SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " drop " 2,653 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
'Magic: The Gathering' Zeta Set Drop Was a 'Disaster,' Says Wizards of the Coast
The Secret Lair platform is no stranger to botched sales, but this one was particularly bad.
Baptist Health scoops up Coconut Creek Kohl’s store for $54M
Baptist Health South Florida dropped $53.5 million on a Kohl’s department store in Coconut Creek. The retailer, led by CEO Michael Bender, sold the 92,700-square-foot stand-alone store at 6950 North State Road 7 for $577 per square foot. Kohl’s acquired the 8.2-acre property for $14.8 million in 2008, soon after the store was built. Last year, the company announced plans to shutter 27 stores in underperforming locations, though no additional closure announcements have been made since then. The store is still open, and plans for the site are being evaluated, a Baptist Health spokesperson told the South Florida Business Journal. […]
Help available for Mainers struggling to afford healthcare
Rising affordability challenges are forcing some Mainers to drop their health insurance coverage but healthcare advocates said financial help is still available. Residents who use the state’s marketplace, CoverME.gov, will see rate increases of more than 13% next year while small-group market rates jump nearly 15% — another double-digit increase. Ann Woloson, executive director of the Augusta-based group
Maduro asks judge to drop federal drug-trafficking case
Attorneys for Venezuela's former president Nicolas Maduro and wife, Cilia Flores, say they have something called "sovereign immunity"
Maduro asks judge to drop federal drug-trafficking case
Attorneys for Venezuela's former president Nicolas Maduro and wife, Cilia Flores, say they have something called "sovereign immunity"
As SU enrollment drops, international students say U.S. politics spark concern
Law, a political science professor, said it’s difficult to secure admission to a U.S. university as students worry about federal visa changes.
Data shows 94,000 Virginians have dropped their ACA insurance since last year
Of an estimated 100,000 people whom Virginia health leaders predicted were vulnerable to losing their Affordable Care Act insurance, 94,000 have dropped it.
5 takeaways from the NBA's punishment of the Clippers: By dropping a sledgehammer, Adam Silver squares off against the league's richest owner
Harshest Punishments In Sports History: Where Does The Clippers Ruling Rank?
With the hammer officially dropped on the Clippers, let’s dive into the history books. These are the most memorable and impactful sports punishments handed out in history.
Khamzat Chimaev drops major hint about next opponent
Khamzat Chimaev's return to the UFC is on the horizon.
Deko Entertainment Releases Remastered Vinyl Collection of Hard Rock Live Albums
Deko Entertainment just dropped three live albums from 1980s hard rock acts. Remastered. 180-gram colored vinyl. The lineup includes Dokken, Slaughter, and Warrant, with signed bundles on offer for die-hards…
Billy Ray Cyrus reacts to daughter Miley dropping their last name
Billy Ray Cyrus celebrated his daughter Miley’s choice to go mononymous, saying that she is joining the ranks of iconic musicians like Elvis and Cher.
Yankees' Aaron Boone Drops Major Update On Aaron Judge's Return
The New York Yankees have been without Aaron Judge for most of the season, but he is close to returning
A Ton Of New ‘GTA 6’ Details Drop After The Netflix Showcase
The Netflix GTA 6 special is over, but now more and more details are emerging from the game from a wide range of sources.
August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic
Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Americans hate both ‘Lake America’ and Trump’s trade war with Canada
President Donald Trump has dropped another clunker in the laps of his fellow Republicans in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections.
Apple tells Mac App Store developers they can now drop Intel support
Apple started informing developers today that universal macOS apps on the Mac App Store that require macOS 13 or later...
Mac App Store Apps Can Now Drop Support for Intel Macs
Apple today informed developers that universal Mac App Store apps that require macOS 13 or later can remove support for Intel-based Mac computers. We're reaching out to let you know that universal macOS apps on the Mac App Store that require macOS 13 or later can now remove support for Intel-based Mac computers. By removing support for Intel-based Mac computers, you can simplify your development and optimize your download and on-device size.
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.
'Agreed a £3m deal' - Anthony Joseph Drops Celtic Transfer News
Anthony Joseph has confirmed that Celtic have agreed the £3 million deal on what is deadline day for English clubs.
Latest Android Drop connects Gemini to Find Hub, adds Keep Notes and themes to Messages
New features are rolling out across the Android ecosystem starting today.
Sept. 2026 Android Drop: Find Hub ‘Remembered’ list, Motion Assist, & Keep in Google Messages
Google today is rolling out the September 2026 Android Drop with a number of major features. Find Hub and Gemini can now...
