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Onimusha: Way of the Sword, IGN's Latest 10/10 Game, Is Out Today — Here's How to Get 18% Off the Steam Version

Fanatical has slashed 18% off Onimusha: Way of the Sword for PC, which is out today. Compared to its full price of $69.99, this discount has dropped it to $57.39.

Sep 4 • 11:55 AM EDT • Technology • ign.com

Photos show American's old and new Boeing 777 Flagship business class

American is overhauling its Flagship business class with new perks, like sliding doors and companion suites. See how the old and new versions compare.

Sep 4 • 8:23 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Smart ring maker Oura files to go public, pitching investors on AI-driven preventive health

Oura, the smart ring maker and health tracking company, filed to go public on Thursday to fuel its next phase of growth as it aims to build an artificial intelligence-powered health platform. | Oura, the smart ring maker and health tracking company, filed to go public on Thursday to fuel its next phase of growth as it aims to build an artificial intelligence-powered health platform.

Sep 4 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Healthcare Dealmakers—UHS closes Talkspace acquisition, Sanford's North Memorial deal clears and more

Healthcare mergers and acquisitions are in no short supply as providers, health tech companies, payers and other industry players look to expand their businesses and gain a competitive edge. | Sword Health nears Headspace all-cash acquisition, HCA Healthcare adds dozens of Texas urgent care centers and more healthcare merger and acquisition news from August.

Sep 4 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Sony's PlayStation disc plant is losing 10 percent of its volume in 2028, not 90

Sony’s PlayStation disc plant is losing 10 percent of its volume in 2028, not 90 Sony won’t license disc pressing to anyone else, Microsoft does, and a former PlayStation boss thinks that’s the whole problem. When Sony DADC chief Dietmar Tanzer spoke with an Austrian broadcaster in July about PlayStation disc production at the Thalgau plant, a number of press outlets misunderstood the report, writing that production would fall to a tenth of current levels. It won’t. Sony DADC confirmed to Game this week that the figure is a 10 percent decline, not a decline to 10 percent. “To clarify and avoid any misleading information: in that statement Dietmar anticipated an overall product volume decline by 10 percent, not a decline down to 10 percent,” a spokesperson with Sony DADC told Game. That figure covers 2028. Tanzer didn’t put a number on the years after, and the spokesperson declined to comment further. What we do know is that on July 1, PlayStation announced that physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028 and that the transition has no impact on games that have already released in disc format or will be releasing in disc format prior to that month. “So, there will be reorders going to the market after January 2028,” the Sony DADC spokesperson said. “For details around that I would ask you to liaise with the PR team from PlayStation, as we can’t speak or comment on their behalf.” PlayStation officials did not respond to questions about reorders or other disc-related matters. But I did recently speak with Shawn Layden, Game Industry Strategic Advisor and former chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, who called a future without physical PlayStation discs “depressing, but solvable.” then added, “I think.” The chief hurdle to third-party manufacturing of collector’s editions or any other version of a PlayStation game disc is that Sony owns the proprietary process to press those discs, Layden said. “And unless they decide or determine a way to license that to some of these bespoke disc manufacturers, there’s no way to make it happen,” he said. Layden was careful to add that he understands the concept but doesn’t have “line of sight on the particulars.” “Depressing but solvable, I think.” — Shawn Layden Microsoft already licenses replication to outside plants. Xbox discs are pressed by manufacturers Microsoft certifies as Authorized Replicators, a term defined in its publisher agreements, with the approved list set at the company’s sole discretion and Microsoft retaining the right to halt manufacture. The structure is still in place today: publishers select an Authorized Replicator in Partner Center and submit a bill of materials created with a Microsoft representative. Sony, by contrast, presses PlayStation discs through Sony DADC, its own manufacturing subsidiary. No one I spoke with said they were in discussions with Sony about doing that, and PlayStation hasn’t responded to questions about whether it would be open to a licensing deal. There is an obvious reason Sony might not want to. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed it out on the day of the announcement: it’s a platform-led decision, he wrote, designed to cut costs, eliminate the resale market, and drive all revenue through the PlayStation Store. The math is not subtle. On a $70 third-party game sold through the PlayStation Store, Sony keeps $21. Sold at retail, Ahmad says, it earns about half that. Licensing disc replication to an outside manufacturer might not be worth it. And even if it were, it seems unlikely that such a deal would come from boutique companies like iam8bit, which sells collector’s editions of video games. “We would absolutely love to find a way forward to continue making physical PlayStation games,” said Jon Gibson, co-owner and co-creative director of the company. “We are big believers in giving humans the option to truly own media. If we can play a role in helping make that a reality for the future of PlayStation games, count iam8bit in!” If it were to happen, it would most likely be with a company like Conectiv Supply Chain Solutions, a Memphis-based manufacturer of optical discs and vinyl records that also runs third-party logistics, fulfillment and distribution for packaged media. The company, which was formed in 2025 when Los Angeles private equity firm Variant Equity Advisors purchased Vantiva’s Supply Chain Solutions division, traces its lineage back to Technicolor. When it sold the division, Vantiva described the business as having served video game creators for more than 25 years. Conectiv is also buying, not shrinking. Last month it acquired SDS, the distributor for Universal and Warner Bros. home entertainment, consolidating those studios’ packaged-media pipeline from pressing plant to retail shelf. I reached out to Conectiv and its CEO, but haven’t heard back. Layden pointed to music and books in our discussion about the ongoing value of physical media. “No one ever saw the comeback of cassette tape,” he said. “And vinyl didn’t so much come back. The flame went down, the fire’s dying, but the ember was always there, and it just kind of came back. Much like the book business. We thought we’d all be on Kindles right now. “I believe that physical media is crucial and important. One of the things that makes us gamers, one of the core game mechanics, going back to the beginning of time, is collecting stuff. “Did you get all the diamonds in Crash Bandicoot? Did you get all the stars in Mario? And we like to collect our games. And we have a game shelf. And we put all our boxes up there. And if you’re super hardcore, when you buy a game, you buy two copies, right? One stays in the shrink wrap, and you play the other one. What happens to that important cultural part of the gaming world? You know, we buy the steelbook and the three-disc Final Fantasy set and the figurine and, you know, you can’t download any of that. “What happens to that?” And Layden believes it shouldn’t have been a revenue question for PlayStation. “This was a core thing to the experience of our most devoted fans,” he said. “Yeah, it’s fan service. Why would we take that away? Well, we can’t afford to. It’s already 120 bucks, you know, limited edition special purchase onyx box version of whatever, and those sell at a higher rate than the box selling at $69.99 does. So yeah, the market has said they will continue to buy them. You’re just saying you just don’t want to make them anymore.” Layden said he was recently talking with someone about these sorts of business decisions and how they’re made. Too often, he said, it’s all about the financials and nothing else. “OK, we can do this and save this much money, or we can invest this to look at that outcome, or we can do this and have this happen over there, or move this team to Sri Lanka,” he said. “But each one of those, someone also has to have a ledger there saying, ‘OK, what is the brand impact from that move?’ “Iif you can’t resell it, do you really own it?” — Shawn Layden “If we do that, dollars and cents work out. I get it. That’s just math. But what’s the brand impact? Are people going to say, ‘Good move, you guys?’ Or are they going to say, ‘We hate you guys. Quit doing that.’ And sometimes they say, ‘We hate you.’ Then you take a note and say, OK, how much of that can we live with? How much ‘we hate you’ is OK. And when does it go over the line? “I see a lot of companies making decisions which, objectively speaking, I don’t know what the dollar end of that was for you, Mr. Company, but your brand value just dropped 30 percent. So I hope it was worth it.” Of course, shifting to a digital-only model for games raises other issues beyond simply wanting to collect. The biggest is ownership. Layden pointed out that once you go to a streaming-only or download-only model, it’s just a digital footprint on a hard drive. “What does ownership mean anymore?” he said. “It’s a genuine question. Well, in fact, it’s not even a question anymore. It’s like you are shifting the model from ownership to accessibility. “And what’s always been true, which people forget, is you’ve never been able to sell your iTunes library. And you can’t sell your PlayStation download library. So if you can’t resell it, do you really own it?” The touching tribute found in the credits for Star Wars Zero Company. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy Interview and Hands-On with a Minoan Masterpiece Star Wars Zero Company hands-on: Attack Astromechs, permadeath, and delightfully fatal Rube Goldberg tactics Control Resonant opens up as you get stronger — and as characters start trusting you

