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Its safe to say Diablo IVs early access weekend hasnt gone as smoothly as Blizzard likely hoped it would. Shortly after the beta went live on Friday, many players found themselves in lengthy login queues. In my case, I had to wait nearly two hours before I got a chance to play the game, only to be quickly disconnected after about 15 minutes.Blizzard addressed the issue after players took to social media and the official Diablo IV forums to complain. The team is working through some issues behind the scenes that have been affecting players and causing them to be disconnected from the servers, Blizzard said in its initial post on the subject. This is done so we can ensure stability amongst players who get into the game after the queue process.Very kind of the Diablo IV beta to make sure I get work done today pic.twitter.com/VgZ1SBcebS Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 17, 2023If youre waiting to play, Blizzard asks that you stay in the login queue so as not to reset your timer. The studio said it would have a more accurate countdown in place by the start of next weekends open beta when anyone who wants to try Diablo IV before its June 6th release date can do so. We are actively working on these issues for this weekend, Blizzard said. Once these are resolved, we will be able to increase the influx of players and queue times will be significantly reduced.Later in the day, the studio shared an update on the situation, noting it was also working to resolve a handful of other issues that players had filed reports about, including a bug preventing some from joining parties. As of Saturday afternoon, the queue to play Diablo IV was much shorter. I got to the character selection screen in under a minute. Many players have successfully logged in to the game, but we are aware that some have experienced longer than expected wait times, Blizzard said. As we continue to roll out improvements to our server stability, we expect our players to see continued improvements to the queue time.Ah yes, the Diablo beta experience. Takes me back... circa 2012. pic.twitter.com/dLbxp429r1 Force (@ForceStrategy) March 17, 2023Hiccups are expected during a beta, particularly when a studio stress tests a live-service game like Diablo IV. The last thing Blizzard wants is a repeat of Diablo IIIs launch when interest in the game overloaded Battle.nets login servers, preventing many from playing the game at all.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blizzard-is-working-to-shorten-diablo-iv-beta-queue-times-180535837.html?src=rss
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After 15 years in space, NASAs AIM mission is ending. In a brief blog post spotted by Gizmodo, the agency said Thursday it was ending operational support for the spacecraft due to a battery power failure. NASA first noticed issues with AIMs battery in 2019, but the probe was still sending a significant amount of data back to Earth. Following another recent decline in battery power, NASA says AIM has become unresponsive. The AIM team will monitor the spacecraft for another two weeks in case it reboots, but judging from the tone of NASAs post, the agency isnt holding its breath.NASA launched the AIM Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission in 2007 to study noctilucent or night-shining clouds, which are sometimes known as fossilized clouds due to the fact they can last hundreds of years in the Earth's upper atmosphere. From its vantage point 370 miles above the planet's surface, the spacecraft proved invaluable to scientists, with data collected by AIM appearing in 379 peer-reviewed papers, including a recent 2018 study that found methane emissions from human-driven climate change are causing night-shining clouds to form more frequently. Pretty good for a mission NASA initially expected to operate for only two years. AIMs demise follows that of another long-serving NASA spacecraft. At the start of the year, the agency deorbited the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite following a nearly four-decade run collecting ozone and atmospheric measurements.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasas-aim-spacecraft-goes-silent-after-a-15-year-run-studying-the-earths-oldest-clouds-162853411.html?src=rss
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Back in 2021, a law took effect in New York City that requires businesses to post conspicuous signs if they're collecting customers' biometric information, such as their facial scans and fingerprints. Now, Amazon is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit that accuses the company of failing to inform customers at its Go cashierless stores that it was collecting their biometrics. In the lawsuit (PDF), filed by Alfredo Alberto Rodriguez Perez, the plaintiff argues that Go stores constantly use customers' biometrics "by scanning [their palms] to identify them and by applying computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion that measure the shape and size of each customers body to identify customers, track where they move in the stores, and determine what they have purchased." It said the company only put up signs about its biometric tracking activities over a year after the law went into effect. Amazon's Go stores give shoppers the option to take whatever product they have off shelves and walk out without the need to check out. To be able to enter these stores, customers will need to scan a code from the Amazon app with a connected credit card. However, some locations offer Amazon One, the e-commerce giant's palm-based identity and payment service, as an entry option. The plaintiff's complaint said the sign informs customers that Amazon will not be collecting their biometrics unless they choose to sign up for Amazon One. However, "Amazon Go stores do collect biometric identifier information on every single customer, including information on the size and shape of every customers body," the complaint argues.In a statement sent to NBC News, an Amazon spokesperson defended the company's practices and technologies. They explained that Amazon does not use facial recognition, and any system it uses to identify shoppers inside its Go stores don't constitute biometric tech. "Only shoppers who choose to enroll in Amazon One and choose to be identified by hovering their palm over the Amazon One device have their palm-biometric data securely collected," they insisted, "and these individuals are provided the appropriate privacy disclosures during the enrollment process."The lawsuit's outcome could then depend on whether the court sees someone's body shape and size as biometric information. In the complaint, the plaintiff quotes NYC Admin Code 22-1201's definition of a biometric identifier in context of the law as "a physiological or biological characteristic that is used by or on behalf of a commercial establishment, singly or in combination, to identify, or assist in identifying, an individual, including, but not limited to: (i) a retina or iris scan, (ii) a fingerprint or voiceprint, (iii) a scan of hand or face geometry, or any other identifying characteristic."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-biometric-tracking-at-go-stores-in-new-york-144429703.html?src=rss
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