planning Archives

AppWizard

November 25, 2025

Lego Minecraft Crafting Table Diorama Gets Huge Price Cut For Black Friday

A Black Friday promotion is currently offering Lego's Crafting Table diorama, a 1,195-piece set, at a discounted price at major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. This set, which celebrates Minecraft's 15th anniversary, features five modular builds representing various biomes and includes eight microfigures. The completed diorama measures 5.5 x 6 x 6 inches. Additionally, the Creeper model, a 665-piece set, is also available, featuring movable parts and a storage compartment. Other Lego Minecraft deals include The Pickaxe Mine, The Sword Outpost, The Frog House, The Badlands Mineshaft, and The Turtle Beach House, with Walmart offering a 5-in-1 Gift Set Bundle.

AppWizard

November 25, 2025

Chinese Room co-founder wanted Paradox to drop the ‘Bloodlines 2’ name, because “no one would be happy” with the final game

Many players are disappointed with Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 due to performance issues, a lack of meaningful stakes, and disengaging RPG systems. The sequel does not maintain continuity with the original game, offering only scattered lore snippets. Dan Pinchbeck, co-founder of The Chinese Room, revealed that he advocated for a title change during development discussions with Paradox to reduce comparisons with the original game. He aimed to take over the development of Bloodlines 2 but noted the team wanted to infuse their own storytelling rather than simply finish Hardsuit Labs' work. Pinchbeck recognized the challenges of creating a true sequel within time and budget constraints and suggested aiming for a focused experience similar to Dishonored. He acknowledged the complexities of collaborative game development and the enduring legacy of the original Bloodlines game, which continues to overshadow its sequel.

Tech Optimizer

November 25, 2025

Protect sensitive data with dynamic data masking for Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL

Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition has introduced a dynamic data masking feature that provides column-level protection, enhancing security alongside PostgreSQL’s row-level security. This feature is available for Aurora PostgreSQL versions 16.10 and higher, as well as 17.6. Dynamic data masking allows organizations to maintain a single copy of their data while applying role-based access controls, ensuring sensitive information is protected in real-time without data duplication. The pg_columnmask extension enables policy-based masking and runtime query rewriting, allowing different users to see varying levels of data based on their roles. For example, customer service representatives may see only the last four digits of account numbers, while executives see full details. The feature supports compliance with regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. Users can create masking policies using standard SQL commands, and the policies can be defined to utilize built-in or custom functions for data masking.

Winsage

November 25, 2025

Microsoft to remove WINS support after Windows Server 2025

Microsoft will remove the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) from all future Windows Server releases after November 2034. WINS was officially deprecated with Windows Server 2022 in August 2021, and Windows Server 2025 will be the last version to support it. Standard support for WINS will continue until November 2034. Organizations are encouraged to migrate to DNS-based name resolution solutions before this deadline. The removal will include the WINS server role, management console snap-in, automation APIs, and related interfaces. Microsoft recommends auditing services dependent on NetBIOS name resolution and migrating to DNS solutions. Static host files are not advised as a workaround. Organizations should begin migration planning to avoid operational disruptions.

AppWizard

November 24, 2025

Stellar Blade Is Sony’s Most Successful Single-Player PC Game to Date, Says Shift Up

Stellar Blade, developed by Shift Up and published by Sony, is the best-selling PlayStation-exclusive launch IP in history, with over 3 million copies sold across PC and PS5 within the first five days of its PC launch. The game had a peak concurrent player count exceeding 192,000 and has garnered strong engagement from PC players, aided by a vibrant modding community. Shift Up is planning a sequel and is looking for new talent for its development team.

