Month: June 2022

Enlarge / Beyond adventure lies... forgery? (credit: Collage by Aurich Lawson)

Before last month, Enrico Ricciardi was one of the most respected members of a niche community of classic PC game collectors, with a practically unrivaled collection of rarities that he regularly bragged about on social media. Today, he’s a pariah in that community, the central figure in a wide-ranging alleged forgery scandal that has changed the way many collectors look at their hobby.

At least seven PC game collectors have publicly or privately identified dozens of suspected forgeries they say Ricciardi traded or sold as far back as 2015 and as recently as last month. Collectors estimate that those trades and sales include games that would be valued at well over $100,000 total on the open market if they were authentic.

Ricciardi told Ars he is also a victim who simply unknowingly passed along suspect collectibles without checking them thoroughly enough. Regardless, the overwhelming evidence suggesting that there are many forgeries circulating through the world of rare PC games has shaken the trust of that community to the core.

Enlarge / Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to reporters in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on April 26, 2022. (credit: Getty Images | Stefani Reynolds)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday stepped into the Elon Musk/Twitter battle by launching an investigation into whether Twitter is hiding the extent of its spam-account problem. Paxton announced the investigation in a press release that echoes Musk's claims and sent Twitter a letter demanding the same types of data on fake accounts that Musk hasn't been able to get.

"Twitter has received intense scrutiny in recent weeks over claiming in its financial regulatory filings that fewer than 5 percent of all users are bots, when they may in fact comprise as much as 20 percent or more," Paxton's announcement said. Paxton's press release says that an inaccurate estimate of bot accounts may "inflate the value of the company and the costs of doing business with it, thus directly harming Texas consumers and businesses."

Though Paxton's press release didn't mention Musk, the "intense scrutiny" has been driven by Musk claiming that Twitter's spam-account estimate is wrong. Additionally, Paxton's concern that incorrect spam data would "inflate the value" of Twitter comes amid Musk's attempts to get out of or renegotiate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter—Musk agreed to pay $54.20 per share, and Twitter's stock price was $39.59 at market close on Monday.

Enlarge (credit: Apple)

One of the few things that Intel Macs can do that Apple Silicon Macs can't is run operating systems written for Intel processors inside of virtual machines. Most notably, this has meant that there is currently no legal way to run Windows on an Apple Silicon Mac.

Apple Silicon Macs can, however, run operating systems written for Arm processors inside of virtual machines, including other versions of macOS and Arm-compatible versions of Linux. And those Linux VMs are getting a new feature in macOS Ventura: the ability to run apps written for x86 processors using Rosetta, the same binary translation technology that allows Apple Silicon Macs to run apps written for Intel Macs.

Apple's documentation will walk you through the requirements for using Rosetta within a Linux guest operating system—it requires creating a shared directory that both macOS and Linux can access and running some terminal commands in Linux to get it set up. But once you do those steps, you'll be able to enjoy the wider app compatibility that comes with being able to run x86 code as well as Arm code.

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  A "sneak peek" of the new CarPlay experience, as showcased by Apple during its WWDC 2022 keynote on June 6. [credit: Apple ]

Apple detailed significant updates to its CarPlay platform at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday.

During its keynote presentation, Apple gave what it termed a "sneak peek" of the "next generation" of the CarPlay standard, which allows iPhone users to control and view phone-based apps through their car's dashboard. The company says the update will see CarPlay more deeply integrate with a car's hardware, allowing it to display info across multiple screens in a host vehicle at a time when more and more cars are integrating more and more displays.

The idea, it would seem, is to make CarPlay into something closer to a whole-car interface, not just the phone-mirroring infotainment system it is today.

Enlarge (credit: Tony Webster / Flickr)

The European Union (EU) has reached an agreement that will make USB-C charging no longer just a convenience but a requirement for iPhones and all other mobile phones by the fall of 2024. The plan extends to additional consumer electronics using wired charging, including digital cameras, tablets, and, at a later date, laptops.

Today's announcement shows the EU Parliament and Council agreeing to terms for universal USB-C charging, something the parliament has spent 10 years arguing for. In September, the European Commission announced its intent to enact legislation requiring USB-C charging. The next step will be for the EU Parliament and Council to formally approve the agreement.

Once approved, the policy will also apply to handheld video game consoles, e-readers, earbuds, headphones, and headsets. Products in the named categories "that are rechargeable via a wired cable will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port, regardless of their manufacturer," the EU Parliament said in today's announcement.