BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month - The Verge: Since the company announced in 2020 that its cars’ operating system would allow for microtransactions on features like automatic high beams and adaptive cruise control, customers have decried the move as greedy and exploitative. Can't imagine why.
How Checkers Was Solved - The Atlantic: Schaeffer and Tinsley sat across from each other, and a large screen rendered the movement of the pieces. Tinsley drew first blood, besting Chinook in game five. But then in game eight, Chinook delivered a stunning win; it was Tinsley's sixth loss in 40 years. Despite the years of toil and dreams of success, Schaeffer felt sadness in that moment. “We're still members of the human race,” he wrote in his book, “and Chinook defeating Tinsley in a single game means that it will only be a matter of time before computers will be supreme in checkers, and eventually in other games like chess.” Schaeffer might have won, but the humans have lost.
NRL's pride jersey debacle is compounded by sport's power imbalance | NRL | The Guardian: These are more complex questions due to the relative power of the institutions in question. Religious organisations and alcohol and gambling companies hold a great deal more societal and financial power than LGBTIQ people, and are deeply ingrained in the culture of rugby league, and sport more widely. Thus it is harder for individual players to stand against this power and ask for special consideration.
Manly owner wants NRL inclusion round as boycotting players told to stay away from game | NRL | The Guardian: But he make no apologies for the jersey, stressing Manly wanted it to promote inclusivity for all, be it with race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation. Manly owners will also donate $100,000 to the Gotcha4Life charity, with money from the game going to support the mental welfare of the LGBTQI community. But also on Penn's agenda is speaking to the NRL about next year's calendar, and he is willing to take the criticism of recent days if it results in long-term change. ARLC chair Peter V'landys revealed this week he was open to the idea of a pride or inclusion round, stressing the decision was ultimately one for the Commission. It's been a stupid saga but if it leads to a pride round, it's a win... but it's a very very big 'if'.
Alex Jones ordered to pay $45.2m in punitive damages to Sandy Hook family | Newtown shooting | The Guardian: Legal wrangling that is standard after these types of cases – including a promised appeal – means the amount Jones ultimately pays may be far below $49.3m. But the ruling nonetheless represents a victory for loved ones of Sandy Hook victims and a major rebuke for one of the country's most notorious conspiracy theorists.
Stray review – cats get the cream in slinky, post-apocalyptic fantasy | Adventure games | The Guardian: The game's wonder is in the delicate details: knocking over piles of books; tinkling your way along the keys of an old piano. It's elegantly designed and well told, and in opting to build a compact world dense with detail and intrigue rather than one that sprawls flimsily, Stray feels like a high-production proposition despite its modest-sized production team.