Posts

Posted on

Risks To Children Playing Roblox ‘Deeply Disturbing,’ Say Researchers

A new investigation reveals that children as young as five can easily access inappropriate content and interact unsupervised with adults on Roblox, despite the platform’s child-friendly image and recent safety updates. The Guardian reports: Describing itself as "the ultimate virtual universe," Roblox features millions of games and interactive environments, known collectively as "experiences." Some of the content is developed by Roblox, but much of it is user-generated. In 2024, the platform had more than 85 million daily active users, an estimated 40% of whom are under 13. While the company said it "deeply sympathized" with parents whose children came to harm on the platform, it said "tens of millions of people have a positive, enriching and safe experience on Roblox every day."
However, in an investigation shared with the Guardian, the digital-behavior experts Revealing Reality discovered "something deeply disturbing … a troubling disconnect between Roblox’s child-friendly appearance and the reality of what children experience on the platform." […] Despite new tools launched last week aimed at giving parents more control over their children’s accounts, the researchers concluded: "Safety controls that exist are limited in their effectiveness and there are still significant risks for children on the platform."


Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

Posted on

Live demos test effectiveness of Revolutionary War weapons

https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/nova2CROP-1152×648-1744388149.jpg

The colonial victory against the British in the American Revolutionary War was far from a predetermined outcome. In addition to good strategy and the timely appearance of key allies like the French, Continental soldiers relied on several key technological innovations in weaponry. But just how accurate is an 18th-century musket when it comes to hitting a target? Did the rifle really determine the outcome of the war? And just how much damage did cannon inflict? A team of military weapons experts and re-enactors set about testing some of those questions in a new NOVA documentary, Revolutionary War Weapons.

The documentary examines the firing range and accuracy of Brown Bess muskets and long rifles used by both the British and the Continental Army during the Battles of Lexington and Concord; the effectiveness of Native American tomahawks for close combat (no, they were usually not thrown as depicted in so many popular films, but there are modern throwing competitions today); and the effectiveness of cannons against the gabions and other defenses employed to protect the British fortress during the pivotal Siege of Yorktown. There is even a fascinating segment on the first military submarine, dubbed "the Turtle," created by American inventor David Bushnell.

To capture all the high-speed ballistics action, director Stuart Powell relied upon a range of high-speed cameras called the Phantom Range. "It is like a supercomputer," Powell told Ars. "It is a camera, but it doesn’t feel like a camera. You need to be really well-coordinated on the day when you’re using it because it bursts for, like, 10 seconds. It doesn’t record constantly because it’s taking so much data. Depending on what the frame rate is, you only get a certain amount of time. So you’re trying to coordinate that with someone trying to fire a 250-year-old piece of technology. If the gun doesn’t go off, if something goes wrong on set, you’ll miss it. Then it takes five minutes to reboot and get ready for the new shot. So a lot of the shoot revolves around the camera; that’s not normally the case."

Read full article

Comments

Ars Technica – All content

Posted on

Enhancing Database Error Diagnostics with Laravel’s getRawSql

https://picperf.io/https://laravelnews.s3.amazonaws.com/featured-images/14-04-2025-breeze-get-raw-sql-export.png

Enhancing Database Error Diagnostics with Laravel's getRawSql

Discover how Laravel’s getRawSql method transforms database debugging by providing complete SQL queries with all bindings integrated, helping developers quickly identify and resolve database errors in their applications.

The post Enhancing Database Error Diagnostics with Laravel’s getRawSql appeared first on Laravel News.

Join the Laravel Newsletter to get all the latest
Laravel articles like this directly in your inbox.

Laravel News

Posted on

Now You Can See Krypto Be a Very Good Boy in New Superman Footage

https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2025/04/krypto-2.jpg

James Gunn’s superhero tale starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, a bunch of other humans, and one really cute dog lands in theaters July 11.

io9 was at CinemaCon 2025’s Warner Bros. presentation and got eyes on the latest Superman sneak peek first—we described it for you in a post earlier this week. Now, everyone can enjoy this extended look at James Gunn’s July 11 DC Studios release, and particularly the antics of the movie’s true star: Superman’s loyal (if mischievous!) pup, Krypto.

Last year as Superman was in production, Gunn shared the adorable tale of his family’s own pup, Ozu, whose appearance and personality influenced this version of the comic-book character. Rescued from a scary hoarding situation, Ozu at first didn’t quite know how to dog properly—leading the writer-director to wonder, as he wrote on social media, “How difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers? … Thus Krypto came into the script and changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life.”

We’ll get more Krypto—and, ok sure, the rest of the cast, including David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor—when Superman hits screens July 11.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Gizmodo