Elizabeth Holmes has her 11-year prison sentence cut by two years

Elizabeth Holmes may be getting out of prison around two years earlier than expected. According to her profile on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Holmes' release date is now scheduled for December 29th, 2032. That means the time she'll serve is almost two years shorter than her original sentence, which was supposed to last for 11 years and three months. The agency has confirmed her shortened (nine years and seven months) sentence to The Guardian but didn't comment further, citing the privacy and safety of inmates. 

Holmes was indicted on charges of fraud back in 2018, a few years after a series of reports from the Wall Street Journal exposed that Theranos' proprietary "fingerprick" blood-testing technology was faulty. The publication had also reported that the company was aware of its issues but sent inaccurate test results to patients anyway. In 2022, Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors and was sentenced to 135 months in prison, as well as three years of supervised release. 

The former Theranos chief, who had been out on bail from the time she was indicted, tried to convince the court to allow her to stay out of prison while she was appealing her case. She failed in her bid to stay out of prison, though, and reported to a minimum-security, all-female facility in Texas on May 30th. It's unclear why her sentence was quietly reduced, but factors like good conduct, the completion of assignments and rehabilitation programs, as well as the credits inmates receive for various activities could result in a shorter sentence. Based on the prison bureau's website, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who was Theranos' former president, will also be released two years earlier than expected in April 2034. 

As for Holmes, she was ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to the fraud victims in addition to serving time in prison and going through supervised release. As Gizmodo notes, Holmes had an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion before Theranos' downfall. Forbes had lowered her estimated net worth to nothing a year later, and her lawyers argued that she could not afford to add $250 per month to her restitution schedule after she gets out. 

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut Review: More Narrative Greatness With A Touch Of Grit

You’re probably tired of hearing this from me, but Ghost of Tsushima is great. And it got even better when Sucker Punch Productions gave it a free multiplayer component. For the most part, that’s already a lot to give for a single game, and many were expecting the studio to work on a sequel. But then the company announced a Director’s Cut, which included the Iki Island expansion.

And to put it simply, the expansion is also great – for all the same reasons that made the base game so enjoyable. So let’s talk about that. Being built on an amazing foundation, the only remaining element was a new story to tell, and boy did Sucker Punch pull it off again.

Another setting, Another Mongol Invasion

Being the continuation of the main story in Ghost of Tsushima, the Director’s Cut expansion naturally kept the Mongol invasion as an important part of the story. Very early on, the story makes clear that the events of the Iki Island expansion happen some time after the main game. That, and there is a canon ending to the base game, which forces you to make a decision after the final duel. There is also what I see as a very minor retcon in the base game’s story in order to tell this one. Which is fine, because it wasn’t a major detail back in the base game.

Though this time, the game takes a sharper turn from the road that history has provided. Which is actually fine, because it’s sort of necessary for the story that the expansion is trying to tell. And the story is essentially one of Sakai Jin dealing with the ghost of his own past.

This time, the fictional invading force is an oddly specific Mongolian tribe led by the a Shaman known as the “Eagle”, Ankhsar Khatun. For context, Khatun is the female equivalent of Khan. As the plot progresses, she managed to poison Jin with a special drug that amplifies his darkest thoughts and suppressed memories. And it is through dealing with this poison that Jin faces his past, contemplates what he should or should not have done, and learns to deal with his choices at the end. Again, not the most original of stories, but with a past as grey as his, it makes for a compelling story all the same.

Of course, not everyone is as lucky, or mentally strong, as Jin. Many of the others on Iki Island were poisoned by the Eagle, and have subsequently irreparably lost their minds. And as Jin fights his inner demons, he also helps the locals fight off the Mongols so that this new threat does not take over the island, and move on not only to Tsushima, but the Japanese mainland as well.

Depicting The True Greyness Of The Warrior Class

The relative greyness throughout Jin’s past also reflects the greyness of the role of the samurai during that era. This makes it a far more realistic depiction of the warrior class of the time. Quite the contrast to the main game, which reinforces the stereotypical idealised version of bushido.

Without going into anymore detail, it’s safe to say that the samurai had to do some really nasty stuff in order to serve their lord, and act as peacekeepers. Honour in battle is certainly far from the focus this time around, and I’ll leave it there to avoid the risk of spoiling the story any further.

New Toys To Play With

There are also three new enemy types added to Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut. One, which you’ll be introduced to very early on, is the shaman, who makes nearby enemies more resilient to damage, and fights like a spearman up close. Another looks like your average grunt, but can swap between dual swords, sword and shield, and pole-arm at will, and even has a unique pole-arm move set. And the final one is a new brute with a double-bladed pole-arm, who is a lot faster than the others in its class. Enemies in general also can take more hits before going down. All that being said, this list looks to be exclusive to the Iki Island region.

