TechCrunch

A number of HTC Vive Flow images leaked recently and suggest that the upcoming virtual reality headset will have a far more interesting look than the company's previous VR headsets. The images also show that the headset has a surprising amount of depth when it comes to the features being showcased. Taiwanese electronics giant HTC has a history in developing virtual reality hardware that appeals to a wider audience instead of just hardcore tech enthusiasts.

The company unveiled its Vive VR headset lineup more than five years ago, and has released various iterations since then. If there's one thing HTC Vive headsets have in common, it's their futuristic and sometimes bizarre aesthetic. As the concept of VR alone continues to produce shocking results, HTC has continued to make outlandish-looking tech pieces available to the mass market, from its obscurely-shaped Vive Focus to the unique geometrical cut-outs of the Vive Cosmos.

It appears that HTC isn't dropping this trend anytime soon, as leaks of its upcoming Vive Flow headset depict yet another standout set of VR goggles complete with reflective lenses that strangely resemble massive bug-eye sunglasses. Prolific leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) released the set of promotional images to Twitter, with the materials detailing some of what consumers can expect from the Vive Flow. For example, the leaked images show that the headset itself will retail for $499, with pre-orders starting on October 15 and shipments beginning some time in early November.

The Vive Flow's design certainly has the living room in mind instead of the usual VR cave, with an emphasis on portability. The leaked images show how the headset can project media streamed from a tethered smartphone while using the handset as a remote control. Other features include an “active cooling system” using an internal fan in the center, which could be useful for those planning on wearing the goggles for longer periods, or for those that want to take VR motion to the next level. The images also showcase the Vive Flow's built-in audio system that features “immersive spatial audio,” though it's unclear whether these are utilizing bone conduction technology or just external speakers.

Overall, the Vive Flow is marketed as VR goggles designed for “well-being and mindful productivity” so whether it is an alternative to gaming-focused headsets like the Oculus Quest remains to be seen. Perhaps the HTC Vive Flow will take a more grounded approach in presenting itself as a health and well-being-oriented tool that complements one's lifestyle. If that is the case, it just might be able to break the mold of devices that are typically associated with escapism and isolation, especially given the many potential use cases of VR headsets outside of gaming.

Source: Evan Blass/Twitter

Many popular tabletop RPG systems see dinosaurs show up occasionally as enemies, but a few true dinosaur RPGs are entirely centered around dinos and other marvelous megafauna. These dinosaur RPG systems and settings tell of worlds of prehistoric fantasy, scientific expeditions to forgotten lands, and Jurassic Park-style theme parks where dangerous creatures have just broken free from their cages.

Ever since paleontologists started excavating, studying, and displaying the fossilized remains of creatures from the clade Dinosauria (meaning "terrible lizards"), people have been creating works of fiction where humans get the chance to encounter living dinosaurs. Jules Verne described creatures from the Mesozoic era in the underground setting of Journey to the Center of the Earth. Arthur Conan Doyle placed living dinosaurs and primordial hominids atop an isolated plateau in The Lost World. More recently, Michael Crichton's book series Jurassic Park and its film adaptations envisioned theme parks filled with prehistoric creatures resurrected by genetic engineering, while James Gurney's beautifully illustrated Dinotopia books described an isolated island continent where humans and sentient dinosaurs lived together in a harmonious, decentralized utopia.

The following sci-fi and fantasy tabletop RPGs draw inspiration from these seminal works of dinosaur-focused adventure fiction, while also incorporating more contemporary breakthroughs in paleontology (dinosaurs having feathers, for instance). Fundamentally, each of these dinosaur RPGs leans heavily into the fundamental "coolness" of the prehistoric creatures - and how interesting it would be for humans to be able to fight, flee from, pet, and ride them.

Planegea, a dinosaur-filled fantasy setting for D&D 5e, takes place on a primordial, freshly-formed land of verdant jungles, wild creatures, and wandering hunter-gatherer tribes. It's a twist on the classic Dungeons & Dragons fantasy world, where clerics worship scattered pantheons of small, unfinished gods, wizards tattoo spells onto their skin, and dwarves are partially made of stone. It's also a world chock full of dinosaurs, with tyrannosaurs, pterodactyls, raptors, and other creatures from different epochs of prehistory coexisting in glorious anachronism.

A prehistory adventure setting built around the Cypher RPG system of Monte Cook Games, Predation uses time travel tropes instead of fantasy ones to bring humans and dinosaurs together. In the backstory of Predation, a time-traveling megacorporation called SATI established a colony of humans on Earth during the Cretaceous era, then time travel stopped working, and the temporal colonists were cut off from support and resupply. Players in a game of Predation portray both human descendants of the original colonists and their dinosaur companions as they adventure, scavenge leftover technology, and figure out how they'll survive the huge asteroid destined to hit the planet in the not-too-distant future.

Hollow Earth Expedition is an RPG steeped in 20th-century pulp adventure fiction tropes - including the problematic, colonialist ones, as evidenced by cover art that prominently exotifies stereotypical depictions of Indigenous women. The game draws heavy inspiration from the Pellucidar novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, which take place in a massive space at the center of the Earth filled with ancient civilizations, animals from the depths of prehistory, and mutated creatures with no paleontological basis. Player characters in Hollow Earth Expedition are liable to encounter giant mushroom forests, massive killer worms, cultures descended from ancient Roman legions and 17th-century pirates, mad scientists, Fascist villains practically begging for a fist to the face, and oodles of dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.

Named after the famous last words of Muldoon in the first Jurassic Park movie, the Clever Girl journaling dinosaur RPG is a pure homage to the series. Each Clever Girl playthrough starts off in a Jurassic Park-style dinosaur theme park, where a group of genetically engineered predators have escaped from their pens. Players adopt either the perspective of humans on the run, forced to choose between risking their lives to help others or playing it safe by leaving them to die, or the perspective of newly freed raptors, hunting down humans for food or revenge.

 Code hosting platform GitHub has revoked weak SSH authentication keys that were generated via the GitKraken git GUI client due to a vulnerability in a third-party library that increased the likelihood of duplicated SSH keys.

As an added precautionary measure, the Microsoft-owned company also said it's building safeguards to prevent vulnerable versions of GitKraken from adding newly generated weak keys.

The problematic dependency, called "keypair," is an open-source SSH key generation library that allows users to create RSA keys for authentication-related purposes. It has been found to impact GitKraken versions 7.6.x, 7.7.x, and 8.0.0, released between May 12, 2021, and September 27, 2021.

The flaw — tracked as CVE-2021-41117 (CVSS score: 8.7) — concerns a bug in the pseudo-random number generator used by the library, resulting in the creation of a weaker form of public SSH keys, which, owing to their low entropy — i.e., the measure of randomness — could boost the probability of key duplication.

"This could enable an attacker to decrypt confidential messages or gain unauthorized access to an account belonging to the victim," keypair's maintainer Julian Gruber said in an advisory published Monday. The issue has since been addressed in keypair version 1.0.4 and GitKraken version 8.0.1.

