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Name of the game: ARK: Genesis Season Pass Price: 29.74$ Link Store: Steam Offer ends up after X hours: 7 June Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions) Processor: 2 GHz Dual-Core 64-bit CPU Memory: 4000 MB RAM Graphics: DirectX10 Compatible GPU with 1 GB Video RAM DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 40 GB available space Additional Notes: Requires broadband internet connection for multiplayer

Game Information: Initial release date: 1 Jun, 2021. Software Developer: MWM Interactive. Publisher: Flight School Studio. Platform: PlayStation 4, Windows Microsoft. Stonefly comes from the team behind Creature in the Well, but aside from sharing a gorgeous visual style, they have very little in common. This new game is an enjoyably peaceful experience about a world inhabited by tiny people living alongside the bugs in giant natural ecosystems. Humans get around by piloting bug-like rigs, allowing them to glide between oversized branches, gather resources, and fend off any pesky critters. You play as Annika Stonefly, a young mechanic who inadvertently loses her father's priceless rig, and goes out on her own to get it back. Early on you'll meet a small group that helps Annika get started, giving her a run-down mech to build up along her journey. This mech is the real star of the game — you will quickly upgrade its abilities to deal with harsher environments and bigger bugs, and you'll also be able to customise its look. The main thrust of gameplay is going out on excursions and gathering various minerals from the world, and then using these to either buy new parts or improve your rig's glide, jump, defences, and more. It's a simple loop, but it's a satisfying one. Mining for resources can be tricky when insects want those materials for themselves. Thankfully, your mech can stun and then push any bugs away with blasts of air, making for basic, non-lethal scuffles. It's a unique way to handle combat, but not particularly exciting. You can float about and gather materials as you please, which is pleasant, but the game doesn't quite have enough to hold your interest. Sadly, the story aspect falls a bit flat — the main thread is interesting but the writing isn't particularly engaging, and any cutscenes lack impact. Overall, the game is a tranquil journey through a unique world, but it doesn't quite have the narrative pull or gameplay bite that it needs. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7 (64-bit) or later Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD processor, 2.5 GHz or faster Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 / AMD Radeon 6970 HD DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 5 GB available space

Alienware X-Series Gaming laptops are coming, and Dell is pulling out all the stops to get great performance at up to 4K resolutions. With the latest UHD panels, and high-end GeForce cards, 4K gaming might actually be relevant in laptops now. The gaming PC stalwarts promise "several industry-first innovations" with these new designs, which will be available with the mobile versions of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 GPUs. The lineup includes the Dell Alienware x17, the company's thinnest 17.3-incher, and the x15 which takes the crown as the thinnest Alienware gaming laptop to date. For the x15, that's just 16.3mm (0.642-inch) with a 165Hz, 1080p panel, or 15.9mm (0.626-inch) for a 1080p, 360Hz or 1440p, 240Hz panel. And the x17 isn't far behind with 20.9mm (0.823-inch) for the 1080p, 360Hz panel, or 21.4mm (0.843-inch) for a 4K, 120Hz monitor, or the 1440p, 165Hz panel. The Dell Alienware X-Series configuration options are an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 11800H, or 11900HK CPU, with Nvidia RTX 30-series discrete GPUs. The x15's RTX 3080 model only comes with the 8GB GDDR6 variant, whereas the x17 offers the full16GB of VRAM. Y'know, for the pros. As for innovations, they'll both be getting some cooling love, with exclusive 'Element 31' Gallium-Silicone matrix thermal interfaces for configs sporting Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 GPUs. These are said to deliver a "25% improvement in thermal resistance over the previous generation." These X-Series lappys will also contain Alienware's new patent-pending Quad Fan and Smart Fan designs for better airflow and control, as well as Alienware's HyperEfficient Voltage Regulation tech for promised longer gaming hours. These are gorgeous looking laptops; very similar to the previous generation in terms of aesthetics, but with severely upgraded internals. I'm still not so sure about the AlienFX customizable touchpad look, though. You've gotta hand it to Dell for managing to jam more RGB in when it seemed there was nowhere left for it to infest. Alienware is optimistic that these new X-Series gaming laptops will deliver "the ultimate performance for gaming and content creation." We'll have to see about that when we get our hands on one for testing. Mainly, we're excited about high refresh refresh rate UHD panels hitting the mobile market now we have Nvidia's powerful 30-series cards to help those frames along.

