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San Antonio Spurs Get Worrying Update About Rookie Jayden Quaintance
The San Antonio Spurs selected Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance with the 20th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but the rookie missed all of Summer League and underwent major surgery on his knee.
Michael Harris II's Breakout Is Confirmed Two Ways, Not One
Fresh off the All-Star break, Michael Harris II went full highlight reel this weekend. If you're a Harris owner, you might expect another hot half, but you might be better off treating this weekend as a stepping-off point to trade for a more reliable asset. Statcast, always a downer, is a lot less impressed than conventional wisdom.
Cam Skattebo downplays failed backflip, explains what went wrong
Cam Skattebo has addressed his failed backflip that had New York Giants fans holding their breath.
I went on Walmart's World Cup tour. It was peak America.
International World Cup fans fell in love with Walmart. I attended one of the tours the company organized to seize on the attention.
An American Woman Shook Up One of the Oldest of England’s Old Boys Sports
Camille VanderMeer went to Cambridge for an M.B.A. and the chance to race Oxford. She returned champion of an altogether whackier competition.
33 Hilarious Posts That Went Viral This Week
The vibes were both lol and NOT IT this week.
Corewell performs world's first documented single-port robotic mitral valve repair
Royal Oak resident Patrick O’Brien underwent the first single-port robotic mitral valve repair on June 30.
51-year-old Sarasota apartment building has sold
The 23-unit community near downtown underwent more than $1 million in improvements since 2022.
Young musician dead at 23: His body was just discovered a year after he went missing
He went for a hike last year and disappeared.
'Not much we don't do' | In rural Ohio, a ministry started its own landscaping business to combat homelessness
Even though it can be hidden, homelessness still exists in small towns across Ohio. We went to a place in Clinton County that's doing something about it, despite a lack of resources.
Day in the Life: Sea View Grounds Crew
For this Day in the Life photo essay, we went to NYC Health + Hospitals/Sea View on Staten Island to meet the people who bring our outdoor spaces to life....
Alabama students show significant gains in science proficiency; reading, math results mixed
By Andrea Tinker, Alabama Reflector Alabama students made significant improvements in science proficiency on this year’s Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) standardized test, while the picture was somewhat more mixed on reading and math scores. According to data released by the Alabama State Department of Education on Tuesday, science proficiency went up for fourth, sixth […]
Christopher Nolan Handpicked Himesh Patel for The Odyssey. Then He Put Him Through Hell.
The 35-year-old star had already worked with the director on ‘Tenet,’ but the conditions and experience went way further on the massive new adaptation of Homer’s epic tale. He says it was all worth it.
New York Yankees Make Max Fried Announcement Before Dodgers Series
On Friday evening, the New York Yankees will be back in action when they play the Los Angeles Dodgers (at home) in the Bronx.They went into the All-Star break in the middle of a four-game winning streak (after sweeping the Washington Nationals).New York Yankees Make Max Fried AnnouncementMax Fried is in the middle of his […] The post New York Yankees Make Max Fried Announcement Before Dodgers Series appeared first on HEAVY.
I Think ESPN's FPI Is Too Low on Oklahoma State
ESPN's Football Power Index isn't as high on Oklahoma State as I am. The Cowboys are underdogs in several key Big 12 games, but I think the model is underrating a team with 87 newcomers, Drew Mestemaker and Caleb Hawkins. This isn't the same team that went 1-11 a year ago.
Is This the End of the Endless Frontier?
“Our country needs a new consensus on how to support science,” write Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
Giants Rivals Feature 2 of NFL's top-10 Wide Receivers
The New York Giants are ecstatic to see A.J. Brown leave the NFC East. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens each landed on the list of the top-10 wide receivers, which was voted on by 70-plus scouts, coaches and executives and compiled by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. The Giants went 1-1 against Dallas last year, and nearly swept the the Cowboys if not for the Cowboys' furious, last-minute comeback.
Apple's 2026 Back to School Offer Just Went Live in Select Countries
Apple's annual Back to School promotion is now live in select countries in Asia, including China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The offer provides college students and educational staff with a free item with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad model. The exact offer varies by country, with options including a four pack of AirTags, AirPods 4, an Apple Pencil Pro, or an Apple gift card.
