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Tag: leaks

  • Meta’s Holy Grail AR Smart Glasses Have One Big Puck-Shaped Problem

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    Meta’s “Phoenix” XR smart glasses might not be out yet, but if there’s one thing we already know, it’s that when they are, they’ll need a little assistance on the computing side. That help will likely come from a puck that you’ll have to carry around with you—a puck that we may have just gotten our first glimpse of.

    A new mockup render shared on X by Noridoesvr, who claims to have seen prototypes of Meta’s hardware—a rumored pair of lightweight XR glasses in a goggle-like form factor—offers more insight into what Project Phoenix’s puck will entail.

    At first glance, the compute puck looks pretty manageable. It’s not oversized, it looks relatively innocuous, and it even has a waistband clip so you can cart it around without pockets. It sounds like no big deal, but it might also be the one thing that turns people off from Meta’s AR glasses.

    As promising as the future of AR glasses suddenly is, cramming a whole computer into a pair of frames that rest comfortably on your face is no easy task. Miniaturization is rough, and at a certain point, maybe even impossible. Shrinking down a computer to fit on your face butts against Moore’s Law pretty directly—you need the power to do all sorts of stuff in a form factor that’s light and ergonomic, but you need to do all of that without burning a glasses-sized hole through someone’s head (thermals are no joke).

    As a workaround to all of those issues, Meta seems interested in offloading the compute to a puck, which is a solution that Google and Xreal are also interested in pursuing with Project Aura. Google and Xreal’s partnership was recently showcased in December and relies on a wired puck to enable a computer-like experience where people can use Android apps on a big virtual screen. Think Vision Pro, but in a much, much, smaller form factor.

    Framed that way, the value proposition for tethered smart glasses makes sense. The Vision Pro might be an impressive technical feat, but wearing one for long periods of time sucks because of the weight and the resulting not-so-great battery. Tethered smart glasses take all the weight and put it… not on your face, which is objectively a win for your nose and forehead.

    In other ways, though, both of these form factors share the same problem. The Vision Pro, like Meta’s Phoenix smart glasses and Project Aura, also needs its own kind of puck—a battery pack. To shed weight, the Vision Pro connects to a battery that you have to carry along with you, along with a wire. It’s not ideal, but that’s the tradeoff for a face-worn computer that does more than mirror your connected device’s screen.

    It becomes even less ideal when you consider the puck is on your body. As you may have noticed, there appears to be an exhaust fan on the compute puck, which could presumably serve to direct heat away from your body. It’s hard to tell, but based on the renderings, it might be pointing up? That would be a strange choice, and there’s a chance that what I’m seeing as the correct orientation is actually the opposite. Here’s to hoping this thing doesn’t blast hot air at your torso.

    No matter which way you spin it, there are lots of downsides to using a puck for computing, and those downsides might be a little too much for some. The worst part is, if you’re waiting around for Google, or Meta, or eventually Apple to shrink the form factor down and fit it into glasses sans puck, you might be waiting forever. There’s no guarantee that the puck is a problem that can be solved, and Meta’s upcoming Phoenix smart glasses might be further proof.

    For now, we can at least enjoy the head-to-head between Meta and Google when they’re eventually released, which could be sometime in 2027 and late 2026, respectively. May the best XR video glasses with a portable computer puck win, I guess?

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    James Pero

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  • Did You Get an Instagram Password Reset Email Recently? This Might Be the Very Unpleasant Reason

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    The cybersecurity company Malwarebytes just noticed something unpleasant happening over on the dark web:

    Cybercriminals stole the sensitive information of 17.5 million Instagram accounts, including usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and more. This data is available for sale on the dark web and can be abused by cybercriminals.

    [image or embed]

    — Malwarebytes (@malwarebytes.com) January 9, 2026 at 8:34 AM

    Did you receive any unexpected password reset emails from Instagram lately? If the comments on a Reddit post about this breach from a few hours ago are any indication, you’re not alone.

    It seems that the physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and other information attached to the accounts of 17.5 million Instagram users is available for sale in the sketchier parts of the internet.