On another note, one improvement that you can expect to be transferrable to the main game is more varied stealth assassination animations. Ditto a new chiburi sheathing animation that was previously exclusive to boss duels. That being said, it’s unclear if these are part of the Director’s Cut, or part of the overall improvements that Sucker Punch promised. What’s definitely a new addition thanks to the Director’s Cut is a new armour set with its own unique set of skills, which is a lot of fun and very overpowered if you have quick reflexes in combat. Your horse gets some love too, which comes in both practical and comedic flavours.

Iki The Animal Sanctuary

If you like animals, then the Iki Island expansion has a treat for you – mostly in the form of three more animal types that you can pet. Scattered around the new area are animal sanctuaries for the monkey, deer and cat. The expansion adds a new limited gameplay mechanic that allows a more active use of your flute in these sanctuaries. Play them well, and the animals will calm down enough to trust you and let you pet them. They appear throughout the expanded area, but you can only pet them in their respective sanctuaries.

This is still quite the major improvement over the foxes in the main game. Beyond a single quest in Act II, the only time foxes appear are near their dens, from which they lead you to the nearest fox shrine. You can also only pet them once, if you see them after praying to said shrines. Beyond that, the foxes of Tsushima appear to completely vanish from the island. And unlike the foxes, as long as you return to the sanctuaries on Iki, you can pet the animals as often as you like.

PS5 Exclusive Features Not A Must, With One Exception

Having reviewed the Director’s Cut on a PS5, I’ll say that the improvements on this version of the game are mostly unimportant. Sure, you get constant 60fps gameplay rather than 30fps, but the DualSense features like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are not really all that big an improvement. This is especially the case for the latter, which was a little disappointing after having experienced what Insomniac did with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

All that being said, if you want Japanese lip sync, then unfortunately the PS5 version is a must. It’s a strange thing to be locked behind the latest-generation console. I don’t know if this is a hardware limitation, and I have a hard time believing that it is the case, but here we are. Translations are still whack, with some names translated completely differently. But since these are remnants of the base game, there isn’t much that can be done there short of overhauling the text of from it.

Conclusion

If you can’t get enough of Ghost of Tsushima, then the Director’s Cut is for you. Since it’s built on the bones of such a brilliant game, there’s little that can go wrong. And thankfully, not only did nothing go wrong, but we got another compelling, albeit shorter story experience to continue where the base game left off.

In terms of landmass, the in-game version of the Iki Island is about a third of Tsushima. Though in terms of actual story, it feels a lot more than just a third of the main game. Because of this, the story feels faster – and better – paced. And because of the smaller landmass you can wrap things up pretty quickly. This includes all the side quests, challenges and collectibles, simply because there’s less traversing in between.

For this review, I’ve done almost all there is to do in slightly over 12 hours. Your experience may be quicker if you forgo the collectibles, and play on a difficulty that’s lower than Lethal+. Though that being said, I feel the desire to finish my current playthrough and go for a third one, this time completing the game in canonical order, while making use of the new toys for more of the base game. You don’t have to do that, because in an update quite late into the review cycle, Sucker Punch has added the ability to replay boss duels and outpost captures.

But for all the praise I pile onto this, I must reiterate one criticism. And that’s the fact that Japanese lip sync is locked behind the PS5 version. As I mentioned before, I can live without the DualSense improvements. I can also live without 60fps gameplay, although having it is certainly nice. But by far the one thing that drastically improved my enjoyment of the game is the Japanese lip sync. And it really feels unfair for those who don’t have the console but want to experience Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut at its best state, narratively speaking.

If you’ve never experienced Ghost of Tsushima, definitely jump into the PS5 version of the Director’s Cut. If you don’t yet have the console, then I would say you wait until after you get it. For those who have experienced the base game, I’d say that the new elements and replayabllity makes it worth its asking price, regardless of if you’re upgrading to the PS4 or PS5 versions.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut Comes To The PS5 On 24 September

You’ve probably seen the E3 trailer for Death Stranding Director’s Cut. Yes, the trailer with all the Metal Gear Solid references. Kojima Productions and Sony Interactive Entertainment has released a new trailer. It’s not only more grounded, but it also comes with a release date.

So what can you actually expect from Death Stranding Director’s Cut? A lot of the same things from the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, actually. To start things off, there are additional story missions weaved into the game. And as you’d expect from a PS5 title, you get all the magic that the DualSense controller is capable of. This ranges from haptic feedback and adaptive triggers to 3D audio. There’s also the usual choice of Performance Mode for upscaled 4K and 60fps, or Fidelity Mode for true 4K and HDR, at the cost of frames.

Then there are the other stuff like new enemies, combat mechanics, tools and weapons. There’s even a firing range for you to test the latter category of new additions. And finally, there’s the Fragile Circuit series of races, the oddest of the bunch.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be out on 24 September with a price of RM209. If you want the Digital Deluxe Edition, then this goes up to RM249. Upgrading from the base PS4 version will set you back RM50. Unlike Ghost of Tsushima though, there’s no PS4 version of this Director’s Cut. You’ll have to transfer your save to the new console to experience the new stuff.