Axosoft engineer Dan Suceava has been credited with discovering the security weakness, while GitHub security engineer Kevin Jones has been acknowledged for identifying the cause and source code location of the bug. As of writing, there's no evidence the flaw was exploited in the wild to compromise accounts.

Affected users are highly recommended to review and "remove all old GitKraken-generated SSH keys stored locally" and "generate new SSH keys using GitKraken 8.0.1, or later, for each of your Git service providers" such as GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, among others.

Update: Along with GitHub, Microsoft Azure DevOps, GitLab, and Atlassian Bitbucket have also initiated mass revocations of SSH keys connected to accounts where the GitKraken client was used to synchronize source code, urging users to revoke the SSH public keys and generate new keys using the updated version of the app.

The list of weird things with Elon Musk attached to them continues to grow, and this time, it's a beer. Specifically, it's the Gigabeer, or Gigabier in German. What is that? We really don't know, but it's an adult beverage inside a container that vaguely recalls the Tesla Cybertruck. Really, it's a little piece of celebration as Tesla prepares to (hopefully) begin production at its new Gigafactory in Berlin next month.

Musk announced the beer at a special event at the plant this past weekend and didn't say much else beyond the fact Tesla will make it. It will likely be akin to the Tesla Tequila, in the sense of being some sort of limited-run beverage that collectors will scoop up and try to preserve. Tesla Tequila bottles, with or without the liquor inside, can sell for $1,000 these days. The bottle retailed for $250 when new.

Perhaps the Gigabeer will arrive by the end of this year to coincide with the potential production start at the new factory. When the new Gigafactory does come online, it'll be responsible for assembling the Model Y to start, but it may also play a part in an even cheaper Tesla vehicle to come. Musk previously sounded open to a European-centric model like a Model 3 hatchback.

Meet Roadshow's long-term 2021 Tesla Model Y

 If you use an Android phone and are (rightfully!) worried about digital privacy, you’ve probably taken care of the basics already. You’ve deleted the snoopiest of the snoopy apps, opted out of tracking whenever possible, and taken all of the other precautions the popular how-to privacy guides have told you to. The bad news—and you might want to sit down for this—is that none of those steps are enough to be fully free of trackers.

Or at least, that’s the thrust of a new paper from researchers at Trinity College in Dublin who took a look at the data-sharing habits of some popular variants of Android’s OS, including those developed by Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei. According to the researchers, “with little configuration” right out of the box and when left sitting idle, these devices would incessantly ping back device data to the OS’s developers and a slew of selected third parties. And what’s worse is that there’s often no way to opt out of this data-pinging, even if users want to.

A lot of the blame here, as the researchers point out, fall on so-called “system apps.” These are apps that come pre-installed by the hardware manufacturer on a certain device in order to offer a certain kind of functionality: a camera or messages app are examples. Android generally packages these apps into what’s known as the device’s “read only memory” (ROM), which means you can’t delete or modify these apps without, well, rooting your device. And until you do, the researchers found they were constantly sending device data back to their parent company and more than a few third parties—even if you never opened the app at all.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you own a Samsung device that happens to be packaged with some Microsoft bloatware pre-installed, including (ugh) LinkedIn. Even though there’s a good chance you’ll never open LinkedIn for any reason, that hard-coded app is constantly pinging back to Microsoft’s servers with details about your device. In this case, it’s so-called “telemetry data,” which includes details like your device’s unique identifier, and the number of Microsoft apps you have installed on your phone. This data also gets shared with any third-party analytics providers these apps might have plugged in, which typically means Google, since Google Analytics is the reigning king of all the analytics tools out there.

As for the hard-coded apps that you might actually open every once in a while, even more data gets sent with every interaction. The researchers caught Samsung Pass, for example, sharing details like timestamps detailing when you were using the app, and for how long, with Google Analytics. Ditto for Samsung’s Game Launcher, and every time you pull up Samsung’s virtual assistant, Bixby.

Samsung isn’t alone here, of course. The Google messaging app that comes pre-installed on phones from Samsung competitor Xiaomi was caught sharing timestamps from every user interaction with Google Analytics, along with logs of every time that user sent a text. Huawei devices were caught doing the same. And on devices where Microsoft’s SwiftKey came pre-installed, logs detailing every time the keyboard was used in another app or elsewhere on the device were shared with Microsoft, instead.

We’ve barely scratched the surface here when it comes to what each app is doing on every device these researchers looked into, which is why you should check out the paper or, better yet, check out our handy guide on spying on Android’s data-sharing practices yourself. But for the most part, you’re going to see data being shared that looks pretty, well, boring: event logs, details about your device’s hardware (like model and screen size), along with some sort of identifier, like a phone’s hardware serial number and mobile ad identifier, or “AdID.”

On their own, none of these data points can identify your phone as uniquely yours, but taken together, they form a unique “fingerprint” that can be used to track your device, even if you try to opt out. The researchers point out that while Android’s advertising ID is technically resettable, the fact that apps are usually getting it bundled with more permanent identifiers means that these apps—and whatever third parties they’re working with—will know who you are anyway. The researchers found this was the case with some of the other resettable IDs offered by Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, and Huawei.

To its credit, Google does have a few developer rules meant to hinder particularly invasive apps. It tells devs that they can’t connect a device’s unique ad ID with something more persistent (like that device’s IMEI, for example) for any sort of ad-related purpose. And while analytics providers are allowed to do that linking, they can only do it with a user’s “explicit consent.”

“If reset, a new advertising identifier must not be connected to a previous advertising identifier or data derived from a previous advertising identifier without the explicit consent of the user,” Google explains on a separate page detailing these dev policies. “You must abide by a user’s ‘Opt out of Interest-based Advertising’ or ‘Opt out of Ads Personalization’ setting. If a user has enabled this setting, you may not use the advertising identifier for creating user profiles for advertising purposes or for targeting users with personalized advertising.”

It’s worth pointing out that Google puts no rules on whether developers can collect this information, just what they’re allowed to do with it after it’s collected. And because these are pre-installed apps that are often stuck on your phone, the researchers found that they were often allowed to side-step user’s privacy explicit opt-out settings by just... chugging along in the background, regardless of whether or not that user opened them. And with no easy way to delete them, that data collection’s going to keep on happening (and keep on happening) until that phone’s owner either gets creative with rooting or throws their device into the ocean.

Google, when asked about this un-opt-out-able data collection by the folks over at BleepingComputer, responded that this is simply “how modern smartphones work”:

As explained in our Google Play Services Help Center article, this data is essential for core device services such as push notifications and software updates across a diverse ecosystem of devices and software builds. For example, Google Play services uses data on certified Android devices to support core device features. Collection of limited basic information, such as a device’s IMEI, is necessary to deliver critical updates reliably across Android devices and apps.

Which sounds logical and reasonable, but the study itself proves that it’s not the whole story. As part of the study, the team looked into a device outfitted with /e/OS, a privacy-focused open-source operating system that’s been pitched as a “deGoogled” version of Android. This system swaps Android’s baked-in apps—including the Google Play store—with free and open source equivalents that users can access with no Google account required. And wouldn’t you know it, when these devices were left idle, they sent “no information to Google or other third parties,” and “essentially no information” to /e/’s devs themselves.

