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Pro-Gamer Consumer Movement 'Stop Killing Games' Will Launch NGOs in America and the EU

The consumer movement Stop Killing Games "has come a long way in the two years since
YouTuber Ross Scott got mad about Ubisoft's
destruction of The Crew in 2024," writes the gaming news site PC Gamer. "The short version is, he won: 1.3 million people signed the group's petition, mandating its consideration by the European Union, and while Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reminded us all that nothing is forever, his company promised to never do something like that again." (And Ubisoft has since updated The Crew 2
with an
offline mode, according to Engadget.)


"But it looks like even bigger things are in store," PC Gamer wrote Thursday, "as Scott announced today that Stop Killing Games is launching two official NGOs, one in the EU and the other in the US."

An NGO — that's non-governmental organization — is, very generally
speaking, an organization that pursues particular goals, typically
but not exclusively political, and that may be funded partially or
fully by governments, but is not actually part of any government.
It's a big tent: Well-known NGOs include Oxfam, Doctors Without
Borders, Amnesty International, and CARE International... "If
there's a lobbyist showing up again and again at the EU Commission,
that might influence things," [Scott says
in a video]. "This will also allow for more watchdog
action. If you recall, I helped organize a multilingual site with
easy to follow instructions for reporting on The Crew to consumer
protection agencies. Well, maybe the NGO could set something like
that up for every big shutdown where the game is destroyed in the
future...."


Scott said in the video that he doesn't have details, but the two NGOs are reportedly looking at establishing a "global movement" to give Stop Killing Games a presence in other regions.

"According to Scott, these NGOs would allow for 'long-term counter lobbying' when publishers end support for certain video games," Engadget reports"


"Let me start off by saying I think we're going to win this, namely the problem of publishers destroying video games that you've already paid for," Scott said in the video. According to Scott, the NGOs will work on getting the original Stop Killing Games petition codified into EU law, while also pursuing more watchdog actions, like setting up a system to report publishers for revoking access to purchased video games... According to Scott, the campaign leadership will meet with the European Commission soon, but is also working on a 500-page legal paper that reveals some of the industry's current controversial practices.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

DNA Technology Convicts a 64-Year-Old for Murdering a Teenager in 1982

"More than four decades after a teenager was murdered in California, DNA found on a discarded cigarette has helped authorities catch her killer," reports CNN:

Sarah Geer, 13, was last seen leaving her friend's houseï in Cloverdale, California, on the evening of May 23, 1982. The next morning, a firefighter walking home from work found her body, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said in a news release... Her death was ruled a homicide, but due to the "limited forensic science of the day," no suspect was identified and the case went cold for decades, prosecutors said.

Nearly 44 years after Sarah's murder, a jury found James Unick, 64, guilty of killing her on February 13. It would have been the victim's 57th birthday, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office told CNN. Genetic genealogy, which combines DNA evidence and traditional genealogy, helped match Unick's DNA from a cigarette butt to DNA found on Sarah's clothing, according to prosecutors... [The Cloverdale Police Department] said it had been in communication with a private investigation firm in late 2019 and had partnered with them in hopes the firm could revisit the case's evidence "with the latest technological advancements in cold case work...."

"The FBI, with its access to familial genealogical databases, concluded that the source of the DNA evidence collected from Sarah belonged to one of four brothers, including James Unick," prosecutors said. Once investigators narrowed down the list of suspects to the four Unick brothers, the FBI "conducted surveillance of the defendant and collected a discarded cigarette that he had been smoking," prosecutors said. A DNA analysis of the cigarette confirmed James Unick's DNA matched the 2003 profile, along with other DNA samples collected from Sarah's clothing the day she was killed.

In a statement, the county's district attorney "While 44 years is too long to wait, justice has finally been served..."

And the article points out that "In 2018, genetic genealogy led to the arrest of the Golden State Killer, and it has recently helped solve several other cold cases, including a 1974 murder in Wisconsin and a 1988 murder in Washington."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Trump zegt ziekenhuisschip naar Groenland te sturen

WASHINGTON (ANP) - De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump heeft zaterdag gezegd dat hij een ziekenhuisschip naar Groenland stuurt. Trump heeft eerder gedreigd het autonome Deense gebied te willen inlijven. Trump stelt op Truth Social dat het schip zieke mensen in Groenland zal gaan behandelen, zonder te verduidelijken op wie hij doelt of hoeveel mensen het zal helpen.

"We gaan een geweldig ziekenhuisschip naar Groenland sturen om te zorgen voor de vele mensen die daar ziek zijn en die er niet worden verzorgd", schrijft Trump in een bericht op het onlineplatform. "Het is onderweg!!!"

Het bericht bevat een ogenschijnlijke AI-afbeelding van de USNS Mercy, een 272 meter lang schip, dat richting besneeuwde bergen aan de horizon vaart. Normaal gesproken is het gestationeerd bij het zuiden van Californië. Het is onduidelijk of dit ook echt het schip is dat Trump naar Groenland stuurt.

Trump stelt dat Groenland, dat rijk is aan mineralen, van vitaal belang is voor de veiligheid van de Verenigde Staten en de NAVO ten opzichte van Rusland en China.


Politie lost waarschuwingsschot bij achtervolging in Groningen

GRONINGEN (ANP) - De politie heeft in de nacht van zaterdag op zondag in Groningen een waarschuwingsschot gelost, nadat agenten te voet de achtervolging hadden ingezet op een verdachte. Volgens de politie was zij rond 02.30 uur afgekomen op een melding van een schietpartij in de Hagedisstraat in de stad, waarbij meerdere personen betrokken zouden zijn.

Na de achtervolging is een persoon aangehouden. De politie maakt geen melding van slachtoffers.


Mt. Fuji and Orion at Lake Yamanaka 202602

_kleon_ has added a photo to the pool:

Mt. Fuji and Orion at Lake Yamanaka 202602

@Lake Yamanakako, Yamanashi, Japan

1ヶ月ぶりにまた山中湖の夜へ。
山中湖での富士山とオリオン座。
水鏡にオリオン座が綺麗に見えていました。
14mmと20mmだと結構画角が違いますね。

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Kang and Kodos

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Kang and Kodos

Somewhere There's a Bourbon With My Name on It, How About If We Just Say That?

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Somewhere There's a Bourbon With My Name on It, How About If We Just Say That?

MetaFilter

The past 24 hours of MetaFilter

Meet the researchers who've interviewed 130 Bigfoot hunters

One group of people, dubbed Bigfooters, are so intrigued that they have taken to the forests of Washington, California, Oregon, Ohio, Florida and beyond to look for evidence of the mythical creature. But why? That's what sociologists Jamie Lewis and Andrew Bartlett wanted to uncover. They were itching to understand what prompts this community to spend valuable time and resources looking for a beast that is highly unlikely to even exist. In other Bigfoot news, Jeffrey Meldrum, anthropology professor and Bigfoot researcher, died in 2025. (NYT gift link, archive)

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv condemns ‘blackmail’ by Hungary and Slovakia in energy supplies dispute

Ukraine foreign ministry says ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, not Kyiv; explosions in the capital and western Ukrainian city of Lviv: What we know on day 1,460

Continue reading...

Coastal roo

ntomlin124 has added a photo to the pool:

Coastal roo

Forester Kangaroo. Maria (Mar-ry-ah) Is. Tasmania. August '24.