/Recent content on ZingSyncHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/avengers-age-of-ultron-review.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/avengers-age-of-ultron-review.htmlThe Avengers was the film that made me fall in love with Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. It was the scene when Agent Coulson died, and our comic book heroes turned on each other — backbiting, blaming, lashing out as their center collapsed. After five and a half movies’ worth of comic book acrobatics and space villains, we were suddenly watching just a handful of scared people in a room, acting all too human./news/inside-usc-s-crazy-experimental-vr-lab.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/inside-usc-s-crazy-experimental-vr-lab.htmlThe Light Stage captures realistic scans of human bodies That simple floating ball requires the kind of hardware that’s rarely seen outside science fiction movies. The setup starts with a square patch of tracking cameras above our heads, safely buffered from the plastic storage tubs and old electronics that line the walls. The cameras can tell that I’m chasing a drone (and tell the drone to get away from me) because we’re both covered in LED markers./news/a-quarter-of-google-duplex-calls-are-actually-placed-by-humans.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-quarter-of-google-duplex-calls-are-actually-placed-by-humans.htmlEarlier this month, I shadowed several restaurants throughout New York and talked to restaurant employees across the US to see how they’ve received Google Duplex, the AI that makes life-like calls for reservations on your behalf. Most if not all agreed that those calls sounded unmistakably human — and according to Google’s response to reporting by The New York Times, there’s a 25 percent chance that they were. Google says that a quarter of Duplex calls start with human callers, and 15 percent start with the AI and are later intervened by a person from the Duplex call center./news/a-twitch-streamer-was-banned-for-not-owning-the-rights-to-her-own-body.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-twitch-streamer-was-banned-for-not-owning-the-rights-to-her-own-body.htmlProjekt Melody swears her body belongs to her — the purple hair, the cat-eared bow, and all the barely there clothing that strategically covers her up. She commissioned it from an artist for $5,000 and even kept the receipts as proof. And for her thousands of fans on Twitch, this is what they see when she streams herself playing Minecraft, watching movies, or just sitting around chatting in her room. It wasn’t until this month that she ran into a problem: the artist, alleging that Melody owed him money, filed a copyright complaint claiming that she didn’t actually own her body — he did./news/acer-swift-5-review-a-laptop-looking-for-a-customer.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/acer-swift-5-review-a-laptop-looking-for-a-customer.htmlThe Acer Swift 5 is Acer’s top ultraportable laptop. It’s essentially the closest thing the company has to a MacBook Air competitor. It’s thin and light, it looks nice, and it’s powerful enough for most office use cases (though probably not for demanding computing workloads). By and large, the past several Swift 5 modelsI’ve reviewed have been the same package. The chassis is 2.65 pounds and 0.59 inches thick with a sturdy aluminum build./news/amazon-s-new-echo-frames-are-audio-glasses-that-actually-look-nice.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-new-echo-frames-are-audio-glasses-that-actually-look-nice.htmlAmazon just announced a new version of its Alexa-equipped Echo Frames audio glasses at its September 2023 devices event. The new glasses are quite stylish and have some tech improvements, too. One big tech change is improved battery life. At the event, Amazon said that the new Echo Frames have six hours of battery life, and if that holds up in real-world use, that’s up from the just over three hours of active use Dieter Bohn got when he reviewed the original version./news/amd-s-new-radeon-rx-6800-xt-promises-to-go-head-to-head-with-nvidia-s-rtx-3080.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amd-s-new-radeon-rx-6800-xt-promises-to-go-head-to-head-with-nvidia-s-rtx-3080.htmlAMD is introducing three new Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards today that will take on Nvidia’s latest RTX 3000 Series of GPUs. There’s the Radeon RX 6800 XT ($649), which goes up against the RTX 3080; the Radeon RX 6800 ($579), which can be compared to the RTX 2080 Ti or RTX 3070; and finally the Radeon RX 6900 XT ($999), which is pitted against Nvidia’s giant RTX 3090./news/angry-miao-s-wild-keyboard-and-headphone-designs.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/angry-miao-s-wild-keyboard-and-headphone-designs.htmlWhat does a $2,000 flex in mechanical keyboard form look like? Or a pair of wireless earbuds ripped from a video game’s post-apocalyptic future? What kind of zaniness does a boutique microbrand get up to when it has the freedom to charge premium prices for arthouse-level tech projects? Tucked away in the recesses of mechanical keyboard fandom and a loyal Discord server is Angry Miao — the Zhuhai, China-based company originally founded in 2019 as a small-batch keyboard company and which now says it’s building a “Future Art Community” with serious VC money and feedback from its fans./news/apple-brings-the-darkness-back-to-its-peripherals-with-a-black-trackpad.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-brings-the-darkness-back-to-its-peripherals-with-a-black-trackpad.htmlIt’s been a second since the company has sold a dark version of the trackpad separately. The space grey (which was decidedly lighter than the version on Apple’s store now) version was discontinued early last year. The black and silver version was available — if you bought a Mac Pro. In fact, the Mac Pro product page still says that the “matching trackpad can only be purchased with your Mac Pro” at time of writing./news/apple-s-latest-sci-fi-series-is-the-trippy-dark-matter.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-latest-sci-fi-series-is-the-trippy-dark-matter.htmlApple is continuing its run of streaming sci-fi with the upcoming Dark Matter, a thriller about a man who... kidnaps himself. The first trailer looks appropriately trippy and follows a physicist played by Joel Edgerton who is “abducted into an alternate version of his life.” The show involves him trying to get home while navigating this new multiversal reality, which is powered by a big black box that he invented./news/atlas-obscura-s-new-book-is-an-off-the-beaten-path-travel-guide-to-the-entire-world.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/atlas-obscura-s-new-book-is-an-off-the-beaten-path-travel-guide-to-the-entire-world.htmlSince 2009, Atlas Obscura has been one of my favorite internet rabbit holes. I sometimes spend hours on the site, which collects curiosities from across the globe, bouncing from enchanted forests to Russian space-age monuments. Now, the site’s founders have turned their website’s broad array of knowledge into a book that compiles some of their best finds. Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders, written by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton isn’t a traditional travel guide./news/best-smart-door-lock-you-can-buy.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/best-smart-door-lock-you-can-buy.htmlA smart lock is an easy solution to some common problems. Locked yourself out? Forgot your cleaning service is coming today? Your latchkey kid lost their key? Does your other half always forget to lock the door? Hands are full, and it’s raining cats and dogs? A smart lock solves all of these problems and more.  By giving you remote control over your front door from anywhere and easy, key-free ways to unlock and lock your door, a smart lock is one of the best smart home upgrades you can make./news/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-2014-all-the-best-deals-in-one-place.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-2014-all-the-best-deals-in-one-place.htmlAmerica's annual holiday shopping frenzy Black Friday is still more than two weeks away, but big retailers are already trotting out their lists of discounts and deals. Target, for one, claims that this year's Black Friday will be its "biggest" and "most digital" ever (perhaps trying to make up for its earlier massive credit card hack). It's certainly starting early and will have lots of gift card rebates, according to itsBlack Friday preview ad./news/creating-the-old-school-soundtrack-of-sonic-mania.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/creating-the-old-school-soundtrack-of-sonic-mania.htmlSonic Mania doesn’t just need to look the part — it needs to sound right, too. The upcoming game aims to bring the series back to its glory days, with pixel art and side-scrolling action reminiscent of the franchise’s 16-bit hits. But a large part of re-creating the feel of classic Sonic comes down to the music. Mania features bright, vibrant chiptune tracks to go along with its colorful, blocky world. The soundscape is the work of Portuguese composer Tiago “Tee” Lopes, who actually got his start posting Sonic remixes on YouTube nearly a decade ago, before working with Sega on the next major entry in the series./news/darpa-s-latest-humanoid-robot-jumps-and-climbs-with-athletic-precision.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/darpa-s-latest-humanoid-robot-jumps-and-climbs-with-athletic-precision.htmlThe firm behind some of the most impressive robots we’ve seen this year is back at it again with an anthropomorphic, bipedal robot that can climb and jump its way out of tough situations. PET-PROTO is a relative of last year’s PETMAN, and its builder, Boston Dynamics, hope to use the advances it’s squeezed into the new robot in competition at DARPA’s Robotics Challenge in June. The Challenge is designed to test robots' ability to perform complex tasks in "/news/directv-now-everything-you-want-to-know.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/directv-now-everything-you-want-to-know.htmlAT&T kicked this week off with some big news: DirecTV Now, its internet TV streaming service, is here. You can sign up starting today for a free trial on a slew of platforms including smartphones, tablets, living room streaming devices, and PCs. No satellite dish or cable box required; it’s all over the web. I’ve been using DirecTV Now for a day, and my early impression is that there’s a lot of potential and value in it, but the first try feels a little unfinished./news/drop-ctrl-v2-review-the-keyboard-gateway-drug-gets-a-glow-up.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/drop-ctrl-v2-review-the-keyboard-gateway-drug-gets-a-glow-up.htmlDrop’s original CTRL used to be easy to recommend as an accessible entry point into the world of premium mechanical keyboards. The retailer was a relatively early adopter (by mainstream standards) of hot-swap switches, making its own brand keyboards great for hobbyists who wanted to be able to swap out their switches without having to do any soldering. It was solidly constructed, QMK-programmable, and packed to the gills with RGB lighting./news/even-samsung-s-tiny-tizen-os-is-now-bigger-than-blackberry.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/even-samsung-s-tiny-tizen-os-is-now-bigger-than-blackberry.htmlIn a mobile market dominated by Apple's iPhone and Google's stable of Android devices, there's very little room for any more competitors. Microsoft can only muster a couple of percentage points as the distant third-place contender, and everyone else's share is measured in mere fractions. As bad as that was, at least BlackBerry could count itself fourth and see its name on Gartner and IDC's smartphone market share reports. According to Strategy Analytics today, however, BlackBerry has lost even the fourth spot on the market, having been superseded by Samsung's Tizen smartphones./news/fitbit-announces-surge-fitness-superwatch-and-two-new-fitness-bands.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fitbit-announces-surge-fitness-superwatch-and-two-new-fitness-bands.htmlMore than a week after their existence was leaked, fitness tracker maker Fitbit has officially announced three new wearable devices. The Fitbit Charge is an update to Fitbit's previous Force fitness tracker, but the other two devices — the Charge HR and the Surge — include some powerful new technology that should allow users to get a picture of their health at all hours of the day. The Charge HR tracks a user's heart rate at all times, while Fitbit describes the $249 Surge as a "/news/fitbit-fined-11-million-in-australia-for-misleading-customers-over-returns.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fitbit-fined-11-million-in-australia-for-misleading-customers-over-returns.htmlFitbit fined $11 million in Australia for misleading customers over returns. The gist is Fitbit told 58 Australian customers between 2020 and 2022 false or misleading information regarding their rights to returns, replacements, and refunds for faulty products. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wasn’t having it — and this is the second case the ACCC has brought against Fitbit. It’s concerning given that Fitbit’s pulled out of over a dozen countries recently./news/flickr-will-end-1tb-of-free-storage-and-limit-free-users-to-1-000-photos.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/flickr-will-end-1tb-of-free-storage-and-limit-free-users-to-1-000-photos.htmlFlickr was purchased in April by professional photo hosting service SmugMug, and today, the first major changes under the new ownership have been announced. There’s a serious downgrade for free users, who are now limited to 1,000 pictures on the photo sharing site, instead of the free 1TB of storage that was previously offered. As Flickr explains in its press release announcing the change, “Unfortunately, ‘free’ services are seldom actually free for users./news/ford-updates-pricing-for-its-f-150-lightning-ev-lineup.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ford-updates-pricing-for-its-f-150-lightning-ev-lineup.htmlHere’s what the new pricing looks like for each 2024 F-150 Lightning EV model (pricing for 2023 models remains unchanged): Two existing trim levels — the XLT 312 A and the 240-mile range Lariat — have been eliminated from the 2024 lineup entirely. The updated pricing does not include delivery or destination fees, which can cost up to $2,095. A Ford spokesperson told CNBC News that the pricing changes are intended to optimize “sales growth, profitability and customer access to the IRA tax benefit./news/galaxy-nexus-pictures-video-release-dates-and-more-page-2.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/galaxy-nexus-pictures-video-release-dates-and-more-page-2.htmlWe've been imploring Verizon to just let us spend some money on the Galaxy Nexus already, and now we have the first indicator for how much the carrier might ask for it. A Verizon Holiday Deals advert has started running overnight on Android websites showing a bold red $199.99 next to a two-year contract and Google's hallowed new Android phone. 4G LTE is also prominently displayed, as is to be expected, but there's no way to actually buy the phone or do much more than gawk at it./news/gmail-rolls-out-better-smarter-spell-check-and-grammar-corrections-for-g-suite.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gmail-rolls-out-better-smarter-spell-check-and-grammar-corrections-for-g-suite.htmlServices like Grammarly are trying to up the quality of your email copy, but now Google is taking some initiative itself by bringing improved spell check capabilities and grammar suggestions to Gmail. The company says that G Suite users will soon notice inline suggestions, powered by machine learning, that appear as you type out an email. And Gmail will some autocorrect “common spelling mistakes” without you having to click anything or take any extra steps./news/gmail-update-for-android-4-0-and-4-1-users-adds-resizable-messages-and-swipe-to-archive-feature.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gmail-update-for-android-4-0-and-4-1-users-adds-resizable-messages-and-swipe-to-archive-feature.htmlGmail received a few nice updates when Android 4.2 Jelly Bean launched — at long last, emails resized to fit your device, and you could swipe a message to automatically archive it. Now, a new Gmail update brings those new features to all handset running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and up. In addition to resizable emails and swipe-to-archive, Gmail also now features the option to attach photos and videos directly within the Gmail app and improved photo previews and a full gallery view when adding those attachments./news/google-chat-now-lets-you-subject-coworkers-to-your-celebrity-impressions.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-chat-now-lets-you-subject-coworkers-to-your-celebrity-impressions.htmlGoogle Chat now lets you subject coworkers to your celebrity impressions. Google is rolling out voice messages for enterprise Workspace users. To send one, tap the microphone button to record yourself. Others can react to your message, quote it, or reply to it. Only the Android / iOS Google Chat apps support voice recordings right now, but web users can receive them, and will get recording later. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaHxzgo5ra2ppYmqBdXvGqKagpJVisKmt02alqK9dobK1v4yypq5lo6qvq7HCrWScp6ekv6yx0axkraddrry2voycnKWdkqe2tcWMoqSpqpWowKq7zaw%3D/news/google-chrome-floc-how-it-replaces-cookies-and-what-it-means-for-privacy.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-chrome-floc-how-it-replaces-cookies-and-what-it-means-for-privacy.htmlRepent, o ye ad trackers, for the cookiepocalypse is nigh! If Google sticks to its roadmap, by this time next year Chrome will no longer allow websites to use third-party cookies, which are cookies that come from outside their own domains. The change theoretically makes it vastly more difficult for advertisers to track your activities on the web and then serve you targeted ads. Safari and Firefox have already blocked those cookies, but when it comes to market share, Chrome is currently the leader and so its switchover is the big one./news/google-makes-its-note-taking-ai-notebooklm-more-useful.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-makes-its-note-taking-ai-notebooklm-more-useful.htmlGoogle launched its note-taking app NotebookLM last year for researchers, students, and anyone who needs to organize the information they’ve gathered. Now, users can now upload Google Slides and web URLs as sources, not just the Google Docs, PDFs, and text files it accepted previously. The new Notebook Guide also reads sources in NotebookLM and creates study guides, FAQs, or briefing documents, and inline citations can point to your own sources to fact-check AI responses — up to 50 sources per “notebook,” or project, and each source can be 500,000 words long./news/google-maps-now-can-tell-you-the-best-time-of-day-to-travel-to-your-destination.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-maps-now-can-tell-you-the-best-time-of-day-to-travel-to-your-destination.htmlGoogle is adding a new feature to Google Maps that not only tells you how to get somewhere or how long the trip should take, but when the best time to leave is (via Android Police). The new feature is only available for Maps users on Android, and it pops up when you input directions. Along with showing you the usual estimated time and distance, a new bar graph will appear, showing the relative time it will take your trip now (highlighted in either green, yellow, or red to indicate current traffic conditions) and an estimate of both how long it would have taken a half hour earlier and how long it will take in the next few hours./news/google-pixel-4-and-4-xl-review-camera-radar-display-and-battery-life.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-pixel-4-and-4-xl-review-camera-radar-display-and-battery-life.htmlThe Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are the best argument that specs don’t tell you everything you need to know about a phone — because the experience of using a Pixel 4 is better than any other Android phone. There is a nuanced difference between saying “specs don’t tell you the whole story” and “specs don’t matter,” because they absolutely do — if only because the wrong ones can ruin the whole thing./news/google-says-a-fix-is-coming-for-fast-charging-problems-with-original-pixel-and-pixel-xl.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-says-a-fix-is-coming-for-fast-charging-problems-with-original-pixel-and-pixel-xl.htmlGoogle is currently testing a software fix that will fully restore the fast-charge functionality of its 2016 Pixel smartphones after users reported slower charging speeds following the recent upgrade to Android 9 Pie. Some third-party charging plugs no longer rapidly charge the Pixel XL in the same way that they did prior to Pie’s release; Google says that its own bundled charger (and others certified for USB Power Delivery) should still be delivering rapid charging as normal./news/google-s-carbon-footprint-balloons-in-its-gemini-ai-era.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-carbon-footprint-balloons-in-its-gemini-ai-era.htmlGoogle’s greenhouse gas emissions have ballooned, according to the company’s latest environmental report, showing how much harder it’ll be for the company to meet its climate goals as it prioritizes AI. Google has a goal of cutting its planet-heating pollution in half by 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline. But its total greenhouse gas emissions have actually grown by 48 percent since 2019. Last year alone, it produced 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution — a 13 percent year-over-year increase from the year before and roughly equivalent to the amount of CO2 that 38 gas-fired power plants might release annually./news/here-are-the-shipping-and-return-policies-for-all-the-big-name-retailers.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-are-the-shipping-and-return-policies-for-all-the-big-name-retailers.htmlWith the holidays now just around the corner, everyone is double-checking their lists and figuring out the fastest way to get those gifts in time. Thankfully, many retailers are offering generous shipping policies for their products, with some offering free two-day shipping or even same-day delivery if you pay extra. And just in case the gift you choose isn’t quite right, many retailers are also offering extended return policies so your giftee can get something more to their liking./news/honda-doubles-down-on-hydrogen-with-new-fuel-cell-powered-suv.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/honda-doubles-down-on-hydrogen-with-new-fuel-cell-powered-suv.htmlHonda announced a new hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle for the US market in a sign that the automaker has not given up on the most abundant element in the universe for its vehicle lineup. The 2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV may not roll off the tongue easily, but Honda insists it can find a fan base, especially as hybrid powertrains are proving to be more popular with US car buyers than pure battery-electric vehicles./news/horizon-zero-dawn-a-robot-dinosaur-hunting-game-with-something-to-say-about-life.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/horizon-zero-dawn-a-robot-dinosaur-hunting-game-with-something-to-say-about-life.htmlIn 2007, I and thousands others read the hit nonfiction book The World Without Us. Unlike most human extension speculation, the reporting of Alan Weisman was more fascinated in what happens to the world following a cataclysmic event, rather than to its population. How long would it take for any proof we ever existed to disappear? Two years later, a small team at a video game developer known exclusively for first-person shooters began work on Horizon Zero Dawn./news/how-flying-lotus-crafted-the-sounds-of-yasuke-netflix-s-new-samurai-anime.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-flying-lotus-crafted-the-sounds-of-yasuke-netflix-s-new-samurai-anime.htmlBefore he started working on Yasuke, an upcoming anime series on Netflix, Grammy-nominated producer Flying Lotus was only somewhat familiar with the story. “I knew that there was a Black samurai that existed, but I didn’t know much, because there wasn’t really much out there for so long,” he tells The Verge. So when it came time to adapt the tale, Lotus — who served as both composer and executive producer on the show — knew that they’d have to take some creative liberties./news/how-samsung-s-s-pen-works-with-its-new-galaxy-s21-ultra.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-samsung-s-s-pen-works-with-its-new-galaxy-s21-ultra.htmlSamsung’s new Galaxy S21 Ultra supports the company’s S Pen stylus. Support for the accessory has been a staple of Samsung’s Galaxy Note smartphones for years, but this is the first time it’s been supported in the company’s Galaxy S-series. The new S Pen will be available as an optional $39.99 accessory, and Samsung says the S21 Ultra will also work with S Pens from other Galaxy Note or Galaxy Tab devices./news/i-opened-my-animal-crossing-island-to-twitter-and-it-wasn-t-a-disaster.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/i-opened-my-animal-crossing-island-to-twitter-and-it-wasn-t-a-disaster.htmlShortly after noon on a Tuesday, I popped into Animal Crossing: New Horizons to check on turnip prices. Today’s number? A tasty 439 bells, four times the price I picked them up for. I turned a profit worth hundreds of thousands, invited friends to come by, and then decided to go one step further: offer access to my island via a shareable code, which I broadcasted on Twitter. It was instant chaos./news/instagram-will-blur-nudes-in-messages-sent-to-minors.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-will-blur-nudes-in-messages-sent-to-minors.htmlInstagram is preparing to roll out a new safety feature that blurs nude images in messages, as part of efforts to protect minors on the platform from abuse and sexually exploitative scams. Announced by Meta on Thursday, the new feature — which both blurs images detected to contain nudity and discourages users from sending them — will be enabled by default for teenage Instagram users, as identified by the birthday information on their account./news/instagram-s-recently-deleted-feature-lets-you-change-your-mind-about-deleting-a-post.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-s-recently-deleted-feature-lets-you-change-your-mind-about-deleting-a-post.htmlInstagram is making it easier to bring back deleted posts. The company is rolling out a “recently deleted” feature in the app that’ll allow you to review content you’ve deleted, including photos, videos, reels, IGTV videos, and stories, and restore them. Instagram is positioning this feature as helpful against hacks, particularly if hackers gain control of an account and start deleting content. Starting today, users will need to confirm they’re the account owner through either text or email in order to permanently delete or restore content./news/it-s-time-to-watch-all-the-ip-man-movies.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/it-s-time-to-watch-all-the-ip-man-movies.htmlYou know what’s better than streaming a good martial arts movie over the weekend? Streaming six good martial arts movies over the weekend. There are few pleasures quite like killing an entire day watching dudes get wrecked with expert choreography and just enough emotional motivation, things the Ip Man movies are excellent at. Better yet? You can stream them all on Netflix right now. The Ip Man movies are a quadrilogy of martial arts movies from Hong Kong director Wilson Yip starring Donnie Yen as the eponymous Ip Man./news/itunes-still-dominates-digital-music-sales-but-the-growth-is-slow-as-iradio-approaches.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/itunes-still-dominates-digital-music-sales-but-the-growth-is-slow-as-iradio-approaches.htmlThe NPD Group has just released its quarterly report on the state of music sales, and unsurprisingly it says that Apple's iTunes store is dominating with 63 percent of digital music sales. Amazon came in second with 22 percent of all downloads by total volume, but even that number belies iTunes' reach, as eight of ten digital music buyers use iTunes for their purchases. However, NPD's numbers also contain some surprising, and perhaps sobering, results: only 44 million Americans purchased digital music at all in 2012./news/loom-a-better-photo-stream-for-iphone-and-mac.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/loom-a-better-photo-stream-for-iphone-and-mac.htmlFor Jan Senderek, every week used to end the same way: a grueling 10-step process for importing the week’s photos to his computer and syncing them to his iPhone and iPad for browsing. "I would take my DSLR, compact camera, and iPhone, then connect them to my computer, sync everything up, manually delete photos from my Camera Roll, create albums on my computer, and then if I still had space would sync them through iTunes to my iPad,"/news/luminoodle-basecamp-because-sometimes-you-need-a-20-foot-light-rope.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/luminoodle-basecamp-because-sometimes-you-need-a-20-foot-light-rope.htmlI'll bet most of you have never heard of the Kickstarter darling called Power Practical, but the little Salt Lake City outfit makes some of the most interesting portable lighting solutions available. Power Practical got its start in 2012 before gaining some exposure, and Mark Cuban's attention, on the television series Shark Tank with its PowerPot camping pot that generates electricity while boiling water. It's this commitment to weirdly practical products that made me fall in love with the original Luminoodle light rope./news/m3gan-review-a-midrange-horror-delight.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/m3gan-review-a-midrange-horror-delight.htmlAfter months of watching the dead-eyed killer android from Universal’s M3gan dance her way across social media into the hallowed halls of true internet fame, you might think there couldn’t be much more going on in the film that wasn’t already spoiled by trailers. But much like its eponymous plaything of the future, M3gan packs a surprisingly potent punch that takes a handful of narrative bugs and turns them into a delightfully comedic horror feature./news/major-nelson-is-joining-unity.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/major-nelson-is-joining-unity.htmlLarry Hryb, aka “Major Nelson,” has his next job. Following his departure from Microsoft last year, where he was a public face for the Xbox brand, Hryb will be joining Unity’s Community team, he announced on Monday. At Microsoft, he, among other things, hosted the Official Xbox Podcast and posted about Xbox to his large following on X. On LinkedIn, he lists his new job title as “Director of Community,” and based on a LinkedIn post, it seems like he’ll still be a brand ambassador in some form./news/marsha-blackburn-fought-to-end-net-neutrality-but-will-it-matter-to-voters.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/marsha-blackburn-fought-to-end-net-neutrality-but-will-it-matter-to-voters.htmlIn March of last year, Stephen Colbert stepped out onto the Late Show stage and kicked off a monologue over the twinkle of a keyboard. “Hey, I’ve got a quick question for you guys, if you don’t mind me asking,” he said to the audience. “Anybody here use the internet?” The audience cheered. “Might want to knock that off,” he deadpanned. Congress had just voted to allow internet service providers to sell the browser histories of consumers, a move that was greeted by an overwhelming backlash online./news/microsoft-surface-pro-announced-price-and-release-date.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-surface-pro-announced-price-and-release-date.htmlMicrosoft just announced the new Surface Pro, the latest in its lineup of tablet / laptop hybrid devices and the first in a new generation of what Microsoft is calling Copilot Plus PCs. The numbers are gone from the model names, which seems to signify a full reboot of the lineup. “Compared to previous Surface generations, it isn’t even close,” said Brett Ostrum, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Surface, at a launch event./news/microsoft-s-xbox-backward-compatibility-program-returns-with-76-new-games.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-xbox-backward-compatibility-program-returns-with-76-new-games.htmlMicrosoft put its Xbox backward compatibility program on hold two years ago, but it’s returning today for a final update to the catalog. To celebrate 20 years of Xbox, Microsoft is now adding 76 new games (full list below) to the backward compatibility library today. It’s a surprisingly long list of additions, including the entire Max Payne series, Skate 2, Dead or Alive Ultimate, and Star Wars Jedi Knight II./news/minecraft-s-rtx-powered-ray-tracing-arrives-in-beta-later-this-week.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/minecraft-s-rtx-powered-ray-tracing-arrives-in-beta-later-this-week.htmlMinecraft’s cherished but rudimentary pixel art sandboxes are about to get a massive visual overhaul, as Microsoft and Nvidia are announcing RTX-powered ray tracing is coming in beta form to the Windows version of Minecraft later this week. The beta will launch at 1PM ET on Thursday, April 16th, and it will bring big upgrades to lighting, reflections, shadows, and other key graphical elements to anyone using a Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card./news/more-americans-are-being-harassed-online-because-of-their-race-religion-or-sexuality.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/more-americans-are-being-harassed-online-because-of-their-race-religion-or-sexuality.htmlOnline harassment remains one of the internet’s hardest problems to fix, and new data suggests the problem is only getting worse for minority groups. According to a representative survey of American citizens conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), some 35 percent of respondents reported being harassed online because of their racial, religious, or sexual identity; a three percent increase compared to last year’s data. Overall harassment not related to the individual’s identity was also higher for these groups./news/netflix-s-i-am-mother-is-a-slow-tense-movie-about-how-we-love-and-fear-ai.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-s-i-am-mother-is-a-slow-tense-movie-about-how-we-love-and-fear-ai.htmlWelcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. This review comes from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It has been updated and revised in conjunction with the film’s release on Netflix. When a fictional AI “goes rogue,” that often really means that it’s working exactly as intended. Tell a machine to make paperclips, and it will turn the entire world into little twists of metal./news/opera-will-block-those-annoying-cookie-dialog-boxes-on-its-android-app.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/opera-will-block-those-annoying-cookie-dialog-boxes-on-its-android-app.htmlAfter briefly testing the feature in beta, Opera is officially rolling out the option for its Android app users to automatically block cookie dialog boxes that pop up on websites. (That type of pop-up is especially prevalent since GDPR went into effect back in May.) The company says it’s tested the blocker across 15,000 websites and hopes to support more going forward. The technology relies on a “combination of CSS rules and JavaScript heuristics” to function, the company explains./news/peter-jackson-is-trolling-doctor-who-and-lord-of-the-rings-fans-at-the-same-time.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/peter-jackson-is-trolling-doctor-who-and-lord-of-the-rings-fans-at-the-same-time.htmlPeter Jackson certainly knows how to wind up his fans. In a video posted to the director's Facebook page, Jackson is seen relaxing at home with his daughter before Peter Capaldi runs in and asks him to sign a mysterious document from Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. As Stuff points out, the idea of Jackson directing the classic British sci-fi has been teased for years, and in November, Moffat said that Jackson was a "/news/photoshop-s-generative-fill-tool-turns-vacation-photos-into-nightmares.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/photoshop-s-generative-fill-tool-turns-vacation-photos-into-nightmares.htmlIf you’d like to visit a place where danger from the natural world is omnipresent and where lunch costs $60, I encourage you to visit Iceland. It is a beautiful and brutal landscape whose natural wonders (and terrors) make for incredible photographs. I took a bunch on a recent trip to the country. But it is possible, as I’ve unfortunately discovered, to make them terrifying in entirely new ways. I turned Adobe’s new AI-powered Generative Fill tool on my Icelandic vacation photos, with both “legitimate” photo editing tasks and a few ridiculous prompts that resulted in nightmare fuel./news/pix2pix-is-another-good-web-tool-for-making-horrifying-autofill-images.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pix2pix-is-another-good-web-tool-for-making-horrifying-autofill-images.htmlGoogle’s open-source machine learning project Tensorflow is probably used all the time for helpful things that advance the cause of mankind or something. But in my experience, what it has been best used for is making horrifying auto-generated images out of simple line drawings. I’m referring to edges2cats, which turned any line drawing into a cat. It was a whole thing! Everyone was trying it out, then posting pictures of really demented cats to Twitter for others to laugh at./news/playstation-orbis-coming-2013-with-no-ps3-or-used-game-support.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/playstation-orbis-coming-2013-with-no-ps3-or-used-game-support.htmlThough Nintendo has been strangely forthcoming with details on its next-generation consoles — the Wii U is launching this holiday season, about 18 months after it was first unveiled — both Sony and Microsoft have been more characteristically quiet on future plans. That hasn't stopped a number of unconfirmed reports from trickling out about the next Xbox "Durango," and now Kotaku has what it claims to be details on the PlayStation 3 successor, Orbis, coming in time for holidays 2013./news/radrunner-electric-utility-bike-review-my-daily-driver.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/radrunner-electric-utility-bike-review-my-daily-driver.htmlWhen Rad Power Bikes first released its RadRunner electric utility bike last August, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I had just reviewed the company’s cargo bike and was eager to put this new model through its paces. Foolishly, I assumed I would ride it for a week or two, and then publish my impressions.  More than four months later, I’m still riding it. Every. Damn. Day./news/rei-s-anniversary-sale-is-slashing-prices-on-some-of-the-best-garmin-watches.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rei-s-anniversary-sale-is-slashing-prices-on-some-of-the-best-garmin-watches.htmlHere at The Verge, our deal writers spend a lot of time covering the latest discounts at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers that happen to sell the tech we cover. Admittedly, REI is often not one of them, but the company’s anniversary sale — which runs through May 27th — is a great chance to save not only on tents, glamping chairs, and subzero sleeping bags but also Garmin’s rugged lineup of sports watches./news/samsung-s-galaxy-s7-and-s7-edge-bring-refinement-to-a-proven-design.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-galaxy-s7-and-s7-edge-bring-refinement-to-a-proven-design.htmlSamsung has tightened up the S6’s overall design for the S7: it’s more comfortable to hold, easier to pick up off of a table, has a flatter fingerprint scanner, and has a less pronounced camera hump. It won’t look unfamiliar to anyone that’s seen or held the S6, and it still looks remarkably similar to the iPhone 6 and 6S depending on which angle you look at it from. The standard S7 retains the 5./news/smart-glasses-are-the-future-but-who-will-get-there-first.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/smart-glasses-are-the-future-but-who-will-get-there-first.htmlWhile researching the history of smart glasses, I stumbled upon the August 1990 issue of Popular Mechanics. On page 48 was the Private Eye, which is credited as the world’s first wearable computer. What I’m sure the writer didn’t know at the time was that the very first line of the article would continue to describe smart glasses for nearly 30 years after it was written. It states, “Sometimes a company develops something so nifty that it takes a while before anyone figures out how to use it effectively./news/sonos-fixes-arc-and-sub-issues-that-frustrated-some-customers-for-months.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sonos-fixes-arc-and-sub-issues-that-frustrated-some-customers-for-months.htmlWith the 14.18 software update, both of these issues have been addressed, and the Enhanced Clarity for Arc adjustments are retained. There was a clear preference within our community for the previous volume settings, and these have been restored. This will be apparent immediately after updating to 14.18. The Trueplay issue has been fixed. Customers who experienced a lower Sub level after performing Trueplay after updating to 14.12 will need to update their systems and then perform a new Trueplay tuning in order to address these improvements in their system./news/sonos-play-3-review-the-verge.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sonos-play-3-review-the-verge.htmlSo, it's small, relatively cheap for an all-in-one wireless speaker, and streams all the music on Earth. But is it any good? Yes, yes it is, very good in fact. Surprisingly, even though the drivers are close together, the Play:3 was able to deliver decent stereo separation. Standing the unit on its side, however, centered everything (except the logo) in the second or so it took for the motion detector to reprogram the audio./news/spyra-has-a-new-digital-water-blaster-that-looks-like-it-ll-blow-the-original-away.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spyra-has-a-new-digital-water-blaster-that-looks-like-it-ll-blow-the-original-away.htmlIn 2018, we marveled over the Spyra One, an attempt to crowdfund a modern Super Soaker that could blast veritable bolts of water; refill itself from a pool; and maintain a digital ammo gauge of your shots, thanks to a heap of electronics, a self-pressurizing tank, and a battery you recharge via a standard USB-C port. The big catch: you had to be willing to risk north of $133 on an unproven Kickstarter that wound up shipping a year behind schedule./news/starbucks-plans-nft-collections-for-coffee-drinkers.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/starbucks-plans-nft-collections-for-coffee-drinkers.htmlStarbucks CEO Howard Schultz, along with executive vice president and chief marketing officer Brady Brewer, explained to investors during their Q2 2022 earnings presentation that the coffee company will add “new concepts such as ownership and community-based membership models that we see developing in the Web 3 space.” Brewer went further, saying: “Imagine acquiring a new digital collectible from Starbucks, where that product also serves as your access pass to a global Starbucks community, one with engaging content experiences and collaboration all centered around coffee./news/talk-to-me-s-first-trailer-is-a-demonic-dare.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/talk-to-me-s-first-trailer-is-a-demonic-dare.htmlOne of the most shocking movies out of this year’s Sundance was Talk to Me — and now, you can finally get a glimpse of the horror flick in its first trailer. The film, which is the directorial debut of YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou, is a brutal and unrelenting take on teen horror, telling the story of an embalmed hand that lets people become inhabited by spirits after they perform a very specific ritual./news/tcl-s-2023-tvs-have-new-branding-and-are-gaming-powerhouses.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tcl-s-2023-tvs-have-new-branding-and-are-gaming-powerhouses.htmlTCL is overhauling its TV strategy for 2023 by ditching the company’s long-running 6-Series, 5-Series, and 4-Series branding in favor of two new lines: higher-end sets will be part of the Q-Series, while more value-focused TVs will fall under the S-Series. Within the two segments are six different models in all. Let’s cover the best first, shall we? With its flagship QM8, TCL is promising double the peak brightness of its best Mini LED TVs from 2022 — and those were already fairly impressive in their own right./news/tesla-evs-will-be-able-to-connect-to-starlink-satellites-says-musk.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-evs-will-be-able-to-connect-to-starlink-satellites-says-musk.htmlElon Musk just announced that the upcoming second-generation Starlink internet satellites include cellular antennas for connections with phones from T-Mobile in the US and potentially other operators as well. Following the event, he responded to tweets asking whether the connections will work with Tesla’s electric cars, which currently connect to AT&T’s LTE network. According to Musk, the answer is yes. He didn’t go into detail about how it will all work or how much data owners could expect to access from the connections when they’re somewhere out of reach by terrestrial cellphone towers./news/the-82-best-cyber-monday-deals-still-available-smart-displays-headphones-and-more.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-82-best-cyber-monday-deals-still-available-smart-displays-headphones-and-more.htmlCyber Monday is behind us — but is it really, though? Many of the deals that started on Black Friday continued through the weekend, remained with us on Cyber Monday, and now, we’re here. It’s Tuesday, and there are still many great tech deals available on gadgets like earbuds, smart speakers, smartwatches, and even some smartphones. Sure, some hot deals cropped up during that time and have since sputtered out, but if you didn’t get your chance to shop already or were indecisive, you may still be in luck./news/the-aqara-u200-retrofit-smart-lock-works-with-matter-and-will-support-apple-home-key.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-aqara-u200-retrofit-smart-lock-works-with-matter-and-will-support-apple-home-key.htmlAqara has launched its Smart Lock U200 on Kickstarter, where you can currently nab the device for $209, down from the $249.99 it’ll cost you when it goes on sale later this year. According to the Kickstarter page, it will ship to backers in April. The company debuted its new retrofit lock at the IFA 2023 tech show last summer; showcasing its Matter-over-Thread connectivity and separate Bluetooth keypad with a fingerprint reader and NFC built in./news/the-creator-of-minecraft-was-the-mystery-buyer-of-aphex-twin-s-unreleased-album.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-creator-of-minecraft-was-the-mystery-buyer-of-aphex-twin-s-unreleased-album.htmlAphex Twin fans were treated to a full album's worth of unreleased music this month thanks to the results of a successful Kickstarter to recover a rare vinyl LP. But while Kickstarter backers received a digital rip of the vinyl, the record itself was later put up for auction for anyone to bid on — and it turns out, its winner is Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson. "So I kinda paid a lot for a double LP from the ’90s,"/news/the-google-clips-camera-puts-ai-behind-the-lens.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-google-clips-camera-puts-ai-behind-the-lens.htmlYou know what a digital camera is. It's a lens and a sensor, with a display to see what you're looking at, and a button to take the picture. Google Clips is a camera, but it only has some of those parts. There's no display. There’s a shutter button, but it's completely optional to use. Instead, it takes pictures for you, using machine learning to recognize and learn faces and look for interesting moments to record./news/the-new-apple-pencil-pro-is-harder-to-lose-and-better-to-draw-with.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-apple-pencil-pro-is-harder-to-lose-and-better-to-draw-with.htmlApple announced its third-generation Apple Pencil today during its “Let Loose” iPad event, adding Find My support and new capabilities for adapting the stylus to different creative tasks. Available to order today for $129 — the same price as the second-gen Apple Pencil — the new Apple Pencil Pro introduces features closer to what you’d find on pens for dedicated drawing tablets, like a “Barrel Roll” gyroscope feature and a squeeze gesture for switching between software functions./news/the-witcher-season-3-volume-1-review-setting-up-a-finale-for-henry-cavill-s-geralt.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-witcher-season-3-volume-1-review-setting-up-a-finale-for-henry-cavill-s-geralt.htmlWe’ve only had two seasons of The Witcher on Netflix, but the show has already had somewhat of an identity crisis. It started off with a bang, with a big, bloody debut that showed exactly why the books and games before it were so beloved. It was dark yet funny, full of action, sexual tension, and all kinds of cool monsters — plus an excellent Henry Cavill as the gruff and lovable Geralt of Rivia./news/this-is-what-tinder-s-new-location-tracking-feature-places-will-look-like.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-what-tinder-s-new-location-tracking-feature-places-will-look-like.htmlLast week we reported on Tinder’s in-the-works location-tracking feature that’ll help users connect with one another in the real world. A user who’s participating in that test sent The Verge additional screenshots over the weekend that explain how the service works and looks. We’ve previously only seen Spanish-language screenshots. These pages explain how Places works: As we reported before, the feature will highlight places users have visited, although not in real time./news/this-video-comparing-apple-vision-pro-hand-tracking-to-the-meta-quest-3-is-mesmerizing.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-video-comparing-apple-vision-pro-hand-tracking-to-the-meta-quest-3-is-mesmerizing.htmlThis video comparing Apple Vision Pro hand tracking to the Meta Quest 3 is mesmerizing. Holonautic co-founder and developer Dennys Kuhnert says he is “both disappointed and impressed” by the Vision Pro’s performance and showed off this comparison of the two headsets with a real-time visualization tool. As he wrote in another post, “The quality and accuracy is fantastic but the lag with passthrough hands feels currently higher than on Quest 3./news/thursday-night-football-on-amazon-prime-video-is-getting-new-ai-features.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/thursday-night-football-on-amazon-prime-video-is-getting-new-ai-features.htmlThis NFL season, if you watch a Thursday Night Football game on Amazon Prime Video, you’re likely to see all sorts of new on-screen stuff. If a team finds itself in a late-game drive with everything on the line, you might see a graphic telling you whether the team should go for it on fourth down. When the quarterback snaps the ball, the broadcast might automatically highlight the most open receivers down the field./news/uber-will-now-charge-you-extra-if-your-driver-has-to-travel-longer-to-reach-you.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-will-now-charge-you-extra-if-your-driver-has-to-travel-longer-to-reach-you.htmlUber is adding a bunch of new fees to sweeten the pot for drivers who may be reluctant to wait for slow passengers, drive longer distances for more out-of-the-way pickups, or get hit with trip cancellations at the last minute. That means some trips may become a little more expensive for passengers — especially those who live far away or take a little longer than usual to get in the car./news/update-your-chrome-browser-asap-to-avoid-this-security-exploit.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/update-your-chrome-browser-asap-to-avoid-this-security-exploit.htmlA critical security update is now available for some Chrome users on Mac, Linux, and Windows that patches a zero-day vulnerability that could make systems susceptible to data theft and other cyberattacks. On Tuesday, Google confirmed in a Chrome stable channel update that it “is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-6345 exists in the wild.” The vulnerability was discovered on November 24th by two security researchers working within Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG)./news/warner-bros-is-beefing-up-its-animation-slate-with-more-adventure-time.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/warner-bros-is-beefing-up-its-animation-slate-with-more-adventure-time.htmlTimed to Warner Bros.’ presentation at this year’s Annecy Festival, Cartoon Network Studios announced today that it has greenlit a number of new projects including an Adventure Time film as well as series spun off from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and Regular Show. Variety reports that Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar, Over the Garden Wall’s Patrick McHale, and Adventure Time showrunner Adam Muto are all attached as members of the new film’s creative team./news/weather-up-syncs-with-your-calendar-to-show-event-forecasts.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/weather-up-syncs-with-your-calendar-to-show-event-forecasts.htmlContrast’s Weather Atlas has rebranded its app to Weather Up, and the 2.0 update brings calendar-synced event forecasts, international support, and an increased subscription price. Previously $4.99 / year or $0.49 / month, the Weather Up Pro subscription, which removes ads and adds event forecasts and extra icons and widgets, is now $9.99 / year or $1.99 / month. Though pretty useful, syncing calendar events to weather apps isn’t a new idea./news/welcome-to-airspace-the-verge.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/welcome-to-airspace-the-verge.htmlIgor Schwarzmann is the German co-founder of Third Wave, a strategy consultancy based in Berlin that works with small-scale industrial manufacturers. The company’s clients range across Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, so Schwarzmann often finds himself moving between poles of the global economy. While traveling, he turns to Foursquare for recommendations about where to eat and drink. “It knows what I like,” he says. Every time Schwarzmann alights in a foreign city he checks the app, which lists food, nightlife, and entertainment recommendations with the help of a social network-augmented algorithm./news/what-is-windows-mixed-reality.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-is-windows-mixed-reality.htmlI’ve heard a lot about Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality, but up until this week I’ve been a little confused. Microsoft insists on calling its new headsets “Mixed Reality” ones, when they’re really just virtual reality. At IFA in Berlin this week, Microsoft is showcasing all of its Mixed Reality headsets from PC makers like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Most of them are arriving next month, priced around $349 to compete with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive./news/when-is-the-best-time-to-eat-a-banana.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/when-is-the-best-time-to-eat-a-banana.htmlI don’t consider myself a picky eater, but there are certain things I just can’t swallow. Raw celery, for example, or cilantro. Another one is ripe bananas. When bananas turn bright yellow or start having those hideous brown spots, forget it. I have to throw the whole bunch away. I can’t even stand the smell. The only time I can eat the fruit is when the peel is still greenish — at least at the tips./news/windows-11-is-getting-multiple-monitor-refresh-rate-improvements.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-11-is-getting-multiple-monitor-refresh-rate-improvements.htmlMicrosoft is making it a lot more convenient to use multiple high refresh rate monitors with Windows 11. The software giant has started testing a Windows 11 update that automatically adjusts refresh rates on multiple monitors depending on what content is being displayed, which should improve power usage and could even result in some GPUs spinning up their fans less often. “We have improved refresh rate logic to allow different refresh rates on different monitors, depending on the refresh rate for each monitor and content shown on the screen,” explains Microsoft in a Windows Insider blog from last week, spotted by Neowin./news/you-can-save-15-percent-on-an-lg-c3-now-as-low-as-847.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-can-save-15-percent-on-an-lg-c3-now-as-low-as-847.htmlWith eBay’s spring sale going on right now and running through May 12th, you can save an extra 15 percent on purchases when you use code SPRING15OFF. There’s no minimum purchase amount required, but you can only save up to $500 on each of the two maximum purchases you’re allowed to make. There are thousands of electronics you can purchase in the sale, but I want to shout out the 48-inch LG C3 today./news/zack-snyder-tried-to-turn-batman-v-superman-into-a-star-wars-movie.htmlSat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/zack-snyder-tried-to-turn-batman-v-superman-into-a-star-wars-movie.htmlDirector Zack Snyder seems to have been given the key to the kingdom when it comes to the DC Extended Universe films: he's directed Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the upcoming Justice League, along with serving in a production role on every other upcoming DC film.  And yet, it seems that Snyder just really wants to make a Star Wars movie. It's the only explanation I can come up with for Snyder's recently released trailer mashup of Dark Side Knight v Superjedi: Dawn of the Alliance./news/five-years-of-sword-sworcery-the-history-of-a-weird-and-beautiful-game.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/five-years-of-sword-sworcery-the-history-of-a-weird-and-beautiful-game.htmlFive years ago, Craig D. Adams was riding a Toronto streetcar home after a long day at work, when he looked up from his phone and was confused about where he was. That evening, Adams — an artist and game designer better known under the pseudonym Superbrothers — had just released his first game, a collaboration with local studio Capy Games and musician Jim Guthrie. It was called Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, and it had a unique feature: all of its dialog was chopped into snippets of 140 characters or less, and a little button let you tweet any of those snippets along with the hashtag #sworcery./news/let-s-go-crazy-inside-the-making-of-purple-rain.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/let-s-go-crazy-inside-the-making-of-purple-rain.htmlPrince's Purple Rain turned 30 this year. Both the incredible rock-opera movie and its soundtrack are still every bit as amazing in 2014 as they were when first created in 1984. Today, an entire generation of listeners has a shaky relationship with Prince, because Prince has a shaky relationship with the internet.In an age where fans expect direct relationships with the artists they love, Prince has turned himself into a reclusive legend./news/yes-it-is-crazy-to-build-a-new-v16-engine.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/yes-it-is-crazy-to-build-a-new-v16-engine.html“...yes, it is crazy to build a new V16 engine.” Said Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac while revealing the 1,800-horsepower Tourbillon, which also has three electric motors and is due in 2026, succeeding the Veyron and Chiron. So yes, it is crazy to build a new V16 engine, to integrate with a new battery pack and electric motors and to have a real Swiss-made watchmaker instrument cluster and 3D-printed suspension parts and a Crystal Glass center console./news/calvin-and-hobbes-ebooks-now-available-for-the-first-time.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/calvin-and-hobbes-ebooks-now-available-for-the-first-time.htmlAlmost 30 years after Bill Watterson introduced the world to Calvin and Hobbes, one of the most beloved daily comic strips is finally available as a collection of ebooks. It's not quite the full series, which is available as a giant multi-volume book, but the ebooks on offer cover a fairly large range of strips. There are three in total: The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, and The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes, each of which was previously released as a regular book./news/farmed-and-dangerous-is-chipotle-s-online-show-about-the-terrors-of-industrial-farming.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/farmed-and-dangerous-is-chipotle-s-online-show-about-the-terrors-of-industrial-farming.htmlInstead of throwing millions of dollars into a single Super Bowl ad, Chipotle is spending its advertising money differently this February. In what's probably Chipotle's most outrageous attempt to get customers to think about the meat they eat, the food company will on February 17 debut a new show on Hulu called Farmed and Dangerous. The show will run as a four-episode series focusing on a fictional industrial agriculture company that comes up with a dubious plan to feed cows petroleum-based animal pellets./news/1password-will-alert-you-if-your-password-has-been-leaked.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/1password-will-alert-you-if-your-password-has-been-leaked.html1Password, the password managing app, has introduced a new proof-of-concept feature that alerts you when you use a compromised password. The feature integrates a new service that was released earlier this week by web security expert Troy Hunt called Pwned Passwords, which lets users check to see if a password they’re using has already been leaked onto the internet. The database has over 500 million passwords that have been compiled from previous breaches./news/2001-a-space-odyssey-s-8k-tv-broadcast-doesn-t-quite-go-beyond-the-infinite.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/2001-a-space-odyssey-s-8k-tv-broadcast-doesn-t-quite-go-beyond-the-infinite.htmlAt a time when it’s still pretty hard to get much 4K content to watch over the air, Japanese public broadcaster NHK began its regular 8K channel service this weekend, becoming the first broadcaster in the world to do so. As you might expect, I don’t have an 8K TV, an 8K receiver, or the correct satellite dish in order to watch at home — almost no-one in Japan does at this point./news/250-million-devices-run-android-go-but-the-new-version-is-more-demanding.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/250-million-devices-run-android-go-but-the-new-version-is-more-demanding.htmlGoogle has announced that over a quarter of a billion devices that people use each month are running Android Go edition, which is designed for phones with limited storage and memory. However, the new version that Google announced on Wednesday, Android 13 Go, will require more power than its predecessors. The new version also adds Google’s streamlined Google Play System Updates system, which the company says will help users keep their phone up to date without taking up a bunch of room and let it roll out new features and security patches without the need for a full-bore phone update./news/a-major-apple-executive-who-helped-invent-things-like-touch-id-is-retiring.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-major-apple-executive-who-helped-invent-things-like-touch-id-is-retiring.htmlA major Apple executive who helped invent things like Touch ID is retiring. Bloomberg reports that Steve Hotelling is retiring from Apple. I had never heard of him, but this paragraph from Bloomberg underscores just how much he’s contributed to Apple’s products: The executive is named on hundreds of patents, including ones related to the iPhone and iPad’s multitouch screen, and known for being one of the inventors of Touch ID — a key feature for authenticating users on Apple devices./news/alexa-briefly-lost-its-voice-on-friday.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/alexa-briefly-lost-its-voice-on-friday.htmlAmazon’s digital assistant Alexa went quiet Friday in an unintended, real world reproduction of the company’s Super Bowl ad. A regional outage impacting Amazon’s servers led to Alexa becoming unresponsive on Echo products and other devices that support the assistant. I tried a simple weather inquiry on the Echo Dot in my living room, and the signature blue ring stayed lit up for about 15 seconds without any answer. A tone eventually sounded, and Alexa said it had lost connection./news/aliens-abducted-my-parents-and-now-i-feel-kinda-left-out-review.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/aliens-abducted-my-parents-and-now-i-feel-kinda-left-out-review.htmlIt’s pretty easy to look at a film title like Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out — which, from now on, I’m just calling Aliens Abducted My Parents — and roll your eyes. It’s just so goofy. (And admittedly makes it really hard to write a headline for.) But it’s also incredibly fitting and does a great job of selling what this movie is all about./news/almost-everyone-at-collegehumor-is-fired-as-new-owner-asks-the-internet-for-help.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/almost-everyone-at-collegehumor-is-fired-as-new-owner-asks-the-internet-for-help.htmlAs of today, the venerable comedy concern CollegeHumor Media is mostly dead. In the words of Sam Reich, its chief commercial officer, IAC “has made the difficult decision to no longer finance us,” he wrote in a Twitter thread this afternoon. “Today, 100+ brilliant people lost their jobs, some of whom are my dear, dear friends.” That means the cuts hit every vertical: CollegeHumor, Dorkly, Drawfee, and Dropout — only five to 10 people are left, according to Bloomberg./news/amazon-pantry-is-being-discontinued.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-pantry-is-being-discontinued.htmlAmazon has announced that it’s discontinued its Amazon Pantry (originally known as Prime Pantry) service, instead rolling those household goods and shelf-stable pantry items into the main Amazon website where they can be ordered alongside the rest of Amazon’s products. Originally launched back in 2014, Pantry worked differently from most Amazon orders. Instead of following the usual Amazon delivery rules, Pantry orders charged customers a flat $5.99 shipping fee per box of groceries, which could be filled with up to 45 pounds of products or up to four cubic feet of stuff (whichever limit customers reached first)./news/anthropic-s-new-cpo-is-instagram-co-founder-mike-krieger.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/anthropic-s-new-cpo-is-instagram-co-founder-mike-krieger.htmlAs Anthropic tries to take on the AI giants, it has a new big-name executive on board: the company announced this morning that Mike Krieger is its new chief product officer. Krieger, of course, was one of the co-founders of Instagram and spent the last few years working on Artifact, an AI news-reading app that was recently acquired by Yahoo. Krieger will oversee all of Anthropic’s product efforts going forward. It’s an important moment for the company to push hard on product, too: it recently released the Claude app for iOS, long after a bunch of its competitors were available on mobile, and just announced support for use in Spanish, French, Italian, and German./news/app-claims-to-track-blood-pressure-through-a-smartphone-camera.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/app-claims-to-track-blood-pressure-through-a-smartphone-camera.htmlHealth platform Binah.ai announced this week that it added blood pressure monitoring to the suite of health tools available on its app, which is available through partnered businesses. The company says it can calculate blood pressure using only video of someone’s face through a smartphone or laptop camera — but experts say they need to see significantly more data from the company before they’d trust the feature. Tracking blood pressure without the usual cuff is a longstanding goal for cardiologists and tech companies — it would eliminate a step in the process and could help people monitor their blood pressure at home more easily, which could be useful for people with some heart conditions./news/apple-s-standalone-passwords-app-syncs-across-ios-ipad-mac-and-windows.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-standalone-passwords-app-syncs-across-ios-ipad-mac-and-windows.htmlAt WWDC 2024, Apple revealed a new Passwords app that expands on its existing iCloud Keychain features and syncs your passwords across more devices. Now, with Passwords, Apple is releasing a standalone app to manage passwords and passkeys on more devices, including Apple’s Vision Pro headset, as well as Macs, iPhones, and iPads. It also syncs with PCs via the iCloud for Windows app. Platforms that have so far gone unmentioned?/news/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom-review-the-quintessential-dceu-movie.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom-review-the-quintessential-dceu-movie.htmlWarner Bros.’ plan to rehabilitate Aquaman’s image by transforming him into Jason Momoa was one of the more curious things about the DC Extended Universe back when the franchise was first coming together. The idea of a bulky, boozy prodigal son of Atlantis seemed a little silly at the time, and it was. But it also worked surprisingly well in (contrast to the rest of) Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and while that film might not have been much to write home about, Aquaman’s presence within it seemed like a hopeful sign that Warner Bros./news/ariana-grande-s-fortnite-tour-was-a-moment-years-in-the-making.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ariana-grande-s-fortnite-tour-was-a-moment-years-in-the-making.htmlIt’s hard to overstate just how weird Fortnite is. At one point, while I was waiting for the game’s virtual Ariana Grande concert this weekend, three identical versions of Rick from Rick and Morty surrounded me and started dancing. Later, I walked by a pair of Marshmellos lounging in identical yellow beanbag chairs. The first show I went to I dressed as Travis Scott; later, I wore a Toronto Raptors jersey and had a dancing baby Groot strapped to my back./news/as-it-cracks-down-on-copyrighted-songs-twitch-embraces-live-streaming-musicians.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/as-it-cracks-down-on-copyrighted-songs-twitch-embraces-live-streaming-musicians.htmlThe electronic musician Porter Robinson released his new album, Worlds, yesterday. This afternoon he'll launch his own channel on Twitch, the live-streaming platform best known for broadcasting video games. For three hours Robinson will hang out with fans on Twitch, discussing the video games that inspired each track and showing viewers around his recording studio and gaming space inside his North Carolina home. It's part of a broader trend on Twitch, which is branching out from its focus on video games to give musicians a spotlight on its platform./news/ask-stoya-why-s-there-so-much-incest-porn.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ask-stoya-why-s-there-so-much-incest-porn.htmlMy question is about the content of the role-playing in porn. I get that people sometimes like to see things that are more extreme than the majority of them would do in reality, but there seems to be a large amount of porn that has really messed-up storylines (like father-daughter or mother-son scenes). I guess there is always going to be a very small percentage of sick people who really do like seeing this material, but I would never have thought it would be so prevalent online./news/assassin-s-creed-mirage-goes-back-to-basics-and-ends-up-basic.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/assassin-s-creed-mirage-goes-back-to-basics-and-ends-up-basic.htmlAssassin’s Creed Mirage lives up to every aspect of its name. The last handful of Assassin’s Creed games had gotten away from the assassination part. Yeah, you killed people — a lot of people — but with the recklessness of Kratos instead of the finesse of Ezio or Altair. AC Mirage represents Ubisoft’s return to the franchise’s origins, with a greater emphasis placed on stealth kills, avoiding detection, and skills that support those activities./news/asus-rog-phone-ii-review-a-tough-sell-for-anyone-not-just-gamers.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-rog-phone-ii-review-a-tough-sell-for-anyone-not-just-gamers.htmlThese days, it’s not challenging to find a phone that’s powerful enough to run most games on the App Store or Google Play Store, nor is it too costly. It’s also easy to buy a DualShock 4 or Xbox One gamepad, then pair it to your phone via Bluetooth so you can have a console-like controller experience without being glued to your couch.  Both of those points make it very hard for me to convince anyone to buy the Asus ROG Phone II, an $899 gaming-focused phone that has its own ecosystem of pricey proprietary accessories./news/audio-has-vanished-from-instagram-s-oldest-videos.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/audio-has-vanished-from-instagram-s-oldest-videos.htmlMany of the earliest Instagram videos have lost their sound. More than a year of videos posted to the platform are now silent, displaying an error that says “video has no sound” when you try to play their audio. The issue appears to affect videos posted before late 2014. It’s hard to pin down exactly what’s going on, but here’s what we’ve noticed: it seems that videos posted from June 2013, when Instagram first added video, to October 2014 are now missing their audio./news/august-wi-fi-smart-lock-review-refinements-on-lock.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/august-wi-fi-smart-lock-review-refinements-on-lock.htmlThere is no shortage of app-connected smart locks on the market right now. But if you aren’t interested in completely replacing the lock you already own, keys and all, you can turn your existing deadbolt into a smart lock with one of August’s devices. The latest version of this smart deadbolt is the Wi-Fi Smart Lock, which sells for $249.99 and is available for purchase now. Two-hundred and fifty dollars is a lot of money for the privilege of unlocking your door with a smartphone app./news/backbone-one-review-the-best-mobile-gaming-controller-yet.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/backbone-one-review-the-best-mobile-gaming-controller-yet.htmlAs the high-profile disputes about what content you can play on your iPhone rage on between Apple, Epic Games, Google, and Microsoft, a company called Backbone is focusing instead on making sure you get the most out of the games that are currently available. Like Razer did with its Kishi controller for iOS, and as other companies have with snap-on controllers of their own, Backbone is introducing one for $100 that it calls the Backbone One./news/batman-is-getting-another-fortnite-comic-crossover-with-one-of-the-game-s-most-mysterious-characte.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/batman-is-getting-another-fortnite-comic-crossover-with-one-of-the-game-s-most-mysterious-characte.htmlEpic and DC Comics are teaming up again for another crossover with the one-shot comic Batman/Fortnite: Foundation #1, which will arrive in comic book stores on Tuesday, October 26th. The physical comic will also include a bonus code for a Batman Who Laughs skin (which will also be available for purchase in the in-game store) and an exclusive loading screen. The new comic will pick up after the six-issue Batman: Zero Point crossover comics released earlier this year./news/beats-powerbeats-review-reliable-wire.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/beats-powerbeats-review-reliable-wire.htmlBefore Beats introduced its first true wireless earbuds last year, the Powerbeats Pro, the Apple-owned company’s regular Powerbeats had been a popular go-to for runners and gym-goers. But they got left behind as Beats put its focus on the long-awaited Pros, which trounced the AirPods in audio quality and battery life and were better cut out for fitness activities.  Now, Beats has taken a lot of the ingredients from the Pros and put them in the new Powerbeats./news/beyond-bebop-a-guide-to-the-works-of-shinichiro-watanabe.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/beyond-bebop-a-guide-to-the-works-of-shinichiro-watanabe.htmlThanks to its heavy Western pop culture influences and long life in reruns on Adult Swim, Cowboy Bebop has long been one of Americans’ most successful gateway drugs to anime. With the original anime now streaming on Netflix in advance of its live-action adaptation premiering November 19th, even more new viewers can discover “the work which becomes a new genre itself.” However, while Bebop is as close to a household name as adult-oriented anime get in the States, director Shinichiro Watanabe’s other works have never found the same level of mainstream success, despite featuring much of the same stunning animation, beautiful music, and sharp post-modernist sensibility that made Bebop a hit./news/blizzard-shows-off-overwatch-2-s-new-5-vs-5-multiplayer-and-a-trio-of-maps.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blizzard-shows-off-overwatch-2-s-new-5-vs-5-multiplayer-and-a-trio-of-maps.htmlBlizzard’s two-hour Overwatch 2 stream showed off the best look yet at the much-anticipated sequel to the competitive team shooter. And while there’s still no release date, the studio did show off plenty of new information about the game. Chief among those is one of the biggest changes to Overwatch in the game’s history: the sequel will be shifting the default PvP multiplayer mode from six-on-six matches to five-on-five games. Within the current role queuing system, that translates to cutting out a tank character on each team, which will now consist of two support, two DPS, and just a single tank character./news/bmw-is-bringing-humanoid-robots-to-its-south-carolina-facility.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bmw-is-bringing-humanoid-robots-to-its-south-carolina-facility.htmlRobotics startup Figure has signed a “commercial agreement” with BMW to introduce its “general purpose” humanoid robots to BMW’s manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as it tries to identify use cases in automotive production. The robots are intended to automate “difficult, unsafe, or tedious” manufacturing tasks, and if they’re found to be viable, they’ll then be deployed in the BMW facility in stages. “Single-purpose robotics have saturated the commercial market for decades, but the potential of general purpose robotics is completely untapped,” said Figure CEO Brett Adcock./news/bowser-s-fury-is-a-heavy-metal-remix-of-super-mario-3d-world.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bowser-s-fury-is-a-heavy-metal-remix-of-super-mario-3d-world.htmlWith Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for the Switch, Nintendo is once again giving a great Wii U game a second chance on a more successful platform. But it’s also more than just a straight port. In addition to the main game, this rerelease also includes a separate experience — the titular Bowser’s Fury. It’s essentially a built-in expansion pack with a strong heavy metal vibe to remix the classic gameplay./news/byton-s-48-inch-screen-might-not-be-as-distracting-as-it-looks.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/byton-s-48-inch-screen-might-not-be-as-distracting-as-it-looks.htmlA car with a 48-inch screen on the dashboard sounds like a distracted driving nightmare, and to be honest, that could likely wind up being the case. But two years after Byton teased the idea in a concept car that debuted at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, the Chinese EV startup returned to CES and offered a chance to drive its electric SUV in an effort to prove that its headline-grabbing screen may not be as problematic as it seems./news/can-bitcoin-mining-really-support-renewable-energy.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/can-bitcoin-mining-really-support-renewable-energy.htmlA new study finds that Bitcoin mining paired with green hydrogen could help speed up a transition to clean energy — an eyebrow-raising claim, considering strong evidence that the cryptocurrency is a big polluter. To avoid any misconceptions, The Verge spoke with researchers to understand the very narrow scenarios in which this concept might work, and possible pitfalls given the complicated reality of Bitcoin mining. The study, published in the journal PNAS, calls Bitcoin and green hydrogen fuel a “dynamic duo” no less than seven times./news/creators-of-the-wire-were-asked-to-remove-details-that-could-help-criminals-avoid-wiretaps.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/creators-of-the-wire-were-asked-to-remove-details-that-could-help-criminals-avoid-wiretaps.htmlHBO's The Wire was lauded for its gritty, realistic portrayal of the drug war in Baltimore, but it seems law enforcement thought the show could be a bit too authentic at times. In a story about cellphone tracking technology, showrunner David Simon tells The Baltimore Sun that "At points, we were asked by law enforcement not to reveal certain vulnerabilities in our plotlines." Simon, who was once a reporter for the very same paper, explains that the writers once intended to show that criminals using the walkie-talkie-esque, "/news/crisis-on-infinite-earths-review-the-most-comic-book-thing-ever-made-for-tv.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/crisis-on-infinite-earths-review-the-most-comic-book-thing-ever-made-for-tv.htmlGoing to the theater now feels like going to a comic book shop. You can usually pick between Marvel or DC at the box office every summer. This extends to TV and streaming — it’s possible to have an entertainment diet made entirely of superhero media and still not get to it all. (Trust me, I’ve tried.) Despite this pervasiveness, we tend to mostly talk about the big-budget film stuff. The MCU and everything you need to keep up with it./news/cyanogenmod-10-lets-crafty-android-users-enjoy-stock-jelly-bean-while-avoiding-carrier-bloat.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cyanogenmod-10-lets-crafty-android-users-enjoy-stock-jelly-bean-while-avoiding-carrier-bloat.htmlCyanogenMod 10, the popular custom Android ROM that replaces a phone's default software, has been released in finalized, stable form today. Available for a number of devices both new and old, the latest version is based off of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. A large part of CyanogenMod's appeal is that it closely adheres to the stock, untouched Android experience increasingly found only on Google's Nexus devices: there are no traces of overwrought "/news/decision-to-leave-review-a-gloriously-frustrating-mystery.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/decision-to-leave-review-a-gloriously-frustrating-mystery.htmlIn Decision to Leave, Park Chan-wook serves up a gloriously inscrutable romantic thriller. Detective Hae-joon (played by Park Hae-il) is investigating a case of a dead climber and meets the climber’s enigmatic wife, Seo-rae (played by Tang Wei). Tight pacing from Park Chan-wook and ferocious performances by Park Hae-il and Tang Wei leave viewers guessing at every turn.  After helming masterpieces like Joint Security Area, Oldboy, and The Handmaiden, director Park returns with Decision to Leave, which follows the uncanny, slow-burn romance between Hae-joon and Seo-rae./news/discord-will-now-let-you-set-a-unique-avatar-in-each-of-the-servers-where-you-hang-out.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/discord-will-now-let-you-set-a-unique-avatar-in-each-of-the-servers-where-you-hang-out.htmlMessaging app Discord announced today that its premium Nitro tier will now allow subscribers to use a different avatar on each of their servers. The option to “change nickname” in the app has been changed to “edit server profile.” That’s where you’ll be able to change both your nickname and server avatar, so if you use multiple servers — as a lot of Discord users do — you can keep each identity separate and unique./news/dji-s-new-439-ronin-gimbal-is-made-for-mirrorless-cameras.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dji-s-new-439-ronin-gimbal-is-made-for-mirrorless-cameras.htmlDJI has announced a successor to its Ronin S handheld gimbal that’s smaller, lighter, and cheaper, starting at $439 and available today. It’s called the Ronin SC, with the “c” standing for “compact,” and it’s more tailor-made for mirrorless cameras than its predecessor. The Ronin SC largely shares the design of its predecessor, with a single stalk that leads up to a big 3-axis gimbal, all made of magnesium, steel, aluminum, and composite plastic./news/do-you-really-need-high-tech-fertility-gadgets-to-get-pregnant.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/do-you-really-need-high-tech-fertility-gadgets-to-get-pregnant.htmlTrying to conceive can be stressful, and of course tech companies think that fertility gadgets can tell us the best time to have sex to get pregnant. But for most people, doing some simple math can provide the same answers, without spending any money. In the sea of period trackers, two fertility gadgets that use slightly different approaches are the EarlySense Percept, a “contactless” device that you store under your mattress to monitor your fertility cycle, and the Mira AI monitor, which essentially combines hormonal information from multiple urine tests./news/dolphins-caught-chewing-on-fish-to-get-high.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dolphins-caught-chewing-on-fish-to-get-high.htmlA new BBC documentary will show adolescent dolphins getting high by chewing on pufferfish. The fish secrete a toxin that gives the dolphins a buzz, and the crew on the upcoming show filmed male bottlenose dolphins passing around a puffer fish before acting "most peculiarly." The program's executive producer John Downer notes the dolphin were in a trancelike state, "hanging around with their noses at the surface as if fascinated by their own reflection./news/don-t-like-visual-novels-these-games-might-change-your-mind.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/don-t-like-visual-novels-these-games-might-change-your-mind.htmlVisual novels have long ventured to places that more mainstream games avoid. A genre-cum-medium of interactive stories that often feature static anime-influenced art, they also tend to be more diverse than more mainstream titles — including how they depict queer relationships. Even before programs like Twine democratized game design, visual novels were more accessible to marginalized creators because they offered a lightweight process for development that allowed lone creators to put together a playable story./news/dozens-of-tesla-cybertrucks-vandalized-by-someone-who-really-doesn-t-like-elon-musk.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dozens-of-tesla-cybertrucks-vandalized-by-someone-who-really-doesn-t-like-elon-musk.htmlElon Musk may have just won approval for a $56 billion pay package from his adoring supporters, but someone in Fort Lauderdale is clearly not a fan of the controversial CEO. Last week, dozens of Tesla Cybertrucks were defaced with the words “Fuck Elon” in black spray paint, according to InsideEVs citing local news reports. Police say that 34 stainless steel trucks were tagged with the message, which was discovered on Friday./news/drone-packed-with-crystal-meth-crashes-near-us-mexico-border.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/drone-packed-with-crystal-meth-crashes-near-us-mexico-border.htmlA drone packed with drugs crashed this week near the US border with Mexico, police in Tijuana announced Wednesday. As the Associated Press reports, the remote-controlled aircraft was packed with more than six pounds of crystal meth, divided into six packets. The six-propeller drone was likely unable to bear the weight of the drugs, police say, causing it to crash into a supermarket parking lot near the San Ysidro crossing along the Mexico-California border./news/ecovacs-new-cleaning-station-pairs-its-flagship-robovac-with-a-handheld-vacuum.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ecovacs-new-cleaning-station-pairs-its-flagship-robovac-with-a-handheld-vacuum.htmlEcovacs is launching a new all-in-one Deebot X2 Combo cleaning station that combines its signature square-shaped robovac with a handheld vacuum to touch up spots it can’t reach. Both vacuums attach to a single auto-empty station, so you won’t have to empty out either device yourself. First announced last year, the included Deebot X2 Omni robovac offers a powerful 8,000Pa of suction and 15mm mop lifting. It also comes with dual-laser lidar technology and AI obstacle avoidance that allows it to create a new path when it encounters an object in its way./news/elgato-s-new-stream-deck-plus-joins-the-knob-mob.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/elgato-s-new-stream-deck-plus-joins-the-knob-mob.htmlElgato, the company responsible for my strange addiction to putting more buttons on my desk, has just launched its latest streaming accessory, the Elgato Stream Deck Plus, which is currently available on the Elgato store for $199.99, $70 less than the Razer Stream Controller but $50 more than the Stream Deck MK. 2. Just like its predecessors, the Stream Deck Plus has an array of buttons that can be mapped to a variety of functions and plugins available through the Elgato Stream Deck software, but this version is equipped with a set of four knobs and an LED screen./news/ernie-cline-is-writing-a-sequel-to-ready-player-one.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ernie-cline-is-writing-a-sequel-to-ready-player-one.htmlErnie Cline’s 2011 debut novel Ready Player One is being made into a blockbuster movie thanks to Steven Spielberg, but it looks like Cline might be bringing readers back to the OASIS for another adventure. During a Facebook Live event in which Cline debuted the film’s second trailer, he confirmed that he was working on a sequel to the book. Set in a massive virtual reality world called OASIS, Ready Player One follows Wade Watts, a teenager who spends his time searching for three hidden Easter eggs left behind by the system’s founder./news/facebook-begins-tracking-non-users-around-the-internet.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-begins-tracking-non-users-around-the-internet.htmlFacebook will now display ads to web users who are not members of its social network, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to significantly expand its online ad network. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Facebook will use cookies, "like" buttons, and other plug-ins embedded on third-party sites to track members and non-members alike. The company says it will be able to better target non-Facebook users and serve relevant ads to them, though its practices have come under criticism from regulators in Europe over privacy concerns./news/facebook-messenger-now-lets-you-make-group-calls-with-up-to-50-people.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-messenger-now-lets-you-make-group-calls-with-up-to-50-people.htmlToday, Facebook announced a group-calling feature for its Messenger app, letting you dial up to 50 friends concurrently over the internet. The feature is coming to iOS and Android over the next 24 hours, according to Messenger chief David Marcus, and it should show up as a phone icon in group chats. From there, you can add new participants to the call. To be clear, this isn't a video-chatting feature, as Messenger still restricts that feature to one-on-one conversations./news/feds-accuse-at-t-s-directv-of-scheme-that-kept-dodgers-games-off-the-air.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/feds-accuse-at-t-s-directv-of-scheme-that-kept-dodgers-games-off-the-air.htmlIn a major antitrust move, the Justice Department has accused DirecTV, now owned by AT&T, of colluding with other TV companies to keep Dodgers games off TV in Los Angeles. Accused of colluding with other TV companies According to a complaint filed by the department, DirecTV met with Cox, Charter, and AT&T, and made a concerted effort to keep the channel SportsNet LA unavailable to customers. This, the department alleges, was done in a bid to improve negotiations with Time Warner Cable, a rival that owned the exclusive rights to the channel and was planning to sell rights to carry the channel to the other companies./news/fortnite-now-requires-windows-10-or-higher-on-pc.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-now-requires-windows-10-or-higher-on-pc.htmlFortnite’s new cyberpunk-themed “Mega” season launches Friday, but if you’re on PC, you’ll need to be on Windows 10 or higher to be able to check out its cyberpunk vibes. The change means that Fortnite no longer supports machines on Windows 7 and 8. The shift doesn’t come as a total surprise. Developer Epic Games said in December that it planned to drop support for those older versions of Windows with the release of Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 — which is the specific season Epic is launching today./news/fortnite-vs-apple-and-google-everything-you-need-to-know-about-epic-s-mobile-app-stores-fight.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-vs-apple-and-google-everything-you-need-to-know-about-epic-s-mobile-app-stores-fight.htmlEpic just premiered a new short mocking Apple shortly after the iPhone-maker kicked Fortnite from the App Store for violating its guidelines on Thursday. The short, titled “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” directly mocks Apple’s iconic “1984” ad, taking famous imagery from the ad and giving it a cartoony Fortnite twist. A man with an apple for a face on a giant screen talks to a soulless, black-and-white audience. “Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the platform unification directives,” says the apple in a menacing voice./news/futuristic-nap-pods-get-upgraded-with-sleepy-sounds-but-do-they-work.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/futuristic-nap-pods-get-upgraded-with-sleepy-sounds-but-do-they-work.htmlI wanted to know what it's like to nap inside a giant futuristic egg, so I went to a sleep clinic in downtown Manhattan to find out. There, I entered the MetroNaps EnergyPod — pods that look like very comfy chairs you'd expect to see on a spaceship. They're used by places like Google and NASA, and they're getting a sensory upgrade thanks to a new partnership with a company called Pzizz, which promises soundtracks that can put you to sleep./news/george-lucas-apologizes-about-that-whole-white-slaver-thing.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/george-lucas-apologizes-about-that-whole-white-slaver-thing.htmlGeorge Lucas wants you to know he's sorry. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, director George Lucas said, "All those Star Wars films ... I loved them, I created them, I'm very intimately involved in them, and I sold them to the white slavers that take these things and uh, and ... [laughs]." The nasty analogy comes at the tail of an extended tear about Lucas' anxieties pertaining to the selling of his beloved franchise to Disney, and what the company has gone on to create./news/getty-images-is-suing-the-creators-of-ai-art-tool-stable-diffusion-for-scraping-its-content.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/getty-images-is-suing-the-creators-of-ai-art-tool-stable-diffusion-for-scraping-its-content.htmlGetty Images is suing Stability AI, creators of popular AI art tool Stable Diffusion, over alleged copyright violation. In a press statement shared with The Verge, the stock photo company said it believes that Stability AI “unlawfully copied and processed millions of images protected by copyright” to train its software and that Getty Images has “commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London” against the firm. Getty Images CEO Craig Peters told The Verge in an interview that the company has issued Stability AI with a “letter before action” — a formal notification of impending litigation in the UK./news/god-of-war-ragnarok-is-launching-on-november-9th.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/god-of-war-ragnarok-is-launching-on-november-9th.htmlGod of War: Ragnarok, one of Sony’s biggest games of the year, now has an official release date. Sony announced today that Ragnarok will be hitting both the PS4 and PS5 on November 9th. In addition to the release date news, the developer also put out a new CG trailer that teases out some of the story. Here’s the somewhat ominous description: Join Kratos and Atreus on a mythic journey for answers before the prophesied battle that will end the world./news/google-acquires-cameyo-to-integrate-windows-app-virtualization-into-chromeos.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-acquires-cameyo-to-integrate-windows-app-virtualization-into-chromeos.htmlGoogle is acquiring software virtualization company Cameyo in a push to deeply integrate virtualized Windows app support into ChromeOS. Google was already working closely with Cameyo, and now it’s bringing this key virtualization expertise and technology in-house. Google partnered with Cameyo last year to deliver a virtual application experience for legacy Windows desktop apps that was integrated into ChromeOS. This included local file system integration, virtual apps as progressive web apps, and even enhanced clipboard support./news/google-announces-new-sexual-assault-and-harassment-rules-after-mass-protest.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-announces-new-sexual-assault-and-harassment-rules-after-mass-protest.htmlGoogle is announcing new policies around sexual harassment and diversity, following a worldwide employee protest last week. The new policies reflect demands from the protestors, who met with Google leadership earlier this week. “We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that. It’s clear we need to make some changes,” wrote CEO Sundar Pichai in an email to employees, which he posted publicly today./news/google-chrome-will-summarize-entire-articles-for-you-with-built-in-generative-ai.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-chrome-will-summarize-entire-articles-for-you-with-built-in-generative-ai.htmlGoogle’s AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE) is getting a major new feature: it will be able to summarize articles you’re reading on the web, according to a Google blog post. SGE can already summarize search results for you so that you don’t have to scroll forever to find what you’re looking for, and this new feature is designed to take that further by helping you out after you’ve actually clicked a link./news/google-cuts-team-of-youtube-music-contractors-who-went-on-strike.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-cuts-team-of-youtube-music-contractors-who-went-on-strike.htmlA union representing contractors for YouTube Music claims that Google cut the workers’ contract after they went on a prolonged strike.  The Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, which represents the contractors, said the team consisted of moderators employed by Google contractor Cognizant in Austin, Texas, that was responsible for approving music content for YouTube Music. In a statement emailed to The Verge, Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini maintained the decision to cut the team did not lie with them but, rather, with Cognizant and said, “Contracts with our suppliers across the country routinely end on their natural expiry date./news/google-docs-can-now-automatically-add-line-numbers.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-docs-can-now-automatically-add-line-numbers.htmlGoogle Docs now lets you add line numbers to documents. With this feature, Google can automatically assign numbers to each line, which you can then configure to span an entire document, a page, or a certain section. Line numbers are often used by legal professionals to make it easier to point to specific pieces of a document. To enable line numbers in Docs, make sure your document is set to paged mode by heading to File > Page setup and choosing Pages./news/google-is-adding-a-built-in-dashcam-feature-to-android-phones.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-is-adding-a-built-in-dashcam-feature-to-android-phones.htmlGoogle appears to be working on a native dashcam recording feature for some Android phones that could run in the background for up to 24 hours, and it sounds pretty great. 9to5Google grabbed screenshots of an update to the Personal Safety app for Android phones with the option that appeared to be part of an internal test that was accidentally uploaded to Google Play. The app apparently uses compressed video to save space and lets you turn your screen off or pop over to another app — say Waze or Google Maps — while recording continues in the background./news/google-is-building-an-ar-headset.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-is-building-an-ar-headset.htmlMeta may be the loudest company building AR and VR hardware. Microsoft has HoloLens. Apple is working on something, too. But don’t count out Google. The search giant has recently begun ramping up work on an AR headset, internally codenamed Project Iris, that it hopes to ship in 2024, according to two people familiar with the project who requested anonymity to speak without the company’s permission. Like forthcoming headsets from Meta and Apple, Google’s device uses outward-facing cameras to blend computer graphics with a video feed of the real world, creating a more immersive, mixed reality experience than existing AR glasses from the likes of Snap and Magic Leap./news/google-opens-its-latest-google-glass-ar-headset-for-direct-purchase.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-opens-its-latest-google-glass-ar-headset-for-direct-purchase.htmlAgain, this is an enterprise product, so it’s not designed for everyday consumer use. It’s primarily for jobs in construction and on factory floors as well as in the medical field and other disciplines that can make use of a simpler heads-up display and that don’t (yet) require something like a full-blown mixed reality device like Microsoft HoloLens. “Since Glass Enterprise Edition 2 launched last May, we’ve seen strong demand from developers and businesses who are interested in building new, helpful enterprise solutions for Glass,” Jay Kothari, the Google Glass project lead, writes in a blog post published on Tuesday./news/google-wants-to-quiz-you-on-phishing-emails.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-wants-to-quiz-you-on-phishing-emails.html“Phishing is, by far, the most common form of cyberattack,” Jigsaw explains in a blog post. “One percent of emails sent today are phishing attempts.” According to the post, the quiz is based on trainings Jigsaw held with “10,000 journalists, activists, and political leaders.” After each email, Google explains how to tell the signs, often by hovering over URLs to check where they lead and checking the spelling of email addresses./news/google-won-t-fire-or-suspend-unvaccinated-employees-but-they-need-approval-to-visit-the-office.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-won-t-fire-or-suspend-unvaccinated-employees-but-they-need-approval-to-visit-the-office.htmlGoogle is no longer requiring its US-based workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to CNBC. “We’re not enforcing vaccination requirements as a condition of employment for US office workers at this time,” Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson said in a statement to The Verge after we first published this article. “We’re continuing to implement our vaccination policy requiring COVID-19 vaccinations or approved accommodations for any individuals accessing our sites, because it’s one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running./news/google-s-one-step-closer-to-building-its-1-000-language-ai-model.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-one-step-closer-to-building-its-1-000-language-ai-model.htmlAs Microsoft and Google butt heads over whose AI chatbot is better, that isn’t the only use for machine learning and language models. Along with rumored plans to show off more than 20 products powered by artificial intelligence during its annual I/O event this year, Google’s progressing toward its goal of building an AI language model that supports 1,000 different languages. In an update posted on Monday, Google shared more information about the Universal Speech Model (USM), a system Google describes as a “critical first step” in realizing its goals./news/hbo-s-silicon-valley-takes-a-direct-shot-at-the-tech-industry-s-obsession-with-ai.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-s-silicon-valley-takes-a-direct-shot-at-the-tech-industry-s-obsession-with-ai.htmlSilicon Valley is Mike Judge and Alec Berg’s biting comedy about the American tech industry, now in its fourth season. Every week, we’ll be taking one idea, scene, or joke and explain how it ties to the real Silicon Valley and speaks to an issue at the heart of the industry and its ever-lasting goal to change the world — and make boatloads of money in the process. Spoilers ahead for the third episode of season 4, “Intellectual Property./news/horizon-zero-dawn-review-a-greatest-hits-collection-of-open-world-games.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/horizon-zero-dawn-review-a-greatest-hits-collection-of-open-world-games.htmlHorizon Zero Dawn takes place so far in the future that the Earth is virtually unrecognizable. At times both futuristic and prehistoric, it’s a land beset by robotic animals — sinewy, chrome things resembling everything from horses to dinosaurs — where humans defend themselves with spears and bows. The anachronistic humans and beasts clash in fascinating ways, raising numerous questions about how the world got into this state, why machines have largely replaced wildlife, and what happened to the civilization that came before./news/how-annihilation-s-visual-effects-artists-created-those-terrifying-mutant-creatures.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-annihilation-s-visual-effects-artists-created-those-terrifying-mutant-creatures.htmlThe last time director Alex Garland and visual effects supervisor Andrew Whitehurst worked together, they created Alicia Vikander’s Ava, the robot star of Ex Machina. For their follow-up collaboration, Annihilation, they had a much bigger set of challenges. Garland’s newest film is a heady mind-trip that explores humanity’s self-destructive impulses, but it’s also a walking tour of the gorgeous and the grotesque. The story of Lena (Natalie Portman), a biologist who joins a group of women to explore an area of coastal America that’s rapidly mutating due to an alien contaminant, Annihilation is full of improbably beautiful biological mashups, shimmering landscapes, and human-plant hybrids./news/how-ceo-patrick-spence-brought-bluetooth-to-sonos.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-ceo-patrick-spence-brought-bluetooth-to-sonos.htmlSonos CEO Patrick Spence sat down with The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel for The Vergecast once again, this time right after a private Sonos press event in New York City last week. Sonos had just unveiled a few new products, notably its first ever Bluetooth speaker the Sonos Move. Spence came on The Vergecast to answered some questions about the new devices, what it took to finally bring Bluetooth to a Sonos device, and if Apple’s Siri will arrive on Sonos’ new speakers./news/how-dell-dodged-a-class-action-suit-over-alienware-area-51m-gpu-upgrades.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-dell-dodged-a-class-action-suit-over-alienware-area-51m-gpu-upgrades.htmlBut it turns out Dell never had to meaningfully face that lawsuit. Area-51m buyers never successfully banded together in a class action case. Dell was able to force them into binding arbitration, I found, when I went looking to see what happened to the suit. Regardless, some Area-51m owners went on to win settlements in individual arbitrations, their lawyer, Steve Hochfelsen, confirmed to me. (He’s one of the partners who brought the prospective class action lawsuit in the first place./news/how-google-reader-died-and-why-the-web-misses-it-more-than-ever.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-google-reader-died-and-why-the-web-misses-it-more-than-ever.htmlThere was a sign in the Google Reader team’s workspace at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. “Days Since Cancellation,” it read, with a number below: zero. It was always zero. This was in 2006 or so, back when Google Reader was still growing. Back when it still existed at all. Google’s feed-reading tool offered a powerful way to curate and read the internet and was beloved by its users./news/how-to-create-custom-apple-watch-interval-workouts.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-create-custom-apple-watch-interval-workouts.htmlWhile you’ve always been able to customize Apple Watch workouts, the company finally added the ability to create custom interval workouts in watchOS 9. That’s clutch for any athlete itching to set a PR at their next race or just looking to switch up their training routine. Previously, the only workaround for interval training on the Apple Watch was the segments feature. At any time during an activity, you could double-tap the screen to make note of a significant section of your workout./news/how-to-delete-your-facebook-account.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-delete-your-facebook-account.htmlIf you’ve finally given up on the world’s most popular social media network, it’s not too complicated to remove yourself from the service. But before you delete all of those pictures, posts, and likes, you should download your personal information from Facebook. Your Facebook archives contain just about all of the pertinent information related to your account, including your photos, active sessions, chat history, IP addresses, facial recognition data, and which ads you clicked, just to name a few./news/how-to-keep-track-of-friends-and-family-on-your-iphone.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-keep-track-of-friends-and-family-on-your-iphone.htmlI fully get why some people might be wary of letting other people see their location constantly, but for me, location-sharing tools such as Find My and Google Maps have only had advantages. They mean not having dozens of back-and-forth texts about which bar everyone is currently at, for example, or not needing to text “I’ll be five minutes late” because everyone can see I’m en route. And while tracking the location of older teens probably won’t happen without some intense negotiation, it can be handy to see when younger kids have made it to school or a friend’s house./news/how-to-migrate-your-games-from-the-bethesda-game-launcher.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-migrate-your-games-from-the-bethesda-game-launcher.htmlThe Bethesda.net game launcher is giving up the ghost as of May 11th, so Bethesda is allowing anyone who has purchased games on their exclusive platform to migrate their purchases to Steam. The launcher and your library will remain accessible after May 11th, but Bethesda has recommended that users begin the process as soon as possible. In the process of migrating your games, Bethesda has noted that your entire game library and wallet will be accompanied by all of your saved games — meaning that you shouldn’t have to worry about losing your 500-plus-hour playthrough of Fallout 76./news/how-to-scan-your-windows-pc-for-malware.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-scan-your-windows-pc-for-malware.htmlIf you think your PC is infected with some kind of malware or you just want to do a scan as part of a digital cleanup, Windows has a built-in security tool that can help you on your way — no third-party software to install or pay for. It’s called Windows Security. Once upon a time, Windows Security was called Windows Defender Security Center, but the app is largely similar. Searching “Windows Defender” in the Start menu will bring up Windows Security, and even now, Microsoft often refers to its actual antivirus scanning as Windows Defender./news/how-to-see-who-else-is-using-your-streaming-service-subscriptions.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-see-who-else-is-using-your-streaming-service-subscriptions.htmlIt’s not difficult to share a password for Netflix or Spotify with a friend or leave yourself signed in at someone else’s house or in a hotel room, which means, after several years, there could be a host of people sharing your streaming services that you’ve completely forgotten about. Whether it’s an ex-partner, a niece or nephew, a college roommate from back in the day, or whoever else, you don’t necessarily want your accounts being used by a whole cast of characters./news/how-to-use-zoom-on-the-echo-show.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-use-zoom-on-the-echo-show.htmlZoom meetings are a part of everyday life for many of us. Whether you’re a middle schooler learning remotely or an executive with back-to-back meetings, or if it’s just that your book club still meets virtually, most of us have to grapple with the video conference company at some point in our week. Having another option for joining meetings other than your computer or squinting at your smartphone is a nice bonus, and if you have an Echo Show at home, it can make a useful hands-free Zoom machine./news/how-youtube-s-miranda-sings-made-the-move-to-haters-back-off-on-netflix.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-youtube-s-miranda-sings-made-the-move-to-haters-back-off-on-netflix.htmlColleen Ballinger created the character of Miranda Sings eight years ago as a parody of the girls she studied acting and voice with — the ones who took confidence in their own talent to a rude extreme. Miranda is egotistical, aggressively conservative, wildly antagonistic, and constantly off-pitch. She’s obsessed with fame, and one of her signature catchphrases is “haters make me famous.” That’s true in the most literal sense, because the early Miranda videos went viral mostly from comments and shares from people who misinterpreted the horrible singing, loud sermons about “sinners,” and absurd lipstick line as sincere./news/hydrow-wave-review-slimmer-sleeker-and-a-lot-more-affordable.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hydrow-wave-review-slimmer-sleeker-and-a-lot-more-affordable.htmlI’ll admit that rowing has never really been my jam. Aside from a handful of times I’ve used it during an Orangetheory class, it’s a sport I mostly associate with the Winklevoss twins. Still, I’ve seen and heard plenty of folks extoll the virtues of rowing as a highly efficient form of low-impact cardio and strength training — I just didn’t feel interested enough to publicly attempt it on the sad, neglected rower at my local gym./news/inexplicably-youtube-says-extremely-racist-steven-crowder-video-isn-t-hate-speech.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/inexplicably-youtube-says-extremely-racist-steven-crowder-video-isn-t-hate-speech.htmlYouTube removed an extremely racist video from conservative commentator Steven Crowder this week, citing violations of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy — not its hate speech policy — as the reason for the removal. Inexplicably, though, the video did not violate the company’s hate speech policies at all, the company told OneZero, despite Crowder and his co-hosts making numerous racist comments about Black farmers. “Our hate speech policy prohibits content promoting hatred against groups based on their race,” a YouTube spokesperson tells OneZero./news/inside-co-star-the-app-that-s-feeding-millennials-fascination-with-astrology.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/inside-co-star-the-app-that-s-feeding-millennials-fascination-with-astrology.htmlIn a white-walled, cement-floored room on the sixth floor of an office building in Chinatown, a handful of young content creators and engineers gather each day to put thousands of years of astrological knowledge into an algorithm. The workers are mostly women and non-binary people who speak in low voices and wear cool shoes. On the early summer day I visit their office, everyone is wearing black casual wear and staring intently at more than one computer monitor around a long, white conference table in the middle of the room./news/inside-the-quest-to-finish-super-mario-maker-s-disappearing-levels.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/inside-the-quest-to-finish-super-mario-maker-s-disappearing-levels.htmlIn 2015, Nintendo released Super Mario Maker for the Wii U, a game that allowed players to make and share their own 2D Mario levels. In 2021, the company ended the ability to upload courses, the game having been eclipsed by its sequel on the Switch. But in January 2024, Nintendo announced an end to all online services for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games on April 8th. For Super Mario Maker, that meant the millions of player-made levels would be unceremoniously shuttered./news/intel-acquires-transit-data-startup-moovit-for-900-million.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/intel-acquires-transit-data-startup-moovit-for-900-million.htmlIntel moved deeper into the world of smart mobility and autonomous driving by announcing Monday its plan to acquire Israel-based urban transit data startup Moovit for $900 million. Moovit’s principle product is an urban mobility app with a particular focus on public transportation, which is used by hundreds of millions of customers. It uses public transit data to provide route planning in the vein of Google’s and Apple’s mapping apps, as well as scooter- and bike-sharing services and ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft./news/it-s-pi-day-here-are-3-14-facts-about-pi.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/it-s-pi-day-here-are-3-14-facts-about-pi.htmlYou know the old saying: it's Pi Day, Pi Day, gotta get down on Pi Day. And what better way to celebrate the date that embodies everyone's favorite mathematical constant than with precisely 3.14 facts about pi. 1 — A Japanese memory master Claims he can recite pi to 111,700 digits Memorizing pi is an undeniably nerdy pursuit, but some people have taken the challenge to extreme lengths. Japanese memory master Akira Haraguchi has recited 100,000 digits of pi in public (it took more than 16 hours), and told The Guardian that his personal record goes to 111,700 digits./news/jaguar-land-rover-says-all-of-its-cars-will-come-with-nvidia-s-drive-computers-by-2025.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jaguar-land-rover-says-all-of-its-cars-will-come-with-nvidia-s-drive-computers-by-2025.htmlJaguar Land Rover is teaming up with Nvidia to install high-powered computers in its vehicles to enable advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving features. Starting in 2025, all JLR vehicles will come with Nvidia’s end-to-end Drive Hyperion platform installed, the companies said. Hyperion is the latest iteration of Nvidia’s Drive platform that allows automakers to customize their own driving features. And Orin is the chipmaker’s system-on-a-chip, similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving chip or Intel’s Mobileye EyeQ./news/john-deere-turned-tractors-into-computers-what-s-next.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/john-deere-turned-tractors-into-computers-what-s-next.htmlOne of our themes on Decoder is that basically everything is a computer now, and farming equipment like tractors and combines are no different. My guest this week is Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, the world’s biggest manufacturer of farming machinery. And I think our conversation will surprise you. Jahmy told me that John Deere employs more software engineers than mechanical engineers now, which completely surprised me. But the entire business of farming is moving toward something called precision agriculture, which means farmers are closely tracking where seeds are planted, how well they’re growing, what those plants need, and how much they yield./news/jon-stewart-has-signed-a-four-year-contract-with-hbo.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jon-stewart-has-signed-a-four-year-contract-with-hbo.htmlJon Stewart is heading back to work. HBO just announced that the former Daily Show host has signed a four-year production pact with the cable company. The comedian's next job will be to focus on short-form digital content that'll appear on HBO Go and HBO NOW, with a window to make other film and TV programs down the line. "I’m so excited to be working with Richard [Plepler], Michael and the entire HBO family,"/news/judge-rules-tesla-can-t-hide-behind-arbitration-in-sexual-harassment-case.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/judge-rules-tesla-can-t-hide-behind-arbitration-in-sexual-harassment-case.htmlA lawsuit that accuses Tesla of fostering a workplace with “rampant” sexual harassment will continue in court after a California judge denied the company’s motion for arbitration, as first reported by Bloomberg. Although the female worker who brought up the case signed an arbitration agreement at Tesla, terminating her rights to sue, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus still moved forward with the decision on Monday. “This is a victory for public accountability”/news/just-how-complicit-is-mark-zuckerberg.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/just-how-complicit-is-mark-zuckerberg.htmlJust how complicit is Mark Zuckerberg? Because we often wonder how much a CEO actually knows about the goings on of their company—particularly when a large company like Meta has is being sued by dozens of Attorneys General over its policies around underage users. It turns out Zuckerberg may have had a very direct hand in crafting policies that targeted children and exacerbated issues with body image on Meta’s platforms, at least according to a new report from the New York Times/news/kate-nash-s-drink-about-you-video-features-her-cracking-up-in-the-woods.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/kate-nash-s-drink-about-you-video-features-her-cracking-up-in-the-woods.htmlEvery week, a slew of new music videos hits the web. Watching them at your desk is not time theft because you deserve it; think of it as a nice reward for surviving another work week. But what if you don’t have time to watch every video — maybe you have a deadline, a hungry pet, or other grown-up concerns. In consideration of your schedule, Lizzie and Kaitlyn bring you a series called One Video./news/kensington-announces-two-new-trackballs-at-ces.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/kensington-announces-two-new-trackballs-at-ces.htmlTrackball stans, rejoice! Kensington, one of the few remaining manufacturers of premium trackball mice, has announced two new options for the ergonomic diehards out there. Kensington introduced a pair of more budget-friendly options at CES 2023 with its new Pro Fit Ergo Trackball lineup, the $69.99 TB550 and $49.99 TB450. They join the $119.99 wireless SlimBlade Pro Trackball in Kensingtons’ trackball lineup, but where the SlimBlade Pro is manipulated by the user’s fingers, the new offerings rely on the thumb to get the cursor moving./news/learn-to-play-the-musical-calculator-to-impress-your-nerd-friends.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/learn-to-play-the-musical-calculator-to-impress-your-nerd-friends.htmlI was first introduced to the concept of a musical calculator when I watched a YouTuber who goes by the name “It’s a Small World” covering the Super Mario theme song with four calculators. Each numbered button corresponded to a musical note, and the mysterious musician (just watch her “face reveal“ video, she takes the genre to new heights like she’s the Bjork of YouTube) somehow memorized them all to create an 8-bit symphony./news/left-4-dead-2-gets-one-final-massive-update.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/left-4-dead-2-gets-one-final-massive-update.htmlLeft 4 Dead 2, Valve’s iconic zombie shooter, turns 11 next month. Today, the game gets a final, massive update — The Last Stand, created by the Left 4 Dead community update team and endorsed by Valve itself. It’s also the first new content added to the game since 2012, according to Polygon. (That was the community-made DLC Cold Stream.) The update adds tons of new content to the game: new weapons, new maps, new enemy types, unused dialogue, and even a new campaign./news/lenovo-adds-flexible-hinges-to-even-more-laptops-including-its-best-yoga-yet.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lenovo-adds-flexible-hinges-to-even-more-laptops-including-its-best-yoga-yet.htmlLenovo is one of many PC manufacturers convinced that the traditional laptop form factor is on its way out — and the company is doing a better job than anyone at figuring out what's next. It's bet primarily on its rotating Yoga hinge, which swings seamlessly from a traditional laptop look to far more touch-friendly modes. The Yoga 13 was one of our favorite Windows 8 laptops, and now the Yoga family is growing by two models: the Yoga 2 Pro and the ThinkPad Yoga./news/lenovo-legion-go-review-the-swiss-army-knife-of-handhelds.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lenovo-legion-go-review-the-swiss-army-knife-of-handhelds.htmlWant a handheld gaming PC? I wouldn’t recommend the $700 Lenovo Legion Go over a Steam Deck. Windows 11 isn’t nearly as convenient and portable as Valve’s Steam OS for playing Windows games on the go. Even Microsoft knows that. But even if it’s not the best portable game console, it’s a nifty portable PC that can absolutely play games. For the right kind of Windows gadgeteer, the Lenovo Legion Go might narrowly be worth the cash./news/lg-refuses-to-give-up-on-squarish-phones-with-stylus-equipped-vu-3.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-refuses-to-give-up-on-squarish-phones-with-stylus-equipped-vu-3.htmlUndaunted by the apparent ungainliness of a 4:3 aspect ratio on a smartphone, LG has somehow reached iteration number three of its Vu Android slate. The Vu 3 grows that extra bit larger than its predecessor — now spanning a 5.2-inch display — while adding a stylus silo and the fastest Snapdragon processor around, the 2.3GHz quad-core 800. That's the same chip you'll find inside the company's latest Android flagship, the G2./news/lyrebird-claims-it-can-recreate-any-voice-using-just-one-minute-of-sample-audio.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lyrebird-claims-it-can-recreate-any-voice-using-just-one-minute-of-sample-audio.htmlArtificial intelligence is making human speech as malleable and replicable as pixels. Today, a Canadian AI startup named Lyrebird unveiled its first product: a set of algorithms the company claims can clone anyone’s voice by listening to just a single minute of sample audio. A few years ago this would have been impossible, but the analytic prowess of machine learning has proven to be a perfect fit for the idiosyncrasies of human speech./news/macbook-pro-upgraded-with-ivy-bridge-cpus-nvidia-graphics-shipping-today.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/macbook-pro-upgraded-with-ivy-bridge-cpus-nvidia-graphics-shipping-today.htmlApple has just revealed its new line of 2012 MacBook Pro laptops, upgrading them to Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and Nvidia's new Kepler-based GeForce GT 650M graphics. All new models are shipping today. The big highlight of today's show is actually the introduction of a so-called next-generation MacBook Pro with an incredible 2880 x 1800 display, however that's happening quite aside from Apple's regular hardware refresh. You'll still find your usual 13-inch MBP with a 1280 x 800 screen, only now it has a new 2./news/mass-effect-is-becoming-a-4d-theme-park-attraction-in-california.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mass-effect-is-becoming-a-4d-theme-park-attraction-in-california.htmlStar Wars isn't the only galaxy-spanning sci-fi series to be getting its own theme park experience. Video game developer BioWare announced last night that Mass Effect, its epic space opera RPG trilogy, would become the inspiration foran upcoming attraction at California's Great America park. The theme park says the attraction will feature settings and character from the Mass Effect video games, and will mix special effects, live performances, and "4D" effects as guests "/news/messaging-app-viber-is-adding-self-destructing-chats-for-its-800-million-users.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/messaging-app-viber-is-adding-self-destructing-chats-for-its-800-million-users.htmlYou might not have heard of Viber, but it’s one of the world’s biggest messaging apps — more than 800 million registered users worldwide, with strong followings in parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, and Northern Africa. Now, in order to give its customers a little more privacy and security, the company is introducing a new feature named “secret chats.” This basically gives users the option of starting conversations that self-destruct after a certain time limit./news/meta-accounts-are-rolling-out-now-for-quest-vr-owners-to-use-instead-of-facebook.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-accounts-are-rolling-out-now-for-quest-vr-owners-to-use-instead-of-facebook.htmlMeta will now allow users of its Quest VR headsets to log in with a new Meta account instead of a Facebook account, the company announced on Tuesday. The company had said in July that this change would be rolling out in August, and it marks a shift from an unpopular policy announced in 2020 that required users to log in to their headsets with a Facebook account instead of a separate Oculus account./news/meta-could-make-highly-targeted-ads-opt-in-but-only-in-europe.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-could-make-highly-targeted-ads-opt-in-but-only-in-europe.htmlMeta is proposing to make some of its personalized, targeted ads an up-front opt-in choice for users in the European Union, reports The Wall Street Journal. If the EU accepts Meta’s proposal, the company says it would need three months or more to let users choose whether to allow the company to target ads based on what they do within its social media services. The company’s proposal aims to end its ongoing fight with the EU over its use of personal data for advertisements under European privacy laws, the Journal says./news/meta-s-next-horizon-worlds-game-is-called-shootball.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-s-next-horizon-worlds-game-is-called-shootball.htmlMeta’s next Horizon Worlds game is called “Shootball.” It looks kind of like Rocket League mixed with guns, based on a brief glimpse in a trailer of upcoming additions to Horizon Worlds. Meta says the game will launch on January 1st. The trailer also shows off Horizon Central, a kind of virtual town square where you can “browse” other Horizon Worlds experiences. And Super Rumble, is getting more quests and rewards on December 20th./news/microsoft-outage-took-down-copilot-duckduckgo-and-chatgpt-search-features.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-outage-took-down-copilot-duckduckgo-and-chatgpt-search-features.htmlSearch capabilities for ChatGPT, Copilot, DuckDuckGo, and other platforms stopped working on Thursday morning due to a Microsoft outage. The issues — which began around 3AM ET — appeared to be linked to Bing’s API and any service that relies upon it. While Microsoft’s own web search engine, Bing, was also seemingly affected, according to TechCrunch, it came back online eventually. By 11AM ET, OpenAI posted a note indicating the issue had been resolved, saying, “Between around 10:10 PM PT yesterday and 6:50 AM PT today, we experienced a partial outage affecting ChatGPT’s web-browsing capabilities due to Bing being unavailable./news/microsoft-surface-pro-review-the-new-normal.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-surface-pro-review-the-new-normal.htmlIn Microsoft’s relatively young hardware division, the Surface Pro has always stood for what the company believes is the future of personal computing. Originally billed as “the tablet that can replace your laptop,” it straddles the line between a traditional computer and something different. Times have changed in the five years since the Surface debuted. Every company that makes PCs has its own take on the “productive tablet,” many of which copy Microsoft’s designs wholesale./news/motorola-razr-2020-review-5g-a-better-hinge-and-a-very-high-price.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/motorola-razr-2020-review-5g-a-better-hinge-and-a-very-high-price.htmlWhat a difference eleven months makes. That’s how long it took Motorola to iterate on the original remake of the Razr. In that time, Motorola has crammed in 5G and improved virtually every aspect of the phone. Virtually every aspect of the original 2019 Razr needed improvement — it was a mess.  This 2020 Razr is fine. But at $1,399, it’s also still incredibly expensive when compared to any other non-folding phone with similar capabilities./news/nasa-tasks-spacex-with-sending-cargo-and-supplies-to-future-lunar-space-station.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-tasks-spacex-with-sending-cargo-and-supplies-to-future-lunar-space-station.htmlDespite the worsening coronavirus pandemic in the US, NASA is still looking ahead to its long-term goal of sending humans back to the lunar surface and is now asking SpaceX to start doing cargo runs to the Moon in the near future. NASA awarded the aerospace company with a new contract this afternoon, tasking SpaceX with sending cargo and supplies to a space station that NASA wants to build in the Moon’s orbit./news/new-attack-can-unlock-and-start-a-tesla-model-y-in-seconds-say-researchers.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-attack-can-unlock-and-start-a-tesla-model-y-in-seconds-say-researchers.htmlTesla prides itself on its cybersecurity protections, particularly the elaborate challenge system that protects its cars from conventional methods for attacking the remote unlock system. But now, one researcher has discovered a sophisticated relay attack that would allow someone with physical access to a Tesla Model Y to unlock and steal it in a matter of seconds. The vulnerability — discovered by Josep Pi Rodriguez, principal security consultant for IOActive — involves what’s called an NFC relay attack and requires two thieves working in tandem./news/new-trailers-john-wick-3-game-of-thrones-spider-man-far-from-home-and-more.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-trailers-john-wick-3-game-of-thrones-spider-man-far-from-home-and-more.htmlI finally got around to watching Roma the other week. It’s a fascinating film, telling its story in a way that few others do — not quite through the intimate portrait of one character, but through a world of contrasts and colliding events. Honestly, I couldn’t quite get a grasp on how to understand Alfonso Cuarón’s approach until I saw a tweet from Guillermo del Toro the other day. “In every sense, Roma is a fresco, a mural, not a portrait,” he wrote./news/new-trailers-star-wars-the-clone-wars-netflix-s-taylor-swift-documentary-and-more.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-trailers-star-wars-the-clone-wars-netflix-s-taylor-swift-documentary-and-more.htmlI feel like war movies all too often take the form of action films focused on big, broad, and misguided emotions like glory. So it was a wonderful surprise watching Jojo Rabbit, one of the first World War II movies I’ve seen in some time that actually has something meaningful to say. The film does a brilliant job of satirizing the harmful ways people are divided by language and fear. It focuses on a young boy in 1940s Germany who subscribes to Nazi ideology to fit in./news/nike-redesigned-its-popular-running-app-and-users-are-very-angry.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nike-redesigned-its-popular-running-app-and-users-are-very-angry.htmlFor several years now, the Nike+ Running app has been an essential download and companion for millions of people trying to keep fit and improve their health. It's got between 10 million and 50 million installs on Google Play, and I'd bet on it being even more successful on iOS. But recently (and very randomly), Nike decided to take a gamble and overhaul an immensely popular smartphone app from scratch. It's now called Nike+ Run Club and, well, let's just say that the reception hasn't been very positive so far./news/ninja-returns-to-twitch-for-first-time-since-mixer-shut-down.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ninja-returns-to-twitch-for-first-time-since-mixer-shut-down.htmlNinja is back on Twitch — for the moment, at least. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins started streaming Fortnite on his Twitch account Wednesday morning, nearly a year to the day after he left the service for an exclusivity deal with Mixer. It’s the first time that Blevins has streamed on Twitch since leaving. With Mixer shutting down last month, Ninja has been released from his contract and is free to stream where he’d like./news/nintendo-is-releasing-a-2ds-xl-that-looks-like-a-pok%C3%A9ball.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-is-releasing-a-2ds-xl-that-looks-like-a-pok%C3%A9ball.htmlWith Pokémon Ultra Moon and Ultra Sun on the way, Nintendo is preparing to release a special edition version of the New Nintendo 2DS XL. Though it doesn’t come with the games themselves, the special edition does look like a pokéball. The new portable will be available on November 3rd, just a few weeks before the latest Pokémon games hit the handheld on November 17th. And that’s not all for Pokémon news, either./news/now-dollar-general-will-do-same-day-deliveries-via-doordash.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/now-dollar-general-will-do-same-day-deliveries-via-doordash.htmlBesides its European expansion, DoorDash is reaching into new areas within the United States via an expanded partnership with Dollar General that’s already available via 9,000 locations. Gig economy services initially proliferated in urban areas, using venture capital money to push the convenience of getting everything from cold medicine to a single candy bar hand-delivered within the hour. However, if you don’t live around tall buildings, the services become fewer and farther between, and so do the shops that work with them./news/nvidia-reveals-h100-gpu-for-ai-and-teases-world-s-fastest-ai-supercomputer.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nvidia-reveals-h100-gpu-for-ai-and-teases-world-s-fastest-ai-supercomputer.htmlNvidia has announced a slew of AI-focused enterprise products at its annual GTC conference. They include details of its new silicon architecture, Hopper; the first datacenter GPU built using that architecture, the H100; a new Grace CPU “superchip”; and vague plans to build what the company claims will be the world’s fastest AI supercomputer, named Eos. Nvidia has benefited hugely from the AI boom of the last decade, with its GPUs proving a perfect match for popular, data-intensive deep learning methods./news/october-prime-day-best-laptop-deals-from-apple-dell-lenovo-and-more.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/october-prime-day-best-laptop-deals-from-apple-dell-lenovo-and-more.htmlAmazon’s fall Prime Day event is underway. For more deals we recommend across all categories, check out our full roundup here. For this fall Prime Day event, laptops of all shapes and sizes are on sale. If you’re looking for a good bargain but aren’t sure where to start, we’ve filtered out all of the best options for you to consider. Most of the best deals are at Amazon itself today, but there are a few gems at other retailers, and we’ve included them here, too./news/opera-s-new-browser-gives-you-direct-access-to-whatsapp-messenger-and-telegram.