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The Questyle QCC Dongle Pro with a smartphone to denote size, on a light wooden table

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: the Bluetooth upgrade your phone has been waiting for

by admin September 23, 2025

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Questyle QCC Dongle Pro: Two-minute review

You may not realise it, but your phone and your wireless headphones don’t always agree on how good your music should sound. It’s a question of compatibility, and it can be a thorny issue.

Bluetooth audio codecs are the invisible lines of code that translate your music (whether streamed from a subscription service or stored locally on your phone) into something that can be transmitted wirelessly to your headphones, earbuds, or portable speakers.

All Bluetooth products support SBC, a codec that provides basic ‘vanilla’ audio quality, but when it comes to high-quality advanced codecs, like LDAC and aptX Adaptive (which preserve far more of your music’s detail), it’s the wild west out there. Some Android handsets support both. Some just support one. iPhones (in fact, all Apple devices) support neither. Support on the headphones/earbuds side of the equation can be equally messy – and it doesn’t always follow that the more you pay, the more codecs your buds (or cans) will support.

So wouldn’t it be nice if there were a tiny, simple (yet powerful) gadget you could plug into any phone, tablet, computer, or game console that would assure you’ve always got support for these codecs? Behold – the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro.

Plug it in, open the app, and pair your headphones. Done. You’re now listening wirelessly at the highest possible quality (perhaps even losslessly) and you didn’t even have to mess around in Android’s Developer Options.

All of this makes the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro a very attractive little accessory for anyone who wants to maximize their listening experience.

One of the best portable DACs around – and more specifically, one of the best wireless Bluetooth DACs we’ve tested? Let’s get to it.

Oh, it’s red and no mistake (Image credit: Future)

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Price and release date

Release date: August 29, 2025
Price: $99 (around £70; AU$150)

$99 may seem like a lot for what you get. After all, it is tiny – and this device doesn’t make music or even play music; it just makes the music you already have access to sound better, with no guesswork.

I’ve also tried the $50 FiiO BT11, a nearly identical-looking product that, on paper at least, does all the same things. But it’s so maddeningly difficult to use, I’d happily pay the difference for the QCC Dongle Pro.

Still, there is another option. If you don’t need LDAC (perhaps because your Android phone already supports it), you can get the aptX-family-only QCC Dongle for $69 and save yourself some cash.

Elsewhere (and if you’ve got hard-to-drive headphones and a little more to spend), we love the FiiO BTR17 for its amplification powers on top of its codec mastery, and TR’s audio editor still uses the FiiO BTR7 – both around $200 / £175 / AU$279.

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontallyQuestyle QCC Dongle Pro: specs

Dimensions

25mm x 10mm x 15mm

Weight

2.5 grams

Supported codecs

SBC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive (including aptX Lossless), LDAC

Supported interfaces

USB-C, USB-A (UAC 1, UAC 2)

System compatibility

WinXP/Vista/Win7/Win8/Win10/Win11/Linux/Android/HarmonyOS/macOS/iOS/iPadOS

Bluetooth version

5.4

Power draw

37mA

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Features

Excellent codec support
Easy, intuitive app
Works with almost all USB-equipped devices

A helpful app lets you control the dongle’s two main functions: getting it paired with your headphones and picking which codec and optional settings you want to use. An LED on the QCC Dongle Pro gives visual feedback on its pairing status as well as which family of codec is currently in use – a reassuring feature.

Better yet, as long as your headphones or earbuds support Bluetooth Multipoint, it’s possible to connect them to the dongle and your phone simultaneously. Doing so maintains your ability to adjust the headphones’ settings via their mobile app (if any).

Oh, and one more thing: the dongle also supports USB Audio Class 1 (UAC 1), which is a spec-speak way of saying you can use it as a wireless audio transmitter with gaming consoles like Nintendo Switch and PlayStation families – devices that don’t play nicely with run-of-the-mill USB Bluetooth dongles. Full disclosure: I didn’t test this feature.

You can use it as a transmitter for a PC or Mac, too, though with one caveat: there’s no Windows or macOS app, so you’ll need to initially pair your preferred headphones using the mobile app on a phone, then move the dongle over to your PC. It will automatically re-pair with your headphones and then you simply need to choose the Dongle Pro from your computer’s sound output menu.

