Technology

Before Sandra Saad was a superhero in a major Marvel property, the actress found herself in an unfortunate, potentially career-killing position for a young performer. She had to turn down acting opportunities. It’s crucial, says Saad, a first-generation Egyptian American, to take on characters that don’t fall into Middle Eastern stereotypes. But the pitfalls of certain roles … [Read more...] about The star of the ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ game is a Muslim Pakistani teenager, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel

TikTok rival Triller has another Trump in its corner as it tries to take on the popular yet embattled Chinese-owned social media app. Donald Trump Jr. on Friday joined Los Angeles-based Triller, posting a seven-minute video attacking TikTok for its ties to China as the president’s executive orders against the service loom. The latest strike at TikTok comes as the app is trying … [Read more...] about Donald Trump Jr. joins TikTok rival Triller as ban on the Chinese-owned app looms

Showing reverence to the past has not always been the game industry’s best quality. New updates and new systems have long had a tendency to render earlier works obsolete. So maybe in this pandemic year the annual Game Awards, a life-long labor of love from producer Geoff Keighley, would take a step back and go for a calmer tone? After all, the show booked Pearl Jam’s Eddie … [Read more...] about Review: The Game Awards wants to take video games seriously, but is the industry ready to follow?

This is one of those stories where the stakes may be small but the issues raised are large, reflecting how difficult it can be for consumers to navigate customer-service obstacle courses.Huntington Beach residents Robin Gross, 69, and her husband, James Brown, 68, are longtime phone customers of Frontier Communications and before that Verizon Communications. Frontier acquired … [Read more...] about Column: ‘It’s the principle of the thing!’ Couple fights for 44-year-old phone number

Jeff Orlowski’s “The Social Dilemma” may be the most important documentary you see this year. An indictment of the tech industry, the film succinctly lays out the damage being done by companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter through their social media platforms and search engines, the how and why of what they are doing and most vitally, what needs to be done to stop it. … [Read more...] about Review: A call to digital arms, ‘The Social Dilemma’ demands change

I played an hour of “Raji: An Ancient Epic” before I stopped and restarted. While it’s not uncommon for players to reboot a game after learning its basic controls, that wasn’t what made me want to begin again. “Raji: An Ancient Epic” reminded me of a sensation I hadn’t thought about much during the pandemic: the feeling of exploring and discovering a new place.“Raji: An … [Read more...] about Discover the joy of a game that transports you into the mythologies of ancient India

Since the COVID-19 pandemic first came to Los Angeles in the spring, the county Department of Public Health has hired nearly 2,600 people to do the manual work of contact tracing: asking people who test positive for the coronavirus to list everywhere they’ve been and everyone they’ve seen in recent days, then tracking down anyone they’ve encountered and testing them before they … [Read more...] about L.A. has a new COVID-19 contact tracing app from a controversial source

Lately I’ve come to realize that the pandemic is the first panhuman event in this planet’s history or certainly in our lifetimes. How? Through globalization and technology, virtually every sentient human from a child of 3 to elders in triple-digit age brackets knows that COVID-19 is happening.In that sense we’ve found something — finally — that unites us all, from the most … [Read more...] about The pandemic of 2020, our first panhuman event

President Trump wants Barbara Klein’s support. His campaign emails her every day with requests for money.Klein, 81, said she recently received nine such emails in a single day.She wishes the president would leave her alone.“I am a Democrat and have never supported Mr. Trump,” the Long Beach resident told me. “Why is this happening? Where did they get my email address?” While a … [Read more...] about Column: When it comes to political emails, ‘democracy can be annoying’

Who is Mario? For 35 years, Nintendo has placed its mascot in warmly fantastical settings and blessed the character with increasingly zany abilities. Most recently he found a sort of pet hat named Cappy, which gave him the power of possession. Mario has had the capacity to toss fireballs, to fly in a raccoon-like suit, shape-shift into a bee and, my personal favorite, take on … [Read more...] about Nintendo’s ‘Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ proves why Mario at 35 is more relevant than ever