AppWizard

November 24, 2025

Gemini 3 Pro: Google’s New AI Model Aims to Redefine Multimodal Understanding

Gemini 3 Pro has reclaimed AI benchmarks, outperforming previous models and leading the LMArena and WebDev Arena leaderboards. It introduces a new AI mode in Google Search that enhances user interactions with multimodal responses. The model features advanced reasoning and independent coding capabilities, enabling it to tackle complex queries and manage multi-step tasks autonomously. Gemini 3 Pro achieved a score of 1,501 points on the LMArena leaderboard, surpassing Grok 4.1 Thinking, and scored 37.5% on Humanity's Last Exam without tool use. In the WebDev Arena, it has an ELO score of 1,487 and excels in various coding benchmarks. Gemini 3 is available in Google AI Studio, Vertex AI, and Gemini CLI, and serves as the foundation for Google Antigravity, an AI-powered integrated development environment. It is currently rolling out to Google’s consumer products, including Search and the Gemini app, with plans for broader availability in the U.S.

AppWizard

November 23, 2025

Borderlands 4’s new, free DLC hasn’t moved the needle at all, and I think I know why

Gearbox released a free DLC for Borderlands 4 titled 'How Rush Saved Mercenary Day,' which includes a new boss fight, legendary loot, cosmetics, and story missions. The game's peak concurrent users on Steam this week was 15,887, unchanged from the previous week and down from earlier this month. Despite improvements over its predecessor, player engagement has declined, with many players feeling a lack of motivation to return. The DLC is perceived as a lighter addition, and Gearbox's promotion of it has been insufficient. Players who purchased the deluxe edition will receive an additional bounty pack. Performance issues on lower-end PCs further deter players. Upcoming content, including a full Story Pack DLC featuring Mad Ellie and a new Vault Hunter, C4SH, is anticipated to boost interest.

AppWizard

November 22, 2025

Five Android apps to challenge Google Fit

Google Fit is a foundational tool for Android users, but many are looking for more comprehensive fitness insights and community engagement. Alternative applications provide enhanced features and deeper analytics tailored to various training styles. Strava is a social platform for endurance athletes with over 100 million users, offering features like segment leaderboards and route planning, making it ideal for GPS-centric sports. Samsung Health integrates sleep coaching, stress metrics, and body composition estimates, providing a holistic dashboard for daily monitoring, especially effective with Galaxy devices. MyFitnessPal focuses on nutrition and weight goals, featuring a database of over 14 million foods for easy meal logging and customizable macro goals. Hevy is designed for strength training, offering a streamlined logging system for workouts and progress tracking, with a lightweight social component. AllTrails caters to hikers and trail runners, providing access to over 400,000 curated routes and safety features, including offline maps and GPS tracking. Users can choose an app based on their primary fitness goals, with options for GPS and community engagement, overall wellness, nutrition tracking, strength training, or outdoor adventures, all benefiting from data interoperability through Health Connect by Android.

AppWizard

November 21, 2025

5 Essential Android Apps That Are Actually Worth The Price

Pocket Casts Plus offers a free basic version for podcast listeners, with a paid subscription providing additional features at a yearly cost. The Sun Seeker app, priced at .49, tracks the sun's position and is useful for homebuyers, gardeners, and photographers. The NYT Cooking app is free to download but requires a subscription for full access to thousands of recipes, available for a monthly or annual fee. Balatro is a roguelike poker game priced at .99, recognized for its unique gameplay and multiple awards. The Shonen Jump app costs .99 a month, granting access to a large library of manga with no daily reading limit for subscribers and the option to download chapters for offline reading.

AppWizard

November 21, 2025

Fortnite outdoes itself once again: the next chapter features an unfilmed scene from Kill Bill, announced by Quentin Tarantino

Fortnite will feature an unfilmed scene from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series in its upcoming Chapter 7, coinciding with the theatrical re-release of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair on November 19, 2025. This re-release will also include a new anime sequence and has a runtime of four hours and 51 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission, set to hit theaters on December 5. Tarantino has expressed interest in a potential Volume Three of Kill Bill, exploring the lives of The Bride and her daughter, B.B. Kiddo, two decades after the original films. Fortnite has collaborated with various franchises, including The Simpsons, Star Wars, and Mortal Kombat, and Chapter 7 is scheduled to launch on November 30.