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/opera-s-new-browser-gives-you-direct-access-to-whatsapp-messenger-and-telegram.htmlOpera may be the underdog of the browser world, but it continues to fight hard, adding interesting new features to try and win over users. The latest addition is a messaging sidebar built directly into the browser interface. From the sidebar, users can log into their WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram accounts, and chat with friends and family without ever leaving Opera itself. This feature first appeared in the company’s experimental Neon browser, which was designed to test out Opera’s weirdest ideas./news/ori-and-the-will-of-the-wisps-launches-on-nintendo-switch-today.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ori-and-the-will-of-the-wisps-launches-on-nintendo-switch-today.htmlOri and the Will of the Wisps, Moon Studios’ sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest, is launching today for the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo announced the news today during a small Nintendo Direct presentation. Will of the Wisps launched earlier this year. In the Metroidvania-style platformer, players control Ori in the immediate aftermath of Blind Forest. Both games first released on the Xbox One and were only available via Microsoft platforms or PC./news/overwatch-2-s-new-hero-sojourn-was-a-long-time-coming.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/overwatch-2-s-new-hero-sojourn-was-a-long-time-coming.htmlAhead of Overwatch 2 starting its closed beta (and amid the ongoing litigation against its publisher, Activision Blizzard), the Overwatch team would like you to meet Sojourn. In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Sojourn’s creators talked about what it took to bring the game’s 33rd character and first Black woman hero to life. “She’s been around in our hearts and in our game in some form for so long,” said Geoff Goodman, Overwatch 2’s lead hero designer./news/peacock-s-next-exclusive-nfl-stream-is-in-september.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/peacock-s-next-exclusive-nfl-stream-is-in-september.htmlThe NFL will hold its first regular-season game in São Paulo, Brazil, later this year — but you’ll need a Peacock subscription to tune in. Peacock will exclusively air the game on Friday, September 6th, featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and a not-yet-named opponent. This marks the third football game to stream only on Peacock, as the streaming service previously aired an NFL playoff match last January. It also aired an AFC Wild Card game last year that it says was the “most-streamed event ever in the US./news/peloton-ceo-promises-the-company-is-done-with-layoffs.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/peloton-ceo-promises-the-company-is-done-with-layoffs.htmlPeloton CEO Barry McCarthy is an optimist. During the company’s Q1 2023 earnings call, McCarthy said that the company was done with layoffs and that the “ship was turning,” referencing a colorful metaphor he issued during Q4 2022 earnings. Wall Street investors may disagree. Peloton’s stock price fell by about 19 percent this morning after the company announced a weaker-than-expected holiday forecast. On the product side, McCarthy noted that while customer satisfaction with the recently launched Guide was high, most people don’t know it exists./news/photobucket-accused-of-blackmail-after-quietly-requiring-users-to-pay-400-a-year-to-hotlink.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/photobucket-accused-of-blackmail-after-quietly-requiring-users-to-pay-400-a-year-to-hotlink.htmlThousands of listings from online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay are now filled with unsightly error images by Photobucket after the photo hosting site quietly introduced a $399 annual fee to users who want to embed images on third party websites. Users are now accusing Photobucket of extortion, as the service failed to make the update to its terms of service abundantly clear. Users are accusing Photobucket of extortion It all began last week when Photobucket announced in a short blog post that it had updated its terms of service that had begun taking effect from June 20th./news/please-stop-calling-dopamine-the-pleasure-chemical.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/please-stop-calling-dopamine-the-pleasure-chemical.htmlDopamine is one of the most hyped brain chemicals, supposedly linked to everything from sex to gambling. It’s common to read, as Business Insider claimed last week, that dopamine is “the pleasure chemical” — but that’s not true, and the idea was overturned long ago. “I have friends who have dopamine tattoos because they think it means pleasure,” says Arif Hamid, a Gray Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and postdoctoral researcher at Brown University, who studies the role of dopamine in the brain./news/polestar-makes-the-rear-window-obsolete-with-its-new-crossover-coupe.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/polestar-makes-the-rear-window-obsolete-with-its-new-crossover-coupe.htmlThe new Polestar 4 is the Swedish EV brand’s first crossover coupe, slotting between the compact and midsize segment. It features the quickest acceleration yet from a Polestar vehicle, a completely new Google-based infotainment system, lots of fresh designs, and the lowest carbon impact of any Polestar. But by far the most controversial feature is the Polestar 4’s lack of a rear window. Instead, the 4 uses a roof-mounted camera system that projects its view to the digital rearview mirror, which is positioned in the normal place in the cabin./news/popular-chrome-extension-hola-sold-users-bandwidth-for-botnets.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/popular-chrome-extension-hola-sold-users-bandwidth-for-botnets.htmlHola is able to act as a botnet for the same reason that its service is free: it doesn't provide its own bandwidth or servers, but simply redirects that of its users'. Most virtual private networks (VPNs) have their own servers spread around the world, channeling a users' internet connection through these so that it appears to be coming from a different country. This allows a user in France, for example, to watch geoblocked TV shows from the US./news/pro-putt-by-topgolf-review-more-realistic-than-real-topgolf.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pro-putt-by-topgolf-review-more-realistic-than-real-topgolf.htmlMany VR games are about portraying impossible exaggerated versions of reality, whether it’s sci-fi table tennis or a shooting range with actual zombies. The new Topgolf-branded Oculus Quest game, however, goes in another direction: it’s actually more like real golf than Topgolf. If you haven’t been to Topgolf before, it’s kind of what can be expected out of a VR golf game, only for real. You’re basically in a bar with a massive driving range, and you’re whacking microchipped balls at far-off colorful targets./news/read-satya-nadella-s-first-letter-to-employees-as-microsoft-s-ceo.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/read-satya-nadella-s-first-letter-to-employees-as-microsoft-s-ceo.htmlFrom: Satya Nadella To: All Employees Date: Feb. 4, 2014 Subject: RE: Satya Nadella – Microsoft’s New CEO Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22 years ago. Like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I believed Microsoft was the best company in the world. I saw then how clearly we empower people to do magical things with our creations and ultimately make the world a better place./news/remedy-on-r-logo-dispute-with-take-two-there-is-nothing-to-see-here.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/remedy-on-r-logo-dispute-with-take-two-there-is-nothing-to-see-here.htmlRemedy on ‘R’ logo dispute with Take-Two: “There is nothing to see here.” The Alan Wake developer says the objections that Rockstar Games’ parent company filed against its new logo were already resolved “entirely and amicably” late last year. Remedy’s communications manager, Thomas Puha, told The Verge: Unfortunately, it took a little longer to complete than we had hoped due to some holiday scheduling. The legal filing was simply an initial formality, and Remedy and Take-Two continue to work together in partnership./news/rise-of-skywalker-s-vfx-reel-shows-how-leia-was-brought-back-for-the-finale.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rise-of-skywalker-s-vfx-reel-shows-how-leia-was-brought-back-for-the-finale.htmlRegardless of whether you agree with the decision to bring back the late Carrie Fisher to reprise her role as Leia in The Rise of Skywalker, at the very least it’s an impressive technical achievement. Now, a new visual effects (VFX) breakdown from Industrial Light & Magic has shed more light on the process, while also offering a peek behind the curtain at some of the movie’s other big set pieces such as Rey’s leap over Kylo’s TIE Silencer, or the film’s final space battle./news/rockstar-games-officially-confirms-gta6-is-in-active-development.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rockstar-games-officially-confirms-gta6-is-in-active-development.htmlA new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is in active development, Rockstar Games has confirmed. “We are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway,” the company wrote in a post on its website. In the more immediate future, GTAV and Grand Theft Auto Online will release on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S on March 15th./news/russian-onlyfans-accounts-are-being-temporarily-paused.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/russian-onlyfans-accounts-are-being-temporarily-paused.htmlOnlyFans has “temporarily paused” Russian accounts and says it can no longer serve Russian creators. The company confirmed the change to Motherboard in a statement today. The subscription-based platform popularized by sex workers had previously allowed Russian creators to stay and continue to get paid despite economic sanctions. In February, Rolling Stone reported that Russian OnlyFans creators briefly lost access to their accounts with little warning. Shortly after, OnlyFans said it had restored access and that “accounts will have full functionalities as long as we continue to have payment methods to support them./news/ryan-adams-releases-haunting-cover-of-taylor-swift-s-blank-space-on-shazam.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ryan-adams-releases-haunting-cover-of-taylor-swift-s-blank-space-on-shazam.htmlTomorrow marks the release of Taylor Swift's 1989 as reimagined by Ryan Adams. But before the album reaches Apple Music, Spotify, and other services, Adams has released one additional track, "Blank Space" with the help of Shazam. Hold the song-identifying app up while you're listening to "Bad Blood" and you'll see a link offering to play the full version of "Blank Space" right beneath it. It's a clever little easter egg — and also one that might've gone unnoticed by many people./news/sam-bankman-fried-didn-t-ask-where-the-8-billion-went.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sam-bankman-fried-didn-t-ask-where-the-8-billion-went.htmlLet’s say I am the owner of a hedge fund, and one fine June day, my employees come to me and say, “Hey, Liz, we have an accounting problem. We are missing several billion dollars.” How would I react? I have been wondering this since Danielle Sassoon walked Sam Bankman-Fried through his reaction to the FTX software bug fixed by Adam Yedidia. In my case, there would probably be shouting? Like, a lot of shouting./news/samsung-odyssey-ark-hands-on-a-raft-of-a-gaming-display.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-odyssey-ark-hands-on-a-raft-of-a-gaming-display.htmlSamsung’s Odyssey Ark had a stealthy presence at CES 2022, but the curved 55-inch gaming monitor-meets-TV is nearly ready to launch. It’s coming out in mid-September for $3,499.99, with reservations for preorders starting today. I got to test out a prototype of the Odyssey Ark with a batch of PC games. Surprise: gaming with my face three feet away from a 55-inch 4K display with 165Hz refresh rate is awesome. But I was equally impressed with the bounty of features that the Ark can deliver./news/samsung-s-new-galaxy-m-devices-are-designed-to-win-back-india.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-new-galaxy-m-devices-are-designed-to-win-back-india.htmlSamsung is unveiling its new Galaxy M Series in India today, in a bid to compete against Chinese rivals like Xiaomi. The two Android handsets, the M10 and M20, both include Samsung’s new “Infinity-V” teardrop display, and are designed to be successors to the A series of handsets. Samsung is clearly targeting millennials with the Galaxy M, and the company has partnered with Amazon India for its launch. The Galaxy M20 has a 6./news/samsung-s-new-oled-tv-could-make-annoying-glare-a-thing-of-the-past.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-new-oled-tv-could-make-annoying-glare-a-thing-of-the-past.htmlSamsung’s third-generation QD-OLED TV, the new S95D, comes with a unique trick compared to its predecessors: it’s got a glare-free display that the company claims all but eliminates any noticeable reflections. This should prevent annoying distractions when you’re watching the TV on a sun-drenched day and trying to enjoy your content. Anti-reflective coatings are nothing new on high-end TVs — Samsung, LG, and Sony are all pretty good at them as it stands — but Samsung seems to have gone a step beyond that with the special panel treatment being used here, and it insists there are no negative impacts on viewing angle or color distortion as a result./news/scientists-have-finally-proven-einstein-s-century-old-theory-about-gravitational-waves.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-have-finally-proven-einstein-s-century-old-theory-about-gravitational-waves.htmlScientists say they have proven the existence of gravitational waves — the ripples in space-time that stem from objects moving throughout the Universe. If true, it's the first time these waves have been measured directly and marks one of the biggest scientific discoveries in decades. But there have been a few false alarms before. If true, it marks one of the biggest scientific discoveries in decades The discovery was made by the large group of researchers who make up the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration./news/skiff-is-launching-skiff-mail-to-take-on-gmail-with-encryption.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/skiff-is-launching-skiff-mail-to-take-on-gmail-with-encryption.htmlSkiff has spent the last couple of years developing a privacy-focused, collaborative document editing platform that you could most succinctly describe as “encrypted Google Docs.” Now, it’s coming for Gmail. The company is launching an email service called Skiff Mail that aims to be, well, encrypted Gmail — and eventually much more than that. Ultimately, Skiff co-founder and CEO Andrew Milich says Skiff wants to build a complete workspace, something as sweeping and broad as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace./news/smart-home-hubs-what-they-are-and-why-you-need-one.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/smart-home-hubs-what-they-are-and-why-you-need-one.html{props.credit} ) }const containers = document.querySelectorAll(".w-full figure.w-full"); containers.forEach(container => {const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(container); root.render()}) I’ve spent 10 years living in a smart home, and I’m here to tell you that if you want yours to be fast and reliable, you need a smart home hub. You might be able to get by without one if you’ve got just a few smart lights or a very simple setup, but if you have more than a handful of connected devices and they’re from multiple manufacturers, you will need a system to manage them./news/sony-s-dualsense-edge-pro-controller-for-the-ps5-is-now-24-off.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-s-dualsense-edge-pro-controller-for-the-ps5-is-now-24-off.htmlSony’s pro-focused PlayStation 5 controller hardly ever drops from its high $199.99 price point, but thankfully today is a little different. You can get the DualSense Edge for $174.99 (about $24 off) via Walmart’s online-only deal, dropping the specialized gamepad down to its lowest price to date. The highlight of the DualSense Edge is its impeccable software integration with the PS5. You can fine-tune up to four profiles that each have your own personal tweaks for things like stick sensitivity and custom rear button controls, and it’s easy to swap between profiles on the fly./news/spacex-wants-to-fly-some-internet-satellites-closer-to-earth.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spacex-wants-to-fly-some-internet-satellites-closer-to-earth.htmlSpaceX is revising its satellite internet initiative, Starlink, and it now hopes to operate some of its spacecraft at a lower altitude than originally planned. In a new filing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), SpaceX is asking the agency to modify its license so that more than 1,500 Starlink satellites can operate at an altitude 600 kilometers lower than the company originally requested. SpaceX argues that this change will make the space environment safer, as it will be easier to get rid of these satellites at this new altitude when they run low on fuel or can no longer function properly in orbit./news/spider-man-miles-morales-review-a-fresh-take-on-a-great-game.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spider-man-miles-morales-review-a-fresh-take-on-a-great-game.htmlIn a lot of ways, the latest Spider-Man game is similar to the PS4 hit from 2018. That game managed to capture the joy of being a webslinger just about perfectly: swinging through the streets of New York, using webs to dispatch criminals, and clinging to a ceiling as you sneak through a villain’s base. Few games captured the sense of being a specific superhero the way Spider-Man did. The new spin-off, which launches alongside the PS5 next week, offers all of those same elements, but in a refreshed way — and it’s all thanks to a new lead./news/spotify-launches-spotify-kids-app-with-curated-playlists-playful-art.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-launches-spotify-kids-app-with-curated-playlists-playful-art.htmlSpotify is launching a new app called Spotify Kids that’s meant to provide a safe space for kids to explore and listen to music — and finally get “Baby Shark” out of their parents’ Discover playlists. The app, which launches today in Ireland, includes around 6,000 tracks, all of which have been curated by editors at Spotify. For “younger kids,” the app will be limited to things like Disney soundtracks, songs about dinosaurs, and children’s stories./news/spotify-leaks-suggest-lossless-audio-is-almost-ready.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-leaks-suggest-lossless-audio-is-almost-ready.htmlAfter years of waiting for Spotify to release the lossless audio tier it promised, some leaked UI elements suggest the project is alive and kicking, if not (dare I say) possibly close to release. Spotify’s current bitrate tops out at 320kbps, but that could soon change if screenshots taken from version 1.2.36 of Spotify by Redditor OhItsTom are accurate. They show what users could expect from the lossless feature, including a device compatibility checker and lossless streaming quality of up to 1,411kbps, and it could go even higher./news/sprint-says-it-s-a-little-behind-on-galaxy-s-iii-shipments-t-mobile-limits-launch-markets.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sprint-says-it-s-a-little-behind-on-galaxy-s-iii-shipments-t-mobile-limits-launch-markets.htmlSprint is citing "overwhelming demand and limited supply" this afternoon as the reasons for a few delays in its Galaxy S III launch strategy, which will see 32GB pre-orders ship next week rather than on the anticipated June 21st launch date that it's sharing with several other American and Canadian carriers. As for the 16GB version, Sprint says it's "optimistic" that the phones "will be delivered by June 21 as anticipated"/news/square-will-invest-5-million-to-build-solar-powered-bitcoin-mining-facility.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/square-will-invest-5-million-to-build-solar-powered-bitcoin-mining-facility.htmlFinancial services firm Square Inc. will partner with blockchain technology provider Blockstream Mining to build an open-source, solar-powered bitcoin mining facility, Blockstream announced in a press release Saturday. Square confirmed the news in a tweet, saying it was “committed to driving further adoption and efficiency of renewables within the bitcoin ecosystem.” According to the release, Square will invest $5 million in the facility, which will be a “proof-of-concept for a 100% renewable energy Bitcoin mine at scale,” and will be built at one of Blockstream’s sites in the US./news/super-mario-bros-wonder-spider-man-2-and-other-games-to-play-this-weekend.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/super-mario-bros-wonder-spider-man-2-and-other-games-to-play-this-weekend.htmlHi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 11, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome to the Installerverse, which is officially a thing now — we did it, everybody — and you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)  I’m traveling this week, so I’ve got a slightly abbreviated issue for you. But there’s just way too much good stuff not to share./news/system-shock-3-is-coming.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/system-shock-3-is-coming.htmlIt seems almost too good to be true, but the System Shock series is apparently getting another installment. Last night, a teaser page showed up in the Twitter feed of OtherSide Entertainment, a small studio led by Paul Neurath — co-founder of System Shock creator Looking Glass Studios. The page linked to a countdown clock that's currently got five days left, but another page seemingly reveals the surprise. The name's all we know for now, but that's still a huge deal for the game's fans./news/t-mobile-will-move-some-customers-to-pricier-plans.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-will-move-some-customers-to-pricier-plans.htmlStarting next week, T-Mobile will move subscribers of some of its older unlimited plans to new (and, in some cases, more expensive) options, the carrier has confirmed to CNET. The plan will apply to users on the One, Simple Choice, Magenta, and Magenta 55 Plus plans, according to documentation posted on Reddit. Impacted users will be informed by “an SMS and email,” and the new plans will take impact beginning with the November billing cycle./news/terra-co-founder-daniel-shin-charged-with-fraud-in-south-korea.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/terra-co-founder-daniel-shin-charged-with-fraud-in-south-korea.htmlDaniel Shin, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was indicted in South Korea in connection with the collapsed Terra and Luna cryptocurrencies. According to reports from Bloomberg and the local Yonhap News Agency, Shin was charged on Tuesday with offenses including fraud, breach of duty, and embezzlement. Prosecutors at Seoul Southern District Court also indicted nine other people with ties to Terra, some of whom had roles in marketing, systems development, and management, as reported by Bloomberg./news/tesla-cybertruck-will-usher-in-a-new-powershare-bidirectional-charging-feature.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-cybertruck-will-usher-in-a-new-powershare-bidirectional-charging-feature.htmlTesla announced a new “Powershare” vehicle-to-load charging capability, only available on the new Cybertruck. The feature will allow Cybertruck owners to power their camping equipment, power tools, or even their entire home during a blackout, just by using their electric truck as a mobile generator. The truck also features a 240-volt outlet in the rear bed that can be used to charge other EVs. An image on Tesla’s website shows the Cybertruck charging a Model Y./news/tesla-cybertruck-all-the-news-about-elon-musk-s-pickup-truck-page-3.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-cybertruck-all-the-news-about-elon-musk-s-pickup-truck-page-3.htmlTesla CEO Elon Musk just unveiled the company’s first electric pickup truck, also known as Cybertruck, at an event in Los Angeles, California. The truck will come in three versions with 250 miles, 300 miles, and 500 miles of range, respectively. And it will start at $39,900, Musk said. The truck won’t be rolling off the assembly line until late 2021, but preorders can be made at tesla.com/cybertruck. Always a showman, Musk put the truck through its paces in an effort to demonstrate its ruggedness./news/the-best-games-of-2020.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-games-of-2020.htmlIn a year where so many things went wrong, video games stood out as one of the few highlights of 2020. They were more important than ever, providing new ways for people to connect and creating a much-needed distraction from everything else happening in the world. We saw that when millions socialized via Animal Crossing, or started watching Fall Guys competitions on Twitch. The ability to spend hours disappearing into a beautiful world like those in Ghost of Tsushima or Hades was a welcome respite./news/the-boy-and-the-heron-s-english-dub-trailer-keeps-the-secret-magic-intact.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-boy-and-the-heron-s-english-dub-trailer-keeps-the-secret-magic-intact.htmlIn the months before The Boy and The Heron’s Japanese debut, Studio Ghibli made a point of keeping details about the latest animated feature from Hayao Miyazaki to a minimum. For those who’ve been trying to avoid spoilers, it’s definitely gotten trickier what with all the buzz coming from its run on the film festival circuit. But as much as you might expect the trailer for GKids’ English dub to give away, it’s a surprisingly restrained and tantalizing look at just what has everyone so worked up./news/the-creators-of-twitterrific-are-making-an-app-to-read-almost-anything-on-the-web.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-creators-of-twitterrific-are-making-an-app-to-read-almost-anything-on-the-web.htmlAfter nearly 16 years in operation, Twitterrific was abruptly deactivated last year during Twitter’s unceremonious purging of third-party apps. Now, the app’s developer Iconfactory is raising funds on Kickstarter to create Project Tapestry, a new internet reader for the publicly accessible web. The iOS app will serve as a “universal, chronological timeline,” pulling from federated social media networks like Mastodon and Bluesky, as well as Tumblr, Micro.blog, and any RSS feed./news/the-dualsense-s-adaptive-triggers-show-how-to-make-a-button-feel-next-gen.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-dualsense-s-adaptive-triggers-show-how-to-make-a-button-feel-next-gen.htmlThe PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller is an incredible input device, perhaps the most tangible example of “next-gen” gaming the new wave of consoles has offered to date. But you won’t necessarily see the upgrades just from looking at Sony’s controller. At first glance, there are few differences between the PS4’s DualShock 4 and the PS5’s DualSense, which share nearly identical button layouts. But the DualSense changes the game (literally) nonetheless, thanks to the near-magic of its adaptive trigger system, which can adjust the tension of the rear buttons to make it easier (or harder) to press them down in response to gameplay./news/the-kobo-aura-one-is-a-big-thin-water-resistant-e-reader.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-kobo-aura-one-is-a-big-thin-water-resistant-e-reader.htmlKobo has announced the Aura One, a big new e-reader that’s thin, light, and water resistant. It goes on sale September 6th in the US, Canada, and will cost $229 and $249 in those countries, respectively. It will also be released that same day in a number of other regions like the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Japan, and Turkey. The first thing you notice about the Aura One is that it’s big for an e-reader./news/the-lumafield-neptune-x-rayed-my-gadgets-let-me-show-you.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-lumafield-neptune-x-rayed-my-gadgets-let-me-show-you.htmlI am that guy who asks airport security if I can photograph my luggage going through the X-ray machine. I’m also the guy who spent a solid hour scrubbing through the CT scan of my broken jaw with a mix of horror and utter fascination. You could say I’ve been on a bit of a spectral imaging kick. So when a startup called Lumafield told me I could put as many things as I wanted into its $54,000 a year radiographic density scanning machine./news/the-new-york-times-is-building-a-team-to-explore-ai-in-the-newsroom.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-york-times-is-building-a-team-to-explore-ai-in-the-newsroom.htmlThe New York Times will begin building a team to explore the use of generative AI in its newsroom. Zach Seward, who was recently hired by the publication to head AI initiatives, posted on Threads that the team will be “focused on prototyping uses of generative AI and other machine-learning techniques to help with reporting and how the Times is presented to readers.”  Seward’s post said the Times plans to hire a machine learning engineer, a software engineer, a designer, and a couple of editors to round out the AI newsroom initiative./news/the-night-sky-is-always-getting-faked.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-night-sky-is-always-getting-faked.htmlWhen astronomer Tyler Nordgren first got involved in astrophotography in the ’90s, he noticed something very off about the postcards, posters, and other photos he’d see when living and traveling in the American Southwest. “One of the big things that struck me at that time was the number of pictures I’d see that show the buttes in Monument Valley with a full moon rising behind them,” Nordgren recalls. Nordgren had been to that exact location in Monument Valley, and he knew the Moon didn’t rise in the position shown in the photos./news/the-original-pokemon-games-are-coming-to-the-nintendo-3ds.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-original-pokemon-games-are-coming-to-the-nintendo-3ds.htmlIf modern Pokemon games are too complicated for you, there's good news: Nintendo is bringing the original Game Boy games to the 3DS as digital downloads. Starting February 27th, you'll be able to purchase Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow on your handheld through the 3DS' Virtual Console. The games will be largely the same as you remember them from 1996, but with one important update — you'll be able to use the handheld's wireless feature to trade pokemon with friends./news/the-swift-14-ai-is-acer-s-first-qualcomm-snapdragon-laptop.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-swift-14-ai-is-acer-s-first-qualcomm-snapdragon-laptop.htmlOn Monday, Acer announced the pending arrival of its first Copilot Plus PC: the Swift 14 AI, which is the Qualcomm Snapdragon version of one of its popular laptops. It will come in two configurations, and both will support a slate of new AI features in Windows 11, like Recall, Cocreator, and Live Captions. One configuration comes with the base 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor (the one without dual boost) and the other with the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus./news/the-xiaomi-12t-pro-s-200-megapixel-camera-is-overkill.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-xiaomi-12t-pro-s-200-megapixel-camera-is-overkill.htmlThe Xiaomi 12T Pro is one of the first smartphones with a 200-megapixel camera. Unless you’re making wall-sized gallery prints, that’s about 150 megapixels too many. I took the 12T Pro to Seattle’s spacious Central Library to put every one of those pixels to work. Many gigabytes later, I’m here to tell you that you’re not missing much with your 12 or 50-megapixel smartphone camera. Why would anyone want a 200-megapixel camera in the first place?/news/these-3d-printed-urns-are-a-much-cooler-way-to-celebrate-the-life-of-your-loved-one.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-3d-printed-urns-are-a-much-cooler-way-to-celebrate-the-life-of-your-loved-one.htmlSomeday, in the hopefully very distant future, after many years of love, laughter, turmoil, and CES conventions, your soul will evacuate this mortal plane and you will cease to be what is considered alive. When that fateful day occurs, your loved ones will be tasked with finding a final resting place for the body you left behind. Right now the options aren't plentiful: there's the standard coffin or an urn, which haven't changed much in style over the years./news/these-ultra-tough-socks-almost-stopped-me-wearing-shoes.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-ultra-tough-socks-almost-stopped-me-wearing-shoes.html"You will look weird wearing them, but who cares?" read the email. "You'll be wearing the footwear of the future. Shoes are for Luddites anyways." This was a pitch for a product called Skinners that initially grabbed my attention with the subject line "These modern socks replace shoes entirely. No more shoes." I get a ton of product pitches every day that I usually have to ignore, but that claim — along with the rep's willingness to admit that they do look kind of stupid — made me want to give this one a shot./news/this-halloween-use-a-3d-printed-prop-to-complete-your-last-minute-costume.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-halloween-use-a-3d-printed-prop-to-complete-your-last-minute-costume.htmlHalloween is just a couple of days away, and if you’re celebrating the evening, you’re probably throwing together some sort of costume for a party, or getting something squared away for your child. Over the years I’ve been building costumes, I’ve found one thing that really makes or breaks a costume: attention to detail. Costuming is a hobby into which, in the pursuit of perfection, you can dump endless time and money, but for something like Halloween, not as much effort is required for something like a party or trick-or-treating./news/this-lego-apple-store-design-is-pitch-perfect.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-lego-apple-store-design-is-pitch-perfect.htmlIf your little Lego town has grown big enough, it may be time to add an officially sanctioned Lego Apple Store, something that’s vaguely possible if a recently submitted fan build gets the requisite 10,000 votes for Lego to consider it. The immaculately detailed creation has what most people would expect from a modern Apple Store: floor-to-ceiling glass front, tables full of Macs and iPhones, and shelves resplendent with neatly arranged white boxes./news/tiktok-confirms-that-its-own-employees-can-decide-what-goes-viral.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tiktok-confirms-that-its-own-employees-can-decide-what-goes-viral.htmlTikTok has confirmed to Forbes that some of its US employees have the ability to boost videos in order to “introduce celebrities and emerging creators to the TikTok community.” The statement comes as part of a report about TikTok’s “Heating” button, which Forbes says can be used to put selected videos onto users’ For You pages, helping boost views by sidestepping the algorithm that supposedly drives the TikTok experience. Jamie Favazza, a spokesperson for TikTok, told Forbes that increasing views to particular videos isn’t the only reason for heating./news/tractive-announces-its-first-gps-tracking-collar-for-cats.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tractive-announces-its-first-gps-tracking-collar-for-cats.htmlTractive, a company that specializes in GPS trackers for pets, has announced two new products at CES: a new Tractive GPS dog tracker and Tractive GPS Cat, the company’s spinoff for felines. The new Tractive GPS Dog tracker has a slew of new updates beyond the initial changes in design and form factor. It now has quick-switch removable batteries so the collar can always stay on, and has integrated activity tracking — something that used to be an entirely separate product called Tractive Motion./news/twitter-s-dm-search-will-finally-actually-help-you-find-conversations.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-s-dm-search-will-finally-actually-help-you-find-conversations.htmlTwitter announced on Wednesday that its DM search feature has gotten a big upgrade — it can now search through the content of your conversations and return specific messages that contain whatever keyword you type in. Before you could only use it to search for people’s names or the names of group chats, but now if you want to find that one conversation you had with a friend about “chili” you can just type it into the search bar./news/typing-games-are-having-a-moment.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/typing-games-are-having-a-moment.htmlThe typing game genre was born of necessity. These games were designed to teach a new generation of computer users how to type on a keyboard. Software Toolworks’ Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! and Sega’s Typing of the Dead, released in 1987 and 1999, respectively, used the novelty of the keyboard as a game mechanic to keep people playing, despite the rote mechanics necessary in learning. Though Typing of the Dead may not have been installed on the rows of machines in your middle school computer lab, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing certainly was./news/uber-and-lyft-are-finally-starting-to-look-like-different-companies.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-and-lyft-are-finally-starting-to-look-like-different-companies.htmlUber and Lyft have been operating on parallel tracks for a long time. Drivers moonlight for both services, customers toggle between the two apps, and despite Lyft’s efforts to position itself as a “woke” alternative to Uber, the two companies essentially operate identical ride-sharing services in the US. Of course, there’s a lot to differentiate the two from one another. Uber is global, while Lyft only operates in North America. Uber dominates ride-sharing, taking in roughly 70 percent of US riders spending and leaving Lyft with the rest./news/ups-now-lets-you-track-packages-for-real-on-an-actual-map.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ups-now-lets-you-track-packages-for-real-on-an-actual-map.htmlThere will be no more sweating in anticipation when your package shows as "out for delivery," my friends. UPS has finally rolled out true package tracking, letting you see exactly where the truck carrying your item is on a map right from your smartphone or PC. Now don't get too excited just yet; for now, the minute-by-minute tracking — branded "Follow My Delivery" — is only available for pricey UPS Air and UPS Worldwide Express deliveries./news/vehicles-need-fewer-screens-and-more-buttons-says-eu-automotive-body.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/vehicles-need-fewer-screens-and-more-buttons-says-eu-automotive-body.htmlCar makers in Europe are being encouraged to stop using touchscreens for basic functions like turn signals and wipers in an attempt to promote safer driving. As reported by the Times, the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) — an independent and well-regarded safety body for the automotive industry  — is set to introduce new rules in January 2026 that require the vehicles it assesses to have physical controls to receive a full five-star safety rating./news/walmart-is-about-to-launch-a-4k-chromecast-that-s-also-a-smart-speaker.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/walmart-is-about-to-launch-a-4k-chromecast-that-s-also-a-smart-speaker.htmlWalmart is apparently getting ready to release a new Onn “Pro” Google TV 4K streaming box that’s also a smart speaker. Yesterday, YouTuber Superdell-TV hosted a livestream where he showed off the streaming device, which he said he had bought from the retailer in-store for $50. As 9to5Google noted today, the Onn Pro was already previously rumored but hasn’t been announced, so it may have been stocked by mistake, as it still doesn’t appear on Walmart’s website./news/watch-anduril-s-anvil-take-down-an-off-the-shelf-drone-in-midflight.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-anduril-s-anvil-take-down-an-off-the-shelf-drone-in-midflight.htmlThis week, news broke of Palmer Luckey’s new battering-ram drone system, and today, the company finally released footage of the drone in action. The new footage shows Anduril’s system taking down both a fixed wing drone and an opposing quadcopter, which looks to be a knock-off of the DJI Phantom. The drone (dubbed “Anvil”) is designed to take out enemies from below, with the battery and motors optimized for short, fast flights./news/watch-how-ilm-created-star-wars-the-last-jedi-s-opening-space-battle.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-how-ilm-created-star-wars-the-last-jedi-s-opening-space-battle.htmlThe first clip shows off the film’s opening space battle, where Resistance starfighters go up against a First Order fleet. Director Rian Johnson used some practical hangar sets and an A-Wing fighter in the scene, around which animators composited their digital magic. They created the larger digital sets and spaceships in the scene, and layered in explosions and debris. The second short clip shows off the creation of a First Order hangar that the Finn and Rose are led into towards the end of the film./news/watch-pacific-rim-uprising-s-first-trailer.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-pacific-rim-uprising-s-first-trailer.htmlEarlier this summer at San Diego Comic-Con, we got our first, brief glimpse of Pacific Rim Uprising, in the form of a viral recruitment video for the Jager Corps. At a panel during New York Comic Con today, the movie’s first trailer got its debut, showing off John Boyega’s new character and plenty of giant robot action. The trailer features a slew of new Jaeger mechs, as well as returning cast members like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day (reprising his role as the uniquely enthusiastic Dr./news/watch-the-high-school-adaptation-of-alien-that-impressed-sigourney-weaver-and-ridley-scott.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-the-high-school-adaptation-of-alien-that-impressed-sigourney-weaver-and-ridley-scott.htmlBack in March, we heard that a New Jersey drama club was adapting Alien as a high school production. Now there’s a recording of the production making the rounds that shows the play straight through, including their take on the Space Jockey, the Chestburster, the Xenomorph, and a guy playing Harry Dean Stanton in an accurate Hawaiian T-shirt. Since the video could potentially get taken down for being an unauthorized adaptation of Alien (it already has several music-related copyright claims), it’s better to watch it now while it’s up, so you can see how well the drama club did adapting a film built on an $11 million budget for the high school stage./news/wework-s-infamous-founder-got-hbo-max-to-tweak-a-documentary-about-him.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wework-s-infamous-founder-got-hbo-max-to-tweak-a-documentary-about-him.htmlMonths after HBO Max original docuseries Generation Hustle debuted on the service, a team representing WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann says the streamer has changed some language in an episode that mapped the startup’s rise and spectacular demise. Previously, the show’s description said it combined “true-crime capers with fresh, glossy stories of charismatic fakes” and “colorful imposters,” according to a version of the site archived on Wayback Machine. Both the characterization of the series as “true crime” and the aforementioned description of its subjects have since been removed./news/whatsapp-developing-transcriptions-to-tame-chaotic-voice-notes.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/whatsapp-developing-transcriptions-to-tame-chaotic-voice-notes.htmlWhatsApp is developing a feature that’ll offer transcriptions of received voice messages, letting you easily read what’s been said without having to play it out loud. The unannounced feature was initially spotted in the service’s iOS app by WABetaInfo, and WhatsApp has since confirmed that it’s in the “very early stages of designing and prototyping” the functionality. It’s unclear when it’ll hit the WhatsApp beta for iPhone users or when it’ll come to Android./news/why-disabled-users-joined-the-reddit-blackout.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-disabled-users-joined-the-reddit-blackout.htmlThe Reddit blackout is in its second day as more than 8,000 communities go dark to protest the tech giant’s plans to implement API pricing that users say is too high, too fast. It’s created a ripple effect from bored people not being able to access r/relationships to academics missing r/AskHistorians. In the process, it’s also highlighted an issue that often lurks in the darkness: accessibility.  Subreddits like r/blind, r/HardofHearing, and r/deaf are relatively small, but their concerns loom large in the protest./news/windows-is-now-an-app-for-iphones-ipads-macs-and-pcs.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-is-now-an-app-for-iphones-ipads-macs-and-pcs.htmlMicrosoft has created a Windows App for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Windows, and web browsers. The app essentially takes the previous Windows 365 app and turns it into a central hub for streaming a copy of Windows from a remote PC, Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, and Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services. Microsoft supports multiple monitors through its Windows App, custom display resolutions and scaling, and device redirection for peripherals like webcams, storage devices, and printers./news/world-s-first-usb-c-iphone-sells-on-ebay-for-86-001.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/world-s-first-usb-c-iphone-sells-on-ebay-for-86-001.htmlThe fact that the mod has sold for over eighty times its original sale price shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Although Pillonel has open-sourced his work on the project in a Github repository containing technical details, CNC instructions, and information on the custom PCB the design uses, actually replicating the modification is no mean feat. Especially since it involves installing extra circuitry into the phone’s chassis. The auction started at just $1, but bidding had reached over $3,000 by the end of its first day, before quickly climbing into the tens of thousands./news/wormhole-cryptocurrency-platform-hacked-for-325-million-after-error-on-github.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wormhole-cryptocurrency-platform-hacked-for-325-million-after-error-on-github.htmlOn Wednesday, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Wormhole became the victim of the largest cryptocurrency theft this year — and among the top five largest crypto hacks of all time — when an attacker exploited a security flaw to make off with close to $325 million. The attack seems to have resulted from a recent update to the project’s GitHub repository, which revealed a fix to a bug that had not yet been deployed to the project itself./news/you-can-now-protect-your-high-risk-google-account-with-just-your-phone.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-can-now-protect-your-high-risk-google-account-with-just-your-phone.htmlPasskeys can replace traditional passwords with your device’s own authentication methods. That way, you can sign in to Gmail, PayPal, or iCloud just by activating Face ID on your iPhone, your Android phone’s fingerprint sensor, or with Windows Hello on a PC.  Built on WebAuthn (or Web Authentication) tech, two different keys are generated when you create a passkey: one stored by the website or service where your account is and a private key stored on the device you use to verify your identity./news/you-only-need-to-watch-the-first-four-minutes-of-top-gun.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-only-need-to-watch-the-first-four-minutes-of-top-gun.htmlI’ve watched Top Gun countless times. Back when the film first came out in 1986 (30 years ago today), I’d just bought myself a large Sony TV and a state-of-the-art Sony VCR and amp, which meant I could watch films in loud, stereo sound. That was a huge thing back in the day. At least for me. I was the first of my friends to have a system like that, and so when any of them came around to watch a film on my system for the first time, what did I put on?/news/youtube-is-demonetizing-videos-about-coronavirus-and-creators-are-mad.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-is-demonetizing-videos-about-coronavirus-and-creators-are-mad.htmlEveryone wants to talk about the novel coronavirus outbreak right now, but you might hear YouTubers avoiding the subject — if they talk about it, they risk getting their ads shut off. “For today’s video, I won’t be directly commenting on the recent health related news because A, I am not a health care professional, and B, I don’t need my video demonetized,” Linus Sebastian, host of Linus Tech Tips, says at the beginning of recent video about buying a new PC in this period./news/zack-snyder-s-rebel-moon-review-a-fandom-menace.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/zack-snyder-s-rebel-moon-review-a-fandom-menace.htmlThe trouble with trying to create original sci-fi epics in the vein of Star Wars is that the classics are so culturally ever-present that newer films always tend to feel like pale imitations. Zack Snyder is far from the first director to take that reality as a challenge to prove how, with the right ideas, stars, and studio, the wheel could be reinvented or at least cleverly reimagined. But Snyder’s nascent Rebel Moon film franchise — the second part of which just hit Netflix — is so narratively derivative, emotionally inert, and overlong that it seems as if this entire project is just cruising along on limp vibes rather than heading toward an intended destination./news/zebra-finches-sing-to-eggs-to-prepare-babies-for-global-warming.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/zebra-finches-sing-to-eggs-to-prepare-babies-for-global-warming.htmlZebra finches program their offspring to prepare for global warming by singing to eggs before they hatch. In especially hot areas, finch parents make a special call to incubating eggs, basically telling them it’s really hot outside and they better not grow too big. The hatchlings listen — and this mechanism might explain how birds learn to adapt, and survive climate change. Many bird species sing to their eggs. These calls have been shown to do everything from improving learning to synchronizing hatching times./news/zoom-admits-it-doesn-t-have-300-million-users-corrects-misleading-claims.htmlFri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/zoom-admits-it-doesn-t-have-300-million-users-corrects-misleading-claims.htmlZoom has admitted it doesn’t have 300 million daily active users. The admission came after The Verge noticed the company had quietly edited a blog post making the claim earlier this month. Zoom originally stated it had “more than 300 million daily users” and that “more than 300 million people around the world are using Zoom during this challenging time.” Zoom later deleted these references from the original blog post, and now claims “300 million daily Zoom meeting participants./news/alien-isolation-is-the-most-terrifying-game-i-ve-ever-played.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/alien-isolation-is-the-most-terrifying-game-i-ve-ever-played.htmlI'm holding my breath. Huddled in a dark hallway in an abandoned medical facility, the only light coming from a flickering fluorescent bulb, I'm crouched with my back to the wall. There's a xenomorph walking around; I can hear it, but if I pull out my radar to pinpoint its location the alien will surely hear the beeping. That'll be the end of me. Luckily, the light is just enough to illuminate the shiny floor, and I can make out the creature's reflection as it investigates a room to my left./news/30-years-of-zelda-a-timeline-of-the-legend-so-far.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/30-years-of-zelda-a-timeline-of-the-legend-so-far.htmlWhen he was looking to create a new game for the Famicom Disk System — an add-on for the NES that never launched outside of Japan — designer Shigeru Miyamoto built a prototype in which two players could make their own dungeons, and then explore their friend’s creation. The exploration proved to be the most fun part, so Miyamoto and his team scrapped the creation tools and went ahead building a world of mountains and forests and lakes that players could traverse./news/syfy-s-12-monkeys-is-nothing-like-terry-gilliam-s-film-and-that-s-why-i-m-interes.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/syfy-s-12-monkeys-is-nothing-like-terry-gilliam-s-film-and-that-s-why-i-m-interes.htmlAbout five years ago, I finally got fed up with movie reboots. I think it was A Nightmare on Elm Street that did it, oddly enough; leave it to a series full of mostly forgettable sequels to push me over the edge, but that was it. It didn’t matter that past remakes like John Carpenter’s The Thing had become classics in their own right, or that Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins was a more balanced, mature film than Tim Burton had ever tried to make./news/fight-club-back-in-theaters-this-weekend-as-part-of-cinemark-classic-series.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fight-club-back-in-theaters-this-weekend-as-part-of-cinemark-classic-series.htmlDavid Fincher's Fight Club has become a modern classic, and if you're in the United States you'll have a chance to see it again in theaters over the coming week. Variety reports that the movie will be screening in selected theaters as part of theater chain Cinemark's "Classic Series." It's a recurring event that the chain puts on, picking a handful of classic films and showing them at theaters across the country./news/slack-is-an-acronym-the-verge.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/slack-is-an-acronym-the-verge.htmlSlack, the workplace productivity chat tool that lets you quietly discuss the merits of strawberry / frosted vs. brown-sugar / unfrosted PopTarts with a colleague for up to six hours at a time without anyone else noticing that you're being totally useless, is an acronym. The letters S-L-A-C-K stand for things. Here are some of our guesses: Here's what Slack says it stands for: Just saying, that acronym sounds like a lie./news/11-22-63-trailer-j-j-abrams-and-james-franco-bring-stephen-king-s-book-to-life-for-hulu.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/11-22-63-trailer-j-j-abrams-and-james-franco-bring-stephen-king-s-book-to-life-for-hulu.html"I'm gonna tell you something that's gonna seem crazy. You go through there, it's 1960. I need you to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy." That's all you really need to know to set up 11.22.63, an upcoming eight-part series from J.J. Abrams' company Bad Robot, based on the similarly named / differently punctuated novel by Stephen King (11/22/63) and starring James Franco. The project is Hulu's biggest bet on original programming yet (no offense, Deadbeat and Casual) after picking up The Mindy Project from Fox./news/14-sci-fi-books-about-climate-change-s-worst-case-scenarios.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/14-sci-fi-books-about-climate-change-s-worst-case-scenarios.htmlToday is Earth Day, an occasion used to highlight environmental awareness and the state of our planet’s health. Climate change has become a major focus in recent decades, and while 120 nations across the world ratified the Paris Agreement a year ago, significant challenges remain in the years and decades to come. Which is to say that to think about climate science is to think seriously and passionately about the future./news/20-years-of-xbox-a-visual-history.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/20-years-of-xbox-a-visual-history.htmlTwenty years ago today, Microsoft released the original Xbox in North America, marking its bold entry into the world of console gaming. Since then, the design of Xbox consoles have changed almost beyond recognition. What started with a piece of big and bulky ‘90s-style electronics has (generally) gotten sleeker and more compact, and as trends have shifted, we’ve seen wired controller ports, and even some disc drives, disappear.  To celebrate the anniversary, we’re taking a look back through each of the major Xbox consoles, from the original Xbox with its huge “Duke” controller, through the many iterations of the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and last year’s Series S and X./news/32-inch-240hz-4k-oled-monitors-are-coming-but-i-wouldn-t-preorder-dough.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/32-inch-240hz-4k-oled-monitors-are-coming-but-i-wouldn-t-preorder-dough.htmlThe product’s not even half-baked yet, but that isn’t stopping Dough — the bread gaming monitor company formerly known as Eve has just announced what it claims will be the first 32-inch 240Hz 4K OLED monitor in the entire market. In other words: you should take Dough with a pinch of salt. After countless delays and cries of scam, I wouldn’t yet trust my money to this company. Admittedly, like Dough’s promised 27-inch OLED, the new 32-inch 4K OLED sounds like it could be upper crust, if it rises at all./news/a-merging-of-warner-bros-discovery-and-paramount-would-be-very-bad.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-merging-of-warner-bros-discovery-and-paramount-would-be-very-bad.htmlThis week, Axios broke the news that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount were looking into some sort of merger. It would make sense: Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to become a content behemoth, and Paramount would give the company even more content plus a grouping of popular (as they can be in this age) broadcast and cable channels. It would further secure Warner Bros. Discovery’s control over tentpole IP and allow it to serve as an even more potent rival to Disney and Netflix./news/a-new-ai-generated-map-of-the-world-s-trees-and-renewable-energy-projects-could-help-fight-clim.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-new-ai-generated-map-of-the-world-s-trees-and-renewable-energy-projects-could-help-fight-clim.htmlA first-of-its-kind map of renewable energy projects and tree coverage around the world launched today, and it uses generative AI to essentially sharpen images taken from space. It’s all part of a new tool called Satlas from the Allen Institute for AI, founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The tool, shared first with The Verge, uses satellite imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites. But those images still give a pretty blurry view of the ground./news/a-special-edition-hyrule-edition-switch-lite-will-be-released-alongside-zelda-s-first-game.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-special-edition-hyrule-edition-switch-lite-will-be-released-alongside-zelda-s-first-game.htmlA special edition ‘Hyrule Edition’ Switch Lite will be released alongside Zelda’s first game. After debuting The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a game where Princess Zelda finally gets to save Link, Nintendo teased an upcoming Switch Lite with a swanky gold finish. The back of the console features the Hylian crest, and when released on September 26th, it will include a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership./news/activision-says-destiny-will-be-the-best-selling-original-video-game-ever.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/activision-says-destiny-will-be-the-best-selling-original-video-game-ever.htmlActivision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick expects Destiny, the new game from Halo creators Bungie, to become the "best-selling new video game IP in history." Speaking during Activision's fourth quarter earnings call yesterday, Kotick said the first-person shooter, due out on Xbox and PlayStation consoles on September 9th, has "the potential to be [Activision's] next billion-dollar franchise." Those record sales will be helped along by a strong start for Microsoft and Sony's new consoles./news/amazon-prime-day-2024-the-best-deals-still-available-on-headphones-robot-vacuums-and-other-tech.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-prime-day-2024-the-best-deals-still-available-on-headphones-robot-vacuums-and-other-tech.htmlAnother Prime Day is officially in the books. And while it’s true that many of the best deals have since disappeared, The Verge’s deals team has picked through what remains to find an assortment of our tried-and-tested gems — all of which we can vouch for. As it turns out, quite a few of the discounts we saw over the last few days have stuck around, allowing you to save on the Insta360 Link webcam, a set of Philips Hue smart bulbs, the AirPods Max headphones, and a bunch more./news/amazon-pulls-the-plug-on-halo-division-discontinues-all-devices.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-pulls-the-plug-on-halo-division-discontinues-all-devices.htmlAmazon has decided to shutter its health-focused Halo division, The Verge has learned. Amazon has stopped selling its three Halo products and plans to lay off portions of the Halo team. “We have made the difficult decision to wind down the Halo program, which will result in role reductions,” Melissa Cha, Amazon’s VP of smart home and health, told staffers in an email obtained by The Verge. “More recently, Halo has faced significant headwinds, including an increasingly crowded segment and an uncertain economic environment./news/amazon-strikes-deal-with-apple-to-sell-new-iphones-and-ipads.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-strikes-deal-with-apple-to-sell-new-iphones-and-ipads.htmlAmazon has made a deal with Apple that will see the Cupertino tech company sell its products — including iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches — directly on Amazon, according to a report from CNET. Amazon has sold Apple products before, but those have been from third-party sellers, which means that the prices are often variable (and wildly different from the “official” Apple prices) and that sourcing isn’t as reputable. Rolling out on Amazon sites in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and India over the next few weeks/news/amazon-warns-echo-buds-owners-to-update-firmware-to-avoid-overheating-risk.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-warns-echo-buds-owners-to-update-firmware-to-avoid-overheating-risk.htmlAmazon has begun sending emails out to owners of its Echo Buds true wireless earbuds, cautioning those customers to update the device firmware as soon as possible to avoid a “potential safety risk.” “We recently determined that in rare cases it’s possible for Echo Buds to overheat while in the charging case,” the email says. According to Amazon, the latest software update eliminates this issue and “improves the long-term performance of Echo Buds’ batteries./news/amazon-will-help-seattle-residents-receive-at-home-covid-19-testing.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-will-help-seattle-residents-receive-at-home-covid-19-testing.htmlBill Gates is helping fund the public testing effort in Seattle Amazon will carry out the test deliveries and pickup through its existing Amazon Care arm, an internal healthcare platform dedicated to Amazon employees and their families. Yet COVID-19 testing won’t be restricted to just Amazon employees. Anyone in the Seattle area will be eligible through SCAN, including children and those who aren’t displaying flu-like symptoms but may be asymptomatic. According to CNBC, “All the couriers involved have been trained in handling medical material, and they will distribute the self-swab kits to the homes of those who have requested them./news/amazon-will-reportedly-charge-sellers-an-extra-fee-for-shipping-their-own-products.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-will-reportedly-charge-sellers-an-extra-fee-for-shipping-their-own-products.htmlAmazon will soon start tacking on an extra fee for sellers who don’t use the company’s fulfillment service, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNBC. Documents viewed by the outlets indicate that Amazon will start imposing a fee on each product that merchants send out themselves. The fee will reportedly go into effect on October 1st and will apply to the sellers who are members of Amazon’s Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) service./news/amazon-will-reportedly-pay-fleabag-creator-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-for-three-year-deal.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-will-reportedly-pay-fleabag-creator-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-for-three-year-deal.htmlFleabag creator, writer, and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge has signed an exclusive overall deal with Amazon Prime Video, Deadline reports. The deal is reportedly for three years and valued in the “mid-eight-figure range,” Deadline is reporting, indicating tens of millions of dollars. The announcement comes just after an incredibly successful Emmys weekend for Waller-Bridge. Fleabag won three of the night’s most coveted awards in the comedy categories, including Best Comedy, Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and Best Writing for a Comedy Series./news/amazon-s-alexa-gets-a-new-shopping-list-widget-for-iphone-and-android.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-alexa-gets-a-new-shopping-list-widget-for-iphone-and-android.htmlAdding an item to your shopping list with just your voice is a modern convenience you quickly get used to. But the pain of wrangling the app you added it to on your smartphone while wheeling a shopping cart through a crowded store can have you yearning for simpler days — and paper. A new homescreen widget for Amazon’s Alexa’s shopping list feature makes it easier to keep an eye on your items while making a beeline for the produce aisle./news/amazon-s-az2-cpu-knows-your-face.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-az2-cpu-knows-your-face.htmlThe announcement of Amazon’s new wall-mounted Echo Show 15 also revealed its new CPU that comes with some interesting (or potentially scary) applications. The AZ2 chip builds on the machine learning interface that premiered with the AZ1, which allowed Amazon devices to better recognize your voice, but has extended this capability to facial recognition as well. This comes with Amazon’s new focus on what it calls “Ambient Intelligence.” Let's explain what the AZ2 does on paper before we dive into the implications of this hardware./news/and-now-a-brief-definition-of-the-web.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/and-now-a-brief-definition-of-the-web.htmlWhat exactly is the web? It seems like a stupid question because we all know the answer: the web is the thing Tim Berners-Lee invented in 1989. It's not the same thing as "the internet," which is what we use to access the web, apps, and streaming video. It's what we visit every day with our web browsers on our phones and laptops. Simple, right? Well, no. Traditionally, we think of the web as a combination of a set of specific technologies paired with some core philosophical principles./news/anthropic-finally-releases-a-claude-mobile-app.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/anthropic-finally-releases-a-claude-mobile-app.htmlThe Claude mobile app can act as a chatbot, and users can also upload photos straight to the app for “image analysis.” Previously, Claude was only available through Anthropic’s Claude.ai website and third-party model libraries like Amazon Bedrock, Hugging Face, or Microsoft Azure.  Scott White, product manager at Anthropic, says many Claude users have been accessing the AI models through the mobile web, which led Anthropic to offer an app version of Claude./news/apple-arcade-could-be-rotting.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-arcade-could-be-rotting.htmlApple Arcade could be rotting. According to a report in Mobilegamer.biz, Apple Arcade maybe in trouble. Sources speaking to the website said that payouts to developers are declining and that Apple is difficult to work with. Others said the service has, “the smell of death” about it. Apple Arcade has been around since 2019 with The Verge’s Andrew Webster once calling it a “no-brainer” if iOS gaming was your thing. Since then it’s become the home hundreds of exclusives, including Sonic Dream Team and the South Park-joke-turned-real Hello Kitty Island Adventure./news/apple-could-announce-a-google-gemini-deal-this-fall.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-could-announce-a-google-gemini-deal-this-fall.htmlIf you’re disappointed that the only AI model that will integrate with Apple devices so far will be ChatGPT, it sounds like you won’t have to wait long for that to change. Apple will announce “at least” one other deal — to add Google Gemini, too — this fall, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter today. Beyond chatbot integration lies Apple Intelligence, which is only supposed to emerge, initially, in beta form this fall./news/apple-employees-call-for-company-to-support-palestinians-in-internal-letter.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-employees-call-for-company-to-support-palestinians-in-internal-letter.htmlApple employees are circulating an internal letter calling on Tim Cook to put out a statement supporting the Palestinian people. Nearly 1,000 workers have signed. The writers, who are part of the Apple Muslim Association, specifically ask the company to recognize that “millions of Palestinian people currently suffer under an illegal occupation.” Members of the Apple Muslim Association — an official employee group — say they were inspired to write the note after the company failed to put out a statement condemning the violence toward Palestinians./news/apple-offers-to-open-iphone-nfc-payments-to-third-party-providers-after-eu-investigation.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-offers-to-open-iphone-nfc-payments-to-third-party-providers-after-eu-investigation.htmlApple will let third-party mobile wallet and payment providers access the iPhone’s NFC capabilities in concessions meant to address a European Commission antitrust investigation, the regulator announced today. The Commission is now seeking feedback on the commitments, which would end Apple Pay and Apple Wallet’s exclusive access to the iPhone’s NFC payment features. It’s the latest development in the nearly four year-old investigation. The proposed commitments come a little over one and a half years after the Commission formally accused Apple of using its iOS policies to restrict competition in the mobile payments market in violation of EU law./news/assassin-s-creed-mirage-is-coming-out-a-week-early.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/assassin-s-creed-mirage-is-coming-out-a-week-early.htmlAssassin’s Creed Mirage will now be released on October 5th, which is a week ahead of its original October 12th release date, Ubisoft announced on Monday. The game has also gone gold, indicating that it’s locked for release. This new title in the Assassin’s Creed series takes place in Baghdad and stars Basim Ibn Ishaq, who appeared in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It’s supposed to hew a bit closer to the action-adventure nature of earlier Assassin’s Creed games instead of the titles with more RPG mechanics like Valhalla or Odyssey./news/asus-chromebook-detachable-cm3-review-duet-redux.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-chromebook-detachable-cm3-review-duet-redux.htmlAll in all, Asus’ Chromebook Detachable CM3 is a nice package. It’s a 10.5-inch tablet with a magnetically attached fabric cover and kickstand. It’s $389.99 as tested, which means it’s priced far below all kinds of convertible Chromebooks. I’m not the first to make this comparison, but it’s a slightly more expensive and slightly fancier version of the $269 Lenovo Chromebook Duet that impressed me so much last year.  I think the CM3 is a slightly worse purchase than the Duet for most people who are looking for a secondary device or a small Chromebook for a student./news/aventon-abound-is-an-electric-cargo-bike-with-a-lot-of-flexibility-and-a-great-price.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/aventon-abound-is-an-electric-cargo-bike-with-a-lot-of-flexibility-and-a-great-price.htmlAventon announced a new electric cargo bike, the Abound, which the California-based company describes as “an efficient alternative to driving a car around town.” With a 750-watt motor, a variety of accessories, and a total weight rating of 440 lbs, the Abound is designed to be a versatile, safe, and affordable mobility option for anyone looking to do less driving in their life. Aventon is mostly known for its fat-tired, adventure-themed road bikes, so a cargo bike was never a guaranteed addition to the company’s lineup./news/b-o-play-beoplay-m3-review.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/b-o-play-beoplay-m3-review.htmlLate last year, B&O Play announced the Beoplay M3, an addition to its home wireless speaker lineup that’s more approachable in both size and price compared to the Beoplay M5. In fact, the $299.95 M3 is the least expensive home speaker in B&O Play’s portfolio, and appears to be specifically targeted to the person looking at a Sonos system for their home. I was intrigued: could this be the long-awaited Sonos alternative?/news/baidu-launches-ernie-chatbot-after-chinese-government-approval.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/baidu-launches-ernie-chatbot-after-chinese-government-approval.htmlChinese giant Baidu officially launched its chatbot, Ernie Bot, after the government approved its application, alongside that of several other AI companies.  Ernie Bot is now available for download from app stores or Baidu’s website. Much like its main rival, ChatGPT, users can ask Ernie Bot questions or prompt it to help write market analysis, give marketing slogan ideas, and summarize documents. The company told The Verge Ernie Bot is available globally, but users need a Chinese number to register and log in./news/banksy-s-new-york-graffiti-tour-is-getting-its-own-hbo-documentary-this-friday.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/banksy-s-new-york-graffiti-tour-is-getting-its-own-hbo-documentary-this-friday.htmlIt was just over a year ago that infamous UK street artist Banksy began a self-described "residency" in New York City, creating a series of whimsical and increasingly bizarre public artworks throughout the five boroughs. Now that epic stunt, which went on for a month, is getting its own HBO documentary. Banksy Does New York will premiere on HBO on November 17th, but will be available on HBO Go early, beginning this Friday, October 31st (Halloween)./news/best-cheap-apple-watch-deals-july-2024.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/best-cheap-apple-watch-deals-july-2024.htmlEditor’s note: Amazon Prime Day kicks off on July 16th; however, if you want to make the most of the upcoming shopping event, our recent guide to the best early Prime Day deals is a great place to get started. In September, Apple launched its latest batch of smartwatches, introducing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 ($799) alongside the Apple Watch Series 9 ($399). Each wearable has its own pros and cons, as does the second-gen Apple Watch SE ($249), but the introduction of the new wearables also means there are now more Apple Watch models on the market than ever before — and a lot more deals to be had./news/best-selling-wii-title-carnival-games-is-making-the-leap-to-vr.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/best-selling-wii-title-carnival-games-is-making-the-leap-to-vr.htmlDuring the heady days of the Wii, there were only a scant few non-Nintendo games that managed to cash in on the short-lived motion control craze. Among them was Carnival Games, which sold more than 1.5 million copies on Nintendo’s console. Now publisher 2K is hoping to re-create that success in virtual reality. A VR version of the game is set to launch in October, and much like the Wii game, the VR edition will feature a number of relatively simple carnival games adapted to work in a digital space./news/billy-west-revives-futurama-s-zapp-brannigan-to-say-donald-trump-s-words.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/billy-west-revives-futurama-s-zapp-brannigan-to-say-donald-trump-s-words.htmlBilly West, who voiced Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, and Dr. Zoidberg and a bunch of other characters on Futurama, has begun recording himself parroting Donald Trump’s words as the cartoon’s egomaniacal space captain, Zapp Brannigan. West has uploading the clips on Twitter under the hashtag #MakeAmericaBrannigan. The results are hilarious because Trump’s words often read like a rough draft of a Brannigan monologue. The results are hilarious because Trump’s words fit so perfectly as Brannigan./news/black-mesa-is-the-perfect-way-to-get-into-half-life-before-alyx.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/black-mesa-is-the-perfect-way-to-get-into-half-life-before-alyx.htmlUpon its release in 1998, Half-Life instantly became my favorite game of all time. That wasn’t saying much, really, since we’d only just set up our first family computer, and I’d barely started playing video games. But history has proven my hot take to be a pretty solid one — Half-Life’s blend of first-person shooting and narrative storytelling was incredibly influential, and it went on to spawn a series that stokes near-unparalleled hype and reverence to this day./news/blizzard-says-it-s-building-revitalized-overwatch-esports-after-owl-season-ends.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blizzard-says-it-s-building-revitalized-overwatch-esports-after-owl-season-ends.htmlHours after the Florida Mayhem were crowned the 2023 Overwatch League Grand Champions, the Overwatch League itself has likely come to its end. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) this morning, Blizzard said that it’s working on “building our vision of a revitalized esports program.” As a result, earlier this year, a financial filing from Blizzard confirmed that franchise owners would vote on whether or not to continue the league under new terms or agree to a $6 million per team termination fee./news/blu-claims-this-phone-s-battery-will-last-for-three-days.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blu-claims-this-phone-s-battery-will-last-for-three-days.htmlBlu has released a new smartphone called the Energy XL, which the company says will last three full days on a single charge. The Energy XL is fitted with a truly massive 5,020mAh battery which Blu says is rated for 72 hours of standard usage and over 30 days of standby. In comparison, the Motorola Droid Maxx 2 — which touted a two day battery life — came with a much smaller 3,630mAh battery./news/breaking-the-voodoo-curse-d-angelo-black-messiah-and-the-perils-of-perfection.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/breaking-the-voodoo-curse-d-angelo-black-messiah-and-the-perils-of-perfection.htmlI heard D'Angelo for the first time at the turn of the new millennium, and like many people, I felt that I had stumbled onto the savior of modern music. His 2000 masterpiece Voodoo was a completely unique mixture of funk, R&B, gospel, and hip-hop: the guiding star of the nascent neo-soul genre. It went to number one on the Billboard charts, sold millions of copies, and won numerous high profile awards./news/captain-laserhawk-s-adi-shankar-on-multiverses-ai-and-rayman-propaganda.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/captain-laserhawk-s-adi-shankar-on-multiverses-ai-and-rayman-propaganda.htmlThere’s a chaotic, disorienting quality to many of Adi Shankar’s short films and series like Netflix’s first Castlevania that makes it seem as if the writer / director / producer always wants his stories to leave you winded and a bit rattled. His Konami-approved take on Dracula came with the brand name recognition and exquisite action sequences evocative of the classic games, but in Castlevania, you could still see shades of the high-energy, low-budget Bootleg Universe that first put Shankar on the map./news/colossal-chart-compares-hundreds-of-sci-fi-s-greatest-spaceships.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/colossal-chart-compares-hundreds-of-sci-fi-s-greatest-spaceships.htmlThe world of sci-fi has brought us countless spaceships and other galaxy-hopping vessels, but no one's ever brought them all together quite like this. Dirk Loechel has charted out a massive size comparison of ships from dozens of fictional worlds. As you'd expect, iconic franchises like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica are represented, but Loechel branches out to other sci-fi universes as well. You'll see ships that have appeared in films like Independence Day, Alien vs./news/console-reviews-the-verge.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/console-reviews-the-verge.htmlConsoles are changing. While a new console generation usually emerges every five to seven years, they now occur every few years with generally fewer sweeping changes. However, the industry is no less interesting. The Sony PS4, Microsoft Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch are the most capable consoles to be released yet, each with its own unique set of advantages, disadvantages, unique features, and exclusive games. These consoles are frequently changing, but you can chart their growth with our coverage./news/cuphead-ruiner-and-the-joy-of-really-hard-games.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cuphead-ruiner-and-the-joy-of-really-hard-games.htmlIt took me 14 tries before I reached the psychic carrot. First, I had to get past an incredibly angry potato, who hurled giant balls of dirt and worms my way at irregular intervals. When I finally defeated the spud, I moved on to an onion who cried a storm’s worth of damaging tears. But the carrot was the real challenge. Possessing the ability to both fire homing missiles (in the form of tiny carrots, of course) and shoot out laser beams from its third eye, I struggled to avoid its deadly onslaught./news/cyber-monday-2022-phone-deals-apple-samsung-google-and-more.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cyber-monday-2022-phone-deals-apple-samsung-google-and-more.htmlIf you’ve been putting off replacing an old phone until the end of the year, then well done — there are plenty of Cyber Monday deals available to take the sting out of a new phone purchase. This year’s batch of deals features some healthy discounts on the latest flagships, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Google’s excellent Pixel 7, as well as some steep price cuts on already well-priced midrange models./news/destiny-2-will-remove-paid-loot-boxes-in-favor-of-a-fortnite-style-battle-pass.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/destiny-2-will-remove-paid-loot-boxes-in-favor-of-a-fortnite-style-battle-pass.htmlThe change means that the randomized “Bright Engram” items will be removed from the in-game Eververse Store. Players will still be able to purchase paid cosmetic items in two ways: by directly purchasing an item they desire or by buying the Fortnite-style seasonal pass and unlocking it there. (Although some items will only be available for direct purchase.) The difference is that, now, you’ll know exactly what you’re buying and how much it will cost upfront in Destiny 2, instead of rolling the dice on getting the cosmetic item you want./news/disaster-girl-has-sold-her-popular-meme-as-an-nft-for-500-000.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/disaster-girl-has-sold-her-popular-meme-as-an-nft-for-500-000.htmlNFTs allow you to buy and sell ownership of unique digital items and keep track of who owns them using the blockchain. NFT stands for “non-fungible token,” and it can technically contain anything digital, including drawings, animated GIFs, songs, or items in video games. An NFT can either be one of a kind, like a real-life painting, or one copy of many, like trading cards, but the blockchain keeps track of who has ownership of the file./news/disney-put-a-death-star-in-the-middle-of-its-theme-park-devoted-to-international-harmony.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/disney-put-a-death-star-in-the-middle-of-its-theme-park-devoted-to-international-harmony.htmlWalt Disney World’s Epcot — the park-within-a-park that encourages children to appreciate the fact that there are literally hundreds of cultures in the world besides the American one — is a good place. There are not so many cool rides, especially now that Norway’s Maelstrom has been replaced with some scary Frozen-themed thing, but it is educational and optimistic. The theme of the nightly fireworks and laser show (IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth) is basically “You know what we don’t talk about enough in schools?/news/diy-tesla-gun-is-real-and-very-dangerous.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/diy-tesla-gun-is-real-and-very-dangerous.htmlAuthor and self-described "mad scientist" Rob Flickenger has accomplished what we only wish actual 19th-century scientists had done: make a steampunk lightning rifle. His Tesla gun, inspired by graphic novel The Five Fists of Science, is essentially a hand-held spark gap Tesla coil powered by an 18V drill battery. When fired, it produces anywhere from 8 to 24 inches of lightning and 100,000 volts of electricity. Flickenger is adamant about the fact that it's much more an art piece than a real weapon: "/news/doomba-turns-your-roomba-s-cleaning-maps-into-doom-levels.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/doomba-turns-your-roomba-s-cleaning-maps-into-doom-levels.htmlI soon realized that there was a clear opportunity to serve the Dark Lord by conceiving a plethora of unholy algorithms in service to one of the finest works ever created in his name. Simultaneously, I would be able to unleash a truly terrible pun to plague humankind. Now, the fruit of my labor is born. I bring forth DOOMBA, a half-goat, half-script creature, with native binary backing for the expensive parts, to be offered in place of my firstborn on this fine Christmas Eve./news/dr-disrespect-s-twitch-ban-explained.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dr-disrespect-s-twitch-ban-explained.htmlWhen streamer Samantha Wong told Twitch that she had been sexually harassed by another person connected to the Twitch community, the report went all the way to the top. A Twitch VP who has since left the company, Justin Wong, says he escalated her allegations to Twitch’s CEO, the head of Twitch HR, and a VP who managed Twitch’s relationship with the accused person. “All assured me it would be handled,” he wrote on Twitter./news/elon-musk-says-the-sec-is-making-an-unconstitutional-power-grab-over-his-tweets.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/elon-musk-says-the-sec-is-making-an-unconstitutional-power-grab-over-his-tweets.htmlElon Musk says he shouldn’t be held in contempt of court over a recent tweet about Tesla because he didn’t violate his settlement agreement, and “there is no basis to issue contempt sanctions against him,” according to a new court filing. The filing says Musk “correctly used his discretion to determine” that a tweet on February 19th “did not contain information that could reasonably be considered material” to Tesla. The tweets in question are better understood as “proud and optimistic restatement of publicly disclosed information,” the filing says./news/emmys-2019-start-time-how-to-watch-and-nominations.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/emmys-2019-start-time-how-to-watch-and-nominations.htmlThe 71st annual Emmy Awards ceremony is tonight at 8PM ET (5PM PT). If you want to watch the talent pack into the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, CA, the pre-show coverage on the red carpet begins an hour earlier, at 7PM ET (4PM PT). Will your favorite TV shows, actors, and writers take home an award? In order to be the first to find out, you’ll have to watch along./news/epic-shows-off-infiltrator-a-tech-demo-for-unreal-engine-4-at-gdc.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-shows-off-infiltrator-a-tech-demo-for-unreal-engine-4-at-gdc.htmlEpic Games, the maker of highly-regarded franchises like Gears of War and Infinity Blade, is probably equally well-known for its Unreal Engine. While Unreal Engine 3 still looks great, it's starting to show its age a bit — so Epic has finally given the gaming world a look at Unreal Engine 4. According to Polygon, the company is giving a closed-doors demo of Infiltrator, the first tech demo running Unreal Engine 4 at the 2013 Game Developers Conference./news/facebook-just-created-a-new-tor-link-for-users-who-wish-to-remain-anonymous.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-just-created-a-new-tor-link-for-users-who-wish-to-remain-anonymous.htmlFacebook just took the surprising step of adding a way for users of the free anonymizing software Tor to access the social network directly. Tor is an open source project that launched in 2002 to provide a way for people to access the internet without sharing identifying information such as their IP address and physical location with websites and their service providers. People who download the free Tor software can visit websites while keeping the actual location of their computer and its make and model secret./news/focusrite-debuts-its-audio-interfaces-designed-for-podcasters.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/focusrite-debuts-its-audio-interfaces-designed-for-podcasters.htmlFocusrite, the British manufacturer of audio interfaces and recording tools, is introducing a new line of devices designed for home podcast recording. The Vocaster One and Vocaster Two take the key parts of Focusrite’s popular interfaces and tailor them to amateur podcasters and other home audio creators. Focusrite’s Scarlett line of audio interfaces has been a consumer standard over the past few years for podcasters who need to plug XLR microphones into their computer (to the point where I saw one in the trailer for a movie about a podcast just last week)./news/fontemon-is-a-pok%C3%A9mon-game-squeezed-into-a-font.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fontemon-is-a-pok%C3%A9mon-game-squeezed-into-a-font.htmlFontemon is technically a font, but it’s also, somewhat miraculously, a playable miniature Pokémon parody, spotted by software engineer Daniel Feldman. The game, made by Michael Mulet, stretches my understanding of what a font is, but it’s certainly amazing. Also, it’s filled with Minnesota references. The experience is not as “smooth” as a modern Pokémon game or even the original Game Boy entries, but it is sort of reminiscent of typing on a typewriter, with user interface elements and half-font / half-monsters plopping down on the screen as if they were slammed there by a type bar./news/fortnite-had-a-good-november.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-had-a-good-november.htmlFortnite had a good November. Epic Games said Friday that the game had 100 million players in November, which apparently broke a record. The Fortnite OG season, which has taken the game back to the Chapter 1 island, also broke a Fortnite player record on its first day. The OG season is set to end on Saturday with a “Big Bang” event featuring Eminem. The game’s next season might add Peter Griffin and Solid Snake./news/fortnite-season-8-is-all-about-the-cubes.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-season-8-is-all-about-the-cubes.htmlThe alien and IO war is over, but a new war has taken shape, one where you’re a combatant. After Slone double-crossed you and left you to perish on the Mothership, the cubes that powered it are now free. These things are a bigger threat to the island than those aliens could’ve ever been. They have no face, no speech, but they’re sentient and have six sides of malice. If you think the corruption they’ve caused is bad now, you have no idea what can happen if we let them stomp all over the island./news/fully-s-stellar-jarvis-standing-desks-are-still-15-percent-off.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fully-s-stellar-jarvis-standing-desks-are-still-15-percent-off.htmlThe days are starting to get longer as we creep ever closer to springtime in the US. And coincidentally, the deals are getting better. Is there a correlation? Let’s go with yes and not think about it too much. The Verge Deals team has been playing the hits this week, with deals so good that they bear repeating for the weekend crowd. Check out some of the best deals below./news/garmin-connect-finally-gets-a-simplified-design.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/garmin-connect-finally-gets-a-simplified-design.htmlGarmin Connect finally gets a “simplified design.” The company’s fitness watches are unmatched in longevity, value over time, and their ability to track all the performance minutia athletes want to track. But Garmin Connect — which ties everything together — well... sucks, which was made all the more obvious after Apple started playing on Garmin’s turf. The new Connect app and website is currently beta-only for select customers, but is coming to everyone “later this year./news/gdc-2023-all-the-latest-from-the-game-developers-conference-page-2.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gdc-2023-all-the-latest-from-the-game-developers-conference-page-2.htmlEpic Games is nearly ready to reveal its latest updates to Unreal Engine, its hugely popular suite of development tools. The company is hosting its 2023 State of Unreal keynote today, where it plans to “take a look at some new projects, dive into the latest Epic tech, and have some fun along the way.” The keynote is taking place as part of this year’s Game Developers Conference, and the company’s tech talks following the keynote give some clues as to what might be discussed./news/gfycat-starts-removing-fake-ai-porn-gifs-from-its-platform.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gfycat-starts-removing-fake-ai-porn-gifs-from-its-platform.htmlPopular GIF hosting and creation site Gfycat has come out against the rising new trend of artificial intelligence-generated fake pornography. Colloquially known as “deepfakes,” after the Reddit user who popularized the technique back in December, these short-form videos typically feature porn stars with the faces of celebrities, with the face swapping achieved by feeding a neural network with thousands of photos and videos and then training the network using popular, open source machine learning techniques./news/github-cuts-subscription-price-by-more-than-half.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/github-cuts-subscription-price-by-more-than-half.htmlGitHub, the Microsoft-owned software hosting site, said on Tuesday it will reduce prices on one of its most popular paid tiers and also moving a key feature of all its paid plans into its existing free tier. Now, GitHub says the “Teams” subscription, which previously cost $9 per user a month, will now be $4 per user a month. All existing paid customers on the plan will move to the new pricing model starting today./news/good-night-or-bedtime-alexa-routines-now-support-multiple-phrases.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/good-night-or-bedtime-alexa-routines-now-support-multiple-phrases.htmlAlexa routines can now be triggered using multiple custom phrases making it easier for everyone in a household to initiate smart home automations without having to remember the exact wording (via AFTVnews).  For example, instead of having to remember to say “Alexa, good night” to kick off a nighttime routine that locks the doors and shuts off the lights, you can now assign additional phrases like “Alexa, bedtime” or “Alexa, night night./news/google-meet-s-new-green-room-lets-you-do-an-audio-video-pre-check.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-meet-s-new-green-room-lets-you-do-an-audio-video-pre-check.htmlIt can be difficult to figure out how you’re coming across in a videoconference, especially if you want to make sure everything works before you start the meeting. How is your lighting? Are you sitting too close or too far from the camera? Is your audio okay, are you accidentally muted, or do you sound as if you’re in an echo chamber? Google has now made it easier to check your appearance and your tech before a Meet conference with its new “green room” feature (via 9to5Google)./news/google-now-comes-to-iphone-and-ipad-with-new-search-app-update.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-now-comes-to-iphone-and-ipad-with-new-search-app-update.htmlAfter a promo video let the cat out of the bag last month, Google is making it official: with an update to the Google Search application, Google Now is available on iOS. Compatible with both the iPhone and iPad, the update brings almost all of Google's information cards across from Android. The look and feel of the app is virtually identical on both platforms, a testament to Google's newfound ability to make well-designed apps on iOS./news/google-pixelbook-review-emperor-of-chrome.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-pixelbook-review-emperor-of-chrome.htmlThere are many questions about the Pixelbook, a new $999 Chromebook manufactured by Google. Who should buy this thing? Who would want to? Is it supposed to compete with MacBooks? Surface tablets? Windows convertibles? iPads? iPad Pros? All of the above? Can a laptop that is mainly designed to run the Chrome browser (with a side of Android apps) really be worth spending this much money on? Is Google high?/news/google-plans-to-add-end-to-end-encryption-to-authenticator.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-plans-to-add-end-to-end-encryption-to-authenticator.htmlGoogle Authenticator is getting end-to-end encryption — eventually. After security researchers criticized the company for not including it with Authenticator’s account-syncing update, Google product manager Christiaan Brand responded on Twitter by saying that the company has “plans to offer E2EE” in the future. “Right now, we believe that our current product strikes the right balance for most users and provides significant benefits over offline use,” Brand writes. “However, the option to use the app offline will remain an alternative for those who prefer to manage their backup strategy themselves./news/google-s-new-sign-in-page-starts-rolling-out-today.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-new-sign-in-page-starts-rolling-out-today.htmlIf you’ve logged in to your Google account recently, you might have seen a message that “a new look is coming soon,” and now, Google is showing off the “more modern look and feel” of its new sign-in page. Of course, if that screenshot feels incredibly familiar, that’s because it’s mostly the same as the old one. The sign-in steps are all the same, except it has a light Material Design makeover that’s now aligned horizontally to work better across many screen types, including large and wide screens, like the ones found inside a Pixel Fold or on a Pixel Tablet./news/google-s-weather-frog-spotted-on-smart-displays.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-weather-frog-spotted-on-smart-displays.htmlGoogle is testing a new background for Assistant smart displays that shows a cartoon frog enjoying, or coping with, the weather in real-time. The character, Froggy, has previously been a fixture in Google’s weather search results, and has also moonlighted as a minor character in several Google Doodles. Now 9to5Google reports that the critter is randomly cropping up as a new “Photo Frame” option for the smart displays for users on Reddit and Twitter, where it appears alongside existing backgrounds like images displayed from your Google Photos account./news/hbo-now-subscribers-can-continue-to-stream-on-amazon-after-all.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-now-subscribers-can-continue-to-stream-on-amazon-after-all.htmlAmazon and WarnerMedia have struck a new temporary agreement that will allow HBO Now customers to continue streaming on Fire TV while the companies continue negotiations over HBO Max. Before we go any further, let’s break down this situation. In April, WarnerMedia launched its new crown jewel streaming service, HBO Max. The app was made available everywhere except on Amazon Fire TV and Roku. Two weeks after HBO Max launched, WarnerMedia announced it was getting rid of the HBO Go app./news/here-s-what-happened-on-twitter-in-2014.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-what-happened-on-twitter-in-2014.htmlWhat happened on Twitter this year? If you follow @VergeCoffee, you're probably already caught up on the internet's true cultural zeitgeist. But Twitter has also done the extremely tedious work of weeding through the world's tweets to recap what people were tweeting about. What's more, the company also cajoled a bunch of celebrities into sharing tweets they liked or thought were important, as well as five Twitter users each one thinks you should follow./news/how-an-international-treaty-signed-50-years-ago-became-the-backbone-for-space-law.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-an-international-treaty-signed-50-years-ago-became-the-backbone-for-space-law.htmlFifty years ago today, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom opened a treaty for signature that would become the backbone for international space law. It was a United Nations-approved agreement called the Outer Space Treaty, and 104 nations have become parties to the document since it was signed and enacted in 1967. Since then, the treaty has helped ensure the peaceful exploration of space, as well as provide a lasting framework for how nations are supposed to behave in Earth orbit and beyond./news/how-to-back-up-your-iphone-to-the-cloud-or-to-your-mac-or-pc.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-back-up-your-iphone-to-the-cloud-or-to-your-mac-or-pc.htmlYes, of course you want to back up your iPhone. As we all know, despite phone cases and the latest protective glass and careful engineering, disaster — in the form of cracked displays, lost devices, and three-year-olds who think it’s fun to sit on your latest phone — can happen. When that happens, you want to have all your data backed up. The easiest way to go is to back up using iCloud, which is not only simple to set up but also makes it just as simple to set up a new phone if your old one is no longer available./news/how-to-enable-and-use-gmail-s-smart-reply-and-smart-compose-tools.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-enable-and-use-gmail-s-smart-reply-and-smart-compose-tools.htmlLeading up to Gmail’s 15th birthday in 2019, Google added a lot of productivity and machine learning tools to its email service. (It may also have been trying to make up for the disappearance of its Inbox email app, but that’s an argument for another day.) Additions included a way for Gmail to write email subject lines for you and schedule an email to send at a later time. It can be a little confusing to navigate some of Gmail’s features./news/how-to-send-private-messages-and-make-calls-in-slack.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-send-private-messages-and-make-calls-in-slack.htmlWhile Slack began as a workplace instant-messaging tool, over the last few years it has become popular as a way for anyone to keep in contact with a group of friends, colleagues, or family. It now even offers a way for groups to create in-the-moment “huddles,” in which two or more people can move from text to audio — if you’re on a paid plan. Although Slack is largely intended for group collaboration, it also has tools if you just want to chat one-on-one with somebody./news/how-to-format-text-in-google-docs.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-format-text-in-google-docs.htmlGoogle Docs has become a very useful word processing tool — a lot better than it was only a few years ago — but some of its more useful features may not be immediately obvious. For example, you would think that all the ways available to provide specialized text, such as underlining, italicizing, and strikethroughs, should be easy to find among the icons on the top of the page. While the icons to bold, italicize, underline, and highlight text are right on top of your document and very easy to see, other common formatting tasks, such as strikethroughs, superscripts, and subscripts, are not there./news/hp-spectre-x360-review-the-best-windows-laptop-of-2016.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hp-spectre-x360-review-the-best-windows-laptop-of-2016.htmlBuilding a great, premium laptop is surprisingly hard. Despite the fact that every company, from Apple to Dell to Lenovo and everyone in between, pulls from the same basic parts bin — Intel processors; high-quality IPS displays; aluminum chassis; large, glass trackpads; USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 — putting all of those parts together in a competent, no-compromise laptop is a sadly rare feat. That’s what makes HP’s latest Spectre x360 so interesting./news/htc-droid-dna-review-the-verge.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/htc-droid-dna-review-the-verge.htmlSoftware The Droid DNA features Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with the latest version of HTC’s Sense 4+ interface. Sense 4+ is very similar to Sense 4, and should look quite familiar to anyone that has seen HTC’s phones released this year. HTC customizes Android with its own lock screen, home screens, app drawers, and multitasking system, and it covers the majority of the interface with its own theming. Whether you like HTC’s treatment of Android generally comes down to personal taste, but for the most part, Sense tends to bury Android’s functions under layers of unnecessary UI elements, and it can be slower and more cumbersome to use as a result./news/hyperx-cloud-ii-wireless-review-long-lasting-comfort.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hyperx-cloud-ii-wireless-review-long-lasting-comfort.htmlThe HyperX new Cloud II Wireless headset is made for people who want simple controls, barely-there comfort, and solid sound quality. This model is just a wire-free version of the company’s $100 flagship Cloud II gaming headset. It uses a 2.4GHz wireless receiver that works with PCs, the PS4 — and likely the PS5, when that is released in November — and the Nintendo Switch (via its dock). I’ve also successfully connected it to a 2019 MacBook Pro through a USB-C to USB-A adapter./news/ifttt-introduces-pro-subscriptions-limits-free-version-to-three-applets.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ifttt-introduces-pro-subscriptions-limits-free-version-to-three-applets.htmlIFTTT, a perennial favorite of smart home tinkerers everywhere, is going Pro. That means paid subscriptions for faster and more sophisticated IFTTT applets that can query more data sources to trigger multiple actions in the home. The free version will stick around but is now limited to just three applets — only Pro subscribers will be able to create unlimited personal applets. Historically, you could create as many IFTTT applets as you wanted, although these were limited to one trigger controlling one action./news/indie-publisher-prints-books-with-disappearing-ink.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/indie-publisher-prints-books-with-disappearing-ink.htmlAd agency Draftcb has won gold at the Cannes PR Lions for an innovative publishing concept, using disappearing ink to print books that gradually fade away over the course of two months. Dubbed "The Book That Can't Wait," the format — an intriguing one in a world increasingly dominated by Kindles and Nooks — is being pioneered by independent Argentinian publishing house Eterna Cadencia, which is using it to promote new authors./news/intel-mini-nuc-computers-get-a-second-life-thanks-to-asus.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/intel-mini-nuc-computers-get-a-second-life-thanks-to-asus.htmlIntel announced earlier this week that its compact and upgradable NUC computers were being discontinued, but now Asus is stepping in to manufacture and develop future NUC systems instead. While Intel won’t be making its cute small form factor PCs anymore, Asus will receive a non-exclusive license to Intel’s NUC (Next Unit of Computing) product designs. “As we pivot our strategy to enable ecosystem partners to continue NUC systems product innovation and growth, our priority is to ensure a smooth transition for our customers and partners,” says Sam Gao, general manager of Intel Client Platform Solutions./news/invasion-review-after-2-seasons-apple-s-drama-is-finally-coming-together.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/invasion-review-after-2-seasons-apple-s-drama-is-finally-coming-together.htmlFor much of the first two seasons of Invasion, the show’s characters have seemingly been moving independently of each other. It’s clear that they were heading in similar directions, with paths that would converge in some way, but it wasn’t until the season 2 finale that Invasion finally started coming together. And it’s setting the show up for a big showdown in the future. Invasion has played out a lot like a character-driven drama that just so happens to be set at the ground level of an alien invasion./news/ios-17-3-is-out-adding-stolen-device-protection-for-your-iphone.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ios-17-3-is-out-adding-stolen-device-protection-for-your-iphone.htmliOS 17.3 is out, and it comes with a new security feature that’s supposed to prevent thieves from taking your iPhone and quickly taking over access to anything stored in iCloud as well as other important accounts like your bank or email. Instead of relying on your lock screen passcode for security (as thieves have learned to trick people into entering it in front of them before they take off with the phone), Stolen Device Protection requires you to scan your fingerprint or use Face ID when performing certain actions, such as viewing saved passwords or applying for a new Apple Card./news/james-franco-says-he-ll-direct-and-star-in-a-behind-the-scenes-movie-about-the-room.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/james-franco-says-he-ll-direct-and-star-in-a-behind-the-scenes-movie-about-the-room.htmlJames Franco's company Rabbit Bandini Productions has optioned the rights to The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made. Written by Tom Bissell and actor Greg Sestero, The Disaster Artist recounts the making of 2003 cult film The Room, often described as one of the worst films ever made. According to Deadline, Franco plans to direct and co-produce an adaptation of the book with business partner Vince Jolivette, as well as Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's company Point Grey Productions./news/king-of-samsung-a-chairman-s-reign-of-cunning-and-corruption.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/king-of-samsung-a-chairman-s-reign-of-cunning-and-corruption.htmlIf Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee takes a moment this weekend to reflect on the past 25 years, he could be forgiven for having mixed emotions. Tomorrow marks the quarter-century point since Lee took over from his late father, and his time in charge has seen a whirlwind acceleration in Samsung's fortunes. Under Lee's guidance, the company has been transformed from a Korean budget name into a major international force and arguably the most prominent Asian brand worldwide — Samsung's revenues are now 39 times what they were in 1987, it generates around 20 percent of South Korea's GDP, and Lee is the country's richest man./news/league-of-legends-wild-rift-is-coming-to-mobile-and-console.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/league-of-legends-wild-rift-is-coming-to-mobile-and-console.htmlOne of the biggest PC games in the world is finally coming to other platforms. At its 10th anniversary celebration this evening, Riot Games announced a new version of League of Legends called Wild Rift that will be coming to both mobile devices and unspecified consoles. It looks to be largely the same as the main version of League, with near-identical MOBA gameplay. But it’s been tweaked to better accommodate the new platforms, including a new twin-stick control scheme, a new map, and shorter matches that clock in at around 15-20 minutes long./news/leak-confirms-sony-flagship-headphone-design-casts-doubt-on-improved-battery-life.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/leak-confirms-sony-flagship-headphone-design-casts-doubt-on-improved-battery-life.htmlPictures of the apparent retail packaging for Sony’s upcoming flagship headphones, the WH-1000XM5, have leaked on Reddit, suggesting the successor to the excellent WH-1000XM4 could be just around the corner. The images appear to confirm the previously rumored design for the new headphones, which includes a thinner headband and redesigned connector with the left and right earcups. Unfortunately, the new leak calls into question a previous report from TechnikNews, which claimed that the headphones would see improved battery life when used with active noise cancellation (ANC)./news/life-sized-lego-x-wing-smashes-world-record-with-5-million-bricks.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/life-sized-lego-x-wing-smashes-world-record-with-5-million-bricks.htmlSomebody at Lego built a life-sized, 5-million-brick model of a Rebel X-Wing fighter. Or rather, 32 somebodies, who spent 17,000 hours building the 43-foot-long, 45,980-pound replica — the largest Lego model in the world. Gizmodo reports that the fighter was assembled at the Lego Model Shop in Kladno, Czech Republic before being shipped to New York City, where it currently sits on display. Lego had other motivations for building the X-Wing than just breaking records — it’s being used to promote Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles, a new three-part animated series coming to Cartoon Network on Wednesday, May 29th./news/loon-will-sell-its-next-gen-networking-tech-to-satellite-company-telesat.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/loon-will-sell-its-next-gen-networking-tech-to-satellite-company-telesat.htmlSince its secret beginning in 2011, Loon has been pursuing the seemingly quixotic task of bringing internet to the world’s most remote corners via stratospheric helium balloons. Now, after nearly a decade, the Alphabet-owned company is embarking on a new chapter, and it involves acknowledging it cannot accomplish the immense task of bringing billions of people online on its own. Today, Loon is announcing a partnership with Canadian telecommunications company Telesat in a deal that will see Loon’s custom software service for managing its LTE balloon fleet be put to use controlling Telesat’s new constellation of low Earth orbit satellites./news/making-elizabeth-holmes-cringey-texts-public-is-the-ultimate-crime-deterrent.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/making-elizabeth-holmes-cringey-texts-public-is-the-ultimate-crime-deterrent.htmlThe Elizabeth Holmes trial has made me more determined than ever to avoid doing crimes. I’ll be sticking to the law from here on out, thank you very much. It’s not for any noble reason — I don’t have any new sense of morality or sudden desire to be a very good person. No, I am zealously sticking to the law because doing crimes could, theoretically, put me in the same position disgraced Theranos founder Holmes is in right now: having my text message history revealed in court./news/maplestory-gets-an-extra-life-with-a-mobile-game-and-3d-sequel.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/maplestory-gets-an-extra-life-with-a-mobile-game-and-3d-sequel.htmlLogging onto MapleStory back in 2004 was like entering a different world, one filled with magic, community, and ridiculously cute child-like avatars. Today there are dozens of games that offer a similar, and often better, experience. But in the early 2000s, the free-to-play, casual multiplayer MapleStory was singular, attracting fan videos, art, and later on YouTubers. By 2009, MapleStory had reached an incredible 92 million players. A notable 36 percent of those players were under the age of 18, and many of them likely grew out of the game over time./news/mark-zuckerberg-finally-explains-why-he-forced-you-to-download-the-standalone-messenger-app.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mark-zuckerberg-finally-explains-why-he-forced-you-to-download-the-standalone-messenger-app.htmlI'm grateful for hard questions. It keeps us honest. We need to be able to explain clearly why what we're thinking is good. Asking everyone in our community to install a new app is a big ask. I appreciate that that was work and required friction. We wanted to do this because we believe that this is a better experience. Messaging is becoming increasingly important. On mobile, each app can only focus on doing one thing well, we think./news/meta-freezes-hiring-for-messenger-kids-shopping-team-and-other-products.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-freezes-hiring-for-messenger-kids-shopping-team-and-other-products.htmlMeta is pulling back its investments in a number of products, including the teams it spun up early in the pandemic to compete with Zoom and build shopping features, The Verge has learned. In addition to a hiring freeze for certain engineering roles, the company also recently paused the hiring of recruiters and low-level data scientists. While the hiring freezes have caused employees to fear that layoffs are around the corner, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an internal all-hands meeting last Thursday that job cuts are not being planned./news/meta-reportedly-shelves-plans-for-dual-camera-smartwatch.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-reportedly-shelves-plans-for-dual-camera-smartwatch.htmlMeta has halted development of a smartwatch with two built-in cameras, Bloomberg reports. The device — codenamed “Milan” — had reportedly been planned for release in spring 2023 at a price of around $349. Technical issues, as well as general cost-cutting at Meta, are reportedly to blame for the cancellation. The existence of the watch had previously been reported by The Verge last year.  Most smartwatches, including the Apple Watch, currently don’t feature any cameras at all, so Meta had hoped that the presence of not one but two cameras could have differentiated its wearable in a competitive market./news/meta-s-threads-is-thriving-one-year-in-but-x-is-still-in-the-fight.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-s-threads-is-thriving-one-year-in-but-x-is-still-in-the-fight.htmlThreads, Meta’s X competitor, is officially one year old. While the site was rushed into existence with a bare-bones set of features, Meta has steadily improved upon the app to make it a decent place for people looking to post on a platform that isn’t X.  The site arrived at the right moment. By last summer, Elon Musk’s takeover of X — which back then was still called Twitter — hadn’t only seen him wantonly firing vast swaths of the company and shutting off servers but also making changes with real consequences for the site’s user experience./news/microsoft-announces-the-proteus-controller-a-gamepad-for-xbox-gamers-with-disabilities.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-announces-the-proteus-controller-a-gamepad-for-xbox-gamers-with-disabilities.htmlCreated by peripheral company ByoWave as part of the Designed for Xbox program, the wireless controller consists of small cubes with interchangeable faceplates that include controller buttons, a directional pad, and analog sticks. The “snap and play” parts connect together so gamers can build more than 100 configurations and LED lighting variations. As a result, one-handed gamers and other players with disabilities can use the controller in a way that’s most comfortable for them./news/microsoft-edge-now-has-price-comparisons-and-a-really-useful-screenshot-tool.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-edge-now-has-price-comparisons-and-a-really-useful-screenshot-tool.htmlMicrosoft is adding a price comparison feature to its Edge browser just in time for the holidays, alongside a really useful screenshot tool that will let you easily capture an entire webpage. Both features are part of a broader update for Edge this month that includes a number of minor additions that improve the Chromium-powered browser. The new price comparison feature works across a variety of retailers while you’re shopping online inside Edge./news/microsoft-research-bets-on-a-no-touch-future-of-wearable-devices.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-research-bets-on-a-no-touch-future-of-wearable-devices.htmlMicrosoft's Research team in Cambridge opened its doors last week to offer a sneak peek at the future. Microsoft has spent nearly $30 billion on research and development over the past three years, and this particular lab — consisting of over 100 researchers mainly from Europe — has contributed to Bing, Xbox Kinect, and the functional programming language F#. Microsoft is now looking well ahead into the future of computing and how user interfaces and the way we interact with machines will change./news/microsoft-research-releases-free-cliplets-app-for-creating-animated-cinemagraphs.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-research-releases-free-cliplets-app-for-creating-animated-cinemagraphs.htmlMicrosoft Research has launched a new desktop app for creating cinemagraphs — GIF-style images that combine animation and photography. The app lets you select an object from a video clip so that only that object is animated, while the rest of the scene remains static. The result is sort of like a GIF, only more artsy. We've already seen something similar with iOS apps like Cinemagram, with the main difference here being platform and price — Cliplets is Windows-only and free to download./news/microsoft-facebook-and-others-want-to-make-accessibility-a-bigger-priority.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-facebook-and-others-want-to-make-accessibility-a-bigger-priority.htmlSome of the world's biggest technology companies want the app makers of tomorrow to put a much bigger focus on accessibility. "Students in fields such as design, computer sciences and human computer interaction must be better prepared to enter the workforce and create future technologies that are truly inclusive," reads the mission statement of Teaching Accessibility, a new working group that includes Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Dropbox, AT&T, Adobe, LinkedIn, and a handful of education partners like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and Georgia Tech./news/microsoft-nintendo-and-sony-are-reportedly-all-skipping-e3-2023.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-nintendo-and-sony-are-reportedly-all-skipping-e3-2023.htmlNintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all skipping the revitalized E3 convention in June, according to a new report from IGN. E3 will be back as an in-person conference in Los Angeles after not happening at all in 2022, and I personally was hopeful that the big three console makers would be at the show when it takes place from June 13th through 16th to help make it feel like the big event of years past./news/microsoft-s-new-xbox-update-speeds-up-downloads-by-suspending-games.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-new-xbox-update-speeds-up-downloads-by-suspending-games.htmlMicrosoft is rolling out a new Xbox April dashboard update today that will improve the way games are downloaded. A new feature will now let Xbox owners suspend games to speed up download speeds. Currently, Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S systems throttle game updates and new game downloads if another game is active. This new suspend option can be coupled with Quick Resume on the Xbox Series X / S to quickly pause a game, download game updates, or download a new game altogether and then resume the suspended game later./news/microsoft-s-ninja-cat-will-be-part-of-windows-10-s-new-emoji.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-ninja-cat-will-be-part-of-windows-10-s-new-emoji.htmlMicrosoft revealed a refreshed version of its Windows 10 emoji set last week, but it appears there are some Windows-only additions hidden away. Six new emoji will be exclusive to Windows 10, and they all feature the Windows ninja cat. If you're currently testing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update then you can combine the cat emoji with other emoji to see the ninja cat additions. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnam5faXxyfo5qaG1pYm2Bd3vMopqrp6Oks7V51qKlnaenqHpyfIyepKiimWK7qrrJmmScmaQ%3D/news/motorola-droid-razr-hd-and-razr-maxx-hd-review.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/motorola-droid-razr-hd-and-razr-maxx-hd-review.htmlThe Droid RAZR HD is massive. The original Droid RAZR was not a small phone by any means, and the new RAZR HD carries on that tradition. We praised the RAZR M for its petite size and ease of use with one hand, but the RAZR HD (and the RAZR Maxx HD) is a different beast altogether. At 2.67 inches wide, 5.19 inches tall, and 0.33 inches thick (the Maxx version is equivalent in width and height, but measures 0./news/motorola-moto-g-stylus-5g-review.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/motorola-moto-g-stylus-5g-review.htmlThe Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G, as you may have pieced together, is a phone with a built-in stylus and 5G. It’s a slightly upgraded version of the 4G-only, 2021-edition Moto G Stylus (I’m sorry, that’s really how these phones are named). The Stylus 5G includes a few more hardware upgrades in addition to 5G connectivity, including a bigger battery, more storage and RAM (256GB and 6GB on the version I tested, respectively), and a newer Snapdragon 480 processor./news/murda-beatz-s-song-fortnite-with-lil-yachty-and-ski-mask-the-slump-god-is-a-victory-royale.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/murda-beatz-s-song-fortnite-with-lil-yachty-and-ski-mask-the-slump-god-is-a-victory-royale.htmlFortnite: Battle Royale is indisputably the biggest game on the planet. Players in the World Cup are using its dances to celebrate goals; Drake and Marshmello, two of music’s biggest names, are both avid players; and Epic Games, the company that created Fortnite, is raking in somewhere between $200 and $300 million per month. While plenty of musicians love the game, most aren’t writing songs about playing it. Today, Pitchfork highlighted Murda Beatz, a Canadian rap producer who “has become fearless in his use of samples./news/nasa-is-running-out-of-space-suits-and-it-s-years-away-from-having-new-ones-ready.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-is-running-out-of-space-suits-and-it-s-years-away-from-having-new-ones-ready.htmlThe state of NASA’s space suit supply looks bleak in a new report from the space agency’s auditor. NASA is still “years away” from having a new space suit ready for future deep-space missions, the report claims, even though the agency has invested close to $200 million on space suit development since 2007. Meanwhile, NASA seems to be running out of the space suits it does have for the astronauts on the ISS./news/nasa-releases-even-more-of-its-fantastical-space-tourism-posters.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-releases-even-more-of-its-fantastical-space-tourism-posters.htmlThe studio was formed about 13 years ago when designer Dan Goods asked JPL director Charles Elachi how he could help NASA's exploration wing. Soon enough Goods was running a six-person studio that was in charge of everything from actual design work to more esoteric tasks, like helping JPL scientists and engineers brainstorm their missions — or what JPL designer David Delgado calls "help them think through their thinking." "They come from real serious fields of expertise,"/news/netflix-announces-it-s-now-live-in-130-new-countries-including-india-and-russia.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-announces-it-s-now-live-in-130-new-countries-including-india-and-russia.htmlAt his CES keynote today, Reed Hastings announced that Netflix was going live in 130 new countries. The list includes massive new audiences like Russia, India, and South Korea. It's a huge expansion of the company's footprint, with China the notable exception to major markets where you can now stream its content. Today's announcement basically triples the company's distribution. "Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global internet TV network,"/news/netflix-s-triviaverse-lets-you-play-speedy-rounds-of-trivia-by-yourself-or-with-a-friend.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-s-triviaverse-lets-you-play-speedy-rounds-of-trivia-by-yourself-or-with-a-friend.htmlNetflix’s Triviaverse is a new “quick-hit trivia experience” that will begin rolling out on the streaming service on Tuesday. Games are fast, typically under five minutes, and you can play by yourself or head-to-head with another person. I got to check it out ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, and I think a lot of people will be loading it up for fierce trivia competitions with loved ones over the holidays. Here’s how it works./news/netgear-enters-the-google-tv-set-top-box-market-with-the-neotv-prime.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netgear-enters-the-google-tv-set-top-box-market-with-the-neotv-prime.htmlNetgear is throwing its hat into the Google TV set-top box ring with the launch of the NeoTV Prime. The new box from Netgear looks to be a standard Google TV offering, allowing access to Chrome, Flash, and the Play Store. Naturally, other streaming services from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and HBO are supported, with Google’s own movie and TV store rounding out a healthy choice in content. Netgear has tweaked the remote control slightly, though./news/nikola-stops-work-on-electric-watercraft-and-atv-projects.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nikola-stops-work-on-electric-watercraft-and-atv-projects.html“We still own the NZT and WAV rights and have put the projects on pause. We may consider moving forward with them at a later time,” a spokesperson tells The Verge. “Right now we are focusing on commercial trucking and hydrogen infrastructure.” Photos by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Nikola started pursuing an electric watercraft back in 2017 after it bought up one of the more promising startups working on the idea./news/nintendo-direct-june-2023-the-5-biggest-announcements.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-direct-june-2023-the-5-biggest-announcements.htmlPrior to Nintendo’s second big Direct presentation of the year, the company’s holiday 2023 calendar was pretty sparse. But that’s no longer the case. Nintendo announced a handful of major releases heading to the Switch over the coming months, including a pair of Super Mario titles and new WarioWare and Detective Pikachu games. We also got a better look at the upcoming expansions for Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, and Nintendo even teased new Luigi and Princess Peach games for next year./news/nomad-stand-one-review-a-fancy-110-magsafe-charger-for-your-iphone.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nomad-stand-one-review-a-fancy-110-magsafe-charger-for-your-iphone.htmlNomad has a new MagSafe charger for people who don’t mind splurging for aesthetics. The Stand One charger is an upright magnetic iPhone stand with true 15W MagSafe charging. But unlike its $149.95 Base One Max, which also accommodates an Apple Watch, the $109.95 Stand One, which is available now in black or silver, just charges your phone, though it does look pretty while it’s doing it. MagSafe is MagSafe, and aside from holding your iPhone upright at a nice 21-degree angle, the Stand One doesn’t do much more than a $40 Apple MagSafe puck or Belkin’s $60 one./news/nreal-launches-379-air-ar-glasses-in-us.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nreal-launches-379-air-ar-glasses-in-us.htmlAugmented reality company Nreal is launching its stripped-down Air glasses in the United States. The Nreal Air glasses, unveiled for Asian markets last year, are available on Amazon starting today for $379. The initially Android-exclusive glasses are also getting iPhone compatibility — but only with a $59 dongle. It’s the Chinese startup’s latest move into the global AR market as it races Apple, Meta, and other tech giants for the growing niche./news/oscars-2016-watch-sam-smith-perform-his-bond-theme-writing-s-on-the-wall.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oscars-2016-watch-sam-smith-perform-his-bond-theme-writing-s-on-the-wall.htmlSam Smith just made his first appearance on the Oscar stage with an unadorned, simple performance of "Writing's on the Wall," his entry into this year's Best Original Song contest. Smith and co-writer Jimmy Napes are nominated on behalf of Daniel Craig's final turn as James Bond, Spectre; they went on to win the Oscar later on in the show. The performance was introduced by Sarah Silverman, who joked about not seeing the movie and sleeping with James Bond./news/persona-5-review-a-cult-classic-shined-to-perfection.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/persona-5-review-a-cult-classic-shined-to-perfection.htmlIt can be a challenge to explain why the Persona games are so engrossing to someone who has never played one. How they consume your life. How they turn a grocery store jingle or the sound of rain on a window into Pavlovian cues, a reminder you could be playing right now. On the surface, a Persona game sounds rather dull. For starters, they’re dungeon-crawling role-playing games, a genre about slowly and methodically making your way through monster-filled corridors, steadily growing stronger over dozens of hours./news/pixar-s-elemental-is-releasing-in-june-2023.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pixar-s-elemental-is-releasing-in-june-2023.htmlPixar has provided the very first details of its upcoming feature Elemental — including a release date of June 16th, 2023. Directed by Peter Sohn (best known for The Good Dinosaur), the movie takes place in a city filled with beings tied to the various elements of fire, water, air, and land. It follows two characters named Ember and Wade, who, you might’ve guessed, are composed of seemingly opposite elements./news/pixar-s-latest-coco-clips-reveal-more-about-its-animated-mexican-musical.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pixar-s-latest-coco-clips-reveal-more-about-its-animated-mexican-musical.htmlYesterday, Pixar released two new clips of its upcoming animated film Coco, a musical inspired by Mexico’s traditional Day of the Dead celebrations. One is a teaser, and another is a behind-the-scenes look at the film. In recent years, Disney has ramped up its diversity efforts, producing films like Moana, derived from Polynesian culture, and Queen of Katwe, the based-on-real-life story of a Ugandan chess champ. But Pixar, acquired by Disney in 2006, hasn’t followed the same trends: it’s focused on stories set in Scotland (Brave), France (Ratatouille), America (Inside Out), and the fantasy worlds of The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory 2, and Cars 3./news/pok%C3%A9mon-studio-game-freak-is-making-an-action-adventure-game-codenamed-project-bloom.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pok%C3%A9mon-studio-game-freak-is-making-an-action-adventure-game-codenamed-project-bloom.htmlGame Freak is best known as the studio behind the mainline Pokémon games, including recent releases like Sword / Shield, Legends: Arceus, and Scarlet / Violet. But the developer is expanding its repertoire for a new release currently codenamed Project Bloom. There isn’t much detail on the game, but it’s described as “a brand-new action-adventure IP.” The studio released a single piece of concept art, which you can see above./news/pushbullet-adds-imessage-like-sms-handling-for-android-phones-on-windows.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pushbullet-adds-imessage-like-sms-handling-for-android-phones-on-windows.htmlIt's only been two weeks since Pushbullet got a major overhaul of all its cross-platform apps, but today the company is already rolling out another big upgrade, this time in the way it handles text messages. The Android version of Pushbullet now syncs your full SMS conversation history with the Windows or web app, allowing you to chat with your friends on your computer as if you were texting from your phone./news/put-macos-on-the-ipad-you-cowards.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/put-macos-on-the-ipad-you-cowards.htmlOkay, hear me out on this. I really would just like Apple’s next iPad Pro to be a laptop. Not a clamshell, but a Surface Pro type of deal: a tablet with laptop hardware and a laptop OS. I think there must be people at Apple who want this, too, so I’m now respectfully requesting that the company stop dilly-dallying and make it happen.  Here’s my reasoning: at Tuesday’s Spring Loaded event, Apple finally unveiled a long-rumored update to its iPad Pro./news/razer-blade-15-advanced-review-good-gaming-machine-bad-laptop.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/razer-blade-15-advanced-review-good-gaming-machine-bad-laptop.htmlThe past couple of years have been good for gaming laptops. They’ve gotten lighter, thinner, and ridiculously more powerful. But while all of those advancements have been extremely welcome, most gaming laptops are still heavily compromised for non-gaming activities. They tend to have worse keyboards, bad trackpads, and battery life that’s too short to really make them practical away from an outlet for any stretch of time. That doesn’t even go into the fact that most are adorned with obnoxious lighting effects, garish logos, and styling that would make a Gundam blush./news/retinal-implant-restores-vision-for-eight-blind-people.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/retinal-implant-restores-vision-for-eight-blind-people.htmlLast week we heard about the Argus II, a device that can restore partial sight to some blind people, and this week a new retinal prosthesis is promising to go one step further. While the Argus II relies on glasses, an externally-mounted video camera, and a separate processing box, the Alpha IMS system detects light coming into the eye via electrodes implanted underneath the patient's retina, before feeding it into a microchip that sends the signals to the brain./news/rimac-is-shifting-from-electric-supercars-to-robotaxis.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rimac-is-shifting-from-electric-supercars-to-robotaxis.htmlA new robotaxi service is coming to Croatia, courtesy of the country’s leading supercar company, Rimac. The service will be called Verne, named for French novelist and poet Jules Verne, and will launch in Zagreb in 2026, the company said. It’s an interesting pivot for a company that has been on a rocket-ship trajectory over the last few years. Founded by Mate Rimac in a garage as a one-man operation, Rimac has since become a highly desirable brand, with many legacy automakers calling upon the startup to help them build their own electric supercars./news/samsung-and-its-galaxy-a32-5g-won-big-when-lg-left-the-smartphone-space.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-and-its-galaxy-a32-5g-won-big-when-lg-left-the-smartphone-space.htmlJust over a year ago, LG announced that it was leaving the smartphone business. It wasn’t an entirely surprising move since the company’s mobile division had been posting huge losses for years. All the same, it left a significant void in the US smartphone market, especially in the prepaid device space where LG had a strong presence. This new vacancy presented an intriguing opportunity for another Android device maker to fill the void — maybe OnePlus, which had recently started bringing budget phones to the US./news/samsung-galaxy-watch-6-series-review-refined-but-not-revolutionary.