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Firefox Getting New Controls to Turn Off AI Features
The Firefox browser is gaining options to turn off AI enhancements, Mozilla said today. Firefox users who prefer to browse without artificial intelligence will be able to turn off several AI features that Mozilla has added over the last several months. Here's what can be disabled: Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language. Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.
Cher files for conservatorship of son Elijah Blue Allman again after arrests: 'His drug dependency is at its worst'
Cher has filed to place her 'gravely disabled' son Elijah Blue Allman under a temporary conservatorship after he was arrested in New Hampshire: 'His drug dependency is at its worst.'
Kentucky crafters build business space for disabled, neurodivergent artists
Mystic Zebra Crafts is working toward a storefront where disabled and neurodivergent crafters can sell work and build community.
Lone Star College launches VetHUB to help disabled veteran-owned businesses
The Lone Star College System is launching a new initiative aimed at boosting state contracting opportunities for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.
YouTube has reportedly disabled and started removing specialized captions
YouTube videos have long supported the custom SRV3 caption format, which creators have been using in pretty creative ways. Apparently,...
Family pleads for release of ICE detainee as disabled son’s health declines
Maher Tarabishi's family has been fighting to have him released from ICE custody on humanitarian grounds, calling him the primary caregiver for his disabled adult son.
US Health Agency Announces Two Medicare Pilot Programs on Drug Pricing
Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday announced pilot programs to start in 2026 and 2027 that are aimed at reducing out-of-pocket drug costs under the Medicare healthcare program for older and disabled Americans to prices on par with economically comparable countries. The Centers ...
The U.S. Healthcare System is Already Mostly Socialized
Now that Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, the outcome of this crucial race will depend mainly on two things: Whether Republicans succeed in demonizing El-Sayed because he’s brown and a Muslim, and whether they succeed in demonizing him as a left-wing radical. I will defer for the now the question of whether bigotry will be effective this year, although I will address it another day. What I want to address instead is El-Sayed’s signature issue — healthcare. Yes, El-Sayed advocates Medicare for All, a position the usual suspects denounce as “socialism.” I will get to the politics of his stance soon. Today, however, I want to talk about the substance. We should be clear that El-Sayed doesn’t even call himself a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disavows the label, saying “I’m a capitalist who just knows about capitalism”. In fact, as I explained in a previous post, the policies that El-Sayed advocates qualify him as a social democrat, not a socialist. Still, El-Sayed advocates a system under which the government would pay almost all medical expenses. Isn’t that socialism? Well, if that is the criterion then much of U.S. healthcare is already socialist. In fact, the government’s role is so large that U.S. healthcare is better described as partially privatized socialism than as anything resembling a free market. Let’s start with the raw numbers on health insurance, which pays the bulk of Americans’ medical expenses. Americans receive health insurance either from private companies or from public programs, overwhelmingly Medicare and Medicaid. Here’s what the breakdown of coverage and spending between private and public looked like in 2024: While a majority of Americans with health insurance get it from private companies, well over 100 million of us are covered by government programs instead. And these government programs pay more total dollars for medical bills than the private insurers do. Why do government programs that cover a minority of the population account for a majority of health insurers’ outlays? Mainly because Medicare covers seniors, and we’re expensive. Also, while Medicaid covers many younger Americans, disabled and elderly beneficiaries account for most of its spending. Even by the raw numbers, then, U.S. health insurance looks as much public as private. But that understates the government’s role: Private health insurance in the U.S. is both highly regulated and heavily subsidized. This is obviously true for the insurance coverage purchased by tens of millions of Americans through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. But employment-based health insurance, which covers 161 million Americans, is far more of a government creation than most people realize. For employment-based insurance exists largely because of huge implicit government subsidies that come with major strings attached. Here’s how that works. If your employer pays you $10,000, that’s taxable income. But if your employer pays $10,000 toward a company health insurance plan that meets certain criteria, it isn’t taxable. That’s a huge effective subsidy, running at more than $300 billion a year. Take that subsidy into account, along with the more than $100 billion per year spent subsidizing policies purchased under the ACA, as well as the outlays on Medicare and Medicaid, and net effect is that the government pays for more than two-thirds of Americans’ health insurance. Granted, there are strings attached. Roughly speaking, employment-based health plans can’t discriminate based on medical history — that is, they can’t deny coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions — and they also can’t offer the plans only to highly compensated employees — a health plan that is only for