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Facebook takes down fake political ad meant to test its fact checking
Facebook's stance on truth in political ads has been put to the test. The social media giant has removed a 'stunt' ad from a Political Action Committee, the Really Online Lefty League, that falsely claimed Republican Senator Lindsey Graham supported the Green New Deal proposed by some Democrats. A company spokesman told Reuters that the ad was eligible for a fact-checking review since it came from a political action group rather than a politician.
Boxer Manny Pacquiao intros cryptocurrency to cash in on his fame
The celebrity penchant for cryptocurriencies hasn't died down just yet. Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao has introduced a cryptocurrency of his own, Pac, in a bid to capitalize on his fame. The virtual money will give fans an opportunity to buy merch and talk to the athlete/politician on social networks. It'll be listed on Singapore's Global Crypto Offering Exchange, whose backers include Pacquiao, English soccer (aka football) legend Michael Owen and Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Ofcom plans to let you switch mobile network by breakup text
Ofcom has today put forward a more detailed plan on how it intends to make switching mobile providers easier, and it's as simple as sending a text. Instead of having to sit through an awkward call to your current carrier -- which typically starts on hold and ends with you batting away upgrade offers and tariff discounts -- customers will be able to shoot off a text or hop online and immediately receive the PAC code they need to transfer their number to a new provider.
Switching mobile carriers will become much easier this year
There are several reasons to remain allied to one mobile network operator or another. Loyalty rewards such as contract discounts and special upgrade terms aside, switching providers can just be a bit of a faff. UK telecoms regulator Ofcom doesn't want this to deter you from shopping around, which is why it's going to make the process of jumping between carriers a whole lot easier. It's been on Ofcom's agenda since last summer, shortly after the regulator introduced a greatly simplified way of switching between broadband suppliers. Today, Ofcom's announced its formal proposals, volunteering a couple of different options it's settled on to the hassle out of moving providers.
Don't like your mobile carrier? Ofcom wants to help you switch
When your contract is up and you're toying with switching to another carrier, the hassle of porting over your number might stop you from actually following through. UK communications regulator Ofcom realises that, so today it's outlining plans to improve mobile switching by putting the onus back on the carrier. As part of its consultation, the watchdog is taking feedback on whether it should force operators to scrap PAC codes and remove the need for consumers to initiate the switch, exactly like it's now doing with broadband contracts.
Battlefield 4 launching on October 29, both it and Destiny coming to Xbox One
Battlefield 4 has announced via its Facebook page that the game will launch on October 29 of this year. In addition to versions on the PC, Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation 4, the team has also confirmed the game will be coming to Microsoft's newly announced Xbox One console. The Xbox One doesn't have a confirmed launch date just yet, so it's possible that version will arrive later. Additionally, EA's announced Battlefield 4's first expansion pack, called China Rising. The pack will contain four extra maps, along with extra vehicles and weapons. It will be available at launch, and come free with any pre-order of the game. And speaking of confirmed Xbox One titles, Bungie has also made it clear that Destiny is due out on Xbox One as well. Stay tuned for more confirmations on next-gen titles for Microsoft's new console.
Addon Spotlight: Power Auras Classic
Addon Spotlight takes a look at the little bits of Lua and XML that make our interfaces special. From bar mods to unit frames and beyond, if it goes in your Addons folder, we'll cover it here.Power Auras Classic is, as the name might suggest, a powerful mod. It does something that you may not know you had a need for: displaying visuals on your screen based on various conditions. For instance, on my rogue, I have it set to display a big red blood drop in the left-center of the screen whenever I don't have Hunger for Blood up.It's incredibly flexible, and as is the case with most very flexible mods, it takes some work to get the most out of it. For each aura, you can set the position, size, color, and alpha of the texture you want displayed, what conditions you want it displayed under, how you want it to fade in and out, and probably more options I haven't gotten to playing around with yet.
ESA stingy with campaign money early
You probably remember -- well, that's not true -- there's an off chance you remember that ESA president Mike Gallagher announced that the organization was going to be throwing some coin behind national candidates via a political action committee, with contributions somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 by year's end. Well, according to GamePolitics, the going has been slow so far.The site reports that just three candidates have received money from the organization so far to the tune of $4,300 all told. They are: Rep. Jim Clyburn D-SC, $1,000 Rep. Artur Davis D-AL, $1,000 Rep. Mary Bono Mack R-CA, $2,300 The small start could also be the result of slow fundraising: The PAC has garnered just six donations so far for a total of $27,500. Also of note, as of April 15 the ESA had financially backed no presidential candidates.
Video game industry seeks political clout
The strange relationship between the video game industry and politics just got more complicated. Mike Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, spoke with the New York Times today about his intentions to start a political action committee (PAC) for making campaign contributions. The PAC -- which represents major publishers like Disney, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony -- was approved by the board last fall and will reportedly be ready to go in March.Gallagher estimated the PAC would donate $50,000 to $100,000 to national candidates this year, a number which he labels as small, but a good start. He also talked about combining contribution efforts with the ESA initiative Video Game Voters Network. "If I can walk into the office of a member of Congress and tell them we have 20,000 voters in their state who are already signed up to write letters and act based on game-related issues that concern them, that's powerful," he said. You know what also helps? Money; good thing that's covered too. We're interested in seeing how game rhetoric on Capitol Hill changes, if at all, following the PAC initiative.[Via Game Politics]
DS Daily: Happy Father's Day!
In honor of Father's Day, we thought we'd ask a themed question: Who's your favorite father and son/daughter team? Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., or, uh, hmm. Oh, how about Bowser and the Koopa Kids? Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man? Pitfall Harry and Harry Jr. from Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure? Man, we already had to go to Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure? Maybe you guys can think of more. We can't be retrogaming encyclopedias every day, okay? It would be pretty hard to limit this to the DS, but if you can think of DS characters, you win at commenting.
Real-life Halo suit ready for deployment?
Perhaps it's more akin to the PAC full-body armor featured in Battlefield: 2142, but there's no denying that Troy Hurtubise's 'Trojan' suit is straight outta video game lore. The man responsible for inventing the bear-proof suit has developed, in his own words, the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armor."Weighing just 18 kilograms (40 pounds), Hurtubise believes the Trojan will be comfortable to wear in the field (he wore it for a 4-hour drive); not to mention protective. An empty suit has withstood bullets fired from an elephant gun -- and Hurtubise is more than ready to perform a live test. ""Bring it on," he says. In addition to armor, made from high-impact plastic lined with ceramic bullet protection over ballistic foam, the suit features storage for morphine, salt, a knife, and emergency light. Plus, a recording device, pepper-spray gun, and detachable (and swallowable) transponder are built into the forearms. There's also an in-suit fresh-air system, drinking tube (attached to back-mounted canteen), laser pointer, and some hip LED face lights.Hurtubise has said that he drew inspiration for the suit from Star Wars, RoboCop, Batman, and indeed video games. He believes that Trojan suits can be produced for roughly $2,000 a pop and is actively seeking potential buyers, including military and police units. Anyone wanna pool resources and go in on a couple?[Via Engadget]
