Blizzard’s Upcoming Game ‘Overwatch’ Won’t Be Coming to OS X
While game developer Blizzard has a long-standing history of bringing its games to OS X in addition to Windows, the developer today confirmed at its BlizzCon fan convention that it will not be bringing its new game, Overwatch, to OS X, according to Polygon.
Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed the news, acknowledging that the company has longstanding support for Apple’s computers. However, Kaplan says the company focused its efforts on Windows due to the “technology behind Macs.”
“Currently with the technology behind Macs and the way Overwatch runs it’s just too challenging for us at this point to support it,” Kaplan said. “Our focus right now is entirely on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.”
Kaplan didn’t specify what Mac technology was making it challenging for Blizzard to make the game for OS X, but Apple’s support for graphics technologies such as Metal and OpenGL may be part of the reason. Some of the early developers who committed to Metal, such as Adobe, have backpedaled a bit as they work with the new technology. Apple has also been criticized for not adopting the most recent versions of OpenGL, which is also heavily relied upon in modern game development
Most recently, Blizzard launched free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm for Mac OS X on June 2, 2015.
(Thanks, Teyla!)
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FCC refuses to force websites to honor Do Not Track requests
The FCC has dismissed a petition filed by California nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, asking the commission to require “edge providers” to honor Do Not Track requests. The group named Google, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix and LinkedIn as examples of edge providers, which means it wants these websites to allow people to use their services without giving them their data in exchange. See, even if you enable your browser’s Do Not Track option to opt out of third-party tracking by advertisers and the like, websites can choose not to honor it. If the petition passed, it would have changed that.
Source: Ars Technica, Consumer Watchdog (PDF), FCC (PDF)
From the creators of ‘Crossy Road’ comes ‘Shooty Skies’
From the creators of the super popular game Crossy Road comes Shooty Skies. The game looks basically identical to Crossy Road, but instead of crossing a road, you are flying a plane.
It was also previously only for iOS, but now Shooty Skies has made it’s way to Android. The objective is to fly though the skies trying to shoot down cute enemies. If you are good enough you will reach the epic bosses!
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: From the creators of ‘Crossy Road’ comes ‘Shooty Skies’
Lead engineer at Twitter apologizes over diversity issues
Alex Roetter is a lead engineer at Twitter, who was recently called out for a post he made about diversity issues. He was questioned about suggesting to use job applicants’ names to determine their ethnicity. He planned on using this information to determine why some minorities weren’t hired as much.
Leslie Miley, a former engineer, and the one who singled Rotter out said:
“What I also found disconcerting is this otherwise highly sophisticated thinker could posit that an issue this complex could be addressed by name analysis,”
Roetter responded by saying he did a poor job at communicating his ideas.
“I realize that we have blind spots, myself included. One of mine is that I have a tendency to default to engineering-driven, quantitative solutions. The issues Leslie raise require so much more than that.”
Twitter has been trying to add more diversity amongst it’s staff recently. They have been using things like “inclusion training” and resource groups for minority employees. Roetter also said he wants Twitter to change so it can be a place where all the employees feel comfortable.
Source: Alex Roetter (Medium)
Via: Recode
Come comment on this article: Lead engineer at Twitter apologizes over diversity issues
Counterfeiters already have fake ‘BTTF’ Nikes with power laces
Nike won’t have its Back to the Future 2 kicks on shelves until next year, but it looks like the folks who make their money selling knockoffs aren’t waiting around. Since Nike announced the Mags with power laces will be a very limited edition available only via auction, we can expect a healthy market for fakes. Kicks On Fire points out this Instagram video by fake_education — an account that generally points out ways to tell real shoes from their unauthorized twins — showing a power lacing system already integrated with a pair of knockoff Mags. Of course we’re sure you would never stoop so low as to intentionally buy fakes, but when Marty McFly’s futuristic shoes start to surface in suspicious quantities and prices, remember this video.
Via: Kicks On Fire
Source: fake_education (Instagram)
Apple Sends ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Photographers Special Photo Books
The photographers who had their photos featured in an assortment of billboards and TV ads for the “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign Apple ran to promote its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have begun receiving a set of special coffee table photo books that include their artwork.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
Cult of Mac spoke to photographer Brendan Ó Sé, one of the lucky few to receive one of the books after having his photo featured as part of the campaign. He said the cloth-covered high-quality books came as a surprise and were even shipped with a set of white gloves for viewing.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
“It was totally out of the blue,” photographer Brendan Ó Sé, of Cork, Ireland, told Cult of Mac. “Naturally, I looked for my own photo, but seeing those of the friends I’ve made over this campaign added to the surprise and thrill.”
One of the books, “The Photographs” includes the photos that were used in the ad campaign, while the other, “The Gallery,” features shots of the photographs on billboards around the world. With the billboards now largely replaced with new content for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the photo books serve as a memento for those who had their iPhone 6 images included in the campaign.
http://imgur.com/a/tsb8J/embedAn Imgur album of some of the photos. Click this link to view the images on mobile devices.
Ó Sé’s photograph was taken in Berlin, but the ads that went up around the world featured a wide assortment of images from places like United States, Canada, Japan, Iceland, South Korea, China, Scotland, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand. In total, more than 77 photographers across 70 cities and 40 countries were featured.
