BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Overwatch to change cowboy character McCree's name
Jesse McCree, a character in Blizzard's Overwatch game, will be renamed in the wake of fallout over sexual harassment allegations against the company. The in-game McCree, a revolver-toting cowboy character, was named after a real-life Blizzard staff member. In August, he and two other executives left the company without explanation. In a statement, the Overwatch team said it was "necessary ... Read more
2021-08-27 20:04:41
Data protection 'shake-up' takes aim at cookie pop-ups
The UK's new Information Commissioner will be charged with a post-Brexit "shake up" of data rules, including getting rid of cookie pop-ups. John Edwards has been named the next head of data regulator the ICO. The government said Mr Edwards, currently the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, would "go beyond the regulator's traditional role". The job would now be "balanced& ... Read more
2021-08-26 19:58:53
Twelve-year-old boy makes £290,000 from whale NFTs
A 12-year-old boy from London has made about £290,000 during the school holidays, after creating a series of pixelated artworks called Weird Whales and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs). With NFTs, artwork can be "tokenised" to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold. They do not generally give the buyer the actual artwork or its copyright. Benyamin Ahme ... Read more
2021-08-26 19:58:19
The real victims of mass crypto-hacks that keep happening
Taxi driver Chris is obsessively checking his phone for updates. "I'm set to lose almost 2,500 euros (£2,100) worth of cryptocurrency coins," he says. Chris describes himself as "a small crypto-holder from Austria" and is one of many victims of a hack attack on cryptocurrency exchange Liquid Global last week. The company has insisted it will pay all customers who lost out in ... Read more
2021-08-25 19:59:35
OnlyFans suspends policy change after backlash
OnlyFans has announced that it will delay making changes to policy on content creation, following a widespread backlash by its users. The content subscription service announced plans last week to block sexually explicit photos and videos from October. On Wednesday, it tweeted that it has "suspended the planned 1 October policy change". It is currently unclear if the delay will be perm ... Read more
2021-08-25 19:58:54
Sensors and AI to monitor Dorset social care patients
One hundred people in Dorset who need social care are to be monitored by artificial intelligence (AI) as part of a three-month pilot. Sensors installed in homes will track behaviour and electricity usage which the AI will analyse to spot potential health problems. Lilli, the UK-based firm behind the technology, says it could cut costs and the number of care visits required. But one expert said ... Read more
2021-08-24 20:13:16
Virgin Hyperloop unveils new pod concept video
Virgin Hyperloop has released a video illustrating its plans for passenger pods using magnetic levitation to travel above 1,000km/h (600mph) through tubes containing a near-vacuum. Rather than connecting to form a train, the pods will travel in convoy, able to leave and join a static track individually, like cars on a motorway. Last year, Virgin Hyperloop completed its first crewed test-track jo ... Read more
2021-08-24 20:12:52
Chip giant's IPO hit by Beijing crackdown on business
Chinese electric car maker BYD's plan to sell shares in its computer chip making unit has been suspended, the latest share offering to be hit by Beijing's crackdown on businesses. The listing has been put on hold due to a regulatory investigation into the law firm advising the company. The plan to list on Shenzen's Nasdaq style market ChiNext was filed in May. The suspension comes amid a broade ... Read more
2021-08-23 19:38:46
Covid: Most popular Facebook link in US spread vaccine doubt
A news article about a doctor who died after receiving a Covid-19 vaccination was Facebook's most viewed link in the US in the first quarter of 2021, a previously shelved report shows. The piece - updated after a report said there was no proven link to the vaccine - was popular with vaccine sceptics. The New York Times claimed that Facebook initially held back its report because it would "l ... Read more
2021-08-23 19:37:53
Afghanistan: Will fingerprint data point Taliban to targets?
"We would go into villages and enrol people into this biometric data system," US Marine Special Operations Command veteran Peter Kiernan recalls. "You had a device about 12 inches by six inches wide. It would scan their fingerprints, it would scan their retina, it would also take a picture of them." It's been a busy week for Mr Kiernan. In Afghanistan, he was in charge of 12 ... Read more
2021-08-22 19:28:22