Sep 4 • 7:57 AM EDT • Technology • game.substack.com

Weekly Rundown: LeanTaaS acquires care transition platform Aidin; Hims expands to Australia

Stay up to date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief. Read below for news from the week of Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. | The latest news from Vitality, Icario, LeanTaas, Aidin, Healwell AI and Hims.

Sep 4 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is getting a physical version, but it will require an internet connection to download

Good news: FF7 Revelation is getting a disc version, even on PS5. Bad news: it's little more than a license-on-a-disc.

Sep 4 • 4:58 AM EDT • Technology • eurogamer.net

Fox Entertainment thaws out US version of BBC Two comedy series Mammoth

US network Fox has ordered a local adaptation of hit UK comedy series Mammoth, about a high school gym teacher who is buried in a freak avalanche and thawed out 40 years later.

Sep 4 • 3:58 AM EDT • Entertainment • c21media.net

2,000-year-old Roman concrete may offer clues on how Pyramid of Giza was built

Insights into how the ancient concrete grows denser could help create a low-carbon modern version and explain how the Great Pyramid endured.

Sep 4 • 2:53 AM EDT • Science • scmp.com

Hills-Beaver Creek wins big to open 2026 season

ADRIAN, M.N. (KELO) — The top-ranked 9-Man team in Minnesota and defending state champion, the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots continued their winning ways in 2026 with a season opening 38-6 victory over Adrian-Ellsworth. The Patriots got on the board first in this game and made it 8-0 after a successful two-point conversion. That’s when the home […]

Sep 4 • 12:14 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Miami Dolphins Discussion: Questions You Need Answered Edition

We ask Miami Dolphins fans what questions they need answered by this years version of the team.

Sep 3 • 8:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

CMI boosts medical affairs capabilities with new specialty communications unit

CMI Media Group is adding to its spread of media services through a new specialty communications business that introduces a slate of new cutting-edge marketing tools. | The new business unit is centered on four core capabilities, which includes AI-enhanced scientific intelligence, omnichannel "scientific ecosystems," and more.

Sep 3 • 11:35 AM EDT • Business • fiercepharma.com

New DLSS 5 Swapper tool can mod DLSS 5 into games that don't support DLSS at all

The modding community has released a new version of DLSS Swapper made specifically for DLSS 5, simplifying and automating DLSS 5 modding in games.

Sep 3 • 10:50 AM EDT • Technology • tweaktown.com

Scientists Find More Than 1,000 DNA Variants Linked to Personality Traits

More than one million genomes helped identify DNA variants linked to extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and more. Researchers measured how those traits influenced how people lived.

Sep 3 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com

Sony and Microsoft say they’re not obligated to pass U.S. tariff refunds to consumers, echoing Nintendo

