[T]he Scribe brings something altogether new to the line: writing. For the first time since the first Kindle was introduced in late-2007, Amazon's added the ability to write on-device with a stylus. TechCrunch reports: Amazon's entry in the space has a 10.2-inch screen and a design partially reminiscent of the premium Kindle Oasis, include a large side bezel (no page turn buttons, unfortunately) you can hold onto while reading. It has a battery the company rates at "weeks," keeping in line with its fellow readers. At 433 grams, it's (predictably) the heaviest Kindle, which could put a bit of a crimp in those bedtime reading marathons. The device ships with its own stylus, which magnetically snaps on the side -- similar to what you see on a lot of tablets. The stylus doesn't requiring charging, and instead relies on EMR (electro-magnetic resistance) -- that means, among other things, that other styli will likely work with the Scribe, though the company cautions against that (naturally), stating that their own is tuned specifically for work on the Kindle.

A more premium model will also be made available with a built-in button for quick actions. These styli allow for a variety of different line styles, though the tips are permanent, so that's happening through the on-board software accessible via a software toolbar. The company says it specifically designed the display/stylus combo to mimic the feel of a pen on paper. [...] Strangely, handwriting recognition will be missing at launch, though the feature is almost certainly on the company's roadmap. It will, however, have a newly Streamlined software offering, allowing files to be shared off the device through the Kindle app, a web browser or email. The company also says it has updated the notoriously outdated Send to Kindle feature to help remove some of the friction from the process. Meanwhile, a deal with Microsoft will bring Word functionality to the product at some point early next year. [...] Preorders for the $340 device start today, with shipping expected before the holidays (think November). Amazon announced more than ten new products at their event, including four new Echo devices, a new TV, and sleep tracker. CNBC highlights the biggest announcements in their report.

Australia's second-largest telecommunications company, Optus, has reported a cyber-attack. The breach exposed customers' names, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses. From a report: The company - which has more than ten million subscribers - says it has shut down the attack but not before other details such as driver's licences and passport numbers were hacked. Optus says payment data and account passwords were not compromised. The company said it would notify those at "heightened risk" but all customers should check their accounts. Chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin apologised to its customers, on ABC TV. She said names, dates of birth and contact details had been accessed, "in some cases" the driving licence number, and in "a rare number of cases the passport and the mailing address" had also been exposed. The company had notified the Australian Federal Police after noticing "unusual activity." And investigators were trying "to understand who has been accessing the data and for what purpose."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Chess's top-ranked player, Magnus Carlsen, has finally spoken about the ongoing alleged cheating scandal that has rocked the chess world for the last several weeks and was reignited when Carlsen resigned in protest after making one move against Hans Niemann. Niemann, of course, was accused of cheating against Carlsen earlier this month, but no one has been able to prove this, nor has a mechanism for the supposed cheating been proven.

"I think the whole world is wondering, what is the reason you withdrew [against Niemann]?" a newscaster with Chess24 asked. "Unfortunately I cannot particularly speak on that," Carlsen said. "But, you know, people can draw their own conclusion and they certainly have. I have to say I'm very impressed by Niemann's play, and I think his mentor Maxine Dlugy must be doing a great job." "I will not comment on that," he added when asked if he was accusing Niemann of cheating. He was then asked if he was accusing Dlugy, who is a chess grandmaster, of helping Niemann cheat: "No, I will not say more about that subject ... I hope to say a little bit more after the tournament." Carlsen was then asked if he thought cheating was a problem in chess. "I think individual people will answer the question differently depending on their own experiences. Regardless of whether it's a massive problem or not, it's, I think, fairly easy to cheat. On a general basis, cheaters in the future, it should not be taken lightly neither online nor over the board."