The UK's Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has written to NHS Digital to call for better communication with the public about their rights in opting out of what has been dubbed the "biggest data grab in NHS history." The professional body, which runs GP accreditation in the UK, said it supported the principle of improved sharing of data for important healthcare planning and research. However, the doctors' group believes it is critical that this is transparent and that patients have confidence and trust in how the NHS and other bodies might use their information, said professor Martin Marshall, chair of the RCGP. "The job of informing the public must not be left to busy GPs, especially at a time of extreme workload pressures and focus on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, so we have written to NHS Digital urging them to undertake greater communications with the public about this new collection and their options for opting out," he said. Last month, it emerged that the NHS was preparing for a mass haul of GP patient data, giving patients little information or warning about the planned transfer of medical records to a central store for research purposes – and with no prospect of the data being deleted – with a 23 June deadline to opt out. GPs and campaign groups expressed fears the data could be used by private sector firms for gaining access to NHS markets. medConfidential, which works to ensure patients have a choice in how their data is used, said it had been struggling to guide the public through their choices due to what it termed a string of out-of-date and misleading messaging on the NHS Digital website. Meanwhile, NHS Digital, the non-departmental public body, which designs, develops and operates national IT and data services, has said it would "not approve requests for data where the purpose is for marketing... including promoting or selling products or services, market research or advertising." However, data available on the NHS Digital website already shows firms are using hospital patient data for this purpose. The organisation has been unable to say how criteria used for governing access to the data would change during the haul of GP data. The RCGP and the BMA, the UK doctors' union, have been working with the NHS on planning the new collection of data over the past three years through their Joint GP IT Committee. They had made representations on behalf of GP practices to ensure stronger arrangements were put in place over the security and intended uses of the data collected, they said in a joint statement. Prof Marshall said the new data haul was a legal requirement of GP practices and the organisations would "continu[e] to lobby NHS Digital to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for how the data collected is used." ®

Youngsters today don’t idolise entertainers and sportsmen in the way that previous generations did. The unprecedented expansion of the internet into every aspect of life has given them many more ways to entertain themselves and find their heroes. Car lovers who grew up in the 1980s, for instance, would have to wait to be presented, once a week and for but an hour, Top Gear or World of Sport. People growing up now can effortlessly find practically endless content on any subject that interests them, and at literally any time. Hundreds of people today make a full-time living by attracting an online audience, and such is their po[CENSORED]rity that they’re now making the transition into what one might call reality. Among the most prominent is Olajide ‘KSI’ Olatunji, who has gone from making videos about football video games to smashing the viewing record for a white-collar boxing match and scoring a string of top 40 pop hits. Heck, you can now even go to watch Hashtag United, a football team founded for online exhibition matches, play in England’s ninth tier. The total accessibility of the internet means that fame can be found from anywhere, which is why the biggest online idol for those of a motorsport persuasion is a 29-year-old from Hastings who broadcasts from a glorified shed in his mum’s garden. “I’ve been playing racing games since I can remember,” Jimmy Broadbent tells us. “Then when I got a job, I discovered that I could spend all my money on toy steering wheels. I bought my first proper set-up in 2012, and it was absolutely my jam.” He soon started uploading footage of his hobby to YouTube. “Back then, it was just really fun to meet other people with the same hobby,” he explains, “because there wasn’t really anyone to talk to outside online forums.” And after a few years of honing his skills, ‘Sheddie Irvine’ started to live-stream his fun as well. It remained a hobby as his following grew slowly – before exploding.

Jaimini Jethwa’s script can hardly be faulted for freshness – the Hindu deities Vishnu and Brahma (or their Dundonian wide-boy avatars Vince and Barry) are in search of the goddess Lakshmi, who has also gone undercover deep on Tayside. With the trio fetching up in a badly-stocked Spar after hours, the prospect of the deities transformed into Dundonian minks and widos, indulging in the ‘banter’ that the (surely Oasis-influenced) title hints at – and all the effing and blinding that entails – does take some getting used to. Undoubtedly there will be some who affect to be offended by it, but they will almost certainly not bother to listen to it first. The end result is actually a sweetly philosophical piece in many ways, with ruminations on the nature of love and self hidden among the whities and minters. The dialogue does admittedly tend towards the ripe, but the local references never obscure the story. There is an almost recklessly bold ambition to Jethwa’s script, whether it is in the attempt to convey the divine in earthly terms or the conviction that Dundee is the best place to do that. If the home of the peh can be heavenly, of course, then pretty much anywhere can be, and it very nearly succeeds. The excellent Rehanna MacDonald gives Lakshmi tremendous energy, with Adam McNamara (Vince) and Daniel Portman (Barry) combining the earthy and high-flown with real skill.

