Pikachu has lost weight. Why?

Nintendolife: Why Pikachu Is No Longer As Chubby As It Once Was.

When Pokémon first arrived on the Game Boy in 1996, Pikachu was illustrated as a plump electric rodent that looked far from agile. It wasn't until later on in the series, the face of the pocket monster franchise got an artistic makeover, making him slightly less chubby.

What was the reason behind the change, though? If it wasn't already obvious, it was due to the influence of the anime series at the time. During an interview with the Yomiuri Newspaper in 2018 – as recently shared by YouTuber Dr. Lava – the character designer and art director of the Pokémon series Ken Sugimori explained these changes in detail:

   "We were also influenced by the introduction of the [anime]. Since the animation had them doing a variety of movements, including human-like gestures, we changed the shape of Pikachu's body to make acting easier. While Pikachu was originally very short and stout, we gradually gave it a more defined neck and elongated its spine.

    "The Pikachu appearing in the Pokemon series after the broadcast of the animated series was influenced by how it appeared in the show. Also, I had no idea they were going to make it cry 'Pikachu.' It's like a cat crying out the word 'cat.'"

If you miss the older version of Pikachu, the recent release of Pokémon Sword and Shield on the Switch somewhat makes up for it, with the addition of Gigantamax Pikachu. This Pikachu has little resemblance to the famous one we know and love nowadays and is arguably closer to the original Pokémon design.

Gigantamax Pikachu. Is that similar to Mechagodzilla? Who would win a battle between the two of them?

I wonder if this will be one of the Top Tech stories of the year?

Parents sue Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, because it's addictive.

Burlington Free Press: Fortnite as addictive as cocaine? Parents sue makers of popular game.

Epic Games, the maker of the third-person shooter game Fortnite, is being sued by parents who claim the game is as addictive and harmful as cocaine.

The Montreal-based law firm Calex Legal is representing parents of 10- and 15-year-old gamers. The parents allege the Fortnite makers did not warn players of the addictive nature of the game.

According to an article in USA Today, the legal action claims that when engaged in playing the game, the brain's pleasure center releases dopamine which creates addiction. It also claims psychologists and statisticians helped design the game over a four year period to "develop the most addictive game possible."

"Gaming Disorder" became a recognized health condition last year by the World Health Organization. It is "characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences."

Epic games has 30 days to respond to the legal action.

It's easier, and potentially more financially rewarding, to blame a third party because parenting is too hard.

Twitter suspends Newschute, Bitchute's Twitter newsfeed.

One Angry Gamer: Twitter Suspends NewsChute, The News Account For Bitchute.

Bitchute hired Nick Monroe to operate their NewsChute account on Twitter, which covered topical content related to censorship and politics. Monroe, who also contributes to One Angry Gamer, was previously perma-banned from Twitter for “ban evasion” because they had banned another account five years ago. Well, now they’re showing that you can’t even operate secondary accounts belonging to companies because it’s verboten.
[.]
When asked if they would be appealing the suspension, Bitchute noted…

        “We are in the middle of an appeal. Right after we learned our news account was suspended we launched an appeal. Twitter’s reply said it can take a few days and sometimes longer.

    “We’re convinced that there is nothing in Twitter’s rules that would require us to screen anyone we engage to help us with social media based on their social media history. If there is an unwritten rule then it isn’t being applied to the Krassenstein brothers whose website is still present on Twitter with a substantial following. Also they need to clarify at what level of involvement this rule applies, i.e. is any relationship to the company enough? Is it specific to working on Tweets, does that include advising? Is it limited to pushing the send button?”

If you check Twitter’s terms of service or code of conduct, there’s nothing in there saying that companies can’t hire or use people who were previously banned from utilizing their account in any capacity.
[.]
Of course, Twitter used the opportunity to ban Monroe because he was keen on digging into the weeds and getting to the bottom of stories where the facts were either misplaced or ignored by mainstream media.

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One Angry Gamer Archived

Global Warming increase caused by Netflix, binge-watching and porn.

Here we go...

Daily Dot: Netflix and porn addictions are contributing to global warming.