Chess watchers believe that by namedropping Maxine Dlugy, Carlsen is putting down more breadcrumbs. Dlugy is is a Russian-born, American chess grandmaster who currently operates the Chess Max Academy in Manhattan. In July, Dlugy posted a photo with "my student Hans Niemann," congratulating him on "becoming a top 50 player in the world! Go Hans!" After Niemann beat Carlsen earlier this month, Dlugy posted a congratulatory message: "Just 16 months ago or so, I recommended to Hans to really focus on endings. He devoted a lot of time to this pivotal part of the game and today I am proud to say that his endgame play is sufficient to beat the reigning World Champion from a better position. That's powerful! Hans Niemann -- Chess speaks for itself!"

Redditors were quick to point out, however, that Dlugy has his own controversy. Dlugy has been removed twice from a weekly Chess.com tournament called Titled Tuesday, in 2017 and 2020. Benjamin Bok, a chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer, for example, made a whole segment delving into some of Dlugy's old Chess.com matches and pointing out that Dlugy was suddenly removed from Chess.com with no explanation: "Generally that only means one thing," Bok said, not elaborating on what it means, but heavily implying that it means he was caught cheating. "Draw your own conclusions. Draw your own conclusions. That's all I'm going to say." "Question becomes: Is perhaps Dlugy Hans' accomplice, in case Hans is cheating? We'll have to wait and see," Bok says. "But the fact that Magnus makes that statement and drops his name, it means that he knows something we don't know. You can't just drop someone's name in there without really knowing stuff. I feel like he knows something really big."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Protocol: Google is gunning for Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision: The company is looking to introduce two new media formats to offer HDR video and 3D audio under a new consumer-recognizable brand without the licensing fees hardware manufacturers currently have to pay Dolby. Google shared plans for the media formats, which are internally known as Project Caviar, at a closed-door event with hardware manufacturers earlier this year. In a video of the presentation that was leaked to Protocol, group product manager Roshan Baliga describes the goal of the project as building "a healthier, broader ecosystem" for premium media experiences. The company's primary focus for Project Caviar is YouTube, which does not currently support Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision. However, Google also aims to bring other industry players on board, including device manufacturers and service providers. This makes Project Caviar one of Google's most ambitious pushes for open media formats since the company began working on royalty-free video codecs over a decade ago.

Google's open media efforts have until now primarily focused on the development of codecs. The company acquired video codec maker On2 in 2009 to open source some of its technology; it has also played a significant role in the foundation of the Alliance for Open Media, an industry consortium that is overseeing the royalty-free AV1 video codec. Project Caviar is different from those efforts in that it is not another codec. Instead, the project focuses on 3D audio and HDR video formats that make use of existing codecs but allow for more rich and immersive media playback experiences, much like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision do. Baliga didn't mention Dolby by name during his presentation, but he still made it abundantly clear that the company was looking to establish alternatives to the Atmos and Vision formats. "We realized that there are premium media experiences where there aren't any great royalty-free solutions," he said, adding that the licensing costs for premium HDR video and 3D audio "can hurt manufacturers and consumers."

Dolby makes most of its money through licensing fees from hardware manufacturers. The company charges TV manufacturers $2 to $3 to license Dolby Vision, according to its Cloud Media Solutions SVP Giles Baker. Dolby hasn't publicly disclosed licensing fees for Atmos; it charges consumers who want to add immersive audio to their Xbox consoles $15 per license, but the fee hardware manufacturers have to pay is said to be significantly lower. Still, in an industry that long has struggled with razor-thin margins, every extra dollar matters. That's especially true because Dolby already charges virtually all device makers a licensing fee for its legacy audio codecs. A manufacturer of streaming boxes that wholesale for $50 has to pay around $2 per unit for Dolby Vision and Dolby Digital, according to a document an industry insider shared with Protocol. "For lower-cost living room devices, the cost may be prohibitive," Baliga said during his presentation.