In other words, this aforementioned tracking hellscape is clearly only inevitable if you feel like Google’s presence on your phones is inevitable, too. Let’s be honest here—it kind of is for most Android users. So what’s a Samsung user to do, besides, y’know, get tracked?

Well, you can get lawmakers to care, for starters. The privacy laws we have on the books today—like GDPR in the EU, and the CCPA in the U.S.—are almost exclusively built to address the way tech companies handle identifiable forms of data, like your name and address. So-called “anonymous” data, like your device’s hardware specs or ad ID, typically falls through the cracks in these laws, even though they can typically be used to identify you regardless. And if we can’t successfully demand an overhaul of our country’s privacy laws, then maybe one of the many massive antitrust suits Google’s staring down right now will eventually get the company to put a cap in some of these invasive practices.

 In a few days, Google will officially unveil its all-new series, Google Pixel 6 series. According to reports, this flagship series will arrive on October 19th in the U.S. and it will have two models. This series will have the Google Pixel 6 as well as the Pixel 6 Pro. A few days to the official launch of this series, the standard Pixel 6 is now available in Geekbench. As usual, the Geekbench listing reveals some key details about this upcoming flagship smartphone.

This series will be the first-ever Google smartphone to use its self-developed Tensor chip. According to Google, the Pixel 6 series will be far ahead of any smartphone that the company has released in the past. The latest Geekbench listing shows that this device will come with a Mali G78 GPU. The listing also reveals that the Google Pixel 6 scores 1027 on the single-core test. However, in the multi-core testing, this smartphone scores 2706. While the single-core score appears to exceed Snapdragon 888 SoC, the multi-core score falls short of the SD888 SoC. The model tested comes with 8GB of RAM. In terms of internal storage, we may get up to 265GB / 512GB.

In terms of availability, there is official confirmation from Google that this device will be available in eight countries.

Google Pixel 6 series speculations

From the Pixel 6 renders so far, there are some differences between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. On the front surface, the Google Pixel 6 has thicker bezels than the Pixel 6 Pro. This means that the Google Pixel 6 Pro has a better display effect than the Pixel 6. Furthermore, it appears that the punch-hole of the Pixel 6 is smaller than the Pixel 6 Pro. In addition to the thin bezel of the Google Pixel 6 Pro, it also has a premium hyperboloid display. The overall screen-to-body ratio is very high.

The Pixel 6 comes with a 6.4-inch FHD+ display while the Pixel 6 Pro uses a 6.7-inch QHD+ panel. Both phones have three rear cameras, but the Pixel 6 Pro has a 4x zoom telephoto lens. According to reports, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will get five years of software updates. This includes four years of major Android updates. The company has officially confirmed that these flagship smartphones will launch this fall. However, some reports claim that they will launch in October. In terms of software, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will get the best experience under the support of the Material You dynamic theme of Android 12. In addition, Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have the most built-in hardware security layers, which are very powerful in terms of security protection.

Source:mysmartprice

 Hit South Korean show Squid Game has officially become Netflix's biggest original series launch, the streaming service said on Wednesday.

The nine-part thriller, in which cash-strapped contestants play childhood games with deadly consequences in a bid to win 45.6 billion won ($38 million), has become a worldwide sensation for Netflix since its launch less than a month ago.

The dystopian drama has inspired countless memes, Halloween costumes of the ubiquitous green tracksuits worn by contestants and real world recreations of the various games. It has also sparked a debate within South Korea about toxic competitive societies and prompted new interest in the country's culture and language around the world.

"Squid Game has officially reached 111 million fans — making it our biggest series launch ever!" Netflix posted on Twitter.

The series reached that total in just 27 days, since its release on September 17, easily outpacing UK costume drama Bridgerton, which was streamed by 82 million accounts in its first 28 days.

Netflix gives limited information on viewing figures for its platform and cuts the data it does provide in various ways. The 28-day debut figures it released for Bridgerton and other shows included any account that watched an episode for at least two minutes.

Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told a tech conference in California last month said the streaming service was surprised by how popular Squid Game has become.

"We did not see that coming, in terms of its global popularity," he said.

The series was so popular that South Korean Internet service provider SK Broadband sued Netflix to pay for costs from increased network traffic and maintenance work because of the surge in viewers.

And a South Korean woman was in talks with the US firm about compensation after she was deluged with thousands of prank calls and text messages when her phone number was inadvertently highlighted as a key plot point in the series.

Netflix has it would spend more than $500 million on content produced in South Korea this year.

 Google Android 12 is the next operating system that comes with various new features. Android is open source and provides different types of customizations for the smartphone makers to customize Android and make it as a base of their custom software skin just like the Huawei EMUI.

However, if you are coming from any phone such as Huawei, Samsung, and others, you may find that Pixel device has minimized and a limited amount of apps, that solely launched by Google. This clean and Google apps only user experience is called – Stock Android.

But HarmonyOS is the next operating system that has entered on Huawei phones in China with the version HarmonyOS 2. Therefore, more and more device owners continue to upgrade over this new open-source operating system to ramp up HarmonyOS numbers to stand up against Android.

Image Credit:huawei central

In the past, we’ve compared different Android software including numerous types of software skins but this time, we’ll compare stock Android 12 vs HarmonyOS 2. For this HarmonyOS 2 vs Android 12 comparison, we’ll first dive into the quick settings feature of both of the software and see which one is the best.

Android 12 is powered by Material You, a new user interface design specially designed for the Android ecosystem. The Android 12 Quick Settings panel shows the same integrations. Once shipped downwards, you can access the quick settings and there are various tiles (quick tap buttons), that have a good amount of width to make sure that you don’t miss a tap.

The brightness control and volume sliders also have now bigger sliders. However, the position of the brightness slider at the top should have been at the bottom side. You can also edit the Quick Settings options and add more into them or remove any if you want.

However, a virtual power button is a lifesaver, and it’s presented on the Android 12, from which, you can tap on emergency, initiate a lockdown, turn off the device or restart it. You don’t have to press the physical key to do such actions.

HarmonyOS comes with a new Control Panel, that has different types of mobile services in a single place, such as media controllers, connectivity, quick settings, super device, and smart connected device. You can manage these from a single place without a hassle.

Image credit:HC

Talking specifically about the quick settings, the HarmonyOS carries forward the EMUI 11 icons but polished them with better visibility and the design scheme of the HM OS software. Compared to the Android 12, you can check more of the quick switches on the same screen without any issues.

The design of the HarmonyOS quick settings is very simple and subtle, which makes it easy to use. However, that power switch is also a required feature that Huawei should use to this new operating system, to save the phone’s physical power key.

Source:HC

As we approach the release date of the Google Pixel 6 Pro, it seemed like we knew everything there was to know about the upcoming Google phones. We've seen renders, spec sheets, even teardowns, camera samples, and pricing for some markets. What we're learning now is that Google may go the way of Apple and make it more difficult to get the Pixel 6 Pro fixed, particularly the camera module.

