iFixit hasn't yet done a full teardown of the new Magic Keyboard designed for the new iPad Pro models, but the repair site today partnered with x-ray company Creative Electron to create Magic Keyboard x-rays that give us a view of just what's inside.


The Magic Keyboard uses scissor switch keys instead of butterfly keys, which have now been effectively eliminated from Apple's product lineup. The scissor switch mechanism is clearly visible in the x-ray view, and iFixit calls it the simplest mechanism in the accessory, but the biggest improvement compared to the Smart Keyboard.

Below the keyboard, there are metal plates that iFixit believes are for reinforcing the keyboard's body against bending, and the trackpad is a new design that's different from MacBook trackpads.

There appear to be multiple buttons under the trackpad to capture presses, while the MacBook Trackpads have no buttons and simulate presses with haptic feedback.


There are at least two spring loaded hinge designs at the folding point, featuring both a small coil and a larger coil, plus there are two cables for connecting the Smart Connector to the keyboard for power and data transfer.

Lots and lots of magnets are visible in the x-ray, with the magnets used to hold the Magic Keyboard on the ‌iPad Pro‌. There's a whole ring of tiny magnets around the camera cutout, which iFixit said was a "lot of little polarized bits" to line up, space out, and configure with the ‌iPad Pro‌ components.

According to iFixit, there's more going on in the Magic Keyboard than there is in many laptops, which could explain its price point. Apple charges $299 for the 11-inch Magic Keyboard and $349 for the 12.9-inch version.

This article, "An X-Ray View of Apple's Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has launched a new web page that brings together links and information about its online services for customers shopping from home during the global health crisis.


Titled "Everything you love about our stores is online," the new catch-all page links from the Apple.com home page and includes details about no-contact delivery options, Apple Specialist help, financing and credit options, Apple Trade In, Apple Card, order status checking, service and support.

The page also links out to "Today at Apple - At home," a series of fun how-to videos to help users get creative during the ongoing stay-at-home measures, and there's a series of category links for customers to explore products on Apple's online store.

Apple has been gradually re-opening its retail stores in countries where lockdowns have eased, although some are operating on limited hours.

Apple CEO Tim Cook last week said that Apple was going to reopen stores in Austria and Australia this week, and Apple's sole Apple Store in Vienna will be reopening on Tuesday, May 5.

We're still waiting to hear exactly when stores in North America will reopen, but Cook also said that Apple is planning to reopen a few stores in the U.S. starting in May. Store openings will be staggered, with Apple evaluating data that includes local guidelines and recommendations before reopening.
This article, "New Apple Web Page Directs Customers to Its Online Shopping Services" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Popular journaling app Day One today updated to version 4.13, adding support for trackpad navigation on iPad, a new Day View interface, and other improvements.


This release comes after the launch of iOS and iPadOS 13.4, which added support for trackpads and mice on ‌‌iPad‌‌.

After updating, Day One users on ‌iPad‌ can use various trackpad actions to interact with the app, including two-finger swipe down to dismiss, and two-finger horizontal swipe to open and close the journal drawer.

• How to Use a Bluetooth Mouse or Trackpad With Your iPad

The new Day View offers quicker access to daily entries by tapping on or clicking dates in the calendar or the timeline.

Also in this update, Daily Reminders now include additional information like the number of photos taken and locations visited on a given day, and the Settings pages now provide links to Day One feature documents.

Elsewhere, several bugs have been fixed, including one that caused video thumbnails not to display in the media timeline, and one that prevented photos in the activity feed from showing location or calendar events.

Day One is a free download for iPhone and ‌iPad‌ from the App Store with in-app purchases for premium features. [Direct Link]
This article, "Day One Journaling App Update Adds iPad Trackpad Support, New Day View, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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A new NFC specification announced this week by the NFC Froum will allow future NFC enabled devices to offer wireless charging capabilities, which means a smartphone could be used to charge a small accessory like headphones.


According to the NFC Forum, the Wireless Charging Specification (WLC) will allow smartphones or other NFC charging devices to wirelessly charge small, battery-powered consumer and IoT devices at a power transfer rate of up to one watt.

