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China outraged over people buying random pets in mystery boxes

Jak Connor | Business, Financial & Legal | May 7, 2021 4:35 AM CDT

A new craze has sparked outrage online as people in China are ordering what is called a "blind box", which is a mystery parcel that is shipped to the buyer that contains a random pet.

China outraged over people buying random pets in mystery boxes

BBC News reported that on Monday, 160 distressed cats and dogs were found inside a courier company's truck in Chengdu. Chinese law states that it's illegal to transport live animals. However, local media has reported that these "blind boxes" are overwhelmingly popular. These "blind boxes" can contain any animal from tortoises, lizards, rats, dogs, and cats.

As you can imagine, the cruelty of this entire practice has sparked outrage online, with some users saying, "Have we made any achievements in the rescue and management of stray animals? Now there is a pet blind box industry?". State media outlet Xinhua even went as far to say "blind boxes" are a "desecration of life". Online buyers of these "blind boxes" have been urged to have "more goodwill and more respect for life".

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Continue reading: China outraged over people buying random pets in mystery boxes (full post)

Latest internet trend is to eat raw, decomposed, rotten 'high meat'

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | May 7, 2021 3:33 AM CDT

The internet can birth some pretty interesting trends, but sometimes, the newest trend is something that you just shake your head at. Introducing the "high meat" trend.

Latest internet trend is to eat raw, decomposed, rotten 'high meat'

The latest trend that has gained some traction online is people taking their diets to the extreme, and by extreme, I mean - eating meat that has sometimes been left to decomposed rotten meat that has sometimes been left for over a year. The trend has been dubbed eating "high meat", which is a reference to the reported feeling of euphoria you get once you bite into the rotten piece of flesh.

Now, eating uncooked meat has been around for quite some time, but usually, that uncut meat has gone through a fermentation process or has been dried. Eating fermented or dried meat is not the same as eating rotten meat. When meat begins to rot and decompose, it begins to grow harmful microbial life that can cause humans to be exposed to harmful bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus, or salmonella. There is also a high chance of developing food poisoning, which can result, in extreme cases, in hospitalization as well as days of pain, nausea, and vomiting.

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Continue reading: Latest internet trend is to eat raw, decomposed, rotten 'high meat' (full post)

Elon Musk reveals what is 'critical' for humans to live on Mars

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | May 7, 2021 2:32 AM CDT

Given enough time, humans will eventually live on Mars, but as you can probably imagine, a few things need to be worked out before we get there.

Elon Musk reveals what is 'critical' for humans to live on Mars

One of the biggest supporters of colonizing our neighboring red planet is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has been a leader in pushing the boundaries of human space exploration. Musk has recently taken to his Twitter page to reveal one of the most critical things that are needed for humans to live on Mars, and it may not be something you would have guessed.

According to Musk, "Public support for life on Mars is critical to making it happen". Transporting humans to Mars will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge the human race has faced to date. To make it happen, Musk believes there needs to be "public support for life on Mars", meaning that everyone needs to get behind the overwhelmingly large project. Maybe once humans have begun colonizing Mars, we could see DOGE coin become the backing of the financial system? Wouldn't that be the day....

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Continue reading: Elon Musk reveals what is 'critical' for humans to live on Mars (full post)

Elon Musk will host SNL exactly 6942 days after SpaceX was founded

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | May 7, 2021 1:29 AM CDT

The whole world is waiting on the edge of their seat to see what Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk will do and say when he hosts Saturday Night Live on the weekend. But what we do know, for a fact is that on May 8 when Musk hosts SNL it will be exactly 6942 days since SpaceX was founded. The fu...

Elon Musk will host SNL exactly 6942 days after SpaceX was founded

Everyday Astronaut replied to Musk's tweet sharing the image that SNL uploaded of him at Studio 8H, saying that he "couldn't help but notice" that Elon Musk will be hosting 6942 days after founding SpaceX. He added that the "simulation is officially getting weirder" and he's right about both of those things.

