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Marvel Actor Almost Selected as Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Movies
Karl Urban when he eagerly sought the role of Dr. Henry McCoy. In the case of the iconic Captain Kirk, though, several contenders were in the mix before Chris Pine ultimately got the green light.
When the announcement hit that J.J. Abrams would be bringing the franchise back, names such as Matt Damon, Chris Pratt, and Mark Wahlberg were speculated to step into the shoes of James T. Kirk. Nevertheless, one notable actor who nearly donned the famed gold uniform was Marvel’s own Sebastian Stan, the former Winter Soldier, who still appears a bit disappointed about missing the opportunity, even after all these years. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stan recounted the lengths he went to in order to emulate the cherished character played by William Shatner.
“Captain Kirk for J.J. Abrams was one of the first things that I got very close to,” he admitted. “I was really close, and I had a screen test with him at Paramount Studios, and my manager arranged for me to do a separate photoshoot where I would try and imitate all of these William Shatner images just to send to [J.J.] to see how similar I looked and things. Didn’t land the part.” In addition to Pratt and Stan, another Marvel Cinematic Universe star auditioned for Kirk but ultimately secured a different role in “Star Trek” entirely.
Sebastian Stan missed out on Kirk, but Chris Hemsworth became his father
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The Neglected Joy-Con Function Missing in the Nintendo Switch 2
Joy-Con drift that affected the originals immediately upon release. A bit less noticeable is that one unique characteristic from the original Joy-Con is absent in the new versions: an IR motion camera.
When the original Nintendo Switch debuted, the Joy-Con were remarkable gadgets due to their engaging haptic feedback (referred to as HD rumble), among other capabilities you might not have been aware of. One of these was an IR motion camera, positioned at the bottom of the right Joy-Con, capable of tracking movement, shape, and distance. This feature held great promise, but apart from Nintendo Labo, only a limited number of games actually utilized it. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that the IR camera didn’t arrive with the Joy-Con 2, but it does imply that certain games remain unplayable unless you retain your old controllers.
New Joy-Con controllers do not function with some games
Motorola Razr Plus Offered for As Much As $400 Discount at Best Buy This Week
Discounts like this make the adaptable Motorola Razr Plus (2025) significantly more accessible.
Deals on flip phones are fairly frequent for older models, but it’s refreshing to see the newest versions receive substantial price reductions occasionally. Currently, Best Buy is providing up to $400 off the 2025 Motorola Razr Plus when customers allow the retailer to activate the device on their behalf. Even if customers choose to connect it to a carrier independently, they can still save a direct $300 on the device, reducing the cost to just $700.
This promotion applies to the Pantone Mocha variant of the phone, as well as the 256GB storage edition. It features a 6.9-inch interior pOLED display, a 4-inch external display, and 16GB of RAM, delivering excellent performance and multitasking capabilities.
✅Recommended if: you’re in the market for a newer flip phone but want an opportunity to save money; you desire a phone that provides a full day’s battery life, along with rapid charging, AI, and other contemporary features; you seek a foldable device with a highly practical cover screen, instead of one that merely shows information.
❌Skip this deal if: you prefer to save more by opting for an older-generation flip phone, like the 2024 Motorola Razr Plus; you would rather choose a different brand, or you prefer a phone with a longer software update guarantee; you don’t require a foldable device and would prefer something more on the budget-friendly side of the pricing spectrum.
The 2025 Motorola Razr Plus is a refined, Snapdragon-powered foldable device equipped with a helpful cover screen, 16GB of RAM, and an impressive array of cameras. Although it doesn’t quite make it to our top Motorola phones list, it’s just behind the larger Razr Ultra, and it comes in at a somewhat more affordable price.
While it’s an excellent device, the Razr Plus does come at a relatively high price, even with discounts like this. It also somewhat lacks in the update area, especially when compared to rivals from Samsung. Nonetheless, it’s a strong choice for those who upgrade fairly often, and this represents a very attractive price for the 2025 model.
Let’s Solve Puzzles! – Frontend Masters Blog
We can make puzzle pieces in CSS thanks to the amazing clip-path: shape(). Here, Amit takes it further by making a whole grid of them with matched edges and content inside.
Save Up to $500 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Tickets This Week
Starting today, you have 5 days to save nearly $500 on your ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. This offer disappears Friday, April 10, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Register here to secure these low rates.
Store Ceiling Cameras: Enhanced Features Beyond Theft Monitoring
security cameras mounted on the ceilings of stores. It is possible that an AI model identified that the route you frequently take to the nearest register is commonly traversed by the majority of shoppers, indicating to management that this might be the optimal location to showcase promotional items. That’s how you might have found yourself purchasing those additional items that were not included on your shopping list for that specific visit.
The ceiling-mounted security cameras are not necessarily monitoring you or your shopping behaviors without consent. Such actions could violate privacy laws in different regions that could lead to undesirable legal consequences for a store using these methods. However, these security cameras can perform more functions than merely recording video footage for safety reasons. The visual information they gather can be processed by AI systems designed to recognize patterns in retail environments and assist in creating actionable strategies for managers aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction and boosting sales.
Implementing camera vision technology in brick-and-mortar retail establishments is not merely a specialized concept. A Honeywell white paper published last year indicated that 42% of retailers depend on such camera technologies. The research involved 450 retail executives across five markets: the U.S., U.K., Brazil, India, and the Middle East. Additionally, a Grand View Research report revealed that the global market for video analytics is projected to expand from $12.71 billion in 2024 to $37.84 billion by 2030.
What benefits can intelligent security cameras provide for retail stores?
Amazon Adapter Increases PC Storage for $9
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UBTech, Chinese Humanoid Robot Maker, Offers $18M to Hire Chief AI Scientist

UBTechâs salary range for Chief Scientist of Embodied Intelligence runs from $2.2M to $18M. The Shenzhen companyâs humanoid robot revenue grew twenty-fold last year. Bloomberg calls the offer unusual even by Chinese standards. Chinese humanoid robotics company UBTech has posted a global recruitment notice for a Chief Scientist of Embodied Intelligence, offering an annual salary […]
This story continues at The Next Web
Cutting-Edge Technique for Generating Battery-Quality Lithium Addresses Various Issues
discovered to be present in 99% of bottled water. Typically, researchers have been searching for methods to eliminate these substances, as they do not seem to degrade naturally over time, hence their designation as “forever chemicals.” Nonetheless, one group of researchers appears to have proposed an alternative approach by finding a method to utilize forever chemicals to extract lithium, thus providing us with yet another means to acquire one of the essential elements required for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
Forever chemicals are more scientifically referred to as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. They represent a category of synthetic chemicals that have been incorporated into various consumer goods since the 1950s due to their remarkable resistance to heat, water, and grease. Although some of the most prevalent varieties have been gradually eliminated over the years, they continue to persist in the environment and have even been associated with cancer. This is why there has been considerable effort from scientists to explore ways to eradicate them — such as bacteria that consume forever chemicals.
However, based on this innovative research, which employs forever chemicals to extract lithium from high-salinity brine pools, there may be a pathway not only to remediate the presence of forever chemicals in the environment but also to assist us in procuring more lithium as well.
How the process operates
<div class="slide-key image-holder gallery-image-holder credit-image-wrap " data-post-url="https://www.bgr.com/2135581/battery-grade-lithium-made-using-forever-chemicals/" data-post-title="This New Way To Produce Battery-Grade Lithium Kills Two Birds With One