Researcher Drops New Windows Zero-Day PoC Hours After Microsoft Patch Tuesday
LegacyHive is a PoC for a Windows ProfSvc privilege escalation flaw that works after the July 2026 update, but the public build needs extra credential
More health workers go on strike as confirmed Ebola cases in Congo top 2,000, including 754 deaths
Health workers at the Bunia General Hospital went on strike on Wednesday, the latest group to have walked off their job at the epicenter over payment issues.
How Trash Rangers went from local startup to regional player
When Jake Poche launched Trash Rangers in 2018, the idea was simple: reliable service from a company that would actually show up when it said it would. Today, that same promise has carried the business from a residential garbage service in Ascension Parish into a regional waste provider that stretches across the Capital Region — […]
PrismML Releases Bonsai 27B: 1-bit and Ternary Builds of Qwen3.6-27B That Run on Laptops and Phones
PrismML released Bonsai 27B: ternary and 1-bit builds of Qwen3.6-27B retaining 94.6% and 89.5% of FP16 at 5.9GB
Somerset County leaders fault new state budget over mental health, 911 funding gaps
WJAC provides news, weather and sports information for Johnstown, Altoona, State College and DuBois, Pennsylvania. Our coverage area includes Bedford, Everett, Somerset, Meyersdale, Ebensburg, Windber, Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon, Mount Union, Tyrone, Bellefonte, Philipsburg, Clearfield, Punxsutawney, St. Marys, Brookville, Emporium, Treasure Lake, Ridgway, Centre Hall, Reynoldsville and Curwensville.
Football Extra: Readers' World Cup memorabilia
Meet 60 year old World Cup Willy. In 1966 I lived near Wembley Stadium and went to many games there including the final. He's definitely showing his age (as am I!
At a health clinic built ‘for women,’ patients say their pregnancies went undetected
Tia, the $100 million venture-backed healthcare company, faces sharp criticism from dozens of patients for failing to deliver on its promise of comprehensive and compassionate care.
Apple in talks with startup that shrinks AI models to run on an iPhone
PrismML says its compressed version of Alibaba’s Qwen model uses up to 15 times less memory, potentially advancing Apple’s AI push.
Princess cruise ship worker dead after going overboard near Cancún
A Regal Princess crew member went overboard near Cancún, prompting an hours-long search involving the Carnival Jubilee and Mexican authorities.
‘Bachelor’ star Joe Amabile reveals diagnosis with early stage brain tumor, will undergo surgery
Beloved ‘Bachelor’ Nation star Joe Amabile says that his doctors detected a ‘blueberry-sized’ tumor in his brain after he underwent a full-body scan. He is scheduled for a craniotomy in two weeks.
Gavin Gallaher’s UNC Return Gives Diamond Heels Crucial Infield Continuity
Gavin Gallaher went unselected in the 2026 MLB Draft, clearing the way for his return to UNC. His decision means the Diamond Heels can bring back three of their four starting infielders from a national runner-up team.
Blackhawks Trade Pitch Lands Sabres Former First-Round Pick
The Chicago Blackhawks have made multiple additions to their roster this offseason. Among their newcomers are Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway, Ian Cole, and Cole Smith. They have brought in some experienced players, which was undoubtedly a major need for the young Blackhawks.Yet, when looking at the Blackhawks’ current roster, it is fair to argue that […] The post Blackhawks Trade Pitch Lands Sabres Former First-Round Pick appeared first on HEAVY.