Why does this matter? Elon Musk has made multiple references to 420 (the number used to refer to weed, or cannabis) and 69 well, because, for super obvious reasons. Back in December 2019, Tesla stock reached $420 and Elon Musk tweeted out:

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Continue reading: Elon Musk will host SNL exactly 6942 days after SpaceX was founded (full post)

Randy Pitchford confirms Borderlands 4: 'We're working on the big one'

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 10:47 PM CDT

Gearbox's Randy Pitchford pretty much confirms what we already knew: Borderlands 4 is in development.

Randy Pitchford confirms Borderlands 4: 'We're working on the big one'

Gearbox is currently ramping up its development teams for the next big Borderlands game--in fact, the company is hiring 53 people into its ranks. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said on Twitter that the Frisco-based studio is "working on the big one," which pretty much squashes any doubt on the next project.

"We are definitely working on some amazing stuff that, I hope, will surprise and delight you. Plug: if anyone out there has Skills-To-Pay-Bills and wants to get in on some Borderlands action, we're working on the big one :)," Pitchford said.

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Continue reading: Randy Pitchford confirms Borderlands 4: 'We're working on the big one' (full post)

Kingston preps DDR5 memory with OC support, ships in Q3 2021

Anthony Garreffa | RAM | May 6, 2021 10:12 PM CDT

Kingston has announced that it has sent overclockable DDR5 memory modules to its motherboard partners, so that the qualification process of next-gen DDR5 memory can begin.

Kingston preps DDR5 memory with OC support, ships in Q3 2021

The company has engineered its high-end DDR5 modules with a preset XMP profile, but Kingston is also letting motherboard makers manually adjust the power management integrated circuit (PMIC) beyond the actual DDR5 spec with 1.1V which allows the ramp up of DDR5 memory speeds through overclocking.

Kingston says that it expects to ship its DDR5 solutions in Q3 2021, while it explains the memory validation process as requiring "cooperation of the entire computing ecosystem and Kingston has forged close ties with the leading motherboard manufacturers and chipset makers throughout its 33-year history. This step continues the critical process of bringing leading high-performance and overclockable memory solutions to market later this year".

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Continue reading: Kingston preps DDR5 memory with OC support, ships in Q3 2021 (full post)

Intel's gaming-focused DG2 GPU is 'right around the corner' says Intel

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | May 6, 2021 9:32 PM CDT

Intel is getting awfully close to revaling its first gaming-focused GPU ever -- let's forget about the Intel i740 as it wasn't technically a GPU -- with Intel DG2 being "right around the corner" says Intel Senior Game Developer Relations Engineer Pete Brubaker.

Intel's gaming-focused DG2 GPU is 'right around the corner' says Intel

Brubaker said it pretty plainly in his tweet, which was linking to a job posting by Intel which is looking for a new Senior Game Developer Relations Engineer. In the tweet, Brubaker said: "Come work with us at Intel! DG2 is right around the corner, it's about to get exciting".

This marks an exciting turn for Intel and its upcoming Xe-HPG gaming GPU, with Intel actively working with game developers on getting their games optimized for Intel's future graphic cards. Intel DG2 is a big step up from the DG1 which was effectively just a developer kit.

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Activision teases big financial 'step change' in 2022

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 8:45 PM CDT

Activision expects 2021 to be its best year ever with $8.37 billion in net revenues. 2022 could be even better.

Activision teases big financial 'step change' in 2022

Activision teases a significant "step change" for financial growth in 2022 that could see multiple high-profile games launching during the year. In the company's recent Q1 2021 earnings call, Activision execs lay out a significant pipeline for 2022 and beyond. Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 are listed for projects in this timeline, and although no release windows were revealed, Activision says it expects a substantial earnings change in 2022. This could indicate that both of these games could release in 2022 alongside a mainline Call of Duty release.

"We are making great progress on our pipeline which includes key content that we expect to deliver another step change in financial performance in 2022 as well as unannounced initiatives that we expect to drive longer-term growth for the company," said Activision-Blizzard's new Chief Financial Officer Armin Zerza.