Eleven employees of a Texas sheriff’s office have been fired and six suspended following the death of an inmate who was hit multiple times in the head by detention officers, authorities said on Friday. The Harris county sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, said he was “very upset and heartbroken” after a three-month investigation into the death of Jaquaree Simmons, 23, in February. Medical examiners ruled Simmons’ death a homicide from injuries to his head. “We have a duty to protect those in our care and that didn’t happen,” Gonzalez said. A sheriff’s office internal affairs investigation concluded Simmons had three fights with detention officers on 16 February, when the jail had lost power and water pressure during a deadly winter storm. The first use of force against Simmons took place that morning after he clogged the toilet of his jail cell and officers responded to clean it. That night, a detention officer hit Simmons in the face after he threw his meal tray at the officer and charged at him, according to authorities. When more officers were called in to take him for a medical evaluation, they hit him multiple times in the head, said Maj Thomas Diaz, who led the investigation. Simmons was evaluated by a doctor at a jail clinic and had a cut to his left eyebrow and upper lip but reported no pain. He was taken back to his cell but officers failed to bring him back to the clinic for follow-up X-rays, according to Diaz. Simmons was found unresponsive in his cell at 12.10pm on 17 February and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The investigation found detention officers failed to do visual checks of the inmates in the cell pod where Simmons was being held from 15 February until the moments before he was found, Diaz said. Usually these checks are done electronically but the system was down due to the winter storm. The officers fired or suspended were found to have violated policies including using excessive force, failing to document the use of force, not intervening when a fellow officer used force and making false statements to investigators, Diaz said. “These 11 people betrayed my trust and the trust of our community. They abused their authority,” Gonzalez said. “Their conduct toward Mr Simmons was reprehensible.” The 11 employees who were fired included nine detention officers, one detention sergeant and one deputy. The six suspended included four detention officers, one detention sergeant and one sheriff’s office sergeant. Their suspensions ranged from three to 10 days. Houston police are conducting a separate criminal investigation. The results will be presented to the Harris county district attorney’s office, which will determine if charges are filed. While Gonzalez declined to comment on the criminal investigation, he said he believes crimes were committed in connection with Simmons’ death. On 10 February, Simmons was booked into the county jail on a charge of a felon in possession of a firearm. Diaz said he had no health issues.

Name of the game: Satisfactory Price: 23.99$ Link Store: Steam Offer ends up after X hours: 31 May Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 or later (64-Bit) Processor: i5-3570 3.4 GHz 4 Core Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Dedicated graphics card, GTX 770 2GB Storage: 15 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: TBD Processor: TBD Graphics: TBD Storage: TBD MB available space

Game Information: Initial release date: 8 Jun, 2017. Software Developer: Dotemu. Publisher: Dotemu. Platform: PlayStation 4, Windows Microsoft. Over 25 years after the original release of Monster World IV, the cult classic 2D action-platformer has been remade for modern consoles. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World keeps the style and charm of the original, while updating the game to feature cel-shaded, 3D visuals. The game looks gorgeous, thanks to the eye-popping colours and bouncy animations. Even the soundtrack and sound effects have been updated for modern audiences. The game stars Asha as she and her pet Pepelogoo explore the interconnected world to find the four Elemental Spirits in each temple. From the temple designs to the main town, each part of the world is well designed with great puzzles and plenty of secrets to discover. Asha has access to a sword and shield, both of which can be upgraded with money found in the game. She can also purchase bangles that can extend her maximum health when equipped. Meanwhile, Pepelogoo allows Asha to double jump, glide, and is even used as a puzzle solving tool. This combination of traditional RPG and platforming elements blends together to create a fun, but simple to grasp adventure. Asha in Monster World’s biggest fault, however, comes in the updated save system. In the original game, the ability to save was locked behind the Sage of Save, a man who is located in several spots across the game. Saving would create a checkpoint next to the sage, who would then allow you to resume from that point if you died. While the sage is still located throughout the game in the remake, he no longer acts as a save point. Instead, you’re able to save at any time from the menu. While this is certainly more convenient, the absence of an auto-save makes it so that you will need to be constantly saving every few minutes in order to prevent yourself from losing all of your progress if you die. This ultimately kills the pace of the game, and is a major blemish on an otherwise fantastic remake. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a fantastic remake. While the save system feels as though it is painfully stuck in the past, every other aspect of the game is lovingly remade. For newcomers and longtime fans alike, this is a great adventure that you will certainly fall in love with. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7 Processor: Any Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000-5000 series (game in 720p) DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 1100 MB available space RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 10 Processor: Any Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 1100 MB available space

Development of the first PCIe 5.0 SSDs just got a big boon with the industry's first ever PCIe 5.0 SSD controller, and Marvell spearheading the movement for the super speedy storage solution of the future. The big data being tossed around cloud data centres today spells a need for faster, higher bandwidth storage. Without it, cloud gaming is going to flop when the next generation of games come hurtling onto the scene, looking for intensely speedy service so you can play your games on any device you have lying around. According to Marvell's news post, with PCIe 5.0 support the Bravera SC5 "doubles the performance compared to PCIe 4.0 SSDs." As for security, Marvell say these new additions to the flash family "offer FIPS-compliant root of trust (RoT), AES 256-bit encryption and multi-key revocation," in order to comply with cloud data centres stringent security needs. All is looking up on the storage front then. With games getting larger by the day, and data security a top priority in our age of technology, we welcome such an advancement with open arms (and open slots). While this tech is initially touted for data centres, it won't be awfully long before even our desktop gaming PCs support the tech. Intel Alder Lake has planned support for PCIe 5.0, and while AMD is reportedly sticking with PCIe 4.0 for its next round of processors, I wouldn't suspect it to be long before it follows suit, too.

