Technology news

NBC’s talent show The Voice is partnering with trivia app HQ for a special game on Monday, May 14th at 11:30 PM ET, 8:30PM PT. Players will have a chance to win $50,000 and a trip to the TV show’s season finale on May 21st in Las Vegas.HQ’s trivia host Scott Rogowsky will make an appearance on Monday night’s episode of the talent show, (which airs at 8:00PM ET) NBC says that the episode will contain hints for that night’s trivia game. Monday night’s HQ game w

Last year, Britain approved the Digital Economy Act 2017, which included strict new rules regarding access to pornographic websites. When the law goes into effect later this year, regulators have suggested that users will be able to purchase a so-called “porn pass,” from their local newsstand to verify their age.
The law will require websites to verify the users ages, or face stiff penalties. Those who don’t comply risk being blocked by internet service providers, and would fa

President Donald Trump says that he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to find a way for Chinese telecom company to “get back into business, fast,” following last week’s announcement that it was pausing its “major operating activities.”ZTE said in a filing that it has just enough cash to remain afloat if it pauses operations following a US ban on exports to the company in April. Last month, The US Department of Commerce banned exports to the company for s

Spoilers for the trailer of Silicon Valley’s season finale.
Tonight’s Silicon Valley season finale is titled “Fifty-One Percent,” and according to the trailer for the episode, it features a crazy twist centered on what’s called a 51 percent attack. This is when an organized group of cryptocurrency miners achieve a majority on a blockchain network, which enables them to hold the network hostage and disrupt it in various ways. On the show, Pied Piper’s enemies

I’ve always found built-in photo modes for games intimidating, much like a high-end DSLR camera. I don’t know the first thing about perspective or lighting, and fiddling with all of these various aspects of a video game screenshot just isn’t much fun. People can make amazing photos with these tools, but I, sadly, am not one of them. All I really want to do is make Kratos smile — thankfully that’s now an option.
A few weeks after the new God of War first launched on

Six major hardware manufacturers received warning letters from the US Federal Trade Commission earlier this month, which stated that their warranties might conflict with US law. In response, Nintendo and Sony have announced that they will update their policies, according to US Gamer.
The six companies were ASUS, HTC, Hyundai, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. The FTC warned them that their respective warranties, which specified that consumers couldn’t use third-party parts, accessories, or i

It can be difficult to find time to finish a video game, especially if you only have a few hours a week to play. In our biweekly column Short Play we suggest video games that can be started and finished in a weekend.
When presented with different points of information, the human brain naturally tries to fill in the gaps. A number of games take advantage of this, like indie game Gone Home. When you start the game you enter a massive home only knowing that your family lives there, and that they m

Science fiction is often pretty bad at predicting the future: rather, it’s a better barometer of the present. But every now and again, an author establishes a reputation for insight into what the future might hold. One such author is Canadian writer and futurist Karl Schroeder, whose new book The Million comes out this summer.
In this far future tale, Earth is populated and ruled exclusively by super-rich individuals — one million of them, to be exact. Every 30 years they allow the

Taking the road less traveled is extremely difficult for self-driving cars. Autonomous vehicles rely on highly visible lane markings, as well as detailed 3D maps in order to navigate their environment safely. Which is why most of the major companies have eschewed testing on unmapped rural roads in favor of suburbs and cities.Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a new system that allows self-driving cars to drive on roads they&