    Apparently Malwarebytes performs sweeps of the dark net for items like this, and surmised that this cache of personal details is tied a 2024 API breach that likely allowed an attacker to pry the information out of Instagram.

    Some steps you can take to ensure that your information is safe include:

    • Resetting your password right now
    • Turning on two-factor authentication if you haven’t already
    • Permanently deleting all social media accounts from all platforms

    So far Instagram does not appear to have published a statement about this issue. Gizmodo reached out to Meta for comment, and will update if we hear back. 

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    Mike Pearl

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  • It Sure Seems Like the Foldable iPhone Will Be a Wide Boi

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    Apple’s very long-rumored foldable iPhone is finally starting to take shape. Expected to arrive in fall 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, the foldable iPhone is not only supposedly going to have a small-ish external screen when closed, but it’s increasingly looking likely that it’ll have wider dimensions than Android foldables like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

    “Unlike other foldable phones made by Samsung and Google, Apple’s product will have an aspect ratio similar to that of Apple’s largest iPads when viewed in landscape mode, meaning it will be more wide than tall when unfolded,” reports The Information (via 9to5Mac).

    There are a few reasons why I could see Apple ship a foldable iPhone with a wider aspect ratio compared to its competitors. The first is that Apple needs its foldable iPhone to be recognizable instantly. In a sea of Android book-style foldables that are all taller than they are wide when closed, there would be no mistaking a foldable iPhone.

    The second is software. Think about an iPad running iPadOS 26 and how its latest windows-based multitasking works. It’s designed for landscape orientation. An iPhone that opens up to a widescreen tablet device would mean software consistency and familiarity for users. As somebody who has tested nearly every book-style foldable, it’s less cramped running two or three apps on a wider foldable display than it is on a taller one.

    I could easily picture Apple next fall touting the benefit of having an iPad app’s sidebar on the left half of the foldable iPhone and content on the right. Notes, Photos, Files—Apple loves trumpeting a sidebar and how it makes it easier to organize your content. I could also imagine a redesigned Apple Books app to feel more like you’re flipping pages on a real book.

    A wider foldable iPhone also makes more sense for watching videos and playing mobile games. On the Z Fold 7 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold, videos are sandwiched between thick black bars (letterboxing), which makes them look no larger than on a big regular touchscreen phone. The only way to get larger video dimensions with smaller black bars is to rotate the foldable, in which the video will fill up more pixels. Videos in 16:9 or 2:1 would automatically appear much larger on a wider foldable screen. The crease would run vertically down the middle, but apparently Apple has solved that, or at the very least, reduced its visibility. The usefulness of a significantly larger screen for consuming content is arguably the biggest reason why book-style foldables even exist.

    Leaker @UniverseIce shared on X what a foldable iPhone with a 4:3 aspect ratio would look like when unfolded. ETNews, another source, which has semi-accurately leaked details on unreleased Apple and Samsung products, also said that Samsung is planning to release its own foldable with a wide aspect ratio in Q3 2026 to compete with the foldable iPhone.

    Not a new idea

    A foldable phone that’s wider than it is tall when it’s unfolded wouldn’t be an Apple invention. Countless other companies have tried a similar form factor. These “passport-style” devices, like the original Google Pixel Fold and the Oppo Find N, and even the dual-screen Microsoft Surface Duo, all failed to catch on.

    © JOSH EDELSON / Contributor / Getty Images

    The design intent of these devices all seemed logical, but they all either suffered from subpar hardware, poorly optimized software, or both. Consumers preferred foldable phones that worked more like a regular phone when closed, but still allowed for a bigger screen when unfolded. Known for elegantly combining hardware and software, Apple could bring its expertise to the still relatively niche foldables market, so to speak. Smaller dimensions when closed would also make the device more pocketable, something wider passport-shaped foldables were not.

    There’s almost 9 months before Apple is expected to announce the foldable iPhone, and more leaks will certainly drip out in the new year. One thing I’m sure about is that the foldable iPhone’s complete schematics haven’t leaked out yet.

