Tech Boys

"There's always a twist in the end!" Russell T Davies warned us at the end of "The Devil's Chord," with a musical number that proved prophetic. While Whovians might have thought at first that Doctor Who 's Season 14 showrunner was talking plot twists, we're now realizing he meant Susan Twist is always in the end credits. Who is she, and why are Whovians losing their collective cool over Susan Twist? Well, it's because the elderly English actress is popping up again and again on Doctor Who , and in a very timey-wimey way.  Sure, all kinds of actors have appeared on the iconic series over its decades of television. Sometimes they pop by over and over, prompting Davies to create an in-show explanation for these anomalies . For example, hot Scottish actor Peter Capaldi got upgraded from Pompeii resident to Twelfth Doctor. But there's something especially curious about Twist's appearances, as they've all come in a recent jumble.  SEE...

Best EOFY laptop deals Apple 2024 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop – A$1,973 (was $2,099, 41% off) Asus Vivobook S EVO 14" Laptop – A$989 (was $1,799,save $810) HP Envy x360 2-in-1 Laptop – A$1,297 (was $2,199, 41% off) HP Laptop 17 – A$934 (was $1,699, 45% off) Lenovo Legion Slim 5 (16", Gen 9) – A$2,499 (was $3,869, 35% off) Lenovo Yoga 7 14IRL8 14" Laptop – A$1,297 (was $1,799, 24% off) Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 – A$2,645 (was $3,779, 30% off) MSI Prestige 14" FHD+ Laptop, i7-12650H – A$1,059 (was $2,399, 56% off) Best EOFY headphone and speaker deals Beats Studio Buds – True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds – A$148.56 (was $229.95, 35% off) Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro – A$185.19 (was $349, 47% off) Sony WH1000XM4 Noise Canceling Wireless Headphones – A$395 (was $549, 28% off) Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphones – A$189 (was $242, 22% off) Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth Portable Spe...

When you think of the 20-year-old social network that is Facebook, its popularity among “young adults” is probably not what comes to mind. Naturally, Meta wants to change that and the company is once again telling the world it intends to reorient its platform in order to appeal to that demographic. In an update from Tom Alison, who heads up the Facebook app for Meta, he says that the service is shifting to reflect an “increased focus on young adults” compared with other users. “Facebook is still for everyone, but in order to build for the next generation of social media consumers, we’ve made significant changes with young adults in mind,” he wrote. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because Meta executives have been trying to win over “young adults” for years in an effort to better compete with TikTok. Mark Zuckerberg said almost three years ago that he wanted to make young adults the company’s “North Star.” And Alison and Zuckerberg have both been talking about the Facebook ap...

The Until Dawn remaster is heading to PS5 and PC this fall . Sony gave the announcement at its State of Play event after teasing the game earlier this year . The company also dropped a new trailer, and it certainly looks like a spooky delight. In other words, that fall release date is starting to make sense from a themed holiday perspective. The Until Dawn remake was built in Unreal Engine 5 and boasts several new features that were missing from the original PS4 title. You'll be able to experience the action from a third-person perspective for the first time, which is pretty neat. Developer Ballistic Moon, taking the reins from original dev Supermassive Games, has also said it has expanded the color palette to make it more cinematic and to allow for contextual character movement animations. We don’t have an exact release date other than fall, but I’ll put money on October. In related news, Sony’s prepping an Until Dawn movie which should release sometime in the nearish fut...

Microsoft and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have forged a labor neutrality agreement for all ZeniMax workers. The CWA says the deal is similar to the one from 2022 covering Activision Blizzard’s workforce, which went into effect in April of this year. “Thousands of our ZeniMax co-workers now have a free and fair path to organize together for better working conditions,” Page Branson, a Senior Quality Assurance (QA) Tester, wrote in a CWA press release. In 2022, the Xbox maker signed a formal agreement with CWA to respect Activision Blizzard employees’ right to organize. Set to take effect 60 days after Microsoft’s acquisition closed, it didn’t become official until earlier this year. It also extends Microsoft’s early 2023 recognition of ZeniMax QA workers’ right to unionize , and it now includes every eligible employee at ZeniMax. The CWA says the new agreement means Microsoft will take a neutral approach when employees express interest in joining the union. The work...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for May 30's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times , and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing . Not the ...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for May 30's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have been ...

Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous bit of fluff, touting its long-term "creative entertainment vision" in broad terms, along with some interviews of key employees. Neil Druckmann, studio head of Sony's Naughty Dog, was one of those — and his interview made waves in the game world. According to the interview, Druckmann said AI could "create nuanced dialogues and characters" and also said that the new game Naughty Dog was developing (but hasn't officially announced) "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming." Some mighty strong and potentially controversial statements from the head of a studio beloved for its The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises.  Problem is, Druckmann was wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after Sony published its interview, Druckmann took to X and said "this is not quite what I said." He then went full Ellie-in-revenge-mode on Sony, posting a section of the original interview transcr...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for May 29's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have been ...

Helen Toner, one of OpenAI’s former board members who was responsible for firing CEO Sam Altman last year, revealed that the company’s board didn’t know about the launch of ChatGPT until it was released in November 2022. “[The] board was not informed in advance of that,” Toner said on Tuesday on a podcast called The Ted AI Show . “We learned about ChatGPT on Twitter.” Toner’s comments came just two days after criticized the way OpenAI was governed in an Economist piece published on Sunday that she co-wrote with Tasha McCauley, another former OpenAI board member. This is the first time that Toner has spoken openly about the circumstances that led to Altman’s dramatic ouster from the company he co-founded in 2015, and his quick reinstatement following protests from employees. In the podcast, Toner, who is current a director of strategy at the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown, said that Altman had made it hard for OpenAI’s board to do its job by withholdin...