Month: June 2022

Enlarge (credit: Activision)

The parents of former Activision employee Kerri Moynihan have asked a court to drop a wrongful death lawsuit that they filed in March against the company.

The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged that harassment Moynihan suffered at the company contributed to her 2017 suicide, which took place during a corporate retreat at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. But Axios reports that Moynihan's parents requested on May 6 that the suit be dropped "with prejudice," preventing them from filing the same action again. No reason was given for the request, and neither side of the case commented on the move to Axios.

Moynihan's story was referenced heavily in a California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard filed last July, though her name was not made public at that time. "We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family," Activision Blizzard said in a statement issued shortly after that lawsuit was filed.

Enlarge / Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go 2. (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has officially announced the Surface Laptop Go 2, which replaces the original model that was released back in October of 2020. The new model is currently available for preorder. It starts at $600 and comes in four different colors, including a new green-ish Sage option. As of this writing, preordered laptops will arrive as soon as June 7.

The Surface Laptop Go 2 first broke cover in a retail listing yesterday, and that listing had the facts right: The Go 2's biggest update is a Core i5-1135G7 processor. The chip is a generation out of date at this point, but it's still a capable performer and a significant upgrade over the old model's Core i5-1035G1. The 12.4-inch, 1536×1024 touchscreen remains the same, as does the laptop's size, weight, and port selection.

The Laptop Go 2 retains Microsoft's Surface Connect port on the right side. On the left side, you'll find a USB-A port, a headphone jack, and a USB-C port. You can use the USB-C port to charge the laptop. (credit: Microsoft)

The $600 base price is $50 higher than the previous model, but that extra money at least gets you a proper 128GB NVMe SSD rather than 64GB of slow eMMC storage; this drive can also be upgraded with something larger later on, which is a good way to save some money on storage if you're comfortable doing the upgrade yourself. Unfortunately, that base model still includes just 4GB of RAM, a limitation you'll feel any time you try to play a game or open more than a handful of apps or browser tabs at once.

Enlarge / Anna Kikina will be just the fifth Russian woman to go to space. (credit: Roscosmos)

More than three months after the invasion of Ukraine, it is clear from the actions of Russia, the United States, and the International Space Station's other partners that they would like to keep the jointly operated facility flying above Earth-bound tensions.

But one of the biggest outstanding questions is whether the manner in which astronauts and cosmonauts reach the space station will change. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, NASA and Russia had been planning to initiate "seat swaps" this fall, with a cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, flying on SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle for the first time.

Presently, Kikina is scheduled to launch as part of the "Crew 5" mission in September, which will be commanded by NASA astronaut Nicole Mann. Around the same time, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio would launch on the Soyuz MS-22 mission, commanded by Sergei Prokopyev.

Enlarge / This Buick Wildcat EV concept is not destined for production, but it is supposed to tell us something about how future Buick Electra EVs might look. Just squint and imagine it's an SUV. (credit: Buick)

Good news, Buick fans. Rather than suffer the fate of former General Motors brands like Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile (as well as Holden, Saab, Daewoo, etc), Buick is getting a revamp as it prepares for an all-EV lineup by 2030. These new Buick EVs will sport a famous name from Buick's past as the brand revives the Electra name.

The first Buick Electra EV is due in 2024, and other than the fact that it will use GM's family of Ultium batteries and drive motors, it's not sharing too many specifics. But it has unveiled a new concept called the Wildcat EV that it says shows the brand's new body language, including a low-mounted grille, turbine-look wheels, and tick-shaped light elements at the front and rear.

"The Wildcat EV concept represents the real design future for the brand," said Global Buick and GMC Design Executive Director Sharon Gauci. "Buick has always been forward-looking and this expression is a glimpse of where we’re going, and the optimism we have for the limitless possibilities of an electric future."