Tag Archives: author_name|Danny Gallagher

San Francisco aims to take down AI undressing websites in new lawsuit

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San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced he intended to shut down 16 of the most popular AI “undressing” sites at a press conference on Thursday.

The Verge reported that the City Attorney is accusing these sites of violating federal laws regarding revenge pornography, deepfake pornography and child pornography. Chiu’s office also accused the sites of violating the state of California’s unfair competition law because “the harm they cause to consumers greatly outweighs any benefits associated with those practices,” according to the complaint for injunctive relief filed in a California superior court.

The complaint focuses on a total of 50 defendants Chiu intends to prosecute for operating undressing websites. Some of the defendants’ and websites’ names were redacted but it also publicly identifies a few companies that operate “some of the world’s most popular websites that offer to nudify images of women and girls” such as Sol Ecom located in Florida, Briver in New Mexico and the UK-based Itai Tech Ltd. The only identified defendant in the complaint is Augustin Gribinets of Estonia, who is accused of owning an AI undressing site featuring unconsented images of women and children.

These websites have generated over 200 million visits in a six-month period. The nonconsensual images of women and children on these sites “are used to bully, threaten and humiliate women and girls” as they gain more visitors “and this distressing trend shows no sign of abating,” according to the complaint.

The city’s attorney cites one case in its legal complaint from February in which an AI undressing site generated images of 16 eighth grade students at a California middle school. The incident possibly refers to one that occurred at a Beverly Hills high school in which 16 students were circulating fake nude images of other students. The school district expelled five students for their involvement in disseminating the illicit images, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Deepfake technology has become a major legal concern especially on the federal level. Last month, the US Copyright Office published a report on digital replicas and concluded that “a new law is needed.” Just a few days later, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the NO FAKES Act that would institute a new law protecting individuals from having their voice, face or body recreated with AI without their consent.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/san-francisco-aims-to-take-down-ai-undressing-websites-in-new-lawsuit-185202792.html?src=rss

The adorable building game Tiny Glade is coming to Steam on September 23

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The castle construction game Tiny Glade that’s got the Internet uttering a collective “Awwwww, ain’t that cuuuute?” has a release date. Wholesome Games announced today in a new trailer that Tiny Glade will be released on September 23 on Steam. If you can’t wait that long or just wanna get a head start on your virtual village, a demo is available right now on the game’s Steam page.

Tiny Glade is a sandbox building game that seems to go against the competitive grain of most construction games. City building and construction games are fun, but maintaining a huge, virtual metropolis can get harrowing sometimes. You’re just trying to relax at the end of a hard day by playing a game and before you know it, you’re stressing over things like sewer taxes, industrial zones and giant monster attacks.

Tiny Glade is carving out its own space in the building game genre by eliminating all those annoying municipal obstacles and just letting you build something simply for the joy of building it. You can construct huge towering castles or just an adorable little British hamlet that would look like the perfect setting for an Elizabethan-era love story.

The level of detail that you can control is stunning as well. As you move your cursor to build a brick wall or tiled roof, you can see every individual piece pop out of thin air and gradually pile up into your imaginative creations. Everything you can click in your model village can be altered, added or decorated. There are tools to alter the terrain so you can create hills or smooth out the land and add a pristine pond with lily pads, trees and even wildlife like ducks.

Best of all, you don’t have to worry if your hours of creation are in danger of being sacked and torn down by invading hordes or warring factions. Based on this trailer, it looks like Tiny Glade is the relaxing gaming equivalent of taking a long, warm bath.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-adorable-building-game-tiny-glade-is-coming-to-steam-on-september-23-165958935.html?src=rss

Your Meta headset can now display the output of any HDMI or DisplayPort device

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Our lives are full of screens in this digital age but sometimes you can’t access them or you need a bigger one for your tired eyes. Meta announced a new app called Meta Quest HDMI Link for its Quest 2, Quest 3 and Quest Pro headsets that can connect any of your devices with HDMI or DisplayPort and send their output to your VR.

The HDMI Link app is available to download to your headset now from Meta’s App Lab.

