Category: 4. Technology

Meta’s adding another way to help Threads users stay in touch with the latest trending chatter, with new in-stream markers of trending topics that will help to guide users towards rising discussions.

As you can see in this example, Threads is looking to drive more in-the-moment engagement around key events, by signifying trending topics in the Threads feed.

As explained by Meta:

“The Threads highlighter elevates and emphasizes unique perspectives that lead to thoughtful conversations. To start, you’ll see the highlighter in important parts of the app where you discover content, and to mark Trending topics – with more placements coming soon.”

It’s another way to drive more trending discussion, with Threads still working to improve its in-the-moment feel as it seeks to take on Elon Musk’s X.

Which, despite X’s challenges, and Threads’ relative growth, remains a big challenge.

X is still the spiritual home for many live discussion groups, with sports fans, in particular, still heavily aligned to the app.

Indeed, sport remains the single biggest driver of discussion on X, and it’s these groups of embedded, habitual X users that will be tough for Threads to win over.

Because people have made connections on Twitter/X, they’ve established behaviors that align with the platform, they’ve built expanded, international groups of friends and fellow fans, to the point where it’ll be difficult to get them all to migrate to a new app.

So they’ll keep using X, until there’s a clear reason not to. And with Threads thus far not being the greatest facilitator of live, in-the-moment chats, it clearly hasn’t been able to get these audiences across as yet.

Maybe an emphasis on trending topics will help, in driving more topical discussion and engagement, while Meta’s also investing in sports partnerships to bring unique, live content to the app, and improving its algorithmic approach to better emphasize live discussion.

There’s no singular answer on this front, but maybe, through an accumulation of these efforts, Threads will be able to make inroads on this, and build the app into a more active hive of real-time discussion, and a valuable facilitator of trending chats.

It’s not there yet, but elements like this are another small step in that larger direction.    

Finding Fortnite’s Academy Tech Lab locations is a good idea in general, thanks to the loot you can pick up, but you’ll also need to enter them several times to complete one of Chapter 6 Season 3 week 4’s quests. Finding them isn’t enough, though. Clearing the quest also requires you to increase your hero rank first.

Below, we explain where to find Fortnite’s Academy Tech Labs and what to expect inside.

Where to find Academy Tech Labs in Fortnite

The Academy Tech Lab can spawn in a variety of locations around the map, but there is always one guaranteed location — Supernova Academy. The basement of the southeastern building on the Supernova Academy campus counts as an Academy Tech Lab, and, as it’s a POI, will be there every game. In this Academy Tech Lab, you can find the following:

As for the other Academy Tech Labs, their locations can be found on the map. They’re marked on the map by an academy symbol next to a test tube at the beginning of every game.

These labs are underground, and you can enter it via a small staircase that leads you into the side of a drum-shaped structure. Inside, you’ll find the following:

How to increase Hero Rank in Fortnite

To complete the week 4 quest, you’ll need to increase your Hero Rank first and then enter a lab.

You and your squad gain points toward a higher Hero Rank every time you do the following:

We recommend returning a Sprite to a shrine to get a large amount of points in one go or visiting a Scout Spire and defeating henchman as they’re easier to eliminate than other players.

Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi recently spoke about the company’s push for making its Games as a Service (GAAS) business model global, as it’s a sign of a company’s “good record.”

In an interview with The Game Business, Utsumi said that game companies with “a good record tend to have a strong [global] GAAS business.” In regards to Sega, while the console and PC standalone business is “getting better,” the publisher and developer is still working on making its GAAS business global. “That’s one of the biggest challenges,” he added.

Currently, Sega’s GAAS focus is on free-to-play mobile games, including the likes of Sonic Rumble, which is free to play but offers in-app purchases. In a 2024 interview with Automaton, which was translated from Japanese, game director Makoto Tase said that “monetization models that use gacha mechanics have not been very successful when it comes to games targeted towards worldwide audiences of all ages,” and that these mechanics “tend to be shunned overseas,” leading to ultimately deciding not to include them in Rumble.