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Apple Sends ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Photographers Special Photo Books
The photographers who had their photos featured in an assortment of billboards and TV ads for the “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign Apple ran to promote its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have begun receiving a set of special coffee table photo books that include their artwork.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
Cult of Mac spoke to photographer Brendan Ó Sé, one of the lucky few to receive one of the books after having his photo featured as part of the campaign. He said the cloth-covered high-quality books came as a surprise and were even shipped with a set of white gloves for viewing.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
“It was totally out of the blue,” photographer Brendan Ó Sé, of Cork, Ireland, told Cult of Mac. “Naturally, I looked for my own photo, but seeing those of the friends I’ve made over this campaign added to the surprise and thrill.”
One of the books, “The Photographs” includes the photos that were used in the ad campaign, while the other, “The Gallery,” features shots of the photographs on billboards around the world. With the billboards now largely replaced with new content for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the photo books serve as a memento for those who had their iPhone 6 images included in the campaign.
http://imgur.com/a/tsb8J/embedAn Imgur album of some of the photos. Click this link to view the images on mobile devices.
Ó Sé’s photograph was taken in Berlin, but the ads that went up around the world featured a wide assortment of images from places like United States, Canada, Japan, Iceland, South Korea, China, Scotland, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand. In total, more than 77 photographers across 70 cities and 40 countries were featured.
Discuss this article in our forums
Eddy Cue on Apple TV: Customers Should Be Able to ‘Buy Whatever They Want, However They Want’
Apple executive Eddy Cue sat down with CNN senior correspondent Brian Stelter last week for a two-part interview about the new Apple TV, describing the fourth-generation device as an “add-on for most people,” since content providers such as ABC, CNN and WatchESPN still require authenticating with a cable or satellite TV subscription.
Eddy Cue’s interview with CNNMoney about the new Apple TV last week
CNNMoney has now shared a few additional comments Cue made about Apple’s rumored streaming TV service. Specifically, Cue said the new Apple TV could support whole cable packages from content providers such as Comcast, but he refused to elaborate much further, beyond alluding that Apple wants customers to be “able to buy whatever they want, however they want.”
But what about buying a whole cable package, including CBS, right through the TV?
“If Comcast or any other provider wants to do that, they’ll be able to do that with the current Apple TV,” Cue said.
When I asked directly if Apple wants to get to the point that Moonves has been describing, an Apple-branded TV package, Cue said, “We want to get to the point where customers are able to buy whatever they want, however they want. We’re not fixed into ‘There’s only one way to buy it.’ Just like we’ve done with the App Store, where there have been things that have been free; things that you subscribe to; things that you pay for; things that are in-app. All of those capabilities will be here and we want that market to be able to develop.”
Apple’s rumored streaming TV service is expected to deliver a lightweight package of about 25 channels for around $40 per month, anchored by popular networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, and could launch in 2016 following multiple delays in negotiations between Apple and content providers.
The new Apple TV launched last Friday and features an App Store, Siri, tvOS and more.
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Former Sony Pictures exec snags the rights to a ‘GamerGate’ movie
Former head of Sony Pictures Amy Pascal is working on a film based on a coming memoir from Zoe Quinn, the game developer at the heart of the online controversy known as “GamerGate.” Quinn’s memoir, Crash Override: How To Save The Internet From Itself, is due to be published in September 2016 by Touchstone (a Simon & Schuster imprint), Deadline reports. Pascal, who now heads a production company under Sony, won the rights to Crash Override following a bidding war, according to the site. The film is tentatively named Control Alt Delete and Scarlet Johansson is looking at the script.
Source: Deadline
Microgaming Casino Software Review
When it comes to online gambling, the specials and promotions offered by the operators is just half the fun. What use would it be to redeem a $1,200 bonus at the Royal Vegas if there were no games to spend it on? And what would all those Royal Vegas players do if they didn’t have the fine slots, table games and casual games there for them to explore? Luckily (sic!) they have enough games to play at the Royal Vegas , thanks to its supplier of casino software – the Isle of Man based developer Microgaming.
About the company
Microgaming was founded in the early 1990s as an online gaming operator. It claims the honor of being the first company to launch a fully functional real money online casino in 1994. In a few years it has abandoned its online casino, focusing instead on the development of high quality casino games. Today Microgaming has one of the largest libraries of online casino games, with more than 600 titles to choose from.
The downloadable suite
The Royal Vegas – as most other Microgaming powered online casinos – offers its players three ways to play its games. They can either download the Royal Vegas casino suite and install it on their desktop computer, play in a browser window or play on their mobile phones or tablets.
The downloadable suite is small, it has a size of under 1MB, so on today’s quick internet connections it downloads very quickly. The space occupied on the hard drive is not too big either – depending on how many games you routinely play, it will occupy a few tens of megabytes at most. Note that the software doesn’t come with many games pre-loaded – the Royal Vegas suite will download games on demand. Unfortunately this suite will only work on Windows-powered computers.
The browser platform
A cross-platform way to play at the Royal Vegas is to use the casino’s browser interface. Although it has fewer games than the downloadable one, it has the advantage of being available on any PC capable of running Flash (for older games) and HTML5. Players can simply and quickly log on to their accounts, make deposits and withdrawals using the most secure methods and play some of their favorite games quickly.
The mobile version
This one has the smallest variety of games of the three, but it is once again a cross-platform interface – it runs on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and even Blackberry (although on Windows Phone it often misfires). The game variety is smaller, but all games are optimized to mobile play, with a touch interface.
Security
All three platforms have the same industry standard security measures built into them. Microgaming, as well as the Royal Vegas and all of its other partners, undergo periodical security audits in order to keep their services and products as safe as possible.
AIVAnet 