The Quintessential Trump-era Politician
In 2020, I wrote an article about collaboration and collaborators. The title was History Will Judge the Complicit, and it started with the story of two famous East Germans, Markus Wolf and Wolfgang Leonhard, who both landed in East Berlin just after the end of the war. Although they came from very similar backgrounds, the former stuck with the regime, eventually becoming its spy boss; the latter, horrified by the brutal reality of Soviet-style communism, escaped. By way of juxtaposition, I also wrote about Lyndsey Graham and Mitt Romney. These two men also made very different decisions when confronted by Donald Trump’s assault on the ideals that they had both grown up believing: A glance at their biographies would not have led many to predict what happened next. On paper, Graham would have seemed, in 2016, like the man with deeper ties to the military, to the rule of law, and to an old-fashioned idea of American patriotism and American responsibility in the world. Romney, by contrast, with his shifts between the center and the right, with his multiple careers in business and politics, would have seemed less deeply attached to those same old-fashioned patriotic ideals. Most of us register soldiers as loyal patriots, and management consultants as self-interested. We assume people from small towns in South Carolina are more likely to resist political pressure than people who have lived in many places. Intuitively, we think that loyalty to a particular place implies loyalty to a set of values. But in this case the clichés were wrong. It was Graham who made excuses for Trump’s abuse of power. It was Graham—a JAG Corps lawyer—who downplayed the evidence that the president had attempted to manipulate foreign courts and blackmail a foreign leader into launching a phony investigation into a political rival. It was Graham who abandoned his own stated support for bipartisanship and instead pushed for a hyperpartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. It was Graham who played golf with Trump, who made excuses for him on television, who supported the president even as he slowly destroyed the American alliances—with Europeans, with the Kurds—that Graham had defended all his life. By contrast, it was Romney who, in February, became the only Republican senator to break ranks with his colleagues, voting to impeach the president. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office,” he said, is “perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” In the wake of Graham’s unexpected death on Saturday, I wrote about him again. He was, in many ways, the quintessential politician of Trump’s Washington, a man who shifted 180 degrees. Graham had been a fervent American patriot, proud reserve officer and military lawyer; he became one of the most important defenders of a president who believes soldiers are “suckers and losers” and shows no respect for law of any kind. As his politics changed, his language grew coarser and his behavior grew worse: He urged Israel to “level the place” in Gaza, and insulted the Danish prime minister in Munich, prompting a colleague, Senator Elissa Slotkin, to issue an apology. Here’s an excerpt from the article, which you can read in The Atlantic (gift link here) Like his close friend John McCain, Graham believed that America should stand at the center of a broad democratic alliance. The few times I met him were in that context, at the Munich Security Conference or at other European-American gatherings, which he once attended with great regularity. He also took seriously the practice of American democracy at home. In a 2014 conversation with The Atlantic, he described himself as a pragmatic politician who eschewed populist slogans. “I know Washington is broken, but what’s broken about it is everybody yelling and nobody trying to fix it,” he said. “I’m trying.” When Donald Trump first appeared in U.S. politics, Graham recognized him immediately for what he was: the spokesman for an alien ideology, one radically different from the idealistic patriotism that Graham had practiced and preached since childhood. Trump privately mocked the military that Graham loved as nothing but “suckers and losers.” He put falsehoods, cynicism, and personal greed at the center of his politics, while expressing disdain for transparency, accountability, and democracy itself. In 2015, Graham described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell.” Also as a “nutjob.” When Trump won, Graham understood, as did so many others, that he would have to make some important choices. For a while, he went silent. In the spring of 2016, I saw him at one of those conferences in Europe. He seemed too depressed to speak. But then, like many other Republicans—and, more important, like many other people who have lived under political occupation or experienced radical regime change—he made the decision to abandon his previous ideals, to bury the patriotism that was once so important to him, and to become, instead, a loud, opportunistic collaborator. As I wrote in 2020, it’s very hard to look in to anyone’s heart and to understand their motivations from the outside. But it does seem that Graham had a deep need to be relevant, to be in the game, to be a player, at any cost. And that, rather than any particular achievement, is what he will be remembered for. Continuing to monitor conflicts of interest, ostentatious emoluments, outright corruption and policy changes that will facilitate outright corruption. (Read my original article, Kleptocracy Inc and check out the SNF Agora Institute chart) June 27 Trump diverted funds from more than 900 projects nationwide—including safety upgrades at national parks—to finance beautification projects around Washington, including $700,000 used to fix a White House walkway. June 28 After a years-long Department of Justice investigation into Abbott Laboratories over its management of a baby formula facility where potentially deadly bacteria turned up enough evidence to criminally charge the firm, top department officials instead opted for a financial penalty—illustrating the department’s move away from strict corporate enforcement under the Trump administration. June 29 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stacked the Defense Policy Board—which is charged with providing independent national security recommendations to the Office of the Secretary of Defense—with Trump allies, including tech billionaire Marc Andreessen, who has invested in defense contractors like OpenAI and SpaceX, after purging the panel last year. Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in Axon—which makes about 90% of US tasers—two weeks before ICE solicited bids for a $220 million taser contract. The White House unveiled limited-edition US passports for America’s 250th birthday, featuring a portrait of Trump overlaid on the Declaration of Independence. June 30 Trump made around $1.2 billion from his various crypto companies last year, including more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial and $600 million from sales of his meme coin. Trump is considering issuing 250 pardons to commemorate America’s 250th birthday. These are expected to be largely doled out through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s informal network of intermediaries. White-collar defense attorneys say they can typically win pardons for clients for $2 million. Last year, Trump administration officials awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million to Clark Construction for the White House ballroom—negotiations in which the president was directly involved. July 1 The Amazon MGM Studios documentary about Melania Trump earned the First Lady more than $10 million. Trump made hundreds of individual stock purchases worth as much as $12.8 million the day before his announcement pausing “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days sent the S&P 500 soaring nearly 10%—one of the largest single-day gains ever. Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Doral saw record surges in revenue during Trump’s first year in office, earning $77.5 million and $121.9 million respectively, compared to average annual revenues of $25 million and $75 million during Trump’s first term. Entities across the Persian Gulf paid more than $300 million to Trump’s businesses last year, including $263 million from the sale of half his stake in World Liberty Financial to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a top UAE royal and brother of the country’s president. Kash Patel failed to properly disclose his stock purchase of a Department of Justice contractor, MicroStrategy, worth up to $250,000 last year, despite laws requiring disclosure within 45 days of the trade. July 2 Trump has been directing administration officials to steer more government contracts—so far worth more than $2.4 billion—to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin aerospace firm, after Amazon gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, donated to the White House ballroom project, and reached a $40 million deal to license a Melania Trump documentary. Alongside the billions he made from cryptocurrency last year, Trump earned millions of dollars from real estate licensing fees, including $21 million from organizations in the UAE and $9.2 million in Saudi Arabia, along with smaller sums from merchandise sales, including $4.7 million from Trump Watches and $35,920 from 45 Guitar, a guitar brand endorsed by the president. House Democrats accused consultants tied to the Trump administration of financial fraud, alleging they gave prospective donors to America250—the bipartisan committee created by Congress to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial—the banking and routing numbers for Freedom 250, the White House’s fund for events like the UFC cage fight. Democrats also allege that Freedom 250’s CEO traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos to solicit donations from foreign government officials and business leaders. The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of gun regulations would lift the prohibition on mailing handguns to individuals, a significant win for GrabAGun—the direct-to-consumer firearm retailer on whose board Donald Trump Jr. sits and in which he holds a 1.1% ownership stake. GrabAGun currently must rely on a middleman to transfer firearms to customers. Trump’s financial disclosure revealed that he made more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in office, growing his investment account to at least $858 million across stakes in around 1,600 companies, compared to the 13 total trades Joe Biden made during his entire presidency. July 4 Nearly 1 million people who bought the president’s meme coin—Trump Coin—collectively lost $3.8 billion on the token, while he walked away with $636 million. July 6 Shares of Dell closed up 4.4% after Trump recommended people buy the firm’s computers during a speech announcing the launch of Trump investment accounts for children, boosting the more than $1 million worth of shares the president owns in the company. July 9 Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh named crypto investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen to a task force aimed at modernizing the Federal Reserve, including rethinking its approach to inflation—a key factor keeping interest rates elevated. Palm Beach International Airport has officially changed its name to Trump International Airport—a move that will require Florida to pay royalties to the president’s family for licensing his name. I was there a few months ago, during a trip to Barcelona. The sculptures were a revelation, I’d never seen so many together before. Each one has its own personality. Enjoy the good weather, if you are lucky enough to have it. History Will Judge the Complicit The Quintessential Politician Autocracy Inc Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
'Hunger Games' star undergoes emergency heart surgery after health scare
"Hunger Games" star Leven Rambin revealed in a recent TikTok video that she underwent emergency surgery during a procedure for her endometriosis.
Weary Red Sox cap first 9-0 road trip since 1977
The Boston Red Sox have completed their first 9-0 road trip in 49 years. They defeated the New York Mets 3-2 in a game that went into extra innings.