    As MacRumors Senior Editor Tim Hardwick pointed out, the alleged CADs detailing the dimensions are from a concept created by a MacRumors forum member “based on rumored specs dating back to May.”

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    Raymond Wong

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  • Young Thug’s Leaked Calls Might’ve Ended His Relationship

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    Photo: Prince Williams/WireImage

    Young Thug’s leaked phone calls from jail might have ended his relationship with girlfriend Mariah the Scientist. He reportedly confessed to cheating on the singer just a few days before he was arrested in 2022. Another alleged call also leaked over the weekend, in which he was talking to an unknown woman about having children. A few of his phone calls have been leaking since last year, but it must’ve been the last straw for the couple. Young Thug issued an apology to Mariah on September 6 once the cheating allegations got out: “My baby I was wrong and I’m sorry for what I put u through. U deserved better from me.” He then asked his fans to “please give her peace.” However, based on Young Thug’s more recent posts, he suggests that he and Mariah might no longer be together. “Chapter ended,” he wrote with a heart in one post, before he asked for forgiveness. “To everyone involved in this situation I’m sorry this is happening and I hope u guys can forgive me, I’m moving forward with my life -THANK U GOD.”

    While Mariah hasn’t directly responded to Young Thug’s apology, she did repost the lyrics to her song “Rainy Days” on Instagram Stories, hinting that another apology wasn’t enough. “I was naive, not ignorant/So much my innocence now/Love me, leave me, let me down/Just let me break these habits somehow,” some of the lyrics read.

    While Young Thug did not address his relationship with Mariah in a three-hour episode on the Perspektives with Big Bank podcast, he did share how he felt betrayed by Gunna when he took a plea deal during the YSL trial. “How can you just do what you did to me and then just go live your life? Like ain’t nothing happened?” Young Thug expressed. “I love you bruh… I poured so much into him, I can’t even hate him. In jail I thought I hated him… But I don’t wish no ill will on him — no ill feelings at all.”

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    Alejandra Gularte

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  • Leaked Docs From Far-Right Militias Show History of Voter Intimidation Plans

    Leaked Docs From Far-Right Militias Show History of Voter Intimidation Plans

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    A trove of leaked internal messages and documents from the militia American Patriots Three Percent—also known as AP3—reveals how the group coordinated with election denial groups as part of a plan to conduct paramilitary surveillance of ballot boxes during the midterm elections in 2022.

    This information was leaked to Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), a non-profit that says it publishes hacked and leaked documents in the public interest. The person behind these AP3 leaks is an individual who, according to their statement uploaded by DDoSecrets, infiltrated the militia, and grew so alarmed by what they were seeing that they felt compelled to go public with the information ahead of the upcoming presidential election.

    Election and federal officials have already voiced concern about possible voter intimidation this November, in part due to the proliferation of politically violent rhetoric and election denialism. Some right-wing groups have already committed to conducting surveillance of ballot boxes remotely using AI-driven cameras. And last month, a Homeland Security bulletin warned that domestic extremist groups could plan on sabotaging election infrastructure including ballot drop boxes.

    Devin Burghart, president and executive director of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, says that AP3’s leaked plans for the 2022 midterms should be a warning for what may transpire next month. “Baseless election denial conspiracies stoking armed militia surveillance of ballot drop boxes is a dangerous form of voter intimidation,” Burghart tells WIRED. “The expansion of the election denial, increased militia activity, and growing coordination between them, is cause for serious concern heading into November. Now with voter suppression groups like True the Vote and some GOP elected officials targeting drop boxes for vigilante activity, the situation should be raising alarms.”

    The leaked messages from 2022 show how AP3 and other militias provided paramilitary heft to ballot box monitoring operations organized by “The People’s Movement,” the group that spearheaded the 2021 anti-vaccine convoy protest, and Clean Elections USA, a group with links to the team behind the “2000 Mules” film that falsely claimed widespread voter fraud. In the leaked chats, People’s Movement leader Carolyn Smith identifies herself as an honorary AP3 member.

