News written by James Delahunty (November, 2019)

Valve's Steam Controller is to become a part of gaming history as the company confirms it is manufacturing no more units.

Valve first introduced the initial Steam Controller to the world in September 2013, as part of its Steam Machine initiative. It was a different controller than most gamers were used to. Instead of the common-place thumbsticks, it sports clickable trackpads that deliver haptic feedback. It also features fourteen separate buttons.

It's odd-looking design and unconventional feel did earn it some scorn from gamers, but that didn't stop it amassing its own following. This is due to the fact that it is one of the most customizable gamepads available, and thousands of gamers uploaded their own custom configs for their game libraries on Steam.

If you haven't used one and would like to own a piece of gaming history, you can buy it for a limited time for $5, if you are willing to pay the full shipping cost. Valve confirmed to The Verge that this is the last of the supply and there will be no more. It will be on sale until December 3, presumably only if stocks last.

You can find it at store.steampowered.com.

Twitter has backtracked on plans to remove inactive accounts after users pleaded with the social network not to delete accounts of people who have passed away.

The service was planning to do some house cleaning by removing inactive Twitter accounts, starting on December 12. Accounts that could be removed would have to be inactive for at least six months. Twitter had assured users that there will be no mass purge on December 12, rather the removal of inactive accounts would be spread out.

However, concerns were raised immediately that accounts belong to users who have died would be included in the deletions. Some users took to Twitter to plead with the firm to reconsider, often admitting to visiting the accounts of dead relatives and friends from time to time.

Hi @Twitter, please consider the possibility of memorialising accounts. I often refer back to my late partners tweets as a reminder of Dean's thoughts & feelings & the memories we've shared. Don't remove accounts before sorting this, please. https://t.co/qd6TYW9Ode

-- Adam (@adamadzp) November 26, 2019

Owners of new Chromebooks can redeem three months free Disney+ streaming if they activate the Chromebook within a limited time frame.

Google is pushing Chromebooks ahead of the busy holiday season. It is offering three months of free Disney+ streaming access to users who buy (or receive) a brand new Chromebook during the holidays. To be eligible for the offer, you must activate a new Chromebook between November 25 and January 31.

After that, you must visit a dedicated page to redeem the offer on Google's website.

Disney+ typically costs $6.99 per month. It provides access to a library of around 500 films and over 3,500 TV show episodes from the company's extensive catalog.

The service already has had more than ten million sign-ups since it launched.

SpaceX has successfully run tests on its human-rated Crew Dragon capsule following an unfortunate explosion earlier this year.

The launch provider sent a Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station back in March this year. The mission was a success with a nominal launch and docking of the Crew Dragon to the station. After a few days, it left the ISS and returned to the surface of the Earth.

Unfortunately for SpaceX and NASA's short term goals, the same Crew Dragon that was docked to the ISS for several days subsequently exploded during a test in April. This pushed things back while SpaceX investigated the cause of the explosion during the tests, delaying America's return to human space flight following the retirement of the space shuttle.

Last month, SpaceX CEO met with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne following a public spat between the two. It was sparked by a tweet sent by Bridenstine that seemed to remind SpaceX of its delays in the crew launch area as the firm was showing off its latest developments with Starship.

SpaceX found that the explosion was due to a leak of a liquid oxidizer into high pressure helium tubes due to a fault component. The test was being carried out on the vehicle's launch escape system, which would separate the capsule from a failing rocket during ascent, protecting the lives of the astronauts on board.

Rockstar Games has provided an update for frustrated PC gamers after a rocky launch for its Read Dead Redemption 2 title on the platform.

Rockstar said it has been working around to clock to address issues that have affected RDD2 players since it launched last week, but acknowledged that despite the work there are still issues for some players. The developer identified game stuttering issues and linked them to "unforeseen issues related to specific combinations of Nvidia graphics drivers, Nvidia GPU cards and certain CPU's."

It is rolling out an update that will address the stuttering issue alongside other fixes, but it is still working with Nvidia to completely resolve the stuttering issue. It may take a few days for the developer to properly test new updates before they can be pushed out.

"We sincerely apologize for this temporary inconvenience and will update you as soon as we have more information to share," Rockstar said in a press release.

Players who are experience issues should report them at the Rockstar Games website here.

"And as a show of gratitude to our PC fans while we sort this out in the coming days, everyone who plays Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC this week and through to the holiday season will receive a complimentary care package for Red Dead Online that includes the Prieto Poncho and an assortment of provisions and ammo. Look for more details on the care package to come."

Netflix and Nickelodeon have announced a new deal to produce new animated content for Netflix' streaming service.

Under the new deal, the pair will produce new animated content based on Nickelodeon characters from its extensive library. Netflix has worked with Nickelodeon before on content like Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, and Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling.

Forthcoming content will also include specials based on The Loud House and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"Nickelodeon has generated scores of characters that kids love, and we look forward to telling wholly original stories that re-imagine and expand on the worlds they inhabit," said Netflix vice president of original animation, Melissa Cobb.

"We're thrilled to continue collaborating with Brian Robbins, Ramsey Naito, and the creative team at Nickelodeon in new ways as we look to find fresh voices and bring bold stories to our global audience on Netflix."

