Later this month, clothing from the fashion marketplace Depop will be available in an expansion pack for The Sims 4 called High School Years ( via Polygon ). Depop describes itself as a “circular” and “community-powered” online resale site and app that allows users to buy and sell vintage clothing items, mostly at discounted rates. The expansion pack will feature Sims characters experiencing “the rollercoaster of puberty,” complete with events like prom, school pranks, and the ability to cut class. Teenage Sims now have a chance to become a fashion “Simfluencer” and earn Simoleons, the game’s in-app currency, using an app like Depop called Trendi. The Simfluencer will be able to purchase their items from an in-game thrift store named Thriftea and curate their own outfits to set trends. The clothes featured in the game will be designed by real-life Depop sellers like Lapoze McTribouy ( @judaku ), Sha’an d’Anthes ( @furrylittlepeach ), and Selena Williams ( … [Read more...] about The Sims 4 High School Years expansion adds a Depop-created ‘virtual thrift store’
School reopens january 2020
TikTok assures Republicans it’s working to protect US data security
After years of mounting pressure, TikTok provided US lawmakers with more details into how it limits Chinese access to American data in a new letter dated Thursday. In a letter addressed to nine of the app’s most prominent Republican critics, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew detailed how the company planned to separate American user data from ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company. Chew also explained TikTok’s plan to house American user data on Oracle servers, a plan first reported by BuzzFeed News last month. “We’re proud to be able to serve a global community of more than a billion people who use TikTok to creatively express themselves and be entertained,” Chew wrote in the letter first reported by The New York Times . “We know we are among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of U.S. user data.” The Verge independently confirmed the letter’s authenticity on Friday. Soon after BuzzFeed News … [Read more...] about TikTok assures Republicans it’s working to protect US data security
Sprint’s network has been officially retired
The remnants of Sprint’s network have been put out to pasture . As of yesterday, Sprint’s LTE network has been retired by its new owner, T-Mobile. That’s along with Sprint’s 3G CDMA network, which was shut down earlier this year, and what remained of T-Mobile’s own 3G network, which enters retirement today. T-Mobile spokesperson Justin Paulsen confirmed to The Verge that the network shutdowns are now underway. It may come as a surprise that any part of Sprint’s network was still operational so recently. In April 2020, T-Mobile officially took ownership of the company , including all of its spectrum and network towers, which would ultimately be repurposed for 5G. Sprint’s 3G CDMA network was the first to go when T-Mobile started to shut down Sprint’s systems in March. It had originally planned to sunset the network at the end of 2021, but after a heated debate over anti-competitive behavior during which Dish chairman Charlie Ergen called T-Mobile a Grinch , the date was … [Read more...] about Sprint’s network has been officially retired
The government’s going after alleged crypto scammers as market crashes
The US government seems to be worked up about cryptocurrency scams. On Thursday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Justice all released news that they were taking some form of action against people accused of carrying out multimillion or billion-dollar schemes. One of the cases involves knock-off apes, one is the “largest fraudulent scheme involving Bitcoin charged in any CFTC case,” and one involves someone nicknamed “the Cryptoqueen.” The wave of enforcement is happening against a backdrop of plummeting crypto prices . Let’s start with the CFTC — the regulator has filed an action against a company called Mirror Trading International (MTI), which was run by a South African man named Cornelius Johannes Steynberg. The commission says MTI pitched potential investors by saying it had a bot that invested a pool of Bitcoin into opportunities individual investors may not have access to. Allegedly, people ended up … [Read more...] about The government’s going after alleged crypto scammers as market crashes
Un mystérieux hacker affirme avoir piégé un milliard de citoyens chinois
Des informations personnelles concernant environ un milliard de citoyens chinois auraient été volées dans ce qui pourrait constituer l'un des plus grands “cyber-braquages” de l'histoire. Un pirate informatique, jusqu’ici inconnu, s'est rendu sur des forums clandestins pour annoncer la récupération d’un lot de 23 To de données sensibles - prétendument volées dans une base appartenant au département de police de Shanghai. Ces données personnelles contiendraient les noms, adresses, lieux de naissance, numéros d'identification nationaux, numéros de téléphone et casiers judiciaires. Le Wall Street Journal (opens in new tab) concède avoir vérifié au moins une petite partie de cette affirmation. Le mystérieux hacker réclame 10 bitcoins en échange des données, ce qui correspond à environ 200 000 dollars (ou 194 000 euros) au cours actuel du marché. Un bug ou un accident ? Selon Bloomberg (opens in new tab) , la police de Shanghai n'a toujours pas communiqué de … [Read more...] about Un mystérieux hacker affirme avoir piégé un milliard de citoyens chinois