    AP3 is run by Scot Seddon, a former Army Reservist, Long Islander and male model, according to a ProPublica profile on him published in August. That profile, which relied on the same anonymous infiltrator who leaked AP3’s internal messages to DDoSecrets, explains that AP3 escaped scrutiny in the aftermath of January 6 in part because Seddon, after spending weeks preparing his ranks to go to DC, ultimately decided to save his soldiers for another day. ProPublica reported that some members went anyway but were under strict instruction to forgo any AP3 insignia. According to the leaked messages, Seddon also directed his state leaders to participate in the “operation.”

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    Tess Owen

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  • Grand Theft Auto 6’s hype has been defined by leaks

    Grand Theft Auto 6’s hype has been defined by leaks

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    With just over 24 hours left before Rockstar Games was set to debut its first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer, a grainy video started circulating online: The GTA 6 trailer, but marked with a massive bitcoin watermark. About 30 minutes later Rockstar did the corporate equivalent of saying “Fuck it,” uploading the trailer and pointing to it in a terse post on X: “Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube.”

    It’s unusual for a company like Rockstar to disregard its original, announced schedule and just post the thing, but it’s not the first time it’s happened. When The Last of Us Part 2’s PlayStation 5 remaster was leaked early on the PlayStation Store by data miners looking for new information, hours later, an official trailer popped up on YouTube, with several prominent Naughty Dog developers declaring that “leaks really suck.” (In Naughty Dog’s case, however, timing for The Last of Us Part 2’s remaster wasn’t announced, and it’s possible the YouTube release was its planned time.)

    Typically, in the event of a leak, a company starts issuing takedown requests as quickly as possible — which Rockstar did, of course — and waits it out until the planned debut. (We’ve seen this plenty of times when Pokémon games leak early; Nintendo and The Pokémon Company try to take things down, but don’t acknowledge leaks head-on.) In the case of GTA 6, the early launch of the trailer hasn’t diluted the hype, with the GTA 6 trailer reaching more than 85 million views by Tuesday morning. It’s quickly gaining on Rockstar’s debut Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer, which was published on Nov. 2, 2011, and has more than 99 million views.

    Image: Rockstar Studios/Rockstar Games

    Several Rockstar employees have expressed their upset feelings about the leak: “This fucking sucks,” one developer posted to X. (The post, and the developer’s X account, have since been deleted.) The GTA 6 trailer wasn’t the first video game trailer to be leaked, and it definitely won’t be the last in an internet landscape where everyone from fans to brands is always fighting for eyeballs.

    For better or worse, leaks have already become a part of GTA 6’s journey to its release — something that’s relatively on theme, as Rockstar’s upcoming game seemingly takes on the struggle for internet fame.

    Grand Theft Auto is one of the video game industry’s most successful properties, which makes it a hot target for hackers and potential leaks. GTA 5 was released 10 years ago, and people have been salivating ever since at the prospect of the sixth entry in the series. Rockstar has been quiet about GTA 6 for most of the past 10 years; the studio didn’t acknowledge the game was in development until February 2022. Later that year, GTA 6 made history as Rockstar’s developers were subject to one of the largest leaks in modern video game history.

    On Sept. 18, 2022, a hacker published more than 90 videos — roughly an hour’s worth of footage — from the in-development game. The leak was, and still is, unprecedented because of its sheer scope, the level of anticipation for the game in question, and because of how rare it is for fans to see huge parts of a AAA video game in a visibly unfinished state. The leaked footage depicted a GTA 6 that was clearly in development, with debug tools, blocked-out environments, and all.