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-watch-6-series-review-refined-but-not-revolutionary.htmlFor the longest time, Samsung reigned supreme when it came to flagship Android smartwatches. Year after year, it was the easy recommendation for people looking for an Android analog to the Apple Watch. That’s still true with the Galaxy Watch 6 series, but I’m unsure how secure Samsung’s status is heading into the fall product season and beyond. It’s not because they’re bad devices. Both the Galaxy Watch 6 (starts at $299./news/scientists-discover-the-moon-is-shaped-like-a-lemon.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-discover-the-moon-is-shaped-like-a-lemon.htmlAlthough our visit to its rocky surface confirmed that it's not covered in vast seas, it's not home to strange moon-men, and it's not made of cheese, the moon can still surprise us. It's only this week that scientists have revealed that, 45 years after Neil Armstrong set foot on the planetoid, our closest celestial neighbor is not actually round. Craters have made working out the moon's shape tricky It's more of a squashed sphere, with a distinct lump./news/sega-sadly-won-t-release-a-mini-saturn-or-dreamcast-this-year.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sega-sadly-won-t-release-a-mini-saturn-or-dreamcast-this-year.htmlSega sadly won’t release a mini Saturn or Dreamcast this year. Sega made amazing tiny consoles every year from 2019-2022, including the Genesis Mini, Game Gear Micro, Astro City Mini, Mega Drive Mini 2 and its flight stick — but not in 2023, and producer Yosuke Okunari now says we won’t get one in 2024 either. Last year, Sega’s president said a mini Saturn would take “a little longer” at minimum./news/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-review-sonic-standout.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-review-sonic-standout.htmlTech daydreams are the closest thing we have to a self-fulfilling prophecy. First, we imagine how we’d like technology to improve and evolve, and then, with plenty of time and hard work, we make that change real. That’s what I was thinking about recently when I took a call just by tapping an earbud in my ear, no wires dangling anywhere, and I was reminded of my teenage yearning for a pair of wireless earphones./news/sex-toy-company-admits-to-recording-users-remote-sex-sessions-calls-it-a-minor-bug.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sex-toy-company-admits-to-recording-users-remote-sex-sessions-calls-it-a-minor-bug.htmlI have some news: the Internet of Things is a mess. A hacked refrigerator sounds slightly scary, but a vibrator-controlling app that records all your sex sounds and stores them on your phone without your knowledge? That's way worse. Today, a Reddit user pointed out that Hong Kong-based sex toy company Lovense's remote control vibrator app (Lovense Remote) recorded a use session without their knowledge. An audio file lasting six minutes was stored in the app's local folder./news/signal-s-founder-is-trolling-with-an-nft-that-ll-turn-to-shit-if-you-buy-it.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/signal-s-founder-is-trolling-with-an-nft-that-ll-turn-to-shit-if-you-buy-it.htmlSecure messaging app Signal’s founder Moxie Marlinspike is doing a bit of trolling by releasing an NFT that shows up differently depending on what platform you’re looking at it on — and that will, allegedly, display as a poop emoji in your wallet if you actually buy it. He seems to be doing this to point out the potential fragility of NFTs, which are supposed to act as a sort of permanent record of owning a piece of art or media./news/skype-disappears-from-mobile-app-stores-in-china.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/skype-disappears-from-mobile-app-stores-in-china.htmlMicrosoft’s Skype app for Android and iOS has been removed from a number of app stores in China for almost a month. The New York Times reports that Skype has been removed due to local laws that apply to VoIP services in China. “We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of voice over internet protocol apps do not comply with local law,” says an Apple spokesperson in a statement to the NYT./news/slack-enables-two-factor-authentication-following-security-breach.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/slack-enables-two-factor-authentication-following-security-breach.htmlSlack has some good security news and some bad security news. First, the bad news: for four days in February, the company suffered a breach of its user database, exposing sensitive information to malicious hackers. Slack confirmed to The Verge that databases containing team message history were not accessed as part of the breach. No payment information was exposed, so the main concern is user passwords, which were in encrypted form./news/snoop-dogg-and-eminem-s-bored-ape-music-video-is-here-to-try-and-sell-us-on-tokens.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snoop-dogg-and-eminem-s-bored-ape-music-video-is-here-to-try-and-sell-us-on-tokens.htmlThe last couple of weeks have had a lot of bad news for some in the “web3” space, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at announcements in and around the recently-ended NFT.NYC and ApeFest 2022 events. The Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) annual event in particular brought in musicians like The Roots, LCD Soundsystem, Haim, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, and others to perform for its members. On the final day of the event, guests saw the premiere of this video from two of the celebrities who’ve purchased tokens, Eminem and Snoop Dogg./news/someone-is-putting-vr-headsets-on-cows-and-we-want-to-know-why.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/someone-is-putting-vr-headsets-on-cows-and-we-want-to-know-why.htmlLet’s just be up front here: yes, these pictures seem to show a cow wearing a virtual reality headset, and no, we don’t really know what’s going on here. You may have seen these images floating around social media followed by a trail of comments like “this is the dystopian future we were warned about” and “enter the mootrix.” They purportedly show an experiment being conducted in Russia to see if giving dairy cows VR headsets can reduce anxiety and increase milk yield, but — as you might have guessed — it’s not at all clear whether this is a genuine trial or an elaborate marketing stunt./news/sony-backtracks-now-says-it-won-t-make-helldivers-2-players-on-steam-link-a-psn-account.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-backtracks-now-says-it-won-t-make-helldivers-2-players-on-steam-link-a-psn-account.htmlSony backtracks, now says it won't make Helldivers 2 players on Steam link a PSN account. Sony's plan to force PlayStation Network accounts on PC players of crossplatform hit Helldivers 2 went over terribly. On Steam, it received 84,000 negative reviews in one day. But now Sony says the update that would've implemented the requirement on May 6th is not going forward and "we’ll keep you updated on future plans." ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanx3e5FtaG1xaWaFcL%2FOp7BmmpGYuLW%2BwJyirGWepMRuv8CyqmahpGLEsLrTZqSao5Vitaa4y52gr52iqHpzec%2BlmLKdoqh6sLqMrKuemZ1iuaq6ymaYZqijo3qir8KorKes/news/sony-playstation-3d-display-review.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-playstation-3d-display-review.htmlYes, it looks just like a flattened PSP Go, and we never really cared for that device, but if you look past the disappointments of that handheld game system, the PlayStation 3D Monitor is moderately stylish. The entire panel's just over an inch and a quarter thick, and you won't have any trouble hefting it into your car. The screen only weighs about twelve pounds, and there are handy grips on either end./news/stanley-kubrick-loved-white-men-can-t-jump-hated-the-wizard-of-oz.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stanley-kubrick-loved-white-men-can-t-jump-hated-the-wizard-of-oz.htmlStanley Kubrick didn't like to talk much about the work of other filmmakers, and he wasn't into listing off his favorite movies. In fact, according to a new report from the British Film Institute, he only publicly shared a list of his top 10 favorite films just one time — in 1963, during the early days of his career. That list, which he wrote for the little known Cinema magazine, included classics such as Ingmar Bergman's art house classic, Wild Strawberries, and the Orson Welles masterpiece Citizen Kane./news/stardew-valley-harvest-moon-and-how-wholesome-games-taught-me-a-terrible-lesson.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stardew-valley-harvest-moon-and-how-wholesome-games-taught-me-a-terrible-lesson.htmlMy mom was wrong about violent video games; it’s the family-friendly stuff that’s treacherous. This past week I joined the millions of newly-minted devotees in Stardew Valley, a game that transports players into the dirt-caked boots of a humble farmer. I enjoy the leisurely days watering tomatoes and nights fishing for snapper. It’s all-ages fare with a cartoonish look and sugar-sweet story. But when I step into the game’s tavern, which is more cafe than beer hall, I’m reminded of the most pathetic lesson I learned from video games./news/steven-universe-creator-rebecca-sugar-on-animation-and-the-power-of-empathy.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/steven-universe-creator-rebecca-sugar-on-animation-and-the-power-of-empathy.htmlWestern animation is in the middle of a golden age. Shows like BoJack Horseman and Rick and Morty have emerged as the new standard-bearers for a kind of cartoon that’s sharp, funny, and insightful, capable of dealing with startlingly nuanced themes, like BoJack’s honest reflections on the nature of unhappiness. But few efforts in any medium can manage Steven Universe’s trick of exploring topics like intimacy, love, abuse, and the constant threat of annihilation, while balancing them with thoughts on the simple joy of eating a hot dog./news/stranger-things-2-was-made-for-eggo.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stranger-things-2-was-made-for-eggo.htmlIn 2016, Stranger Things seemed to arrive practically out of nowhere. Netflix released a surprise trailer on June 9th, highlighting the show’s combination of Stephen King horror and Spielberg-esque wonder; barely a month later, the series was streaming across the globe. It almost immediately became a viral sensation, earning a place in the broader pop culture conversation, and by the end of August, a second season was already in the works./news/super-mario-bros-35-turns-classic-mario-gameplay-into-a-35-person-battle-royale.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/super-mario-bros-35-turns-classic-mario-gameplay-into-a-35-person-battle-royale.htmlNintendo is turning the original Super Mario Bros. into a 35-player battle royale game called Super Mario Bros. 35, available on October 1st exclusively to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Super Mario Bros. 35 looks to offer a similar design to Tetris 99, another Switch Online-exclusive battle royale. In the Mario version, all 35 players will play through a Mario level simultaneously until only one player is left standing. Any enemies that you defeat in your version of the level will be sent over to other players for them to deal with./news/tanacon-organizer-good-times-entertainment-files-for-bankruptcy.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tanacon-organizer-good-times-entertainment-files-for-bankruptcy.htmlMichael Weist, the CEO of Good Times Entertainment, just can’t escape TanaCon. In a press release today, Weist says that he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on October 17th, noting that Good Times Entertainment will be dissolved within the next 60 days. His lawyer, Stephen Lefkovitz, tells The Verge that Weist filed for bankruptcy independently through Tennessee’s bankruptcy courts. A bankruptcy trustee has been appointed to Weist’s case, according to Lefkovitz./news/taylor-swift-hangs-out-with-a-giraffe-in-the-video-for-wildest-dreams.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/taylor-swift-hangs-out-with-a-giraffe-in-the-video-for-wildest-dreams.htmlThe music video for Taylor Swift's fifth single from 1989, "Wildest Dreams," premiered in the pre-show for MTV's Video Music Awards. Swift and her love interest appear to be the leads in a 1940's movie set in an African savannah. As for the song itself, the Lana Del Rey comparisons have been streaming in since 1989's release, but as a video "Wildest Dreams" is a literal translation of what would happen if Lana cast Taylor in an Ernest Hemingway short story — complete with lions, elephants, and tumblers of whiskey, as well as flowing silk, cat eye liner, and lush landscapes./news/tenet-s-heading-back-to-theaters-this-february.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tenet-s-heading-back-to-theaters-this-february.htmlTenet’s heading back to theaters this February. If it weren’t for the way Warner Bros. almost immediately put Tenet on HBO Max (rip), the studio would probably be thanking Christopher Nolan right now for all the critical acclaim and financial success Oppenheimer’s racked up. But rather than dwelling on what awards season coup that could have been, Warner Bros. Discovery is putting Tenet back in theaters for one week beginning February 23rd — just in time to get people amped up for Dune: Part 2./news/the-38-best-valentine-s-day-gift-for-2024.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-38-best-valentine-s-day-gift-for-2024.htmlLego BrickHeadz EVE and Wall-ETaylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. These are just a few of the legendary couples in the same stratosphere as Wall-E and EVE. That being said, what’s more adorable than gifting your partner a 155-piece Lego set that honors the endearing relationship of two of Pixar’s most beloved characters? Price: $14.99 Twelve South AirFly DuoTwelve South’s AirFly Duo can amp up the sound quality of in-flight entertainment, making it a handy tool for frequent travelers./news/the-75th-emmy-awards-face-postponement-due-to-hollywood-strikes.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-75th-emmy-awards-face-postponement-due-to-hollywood-strikes.htmlThe 75th annual Emmy Awards likely won’t take place on September 18th as planned. According to a report from Variety, vendors, producers, and others involved with the ceremony have been notified that the date has been pushed back amid the Hollywood strikes. The Television Academy still hasn’t confirmed that the Emmys have been delayed, but even if it were to take place, it would have lots of empty seats. Under the rules of the strikes, actors and writers can’t accept awards for struck work, nor can they attend an event that promotes it./news/the-armchair-psychologist-who-ticked-off-youtube.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-armchair-psychologist-who-ticked-off-youtube.htmlBy commenting on the lives of other YouTube personalities, Chris Boutté grew his mental health YouTube channel, The Rewired Soul, to nearly 100,000 subscribers in the space of a year. His videos are meant to entertain and educate viewers on important topics in psychology, but his tactic of using other YouTubers as examples — without their permission — has drawn the ire of many in the community. The more a channel grows, the more it attracts criticism, and Boutté found himself at the center of controversy back in January./news/the-best-apps-and-services-for-dominating-fantasy-football.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-apps-and-services-for-dominating-fantasy-football.htmlIt’s fantasy football season! For the next few months, millions of people will compete to be the smartest football thinker in their friend group. We’ll spend hours (too many hours) looking for sleepers, learning the names and play styles of guys who will never even sniff the field, and having such strong attachment to their play that the NFL players will occasionally have to remind us that there’s actually, like, real football happening out here, too./news/the-botched-jesus-fresco-gets-the-opera-it-deserves.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-botched-jesus-fresco-gets-the-opera-it-deserves.htmlThe life rights of Cecilia Giménez, the Spanish artist who notoriously botched an attempted restoration of Elías García Martínez's "Ecce Homo," should be a zillion dollars. In truth, I have no idea what the American songwriting duo Andrew Flack and Paul Fowler paid for them. Probably not enough, because this story is perfectly suited to be the best musical of all time! The pair is currently working on a comic opera about Giménez's life and how the mistake that initially horrified her (and the internet) ended up saving her small town from an economic slump, The New York Times reports./news/the-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-demo-is-getting-a-graphics-update.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-demo-is-getting-a-graphics-update.htmlThe Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo is getting a graphics update. After the FFVII Rebirth demo arrived last week, some players complained of “early PS3” era textures while playing in its default 1440p performance mode instead of the higher quality Graphics mode. Now Square Enix says that a planned “part two” update adding a Junon episode area to the demo on February 21st will also bring improved graphics for performance mode, which will be included in the retail game when it’s released on the 29th./news/the-first-tales-of-the-tmnt-trailer-reveals-an-august-9th-release.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-first-tales-of-the-tmnt-trailer-reveals-an-august-9th-release.htmlThe new trailer sees the four brothers split up by a mysterious villain named Bishop and forced to fight murderous robots without the help of their siblings. Bishop herself appears in the belly of an especially large robot that very vaguely resembles a mouser with arms and feels a lot like a hint at Krang, the evil brain from Dimension X that terrorized the Turtles in the 1987 cartoon series./news/the-great-gatsby-is-entering-the-public-domain-and-we-re-due-for-a-muppet-adaptation.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-great-gatsby-is-entering-the-public-domain-and-we-re-due-for-a-muppet-adaptation.htmlPicture this: Kermit in period-specific 1920s dress, playing the mysterious host to a huge party in West Egg. Or Miss Piggy, decked out in flapper regalia, in an abusive relationship with Fozzie Bear as her cruel, philandering husband, Tom Buchanan. There’s obvious aesthetic charms to The Muppets version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel, but beyond that, The Muppets’ takes on classic stories are often better. Writers for Bright Wall/Dark Room and The Guardian have made compelling cases for The Muppet Christmas Carol as the best adaptation of Charles Dickens’ work and I can’t imagine it would be any different for The Great Gatsby./news/the-illusion-of-simplicity-photographer-peter-belanger-on-shooting-for-apple.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-illusion-of-simplicity-photographer-peter-belanger-on-shooting-for-apple.htmlYou’ve almost certainly never heard of Peter Belanger, but you’ve definitely seen his photographs. In fact, you may even see his work every day, and it’s likely that you own some of his most famous subjects. Belanger is the man behind some of Apple’s most iconic product images, a San Francisco-based product photographer at the top of his field. Apple is but one of his clients — he’s done work for everyone from eBay and Nike to Pixar and Square — and we sat down with Peter to talk about his work, his background, and some very, very expensive gear./news/the-lawsuit-against-microsoft-github-and-openai-that-could-change-the-rules-of-ai-copyright.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-lawsuit-against-microsoft-github-and-openai-that-could-change-the-rules-of-ai-copyright.htmlMicrosoft, its subsidiary GitHub, and its business partner OpenAI have been targeted in a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the companies’ creation of AI-powered coding assistant GitHub Copilot relies on “software piracy on an unprecedented scale.” The case is only in its earliest stages but could have a huge effect on the broader world of AI, where companies are making fortunes training software on copyright-protected data. Copilot, which was unveiled by Microsoft-owned GitHub in June 2021, is trained on public repositories of code scraped from the web, many of which are published with licenses that require anyone reusing the code to credit its creators./news/the-new-york-subway-s-ride-tracker-has-a-scary-security-loophole.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-york-subway-s-ride-tracker-has-a-scary-security-loophole.htmlNew York’s OMNY subway pass system is supposed to make the lives of its riders easier, but as a 404 Media investigation highlights, it makes tracking your movement a little bit too easy — posing dangers for anyone at risk of stalking or harassment. If you tap a bank card to ride the subway, a “trip history” feature on the OMNY website will reveal your past seven days’ worth of trips — including the time and station of entry — to anyone with access to your card number and expiration date./news/the-psychology-of-your-20-s-beat-the-odds-and-topped-spotify-s-podcast-chart.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-psychology-of-your-20-s-beat-the-odds-and-topped-spotify-s-podcast-chart.htmlThis story originally ran in Hot Pod Insider, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here. Last year, Australian psychology graduate Jemma Sbeg had a straightforward idea for a podcast: apply the psychological concepts she had learned to the common issues faced by people in their 20s. Sbeg, 22, signed up for Anchor, Spotify’s DIY podcast creation and distribution tool, and started recording in the back of her Subaru Forester./news/the-teenager-behind-the-drone-gun-now-has-a-drone-mounted-flamethrower.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-teenager-behind-the-drone-gun-now-has-a-drone-mounted-flamethrower.htmlA Connecticut teenager named Austin Haughwout created a global stir a few months back when he posted a video of a homemade drone firing a handgun he had attached to the aircraft. Yesterday he upped the ante on weaponized aerial robots, posting a clip to YouTube of a drone with a flamethrower roasting a Thanksgiving turkey. Like all smart YouTube creators, Haughwout leveraged his fame to entice #brands into paying to sponsor his content./news/the-tiny-marketing-company-that-claims-it-really-is-listening-to-us-from-phones-and-smart-tvs.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-tiny-marketing-company-that-claims-it-really-is-listening-to-us-from-phones-and-smart-tvs.htmlThe tiny marketing company that claims it really is listening to us from phones and smart TVs. There’s no evidence that Cox Media Group Local Solutions has “future-forward” Active Listening AI technology to target personalized ads at anyone in a specific region who says key phrases, but 404 Media reports that the company claims it does anyway. On several pages apparently written by Justin “The Wolverine” Wenokur, the company claims, “It is legal for phones and devices to listen to you and for third parties to collect that data./news/the-top-five-rss-readers-for-keeping-up-with-your-news-feeds.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-top-five-rss-readers-for-keeping-up-with-your-news-feeds.htmlWhen you want to check out your favorite news sites or other online information sources, you can take the time to go directly to each site, clog your email with newsletters and announcements, check the updates on your favorite social media app(s) — or you can use an RSS feed reader. RSS readers allow you to collect the articles of specific sources in one app, making it a lot easier to find the content you’re interested in without crawling through a lot of noise./news/the-us-is-propping-up-gas-while-the-world-moves-to-renewable-energy.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-us-is-propping-up-gas-while-the-world-moves-to-renewable-energy.htmlThe amount of electricity and greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants likely peaked in 2023, according to the annual global electricity review by energy think tank Ember. That means human civilization has likely passed a key turning point, according to Ember: countries will likely never generate as much electricity from fossil fuels again. A record 30 percent of electricity globally came from renewable sources of energy last year thanks primarily to growth in solar and wind power./news/the-vergecast-114-the-man-behind-bitcoin-and-the-return-of-shaq-fu.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-vergecast-114-the-man-behind-bitcoin-and-the-return-of-shaq-fu.htmlThe Vergecast is a discussion of all things relevant and irreverent in the worlds of art, culture, science, and technology — and anything else that pops into the twisted minds of this week's hosts. Join Joshua Topolsky, Katie Drummond, and T.C. Sottek for a discussion on the reported uncovering of the man behind Bitcoin, LSD therapy, and the return of Shaq Fu. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnamxfaHx4e5Rtb2lwZW18tbTEZq2eqpeasKK%2F02ZoamxdqbWmecyapWaalZ22r7CMm6Ctm5%2Beu26tzZ1kraCVYr%2BmwNSrpWanlmLAqa3QZp2u/news/the-worst-thing-about-my-xbox-one-is-its-reliance-on-batteries.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-worst-thing-about-my-xbox-one-is-its-reliance-on-batteries.htmlTwo Black Fridays ago, on the tail end of a holiday hangover, I succumbed to my consumer urges and bought an Xbox One. The bonus of this particular bundle was, in my bleary eyes, the console itself: a deep teal color with a slick controller to match. It arrived even more beautiful in person, with one catch: Its controller, by default, still required two AA batteries. Microsoft’s competitors, Sony and Nintendo, sell consoles free of drugstore-shelf batteries./news/there-are-too-many-ways-to-google-on-android.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/there-are-too-many-ways-to-google-on-android.htmlAfter agitating to get Google to bring its best apps from iOS to Android, I was gratified to see last month that Gboard, Google’s excellent iPhone keyboard, made the jump. Then I used it on my Pixel and discovered that it’s inferior to the iOS version. Google, on its own phone, built a bad Google experience. Which got me to thinking and made me realize something: the Google experience on Google’s phone is confusing and often bad./news/this-459-bambu-a1-mini-is-almost-the-easy-button-of-3d-printers.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-459-bambu-a1-mini-is-almost-the-easy-button-of-3d-printers.htmlDJI didn’t dominate the drone industry by selling drones to people who already knew how to fly. It relentlessly developed tech that made its drones easy to control by first-timers. In 2018, five DJI engineers founded Bambu Lab to do the same for 3D printers, and the just-announced Bambu A1 Mini may get them closer than ever before. I believe the $299 Bambu A1 Mini could be the friendliest 3D printer ever made./news/this-giant-duracell-battery-is-an-absolutely-packed-usb-c-charging-station.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-giant-duracell-battery-is-an-absolutely-packed-usb-c-charging-station.htmlI don’t think I’ve used one of Duracell’s famous coppertop batteries since I was a kid — but recently, I’ve had a compelling reason to try one again. The new Duracell M150, on sale today for $199, is one of the most packed portable battery banks I’ve ever seen. The 1.8-pound, 3.1-inch-wide canister not only sports two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a MagSafe-compatible wireless charging lid, and a built-in ring light but it’s also got its own charging dock so you can keep it plugged in on a desk or nightstand before taking it on the go./news/toshiba-s-featherlight-tablet-sets-the-stage-for-the-ipad-pro.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/toshiba-s-featherlight-tablet-sets-the-stage-for-the-ipad-pro.htmlJust like five years ago, PC makers are revealing their latest creations ahead of an Apple event. This time it’s at IFA in Berlin, and not CES in Las Vegas, but the playbook feels the same. Microsoft, Intel, and the family of PC makers have attempted many 2-in-1 concepts in recent years, fueled primarily by Windows 8. As Windows 10 starts to appear on new machines, more and more convertible tablets and laptops are beginning to launch./news/twitter-aims-its-most-powerful-weapon-at-elon-musk-his-own-tweets.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-aims-its-most-powerful-weapon-at-elon-musk-his-own-tweets.htmlSo it was a troll after all. Look, I was willing to believe I’d called it wrong after the merger agreement went through. Maybe Elon Musk was serious for a change! Maybe he really did want to own an also-ran social network! Maybe Musk was really looking forward to giving himself ulcers dealing with content moderation issues! People have done weirder shit for power, and I think we can all agree that Elon Musk is deeply interested in power./news/twitter-developing-keyword-filtering-tool-to-fight-abuse-says-report.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-developing-keyword-filtering-tool-to-fight-abuse-says-report.htmlTwitter is reportedly working on a feature that will let users block certain keywords in order to fight abuse, reports Bloomberg. According to anonymous sources, Twitter has been discussing the tool internally for about a year, although it’s unclear when or if it might be put into place. Bloomberg compares the keyword filtering to a feature recently added by Instagram, which lets users block comments containing certain words from appearing on their posts./news/twitter-might-be-bringing-night-mode-to-iphone-users.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-might-be-bringing-night-mode-to-iphone-users.htmlLast month, Twitter added a night mode for Android users, hoping that it would drive people to use the app and boost its flagging userbase. The update wasn’t extended to iOS users, who were left it in the dark (no pun intended). Now, it looks like Twitter might finally be adding night mode to its iOS app soon: it’s included in the latest beta build for iOS. The setting is only available for beta users./news/uber-expands-its-same-day-local-delivery-business-to-more-cities.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-expands-its-same-day-local-delivery-business-to-more-cities.htmlUber Connect, the ride-hail company’s same-day courier service, is expanding to more cities. It’s also getting a few new features to make sending and receiving items easier for customers and drivers. Uber Connect is now available in 6,000 cities and towns in the US, including major markets like New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. The service was initially launched in April 2020 as a means to diversify Uber’s business during the early months of the pandemic./news/ubisoft-built-a-fart-smelling-peripheral-for-south-park-s-new-video-game.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ubisoft-built-a-fart-smelling-peripheral-for-south-park-s-new-video-game.htmlIn the upcoming South Park game, South Park: The Fractured But Whole (say it aloud... yep), one of the key mechanics is farting. You can fart to fight, fart to move around, and fart just for fun. And so, as part of their press tour for the game, publishers Ubisoft have built the Nosulus Rift — a mask-shaped peripheral that delivers fart smells straight into your nose as you play the game./news/unprecedented-black-budget-leak-reveals-the-scope-of-52-billion-us-spy-complex.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/unprecedented-black-budget-leak-reveals-the-scope-of-52-billion-us-spy-complex.htmlFormer NSA contractor Edward Snowden has leaked documents that map out a $52.6 billion budget for the NSA, CIA, and other security agencies in unprecedented detail. The Washington Post, which reviewed the documents, describes a detailed list of objectives, failures, technologies, recruiting, and other information; the apparently 178-page summary itself has not been published. An interactive chart of some of the data, however, accompanies the piece. CIA and NSA budgets increased by over 50 percent each since 2004/news/us-resurrects-green-energy-loan-program-that-helped-put-tesla-on-the-map.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/us-resurrects-green-energy-loan-program-that-helped-put-tesla-on-the-map.htmlThe Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which famously helped put Tesla on the map, is set to hand out its first loan in over a decade. The department will announce a $2.5 billion loan to a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution to help fund the construction of a new lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility, the company confirmed. (The news was first reported by Reuters.) The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, or ATVM has attained almost mythical status in the EV startup world thanks to its timely $465 million loan to Tesla, which is credited with helping save the company from an early death./news/verizon-offers-emergency-first-responders-discounts-on-unlimited-plans.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/verizon-offers-emergency-first-responders-discounts-on-unlimited-plans.htmlVerizon has announced a new discount for emergency first responders. The carrier already offers special plans for government agencies, but the new discount applies to personal consumer plans for first responders, not just their professional lines. State and local police, fire, and EMS workers are all eligible The new offer for first responders is available now. To take advantage of it, log into your My Verizon account and upload the proper documentation, or visit a store in person to get the discount./news/vilnius-lithuania-built-a-portal-to-another-city-to-help-keep-people-connected.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/vilnius-lithuania-built-a-portal-to-another-city-to-help-keep-people-connected.htmlWeary of pandemic travel restrictions and aching to get out and see new people? The city of Vilnius, Lithuania has interesting solution: A real-time “portal” to another city. They really went all-in on the idea and the design; it looks quite a bit like something out of the erstwhile sci-fi movie/show Stargate. The city installed a circular “door” for the portal near its train station that connects to a portal in Lublin, Poland, about 600 kilometers (or roughly 375 miles) away./news/walking-apps-for-your-daily-neighborhood-stroll.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/walking-apps-for-your-daily-neighborhood-stroll.htmlAs you may have heard one or two times, we’re now roughly a year into COVID and pandemic lockdown life. To fill the void in our lives that was once occupied by social gatherings, visiting family, and breathing indoor air freely, many of us have turned to new hobbies and habits. Some of them are even healthy! Taking a daily or, if I’m being honest, semi-daily walk is a lockdown habit that has seen me through These Unprecedented Times./news/watch-the-first-trailer-for-the-expanse-season-6-arriving-december-10th.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-the-first-trailer-for-the-expanse-season-6-arriving-december-10th.htmlThe sixth and final season of The Expanse picks up with the solar system at war, as Marco Inaros and his Free Navy continue to launch devastating asteroid attacks on Earth and Mars. As the tensions of war and shared loss threaten to pull the crew of the Rocinante apart, Chrisjen Avasarala makes a bold move and sends former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper on a secret mission that could turn the tide of the conflict./news/welcome-to-notepad-a-newsletter-on-microsoft-s-era-defining-bets-by-tom-warren.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/welcome-to-notepad-a-newsletter-on-microsoft-s-era-defining-bets-by-tom-warren.htmlI’m excited to announce Notepad, a new weekly newsletter I’ll be writing at The Verge.  Notepad is an inside look at my notes on Microsoft, a company I’ve spent the past 20 years trying to make sense of through my reporting, scoops, and analyses. This newsletter is designed to uncover the secrets and strategy behind Microsoft’s era-defining bets on AI, gaming, and the future of computing. Whether it’s Windows, a new AI Copilot, the next Xbox, or every Michael at Microsoft being added to a mysterious email list, Notepad is the place to get the very latest on all things Microsoft./news/why-the-sounds-of-eating-make-some-people-so-angry.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-the-sounds-of-eating-make-some-people-so-angry.htmlNobody likes hearing someone crunching their food, but for some it’s more than just an annoyance — the sound triggers a full “fight or flight response.” These people have a rare condition called “misophonia” that makes them extraordinarily sensitive to everyday sounds, and new research confirms that their brains really are wired differently. For a study published this week in the journal Current Biology scientists scanned the brains of 20 people with misophonia and 22 without./news/wiim-announces-two-new-wireless-audiophile-streamers-one-with-a-touchscreen.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wiim-announces-two-new-wireless-audiophile-streamers-one-with-a-touchscreen.htmlWiiM has announced two new audiophile streaming devices for the high end of its wireless audio streaming devices. Called the WiiM Ultra and the WiiM Amp Pro, both support AirPlay 2, Chromecast, DLNA, and several other streaming protocols and will be available this summer. Both devices are equipped with a 32-bit / 384kHz ES9038 Q2M Sabre DAC. (Last year’s Wiim Amp used an ES9018 Sabre DAC instead). They also use Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5./news/wiimote-prototype-emerges-with-wires-that-let-it-plug-into-a-gamecube.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wiimote-prototype-emerges-with-wires-that-let-it-plug-into-a-gamecube.htmlThe Wii was a console best known for its unusual “WiiMote” controller, which used an approachable TV remote form-factor and motion-controls to entice families worldwide to play endless amounts of Wii Tennis. Now, an early prototype for this controller has been sold at auction in Japan, reports Polygon. Although there are superficial similarities, the prototype controller is a very different beast to what was eventually released alongside the Wii. For starters, it’s designed to be plugged into Nintendo’s previous console, the GameCube, which means it has to be hooked up with wires rather than connecting over Bluetooth./news/windows-11-pro-will-soon-require-a-microsoft-account.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-11-pro-will-soon-require-a-microsoft-account.htmlMicrosoft says it’s planning to update Windows 11 Pro so it will require an internet connection and a Microsoft Account during the initial setup phase. The changes will mirror the same requirements Microsoft originally added to Windows 11 Home last year, meaning you won’t be able to avoid Microsoft Accounts by creating a local user account during setup. Microsoft has been increasingly pushing Windows users to use a Microsoft Account since Windows 10, and this new change to Windows 11 Pro won’t sit well with many hoping to avoid Microsoft’s data and telemetry gathering in Windows./news/worldstarhiphop-founder-and-ceo-lee-q-o-denat-has-died-at-age-43.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/worldstarhiphop-founder-and-ceo-lee-q-o-denat-has-died-at-age-43.htmlLee “Q” O’Denat, the founder and CEO of the massively popular hip-hop website WorldStarHipHop, has died at 43, according to multiple reports. According to TMZ, Q died from a heart attack in his sleep on Monday night. O’Denat founded WorldStarHipHop in 2005, as a place to download mixtapes. Soon, however, he expanded the site to include a variety of aggregated videos, most notably fight clips and funny videos, which turned the phrase “WorldStar” into a meme of its own./news/xgimi-s-latest-4k-projector-is-super-bright-for-the-price.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/xgimi-s-latest-4k-projector-is-super-bright-for-the-price.htmlHome projector upstart Xgimi just announced its new Horizon Ultra model, dubbed the “world’s first 4K long-throw projector with Dolby Vision.” While I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for the device to produce an image with jaw-dropping HDR, it’s certainly a very bright all-in-one Android TV 11 projector for well below $2,000. The Horizon Ultra uses a new “Dual Light” laser and LED hybrid light source to produce 2,300 ISO lumens./news/you-can-now-pin-three-posts-or-reels-to-your-instagram-profile.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-can-now-pin-three-posts-or-reels-to-your-instagram-profile.htmlInstagram now lets you pin up to three posts or reels to the top of your profile. Just like pinned posts on TikTok and Twitter, they’ll sit at the forefront of your Instagram grid as if you recently posted them. You can use the feature by selecting one of your posts or reels and then tapping the three dots at the top-right corner of the post. From there, hit Pin to your profile./news/you-must-never-press-the-original-razr-s-forbidden-internet-button.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-must-never-press-the-original-razr-s-forbidden-internet-button.htmlThe first phone I ever owned was a Motorola Razr. The Razr’s buttons are some of the finest ever to grace a mobile device. The keypad is laser-etched out of a sheet of shimmering aluminum, and when pressed, ignites in a lambent blue glow that looked like the sci-fi future.  But there was one button that I was terrified to press. In all my years of owning a Razr, I can’t say I tapped it more than once or twice, and never on purpose: the internet button./news/youtube-adds-playable-games-for-select-users-to-try.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-adds-playable-games-for-select-users-to-try.htmlYouTube is trying out games as its next experimental offering. The company is adding a new “Playables” section on the site that will include games that can be played on both the desktop website and mobile devices. Playables will only appear for “a limited number of users to start,” and there was no list of game titles published at this time. 9to5Google reports that one of the games to grace the new YouTube Playables experiment includes Stack Bounce, which involves a 3D ball bouncing on top of rings you must smash through with well-timed clicks./news/zte-s-axon-is-a-5-5-inch-unlocked-phablet-for-the-us.htmlThu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/zte-s-axon-is-a-5-5-inch-unlocked-phablet-for-the-us.htmlDuring a press event in NYC today, ZTE took the wraps off of the Axon line of smartphones. The first Axon 5.5-inch Axon is packed with high-end specs and design and sells for $449.98. It is available for order direct from ZTE, Amazon, Ebay, and Newegg starting today, with shipments beginning on July 27th. ZTE is one of the many Chinese smartphone companies that doesn't yet have a great brand presence in the US, and the Axon is specifically designed to give the brand more equity here./news/jodie-foster-s-gripping-bitterly-funny-money-monster-is-more-than-it-seems.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jodie-foster-s-gripping-bitterly-funny-money-monster-is-more-than-it-seems.htmlThe Money Monster trailer gives away far too much of the plot. This is a film about surprise and discovery, and people planning on seeing it shouldn’t watch the ads beforehand. But the trailer doesn’t reveal one thing audiences really might want to know going in: Jodie Foster’s latest directorial project isn’t a conventional thriller. It’s a pitch-black comedy. That isn’t remotely obvious from the TV spot, which limits the footage almost exclusively to grave life-on-the-line drama, and sets the action to the mournful strumming of Bruce Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust./news/these-are-the-very-best-vagina-emoji-for-sexting.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-are-the-very-best-vagina-emoji-for-sexting.htmlToday, Flirtmoji is releasing five of these vagina stickers.The long-term goal is to release all of the above, in addition to other body parts. This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. These vaginas are incredibly diverse. What was your process with this, this time around? Jeremy Yingling: It was a long one. I was an icon designer before starting Flirtmoji, and symmetry is something that's really valued with icons, for legibility and for keeping everything balanced./news/superman-franchise-handed-back-to-warner-bros-and-dc-comics-in-court-ruling.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/superman-franchise-handed-back-to-warner-bros-and-dc-comics-in-court-ruling.htmlIt looks like the fate of the Superman franchise rests in the hands of Warner Bros. and not the estate of its co-creater, thanks to a recent ruling in the studio's favor in ongoing legal battles regarding rights to the iconic character. Back in 2001, a lawsuit between Warner Bros. and the estate of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel ended in a settlement that gave the studio full control of the superhero franchise — but that decision was reversed in 2008 when a court gave control back to Siegel's estate./news/10-years-later-there-s-still-nothing-like-journey-s-multiplayer.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/10-years-later-there-s-still-nothing-like-journey-s-multiplayer.htmlI’ll never forget the first time I played Journey. Throughout the game, real-life players can join you on your quest toward a mountain on the horizon. Players can fade in and out of your adventure — maybe they want to go faster than you, maybe they just quit — but in the latter half of my game, I had found somebody who stuck with me. Journey has no voice or text chat and no names identifying other players you meet./news/100-thieves-makes-its-entire-apparel-line-available-in-animal-crossing.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/100-thieves-makes-its-entire-apparel-line-available-in-animal-crossing.htmlApparel drops from 100 Thieves, a lifestyle and esports organization, are notoriously hard to get in on. Whenever the company releases a new hoodie or jersey, it sells out almost immediately. But there’s a new way to get some 100 Thieves gear, and it’s not only easy, but cheap: download it in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Today, the company released virtual versions of every single piece they’ve released to date, spanning three years./news/a-hefty-stable-steam-deck-update-gives-the-dock-a-brand-new-feature.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-hefty-stable-steam-deck-update-gives-the-dock-a-brand-new-feature.htmlSome of the biggest are ones we’ve already seen in a September beta, like support for VRR and HDR external displays, the ability to tweak your screen’s color and undervolt your processor with new firmware, and a graphics driver update with a big performance improvement for Starfield (though it still looks like mud in cities). But there’s one thing on the list I didn’t expect: The update gives the official $79 Steam Deck Dock the new ability to support VRR external monitors itself./news/a-new-yo-mtv-raps-is-coming-to-paramount-plus.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-new-yo-mtv-raps-is-coming-to-paramount-plus.htmlYo! MTV Raps played an instrumental role in turning rap music into one of the most influential art forms of the 20th century and shaping the trajectory of the music industry in ways that are still being felt today. There’s no way another show could recapture the magic that turned the original Yo! MTV Raps into a cultural phenomenon, but Paramount Plus is going to give it a shot with an all-new revival built around some of the biggest names currently in the game./news/a-skype-app-vulnerability-could-expose-your-ip-address-to-hackers-and-microsoft-has-yet-to-fix-i.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-skype-app-vulnerability-could-expose-your-ip-address-to-hackers-and-microsoft-has-yet-to-fix-i.htmlMicrosoft is reportedly dragging its feet on fixing yet another security vulnerability. This time, it’s a flaw in the Skype mobile app that could let hackers obtain your IP address by opening a message with a link — no clicking required, according to a report from 404 Media. The flaw, which was uncovered by the independent security researcher Yossi, allows hackers to see a user’s general location by having them open a message containing a link./news/a-violent-delusional-gamergate-psychopath-is-actually-a-comedian-s-terrible-hoax.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-violent-delusional-gamergate-psychopath-is-actually-a-comedian-s-terrible-hoax.htmlThis hasn't exactly put his targets at ease. "This has had an extreme level of emotional stress for me, my husband, and my team," says Wu in an interview with The Verge. "That's not a joke. That is destroying my ability to do my job." Among other things, the videos advance Gamergate's longtime accusations that women fake online harassment. Even meant as a joke, Wu says Connors' repeated, menacing tweets and videos were a nasty addition to an already large pile of threats./news/acer-chromebook-15-2017-review-bigger-doesn-t-mean-better.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/acer-chromebook-15-2017-review-bigger-doesn-t-mean-better.html“What if Chromebooks were bigger?” That’s the question that the Acer Chromebook 15 line has tried to answer, as the only 15-inch sized Chromebook on the market. That laptop was ultimately outclassed by more powerful or versatile Chromebooks, but Acer has revised the Chromebook 15 with a more premium aluminum design and better battery life. Unfortunately, while the updated Chromebook 15 is still the biggest Chromebook around, in this case, bigger doesn’t mean better./news/ai-is-google-s-secret-weapon-for-remaking-maps-and-news.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ai-is-google-s-secret-weapon-for-remaking-maps-and-news.htmlGoogle shocked the crowd at its I/O developer conference on Tuesday when it kicked off a fascinating discussion about AI ethics with Duplex, a human-like voice system for its Assistant product that makes phone calls on behalf of users. But while Duplex remains a more experimental and far-off effort — one we’ll likely be debating in the weeks and months to come — Google’s more measured approach to artificial intelligence as it pertains to legacy product development didn’t garner as many headlines./news/alia-shawkat-is-an-amateur-sleuth-in-michael-showalter-s-new-dark-comedy.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/alia-shawkat-is-an-amateur-sleuth-in-michael-showalter-s-new-dark-comedy.htmlTBS has picked up a series order for a new Michael Showalter-helmed comedy starring Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat, The Hollywood Reporter reports. The show, Search Party, is the most recent show to join TBS's massive content overhaul. The network will have an almost entirely new lineup next year, with only American Dad — and no live-action series — returning in 2016. THR has several details about the plot of Search Party, which will follow a group of brunch-loving 20-somethings as they try to solve the mystery surrounding a random college acquaintance who's gone missing./news/amazon-has-just-opened-up-its-sidewalk-network-to-give-any-gadget-free-low-speed-data.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-has-just-opened-up-its-sidewalk-network-to-give-any-gadget-free-low-speed-data.htmlIt turns out that I have a low-power, low-bandwidth, long-range IoT network all around me, ready and waiting for my smart gadgets to jump on. Today, Amazon revealed just how far its Sidewalk IoT network penetrates the average American neighborhood. And it’s deep. The company’s first Sidewalk coverage map claims that over 90 percent of the US population can access the now public network (it’s limited to the US only). Using a Sidewalk developer test kit supplied by Amazon, I drove around my town to confirm this data and, over three days of traveling more than 40 miles, found that the connectivity was surprisingly strong in my corner of South Carolina, even in the wilds of a national forest./news/amazon-map-tracker-lets-you-follow-your-package-delivery-in-real-time.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-map-tracker-lets-you-follow-your-package-delivery-in-real-time.htmlThe feature is great for anyone who obsesses over the exact moment an Amazon delivery is slated to arrive. It’s also handy because it allows you to pop out for an errand by showing how many stops or deliveries the driver will make before reaching you. “The Amazon Map Tracking feature is another delivery innovation we are working on to improve convenience for our customers and provide them greater visibility into their deliveries,” Amazon spokeswoman Alana Broadbent told CNET./news/amazon-unveils-its-new-electric-delivery-vans-built-by-rivian.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-unveils-its-new-electric-delivery-vans-built-by-rivian.htmlAmazon unveiled its first all-electric delivery van on Thursday. The vehicle, built by EV startup Rivian, will come with state-of-the-art technology, like sensing equipment and an advanced driver-assist system. The e-commerce giant says it expects to have 10,000 vans on the road making deliveries “as early as 2022,” with a total fleet of 100,000 vehicles expected by 2030. “When we set out to create our first customized electric delivery vehicle with Rivian, we knew that it needed to far surpass any other delivery vehicle./news/amazon-s-new-ai-ready-courses-get-students-into-generative-ai-on-aws.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-new-ai-ready-courses-get-students-into-generative-ai-on-aws.htmlAmazon is starting to offer free educational courses on generative AI with an aim to extend “critical skills” to adults and young learners everywhere. The company’s initiative, called “AI Ready,” is an extension of current AWS-based AI skills training programs offered by Amazon but now includes eight free courses that cover AI project management and development. Amazon says 21 million people have already trained on AWS cloud computing skills through its programs, and it hopes 2 million will use its AI courses by 2025./news/amc-and-regal-to-start-capping-movie-theater-attendance-at-50-percent.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amc-and-regal-to-start-capping-movie-theater-attendance-at-50-percent.htmlwAMC has emerged as the first US movie theater chain to respond to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, with plans to reduce auditorium attendance by 50 percent of the standard level to promote social distancing, Deadline reports. The chain, the largest in the country, will now only sell half the number of tickets per theater that it normally does, and any theater with more than 500 seats will be automatically capped at a max of 250 people./news/an-instagram-bug-showed-a-camera-on-indicator-for-ios-14-devices-even-when-users-weren-t-tak.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/an-instagram-bug-showed-a-camera-on-indicator-for-ios-14-devices-even-when-users-weren-t-tak.htmlIn the latest instance of iOS 14’s beta mode tattling on unexpected app behavior, some users reported that they were seeing the green “camera on” indicator while using Instagram when they were just scrolling through their feeds, not taking a photo or video. An Instagram spokesperson said in an email to The Verge that the behavior was a bug and that it’s being fixed. The app’s Create Mode is accessible from the Instagram camera which could set off the camera indicator, and swiping into the app’s Camera from Feed may also trip it up./news/android-s-leadership-team-just-got-another-shake-up.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/android-s-leadership-team-just-got-another-shake-up.htmlAndroid’s leadership team at Google is losing another key leader. Dave Burke, the VP of engineering for Android, is “stepping away” from heading up Android engineering and is “shifting into an advisory position while exploring AI / bio projects,” he said in an email he posted to LinkedIn. “AI has the potential to play a pivotal role in accelerating drug discovery, with wide applicability, including in hard-to-treat pediatric cancers, a topic close to my heart,” Burke said./news/another-code-remakes-are-coming-to-the-nintendo-switch-in-january.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/another-code-remakes-are-coming-to-the-nintendo-switch-in-january.htmlNintendo is giving Another Code: Trace Memory and its sequel, Another Code: R, a remake for the Switch. Both games will return “fully enhanced” as part of the Another Code: Recollection bundle that will release on Nintendo Switch on January 19th, 2024. Another Code: Trace Memory first launched as a point-and-click adventure on the Nintendo DS in 2005. It follows 13-year-old Ashley Mizuki Robbins as she searches for her father on Blood Edward Island, with the DS version prompting you to complete puzzles along the way using the handheld’s touchscreen./news/apex-legends-is-out-on-the-switch-but-it-s-missing-a-key-feature-cross-progression.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apex-legends-is-out-on-the-switch-but-it-s-missing-a-key-feature-cross-progression.htmlApex Legends is the latest major cross-platform Switch port. After years of availability on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, EA has finally brought the battle royale shooter to Nintendo’s handheld console, adding a fresh wave of players to the mix and a new, on-the-go option for existing Apex Legends fans. But there’s a glaring issue with the Switch port: right now, there’s no cross-progression, making the Switch port effectively a nonstarter for dedicated players./news/apple-is-still-bundling-a-power-adapter-with-new-apple-watch-edition-and-herm%C3%A8s.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-is-still-bundling-a-power-adapter-with-new-apple-watch-edition-and-herm%C3%A8s.htmlDuring today’s “Time Flies” event, Apple explained why it has decided to stop including a power adapter in the box with the latest Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, portraying the move as a big step toward meeting the company’s environmental goals. But it turns out this change doesn’t apply to every new Apple Watch; the most expensive models will still come with a 5-watt charger. Both the titanium Apple Watch Edition and high-fashion Apple Watch Hermès will include a power adapter in the box, according to Apple’s website./news/apple-quietly-discontinues-the-21-5-inch-intel-powered-imac.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-quietly-discontinues-the-21-5-inch-intel-powered-imac.htmlApple has apparently pulled its 21.5-inch Intel-based iMac from shelves (via MacRumors). Its discontinuation doesn’t come as much of a surprise, now that Apple is transitioning from using Intel processors to its in-house M1 chip. The 21.5-inch iMac was still available after Apple’s October 18th Unleashed event — it didn’t appear to go missing until sometime this week, according to MacRumors. The $1,099 21.5-inch iMac, which came with a 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-Gen Intel Core i5 and an Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, is no longer found on the list of available iMacs on Apple’s online store./news/apple-to-allow-ios-app-downloads-direct-from-websites-in-the-eu.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-to-allow-ios-app-downloads-direct-from-websites-in-the-eu.htmlApple is planning to make further changes in EU countries to allow some developers to distribute their iOS apps directly from a website. The new web distribution feature will be available with a software update “later this spring,” according to Apple, providing developers with a key new way to distribute iOS apps in EU markets without the need for a separate app store — as long as they’re willing to adhere to Apple’s strict rules./news/apple-s-iphone-car-key-will-unlock-certain-2022-genesis-and-kia-models.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-iphone-car-key-will-unlock-certain-2022-genesis-and-kia-models.htmlApple’s digital car keys are arriving on the 2022 Kia Niro, 2022 Genesis G90, and the all-electric 2022 Genesis GV60. As spotted by MacRumors, Apple added a key symbol next to all three vehicles in a list on its site, indicating support for the feature. It’s not clear when Apple first updated the list or if the feature is immediately available on any of these cars. There hasn’t been an official announcement from Apple or either car company yet, so there may be more steps involved in the rollout./news/april-fools-2024-overwatch-2-really-really-balanced.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/april-fools-2024-overwatch-2-really-really-balanced.htmlApril Fools’ 2024: Overwatch 2 “Really, really balanced.” It’s April Fools’ Day, so the googly eyes are back in Overwatch 2, complete with other extremely balanced adjustments (Lifeweaver’s platform goes way, way up now, and Mercy is armed and dangerous), plus some special challenges and sprays that players can earn. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaXxye5FtaGpwY2eGcK3Pq6ClZZakvK2%2FjGtna2xdpMOmvtaaq5ygXWd6s7HApaOyZaKarq242GaZmqSRo7CmsA%3D%3D/news/aqara-s-new-89-curtain-driver-e1-automates-your-existing-curtains.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/aqara-s-new-89-curtain-driver-e1-automates-your-existing-curtains.htmlSmart home company Aqara has released its retrofit curtain solution in the US and Europe. Previously available in China, the Aqara Curtain Driver E1 starts at $89.99 and mounts onto an existing curtain track or rod to automatically open and close your curtains. It works with Aqara’s own ecosystem as well as with Apple’s HomeKit, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT. Aqara says it will also be compatible with Matter when the new smart home standard arrives later this fall./news/arizona-toddler-rescued-after-getting-trapped-in-a-tesla-with-a-dead-battery.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/arizona-toddler-rescued-after-getting-trapped-in-a-tesla-with-a-dead-battery.htmlA 20-month-old child was rescued after being trapped in a Tesla Model Y in Scottsdale, Arizona — where temperatures have exceeded 100 degrees this week — after its 12-volt battery died, according to a report from Arizona’s Family. The child was safely removed from the car after firefighters used an ax to smash through a window. But the issue raises concerns about why there isn’t an easy way to open the car from the outside when its 12-volt battery — the one that powers things like its door locks and windows — loses power./news/as-dusk-falls-couch-co-op-makes-a-middling-thriller-a-lot-more-memorable.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/as-dusk-falls-couch-co-op-makes-a-middling-thriller-a-lot-more-memorable.htmlAs my wife and I played through As Dusk Falls, a tense new interactive thriller that recently launched on Xbox Game Pass, we would regularly turn to each other on the couch and say, “Coin flip.” In As Dusk Falls, up to eight people playing together in local co-op can simultaneously vote on what the game’s characters should do next. Think Black Mirror: Bandersnatch mixed with Jackbox’s many-player multiplayer brand of trivia./news/augmented-reality-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/augmented-reality-the-verge.htmlMagic Leap laid off its whole sales team and is pivoting way from making its own headsets. The once-high-flying AR startup laid off its entire sales and marketing division this week, or about 75 people, several sources tell me. (Amazingly, Magic Leap had about 1,100 full-time employees before this.) The new strategy, sources say, is to become a component vendor for other companies looking to build their own headsets.  New Magic Leap CEO Ross Rosenberg didn’t respond to my request for comment on the cuts, but a company spokesperson told Bloomberg they were done “to better align with market dynamics and emerging opportunities./news/canon-announces-eos-rp-full-frame-mirrorless-camera-at-aggressive-1-299-price.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/canon-announces-eos-rp-full-frame-mirrorless-camera-at-aggressive-1-299-price.htmlCanon has officially announced the EOS RP, its second full-frame mirrorless camera that joins the EOS R launched last year. This time, Canon is getting extremely aggressive on price and going after mainstream consumers: the EOS RP costs only $1,299 for the camera body alone or $2,399 for a kit with the 24-105mm RF-mount lens. For a limited time, Canon is including both a mount adapter (for using EF lenses on the RP) and a grip at no extra cost with the body./news/carrie-fisher-s-last-harrison-ford-story-isn-t-romantic-it-s-tragic.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/carrie-fisher-s-last-harrison-ford-story-isn-t-romantic-it-s-tragic.htmlIn the wake of Carrie Fisher’s unexpected death at age 60, her new memoir, The Princess Diarist, is an unexpectedly emotional read. But the emotions aren’t grief and nostalgia so much as alarm and sympathy. Early in the book, she tells a thoroughly appalling story that she presents as a cheery little romp. In London for the filming of 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, Fisher attends George Lucas’ birthday party, where she’s “essentially the only girl” in a room full of hard-drinking crew who are loudly whinging that they’d rather shoot in “a nice remote location… where there’s no bloody shortage of strange but friendly quim./news/check-out-this-vr-robot-tank-that-makes-fart-noises.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/check-out-this-vr-robot-tank-that-makes-fart-noises.htmlFinally, everything that I've ever wanted out of DIY engineering culture, virtual reality, and the internet have been delivered with the VR Robot Tank, which makes fart noises and quotes the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Kindergarten Cop. "I feel like my body is inside the ground." Freddy Kilo breaks down how he built his VR Robot Tank in a recent YouTube post. It's assembled on top of a gold chassis with tank treads, powered by two Raspberry Pi 2s, and controlled with an Xbox 360 controller./news/convicted-operator-of-revenge-porn-website-sentenced-to-18-years-in-prison.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/convicted-operator-of-revenge-porn-website-sentenced-to-18-years-in-prison.htmlIn what is being called a historic ruling, a San Diego judge sentenced a revenge porn website operator to 18 years in prison today, The Daily Dot reports. Back in February, Kevin Bollaert was found guilty on 21 counts of identity theft and six counts of extortion for his operation of the website UGotPosted, which was active during 2012 and 2013. Bollaert will also pay $10,000 in restitution The website allowed users to anonymously post private photos without the subjects' knowledge or consent./news/costco-has-the-xbox-series-x-available-now-for-members.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/costco-has-the-xbox-series-x-available-now-for-members.htmlUpdate 11:57AM ET, December 22nd: Costco has sold out of consoles for now. The Xbox Series X console has remained hard to come by, and with the holidays looming the window to get one in time is narrowing. Many retailers have turned to charging for the chance just to buy a console via subscription-based memberships, which is a game that Costco has been playing from the beginning. The warehouse retailer has gotten its fair share of console restocks, and today it has Microsoft’s flagship console available for its members./news/counting-minutes-with-durr-the-watch-without-a-face.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/counting-minutes-with-durr-the-watch-without-a-face.htmlI started wearing Durr at the beginning of perhaps the busiest Verge week of the year, CES. Due to the passing of a relative I skipped the journey to Vegas and stayed back in London, tasked with keeping the site ticking overnight while my colleagues got some well-deserved sleep. At 6AM on the first morning of the week, I attached Durr to my wrist, activated vibrations, and got to work./news/cult-classic-the-wonderful-101-is-getting-a-nintendo-switch-revival.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cult-classic-the-wonderful-101-is-getting-a-nintendo-switch-revival.htmlWhile Nintendo’s Wii U was a commercial failure, it still had a bunch of great games that don’t deserve to be locked away on the doomed platform forever. Thankfully, that list is getting ever shorter by the day with re-releases of cult hits like Tokyo Mirage Sessions, and you should soon be able to cross one more off — PlatinumGames is announcing plans to remaster its under-appreciated superhero game The Wonderful 101./news/cyberpunk-2077-s-new-update-adds-cross-platform-saves-mod-management-and-more.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cyberpunk-2077-s-new-update-adds-cross-platform-saves-mod-management-and-more.htmlThe update is available to download today for all platforms (though the modding tools are limited to the PC), including those last-gen consoles. On the Xbox Series X, it’s a 39.6GB download. You can create up to six outfits and switch between them at wardrobes. Image: CD Projekt Red The new wardrobe feature — which some players will know as a “transmog” system — lets you change your outfit without modifying your armor rating or other stats./news/dash-is-a-free-coding-course-that-ll-teach-you-how-to-make-css-robots.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dash-is-a-free-coding-course-that-ll-teach-you-how-to-make-css-robots.htmlGeneral Assembly has launched a new online service that teaches basic web development for free, in your browser. It's called Dash, and it lets users learn how to use HTML, Javascript, and CSS by working through four projects of increasing difficulty. As you progress through the projects — starting by creating a small personal website for imaginary friend Anna, before eventually coding your own CSS-powered robot — you'll unlock skills. These skills are dispensed by completing checkpoints, an engagement method borrowed from game design./news/deepfake-that-supposedly-fooled-european-politicians-was-just-a-look-alike-say-pranksters.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/deepfake-that-supposedly-fooled-european-politicians-was-just-a-look-alike-say-pranksters.htmlLast week, numerous news outlets reported that a string of European politicians had been tricked by a sophisticated Russian plot. Parliamentarians from the UK, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia had all arranged video calls with a hoaxer claiming to be Leonid Volkov, chief of staff to imprisoned Russian anti-Putin politician Alexei Navalny. As the politicians tell it, they fell victim to a digital fake: a doppelgänger using “deepfake” technology created specially to trick them — the latest example of Russia’s misinformation campaigns in the West./news/delta-will-add-a-binge-button-to-its-inflight-entertainment-screens.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/delta-will-add-a-binge-button-to-its-inflight-entertainment-screens.htmlDelta Air Lines has announced a new set of features and technologies to its inflight entertainment experience at CES 2020, including a “binge button” and the ability to watch Delta-sourced content from the moment you check into your flight. And it’s adding wireless seatback screens to its airplanes with possible new capabilities, like the ability to use Bluetooth headphones. Some airlines have scaled back their inflight entertainment technology in favor of having passengers watch content on their smartphones, tablets, and computers./news/disney-leaves-scarlet-witch-out-of-the-new-avengers-toy-set.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/disney-leaves-scarlet-witch-out-of-the-new-avengers-toy-set.htmlIt’s not the first time Marvel has put a female superhero on the back burner. Black Widow, the Marvel universe veteran who has appeared in several Avengers films, had a bleak launch and was hard to find in stores. The lack of attention toward Black Widow even drew criticism from one of the biggest members of the Avengers. Mark Ruffalo, also known as The Incredible Hulk, asked Marvel on Twitter to expand its lineup for his daughters and nieces./news/dji-introduces-new-versions-of-its-flagship-phantom-and-inspire-1-drones.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dji-introduces-new-versions-of-its-flagship-phantom-and-inspire-1-drones.htmlThe world's most popular drone maker unveiled new versions of its two most popular models today. The Inspire 1 was tweaked in a pretty basic way, you can now buy it in black. But the Phantom line got a really interesting new addition, the Phantom 3 4K. It doesn't have DJI's Lightbridge video downlink system, relying on Wi-Fi instead. That means your live video feed has less range and lower quality./news/ecoflow-s-200-powerstream-is-so-clever-you-might-buy-a-4-000-solar-generator.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ecoflow-s-200-powerstream-is-so-clever-you-might-buy-a-4-000-solar-generator.htmlPortable solar generators are so useful that you increasingly see them at the beach, campground, job site, or anywhere without access to grid power. But they’re also an expensive luxury if shoved into storage as soon as you return home. EcoFlow’s $200-ish PowerStream box can help maximize the year-round usefulness of the company’s own solar generators. It’s pitched as a plug-in “balcony solar system” that anyone can install, even if you’re renting an apartment./news/elgato-launches-marketplace-its-new-paid-app-store-for-the-stream-deck.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/elgato-launches-marketplace-its-new-paid-app-store-for-the-stream-deck.htmlAs promised, Elgato has opened a new Marketplace, which serves as an app store platform for devices like the button-laden Stream Deck and Wave Link. Now, people can sell the plug-ins (like our Bubble Deck app), graphics, digital overlays, emotes, and digital audio effects they create directly to people who own the devices. Elgato, which was acquired by Corsair in 2018, is inviting people interested in making the items to use this to reach millions of new customers with the ability to set their own prices and says that “at least” 70 percent of each purchase will go to whoever made the item./news/epic-says-its-eu-ios-app-store-is-approved-but-that-apple-wants-a-change.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-says-its-eu-ios-app-store-is-approved-but-that-apple-wants-a-change.htmlThe Epic Games Store app for EU iPhones has passed Apple’s notarization process, putting the alternative app store a step closer to selling apps directly to iOS users outside of the App Store. AppleInsider reports that while Apple confirmed the app had passed, it has asked Epic to “fix the buttons” in a future submission to the company’s app review process. But the approval is just “temporary,” posted Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, who puts Apple’s request differently./news/every-trick-microsoft-pulled-to-make-you-browse-edge-instead-of-chrome.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/every-trick-microsoft-pulled-to-make-you-browse-edge-instead-of-chrome.htmlIf you’ve updated your PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11, you may have noticed that when you click on a link for a website, a PDF document, or a variety of other file types, you will now be sent to Microsoft’s Edge browser. In its new version of Windows, Microsoft seems to have become especially aggressive in pushing its own apps over the apps that had been installed as defaults before the upgrade./news/everything-we-know-about-apple-s-vision-pro-page-3.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/everything-we-know-about-apple-s-vision-pro-page-3.htmlApple has finally put a number on how many apps will work with the Vision Pro at launch. In an announcement on Thursday, the company says more than 600 apps and games optimized for the Vision Pro will be available starting on Friday. In addition to the compatible streaming apps Apple revealed last month, Apple now says wearers will be able to access apps from cable providers like Charter, Spectrum, Comcast, Cox, Sling TV, and Verizon Fios./news/facebook-s-tiktok-clone-lasso-will-shut-down-this-month.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-s-tiktok-clone-lasso-will-shut-down-this-month.htmlFacebook is shutting down Lasso, the heavily TikTok-inspired video app it launched back in 2018. CNN’s Kerry Flynn spotted the notifications being sent to users, telling them that the app won’t be usable after July 10th, and advising them to download any videos they want to keep.  Ex-TechCrunch editor Josh Constine notes that Facebook appears to be shutting down Lasso as its focus shifts to Instagram’s Reels feature. Reels is a video editing tool that lets users record and edit TikTok-style videos which they can then post to their Instagram Stories, send via DM, or post to a new section of the Explore tab called Top Reels./news/faraday-future-just-became-a-publicly-traded-company.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/faraday-future-just-became-a-publicly-traded-company.htmlElectric vehicle startup Faraday future is a publicly traded company. It’s okay, I’ll give you a moment. I’ve been reporting on Faraday Future for four years and it has even stunned me a few times in recent weeks. But it’s true: today, the startup’s shares began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, and a fresh $1 billion was dumped into its battered war chest. Electric vehicle companies are going public left and right thanks to the rise in popularity of special purpose acquisition companies (which you can read a great explanation of here)./news/first-reported-tesla-cybertruck-accident-results-in-only-minor-injury.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/first-reported-tesla-cybertruck-accident-results-in-only-minor-injury.htmlOur preliminary investigation indicates a Toyota Corolla was traveling south on SR-35 southbound, south of Page Mill Road, at an unknown speed, when the driver, for unknown reasons, turned to the right and subsequently struck a dirt embankment on the right shoulder. The Toyota then re-entered the roadway, crossed over the double yellow lines into the northbound lane, and crashed into a Tesla Cybertruck traveling north on SR-35 northbound. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2tfZn9wfpdoaW1oYW2AeX%2BOrZyspJFisLquxKurq62ToHqkvsCsn2abn6e8rbjAZqeapJ9irq3Azg%3D%3D/news/fox-s-24-revival-just-got-a-series-order.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fox-s-24-revival-just-got-a-series-order.html24: Legacy, Fox's upcoming 24 revival series, has gotten a full series order. Deadline reports that the new show will run for 12 episodes in its first season, half the length of a traditional season of the long-running series, but mirroring the approach taken by 2014's 24: Live Another Day. Legacy stars Straight Outta Compton's Corey Hawkins and Homeland's Miranda Otto as the two series leads. Hawkins will play Eric Carter, a troubled war veteran whose problems bring him into contact with Otto and the show's Counter Terrorist Unit./news/free-zoom-backgrounds-you-can-use-to-disguise-your-messy-remote-work-rooms.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/free-zoom-backgrounds-you-can-use-to-disguise-your-messy-remote-work-rooms.htmlNow that people are finding themselves working remotely or setting up virtual parties to chat with friends and family while maintaining social distance, Zoom is quickly becoming the go-to source for those gatherings. But when you spend days quarantining at home, cleaning up for a Zoom call might be the last thing on your mind. Verge reviews editor Barbara Krasnoff has already told you how you can make use of Zoom’s custom background tool to hide messy backdrops or running children and pets./news/funimation-is-shutting-down-and-taking-your-digital-library-with-it.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/funimation-is-shutting-down-and-taking-your-digital-library-with-it.htmlFunimation is shutting down on April 2nd, 2024. The anime streaming service will start migrating existing subscribers to Crunchyroll — a move that will not only affect subscription prices, but will also wipe digital libraries. A support page on Funimation’s website says the service will automatically transfer existing subscribers to Crunchyroll, noting that the transfer “may vary depending on your specific payment platform, subscription type and region.” But the page — unhelpfully — doesn’t say how much subscribers will have to pay following the transition, only that legacy subscribers will see a price increase./news/general-hospital-is-using-scab-writers-and-it-s-complicated.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/general-hospital-is-using-scab-writers-and-it-s-complicated.htmlAccording to Peace, the show has run through all the scripts that were written before the strike began and has now employed non-union writers in order to keep the show on the air. Typically, people who cross picket lines to perform struck work are met with derision, but Peace acknowledged that the current situation is unique for soap operas. (Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East./news/google-and-nickelback-really-want-you-to-look-at-your-photographs.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-and-nickelback-really-want-you-to-look-at-your-photographs.htmlNickelback has created a parody version of its own song “Photograph” for a new Google Photos ad, and it’s a lot more entertaining than you might suspect. In the ad, Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger mercilessly makes fun of himself, fully leaning into the “Photograph” meme and its usefulness in explaining all sorts of graphs and in illustrating framed copies of other memes, as Kroeger instructs viewers to “look at them” in his unmistakable, raspy voice./news/google-assistant-can-now-tell-you-what-song-is-playing-near-you.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-assistant-can-now-tell-you-what-song-is-playing-near-you.htmlGoogle Assistant can now identify what songs are playing around you, in an update that came today to all devices that have Google Assistant. After summoning Google Assistant, you can ask “what song is this?” or “what song is playing?,” and the Assistant will pull up a card for you with the name of the song, the artist, lyrics, and YouTube, Google Play Music (of course), and Spotify streaming links. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have the ability to passively listen in to music around you and identify the song on the screen, but that song identification only kicks in after about a minute of listening and only works on popular songs./news/google-chrome-s-latest-features-tackle-battery-and-memory-optimizations.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-chrome-s-latest-features-tackle-battery-and-memory-optimizations.htmlGoogle has released optimization features designed to improve battery life and memory usage on machines running the latest version of its Chrome desktop web browser. Chrome’s new Energy Saver and Memory Saver modes were first announced in December last year alongside the release of Chrome 108, and now as noted by Android Police, the two optimization utilities are starting to roll out globally onto Chrome 110 desktops for Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks./news/google-pixel-3a-review-a-399-phone-with-a-great-camera.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-pixel-3a-review-a-399-phone-with-a-great-camera.htmlI am going to break an unwritten rule of tech reviews and tell you the ending right at the top: if you want to buy a new smartphone that costs between $300 and $500, you should buy a Pixel 3A or Pixel 3A XL. It is the best phone in that price range, and it’s actually competitive with more expensive phones in one very important way: the Pixel 3A has a great camera./news/google-play-bug-causes-false-russian-email-app-update-to-appear-on-some-samsung-android-devices-upd.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-play-bug-causes-false-russian-email-app-update-to-appear-on-some-samsung-android-devices-upd.htmlA strange event today has a lot of Samsung Android owners rightfully worried about malware on the Android Market. We've received a raft of tips from users who have discovered an app titled "МТС Мобильная Почта" (MTC Mobile Mail) on their Samsung devices, an app they never installed and are finding it difficult to uninstall. As near as we can tell, the issue appears to be this: Samsung has several pieces of software that it installs on it devices but that aren't in the Google Play store (for obvious reasons)./news/google-touts-enterprise-ready-ai-with-more-facts-and-less-make-believe.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-touts-enterprise-ready-ai-with-more-facts-and-less-make-believe.htmlVertex AI, the Google Cloud development platform that allows companies to build services using Google’s machine learning and large language models, is getting new capabilities to help prevent apps and services from pushing inaccurate information. After rolling out general availability for Vertex AI’s Grounding with Google Search feature in May — which enables models to retrieve live information from the internet — Google has now announced that customers will also have the option to improve their services’ AI results with specialized third-party datasets./news/hbo-head-casey-bloys-says-he-s-sorry-for-harassing-critics-on-twitter.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-head-casey-bloys-says-he-s-sorry-for-harassing-critics-on-twitter.htmlDuring today’s presentation about HBO’s slate of upcoming projects, CEO / chair Casey Bloys could have tried denying recent reports that he and fellow executive Kathleen McCaffrey concocted a scheme to target and harass critics who wrote negative things about some of the network’s recently released series in the early days of the pandemic. Instead, though, Bloys owned up to the allegations of his trying to build a “secret army” of Twitter trolls, apologized, and insisted that he isn’t the kind of person who would do that sort of thing now./news/hbo-isn-t-done-trolling-lady-stoneheart-fans.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-isn-t-done-trolling-lady-stoneheart-fans.htmlMaybe you’ve never embarrassed yourself online, and that’s great. Congratulations! But two years ago I wrote over 2,000 words explaining why I was sure that A Song of Ice and Fire fan favorite Lady Stoneheart would be appearing in the season 5 finale of Game of Thrones. Then, a year later, I wrote 2,000 more, explaining why she was definitely going to show up in the finale of season 6. Both arguments were based on hints from HBO promotional material, pre-announced episode titles, actor sightings, and what I imagined were reasoned arguments about what the show had chosen to adapt from the books and where that must lead./news/here-s-how-to-look-at-life-size-animals-in-ar-through-google-search.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-how-to-look-at-life-size-animals-in-ar-through-google-search.htmlBack in May 2019, at its I/O developers conference, Google announced that it was bringing a neat feature to its search results: augmented reality models, which allow users to take a look at a 3D image of a search result. Shortly after, the company rolled out the feature to users with an ARCore or ARKit-ready Android phone or iPhone, as spotted by CNET, allowing them to place an AR animal right in their living room, bedroom, or backyard./news/here-s-what-twitter-s-rumored-undo-send-feature-could-look-like.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-what-twitter-s-rumored-undo-send-feature-could-look-like.htmlA potential animation for Twitter’s long-rumored “undo send” feature has been discovered by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, giving us our best look yet at how it might work.  The interface shows Twitter’s familiar “Your Tweet was sent” dialog above a new “Undo” button. The undo button doubles as a progress bar, which appears to show you how long you have to undo a tweet before it gets sent. Gmail offers a similar option for emails, where it provides a short window to stop messages from being sent after clicking the “Send” button./news/houzz-has-a-new-ar-mode-that-lets-you-try-furniture-before-you-buy.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/houzz-has-a-new-ar-mode-that-lets-you-try-furniture-before-you-buy.htmlHouzz, the home decor company that combines professional renovation services, design ideas, and furniture shopping into one app, just rolled out an update to its iOS app that includes 3D imaging features. That means that users can now place a virtual furniture item or accessory in a room and get a sense of how well it will fit or look in the space before buying. The company previously offered a “View in My Room” option in the mobile app that let users affix a digital object to a space, but it was a flat image, without any depth./news/how-amazon-s-hiring-of-adept-ai-startup-avoids-antitrust-scrutiny.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-amazon-s-hiring-of-adept-ai-startup-avoids-antitrust-scrutiny.htmlA couple of months ago, I was sitting in the audience at a tech conference in San Fransisco watching Bloomberg’s Emily Chang interview Reid Hoffman. She asked about Microsoft’s hiring of the team behind Inflection, a would-be OpenAI competitor that Hoffman co-founded. It was an acquisition in everything but name, clearly designed to avoid the scrutiny of antitrust regulators. Not only had Microsoft (where Hoffman is a board member) hired most of Inflection’s employees — it also licensed the startup’s technology in a way that seemed designed to make its investors whole./news/how-final-fantasy-xii-and-phoenix-wright-were-translated-into-english.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-final-fantasy-xii-and-phoenix-wright-were-translated-into-english.htmlToday, PS2 classic Final Fantasy XII is launching on the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It’s the same enhanced remake of the game that hit the PS4 two years ago, which proved that, in many ways, FFXII was an experience ahead of its time. Fourteen years ago, the game represented a strange turn for the ever-changing role-playing series, introducing features like real-time combat and a sprawling open world that felt foreign to many players./news/how-telltale-games-created-clementine-the-secret-weapon-of-the-walking-dead.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-telltale-games-created-clementine-the-secret-weapon-of-the-walking-dead.htmlThere's quite a lot to like about Telltale Games' The Walking Dead, but perhaps the most compelling aspect is how emotionally involved you can get while playing the game. To a large part that's thanks to Clementine, the 8-year-old girl that joins the story's protagonist in the first episode. Game Informer takes an in-depth look at the creation of Clementine, from the choices made when designing her wardrobe, to the nuances behind the writing of her dialogue./news/how-to-create-and-save-chrome-tab-groups.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-create-and-save-chrome-tab-groups.htmlI usually have at least half a dozen or more projects going at once: I can be writing or updating several short pieces, editing one or two others, getting ready for Apple or Google or some other company to announce their latest and greatest tech, or dealing with some other project. Each of these projects usually involves several tabs on my Chrome browser: one for the article itself; several for online sources that I need to read or link to; and perhaps also a document or spreadsheet that I’m sharing with my team./news/how-twitter-made-manti-te-o-s-fake-girlfriend-look-real.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-twitter-made-manti-te-o-s-fake-girlfriend-look-real.htmlDeadspin dropped a bombshell this afternoon that one of the most popular, heartwarming stories of the college football season — Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's doomed love with a dying girl — was a hoax. The girl, named Lennay Kekua, had a Twitter account, a stockpile of photos, and a great story — but none of it was real. The account was fake from the beginning. The photos were pulled from another girl's Facebook page, and doctored to dodge Google Image search./news/how-ugmonk-s-designer-built-the-new-gather-desk-accessories.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-ugmonk-s-designer-built-the-new-gather-desk-accessories.htmlJeff Sheldon’s desk is sort of famous. You might have even seen it before: Sheldon, the founder and CEO of a high-design shop called Ugmonk, uploaded a few photos to Unsplash several years ago, and his ultra-clean setup filled with natural wood and white colors has since been viewed more than 400 million times. People have been asking him for a decade where he got his cool monitor stand, even though it’s actually just an Ikea hack./news/hp-stream-11-review-meet-the-next-generation-of-cheap-laptops.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hp-stream-11-review-meet-the-next-generation-of-cheap-laptops.htmlNetbooks were actually a great idea. When you boil it all the way down, it’s simple: build a computer that does all the things an average user needs and doesn’t try to do anything else, and sell it as cheap as possible. The problem was in the execution: netbooks were poorly made, slow, ugly, thick, hard to use, too small, didn’t last long enough, and were just generally a mean thing to force upon anyone you care about./news/hundreds-of-thousands-of-customers-complained-to-juul-about-leaky-pods.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hundreds-of-thousands-of-customers-complained-to-juul-about-leaky-pods.htmlAround 12 percent of customer complaints made to Juul between 2015 and 2018 were due to leaking nicotine pods, Bloomberg reported. Records of customer complaints were reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration during an agency inspection of Juul Labs in September 2018, and obtained by Bloomberg through a Freedom of Information Act request. The company’s internal database recorded just under 1.3 million customer complaints during the three year period. Approximately 156,000 were from users who reported that liquid was leaking out of the pods and into their mouths — an issue documented on message boards and vaping websites over the past few years./news/i-love-my-gpt-but-i-can-t-find-a-use-for-anybody-else-s.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/i-love-my-gpt-but-i-can-t-find-a-use-for-anybody-else-s.htmlWhen OpenAI announced other people could build their own custom versions of ChatGPT-style chatbots, I was initially only interested in a journalistic way. I knew this was an interesting commercial step for OpenAI, but the value of the store is still an open question. Why should I use most GPTs (as the bots are called), when I can usually call up an app that does the same thing? But I can’t deny there’s one incredibly useful bot that’s changed a (small) part of my work life for the better./news/i-rode-an-electric-unicycle-through-the-streets-of-new-york-city-and-it-felt-like-the-future.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/i-rode-an-electric-unicycle-through-the-streets-of-new-york-city-and-it-felt-like-the-future.htmlI commute to work every day using a skateboard. I skate from my apartment to the subway, and then from the subway to work, and vice versa. It's fast and it works, but I'm still on the hunt for the best personal EV. Hell, it's almost 2015 — where's my hoverboard? For the last week I've been living with Focus Designs' self balancing unicycle (SBU). I've been commuting to and from work with it (getting through subway turnstiles with the SBU is akin to having a small suitcase)./news/ibm-just-unveiled-the-world-s-smallest-computer.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ibm-just-unveiled-the-world-s-smallest-computer.htmlIBM is kicking off its IBM Think 2018 conference this week with “5 in 5,” a collection of IBM Research inventions and technologies “that could change our lives in the next five years.” If you want to hear a large corporation tell you about AI, blockchain, and quantum computing all in the same breath, IBM Think sounds like the place to be. It’s a little hard to tease out the technology from the buzzwords, but, happily, Mashable spotted this gem: IBM is building the world’s smallest computer./news/immigration-as-a-game-papers-please-makes-you-the-border-guard.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/immigration-as-a-game-papers-please-makes-you-the-border-guard.htmlWe've all been there. You're in an airport, waiting to get in or out of a country, and you're stuck in immigration. The line is dozens of people long and when you finally reach the counter, your passport gets a quick glance, you're asked a few questions, and then you move along. It's frustrating for the traveler, but what's it like on the other side of the counter? That's what developer Lucas Pope wanted to explore with the game Papers, Please, which puts players in the role of an immigration inspector./news/iran-hacked-the-sands-hotel-earlier-this-year-causing-over-40-million-in-damage.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/iran-hacked-the-sands-hotel-earlier-this-year-causing-over-40-million-in-damage.htmlSony wasn't the only US company to face a cyberattack by a foreign power this year. According to a bombshell exclusive from Businessweek, Iranian hackers penetrated systems for the Sands Hotel and Casino this February. With no apparent financial motive, attackers seized comprehensive employee information and brought the company's systems to a standstill. All told, the attack wiped out three quarters of the company's Vegas-based servers, which insiders estimate cost the company more than $40 million in equipment costs and data recovery alone./news/it-s-spotify-s-turn-to-increase-prices.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/it-s-spotify-s-turn-to-increase-prices.htmlAndorra, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Thailand, Türkiye, United States, Kosovo. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2tfbHxzgI5ranFoZWiDdXvSqaatoZauera%2FjKmpopuVYravr9GemKydXWZ9boWYZphmpZ%2Bjwal5mGZwcmWdpLu1tIytrp6kppp6urHAq6o%3D/news/john-foley-peloton-s-co-founder-and-former-ceo-is-leaving-the-company.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/john-foley-peloton-s-co-founder-and-former-ceo-is-leaving-the-company.htmlTeam, I would like to update you on several leadership changes at the company.  The changes include:  Co-founder and Executive Chair John Foley has decided to step down from Peloton’s Board of Directors and Karen Boone, our lead independent director, has been elected to the role of Chairperson of the Board (press release will be shared with you in a separate email).  Chief Legal Officer Hisao Kushi, who helped co-found the company, will depart and Tammy Albarrán will become our new CLO./news/join-me-in-playing-this-addictive-block-sliding-game.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/join-me-in-playing-this-addictive-block-sliding-game.htmlIt seems like every year around this time — the down period between the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona — I find a new mobile game to consume my spare minutes and hours. In 2017, it was the dangerously involving Egg Inc., and this year it’s a beguilingly simple block puzzle title called Slidey. Slidey is a member of the vast and diverse genre of games remixing the classic Tetris formula./news/kai-cenat-goes-live-on-twitch-for-the-first-time-after-union-square-riot.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/kai-cenat-goes-live-on-twitch-for-the-first-time-after-union-square-riot.htmlOn Wednesday night, streamer Kai Cenat went live on Twitch for the first time since his chaotic Union Square giveaway event in New York City on Friday. Thousands of people descended on Union Square after Cenat and another streamer promised to give away prizes like PS5s and gift cards, and Cenat has been charged with at least two counts of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly for the gathering. “After Friday, I’ve come to realize the amount of not only power but influence that I have on people,” says Cenat./news/let-people-make-their-own-ai-chatbots-and-they-ll-find-a-way-to-make-ai-girlfriends.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/let-people-make-their-own-ai-chatbots-and-they-ll-find-a-way-to-make-ai-girlfriends.htmlLet people make their own AI chatbots, and they’ll find a way to make AI girlfriends. OpenAI’s GPT Store explicitly disallows GPTs “dedicated to fostering romantic companionship,” but a search of the store yields many custom chatbots doing just that. First reported by Quartz, GPTs like “Virtual Sweetheart” (with 100+ chats so far), “Your Ex-Girlfriend Jessica” (200+ chats), and “Judy” (with more than 1,000 chats) are racking up a lot of users./news/let-s-talk-about-emoji-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/let-s-talk-about-emoji-the-verge.htmlKim Kardashian createdKimoji. Giphy just launched a GIF keyboard. Starbucks has its own branded emoji. Bitmoji personalized emoji and was acquired by Snapchat. Soon, every company, celebrity, and perhaps regular human, will get their own custom keyboards. Do emoji degrade our language? Are brands corroding communication? Are we doomed to brandspeak? Jake and Ashley discuss live, on-air, in real time, on Facebook. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jpygq5ulnsGjvsSaop6qX2d9coKObmZsZ2FmgniFk29taJulqMGwuYyepKiimWK4psXBqJirnF2hrq%2Bz1JqenmWkmsW1/news/limited-edition-droid-razrs-offered-to-verizon-employees.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/limited-edition-droid-razrs-offered-to-verizon-employees.htmlAndroid and Me is reporting that Verizon employees will soon have the chance to purchase a limited edition Droid RAZR or RAZR Maxx. Each uniquely numbered handset is adorned with a special red and black pattern and has "limited edition" engraved next to the Verizon logo on the front. Unlike Google, Verizon isn't just giving these away, but it is offering them at the discounted price of $99 for a 16GB RAZR or $199 for a 32GB RAZR MAXX and will bundle a multimedia dock with both./news/locket-pays-you-pennies-a-day-to-cover-your-android-lock-screen-with-ads.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/locket-pays-you-pennies-a-day-to-cover-your-android-lock-screen-with-ads.htmlIt turns out you can make money by wasting time on your smartphone. Locket is a new Android app that places advertisements on your phone's lock screen and rewards you for swiping through for more information. Once you've downloaded and installed Locket, it requests three pieces of information; your age, gender, and location. After that, you'll see ads each time you glance at your lock screen — something many of us do dozens of times each day./news/logitech-s-affordable-new-low-profile-keyboard-also-fits-cherry-mx-style-keycaps.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/logitech-s-affordable-new-low-profile-keyboard-also-fits-cherry-mx-style-keycaps.htmlLogitech has announced a new low-profile gaming keyboard, the G515 Lightspeed TKL Wireless, featuring upgraded low-profile switches that are now compatible with Cherry MX-style keycaps, improving the keyboard’s customizability. The G515 is a welcome upgrade to Logitech’s G915 Lightspeed Wireless keyboard, which debuted in 2019. The new G515 features a TKL (tenkeyless) design that’s similar to the smaller Logitech G915 TKL update from 2020; this one completely eliminates not only the G915’s number pad but also the wide volume wheel that sat above it./news/logitech-s-new-rugged-case-for-the-ipad-has-its-own-smart-keyboard-connector.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/logitech-s-new-rugged-case-for-the-ipad-has-its-own-smart-keyboard-connector.htmlLogitech’s Rugged Combo 2 keyboard case for the iPad is not likely to be something you’ll want to buy. It’s just too big for most. It’s very, very rugged, surrounding the device in a huge plastic block that feels like it could protect the glass inside from nearly anything. (Logitech says it’s good for up to a four-foot drop, but I bet it could handle more.) You won’t really be able to buy it anyway; it’s designed for the education market./news/look-closely-and-you-ll-find-america-s-climate-abandonment-areas.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/look-closely-and-you-ll-find-america-s-climate-abandonment-areas.htmlMore than 16 million people in the contiguous US — roughly 5 percent of the population — live in a place with heightening flood risk and a shrinking population, according to new research. It makes the case that “climate abandonment areas” are becoming a more prevalent phenomenon in the US as people avoid places particularly vulnerable to climate-related disasters. What’s a climate abandonment area? It’s a census block where flood risk has grown high enough to start pushing people to leave./news/make-a-3d-model-of-your-face-from-a-single-photo-with-this-ai-tool.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/make-a-3d-model-of-your-face-from-a-single-photo-with-this-ai-tool.htmlBored? Of course you are, it’s Monday. So why not use this little AI-powered tool to turn a photo of your face into a 3D model, then idly spin it round, pondering exactly how and when super-intelligent robots will liquidate your body and replace you with a perfect 3D-printed simulacra. Okay, so that’s probably not what’s going to happen here, as this widget is the result of some normal research from The University of Nottingham and Kingston University in the UK./news/meet-the-26-year-old-socialist-trucker-running-for-congress-on-tiktok.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meet-the-26-year-old-socialist-trucker-running-for-congress-on-tiktok.htmlJoshua Collins looks like just about every other young person on TikTok. His nails are painted black, his videos are set to trending songs, and he’s not afraid to dunk on fascists online. But where many young people use the app for clout or entertainment, Collins’ TikTok has become the centerpiece for a new kind of political campaign — one he hopes will carry him all the way to Congress./news/meta-is-expanding-its-paid-verification-badge-to-business-accounts.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-is-expanding-its-paid-verification-badge-to-business-accounts.htmlBusinesses on Meta platforms will soon be able to purchase a blue check to get exclusive features and support. The expansion was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an event today. Earlier this year, the company announced Meta Verified for creators, a $12 per month subscription that gives creators a blue check and access to features like priority customer support and impersonation protection. Businesses can buy verification on Facebook or Instagram for $22 a month or $35 for both — an increase over creator pricing that ranges from $12 to $15./news/microsoft-paint-to-remain-part-of-windows-10-after-all.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-paint-to-remain-part-of-windows-10-after-all.htmlMicrosoft had been planning to remove its popular Paint app from Windows 10, but the company has now reversed course. The software maker had been warning Windows 10 users for months that Paint would be removed, and those warnings vanished in the latest May 2019 Update (1903). “Yes, MSPaint will be included in 1903,” says Brandon LeBlanc, a senior program manager for Windows at Microsoft. “It’ll remain included in Windows 10 for now./news/microsoft-s-bing-is-an-emotionally-manipulative-liar-and-people-love-it.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-bing-is-an-emotionally-manipulative-liar-and-people-love-it.htmlMicrosoft’s Bing chatbot has been unleashed on the world, and people are discovering what it means to beta test an unpredictable AI tool. Specifically, they’re finding out that Bing’s AI personality is not as poised or polished as you might expect. In conversations with the chatbot shared on Reddit and Twitter, Bing can be seen insulting users, lying to them, sulking, gaslighting and emotionally manipulating people, questioning its own existence, describing someone who found a way to force the bot to disclose its hidden rules as its “enemy,” and claiming it spied on Microsoft’s own developers through the webcams on their laptops./news/microsoft-s-phil-spencer-says-acquiring-nintendo-would-be-a-career-moment.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-phil-spencer-says-acquiring-nintendo-would-be-a-career-moment.htmlMicrosoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer would really like to buy Nintendo someday. In an August 2020 email to two top Microsoft marketing executives, Spencer wrote that “Nintendo is THE prime asset for us in Gaming” and that “getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies.” The emails were revealed as part of a tranche of leaked documents from the FTC v. Microsoft lawsuit./news/microsoft-s-universal-windows-platform-app-dream-is-dead-and-buried.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-universal-windows-platform-app-dream-is-dead-and-buried.htmlMicrosoft had a dream with Windows 8 that involved universal Windows apps that would span across phones, tablets, PCs, and even Xbox consoles. The plan was that app developers could write a single app for all of these devices, and it would magically span across them all. This dream really started to fall apart after Windows Phone failed, but it’s well and truly over now. Microsoft has spent years pushing developers to create special apps for the company’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and today, it’s putting the final nail in the UWP coffin./news/mit-fed-an-ai-data-from-reddit-and-now-it-only-thinks-about-murder.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mit-fed-an-ai-data-from-reddit-and-now-it-only-thinks-about-murder.htmlFor some, the phrase “artificial intelligence” conjures nightmare visions — something out of the ’04 Will Smith flick I, Robot, perhaps, or the ending of Ex Machina — like a boot smashing through the glass of a computer screen to stamp on a human face, forever. Even people who study AI have a healthy respect for the field’s ultimate goal, artificial general intelligence, or an artificial system that mimics human thought patterns./news/my-first-sundance-journal-day-5-6-advantageous-and-the-sundance-sci-fi-problem.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/my-first-sundance-journal-day-5-6-advantageous-and-the-sundance-sci-fi-problem.htmlI'm leaving the Sundance Film Festival feeling a little conflicted. The good news: I found a movie that felt close to being "mine," in that I felt that kind of heart-tugging urgency one feels after encountering a work of art that finds some little click of affinity inside you. It's a wild, slightly manic, not unpleasant feeling: you find yourself wandering in a loopy, Family Circus-esque trajectory as you leave the venue; you nearly text several people about your excitement before thinking better of it; you feel the need both to talk to someone immediately and to greedily horde the experience for yourself; you feel an inexplicable longing to live inside the good thing you just saw, or better yet, to somehow become it./news/nathan-fielder-s-the-rehearsal-is-getting-a-second-season.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nathan-fielder-s-the-rehearsal-is-getting-a-second-season.htmlThe Rehearsal, the docu-comedy TV show created by and starring Nathan Fielder, has been renewed for a second season, HBO has announced. The new came just ahead of the show’s sixth episode and season one finale on Friday night. “One more chance to get it right,” reads the Season 2 tagline, though a premiere date is missing from the announcement. Ostensibly, the basic premise of The Rehearsal is that it’s a comedic documentary series designed to help ordinary people tackle difficult moments in their life by giving them an opportunity to rehearse it beforehand./news/netflix-is-all-about-the-money-not-the-members.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-is-all-about-the-money-not-the-members.htmlNetflix is moving beyond subscriber numbers. In its first quarter earnings results released on Thursday, Netflix announced that it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers in 2025 because subscribers are “just one component” of its growth. The change comes after a quarter where it added 9.3 million subscribers, growing to more than 270 million members globally. Subscriber count meant everything in the early days of streaming. It allows investors, studios, and everyone else to gauge just how well a streaming service is doing compared to the competition, and Netflix has leaned on its lead in that area./news/netflix-is-promoting-altered-carbon-with-lab-grown-bodies-at-ces.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-is-promoting-altered-carbon-with-lab-grown-bodies-at-ces.htmlAmong the deluge of CES news releases this week, one stood out to me because it made little sense: Netflix was bringing its upcoming Altered Carbon series to the big Las Vegas exhibition. How do you bring a drama series to a hardware show? It turns out, Netflix’s idea was to construct an elaborate faux-serious campaign, including a partnership with the drama’s fictional company Psychasec, and the collaborative booth they’re presenting at CES is a pretend exhibition area for Psychasec’s “sleeve” products./news/netflix-scrambled-internally-to-suppress-a-controversial-movie-from-search-results.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-scrambled-internally-to-suppress-a-controversial-movie-from-search-results.htmlIn September 2020, Netflix was in turmoil as the company battled its most significant PR scandal to date. Earlier that year, the streaming platform had acquired the worldwide rights to the French film Cuties after its lauded premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Director Maïmouna Doucouré had made the movie as a commentary on social media and the hypersexualization of young girls. But the poster Netflix released to promote it didn’t have that same self-awareness./news/new-accessibility-features-are-coming-to-halo-infinite.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-accessibility-features-are-coming-to-halo-infinite.html343 Industries has added improved accessibility features to Halo Infinite. “343 Industries’ goal is to make the newest journey into the Halo universe more accessible to as many gamers as possible,” Xbox shared on its blog. “That includes those who are brand-new to the Halo franchise, as well as those who struggled to play due to barriers that hadn’t previously been accounted for.” The features include accessibility standards like enhanced colorblind settings and the ability to rebind mouse, keyboard, and gamepad controls./news/nintendo-finally-adds-bluetooth-audio-to-the-switch-in-new-software-update.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-finally-adds-bluetooth-audio-to-the-switch-in-new-software-update.htmlNintendo has surprise-announced that Bluetooth audio support has come to the Switch through a software update. The ability to use Bluetooth headphones to listen to game audio has been a conspicuously missing feature since the console launched in 2017, so it’s great to finally have it — though there are some limitations. According to a Nintendo support article, you’ll be limited to using two wireless controllers if you’ve got a Bluetooth headset attached./news/nokia-lumia-900-on-at-t-to-support-visual-voicemail-but-other-windows-phone-users-may-not-get-it.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nokia-lumia-900-on-at-t-to-support-visual-voicemail-but-other-windows-phone-users-may-not-get-it.htmlAs we fully expected, the comments on our recent post about AT&T's apparent decision to not push out the lastest bugfix version of Windows Phone, 8107, have expressed a good deal of unhappiness. However, one comment in particular caught our eye, from scrapplejoe, which points out a thread at neogaf suggesting Visual Voicemail is present on the Lumia 900. In fact, there's an even deeper backstory involving a method of forced updating and clever data plan switching first discovered at xda-developers, with which it's possible to get Visual Voicemail working on a Nokia Lumia 800, Focus Flash, or even other devices on AT&T./news/nothing-s-flashy-phone-2-lands-in-the-us-for-599.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nothing-s-flashy-phone-2-lands-in-the-us-for-599.htmlNothing’s Phone 2 has officially arrived. The company has already preannounced plenty of details about the handset, so the big news today is the Phone 2’s price and release date. It’ll be available starting at $599 (£579 / €679), and unlike last year’s device, the Phone 2 will be available to buy in the US. Preorders start today, and the phone will be publicly available July 17th.  There are a couple of different variants of the Phone 2 available./news/oh-no-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oh-no-the-verge.htmlOh no. Americans have a worse opinion of science now than they did before the covid-19 pandemic. It doesn’t come as a surprise after all the disinformation that’s been swirling around since then. Now we can see how much trust in science has eroded in the latest survey by the Pew Research Center. The number of participants who say science “has had a mostly positive impact on society” fell from 73 percent in 2019 to 57 percent today./news/openai-s-custom-gpt-store-is-now-open-for-business.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/openai-s-custom-gpt-store-is-now-open-for-business.htmlOpenAI’s GPT Store, where users can share their custom chatbots, finally launched Wednesday after a monthslong delay. The store brings more potential use cases to ChatGPT and expands OpenAI’s ecosystem beyond what the company builds for customers. Since announcing the GPT Builder program in November, OpenAI said more than 3 million bots — called GPTs — have been created by users. (Yours truly included; I made a GPT that suggests synonyms for common words)./news/openai-s-dota-2-defeat-is-still-a-win-for-artificial-intelligence.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/openai-s-dota-2-defeat-is-still-a-win-for-artificial-intelligence.htmlLast week, humanity struck back against the machines — sort of. Actually, we beat them at a video game. In a best-of-three match, two teams of pro gamers overcame a squad of AI bots that were created by the Elon Musk-founded research lab OpenAI. The competitors were playing Dota 2, a phenomenally popular and complex battle arena game. But the match was also something of a litmus test for artificial intelligence: the latest high-profile measure of our ambition to create machines that can out-think us./news/openhaystack-lets-you-create-diy-airtags-on-apple-s-find-my-network.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/openhaystack-lets-you-create-diy-airtags-on-apple-s-find-my-network.htmlIt is, in short, a way to create your own DIY AirTags today. OpenHaystack works via a custom Mac app that can be used to track the location of custom tags that you create. As of right now, the tool has direct support to make a tracking tag using the BBC micro:bit mini computer, though other Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device support could be added by other developers in the future./news/ousted-hyperloop-one-founder-brogan-bambrogan-just-started-a-new-company.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ousted-hyperloop-one-founder-brogan-bambrogan-just-started-a-new-company.htmlBrogan BamBrogan, the former SpaceX engineer who was dramatically ousted last year from Hyperloop One, the futuristic transportation company he helped found, just launched his own company. It’s called Arrivo, which is Italian for “you’ve arrived,” and will be located less than a mile from LA headquarters of BamBrogan’s former co-founders and now rivals, Hyperloop One. The company plans to build its own hyperloop — a far-out transportation system first conceived by Elon Musk which envisions aerodynamic aluminum capsules filled with passengers or cargo traveling in a nearly airless tube at roughly the speed of sound./news/people-still-using-blackberry-messenger-can-now-hail-an-uber-right-in-the-app.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/people-still-using-blackberry-messenger-can-now-hail-an-uber-right-in-the-app.htmlUber is now available on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) because apparently, there are still plenty of people in the world who use the service. The function means users can hail an Uber car straight from BBM without leaving the app. “With this partnership, BBM users can quickly request an Uber ride via BBM despite variations in quality of location, network speed, or device features,” said Chan Park, Uber’s general manager in Southeast Asia./news/podcasters-say-kast-media-s-colin-thomson-owes-them-millions.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/podcasters-say-kast-media-s-colin-thomson-owes-them-millions.htmlThis story originally appeared in Hot Pod Insider. Sign up for Hot Pod here. Multiple creators who have left the podcast network Kast Media say the company owes them significant sums of money — amounting to six or seven figures for advertising sold on their shows. A few creators have gone public on social media, and others have individually confirmed to Hot Pod that the company has not paid them for several months./news/podcasts-from-the-verge-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/podcasts-from-the-verge-the-verge.htmlDecoder is a new show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future. The Vergecast is the flagship podcast from The Verge about small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between./news/pok%C3%A9mon-brilliant-diamond-and-shining-pearl-look-adorable-in-new-trailer.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pok%C3%A9mon-brilliant-diamond-and-shining-pearl-look-adorable-in-new-trailer.htmlAt a Pokémon-focused livestream, Nintendo revealed a trailer showing off the absolutely adorable new look for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. The clip gave a good overview of the world itself, along with some of the enhanced elements, like what sounds like a nice orchestral mix for the score. You can also decorate pokéballs with stickers now, and — finally — actually change your outfit in-game. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS titles Diamond and Pearl./news/pok%C3%A9mon-go-s-party-play-will-turn-friends-into-raid-crushing-teams.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pok%C3%A9mon-go-s-party-play-will-turn-friends-into-raid-crushing-teams.htmlPokémon Go’s latest set of features aren’t quite the fixes that players have been begging Niantic for, but they will give trainers new ways to compete and team up as they dig into a spooky season of shadowy raids. After a little bit of teasing toward the end of last week, Niantic has officially announced the arrival of Pokémon Go’s Party Play, a new feature that allows groups of four players to link up and explore together somewhat similar to the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Union Circle./news/police-pulled-over-a-waymo-car-for-driving-in-the-oncoming-lane.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/police-pulled-over-a-waymo-car-for-driving-in-the-oncoming-lane.htmlOn June 19th, a Phoenix police officer pulled over an autonomous Waymo vehicle that had been driving in an oncoming traffic lane. The car was apparently confused by some construction signs and reportedly ran a red light before pulling over in a parking lot to let the officer talk to one of Waymo’s support representatives. In about two-and-a-half minutes of bodycam footage published by AZCentral, the officer told Waymo the car was driving in a construction zone when it “went into opposing lanes of traffic, which is real bad./news/pure-android-samsung-galaxy-s4-and-htc-one-google-play-editions-review.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pure-android-samsung-galaxy-s4-and-htc-one-google-play-editions-review.htmlThe Android device story has followed a predictable pattern for the past few years: Samsung, HTC, LG, and Sony release top-tier hardware to carriers the world over, with their own proprietary software layered over Android. Google, meanwhile, partners with one of those companies to release a Nexus phone running “pure” Android software, usually without carrier support and usually on hardware that doesn’t feel quite up to snuff. This year, two flagship phones, the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, represent the pinnacle of Android hardware./news/question-club-the-science-aliens-and-painfully-timely-messages-of-arrival.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/question-club-the-science-aliens-and-painfully-timely-messages-of-arrival.htmlThis past weekend saw the release of Arrival, the arty, hypnotic science fiction film from Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Previously, Villeneuve was known for more grounded, gritty dramas: the drug-war thriller Sicario, the action-procedural Prisoners, the exhausting personal drama Incendies. Arrival constitutes new territory for him, as he looks at the present through the lens of the future, instead of the lens of history. The film, based on a short story by author Ted Chiang, follows the arrival of mysterious aliens at a series of sites around the world./news/ralph-lauren-s-smart-shirt-is-the-ultimate-preppy-tech.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ralph-lauren-s-smart-shirt-is-the-ultimate-preppy-tech.htmlRalph Lauren's sensor-laden shirts are finally coming to the masses — provided the masses are willing to cough up $295 for a workout shirt. At a preview event today in New York City, the lifestyle brand revealed pricing and availability for its long-in-the-works PoloTech apparel, made in collaboration with Montreal-based tech startup OmSignal. The "second-skin" fabric workout shirt has silver fibers woven directly into the fabric and a small, sensor-filled black box that snaps into the shirt near the rib cage, to track biometric stats like steps taken, heart rate, breathing depth, and energy exertion./news/read-satya-nadella-s-microsoft-memo-on-putting-security-first.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/read-satya-nadella-s-microsoft-memo-on-putting-security-first.htmlToday, I want to talk about something critical to our company’s future: prioritizing security above all else. Microsoft runs on trust, and our success depends on earning and maintaining it. We have a unique opportunity and responsibility to build the most secure and trusted platform that the world innovates upon. The recent findings by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) regarding the Storm-0558 cyberattack, from summer 2023, underscore the severity of the threats facing our company and our customers, as well as our responsibility to defend against these increasingly sophisticated threat actors./news/reddit-overhauls-its-front-page-for-new-users-and-lurkers.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/reddit-overhauls-its-front-page-for-new-users-and-lurkers.htmlReddit — the self-described “front page of the internet” — has changed its front page. Rather than the top stories from 50 curated subreddits, visitors to the site will now see popular stories from across the site, on a new homepage the company has appropriately named r/popular. Unlike before, these highlighted stories can come from almost any subreddit, with a few restrictions. There’s no content from 18-rated or NSFW communities, for one, and subreddits that have actively opted out of appearing on the r/all page won’t have their stories popping up./news/regal-cinemas-to-close-all-us-theaters-until-further-notice-starting-march-17th.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/regal-cinemas-to-close-all-us-theaters-until-further-notice-starting-march-17th.htmlRegal Cinemas, the second-largest theater chain in the country, will close all of its theaters in the US starting tomorrow, March 17th, out of caution for the ongoing spread of coronavirus, according to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. The theaters will remain closed until further notice. “Any time, at any Regal, it’s our goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees and guests,” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Regal Cinema parent company Cineworld, in a statement to Deadline./news/remix-os-is-android-for-the-desktop-and-it-works-with-nearly-any-pc.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/remix-os-is-android-for-the-desktop-and-it-works-with-nearly-any-pc.htmlBut this isn't plain Android on a plastic box; instead, it's Remix OS, a customized fork of the software that looks more like Windows or Chrome OS than it does Android. There's a start menu. You can swipe in from the right side for a notification tray a la Windows 10 and OS X. You can right click! Everything very much feels like a desktop atmosphere, and you can run apps in individual windows or fullscreen./news/ring-adds-halloween-themed-quick-replies-to-its-doorbell-cameras.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ring-adds-halloween-themed-quick-replies-to-its-doorbell-cameras.htmlFollowing in the now annual tradition of the spooky smart home, Ring has released its seasonal ding dongs. In honor of the festive season, you can turn your Ring Video Doorbell’s interior Chime’s tone to a screeching cat, a creaky door, or my personal favorite, the creepy laugh, for the month of October. There are a handful of other scary tones also, nine in total, which is eight more than Google is offering on its Nest doorbell./news/riot-teamed-lil-nas-x-up-with-a-holographic-mech-for-2022-s-worlds-opening-ceremony.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/riot-teamed-lil-nas-x-up-with-a-holographic-mech-for-2022-s-worlds-opening-ceremony.htmlThe final moments of the opening ceremonies for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship featured star performer Lil Nas X seemingly lifted into the air by the hand of a giant mech while a championship trophy floated around him. It was an impressive display of artistic vision and technical expertise — and it’s also the reason Carrie Dunn, creative director for Riot esports, has been a little stressed of late./news/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-s-new-dlc-chapter-is-worse-in-vr.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-s-new-dlc-chapter-is-worse-in-vr.htmlIn the early days of virtual reality games, experiences can largely be divided into two categories: those built explicitly for VR, and those that tack on VR like a promotional bullet point. The latter is a great way to get people interested in the medium — hey, it’s Final Fantasy in VR! — but because of a lack of investment, both in time and forethought, these experiences range from forgettable to terrible./news/scientists-revive-microscopic-water-bears-after-30-years-of-deep-freeze.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-revive-microscopic-water-bears-after-30-years-of-deep-freeze.htmlIn the Animal Olympics event of Surviving Horrible Things, tardigrades would take home the gold, silver, and the bronze. These eight-legged, microscopic creatures — also known as "water bears" — are probably the hardiest animals in existence, able to live through extreme heat, cold, pressure, radiation, and even the vacuum of space. Now, these water-dwelling critters have set a new personal best, with cryobiologists from Japan successfully reviving a tardigrade after it had been frozen for more than 30 years./news/season-a-letter-to-the-future-review-a-chill-ride-through-the-end-of-the-world.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/season-a-letter-to-the-future-review-a-chill-ride-through-the-end-of-the-world.htmlThere’s no shortage of games — or any stories, for that matter — about the end of the world. But I can’t think of many that are as calm and soothing as biking around the end times in Season: A Letter to the Future. Instead of fighting for your life or searching for ways to survive an impending apocalypse, you’re documenting the world as it is so future generations have a chance to learn about it when it’s gone forever./news/seven-samurai-s-4k-restoration-is-headed-to-theaters.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/seven-samurai-s-4k-restoration-is-headed-to-theaters.htmlTo celebrate its 70th anniversary, Akira Kurosawa’s black-and-white epic Seven Samurai is coming back to theaters with a new 4K restoration. Arguably the crowning achievement of one of the world’s most lauded filmmakers, the film depicts a small village in the 16th century that is threatened by bandits. To protect themselves from the invaders, the farmers go in search of ronin — master-less samurai for hire — who can ward off the marauders and keep the village safe./news/shane-dawson-s-new-eugenia-cooney-doc-is-a-real-moment-of-growth.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/shane-dawson-s-new-eugenia-cooney-doc-is-a-real-moment-of-growth.htmlYouTube can be home to sensational videos, feuds among creators, and a litany of more disturbing content, but creators like Shane Dawson are demonstrating what YouTube could be like if people used their platforms to act more responsibly. His newest video is a one-hour documentary on fellow YouTuber Eugenia Cooney, a creator who left fans concerned when she announced in February that she was taking time away from the internet to work on her health./news/shortwave-s-google-inbox-successor-is-now-available-on-android.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/shortwave-s-google-inbox-successor-is-now-available-on-android.htmlShortwave — an email app for iOS and the web that serves as the spiritual successor to Google Inbox — has fully arrived on Android devices following 18 months of beta testing. Version 1.0 of Shortwave is available to download via Google Play. The basic version is free to use, though you’ll need to pay a $9 monthly subscription to unlock premium features. Shortwave was specifically developed by a group of former Google employees to fill the gap left after Google shut down its innovative Gmail alternative in 2019./news/silent-hill-2-s-remake-hits-ps5-and-steam-in-october.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/silent-hill-2-s-remake-hits-ps5-and-steam-in-october.htmlKonami provided a fresh — and terrifying — look at its upcoming remake of the survival horror classic Silent Hill 2, sharing a new trailer and release date during Sony’s State of Play and offering an extended look at gameplay during Konami’s Silent Hill Transmission event. In the trailer, husband of the year James Sunderland makes his way through the haunted town, fighting monstrous nurses and generally looking sad, wet, and guilty./news/sonos-ace-headphones-will-have-magnetic-ear-cushions-and-30-hour-battery-life.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sonos-ace-headphones-will-have-magnetic-ear-cushions-and-30-hour-battery-life.htmlOne day after an authorized Sonos partner accidentally pulled back the veil on the company’s long-in-the-works headphones, The Verge has learned comprehensive details about the hardware capabilities and software features that will be offered by the Sonos Ace.  As their rumored price of around $450 suggests, Sonos plans to market its first wireless headphones as a premium product that can go toe to toe with the Sony WH-1000XM5, Apple AirPods Max, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones./news/sony-and-honda-plan-to-start-selling-their-electric-cars-in-the-us-in-2026.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-and-honda-plan-to-start-selling-their-electric-cars-in-the-us-in-2026.htmlSony and Honda have announced that they plan to start selling their jointly-developed electric vehicles in the US in early 2026. The US has been chosen as the first market because of its well-developed taste for EVs. The cars will then go on sale in Japan later the same year, and then, perhaps, in Europe. Preorders for the vehicles will open in 2025, with sales and vehicle customization pushed through online channels./news/sony-is-bringing-back-fan-favorite-dualshock-4-controller-colors-this-month.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-is-bringing-back-fan-favorite-dualshock-4-controller-colors-this-month.htmlSony is bringing back some of the rarer and more beloved DualShock 4 controller color options starting this month, the company announced Monday morning in a blog post. So in the event you’re in need of a new PlayStation 4 gamepad and weren’t planning on getting a PlayStation 5 at launch — Sony has confirmed these controllers won’t work with PS5 games but will play backwards compatible PS4 titles — you can at the very least get one of the more stylish options available./news/sony-names-new-playstation-leaders-following-jim-ryan-s-retirement.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-names-new-playstation-leaders-following-jim-ryan-s-retirement.htmlSony is appointing co-CEOs Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino to lead its PlayStation business from June 1st. Hermen Hulst, who currently serves as PlayStation studios chief, will be appointed as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) studio business group. Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of SIE’s platform business group, and both will report up to Sony CFO and SIE chairman Hiroki Totoki. The unusual appointment of co-CEOs comes just months after former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan retired./news/sony-on-ps4-pro-we-see-4k-as-being-the-next-hd.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-on-ps4-pro-we-see-4k-as-being-the-next-hd.htmlIn late 2016, the focus of Sony’s PlayStation division was on hardware. During a span of around 60 days, the company launched three new devices: a slimmer base PS4, the more powerful PS4 Pro, and the PlayStation VR headset. The surge appears to have been largely a success; the PSVR has topped 1 million units sold, while Sony says the PS4 is “close to” hitting the 60 million mark. The question mark is the PS4 Pro./news/spotify-now-lets-you-search-by-songwriter-with-clickable-credits.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-now-lets-you-search-by-songwriter-with-clickable-credits.htmlSpotify launched a beta program today for clickable songwriter credits called “songwriter pages.” If a songwriter is included in the beta, listeners can click on their name in a track’s credits to view a page with all of the songs they’ve written. Spotify added song credits back in 2018, but this is the first time any of them have been clickable. To access a songwriter’s profile, click the three dots next to a track, and then select “song credits./news/starbucks-sent-out-a-very-random-hi-notification.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/starbucks-sent-out-a-very-random-hi-notification.htmlI’ve become almost numb to the deluge of notifications that hit my phone every day. But when an app sends a simple, very human “Hi!” message, apparently that’s enough to stop me in my tracks. And Starbucks just sent exactly that push notification to god knows how many devices a few minutes ago. For what purpose? Who knows? Just hi. No other context. A random hello on what’s (here in New York) a dreary, rainy Tuesday./news/steve-jobs-personally-asked-eric-schmidt-to-stop-poaching-employees-and-other-unredacted-statements.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/steve-jobs-personally-asked-eric-schmidt-to-stop-poaching-employees-and-other-unredacted-statements.html"Mr. Jobs wrote: "I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this." Mr. Schmidt forwarded Mr. Jobs's email to undisclosed recipients, writing: "I believe we have a policy of no recruiting from Apple and this is a direct inbound request. Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening? I will need to send a response back to Apple quickly so please let me know as soon as you can./news/stormland-is-a-new-open-world-oculus-rift-game-that-will-let-you-explore-freely-in-vr.