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News+: Project Catalyst and the Future of the Mac

Andrew Orr ·

In the latest issue of Macworld, Jason Snell writes about Project Catalyst and how Apple struggles with the Mac’s future.

iOS app developers are Mac users—it’s the only platform available for iOS app development. They know what the Mac feels like. I think many of them will choose to do the right thing—but it’s a shame they won’t have exemplary Apple apps to inspire them.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

Cool Stuff Found

'Telling Lies' Game Available for Preorder at $6.99

Andrew Orr ·

Annapurna Interactive, makers of games like Donut County, Gorogoa, Gone Home, and more, have a new game coming out called Telling Lies. An investigative thriller game with non-linear storytelling, Telling Lies revolves around a cache of secretly recorded video conversations. Starring Logan Marshall-Green, Alexandra Shipp, Kerry Bishé, Angela Sarafyan and directed by Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Telling Lies sits you in front of an anonymous laptop loaded with a stolen NSA database full of footage. The footage covers two years in the intimate lives of four people whose stories are linked by a shocking incident. Explore the database by typing search terms, watch the clips where those words are spoken and piece together your story. Unlike anything you’ve played before, Telling Lies is an intimate and intense experience. A game where you decide the truth. App Store: Telling Lies—US$6.99

TMO Deals

WOM Adjustable Tabletop Standing Desk Converter: $115

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on the WOM Adjustable Tabletop Standing Desk Converter. This standing desk is designed to sit on your desk (or other table), and lifts with a single-handle height adjustment lever. It also has an integrated removable keyboard tray. It comes in black or white, and you can get it for $115 through our deal.

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AI Tech Like Neuralink Could be 'Suicide For the Human Mind'

Andrew Orr ·

Some scientists are worried about technology like Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Cognitive psychologist Susan Schneider wrote an op-ed (paywall) that it could be “suicide for the human mind.”

The worry with a general merger with AI, in the more radical sense that Musk envisions, is the human brain is diminished or destroyed. Furthermore, the self may depend on the brain and if the self’s survival over time requires that there be some sort of continuity in our lives — a continuity of memory and personality traits — radical changes may break the needed continuity.

I’m no neuroscientist but I subscribe to emergentism, which is the idea that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain. An easy explanation is here, but basically it means that consciousness isn’t a property of the physical brain, but rather something that happens when you get enough neurons interconnected. This isn’t something that could be replicated with code.

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Pokémon Masters Has 5 Million Pre-Orders Already

Charlotte Henry ·

Forthcoming game Pokémon Masters had already been pre-order five million times across iOS and Android, Cult of Mac reported. The game is not set to be released for another two-weeks. Well, people just gotta catch ’em all I guess….

With two weeks to go until Pokémon Masters launches on iOS and Android, it has already racked up 5 million pre-orders. The game is developed by DeNA, the same company behind the majority of Nintendo’s mobile games. Pokémon Masters focuses on real-time Pokémon battles, with teams of Trainers taking part in 3-on-3 battles. The game takes place on an artificial island, where DeNA says, “the rules of battle are different.” You choose three pairs for your squad and then use them to battle your opponents.