The original Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite.With just over a month to go before the Nintendo Switch 2 release date on June 5th, Nintendo has released a Switch 1 update that will help prepare things for the new console’s arrival. The V20.0.0 update for the original Switch adds a bunch of new features that go along with the Switch 2, like Home menu buttons for the Virtual Game Card and GameShare features that were announced earlier this month, and a new system transfer feature that can store your data in the cloud until you’re ready to put it on a Switch 2 — just make sure you read the instructions closely before trying it.You won’t be able to use the GameShare feature yet, as sharing can only start from a Switch 2 system over local wireless connections — trying to do it between two Switch 1 systems won’t work. You can check out the new Virtual Game Cards that collect digital software and DLC for you to “load” and “eject” between two different systems, and lend games to others in your Nintendo Account family group. If you lend a game to someone else, then you can pull it back while they’re online even if they’re currently playing, but if they go offline without returning it or coming back online, you’ll need to wait until the end of the two-week lending period for it to be returned to your library automatically.Nintendo’s Virtual Game Card Guide explains all of the ins and outs of the new lending system, like how each Switch can only be connected to one other Switch at a time, how to manage your game cards from the web, and how to hide (or unhide) certain cards. To use digital games across more than just two systems or without those restrictions, Nintendo is now relying on the Online License Settings, which are also being added to your Switch 1 in this update. If it’s turned on, it will allow the user to play any of their digitally purchased games and DLC as long as they’re connected to the internet, without relying on virtual game cards.But if you’ve already decided to upgrade, then your first stop might be the new option for “System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2” under the System menu in System Settings. While it can be used for a local system-to-system transfer once your new console arrives, there’s also an option to upload system transfer data to the cloud now, where it will be ready to download to a Switch 2 without requiring access to your old system. While that might be good for someone passing their Switch 1 off to someone else, the downside is that it will factory reset your Switch 1, so it’s better to wait if possible, and it will only be stored for a year if not downloaded. Another wrinkle is that it’s possible to set up a Switch 2 cloud transfer, then cancel it and bring your data back to a Switch 1. However, as Nintendo’s system transfer FAQ explains, while it doesn’t have to be the same Switch 1 you started with, if it started on a Switch OLED, you will only be able to cancel and reload your data on another Switch OLED.

Electronic Arts is reportedly eliminating “between 300 and 400 positions” and scrapping a game set in the Titanfall universe, codenamed R7, that was in the works at Respawn Entertainment, according to Bloomberg.“As part of our continued focus on our long-term strategic priorities, we’ve made select changes within our organization that more effectively aligns teams and allocates resources in service of driving future growth,” EA spokesperson Justin Higgs said in a statement to Bloomberg.In a statement posted on X, Respawn explains that it had to cancel two games that were in “early-stage incubation” and “make some targeted team adjustments” across Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi. “These decisions aren’t easy, and we are deeply grateful to every teammate affected,” the post says. pic.twitter.com/zZ3cWwjRVI— Respawn (@Respawn) April 29, 2025IGN reports that about 100 employees at Respawn were laid off, including developers, QA workers, and publishing staffers. IGN also says that some workers were moved from Respawn over to EA Motive’s Iron Man game, the Battlefield series, “and other projects.”Additionally, Respawn’s SVP of operations Daniel Suarez is now GM of the studio and will report directly to its co-founder and CEO Vince Zampella. In 2021, EA put Zampella in charge of the Battlefield franchise as part of an internal shakeup.

Windows 11 was released in October 2021. I bought a PC a couple of years before it came out, so it arrived with Windows 10 Pro preinstalled. I have other PCs, but still use this six-year-old HP Omen as a primary production machine. Perhaps I’m lazy or didn’t want to mess with a perfectly good Windows system until now. It’s time to upgrade, and I decided to take a calculated risk and opt for an in-place upgrade.