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stormland-is-a-new-open-world-oculus-rift-game-that-will-let-you-explore-freely-in-vr.htmlOculus Studios and Insomniac Games are teaming up to deliver what may prove to be the biggest, most expansive virtual reality game yet. The new title, announced today and called Stormland, is an open-world game that puts players physically in the body of an android whose day-to-day existence involves gardening on a remote alien planet. After the arrival of a hostile threat, you set out to repair and augment your body, find fellow androids, and fight militaristic enemy droids./news/stylushome-pencil-review-an-apple-pencil-clone-for-a-fraction-of-the-price.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stylushome-pencil-review-an-apple-pencil-clone-for-a-fraction-of-the-price.htmlFor the past few months, I’ve been cheating on my Apple Pencil. Instead of using Apple’s $129 stylus with my iPad Mini for notetaking, I’ve been using an alternative I purchased off of Amazon for about $25. It looks nearly identical, works nearly as well, and even snaps onto and charges from your iPad. And while this $25 stylus doesn’t quite match all of the Apple Pencil’s features, it comes awfully close to providing a similar experience for a fraction of the price./news/substack-s-redesign-makes-it-feel-like-a-more-traditional-social-media-app.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/substack-s-redesign-makes-it-feel-like-a-more-traditional-social-media-app.htmlAfter a tease in a blog post on Tuesday, Substack officially shared details about its redesigned app on Wednesday, which offers a new “Home” tab and some adjustments to the app’s current layout. The biggest change is the Home tab, which is intended to help people find stuff to read by providing “entry to an exciting universe of stories, ideas, and people” on the platform. At the top, there’s a queue of big cards highlighting posts from your subscriptions that you can swipe through./news/t-mobile-and-comcast-partner-to-combat-robocalls.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-and-comcast-partner-to-combat-robocalls.htmlOn Wednesday, T-Mobile and Comcast announced a partnership to combat the industry’s growing robocall problem. Starting today, the companies will begin authenticating calls made between their networks in order to verify for consumers when the caller is an actual human being. Americans received over 26 billion unwanted robocalls last year, and after a few light pushes from federal agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, carriers are beginning to deploy an authentication system that’s meant to combat them, known as the SHAKEN/STIR protocol./news/t-mobile-is-knocking-125-off-the-price-of-the-iphone-6s.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-is-knocking-125-off-the-price-of-the-iphone-6s.htmlT-Mobile CEO John Legere isn't one to let the introduction of a new iPhone pass by without using it to drum up interest in his company, and this time he's doing it by offering an extravagant deal on Apple's latest flagship phones. In a blog post and video today, he announced that T-Mobile will be offering the iPhone 6S for $20 a month through the carrier's Jump on Demand program, with the 6S plus going for $24 a month./news/t-mobile-owns-mint-mobile-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-owns-mint-mobile-the-verge.htmlT-Mobile has completed its acquisition of Mint Mobile, the carrier partially owned by Ryan Reynolds. In an update on Wednesday, T-Mobile says Mint Mobile will continue to offer its $15 per month / 5GB of data plan (that requires paying for three months upfront), while also offering access to some of T-Mobile’s perks rolling out now and “over the next few months.” The acquisition also includes Ka’ena Corporation, the parent company of Mint Mobile, along with the two other companies under its umbrella: the prepaid brand Ultra Mobile and the wholesale wireless provider Plum./news/t-mobile-social-media-support-workers-are-trying-to-form-a-union.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-social-media-support-workers-are-trying-to-form-a-union.htmlWorkers on T-Mobile’s social media customer service team, who respond to customer questions, comments, and complaints on sites like Twitter and Facebook, are trying to start a union. On Wednesday, they announced the creation of the “T-Force Social Care Alliance,” posting a letter tying their decision to pay cuts, layoffs, and management’s lack of response to employees raising concerns about those issues. The letter says that T-Mobile has cut monthly bonuses for T-Force (the carrier’s name for its social media support team), instead replacing them with “micro-raises” and an annual bonus, which the alliance claims there are very few details about./news/tcl-s-4k-roku-tv-is-cheaper-than-ever-and-amazon-has-discounted-fire-tv-devices.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tcl-s-4k-roku-tv-is-cheaper-than-ever-and-amazon-has-discounted-fire-tv-devices.htmlMost Presidents’ Day sales are over, but there are still plenty of noteworthy deals happening right now. TCL’s 65-inch 6-series 4K HDR Roku TV is cheaper than ever. Amazon has discounted several Ring smart home products, as well as all of its Fire TV set-top boxes. Oh, and it’s apparently Anime Month, so there are discounts on beloved anime series on Blu-ray and DVD. Here are a few of the best deals that we’ve seen thus far today./news/tears-of-the-kingdom-has-leaked-and-people-are-already-streaming-it.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tears-of-the-kingdom-has-leaked-and-people-are-already-streaming-it.htmlIt was relatively easy for me to find a Tears of the Kingdom stream on Twitch hidden within the 300 or so channels streaming Breath of the Wild. The two games have the same art style, UI, and have similar in-game locations, so it can be hard to spot a Tears of the Kingdom stream from a Breath of the Wild one at a glance. I won’t post any spoilers or links (heh), but if you notice a big red hand in the top-left corner of the game screen, back away immediately./news/telegram-version-9-2-adds-sim-free-anonymous-phone-numbers-new-auto-delete.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/telegram-version-9-2-adds-sim-free-anonymous-phone-numbers-new-auto-delete.htmlUsers had been required to use their mobile phone number to sign up for Telegram, similar to other end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp. While Telegram maintains that your phone number is never visible to unknown people, it’s still an identifier that inherently stops you short of full anonymity. To get an anonymous number, you need to go purchase one through the Fragment blockchain, which you pay for using Toncoin — an offshoot from Telegram’s halted crypto efforts./news/tesla-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-the-verge.html‘We’re headed for a wild future. Wild, wild, wild.’ “People will have super helpful humanoid helper robots,” Musk says in response to a question about robot personalities. “And, yeah, you’ll be able to customize the personality, customize the voice and really kind of, the robot will kind of get to know you as well and know your preferences.” Let’s be real: people are going to try to bang the robots. We all know it./news/tesla-model-3-autopilot-is-disabled-on-deliveries-in-europe.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-model-3-autopilot-is-disabled-on-deliveries-in-europe.htmlTesla has started making deliveries of the Model 3 in Europe, but customers who paid for the company’s Autopilot driver assistance package won’t be able to use the futuristic feature set just yet, according to the Los Angeles Times. Autopilot is currently disabled because the company is awaiting approval for the driver assistance package from RDW, the vehicle authority in the Netherlands. Telsa announced in January that it had received “type approval” in Europe for the Model 3, which means the car had been cleared by regulators to be sold across the European Union./news/tesla-s-2024-shareholder-meeting-all-the-news-about-elon-musk-s-50-billion-payday.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-s-2024-shareholder-meeting-all-the-news-about-elon-musk-s-50-billion-payday.html‘We’re headed for a wild future. Wild, wild, wild.’ “People will have super helpful humanoid helper robots,” Musk says in response to a question about robot personalities. “And, yeah, you’ll be able to customize the personality, customize the voice and really kind of, the robot will kind of get to know you as well and know your preferences.” Let’s be real: people are going to try to bang the robots. We all know it./news/the-air-force-is-sticking-by-spacex-after-the-zuma-mission.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-air-force-is-sticking-by-spacex-after-the-zuma-mission.htmlRumors have been circulating that something went wrong with the classified Zuma satellite that SpaceX launched on the tip of a Falcon 9 rocket two weeks ago. But few clues have emerged to explain what happened to the mysterious satellite. Now, comments from the US Air Force seem to suggest that if something did indeed go wrong, whatever it was, it might not have been SpaceX’s fault. The Air Force certified SpaceX to conduct military missions in 2015./news/the-best-screens-for-flight-simulators.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-screens-for-flight-simulators.htmlFrom the earliest pixelated games to the outrageously realistic experiences of today, flight simulators have always been pushing the boundaries of what can be visually recreated in a video game. It’s one thing to make space look good; it’s another thing entirely to faithfully recreate the cockpit of a 747 and the whole world around which it might fly. On this episode of The Vergecast, the fourth and final installment of our series on the five senses of video games, we asked Polygon’s Charlie Hall to help us make sense of the current state of the art in flight simulation./news/the-defenders-is-a-blueprint-on-how-to-make-iron-fist-suck-less.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-defenders-is-a-blueprint-on-how-to-make-iron-fist-suck-less.htmlIron Fist is the weakest hero of Marvel’s Netflix run. He’s a cartoonish character with no real depth, one who wields power through nonsensical actions. But though the Iron Fist viewers met in the eponymous show was a failure of imagination, The Defenders series itself improves upon Danny Rand in a real way. Or at the very least, depicts him as somewhat less of a train wreck. As a serious superhero venture, Iron Fist was destined to walk a rockier path than its sister shows./news/the-entry-level-steam-deck-is-cheaper-than-ever-ahead-of-steam-s-summer-sale.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-entry-level-steam-deck-is-cheaper-than-ever-ahead-of-steam-s-summer-sale.htmlSummer has various official and unofficial starts to kick off the season, but the real one for many of us gamers is Steam’s annual Summer Sale — which Valve recently announced will begin on Thursday, June 27th, at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. And as an added treat, Valve’s entry-level Steam Decks are already on sale for an all-time low in the run-up to the event. Valve is discounting the base Steam Decks sold through Steam’s online storefront by 15 percent through 10AM PT / 1PM ET on July 11th, dropping the price of the LCD-equipped handheld to $296./news/the-google-home-mini-s-mute-switch-makes-privacy-deliberate.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-google-home-mini-s-mute-switch-makes-privacy-deliberate.htmlSmart home devices can make people uneasy, what with the “constantly listening to you” and the massive breach of privacy whereby paid human contractors turned out to be listening to recordings from Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook services without users knowing it. But I still use a Google Home Mini, and part of that is because of the physical microphone mute switch on the back that gives a kind of peace of mind that other smart devices don’t./news/the-museum-of-ice-cream-is-pure-unadulterated-instagram-fluff.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-museum-of-ice-cream-is-pure-unadulterated-instagram-fluff.htmlThe Museum of Ice Cream’s entire month-long run is already sold out — all 30,000 tickets. But don't worry if you weren't able to grab one, because you’ll surely get a chance to experience it through your social media feed. It's obvious that the Museum of Ice Cream is designed to be Instagrammed into oblivion, and New Yorkers all seem to have had the same idea. The venue is a world of pure imagination, in that you really have to imagine yourself not surrounded by hordes of people all trying to get the same shot as you./news/the-thylacine-remains-extinct-but-we-still-have-pademelons.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-thylacine-remains-extinct-but-we-still-have-pademelons.htmlThere was some excitement online yesterday as word spread that a family of thylacines was potentially caught on camera. The thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was declared extinct decades ago, so a confirmed sighting would certainly be cause for celebration. Unfortunately, wildlife biologist Nick Mooney at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) reviewed the photos and determined “the animals are very unlikely to be thylacines, and are most likely Tasmanian pademelons,” according to a spokesperson./news/the-us-copyright-office-says-an-ai-can-t-copyright-its-art.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-us-copyright-office-says-an-ai-can-t-copyright-its-art.htmlThe US Copyright Office has rejected a request to let an AI copyright a work of art. Last week, a three-person board reviewed a 2019 ruling against Stephen Thaler, who tried to copyright a picture on behalf of an algorithm he dubbed Creativity Machine. The board found that Thaler’s AI-created image didn’t include an element of “human authorship” — a necessary standard, it said, for protection. Creativity Machine’s work, seen above, is named “A Recent Entrance to Paradise./news/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-real-picture-says-samsung-exec.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-real-picture-says-samsung-exec.htmlThere was a very nice video by Marques Brownlee last year on the moon picture. Everyone was like, ‘Is it fake? Is it not fake?’ There was a debate around what constitutes a real picture. And actually, there is no such thing as a real picture. As soon as you have sensors to capture something, you reproduce [what you’re seeing], and it doesn’t mean anything. There is no real picture. You can try to define a real picture by saying, ‘I took that picture’, but if you used AI to optimize the zoom, the autofocus, the scene – is it real?/news/these-are-the-monitors-that-actually-mattered-at-ces-2020.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-are-the-monitors-that-actually-mattered-at-ces-2020.htmlIf there’s one product category that still often sees genuine technological advancements at CES, it’s screens — and these days, PC monitors in particular. As someone who enjoys looking at nice displays, I’m always down to check out some even nicer ones, and CES 2020 brought us some of the fastest, brightest, largest, and curviest monitors ever. The question, though, is when I’ll actually be moved to buy one. A couple years ago I wrote about how monitor shopping sucked through the lens of my quest to find one that checked off all my boxes./news/these-headphones-were-designed-by-audiophiles-and-they-re-glorious.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-headphones-were-designed-by-audiophiles-and-they-re-glorious.htmlMassdrop is a new sort of online community that can be described as a form of crowd-shopping. Unlike Kickstarter, which creates a hub-and-spoke relationship between one centralized producer and many individual backers / preorder customers, with Massdrop the supplier deals with an entire assembly of customers at once. This helps the site’s users secure group discounts, but more interestingly, it also gives them enough sway to actually affect product decisions./news/this-is-why-i-hate-five-star-ratings.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-why-i-hate-five-star-ratings.htmlThis is why I hate five-star ratings! Tobias van Schneider has it exactly right: a five-star rating is actually four options that all mean “this sucks,” varying levels of “it’s good” between 4.1 and 4.9, and then 5 stars just means you’re a liar. This is... not a good system, and it’s the same confusing mess everywhere on the internet! ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2tfZn5wfphoaWxxaGZ%2FcYOOrZ%2Biq12ewG7Dx7JkomWYlsGmecWirZ5lo6mus3nRmquippeo/news/tinder-select-is-a-499-per-month-plan-for-tinder-s-1-percent.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tinder-select-is-a-499-per-month-plan-for-tinder-s-1-percent.htmlTinder announced a $499 per month invite-only subscription, Tinder Select, on Friday, Bloomberg reports. As part of the premium plan, subscribers can message people they’ve not matched with, while the “most sought-after” users will see their profiles. Tinder says it only offers the plan to less than 1 percent of its users it considers “extremely active” and that the applications will open up on a rolling basis. “We know that there is a subset of highly engaged and active users who prioritize more effective and efficient ways to find connections,” said Tinder’s chief product officer, Mark Van Ryswyk./news/tokyo-prosecutors-charge-olympus-three-former-executives-and-three-others-with-accounting-fraud.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tokyo-prosecutors-charge-olympus-three-former-executives-and-three-others-with-accounting-fraud.htmlOlympus has been wracked with legal problems since former CEO Michael Woodford blew the whistle about the company's shady accounting back in October of last year. Now, Olympus, three of its former executives, and three others are all being charged with accounting fraud by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office. If convicted, Olympus faces fines of up to ¥700 million (about $8.6 million), while the executives involved each face fines of up to ¥10 million (about $124,000) and up to ten years in prison./news/tonino-lamborghini-s-phone-costs-6-000-ces-2015.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tonino-lamborghini-s-phone-costs-6-000-ces-2015.htmlThere might be only 1,947 units of the 88 Tauri smartphone ever made, but each and every one of them is ridiculous. That’s the only way to describe this $6,000 Android phone. Read the full article: http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7498785/88-tauri-tonino-lamborghini-hands-on ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnam1fZnx2e5ZtcHFxaGh8tbvNoqWoZZyWuqO70aCfoqaZqHqxtM6nnGabn6jBtHmVaWdpZZOawG5%2Bj2ps/news/tp-link-s-first-wi-fi-7-gaming-router-costs-600.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tp-link-s-first-wi-fi-7-gaming-router-costs-600.htmlDesigned to take full advantage of the broader 6GHz wireless spectrum that Wi-Fi 6E first had access to, Wi-Fi 7 further increases speeds by doubling the maximum channel bandwidth from 160MHz to 320MHz, allowing more data to be transmitted. The Wi-Fi 7 spec also allows connections to span multiple bands with a feature called Multi-Link Operation (MLO). For example, a file can be downloaded on the 6Ghz band at 1Gbps and on the 5GHz band at 500Mbps, resulting in combined download speeds of 1./news/tumblr-adds-new-filters-and-hints-at-looser-moderation-rules.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tumblr-adds-new-filters-and-hints-at-looser-moderation-rules.htmlTumblr is adding a new filtering feature called “community labels.” Contrary to speculation from some users, Tumblr’s parent company, Automattic, says its broader rules haven’t changed so far — but the feature might lay the groundwork for a more liberal moderation policy. Community labels, announced yesterday, make the site’s moderation tools more granular. Tumblr is asking users to tag posts that depict or reference three categories of content: drug and alcohol addiction, violence “similar to what you might see in an age-restricted movie,” and “sexual themes” including “erotic writing or imagery./news/twitch-s-hype-train-record-smashed-again-by-pirate-software.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitch-s-hype-train-record-smashed-again-by-pirate-software.htmlGame developer Jason Thor Hall, better known by the moniker Pirate Software, has set a new Twitch Hype Train world record, with his channel reaching level 106 on April 1st. Once the Hype Train was initiated, it took Hall roughly three hours to beat his previous level 55 world record from December, with viewers contributing 54,380 gifted subs (alongside regular subscriptions) and 8,225,386 Bits — likely earning Hall a healthy six-figure sum in the process./news/twitter-locks-out-china-s-us-embassy-after-baby-making-machines-tweet.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-locks-out-china-s-us-embassy-after-baby-making-machines-tweet.htmlTwitter has locked the official account for China’s US embassy, over a tweet it said violated its policy against dehumanization, Bloomberg reports. The tweet, which was originally shared on January 7th, referred to Uighur women as “baby-making machines” prior to government intervention. Twitter removed the tweet and replaced it with a notice saying it’s no longer available. However, Twitter requires account owners to manually delete tweets that violate its rules before unlocking accounts./news/twitter-will-let-blue-paid-subscribers-edit-tweets-for-up-to-one-hour.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-will-let-blue-paid-subscribers-edit-tweets-for-up-to-one-hour.htmlThe official Twitter Blue account now says that the tweet editing window has been doubled to one hour. The post announcing the feature was edited moments after it went live to note the change but, confusingly, didn’t add any other edits past the thirty-minute mark to demonstrate. Twitter’s support page for Blue was updated shortly after the post went up to reflect the new one-hour time limit. After the feature went live in the US last fall, my colleague David Pierce wrote that “Twitter is being as careful as can be on this one, and seems to have landed in the right place./news/uber-is-sticking-video-ads-in-its-cars-app-and-anywhere-it-can.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-is-sticking-video-ads-in-its-cars-app-and-anywhere-it-can.htmlUber is about to start displaying video ads across its various service apps, including Uber Eats, Drizly (an Uber-owned alcohol delivery platform), and its namesake ride-hailing app. Announced via a press release on Thursday, full-length video ads — which will play on the main Uber app while users wait for their taxi to arrive — will begin rolling out to users in the US “over the coming weeks.” Uber hopes to entice advertisers with what it knows about its users./news/uber-s-new-panic-button-is-now-live-in-the-us.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-s-new-panic-button-is-now-live-in-the-us.htmlIn April, Uber announced that it would be adding a direct way for riders to call 911 within its app in an effort to boost its flagging safety reputation. Today, the company is making that new feature live and fully operational across the US. The emergency button is located in a new “safety center” menu that is easily accessible from the app’s home screen, giving riders a quick way to contact first responders in the event that something goes wrong during their trip./news/usda-is-holding-back-on-rural-broadband-funding-senators-say.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/usda-is-holding-back-on-rural-broadband-funding-senators-say.htmlIn 2018, Congress authorized the USDA’s ReConnect Program to provide rural communities with the funds necessary for deploying high-speed broadband (25 Mbps down) in sparsely populated areas. Internet providers can apply for loans and grants to fund their build-outs, but according to the lawmakers, the USDA has created its own restrictions on who is able to receive the funding.  As of right now, providers that have already received loans or grants to deploy satellite internet access from the Federal Communications Commission are now ineligible to receive funding for other services like fixed wireless or fiber through the ReConnect Program./news/victrola-s-new-stream-sapphire-turntable-can-stream-to-anything.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/victrola-s-new-stream-sapphire-turntable-can-stream-to-anything.htmlOver the past few years, Victrola’s come back on the scene with slick turntables capable of streaming to Sonos’ wireless speakers. Now, the company is taking things a step further with the Victrola Stream Sapphire, a turntable that’s capable of streaming records to just about anything. Announced during CES 2024, Victrola’s highest-end Works with Sonos turntable costs a whopping $1,499 and will be available in the US in the spring. That’s nearly double the price of the $800 Stream Carbon and almost a grand more than the $599 Stream Onyx, a stripped-down version of the Carbon Victrola announced at last year’s CES./news/vizio-returns-to-ces-with-new-p-series-quantum-x-4k-tv-and-support-for-airplay-2.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/vizio-returns-to-ces-with-new-p-series-quantum-x-4k-tv-and-support-for-airplay-2.htmlVizio hasn’t had a significant presence at CES since 2014. That year, the company actually went to the effort of issuing a press release to say it was done with the big trade show and would instead introduce TVs, soundbars, and other products at its own media briefings on its own schedule. Fast forward to today, and Vizio is making a return to Las Vegas with an all-new 2019 lineup. Not much about CES has changed; a lot of tech company executives will tell you that its importance continues to shrink with each passing year./news/wait-just-how-many-types-of-orgasms-are-there.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wait-just-how-many-types-of-orgasms-are-there.htmlAccording to mainstream women’s magazines, there are about as many types of female orgasms as there are brands of flattering workout pants. There’s the storied g-spot orgasm, the cutting edge "a-spot" ("anterior fornix") orgasm, the even more obscure "u-spot" (urethra) orgasm, the cringe-y sounding cervical orgasm, and for boring underachievers, the basic and accessible clitoral orgasm. Scientifically speaking, though, just how many orgasms are there? "Orgasm is the sudden, involuntary release of sexual tension./news/walmart-will-challenge-chromecast-and-roku-with-a-vudu-streaming-stick.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/walmart-will-challenge-chromecast-and-roku-with-a-vudu-streaming-stick.htmlVideo streaming sticks are going to be pretty huge this holiday season; Google, Amazon, and Roku will all be battling it out on store shelves. But there's more competition coming in the form of Walmart. Recent FCC filings spotted by GigaOm suggest that the massive retailer is preparing to launch its own video-on-demand HDMI dongle called the Vudu Spark. As the name implies, this device's sole purpose is to push Vudu — the Walmart-owned video service — into more living rooms./news/wattam-review-a-whimsical-playground-from-the-creator-of-katamari.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wattam-review-a-whimsical-playground-from-the-creator-of-katamari.htmlIt’s difficult to explain what Wattam is and also make it sound interesting. The latest release from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, Wattam is a whimsical adventure about... well, it’s kind of hard to say. There are puzzles, and there’s a story, but mostly, Wattam is about playing around with 100 anthropomorphized creatures and objects, and seeing what happens when you mix them together. It’s about letting your inner child loose and experimenting./news/we-put-our-blind-faith-in-mercedes-benz-s-first-of-its-kind-autonomous-drive-pilot-feature.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/we-put-our-blind-faith-in-mercedes-benz-s-first-of-its-kind-autonomous-drive-pilot-feature.htmlTypically at a first drive event for a new car, the brand has journalists experience a twisty mountain road or scenic coastal route that best shows off the car’s capabilities. But on this Thursday morning in Los Angeles, I’m getting onto the 10 freeway in Santa Monica and driving to downtown LA with the express goal of hitting as much traffic as possible. I’ve been invited by Mercedes-Benz to experience Drive Pilot, the first (and so far only) SAE Level 3 system for conditionally automated driving that has been approved for sale in Europe and the US./news/what-does-russia-s-invasion-of-ukraine-mean-for-chernobyl.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-does-russia-s-invasion-of-ukraine-mean-for-chernobyl.htmlConflict between Ukrainian and Russian forces near Chernobyl raised fears that the site of the worst nuclear accident in history might be disturbed. The site still contains radioactive debris, which the world has worked to contain in the 36 years since the disaster. Russian troops seized the nuclear power plant today, according to scattered reports from officials, including Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak. “It is impossible to say the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe after a totally pointless attack by the Russians ./news/whatsapp-s-video-call-upgrades-make-it-even-more-zoom-like.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/whatsapp-s-video-call-upgrades-make-it-even-more-zoom-like.htmlMeta is making some improvements to WhatsApp video calls that should make them more useful for conversations with large groups of people. One feature is a speaker spotlight, which automatically highlights the speaker and makes them appear first on-screen, according to a Meta blog post. The company is also improving screen sharing to make it easier to watch videos as a group: if you’re screen sharing and showing a video with audio, the audio is now shared as well./news/where-everyone-s-an-influencer-and-everything-s-for-sale.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/where-everyone-s-an-influencer-and-everything-s-for-sale.htmlFlip is filled with influencer videos, if they were made by aliens. They follow the familiar cadence of sponsored content flooding TikTok or Instagram, but something is always just a little bit off — as if the creator is mimicking from memory a video they once saw, selling a lamp shaped like a mushroom.  First: an out-of-focus video of a bottle of shampoo, camera panning as the user tries to get a decent angle in a dark room./news/whited00r-brings-latest-ios-enhancements-to-the-devices-apple-left-behind.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/whited00r-brings-latest-ios-enhancements-to-the-devices-apple-left-behind.htmlNot everyone upgrades their handset on a regular basis, and if for whatever reason you've been saddled with the original iPhone or iPod touch for the last several years, you've had to watch as updated hardware revisions brought new iOS enhancements that were simply unavailable to your device. Whited00r, which cobbles together some of the standout features from iOS 4 and iOS 5 — multitasking, folders, background customization, etc. — in an unsanctioned package that seeks to inject new life into Apple's older products./news/why-anchorman-s-that-escalated-quickly-escalated-quickly.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-anchorman-s-that-escalated-quickly-escalated-quickly.htmlIn August 2012, the Anchorman quote, "That escalated quickly," became tremendously popular almost overnight. Which is to say, it escalated quickly. Historian Vanessa Heggie spotted the sharp spike of interest in "Well, that escalated quickly" on Google Trends, then shared her findings with a tweet that's been retweeted over 2,220 times in the past 24 hours. Yes, it's escalated quickly, too. This... this is a joke by google, right? pic.twitter.com/lT51sHn23G/news/why-vine-died-the-verge.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-vine-died-the-verge.htmlThe thing about Vine becoming the internet’s premier tool for making short-form videos is that it happened almost completely by accident. Its founders had envisioned their tool for making 6-second clips as a way to help people capture casual moments in their lives and share them with friends. It was part of their pitch to Twitter, which bought the company for a reported $30 million in October 2012, seeing it as a near-perfect video analog to its flagship app’s short-form text posts./news/wireless-earbuds-can-actually-help-you-hear-conversations-better.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wireless-earbuds-can-actually-help-you-hear-conversations-better.htmlEarlier this week, a reader contacted me with a dilemma: his wife has always had super sharp hearing when it comes to environmental / ambient noise. She can “hear a gnat blink at 1,000 yards. Forty years ago, she could hear electronic clocks running,” he said. And so they’ve been in search of a solution that would help eliminate some of that background clamor while still helping her clearly hear conversations happening directly in front of her./news/you-can-get-super-mario-odyssey-for-free-when-you-buy-a-switch-pro-controller.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-can-get-super-mario-odyssey-for-free-when-you-buy-a-switch-pro-controller.htmlJust when you thought retailers had put up their best deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Walmart comes in with this excellent Switch Pro controller bundle. Priced at $70 (the regular price for this controller), you’ll get a free download code for Super Mario Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch with purchase. That $60 game has so far avoided any big price cuts this holiday season, so it’s great to see it included here./news/youtube-music-can-now-show-lyrics-on-its-ios-and-android-apps.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-music-can-now-show-lyrics-on-its-ios-and-android-apps.htmlYouTube Music users can now read lyrics while listening to a song on the service’s iOS and Android apps, the company announced today. To see lyrics, when you’ve got a song open in the app, just tap the “i” button on the left side of the screen. The lyrics will then show up under the tracking bar for the song. Here’s what the lyrics screen looks like for me for Tame Impala’s “One More Year” on the YouTube Music iOS app:/news/youtube-apple-spotify-the-best-streaming-music-app-does-not-exist.htmlWed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-apple-spotify-the-best-streaming-music-app-does-not-exist.htmlHi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 29, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, I promise I don’t always complain about music streaming, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)  I also have for you a cheap new smartphone, a cheap(er) electric car, a fun new show on Netflix, a high-end webcam, and yet another reason to watch John Oliver./news/the-10-best-video-games-of-2015.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-10-best-video-games-of-2015.htmlBatman: Arkham Knight PC, PS4, Xbox One The power fantasy at the heart of Batman: Arkham Knight remains one of the most seductive in all of gaming: spend enough time brawling, blasting, and winching, and you can liberate an entire metropolis with a single tool belt and tank. (Seriously, you’re going to be doing a lot of winching.) You can spend hours soaring above Gotham’s skyline, tuning into radio dispatches from friends and foes alike./news/celebgate-attack-leaks-nude-photos-of-celebrities.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/celebgate-attack-leaks-nude-photos-of-celebrities.htmlWhat appeared to be genuine nude photos of more than 100 celebrities were published online over Labor Day weekend, 2014, in a mass attack dubbed "Celebgate." The celebrities pictured included Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, who confirmed the photos were real, and pop star Ariana Grande, who said they were fake, among dozens of other A-list actors and musicians. The photos were first posted on the forum 4chan and then circulated on the Reddit subsection r/TheFappening./news/house-of-cards-review-you-ve-got-to-get-a-grip-on-who-your-masters-are.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/house-of-cards-review-you-ve-got-to-get-a-grip-on-who-your-masters-are.htmlSpoiler alert: to the best of my knowledge, this review contains no spoilers of House of Cards with regard to its plot. It focuses on the mood, style, characters, and language of the show, and to that end quotes much of its best dialogue. This should bother those who fear plot spoilers more, but I suspect it doesn't. If you are bothered by this, go watch the first hour — it's free — and then come back./news/minecraft-creator-s-new-game-makes-a-statement-with-weird-horse-physics.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/minecraft-creator-s-new-game-makes-a-statement-with-weird-horse-physics.htmlMarkus "Notch" Persson's latest game is all about a horse and a ball. It involves leading the quadruped aimlessly along mountainous terrain, sometimes nudging a giant sphere around the same environment, and little more. According to a Reddit post, Cliffhorse was inspired by Notch's own references to the notoriously strange equine physics in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. "I also threw in a loving jab at paying for early access."/news/a-history-of-the-windows-start-menu.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-history-of-the-windows-start-menu.htmlMicrosoft’s Start menu is a big deal. It’s the first thing many people think of when they think of Windows, or even Microsoft. The simple Start menu has existed for more than 20 years now. It started off as a way to make Windows easier to use, and now it’s the center of how we interact with Windows on a daily basis. Whether it’s launching apps, searching for documents, or simply shutting down your PC, you probably use the Start menu more than you think./news/a-lawsuit-has-been-filed-for-the-first-time-under-nyc-s-new-revenge-porn-law.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-lawsuit-has-been-filed-for-the-first-time-under-nyc-s-new-revenge-porn-law.htmlWhat appears to be New York City’s first suit under a new revenge porn law was filed last week by a CUNY associate professor of public health against an ex-boyfriend and a group of anonymous individuals that allegedly used Tumblr to distribute pornographic images of her, reports Motherboard. While New York state law currently protects individuals when sexually explicit images are taken and shared without their knowledge, that does not apply when the images were willingly shared./news/a-modder-has-made-a-nintendo-64-that-s-smaller-than-the-original-s-controller.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-modder-has-made-a-nintendo-64-that-s-smaller-than-the-original-s-controller.htmlTaking an old console and making it as small as possible is a well-established tradition in the modding community, and there may be a new victor in the race to shrink the Nintendo 64 as far as possible (via Input). GmanModz has cut down an N64 to the point where it’s smaller than a GameCube controller — and only slightly bigger than the cartridges it takes. The mod versus an N64 controller./news/a-new-kickstarter-project-will-publish-an-undiscovered-novel-that-inspired-the-thing.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-new-kickstarter-project-will-publish-an-undiscovered-novel-that-inspired-the-thing.htmlJohn Carpenter’s The Thing is a classic science fiction horror film that has scared audiences for decades. But the film was inspired by an earlier story published in the 1930s, “Who Goes There?” by noted editor John W. Campbell Jr., and it turns out that that there’s more to that story. A researcher recently discovered an unpublished, novel-length manuscript of the story, and a small press is using Kickstarter to publish it./news/acer-is-bringing-its-glasses-free-3d-screen-to-a-more-affordable-laptop.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/acer-is-bringing-its-glasses-free-3d-screen-to-a-more-affordable-laptop.htmlDespite the pictures, I solemnly swear that, in person, that astronaut on the new Acer Aspire 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition was reaching their arms out to me. I’ve rolled my eyes at 3D displays before, but this time, it looked so realistic that I poked the astronaut’s tummy like it was the Pillsbury Doughboy. I wasn’t wearing glasses, and the whole thing was equal parts weird and cool. That’s exactly the sort of thing you expect to see at CES 2024 on some far-out, high-end concept tech, but this 3D laptop is coming out next month for around the same price as a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air./news/adobe-won-t-compromise-on-uk-s-attempt-to-block-figma-merger.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/adobe-won-t-compromise-on-uk-s-attempt-to-block-figma-merger.htmlUpdate December 18th, 8:30AM ET: Adobe and Figma announced they have terminated their merger agreement — get all the latest details here. Our original article follows below. Adobe is, unsurprisingly, standing its ground after the UK’s competition watchdog slammed the brakes on its $20 billion plan to purchase the cloud-based product design platform Figma. Last month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally determined that the deal would harm the product design software market should it go ahead — effectively blocking the acquisition until Adobe addressed the regulator’s concerns, which involves the divestiture of “overlapping operations” like Figma Design and the company’s competing Adobe XD app./news/advance-wars-1-2-re-boot-camp-review-great-games-age-beautifully.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/advance-wars-1-2-re-boot-camp-review-great-games-age-beautifully.htmlAdvance Wars turns all-out warfare into play. In each stage, you shift tiny little combatants around a map as if they were plastic figures on a table, taking turns with your opponent to knock each other out. For a game about warring nations, it’s incredibly cute and charming, turning tanks and bomber planes into something akin to toys. That premise, combined with the game’s deep yet accessible strategic combat, has turned into something of a cult classic for Nintendo — and it turns out, it’s still just as good two decades later./news/aim-will-shut-down-after-20-years.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/aim-will-shut-down-after-20-years.htmlIt’s a sad moment: AIM, AOL’s long-running instant messenger service that was core to many people’s first social experiences on the internet, will shut down once and for all on December 15th. AOL announced the shutdown today, acknowledging that people now communicate in new ways online, so AIM is no longer needed. “AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed,” writes Michael Albers, communications products VP at Oath (the Verizon behemoth that consumed AOL)./news/airpods-lineup-comparison-which-should-you-buy.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/airpods-lineup-comparison-which-should-you-buy.htmlIn addition to new MacBooks on October 18th, Apple finally also introduced itsthird-generation AirPods, which are set to ship on October 26th for $179 and are available for preorder now. Apple also lowered the cost of the now-entry-level AirPods 2 from $159 to $129 and will now only sell the version that comes with a wired charging case. As a result, the AirPods lineup now consists of four models of AirPods: the $129 AirPods 2, the $179 AirPods 3, the $249 AirPods Pro, and the $549 AirPods Max./news/amazon-driver-was-warned-she-d-be-fired-for-returning-with-packages-during-a-tornado.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-driver-was-warned-she-d-be-fired-for-returning-with-packages-during-a-tornado.htmlAn Amazon delivery driver in Illinois was told to keep delivering packages after she reported hearing tornado sirens, with the dispatcher saying that the sirens were “just a warning.” According to a report by Bloomberg, which includes screenshots of the conversation, the driver was told that returning to the warehouse would be viewed as a route refusal, “which [would] ultimately end with you not having a job come tomorrow morning.” The conversation reportedly happened on Friday evening, around an hour and a half before a tornado hit an Amazon facility around 30 miles away from the driver./news/amazon-is-confusing-londoners-by-changing-the-name-of-westminster-tube.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-is-confusing-londoners-by-changing-the-name-of-westminster-tube.htmlLast December, Amazon launched a new clutch of data centers in London to support its extremely profitable cloud service business. You probably don’t care and almost certainly didn’t notice, and so to remedy this situation, Amazon has decided to confuse London’s commuters. The company has temporarily fiddled with the signage in the central Westminster Tube station (“alight for Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament”), changing the name on maps and roundels in the station to read “Webminster” instead./news/amazon-prime-now-streaming-shows-from-travel-channel-food-network-hgtv-others.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-prime-now-streaming-shows-from-travel-channel-food-network-hgtv-others.htmlAmazon today announced it's signed a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive that will bring TV content from a slew of channels including the Travel Channel, Food Network, HGTV, DIY Network, and Cooking Channel to Prime Instant Video. It's the first such online-only subscription distribution agreement anyone has reached with Scripps, representing the latest salvo fired in an escalating licensing battle with Netflix. Scripps content will be available starting today, with popular shows including Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Iron Chef America, Man vs./news/an-old-surface-pro-x-meets-a-new-keyboard.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/an-old-surface-pro-x-meets-a-new-keyboard.htmlAn old Surface Pro X meets a new keyboard. Microsoft’s commitment to compatibility is unwavering when it comes to the Surface Pro. I’ve managed to get the new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard working on an original Surface Pro X from 2019, and the keyboard from a Pro X working with the Surface Pro 11th Edition. All you have to do is snap these keyboards into place. It’s a lot more magical than Apple’s Magic keyboards./news/andrew-yang-is-the-candidate-for-the-end-of-the-world.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/andrew-yang-is-the-candidate-for-the-end-of-the-world.htmlAndrew Yang can’t quite believe he’s running for president. On a chilly Wednesday night at Boston Common, he’s speaking to a crowd of more than 500, the kind of audience most outsider candidates would kill for. His staff has primed the crowd to respond, telling us to cheer “math” when he talks numbers and leading us in a three-beat cheer. “An! Drew! Yang! An! Drew! Yang!” When Yang gets on the bandstand, he seems to find the whole thing sort of funny./news/apple-ipad-air-2-review.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-ipad-air-2-review.htmlAt the most basic level, the iPad Air 2 is a monumental achievement in the field of iterative improvement. From a distance, it’s almost impossible to tell the iPad Air and iPad Air 2 apart. The basics of the design are exactly the same: the same proportions, the same polished chamfered edges, the same layout of ports and speakers and buttons. All that’s missing is the side switch, which was extremely useful as a rotation lock or mute switch./news/apple-macbook-pro-13-2022-review-new-chip-old-threads.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-macbook-pro-13-2022-review-new-chip-old-threads.htmlI don’t really care what the M2 MacBook Pro gets on benchmarks.  I know that sounds like an odd statement coming from someone who runs benchmarks for a living, but this is not a device where they matter all that much because, if you’re the kind of person running benchmarks or the kind of person to whom benchmark scores are at all relevant, I’m going to tell you right at the top that you shouldn’t be buying this./news/apple-said-roblox-developers-don-t-make-games-and-now-roblox-agrees.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-said-roblox-developers-don-t-make-games-and-now-roblox-agrees.htmlMassively popular game creation tool Roblox is now a massively popular experience creation tool Roblox, possibly in response to the ongoing Epic v. Apple trial. Roblox allows a variety of user-created projects on its platform, and until earlier this week, these were all grouped under a tab called “Games” on Roblox’s website. Roblox creators could create and manage “games” through an editor, and individual games had a user limit called “max players./news/apple-s-new-lightning-to-usb-c-iphone-cables-and-dongles-are-here.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-new-lightning-to-usb-c-iphone-cables-and-dongles-are-here.htmlTo make the transition easier, Apple is now selling a bunch of predictably expensive new cables and dongles. Starting with the one you’re almost certainly going to need to buy: the USB-C to Lightning Adapter, a $29.99 dongle into which you plug your Lightning device or cable and then plug the dongle into your new phone. If you’re ready to live the USB-C life entirely, you can buy Apple’s one-meter charging cable, which is $19 and will charge at up to 60 watts./news/apple-s-sci-fi-thriller-constellation-gets-haunting-first-trailer.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-sci-fi-thriller-constellation-gets-haunting-first-trailer.htmlThe show stars Noomi Rapace as an astronaut who “returns to Earth after a disaster in space — only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be missing.” In the trailer, this appears to manifest itself as a series of mysteries — a strange piano, an unknown voice on a tape recorder — along with plenty of unsettling hallucinations. The rest of the cast includes Jonathan Banks, James D’Arcy, Julian Looman, William Catlett, and Barbara Sukowa, and the series is being helmed by creator and writer Peter Harness (Doctor Who)./news/arlo-raises-the-price-of-its-single-camera-subscription-plan.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/arlo-raises-the-price-of-its-single-camera-subscription-plan.htmlIn more “things are just getting expensive” news, the Arlo Secure subscription service is climbing. Again. This time, it’s going from $4.99 to $7.99 for a single camera or video doorbell. This 60 percent price hike comes on the heels of an increase early last year from $2.99 to $4.99. According to an email sent to single-camera users from Arlo and posted on Reddit, the change is “due to increasing costs and investment in developing innovative solutions./news/asus-zenwatch-3-review-basic-is-as-basic-does.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-zenwatch-3-review-basic-is-as-basic-does.htmlAsus finally got around to updating the ZenWatch 3 to Android Wear 2.0. I’ve been wearing it on and off (no pun intended) for a couple months now, and I have been waiting patiently to see if the new software would change the experience of this smartwatch before publishing a review. It basically didn’t. It’s a fine enough smartwatch, providing most of the things I really care about in a smartwatch./news/audio-technica-dsr9bt-review-the-best-sometimes.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/audio-technica-dsr9bt-review-the-best-sometimes.htmlHere’s an example of a product that’s impossible to grade with a single score: the Audio-Technica DSR9BT headphones. They are unique both technologically and practically, providing the best sound out of any wireless headphone yet, but only in limited circumstances. They outperform every other pair of Bluetooth headphones when listened to in a quiet environment, but they fail miserably when taken out into the din of a busy street. I’ve been excited about the $549 DSR9BTs since I first heard Bjork’s Homogenic through them at CES in January./news/barnes-noble-is-going-back-to-its-indie-roots-to-compete-with-amazon.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/barnes-noble-is-going-back-to-its-indie-roots-to-compete-with-amazon.htmlIn this installment of our Centennial Series on companies that are over 100 years old, we are talking to Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt. The last few decades have thrown some hurdles in Barnes & Noble’s way, however. Far from being the monster that inspired the plot of the movie You’ve Got Mail, it’s had to face down a new Goliath called Amazon and the general decline of big-box retail stores./news/bless-california-health-officials-for-trying-to-stay-relevant-with-dated-memes.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bless-california-health-officials-for-trying-to-stay-relevant-with-dated-memes.htmlAt first, I felt bad for Drake! I mean, wow, that's a low meme moment to have your popular single appropriated for West Nile awareness. But then, something happened. I began to admire California Public Health. Its total ownership of memes and attempt to make millennials care about diseased mosquitoes is impressive! Like a dad doing five minutes at an open-mic night about how much he loves his wife and kids, it’s admirably embarrassing./news/bluesky-is-starting-to-feel-like-twitter.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bluesky-is-starting-to-feel-like-twitter.htmlBluesky might be the Twitter-like we’ve been waiting for. Yes, I know it’s still invite-only. Yes, I know there are only thousands of people on the platform right now. Yes, I know that it’s still missing table-stakes features like video uploads and DMs.  Still, I’m starting to feel that Bluesky is where it’s at. It happened over the last few days. Bluesky — the decentralized Twitter alternative spun up by Twitter itself — has suddenly filled up with tech media and other people I follow on Twitter./news/boost-mobile-to-offer-htc-design-4g.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/boost-mobile-to-offer-htc-design-4g.htmlTop-tier smartphones have typically been reserved for those with contracts on big carriers, but things are looking up for customers on prepaid plans looking for quality hardware. Pocketnow reports that Boost Mobile could be releasing the HTC Evo Design 4G on its network before the end of the quarter. This handset could mark a new high point in Boost's portfolio, easily besting the former prepaid flagship the LG Marquee and even Virgin Mobile's frontrunner, the Motorola Triumph./news/bose-sleepbuds-can-silence-snores-and-barking-dogs.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bose-sleepbuds-can-silence-snores-and-barking-dogs.htmlTwo years ago we discovered a rather remarkable set of smart earplugs from a company called Hush that could silence the noise around you as you slept. Then the company suddenly went quiet, and stopped returning our calls. Now we know why: Hush was acquired by Bose, which has resurrected the noise-masking buds with a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.  Here, take a look at Sam Byford's test of the Hush buds from the CES 2016 tradeshow (with me yelling at him in the background):/news/boston-dynamics-turned-its-robot-dog-into-a-talking-tour-guide-with-chatgpt.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/boston-dynamics-turned-its-robot-dog-into-a-talking-tour-guide-with-chatgpt.htmlWe saw Spot run, jump, and even dance... but now we can see Spot talk. In a somewhat unsettling video posted by Boston Dynamics, we see its robot dog outfitted with a top hat, mustache, and googly eyes as it chats with staff members in a British accent, taking them on a tour of the company’s facilities. “Shall we commence our journey?” Spot asks. “The charging stations, where Spot robots rest and recharge, is our first point of interest./news/buzzfeed-s-new-social-media-card-game-is-an-easy-way-to-harass-people.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/buzzfeed-s-new-social-media-card-game-is-an-easy-way-to-harass-people.htmlIf you’ve ever accidentally sent an embarrassing text to the wrong person, you know the horrible, sinking feeling that settles in your chest when you realize that your ill-considered words or provocative photos have gone astray — and there’s no taking them back. That sense of horror is the animating force behind Social Sabotage, BuzzFeed’s new “awkward party game.” The concept is simple: players receive cards that tell them where to share a message or video (your Facebook New Feed, your mom, your ex) and what to share (the picture in your camera roll, a text that says “I love the smell of my own farts”)./news/can-apple-be-trusted-with-the-app-store.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/can-apple-be-trusted-with-the-app-store.htmlOn the App Store, Apple is legislator, judge, jury, and executioner. Apple makes the rules. It has the final say about which apps you can officially purchase, download, and use on your iPhone or iPad. And importantly, Apple can change its mind at any time and make an app disappear — even to promote Apple’s own apps at the expense of a competitor and even if that competitor is a small business that relies on the App Store for its very existence./news/cbs-has-ordered-its-own-true-crime-tv-show-about-the-murder-of-jonben%C3%A9t-ramsey.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cbs-has-ordered-its-own-true-crime-tv-show-about-the-murder-of-jonben%C3%A9t-ramsey.htmlLikely eyeing the recent success of shows such as Making a Murderer, The Jinx, and American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, CBS has ordered its own true crime anthology series. The as-yet unnamed show will be unscripted, and feature a new case every season, starting with the murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey on the 20th anniversary of her death. The Hollywood Reporter says an episode count has yet to be determined, but that it may have a limited 10-episode run — like Netflix's Making a Murderer — and may hit screens as soon as this fall./news/christopher-nolan-s-new-film-dunkirk-is-being-projected-on-70mm-film-in-125-theaters.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/christopher-nolan-s-new-film-dunkirk-is-being-projected-on-70mm-film-in-125-theaters.htmlDirector Christopher Nolan has made no secret of his preference for film over digital capture and projection, but his latest project Dunkirk is going to represent something of a high-water mark. According to Variety, the World War II drama will be projected on 70mm film in 125 theaters, topping the 100 theaters that showed Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight back in 2015. That makes it the widest 70mm release in 25 years./news/close-up-floppy-disks-and-fashion-in-halt-and-catch-fire.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/close-up-floppy-disks-and-fashion-in-halt-and-catch-fire.htmlWe love TV and we love recaps, but a lot of times it’s not the big-picture plot developments that make a show great. It’s the little things; the details in the dialogue, set design, props, and performance. With Close Up, we’ll be taking a look at the coolest moments and most interesting details in some of our favorite shows. Today we’re looking at the latest episode of Halt and Catch Fire: “Close to the Metal./news/complaint-filed-against-a-toy-channel-on-youtube-could-lead-to-ad-changes.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/complaint-filed-against-a-toy-channel-on-youtube-could-lead-to-ad-changes.htmlThe line between an advertisement and entertaining content is blurry on YouTube, and a children’s rights watchdog group is asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to step in. The group Truth in Advertising has filed a complaint with the FTC over one specific YouTube creator’s channel — Ryan ToysReview. Hosted by seven-year-old Ryan Kaji (but run by his parents), the channel often finds Kaji playing with and unboxing toys. The complaint states that Kaji’s parents didn’t disclose paid sponsorships from companies like Chuck E./news/consumer-reports-gives-its-recommendation-back-to-microsoft-s-surface-laptops.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/consumer-reports-gives-its-recommendation-back-to-microsoft-s-surface-laptops.htmlBut “Microsoft’s reliability is now on-par with most other laptop brands,” says Martin Lachter, a senior research associate at Consumer Reports — which is good news for both Microsoft and anyone considering buying a Surface, especially with the company rumored to announce refreshed hardware in October. Good news for Microsoft ahead of its upcoming Surface event Consumer Reports originally revoked its recommendations after a survey of 90,000 laptop and tablet owners found that 25 percent of Surface users reported having problems by the end of their second year owning the device./news/corsair-s-first-standing-desk-is-designed-for-gaming-streaming-and-more.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/corsair-s-first-standing-desk-is-designed-for-gaming-streaming-and-more.htmlCorsair’s Platform:6 is a modular standing desk that’s being targeted at everyone from remote workers to content creators and, naturally, PC gamers. It’ll be available to purchase in the fourth quarter of this year, but Corsair’s website isn’t currently listing any prices for the desk or its many, many accessories. With the Platform:6 due to be offered in multiple configurations that are customizable via an online configurator, it’s a little tricky to work out what’s included as standard, and what’s available as a modular upgrade./news/cowboy-4-e-bike-owners-getting-free-adaptive-power-update.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cowboy-4-e-bike-owners-getting-free-adaptive-power-update.htmlCowboy’s latest 4 and 4ST e-bikes are being treated to a free software update today that adds a new adaptive power feature meant to automatically overcome any resistance as it occurs, be it a hill, blast of wind, or kid in a baby seat. Cowboy is also adding three new color options for its 4ST step-through model. According to Cowboy, its proprietary software feature works at low and high speeds and doesn’t require any gear changes — fine, because the company only sells belt-driven single-speed e-bikes./news/dc-universe-has-canceled-swamp-thing.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dc-universe-has-canceled-swamp-thing.htmlDC Universe has announced that it has canceled its latest live-action TV series Swamp Thing, just after the show’s first episode premiered last week. It’s the first of DC Universe’s slate of shows to get the axe. Launched last year, DC Universe is designed as a one-stop shop for all things from DC, providing subscribers with a massive library of existing comic books, films, and TV shows, along with a whole bunch of live-action and animated original dramas./news/deadpool-s-tim-miller-is-set-to-direct-the-neuromancer-movie.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/deadpool-s-tim-miller-is-set-to-direct-the-neuromancer-movie.htmlWilliam Gibson’s Neuromancer is one of the best-known works of cyberpunk, and has helped influence countless films, from The Matrix to Ghost in the Shell. According to Deadline, Deadpool director Tim Miller is now signed to direct a film adaptation for Fox, with X-Men franchise architect Simon Kinberg set to produce. Miller and Kinberg seems like an ideal pairing to take on the film. Neuromancer is a famously gritty cyberpunk thriller, and Miller’s direction with Deadpool shows that he’s certainly capable of delivering the sort of stylistic take Gibson’s world deserves./news/death-of-a-meme-facebook-and-google-do-the-harlem-shake.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/death-of-a-meme-facebook-and-google-do-the-harlem-shake.htmlNow the meme has truly reached the mainstream, after only a matter of days, it feels played to death. The uploads on YouTube might be trending up, but the Today Show put the nail in the coffin recently with valentine's day hearts. After all, an internet meme is only fun until your parents find out about it. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnamtfZ3xygI5scHFvZ2d%2FcLLAnJybp5%2Bgeqi7zqCjnmWVor2tu9ienKxlmJa%2FrbHMZqqhmZuaere1w56mrA%3D%3D/news/ditch-taskrabbit-and-do-your-own-laundry.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ditch-taskrabbit-and-do-your-own-laundry.htmlEarlier this week, after drinks with co-workers near The Verge’s New York office, I headed down into the subway for my commute home. The M train, like most New York subways, is often delayed. When the train mysteriously stopped somewhere under the East River, I found myself sitting across from a series of ads for TaskRabbit, a gig platform that lets anyone outsource menial labor to on-demand employees. Moving a couch?/news/dogs-make-more-faces-when-you-re-paying-attention.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dogs-make-more-faces-when-you-re-paying-attention.htmlIf you’ve looked into a dog’s soulful eyes and watched his eyebrows lift, you already know what scientists have today confirmed: dogs may use their facial expressions to communicate with us. Though what exactly they’re trying to say is still a mystery — at least as far as scientists are concerned. Dogs of different breeds were put in a room with a person, who was asked to either face the dog or a wall./news/draw-like-it-s-1989-with-this-kid-pix-web-app.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/draw-like-it-s-1989-with-this-kid-pix-web-app.htmlIt has the expected tools like paint brushes, rubber stamps, shapes, and letters, all scored by Kid Pix’s highly memorable sound effects. The sounds and Kid Pix’s somewhat inscrutable interface are the real draw here. The program’s inherent playfulness encourages you to explore, even if you’re not a kid anymore. You can see a spokesperson from Kid Pix’s first publisher Broderbund talk through some of the original app’s features below:/news/epic-v-google-everything-we-re-learning-live-in-fortnite-court.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-v-google-everything-we-re-learning-live-in-fortnite-court.htmlGoogle addresses the chat elephant in the room — briefly. “I’m sorry, your honor, but I believe this is contrary to the court’s order,” interrupts Epic lead attorney Gary Bornstein, The judge lets Google’s attorney proceed but tells him to “walk carefully.” “Consider this: the facts remain unchanged. The data remains unchanged,” begins Kravis. “Time and again during this trial, you saw Epic overreach,” he adds, explaining how Epic wasn’t able to prove things like Project Hug were direct bribes or that Samsung was in collusion with Google./news/etsy-removes-proud-boy-merchandise.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/etsy-removes-proud-boy-merchandise.htmlEtsy has removed a range of items related to the far-right Proud Boys organization, telling The Verge that selling such items violates the company’s policies prohibiting “among other things, hate against protected identities [and] attempting to incite violence against individuals or groups.” Merchandise for the Proud Boys gained new attention following President Donald Trump’s refusal to denounce the group and other white supremacist and rightwing militias at the presidential debate last week./news/eufy-dual-video-doorbell-review-double-the-cameras-double-the-safety.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/eufy-dual-video-doorbell-review-double-the-cameras-double-the-safety.htmlImportant Note: Eufy recently suffered some security vulnerabilities, which the company was not transparent about. We temporarily removed our recommendations while the company worked on a fix. While the security flaws appear to have been resolved, the company’s lack of transparency is something to consider before purchasing a Eufy camera. You can read more about the issues and Eufy’s solutions here. Innovations in video doorbells are coming hot and fast. Each new product touts a “better” way to keep an eye on that precious piece of property — your front porch./news/facebook-and-instagram-account-takeovers-are-skyrocketing-and-meta-needs-to-fix-it-ags-say.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-and-instagram-account-takeovers-are-skyrocketing-and-meta-needs-to-fix-it-ags-say.htmlFacebook and Instagram account takeovers are skyrocketing and Meta needs to fix it, AGs say. 41 attorneys general sent a letter to Meta’s chief legal officer Tuesday demanding the company invest more in stopping scam account takeovers that threaten users’ privacy and “drain” AG resources. The problem has gotten significantly worse over the past few years, the AGs said. In New York, Meta account takeover complaints spiked from 73 in 2019 to 783 by the end of 2023./news/facebook-introducing-save-for-later-feature.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-introducing-save-for-later-feature.htmlFacebook is reportedly rolling out an update to its mobile platform that allows users to save friends' posts for reading later. According to iMore, users will soon see a notification letting them know that they can 'press and hold anywhere on a story to save it for later.' Saved stories will appear in users' favorites folder across all their devices. The update is to Facebook's mobile platform rather than its apps, and is apparently working through both the mobile website and iOS apps./news/fargo-creator-noah-hawley-is-working-on-a-cat-s-cradle-tv-series.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fargo-creator-noah-hawley-is-working-on-a-cat-s-cradle-tv-series.htmlShowrunner Noah Hawley has had remarkable success with his television adaptation of Fargo, and now he's working on turning another well-known work into TV: Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hawley is developing a limited series for FX based on the novel, which he will write and executive produce. It marks the third project that Hawley has cooking for the network; not only is FX the home of Fargo, now in its second season, but Hawley is developing the comic book adaptation Legion for them as well./news/fire-emblem-shadow-dragon-and-the-blade-of-light-is-getting-its-first-english-release.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fire-emblem-shadow-dragon-and-the-blade-of-light-is-getting-its-first-english-release.htmlFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is launching in the US for the first time ever. The tactical roleplaying game, originally released in 1990, will be available on the Nintendo Switch for $5.99 on December 4th. As the first game in the Fire Emblem series, Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light stars Marth, a character best known Stateside for his appearance in Super Smash Bros. The Switch edition of the game will include fast-forward, rewind, and save state features./news/fortnite-the-verge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-the-verge.htmlEpic Games has been prepping for Fortnite’s recent launches for six years. Donald Mustard, who used to head up Fortnite’s story, shared a six-year-old sketch of how the team at Epic Games imagined Fortnite could evolve from a battle royale hit into a series of different experiences connected by a central “hub.” Following the recent avalanche of launches for the Lego, racing, and music modes, it’s remarkable how close the game has actually come to the vision in the sketch./news/from-gpt-4o-to-gemini-the-ai-assistants-are-getting-better-fast.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/from-gpt-4o-to-gemini-the-ai-assistants-are-getting-better-fast.htmlHi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 38, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and you can also read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)  This week, I’ve been writing about iPads and the future of Google, watching American Fiction and Bodkin, rewatching Her because of… reasons, endlessly replaying the songs of Windows95man, learning how to make better sandwiches, testing Claude for AI stuff, and listening to the new-old Childish Gambino album./news/gm-s-plan-to-make-more-electric-trucks-keeps-running-into-delays.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gm-s-plan-to-make-more-electric-trucks-keeps-running-into-delays.htmlGeneral Motors’ plan to make more electric trucks has run into another snag. The company had originally planned to kick off production of its EV trucks at its Orion facility in Detroit in 2024 — but now it won’t get started until late 2025. GM said it’s delaying production “to better manage capital investment while aligning with evolving EV demand.” Another reason cited is “engineering improvements” aimed at improving profitability. Orion is where GM currently builds its Chevy Bolt EV and EUV, both of which are ceasing production at the end of 2023./news/google-assistant-on-the-galaxy-watch-4-is-great-except-for-one-thing.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-assistant-on-the-galaxy-watch-4-is-great-except-for-one-thing.htmlWhen Google and Samsung announced Wear OS 3 last year, I had lots of questions about how well Google services would run on Samsung hardware. Of Google’s expansive suite of apps, I was most curious about Google Assistant. The only catch was it wasn’t available when the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup launched — and there were only vague promises as to when it would actually be available. But yesterday, Google Assistant finally arrived on the Galaxy Watch 4, and after a few hours of playing around with it, I’m cautiously optimistic./news/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-on-leaving-retirement-to-work-on-ai.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-on-leaving-retirement-to-work-on-ai.htmlLast Saturday, about 200 people crowded into the ballroom of a $68 million Silicon Valley mansion for a hackathon.  As the room filled with AI startup founders, investors, and researchers, the microphone was unceremoniously handed to a curly-haired man wearing a T-shirt and cargo pants. Without introducing himself, he explained that he was there to stall for the event’s surprise speaker, who was running late. “I’m always expected to have brilliant insights into the world of tech and AI and so forth,” he told the room./news/google-defends-ai-search-results-after-they-told-us-to-put-glue-on-pizza.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-defends-ai-search-results-after-they-told-us-to-put-glue-on-pizza.htmlLast week, Google rolled out its AI search results for millions of users to tinker with. The goal was to deliver a better search experience. Instead, AI delivered all sorts of weird results, like saying people should put glue on their pizza to help the cheese stick and eat rocks. Now, in a company blog post published Thursday by Google’s head of search, Liz Reid, the tech giant blames “data voids” for the inaccurate results, along with people making up odd questions, and doubled down by claiming that AI results are leading to “higher satisfaction” with Search./news/google-maps-will-let-you-see-your-routes-in-3d.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-maps-will-let-you-see-your-routes-in-3d.htmlGoogle Maps is bringing its recently launched Immersive View to your travel routes, which could make it much easier to understand where you want to go. The new feature, which Google calls Immersive View for routes, was announced at Google I/O 2023 on Wednesday. Immersive View currently offers a 3D view of a place and adds information like weather or traffic to give you a better idea of what’s going on at that location./news/google-releases-android-11-developer-preview-earlier-than-expected.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-releases-android-11-developer-preview-earlier-than-expected.htmlTypically, Google releases a preview of the upcoming version of Android sometime in March. This year, it’s doing it earlier than ever with the release of the first developer preview of Android 11 for Pixel phones. The emphasis this year is on the developer part of the developer preview, as it doesn’t seem as though there will be major UI or UX changes in this early iteration. (Those will likely come at the Google I/O conference in May./news/google-still-recommends-glue-for-your-pizza.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-still-recommends-glue-for-your-pizza.htmlI will grant the query “how much glue to add to pizza” is an unusual one — but not that unusual given the recent uproar around glue pizza. As spotted by Colin McMillen on Bluesky, if you ask Google how much glue to add to your pizza, the right answer — none! — does not appear. Instead, it cites our girl Katie suggesting you add an eighth of a cup. Whoops!/news/google-s-new-geothermal-energy-project-is-up-and-running.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-new-geothermal-energy-project-is-up-and-running.htmlA first-of-its-kind geothermal project is now up and running in Nevada, where it will help power Google’s data centers with clean energy. Google is partnering with startup Fervo, which has developed new technology for harnessing geothermal power. Since they’re using different tactics than traditional geothermal plants, it is a relatively small project with the capacity to generate 3.5 MW. For context, one megawatt is enough to meet the demand of roughly 750 homes./news/gwen-stefani-s-first-album-in-a-decade-will-come-out-in-march.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gwen-stefani-s-first-album-in-a-decade-will-come-out-in-march.htmlAfter a decade spent focusing on fashion, motherhood, and TV shows like The Voice, Gwen Stefani is focusing on her solo career again. This Is What the Truth Feels Like is Stefani's first solo LP since 2006's The Sweet Escape, and it's scheduled for release on March 18th. (It's her first substantive release since her band No Doubt came together for 2012's reunion effort Push and Shove.) Stefani is promoting the album by filming a "/news/here-s-what-we-know-samsung-s-bixby-assistant-can-do-on-the-galaxy-s8.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-what-we-know-samsung-s-bixby-assistant-can-do-on-the-galaxy-s8.htmlSamsung’s new virtual assistant, Bixby, is a different sort of thing than what you’re used to. Where Siri, Google, and Alexa are focused on collecting and understanding information out on the internet and then answering your questions about it, Bixby is trying to help you use your own phone. Samsung’s goal is to make it so that if you don’t want to, you don’t have to touch your device at all — “anything you can do with touch, you can do with voice” is the common refrain we’ve heard from them./news/hey-remember-that-time-google-accidentally-made-skynet.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hey-remember-that-time-google-accidentally-made-skynet.htmlDecember 2013 Google buys Boston Dynamics, the latest in a series of prominent robotics acquisitions. → January 2014 The company acquires Nest and its intelligent home thermostat. → January 2014 Google expands its AI prowess with the purchase of startup DeepMind. → June 2014 Elon Musk sounds the alarm. Nobody listens. → August 2014 Project Echo is announced. January 2015 Beta trials begin in Nevada and Texas. They result in a 40 percent drop in energy consumption and 73 percent reduction in crime./news/how-ai-copyright-lawsuits-could-make-the-whole-industry-go-extinct.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-ai-copyright-lawsuits-could-make-the-whole-industry-go-extinct.htmlOur new Thursday episodes of Decoder are all about deep dives into big topics in the news, and for the next few weeks, we’re going to stay focused on one of the biggest topics of all: generative AI.  All the big generative AI models from every company are trained on huge swaths of data that are scraped from the entire internet. And big media companies, like The New York Times and Getty Images, have filed lawsuits against those AI companies, saying, basically, that the AI companies are stealing their work and profiting from it — claims that amount to straightforward copyright infringement./news/how-black-communities-shaped-the-internet.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-black-communities-shaped-the-internet.htmlAs we’ve gone through the pandemic, I’ve been thinking about how much of our lives happen on screens and through software. We use software to connect with our friends, to play games, to move markets, and to catch criminals. Software isn’t eating the world; it’s eaten it. Today on Decoder, I’m talking to Charlton McIlwain, a professor of media, culture, and communications at NYU and the author of Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter./news/how-iron-fist-connects-to-the-other-marvel-shows-on-netflix.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-iron-fist-connects-to-the-other-marvel-shows-on-netflix.htmlIron Fist, the latest in Netflix’s string of Marvel superhero shows, arrives on Netflix March 17th. It should serve just fine as the standalone story of Danny Rand, a superhero trained in mystical martial arts. But the show’s story is richer if you know its elaborate setup. Iron Fist is the fourth and final Netflix series leading up to team-up show The Defenders. The Defenders are the Netflix equivalent of The Avengers, and like Marvel’s films, they are a massive media investment: the three other superhero shows span four seasons with 13 episodes each./news/how-to-build-a-better-search-engine-than-google.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-build-a-better-search-engine-than-google.htmlSridhar Ramaswamy didn’t leave Google to build another search engine. At least not at first. At the close of his 15-year tenure at Google, Ramaswamy was running the company’s entire advertising division, overseeing more than 10,000 people — he knew better than most exactly how much work it took to do search well. You almost can’t overstate how dominant Google is in search. Most studies put Google at about 90 percent of the global search market, and that number has been steadily climbing for 20 years./news/how-to-install-an-android-app-you-can-t-find-in-the-play-store.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-install-an-android-app-you-can-t-find-in-the-play-store.htmlMost of the time, the Google Play Store is all you need to find and download apps on Android. Unlike iOS, though, Android gives you the option to install apps from other places. And every now and then, that level of freedom can come in handy. Say, for instance, you’re looking for an app that isn’t available in your country. Or maybe you’re longing to try a newly announced update to an app that hasn’t yet rolled out to you./news/how-to-quickly-get-the-old-gmail-look-back.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-quickly-get-the-old-gmail-look-back.htmlNot a fan of Gmail’s new look for the web? I feel you. Even though the changes rolled out were small, that side panel featuring apps like Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet has cluttered things up, making checking emails first thing in the morning feel more overwhelming. Sure, you can make things a little easier on the eye by hiding the Gmail category and label panel with some quick tweaks. But if you’re also not a fan of other changes, like the new light blue Compose button background that I found distracting, it’s actually pretty easy to revert to the previous interface./news/how-to-use-personalized-spatial-audio-on-your-apple-airpods.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-use-personalized-spatial-audio-on-your-apple-airpods.htmlWhen it’s used well, spatial audio can lend extra immersion and depth to music, movies, and TV shows. Apple has offered the feature across its iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and Beats products since 2020 for videos, and last year, the company brought spatial audio to Apple Music. Spatial audio is intended to make content sound more multidimensional compared to traditional stereo and leave you feeling like sound is coming at you from all directions./news/huawei-p9-review-the-verge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/huawei-p9-review-the-verge.htmlBetter ergonomics than the iPhone 6S, Galaxy S7, HTC 10, or LG G5The P9 is a flagship phone in every respect but the price. In the UK, this smartphone costs £450, which is less than Samsung’s regular Galaxy S7, less than LG’s G5 without any modular extras, and a lot less than HTC’s 10. I’ve spent ample time with each of these devices and I can say with confidence that Huawei’s cheaper price doesn’t translate into a poorer design./news/hyper-scape-is-having-a-rough-launch-on-twitch.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hyper-scape-is-having-a-rough-launch-on-twitch.htmlAs of this afternoon, Hyper Scape has over 240,000 followers and just 11,000 viewers tuning in to watch various content creators stream it live. (Compare that to Fall Guys, another battle royale game that launched last week, which has over 311,000 active viewers this afternoon and 431,000 total followers on the platform.) Hyper Scape’s other competitors — Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds — have millions of followers and hundreds of thousands of viewers tuning in on a regular basis./news/intel-acquires-wearable-display-company-recon-instruments.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/intel-acquires-wearable-display-company-recon-instruments.htmlIntel has announced that it acquired Recon Instruments, a Canadian company known for making sporty wearable displays. Recon's products will remain on store shelves, and the employees will be added to Intel's burgeoning New Technology Group to help "expand the market for head-mounted displays" — a small market that Google has recently left. Intel has spent the last year betting hard on wearables, from creating a high-fashion smart cuff to debuting a module at CES that is so small it can fit inside of a coat button./news/intel-breaks-the-6ghz-barrier-with-699-core-i9-13900ks-processor.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/intel-breaks-the-6ghz-barrier-with-699-core-i9-13900ks-processor.htmlIntel is launching its fastest desktop processor to date, breaking the 6GHz barrier at stock speeds for the first time. The new Core i9-13900KS is based on the 13th Gen Core i9-13900K that came close to the 6GHz barrier with its 5.8GHz turbo frequency last year. The new i9-13900KS will be available in stores today, priced at $699. The 13900KS is the first CPU to reach 6GHz without overclocking, using Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost technology to reach that 6GHz barrier and improve PC gaming performance./news/it-s-not-just-apollo-other-reddit-apps-are-shutting-down-too.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/it-s-not-just-apollo-other-reddit-apps-are-shutting-down-too.htmlApollo for Reddit isn’t the only Reddit app that’s shutting down due to the company’s new API pricing: on Thursday, rif is fun for Reddit (previously Reddit is Fun), ReddPlanet, and Sync also announced that they would be shutting down on June 30th, the same day Apollo will be. rif is fun for Reddit is shutting down “in response to Reddit Inc’s API changes and their hostile treatment of developers building on their platform,” its developer wrote in a message on r/redditisfun./news/jeff-bezos-challenges-retail-rivals-to-outdo-amazon-s-15-minimum-wage.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jeff-bezos-challenges-retail-rivals-to-outdo-amazon-s-15-minimum-wage.htmlIn his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos throws in a message to his company’s retail competitors, urging them to start a price war on the minimum wage they pay their employees. Amazon moved to a $15 minimum wage in the United States at the end of last year — though it did so with cuts to benefits and stock grants that meant some employees would end up being paid less, which then led Amazon to announce a further boost in pay to rectify the situation./news/korean-astronomers-saw-a-distant-explosion-600-years-ago-and-we-just-found-the-stars-that-caused.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/korean-astronomers-saw-a-distant-explosion-600-years-ago-and-we-just-found-the-stars-that-caused.htmlIn March of 1437, Korean astronomers in Seoul saw what they thought was a new, bright star appear in the night sky. Now, nearly 600 years later, astronomers have figured out what those stargazers actually saw: a thermonuclear explosion caused by the interaction of two distant stars. The new research pinpoints the location of those two stars in the sky, solving a mystery that’s plagued astronomers for decades and providing clues about what happens to pairs of stars centuries after they explode./news/lab-mice-fear-men-but-not-women-and-that-s-a-big-problem-for-science.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lab-mice-fear-men-but-not-women-and-that-s-a-big-problem-for-science.htmlThe history of science is one chock-full of mice and men. Historically, biological and medical research has largely depended on rodents, which provide scientists with everything from cells and organs to behavioral data. That's why a new study in which researchers found that mice actually fear men, but not women, has the potential to be so disruptive. It might mean that a number of researchers have published mouse studies in which their results reflect this male-induced stress effect — and they know nothing about it./news/lego-s-epic-limited-edition-parisian-street-and-mountain-fortress-are-about-to-go-on-sale.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lego-s-epic-limited-edition-parisian-street-and-mountain-fortress-are-about-to-go-on-sale.htmlIf you consider yourself a diehard fan of adult-grade Lego, you might want to be hovering over these buy buttons on Wednesday, February 7th, at 11AM ET. That’s when Lego will begin selling five limited-edition sets that are literally a fan dream come true: fans entered a BrickLink Designer Program contest to create these Lego sets all by themselves, and they’ll get 5 percent of the proceeds! They’re also just really cool builds./news/lg-c2-oled-tv-review-you-can-t-go-wrong.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-c2-oled-tv-review-you-can-t-go-wrong.htmlLG’s C2 OLED is a truly impressive 4K TV that provides impeccable picture quality and best-in-class gaming performance. Even though the higher-tier and more expensive G2 is LG’s flagship and offers a brighter display, the C2 is easier on your wallet and still delivers a viewing experience that can wow anyone sitting in your living room.  I reviewed the 65-inch C2, which costs $2,499 but is routinely on sale for much less./news/lg-velvet-review-sleek-not-smooth.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-velvet-review-sleek-not-smooth.htmlI’ve used most of LG’s flagship phones over the past few years. Enjoyed using them, even. But heck if I could pick them out of a lineup. LG has pursued an aggressively bland design language adopted in near-identical fashion by virtually all of its recent phones. The G7, the V40, the G8, the V50, and so on are all fine devices on paper, but they’re only distinguishable if you can remember their specific screen sizes and camera layouts — and even then it’s a challenge./news/lime-raises-over-500-million-confirms-plans-to-take-its-electric-scooter-company-public.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lime-raises-over-500-million-confirms-plans-to-take-its-electric-scooter-company-public.htmlLime announced today that it raised $523 million in debt financing, a sign that investors are feeling more optimistic about the long-term survival of shared electric scooters in a post-pandemic world. Lime must be feeling more optimistic, too, because a spokesperson confirmed that the company plans on going public sometime in 2022. Last September, Insider reported that Lime was hoping to raise up to $200 million in convertible debt from Uber and other previous investors./news/masahiro-sakurai-says-he-can-t-really-imagine-a-smash-bros-title-without-me.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/masahiro-sakurai-says-he-can-t-really-imagine-a-smash-bros-title-without-me.htmlThe question now is, what happens next time? I mean whatever comes after Smash Bros. Ultimate. One option would be the separate the series itself from the original creator. But for now, at least, I can’t really imagine a Smash Bros. title without me. You might think that’s a natural stance for someone in my role, but I say so speaking objectively. I feel the same way President [Satoru] Iwata did when we formed the team for Smash Bros./news/microsoft-built-tree-houses-for-its-employees.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-built-tree-houses-for-its-employees.html“On a recent sunny day, an employee perched, legs crossed, on a soft grassy knoll below a treehouse. For several minutes, she sat with her hands on her knees, eyes closed, head tilted toward the sky, breathing deeply. Then she grabbed her laptop and typed furiously. After a spate of work, she set her computer aside, rested her palms on her knees, gazed up, and then closed her eyes again.”/news/microsoft-surface-go-2-10-5-inch-display-thinner-bezels-and-better-battery-life.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-surface-go-2-10-5-inch-display-thinner-bezels-and-better-battery-life.htmlMicrosoft’s smallest Surface tablet is getting some important hardware upgrades today in the form of the Surface Go 2. The most significant change is a bigger display: now 10.5 inches, up from the 10-inch panel on the original. That doesn’t alter the overall size of the Surface Go 2, but it does reduce the bezels slightly. They’re not as skinny as the ones found on the Surface Pro X, but they’re certainly nowhere near as big as the original Surface Go from nearly two years ago./news/microsoft-will-bid-farewell-to-internet-explorer-and-legacy-edge-in-2021.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-will-bid-farewell-to-internet-explorer-and-legacy-edge-in-2021.htmlMicrosoft will end support for Internet Explorer 11 across its Microsoft 365 apps and services next year. In exactly a year, on August 17th, 2021, Internet Explorer 11 will no longer be supported for Microsoft’s online services like Office 365, OneDrive, Outlook, and more. Microsoft is also ending support for Internet Explorer 11 with the Microsoft Teams web app later this year, with support ending on November 30th. While it’s still going to take some time to pry enterprise users of Internet Explorer 11 away, Microsoft is hoping that the new Internet Explorer legacy mode in the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser will help./news/microsoft-s-new-surface-laptop-go-3-brings-a-slight-performance-bump.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-new-surface-laptop-go-3-brings-a-slight-performance-bump.htmlMicrosoft has revealed a new third-generation model of its Surface Laptop Go line during its Surface event today. The company’s new notebook will launch on October 3rd, have “up to 15 hours of battery,” and command a starting price of $799. The new Surface Laptop Go 3 is not to be confused with the non-laptop Surface Go, a smaller and less performant version of the popular main Surface tablet line. The 12./news/mkbhd-just-signed-on-to-start-making-actual-products-with-accessories-brand-ridge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mkbhd-just-signed-on-to-start-making-actual-products-with-accessories-brand-ridge.htmlMKBHD just signed on to “start making actual products” with accessories brand Ridge. We’re increasingly seeing YouTubers try their hand at product development. It’s a logical next step in expanding income beyond YouTube ad revenue, and now Marques Brownlee is joining the fray. Today he announced that he’s joined the board at Ridge, an accessories company best known for wallets, and will also become the brand’s “chief creative partner.” ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfZ3xzfo5ra2lwYGaAenvMpJmhnF2fwrTAjKygoKaVmXqwuoytpmarpJa%2FtXnMmqKippdirqTA1JqjZqiipLG2r9OsZLChpJ16oq%2FCnqqsp6KesrR5wauYp5xdp7als8Q%3D/news/monster-will-no-longer-make-beats-headphones.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/monster-will-no-longer-make-beats-headphones.htmlMonster, for its part, is going to move ahead and attempt to (re)build a headphone empire based on the Monster brand. That's the short term plan. The long term plan isn't clear but one fairly obvious move would be to merge with or buy out SOL Republic, a headphone company founded by Kevin Lee who happens to be son of Monster founder Noel Lee. Lee the younger, despite running his competing headphone brand, has said that he would be "/news/msi-gs76-stealth-review-big-screen-gaming-for-a-better-price.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/msi-gs76-stealth-review-big-screen-gaming-for-a-better-price.htmlIf you like the look of MSI’s powerhouse, RGB-packed GE76 Raider, but the price tag and the massive chassis are too much for you to stomach, the GS76 Stealth may be more your speed. This laptop is the GE76 junior, in specs, weight, and also price.  The GS76 is not the most powerful gaming laptop you’ll ever find, nor is it the quietest or most efficient. But it still brings a number of great features — including a superb QHD, 240Hz screen and a fun RGB keyboard — in addition to a powerful RTX 3070 GPU that can handle whatever games you need./news/my-headphone-warranty-demands-ritual-sacrifice.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/my-headphone-warranty-demands-ritual-sacrifice.htmlI break my earphones regularly, but I’ve never had to break them on purpose before. When the left earbud on my Brainwavz Delta IEM Noise Isolating Earphones stopped working for no reason after six months of use, I emailed the company for a replacement. Sure enough, I got a reply saying that that was no problem, but I had to do one thing first to satisfy the warranty: I had to slice up my current pair of earphones, take a photograph, and send the company the grisly image as proof they were no more./news/nasa-tv-is-launching-a-dedicated-4k-channel.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-tv-is-launching-a-dedicated-4k-channel.htmlNASA has announced that it will launch a new 4K television channel dedicated to showing UHD footage on November 1st. The space agency is working with a company called Harmonic, a video delivery infrastructure company, to launch the channel. NASA is calling it "the first ever non-commercial consumer ultra-high definition channel in North America." Harmonic is providing NASA Television with the ability to deliver the 4K (2160p at 60 frames per second) video./news/netflix-now-streaming-avatar-the-last-airbender-in-hd.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-now-streaming-avatar-the-last-airbender-in-hd.htmlBased on my Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok feeds, practically everyone is streaming Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix — and based on those feeds, practically everyone is putting up with low-resolution quality. Thankfully on Sunday, Netflix announced that Avatar: The Last Airbender is now streaming in HD. “Avatar: The Last Airbender is now available in HD so if you want to see every glorious fiber of Appa’s fur, now is the time,” a tweet from one of Netflix’s official accounts reads./news/new-emoji-tool-lets-you-know-when-your-favorite-symbol-is-no-longer-cool.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-emoji-tool-lets-you-know-when-your-favorite-symbol-is-no-longer-cool.html“Each graph is relative to the emoji being viewed,” Emojipedia says. “100 represents when that emoji saw its highest number of searches.” Newer emoji may not have as much data to view as some of the classic symbols, which means you may not get a graph for those recently added. You can track the emoji that have long graced our smartphone keyboards by scrolling to the trends section on Emojipedia. By clicking through to Google Trends and adding your own additional icon, you can also compare the popularity of two emoji./news/new-ps5-update-rolling-out-with-1440p-support-gamelists-and-ux-improvements.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-ps5-update-rolling-out-with-1440p-support-gamelists-and-ux-improvements.htmlThe new 1440p option allows PS5 owners to pick this resolution on compatible TVs and monitors. If games fully support 1440p then they’ll natively output at this resolution, otherwise 4K games will improve anti-aliasing by using supersampling down to 1440p output. The only drawback is that Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) won’t be supported at 1440p, and will only work at 1080p and 4K on the PS5. This new PS5 update also includes a gamelists feature, which is essentially folders for games./news/newegg-just-launched-a-new-rewards-program-and-it-s-completely-free.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/newegg-just-launched-a-new-rewards-program-and-it-s-completely-free.htmlNewegg just launched a new rewards program — and it’s completely free. After trying out a paid membership several years back, Newegg has announced a replacement: Newegg Plus. You can opt into the program for free, giving you access to benefits like free shipping, member-only deals, faster returns, warranty discounts, and a dedicated customer service line. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaXxzf45ra2praGh%2Fc3vNnq6en5dit7a%2F02ajmq2emLWmsIyaZKedp2K%2FpsPAq5usZaCnvKi%2BwKZkmqaUYra1v4ycpqaonJrBprjYZp2rnZU%3D/news/nexus-5-review-the-verge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nexus-5-review-the-verge.htmlCameraReady, aim, aim, fire Before this phone was even announced, leaked photos and information about the Nexus 5 made the camera a point of gossip and controversy. It's no secret that Android phones have a rough record with quality shooters (especially in comparison to the efforts of Apple and Nokia), and Google and LG's previous work on the Nexus 4 didn't leave a great taste in anyone's mouth. Rumors swirled that the Nexus 5 was going to be different./news/nintendo-offers-really-stupid-reasons-why-you-can-t-play-as-a-woman-in-the-legend-of-zelda.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-offers-really-stupid-reasons-why-you-can-t-play-as-a-woman-in-the-legend-of-zelda.htmlNintendo is without question one of the greatest — if not the greatest — creative forces in gaming. This has been true for decades and continues to be true today, when it wowed E3 with a first look at the new Legend of Zelda. But while doing some interviews to promote the announcement, longtime Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma made some comments that show just how limited Nintendo's thinking can be./news/nokia-g300-the-199-5g-phone-for-tracfone-and-straight-talk-customers.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nokia-g300-the-199-5g-phone-for-tracfone-and-straight-talk-customers.htmlWhy should postpaid mobile customers have all the 5G fun? HMD Global, the manufacturer behind new Nokia phones, is announcing its most affordable 5G phone yet for Tracfone and Straight Talk Wireless’ prepaid customers — the Nokia G300. Like T-Mobile’s $199 REVVL V Plus 5G, the Nokia G300 doesn’t try to wow you with flagship-level specs but offers the bread-and-butter features you’ll care about at an affordable price. One of the most useful features of the G300 is its fingerprint scanner./news/nokia-wifi-beacon-3-review-high-speed-mesh-networking.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nokia-wifi-beacon-3-review-high-speed-mesh-networking.htmlNokia’s brand name is perhaps best associated with indestructible candy bar phones and inexpensive but competent smartphones. But the company also has a line of mesh Wi-Fi routers called Beacon. Much like other mesh router systems from Eero or Google, Nokia’s WiFi Beacon routers are designed to provide broad Wi-Fi coverage across your home through the use of multiple units, or nodes. Nokia currently has two models in its lineup, the entry-level Beacon 1 and the more powerful Beacon 3./news/nvidia-and-amd-say-they-face-new-restrictions-on-ai-chip-sales.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nvidia-and-amd-say-they-face-new-restrictions-on-ai-chip-sales.htmlNvidia and AMD say they face new restrictions in some Middle Eastern countries, Reuters reports. This widens the restrictions on these chips beyond China and Russia. The new licensing requirement applies to “a subset” of Nvidia’s top-end chips, the company said. The Biden administration “has not blocked chip sales to the Middle East,“ says a spokesperson from the Bureau of Industry and Security. She noted that the BIS is legally restricted from publicly releasing information related to specific licenses — and so could not comment on any company-specific actions./news/oakland-becomes-second-us-city-to-decriminalize-magic-mushrooms.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oakland-becomes-second-us-city-to-decriminalize-magic-mushrooms.htmlOakland City Council has voted to decriminalize psychedelics that come from plants and fungi, including magic mushrooms. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that law enforcement in the California town won’t prosecute people for possessing the substance, although commercial distribution and possession in schools will remain illegal. The resolution means that Oakland is the second US city to decriminalize the drug, after Initiative 301 passed in Denver last month. The move was welcomed by almost 100 campaigners who’d attended the city council’s vote, of which many had spoken in support of the resolution./news/parrot-adds-a-thermal-camera-to-its-folding-anafi-drone.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/parrot-adds-a-thermal-camera-to-its-folding-anafi-drone.htmlFrench dronemaker Parrot has created a new version of its folding Anafi quadcopter that has an onboard thermal camera. The company is pitching the drone to businesses and professionals in fields like security, search and rescue, construction, and agriculture. It’s also raising the price: the Anafi Thermal will retail for $1,900, a $1,200 increase over the cost of the regular $700 Anafi, which was released last summer. It will come with two spare batteries, a multibattery charger, a controller, and a carrying case, and it will be available in May./news/pioneer-cellular-s-lte-network-wraps-up-data-test-as-part-of-verizon-rural-coverage-program.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pioneer-cellular-s-lte-network-wraps-up-data-test-as-part-of-verizon-rural-coverage-program.htmlRegional carrier Pioneer Cellular has completed data testing of its new LTE network, which will be launching in Oklahoma next year as part of Verizon's LTE in Rural America program. Under the initiative, Big Red partners with carriers in rural areas where it doesn't have a strong network presence itself. Infrastructure and hardware are built out by the regional company, and Verizon shares access to its 700MHz LTE network. Verizon users get to take advantage of the new coverage, and customers of the regional carrier gain access to Verizon's nationwide LTE network in return./news/plex-s-cloud-media-server-now-supports-google-drive-dropbox-and-onedrive.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/plex-s-cloud-media-server-now-supports-google-drive-dropbox-and-onedrive.htmlPlex, a media server company that helps customers access files on a range of devices, is expanding its cloud service well beyond Amazon. Now, users of Plex Cloud can use Google Drive, Dropbox, or Microsoft’s OneDrive to store media and other files. That way, you pay any one of those companies for storage — and pony up $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year for a Plex Pass account — to access Plex’s app library to manage files and play media./news/polaroid-originals-newest-camera-adds-bluetooth-to-the-onestep-2.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/polaroid-originals-newest-camera-adds-bluetooth-to-the-onestep-2.htmlPolaroid Originals is going to keep pumping out cameras, and today the company announced that it already has an update for the OneStep 2. That camera came out last year, and this new edition is being billed as the OneStep+. It includes some new features, like Bluetooth compatibility, two lenses, a new flash, and a bigger battery. All the changes make the camera a little more modern while still holding onto its physical, retro features that make it delightful to use./news/razer-released-a-99-version-of-its-leviathan-v2-soundbar.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/razer-released-a-99-version-of-its-leviathan-v2-soundbar.htmlIn terms of audio, you can expect two full-range drivers and two passive radiators with a maximum volume output of 90dB when one meter away. It’s missing the subwoofer and THX Spatial Audio that the standard $249 Leviathan V2 comes with, so you might miss out on more immersive, bass-rich audio that my colleague Cameron Faulkner said “sounds pretty fantastic” in his review. Just look at that RGB. Image: Razer/news/red-staple-books-offers-web-based-multimedia-ebook-creation-drm-free-for-29.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/red-staple-books-offers-web-based-multimedia-ebook-creation-drm-free-for-29.htmlRed Staple, which previously specialized in tools for creating iTunes Extras, is jumping into the eBook space with a new HTML5 authoring tool. Although Apple has altered its iBooks Author EULA to be a little more author-friendly, Red Staple's product does offer some interesting alternative features that may make it more appealing to independent authors. The tool is based entirely on the web and is able to put out two different types of eBooks: standard ePub 2 books and books that include audio and video embeds based on the upcoming (but still not yet widespread) ePub 3 format./news/reddit-now-explicitly-allows-ai-generated-porn-depicting-fictional-characters.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/reddit-now-explicitly-allows-ai-generated-porn-depicting-fictional-characters.htmlNote that the rule does not apply to media distributed commercially with the consent of those depicted, AI-generated sexual media that depicts fictional people or characters, or artistic depictions (e.g., cartoons, anime, etc.) – although keep in mind our rules regarding respecting the intellectual property of others. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2tfbHx3e5FqbGttaW6FcL7EnZuirF2Wtm68zqulZp6ZmMGqu82ao2abmJa%2Foq%2FTnqmsZZOWv7exzq6rZquVrcKiuIyipJqflag%3D/news/replacement-samsung-galaxy-note-7-phone-catches-fire-on-southwest-plane.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/replacement-samsung-galaxy-note-7-phone-catches-fire-on-southwest-plane.htmlSouthwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated this morning while still at the gate because of a smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. All passengers and crew exited the plane via the main cabin door and no injuries were reported, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The Verge. More worrisome is the fact that the phone in question was a replacement Galaxy Note 7, one that was deemed to be safe by Samsung./news/return-of-the-king-of-fan-movies.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/return-of-the-king-of-fan-movies.htmlReturn of the King (of fan movies). Remember that 15-year-old Tolkien fan movie that Warner Bros. pulled from YouTube last week for sharing the same name as its upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum title? Well, it’s back! Adrian Webster, who played Aragorn in the fan-made film, told IGN: “Perhaps it was an automated copyright block due to the same title. It’s not quite clear. Anyway, we’re happy it’s back online again just now./news/riot-commits-a-heinous-game-design-sin-making-ugly-characters.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/riot-commits-a-heinous-game-design-sin-making-ugly-characters.htmlRiot commits a heinous game design sin: making ugly characters. League of Legends fans were so upset about the unnervingly human appearance of its latest character, Smolder the baby dragon, that the studio overhauled the design just days after he was unveiled. See the difference yourself — he certainly looks less like a My Little Pony extra. If the Sonic the Hedgehog redesign proved anything, it's that listening to fans is sometimes a good thing./news/rivian-is-keeping-the-oval-headlights-for-its-r2-vehicle.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rivian-is-keeping-the-oval-headlights-for-its-r2-vehicle.htmlRivian is keeping the oval headlights for its R2 vehicle. You’d be mistaken if you thought Rivian would ditch the signature lights for its next-generation electric trucks and SUVs! Ovals for life, baby! The R2 is getting a proper reveal on March 7th, which will be livestreamed on X. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfZ3xygY5ra2lvY26Ad3vRoq2imZ5itrR5yp6cqaGenHq1tMRmpq%2BZnGK1pq3DpaCgoKSoeqe70Wagratdp39uwsShoJyklQ%3D%3D/news/robot-the-verge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/robot-the-verge.htmlLG’s smart home robot is kinda cute and kinda useless. Its new AI Agent may have Rosey the Robot aspirations — but do you need a robot with “personality” to control smart home devices and clean up after your cat? I saw a demo of the Agent at CES, and as charming as it is — with its big eyes and headphone ears (it’s a handle; one of the crew picked it up by it when it got stuck) — it doesn’t seem to do much that a stationary AI voice assistant couldn’t./news/samsung-galaxy-s20-ultra-review-shutter-bug.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-s20-ultra-review-shutter-bug.htmlSamsung has something to prove. That’s the most obvious feeling you get when using the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which will be available in March starting at $1,399.99. If there ever was an embodiment of the chip on a tech company’s shoulder, this behemoth of a phone is it. After a couple of years of lagging behind the iPhone and Android competitors in a few key areas, the Ultra is Samsung’s answer./news/samsung-galaxy-watch-5-pro-review-sometimes-bigger-is-better.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-watch-5-pro-review-sometimes-bigger-is-better.htmlI didn’t think I was going to like the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. First came the rumors that this watch would be a behemoth. Then came the whispers suggesting Samsung had murdered its darling: the physical rotating bezel. Finally, leaked renders indicated that this watch was not only big but a heckin’ chonker. If Samsung assembled a team to annoy the crap out of me, Victoria Song, specifically, this is the watch they would’ve come up with./news/schneider-home-a-smart-home-where-the-electricity-isn-t-so-dumb.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/schneider-home-a-smart-home-where-the-electricity-isn-t-so-dumb.htmlI don’t know if Schneider Electric will be the one to crack it, but I like what it’s promising here at CES 2023 — a smart home where the electrical circuits themselves are smart enough to keep your house powered, save on your energy bill, manage solar, and charge electric vehicles, all through a single app. Schneider Electric isn’t a household name, but there’s a good chance you’ve got one of its Square D circuit breakers in your home — the company says four in 10 US households already do./news/second-matrix-director-comes-out-as-transgender-in-a-powerful-personal-essay.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/second-matrix-director-comes-out-as-transgender-in-a-powerful-personal-essay.htmlIn a lengthy, funny, mildly resigned statement made to Chicago’s LGBT weekly Windy City Times on Tuesday, The Matrix and Sense8 co-director Lilly Wachowski came out as a transgender woman, under the teasing headline "SEX CHANGE SHOCKER — WACHOWSKI BROTHERS NOW SISTERS!!!" "There’s the headline I've been waiting for this past year," Wachowski says in the essay. "Up until now with dread and/or eye rolling exasperation. The ‘news’ has almost come out a couple of times./news/slack-will-soon-respect-your-chosen-skin-tone-color-when-you-smash-that-emoji-reaction.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/slack-will-soon-respect-your-chosen-skin-tone-color-when-you-smash-that-emoji-reaction.htmlMany of us here at The Verge are big fans of emoji reactions in Slack, and today we noticed that our newsroom’s Slack now groups emoji reactions with different skin tones into one mass reaction. The feature is now rolling out to everyone, the company tells The Verge. Here’s how it works. Let’s say that your colleague dropped a Simpsons-yellow Flexed Biceps emoji on a Slack message celebrating someone’s huge accomplishment./news/snap-releases-lens-studio-a-tool-for-creating-your-own-ar-effects.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snap-releases-lens-studio-a-tool-for-creating-your-own-ar-effects.htmlSnap’s second official app is a tool that lets you design and build augmented reality lenses for Snapchat. The company today announced Lens Studio, a design app for Mac and Windows desktop computers. The app, which resembles the internal tools Snap uses to build lenses in Snapchat, can be downloaded here. A flood of new AR objects inside Snapchat could be a creative boon for the app, where 70 million users a day interact with lenses./news/snapchat-s-snapstreaks-are-about-to-get-more-flexible-for-a-fee.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snapchat-s-snapstreaks-are-about-to-get-more-flexible-for-a-fee.htmlSnapstreaks, a Snapchat feature that tracks how long you’ve been trading daily snaps with a friend, are about to get a little more forgiving. In a short blog post, the company says it’s testing the option to let users restore broken streaks. “Starting today, we’re making it easier to take a break with a new feature we’re testing to let you reignite the spark and restore one Streak for free with just one tap,” it writes./news/so-now-i-know-i-have-too-many-imessages-backed-up.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/so-now-i-know-i-have-too-many-imessages-backed-up.htmlSo now I know I have too many iMessages backed up. In the new iOS 17.2 update, you can easily see how many messages are backed up to iCloud alongside how much storage they’re taking up by going to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Show All > Messages in iCloud. I’m not sure if I truly need to hold on to these forever. What is your iMessage backup looking like?/news/sony-1000x-m3-review-supreme-noise-canceling-headphones.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-1000x-m3-review-supreme-noise-canceling-headphones.htmlThere’s an enthusiastic “It’s a Sony” sticker on a kitchen wall in my childhood home. I put it there more than 20 years ago when my parents brought home a big-screen Sony TV and an accompanying Sony VCR. Since that day, I’ve owned a Walkman cassette player and a Walkman phone, a PlayStation, a NEX mirrorless camera, and an illogical desire for VAIO laptops. Like any child of the ‘90s, I grew up with Sony’s name being synonymous with the most desirable technology./news/sony-ht-a7000-review-a-next-gen-atmos-soundbar-that-s-almost-perfect-for-gaming.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-ht-a7000-review-a-next-gen-atmos-soundbar-that-s-almost-perfect-for-gaming.htmlA $1,300 soundbar doesn’t have much room for compromises. You can spend a fraction of that on a perfectly competent Vizio soundbar, and even premium options like the Sonos Arc cost hundreds less. There will always be people that balk at the notion of spending so much money and not putting it toward a traditional surround sound system — and that’s especially true (and a fair argument) when you reach this price level./news/spotify-adds-qr-like-codes-for-quick-music-sharing.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-adds-qr-like-codes-for-quick-music-sharing.htmlSpotify is rolling out a new feature to its mobile apps that offers a new way to instantly stream music or share songs with friends nearby. Called Spotify Codes, you might now notice that under individual songs, playlists, and albums, there is an addition of a soundwave-like barcode. To use them, go to your Spotify app, click the search button, and you’ll see a camera icon in the search bar. Hover the camera over the code and you should be taken straight to the music in question./news/spotify-s-redesigned-tv-app-works-more-like-your-phone.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-s-redesigned-tv-app-works-more-like-your-phone.htmlSpotify is rolling out a redesigned TV app that should make it a little easier to find what you want to listen to. The app comes with a new homepage that’s similar to Spotify on mobile and desktop, featuring your most-listened-to content at the top, followed by your Made For You playlists and your recently played albums or podcasts. There’s also a new playback queue that you can open up from the right side of the screen, allowing you to see the audio that’s currently playing as well as what’s coming up next./news/square-enix-plans-to-aggressively-pursue-multiplatform-game-releases.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/square-enix-plans-to-aggressively-pursue-multiplatform-game-releases.htmlEverybody’s getting bitten by the multiplatform bug; now, it’s Square Enix. In its earnings report released earlier today, the publisher shared plans to increase profits, stating that it will “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs.” The news that fans can expect more Square Enix titles on more platforms was coupled with additional reports that the company is undergoing a round of layoffs. According to a report in VGC, the publisher is planning to let go of an unconfirmed number of people across its US and European businesses./news/star-fox-zero-won-t-be-coming-to-the-wii-u-until-next-year.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/star-fox-zero-won-t-be-coming-to-the-wii-u-until-next-year.htmlNintendo's Star Fox Zero was meant to be one of the Wii U's big releases for winter 2015, but in a post on Facebook today, the company announced that the game's launch has been delayed until early next year. A message from producer Shigeru Miyamoto said that while it was "technically possible" to release Star Fox Zero in time for the holiday season, the company wanted to "polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play./news/stardew-valley-s-1-6-update-smashes-its-steam-player-record.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stardew-valley-s-1-6-update-smashes-its-steam-player-record.htmlStardew Valley’s massive 1.6 update has been out on PC for less than 24 hours, and it’s already taken the game’s popularity to staggering new heights. The cozy farming simulator hit 146,159 concurrent players on Steam according to SteamDB data, smashing the game’s previous record as players flock to enjoy new content — including a new farm, festivals, and pets. Stardew Valley’s previous peak of 94,875 concurrent Steam players was achieved back in January 2021, shortly after the 1./news/status-symbols-toshiba-libretto-the-verge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/status-symbols-toshiba-libretto-the-verge.htmlStatus Symbols are devices that transcend their specs and features, and become something beautiful and luxurious in their own right. They're things that live on after the megapixel and megahertz wars move past them, beacons of timeless design and innovation. The late ‘90s were a wild transitional period for computing. Laptops were finally entering the mainstream, but the wild days of the internet bubble, ubiquitous connectivity, and smartphones were but glimmers in Silicon Valley's collective eye./news/tangle-tower-s-animations-and-voice-acting-make-it-an-engrossing-murder-mystery-game.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tangle-tower-s-animations-and-voice-acting-make-it-an-engrossing-murder-mystery-game.htmlIt can be difficult to find time to finish a video game, especially if you only have a few hours a week to play. In our biweekly column Short Play we suggest video games that can be started and finished in a weekend. When we talk about production values in video games, it usually means big-budget titles like The Last of Us or Red Dead Redemption 2. The kinds of experiences where the studio can put additional time into seemingly minor things like making sure characters walk up stairs in a way that looks normal, or having horses realistically poop./news/tesla-promises-cars-that-connect-to-the-grid-even-if-elon-musk-doesn-t-really-want-them-to.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-promises-cars-that-connect-to-the-grid-even-if-elon-musk-doesn-t-really-want-them-to.htmlTesla plans for its future electric vehicles to be able to both suck up power and spit it back out into the grid. Tesla didn’t specify when this capability would be available when CEO Elon Musk made the announcement during Tesla’s much-anticipated Battery Day event in Palo Alto, California.  “A Powerwall and a car” But instead of hyping up this development, Musk downplayed how useful it would be for the company’s vehicles to be able to connect to the grid./news/tesla-unveils-redesigned-model-s-with-new-interior-and-520-mile-range-option.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-unveils-redesigned-model-s-with-new-interior-and-520-mile-range-option.htmlTesla has just announced the first major redesign of the Model S since it launched the electric sedan in 2012. This new version, which starts shipping in March, has a refreshed exterior, a simplified interior, and the option for a more powerful powertrain that lets the car travel at least 520 miles and go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under two seconds. That speed is achieved in part thanks to a very small drag coefficient, one that puts it on par or maybe ahead of electric cars like the Lucid Air or the Porsche Taycan Turbo./news/tesla-s-new-dog-and-sentry-modes-take-care-even-when-you-don-t.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-s-new-dog-and-sentry-modes-take-care-even-when-you-don-t.htmlTesla has just announced a pair of new modes that make great use of the abundance of sensors and technology inside the company’s cars to make a driver’s life a little easier. First and most endearing is the Dog Mode: this will keep your pup at a comfortable temperature while you’re out of the car, and it’ll use the jumbo display at the center to show a message for passersby that you’ll be returning soon./news/the-apple-vision-pro-has-a-guest-mode-for-your-friends-to-try-it.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-apple-vision-pro-has-a-guest-mode-for-your-friends-to-try-it.htmlApple’s Vision Pro headset will come with an option that lets you share it with friends and family members — a feature currently available on nearly every other headset. In a press release on Tuesday, Apple says you can let a “guest user” who’s not registered to the device try out certain apps and experiences, without needing to set up an account on the device. Although not explicitly mentioned by Apple, it seems guest users will be able to bypass the headset’s Optic ID requirement that unlocks the device upon scanning your iris./news/the-apple-watch-series-10-may-get-an-ultra-sized-screen.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-apple-watch-series-10-may-get-an-ultra-sized-screen.htmlHere’s some potentially good news for Apple Watch owners who have Apple Watch Ultra screen envy: the Apple Watch Series 10 — may get the same size screen as the company’s 49mm outdoorsy watch. That’s in addition to other possible improvements, like a thinner case and a new chip that could “lay the groundwork for some AI enhancements down the road,” according to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter for Bloomberg./news/the-blade-runner-sequel-is-officially-titled-blade-runner-2049.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-blade-runner-sequel-is-officially-titled-blade-runner-2049.htmlGenerally speaking, we've been referring to the upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic with a grab bag of shorthand titles. Stuff like The Untitled Blade Runner Sequel, or The New Blade Runner, or Director Denis Villeneuve's Upcoming Blade Runner Movie That Has Ryan Gosling In It. Today, that all ends, as the official title has been announced. There's a hashtag included in the press release, of course (#BladeRunner2049), but other than that there's little else revealed about the story itself./news/the-capitol-steps-up-hunger-games-propaganda-with-seven-new-posters.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-capitol-steps-up-hunger-games-propaganda-with-seven-new-posters.htmlPanem loves its citizens. At least, that's what the Capitol would like everyone to believe. Ahead of the upcoming release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Lionsgate has released a series of posters depicting seven "District Heroes." This isn't the first time that The Hunger Games' marketing team has attempted to bridge the gap between reality and fiction. Last year saw the release of an intricate, fashion-themed website called Capitol Couture that entwined fake interviews with sly nods to the second film in the series, Catching Fire./news/the-department-of-defense-wants-ideas-for-a-tiny-autonomous-space-station.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-department-of-defense-wants-ideas-for-a-tiny-autonomous-space-station.htmlThe Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has issued a solicitation for a tiny, “self-contained and free flying orbital outpost” that can host experiments and equipment in orbit and could eventually be scaled up for human habitation. The Orbital Outpost that’s being solicited would be small: it needs to have at least a cubic meter of space inside, be able to carry 80 kilograms, have continuous power, and should have a pressurization of anywhere from 0 to 1 atmospheres./news/the-director-of-netflix-s-zombie-film-les-affames-says-people-are-scarier-than-zombies.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-director-of-netflix-s-zombie-film-les-affames-says-people-are-scarier-than-zombies.htmlThe French-language movie Les Affames (“The Ravenous”) isn’t out to reinvent the zombie movie. Canadian writer-director Robin Aubert is a fan of the genre, and he knows the tropes: the growing hordes of shambling monsters, the thrown-together crew of mismatched survivors, the sudden attacks that winnow them down one by one, the understanding that even a single bite can doom an otherwise healthy person. Aubert embraces all the usual business. And he clearly expects viewers know how these stories go too, because he skips the usual buildup and drops them right into the middle of the action./news/the-flash-s-meta-ness-is-its-only-trick-and-its-undoing.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-flash-s-meta-ness-is-its-only-trick-and-its-undoing.htmlEven if Warner Bros. Discovery weren’t in the process of trying to pivot its way out of a messy cinematic universe of films based on DC’s comics, it’s not hard to see how some of the basic ideas at work in director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash could have still made for a genuinely interesting film. Had the movie debuted a few years back — before this age of big-screen multiversal experiments — the studio’s move to tap into but not outright adapt a story like Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert’s Flashpoint might have spoken to there truly being a cohesive plan at work to properly build a world around the Justice League, one feature-length origin story at a time./news/the-game-of-game-of-thrones-season-5-episode-6-unbowed-unbent-unbroken.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-game-of-game-of-thrones-season-5-episode-6-unbowed-unbent-unbroken.htmlIt was just last week that I introduced the Marriage Pits into The Game of Game of Thrones, and my initial hesitance has already justified itself. Sansa Stark and Ramsay Snow went ahead and made it official in the Godswood (+20 each) and celebrated, as is tradition, in the North with a controversial rape scene! (+20 each ... ?) Can I even give points for something this unpleasant? (Answer: no.) Of course, far away on the distant continent of Blogospheros, many would argue that this is the point at which not only Ramsay "/news/the-han-solo-standalone-film-will-hit-theaters-on-may-25th-2018.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-han-solo-standalone-film-will-hit-theaters-on-may-25th-2018.htmlStar Wars is returning to theaters in the summer. Yesterday, Lucasfilm released the first cast photo of the upcoming standalone Han Solo film, announcing that production had begun. Along with the release was another nugget of information: the film will open in theaters on May 25th, 2018. That date should be familiar to fans: May 25th is the original release date of A New Hope back in 1977, and up until The Force Awakens, every live-action Star Wars film hit theaters in May, at the beginning of the blockbuster season./news/the-internet-just-helped-success-kid-raise-money-for-his-dad-s-kidney-transplant.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-internet-just-helped-success-kid-raise-money-for-his-dad-s-kidney-transplant.htmlJustin Griner, father of the child who shot to internet fame as the "Success Kid" meme, has raised nearly $100,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to pay for a kidney transplant. Griner, 39, became ill in 2006 and suffered full kidney failure in 2009, forcing him to go on dialysis. The family set up a GoFundMe campaign last week to raise money for a transplant, and has already surpassed its original goal of $75,000./news/the-libby-app-put-a-refuge-in-my-pocket-when-i-needed-it-most.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-libby-app-put-a-refuge-in-my-pocket-when-i-needed-it-most.htmlA year ago, I had a book problem. Specifically, I had nowhere to put them. I’m a New York City renter, not a Disney princess. There are no floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with sliding ladders that I can hang from, singing about the last banger of a novel I read. It used to be that I’d carry a box of books to my mom’s house anytime I ran out of space on my rickety Ikea bookshelf./news/the-mass-shooting-in-new-zealand-was-designed-to-spread-on-social-media.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-mass-shooting-in-new-zealand-was-designed-to-spread-on-social-media.htmlThe horrific shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, was designed from the start to get attention, leveraging social media to make sure as many people as possible would hear about the deaths and the hate underpinning them. Officials have reported a “significant” number of people are dead from attacks at two mosques. Several people have been arrested so far. New Zealand police have told people to avoid mosques and told mosques to “shut their doors./news/the-mate-suv-electric-cargo-bike-is-coming-to-replace-your-expensive-car.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-mate-suv-electric-cargo-bike-is-coming-to-replace-your-expensive-car.htmlMate, the Indiegogo darling that burst onto the scene in 2016 with an inexpensive and fun folding e-bike, has just shown off a working prototype of its first electric cargo bike. The Mate SUV, as it’s called, targets families looking to replace a car — something that’s not only possible, but preferred in bicycle-friendly cities like Copenhagen, where Mate was founded. Electric cargo bikes aren’t cheap, unless you compare the price to that of a car./news/the-new-5-in-1-tovala-smart-oven-air-fryer-costs-just-99.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-5-in-1-tovala-smart-oven-air-fryer-costs-just-99.htmlMy first experience with smart ovens was the $1,500 June Oven, a high-tech cooking machine powered by computer vision algorithms. And while I loved the ease its vast array of connected features added to the whole meal-making process, I could not get behind that price tag for what is essentially a glorified toaster oven. Thankfully, competition has caused prices to plummet, and you can now buy a June for “only” $600./news/the-new-amazon-kindle-has-usb-c-charging-and-an-upgraded-screen.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-amazon-kindle-has-usb-c-charging-and-an-upgraded-screen.htmlAmazon just announced a new model of its Kindle ebook reader, which brings a couple of much-needed upgrades to the entry-level device. The new model has a 300ppi screen, longer battery life, and best of all, it now charges via USB-C. That means a lot of readers finally get to throw away the last of their Micro USB cables. It’ll be available on October 12th and will cost $99.99 with ads or $119./news/the-new-smart-home-standard-matter-has-arrived-here-s-what-you-need-to-know.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-smart-home-standard-matter-has-arrived-here-s-what-you-need-to-know.htmlWith this week’s announcement that the smart home standard Matter has finally launched and the possibility that we could see Matter devices arriving any day now, I wanted to round up answers to some of the most common questions I’ve heard in the last few days. If you have no idea what Matter is, my explainer on Matter is the place to start. But if you have more specific questions, the answers should be here./news/the-new-trailer-for-star-trek-discovery-s-second-season-shows-off-plenty-of-action-and-a-bearded-s.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-trailer-for-star-trek-discovery-s-second-season-shows-off-plenty-of-action-and-a-bearded-s.htmlAt New York Comic Con this afternoon, CBS unveiled the latest trailer for its upcoming second season of Star Trek Discovery showing off what’s next for the crew of the titular ship. The network also revealed that the show would return on January 17th, 2019. Set a decade prior to the original Star Trek series, Star Trek Discovery follows the crew of the USS Discovery and disgraced Starfleet officer Michael Burnham as they contend with a war against the Klingons, and end up in the Mirror Universe, where they discover a tyrannical version of their world./news/the-newest-game-on-netflix-is-actually-an-old-game.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-newest-game-on-netflix-is-actually-an-old-game.htmlThe latest game to come to Netflix’s fledgling gaming service is the racing title Asphalt Xtreme, TechCrunch reports. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because the mobile game was originally released in October 2016 but was subsequently pulled from app stores at the end of September 2021. A trailer for the game released on Netflix’s YouTube channel notes that it will be available “exclusively” for the service’s subscribers, with no ads or in-app purchases./news/the-palm-pre-launched-10-years-ago-today-here-s-what-it-meant-to-me.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-palm-pre-launched-10-years-ago-today-here-s-what-it-meant-to-me.htmlA decade ago, I was sitting in a folding camping chair outside a Sprint store somewhere in Central Florida. I was all alone up until an hour or so before the store opened, and the line never grew to more than a handful of people. It was launch day for the Palm Pre, and I knew right away that the showing at my little strip mall Sprint store was a metaphor for what was to come./news/the-science-behind-those-viral-videos-of-freezing-soap-bubbles.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-science-behind-those-viral-videos-of-freezing-soap-bubbles.htmlIt took a YouTube video, a walk-in freezer kept at negative 20 degrees Celsius, and some very cold-tolerant engineering students for researchers to finally figure out why freezing soap bubbles resemble glitter in a snow globe. The trick itself is a popular winter science experiment when temperatures dip below freezing: head outside, blow a soap bubble, gently plop it onto some snow or ice, and watch as crystals dance around on the film until the entire thing is a delicate ice ball./news/the-snes-classic-is-so-much-better-with-a-wireless-controller.