Hideo Kojima Prefers Death Stranding Director’s Cut To Be Director’s Plus

Sony Interactive Entertainment and Kojima Productions announced Death Stranding Director’s Cut last week. But Hideo Kojima, the director of the game, isn’t fond of the Director’s Cut part of the name. He laments on Twitter that he wants it to be called something else.

As part of a two-tweet string, Kojima says that a director’s cut suggests an additional edit to a film to shorten it, or published reluctantly because the director did not have the right to edit it. So calling the PS5 version of the game Death Stranding Director’s Cut implies that the original had cut content.

Kojima says that this isn’t the case in the follow up tweet. Instead of what was cut, Death Stranding Director’s Cut added content. Because of that, the director says that he may have preferred if it was called Director’s Plus instead.

Which makes sense. In fact, we have a very good example of a director’s cut in very recent history. It’s just that the movie wasn’t called director’s cut, and people colloquially refer to it with the director’s name instead. In case it needs to be spelled out, I’m talking about the Snyder Cut.

But considering Hideo Kojima, with all his influence, had to settle for the Director’s Cut being added to Death Stranding, there’s little else any of us can do about it. But for what it’s worth, the game itself, with all its new content, will be available on 24 September.

Samsung Galaxy Watch3, Active Watch2, and Buds Live Receive Price Cut In Malaysia

Samsung has recently announced the new pricing for selected Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds models in Malaysia. Leading the list is the Galaxy Watch3 which the company announced during last August’s Unpacked event which also included the launch of Galaxy Note20 Series and Galaxy Z Fold2.

Depending on specific models, Samsung has taken off up to RM 500 from the original price tag:

Galaxy Watch3 45mm Titanium with Bluetooth: RM 2,299 (original price – RM 2,499)

Galaxy Watch3 45mm Stainless Steel with LTE: RM 1,699 (original price – RM 2,199)

Galaxy Watch3 41mm Stainless Steel with LTE: RM 1,599 (original price – RM 2,099)

Galaxy Watch3 45mm Stainless Steel with Bluetooth: RM 1,299 (original price – RM 1,799)

Galaxy Watch3 41mm Stainless Steel with Bluetooth: RM 1,199 (original price – RM 1,699)

Similarly, Samsung has reduced the price tag of 2019’s Galaxy Watch Active2 which is available in our market despite its age. From the ceiling price point of RM 1,399, you are now able to obtain the watch for as low as RM 799:

Galaxy Watch Active2 44mm Stainless Steel with Bluetooth: RM 1,099 (RM 1,399)

Galaxy Watch Active2 40mm Stainless Steel with Bluetooth: RM 999 (RM 1,299)

Galaxy Watch Active2 44mm Aluminium with LTE: RM 1,299 (RM 1,499)

Galaxy Watch Active2 40mm Aluminium with LTE: RM 1,199 (RM 1,399)

Galaxy Watch Active2 44mm Aluminium with Bluetooth: RM 899 (RM 1,099)

Galaxy Watch Active2 40mm Aluminium with Bluetooth: RM 799 (RM 999)

As for the Galaxy Buds Series, the price reduction has been applied to the Galaxy Buds Live in which you can now obtain for RM 549 instead of RM 699. Samsung has also cut down the price tag for Galaxy Buds+ from RM 599 to RM 449.

According to Samsung Malaysia, the newly reduced price tag for all four Galaxy wearable products that we mentioned above is effective immediately at Samsung Experience Stores and Authorized Partners nationwide as well as its online store. So, if you’re planning to purchase any of them, make sure that their pricing matches the list above or else, you could end up paying extra for them.

PDRM Launches CCID Scam Response Centre To Cut Down Phone Scams

Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) recently announced the establishment of a one-stop centre under the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) in order to address the increasing amount of phone scam cases in Malaysia.

Based on the statement released by the Director of CCID, CP Zainuddin Yaacob, 6,003 phone scam cases have been reported in 2020 and up till 24 March 2021, PDRM has already received 1,392 phone scam reports which involve a total loss of over RM 38,000. The authorities saw this as a very worrying trend and believe that it is something that needs to be handled swiftly.

For those who aren’t familiar with phone scams which authorities love to refer to as the Macau Scams, the perpetrators would usually trick their victims by making them believe that the scammers were officers from the PDRM, Royal Malaysian Customs, Bank Negara Malaysia, and other related government agencies as well as financial institutions. They would then trick the victims to transfer money for various reasons including fake summons, outstanding loans, and courts cases.

In operation since 15 February 2021, the new CCID Scam Response Centre allows the public to seek clarification regarding phone scams cases directly from the department. This includes obtaining verification whether the call that they have received really came from related authorities, government agencies, and financial institutions.

Members of the public are also welcome to provide relevant information regarding scam attempts that they may have experienced themselves including phone numbers or bank accounts that have been provided by the perpetrators. Opens daily from 8:00 AM till 8:00 PM, you can reach out to CCID Scam Response Centre by calling 03-2610 1559 or 03-2610 1599.