WTF Happened April 2025
This is the fourth month of WTF Happened 2025 Edition! I'm running late with all these recap articles, but as I've said before, retrospectives are never on time.
This month, I'm trying a slightly different format and giving each piece of news its own heading to make it easier to skim.
Business, World and Health News
23andMe went bankrupt.
23andMe was one of those DNA test services that stored your ancestry as well as some medical history. I'm oversimplifying the service, but it was a big service and was very, very popular. The data they stored is now up for grabs, and there are some data privacy concerns. The FTC says whoever becomes the new owner of the data must uphold the privacy promises previously set in place by 23andMe. Back in December 2023, 23andMe announced a data leak, and now that they're going out of business, users are even more concerned than ever. Many users have reasonably deleted their data from the service over this bankruptcy if they hadn't already done so after the major data leak years ago. (Ars Technica)
Trump's EPA to stop collection of pollution data
The
EPA reform includes cutting data collections from pollution leaders.
Basically, this means they will no longer know how much companies owe in
penalties for pollution. Read my source (Propublica)
if you want to know more. It's bad news, but I'm sure someone spun this
as good news somehow... or just denied it was happening at all. 
FDA suspends food safety checks after staff cuts
I guess we're just all gonna be eating more rat droppings! The FDA was forced to suspend most food safety checks, including the bird flu testing program, after Trump cut $40 billion from the Health & Human Services budget. (Reuters)
Russell Brand charged with multiple counts of rape.
Russell Brand was charged with 5 counts of rape and sexual assault in the U.K. (Reuters) I always thought he seemed off, but he was a comedian so I figured it was just a character I was witnessing. However, I never see him out of character. Brand denied all charges and made multiple statements saying he never had non-consensual sex with anyone other than himself and labeled the charges as "extraordinary and distressing". He went on to claim the allegations were part of "media corruption and censorship". (BBC) The BBC article links to an older article detailing the charges somewhat if you'd like to dig deeper into that rabbit hole.
Speaking of rabbit holes...
Michigan home overrun with rabbits! 
Speaking of rabbit holes, a Saginaw County, Michigan woman's home was overrun by rabbits after she lost control of their breeding. (MSN) Animal control was involved in removing the rabbits, but turns out, a ton of volunteer rescuers took in and provided new homes to most of the rabbits. Unfortunately, these rabbits have fungal infections and are currently still being treated for that. Once the rabbits recover from infection, they will all be spayed and neutered before being released into new homes. Some of the rabbits will be made available in the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development-approved shelters.
New study links shingles vaccine to dementia prevention
A
study released April 2nd found that a live-virus vaccine that prevents
shingles from spreading could also be associated with a drop in the risk
of dementia. (Ars Technica)
The study utilized old medical records and isn't a definitive proof
that we have prevented dementia. Instead, take this as suggestive
evidence that suggests we may reduce the future occurrences of dementia
by administering such a vaccine. This is more of a statistical
observation than anything, so take this study with a grain of salt...
unless like me, you need to reduce your sodium intake. 
Tax pros resign over I.C.E. deportation aid
Speaking of salt, the acting commissioner and other staff at the United States I.R.S. resigned over a demand for sensitive data regarding taxpayers to aid in the mass deportation campaign. (Truthout.org) The goal was to use this data to find undocumented workers. A lawsuit was previously filed to challenge this effort. (also Truthout) All of this is at the expense of taxpayers in multiple ways. I rather not go into great detail why, but to put it in layman's terms, we pay the government, they waste our money funding programs to make our lives worse, other parts of government then waste even more money trying to prevent or at least delay the betrayal of our trust. On top of that, the deportations are scary as hell, and the only reason they're even doing such things is to use fear to stop citizens from fighting their regime. Overall, it's just one big mess that I'm not sure we'll recover from anytime soon.
Elon Musk breaks from government
Elon Musk says in an interview, "I'm hopeful for example with the tariffs - should move ideally - to a zero tariff situation - that has certainly been my advice to the president." (MeidasTouch) I know we all hate Elon, but I'm pretty sure even he thought the tariffs were a dumb idea.
Another school, another teacher losing their job over stupid shit.
A Florida high school teacher lost her job over using the alternative name a student gave her for her chosen identity due to her parents not approving of their child's name change. (WashPost) This is just stupid and selfish on the parents' parts, nobody else... sike! No, this runs much deeper. We set into place a ton of anti-teacher laws and policies which side with parents rather than protecting officials of the schools. Officials shouldn't be forced to do what parents want. That's not what anyone in their right mind should want. If a student wants to be called a specific name, that's not the teacher's fault, anyway. Maybe parents should sit down with their kids and actually hash out why these name changes are necessary to the kids. Parents shouldn't be stifling the creativity of their kids, and that includes their use of a new name.