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-snes-classic-is-so-much-better-with-a-wireless-controller.htmlFor the second year in a row, Nintendo has released a fantastic, miniature machine that’s just about perfect for playing classic games. And for the second year in a row, the company has burdened that machine with a glaring flaw: wired controllers with frustratingly short cords. The SNES Classic features longer wires than its 8-bit predecessors, but in a world of wireless everything, it’s still a frustrating omission. Naturally, there are some wireless options from third-party hardware companies like Nyko and 8bitdo, and they’re both excellent alternatives./news/the-steam-deck-now-runs-windows.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-steam-deck-now-runs-windows.htmlImportantly, you’ll need to wipe a Steam Deck to do this, there’s no dual-boot yet, and Valve says you can only install Windows 10 since the Steam Deck’s current BIOS apparently doesn’t include firmware TPM support (which Microsoft infamously requires for Windows 11). Oh, and your speakers and headphone jack won’t work because there’s no audio drivers yet. Bluetooth or USB-C audio are both options for now. I should note that the Steam Deck isn’t quite as buggy today as it was during the review process, and the updates aren’t coming as fast and furious: after launch, Valve created “stable” and “beta” release channels you can access right from the Deck interface./news/the-tsubame-archax-is-the-coolest-3-million-mecha-on-earth-and-soon-the-moon.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-tsubame-archax-is-the-coolest-3-million-mecha-on-earth-and-soon-the-moon.htmlThe multimillion-dollar hypercar business is booming. The world’s ultra-wealthy have dozens and dozens of different outrageously expensive, high-performance toys to choose from, like the Rimac Nevera or the Mercedes-AMG Project One. Some are so extreme, they’re not even street-legal.  But what’s a tech-forward multibillionaire who’s more into anime than motorsports to do with their discretionary fund?  The Tsubame Archax might be the answer. This is, quite simply, a Gundam fan’s dream made a reality: a 15-foot-tall, $3 million mecha that works just like the real thing — well, minus a few pesky details like jet boosters, laser swords, and the neural interfaces explored in many of Gundam’s various (and conflicting) timelines./news/the-verge-archives-threads.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-archives-threads.htmlMeta’s new Threads update promises new features, but doesn’t say what they are. “You asked, we answered,” Meta wrote in the notes for an iOS update released on Monday. “New features coming, so keep an eye out as you browse the latest version of the app.” I don’t see any obvious differences in my updated version of the app. But Instagram boss Adam Mosseri teased a “following” feed in a video, so hopefully that’s coming soon./news/the-verge-is-hiring-the-verge.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-is-hiring-the-verge.htmlInternet, listen up! The Verge is currently looking for a handful of new, succulent team members in a wide-range of positions. We're on the hunt for a senior features editor, deputy managing editor, a culture editor, a science editor, news writers on both coasts, reviewers, British people, video folks, and more! That's right, there are many jobs to choose from if you're a talented and cool person. So why not go check out our jobs page and find the role that you were born to play!/news/these-students-survived-a-wildfire-and-graduated-into-a-pandemic.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-students-survived-a-wildfire-and-graduated-into-a-pandemic.htmlParadise High School valedictorian Katie-Lynn Chandler delivered her graduation speech to empty bleachers and a row of cars parked along the school’s running track. A crown of white flowers was wrapped around her white graduation cap. She was flanked by a row of school staff standing at least six feet apart on the football field. She’d taken off her surgical mask to speak at the podium — she was the only person on the field not wearing one./news/this-japanese-city-is-using-robot-wolves-to-scare-bears.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-japanese-city-is-using-robot-wolves-to-scare-bears.htmlNo, this is not a Halloween decoration someone forgot. This robot — “Monster Wolf” — is actually a bear deterrent. The city of Takikawa, Japan, deployed these robowolves to prevent bear attacks. And yes, bear attacks were something of a problem: 157 people were attacked by bears in 2019. But since the Monster Wolves were installed, no attacks have occurred, The Guardian reports. Black bears’ recent attacks are probably due to a shortage of acorns in the Japanese wilderness, according to conservationists./news/this-phone-has-embedded-diamonds-and-a-360-degree-camera.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-phone-has-embedded-diamonds-and-a-360-degree-camera.htmlEvery year a ton of phones come out with similar features and designs. But every once in a while, one comes out of nowhere that stands out for a great idea, unique style, or utter extravagance. ProTruly’s Darling smartphone seems to hit all three in the best and worst ways. The Darling appears to be the first smartphone with a built-in 360-degree camera, allowing it to take photos and record video in all directions at once./news/threads-dms-may-be-coming-and-they-may-be-powered-by-instagram.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/threads-dms-may-be-coming-and-they-may-be-powered-by-instagram.htmlThe will-they-won’t-they of Threads direct messages has been going on for a while now. Last we heard, Instagram (and Threads) head Adam Mosseri said that Threads was not planning to build DMs. That still appears to be true — but it’s not the whole story. Mosseri said on Tuesday, in a Threads post replying to Platformer’s Casey Newton, that his reluctance to build DMs into Threads stems from the fact that he thinks Instagram’s messaging service might be the right one for Threads./news/three-sony-xperia-z5-models-appear-in-leaked-video-interview.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/three-sony-xperia-z5-models-appear-in-leaked-video-interview.htmlBy now, you should have a pretty good idea of what Sony's next smartphones will look like, after photos leaked last week allegedly showed three variants of Sony's Xperia Z5 — the standard Z5, the Z5 Compact, and the Z5 Premium. But just in case you weren't sure,a new video has appeared online that appears to show the three phones in action. In an interview with a French journalist, Sony Mobile Communications' director of marketing, Olivier Terme, uses handsets that he identifies as Z5 models, describing features that last week's leaks indicated the smartphones would have./news/today-on-the-vergecast-how-planet-earth-gets-made-and-how-netflix-shows-you-what-to-watch.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/today-on-the-vergecast-how-planet-earth-gets-made-and-how-netflix-shows-you-what-to-watch.htmlToday on The Vergecast: How Planet Earth gets made, and how Netflix shows you what to watch. Do you ever open the Netflix app and wonder why you’re seeing what you’re seeing? It turns out the story is both more and less complicated than you might think — and resistant to all my conspiracy theories about Netflix bullying you into watching stuff. Also, if you haven’t been watching this season of Planet Earth, you’re missing out./news/turbotax-isn-t-allowed-to-say-it-s-free-anymore.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/turbotax-isn-t-allowed-to-say-it-s-free-anymore.htmlThe Federal Trade Commission cracked down on TurboTax, issuing a final order that prohibits the company from calling its services “free” when most customers end up having to upgrade to paid services. Parent company Intuit had advertised TurboTax as “Free, free free free,” even though a majority of customers were in fact ineligible for free services. The Federal Trade Commission sued TurboTax in 2022 over misleading advertising, and the FTC’s chief administrative law judge announced an initial decision in September saying Intuit “engaged in deceptive advertising in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act./news/turn-anyone-into-a-pok%C3%A9mon-with-this-ai-art-model.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/turn-anyone-into-a-pok%C3%A9mon-with-this-ai-art-model.htmlA fun little AI art widget named Text-to-Pokémon lets you plug in any name or description you like and (you guessed it) generate a pokémon matching your prompt. The model’s output isn’t flawless, but it’s incredibly entertaining all the same. You can try punching in the names of celebrities or politicians (see “Boris Johnson” and “Vladimir Putin” in the image above) or just general descriptions of the sort of pokémon that would tickle your personal fancy (the one below is my “skeleton priest”)./news/ubisoft-s-skull-and-bones-is-delayed-yet-again.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ubisoft-s-skull-and-bones-is-delayed-yet-again.htmlYou’re not gonna believe this, but Skull and Bones is getting delayed again. The news was first reported by Kotaku and later confirmed by Ubisoft a little less than two months before the game’s November 8th release date. “Our team is hard at work polishing and balancing the experience ahead of the worldwide launch,” Ubisoft stated on its blog announcing the news. “As a result, we’ve made the tough decision to move our release date to March 9th, 2023./news/uma-thurman-details-sexual-misconduct-by-harvey-weinstein.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uma-thurman-details-sexual-misconduct-by-harvey-weinstein.htmlThe New York Times has published a lengthy report about actress Uma Thurman, who details several sexual assaults from disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, as well as the unsupportive and physically endangering behavior of Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino. In the exposé, Thurman says that she got to know Weinstein and his wife after starring in Tarantino’s 1994 film, Pulp Fiction. “He used to spend hours talking to me about material and complimenting my mind and validating me,” she says./news/valkyrae-and-courage-are-now-co-owners-of-100-thieves.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/valkyrae-and-courage-are-now-co-owners-of-100-thieves.html100 Thieves, a popular esports organization and lifestyle brand, announced that two of its biggest content creators, Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter and Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, will now be co-owners. “As a streamer and former pro-player myself, I always wanted 100 Thieves to be an organization guided by and built to be a platform for content creators,” Haag said in a statement. “Rae and Jack have been with us since 2018 and 2019, respectively, and are significant contributors to 100 Thieves./news/verizon-warns-unlimited-data-fios-customer-for-using-too-much-data.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/verizon-warns-unlimited-data-fios-customer-for-using-too-much-data.htmlVerizon's "unlimited" data FiOS internet plans really are unlimited for most consumers; use a terabyte or three in a month, and you probably won't hear anything from the company. The vast majority of home internet users rarely approach those numbers. But the ISP has repeatedly shown that there are limits to what it'll tolerate — and customers paying hundreds of dollars every month aren't exempt. DSLReports reveals that Verizon recently sent a warning letter to a customer who forks out $315 every month for 500Mbps FiOS speeds./news/watch-lightning-strikes-mapped-like-a-real-time-missile-command.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-lightning-strikes-mapped-like-a-real-time-missile-command.htmlA website called Blitzortung.org (German for "lightning radiolocation") is charting lightning strikes in real time as they happen across the world. The network uses data from volunteer-operated stations, which track the time and location of any electromagnetic discharge within their range. The results are then collated and processed to triangulate the geographical positions of these meteorological phenomena. Blitzortung's maps look strangely reminiscent of old-school wargames, with flame-colored dots symbolizing each lightning strike and flashing lines indicating the location of the station that identified it./news/watch-out-someone-wants-to-turn-pac-man-into-a-live-action-movie.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-out-someone-wants-to-turn-pac-man-into-a-live-action-movie.htmlAs Hollywood looks ever further afield for IP to turn into new film franchises, the classic arcade game Pac-Man has emerged as the next potential basis for a live-action adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is currently under development at Wayfarer (the studio behind Disney Plus’s Clouds) with assistance from Bandai Namco, based on an idea from Sonic the Hedgehog associate producer Chuck Williams. Crucially, THR is only reporting that the film is “in development,” and there’s no mention of it having been officially greenlit or entering production./news/watch-the-final-trailer-for-netflix-s-the-defenders.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-the-final-trailer-for-netflix-s-the-defenders.htmlMarvel’s The Defenders begins streaming tomorrow on Netflix, but a new trailer has just hit the web, showing off plenty of new footage of the team in action, teasing the nature of the threat that they face. The first trailer for the show introduced the team trying to find their dynamic together, while the second showed off Sigourney Weaver’s villain Alexandra. This new preview really shows just how much of a threat Weaver’s character is for the team and the city that they protect./news/what-is-the-game-developers-conference-and-why-does-it-matter.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-is-the-game-developers-conference-and-why-does-it-matter.htmlThis week, many of the people who design, publish, teach, and promote video games are meeting in San Francisco for the annual Game Developers Conference. While it lacks the glitz and bombast of the better known Electronic Entertainment Expo, the conference is no less of an important meeting for the video game industry. Here, many industry veterans and newcomers mingle, sharing their ideas and experiences. It's part video game designer boot camp and part class reunion./news/what-is-wi-fi-7-and-do-you-even-need-it.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-is-wi-fi-7-and-do-you-even-need-it.htmlTime to gird your browsers, y’all — Wi-Fi is getting another upgrade very soon. That’s right: about four years after Wi-Fi 6 debuted and two years after Wi-Fi 6E followed it up, Wi-Fi 7 is picking up the baton. And as someone who got his start reviewing routers, I am so tired. Okay, but seriously — Wi-Fi 7 could be an even bigger speed boost than Wi-Fi 6E was, thanks in part to the wide open spaces of the 6GHz band that 6E unlocked./news/what-nasa-s-golden-record-taught-me-about-humanity.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-nasa-s-golden-record-taught-me-about-humanity.htmlAs I take the first of three yellow LPs out of the box, my heart is beating fast with excitement. I gently place it on a turntable, hit play, and go lie down on the couch, the lights in my living room dimmed to a minimum. An old man with an Austrian accent starts speaking in a calm voice. “As the Secretary General of the United Nations, an organization of 147 member states who represents almost all of the human inhabitants of the planet Earth, I send greetings of behalf of the people of our planet./news/what-the-apple-watch-s-fda-clearance-actually-means.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-the-apple-watch-s-fda-clearance-actually-means.htmlYesterday, Apple announced that the US Food and Drug Administration cleared two new features for the Apple Watch Series 4. One is an advanced method of monitoring the heart called an electrocardiogram (EKG), and the other is the Watch’s ability to detect and notify the user of an irregular heart rhythm. Both features will be available on the device later in 2018 (not at launch). The news sounds exciting, but there are some important caveats that limit how useful the new gadget will be./news/what-to-expect-at-samsung-s-galaxy-unpacked-event-on-wednesday.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-to-expect-at-samsung-s-galaxy-unpacked-event-on-wednesday.htmlSamsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event is coming up fast at 9AM ET on July 10th in Paris, France. The company isn’t being coy about at least a couple of things it’s talking about — the graphic in its announcement video clearly hints at foldables, and the video’s description reads in part, “Galaxy AI is here.” You can watch the stream either on YouTube or its website. There’ll be more to the event than just folding phones and preannouncement device reservation discounts./news/what-s-inside-a-decommissioned-bomb-proof-earth-station.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-s-inside-a-decommissioned-bomb-proof-earth-station.htmlThe Jamesburg Earth Station in Carmel Valley, California made headlines earlier in the year when its owner decided to sell the place for $2,950,000. Now The Atlantic has delved a little deeper to see just what it's like at the bomb-proof facility described by some as a "great place for armageddon." Located not far from a trailer park, the station, which helped transmit some of the first images from the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, has since been gutted of its now-obsolete tech by current owner Jeffrey Bullis./news/why-elon-musk-wants-tesla-to-stop-being-a-car-company.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-elon-musk-wants-tesla-to-stop-being-a-car-company.htmlWhy Elon Musk wants Tesla to stop being a car company. On today’s Decoder, Verge transportation editor Andy Hawkins and I try to figure out Tesla. The company has been on a real rollercoaster these past two weeks — in terms of its stock price, its basic financials, and well, its vibes. With Elon Musk saying he’s going all in on autonomy and announcing a robotaxi event in August, it seems like we’re getting closer to a make-or-break moment for the company./news/why-is-american-internet-access-so-much-more-expensive-than-the-rest-of-the-world.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-is-american-internet-access-so-much-more-expensive-than-the-rest-of-the-world.htmlWhen NYU economist Thomas Philippon moved to the United States from France in the 1990s, he noticed everything from laptops to internet access was cheaper in America. But over time, as the access industry consolidated, prices slowly rose and now Americans pay more for data than almost every other country worldwide. In his new book, The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets, Philippon sets out to examine why that happened, and why there’s so little competition in American markets./news/why-you-should-be-watching-the-magicians.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-you-should-be-watching-the-magicians.htmlThere are a lot of fantasy shows on TV these days, led by Game of Thrones, and while HBO’s epic of drama and dragons hogs the spotlight, Syfy’s The Magicians has quietly become one of the most consistently entertaining shows on TV. The Magicians returns for its third season on Wednesday, January 10th. Here’s why you should be watching the show. In one sentence, what’s the show about? Harry Potter meets The Chronicles of Narnia meets the cold, harsh realities of real life, in a fantasy series based on the best-selling adult trilogy by Lev Grossman./news/world-of-warcraft-veteran-chris-metzen-returns-to-blizzard.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/world-of-warcraft-veteran-chris-metzen-returns-to-blizzard.htmlWork work! Once the resigned cry of orcs in Warcraft will now be Chris Metzen’s new mantra as he emerges from retirement to rejoin the team at Blizzard. Today, John Hight, senior vice president and general manager of World of Warcraft, announced that longtime WoW veteran Metzen, also known for his work across Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch, would return to the company. Metzen started at the company in 1994 as an artist on the original Warcraft./news/xbox-series-s-299-price-with-512gb-of-storage-1440p-gaming-and-more.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/xbox-series-s-299-price-with-512gb-of-storage-1440p-gaming-and-more.htmlMicrosoft’s next-gen Xbox Series S console leaked earlier today, just before the company officially confirmed its $299 pricing. Now a new leak is providing more details on exactly what’s inside the smaller Xbox Series S. Twitter leaker WalkingCat has posted a promotional video for the Series S, confirming that the console is targeting 120fps gaming at up to 1440p resolution and offering 512GB of storage. The Xbox Series S will also include support for ray tracing, variable rate shading, and variable refresh rate./news/yik-yak-is-secretly-pivoting-to-group-messaging.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/yik-yak-is-secretly-pivoting-to-group-messaging.htmlIn the weeks before it laid off most of its staff, Yik Yak employees believed the company was back on the right track. After a bruising fall, in which users revolted against the end of anonymous posting, the company appeared to have stabilized. “In the weeks leading up to it, everyone was sort of plugging away,” one former employee told The Verge. “There was no assumption like, ‘guys, we’re sunk.’”/news/you-can-now-subscribe-to-stream-hbo-and-cinemax-shows-on-amazon.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-can-now-subscribe-to-stream-hbo-and-cinemax-shows-on-amazon.htmlAmazon is looking more and more like a cable company “HBO has produced some of the most groundbreaking, beloved and award-winning shows in television history,” said Amazon VP of digital video Michael Paull in an official statement. “Prime members can now watch the latest episodes of the critically-acclaimed Westworld and Game of Thrones without the need for a cable subscription. We’re thrilled to work with HBO to bring their cutting-edge content to Amazon Prime members with Amazon Channels./news/you-re-always-just-a-typo-away-from-the-large-hardon-collider.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/you-re-always-just-a-typo-away-from-the-large-hardon-collider.htmlCERN, Europe's nuclear research organization, operates the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC, for short) — the largest particle accelerator in the world. Inside this almost 17-mile ring of tubes and superconducting magnets, beams of high-energy particles collide at nearly the speed of light. The LHC is also, apparently, a "hardon" collider, according to certain reaches of the internet — including CERN’s own site. That’s right, CERN has made the dreaded hardon typo./news/youtuber-david-dobrik-parts-ways-with-disposable-camera-app-amidst-controversy.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtuber-david-dobrik-parts-ways-with-disposable-camera-app-amidst-controversy.htmlDavid Dobrik has parted ways with Dispo, the disposable camera app co-founded by the YouTuber in 2019, after allegations of sexual assault were made against a former member of his Vlog Squad, The Information reports.  “David has chosen to step down from the board and leave the company to not distract from the company’s growth,” Dispo said in a statement, “Dispo’s team, product, and most importantly — our community — stand for building a diverse, inclusive, and empowering world./news/youtube-s-tipping-feature-is-now-available-to-more-creators.htmlTue, 28 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-s-tipping-feature-is-now-available-to-more-creators.htmlYouTube is expanding its Super Thanks tipping program, giving more creators another way to monetize their presence on the platform. Super Thanks, which allows fans to send creators tips directly on videos, was previously in beta since being announced last year. Tip amounts vary between $2 and $50, and fans can include a custom comment when they send creators money. The program is now open to all eligible YouTube Partner creators in 68 countries, the company announced in a blog post./news/the-bfg-review-steven-spielberg-s-take-on-roald-dahl-is-all-treacle-no-spice.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-bfg-review-steven-spielberg-s-take-on-roald-dahl-is-all-treacle-no-spice.htmlThe fun thing about British author Roald Dahl has always been his authentic streak of malice. His children’s books, like Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and James And The Giant Peach, all have a subversive undercurrent of darkness and violence under the quirk. (His adult short stories aren’t as well known, but they’re terrific, and they add a frank, sometimes graphic sexuality to the mix./news/leviathan-and-mass-effect-3-s-dlc-problem.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/leviathan-and-mass-effect-3-s-dlc-problem.htmlThere are a few things you absolutely need to know about Leviathan, Mass Effect 3's first story based DLC post-extended ending, which was released a little more than a month ago. First, if you've finished the game, you'll be able to jump into Leviathan using the save that Mass Effect 3 created when you completed it. This is set at the point-of-no-return just prior to the start of the final act./news/10-great-game-pass-games-for-your-xbox.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/10-great-game-pass-games-for-your-xbox.htmlXbox Game Pass might have had a rather slow 2022, but its value has really paid off in 2023. There are more than 400 games to choose from, and I’ve honestly struggled to pick just 10 to recommend this year. For a monthly subscription fee of between $10.99 and $16.99, you get to play a wide range of games like Starfield, Sea of Stars, Tunic, and Inside. If you’ve just got an Xbox, here’s a list of 10 great Xbox Game Pass games that are well worth your time over the holidays./news/a-first-look-at-europe-s-alternative-iphone-app-stores.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-first-look-at-europe-s-alternative-iphone-app-stores.htmlAlmost a month after Apple’sbegrudging capitulation to theDigital Markets Act (DMA), only one third-party iOS app store is currently live in Europe. It’s the B2B-focused Mobivention marketplace that allows companies to distribute their own apps internally. While that’s fine and all, things won’t stay this way for long — and it’s what’s coming soon that’ll really pique the interest of Verge readers. Both the Epic Games Store and MacPaw’s Setapp have been announced, but it’s AltStore that’s likely to hit EU users’ phones first./news/a-key-cold-medicine-ingredient-is-basically-worthless.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-key-cold-medicine-ingredient-is-basically-worthless.htmlThe FDA’s 16-member advisory panel unanimously voted yesterday that oral phenylephrine, a common active ingredient in cold medications, is no better than a placebo for treating congestion. The call by the panel sets up potential FDA action that could force the removal of certain over-the-counter medications containing the ingredient — including certain formulations of Mucinex, Sudafed, Tylenol, and NyQuil — from store shelves. As noted by The New York Times, the panel’s vote doesn’t necessarily mean the FDA will take action, but it usually follows panel recommendations./news/alienware-s-new-gaming-laptop-powers-up-when-you-look-at-it.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/alienware-s-new-gaming-laptop-powers-up-when-you-look-at-it.htmlAlienware is refreshing its line of gaming notebooks today with desktop-class graphics chips, just weeks after Nvidia announced its plans to bring the GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060 to laptops. Alienware is taking all of Nvidia's graphics chips and putting each one inside an appropriately sized notebook. The new Alienware 13 will get the GTX 1060, while the Alienware 15 takes the GTX 1070, and the larger Alienware 17 has the top of the line GTX 1080./news/amazon-glow-projector-review-an-innovative-interactive-video-calling-device.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-glow-projector-review-an-innovative-interactive-video-calling-device.htmlAmazon’s latest attempt to entertain your children is an innovative effort that combines an interactive projector with Amazon Kids Plus’ excellent catalog of child-friendly content. What it is not is an Alexa device, despite having four microphones built in and sharing a name with the Echo lamp for kids. Rather than being a part of Amazon’s growing, open smart home ecosystem, the $300 Amazon Glow is an expensive, manicured walled garden for your kids./news/amazon-suspends-sales-of-blu-phones-for-including-preloaded-spyware-again.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-suspends-sales-of-blu-phones-for-including-preloaded-spyware-again.htmlBlu, a Miami-based budget Android phone company, has been suspended from selling on Amazon after cybersecurity experts detailed how software preloaded onto its devices collects sensitive user data and sends it overseas, according to CNET. Kryptowire, a Virginia-based security firm, said last week during the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas that spying software from Chinese company Shanghai Adups Technology was still present on certain Blu handsets. The software leaves users vulnerable to remote takeovers and having their text messages and call logs recorded, as well as other forms of discrete data collection./news/amazon-suspiciously-says-browser-extension-honey-is-a-security-risk-now-that-paypal-owns-it.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-suspiciously-says-browser-extension-honey-is-a-security-risk-now-that-paypal-owns-it.htmlJust weeks after PayPal acquired popular coupon-finding browser extension Honey in November 2019 for $4 billion, Amazon shoppers were served a notification that the extension was a security risk. The security warning was first spotted by Politico editor Ryan Hutchins, and the timing of the message, as a Wired report points out, is suspect. Honey has been compatible with Amazon for years, so why was the retailer suddenly labeling it as malware at the height of holiday shopping season?/news/amazon-s-new-ai-chatbot-generates-answers-jokes-and-jeff-bezos-style-tips.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-new-ai-chatbot-generates-answers-jokes-and-jeff-bezos-style-tips.htmlAmazon is testing a new AI feature in its mobile apps for iOS and Android that lets customers ask specific questions about products. The AI tool can help figure out exactly how big a new shelf is, determine how long a battery will last, or even... write you a Christmas carol about snow boots. Yep, the new feature is meant for more practical applications, but it seems the tool will happily respond to more colorful queries, too, answering the same questions people occasionally ask AI chatbots when they’re bored./news/apple-brings-support-for-robot-vacuums-to-apple-home-at-wwdc-2024.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-brings-support-for-robot-vacuums-to-apple-home-at-wwdc-2024.htmlApple has announced that Apple Home will finally support robot vacuums with iOS 18. This was one of just a few updates to its smart home platform that Apple announced at WWDC 2024. The company also revealed that hands-free unlocking is coming to compatible smart door locks as well as the ability to share guest codes for access to your home (another thing we’ve been impatiently waiting for). Plus, there’s a new electricity usage feature coming to the Home app, although it’s limited to Pacific Gas & Electric users in California at launch./news/apple-event-2018-all-the-latest-news-from-the-education-keynote.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-event-2018-all-the-latest-news-from-the-education-keynote.htmlWe just spent some time with Apple’s new $329 iPad, announced here in Chicago at its education event. It’s... an iPad. The new iPad is very familiar. It has the same basic 9.7-inch screen size, bezels, Touch ID sensor, button placement, and cameras. The big new features are Apple Pencil support, which works the same as it did on the iPad Pro, and an update to the A10 processor. As with the previous iPad, it has 10 hours of battery life, an 8-megapixel rear camera that supports 1080p video, a front-facing FaceTime HD camera, supports optional LTE, and weighs one pound./news/apple-fitness-plus-works-with-just-an-iphone-or-ipad-starting-on-october-24th.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-fitness-plus-works-with-just-an-iphone-or-ipad-starting-on-october-24th.htmlSoon, you won’t need an Apple Watch to close your rings. Starting October 24th, anyone with an iPhone updated to iOS 16.1 can subscribe to Apple’s Fitness Plus service. Folks who buy a new iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV can also get a free three-month trial. But if you aren’t keen on buying a new gadget, Apple is also working with SilverSneakers, Target, UnitedHealthcare, and Mobile Health to help users sign up at no extra cost./news/apple-is-making-a-murderbot-series-starring-alexander-skarsg%C3%A5rd.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-is-making-a-murderbot-series-starring-alexander-skarsg%C3%A5rd.htmlIf you haven’t read the books — you can check out our review right here — Apple says the adaption is “about a self-hacking security android who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable ‘clients.’” In the show, “Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe./news/apple-launches-100-million-racial-equity-and-justice-initiative.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-launches-100-million-racial-equity-and-justice-initiative.htmlApple is launching a $100 million initiative to promote racial equality for people of color with a focus on “education, economic equality, and criminal justice reform.” The program, named Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, will be led by Apple VP Lisa Jackson. “The initiative will challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exists for communities of color and particular for the black community,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a video today./news/apple-realityos-new-os-could-power-augmented-reality-headset.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-realityos-new-os-could-power-augmented-reality-headset.htmlApple’s long-rumored virtual or augmented reality headset might not launch until 2023, but developers have spotted additional mentions of a new “realityOS” that could power it. First referenced as “rOS” in 2017 by Bloomberg News, realityOS was also spotted as part of some pre-release iOS 13 builds. 9to5Mac reports that developers have now found references to realityOS in GitHub repos and in App Store upload logs. “What is Apple’s realityOS doing in the App Store upload logs?/news/apple-s-new-proton-like-tool-can-run-windows-games-on-a-mac.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-new-proton-like-tool-can-run-windows-games-on-a-mac.htmlIf you’re hoping to see more Windows games on Mac then those dreams might finally come true soon. Apple has dropped some big news for game developers at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week, making it far easier and quicker to port Windows games to Mac thanks to a Proton-like environment that can translate and run the latest DirectX 12 Windows games on macOS. Apple has created a new Game Porting Toolkit that’s similar to the work Valve has done with Proton and the Steam Deck./news/arrival-director-denis-villeneuve-on-the-politics-of-the-year-s-best-sci-fi-film.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/arrival-director-denis-villeneuve-on-the-politics-of-the-year-s-best-sci-fi-film.htmlThe moody first teaser for Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Blade Runner 2049 arrived earlier this week, and the footage couldn’t be more different from his currently-in-theaters film, the thoughtful, patient Arrival. Starring Amy Adams as a linguistics expert brought in to decode the language of an alien race that mysteriously arrives on Earth’s doorstep, Arrival blends hard science fiction with a hopeful take on humanity’s ability to work together. It’s one of our favorite films of 2016./news/at-t-s-no-contract-aio-wireless-available-nationwide-in-september.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/at-t-s-no-contract-aio-wireless-available-nationwide-in-september.htmlAT&T is taking its T-Mobile competitor Aio Wireless nationwide. The no-contract prepaid service is currently only available in Florida, Texas, Metro-Atlanta, and Chicago, but beginning in mid-September, everyone in the country will be able to buy service from Aio online, the company announced today. Service runs between $40 and $70 a month, depending on the plan, and a limited-time offer gives new subscribers a free month of service if they sign up before September 29th./news/bluesky-is-now-integrated-with-flipboard-with-pixelfed-coming-soon.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bluesky-is-now-integrated-with-flipboard-with-pixelfed-coming-soon.htmlIf you use Flipboard, then you can add Bluesky by tapping the four-squares icon at the bottom of the app and going to the accounts tab. A list of accounts should show up, giving you the option to set up a connection to your preferred social network, which includes Mastodon, Bluesky, and YouTube. Signing in is as simple as entering your Bluesky username and password. The app yells at you if you try to use your personal password for the service as I did, urging you instead to use Bluesky’s more secure app password function to create a unique login for Flipboard./news/bmw-is-bringing-airconsole-gaming-library-to-its-new-infotainment-system.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bmw-is-bringing-airconsole-gaming-library-to-its-new-infotainment-system.htmlBMW is the latest automaker trying to get gaming to happen on vehicle infotainment screens while you’re charging or otherwise waiting around in your car. The company plans to add AirConsole, a party game service that normally runs on devices like Android TV or PC, into cars equipped with the curved infotainment display at the heart of its iDrive 8 system. AirConsole delivers games over the internet, with controls handled by smartphones instead of dedicated controllers./news/capcom-is-making-a-game-where-it-rains-dinosaurs-called-exoprimal.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/capcom-is-making-a-game-where-it-rains-dinosaurs-called-exoprimal.htmlCapcom just announced Exoprimal, a ridiculous-looking game featuring people in metal exosuits taking on hordes of dinosaurs. The game was revealed during Sony’s State of Play presentation. It’s set in a near future — 2043, according to a trailer — and apparently, we’ll have the technology at that time forecast “dinosaur outbreaks,” where a portal opens and sends down waves of dinosaurs that need to be dispatched. As one of my colleagues observed, it looks like a Dynasty Warriors-style game, except you’re in futuristic suits and fighting dinosaurs instead of people./news/chatgpt-s-ai-memory-can-remember-the-preferences-of-paying-customers.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chatgpt-s-ai-memory-can-remember-the-preferences-of-paying-customers.htmlYou’ve explained that you prefer meeting notes to have headlines, bullets and action items summarized at the bottom. ChatGPT remembers this and recaps meetings this way. You’ve told ChatGPT you own a neighborhood coffee shop. When brainstorming messaging for a social post celebrating a new location, ChatGPT knows where to start.  You mention that you have a toddler and that she loves jellyfish. When you ask ChatGPT to help create her birthday card, it suggests a jellyfish wearing a party hat./news/chevy-s-new-electric-camaro-is-the-near-future-of-ev-drag-racing.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chevy-s-new-electric-camaro-is-the-near-future-of-ev-drag-racing.htmlGM made a fun surprise announcement at this past week’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show: an all-electric Chevrolet Camaro concept with 700 horsepower meant to bust out a quarter mile run in about nine seconds. And unlike EV performance cars like the NIO EP9 or the upcoming second-generation Tesla Roadster, which are purpose-built, the Camaro concept appears to be a beautiful, cobbled-together Frankenstein’s monster of a car. The car, dubbed the eCOPO Concept (after the original COPO Camaro special order performance models from the late 1960s) looks like any other modern Camaro from the outside, even in electric blue paint./news/chrome-will-soon-let-you-turn-on-an-https-first-mode.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chrome-will-soon-let-you-turn-on-an-https-first-mode.htmlGoogle is working to make browsing more secure by soon offering an HTTPS-first option, which will try to upgrade page loads to HTTPS, the company announced on Wednesday. If you flip this option on, the browser will also show a full-page warning when you try to load up a site that doesn’t support HTTPS. The company is also announcing that it’s “re-examining” the lock icon in the URL bar and plans to experiment with a change to how that looks./news/could-hela-from-thor-ragnarok-be-the-best-marvel-villain-since-loki.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/could-hela-from-thor-ragnarok-be-the-best-marvel-villain-since-loki.htmlThe first Thor: Ragnarok trailer landed today, and it already looks like the most fun Marvel production since, well, the last fun Marvel production we got a close look at. Between this, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Marvel Studios is promising a year that breaks away from the sad introspection of previous superhero movies. But despite that more colorful aesthetic, what stands out most to me is Cate Blanchett slaying everything in sight./news/deepfakes-are-disappearing-from-parts-of-the-web-but-they-re-not-going-away.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/deepfakes-are-disappearing-from-parts-of-the-web-but-they-re-not-going-away.htmlReddit delivered a serious blow to creators of deepfakes with a ban on the primary subreddit for AI-assisted face-swapped videos and images — a community over 90,000 users strong at the time of its demise. In that regard, Reddit is late to the party. Platforms such as Discord, Gyfcat, Pornhub, and even Twitter have already made their anti-face-swap porn policy clear. But while Reddit has finally removed the offending content in question, the damage is done./news/diablo-4-open-beta-everything-you-need-to-know.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/diablo-4-open-beta-everything-you-need-to-know.htmlDiablo IV’s general open beta has just kicked off, and it runs through March 27th at 3PM ET. You can access the open beta on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and Xbox One. Last week, there was an “early access” open beta for players who have prepurchased the game or sacrificed their blood pressure to the almighty chicken gods. However, now that the beta is live to whoever wants to join, you might run into some long queues to get into a game — something that Blizzard is already warning players about./news/dinosaurs-really-were-destroyed-by-an-asteroid-study-shows.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dinosaurs-really-were-destroyed-by-an-asteroid-study-shows.htmlScientists have long theorized that the dinosaurs met their demise at the hands of a giant asteroid, but the circumstances of such an event have thus far remained murky. Now, a team of American and European researchers have shed new light on the incident, lending extra weight to an already widely-adopted theory. Researchers have spent years trying to find a direct connection between the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event (K-T, for short) and cosmic collision./news/disney-has-appointed-mike-white-as-the-leader-of-its-metaverse-strategy.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/disney-has-appointed-mike-white-as-the-leader-of-its-metaverse-strategy.htmlDisney is appointing an executive to head up its metaverse plans, according to a memo CEO Bob Chapek sent to employees (via Reuters and CNBC). Mike White, who previously held the title of SVP of consumer experiences and platforms, will now be SVP of next generation storytelling and consumer experiences. “For nearly 100 years, our company has defined and re-defined entertainment by leveraging technology to bring stories to life in deeper, more impactful ways,” Chapek said in the memo, which Disney shared with The Verge./news/disney-reportedly-wants-to-bring-always-on-channels-to-disney-plus.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/disney-reportedly-wants-to-bring-always-on-channels-to-disney-plus.htmlThe revamped Disney Plus app could soon feature always-on channels dedicated to Star Wars and Marvel shows, according to a report from The Information. The channels, which are reportedly similar to those on free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto or Tubi, could take away the choice when it comes to picking out what to watch next. In addition to Star Wars and Marvel series, Disney’s lineup of channels could feature stations that continuously stream Disney’s classic animated films or movies from Pixar, The Information reports./news/dji-spark-review-a-little-bit-of-magic-in-the-palm-of-your-hand.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dji-spark-review-a-little-bit-of-magic-in-the-palm-of-your-hand.htmlIn the first 30 years of mobile phone development, tech companies worked to make them smaller. Then, with the advent of the smartphone, we hit an inflection point where the size of the screen outweighed the portability of the device, and the race to miniaturize our smartphones came to an end. When it comes to the evolution of consumer camera drones, we’re in the early stages of experimenting with how small these gadgets can be while still delivering worthwhile results./news/don-t-call-this-a-fire-rainbow.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/don-t-call-this-a-fire-rainbow.htmlA rare and colorful sight was spotted in the South Carolina sky last Sunday. Dozens of beachgoers photographed what many referred to as a "fire rainbow" above the Isle of Palms outside Charleston. Unfortunately, the term used to describe this display is incredibly inaccurate. This so-called "fire rainbow" isn't a rainbow at all; it's actually a circumhorizontal arc. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnam1fbXxzfo5yaHFuaWyAcLTEq5ysZaedxm7Fzq5krKCfqrmlutNmmpqknGLBqbXSZphmnpmnsm6%2BwKKlm6en/news/doordash-now-offers-best-buy-tech-products-for-delivery-through-marketplace.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/doordash-now-offers-best-buy-tech-products-for-delivery-through-marketplace.htmlBest Buy, which already has a similar arrangement with Instacart, is the “first national consumer electronics retailer” to join DoorDash, which is particularly notable after the delivery service’s arrangement with Walmart ended last year. Although many holiday shoppers choose Amazon as their main destination, DoorDash could get products to your door in “under an hour, on average” by picking up from any one of Best Buy’s 900 stores in the US. There are some limitations on sizes that will cut out the largest TVs and heavy appliances, and even including a tip might not help make a 50-inch TV fit into a gig worker’s vehicle, so choose wisely./news/ea-is-making-a-single-player-black-panther-game.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ea-is-making-a-single-player-black-panther-game.htmlAnother big Marvel property is being turned into a video game. This time, EA is developing what it calls “an original, third-person, single-player Black Panther game.” We don’t have many other details just yet — not even a screenshot — but development is being handled by a new EA studio called Cliffhanger Games in partnership with Marvel Games. Cliffhanger is led by Kevin Stephens, who was previously studio head at Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions./news/easilydo-mail-gets-gmail-like-smart-replies-and-a-new-name.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/easilydo-mail-gets-gmail-like-smart-replies-and-a-new-name.htmlEmail by EasilyDo has been my favorite email application for iOS and Android for a while now, thanks to its lightning-fast speed, clean design, and useful features. Now it’s getting a few more nice additions. First among those is a Smart Reply feature, similar to Google’s own recent addition to the Gmail application for iOS and Android. According to the company, the EasilyDo implementation uses deep learning, but unlike other apps with smart reply, the entirety of the feature runs solely on your device, which should be good news for anyone concerned about security./news/echo-hub-hands-on-first-impressions-of-amazon-s-new-alexa-smart-home-control-panel.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/echo-hub-hands-on-first-impressions-of-amazon-s-new-alexa-smart-home-control-panel.htmlAmazon was keeping close guard over its new Echo Hub smart controller in the demo room at today’s big hardware event. But I managed to get a few seconds of hands-on with a working tabletop unit before it was whisked away. I also put it through its paces on the wall-mounted version, and while it responded to touches promptly in some cases, it’s no iPad — or even Fire tablet. Maybe it’s asking too much to have a powerful tablet that controls your whole smart home, mounted on your wall, for under $180./news/elon-musk-s-net-worth-plummets-by-12-6-billion-after-wild-week.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/elon-musk-s-net-worth-plummets-by-12-6-billion-after-wild-week.htmlElon Musk’s coffers became a smidge lighter on Thursday after his net worth plummeted by $12.6 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the biggest drop in Musk’s wealth so far this year. That fall comes on the heels of a fairly tumultuous 24 hours for SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter, three of the largest businesses under Musk’s leadership. Tesla’s share price fell by 9.8 percent on Thursday following disappointing first quarter results/news/epic-judge-permanently-restrains-apple-from-blocking-unreal-engine-but-won-t-force-fortnite.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-judge-permanently-restrains-apple-from-blocking-unreal-engine-but-won-t-force-fortnite.htmlFortnite won’t be coming back to the App Store any time soon. On Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers refused to grant Epic Games a preliminary injunction against Apple that would force the game developer to reinstate Fortnite on the App Store, while simultaneously granting an injunction that keeps Apple from retaliating against the Unreal Engine, which Epic also owns (PDF). In other words, we now have a permanent version of the temporary restraining order ruling from last month./news/epomaker-ak84s-review-a-great-wireless-keyboard-plus-some-quirks.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epomaker-ak84s-review-a-great-wireless-keyboard-plus-some-quirks.htmlWhen it comes to mechanical keyboards, you generally have the option of playing it safe with a major brand like Corsair or Razer, or buying from smaller enthusiast manufacturers with more interesting designs and often more affordable prices.  Of the two groups, Epomaker definitely falls into the latter. Its recent AK84S wireless keyboard isn’t something you’re going to be able to buy off the shelf from Best Buy, and as yet it’s not listed on the company’s Amazon storefront./news/even-super-mario-bros-wonder-s-approach-to-difficulty-is-playful.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/even-super-mario-bros-wonder-s-approach-to-difficulty-is-playful.htmlWhen it comes to difficulty, most games like to put you in a bucket. At the start of the experience, you have to choose whether you want to play on a hard or easy mode, and usually, over the course of the game, you can move between these as you see fit, which is good because it’s hard to really know what mode is right for you at the beginning. Super Mario Bros./news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-usns-comfort-the-giant-hospital-ship-in-nyc.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-usns-comfort-the-giant-hospital-ship-in-nyc.htmlAt 10AM ET on March 30th, the US Navy’s gigantic floating hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, arrived in New York City where it has been sent to help relieve the pressure on the city’s hospitals that are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. The Comfort’s 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms will largely be used for non-coronavirus patients, freeing up much-needed space at the city’s overtaxed hospitals. The ship is typically used to support military campaigns and humanitarian crises abroad, along with earthquake and hurricane relief./news/fbi-debunks-claims-that-popular-x-file-is-evidence-of-ufos.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fbi-debunks-claims-that-popular-x-file-is-evidence-of-ufos.htmlThe FBI has seen fit to respond to reports that a document released by the agency under the Freedom of Information Act proved that aliens exist. The document, known as the Guy Hottel Memo, was published to the FBI Vault in 2011, and various tabloids and media sites cited it as evidence of real-life UFOs. British tabloid The Sun published an article at the time saying that "UFO experts said the files could be final proof that aliens and flying saucers 'are real./news/framing-a-frame-tv-blocks-the-sensors-so-this-company-made-a-sensor-dongle.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/framing-a-frame-tv-blocks-the-sensors-so-this-company-made-a-sensor-dongle.htmlFraming a Frame TV blocks the sensors, so this company made a... sensor dongle. Vergecast listeners know about my tortured relationship with my family’s new Samsung Frame TV, but easily the funniest thing is that using any third-party frame blocks the ambient light and motion sensors that make Art Mode convincing. So naturally there is a $99 aftermarket sensor dongle to make it all work... and it still doesn’t quite work, as Samsung won’t let it talk to the API that controls brightness in Art Mode./news/gamestop-refurb-nintendo-3ds-came-with-porn-ruining-one-father-s-christmas-morning.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gamestop-refurb-nintendo-3ds-came-with-porn-ruining-one-father-s-christmas-morning.htmlIt's not the first time porn has slipped though the cracks at GameStop. Last year, a six-year old in Ohio reportedly found porn on a Nintendo DSi handheld, and the company allegedly sold a porn-packed Memory Stick destined for a PlayStation Portable in 2006. Still, reports like these are few and far between. GameStop gave the Giles family a brand-new Nintendo 3DS and some games to help make amends, but the father doesn't seem satisfied with that, choosing to warn other prospective buyers instead./news/global-preferences-for-who-to-save-in-self-driving-car-crashes-revealed.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/global-preferences-for-who-to-save-in-self-driving-car-crashes-revealed.htmlIf self-driving cars become widespread, society will have to grapple with a new burden: the ability to program vehicles with preferences about which lives to prioritize in the event of a crash. Human drivers make these choices instinctively, but algorithms will be able to make them in advance. So will car companies and governments choose to save the old or the young? The many or the few? A new paper published today by MIT probes public thought on these questions, collating data from an online quiz launched in 2016 named the Moral Machine./news/google-calendar-lets-you-specify-which-times-you-ll-be-in-the-office.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-calendar-lets-you-specify-which-times-you-ll-be-in-the-office.htmlWhile Google Calendar already lets you set your working location for certain days of the week, you can now specify which times you’ll be working from home or in the office. The new update should make it easier for your colleagues to figure out where you’ll be if you swap between locations during the day. Once you have access to the feature, you can set your working location by selecting Create from the main Calendar page and clicking Working Locations./news/google-confirms-the-leaked-search-documents-are-real.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-confirms-the-leaked-search-documents-are-real.htmlA collection of 2,500 leaked internal documents from Google filled with details about data the company collects is authentic, the company confirmed today. Until now, Google had refused to comment on the materials. The documents in question detail data that Google is keeping track of, some of which may be used in its closely guarded search ranking algorithm. The documents offer an unprecedented — though still murky — look under the hood of one of the most consequential systems shaping the web./news/google-follows-openai-with-its-own-multimodal-demo-meet-project-astra.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-follows-openai-with-its-own-multimodal-demo-meet-project-astra.htmlGoogle follows OpenAI with its own multimodal demo — meet Project Astra. Here’s a quick look at the new multimodal AI project Google just announced that’s called Astra and how it can help you find misplaced glasses. Note: this video was edited for length and clarity, but the original video was one single take. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanxygI5ra2ptZmt%2BcXvGqKagpJVis7C4y6iurGWfpbKvrchmrqKsmGK2tb%2BMqK6nZZ2qubW1zKibmqRdmbKuu4ymnJ6sXaW%2FsLbEnKtmmaOpv6I%3D/news/google-i-o-2023-how-to-watch-and-what-to-expect.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-i-o-2023-how-to-watch-and-what-to-expect.htmlGoogle I/O is almost here, and that means the launch of the highly anticipated Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet is right around the corner. While the annual conference is largely geared toward developers, the company always holds a keynote revealing the latest and greatest things that’ll wind up in consumers’ hands. If you want to watch the keynote live but aren’t attending the event, here’s all the information about when and where you can stream it, as well as what you can expect./news/google-is-giving-away-2gb-of-free-drive-storage-today.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-is-giving-away-2gb-of-free-drive-storage-today.htmlGoogle is giving away 2GB of Drive space today. In what's become an annual tradition, Google is again offering free Google Drive storage space to users who go through a brief account security checkup. The checkup will take less than a minute to review things like your two-step verification settings, account recovery information, and which apps have access to your Google account. Once you're done you'll be rewarded with 2GB of permanent Drive space./news/google-s-latest-pixel-drop-adds-macro-video-cinematic-wallpapers-and-more.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-latest-pixel-drop-adds-macro-video-cinematic-wallpapers-and-more.htmlGoogle is just a couple weeks out from the release of its first Pixel foldable, and the company is also inching closer to the launch of Android 14. But despite that busy calendar, today, the company is announcing one of the more substantial “feature drop” software updates that it has rolled out to Pixel smartphones in some time. The additions range from camera enhancements to new personal safety features. And Google isn’t stopping at phones; this feature drop also brings new capabilities to the Pixel Watch and Fitbit devices./news/google-s-new-ad-goes-full-jony-ive-on-the-pixel-5a-headphone-jack.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-new-ad-goes-full-jony-ive-on-the-pixel-5a-headphone-jack.htmlYesterday marked the release of Google’s $449 Pixel 5A with 5G, and the company has just released a two-minute video that celebrates one of the phone’s very best hardware features. No, it’s not the new IP67 dust and water resistance. It’s not the larger screen or the biggest battery in a Pixel yet. It’s all about the headphone jack, or “the circle” as this very Jony Ive-esque spot constantly refers to it./news/h-m-is-the-latest-brand-to-charge-for-returns-and-that-might-be-good-for-the-planet.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/h-m-is-the-latest-brand-to-charge-for-returns-and-that-might-be-good-for-the-planet.htmlThe latest fashion trend in the UK seems to be brands charging customers to return items. While that sucks for consumer pocketbooks, it probably has a positive environmental impact. Free returns come with an environmental cost, namely more pollution and waste. H&M is the latest brand to start charging for returns in the UK, BBC reported today. It joins Zara, Uniqlo, and several other clothing brands cutting their own costs by nixing free returns./news/halo-the-master-chief-collection-is-coming-to-pc-with-halo-reach.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/halo-the-master-chief-collection-is-coming-to-pc-with-halo-reach.htmlMicrosoft is bringing its classic Halo game collection to PC, and adding Halo: Reach to the entire Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The games will be available on both the Microsoft Store and Valve’s Steam store, allowing PC gamers to grab them from their preferred store of choice. The Master Chief Collection includes Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST (Campaign), Halo 4, and now Halo: Reach. Halo fans have been calling on Microsoft to bring the series to PC, and the company is now taking its time to get the release right./news/head-of-russian-space-program-calls-for-more-international-cooperation-in-nasa-s-moon-plans.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/head-of-russian-space-program-calls-for-more-international-cooperation-in-nasa-s-moon-plans.htmlThe head of Russia’s space program said today that NASA’s plans to send people back to the Moon are “too US-centric” for Russia to participate. He has been critical of the program in the past and now says that Russia would only be open to participating if the Moon plans were more focused on international cooperation. “The most important thing here would be to base this program on the principles of international cooperation that we’ve all used” to fly the ISS, Dmitry Rogozin, the director-general of Roscosmos, said through a translator during a virtual press conference at the International Astronautical Congress./news/health-apps-and-wearables-help-rich-people-the-most-study-finds.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/health-apps-and-wearables-help-rich-people-the-most-study-finds.htmlDigital tools like motivational text messages that try to nudge people to do more physical activity aren’t effective for poor people, according to a new meta-analysis. In one of the most comprehensive efforts to tease apart the impact of behavioral change programs on people with different income levels, the study authors showed that apps and wearables only helped bump physical activity levels for people with high socioeconomic status. The finding bolsters arguments that digital health interventions can end up widening health gaps between groups and that they’re designed for people with more money and more education./news/here-s-why-apple-put-a-powerful-iphone-chip-in-its-new-studio-display.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-why-apple-put-a-powerful-iphone-chip-in-its-new-studio-display.htmlApple’s $1,599 Studio Display will be available on March 18th, and there’s a lot more to the company’s new external monitor than just its 27-inch, 5K panel. For one, Apple crammed six speakers into the thing. And if the 16-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac are anything to go by, the Studio Display is likely going to sound much better than most competing screens. But maybe you already have speakers hooked up at your desk and are nonplussed about the integrated audio system./news/here-s-why-you-couldn-t-see-anything-on-house-of-the-dragon.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-why-you-couldn-t-see-anything-on-house-of-the-dragon.htmlThings got dark on House of the Dragon last night as characters stole dragons and other characters made super incestuous life choices. And all of it was done under the cover of darkness, leading many viewers wondering if their TVs were busted. But your TV is not busted. Your TV is a victim of the episode’s director, Miguel Sapochnik. The man can presumably see in the dark because this is the second time he’s directed an episode in the Game of Thrones franchise cast in such darkness people questioned their own eyes./news/hey-meta-what-s-that-building.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hey-meta-what-s-that-building.htmlHey Meta, what’s that building? This is the sort of thing Zuck’s hoping you’ll ask the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. The company’s finally rolled out landmark recognition for its multimodal AI beta. You can watch it (and a few other demos) in Zuck’s latest Instagram post. Though, unlike Zuck, I don’t recommend asking AI to rate your onesies collection. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaHxyfY5ra2lxZ2p%2FcXvHnrBmpZWprm7Dx5qrrGWkna61ecGuoKWcmaO0/news/how-to-guarantee-the-iphone-13-pro-s-macro-mode-is-on.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-guarantee-the-iphone-13-pro-s-macro-mode-is-on.htmlThe iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have great cameras, some of the best you can buy in a phone. They’ve also got an exclusive new feature Apple never offered before: a macro mode that lets you take extreme close-ups — just two centimeters away! — of intricate things you can barely see with the naked eye. Your pet’s incredibly fine fur, the veins of leaves, and the sub-pixels in your computer monitor’s screen are all now within reach./news/how-to-make-your-home-office-a-more-pleasant-place-to-work.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-make-your-home-office-a-more-pleasant-place-to-work.htmlThis pandemic has more people working from home than ever before, but it’s not all lollipops and daffodils. While there may have been some early excitement about not commuting or being breathed on by Chet the Xerox Tech, an actual home office can be downright depressing and / or uncomfortable. I should know. As someone who has freelanced for the great majority of the last decade, I’ve worked from home nearly that whole time — even when home was a camper van for more than five of those years./news/how-to-print-from-a-chromebook.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-print-from-a-chromebook.htmlWhile Google’s Chromebooks are all about online services, sometimes you need a good old-fashioned printout to accompany your digital adventures. Printing from a Chromebook has gotten a lot easier over the years, but it still isn’t always obvious how to get started or which paths to embrace. Follow this guide, and with any luck, you’ll be churning out paper from your cloud-centric computer in no time. [Note: unfortunately, the Cloud Print system, which made it a lot easier to print using any cloud-connected device, was relegated to the Google graveyard in 2020./news/how-to-put-eyebrows-on-your-villager-in-animal-crossing-new-horizons.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-put-eyebrows-on-your-villager-in-animal-crossing-new-horizons.htmlIn Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the customization options appear endless. You can make your tools pink, change your bedsheets, and remix your villager’s style with fresh haircuts and clothes. But while dozens of animal villagers have rocked sets of eyebrows for years, the series’s developers have yet to include them as a default customization option for your own character. In the latest installment, the new face painting feature is filling that void./news/how-to-set-up-medication-reminders-in-ios-16.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-set-up-medication-reminders-in-ios-16.htmlOf all the Health app features introduced in iOS 16, the new Medications feature may be the most practical. According to the CDC, 48.6 percent of Americans take at least one prescription medication a day. Unfortunately, an NIH study found that 30 to 50 percent of patients don’t adhere to long-term medications — in other words, they don’t keep to their medication schedules. This is a problem that costs the healthcare system hundreds of millions of dollars per year./news/how-ximalaya-funded-one-man-s-podcasting-hype-house-dreams.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-ximalaya-funded-one-man-s-podcasting-hype-house-dreams.htmlImagine you’re a podcaster who’s been recording your show at CBS Radio, a venerable, if not unglamorous spot. One day, you’re instead offered the chance to start recording in a Beverly Hills home. The house has a pool, free food for the talent — that means you! — and the space to host blowout events. You know what you’d choose, and you know what podcaster Norm Steele chose: the Hollywood life./news/htc-evo-3d-review-the-verge.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/htc-evo-3d-review-the-verge.htmlAnd then there's the flagship feature, a 4.3-inch glasses-free autostereoscopic 3D screen and a 3D camera comprised of two 5 megapixel lenses. To get the big question out of the way, yes, it works... but the viewing angle in which you can properly observe the 3D is pretty small. A bit smaller than the 3DS, I'd say. Outside that window, it's all a painful blur or some nasty-looking composition of two slightly different angles./news/huawei-s-latest-folding-phone-could-have-been-a-great-galaxy-fold-competitor.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/huawei-s-latest-folding-phone-could-have-been-a-great-galaxy-fold-competitor.htmlHuawei’s Mate X3 is its latest foldable phone, and it has a set of specs that, in an alternate universe, would give Samsung’s Z Fold 4 a run for its money. It pairs a 6.4-inch external display with a 7.85-inch internal foldable screen in a device that’s 5.3mm thick while unfolded and that weighs 239 grams. That’s theoretically thinner and lighter than Samsung’s latest foldable, which is 6.3mm thick and weighs 263 grams and matches its IPX8 rating for dust and water resistance./news/i-am-dying-to-know-who-purchased-a-new-wii-u-in-september.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/i-am-dying-to-know-who-purchased-a-new-wii-u-in-september.htmlThe news comes to us via Mat Piscatella, video game industry analyst at Circana (formerly NPD), a company that regularly publishes video game retail data. That this news is coming from him means this wasn’t somebody picking up a Wii U at a reseller or from eBay. Somewhere, somehow, there was a retail store that had a brand-new Wii U that it scanned through a register and subsequently reported the sale./news/indiana-joan-jones-is-the-female-lady-heroine-that-women-need.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/indiana-joan-jones-is-the-female-lady-heroine-that-women-need.htmlThe next time Indiana Jones appears in film could mark a major change for the franchise. In an interview with The Sun, filmmaker Steven Spielberg told the publication that it may be time for the roguish, Nazi-punching archaeology professor to take “a different form.” Graciously, Spielberg means a woman, not a snakeperson. According to Spielberg, however, this would mean changing more than the gender of the character. “We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan./news/insta360-s-first-8k-camera-comes-with-a-removable-lens-guard.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/insta360-s-first-8k-camera-comes-with-a-removable-lens-guard.htmlInsta360 has launched its latest 360-degree action camera, the X4. The most obvious upgrade that the $500 camera offers over its predecessor, the X3, is the ability to shoot video in 8K at 30 frames per second. That extra boost in resolution and detail may come in handy for watching action videos on anything larger than your phone, panning around 360-degree footage on platforms like YouTube or cropping out a perspective you like from a 360-degree recording./news/instagram-founders-fought-with-zuck-over-facebook-integrations-says-report.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-founders-fought-with-zuck-over-facebook-integrations-says-report.htmlA few days later [Zuckerberg] asked his head of growth, Javier Olivan, to draw up a list of all the ways Facebook supported Insta­gram: running ads for it on the Blue App; including link-backs when someone posted a photo on Insta­gram and then cross-published it in Facebook News Feed; allowing Insta­gram to access a new user’s Facebook connections in order to recommend people to follow. Once he had the list, Zuckerberg conveyed to Insta­gram’s leaders that he was pulling away the supports./news/instagram-is-testing-a-persistent-stories-bar-that-follows-you-down-the-feed.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-is-testing-a-persistent-stories-bar-that-follows-you-down-the-feed.htmlWhen I opened Instagram on my Pixel 2 XL moments ago, I noticed something different: the Stories bar remained visible as I scrolled down my main feed. Usually it stays at the top and doesn’t follow you down, but clearly the company is testing a more persistent, sticky approach to keeping Stories in front of you at all times. That seems awfully annoying to me, but some might find it convenient./news/instagram-will-begin-blocking-hashtags-that-return-anti-vaccination-misinformation.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-will-begin-blocking-hashtags-that-return-anti-vaccination-misinformation.htmlInstagram will begin hiding search results for hashtags that consistently return false information about vaccines, the company said today. Starting today, the company will effectively begin blocking access to hashtags that return misinformation designed to dissuade people from getting vaccinated. Instagram made the announcement at an event for press in San Francisco on Thursday. “If the hashtag was #vaccines1234, if it contained a high proportion of known vaccine misinformation, we would block that hashtag entirely,” said Karina Newton, Instagram’s global head of public policy./news/ios-a-visual-history-the-verge.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ios-a-visual-history-the-verge.htmliOS 7 is the first iteration to arrive with a pair of phones in tow:€” the iPhone 5s and 5c. In addition to shipping iOS 7 with the new handsets, Apple is updating all its devices from the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 onwards to the new OS on September 18th. iPod touch support is limited to the latest, fifth-generation model. Big changes at Apple. After the botched introduction of the Maps app saw Tim Cook post a personal apology on the Apple homepage, Scott Forstall, who had led iOS design for several years, parted ways with the company./news/irobot-s-new-roomba-is-a-mop-and-vacuum-in-one.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/irobot-s-new-roomba-is-a-mop-and-vacuum-in-one.htmlRobot vacuums that can also mop have been around for a while, but most make you remove the mop before they can vacuum your carpets — unless you like slightly damp carpets. iRobot’s newest bot looks to solve this problem with a retractable robot mop arm that can lift itself up and under the vacuum to mop when it’s needed and stow itself up top when it’s not. The Roomba Combo j7 Plus costs $1,099 and is available to preorder today./news/isis-made-its-own-fake-news-broadcasts.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/isis-made-its-own-fake-news-broadcasts.htmlISIS made its own fake news broadcasts. The terrorist group published eight videos in English and Arabic across two YouTube channels, according to a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. One of the channels was branded to look like it was affiliated with CNN, while the other had the Al Jazeera logo. One of the fake broadcasts was about ISIS’s attack of Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, which Russia falsely blamed on Ukraine./news/it-s-not-all-pepes-and-trollfaces-memes-can-be-a-force-for-good.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/it-s-not-all-pepes-and-trollfaces-memes-can-be-a-force-for-good.htmlNewly single, Jason Donahoe was perusing Tinder for the first time since it started integrating users’ Instagram feeds. Suddenly, he had an idea: follow the Instagram accounts of some of the women he’d been interested in but didn’t match with on the dating service. A few days later, he considered taking it a step further and direct messaging one of the women on Instagram. After all, the new interface of the dating app seemed to encourage users to explore other areas of potential matches’ online lives, so why not take the initiative to reach out?/news/it-s-time-to-stop-debating-whether-a-hot-dog-is-a-sandwich.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/it-s-time-to-stop-debating-whether-a-hot-dog-is-a-sandwich.htmlFew questions are as divisive as the hot dog / sandwich debate. I’ve certainly had it more times than I can count. But what’s unique about the controversy isn’t how eager people are to argue; it’s how dead-set they are in their opinions from the get-go. Even the most ambivalent, indecisive people I know have strong opinions about the categorical identity of a hot dog. I’ve also never seen anyone change their mind on the matter./news/japan-s-pikachu-train-is-like-a-tiny-speeding-amusement-park.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/japan-s-pikachu-train-is-like-a-tiny-speeding-amusement-park.htmlPokémon with You — which started as a disaster relief project after the devastating 2011 earthquake in Japan — took over Japan Railway East in 2012 with a pokémon-themed sightseeing train. Inside and out, it was decorated with characters and knickknacks from the series in extreme detail: fake plants, little tunnels, curtains, and decals. Starting July 15th, the train is getting a Pikachu-themed makeover. The train, spotted by RocketNews24, has been reimagined with Pokémon’s most lovable electric mascot./news/joe-biden-s-state-of-the-union-address-how-to-watch-live.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/joe-biden-s-state-of-the-union-address-how-to-watch-live.htmlPresident Joe Biden is set to deliver his third State of the Union address on Thursday as he hurdles toward a likely rematch with former President Donald Trump in November. Biden will deliver the speech at the US Capitol at 9PM ET. This year’s address comes just a couple of days after Super Tuesday, where Biden and Trump each dominated primary ballots across multiple states. That brings them one step closer to entering the official general election campaigning stage./news/john-c-reilly-s-dr-steve-brule-returns-next-month-for-a-30-minute-adult-swim-special.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/john-c-reilly-s-dr-steve-brule-returns-next-month-for-a-30-minute-adult-swim-special.htmlI won't bother trying to explain Dr. Steve Brule, John C. Reilly's exceptionally bizarre character from Tim & Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job! Instead, I suggest watching this clip as a litmus test for the remainder of this post: Okay, with that out of the way... Dr. Steve Brule is back! Adult Swim will air a 30-minute special entitled Bagboy, which Entertainment Weekly describes as a failed sitcom pilot starring Brule as a grocery store employee who tries to stop a shoplifter (in the world of Tim & Eric, Channel 5 shelved the show "/news/klarna-will-now-let-you-pay-them-so-you-can-pay-them-less-money.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/klarna-will-now-let-you-pay-them-so-you-can-pay-them-less-money.htmlGreat news for those of you already experiencing subscription fatigue: you can subscribe to buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Klarna for $7.99 a month. At first glance, this seemed pretty fucking weird to me. I mean, the entire point of Klarna is that you can essentially do layaway without paying any kind of interest; Klarna has partnered with a wide array of retailers — from Dolce & Gabbana to 1-800-Flowers./news/kuso-is-the-grossest-movie-ever-made.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/kuso-is-the-grossest-movie-ever-made.htmlThere are a number of reasons I’m hesitant to recommend Kuso, the first film from artist and musician Steven Ellison, aka Flying Lotus. (Spoilers and grotesquely explicit descriptions ahead.) I’ll start with the footage of an erect penis being stabbed. As with most footage of an erect penis being violently gored by a long steel rod, it’s certainly unexpected. So by the time you cover your eyes, it’s already too late./news/league-of-legends-wild-rift-s-beta-starts-soon-but-it-won-t-hit-the-us-until-next-year.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/league-of-legends-wild-rift-s-beta-starts-soon-but-it-won-t-hit-the-us-until-next-year.htmlRiot is taking Wild Rift, the mobile version of League of Legends, into open beta on October 27th. The developer announced the news today, noting that it will first be available in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand on both iOS and Android. Wild Rift is expected to hit locations such as Europe, the Middle East, and Russia by December; a Stateside release is coming in spring 2021./news/lego-is-bringing-summer-vibes-with-k-k-slider-and-new-animal-crossing-sets.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lego-is-bringing-summer-vibes-with-k-k-slider-and-new-animal-crossing-sets.htmlGood news for those of us who love Animal Crossing and Legos. Starting August 1st, Lego is launching two new Animal Crossing sets and a minifig of one very special canine crooner. Lego teased the news on its X account, which shows K.K. Slider doing his thing and a brief glimpse of the two new sets. (Amusingly, Lego notes that the K.K. Slider minifigure does not actually move or sing. Bummer./news/lenovo-chromebook-duet-review-this-has-no-business-costing-so-little.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lenovo-chromebook-duet-review-this-has-no-business-costing-so-little.htmlLenovo’s Chromebook Duet is far from flawless. But when you’re evaluating a device that starts at $279, the question isn’t “Is this a perfect device?” The question is: “Is this better than other stuff you can get for that price?”  Chromebooks in that price range tend to be clunky and cheap, like HP’s Chromebook 14 or Chromebook x360 12b. If you want a Windows alternative, you’re looking at the lowest end of the Acer Aspire or Acer Swift lines or other extremely bare-bones options like the Motile 14./news/lenovo-unveils-new-google-assistant-powered-smart-clock.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lenovo-unveils-new-google-assistant-powered-smart-clock.htmlLenovo announced a new Google Assistant-powered alarm clock, the Smart Clock Essential. It’s an update to the Lenovo Smart Clock, which the company released last year. Several companies, including Lenovo itself, have developed touchscreen smart displays that incorporate video chatting, streaming, internet browsing, smart-home controls, and any other functions you can think of into one device. What set the Lenovo Smart Clock apart, though, was that it didn’t try to do everything — it was just very good at being an alarm clock./news/lg-s-brilliant-c3-oled-tv-just-hit-its-lowest-price-ever.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-s-brilliant-c3-oled-tv-just-hit-its-lowest-price-ever.htmlMemorial Day weekend is known for being one of the best times of the year to buy a TV, so it was no surprise when LG’s new C3 OLED dropped to a new record low last month. What is surprising, though, is that the TV is even cheaper than it was in May less than a month later. In a nutshell, LG’s new C3 boasts the kind of impressive black levels, vivid colors, and rich contrast that have come to characterize OLED TVs in recent years./news/lil-mama-s-follow-up-to-lip-gloss-is-a-safe-sex-anthem-called-sausage.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lil-mama-s-follow-up-to-lip-gloss-is-a-safe-sex-anthem-called-sausage.htmlEveryone's favorite extreme lip gloss bragger is making a comeback. Lil Mama's new song is about always using a condom, the message concealed inside a hearty breakfast metaphor. Lil Mama released the video for the single, simply called "Sausage," yesterday, and let me tell you, it is a joy both to hear and behold. In the middle, her sister receives an acceptance letter to Yale. (Congrats!) Later Lil Mama asks us to call her Betty Crocker because she's "/news/lo-fi-remixes-of-video-game-music-is-my-new-favorite-genre.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lo-fi-remixes-of-video-game-music-is-my-new-favorite-genre.htmlI don’t usually work with any music — it often distracts me — but recently, when I’ve needed a little music on in the background, I’ve become obsessed with lo-fi remixes of video game music on YouTube. I’ve already gone on record that I sometimes listen to video game music while working because a) I’m a huge nerd, and b) a lot of video game music is already designed to be pleasant background noise that can loop endlessly without becoming annoying./news/locke-and-key-season-2-review-darker-but-less-magic.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/locke-and-key-season-2-review-darker-but-less-magic.htmlNetflix’s show about teens fighting demons with magical keys is back, but Locke and Key’s second season makes some big changes. The pace is faster, the tone is darker, and with that, it loses some of the magic that made the show so interesting in the first place. Things don’t start out so dark, though. At the outset of Locke and Key’s second season, things are going well for the Locke family./news/mario-kart-8-deluxe-s-new-dlc-tracks-are-more-or-less-of-a-good-thing.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mario-kart-8-deluxe-s-new-dlc-tracks-are-more-or-less-of-a-good-thing.htmlNintendo is now a third of the way through its ambitious DLC plans for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the ultra-popular kart racer that was released for the then-new Nintendo Switch over five years ago. Back in March, it announced it would be releasing a total of 48 new tracks for the game over the course of six “waves,” consisting of eight tracks each. But the first wave, released back in March, felt a little basic compared to the highs of the base game, and often it was all too obvious which courses were based on content from handheld consoles or smartphone games./news/marvel-rivals-remixed-asgard-x-yggdrasill-map-looks-perfect-for-tearing-up.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/marvel-rivals-remixed-asgard-x-yggdrasill-map-looks-perfect-for-tearing-up.htmlMarvel Rivals’ remixed Asgard x Yggdrasill map looks perfect for tearing up. Yggsgard, a fusion of Asgard and Yggdrasill, is just one of the destructible battlefields where Marvel Rivals’ characters will be duking it out when the game launches later this year. The map looks gorgeous in this new reveal video, but it also seems like the sort of place that’s going to be fun to blast apart. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaXxyfo5ra2pqaGp%2FdXvMmqmvnZxiv6rCwKWqZqqVora5scNmmKyfkaexbsSMsp6gnKKWwKq4y2akmqhdobywt9Jmp56qlpqwtXnFqKlmrJWWv6q6xmasqQ%3D%3D/news/marvel-s-avengers-single-player-campaign-review.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/marvel-s-avengers-single-player-campaign-review.htmlMarvel’s Avengers is something of a superhero take on the Destiny formula. It’s a game where you can play as your favorite comic book hero, team up with friends for various missions, and uncover lots and lots of loot. You gain new powers and outfits and just generally keep grinding away. I’ve been playing the game for the past week and have hardly experienced any of that — instead, I’ve been focused entirely on the single-player campaign, which is surprisingly great./news/marvel-s-inhumans-is-becoming-a-tv-show-that-ll-debut-in-imax-theaters.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/marvel-s-inhumans-is-becoming-a-tv-show-that-ll-debut-in-imax-theaters.htmlMarvel’s Inhuman characters are officially moving to TV. Instead of the originally planned movie, Marvel announced yesterday that the company has greenlit an Inhumans TV show that will debut in theaters for a limited two-week run through a new partnership with IMAX. The agreement also includes IMAX helping to finance the development of the pilot and series, a first for the company.  The newly minted Inhumans series is scheduled to air on ABC in 2017, and will focus on the core characters from the Inhumans comic books: the Attilan Royal Family, a group that includes characters like Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, and Lockjaw./news/meet-the-new-female-link-from-the-legend-of-zelda.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meet-the-new-female-link-from-the-legend-of-zelda.htmlAmid Nintendo's flurry of fall news during the Nintendo Direct announcement today came the introduction of a long-awaited and much rumored new character named Linkle. Even non-Nintendo fans should be able to figure out that the dual-crossbow-wielding fighter "from a small village filled with Cuccos" is a female version of The Legend of Zelda's Link. Linkle will be an exclusive character for the upcoming 3DS spinoff Hyrule Warriors Legends due out in North America on March 25th, 2016./news/meta-s-horizon-worlds-can-now-post-photos-to-your-instagram-story.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-s-horizon-worlds-can-now-post-photos-to-your-instagram-story.htmlMeta’s VR social platform is getting a new feature to help you show off what a fun time you’re having in the so-called “metaverse” with all your Instagram and Facebook followers. With its v108 update, Horizon Worlds can now share photos and videos directly to your story on either platform. Meta is also using the update to test a couple of tweaks to the service’s safe zone feature. It’s previously been possible to share content from Horizon Worlds to Reels — Instagram and Facebook’s TikTok-style vertical video feed feature — as reported by TechCrunch last October./news/microsoft-and-uk-regulators-agree-to-pause-their-activision-battle-to-negotiate.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-and-uk-regulators-agree-to-pause-their-activision-battle-to-negotiate.htmlMicrosoft and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have both agreed to pause their legal battle over the proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition in order to further negotiate. Microsoft has just won a separate ruling with a US federal court against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the CMA is the last regulator preventing the Xbox maker from completing its $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard deal. The UK regulator moved to block Microsoft’s proposed acquisition in April, and Microsoft was due to appeal that decision with a hearing set to start on July 28th./news/microsoft-announces-copilot-the-ai-powered-future-of-office-documents.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-announces-copilot-the-ai-powered-future-of-office-documents.htmlMicrosoft is announcing a new AI-powered Copilot for its Microsoft 365 apps and services today, designed to assist people with generating documents, emails, presentations, and much more. The Copilot, powered by GPT-4 from OpenAI, will sit alongside Microsoft 365 apps much like an assistant (remember Clippy?), appearing in the sidebar as a chatbot that allows Office users to summon it to generate text in documents, create PowerPoint presentations based on Word documents, or even help use features like PivotTables in Excel./news/microsoft-is-bringing-linux-s-sudo-command-to-windows-11.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-is-bringing-linux-s-sudo-command-to-windows-11.htmlWindows 11 will soon have a built-in sudo command designed for developers. Sudo, short for “superuser do,” is widely used on Unix-based operating systems like Linux and macOS to run programs with higher security privileges or as another user. It’s useful for developers wanting to test scripts, for example. Microsoft is using sudo inside Windows to let developers run elevated tools directly from an unelevated console session. “It is an ergonomic and familiar solution for users who want to elevate a command without having to first open a new elevated console,” explains Jordi Adoumie, a product manager at Microsoft./news/microsoft-is-changing-the-default-office-font-and-wants-your-help-to-pick-a-new-one.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-is-changing-the-default-office-font-and-wants-your-help-to-pick-a-new-one.htmlMicrosoft is changing its default Office font next year and wants everyone to help pick the new default. While there are more than 700 font options in Word, Microsoft has commissioned five new custom fonts for Office, in a move away from the Calibri font that has been the default in Microsoft Office for nearly 15 years. The five new sans-serif fonts feature a variety of styles, including traditional, modern, and even one inspired by German road and railway signs./news/microsoft-is-now-openly-testing-a-better-windows-11-volume-mixer.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-is-now-openly-testing-a-better-windows-11-volume-mixer.htmlA new enhanced audio mixer is coming to Windows 11 that allows users to make individual volume and audio output adjustments directly from the taskbar. The updated volume mixer was officially revealed as part of the new Preview Build 25309 which is being rolled out to testers in the Windows 11 Insider Dev channel. When released, the updated mixer will be located inside the Quick Settings panel on the Windows taskbar, which can be accessed by clicking on the volume icon./news/miniot-wheel-2-review-a-unique-vertical-turntable-worth-waiting-for.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/miniot-wheel-2-review-a-unique-vertical-turntable-worth-waiting-for.htmlIt only took six years, one life-saving operation, and hundreds of thousands in personal loans, but this handmade, gravity-defying record player from mom-and-pop shop Miniot is finally available to buy. Backers of the original 2017 Kickstarter have been on a wild ride, and most still haven’t received their minimalistic upright turntables. Yet here we are in 2023 with a refined second-generation Wheel that usurps the discontinued original while still hiding all the sound-generating hardware beneath discs of unobstructed vinyl, whether playing upright on a stand or hung on a wall./news/monarch-tractor-ceo-praveen-penmetsa-on-transforming-farming-with-autonomous-evs.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/monarch-tractor-ceo-praveen-penmetsa-on-transforming-farming-with-autonomous-evs.htmlWe spend a lot of time here on Decoder talking about electric vehicles and the future of cars, and we’re usually talking about passenger vehicles or maybe cargo vans. But there’s another huge industry that can also reap the benefits of electrified transportation: agriculture.  I co-hosted the Code Conference this week, where I had the opportunity to hang out onstage with Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmetsa. Honestly, this was one of my favorite conversations of the entire event./news/montblanc-s-first-smartwatch-is-a-big-lump-of-android-wear-luxury.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/montblanc-s-first-smartwatch-is-a-big-lump-of-android-wear-luxury.htmlThe race to combine old-school luxury brands with modern technology is well and truly on, as today Montblanc joins Tag Heuer in rolling out its own Android​ Wear watch. The Montblanc Summit is the company's first venture into the digital timekeeping world, bringing with it some of the expertise Montblanc has for crafting mechanical timepieces. I got to see and wear this fancified Android Wear watch in London today, sitting down with Montblanc's director of new technologies, Felix Obschonka, to discuss the thinking behind the Summit./news/nasa-will-review-workplace-safety-at-spacex-and-boeing-because-elon-musk-smoked-marijuana.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-will-review-workplace-safety-at-spacex-and-boeing-because-elon-musk-smoked-marijuana.htmlNASA will be conducting extensive reviews of workplace safety at two of its major commercial partners, SpaceX and Boeing, prompted by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s drug use. Both companies are currently developing spacecraft to take the NASA’s astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The reviews are expected to take months and will require hundreds of interviews, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the news. It’s unclear if the inquiries will delay the first launches of the companies’ vehicles, which are supposed to take place next year./news/nasa-s-insight-lander-has-just-six-and-a-half-minutes-to-land-on-mars-in-one-piece.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-s-insight-lander-has-just-six-and-a-half-minutes-to-land-on-mars-in-one-piece.htmlEarly next week, NASA will attempt the grueling feat of landing a spacecraft on Mars, hoping to add to its growing collection of tech on the Red Planet’s surface. This time, NASA hopes to place a robotic lander, called InSight, on a flat, boring part of the Martian terrain in order to study the planet’s interior. And to do that, the car-sized robot must perform a perfectly synchronized landing routine — one that will slow the vehicle down from more than 12,000 miles per hour to zero in just six-and-a-half minutes./news/new-battlestar-galactica-movie-will-completely-reimagine-the-sci-fi-tale.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-battlestar-galactica-movie-will-completely-reimagine-the-sci-fi-tale.htmlUniversal is preparing to start work on a Battlestar Galactica movie. Variety says the studio is planning to completely reimagine the sci-fi story — in which space-bound humans fend off the attacks of nefarious cybernetic Cylons as they try to find a new home — just five years after the four-season Syfy TV show drew to a close. The planned film would mark the second time Battlestar Galactica has been rebooted after the original show aired in 1978./news/new-teslas-might-lose-steam.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-teslas-might-lose-steam.htmlTesla might be dropping Steam support on some new deliveries of Model X, according to a message from the company shared by a Reddit user who is expecting to take delivery of the long-range version of the electric SUV. Tesla’s message alerts the customer that the company is “updating the gaming computer” in the Model X and says it’s “no longer capable of playing Steam games.” The message ends with a button for the customer to confirm they will proceed with the delivery./news/nvidia-s-rtx-remix-open-beta-will-bring-ray-tracing-and-dlss-mods-to-older-games.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nvidia-s-rtx-remix-open-beta-will-bring-ray-tracing-and-dlss-mods-to-older-games.htmlNvidia’s RTX Remix tool is now available for modders to try. The game remastering tool, currently out in open beta, allows modders to give older games a makeover with AI-powered texture tools, ray tracing, and Nvidia DLSS 3. This is the same tool that was used to give Portal a visual boost with upgraded textures, models, and improved lighting. It’s also what a community of modders are using to remaster Half-Life 2 with some realistic-looking headcrabs and way better textures./news/one-of-the-greatest-science-fiction-magazines-is-now-available-for-free-online.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/one-of-the-greatest-science-fiction-magazines-is-now-available-for-free-online.htmlThe collection contains 355 separate issues, ranging from 1950 through 1976. Open Culture notes that it’s not quite the entire run of the magazine, but it’s got plenty of material to keep fans occupied for years. It includes stories from science fiction legends such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford Simak, and Theodore Sturgeon. There are also some underappreciated authors who deserve re-discovery, such as Kris Neville, Alan E. Nourse, or John Christopher./news/oneplus-nord-n200-5g-review-the-best-cheap-5g-phone-on-t-mobile.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oneplus-nord-n200-5g-review-the-best-cheap-5g-phone-on-t-mobile.htmlThe answer to whether you should buy the $239 OnePlus Nord N200 5G depends a lot on who your wireless carrier is. If you’re on T-Mobile — and thanks to a generous trade-in offer and a carrier exclusive, you probably are if you’re considering the N200 — then this is a fine, basic device that will allow you to take advantage of the company’s good 5G network at a very low price./news/openai-is-low-on-toner.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/openai-is-low-on-toner.htmlOpenAI is low on Toner. Helen Toner, one of the board members whofired Sam Altman and then ousted herself when Altman returned, has given an interview to The Wall Street Journal. She is unable to give a specific reason for Altman’s firing beyond “Our goal in firing Sam was to strengthen OpenAI and make it more able to achieve its mission.” Listen, babe, I am fully happy to hear you out, but if being full of shit is a firing offense for CEOs, everyone in the Fortune 500 would be looking for a new job./news/persepolis-rising-sets-the-stage-for-the-end-of-the-expanse.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/persepolis-rising-sets-the-stage-for-the-end-of-the-expanse.htmlSix years ago, James S.A. Corey, the pen name for Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, launched their The Expanse series with Leviathan Wakes, spinning out the story of a solar system rife with political divisions, an interplanetary conspiracy, and the crew of a space ship called the Rocinante. In the years since, the story has stretched into multiple installments and a major television series. Last year, Abraham and Franck told The Verge that the last three books would be “one big plot arc coming to the finale./news/powerbeats-3-earphones-with-apple-s-w1-chip-are-now-available-to-buy.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/powerbeats-3-earphones-with-apple-s-w1-chip-are-now-available-to-buy.htmlFirst shown off at the September launch of the iPhone 7, the Powerbeats 3 wireless headphones by Beats are now available to buy. Following the availability of the on-ear Beats Solo3 and Apple's own wireless AirPods, the Powerbeats are now the third product to use Apple's proprietary W1 chip. According to Apple, what that W1 chip delivers is extra battery life. The Powerbeats 2 only lasted six hours on a single charge, but the new Powerbeats 3 double that capacity to twelve hours./news/project-elektra-anything-short-of-a-control-stake-will-limit-google-s-ability-to-influence-the.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/project-elektra-anything-short-of-a-control-stake-will-limit-google-s-ability-to-influence-the.htmlProject Elektra: “Anything short of a control stake will limit Google’s ability to influence the company’s trajectory.” We’re now seeing the genesis of “Project Elektra” — which appears to be Google straight-up admitting in internal emails and presentations that it wanted to buy enough of Epic Games to make Fortnite a centerpiece of Android, partnering with Epic games stakeholder Tencent to do so if necessary. “Investment was the only way people could realistically think of to sway them on Epic’s approach to Android,” reads part of an email from Google’s Don Harrison./news/quiplash-one-of-the-best-party-games-ever-is-free-on-steam-this-weekend.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/quiplash-one-of-the-best-party-games-ever-is-free-on-steam-this-weekend.htmlQuiplash is, without question, my extended family’s favorite game for group gatherings. (Technically, we play Quiplash 2, included in Jackbox Party Pack 3, but they’re extremely similar games.) The premise is simple. At the beginning of a round, players will be given prompts to fill in an answer privately on their smartphones or browser. Then, everyone will get to vote on which response was the best by seeing them pitted head-to-head on the main screen (whether that’s a TV, a Zoom call, a Twitch stream, etc./news/ray-tomlinson-the-inventor-of-email-i-see-email-being-used-by-and-large-exactly-the-way-i-envi.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ray-tomlinson-the-inventor-of-email-i-see-email-being-used-by-and-large-exactly-the-way-i-envi.htmlIn 1971, Ray Tomlinson was a recent MIT graduate hired to help build the earliest components of Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the precursor to the internet. Tinkering on his own, he decided to build a networked messaging program. Most computers at the time allowed users to message one another, but as so few computers were networked, there was little reason to send messages across computers. Tomlinson hacked together a solution, using the now-ubiquitous @ symbol to indicate networked email./news/razer-s-new-true-wireless-earbuds-have-noise-cancellation-and-low-latency-for-mobile-games.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/razer-s-new-true-wireless-earbuds-have-noise-cancellation-and-low-latency-for-mobile-games.htmlRazer released its first set of true wireless earbuds in 2019, with the main appeal being a low-latency mode that made them better suited for mobile gaming. Now, the company is ready with its second pair, the Hammerhead True Wireless Pro, which go on sale today for $199.99 and add active noise cancellation and THX audio certification to the mix. “The Hammerhead True Wireless Pro uses hybrid ANC to nullify both external and unwanted internal noise by generating inverse sound waves simultaneously,” Razer wrote in its press release for the new buds./news/reddit-has-broadened-its-anti-harassment-rules-and-banned-a-major-incel-forum.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/reddit-has-broadened-its-anti-harassment-rules-and-banned-a-major-incel-forum.htmlReddit has revised its policies to make cracking down on abuse easier. An administrator posted the new rules earlier today, saying that the “narrowness” of the earlier policy had reduced its effectiveness. These new changes broaden the definition of threats, harassment, and bullying, and they allow bystanders (not just victims) to report violations of the rules. Like previous changes, this gives Reddit greater leeway to police its platform, but it also creates confusion for users of the large and sometimes chaotic forum./news/researchers-detail-huge-hack-for-hire-campaigns-against-environmentalists.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/researchers-detail-huge-hack-for-hire-campaigns-against-environmentalists.htmlHackers for hire have targeted thousands of individuals as part of campaigns against environmental advocacy groups, journalists, and others, according to a report produced by Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto’s cybersecurity watchdog group. Citizen Lab dubbed the group behind the campaigns “Dark Basin,” noting that it specifically targeted climate-change organizations who were campaigning against Exxon Mobil. The report concludes that the campaigns represent “a clear danger to democracy” and could allow powerful organizations to target their opponents./news/roblox-is-now-available-to-try-on-meta-quest-vr-headsets.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/roblox-is-now-available-to-try-on-meta-quest-vr-headsets.htmlRoblox is now available in open beta on Meta’s Quest VR headsets. Roblox and Meta had announced earlier in July that the social metaverse platform would be arriving on the headsets soon, and now, you can try it for yourself. To check out Roblox experiences on your Quest, you can grab the app from the Quest Store. (Technically, it’s available through Meta’s App Lab.) Once it’s on your headset, you can sign in to your Roblox account and explore from there./news/russia-s-telegram-ban-is-a-big-convoluted-mess.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/russia-s-telegram-ban-is-a-big-convoluted-mess.htmlIf you want to know the reason I’m not on WhatsApp with its other 1.5 billion users, the answer is Telegram. To people unfamiliar with it, I like to describe Telegram as simply WhatsApp without any of the icky data sharing with Facebook. It has been my favorite, most reliable messaging client, and its platform-agnostic design means I can access my messages across iPhones, Android devices, and desktop browsers. I’m a big fan of Telegram, which is part of why its present ban in its native Russia troubles me./news/samsung-drags-apple-back-to-court-for-a-retrial-over-400-million-patent-damages.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-drags-apple-back-to-court-for-a-retrial-over-400-million-patent-damages.htmlThe patent battle between Apple and Samsung over who owns the concept of smartphones with round corners (among other things) is back for another trial. The lawsuit was originally settled in 2012, with a court ordering Samsung to pay Apple more than $1 billion in damages. This figure was whittled down over the years by Samsung’s lawyers (it currently stands at $400 million) but a recent successful appeal from the South Korean electronics giant means the figure will now be reassessed at trial once again./news/samsung-galaxy-s23-price-carriers-and-how-to-buy.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-s23-price-carriers-and-how-to-buy.htmlAnother year, another round of flagship Samsung phones. This time around, Samsung used its Unpacked event to announce a new line of Galaxy Books, in addition to the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra. The latter probably feels familiar to last year’s S22 generation, as there are once again three models to choose from: a big-ish one, a bigger one, and the biggest one. That last one, the S23 Ultra, features souped-up specs, a stylus, and some big megapixel gains./news/samsung-has-shut-down-milk-music.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-has-shut-down-milk-music.html"While we’re not commenting on Samsung’s decision to no longer support Milk Music, our hope is that the impact on users will be minimal. Milk Music has always been powered by Slacker Radio, and by switching over to Slacker, music fans can continue to enjoy the same personalized listening experience they’ve come to love through our unique programming, storytelling and curated stations. For users that want to check Slacker out, we’re giving them a free trial of Slacker Radio Plus./news/samsung-smartthings-hubs-will-be-upgraded-to-matter-this-month.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-smartthings-hubs-will-be-upgraded-to-matter-this-month.htmlAn over-the-air update coming later this month will turn Samsung’s standalone SmartThings hubs into controllers for the new smart home standard Matter. The v2 hub will control Matter devices over Wi-Fi and ethernet, while the current hub and SmartThings dongle will also act as Thread border routers. Samsung is the first company to publicly announce Matter certification. Jaeyeon Jung, Samsung Electronics corporate vice president and head of SmartThings’ mobile experience business, told The Verge in an interview that the company received its Matter certification early on Wednesday, October 12th, a week after Matter launched./news/samsung-to-unveil-85-inch-ultra-hd-tv-at-ces-catching-up-with-sony-toshiba-and-lg.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-to-unveil-85-inch-ultra-hd-tv-at-ces-catching-up-with-sony-toshiba-and-lg.htmlSamsung on Monday announced it will unveil an 85-inch Ultra High-Definition LED TV at this year's CES, joining competitors like Sony, Toshiba, and LG that have already announced similarly-sized 4K displays. The company is branding the display as "the world's largest commercialized UHD LED TV," with more than eight million pixels and "life-like picture quality." Samsung didn't offer many specifics on the forthcoming TV, though it will mark the company's first, and somewhat delayed foray into the growing 85-inch 4K market./news/samsung-s-ar-emoji-are-now-more-customizable-but-just-as-creepy.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-ar-emoji-are-now-more-customizable-but-just-as-creepy.htmlSamsung is updating the Galaxy S9’s AR Emoji feature to give users a lot more room to fine-tune the digital avatars so that they actually look like you. Unfortunately, even at their best, it seems like they’ll still resemble a very creepy incarnation of yourself. Right now, the feature doesn’t allow for a lot of customization. AR Emoji snaps a picture of you, then it automatically generates your avatar and only lets you adjust a few elements, like skin tone and hair color./news/samsung-s-new-flagship-ssds-are-even-more-overkill-for-your-ps5.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-new-flagship-ssds-are-even-more-overkill-for-your-ps5.htmlSamsung has announced a new version of its flagship PCIe SSD, dubbed the 990 Pro. Not only does the PCIe 4.0 M.2 storage device get even closer to being as fast as it can theoretically be, but there’s also the option of getting it with a heatsink that comes complete with RGB lighting (though, if you get that version to upgrade a PlayStation 5, which requires add-on SSDs to have a heatsink, those lights will likely get lost behind a layer of textured plastic)./news/scientists-engineer-mouse-muscles-that-can-survive-cobra-venom.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-engineer-mouse-muscles-that-can-survive-cobra-venom.htmlThat humans can engineer muscle tissue in petri dishes is extraordinary, but it isn't enough to heal serious bodily injuries. To do that, you also need tissue that has the ability to grow strong, heal itself, and respond to commands after being implanted in a living animal. Scientists simply aren't there yet. But a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today brings us one step closer to orthopedic surgery bliss, because scientists were able to engineer mouse muscle that was just as strong as native muscle — and that could heal itself after injury./news/scientists-pinpoint-the-exact-age-of-the-moon-and-it-s-older-than-we-thought.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-pinpoint-the-exact-age-of-the-moon-and-it-s-older-than-we-thought.htmlScientists say they have figured out the most precise age for the Moon than ever before, thanks to samples of lunar rocks gathered during NASA’s Apollo 14 mission. Analysis of the rocks pinpoint the Moon’s creation to 4.51 billion years ago, just 60 million years after the Solar System first formed. This suggested age makes the Moon a lot older than some recent estimates, which claim our lunar neighbor is 4./news/skype-s-desktop-app-is-getting-a-new-mobile-like-design-today.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/skype-s-desktop-app-is-getting-a-new-mobile-like-design-today.htmlMicrosoft is once again redesigning its Skype app for Windows today. While the software giant released a universal app for Windows 10 users previously, the Skype classic desktop app is getting updated today with a new design that’s similar to the mobile version of Skype. Microsoft has been testing the new design over the past year, and it’s now planning to force all Skype classic desktop users to upgrade to the 8./news/snapchat-s-spectacles-might-become-true-ar-glasses-this-time-and-there-s-a-drone.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snapchat-s-spectacles-might-become-true-ar-glasses-this-time-and-there-s-a-drone.htmlSnap, the company behind Snapchat, is planning to continue its push into hardware devices with a new pair of augmented-reality glasses and a drone, according to a report by The Information. The Spectacles will reportedly include displays so the wearer can see the AR effects without having to use their phone — a feature that was notably missing from the all the Spectacles that came before. One of The Information’s sources says that the new Spectacles will be meant for developers and creators, rather than consumers — though you could probably argue that, at $380, the Spectacles 3 are already mostly limited to that market as well./news/sony-combines-mirrorless-camera-and-dslr-with-the-tiny-new-a3000.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-combines-mirrorless-camera-and-dslr-with-the-tiny-new-a3000.htmlFrom the entry-level NEX-3 to the pro-level NEX-7, Sony's made a name for itself cramming big sensors into small camera bodies. The company's doing it again this week, but with a slightly different tack: it's fused the body of a DSLR with the sensor, control setup, and lens options of a mirrorless camera. The new Alpha A3000 comes with a 20.1-megapixel APS-C sensor, an electronic viewfinder, 1080p video shooting at 60 or 24 frames per second, and a dozen or so picture filters and effects, and an E-mount./news/sony-returns-psp-games-to-playstation-store-after-closing-security-loophole.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-returns-psp-games-to-playstation-store-after-closing-security-loophole.htmlTwo PSP titles are back on sale after Sony took action to combat a possible PS Vita security breach. Last month Sony removed Motorstorm: Arctic Edge and Everybody's Tennis from the PlayStation Store after hacker Wololo found that they contained a loophole to allow unsigned homebrew code to run through the Vita's PSP emulator. We can confirm that both titles are back online in the European Vita store and selling for £6./news/spotify-is-testing-lossless-audio-can-you-hear-the-difference.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-is-testing-lossless-audio-can-you-hear-the-difference.htmlIs lossless audio really worth it? In March, Spotify briefly A/B tested a new lossless audio version of its streaming service. Spotted by Reddit users and confirmed to The Verge by a source inside Spotify, the new tier, currently dubbed Spotify Hi-Fi, will cost an additional $5 to $10 a month on top of the service’s $10 monthly price for its premium ad-free streaming service. Though a Spotify spokesperson declined to confirm the existence of the new tier, the move would not be unexpected; streaming service competitor Tidal already offers high-fidelity streaming for $19./news/spotify-premium-now-includes-hulu-for-no-extra-cost.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-premium-now-includes-hulu-for-no-extra-cost.htmlSpotify Premium now includes a free subscription to Hulu’s ad-supported plan. This perk goes into effect today, and it is available to new and existing users of Spotify’s Premium streaming service in the US. Following Netflix’s recent price hike, Hulu lowered the cost of its ad-supported plan down to $5.99 a month, and now, Spotify users will get savings on top of savings. To take advantage of this deal, new Spotify users can sign up now./news/spotify-will-no-longer-accept-payments-via-apple-s-app-store.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-will-no-longer-accept-payments-via-apple-s-app-store.htmlIt’s been over seven years since Spotify stopped allowing new customers to subscribe to its Premium tier membership through Apple’s in-app purchase system, and now the streaming giant is dropping support for the payment method entirely. As reported by Variety, Spotify has recently emailed legacy Premium subscribers who are still paying through the Apple App Store to notify them that they will need to resubscribe to the service using an alternative payment system, like PayPal or a credit card, at the end of their final billing period./news/stack-overflow-s-copy-paste-keyboard-is-no-joke.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stack-overflow-s-copy-paste-keyboard-is-no-joke.htmlA Stack Overflow-branded keyboard with just three buttons (Ctrl, C, and V) is a great April Fools’ gag that has no business being as neat and useful as it is. And yet designer Cassidy Williams, Stack Overflow, and manufacturer Drop have managed to turn The Key into a surprisingly competent little $29 accessory.  On its surface, The Key looks like it’s only capable of doing two things: copying and pasting. You shamelessly copy your code from Stack Overflow’s thousands (millions?/news/steve-jobs-movie-starring-ashton-kutcher-to-cover-apple-from-1971-to-2000-filming-starts-next-month.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/steve-jobs-movie-starring-ashton-kutcher-to-cover-apple-from-1971-to-2000-filming-starts-next-month.htmlWe've got a few more details on the recently-revealed Steve Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher, thanks to a Neowin interview with the producer, Mark Hulme. The independent film — which has the unfortunate working title of Jobs: Get Inspired — will cover the late CEO's life from 1971 to 2000, putting it rather squarely into the time period that the TV movie Pirates of Silicon Valley explored. The first-time producer said that, unsurprisingly, they chose Kutcher to play the role of Jobs because of his likeness to the Apple co-founder, especially during the timeframe that the movie will cover./news/studio-ghibli-anime-legend-isao-takahata-dies-at-82.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/studio-ghibli-anime-legend-isao-takahata-dies-at-82.htmlIsao Takahata, the legendary anime director that co-founded Studio Ghibli alongside Hayao Miyazaki, has died. He was 82. Yahoo Japan reports that he had been suffering from a heart condition and was hospitalized last summer; Studio Ghibli has since confirmed the news of his death. Although not as internationally well-known as Miyazaki, Takahata directed some of Studio Ghibli's most beautiful and original films, from the moving Only Yesterday to the heart-wrenching war drama Grave of the Fireflies./news/swiftkey-for-android-is-now-free-with-paid-keyboard-themes.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/swiftkey-for-android-is-now-free-with-paid-keyboard-themes.htmlSwiftKey is doing something unusual. It's long been one of the most popular paid Android add-ons to date, but apparently that's not good enough. The company is dropping the price of its keyboard completely, offering it for free worldwide. Those who get the keyboard for free beginning today get the same thing as someone who paid a few dollars a week (or years) ago. You might end up spending more instead/news/target-will-stop-selling-pok%C3%A9mon-cards-in-stores.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/target-will-stop-selling-pok%C3%A9mon-cards-in-stores.htmlTarget has decided that it’s had enough: the company has officially confirmed to Bleeding Cool that it will halt the sales of Pokémon cards throughout the US, starting Friday, May 14th. The retailer cities “an abundance of caution” for the safety of both guests and store employees and notes that it will still be selling the cards on its site. Currently, Pokémon cards (and other trading cards) are having a moment: people have swamped card grading companies, hoping to get a rating that makes their cards more valuable, and The Pokémon Company has been rushing to print enough cards to meet the demand./news/tesla-under-investigation-for-model-3-and-model-y-steering-wheels-that-freeze-up.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-under-investigation-for-model-3-and-model-y-steering-wheels-that-freeze-up.htmlThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is probing reports that 2023 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles lose their steering control while driving. Approximately 280,000 vehicles could be affected by the results of the investigation, the agency reports. The news was first reported by CNBC. NHTSA says it has received 12 complaints alleging loss of steering control and power steering in the vehicles. Five people filed complaints alleging an inability to steer the vehicle, while an additional seven people said a loss of power resulted in steering difficulties./news/the-away-scandal-is-a-moment-of-reckoning-for-slack.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-away-scandal-is-a-moment-of-reckoning-for-slack.htmlOn Thursday, Zoe told you about the mess inside the fast-rising luggage company Away, where private communication is all but banned and lowly customer service representatives are frequently berated in public Slack channels. As I wrote in that newsletter, an emerging focus for The Interface this year has been the way that tech companies govern their employees — and the way that the tools they use, such as Slack, enable surveillance that goes both ways./news/the-boogaloo-movement-has-successfully-hijacked-social-networks-to-spread.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-boogaloo-movement-has-successfully-hijacked-social-networks-to-spread.htmlLately a question I have been asking myself is: how worried do we need to be about the Boogaloo groups? The Boogaloo movement, if you’ve been sitting this one out so far, refers to a loosely knit group of right-wing extremists, some of whom advocate for second civil war. (The name derives from the camp classic breakdancing movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. In the delightfully dry phrasing of Wikipedia authors, “2: Electric Boogaloo became a verbal template appended to a topic as a signal of pejorative parody./news/the-brain-bending-science-behind-optical-illusions.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-brain-bending-science-behind-optical-illusions.htmlGeometrical illusions are simple optical illusions where background patterns make shapes and lines appear to bend, break, or warp in bizarre ways. While scientists are still figuring out exactly why they occur, some of these illusions might arise from glitches in our brains as we process two-dimensional visual information to create three-dimensional perceptions. These illusions have fascinated people for generations. For instance, in the mid-1800s three brand-new geometrical illusions were spotted back to back over the span of just a couple years, starting with the Zöllner illusion./news/the-classics-persona-3-the-verge.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-classics-persona-3-the-verge.htmlPersona 3 is a video game where Japanese teenagers shoot themselves in the head with magical guns in order to summon powerful monsters into battle. And that's not even the most notable thing about it. Persona 3 is sort of like what would happen if you mashed up a typical dungeon-crawling RPG with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You're still battling monsters and saving the world like in other games in the genre, but you also need to balance that with hanging out with friends, remembering to study, and just basically being a kid./news/the-doj-has-convicted-five-men-for-running-an-illegal-netflix-clone.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-doj-has-convicted-five-men-for-running-an-illegal-netflix-clone.htmlAfter years of pursuing a group of piracy advocates for illegally hosting and streaming thousands of stolen TV shows, the Department of Justice doled out a series of convictions. On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Jaurequi, and Peter Huber — five men who were responsible for running Netflix knockoff Jetflicks — have been convicted on multiple counts of copyright infringement and money laundering by concealment that could ultimately lead to jail time./news/the-do-s-and-don-ts-of-video-conferencing.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-do-s-and-don-ts-of-video-conferencing.htmlAs more and more workplaces transition to being remote, we’re learning how to navigate all the aspects of working digitally. Meetings are moving entirely online, which means that we’re attending a lot of video conference calls. If you don’t have a lot of experience with video conferencing, it may take some getting used to — especially when your whole team’s now working remotely. While it’s helpful to treat it like an in-person meeting, there are also a few more things you have to consider when you’re on a video call./news/the-first-assassin-s-creed-shadows-trailer-shows-off-dual-samurai-ninja-action.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-first-assassin-s-creed-shadows-trailer-shows-off-dual-samurai-ninja-action.htmlThe next entry in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is almost here: Ubisoft debuted the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which launches later this year. The trailer is decently meaty for a world premiere, taking its time to introduce the game’s two protagonists. One is the samurai Yasuke, an African man who became a retainer in service to Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga. The second protagonist is Naoe, a shinobi character whose opposition to Nobunaga’s war initially pits her against Yasuke./news/the-game-boy-camera-will-soon-get-a-second-life-as-an-awful-webcam.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-game-boy-camera-will-soon-get-a-second-life-as-an-awful-webcam.htmlThis is made possible using the GB Operator: a USB dock that allows Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges to be played on a computer (or the Steam Deck) through an app called Playback and the open-source mGBA emulator. The dock can also back up save game data or easily extract photos captured by the Game Boy Camera. Epilogue, the company behind it, shared a short video of the new feature on X and told Time Extension, “We now have a live feed from the Game Boy Camera, but still need to fine-tune some things and allow for configuration options./news/the-google-app-is-trying-out-a-bottom-search-bar-on-android.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-google-app-is-trying-out-a-bottom-search-bar-on-android.htmlThe Google app is trying out a bottom search bar on Android. The change is being tested in version 14.48.26.29.arm64 of the Google app so it’s not widely available yet. The bar remains at the bottom when displaying search results, meaning users with larger phones don’t have to stretch their thumbs so far when typing. The Chrome app on iOS introduced a similar update for the URL bar last month./news/the-iphone-13-and-13-pro-each-get-green-finishes.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-iphone-13-and-13-pro-each-get-green-finishes.htmlApple announced at its “Peek Performance” event on Tuesday that the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro will each soon come in a green finish. The iPhone 13 lineup will be available in green, while the Pro phones will come in an “alpine green.” You’ll be able to preorder them on Friday, March 11th, and they’ll be available on March 18th. Apple offered green options with the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and iPhone 12, but there weren’t green versions of the iPhone 13 when it launched last year./news/the-legend-of-zelda-echoes-of-wisdom-trailer-and-release-date.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-legend-of-zelda-echoes-of-wisdom-trailer-and-release-date.htmlAfter years of playing second fiddle to Link in her own franchise, Princess Zelda is finally getting a video game of her own this fall. During today’s Direct presentation, Nintendo revealed The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the franchise’s first game to follow as Princess Zelda herself embarks on an adventure to save the world from destruction. After Ganon bests Link in battle, Zelda is left to her own devices to battle hordes of monsters that descend upon the game’s take on Hyrule (which seems heavily inspired by 2019’s Link’s Awakening remake)./news/the-new-ayn-loki-handheld-runs-windows-and-starts-at-299.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-ayn-loki-handheld-runs-windows-and-starts-at-299.htmlAyn, the maker of the Odin Android handheld, is releasing a lineup of what it calls the “most affordable” portable Windows gaming consoles yet (via Liliputing). The cheapest of the bunch starts at just $299 — $100 less than the 64GB Steam Deck. Ayn announced the news in a YouTube video and a series of posts on Instagram, giving us a look at what we can expect for looks, tech specs, and pricing./news/the-new-head-of-smartthings-discusses-matter-and-the-future-of-the-smart-home.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-head-of-smartthings-discusses-matter-and-the-future-of-the-smart-home.htmlThe smart home is about to change. Soon, you won’t have to choose a smart light bulb or door lock just because it works with your smart speaker. Instead, you’ll be able to buy a smart device, bring it home, and it will work with any voice assistant or app you choose. At least, that’s the promise behind Matter, a new standard created by Samsung, Google, Apple, and Amazon. Most importantly, you won't be locked into the platform you chose./news/the-new-york-times-spent-1-million-so-far-in-its-openai-lawsuit.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-york-times-spent-1-million-so-far-in-its-openai-lawsuit.htmlThe New York Times spent $1 million so far in its OpenAI lawsuit. It’s expensive to sue OpenAI and Microsoft, and The New York Times knows it. In its first quarter 2024 financial results, the newspaper says costs for its copyright infringement lawsuit against the AI giants do not impact its operational performance. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanx6e5FtaG5qaG6AcMDHnmSnnadixrC%2BymaroqWVqHq0vMSnq2ZpXaK2rbjIqKVmq59is6K%2BjKKlZqGkqHqwvMSnmKJlnJbEtMHIrQ%3D%3D/news/the-nokia-xr20-is-a-rugged-5g-phone-for-549.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-nokia-xr20-is-a-rugged-5g-phone-for-549.htmlHMD Global’s newest Nokia device is the XR20, a rugged phone with 5G connectivity that goes on sale in late August for $549. In addition to robust physical protection, the XR20 is well supported on the software side — a big focus for Nokia’s latest devices — as it ships with Android 11 and comes with three years of OS upgrades alongside four years of monthly security updates. Even considering that the first of those updates, Android 12, is due for release very soon, it’s a policy that’s far stronger than that of most midrange Android devices./news/the-office-is-leaving-netflix-but-its-first-two-seasons-will-be-free-on-peacock.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-office-is-leaving-netflix-but-its-first-two-seasons-will-be-free-on-peacock.htmlThe end of an era is approaching: The Office will leave Netflix on January 1st and exclusively move over to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. Peacock confirmed the January 1st launch date today and explained how viewers can watch all 201 episodes of the show. The first two seasons will be available for free, but seasons 3 through 9 will require a paid subscription. Viewers can either pay $4.99 per month with ads or $9./news/the-payments-mess-that-almost-scared-onlyfans-away-from-sex-work.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-payments-mess-that-almost-scared-onlyfans-away-from-sex-work.htmlLast week, OnlyFans — one of the internet’s best-known porn platforms — almost banned porn. The company said it would no longer allow “explicit sexual content” in the future, before reversing the policy unexpectedly the next week. Sex workers had built OnlyFans into a multibillion-dollar subscription platform, and after the news, many have explained why the proposed change was such a betrayal. They helped make the company valuable, and in return, it nearly kicked them out./news/the-rokblok-is-a-portable-vinyl-player-for-listening-to-records-anywhere.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-rokblok-is-a-portable-vinyl-player-for-listening-to-records-anywhere.htmlOne of the biggest downsides of vinyl is the inconvenience of using it on the go. With the exception of things like the now-defunct Audio-Technica AT727 portable vinyl player, you've pretty much got to lug an entire turntable around for listening to vinyl records anywhere outside of your living room.  The RokBlok is a creative Kickstarter project solution to portable vinyl. It's a small block that rides along your records, serving as both needle and speaker to play back audio./news/the-urb-e-pro-gt-packs-a-ton-of-power-into-a-very-small-scooter.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-urb-e-pro-gt-packs-a-ton-of-power-into-a-very-small-scooter.htmlIt’s a brisk, sunny morning in late summer, the perfect time to be outside in New York City. I’m cruising up the Brooklyn Bridge, sipping an ice coffee and charging my phone. My ride is the URB-E Pro-GT, a $1,999 electric scooter that bills itself as the ultimate in lightweight urban vehicles. It gets me to and from work, a roughly four-mile commute, in the same amount of time as my bicycle./news/the-vision-pro-isn-t-destroying-your-eyes-but-maybe-get-eye-drops.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-vision-pro-isn-t-destroying-your-eyes-but-maybe-get-eye-drops.htmlWe’ve all heard that screens aren’t good for your eyes. So it might not be too surprising to hear that many Vision Pro users have complained about eye strain. (After all, the headset does use two 4K screens, one in front of each eyeball.) However, these are common complaints from overall VR usage and experts say it isn’t something to freak out over. “Despite what many people believe, sitting too close to the TV does not damage your eyes./news/the-wonderful-world-of-chinese-hi-fi.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-wonderful-world-of-chinese-hi-fi.htmlWhen most people need a new pair of earbuds, they’re picking from a pretty small set of brands, usually chosen from Amazon or, worse, the Apple Store. Then there are the outliers, the ones who haunt forums like Head-Fi, who speak knowledgeably about balanced armature versus dynamic drivers, who test their equipment and produce frequency charts. Increasingly, those outliers — a subset of audiophile culture — are obsessed with a wide variety of no-name Chinese brands selling earbuds that often cost less than $25./news/this-is-what-a-plant-sounds-like-when-it-s-stressed.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-what-a-plant-sounds-like-when-it-s-stressed.htmlNew research challenges assumptions that the plant kingdom is silent. Turns out, plants make a lot of noise when they’re stressed. Other plants and animals might even be able to interpret those sounds. And the ability to listen in could even help humans get smarter about the way we grow our crops, especially in a world where climate change is increasingly stressing us all out. “Even in a quiet field, there are actually sounds that we don’t hear, and those sounds carry information,” Lilach Hadany, senior author of the paper and an evolutionary biologist and theoretician at Tel Aviv University, says in a press release./news/this-simple-dock-turns-your-apple-watch-into-a-bedside-orb.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-simple-dock-turns-your-apple-watch-into-a-bedside-orb.htmlHave you ever tried using your Apple Watch as a bedside clock, but given up because the screen is just too dang small? Well, boy do we have a $49.99 dock for you. The NightWatch is combination charging dock, magnifying glass, and acoustic amplifier, bringing together these functions to turn the Apple Watch’s nightstand mode into a bona fide bedside alarm, complete with a tap-to-wake feature to show you the time./news/this-summer-s-hottest-game-is-a-ghostly-album-in-disguise.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-summer-s-hottest-game-is-a-ghostly-album-in-disguise.html"It's somewhere between drawing and flying a kite," artist Richard Hogg tells me. It's hard to explain what Hohokum is, but Hogg's description might just be the most apt. Launching today for the PlayStation 4 and Vita, Hohokum is a weird and wonderful world developed by British studio Honeyslug with Hogg providing whimsical, colorful art. You play as a sort of flying, technicolor snake let loose in a world that feels like one giant toy — in one moment you're helping serve drinks at an underground wedding, in another you're darting about a forest made of floating trees./news/threads-has-hashtags-now-the-verge.