac, even though Apple was already making Apple Silicon ones.

It’s said that this Intel Mac was intended to address specific use cases. While there is no further detail, that would probably be because Apple Silicon does not support PCI-E graphics cards, which could have added more power for users needing that particular expansion.

That Intel model was codenamed J170, but there was also a J190 that was to be Apple Silicon based. This wasn’t going to have the extreme processor, but it would have been an M3 Ultra Mac Pro that was intended to launch alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio in 2025.

Advertisement

Separately, recent reports have claimed that an M5 Ultra version of the Mac Studio will launch before the end of 2026. An M7 Ultra Mac Studio is said to be planned for 2028.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Tech

‘The world of work is changing fast’: Barely any workers think their job is safe as worries about AI refuse to go away

Published

on


  • New data reveals that most workers fear AI’s potential impact on their jobs
  • Employees who feel secure in their roles are more productive and engaged
  • Employers must prioritize communication and invest in training and upskilling

New data from ADP’s People at Work 2026 report, which covers more than 39,000 working adults from 36 markets, confirms that most workers are still highly concerned about AI’s impact on their jobs, even though today’s tangible impacts are relatively minimal.

Only one in four UK workers strongly agree their job is safe from being replaced, and this drops to around one in five (21%) in Europe as a whole and 22% globally.

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Today’s NYT Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 20 #1857

Published

on

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Wordle puzzle is difficult, with one rare letter right in the middle. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025

Advertisement

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with D.

Advertisement

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with R.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a person who plunges into water.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is DIVER.

Advertisement

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 19, No. 1856, was CHURN.

Recent Wordle answers

July 15, No. 1852: PSHAW

July 16, No. 1853: BUTTE

July 17, No. 1854: LEGAL

Advertisement

July 18, No. 1855: BOOTH

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Tech

Garage-Built Pop-Top Camper Turns a Pickup Into Standing-Height Shelter for $1,500

Published

on

DIY Custom Pop-Up Truck Camper
Commercial pop-up truck campers start around eight thousand dollars and climb quickly from there. In some countries they are simply not sold at all. Rob at Further Fabrication faced both problems and decided the only practical answer was to design and build one himself in a regular garage with ordinary tools. He began by measuring the truck bed and creating a full 3D model so every panel, beam, and fabric panel could be cut accurately the first time. The structure had to sit low enough for highway driving yet open high enough for a person to stand upright inside. The solution was a rigid lower shell combined with a fabric upper section that rises on gas struts.



The outside and interior walls are both made of nine millimeter structural plywood. Between these two layers are strips of 18 millimeter plywood and rectangular aluminum H-section beams. Exterior grade wood glue and heavy-duty construction adhesive hold everything together, while self-tapping screws and longer structural screws ensure that nothing moves. Aluminum beams provide stiffness without the weight of a full steel frame. We added extra laminated plywood blocks to the front and side joints to ensure that the long screws had a good grip. Then some ratchet straps are used to pull the walls square while they are being constructed, keeping the structure straight while the adhesive cures.

Sale


LEGO Technic Kids Toy Car – Building Kit for Boys and Girls, Ages 10+, Makes a Cool Birthday Gift…
  • FORD BRONCO MODEL CAR KIT – Builders ages 9+ can create their own off-road adventures with this detailed LEGO Technic SUV featuring authentic…
  • AUTHENTIC DETAILS – This car toy building set includes working suspension, opening doors, functional steering, and a detailed V6 engine under the…
  • CAR MODEL KIT – Young engineers can explore learn more about their favorite vehicles with this building and learning toy that demonstrates real…

The roof frame is built in the same beam-and-plywood style, but it is kept separate from the walls to allow for a continuous rubber seal and tent fabric underneath. The roof is made up of two big sheets of aluminum composite panel, which is similar to what is used on some commercial truck bodies. There is one junction in the middle that has been reinforced with extra aluminum angle and 90-degree brackets. MS polymer sealant is used to seal the screw holes and secure the panels together. Four adjustable gas struts raise the roof to around thirty degrees, and the CAD calculations ensured that the mounts were precisely positioned so that everything worked smoothly and remained sturdy once up.

Advertisement

DIY Custom Pop-Up Truck Camper
The fabric walls are constructed of 600 denier PVC-coated polyester. This is the same weight as all of their heavy-duty outdoor gear. He utilized paper patterns from the 3D model to cut out bigger panels, and then stitched YKK continuous coil zippers into the window apertures to allow you to unzip the mesh screens and receive some ventilation. He used basting tape and clips to keep the seams in place while we got a heavy duty machine in the house to stitch everything together. After that, we used a soldering iron to create neat holes around the sides and simply screwed some plastic strips cut from garden edging over the top to secure the cloth to the plywood flanges on both the walls and the roof. When the roof is up, the fabric remains taut, and when closed, it folds neatly.