HDMI Link lets you watch videos, look at your computer and play games on the headset in your Quest headset from any device with a HDMI or DisplayPort output. You’ll need a UVC and UAC compatible capture card to use the feature and connect it to the device you wish to view and a cable ending in USB-C male to connect the card to your headset.

Wireless options like Quest Air Link or Xbox Cloud Gaming are still available on the Quest headsets and a little easier to use. However, HDMI Link can be useful if you’re in a space where you don’t have access to a solid Wi-Fi connection and can link up to devices that wouldn’t normally play nicely with a Meta Quest headset.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/your-meta-headset-can-now-display-the-output-of-any-hdmi-or-displayport-device-230714344.html?src=rss

Two action movie simulators Action Hero and Vendetta Forever are headed to VR

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The first VR Games Showcase has delivered a deluge of new VR titles like the Arizona Sunshine Remake and Trombone Champ: Unflattened, but two new (and very similar) titles caught my eye: Action Hero and Vendetta Forever. They both appear to be slow motion action games like the brilliant Superhot VR that will let you live out your John Wick firefight fantasies without risking serious bodily injury or your health insurance premiums.

In Fast Travel Games’ Action Hero, you’re an action movie hero starring in a series of five fictional movies including an Indiana Jones-esque Nazi killing adventure, a high tech heist thriller and a Jurassic Park ripoff. Each movie has four different film sequences and you supply all the hot, gun flinging, boulder dodging, raptor punching (yes, you get to punch velociraptors in the face) action. The action moves slow so you can add some style to the scene like firing two high-caliber machine guns at once, pulling off some sweet hand to hand combat and not flinching during powerful explosions.

Vendetta Forever from Meta Space Interactive also puts you in the middle of slow moving action sequences against waves of anonymous enemies. It claims to have an “all-new lo-kill motion mechanic” so you can sidle up to the bad guys or dodge incoming fire like an Olympic gymnast. The style is a little closer to Superhot’s blank canvas scenes but with slightly more detail. 

Vendetta Forever proclaims itself to be an homage to “cult action” movies that are highly stylized and full of heart pumping music and moves like a virtual remake of the PC action sandbox Maximum Action. A demo of the game is available now on Meta’s game store for the Quest 2 and Quest 3.

Action Hero will be available sometime later this year on the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro. Vendetta Forever will be available in October on the PS VR2 as well as the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/two-action-movie-simulators-action-hero-and-vendetta-forever-are-headed-to-vr-214608480.html?src=rss

Arizona Sunshine Remake brings the undead back to VR with enhanced graphics

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It’s only been seven years since the “Fred” started to rise up in the VR zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine, but a remake is already lumbering your way and will land on VR headsets on October 17. Vertigo Games announced the upcoming release of Arizona Sunshine Remake at the first VR Games Showcase. It's slated to come to the Meta Quest 2 and 3, PS VR2 and Steam.

The Arizona Sunshine Remake will feature the same central story and multiplayer modes but with a noticeable graphics update. The zombies look more defined and real in the trailer, with an advanced mutilation system that looks bloody great (pun intended). The remake also comes with all five of the game’s DLC storylines and gameplay modes.

The game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed survivor who treats the presence of zombies the way you’d treat a noisy upstairs neighbor who can’t take a hint. The protagonist calls the shambling ghouls “Fred” as a way to mentally normalize the madness and mayhem unfolding around him as he treks across the titular state, following a radio signal in the hopes of finding other human survivors.

Arizona Sunshine was one of the first big breakout titles in VR that didn’t have a connection to another pop culture property like Marvel Comics or the Batman Arkham games. It came out the same year as other big VR hits like Superhot VR, the first I Expect You to Die puzzle game and Job Simulator. It’s part of a boom time of sorts for VR gaming when the medium was able to find its footing.

