A free weekend for Perfect Heist 2 is underway on Steam, giving the chance to participate in this multiplayer cops and robbers game for Windows and Linux (thanks SteamDB). As noted, this is in-progress, so apologies that only about one day remains to check this out (thanks Ant). The game is on sale for half-off if you decide to continue your life of crime and/or dedicated public service after your sample. Here's word:

In this game, one robber team tries to steal money and other goods from a bank while trying not to get noticed by the cop team. The cops have a big advantage in fighting, so keeping a low profile and blending in with the crowd is critical for the robbers. Wait for the perfect moment to knock out one of the employees to use his clothes as a disguise while sneaking, drilling, bombing, or hacking your way to the loot!

Ubisoft offers details on Operation New Blood, the second season in Year 9 in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. This will bring a lot to the multiplayer shooter when it launches on June 11th. Players can expect a complete remaster of original operator the Recruit, balance changes, and a new R6 Membership along with fixes and optimizations. Here's word on the membership deal: "Also arriving this season is the R6 Membership. Active Membership holders will enjoy monthly drops of exclusive content that includes time-limited gear, animated Legendary skins, 10x Battle level skips, a Bravo Pack and access to the Premium Battle Pass for $9.99/month or a discounted $79.99/year." Here's the Reveal Panel Trailer with a discussion of what to expect from the developers. Read on for more:

After nine years, Siege is reinventing its first Operator. The Recruit now sports a fresh look and features two new archetypes for playing as an Attacker or Defender, as well as the ability to customize their loadout by selecting two gadgets from those available depending on their role. This allows the Recruit to adapt to players’ strategies, fill gaps wherever needed, and provide new players with opportunities to explore different secondary gadgets and gameplay tactics. Striker, the offensive Recruit, can select two different gadgets from the wide range of attacking secondary gadgets. They’re armed with the M4 or M249 as a primary weapon, and a 5.7 USG or ITA 125 as a secondary weapon. The defensive Recruit, Sentry, can select from any defensive secondary gadget in the arsenal. Sentry’s loadout features the Commando 9 or M870 as a primary weapon, and the C75 Auto or Super Shorty as a secondary weapon. Since all players have access to the Recruit, Premium Battle Pass owners will receive an Operator voucher that can be redeemed for any Operator. Players who own all available operators will receive 600 R6 Credits.

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• Larian Studios' CEO says, "we did have to do a bit of crunch" making Baldur's Gate. Just the tip.

• Save 70% on Bugsnax on Steam.
• Save 40% on SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 on Steam.
• Save 60% on Townscaper on Steam.

• Most Popular Streaming TV Series: 'Fallout' and 'Baby Reindeer'. Thanks Dark Horizons.
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Takes Flight with Paper Airplane World Record Holder.

Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• After 8 months and 1000+ hours of work, Dark Souls Re-Remastered is complete.

• Warner Bros. is allegedly "threatening to destroy" a popular YouTube modding channel over, er, some silly Mortal Kombat 1 videos.

• XDefiant Netcode & Hit Registration Improvements in the Works; Sniper Flinch, Camera Shake to Be Tuned.
• Helldivers 2 is "working on a solution" for griefing lobby leaders who kick teammates before the mission ends.

Content creator videos.

• Pro vs Noobs - Helldivers 2 Ep7 - Carbot. Thanks Ant.
• Viewfinder: Making a Bafta award-winning video game - BBC News. Comically terrible production values. Do you even TV BBC?

• Teleport Back To 1999 In This Dreamcast Hollywood Video Time Capsule.

• Top ten battery technologies to watch (video). Thanks Simon.

• Google just updated its algorithm. The Internet will never be the same. Unless it turns out it's just Google that will never be the same. Thanks Max.

• Microsoft's Automatic Super Resolution arrives to improve gaming performance.
• Elon Musk's xAI plans to build 'Gigafactory of Compute' by fall 2025 — using 100,000 Nvidia's H100 GPUs.
• Samsung denies report citing HBM quality issues, asserts its HBM memory works just fine.
• HW News - Major Windows Privacy Concerns, Noctua's "New" Fan, AMD Epyc in AM5 Desktops - Gamers Nexus.

• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: Benchmarks and Conclusion - TeamGroup T-Force Dark AirFlow I SSD Cooler Review- Tom's Hardware. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Headset/Earbuds: Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 3 Review - More Cost for a Lot Better Sound - MP1st.
• Keyboard: CHERRY KW 7100 Mini BT Multi-Device Compact Keyboard - Mad Shrimps.

We had a very nice time yesterday at what was dubbed a Mayfest. It was a pleasant setting and we got to check out one of the walkways over the Hudson River, which was awesome. But it sure was hot, and it's hot today too. I looked at the weather and MrsBlue's mom's hometown Atlanta came up first, and it's warmer here than there! That tracks with our recent experiences for Memorial Day and its ilk where the "unofficial" start of a new season is like flipping a switch. This was the perfect atmosphere for my viewing last night of the awesome Dune 2. Though in another unofficial sign of summer, I just emptied the dehumidifier in my office for the first time since last year, but I was not tempted to drink from the reservoir. I guess I'd make a terrible Fremen.

Obituary: Richard M. Sherman Dies- Disney Legend And Two-Time Oscar Winner Was 95.
Obituary: Pro Golfer Grayson Murray Dead At 30 Years Old.

Festive Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Stories

• Global Box Office: Furiosa Hits $58 Million, Garfield Nears $100 Million.

Science
Thanks Max.

• We Used to Think Everybody Heard a Voice Inside Their Heads – But We Were Wrong.
• Breathe, don't vent- Turning down the heat is key to managing anger.

Media

• The Bear - Season 3. Thanks RedEye9.
• Will this rental truck escape the 11foot8+8 bridge? Ran the light as a bonus. Thanks Boing Boing.
• When You're Too Good At CPR (NSFW). Thanks The Flying Penguin.

Creature Features

• California sea lion hops into UCLA rowers' boat (video). Thanks RedEye9.

Auction

• World's first microcomputer is up for auction right now.

The Funnies

• "Dynamic Pricing" - FoxTrot.