...a study concluded that YouTube emitted about 11 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2016 on its own. A new report from the Shift Project concluded that the transmission and viewing of all online videos generate 300 million tons of carbon dioxide a year–roughly 1% of global emissions. The big takeaway from its findings: To reduce our negative impact on the planet, we need to curb our Netflix and porn habits.
[.]
[T]he Shift Project] found that on-demand video services (like Netflix and Prime Video) are responsible for a third of the emissions–and porn videos generate another third. Based on these numbers, watching porn videos emit the same amount of CO2 as entire countries like Bangladesh and Nigeria!

Now, the organization is concerned that the world’s current streaming habits may be both problematic and unsustainable.

“If we let the video users go how they are going right now, there will be a time when we just won’t be able to really sustain these users, and I think it’s dangerous for the digital infrastructure for the digital world,” Maxime Efoui-Hess, co-author of the study, told Gizmodo.

The organization is calling for more regulations regarding online video use and even created a browser extension (only compatible with Firefox) called Carbonalyser. The extension is supposed to raise awareness by helping users find out how much emission their personal computer use is responsible for.

The authors of the study suggest limitations to the amount of data users have access to.

Grist: Binge-watching and porn are draining the planet’s battery. 

So maybe the next time you’re feeling all hot and bothered, just think about climate change! It’s more effective than a cold shower (and much less wasteful).

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"I'm sorry, you have to reduce your Netflix streaming by 50%. It's for the planet."

"Hi, I'm with the new Data Usage Oversight Regulatory Board. You've been using too much data playing Fortnite and other gaming. You'll need to curb that by 75%."

"You've exceeded your allotted You Tube viewing for this month. Unless you want to pay The Shift Project..."

This will be a fun battle to watch. A brand new sector identified on which to over-regulate and those who oppose it. This battle sounds familiar.

Maybe we start with this guy. Can we blame him? Let's confiscate a large portion of his overall wealth. It's for the planet. He invented the internet, didn't he?

He is "Super Cereal."

Archived stories: 

Daily Dot 

Grist 

Tech News

Technocracy: UK Pedestrian Fined $115 For Avoiding Facial Recognition Camera.

Police fined a pedestrian £90 for disorderly behaviour after he tried to cover his face when he saw a controversial facial recognition camera on a street in London.

Officers set up the camera on a van in Romford, East London, which then cross-checked photos of faces of passers-by against a database of wanted criminals.

But one man was unimpressed about being filmed and covered his face with his hat and jacket, before being stopped by officers who took his picture anyway.

After being pulled aside, the man told police: ‘If I want to cover me face, I’ll cover me face. Don’t push me over when I’m walking down the street.’

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C|Net: Good reasons not to trust tech companies.

...why wouldn't a company like Facebook go the extra step and just listen in on our conversations through our phones?

"Most Americans can't go through their day without having one of these companies in their lives," said Margaret O'Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington and author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America.

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TechTalks: Self-driving forklifts are here.

...factories and industrial complexes are closed environments, and are much more predictable. There’s no threat of kids running in the forklift’s path, and the lighting, weather and traffic conditions are usually constant. “The rules for forklifts are easier than self-driving cars because the environment is structured,” [says Saurav Agarwal, CTO and co-founder at Stocked Robotics, an Austin-based AI company focused on automating industrial vehicles].

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Here's a trip down memory lane. TechSpot: The Most Memorable Game Controllers over the past 40 years.

The departure from the arcades has drastically morphed how players control games. Here we will take a look at some of the more memorable gamepads and controllers for consoles and PC over the last four decades.

How many do you remember? Hit the link for more.

 

 PC Gaming Technology circa 4th 5th Millennium BC

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ZD Net: Six ways the new Mac Pro could go terribly wrong.

Once upon a time, Apple understood extreme pro users. From about 2006 to about 2012, Apple sold what is fondly referred to as the "cheese grater" Mac Pro, so named because the holes on the side of the unit were reminiscent of a cheese grater.
[.]
Then, in 2013, Apple introduced what's come to be known as the "trash can" Mac Pro, because it looks like a glossy little trash can. When Phil Schiller introduced it, he was so proud of it that he bragged, "Can't innovate, my ass."