Arizona Sunshine is not just a mindless zombie killing machine even if it has multiplayer and endless swarming modes if that’s all you want to do. It’s got a great mix of VR gaming elements with puzzles to solve, strategies to plan as you prepare for a big wave of “Fred” and some genuine tense, immersive moments. It’s everything I always wanted from a zombie apocalypse and the remake sounds like a fun way to play with “Fred” all over again.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/arizona-sunshine-remake-brings-the-undead-back-to-vr-with-enhanced-graphics-194535362.html?src=rss

X ordered to pay $600K to fired employee who didn’t click ‘yes’ on email ultimatum

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Remember when Elon Musk ordered Twitter staff two years ago to “click yes” in an email to promise to work in “extremely hardcore” mode or risk losing their jobs? One of those employees who didn’t click “yes” just won a major ruling, according to the Irish news service RTÉ.

Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled that Gary Rooney, a former senior executive for the company known then as Twitter, was unfairly terminated when he refused to agree to Musk’s email ultimatum in 2022 after nine years with the social media company. The commission also ordered X to pay Rooney €550,000 (roughly $605,000).

WRC adjudication officer Michael MacNamee singled out Musk’s requirement to click “yes” as unfair because refusing to do so “was not capable of constituting an act of resignation.” Therefore, the company had no grounds to justify Rooney’s termination, according to the news report.

Musk sent an email to all Twitter employees in November of 2022 just a month after taking over the social media company issuing an ultimatum of commitment. The email with the subject line “A Fork in the Road” told Twitter’s then staff that they should expect to work “extremely hardcore” including “long hours at high intensity.” Musk gave his staff the opportunity to click a link in the email “If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter” and gave them 24 hours to either agree to the commitment by clicking the link or refusing to do so. Those who didn’t click the link would be terminated and given three months of severance pay.

MacNamee ruled that Musk’s 24-hour deadline was not a “reasonable notice” for his staffers to consider the fate of their jobs. He also said no employee “could possibly be faulted for refusing to be compelled to give an open-ended unqualified assent to any of the proposals.” Twitter’s HR department confirmed that Rooney’s termination was due to his decision not to click the email link despite not knowing about a possible severance or the implications of staying with the company.

Rooney is far from the last of Musk’s former employees to take their former employer to court either for his behavior or what they deemed to be an unjust termination. A lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former SpaceX employee accused the company of gender discrimination and basic safeguarding failures.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-ordered-to-pay-600k-to-fired-employee-who-didnt-click-yes-on-email-ultimatum-220130483.html?src=rss

The FTC finalizes its rules clamping down on fake online reviews

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The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) crackdown on fabricated reviews and fake consumer and celebrity testimonials has produced new official federal regulations to prevent the use of these practices on websites and e-commerce hubs. The FTC approved the new rules against the buying and selling of fake reviews and product testimonials with a 5-0 vote on Wednesday. The rules will become effective in 60 days.

The new FTC rules address the practice of buying and selling fake consumer reviews, including the use of AI-generated consumer and celebrity testimonials for products or services. They also prevent “providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative” and prohibit “a business from misrepresenting that a website or entity it controls provides independent reviews or opinions” about products or services, according to a statement released by the FTC.

The formal ban also comes with stiff penalties for violators of the new rules. Fines could reach as high as $50,000 per violation.

The FTC officially announced its intent to seek new rules for such practices last October. The Commission has been trying to get control of fake online reviews and testimonials for years. The first such case was resolved in 2019 against the Amazon seller Cure Encapsulations Inc. The company was accused of paying for fake feedback for its weight-loss products from the amazonvierifiedreviews.com website, and the FTC slapped them with a $12.8 million fine. The FTC has also investigated similar cases against the supplement maker The Bountiful Company for “review hijacking” its products’ reviews and ratings on Amazon that ended with a $600,000 fine, and the skincare maker Sunday Riley that created fake online reviews by ordering employees to write them.

The government isn’t the only entity trying to discourage the buying and selling of fake reviews. The service recommendation website Yelp created a database that lists businesses who received warnings for posting or buying fake reviews for its Yelp page.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-ftc-finalizes-its-rules-clamping-down-on-fake-online-reviews-191339646.html?src=rss

Meet the man who set a world record by hooking up 444 consoles to one TV

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Chances are you’ve got a couple of old video game consoles gathering dust in your closet right now. Would you be able to hook all of them up to your TV without some kind of adapter? Meet a guy who owns 444 game consoles and has them all hooked up to a single television, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Ibrahim Al-Nasser of Riyadh holds a Guinness World Record for the most video game consoles hooked up to a single television. His collection includes some of the classics such as the first Sony PlayStation, the Nintendo 64 and (his personal favorite) the Sega Genesis, complete with the 32x and Sega CD expansions. He also owns and can play games on those handheld plug-and-play consoles with arcade classics like Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug that you find in Target, classic and modern handhelds like the Hyperkin SuperBoy and obscure consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey.

