Tesla Cybertruck has over 500,000 orders so far, or 5873 per day

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 20, 2020 8:45 PM CST

Tesla shook the entire world when it unveiled its electric Cybertruck in late 2019, but since then we don't know how many orders Tesla Motors have received.

Tesla Cybertruck has over 500,000 orders so far, or 5873 per day

But now, according to the latest information from the Cybertruck Owners Club -- with information current to February 18, there are around 535,000 orders for Tesla's exciting new Cybertruck. This breaks down to 5873 orders per day, which is a pretty damn large amount of orders.

How does the Cybertruck Owners Club work out this information? Easy: it plays around with Tesla's own reservation numbering system which is easy to work out as members hare their Cybertruck reservation number. Cybertruck Owners Club explains: "Your order number is just a sequential number, starting at about 112744100 (the number that reservations began). So subtract that from your number for your (approximate) place in line".

Continue reading: Tesla Cybertruck has over 500,000 orders so far, or 5873 per day (full post)

AOC Agon AG353UCG: 35-inch 3440x1440 at 200Hz G-SYNC Ultimate monitor

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Feb 20, 2020 8:20 PM CST

AOC has just unveiled its new AGON AG353UCG gaming monitor, rocking a huge 35-inch 21:9 panel with a native 3440 x 1440 resolution, super-smooth 200Hz refresh rate and NVIDIA G-SYNC Ultimate certification.

AOC Agon AG353UCG: 35-inch 3440x1440 at 200Hz G-SYNC Ultimate monitor

The new AGON AG353UCG gaming monitor has the same display size, native resolution, refresh rate, and G-SYNC Ultimate goodness as the flagship ASUS ROG Swift PG35VQ which I reviewed, and loved. AOC's new AGON AG353UCG seems to be using the same panel, right down to the 1000 nits of brightness for HDR content, and 90% of the DCI-P3 color space.

AOC is using the same quantum dot technology as ASUS inside of its ROG Swift PG35VQ gaming monitor, so the differences here are going to be coming down to the price. At the time of writing, ASUS was selling its ROG Swift PG35VQ on Amazon for $2500 -- while the AOC Agon AG353UCG isn't available in the US right now but with a converted price we're looking at $2600.

Continue reading: AOC Agon AG353UCG: 35-inch 3440x1440 at 200Hz G-SYNC Ultimate monitor (full post)

HTC launching 3 new VR headsets, just in time for Half-Life: Alyx

HTC is on a roll today, unveiling their new prototype Vive Proton headset -- but also detailing 3 new versions of its Vive Cosmos VR family of headsets.

HTC launching 3 new VR headsets, just in time for Half-Life: Alyx

The new VR headsets that HTC unveiled at the Vive Cosmos Play, Vive Cosmos Elite, and Vive Cosmos VR -- each of these headsets will join the Vive Cosmos family. Each of the new Vive Cosmos headsets have the same make up as the original Cosmos, including the flip-up, head-mounted design, 1440 x 1700 resolution LCD displays with hardware IPD adjustment, and more.

Vive Cosmos Play - $500

Continue reading: HTC launching 3 new VR headsets, just in time for Half-Life: Alyx (full post)

HTC's new Vive Proton prototype VR headset teased for 5G smartphones

HTC is working on a totally new headset, something the company has teased today as its Vive Proton -- a prototype headset that seems to combine virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality into a bug-eyed looking headset.

HTC's new Vive Proton prototype VR headset teased for 5G smartphones

The new Vive Proton headset is built for the future of 5G smartphones, and is an all-in-one XR headset that packs the displays, cameras, and speakers inside of a glasses-like design. It looks like you'll be walking around like a big ant, with a bug-eyed style design but inside I'm sure it's using leading technology and features.

HTC wants to see its new prototype Vive Proton headset powered with high-end visuals and audio, where off-loading the CPU and GPU required for that is a big help -- this is where the 5G connectivity comes in. 5G gives huge speeds (both up and down) to handle the transmissions needed for high-end XR experiences. But... HTC won't be putting a crazy-fast 5G chip right next to a users head, either -- so what's the solution there?

Continue reading: HTC's new Vive Proton prototype VR headset teased for 5G smartphones (full post)

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos get deepfaked into Star Trek

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Feb 20, 2020 6:14 PM CST

The world of deepfake videos is getting scarily real, with one of my favorites being Avengers stars Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr being deepfaked into Back to the Future -- as well as Neo and Agent Smith from The Matrix being deepfaked into Office Space. But look what we have here:

Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk alongside Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have been deepfaked into the original Star Trek, into the pilot episode 'The Cage'. Musk plays Captain Christopher Pike, who was the captain of the USS Enterprise before the legendary James T. Kirk -- while Bezos is deepfaked onto a Talosian alien with a gigantic bald head, which he kinda suits.

In this episode of Star Trek, the Talosian aliens capture Pike and enslave him where he'll be used to breed humans and rebuild a destroyed society. In the episode, Pike attempts to escape which leads the Talosians to come to the conclusion that humans resisting to captivity won't make them a good species to rebuild a destroyed society.

Continue reading: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos get deepfaked into Star Trek (full post)

Next Super Smash Bros. game isn't planned yet, will be on next console

Jak Connor | Gaming | Feb 20, 2020 3:41 AM CST

The director of the Super Smash Bros. series has spoken out about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC content, as well as the next Super Smash Bros. game.