If a leaked page from the Google Pixel 6 Pro's technical repair manual is to be believed, Google appears to be pairing a triple camera module to a unique device from the factory. The document states "RL rear camera is calibrated at vendor site to secure the image/video quality post repair." This page was published to Repair.Wiki and the Wiki page mentions that a replacement module "is different from the production camera module that is paired to the original logic board."

This means that one may not be able to use the camera module from an existing Pixel 6 Pro and install it onto another device. It also suggests that a replacement module might need to be hard coded to work on another Pixel device. The same document says "If changing the logic board: ASP also needs to change the RL Rear camera has the 'GEO' mark. For the replaced Rear Camera from the original device, keep them, and RTV (Return To Vendor)."

In a YouTube video, Louis Rossmann explains that since Apple has made camera module repairs with the iPhone 12 more difficult to perform outside of Apple's authorized repair network, other vendors may see this as an opportunity to do the same. There's no accusation that Google will make third party or DIY repairs more difficult, but the clues are leading in that direction. Still, this would have to be confirmed by actually taking apart two Pixel 6 Pro devices and swapping the camera modules to see whether they work or not.

Rossmann wonders what the benefit is to pair a camera module to the logic board. The leaked document claims it is "to secure the image/video quality post repair." but this statement is met with skepticism.

 Adobe is bringing Camera Raw to the iPad version of Photoshop, and has demonstrated how it works in a hands-on video. Ryan Dumlao, senior product manager for Photoshop on iPad, shows how Camera Raw can be used to edit RAW and DNG photos directly imported from a camera — in this case a Fujifilm — or ProRAW files from the iPhone 12 Pro and 13 Pro.

Camera Raw is a long-standing plugin that allows for advanced RAW image editing within Photoshop, and it’s also the technical basis of Lightroom’s processing engine. Dumlao’s video shows how you can edit various settings and exposure parameters within Photoshop, including importing the RAW file as a smart object for non-destructive editing that can be carried over to the desktop version. In his demo, Dumlao uses Photoshop features to perform tasks like removing individual tree branches and adjusting the color of a specific rope in his photo.

While many photographers use Lightroom as their primary editing tool, adding Camera Raw to Photoshop for iPad will dramatically expand the photo editing capabilities for iPad owners who use Photoshop as a big part of their workflow. Adobe hasn’t announced exactly when the feature will be released, only saying that it’s “coming soon.”

It is not available in China but Netflix's global sensation Squid Game has already built up a huge following in the country, with fans dodging strict internet controls to stream the show and snapping up merchandise such as its unique outfits.

The dystopian South Korean thriller has become the most popular Netflix series launch ever, the streaming giant said Tuesday, but it is unlikely to pass China's censors because of its brutally violent content.

Yet it is already a hit in cities such as Shanghai, where a crowd formed Tuesday at an eatery selling dalgona -- the crisp sugar candy featured in one episode -- with customers gathering at its Squid Game-themed sign to take photos.

"People were sending jokes related to the show in group chats when I started watching," a customer surnamed Li told AFP.

"It's rather fast-paced and therefore, quite thrilling," the video producer said of the series.

After buying the candy, Li and his friend filmed their attempt at a challenge from the show, where contestants try to cut shapes from the snack without cracking it.

Squid Game features a group of society's most marginalised and indebted people who are forced to compete in a series of children's games until all participants are dead except one. The "winner" gets $38 million.

As the show became an international hit, China's ever-nimble manufacturers raced to tap into demand, with products -- including the bright pink uniforms and eerie masks worn by anonymous guards -- popping up across the giant online shopping platform Taobao.

Vendor Peng Xiuyang told AFP his sales had spiked by around 30 percent thanks to demand for Squid Game merchandise.

He had never heard of the show when a customer asked last month if he sold the masks -- a plain black full-faced covering printed with squares, triangles or circles.

But now vendors like him and plastics manufacturers in the eastern hub of Yiwu are all rushing to meet demand -- from both domestic and international buyers.

"Our customers are those who have seen the series and want to join in the trend," he added.

With Halloween coming up, the spine-chilling masks have become his most sought-after product.

The lack of official availability has not stopped Chinese audiences from finding ways to watch the show -- including easily available unofficial streaming sites or file-sharing.

The piracy problem is so widespread that South Korea's ambassador to China, Jang Ha-sung, recently told a parliamentary audit that he had asked Chinese authorities to take action.

"Our assessment is that Squid Game, which is gaining global popularity, is being illegally distributed on around 60 sites in China," Jang said, testifying remotely from Beijing.

As fascination with the show swirls among China's tech-savvy youth, the hashtag Squid Game got nearly two billion views on social media, and related topics have been trending for weeks.

Users discussed how they would pass the challenges featured in the show, and wondered what a Chinese version of Squid Game would be like.

But one user said: "It's not like it would pass censors if we made such a show ourselves... if it were too violent, it would just get taken down."

For now, fans just want to have fun.

A customer in Shanghai surnamed Yang said: "I've seen (the snack) being sold online, but it's my first time finding it in real life."

The Book of Boba Fett points to a prequel problem in Disney's Star Wars universe. Boba Fett's return in The Mandalorian, season 2 was well-received, and the bounty hunter's upcoming spinoff is hotly anticipated. While it promises to be an exciting journey for a fan-favorite character, the show becomes part of a larger issue when considered alongside the rest of Disney's Star Wars slate.

Between The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian season 3, and Ahsoka, Disney is creating and hurriedly fleshing out a "prequel-to-the sequels" era. It's been wildly successful so far, and in many ways gets Star Wars right. As evidenced by Ahsoka and Fett's appearances in The Mandalorian season 2, these shows also promise to relate to one another. However, while these "prequel" offerings will likely be more favorably received than George Lucas' prequel films, this Disney era may be just as questionable - for more problematic reasons.

Disney's sequel trilogy featured a stellar cast and had bright moments, but is otherwise largely thought of as an unorganized, poorly-planned mess. In light of that, Disney either needs to focus on narratives set after the Skywalker Saga or build up to the sequel trilogy's story in a meaningful, deliberate way. Without those, Disney's focus on the immediate post-Return of the Jedi era seems to be an attempt to quickly fix some of the sequel trilogy's strangest plot holes (such as Supreme Leader Snoke's clone origin) and to please disappointed fans. If that's the case, it's worth wondering if Disney's Star Wars is heading into creative decay.

It's true that The Mandalorian connects to the sequel trilogy in a few ways, and it's likely that The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka will find ways to do so as well. However, for these shows to truly help redeem the sequel trilogy, they must connect in a way that lends narrative, not just logical continuity. George Lucas' prequels filled in the universe of the original trilogy, but did so in service of telling Anakin Skywalker's tragic story, not to fix plot issues. This is a far cry from how The Mandalorian tangentially fills in gaps in sequel trilogy logic, like its hasty setup of Force healing to explain how Rey and Kylo Ren can force heal in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and its glimpses of the Empire's first attempts at cloning. These revelations patch up holes in the sequel trilogy, but don't make them more interesting viewing in the way a series or film about Kylo Ren abandoning his Jedi training for the First Order might.

