COMPUTING & GAMING

Today on WIRED     January 31, 2022 Big Tech Needs to Stop Trying to Make Their Metaverse Happen By Gian M. Volpicelli The race is on to cash in on the metaverse hype. Last week, Microsoft described its $68.7 billion  takeover of gaming studio Activision Blizzard —a move that would have usually been interpreted as the Xbox maker simply expanding in the gaming sector—as a way to create the "building blocks for the metaverse." Meta—which rebranded from Facebook to be named after the metaverse—is at work on the world's most powerful supercomputer, in order to power the metaverse. Now Meta is also reportedly  planning to introduce NFT features  on its Facebook and Instagram platforms; Twitter has already allowed ...

Today on WIRED     January 28, 2022 Politicians Say It's Time to Live With Covid. Are You Ready? By Grace Browne Since January 27, England has dropped pretty much all its measures against Covid-19. Any person can saunter into any shop without a mask; work-from-home guidance has been scrapped; and all needs for a vaccine passport have been squashed. England will be the  "most open country in Europe,"  proclaimed health and social care secretary Sajid Javid.   And other European countries are following suit. Ireland has dropped  almost all  its restrictions, bar mask requirements.  Denmark  is also eliminating all measures beginning February 1, except for testing on arrival from abroad. ...