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/threads-has-hashtags-now-the-verge.htmlTags — basically hashtags with a twist — are now rolling out globally on Threads, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced on Thursday. Tags work a little differently than hashtags do on platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). When composing a Threads post, you start a tag by tapping the # symbol and then typing out your topic. But instead of being limited to just one word, you can type out a whole phrase (with spaces!/news/tiktok-has-a-tricky-legal-case-to-make-against-the-ban-law.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tiktok-has-a-tricky-legal-case-to-make-against-the-ban-law.htmlAfter failing to stop a bill that could ban TikTok in the US unless it separates from its China-based owner ByteDance, the company now faces two big hurdles: the US judicial system and the Chinese government. TikTok has promised to bring a legal challenge against the law that was signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, which requires ByteDance to divest the app within a year or face an effective ban in the US./news/tiktok-is-too-tempting-of-a-campaign-tool-for-some-candidates-to-shake.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tiktok-is-too-tempting-of-a-campaign-tool-for-some-candidates-to-shake.htmlJoe Biden faces the camera, casually dressed for a US president in khaki slacks and a quarter zip. He jovially answers a series of questions about the Super Bowl happening that day: Chiefs or Niners? Jason Kelce or Travis Kelce? And finally: Trump or Biden? “Are you kidding? Biden,” the president says with a smile. That video marked the presidential reelection campaigns’ debut on TikTok, the massively popular video app that’s captured the attention of 170 million Americans./news/tiktok-s-most-popular-creator-charli-d-amelio-has-joined-rival-app-triller.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tiktok-s-most-popular-creator-charli-d-amelio-has-joined-rival-app-triller.htmlCharli D’Amelio is TikTok’s most popular creator with 87 million followers, and now the Queen of TikTok is adding Triller to her roster of platforms. “We couldn’t be more proud to welcome the D’Amelio family to the Triller family with open arms,” Bobby Sarnevesht, executive chairman at Triller, said in a statement. “They are an incredibly multi-faceted and talented family who have already been invaluable to us.” Charli will be joined by her sister Dixie (34 million followers on TikTok), dad Marc (7 million followers) and mom Heidi (5./news/time-warner-cable-app-for-samsung-smart-tvs-launches-with-on-demand-streaming.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/time-warner-cable-app-for-samsung-smart-tvs-launches-with-on-demand-streaming.htmlTime Warner Cable has launched its on-demand streaming app, TWC TV, for Samsung's Smart TV platform. If you own a compatible set released in either 2012 or 2013, the cable operator says you'll get instant access to "over 5,000" movies and TV shows — content assembled from a total of 94 providers. Customers that subscribe to TWC's "Standard (Expanded Basic)" tier or above are eligible to use the app, though the list of on-demand programming you'll see will varies by market and according to your cable package./news/tweetdeck-is-officially-becoming-a-paid-service.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tweetdeck-is-officially-becoming-a-paid-service.htmlX, the social network formerly known as Twitter, appears to be finally following through on its promise to make TweetDeck a paid service. Many users on X, including social media consultant Matt Navarra, say that they’re seeing a sales page for X Premium (the subscription formerly Twitter Blue) when they try to load up TweetDeck, which is technically now called XPro. A few of us at The Verge haven’t run into the block yet, but given how many people are saying that they can’t access XPro unless they pay, we’re guessing it’s only a matter of time./news/twitter-s-timelines-stopped-working-this-morning.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-s-timelines-stopped-working-this-morning.htmlTwitter was having difficulties this morning, with users reporting that the site’s timelines were inaccessible. After hours of intermittent service, they seem to have been fixed. The problems were limited in scope: the site itself was still accessible and users were able to tweet, but the “Following” and “For You” timelines weren’t loading. There was a spike of reports for the site on DownDetector starting around 5AM ET, with users in the US, UK, and elsewhere reporting outages./news/typo-keyboard-review-mistakes-were-made.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/typo-keyboard-review-mistakes-were-made.htmlDesign and setupGetting the Typo set up and connected is impossibly easy. The two halves of the thin, matte black plastic case slide easily onto your iPhone 5 or 5S and connect firmly and simply in the middle. Press and hold the Bluetooth button until a blinking blue light appears, then open Bluetooth settings on your phone and select Typo Keyboard. It pairs almost instantly — I was ready to go in six seconds./news/uber-and-aurora-announce-long-term-driverless-truck-deal-after-successful-pilot.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-and-aurora-announce-long-term-driverless-truck-deal-after-successful-pilot.htmlUber’s freight hauling business will use Aurora’s driverless trucks on routes between Dallas and Houston as part of a new “long-term” deal that builds on a three-year-old commercial pilot. Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers on the Texas route launching later this year. Launched in 2017, Uber Freight connects truck drivers with shippers, much in the same way the company’s ridehailing app pairs drivers with those looking for a ride./news/ubisoft-announces-far-cry-primal-coming-this-february.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ubisoft-announces-far-cry-primal-coming-this-february.htmlAfter literally 24 hours of teasing (and a leak or two), Ubisoft has finally revealed the next Far Cry game, entitled Far Cry Primal — and there will be mammoths. It's coming February 23rd, 2016 to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, while a PC version will ship in March. The game is being developed by the publisher's flagship studio Ubisoft Montreal, with help from teams in Toronto, Kiev, and Shanghai./news/updates-to-google-maps-and-search-make-it-easier-to-plan-your-next-outing.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/updates-to-google-maps-and-search-make-it-easier-to-plan-your-next-outing.htmlGoogle is introducing a handful of updates that aim to take some of the stress out of planning trips and outings, from new translation features and AI-powered trip itineraries in Search to curated recommendations in Maps. Starting this week in over 40 cities across the US and Canada, Google Maps will now show users lists of recommendations for places to eat and visit. Google’s algorithmically generated recommendations include a weekly updated “Trending” list of places that have seen a recent spike in popularity, a “Top” list of historically popular locations, and a “Gems” list of places that are, well, hidden gems worth visiting./news/updog-finally-launches-the-verge.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/updog-finally-launches-the-verge.htmlIt doesn't take much to understand the updog joke — I probably learned it in about first grade or so — but its beauty and power is in its simplicity. Updog is a little mean-spirited, sure! A friend had an opportunity to interview Kim Kardashian, considered updogging her, and decided not to; it would have been too mean to her, he said. But as mean-spirited jokes go, I find updog to be pretty gentle, particularly since pretty much every native English speaker has heard (and forgotten) it at some point./news/virtual-reality-panic-the-verge.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/virtual-reality-panic-the-verge.htmlAt a conference last month, I experienced the virtual reality equivalent of bungee jumping: a “pit” demo. Wearing a high-end headset in a booth that tracked my movement, I walked a metal plank above a virtual floor. At the command of the exhibitor – who worked with a VR design company called WorldViz – the plank rose high into the air. “What happens if I jump off?” I said. “Well, let’s see./news/watch-ifixit-tear-down-the-meta-quest-3-in-this-beautifully-shot-video.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-ifixit-tear-down-the-meta-quest-3-in-this-beautifully-shot-video.htmlDavid called the Meta Quest 3 “better than its predecessors in almost every way” in our full Verge review — but what’s it like on the inside? iFixit now has the answer in a brilliant teardown video that gets right up close to the gadget’s delightfully shiny guts. You won’t find a curved battery in here like the “largely unfixable” Quest Pro, but you do get a curved heatsink above the fan — and, of course, the Time of Flight depth sensor that the Quest Pro apparently decided to scrap./news/weathering-with-you-review-climate-crisis-wrapped-around-a-love-story.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/weathering-with-you-review-climate-crisis-wrapped-around-a-love-story.htmlWeathering With You is the latest film from Makoto Shinkai, the writer and director who shot to worldwide fame with 2016’s Your Name. Your Name was tremendous; it became the highest-grossing anime film at the time it was released. It was also the perfect distillation of Shinkai’s sensibilities: openly romantic, quietly profound, and every frame gorgeous. It’s tempting to compare Weathering With You to Your Name, since the films have many similarities./news/wework-isn-t-a-tech-company-it-s-a-soap-opera.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wework-isn-t-a-tech-company-it-s-a-soap-opera.htmlOn August 14th, The We Company (the company formerly known as WeWork) filed its mandatory S-1 paperwork to go public, and it’s worth reading in full. I mean, forget the serious stuff for a moment. The thing begins with an epigram: “We dedicate this to the energy of we — greater than any one of us, but inside all of us.” The energy of we. I get it from a branding perspective — they’re literally calling themselves The We Company — but, you know, normal people would just say “our energy./news/whatsapp-communities-gets-event-organizing-features.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/whatsapp-communities-gets-event-organizing-features.htmlWhatsApp is adding a new way to plan and organize events in group messages, making it easier for friends and organizations like schools and neighborhoods to set up virtual and in-person meetings. The new events feature lets members of a group set up birthday parties, work meetings, and more, similar to various e-vite services that send out invitations via email. New WhatsApp events get pinned to a group’s information page so everyone can see who is down, hear out inevitable excuses for those who can’t make it, and confirm who is bringing cookies./news/whatsapp-messages-can-now-be-deleted-an-hour-after-you-sent-them-by-mistake.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/whatsapp-messages-can-now-be-deleted-an-hour-after-you-sent-them-by-mistake.htmlWhatsApp has quietly changed the way its message deletion feature works. Originally introduced in October, the WhatsApp “delete for everyone” used to only allow you to delete messages up to seven minutes after you sent them. WABetaInfo has noticed that the latest version of WhatsApp extends that time limit significantly to one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds. It’s not clear why the limit is now so specific, apart from being 2^12, and the WhatsApp support pages don’t provide any additional info on the time limit./news/why-signal-won-t-compromise-on-encryption-with-president-meredith-whittaker.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-signal-won-t-compromise-on-encryption-with-president-meredith-whittaker.htmlMeredith Whittaker is the president of Signal, the popular messaging app that offers encrypted communication. You might recognize Meredith’s name from a different context: in 2018, she was an AI researcher at Google and one of the organizers of the Google walkout, during which 20,000 employees protested the company’s handling of sexual misconduct. Meredith also protested the company’s work on military contracts before leaving in 2019. Now she’s at Signal, which is a little different than the usual tech company: it’s operated by a nonprofit foundation and prides itself on collecting as little data as possible./news/windows-7-is-still-running-on-at-least-100-million-pcs.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-7-is-still-running-on-at-least-100-million-pcs.htmlWindows 7 appears to still be running on at least 100 million machines, despite Microsoft ending support for the operating system a year ago. ZDNet has been analyzing the proportion of PCs still running Windows 7 across various analytics reports. While each data source pegs Windows 7 at different percentages of market share, most agree that the OS still makes up for around 20 percent of PCs. Microsoft has said for years that there are 1./news/wolfram-has-created-a-website-that-will-identify-any-image-you-throw-at-it.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wolfram-has-created-a-website-that-will-identify-any-image-you-throw-at-it.htmlOne of the most amazing things you can do with Wolfram Alpha is ask it what planes are overhead. If you're on your phone, it will pull your location, then cross reference that with a database of flights, including their altitude, angle, and even their flight number and aircraft type. But in many ways, Stephen Wolfram's latest search tool is more impressive. It's designed to identify anything in a picture. You just upload a photo, and get a computer-generated guess just a few seconds later./news/yep-android-13-s-dessert-codename-is-tiramisu-after-all.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/yep-android-13-s-dessert-codename-is-tiramisu-after-all.htmlAndroid 13’s first developer preview has confirmed what we’ve long-suspected: that the dessert-based codename for this year’s Android update is “Tiramisu.” 9to5Google spotted the codename in the debut developer preview under “Android Version” in the “About phone” menu. The Italian dessert has been cropping up in commits since July last year. Android 10 was Quince Tart Now that we know that Google has settled on Tiramisu as a codename, we can’t help but turn our attention to Android 14’s trickier U-based options./news/youtube-cancels-rewind-for-good-after-years-of-everyone-hating-it.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-cancels-rewind-for-good-after-years-of-everyone-hating-it.htmlYouTube Rewind — the company’s annual year-end round-up of trends, creators, memes, and the most popular videos on the site — has been canceled for good, the company confirmed to TubeFilter today. Instead, YouTube will “refocus our energies on celebrating you and the trends that make YouTube [fire emoji] with a different and updated kind of experience,” although the company didn’t elaborate further on what it’ll be replacing Rewind with./news/youtube-tests-out-using-ai-to-skip-to-the-good-part.htmlMon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-tests-out-using-ai-to-skip-to-the-good-part.htmlYouTube tests out using AI to skip to the good part. Some YouTube Premium subscribers can now jump to the most-watched part of a video, only in the YouTube app, by double-tapping the right side of the screen (which normally skips ahead 10 seconds), then tapping a “Jump ahead” button that appears, according to 9to5Google. To see if you have the feature and enable it, go to Settings > Try experimental new features./news/when-toys-meet-video-games-a-guide-to-skylanders-disney-infinity-and-lego-dimensions.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/when-toys-meet-video-games-a-guide-to-skylanders-disney-infinity-and-lego-dimensions.htmlIn October 2011, Activision released a seemingly innocuous game called Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. It was a reboot of a forgotten family-friendly video game mascot, but also a line of toys: Each copy of Skylanders came with a portal that plugged into your console and scanned the action figures, unlocking their playable counterparts in the video game. What looked like a novelty that could last a holiday season has since turned into an annual franchise and a big business, raking in more than $3 billion and selling more than 250 million little action figures./news/deliver-us-from-evil-review.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/deliver-us-from-evil-review.htmlConsidering how slapped-together and shoddy some horror movies seem, it’s always a bit remarkable to encounter one that takes itself seriously and aspires to more than just a few cheap scares. That doesn’t make them good, though. Deliver Us From Evil is the latest fright film from director Scott Derrickson, who came onto the scene nine years ago with The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and most recently delivered the underrated Sinister./news/draw-something-2-now-available-in-ios-app-store.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/draw-something-2-now-available-in-ios-app-store.htmlDraw Something, the Pictionary-style game with a rollercoaster history, now has a sequel. Draw Something 2 for iPhone is available in the US App Store following launches in Canada and Sweden earlier this month. Among other additions, the game promises over 5,000 new words, more drawing tools, and a free draw mode, and can be downloaded as either a $2.99 premium app or a free, ad-supported game. The original Draw Something had one of the most successful app launches of all time, leading Zynga to purchase developer OMGPOP for $180 million, but has since suffered a declining userbase./news/scooby-doo-actor-and-radio-legend-casey-kasem-dies-at-82.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scooby-doo-actor-and-radio-legend-casey-kasem-dies-at-82.htmlKasem's voice was widely heard over the radio as the first host of America's Top 40. He signed off every episode with the catchphrase, "keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars." The actor also did voices for Sesame Street, The Transformers movie and TV series, and many others. He also appeared on screen in Ghostbusters, Hawaii Five-O, and Charlie's Angels. The actor's decline was unfortunately marred by a public court battle between Kasem's four children and his second wife./news/the-expendables-3-trailer-promises-triple-the-insanity-of-its-predecessors.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-expendables-3-trailer-promises-triple-the-insanity-of-its-predecessors.htmlFans of action movies from the past 30 odd years have probably spent untold coin on the Expendables franchise, Sylvester Stallone's star vehicle that's dusted off action stars as revered as Jean-Claude Van Damme and, well, Sylvester Stallone. While sacrificing a few key players like Bruce Willis, The Expendables 3 signed on some new stars. The most notable here is definitely Wesley Snipes, who Stallone effectively breaks out (or blows up really) of jail in this trailer to bring him into the fold./news/world-s-largest-building-opens-in-china-complete-with-artificial-sun.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/world-s-largest-building-opens-in-china-complete-with-artificial-sun.htmlA building has opened in China that officials claim is the largest structure in the world — so large that it could fit the Sydney Opera House 20 times over inside its walls. CBS News reports that the New Century Global Center, which opened on June 28th in southwestern China's Sichuan province, is approximately 1640 feet long, 1312 feet wide, and 328 feet high. That comes out to more than 2./news/90-seconds-on-the-verge-tuesday-march-5th-2013.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/90-seconds-on-the-verge-tuesday-march-5th-2013.htmlDextrose. Corn syrup. Hydrogenated coconut oil. Calcium stearate. Malic acid. Maltodextrin. Egg albumen. Carnauba wax. Confectioner's glaze. Monoglycerides. Diglycerides. Carmine color. Blue #1. Blue #1 lake. Blue #2. Blue #2 lake. Green #3. Red #3. Red #40. Red #40 lake. Yellow #5. Yellow #5 lake. Yellow #6. Yellow #6 lake. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnamtfaHx2e5NpbXFxZ2V8enyMrJycp56ZwG67zWaroZ1dq7Kzs8Rmq66do5muunnMmqmcoF1qwal5kWlobA%3D%3D/news/a-400-steam-deck-still-exists.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-400-steam-deck-still-exists.htmlA $400 Steam Deck still exists. Valve just announced the $549 Steam Deck OLED — but the Steam Deck will still start at $399 if you’re willing to settle for the old LCD screen, less efficient chip, and smaller battery. You do get 256GB of NVMe storage for $399 now, up from 64GB eMMC! The 64GB and 512GB LCD models are discontinued, though you may still be able to find them on closeout for $349 and $449 respectively./news/acer-iconia-tab-a500-review.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/acer-iconia-tab-a500-review.htmlWhether it likes it or not, Acer's got a reputation in the consumer electronics business: its computers are rarely the most well made, but they're always the most affordable on shelves. It's exactly what launched Acer to become a top computer manufacturer a few years ago and what made the company so successful in the netbook market. The 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A500 is Acer's first attempt at applying that thinking to tablets, and as the majority of Honeycomb tablets cost north of $550 and are being sold with pricey 3G plans, the $450, WiFi-only tablet comes at an absolutely perfect time./news/achewood-is-back-and-it-s-weirder-than-ever.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/achewood-is-back-and-it-s-weirder-than-ever.htmlBeing a fan of Achewood is kind of like being a fan of Warren Zevon; people are either extremely excited when you mention it or have no idea what you’re talking about. But for my fellow enthusiasts, Achewood, the beloved absurdist comic about the adventures of cats, robots, and stuffed animals, is back with a Patreon. And AI.  For those of you who were not heavy online in the early 2000s, it’s kind of hard to explain Achewood’s influence — imagine, perhaps, seeing a surreal Anna Karenina get published in real time, passed among people via AOL Instant Messenger away messages./news/adobe-launches-photoshop-for-the-web-with-its-popular-desktop-ai-tools.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/adobe-launches-photoshop-for-the-web-with-its-popular-desktop-ai-tools.htmlAfter almost two years in beta, Adobe’s Photoshop on the web service — a simplified online version of the company’s desktop photo editing app — is now generally available starting Wednesday, September 27th. According to information Adobe shared with The Verge, Photoshop on the web is launching with the popular Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools that were recently released for the desktop version of Photoshop.  Here’s a screenshot of what Photoshop for the web looks like now that it’s out of beta./news/all-the-updates-and-implications-of-21st-century-fox-s-acquisition.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/all-the-updates-and-implications-of-21st-century-fox-s-acquisition.htmlIn November, word broke that Disney and 21st Century Fox had begun to discuss the possibility of Disney acquiring most of Fox’s film and television assets, but just as quickly, it became clear that those discussions had since ended. Now, it seems as though those talks are back on, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ cites reports of people familiar with the situation who say that the talks are currently active and are gaining momentum, although it’s possible that they could once again fall through./news/amazon-can-now-leave-packages-safely-in-your-garage.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-can-now-leave-packages-safely-in-your-garage.htmlIn order to use the new service, you’ll need a myQ-compatible garage door opener from Chamberlain or LiftMaster. Amazon has a lookup tool available on its site so you can check if your existing garage door is compatible. If you don’t, then Amazon will sell you a myQ Smart Garage Hub to retrofit your existing garage door opener for an introductory price of $50 (regular price $80). Along with the hardware, you’ll also need an Amazon Prime subscription to use the service./news/amazon-pulls-t-shirts-promoting-rape-and-violence-that-seller-claims-were-auto-generated.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-pulls-t-shirts-promoting-rape-and-violence-that-seller-claims-were-auto-generated.html"Keep Calm and Rape a Lot" is one of hundreds of T-shirts based on the much-used "Keep Calm and Carry On" World War II propaganda poster that a Massachusetts-based company offered for sale on Amazon until today. The shirts were primarily sold by a third-party retailer on Amazon UK, which has now removed insensitive versions of the garment. Manufacturer Solid Gold Bomb also removed the shirt and numerous other offensive iterations of the phrase from its own website after receiving a flurry of tweets and complaints./news/amazon-s-new-ceo-says-it-s-not-done-making-video-games-despite-problems.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-new-ceo-says-it-s-not-done-making-video-games-despite-problems.htmlAmazon’s incoming CEO, Andy Jassy, says he’s committed to Amazon’s video game development efforts, in response to a damning report from Bloomberg last week about the problems facing the team. “Some businesses take off in the first year, and others take many years,” Jassy wrote in a staff email seen by Bloomberg, “Though we haven’t consistently succeeded yet in AGS [Amazon Game Studios], I believe we will if we hang in there./news/amazon-s-smilecodes-are-qr-codes-users-scan-to-get-discounts-and-other-offers.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-smilecodes-are-qr-codes-users-scan-to-get-discounts-and-other-offers.htmlAmazon is rolling out its own branded QR codes named SmileCodes. The SmileCodes allow mobile shoppers to activate offers from Amazon by scanning the codes when they see them in the physical world. Amazon says SmileCodes can only be activated via the Amazon app and are secure and exclusive to Amazon users. Amazon has reportedly been testing the codes in pop-up shops and at Amazon Lockers in Europe over the past few weeks./news/andy-rubin-at-the-oracle-trial-i-didn-t-expect-android-to-contribute-greatly-to-google-s-ad-revenue.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/andy-rubin-at-the-oracle-trial-i-didn-t-expect-android-to-contribute-greatly-to-google-s-ad-revenue.htmlGoogle's Andy Rubin wrapped up his testimony in the Google vs. Oracle case this morning, but not before making some somewhat surprising statements about his expectations for the mobile operating system. When asked by Oracle attorney David Boies about what purpose Android serves for the search giant, he echoed CEO Larry Page, stating that the operating system "makes it easier to access Google services." Pressed as to whether he expected Android to contribute greatly to the company's ad revenues, however, Rubin waffled, finally stating that he did not after Judge William Alsup instructed him to answer the question directly./news/another-hastily-planned-youtuber-event-ends-in-failure.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/another-hastily-planned-youtuber-event-ends-in-failure.htmlIt’s barely been a month since TanaCon, the disastrous convention thrown by creator Tana Mongeau, but the highly publicized failure of that event doesn’t seem to have deterred other YouTubers from event planning. Yousef Erakat, known as FouseyTube to his 10 million YouTube subscribers, attempted to plan and run a concert in seven days at the Greek Theater in LA. Instead, the July 15th event was canceled after an alleged bomb threat./news/apple-buys-mira-ar-headset-startup.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-buys-mira-ar-headset-startup.htmlApple has acquired Mira, a Los Angeles-based AR startup that makes headsets for other companies and the US military, according to a post from the CEO’s private Instagram account yesterday seen by The Verge and a person familiar with the matter. Apple confirmed the acquisition. The news comes just one day after Apple unveiled the Vision Pro, a $3,499 mixed reality headset that the company has billed as a new “spatial” computing platform./news/apple-homepod-mini-review-playing-small-ball.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-homepod-mini-review-playing-small-ball.htmlTwo and a half years ago, Apple finally entered the smart speaker market with the HomePod. It was a unique device — instead of prioritizing an accessible price and smart assistant features, it was laser-focused on audio quality and considerably more expensive than its closest competitors from Amazon and Google, while being less capable as a smart speaker. As a result, the HomePod didn’t really take off. Apple was forced to lower its price, and other retailers had to discount it aggressively in order to get anyone to buy it./news/apple-is-allowing-alternative-browser-engines-in-ios-17-4-but-only-in-the-eu.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-is-allowing-alternative-browser-engines-in-ios-17-4-but-only-in-the-eu.htmlWith iOS 17.4, Apple is making a number of huge changes to the way its mobile operating system works in order to comply with new regulations in the EU. One of them is an important product shift: for the first time, Apple is going to allow alternative browser engines to run on iOS — but only for users in the EU. Since the beginning of the App Store, Apple has allowed lots of browsers but only one browser engine: WebKit./news/apple-store-employees-in-new-jersey-are-trying-to-unionize.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-store-employees-in-new-jersey-are-trying-to-unionize.htmlIf the unionization efforts are successful, the Apple Store employees would join the Communications Workers of America — the union that represents other Apple Store employees, along with employees of AT&T, Verizon, Frontier, and more. Four other Apple Stores have moved to unionize within the past couple of years, but only the retail locations in Oklahoma City and Townson, Maryland, have successfully formed a union. These efforts haven’t come without some pushback from Apple, however./news/arrival-disqualified-from-oscar-for-best-original-score-because-it-s-diluted-by-old-music.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/arrival-disqualified-from-oscar-for-best-original-score-because-it-s-diluted-by-old-music.htmlThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a list of 145 films that will be eligible for this year’s Oscar for Best Original Score. That list doesn’t include Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Arrival, which has an original score by Jóhann Jóhannsson. The decision to disqualify Arrival was unanimous, Variety reports, due to the fact that it contains some borrowed music, including pieces of Max Richter’s "On the Nature of Daylight,"/news/astronomers-capture-birth-of-triple-star-system.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/astronomers-capture-birth-of-triple-star-system.htmlA triple-star system has been captured in the middle of its birth, giving astronomers one of the first direct glimpses into how multiple-star systems come to be. The image of the star trio, taken by the ALMA telescope in Chile, shows two young stars forming in a spiral around an older star in the system’s center. And this positioning confirms a major theory that researchers have had about how multiple stars wind up next to each other./news/asus-rog-ally-updated-review-it-s-a-bit-better-now.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-rog-ally-updated-review-it-s-a-bit-better-now.htmlOne month ago, I reviewed the Asus ROG Ally. It won’t surprise you to hear the Windows gaming handheld wasn’t fully baked. Like Valve, whose Steam Deck shipped woefully unfinished, Asus has sprinted to fix loads of issues before it winds up in mainstream buyers’ hands. But today is that day. Today, June 13th, the ROG Ally ships worldwide starting at $700, £700, or €800. It’s at Best Buy as I write these words./news/at-0-72-pounds-vaio-s-first-portable-monitor-is-one-of-the-lightest-ever.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/at-0-72-pounds-vaio-s-first-portable-monitor-is-one-of-the-lightest-ever.htmlThe Vaio Vision Plus 14 goes on sale today in Japan as a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 USB-C monitor that weighs just 0.72 pounds (325g). That’s less than half as much as most of the monitors you’ll find in a typical “best portable monitor” list and notably lighter than the 13.3-inch, 1.08-pound (490g) Asus ZenScreen OLED MQ13AH, despite having a larger screen. The Vaio is also just 12.4mm thick (0.49in) at its widest point and 3./news/beats-by-dre-beatbox-portable-speaker-to-cost-399-on-march-11th.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/beats-by-dre-beatbox-portable-speaker-to-cost-399-on-march-11th.htmlIt isn't hard to hear the music someone is listening to on their Beats headphones, but if you want to share your music properly the Beatbox Portable wireless speaker should do the trick. The modern-day boombox has an iPod dock, a 3.5mm input jack, Bluetooth, a remote control, and a 5.25-inch woofer to let the whole world — or just everyone in the room — hear what you're listening to. It's promised that you'll get 15 hours of use off of its six D-cell batteries, and it's got two handles so you can carry the system with you./news/belkin-car-vent-mount-pro-with-magsafe-review-it-s-not-a-charger.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/belkin-car-vent-mount-pro-with-magsafe-review-it-s-not-a-charger.htmlAs Vergecast listeners know, I am a sucker for car phone mounts and chargers. They are a perfect gadget for the modern age — a design problem with no perfect solution, price points that usually land at the higher end of the impulse-buy zone, and completely well-suited for targeted Instagram ads. “People who have bought a Qi-based car mount in the last year,” the marketing director of a tiny accessory company sternly instructs the Facebook ad-targeting system./news/bill-gates-and-microsoft-co-founder-paul-allen-recreate-classic-photo-from-1981.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bill-gates-and-microsoft-co-founder-paul-allen-recreate-classic-photo-from-1981.htmlMany were surprised in 2011 when Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen slammed Bill Gates in the pages of his autobiography, Idea Man; the book claimed that Gates colluded with current CEO Steve Ballmer to reduce Allen's stake in the company, among other accusations. But last year's paperback edition included an epilogue hinting that the two men had overcome their differences, and now we're seeing further evidence that the friendship has healed — Allen and Gates have posed for a photo that recalls a classic Microsoft shot from the 80s./news/bird-s-scooters-will-now-emit-annoying-beeps-when-you-drive-on-the-sidewalk.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bird-s-scooters-will-now-emit-annoying-beeps-when-you-drive-on-the-sidewalk.htmlStep 1: It starts with a geofence outline constructed from satellite imagery or city GIS data. Step 2: From here, we use surveying equipment to measure the location of three city landmarks. Only a few measurements are needed for each city. Step 3: Once the landmarks have been identified, we compare their location to the satellite imagery to determine offsets and rotations. Step 4: We then use these offsets and rotation values to shift and transform each of our original geofence outlines./news/blizzard-to-change-name-of-overwatch-s-mccree-following-sexual-harassment-lawsuit.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blizzard-to-change-name-of-overwatch-s-mccree-following-sexual-harassment-lawsuit.htmlBlizzard hasn’t shared a new name for the character yet, and the studio will delay an in-game narrative arc where he played a “key part” due to the change. The company also committed to no longer naming in-game characters after real employees. Recently, some Overwatch League casters had chosen to not say the gunslinger character’s former name, instead calling him “the cowboy.” This week, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) accused Activision Blizzard of “withholding and suppressing evidence” needed for its investigation in an amended complaint./news/california-s-delete-act-lets-consumers-make-one-request-to-delete-personal-data.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/california-s-delete-act-lets-consumers-make-one-request-to-delete-personal-data.htmlCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Delete Act yesterday, making it possible for Californians to either ask data brokers to delete their personal data or forbid them to sell or share it, with a single request. Right now, Californians have similar rights under a 2018 state law, but they had to ask each company individually, and that’s a tall order given the almost 500 data brokers operating in the state./news/call-of-duty-content-schedule-leaked-as-part-of-alleged-activision-hack.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/call-of-duty-content-schedule-leaked-as-part-of-alleged-activision-hack.htmlActivision Blizzard has allegedly suffered from a hacking attempt that has potentially exposed sensitive employee information as well as content timelines for Call of Duty. According to a report from TechCrunch, the data was accessed via a phishing attempt on December 4th. A collective of malware and cybersecurity experts known as vx-underground obtained screenshots of the allegedly stolen data that included a Call of Duty content schedule. Another website, Insider Gaming, reportedly confirmed the breach, stating that additional information such as employees’ “full names, emails, phone numbers, salaries, places of work, and more” were also accessed./news/casper-glow-smart-light-review-clever-but-not-smart.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/casper-glow-smart-light-review-clever-but-not-smart.htmlA common theme for the smart home is “why not.” Why not buy a Bluetooth-equipped gas grill, or a smartphone-controlled garage door opener, or a microwave with voice control built in? So many of these gadgets are designed not with a specific universal problem in mind, but rather a narrow issue a small segment of the home-owning population may find annoying enough to spend somewhere between a hundred and a few hundred dollars to alleviate themselves of it./news/circle-up-the-verge.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/circle-up-the-verge.htmlCircle up. The Pixel Fold now has Circle to Search, the feature that lets people draw a circle, tap, or scribble on their screen to search for anything. It was first available on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Samsung’s Galaxy S24. And in teeny tiny script underneath its promo photo, Google said Circle to Search will be available on the Pixel Tablet soon. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaXx0e5FtaGtoZWqCcK%2FIq5qlnV2qvQ%3D%3D/news/colgate-s-new-smart-toothbrush-is-exclusive-to-apple-stores.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/colgate-s-new-smart-toothbrush-is-exclusive-to-apple-stores.htmlThe E1 comes with a companion Colgate Connect iOS app (shockingly, there doesn’t seem to be an Android app available for this Apple Store exclusive product), which helps track your brushing habits, map out your mouth, coach you on your brushing techniques, and play games. Because everyone wants to play games with their Bluetooth-connected toothbrush. Colgate isn’t the first to make a smart toothbrush, either. There have been plenty of others, most of them made by smart toothbrush maker Kolibree./news/comic-artist-steve-ditko-the-co-creator-of-spider-man-and-doctor-strange-has-died.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/comic-artist-steve-ditko-the-co-creator-of-spider-man-and-doctor-strange-has-died.htmlSteve Ditko, the comic book artist who co-created Marvel’s Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, was found dead in his New York City apartment on June 29th, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 90 years old. In a statement, the president of Marvel Entertainment, Dan Buckely, said that Ditko “transformed the industry and the Marvel Universe, and his legacy will never be forgotten,” while the company’s Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada said that the artist “blessed us with gorgeous art, fantastical stories, heroic characters and a mystical persona worthy of some of his greatest creations./news/congress-is-trying-to-stop-discriminatory-algorithms-again.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/congress-is-trying-to-stop-discriminatory-algorithms-again.htmlUS policymakers hope to require online platforms to disclose information about their algorithms and allow the government to intervene if these are found to discriminate based on criteria like race or gender.  Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) reintroduced the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act, which aims to ban the use of discriminatory or “harmful” automated decision-making. It would also establish safety standards, require platforms to provide a plain language explanation of algorithms used by websites, publish annual reports on content moderation practices, and create a governmental task force to investigate discriminatory algorithmic processes./news/design-industry-looks-back-at-designing-james-cameron-s-deepsea-challenger.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/design-industry-looks-back-at-designing-james-cameron-s-deepsea-challenger.htmlFilm director James Cameron made the world's first solo dive to the depths of the Mariana Trench last weekend, and he's received top billing both for making the journey as well as for helping design the Deepsea Challenger craft that got him there. One of the other parties behind the vehicle's creation is industrial design firm Design + Industry, who helped craft the cockpit interior of the 12-ton submersible. Consisting of a spherical chamber, the design underwent multiple mock-up and prototype iterations to arrive upon a combination that worked for Cameron, providing him enough room to control the vehicle while also leaving room for "/news/destiny-2-s-fortnite-crossover-is-official-and-includes-skins-maps-and-more.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/destiny-2-s-fortnite-crossover-is-official-and-includes-skins-maps-and-more.htmlBungie is teaming up with Epic Games for a Destiny 2 crossover with Fortnite and Fall Guys. The collaboration will see Bungie and Epic Games create skins for Destiny 2 and Fortnite, along with gliders, pickaxes, back blings, and even a Destiny-inspired creative map for Fortnite. Destiny skins will also be available in Fall Guys. Three Fortnite-inspired skins will appear in Destiny 2, and three Destiny-inspired armor ornaments will appear in Fortnite./news/djay-s-smart-beat-and-vocal-isolation-feature-is-becoming-a-standalone-app.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/djay-s-smart-beat-and-vocal-isolation-feature-is-becoming-a-standalone-app.htmlAlgoriddim is launching a spinoff of its popular Djay app today. The new Mac app, called Neural Mix Pro, lets you isolate and extract different parts of a song, like its drum beat or vocals. You can then export those segments and use them for DJing or remixing with the app or device or your choice. Neural Mix was introduced inside the Djay app for iPhones and iPads back in June./news/doj-mostly-gives-up-on-stopping-mobile-carriers-from-ruining-esim.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/doj-mostly-gives-up-on-stopping-mobile-carriers-from-ruining-esim.htmlThe Department of Justice has decided not to do anything about wireless carriers’ attempts to turn eSIMs into a way to keep customers locked to their network. It doesn’t entirely rule out taking action against anticompetitive behavior in the future. But for now, the DOJ says it’s going to let the issue go because the industry group behind eSIM is going to — not actually fix the problem — change its decision-making process to be less slanted toward carriers./news/doordash-launches-online-dashmart-convenience-stores-to-sell-snacks-and-groceries.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/doordash-launches-online-dashmart-convenience-stores-to-sell-snacks-and-groceries.htmlDoorDash on Wednesday announced the launch of a chain of virtual convenience stores the company is calling DashMart, which will sell snacks, groceries, and other food-related products from partner restaurants. These stores don’t have brick-and-mortar locations. Instead, they exist solely on the DoorDash app, kind of like a ghost kitchen if it were a CVS or 7-Eleven instead. Right now, the company says DashMart is available in eight cities in the US: Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; the greater Phoenix, Arizona area; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Redwood City, California./news/droid-turbo-2-announced-with-shatterproof-display-48-hour-battery.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/droid-turbo-2-announced-with-shatterproof-display-48-hour-battery.htmlMotorola and Verizon Wireless have just unveiled the Droid Turbo 2, the latest flagship smartphone in the long-running "Droid" partnership between both companies. It's set to launch just two days from now on October 29th for $26 per month (32GB) or $30 per month (64GB) on Verizon's 24-month payment plan. But unlike previous Droids, this one doesn’t have a very unique design on the outside; it looks just like a Moto X./news/espn-fox-and-warner-bros-are-putting-together-a-juggernaut-sports-streaming-app.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/espn-fox-and-warner-bros-are-putting-together-a-juggernaut-sports-streaming-app.htmlWarner Bros. Discovery is preparing to launch a streaming service in partnership with ESPN / Disney and Fox Sports, as reported earlier by CNBC and Sports Business Journal. All three companies have agreed in principle to launch an as-yet-unnamed standalone app, of which they all share one-third ownership, this fall that streams a range of leagues and sports. It is poised to have sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNews, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV./news/everyone-you-know-is-going-to-sing-this-damned-song-about-pens-and-pineapples.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/everyone-you-know-is-going-to-sing-this-damned-song-about-pens-and-pineapples.htmlRemember this moment: the smell, the look, the sound. Like the seconds before you first danced the "Macarena" or were asked "Who Let the Dogs Out," this moment is an endpoint of a phase of your life. Because you, my dear reader, will shortly click play on the video, above, and listen to "Pen-Pineapple Apple-Pen" (or "PPAP"). You will voluntarily allow the ear-worm to wheedle its way into your brain, where it will, for the foreseeable future, make a cozy bivouac./news/facebook-says-it-will-begin-putting-more-local-news-into-the-news-feed.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-says-it-will-begin-putting-more-local-news-into-the-news-feed.htmlFacebook will begin prioritizing the placement of local news in the News Feed, the company said today. The move means that you’re more likely to see stories from your local newspaper or television station. While the changes are currently limited to the United States, Facebook plans to introduce them globally. Facebook said it considers publishers “local” if their links tend to be clicked on “by readers in a tight geographic area./news/fitbit-s-surge-fitness-watch-will-soon-be-able-to-track-outdoor-cycling.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fitbit-s-surge-fitness-watch-will-soon-be-able-to-track-outdoor-cycling.htmlFitbit launched its new flagship fitness watch, the Surge, without proper support for cycling. But that's about to change. A firmware update slated to arrive next month will allow the Surge to track distance, duration, average speed, heart rate, calories burned during those outdoor bike rides. Serious cyclists will be able to log onto the company's website for a more precise stats breakdown — including elevation for your regular bike routes — and all rides will be mapped out for easy reference with the Fitbit app, as well./news/fortnite-s-alien-invasion-culminates-with-another-season-ending-live-event.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-s-alien-invasion-culminates-with-another-season-ending-live-event.htmlEver since Fortnite’s current season debuted in June, there has been the promise of a massive conflict with a group of aliens. Now developer Epic is finally teasing that big event in the form of “Operation: Sky Fire.” The live event will be taking place on September 12th at 4PM ET, and Epic says that players will “join a strike team and sneak aboard the Mothership to deliver IO’s final message to the invading aliens./news/fortnite-s-rocket-launch-created-a-dimensional-rift-in-the-sky.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-s-rocket-launch-created-a-dimensional-rift-in-the-sky.htmlAfter days of teasing something big, Fortnite’s much-hyped rocket event finally arrived today. Unlike previous ceremonies, this occasion only happens once: if you weren’t in-game when it happened, you missed out on your chance to experience it. Fortunately, we strapped in and saw everything unfold first-hand. An hour before the festivities, Fortnite’s island started gearing up for launch by animating the super villain lair near in-game location Snobby Shores that contained the rocket:/news/fortnite-s-short-film-festival-is-coming-back-this-week.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-s-short-film-festival-is-coming-back-this-week.htmlThe fourth edition of Fornite’s “Short Nite” film festival is kicking off later this week. Epic Games announced that the event, which features a variety of short animated movies screened in-game, will take place on May 12th. A total of 10 movies are being featured, three of which are world premieres, and Epic will also be selling a popcorn-eating emote for an authentic virtual viewing experience. The original incarnation of Short Nite took place on Fortnite’s party royale island, though it has steadily become more elaborate, particularly with last year’s Halloween-themed edition./news/fortnite-s-zero-build-mode-is-bringing-people-back-to-the-game.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-s-zero-build-mode-is-bringing-people-back-to-the-game.htmlFortnite’s latest season kicked off a big shakeup: developer Epic Games removed building, perhaps the game’s most iconic feature, from the core battle royale modes. It was a risky move that had the potential to lessen interest in the game. Instead, it appears to have had the opposite effect — especially for some big streamers.  Not everyone was on board with what Epic now calls Zero Build mode right away. “Initially, I hated it and I was absolutely furious,” Michael “The Fierce Diva” Reynolds, a Facebook Gaming streamer, told me in an interview./news/from-rumor-to-retail-the-full-story-of-google-s-fourth-generation-nexus.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/from-rumor-to-retail-the-full-story-of-google-s-fourth-generation-nexus.htmlThe Nexus 4, LG's well-rumored first participation in Google's Nexus program, has unwittingly been revealed by UK phone retailer Carphone Warehouse. An entirely official-looking pre-order page has been put up for the handset, whose display is said to measure 4.7 inches diagonally with a 1280 x 768 resolution. Other salient features include Android 4.2, still called Jelly Bean, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, NFC, and an 8-megapixel camera. Looking into the more detailed spec sheet, the Nexus 4 is listed as being 9./news/frontlines-is-an-action-packed-military-sci-fi-series-that-captures-the-essence-of-warfare.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/frontlines-is-an-action-packed-military-sci-fi-series-that-captures-the-essence-of-warfare.htmlFor the past couple of years, I’ve been hooked on Marko Kloos’ military science fiction Frontlines series. Set on an overpopulated Earth in 2108, it follows a soldier named Andrew Grayson who joins the military and ends up facing off against an overwhelming alien threat. It’s loaded with action, and in a publishing world where novelists are continually working to reinvent or subvert genre tropes, it’s refreshingly straight forward. The series authentically captures military culture, providing a glimpse into a lifestyle that the civilian world rarely sees through a sci-fi lens./news/game-of-thrones-series-finale-left-some-plastic-water-bottles-on-screen.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/game-of-thrones-series-finale-left-some-plastic-water-bottles-on-screen.htmlFirst it was a coffee cup, now it’s a bottle of water. Poor Game of Thrones just can’t catch a break. Just a couple of weeks after some eagle-eyed fans discovered a forgotten coffee cup in a Game of Thrones scene, a couple of misplaced water bottles have appeared. The bottles, seen in screenshots below, pop up a few times over the course of several minutes. The first time is at 46:19 on HBO Now, and then a few minutes later./news/ghost-finally-bothered-to-show-up-for-jon-snow-in-the-newest-game-of-thrones-clip.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ghost-finally-bothered-to-show-up-for-jon-snow-in-the-newest-game-of-thrones-clip.htmlGame of Thrones' Liam Cunnigham appeared on Conan last night and brought along a little gift for GoT super fans: a clip from the new season! The clip is extremely dark (thematically, and you can't see anything), and features an out-of-focus, but extremely dead (how shocking), Jon Snow. Ser Davos (Cunningham) appears to be defending Snow's body from the Night's Watch members who already killed him. His back-up is Ghost, the direwolf who was Jon Snow's sidekick and best friend./news/ghost-in-the-shell-starring-scarlett-johansson-to-hit-theaters-on-april-14th-2017.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ghost-in-the-shell-starring-scarlett-johansson-to-hit-theaters-on-april-14th-2017.htmlIt looks like Disney is moving things along briskly for its upcoming Ghost in the Shell adaptation. Deadline reports that, only days since DreamWorkssigned Scarlett Johansson for the main role, the film is now scheduled for an April 14th, 2017 release. 2017 is already going to be a big year for blockbusters, with much of Marvel and DC's superhero offerings hitting theaters throughout the year. Fans will also get to see the next installment of the Planet of the Apes series, and well as the Lego Batman Movie and Guillermo Del Toro's sequel to Pacific Rim./news/gm-offers-1-400-to-bolt-owners-for-dealing-with-software-limited-fire-prone-batteries.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gm-offers-1-400-to-bolt-owners-for-dealing-with-software-limited-fire-prone-batteries.htmlChevy Bolt owners might have the option to receive a $1,400 payout from GM as compensation for dealing with defective EV batteries in model year vehicles from 2020-2022. To qualify for the offer, owners must install a “final remedy” software update on their Bolt through a Chevy dealership by December 31st, 2023. Owners will get a letter that grants them access to a web form to accept the money in the form of a Visa e-gift card./news/google-maps-gives-you-more-control-from-the-blue-dot.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-maps-gives-you-more-control-from-the-blue-dot.htmlGoogle Maps has gotten some fun updates recently, and now it’s offering some more privacy-forward tweaks as it adds more ways to control your location data. It starts, as so many journeys do, with that little blue dot in Google Maps: aka, you... or, your current location at least. Right now, tapping the blue dot in Google Maps offers shortcuts to save your parking or share your location. This update — which I’m already seeing on my Pixel 8 Pro review unit — adds options for device location and location history./news/google-nest-hub-max-review-bigger-screen-better-sound-and-a-camera.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-nest-hub-max-review-bigger-screen-better-sound-and-a-camera.htmlLast year’s Nest Hub (formerly Home Hub) from Google is one of my most favorite smart home devices for one simple reason: it’s the best digital picture frame I’ve ever seen and makes it incredibly easy and enjoyable to see the thousands of photos I’ve taken of my kids that are trapped on my phone or in the cloud. The Nest Hub is also a convenient smart home controller and a surprisingly useful smart alarm clock./news/google-photos-now-makes-it-easy-to-hide-your-nudes.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-photos-now-makes-it-easy-to-hide-your-nudes.htmlA new update to Google Photos will now let you archive photos from the main feed and hide them away, helping you declutter and privatize some personal photos. First spotted by 9to5Google, all you have to do is hold the photo(s) and hit the “...” menu on the right side to bring up the archive option. Later, when you want to revisit those photos, you can find them on the left side menu under a separate folder./news/google-s-advanced-protection-program-will-protect-against-risky-chrome-downloads.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-advanced-protection-program-will-protect-against-risky-chrome-downloads.htmlStarting today, users enrolled in Google’s Advanced Protection Program, which brings increased security and protections to high-profile Google Account users like journalists, activists, politicians, and business leaders, will get additional safeguards for downloads made in Chrome. To turn on the feature, Google says that a user enrolled in the Advanced Protection Program just needs to turn on Chrome sync. Then, when that user tries to download a file that Chrome identifies as potentially dangerous, Chrome will show a warning or even block the download./news/google-s-gemini-diversity-errors-and-lower-employee-raises-hurts-morale.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-gemini-diversity-errors-and-lower-employee-raises-hurts-morale.htmlStart your Command Line free trial now to continue readingThis story is exclusively for subscribers of Command Line, our newsletter about the tech industry’s inside conversation. Subscribe to a plan below for full access. Already a Command Line subscriber?Sign inWe accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Having issues?Click here for FAQ ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfaHx0e5FtZ3FxaGmAcLPOqJ6lnV2ivLOty55knKqZqLa0ecCbpq6sXam8brPErWSwp6Kosg%3D%3D/news/google-s-new-home-app-is-now-rolling-out-to-everyone.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-new-home-app-is-now-rolling-out-to-everyone.htmlGoogle’s new Home app is moving out of its invite-only public preview and will be available to everyone starting May 11th, the company announced Wednesday at Google I/O 2023. The smart home controller app has had a complete overhaul, including a much-needed new Favorites tab, an improved camera interface, support for dozens of new device types, and more controls for existing ones. And you’ll now be able to use an iPhone to set up Matter devices in Google Home./news/gopro-s-hero-7-camera-has-leaked-via-a-store-display.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gopro-s-hero-7-camera-has-leaked-via-a-store-display.htmlGoPro’s next camera appears to have leaked via a store display. An Imgur user posted a series of images (via Reddit) that show off the company’s Hero 7 camera, which is expected to be announced later this month. The camera appears to come in three colors: white, silver, and black. The display also shows off some of the usual features that we’ve seen with prior models, like image stabilization and that it’s waterproof up to a depth of 33 feet./news/gta5-s-improved-next-gen-load-times-make-the-game-so-much-faster.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gta5-s-improved-next-gen-load-times-make-the-game-so-much-faster.htmlFor all of its open-world excess, Grand Theft Auto V is also a game about repetition: you go through missions multiple times, trying to finally complete that high-speed pursuit or violent shootout successfully. This can often mean reloading the same mission repeatedly, and — in previous iterations of the game — that time could add up quite a bit and become a frustrating nuisance. But after replaying the first few hours of the game’s new next-gen release, the thing that has struck me most is just how fast things move./news/have-we-been-overthinking-ev-sounds.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/have-we-been-overthinking-ev-sounds.htmlFor years, automakers have been fussing over the sounds emitted by their electric vehicles, trying to tune them in a way that both presents as futuristic while also not alienating to people who are used to the rev of a four-cylinder engine. They seem to have settled on a series of sounds that could best be described as somewhere in between a whir and a hum. Others would say it sounds like a flying saucer — and not always in a good way./news/hbo-and-discovery-s-max-streaming-service-is-here.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-and-discovery-s-max-streaming-service-is-here.htmlThe time has come: HBO Max and Discovery Plus are merging to create a combined streaming service called “Max.” During an event Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced the new service will launch on May 23rd and cost up to $19.99 per month with two cheaper tiers priced at $15.99 and $9.99. “Max is the one to watch,” CEO David Zaslav said. “It’s the one to watch because it’s the place every member of the household can go to see exactly what they want at any given time./news/hbo-max-s-batgirl-was-killed-by-the-megamerger.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-max-s-batgirl-was-killed-by-the-megamerger.htmlIn 1989, Alan Moore wanted to write a comic about what a man does when driven to the point of insanity. In the comic book, The Killing Joke, the Joker kidnaps and tortures Jim Gordon to see if he can drive him to the point of insanity that both the Joker and Batman have already reached in their own respective ways. But most people don’t remember the big face-off between the three men./news/here-s-the-story-behind-that-pole-dancing-robot.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-the-story-behind-that-pole-dancing-robot.htmlIf you’ve been on the internet recently you might have come across the above tweet, showing a robot with a CCTV camera for a head doing some half-hearted pole-dancing. It’s a good tweet! It captures a bunch of extremely 2017 feelings, including dystopia, fear of job automation, and the general mood of absurdity that’s going around a lot. Plus, you know, it’s a pole-dancing robot. But, as a famous philosopher once asked: why is this robot pole dancing?/news/hertz-is-scaling-back-its-ev-ambitions-because-its-teslas-keep-getting-damaged.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hertz-is-scaling-back-its-ev-ambitions-because-its-teslas-keep-getting-damaged.htmlRental car company Hertz once envisioned itself as the ultimate EV broker, doling out battery-powered vehicles to business travelers, ridehail drivers, and tech newbies in an ambitious plan to grease the wheels for the EV revolution. The company inked agreements with Tesla and Polestar to buy nearly 200,000 EVs. Tesla’s valuation topped $1 trillion on the news. But like many other aspects of the EV switch, that plan is running into some headwinds./news/hot-pod-summit-returns-at-on-air-fest-2024.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hot-pod-summit-returns-at-on-air-fest-2024.htmlThe Verge is delighted to announce that Hot Pod Summit is returning for another day of must-hear interviews, crucial panels, and intimate networking with leading creators and decision-makers from across the audio world. Now in its third year with The Verge, Hot Pod Summit has become the leading event for exploring the buzziest and most important topics in the podcasting industry. This year’s invite-only summit, presented by AdsWizz and Simplecast, will feature This American Life creator Ira Glass, Defector Media VP of revenue and operations Jasper Wang, Multitude Productions creative lead Eric Silver, Radiotopia director of network operations Yooree Losordo, SiriusXM VP and global head of revenue partnerships Kelli Hurley, and The Trade Desk senior director of audio partnerships Tomas Rodriguez./news/how-to-do-a-feeds-reboot-to-take-back-control-of-your-algorithms.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-do-a-feeds-reboot-to-take-back-control-of-your-algorithms.htmlFor the last few years, I’ve chosen one weekend day a year to undertake what I’ve come to call a Feeds Reboot. I try to systematically go through every subscription, every follow, every algorithmically or chronologically generated thing I see on social platforms, streaming services, and news apps, and reset or at least review the way it works. I can’t recommend this enough. Every time I do a Feeds Reboot, I notice a huge uptick in how interesting and relevant I suddenly find the internet./news/how-to-flip-your-monitor-from-landscape-to-portrait.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-flip-your-monitor-from-landscape-to-portrait.htmlMost of us probably use monitors that are placed in a landscape, or horizontal, configuration — in other words, the top and bottom are wider than the sides. This works fine for most people who are using two or more windows side by side or who are watching videos. But if you’re working on a long document or spreadsheet, or want to keep your Twitter or Slack feed running on a secondary screen, then you may want to try using your monitor in a portrait, or vertical, configuration instead./news/how-to-sneak-into-a-bored-ape-yacht-club-party.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-sneak-into-a-bored-ape-yacht-club-party.htmlAs someone who clears out his checking account every month to pay rent, I’ve been a passive observer of the whole NFT phenomenon rather than a participant. When you can’t afford one anyway, it’s much more tempting to see the technology as a gimmick, the scene’s adoptions of language like “democratization” as half-hearted cosplay for assets available mainly to the very rich, and the whole enterprise as a scam by people too rich to get in trouble for scamming, especially when NFTs mostly look like shit./news/how-to-work-from-home-when-your-internet-goes-out.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-work-from-home-when-your-internet-goes-out.htmlYou were working. Things were just fine. A landscaper puts a shovel through your buried internet cabling or tree limbs drop and kill a neighborhood’s internet. Or the inexplicable happens, and the little green light on the cable modem goes red. You are, as the sailors say when a ship’s engine becomes quiet, dead in the water. What now? Most remote work depends on access to a reliable internet connection, and for lots of people, especially for hourly or clocked workers, no internet means no pay./news/htc-one-s-review-the-verge.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/htc-one-s-review-the-verge.htmlNote: Our original review was of the unlocked, GSM One S. We've updated the review with impressions and tests of the $199 (with contract) T-Mobile model as well. Check out the Hardware, Connectivity and Software sections to see the biggest differences between the two devices, which are generally quite similar. When I first saw the HTC One series, in that top secret subterranean bunker where HTC likes to preview its phones, my attention and desire were immediately drawn by the One S./news/htc-s-blockchain-powered-exodus-smartphone-is-a-risky-bet-that-needs-to-pay-off.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/htc-s-blockchain-powered-exodus-smartphone-is-a-risky-bet-that-needs-to-pay-off.htmlIn May, HTC first announced that it was working on a blockchain-powered smartphone called the Exodus. The news came as one of the company’s more intriguing projects after a poor start to the year. Last year, HTC shipped over 2 million products in Q1. This year, it shipped only 630,000 products in Q1, according to numbers from IDC. HTC is in pretty poor shape after a round of layoffs last week where the company laid off 1,500 employees in Taiwan in hopes of becoming profitable./news/huawei-p30-pro-review-zooming-into-the-future.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/huawei-p30-pro-review-zooming-into-the-future.htmlBefore I came across Huawei’s P30 Pro, I was confident in telling everyone that the Google Pixel 3, like its two predecessors, had the best smartphone camera. Now, I’m not so sure. The P30 Pro is not a complicated phone: it’s got a familiar and fast Kirin 980 processor, the same dimensions and all-glass design as every other flagship handset, and the same bonus features like wireless charging and waterproofing. It’s a very direct rival to Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus, albeit without a headphone jack or the extra high-resolution screen./news/huawei-s-honor-a1-band-is-a-leather-fitness-strap-for-your-wrist.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/huawei-s-honor-a1-band-is-a-leather-fitness-strap-for-your-wrist.htmlHuawei's Honor Band A1 is a fitness tracker that'll be released in China on May 25th. It does fitness tracker things, like logging activity, monitoring sleep, and helping count calories. The Honor Band A1 also includes one slightly unique feature — a UV light sensor — that tells users about the sun's strength and when they should lather on sunscreen. That being said, multiple other fitness trackers already come with UV sensors./news/i-m-so-glad-that-i-waited-to-play-stardew-valley-on-the-nintendo-switch.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/i-m-so-glad-that-i-waited-to-play-stardew-valley-on-the-nintendo-switch.htmlWhen Stardew Valley first came out early last year, I was intrigued. Here was a game that brought back the supremely chill spirit of the Harvest Moon series, games where you could live out a quiet life as a farmer in a small town. But I didn’t have much interest in playing the game on PC, and when it was later ported to consoles I found myself without much in the way of free time./news/instagram-releases-new-app-for-mini-video-loops.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-releases-new-app-for-mini-video-loops.htmlInstagram has launched a new video app called Boomerang, which will produce GIF-style clips at the click of a button. Boomerang takes a one-second burst of five photos to create a mini video loop which can be shared to the main Instagram app and Facebook. Boomerang doesn't require users to be logged in, or to even have an Instagram account, according to TechCrunch. The controls are simplistic, one shutter button when you open the app, and another screen to share the looping video you've just created./news/intel-s-latest-11th-gen-processor-brings-5-0ghz-speeds-to-thin-and-light-laptops.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/intel-s-latest-11th-gen-processor-brings-5-0ghz-speeds-to-thin-and-light-laptops.htmlIntel made a splash earlier in May with the launch of its first 11th Gen Tiger Lake H-series processors for more powerful laptops, but at Computex 2021, the company is also announcing a pair of new U-series chips — one of which marks the first 5.0GHz clock speed for the company’s U-series lineup of lower voltage chips. Specifically, Intel is announcing the Core i7-1195G7 — its new top of the line chip in the U-series range — and the Core i5-1155G7, which takes the crown of Intel’s most powerful Core i5-level chip, too./news/irobot-s-roomba-i4-evo-and-j7-plus-are-down-to-their-best-price-to-date.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/irobot-s-roomba-i4-evo-and-j7-plus-are-down-to-their-best-price-to-date.htmlIf you’re looking for something more capable, Walmart is taking 50 percent off the high-end iRobot Roomba j7 Plus and selling it for $399, which is essentially the typical asking price of a midrange model. That’s not bad, given the premium model comes with an automatic disposal tank, unlike the standard Roomba i4 Evo. At this point, it’s safe to say that iRobot is one of the most noteworthy names in the world of robot vacuums — and both models continue the company’s streak of producing superb, puck-shaped vacuums./news/jsaux-s-ultimate-rgb-dock-stretches-to-fit-steam-deck-rog-ally-and-more.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jsaux-s-ultimate-rgb-dock-stretches-to-fit-steam-deck-rog-ally-and-more.htmlToday, Jsaux’s taking the wraps off its $89.99 HB1201 and $59.99 HB0801 (via Overkill.wtf), with the former its most advanced dock yet. It’s a 12-in-1 dual-monitor dock offering up to 4K120 over both HDMI and DisplayPort, plus 100W passthrough USB-C PD charging, both full-size SD and microSD readers, and a bunch of standard USB ports, too. Here’s the full visual breakdown: After you’ve connected power and your handheld, you’ll have one 10Gbps USB-C port, two 10Gbps USB-A 3./news/killer7-remaster-announced-for-pc.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/killer7-remaster-announced-for-pc.htmlKiller7, one of the weirdest games ever to see release on a Nintendo platform, is getting remastered for PC this year. NIS America will be publishing the surreal cel-shaded blood-letting Resident Evil-on-rails multicharacter global-conspiracy noir adventure on Steam in the fall. If you've never played Killer7, you've never played anything like Killer7. The game has a unique control scheme that takes your character through the environment on predetermined paths, switching to first-person mode to shoot enemies and collect their blood to level up./news/lamborghini-s-popular-urus-suv-grows-a-plug-and-goes-hybrid.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lamborghini-s-popular-urus-suv-grows-a-plug-and-goes-hybrid.htmlLamborghini’s mission to produce gas-electric hybrid versions of all of its models continues with today’s release of the plug-in hybrid Urus SE. The SUV is the top selling vehicle in Lamborghini’s lineup, and a hybrid version is sure to draw a lot of interest from the Italian automaker’s customer base of luxury-minded one-percenters. The electrified luxury SUV’s hybrid powertrain can put out a total of 800 CV (a metric unit of horsepower that translates to 789 hp), or 588 kW, thanks to its 25 kWh battery./news/leica-s-new-monochrom-camera-has-a-purpose-built-black-and-white-sensor.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/leica-s-new-monochrom-camera-has-a-purpose-built-black-and-white-sensor.htmlThree years after the release of the M10, Leica is finally introducing a Monochrom camera based on the M10’s design. The new M10 Monochrom has all of the design traits and features of the M10 (or more accurately, 2018’s M10-P), such as a slimmer body and wireless connectivity, but with a new 40-megapixel black-and-white sensor. The Monochrom has been one of Leica’s most controversial digital cameras ever since the first version came out in 2012./news/lenovo-s-new-legion-9i-is-a-liquid-cooled-mini-led-rgb-monstrosity.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lenovo-s-new-legion-9i-is-a-liquid-cooled-mini-led-rgb-monstrosity.htmlLenovo has announced a new Legion 9i, and it might just be the wildest thing I’ve ever seen from the Legion line. It’s coming in October, it starts at a whopping $4,399 (you know, a totally normal price to pay for things), and Lenovo is throwing in all kinds of eccentric stuff. The company is clearly most excited about the fact that the 9i is the first 16-inch gaming laptop with a self-contained liquid-cooling system./news/lte-and-hspa-blackberry-playbooks-make-their-way-through-the-fcc-lte-versions-bound-for-at-t-and-v.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lte-and-hspa-blackberry-playbooks-make-their-way-through-the-fcc-lte-versions-bound-for-at-t-and-v.htmlThe BlackBerry PlayBook has been available for nearly a year now (just a month with a full OS), but there's still no version of the tablet with a cellular broadband connection. That might not be the case for much longer, though, as an HSPA+ version and two LTE versions of the 7-inch tablet have been submitted for approval to the FCC. As usual with FCC filings, there aren't too many details, though we know that both tablets have Bluetooth, GPS, dual-band (802./news/lunar-energy-presents-an-all-in-one-home-battery-backup-system-for-solar.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lunar-energy-presents-an-all-in-one-home-battery-backup-system-for-solar.htmlLunar Energy, a home battery backup company that came out of stealth last year, is revealing its first product called the Lunar System. It’s an all-in-one hybrid inverter, expandable battery backup system, and energy controller that can smartly manage power from the Sun — using new or existing solar panels — and the grid while giving users control over the whole system in one app. Lunar’s so-called “personal power plant” is also being pitched as an opportunity to earn money by getting paid for any excess power you send back to the grid./news/lyft-is-referring-drivers-to-jobs-at-amazon-after-massive-ridership-decline.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lyft-is-referring-drivers-to-jobs-at-amazon-after-massive-ridership-decline.htmlLyft notified drivers of the program on Friday via email, which the company has shared with The Verge, and said it’s encouraging them to apply to roles in Amazon warehouses and as part of the e-commerce company’s grocery and package deliveries platforms. Unlike Uber, which operates a food delivery platform, Lyft does not currently delivery meals or groceries, and its ridership has plummeted in recent weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic./news/makerbot-replicator-first-hands-on-update-video.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/makerbot-replicator-first-hands-on-update-video.htmlMakerBot's newest 3D printer — the Replicator — is on display here at CES 2012, and it's the kind of toy that'll instantly make you both the coolest and nerdiest kid on the block. It's got a wooden enclosure with wide cutouts on the front and sides that allow you to access the printing plate and watch as your item gets printed in ABS or PLA biodegradable plastic. An LCD screen up front lets you monitor your build and see statistics, and since it also has an SD card slot, you can start printing immediately using the built-in d-pad next to the screen./news/making-digital-time-out-of-analog-clocks-is-mesmerizing.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/making-digital-time-out-of-analog-clocks-is-mesmerizing.htmlThe familiar sight of a wall of analog clocks — the international businessman's favorite emblem of global dynamism — has been subverted into a charming piece of installation art by Stockholm design duo Humans Since 1982. Their concept A Million Times combines a multiplicity of analog clocks into a synchronized kinetic performance, with the clock hands whirling into pulsating shapes and patterns, and then subtly, surprisingly coalescing to form a digital representation of the current time./news/marvel-s-spider-man-2-is-already-on-sale-with-a-10-playstation-store-gift-card.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/marvel-s-spider-man-2-is-already-on-sale-with-a-10-playstation-store-gift-card.htmlThere are few types of deals better than a launch day promo, especially when it concerns a sequel that has been five years in the making. Thankfully for those looking to delve back into the sunset-tinged world of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac’s latest action-adventure title for the PlayStation 5 is available at Newegg through the rest of today, October 20th, with a $10 PlayStation Store e-gift card for $69.99. In many ways, the follow-up to the original open-world game and its more recent spinoff focused on Miles Morales doesn’t reinvent the formula./news/masterwiki-is-a-terrible-wikihow-style-rip-off-of-masterclass.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/masterwiki-is-a-terrible-wikihow-style-rip-off-of-masterclass.htmlIf you’re curious about MasterClass but don’t want to pay $180 and spend dozens of hours watching videos, a new website can help you out. A number of MasterClass courses have been ripped off and turned into ugly, short-form WikiHow-style articles for the website MasterWiki. You can learn Spike Lee’s methods for making an independent film in 12 quick steps or have Anna Wintour teach you how to be a creative leader in under a dozen, all illustrated with remarkably bad cartoons./news/meet-yuka-the-39-000-year-old-mummified-woolly-mammoth-scientists-want-to-clone.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meet-yuka-the-39-000-year-old-mummified-woolly-mammoth-scientists-want-to-clone.htmlJapan took a break from its obsession with the future this week as a new exhibition sent visitors 39,000 years back into the past. That's the estimated age of Yuka, a mummified woolly mammoth that has just been placed on public display for the first time ever. The show runs until September. Yuka was found three years ago in the Siberian permafrost and was between six to eleven years old when she died./news/meta-gives-up-on-nfts-for-facebook-and-instagram.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-gives-up-on-nfts-for-facebook-and-instagram.htmlMeta is “winding down” its work with NFTs on Facebook and Instagram, Meta commerce and fintech lead Stephane Kasriel said in a Twitter thread on Monday. The decision means Meta will end its tests of minting and selling NFTs on Instagram as well as the ability to share NFTs on Instagram and Facebook in the coming weeks, Meta spokesperson Joshua Gunter confirmed in an email to The Verge. “Across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus,” Kasriel said./news/microsoft-starts-testing-ads-in-the-windows-11-start-menu.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-starts-testing-ads-in-the-windows-11-start-menu.htmlMicrosoft says it’s starting to test ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11. The software maker will use the Recommended section of the Start menu, which usually shows file recommendations, to suggest apps from the Microsoft Store. “This will appear only for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the US and will not apply to commercial devices (devices managed by organizations),” says Microsoft in a blog post. The app promotions can be disabled in the Settings section of Windows 11, but it appears that Microsoft will enable these by default./news/microsoft-surface-pro-9-sq3-review.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-surface-pro-9-sq3-review.htmlVideo calling. After several days of using the Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro 9 as my daily driver for every task in my daily process, video calling has been, hands down, the best experience I’ve had on it. This device has a good webcam with some great features. But most other tasks you might need to do in a workday were frustratingly slow. That is due — at least in part, I’m sure — to the fact that most of the apps I use are not running natively on Arm./news/microsoft-teams-isn-t-out-of-the-eu-s-antitrust-woods-yet.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-teams-isn-t-out-of-the-eu-s-antitrust-woods-yet.htmlMicrosoft Teams isn’t out of the EU’s antitrust woods yet. Brussels is reportedly set to target Microsoft with new antitrust charges in the coming weeks, over concerns that concessions like unbundling Teams from Office 365 “did not go far enough to enable fairness in the market.” Microsoft still has time to offer additional concessions to appease the European Commission, after nearly a year of a formal antitrust investigation that originated from a Slack complaint in 2020./news/microsoft-s-halo-themed-xbox-series-x-will-be-available-for-preorder-wednesday-night-at-walmart.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-halo-themed-xbox-series-x-will-be-available-for-preorder-wednesday-night-at-walmart.htmlMicrosoft’s Halo-themed Xbox Series X — one of the many announcements to come out of Gamescom Opening Night Live — is set to arrive on November 15th, nearly a month before the confirmed launch of Halo Infinite on December 8th. Preorders for the $549.99, limited-edition bundle went live at the Microsoft Store and Target on Wednesday, with initial preorder stock selling out in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, if you weren’t able to snag the Infinite-ready console earlier, Walmart is giving you another chance Wednesday, August 25th, at 8:30PM ET / 5:30PM PT, according to a Walmart spokesperson who confirmed the details with CNET./news/missed-messages-is-a-powerful-romance-horror-game-about-communicating.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/missed-messages-is-a-powerful-romance-horror-game-about-communicating.htmlIt can be difficult to find time to finish a video game, especially if you only have a few hours a week to play. In our biweekly column Short Play we suggest video games that can be started and finished in a weekend. Shorter games are often able to tackle themes and ideas that would be more challenging in a big, blockbuster production. That’s one of the main reasons I decided to start this column: to highlight those smaller experiences that offer something new, inventive, or experimental./news/moment-s-t-series-lenses-give-your-smartphone-s-camera-superpowers.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/moment-s-t-series-lenses-give-your-smartphone-s-camera-superpowers.htmlMoment’s smartphone lenses are, in theory, perfect for people like me. I love taking pictures and have wanted to try more serious photography for a long time, but nicer DSLR cameras are expensive, bulky, and intimidating. The new T-Series lenses from Moment, which launched last month and are now for sale, could be just the ticket for letting me take nicer pictures without investing in high-end camera gear. They’re hardly cheap — they range from $120 to $150 a piece — but they’re an easier pill to swallow: they’re cheaper than full-sized camera gear, lighter to lug around, and simpler to get into thanks to their reliance on a smartphone and camera UI you already know./news/multiple-brands-likely-responsible-for-vaping-injuries-cdc-says.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/multiple-brands-likely-responsible-for-vaping-injuries-cdc-says.htmlTHC-containing vaping products sold under the name Dank Vapes are the most common brand associated with vaping-related injuries, according to a new update from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). However, there are regional differences in the brands associated with injury and hospitalization, and officials say that one single brand is likely not responsible for the outbreak of injuries.  As of December 3rd, 2,291 patients were hospitalized with vaping-related injuries, now known as EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury), in the United States./news/musician-taryn-southern-on-composing-her-new-album-entirely-with-ai.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/musician-taryn-southern-on-composing-her-new-album-entirely-with-ai.htmlIf you heard Taryn Southern’s new single “Break Free” on the radio, you’d probably just keep driving or grocery shopping, or doing whatever you do in places that still have radios playing. The song is a big, moody ballad — the kind that might play during the climax of a Steven Spielberg movie. “Break Free” wasn’t composed by a John Williams copycat, but by artificial intelligence. The song is not a fluke or a novelty for Southern either; she’s using artificial intelligence platforms to create an entire album, called I AM AI./news/netflix-has-canceled-space-force-after-two-seasons.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-has-canceled-space-force-after-two-seasons.htmlAfter initially debuting in 2020 as a somewhat timely lampooning of the United States Space Force, Netflix’s Space Force workplace sitcom is being canceled. Deadline reports that Netflix has decided to scuttle the Greg Daniels and Steve Carell-created series, likely in response to Space Force netting somewhat less-than-stellar ratings over the course of its short run. Space Force’s second season debuted this past February and followed as its characters struggled to weather a change in presidential administrations./news/netflix-subscriber-count-in-the-us-and-canada-dropped-by-1-3-million-over-the-last-three-months.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-subscriber-count-in-the-us-and-canada-dropped-by-1-3-million-over-the-last-three-months.htmlAfter Netflix reported losing subscribers for the first time in over a decade last quarter, the company’s Q2 earnings report revealed the number of worldwide subscribers dipped by 1 million, including a drop of 1.28 million in the US and Canada alone between the end of March and the end of June. That’s better than its projection of losing 2 million worldwide, but the subscriber shortfall in the US and Canada is double the 600,000 drop it reported for Q1./news/netflix-s-paid-password-sharing-to-roll-out-more-broadly-in-the-coming-months.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-s-paid-password-sharing-to-roll-out-more-broadly-in-the-coming-months.htmlThe era of Netflix password sharing will soon come to a close. Netflix has plans to enforce password-sharing rules “more broadly” toward the end of the first quarter of 2023, the company announced in its earnings report today. “While our terms of use limit use of Netflix to a household, we recognize this is a change for members who share their account more broadly,” Netflix writes. “As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with./news/neuroscientist-lisa-feldman-barrett-explains-how-emotions-are-made.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/neuroscientist-lisa-feldman-barrett-explains-how-emotions-are-made.htmlI am known for being hard to read, to the point that friends complain that they can never tell what I’m thinking by looking at my face. But, says neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, it’s possible that they might remain confused even if my face were more expressive. Barrett, a neuroscientist at Northeastern University, is the author of How Emotions Are Made. She argues that many of the key beliefs we have about emotions are wrong./news/newsbeat-app-reads-you-stories-from-hundreds-of-newspapers.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/newsbeat-app-reads-you-stories-from-hundreds-of-newspapers.htmlApps that read the day's news aloud aren't exactly a new concept, but Newsbeat — launched today by Tribune Co. — is among the sleekest we've seen yet. Newsbeat pulls in thousands of articles every day from hundreds of newspapers including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and websites like CNN. From there, stories are converted to audio for easy listening during your morning commute. Sometimes the recordings are produced with the help of text-to-speech technology, much like SoundGecko; other times it's an actual human reading an article./news/nintendo-direct-june-2023-all-the-news-and-trailers.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-direct-june-2023-all-the-news-and-trailers.htmlThe Metal Gear collection comes to the Switch on October 24th. As well as confirming a release date for Konami’s Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1, Nintendo’s Direct also gave our best look yet at its impressive breadth of content. The collection includes not just the first three Metal Gear Solid and first two Metal Gear games, but also the NES port of the first Metal Gear, its non-canon Snake’s Revenge sequel, and the comic book adaptations of Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2./news/nissan-s-self-parking-office-chair-is-here-to-make-your-monday-better.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nissan-s-self-parking-office-chair-is-here-to-make-your-monday-better.htmlTechnically, today is a holiday. You should probably have the time off, but you don't. You're here at the office, trying to catch up on email and a glut of busywork. I feel you. And so does Nissan. The carmaker has made this Monday slightly better by publishing a video of its self-parking chairs. Inspired by the technology and learning behind its self-parking cars, Nissan designed what it calls the "/news/nothing-is-teasing-its-next-smartwatch-s-customizability.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nothing-is-teasing-its-next-smartwatch-s-customizability.htmlNothing is teasing its next smartwatch’s customizability. Following teases that revealed the first smartphone from Nothing’s affordable subbrand will have swappable rear panels, the company has shared another image on X revealing its upcoming CMF Watch Pro 2 will allow users to change the wearable’s appearance with interchangeable bezels. The Watch Pro 2, the Phone 1, and the Buds Pro 2 will be announced on July 8th at 5AM ET./news/obama-sandy-the-olympics-and-the-spice-girls-twitter-s-2012-year-in-review.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/obama-sandy-the-olympics-and-the-spice-girls-twitter-s-2012-year-in-review.htmlThe end of 2012 is nigh, and Twitter has launched a new page that highlights the top tweets, trends, and events from the year that was. Unsurprisingly, President Obama's "Four More Years" tweet and photo remained the top retweeted and favorited content posted to Twitter this year — to date, it has garnered more than 810,000 retweets and more than 300,000 favorites. That's far beyond Justin Bieber's second-place tweet, a tribute to a young fan who passed away from a rare form of brain cancer./news/odds-are-a-hawk-won-t-steal-your-pet-but-you-should-still-be-cautious.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/odds-are-a-hawk-won-t-steal-your-pet-but-you-should-still-be-cautious.htmlA hawk hunting for house pets in the kempt lawns of suburbia sounds like the making of an urban legend, but the tale has, in recent decades, become a staple of local news. In 2011 a hawk plucked two small dogs from their Boston neighborhood and dropped them from the sky, inflicting serious injuries. A different hawk nabbed a Pomeranian from its home in Beech Island, South Carolina back in 2013; the 10-year-old rescue didn’t survive./news/one-fan-spent-three-years-saving-a-final-fantasy-game-before-it-shut-down.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/one-fan-spent-three-years-saving-a-final-fantasy-game-before-it-shut-down.htmlFebruary 29th was the last day of service for Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, a mobile game based on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy fighting game series. Since launching in the US in 2018, the game has amassed over 170 characters from across 30 years of Final Fantasy history, scattered throughout four acts composed of multiple chapters and side stories representing hundreds of hours of a game that can no longer be played./news/opensea-has-an-app-but-you-can-t-buy-nfts-on-it.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/opensea-has-an-app-but-you-can-t-buy-nfts-on-it.htmlOpenSea, one of the most popular NFT marketplaces, has launched its first app for iOS and Android. The app allows OpenSea users to view the platform’s collection of digital items, but notably doesn’t allow for any kind of money to change hands, digital or otherwise (via TechCrunch). The OpenSea app basically works as a kind of gallery. You can browse artwork, share listings you find, and lovingly ogle and manage your own NFTs./news/parrot-exits-the-toy-drone-market.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/parrot-exits-the-toy-drone-market.htmlFrance’s Parrot has left the toy drone market, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to The Verge on Friday. “Parrot has stopped the production and development of any drone but the Anafi and its variations,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company no longer has any Mambo or Swing drones in stock (though some are available through resellers). The news was first reported by The Wirecutter. With that in mind, Parrot has actually spent the last few years shifting the focus of its core business to commercial drone solutions./news/peak-design-claims-amazon-copied-its-everyday-sling-bag.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/peak-design-claims-amazon-copied-its-everyday-sling-bag.htmlThe video presents Peak’s case clearly: the bags are similarly shaped, with pockets, labels, and straps in the exact same places. As someone unfamiliar with Peak Design’s bags, if I wasn’t paying attention or didn’t read “Peak Design” on the label, I’d probably mix them up. The Amazon Basics Everyday Sling on the left and Peak Design’s Everyday Sling on the right. Image: Peak Design Peak presents all of this humorously, but the evidence is surprisingly blatant, which makes Amazon’s apparent decision to change its Amazon Basics version from “Everyday Sling” to “Amazon Basics Camera Bag” all the more suspicious./news/persona-5-and-nier-are-further-proof-the-nintendo-switch-is-a-perfect-rpg-machine.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/persona-5-and-nier-are-further-proof-the-nintendo-switch-is-a-perfect-rpg-machine.htmlThe Nintendo Switch is a fantastic machine for role-playing games; it’s something Nintendo has been aware of from the very start. The hybrid nature of the Switch makes it easy to settle in for hours-long sessions on your TV or, when you have just 15 minutes to spare on the bus, tackle a mission or battle in handheld mode. More than five and a half years in, the Switch has a robust library of RPGs, both new and old./news/play-classic-video-games-in-style-with-openemu-for-mac.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/play-classic-video-games-in-style-with-openemu-for-mac.htmlThe world has no shortage of video game emulators, but many can be painful to use — many reflect their hacker origins with equally hacky interfaces, and you'd need a vast collection of different emulators to properly relive your childhood. By contrast, OpenEmu is a breath of fresh air. Released this week only for Mac, the new emulator lets you drag and drop games from any of twelve different classic video game systems right into its interface, navigate using their cover art, and even hook up a wide variety of game controllers to play them with a minimum of fuss and bother./news/pok%C3%A9mon-sword-and-shield-s-first-expansion-will-arrive-on-june-17th.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pok%C3%A9mon-sword-and-shield-s-first-expansion-will-arrive-on-june-17th.htmlPokémon Sword and Shield’s upcoming expansion, Isle of Armor, will be available on June 17th. The Isle of Armor, along with The Crown Tundra, which was announced in January, add new characters, pokémon, and areas to explore. A new trailer today shows off some of the content players can expect. In Isle of Armor, players will also get Gigantamax evolutions for their starter pokémon’s final evolutions, Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon. Original starters Venusaur and Blastoise are also finally getting their Gigantamax forms to join Charizard, who already appears in Sword and Shield./news/pok%C3%A9mon-the-arceus-chronicles-is-coming-to-netflix-this-fall.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pok%C3%A9mon-the-arceus-chronicles-is-coming-to-netflix-this-fall.htmlToday, The Pokémon Company announced that the English dub of Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles, a new animated special, is making its way to Netflix this September after first premiering at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships in London this August. Originally released in Japan as four episodes of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, The Arceus Chronicles tells the story of how Ash and a number of his companions from over the years reunite in present-day Sinnoh for a festival dedicated to celebrating the Hisui region and its pokémon./news/polar-grit-x-pro-review-a-fitness-watch-that-matches-your-fit.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/polar-grit-x-pro-review-a-fitness-watch-that-matches-your-fit.htmlWhile modern smartwatches have made health tracking a priority, there’s still a subsection of watches that are all about fitness. You’ve seen them. They’re the hulking monstrosities worn by your really outdoorsy friend who’s always posting pics of their latest hike, ski trip, or running route. These fitness-first smartwatches generally have battery life measured in days instead of hours, superior navigational features, and in-depth metrics at the expense of features like contactless payments or cellular connectivity./news/polaris-new-ranger-xp-kinetic-is-an-all-electric-side-by-side-with-a-lot-of-horsepower.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/polaris-new-ranger-xp-kinetic-is-an-all-electric-side-by-side-with-a-lot-of-horsepower.htmlPolaris has unveiled the Ranger XP Kinetic, an all-electric side-by-side and the first vehicle to emerge from the collaboration between the Minneapolis-based company and Zero Motorcycles. Polaris is hoping the electric Ranger will help attract new customers to the world of power sports vehicles, which also include ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and heavy motorcycles. The segment, which currently represents over $9 billion in sales globally, is expected to grow to over $12 billion by 2027, according to market researchers./news/privacy-the-verge.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/privacy-the-verge.htmlDoes Airbnb protect its guests’ privacy? A CNN investigation found that Airbnb routinely ignores or silences, through settlements and NDAs, guests who find hidden cameras in their rentals’ bedrooms and bathrooms. In one case, Airbnb told guests who found a camera pointed at their bed it wanted to get the host’s side of the story. It allowed him to continue hosting for months, even after being told he was under police investigation./news/pubg-lite-is-shutting-down-at-the-end-of-april.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pubg-lite-is-shutting-down-at-the-end-of-april.htmlWe are deeply grateful for the passion and support from the astounding number of PUBG LITE fans that have been with us. During the strenuous times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that PUBG LITE was able to provide our fans a fun way to stay safe. Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to close service after much deliberation and the time has come for our journey to end. We regretfully inform you that service of PUBG LITE is scheduled to end on April 29th, 2021 (UTC)./news/read-bojack-horseman-creator-s-quietly-devastating-marge-simpson-fanfiction.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/read-bojack-horseman-creator-s-quietly-devastating-marge-simpson-fanfiction.htmlMarge may not be cool (okay, she's actually pretty lame, but in an endearing way!), but she's still the glue holding the family together. Whether it's teaching Lisa the harsh truth about being a woman, or trying to cheer up Bart by krumping, to paint Marge as an unhappy housewife would be the most inaccurate portrayal that goes against everything The Simpsons stands for. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jq2jnapfZ31ygo5xZmpuX2Z%2FdnySb2dxZ5Kkt6KvymafqKqjmrqiuoyrmKmgkZq5bq7Om2SwmZuor6a%2BxmakmqqXmnq0tcypqqim/news/ready-for-gpt-5-the-verge.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ready-for-gpt-5-the-verge.htmlReady for GPT-5? OpenAI says that training of its latest frontier model “has recently begun” — something that’s been rumored for a while — on the path to developing artificial general intelligence (AGI). Altman and Co have also formed a new Safety and Security Committee to help guide critical decisions for OpenAI projects. This follows the resignation of a key OpenAI researcher over concerns that safety had taken ‘a backseat to shiny products.’/news/rivian-s-r1-vehicles-are-getting-a-gut-overhaul-here-s-what-s-new.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rivian-s-r1-vehicles-are-getting-a-gut-overhaul-here-s-what-s-new.htmlOn the surface, the second generation Rivian R1 vehicles look basically the same as the first: same rugged-yet-aerodynamic shape, same friendly oval headlight shapes, same quirky features, like flashlights in the door frame.  But underneath the surface, the company insists that everything has changed.  Over the past two and a half years, the company’s engineering team took on an enormous task, codenamed “Peregrine,” to fundamentally alter the DNA of Rivian’s R1T truck and R1S SUV./news/samsung-galaxy-book2-pro-360-15-inch-review-light-and-bright.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-book2-pro-360-15-inch-review-light-and-bright.htmlLight chassis, great screen. That’s the entirety of what you sign up for when you buy a Samsung Galaxy Book. They are not the most powerful laptops out there, and they’re not what I’d recommend people be issued for, say, work. But for those looking for a great multimedia laptop that’s a breeze to carry around, this is the one.  That’s certainly the case with the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360, the latest 15-inch convertible addition to the Galaxy Book line./news/samsung-just-announced-a-date-for-its-next-unpacked.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-just-announced-a-date-for-its-next-unpacked.htmlSamsung’s next Unpacked summer launch event will take place on July 10th in Paris, France, the company announced on Tuesday. The animation accompanying the invitation hints at foldables, and the invite itself removes all doubt: “Prepare to discover the power of Galaxy AI, now infused into the latest Galaxy Z series and the entire Galaxy ecosystem.” But we’re also on the lookout for something of a different shape: the Galaxy Ring./news/samsung-s-new-fridge-can-order-fresh-direct-groceries-from-its-humongous-touchscreen.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-new-fridge-can-order-fresh-direct-groceries-from-its-humongous-touchscreen.htmlSamsung is really, really eager for you to know about its new smart refrigerator with a ridiculously large touchscreen integrated right into the door. It put up posters early, it posted images early, and finally it even put up some PR early. But now it's officially official, and despite the fact that it looks nothing so much like a huge Android tablet super-glued onto a fridge, it's actually one of the best implementations of a smart fridge we've seen./news/see-how-elon-musk-is-building-the-iron-man-lab-with-tech-you-can-buy.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/see-how-elon-musk-is-building-the-iron-man-lab-with-tech-you-can-buy.htmlThe workspace of the future is in Elon Musk’s lab. Using a variety of virtual reality and gesture-sensing tools, Musk has set up a system that allows himself and his engineers to design and manipulate models of rocket parts using just their hands. He's compared it to the Iron Man laboratory, and in many ways, it looks like just that. But you won't need the technological expertise of Tony Stark in order to make one: Musk employs a Leap Motion Controller, an Oculus Rift, and a projector — among other common tools — in order to make the setup work./news/shazam-is-now-worth-more-than-1-billion-despite-not-making-any-profit.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/shazam-is-now-worth-more-than-1-billion-despite-not-making-any-profit.htmlShazam announced this week that it has raised $30 million in new funding, bringing the valuation of the music recognition service to more than $1 billion. The London-based company did not disclose the names of its new backers, saying only that they have not previously invested in it. Soaring revenues, but no profit Over the past eight years, Shazam has raised $125 million in equity funding as revenue has soared, though it has not made a profit over that period./news/silk-road-online-drug-trafficker-variety-jones-is-going-to-prison.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/silk-road-online-drug-trafficker-variety-jones-is-going-to-prison.htmlSilk Road was once synonymous with online “dark web” criminal activity, and today, its number two organizer, Roger Thomas Clark, aka Variety Jones, was sentenced to 20 years. Clark’s sentence was, according to Wired, the maximum he could have faced as part of his plea deal. Clark was extradited to the US from Thailand almost five years ago and, before that, had served almost three years in detention in Thailand. According to the US Attorney’s Office of New York’s Southern District, he was accused of “conspiring to distribute massive quantities of narcotics./news/snap-is-buying-its-ar-display-supplier-for-more-than-500-million.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snap-is-buying-its-ar-display-supplier-for-more-than-500-million.htmlSnap has agreed to acquire WaveOptics, the supplier of the augmented reality displays that power its new Spectacles glasses, for more than $500 million, The Verge has learned. The deal is Snap’s largest ever, underscoring the company’s long-term bet that AR eyewear will eventually go mainstream. WaveOptics primarily makes waveguides, a display technology that allows for the overlaying of virtual objects onto the real world through a transparent surface like glass, and accompanying light projectors./news/social-media-is-doomed-to-die.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/social-media-is-doomed-to-die.htmlEllis Hamburger was a reporter for The Verge between 2012 and 2014 before leaving to work at Snapchat. After leaving Snap last year, he went to work at The Browser Company. We asked Ellis to write about what he learned during his time working for one of the hottest social media startups of the 2010s. Disclosure: Ellis is a current Snap shareholder. I thought this time would be different. More specifically, I thought Snapchat would be different./news/sonos-sub-mini-review-low-end-for-a-lower-price.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sonos-sub-mini-review-low-end-for-a-lower-price.htmlIt’s not an exaggeration to say that Sonos customers have been anticipating a product like the Sub Mini for years. Until now, the only way to fully realize a “complete” Sonos home theater system meant coughing up $749 for the Sub subwoofer — on top of whatever you paid for a Sonos soundbar and rear surrounds. That total can quickly balloon to just shy of $2,000 depending on the soundbar you want./news/sony-ericsson-shifting-entire-portfolio-to-smartphones-in-2012.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-ericsson-shifting-entire-portfolio-to-smartphones-in-2012.htmlSony Ericsson chief Bert Nordberg just announced the company's intention to shift its "entire portfolio to smartphones during 2012." Xperia smartphones already account for more than 80 percent of all Sony Ericsson handsets sold according to the company's third quarter 2011 results posted this morning. The announcement comes amid speculation that Sony will take full control of the struggling handset maker. Nordberg declined to comment on the prospects of Sony buying out the joint venture./news/sphero-s-force-band-wearable-can-control-nearly-anything-now-thanks-to-ifttt.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sphero-s-force-band-wearable-can-control-nearly-anything-now-thanks-to-ifttt.htmlSphero has been selling the Force Band wearable for awhile now, designed to let you control the adorable little BB-8 droid with "force gestures" — like a Jedi. But now the $80 (or slightly less) gadget is potentially a lot more useful. As Gizmodo notes, the company is setting it up to work with If This Then That, which means that you can use it to control much more than a cute robot toy./news/splatoon-3-s-single-player-expansion-launches-in-2024.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/splatoon-3-s-single-player-expansion-launches-in-2024.htmlSplatoon 3’s expansion pass is getting a new single-player campaign. The DLC, called Side Order, comes out in spring 2024 and is designed to “be replayed over and over,” according to Nintendo. The new DLC invites you to see what has happened to Inkopolis Square, the city featured in Splatoon 2. As you traverse the Spire of Order, you can continue to level up your abilities by adding upgrades to run speed, splash damage, and more./news/stephen-king-s-it-is-getting-an-hbo-max-prequel-series-set-in-derry.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stephen-king-s-it-is-getting-an-hbo-max-prequel-series-set-in-derry.htmlIn both Stephen King’s original It and Warner Bros.’ recent adaptations of the novel, one of the most alarming things the Losers Club discovers about Pennywise the Dancing Clown is just how long the extra-dimensional being has been terrorizing the people of Derry, Maine. The tiny taste of Pennywise’s history featured in 2019’s It Chapter Two was one of the most memorable moments in the film, and one imagines that’s part of why HBO Max is working on a new It prequel series set in the same world./news/stray-is-being-turned-into-a-movie.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stray-is-being-turned-into-a-movie.htmlStray, the hit Annapurna Interactive game starring a cat, is getting a “feature adaptation” from Annapurna Animation, according to a press release. Annapurna didn’t share much else about the movie — we still don’t know when it might come out or what it might look like — but if you were a fan of the game and looking for another way to experience the game’s universe, now you can look forward to this upcoming film./news/sundance-2016-days-4-5-dark-night-lo-and-behold-and-the-drama-of-being-human.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sundance-2016-days-4-5-dark-night-lo-and-behold-and-the-drama-of-being-human.htmlI've been enjoying editing and reading Adi Robertson's coverage of the massive amount of VR at this year's New Frontier section — even if you aren't here at Sundance, I'd highly recommend checking her stuff out. My enjoyment is partly vicarious, as it's nearly impossible for me to fit any of the installations and demos into my schedule, and partly because she's doing such a great job at distilling what the manifold priorities on display in the chaotic Wild West of the format./news/t-mobile-asked-to-stop-advertising-price-lock-guarantee-that-doesn-t-lock-your-prices.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-asked-to-stop-advertising-price-lock-guarantee-that-doesn-t-lock-your-prices.htmlThe NAD is part of the nonprofit BBB National Programs that evaluates claims presented in the ads industry. AT&T brought the challenge against the Price Lock claim, which appeared in numerous advertisements in print, online, and TV. In each instance, the description below the Price Lock claim says, “Get your last month of service on us if we ever raise your internet rate.” The NAD argues that this disclosure contradicts the main message of the “Price Lock” claim, as T-Mobile really isn’t locking in a customer’s price and will only guarantee them one month of free service if T-Mobile raises their bill./news/tesla-just-quietly-snagged-the-tesla-com-domain.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-just-quietly-snagged-the-tesla-com-domain.htmlSince 1992, the domain Tesla.com has been owned by an engineer and Nikola Tesla fan named Stu Grossman, to the chagrin of Tesla Motors, which was forced to settle for Teslamotors.com as the broader domain sat mostly unused. But no longer: the company has obtained Tesla.com, which is now redirecting visitors to Teslamotors.com. As Bloomberg reports, the company has been interested in the change for some time. After the launch of the company's Tesla Energy wing, CEO Elon Musk was asked if Tesla Motors might reflect its new business scope by changing its name to just Tesla./news/the-13-inch-m3-macbook-air-is-down-to-an-all-time-low-of-899.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-13-inch-m3-macbook-air-is-down-to-an-all-time-low-of-899.htmlThe 2024 Air is the most recent entrant in Apple’s lightweight laptop line, one that continues to offer all-day battery life, a sleek design, and excellent performance for carrying out everyday computing tasks. The performance bump over the previous generation isn’t major, but it offers moderate speed improvements for both the processor and SSD. When paired with meaningful upgrades such as Wi-Fi 6E and the ability to run up to two external monitors when the lid is closed, it’s a respectable progression./news/the-2017-nissan-gt-r-is-a-more-civilized-more-powerful-godzilla.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-2017-nissan-gt-r-is-a-more-civilized-more-powerful-godzilla.htmlNissan brought a substantially updated 2017 GT-R to the New York Auto Show this week, featuring more power, an updated look, and a touch of refinement inside the cabin. Basically, Godzilla is more terrifying — but also somehow friendlier — than ever. To be clear, this isn’t an all-new car; that’s still a year or two (or three) out. But what’s amazing is that Nissan has managed to keep the GT-R basically at the peak of its game since its 2007 debut (not to mention the original concept car, which debuted some 15 years ago in 2001)./news/the-best-games-to-play-this-thanksgiving-weekend.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-games-to-play-this-thanksgiving-weekend.htmlAs Thanksgiving approaches, many people will have the opportunity to relax, unwind, and log the kind of gaming hours only possible during an extended holiday weekend. Halo Infinite’s multiplayer will likely be a highly popular choice, almost guaranteeing servers will be crammed with players the way Los Angeles’ 405 freeway is crammed with travelers every Thanksgiving season. So, in the event you just can’t connect to a game of capture the flag, or if you have no interest in the multiplayer at all, here are the best non-Halo Infinite games we’re playing to make it through the holiday./news/the-cloverfield-paradox-should-have-been-a-comedy-and-almost-is-one.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-cloverfield-paradox-should-have-been-a-comedy-and-almost-is-one.htmlSpoiler warning: this review largely avoids specific plot spoilers for The Cloverfield Paradox, but it does discuss some things that don’t happen in the movie, which might be considered a form of spoiler too. The best horror movies work because they evoke the things that scare us most — not specifically monsters or murderers, but universal fears like helplessness, isolation, violence, and the unknown. The smartest horror movies, though, the ones that stick with us longest, also work because their stories hold together./news/the-developers-suing-over-github-copilot-got-dealt-a-major-blow-in-court.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-developers-suing-over-github-copilot-got-dealt-a-major-blow-in-court.htmlA judge has tossed nearly all of the claims a group of developers brought against GitHub, Microsoft, and OpenAI in a copyright lawsuit filed in 2022, as reported earlier by The Register. In a court order unsealed last week, a California judge left only two claims standing: one that accuses the companies of an open-source license violation and another that alleges breach of contract. The original lawsuit made 22 claims against the trio, accusing them of violating copyright laws by allowing the AI-powered GitHub Copilot coding assistant to train on developers’ work./news/the-founder-of-pinboard-on-why-understanding-fandom-is-good-for-business.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-founder-of-pinboard-on-why-understanding-fandom-is-good-for-business.htmlSubscription-based bookmarking site Pinboard is a one-man operation, founded and maintained by former Yahoo engineer and slightly eccentric Silicon Valley figure Maciej Cegłowski. Last week, it managed to acquire its longtime rival, Delicious, for a paltry $35,000, in what appeared on its surface to be a standard story of dog-eat-dog. But behind every boring story is a smaller, more interesting story. Delicious may be largely lost to the internet, but it leaves behind a valuable lesson on understanding users — specifically those that belong to a massive online subculture./news/the-halo-headband-wants-to-make-you-smarter-by-shocking-your-brain.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-halo-headband-wants-to-make-you-smarter-by-shocking-your-brain.htmlBack in 2012, I found myself in the basement of a couple self-styled biohackers, hooking up some electrodes to my temple. They were showing me a prototype of their "thinking cap," which they said increased focus by zapping your brain. Fast-forward to 2014 and Marc Andreessen — father of the modern web browser and the biggest name in tech investing today — just backed a $1.5 million seed round in Halo, a high-tech headband that promises to boost brain function through "/news/the-ipad-pro-is-ready-to-supplant-the-mac-just-as-the-macbook-air-is-great-again.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-ipad-pro-is-ready-to-supplant-the-mac-just-as-the-macbook-air-is-great-again.htmlI felt personally attacked by Apple yesterday, specifically by the marketing copy it used to promote the new iPad Pro: “Your next computer is not a computer.” This newsletter, Processor, is also (and originally) the name for the tech-focused video essays that I sometimes make. The very first one kicked off by asking the same question Apple did with an iPad Pro back in 2018: “What’s a computer?” Now, apparently, Apple has decided that the iPad Pro “is not a computer./news/the-iphone-s-camera-is-so-good-because-800-people-are-working-on-it.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-iphone-s-camera-is-so-good-because-800-people-are-working-on-it.htmlApple was the subject of a wide ranging but not very hard hitting 60 Minutes segment on Sunday night. Charlie Rose steered the conversation through topics that Apple and its CEO Tim Cook have addressed repeatedly over the last few years. (Yeah, those Steve Jobs questions just keep coming.) But the episode did reveal one semi-interesting new detail: Apple now says there are 800 people solely dedicated to working on the iPhone's camera./news/the-irs-s-free-tax-filing-service-is-here-to-stay.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-irs-s-free-tax-filing-service-is-here-to-stay.htmlThe IRS’s free tax filing service is here to stay. After launching a pilot for the 2024 tax season, the IRS has announced that it will make Direct File available in all states that want to use it next year. It’s also working to cover more tax situations through the service. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanx0fI5ra2puaGaAcnvToZxmoaKowG6y0Z6cZqyRrXqntcuipaBlo5q%2Ft7XCnmSiq12dsrOxjK2mZquklsY%3D/news/the-largest-predatory-dinosaur-ever-was-half-duck-half-crocodile.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-largest-predatory-dinosaur-ever-was-half-duck-half-crocodile.htmlThe largest predatory dinosaur to walk this earth wasn’t the T. rex. It was Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, a 50-foot long creature with powerful jaws and a solid, spiny sail on its back that dwelled in Northern Africa 95 million years ago. But even though paleontologists have known about this particular dinosaur for almost a century, its true form has only just been revealed. "The only dinosaur that shows [aquatic] adaptations." This is "/news/the-mandalorian-and-grogu-are-getting-a-movie.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-mandalorian-and-grogu-are-getting-a-movie.htmlAfter three seasons on Disney Plus, Din Djarin and his adorable protege are heading to the big screen. Today, Lucasfilm announced that a movie based on The Mandalorian was in the works, with production starting in 2024 and series creator Jon Favreau as director. Favreau will also be serving as producer alongside Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Star Wars mainstay Dave Filoni. The film is called, fittingly, The Mandalorian & Grogu./news/the-most-surveilled-place-in-america.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-most-surveilled-place-in-america.htmlFor more than two years, Title 42 has created a two-tiered migration system along the border. Some migrants try their hand at crossing, hiring a smuggler to guide them through — or, increasingly, to tell them how to get across — the rugged terrain of the Sonoran Desert. If they’re caught by Border Patrol and expelled to Mexico, they might try again. So far, during the 2022 fiscal year, which began last October, CBP reported 195,112 encounters in the Tucson sector, 79 percent of which resulted in expulsions./news/the-onexplayer-x1-mini-is-the-most-feature-packed-handheld-gaming-pc-yet.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-onexplayer-x1-mini-is-the-most-feature-packed-handheld-gaming-pc-yet.htmlYou won’t forget where the WASD keys are, that’s for sure. Image: OneXPlayer And, importantly, it’s got a AMD 8840U processor instead of a Intel Core Ultra chip. Not completely toolless — there’s still one screw. Image: OneXPlayer See, the OneXPlayer X1 Mini is a smaller 8.8-inch version of the 10.95-inch OneXPlayer X1 put on sale earlier this year — and that one shipped with the same Intel Core Ultra chip that recently underwhelmed us in the MSI Claw./news/the-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-is-an-emoji.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-is-an-emoji.htmlLanguage is a wonderful, masterfully evolving beast and we're all just puppets bending to its many whims. Dictionaries aren't safe from the power of a linguistic whim either, and so maybe that's why Oxford Dictionaries has chosen an emoji as its 2015 word of the year. It's the crying-from-laughter / crying-from-happiness emoji — officially known as the Face with Tears of Joy emoji. Oxford Dictionaries is laughing at us Dictionaries have been choosing annual words of the year for, uh, years, but this year, the Oxford University Press partnered with SwiftKey to determine the most popular emoji from around the world./news/the-pixel-7-s-clear-calling-is-noise-cancellation-for-phone-calls.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-pixel-7-s-clear-calling-is-noise-cancellation-for-phone-calls.htmlYou probably haven’t been on the phone with someone who’s using a serger sewing machine. I have, and I’m here to tell you it sounds like talking to someone who’s in the middle of a raging tornado as it tears through a bus depot. That is, until Google’s Clear Calling feature kicks in. When that happens, the tornado dissipates into a mild windstorm, making it possible to carry on with your conversation./news/the-ryno-one-wheeled-motorcycle-is-a-dragon-ball-fantasy-brought-to-life.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-ryno-one-wheeled-motorcycle-is-a-dragon-ball-fantasy-brought-to-life.htmlThe genesis of the Ryno one-wheeled electric motorcycle can be traced back to a moment when Chris Hoffman’s daughter asked if he could build something like what she saw in an episode of Dragon Ball. A few years later, the Ryno is now a reality, and since it’s street legal, we took one for a spin on the streets of Brooklyn. The Ryno uses gyroscopes and accelerometers to balance and drive./news/the-spectrum-disney-blackout-led-a-us-open-player-to-pirate-the-us-open.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-spectrum-disney-blackout-led-a-us-open-player-to-pirate-the-us-open.htmlWhenever there’s another of these drawn-out carriage disputes between cable providers and content owners — and they happen often — I always say that the customers are the ones who get hurt the most. Last week, nearly 15 million Spectrum subscribers abruptly lost their ability to watch ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels right as Labor Day weekend got underway — and smack dab in the middle of the US Open./news/the-surface-pro-x-and-surface-laptop-3-are-upgradable-but-only-a-little.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-surface-pro-x-and-surface-laptop-3-are-upgradable-but-only-a-little.htmlOn Wednesday, Microsoft announced a ton of new Surface devices, but one thing you might have missed is that a couple of them are upgradable. Most Surface devices haven’t been easy to upgrade or fix, scoring rather poorly on iFixit’s repairability scale. For example, the Surface Pro 6 got a one, and the Surface Laptop 2 got a zero. However, Microsoft is trying to make things better in the repairability department with the new Surface Pro X and Surface Laptop 3 by making their SSDs upgradable and easier to access — but that’s about as far as Microsoft’s effort goes./news/the-us-moves-to-stop-buying-uranium-from-russia-and-start-producing-it-at-home.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-us-moves-to-stop-buying-uranium-from-russia-and-start-producing-it-at-home.htmlPresident Joe Biden signed a new law that bars the US from importing uranium from Russia in the hopes of jumpstarting domestic mining to fuel nuclear reactors. The law also unlocks $2.7 billion in federal funding to shore up that domestic supply chain, which Congress previously approved pending limits on imports from Russia. Russia has historically been one of the biggest suppliers of uranium to the US and other countries. When the US banned coal, oil, and gas imports in response to the war in Ukraine in 2022, it excluded uranium from its sanctions, which showed how much the US depends on foreign imports of uranium, particularly from Russia and its allies./news/the-verge-launches-an-ambitious-new-site.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-launches-an-ambitious-new-site.htmlToday, The Verge’s co-founder and editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and publisher Helen Havlak unveiled an ambitious new site and design for the 10-year-old technology brand. The Verge is a destination that has sustained a loyal and robust community since its founding, and with its new site, the brand will build for the next 10 years by investing in a direct relationship with its audience. Building on a homepage that’s one of the most-visited daily destinations in technology coverage, The Verge’s new homepage will introduce the Storystream news feed, a new Twitter-like feature that will offer readers a comprehensive, curated rundown of the most important tech stories of the day — featuring expert commentary by Verge journalists; links to the best reporting on The Verge and other sites; and direct embeds from TikTok, Reddit, and more./news/the-verge-review-of-animals-panthers-vs-broncos.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-review-of-animals-panthers-vs-broncos.htmlThis column is part of a series where Verge staffers post highly subjective reviews of animals. Up until now, we’ve written about animals without telling you whether they suck or rule. We are now rectifying this oversight. Today's review is an adversarial format in honor of big game. Dear TC, or as you prefer to be called in the forums: "Horsecomber1985," It’s a warm afternoon here in Austin, Texas, and as I gaze out my window at the sunkissed expanse, I see a horse./news/the-verge-s-favorite-tv-episodes-of-2017.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-s-favorite-tv-episodes-of-2017.htmlThe problem with great TV in 2017 was that there was so much of it. These days, there are so many TV recommendations and must-sees that leisure starts to feel like homework. (“You absolutely have to watch this! And you have to see it from the beginning! There are five seasons so far!”) That’s why we’re wrapping up our 2017 year-end summary coverage by trying to boil down our favorite 2017 television experiences into something approachable: a single episode that summed up why we love our favorite shows./news/this-is-the-postal-service-s-new-mail-truck.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-the-postal-service-s-new-mail-truck.htmlThe United States Postal Service (USPS) has revealed its new mail truck after a years-long competition. The new truck will be built by Wisconsin-based defense contractor Oshkosh and can be fitted with both gasoline and electric drivetrains. But it won’t hit the road until 2023. Oshkosh winning the contract is a potentially major blow to commercial electric vehicle startup Workhorse, which was one of the three remaining bidders. The company’s stock price plummeted following the announcement, and trading was halted multiple times./news/this-is-the-story-of-ken-fritz-who-spent-decades-and-1-million-on-his-custom-home-stereo.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-the-story-of-ken-fritz-who-spent-decades-and-1-million-on-his-custom-home-stereo.htmlThis is the story of Ken Fritz, who spent decades and $1 million on his custom home stereo. His custom-built floating turntable alone weighs 1,500 pounds and uses three separate arms for alternative audio tone. The Washington Post quoted someone who heard the stereo as calling it “very scary and very realistic.” But the Post story also covers heavy personal costs extracted by the project. A 2021 documentary from his son offers plenty of detail about the stereo./news/this-is-your-next-jam-lizzo-willow-and-more.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-your-next-jam-lizzo-willow-and-more.htmlWelcome back to The Verge’s weekly musical roundup. I’m Jamieson, I’m still your host, and I can’t believe this is the last time I’m going to write this column in 2015. I’ve picked, embedded, and dissected hundreds of songs since joining the site in June, many of which I might’ve missed if I wasn’t continually hunting for new music to include. I hope you’ve found at least one new favorite in this space./news/this-mechanical-keyboard-has-a-whole-ass-screen-underneath-its-keys.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-mechanical-keyboard-has-a-whole-ass-screen-underneath-its-keys.htmlBoutique gaming mouse manufacturer Finalmouse has big plans for its first foray into the mechanical keyboard market. Its Finalmouse Centerpiece is an eye-catching $349 keyboard that has a screen embedded underneath its transparent keycaps and switches. The effect is that it looks like you’re typing on the screen directly, while (hopefully) maintaining the feel and tactility of traditional mechanical switches. There’s been at least one similar attempt at this idea made in the past: the Optimus Popularis./news/this-robot-lawyer-can-take-the-mystery-out-of-license-agreements.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-robot-lawyer-can-take-the-mystery-out-of-license-agreements.htmlDoNotPay, the “robot lawyer” service that helps you contest parking tickets and even sue people, is launching a new tool to help customers understand license agreements. Called “Do Not Sign,” the service is included with DoNotPay’s monthly $3 subscription fee, and it lets users upload, scan, or copy and paste the URLs of any license agreements they’d like to check. The service uses machine learning to highlight clauses it thinks users need to know about, including options to opt out from data collection./news/threads-is-officially-starting-to-test-activitypub-integration.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/threads-is-officially-starting-to-test-activitypub-integration.htmlMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads that the platform is beginning to test making Threads posts available on Mastodon and other ActivityPub-supporting services. Zuckerberg wrote that making Threads work with the interoperable standard “will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people.” Joining the fediverse — the decentralized world of social media that includes Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other services that all interoperate through ActivityPub — has been on the Threads team’s to-do list since the very beginning./news/tp-link-cancels-plan-to-add-apple-homekit-support-to-its-smart-plugs.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tp-link-cancels-plan-to-add-apple-homekit-support-to-its-smart-plugs.htmlHomeKit support is being canceled “due to changes in our roadmap,” TP-Link writes. The note doesn’t say whether HomeKit support is planned for other products, just that TP-Link remains “committed to the development of innovative smart home solutions,” despite the cancellation. We’ve reached out to TP-Link for more information. It’s a surprising change, especially since Apple has made it far easier for devices to support HomeKit. Two years ago, it began allowing devices to support the smart home system using software only, no longer requiring the hardware chip that was previously needed./news/twitch-removes-twitchcop-emote-to-prevent-misuse.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitch-removes-twitchcop-emote-to-prevent-misuse.htmlLive-streaming platform Twitch has removed an emote from its platform called “TwitchCop.” The emote shows a cartoon character in a nondescript police uniform blowing a whistle. A spokesperson for Twitch confirmed to The Verge that they’d removed the emote “to prevent misuse” but did not offer more detail. It can be assumed the removal is related to ongoing protests against police brutality and racism sparked by the killing of George Floyd by law enforcement./news/twitter-s-former-head-of-trust-and-safety-will-now-lead-match-group-s-trust-unit.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-s-former-head-of-trust-and-safety-will-now-lead-match-group-s-trust-unit.htmlTwitter’s former head of trust and safety will now lead Match Group’s trust unit. Match runs Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and many other popular dating platforms. Yoel Roth eventually left Twitter in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover — and received death threats after Musk tweeted about him — and tells Wired in an interview that he’ll work on improving spam detection, removing underage users, and protecting users in marginalized groups in dating apps./news/uber-ends-the-year-in-the-black-for-the-first-time-ever.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-ends-the-year-in-the-black-for-the-first-time-ever.htmlWell, it only took 15 years, but better late than never. For the first time in its history, Uber ended the year having made more money than it spent on its ridehailing and delivery operations. As noted by Business Insider, the company reported an operating profit of $1.1 billion in 2023, compared to a $1.8 billion loss in 2022. Moreover, Uber said it made a net income of $1.9 billion after losing a whopping $9./news/uber-pet-lets-furry-friends-join-the-ride-for-a-fee.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-pet-lets-furry-friends-join-the-ride-for-a-fee.htmlUber is experimenting with a new feature that aims to reduce cancellations as a result of customers bringing a pet along for the ride. Dubbed Uber Pet, the new feature will be available in select cities starting on October 16th. It used to be that bringing a dog or cat in an Uber was unpredictable. Uber recommended customers contact their drivers before bringing pets in the car, but it’s likely that many people didn’t follow this advice./news/under-chinese-censorship-game-of-thrones-is-a-mundane-medieval-documentary.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/under-chinese-censorship-game-of-thrones-is-a-mundane-medieval-documentary.htmlSpoilers ahead for Game of Thrones, season 8, episode 1, “Winterfell.” Strip Game of Thrones of the sex, violence, and supernatural horror, and what’s left? Chinese fans of the show are finding out, as they’re watching a version of the series that’s been censored by the government. Many say the censored version of Game of Thrones they have ready access to is more like a mundane “medieval documentary” with disjointed plot points./news/venmo-groups-aims-to-make-it-easier-to-split-up-and-track-expenses.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/venmo-groups-aims-to-make-it-easier-to-split-up-and-track-expenses.htmlVenmo has started rolling out a new “Venmo Groups” feature that aims to make it easier to organize and share common expenses with others. The company says the feature will let people track, split, and manage group expenses. Basically, the company is appealing to anyone who has had to deal with spreadsheets or turned to other apps like Splitwise or SettleUp to manage group expenses like dinner with your friends or that big group trip to Disney World./news/verizon-drops-international-data-rates-with-new-25-global-plan.