The video-games industry likes to think of itself as progressive but on the evidence of 2019 you’d suspect it was in the throes of a mid-life crisis. After the 24th, 15th and 13th instalments of Resident Evil, Kingdom Hearts and Far Cry; we await Mortal Kombat 11, Tropico 6 and Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled; a HD update of a 20 year-old kart racer from the publisher that parted ways with Destiny, the shooter that defined the generation. After the summer, the console release schedule turns to mist, where the certainty of a Call of Duty update is all that stands between the games industry sticking two PS Move controllers up its nose and crossing the Atlantic in a Nintendo Labo coracle. This lack of visibility around release schedules isn’t the existential funk that it first appears, however. As Google prepares to unveil its vision for gaming’s future, a new technology war is emerging from the shadows; ahead of a year of key announcements including PS5, two new Xbox … [Read more...] about 10 key battles that will define the future of gaming, as PS5, Google and Xbox Project Scarlett draw near
History google search
THQ Nordic held a Q&A with 8chan, a website de-listed from Google for hosting suspected child porn
“We’re doing an 8chan AMA and we have no idea why,” announced THQ Nordic on their Twitter account earlier this evening. If you’re not aware, 8chan is an imageboard website which has been de-listed from Google search results for hosting “suspected child abuse content,” and which is associated with Swatting and Gamergate. THQ Nordic’s marketing director has since apologised and claimed ignorance, but both are hard to believe. Thirty minutes after the original tweet, a brief followup attempted to offer more context for the decision: “the opportunity was here and we took it, we got apporached [sic] in a very friendly and polite manner and were assured, said person (shoutout to Mark) will take care of the nasty stuff. so, here we are.” Two hours later and following a flood of negative reactions on Twitter, THQ Nordic posted a multi-tweet follow-up: “I personally agreed to this AMA without doing my proper due diligence to understand … [Read more...] about THQ Nordic held a Q&A with 8chan, a website de-listed from Google for hosting suspected child porn
What is Mystery Search, how does it work and what are the best Google results it has yielded?
IF you think plain old Google searches aren't exciting - or unpredictable - enough, then you'll be pleased to know that there is an alternative way to use Google's search engine. Mystery Search is the hilarious alternate search engine you never knew you needed. How does Mystery Search work? Although the little-known site uses the same Google search bar as you're used to, mystery searches come with a twist, meaning you rarely get the results you were expecting. That's because the search engine doesn't show the results for what you just typed in. Instead, it shows the results for the previous person's search - meaning you have no idea what you're going to get. Because it uses the last person's input, you could be faced with literally anything when you hit that search button, so be warned that the site is not suitable for children and may not be safe for work. What are the best Mystery Search results? When searching for "the Sun online", the site came up with some completely … [Read more...] about What is Mystery Search, how does it work and what are the best Google results it has yielded?
Google tracks your movements even if you turn Location History OFF – here’s how to really stop it
GOOGLE snoops on your exact location more than you realise – and even when you have Location History tracking turned off. Fortunately, it's possible to stop Google from spying on your real-world movements if you change the right settings. Here's a simple guide on how to go off-grid. Does Google track your location? Yes. If you use any Google services, it's almost guaranteed that your exact location will have been mapped out. The most obvious way it does this is through a feature called Location History. This is an opt-in feature that lets you see where you've been, visually charted on Google Maps-style interface. You can view your own Google Maps timeline here: To stop this from happening, you just need to turn Location History off. You can do that from the page above. Once it's off, your location will no longer be stored. But that's not the only way Google tracks you.Google Web and App Activity Tracking A recent Associated Press report revealed that Google's location tracking … [Read more...] about Google tracks your movements even if you turn Location History OFF – here’s how to really stop it
Google SPYING on your real-world movements even if you have Location History turned off
GOOGLE may be tracking your location – even if you've explicitly told it not to. The tech giant has been accused of stalking users' real-world movements using their smartphones, completely against their will. Generally, Google is very good about asking for permission to track you. If an app wants to follow your location on Android, you'll need to provide explicit permission before it can find out where you are. This holds true even for official Google apps like Google Maps, which may come pre-installed on your phone – and don't work properly without the permission enabled. But an investigation by the Associated Press suggests that Google may be tracking you even without your permission. Usually when you allow Google Maps to track your location, it'll follow you wherever you go. So if you've entered a restaurant, it'll know you're there – and may offer you the opportunity to write a review, for instance. You can check out your own Google Maps "timeline" here: To stop … [Read more...] about Google SPYING on your real-world movements even if you have Location History turned off