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Elon Musk tweets picture of him at SNL set ahead of hosting on May 8

Anthony Garreffa | Cryptocurrency & Mining | May 6, 2021 8:06 PM CDT

Saturday Night Live will be hosted by SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk aka The Dogefather this weekend on May 8, which has not only the cast of SNL triggered but many other people around the world.

Elon Musk tweets picture of him at SNL set ahead of hosting on May 8

First off, the official SNL account on Twitter tweeted out an image of Musk at Studio 8 ahead of his hosting on May 8 where he is in front of a stack of paperwork. I doubt this is a script since Musk in a devilish delivery said he wanted to see "just how live Saturday Night Live really is" -- and more NDA paperwork that he would be required to sign.

Elon quickly retweeted it without adding anything to it, so it was just an image share of him at Studio 8H with Saturday Night Live, preparing for his hosting on May 8.

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Continue reading: Elon Musk tweets picture of him at SNL set ahead of hosting on May 8 (full post)

Dogecoin to the moon is a 'middle finger' to financial system, analyst

Anthony Garreffa | Cryptocurrency & Mining | May 6, 2021 7:31 PM CDT

If you purchased Dogecoin at any point before February or March 2021, then you'd be one happy person right now -- with the people's crypto (in Elon Musk's own words) skyrocketing towards the moon (and hopefully, beyond).

Dogecoin to the moon is a 'middle finger' to financial system, analyst

But now we have Galaxy Digital CEO and founder Mike Novogratz speaking with CNBC on Wednesday, with the topic of cryptocurrency Dogecoin which is up around 19,000% since this time last year. Novogratz told CNBC: "When you think about the whole spirit of what this crypto revolution is, there's something pure in what dogecoin has done. It's a little bit of a middle finger to the system. People are unhappy with the current financial system. They just are".

He continued: "It would be very dangerous to be short, I'll tell you that much. I'm not participating on the long side. I think it's dangerous because once that enthusiasm dies, if it dies, you could have a long way down. But I don't want to discredit. It's shocking that it happened".

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Continue reading: Dogecoin to the moon is a 'middle finger' to financial system, analyst (full post)

Listen to the next-gen Battlefield 'reveal tune' (music) right here

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | May 6, 2021 7:05 PM CDT

The new Battlefield is so close to being official revealed -- at least with its first teaser trailer, any moment now. The hype is pretty real, with industry insider Tom Henderson ramping up the hype engines to 11 with a flurry of tweets.

Listen to the next-gen Battlefield 'reveal tune' (music) right here

The first tweet from Henderson is a track by 2EWI feat. Ali Christenhusz called Run Baby Run, which is funny because I've had that track in my "Best Playlist Ever" on Spotify for quite a while now, just above the Battlefield theme music that I still to this day love. Listen to the track because it's pretty kick ass -- Henderson said "this is it", this is the Battlefield "reveal tune".

The next tweet is from Back to the Future, where at the start of the first movie when Marty tweaks the OVERDRIVE dial right up to and past 100. What a second tweet... and then the third:

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Continue reading: Listen to the next-gen Battlefield 'reveal tune' (music) right here (full post)

Nintendo reports all-time profit high of $4.5 billion in FY2021

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 6:05 PM CDT

Nintendo's FY2021 has broken records for profits, operating income, hardware and software sales thanks to astronomical overperformance of its Switch platform.

Nintendo reports all-time profit high of $4.5 billion in FY2021

Nintendo just enjoyed its best yearly earnings since its platform boom back in 2009. The company's FY2021 results saw a whopping $16 billion in net sales revenues, second only to FY2009's DS and Wii dream-team earnings. FY2021 broke new ground for operating profit with over $6 billion (+81%) earned, and net profits that hit a new all-time high of $4.53 billion (+85%).

The results were driven by hardware and software sales surges during one of the most unprecedented demand periods in the last decade. Consumers turned towards gaming as they sheltered at home against the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of people wanted to buy Switch hardware and demand led to massive stock restrictions.