Sky Sports journo bid drops update on Alejandro Balde as he reveals likely Man Utd signing
Manchester United are planning to make a deadline-day signing, but he’s unlikely to be Alejandro Balde.The Red Devils were expected to go guns blazing for a new left-back before the market door slam...
6 Big September Games We've Already Played if You Want to Know What We Think of Them So Far
September is here, which means the Fall is here, which means some of the biggest games of the year drop this month. We've already played some of the biggest ones, so check out our previews of Marvel's Wolverine, Control Resonant, and more on this page.
gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners
gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Venice Film Festival to Kick Off With Steady Stream of Stars, Politics
The Venice Film Festival is set to kick off on Wednesday with a steady stream of stars on the red carpet and politics looming in the backdrop.
Samsung launches cheaper Galaxy Book6 with Intel Wildcat Lake, 8GB RAM from $799
The new Galaxy Book6 keeps the 14-inch 1920×1200 display but drops Core Ultra Series 3 and several ports. Its NPU is rated at up to 15 TOPS.
One of Earth’s driest places was just covered in snow
Rare storms covered huge stretches of Chile’s Atacama Desert in snow and dumped extraordinary amounts of rain on one of the driest regions on Earth. The extreme weather shut down observatories, triggered damaging floods and mudflows, and unfolded against the backdrop of a strengthening El Niño.
Annenberg poll: Americans trust their doctors when it comes to public health, but not FDA, CDC
Trust in federal government health agencies has dropped in Trump’s second term.
Cowboys waive QB Joe Milton
The Cowboys kept three quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster, but they dropped to two on Monday, They have waived Joe Milton, which leaves Sam Howell as the only backup to Dak Prescott.
Take-Two Stock Drops Amid GTA 6 Leaks - Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO)
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) shares are falling Monday, potentially facing selling pressure tied to a string of leaks surrounding "Grand Theft Auto VI" ahead of the game's Nov. 19 release.
Puck Drop Preview: 2026-27 Chicago Blackhawks
Last Word On Hockey‘s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2026-27 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2026-27 …
Mag Mile recovery gains momentum with a drop in vacancy and infusions of capital
North Michigan Avenue's availability rate ticked down about 3% year over year, continuing the shopping strip's recovery as foot traffic and retailers return.
Is Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) Undervalued Following Its 2027 Ride And Halloween Plans?
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) has put fresh attention on its stock after outlining a packed slate of 2027 capital projects and Halloween events, along with continued spending at parks like Carowinds and Carolina Harbor. Against this backdrop of new rides and expanded Halloween events, Six Flags Entertainment’s share price has been weak in recent months. The 30 day share price return is down 6.41% and the 90 day share price return is down 21.64%. This has contributed to a 1 year total...
More Mail Ballots Are Arriving Late This Year, and They’re Getting Tossed
State officials say they worry about the Postal Service’s ability to deliver votes this fall. They are urging voters to mail their ballots early or use drop boxes so their votes count.
‘Coyote vs. Acme’ surges past expectations, snagging No. 2 at domestic box office after cancellation
‘Coyote vs. Acme dropped an anvil on the domestic box office this weekend, surpassing projections for a $15.4 million premiere that placed it just behind ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and just ahead of ‘The Odyssey.’
Florida, hard-hit by Obamacare drop-off, feels the squeeze of rising healthcare costs
Florida has emerged as a national epicenter of the fallout from expired Affordable Care Act subsidies.