While Utsumi didn’t specifically mentioned gacha mechanics, he sees developer Rovio, which Sega acquired back in August 2023, as the candidate for this business push. “Rovio has deep knowledge of the global mobile business, and very strong IP with Angry Birds,” Utsumi said. “We feel like the fit between Rovio and Sega is good. We are working closely with Rovio to have a Sonic mobile game, and we are giving them access to IPs, including Sonic, to come up with nice, welcoming GAAS titles.”

Related:Unity senior client partner Rod Stafford jailed for 22 years over sexual offenses

Sega’s plans of expansion also include developing properties beyond games, with Utsumi referencing the success of the Sonic movies, which topped $1 billion at the global box office on January of this year. According to the president, the films have had a major impact on the franchise, leading to a significant boost to Sonic game sales.

“When I started to get involved in the video game business, I picked up Crash Bandicoot and started asking some of the movie studios if they were interested in turning that property into a movie,” he said. “But I was treated like… ‘hey, video games is like a toy business’. They didn’t really take it seriously.”

Live service games aren’t going through a healthy phase

Even though Utsumi said that game companies with strong GAAS business show a good record, studios have been struggling around live service launches.

Sony reportedly poured $200 million into live service shooter Concord, which was released late last year and pulled from sale within weeks, shuttering the studio behind it in the process. In January of this year, it canceled two first-party live service titles in development at Bluepoint Games and Bend Studio. Weeks later, contractors were reportedly cut at the latter.

Related:Nintendo is about to alter the price of the original Switch in Canada

Mere weeks later, Warner Bros. Games announced it would be shutting down free-to-play brawler Multiversus on May 30. There’s still an interest around live-service models—Pragma, a backend engine for live-service games like Spectre Divide and Predecessor, secured a $12.75 million investment in March. Despite the decisions in the preceding months, previous PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst said that Bungie’s upcoming live-service shooter, Marathon, won’t be making the same mistakes as Concord.

“I think that some really good work went into that title,” Hulst said during a fireside chat aimed at investors. “Some really big efforts. But ultimately that title entered into a hyper-competitive segment of the market. I think it was insufficiently differentiated to be able to resonate with players. So we have reviewed our processes in light of this to deeply understand how and why that title failed to meet expectations—and to ensure that we are not going to make the same mistakes again.”

Related:The Alters developer apologizes for not disclosing use of generative AI

Mohali: Three men involved in a brazen robbery case in which they threw chilli powder into a woman’s eyes to incapacitate her before snatching a bag containing cash have been arrested. The crime, which triggered panic in the city, occurred near Mohali’s Kamla Market in Phase 1. Those arrested have been identified as Parvinder Singh, Chandan Gupta and Sachin Kumar. Police have recovered Rs 1.6 lakh from the three, SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans said.Deputy Superintendent of Police (City-1) Prithvi Singh Chahal, while addressing the media, said that under the directions of the SSP, Mohali Police launched a special drive to clamp down on thefts and snatching incidents in the city. As part of this initiative, Police Station Phase-1 cracked the high-profile chilli powder robbery case within days of its occurrence.The incident took place when Jamuna Devi was returning home after helping her niece, Anjala Sarma, close their confectionery shop in Kamla Market. While they were walking near the Mechanic Market area in village Mohali, three unidentified men on a motorcycle attacked them. One of them threw chilli powder in Anjala’s eyes, after which they snatched the cash bag and fled.Based on Jamuna Devi’s complaint, Police Station Phase-1 initially registered a case under Section 304 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against unknown persons. The case caused widespread fear among residents, especially women.Inspector Sukhbir Singh, SHO of Police Station Phase-1, led the team that traced and arrested the accused. During interrogation, the trio confessed to their involvement and revealed that they had initially identified the victims while travelling in an auto-rickshaw. After spotting the women walking alone, they planned and executed the snatching using a motorcycle.Police said the case has since been updated to include Sections 309(4) and 317(2) of the BNS based on further investigation. The trio are now in police custody, and further interrogation is underway to determine their involvement in other similar crimes. MSID:: 122185760 413 |

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg confirmed that the company is no longer working on migrating its Tumblr blogging platform to WordPress, as previously announced. The exec shared the news on The Verge’s Decoder podcast, published on Monday, saying that the project is “on hold” for an indefinite period.