Back in July, Sony executives told investors that the company expected to receive $508 million in refunds from the U.S. government, after tariffs that the PlayStation-maker paid were ruled mostly in 2025 were found to be illegal. “Most” of the refund would by recouped by Sony’s gaming division, its chief financial officer said. This week, Sony’s lawyers are arguing that the company is not legally obligated to pass those proceeds on to consumers who paid for recently price-hiked PlayStation consoles. That’s in the face of a lawsuit from gamers calling on them to do exactly that. “Paying fair market price for voluntarily purchased consumer goods is not a legally cognizable injury in fact,” the lawyers wrote in a legal motion filed on Monday, as they asked a judge in California’s Northern District to dismiss a potential class action lawsuit over the tariff refunds. Microsoft made a similar argument two weeks ahead of Sony’s lawyers, in a similar lawsuit brought by a gamer in federal court in Washington State. As Microsoft’s legal team put it on August 21, in their request for a dismissal of that lawsuit: “There is nothing unjust about Plaintiff purchasing an Xbox at an advertised price and getting exactly what he paid for—regardless of whatever theory he devised months later about Microsoft’s cost structure.” Both legal fights are set to go on for some time. How things got to this point U.S. tariffs impacting a wide range of imported goods, including game consoles, had kicked off in early 2025. In May 2025, Microsoft raised the price of its Xbox consoles, citing “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” They raised them again that September. In August of that year, Sony raised the price of PlayStation 5 consoles, citing “a challenging economic environment.” Sony later told investors that its tariff fees for the fall quarter were nearly $200 million. in February of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 2025 tariffs illegal, prompting impacted companies to begin to request refunds. In turn, consumers began suing the likes of Sony and Microsoft to get what they said was their share. The gamers in the Microsoft and Sony lawsuits argue that the 2025 price hikes of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, which added $50 or more to their sticker price, were due to illegal tariffs and should now be returned to consumers. The Sony suit started in May, when a group of gamers sued in federal court in California, saying Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) would be unjustly enriching itself if it did not pass tariff refunds to its PS5 buyers. “Sony is poised to be paid twice for the same unlawful tariff burden: once by its customers (through elevated prices) and once by the U.S. government (through tariff refunds),” the gamers’ lawyers wrote at the time. They called for Sony to partially reimburse anyone who bought a PlayStation in the U.S. since August 1, 2025. The Microsoft suit, filed by gamer Trevor Hastings against the Xbox giant in July, made similar claims. The console makers push back In late July, Nintendo’s lawyers, facing a similar suit accusing them of double-dipping on tariffs and refunds, replied with arguments that previewed Microsoft’s and Sony’s: “Nintendo or one of its retailers set a price for each product, and consumers decided whether that price was worth paying,” they wrote. Sony has buttressed that Nintendo-style argument this week by saying that the gamers have failed to prove that tariffs were the reason for its August 2025 PS5 price hike. They call thatclaim “speculative and illogical.” Other factors, including “inflation, currency fluctuations, component costs, logistics, competitive dynamics, or demand,” could have played a role. (No, the Sony lawyers do not break down the costs and factors that officially triggered the price increases). Microsoft has also argued that there’s no proof in these lawsuits that tariffs drove all or some of the price increase, as it seeks to dismiss the tariff refund suit it’s facing: “Plaintiff provides no specific allegations that would establish any pricing differential attributable to tariffs or suggest any possibility that Microsoft applied then or could recreate now any dollar-for-dollar calculation of tariff-related pricing—any more than it could any other market factor that affects pricing.” To further skewer the gamer side’s argument in its case, Sony’s lawyers have pointed to what might be a surprising defense: yet another PlayStation 5 price hike from this past spring, after the tariffs were ruled illegal. “If the original price increase were attributable to tariffs, SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment, aka PlayStation] would have had no reason to raise prices again after the Supreme Court invalidated the IEEPA tariffs.” … “If tariffs were the cause of the price increases, one would expect SIE to lower prices once the tariffs were eliminated—not raise them again. Instead, the timeline confirms that the pricing of PlayStation consoles includes a diverse and dynamic set of input costs.” Judges have not yet ruled on the arguments made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. Last week, Panic, the company behind the small, yellow Playdate handheld said it would be passing its tariff refunds on to consumers. It is the only gaming hardware maker to have made such a pledge. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my reporting, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: A reporter’s second Second Life Wagner James Au, who from 2003-2006 was paid by San Francisco-based tech company Linden Lab to be a full-time journalist embedded in their virtual world Second Life, is returning to the company. This time, he’ll be an editorial advisor and business development specialist, he tells Game File. The new role will involve trying to share the stories of people inhabiting Second Life’s ongoing online world with reporters and by extension the public. Au plans to continue to also chronicle some of that through his long-running blog New World Notes. I’ve known Au since the mid-2000s and featured him in a 2007 article for the Columbia Journalism Review about reporters like him opening up virtual news outlets within Second Life. As I wrote at the time: On April 22, 2003, writing as Hamlet Linden for the New World Notes blog on Second Life’s Web site, Au introduced himself. “For the next few months, Linden Lab has invited me to set aside my journalist cap, and instead, don the digital beanie of their in-house virtual correspondent.” He wasn’t paid to keep it positive. He wrote about builders and eccentrics, but then in August of that year, he reported on a tax revolt against Linden Lab (a complaint about the fees it charges users who build stuff) led by a resident whose avatar was a big cat. Second Life has always been less of a video game and more of a virtual world where people can live, hang out, make art, sell virtual items and flirt. Back in 2007, Au described touring it as “sort of like underwater lucid dreaming.” For the past two decades, Au has maintained New World Notes as an independent publication. But he said he’s been drawn back to Second Life and Linden Lab as a place to directly work. The virtual world has around 650,000 monthly active users, he said, “which is actually about what it was during the hype wave.” Au says he’s still finding rich stories in Second Life, the kind that keep him interested 20 years into the beat: “Over the last few months for instance, I wrote about an SL creator in Venezuela whose apartment was destroyed by the earthquakes, so the global SL community rallied to get him back on his feet,” he told me. “Then there’s the woman from a Middle Eastern country who explored her lesbian sexuality in SL, then earned enough from her virtual jewelry to escape her abusive family situation and country.” Au wants to beckon more reporters to give Second Life another look. He argues that it is often ahead of internet trends, noting, for example, an early backlash in the community against AI-made art. Now the platform is drawing curiosity from more of the user-generated content community who’ve grown up with the likes of Roblox, according to Au. “Second Life was too early during its hype wave in 2005-2010, but it now feels right for a new wave of interest,” he told me.

Sep 2 • 8:21 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

AI boom through 2050 hinges on power supply, politics, PwC says

PwC expects global data center capex will hit $31.6 trillion by 2050 in a base case scenario, with spe | AI may unleash a $31.6 trillion data center buildout by 2050, but PwC says the real race isn’t just for capital — it’s for power, chips and political advantages.

Sep 2 • 4:04 PM EDT • Politics • fierce-network.com

AI boom through 2050 hinges on power supply, politics, PwC says

PwC expects global data center capex will hit $31.6 trillion by 2050 in a base case scenario, with spe | AI may unleash a $31.6 trillion data center buildout by 2050, but PwC says the real race isn’t just for capital — it’s for power, chips and political advantages.

Sep 2 • 4:04 PM EDT • Politics • fiercewireless.com

Acer Predator Atlas 7 launches with Arc G3, 120Hz display and up to 80Wh battery

Acer has announced a 7-inch version of its Predator Atlas handheld with Intel Arc G3 and G3 Extreme processors. The device supports up to 24GB memory and an 80Wh battery.

Sep 2 • 6:10 AM EDT • Technology • videocardz.com

Galaxy S27 Ultra and Pro’s dramatic camera redesign appears in leaked case render

Drastic changes are apparently coming to the 2027 Galaxy S series. The Plus version doesn't seem to be going away, as many past rumors wrongly predicted in rece

Sep 2 • 5:40 AM EDT • Technology • sammobile.com

August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic

Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Sep 2 • 5:05 AM EDT • Health • healthapiguy.substack.com

Can Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs Thrive With Magic Next Season?

The Orlando Magic need the best version of the Desmond Bane/ Jalen Suggs backcourt next season.

Sep 1 • 10:17 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Version 13.0.5 Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

Signs of life with a small update

Sep 1 • 9:55 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Version 13.0.5 Is Now Live

Signs of life with a small update

Sep 1 • 9:55 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 13.0.5 update out now, patch notes

Nintendo has come out with a new version 13.0.5 update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the patch notes are here.

Sep 1 • 9:23 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Has Been Updated To Version 4.0.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

A free Switch 2 update is now available

Sep 1 • 9:15 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 4.0.0 update out now, patch notes - Nintendo Switch 2 improvements and features, more

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gets huge update with version 4.0.0, including Nintendo Switch 2 features and more - here are the patch notes.

Sep 1 • 9:11 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Politics Chat, September 1, 2026

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Sep 1 • 8:34 PM EDT • Politics • heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?

(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.

Sep 1 • 6:15 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Indiana to discontinue routine hospital diversion

all emergency healthcare partners and Indiana State Health officials are ending the practice referred to as "hospital diversion."That's when an ambulance is rou

Sep 1 • 5:08 PM EDT • Health • wsbt.com

ChatGPT for Healthcare unveils new integrations with Epic, public health data sources

OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT's healthcare capabilities with new integrations that connect it more directly with clinical workflows and public healthcare sources. | OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT's healthcare capabilities with new integrations that connect it more directly with clinical workflows and public healthcare sources.

Sep 1 • 3:50 PM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners

gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]

Sep 1 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • alineaanalytics.substack.com

Indiana hospitals end routine ambulance diversion

Indiana hospitals and emergency medical providers entered into an agreement with the Indiana Department of Health Monday to stop directing ambulances to other facilities when emergency departments become overcrowded.