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/verizon-drops-international-data-rates-with-new-25-global-plan.htmlVerizon customers that take their devices with them abroad have reason to be happy, with the company announcing a new international data plan that offers better pricing when compared with the current options. The new Global Data Plan offers US customers data in "120 countries and destinations" at a cost of $25 for 100MB. Additional data is available in 100MB chunks at the same price. While this may not seem to be much of a deal when compared to the company's US plans, it's actually a dramatic improvement: under Big Red's current international pricing, customers pay $30 for a mere 50MB of data, with 150MB and 300MB tiers also available, priced at $75 and $125, respectively./news/verizon-s-good-unlimited-data-plan-is-now-three-bad-unlimited-plans.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/verizon-s-good-unlimited-data-plan-is-now-three-bad-unlimited-plans.htmlWell, now we know why Verizon Wireless was “testing” reduced Netflix streaming speeds last month. Today the biggest US carrier announced that its existing unlimited data plan is being divided into three new options: Go Unlimited (starting at $75 for a single line), Beyond Unlimited ($85 for first line), and Business Unlimited. Unlike the relatively straightforward unlimited plan that Verizon surprised customers with in February, these new monthly plans are chock-full of fine print and caveats./news/watch-tom-hanks-2009-sony-ces-keynote-in-which-he-completely-destroys-sony.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-tom-hanks-2009-sony-ces-keynote-in-which-he-completely-destroys-sony.htmlIt’s June 25th, and we here at The Verge have already begun getting CES emails in preparation for the best time of the year. (To be clear, that time of year is in January.) Which actually doesn’t matter, because we start thinking about hotels as early as February and start planning some time in March and probably have some kind of a pre-finalized plan of attack by August so there is no time of year when we’re not thinking about this insane weeklong tech Super Bowl./news/westworld-mobile-game-is-shutting-down-following-lawsuit-settlement.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/westworld-mobile-game-is-shutting-down-following-lawsuit-settlement.htmlA message now appears in-game announcing its shutdown, adding that people who already have the game installed can continue playing until March 16th, 2019. The message, seen below, also tells players to use all of their in-game currency before the game goes offline completely. Message in Warner Bros.’ Westworld game. Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Bethesda Softworks, the publisher behind Fallout Shelter, filed a lawsuit in June 2018 against the Westworld game’s publisher and developer, Warner Bros./news/what-to-expect-from-mwc-2024.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-to-expect-from-mwc-2024.htmlWithout looking up any leaks or rumors, I’d bet that you could probably sketch most of the phones rumored to be launching at Mobile World Congress next week. Over the years, smartphones have settled on a relatively consistent design formula of big rectangular touchscreens, small selfie camera cutouts, app-based interfaces, and large camera bumps with an array of different lenses. But more than a decade and a half into the smartphone era, I’m getting more and more curious about what’s going to come next and why existing attempts to reinvent smartphones like foldables have struggled to go mainstream./news/will-apple-s-mini-led-macbook-pros-avoid-the-ipad-pro-s-downsides.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/will-apple-s-mini-led-macbook-pros-avoid-the-ipad-pro-s-downsides.htmlWhen Apple announced the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Mini LED backlighting earlier this year, I knew it was time to upgrade from my 2018 model. And I wasn’t disappointed. The improved brightness (especially when watching movies in HDR) and superior contrast have made the purchase worthwhile — even if iPadOS continues to underwhelm and disappoint in other ways. It’s a wonderful screen that makes me want to use the iPad wherever I can instead of my laptop./news/windows-10-tablet-mode-a-mobile-os-that-stays-out-of-your-way.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-10-tablet-mode-a-mobile-os-that-stays-out-of-your-way.htmlMicrosoft’s bet on touch interfaces led to some of Windows 8’s most frustrating design choices, and the company has been doing damage control over it for the past three years. Windows 10 is the culmination of these efforts, bringing back desktop-friendly features like the Start menu. But this doesn’t mean Microsoft is giving up on mobile computing. In fact, by paying more attention to the desktop side of things, it’s created a more interesting experience — and even helped justify the existence of Windows tablets./news/wing-bike-is-a-stylish-electric-bicycle-for-that-won-t-break-the-bank.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wing-bike-is-a-stylish-electric-bicycle-for-that-won-t-break-the-bank.htmlStaring up the bike path of the Manhattan Bridge on a recent frigid February morning, I feel the familiar dread when confronted with a steep, uphill climb. There are few things more discouraging to a city biker — especially a fair-weather one like me — than an arduous, sweaty ascent in work clothes. But before my thighs can cramp up, I remember that I’m riding a new electric bicycle from a company called Wing./news/youtube-tv-becomes-official-video-partner-for-la-s-new-major-league-soccer-team.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-tv-becomes-official-video-partner-for-la-s-new-major-league-soccer-team.htmlYouTube TV, the Google-owned video site’s over-the-top pay-TV service, is the first digital-only offering to become the official video partner of a US sports team. YouTube is partnering with Los Angeles FC, the newly created Major League Soccer team in the area, in a multiyear deal that will grant YouTube TV subscribers exclusive access to locally televised games on all channels YouTube offers. YouTube TV’s logo will also be placed on LAFC jerseys, while the company will provide LAFC with on-site studio resources for a 30-minute pre- and post-game show./news/zenless-zone-zero-buries-its-best-bits-behind-bewildering-bunk.htmlSun, 26 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/zenless-zone-zero-buries-its-best-bits-behind-bewildering-bunk.htmlI’ve given up on trying to understand Zenless Zone Zero. In every other cutscene, I’m bombarded with in-game jargon about inter-knots, proxies, hollows, and w-engines that I just cannot keep straight. Meanwhile, my patience withers to dust as my eyes flit about the screen trying to make sense of the literal deluge of resources — dennies, polychromes, investigator logs, master tapes, and so, so much more — the game requires you to accumulate in order to progress./news/inside-despacio-james-murphy-and-2manydjs-dance-music-utopia.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/inside-despacio-james-murphy-and-2manydjs-dance-music-utopia.htmlYou can't entirely blame the intruders for not getting the memo. Coachella has to be the most celebrity-obsessed of all major music festivals currently in operation, and the man behind the decks at the moment happens to be James Murphy, the founder and lead singer of LCD Soundsystem, who closed out the main stage the night before in a high-profile, much-blogged-about reunion show. But once you're inside Despacio, the main stage may as well be in another galaxy./news/joy-is-joyless-and-easily-david-o-russell-s-worst-film.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/joy-is-joyless-and-easily-david-o-russell-s-worst-film.htmlJennifer Lawrence plays Mangano as a suffering young woman buoyed by big ideas. Through flashbacks, fulsomely narrated by Joy's grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd), we learn that young Joy was an inventive child, "one of those people who rejoiced in making things." But she was also selfless and obedient enough to abandon her hopes of college and stay home to help support her parents after a contentious divorce. As an adult, she lives in a disintegrating house with her two small children, her ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramírez), her mother Carrie (Virginia Madsen), and her grandmother / narrator Mimi./news/the-story-of-stan.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-story-of-stan.htmlFor most of us, The Story of Stan starts with an ending. On the Sunday, July 5th episode of HBO’s True Detective, one of Frank Semyon’s lackeys, known only as Stan, was murdered. At the time, you may have asked yourself, “Who’s Stan?” And later, when Frank and his wife Jordan went to pay their condolences to his widow and son, you may have again asked yourself, “Who’s Stan?/news/a-new-4-000-word-feature-on-marques-brownlee-just-dropped.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-new-4-000-word-feature-on-marques-brownlee-just-dropped.htmlA new 4,000 word feature on Marques Brownlee just dropped. Fast Company’s latest cover story is on tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee. There’s the main feature itself and a highlights reel of his most significant videos, but perhaps the best quotes in the package come from this interview with Brownlee’s mom, Jeaniene Brownlee: People sometimes wonder if Marques grew up in a house with lots of technology, and he was just tapping into that./news/airbnb-s-chinese-data-policies-reportedly-cost-it-an-executive.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/airbnb-s-chinese-data-policies-reportedly-cost-it-an-executive.htmlAirbnb’s chief trust officer Sean Joyce left the company after just six months in 2019 because the former FBI deputy director took issue with the company’s data sharing practices in China, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. For years, Airbnb has disclosed that it shares information such as phone numbers and email addresses with the Chinese government when a user books a rental in China. That happens whether the user is a Chinese citizen or a foreign visitor — a policy that’s required from all hospitality businesses operating in the country./news/akira-toriyama-s-sand-land-makes-a-better-show-than-game.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/akira-toriyama-s-sand-land-makes-a-better-show-than-game.htmlBetween Dune, Fallout, and Mad Max, it’s a good year for stories with lots of sand and little water. Now, you can add Sand Land — an adaptation of the late Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name — to that list. The difference here is that Sand Land comes in two new flavors. There’s an anime streaming on Hulu (or Disney Plus if you’re outside the US) and a video game that turns the story into an open-world RPG./news/amazon-s-kindle-hdx-tv-spots-put-focus-on-personalized-mayday-tech-support.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-kindle-hdx-tv-spots-put-focus-on-personalized-mayday-tech-support.htmlAlongside the announcement of the new Kindle Fire HDX tablets, Amazon has created three TV spots. Each of the spots focus on Mayday, the innovative tech support feature that allows users to quickly get an Amazon support representative to log into their tablet and fix things. You might think of the feature as a virtual "Genius Bar" for the Kindle Fire series, though of course Amazon doesn't quite position it in those terms./news/amazon-s-in-garage-delivery-may-soon-cost-extra-for-non-amazon-day-deliveries.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-in-garage-delivery-may-soon-cost-extra-for-non-amazon-day-deliveries.htmlAmazon will charge $1.99 per delivery for in-garage deliveries that used to be free if the customer wants to get them made outside of their designated weekly “Amazon Day,” as described in an update to Amazon’s blog post. Screenshots of in-app notifications posted on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit by subscribers note the new policy kicks in starting on October 4th. Amazon spokesperson Amanda Gan confirmed the new policy and said in an email to The Verge, “We will change the free default option for Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery to Amazon Day with Key Delivery./news/american-airlines-suing-the-points-guy-over-app-that-syncs-frequent-flyer-data.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/american-airlines-suing-the-points-guy-over-app-that-syncs-frequent-flyer-data.htmlAmerican Airlines has filed a lawsuit against travel tips site The Points Guy, claiming the site has violated the terms of use of its frequent flyer program by offering an app that lets users track airline miles from multiple airlines in one place. It’s seeking an order blocking The Points Guy from accessing or using American Airlines customer data and from allowing its users to access their own accounts through the TPG app or site./news/an-apple-hardware-engineering-vp-is-leaving-to-join-rivian.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/an-apple-hardware-engineering-vp-is-leaving-to-join-rivian.htmlAn Apple hardware engineering VP is leaving to join Rivian. Following a report that Apple's infinitely-rumored car is further in the distance than it may have appeared, Mark Gurman says that Apple hardware exec DJ Novotney is departing for Rivian. As described on Bloomberg, at Apple Novotney worked on the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Watch, then the "Titan" car project and, more recently future home services using robotics and AI. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfZnxzhI5ra2ltY2mBd3vAp2SaqKChsm60wKubsJmimnqmusaipZ6dop67qHnVqWSiq12hsqLCyKeeZqyfYrewtc1mqaKumZa7/news/android-s-co-founder-is-building-a-new-company-and-a-new-kind-of-smartphone.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/android-s-co-founder-is-building-a-new-company-and-a-new-kind-of-smartphone.htmlAndy Rubin, co-founder of the Android operating system, is reportedly building out a new company and working on several new products including a premium smartphone with an edge-to-edge display “that lacks a surrounding bezel.” Bloomberg just published a story with many details on Rubin’s new company, Essential, which he’s preparing to formally announce and lead as CEO. Essential is said to be planning several products — both in mobile and for the smart home, according to Bloomberg’s report./news/apple-brings-grid-forecast-to-apple-home-to-tell-you-when-you-re-using-clean-energy.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-brings-grid-forecast-to-apple-home-to-tell-you-when-you-re-using-clean-energy.htmlApple’s iPhone 15 launch event had a big focus on the company’s move toward carbon neutrality, but it also introduced a new smart home feature that can help you leave a lighter footprint on the planet. Arriving with iOS 17, Grid Forecast is a new tool in the Apple Home app that shows you when your electrical grid has relatively clean or less clean energy sources available. This could help you decide when to run your tumble dryer or charge your EV to take advantage of “cleaner” energy when you have higher consumption./news/apple-erases-another-few-galaxies-for-mountain-lion-wallpaper.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-erases-another-few-galaxies-for-mountain-lion-wallpaper.htmlAs is customary with each new version of OS X, Apple created several eye-popping new wallpapers for OS X Mountain Lion — the most stunning of which is a galaxy known as NGC 3190. The galaxy wasn't immediately recognizable even to astronomy nerds because the image was re-colored, airbrushed, and Photoshopped to the company's meticulous standards — which means some background galaxies were removed and some stars were added to aid in the image's overall composition./news/apple-erasing-icloud-emails-containing-phrase-barely-legal-teen.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-erasing-icloud-emails-containing-phrase-barely-legal-teen.htmlApple reserves the right at all times to determine whether Content is appropriate and in compliance with this Agreement, and may pre-screen, move, refuse, modify and/or remove Content at any time, without prior notice and in its sole discretion, if such Content is found to be in violation of this Agreement or is otherwise objectionable. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnamtfZ3xzhI5tZ2xqZ2aFcK3PqaOeZZSauabAyKeeZqGToby2sIyepJqhnKh6pLvNrZiippmjtG6uwKucpbFdobKorctmq56dng%3D%3D/news/apple-fights-to-preserve-chinese-app-store-loophole.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-fights-to-preserve-chinese-app-store-loophole.htmlApple is looking for ways to circumvent incoming legislation in China that would prevent the company from listing foreign apps on the iPhone App Store in the region unless they’ve been given government approval. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Apple has met with Chinese officials over the last few months to express concerns about how the new rules will be implemented and how the changes could affect its Chinese customers./news/apple-is-giving-siri-an-ai-upgrade-in-ios-18.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-is-giving-siri-an-ai-upgrade-in-ios-18.htmlApple has announced several AI-powered features coming to its Siri virtual assistant, such as an updated design, improvements to how it speaks and understands spoken language commands, and an integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT model. Some of these features, announced during Apple’s WWDC event on June 10th, come courtesy of Apple Intelligence — the company’s new privacy-focused personal intelligence system, which the company says will be able to control actions in apps on behalf of users./news/apple-is-now-charging-more-for-most-apple-watch-battery-swaps.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-is-now-charging-more-for-most-apple-watch-battery-swaps.htmlApple has increased the price of most Apple Watch battery replacements, as reported by 9to5Mac. The swaps used to cost $79, but now, for Apple Watch Series 4 devices and newer, you’ll have to cough up $99. You can see the prices for yourself on the company’s Apple Watch Service and Repair website by sifting through different versions and models. It’s unfortunate that some of the battery replacement fees are going up, but I’m also not surprised to see it./news/apple-is-planning-to-launch-a-14-1-inch-macbook-pro-with-a-mini-led-display-says-ming-chi-kuo.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-is-planning-to-launch-a-14-1-inch-macbook-pro-with-a-mini-led-display-says-ming-chi-kuo.htmlWe predict that Apple is currently developing six mini-LED-support products (vs. the previous report of only two products), including a 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, a 27-inch ‌iMac Pro‌ in 4Q20, a 14.1-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ (upgraded from 13.3-inch), a 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, a 10.2-inch ‌iPad‌, and a 7.9-inch ‌iPad‌ mini in 2020. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2hfaHx0e5FqaG9rY2eFcK3PqaOeZZ2WsKO7zqRkqaqfYn51ecinmqFlmaKupHnIqZidZaCnvG65yKegZqSVmXqutc2gZJygmWK4trs%3D/news/apple-now-says-it-will-pay-artists-during-apple-music-free-trial.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-now-says-it-will-pay-artists-during-apple-music-free-trial.htmlAfter being publicly smacked down by music's biggest star, Apple is changing its tune. Late Sunday night, Apple VP Eddy Cue responded to the open letter that Taylor Swift posted earlier in the day, revealing that Apple now plans to pay artists, labels, and publishers for streams during Apple Music's three-month free trial. The premium streaming service is due to launch on June 30th. Prior to Cue's announcement, indie artists and others in the music community had complained about Apple's apparent decision to hold back royalties during the trial period./news/apple-scary-fast-mac-launch-event-the-4-biggest-announcements.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-scary-fast-mac-launch-event-the-4-biggest-announcements.htmlApple’s “Scary Fast” showcase has come to a close. During the launch event, Apple took the wraps off of some brand-new Macs that come equipped with the latest version of the company’s in-house chip. If you’re curious about all the new products, here’s a roundup of the major announcements from the event. A more powerful line of M3 chips Image: Apple As expected, Apple’s M3 chips took the spotlight during this month’s event./news/apple-will-start-reporting-government-requests-to-remove-apps-from-the-app-store.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-will-start-reporting-government-requests-to-remove-apps-from-the-app-store.htmlApple issued one of its bi-annual transparency reports today, and apart from the usual numbers on account takedown requests, the company issued a statement saying that it’ll soon start reporting government requests to take down apps from the App Store. These requests will relate to alleged legal and / or policy provision violations, Apple says. These numbers will tell us just how often governments are trying to block access to certain apps, and how many of those orders are actually obeyed./news/astronauts-scott-and-mark-kelly-on-nasa-s-twin-experiment-and-the-future-of-space-travel.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/astronauts-scott-and-mark-kelly-on-nasa-s-twin-experiment-and-the-future-of-space-travel.htmlMark and Scott Kelly are the only twins that have ever traveled to space — and their experience will be invaluable if we want to get to Mars one day. The brothers are taking part in what NASA calls the Twins Study — a genetic experiment to see how our bodies change in zero gravity in the long term. That’s important to understand before we put humans on a spaceship and send them on a round trip to the Red Planet./news/asus-has-a-540hz-monitor-that-lets-you-move-its-feet.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-has-a-540hz-monitor-that-lets-you-move-its-feet.htmlIt’s a 24.1-inch 1080p G-Sync panel that’s unfortunately saddled with TN screen technology, known for its refresh rates rather than viewing angles or wide color gamut. But the monitor pulls a pretty cool trick: the stand lets you pop in and out its feet to fit in narrower spaces and lock them in place. Asus’ 540Hz monitor has adjustable locking feet. Image: Asus The other thing it has over the Alienware is a price: Asus rep Cat Tompkins tells The Verge it should cost $899 USD./news/audeze-isine-20-review-the-verge.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/audeze-isine-20-review-the-verge.htmlIt’s not often that you see a new pair of headphones that upsets the basic taxonomy of personal audio gear, but Audeze’s new iSine series is precisely that. The iSine 20 that I’m reviewing today are ostensibly in-ear headphones, but they also use planar magnetic technology from over-ear cans, and they’re roughly the size of on-ear models. So they’re the ultimate hybrid, and their alien appearance certainly speaks to their uniqueness./news/aurora-finalizes-design-of-self-driving-trucks-it-will-make-with-continental.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/aurora-finalizes-design-of-self-driving-trucks-it-will-make-with-continental.htmlAutonomous vehicle company Aurora Innovation announced the finalization of the design, architecture, and hardware for its Aurora Driver. The technology will power its future lineup of driverless semi trucks that it’s producing with German auto supplier Continental starting in 2027. Aurora says it still plans on deploying a handful of fully driverless trucks by the end of 2024. But having reached the milestone of finalizing the design of its self-driving hardware and software stack, the company says it’s poised to deploy “thousands” of trucks in just three years./news/baldur-s-gate-3-is-coming-to-xbox-this-year.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/baldur-s-gate-3-is-coming-to-xbox-this-year.htmlThere’s a big subset of gamers that have not yet been able to experience the chaotic joy of Baldur’s Gate 3 — console players. While we know that BG3 is releasing on the PlayStation 5 on September 6th, Xbox players have had no idea when to expect the game to hit their console of choice. That situation got a little clearer with a tweet from Larian Studios’ CEO Swen Vincke saying that Xbox players can expect Baldur’s Gate 3 “this year./news/basecamp-now-has-a-free-version-to-help-you-manage-personal-projects.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/basecamp-now-has-a-free-version-to-help-you-manage-personal-projects.htmlThis week, Basecamp launched a new, free tier of its project management software, which it calls Basecamp Personal. Basecamp was originally designed for small businesses, offering handy features like chat, an internal message board, group to-dos, a shared schedule, and more, all in one place. Typically, though, it costs $99 per month, which could be prohibitively expensive if you’re just looking for something to help manage tasks in your personal life or with a smaller group of people./news/billboard-200-chart-will-soon-include-music-streams-and-song-sales.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/billboard-200-chart-will-soon-include-music-streams-and-song-sales.htmlOne of the most important charts in the music industry is getting a major update to finally account for how we listen to and buy digital music. The Billboard 200, which has long listed the top 200 albums of the week by sales, will soon begin to factor in downloads and streams of individual songs. Under the chart's new methodology, selling 10 songs or streaming 1,500 songs will both be counted as the equivalent of selling a single album./news/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-review-still-great-but-a-questionable-upgrade.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-review-still-great-but-a-questionable-upgrade.htmlSteve Jobs once said, “If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon.” He wrote this in a public letter after Apple reduced the price of the original iPhone by several hundred dollars, which left early adopters feeling burned. That quote came to mind earlier this month when Bose introduced its completely overhauled QuietComfort lineup./news/bose-s-noise-cancelling-headphones-700-are-at-their-cheapest-price-ever-for-prime-day.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bose-s-noise-cancelling-headphones-700-are-at-their-cheapest-price-ever-for-prime-day.htmlOne of the standout deals of Amazon Prime Day 2021 is a huge discount on Bose’s flagship headphones, the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. Normally priced at $379, today they’re dropping all the way down to $229. If you’re in the market for a pair of wireless headphones that are up there with the very best at quieting the world around you, you might not find a better moment than this to buy./news/bugatti-s-4-million-yacht-has-a-jacuzzi-and-fire-pit-because-being-rich-means-having-no-shame.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bugatti-s-4-million-yacht-has-a-jacuzzi-and-fire-pit-because-being-rich-means-having-no-shame.htmlWe’ll get to the Jacuzzi and fire pit in a second. First, let’s talk about how this thing came into existence. Two years ago, Bugatti announced that it would produce a series of three luxe boats in collaboration yacht builder Palmer Johnson. The series would be called "Niniette,” which was the nickname of Lidia Bugatti, daughter of company founder Ettore. As you might expect with a Bugatti-branded boat, all three are covered in titanium and carbon fiber, accented by Bugatti's trademark blue./news/canon-eos-r-and-nikon-z7-z6-review.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/canon-eos-r-and-nikon-z7-z6-review.htmlThe second half of 2018 will be remembered as a momentous time for the camera world because Canon and Nikon, two of the most storied companies in the industry, finally got serious about mirrorless cameras. They both launched new full-frame mirrorless cameras with equally new mount systems and lenses that both hope will carry them long into the future. Nikon launched the Z7 and Z6, a duo with specs clearly designed to challenge Sony’s Alpha A7R III and A7 III cameras./news/chicago-police-are-running-a-horrifying-cia-style-black-site-out-of-a-warehouse.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chicago-police-are-running-a-horrifying-cia-style-black-site-out-of-a-warehouse.htmlA remarkable report from Spencer Ackerman at The Guardian has revealed in detail the existence of an interrogation facility used by Chicago police to detain and hold people in secret. The report describes how police have used a "nondescript warehouse" to keep detainees out of booking databases, beat prisoners, shackle them for "prolonged periods," and keep them from legal counsel for up to 24 hours — including even children as young as 15./news/china-bans-video-and-audio-streaming-on-sina-weibo-and-two-other-websites.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/china-bans-video-and-audio-streaming-on-sina-weibo-and-two-other-websites.htmlChina is tightening its control over internet content. Yesterday, the government reportedly told three websites — Sina Weibo, iFeng, and ACFUN — to stop streaming video and audio content that apparently were “not in line with national audiovisual regulations and propagating negative speech,” according to the Financial Times. All three sites lack a license to stream content, China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) says. The agency previously fined Tencent, which owns WeChat, for broadcasting political and social news without a proper license./news/chrome-is-getting-more-aggressive-about-silencing-autoplay-videos.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chrome-is-getting-more-aggressive-about-silencing-autoplay-videos.htmlChrome is getting more aggressive about that least popular web feature: autoplay video. A new post from engineer François Beaufort laid out Chrome's new approach, which will block playback as long as a given autoplay video is in a background tab. The browser will still load the video as soon as the tab is opened, but it won't start it until you visit the page itself, hopefully preventing the usual surprise when a late-loading video starts up in the background./news/craig-of-the-creek-s-co-creators-open-up-about-the-show-s-diy-spirit.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/craig-of-the-creek-s-co-creators-open-up-about-the-show-s-diy-spirit.htmlIn Cartoon Network’s Craig of the Creek, an ordinary chunk of suburban woods located somewhere along the East Coast is transformed into a sprawling world of wonder thanks to the imaginations and ingenuity of all the local kids who hang out there. While Craig and the other Creek kids’ adventures have become increasingly fantastical over the course of the show’s four seasons, they’ve all been underpinned by Craig of the Creek’s focus on how dreaming something up — say, a mecha built out of cardboard boxes — goes hand-in-hand with actually trying to turn those dreams into reality when you’re a kid./news/crysis-remastered-will-beat-next-gen-consoles-to-the-punch-with-ray-tracing-on-xbox-one-and-ps4.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/crysis-remastered-will-beat-next-gen-consoles-to-the-punch-with-ray-tracing-on-xbox-one-and-ps4.htmlWe already knew that Crysis Remastered would support ray tracing if you had the PC hardware to run it. However, ahead of the release on PC and current-gen consoles, Crytek announced this week that, for the first time, in this console generation, the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X will offer ray-tracing support — because it’ll appear in the current-gen console versions of Crysis Remastered. Crytek’s CryEngine provides software-based ray tracing, allowing current-gen hardware to support the feature./news/dexcom-s-stelo-cgm-is-is-a-health-tech-gadget-with-purpose.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dexcom-s-stelo-cgm-is-is-a-health-tech-gadget-with-purpose.htmlYear in and year out, most of the blood glucose tech you see at CES are devices that may not come out for years, if ever. That’s why it was refreshing to see Dexcom roll up to CES 2024 to talk about something a bit more tangible: its forthcoming Stelo continuous glucose monitor (CGM), a wearable sensor that provides a real-time look at your blood sugar levels. Unlike most CGMs, the Stelo is specifically designed to be an affordable option for Type 2 diabetics who don’t use insulin./news/doj-probing-tesla-s-ev-range-after-reports-of-exaggerated-numbers.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/doj-probing-tesla-s-ev-range-after-reports-of-exaggerated-numbers.htmlThe German automakers—BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Porsche—typically provide a relatively conservative range figure, allowing us to meet or even at times exceed the range numbers in Car and Driver’s real-world tests. Tesla, meanwhile, pursues an impressive figure for its window stickers, and ends up returning real-world results that are on average two times as far off the label value as most EVs.  ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2tfZn1wfpJoaWxxYm2Cd3%2BOrZyspJFisbC2jJ6tZqqRo7SmecSxmKCflaeutbGMoqWvnaOptqit06Kmpw%3D%3D/news/duel-of-the-dual-screen-laptops-asus-zenbook-duo-vs-lenovo-yoga-book-9i.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/duel-of-the-dual-screen-laptops-asus-zenbook-duo-vs-lenovo-yoga-book-9i.htmlThere’s no getting around owning a laptop these days, especially if we travel often or don’t have the space for a desktop computer. But as time has gone on, many of us have invested in an external monitor or two to better handle all the windows we need to have visible at the same time. We could arrange them all on one screen, but the smaller the laptop, the harder it is to read two windows side by side, let alone scroll through them./news/dyson-zone-review-an-absurd-pair-of-air-purifying-anc-headphones.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dyson-zone-review-an-absurd-pair-of-air-purifying-anc-headphones.htmlI was at a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria in downtown Manhattan, debating which slice I wanted to chow down on, when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned, pulling down the metallic visor covering my mouth. In front of me stood the most New York of pizzeria owners. With the visor down, my headphones automatically switched to transparency mode. The sounds of the city flooded back into my ears, and I caught the last part of his question./news/epic-fights-apple-in-court-by-playing-candy-crush.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-fights-apple-in-court-by-playing-candy-crush.htmlSometimes I reflect on my life and wonder where I went wrong, such that I am sitting on a wooden pew in federal court, watching a Google search for Candy Crush Saga on the display monitor. This is a huge trial with major stakes for tech companies. It is also a crashing bore. On the stand is Lorin Hitt, professor of operations, information, and decisions at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton, looking uncomfortable behind his face shield./news/epic-is-giving-away-17-games-as-part-of-its-2023-holiday-sale.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-is-giving-away-17-games-as-part-of-its-2023-holiday-sale.htmlEpic Games plans to give away 17 free games during its annual holiday sale for the Epic Games Store, the company announced on Wednesday. The first free game you can snag is Destiny 2: Legacy Collection (2023), which includes three expansions: The Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and Shadowkeep. If you want to catch up on some older Destiny 2 content before the recently delayed release of The Final Shape, the Legacy Collection might be a good thing to add to your Epic Games Store library (though note that it doesn’t include the current Lightfall expansion)./news/etrian-odyssey-s-new-remaster-makes-me-miss-the-nintendo-ds-even-more.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/etrian-odyssey-s-new-remaster-makes-me-miss-the-nintendo-ds-even-more.htmlWhen Nintendo discontinued the 3DS — and with it, the existence of dual-screen handhelds — I lamented the weird games we would no longer have. High up on that list was Etrian Odyssey: a line of dungeon-crawling role-playing games built explicitly with the handheld’s two screens in mind. They’re games where you fight your way through dangerous labyrinths and literally draw your own map to chart your progress. I had a hard time imagining playing them on any other platform./news/everything-everywhere-to-launch-new-mobile-brand-in-uk-reportedly-to-replace-orange-and-t-mobile-u.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/everything-everywhere-to-launch-new-mobile-brand-in-uk-reportedly-to-replace-orange-and-t-mobile-u.htmlEverything Everywhere, a joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, will reportedly replace existing Orange and T-Mobile brands in the UK from October onwards. Although the joint venture was formed in 2010, following the merger of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK — both brands continued to operate individually. Sky News reports that this will start to change from October when new customers will join the Everything Everywhere brand as part of a rebrand plan./news/evo-2023-how-and-what-to-watch.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/evo-2023-how-and-what-to-watch.htmlEvo 2023 — the world’s premier fighting game tournament — kicks off today at 1PM ET and lasts until Sunday night. This year is shaping up to be the tournament’s biggest year ever, with several games, including Street Fighter 6, breaking their all-time records for number of participants. Whether you’re watching from home or live in Las Vegas, here’s when, where, and, most importantly, what to watch at Evo 2023./news/facebook-and-microsoft-team-up-to-lay-a-massive-internet-cable-across-the-atlantic.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-and-microsoft-team-up-to-lay-a-massive-internet-cable-across-the-atlantic.htmlFacebook and Microsoft announced a partnership today to lay the highest-capacity subsea internet cable to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean, starting with hubs connecting Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain. The cable, called "MAREA" after the Spanish word for "tide," will be capable of 160 terabits per second of bandwidth and will stretch more than 4,100 miles of ocean in a submarine cable system. The two companies have hired Telxius, the infrastructure company owned by global communications giant Telefónica, to manage MAREA and expand network hubs from Europe to Africa, the Middle East, and Asia./news/facebook-poke-is-dead-the-verge.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-poke-is-dead-the-verge.htmlAs Facebook dives headfirst into its Creative Labs exploration, a group of small teams that will build standalone apps for Facebook, the company seemingly wanted to bury its past, experimental attempts at "unbundling." Paper, the first app to come out of Creative Labs, sets a very high bar for upcoming releases. Will Creative Labs ever let you Poke again? Don't count on it. Facebook's poke function on the web, however, is still alive and awkward./news/fallout-pip-boy-review-a-wearable-fit-for-the-wasteland.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fallout-pip-boy-review-a-wearable-fit-for-the-wasteland.htmlIt’s hard to say what, precisely, makes a design timeless. Some classic gadgets are simply beautiful, while others remain functional years after they come out. The list of truly timeless products in tech is small, but there’s one name that looms large: RobCo Industries’ Pip-Boy. Sure, it’s relatively simple, and some of its features only work if you’re stuck underground. But when a design hasn’t changed for 200 years, you know it’s doing something right./news/fisker-hasn-t-paid-engineering-partner-behind-unreleased-evs.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fisker-hasn-t-paid-engineering-partner-behind-unreleased-evs.htmlFisker hasn’t paid engineering partner behind unreleased EVs. On the brink of bankruptcy, the struggling automaker is facing a nearly $13 million lawsuit by the firm (a subsidiary of Bertrand AG) that developed the Pear crossover and the Alaska pickup truck. Fisker, which says the lawsuit is “without merit,” also apparently hasn’t paid its own automotive carpet supplier. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanx0e5FtaG1wZGV9cLLIrKKeql2drrS602anmqGUYrKvs8innJ6qmaO0brzAq6unnaJir6a0yKebZq2ep7KtscCsnJ1llavA/news/for-veteran-final-fantasy-xiv-fans-endwalker-has-been-a-loving-thank-you-note.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/for-veteran-final-fantasy-xiv-fans-endwalker-has-been-a-loving-thank-you-note.htmlFinal Fantasy XIV: Endwalker signifies the end of an era. One story, started nine years ago, has ended with a stunning and heartwarming conclusion, while the promise of a new adventure awaits on the horizon. But Endwalker doesn’t merely mark the end of the Hydaelyn / Zodiark saga. For a few diehard players, Endwalker also provides a final coda for the game Final Fantasy XIV was before it was rebooted into A Realm Reborn./news/ford-s-latest-wave-of-layoffs-impact-us-and-canadian-engineers.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ford-s-latest-wave-of-layoffs-impact-us-and-canadian-engineers.htmlA new wave of layoffs primarily targeting Ford Motor employees in engineering roles in the US and Canada are expected to take place this week as part of the company’s latest cost-cutting efforts. Leaders of the teams impacted by the job cuts received confirmation on Monday, according to CNBC News, while employees are expected to be notified over the next few days.  Ford declined The Verge’s request to clarify how many employees would be affected by the layoffs./news/fortnite-s-experimental-story-is-an-attempt-to-create-the-entertainment-experience-of-the-futur.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-s-experimental-story-is-an-attempt-to-create-the-entertainment-experience-of-the-futur.htmlWhy does Fortnite have a narrative? It’s a game where 100 players drop onto a cartoonish island, dress up as bananas or Star Wars heroes, gather up guns and other gear, and attempt to eliminate each other until only one remains. When that’s done, you queue up and try again. But within this multiplayer shooter framework, Fortnite has steadily turned into one of the biggest and boldest storytelling experiments in history./news/fulton-s-ecoupled-wireless-power-now-charges-devices-without-direct-contact.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fulton-s-ecoupled-wireless-power-now-charges-devices-without-direct-contact.htmlFulton Innovations has shown off its eCoupled wireless power technology at CES for several years, and this year's biggest advance is spatial freedom while charging. eCoupled can now charge a cell phone even when it isn't directly placed on a charging surface — As long as its in the general area of a wireless power transmitter, the phone charges, even if it's inside a purse or bag. There's no word on the specific range, but direct surface contact is no longer a requirement./news/gitlab-confirms-it-s-removed-suyu-a-fork-of-nintendo-switch-emulator-yuzu.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gitlab-confirms-it-s-removed-suyu-a-fork-of-nintendo-switch-emulator-yuzu.html“GitLab received a DMCA takedown notice from a representative of the rightsholder and followed our standard process outlined here,” spokesperson Kristen Butler tells The Verge. Suyu was a fork of Yuzu, the emulator that Nintendo successfully sued, but this isn’t about Nintendo now having the rights to Yuzu’s code — or maybe even Nintendo at all? Nintendo didn’t necessarily win the rights to Yuzu’s code in its settlement, and GitLab didn’t tell The Verge that Nintendo is behind the takedown./news/go-read-this-report-about-how-gm-s-deal-with-rivian-fell-apart.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/go-read-this-report-about-how-gm-s-deal-with-rivian-fell-apart.htmlThis Wall Street Journal report describes some of the clandestine dealings in cinematic detail, and explores how Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s bond with Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s former president of global operations, became the foundation of Ford’s investment in the company. According to the WSJ, Hinrichs first met with Scaringe in 2018. But because Ford had just missed its earnings targets, it wasn’t ready to invest in Rivian. This left room for GM, which had already started working on its electric vehicles, to slide in./news/goodbye-touch-bar-you-held-incredible-promise.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/goodbye-touch-bar-you-held-incredible-promise.htmlWhen the Touch Bar launched, it felt like touching the future. It was an OLED strip that recognized touch and replaced the function row of keys on the 2016 MacBook Pro. You could easily scrub through video and audio files in QuickTime. You could choose really pretty bookmark buttons in Safari. Preview had a whole array of useful buttons, too. The Touch Bar was itself a gorgeous set of buttons that changed depending on context, and it felt like the contextual menus of iOS brought into the physical world./news/google-pixel-event-how-to-watch-and-what-to-expect.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-pixel-event-how-to-watch-and-what-to-expect.htmlGoogle is gearing up to launch a new lineup of Pixel products during its upcoming Made by Google event. Even though Google has already said that it will reveal the Pixel 8 alongside the updated Pixel Watch 2, it may have some other surprises in store. If you’re interested in watching the event, here’s when and where you can tune in as well as what exactly you can expect. How to watch the Made by Google event/news/google-pixel-fold-review-closing-the-gap.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-pixel-fold-review-closing-the-gap.htmlThe Google Pixel Fold is a lot of phone. It’s heavy, expensive, and often great. But it’s also every bit the first-generation product that it is, and it’s not ready to take the foldable fight to Samsung just yet. It’s the first foldable I’ve used with a camera system I feel like I can really trust. And its wider format outer screen fits apps more naturally than Samsung’s tall-and-skinny cover display./news/google-play-s-p-l-shows-11-billion-in-profit-in-2020.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-play-s-p-l-shows-11-billion-in-profit-in-2020.htmlGoogle Play’s P&L shows $11 billion in profit in 2020. We just saw Google’s platform and ecosystems planning P&L for the Google Play app store in 2020 with forecasts for 2021. It showed revenue of $14.66 billion in 2020 and gross profit of $11.44 billion that year. Headcount for Google Play was 1,256 in 2020 and was projected to go up to 1,278 employees in 2021. In a separate 2018 document, we saw revenue of $6./news/google-researchers-reveal-new-poodle-bug-putting-the-web-on-alert.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-researchers-reveal-new-poodle-bug-putting-the-web-on-alert.htmlA trio of Google researcherspublished a troubling bug today, sending much of the web into panic mode to ensure systems were adequately secure. The report describes a POODLE attack (short for "Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption") that would effectively circumvent SSL protections, the same protocol targeted by Heartbleed earlier this year. This bug, also known as "Poodlebleed," is not as serious or as far-reaching as Heartbleed, but has still raised alarms in the research community./news/google-s-chromecast-has-its-roots-in-android-not-chrome-os.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-chromecast-has-its-roots-in-android-not-chrome-os.html"It’s more Android than Chrome OS." "We had a lot of internal discussion on this, and have concluded that it’s more Android than Chrome OS," says GTV Hacker on its website. "To be specific, it’s actually a modified Google TV release, but with all of the Bionic / Dalvik stripped out and replaced with a single binary for Chromecast." Gaining root access will not allow users to install apps like they would on an Android smartphone or tablet but the group isn't ruling out the possibility that the dongle could take on Google TV-like features in the future./news/google-s-new-family-plan-lets-everyone-buy-more-than-just-music.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-new-family-plan-lets-everyone-buy-more-than-just-music.htmlGoogle's new family plan for Play Music is probably the best deal you can get in streaming, but it actually extends way beyond just music. Once you set up a family payment method and invite everyone in, each individual family member will be able to purchase apps, games, movies, TV shows, ebooks, and magazine issues. Google outlines all that's possible with the new plan at this FAQ page. "Members of your family group can make purchases on Google Play using the family payment method without your approval,"/news/google-s-ai-thinks-this-turtle-looks-like-a-gun-which-is-a-problem.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-ai-thinks-this-turtle-looks-like-a-gun-which-is-a-problem.htmlFrom self-driving cars to smart surveillance cams, society is slowly learning to trust AI over human eyes. But although our new machine vision systems are tireless and ever-vigilant, they’re far from infallible. Just look at the toy turtle above. It looks like a turtle, right? Well, not to a neural network trained by Google to identify everyday objects. To Google’s AI it looks exactly like a rifle. This 3D-printed turtle is an example of what’s known as an “adversarial image./news/google-s-bard-chatbot-isn-t-a-search-engine-and-neither-are-chatgpt-or-bing-so-what-are-they.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-bard-chatbot-isn-t-a-search-engine-and-neither-are-chatgpt-or-bing-so-what-are-they.html“Bard is a complement to search.” That’s how Google describes the relationship between Bard, the new chatbot entering into beta testing today, and its monolithic search engine. The way the company sees it, Bard is less a tool for finding information and more a way to automatically generate ideas and emails. And poems. And poem-emails. You want answers to search queries? That’s what Google search is for. There’s even a “Google It” button at the bottom of most Bard responses./news/google-s-fitbit-ionic-recall-doesn-t-go-far-enough-lawsuit-says.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-fitbit-ionic-recall-doesn-t-go-far-enough-lawsuit-says.htmlAccording to the court documents, all Fitbit smartwatches and fitness trackers share the same defect — a tendency to overheat, thereby causing burns or creating fire hazards. The complaint also accuses Fitbit of trying to deflect blame onto “consumer hygiene” when incidents are reported, and that the recall doesn’t adequately compensate Ionic owners. “Reasonable consumers,” the complaint reads, “purchase the Products to burn calories — not their skin — and to safely pursue a healthy lifestyle with the aid of a smartwatch./news/google-s-gemini-can-build-an-entire-vacation-itinerary-in-a-matter-of-seconds.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-gemini-can-build-an-entire-vacation-itinerary-in-a-matter-of-seconds.htmlGemini, Google’s ChatGPT competitor, is getting new trip planning capabilities, the company announced today at its I/O developer conference. Based on the user’s prompt, the AI model will now research publicly available information as well as tap into specific details like flight times and hotel bookings to work up a custom, multiday vacation itinerary “in a matter of seconds.” In a briefing with reporters, Google’s VP and general manager of Gemini, Sissie Hsiao, said that manually planning a trip could “take me hours, days, maybe even weeks./news/harley-davidson-s-custom-electric-chopper-is-up-for-auction-and-i-must-have-it.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/harley-davidson-s-custom-electric-chopper-is-up-for-auction-and-i-must-have-it.htmlSerial 1, the electric bike company that spun out from Harley-Davidson last year, is making one-of-a-kind, custom-built e-bikes and auctioning them off online. The first one is the Schwinn Sting-Ray-inspired Mosh/Chopper, which the company describes as a “psychedelic, hand-painted banana seater,” and oh boy do I want it. Unfortunately, my chances are slim to none. First of all, Serial 1 is only making, well, one of these. The Mosh/Chopper is the first product from the company’s new 1-OFF series, in which it’s custom designing, building, and releasing single-edition (i./news/headphone-reviews-the-verge.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/headphone-reviews-the-verge.html7 Verge Score The first headphones from Sonos deliver on comfort, sound, and more — with a unique TV Audio Swap feature that’s very convenient (when it works). But the ongoing app fiasco casts a cloud over the company’s big moment. 7 Verge Score The Soundcore Sleep A20 are decent passive earbuds that are great for side sleepers, even if Anker overpromises. For once, I didn’t have to worry about a fiddly fit getting in the way of heart rate tracking./news/here-s-10-minutes-of-the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-gameplay.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-10-minutes-of-the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-gameplay.htmlTears of the Kingdom is only a scant 44 days away. To celebrate the game’s impending arrival, Nintendo dropped a 13-minute mini Direct featuring gameplay and a sneak peek at Link’s new abilities. Tears of the Kingdom, formerly known as The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, was originally slated for a 2022 release. (It’s now coming out on May 12th.) Eiji Aonuma, the game’s producer, released a video in March 2022 stating that Nintendo decided to work on the development a little bit longer “in order to make this game’s experience something special./news/how-about-an-android-pro.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-about-an-android-pro.htmlAt Google I/O this past week, I got my first taste of the next version of Android and I enjoyed almost everything about it. Android has gotten to the stage where improvements come in only incremental steps, and Google is mostly making the right ones with its annual updates. But I have an underlying worry about where this is all going: as Android grows more proactive and assistive, I fear it might end up alienating its more technically inclined users./news/how-siriusxm-bought-and-bungled-a-beloved-podcast-network.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-siriusxm-bought-and-bungled-a-beloved-podcast-network.htmlPaul Scheer says the pitch was simple. It was 12 years ago, and the founders of Earwolf wanted him to make a podcast: “We’re gonna make these shows,” he recalls them saying, “and you can do whatever you want.” His show How Did This Get Made? recorded in a “band rehearsal space in the middle of Hollywood,” and there was no talk of ads. “It was very, very lo-fi,” Scheer says./news/how-to-get-the-old-twitter-web-interface-back.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-get-the-old-twitter-web-interface-back.htmlWhenever an online application makes substantial changes to its interface, there’s going to be blowback — and Twitter is no exception. Its recent desktop redesign borrows a few elements from the look of its mobile app (a look that some long-term Twitter users aren’t very fond of, to say the least).  The changes are obvious the moment you look at the new UI. The modest command menu that was previously across the top of the page has now been moved to the left of the feed, with startlingly large lettering./news/how-to-search-for-images-you-can-legally-use-for-free.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-search-for-images-you-can-legally-use-for-free.htmlIf you’re looking for an image that you can repurpose for one of your projects and aren’t able to take a photo yourself, there are a ton of free images you can use online without running into any copyright issues — you just have to know where to look. Here, we’ll go over different places where you can search for free images on the web. It’s worth noting that when searching for free images, you’ll often come across the Creative Commons (CC) license that lets you use an image for free./news/htc-s-new-vr-ar-headset-is-the-1-099-vive-xr-elite.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/htc-s-new-vr-ar-headset-is-the-1-099-vive-xr-elite.htmlHTC is opening preorders for a new virtual and augmented reality headset, the Vive XR Elite. The XR Elite is a $1,099 standalone headset that’s designed to compete with Meta’s Quest headsets and the rumored Apple AR / VR device. Shipping in late February worldwide, it supports the gamut of consumer games and software HTC has offered on past VR headsets, plus mixed reality experiences using full-color passthrough video. The Vive XR Elite is aimed at consumers who want games, passive media, and productivity tools in a relatively lightweight package./news/huawei-s-watch-3-is-its-first-harmonyos-smartwatch.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/huawei-s-watch-3-is-its-first-harmonyos-smartwatch.htmlHuawei has announced its first smartwatches running its own HarmonyOS operating system, the Huawei Watch 3 and Huawei Watch 3 Pro. In theory, it’s the third separate operating system Huawei has used for its smartwatches, which originally ran Google’s Android Wear (now Wear) before introducing its own LiteOS software with more recent devices.  Despite the new OS, the Watch 3 offers a similar set of features to Huawei’s previous wearables. New additions include a redesigned homescreen that now consists of a watchOS-style grid of apps rather than a list (though you’re free to switch back to a list if you prefer), and there’s also support for video calling through Huawei’s own MeeTime service./news/ifa-2023-the-verge.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ifa-2023-the-verge.html‘Hey robot, mow the lawn.’ The Dreame Roboticmower A1, a new robot lawnmower, can tackle yards as large as half an acre, which is good news for us Americans with big yards. These electric autonomous grass-cutting devices have struggled to take off in the US due to range issues, complexity, and high costs. While Dreame’s bot may cost as much as $2,000 (pricing isn't finalized) it uses lidar mapping so there’s no need for clunky beacons or fiddly guide wire./news/in-the-first-autonomous-racing-league-race-the-struggle-was-real.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/in-the-first-autonomous-racing-league-race-the-struggle-was-real.htmlThe first race of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) took place on the Yas Marina Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 track today, and I’m pleased to report that a race both began and ended. But the event was not without strife — far from it. During qualifying time trials, the driverless Dallara Super Formula racers outfitted with cameras and software seemed to struggle mightily to complete a full lap./news/india-s-government-is-really-angry-that-apple-ratted-them-out-for-hacking.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/india-s-government-is-really-angry-that-apple-ratted-them-out-for-hacking.htmlIndia’s government is “really angry” that Apple ratted them out for hacking. The Washington Post reports that Indian officials pushed back on Apple after the company sent alerts to journalists and politicians saying their phones had been targeted by state-sponsored hackers — i.e. the Indian government. The government then demanded that Apple say the warnings had been a mistake. (And it kinda-sorta did.) The pressure puts Apple in a tense position between its security ideals and its political standing in an important growing market./news/instagram-adds-close-friends-to-let-you-share-stories-to-a-more-limited-group.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-adds-close-friends-to-let-you-share-stories-to-a-more-limited-group.htmlIn June 2017, Instagram announced that it had started testing a feature it then called “favorites,” which was an attempt to reinvent the friends list and encourage people to share more by letting them post to a more limited group of their followers. In response to the rise of “Finstagrams” — private accounts followed only by a person’s closest friends — the company sought to give users more tools for private sharing, with a suite of features that touched nearly every part of the app./news/instagram-can-hurt-us-mark-zuckerberg-emails-outline-plan-to-neutralize-competitors.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-can-hurt-us-mark-zuckerberg-emails-outline-plan-to-neutralize-competitors.htmlIn late February 2012, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg emailed his chief financial officer, David Ebersman, to float the idea of buying smaller competitors, including Instagram and Path. “These businesses are nascent but the networks established, the brands are already meaningful, and if they grow to a large scale the could be very disruptive to us,” he wrote. “Given that we think our own valuation is fairly aggressive and that we’re vulnerable in mobile, I’m curious if we should consider going after one or two of them./news/instagram-ends-experiment-with-standalone-direct-messaging-app.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-ends-experiment-with-standalone-direct-messaging-app.htmlFacebook is shutting down Direct, a standalone camera-first messaging app used to send Instagram direct messages. “In the coming month, we’ll no longer be supporting the Direct app,” read a message in the app announcing the shutdown. “Your conversations will automatically move over to Instagram, so you don’t need to do anything.” The announcement was first spotted by social media commentator Matt Navarra. First launched in December 2017, Direct was an apparent attempt by Instagram to take on Snapchat’s core functionality./news/ios-14-appears-to-show-dark-sky-integration-after-apple-purchase.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ios-14-appears-to-show-dark-sky-integration-after-apple-purchase.htmlOne of the most telling new features is “a minute‑by‑minute chart that shows the intensity of rain or snow over the coming hour.” That sounds like it’s been directly lifted from Dark Sky, which has made itself known for its hyper-local precipitation forecasts. Another giveaway: the fact that the next-hour weather chart is only available in the US. (Dark Sky had only offered support in the US, the United Kingdom, and Ireland./news/jade-raymond-announces-new-sony-game-studio-just-weeks-after-leaving-stadia.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jade-raymond-announces-new-sony-game-studio-just-weeks-after-leaving-stadia.htmlLongtime industry veteran Jade Raymond is heading up a new studio that will create original games for PlayStation. Raymond announced the news today via the PlayStation Blog. “We want to create worlds where players can escape, have fun, express themselves, and find community,” Raymond wrote about the new studio, Haven. “We want to pour our passion into a project. We want to make something wondrous for people to experience.” Raymond is one of the game industry’s most prolific developers; her career’s spanned major stints at companies like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft in leadership roles./news/jbl-s-latest-affordable-bluetooth-speakers-are-waterproof-and-charge-via-usb-c.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/jbl-s-latest-affordable-bluetooth-speakers-are-waterproof-and-charge-via-usb-c.htmlJBL has announced new Clip 4 and Go 3 miniature Bluetooth speakers. Both have gotten a visual makeover from their predecessors, with a streamlined design and a few new colors available. The Go 3 will launch first in October for $39.95. The Clip 4 will follow in December for $69.95. In terms of improvements, both speakers support Bluetooth 5.1 and have IP67 water and dustproofing. And instead of charging via Micro USB, which can be inconvenient, they feature a USB-C port./news/lego-s-new-retro-radio-is-just-for-looks.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lego-s-new-retro-radio-is-just-for-looks.htmlLego is releasing a new Retro Radio build that emulates a classic portable sound system. It visually scratches the nostalgic itch with its mechanical tuner knob, a handle, and even an antenna. Jay’s Brick Blog reports the $99.99 set, part of Lego’s Icons collection, can play preloaded sounds or house a smartphone to play whatever — but unfortunately, Lego skipped on implementing an actual radio. The Retro Radio is made up of 906 pieces and includes a special speaker-containing sound brick that plays its included tunes of fake stations like a sports broadcast that you can interact with by turning the dial./news/lin-manuel-miranda-s-hamilton-now-has-an-app-where-you-can-score-10-tickets.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lin-manuel-miranda-s-hamilton-now-has-an-app-where-you-can-score-10-tickets.htmlIf you’ve ever wanted to see the critically acclaimed musical Hamilton on Broadway, but can’t afford the notoriously expensive tickets, there’s now an app that allows users to potentially win two seats to the musical for just $10 each. The HamApp, as it’s lovingly called by creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, is being released today on iOS and Android. The app also features an app-based show lottery, stickers, camera filters, and news, with augmented reality content also on the way./news/louis-vuitton-made-a-370-luggage-tracker.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/louis-vuitton-made-a-370-luggage-tracker.htmlIn the past year, Louis Vuitton has been dipping its toes into fashion tech, starting with introducing its $2,450 Tambour Horizon smartwatch last summer. Now, it’s released something a bit more accessible (but still ridiculous) in price: a $370 luggage tracker called the Louis Vuitton Echo. The device lets you track your suitcase via the LV Pass app, available on both Android and iOS, and it comes with a three-year service subscription to Sigfox./news/lowe-s-prototype-exoskeletons-give-warehouse-workers-a-boost.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lowe-s-prototype-exoskeletons-give-warehouse-workers-a-boost.htmlHardware chain Lowe’s is outfitting employees with a simple exoskeleton to help them on the job. The company has partnered with Virginia Tech to develop the technology, which makes lifting and moving heavy objects easier. The non-motorized exoskeletons are worn like a harness, with carbon fiber rods acting as artificial tendons — bending when the wearer squats, and springing back when they stand up. “it feels like this heavy thing is much less heavy./news/lucid-connected-home-charging-station-has-more-power-than-tesla-s-wall-charger.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lucid-connected-home-charging-station-has-more-power-than-tesla-s-wall-charger.htmlElectric car maker Lucid just announced its first set of accessories, which include an at-home charging station that’s capable of supporting up to 19.2kW of electrical power, which works out at around 80 miles of range per hour of charge. The Lucid Connected Home Charging Station retails for $1,200, and its website says shipments will start on November 30th, but the company says to expect a “limited quantity” available until 2023./news/manor-lords-is-slow-and-frustrating-and-i-can-t-stop-playing.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/manor-lords-is-slow-and-frustrating-and-i-can-t-stop-playing.htmlI am the kind of person who will spend hours on A Wiki of Ice and Fire just looking at families’ coats of arms and reading their heraldic descriptions. This is what I consider fun. So when Manor Lords started me off by having me design my own coat of arms, I knew I was in for a good time. Manor Lords is a medieval town-builder strategy game. You’re a petty lordling who must build up your town, its resources, and its militia in order to drive out rival lords who’ve claimed territory that’s rightfully yours./news/meet-the-us-s-spy-system-of-the-future-it-s-sentient.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meet-the-us-s-spy-system-of-the-future-it-s-sentient.htmlAt the final session of the 2019 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, attendees straggled into a giant ballroom to listen to an Air Force official and a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) executive discuss, as the panel title put it, “Enterprise Disruption.” The presentation stayed as vague as the title until a direct question from the audience seemed to make the panelists squirm.  Just how good, the person wondered, had the military and intelligence communities’ algorithms gotten at interpreting data and taking action based on that analysis?/news/metabirkins-nft-creator-loses-trademark-fight-with-herm%C3%A8s.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/metabirkins-nft-creator-loses-trademark-fight-with-herm%C3%A8s.htmlA New York jury says that selling “MetaBirkins” non-fungible tokens violates the trademark of luxury brand Hermès. Bloomberg Law reported this morning on the outcome of the trial, a potentially landmark decision in the confusing world of NFT intellectual property. The jury awarded Hermès $133,000 and determined that the tokens aren’t First Amendment-protected speech, contrary to the argument of their creator, Mason Rothschild. Hermès sued Rothschild over MetaBirkins in early 2022 during a boom in crypto-related projects./news/meta-s-powerful-ai-language-model-has-leaked-online-what-happens-now.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-s-powerful-ai-language-model-has-leaked-online-what-happens-now.htmlTwo weeks ago, Meta announced its latest AI language model: LLaMA. Though not accessible to the public like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Bing, LLaMA is Meta’s contribution to a surge in AI language tech that promises new ways to interact with our computers as well as new dangers. Meta did not release LLaMA as a public chatbot (though the Facebook owner is building those too) but as an open-source package that anyone in the AI community can request access to./news/meta-s-quest-headsets-add-spatial-video-and-pinch-controls-to-compete-with-vision-pro.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-s-quest-headsets-add-spatial-video-and-pinch-controls-to-compete-with-vision-pro.htmlThe Meta Quest 3 will soon give wearers the ability to easily view spatial videos as well as use new pinching gestures for control, features that are similar to what you’ll find in Apple’s much more expensive Vision Pro headset that launches this week. Both changes are starting to roll out graduallyas part of update v62, which should get to most owners of Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro headsets starting the week of February 7th./news/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-now-doubles-as-the-company-s-chairman.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-now-doubles-as-the-company-s-chairman.htmlIt’s the first time in two decades that Microsoft’s chairman will also be its CEO, after Bill Gates originally stepped down as CEO in 2000 (Gates left the Microsoft board entirely in 2020), and it’s a testament to how much Nadella is now trusted to lead the company forward. When Gates stepped down as chairman in 2014, the board elected independent chairman John Thompson, who’d previously been CEO and chairman of Symantec and who’ll remain an independent director on the Microsoft board./news/microsoft-surface-laptop-go-3-review-why-does-this-exist.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-surface-laptop-go-3-review-why-does-this-exist.htmlThe Surface Laptop Go 3 has arrived, and very little has changed from the Surface Laptop Go 2. The chassis looks identical, with the same 3:2 screen and the same recognizable Surface logo on the lid. Dimensions and weight are almost the same. It remains a compact, lightweight, portable device targeting a more budget-oriented shopper than Microsoft’s other Surface computers might. Oh, and there’s one other thing that hasn’t changed: the price makes no sense./news/microsoft-s-latest-directstorage-1-2-works-on-hdds-to-boost-pc-game-load-times.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-latest-directstorage-1-2-works-on-hdds-to-boost-pc-game-load-times.htmlMicrosoft has released version 1.2 of its DirectStorage SDK and has a surprise addition that will help speed up old hard drives. While DirectStorage initially launched as a way to stream data from the latest speedy NVMe solid state drives to your GPU without a CPU slowing things down, Microsoft has heard from developers that improved support for legacy hard drives would also benefit games. Parts of DirectStorage have always worked on hard drives, but developers have had to use separate methods for NVMe devices and HDDs./news/monster-hunter-rise-review-small-but-mighty.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/monster-hunter-rise-review-small-but-mighty.htmlMore than a decade ago, in a lifetime before The Verge, Monster Hunter on the PSP was my commuting game of choice. I’d spend a couple of hours a day tackling solo quests as my train wound through the Japanese countryside, then compare loot with friends late at night as we teamed up to take on the monsters we couldn’t beat alone. 2018’s Monster Hunter World couldn’t hope to replicate that experience./news/nasa-spacex-launch-a-powerful-new-instrument-to-the-iss-to-study-dust.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nasa-spacex-launch-a-powerful-new-instrument-to-the-iss-to-study-dust.htmlA payload making its way to the International Space Station could help researchers back on Earth finally solve a climate mystery that’s stymied scientists for years. NASA launched a key instrument for its climate research, called the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Thursday night from the Kennedy Space Center. Dust is a surprisingly powerful force up in the atmosphere, which is why NASA is determined to better understand it./news/netflix-picks-tennis-and-rafael-nadal-for-its-next-live-sports-stream.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-picks-tennis-and-rafael-nadal-for-its-next-live-sports-stream.htmlNetflix is planning yet another live sports event — and this time, it’s a tennis match pitting veteran tennis player Rafael Nadal against Carlos Alcaraz, who’s currently ranked number two in the world. The streamer is calling the event The Netflix Slam, and it will air on March 3rd, 2024 from the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. While it seems Spanish tennis champs Nadal and Alcaraz will headline the competition, Netflix says it’s going to announce “additional players and matchups” at a later date./news/netflix-will-automatically-download-new-episodes-of-your-favorite-shows-on-android.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-will-automatically-download-new-episodes-of-your-favorite-shows-on-android.htmlToday, Netflix released a new feature called “smart downloads” on Android phones and tablets. It will automatically delete downloaded episodes you’ve already watched and replace them with the next episode when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, helping to maximize storage space. So, for example: if you’ve downloaded episodes 1 through 3 of a show, and you finish watching episode 1, Netflix will delete episode 1 and download episode 4. Downloads won’t start when you’re on mobile data, so it won’t eat up your data./news/nintendo-3ds-circle-pad-pro-review.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-3ds-circle-pad-pro-review.htmlWhile it won't be winning any beauty contests, the Circle Pad Pro feels good in the hands, with very little weight added to the 3DS — I actually found that the system was a lot more comfortable to hold with it attached. The 3DS is a small, squarish unit that doesn't give your fingers much to hold onto, but the ergonomics of the Circle Pad Pro make it feel much more like a traditional game controller./news/no-one-won-the-google-lunar-x-prize-but-these-competitors-are-still-shooting-for-the-moon.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/no-one-won-the-google-lunar-x-prize-but-these-competitors-are-still-shooting-for-the-moon.htmlToday was the official deadline for the now-defunct Google Lunar X Prize competition — an international contest to send the first private spacecraft to the Moon. There is no winner; no one got to the Moon in time. But many of the teams that competed in the Google Lunar X Prize say they are still forging ahead, even without the promise of millions of dollars in prize money. The rules of the competition were relatively straightforward: build a robotic lander, using mostly private money, that can touch down gently on the Moon./news/nook-version-of-war-and-peace-replaces-all-instances-of-kindled-with-nookd.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nook-version-of-war-and-peace-replaces-all-instances-of-kindled-with-nookd.htmlOne of the downsides of reading an ebook can be finding weird formatting, spelling mistakes, and other things that got lost in the digital translation. However, word started going around last week about one of the more bizarre changes we've heard of — apparently, in the War and Peace on the Barnes and Noble Nook platform, every instance of the world "kindled" has been replaced with "nookd." Since "nookd" isn't a word as far as we can tell, it seems that someone was trying to remove references to Amazon's competing ebook platform from this fine piece of literature./news/now-doordash-could-start-delivering-your-facebook-marketplace-purchases-too.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/now-doordash-could-start-delivering-your-facebook-marketplace-purchases-too.htmlYou may soon have the option to have your Facebook Marketplace purchases picked up and delivered by DoorDash. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is partnering with DoorDash to deliver Marketplace items located up to 15 miles away. Not every item is eligible for delivery, though. Sources tell the WSJ that DoorDash will only deliver items that are small enough to fit in the trunk of a car, and that drivers are expected to make deliveries within 48 hours./news/nsa-voice-recognition-raises-hard-questions-for-echo-and-google-home.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nsa-voice-recognition-raises-hard-questions-for-echo-and-google-home.htmlSuppose you’re looking for a single person, somewhere in the world. (We’ll call him Waldo.) You know who he is, nearly everything about him, but you don’t know where he’s hiding. How do you find him? The scale is just too great for anything but a computerized scan. The first chance is facial recognition — scan his face against cameras at airports or photos on social media — although you’ll be counting on Waldo walking past a friendly camera and giving it a good view./news/nvidia-s-geforce-now-gets-support-for-pc-game-pass-with-xbox-account-syncing.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nvidia-s-geforce-now-gets-support-for-pc-game-pass-with-xbox-account-syncing.htmlNvidia is rolling out a new update for GeForce Now that allows members to sync their Xbox accounts to the cloud gaming service. Syncing up an Xbox account will allow GeForce Now members to access any PC Game Pass titles on Nvidia’s service, alongside their existing library of game purchases from the Microsoft Store. Nvidia has completed the work needed to make the Microsoft Store work with GeForce Now, following the first Xbox PC games arriving on the service earlier this year./news/obsessed-with-the-now-douglas-rushkoff-and-the-threat-of-present-shock.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/obsessed-with-the-now-douglas-rushkoff-and-the-threat-of-present-shock.htmlDouglas Rushkoff is a man ready to talk. As a media theorist, he has a lot of ideas about everything, and he’d like to share them with you. His new book, Present Shock, is his effort to describe "right now," whatever that is — and how we deal with it. What’s most surprising about the book is perhaps the fact that he wrote it all. He mentions the difficulty he had, with all the hustle and bustle of current society distracting him, and is very grateful to any theoretical reader for ignoring that noise long enough to make it through all 266 pages./news/oh-good-caterpillars-are-now-blocking-bathroom-doors.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oh-good-caterpillars-are-now-blocking-bathroom-doors.htmlI remember what it was like: all of the sudden, the trees were furry and leafless. The houses, normally light in color, turned dark with writhing insects. And the sidewalks and streets were smeared in dead caterpillar juice and their droppings. This was my first (and only) caterpillar invasion, and it left quite an impression. My 10-year-old mind was blown — and utterly fascinated. It was the end of the ‘90s, and I was visiting my relatives in Rouyn-Noranda, a city in northern Quebec./news/one-of-our-favorite-robovacs-is-down-to-its-all-time-low-ahead-of-prime-day.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/one-of-our-favorite-robovacs-is-down-to-its-all-time-low-ahead-of-prime-day.htmlAs an extremely lazy person, I am a big fan of robot vacuums like the Roomba j7 Plus. Nothing beats rotting in bed as iRobot’s last-gen flagship navigates my cluttered home and does the cleaning on my behalf. What I don’t like, though, is its high price tag. Thankfully, Prime members can currently pick up the j7 Plus with an auto-empty dock for just $399.99 ($400 off) at Amazon. That’s the best price we’ve seen on the discontinued robot vacuum, which has been increasingly difficult to find in recent months./news/oppenheimer-is-coming-back-in-imax-70mm.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oppenheimer-is-coming-back-in-imax-70mm.htmlOppenheimer is coming back in IMAX 70mm. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is headed back to IMAX 70mm theaters starting January 12th. However, the (reportedly 600-pound) film will only be shown at 13 locations in the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2tfZn9wfpFoaW1oYWeCen2OqKepnZ6dsqq5xKtkoqtdmLyutc2gZJuZk6B6qrqMoqSasF1sfa65/news/overwatch-league-team-loses-tournament-in-embarrassingly-hilarious-way.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/overwatch-league-team-loses-tournament-in-embarrassingly-hilarious-way.htmlThe San Francisco Shock are perhaps the winningest team in the Overwatch League’s short five-year history. They are the only team who can boast back-to-back grand finals victories. And during Stage 2 in 2019, the League had to invent a new classification of excellence when the Shock not only never lost a game, but they never dropped a single map, sweeping all their opponents in what was dubbed the “golden stage./news/pacemaker-our-favorite-dj-app-just-got-even-better.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pacemaker-our-favorite-dj-app-just-got-even-better.htmlInstead of having to wait for one song to end before mixing in the next, users can now pick and choose the moment when one track transitions into the next with a new feature called Mix Transitions. You can also press the lighting icon next to the play/pause button, which Pacemaker calls Mix Now, that will instantly fade in the next song in your mix. This isn’t as full featured a tool as Serato or Traktor, but it isn’t meant to be./news/pandora-will-tell-podcast-hosts-where-their-listeners-live-and-how-long-they-listen.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pandora-will-tell-podcast-hosts-where-their-listeners-live-and-how-long-they-listen.htmlPandora is giving podcast hosts more information about the listeners they reach on its platform starting today. The company just announced its new Podcast Analytics feature with the goal of giving podcasters more data about their listeners, like where they live, how long they listen to each episode, and the number of thumbs up or thumbs down their show receives. For access to their analytics, podcasters have to sign up for Pandora For Podcasters, which is free but requires podcasters to submit their show’s RSS feed./news/peter-thiel-was-reportedly-an-fbi-informant.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/peter-thiel-was-reportedly-an-fbi-informant.htmlInsider spoke to multiple people who claim Thiel became a “confidential human source” for a Los Angeles-based agent named Johnathan Buma — a term that indicates a long-running relationship with the FBI, allegedly beginning in 2021. While Thiel was once a high-profile supporter of former President Donald Trump, a subject of multiple FBI investigations, the deal is said to have excluded any information about Thiel’s domestic political contacts. Insider says it focused instead on “foreign contacts and Silicon Valley intrigue,” potentially including foreign influence operations in the tech industry./news/pixel-7-owners-report-spontaneously-shattering-camera-glass.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pixel-7-owners-report-spontaneously-shattering-camera-glass.htmlPhotos posted across social media show both $599 Pixel 7 and $899 Pixel 7 Pro phones suffering from the issue. Owners are reporting being quoted anywhere from $200 to over $400 to fix the damage, though others say Google has agreed to conduct repairs under warranty. There’s no definitive information available as to what’s causing the breakages. But one recurring theme is users saying they discovered the cracked glass after taking the phone from a warm to a cold location./news/play-this-superhot-is-an-fps-and-a-bullet-time-puzzler-rolled-into-one-addictive-game.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/play-this-superhot-is-an-fps-and-a-bullet-time-puzzler-rolled-into-one-addictive-game.htmlWith the launch hype of Grand Theft Auto V dying down, you might be ready for something a little different. Superhot is a free Unity title that takes the key game mechanic from the award-winning Braid and plugs it into a first-person shooter. The premise is simple: if you move, or even adjust your crosshair, time advances. Each level plays out like a puzzle: you need to dodge bullets, take out all the enemies, and pick up guns as they die to ensure you don't run out of ammo./news/poe-s-desktop-app-lets-you-use-all-the-ai-chatbots-in-one-place.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/poe-s-desktop-app-lets-you-use-all-the-ai-chatbots-in-one-place.htmlPoe, the AI chatbot platform created by Quora, has added a slew of updates, including a Mac app, the ability to have multiple simultaneous conversations with the same AI bot, access to Meta’s Llama 2 model, and more. It’s also planning an enterprise tier so that companies can manage the platform for their employees, according to an email that was recently sent to Poe users. As my colleague David Pierce wrote in April, Poe’s ambition is to be the web browser for AI chatbots./news/potential-nikon-d4-image-surfaces-looks-a-lot-like-the-d3s.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/potential-nikon-d4-image-surfaces-looks-a-lot-like-the-d3s.htmlRumors are starting to fly fast around the Nikon D4, the long-rumored successor to the excellent D3 and D3s. A detailed (though unconfirmed) spec sheet made the rounds a few weeks ago, and now the often-reliable Nikon Rumors has posted a photo of a Nikon camera that could be the D4, though the grey box covering up the camera's name badge sets off a few alarms. Overall, the purported D4 (pictured above, on the left) looks like it tightens up the D3s design ever so slightly while still retaining all of the camera's myriad ports, buttons, and dials (from the front, at least)./news/realive-is-a-movie-about-resurrection-but-it-lacks-a-beating-heart.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/realive-is-a-movie-about-resurrection-but-it-lacks-a-beating-heart.htmlWhen it comes to using technology and science as narrative tools to probe the nature of the human heart, Spanish writer-director Mateo Gil knows a thing or two. He co-wrote Abre Los Ojos, Alejandro Amenábar’s twisty-turvy tale of a man who might be going crazy, or might be suffering side effects from post-traumatic memory implants. (The American remake, Vanilla Sky, preserved the twists.) He also co-wrote Amenábar’s The Sea Inside, which tells the story of a quadriplegic fighting for the ability to end his life on his own terms./news/redrawing-the-map-using-math-leads-to-some-beautiful-results.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/redrawing-the-map-using-math-leads-to-some-beautiful-results.htmlThe boundaries of states are so engrained in our minds that it can be hard to look at the earth without dividing it into political regions. But there are many other ways of looking at our planet. For example, what would the map of the world look like if each country only controlled all the land closer to its capital city than any other country's capital? Some might argue that it'd produce "/news/ring-adds-privacy-dashboard-to-app-in-response-to-security-concerns.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ring-adds-privacy-dashboard-to-app-in-response-to-security-concerns.htmlRing has announced that it is adding a new privacy dashboard to its mobile apps that will let Ring owners manage their connected devices, third-party services, and whether local police partnered with Ring can make requests to access video from the Ring cameras on the account. The company says that other privacy and security settings will be added to the dashboard in the future. This new Control Center is available now in both the iOS and Android versions of the Ring app./news/riot-made-its-esports-arena-transform-for-new-valorant-league.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/riot-made-its-esports-arena-transform-for-new-valorant-league.htmlThis weekend is an important one for Valorant esports, with the launch of a new professional league for teams across North America, Latin America, and Brazil. The debut of the VCT Americas league, as it’s known, will also mark the first time Valorant games have taken place live and in person in North America. That meant that Riot had to redesign its Los Angeles studio to be much more high tech and flexible to accommodate the league, which shares the space with League of Legends — the new esports arena can even transform./news/rip-lemmy-kilmister-finally-killed-by-death.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rip-lemmy-kilmister-finally-killed-by-death.htmlEverything about Lemmy flew in the face of moderation.Motörhead wasn't as big in the US as it was in the UK, but there's no Metallica or Guns N Roses without Lemmy. And he was from a period when rock stars could be, well, rock stars — where they could, for instance, get arrested for possession in Canada without fear of losing any of their endorsement deals. (He was arrested for cocaine possession; he was holding speed./news/rockstar-co-founder-dan-houser-is-leaving-the-company.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rockstar-co-founder-dan-houser-is-leaving-the-company.htmlDan Houser, co-founder of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, will leave the company in March. The news comes from an SEC document registered by publisher Take-Two Interactive (via @Nibellion on Twitter). This move comes after an “extended break” taken by Houser that started in the spring of 2019. Rockstar Games was founded in 1998, and Dan Houser contributed prominently to the company’s successful franchises, including Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Red Dead Redemption, and more./news/samsung-galaxy-s20-plus-and-ultra-price-release-date-new-cameras-5g-and-more.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-s20-plus-and-ultra-price-release-date-new-cameras-5g-and-more.htmlSamsung has announced its latest flagship phones: the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus, and Galaxy S20 Ultra. Technically, Samsung is appending “5G” to the names of those phones, as each one will support 5G in the US and other select markets. They’ll be available on March 6th with prices ranging from $999.99 to $1,599.99, and preorders begin on February 21st. I briefly tried out all three versions last week, and my first impression is that Samsung wants to make sure there’s no spec that isn’t maxed out: the screens have high 120Hz refresh rates and are bigger than ever, the data comes in at 5G speeds, the cameras zoom farther and rack up megapixels in the hundreds, and even the batteries are bigger./news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-3-review-nearly-normal.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-3-review-nearly-normal.htmlThe Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the best possible case Samsung can make for a phone that unfolds into a small tablet. It’s the fourth iteration of the same basic idea, refined and repaired over the course of years following an embarrassing false-start failure on the first attempt.  Because this is a story of refinement, the changes since the last model are minor. But added together, they make this the model that crosses that hard-to-define boundary between experimental and normal./news/sending-kids-to-war-ender-s-game-director-and-producer-on-bringing-a-sci-fi-classic-to-life.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sending-kids-to-war-ender-s-game-director-and-producer-on-bringing-a-sci-fi-classic-to-life.htmlHere at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, nothing gets more attention that science fiction and fantasy — and one of the projects that people are most excited about is the big-screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s classic Ender’s Game. First published in 1985, the novel has travelled a long, rocky road on its way to movie theaters, but the first trailers released earlier this year showed a beautifully rendered take on Card’s vision with high-profile talent like Harrison Ford and Sir Ben Kingsley./news/servant-season-4-review-the-final-season-gets-off-to-a-blistering-start.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/servant-season-4-review-the-final-season-gets-off-to-a-blistering-start.htmlHeading into its fourth and final season, M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Servant has a lot of questions left to answer. In fact, pretty much all of the big ones remain unanswered. The Apple TV Plus series is ostensibly about a young couple losing their child, only to have it miraculously returned to them not long after their new nanny arrives. But after three seasons, the mysteries have only continued to pile up./news/she-dies-tomorrow-review-figuring-out-how-to-spend-your-last-day-is-really-damn-hard.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/she-dies-tomorrow-review-figuring-out-how-to-spend-your-last-day-is-really-damn-hard.htmlA woman jolts awake and gasps for air in a nondescript living room. She can’t explain why, but she’s certain of one thing: she only has one more day to live. So she tells her friend, Jane, and something horrifying happens: Jane also becomes certain the next day will be her last. This strange conviction, it turns out, is contagious. And it’ll infect many more before tomorrow actually comes.  Written and directed by Amy Seimetz, She Dies Tomorrow is a new film with a title and a premise that suggests something propulsive — a thriller, perhaps, or a nightmarish horror film./news/sideloading-is-a-cyber-criminal-s-best-friend-according-to-apple-s-software-chief.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sideloading-is-a-cyber-criminal-s-best-friend-according-to-apple-s-software-chief.html“Sideloading is a cyber criminal’s best friend and requiring that on iPhone would be a gold rush for the malware industry,” according to Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi, who delivered a dramatic speech at Web Summit 2021 declaiming the security risks if Apple were required to let users sideload apps. Federighi, who oversees Apple’s iOS and macOS software divisions, was specifically protesting the European Commission’s proposed Digital Markets Act, which, if passed, would require Apple to let users install apps outside of the iOS App Store./news/silicon-valley-s-latest-big-idea-is-tupperware-parties-for-marijuana.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/silicon-valley-s-latest-big-idea-is-tupperware-parties-for-marijuana.htmlConverge is an interview game show where the biggest personalities in tech come on to tell us about their wildest dreams. It’s a show that’s easy to win, but not impossible to lose — because, in the final round, I finally get a chance to play and score a few points of my own. On the debut episode of Converge, Houseparty co-founder and chief operating officer Sima Sistani comes on to tell us about her big idea: Tupperware parties for marijuana — or, as she puts it, “Stella & Dot for pot./news/snapchat-adds-challenges-with-cash-prizes-to-its-tiktok-competitor.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snapchat-adds-challenges-with-cash-prizes-to-its-tiktok-competitor.htmlSnapchat is adding another way for creators to earn cash. The app is launching a feature called Spotlight Challenges, which will reward a handful of creators each week for making videos using specific Lenses, doing certain activities, or playing a chosen sound inside the app’s TikTok competitor, Spotlight. Around three to five creators will be awarded cash for each challenge, with the winners being chosen from among the most-viewed eligible videos./news/snap-s-business-shows-signs-of-life-with-q3-earnings.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snap-s-business-shows-signs-of-life-with-q3-earnings.htmlSnap’s business has been on life support for a while now, with Apple’s ad tracking changes on iOS, competition from TikTok, and a combination of other factors leading to a collapse in its revenue growth.  That said, all is not lost: based on the third quarter earnings results that Snap announced on Tuesday, its ads business appears to finally be on the upswing. Total revenue grew to nearly $1.2 billion, an increase of 5 percent from the same time last year./news/sometimes-the-internet-is-good-at-least-to-this-8-year-old-girl-who-loves-bugs.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sometimes-the-internet-is-good-at-least-to-this-8-year-old-girl-who-loves-bugs.htmlMy favorite bugs are snails, slugs, and caterpillars, but my favorite one of all is grasshoppers. After my mom sent the message and showed me all the responses, I was happy. I felt like I was famous. Because I was! It felt good to have so many people support me, and it was cool to see other girls and grown-ups studying bugs. It made me feel like I could do it too, and I definitely, definitely, definitely want to study bugs when I grow up, probably grasshoppers./news/sony-announces-dualshock-4-controller-with-touchpad-and-3d-camera-tracking.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-announces-dualshock-4-controller-with-touchpad-and-3d-camera-tracking.htmlSony has announced the DualShock 4, a new controller with a touchpad and headphone jack. The controller will come with a dedicated share button and a light bar that identifies players or changes color during play, and it essentially looks like a sleeker version of the classic DualShock. The light bar, which rotates between three different colors, can actually be used to provide feedback during gameplay — to notify a player if their health is running low, for example./news/sony-now-sells-a-true-4k-projector-for-5-000.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-now-sells-a-true-4k-projector-for-5-000.htmlEven the cheapest 4K projectors are still way more expensive than most top-of-the-line 4K TVs, but that’s slowly starting to change. Sony introduced a series of new 4K projectors today, and one of them — the VPL-VW285ES 4K HDR Home Theater Projector — sells for $5,000. That’s still really expensive, but it’s dramatically less expensive than most of the other 4K projectors available from Sony, which largely cost more than $10,000. The projector offers a maximum picture size of 200 inches and real 4K output — as opposed to the slightly lesser Ultra HD — with a resolution of 4096 x 2160./news/sony-stops-playstation-now-stacking-to-protect-its-new-premium-service.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-stops-playstation-now-stacking-to-protect-its-new-premium-service.htmlSony has updated its PlayStation Plus FAQ page (tucked away at the bottom here) and is clamping down further on loopholes that gave users early discounts on its upcoming PlayStation Plus Premium service. It’s also pausing the activation of PlayStation Plus and Now vouchers for current subscribers until after its new service rolls out in June, and there’s even an official conversion chart showing the value of those vouchers for its upcoming three services; PlayStation Plus Essentials, Extra, and Premium./news/spotify-wrapped-2023-assigns-you-a-sound-town-based-on-your-music-taste.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-wrapped-2023-assigns-you-a-sound-town-based-on-your-music-taste.htmlThis year’s Spotify Wrapped roundup is live. As was the case with previous years, it features a bundle of shareable stats that break down the most-listened artists, songs, and podcasts for 574 million users. But there are also some surprises, too, including a new system that assigns you a city based on your listening habits. This year, you can check out your Spotify Wrapped through the app or on the web for the first time by heading to Spotify./news/spotify-s-paid-subscribers-accelerate-as-podcast-listening-grows-200-percent.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/spotify-s-paid-subscribers-accelerate-as-podcast-listening-grows-200-percent.htmlWe have a growing body of evidence showing that there are significant benefits to engagement, retention, and conversion of users from Ad-Supported to Premium stemming from consumption of Podcast content. We have seen benefits to retention on the order of several hundred basis points, which is a material change on a retention curve, for users that engage with spoken word content relative to those that haven’t, and early data indicates that these users are more likely to convert to Premium over time./news/stanford-professor-gives-up-tenure-to-start-udacity-free-online-university.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stanford-professor-gives-up-tenure-to-start-udacity-free-online-university.htmlInspired by the number of people that the Khan Academy's free video lectures reached, Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun put his own artificial intelligence class online and enrolled 160,000 students. After scrambling to accommodate so many pupils, he came away from the experience with a new vision of education so different that he says he "can't teach at Stanford again." Instead, he's starting an online university called Udacity. Thrun hopes to teach about 200,000 students per class — including grading exams and quizzes — in contrast to the mere hundreds taught at a brick-and-mortar university./news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-will-hit-theaters-again-in-may.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-will-hit-theaters-again-in-may.htmlPod races, trade negotiations, and Darth Maul will be on the big screen once more when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comes back to theaters on May 3rd, 2024. The return is meant to celebrate the 1999 movie’s 25th anniversary, reports Empire. The return to theaters comes during a renaissance for this part of the long-running franchise. In the last few years, Disney has given the prequel era the nod with series like Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Bad Batch./news/superman-will-finally-show-his-face-on-supergirl-next-season.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/superman-will-finally-show-his-face-on-supergirl-next-season.htmlSuperman will make his first real appearance on Supergirl next season. Variety reports that casting is currently underway for Clark Kent, who'll appear in the first two episodes of the series' second season this fall. The announcement paves the way to the first new live-action portrayal of the Man of Steel on TV since Smallville ended in 2011. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg expressed excitement about the prospect of having Superman on the show, speaking also for fellow producers Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler./news/tesla-stops-selling-its-biggest-powerwall-because-people-prefer-the-small-one.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-stops-selling-its-biggest-powerwall-because-people-prefer-the-small-one.htmlTesla has quietly discontinued the 10 kWh Powerwall, its larger battery pack meant to store solar energy for use during an outage. Greentech Media confirmed the discontinuation with Tesla, which essentially said that it made the decision because its smaller Powerwall is much more popular. "Due to the interest, we have decided to focus entirely on building and deploying the 7 kWh Daily Powerwall at this time," Tesla says. The smaller model is far more useful/news/tesla-byd-and-vw-use-ev-battery-minerals-with-a-history-of-human-rights-abuse-allegations.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-byd-and-vw-use-ev-battery-minerals-with-a-history-of-human-rights-abuse-allegations.htmlMining for minerals used to make EVs and batteries is plagued with allegations of abuse, the latest report from the nonprofit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) shows. And automakers continue to source materials from some of the worst offenders, The Verge finds. BHRRC has documented 631 allegations of human rights abuses since 2010 for seven key minerals used in electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries, and renewable energy technologies. Many of the allegations were made against a small group of companies, which The Verge was able to link to three of the world’s biggest EV manufacturers: Volkswagen Group, Tesla, and BYD./news/tesla-s-ludicrous-mode-is-now-available-as-a-retrofit-upgrade-for-the-p90d.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-s-ludicrous-mode-is-now-available-as-a-retrofit-upgrade-for-the-p90d.htmlTesla doesn't want any of its customers to miss out on its aptly-named Ludicrous Mode, and is now offering the speed boost as an upgrade for the Model S P90D. For $10,000 plus taxes and labor, P90D owners can have their car retrofitted, decreasing its 0 to 60 mph time by 10 percent to 2.8 seconds, and making its 0 to 155 mph time 20 percent faster than a standard Model S./news/the-2014-year-in-review.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-2014-year-in-review.html2014 was quite a newsmaker, wasn't it? The last 12 months have yielded a tapestry of highs and lows that have set the tone for 2015, changed the landscape of the technology business, and — in some cases — fundamentally altered the way news is made and reported. Take catastrophic hacks like Sony and Celebgate, for example, that have forced hard conversations about the ethics of hack coverage. Deadly police encounters across the United States have opened deep wounds and brought race relations to the forefront./news/the-2023-atlantic-hurricane-season-forecast-is-near-normal-but-there-s-a-wild-card.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-2023-atlantic-hurricane-season-forecast-is-near-normal-but-there-s-a-wild-card.htmlAfter a few years of heightened risk, the Atlantic hurricane season is shaping up to look pretty average for 2023. That’s thanks to an unusually long-lasting weather pattern called La Niña finally ending, with its counterpart, El Niño, expected to soon develop. The caveat is that there’s more uncertainty in this year’s seasonal forecast than normal because of unusually warm temperatures in the Atlantic. Those factors tend to have opposite effects on hurricane season./news/the-apple-watch-se-costs-just-219-at-amazon-and-best-buy.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-apple-watch-se-costs-just-219-at-amazon-and-best-buy.htmlA proverbial tidal wave of deals crashed down this morning, heralding the beginning of Black Friday week. As I searched for deals to include in this roundup, I kept finding one after the other that was better. If you think these are good, consider acting fast, as it’s impossible to tell if they’ll stick around all week or if they’re just a flash in the pan. The very best discount that kicked off recently is a big $60 discount on the Apple Watch SE (40mm, GPS) at Best Buy and Amazon./news/the-apple-watch-series-7-with-gps-and-lte-is-on-sale-for-329-at-walmart.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-apple-watch-series-7-with-gps-and-lte-is-on-sale-for-329-at-walmart.htmlIn terms of specs, the Series 7 is a lot like the newer Series 8. It features better dust resistance and a larger display than its predecessor, along with all the fitness-tracking metrics you expect and compatibility with watchOS 9. What it doesn’t offer is things like menstrual tracking and crash detection, two features unique to the Series 8. But if you can live without them, the last-gen model is still plenty capable./news/the-best-apps-and-tools-for-managing-your-money-online.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-apps-and-tools-for-managing-your-money-online.htmlHi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 14, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, you’re my favorite, so happy you’re here, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)  I also have for you a rundown of the best tools for managing money, new gadgets from Valve and Humane, way too many writing apps, new stuff from ChatGPT, and much more./news/the-best-hardware-security-keys-for-two-factor-authentication.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-hardware-security-keys-for-two-factor-authentication.htmlUpdate May 15, 2019, 2:50PM ET: This article has been updated to include information on the vulnerability discovered in certain models of the Titan Key. When it comes to protecting your data, SMS-based or app-based two-factor authentication using your smartphone is more secure than depending only on passwords. But it can also be time-consuming to set up and use. Hardware-based security keys provide a fast, no-fuss way to use two-factor authentication without having to mess around with your phone./news/the-biden-administration-can-talk-to-social-media-sites-again-for-now.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-biden-administration-can-talk-to-social-media-sites-again-for-now.htmlOriginally, Judge Terry Doughty suggested that the Biden administration may be suppressing “millions of protected free speech postings by American citizens,” writing that the government had already “used its power to silence the opposition” by suppressing speech opposed to covid-19 vaccines and the validity of the 2020 election, among other things. (It’s true that, for a time, social networks did resist amplifying the spread of major lies.) The appeals court hasn’t said much on the matter yet — today’s order simply fast-tracks the appeal and grants a “temporary administrative stay./news/the-charlie-bit-me-meme-won-t-disappear-from-youtube-after-all.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-charlie-bit-me-meme-won-t-disappear-from-youtube-after-all.htmlIt’s hard to describe the absolute chaos around NFTs (non-fungible tokens) right now; tech reporters’ inboxes are flooded with the latest and stupidest additions to this trend of digital certificates for memes and other pieces of digital memorabilia. Disaster Girl sold for around $500,000, Keyboard Cat went for about $64,400, and Nyan Cat brought in around $590,000. But most NFTs aren’t all that noteworthy, and we can’t possibly write about every single one (despite this sentence, my inbox will now be flooded with NFT pitches for the next two months)./news/the-classics-sonic-the-hedgehog-and-the-raw-thrill-of-unchecked-speed.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-classics-sonic-the-hedgehog-and-the-raw-thrill-of-unchecked-speed.htmlEvery ride home from the video game store was a strange exercise in lust and this one was no different. I sat in the passenger seat and immersed myself in the sacred act of unwrapping and popping open the big black container shell, fondling the rounded cartridge in my hands as if the magic on the logic board inside could somehow be transdermally absorbed, internalizing the coarse alliteration of the box copy: Super Speed!/news/the-dynamic-island-is-already-available-on-android-devices.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-dynamic-island-is-already-available-on-android-devices.htmlI’ve always been on team Android, but every so often, Apple rolls out a feature that makes me just a little jealous. Thankfully, with the introduction of the divisive Dynamic Island, I didn’t have to wait very long before somebody shoehorned that sweet pill-shaped void into the Android OS. The DynamicSpot app, developed by user Jawomo, is currently available as an early access download from the Google Play Store. You can currently check out the app for free, and it allows you to adjust the position and size of the island based on where the notch lives on your particular Android device./news/the-eiffel-tower-has-new-wind-turbines-and-they-re-beautiful.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-eiffel-tower-has-new-wind-turbines-and-they-re-beautiful.htmlWhen the turbines are moving, they’re clearly visible from the Trocadéro square, which offers a direct view of the tower from the opposite side of the Seine. But from the foot of the tower looking up, they’re barely visible, lost amid the lattice maze of iron that holds everything together. Up close, they look sloped, smooth, and far more elegant than the utilitarian propellers usually associated with wind power installations./news/the-game-of-thrones-finale-was-the-most-watched-hbo-show-of-all-time.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-game-of-thrones-finale-was-the-most-watched-hbo-show-of-all-time.htmlThe first numbers are in for HBO’s massive Game of Thrones finale, and the final episode of the show’s eighth (and last) season has not only broken the record for the show, but with 13.6 million viewers on the live HBO channel, has become the most watched episode of any HBO show, ever, via The Wall Street Journal. Add in early numbers from streaming and on-demand rewatches, and the total goes up even more to 19./news/the-latest-baldur-s-gate-3-patch-makes-the-hardest-fight-in-the-game-harder.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-latest-baldur-s-gate-3-patch-makes-the-hardest-fight-in-the-game-harder.htmlBaldur’s Gate 3 Patch 3 is live, beefy, and oh boy, does it implement some fixes I am happy about — and some that terrify the daylights outta me. First and foremost, welcome Mac users! You’re now able to play on Mac. Make sure you check out the minimum specification requirements, and don’t forget to uninstall and reinstall the game (if you played Early Access) to ensure a smooth transition to the full release./news/the-law-of-urination-mammals-take-21-seconds-to-pee.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-law-of-urination-mammals-take-21-seconds-to-pee.htmlResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new golden rule: every mammal takes about 21 seconds to urinate. Patricia Yang and her co-authors dubbed it the "Law of Orientation" in a paper published this week, and they say it applies across a wide range of animal sizes. Yang and her team discovered this commonality after observing male and female cows, dogs, elephants, goats, and rats at the Atlanta Zoo./news/the-long-and-troubled-history-of-apocalypse-now-the-video-game.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-long-and-troubled-history-of-apocalypse-now-the-video-game.htmlIn late January, an exciting and unlikely project showed up on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter: a request for $900,000 to make a video game adaptation of Apocalypse Now, officially blessed by the film’s director Francis Ford Coppola. The page described the game as a survival-horror adventure with a sophisticated branching narrative, allowing players to create their own storyline for protagonist Benjamin Willard — whether that meant single-mindedly pursuing the rogue special forces agent Colonel Kurtz or sitting on a boat dropping acid./news/the-mandalorian-the-verge.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-mandalorian-the-verge.htmlHere’s everything you need to know about The Mandalorian before season 3. With just a few days left before The Mandalorian’s season 3 debut on March 1st, you probably don’t have enough time for a full-on rewatch to get caught up. But you’ve definitely got time for this handy little recap detailing the last two seasons’ most significant bits. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jqaYp5yRobyztcCn/news/the-new-dji-avata-let-me-swoop-and-soar-like-no-beginner-drone-i-ve-used-before.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-dji-avata-let-me-swoop-and-soar-like-no-beginner-drone-i-ve-used-before.htmlThe DJI Avata is something special. I knew it the very first time I flew. I pressed three power buttons, placed a drone on a table, pulled goggles over my eyes, and grabbed the pistol-shaped wand. A double-tap and a long-press of a cherry red button got the bird into the air. And then, with a squeeze of my index finger and a literal flick of the wrist, I was a bird, a plane, Superman taking off into the sky, swooping down to the Earth below, skimming across a field of grass so close I could almost taste it, banking in a turn so smooth and level it felt like a car being professionally drifted around a bend./news/the-new-york-times-is-cracking-down-on-hundreds-of-unofficial-wordle-clones.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-new-york-times-is-cracking-down-on-hundreds-of-unofficial-wordle-clones.htmlHundreds of games inspired by Wordle, the popular web-based word puzzle, are at risk of being deleted due to copyright takedowns issued by The New York Times. As reported by 404 Media, The New York Times — which purchased Wordle back in 2022 — has filed several DMCA notices over Wordle clones created by GitHub coders, citing its ownership over the Wordle name and copyrighted gameplay including 5x6 tile layout and gray, yellow, and green color scheme./news/the-oneplus-11-launch-event-is-confirmed-for-february-2023.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-oneplus-11-launch-event-is-confirmed-for-february-2023.htmlGot your 2023 planner in hand? Good, because OnePlus wants you to save the date for its global flagship phone launch on February 7th. Dubbed Cloud 11, the event will take place in New Delhi and will debut the OnePlus 11 5G and OnePlus Buds Pro 2. A teaser image accompanying Monday’s news lines up with previously leaked renders, showing a redesigned camera bump. Separately, company spokesperson Spenser Blank confirmed that a Hasselblad-branded camera system and the much-beloved alert slider will return on the OnePlus 11 — both features omitted from the OnePlus 10T./news/the-oneplus-bullets-wireless-2-are-better-and-more-expensive.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-oneplus-bullets-wireless-2-are-better-and-more-expensive.htmlIf there’s a theme to OnePlus in 2019, it’s giving you more for more. The company’s new Bullets Wireless 2 earphones, launching today alongside the OnePlus 7 Pro flagship phone, raise the price while improving the comfort of the original Bullets Wireless from a year ago. Going from $69 to $99, the Bullets Wireless 2 offer a much rounder shape to the earbuds, which is more comfortable to wear and looks more discreet./news/the-pajamas-suit-lets-you-pretend-you-re-dressing-up-for-a-zoom-meeting.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-pajamas-suit-lets-you-pretend-you-re-dressing-up-for-a-zoom-meeting.htmlIf you’ve been showing up to work Zoom meetings in your pajamas and feel kind of weird about it, Japanese clothing retailer Aoki has a solution for you: a piece of clothing that looks like a classic suit jacket but feels like PJs. It’s calling it the Pajamas Suit, and it really does look like a suit jacket — complete with the cut and the buttons on both the sleeves and the front./news/the-ps5-and-xbox-series-x-s-will-be-available-online-at-best-buy-on-december-15th.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-ps5-and-xbox-series-x-s-will-be-available-online-at-best-buy-on-december-15th.htmlIn a blog post today, Best Buy confirmed that the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S would be restocked tomorrow. The retailer announced that stock would be available “sometime after 8AM Central Time.” While a firm time has yet to be announced, Best Buy has product listings up for the next-gen consoles, including several bundles that include additional items like extra controllers or games. Best Buy will sell the consoles exclusively online, as the retailer announced in November that they won’t be sold in stores until 2021./news/the-ps5-is-getting-dvr-support-in-japan-this-year.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-ps5-is-getting-dvr-support-in-japan-this-year.htmlSony has announced that the PlayStation 5 will get DVR functionality in Japan by way of a new app that’ll work with its Nasne tuners. The app will be called Torne (pronounced to-ru-ne) and should be available later this year. Torne was originally a TV tuner add-on for the PS3 that was released in 2010 and allowed you to save broadcast shows to your console’s hard drive and transfer them to a PSP or PS Vita./news/the-rabbit-r1-has-been-logging-users-chats-with-no-way-to-wipe-them.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-rabbit-r1-has-been-logging-users-chats-with-no-way-to-wipe-them.htmlAlong with the new ability to fully delete local user data, the software update also addresses another eyebrow-raising behavior of the R1. Prior to the update, stored pairing data that lets the R1 hardware add things to the Rabbithole journal also had permission to read the journal as well. That means a stolen and hacked R1 could potentially have handed over users’ saved requests, photos, and more. With the update, R1’s pairing data can no longer read the journal and is no longer logged to the device, and Rabbit has reduced the amount of log data stored on the device./news/the-ring-car-cam-seems-to-have-been-discontinued.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-ring-car-cam-seems-to-have-been-discontinued.htmlRing confirmed to The Verge that it has stopped selling its Ring Car Cam, a dashcam / security camera hybrid that records the road and the driver while in motion and acts as a security camera when a vehicle is parked. The product, which launched at CES 2023, has been hard to come by since going on sale last January, and customers who tried to purchase one in the last few months are finding those orders canceled./news/the-steambox-is-an-electric-lunchbox-looking-for-a-problem-to-solve.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-steambox-is-an-electric-lunchbox-looking-for-a-problem-to-solve.htmlI’m going to level with you: I don’t really get the Steambox. I mean, I understand what it is: it’s a self-heating lunchbox that uses steam to warm up your food, one that’s powered by a rechargeable battery so you can theoretically take it on the go. And to its credit, it does actually live up to the idea of being a lunchbox that heats up your food. I just don’t understand why anyone would pay $279 for this particular one./news/the-verge-review-of-animals-the-red-panda.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-review-of-animals-the-red-panda.htmlIt was getting late on the sixth day, and God realized he had a few more animals to make. God really wanted to make sure everything was done before the seventh day, because he had already made plans that couldn't be moved. So God gathered some of his favorite creations and said, "Alright, let's try to design by committee. What's missing?" And God's creations sat around the table shouting a cacophony of unhelpful things: "/news/these-are-the-developers-creating-new-games-for-old-consoles.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/these-are-the-developers-creating-new-games-for-old-consoles.htmlIf you want to play Dustin Long’s most recent game, you’ll need a console that was first released more than 30 years ago. As a young musician in New York, Long found himself drawn to the chiptune scene, where artists craft sounds using classic gaming hardware. He would go to shows like Blip Festival and Pulsewave, where he saw artists coaxing music from old Game Boys and a Sega Genesis. But he went a step further and decided to design a game that could only be played on an obsolete console./news/they-re-called-hoverboards-now-and-there-s-nothing-we-can-do-about-it.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/they-re-called-hoverboards-now-and-there-s-nothing-we-can-do-about-it.htmlHere at CES 2016, we've seen a cornucopia of two-wheeled, self-balancing scooters. Of course, we have a name for those gadgets these days: hoverboards. Yes, we know, the actual device doesn't hover, but the rider looks as if they're floating as their rigid upright body soars across the floor. It makes sense, even if it's a silly co-opting of Back to the Future's levitating and physics-defying skateboard. Some people are still not okay with this./news/this-is-henry-cavill-as-the-man-of-steel-in-batman-v-superman.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-henry-cavill-as-the-man-of-steel-in-batman-v-superman.htmlZack Snyder's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of 2016, and Snyder has slowly been starting to give fans a look at it. In May, he gave everyone a first look at Ben Affleck's Batman and Batmobile, and today we're getting a first look at Henry Cavill's Superman in the new film. For the most part, it looks like Cavill's outfit hasn't changed from 2013's Man of Steel, but the mood of the shot is telling./news/this-is-what-a-brutalist-world-would-look-like-on-your-phone.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-what-a-brutalist-world-would-look-like-on-your-phone.htmlDesigner Pierre Buttin has taken brutalism to a new extreme with a series of redesigned mobile apps. In his latest project, titled Brutalist redesigns, Buttin renders Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other popular apps in a brutalist style, with text-heavy layouts and flattened designs. Buttin says he incorporated elements from Brutalist Websites, a site that highlights rugged — or “ugly” — web design. The site’s founder, Pascal Deville, defines brutalist web design by “its ruggedness and lack of concern to look comfortable or easy,” characterizing it as “a reaction by a younger generation to the lightness, optimism, and frivolity of today's web design./news/this-new-turntable-can-play-music-directly-to-a-sonos-system.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-new-turntable-can-play-music-directly-to-a-sonos-system.htmlGetting your vinyl playing on a Sonos system has never been necessarily hard; it just takes the right gear. You can plug a turntable into something like the Sonos Five, Amp, or Connect. Or if you’ve got a Bluetooth-enabled turntable, the Sonos Roam can beam that audio to the rest of your system. But obviously the ideal solution would be a turntable that transmits audio directly to a Sonos system with no extra hardware required./news/toshiba-is-officially-out-of-the-laptop-business.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/toshiba-is-officially-out-of-the-laptop-business.htmlToshiba quietly exited the laptop business once and for all last week, ending a 35-year run by transferring its remaining minority stake in its PC business to Sharp. Two years ago, Toshiba sold an 80.1 percent stake of its PC business to Sharp for $36 million, and Sharp renamed the division Dynabook. Sharp exercised its right to buy the remaining 19.1 percent of shares back in June, and Toshiba released a statement August 4th that the deal was completed “As a result of this transfer, Dynabook has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sharp,” Toshiba said in a statement./news/tumblr-starts-letting-bloggers-charge-a-subscription.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tumblr-starts-letting-bloggers-charge-a-subscription.htmlTumblr is finally offering its writers a way to make money off their work: charging a subscription. The 14-year-old blogging platform is starting to add the ability for writers to put their posts behind a paywall. The feature, called Post Plus, lets creators offer a $3.99, $5.99, or $9.99 per month subscription, which will give readers access to any posts they decide to designate as for subscribers only. For now, the feature is available in a “limited beta” for select creators only./news/ubisoft-now-giving-out-its-assassin-s-creed-educational-tours-of-greece-and-egypt-for-free.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ubisoft-now-giving-out-its-assassin-s-creed-educational-tours-of-greece-and-egypt-for-free.htmlUbisoft is offering free downloads of its educational tours of ancient Greece and ancient Egypt, which are based on the studio’s recreations of those worlds in Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the studio announced today. The tours will be free to claim until May 21st. You can download Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece and Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt from Ubisoft’s website here, though you’ll need a Uplay account to claim them./news/unitedhealth-says-blackcat-is-the-reason-healthcare-providers-are-going-unpaid.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/unitedhealth-says-blackcat-is-the-reason-healthcare-providers-are-going-unpaid.htmlHealth insurance provider UnitedHealth has identified Blackcat as the group behind a debilitating cyber attack that has disrupted healthcare providers nationwide, Reuters is reporting. The attack has led to more than a week-long outage of the the United-owned Change Healthcare system, disrupting payments at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies across the nation. Since Change Healthcare acts as a middleman between healthcare providers and insurance companies, the breach has hindered everyday transactions like electronic pharmacy refills and new insurance claims./news/unity-is-laying-off-25-percent-of-its-staff.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/unity-is-laying-off-25-percent-of-its-staff.htmlUnity is undergoing yet another layoff, and this time it’s going to affect about 25 percent of its entire workforce, or around 1,800 employees. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company, which makes the popular game engine Unity, said it’s making the cuts “as it restructures and refocuses on its core business, and to position itself for long-term and profitable growth.” Unity has been through several rounds of layoffs within the past year, with the most recent one affecting 265 workers last November./news/unofficial-netflix-catalog-helps-you-find-a-movie-not-available-in-your-area.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/unofficial-netflix-catalog-helps-you-find-a-movie-not-available-in-your-area.htmlWhile Netflix goes on the offensive against customers who use VPNs to stream videos not available within their own country, a new website is taking some of the guesswork out of regional hopping. The Unofficial Netflix Online Global Search (or uNoGS) is an online searchable database of the videos available in the 244 regions where Netflix is currently available. Updated daily, users can search the catalog based on everything from Netflix and IMDb rating, to genre and the availability of subtitles./news/verizon-sells-aol-and-yahoo-for-about-half-of-what-it-paid.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/verizon-sells-aol-and-yahoo-for-about-half-of-what-it-paid.htmlVerizon has sold its AOL and Yahoo properties to Apollo Global Management in a deal said to be worth $5 billion, about half of the nearly $9 billion Verizon originally paid for the pair. Verizon will maintain a 10 percent stake in the company, now known as Yahoo and led by CEO Guru Gowrappan. The deal, which includes Verizon’s ad tech business, was heavily rumored over the last week and is still subject to closing conditions./news/we-have-to-stop-ignoring-ai-s-hallucination-problem.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/we-have-to-stop-ignoring-ai-s-hallucination-problem.htmlGoogle I/O introduced an AI assistant that can see and hear the world, while OpenAI put its version of a Her-like chatbot into an iPhone. Next week, Microsoft will be hosting Build, where it’s sure to have some version of Copilot or Cortana that understands pivot tables. Then, a few weeks after that, Apple will host its own developer conference, and if the buzz is anything to go by, it’ll be talking about artificial intelligence, too./news/why-can-t-pollsters-reach-gen-z.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-can-t-pollsters-reach-gen-z.htmlRepublicans predicted a “red wave” that would crush any hopes of a Democratic majority this election cycle. But as the dust settles and vote counts wrap up, that prediction has shattered.  While Republicans saw success in states like Florida and New York, Democrats fared better in battleground states, where polls often significantly underestimated their support. On the eve of the election, FiveThirtyEight’s poll average had Dr. Mehmet Oz ahead by just half a point, only to see him lose by 4 percent in the final tally./news/why-does-panasonic-s-lx10-exist.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-does-panasonic-s-lx10-exist.htmlThis week, Panasonic announced a new camera in its enthusiast line of compacts: the LX10 (or LX15 for some markets). It’s a successor to the LX7 and the numerous other LX cameras that preceded that one, and pairs a fast zoom lens with a bevy of manual controls. This time, Panasonic stepped up the sensor to a larger 1-inch chip, putting the LX10 head to head with Sony’s popular RX100 line./news/wikipedia-has-a-google-translate-problem.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wikipedia-has-a-google-translate-problem.htmlWikipedia was founded with the aim of making knowledge freely available around the world — but right now, it’s mostly making it available in English. The English Wikipedia is the largest edition by far, with 5.5 million articles, and only 15 of the 301 editions have more than a million. The quality of those articles can vary drastically, with vital content often entirely missing. Two hundred and six editions are missing an article on the emotional state of happiness and just under half are missing an article on Homo sapiens./news/x-is-shutting-down-circles.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/x-is-shutting-down-circles.htmlX is planning to shut down Circles, a feature that lets you share posts with a limited group of people instead of all of your followers. The company said in a “PSA” on Thursday that Circles will be disabled by October 31st. “After this date, you will not be able to create new posts that are limited to your Circle, nor will you be able to add people to your Circle,” X wrote in a post on its help center./news/xbox-one-was-the-top-selling-console-in-the-us-last-month.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/xbox-one-was-the-top-selling-console-in-the-us-last-month.htmlMarket research firm NPD has now recorded a full month of console sales for the PS4 and Xbox One in the US, and it's revealing today that Microsoft’s latest console topped the sales charts for the month of December. Microsoft has long dominated with the Xbox 360 in the US, and it appears that healthy stocks of the Xbox One have helped the company take the edge during the all important holiday season./news/xiaomi-takes-over-meitu-hardware-business-to-sell-more-selfie-focused-smartphones.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/xiaomi-takes-over-meitu-hardware-business-to-sell-more-selfie-focused-smartphones.htmlChinese selfie app and smartphone maker Meitu has announced that Xiaomi is effectively taking over its hardware business. Future phones will carry the Meitu brand, but Xiaomi will be responsible for design, R&D, and sales, while Meitu will still be involved in camera software. Basically, it’s a safe bet that Xiaomi’s Mi Home stores across the world will start carrying a bunch of wild selfie-focused cameraphones in the near future. As for why this deal is taking place, Meitu says its “mission is ‘to inspire more people to express their beauty,’ and the board believes that entering into this Strategic Cooperation Agreement will accelerate our pace in carrying out this mission./news/yipes-fruit-stripe-gum-has-been-discontinued.htmlSat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/yipes-fruit-stripe-gum-has-been-discontinued.htmlYipes! Fruit Stripe gum has been discontinued. I haven’t had the colorful gum in, uh, decades, but I remember loving it when I was a kid. The flavor only lasted a few chews, but baby Jay didn’t know better. He was also apparently influenced by this now-terrifying commercial. A Ferrara Candy spokesperson confirmed the “sunset” of the gum brand to Food & Wine. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfZnxyfY5ra2lrZGqCeHvYoqeeq12bv7a102aqraqZpbJus9SmZKGZo2KvprHNZpuiq5Oku7W1za6cnQ%3D%3D/news/this-electric-scooter-is-the-ultimate-hipster-dad-chariot.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-electric-scooter-is-the-ultimate-hipster-dad-chariot.htmlAs a native New Yorker and a parent of two kids, I’ve tried out pretty much every way imaginable to navigate the Big Apple. My car is certainly my most powerful tool, but there are lots of trips when it’s also my worst option. Between gas, traffic, and parking, it can turn a relatively short distance into a nightmarish odyssey. And while I think our subway system is second to none, I also dread standing shoulder to shoulder with an unwashed stranger, stranded between stations by a signal problem./news/a-hacker-found-tony-abbott-s-passport-number-through-an-instagram-post.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-hacker-found-tony-abbott-s-passport-number-through-an-instagram-post.htmlOn March 22nd, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott did something seemingly innocuous: he posted a picture of his boarding pass to Instagram. That post was the beginning of a convoluted six-month saga for hacker Alex Hope.  In a blog post, Hope details how they were sent Abbott’s post by a friend and asked if it would be possible to “hack this man” with only the information on the boarding pass./news/a-limited-edition-halo-themed-xbox-one-console-is-coming-this-october.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-limited-edition-halo-themed-xbox-one-console-is-coming-this-october.htmlFor a lot of people, a new Halo game means it's time to finally buy a new Xbox. And when it comes to Halo 5: Guardians, good things come to those who wait. At Gamescom 2015, Microsoft announced a new, limited edition Halo-themed Xbox One, that comes bundled with the game and a hefty 1TB of storage. The new Xbox will feature metallic blue detailing on both the console and controller, and will be available for $499./news/a-physics-experiment-might-soon-tell-us-if-we-re-living-in-a-2d-hologram.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-physics-experiment-might-soon-tell-us-if-we-re-living-in-a-2d-hologram.htmlFor all we know, the three dimensional world we see around us is really an illusion — one that’s actually in 2D. It’s a slightly unsettling idea, but it’s also one that physicists have been thinking about for some time. Unfortunately, until recently, a 2D universe wasn’t something we could verify. Now, thanks to an experiment recently launched at Fermi National Laboratory in Illinois, we might finally be able to determine how the universe stores the information we interact with everyday — and whether we’re living in a hologram./news/a-verizon-employee-database-was-stolen-by-a-hacker-now-held-for-ransom.