Netflix already lost 1.2 million subscribers in the first two quarters of 2022. While the company hopes to add one million new users with its new ad-supported tier, a survey shows that 1 in 4 Netflix users are planning to cancel their subscriptions this year. From a report: Here's what this could mean to other streaming services, such as Apple TV+. Reviews surveyed 1,000 Americans to gauge their streaming habits in 2022. According to the report, the average American is subscribed to four streaming platforms. Netflix is still the most popular streaming service with nearly 4 out of 5 (77%) Americans currently subscribed to the platform. In addition, 70% say they use Netflix the most, followed by: HBO Max: 9.91%; Disney+: 6.18%; Peacock: 4.25%; Hulu: 3.86%; Apple TV+: 2.70%; Paramount+: 2.70%.

That said, of all the Netflix subscribers, 25% are planning to cancel their subscriptions. Of those who plan to leave the streaming service, two-thirds say increasing costs is one of the reasons. According to the survey, Netflix has the highest average plan cost among the eight more popular streaming services in the US. The other big complaint from Netflix users is two-fold: 1 in 3 respondents said Netflix no longer has the shows they want to watch; 30% said that they use other streaming services more.

Google announced a new Chromecast with HD streaming support today that costs just $30 and has a remote control with it. From a report: The company is launching the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) -- yes, that's the official name -- in 19 countries including the U.S. This comes two years after Google launched a $49 Chromecast with 4K HDR streaming support and the introduction of a remote. The new Chromecast supports 1080p streaming, and more than 10,000 apps that are on the Google TV platform including Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and Prime video.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: On Tuesday, 40 civil rights groups published an open letter calling on MGM Television executives to cancel the studio's upcoming reality show Ring Nation, which will feature former NSA employee and comedian Wanda Sykes presenting humorous surveillance footage captured from Ring doorbell cameras. The groups say the studio is "normalizing and promoting Amazon Ring's dangerous network of surveillance cameras," which, along with the Neighbors app, "violate basic privacy rights, fuel surveillance-based policing that disproportionately targets people of color and threatens abortion seekers, and enables vigilantes to surveil their neighbors and racially profile bystanders."

There's just one potential problem with the well-intentioned campaign: Amazon owns Ring, producer Big Fish Entertainment, and distributor MGM, and it also owns the Prime Video streaming service should it need somewhere to air it. It also has specific partnerships with thousands of police departments around the country should they happen to prove useful. This tower of vertical integration means that Ring Nation is a show designed from the ground up to leverage Amazon's vast monopoly to push its own product on Americans, and it also means that it will probably (but not definitely) be impossible to kill. There's very little chance that MGM executives will push back on the project when it's probably exactly the type of thing Amazon imagined being able to do when it spent $8.5 billion on a merger with MGM this year. "Ring Nation is not a comedy but rather a propaganda strategy to normalize and further digitize racial profiling in our communities. Truthfully the cognitive dissonance about the dangers of these tools is a real concern. It's striking to see a host who has been such a vocal supporter of racial justice protesters defend the very tech that was used to surveil activists during the uprisings in 2020," said Myaisha Hayes, campaign strategy director at Cancel Ring Nation co-organizer Media Justice, in a statement.

"The Ring Nation reality-TV series is anything but funny. It weaponizes the joy of our daily lives in an attempt to manufacture a PR miracle for scandal-ridden Amazon," Evan Greer, director of co-organizer Fight for the Future, said in a statement. "By normalizing surveillance, it will teach our children to relinquish their privacy in exchange for a quick laugh. In the coming weeks, Fight for the Future, Media Justice, and our org partners will be mobilizing our supporters and forming a loud and fearless coalition of civil rights groups to cancel Ring Nation," Greer said.

The show is set to launch on Sept. 26, though it hasn't been announced which networks will carry it.