Sep 1 • 4:30 AM EDT • Health • indianacapitalchronicle.com

‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch

Last week was meant to be a moment of triumph for Bit Reactor, the Maryland-based game studio founded in 2021 with ambitions to create a great new tactical combat game. On Thursday, August 27, Bit Reactor’s debut title, Star Wars Zero Company, released to stellar reviews. And, from the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany, studio co-founder Greg Foertsch was giving interviews discussing what the studio’s next game may be. But for many developers on the game, launch has been bittersweet. Fans love it. Critics prefer it to most recent Star Wars games. Zero Company, which is out for PS5, Xbox Series consoles and PC, is the top-selling game on Steam. Much of the team that made it, however, is currently going without pay. They were furloughed, just weeks ahead of the game’s launch. A rep for Bit Reactor confirmed to Game File today that the studio had furloughed many of its workers prior to the game’s release. They said it was a difficult decision and one that had been made before it was clear how launch would go. The rep emphasized that the call to do this was Bit Reactor’s alone (meaning not from publisher EA nor Star Wars license holder Disney). While the rep declined to comment on the scale of the furloughs, a previously unreported lawsuit brought by studio co-founder Alison Kelly in 2024 noted in a filing from August 12 of this year that Bit Reactor “has furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors…” One source told Game File the furloughs impacted 80% of the team; another referred to there only being a skeleton crew left on Bit Reactor’s active payroll, ready to address any of Zero Company’s post-launch bugs. The issue is that Bit Reactor, a studio formed in 2021, had run out of most of its money just ahead of the launch of its first game. Over the weekend, Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit this past May, said on LinkedIn that the studio was “concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.” Reached by phone today, Scott told Game File that he spoke to nearly a dozen Bit Reactor workers over the weekend. “Everybody has essentially the same story, which is, ‘Yeah, I got furloughed three weeks ago.” The Bit Reactor rep told Game File that the studio hoped to bring furloughed workers back, suggesting that a successful launch of the game could be impactful. Scott told Game File that workers he spoke to were less confident that even if there were returns, that all who were furloughed would get their old jobs again. A heated dispute Bit Reactor’s mid-2026 was almost even more tumultuous. The lawsuit by co-founder Alison Kelly that first revealed the furloughs was initially slated to go to trial in June. The suit is a she-said/he-said about whether Kelly, until 2024 the chief operating officer of Bit Reactor, was a co-owner of the studio or whether it was solely owned by Greg Foertsch. In July 2024, Kelly sued, saying she was pushed out by Foertsch. She first sued in federal court and later refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. Kelly cited damages of over $20 million, on the basis of Bit Reactor allegedly being worth more than double that. Foertsch’s side has said Kelly was never a co-owner and has countered with claims about her job performance (which she has denied). The June trial was postponed until early 2027, as both sides have been deposing witnesses and filing more claims and denials along the way. Amid all of that, filings in the lawsuit reviewed by Game File paint a picture about Bit Reactor’s origins, early aspirations around tactics games, the team’s breakthrough in drawing the attention of Electronic Arts with the help of a pitch tied to one of EA’s non-Star Wars franchises, and early fractures among its co-founders. The real story about the company behind Zero Company

Aug 31 • 10:23 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

Mario Tennis Fever Serves Up A Small Update On Switch 2 (Version 1.1.1)

Return to the court today

Aug 31 • 9:30 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

Pikmin 3 Deluxe 1.2.0 update out now, patch notes - new benefits for Nintendo Switch 2 players

Pikmin 3 Deluxe just got a version 1.2.0 update aimed at Nintendo Switch 2 players, and here are the patch notes.

Aug 31 • 9:15 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Mario Tennis Fever 1.1.1 update out now, patch notes

Nintendo just came out with the latest update for Mario Tennis Fever, with version 1.1.1 now starting distribution for all players. This is a small patch all things considered. It includes one adjustment involving the return of a high ball and a bug fix with the Amp Racket. The full rundown is as follows: Mario Tennis Fever version 1.1.1 update...

Aug 31 • 9:08 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Six Films Preserved from the Father of Forensic Science

Thanks to a National Film Preservation Fund Grant (NFPF), the WashU Libraries’ Film & Media Archive has successfully completed the preservation of six short reels of scientific film made by Dr. Rutherford Birchard Hayes Gradwohl (1877-1959). An 1898 graduate of the WashU School of Medicine, R.B.H. Gradwohl went on to found the modern version of […]

Aug 31 • 5:04 PM EDT • Science • library.washu.edu

Apple Seeds Eighth iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Betas to Developers

Apple today seeded the eighth betas of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming one week after Apple released the seventh betas. Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update. iOS 27 introduces Apple's smarter version of Siri, Siri AI.

Aug 31 • 1:13 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Science Applications International Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Science Applications International (NASDAQ:SAIC) reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $1.9 billion, up approximately 5% organically, as the company cited broad-based growth across its markets and stronger conversion of existing contract backlog into revenue. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $193 m

Aug 31 • 12:02 PM EDT • Science • finance.yahoo.com

The best movies, TV, books, arts and concerts to spice up fall

A look at our most anticipated picks for fall entertainment, from movies like "Wild Horse Nine" to "Digger" to "Sense and Sensibility," to new versions of "Pride and Prejudice" and "A Different World" on TV and books about Whitney Houston and Corman McCarthy.

Aug 31 • 10:56 AM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com

The Lexus IS Refuses To Die: Special Edition Arrives For 2027

The venerable sports sedan gets a limited-run version, but the V8 ain't coming back.

Aug 31 • 3:49 AM EDT • Technology • motor1.com

Apple Pencil for iPhone Ultra Was Tested

Apple has internally prototyped, tested, and considered launching an Apple Pencil for the upcoming foldable iPhone, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. However, he said it is unlikely that the accessory will be released. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the Apple Pencil tested for the foldable iPhone is stubbier than the versions for iPads. He said the Apple Pencil for the foldable iPhone was designed to magnetically attach and charge on the side of the device.

Aug 30 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Cunion Frames Its Wearable Health Ecosystem Around Five Health Benefits

San Diego, California--(Newsfile Corp. - August 29, 2026) - Most health technology can overwhelm users with constant notifications and dashboards, eventually causing them to disengage. In response to this challenge, Cunion is building an ecosystem around the premise that the healthiest device is the one that stays quiet until it has something worth saying. From this approach, Cunion identifies five practical health benefits across its wearable ecosystem.To view an enhanced version of this...

Aug 29 • 4:05 PM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

First Leak of Nvidia's DLSS 5 Apparently Makes Games Look and Run Worse

Mods using an early version of Nvidia’s AI-slop-ified visuals still ignores artistic intent and cuts performance in half.

Aug 28 • 10:00 AM EDT • Technology • gizmodo.com

Windows 26H2 Is Nearly Here: 7 Features Worth Knowing About

The new version has hit the Release Preview Channel.

Aug 28 • 7:07 AM EDT • Technology • digitalfoundry.net

People are itching to create the Gen Z version of Friends. Here's five reasons it's impossible

The legacy of Friends can be seen in a new wave of US sitcoms about twenty-something pals hitting the small screen. But, unlike the classic show, they're struggling to make a mark.

Aug 28 • 6:41 AM EDT • Technology • bbc.com

Bills close preseason with 28-27 win over Steelers on late 2-point conversion

The win caps a 3-0 preseason for the Bills as they finish up with a 28-27 victory over the Steelers on a late-game winning drive.

Aug 28 • 6:41 AM EDT • Sports • spectrumlocalnews.com

PaperCut Zero-Day Exploited in Attacks, Affecting All NG and MF Versions

PaperCut says a zero-day affecting all NG and MF versions is actively exploited; emergency patches are available for v25 and v26.