Apple and its security contractor Security Industry Specialists (SIS) were sued on Friday in Massachusetts as part of a multijurisdictional defamation and malicious prosecution complaint brought on behalf of Ousmane Bah, a New York resident misidentified as a shoplifter multiple times in 2018 and 2019. The lawsuit contends that Apple and SIS exhibited reckless disregard for the truth by misidentifying Bah as the perpetrator of multiple shoplifting crimes at iStores, leading to his unjustified arrest and to his defamation. The filing [PDF] in US District Court in Massachusetts aims to revive charges relevant to events in Boston that were excluded from related ongoing litigation in New York. A third related case is being heard in New Jersey. Apple and SIS have a qualified law enforcement privilege that allows them to err in store security-related accusations and not be sued for it. However, if they exhibit "reckless disregard for the truth" [PDF] – ignoring obvious facts, for example, they lose that privilege. Among the more startling allegations in the case is that an SIS VP falsely claimed that no SIS employee ever identified Bah to the NYPD or to Apple. The complaint points to an exhibit that's been submitted as evidence, an email from an SIS employee to an NYPD detective does in fact identify Bah as a shoplifter. The lawsuit also claims that Apple and SIS selectively deleted video evidence that would have exposed them to potential criminal and civil liability for filing false complaints with the police. In addition, it asserts Bah's apprehension was in part due to the application of unreliable facial-recognition technology in the shoplifting incidents in New York. Bah, who is Black, obtained a New York State temporary learner driver's permit in March 2018 at the age of 17, when he was an honors student at Bronx Latin Academy, a New York City high school. The document included his height, weight, date of birth, and eye color, but no photograph. According to the Massachusetts court filing, he had lost the temporary permit by May that year, but had obtained a permanent laminated copy that included his picture. ID or not ID In Greenwich, Connecticut in April 2018, Apple allegedly detained an individual for stealing store merchandise and identified the individual as Ousmane Bah based on the examination of the temporary learner's permit he is said to have had on him – this despite the fact that the ID says, "This temporary document is not to be used for identification purposes." The complaint states that the person detained was not Bah, who is 5'7" but a 6'1" impostor using the lost temporary learner's permit. Nonetheless, Apple personnel are said to have retained some video surveillance evidence and published the record with the name "Ousmane Bah" through an online system to make it available to SIS and Apple Stores in the Northeastern US. On May 24, 2018, SIS, acting in a security capacity for Apple, apprehended and handcuffed the impostor for allegedly stealing merchandise from a Parmus, New Jersey Apple Store. Again, it's claimed the impostor was carrying Bah's lost learner's permit and identified himself as such to authorities or tried to do so – the detained individual is said to have misspelled his stolen name as "Ousama Bah" before correcting the spelling. Yet the Paramus Police Department apparently did not make any further effort to verify the suspect's identity, content to accept the identification provided by the SIS employee who apprehended the shoplifter. It's also claimed SIS told authorities it had video evidence. "Without probable cause, SIS began linking prior thefts in the region involving the impostor to the Plaintiff," the complaint says, with SIS representing to police that video of these other thefts, such as one at the Short Hills Apple Store near Millburn, NJ on May 5, 2018. At this point, it's alleged that SIS, on behalf of Apple, distributed a "Be on the Lookout" (BOLO) notice with the impostor's image but the name "Ousmane Bah" as a "known shoplifter." This is said to have been sent not only to Apple Stores but to police departments in the region. Then there was the May 31, 2018 theft of a dozen Apple Pencils from an Apple Store in Boston. It's claimed that an SIS employee in his police report accused Ousmane Bah – who was not in Massachusetts at the time – of the thefts and said there was video to back that up.

Name of the game: OUTRIDERS Price: 44.99$ Link Store: Steam Offer ends up after X hours: 3 June Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel I5-3470 / AMD FX-8350 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 750ti / AMD Radeon R9 270x DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 70 GB available space Additional Notes: 720p / 60fps RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel i7-7700K / AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, 8 GB / Radeon RX Vega 56, 8 GB DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 70 GB available space Additional Notes: 1080p / 60fps