Gerard Barron, chairman and CEO of The Metals Company in San Diego, California on June 8, 2021. | Photo: Getty ImagesThe Metals Company, which has been trying for years to exploit battery materials strewn across the ocean floor, announced today that it has applied for a permit from the Trump administration to start commercially mining in international waters.Together, the company and President Trump are circumventing a multilateral process to develop rules for deep sea mining that has so far prevented any commercial exploitation from happening.Moving forward with mining now, before fully understanding the potential environmental impact or having international rules in place to mitigate the damage, is already angering other governments and conservation groups.“An act of total disregard for international law”“The first application to commercially mine the seabed will be remembered as an act of total disregard for international law and scientific consensus,” Greenpeace International senior campaigner Louisa Casson said in a press release. “Governments around the world must now step up to defend international rules and cooperation against rogue deep sea mining.”Trump signed an executive order last week to try to fast-track deep seabed mining, which he framed as a way to counter China’s dominance in mineral supply chains. The Trump administration claims it has authority to grant permits to mine through the 1980 US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act and because the US has not ratified the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Convention, ratified by more than 160 other nations, established the International Seabed Authority (ISA) that is in the process of crafting rules for deep sea mining. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the executive order “violates international law and harms the overall interests of the international community,” the BBC reported on Friday. The island nation of Nauru initially sponsored The Metals Company (TMC) and its deep-sea mining effort, setting off a scramble to develop international regulations in 2021. The ISA missed a 2023 deadline to draft those rules after failing to reach consensus on thorny issues like who’s liable for paying for any damage that might occur. Scientists and environmental advocates have also argued that there’s still too little we know about the ocean’s abyss to fully understand the risks, let alone mine responsibly there. The surface of the Moon is better mapped than the world’s seafloor, where scientists are still making surprising discoveries that raise questions about whether mining there could have far-reaching effects on marine life and coastal communities. More than 30 countries — including US neighbors Canada and Mexico — have called for a ban or moratorium on deep-sea mining until there are international rules in place.TMC, apparently, is tired of waiting. It has applied for a permit from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to harvest materials from a 25,160 square kilometer-swath of seafloor roughly 1,300 nautical miles south of San Diego. It also applied for two licenses to explore more areas for mining potential. The permit is for an area that’s part of the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a region between Hawaii and Mexico that lies outside of US national jurisdiction and where mining is supposed to be regulated by the ISA, NOAA has previously said on its website. The Clarion Clipperton Zone is full of life that scientists have recently discovered; up to 90 percent of species collected for study here have been completely new to science.The zone has also been a focus of proposed deep sea mining efforts because the seafloor is covered in rock-like polymetallic nodules full of nickel, cobalt, and manganese used in rechargeable batteries and deemed “critical minerals” by the US government. Trump has made sweeping threats in the name of securing critical minerals, from annexing Greenland to warning Ukraine of “big, big problems” if it backed out of a critical minerals deal. Trump is reportedly fond of the nodules. “I’m happy to say, a nodule just like this one was presented to the president last week and now sits on the resolute desk,” Gerard Barron, chairman and CEO of The Metals Company, said during a House Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing held today. “We are offering the United States a shovel-ready path to new and abundant supplies of nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese—critical metals for energy, infrastructure, and defense,” Barron said in a press statement announcing the permit application. “After continuous delay at the international level, the United States now has a clear opportunity to reclaim its leadership role in the deep sea.”The Metals Company says it has invested more than half a billion dollars “preparing for this moment,” and believes it can recover up to 15.5 million metric tons of nickel, 12.8 million metric tons of copper, 2 million metric tons of cobalt, and 345 million metric tons of manganese from the Clarion Clipperton Zone. TMC also contends that mining at sea would be less harmful than mining on land and has repudiated a controversial study published last year — which the company had initially funded — that found evidence of mysterious “dark oxygen” rising from the deep sea.Opponents of deep sea mining, meanwhile, point to alternatives that limit the need to pluck nodules from the seafloor. EV companies, including Tesla, have worked towards reducing the use of nickel and cobalt in batteries. And it’s been estimated that by 2050, half of cobalt and nickel demand for EVs in the US could be met through recycling.

Docker has transformed how we build, ship, and run applications. It has quickly become a crucial tool for developers and operations teams worldwide. Its power lies in simplifying deployment and creating consistent environments. However, like many popular tools, it’s surrounded by a number of misconceptions and half-truths. Frankly, some of these Docker myths have been repeated so often that they've become background noise I'm tired of hearing.

It's never been more critical to use sound security practices when online. Many of you are undoubtedly using a password manager to keep track of your unique, per-account passwords, which is awesome and a massive part of digital security. That can be backed up by 2FA or even a physical TOTP key for another layer of the security onion, but what about those devices that you can't easily change the password on?

