Marketing Life

Overwatch League cancels February and March games in China following coronavirus outbreak By Andrew Webster Photo: Carlton Beener / Blizzard Entertainment The Overwatch League’s plans for a truly global e-sports league have taken a major hit. Today, Blizzard announced that the China-based games taking place in February and March planned for the 2020 season have been canceled following the outbreak of the coronavirus. In a statement posted this evening to Twitter , the league explained that the decision was made to “protect the health and safety of our players, fans, and staff.” “We hope fans have a safe and happy Lunar New Year, and we remain incredibly excited to play Overwatch League matches in China later this season,” the statement reads. “We’ll share more information about when and where the matches will take place at a later date.” pic.twitter.com/nLEPHrJZXS — Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) January 30, 2020 The 2020 season of OWL was set to be the first in leagu...

Fortnite players can compete for the first tournament-exclusive skin this weekend By Jay Peters Image: Epic Games Epic has announced an in-game Fortnite tournament for this weekend that’s timed with the Australian Open, and players who compete will have a shot to earn the game’s first-ever competition skin. The in-game item can only be earned by placing well in the tournament. But there is a catch — only players on its OCE (Oceania) or Asia servers can compete for the prize. If that’s you, and if your Fortnite account is level 15 or higher, Epic says you’ll be able to compete in the Summer Smash Cup, which takes place on February 1st and 2nd from 7PM AEDT to 10PM AEDT (3AM ET to 6AM ET). You’ll be able to play in 10 matches each day to earn in-game points for surviving a battle royale match for as long as you can and earning eliminations. You can read the official rules in their entirety right here . If you earn enough points to put be in the top 10 percent of all players dur...

San Francisco Joins the Move to Ban Cars From a Major Street By Alex Davies New York has cleared Times Square and 14th Street, while Oslo is banishing drivers from its city center. January 30, 2020 at 01:46AM via Feed: All Latest https://ift.tt/3aPiJrT

Nest thermostats will warn of possible problems with your AC or furnace By Jon Fingas You might not have to wait until your home is frigid to find out that there's a problem with your furnace. Google has started testing a Nest thermostat feature that sends email alerts when the device detects unusual patterns in your HVAC system. If it's taking an oddly long time to warm up your house, you might get a notice well before there's a full-fledged breakdown. People in a handful of cities (Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Las Vegas and San Diego) will also get help contacting professionals through Handy, so you might not have trouble booking a service appointment. HVAC warnings aren't completely new. Users have received alerts for more immediate problems. However, Google is now focusing on symptoms that may take a long time for humans to spot. In a sense, it's offering a peek at a future where your smart home does more to anticipate problems and help fix them before it...

Nest thermostats will warn of possible problems with your AC or furnace By Jon Fingas You might not have to wait until your home is frigid to find out that there's a problem with your furnace. Google has started testing a Nest thermostat feature that sends email alerts when the device detects unusual patterns in your HVAC system. If... January 30, 2020 at 01:37AM via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/36Hk7sZ

Facebook will pay $550 million to settle class action lawsuit over privacy violations By Devin Coldewey Facebook will pay over half a billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged systematic violation of an Illinois consumer privacy law. The settlement amount is large indeed, but a small fraction of the $35 billion maximum the company could have faced. Class members — basically Illinois Facebook users from mid-2011 to mid-2015 — may expect as much as $200 each, but that depends on several factors. If you’re one of them you should receive some notification once the settlement is approved by the court and the formalities are worked out. The proposed settlement would require Facebook to obtain consent in the future from Illinois users for such purposes as face analysis for automatic tagging. This is the second major settlement from Facebook in six months; an seemingly enormous $5 billion settlement of FTC violations was announced over the summer, but it’s actually a...

Raging Australian bushfire overruns firefighters within seconds in terrifying video By Amanda Yeo A new video shows the unfathomable speed at which the Australian bushfires are spreading, completely overwhelming a firefighting crew in less than three minutes. It's a stark example of why, for so many people, running from the flames is much easier said than done. Filmed around 7 p.m. on Jan. 4, the clip shows the Dunmore Rural Fire Brigade set up to protect property in Tomerong , approximately 90 miles south of Sydney and home to over 1000 people . However, 62mph winds hit the area 10 minutes earlier than expected, blowing thousands of embers their way.  The extreme ember attack lit numerous spot fires, quickly overrunning the crew and forcing some to evacuate less than a minute after the wind changed — and less than a minute before the fire took over the road completely. Read more... More about Australia , Firefighters , Bushfires , New South Wales , and Fires January 30, 2...