If the post-Jedi shows don't add depth to the sequel trilogy, they must plant seeds for a post-Skywalker Saga timeline to avoid being simple fan service. Even if The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka connect to each other, the stakes will feel lower and lower if audiences realize each story is irrelevant by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Even Ahsoka, which promises to reintroduce both Jedi (by including Ezra Bridger) and a brilliant villain to the post-ROTJ timeline, is unlikely to affect a post-sequel trilogy galaxy - Ahsoka herself is implied to be deceased by Rise of Skywalker, and her likely adversary Grand Admiral Thrawn is completely absent from the trilogy.

It's also clear that Disney has been hesitant to commit to a post-sequel trilogy direction. Star Wars: Visions has proven the potential of the era, touching on the Force, lightsabers, and the future of the Jedi. However, it's not canon, further hinting that Disney is afraid to take the saga in a new direction. Lucasfilm's upcoming shows will surely please audiences. Without a larger plan, however, they may simply be safe bets and an appeal to nostalgia. Hopefully, The Book of Boba Fett will use the iconic character to grow the franchise in a meaningful way.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for No Time To Die

Several key elements of Safin's plan in No Time To Die simply don't make sense without the presence of the previous major Bond villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Although Blofeld does feature prominently in the narrative, it's clear that he is playing second fiddle to Rami Malek's Lyutsifer Safin. However, as a result of this reduced role, the film as a whole suffers and, ultimately, raises serious questions about the efficacy of Safin's supposed master plan.

After occupying center stage in 2015's Spectre, No Time To Die sees Blofeld very much behind the scenes in a British prison. Although he is still running operations at the criminal organization, courtesy of a computerized eye carried around by colleagues, his power and influence has been reduced as a result of his incarceration. This is made clear when an attempt to use stolen nanobots to kill James Bond at a Spectre party inadvertently results in the death of Spectre's entire leadership. It later becomes clear that Safin is behind the mix-up as part of his plan to exact revenge on Spectre for the death of his family. Eventually, Safin manages to successfully assassinate Blofeld via James Bond, after Madeleine Swann infects him with nanobots programmed to match Blofeld's DNA.

After executing his convoluted plan to kill Blofeld, Safin then focuses on finding a buyer for his stolen nanobot technology. This brings him into further conflict with Bond, who recognizes the potentially devastating impact of the so-called Heracles project. However, while programmable nanobots with the potential to kill anyone they come into contact with in seconds are undoubtedly scary, under closer inspection, the rationale for Safin's supposed masterplan doesn't hold up. Not only is it unclear why he hopes to eradicate so many people, but also what motivates him once he successfully kills the head of Spectre. Here's why, ultimately, Safin's plan in No Time To Die needed Blofeld to stand up to scrutiny.

Initially, Safin's plan to kill Spectre as an act of revenge makes a certain amount of narrative sense. After all, avenging the deaths of your family is a perfectly compelling reason to seek potentially world-ending technology. However, not only does the continuation of his plan make little emotional sense after he has succeeded in his earlier goal, but the coherence of the entire project quickly falls apart after even a minimal amount of examination.

For example, it seems highly unlikely that an individual such as Safin, no matter what his resources or his level of influence, would be able to match the tools of a global criminal enterprise such as Spectre. After all, throughout the early story arc of the Craig era, Spectre was responsible for pulling the strings behind everyone from Le Chiffre to Raoul Silva – highlighting the extent of its power. The idea that a hitherto unknown villain with a mysterious backstory would be able to defeat the entire organization singlehandedly by persuading a single scientist to switch sides, therefore, seems extremely unlikely.

What's even more unusual is that Blofeld and Spectre, despite the clear and present danger that he poses to them, seem largely unaware of Safin's true motivations. Despite working for Spectre as an assassin, Safin's revenge plot seems to take everybody by surprise. The idea that such an individual would be able to operate in the criminal underworld, amassing the resources to build his own poison base, without Spectre discovering his real plan and the potential threat he poses to the entire operation seems to stretch credulity to the limit.

Given the fact that Safin is both a new character to the franchise and seemingly lacks strong motivation once his revenge mission is completed, it seems that he may have worked more effectively as a supporting henchman, rather than a central villain. For instance, the idea of Spectre's chief poisoner on the trail of James Bond at the behest of an incarcerated Blofeld may have helped the audience to overlook the obvious problems with incentive that emerge during the film's second and third acts. This would have placed Safin alongside the likes of Jaws, Oddjob and Red Grant as iconic Spectre associates, rather than saddling him with the undue burden of carrying the whole movie.

As it is, the film arguably begins to fall flat once the shadow of Spectre, which had previously defined so much of the Daniel Craig Bond era, completely disappears from the scene. Although Safin's desire for revenge offers an interesting shade to his character, his early success actually undermines the groundwork laid for the organization by previous movies. As a result, turning Safin into a henchman would have been an effective way for No Time To Die to underscore the danger posed by Spectre, rather than reducing them to a sideshow easily eliminated by a single defecting scientist.

By contrast, an alternative plot in which Blofeld was the real mastermind behind the nanobot plot would not only have served Safin's character better, but would have been a far more compelling way to bring the entire Craig-era story arc to a close. Given the conflict between the two characters in previous movies, No Time To Die could have provided greater scope for exploring this compelling relationship. It's easy to imagine, for instance, an alternative story arc in which Blofeld – with Safin's help – attempts to exact revenge on James Bond from prison, perhaps with equally tragic results. This would have built on existing emotional tensions from the rest of the saga, rather than shoehorning in a new villain and starting again from scratch.

Placing Safin as a secondary villain would also have allowed the film to continue a trend that has defined Daniel Craig's Bond movies – namely, defying convention and pushing boundaries. Throughout the Bond era, henchmen have typically been two-dimensional caricatures that, despite iconic characteristics, have lacked proper development. Placing an actor such as Malek in this role would have allowed the film to do something genuinely radical with its supporting baddie, giving him his own compelling motivations. Placing him in the heart of the action without a genuinely compelling story behind his actions ultimately satisfies no one and represents a serious mistake for No Time To Die.

One way in which the film could have incorporated both Safin and Blofeld would have been to alter Safin's loyalties. It's not inconceivable, for instance, that in a world where Blofeld is behind bars, a power struggle might break out at the top of the organization. In a bid to keep control of the group, Blofeld could therefore have recruited Safin to assassinate his rivals on his behalf.

Ironically, this approach may also have tied in with Safin's plan for revenge. Given Blofeld's age, it's extremely unlikely that he would have been in charge of Spectre when Safin's family were killed at the request of the group. However, other high-ups within the organization may well have had a hand in the murders, providing Safin a compelling reason to team up with Blofeld. In this world, Safin as the liberated expert poisoner could have operated on the outside with Blofeld still holding the reins of power in jail. This would have helped alleviate one of the central problems with No Time To Die by providing two villains with competing and equally compelling motives, while also giving a villain as iconic as Blofeld his due.

