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‘World of Warcraft’ keeps growing with ‘Legion’ in August

Blizzard will launch World of Warcraft ‘s sixth expansion, Legion , on August 30th, unleashing hordes of hellish beasts and fresh quests into the game world. Legion adds the Demon Hunter hero class, customizable artifact weapons and a new continent called the Broken Isles, among other updates. Pre-orders are live now in two flavors: the $50 Standard Edition or the $70 Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes an adorable demon dog as a pet, the Illidari Felstalker mount, and in-game goodies for Heroes of the Storm , StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 (all of which are Blizzard properties as well). Pre-ordering the Standard or Digital Deluxe versions of Legion grants players the ability to boost one character up to level 100 and early access to the Demon Hunter class. Plus, there’s one more way to give Blizzard your money: The $90 Collector’s Edition includes everything from the Digital Deluxe version plus a hardcover art book, a two-disc behind-the-scenes Blu-ray / DVD set, a CD soundtrack and a Legion mousepad. This bundle will be available at retail only. World of Warcraft is an MMO that debuted in 2004 and quickly evolved into one of the most popular video games in the world. It hit a player-count high in 2010 with 12 million subscribers, but that number fell to 10 million in 2014 and finally 5.5 million in September 2015. That’s still millions of players, but the decline has fueled whispers of WoW ‘s demise — something that Blizzard will surely try to silence with Legion . Starting in 2016, Blizzard will no longer report subscriber numbers for World of Warcraft , so we’ll have to rely on gut feelings going forward. Source: BusinessWire

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‘World of Warcraft’ keeps growing with ‘Legion’ in August

Uh, Holy Crap, This 960GB SSD Is Down To $188

ADATA’s Premiere line of SSDs isn’t nearly as fast or as well-known as Samsung’s 850 series, but it still got a solid review from Anandtech , and this 960GB model is down to an absurdly low $188 on Newegg’s eBay storefront , complete with a three year warranty. Read more…

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Uh, Holy Crap, This 960GB SSD Is Down To $188

AMC Theaters is considering letting people text during movies

Just as AMC Theaters was starting to win customers back by replacing every old seat in its auditoriums with recliners , the company wants to destroy that good will among moviegoers. That’s because CEO Adam Aron thinks letting people use their phones during a movie would be a good idea. “When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off their phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear ‘please cut off your left arm above the elbow, ‘” Aron tells Variety . “You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life.” Yes, he actually said that. This could be seen as an extension of recreating a home-like experience at a theater, vis a vis said recliner seats. But the difference here is that if you’re using your phone while watching a flick at home, you’re only affecting yourself and maybe your significant other — not the 100 or more people who paid to get into the theater. Movie theaters and places of worship are a few of the remaining places where using a cellphone is verboten, and by pandering to this demographic’s horrible habit AMC is stripping away common courtesy and setting a gross precedent in the name of profits. Aron says that certain sections where texting would be allowed is one possibility for this, while the more likely situation would be having specific auditoriums set up to be “more texting friendly.” If the chain is willing to kick out someone wearing Google Glass for fear of piracy, though, how is it going to differentiate someone texting from a person recording what’s on the screen with their phone? Contrast this with The Alamo Drafthouse which will happily eject you from a showing if you’re talking or texting, or won’t even let you into the auditorium if you’re late. As you can imagine, Twitter is lighting up with people decrying this , and for good reason: It’s an absolutely stupid move that could drive away already loyal customers in an effort to chase those it isn’t reaching anyway. “22-year-olds like to shoplift! What can we do??” — if the AMC CEO ran Macy’s — Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) April 13, 2016 And that’s one way to keep me out of AMC theaters. Really hope they reconsider. https://t.co/DNthAggJIs — Chris Pugh (@ChrisLikesDinos) April 13, 2016 No @CEOAdam , I don’t want to go to a theater where people can text. We already have that, it’s a living room. #amctheaters — Rachel Stuhler (@RachelStuhler) April 13, 2016 Source: Variety

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AMC Theaters is considering letting people text during movies

The ‘Game of Thrones’ credits are more fun in 360-degrees

There are still ten days to go until Game of Thrones season six debuts, but HBO is doing its best to keep fans’ appetites for new footage satiated until then. After dropping a dingy new trailer on Monday, and some behind-the-scenes footage yesterday, it’s now released a 360-degree video of the show’s opening credits on Facebook. The extended sequence lets you explore the famous clockwork map of Westeros and Essos. The map is arranged inside a sphere, which means looking in the right direction will give you a little peek across the water at Sothoryos and the Basilisk Isles. Many of the show’s iconic locations are there, from King’s Landing and Winterfell to Dorne. There are more than a few easter eggs to discover just by looking around as well, including a glimpse of an unnamed direwolf by the wall — make of that what you will — and a PG-13 view of the Titan of Braavos. Via: Deadline Source: Game of Thrones (Facebook)

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The ‘Game of Thrones’ credits are more fun in 360-degrees

Clinton Donor Confirms Presence of Static Noise Machine at Secretive Colorado Fundraiser