Worried about the Dongle Pro sapping your phone’s battery life? Don’t be. With a 37mA draw, Questyle estimates that even if you used it intensively (e.g., with LDAC) for 10 hours straight, you’d only dent an iPhone 16’s full battery capacity by about 10%. Using aptX Adaptive would consume less juice. I didn’t notice any impact on my day-to-day use of my iPhone.

The bulk of my testing was done with the Sennheiser IE900 or the Austrian Audio ‘The Composer’ (Image credit: Questyle)

The QCC Dongle Pro is so easy and effective that it’s hard to find flaws. But if I were to nitpick, I’d point to the fact that the Questyle app doesn’t give audio nerds as much control over codec behavior as, say, Android’s Developer Options, or the uber-handy Bluetooth Codec Changer app.

For instance, purists often want to avoid additional resampling between their source of digital music and the output that gets to their headphones. With the apps/settings I mentioned above, you can set LDAC’s bit-depth and sampling rate to match that of your source. The QCC Dongle Pro doesn’t provide this level of control. The same goes for LDAC’s bitrate; however, you can nonetheless choose to favour sound quality over connection stability, which should accomplish the same thing.

I might also note that the dongle can’t support simultaneous Bluetooth connections. So if you were hoping to connect a set of wireless earbuds using LDAC and a set of headphones using aptX HD so you can hear the difference, I’m afraid you’ll have to find another way of satisfying your inner scientist.

Features score: 4.5 / 5

Note the ‘wings’ (Image credit: Future)

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Design

Tiny and featherweight
Fits most phone cases
Might block adjacent ports

The QCC Dongle Pro can plug directly into any device that can output audio over USB. At 2.5 grams, it weighs less than half as much as a single AirPods Pro earpiece. On its own, it will snap into USB-C ports, and a small ledge lets it protrude about two millimeters, making it compatible with many 3rd-party protective phone cases. It also comes with an adapter for gadgets that are still rocking USB-A ports. The only devices it can’t support are older iPhones/iPads with Lightning ports.

It’s a phone-friendly design, as long as you don’t mind using wireless charging while it’s plugged in. For laptops, especially those like the Apple MacBook Air with just two, closely spaced USB-C ports, the Dongle Pro forces the same choice, but without the fallback of wireless charging: You can have better Bluetooth audio or you can charge your computer, but not both.

Design score: 4.5 / 5

Everything in its right place… (Image credit: Future)

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Sound quality

Perfect match for LDAC/aptX devices
Lets you choose which codec to use when more than one will work

How does it perform? Brilliantly. Which is to say, when I use it on an iPhone 16 in either LDAC or aptX Lossless mode, with a compatible set of headphones, and then compare it to a phone with these codecs built in (e.g., Motorola ThinkPhone), they sound the same to me. I’m not sure I could ask for anything more.

Sony’s WH-1000XM6 (LDAC) revealed the subtle details in Dire Straits’ You And Your Friend that tend to go missing when listening via AAC. Similarly, Sennheiser’s aptX Lossless compatible Momentum True Wireless 4 Earbuds were able to tame the blurry bass notes and crunchy highs that I typically hear when playing Bob Dylan’s Man in the Long Black Coat.

Given how convenient it is to pop the Dongle Pro into the bottom of my iPhone, I can easily see it becoming a permanent fixture in my daily listening life.

Sound quality score: 5 / 5

This white light (for aptX Lossless) was oddly hard to come by when using sources able to handle it… (Image credit: Future)

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Value

Pricey compared to other transmitters
Unmatched codec support
Perfect size/shape for mobile use

Though a pricey little device, you need to look at the QCC Dongle Pro in the context of your other options.

Most companies that make USB-C Bluetooth transmitters that sell for between $25-$55 on Amazon come with one or more compromises. They’re primarily intended for PC use, so they’re often equipped with a USB-A interface. Even the ones with USB-C tend to stick out too far and could easily snap off during portable use. The Dongle Pro’s one direct competitor, the $50 FiiO BT11, is a bargain by comparison – but I found it much harder to use.

Value score: 4/5

Note the new ‘rails’ on the casework to help with cooling (Image credit: Future)

Should you buy the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro?

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Attribute

Notes

Rating

Features

Gives any phone or PC the most popular hi-res Bluetooth audio codecs.

4 / 5

Sound quality

Works as well as any phone with these codecs built in.

5 / 5

Design

Tiny, lightweight, and elegant. If only it were a tad narrower, it would be perfect.