There's no doubt that aspects of the movie provide a fitting swansong for Daniel Craig's time as James Bond. However, for all of the exciting onscreen action, including Bond's heartbreaking final sacrifice, it's undeniable that Bond's adversaries often fail to live up the rest of the film. With a few tweaks to the story, it's easy to see how this problem could have been avoided. As it is, No Time To Die represents a missed opportunity – both for Rami Malek's Safin and the re-imagined Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Ubisoft's Far Cry 6 includes a number of fun Easter eggs hidden throughout the game, with some hinting at a connection to the Assassin's Creed universe. This entry in the Far Cry series places players in the role of Dani Rojas, a Guerilla fighter working with rebel forces to oust the oppressive dictator Anton Castillo. It's a setup highly similar to previous Far Cry games, and fans' enjoyment may vary if they were expecting a revolutionary change for the series. Those looking for another Far Cry experience should still find a lot to enjoy with Far Cry 6, however, especially when searching for all of the Easter eggs tucked around Yara.

Many video game developers have a tendency to include Easter eggs in their games that reference past projects, other games in the industry, and forms of media outside of gaming. Ubisoft is no stranger to a good Easter egg, with Doctor Who’s TARDIS popping up in Assassin’s Creed Origins and references to The Shining, Star Wars and more in Watch Dogs 2. The developer also uses clever references to link their franchises together, and Far Cry 6 is the latest example of Ubisoft’s supposed efforts to create an expansive “Ubi-verse.”

Far Cry 6 features a ton of Easter eggs for players to discover along the way, ranging from an obscure Jurassic Park reference to the potential appearance of a Far Cry 3 villain. The game also includes references to other Far Cry games and different Ubisoft franchises, including the Assassin’s Creed series. The Assassin’s Creed Easter eggs in Far Cry 6 appear to be more than just fun nods to the series, seemingly connecting the two in-game universes in interesting ways.

While exploring Pino Crest on Far Cry 6’s expansive map, players should come across a series of underground bunkers running through the area. In one particular bunker is a note that lists a number of contraband items that Castillo’s forces have moved down into the bunker, including a “Golden Apple” artifact. This Assassin’s Creed Easter egg in Far Cry 6 is a direct reference to the Apples of Eden, which were pieces of Audi technology that fueled the war between the Assassins and the Templars.

Another Assassin’s Creed Easter egg in Far Cry 6 pops up in the treasure hunt mission “Cache Money,” taking players to more bunkers within the Oasis Plains airfield. Another note can be found in the area that details a handful of items that are to be auctioned off, including a couple familiar to fans of Assassin’s Creed. The first item mentioned is an ancient spear that was “once broken, repaired many times,” which is certainly the Spear of Leonidas that Kassandra wielded in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. The other item on the list is a “pair of ancient, concealed blades” that have the ability to be “extracted and retracted from gauntlets.” This Far Cry 6 Assassin’s Creed Easter egg is a clear nod to the Hidden Blades, which were the signature weapons for members of the Assassin Brotherhood.

This isn’t the first time that a Far Cry game has established a connection with the Assassin’s Creed series, as Far Cry 3 included Abstergo boxes way back in 2009. It would be interesting to see Ubisoft actually take the leap and include something substantial like usable Hidden Blades in a Far Cry game, which isn’t necessarily out of the realm of possibility when considering the series’ penchant for over-the-top weapons like Far Cry 6's Supremos. Linking Far Cry 6 to the Assassin's Creed franchise opens up a number of possibilities for the two Ubisoft mainstays, and it would be interesting if the developer delivers a unique crossover game in the future.

The archenemy of Thanos in Marvel Comics, Adam Warlock's origin and powers will be an interesting story to see unfold in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Following a handful of rumors saying that The Revenant actor Will Poulter has been cast as the MCU’s Adam Warlock, Guardians on the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn confirmed the news. This means that years after being teased for the first time in 2014, the Golden Gladiator is finally set to cross paths with Star-Lord’s team and potentially become an MCU superhero.

Like Nova, Silver Surfer, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Adam Warlock is one of the most important characters in the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. In fact, he was the central figure in some of Marvel’s biggest crossovers in the 1990s, including Infinity Gauntlet. For these reasons, fans have been waiting for him to make a splash in the MCU for several years now. The first big tease of his arrival came in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy when a cocoon identical to his was spotted at the Collector’s museum. Then, Marvel went even further by introducing his gold-skinned race, namedropping him, and revealing his real cocoon in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

While this felt like clear setup for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn cast doubt on these theories by repeatedly pointing out that nothing was set in stone about Adam Warlock’s introduction. According to him, the teases were put in the movie to lay the groundwork for his eventual debut. Now, the mystery of whether or not he’ll actually show up has been solved, thanks to Will Poulter’s casting. And given his importance in the comics, Poulter’s appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may not be the last time audiences see him on the big screen. Here’s who Adam Warlock is in Marvel Comics, what his powers are, and what to expect from his MCU counterpart.

Before getting the superhero codename he’s known for, Adam Warlock burst onto the scene in a Fantastic Four comic as Him, a powerful being genetically engineered by a group of evil scientists called the Enclave. After escaping from his cocoon to forge his own path, Adam tried to pick Lady Sif as his mate, thus leading to a heated showdown with Thor. Following his loss, Adam Warlock spent some time trying to gain a better understanding of who he is and his purpose in the world.

While contemplating his future, Adam Warlock had a fateful meeting with the High Evolutionary, who gifted him the Soul Stone, named him “Warlock”, and send him off on a series of adventures. During this time, Adam Warlock befriended a group of children who taught him a great deal about morality and humanity. He also struggled to control the Soul Stone, which – much to his disgust – drained the lifeforces of his enemies. After beating the villain known as Man-Beast, Adam Warlock moved on to the next chapter of his life and began his storied rivalry with Thanos.

A team-up with the Avengers and the original Captain Marvel led to Adam Warlock sacrificing himself and seemingly receiving a happy ending by finding a new life in the Soul Stone’s pocket dimension, Soulworld. Many years later, Marvel brought Adam back in a huge way, and made him its main protagonist in a number of Thanos stories, including Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Crusade, and Infinity War. It was ultimately Adar Warlock who spearheaded the heroes’ plan to beat Thanos and the acquisition of the fully-assembled Infinity Gauntlet. In the aftermath of the battle, Adam Warlock formed the Infinity Watch to protect the Stones and is still deeply connected to them today.

Adam Warlock's powers make him an immensely forceful being with abilities that put him on par with the highest tier of Marvel superheroes. In fact, he’s capable of engaging in prolonged standoffs with characters as strong as Thor. However, it’s worth noting that Adam Warlock's physical strength isn’t quite on the same level as the God of Thunder, Hercules, and the Hulk. That being said, Adam Warlock's powers easily make up for what little he lacks in that department. Adam can draw upon cosmic forces to enhance his strength, fly, project blasts of energy from his hands, and he can regenerate from fatal wounds by retreating to a new, self-made cocoon.

