
Here are the price-matching policies for Best Buy, GameStop, and others
Nothing is more frustrating than buying a new pair of headphones, an OLED TV, or a laptop just to find out that you could have gotten it for a lot cheaper somewhere else. That’s why, in order to keep customers happy and prevent them from going elsewhere, many retailers offer price-matching policies in which they promise to match a lower price found elsewhere. That kind of information comes in handy no matter the time of year, but it’s especially helpful during shopping events l...
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AI residencies are trying to change the conversation around artificial art
At a recent exhibition in Copenhagen, visitors stepped into a dark room and were met by an unusual host: a jaguar that watched the crowd, selected individuals, and began to share stories about her daughter, her rainforest, and the fires that once threatened her home – the Bolivian Amazon. The live interaction with Huk, an AI-driven creature, is tailored to each visitor based on visual cues. Bolivian Australian artist Violeta Ayala created the piece during an arts residency at Mila, o...
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Ancestra actually says a lot about the current state of AI-generated videos
After watching writer / director Eliza McNitt’s new short film Ancestra, I can see why a number of Hollywood studios are interested in generative AI. A number of the shots were made and refined solely with prompts, in collaboration with Google’s DeepMind team. It’s obvious what Darren Aronofsky’s AI-focused Primordial Soup production house and Google stand to gain from the normalization of this kind of creative workflow. But when you sit down to listen to McNitt and...
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YouTube is plugging Veo 3 AI videos directly into Shorts
YouTube is bringing its Veo 3 AI video generation model, which my colleague Allison Johnson recently called “a slop monger’s dream,” to YouTube Shorts later this summer, according to a Cannes Lions keynote from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Shorts creators can already take advantage of the previous-generation Veo 2 model to generate backgrounds with Dream Screen as well as standalone clips. Mohan didn’t specify exactly what Veo 3 will enable in Shorts, but he did mention Veo 3...
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Nintendo Switch 2: Which webcams work?
The Insta360 Link is among the USB-C webcams that don’t work with the new Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2 is more expensive in practically every way: pricier console, pricier games, an entire Chat button you’ll eventually have to pay to use. So it was nice when Nintendo revealed you won’t need its own $55 camera to video chat with pals. “You can use the Nintendo Switch 2 camera accessory (sold separately) or any compatible USB-C® camera you’d like,” the co...
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Futureproof
AI tools are flooding the culture ecosystem — and no corner of the arts space is immune. In this series, we’re looking at the ways artists are embracing AI, pushing back on it, or trying their best to find an equilibrium with a new technology that’s both sweeping and destabilizing. We talk to perfumers questioning the looming automation of scent creation, fanfic writers pushing back on archive scrapers, and illustrators replacing the AI that once replaced them. The tech isn̵...
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How The Roottrees are Dead ditched AI and became a hit
The game’s updated artwork was made by illustrator Henning Ludvigsen. | Image: Evil Trout Inc. Robin Ward was recovering from a broken arm when he fell in love with The Roottrees are Dead, a free browser game hosted on itch.io, an indie games salesfront. He reached out to its creator, Jeremy Johnston, and told him, “This should be a bigger deal than it is.” At the same time, Ward says, he “knew why” it couldn’t be. The browser version of The Roottrees are De...
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Some Animal Crossing Lego sets are cheaper than ever
I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons in a pretty big way since the Switch 2 arrived. I’ve started a new island (the game loads faster and runs better on that console), and I’ve been doing house chores to the relaxing music. The natural progression of my invigorated fandom will likely lead me to buy Lego’s Animal Crossing-themed sets — and what great timing, as some of them are discounted. You can build some of the most...
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