4.5 / 5

Value

Pricey, but worth it.

4 / 5

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro review: Also consider

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Product

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro

FiiO BTR11

Dimensions

25mm x 10mm x 15mm

28mm x 9mm x 21mm

Weight

2.5 grams

3 grams

Supported codecs

SBC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive (including aptX Lossless), LDAC

Supported interfaces

USB-C, USB-A (UAC 1, UAC 2)

System compatibility

WinXP/Vista/Win7/Win8/Win10/Win11/Linux/Android/HarmonyOS/macOS/iOS/iPadOS

Bluetooth version

5.4

Power draw

37mA (LDAC)

22mA (static)

iFi makes strong design choices and you love to see it (Image credit: Future)

How I tested the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro

Tested for 2 weeks
Used it at home and while at the gym
Predominantly tested using Apple Music on an Apple iPhone 16, but also: Google Pixel 7 Pro, Apple MacBook Air M1

Testing the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro was primarily a case of comparisons. In other words, how easy was it to use, and how did the sound quality compare to a smartphone with the same Bluetooth Codecs built in?

To do this, I paired the Dongle Pro first with the Sony WH-1000XM6 (to test LDAC performance) and then with the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 Earbuds (to test aptX Adaptive/Lossless), with the Dongle Pro plugged into an iPhone 16.

Since both devices support Bluetooth Multipoint, I was able to pair them simultaneously with a Motorola ThinkPhone, which supports both codec families.

While using the same Apple Music Playlist on both the iPhone and the ThinkPhone, I swapped back and forth between these two sources, listening for any perceptible differences. I couldn’t detect any.

For additional testing, I swapped the dongle over to my MacBook Air and a Google Pixel 7 Pro. Both performed without issue.

First reviewed September 2025

Questyle QCC Dongle Pro: Price Comparison

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September 23, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

NVIDIA to invest $100b in OpenAI, Worldcoin price eyes bounce

by admin September 23, 2025

OpenAI and Nvidia have announced a blockbuster collaboration, with the global chipmaker committing to a $100 billion investment in the artificial intelligence company, whose chief executive officer, Sam Altman, is a co-founder of the Worldcoin cryptocurrency project.

Summary

OpenAI and Nvidia partner on a 10 gigawatts deployment of the AI chipmaker’s systems.
Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI.
Worldcoin price could rally amid the landmark collaboration.

Worldcoin mirrored the broader weakness across the cryptocurrency market, declining by double digits to lows of $1.31. However, while the token remained close to a crucial support level, bulls were looking to push higher as price hovered around $1.35.

NVIDIA to invest $100 billion in OpenAI

Optimism across the Worldcoin (WLD) community got a boost as OpenAI disclosed it had scored a multi-billion dollar investment from Nvidia

In an announcement on Sept. 22, OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, revealed its strategic partnership with NVIDIA, the global giant in artificial intelligence computing. As part of the agreement, Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI.

The partnership brings together two of the world’s top players in the AI space, with the strategic collaboration set to allow OpenAI to build and deploy 10 gigawatts of AI data centers via Nvidia systems. Nvidia will invest the $100 billion progressively with every deployment of a gigawatt, the first of which is expected in the second half of 2026, the companies said.

OpenAI eyes new AI breakthroughs

According to details, OpenAI is tapping Nvidia as its preferred compute partner and will look to utilize this collaboration to bring the next AI breakthrough to market. The company that developed ChatGPT sees more benefits for businesses and communities.

“Everything starts with compute,” said Altman, OpenAI co-founder and CEO. “Compute infrastructure will be the basis for the economy of the future, and we will utilize what we’re building with NVIDIA to both create new AI breakthroughs and empower people and businesses with them at scale.”

And Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang added:

“NVIDIA and OpenAI have pushed each other for a decade, from the first DGX supercomputer to the breakthrough of ChatGPT. This investment and infrastructure partnership mark the next leap forward—deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence.”

The collaboration adds to the many integrations between top ecosystem partners including Oracle, Microsoft, SoftBank, and Stargate.

AI infrastructure that comes with these milestones has seen OpenAI grow its weekly active user count to more than 700 million across enterprises, small businesses, and developers. The company plans to expand this reach with “artificial general intelligence that benefits all of humanity,” a key impact that is also critical to Worldcoin’s proof-of-human system.