“What we decided is that we want to focus as much on the things that are going to be noticeable to users and that users are asking for,” he told the site. “This was more like an infrastructure thing, kind of like any big re-architecture. I still want to do it. It’s just cleaner. But right now, we’re not working on it.”

The announcement also raises questions about what this means for Tumblr’s integration with the open social web, known as the fediverse. By migrating its infrastructure to WordPress, it would have become a federated app. Mullenweg admits that was one of the arguments for making the move, but hints that it’s no longer a priority.

“…in the meantime, I think if there was a big push to implement fediverse, we would just do it on the Tumblr code base,” he said.

Mullenweg also reiterated that Tumblr is not profitable, and is sustained from the profits of other Automattic products. Still, he said he believed in Tumblr’s future and plans to give it the runway it needs to figure things out.

SIM swapping is a popular type of fraud in which someone transfers your mobile number to a SIM in their own device. By intercepting any messages or phone calls sent to you, they’re able to access your two-factor authentication codes and other sensitive information. Now, AT&T is offering customers a way to combat this kind of crime.

Available starting today, Wireless Account Lock is an option for AT&T subscribers with postpaid or prepaid wireless accounts. Simply by turning on a switch in the myAT&T app, you can enable Account Lock to prevent unauthorized changes to your account and phone lines.

Also: Your Android phone is getting a big security upgrade for free – here’s what’s new

Wireless Account Lock prevents a variety of actions, including:

• Upgrading your device to a new one
• Changing a SIM card or eSIM
• Changing a phone number
• Transferring a phone number to a different device
• Changing your billing information
• Changing the authorized users for your account

Certain actions are still allowed with Wireless Account Lock turned on. These include:

• Making a payment
• Setting up payment arrangements
• Enrolling in AutoPay
• Making changes to your plans and add-ons
• Suspending your service
• Unlocking a device
• Managing NumberSync
• Changing your E911 address
• Changing your voicemail password

You can apply Wireless Account Lock to any device on your postpaid or prepaid mobile account with AT&T, including smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, hotspots, and laptops. You need to be the account owner or have primary or secondary access to the account to do this.

1. To get started, download the myAT&T app for iOS or Android if you don’t already have it.
2. Sign in to the app and select the number that you want to lock.
3. Tap Continue, select Profile & Settings, and then tap Account Info & Preferences.
4. Under Wireless Account Lock, turn on the switch to enable it. Here, you can also disable it when you want to make any otherwise blocked changes to your account.
5. In response, AT&T will send a confirmation email to your email address and a text to your mobile device.

Also: 7 ways to lock down your phone’s security – before it’s too late

Wireless Account Lock isn’t just for consumers. AT&T offers the same feature for business accounts. Like the consumer version, the business variant will prevent device upgrades, SIM or eSIM changes, number transfers, and other actions.

To enable or disable Account Lock in this instance, sign in to your AT&T business account. Select Account lock settings and turn on Account lock. Here, you’re also able to include or exclude specific features when Account Lock is enabled.

AT&T now joins the other two major US mobile carriers in trying to help customers combat SIM swapping attacks.

T-Mobile offers a SIM Protection feature for both postpaid and prepaid accounts. Using the T-Mobile website or the T-Life app for iOS or Android, you’re able to flip the switch to enable this protection. 

Also: How I upgraded my home Wi-Fi with a VPN-ready router (and why it makes such a big difference)

Verizon’s SIM Protection and Number Lock features are also accessible to postpaid and prepaid subscribers. Instructions and controls for enabling both options are available on the My Verizon website and the My Verizon app.

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