Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth features an old mechanic presented in a new way. Here's what's changing.

The bad year that a lot of ESG investors are having may be about to get even worse.

Google has announced that its apps and services will now be “passwordless by default” in an effort to make all users switch to passkeys. The move is part of a broader consensus among the tech industry to ditch passwords, which have been around since the 1960s, and switch to a safer and more efficient format to verify a person’s identity. Passkeys combine a code with biometric information like a fingerprint or facial recognition, making them easier to remember and harder to be stolen. Google apps like YouTube, Search and Maps all support the new format after it was first introduced earlier this year, though take up has been slower than expected. The tech giant said the push to get users to adopt passkeys coincided with Cybersecurity Awareness Month, claiming that the new technology is faster and more secure. “They are 40 per cent faster than passwords – and rely on a type of cryptography that makes them more secure,” Google product managers Sriram Karra and Christiaan Brand wrote in a blog post explaining the move. “We’ll continue encouraging the industry to make the pivot to passkeys – making passwords a rarity, and eventually obsolete.” Google users who do not already use passkeys will receive a prompt to set one up the next time they sign into their account. Passkeys have already been enabled by other online platforms, including eBay and Uber, as the tech industry looks to completely transition away from traditional passwords. “We’ve seen great results from launching passkeys across our apps and encourage all users to adopt passkeys,” said Ramsin Betyyousef, a senior director of engineering at Uber. “Ultimately this is a win-win for Uber and Uber’s customers.” Google, which counts billions of users across all of its platforms, acknowledged that “new technologies take time to catch on”, and have therefore given people the option to temporarily opt out of passkeys and use passwords wherever possible. The company did not set a date for when passwords will be phased out entirely, but some security experts contend that their death is inevitable while hackers continue to exploit their vulnerability. Helping implement the transition is the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance, which has been working with Apple, Google, Microsoft and hundreds of tech companies to develop the new login standard. “The complete shift to a passwordless world will begin with consumers making it a natural part of their lives,” said Alex Simons, who heads Microsof’s Identity Program Management team. “By working together as a community across platforms, we can at last achieve this vision and make significant progress toward eliminating passwords.” Read More Pixel 8: Google unveils ‘AI-centred’ iPhone rival Google to trial AI in UK traffic light systems to reduce stop-and-go emissions Pixel 8: Google unveils DeepMind-powered iPhone rival China’s discovery of never-before-seen ore could propel battery technology

By Francis Mascarenhas, Sumit Khanna and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam MANDVI, India/KARACHI Wind speeds and rainfall picked up on

A majority of OpenAI board members seemed increasingly uneasy about Sam Altman’s plans to build a big business. Investors do not share their qualms.

The website formerly known as Twitter has replaced its bird logo with an X, but there's a way for iPhone users to get the old icon back on their home screen.

TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 14, 2023--

Post Malone and Joe Rogan discussed the rise of the NPC streams on TikTok, calling the trend "crazy" and "so strange." During an appearance on the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, Post Malone brought up the topic of the NPC trend after Rogan commented on the fact that people “watch a lot of s*** they hate". The NPC trend is where the streamers appear animated through their actions, hence being comparable to gaming NPCs, where they often repeat their movements or sayings. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Streamers will only interact, speak or perform a specific action when they receive a gift from a viewer. One of the most popular NPC streamers is Pinkydoll, who is known for her catchphrase "Ice cream, so good!" when gifted an ice cream emoji in her streams. @kiki_saysso New trend? Should I try it? credit: @pinkydollreal #pinkydoll #ai #npctrend #viral #tiktoksensation #livestream The Sunflower singer quoted this Pinkydoll's catchphrase to Rogan when explaining the trend. "I'm like wow, this is kind of crazy," Post said. To which Rogan asked if Pinkydoll ever breaks character as Post recalled a time he watched one of her streams where she did. The pair then watched one of the TikToker's most viral videos and in response, Rogan described it as "so strange". "But she is really hot and that helps," the podcaster added. "That’s why that works. Let’s not pretend. Like if she was gross, like that lady is beautiful. "So, when she does that, people are like. What is she? I’ll get her to lick her lips like, $7000 a day. That’s not bad.” Elsewhere, Rogan was recently 'perplexed' at men's 'appalling' backlash to Barbie movie. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A deepfake of an explosion at the Pentagon that caused the stock market to dip

SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2023--

A digital pound developed by the Bank of England could end up running on software that is not

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 10, 2023--