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September 23, 2025 0 comments

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (Jordan Pettitt - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Crypto Trends

CleanSpark (CLSK) Shares Rise After Getting $100M Bitcoin-Backed Credit From Coinbase Prime

by admin September 22, 2025

Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark (CLSK) has secured a new $100 million credit facility with Coinbase Prime, giving it access to fresh capital without selling its bitcoin holdings or raising equity.

The shares rose nearly 6% in post-market trading, after the announcement on Monday.

The mining company will use the proceeds for strategic capital expenditures, including expanding CleanSpark’s energy portfolio, scaling its bitcoin mining operations, and investing in high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities, the company said in a press release.

Rather than selling bitcoin to raise cash or selling additional shares of the firm—a move that can dilute the current shareholders—CleanSpark is using the asset as collateral to keep growing while holding on to what it mines.

“Delivering accretive growth using non-dilutive financing is at the core of CleanSpark’s capital strategy,” said Gary A. Vecchiarelli, CleanSpark’s CFO. “Our ‘Infrastructure First’ strategy has been proven historically and will further enhance shareholder value as we expand into more diversified compute opportunities.”

The new raise comes after recent leadership changes hinted at the miner going beyond just mining bitcoin and diversifying into other revenue opportunities. The focus on HPC isn’t surprising, as more and more bitcoin miners are pivoting into hosting machines that cater to HPC and artificial intelligence computing, which requires a tremendous amount of energy, in their data centers.

Read more: GPU Gold Rush: Why Bitcoin Miners Are Powering AI’s Expansion

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

WIRED Roundup: The Right Embraces Cancel Culture

by admin September 22, 2025

Zoë Schiffer: Right.

Manisha Krishnan: … which some human design followers believe that your spleen is a better guide than your gut. And so he ended up breaking it off with one of the women that he was dating in Love Is Blind because he said, “His spleen was silent.”

Zoë Schiffer: I was locked in for the first part of this. And then we got to the spleen thing. What does that mean? Is it literally a gut sense? What are they tapping into?

Manisha Krishnan: Honestly, it is really confusing because they have all of these rules around deconditioning yourself from essentially forces within you that don’t jive with who you really are, but the way that you decondition yourself seems to be in some cases very rigid. I saw one person on Reddit posting about how they only eat polenta because that’s the only ingredient that will allow them to become their truest self according to human design.

Zoë Schiffer: I do want to know, do you know what I am?

Manisha Krishnan: Yes.

Zoë Schiffer: Because you asked me my birthday yesterday, so I’m on the edge of my seat.

Manisha Krishnan: I did. I plugged it in. And you are a generator, which is an energy type defined with a sacral center characterized by a consistent self-sustaining life force—

Zoë Schiffer: Wow.

Manisha Krishnan: … that provides stamina and the capacity to do fulfilling work.

Zoë Schiffer: Did WIRED write this?

Manisha Krishnan: I know, I was just thinking that.

Zoë Schiffer: Well, great. I love that for myself. Coming up after the break, we’ll dive into the backlash that some people from graphic designers to high-profile entertainers have received after commenting on Charlie Kirk’s death.

[break]

Zoë Schiffer: Welcome back to Uncanny Valley. I’m Zoë Schiffer. I’m joined today by senior culture editor Manisha Krishnan. Manisha, the story that keeps on reverberating this week is that of Charlie Kirk’s death. Our colleague, Jake Lahut, has been covering how the Trump administration in the general right-wing base has maintained their position that Kirk’s death was a result of leftist ideology and maybe even a coordinated attack. Both of these claims have been debunked, but it’s done little to change people’s minds. And this week, you reported that different artists have been facing professional retaliation for voicing their opinions on Kirk. What did you find in your reporting?

Manisha Krishnan: There’s been a bunch of people from different industries that have lost their jobs over posting unsympathetically about Charlie Kirk’s death, from journalists to video game developers. But one that stuck out in my mind was I interviewed this trans writer who was doing a comic series for DC Comics. She referred to Charlie Kirk as a Nazi bitch after he died, and she was suspended on Bluesky for a week, and DC fired her and they’ve canceled the series. And that really stuck out to me because she has said that Charlie Kirk, he was staunchly anti-trans. I mean, he was anti a lot of things that weren’t a straight Christian white male, and he was pretty loud and proud about those views. And so I think it really does stick out to me because it’s almost like, are people expected to perform grief for someone who espoused hateful views towards the community that they’re part of, but it almost feels like this really, really hard line that a lot of corporations have taken. Making someone apologize is one thing, but literally disappearing art, canceling an entire series or South Park deciding not to re-air an episode about Charlie Kirk that he himself loved. He said he really liked it. I just think it goes a little bit beyond just reprimanding people.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

Conservation officer looking out on mountain

Esports

Man in gorilla suit arrested for attacking stranger & stealing his shoes

by admin September 22, 2025

Two men have been arrested after attacking another man and stealing his shoes in downtown Nashville, Tennessee — all while one of them was wearing a gorilla costume as a disguise.