Plus, with all the changes that Adam has experienced over the course of 50 years of comic book history, the character’s powerset has been revamped on numerous occasions, with some of the additions to his arsenal being teleportation, transmutation, and Quantum Magic, a form of magic that involves using the metaphysical energy around him. Among his greatest weapons was the Soul Stone, which had a vampiric effect on his foes.

Obviously, several of Adam Warlock’s biggest stories have been taken off the table in the MCU by Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In the comics, he was instrumental to the Mad Titan’s defeat, but had no role whatsoever in the movies’ version of events. Unfortunately, there’s no room for his relationship with Thanos to be represented on the big screen now, but that doesn’t make Adam Warlock's Phase 4 introduction pointless. His MCU storyline could incorporate other characters tied to him in the comics, such as the High Evolutionary, Man-Beast, and Adam’s evil counterpart, Magus.

As for how Marvel brings him in, it’s expected that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will follow up on the second movie’s setup, which indicated that Adam Warlock’s first mission will be to seek revenge for Ayesha by going after the Guardians. Similar to the comics, Adam could begin questioning his place in the world and what it is he’s supposed to do. If so, he could abandon his mission and join up with Star-Lord’s team. In the comic books, the first phase in the Golden Gladiator’s life was a journey of self-discovery, and it makes sense that Marvel will lean in the same direction in the MCU. After all, Adam will essentially be an adult who was just born, so there will be a lot for him to learn and figure out in the span of just one movie.

All things considered, there’s a good chance that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is only the beginning of Adam Warlock’s story. In addition to being a candidate for Guardians of the Galaxy 4's team, Adam has a ton of potential for movies and shows outside the franchise. While his arc in Gunn's movie could be about finding himself, his next appearances could serve as the next steps in his evolution toward becoming the MCU’s main cosmic hero. Adam may have missed the fight with Thanos, but he could still be the one who rallies the heroes of the MCU to victory in the next crossover film, possibly as an enemy of Annihilus, the Magus, or even Kang the Conqueror.

The Tales Of The Walking Dead spinoff anthology series has been greenlit and is coming to AMC in 2022. The network announced the spinoff series was in development back in 2020, but few details have been revealed since. The show was originally touted as featuring new and old characters from The Walking Dead universe, exploring narratives that will include both backstories and stand-alone tales.

The spinoff was announced at the same time that AMC said it would pull the plug on the main series, The Walking Dead, with season 11, ending its run in 2022. The Walking Dead has been running on the network since 2010 and became a global pop culture phenomenon, creating a number of spinoffs already, including Fear The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. In addition to those spinoffs, it was previously reported that Andrew Lincoln's character, Rick Grimes, would be getting his own standalone movie trilogy, although the status of that project is still up in the air.

Today, AMC announced that Tales of the Walking Dead is officially greenlit (via Variety) and that it will debut in summer 2022. The anthology series will, in fact, focus on new and existing characters from The Walking Dead universe and will debut with a six-episode first season on AMC and AMC Plus. The Walking Dead writer/producer Channing Powell will serve as showrunner for the series side-by-side with Scott M. Gimple, the chief content officer of TWD universe. Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios said that they see the potential for some rich storytelling akin to the type of anthology shows like Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Here's what he had to say about the project:

“We see so much potential for a wide range of rich and compelling storytelling in this world, and the episodic anthology format of ‘Tales of the Walking Dead’ will give us the flexibility to entertain existing fans and also offer an entry point for new viewers, especially on streaming platforms. We have seen the appeal of this format in television classics like ‘The Twilight Zone’ and, more recently, ‘Black Mirror,’ and are excited to engage with fans in this new way, against the backdrop of this very unique and engrossing world.”

With fans (as well as the cast) of the main series waning on the show and the series catching up to Robert Kirkman's comic book series (which ended in 2019), it makes sense that it would fracture into multiple spinoffs. An anthology series is a great way to tell stories literally anywhere in The Walking Dead universe, as well as any time and with any character. The potential to see "dead" characters in a prequel-type story or even an alternate story where those characters lived is unlimited, as the format allows for all manner of exploration that can be connected or disconnected from the main narrative. In addition, the format could allow for even more crossovers between spinoffs and characters, making Tales of the Walking Dead the most interesting spinoff of the franchise to date.

Source: Variety

Already one of DC's powerhouses, Wonder Woman's ultimate form was achieved thanks to her discovery of Marvel's Mjolnir. Displaced due to Thor's previous battle with Shazam, the mythological hammer lay undisturbed until Wonder Woman discovered it and learned that she was worthy of its power. While heroes and villains battled for the survival of their worlds in DC vs Marvel, this ultimate form of Wonder Woman not only showcased the best of both worlds but foreshadowed events yet to come in the legendary crossover series.

In the series by Ron Marz, Peter David, Dan Jurgen, and Claudio Castellini, both comic book worlds experience a massive dimensional breach that has heroes and villains randomly disappearing and reappearing in new universes. While some fought and others worked together, all were left trying to make sense of the madness, only to learn it was all the precursor to a contest unlike any other. Two beyond powerful entities similar to brothers had discovered each other and sought to prove who was better by pitting hand-selected champions against each other, the winner would be allowed to live while the loser would be wiped from existence. While Wonder Woman had been seen briefly in DC vs Marvel #1, her most important role in this unfolding conflict was about to be revealed.

In DC vs Marvel #2, Wonder Woman came across Thor's hammer Mjolnir, which had been temporarily lost after colliding with Shazam's magical lightning bolt. Recognizing it as an ancient Norse hammer, Princess Diana of Themyscira read the inscription carved into the iconic weapon and called out its unrealistic expectations about deeming who was worthy and who was not. When she attempted to pick it up almost as if to prove her point, Wonder Woman was surprised to see Mjolnir emit powerful energy and near the end of the issue, she appeared not only wielding its power but also sporting a new wardrobe as well.

Although this new form would be short-lived and wrapped up by Marvel vs DC #3, this ultimate form of Wonder Woman was not only a significant upgrade to one of DC's most recognized heroes but also a unique amalgamation of both universes. Her new outfit was argued to be one of her worst, but Wonder Woman still had her superhuman abilities and Mjolnir added the ability to control the weather along with other powerful abilities that technically made her the new Goddess of Thunder a decade or two before Jane Foster took on the role. This change may have also been a deliberate foreshadowing to when the series caused both universes to merge, creating the Amalgam Universe, which saw new characters created as mash-ups of Marvel and DC characters.

It was actually thanks to X-Men's Storm that this new form didn't last long. Confronting the powerful Amazon warrior, Storm not only says that she's ready to battle, but that she'd fight Diana even with her new advantage. Although Mjolnir may have reduced Storm's threat to another rainy day, Wonder Woman felt that such an advantage was not fair, loosening her grip so she could fight Storm, ultimately losing the hammer. Although her defeat by Storm was heavily debated despite being determined by fans, one can only wonder what could have happened if she had used Mjolnir after all.