Since then, that machine has been pretty much a failure.
[.]
It's entirely possible the new Mac Pro could go horribly wrong:
#1 Proprietary modules and module interfaces

#2 Limited module selection

#3 Lack of user maintainability and some kind of unexpected lock-in

#4 Lack of, or minimal upgradeability

#5 Form over functional heat management

#6 Pricing that limits purchases to high-end enterprises only

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Extreme Tech: Elon Musk: Tesla Broke in 10 Months Without ‘Hardcore’ Cost Reduction.

Tesla may have just raised $2.7B in additional funding, but the company’s cash burn rate is so high, even that amount won’t keep the lights on for very long. According to CEO Elon Musk, the company is instituting “hardcore” cost-cutting rules and scrutinizing every penny that leaves the firm.["]

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MobileSyrup: Justin Trudeau to launch Digital Charter to combat hate speech and disinformation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his government will be launching a digital charter in order to combat hate speech and online disinformation.
[.]
“We look forward to working alongside internet companies, but indeed, if they do not choose to act, we will be forced to continue to act in ways that protect Canadians and we will have more to say about the kinds of tools we will be using in the coming weeks and months,” Trudeau said.

Learn To Code Launch Digital Charters.
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Technology.Org: Same computer password for the last 10 years? You might need a vibrating cybernudge.

Researchers say changing human behaviour key to foiling cyberattacks.
[.]
People routinely put off, ignore or forget cyber security measures such as changing passwords, updating privacy settings and locking computer screens.

So..."passwordABC1", "Admin123" and "tHatsHitheadBoss88"...I should change those then...?

Tech News Top Story: UN Declares Single Family Housing is "Racist"

Technocracy: Single-family housing is now "racist".

Across the nation, city councils and state legislatures are beginning to remove zoning protections for single-family neighborhoods, claiming they are racist discrimination designed to keep certain minorities out of such neighborhoods. In response to these charges some government officials are calling for the end of single-family homes in favor of multiple family apartments.

    Minneapolis, Minnesota: the city council is moving to remove zoning that protects single-family neighborhoods, instead planning to add apartment buildings in the mix. The mayor actually said such zoning was “devised as a legal way to keep black Americans and other minorities from moving into certain neighborhoods”. Racist, social injustice are the charges.

    Chicago, Illinois: So-called “affordable housing” advocates have filed a federal complaint against the longtime tradition of allowing City Aldermen veto power over most development proposals in their wards, charging that it promotes discrimination by keeping low-income minorities from moving into affluent white neighborhoods. Essentially the complaint seeks to remove the Aldermen’s ability to represent their own constituents.

    Baltimore, Maryland: The NAACP filed a suit against the city charging that Section 8 public housing causes ghettos because they are all put into the same areas of town. They won the suit and now the city must spend millions of dollars to move such housing into more affluent neighborhoods. In addition, landlords are no longer permitted to ask potential tenants if they can afford the rent on their properties.

    Oregon: Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Tina Kotek (D-Portland) is drafting legislation that would end single-family zoning in cities of 10,000 or more. She claims there is a housing shortage crisis and that economic and racial segregation are caused by zoning restrictions.

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Ars Technia: Siri recommends nearby schools for shootings.

[A 13-year-old Indiana boy] who attends nearby Chesterton Middle School, reportedly told Siri “I am going to shoot up a school.” Siri helpfully responded with a list of schools in the Valparaiso area, where the boy was at the time. The boy took a screenshot and posted it to social media.
[.]
The boy said that the post was a joke, and subsequent investigation revealed that he had no access to weapons. There was no sign that the boy had any particular school in mind when he made the comment.

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Extreme Tech: It's COLD on the Dark Side of The Moon.

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Chang’e-4 has found the moon to be more frigid than expected. Hopefully, it packed a blanket.
[.]
[The Yutu-2 rover] reported to ground control the temperatures it experienced on the far side of the moon. Let’s just say the moon isn’t an ideal vacation spot. Chang’e-4 saw temperatures go as low as -310 degrees Fahrenheit (-190 degrees Celsius).