Aug 28 • 4:25 AM EDT • Technology • thehackernews.com

Galaxy S26 series gets seventh One UI 9.0 beta update

Samsung has released the seventh beta version of One UI 9.0 for the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra. According to the changelog, it brings three c

Aug 28 • 3:53 AM EDT • Technology • sammobile.com

Politics Chat, August 27, 2026

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Aug 27 • 7:28 PM EDT • Politics • heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

The Literacy Crisis Reaches Dog-Bear Science

“New analysis of more than 300 bear encounters suggests our canine companions often increase odds of conflict and rarely serve as early warning systems many recreationists assume,” reads a subhead in Mountain Journal. The thing is, that study reaches no such conclusion. But you have to read beyond the abstract to understand that. Mountain Journal is not alone. Let’s look at a brief list of takeaways published elsewhere just to establish that none of them seem to know how to read science. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Here’s CBC: “A new peer-reviewed study, The Canine Conundrum: Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country?, dug into conflicts similar to what the video depicts, by analyzing 326 reported human-bear conflicts from 1901 to 2023 involving dogs.” “The study found 54 per cent of conflicts were started by dogs. In the encounters researchers included in the study, five people and 56 dogs were killed, and 170 people were injured.” “Lana Ciarniello, an independent researcher who co-authored the study, said researchers found when a person goes hiking with at least one other person, the odds of a negative bear encounter decrease by 50 per cent.” “However, when a dog is involved, the chances of a negative bear encounter increase because ‘a dog really adds a chaotic factor into the mix of recreation,’ said Ciarniello.” Again, the study finds no data supporting that conclusion. “Hiking with your pet dog may make you feel safer in bear country—but a hiker’s recent encounter and a new study prove that the numbers don’t add up,” writes Backpacker, which is now part of Outside. The numbers don’t add up to support this take. There’s plenty more examples, but all are equally dumb, so I’ll stop there. How did so many people get this so wrong? Three reasons: 1) the study is published behind a paywall, with only the abstract freely available. 2) the methodology sets out to create work relevant to a hyper-specific audience, not the public. And 3) the dataset studied is almost absurdly limited and doesn’t bear (get it?!) comparison to wider information. Let’s work through all three. The Problem is Money I understand the irony, since I’m writing about this on a subscription-model newsletter, but information wants to be free. The study is published by The Wildlife Society and costs $16 to access. Reprinting it is specifically prohibited by the terms of use, so I can only share snippets and my conclusions with you here. Having worked as a journalist for 24 years, I can report with some authority that journalists are both lazy and cheap. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that much of the material you’re seeing written about this study is drawn from the freely-available abstract (above) only, and not a deep dive into its methodology or data. And that’s a problem, because abstracts are where researchers are able to break from their numbers and editorialize their opinions about conclusions. So what’s getting reported isn’t based on numbers, it’s based on an opinion designed for a specific audience, not the general public. Hell yeah ladies, kick that bear’s ass. The Methodology is Designed to Support a Predetermined Conclusion One of the biggest issues with the science that everyone likes to cite about bear spray’s efficacy is that no one understands that study was designed for a specific audience, looking for a specific answer. And since that audience is not the public, and our safety was not the question being asked, its conclusion is rendered irrelevant to our needs. Yes, I’m talking about Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska, which was created by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, two of the same scientists who put together this dog-bear conflict analysis. In the spray study, the purpose was to present relevant agencies with the information they needed to issue their field workers with bear spray. As such, incidents where people were unable to access the spray or similarly failed to get it deployed in time were excluded from the results, and only incidents they deemed successful were included. Could a ranger roll down their vehicle’s window and scare a bear away from a dumpster by spraying it? Turns out the answer was yes, and that was good enough for the purposes of that study. The sample size of actual bear attacks—the thing you and I would want bear spray to provide a solution to, was too small to draw conclusions from, and didn’t indicate success in that role. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? has similar limitations. “Insights provided here are intended to help wildlife managers create effective guidelines regarding the presence of domestic dogs in bear habitat,” is explained clearly by the study’s text. To conduct the study, Smith and Herrero went looking for publicly available reports of dog-bear conflicts: “All incidents included in our analysis involved at least one bear, one dog, and one person who was at immediate risk of injury (e.g., not in a protective structure such as a cabin or vehicle), injured, or killed,” explains the report’s methodology. Why is that a problem? “We recognize that data used in this study are biased in that people generally only report adverse interactions with bears, not benign ones. Consequently, we assume that for the most part, people and their dogs pass through bear country without incident.” As was the problem with the bear spray study, people are drawing conclusions here from a study that was never intended to be relevant to the general public. The Smith-Herrero database famously excludes Alaska’s Defense of Life and Property records, which are elsewhere considered the largest and most authoritative source on human-bear conflict. The Dataset is Absurdly Limited A 2009 study conducted by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife estimates that each year there are at least 43,000 documented complaints of human-bear conflict across North America. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? Examined those reports for years ranging from 1901 to 2023, and only managed to find 326 such incidents that met the criteria explained above. Let’s do some quick math, poorly. 43,000 incidents x 122 years = 5,246,000 total incidents of documented human-bear conflict. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their criteria for dog+human+bear+risk or occurrence of injury. That means there’s a 0.006 percent chance that the study’s conclusion—that dogs make bear encounters more dangerous—even gets a chance of occurring. And remember, that’s only in documented conflicts. There’s no way to know how many people across North America run into a bear in any given year without any conflict, but it’s probably safe to assume that the total number is well in excess of 43,000. And, dig deeper into the study and you can find further restrictions that skew its conclusions even more. “While the people involved in these incidents did not report the level of training their dogs had received, it is our assumption that most were untrained companion dogs as opposed to well-trained bear dogs, such as Karelians and livestock guardian breeds that have proven to be significant aids in bear country,” the study’s methodology explains. And that’s a problem, because an ongoing study here in Montana is finding that the simple presence of a Kangal like our youngest dog Teddy can reduce visits to private property from grizzly bears by 87.8 percent. In addition to being a badass, Teddy is also a companion animal. And in my admittedly limited sample size of the three dogs currently present in our living room, she’s no more effective than her mutt brothers. Plenty of people own a dog capable of deterring bears, even if they didn’t set out to own a bear dog. The real purpose of this study appears to be a recommendation that leashes are mandated and recreationists pursue training in their deterrent of choice. But that doesn’t make for sensational headlines. Are There Any Real Takeaways Here? Let’s throw some numbers around, just to try and get our hands around what the larger picture might look like for bears and dogs here. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 42.6 percent of American households own a dog. The Canadian Animal Health Institute says roughly 35 percent of households in Canuckistan own a dog. In an attempt to create the worst possible result for dogs, let’s run with that 35 percent number. And given that outdoorsy and rural people are more likely to both own a dog, and have bear encounters, let’s just make a giant assumption and apply that number to those 43,000 conflicts documented annually. If 35 percent of 43,000 human-bear encounters involve a dog, then we can assume that at least 15,050 dog-bear conflicts are occurring annually in North America. 15,050 x 122 = 1,836,100. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their human, dog, chance or occurrence of injury criteria across 122 years. And only 170 documented human injuries. So, with all the obvious caveats about these numbers in no way describing reality beyond narrow study parameters, what they actually found is that your risk of injury if your dog tangles with a bear is only 0.009 percent. I’ll take those odds next time I’m hiking my dogs in bear country. Top photo: “Superintendent Horace Albright, eating pancakes with bears, at Lake Lodge, Yellowstone National Park.” NPS. A journalist with more than two decades of experience working around the world, Wes Siler is here to cut through the outrage and disinformation to bring you the factual, insightful, actionable reporting you need to understand what’s going on. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports this reporting, and buys personal access to Wes, who will help you save money on gear, plan outdoor adventures, and prepare for real life, and who promises he’s less salty in real life than he sometimes comes across as on the Internet. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 27 • 6:47 PM EDT • Science • wessiler.substack.com