The 1W rating is much slower than the Qi-based standard used by iPhones and other smartphones. Qi-based wireless charging on the iPhone maxes out at 7.5W, but is even faster on some Android devices.

Charging over NFC would require new hardware, and it's not a feature that can be added to existing devices. The NFC Forum believes the WLC specification could be used to complement Qi-based wireless charging.

It works using a single antenna to manage communications and charging, which is convenient for low-power devices like smart watches, fitness trackers, and earbuds that already use NFC for connectivity because there's no need to build in Qi support.

"The NFC Forum's Wireless Charging Technical Specification allows for wireless charging of small battery-powered devices like those found in many of the estimated 36 billion IoT devices in use today," said Koichi Tagawa, chair, NFC Forum. "NFC wireless charging is truly transformative because it changes the way we design and interact with small, battery-powered devices as the elimination of plugs and cords enables the creation of smaller, hermetically-sealed devices."

Apple in 2015 joined the NFC Forum and participates in the approval of new NFC specifications and developments.

Rumors in 2019 suggested that Apple was working on bilateral wireless charging that would allow its iPhones to charge the AirPods and the Apple Watch, but the feature was ultimately nixed. At the time, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the two-way wireless charging feature Apple was exploring did not meet Apple's requirements.

Samsung has implemented bilateral wireless charging in its smartphones, but the Wireless PowerShare option does not use NFC and is powered by the Qi-based charging coils in the device. Samsung's smartphones can charge other smartphones or accessories like headphones that support Qi wireless chargers.
This article, "New NFC Specification Will Let Smartphones Charge Small Devices" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, Flayrah contributor 2cross2affliction wrote in the article 'Sonic the Hedgehog' ... the movie ... the trailer:

Fun fact: no movie directly adapted from a video game has ever scored as "fresh" on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. [...] But, a new challenger approaches! [...] The question of whether this movie is going to be any good, perhaps unfairly, has mostly already been answered by the Internet. The answer so far has been no. No. Just no. Okay, maybe Jim Carrey? But otherwise, why? Why the human teeth? Why ten times?

Whoops. Turns out Sonic the Hedgehog somehow, against the odds, is rated Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 64% positive reviews from 175 professional opinions, as of this writing.

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Video from Thabo Meerkat, transcribed

Welcome to another edition of Digging Up Positivity! This episode is dedicated to the many volunteers that make all those amazing conventions and charities possible. But besides them, we are covering some animation news and other (maybe otter?) tidbits!

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Dan Avidan, after years of dancing around topic of being a furry and which he would be, seems to have settled on his fursona of a cyberpunk wolf in a recently released music video. The video features animal characters with trans-humanist enhancements. The coloration has a signature bleed of 80s style animation.

The story portrays a pack of wolves seeking vengeance against a stag mogul after having their kin slaughtered at his hand. The style of animation and situation has some striking similarities to that of Caravan Palace's music video for Lone Digger.

This was brought to my attention by Majira Strawberry who asked why know one was talking about it. The answer to that in my case is object pertinence.

For those who are fans of cyberpunk and animation this is certainly worth the watch.

Yes, a cancellation

Yes, a postponed con

Yes, both

No I haven't had any plans altered

The internet was seen as a major catalyst for the furry fandom finding one another during the times before we held conventions. During that earlier period in the 1990s, conventions and meets were rare, and finding one another was done mostly through the chat rooms and message boards of the past. There was no bandwidth for video or sharing major animation projects, therefore most of our intimate conversations were textual.

For many younger furries, it was a time that was lost in the annals of a distant history. Instead they found themselves joining in amongst a wave of growing conventions being held in various places around the world on any given weekend. Ones where those in custom fursuits march out in the streets openly rather than feeling a stifling isolation of being cooped up in hotel spaces, with a handful of home made creations, being wary of a hostile media looking for a freak show.

Coming out of 2019, it seemed that the time where furry was just an internet thing was fully behind it. However a series of unfortunate events were in line for 2020, a year that has led humanity to be forced into their rooms by an irate Mother Nature as an easily spread virus has forced governments around the globe to take drastic measures to slow its spread and put strict limits on social gatherings. A situation which has forced both the furry fandom, and the internet that brought it together, back to their roots.

