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Snoop Dogg’s Times Square concert showed the ambitious future of music in Fortnite

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Snoop Dogg’s Times Square concert showed the ambitious future of music in Fortnite

In front of thousands of fans in Times Square, with most of the sprawling screens displaying his face, Snoop Dogg provided a twist on one of hip-hop’s iconic lines. “It ain’t nothin’ but a gangsta party,” he chanted. “It ain’t nothin’ but a Fortnite gangsta party.” The moment was part of a concert that also featured Ice Spice, all performed live in New York while being broadcast as an in-game event for anyone logged in to the game. The battle royale has had plenty of concerts and events in recent years, but the Snoop collaboration is part of a plan to more deeply integrate music into the budding metaverse.

“This is a partnership,” Snoop said during an interview after the show. “Most games just want one song and you don’t even see the artist. So for them to let us be a part of the game, and that community, it’s deep.”

In the past, Fortnite’s big musical moments have largely been singular virtual concerts from the likes of Ariana Grande and Metallica. But over the years, music has steadily permeated the game to the point that Snoop’s Times Square performance was just a kickoff point for a monthlong event.

Fortnite’s current season, dubbed Chapter 2 Remix, debuted this weekend, rewinding the clock with a version of the battle royale map from several years ago. But there’s a twist — hence the “remix” in the title. Each week, the game will change slightly, themed around a different artist. Snoop is up first. You can enlist him as a companion, visit a heavily guarded Dogg Pound compound, or rock out as his tracks play on the radio as you drive around the island.

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If you boot up Fortnite Festival, the rhythm game developed by Rock Band studio Harmonix, he’s the new headlining act, which means you can buy his songs to play along to, unlock Snoop-themed guitars and drum sets, and buy a crip walk emote that plays “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Snoop will be followed by Eminem, Ice Spice, and the late Juice WRLD, with future updates introducing elements like a gun that spits Eminem lyrics.

According to Nate Nanzer, head of global partnerships at Fortnite developer Epic, there have been two key points in the evolution of music in the game that led to this point. The first was Travis Scott’s “Astronomical” concert, which showed the scale possible with these kinds of virtual events, with an audience topping 12 million. “After we did Travis Scott we had everybody coming to us saying ‘Hey, I want to do that,’” says Nanzer.

The second was the launch of Fortnite Festival last year. Like the battle royale mode, Festival has seasons, each “headlined” by a different artist, which, to date, has included stars like Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga. “If you look at all of the things we did prior, they tended to be more one-off,” says Nanzer. “We’d do an event, and then months or even years would go by before we did something else. What Festival did was give us this venue to be able to celebrate music more regularly.

For Snoop’s son Cordell Broadus, there was one particular moment that convinced him Snoop should be in Fortnite. In 2022, a collaboration with the Wu-Tang Clan featured an in-game glider that would play the chorus to “C.R.E.A.M” as players flew down to the battle royale island. “I kept saying: ‘I gotta put his music in there,’” he explains. “Because every time I play Fortnite that’s what I hear. So a lot of the inspiration came from seeing them doing it, and seeing that Fortnite’s not afraid to really deal with hardcore hip-hop.”

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That feeling grew stronger as the more ambitious virtual concerts continued to make waves. “We’re real competitive,” says Broadus. “So we’re competing with Travis Scott. What he did with Fortnite was huge, and I feel like we topped that tonight. But we’ll let the people decide.” (Snoop was quick to clarify that “I didn’t say that, he said that.”)

The Fortnite collaborations that get headlines — and a prime Friday night spot in Times Square — feature huge artists. But part of turning the game into a viable venue for music, according to Nanzer, is integrating it in multiple ways so that all kinds of artists can be featured. In addition to virtual concerts and headlining Festival, there are the emotes, in-game radio stations, and individual tracks you can buy to play in Festival.

Not all of these ideas have worked out. Epic tried to create a virtual tour stop for artists in 2020, going so far as to build out a studio space in Los Angeles, and the effort has largely fizzled out. But as the company continues to try to push Fortnite beyond its battle royale roots, with games like Lego Fortnite, a concentrated focus on community-made games and experiences, and a still-mysterious virtual world built with Disney, music is another important tool to make the game more than just another live-service shooter, an increasingly difficult space to compete in. That’s true at various scales, from Snoop in New York to an indie band getting its first airtime on a Fortnite radio station.

“We want to work with the biggest artists in the world,” says Nanzer, “but we also want to figure out if we can break artists in Fortnite.”