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Continue reading: Nintendo reports all-time profit high of $4.5 billion in FY2021 (full post)

KIOXIA showcases next-gen SSD with new PCIe 4.0, 24G SAS solutions

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | May 6, 2021 5:36 PM CDT

KIOXIA will be detailing their next-gen, flash-based SSDs for enterprise and data center markets at the Dell Technologies World 2021 event this week.

KIOXIA showcases next-gen SSD with new PCIe 4.0, 24G SAS solutions

KIOXIA has sponsored the Dell Technologies World event for 5 years in a row as a diamond-level conference sponsor, collaborating with Dell for many years making the "best-in-class storage solutions that redefine what is possible". KIOXIA will be showcasing how its next-gen SSDs can open up a new world of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers and VMware vSANā„¢ solutions.

Where the majority of focus from KIOXIA will be placed is into the power and performance that its new PCIe 4.0-based SSDs plugged into Dell EMC PowerEdge servers provides.

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Continue reading: KIOXIA showcases next-gen SSD with new PCIe 4.0, 24G SAS solutions (full post)

Nintendo made $3.2 billion from digital games in FY2021, up 68% YoY

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 5:11 PM CDT

Nintendo's digital earnings surge thanks to COVID-19 quarantines and record-breaking game sales across its Switch platform.

Nintendo made $3.2 billion from digital games in FY2021, up 68% YoY

Digital gaming has surged as worldwide countries sheltered in place against the coronavirus pandemic. Nintendo in particular saw a boom in digital games earnings; Nintendo generated a whopping $3.2 billion from digital game sales, subscriptions, DLC, and microtransactions on the eShop in FY2021, up nearly 70% from last year.

Nintendo sold 230.88 million Switch games in FY2021, a new yearly record with every quarter consecutively setting new all-time highs. 42.8% of total game sales were digital, or 98.81 million, a new high point. Nintendo says that nearly 80% of game sales were first-party titles, or roughly 183 million games.

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Continue reading: Nintendo made $3.2 billion from digital games in FY2021, up 68% YoY (full post)

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT should be 'minimum 40% faster' than RX 6900 XT

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | May 6, 2021 5:05 PM CDT

I just finished writing an article about AMD and its RDNA 3 GPUs taking the performance crown from NVIDIA in 2022, with the star of that show being the purported Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics card.

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT should be 'minimum 40% faster' than RX 6900 XT

AMD's new Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics card is getting some more solid rumors from Tom at Moore's Law is Dead, who says in his new video that the Radeon RX 7900 XT "should at a minimum be 40% better than the RX 6900 XT" and that "Ray Tracing & Geometry Performance should get a decent uplift per DCU".

The new RDNA 3-powered Radeon RX 7900 XT is where AMD could actually take the performance crown from whatever NVIDIA has at the time from Ampere + Samsung to battle the RDNA 3 + TSMC GPU from AMD. NVIDIA will at most have an Ampere refresh, but the Samsung 8nm node is holding them back -- AMD however, will be sliding into the next-gen 5nm node from TSMC on top of the next-gen RDNA 3 architecture.

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Continue reading: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT should be 'minimum 40% faster' than RX 6900 XT (full post)

AMD RDNA 3 GPUs could 'take performance crown' from NVIDIA in 2022

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | May 6, 2021 4:46 PM CDT

AMD's next-gen RDNA 3 architecture has been in the headlines quite a lot this past week, with rumors flying hot and fast -- but now we have some solidification on those hot AF rumors.

AMD RDNA 3 GPUs could 'take performance crown' from NVIDIA in 2022

Our mate Tom from Moore's Law is Dead has published a new video that says that his sources have said the current rumors of RDNA 3 being 3x faster than AMD's current RDNA 2-based flagship Radeon RX 6900 XT are "utter bullshit" and that his sources told him in "harsh terms" that the performance numbers are "horse shit".

We're being told to expect at least a 40% performance uplift from RDNA 3 over RDNA 2, and that it should be 3x faster -- than RDNA, not RDNA 2 -- something AMD itself has said for a number of years now.