Microsoft on Tuesday said it's starting to release the first major update to Windows 11, the current version of its PC operating system. The company said the update is aimed at making PCs easier and safer to use and improve productivity. Some excerpts detailing new features from Windows blog: Windows 11 brought a sense of ease to the PC, with an intuitive design people love. We're building on that foundation with new features to ensure the content and information you need is always at your fingertips, including updates to the Start menu, faster and more accurate search, Quick Settings, improved local and current events coverage in your Widgets board, and the No. 1 ask from you, tabs in File Explorer. All of this helps Windows anticipate your needs and save you time. [...] The PC has always been where people come to get things done -- especially when it comes to tackling complex tasks. With enhancements to Snap layouts, the new Focus feature, and performance and battery optimizations, the new Windows 11 2022 update will help you be your most productive yet. Snap layouts on Windows 11 have been a game changer for multitasking, helping people optimize their view when they need to have multiple apps or documents in front of them at the same time. With the new update, we're making Snap layouts more versatile with better touch navigation and the ability to snap multiple browser tabs in Microsoft Edge. We're introducing Focus sessions and Do Not Disturb to help you minimize distractions that pull you away from the task at hand.

[...] We also want to continue to make Windows the best place to play games. This update will deliver performance optimizations to improve latency and unlock features like Auto HDR and Variable Refresh Rate on windowed games. And with Game Pass built right into Windows 11 through the Xbox app, players can access hundreds of high-quality PC games. Having the right content fuels a great PC experience. A year ago, we redesigned the Microsoft Store on Windows to be more open and easier-to-use -- a one-stop shop for the apps, games and TV shows you love. Today, through our partnership with Amazon, we are expanding the Amazon Appstore Preview to international markets, bringing more than 20,000 Android apps and games to Windows 11 devices that meet the feature-specific hardware requirements. In addition to a growing catalog of apps and games, we are also excited to share that we are moving to the next stage of the Microsoft Store Ads pilot -- helping developers get content in front of the right customers. [...] Windows 11 provides layers of hardware and software integrated for powerful, out-of-the box protection from the moment you start your device -- and we're continuing to innovate. The new Microsoft Defender SmartScreen identifies when people are entering their Microsoft credentials into a malicious application or hacked website and alerts them.

New York City is partnering with Charter and Altice to provide free high-speed internet and basic cable TV service to about 300,000 residents of public housing. Bloomberg reports: Called "Big Apple Connect," the program aims to bridge the digital divide between wealthier residents and lower-income people who lack the tools necessary for remote learning, access to health care and job opportunities, city officials said. An estimated 30% to 40% of people who live in buildings run by the New York City Housing Authority lack broadband, according to the cable providers. The city plans to have the service available in more than 200 NYCHA buildings by the end of 2023.

The program differs from a previous short-term promotion by Altice's Optimum and Charter's Spectrum that gave New York City students free internet service after the pandemic hit. Some parents said they were duped into signing up for paid subscriptions after the promotion ended. Under a three-year agreement with the providers, New York will pick up the cost at about $30 per household. The city is in talks with a third major cable TV carrier in the city, Verizon, to join the program. NYCHA residents enrolled in Big Apple Connect will still be able to use the federal Affordable Connectivity Program benefit to save money on their cell phone bills and provide discount of up to $30 per month toward internet and cellular data service, city officials said.

In a rematch today against 19-year-old Hans Niemann, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen resigned his game in the second move and quickly went offline. Susan Polgar commented on Carlsen's resignation against Niemann saying it's: "Definitely a protest move!", while GM Jon Ludvig Hammer said Carlsen should be sanctioned during the live Norwegian TV program.

The chess world has been in chaos ever since Carlsen dropped out from a prestigious tournament following a stunning loss, which ignited suspicions of foul play.

Chessdom has included a "timetable of happenings" related to Niemann in their report.

"Succession," HBO's portrait of a dysfunctional media dynasty, won best drama at the 74th Emmy Awards on Monday night, the second time the series has taken the prize. The New York Times: Jesse Armstrong, the show's creator, also took home the Emmy for best writing, the third time he's won in that category. And Matthew Macfadyen won best supporting actor in a drama for the first time for his performance on the show. It was the sixth time in eight years that HBO has taken the television industry's biggest prize for a recurring series, making it yet another triumphant night for the cable network. HBO, as well as its streaming service, HBO Max, won more Emmys (38) than any other outlet, besting its chief rival, Netflix (26).

