Technology
AI concerns spur video game workers to go on strike starting Friday
Video game performers with SAG-AFTRA will strike beginning Friday as AI “loopholes” have caused concerns.
Beginning at 12:01 Friday morning, video game voice actors and motion capture performers under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will strike over artificial intelligence protections.
This is the second strike for SAG-AFTRA performers in video games. While the union has conceded that wages and job safety have made gains in video game contracts, AI in interactive media continues to be a source of insecurity.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF GAMERS DESCEND ON LAS VEGAS FOR THE EVO TOURNAMENT
SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez shared at the presser on Thursday that some performers’ work may be treated as “data” under current AI guidance.
“We strike as a matter of last resort. We have given this process absolutely as much time as we responsibly can. We have exhausted the other possibilities, and that is why we’re doing it now,” said Rodriguez.
Nearly two years of negotiations with gaming creators like Warner Brothers and the Walt Disney Company have led to the strike.
SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee shared with the AP that the definition of “performer” may differ between the union and the gaming companies.
AMERICAN LEGION EMBRACES VIDEO GAMES
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the gaming companies involved, with the AP that the companies’ offer “extends meaningful AI protections.”
Cooling added, “We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations.”
Andi Norris, an actor, said to the AP “the performers who bring their body of work to these games create a whole variety of characters, and all of that work must be covered. Their proposal would carve out anything that doesn’t look and sound identical to me as I sit here, when, in truth, on any given week I am a zombie, I am a soldier, I am a zombie soldier.”
“We cannot and will not accept that a stunt or movement performer giving a full performance on stage next to a voice actor isn’t a performer,” Norris argued.
According to SAG-AFTRA, the video game agreement represents 2,500 “off-camera (voiceover) performers, on-camera (motion capture, stunt) performers, stunt coordinators, singers, dancers, puppeteers, and background performers.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Technology
Epic will bring Fortnite to third-party iOS app stores
Epic Games plans to bring Fortnite to the third-party iOS app store AltStore PAL, which is only available in the EU. The company made the announcement in a Thursday blog post about its strategy for mobile stores, and it says it expects to announce support for “at least two other third-party stores soon.”
While Epic says that it plans to “bring our own mobile games including Fortnite to other mobile stores that give all developers a great deal,” it didn’t provide a specific timeline. In addition to Fortnite, Epic also plans to bring Rocket League Sideswipe to AltStore PAL, spokesperson Natalie Munoz tells The Verge.
When reached for comment, AltStore’s Riley Testut pointed to Epic’s post and said that “we’re very excited to be bringing Fortnite and more to AltStore PAL.”
The company is also working on bringing Fortnite to iOS in the EU, which it says will happen “soon,” and launching its own app store on iOS and Android.
Epic also announced that “we will be ending distribution partnerships with mobile stores that serve as rent collectors without competing robustly and serving all developers fairly, even if those stores offer us a special deal for our own games.” Epic is presumably talking about Apple and Google here, given the company’s disputes with both companies over their app store practices. Munoz declined to comment.
Epic also plans to pull Fortnite and other apps (Rocket League Sideswipe and Postparty, according to Munoz) from Samsung’s Galaxy Store. The company cites two factors as to why. One is Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature that blocks sideloading by default (though you can turn the feature off, according to 9to5Google). Another is “public revelations in the US Epic v. Google lawsuit of ongoing Google proposals to Samsung to restrain competition in the market for Android app distribution,” presumably referring to initiatives like Project Banyan, which Google gave up on.
Apple, Google, and Samsung didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Update, July 25th: Added details from Epic about what apps it will remove from the Galaxy Store.
Technology
Peacock’s horror thriller Teacup starts streaming in October
During production the series changed and evolved. Just as it should. Even the title’s different. Stinger is now Teacup. The reasons for this are too spoilery to share but watch the first few episodes and all will be revealed. Point being, the series is now very much its own thing: a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must look horror story, a family drama, a science fiction epic — of the keyhole variety, of course.
But as singular, strange, and surprising as I hope Teacup is, all you need to do is peel away the layers, characters, situations, and mythology and look behind the thrills, chills, hairpin turns and make-you gasp reveals. Do all that and you’ll see, at its heart, Teacup is still very much standing on the shoulders of Stinger. Just as it should.
Technology
There’s a blender hidden inside this insulated travel cup
Nutribullet’s new Flip incorporates a blender into an insulated stainless steel tumbler that looks no larger than a typical travel mug. If you don’t have enough time in the morning to blend your breakfast, the rechargeable Flip works anywhere you don’t mind making a bit of noise. (Maybe skip the crowded subway.)
The $99.99 Flip isn’t Nutribullet’s first single serve blender, nor is it the company’s first rechargeable one. What sets it apart from past offerings is that the blender part — including blades, an 11.1 volt electric motor, and a rechargeable battery — are all incorporated into the Flip’s lid, instead of into a removable base that gets left behind.
On a full charge the Flip can run a 30-second blend cycle over 14 times before it needs to be plugged it back in via a USB-C charging cable. Seven minutes isn’t a lot of time, but should be sufficient for blending up a drinkable breakfast, and maybe a lunch later in the day.
You can fill the 20-ounce tumbler with whatever ingredients you want. Nutribullet claims the Flip’s motor is powerful enough to blend ice, fresh ingredients, and “most” frozen fruits. But it also warns against using heated ingredients, as they can cause pressure to build up inside that could result in the lid forcefully opening or completely separating from the tumbler.
When filled, the lid is then attached to the insulated tumbler and the whole thing is inverted before blending so the contents fall into the chopping blades. It’s also worth pointing out that the Flip weighs 3.45 pounds on its own. A 20 ounce Yeti mug, for comparison, is just over a pound. Adding ice and frozen fruit is going to give you a real work out when carrying this around.
Once complete, the lid can be left on and used for pouring or drinking. The best feature is that when the Flip is empty it can be easily cleaned by filling it with soap and water and then running a single blend cycle. What you don’t want to do is submerge the Flip, or stick it in the dishwasher, as that USB-C port is not waterproof.
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