Neopets is launching a comeback that it says will start a “new era” for the virtual pet website. The site was launched in 1999 and became one of the most popular and beloved parts of the early internet. Players were able to look after cartoon pets as well as playing games and chatting with other users. Its popularity led it to boast some 25 million users in the 2000s, at a time before the launch of major social networks. Since then it has fallen dramatically, and many parts of the site have broken as technology has moved on. Now the game is under the management of a new leadership team that has promised to “breathe fresh life into Neopia”, the virtual world in which the game’s characters live. “For most of the last decade, the The Neopets Team [TNT] has been under the management of JumpStart Games, which, over time, has struggled to find success for Neopets,” the team wrote in a long blog post. “Beset by ageing site features, a waning user base, and a lack of resources, TNT had to work tirelessly just to barely keep the site afloat. “The resources available to us simply weren’t substantial enough to sustain the level of growth and development that the site needed to keep up with the times, resulting in bugs, unconverted pages, broken games, and a lack of new content. Despite these challenges, TNT pushed onward, guided by an unwavering belief that this iconic brand that has meant so much to so many truly deserved better.” The new version of the site will launch this week, the team said. It wil included updated games: many of the playable parts of the site broke with the demise of Adobe Flash, but the team has committed to updating them and bringing them back to be played. The team also said that they would be introducing new games, including a mobile game called World of Neopets. That is a “social life-simulation game”, the team said, and it will be distinct from the crypto, metaverse and NFT-focus that has come to the site in recent times. Through the 2000s, Neopets was one of the internet’s most popular websites, and in 2005 it was bought by Viacom for $160 million. But in the years that followed it was beset by problems, and was sold again to JumpStart Games in 2014. That era was marked by a range of problems, including technical issues and data breaches that led to people’s passwords being stolen. In recent years, many parts of the site have been left broken. JumpStart Games shut down at the end of June. But a new management team has struck a deal to buy the website and its contents and the new team will be led by Dominic Law, who played the games in the 2000s. Read More Powerful solar flare to disrupt communications, Russians warn ChatGPT rival with ‘no ethical boundaries’ sold on dark web Watch: James Cleverly chairs UN meeting on artificial intelligence

Heat will persist across northern and western Europe in the coming weeks, with extreme temperatures on the Iberian

The renowned YouTube star has achieved an impressive feat on the Threads app, surpassing its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, in terms of follower count

Apple will update the iPhone 12 in France after fears it was emitting too much radiation. The company will issue an update to users in the country that it said would address regulators’ concerns. It comes after officials ordered Apple to stop selling the phone, saying that testing showed that its radiation was over European Union Standards. Apple says that the iPhone 12 is safe and that it has successfully passed a range of tests in countries around the world. It has blamed the specific testing used by the French agency in charge, saying that the problems were “related to a specific testing protocol”. The French agency said the iPhone 12 recently failed one of two types of tests for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body. On Tuesday, France’s government ordered a halt to sales of the iPhone 12 and told Apple to issue a software update to address the problem or face a recall. Apple said in a statement Friday that it “will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators.” It did not elaborate. The French ban could have extended to all 27 EU countries after three months if Apple had refused to issue updates and if no other government objected, European Commission spokesperson Sonya Gospodinova said Thursday. France’s digital affairs minister said the iPhone 12’s radiation levels are still much lower than what scientific studies consider potentially harmful to users, and the radiation agency acknowledged that its tests don’t reflect typical phone use. Cellphones have been labeled as possible carcinogens by the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm, putting them in the same category as coffee, diesel fumes and the pesticide DDT. The radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA and is different from stronger types of radiation like X-rays or ultraviolet light. Experts have recommended that people concerned about their cellphone radiation exposure use earphones or switch to texting. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Warning over criminals using digital switchover to scam vulnerable people TikTok fined 345m euro by watchdog over use of children’s data Apple Store goes offline as Apple opens pre-orders for iPhone 15

South Africa’s cabinet will consider a proposal on whether to include the Netherlands and Denmark in its landmark

The venture capital firm that bankrolled the “Tesla of tractors” is bucking the trend of retreating climate tech