A Dozen And A Half Decisive ‘Dawgs: #16 Chauncey Bowens
Chauncey Bowens quietly turned into one of the better stories on the Bulldog offense during the 2025 season, and the sophomore now looks poised to take another step forward for the Bulldogs in 2026. Bowens, a former four star recruit out of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, barely saw the field as a true freshman in […]
Despite having an offline mode, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced was unplayable when Ubisoft Connect went down
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced players on PC were shocked to find that a Ubisoft Connect outage has locked them out of playing the game.
Wall Street goes bowling for profits, driving up the price of a middle-class pastime
Fueled by private equity investments, Lucky Strike Entertainment went on a buying spree and now owns more than 1 in 10 American bowling alleys.
Blackhawks Trade Pitch Lands Flames Former First-Round Pick
The Chicago Blackhawks have made it clear that they want to take a step forward next season. Their most notable move so far this offseason was when they traded this year’s 4th overall pick, 45th overall pick, and defenseman Louis Crevier to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for star blueliner Bowen Byram and winger Jordan […] The post Blackhawks Trade Pitch Lands Flames Former First-Round Pick appeared first on HEAVY.
The global business behind World Cup jerseys, from $180 authentic shirts to $4 counterfeits
We went inside Bangladesh's garment factories to find out why authentic World Cup jerseys sell for as much as $180.
🎥 World Cup highlights: Alvarez screamer, Argentina stun Swiss late
It was a dramatic quarterfinal between Argentina and Switzerland that went into extra time. The Swiss had to battle with a man down after Embolo was shown a second yellow and sent off.You can watch th...
Scientists finally solved the mystery of Earth's greatest mass extinction
Why do beaches today have seashells from clams and snails instead of brachiopods? A new study suggests the answer lies in Earth's greatest mass extinction, when warming oceans and falling oxygen levels wiped out animals that couldn't adapt. Species with body plans and metabolisms better suited to the changing conditions survived and went on to dominate the seas, offering a glimpse of how modern marine life could respond to climate change.
Honeycutt, Riggs salvage their days at Lime Rock after final-stage crash
Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs both clinched Chase spots, but their Saturday went sideways in a late restart at Lime Rock Park.
Yankees Draft: Sean Duncan selected with 2026 second-round pick
The Yankees went north of the border with their second pick of the day.
Ex-PlayStation Boss Says Sony Ending Discs Is 'Kind Of Sad'
'I think there's probably a whole lot of financial analysis that went behind this decision'
Blackhawks Trade Pitch Lands Bruins 6-Foot-5 Defenseman
The Chicago Blackhawks have certainly had an eventful offseason so far. Their biggest move was acquiring defenseman Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres in a major splash. They also brought in other new players like Ian Cole, Jordan Greenway, and Cole Smith.However, it is clear that the Blackhawks should be looking to make more moves […] The post Blackhawks Trade Pitch Lands Bruins 6-Foot-5 Defenseman appeared first on HEAVY.
Woman, 45, Underwent the First Robotic Single-Port Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy Performed in the U.S by a Robot Named Carol
Vicky Pan, a mom of two, was diagnosed with aggressive, fast-growing triple-negative breast cancer that had already spread to her lymph nodes
Mother-son duo launches mobile businesses focused on food, entertainment
A local mother-and-son team is bringing a mix of catering, desserts, and interactive entertainment to events across Owensboro and the surrounding region through two new mobile businesses.
These are the worst Nintendo games ever released
We take a look at 8 of the worst Nintendo games ever released, and what went wrong with each one of them.
Vikings Get Surprising Quarterback Proposal Out of Nowhere
The Minnesota Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell will be entering training camp with a quarterback battle on their hands.As of right now, the overwhelming expectation is that Kyler Murray will end up being the Week 1 starter. However, Murray will face competition from both J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz.Murray and McCarthy are the clear […] The post Vikings Get Surprising Quarterback Proposal Out of Nowhere appeared first on HEAVY.
IndyCar and iRacing Studios spill details on series' first video game in twenty years
"IndyCar Racing The Game" will be released in early 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via Steam, developed by iRacing Studios.