    The sun sets behind a sign reading “Vice” in a screenshot from Grand Theft Auto 6

    Image: Rockstar Studios/Rockstar Games

    The hacker claimed to have accessed Rockstar’s internal Slack, which is an application workplaces use to communicate and share files. A United Kingdom court found that a U.K.-based 18-year-old, Arion Kurtaj, was largely responsible for the hack. Kurtaj had been previously arrested for other hacking incidents performed in association with notorious group Lapsus$, and he was out on bail when he went after Rockstar, Uber, and Revolut. Kurtaj’s hack of Rockstar was the last one he managed before he was caught again in a Travelodge hotel that he had been put up in following concerns for his safety (he was previously doxxed by “rival hackers,” according to the BBC). Kurtaj and a second 17-year-old hacker were found guilty in August. The BBC reported that the prosecution’s lead barrister on the case, Kevin Barry, said the hackers were motivated by “notoriety,” “financial gain,” and “amusement.”

    The damage had been done; many fans couldn’t resist the peek behind the curtain before the real show began. The hourlong clips in the leak gave eager GTA 6 fans a lot of material to work through, and by September of this year, the community had put together a 60-page document outlining every single detail from the leak.

    Rockstar announced in November that it would post a trailer in December, news that was first reported by Bloomberg and quickly confirmed by Rockstar. Last week, Rockstar finally announced a date for the trailer: Dec. 5. In the lead-up to the trailer drop date, several quick videos were uploaded to TikTok purporting to show parts of the GTA 6 Vice City map; the video clips, which quickly spread, appeared to be recordings of a computer screen. The source and credibility of these uploads remains unconfirmed, but they do seem to match the cityscapes we’ve now seen in the legitimate trailer. Somewhere along the way, rumors started circulating that the leak came from a Rockstar employee’s son, but Polygon is unable to verify those claims. It’s impossible to tell, of course, whether the TikTok leaks came from the same source as Dec. 4’s trailer leak.

    GTA 6’s legacy of leaks not only has an impact on how the community sees the game, but it’s something that affects developers, too. Rockstar is famously secretive — or perhaps notoriously so — and leaks are sometimes considered a rare look behind the curtain for fans, or even a triumph for transparency. Unfortunately, though, leaks can often have the opposite effect. Speaking to Wired in 2022, a AAA developer said leaking can tighten things up even more, making the industry more opaque — even within studios themselves. Sometimes, a “trust vacuum” forms between departments as studios investigate leaks internally, Wired reported. The player experience will rarely, if ever, be significantly altered by a leaked trailer or gameplay video, but the same can’t be said for the people making a leaked game.

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    Nicole Carpenter

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  • The Last of Us Part 2 PS5 remaster leaks on PSN with trailer, release date

    The Last of Us Part 2 PS5 remaster leaks on PSN with trailer, release date

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    It should come as no surprise to fans that The Last of Us Part 2 might have a remastered version in development for PlayStation 5, ever since The Last of Us Part 1 — the PS5 port of the original game — came out in September 2022. The remastered version of the sequel just got a lot more solid, thanks to a leak courtesy of the PlayStation Store.

    Although The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered isn’t on the PlayStation storefront at this time, it appears to have been in the database at some point recently, because websites that track updates to the PlayStation Store have scraped the relevant data about the game. PSdeals.net has a listing for the game that links to a now-broken PlayStation Store page. The PSdeals listing includes screenshots that appear to be from the remaster, with the phrase “captured on PS5” (as is standard practice for Sony) visible in the corner.

    Insider Gaming has a report that goes even further, including the game’s release date — Jan. 19, 2024, which would be quite soon — and even a short teaser trailer that starts off with footage of the Part 1 remaster and then progresses to Part 2 footage. Wario64, the deals aficionado made famous on X (formerly Twitter), corroborated that reporting with a link to the same trailer that appears to be hosted on Sony’s own servers.

    It’s worth noting that the trailer makes no mention of a Windows PC version of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. While Sony has been bringing many of its first-party games to PC in recent years, there’s typically been a lag time of more than a year before those PC ports arrive.

    Polygon has reached out to Sony for confirmation and will update this story when we hear back.

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    Maddy Myers

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  • 7 Major GTA 6 Leaks and Rumors & How Likely They Are to Be Real

    7 Major GTA 6 Leaks and Rumors & How Likely They Are to Be Real

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    It has been a decade since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, and fans are ready for whatever comes next in the franchise.