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker packed on the PDA during the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star's latest romantic Disneyland date. For many months now, Kourtney and Travis are continuing to show off how in love they are despite the criticism they received for being extremely touchy-feely in public. Their latest Disneyland date comes after Scott Disick blasted the couple for packing on the PDA during their vacation in Italy. Alas, the couple remains unbothered by Scott's jabs and Travis even used a new reference to describe his love for Kourtney.

Things have been going extremely well for Kourtney and Travis since confirming their relationship earlier this year. They have spent showing off their romance on social media and during public outings. Their double dates with Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox have made them one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. Kourtney and Travis even made their red carpet debut at the VMAs where Kourtney and Megan introduced their boyfriend's stage performance together. As they gear up for their first public holiday season together, Kourtney and Travis also made another visit to Disneyland.

Travis and Kourtney kicked off the week with another trip to Disneyland. "I want your skull," Travis captioned a short video (included below) where he's holding Kourtney as they kissed each other. The caption was a lyric from a Misfits song, and it comes off as another one of the Blink-182 drummer's odd ways of professing his love for Kourtney. He has already tattooed her name across his chest, let her tattoo him, and purchased matching nameplate necklaces. Now, Travis is letting his fans know that his love for Kourtney goes skull-deep.

Kourtney responded to the video adding the rest of the song's lyrics. "I need your skull," she wrote with a black heart emoji. The heart matched the color that the couple wore during their latest Disneyland date. Kourtney and Travis have enjoyed a number of Disneyland dates since going public. They've even enjoyed family Disneyland dates with both of their kids. Now, the Disick and Barker kids are gearing up for a blended family Christmas. It'll be Kourtney and Travis's first time celebrating Christmas together as a public couple. Last year, they were still keeping their romance private.

Sources recently said that Scott has plans of spending Christmas with his kids and Kourtney. However, considering his bitterness over her dating Travis, it's a wonder how their holiday season will turn out. Kourtney and Scott haven't been on good terms after he was caught sending Younes Bendjima a DM to bad mouth Kourtney for kissing Travis in public. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alumni still have three children to c0-parent, but if Scott isn't willing to get over Kourtney dating Travis, that could be a challenge for them to all come together as a family.

Source: Travis Barker/Instagram

Apple's expected to announce its 2021 MacBook Pro next Monday, and with just days to go before that, a new report claims the computer will have a buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Apple recently announced its next hardware event is happening on October 18. The event's tagline is 'Unleashed,' and the general consensus is that the star of the show will be the new MacBook Pro lineup.

Based on the latest rumors, the 2021 MacBook Pro sounds like a beast. Apple's expected to launch two models, including a new 14-inch version and an update to the 16-inch model. Both sizes are said to have slimmer bezels than previous models, additional ports, no Touch Bar, and the next generation of Apple's in-house silicon (named M1X or M2). While the current M1 MacBook Pro is still an incredible computer, it sounds like this latest generation is the one fans have been waiting for.

Just a few days before the new MacBook is likely announced, a new rumor has made the upcoming laptop even more exciting. According to a Tweet from display analyst Ross Young, the new MacBook Pro is "100% confirmed" to have mini-LED display technology — the same type of panel used in the 2021 iPad Pro. This is something that's been repeatedly suggested of the laptop, with Young's Tweet making it that much more certain mini-LED will be a key feature. What's especially exciting is Young's comment that a 120Hz refresh rate is also expected.

In his full Tweet, Young says the following: "Panel suppliers are the same between the iPad Pro's and MacBook Pro's - LG Display and Sharp. Expecting similar technology - oxide backplanes, miniLED backlights and 120Hz refresh rates. MiniLEDs, 100% confirmed." When asked if 120Hz wasn't confirmed for the MacBook Pro, Young responded with, "We believe they will be 120Hz. If get different info, will post." That suggests 120Hz isn't as sure of a bet as mini-LED, though the feature does seem very likely according to Young.

Assuming this is all true, 120Hz would be a massive upgrade for the MacBook Pro. As we've seen in other devices over the years, 120Hz allows for much smoother scrolling, animations, and general interactions compared to a standard 60Hz screen. The 2018 iPad Pro was the first Apple gadget to implement the technology, followed by the iPhone 13 Pro that just launched last month. Seeing as how Apple's Pro iPad and iPhone both have 120Hz, it only makes sense for the MacBook Pro to eventually get the same treatment.

Thankfully, there's not too much longer to wait before Apple confirms if any of this is true or not. Next week's event kicks off at 10:00 AM PDT on October 18 and will be streamed for free on Apple's website. 120Hz would be an incredible addition to this year's MacBook Pro, but even if it doesn't make the cut, it's still shaping up to be an exciting release.

Source:  Ross Young

Players are finally getting their hands on Far Cry 6, and the newest entry in the series provides a fairly lengthy experience. Far Cry 6 has received fairly good reviews so far, with critics and players enjoying the core gameplay experience while recognizing the similarities to other games in the franchise. The game follows the tale of Dani Rojas as they attempt to bring down the devilish dictator Anton Castillo and save the fictional country of Yara.

Ubisoft has become well-known for creating open-world experiences that contain a plethora of activities to engage their fans. Franchises like Watch Dogs and The Division feature wide-open city landscapes full of story missions and side quests that can keep players occupied for hours on end, and the Assassin’s Creed series has evolved from a more linear-based open world into a full-blown RPG affair. Far Cry titles fall into the category of open-world adventures as well, but distinguish themselves from Ubisoft’s other franchises by implementing a first-person perspective.

Ubisoft has established a pretty significant pattern for Far Cry games since the release of Far Cry 3. Players are dropped into a land ruled by a vicious dictator and asked to help a group of rebels take back their home, and gameplay stems around explosive combat and exploration. The games typically keep players busy with a good amount of content, and Far Cry 6 appears to be no different.

Far Cry 6 is a moderately lengthy game, with HowLongToBeat polling players at an average of 19 hours just to run through the main story of Dani’s fight against the ruthless Anton Castillo and his forces. Some players were drawn instead to some of the expansive side content, which pushed the average time to about 26 hours. For those looking to explore every nook and cranny of Yara, a completionist run looks to take around 44.5 hours.

When comparing Far Cry 6’s length with the rest of the mainline games in the series, it narrowly takes the lead as the longest entry in the series so far. Far Cry 5 holds the second-longest main story at 18 hours, followed by Far Cry 4 at 17.5 hours, Far Cry 2 at 16.5, Far Cry 3 at 15.5, and the original Far Cry at only 13.5 hours. Far Cry 6 maintains that lead over the spin-off titles Far Cry New Dawn and Far Cry Primal as well, which come in at around 14.5 hours and 11 hours, respectively. It’s fair to say that Ubisoft has steadily increased the amount of content available in each game as time has passed (outside of the dip between 2 and 3), with Far Cry 6 leveling out at the top.

While not quite as long as a Soulsborne title, Far Cry 6 still seems to offer a decent amount of content to warrant a longer investment. Keep in mind that the amount of time it it takes someone to complete the game will differ from player to player, depending on the difficulty selected and how much of the side content the player chooses to experience. Nevertheless, Far Cry 6 should keep players busy for many hours to come.

Source: HowLongToBeat