Monthly Archives: January 2015
President Obama Urges Congress to Pass Cyber Security Legislation
During his State of the Union Address, President Barrack Obama encouraged legislation that would give companies more modern tools to combat cyber threats, and establish a national standard for companies to notify victims about security breaches.
The proposed legislation follows retail breaches at stores such as Target and Staples, along with the Sony Pictures calamity that was later credited to North Korea.
"No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids," President Obama said. "We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism. And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information."
Dragon Tattoo Actress Up for Star Wars
Tatiana Maslany and Rooney Mara are reportedly screen-testing for the first Star Wars standalone film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Maslany (Orphan Black) and Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) are testing for the female lead in the film, which is being directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla). Sources indicate that the actresses will test this week along with a “handful” of others and that reading and testing also took place in the U.K. in December.
Rooney Mara in The Social Network
Podcast Beyond Episode 378: Our Favorite PSP Memories
Greg, Colin, and Marty gathered together to discuss their favorite PSP memories, whether or not we'll actually see Uncharted in 2015, and when the PlayStation 4 will receive its first price drop. Also Colin talks about hockey. Shocker. All this and more on the Internet's No. 1 PlayStation podcast!
BEYOND!
Podcast Beyond, Episode 378 (MP3) - 63 MB
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Marty Sliva is an Editor at IGN. He enjoys casting pods. Follow him on Twitter @McBiggitty.
State of Decay Boss Explains Lack of Co-Op
Speaking with IGN on an upcoming episode of Podcast Unlocked, Undead Labs CEO Jeff Strain explained that while he understands and even wants cooperative multiplayer in State of Decay, it would be difficult from an engineering standpoint and would take up time better spent elsewhere in development.
"We could go retrofit cooperative multiplay into State of Decay," he says of the possibility. "It would feel janky. it would not feel like it was a native part of the experience."
Strain explains that while the team could "band-aid something in," several concessions would have to be made to the gameplay, due to the way the systems are currently set up in State of Decay's code. Attempting to go in and alter the current architecture would be too difficult to justify, especially when the team could use that time working on the next iteration.
Mortal Kombat and Arrow Actor Has Died
Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Arrow actor Darren Shahlavi has died at the age of 42.
Shahlavi was well known for playing Kano in Machinima's Mortal Kombat web series. He also played Constantine Drakon on The CW's Arrow.
Darren Shahlavi in Mortal Kombat: Legacy
Arrow star Stephen Amell took to Twitter to pay his respects to the late actor, calling him a "great dude" and a "patient, thoughtful partner."
RIP Darren Shahlavi. 1st guy I ever fought on Arrow. He was a great dude & a patient, thoughtful partner. Fight looked good because of him.
FDA Publishes Guidance for Wearables
The FDA has released its draft guidance on how wearable devices for medical use could be regulated and how it would distinguish casual wearables from serious medical tech
While "general wellness" wearables that make no specific claims about their use (like Fitbit or Apple's health apps) will remain unregulated, any device that claims to treat a specific ailment or is more invasive will receive the same level of scrutiny as devices designed for professional hospital use.
The key here is that a "general wellness application" can help users lose weight, but not claim to treat obesity; it can claim to help a user reduce stress levels, but it can't claim to fight an anxiety disorder. A device can also claim it "may help to reduce the risk of" or "may help living with" specific illnesses or disorders without losing its general wellness categorization.
Director Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters 3 Update
The plot details for the female Ghostbusters reboot have been kept more secret than Bill Murray's phone number -- but finally, director Paul Feig has given us an update on the reboot's status, answering questions about the film's setting, Melissa McCarthy casting rumours, his reasoning for doing the movie, and more.
Speaking to Empire, Feig expressed his desire to keep the Ghostbusters franchise set in New York City, saying, "...to me it’s such a New York movie and the biggest sin would be to pull it out of there." He elaborated, "I just love New York and, selfishly, I just want to shoot in New York."
Denis Leary Loves Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll
After helping the network break new ground with his series Rescue Me, Denis Leary is returning to FX - this time however with a half-hour comedy called Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.
SDRR is centered on Johnny Rock (Leary), a middle-aged rock ‘n roller who desperately wanted to be rich and famous. So far, he’s 0 for 2. As the magnificently talented lead singer of New York’s legendary early 90’s band The Heathens, Johnny was on his way to the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. His best friend Flash (John Corbett, Northern Exposure) was being called the next number one lead guitar player on planet earth. The critics loved them. Their live shows were selling out. But Johnny had a problem with booze. And coke. And weed. And pills. And cough medicine. And oh yeah — he slept with Flash’s wife. And his bass player’s fiancé.
Avengers 2: Is This Hulk’s New Look?
While it might be a case similar to that of the Iron Man Deep Space Suit toy for Iron Man 3 having nothing to do with the movie, a newly revealed Funko POP! Vinyl toy may indicate a major change could be in store for one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Be advised of possibly SPOILERS ahead ...
PopVinyls.com posted this image below for a Hot Topic exclusive figure of a grey-skinned "Savage Hulk" along with their lineup of new Avengers 2 figures.
Microsoft Windows 10 Event Liveblog
Tomorrow at 9am PT, Microsoft will be discussing more details on Windows 10—and we’ll be on site to bring you all the details. If you want to stay in the loop but can’t watch the livestream, keep your browsers pointed at this page: we’ll be liveblogging the event right here.
In the meantime, what can you expect? Here are a few key topics that are likely to crop up during the event:
- Gaming: With Phil Spencer in attendance, there should be some gaming-related announcements. DirectX 12 was announced last year at GDC and will be shipping with Windows 10 when it launches, and an Xbox app for Windows 10 has also been reportedly spotted—so we'll likely get more details on DirectX 12 and what it'll do for PC gaming, as well as just what that Xbox app is all about. We could also potentially hear something about broad support for cross-platform play, given Windows 10 taking the approach of being a single OS meant to cover multiple types of devices.