In one of the stranger crimes we’ve seen this year, two men are behind bars following a robbery that took place at 4 AM on Sunday morning, September 21.

18-year-old Xavier Rhodes and his accomplice, 22-year-old Sherrod Robinson, reportedly worked together to mug their victim, identified as Eli Jordan Walker, during a 4:45 AM excursion in Nashville’s entertainment district.

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Walker said that Rhodes, who was wearing a gorilla suit, ambushed him and placed him in a headlock, while Robinson, who had donned a Hawaiian shirt, repeatedly kicked and punched him while he was incapacitated.

He added that the duo made off with his shoes, leaving him beaten, barefoot, and thoroughly befuddled. Police reports state that the victim suffered several cuts and bruises, along with a bloody nose, as a result of the seemingly random attack.

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Thief in gorilla suit caught after mugging man in Nashville

After fleeing the scene, Rhodes and Robinson didn’t change out of their unusual garb. Instead, they made their way to the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge, where citizens spotted them. Police caught up with thieves, who were still wearing the gorilla suit and gaudy shirt.

Law enforcement stated that Robinson denied taking Walker’s shoes upon questioning, but did admit to scuffling with the victim.

Local news outlets state that Rhodes has been charged with felony robbery and released on a $14,000 bond. Robinson was also charged with felony robbery, but remains in jail on a $15,000 bond.

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No other information has been released at the time of writing, but this isn’t the only weird crime to raise eyebrows recently.

Earlier this year, a California man stole a truck and took police on a lengthy chase before crashing into a paint store. Miraculously, he casually walked away from the scene unscathed, but was quickly apprehended by police shortly thereafter.

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And in June, a 50-year-old man from Queens was caught after orchestrating numerous high-end thefts at luxury jewelers across the United States, using sleight-of-hand techniques to make off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in precious stones.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

BitMine Now Holds 2% of Ethereum, Raises $365M to Buy More

by admin September 22, 2025

BitMine Technologies, a crypto treasury company led by Tom Lee, shared today that it now owns 2.4 million Ethereum coins. This is more than 2% of the total Ethereum supply.

In the press release, the company said the coins are worth about $10.1 billion at today’s prices, making it the biggest company holder of Ethereum in the world. The company confirmed that it bought its coins at an average price of $4,500 each. This is about 7.25% higher than the current market price of $4,200. Even though the coins are worth less now than when they were bought, BitMine believes this is a smart move for the long run.

According to Strategic ETH Reserve data, no other corporate treasury holds as much ETH. The second biggest corporate holder is SharpLink Gaming, which owns 838,150 coins.

Bitmine Holding surpass other cooperate holding | Source: Strategic ETH Reserve

BitMine’s combined assets, including its cash, equity, and crypto combined, now total $11.4 billion. This places the firm as one of the biggest crypto treasuries, along with Strategy, which owns 639,835 coins worth over $74 billion.

Meanwhile, the company started buying ETH aggressively earlier this month, when it purchased 46,255 ETH for $200 million. It added $65 million more shortly after which increased its share of total supply to 1.5%.

To raise more money, BitMine sold 5.22 million shares at $70 each on September 22, which is a 14% premium compared to the September 19 closing price of $61.29. The company also issued 10.4 million warrants that can be used to buy shares later at $87.50 each. From the share sale alone, BitMine raised $365 million. If all warrants are used, it could collect as much as $913 million more.

BitMine stock (BMNR) Share Chart | Source: Yahoo Finance

But, despite this, BitMine stock (NYSE: BMNR) is down 10% in pre-market trading today. At the time of writing, it has dropped under $55 as Ethereum also slipped 7.42% on the same day, according to CoinMarketCap.

Also Read: Low-Risk DeFi Can Lead Ethereum, How Search Did For Google: Buterin

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

Screenshots show stills from the new Star Wars movie.