DIY Custom Pop-Up Truck Camper
Three large fold-down doors on the sides and back are made of aluminium angle frames held together by rivits and attached to 7mm plywood panels, which were later replaced with matching aluminum composite. Gas struts make it simple to swing each door out to a hundred and ten degrees, just wide enough for a person to stand up without smashing their head. They also include stainless steel locking locks and some bespoke small rods that can be controlled with a single key fob, which is really useful.

DIY Custom Pop-Up Truck Camper
The sliding bed platform inside runs on wooden rails; push it forward and it drops over this lower shelf, which subsequently serves as a step when you exit the camper. By the way, it was a relatively inexpensive build, totaling roughly $1500. And the end product is actually quite lightweight; it rests directly above the bed, so nothing scratches the ground as you drive it, and you can even lock the entire thing shut while the truck is parked. With the top up, there’s plenty of headroom and room for two people to sleep, and when you fold everything down, it just looks like a regular old pickup with a truck tray.
[Source]

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Netflix paid $587M for Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup

Published

on

In a new regulatory filing, Netflix revealed that it paid $587 million in cash for InterPositive, a startup co-founded by actor and director Ben Affleck.

The streaming company announced the acquisition in March, with a statement from Affleck saying he wanted to “protect the power of human creativity.” According to Affleck, InterPublic’s AI tools help filmmakers improve their footage in post-production, particularly when it comes to making up for “real-world production challenges such as missing shots, background replacements or incorrect lighting.”

At the time, Netflix announced that the entire InterPositive team would be joining the company, with Affleck joining as a senior advisor, but it didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal. A subsequent report in Bloomberg suggested that the deal could be worth up to $600 million.

In its most recent earnings report, Netflix said that around 300 of its titles have already used generative AI.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Korea’s AI chip market is now the opening bell for global stocks

Published

on

TL;DR

Korea’s market now sets global AI sentiment. The Kospi-Nasdaq correlation has nearly tripled. SK Hynix’s US listing extended Korea’s influence into 24-hour trading.

Fund managers in London, New York, and Tokyo have added a new step to their morning routine: checking South Korean stocks. Korea’s $4 trillion equity market is now offering an early read on global AI risk appetite, as swings in SK Hynix and Samsung ripple through chip stocks worldwide. “We are all Korean investors now,” said Hani Redha, a London-based portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments. JPMorgan Asset Management’s chief Asia market strategist presented on Korea to the firm’s global team for the first time in his 14 years on the job.

The data confirms it. The 60-day correlation between the Kospi and the Nasdaq 100 has climbed to 0.46, near the highest in two years and almost triple its five-year average of 0.16. The linkage is even stronger during selloffs: the Nasdaq 100’s sensitivity to the Kospi during periods of Korean market weakness hit the highest level since 1990 on July 7. SK Hynix joined the trillion-dollar club earlier this year, and its US-listed shares now extend Korea’s influence into Wall Street trading hours. Redha tracks Seoul, then SK Hynix’s ADRs, then Korea-focused ETFs in New York. “It’s like almost 24-hour tracking,” he said.

The influence comes with a cost. The Kospi has become one of the world’s most volatile major benchmarks, with leveraged single-stock products amplifying swings. A Monday selloff driven by scepticism about AI demand triggered a near 9% Kospi drop that spilled into Wall Street, dragging SK Hynix’s US shares down 9.3%. The Kospi has tumbled 25% since its June peak, a $1 trillion wipeout. South Korea temporarily halted new listings of single-stock leveraged ETFs to curb the speculation.

Advertisement

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

The benchmark is still up 62% for the year. South Korea committed $880 billion over a decade to chips, AI data centres, and robots, and Samsung and SK Hynix control the majority of global memory chip supply. As long as that supply bottleneck holds, Korea’s sentiment-driven trading will keep setting the tone for every AI stock that depends on it. “This is the new normal investors have to accept, as long as the AI rally continues,” said Chisa Kobayashi at UBS. The question is whether a market driven by retail leverage in Seoul should be the one telling London what to think about AI.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Genius Bar AI tools spark concerns over employee monitoring

Published

on

Apple is testing a new Genius Bar tool called Live Notes that transcribes and summarizes conversations with a customer, but employees are worried about how the tool might be used against them.

Artificial intelligence has become a buzzword throughout the tech industry from both the consumer and employee perspective. Employees of any kind at many companies have had to contend with mandatory AI tool use forced on them by the employer.

So far, reports haven’t indicated Apple taking such a hardline route to AI tool use. However, the “Power On” newsletter from Bloomberg shares that Apple is testing a new tool called Live Notes for use in the Genius Bar.