"The White Lotus," the cable network's beloved upstairs-downstairs dramedy that took place at a Hawaiian resort, won best limited series, and tore through several other categories. The show won 10 Emmys altogether, more than any other series. Mike White, the show's creator and director, won a pair of Emmys for best directing and writing. And performers from the show, Murray Bartlett and Jennifer Coolidge, both received acting Emmys. "Mike White, my God, thank you for giving me one of the best experiences of my life," Bartlett, who played an off-the-wagon hotel manager, said from the Emmys stage. But HBO's chronicles of the rich were not the only winners on Monday night.

"Ted Lasso," the Apple TV+ sports series, won best comedy for a second consecutive year, as the tech giant continues on an awards show tear. Apple TV+, which had its debut in November 2019, won best picture at the Oscars ("CODA") earlier this year. And Jason Sudeikis repeated as best actor in a comedy as the fish-out-of-water soccer coach in "Ted Lasso." There were other big moments in the comedy awards. Quinta Brunson, the creator of the good-natured ABC workplace sitcom, "Abbott Elementary," about a group of elementary schoolteachers at an underfunded Philadelphia public school, won for best writing in a comedy. It was only the second time a Black woman won the award (Lena Waithe was the first, in 2017, for "Master of None").

CNET reveals some Star Wars news shared at Disney's three-day "D23 Expo." Fans were probably most thrilled by the reveal of a new Mandalorian trailer for the upcoming third season of the hit show that brought us Baby Yoda in all his cuteness... Lucasfilm also dropped a final trailer for upcoming Disney Plus series Andor. Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor as he's recruited into the rebellion against the Empire. The show takes place five years before the events of Rogue One.

And the studio presented a trailer for Tales of the Jedi, which offers six original shorts about Ahsoka and Dooku, and arrives October 26. Fans also got a glimpse, though not a trailer, showing Jude Law, who's starring in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, a story about a group of younglings lost in space.
Also revealed was a "developer update" trailer for the upcoming mobile game Avatar: Reckoning, as part of the news about other franchises: James Cameron called in to the event from New Zealand to discuss Avatar: The Way of Water, and the crowd was given 3D glasses to watch some breathtaking footage [from] Cameron's long-awaited sequel... ahead of its December 16 release.

An exclusive clip from The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania featured Kang holding Cassie Lang hostage and trying to force Scott to steal something for him. Also featured: Bill Murray!

Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury in a new Disney Plus show called Secret Invasion, where Fury and friends (Oscar-winner Olivia Colman among them!) takes on shape-changing Skrulls. The trailer looks intense."

Streaming television is going through an existential crisis, involving the people who make it and the viewers who watch it. Its revolutionary zeal has naturally faded, as that initial wave of near limitless expansion, boundless creative opportunities and vast archival choices crashes ashore, after a spate of megamergers and a drop in new subscribers. From a report: Just when streaming has finally attracted more viewers than cable or broadcast TV, its major players are engaged in a long-predicted war for subscribers, who are becoming all too aware of rising subscription prices and, both subtly and directly, a change in what programs get made and how long they stick around. Commercials could soon become more common, and services may be bundled (for one low monthly price!), already triggering visions of a future that recalls the dark days of cable.

The list of seismic rumblings in recent weeks is long, as chronicled in the Hollywood Reporter, Variety and elsewhere: Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting shows from its archives and unfinished movies from HBO Max as it prepares to merge it with its sister streaming service Discovery Plus, having promised its shareholders a $3 billion cut in costs. Faced with a plunging stock price and worrisome subscriber loss, Netflix plans to add an advertising-supported model for a lower price and may crack down on password sharing. Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus, which can all be subscribed to in a cable-esque bundle, are raising prices after taking a more than $1 billion hit in the fiscal third quarter. [...] The fear of having your show or movie deleted on an executive's whim -- a growing reality for many, including Katai -- is compounded by the fact that in the post-DVD digital age, viewers may never be able to access the shows again. Showrunners might not even have physical copies of their own work. And that's not the only downside for creators.