Game Information: Initial release date: 10 May, 2021. Software Developer: Focus Home Interactive. Publisher: Focus Home Interactive. Platform: PlayStation 4, Windows Microsoft. What if a classic Assassin’s Creed quest was the basis for a competitive multiplayer game? Hood: Outlaws & Legends emphatically answers that question, delivering an unquestionably entertaining twist on the stealth genre. While this 4v4 sneak-‘em-up certainly has its shortcomings, there’s a lot to like about what developer Sumo Newcastle has concocted. You play as either Robin Hood or one of three of his Merry Men, with your team’s objective being to steal a vault key and extract the treasure. Divided into two teams of four – Loxley and Huntingdon – you’ll be working against each other in environments po[CENSORED]ted by computer-controlled guards in order to achieve your objective unnoticed. If you’re spotted by the AI, then the region will go into lockdown, restricting your infiltration opportunities. More problematic is that your position will be marked on your opponent’s map, revealing where you are and what you’re up to. The goal, then, is to begin extracting the treasure without ever being spotted, meaning your adversaries won’t know what you’re doing. The concept is complicated, but it comes together really well, and it doesn’t take long to learn your role and how you can complement your teammates. Different classes have unique skills and abilities: Robin can fire devastating arrows over long distances, while John is more of a melee damage dealer who can lift portcullises should you get detected and go into lockdown. Tooke is more of a mystic character class armed with a ball-and-chain, and he has a special ability which both allows you to heal and temporarily mark the position of enemy players. Meanwhile, Marianne is an assassin, who can use smoke bombs to conceal her identity and assassinate her enemies from all angles rather than just behind. There are some balance issues here: we enjoyed playing as Marianne a lot, for example, and found her to be devastating against the AI – but against real-world opponents, who can swivel the camera and track your position more effectively, it’s difficult to get the jump and trigger an assassination animation. As she’s so weak in hand-to-hand combat, she feels like a poor option. But there’s a lot of fun to be had operating in teams in order to fulfil your objectives unnoticed. A heavily armoured sheriff is your key to the, er, vault key – and you can snatch it from his belt. From there you’ll be given a clue as to the treasure’s location and, if you went unnoticed, your opponents will only know that you have the key. It’s so satisfying when you know you’re operating completely undercover, and that the enemy team is panicking trying to trace your position. Voice communication can be important, but the game has a very good “pinging” system that lets you mark foes and locations of interest, and we actually found we were able to operate fairly effectively with competent players without needing to speak. Finding the treasure will draw AI adversaries to your position, but if you can successfully escort your carrier without being spotted, you’ll get the jump on extracting the treasure. You’ll need to winch the riches out of the map, and this is where territory control becomes important, as you’ll want to spawn as close as possible to the extraction point should you get killed. Using vantage points as Robin to pick off invading enemies or rushing into battle as the hammer-wielding John is a lot of fun, and while the animations feel floaty and weak, there’s some great DualSense controller feedback that communicates the tension of your bowstring or the weight of your weapons. We also like how the haptic feedback is used to reflect the sheriff’s thumping footsteps. As you extract treasure and assassinate AI enemies, you’ll earn money which you can then distribute between yourself and your hideout: the purse or the people – as it’s framed in the game. Upgrading your hideout means you’ll discover new cosmetics, perks, and weapons – but you’ll need cash in order to purchase them. It’s a neat dynamic that plays into the Robin Hood lore. Our biggest criticism, then, is that there just aren’t enough people playing the game – a death knell for any multiplayer title. Content is light at launch, but the game is priced accordingly and there’s a huge roadmap of updates planned, so that’s not the end of the world. More concerning is the fact that, even with crossplay enabled, you can be waiting up to ten minutes for a full lobby. It’s a shame because, once we were actually playing, we really enjoyed our time with this – it’s one of the more unique and interesting multiplayer titles we’ve experienced in a while. But even our enthusiasm was sapped when we found ourselves sitting, twiddling our fingers following every game, wishing we could hop straight back in. We’re not sure what the solution is here. Our only other gripe is that, while the maps actually look very nice, the gothic environmental art of the five launch locations tends to blend together, meaning that it can all feel a bit samey. A bit more variety to the backdrops would have gone a long way, as currently it can be hard to tell the difference between them. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) Processor: AMD FX 6300 X6 / Intel Core i5-3570K Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 2 GB VRAM, Radeon HD 7870 / GeForce GTX 660 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 40 GB available space Additional Notes: 40 FPS, 1920x1080 in low. RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 / Intel Core i5-8600K Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: 6 GB VRAM, Radeon RX 590 / GeForce GTX 1060 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 40 GB available space Additional Notes: 60 FPS, 1920x1080 in ultra.