The tool uses AI to listen to a conversation between a Genius Bar employee and a customer, with permission from both sides of course. It then transcribes and summarizes the interaction so the employee can focus on interacting with the customer and not taking notes.

Advertisement

There appears to be some concern from employees that these transcripts could be used by management to evaluate the employee. However, the rumor clarifies that Apple has a policy in place during testing that managers don’t receive transcripts and they can be edited by the employee.

It isn’t clear if this policy will be in place after testing is complete.

There is no mandatory use requirement in place. It seems that the tool is being introduced purely as a time-saving option that the employee and customer must agree to before it is used.

Previous rumors suggested that Apple is testing multiple versions of AI assistants for internal use. One, called Enchante, is for employees to proofread work, brainstorm, and answer general knowledge inquiries.

Advertisement

The other is Enterprise Assistant, which is built with a centralized knowledge hub for employees. The Live Notes tool could be a variation of the Enterprise Assistant model.

Both Enchente and Enterprise Assistant are built with Apple Foundation models. The Live Notes feature is also likely based on Apple’s AI technologies, though the rumor doesn’t specify.

There is no information about a rollout timeline or plans for implementation or mandates around Live Notes. It is likely to remain an optional tool for employees even when it is fully implemented.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

The Kodak EC35 Is A Pocketable, Beginner-Friendly 35mm Film Camera

Published

on

The $35 camera comes in seven colors and has a slide cover.

There’s a new Kodak-branded camera from Charmera-maker Reto, and it’s a super-cute point-and-shoot film camera that won’t break the bank. The $35 Kodak EC35 announced this week is meant to be as accessible as a disposable camera, featuring a 25mm lens with a fixed f/10 aperture, fixed 1/100 second shutter speed and a built-in flash (which requires a AA battery). It also has a slide cover that protects the lens and serves as a shutter lock, so you can throw it in a bag or stick it in your pocket without worrying about accidental snaps.

For beginners to film cameras, the new Kodak EC35 offers an even lower barrier to entry than Reto’s $100 Kodak Snapic A1 camera and the $50 EKTAR H35 half frame camera from a few years ago. The EC35 comes in seven colors: Midnight Black, Vanilla White, Butter Yellow, Lavender, Powder Blue, Blush Pink and Avocado. You can get the Kodak EC35 on its own or buy it in a bundle with a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400 film for $10 more.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

One of the best wireless gaming headsets just got a tempting price drop

Published

on

SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has dropped back to $249.99, its lowest price since launch.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is currently listed at $249.99, down from its $379.99 list price, a generous saving of roughly $130 on one of the most decorated gaming headsets we’ve tested in recent years.

Steelseries Arctic Nova 2 on a pink cloudy backgroundSteelseries Arctic Nova 2 on a pink cloudy background

SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova Pro Wireless has returned to its past price, and it’s a deal worth jumping on

With bass-heavy 40mm drivers and hot-swap batteries for 44hrs runtime, SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova Pro Wireless are a steal at just $249.99.

Advertisement

View Deal

Those 40mm magnetic neodymium drivers deliver a genuinely bass-heavy sound that made tracks like Rush’s YYZ feel weighty rather than muddy, and that same low end gave games such as Counter-Strike 2 a real sense of impact when grenades and gunfire went off nearby.

Advertisement

Active noise cancellation is on board on Arctis Nova Pro too, doing a solid job of muting background noise even if it falls a little short of dedicated noise-cancelling headphones, and the retractable ClearCast AI microphone tucks away neatly, though it sounds thinner than some rivals at this price.

One battery swaps in for another without ever powering down, giving a combined 44 hours of runtime over the dedicated 2.4GHz base station, which also displays volume and charge level at a glance without needing to open any software.

Advertisement

The Whatsapp LogoThe Whatsapp Logo

Get Updates Straight to Your WhatsApp

Advertisement

Join Now

SteelSeries’ Sonar software adds a genuinely deep level of control, with a built-in mixer, EQ presets for games, music and movies, and adjustable settings for the microphone and active noise cancellation, all handled without ever leaving your desktop.

Advertisement

Connectivity stretches across PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Mac and mobile devices through either that 2.4GHz base station or Bluetooth, and the base station itself supports two connected devices at once for switching between platforms mid-session.

At 337g, the all-white redesign stays comfortable over long sessions thanks to plush earcups and a suspension headband, and the passive isolation from those earcups is strong enough to dampen everyday noise even before any active cancellation kicks in.

It’s also one of the most awarded headsets we’ve come across, picking up IGN’s rare 10/10 Masterpiece rating, PC Gamer’s Best Multi-Use Wireless Gaming Headset award, and Rolling Stone’s Best Gaming Headphones nod among a long list of similar honours.