GeForce RTX 3080 Drops From 138 FPS to 4 FPS When DLSS 5 Neural Rendering is Enabled; Reports Confirm Similar Performance Drop With RTX 30 Series
DLSS 5 Neural Rendering runs on RTX 30 series but suffers a 97% FPS drop, making it unplayable, while RTX 50 series officially supports it
Colorado Sues EarnIn For “Immoral, Unethical, Oppressive and Unscrupulous” Business Practices
Hey all, Jason here. When this hits your inbox, I should be en route to the airport — not to go anywhere myself, just to pick up my better half. I must admit, it’s been strange to be home alone (well, with two dogs) for two weeks! Really lets me “optimize” to spending more time on reading/writing/working, whether that’s healthy or not! Looking forward to getting back into a (somewhat) more balance routine. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading Compare Notes With the People Who Built Modern Fintech Partner content: Remitly CEO Sebastian Gunningham. Increase founder Darragh Buckley. Linda Du, Co-founder & President at Valon. They’ll unpack the decisions behind building and scaling major financial products: what they got right, what broke, what they would do differently, and how AI and new infrastructure are changing the operator playbook. Most events tell you where fintech is going. NerdCon puts the people who built the present in the room and asks them what comes next. Expect an operator-led conversation grounded in real products, real trade-offs and lessons earned the hard way. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% on Regular tickets with code FBW20 before standard pricing ends September 11. Meet the Builders Things To Know & Other Good Reads Advent and Stripe Abandon $50 Billion Pursuit of PayPal (Bloomberg) Trump Family’s New Crypto Bank Is Backed by Abu Dhabi Sheikh (Wall Street Journal) The multiplying risks of financing data centres (FT) Let the Bond Market Speak (Wall Street Journal) Did we waste a crisis? Modest proposals to reform deposit insurance. (Fintech Takes Banking) Untangling Guggenheim: How Private Credit Built Its Own Universe (Net Interest) The Hater’s Guide To Circular Financing — Part One (Ed Zitron) Fiat Ventures Rebrands to FGV Capital, Announces $35M Oversubscribed Fund II (BusinessWire) Socure Announces Strategic Growth Investment at $5.2B Valuation and Acquires Agentic Operations Platform Fravity (Socure) Listen: When Consumer Protection Disclosures Work Too Well (Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast) Colorado Sues EarnIn For “Immoral, Unethical, Oppressive and Unscrupulous” Business Practices When Andreessen Horowitz led EarnIn’s $39 million Series B in 2017, Alex Rampell, a partner at the storied venture capital firm, described EarnIn’s small-dollar advance product as “free,” relying on “entirely on voluntary contributions instead of fees.” Rampell favorably compared EarnIn’s approach to typical payday loans, writing, “Payday loans historically have had the potential to be a slippery slope for consumers into financial distress: opaque systems and steep fees that are hard to repay and set individuals back further than where they started. For many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, that kind of slide into debt can be extremely difficult to recover from.” But EarnIn’s product — which, the company says, isn’t a “loan,” legally speaking — ends up being anything but free for most users. While it is technically possible to take a no-fee advance from the company, most users incur “Lightning Speed” (instant funding) fees and/or ostensibly optional tips that combined can equate to annualized percent rates that can reach over 1,000%. With an average term of 9.77 days, even fees and tips that are small on an absolute dollar basis are equivalent to high APRs on an annualized basis. A lawsuit filed last week by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser against EarnIn describes the company and its product and business practices quite differently than Andreessen’s Rampell; “EarnIn’s business practices are unfair because they are immoral, unethical, oppressive and unscrupulous,” the complaint, filed in District Court in Denver, Colorado, says. EarnIn’s marquee product, Cash Out, isn’t a loan, the company says, as Cash Out is not “[f]orward [l]ooking” because “[t]he money is transferred based on earnings to date,” does not carry a mandatory fee to access funds, and is “non-recourse,” meaning EarnIn cannot pursue recovery from users who don’t repay advanced funds. EarnIn is sometimes referred to as an “Earned Wage Advance” service. Though, unlike some others in the broader category, EarnIn does not integrate with employers’ payroll or time and attendance systems. Rather, EarnIn attempts to verify a user’s income and employment, by examining direct deposit transaction data in their linked external bank account, by using GPS location and Bluetooth data to estimate a user’s time spent at work, if they work in a fixed location, and/or by having a user provided a work email address. While repayment is theoretically optional, as EarnIn would have no recourse, such as reporting non-payment to the credit bureaus or a collections agency, this is anything but clear to users of the EarnIn app, Colorado’s complaint argues. During the process of taking a Cash Out, users must agree to a preauthorized debit of the amount advanced, plus any expedited funding fee and/or tips. Though users technically can revoke this ACH authorization, the fact that they have this right isn’t presented to users during the Cash Out process, but rather is included in linked terms and conditions few users are likely to actually read. And users who do wish to revoke their ACH authorization must do so three or more days before the scheduled transaction date by emailing EarnIn’s customer support. Similarly, EarnIn’s marketing claims that it carries “no interest” and “no mandatory fees” is technically true, but is not the reality for many of the app’s users, the Colorado complaint argues. Further, EarnIn has extensively marketed to users the ability to “access your pay today,” to get “instant” funds, and to get funds “the same day you work” — when, in reality, this speed of access was only possible by paying the additional, undisclosed Lightning Speed fee. The Colorado complaint highlights this contradiction specifically, noting: EarnIn tells consumers that they can ‘Make any day payday with EarnIn’ and that there no ‘hidden’ or ‘mandatory fees.’ For a consumer to access their pay on the same day requested, they would have to pay the Lightning Speed fee. In the fine print of the advertisement EarnIn discloses that ‘[f]ees apply to use Lightning Speed,’ a direct contradiction to the larger text of the advertisement, and a fact that would not be immediately understood by a consumer as ‘Lightning Speed’ is not defined nor explained. Like other small-dollar lending services, rather than explicitly charge interest, EarnIn collects a markup on the optional Lighting Speed fee, which, given the nature of the transactions, many users opt for, as well as offering users the option to leave “tips.” EarnIn leverages either Real-Time Payments (RTP) rails or push-to-card via debit rails if a user opts for the optional Lightning Speed. But while these capabilities cost EarnIn, on average, $0.075 or $0.20 per transaction, respectively, EarnIn charges users significantly more. Initially, EarnIn charged as little as $1.99 for Cash Outs up to $24. But EarnIn has hiked these fees multiple times, and now charges $4.99 for Cash Outs up to $75 and $6.99 for those over $75. According to the Colorado complaint, EarnIn leverages “dark patterns” to manipulate users and to make it more difficult to avoid tipping. Examples of these “road blocks” highlighted in the complaint include: As of 2023, in the EarnIn app, a consumer attempting to get a loan under the default settings had to make at least eighteen separate taps to complete the transaction and reduce the tip to $0. There is an alternative method to leave a $0 tip, via the “Custom tip” feature, but EarnIn made this option difficult to access by visually deemphasizing it and positioning it near devices’ “home” button. Using language and imagery such as “Tip to pay it forward,” “Your generosity supports the service + helps,” “Your tips make a difference,” and “[t]he APR for this cash out is 0%. Your tips help support us.” While Lightning Speed and tipping are, in theory, both optional, in practice, users nearly always ended up paying something. According to the Colorado suit, users were charged either a tip or an expedite fee for more than 92% of transactions, with an average APR of nearly 388%. And, although the advances are “non-recourse,” EarnIn successfully collects on nearly all transactions — 99.18%, according to the complaint, which, Colorado argues, “demonstrat[es] that EarnIn’s advances function as high cost loans, not voluntary payments.” The share of EarnIn users incurring fees — despite the product being marketed as 0% APR — is hard to reconcile with Andreessen investor Rampell’s favorable description of EarnIn vs. “opaque systems and steep fees” associated with payday loans, which, Rampell says, can be “extremely difficult” for borrowers to extricate themselves from. According to Colorado’s suit, EarnIn’s Cash Out product “trapped many consumers in extreme cycles of high-cost reborrowing.” The suit gives an example of one consumer in the state, who took out a whopping 1,151 loans, paying a total of $4,038.50 in Lightning Speed expedited funding fees on loans that averaged the equivalent of 1,421% APR. Another Colorado user, the suit says, took out 1,033 loans, paying $8,561.22 in tips and fees at an average APR of 1,539% . These types of usage patterns demonstrate “the severe and repeated financial harm caused by EarnIn’s illegal lending model,” the Colorado complaint argues. In aggregate, from January 2023 through July 2025, EarnIn extended 3.1 million loans to 56,778 users in Colorado — an average of nearly 55 transactions per person during the time period. EarnIn lent more than $300 million and collected more than $16 million from Colorado users in Lightning Speed fees and in tips. Ultimately, the Colorado complaint argues that “EarnIn’s Cash Outs are loans under Colorado law, and EarnIn’s contention that its product is not a loan based on its disclaimer of any legal repayment obligation lacks any real-world significance given how the Cash Out transactions actually operate in practice.” Colorado further argues that “EarnIn was not working with companies here in providing consumers with funds but acted as a third-party lender and charged illegally high rates, used deceptive design strategies to extract some charges, and trapped consumers in repeat borrowing. Colorado will continue to stand up for consumers and hold companies accountable when they violate our credit laws or attempt to evade them through misleading practices.” Colorado’s suit alleges EarnIn assesses finance charge in excess of that permitted by Colorado law, that EarnIn failed to make legally required disclosures to Colorado borrowers, that EarnIn made supervised loans to consumers without obtaining the requisite license, that EarnIn violated the state’s Deferred Deposit Loan Act, that EarnIn engage in unfair and deceptive trade practices, and that EarnIn made false or misleading statements concerning price. The suit seeks a court order enjoining EarnIn from violating relevant Colorado laws, for EarnIn to refund amounts charged in excess of state law, fees, costs, and penalties, and other relief the court deems to be just. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Q2 Quarterly Banking Profile: Five Quick Takeaways The FDIC released its quarterly banking profile, which is always worth a read, for the second quarter. The profile provides an aggregate snapshot about the overall health of the 4,238 institutions whose deposits are insured by the FDIC, who, collectively, hold more than $26 trillion in assets and saw a total net income of more than $90 billion in the second quarter. Net income was up 12% vs. Q1 2026, with lower provisions and realized gains on securities helping to drive the improvement, somewhat offset by increases in non-interest expense and applicable income taxes. Overall net interest margin was basically flat quarter over quarter (up 1 basis point vs. Q1 2026), though community banks saw NIM grow by 10 basis points, to 3.81%. Unsurprisingly, given that interest rates haven’t changed, unrealized losses on securities changed little, edging up slightly to $326.7 billion vs. $325.1 billion in Q1 2026. Aggregate credit quality has remained benign, with asset quality actually improving slightly in Q2. Overall, institutions reported a 9 basis point decline in their past-due and non-accrual rate, to 1.44%. Net charge off rate also declined by 2 basis points, to 0.57%. And finally, the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund stands at $161.1 billion, making the DIF reserve ratio 1.48% — above the statutory minimum of 1.35%, but still below the designated target reserve ratio of 2%. [Paid Subscriber Exclusive] Nissan Withdraws ILC App, State Associations Plan BankChain Alliance, FDIC Defines “Unsafe or Unsound Practice” For First Time Automaker Nissan withdrew its application to charter a Utah industrial loan company and its corresponding application to the FDIC for deposit insurance last week, on August 19th. Nissan’s application had been outstanding for more than a year, as it originally applied in June 2025. Recent applications to the OCC to form national banks have been decisioned, one way or the other, substantially more quickly than has historically been the case.
Hilaria Baldwin's secret to staying fit with 7 kids is not what you'd expect: 'Stop and drop'
First look at Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay released on Netflix ahead of November launch
A 25-minute teaser previewing GTA 6 dropped on Netflix, offering the first look at the game ahead of its planned November release.
I dropped out of college and built a $7 million Pokémon cards business
Andres Fernandez dropped out of his business degree in college and built a Pokémon cards had $7.8 million in sales in 2025, mainly from Whatnot.
Mat Ishbia Drops Savage Message About Devin Booker Joining Pistons
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia made his feelings crystal clear when asked about the possibility of Devin Booker ever playing for the Detroit Pistons.
Tom Hardy’s debut rap album has officially dropped — and yes, he does the Bane voice
The “MobLand” actor moonlights as a rapper under the name Frankie Pulitzer.
Tom Hardy’s debut rap album has officially dropped — and yes, he does the Bane voice
‘MobLand’ actor Tom Hardy has officially dropped his debut rap album — and yes, he does the Bane voice from ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’
UK Science Museum drops BP as a sponsor
Leading British tourist attraction was long criticised by environmentalists over its ties to the oil and gas major
A million Americans dropped health coverage. Now everyone else is paying for it
Health insurance costs keep rising as healthier customers exit the marketplace. A decades-old collapse pattern is repeating in real time
Open Line ON DEMAND – Carmi Kiwanis Corn Day Entertainment 2026 - WRUL-FM
The time has come…with Corn Day just about 40 days away, it’s time to unveil this year’s 2026 headline entertainment. Carmi Kiwanis President Luke Sailer drops by Open Line to spend 15 minutes with Jc on what to expect at this year’s festival along with […]
Lee Health drops United Healthcare as in-network provider
Lee Health, the system that dominates Lee County in terms of hospitals and clinics, has abruptly announced that it is dropping United Healthcare as an in-network provider as of 2027.
Caesars Entertainment Launches Ball Rush Jackpots™ in New Jersey, the Latest Proprietary Online Title from Empire Creative™
New ball-and-peg style online casino game combines customizable gameplay, layered bonus features and dynamic jackpot opportunities LAS VEGAS (Aug. 28, 2026) Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR) (Caesars) today announced the launch of Ball Rush Jackpots(tm) , a new ball-and-peg style online casino game developed by Empire Creative(tm), the Company's in-house game development studio. Now live in New Jersey across Caesars Palace Online Casino, Caesars Sportsbook Casino and Horseshoe Online Casino, Ball Rush Jackpots is expected to become available in additional jurisdictions where Caesars offers online casino gaming following regulatory approval. The title expands Caesars' growing portfolio of proprietary online casino titles, following the successful launch of Ca$hline(tm) earlier this year and further diversifying the Company's lineup beyond traditional slots and table games. Ball Rush Jackpots follows the traditional ball-drop gameplay
Twitch Reports Major Outages After ‘GTA 6’ Trailer Drops
The full trailer was exclusively streamed on Netflix, meaning fans without a subscription may have turned to Twitch streamers to watch the gameplay reveal.
