Stan Smith, the patriotic patriarch at the center of American Dad!, isn’t like the other cartoon dads. Whereas Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin will realize the error in their ways after doing something foolish and make up with their family, Stan will only learn a very simple lesson he should’ve known all along after doing something downright psychopathic. And he never seems to fully understand just how terrible some of the things he does are....

Annihilation, based on the first novel of the same name in the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, is writer and director Alex Garland’s follow up to 2014’s film Ex Machina. While the film follows the same basic premise of the sci-fi novel, there is a huge difference between the original source material and what ended up on the big screen. The story of Annihilation revolves around a group of female scientists sent into a location known only as Area X (the film calls it The Shimmer)....

Actor Anthony Mackie, one of the stars of Avengers: Infinity War, recently gave a hilarious summation of the movie’s plot while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Given that Mackie couldn’t say too much with the high level of secrecy surrounding the highly anticipated film, his summary left Fallon with more questions than answers. Anthony Mackie first entered The Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: The Winter Soldier playing the role of Sam Wilson - a former United States Air Force pararescueman who was befriended by Captain America....

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple has enforced a masking mandate for its corporate employees and retail staff. Although this mandate has been revised multiple times since then, there are still some locations where Apple employees were required to wear a mask. Now the company is dropping the mask mandate “in most places” for corporate employees. Masks no longer required at Apple In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Apple’s COVID-19 Response Team told corporate employees on Monday that the company is updating its health and safety protocols “in light of current circumstances....

The release of the Apple Watch Series 7 was overshadowed by the MacBook Pro event, but Apple executives still want to talk about the Series 7. Although it doesn’t bring new sensors or even a new processor, the larger screen is what people should be focusing on when thinking about buying this product. In an interview with CNET, Apple execs Alan Dye and Stan Ng explain how the new 41mm and 45mm screens can improve the Apple Watch experience for users:...

Apple giving into Russia twice this week on key civil liberties issues proves that the company’s CSAM misuse assurances cannot be trusted, argues a high-profile security expert. Apple today pulled from the App Store an opposition tactical voting app after the Russian government threatened specific local company employees with “punishment” if they refused. It turns out that Apple also turned off its Private Relay service in Russia just yesterday, likely also in response to government pressure…...

The US Patent & Trademark Office this week published a new patent filed by Apple that reveals a privacy feature designed to show iPhone contents only through special glasses, so that only the owner of the phone can see what’s on the screen. As reported by Patently Apple, the patent application refers to a system that can display “vision-corrected graphical outputs and standard graphical outputs on an electronic device.” Interestingly, one of the features described by this patent is “Privacy Eyewear,” which blocks people around you from seeing the content on the screen of your device, since the only way to see what’s on the screen is through the glasses....

One of our readers, Steve, shared with us a conversation he had with Apple Support on Twitter. According to him, “after working with Apple and a senior advisor for months saying to wait for an update to fix the issue, I got an update regarding the issue, and apparently, it won’t be fixed and noise cancelation is intentionally disabled for those devices for unspecified reasons.” After asking for clarification, whether the iPhone 13 series wouldn’t support noise-cancellation for phone calls, the Apple Support team replied:...

Ocean Master’s helmet and more is revealed on a new Aquaman themed magazine cover. Jason Momoa has made two appearances in DC films as Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, but audiences still haven’t seen his true self yet. His character and world weren’t central focuses of Justice League, leaving director James Wan the ability to craft his own vision. The solo movie is the lone DC live-action film hitting theaters this year for Warner Bros....

James Cameron has been working on an underwater sequel to Avatar, developing entirely new visual effects technology for the film, but James Wan and Aquaman are about to beat him to the punch, stealing Avatar 2’s groundbreaking glory. The first Avatar set a new standard for IMAX 3D, immersing audiences in the CGI world of Pandora and bringing 3D effects and motion capture to life in a way that wowed audiences, setting a new standard for Hollywood blockbusters....

Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo is surprised by news of the film being censored in Indonesia. The beginning of the culmination of the first 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans have already assumed that the upcoming ensemble will have a longer runtime than most films, in order to cater to several narrative threads and countless characters. And that’s fine for a lot of Marvel loyalists, considering that Avengers 3 and its still-untitled sequel Avengers 4 will be the last films set in the established lore, before things drastically change come Phase 4....

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans expecting an extended cut of Avengers: Infinity War on home video that re-adds over 30 minutes of footage detailing Thanos’ backstory may want to stop holding their breath. Josh Brolin’s Thanos has been widely and repeatedly cited as one of the strongest aspects of Avengers: Infinity War; despite being a CGI foe with magical MacGuffin goals - something that has waylaid both Marvel and DC in recent years - the Russo brothers were able to imbue the role with real empathy, ironically without ever showing a tragic past which in the comics looms large....

Avengers 4 co-director Joe Russo continued to tease fans over the title for the upcoming Marvel film during a recent Q&A session. While there are a fair share of mysteries surrounding the highly anticipated sequel to Avengers: Infinity War, perhaps one of the central mysteries revolves around the title for Avengers 4. Marvel Studios had initially planned to release Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 as two parts of the same movie....

Batman writer Tom King will give away free comics to federal workers during the government shutdown on Jan. 19 in Annapolis, MD. Although King was once best known for his work on The Vision for Marvel, it’s his latest work with DC Comics on Batman that has earned him so much acclaim. One of the most interesting things about King, though, is that he spent seven years working in the CIA’s counterterrorism unit....

UPDATE: Here are our casting picks for Batwoman. Batwoman is officially getting her own TV series at The CW, following the character’s appearance in this year’s annual Arrowverse television crossover event between Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The series is being developed by Caroline Dries, a writer/producer who previously worked on The CW’s young Superman TV show Smallville. More recently, Dries has served as a writer/producer on the network’s Melrose Place and The Vampire Diaries TV show....

“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love. Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive—from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin. Customers love iRobot products—and I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable....

Non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs, are becoming increasingly popular. Yet Apple still doesn’t seem very open to this idea, at least not when these NFTs are sold inside iOS apps without using the App Store’s in-app purchases system. And this is what happened with Coinbase Wallet, which allegedly had its latest update denied in the App Store because of the NFTs feature. Coinbase Wallet removes feature to send NFTs from its iOS app In a Twitter thread, the official Coinbase Wallet account reported that Apple has blocked its latest iOS app release until the developers disabled the feature that lets users send NFTs through the app....

Home-based Apple call center workers in Colombia have expressed privacy concerns over plans to install AI-powered cameras in their homes, to monitor their performance. The same issue has arisen over Apple UK workers based in Albania. Apple outsources some of its call center work around the world to Teleperformance, and employees say they are being pressured to sign a contract agreeing to the cameras, despite an Apple policy prohibiting it …...

Apple Studio Display is now officially available in stores, and there are already multiple customers around the world who have gotten their hands on the product. Unlike the Pro Display XDR, Studio Display has a unique power connector that seems to be non-removable. It turns out that the cable is detachable, but you need a special tool to remove it. On its website, Apple says that the power cord of the Studio Display is not removable – and multiple users have thought the same thing....

Apple today announced new resources for elementary school coding with a new Everyone Can Code Early Learners guide and Inclusive App Design activity and updates to the Schoolwork app. According to a press release, this Everyone Can Code Early Learners guide is extending its coding curriculum resources from kindergarten to college. Educators can also try Apple’s new one-hour Inclusive App Design activity to introduce students to the world of coding and app development....