Retired FBI agent has new theory about who betrayed Anne Frank’s family to Nazis

Enlarge / Anne Frank in 1940. A new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan, claims that a retired FBI special agent and a team of investigators have solved the mystery of who betrayed the Frank family to the Nazis. (credit: Public domain) Former FBI special agent Vincent Pankoke was looking...

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Judge’s order slaps Roblox player with permanent game ban

Enlarge / A court order has led to a longtime Roblox player being banned from the popular game. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Roblox | Shark Fin Studios) A lawsuit filed by the Roblox Corporation, the operator of one of the most popular online games in the West, concluded last week with a rare order from a US District Court—that a defendant...

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This 22-year-old builds chips in his parents’ garage

Enlarge / Sam Zeloof completed this homemade computer chip with 1,200 transistors, seen under a magnifying glass, in August 2021. (credit: Sam Kang) In August, chipmaker Intel revealed new details about its plan to build a “mega-fab” on US soil, a $100 billion factory where 10,000 workers will make a new generation of powerful processors...

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Picard and Guinan have a warm reunion in S2 trailer for Star Trek: Picard

The second season of Star Trek: Picard premieres March 3, 2022 on Paramount+. It has been a long, pandemic-fueled wait, but the second season of Star Trek: Picard is almost here, and we now have an official trailer. In addition to seeing Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) encounter his mischievous former frenemy, Q (John de Lancie), fans' hearts will...

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Here’s why some games aren’t “verified” for Steam Deck compatibility

Enlarge / The Steam Deck, from Valve. (credit: Valve) Back in October, Valve laid out the specific review guidelines that a Steam game would have to follow to earn an optional "Deck Verified" badge on its Steam Store page. Now, the results of the first of those verification reviews are starting to leak out, and they're showing some...

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Members of Activision’s Raven Software QA team form a union

Enlarge / Striking employees demand the reinstatement of Raven Software QA contractors who were let go in December. (credit: A Better ABK) The members of Activision Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software's quality assurance department are seeking voluntary recognition of their union, a first for workers at a major American video game publisher....

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Review: Fraggle Rock on Apple TV+ is the Muppet series Disney+ wishes it had

Enlarge / The Fraggles are back, clap, clap. And they're a blast to watch again, clap, clap. (credit: Jim Henson Company / Apple TV+) The video-streaming world has long suffered from content fragmentation, and modern-day Muppet access is no exception. If you want to revel in all things Jim Henson, you'll need subscriptions to no less...

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Where does PlayStation fit into Microsoft’s Activision purchase? [Updated]

Enlarge / A small selection of the characters that may not be appearing on PlayStation in the long term. In the wake of Microsoft's announcement that it intends to acquire Activision, it has been fun to gawk at the big numbers and speculate about the fate of rich CEOs, among other business implications. But for many PlayStation owners,...

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The real-life gentleman pirate behind HBO Max’s new series Our Flag Means Death

Enlarge / Rhys Darby stars as gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet in the upcoming HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death. (credit: YouTube/HBO Max) It's no secret that Ars staffers are big Taika Waititi fans. He always brings his distinctly quirky sensibility to his projects, from What We Do in the Shadows, Wellington Paranormal, and...

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Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV series gets a name and a teaser video

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power teaser video. Amazon has been hyping its Lord of the Rings TV series for a while now, but details have been scarce. That changed a bit this week, as Amazon finally announced the name of the series and released its first teaser video. The name of the series is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. ...

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