Game Updates

Star Wars Fans Are Bummed About How Boring Mandalorian And Grogu Looks

by admin September 22, 2025

Our first trailer for the next Star Wars movie has arrived and it looks incredibly forgettable. Fans are picking apart a 90-second clip of The Mandalorian and Grogu and mourning the franchise’s loss of visual identity. Is Disney’s take on the sci-fi galaxy far, far away cooked, or is this just how a movie about a dude in a helmet and a green puppet is going to look in the year 2025?

Is the Mandalorian and Grogu trailer bad-looking? Yes. Is that sort of what I expected from the post-Disney+ entertainment industrial complex in the age of streaming? Also yes. Does any of this matter? Not to me. I did not stick around through three increasingly mediocre seasons of The Mandalorian for the second coming of Akira Kurosawa. I am coming to the movie to see some weird-looking aliens, goofy robots, and flashy lasers blow some stuff up. Even by those standards the teaser was a C minus, but the latest example of Star Wars mediocrity has some fans fully crashing out.

I don’t want to sound negative but this trailer makes the movie feel more like a filler episode of the TV show. Even visually it doesn’t look like an upgrade. https://t.co/UqCJyzwrcw

— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) September 22, 2025

They had the opportunity make a beautiful space western set in the Star Wars universe and they cooked up abysmal dogshit instead. Movie made for the sole purpose of selling more Grogu toys. https://t.co/YwRwdxHu7M

— Barto (@bartonovopolis) September 22, 2025

Do you remember when The Mandalorian used to look like this? Where did we go wrong… https://t.co/nw6ieNXuse

— The Sietch of Sci-Fi | (@TSoS_) September 22, 2025

Couldn’t even bother to make this look like it belongs on the big screen. Disney Plus at the movies. https://t.co/gD2KPxtCOq

— Jeff Zhang 张佶润 (@strangeharbors) September 22, 2025

(This isn’t a comment on the quality)

There was a time when a new Star Wars trailer was an EVENT in itself. You would hear the rumours swirling & the fake descriptions going around. And when it dropped and we got our first NEW glimpse…it was magical.

That feeling is long gone https://t.co/GOmTwk3L4Q

— ΩStuntman MikeΩ (@Stuntman_Mik3) September 22, 2025

Mando so bad it’s fast tracking sequel redemption by like 10 years https://t.co/dHynhKAu14

— ol snokey (@snoketube) September 22, 2025

this could be fun but it really shows how much Disney have cheapened their brand that the first Star Wars movie in 7 years just looks like a more expensive episode of a TV show in every possible way https://t.co/LELjKg5Bor

— Brendan Hodges (@metaplexmovies) September 22, 2025

look what they took from us https://t.co/Xp7Cgnfj4L pic.twitter.com/XRIgr7G7ib

— Shadow Knight (@shadowknightdk) September 22, 2025

In case you think this is just an algorithmically spawned dunkfest, the vibes are similar on YouTube. “This just looks like one episode of the show,” reads one comment. “I feel like people were more excited for the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith re release than for this one,” reads another. My favorite, though, is this summary: “50% of the comments: Jimmy Kimmel and the Empire, 49.9% of the comments: This Looks Like Season 4, 0.01%: Somehow Razor Crest returned!” Folks on Reddit are taking things more in stride. “Kinda looks like it’s just supposed to be fun, which I totally dig,” reads the top reaction. “Like if it’s just a movie length episode I’m down with that.”

That is about what I expected as well. I think it’s partly a testament to how much the Disney Star Wars shows, even when they’re bad, have looked like big-budget productions that The Mandalorian and Grogu movie just looks like a feature-length episode. I also think people are being a bit dramatic in rushing to judge a teaser for a film about back-bench characters who didn’t exist until just a few years ago against the most iconic stills across decades of original movies. It also feels like people have forgotten that Jon Favreau is directing.