the C-suite is considered taxable income. So given the restrictions of the federal tax code, employer-based health insurance is a lot like Obamacare, which also prohibits discrimination based on medical history and provides subsidies to make insurance affordable to lower-paid workers. The fact is that virtually all of private healthcare insurance is already well under some form of government control through regulation and tax subsidies. How should we think about this system? First of all, is Medicare socialist? Don’t tell anyone, but the way Medicare operates — it covers every senior’s medical expenses, whatever they turn out to be, while being funded by taxes that depend on one’s income — could be summarized by the old Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” And back in 1961, when Ronald Reagan was the face of a last-ditch effort by the American Medical Association to block the creation of Medicare, he denounced Medicare as “socialized medicine” and warned that it would destroy our freedom. In reality, American freedom survived until Jan. 20, 2025, while Medicare is immensely popular, with an 82 percent favorable rating in the most recent KFF survey. Medicaid, government health insurance for lower-income Americans, comes in at 73 percent. This is in sharp contrast to public views about private insurers, who are widely disliked if not hated and accused of denying essential care. Furthermore, if Medicare is socialism, then the whole U.S. health insurance system, with the government paying most of the bills and placing conditions on private insurers, is almost equally socialist. If you insist on calling any program the government pays for and regulates socialist, then U.S. healthcare would best be described as a partially privatized form of socialism. And one must ask, what is the point of the part that is privatized? Do private insurers add anything positive? Or are they simply parasites, skimming off money that could have been paying for care? The case for viewing insurers as parasites is strong. Many Medicare benefits are now delivered via Medicare Advantage, that is, plans paid for by the government but run through insurance companies. MedPAC, an independent advisory commission, estimates that last year Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by $84 billion, thanks to practices such as “upcoding,” in which patients’ health problems are overstated to get larger sums from Medicare. Assessing the waste from employer-based insurance is harder, but most evidence suggests that private insurers have substantially higher administrative costs than Medicare does. Furthermore, the complexity of private insurance, with multiple payers all trying to deny care when they can, is a huge burden both on providers — doctors, nurses, and hospitals — and on patients. What do private insurers offer to compensate for these costs? One must go through intellectual contortions to avoid the conclusion that they are, in fact, parasites. Which brings me back to El-Sayed. In supporting Medicare for All, he’s basically calling for an end to the partial, parasitic privatization of a healthcare system that is already hugely dependent on public funding. When one looks at it that way, it’s not at all a radical proposal. Admittedly, the political lift requires overcoming the opposition to higher taxes to pay for Medicare for All. Political realism rather than economics was the reason I and many other progressives supported Obamacare, with all its complexities, rather than demanding an immediate move to Medicare for All. But the political calculus may very well have shifted since the 2000s, as Americans are fed up with a system of unaffordable premiums, rampant claim denials, and byzantine claim administration. Moreover, funding healthcare insurance through taxation would allow for a much more progressive distribution of the cost. That is, compared to the present system, middle-income households would pay less as high-income households would pay more. And the U.S. would stop wasting large sums on pointless administrative costs. So let’s be clear: El-Sayed’s healthcare platform is perfectly reasonable on the merits of cost, fairness and health efficacy. And with private insurers never more hated, while millions of Americans are losing their health insurance, 2026 may be its time. MUSICAL CODA
Berkeley’s trailblazing adaptive sports nonprofit BORP turns 50
Long the “only game in town” for physically disabled athletes, it launched the country’s first power soccer program in the ’80s.
OUTDOOR ACCESS FOR DISABLED IN VERMONT
Mountain bike enthusiasts have been working for years on an ambitious 485-mile, multi-use trail called The Velomont that will span the length of the state. They're making sure it's friendly for people people with disabilities, particularly cyclists.
Fly fishing program aims to curb isolation, boost mental health for disabled veterans
A Northstate nonprofit group is offering a variety of fly fishing programs to benefit disabled veterans.
Nonprofit for disabled adults shines as Loudoun's small business of the year
This is how the work day gets started at Every Citizen Has Opportunities (ECHO), a nonprofit that links adults who have disabilities with jobs: More than half of the 200 participants head out for work in the community, others staff three businesses operating inside the large ECHO headquarters near Leesburg, Virginia. Michael Doolin has earned a paycheck there for two…
SC disabled veteran owned small business honored by President Trump
COLUMBIA, SC (WACH) --- ND3 a South Carolina veteran owned small business, was recognized as the 2026 South Carolina SBA Small Business Person of the Year.Nat D
Kentucky crafters build business space for disabled, neurodivergent artists
Mystic Zebra Crafts is working toward a storefront where disabled and neurodivergent crafters can sell work and build community.