 Yutu-2 rover on the chilly Moon

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Not in the lines where I'm standing and waiting. WIRED: The World is Running out of people.

That’s the conclusion Canadian journalist John Ibbitson and political scientist Darrell Bricker come to in their newest book, Empty Planet, due out February 5th. After painstakingly breaking down the numbers for themselves, the pair arrived at a drastically different prediction for the future of the human species. “In roughly three decades, the global population will begin to decline,” they write. “Once that decline begins, it will never end.”

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If you haven't had this experience, eventually you will. And you will hate it. ZD Net: The Retail Experience: "I don't know, it's on our web site."

How the internet made retail staff ignorant.
This is the story of one woman, two retailers, and a complete disregard for human-to-human interaction.

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PC World: 2019 review of laptops; premium to bargain.

Good article if you're looking for a second or back-up inexpensive laptop.
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I haven't played PC games in ages. Gamers? TechSpot: Is 6GB VRAM enough for 1440p gaming?

Starting from the top we find our most memory intensive titles. Quake Champions is a surprisingly hungry title though this game would simply appear to allocate all available memory. I estimate usage is actually below 4 GB based on what we’ve seen when testing.

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Geek: Changing a wheel on a Boeing 747.

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ComputerWorld: Firefox has second straight month of growth.

Mozilla's Firefox wrapped up a two-month resurgence this week, clawing back some previously-lost user share to return to a level last seen in the middle of 2018.

The open-source browser remains the only major browser committed to using a rendering engine that is not based on Google's Blink or its predecessor, WebKit.

It is so important to have a browser not based on Google or WebKit. The best thing we can all do, is donate just $5 to the Mozilla organization. Please consider.
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TechCrunch: Aibo hangs with real dogs.

If this were elementary school, Aibo would be the smelly new kid no one wanted to play with.

Image: TechCrunch

Tech News

Beta News: Big data breach.

#1 database leak exposes 773 million email addresses and 21 million passwords[.]

Yep. Everyone should update their current password of 'password' to something like 'qwerty123' or 'aDmin_678'.

ZD Net: Oklahoma govt breached big time.

An Oklahoma Department of Securities server allowed anyone to download government files[.]

"The data was exposed via an unsecured rsync service at an IP address registered to the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), allowing any user from any IP address to download all the files stored on the server," the researchers say. 

Gizmodo: How to stop worrying about data breaches.

[A] rundown of the three most important pieces of crafting a healthy security routine and never sweating another password leak[.]

Nextgov: ID card manufacturer and service provider used by federal agencies have vulnerabilities.

...the system used by IDenticard, called PremiSys, which if exploited could allow an unauthorized person to gain access to secure buildings and disable locks, as well as exfiltrate user data or otherwise modify accounts using administrator privileges.

- - -
TechCrunch: Coming soon via the govt shutdown - Expiring HTTPS federal web sites.

Depending on the security level, most websites will kick back browser errors. Some won’t let you in at all until the expired certificate is renewed.
[.]
Eric Mill, a security expert [said] that fears over expired certificates have been overblown.

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Fanbyte: Overwatch game charcter Soldier 76 gayness causing controversy.

...with the addition of Soldier: 76, the total number of queer characters is two out of a roster of 29. Making Soldier gay, more so than even Tracer[.]
[.]
But both characters suffer from the aforementioned Blizzard ethos of “experiences” over “story.”

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How to make global warming climate change Alarmist's heads explode (like in "Scanners"). Tell them that Apple may scrap plans for their self-driving cars. Ubergizmo:

Apple is working on developing technology for self-driving cars.
[.]
However it seems like those plans could be scrapped[.]

Did you hear the collective heads pop? Messy! Clean-up crews being dispatched. This may take a while, folks. Your patience is appreciated.
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New Atlas: The 2019 Detroit Auto Show. Lots of images to look at. Some nice, others, well - I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.
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New Atlas: A DIY Tiny-House for around $10 Grand.
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Tech Dirt: Irish Supermacs bitch-slaps "Big-Mac" in EU.