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Apple will let you share lost AirTag info with an airline

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Apple will let you share lost AirTag info with an airline

Apple will be introducing a new feature to its Find My app that allows you to temporarily share the location of a lost AirTag with “an airline or a trusted person,” according to MacRumors, which is testing the second developer beta release of iOS 18.2. The feature could make it easier for airport staff to locate a missing piece of luggage if Find My indicates it’s nearby.

In iOS 18.2 the Find My app now has a “Share Item Location” option that creates a link that can be sent to anyone, not just your trusted contacts. On Apple devices, the link will open the Find My app, allowing someone else to see the location of the AirTagged item. On non-Apple devices, the link will instead open a web page with a map showing the item’s last known location.

The link automatically expires after a week, or when your missing item has been returned to you. You can also see how many people have visited the link you created, while an additional “Show Contact Info” option lets you share your phone number and email address so that the person who finds your missing item can contact you.

Apple introduced the option to continually share the location of an AirTag with up to five additional people in September 2023, so that an entire family can keep tabs on the locations of pets, vehicles, or other shared items. This latest feature expands that functionality, letting you temporarily enlist more people to help you find something, without requiring you to remember to later revoke their access to the AirTag’s location.

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With AIOps, IT has reached its own Minority Report era

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Ai tech, businessman show virtual graphic Global Internet connect Chatgpt Chat with AI, Artificial Intelligence.

The film industry is renowned for vividly depicting an imagined near future. Think humanoid robots (I, Robot), memory erasure (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) or even life extension (Vanilla Sky). Inevitably, some portrayals and predictions are wide of the mark; others, however, give viewers a glimpse of what technology is to come.

While we still haven’t unlocked the full potential of fully automated cars or jetpack transportation, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the novel, Minority Report, managed to correctly anticipate some aspects of the future – such as personalized digital ads, iris recognition software and kinetic virtual interfaces. Subtly, though, the film’s most central theme has become its most prescient: technology capable of predetermination.

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India on target to achieve 500 GW renewable energy target- The Week

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India on target to achieve 500 GW renewable energy target- The Week

India  will set up 50 solar parks across the country with a total capacity of around  37GW and have identified  30GW  worth potential offshore wind energy sites as a part of the Modi government’s mission of achieving a 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030.

The news was announced by India’s New and Renewable Energy minister Prahlad Joshi at the  International Solar Energy (ISA) assembly going on in Delhi. The international event is attended by delegates from 96 out of the 120 members, with 29 nations sending their energy ministers. 

Joshi incidentally was elected president of the ISA for the next two years, along with co-president France. ISA is a global agency that works with governments to improve energy access and energy security worldwide and promote solar power as a sustainable transition to a carbon-neutral future. ISA’s mission is to unlock  US$1 trillion of investments in solar by 2030 alongside achieving 1,000 GW of installed capacity in renewable energy. This, even while reducing the cost of the technology and its financing. 

It promotes the use of solar energy in the agriculture, health, transport, and power generation sectors. ISA was launched mainly due to the initiatives of France and India, who are incidentally, the present co-presidents.

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For India, the motive of the international organisation aligns well with its own domestic efforts, with renewable energy, especially solar, achieving tremendous growth. India is estimated to be inching close to the 100 GW mark in solar power generation alone. 

“Our journey in renewables is one of vision and progress,” Joshi said at the inaugural session of the ISA Assembly. This year’s union budget increased the funding for solar projects by more than 100%, with new schemes like the PM  Surya Char Muft Bijli Yojana and tax exemptions on import of critical minerals used in the new energy lifecycle. 

ISA, despite being a new international body, has already achieved global acclaim for its projects like the  Solar Data  Portal, a platform that delivers real-time data on solar resources, project performance, and investment opportunities across countries, as well as the  Global Solar Facility aims to unlock commercial capital for solar projects in  underserved regions, especially Africa. 

In addition, ISA’s SolarX Startup Challenge has successfully identified and supported innovative, scalable solutions for the solar sector in Asia, Africa and the Pacific region, with the next edition of the challenge scheduled to be held soon aimed at Latin America.

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Meta’s plan for nuke-powered AI data center thwarted by bees

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Meta's plan for nuke-powered AI data center thwarted by bees

The humble bumblebee has played a part in obstructing an ambitious construction project by Meta, according to a Financial Times (FT) report.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant has apparently had to abandon a plan to build a nuclear-powered AI data center partly because a rare bee species has been found on the land where the facility would’ve been built.

