Latest News - Page 1347

Steve Jobs applied for a job at Apple all the way back in 1973, with his job application selling for a whopping $343,000 -- hell, even the NFT version of it sold for $27,497 (12x less).

The signed job application will be a prized possession of someone, who paid $343,000 for it... but if you're collecting physical Steve Jobs memorabilia, this is one of the more unique ones, that's for sure. The auction was kicked off by Olly Joshi, who wanted to create awareness regarding the change in "perceived value"... or whatever that means.

He explained: "Will this open a whole new market for decentralized collectibles? Will this cement the status-quo? Or could we see a stalemate with a fresh understanding that both can coexist and even complement one another as we traverse the next 50 years of innovation? Whatever the outcome, the worlds of finance and art will be watching with anticipation".

We are still over a year away from AMD making its next-gen RDNA 3 graphics architecture real, but man we have been getting some real juicy leaks and rumors... and today, brings more delicious rumors.

We're now being treated with some block diagrams that visualizes AMD's next-gen RDNA 3 graphics architecture, with the Navi 31, Navi 32, and Navi 33 block diagrams teased. The new block diagrams are courtesy of leaker Olrak.

AMD's next-gen Navi 31 and Navi 32 will reportedly be MCD (multi-chip designs) while Navi 33 will continue on being a monolithic GPU design. Navi 31 is expected to be a beast, with up to 15360 Stream Processors, GPU clocks of up to 2.5GHz, and 256-512MB of Infinity Cache (up from 128MB on the Radeon RX 6800, RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT).

A big rumor has just hit: Exxon Mobil will reportedly announce that it has purchased around $5 billion in Bitcoin, and that it will begin accepting Bitcoin at all Exxon Mobil pumps through the Lightning Network starting in Q4 2021.

The rumor is coming from Oil and Gas News on Twitter, that tweeted: "BREAKING: EXXON MOBIL TO ANNOUNCE ~$5B #BITCOIN BUY AND PLANS TO START ACCEPTING BITCOIN AT ALL PUMPS VIA LIGHTNING NETWORK STARTING Q4 2021 - SOURCES".

This is just a rumor, and requires not a pinch but a bucket of salt... but let's say it did happen. Exxon Mobil accepting Bitcoin as payment at its pumps... it would have to be a truly game-changing decision. I don't think it'll happen as you'd hear this news from a more reputable source, but stranger things have happened.

Google has just teased its next-gen Pixel 6 family of smartphones, where we don't know much about the new smartphones themselves but more so the new Tensor SoC inside of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones.

The new TPU (Tensor Processing Units) that Google uses inside of its data centers, will be used inside of the new Pixel 6 smartphones -- with the Tensor not being an SoC (system on a chip) but rather a bunch of chips. We don't know which chips are made by Google, and which are licensed from others -- but we do know that the Google-made mobile TPU will be used for AI tasks, while a new Titan M2 chip will be used for security inside of the new Pixel 6 smartphones.

But what we do know, is that Google's new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones aren't effing around -- the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be "ultra-high-end" phones from Google.

aActivision hypes of Call of Duty Vanguard's content offering and promises a big rollout of post-launch content.

Unlike Battlefield 2042, this year's Call of Duty will have a fully-fledged campaign. Sledgehammer's new WWII shooter continues the standard CoD trifecta of a campaign, multiplayer, and co-op modes. While official details are like (the game hasn't even been announced yet), Activision execs promise Vanguard will be a "robust" game.

"Content-wise, it's a really robust game at launch across all the modes, and the good news for us right now is we've gotten farther ahead on our live ops planning for supporting the community post-launch, and the community should also expect that support to be very very significant. We've learned a lot over the last couple of years and that's all in our plan going forward," said Activision president Rob Kostich.

Three separate law firms have filed lawsuits against Activision-Blizzard alleging securities fraud.

Law firms the Schall Law Firm, Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, and Rosen Law are all filing suits on behalf of Activision-Blizzard shareholders that allege the company of securities fraud. These new securities fraud allegations are separate from the harassment and discrimination suit the company is currently facing.

The lawsuits allege that Activision-Blizzard misled investors by not properly disclosing the harassment charges the company is currently facing. The ongoing controversy has had a material impact on shareholders, with Activision-Blizzard stock falling to its lowest point in the last 6 months.

Blizzard President J. Allen Brack leaves the company amid significant workplace controversy.

Right now Blizzard is caught in a storm of misconduct allegations that stretch back for decades. Multiple reports accuse Blizzard of a "frat boy culture" where women employees are subject to discrimination, sexual misconduct, and harassment. Blizzard workers are sharing their stories en masse, and employees have responded with walk out strikes and collective demands for change. Company stock has dropped to $79.61 per share, its lowest point in the past six months.