ACLU alleges new Kansas election statute violates federal voting rights laws
The law, which went into effect July 1, was designed to rapidly remove ineligible voters from registration rolls and restrict the use of voter registration websites. The Republican-led Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto to pass the bill.
Racine County Residents Pack Town Hall to Discuss Affordability, Healthcare, & Gun Violence
Left to right: Reps. Delia C. Ramirez, Pramila Jayapal, Jim McGovern, Mark Pocan, and Gwen Moore.
More than 1 in 5 social media users say they’ve made health choices based on their feeds. How to use it wisely
Social media can be a helpful source of health advice — but it can also spread misinformation. CNN’s Dr. Leana Wen helps you figure out the difference.
CMS Approach to Work Reporting Requirement Won’t Work for People with Substance Use Disorders or Mental Health Conditions
By Deborah Steinberg, Senior Health Policy Attorney, Legal Action Center A few weeks ago, CCF explained how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new interim final rule with comment period (IFR) that went far beyond its authority to implement the new work reporting requirements. H.R. 1 – the budget reconciliation law […]
CT restaurant team launches statewide catering business. Food called ‘absolutely incredible.’
One customer said her guest raved about the food and went on to say the the cannoli bar was ‘the perfect final touch—truly the crown jewel of the night.’
Bluebird Banter 2026 MLB Draft Preview Part 2
Yesterday, I went over the details of the draft and the Jays’ potential strategy. Today, a quick review of the farm, the shape of the draft class, and some names. The Farm Baseball America refreshed their farm system rankings the day before yesterday, in anticipation of the draft. They currently have the Jays 18th. Fangraphs […]
MPs seek veto over political ambassadors after Mandelson row
A Foreign Affairs Committee report said the process taken in the appointment of Lord Mandelson "was being made up as it went along".
Trump to seek Supreme Court rehearing on birthright citizenship
President Donald Trump said he would ask the Supreme Court to rehear a case over birthright citizenship, a longshot bid to undo a ruling that went against his administration.
Downtown Bend Business Association leader resigns
Rachel O’Rourke, the leader of a prominent downtown Bend business group, announced plans this month to step away from her role amid a period of major upheaval for the organization. Days before the resignation went public, the Downtown Bend Business Association also announced it would redo the process for a recent board of directors election. The turmoil comes after discussions over the prospect of paid parking were met with fierce pushback from […]
‘Hometown feel’: Historic downtown Fort Mill sees local business boom
Channel 9's Deneige Broom went to Main Street in downtown Fort Mill to see what's changing and what the locals hope stays the same.
New rule allows small businesses to double borrowing limit, access up to $10M in financing
Blossoming small businesses in the Beehive State and across the nation are set for a financing boost through a new rule from the U.S. Small Business Administration that went into effect July 4.
Secretive Chinese probe snaps first photo of Earth's mysterious 'quasi-moon' — and it may pose a big problem
China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft has captured the first close-up photo of one of Earth's "quasi-moons," Kamo'oalewa. However, the image and the timing of its release suggest that it may be harder for the probe to collect samples from the space rock than originally planned.
News | Blackstone reviews £6 billion UK logistics business sale
Indurent launched in 2024 after merger of Industrials REIT and St Modwen
I vibe coded a 7-figure tool for my startup; the 4 steps I followed
John Hu left a banking career and his MBA program to build Stan. He and his cofounder went on to vibe code Stanley, an AI tool, in just 14 days.
Meta Went Down Twice in 11 Days. The Outages Exposed a Risk Many Businesses Ignore
Two unannounced outages took down Meta's ad tools this June with no warning and no timeline. The brands that barely noticed already knew the answer to a question most never bother to ask.
How a 'philosophical' change sparked Leclerc's Silverstone turnaround
Charles Leclerc has revealed the "philosophical" change that prompted him to make adjustments midway through the British Grand Prix weekend, a move that ultimately paid off as he went on to win the race. The Monegasque returned to winning ways after a drought of almost two years, during which he watched his teammates, first Carlos Sainz and then Lewis Hamilton, claim victory while he was left waiting.
Braves News: Owen Murphy optioned, blowout in Pittsburgh, and more
Atlanta Braves news and notes from Tuesday.
