Een held van ons is heengegaan.

Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion, combining Fox's sports, news, entertainment, Tubi, and Fox One offerings with a streaming platform that reaches about 100 million people. The companies say the merger would create the "third-largest player in US television by share of viewing," while Fox insists Roku will remain open to competing apps after the deal closes. CNN reports: Fox has dabbled in streaming over the past few years -- finally launching its Fox One competitor last August -- but has lacked a serious streaming business with the ability to compete in a space dominated by YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Peacock. With CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery receiving initial US regulatory approval to combine with Paramount, Fox's purchase of Roku became more urgent. [...] The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027 with the companies forecasting $400 million in savings. "This is a defining moment for Fox, and a natural extension of the deliberate and focused strategy we have been executing for nearly a decade," said Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch. "Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it."

Murdoch said Roku will continue to offer competing apps. "It's essential that Roku remain open and partner-friendly business. We don't see that changing at all."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Subterranean Press by their own words "creates readable art, publishing luxurious specialty, limited editions and groundbreaking original works in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres.". Publisher Bill Schaefer announced that they will winding down operations in 2027 and possibly 2028 to meet all their commitments to their authors Here's a further take that collects comments from authors about the closure and the company

Claude wants to know if you are who you say you are. Anthropic last week updated its privacy policy to say that it may subject consumer account holders to identity checks. The new legalese arrived one day before the company released its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, presently disabled to comply with a US government export control order that has elicited protest from more than 60 cybersecurity and technical experts. Anthropic last year said that it supported "policies like strong export controls" to keep AI away from authoritarian nations, whatever that means these days. The revised policy, which takes effect July 8, 2026, does not say what will trigger an identity check. The company says it may do so "to help keep our services safe and secure." "In certain circumstances, we may ask you to verify your age or identity," the company's latest privacy policy explains. "If you choose to do so, data we will collect includes, depending on the method: an image of your government-issued identity document and the information appearing on it (such as your ID number and date of birth); your image in photo or video form, facial geometry templates (which may be considered ‘biometric data’ in some jurisdictions); and the result of the verification (for example, whether your age meets the applicable threshold)." The revised policy substantially expands data collection to include biometrics and identity records. And it gives the company broader discretionary standards for sharing data with authorities. The policy, which does not apply to commercial customers (Team, Enterprise, API), suggests consumer account holders (Claude Free, Pro, and Max plans) will be able to choose whether to comply. The consequences of non-compliance are not spelled out. That omission may reflect the varying and evolving age and identity verification policies being debated, voted on, and implemented in different jurisdictions. Different laws may require different responses to non-compliance, ranging from the application of safety filters to denial of access. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Over the past few years, digital safety laws designed to protect children have proliferated. There are now more than two dozen such laws in US states. Some of the recent laws have targeted AI chatbots (e.g. California Companion AI Chatbot Safety Act) and some have focused on shifting the burden of age verification to operating systems and applications (e.g. California's Digital Age Assurance Act). Similar laws have been enacted or are pending in Australia, Brazil, the European Union, India, South Korea, and the United Kingdom among others. Limiting the ability of children to access AI services may only be part of the motivation for the policy change. Anthropic has also been vocal about the threat posted by foreign rivals that copy its models through a process called distillation. While the AI biz does not offer Claude family models in China (or other countries like Russia and Iran), developers in blocked countries may still be able to access Claude models using account sharing services and other workarounds – if Chinese models distilled from Claude models aren't sufficient. So identity checks may provide Anthropic with an additional policy enforcement mechanism. ®

“Als je mij zou willen eren, dan moet dat met een zinnetje in een voetnoot. Daar staat in: ‘Hij was hier en deed zijn best.’ Je maakt zo’n stad nooit in zijn eentje.” Een grieperige Ahmed Aboutaleb spreekt in de trouwzaal van het Rotterdamse stadhuis een klein gezelschap toe, vlak voordat hij zijn geschilderde portret onthult.

Het is echt waar. WK-debutant Kaapverdië houdt favoriet Spanje op 0-0. In de kantine van FC Maense wordt het gelijkspel gevierd alsof de wereldtitel binnnen is. Rijnmond keek mee hoe het WK-wonder beleefd werd.

Ze groeide op in twee werelden, de Nederlandse en de Surinaamse. Schrijver Ellen Ombre wijdde zich aan het koloniale verleden, nog voordat het modieus werd om over dit onderwerp te schrijven.

De verrassing is groot, de ontlading ook. Kaapverdië, een land dat nooit eerder een wedstrijd op een WK voetbal speelde, heeft stand gehouden tegen Spanje – dat in 2010 nog…