Here it is, one more chance to purchase a high-end Nvidia RTX 30-series GPU at MSRP. At least that's what the rumour mill says: The Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti will arrive June 3, and the RTX 3070 Ti will follow June 10. Nvidia has confirmed neither card directly, but WCCFTech claims to have information pertaining to the release of both rumoured 30-series cards, and cites those two release dates. The dates also tally with previous rumours that suggest the same timeline, so pending a last-minute shake up it sounds as though we'll see these cards make an appearance around Computex, which kicks off June 1. Both cards have been floating in the ether for a long while now, although may have morphed and changed since the beginning of the year. The RTX 3080 Ti, especially, has metamorphosed from a proposed GA102-250 GPU into the GA102-225 card reported before you now, which comes with fewer cores and less VRAM. That is still said to house 80 SMs for a total of 10,240 CUDA Cores, which is a whole lot by anyone's making. The RTX 3070 Ti will likely feature the GA104 GPU found in the RTX 3070 through to the RTX 3060 Ti and mobile RTX 3080. We're again left taking guesses as to the exact specification, but a 6,144 CUDA Core config seems likely here. Prices are even more speculative at this time, although the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT's $999 price tag may offer some indication of the rough whereabouts for the RTX 3080 Ti. We can roughly guess the RTX 3070 Ti's price, too. The RTX 3070 costs $499 and the RTX 3080 $699, which means the RTX 3070 Ti will inevitably fall between the two. We can hope for $549, but $579 to match the RX 6800 seems fitting, too. If Nvidia really feels it has the performance to best the Radeon by a margin, a $599 price tag isn't out of the question, either.

Apple CEO Tim Cook testified in defense of his company on Friday in an effort to retain control over its iOS ecosystem, deflecting tough questions from US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Last August, Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, sued Apple alleging that the iPhone maker illegally monopolizes iOS app distribution and payments. Epic hopes to convince Judge Gonzalez that Apple is violating antitrust law by imposing rules that force iOS developers to distribute through the iOS App Store and to rely solely on Apple's in-app payment system. As recounted by press pool reporter Mike Acton of legal news service MLex, Cook arrived around 0735 Pacific Time wearing a dark grey suit, a white shirt with grey tie, black shoes, and a clear face shield. It did not protect him from Judge Gonzalez's skepticism. The judge cited the findings of the developer survey that's been entered into evidence, which indicated that 39 per cent of software makrs were either very dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with Apple's distribution service, with 19 per cent neutral and 36 per cent somewhat or very satisfied. Gonzalez then asked how that was acceptable and how, if those figures were correct, whether Cook feels the motivation or incentive to address developer needs. Cooke made clear that Apple's interpretation of user needs took precedent over placating developers. "I’m not familiar with the document you are referencing – friction is what creates a curated experience for users that they are assured safe and trusted," said Cook. "So sometimes the developer and the user are not necessarily intersecting interests." Gonzalez responded by expressing doubt that Apple feels "real pressure or competition to actually change the manner in which you act to address the concerns of the developers." Cook disagreed, insisting that Apple is responsive to developer concerns. At another point, Gonzalez asked Cook whether he agrees with the basic proposition that competition is good. "I think it’s great," said Cook. "You don’t have competition in IAP though," said Gonzalez, referring to in‑app purchases. Cook insisted people could buy a Sony PlayStation or Nintendo Switch to play video games games and purchase stuff on a non-Apple system, to which Gonzalez said, "Well, only if they know, right?" (Apple's developer rules disallow promoting other platforms.) The judge also found it curious that the bulk of iOS revenue comes from gaming apps. She noted that she has free multiple banking apps, for which Apple does not charge a commission. "You don’t charge Wells Fargo or Bank of America," she said, "but you are charging the gamers to subsidise Wells Fargo." Cook replied that Apple charges for digital transactions and that's simply the business model it has chosen. In response to questioning from Epic's counsel about whether Apple makes editorial judgements about the apps in the App Store, Cook said, “We’re not making a moral judgement on them, if that’s what you’re asking." Apple's developer rules suggest otherwise. As noted by Reuters reporter Stephen Nellis, Section 1.1 of Apple's App Store Review Guidelines is titled "Objectionable Content" and disallows "content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy." Cook insisted Apple's oversight was essential to keep people safe and that the App Store would become "a toxic mess" if it ceased reviewing apps. He also had trouble remembering just how much Apple gets paid by Google to make Google Search the default on the iPhone. Gary Bornstein, representing Epic, suggested the amount was $10bn. “I don’t remember the exact number," said Cook. Bornstein asked if Cook didn't know it was upwards of $10bn. "I don’t know," Cook replied. Later in the afternoon, after Cook's testimony concluded and other matters were dealt with, Gonzalez said the evidentiary portion of the trial was done and she expects closing arguments will follow, after which she will issue a written opinion. It will take some time, she said, but she intends to try to do so as quickly as possible. At the start of this bench trial, the consensus among observers appeared to be that Apple would prevail. As it winds down, the outcome looks a lot less certain. ®