McDonald's Corp has lost its rights to the trademark "Big Mac" in a landmark European Union (EU) case ruling in favour of Ireland-based fast-food chain Supermac's, according to a decision by European regulators.

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The below video at Digg, so yeah, it's Tech. Go "full screen" or watch at the link. Bet ya watch it more than once. Yep, their Best Friends! So darn cute.

Tech News

I mentioned the attack near the end of this post. But it turns out it was FAKE NEWS. From Gizmodo:

Remember that guy on Facebook a couple of weeks ago who said he got stabbed by some stranger because he had a “neo-Nazi” haircut? You’re never going to believe this, but the story was total bullshit. He accidentally stabbed himself. And blamed it on a non-existent black guy.

What a douche bag.
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C|Net looks at the 2018 BMW i3.

The i3 interior.

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BEWARE OF Hurricane Harvey Charity Scams. From Next.gov:

The U.S. Emergency Computer Readiness Team, known as US-CERT, warned email users to be cautious of any messages related to Hurricane Harvey, even if it appears to be from an organization or person they know. Fraudulent emails could include malicious links[.]

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Wired: Hurricane Harvey spreads floating Fire Ant colonies.

Rafts of fire ants have been spotted floating around floodwaters in Houston, Texas, colonies banding together to weather super-storm Harvey.
[.]
If you’re wading around flood waters and run into a raft of 100,000 fire ants, your day will get considerably more complicated. The ants will board you and sting and not let go, even if you submerge.

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Your ISP is spying on you.  Techcrunch:

Never, ever stop being afraid. To top up your paranoia reserves, a new study finds that internet providers can, if they so choose, monitor all kinds of things from your smart home’s traitorous metadata.

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Geek.com: Elon Musk approved to drill.

[Musk's Boring Company] got the thumbs up to dig a two-mile-long underground test tunnel in Hawthorne, Calif.

The City Council last week voted four to one in favor of moving forward with the track extension.

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InfoWorld: Will AI replace customer service as we know it?  Well - how much worse could AI customer service be from human customer service?
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Russia tightens internet control.  Security Week:

...Russia's parliament voted to outlaw web tools that let internet users sidestep official bans of certain websites.

It allows telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor to compile a list of so-called anonymiser services and prohibit any that fail to respect the bans, while also requiring users of online messaging services to identify themselves with a telephone number.

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Image: noisey.vice.com

Live Science:  Ecstasy ingredient may help PTSD?

[The active ingredient in the drug ecstasy, MDMA]  passed an important hurdle on the path to becoming a prescription drug for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

[MDMA] was granted "Breakthrough Therapy Designation" status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), [which means] that the FDA will "expedite the development and review" of the drug.

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After the FAKE NEWS of the neo-"Nazi-haircut attack guy", I'll consider the following FAKE NEWS until proven otherwise. Although...never underestimate the stupidity of some people.

From Live Science: Eclipse watchers in California put sunscreen on their eyeballs.

According to KRCR, a local news outlet in Redding, California, a few patients visited a nearby clinic complaining of pain after they put sunscreen on their eyeballs during the eclipse on Aug. 21. They did this because they did not have protective glasses to view the eclipse[.]

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Typical Microsoft behavior. Beta News: Microsoft's Windows phone fails the NYPD:

Windows Phone isn't just an embarrassment to Microsoft, it has also been a waste of time and money for consumers[.]
[.]... Microsoft abandoned it, leaving many users without support and, ultimately, forcing them to buy new devices.
[.]
One of the saddest cases is the NYPD, which trusted Microsoft and equipped its officers with Windows Phones[.] These brave men and women deserve the best technology and equipment, yet when it came to smartphones, they were given some of the worst. So, now, its officers are effectively handcuffed by obsolete and unsupported tech.

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Live Science: A collection of tweets from people experiencing Hurricane Harvey. 
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PC World: DOOM, DOOM II, DOOM III and more - all priced to sell!

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Grammar fix 8/29/2017