France’s President Emmanuel Macron attends a meeting with representatives of the sectors affected by US tariffs, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on April 3, 2025. | Image: MOHAMMED BADRA/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesIn an unprecedented display of diplomatic aggression, French authorities publicly accused Russia of sponsoring several high-profile cyber attacks on French entities for over a decade to gather intelligence and destabilize the country. The incidents include everything from a faked Islamic State takeover of a French television broadcast signal in 2015 to the leak of President Emmanuel Macron’s emails in 2017.On Tuesday, France’s Foreign Ministry formally attributed those cyberattacks and several others to APT28, a Russian military intelligence (GRU) hacking unit also known as Fancy Bear, best known in America for leaking Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and sustained cyberattacks on U.S. political operations. APT28’s activities in France followed the same playbook:  the “Macron leaks” were published the day before France’s presidential election in the hopes of swaying voters, and the faked ISIS broadcast hijacking, which took place in the wake of the 2015 Bataclan terrorist attacks, were intended to “create a panic in France.” According to the French government, the GRU has escalated its cyberattacks against France and other members of the European Union since 2021, shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine. (Ukraine itself has been a longtime frequent target of Russian cyberwarfare.) The intrusions targeted entities not just in government, but also in finance, aerospace and defense, sports organizations affiliated with the 2024 Paris Olympics, think tanks, and the media. To display its own cyber defense capacities, France revealed the geographical location of one of APT28’s units – a signal that its operators were able to trace the origins of Russian cyber incursions.This is the first time France has publicly attributed a cyber attack to a foreign government’s intelligence service, according to Le Monde. The diplomatic environment has shifted profoundly, however: Vladimir Putin refuses to end his years-long invasion of Ukraine without getting to keep the territory he’s seized – an untenable position for both Ukraine and the EU, which views Russian territorial gains as a threat to the EU’s geopolitical integrity. Russian cyberattacks pose an additional threat, both to their national security apparatus and election integrity.In an interview the day before the Ministry’s public declaration, Macron told the media that he believed that France and their Western allies – including President Donald Trump – would increase pressure on Russia “over the next eight to ten days” to accept their terms. He also announced that France and Poland would soon sign a “friendship treaty” that will include joint efforts to combat Russian election interference via cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns in both countries.

There are several unique ways you can use Excel to get the best out of it, but with Microsoft adding a plethora of useful new features every month, it's difficult to quantify how you can be more productive. The best way to tackle this dilemma is to closely monitor and try out what new features Microsoft adds to Excel every month.

Generative AI doesn't advance at the same speed on all fronts. While there are some elements where AI excels, there are others where it's still learning. Coding has definitely fallen into the former bracket, to the point where there are now plugins where you tell the AI what you want to achieve, and it'll write the code for you. It can even fix errors you (or it) made, which both lowered the barrier of entry for programmers and put their jobs at risk at the same time.

Days Gone was developed by Bend Studios, devs known for the iconic Syphon Filter franchise and first released for the PS4 in 2019. 6 years later, and Days Gone is officially back—even if it's just in the form of a remaster.

Lyft has launched “Earnings Assistant,” an AI chatbot tool for drivers seeking to “optimize their time on the road.” With it, drivers can create plans based on information about things like airport arrivals or local events, announced Jeremy Bird, EVP of driver experience at Lyft in an email to The Verge.The Earnings Assistant feature is in early access, and drivers will need to join a waitlist to use it. Once they have access and start planning with the tool, it can offer reminders, and drivers can also ask it for recommendations if they aren’t sure where to go next.In Lyft’s hypothetical example, the driver asks for a plan that stays within a five-hour period in San Francisco and ends at an address in Oakland. It then creates a time-blocked visual that shows where they’re going to be and includes a mention of when the driver can expect a “Turbo” time, when earnings are higher.Lyft says this builds on other recent roll-outs like tweaked Lyft Rewards, and a “Driver Accomplishment Letter” feature, another AI-powered tool that creates a “personalized document” summarizing their work for Lyft, complete with positive feedback from passengers.

Sandfall Interactive has a lot to celebrate following the release of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game was made available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, including Xbox Game Pass. And in just only three days following its release, the game managed to pass over 1 million sales. These numbers come over the weekend, when the game initially passed over 500,000 copies being sold in just over 24 hours.