Florence Harding Photographed Taught Me About Women Partaking in Politics

What would Florence Kling Harding think now? A week or so ago when I cast my ballot at my designated polling place this thought crossed my mind. I imagine the former first lady would be pleased about how routine voting has become for women in the United States. But perhaps she would not be satisfied. Today, a published essay I wrote for In Pursuit spotlights a lesson in leadership demonstrated by First Lady Florence Harding. In my research, I discovered there’s a lot to be said about this strong female historic figure. But it was the blurry photograph capturing Mrs. Harding voting for her husband Warren G. Harding, one of two presidential candidates from Ohio, on Nov. 2, 1920—Election Day—that drew my attention. It was the first presidential election held in the United States after the ratification and certification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Its 106th anniversary was marked on Wednesday. I remember thinking what a shame it was that her presence in the image was imperfect while the mostly men surrounding her were in sharp focus. Perhaps cynically I thought, “No surprise!” On further examination, though, the clear reaction of the people surrounding Mrs. Harding was equally important. In that snapshot of time, many of their expressions were serious. One man stood elevated above the rest with a slight smile as he caught a glimpse of history. Mr. Harding hovered over his wife’s shoulder closely observing the last seconds of her vote being cast. Their gazes were locked in on who would hours later become first lady. Subscribe The attention she drew is worth noting, mostly because, as I learned, Mrs. Harding understood the power her image could have on women across the country. She and I share in common a career in newspapers—hers the business side and mine on the editorial side. Nevertheless, it became clear to me as I write in the essay that she understood if she was seen voting, other women would follow suit. That wouldn’t necessarily be the case in that 1920 election, though, Karen Kedrowski, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, explained to me. Florence Harding was a suffrage advocate. But, suffrage was a contentious issue and women were far from united at the time of the election. In fact, a substantial number of women and active anti-suffrage organizations thought women participating in elections was a “bad idea and antithetical to their roles in the private sphere as mothers and homemakers,” Kedrowski said, adding that women were also viewed as the moral compass for their husbands and sons. If women got involved in politics they would become contaminated by it. Suffragists, on the other hand, wanted to bring that moral presence into politics to help clean things up. Only about 30% of women voted in that 1920 presidential election. That was a start. More than 100 years later in the 2024 presidential election, 66.9% of eligible women voted (91.3 million), compared to 63.7% of men who voted (82.6 million), according to the League of Women Voters. Yes, Florence Harding would be pleased. Subscribe That imperfect Election Day image was important symbolism about women’s potential during what was known as the “Modern Woman” era and the growing public role women were taking in the 1920s. I imagine Florence Harding might agree with other succeeding first ladies when it comes to gender equality and the importance of the vote. Like Michelle Obama when she said in her memoir Becoming, “We all play a role in this democracy. We need to remember the power of every vote.” Or Hillary Clinton during her unsuccessful run for president in 2016 when she remarked on International Women’s Day: “We celebrate the progress we’ve made to advance the full participation of women in economies and societies. And most importantly, we recommit to finishing the unfinished work that remains …” I hope if you are reading this, you will also read my essay on Florence Harding’s leadership lesson for In Pursuit. And perhaps that will move you to dig deeper and read more about Florence Harding’s life circumstances in biographies like First Lady Florence Harding: Behind the Tragedy and Controversy by Katherine A. S. Sibley. No, I do not think Florence Harding would be satisfied despite how far women have come from that day she first entered her polling place. She once wrote to the Camp Fire Girls, “The part that women play in the world has been greatly changed … It has been broadened and enlarged …” It has. And as women continue to engage in civics it continues to be. I imagine Florence Harding would want women to keep meeting the moment. Read the In Pursuit essay Watch on C-SPAN Share East Wing Magazine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 27 • 5:01 PM EDT • Politics • eastwingmagazine.com

GTA 6 Map Is 3X Bigger Than Red Dead Redemption 2's

GTA 6's fictional version of Miami and the surrounding area is pretty huge.

Aug 27 • 3:50 PM EDT • Technology • gamespot.com

Microsoft finalizes Windows 11 version 26H2 for general availability: Next version of Windows 11 enters final preview phase before rollout begins

Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 version 26H2 is now available to test in the Windows Insider Release Preview Channel, which means general availability is imminent.

Aug 27 • 2:02 PM EDT • Technology • windowscentral.com

Microsoft rolls out Windows 11 26H2 as a release preview, shares how to download

Microsoft has published its latest build, 26300.9278, today, and with this, it has released Windows 11 version 26H2 to Release Preview.

Aug 27 • 1:26 PM EDT • Technology • neowin.net

PaperCut warns of NG, MF flaw exploited in zero-day attacks

PaperCut is warning that hackers are actively exploiting a vulnerability in all versions of its PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF print management software in zero-day attacks.

Aug 27 • 12:31 PM EDT • Technology • bleepingcomputer.com

‘Thank God’ – Fans react to NFL becoming the first major U.S. sports league to cancel Pro Bowl game

The NFL has taken the unprecedented step of cancelling their version of the All-Star Game, the Pro Bowl, from the 2026-27 season. The tradition of All-Star games being one of the biggest nights of a sports league’s calendar is an antiquated notion, as players are more focused on protecting themselves than playing in an exhibition.

Aug 27 • 2:18 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Submission friction now beats price in where agents place business, Ivans finds

Ninety per cent of agents have cut business with a carrier specifically because of submission friction. That figure is the data-backed version of what every commercial lines agent already knows: re-keying data costs real placements, and it is no longer just a frustration - it is a distribution strategy decision

Aug 26 • 8:47 PM EDT • Business • insurancebusinessmag.com

Video: Elden Ring Nintendo Switch 2 vs. PS5 graphics comparison

Elden Ring is launching imminently on Nintendo Switch 2, and we’re now able to get a better look at how it compares to the PS5 release with a graphics comparison video. Much has been made of the Nintendo Switch 2 version going back to last year. Out of the gate, the title seemed to struggle with performance. FromSoftware definitely made...

Aug 26 • 6:04 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

NFL announces offseason version of 'Hard Knocks' will return in 2027, feature an entire division

Aug 26 • 5:17 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Sword Health to acquire Headspace in all-cash deal

Virtual physical therapy platform Sword Health is planning to acquire digital mental health company Headspace in an all-cash deal, according to a regulatory filing from the latter. | The virtual physical therapy and mental health platforms are targeting a September close, per a regulatory filing. A price tag was not disclosed, but is being reported to land between $200 million and $300 million.

