Internet Explorer gets Edged out, Twitter reaches its limit, Lumosity pays the price for allegedly deceiving people, play Rick and Morty on mobile, and avoid playing Pac-Man Powered by Moff.
If you’re using Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10, you have less than a week before Microsoft pulls support for your browser of choice. On Tuesday, January 12th, these three versions of Internet Explorer will no longer receive security updates or technical support. Which leaves those determined to stick with a Microsoft browser with a choice between IE 11 or Microsoft Edge.
The end of support for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 was announced way back in August 2014. And by March 2015 Internet Explorer as a whole was rebranded as a legacy browser only being kept around for compatibility reasons. Now, users will receive a final patch along with an End of Life notification advising them to upgrade to a modern browser.
This doesn’t, of course, mean you have to choose Internet Explorer 11 or Microsoft Edge. You could instead install the latest version of Chrome or Firefox. Regardless, this is the beginning of the end of Internet Explorer, with support for IE 11 likely to die when Microsoft pulls the plug on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
pic.twitter.com/bc5RwqPcAX
— Jack (@jack) January 5, 2016
Twitter is preparing to abandon its slavish devotion to tweets of 140 characters or less. In fact, within a few months you may be able to write tweets of up to 10,000 characters, the same limit as direct messages. While nothing has yet been officially announced, Beyond 140 looks extremely likely to happen, with Jack Dorsey clearly hinting that something big is in the works.
The 140-character limit is a throwback to the early days of Twitter, allowing people to fit their tweet into a single text message. But that need died when smartphones took over, and the limit now feels forced and unnecessary. However, it’s also what makes Twitter Twitter, and any move to increase the limit risks harming the brand, turning it into another Facebook or Medium.
Therefore the design of this new limit is crucial, and the early signs are that Twitter is handling it well. Re/Code reports that short tweets will remain the default, with an extra action needed to expand them beyond 140 characters. Which gives users ultimate control over their Twitter feeds, allowing them to choose whether or not to read longer entries.
Lumosity may not be as good for your brain as its parent company Lumos Labs led you to believe. So says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has secured $2 million from Lumos to settle claims the company misled customers over the health benefits of Lumosity.
For the uninitiated, Lumosity is a brain training program which uses cerebral games to boost your mental acuity. Unfortunately, according to the FTC, there is little evidence Lumosity can actually boost your brain power or stave off age-related cognitive decline.
Lumos will now have to pay $2 million to settle the claims, as well as ensure it obtains “competent and reliable scientific evidence before making future claims about any benefits for real-world performance, age-related decline, or other health conditions”.
Pocket Mortys. Mobile. January 14th. pic.twitter.com/tXAU07lzbR
— adult swim games (@adultswimgames) January 5, 2016
Rick and Morty are getting their own mobile game. Titled Pocket Mortys, this game based on the cartoon duo is clearly inspired by Pokemon, with even the name being a play on “Pocket Monsters”. The GIF included in the tweet embedded above shows just how much inspiration Adult Swim owes to Nintendo.
Pocket Mortys is due to be released on both Android and iOS on January 14th, and with series co-creator Dan Harmon providing the voiceover, Pocket Mortys is surely a must-play for any Rick and Morty fan. Thankfully, it’s going to be available for free, although we expect micro-transactions to play a part as usual.
And finally, we have what surely has to be the dumbest way of playing Pac-Man ever. Pac-Man is a classic game that has survived the test of time thanks to its simplicity and playability. Which means any gimmick is only likely to make it worse. Enter Pac-Man Powered by Moff.
This is Pac-Man with motion controls added in for no good reason. The result is you waving your arms around in the air like a drunk aircraft marshal. All of which rather detracts from the game. The video above is the Giant Bomb spoof, but, if we’re honest, the official trailer isn’t much better.
Are you sorry to see Microsoft slowly killing off Internet Explorer? Should Twitter move beyond its 140-character limit? What are your thoughts on Lumosity? Are you a fan of Rick and Morty? Would you ever play Pac-Man Powered by Moff?
Let us know your thoughts on the Tech News of the day by posting to the comments section below. Because a healthy discussion is always welcome.
Tech News Digest is a daily column paring the technology news of the day down into bite-sized chunks that are easy to read and perfect for sharing.
Image Credits: Kris Krug via Flickr
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