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After the bumper here, the review will get into spoiler territory. I will say that if you are a Sonic fan this movie will give you a sense of pride as it is far better than it should have had any right in being. Taking the franchise’s lore and resetting it to tell its own story, but retaining the strong characterization and quip heavy personalities of Sonic and Robotnik that makes their rivalry such a strong one. It also keeps the first entry simple with the hedgehog and doctor being the only two characters from the universe being in the film. This makes the story stronger since it can develop those two far more and not have to worry about any other kind of side character fan service for now.

Hey, at least now Sonic fans can brag to Mario ones that Mario may still be the king of games, but Sonic blew the plumber’s cinematic pieces out of the water. Not that that was a high bar I suppose. Then again, having better quality games than Sonic these days isn’t one either (the author quips while using a quote from Sonic Forces for his review’s headline).

In the video game Sonic the Hedgehog, timing is everything. While at the heart of the game is a fast paced platformer, its foundation has always been learning the layout of a level and timing your actions appropriately. In a twist, the timing of this film and its release had quite a bit of impact on my view of it.

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Animal Crackers (trailer) is a 94-minute computer-animated children's movie. The brainchild of Scott Sava, it caught the early attention of furry fandom at least as far back as 2015. Concept animation showed a guy haphazardly munching on animal-shaped cookies that turned him into the animals. As time went on, Sava brought in financial backers, a co-director (Tony Bancroft, who'd worked on several Disney movies), and a co-writer (Dean Lorey). The finished product premiered at the Annecy Film Festival in 2017... and then vanished.

It turns out that Sava had made the mistake of not securing a distributor ahead of time. With very little bargaining power, it eventually got shown in China in 2018, and some other countries in 2019.

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A great many people only experience science fiction by what my mother and millions of others referred to as "monster movies". From Frankenstein to Aliens and beyond, the unknown and the unexplored are often our undoing. Bleak Horizons, edited by Tarl Hoch, is a wonderful collection of 15 stories that mix SF and Horror with various levels of anthropomorphic settings and characters. And, full disclosure, one of those stories is mine. Happily, the mix includes more than just blood thirsty monsters and end of the universe scenarios.

Overall my favorite stories in this anthology are Hardwire, Pentangle, and The Ouroboros Plate. My least favorites are 4/13/2060 and Not Like Us. Below is a short review of all the pieces. I think you should snag a copy, if only to read my favorites and have a taste for this genre. However, I also really enjoyed Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station 3 so you have every right to question my taste.

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The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper is a collection of seven short stories written by A. J. Fitzwater centred around Cinrak, a lesbian, capybara pirate. It has a couple of strong elements as well as several weak points. I struggled with my thoughts as I read it and, in the end, I would say that, overall, I found it frustrating.

I will start this review briefly talking about politics. It might seem like an unusual starting point but the introduction makes clear that the book is political and it touches on several hot button issues.

Come for handsome, huggable Cinrak in a dapper three-piece, stay for her becoming a house-ship Mother to an enormous found family, the ethical polyamory, trans boy chinchilla, genderqueer rat mentor, fairy, and whale, drag queen mer, democratic monarchy, socialist pirates, and strong unionization.

What I do like about the way politics is handled in this book, is that it is not set up as a conflict between opposing ideologies; the book presents its favoured way of seeing the world and just leaves it as that. Even the religious character (and there is a fascinating take on religion inside) is played off sympathetically. However, by taking the stances it does, the book is also going to be, though it has no regrets about it, alienating for certain readers. If you can not tolerate a heavy emphasis on, and I quote, LGBTQIA characters, then this book is definitely not for you and you may as well stop here. On the other hand, if that’s what you crave, it may be exactly what you want and you should read further.

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Video from Thabo Meerkat, transcribed

Hey there, and welcome to the April 2020 edition of Digging Up Positivity from a rapidly changing world. But even in these weird times, there are still a lot of positive things to be found!