What are the most memorable shots that come to mind from Elf, Zathura: A Space Adventure, and Cowboys & Aliens? I’ll wait. He’s not that type of director. The most visually arresting 60 seconds of footage he ever recorded was himself cooking a grilled cheese in Chef. He brings other virtues to his filmmaking, most of which are probably hard to get across in a 90-second teaser where almost no one talks. That is not a defense of The Mandalorian and Grogu, but it’s a point worth keeping in mind when judging the pre-release marketing for a movie about a stoic cowboy and his green muppet baby that’s literally called The Mandalorian and Grogu.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 28: Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk stands in the back of the room as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump has announced Pirro, a former Fox News personality, judge, prosecutor, and politician, after losing support in the Senate for his first choice, Ed Martin, over his views on the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Product Reviews

Ready or Not studio fires community manager for saying ‘nothing of value was lost’ following Charlie Kirk’s shooting

by admin September 22, 2025

Void Interactive, developer of the controversial SWAT simulator Ready or Not, has confirmed that it has terminated its community manager following an uproar over a comment they made in the game’s Discord about Charlie Kirk’s murder.

As reported by Kotaku, the comment was made after the community manager, known as Kaminsky, was asked to add variations of Kirk’s name to the list of filtered words on the Discord server. “Funny you mention that because me and my roommate are literally just talking about him getting shot,” Kaminsky replied. “All I have to say is: Nothing of value was lost.”

(Image credit: Kaminsky (Discord))

Images of the comment were quickly shared on Reddit and social media channels, along with demands that Kaminsky be fired. Void Interactive very quickly complied: Kaminsky was removed from the Discord server and their presence largely scrubbed from Void Interactive’s website, and just ahead of the weekend the studio posted a message on Steam saying Kaminsky was gone.

“We are aware of comments made by our community manager about a recent tragic event,” Void Interactive wrote. “These statements do not reflect our values or represent our company.

“We have ended our relationship with this individual and reminded our team of the responsibility we all share when communicating on public platforms. Our focus remains on fostering a respectful and professional community around Ready or Not.”

(Image credit: Void Interactive)

Kaminsky’s dismissal came at roughly the same time as that of Drew Harrison, an artist at Ghost of Yotei studio Sucker Punch, who was fired after nearly 10 years for writing, “I hope the shooter’s name is Mario so that Luigi knows his bro got his back”—a reference to Luigi Mangione, the prime suspect in the 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson—shortly after Kirk was shot.

Earlier today, Storm Lancers developer ProbablyMonsters announced that it too had fired someone for making comments it said “were offensive and violated our social media policy.” Other studios, including Blizzard and Bethesda, have also been targeted by campaigns calling for similar crackdowns on employees making negative comments about Kirk.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Borderlands 4’s Big Jump Glitch Is Wild And Won’t Be Patched

by admin September 22, 2025

A newly discovered bug in open-world looter shooter Borderlands 4 is letting players use a specific legendary gun to fling themselves across large sections of the game’s map. It looks wild and could be useful for speedrunners. But Gearbox is watching the glitch and might, if needed, fix it to avoid technical problems.

On September 19, Twitch streamer and content creator Bahroo shared a video of himself playing Borderlands 4 while pulling off a technique known online as “Cricket Jumping.” The bug relies on a legendary handgun known as the “Noisy Cricket” and its powerful kick, which sends players flying backward. The gun itself is a reference to the tiny gun with the same name seen in the ’90s sci-fi comedy film Men In Black. Normally, this isn’t the most useful trait. But if you tab out or pause the game at the right time while charging up a shot with the Noisy Cricket, you can send yourself flying for miles. It’s wild to watch in action.

Cricket Jumping has been a known bug since at least September 16, as demonstrated in this short video uploaded by YouTube user Platinum. But it wasn’t until Bahroo and other bigger streamers and creators began sharing videos of the technique that it caught on more and became more publicly known. And that attention eventually got Cricket Jumping spotted by Borderlands 4′s creative director Graeme Timmins. While you might assume someone from Gearbox would not be happy about this bug, Timmins seemed open to not patching it out, provided it doesn’t break the game.

“I’ve got my eye on this,” replied Timmins to a video of the bug on Twitter. “My only worry is streaming issues or if this introduces instability. Not out to ruin people’s fun, but can’t have it cause tech issues. For now, tho, not going to do anything until proven issues arise.”

So for now, it seems like Gearbox is going to let people Cricket Jump all around Kairos, assuming it doesn’t ruin the game for other players or introduce some nasty, less cool bug. Besides, I imagine Gearbox has a lot more to fix in Borderlands 4 right now, like horrible console performance problems, and isn’t too concerned about a silly super jump bug.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Shiba Inu Dev Issues New Security Update On Shibarium Bridge

by admin September 22, 2025

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Shiba Inu core developer Kaal Dhairya has issued a detailed security update following the September 12 incident that exploited validator signing power on the Shibarium PoS bridge to push a malicious state/exit and withdraw multiple assets. The post, published on September 21, 2025 outlines what happened, what has been done so far, and what will govern a phased restoration once independent reviews conclude.