Are the kids all right? Mental health issues drop — but disparities remain
The latest data from a statewide youth survey shows signs of progress, but that’s partly because our comparison is from a “horrible” pandemic peak, experts say.
GTA 6 Launches Netflix Trailer, Extended Look Release
Netflix dropped 27 minutes of new "GTA 6" content Thursday in a collaboration with Rockstar Games ahead of November release.
Coalition drops Colorado transportation ballot measure after securing deal
The proposed constitutional amendment seeking to dedicate all transportation-related revenue to Colorado’s roads and bridges will no longer appear in this November’s ballot after its proponents reached an agreement with lawmakers following months of negotiations. Initiative No. 175, backed by the coalition Restore Our Roads, would have required that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively […]
Best practices for launching albums and series in a crowded entertainment marketplace
In this era of personalized algorithms and nonstop content, getting an audience to notice a particular album or debuting TV show, let alone keep coming back, is harder than ever. And the line between a release being a drop in the ocean and a cannonball splash is razor thin — yet not impossible, This new special […]
Lucky Strike Entertainment shares tumble after Q4 revenue misses forecasts
Lucky Strike Entertainment (NYSE:LUCK) shares dropped 10. 98% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the location-based entertainment operator reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue below Wall Street expectations.
First Look: The New Purple IWC Pilot Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team
Gearing up for this year's Singapore Grand Prix, IWC drops the vibrant Pilot's Watch Chronograph 41 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team.
Best Buy Quarterly Entertainment Revenue Drops 6.3%
Best Buy Aug. 27 reported a 6.3% drop in second-quarter (ended Aug. 1) same-store entertainment sales, compared with a 39.3% surge in the previous-year period. The entertainment segment, which includes video game hardware and software, books, music CDs and computer software, saw revenue of $571.41 million, or 6% of Best Buy’s domestic revenue of $9 … Continue reading "Best Buy Quarterly Entertainment Revenue Drops 6.3%"
Best Buy Quarterly Entertainment Revenue Drops 6.3%
Best Buy Aug. 27 reported a 6.3% drop in second-quarter (ended Aug. 1) same-store entertainment sales, compared with a 39.3% surge in the previous-year period. The entertainment segment, which includes video game hardware and software, books, music CDs and computer software, saw revenue of $571.41 million, or 6% of Best Buy’s domestic revenue of $9 … Continue reading "Best Buy Quarterly Entertainment Revenue Drops 6.3%"
Victory Brewing Company's Philadelphia taproom fails health inspection, temporary closes
Mice, roaches and mouse droppings were seen in prep, bar and storage areas at Victory Brewing Company's Philadelphia taproom.
Mariners drop regularly scheduled blowout, 6-0
Woo falters early, bats go quiet as M’s settle for series win and 4-2 homestand
Reggie Watts dropped from festivals after abuse allegations
Reggie Watts has reportedly been dropped from the lineups of multiple festivals after being accused of 'reckless' and 'abusive' behavior.
Burnham drops support for political funding cap aimed at curbing mega-donors
PM said he would set bar at £500k, but trade unions say funding reforms could undermine their ability to donate to Labour
Lee Health drops United Healthcare insurance as an in-network provider starting in 2027
Lee Health says its hospitals and physicians will be out-of-network for UnitedHealthcare customers starting in 2027.
43 Years Ago, Scientists Dropped Gophers Onto a Volcano. Today, They’re Tiny Heroes.
It started as a go-for-broke experiment, but it wound up saving an ecosystem.
Scoop: Sword Health to acquire Headspace for up to $300M
It's a steep valuation drop for the buzzy behavioral health company and meditation app maker.
UM Business School drops Herbert name following death
One of the most popular schools within the University of Miami has officially changed its name. What was previously known as the Patti and Allan Herbert Business School is now just titled the University of Miami Business School. When it was first built in 1992, the school was called the University of Miami Business School,
Bachelorettes are donning hats, taking Jackson by storm
Jackson’s Western-chic aesthetic, famous Cowboy Bar and stunning Teton backdrop have landed it a spot on ideal bachelorette destination lists.