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Continue reading: AMD RDNA 3 GPUs could 'take performance crown' from NVIDIA in 2022 (full post)

Xboxes aren't profitable, but the Nintendo Switch certainly is

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 4:27 PM CDT

Xbox consoles aren't profitable, but Nintendo Switch consoles sure are.

Xboxes aren't profitable, but the Nintendo Switch certainly is

Yesterday, Microsoft exec Lori Wright confirmed no Xbox console has ever been sold at a profit (Xbox is however about to make more money than it ever has before). The opposite couldn't be more true for the Nintendo Switch, which was manufactured to be profitable right at launch. Nintendo's recent FY2021 results illustrate this point quite clearly.

While Sony and Microsoft sell consoles at a loss and rely on game sales, monetization, and services to turn a profit, Nintendo designed the Switch so it made a profit at the beginning of its lifespan. Every year Nintendo makes profits from Switch hardware, and in FY2021 alone, the company generated a whopping $8.2 billion from hardware sales. Hardware made up over half (57.2%) of its total gaming earnings (over $16 billion), the company said in a recent earnings report.

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Continue reading: Xboxes aren't profitable, but the Nintendo Switch certainly is (full post)

Nintendo's top 10 Switch games have each sold 10 million copies

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 3:15 PM CDT

The Nintendo Switch shows no signs of stopping. The console just hit 84.59 million units sold and beat the Game Boy Advance, making it the fourth best-selling Nintendo product of all time. Software is likewise smashing records, and now Nintendo has an assortment of mega-hits on the Switch.

Nintendo's top 10 Switch games have each sold 10 million copies

The Switch platform is skyrocketing right now. Nintendo made more than $16 billion from games in FY2021, and 57% of that, or roughly $8.2 billion, was from hardware alone. Nintendo sold a massive 230 million games throughout the year, pushing its top 10 best-sellers to new heights.

The Switch currently has 10 first-party games that have sold over 10 million copies each. Animal Crossing New Horizons has finally slowed down its monstrous sales pace (it was previously selling 1 million copies every week for quite some time) and Mario Party saw a particularly nice uplift throughout FY2021.

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Continue reading: Nintendo's top 10 Switch games have each sold 10 million copies (full post)

Switch hits 84.59 million sales and conquers Game Boy Advance

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 2:37 PM CDT

The Nintendo Switch just beat the Game Boy Advance in sales. It's next target? The mighty Wii.

Switch hits 84.59 million sales and conquers Game Boy Advance

Nintendo just posted up its Fiscal Year 2021 results to much fanfare. We'll be going over the exact details of the numbers across a few articles, but first let's take a look at Switch sales growth. As of March 31, 2021, the Nintendo Switch has sold 84.59 million units cumulatively over its lifetime (our numbers below are at 84.62 million based on rounded figures from Nintendo). The handheld-console Switch family now outranks the Game Boy Advance (81.51 million) and has become Nintendo's fourth best-selling platform of all time in hardware sales.

On a quarter-by-quarter basis, the Switch has consistently hit record sales performance. Fiscal Year 2021 was the best period in the system's history with 28.84 million sales globally (+37% year-over-year). Each quarter in FY21 consistently set a new record high for sales thanks to the tag-team Switch Lite and base Switch duo working together during a period of unusual demand.

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Continue reading: Switch hits 84.59 million sales and conquers Game Boy Advance (full post)

Days Gone studio Sony Bend ramping up workforce for new IP on PS5

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2021 11:25 AM CDT

Sony Bend is currently ramping up its dev teams for its next big AAA game, but it won't be Days Gone 2.

Days Gone studio Sony Bend ramping up workforce for new IP on PS5

Sony's Bend, Oregon-based game studio is hiring 11 people to help make its new game. According to the job listings, which range from art and animation to direction and programming, the project is AAA in scope and is a next-gen PlayStation 5 exclusive.

The listings don't paint a clear picture of what's next for Sony Bend Studio, but past reports from Bloomberg say the team is working on a new original franchise.

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Continue reading: Days Gone studio Sony Bend ramping up workforce for new IP on PS5 (full post)

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