Today is Disney+ Day, and, as part of its perks, the company is offering Disney+ subscribers a new AR experience in conjunction with the short film "Remembering," starring and produced by "Captain Marvel" Brie Larson and directed and written by filmmaker Elijah Allan-Blitz. The eight-minute-long movie features a companion augmented reality app that allows users to scan their TV with an iOS device to watch an extension of the movie on the small screen. TechCrunch reports: In "Remembering," Larson plays a writer who forgets an idea she had when her phone rings and interrupts her thoughts. The writer's inner child -- played by the young actress Dusty Peak -- helps her recover her lost idea, which is represented as a flying and talking cluster of light, also voiced by Larson. The inner child lives in "The World of Imagination," a fantastical wonderland full of rainbows, shooting stars and dolphin-shaped clouds. The movie aims to spark a discussion about why it is essential to remember your younger self and all the creativity you once had. In doing so, it explores concepts like the origin of ideas and why adults can sometimes be reluctant to use their imaginations.

In years past, Disney has created a number of AR experiences, but this is the first AR app that connects directly to content on the Disney+ platform, the company told TechCrunch. It's an experiment in seeing if AR can serve to enhance movie storytelling even when viewers are watching in their living rooms. The "Remembering" AR component itself is designed to bring "The World of Imagination" alive to viewers by having them engage with the film using their smartphones. [...] The AR app is only available on iOS devices. There are currently no confirmed plans for the app to become available on Android devices. Viewers aren't required to download the app to watch the film and can choose to have a passive viewing experience instead.

Mike Fahey, longtime senior reporter of Kotaku, has passed away at age 49 after years of health complications. In a post published today, current and former colleagues share their memories of "the heart and soul of Kotaku." Here's an excerpt, written by Kotaku's Editor-In-Chief, Patricia Hernandez: Most people know Mike's humor: the way he would slip into cartoon voices on a whim, how every conversation was like a poke to the ribs that tested your verve. The six-foot-six guy with a thunderous laugh was a magician, though, and his larger-than-life personality was classic misdirection. Behind every joke and every antic was a sensitive man who had lived many lives and seen a lot of shit.

Yes, this was the guy that reviewed toys and snacks for a living. He was also the guy that could make you go "damn" in a blog about Fortnite or Animal Crossing. Mike Fahey wanted to tell you about the dozens of keyboards he owned, to show you that he'd pinpointed the specific symphony of sounds that he heard when he pressed his fingers down on each individual key, curious to see if you could hear it, too. I suspect this was the same drive that made him want to tell you what he dreamed about during a coma. It's no accident that Mike was one of the first writers on the internet to really capture what made MMOs tick. All we have is each other, and Mike knew better than anyone that we often use video games to find connection. Even when he was being absurd and reviewing, say, a frozen dinner, he still wanted to find ways to make people feel less alone. With Fahey, even moments of crushing despair were laced with a hopeful laugh.

It's hard to write this, for a variety of reasons that may be obvious, but one of them is the heartbreak of knowing just how badly Mike wanted to come back and keep sharing his joy with everyone at Kotaku after eight months of being away. Between trips to the hospital, Mike kept telling me that he was sure he would come back soon -- that he needed to, because writing and playing games were one of the things that still brought him joy. But after years of fighting against health issues, some of which left him partially paralyzed in 2018, Mike Fahey has passed away at 49 years old, possibly due to organ failure according to his spouse. It's bewildering to write this, because by the time I started writing for Kotaku on the side while still in college in 2012, Mike had already been here for around six years. That was a decade ago. To say Mike is the heart and soul of Kotaku is an understatement.