Russian voice acting dropped from upcoming Witcher 3 expansion
Polish games developer CD Projekt RED said the decision was linked to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Nebraska opens season in USA TODAY Sports preseason top 50
The preseason USA TODAY Sports rankings gave Nebraska a significant drop from last year's list.
BIGBANG Return With "BiiiG," Their First New Single in Four Years
The legendary K-pop group dropped the celebratory track for their 20th anniversary ahead of a world tour.
U.S. consumer confidence slipped to a seven-month low as job and business fears grew
The Conference Board's index dropped to 89.4 as households grew more pessimistic about the labor market and business conditions over the next six months
Longines Drops an Elegant Monopusher Chronograph for Way Less Than You'd Expect
Longines adds a monopusher chronograph to its Master Collection for the first time, powered by a new, Longines-exclusive movement.
More US employers to drop weight-loss drugs in 2027, as healthcare costs increase
About 14% of employers in the United States have already or plan to drop GLP-1 drugs in 2027, as companies see rising healthcare costs, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the Business Group on Health.
More US Employers to Drop Weight-Loss Drugs in 2027, as Healthcare Costs Increase
By Amina Niasse NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - About 14% of employers in the United States have already or plan to drop GLP-1 drugs in 2027, as companies see rising healthcare costs, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the Business Group on Health. Healthcare costs are set to increase ...
Orioles news: Kicking off a nine-game road trip
Beavers’s adjustment, hope in the minors, and more in today’s Bird Droppings
Florida, hard-hit by Obamacare drop-off, feels the squeeze of rising healthcare costs
ST. CLOUD, Fla. (AP) — Florida chef Elijah Button was chopping onions in June when his knife slipped and sliced his middle finger to the bone.
Florida, hard-hit by Obamacare drop-off, feels the squeeze of rising healthcare costs
Florida chef Elijah Button faces a tough situation after losing his Affordable Care Act health insurance due to a premium hike
Jets' 53-man roster prediction for 2026 NFL season
The New York Jets actually look like they have some genuine momentum. After dropping their preseason opener to Tampa Bay, Aaron Glenn’s team responded with a statement performance in Pittsburgh. Suddenly, the competition for roster spots feels considerably more consequential. Geno Smith has already demonstrated that the offense can operate […] The post Jets' 53-man roster prediction for 2026 NFL season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Florida Department of Health advances plan to drop four school vaccine mandates
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Health is moving forward with a plan to remove four vaccine mandates for children in public and private schools.
Deshaun Watson Breaks Silence, Name-Drops Texans After Official Announcement
Former Houston Texans Deshaun Watson mentioned the franchise that traded him to his current organization to explain his postgame blowup. The post Deshaun Watson Breaks Silence, Name-Drops Texans After Official Announcement appeared first on HEAVY.
Edward Furlong has rare reunion with his ‘Terminator’ parents
Decades after being dropped from the third ‘Terminator’ film due to addiction issues, Edward Furlong reunited with his onscreen parents and the T-1000 himself.
Fentanyl investigations and seizures dropped during Trump’s immigration crackdown, federal watchdog says
The Department of Homeland Security’s decision last year to pull additional federal agents for immigration enforcement resulted in a dramatic drop in fentanyl investigations and seizures by the department’s investigations division, according to a federal watchdog report.
This Week: SF Politics, Bike East Bay Volunteer Night, SFMTA Photo Archive
Here is a list of events this week. Tuesday SF Politics 101 with Joel Engardio. SF Politics 101 is a look at how local politics work and the history that shaped San Francisco—brought to life with visuals and narrative storytelling. Tuesday, August 25, 6-7:15 p.m. SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, S.F. Register to attend. Tuesday Bike East Bay Volunteer Night. Tackle projects while socializing with fellow advocates. Snacks provided. Tuesday, August 25, 6-8 p.m. Bike East Bay Office, 466 Water Street, Oakland. Wednesday SFMTA Photo Archive and Peter Hartlaub. Go back in time for an evening of photos, stories and conversation with the Chronicle, Mayor Art Agnos, and S.F. Muni. Wednesday, August 26, 5:30 p.m. Gray Area Foundation / Grand Theatre, 2667 Mission Street, S.F. Get tickets. Wednesday Smart City Cycling. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for a presentation for people interested in biking but intimidated by urban traffic plus anyone already riding who wants to hone their skills. Wednesday, August 26, 6-7:30 p.m. Anza Branch Public Library, 550 37th Avenue, S.F. Thursday Member Repair Party. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and learn how to repair your bike. Thursday, August 27, 5-7 p.m. San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, 1720 Market Street, S.F. RSVP required. Saturday The Bay Ride. Circumnavigate the San Francisco Bay while raising funds for cycling infrastructure that makes streets safer for everyone. Saturday, August 29, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Starts at Sports Basement Presidio, 610 Old Mason Street, S.F. Saturday Flat Fix Clinic for Students and Families. Join the Safe Routes to School team at the Marina Branch Branch Library for a hands-on flat fix clinic. Saturday, August 29, 2-3:30 p.m. Marina Branch Public Library, 1890 Chestnut Street, S.F. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.
