Monday, June 5

Tag: Proprietary software

Gaming

UK Government Launches Discord Channel, Bullied Immediately

The current British government, now onto its third Prime Minister since 2019 and rocked by a combination of scandals and gross, malicious incompetence, is facing an uphill battle to simply avoid complete destruction at the next general election, let alone win it. What better time, then, for one of its most important ministries to launch a Discord channel and connect with the youth!As The Guardian report, though, the decision by the UK Treasury was immediately met with a “torrent of abuse”, despite launching as a read-only channel, meaning that users could join and read things left by its admin, but could not type anything themselves.If the folks responsible for setting that up thought that would guarantee them some degree of protection from a public who are one more election cycle of auste...
Gaming

Steam Finally Has A Modern Phone App On Both iOS And Android

Sometimes you just need to have a copy of Control available at all times, under all circumstancesScreenshot: ValveWhile the main Steam application itself has got better over the years, it’s still pretty easy to look at Valve’s approach to store and platform design, look at competitors like Google and Apple and see how everything feels a little quaint. Steam’s mobile app was one of the main offenders in this regard, so it’s great seeing it get a massive update today.Valve has “completely revamped” the app on both iOS and Android, introducing:- Two-factor authentication to ensure you’re the only one with access to your account- QR code sign in - Scan a QR code to sign into Steam instead of entering a password or…- Sign in confirmation - Confirm your regular Steam sign ins with simple “approv...
Gaming

Dev Explains How Steam Curator Reviewers May Be Scammers

Steam is both an easy-to-use digital game storefront and a rabbit hole of shady shit, filled with weird, archaic leftovers from past ideas Valve never got around to finishing or improving. One such example is the curator system. Most users barely interact with it, but recently an indie developer believes the system is being used by scammers who also sell game codes on gray markets. They claim that because they didn’t provide free codes their latest game was targeted by these supposed grifters on Steam. Yesterday on Twitter, Cowcat, the developer behind Brok—a newly released point-and-click beat ‘em up starring an alligator—shared a now-viral thread explaining how a particular type of scam involving curators, Steam codes, and reviews works. Steam curator lists are user-made and anyone can c...
Gaming

Linus Tech Tips Rebuild The Steam Deck With Ultimate Version

Valve’s Steam Deck has been a success so far, its (relatively) modest specs not really an issue when weighed against the size of the screen and the fact you can play it on the bus. But because it’s essentially a small PC, the temptation is always there to improve it.Which is exactly what Linus Tech Tips has done in their latest video, taking Valve’s humble handheld and juicing it in some key areas. While they obviously don’t change the Steam Deck’s CPU or GPU, they could make some key additions/replacements elsewhere in an attempt to improve the device’s performance.That includes removing the Steam Deck’s potentiometer-based joysticks and replacing them with some electromagnetic ones. These have a number of advantages, including better durability (they won’t drift) and a smaller “deadzone”...