For many readers, Fahey is Kotaku. He built this thing that millions of people read every month, as a part of a network that forever redefined what it was like to surf and read the internet. We take the idea of "personalities" as a given on the internet now, but Mike Fahey provided a blueprint for being a human voice in a tech-driven space. The drive to put a person at the forefront of everything is still in many ways Kotaku's north star. Fahey may be gone, but his spirit will forever live on in anything that we do. I said this to Kotaku staffers this weekend, but it bears repeating again: I want to think that somewhere, there's still an Xbox game superglued to a ceiling that will never come down. You can contribute to the Fahey family's fundraising efforts here, and scroll down further to read memories from colleagues current and former. We'll miss you, Mike.

Just months after Samsung announced that it's bringing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to its TVs, now LG's doing the same. From a report:The company's new NFT marketplace, called LG Art Lab, lets you "buy, sell and enjoy high-quality digital artwork" from your TV. For now, only users in the US with an LG TV that runs webOS 5.0 or later can access the app, which is available to download from the TV's home screen. Through the portal, you can buy and sell digital works made available through LG's NFT drops. The first one of these drops is set to occur on September 22nd and features a set of metallic-looking NFTs from sculptor Barry X Ball. Since I just so happen to own a compatible LG TV, I downloaded and tried out the app for myself... and there's not much going on there yet. The app is pretty empty, and there aren't any NFTs that you can browse through and buy right now.

The Financial Times tells how the head of a Ukrainian cybersecurity company recruited dozens of "high-level Ukrainian hackers" and borrowed a Starlink internet satellite for "the large-scale infiltration of internet-connected security cameras to surveil Russian-occupied territory, and honey-trapping Russian soldiers into revealing their bases." [T]hey hacked thousands of security and traffic cameras in Belarus and parts of Ukraine that Russia had occupied. To filter the information, the team wrote machine-learning code that helped them separate military movements from ordinary traffic, and they funnelled the information to the military via a public portal.

In one example, described to the Financial Times with photographs and locations, they identified a remote Russian base near occupied Melitopol in southern Ukraine. Then, using fake profiles of attractive women on Facebook and Russian social media websites, they tricked soldiers into sending photos that they geolocated, and shared with the Ukrainian military....

A few days later, they watched on TV as the base was blown up by Ukrainian artillery.

Amazon's new $465 million series — a prequel to the Lord of the Rings — drew more than 25 million viewers on just its first day, according to Reuters, "a record debut for a Prime Video series."

The Independent shared reactions from J. R. R. Tolkein fans, including one who said "it looks like they put absolutely all that Amazon money to use for scenes." First up, the praise. Many are agreeing that the show's costly budget, which positions it as one of the most expensive shows of all time, has paid off, with the series boasting impressive visuals.... @marklee3d added: Rings of Power has done a great job of capturing the feel of Tolkien's world. The challenge is creating a compelling story where one didn't exist before. The show's success lies in pulling that off."

Agreeing that the "spirit" of Tokkien has been captured, @suzannahtweets wrote: "I'm far less concerned about little lore details than I am about the spirit. And while I thought that Peter Jackson fundamentally misunderstood the spirit of Tolkien in ALL his movies, so far the spirit of THE RINGS OF POWER feels remarkably authentic to Tolkien...." However, others argued the show felt "goofy" and featured "terrible" dialogue, with some suggesting that "Tolkien himself" would be "ashamed" of the series.
But "by releasing the first two episodes instead of just the more predictable first, Amazon gave The Rings of Power a strong start," argues Cinemablend. Collider's senior TV editor praises the show's "stunning visuals, compelling characters, and magnetic lead," while one podcaster even called the show "a cinematic masterpiece... masterfully orchestrating a mythology that fans have been waiting for."

Deadline reports that "Critics reviews, save a scathing piece in the UK Daily Mail, have generally been positive for The Rings of Power, as measured by aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic.... As of Friday evening, the IMDb rating stood at a respectable 7.1 out of 10." And Variety adds that Amazon had already taken steps to thwart review bombers three weeks ago: Starting around the time of the launch of the distaff baseball dramedy "A League of Their Own," which premiered its full first season on Aug. 12, Amazon Prime Video quietly introduced a new 72-hour delay for all user reviews posted to Prime Video, a representative for the streamer confirmed to Variety. Each critique is then evaluated to determine whether it's genuine or a forgery created by a bot, troll or other breed of digital goblin.