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As governments restrict gatherings of people, furry conventions are being postponed or canceled. Here's a quick run down of events in April, May, and June and their status as of May 5 17:28 EDT (UTC-4) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic - updates to come.

A new section has been added for past events impacted for historical purposes.

Links go to statements if available, or to their Twitter feed or site. See also: Furry Fandom and the Internet forced back to roots by viral outbreak

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Linda McMahon is running for the US Senate in Connecticut. For twenty (20) years, she ran World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband, Vince McMahon. A few years ago, a documentary film examined the WWE's celebration of violence against women. Her campaign doesn't want Connecticut voters to see that film. Watch these excerpts from the film to see why. Continue reading →

Glenn Greenwald predicts over the next four years that "it's all going to get much worse", with President Obama shifting politically more to the right while the Democratic base continues to support him. Continue reading →

Cornel West and Tavis Smiley criticize President Barack Obama for being to the right of even President Richard Nixon. Continue reading →

Thinking of using TurboTax to file your tax returns? Think again. The Minnesota Department of Revenue advises against using Intuit software to file tax returns! It found unacceptable errors in Intuit tax software, including TurboTax, ProSeries, Lacerte, and Intuit online. Continue reading →

Have you ever noticed that the Internal Revenue Service's regulations often are illogical? Does anyone at the IRS think through its regulations? Continue reading →

Accountants CPA Hartford Connecticut LLC:  This is a rush transcript for April 26, 2015. It may contain errors. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: And the author of “Clinton Clash,” Peter Schweizer, joins us now. Thank you for joining us this morning, Peter. … Continue reading →

On April 30, 2015 Ed Schultz, host of The Ed Show, interviews Senator Bernie Sanders on his announcement that he will run for President of the United States in the Democratic Primary. Continue reading →

CNN Brianna Keilar interviews Senator Bernie Sanders on State of the Union May 17 2015. Senator Bernie Sanders says the American people want and deserve a serious debate on the serious issues facing our country today instead of merely the same old, endless 30 second, ad hominem, attack ads. Continue reading →

The Vermont senator and presidential candidate talks to Chris Hayes about his differences with Hillary Clinton and the prospects for his presidential candidacy. Continue reading →

The Vermont Senator and Presidential candidate talks Hillary Clinton, the 2016 race, and an essay he wrote in the 70's about sex. Continue reading →

The evidence is adding up that this election is a SHAM! Exit polls do not add up on the Democratic side and regularly predict better results for Bernie than the voting machines are telling us! The mainstream media won't even come close to touching this, and in fact they're even attacking Lee Camp for bringing it up. Don't miss this segment of Redacted Tonight! Continue reading →

we know how politics works in the United States. Whoever—whatever political party gets into government is going to merge with the bureaucracy pretty damn fast. It will be in a position where it has some levers in its hand. And so, as a result, corporate lobbyists will move in to help control those levers. So it doesn’t make much difference in the end. What does make a difference is political accountability, a general deterrence set to stop political organizations behaving in a corrupt manner. Continue reading →

"Well, reducing the election to personalities is kind of infantile at this point. The fact is, we live in a system that Sheldon Wolin calls inverted totalitarianism. It’s a system where corporate power has seized all of the levers of control. There is no way to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs or ExxonMobil or Raytheon." Continue reading →

This is one of the best interviews on American politics ever to be broadcasted. Ralph Nader and Jill Stein discuss our corrupt government and corrupt media controlled by corporations, and explain how we no longer have a democracy but corporate tyranny. Continue reading →

"And you know, we have to stop looking beyond this election cycle and see that this corporate driven ideology, you know, this commodification of the culture, this constant extracting of blood from us as citizens to pay what in essence were private debts of the banks which engaged in casino capitalism, has political consequences. History has taught us that. And Hillary Clinton is only going to further that process." Continue reading →