In sort of related news, Harvard drew the short stick and is fighting for their rights against the Republican party! I personally am shook Harvard has been targeted by the Trump administration. Harvard seemed like the worst target. Harvard's gonna own this. (NPR)
More War Time Stuff
This
month, Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. would be reestablishing a
military presence in the Panama territory to secure the Panama canal
from Chinese influence. This would break the 1977 neutrality treaty. (TheGuardian)
Panamanian officials have stated that the claimed areas shown in aerial
surveillance are temporary agreed upon bases of operation for
humanitarian activities and training facilitation. However, opposition
parties have openly rejected these claims. I don't know a lot about the
situation outside of articles, but based on The Guardian's notes, this
is a textbook military invasion tactic, and the endgame may be to gain
control of the canal for either trade advantages or war advantages.
Later this month, Trump demanded free transit for American commercial
and military ships through the Panama and Suez canals. (TheGuardian) Very ominous news, but on the up side, Panama's government quickly denied the request.
Remember how we covered a war plans leak last month? It happened again, and this time, it was... Pete Hegseth again! (NYTimes) 
This guy is a pain in the ass for everyone in government and honestly,
I'm surprised he wasn't forced to resign by now. Eh, I take that back.
Nothing surprises me anymore. 
Rise up, America! This is your call to action! Again.
We started seeing organized protests across the United States of America thanks in part to how bad things were getting due to the tariffs and deportations. (NPR) Protests are important because they remind us how united we are in fighting for a common cause. In this case, it should show the people in charge that they're in deep trouble. I don't think protests help as much in times like these as they do when leadership actually cares about their citizens, but it's important to keep doing everything you can to annoy and slow the government down when it is corrupt. Do not allow them to get away with deporting people without due process. Demand they enforce the law on the president and others involved when they break the law. Show others who are scared to speak up that they're not alone.
U.S. Supreme Court blocks deportations under Alien Enemies Act
One piece of good news after the protests is the Supreme Court temporarily blocked deportations which weren't given due process. (NPR) This slowed the deportations down significantly, and now, deportees are being given 12 hours to contest their deportation, not a ton of time but better than nothing. (NPR) In Texas, a judge completely blocked deportations without proper due process, but this ruling was only for that judge's southern district of Texas. (NPR) I hope more courts slow this stuff down even further until eventually they just can't do it at all anymore.
Social Media News
Bluesky verification icons!
I started using the Bluesky social platform due to the enshittification of Twitter/X. Bluesky was avoiding making the same mistakes as other platforms, primarily the Twitter/X platform. This makes the announcement of the verification badges on Bluesky really ironic. The visual style of these badges is very similar to what you would have seen on Twitter/X years ago. I would have liked to see a more unique design for these badges, but I guess they didn't want to deviate from the norm very much for such a technical feature.
Quick side note: I found out there's a MySpace-like site called Spacehey, and I started a profile
on there! Come over there and send me a friend request and let's try to
grow a small community there. I'm not using the blog system over there,
because I have this blog here, but if you'd like to use that platform
to make comments about my posts, be my guest! 
Twitter/X to be fined for violating the Digital Services Act
Soon after Musk took control of the social platform formerly known as Twitter, he did all kinds of things to dig the site an early grave. It was honestly the stupidest mismanagement of a social platform I had ever seen, and I'm counting 4chan and random gaming forums. Anyway, almost a full year ago, the E.U. determined that the social platform had violated the Digital Services Act and will be investigated and could face large financial penalties. (Ars Technica, July 2024) More recently, they have announced that they're now considering fines for Musk's other firms but likely will not ban the platform if the demanded changes are met in a timely manner. (NYT, April 3rd) This all reminds me of the whole Tiktok scare. I deleted the Tiktok app from my phone and stopped using the platform because of the message they put into their app when they went dark, manipulating voters' opinions very openly (Vox) toward voting for Trump. I personally think the E.U. should demand ownership of the platform be changed due to conflicts of interest. Remember when we demanded the same of Tiktok but didn't go through with the ban? Sigh.
