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Microsoft details its plan to become ‘water positive’ by 2030
Microsoft plans to replenish more water than it uses by 2030.
Apple says its products will be carbon-neutral by 2030
Apple promises to make its supply chain and all of its products carbon neutral by 2030.
Apple will spend $400 million on affordable housing this year
Apple will spend more than $400 million on affordable housing projects and first-time homebuyer assistance programs in California this year.
IBM and Microsoft support the Vatican’s guidelines for ethical AI
IBM and Microsoft have signed the Vatican's "Rome Call for AI Ethics," a pledge to develop artificial intelligence in a way that protects all people and the planet, Financial Times reports. Microsoft President Brad Smith and John Kelly, IBM's executive vice-president, are among the first global tech leaders to sign the document.
Privacy groups ask tech companies to sign user data 'security pledge'
A number of organizations including the ACLU, Fight for the Future and Color of Change have called on tech companies to sign a pledge and commit to protecting their users' data. The move comes as repercussions of the Cambridge Analytica scandal continue to unfold. "Technology can empower and grant freedoms to us all, but now our online data is empowering data brokers, ISPs, surveillance companies and runaway government agencies to discriminate, exploit and limit our freedoms," says the Security Pledge website. "Companies and governments can exploit the massive troves of data companies have on people and weak links in internet security. They can twist the internet into something it was never meant to be: a weapon against the public."
Tech workers unite against a potential US Muslim registry
Employees from large organizations across the technology industry have pledged to never help build a government database targeting individuals by race, religion or national origin, in response to extreme immigration proposals from US President-elect Donald Trump. The signatories come from companies including Google, IBM, Twitter, Mozilla and NVIDIA, though they don't represent the organizations themselves.
China asks US tech companies to follow its security policies
You know how Russia recently took the contentious step of insisting that Google and Twitter keep Russian user data on servers within the country itself, presumably to facilitate government searches? China apparently tried to pull the same stunt earlier this year with a number of American tech companies, according to unnamed New York Times sources. The document reportedly sought to have companies pledge that they would not harm China's national security and that their products be "secure and controllable", another way of saying "give us mandatory backdoor access and the encryption keys". The NY Times article does not name the IT companies targeted, however it did state that the document came from the China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center likely with pressure coming down from the country's internet regulation agency.
Apple, Google join White House pledge to fight climate change
Some of the US' bigger tech firms have already made conspicuous efforts to embrace clean energy and otherwise tackle climate change, but they're reinforcing that commitment today. Apple, Google and Microsoft are among the 13 corporate giants helping the White House launch the American Business Act on Climate Pledge, which encourages companies to cut pollution and use sustainable resources. The tech industry members aren't really changing course (they're already using or moving to 100 percent energy, for example). However, they're definitely showing how their bread is buttered -- they're "setting an example" for others, and pushing for good results from the climate negotiations in Paris this year. Think of the pledge as both a publicity grab as well as a formal acknowledgment of ongoing work. [Image credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]
Make My MMO: January 18 - 24, 2015
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Star Citizen's release window made headlines, as did the new VAT tax that's about to hit Euro fans of the space sim opus. We also heard from TUG and Shroud of the Avatar, while Pantheon hosted a dev roundtable and promised a public vision. Click past the cut for our weekly crowdfunding news roundup.
Make My MMO: January 11 - 17, 2015
This week was relatively tame as far as crowdfunded MMOs go, though we did see a new entry in the Kickstarter sweepstakes as Maestros of the Anthymn officially launched its campaign. The tile seeks to raise some $200,000 CAD to fund a game where you can "literally mold the world around you, solve puzzles, and conquer impossible enemies through creating and wielding music itself." And someone said there's no innovation in MMOs these days! Click past the cut for the rest of our crowdfunding roundup.
Make My MMO: January 4 - 10, 2015
This week was a busy one in MMO crowdfunding land. Divergence Online released its first new build in over a year while music-focused Anthymn rebranded itself as Maestros of the Anthym and insisted that it's still going to be an MMO. We also said hello to new Kickstarters for Isles of Eventide -- which lets you play as an animal -- and Identity, an open world MMO set in the modern era. More MMO crowdfunding news awaits you beyond the break.