Colorado election website error exposes personal data of confidential voters
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office says a system update accidentally lifted protections on confidential voter records, exposing dozens of voters’ personal information. The limit that normally blocks access to confidential voter profiles was inadvertently disabled during an update to the Find My Voter Registration Tool, briefly exposing personal information for 59 voters who had […]
Trump's actions signal a move toward institutionalizing people with disabilities, advocates warn
For decades, disabled people have fought for their rights to go to school and live alongside peers without disabilities — rights that some fear could be losing ground under the Trump administration.
PS5's Destruction AllStars Delisted and Disabled Without Notice Due to 'Ongoing Technical Issues'
It's basically been down since 2024
Disabled workers at greater risk of losing health insurance
An organ transplant first, new details on ADA conference controversy, and more health news from Morning Rounds
Google temporarily disabled YouTube's advanced captions without warning
Google says SRV3 was causing playback errors, so it has "temporarily" disabled them.
Opinion: CT’s federal cuts response fund must be used for this crisis
Connecticut’s Governor must immediately use some of the over $250 million sitting in the Federal Cuts Response Fund for the purpose it was created, to protect the poor, disabled, and elderly from the harms of H.R. 1.
51 suspected illegal slot machines seized in Columbus investigation
State investigators seized or disabled 51 suspected illegal slot machines during searches in Columbus and Westerville, officials said.
These 10+ PS5, PS4 Games Will Be Delisted or Disabled in July and August 2026
Stop servers time
Man 'first to run from Great Wall to Hong Kong'
A man is aiming to raise £600,000 for the disabled community after running 3,000km (1,864 miles).
Texas removes women, minorities from small business program
The program will now only be eligible for service-disabled veterans. It will be called Veteran Heroes United in Business.
How proposed cuts to this major national health survey could disadvantage Americans with disabilities
As many as a quarter of wheelchair users and more than a third of people who are blind or deaf could be miscategorized as not disabled because of the shorter survey, according to some advocates and researchers.
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War | WWL
The politics of disability at the Academy Awards
Throughout history, disabled bodies have been portrayed as a burden.
Disabled Seneddd election candidates on the barriers they face
Disabled election candidates speak about their own personal experiences of disability and politics.
Mental health professionals highlight errors in Nebraska tool for aiding developmentally disabled
LINCOLN — Just over a year after Nebraska launched a new system to assess Nebraskans with intellectual and developmental disabilities seeking Medicaid assistance, a group of parents gathered to inform state officials about the negative impacts the change has had on their families. Mental health professionals Carol Salber and Tori Sorensen, who are both parents […]
Alleged would-be Trump assassin once made an "atomic fighting game", which Steam have now yanked from sale
Valve have disabled Steam purchases of Bohrdom, an experimental 2D game made by the developer accused of shooting up a White House press dinner in April 2026.
Why is AirDrop support disabled by default on Samsung Galaxy?
Samsung will officially start rolling out AirDrop support over Quick Share on Galaxy S26 devices throughout this week but, personally,...
Billions at stake as Texas reshapes business contract program
Texas has dramatically overhauled its Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program in the past year, shifting eligibility toward service-disabled veterans and leaving thousands of minority- an…
Audit finds lack of oversight hampering housing assistance for disabled veterans
The program is designed to help communities assist low-income veterans with disabilities in repairing their homes or making them more accessible.
Now That the Trump Administration Has Made Minority Lives Miserable, It’s Coming to Ruin the Lives of Disabled Americans Next
Remember when Republicans used to care about their fellow human beings?
Health officials say cuts to nursing aid for disabled children being reversed
An executive councilor is calling for an immediate investigation into the health and well-being of severely disabled children covered by Medicaid who might have seen their nursing care cut in recent months.
Some disabled people want to advance their careers. They say Medicaid rules stop them
Medicaid will have new work requirements next year. But some people with disabilities, who already work, say they'd like to work more, but risk losing their Medicaid coverage if they earn too much.
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War.
The Danny Awards to return to NYC showcasing works by disabled musicians across the globe
]Daniel's Music Foundation (DMF) will celebrate 20 years of impacting the music scene with the 7th Annual Danny Awards on Oct. 18.
Health care aide charged in assault of disabled resident at Halfmoon facility
A Schenectady woman working as a health care aide has been charged after State Police said a disabled resident was assaulted at a Halfmoon care facility.
‘CODA’ didn’t change Hollywood for the disabled. Siân Heder hopes ‘Being Heumann’ can
“CODA,” the first film featuring a largely deaf cast to triumph at the Oscars, marked a watershed moment for the film industry | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War.
Thousands of people disabled by long COVID seek answers
Six years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, doctors are still treating long COVID patients with complex symptoms and unknown futures.
