Month: September 2024

The Sims doesn’t have a plot, or any kind of story really, beyond what the player makes up for it. It’s a “life simulation” sandbox game in which “sims” live out their day-to-day lives, furnishing houses, establishing relationships, pursuing careers, maybe dying in swimming pools, all under the control of the player and with no particular narrative direction. And somehow, it’s being made into a movie.

Word of The Sims flick comes by way of The Hollywood Reporter, and it’s got some big names attached. It’s being produced by LuckyChap, the production company co-founded by Margot Robbie, along with Vertigo Entertainment, and the script is being co-written by Kate Herron, who directed the first season of the Disney+ series Loki.

And yes, Electronic Arts is involved in the projec…

Robot vacuums have always seemed like helpful, friendly little guys to me, but perhaps that’s because I haven’t used them much. I love the idea of a little dude who goes around bumping into things and making my house cleaner. The idea seems less charming now I’ve found out they can take pictures of you on the toilet then upload them to social media without you knowing. That’s a level of weird bullying I don’t want from my mechanical servant.

Eileen Guo over at MIT Technology Review has been digging into how such photographs from iRobot’s Roomba vacuums, with clearly visible faces of users, made their way to social media. The pictures include very candid shots of people doing personal things in their home, including images of women and children on the toilet. Guo also made an excel…