Meta, like other tech behemoths such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, is looking to harness nuclear power to run its new energy-hungry data centers that are being built to propel their AI plans.

The FT said that Meta was hoping to partner with an existing operator of a nuclear energy facility for a new plant that would help to power its proposed data center, but that “multiple complications including environmental and regulatory challenges” have forced the tech company to think again.

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Intent on seeing the project through, Meta is believed to still be considering various deals for carbon-free energy that would involve construction work in a different location, presumably one without any rare bees buzzing around nearby.

Processing data for generative-AI products requires enormous amounts of energy, prompting major tech firms to ink deals with nuclear power companies to supply their needs cleanly and efficiently.

Google announced just last month that it had inked a deal with nuclear energy startup Kairos Power to purchase 500 megawatts of “new 24/7 carbon-free power” from seven of the company’s small modular reactors (SMRs), with initial delivery from the first SMR expected in 2030 followed by a full rollout by 2035.

“The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth,” Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director of Energy and Climate, wrote in a blog post announcing the deal. “This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”

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Additionally, Microsoft announced in September that it’s working to restart a unit at New York’s Three Mile Island as part of a plan to power its own AI data centers.






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The new Xbox AI chatbot is here to help with support issues

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The new Xbox AI chatbot is here to help with support issues

The rise of AI continues to work its way into more industries and the latest on Microsoft’s front is an AI chatbot for Xbox that you can now test. The AI chatbot was initially discovered earlier this year and it now looks like the company is beginning to roll it out to users. Though it’s only a specific group of users for now.

The company hasn’t said when it will roll the feature out fully but it is reportedly testing the waters to prepare for future AI features coming to Xbox consoles. As reported by The Verge, Microsoft plans to integrate AI features with Xbox down the road. And the new AI chatbot appears to be part of Microsoft’s larger plan for AI integration with the Xbox platform.

Xbox AI Chatbot (3)

Xbox Insiders can now test the AI Chatbot for support services

Officially called the ‘Support Virtual Agent,’ the new AI chatbot is available for Xbox Insiders beginning today. You’ll need to be an Insider to access the new AI support assistant, and if you fall into that category you can get to the tool from Microsoft’s Xbox Support page. Microsoft says Support Virtual Agent can answer questions about Xbox console and game support issues.

For example, if you don’t know how to redeem an Xbox gift card, the Support Virtual Agent will be able to tell you how to do that. You could also presumably ask it anything else pertaining to an issue you’re having with the Xbox platform. Say a game isn’t working and you need help fixing that, or you need assistance with a purchase.

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After you sign into the support page with the same account you used for the Xbox Insider Program, you’ll get a pop-up about using the Support Virtual Agent after clicking the “ask a question” button, Microsoft says. From there simply type in the box what you want to ask and the tool will hand you AI-generated responses to best assist you with the issue you’re having.

Xbox AI Chatbot (1)

Support Virtual Agent has two customization options

Microsoft doesn’t really make it clear if it will keep the customization feature, but for the testing period with Insiders during the preview, there are two customization options for the virtual agent. One is an Xbox orb featuring green and blue hues. The other is an animated robot head. It appears as if you can swap between these whenever you want. So at least during the preview, you can seemingly flip back and forth as you see fit.

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Sony announces more than 50 enhanced games available for PS5 Pro at launch

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Lawrence Bonk

The PlayStation 5 Pro is nearly here, as it hits retailers on November 7. If you’ve been on the fence about dropping a cool $700 , Sony just published a that will offer enhanced versions when the console launches later this week.

This list includes modern favorites like Baldur’s Gate 3, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarök. It also features newer games like NBA2K 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. All told, it’s a pretty decent start. The console will unlock all kinds of graphical enhancements, like advanced ray tracing, higher frame rates and Sony’s proprietary upscaling system called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution.

However, it’s also worth pointing out some games that aren’t on the list. Gran Turismo 7 is missing, despite an enhanced version already being announced. It must not be ready yet. Final Fantasy XVI is also absent from the list, and that one has . The same goes for both Returnal and Elden Ring. Now, just because these games aren’t on the launch list, doesn’t mean they won’t get enhanced versions down the line. It probably depends on .

The PS5 Pro offers more than just slight graphical upgrades to pre-existing titles. It boasts faster memory, support for Wi-Fi 7 and ships with a large 2TB SSD. Digital Foundry and also found 2GB of additional DDR5 RAM and a user-accessible battery bay. These are all nifty upgrades, though I’m still not sure if all of this adds up to me spending $700.

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