Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker script LEAKED, sold on eBay

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Nov 25, 2019 11:46 PM CST

If you can even believe it -- or maybe it's guerrilla hyping from Disney because of the issues Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is having before its release (word is, it's not great) -- the script for the latest movie in the Star Wars saga leaked and was sold on eBay.

Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker script LEAKED, sold on eBay

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw its script leaked and then found its way onto eBay, after one of the acts left it under their bed and was found by a cleaner. The script was given to someone else, and then it was put on eBay but an eagle-eyed person at the company sat this, and purchased it versus it going out to someone in the public before its big debut and spoiling J.J. Abrams' new movie.

J.J. Abrams recently said during a chat with Good Morning America: "One of our actors, I won't say which one - I want to, but I won't - left it under their bed and it was found by someone who was cleaning their place. And it was given to someone else, who then went to sell it on eBay. And someone at the company said 'You know there's a script that looks like it's a legit script that's for sale on eBay?' And so they got it back before it sold".

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Black Mirror becomes reality: Massachusetts police tests robot dog

The Massachusetts State Police bomb squad is playing around with using robot dogs in the line of fire, leasing out the autonomous Spot robot from Boston Dynamics in some new trials.

Black Mirror becomes reality: Massachusetts police tests robot dog

Radio station WBUR and the ALCU are reporting that the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad borrowed Boston Dynamics' Spot robot dog, using the AI-driven bot between August and November. The Massachusetts State Police bomb squad won't exactly explain what they used Spot for, but did note it was used as a "mobile remote observation device" that kept an eye on devices and specific locations.

Could we see a gun-toting robot dog in the future, given that the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad are testing Boston Dynamics scarily good technology? No. Boston Dynamics have a specific license in place that restricts Spot from being used for any task or job where it would "harm or intimidate people". As an AI-powered quick-moving surveillance and diagnostics device? Perfect.

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Cerebras CS-1 packs 400,000-core CPU, 1.2 trillion transistors for AI

It looks like we have finally found a system that can actually run Crysis -- the new Cerebras CS-1 system that is a new system for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. So while it might not run Crysis, it is a powerhouse for AI developers.

Cerebras CS-1 packs 400,000-core CPU, 1.2 trillion transistors for AI

Cerebras CS-1 is actually quite small considering its processing power, with the 26-inch-tall PC packing an insane 400,000 cores and an even crazier 1.2 trillion transistors. The 400,000-core processor is called the Wafer Scale Engine (WSE) which has a trillion transistors, 18GB of on-chip SRAM, and an interconnect speed of up to 1PB/sec (yeah, petabytes per second).

The exciting WSE processor is absolutely huge, where next to a keyboard it looks fake even -- but this 1.2 trillion transistor processor indeed packs 400,000 processing cores. Cerebras Systems founder Andrew Feldman explains: "The CS-1 is the industry's fastest AI computer, and because it is easy to install, quick to bring up and integrates with existing AI models in TensorFlow and PyTorch, it delivers value the day it is deployed. Depending on workload, the CS-1 delivers hundreds or thousands of times the performance of legacy alternatives at one-tenth the power draw and one-tenth the space per unit compute".

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Cyberpunk 2077 developer not worried about Half-Life: Alyx

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 25, 2019 9:25 PM CST

Valve surprised everyone with the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx last week, where it will be competing with our hearts at nearly the same time in 2020 with CD PROJEKT RED's huge release of Cyberpunk 2077 -- but is CDPR worried? Nope.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer not worried about Half-Life: Alyx

Cyberpunk 2077 launches in April 2020 and is built for traditional mouse/keyboard gameplay on the PC, and controller gameplay on consoles where Valve's big release of Half-Life: Alyx is exclusive to VR. No controllers. No keyboards. No mice. It's all in a virtual world and CDPR isn't intimidated by this at all.

In a recent earnings call, CD PROJEKT RED management discussed the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx, with CDPR saying: "Of course we've seen the Half-Life VR announcement. I think it was a surprise for everybody ... VR remains an extremely niche-y niche of the market. It's very, very small".

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Black Friday 2019: Walmart offer $450 back on iPhones, Samsung phones

Walmart has a gigantic incentive for an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy smartphone upgrade for Black Friday sales, offering up to $450 in eGift cards.

Black Friday 2019: Walmart offer $450 back on iPhones, Samsung phones

If you purchase and then activate an Apple iPhone XS or Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, or Galaxy Note 10+ you'll receive a $450 eGift card from Walmart. If you go for the slightly lower-end iPhone XS Max or iPhone XR you'll get a $400 eGift card, while the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and Samsung Galaxy S10e and Galaxy Note 9 will all see you with a $300 eGift card.

Walmart is running the deal between November 28 and December 1, so you'll only have a few days to make your decision. The Black Friday prices apply between those dates with the varying levels of eGift cards, are available in-store only, and require a new phone plan through either AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon.