The announcement comes after Disney launched the Disney+ streaming service on Tuesday. Disney+ attracted ten million users in its first two days despite technical glitches.

Google's Chrome Browser will soon show varied warnings about slow loading webpages.

At some point in the near future, users of Google's Chrome Browser will start to see various flags and warnings about slow loading webpages as they browse the web. Google engineers refer to this planned practice as "speed badging", with the ultimate goal to alert users to slow websites and give some explanation as to why they are so slow.

The warnings will vary from text to graphic warnings that reflect the reasons for the delays. A webpage could load slowly if it uses inefficient coding, for example. However, the problem with the slow loading of a webpage may not lie with the developer of that particular website at all.

These days, a lot of page load delays are caused by the inclusion of third party elements in the webpage. These can include advertisers that have to be provided by the servers of an ad network (Google Adsence, for example). Another common element is the inclusion of analytics code which can require third party services (Google Analytics, for example).

More common nowadays again is the inclusion of social media and other gadgets, which also require the web browser to connect to third party servers to load elements.

Despite technical glitches affecting the new streaming service from the entertainment giant, Disney is positive about the reasons for the disruptions.

Some users who have signed up for the new Disney+ streaming service have experienced some technical difficulties on launch day. One common problem is the appearance of a blue screen featuring an image of Mickey Mouse, accompanied by a message instructing the user to exit the app and try again.

Whatever the glitches may be, Disney has explained that the problems are down to heavier demand for the new service that was anticipated for launch day.

"The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our highest expectations. ... we are aware of the current user issues and are working to swiftly resolve them," Disney said in a statement, reports Reuters.

While that's a bummer for affected customers, this is a good sign for Disney as it aims to take on rivals in space including Netflix. Disney+ costs $7 a month and provides access to a library of around 500 films and over 3,500 TV show episodes from the company's extensive catalog.

If you have an older Samsung Smart Television then Netflix might not work anymore in a few weeks' times.

Due to the technical limitations of older devices, Netflix and other such services often have to kill official support for apps on those devices. The latest roundup of devices that will not have Netflix soon include several Samsung smart televisions and older Roku set top boxes.

Specifically, Samsung has confirmed that some of its Vizio line-up of smart TVs sold from around 8-9 years ago will no longer support Netflix from December 2nd. This is an unfortunate long term cost of being an early adopter of any new product.

"Netflix has announced that due to technical limitations, as of December 2, 2019, the Netflix streaming service will no longer be supported on several consumer electronics devices, including some from Samsung. This change will impact select 2010 and 2011 Samsung Smart TV models that were sold in the U.S. and Canada. Affected devices will receive a notification reflecting this change."

It's not the end of the world if your television is affected however. Things have changed dramatically since 2010 with streaming devices like Chromecast carrying a wide range of supported services with a low cost. A new Chromecast would not only fix the Netflix problem on your old Samsung TV, it would be an upgrade compared to the old functionality.

Google has partnered with several security firms in forming a group that aims to detect and prevent malware-laden apps from getting onto the Play Store.

There are currently more than 2.5 billion Android devices in the wild. Most get their apps from Google's Play Store. While Google does have systems in place to find malicious apps and prevent them from being published to the service, some do slip through the cracks from time to time.

In order to fight back, Google has announced the App Defense Alliance. Its members include ESET, Google, Lookout, and Zimperium. Google's Play Protect detection systems will be integrated with the partner's scanning engines.

Apps queued for publishing will face intense scrutiny from the technologies of each member of the alliance. Their systems use a combination of machine learning and static/dynamic analysis to detect abusive behavior. Google's position is that more eyes are better for detecting problems ahead of time.

For more info: App Defense Alliance

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced when the company will show off its electric pickup truck.

Musk previously suggested that Ford's F-150 is a benchmark model for its electric pickup truck, which he says has a "cyberpunk" design. The goal, Musk said at a recent shareholder meeting, is that the Tesla pickup will meet or exceed the abilities of the Ford F-150.

The world will get a look at Tesla's take on an electric pickup on November 21 in Los Angeles. Musk announced the date and location on Twitter.

The date is strangely familiar ...https://t.co/YZl5R1POJL

-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2019

A criminal investigation resulting from a data center raid almost five years ago has come to a close with no conviction.

In December 2014, police raided a data center in Sweden. The action brought down several major BitTorrent websites and pushed the notorious Pirate Bay offline for around two months. As part of the investigation, police targeted Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij.

Prosecutors reportedly had evidence against Neij, but as of now, the case is formally closed. Under Swedish law, the prosecution needed to reach Neij for "final serving", which gives a defendant a chance to review the evidence in a case.

In the five years since the December 2014 raid, the prosecution failed to reach Neij for final serving, and now the time has run out. The statute of limitations has expired and so no case related to the 2014 raid can be made against him.

"The investigation was closed because the statute of limitations expired," prosecutor Anna Ginner told TorrentFreak.

"The investigation was finished. However, we did not manage to contact the suspect to give him the possibility to review the investigation on final serving."

While the criminal case is now closed, the aftermath of the raid did result in a tug of war over the ThePirateBay.se domain, which ended up in possession of the Swedish state.