Zooey Deschanel went blonde to play pop star ‘like Britney Spears’ before landing ‘Elf’ role
Zooey Deschanel nearly played a Britney Spears-esque pop star in a film that was ultimately shelved, which nevertheless required her to go blonde, which she kept for her role as Jovie in ‘Elf.’
Switzerland vs Colombia Highlights 🌎🏆 2026 FIFA World Cup™
Check out the full game highlights between Switzerland and Colombia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. Announced by Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves.
What could Democrats have done differently about Graham Platner?
She recruits progressive candidates for a living. We asked what went so wrong here.
Wisconsin Supreme Court refuses to release voter records sought by conservative activist
The case has been wending its way through the courts for years and stems from attempts by conservatives to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin over President Donald Trump in 2020.
Hungary Suspends State Media, Apologizing for Orban-Era ‘Lies’
Hungary’s state media went dark after its new leadership said it was ending years of propaganda that had propped up former leader Viktor Orban until his downfall in watershed elections earlier this year.
How the billionaire Taser founder knew he had struck business gold
CEO Rick Smith explains how he went from door-knocking to billionaire.
Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption is under 4.5% after 3 years, only 1% use it weekly, yet prices went up
Fewer than 4.5% of Microsoft 365 customers pay for Copilot after three years, only 1% use it weekly, and Microsoft raised prices regardless.
An anti-inflammatory diet may lower dementia risk, even in people with early signs of Alzheimer’s
Healthy eating may help protect the brain, even after early biological changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease have begun, a study suggests. Dr. Leana Wen explains.
What Is The Biggest Mistake Founders Make When Building A Business?
She built a company with twenty employees and steady revenue. So why did her dream vacation turn into a seven-day phone call?
Country music icon shares ‘important’ health update with fans: ‘Went to (the hospital)’
The singer shared a video explaining what was going on with him.
Could Santos help solve Man Utd's midfield malaise?
Chelsea's Andrey Santos is the latest player Manchester United have taken an interest in as they look to address their problem midfield position. With Casemiro leaving after his contract expired on 30 June and Manuel Ugarte expected to be sold, United went into the summer with England's Kobbie Mainoo as their only recognised central midfielder and with the stated aim of addressing the situation as a matter of priority. In the transfer market, United have encountered more issues.
Neymar calls time on Brazil career after World Cup elimination
Brazil superstar Neymar indicated Sunday that his international career was over after the five-time World Cup winners went out of the tournament in the last 16 at the hands of Norway.That was his first international appearance since October 2023, but his only other appearance in the United States came Sunday against Norway. raa/mcd/as/rcw
Latest penalty miss brings up bad omens for Brazil 👻
South American giants Brazil had a massive opportunity to go up 1-0 over opponents Norway during Sunday's Round of 16 clash. But they went on to squander it. Manchester United star Matheus Cunha was b...
Derek Shelton Addresses Minnesota Twins' Ugly Night Against the Yankees
Minnesota went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position on Friday, but the bigger picture still looks promising.
Wall Street Pessimism Has Made Universal Health Services (UHS) Stock A Top Extreme Value Stock To Buy Now
Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) is one of the Top 10 Extreme Value Stocks To Buy Now. On June 22, TD Cowen lowered the firm’s price target on Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) from $230 to $197 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. The downward price target revision still reflects a 24% upside […]
Dear Abby | Man's excuses and absences continue to expand
Dear Abby: I have been married to my husband for 10 years. Ever since I have known him, he has had issues with depression and anxiety. I have tried to
How I Went From Side Hustle to 7 Figures in 12 Months Using 4 AI Tools (No Employees, No Investors)
Most solopreneurs aren't failing because they need more AI tools —they're failing because they're using AI to patch outdated systems instead of rebuilding their business around an AI-first workflow that scales.