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Black Friday sales: PS4 with 3 games for $199, Xbox One S for $149

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 25, 2019 8:30 PM CST

Black Friday 2019 sales are kicking off, with Microsoft seeing its Xbox One S 1TB All-Digital Edition Console discounted to just $149 -- while Sony has its PlayStation 4 available for $199 and includes 3 kick ass games bundled with it.

Black Friday sales: PS4 with 3 games for $199, Xbox One S for $149

The Xbox One S comes with 1TB of storage and is disc-free but at $149 you can't complain, while the Blu-ray drive inside of the PlayStation 4 comes at $199 but includes 3 games. The 3 games aren't exactly crap either, with the PS4 bundle one of the best sales for Black Friday including God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition, and The Last of Us Remastered -- all including a PS4 for $199.

You can grab the 4K-capable Xbox One X console with the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Deluxe Edition for $350 -- a discount of $150. Not too bad at all if you wanted the fastest console on the market, and a new game to boot... oh and the 4K Blu-ray playback is a great bonus.

Continue reading: Black Friday sales: PS4 with 3 games for $199, Xbox One S for $149 (full post)

Tesla Cyberquad ATV ships as an add-on for Cybertruck

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Nov 25, 2019 7:50 PM CST

Tesla shook the world with the announcement of its electric pickup truck in the new Cybertruck, but Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also unveiled the all-electric ATX as well. Tesla has already sold over $10 billion worth of Cybertruck's in the last few days.

Tesla Cyberquad ATV ships as an add-on for Cybertruck

The new Cyberquad is a two-person ATV that can drive up into the Cybertruck, with the four-wheeler ATV utilizing the Cybertruck's impressive adaptive suspension that leans back for easier loading of the Cyberquad. Tesla even includes a charging station on the bed of the Cybertruck for the Cyberquad ATV.

Tesla hasn't unveiled any hard details on the Cyberquad, but we do know that you will be going off-road with an all-electric ATX that I'm sure is going to be a blast to ride -- and once finished, ride back up into your Cybertruck to charge and transport to/from home.

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Non-profit .org domain has been sold, price caps taken away

Anthony Garreffa | Internet & Websites | Nov 25, 2019 7:11 PM CST

In a very surprising move, the Internet Society (ISOC) has announced it has sold the rights to the .org registry to Ethos Capital, for an unknown amount of money. The deal for the .org domain will be complete in Q1 2020, a few months from now.

Non-profit .org domain has been sold, price caps taken away

There are over 10 million websites using the .org suffix, something that has become synonymous with non-profit organizations. The changes to this with ISOC selling it was an instant WTF moment around the world, with no warning signs or rumors before it happened -- it just happened. The Public Interest Registry (PIR) confirmed it will drop the non-profit status from the .org domain (something it has had since 2003).

It gets worse -- with ICANN (they oversee ALL of the domains on the internet, including the .org domains) have agreed to remove price caps for .org domain names. Until now, these were cheap and very important for non-profit organizations -- from non-profit, to lots-of-profit in 2020 and beyond, it seems.

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Tons of amazing new Final Fantasy 7 Remake screens released

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 25, 2019 6:10 PM CST

There's no games quite like Final Fantasy, and there's none like Final Fantasy 7. The beloved old-school RPG looks better than ever with these new FF7 Remake screenshots.

Tons of amazing new Final Fantasy 7 Remake screens released

Today Square Enix released a metric ton of new Final Fantasy 7 screenshots, and they look absolutely gorgeous. The snaps show off potent character models and environments rendered with the Luminous Engine, detailing some obvious improvements from Final Fantasy XV.

The screenshots show Aerith's house (it's incredibly quaint and homely) as well as a breathtaking view of the outside, complete with brilliant verdant life blooming all around. There's some shots of explosive combat, a confirmation that the awesome interactive motorcycle segment will be in the Remake, and a showcase of minor characters like the Turks Rufus and Rude, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. Oh, and chocobos will be a summon in the game, but it might cost you extra--the Chocobo Chick summon is currently offered as a pre-order bonus.

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Battleborn will die for good in January 2021

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 25, 2019 5:09 PM CST

Battleborn isn't dead just yet, but Gearbox is winding down to prepare for the game's retirement in 2021.

Battleborn will die for good in January 2021

Gearbox today confirmed that its failed hero shooter Battleborn will go offline in January 2021. As of now the game can no longer be purchased from any digital store, including Steam, PS Store, and Xbox LIVE, so if you want to play you'll need to find a physical copy.

Oddly enough, the devs are turning off Battleborn's microtransactions on February 2020 and the game will no longer receive updates. Battleborn will be playable until then, but once the servers are down, the game is dead for good. Gearbox and 2K tried all sorts of tactics to re-invigorate Battleborn's failing userbase, including a free-to-play trial mode (which is no longer available). Ultimately nothing worked and gamers simply stuck with established hero shooters like Overwatch instead.

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