Meta on trial for monopolistic behavior
Facebook's parent company, Meta, is on trial for using buy-or-bury tactics to build a monopoly around social media. The trial is focused mostly on their acquisition of competitors Instagram and WhatsApp, but honestly, they should be focusing on all kinds of stuff going on with Meta's XR platform and the apps on there. They're making it purposefully difficult to browse any apps other than their own first-party apps, and they're making it hard for competitor apps to truly compete on the platform. This is all old news, but what's new is the case is being heard by judge James Boasberg, an open critic of the Trump administration. With Zuckerberg appearing to be sucking up to the new Trump administration, it's good to hear that we're getting a seemingly critical judge to cast judgement. (Times) BBC seems to think there's a good chance Meta could lose ownership of Instagram over this trial. (BBC)
Bluesky milestone: most academic research posts!
Bluesky has overtaken its competition in most posts hosted related to academic research! (Margot Finn quoting TimesHigherEducation.com article)
Oh, and Merriam-Webster posted something funny about the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus.
Non-Gaming Entertainment 
Disney's Tangled paused after disappointing Snow White performance
Disney announced they were pausing all live-action projects after the Snow White flop. (GeekTyrant) They were referring more to their cartoon live-action remakes rather than their already live-action Marvel and Star Wars IPs. Some notable projects which will be affected include Tangled and... well, just Tangled as far as I can tell. Lilo & Stitch was already mostly done and unaffected by this pause. The How To Train Your Dragon remake was also unaffected. Recently, Disney also delayed a few MCU side projects, including the Nova series, which I was very much looking forward to.
Harry Potter TV cast announced
There's
a Harry Potter TV show in the works, and cast confirmations were
announced which disappointed and annoyed the fan base. (Times)
The most noteworthy and likely most controversial change in these cast
announcements was the extreme change in skin tone for Severus Snape,
which did stand out to me as a WTF moment. I'm not at all interested in a
TV retelling of Harry Potter in the first place, mind you. I think it'd
be more interesting to have more prequels and sequels. I want to see a
show based on the aftermath of the final Harry Potter film. That said,
if you're in the trans activism scene, you likely will boycott this show
for having any involvement with J.K. Rowling, but it is my opinion that
most people are simply bored of the franchise and will only watch the
show out of pure boredom... or will hate-watch it. 
Rumor: Ryan Gosling directing Killer Klowns From Outer Space remake
I would love a remake of this. If you're a fan, you know a remake is way overdue.
That was a fun match...
BSky user Gohbilly posted some fun what-if animations for "What if Mortal Kombat had win victory screens like Street Fighter Alpha 3?" Check out the thread.
Gaming News
Nintendo Switch 2 intensified!
Nintendo
aired a Nintendo Direct the day after April 1st to avoid this event
getting drowned out by April Fools joke announcements. During this
Direct, Nintendo announced several launch titles and other games for the
Nintendo Switch 2 and also leaked the prices on their website but
failed to announce the prices in the Direct directly. 
The games announced were Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour (a paid tech demo), Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV, The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Switch 2 Edition/Upgrade, The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Switch 2 Edition/Upgrade, Kirby and the Forgotten land + Star-Crossed World, Metroid Prime Beyond Switch 2 Edition, Pokemon Legends Switch 2 Edition, Drag x Drive (pronounced Drag-n-Drive), Donkey Kong Bananza (trailer on YT), Kirby AirRiders, Hyrule Warriors 3, and Duskbloods. Mario Kart World was already announced previously but some additional information about Mario Kart would be announced during this Direct. There was also a James Bond tie-in announced for Hitman during this Direct, but this wasn't a Switch exclusive, so it felt very much out of place. We can expect many Steam Deck compatible games to be ported to this new handheld, and this Direct confirmed a lot of big third party titles, including but not limited to Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Final fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. I'm personally excited to have a main series Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game on a handheld like this. I don't yet have my own Steam Deck or anything similar (wife has a Legion Go), but if I did, I'd be way less excited for these non-exclusive titles. However, some of the exclusives are amazing and beautiful and not at all half-assed. Nintendo always brings their A-game or more accurately in this case, their AAA-games. Nintendo has also announced some new features to help share digital titles with other players similarly to physical copies... except it's not quite equivalent to physical cartridges and has a ton of limitations. You can watch the whole Nintendo Direct of April 2nd on YouTube here.
$80+ Games
Unfortunately,
Nintendo's pricing this upcoming generation has pushed us into the $80+
game pricing tier and all other AAA publishers are following suit.
Prices are increasing everywhere despite base prices for some games
already reaching $70 very recently. These prices are not
consumer-friendly and not even due to U.S.A. tariffs. That said, these
companies deserve to charge whatever they want for their work, and if
you don't want to support that, then you don't need to buy these
consoles or their games. Invest in a good portable PC handheld like a
Steam Deck or a Legion Go and support indie games instead. You'll have
almost the same level of entertainment, arguably more depending on the
genre, and you'll pay way less for your games. Do as I say, not as I do,
because I'll honestly be getting a Switch 2 as soon as I possibly can! 