    For the most part, Rockstar has been entirely silent on the next game, leading fans to do their own investigative work, and any possible leak or rumor spreads like wildfire. Though we still don’t know what GTA 6 will bring, there is a mountain of leaks and rumors to judge based on the likelihood of legitimacy.

    Possible Release Window

    Image Source: Rockstar Games

    Take-Two Interactive’s August 2023 quarterly finance reports reported an expected “significant inflection point” in Fiscal Year 2025. This means they expect a massive revenue boost in just this specific span of time, which almost certainly points to the release of a huge game like GTA 6. As the 2025 Fiscal Year ends in March 2025, it would be reasonable to expect the game sometime before then.

    This one doesn’t have any trail to check; it comes from the publisher directly. While they don’t come right out and say anything about GTA 6, it will certainly be the biggest game of the year whenever it does finally release. On the bright side, time is ticking down, and fans might be able to expect GTA 6 in the next 15 months.

    Co-op

    GTA Online Halloween Masks 2023
    Image Source: Rockstar Games

    Reddit user Tobbelobben30 dug through the older massive leak that Rockstar suffered and found several references to character actions that suggest co-op gameplay. The BuddyPing and BuddyComms actions suggest that there will be some sort of interaction between two players, and there is evidence that players can be downed and get revived, which isn’t exactly a single-player thing.

    This one is highly likely because co-op is huge in games like this. However, the evidence provided doesn’t directly show it means co-op teammates. The “Buddy” in question could easily mean that you get AI partners that can revive you, and you can direct them through pings.

    Modern Setting

    Image Source: Rockstar Games

    Jason Schreier commented in a Reddit thread, revealing what he knew about the game’s setting. He wrote, “I can’t rule out any flashbacks or excursions, but AFAIK the main game is set in modern times.” This Reddit thread is from July 2022, so it is highly unlikely this could change. After the way GTA 5 starts, it would make sense if that idea carried forward into showing other past events in a new story.

    As this comes directly from Jason Schreier, it is almost guaranteed to be the truth. Also, it’s only been a year since the comment was made. While game development can constantly shift, it feels too late to entirely rework the game’s main setting.

    Female Protagonist

    The Last Dose promo art for GTA Online
    Image via Rockstar Games

    Continuing leaks/announcements from Jason Schreier, a Bloomberg article reveals a first for the series: a female protagonist. Following the modern setting, it makes sense to finally depart from only male lead characters. As GTA Online allowed player creation, continuing this specific series norm would be highly unusual.

    The source for this one is once again one of the most trustworthy names in games journalism, so there shouldn’t be any doubts about this one. He further reveals that, unlike the three-way split in GTA 5, there will only be two protagonists in GTA 6. This could easily be where co-op comes into play as it could be two-player, and they both control one character.

    The Female Protagonist is Named Lucia

    Grand Theft Auto Vice City 50 Cent Leak side eye cover art
    Image via Rockstar Games

    This one is a bit harder to source, as it is once again from Reddit, but the author has been deleted. In the post, they claim the female protagonist is named Lucia, and that she gets arrested for robbing a bank. She is joined by her fellow bank-robbing cohort, Jason.

    This one is tricky, as other sources corroborate that the female protagonist is Latina, and Lucia would be a fitting name. The bank robbing is a little more tenuous, as that’s pretty much just a rehash of the GTA 5 protagonists. I know there’s not enough leeway for criminals to do crimes that result in big money besides bank robbery, but it still seems a little convenient. I can only chalk this one up to a firm maybe.

    Map Based on Miami

    GTA: Vice City's Ocean Beach main street
    Image Source: Rockstar Games

    A different part of that Bloomberg article claims that the main area for GTA 6 will be based on Miami. This may be the reintroduction of Vice City, as that location existed within the canon of the pre-GTA 4 titles. However, San Andreas returned with GTA 5, so it’s possible.

    If we’re accepting the female protagonist at face value, considering the source, there’s no reason to discount this piece of information. It’s weird to think that Rockstar might overwrite the established geography, but Vice City is older canon and could be changed. Regarding environmental variance, using Miami could mean an inclusion of the Everglades.