Shiba Inu Core Dev Shares Another Update

In a personal foreword that framed both the technical and human dimensions of the episode, Dhairya opened by distancing himself from any singular leadership mantle and reiterated the original ethos driving his work. “I want to clarify first: I’m not ‘the lead.’ I never was and never want to be. I’m just a builder who bet on SHIB’s ethos,” he wrote, adding that “in moments like these, you realize you may have just been a pawn in the whole game.”

The Shiba Inu core dev cautioned that, given “the sophistication of this attack,” he could not presently vouch for the safety of any existing keys, and he signaled fatigue with expectations that individual contributors could “keep it all together” without broader structural support.

The account of the incident describes how, at 18:44 UTC on September 12, “unauthorized validator signing power was used to push a malicious state/exit through the PoS bridge.” The method, per the update, combined short-lived stake amplification with malicious checkpoint/exit proofs to authorize withdrawals. Post-incident on-chain activity linked to the attacker is said to include sales of portions of ETH, SHIB and ROAR, though the team is withholding the “evolving wallet graph” while containment and coordination with authorities continue. “We’ll release the full technical narrative after doing so no longer increases risk,” the post states.

Immediate measures include restricting specific bridge operations to prevent new unauthorized exits, upgrading and gating contract pathways covering deposits, withdrawals, claims and rewards, and applying “targeted defensive controls against misuse of delegated stake.” The team says it recovered and secured at-risk BONE at the stake-manager level and notes that any short-term BONE stake under the attacker remains “effectively immobilized” by interventions and protocol mechanics.

Key and custody hygiene steps have involved rotating validator signers and migrating contract control to multi-party hardware custody, while live monitoring and automated alerts continue in coordination with exchanges, external security researchers, incident-response firms and relevant authorities.

The update also engages frequently asked questions about validator compromise and operational accountability. It says validator signing keys were “primarily stored in AWS KMS, with rare usage on developer machines,” and that ultimate responsibility for key management lies with operational leadership. While a single intrusion vector has not been confirmed, preliminary possibilities include a developer machine compromise, a cloud KMS compromise, exposure during an AWS-to-GCP migration, or a supply-chain attack, such as via npm.

The post acknowledges decentralization shortcomings underscored by the fact that “10 of 12 validators” signed the malicious state, and it commits to greater validator decentralization, stronger key-rotation policy, tighter custody, improved disclosures, and higher due-diligence thresholds for sensitive access.

A roadmap preview sets out four gated phases. “Containment” remains ongoing with restricted bridge functionality and live monitoring; “Hardening,” in collaboration with Hexens, includes signer/validator hygiene, policy-level controls such as rate limits, challenge windows and circuit-breakers, and deny-list extensions where technically appropriate.

Next, “Safe Restoration” will not begin until independent reviews sign off on mitigations, post-incident integrity checks pass and drills on test environments succeed, with restoration executed in phases and with rollback levers; finally, a comprehensive technical postmortem will precede a community-reviewed remediation path for affected users and liquidity, with the update noting that “token-specific approaches may differ.”

Timelines remain intentionally unspecified: “We won’t publish dates that could be gamed by an adversary,” the team writes, reiterating that updates will post to official channels.

For Shiba Inu token holders and victims, the message is blunt: beware of scams, ignore unverified “recovery/claim portals,” and expect bridge restrictions to persist “until we confirm it’s safe to restore.” Questions about bridging back to Ethereum, the timing of bridge resumption, validator rotation and full audit all receive the same answer—safety first, details to follow when security allows. On fund recovery and potential compensation, the team says options are being evaluated and any proposal will be published for community review “once viable and secure.”

The Shiba Inu developer closes by reaffirming priorities and situating communication within a disciplined cadence. “Our priorities are unchanged: protect users, secure the network, contain the attacker, and restore services safely.” The next major communication, he writes, will be the technical postmortem and a remediation proposal “once the environment is safe for full disclosure.”

At press time, Shiba Inu traded at $0.00001207.

Shiba Inu price downtrend continues, 1-week chart | Source: SHIBUSDT on TradingView.com

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

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September 22, 2025 0 comments