Although Blizzard harassment was quietly happening behind the scenes, many key executives have left the company over recent years, including co-founder Mike Morhaime in 2019. Shortly after Morhaime left, J. Allen Brack, a seasoned Blizzard veteran, took over as president.

NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto-maker Take-Two Interactive jumpstarts its Q1 FY2022 period with strong earnings from some of its biggest franchises.

Although Take-Two's Q1'22 net revenues slid 2.1% to $813 million, the Grand Theft Auto franchise just made its second-highest quarterly earnings in history.

According to Take-Two filings, Grand Theft Auto earned about $274 million in the current Q1, beating out the previous high watermark set last year when GTA V was free on the Epic Games Store. These results are second only to the $1.4 billion revenues earned during GTA V's launch in Q3'14.

Take-Two Interactive kicks off its Q1 FY2022 fiscal year with $711 million in earnings and consistent growth across key franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, and NBA 2K.

As part of its earnings brief to investors, Take-Two updated its sales figures for top game series. Grand Theft Auto tops the charts with a whopping 350 million copies shipped, of which GTA V makes up 42%, or 150 million.

The annualized NBA 2K sports franchise takes second place with a huge 112 million copies shipped to date, with NBA 2K21 comprising nearly 10% of total sales, or 11 million units.

Researchers have found a fundamental link between the Moon, Earth's rotation speed, and global oxygen levels.

A new study published in Nature Geoscience has explored a connection between the Moon, Earth's day/night cycle, and the amount of oxygen that is being produced globally. Researchers connected the Moon's gravitational impact on Earth, which is causing the planet to slow down, to the rate of microbes use photosynthesis to produce oxygen.

Due to the days of Earth growing longer, around 1.8 milliseconds every century, these microbes were experiencing more sunlight overall and thus producing more oxygen. Based on fossil records, researchers know that Earth days were half an hour shorter 70 million years ago and only 18 hours in total 1.4 billion years ago. Since the Moon is slowly moving away from Earth, the days will grow much longer with enough time, resulting in these cyanobacteria microorganisms having a larger window to photosynthesize and produce oxygen.

A new paper published in Nature Communications has explored the amount of energy Earth has absorbed from the sun and emitted into space.

The entire planets climate depends on many factors, but the main is the sun and how much energy it emits towards Earth. Earth also emits energy back out into space and this process of absorbing energy from the sun, and how much energy Earth is putting back out into space, has been measured by Princeton University researchers in an effort to explore the planet's future climate.

The researchers found that carbon dioxide emissions, methane and other greenhouse gases linked to human activities are responsible for the atmosphere containing too much heat, which leads the planet to absorbing infrared radiation that would have otherwise been released out into space. This atmospheric oven results in changes in cloud cover, sea ice melting and other environmental impacts.

The Biden administration is moving towards recruiting many online personalities in an effort to get a message out to people aged between twelve and eighteen.

According to a report from The New York Times, the White House is currently recruiting many online influencers on TikTok, YouTube and Twitch to raise awareness about COVID-19 vaccines. The individuals who are apart of the program have been selected based on their large follower counts, as the Times was in contact with an influencer who received inquiries from a White House marketing agency and said there was "a massive need to grow awareness within the 12-18 age range."

The report also states that state and local governments are moving towards the same kind of programs, but with local influencers and prominent online figures. These moves by the United States government are an example of the administration acknowledging the power social media and the impact prominent figures in the space can have on younger generations. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.

Google has taken to its community blog to announce that sign-in will not be allowed on Android devices running Gingerbread (2.3.7) or lower.

According to the announcement, Google will now be rejecting any sign-in attempts from Android devices running Android 2.3.7 or lower beginning on September 27, 2021. Google states that if a sign-in attempt is made after September 27 on apps such as Gmail, YouTube, and Maps, the user may experience "username or password errors".

Google goes on to recommend any users that are running Android 2.3.7 to update their devices to gain access to the aforementioned apps. It should be noted that these changes only affect less a very small percentage of users, as Google's distribution data claims less than 1% of active devices are running a version older than 4.1 (Jellybean).

Bitcoin recently saw a rise in price but has since corrected itself by more than 8.2% after it reached $42,230. Is the famous cryptocurrency out of steam?

According to a few market analysts, Bitcoin is hardly out of steam and is expected to reach new highs later in the year. Nunya Bizniz, an independent market analyst, posted some analysis on Bitcoin bullish trends over the two years it experienced its great halving, and from data, Bizniz predicted that the next Bitcoin peak will form on September 21, 2021.