When W.O. and Horace Bentley put pen to paper and created the Bentley Motor Company in 1919, their objective was simple: build some of the best cars in the world. Now, more than 100 years into the company's life, Bentley might be closer to that ambition than ever before. We've already gone over the excellence of the new Flying Spur in detail, but Bentley recently made some changes that will hopefully make its only sedan even better. There isn't any more performance, as the 626-horse thump from the twin-turbo W-12 is already amply sufficient. Instead, the changes for the 2022 model year make the Flying Spur even more refined and easier to live with. To that end, Bentley has added traffic sign recognition, handsfree trunk opening, a top-view camera, and automatic dimming mirrors to the list of standard kit. A new air ionizer should help keep nasty, microscopic air particles out of the cabin, and there are new open-pore veneers to make the interior feel just that much more luxe. A new color, Cambrian Grey, grows the list of available exterior finishes to 63 (and makes your Bentley look like a giant dolphin on wheels). Additionally, Bentley has worked with ESI Group—a company that specializes in virtual modeling—to identify where it could make the cabin of the Flying Spur even more serene. The result is lower noise, vibration, and harshness in some of the louder parts of the cabin. The experience, Bentley says, should bring the Flying Spur ever closer to W.O. Bentley's ideal of a "dead silent 100-mph car." The changes to the big Bentley sedan will be applied to the 2021 model year cars for the British market, with the rest of the world having to wait until the 2022s hit showrooms.

While many of us were still finding novelty in group Zoom calls last May, Demi Skipper decided she was going to get a house. But not using money. Instead, she was going to trade items. Now the owner of one of only a few Chipotle celebrity cards in the world, and hoping to reach a house by the end of summer, the 29-year-old’s journey started where many voyages do: in a YouTube hole. Sitting in the living room of her rented house in San Francisco, she had just finished watching a Ted Talk by Kyle MacDonald, also known as the red paperclip guy, who traded up 14 times to get from a red paperclip to a house in 2006. MacDonald was a 26-year-old jobless Canadian who traded from a red paperclip to a fish-shaped pen, to a handmade doorknob, before trading it for a camping stove, then a generator, then a keg of beer and a neon sign, followed by a snowmobile, a trip to Yahk in British Columbia, a box truck, a music recording contract, a year’s rent in Arizona, to one afternoon with the rock band Alice Cooper. His strangest trade was then for a Kiss-themed motorized snow globe, which he swapped with snow globe fanatic and actor Corbin Bernsen for a role in a Hollywood film, before trading the movie role for a two-storey farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan, Canada. Skipper, a self-described “scrappy entrepreneurial type”, was up to the challenge. “I can’t buy anything. I can’t use any money. And I can’t trade anyone I know,” she excitedly explains over a 7am video call. She’s used to early mornings as she’s been working 6am to 2.30pm as a product manager for BuzzFeed. “A lot of comments [about my project] are like, ‘You need to get a job’, and I’m like, Oh my gosh, if they knew I’m working like 12-hour days,” she gestures in disbelief. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and Ebay are Skipper’s go-tos. She first posted an image of the bobby pin explaining her mission, and traded it for brand new earrings from a woman on Facebook who was excited to take part. People’s eagerness to get involved has been the most surprising thing. “I get probably 1,000 messages a day on Instagram. And a lot of them are like: I don’t have a trade but I live in this state and I’d be willing to drive your car from here to here, or I have a garage or a safe place where you could keep a trade.” She left the earrings on the porch of a woman keen to get rid of four margarita glasses, which Skipper traded for a vacuum cleaner. Then she had to trade outside of her city to meet a couple who exchanged their kid’s old snowboard for a vacuum cleaner. The snowboard went for an Apple TV. It was the first branded item she received, which made it easier to trade. She then arranged to swap it for a pair of Bose headphones, before finding a man on the neighbourhood app Next Door to trade her for an old Apple MacBook. A MacBook from a bobby pin: it was a landmark moment. Up until this point, her project, named Trade Me, wasn’t well-known. Now she had the eyes of thousands of people on her. “The next trade was really nerve-racking because it was the first one I had to ship. So I had to trust that the person I was trading with would send me the camera and lenses,” she explained. The camera went for the first pair of collector sneakers she found. “I reached out and the guy really helped me understand how to tell if sneakers are real.” Skipper then went on to trade two more pairs of sneakers, which the first trader advised her on. Desperate to get out of the sneaker world, Skipper found a man who had been searching for those $1,000 trainers for a long time, and traded them for a brand new iPhone 11 Max.