Questions surrounding Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation continue to grow. On Sunday, Democratic National Committee interim chairperson Donna Brazile defended Clinton’s meetings as secretary of state with Clinton Foundation donors, saying, "When Republicans meet with their donors, with their supporters, their activists, they call it a meeting. When Democrats do that, they call it a conflict." Donna Brazile’s comments come in response to an Associated Press investigation revealing that while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state, more than half of the private citizens she met with during the reporting period had donated to the Clinton Foundation. The AP investigation comes after a three-year battle to gain access to State Department calendars. The analysis shows that at least 85 of 154 people Hillary Clinton had scheduled phone or in-person meetings with were foundation donors. We speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept. His most recent piece is headlined "Why Did the Saudi Regime and Other Gulf Tyrannies Donate Millions to the Clinton Foundation?" Continue reading →

Julian Assange says Donald Trump would not be permitted to win. All of the establishment--Wall Street, Corporate America, the elites, the media, career politicians, et al--is united behind Hillary Clinton. Continue reading →

There's got to be a reason for the Democrats to suppose to exist. And the reason the Democrats are supposed to exist is to be an opposition party to the Republicans. If you're in bed with the same people, taking money from the same people, you're no longer an opposition party. There's no reason for you to exist. And guess what? Don't be surprised that people don't vote for you. Continue reading →

All-in-one External cardreader

Барабанщик METALLICA Lars Ulrich считает, что его родная страна отлично справляется с мировой пандемией COVID-19.

Дания недавно начала медленно снимать ограничения для сдерживания распространения нового коронавируса. Вновь открылись школы для детей до 11 лет, а также малые предприятия, такие как парикмахерские и тату-салоны. Этот шаг был предпринят спустя чуть более месяца после того, как в Копенгагене были закрыты детские сады, начальные и средние школы, а также кафе, рестораны, бары, тренажёрные залы и парикмахерские. Кроме того, Дания расширила тестирование на коронавирус, включив в него людей со слабыми симптомами. Ранее тестировались только те, у кого симптомы были умеренными или тяжёлыми. Другие ограничения остаются в силе по крайней мере до 10 мая. Границы закрыты, а собрания ограничены 10 людьми.

Ulrich, родившийся в Дании и живший там до 16 лет, а затем переехавший в Лос-Анджелес, обсуждал пандемию коронавируса 28 апреля во разговора с Marc'ом Benioff'ом:

«Дания была одним из первых государств в мире, которое действительно пошло на полное закрытие страны, и там зарегистрировали самые низкие показатели заболеваемости во всей Западной Европе. Всего полторы недели назад они начали открывать детские сады и школы. И пока всё идёт хорошо. Но пока ещё рано говорить о полном успехе.

Я думаю, что мы все должны понимать, где бы мы ни были, по мере того, как мир снова открывается, это не произойдёт за один-два дня, как он был закрыт. Так что это будет очень постепенно. Как мы видим, даже в США есть места, которые начинают открываться, — есть они и в Европе, в Азии и так далее. У каждой страны будет свой набор средств и свои способы возвращения к новой жизни. Но Дания, за которой я ежедневно слежу, ведь я читаю датские газеты и общаюсь с моими друзьями в Дании, уже начала этот процесс. И я думаю, что они показывают весьма впечатляющий старт. Цифры, статистика и всё то, что не претерпело радикальных изменений, на самом деле, показатели продолжают снижаться. Как вы знаете, тут совсем не так, как было в некоторых азиатских странах, когда было дано небольшое послабление, и цифры вновь поползли вверх. Но в Дании пока это выглядит многообещающе.

Когда я думаю о Дании, я думаю только о слове "мы". В Дании всё всегда "мы" и "нас", и куда меньше про "я" и "меня". И поэтому, когда я думаю о том, что Дания пережила этот кризис, я очень горжусь тем, что называю себя датчанином. И я думаю, что прогресс, который там достигается, безусловно, воодушевляет и вдохновляет всех нас».

