Image: Epic Games Epic Games is about to let Fortnite creators publish experiences with first-person modes, and to help show what’s possible, Epic itself is introducing a tactical FPS shooter that seems like it will play a lot like Counter-Strike or Valorant.The new mode, called “Ballistic,” is “an adrenaline-filled, round-based 5v5 competitive game mode where strategy, tactical teamwork, and individual prowess are essential for victory,” according to an Epic blog post. Players will be split into two teams, with one that has to plant the bomb — sorry, I mean the “Rift Point Device” — and another that has to defend against that. Between rounds, you’ll be able to buy gear for the next one. Teams will switch sides after six rounds, and the first to win seven rounds will be crowned the victor.This isn’t the first time Epic has cribbed a game idea for Fortnite: its racing and festival modes both borrow a lot from Psyonix’s Rocket League and Harmonix’s Rock Band (Epic owns both studios), the Lego survival mode has a lot of similarities to Minecraft, and Epic even admitted that the (now-gone) Impostors mode was inspired by Among Us. Heck, the game’s main battle royale mode was actually a spinoff that followed the success of PUBG.But now that Epic is trying to make Fortnite into something more akin to Roblox (another inspiration!), where players are encouraged to sample lots of experiences instead of just one, modes like Ballistic and Reload let Epic experiment with different ideas without changing the core battle royale experience. And since your purchased Fortnite outfits and gear generally work across all of the modes, there’s a financial incentive for Epic to add more experiences, too.Ballistic launches in early access on December 11th. Fortnite creators will be able to publish their own experiences with first-person modes that same day.Ballistic is arriving during an already busy time for Fortnite. The game’s Japanese-themed season kicked off at the beginning of the week, and on Friday, Epic launched the permanent version of its throwback OG mode.

Image: The Verge There’s plenty to consider when it comes to deciding whether you want to engage with the many generative AI bots now available inside our apps. These include the ethics of copyright use, soaring energy demands, and the diminishing of human creativity, to begin with.Something else to bear in mind when engaging with these tools is they’re often going to use your flesh-and-blood human inputs to further train their underlying models. While some AI companies make efforts to anonymize this data, it’s something you may not feel comfortable with. The good news is, in most cases, you can find a setting to turn the training off.Disabling AI training isn’t quite the same as wiping your AI chatbot history, though they are linked. Your chats can still be used for training purposes before they’re wiped, and you may well want to keep your chat history in place — but at the same time stop AI companies from using your data for model refinement.Here are instructions on how to turn off AI training on several AI or AI-supporting apps.ChatGPT Screenshot: ChatGPT On ChatGPT, you can refuse to “improve the model for everyone.” On the webClick your profile picture (top... Read the full story at The Verge.

Personal accounting tools can be a godsend when it comes to managing finances, though privacy can be an issue when you're using third-party accounting applications. Thankfully, there are a couple of bookkeeping apps you could self-host on your server to keep a weather eye on your monthly bills, budget allocations, and other aspects of your personal finances. Firefly III (not to be confused with Adobe’s non-self-hosted AI generator) is easily one of the best tools for the purpose, and this guide will walk you through the process of setting it up on your home lab.

Image: Apple We already knew that the tensions and scares were going to ramp up in season 2 of Severance, and the latest trailer provides a deeper glimpse into what to expect — along with teasing answers to some important (and weird) questions.The show follows a megacorporation called Lumon Industries, which utilizes a new procedure called severance that allows workers to spatially split their brains, creating two selves: one who works for Lumon, and another who lives life on the outside. The new clip shows the return of four Lumon employees — Mark (Adam Scott), Dylan (Zach Cherry), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) — who are back in the office after managing to bridge those two different worlds. However, it’s unclear if they’re actually in trouble for their actions; instead, they’ve turned into celebrities of sorts.That doesn’t mean that the vibes are any less unsettling, though, with the always-intense supervisor Milchick (Tramell Tillman) saying things like, “I’m tightening the leash.” More than anything, the new trailer promises answers to some of Severance’s strangest questions. There’s the mystery of what actually goes down in Lumon’s basement, which we’re told “will be remembered as one of the greatest moments on this planet” as well as just what the hell is going on with all of the goats. The trailer also introduces an unexpected new question: how could a child be an office manager?Clearly, there’s a lot going on in season 2, and it’s not too far off now. The new season of Severance starts streaming on January 17th. In the meantime, here are some excellent new posters. Image: Apple