Israel’s military is drafting a plan for a possible ground ground operation of Gaza, as it presses ahead with a fierce air offensive on the enclave and as Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, fires volleys of rockets deep into Israel. Meanwhile, racist mob attacks have continued to spread through Israel in the worst Arab-Jewish chaos for years. Overnight on Wednesday, far-right Jewish mobs took to the streets across the country searching for Arabs, while Palestinian citizens of Israel clashed with police, including reports of attempted shootings. The attack plans, which are in their initial stages and have not been approved, will be presented to the military heads later on Thursday, who will consider whether to submit them to Israel’s government, an army spokesperson said. Early on Thursday, thousands of Israelis went into shelters after warning sirens sounded in the economic capital Tel Aviv in the middle of the country, and also – for the first time since the unrest escalated this week – in Jezreel Valley in the north. There was no immediate word of any casualties from the pre-dawn salvo, and later reports suggested the sirens in the north were false alarms. The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Gaza since Monday, killing four senior Hamas commanders and a dozen more Hamas operatives. Two high-rise buildings containing flats and offices in Gaza City were targeted. At least 67 people have now been killed in Gaza, including 16 children, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Seven people have been killed in Israel, medical officials said, including a five-year-old boy killed by shrapnel on Wednesday in the frontier town of Sderot. As the crisis continues to worsen, the US energy corporation Chevron said it had shut down the Tamar natural gas platform off the Israeli coast as a precaution. Israel said its energy needs would continue to be met. At least two US airlines cancelled flights to Tel Aviv on Wednesday and Thursday. Israel, which briefly suspended operations at Ben Gurion airport on Monday after a rocket barrage on Tel Aviv, said the national airline El Al stood ready to provide supplemental flights. Thursday’s barrage on Tel Aviv prompted Israel to reroute an El Al flight from Brussels away from Ben Gurion, its intended destination, to Ramon airport in the south. It appeared to be the first time Israel had used Ramon as an alternative to Ben Gurion due to conflict. A flight was previously diverted there due to bad weather, according to the the Haaretz journalist Avi Scharf. While the conflict raged, Israel appeared on the brink of losing control of its mixed cities. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has called on both Jews and Arabs to cease attacks on each other: “It doesn’t matter to me that your blood is boiling. You can’t take the law in your hands,” he said. However, Netanyahu previously pledged to restore order “with an iron fist if needed”, and his public security minister, Amir Ohana, has appeared to encourage mob violence. On Wednesday, Ohana called for the release of a Jewish man arrested in connection with a fatal shooting of an Arab man in the city of Lod, after a synagogue and other Jewish property was torched. Ohana alleged, without providing evidence, that the shooter “acted in self-defence”. He added that “law-abiding citizens carrying weapons” were an aid to authorities. Later on Wednesday, a mob of far-right Israelis dragged a man they thought was an Arab from his car and beat him until he lay on the ground motionless and bloodied. Footage of the attack in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, was broadcast live on television but police and emergency services did not arrive on the scene until 15 minutes later, while the victim lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street. Videos were posted on social media of what appeared to be other attempted lynchings overnight. Violent incidents, including the burning of shops and restaurants, were reported in multiple towns across Israel, including Acre, Haifa and Tiberias. Police arrested more than 400 people. Earlier on Wednesday the US president, Joe Biden, spoke to Netanyahu and voiced hope the recent upsurge in violence centred on Gaza would soon end. “My expectation and hope is this will be closing down sooner than later, but Israel has a right to defend itself,” Biden said. Biden did not explain the reasons behind his optimism. Netanyahu’s office said he told the US president that Israel would “continue acting to strike at the military capabilities of Hamas and the other terrorist groups active in the Gaza Strip”. Amid reports that Egyptian mediators were attempting to broker a deal to end the fighting, Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, said: “Israel is not preparing for a ceasefire. There is currently no end date for the operation. Only when we achieve complete quiet can we talk about calm.” The US secretary of state, Tony Blinken, condemned the rocket attacks during a call with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday, and emphasised the need to de-escalate tensions, the US state department said. Abbas is a Hamas rival whose authority is limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hady Amr, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Israel and Palestinian affairs, is to travel to the region immediately to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders. A nominee for the empty post of US ambassador to Israel is to be made in the next few weeks, the White House said. Since hostilities escalated on Monday evening, Hamas has fired about 1,500 rockets from Gaza into Israeli territory, according to the latest estimate by Israel’s army. The launch of about 350 rockets had failed, while hundreds more were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system, the army said. The Israeli military said earlier it had killed four senior Hamas commanders in a “complex and first-of-its-kind operation” jointly with the Shin Bet security service. The dead included Bassem Issa, the Gaza City Brigade commander, the head of the cyber-command and the head of Hamas’s production network, said a security agency statement. “We eliminated senior Hamas commanders and this is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said. “We will inflict blows on them that they couldn’t even dream of.” The Israeli military would use “increasing force”, he added.

Name of the game: They Are Billions Price: 26.99$ Link Store: Steam Offer ends up after X hours: 17 May Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7, 8, 10 (32 and 64 bits) Processor: INTEL, AMD 2 cores CPU at 2Ghz Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD3000, Radeon, Nvidia card with shader model 3, 1GB video ram. DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 4 GB available space Additional Notes: Minimum resolution: 1360x768, recomended FULL HD 1920x1080. RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 7, 8, 10 (64 bits) Processor: INTEL. AMD 4 cores CPU at 3Ghz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Radeon 7950 or above, Nvidia GTX 670 or above. 4GB video ram. DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 4 GB available space Additional Notes: 4K Monitor (3840x2160)