Когда ведущий спросил у Lars'a, не захочет ли он вернуться в Данию, если коронавирусный кризис в США усугубится, тот ответил, что у него всё ещё есть датский паспорт, и пошутил, что он спит, положив его под подушку:

«Мой датский паспорт находится рядом, если он вдруг понадобится!» #Metallica #ModernRock #Modern_Rock #AvantgardeRock #Avantgarde_Rock #HeavyMetal #Heavy_Metal #SymphonicMetal #Symphonic_Metal #ThrashMetal #Thrash_Metal

Бывший гитарист MACHINE HEAD и нынешний участник VIO-LENCE Phil Demmel в недавней беседе ответил на вопрос о том, как пандемия повлияет на туровую индустрию:

«Да, думаю, будет жёстко. С VIO-LENCE у нас было масса классных предложений на этот год, и у меня были ещё кое-какие наметки — очень интересные варианты, так что это всё очень разочаровывает, правда. Если послушать нашего вокалиста, то он верит, что всё быстро вернётся на круги своя, так что я бы заручился его оптимизмом и тоже думаю, что всё вернется к тому, что было, однако я остаюсь и реалистом в плане того, что они вряд ли быстро разрешат потным телам карабкаться друг на друга — возможно, это будет последним, что они разрешат, так что да — меня это беспокоит.

У меня с женой есть бар, так что наше дело уже шесть недель как прикрыто, и вот это вызывает беспокойство. Мы надеемся на лучшее, пытаемся не зацикливаться на этом и не сильно беспокоиться, чтобы не вгонять себя в стрессовое состояние.

Мы в безопасности, мы были подготовлены к ситуации, так что я просто надеюсь, что большинство людей останется здоровым, и мы как можно быстрее вернёмся к нормальной жизни». #Vio-lence #ThrashMetal #Thrash_Metal

На фоне эпидемии мошенники перестроили свои привычные схемы, и теперь спекулируют на страхах россиян, связанных с коронавирусом. Собрали в одном материале самые распространенные ходы, с помощью которых преступники выуживают из людей деньги или данные их банковских счетов.

Судьба и раньше не часто дарила возможность общения с интересным, думающим собеседником, а уж во времена вирусной изоляции эта роскошь стала ещё более редкой и изысканной. Мне повезло. Актуальные вопросы современности – какой будет жизнь после вируса, и какие уроки он нам даёт, какое животное самое опасное, и при чём тут «анропологическая катастрофа», к чему нам стремиться – обсуждаем с доктором медицинских наук, сексологом и психотерапевтом, писателем и общественным деятелем Львом Щегловым.

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Sven of the KidsLab podcast and the Evil Mad Scientist episode is now live! KidsLab is “a podcast for parents, educators and everybody passionate about #STEAM education.”

Формула 1 обсуждает с создателями сериала Drive to Survive планы съёмок третьего сезона, и по словам Чейза Кэри, переговоры идут весьма успешно...

We were not really sure that the world needed another adaptation of Emma. There are already several, not bad if not spectacular, although none are really the definitive adaptation that fans of the novel hoped for; but all enjoyable in their way. One can nitpick at all of them, but we don’t find any of…

Почему Беларусь не Швеция? Почему Лукашенко отрицает очевидное и усугубляет последствия распространения эпидемии для Беларуси?..

As climate change accelerates, IBM is galvanizing the global science community with a massive infusion of computing resources, weather data, and cloud services to help researchers examine the effects of climate change, and explore strategies to mitigate its effects. IBM pledges to help direct the equivalent of up to $200 million for up to five climate-related projects judged to offer the greatest potential impact, and will then broadly share the experiments' results.

IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge program (@CitiesChallenge) will be sending teams of company experts to five municipalities through 2018 to provide pro bono consultative advice on issues such as affordable housing, economic development, immigration, and public safety.

The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 will feature an all-star creative team including James Tynion IV, Dan Mora, Tom Taylor, and many more

The post PREVIEW: The origin of Punchline is revealed in the JOKER 80TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL appeared first on The Beat.

Real heroes deserve their own comics/Los héroes reales merecen sus propios comics

The post Heroes always come home in David Rubín’s free COVID-19 SUPERMAN story (version en español incluída) appeared first on The Beat.

Taking place tomorrow 1:00PM PT/4:00PM ET

The post WB announces a watch party for JL DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR, the endgame of the DC Animated Movie Universe appeared first on The Beat.