For those that don't know what the great halving is, it's a pre-programmed event where Bitcoin's supply is halved every four years. Seeking Alpha financial markets contributor Ariel Santos-Alborna explained that "Both tops occurred in November and December, respectively, which could insinuate that the trigger for bear markets has more to do with taxes," and that a "more realistic" top for Bitcoin is between $88,000 and $150,000. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

Lord of the Rings fans have finally received what they have patiently been waiting for - a release date for Amazon's new Lord of the Rings show.

For those that don't know, Amazon's new Lord of the Rings TV show is based thousands of years before the events of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The TV show will focus on the events that transpired in the Second Age of Middle-Earth, which is sourced from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

Amazon has already spent a whopping $465 million on the first season, making it the most expensive TV show ever made. Amazon has also renewed the show for a second season, so if the first season's episodes are hit, fans won't have to wait much longer to receive new ones. The release date was revealed by The Lord of the Rings on Prime Twitter account, who posted the show's first image with the following caption: On September 2, 2022, a new journey begins.

There is nothing worse than forgetting your password to an account you need to get access to, but imagine being locked out of an account that is holding your $220 million in Bitcoin.

33-year-old software developer Stephen Thomas is experiencing that very thing as he cannot remember the password to his "Iron Key", which contains a stack of Bitcoin that he purchased back in 2011. So, what is an Iron Key? An Iron Key is developed by Kingston Technology and is a USB drive with AES-encrypted directories that only allows for ten attempts, and if ten attempts are incorrect, then the USB wipes all of its content.

The New York Times interviewed Stephen where he said, "I would just lay in bed and think about it: Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn't work, and I would be desperate again. It was actually a really big milestone in my life where I sort of realized how I was going to define my self-worth going forward. It wasn't going to be about how much money I have in my bank account."

A Tesla driver decided to get behind the wheel after a few drinks and fell asleep while driving. Luckily his car saved his life.

On July 30, a 24-year-old Tesla owner located in Norway jumped behind the wheel of his Model S after drinking and passed out. Luckily for the driver, and not to mention the other people on the road, Tesla's autopilot system detected that the driver had fallen asleep and kept the vehicle in the middle of the lane before safely coming to a stop.

Videos of the man have surfaced online that clearly show the man asleep at the wheel. According to authorities close to the matter, the man was found "evidently drunk" when Emergency Medical Services arrived and has had his license temporarily suspended. Stories such as these show that systems like Tesla's autopilot can really save lives on the road. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

The first music NFT has been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) and around Earth before coming back down to the surface.

Two companies named Nanoracks LLC and Artemis Music Entertainment partnered to send a recording of composer Claude Debussy's piano masterpiece "Clair de Lune" ("Moonlight") to the ISS. Music has been created aboard the floating laboratory before, but this track is special since the companies decided to mint the track as a non-fungible token (NFT), which, according to Artemis Music representatives, makes it the first music NFT to reach orbit.

The music NFT was performed by Hong Kong-based pianist Wing-Chong at the end of last month. The original track was published in 1905 by Claude Debussy. On July 28, the music NFT was sent to the ISS, and then the digital file raced around Earth for 90 minutes, completing one lap of the planet, before coming back down to the surface to be minted as an NFT - marking this moment forever. For more information on this story, check out this link here.

The Supreme Leader of North Korea seems to be going through some health-related issues, something that the state media tightly controls any news of -- but recently, North Korea's main TV channel, Korea Central Television, had North Korean citizens concerned for Kim Jong-Un's health.

This was a month ago... and now, Kim Jong-Un has been spotted with a "strange green dark spot" on the back of his head. The North Korean Supreme Leader was spotted in recent public activities during the week, where there were some photos of him with a green dark spot, and another photo where it was covered up with a rather large bandage.

Kim attended a military event between July 24-27, and then again at a war veteran conference and other events between July 27-29. Before his last public meetings on June 29, Kim Jong-Un did not have these green marks on the back of his head, nor did he have them during his meeting with his favorite band -- the Band of the State Affairs Commission (SAC), a mixed orchestra and chorus band named after Kim's quasi-presidential office.

Tesla and Neoen fired up their Victorian Big Battery at Geelong last Friday... but the Tesla Megapack battery caught fire during the test, and took 4 entire days to extinguish.

The fire itself started quickly after the test started, with fire crews attending and containing the blaze at first... but they weren't able to completely extinguish it, so there's no way of knowing what started it. The fire itself was contained to just two battery packs, and while the fire was contained there would be sparks that would re-ignite the blaze... for multiple days.

Tesla has of course not responded, with French renewable energy company Neoen responding to media requests. Louis de Sambucy, managing director of Neoen Australia said: "As previously advised, there were no injuries, the site was disconnected from the grid and there has been no impact to electricity supply. Investigation preparations are under way and physical inspections will commence once the CFA have completed their procedures".