Author: Nick Cowen

South Korean intelligence officials have accused North Korea of trying to hack US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, in order to obtain vaccine treatment and technology about the COVID-19 virus. According to a report on Reuters, Ha Tae-keung, an opposition member of the parliamentary intelligence panel said that Seoul’s National Intelligence Service had “briefed us that North Korea tried to obtain technology involving the Covid vaccine and treatment by using cyberwarfare to hack into Pfizer.” “There were attempts to steal COVID vaccine and treatment technology during cyber attacks and Pfizer was hacked,” he said. A History Of Hacking This isn’t the first time…

Parler, the social media network adopted by the hard right in the USA, is back online. This comes a month after it was booted offline by Google, Apple, and Amazon in the wake of The Capitol riots that took place in Washington earlier this year. The company made the announcement in a press release that its site is now back online and that users will be able to login to their accounts. The site is only taking new sign-ups from next week. According to The Verge, current users will find that their past conversations and posts are now gone. In…

Jaguar Land Rover has announced that its cars will run on electric power by the year 2025. Wait, hold your horses. That’s not to say that every Jaguar or Land Rover you see on the road will be electrically-powered by 2025; Lord knows the road-life of even one of these vehicles released in the last ten years may shoot past that date. This is to say that Jaguar Land Rover has committed to offering electric-cars alongside the vehicles it currently has on offer. Well, if this tweet from its official account is anything to go by: https://twitter.com/JLR_News/status/1361259873950965764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1361259873950965764%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenextweb.com%2Fshift%2F2021%2F02%2F15%2Fjaguar-land-rover-fully-electric-2030%2F According to a…

Way back in the days when he was still the frontman of Id Software, John Carmack famously said, “story in a game is like story in a porn movie. It’s expected to be there, but it’s not that important.” This missive tossed out over two decades ago when the original DOOM was the poster child for video game violence seems archaic when one considers how far along games have come as a storytelling medium, but it does contain a kernel of truth. Most players will overlook gaping plot-holes, lore ret-conning and any other general silliness as long as the central…

Google, Facebook and possibly other tech giants are inching closer to paying publishers for content they link to from their platforms in Australia. Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he had discussions over the weekend with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai concerning planned legislation called the News Media Code, which will essentially force companies who link to content from Australian publishers to pay for it. Google and Facebook have, up until now, stated that the legislation is unworkable, with Google threatening to block searches Down Under. According to a report on The Register, Frydenberg said he believes…

Rain has announced its chief risk officer will retire as executive director from the company at the end of this month. From 1 March 2021, Phumlani Moholi will still hold a seat on the board as a non-executive director and remains a shareholder in the company. When it Rains “Phumlani has played a pivotal and entrepreneurial role in the establishment of Rain and in his Executive role has contributed immensely to Rain gaining a foothold, and becoming a respected player, in the competitive South African telecommunications landscape,” says Paul Harris, Rain’s Chairman. “We thank Phumlani for his leadership and commitment…

Former MMA star-turned movie action heroine, Gina Carano, has been fired from the Star Wars Disney + series The Mandalorian, for making “abhorrent and unacceptable” posts on social media. According to a report on The Guardian, Lucasfilm decided to sever ties with Carano, after the actress (known for her roles in Deadpool, Haywire and Fast & Furious 6), compared the treatment of Republicans in the USA in contemporary times, to that of Jewish people in Nazi Germany. Dropped by The Mandalorian In a (now-deleted) Instagram post, Carano wrote: “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by…

In January, South Africans heard the news that not only was a COVID-19 vaccine rollout on the way, but that the government had announced the Electronic Vaccine Data System (or EVDS) — a digital platform where citizens could sign up for jabs. Plans have unfortunately hit a snag, according to a report in The Daily Maverick. The lead investigator in the Oxford/AstraZeneca trial, Professor Shabir Madhi, has reported “disappointing results” from the initial round of vaccines. At present, only citizens who qualify for Phase 1 vaccinations — which includes those on the frontline in the health care industry — get…

The Super Bowl in the United States is always a massive advertising opportunity, but this year saw fewer movie trailers than usual – probably because the COVID-19 pandemic keeps on trucking. One of the exceptions, though, was the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s new flick, which is called ‘Old’. Have a gander below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=eB1m-WogYeg&feature=emb_logo Same Old Shyamalan  The film stars Gael García Beral (The Motorcycle Diaries,Y tu mamá también and the Amazon series Mozart In the Jungle) and Vicky Krieps (The Girl In The Spider’s Web) and according to a report on Polygon, it’s based on a graphic novel by Pierre Oscar…

Blizzard is reportedly working on a number Warcraft games for mobile platforms, according to a report on IGN. In an earnings call Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick that there are “multiple” mobile Warcraft games in “advanced development” at Blizzard. “In our Warcraft franchise, we intend to deliver more frequent premium content to sustain and expand the World of Warcraft community,” Kotick said to to investors on the call. Blizzard might blow us away… or maybe it won’t “And we’ve made multiple, mobile, free-to-play Warcraft experiences and they’re now in advanced development based on our franchise’s beloved IP.” Kotick also went on…