Warner Music Central Europe has offered its first record deal to a digital character, Noonoouri, releasing her debut single Dominoes featuring German DJ Alle Farben on Friday. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology was used to create the singing voice of Noonoouri, which has been based on a real singer’s voice but altered so she has her own distinct sound. The songwriters and musicians on the track will receive royalties and publishing splits just like any traditional song, the PA news agency understands. The character’s debut track Dominoes features 38-year-old German DJ and music producer Alle Farben, real name Frans Zimmer, and was written by a group of songwriters and musicians. The music video also features the avatar wearing Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims, which was chosen by Noonoouri creator Joerg Zuber. Commenting on her debut music video on Instagram, Mr Zuber said: “After two years working so hard on this music project, we finally can share this incredible teamwork with world – thank you @warnermusic.de for believing in us #TheBeginning.” A spokesperson for Warner Music Central Europe said: “Noonoouri is a long-standing digital character who we’ve signed to a record deal. “She’s not AI generated, though AI assisted tech was used to help create her singing voice. “Talented songwriters and musicians wrote and recorded her debut track Dominoes, and we can’t wait for fans to discover it.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Adin Ross, one of the most-watched streamers on the internet, is claiming that he will be interviewing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his channel on Wednesday evening. The controversial streamer who has previously collaborated with Andrew Tate and has also been banned from Twitch for a string of offenses. Ross is hitting the headlines again for claiming that he is due to interview Kim Jong Un on his streaming feed despite being apparently warned not to go ahead with the talk with the North Korean dictator. During a stream earlier this week, Ross stated: "I'm getting it in today's stream. I have to address this s*** now," he said. "Listen... okay, Kim Jong Un is locked in (for) tomorrow's stream, at 7:30 Miami time. Okay?" Ross also shared a series of questions that he has planned for Kim which include: Thoughts on LGBT? Can you give Stake money back? React to Andrew Tate. Visit North Korea? Add Yeonmi Park to call. Trump vs. Biden. USA better than North Korea. E-date? Fake n*tsack prank. He also claimed that the US government had been in contact with his legal team to warn of the potentially serious consequences of interviewing Kim. He added: "They saw and hit up, basically, my team and they just let me know there could be consequences for this. You know?" There is little to no indication as to whether this is real or not but Ross has gone as far as to put together poster to hype 'The Interview.' All eyes will be on his stream at 7pm EST to see whether he was telling the truth or if we all fell for an elaborate prank. Who is Adin Ross? Ross started his online gaming career in 2014 when he joined YouTube as a Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K content creator. He then ventured onto Twitch when as his following grew. His streams have since featured rappers including Lil Uzi Vert and Tory Lanez, who was convicted of assault in December 2022. One of his most prominent Twitch bans was a result of a gambling stream, which the platform prohibits. He claimed his most recent ban is for "no reason". Ross has since moved over to Kick, Twitch's rival streaming platform. The new platform has a looser set of rules, which saw Ross reportedly stream the Super Bowl, sharing video calls of white friends saying the N-word and scrolling through Pornhub in front of his reported younger demographic. "Listen, I got permanently banned on Twitch. It’s done, it’s already done," Ross said in a video posted on 26 February. "But I got permanently banned for no reason at all. How do you ban someone on Twitch and my reasoning is for VODs/on-stream, when I haven’t even been streaming there? This is exactly why everyone needs to see Twitch for what it is. It’s full of corrupted, pure corrupted Karens and they’re pick-and-choose-me. And unless you’re a certain person with certain beliefs [Twitch doesn’t] f*** with you." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Cities: Skylines 2 has had several problems across platforms. The Steam Deck is no exception.

Guerrilla Games is celebrating the impressive sales of 'Horizon Forbidden West'.

Jet-setting solo does not mean you have to fend for yourself in a foreign country

Disney will dramatically increase the price of its streaming service. Disney+ prices will rise by as much as 27 per cent, with the company saying that it is facing a challenging market. At the same time, the company will roll out an ad-supported tier in the UK, that will allow customers to subscribe for £4.99 per month. And its chief executive, Bob Iger, said that next year it would be looking to launch a password sharing crackdown to attempt to force different households to have their accounts. The moves follow similar changes at Netflix and other streaming services, many of which have recently launched price increases, ad-supported tiers and password sharing crackdowns of their own. The introduction of the new ad-supported tier in the UK means that the price of access to Disney+ has dropped. Prices previously started at £7.99. The new changes will also bring a new option, called Disney+ Standard, which will cost £7.99. That comes at the current price but removes options such as 4K streaming and the ability to stream on four devices at once. The existing tier will become Disney+ Premium and cost £10.99 per month. If users do not opt out of that change, they will face a £3 per month price increase. Similar price increases will go into effect elsewhere, across the US and Europe. In. the US, the price of Disney+ will rise up to 27 per cent, to $13.99 per month, and a similar rise will go into effect at Hulu. Disney’s announcements came as it revealed its recent quarterly results, doing which chief executive Bob Iger acknowledged that the entertainment company faces a “challenging environment” in the near term. But he emphasized progress in cutting costs and focusing on creativity, even as quarterly results showed Disney‘s soft spots. Disney’s stock rose nearly 3% in after-hours trading, as Iger touted $1 billion in operating-income improvement at the company’s streaming business over the last three quarters, which is aiming for profitability in 2024. He said Disney will reduce the number of titles it releases and also the cost per title. Disney said it cut losses at its streaming video services to $512 million in its fiscal third quarter from about $1.1 billion a year ago. It added 800,000 Disney+ subscribers, 100,000 subscribers shy of analyst estimates, and shed 12.5 million subscribers to the Disney Hotstar service in India, or nearly a quarter of its subscribers, as it gave up rights to Indian Premiere League cricket matches. “Disney will have to cut prices from current levels in an effort to stimulate demand and defend its market share in an increasingly competitive industry,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com. Additional reporting by agencies Read More How much of a threat does AI really pose? Get your ticket for our free event Elon Musk reveals more dramatic details of fight against Mark Zuckerberg Warning over ‘dangerous’ carbon monoxide alarms for sale on eBay and Amazon How much of a threat does AI really pose? Get your ticket for our free event Elon Musk reveals more dramatic details of fight against Mark Zuckerberg Warning over ‘dangerous’ carbon monoxide alarms for sale on eBay and Amazon