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
I apologize, Cedric Mullins: Rays 5, Royals 2
If you would’ve told me the Rays would convincingly sweep a team on the road two weeks ago after what I saw in person at Dodger Stadium, I’d hedge your bet. The Rays, on their first west coast swing of the season, went 1-5 and lost three straight games in one-run fashion. and in the […]
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Croatia criticised for ‘unambitious’ changes to 2022 science law
Croatia’s science ministry has been accused of a lack of ambition, and even incompetence, over proposed changes to the country’s 2022 science law. Critics say an opportunity has been missed to fix wider shortcomings in the research and universities system.“This law, like all the previous ones, will not significantly change the current state of science in Croatia,” Vlatko Silobrčić, a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences, told Science Business. “A small shift here and there will not have a significant impact.”The 2022 law introduced multi-year block grant financing of research, based on results, and changes intended to boost employment and career progression for researchers and lecturers. But implementation of the law has been uneven. “It became apparent that certain of its provisions were subject to different interpretations by higher education institutions and scientific institutes,” the science ministry said in its proposal for change. “This caused legal uncertainty in the system, administrative difficulties in implementation and, in certain cases, unequal treatment of teachers, scientists and students.”Most of the proposed amendments deal with technicalities in hiring and promoting staff, such as extending the committee deadlines from 60 to 90 days, or allowing applicants to cite all of their achievements and not only those since their last appointment.Both the ministry and Croatian media highlighted changes that would raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 years and allow part-time students 15 year rather than 10 years to finish their studies.The change to retirement age has been criticised for reinforcing a weakness in the system. According to Matko Marušić, professor emeritus at the University of Split, this will “allow unproductive teachers to advance and work longer, while hindering and discouraging productive ones.”A longtime campaigner for excellence-based meritocracy, he sees little hope in the new legislation. “I am not optimistic that things will improve,” he told Science Business. “As recent changes to the law in Croatia show, the legal framework is becoming increasingly hypocritical and harmful.”For Marušić, who analyses Croatia's university system in a recently published book, the situation is “unfavourable and constantly deteriorating” due to the criteria used for academic advancement.“The key criterion for advancement should be scientific productivity,” he said. “In Croatia [. . .] scientific criteria are increasingly lowered, and ineffective and absurd criteria such as waiting times for promotion and age limits for remaining in a job are promoted.” He would also like to see better criteria for the quality of teaching at universities. “In practice, teaching is not monitored or evaluated,” he said, estimating that up to a third of teaching simply does not take place. “Under the guise of university autonomy and bad laws, universities and faculties are allowed to earn additional money by increasing enrolment quotas that have nothing to do with the needs of the labour market.” Lack of ambitionDora Kršul, a reporter at Telegram.hr who covers science policy in Croatia, finds the rationale for changes “bizarre.” “The ministry responsible for supervising the uniform application of the law is changing the law because it is being implemented unevenly,” she said. “This primarily speaks to the power relationship in the sphere of science and higher education in Croatia, that is, the question arises as to who actually manages this system.”Rather than raising quality, she continued, the changes appear to be designed to help vocational and applied universities who have not been complying with the law.The Independent Union of Research and Higher Education Employees of Croatia said that the changes were “unambitious” and represent a missed opportunity for more important changes. “We think some of the changes are even negative,” it said in its statement on June 25. One of these is introduction of an “assistant” job title that allows people to be hired only for the duration of a project. Related articles: Elections to top science bodies test Croatia’s gender equality in researchSlovakia revises R&D approach to increase focus on competitivenessLatvia pilots citizen engagement in research grant evaluationsThe union’s president, Tvrtko Smital, who was part of the 15-member working group tasked with drafting the changes, told the local media there was a “worrying lack of ambition” in the process, and “lack of competence” in terms of research experience and understanding the problems in the system.“There is no clear will to deal with the problems,” said Smital, an assistant professor of marine and environmental sciences at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. “It’s a combination of unambitiousness and incompetence,” he went on, expressing his “deep frustration” with the situation. “There is no strategy, no clear thinking, and money is not being spent optimally.”Croatia’s science ministry has not responded to requests for comment.
Philippines' 80-year bet on America
Eight decades after the US recognized Philippine independence, Manila remains closely tied to Washington through treaties, military cooperation and billions in trade. DW went to Manila and Washington to ask what this partnership delivers — and who pays the price.
"I think Melo went to a better situation. They think …
"I think Melo went to a better situation. They think …
New requirements for sports agents in Louisiana aim to protect student-athletes
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Netflix will release JonBenét Ramsey show starring Melissa McCarthy
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Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
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