Last week, a local Denver journalist named Stan Bush reported that Hillary Clinton’s campaign appeared to be using a hidden static noise machine to prevent reporters and other passerby from hearing the candidate’s stump speech at an outdoor fundraiser held at the private residence of Colorado’s governor, John Hickenlooper. The general allegation hung in odd kind of limbo, however, since Bush managed to record the machine’s ( inherently indiscriminate ) sound but was unable to photograph the actual device, while Clinton’s press shop ignored reporters’ attempts to confirm the machine’s existence. Meanwhile, the underlying question went unanswered: Why was Clinton using a static noise machine in the first place? Read more…

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Clinton Donor Confirms Presence of Static Noise Machine at Secretive Colorado Fundraiser

World’s largest coal mining firm declares bankruptcy

It won’t shock you to hear that the coal industry is facing tough times lately. Job cuts, mine closures and other signs of financial trouble are par for the course. However, that downturn just reached an important milestone: Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private coal mining company, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy across most of its US divisions. The firm says it didn’t have much choice between steep drops in the price of coal, a weak Chinese market, overproduction of shale gas and “regulatory challenges” (read: better environmental policies ). In plainer terms, people just aren’t as interested in coal energy as they were in years past. This isn’t the end for Peabody, let alone the industry. It’ll be business as usual while the company reorganizes, and this doesn’t include Peabody’s Australian (steelmaking-focused) business. As Bloomberg notes , developing regions like India and Southeast Asia still lean heavily on coal. Even in the US, where many are shifting toward renewable energy, about 28 percent of power comes from coal. Nonetheless, the bankruptcy shows just how far the coal business has fallen. While the industry has tried to remain relevant with “sustainable” practices (such as restoring land), it’s just not as desirable as it once was — especially not in a world where carbon emissions are becoming enemy number one . And when clean energy sources like solar and wind power are almost as cheap as the dirty kind, it’s doubtful that coal will ever return to its heyday. Via: Bloomberg Source: Peabody Energy (PDF)

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World’s largest coal mining firm declares bankruptcy

Scientists Finally Made Carbyne—a Material Stronger Than Graphene—That Lasts

Several years ago, scientists calculated the properties of an exotic form of carbon—called Carbyne—and found that it promised more strength and stiffness than any other known material. Now, it’s finally been made in a stable form inside an Austrian lab. Read more…

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Scientists Finally Made Carbyne—a Material Stronger Than Graphene—That Lasts

Google.org pledges $20 million to support disability technologies

The World Health Organization estimates 1 billion people across the world live with disabilities, and Google’s philanthropy division, Google.org, just pledged $20 million to help improve their situations. The money is spread across 29 programs working on disability technologies — the average amount they’ll each receive is $750, 000, with six of the grant winners getting more than $1 million, Wired reports. The programs fall into five categories of disabilities — hearing, mobility, cognitive, vision and communication — and the winning programs tackle a variety of issues. Here are a few examples: My Human Kit connects people who need prosthetics with low-cost 3D-printed solutions. The Center for Discovery is building an open-source add-on that turns any manual wheelchair into a power chair. Perkins School for the Blind wants to roll out more detailed GPS instructions to ensure the visually impaired don’t get left behind when independently navigating the real world. The Dan Marino Foundation is developing a digital, interactive system to help young people on the autism spectrum train for job interviews. The Leprosy Mission Trust India is making low-cost custom footwear that enables people with leprosy to maintain their ability to walk. In related accessibility news, Google recently rolled out the beta for its Voice Access system , which allows users to navigate their phones via voice commands. Via: Wired Source: Google.org

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Google.org pledges $20 million to support disability technologies

Ticketmaster will start selling tickets on Facebook this month

You can already buy things on Facebook, and later this month, you’ll be able to snag concert tickets without leaving the site, too. Ticketmaster VP Dan Armstrong told BuzzFeed in an interview that the ticket retailer would begin selling admission to live music and other events through the social network’s site and mobile app before April’s end. While Ticketmaster isn’t the first to coordinate purchases from Facebook, making tickets to events available on the social channel seems like a good move for both companies. Facebook users already RSVP to events on the regular, so there’s certainly a convenience in having the tickets easily accessible there. You know, so you can catch up when one of your pals RSVPs to a show you either didn’t know about or forgot was coming to town. It also keeps you on Facebook longer rather than having to head elsewhere to complete the transaction. As you might expect, Ticketmaster is hoping the integration will lead to more ticket sales. Details are scarce on exactly how the process will work, but BuzzFeed does mention that Facebook stands to collect “a standard affiliate fee” from each purchase. We’ll have to wait and see if that will affect those pesky service charges, but you will still have to claim any tickets you buy from the Ticketmaster site after the initial transaction. To start, the option will be limited to a select few general admission events, so it could be a while before you can use the feature to grab all of your concert tickets. And when it’s time to head home afterwards, just fire up Facebook Messenger to hail a ride . Source: BuzzFeed

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Ticketmaster will start selling tickets on Facebook this month