Even at full price this was one of our favourite premium headsets, and at $249.99 rather than $379.99, the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless finally undercuts its own reputation for being a brilliant but expensive way to game.

Advertisement

Advertisement

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10148964

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Tech

Shrinking models and an on-device AI future

Published

on

In this week’s Sunday Reboot, Apple’s AI model-shrinking talk could have massive benefits, with a chance of also being a billion-dollar deal if it plays its cards right.

Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.

Small AI models, big pricing

Back on July 9, a startup in the AI world gained a lot of attention. PrismML used the mythical power of mathematics and science to somehow cut down the size of large language models (LLMs) by a considerable amount.

The process resulted in models like the 54GB Qwen 3.6 being compressed down to an astoundingly tiny 4GB. That’s a 27 billion-parameter model being smushed down to a size that would fit on some promotional USB thumb drives from back in the day.

Advertisement

While there was some suspicion that Apple was looking at the startup, it was confirmed by PrismML itself on July 14. In an interview, PrismML CEO Babak Hassibi said that Apple and other companies were evaluating the work of its technology.

Hassibi’s public confirmation was an interesting one, especially since Apple has a tendency to NDA everything it does with other companies. While it is unknown if Apple did the same with PrismML, Hassibi seems confident enough in the tech to ignore the possible ire from a potentially massive client.

I say “client” because this sort of important thing in the current AI-centric market warrants acquisition talks. It’s something that, if one company buys PrismML and makes the tech exclusive to it, the buyer then has a serious advantage over the rest of the industry.

An acquisition is entirely a possibility for Apple, based on the July 15 report about the reign of John Ternus is believed that Apple is showing signs of changing its acquisition tactics, from spending hundreds of millions on a single company to spending billions.

Advertisement

It’s an extremely small change. What’s an extra decimal place between friends?

This sort of advantage could well be valued at the billion-dollar level to Apple, if it does acquire the startup. That said, it would also require the startup to be willing to be purchased, too.

Hassibi’s interview doesn’t really seem like someone willing to sell up. It feels more like he’s trying to get more attention from other AI firms to create a bidding war, if the company does want to be sold.

The alternative is that he’s trying to secure as many lucrative licensing agreements as possible from AI companies in general. All while remaining independent.

Advertisement

Either route seems like a win for PrismML.

On-device advantage

For Apple, if the technology is sound, it has big benefits, specifically for its aim of increasing the amount of on-device processing.

Apple’s current problem is that iPhones don’t have massive amounts of memory, nor do most entry-level consumer devices. While some AI-related tasks can be performed with on-device processing, it can get offloaded to a cloud server.

The remote processing can perform much bigger tasks and workloads than a smartphone. Partly because of the higher amount of processing capability, but mostly because the server can have massive amounts of memory to handle the sizable models in the first place.

Advertisement
Smartphone screen showing Siri AI text conversation about Apple subscription pricing, with a dark blurred background, white chat bubbles, and part of a colorful circular graphic at the bottom

Siri on the iPhone is better under iOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate.

Apple has managed to use a process of distillation and training to recreate some of Google Gemini’s functionality in a smaller iPhone-friendly model. But something like PrismML could be a force multiplier.

Not only could the big models potentially work entirely on an iPhone in the first place, but these distilled models could get even smaller. That frees up more memory for processing the tasks that use these distilled models.

Add in the continuing improvements in AI processing that are coming down the line, and a future iPhone could be an absolute beast.

Advertisement

Better AI on more hardware

There’s also the possibility of Apple doing something completely unexpected: expanding Apple Intelligence’s reach.

During WWDC, Apple said that the most powerful on-device models would be available only on specific iPhone and Mac models. That includes the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro with 12GB of memory, the M4 iPad also with 12GB of memory, and an M3 Mac with the same memory or better.

Colorful abstract star logo beside text listing compatible Apple devices: iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPad with M4 and later, and Mac with M3 and later, each requiring 12GB memory

Apple says the most powerful on-device AI models will not be on all devices – image credit: Apple

While processing is a factor, memory is certainly going to be another. It’s not hard to imagine Apple using the PrismML tech to cut the size of that “most powerful on-device model” to fit into the smaller memory allowances of earlier models.

Advertisement

Extrapolating that further, maybe Apple could expand the availability of Apple Intelligence to older, lower-specification devices.

Sure, there are some tradeoffs, such as much slower processing of tasks. Owners of older hardware would probably be fine with that.

PrismML is a prime opportunity for Apple to take a massive leap when it comes to AI.

If it wants to dominate the field when it comes to on-device processing, it has a chance to take a very major step toward that goal.

Advertisement

Last week’s Sunday Reboot talked about the iPhone 17 Pro Max going into a time capsule for 250 years, and pondered if it will emerge in one piece.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025