Aug 26 • 12:28 PM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Xbox boss 'thinking about affordability' of next-gen console

The company also says gamers will soon be able to get digital versions of many of the games they currently own.

Aug 26 • 11:01 AM EDT • Technology • bbc.com

Apple Wallet Driver's License Feature Just Launched in 15th U.S. State

Starting today, Virginia residents can add a digital version of their driver's license to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch. The digital ID can be used to display proof of identity or age at TSA checkpoints in select airports, at select businesses, and in select apps, but the number of places where it is accepted is still quite limited.

Aug 26 • 10:57 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

FIRST LOOK: ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Returns With New Faces And A New Case For Season 4 [Exclusive]

Reasonable Doubt returns October 6 as Jax Stewart faces a new case, with Tank, Meagan Good and La La Anthony joining Season 4.

Aug 26 • 9:14 AM EDT • Entertainment • essence.com

Apple Giving Some Mac Mini Customers a Free Upgrade

Apple has informed some customers who recently ordered a Mac mini with an M4 chip that has yet to ship that it will be upgrading their order to an equivalent version of the new Mac mini with an M6 chip at no additional cost. Apple's email to customers: Thank you for your recent Mac order. We know you're looking forward to receiving your purchase. As you may know, Apple recently announced the new Mac mini.

Aug 26 • 9:10 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Elden Ring On Switch 2 – The Worst Way To Play The Best Game

Elden Ring on Switch 2 gets the job done admirably, but it is the inferior version of a fantastic game. - Game Informer

Aug 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • gameinformer.com

Boston Scientific hit by cyberattack causing ‘disruptions’ to parts of its business

This year has seen a growing number of medtechs hit by cyberattacks, and now Boston Scientific has become the latest victim. In an SEC filing posted Aug. 26, the medtech giant said it had detected a “cybersecurity incident” the day before. The incident has affected certain parts of its information technology systems, something that “has resulted in a global disruption to the company’s operations.” The incident has hit not just its information systems but also its business applications, which “support aspects of the Company’s operations,” it said in the filing. This includes its ability to process and ship customer orders. Boston Scientific said it is working to restore the systems, but the timeline remains unknown. Related Baylor Genetics hit by cybersecurity attack targeting patient, staff information As the company investigates the incident, it remains unclear how significantly its business will be affected. “Accordingly, the Company has not yet determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to have a material impact.” The company’s shares were down 3.5% in premarket trading as the news broke. This adds another layer of pressure for the medtech, which last month revealed a new global restructuring program that starts this year and is slated to be completed by 2029. The company said at the time that it “does expect some headcount reductions to result from these restructuring activities,” but did not provide any numbers or specify areas where the cuts may be made. It added, however, that new jobs are also set to be “created in areas of growth.” It was also forced to cut its sales guidance in Q2, saying in late July that it now expects full-year 2026 organic revenue growth of 5% to 6%, down from its previous guidance of 6.5% to 8%. Boston Scientific is one of a growing number of life sciences companies, notably medtechs, that have been hit by cyberattacks this year. These include Abbott, iRhythm, Medtronic and Stryker, as well as Big Pharmas Amgen and Novo Nordisk.

Aug 26 • 7:26 AM EDT • Business • fiercebiotech.com

Politics Chat, August 25, 2026

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Aug 25 • 8:06 PM EDT • Politics • heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Brinks says Senate won’t vote on Money Out of Politics measure, leaving voters to decide

The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics ballot proposal seeking to bar political contributions from major utility companies and government contractors is headed for the November ballot, after Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said the chamber will not take up a version of the proposal in the Legislature.

Aug 25 • 5:52 PM EDT • Politics • michiganadvance.com

Crimson Desert is Becoming Crimson Desert Enhanced For Free

Pearl Abyss has announced Crimson Desert Enhanced, a new version of the game with additional story, available free to all players.

Aug 25 • 3:30 PM EDT • Technology • ign.com

Onimusha: Way of the Sword demo now available for Switch 2 alongside new content

Capcom has released a Switch 2 version of the demo for swordplay action game Onimusha: Way of the Sword, as well as an update that expands the demo with new brand-new content.

Aug 25 • 1:55 PM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com

Apple releases new Polishing Cloth for $9

Not to be overshadowed by the new Mac mini and Mac Studio, Apple today has also released an updated version...

Aug 25 • 10:10 AM EDT • Technology • 9to5mac.com

Fullspan Health’s AI agent sees strong early traction with 1.1M views since June launch

Fullspan Health’s conversational artificial intelligence agent is gaining traction among users. | The conversational AI tool—dubbed Healthline AI—is sourced directly from the publisher’s medically reviewed properties.

Aug 25 • 7:45 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Earth Defense Force 6.2: Invaders from Another World announced for PS5

D3 Publisher and developer Sandlot have announced Earth Defense Force 6.2: Invaders from Another World for PlayStation 5. It is an updated version of Earth Defense Force 6 with enhancements tailore…

Aug 24 • 11:33 PM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com

Motorola's 2027 flagships will officially support GrapheneOS

This is the de-Googled, more secure version of the Android Open Source Project. GrapheneOS, the modified version of Android that is devoid of Google while...

Aug 24 • 8:02 PM EDT • Technology • gsmarena.com

Siri AI Will Have a Waitlist When iOS 27 Launches

iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate include Siri AI, Apple's much more capable version of Siri. When the new updates launch, it appears Apple will use a waitlist and limit initial access. On the MacRumors forums, Mactracker found that the seventh betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate include waitlist infrastructure. Apple will use dynamic wait time messages once a user joins the Siri AI waitlist.

Aug 24 • 7:36 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Garmin Fenix 9 (Pro) leaks in pictures, including AMOLED and solar MiP versions

A leak is said to show the design of the Garmin Fenix 9 and the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro for the first time, with the top-of-the-line model featuring both an AMOLED version and a MiP variant with integrated solar cells. Although Garmin is revamping the design, the smartwatches remain true to the Fenix look.

Aug 24 • 2:40 PM EDT • Technology • notebookcheck.net

Mule helps scientists build the clearest horse and donkey genomes yet

A mule has helped researchers build the most complete reference genomes to date for horses and donkeys, giving scientists access to complex regions of DNA that earlier versions could not fully capture.

Aug 24 • 2:20 PM EDT • Science • phys.org

Apple Seeds Seventh iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Betas to Developers

Apple today seeded the seventh betas of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming one week after Apple released the sixth betas. Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update. iOS 27 introduces Apple's smarter version of Siri, Siri AI.