Lisa Madden, 2026 Outstanding Women in Business Recipient
Lisa Madden was drawn to a mental health career from personal experience. When she was a young child in the ’60s, Lisa would accompany her father to visit her Aunt Peggy, who was developmentally and mentally disabled and had been institutionalized in Massachusetts when family members could no longer care for her.
3 separate US strikes on alleged drug boats have initially left survivors. Each time they’ve been treated differently
As the US military has undertaken a campaign of attacks against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, at least five people have survived initial strikes ending up in the water after explosions killed fellow crew members and disabled their ships.
Veterans of every generation find their stride in adaptive sports
At the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, there’s no single profile of a participant. Veterans arrive from different branches, eras, and life experiences. Some are just beginning to navigate a new reality after injury. Others have spent decades adapting. But on the slopes, those differences fade, replaced by a shared pursuit of movement, independence, and community.
Tenn. to report information from disabled migrant children in public health care program
Information on sick or disabled undocumented children receiving public health care will soon be reported to Tennessee's new immigration enforcement division.
Owner of CT information technology consulting business sentenced for computer intrusion scheme
Federal officials said he remotely disabled a client’s computer network on 21 separate days in 2024, which resulted in the company being unable to conduct business on those days.
Match day access boost for disabled football fans
From sensory rooms to audio commentary, one group is breaking down barriers for Coventry City fans.
Surrey sports day boosts confidence for disabled people
A charity says the event will help people stay active, build confidence and meet others.
Colorado hates its disabled citizens
This is a selfish column. The legislature is about to hurt my disabled son. My son, Chance, has Down syndrome and a few years ago would have been labeled “retarded.” Then “developmentally delayed.” Now the hypersensitive prefer “intellectually disabled.” Whatever the term is this week, the reality hasn’t changed. This 21-year-old man cannot consistently count […]
Snowmass Mountain reopened for National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic
Participants of the 40th annual National Disabled Veteran Winter Sports Clinic were able to experience Snowmass last week despite the mountain having closed early for the season Sunday, April 5.
Duran: Political Corruption, Personal Gain, Negligence, and Public Deception
It’s evident that the supervisors don’t want to recognize and/or prioritize saving lives of the infants, children, disabled, veterans, seniors, and critically ill who are trying to survive living on the streets in Orange County…
Americans with disabilities worry over cuts to major health survey
NEW YORK • The federal government is planning to dramatically shrink its most influential health survey, and some researchers worry that the changes will underestimate how many Americans are disabled. At least half the survey questions could be axed. The cost-saving change is part of an ongoing effort to slim down the 69-year-old National Health […]
11th Class Graduates Favarh’s Project SEARCH at UConn Health
Prepares intellectually or developmentally disabled for workforce
Jaya Aysola’s Remarks from UN Panel on Health Care for the Disabled
Speaking on a panel at the SDG Media Zone inside the United Nations headquarters in New York City, LDI Senior Fellow Jaya Aysola, MD, MPH, discussed the ways health care delivery practices currently…
Free course from Warrior Rising helps service-disabled Veterans explore business ownership
SDVET LaunchPoint, a free virtual course from Warrior Rising, helps service-disabled Veterans turn their interests and skills into real business.
PS5's Destruction AllStars Delisted, Servers Officially Disabled Without Notice
But they've basically been down since 2024
The Power of Play: Free adaptive designs enhance sports for disabled Veterans
The Power of Play: Free adaptive designs enhance sports for disabled Veterans
Legislators plan to learn about Native American health care, emergency services, disability care
South Dakota lawmakers plan to learn more about emergency medical services, Native American health care, and services for disabled people ahead of the next legislative session.
Disability Groups Fear RFK Jr.’s New Special Education Role
Alienated by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims about autism, advocates for disabled students are sounding the alarm about the Trump administration's shifting special education programs to his department.
Ford Motor Co. donates vehicles to help veterans access health care
DAV (Disabled American Veterans) has announced a generous $200,000 donation from Ford Motor Co. to help support free transportation to medical appointments for America’s ill and injured veterans. A special check presentation took place Aug. 1 at the 2026 DAV and Auxiliary National Convention in Orlando, Florida. The gift will fund the purchase of five new vehicles for the DAV Transportation Network, which operates a nationwide fleet through which volunteers provide disabled veterans with free transportation to and from Department of Veterans Affairs medical appointments. Ford Motor Co.’s support of America’s veterans began in 1922 when Henry Ford provided 50 Model Ts to help disabled World War I veterans attend the second DAV National Convention, held in San Francisco. “Ford Motor Co.’s generosity allows us to continue ensuring veterans can get reliable transportation to their medical appointments,” said DAV National Commander Coleman Nee. “We are grateful for their continued support that allows us to provide hundreds of thousands of rides each year.” Since 1987, Ford Motor Co. has donated 279 vehicles to DAV’s fleet. Last year, the DAV Transportation Network provided more than 230,000 rides to help veterans get to their medical appointments. Volunteer drivers covered over 9.6 million miles and invested more than 614,000 volunteer hours.