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Friday it had placed Google Payment Corp. under federal supervision, reports Reuters. Google reportedly filed a lawsuit to block the CFPB’s order, which could result in routine inspections and monitoring like those imposed on banks.The agency found that Google’s error resolution and fraud prevention processes pose risks to consumers, citing consumer complaints about Google Pay Balance and Google’s peer-to-peer payments. Those complaints, which Google’s lawsuit claims are “unsubstantiated,” according to The Washington Post, include that the company didn’t seem to fully investigate fraudulent charges and didn’t “adequately explain” the results of those investigations. The CFPB says its finding that Google should be supervised doesn’t mean the company is “guilty of wrongdoing.” It also notes in its order that Google Pay and the P2P platform were discontinued earlier this year.Google spokesperson José Castañeda provided a statement to The Verge: This is a clear case of government overreach involving Google Pay peer-to-peer payments, which never raised risks and is no longer provided in the U.S., and we are challenging it in court.Update December 7th: Added statement from Google spokesperson José Castañeda.

Wireless technology is everywhere, and its ubiquitous nature is one of the most convenient things about modern life. It's also gotten a lot better in recent years, so it no longer has drawbacks for gaming, and you don't need a wired connection for the fastest download speeds. But even with how much it's improved, there are still times when a wired LAN can't be beaten, and security is one of those times. Even with modern encryption standards, there are still ways to snoop on wireless traffic, and as they're an inherent part of how Wi-Fi works, they aren't going away any time soon.

I've built a couple of Ryzen-based PCs at this point, with my most recent putting the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D at its core. In doing so, I remembered just how much of a nuisance Ryzen machines can be to build, and while it's not difficult, you need to be especially careful about how you build it. While there are optimal ways to build a PC, typically you can suboptimally build a PC with an Intel CPU and not face immediate problems.

People shelter under umbrellas from the wind and rain as they cross a road near Shinjuku train station on October 12, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan ahead of Typhoon Hagibis’ expected landfal later in the evening. | Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images GenCast, a new AI model from Google DeepMind, is accurate enough to compete with traditional weather forecasting. It managed to outperform a leading forecast model when tested on data from 2019, according to recently published research. AI isn’t going to replace traditional forecasting anytime soon, but it could add to the arsenal of tools used to predict the weather and warn the public about severe storms. GenCast is one of several AI weather forecasting models being developed that might lead to more accurate forecasts.GenCast is one of several AI weather forecasting models that might lead to more accurate forecasts“Weather basically touches every aspect of our lives ... it’s also one of the big scientific challenges, predicting the weather,” says Ilan Price, a senior research scientist at DeepMind. “Google DeepMind has a mission to advance AI for the benefit of humanity. And I think this is one important way, one important contribution on that front.”Price and his colleagues tested GenCast against the ENS system, one of the world’s top-tier models for forecasting that’s run by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). GenCast outperformed ENS 97.2... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: NASA Can privately owned space stations replace the ISS? And what becomes of the research? Read the full story at The Verge.

If you've bought a new Android phone, chances are it came pre-installed with some apps you don't care about. OEMs often partner with other brands and companies to pre-install their apps on their devices, and these apps can be anything ranging from streaming services to music players. If your phone is locked to a particular carrier, there would be some apps your carrier has also pre-installed on your device that you may never use. Funnily enough, you can sometimes even change the region on your device, and the preinstalled apps will visibly change.

Among all the powerful features and functions Excel has to offer, the ability to create a project dashboard is one of the most useful ones for most corporate employees or small businesses. A dashboard gives you a complete overview of your data with dynamic visualization of numbers and stats. So, whether you want to track your sales in real time or check the concurrent visitors on your website, an Excel dashboard is a great way to do it.

Gaming headsets are pretty expensive if you're looking for one with great qualities. Luckily, these ones from Logitech are now on sale, and are actually some of the best ones you can buy if you're looking for great headsets on a budget. For a limited time, you can score the Logitech G435 Lightspeed with a huge discount, with Amazon knocking at whopping 54% off, coming in at just $37.