    Outside US Location

    grand-theft-auto-fans-need-customizable-housing-in-gta-6
    Image Source: Rockstar Games

    In a June video, YouTuber (and notable Valve leaker) Tyler McVicker claimed that GTA 6 would take players to Cuba. While the Red Dead Redemption games occasionally take players outside the United States, Grand Theft Auto has never done the same. This would certainly increase the playable area in GTA 6 and make the total map larger than ever.

    I’m unsure about this, but it could also depend on the presentation. I don’t think it would make sense to have Cuba as a destination, but it would make sense if the game started there and you don’t get to return. However, assuming the Miami-esque location is true, featuring a facsimile of Cuba makes a little more sense.

    About the author

    Cameron Waldrop

    Cameron is a freelance writer for Twinfinite and regularly covers battle royales like Fortnite and Apex Legends. He started writing for Twinfinite in late 2019 and has reviewed many great games. While he loves a good shooter, his heart will always belong to JRPGs.

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    Cameron Waldrop

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  • Overwatch 2’s new tank hero leaks ahead of BlizzCon 2023 reveal

    Overwatch 2’s new tank hero leaks ahead of BlizzCon 2023 reveal

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    A new hero is coming to Overwatch 2 next month. Mauga, the game’s next tank-class hero, will join the Overwatch roster with season 8 and will be the game’s 39th playable character, according to a post on the Nintendo Switch eShop news channel.

    Blizzard plans to officially reveal the next Overwatch 2 hero at BlizzCon 2023, which starts Friday, but a first look at Mauga and his abilities have leaked ahead of that.

    Overwatch 2 players can get their hands on Mauga earlier than December, however — this weekend, in fact, thanks to a free trial weekend for Blizzard’s game. Mauga will be playable from Friday, Nov. 3 through Sunday, Nov. 5 as part of a sneak peek at season 8 of Overwatch 2.

    Image: Blizzard Entertainment

    Blizzard describes Mauga as a “powerful brawling Tank Hero who will tear through the competition with his incendiary and volatile chainguns.” Maugau’s kit is designed “to bash through the front lines and brawl his opponents in close-quarter combat, by wielding two powerful chainguns that can either be fire individually or in unison,” Blizzard says.

    One of Mauga’s chainguns is nicknamed “Gunny” and can burn his opponents with incendiary charges when they take enough damage. The other gun is known as “Cha-Cha,” which can deal critical hits. Mauga’s Berserker passive ability, Blizzard says, will grant him temporary health whenever he deals critical damage.

    Mauga’s front line-breaking power is called Overrun, “a charging ability that cannot be stopped by any crowd control abilities,” Blizzard says, meaning counters like Ana’s Sleep Dart or Sigma’s Accretion. Overrun “stomps into opponents, dealing a powerful knockback.” Another ability, Cardiac Overdrive, creates an aura that reduces incoming damage, “allowing allies to heal themselves while dealing damage.”

    Mauga’s ultimate ability, Cage Fight, “traps nearby opponents in a cylindrical fighting ring” with a barrier that “blocks enemy incoming damage or healing from the outside.”

    Blizzard says Mauga will be officially released on Dec. 5, when season 8 of Overwatch 2 goes live.

    Overwatch 2’s 39th playable hero shouldn’t be a surprise to players who have been paying close attention to the game for the past few years. Mauga made a guest appearance in the 2019 Overwatch comic What You Left Behind, which revealed the tank-class character as a former Talon ally of Baptiste. Mauga hails from Samoa, a location that Blizzard recently mined for a new Control map for Overwatch 2. That map offered hints that Mauga would soon appear in the game, in the form of one of his colorful shirts hanging in a room.

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    Michael McWhertor

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  • Starbucks New Fall Menu May Have Been Leaked Online | Entrepreneur

    Starbucks New Fall Menu May Have Been Leaked Online | Entrepreneur

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    Call it Pumpkin Spicegate.