Kentucky crafters build business space for disabled, neurodivergent artists
Mystic Zebra Crafts is working toward a storefront where disabled and neurodivergent crafters can sell work and build community.
Disallowance of COVID-19 Leave Credits: A Review of Substantiation and Trade or Business Requirements — Current Federal Tax Developments
Marie M. Kanda v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2026-3 (Docket No. 3772-24S. Filed April 20, 2026) Between 2015 and 2023, Marie M. Kanda suffered from several serious health conditions, including breast cancer and severe osteoarthritis, which led to her doctor determining she was disabled and
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?
Assertive Professionals Awarded $14.7 Million DCSA Business Operations Support Services Task Order
/PRNewswire/ -- Assertive Professionals (AP), a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Woman-Owned Small Business, has been awarded a task order by the Defense...
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DAV announces new partnership with Solace Health supporting veterans’ care
ERLANGER, Ky. – DAV (Disabled American Veterans) is proud to announce a new partnership with Solace Health as its first new partner in 2026. The partnership is supported by a donation from Solace Health to advance DAV’s mission of empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives. The collaboration brings together two organizations focused on helping veterans receive timely, coordinated, high-quality care, regardless of where they receive it. While many veterans receive care through the VA, which offers an integrated and coordinated whole-health model, others receive some or all of their care through private health systems using Medicare or other insurance benefits. These veterans often need help to understand health insurance rules, manage their treatment, and navigate between multiple health care systems. “Disabled veterans often have complex health challenges, and DAV’s advocacy work strives to minimize barriers to timely, high-quality care, primarily within VA., but increasingly between VA and private providers,” said DAV CEO and National Adjutant Barry Jesinoski. “Our partnership with Solace Health can offer support for veterans who are eligible for VA care and Medicare, particularly those who split their care between the VA and private health systems. Veterans who don’t use VA at all can also benefit from the care coordination services that Solace Health provides, usually with little or no out-of-pocket cost to them.” Solace Health provides professional health care advocacy services, connecting patients with experienced advocates who help schedule appointments, explain benefits, coordinate care among providers, and manage administrative burdens with private health care systems, thereby allowing veterans and their families to focus on health and recovery. “For many veterans, the fight doesn’t end when service does,” said Jeremy Gurewitz, CEO and co-founder of Solace Health. “Veterans living with serious medical conditions often encounter a private health care system outside of the VA that is fragmented and difficult to navigate. Through this partnership with DAV, Solace Health advocates can help cut through red tape, improve care coordination, and simplify scheduling of medical appointments. We’re proud to support DAV in helping veterans to successfully navigate health care systems so that veterans, particularly disabled veterans, receive the care they have earned.” DAV provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations, their families, caregivers, and survivors. Each year, DAV’s no-cost programs and services help more than 1 million veterans access the benefits and health care they have earned, connect with meaningful employment, and ensure their voices are heard on Capitol Hill. About DAV DAV is dedicated to ensuring our promise is kept to America’s veterans. DAV does this by helping veterans and their families access the full range of benefits available to them, fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill, providing employment resources to veterans and their families, offering programs and services to empower them, and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. A nonprofit organization with nearly 1 million members, DAV was founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932. About Solace Health Veterans face complex health challenges, and the path to care is far harder than it should be. They deal with fragmented services and providers, each with unique requirements and paperwork. Solace Health advocates—healthcare experts with 16 years’ experience on average—help veterans navigate this landscape when they need it most. Advocates schedule appointments, explain benefits and keep doctors aligned. They take the lead on calls and documentation, and their no-homework ethos eases burdens on veterans and their families. Solace Health is covered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and most veterans pay little or nothing out of pocket. We’re honored to support DAV members.
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Scientists find ‘master regulator’ that could reverse brain aging
Researchers have identified OTULIN, an immune-regulating enzyme, as a key trigger of tau buildup in the brain. When OTULIN was disabled, tau vanished from neurons and brain cells remained healthy. The findings challenge long-held assumptions about tau’s necessity and highlight a promising new path for fighting Alzheimer’s and brain aging. Scientists now believe OTULIN may act as a master switch for inflammation and age-related brain decline.