Make My MMO: December 28, 2014 - January 3, 2015
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, pretty much everyone took a vacation. Including Frontier, which now finds itself with something of a mess after its Elite: Dangerous server went whacko and screwed over the sci-fi title's economy. In happier news, Project Gorgon got the green light from Steam's community, and Pathfinder's early enrollment period got underway at long last. Click past the cut for the rest of our weekly roundup to make sure you don't miss a beat.
Make My MMO: December 14 - 20, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Elite: Dangerous launched. Let's hold here for a brief round of applause. Moving on, Camelot Unchained's Mark Jacobs talked up developmental transparency, and his PvP sandbox closed in on $3 million in total funding. Last but not least, Massively interviewed Shroud of the Avatar gurus Richard Garriott and Starr Long. Click past the cut for more of our weekly crowdfunding roundup.
Make My MMO: December 7 - 13, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Shards Online pretty much stole the show. Sure, Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous made some noise like they always do, but the player-driven sandbox world-builder from Citadel Studios not only polished off a successful Kickstarter campaign but also started getting a bit of pub outside the usual MMO blogging circles. Click past the cut for the rest of this week's crowdfunding roundup.
Make My MMO: November 30 - December 6, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Shards Online talked up its permadeath plans as well as how it intends to balance crafting vs. loot. TUG's devs revealed that they're hoping for an investor, while Star Citizen continued to make a lot of money and a lot of commenter rage. Finally, Pantheon previewed a dungeon with a single screenshot and continued taking donations via Patreon. The rest of this week's MMO crowdfunding news roundup is after the break.
Make My MMO: November 23 - 29, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, I played some Elite: Dangerous! OK, no one cares, but Elite: Dangerous did make headlines with its Gamma launch. Fellow space sim Star Citizen topped $63 million and more importantly, it dropped the curtain on its avatar damage and death mechanics. A post-apoc title called SKIES and a sci-fi something or other called Descendants got their Kickstarters going, while Valiance Online cancelled its funding drive. Click past the cut for the rest of this week's news roundup.
Make My MMO: November 16 - 22, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, a lot of people got mad at Elite: Dangerous. Developers of the sci-fi sandbox subsequently started offering refunds to customers who felt duped by the company's decision to excise a previously mentioned offline mode. Elsewhere, Shards Online met its Kickstarter goal, while Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen started taking donations via Patreon. You can see what else happened in the crowdfunding sphere by click through to our roundup.
Make My MMO: November 9 - November 15, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Shards Online returned to Kickstarter seeking $50,000 and a coat of polish for its player-driven multiverse sandbox. Citadel Studios developers also visited the Massively comment section to answer questions about the upcoming title, which is well over halfway to its goal with 27 days remaining. Elsewhere, Star Citizen continued to roll around in piles of money, while Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen stirred from its slumber to offer up some early development screenshots. Click past the cut for the rest of this week's MMO crowdfunding news.
Make My MMO: November 2 - November 8, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Star Citizen topped $60 million. I'm just going to let that marinate for a moment. OK. The Repopulation lowered its alpha access and pledging prices while also detailing some of the tweaks the dev team accomplished in October. Das Tal got Steam's Greenlight, and Ascent: The Space Game squeaked by its funding goal in the eleventh hour. The rest of this week's MMO crowdfunding roundup is just past the break.
Make My MMO: October 26 - November 1, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Valiance Online launched its Kickstarter and Camelot Unchained got the band back together for an audio stretch goal and a look at the Tuatha De Danann. Star Citizen reached a significant milestone when it added ESP to the latest version of Arena Commander. No, that's no extra-sensory perception but instead Enhanced Stick Precision, which brings the game's level of control and space-simmy feeling closer to creator Chris Roberts' original intention. The rest of this week's crowdfunding news roundup is just past the cut.
