Valve will unveil its ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ VR game on Thursday

A purportedly leaked Game Awards interview transcript indicated that Alyx would be VR-only and focus on immersion, with the possibility of seeing the player's "whole body" and the tension of fumbling with reloads as you face off against headcrab zombies. If accurate (this is still far from certain), the title would be ready to play…

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Sony’s baffling wearable speaker heads to the US for $300

At least the Immersive Wearable Speaker comes with a charging stand, so it can look pretty when it's not in use.The speaker sounds fine for music, TV and movies, but for the price it left me wanting. FKA twig's "Fallen Alien" enveloped me with its luscious soundscape, but the haptic vibration couldn't make up for…

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Google Stadia hands-on: Shockingly playable

The other night, my partner was playing Overwatch on our PS4, so I picked up my phone and jumped into a public event in Destiny 2. I've loaded up Mortal Kombat 11 and Gylt in seconds on my laptop, and I've played Just Dance 2020 on a Chromecast Ultra. Stadia makes all of this possible…

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Watch the first trailer for HBO’s ‘Avenue 5’ sci-fi space comedy

Joining Laurie is Rebecca Front, Josh Gad, Lenora Crichlow, Zach Woods and Ethan Phillips, best known for being Neelix on Voyager. But of more interest is the folks behind the show, which has been made by Veep and The Thick of It mastermind Armando Iannucci. Sadly, we don't know much about how the show will…

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The best fitness gadgets for the athlete on your list

Aftershokz AeropexIf you're feeling philanthropic and want to incentivize someone's exercise habits this holiday season (OK, after January 1st), the $160 Aftershokz Aeropex bone-conduction headphones tick a lot of boxes. This lightweight Bluetooth headset provides a way to listen to workout-motivating tunes while keeping ears open to the surroundings. They work especially well for biking…

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Cells That ‘Taste’ Danger Set Off Immune Responses

When the immunologist De’Broski Herbert at the University of Pennsylvania looked deep inside the lungs of mice infected with influenza, he thought he was seeing things. He had found a strange-looking cell with a distinctive thatch of projections like dreadlocks atop a pear-shaped body, and it was studded with taste receptors. He recalled that it…

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The Internet Wants Zack Snyder’s Version of ‘Justice League’

Hello! Welcome to the Monday edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s culture news hub. Today, we’ve got some updates on Charlie’s Angels’ box office take (not good!), Sara Lee’s response to last weekend’s Saturday Night Live sketch (surprisingly positive!), and the internet’s campaign to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut (still happening, apparently!). Let’s get started.Why #ReleaseTheSnyderCut Is TrendingFirst, some background:…

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Stadia Might Be One of Google’s Best Products—Eventually

Gaming on PC has always been an expensive hobby. Growing up, I used to dream about being able to afford a real gaming computer. Our family PC was running Windows 3.1 well into the heyday of Windows 98. I used to tear pages out of PC Gamer, and even WIRED magazine, and pin them to…

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How Facebook’s Anti-Revenge Porn Tools Failed Katie Hill

When right-wing and tabloid outlets published nude photos of former US representative Katie Hill last month, the images were easily distributed on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, using platform features intended to boost engagement and help publishers drive traffic to their websites. Together, those posts have been shared thousands of times by users…

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