Kalakshar US

Andy Weir’s sci-fi books are practically built to be turned into movies, especially in the hands of great writers and directors. That’s what happened with The Martian, which was a delightfully nerdy self-published novel that was transformed into a thrilling film adaptation — thanks to Drew Goddard’s script and Ridley Scott’s bold direction. And I have a feeling the same will be true for the latest Weir adaptation, Project Hail Mary, judging from the first trailer released today. 

It’s got everything: Ryan Gosling being funny-yet-heroic, snappy dialog thanks to another Goddard script and directors Philip Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street) out to prove their genius yet again with another seemingly impossible adaptation. What more could you ask for in a space epic?

On the surface, Project Hail Mary bares a resemblance to Danny Boyle’s under-loved Sunshine: Stars are dying, and humanity is scrambling for a way to save itself. But in this case, instead of a team of astronauts, Ryan Gosling’s school teacher Ryland Grace is our only savior. Bad news for us: he’s just getting up from years in a coma, and is also suffering from amnesia. The trailer makes it clear this will be an intergalactic adventure with plenty of surprises (and at least one plot element that wasn’t in The Martian).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-project-hail-mary-trailer-looks-like-the-martian-all-over-again-in-a-great-way-142119896.html?src=rss 

Spotify’s Discover Weekly is celebrating 10 years of being a very ok feature. To celebrate the milestone, Spotify is giving Discover Weekly a full refresh, letting you choose between up to five genres for the playlist. 

The option will appear at the top of your playlist and provide songs based on your listening history. The 30-track playlist will update accordingly. There are also visual changes, with Spotify stating, “the playlist’s vibrant new design reflects its ever-evolving nature and the dynamic energy of weekly discovery.” Spotify claims that Discover Weekly has led to over 100 billion tracks streamed. It also notes that users find more than 56 million artists every week — 77 percent of which are emerging artists.

These updates will initially be available to just Spotify Premium users, though the platform plans to extend it more broadly soon. Genres will start being available on Discover Weekly today, rolling out to mobile accounts over the next few weeks. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-adds-genre-controls-to-discover-weekly-133531543.html?src=rss 

If there’s one thing the AI industry needs it’s more regulation. Yet, soon individual US states might not have much say in what AI companies can and can’t do thanks to Trump pleasing senators. That’s right, an AI-friendly amendment to the president’s tax legislation is on the road to approval — despite concerns that its shoehorning is illegal. The clause would prevent states from legislating the AI industry for five years, Bloomberg reports. Only states that cooperate will be allowed to access some of the $500 million of funding for AI infrastructure and the like included included in the bill. 

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) cleared the way for it, agreeing to a deal on Sunday with Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would exempt her home state’s Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act. Signed in early 2024, the ELVIS Act is meant to protect musicians from allowing AI to use their likeness and voice without permission. 

As part of the new deal, Cruz reduced the ban from ten to five years — because five years of an unregulated AI industry surely won’t cause any damage. A fresh draft of the amendment, obtained by Politico, also includes exemptions for “a law or regulation pertaining to unfair or deceptive acts or practices, child online safety, child sexual abuse material, rights of publicity, protection of a person’s name, image, voice, or likeness and any necessary documentation for enforcement,” as long as they don’t place an “undue or disproportionate burden” on AI systems. An earlier version of the provision, that included the decade-long ban, passed the House in May. 

While Blackburn’s decision will likely push it forward, Republican governors across the country have also voiced their disdain for the amendment. On Friday, 17 governors sent a letter asking for its removal (after sucking up about the rest of the tax bill, of course). They stated that it “threatens to undo all the work states have done to protect our citizens from the misuse of artificial intelligence.” 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ban-on-state-ai-laws-set-to-pass-after-exemption-deals-struck-on-musicians-rights-and-child-safety-120039408.html?src=rss 

Canada has folded in its battle with US President Donald Trump over tariffs by cancelling its proposed digital services tax (DST) on big tech companies, the government announced. On Friday, Trump ended trade talks over the levy, which he called “a direct and blatant attack on our country.” However, discussions have resumed now that the DST is gone, according to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.  

The DST has been in effect since last year but Canada was due to collect the first payments totalling around $2 billion on June 30. However, those will now be halted. “To support those negotiations, the Minister of Finance… announced today that Canada would rescind the Digital Services Tax (DST) in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States,” the Department of Finance wrote yesterday. 

With the DST, Canada planned to apply a three percent tax on content from large tech firms that relied on engagement from Canadian users. The justification was that 70 percent of ad revenue spending in the nation (an estimated $25 billion this year) goes toward US firms like Google and Meta, but those companies don’t pay corporate taxes in Canada. Some of funds collected under the DST would have been funnelled to media companies hurt by Google and Meta’s ad dominance. 

The levy was opposed by not only the US government under the Biden and Trump administrations, but businesses in Canada too. Local companies were concerned it would increase their costs after Google, for one, said it would increase ad rates by at least 2.5 percent in Canada to cover the cost of the DST. 

The capitulation is a large victory for Trump and a windfall for his tech company benefactors. However, Canada has been hammered by Trump’s 25 percent tariffs to the tune of billions on metals, minerals and other goods, so Carney’s government likely felt it necessary to sacrifice the DST.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/canada-caves-to-trump-and-rescinds-its-digital-service-tax-on-big-tech-120045575.html?src=rss 

Apple’s film studio finally has a successful summer blockbuster to its name with its latest sports drama flick starring Brad Pitt. F1 the Movie saw an opening weekend that earned $144 million globally and $55.6 million domestically, according to Comscore numbers. Apple Original Films’ feature beat out other highly anticipated releases like the live-action remake, How to Train Your Dragon, and the third installment in the post-apocalyptic horror film series, 28 Years Later.

The action-drama movie follows Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, who’s tapped to support an up-and-coming Formula One driver. With reports of the film costing up to $300 million to produce and market, F1 the Movie was a risky venture for Apple, considering the lackluster performances with its other films’ opening weekends like Argylle and Fly Me to the Moon. However, Apple’s film studio gamble paid off since the opening weekend numbers for F1 the Movie shattered its previous records and is projected to continue its momentum. Despite the early success, Apple may have inadvertently soured some of its users on the movie, thanks to shoving an advertisement for F1 the Movie into its Wallet app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/apples-f1-laps-its-competition-with-a-144-million-opening-weekend-200030386.html?src=rss 

Dave the Diver just marked its two-year anniversary, and the team behind it has a bunch of updates to share about its future. While it’s mostly good news, there is one little hiccup: the upcoming In the Jungle DLC, which was announced a few months ago and was expected to arrive later this year, now isn’t likely to launch until 2026. But everything else announced in the 11-minute anniversary video should make up for it. That includes the return of the time-limited free Godzilla DLC, which is now back on all platforms until at least the end of 2026. If you missed out on it the first time, here’s your chance.

Mintrocket Studio Head Jaeho Hwang also said the team is extending the availability of the recent DLC, Ichiban’s Holiday, which will remain available through next year as well. After hearing feedback from fans about the pricing, that pack will get “regular discounts” to make it cheaper. 

The game just landed on the Epic Games Store and according Hwang, a free upgrade for Nintendo Switch 2 is coming “in a few months” and will bring a higher frame rate. More info on that is coming soon, Hwang said. In the meantime, you can catch a sneak peek of In the Jungle about four minutes into the anniversary video.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dave-the-divers-in-the-jungle-dlc-may-not-arrive-until-2026-but-godzilla-is-back-203019821.html?src=rss