    Instagram influencer Markie Devo just posted a secret fall 2023 menu from Starbucks that he says he got from an employee.

    Starbucks won’t confirm if the leak is real or not, but it’s still causing quite a brewhaha in the coffee world.

    According to Devo’s sleuthing, Starbucks will be bringing back some favorites in the fall and serving up a few newcomers to the menu. The coffee giant will also apparently be discontinuing at least one fan favorite.

    Returning champions

    If the leaked fall menu is accurate, Starbucks will continue to offer its classic Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, and Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato.

    Customers will also see the return of the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin
    and Owl Cake Pop

    New grinds on the block

    But Starbucks will also introduce a few new concoctions, including an Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso and something called an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte.

    New snacks include a Baked Apple Croissant.

    See ya latte

    Some Starbucks items were grounded. If the rumors are correct, the Pumpkin Scone has gone skedaddle, which caused a few Starbucks aficionados to throw some shade.

    “Omg where is the pumpkin scone? I repeat…my favorite scone EVER!” wrote RuRu Rodriguez.

    Others complained about the fall menu’s short shelf life, reportedly running from August 29 to November 1.

    “November 1st is basically like the second week of fall what the hell,” griped Mr. Party Favors.

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    Jonathan Small

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  • The Supreme Court Stonewalls In Defense Of Samuel Alito

    The Supreme Court Stonewalls In Defense Of Samuel Alito

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    A lawyer for the Supreme Court dismissed questions about ethics issues at the court in a terse reply to a letter from two top congressional Democrats on Monday.

    Supreme Court legal counsel Ethan Torrey replied to the inquiry from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), each in charge of oversight of the courts in their respective chambers.

    The two congressional investigators had pressed Chief Justice John Roberts to answer questions about how the court handles ethical breaches after news reports revealed a pressure campaign by the Christian conservative group Faith & Action that allegedly resulted in Justice Samuel Alito revealing the outcome of his 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby prior to its release.

    Torrey did not answer any of Whitehouse and Johnson’s questions regarding ongoing or potential ethics inquiries into the court’s leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, or into Alito’s alleged leak of the Hobby Lobby outcome. Nor did he say which justices received gifts as part of the religious right pressure campaign.

    Torrey instead takes the tone of a defense counsel stonewalling an investigative body.

    “There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito’s actions violated ethical standards,” he wrote.

    Torrey’s letter simply restates Alito’s denial of the alleged leak, saying that The New York Times report that the conservative justice leaked the Hobby Lobby outcome to Donald and Gail Wright, two supporters of Faith & Action, remained “uncorroborated.” He goes on to say that Alito did not violate ethics rules in accepting meals and lodging from the Wrights because the couple “never had a financial interest in a matter before the Court.”

    “In addition, the term ‘gift’ is defined to exclude social hospitality based on personal relationships as well as modest items, such as food and refreshments, offered as a matter of social hospitality,” Torrey wrote.

    Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito denies leaking the outcome of his decision in the 2014 Hobby Lobby v. Burwell case.

    Alex Wong via Getty Images

    In a Nov. 20 letter, Whitehouse and Johnson demanded that Roberts say whether the court was investigating any aspect of Faith & Action’s pressure campaign, including former leader Rev. Rob Schenck’s allegation that Alito had leaked the Hobby Lobby outcome. Schenck had written a letter to Roberts as the chief justice was investigating the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft opinion to Politico.

    The two congressmen also wanted to know if the court had considered taking a tougher approach to internal ethics in light of Schenck’s allegation and asked whether anyone is in charge of preventing conflicts of interest related to donations to the Supreme Court Historical Society. Schenck claims that he directed his supporters to gain access to the justices by donating to the society and attending its annual dinners.

    Whitehouse and Johnson also requested that Roberts “designate an individual knowledgeable about” internal court ethics issues “to provide testimony to us about … issues related to ethics or reporting questions raised about justices’ conduct.”

    “If the Court … is not willing to undertake fact-finding inquiries into possible ethics violations that leaves Congress as the only forum,” Whitehouse and Johnson asserted.

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