Next Super Smash Bros. game isn't planned yet, will be on next console

Masahiro Sakurai recently took to Japanese magazine Famitsu to discuss the coming six DLC fighters to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and to talk about the next Smash Bros. game after Ultimate. Sakurai says that all of the DLC fighters were chosen by Nintendo and that while working on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he can't direct any new game idea. Sakurai also mentions that he is ok with this, as he wants to work to make other people happy, and not himself.

Sakurai also touches on if there is a new Super Smash Bros. game in development already. Sakurai says that at the moment, Nintendo currently doesn't have any plans for a new entry in the Super Smash Bros. series and that he doesn't know what will happen with the franchise yet. It's highly unlikely that Ultimate will be the last entry in the Super Smash Bros. series, especially when you consider that Ultimate is the best-selling game out of the entire series, and out of every fighting game in US history.

Continue reading: Next Super Smash Bros. game isn't planned yet, will be on next console (full post)

Elon Musk: advanced AI development should be regulated, Tesla included

Jak Connor | Artificial Intelligence | Feb 20, 2020 3:10 AM CST

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has some concerns around it, and one of the most prominent names voicing those concerns if SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Elon Musk: advanced AI development should be regulated, Tesla included

If you didn't know, Musk founded a non-profit organization called OpenAI with Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Wojciech Zaremba, and John Schulman. The goal of the organization was to develop new and safe was to monitor and regulate AI development. Musk has since left the organization but is still voicing his concerns over the oversight on AI development.

Musk took to Twitter in response to a new MIT Technology Review profile of OpenAI. Here's what he said, "OpenAI should be more open imo (in my opinion). All orgs developing advanced AI should be regulated, including Tesla". Judging on Musk's responses, it can be assumed that Musk is now somewhat distant from the organization's operations. Back in 2019, OpenAI started a for-profit arm owned by the non-profit parent company, and also accepted a $1 billion investment from Microsoft.

Continue reading: Elon Musk: advanced AI development should be regulated, Tesla included (full post)

Ninja: anyone who says 'it's just a game' is a 'horrible human being'

Jak Connor | Gaming | Feb 20, 2020 2:39 AM CST

If you are an avid competitive gamer, then you would understand the frustration of losing after pouring your heart and soul into your game. That frustration can easily be tipped over into anger once a fellow player says the dreaded words " it's just a game".

Ninja: anyone who says 'it's just a game' is a 'horrible human being'

This might not be the case for gamers who play their games casually and are in the game for the pleasure of just playing it. For competitive gamers that want to better their craft and move forward towards getting better, they invest heavy emotion into the game. Investing emotion into the game has one of two pay off. The first being the satisfaction increase of winning, and the second being the frustration of losing. This is something that is not felt if you are just playing the game casually.

This same principle can be said for any sport that is played by a competitive player. Tyler "Ninja" Belvins highlights this principle in his latest Tweet, saying, "The phrase "it's just a game" is such a weak mindset. You are ok with what happened, losing, imperfection of a craft. When you stop getting angry after losing, you've lost twice. There's always something to learn, and always room for improvement, never settle."

Continue reading: Ninja: anyone who says 'it's just a game' is a 'horrible human being' (full post)

2020 Nobel nominees: Julian Assange, Edward Snowden & Chelsea Manning

Jak Connor | Business, Financial & Legal | Feb 20, 2020 2:08 AM CST

Seventeen members of a German parliamentary group have nominated whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

2020 Nobel nominees: Julian Assange, Edward Snowden & Chelsea Manning

According to the full letter, which was published on the Courage Foundation's website, these seventeen members of the parliamentary group believe that Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning have shown extraordinary efforts towards deserving a Nobel Peace Prize.

The group believes that Assange's efforts to expose "the extent of harm and illegality behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars", Snowden's revealing of "illegal mass surveillance, in defence of the liberties", and Manning's disclosure of 750,000 "classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents" to WikiLeaks represents enormous sacrifice for these individuals. The group also believe that a Nobel Peace Prize would more than honor the actions of these individuals, and represent their own sacrifice of liberties.

Continue reading: 2020 Nobel nominees: Julian Assange, Edward Snowden & Chelsea Manning (full post)

Hideo Kojima teases new Death Stranding content for 2020, DLC confirm?

Jak Connor | Gaming | Feb 20, 2020 1:20 AM CST

Only moments ago, Hideo Kojima released a new video on his Twitter account. The consensus of the video is that something new is coming to Death Stranding this year.

Hideo Kojima teases new Death Stranding content for 2020, DLC confirm?

At the moment, there's no confirmation to whether or not there will be any DLC content for Death Stranding, as Hideo Kojima and his studio haven't announced anything since the game's release. There have been some teasers, and what has been called 'cryptic messages', but no official announcement has been made. This means fans are under the assumption that the base game is all they are going to get, but what if that isn't the case?

Hideo Kojima just took to his personal Twitter account to release the above video. While the footage in the video has been seen before, there was an added addition - "2020". This could suggest one of two things. The first being the PC release of Death Stranding arriving sometime in 2020, or follow up DLC content that will be coming sometime in 2020. Kojima gave no context for what this video means, which leaves us fans waiting on the edge of our seats for even more.

Continue reading: Hideo Kojima teases new Death Stranding content for 2020, DLC confirm? (full post)