Aug 24 • 1:33 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Why politicians are punchlines at the Edinburgh Fringe

There was a time when satire had an easier gig. Politicians said something ridiculous, comedians made fun of them, audiences laughed, and everyone went home. Subscribe Now the joke is often the headline. In a world where the unbelievable regularly makes the news, where politics can veer into parody before the comedians have had time to write the punchline, you might reasonably wonder: is satire running out of material? Not in Edinburgh. At the Fringe, I can confirm satire has a pulse, even in a relentless and rapid news cycle. Politicians as punchlines Take NewsRevue, the world’s longest-running live sketch show, where politicians are turned into punchlines at industrial speed. Its latest target? Andy Burnham - or, more accurately, his doppelganger, pictured below in the middle. The joke, he tells us, is that there have been so many politicians coming and going that even satire risks suffering from political fatigue. But perhaps that revolving door is precisely why comedy matters. When the news cycle moves faster than our ability to process it, comedians can hold up a mirror - and make us think twice. Small talk Take Ayoade Bamgboye, the Saturday Night Live UK star who won the Best Newcomer prize at last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Her Fringe debut was critically acclaimed; this year she is turning her attention to one of Britain’s most baffling social rituals: small talk. Share It’s a reminder that satire doesn’t always need a politician in its sights. Sometimes the target is simply us civilians - the strange little rules and rituals we have collectively agreed to pretend are normal. Politics and Palestinian identity For British-Palestinian comedian Sami Abu Wardeh, pictured below, comedy has a more urgent job. His new show, Sami Abu Wardeh Hates You, asks who gets to hate, and whether anger belongs to everyone, not just the far right. His comedy confronts politics and Palestinian identity while refusing to surrender the simple business of making people laugh. Shakespeare meets climate crisis And then there is HAM: an “eco-hijacking” of Hamlet, which its creators describe as “a sordid wrestle between a vegan and a sausage-lover”. Shakespeare meets the climate crisis. Meat meets moral panic. The end result? You’ll leave promising to become vegan and swiftly bulk buying Linda McCartney sausages. HAM was created by theatre company Hotter Project, aka Ell Potter and Mary Higgins, pictured below. They say comedy helped them avoid the preachiness sometimes associated with climate activism - using Shakespeare as a vessel for uncomfortable questions about the planet, politics and the way we live. Perhaps that is satire’s secret weapon. It doesn’t necessarily make the world less absurd. It makes the absurdity crystal clear. And at a moment when reality increasingly feels like it has been written by a sketch writer, the Fringe is proving there is still plenty to laugh and cry at. Satire isn’t dead. It’s alive, subletting and having the time of its life at the Fringe. Subscribe Share Channel 4 News Leave a comment

Aug 24 • 12:02 PM EDT • Politics • channel4news.substack.com

5 Anker Phone Accessories You Should Try Instead Of The Official Versions

These five Anker accessories offer compelling alternatives to official phone add-ons, with useful features for charging, audio, travel, and more.

Aug 24 • 5:47 AM EDT • Technology • bgr.com

Xiaomi launches new Xring chip, partners with TSMC for production, sources say

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Monday unveiled a new version of its in-house Xring smartphone processor, betting that deeper control over key components will help ​strengthen its supply chain and reduce reliance on external chip ​suppliers.

Aug 24 • 2:22 AM EDT • Technology • reuters.com

PSA: Modern Warfare 4's Switch 2 Retail Version Is Apparently A Code-In-A-Box

It's just a box with a download code, according to VGP

Aug 23 • 11:30 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

Harvard Cloned Professors to Coach Startups. Founders Love It

Harvard Business School Foundry gives entrepreneurs 24/7 access to AI versions of faculty members to refine business ideas, practice investor pitches, and build companies—all for $699.

Aug 23 • 5:15 PM EDT • Business • inc.com

M6 iMac Coming This Year in New Colors

Apple is readying new iMac models with an upgraded chip and new color options, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says the new version is likely to be an updated 24-inch model with an M6 chip, replacing the existing M4 model that arrived in October 2024. New colors are also said to be on the menu, though Gurman does not say what they are. The current iMac comes in seven colors, including green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver.

Aug 23 • 2:36 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Some people outside of Apple have already used the folding iPhone

The iPhone Ultra may actually live up to the hype, as people who have tried pre-release versions of the model indicate it will be worthy of its hyper-premium price.

Aug 23 • 10:24 AM EDT • Technology • appleinsider.com

Physicists create a tiny “Big Bang” with surprisingly small atomic nuclei

Researchers at CERN have created microscopic versions of the early Universe by colliding surprisingly small atomic nuclei at nearly the speed of light. The collisions produced quark-gluon plasma, the ultra-hot matter believed to have filled the cosmos shortly after the Big Bang. Even more intriguingly, the particles left behind reveal the shape of the nuclei that created them, offering a new way to probe both nuclear physics and the Universe’s earliest moments.

Aug 23 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Capcom talks Onimusha: Way of the Sword for Nintendo Switch 2, says you may not feel a difference compared to PS5

Nintendo Switch 2 players don’t have anything to fear when it comes to the upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword, as Capcom has indicated that it’ll be pretty much like the PS5 version. Based on some of the publisher’s other recent games like Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, this isn’t overly surprising. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Onimusha: Way...

Aug 22 • 4:30 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Harvard’s A.I. Clones Will Hear Your Start-Up Pitch Now

To create a new $699 bootcamp for entrepreneurs, Harvard Business School made A.I. versions of its faculty.

Aug 22 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com

Weekly Rundown: Expressable joins Amazon's health conditions program; Function launches data connector for AI platforms

Stay up to date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief. This is news from the week of Aug. 17 to 21. | Stay up to date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief.

Aug 21 • 10:53 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Politics Chat, August 20, 2026

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Aug 20 • 8:21 PM EDT • Politics • heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Regeneron podcast turns science learnings into immersive experience

Regeneron is showing off its science in a whole new light with its “Science Illuminated” series, a unique vide | Regeneron's "Science Illuminated" podcast series transforms scientific topics into a calming, meditative-style video and audio experience.

Aug 20 • 7:35 PM EDT • Science • fiercepharma.com

Cityblock acquires Homeward Health to move into rural healthcare, lands $116M funding round

Cityblock Health, a company primarily focused on providing care for urban Medicaid and dual-eligible members, is acquiring Homeward Health to expand deep into rural markets, the company announced T | Combined, the two companies will serve nearly 250,000 people and are positioned to reach the120 million people receiving government-funded healthcare in the U.S., Toyin Ajayi, Cityblock Health CEO and co-founder wrote in a blog post.

Aug 20 • 2:15 PM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com

Code Vein II expansion ‘Mask of Idris’ launches September 9 alongside version 2.0 update

Code Vein II expansion “Mask of Idris” wil launch alongside the action RPG’s version 2.0 update on September 9, Bandai Namco announced. It will be available for purchase, and is i…

Aug 20 • 11:30 AM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com

Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections 1.70 update announced, patch notes - new character Uchiha Nanashi and more [update: trailer]

August 19: In a surprise update, a new version 1.70 update has been announced for Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, highlighted by the addition of Uchiha Nanashi for free. The patch goes live tomorrow, August 20. Uchiha Nanashi is the main thing here, but that’s not all. Other highlights include the addition of Color 5 to the costumes...

Aug 20 • 10:04 AM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Biotalys Reports Half-Year 2026 Financial Results & Business Highlights

Company Provides R&D UpdateGhent, BELGIUM, Aug. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Press release – regulated information Made substantial regulatory progress in both the U.S. and E.U. with first protein-based biocontrol EVOCA®, paving the regulatory pathway for its commercial version EVOCA NG Achieved promising results in field trials with a second lead BioFun-6 candidate from the AGROBODY® technology platform Entered into a strategic partnership with 21st.BIO, a leading precision fermentation technol

Aug 20 • 1:00 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com