Virtual Reality
GTA San Andreas VR
The GTA San Andreas VR mod by Holydh is lookin' really good. Read up about it at Mixed's article.
New SteamVR Releases including Dig VR and Elements Divided!
Here are some image links to some promising new releases on SteamVR:
Elements Divided and Magic madness are very similar in that they're both element-controlling wizard battle games.
I tried Elements Divided at release, and it was a ton of fun just to roam about the lobby level for a half hour, but I didn't try the multiplayer due to my base station controllers all having problems (due to build quality) I'll be playing more competitive VR games once I have better/newer controllers, but unfortunately, my primary source for used Index controllers was Gamestop, and they're out of stock.
I also tried Umami Grove. It was actually really well done. Great VR mechanics! Funny story: I bought the game and then got sent a free copy. I was on the fence about buying it so I immediately refunded it and accepted the free copy afterward. I wish they'd send out the free curator copies sooner to avoid scenarios like that. Umami Grove was sent to all of my curator groups regardless of its reputation and whether or not it reviewed VR games, so that was a bit of a red flag for me that the game was being mismanaged. However, I am happy to report the game itself is impressive. If you like cozy games, you'll likely enjoy Umami Grove. It reminds me of Fujii... if Fujii wasn't about a god of nature bringing color back to a lifeless void.
New Meta XR releases including Eggy and Ghost Town!
Here are some image links to some promising new releases on Meta:
I haven't had time to mess with my Meta library lately, but I did buy Eggy at release. It looked too promising to pass up. The moment I'm able to stream it, I'll definitely do so! I'm just having a lot of time restraints and tech hiccups.
I wanted to try Ghost Town, but I wanted to play it on SteamVR. The Steam release is delayed, so I'm waiting for that. Should be a fun game with amazing visuals and impressive performance.
Wanderer's getting a sequel-like remake way too soon in my opinion, but it looks great and is definitely on my wishlist. It's out now on the Meta store, but the SteamVR release does not yet have a release date confirmed.
Tech News
Samsung Odyssey 3D monitor doesn't need glasses
The upcoming 3D monitor from Samsung that doesn't need specialized glasses went on pre-order on Samsung's site April 8th. The pre-order came with a $200-300 gift card bonus offer. (Gamespot) I would love to have this monitor, but I know it'd be kind of pointless in my setup. I mean, if I want to see 3D content, I can just wear a VR headset, and it would likely look way better and be bigger and could be in a virtual theater if wanted. It's still a cool piece of tech for those who find VR too uncomfortable to watch a 3D movie in. I'm hoping to try this monitor in a Best Buy someday soon.
Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses spying on users more
I'm directly affected by news like this, because I got these smartglasses for Christmas, and I use them as my current eyeglasses. Meta didn't really have any competition, and I really wanted a way to take video from my face quickly and easily. It's easy enough to just turn them off if I feel like I'm witnessing something I don't want recorded. However, the Meta Vision app got replaced completely at the end of this month with Meta AI and users were forced to switch to the new app and accept new terms and conditions which reduced their privacy rights or else their device's phone connection would no longer work at all, rendering them useless. (Gizmodo) This was evil in my eyes. Get it? Eyes! Because it's on my eyes... sigh, moving on.
Game Dev & Artist Tool News
Blender Market, the most widely used marketplace for Blender-focused assets, renamed to Superhive Market. (Studio Lab) It's over a month after this name change and I still don't understand the name change. It's weird. It doesn't seem like an effort to move away from Blender, because Blender assets are still all they sell.
Closing article...
Let's end on a feel-good story of a man who almost died sort of while on a date, walking on the beach. On April 12, "Mitchell O’Brien and Breanne Sika were hunting for Leland blue stones and planning to catch the sunset over Lake Michigan when the beach tried to eat O’Brien for dinner." (mlive) I'm just gonna end it there. You want more? Read the source material. Just know that 'mlive' is very anti-ad blockers and has a ton of ads. You'll have to block all JS there to read their articles. Okay, okay, the article ends with people saving him and his date bonded with him over the event.
The main thing we learn from history is that we
don't learn enough from history to avoid repeating it. By learning more
about the past, you better prepare yourself for the future, so start
taking notes, y'all! And always have a buddy with you wherever you go! 
Praise the sun! 
Summer is coming.