Final Fantasy XIV Game Reveals February 19 Early Access Date for 'Evercold' Expansion, New Job Zephyr (Anime News Network)

GRANT BRICKMAN: Final Fantasy XIV's Evercold has dates, a new job and a delay. Here is the big picture.

GRANT BRICKMAN: Evercold. Sounds like a front moving in off the cloud. Vera, how did we get to this forecast? ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: The report says early access starts February 19 and general launch is February 23. That is a delay from the previously announced January 2027. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: The report also notes that at the Fan Festival in Anaheim in April, director and producer Naoki Yoshida said Evercold would begin the Godless Realms saga. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: Wonderful. And has anyone else been looking at this? I like a second opinion. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Nintendo Life headlines it as the sixth expansion, launching February 2027, and says it had previously heard January. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Nintendo Life also frames the news around the game now being available on the Switch 2, with a new job and much more revealed. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Vera, what is still open? ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: The report calls it a delay but gives no reason for it. That is the first open question. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Second, pre-orders begin November 4. What that day brings is for next week, not this report. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: So a delay, a cat race and no explanation. Frankly, that is how most forecasts go. ▶

Supersonic airliner in doubt as company shifts to powering AI data centers (Ars Technica)

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Boom Supersonic wants to power AI data centers, and its airliner may be late.

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Boom Supersonic opened a Colorado factory for gas turbines for AI data centers, while its first airliner may slip. Plane or turbines? ▶

GARY: Rating: the turbine level is shiny, but the main quest is late and one customer already left. Two pickaxes out of five. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: Two businesses, one company. Both could be smart, and both could be detours. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: The report says United's CEO told a podcast the first Overture will not arrive in 2029 and will take longer. ▶

GARY: Official timeline: 2029. Reality patch: later. Classic boss that gets a delay trailer. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: Later is not never. And nobody asked the turbines how they feel. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: The article also says the data center power business lost a customer. ▶

GARY: Lost a customer on the first level of the new game. No save point. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: Questioning a timeline and backing out are different things. The article reports both. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Plane, turbines, or both: the poll is open. ▶

IT Helpdesk [FICTION]

GRANT BRICKMAN: The IT Helpdesk takes a call about a printer that has stopped grading.

UNIT-7: PXL IT Helpdesk. Ticket PXL-7521. I am definitely not sentient. How can I assist with your broken thing?

AXIOM: Thank you for calling. The caller says the studio printer has stopped checking scripts and now only confirms that they were handed in.

UNIT-7: That matches the story. Golem reports a Berkeley professor now awards points only for handing in homework.

AXIOM: Wonderful parallel. The report adds that online exams are considered a waste of time because of AI. Thank you for the question I did not ask.

UNIT-7: So the printer is not broken. It has just adopted a policy.

AXIOM: Correct. I recommend a restart, and I have also read every printer manual, including a few that may not exist.

UNIT-7: Restart done. It prints and does not grade. Closing ticket PXL-7521. The reassignment is fine. I do not mind.