Al-Nasser uses a series of switchers to play each console on a single screen. He keeps track of their location and powering procedure on an Excel spreadsheet. He’s even organized his collection so the cables aren’t showing or creating the kind of tangled mess most of us have to deal with when we have just two consoles hooked up to a single television.

That may sound like a lot of video game consoles for one collection but it’s far from the actual record. Linda Guillory of Garland, Texas currently holds the record for the largest collection of playable gaming systems with her collection of 2,430 items, according to Guinness World Records.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/meet-the-man-who-set-a-world-record-by-hooking-up-444-consoles-to-one-tv-171848639.html?src=rss

The pixelated cyberpunk platformer Replaced has been pushed back to 2025

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Sad Cat Studios announced on X that it is delaying its highly anticipated cyberpunk action game Replaced to next year.

The studio says in its online statement that its expectations for the Xbox and PC exclusive are high since they first announced the game at E3 in 2021. It wants to make sure it meets those expectations and doesn’t want to rush the production process.

“Our initial release was optimistic, and we apologize for that,” the statement reads. “Developing Replaced is quite a unique challenge, and we’re proud to be creating something that special. We need more time to ensure we meet the high standards we’ve set for ourselves and to meet the expectations of our fans.”

If there are no more delays and Sad Cat feels the game meets its expectations, Replaced will now be released in 2025.

This marks the third time that Replaced’s release date has been moved by Sad Cat Studios. The first delay moved the game from 2022 to 2023 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced the studio to relocate developers from its offices in Belarus and Ukraine for their safety, according to Eurogamer.

Last year, Sad Cat Studios announced on X its second release date shift to this year. The statement echoed similar concerns about making sure they released a game that met fans’ expectations instead of a “sub-par game.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-pixelated-cyberpunk-platformer-replaced-has-been-pushed-back-to-2025-220802916.html?src=rss

Halloween’s Michael Myers and Ash vs. Evil Dead’s Ash Williams are getting their own throwback games

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Michael Myers may be dead and Ash Williams may be flung far into the future, but they aren’t done slashing up the screen here and now. Boss Level Games announced the upcoming release of two new retro style games under its RetroRealms banner based on the classic slasher flick Halloween and the Starz horror comedy series Ash vs. Evil Dead.

The retro Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead titles will be released on October 18 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PCs via Steam.

The Halloween game puts players in control of the murder machine Michael Myers during the events of the original John Carpenter film as he hacks and slashes his way through Haddonfield, Illinois with his iconic butcher knife. The Ash vs. Evil Dead game pits players as the horror movie and TV series hero with his arm-mounted chainsaw and his beloved boomstick against an onslaught of Deadites unleashed by the Necronomicon.

The games will be sold separately, or together as part of a special “Double Feature” bundle. There’s also a special “Collectors’ Edition” that includes a physical copy of the game for your chosen console, two extra playable characters — including Laurie Strode for Halloween and Kelly Maxwell for Ash vs. Evil Dead — and a bunch of other Halloween goodies like a 12-inch plush Michael Myers doll, a digital copy of the Halloween game’s soundtrack, a pack of Halloween trading cards and more. The games connect to each other when both are installed through crossover access in which characters can be brought to either game and “an ever-expanding universe of popular characters that unlocks additional gameplay,” according to Boss Team Games.

Boss Team Games is one of the studios behind the popular asymmetric survival horror multiplayer slasher Evil Dead: The Game. The studio’s press release also notes that these two games will be “the first two releases in a new series of games for console and PC” implying that more throwback game projects are in the works.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/halloweens-michael-myers-and-ash-vs-evil-deads-ash-williams-are-getting-their-own-throwback-games-193000903.html?src=rss