AirTag 2 now just $20 each ahead of new feature coming soon
Last week delivered a collection of particularly notable price drops on current-generation Apple gear, from AirPods Pro 3 at 25%...
Americans bought 12% less soda under new SNAP restrictions, study says
The drop in soda purchases is meaningful, but not enormous, one of the study's authors said.
Mizzou soccer falls to Missouri State on the road
Mizzou dropped its second game of the year in a 1-0 loss to Missouri State on Sunday.
Maker of Clear Eyes Recalls Nearly 40,000 Bottles Over Contamination Risk
Federal safety regulators said the maker of Clear Eyes Maximum Itchy Eye Relief voluntarily recalled the drops because of a “lack of assurance of sterility.”
Another Galaxy S27 Ultra surprise drops alongside new images
The dramatically different design won't be the only surprise.
Scientists turn tiny “defects” into a 5.5x heat transfer boost
Scientists have developed an ultrathin coating that could dramatically improve how efficiently heat is transferred during condensation. By turning tiny polymer structures once considered “defects” into places where water droplets can form, then helping those droplets detach quickly, the new surface keeps exposing fresh areas for condensation. In tests on copper tubes, it transferred heat up to 5.5 times more effectively than conventional copper and more than 50% better than a standard water-repelling coating.
New Orleans women focus on health and connection at 'Shake Back' fit camp
Women in New Orleans gathered at the Dew Drop Inn for a fitness event featuring cardio workouts, smoothies, and a pool party to promote physical and mental well-being.
Duchess Meghan reportedly dropped from 'The Gentleman' ahead of UK move
Amid talks that an acting job is a reason for her move to the United Kingdom, Duchess Meghan's casting in Guy Ritchie‘s "The Gentlemen" show has been withdrawn, according to
Software engineer Devonte Duncan discusses his cost of living in NYC
A Brooklyn-based software engineer, shares his journey from college dropout to a six-figure salary and managing NYC's high living costs.
AMD RDNA 4m Firmware Published For Linux Ahead Of Launch
In addition to AMD's Friday afternoon big code drop of all the UALink enablement patches for the Linux kernel and the AMDGPU driver, there was another big drop from AMD to end out the week..
Buffalo Sabres’ Zach Benson’s U23 Ranking ‘Indefensible,’ Prospect Expert Says
Corey Pronman of The Athletic dropped an August bomb in the hockey world with the surprise of Zach Benson's U23 ranking. Benson landed behind players that he almost certainly should not have been ranked behind. The post Buffalo Sabres’ Zach Benson’s U23 Ranking ‘Indefensible,’ Prospect Expert Says appeared first on HEAVY.
Only two games left: Rays 3, O’s 5
The bad news is that the Rays lost to the O’s… again. The good news is that the Rays only have to play the last place O’s two more times this season. Playing for the fifth time in eight days, the Rays and O’s faced off in Baltimore opening a three-game set. After dropping three […]
Seattle Mariners Announce Cal Raleigh Decision Before Cubs Series
The Seattle Mariners are coming off a series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, dropping two of three games.However, they’ll remain in the NL Central as they’re set to take on the Chicago Cubs beginning Friday night at home in Seattle.Ahead of the matchup, Mariners manager Dan Wilson made some notable changes to his lineup, including […] The post Seattle Mariners Announce Cal Raleigh Decision Before Cubs Series appeared first on HEAVY.
Enrollment in SNAP grocery aid is dropping faster than expected
Enrollment in the biggest federally funded food aid program in the U.S. dropped by more than 13% in a 12-month span
Enrollment in SNAP grocery aid is dropping faster than expected
Enrollment in the biggest federally funded food aid program in the U.S. dropped by more than 13% in a 12-month span