The practice caught notice after the premiere of the first two episodes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"... The series appears to have been review bombed — when trolls flood intentionally negative reviews for a show or film — on other sites like Rotten Tomatoes, where it has an 84% rating from professional critics, but a 37% from user-submitted reviews. "The Rings of Power" has been fending off trolls for months, especially ones who take issue with the decision to cast actors of color as elves, dwarves, harfoots and other folk of Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth. Amazon's new initiative to review its reviews, however, is designed to weed out ones that are posted in bad faith, deadening their impact.... Whether Amazon successfully beat back the tide of internet trolls for "The Rings of Power" will likely be revealed on Sunday.
Reuters reports that future episodes of the series will be released weekly until the October 14 season finale.

"Amazon plans to let the full story unfold in 50 hours over five seasons."

Netflix is moving up the timeline for the debut of its cheaper, ad-supported plan to November -- in order to get out before the Dec. 8 launch of the Disney+ tier with advertising. From a report: In July, Netflix told investors that it was targeting the launch of the ad-supported plan "around the early part of 2023." But now, Netflix's ad-supported is set to go live Nov. 1 in multiple countries, including the U.S., Canada, U.K., France and Germany, according to industry sources who have been briefed on the streamer's plans. That would be a little over a month before Disney+ Basic, priced at $7.99/month, hits the market in the U.S.

Netflix declined to comment. "We are still in the early days of deciding how to launch a lower-priced, ad-supported tier and no decisions have been made," a company rep said. Sources confirmed the new Nov. 1 launch date, which was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal. Netflix and its exclusive ad partner, Microsoft, have requested ad buyers submit initial bids next week, with a "soft $65 CPM" -- the cost per thousand views -- meaning that the company is open to negotiating the ad rates. That's well above industry CPMs of sub-$20. Sources speculate Netflix's request for proposals from ad buyers will function as a Dutch auction, with the company looking to see what the market will bear.

A jeweler. A plastic surgeon. An OnlyFans Model. They and others received a blue check in likely the biggest Instagram verification scheme revealed to date. After ProPublica started asking questions, Meta removed badges from over 300 accounts. From a report: To his more than 150,000 followers on Instagram, Dr. Martin Jugenburg is Real Dr. 6ix, a well-coiffed Toronto plastic surgeon posting images and video of his work sculpting the decolletage, tucking the tummies and lifting the faces of his primarily female clientele.

Jugenburg's physician-influencer tendencies led to a six-month suspension of his Ontario medical license in 2021 after he admitted to filming patient interactions and sharing images of procedures without consent. He apologized for the lapse and is currently facing a class-action lawsuit from female patients who say their privacy was violated. But on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer, and in roughly a dozen sponsored posts scattered across the web, Jugenburg's career and controversial history was eclipsed by a new identity. On those platforms, he was DJ Dr. 6ix, a house music producer who's celebrated for his "inherent instinctual ability for music composition" and who "assures his followers that his music is absolutely unique." It's an unconvincing persona -- perhaps even less so once his "music" is played. But it was enough to secure what he wanted: a verification badge for his Instagram account.

The coveted blue tick can be difficult to obtain and is supposed to assure that anyone who bears one is who they claim to be. A ProPublica investigation determined that Jugenburg's dubious alter ego was created as part of what appears to be the largest Instagram account verification scheme ever uncovered. With a generous greasing of cash, the operation transformed hundreds of clients into musical artists in an attempt to trick Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, into verifying their accounts and hopefully paving the way to lucrative endorsements and a coveted social status. Since at least 2021, at least hundreds of people -- including jewelers, crypto entrepreneurs, OnlyFans models and reality show TV stars -- were clients of a scheme to get improperly verified as musicians on Instagram, according to the investigation's findings and information from Meta.