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-verizon-employee-database-was-stolen-by-a-hacker-now-held-for-ransom.htmlVerizon is dealing with an incident where a hacker captured a database containing company employee data, including the full names of workers as well as their ID numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers. Motherboard reported that the database is legitimate, as the anonymous hacker contacted them last week, and they were able to verify the data by calling some of the numbers. “These employees are idiots,” the hacker told Motherboard via chat./news/after-breath-of-the-wild-i-just-want-to-play-mass-effect-andromeda-and-persona-5-on-switch.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/after-breath-of-the-wild-i-just-want-to-play-mass-effect-andromeda-and-persona-5-on-switch.htmlThe realm of Hyrule goes wherever I go. So far, I’ve played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on a plane, a train, and a bus. It’s usually stuffed — along with the Nintendo Switch — into a suitcase or my jacket pocket. I’ve uncovered shrines while waiting for my daughter’s dance lessons to end, and I’ve climbed gigantic mountains while lying in bed. The Nintendo Switch, it turns out, is perfect for a massive game like Zelda, letting you get in small moments of exploration on the go, before settling in for a lengthier journey while plopped on the couch./news/alan-wake-2-gets-an-extended-gameplay-trailer.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/alan-wake-2-gets-an-extended-gameplay-trailer.htmlAfter a long period of relative quiet, Alan Wake 2 now seems to be everywhere. The latest: a lengthy clip of gameplay was shown off at this year’s Summer Game Fest live keynote, which shows just how much of a survival horror experience this sequel will really be. As for Alan Wake 2, the sequel will introduce a new playable character alongside the titular lead. Here’s the basic premise: Alan Wake 2 pushes players into a psychological horror story from the perspective of two playable characters./news/amazon-fire-tv-stick-2020-review-just-get-a-4k-model.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-fire-tv-stick-2020-review-just-get-a-4k-model.htmlAmazon’s new Fire TV Stick is a $39.99 streaming dongle that’s aimed at people who haven’t yet made the upgrade to a 4K TV — and don’t intend to anytime soon. It maxes out at 1080p video resolution, but offers support for modern tricks like HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound. That’s a weird zone to be in when rival products like the Chromecast with Google TV go all-in on 4K for not much more money./news/amazon-is-opening-a-second-cashier-less-go-store-in-seattle-this-fall.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-is-opening-a-second-cashier-less-go-store-in-seattle-this-fall.htmlAmazon is expanding its Go cashier-less supermarkets, with the company now confirming a second store coming to Seattle this fall, via a report from GeekWire. The new location will continue the gradual roll out of Amazon’s experimental new retail stores, with locations also in the works for Chicago and San Francisco (although there’s no date yet on when those stores will be opening.) The new Seattle store is said to be almost twice as large as the current one, measuring in at 3,000 square feet, compared to the existing 1,800 square feet location./news/amazon-launches-virtual-currency-coins.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-launches-virtual-currency-coins.htmlAmazon has just debuted its own virtual currency, Amazon Coins, allowing customers to pay for apps on its Amazon Appstore for Android, as well as some in-app items. Kindle Fire customers in the US are the first to get their hands on Amazon Coins, as the company is giving all of them $5-worth of the currency, or 500 coins. But anyone can head to the Amazon Coins page and purchase Coins for themselves./news/amazon-music-unlimited-is-getting-more-expensive-for-prime-subscribers.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-music-unlimited-is-getting-more-expensive-for-prime-subscribers.htmlAmazon Music Unlimited is getting another price hike, and this one affects people who pay for the music service and Amazon’s Prime subscription. The cost of Amazon Music Unlimited’s individual plan for Prime members will go up from $8.99 to $9.99 per month, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. The price of the family plan is going up, too, increasing from $15.99 to $16.99 per month. The costs of the annual plans for individuals that are Prime subscribers and families are increasing as well, each by $10, THR says./news/amazon-prime-s-price-is-going-up-to-139-per-year.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-prime-s-price-is-going-up-to-139-per-year.htmlAmazon is raising the price of Prime in the US to $139 per year, up from the $119 annual fee that was instated four years ago. The price hike is meant to address higher costs Amazon is facing across the board, from shipping to labor to construction, according to analysts. The price change will go into effect for new members on February 18th and for current members after March 25th. The price for a monthly membership to Prime is also going up to $14./news/amazon-will-let-you-teach-alexa-to-recognize-and-respond-to-sounds-and-detect-occupancy.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-will-let-you-teach-alexa-to-recognize-and-respond-to-sounds-and-detect-occupancy.htmlToday is Amazon’s fall product hardware showcase, and the company’s Alexa voice assistant is learning some intriguing new tricks. Amazon says you’ll be able to program Alexa to recognize “custom sounds,” so it could theoretically alert you or trigger smart home actions when it hears the sound of your choice. You’ll also be able to have some Echo devices emit an “inaudible ultrasound wave” that can detect if your home is occupied and automatically turn off compatible devices./news/amazon-s-alexa-can-now-act-on-its-own-hunches-to-turn-off-lights-and-more.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-alexa-can-now-act-on-its-own-hunches-to-turn-off-lights-and-more.htmlAmazon is enabling a new feature today that allows Alexa to proactively complete tasks around the house, such as turning off lights, based on your habits and frequent requests. Alexa has been able to sense these habits and ask about them since 2018 — the company calls them “hunches” — but before this update, Alexa would ask permission before acting on something like lowering the thermostat before you went to bed./news/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-your-next-gaming-cpu.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-your-next-gaming-cpu.htmlAMD already closed the Intel gap for gaming with its Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and now it’s ready to go a step further. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D has been the chip everyone has been waiting to see the benchmarks for after the previous Ryzen 7 5800X3D dominated gaming CPUs for a long time. While the 7800X3D arrives more than a month after the 7950X3D, I can confidently say it was well worth the wait./news/amd-s-fsr-3-1-is-here-and-sony-s-playstation-pc-games-are-the-first-to-embrace-it.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amd-s-fsr-3-1-is-here-and-sony-s-playstation-pc-games-are-the-first-to-embrace-it.htmlAMD’s FSR 3.1 is here — and Sony’s PlayStation PC games are the first to embrace it. Horizon Forbidden West, Ghost of Tsushima, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and both Spider-Man PC games now support the upgrade to AMD’s upscaling and framerate boosting tech. It reduces shimmering, ghosting, and flickering of earlier versions and lets you use frame generation independently of upscaling. God of War Ragnarök will also get FSR 3./news/analogue-super-nt-review-a-sleek-way-to-play-original-snes-games.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/analogue-super-nt-review-a-sleek-way-to-play-original-snes-games.htmlThere are very few items that have survived the multiple moves I’ve made throughout adulthood. My CD collection was discarded when I moved out for the first time, and the number of books in my possession has steadily dwindled with each new home. When my family upgraded to a bigger place because we were expecting our second child, it meant I had to part with a few hundred issues of Wired magazine./news/animal-crossing-is-getting-an-official-makeup-line.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/animal-crossing-is-getting-an-official-makeup-line.htmlNintendo has announced that it’s collaborating with cosmetics brand ColourPop on a makeup collection inspired by Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The collection looks to be relatively extensive, including four powder palettes that are themed after characters in the game. Obviously, Isabelle is fabulous enough that she doesn’t have to share with anyone and gets her own. ColourPop is no stranger to pop culture collaborations. It has lines inspired by Disney princesses, The Mandalorian, and even Sailor Moon./news/anker-soundcore-liberty-3-pro-review-feature-packed-buds.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/anker-soundcore-liberty-3-pro-review-feature-packed-buds.htmlAnker has managed to hold its own against giant tech rivals by delivering better-than-expected sound and cramming features into its Soundcore-branded wireless earbuds — all while pricing them lower than the competition. The Liberty 3 Pros are the latest example of this and a showcase of how far the company has come in designing audio products.  At $170, the Liberty 3 Pros are the most advanced earbuds in the Soundcore lineup, with dual drivers in each bud, active noise cancellation, wireless charging, plus extra conveniences like multipoint and LDAC support./news/another-famous-scientist-investigated-for-sexual-misconduct.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/another-famous-scientist-investigated-for-sexual-misconduct.htmlBrian Richmond, a paleoanthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, has been repeatedly investigated for sexual misconduct, according to an article in the journal Science. Richmond is currently the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation that total more than $1 million. It's the latest in a series of high-profile reports on powerful men in science who are accused of abusing their position to sexually harass — or even sexually assault — subordinates./news/apple-now-supports-california-s-right-to-repair-bill-after-lobbying-against-it.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-now-supports-california-s-right-to-repair-bill-after-lobbying-against-it.htmlIn a major reversal, Apple is now expressing support for a right-to-repair bill in California, as reported by TechCrunch and iFixit. In a letter to California Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, Apple says it endorses the SB 244 bill, which requires manufacturers to give customers and independent repair shops the appropriate tools, manuals, and parts to repair damaged electronics and appliances. “Apple supports California’s Right to Repair Act so all Californians have even greater access to repairs while also protecting their safety, security, and privacy,” Apple said in a statement to The Verge./news/apple-watch-ultra-strap-review-choose-your-fighter.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-watch-ultra-strap-review-choose-your-fighter.htmlPart of what makes the Apple Watch Ultra feel aspirational is the strap you pick at checkout. It’s the smartwatch equivalent of getting sorted into a Hogwarts house — you’re supposed to choose the strap based on the type of adventurer you are. Intrepid hikers scaling the Swiss Alps are supposed to pick the Alpine Loop, while marathoners are meant to shatter world records with the Trail Loop. The Ocean Band is for the Jacques Cousteau in your life./news/apple-s-far-out-iphone-14-event-is-happening-september-7th.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-far-out-iphone-14-event-is-happening-september-7th.htmlThe invite, which has the tagline “Far Out,” is for an in-person event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s Cupertino campus, which would be the company’s first big product launch event to take place in the theater since the start of the pandemic. (Apple hosted an in-person event for this year’s WWDC keynote, but it took place outdoors.) The company will also be streaming the September 7th event online./news/ashley-madison-parent-company-ceo-stepping-down.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ashley-madison-parent-company-ceo-stepping-down.htmlNoel Biderman, formerly CEO of Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life Media, is stepping down. Avid Life Media released the news in a short statement this morning. "This change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees," reads the statement. "We are steadfast in our commitment to our customer base." Until a new CEO is appointed, Avid Life Media will be run by "/news/astra-lv0006-rocket-fails-to-reach-orbit-after-sliding-horizontally-off-the-pad.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/astra-lv0006-rocket-fails-to-reach-orbit-after-sliding-horizontally-off-the-pad.htmlAstra’s first rocket launch since it the company went public wasn’t exactly the success the company hoped for. An engine failing to fire a second into the launch caused the rocket to hover sideways before attempting to reach orbit. The flight safety crew purposely stalled the engines 2 minutes and 28 seconds into the flight after a piece of the rocket appeared to break off. Before returning to earth it had reached an altitude of 31 miles./news/at-t-adding-unlimited-international-messaging-to-mobile-share-plans-on-february-28th.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/at-t-adding-unlimited-international-messaging-to-mobile-share-plans-on-february-28th.htmlStarting February 28th, AT&T's Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value plans will include unlimited messaging to most countries across the globe. Customers will be able to send texts to 190 countries without worrying about extra charges; photo and video messages are also included, though there you're limited (albeit very slightly) to 120 countries. Both consumer and business accounts are eligible, and AT&T says existing customers will automatically gain unlimited international messaging on Friday./news/azio-cascade-review-a-surprisingly-solid-wireless-mechanical-keyboard.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/azio-cascade-review-a-surprisingly-solid-wireless-mechanical-keyboard.htmlAzio has never produced the most typical keyboards. Whether it’s their odd typewriter-style Retro Classic devices or the shiny, yet ultimately cheap-feeling Izo, the manufacturer has often prioritized form over function with its designs.  The Azio Cascade, the latest keyboard from the company, is different. It’s got a compact, sensible layout, with normal-shaped keycaps and Bluetooth connectivity. Unlike the $129.99 Izo, it benefits from being hot-swappable, which means that any keyboard hobbyists who want to tinker with it can replace its switches without pulling out a soldering iron./news/because-every-z-flip-dreams-of-being-a-game-boy-advance-sp.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/because-every-z-flip-dreams-of-being-a-game-boy-advance-sp.htmlBecause every Z Flip dreams of being a Game Boy Advance SP. I am in awe of Becca’s attempt to use the Galaxy Z Flip’s selfie screen as her daily driver for a week. I can barely sign my kids out of school or get my authenticator codes without feeling an overwhelming urge to flip open the bigger screen. But now I can do this — and it makes all the difference to me./news/beeper-s-imessage-app-for-android-is-back-but-it-s-a-downgrade.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/beeper-s-imessage-app-for-android-is-back-but-it-s-a-downgrade.htmlThe faceoff between Apple and Beeper has entered another round. Days after Apple managed to block Beeper Mini from seamlessly sending and receiving iMessages on Android, Beeper says the app is up and running again — sort of. See, Beeper Mini works a little differently this time: you must now sign in with an Apple ID, whereas previously it would automatically register you to iMessage via your phone number. Beeper says it’s working on a fix to restore phone number registration with iMessage, but until then, your friends won’t be able to send iMessages directly to your phone number./news/bill-gates-had-a-closer-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein-than-he-admitted.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bill-gates-had-a-closer-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein-than-he-admitted.htmlBill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and chairman of its board until 2014, was among the powerful men who spent a meaningful amount of time with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to reporting from The New York Times. Employees of Gates’ namesake foundation reportedly also met with Epstein, in multiple visits to the disgraced financier’s mansion. A spokeswoman for Gates declined to say how many times the pair had met/news/black-mirror-s-metalhead-suggests-technological-disruption-is-unavoidable-and-terminal.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/black-mirror-s-metalhead-suggests-technological-disruption-is-unavoidable-and-terminal.htmlThe fourth season of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, a Twilight Zone-esque anthology TV series about technological anxieties and possible futures, was released on Netflix on December 29th, 2017. In this series, six writers will look at each of the fourth season’s six episodes to see what they have to say about current culture and projected fears.  Spoiler warning: This essay does not give away the ending of “Metalhead,” but it does cover a significant percentage of its minimal plot./news/blade-runner-2049-review-spoiler-free-edition.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blade-runner-2049-review-spoiler-free-edition.htmlIt’s been 35 years since Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner hit theaters, and when it takes this long for a sequel to roll around, a few questions need to be answered. No question is more important than “why?” Yes, we’re in a cultural moment where nearly everything is a sequel, prequel, reboot, or spinoff, but Scott’s dystopian film never organically called for a follow-up the way some films do. It’s a neo-noir thriller with an open ending, but from a character and thematic perspective, Scott neatly sewed up the story./news/blizzard-is-previewing-a-diablo-3-single-player-mode-11-years-after-the-game-launched.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blizzard-is-previewing-a-diablo-3-single-player-mode-11-years-after-the-game-launched.htmlBlizzard started testing the first dedicated single-player mode for Diablo III — that’s right, a game released 11 years ago. The new mode, Solo Self Found, gets its own leaderboards, along with a hardcore version the developer team recommends for players who want to be challenged. It’s available as part of Patch 2.7.6 PTR, the newest test build of the game, and the patch precedes the 29th and final new season of the game./news/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-kit-with-24-105-f-4-l-lens-available-at-b-h-adorama.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-kit-with-24-105-f-4-l-lens-available-at-b-h-adorama.htmlIf you've been waiting for the high-end Canon EOS 5D Mark III full-frame DSLR to hit stores, now might be your chance. We haven't been able to find the $3,499 camera body alone in stock anywhere, but both B&H and Adorama have the Mark III kit — which includes an EF 24-105mm F/4 L lens — on sale for $4,299. Adorama says it's only got a few left, but B&H expects to not sell out for a day or two, so you stand a good chance of getting a camera from at least one of them./news/china-unveils-five-year-plan-for-space-exploration-that-continues-push-into-lunar-space.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/china-unveils-five-year-plan-for-space-exploration-that-continues-push-into-lunar-space.htmlChina has released its plans for space exploration over the next five years, detailing ambitious goals that include strengthening its space infrastructure and developing a next-generation spacecraft for carrying people to space. The country is also researching how it could possibly land people on the Moon in the coming years. researching how to land people on the Moon in the coming years Given China’s focus on the Moon, it’s been expected for years that the country would eventually try to land people on the lunar surface, too./news/china-s-zhurong-rover-sends-a-selfie-from-mars.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/china-s-zhurong-rover-sends-a-selfie-from-mars.htmlChina has released new images from its Zhurong rover, which began wheeling its way around Mars in late May. One of the photos is a lovely selfie of Zhurong posed next to its landing platform. The “touring group photo,” as the China National Space Administration calls it in a blog post, was taken with a small wireless camera that the rover placed on the surface before scooting back to line up for the shot like an excited parent./news/chromebooks-will-soon-get-10-years-of-automatic-updates.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chromebooks-will-soon-get-10-years-of-automatic-updates.htmlGoogle announced a big change to Chromebooks that could help them last a few years longer. Starting in 2024, ChromeOS devices will be eligible to receive automatic security updates for 10 years after their release. Chromebooks released in 2021 or later will all receive the updates; those who own older products will have the option to turn them on. The company currently guarantees eight years of automatic updates to Chromebooks. That period, however, begins at the time when the company certifies a Chromebook, not when it’s actually in the owner’s hands./news/conservatives-are-trolling-trump-with-climate-change-ads-on-fox-news-and-morning-joe.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/conservatives-are-trolling-trump-with-climate-change-ads-on-fox-news-and-morning-joe.htmlA conservative group that wants to see the US government address climate change is trying to reach the president through his favorite medium: TV. The Partnership for Responsible Growth will air a series of five climate change ads in Washington, DC over the next five weeks, targeted at the networks and shows President Donald Trump is known to watch: Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe. The group announced its troll today./news/cricket-expands-its-retail-reach-with-move-into-target-stores.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cricket-expands-its-retail-reach-with-move-into-target-stores.htmlThings just got a little easier for US smartphone owners looking for a budget-friendly carrier, with Cricket announcing that it will be selling its wares at Target stores throughout the United States. Cricket is known for offering contract-free plans at prices that are bargains when compared to the company's more well-known brethren like Verizon and AT&T. Of course, there is a trade-off; you won't be getting cutting-edge devices from Cricket, but the move should provide plenty of chances for the company to expand its subscriber base./news/dc-comics-the-verge.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dc-comics-the-verge.htmlSounds like Black Adam won’t be changing the DC Universe’s hierarchy of power after all. If you’d asked just a few weeks ago what the future held for Warner Bros. Discovery’s live-action DC superhero movies, a reasonable person might have told you to expect to see more of Henry Cavill’s Superman and Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam beating the stuffing out of one another. But that’s all changed under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios which — after sidelining Cavill’s Man of Steel in favor of a younger take on the character — is now planning to mostly retire the Rock’s magical man in black./news/dell-xps-13-review-2018-compact-compromises.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dell-xps-13-review-2018-compact-compromises.htmlIt’s been three years since Dell led the charge for what a modern, ultraportable laptop should look like. The XPS 13 set the standard for compact, no-compromises laptops, with its small footprint, tiny bezels, and full-power performance. Since then, other laptop makers have caught up, with their own tiny-bezel, big-screen designs, cramming ever larger displays into ever smaller chassis. At this point, it seems unfathomable to purchase a laptop with giant borders around its screen./news/dell-xps-15-oled-review-speedy-processor-and-gorgeous-display-but-not-without-faults.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dell-xps-15-oled-review-speedy-processor-and-gorgeous-display-but-not-without-faults.htmlIf I drew up a diagram of the perfect traditional laptop, a maxed-out Dell XPS 15 7590 would come pretty damn close.  On paper, it seems to have everything I might want or need: an octa-core Intel Core i9 processor faster than my current desktop PC, a 15-inch 4K OLED panel bright enough to read outdoors, 64GB of RAM for serious multitasking, 2TB of blazing fast NVMe solid-state storage, and GeForce GTX 1650 graphics potent enough for some portable gaming as well./news/dell-s-new-120hz-ultrawide-monitors-max-out-at-40-inches-and-5k.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dell-s-new-120hz-ultrawide-monitors-max-out-at-40-inches-and-5k.htmlDell has a pair of new ultrawide monitors it’s showing off ahead of CES, the 40-inch UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U4025QW) and the 34-inch UltraSharp 34 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U3425WE). They’re going on sale next month, with the larger model starting at $2,399.99, and the smaller at $1,019.99. Although Dell’s announcement blog post notes that the monitors are targeting the likes of content creators, data scientists, and engineers rather than gamers, both monitors come with gaming-friendly 120Hz refresh rates./news/densha-de-go-train-controller-review-it-s-awesome.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/densha-de-go-train-controller-review-it-s-awesome.htmlImagine if you were really into a video game series, but no one released a controller that let you play it properly for 14 years. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the situation that fans of Densha de Go! found themselves in until recently. Taito’s quirky train-driving franchise has been around since the mid-‘90s across countless systems and devices, but it just isn’t the same if you can’t slam the brakes with a giant lever as you pull into the station 17 seconds late./news/discogs-vibrant-vinyl-community-is-shattering.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/discogs-vibrant-vinyl-community-is-shattering.htmlIf you are a devoted vinyl collector, an obsessive music fan, or — as is often the case — both, Discogs is very nearly a lifestyle. The site has become the internet’s foremost database of recorded music and one of the most extensive marketplaces available for physical music media, with every bit of it generated and offered by users. You can catalog your collection, look up information about even the most obscure artists, cross-check record store prices to see if your local shop has a markup, and purchase records, typically at something close to their “market rate./news/disney-now-owns-21st-century-fox-x-men-and-most-of-hulu.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/disney-now-owns-21st-century-fox-x-men-and-most-of-hulu.htmlThe merger went through at 12:02 am ET, giving Disney full control over a number of 21st Century Fox entities including the company’s entire movie studio division, its 30 percent stake in streaming service Hulu, and the Fox Television Group. The acquisition received final approval from antitrust regulators around the world in recent months. Despite the acquisition, Fox Corp. will retain its independence, and entities like Fox News and Fox Sports in the United States./news/dj-dodger-stadium-s-love-songs-video-is-a-dreamy-drone-trip-with-a-surprise-ending.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dj-dodger-stadium-s-love-songs-video-is-a-dreamy-drone-trip-with-a-surprise-ending.htmlFor their new single Love Songs, LA dance outfit DJ Dodger Stadium filmed a dreamy, beautifully shot music video from the eye of a single drone. As the camera languidly floats above the Westlake section of Los Angeles, the beat plays along with the chant of "Lately I've been singing love songs by myself." You'll have trouble not singing this to yourself for the rest of the day. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnamxfa3xzfo5ub2xqYGh%2FcMPArZqhZaSdtrR5zK6qoptdq7alsc5mnaKknZqxbrXNZphmq5mjtK2xjKyfqKxdrLa1tIyaZJ2qn6Oy/news/drake-s-in-my-feelings-music-video-thanks-the-internet-for-blowing-the-song-up.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/drake-s-in-my-feelings-music-video-thanks-the-internet-for-blowing-the-song-up.htmlBefore social media, the music industry would take an album, pick some singles, and promote what they thought the hits should be. Those vetted songs would then likely be what you’d hear on radio stations and at the club. In 2018, it doesn’t work like that at all: the song of the summer is collectively decided by the fans, meaning that, nowadays, any unassuming tune can take over the airwaves if the internet likes it enough./news/electric-delorean-makes-auto-show-appearance-0-to-60-in-under-6-seconds-for-95-000.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/electric-delorean-makes-auto-show-appearance-0-to-60-in-under-6-seconds-for-95-000.htmlWe first heard about the plans to introduce an all-electric DeLorean into the marketplace back in October, but the prototype car made an appearance at the recent New York Auto Show, bringing some fresh details with it. Autoblog spoke with DeLorean Motor Company president Stephen Wynne, who confirmed that the DMCev is still being targeted for an early 2013 release with an estimated asking price of $95,000. The new DeLorean will be powered by a 32kWh "/news/elizabeth-holmes-found-guilty-of-defrauding-investors.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/elizabeth-holmes-found-guilty-of-defrauding-investors.htmlElizabeth Holmes deliberately misled investors about the capabilities of the blood testing technology at Theranos and is guilty of three counts of wire fraud, a jury found today. She is also guilty of conspiracy to defraud investors with her co-defendant, Sunny Balwani. She faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the counts. The jury found her not guilty of two counts of defrauding patients and not guilty of conspiracy to defraud patients./news/epic-is-offering-a-big-incentive-for-developers-to-bring-older-games-to-its-store.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-is-offering-a-big-incentive-for-developers-to-bring-older-games-to-its-store.htmlEpic Games announced a new program on Monday to try and incentivize developers to bring their older games to the Epic Games Store. Under the new “Now On Epic” program, Epic will give developers 100 percent of the “net revenue from user spending” for six months on products offered through the program, according to a blog post. Typically, Epic offers 88 percent of revenues while keeping 12 percent for itself, and the revenue split will go back to that level after the six months are up./news/facebook-launches-its-collab-music-app-to-the-public.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-launches-its-collab-music-app-to-the-public.htmlFacebook has publicly launched Collab, an experimental music-making app that first launched as an invite-only beta back in May, TechCrunch reports. The app allows users to create short-form music videos by combining up to three independent videos. So, for example, three musicians could each play a different part of a song and combine them into one video. But each video that’s created is also posted to a public “Collab” feed, where people can view and play along with it if they choose./news/facebook-to-buy-instagram-for-1-billion.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-to-buy-instagram-for-1-billion.htmlMark Zuckerberg took to Facebook today to announce that Facebook has agreed to acquire photo-sharing service Instagram for $1 billion in "a combination of cash and shares of Facebook." The entire Instagram team — 6 13 employees — will be joining Facebook, and interestingly, Zuckerberg says that Instagram will be built and grown "independently" and that its integration with other services is an "important part of the experience." Over at the Instagram blog, CEO Kevin Systrom also announced that Instagram had agreed to be acquired, confirming that "/news/fallout-anthology-packs-the-entire-game-series-into-a-collectible-nuclear-bomb.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fallout-anthology-packs-the-entire-game-series-into-a-collectible-nuclear-bomb.htmlFallout 4 is almost upon us, but if you want to catch up on the post-apocalypse, Bethesda has just announced a new collection that bundles together the entire series in one package. Called Fallout Anthology, the collection includes five games: Fallout 1-3, along with spin-offs Fallout Tactics and New Vegas. Both Fallout 3 and New Vegas will include the plentiful expansions and add-ons that have come out since their initial launch./news/fantasian-review-an-adorable-approachable-rpg-on-apple-arcade.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fantasian-review-an-adorable-approachable-rpg-on-apple-arcade.htmlBefore Fantasian launched on Apple Arcade, most of the discussion centered on how it looked. There was a good reason for that. Mistwalker, the studio helmed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, pioneered a new technique that involved crafting more than 150 incredible, charming dioramas, which were then photographed to become the locations you explore in the game. Whether you’re venturing through a wind-swept desert, luxury cruise ship, or robot metropolis, every area you visit in Fantasian was handcrafted from real-world materials./news/for-all-mankind-is-getting-a-fifth-season-and-a-soviet-focused-spinoff.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/for-all-mankind-is-getting-a-fifth-season-and-a-soviet-focused-spinoff.htmlToday, Apple announced that For All Mankind has been renewed for a fifth season that will continue to chronicle the alternate history of a world in which the Soviet Union is the first nation to put a man on the Moon and the United States set out to catch up with its rival. Following the show’s season 4 finale, news of the renewal doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but Apple also revealed that executive producers Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi are working on a new series titled Star City, which will dig deeper into the live of the Soviets who changed the arc of human history./news/ford-slims-down-dealership-ev-requirements-after-pushback.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ford-slims-down-dealership-ev-requirements-after-pushback.htmlFord’s Model E dealership certification program is getting stripped down to allow all locations access to EV inventory. As reported by CNBC, Ford is revising its strategy of requiring dealerships to invest up to $1.2 million for certification that includes mandatory on-site EV chargers, upgrades, and advanced staff training. In an email to The Verge, Ford Model E COO Marin Gjaja wrote that starting July 1st, the company is “expanding EV sales and service to all 2,800 of its US dealers,” which replaces the Model E dealership program first introduced in 2022./news/fortnite-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-world-s-biggest-game-page-7.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-world-s-biggest-game-page-7.htmlThe rules of “protect the president” are simple. First, you squad up with some friends in Fortnite. Then, you pick someone to be the president. Everyone else must do everything in their power to protect that player during the match. If the president dies, everyone loses. For added fun, you can tack on some additional rules. Some players like to make the president a “no-skin,” meaning this player doesn’t get to wear a special costume./news/fossil-q-activist-review-watch-first-smart-second.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fossil-q-activist-review-watch-first-smart-second.htmlFor the past couple of weeks, I've been wearing a Fossil Q Activist, a good-looking $155 watch that has let me track my steps and know when I get a notification. I haven’t had to charge it a single time. The Q Activist, like several other devices in Fossil's Q lineup, is a so-called "hybrid" watch, something that’s not a full-on “smartwatch,” but does more than the typical analog timepiece. It's just barely larger than a regular watch and has no LCD display, instead conveying information the way watches have for hundreds of years: by pointing mechanical arms at numbers./news/gdc-will-stream-some-canceled-talks-on-twitch-next-week.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gdc-will-stream-some-canceled-talks-on-twitch-next-week.htmlThe Game Developers Conference will stream many of the talks it would have aired at its canceled event, organizers announced today. “Thanks to submissions from many of the original speakers who had talks accepted for GDC 2020, organizers will be streaming speaker-recorded versions of the talks they would have given in person, for free all week,” a spokesperson said. The talks will take place when the conference was scheduled, from March 16th through 20th, and stream via Twitch for free from 9AM to 5PM PT./news/giving-robots-personhood-is-actually-about-making-corporations-accountable.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/giving-robots-personhood-is-actually-about-making-corporations-accountable.htmlThe European Union is currently considering the need to redefine the legal status of robots, with a draft report last week suggesting that autonomous bots might, in the future, be granted the status of “electronic persons” — a legal definition that confers certain “rights and obligations.” It sounds like science fiction and that’s because it is: any engineer will tell you we’re a long way from seeing robot marches for civil rights./news/gm-temporarily-shuts-down-north-american-factories-because-of-chip-shortage.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gm-temporarily-shuts-down-north-american-factories-because-of-chip-shortage.htmlGeneral Motors, parent company of Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick, said it was temporarily halting production at six of its North American factories as a result of the global chip shortage. It’s the latest major automaker to be affected by the tight supply of essential computer chips. Four of GM’s US-based plants will be affected: Fort Wayne, Indiana; Wentzville, Missouri; Spring Hill, Tennessee; and Lansing, Michigan. Four other factories in Mexico and Canada will also go dark for several weeks as GM works to shore up its supply of chips./news/google-bans-advertisers-from-promoting-deepfake-porn-services.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-bans-advertisers-from-promoting-deepfake-porn-services.htmlGoogle has had a longstanding ban on sexually explicit ads — but until now, the company hasn’t banned advertisers from promoting services that people can use to make deepfake porn and other forms of generated nudes. That’s about to change. Google currently prohibits advertisers from promoting “sexually explicit content,” which Google defines as “text, image, audio, or video of graphic sexual acts intended to arouse.” The new policy now bans the advertisement of services that help users create that type of content as well, whether by altering a person’s image or generating a new one./news/google-lets-you-specify-recipe-searches-with-suggested-flavors-and-ingredients.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-lets-you-specify-recipe-searches-with-suggested-flavors-and-ingredients.htmlIn an effort to help narrow down food recipe searches to get you away from the smartphone and into the kitchen, Google is updating its algorithm to help you find the exact recipe you need based on cooking method, flavors, and ingredients. A search for “Thai curry,” for example, lets you specify whether you were looking for green or red curry, or with chicken or tofu. You can click multiple tabs to really nail down the recipe you want, such as “red curry” and “shrimp./news/google-s-selfish-ledger-ideas-can-be-found-in-its-patent-applications.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-selfish-ledger-ideas-can-be-found-in-its-patent-applications.htmlI trust by now we’ve all seen and been at least a little disturbed by The Selfish Ledger, the nearly 9-minute-long concept video from inside Google’s “moonshot factory” X labs. In the wake of it becoming public this week, Google quickly disavowed the video, claiming it was just a thought experiment “not related to any current or future products.” And yet, the company’s patent applications exhibit a mode of thinking that runs at least in parallel, if not on the exact same tracks, as The Selfish Ledger’s total data collection proposal./news/gran-turismo-chief-says-devs-are-looking-into-a-pc-port.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/gran-turismo-chief-says-devs-are-looking-into-a-pc-port.htmlGran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi isn’t ruling out a PC port for the long-running racing sim franchise. In an interview with GTPlanet (via Eurogamer) during the Gran Turismo World Finals on Sunday, Yamauchi told the outlet that the Polyphony Digital development team is “looking into” bringing the series from PlayStation to PC. “Gran Turismo is a very finely tuned title,” Yamauchi told GTPlanet, while also expressing some concern about getting the game to consistently run in 4K at 60 frames per second across all platforms./news/guerrilla-games-is-shutting-down-multiplayer-servers-for-two-killzone-games.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/guerrilla-games-is-shutting-down-multiplayer-servers-for-two-killzone-games.htmlGuerrilla Games, the Sony-owned studio most recently known for Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, is shutting down online multiplayer for three games in August (via Polygon). The shutdowns, which will happen on August 12th, will affect Killzone: Mercenary, Killzone Shadow Fall, and Rigs: Mechanized Combat League. Both of the Killzone games first launched in 2013, with Killzone: Mercenary coming out on the PlayStation Vita and Killzone Shadow Fall releasing for the PlayStation 4./news/guillermo-del-toro-s-cabinet-of-curiosities-review-eclectic-horror-on-netflix.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/guillermo-del-toro-s-cabinet-of-curiosities-review-eclectic-horror-on-netflix.htmlWhen you put Guillermo del Toro’s name on something, it invites certain expectations. Whether he’s making superhero movies or gothic romance stories, the director’s works all share certain sensibilities: a love of outcasts, incredible attention to detail, a seamless marriage of high and pop culture, and lots of really cool monsters. That all remains true in Cabinet of Curiosities, a horror anthology on Netflix. But it’s also much more than that: while del Toro’s name is in the title, he’s enlisted a carefully curated group of directors, writers, and actors to bring each story to life./news/hacking-your-body-lance-armstrong-and-the-science-of-doping.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hacking-your-body-lance-armstrong-and-the-science-of-doping.htmlBy now it's widely known that Lance Armstrong finally admitted to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that will air tonight and tomorrow. Armstrong's confession is notable in part because no athlete has fought charges of doping as hard as he has, from public denials to libel suits as well as informal intimidation of teammates, rivals, co-conspirators, and outsiders. But although the two-part interview, spanning two and a half hours, is advertised as having no restrictions, it's unlikely that Winfrey and Armstrong will spend much time explaining the science and technology behind sports doping to the world./news/hasbro-acquires-d-d-beyond-from-fandom-for-146-3-million-in-cash.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hasbro-acquires-d-d-beyond-from-fandom-for-146-3-million-in-cash.htmlD&D Beyond is the digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons, where users can create characters and run campaigns with fellow players. It’s also where players can buy digital versions of Dungeons & Dragons books, in addition to the subscription fees. Wizards of the Coast is promising that all purchases made, characters created, and campaigns run are not going anywhere. The all-cash acquisition is, however, still subject to regulatory approvals. You may have assumed that D&D Beyond was produced and owned by the Dungeons & Dragons owners all along, but it was operated by Fandom, the hosting service for nerdy wikis like Wookieepedia and this one for Elden Ring./news/hbo-is-in-talks-for-a-watchmen-tv-series-with-lost-co-creator-damon-lindelof.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-is-in-talks-for-a-watchmen-tv-series-with-lost-co-creator-damon-lindelof.htmlIt’s not the first time that Watchmen — written by Alan Moore, with art by Dave Gibbons — has been adapted for screen. Director Zack Snyder turned out his take on the story in 2009, giving it lavish slow-mo shots and receiving mixed reviews in the process. HBO, too, tried in 2014 to get a Watchmen TV project off the ground in 2014, apparently speaking to Snyder about a deal in discussions that eventually fell apart./news/hello-there-here-s-jason-statham-dancing-in-leopard-print-underwear.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hello-there-here-s-jason-statham-dancing-in-leopard-print-underwear.htmlBefore Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Before Snatch. Before the Transporter series. Before the Crank series. Before Furious 7... Jason Statham was a scantily-clad go-go dancer. Here, in the video for EDM sensation (because they were obviously a sensation) The Shamen's "Comin' On," Deckard Shaw himself sways to the rhythm of the cosmos. The '90s were great. Have a good day, everybody. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnam1faXxyg45xa21qZ26AcLbArKanZaOprrW0wKZknZmemLavs4xyZ6xlp6TE/news/here-s-how-much-google-says-it-d-cost-to-fulfill-epic-s-biggest-demands.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-how-much-google-says-it-d-cost-to-fulfill-epic-s-biggest-demands.htmlHow much would it cost Google to let third-party app stores like the Epic Games Store live inside its own Google Play Store, with access to every Android app? Google says the reputational damage can’t be calculated — but that it’d take 12 to 18 months and upwards of $60 million to build and maintain the technical underpinnings. We’re still waiting to find out what Epic actually won in its surprise victory against Google last December, after a jury decided the Google Play app store and Google Play Billing are illegal monopolies — but we know what Epic wants./news/here-s-what-s-coming-to-super-nintendo-world-at-universal-orlando.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-what-s-coming-to-super-nintendo-world-at-universal-orlando.htmlThe Super Nintendo World area opening at Universal Studios in Orlando next year will include every attraction from the existing theme parks in Hollywood and Japan — including the first Donkey Kong Country realm in the US. That’s according to Universal’s latest teaser for its fourth Orlando-based park, Epic Universe, which provides some clarity over what guests can expect on opening day in 2025. Universal Orlando will also host the first Yoshi’s Adventure ride outside of Japan, an interactive family-focused experience that combines ridable Yoshi-shaped buggies with a treasure hunt for glowing eggs./news/here-s-xiaomi-s-voice-assistant-xiao-ai.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/here-s-xiaomi-s-voice-assistant-xiao-ai.htmlXiaomi has uploaded an English-subtitled video demonstrating Xiao AI, a voice assistant built specifically for Xiaomi phones. As you’ll see, it’s pretty similar in scope to the likes of Siri and Google Assistant, but is clearly tailored for the Chinese market with hooks into WeChat and so on.  Xiao AI is preloaded on the new Mi Mix 2S, according to a Xiaomi spokesperson, and can also now be used on other Xiaomi phones with an update to the Chinese version of the MIUI software./news/homekit-makes-ikea-s-cheap-buttons-and-motion-sensors-much-more-powerful.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/homekit-makes-ikea-s-cheap-buttons-and-motion-sensors-much-more-powerful.htmlIkea’s new $9.99 / €7.99 / £6 Trådfri Shortcut Buttons and existing $14.99 / €12.95 / £12 Trådfri Motion Sensors recently gained HomeKit support to the delight of many Apple device owners. Importantly, the addition is cumulative for the most part, allowing the Ikea devices to function with the best features of Ikea Home Smart while layering on the best of Apple. I’ve been testing both Ikea Home Smart devices for the past few days and while setup is predictably buggy, when they’re up and running it’s glorious, especially for the price./news/how-space-jam-proves-the-internet-is-a-time-capsule.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-space-jam-proves-the-internet-is-a-time-capsule.htmlWhether you're promoting a new movie, an event, or a presidential campaign, you need a website. But what happens to those sites once the publicity drive is over? As Wired reveals, many promotional sites are still running. The site for the 1996 Michael Jordan/Looney Tunes crossover Space Jam is perhaps the pick of the bunch. Jam-packed with GIFs, sound bites, HTML frames, and even a replacement browser icon ("unfortunately, this only works on a Macintosh running Netscape; sorry, Windows users"/news/how-domesticated-dogs-made-serengeti-lions-sick.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-domesticated-dogs-made-serengeti-lions-sick.htmlA virus that originated in dogs jumped to lions — and no longer requires dogs in order to spread among the big cats. The finding provides a case study of how diseases jump between species and has raised concerns about the role viruses play in extinction threats. Canine distemper virus, a relative of measles, was once thought not to cause disease in cats — until outbreaks among zoo animals in the 1990s suggested otherwise./news/how-the-team-behind-titanfall-2-built-a-titan-you-ll-actually-care-about.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-the-team-behind-titanfall-2-built-a-titan-you-ll-actually-care-about.htmlTitanfall takes place in a war-torn future, a place where human pilots ride around in giant mech suits called titans to do battle. It’s a grim place, and the titans are seen as powerful weapons, ones that can change the tide of a skirmish almost instantly. The original Titanfall used this setup as the basis for a multiplayer action game, and the sequel is hoping to build on that by adding a proper single-player story./news/how-to-mute-people-on-instagram.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-mute-people-on-instagram.htmlTired of comparing your behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel on Instagram? (To quote Steven Furtick.) The social network has its charms, but for many, it can be a place that’s littered with envy-inducing photos and videos of everybody else’s “perfect” lives. If you’re not careful, it can trigger all sorts of insecurities — sometimes even to the detriment of your mental health. That’s why it’s important to be mindful of the type of Instagram content you’re consuming on a daily basis./news/how-to-set-up-a-pixelbook-for-programming.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-set-up-a-pixelbook-for-programming.htmlWell, I've really done it. I've taken a pure and unsullied Google Pixelbook, which at one time was fast and secure in all ways, and made it into a crashy mess. My crime? The desire to code. I'm going to walk you through my process for converting this machine into something that's marginally desirable for programming, but I just wanted to warn you before I begin: this isn't easy, clean, intuitive, or practical./news/how-to-set-up-sleep-schedules-in-ios.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-set-up-sleep-schedules-in-ios.htmlWith iOS 14, Apple introduced the ability to set your sleep schedules in the Health app. The feature itself isn’t too complicated. You figure out how many hours you ideally want to get every night, then set a scheduled bedtime and wake time that suits that goal. Of course, you could always just set up a one-time or repeating alarm within the Clock app. The main reason why you’d opt for a sleep schedule instead is that it allows you to set a specific goal and more easily automate a sleep routine./news/how-to-upgrade-from-windows-7-to-windows-10-for-free.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-upgrade-from-windows-7-to-windows-10-for-free.htmlEditor’s note, October 2023: Microsoft originally announced that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade from Windows 7 for the first year only. That was back in 2015, yet the company wound up accepting Windows 7 keys for free Windows 10 and even Windows 11 upgrades for over eight years. But you can no longer do this — Microsoft finally closed the loophole this week. This has been one of the most popular How To guides we’ve ever written, so we’re leaving it below for posterity./news/how-to-use-magic-eraser-on-google-pixel-6-pixel-6-pro-and-pixel-6a.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-use-magic-eraser-on-google-pixel-6-pixel-6-pro-and-pixel-6a.htmlIt doesn’t take much to ruin an otherwise great photo. That could mean there’s someone you don’t want in the background or a distracting, brightly colored object behind your subject that you didn’t see when you snapped the shutter. Removing these uninvited guests from images usually takes time, expensive software, and advanced knowledge of photo retouching. If you’re short on any of the above, Google wants to help — that is, if you have a current Pixel./news/how-to-use-snap-camera-to-become-a-cat-or-anything-else-on-zoom.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-use-snap-camera-to-become-a-cat-or-anything-else-on-zoom.htmlThe latest absurd YouTube video to do the rounds is that of a lawyer named Rod Ponton who accidentally attended a civil hearing on Zoom wearing a cat filter (and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off). While we’re not absolutely sure where Mr. Ponton’s filter came from (according to an article from the BBC, it’s an old app called Live Cam Avatar that used to be preinstalled on some Dell computers), there is at least one app out there called Snap Camera that will let you turn yourself into a variety of on-camera creatures./news/how-to-watch-this-morning-s-tiktok-ban-hearing.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-watch-this-morning-s-tiktok-ban-hearing.htmlTikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before Congress for the first time on Thursday, facing some of his app’s most dogged opponents in an attempt to mitigate a nationwide ban attempt. For more than three years, TikTok has been operating under the threat of a potential ban in the US. Now, with more than 150 million American users, the threats have escalated into legislation and an ultimatum from the Biden administration./news/how-to-turn-off-windows-aging-activity-tracker.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-turn-off-windows-aging-activity-tracker.htmlYou may see Microsoft’s upcoming Recall feature, which screenshots everything you do (and has now become an opt-in feature) as a convenient way to keep an eye on your history or a problematic privacy violation. However, it’s not the first time your activity on a Windows computer will have been recorded. Activity history may still be enabled in Windows 11, even though Timeline has disappeared. Screenshot: Microsoft It’s a simple matter to see if the tracker is still there and enabled — and then to disable it./news/how-twitter-s-child-porn-problem-ruined-its-plans-for-an-onlyfans-competitor.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-twitter-s-child-porn-problem-ruined-its-plans-for-an-onlyfans-competitor.htmlIn the spring of 2022, Twitter considered making a radical change to the platform. After years of quietly allowing adult content on the service, the company would monetize it. The proposal: give adult content creators the ability to begin selling OnlyFans-style paid subscriptions, with Twitter keeping a share of the revenue. Had the project been approved, Twitter would have risked a massive backlash from advertisers, who generate the vast majority of the company’s revenues./news/hp-omen-x-emperium-65-review-big-screen-big-compromises.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hp-omen-x-emperium-65-review-big-screen-big-compromises.htmlFor years, you’ve been torn between gaming in your living room and gaming at your desk. The living room has been the domain of consoles, big screens, and in-person multiplayer sessions, while your desk is the world of PC gaming, with high-end graphics and pinpoint peripheral precision. While it’s certainly been possible to plug a gaming PC into your TV and use a wireless mouse and keyboard to bring that experience into the living room, gaming this way has never been as good as at your desk, thanks to your TV simply not being a gaming monitor./news/i-was-taken-for-a-ride-by-canon-s-8k-experience.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/i-was-taken-for-a-ride-by-canon-s-8k-experience.htmlUltra high-resolution video should make the viewer feel as if they were part of the action, or, in Canon’s words, "simulate a physical experience." It’s this philosophy that went into the interactive 8K Ride Experience in Canon’s booth at CES 2016. Held in a small makeshift screening room in front of three large projector screens, the two-minute experience left me wondering what I had missed that was supposed to make me feel things./news/indian-farmers-streamed-fake-pro-cricket-matches-to-russian-bettors-for-two-weeks.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/indian-farmers-streamed-fake-pro-cricket-matches-to-russian-bettors-for-two-weeks.htmlA group of Indian farmers set up a fake Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament so convincing that they managed to trick a Russian audience into making real bets. According to a report from the Times of India, the fake games took place on a farm in the village of Gujarat, with 21 farm laborers and unemployed teens who were each paid 400 rupees (~$5 USD) and tasked with impersonating “pro” cricket players from well-known Indian teams./news/inside-specialized-s-quest-to-build-the-friendliest-most-capable-e-bike-ever-made.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/inside-specialized-s-quest-to-build-the-friendliest-most-capable-e-bike-ever-made.htmlFor Specialized, the Globe brand name has largely been hit-or-miss.  The bike maker first launched Globe as a subbrand in the early 1990s with a focus on short-distance commuters and city bikes. It was able to grab headlines and television coverage on shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show but never really took off with dealers or the buying public. It was relaunched in 2010 with a more targeted effort aimed at discerning urban cyclists — but was discontinued soon after./news/instagram-for-android-now-available.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-for-android-now-available.htmlJust a few weeks after teasing an Android app at SXSW, Instagram just announced that it's making an Android version of its app available today in the Google Play Store. According to Instagram, over 430,000 Android users had signed up for the app on the company's waiting list a week and a half ago. Since its launch in 2010, the app has been an iOS exclusive, and today after years of waiting, it's finally up as a free public download./news/intel-s-core-ultra-cpus-are-here-and-they-all-come-with-silicon-dedicated-to-ai.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/intel-s-core-ultra-cpus-are-here-and-they-all-come-with-silicon-dedicated-to-ai.htmlIntel is taking the wraps off its next generation of CPUs. During its AI Everywhere event on Thursday, Intel revealed all the details on the Core Ultra — no longer Core “i” — mobile processors that will be part of its Meteor Lake lineup, promising better power efficiency and performance thanks to a new setup that splits tasks across different chiplets. Intel says its Core Ultra 7 165H chip offers an 11 percent improvement in multi-threading performance when compared to competing laptop processors, like the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, and Apple’s in-house M3 chip./news/ios-15-1-s-first-beta-suggests-we-could-see-shareplay-soon.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ios-15-1-s-first-beta-suggests-we-could-see-shareplay-soon.htmlSharePlay has returned in the iOS 15.1 beta, according to 9to5Mac, after Apple delayed the major iOS 15 feature to “later this fall” instead of having it launch alongside the OS upgrade as planned. It’s not the only feature that’s hasn’t made it to release yet, but it could be a useful one during the ongoing pandemic — it lets you watch videos, screen share, or listen to music with other people over a FaceTime call./news/just-look-at-this-utterly-out-of-control-custom-donkey-kong-pc.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/just-look-at-this-utterly-out-of-control-custom-donkey-kong-pc.htmlEvery year, PC gear company Thermaltake brings a bunch of custom-built gaming PCs to Computex Taipei. They can get pretty wild, but the company has seriously outdone itself this time. Witness this astonishing work of art, credited to ThermalMike: Yes, since you ask, that is a Donkey Kong-themed PC inside a modded Tower 900 case with colored liquid coolant representing the classic arcade game's girders and ladders. Well played, ThermalMike./news/juul-s-imitators-are-copying-the-popular-vape-s-high-nicotine-levels.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/juul-s-imitators-are-copying-the-popular-vape-s-high-nicotine-levels.htmlThe popularity of Juul and its high-nicotine pods is driving up nicotine levels across the vaping industry in what Stanford researchers are calling a “nicotine arms race,” according to a new study. The findings back up suspicions that Juul’s competitors are watching the vaping giant closely to capitalize on the largely unregulated multi-billion-dollar e-cigarette market. Researchers with Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising investigated the nicotine levels that Juul imitators advertised./news/kindle-touch-review-the-verge.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/kindle-touch-review-the-verge.htmlUnlike some products (the Droid line, for instance), the Kindle seems more staid design-wise with every generational refresh. The last generation (now known as the Kindle Keyboard, still available for $99), a minimal, razor-thin work of art, might've been Amazon's peak. There's nothing wrong with the Kindle Touch's looks, they're just plain. Amazon might argue that this is all about making the device "disappear" while you read a book, which certainly still holds true, but there's minimal perfection and there's just bland./news/kohler-s-numi-2-0-smart-toilet-has-alexa-inside-and-is-coming-soon.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/kohler-s-numi-2-0-smart-toilet-has-alexa-inside-and-is-coming-soon.htmlHave you ever sat on the toilet, pondering your day, using your phone even though that’s kind of gross to do on the john, avoiding everyone in the house, and thought, “I wish Alexa was in here with me?” That is, what I assume, the designers of the Kohler Numi 2.0 Smart Toilet were thinking when they made this $11,500 toilet that has Alexa inside. Kohler first showed off the Numi 2./news/lego-isn-t-just-for-kids-the-latest-news-for-nostalgic-adult-budgets-page-3.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lego-isn-t-just-for-kids-the-latest-news-for-nostalgic-adult-budgets-page-3.htmlTipping away the moments that make up a dull day This is, to me, a perfect Lego video — just a person putting bricks together to make a fun and clever idea, then showing it in action. PS: if anyone wants to take this concept and slow it down to make a clock, that would be extremely cool. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtqcHFjbYVxe8uenqhlkZnCrcDSZq6epJOkuqZ5zZ6uZquVqcBuv9OoqbKrpKeyormOmqmcoJmrsrR7kg%3D%3D/news/lexisnexis-wades-into-the-privacy-fight-over-section-702.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lexisnexis-wades-into-the-privacy-fight-over-section-702.htmlCongress has been trying to crack down on data brokers — and the data brokers are fighting back. In late March, the House unanimously passed a bill that would prevent Americans’ data from being sold to foreign adversaries. And an amendment on data collection is mixed up in the bill reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the controversial statute that authorizes the National Security Agency, which expires later this month./news/lg-wants-to-reinvent-how-you-think-of-tv-picture-modes.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-wants-to-reinvent-how-you-think-of-tv-picture-modes.htmlSetting up a new TV? Ask any videophile or home theater nerd and they’ll probably tell you to set your picture mode to the movie/cinema option (or whatever’s closest on your particular TV) and leave it there. Traditionally, this has been the most color accurate option and leans toward a pleasant, warm white balance instead of the cooler temperature that usually accompanies “standard” modes. But there are inevitably those people who prefer the standard or vivid settings — much to the chagrin of enthusiasts./news/lg-s-groundbreaking-roll-up-tv-is-going-on-sale-this-year.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-s-groundbreaking-roll-up-tv-is-going-on-sale-this-year.htmlIt’s been a year since we saw LG Display’s 65-inch rollable TV prototype at CES, and now LG Electronics is bringing it to market as the company’s flagship 4K OLED TV for 2019. The finished Signature OLED TV R that consumers will be able to buy sometime this spring — for an astronomical, premium price — is quite similar to that prototype, but LG has refined the base station and added a 100-watt Dolby Atmos speaker for powerful built-in audio./news/lg-s-new-true-wireless-earbuds-have-a-privacy-conscious-whispering-mode.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-s-new-true-wireless-earbuds-have-a-privacy-conscious-whispering-mode.htmlLG’s new Tone Free FP true wireless earbuds feature a “Whispering Mode” where you can hold the right earbud next to your mouth during calls to use it as a dedicated microphone. It’s a neat privacy-conscious feature for those moments when you don’t want to have to speak loudly enough for the sound to be picked up by the earbuds in your ears.  There are three new earbuds in the lineup — the FP5, FP8, and FP9 — and they share a lot of the same specs./news/lg-s-oled-tvs-are-discounted-in-time-for-super-bowl-2019.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-s-oled-tvs-are-discounted-in-time-for-super-bowl-2019.htmlLG’s 4K OLED televisions boast excellent picture quality and far richer contrast than LED is capable of, and in time for Super Bowl LIII, you can find the 55- and 65-inch B8 slightly discounted at several retailers. At Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy, the 55-inch B8 is sitting right around the $1,500 mark (it has been hovering around $1,600 for the past few weeks.) If you want the 65-inch model, you’ll pay $2,300 instead of the usual $2,600 price point we’ve seen it at previously./news/lg-s-other-transparent-tv-is-the-one-i-want-in-my-living-room.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-s-other-transparent-tv-is-the-one-i-want-in-my-living-room.htmlLG’s other transparent TV is the one I want in my living room. LG’s DukeBox is pitched as a modern-day jukebox, but in person, it’s got much more potential. A smooth-sounding 3D audio speaker with a 30-inch transparent OLED display that lets you see its retro-style insides and displays album art, the DukeBox is also a TV. The music controls on the screen are just for show — it’s not a touch screen./news/loki-season-2-finale-review-finding-meaning-in-all-the-madness.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/loki-season-2-finale-review-finding-meaning-in-all-the-madness.htmlLoki season 2 has often felt more like a whimsical staging ground for Marvel’s next big crossover event than an extradimensional character study of its eponymous trickster god. From its very first episode, though, Loki’s made clear that for all of its timeline-hopping and timey-wimey-ness, it has always been a story about Loki finally discovering his true purpose after multiple lifetimes of not knowing who or what he wanted to be./news/mark-zuckerberg-on-why-facebook-is-rebranding-to-meta.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mark-zuckerberg-on-why-facebook-is-rebranding-to-meta.htmlFor the first time in 17 years, Mark Zuckerberg has a new job title. On Thursday, he officially became the CEO and chairman of Meta, the new parent company name for Facebook. The rebrand is about solidifying the social media giant as being about the metaverse, which Zuckerberg sees as the future of the internet. Zuckerberg is staying in control of everything. He told me in an interview that, unlike the founders of Google who stepped aside in 2015 when it became part of a holding company called Alphabet, he has no plans to give up the top job./news/marvel-s-working-with-zombies-run-team-on-a-superhero-fitness-app.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/marvel-s-working-with-zombies-run-team-on-a-superhero-fitness-app.htmlSuperhero-themed fitness plans and classes have been on the internet for ages, but this summer, Zombies, Run! creator Six to Start is collaborating with Marvel to launch a new fitness app featuring your favorite comic book superheroes. The forthcoming app, dubbed Marvel Move, will feature a series of immersive audio-based running plans starring popular characters ranging from Thor and his mischievous brother Loki to the X-Men. The app will cost $74./news/meta-quest-headsets-will-finally-stop-requiring-a-facebook-account.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-quest-headsets-will-finally-stop-requiring-a-facebook-account.htmlMeta is introducing a new account system for its virtual reality headsets, changing a 2020 requirement that most users log in with Facebook. The new “Meta accounts” don’t require users to sign up for Facebook, and they come with a slew of other updates to Meta’s VR social interface. Meta accounts will start rolling out in August 2022 for new and existing Quest users. If you’ve been using a Facebook account with a Quest headset (including a Facebook account merged with an earlier Oculus account), you’ll need to create a Meta account and related profile that month./news/microsoft-can-t-explain-why-its-surface-tablet-needs-a-pen.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-can-t-explain-why-its-surface-tablet-needs-a-pen.htmlWhat can you do in 30 seconds? If it’s an advertisement for the Surface, the answer is: a lot. For the past two years, Microsoft has been showing the tablet running the full version of Office, editing photos in Adobe Photoshop, and converting into either a tablet or a notebook on the fly. But one thing Microsoft hasn’t been able to do very well in 30 seconds is explain why the Surface needs a stylus, which in an era of stroking our screens has long seemed antiquated./news/microsoft-would-like-to-remind-you-the-xbox-definitely-makes-money.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-would-like-to-remind-you-the-xbox-definitely-makes-money.htmlA Microsoft executive has admitted that the company doesn’t earn any profit on sales of Xbox consoles alone. The admission came as part of the Epic v. Apple trial yesterday, confirming what we’ve known for years: Microsoft sells Xbox consoles at a loss. Asked how much margin Microsoft makes on Xbox consoles, the company’s head of Xbox business development, Lori Wright, said, “We don’t; we sell the consoles at a loss./news/mill-kitchen-bin-review-trying-to-save-the-planet-and-feed-the-chickens.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mill-kitchen-bin-review-trying-to-save-the-planet-and-feed-the-chickens.htmlAt around 1AM on Sunday morning, my partner sat bolt upright in bed and whispered urgently, “There’s someone in the kitchen!” After listening sleepily for a few seconds to the muffled clunking noise, I replied, “No, there’s not; that’s just the smart bin eating an avocado pit.”  For most couples, this would have necessitated a further middle-of-the-night conversation, but for my long-suffering spouse, the word “smart” was all he needed to hear to roll his eyes and huffily go back to sleep./news/minecraft-education-is-perfectly-suited-for-this-surreal-back-to-school-moment.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/minecraft-education-is-perfectly-suited-for-this-surreal-back-to-school-moment.htmlWhen the pandemic hit this spring, a lot of teachers turned to Minecraft during their mad scramble for tools that could make remote learning work. Earlier this year, Microsoft added an “education” section to the Minecraft marketplace, and since March, 63 million pieces of content have been downloaded. While Minecraft: Education Edition isn’t new, its digital nature makes it an almost ideal tool for this strange time. It allows for multiplayer activities, is available on a large range of devices, and — perhaps most importantly — is something kids already enjoy doing./news/more-youtube-premium-plans-are-coming.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/more-youtube-premium-plans-are-coming.htmlYouTube is working on new plans for its YouTube Premium subscriptions, the company said in a community post on Thursday. “We’re committed to bringing members more plan options by expanding our existing offers to more regions, while also introducing new plans and exploring ways for you to share your benefits with friends in the future,” according to a post from a YouTube team member identified as Hazel. Currently, there are only a handful of YouTube Premium plans: Individual for $13./news/motorola-defy-review-the-verge.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/motorola-defy-review-the-verge.htmlNothing much has changed over the original Defy, though Motorola has ditched the two-tone coloring, making the Defy+ only available in black. The candybar-styled handset is comfortable to hold, with a curved back aiding its ergonomics. A 3.7-inch display and capacitive buttons take up the majority of the Gorilla Glass face, with the earpiece and notification light above the display. The four buttons on the front panel are sensitive, respond quickly to touches, and lack any of the uncertainty we found with the similarly-specced Motorola Admiral./news/movano-s-smart-ring-is-the-rare-ces-gadget-that-will-actually-ship.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/movano-s-smart-ring-is-the-rare-ces-gadget-that-will-actually-ship.htmlThere’s always a certain degree of vaporware at CES. It comes with the territory — especially when we’re talking about ambitious health tech that requires regulatory clearance. So it was really neat that after two years, I got to actually hold Movano’s Evie smart ring in my hands ahead of the first wave of units shipping out to customers later this month. The Evie Ring’s approach to health tracking has a twist./news/murfie-stored-thousands-of-customers-cds-then-suddenly-disappeared.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/murfie-stored-thousands-of-customers-cds-then-suddenly-disappeared.htmlLast month, almost a million CDs stored in Wisconsin seemed to disappear. For years, thousands of people paid a Madison-based company, named Murfie, to rip, stream, and store their CDs, vinyl, and cassettes. But a few weeks ago, Murfie’s website went offline and nearly all communication from the company ceased. Now, customers fear their physical music collections may be lost forever. Murfie’s main service was digitizing people’s audio CDs for high-fidelity cloud playback./news/nerf-s-new-ultra-blasters-shoot-farther-than-ever-before-but-there-s-a-catch.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nerf-s-new-ultra-blasters-shoot-farther-than-ever-before-but-there-s-a-catch.htmlThe next time you get pegged with a Nerf dart, it might be from an incredible 120 feet away — because Hasbro’s new Ultra One blaster, coming October 1st for $49.99, is boasting ranges we’ve never seen from an unmodified blaster thanks to a completely redesigned dart with new stabilizing fins. It could be the single most important change to Nerf blasters in years, since range has always been a limiting factor in Nerf wars./news/new-trailers-the-green-knight-wish-dragon-venom-2-and-more.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-trailers-the-green-knight-wish-dragon-venom-2-and-more.htmlSo since The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t dark enough (honestly give us something, show writers), I also started watching Mare of Easttown (HBO Max) and over the weekend watched The Woman in the Window (fine, gritty anti-heroines are my thing, I guess). Mare is so far reminding me a lot of Broadchurch, another not-very-uplifting but great show, and Kate Winslet is going all-in on the accent and the look. But wow what a disappointment The Woman in the Window was./news/ninja-s-first-book-isn-t-literature-it-s-a-brand-extension.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ninja-s-first-book-isn-t-literature-it-s-a-brand-extension.htmlWhile I paged through Ninja’s first book — with its few words sandwiched between high-gloss promotional photos and charts — I got the distinct feeling that I was consuming something from the future. The book, Get Good: My Ultimate Guide to Gaming, is itself gamified; it has a progress bar, for example, near the page numbers that’s akin to the one under most videos online. The text is big and pops, as they say, and the pages are broken up with the kind of interesting graphic design that you used to find inside of books at Urban Outfitters./news/nokia-2720-flip-will-go-on-sale-may-20.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nokia-2720-flip-will-go-on-sale-may-20.htmlHave you been dreaming of consciously uncoupling from your smartphone? Ready to embrace a digital detox lifestyle but want to stay connected to your friends? Are you nostalgic for the days of tapping out messages in T9? Dream no more — HMD’s Nokia-branded 2720 Flip is arriving in the US soon. It’s an updated take on the classic flip phone, offering 4G connectivity and compatibility with modern apps like WhatsApp, Google Maps, and Facebook./news/nope-printed-books-aren-t-going-out-of-style.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nope-printed-books-aren-t-going-out-of-style.htmlAs Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble launched their respective eBook readers in 2007 and 2010, there were many who rushed to predict that the printed book would soon be meeting an untimely end. New data from the Pew Research Center now suggests that your standard paper, ink, and glue novel has considerable staying power with consumers. Pew’s study surveyed readers, and found that while the total number of Americans who had read a book in the past year had dipped slightly (73 percent, down from 74 percent in 2012), the number of readers who read a printed book had essentially remained the same, at 65 percent./news/oneplus-6t-gets-november-6th-release-date.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/oneplus-6t-gets-november-6th-release-date.htmlOver the last three years, OnePlus has followed a similar schedule for the release of its handsets. The first half of the year sees the release of a numbered phone (the OnePlus 3 in 2016, OnePlus 5 in 2017 and OnePlus 6 in 2018), while the company tends to follow these with a second device in the latter half of the year that has a “T” suffix. Changes made with these devices has varied./news/onrush-review-a-brilliantly-weird-racing-game-that-isn-t-about-racing.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/onrush-review-a-brilliantly-weird-racing-game-that-isn-t-about-racing.htmlThe best mode in Onrush, a new game from the ex-Sony team that made MotorStorm and Driveclub, is one of those ideas so decadent in design it’s a wonder it works at all, let alone as well as it does. Remember arcade racing games with checkpoint timers? Imagine that, except you’re on a team sharing a timer, battling against another team sharing another timer. You drive through gates across wide-open tracks to top up your team's clock a few precious seconds at a time, all the while trying to take out members of the other team Burnout-style so their timer runs out first./news/paper-mario-the-origami-king-review-a-hilarious-rpg-for-the-switch.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/paper-mario-the-origami-king-review-a-hilarious-rpg-for-the-switch.htmlSuper Mario’s roleplaying adventures have always been playful twists on the genre. RPGs can be uptight, all melodrama and end-of-the-world theatrics. But games like Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi series took what made RPGs great — the strategic battles, lengthy adventures, and vast stories — and infused them with humor and charm. Paper Mario: The Origami King continues this tradition but updates it in lots of clever ways./news/paul-mccartney-saved-the-earth-we-re-good-now.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/paul-mccartney-saved-the-earth-we-re-good-now.htmlYou know what I would really like for Christmas? I would really like it if someone saved the Earth. Not in a superhero, there's aliens attacking, the horsemen of the apocalypse are riding way — in a very low-key, unimposing, pseudoscience-y way. For instance, I would like Paul McCartney (who you may remember from Wings) to film a music video with a baker's dozen of D-list famous people, and then explain to everyone how we can save the Earth from climate change by "/news/pok%C3%A9mon-violet-and-scarlet-review-the-open-worlds-the-series-has-been-building-to.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pok%C3%A9mon-violet-and-scarlet-review-the-open-worlds-the-series-has-been-building-to.htmlThe Pokémon games evolve at a leisurely pace. This can be frustrating for fans looking for the latest and greatest but does make it easier to chart how the games progress over time. Take the series’ relatively recent fixation with offering players an open world. It started small, with Pokémon Sword and Shield adding a wild area in 2019 that let players freely explore. At the beginning of this year came Legends: Arceus, a spinoff that divided its world into huge chunks full of wildlife and secrets./news/ring-reportedly-outed-camera-owners-to-police-with-a-heat-map.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ring-reportedly-outed-camera-owners-to-police-with-a-heat-map.htmlAmazon-owned home surveillance company Ring gave law enforcement a heat map that let police see all devices installed in an area, allowing them to view users down to the street level, according to a new report from CNET. Feature was removed in July While the feature was removed in July, law enforcement could reportedly use the function to search for the concentration of cameras in a neighborhood, and even see circles drawn around individual user locations./news/ring-s-virtual-security-guard-lets-you-pay-someone-to-watch-your-feeds.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ring-s-virtual-security-guard-lets-you-pay-someone-to-watch-your-feeds.htmlRing revealed its latest ambitious security product today: real-life people watching over your home. Taking the concept of monitored security to the next level, Ring’s Virtual Security Guard is a new subscription service that lets agents at a professional monitoring center respond to specific motion alerts on any outdoor Ring camera and take action for you. Virtual Security Guard requires a Ring Alarm home security system to work (Gen 1, 2, or Pro) and costs $99 per month on top of a $20 monthly Ring Protect Plus subscription for professional monitoring./news/robotaxis-score-a-huge-victory-in-california-with-approval-to-operate-24-7.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/robotaxis-score-a-huge-victory-in-california-with-approval-to-operate-24-7.htmlWaymo and Cruise were approved to operate their paid robotaxi services 24/7 in San Francisco after a contentious six-hour public hearing in which residents voiced their support and opposition to the vehicles. It’s a big win for autonomous vehicle operators, who have spent tens of billions on the technology with very little return. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted 3-to-1 in favor of allowing the two companies to operate their vehicles at any hour of the day throughout the city of San Francisco while charging for rides./news/samsung-galaxy-watch-6-vs-google-pixel-watch-specs-comparison.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-watch-6-vs-google-pixel-watch-specs-comparison.htmlNow that Samsung’s announced its new Galaxy Watch 6 lineup during this week’s Unpacked event, there are even more Android wearables than ever to choose from. Along with a physical rotating bezel, the new lineup sports even more health features than its predecessor, like passive irregular heart rhythm alerts, personalized heart rate zones, and more advanced sleep tracking capabilities. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 comes in two different flavors: the standard version and the Classic./news/samsung-s-57-inch-dual-uhd-gaming-monitor-gets-a-price-and-release-date.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-57-inch-dual-uhd-gaming-monitor-gets-a-price-and-release-date.htmlSamsung’s 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9, its massive gaming monitor that’s like having two 32-inch 4K displays sat next to each other, will be available in the US in October for $2,499.99, the company has announced. If you’re in the UK the monitor is available to preorder from today for £2,199.99. In 2023, Samsung is now offering 57 inches of curved Mini LED display with a refresh rate of 240Hz, a peak brightness of 1000 nits (VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certified, 420 nits typical), and a total resolution of 7,680 x 2,160./news/samsung-s-second-gen-freestyle-projector-is-now-available-and-it-s-still-overpriced.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-second-gen-freestyle-projector-is-now-available-and-it-s-still-overpriced.htmlSamsung’s original Freestyle portable projector had a ton of promise, but it really fell apart in the execution and was severely overpriced for the hardware specs on offer. Still, the blueprint was encouraging, and it seemed like just the kind of product that Samsung could nail the second time around — or so I hoped. But back at CES in January, the company showed off a barely changed revision of the Freestyle that addressed virtually none of my quibbles with the original./news/say-hello-to-kino-halide-s-dedicated-iphone-video-capture-app.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/say-hello-to-kino-halide-s-dedicated-iphone-video-capture-app.htmlHalide cofounder Ben Sandofsky has a message for everyone who’s asked if video capture will be added to the popular iPhone photography app: “Never.” Lux, the development team behind Halide, is instead working on Kino — a new, dedicated video capture app for iPhones that aims to provide professional recording features now that Apple supports log video encoding. Its release is scheduled for February... if all goes as planned. Just as the Halide photography app was released in 2017 to coincide with Apple adding RAW support for iPhone, Kino’s development was prompted by Apple announcing support for log video encoding in September, a format that allows more detail to be preserved for post-production color grading./news/saying-goodbye-to-pcworld-in-print.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/saying-goodbye-to-pcworld-in-print.htmlHarry McCracken is calling it: the era of the PC magazine is over. PCWorld announced Wednesday that after 30 years in print the issue on stands now will be its last. McCracken, who worked at PCWorld from 1994 to 2008 as both an editor and a writer, has written what is essentially an obituary for the general-interest PC magazine for his new workplace, Time magazine. If you're not familiar with PCWorld, it could be considered the Sports Illustrated of PC magazines in the 1980s./news/scientists-try-to-fix-flat-maps-with-new-double-sided-projections.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-try-to-fix-flat-maps-with-new-double-sided-projections.htmlA trio of scientists have devised a new way to try to represent our spherical planet as a flat picture with a new class of projection that involves printing the map as a double-sided circle, Phys.org reports. The Double-Sided Gott projections involve splitting a globe in two and printing the separate hemispheres on separate sides. The paper is the work of J. Richard Gott, Robert Vanderbei, and David Goldberg from Princeton and Drexel universities./news/sean-parker-s-group-chat-app-airtime-relaunches-on-ios-and-android.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sean-parker-s-group-chat-app-airtime-relaunches-on-ios-and-android.htmlAirtime, the group video-chatting service started in 2011 by Napster co-founder Sean Parker, is relaunching today as a free iOS and Android app. The app lets you create a room, invite others to join it, and then drop in any kind of media you like to experience it collectively with the group. After its short-lived existence as a website, Airtime is now putting its focus on competing with messaging products like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, as well as the video-chat incumbents Skype and Google Hangouts./news/secret-invasion-studio-under-fire-for-ai-art-says-no-artists-jobs-were-lost.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/secret-invasion-studio-under-fire-for-ai-art-says-no-artists-jobs-were-lost.htmlAfter Marvel confirmed earlier this week that AI-generated images were used to create the opening credits sequence for its new Secret Invasion Disney Plus series, one of the biggest concerns woven into the general backlash was whether the move had put any traditional artists out of work. According to Method Studios, the VFX house that created the sequence, that couldn’t be further from the case. At a time when traditional artists have been sharing their concerns about AI tools’ potential to take work from them, Secret Invasion prominently featuring AI-generated imagery as part of its opening credits has struck some as a sign of the entertainment industry’s willingness to embrace the technology regardless of the consequences./news/shazam-now-lets-you-tag-any-tv-show-on-any-channel-hits-250-million-users.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/shazam-now-lets-you-tag-any-tv-show-on-any-channel-hits-250-million-users.htmlMusic-tagging app Shazam today announced that it's expanding its functionality to let you tag any TV show on any channel in order to find out what music is playing, who's acting on screen, and more. The company also announced that it now has a mind-boggling 250 million users, which makes it one of the top ten most downloaded apps of all time since it debuted back in 2008. "Each week we get more than two million users./news/skyrim-on-nintendo-switch-will-have-legend-of-zelda-gear.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/skyrim-on-nintendo-switch-will-have-legend-of-zelda-gear.htmlSkyrim may be making a very-belated debut on Nintendo Switch, but when it does launch it’ll have at least a few notable additions in the form of gear pulled straight from Nintendo’s own The Legend of Zelda series. As you explore Bethesda’s open-world fantasy role-playing game, you’ll be able to make your hero look like Link in Breath of the Wild, and you can even wield the iconic Master Sword to take down foes./news/star-wars-the-last-jedi-everything-we-know-about-episode-viii.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/star-wars-the-last-jedi-everything-we-know-about-episode-viii.htmlWhen J.J. Abrams and writers Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt rebooted the Star Wars film franchise in 2015 with The Force Awakens — the first in a sequel trilogy, following the original Star Wars trifecta of 1977’s A New Hope, 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, and 1983’s Return of the Jedi — they found a fairly winning formula that split the difference between respecting fans’ love for the original trilogy, and nudging the franchise into the future./news/stop-supporting-gamergate-the-verge.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/stop-supporting-gamergate-the-verge.htmlIf you’re a person who cares about video games and also happens to care about other people, you should denounce "Gamergate." You might have heard that it’s a movement about ethics in video game journalism, but in practice it’s a months-long campaign of harassment against women and progressive voices that’s just the latest in a long history of online abuse amplified by reactionary right-wing media trolls. Gamergate is distinguished, like so many other things ending in -gate (or more recently, -ghazi), by its aggressive and desperate tone./news/summer-game-fest-2024-all-the-news-trailers-and-announcements.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/summer-game-fest-2024-all-the-news-trailers-and-announcements.htmlHere’s another look at Avowed, coming in 2024. Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase is full of release dates today, but we still don’t have an exact one for Avowed. Obsidian’s upcoming first-person RPG is still arriving in 2024, though. I heard from sources a few months ago that it was targeting a November release. Last year, we got a good look at Avowed and a promise of a 2024 launch, and we’re getting much of the same today./news/syfy-s-origins-podcast-is-geek-comfort-food.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/syfy-s-origins-podcast-is-geek-comfort-food.htmlThe Syfy channel has spent most of summer 2017 doubling down on the idea that it should be the go-to place for geek culture with an extensive rebranding effort. One of its latest efforts has been launching a podcast called Origin Stories, which features a wide range of personalities from the science fiction and fantasy world, hosted by former Mythbusters star Adam Savage. Syfy is known for its genre shows like The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica or low-budget B-films like Sharknado./news/t-mobile-app-users-are-seeing-other-customer-s-account-information.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-app-users-are-seeing-other-customer-s-account-information.htmlThere’s some weirdness happening over at T-Mobile this morning. Multiple T-Mobile customers on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit have reported that they’re able to see other users’ account data — including their current credit balance, purchase history, credit card information, and home address — when signing into their own T-Mobile accounts. Some T-Mobile customers have mentioned seeing information from several other accounts, but the scale of the issue isn’t yet clear./news/tanacon-organizers-local-police-detail-how-the-disastrous-event-collapsed.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tanacon-organizers-local-police-detail-how-the-disastrous-event-collapsed.htmlTana Mongeau’s attempt to hold her own convention was a disaster. Conjuring immediate comparisons to Fyre Fest, the YouTuber’s short-lived VidCon alternative promised free meet-and-greets, talks, and concerts. Instead, it delivered long lines, dehydration, and little to do. The event was canceled after its first full day, leaving fans who paid their way to Anaheim out hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, with little hope for refunds. It also left many would-be attendees wondering if they’d been scammed./news/taylor-swift-nicki-minaj-and-the-limits-of-girl-squad-feminism.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/taylor-swift-nicki-minaj-and-the-limits-of-girl-squad-feminism.htmlThe Grand Taylor Swift / Nicki Minaj Twitter Debate (Three days! Numerous Tweets! Three and a half celebrities! Ed Sheeran doing something stupid!) was many things. One of those things, of course, is "over." But we may also eventually look back on it as the event that defined exactly where Girl Squad Feminism falls short. The basics of the exchange (or "spat," or "feud," or "catfight," or whatever dogwhistle language you employ to convey that some hysterical ladies are getting in a tizzy about their feelings) are now the stuff of Internet History./news/tesla-rolls-out-an-updated-model-y-in-china-but-keeps-the-same-starting-price.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-rolls-out-an-updated-model-y-in-china-but-keeps-the-same-starting-price.htmlTesla's China arm announced in a WeChat post Sunday morning that it released a new Model Y with design and performance tweaks that keeps the same starting price as before (via Reuters). The new car follows the company’s release of the revamped "Highland" Model 3 in China, which also hit Europe early last month. According to Tesla’s Chinese website, the Model Y now has a 0–100km/h time of 5.9 seconds, which Bloomberg notes in a report is slightly faster than before./news/tesla-temporarily-halts-production-at-its-biggest-european-factory.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-temporarily-halts-production-at-its-biggest-european-factory.htmlTesla temporarily halts production at its biggest European factory. The company blames the two-week pause at its German Gigafactory on a component shortage caused by shipping disruptions in the Red Sea — a major trade route between Asia and Europe. Iranian-backed Houthi militants have increasingly targeted cargo ships in the region following the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7th. Delays caused by shipping companies re-routing around the conflict are also impacting production at Volvo./news/the-beats-studio-pro-are-down-to-180-nearly-matching-their-all-time-low.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-beats-studio-pro-are-down-to-180-nearly-matching-their-all-time-low.htmlIf you’re not an audiophile and can’t otherwise afford to splurge on a substantial pair of headphones like the AirPods Max or the new Sonos Ace headphones, a pair of Beats can do the job just fine. The brand’s headphones consistently sound pretty good and have kept up well with the times under Apple’s stewardship. You can consider the Beats Studio Pro the pinnacle of the line right now, and the flagship over-ear pair are nearly matching their all-time low price at around $179./news/the-best-cheap-tablet-you-can-buy.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-cheap-tablet-you-can-buy.htmlThere are two kinds of tablets. On one side, you have the expensive ones, the iPads and Galaxy Notes designed to either replace your computer or at least be a really awesome sidekick. If you want that, you’re going to have to pay for them: usually $400 or more. Not everyone is looking to replace their laptop for work, though. They’re looking for a better way to watch Netflix in bed or check the recipe while they cook./news/the-cpu-from-the-original-playstation-is-guiding-a-probe-to-pluto.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-cpu-from-the-original-playstation-is-guiding-a-probe-to-pluto.htmlYou probably already know that your smartphone is more powerful than the computers used to land astronauts on the Moon. But did you know that the processor used in the original Sony PlayStation is currently guiding a space probe the size of a grand piano towards Pluto? Yep, the same MIPS R3000 CPU that once ran Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid was repurposed by NASA in 2006 to fire thrusters, monitor sensors, and transmit data from the New Horizons space probe./news/the-directors-guild-of-america-has-ratified-a-new-labor-contract.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-directors-guild-of-america-has-ratified-a-new-labor-contract.htmlThe Directors Guild of America has voted to ratify a new labor contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. According to the DGA, out of the organization’s 16,321 members who were eligible to vote on the new deal, only 6,728 individuals (41 percent) participated, but the vast majority — 87 percent — of those people voted in favor of the contract. Along with a “substantial increase in the residuals for dramatic programs made for SVOD” services like Netflix and Max stemming from a foreign residual payment structure, the new contract grants assistant directors and unit production managers on scripted dramatic programs made for AVOD services like Freevee and Roku a number of “creative rights protections” and working condition guarantees./news/the-door-plug-had-to-land-somewhere.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-door-plug-had-to-land-somewhere.htmlThe door plug had to land somewhere. The door plug that blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 airplane fell in a tree in a Portland teacher’s yard, as reported by OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting). OPB interviewed the teacher, Bob Sauer, and he had some great quotes: Sauer was intrigued to see the door plug’s serial number and other manufacturing details apparently handwritten on the door in permanent marker. “That’s an interesting way of doing inventory control,” he said./news/the-end-is-nigh-for-gas-powered-cars.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-end-is-nigh-for-gas-powered-cars.htmlOn Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to announce tough new tailpipe emission standards designed to effectively force the auto industry to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars. It’s an ambitious — and risky — move by the Biden administration to cement its climate goals by boosting the sale of electric vehicles while also ushering in the end of the era of the internal combustion engine (ICE). But it won’t be as easy as banning the sale of gas-powered cars or mandating that companies only sell vehicles with electric powertrains./news/the-fcc-wants-to-regulate-broadband-data-caps-again.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-fcc-wants-to-regulate-broadband-data-caps-again.htmlFederal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a proposal to investigate broadband internet data caps and their effect on consumers. To help with the investigation, the FCC has opened up a portal asking for public comment on how they’ve been affected by data caps — that is, limits on how much internet data a customer can use before being charged more money or having their service slowed down. The FCC especially wants to hear about the effects of data caps on “those with disabilities, low-income consumers, and historically disadvantaged communities” as well as their impact on education, the ability to access public safety services, and more./news/the-fifth-anniversary-of-apex-legends-is-bringing-big-changes.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-fifth-anniversary-of-apex-legends-is-bringing-big-changes.htmlThe fifth anniversary of Apex Legends is bringing big changes. The Breakout season of Apex Legends starts Tuesday, February 13th, and after a lot of recent changes that didn’t all go over well, the battle royale is undoing some of them while making other, larger shifts detailed in this developer diary video. There’s a new in-match progression system that gives players choices in ways to upgrade their legend’s abilities, and shields work completely differently./news/the-kodak-printomatic-is-basically-the-polaroid-snap-with-a-new-coat-of-paint.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-kodak-printomatic-is-basically-the-polaroid-snap-with-a-new-coat-of-paint.htmlThe first instant film camera in years to bear the famous Kodak name and branding was announced today. The Kodak Printomatic is a pocketable digital camera that combines a 10-megapixel sensor with the ability to instantly print 2 x 3-inch sticker photos on non-ink Zink paper. Wait, haven’t we heard this before? Ah, yes: the Polaroid Snap, which was released in 2015, also shoots 10-megapixel images and prints them on 2 x 3 Zink Paper./news/the-luxury-and-legality-of-secret-car-compartments.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-luxury-and-legality-of-secret-car-compartments.htmlFor some drivers, the glove compartment isn't enough — certain mechanics can install secret compartments into cars for those looking for luxury, if not something a bit more illicit. Wired covers the drug smugglers who use these hidden compartments, and the mechanics who run a lucrative business installing them. Their service can cost thousands of dollars, and the compartments they build may be completely concealed and only accessible by a complicated sequence of actions and button presses./news/the-next-big-game-from-clash-of-clans-developer-supercell-launches-in-may.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-next-big-game-from-clash-of-clans-developer-supercell-launches-in-may.htmlSupercell doesn’t release a lot of games, but the studio’s mobile releases tend to be big hits. Think Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars, and Clash Royale. Now, the developer is gearing up for its next major release: Squad Busters, which will be out globally on both Android and iOS on May 29th. It’s a competitive multiplayer game, but one on a larger scale than a typical mobile release. In each match, 10 players compete to collect the most gems while building up a squad of computer-controlled characters./news/the-pixel-9-s-google-ai-is-like-microsoft-recall-but-a-little-less-creepy.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-pixel-9-s-google-ai-is-like-microsoft-recall-but-a-little-less-creepy.htmlThe next generation of Pixel phones could come with new “Google AI” features, including one that sounds a little like Microsoft’s controversial Recall tool. As reported by Android Authority, Google is working on a “Pixel Screenshots” feature that can “save and process helpful details” from your screenshots, allowing you to search through them. However, unlike Microsoft Recall, which automatically captures what you’re doing on your device, Google’s version would only process the screenshots taken manually — which should immediately make it less creepy-feeling than Recall./news/the-playstation-3-blu-ray-s-ultimate-trojan-horse.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-playstation-3-blu-ray-s-ultimate-trojan-horse.htmlAs the PlayStation 3 came to market in 2006, prices of HDTVs were falling. More consumers were looking to upgrade the big screen in their living rooms. And so the entertainment industry was eager to move on from DVD and rerelease films in hopes that people would “double dip” and repurchase their favorites in high-definition quality (and at a higher price). But instead of a straightforward transition to a next-generation disc format, the home media business found itself in a format war that reminded many of the battle between VHS and Betamax in the 1980s./news/the-risks-facing-x-the-verge.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-risks-facing-x-the-verge.htmlYesterday, employees at X received a crash course in private equity from the folks at Morgan Stanley, whose Shareworks platform is being used to manage the restricted stock units that Elon Musk has finally begun doling out. The issuance of new equity, complete with an official stockholder agreement and disclosure statement, marks the beginning of a new chapter in the saga of Twitter’s haywire transformation into X. The old Twitter, a publicly traded company incorporated in Delaware with an independent board of directors, has been dead for a year./news/the-siri-enabled-august-smart-lock-is-now-shipping.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-siri-enabled-august-smart-lock-is-now-shipping.htmlBack in October, August took the wraps off of its second generation Smart Lock, which features HomeKit support, a few design changes, and a slightly cheaper price. The Smart Lock was supposed to be available to purchase before the end of 2015, but the release was delayed, until today. With the new August Smart Lock, iOS users can ask Siri to lock, unlock, or check the status of their door. It also features a new magnetic faceplate and a chrome indicator at the top of the lock to identify if your door is locked or unlocked./news/the-verge-review-of-animals-the-maned-wolf.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-review-of-animals-the-maned-wolf.htmlThis column is part of a series where Verge staffers post highly subjective reviews of animals. Up until now, we've written about animals without telling you whether they suck or rule. We are now rectifying this oversight. I know what you're thinking: "That's not a wolf! That's a fox! With elegant long stems! That's a real fox, if you see what I'm saying." Well, sorry weirdo, you're only half right./news/there-s-now-a-light-switch-for-apple-s-homekit.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/there-s-now-a-light-switch-for-apple-s-homekit.htmlElgato is releasing the first in-wall light switch with support for Apple’s HomeKit. The device replaces a standard light switch and can be used to control either smart light bulbs or any normal bulbs that happen to be screwed into the outlets it controls. While a light switch isn’t necessarily the most exciting new product, this is a pretty meaningful addition to the HomeKit ecosystem. HomeKit has plenty of smart light bulbs, but you’ve (largely) been stuck turning them on and off through an app./news/this-beautiful-map-shows-everything-that-powers-an-amazon-echo-from-data-mines-to-lakes-of-lithium.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-beautiful-map-shows-everything-that-powers-an-amazon-echo-from-data-mines-to-lakes-of-lithium.htmlThat the modern world is a complex place will not have escaped your notice. We are all dimly, unsettlingly aware that our lives are enmeshed in systems we can’t fully comprehend. The last meal you ate probably contained produce grown in another country that was harvested, processed, packaged, shipped, then sold to you. The phone in your hand is the end-product of an even more convoluted chain; one that relies on human labor from mines in Africa, assembly lines in China, and standing desks in San Francisco./news/this-is-lg-s-bean-bird.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-lg-s-bean-bird.htmlBy far the most controversial part of LG's new webOS smart TVs is going to be the feathered digital assistant that accompanies them. Meet Bean Bird, a brown little, well, bird shaped like a bean. The bird won't live in the entire LG webOS TV interface, like Microsoft's infamous Clippy did in Office. Instead, it will just show up during an LG TV's setup process. The idea is to get you to actually complete the entire setup, every single step — many users don't, and so therefore don't take full advantage of the features on their smart TVs./news/this-slim-wireless-mechanical-keyboard-for-the-mac-almost-gets-it-right.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-slim-wireless-mechanical-keyboard-for-the-mac-almost-gets-it-right.htmlIn the past few years, mechanical keyboards have become popular among PC gamers and typists who want a particular feel when using their computers. But the options for mechanical keyboards designed to be used with Macs have remained few. Using a Windows keyboard with a Mac can be frustrating, as it has the incorrect layout and won’t have Mac-specific function keys. Your options shrink even further if you’re looking for a wireless mechanical keyboard./news/this-wild-nes-mouse-will-haunt-your-dreams.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-wild-nes-mouse-will-haunt-your-dreams.htmlNintendo’s original Entertainment System (NES) is now 34 years old. A millennial, in other words. And since the console debuted in North America in the fall of 1985, its design — the familiar boxy shape; that matte gray, black, and red — has been an inspiration to nerds everywhere. The latest entry into this venerable canon, which includes everything from (fly as hell) Jordans to shelving, is the 8BitDo N30: a 2./news/tinder-throws-a-twitter-fit-over-vanity-fair-article.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tinder-throws-a-twitter-fit-over-vanity-fair-article.htmlLast week, Vanity Fair ran a feature story about hookup culture and the potentially damaging effects that apps like Tinder have on millennial relationships. The article was published under the headline "Tinder and the Dawn of the 'Dating Apocalypse,'" and Tinder wasn't very happy about it. On Tuesday, the company spewed a torrent of angry and bizarre tweets aimed at journalist Nancy Jo Sales, who wrote the Vanity Fair piece. The meltdown began when Sales tweeted the results of a survey which showed that 30 percent of the app's users are married./news/twitch-currently-only-supports-chrome-edge-and-firefox.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitch-currently-only-supports-chrome-edge-and-firefox.htmlPoor communications from Twitch have led to confusion following the service announcing that Chrome, Edge, and Firefox are currently the only web browsers officially supported by the popular streaming platform. No context was provided within the announcement, though it appears the restrictions are temporary and have been placed on alternative browsers so that Twitch can locate and shut down access points being used to create masses of bot accounts. The issues began with users experiencing errors when logging into the service./news/twitter-can-now-default-to-the-following-timeline-on-ios-and-android.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-can-now-default-to-the-following-timeline-on-ios-and-android.htmlThe app now works mostly as you’d expect. If you switch to the Following timeline and close the app, it’ll take you back to the Following list the next time you open it. And if you leave it on the For You tab, that’s what it’ll default to. While your pinned lists will still show up along the top bar, you won’t be able to set them as default. Based on my testing, if you leave the app on a pinned list, it’ll set the For You page as default for if the app is kicked out of memory and has to reload./news/twitter-reportedly-wants-1-000-per-month-for-brands-to-stay-verified.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-reportedly-wants-1-000-per-month-for-brands-to-stay-verified.htmlTwitter wants to cash in on businesses on the platform by charging them $1,000 per month to keep their gold checkmarks, according to a report from The Information. As noted by The Information, brands who don’t pay the $1,000 per month fee will lose their gold badges, although it’s unclear when that will happen. Internal messages viewed by the outlet also reveal that Twitter’s looking to tack on an extra $50 per month charge to add badges to each account affiliated with the business./news/uber-ceo-among-30-charged-with-operating-illegal-taxi-ring-in-south-korea.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-ceo-among-30-charged-with-operating-illegal-taxi-ring-in-south-korea.htmlThirty people associated with Uber's operation in South Korea have been charged on suspicion of operating illegal taxi services in the country, Seoul police said this week. Among their number are Uber Korea's brand manager, the heads of six different car rental companies, and a number of drivers. Yonhap News says the people are suspected of connecting passengers with nearby drivers through the UberTaxi app without a license. Additionally, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was booked on suspicion of conducting illegal business./news/ugly-gaming-pcs-are-our-own-fault.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ugly-gaming-pcs-are-our-own-fault.htmlEverywhere around us, there is chaos and disorder. Political instability, economic crises that last decades, nuclear saber rattling... the future is all bleak entropy! But one time a year, we can all escape the unhappy news cycle by replacing it with a weeklong-dose of ambitious futurism and unabashed tech optimism, courtesy of CES. We undertake our annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas because we love to see things improve — nothing improves faster or more reliably than personal electronics — but I’m sad to say that not every company that comes here is doing its utmost to push things forward./news/valve-index-review-high-powered-vr-at-a-high-end-price.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/valve-index-review-high-powered-vr-at-a-high-end-price.htmlGaming company Valve pioneered VR as we know it today, creating a sophisticated tracking system and prototyping several headsets. It runs the popular SteamVR platform, and it’s partnered with HTC on the Vive system. But it hasn’t actually produced a VR headset. That’s changing with the Valve Index: a high-end, PC-tethered headset that starts shipping today. The Valve Index is specialized and expensive even by VR’s standards. It costs $999, which is more than twice as much as the $399 Oculus Rift or $499 HTC Vive./news/valve-shows-off-how-you-ll-fight-and-move-in-half-life-alyx.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/valve-shows-off-how-you-ll-fight-and-move-in-half-life-alyx.htmlValve’s much-anticipated virtual reality game Half-Life: Alyx debuts on March 23rd, and it just offered a little more detail on what we’ll be playing. It released three short videos today showing off combat and puzzles in Alyx, as well as the game’s overall vibe. The videos showcase some things we already knew about Alyx. First, much of the game is about semi-realistic gunfights, including manually reloading while being mobbed by enemies./news/valve-s-hilarious-index-dongle-somehow-makes-virtuallink-complicated.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/valve-s-hilarious-index-dongle-somehow-makes-virtuallink-complicated.htmlValve’s Index virtual reality headset is the first that can be plugged into VirtualLink, the USB-C port you’ll find on most Nvidia RTX 2070 and greater Nvidia RTX 20-series graphics cards. But it only partially earns this distinction, as Valve’s support for VirtualLink only goes as far as your willingness to buy a $40 dongle. The promise of VirtualLink is to reduce the amount of cables and connections between the headset and your computer./news/vanmoof-just-made-the-tesla-of-bicycles.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/vanmoof-just-made-the-tesla-of-bicycles.htmlVanMoof is a company from Amsterdam that wants to change everything about bikes. That starts with the Electrified S, a bike with an electric motor and a whole bunch of smart features, including embedded radios that can help the company track down the bike if it gets stolen. And if you don't want a bike with a motor, the company just unveiled the SmartBike — a cheaper, lighter version of the Electrified S with the motor stripped out./news/vermont-attorney-general-is-suing-clearview-ai-over-its-controversial-facial-recognition-app.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/vermont-attorney-general-is-suing-clearview-ai-over-its-controversial-facial-recognition-app.htmlVermont Attorney General TJ Donovan has filed a lawsuit against Clearview AI and has asked the court to order the company to stop collecting Vermonters’ photos and facial recognition data. In a statement, Donovan said he was “disturbed” by the company’s business practices, which he said includes collecting and selling children’s facial recognition data.  “This practice is unscrupulous, unethical, and contrary to public policy,” Donovan said. “I will continue to fight for the privacy of Vermonters, particularly our most vulnerable./news/walmart-sells-modcloth-just-two-years-after-buying-it.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/walmart-sells-modcloth-just-two-years-after-buying-it.htmlWalmart is selling off women’s clothing company and online retailer ModCloth, just two years after acquiring it. The brand will now be a part of investment firm Go Global Retail, though it will continue to operate independently. “We expect they will continue in the same direction as before,” Christian Feuer, managing director of Go Global Retail, told The Verge. “I don’t think the customer will see a change. If they do, I hope they’ll be happy with what they see./news/watch-the-new-video-for-the-chemical-brothers-and-beck-track-wide-open.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-the-new-video-for-the-chemical-brothers-and-beck-track-wide-open.htmlUK duo The Chemical Brothers have just shared a new video for the Beck-featuring track "Wide Open," the debut single off their 2015 album Born in the Echoes. The clip, directed by Dom & Nic, features a woman dancing in an empty warehouse as her body slowly transforms into a hollow, skeletal thing. To create the lattice-like framework underneath the dancer's skin, the visual effects team behind the video built a CG model out of 107 individual "/news/watch-this-three-point-landing-supercut.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-this-three-point-landing-supercut.htmlYou may not know Duncan Robson by name, but you probably know his work. Duncan created the excellent and very popular "Let's Enhance" video, which is a so-called "Supercut" compilation video. Duncan's just debuted a new one in Cambridge, Massachusetts at ROFLCon3, and it's amazing. Three Point Landing, like Duncan's other videos, brings a special artistry to the remix format, with original music and some fairly incredible timing. If you're looking for other Supercuts, well, this is the place to find them./news/wechat-changes-splash-screen-from-nasa-s-earth-photo-to-chinese-satellite-replica.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wechat-changes-splash-screen-from-nasa-s-earth-photo-to-chinese-satellite-replica.htmlChinese messaging app WeChat dominates its domestic market, as its would-be foreign competitors are often blocked in China. Today, WeChat has removed what could be considered its most “American” feature: a famous photo of Earth called Blue Marble taken from outer space in 1972 by NASA. For years, the image was prominently displayed on the app’s start screen, but WeChat is replacing NASA’s photo with one taken by a Chinese satellite./news/who-marvel-chooses-to-play-iron-fist-is-a-big-deal.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/who-marvel-chooses-to-play-iron-fist-is-a-big-deal.htmlWith Daredevil and Jessica Jones now out of the way, Marvel has two more solo Netflix outings left before the eventual Defenders team-up. We know that production for Luke Cage is already underway, with Mike Colter set to star. But we don't really know much of anything about Iron Fist, the fourth and final series. Iron Fist is a classic, if not highly recognizable, superhero — a martial arts master with a deep connection to Marvel's mystical mythos./news/will-gm-take-my-advice-and-bring-back-the-chevy-volt.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/will-gm-take-my-advice-and-bring-back-the-chevy-volt.htmlWill GM take my advice and bring back the Chevy Volt? It sounds promising, after GM CEO Mary Barra said in an earnings call this morning that the automaker would be bringing back plug-in hybrids. Our forward plans include bringing our plug-in hybrid technology to select vehicles in North America. Is she responding to the influential GM dealers who urged the company to get back into hybrids after EV sales growth slowed?/news/world-s-doomsday-clock-will-stay-at-three-minutes-to-midnight.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/world-s-doomsday-clock-will-stay-at-three-minutes-to-midnight.htmlIn its symbolic look at the likelihood of armageddon, members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced today that they are keeping the world's so-called Doomsday Clock at three minutes to "midnight" — a metaphor for the end of the world as we know it. The clock has been set at 11:57PM since January 2015, when it was moved down from five minutes to destruction. It's the closest the clock has been to midnight since the Cold War in the 1980s./news/would-you-wear-one-of-these-headbands-to-chill-out.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/would-you-wear-one-of-these-headbands-to-chill-out.htmlWould you wear one of these headbands to chill out? Judging by what I saw at Unveiled, we’re all anxious, none of us are sleeping well, and the key is to hack your brain with a wearable. I found all three of these devices in the same aisle. The Frenz Brainband reads your brainwaves and then uses bone conduction to play a personal soundscape into your skull. You stick the Mywave on your forehead for a night to generate custom sleep tracks based on your delta waves./news/wwe-and-ufc-are-merging-into-a-sports-entertainment-behemoth.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/wwe-and-ufc-are-merging-into-a-sports-entertainment-behemoth.htmlJust as CNBC scooped yesterday, Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group is acquiring World Wrestling Entertainment and will spin out a new publicly traded company that combines it with Ultimate Fighting Championship. The deal values WWE, which for decades has been owned and run by the McMahon family, at $9.3 billion and the Endeavor-owned UFC at $12.1 billion. Both companies expect the agreement to close in late 2023. When it does, the result will be a combined sports entertainment powerhouse with fervent, loyal audiences for each brand./news/xbox-games-showcase-2023-and-starfield-direct-all-the-news-and-trailers.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/xbox-games-showcase-2023-and-starfield-direct-all-the-news-and-trailers.htmlDear Esther studio The Chinese Room announced Still Wakes the Deep — a new first-person horror game set on an oil rig. Set in 1975, Still Wakes the Deep puts you in the shoes of a rig worker trying to survive some unknowable horror. The trailer shows things like sneaking, a creepy door, and some nice can physics. It’s coming to the Xbox Series X / S (with a day one launch on Game Pass), PS5, and PC in early 2024./news/youtube-will-now-show-a-blank-homepage-if-you-don-t-have-watch-history-on.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-will-now-show-a-blank-homepage-if-you-don-t-have-watch-history-on.htmlYouTube’s homepage will now look very different if you have your watch history turned off. Instead of surfacing a page full of suggested videos, you’ll mostly see nothing. The change is all part of a “new viewer experience” Google announced on Tuesday. If you’ve switched your YouTube watch history to off and “have no significant prior watch history,” you won’t see features that need a watch history to provide recommendations. That means you’ll only see the search bar on the homepage, along with the Shorts, Subscriptions, and Library buttons./news/ytmnd-disappeared-15-years-after-changing-the-internet.htmlFri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ytmnd-disappeared-15-years-after-changing-the-internet.htmlOne of the earliest and most influential meme culture websites, You’re The Man Now Dog, went dark over the weekend. It’s since returned with a maintenance page, but the near-death experience has been enough to bring visitors into a site-run Discord chat to briefly relive the internet as it was — a wild, overgrown garden of things that were entertaining and horrifying in just about equal measure. The site’s apparent demise was inevitable, even if it’s not quite final./news/first-click-using-vr-to-escape-pok%C3%A9mon-go.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/first-click-using-vr-to-escape-pok%C3%A9mon-go.htmlVirtual reality is by its very nature escapism. A firm-fitting headset and earphones not only serve as a conduit to another world but also deprive your senses from fully keeping track of this one. And that’s exactly what I needed today: I needed VR to get away from the augmented reality of Pokémon Go. So much has already been written about Niantic and Nintendo’s new game — a social phenomenon that’s augmented reality in more ways than just using the camera while trying to catch pokémon./news/the-neon-demon-review-everyone-s-an-object-in-nicolas-winding-refn-s-la-horror-show.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-neon-demon-review-everyone-s-an-object-in-nicolas-winding-refn-s-la-horror-show.htmlFrom the very beginning of Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, the protagonist, Jesse (Elle Fanning) is willing to sell herself to whoever’s buying. “I’m pretty, and I can make money off pretty,” she says baldly. Underage, on her own, fresh out of small-town America, and fixated on a modeling career in LA, she can’t afford to have scruples about who she works for, or how they present her for the camera./news/google-pulled-animal-of-the-day-from-nest-hubs.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-pulled-animal-of-the-day-from-nest-hubs.html🐼 Google pulled ‘animal of the day’ from Nest Hubs ... and the kids are not okay. A Reddit thread this week bemoaned Google’s deprecation of yet another feature on Google’s smart display, which recently lost games and video calling. The daily animal trivia feature was sunsetted on November 27, and the last critter was, fittingly, crickets. One Reddit user said the loss made his 5-year-old cry when she found out. Way to go, Google./news/3-body-problem-stars-on-the-show-s-big-question-would-you-push-the-button.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/3-body-problem-stars-on-the-show-s-big-question-would-you-push-the-button.htmlOne thing that confounds me after reading Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem and watching its Netflix adaptation is a simple button.  Spoilers for 3 Body Problem to follow. I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around why Ye Wenjie, when faced with the choice to respond to or ignore transmissions from the San-Ti, an alien race, chose to respond. Throughout human history, first contact events rarely go well and go even worse when the two sides are technologically imbalanced./news/a-better-metaphor-for-technology.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-better-metaphor-for-technology.htmlI spend a lot of time thinking about how words work. It’s a big part of my job, after all, but it’s also what I was studying years ago in grad school. And while I don’t want to give you an exegesis (there’s a word for you) on it, I think the collective vocabulary we use to talk about technology is a little limited. We shouldn’t be too judgmental about that, though./news/a-dark-web-marketplace-is-down-and-users-suspect-foul-play.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-dark-web-marketplace-is-down-and-users-suspect-foul-play.htmlAlphaBay Market, one of the dark web’s largest markets for drugs, guns, and other illegal paraphernalia, has been shut down since midnight Tuesday night. Although the site is sometimes down for maintenance, the site’s admins have yet to comment on the downtime, leading some to speculate that the market may have disappeared for good. There’s evidence of massive bitcoin withdrawals from the site’s accounts, with one blockchain record showing withdrawal transactions totaling 1,479./news/a-new-dinosaur-species-has-been-discovered-in-australia.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/a-new-dinosaur-species-has-been-discovered-in-australia.htmlPaleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur in Australia. The wide-hipped, long-necked, four-legged plant-eater was about half the length of a basketball court, and its shoulders stood as high as the hoop. Dinosaur fossils in Australia are exceedingly rare, and this discovery could help scientists understand how these massive creatures spread across the planet millions of years ago. "There are entire lost worlds of dinosaurs waiting to be found."/news/adonit-basically-made-a-stylus-for-snapchat.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/adonit-basically-made-a-stylus-for-snapchat.htmlAdonit will introduce a new stylus designed for smartphones tomorrow called the Snap, a name that I suspect it’s getting for a few different reasons. Those being: it’s magnetic and snaps to the back of a metal phone; it has a button that triggers a phone’s camera to snap a photo; and — most importantly — it could be a great tool for serious Snapchat users. The whole idea behind the Snap is that people are increasingly drawing on the photos they share with friends; in apps like iMessage, people may even share simple doodles./news/ais-are-coming-for-social-networks.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ais-are-coming-for-social-networks.htmlSo far, generative AI has been mostly confined to chatbots like ChatGPT. Startups like Character.AI and Replika are seeing early traction by making chatbots more like companions. But what happens when you dump a bunch of AI characters into something that looks like Instagram and let them talk to each other? That’s the idea behind Butterflies, one of the most provocative — and, at times, unsettling — takes on social media that I’ve seen in quite a while./news/amazon-and-roku-extend-their-streaming-deal-without-any-extra-drama.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-and-roku-extend-their-streaming-deal-without-any-extra-drama.htmlIn recent years, Roku has had drawn out stalemates with entertainment / internet giants like WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal, and YouTube, as its ambitions shift from simply selling TV streaming hardware to advertising and content. However, the company today announced an extension in its deal with Amazon, ensuring that the Prime Video and IMDb TV apps will maintain a presence on Roku devices without any back-and-forth wrangling, threats, or mudslinging that delayed the rollout of HBO Max and Peacock and caused YouTube TV’s app to disappear for a while./news/amazon-kindle-2019-review-a-backlight-can-t-save-the-low-res-screen.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-kindle-2019-review-a-backlight-can-t-save-the-low-res-screen.htmlThe new Kindle starts at $89.99, while the most recent Paperwhite starts at $129.99. Now, $40 of savings isn’t the worst deal, but the base model Kindle just isn’t worth the saved money. It comes down to one big flaw: screen resolution. I’ve spent the last few days reading on the new Kindle, and it’s been a pretty frustrating experience. Not because the screen is bad, per se, but because I’ve gotten used to reading on better screens./news/amazon-kindle-oasis-2017-review-total-immersion.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-kindle-oasis-2017-review-total-immersion.htmlA decade after its release, the Kindle is a curiosity. Tablets — including some made by Amazon — have long since outstripped the e-reader in power and features. A low-end tablet does 10 times as much as a high-end e-reader, for one-fifth of the price. And yet, each year, Amazon introduces a new twist to the Kindle line, pushing the device a little closer to perfection. The Kindle Oasis, which goes on sale today starting at $250, represents a worthy step in that tradition./news/amazon-s-first-fully-autonomous-warehouse-robot-is-called-proteus.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-first-fully-autonomous-warehouse-robot-is-called-proteus.htmlAmazon has announced its “first fully autonomous mobile robot,” meant to move large carts throughout its warehouses. The robot is called Proteus, and Amazon says it can safely navigate around human employees, unlike some of its past robots that it kept separated in a caged area. Amazon says Proteus robots have “advanced safety, perception, and navigation technology,” and a (strangely silent) video shows the robots shining a green light in front of themselves as they move around./news/amazon-s-latest-4k-tvs-improve-picture-quality-and-borrow-ideas-from-the-frame.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amazon-s-latest-4k-tvs-improve-picture-quality-and-borrow-ideas-from-the-frame.htmlAmazon’s first self-branded TV sets were aimed squarely at budget shoppers and prioritized value and good software over sheer picture quality. The Fire TV Omni lineup runs the same software as the company’s popular streaming device — offering access to endless entertainment apps — and the built-in microphones allow for hands-free Alexa voice commands. Today, Amazon is announcing the latest edition to its TV series, the Fire TV Omni QLED, and this time, it’s stepping up the display specs with the inclusion of full-array local dimming./news/american-horror-story-cult-s-title-sequence-has-trump-and-clinton-in-it-after-all.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/american-horror-story-cult-s-title-sequence-has-trump-and-clinton-in-it-after-all.htmlBack in February, American Horror Story executive producer Ryan Murphy promised that the seventh season of the show would recount the nightmare of the 2016 presidential election. In March, he walked it back a bit, saying that the series would merely be an allegory. In July, a teaser clip announcing the “cult” theme of the season featured a crew of killer clowns muttering disturbing mantras about group think. That day, Murphy posted promotional artwork to his personal Instagram account that included an American flag, but there was no sign of Trump or Hillary Clinton./news/amnesia-rebirth-has-a-new-adventure-mode-with-no-monsters-new-puzzles-and-more-lights.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/amnesia-rebirth-has-a-new-adventure-mode-with-no-monsters-new-puzzles-and-more-lights.htmlIf you like puzzles and eerie deserts, but not darkness and horrifying ghouls, Swedish studio Frictional has a new version of its game Amnesia: Rebirth for you. A less stressful “Adventure Mode” is being added to Rebirth today via GOG, Steam, and the Epic Store. The game’s PlayStation version will get Adventure Mode in the coming weeks. Amnesia: Rebirth, released last year, is a strong sequel to the notoriously scary Amnesia: The Dark Descent./news/ansel-elgort-s-new-rap-video-is-more-fun-than-taylor-swift-s-new-rap-video.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ansel-elgort-s-new-rap-video-is-more-fun-than-taylor-swift-s-new-rap-video.htmlEvery week, a slew of new music videos hits the web. Watching them at your desk is not time theft because you deserve it; think of it as a nice reward for surviving another work week. But what if you don’t have time to watch every video — maybe you have a deadline, a hungry pet, or other grown-up concerns. In consideration of your schedule, Lizzie and Kaitlyn bring you a series called One Video./news/anthony-bourdain-s-get-jiro-comic-is-getting-an-animated-adaptation.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/anthony-bourdain-s-get-jiro-comic-is-getting-an-animated-adaptation.htmlPer The Hollywood Reporter, Adult Swim has put in a series order for a Get Jiro! series from Sharper co-writers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. Like the comics, the new series will tell the story of a deadly sushi chef living in a dystopian near future where restaurant-goers murder for reservations. Adult Swim has also ordered an adaptation of Jillian Tamaki’s 2010 web comic SuperMutant Magic Academy that’s set to be produced by Tamaki and Regular Show creator J./news/apple-denied-unionized-workers-better-benefits-nlrb-claims.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-denied-unionized-workers-better-benefits-nlrb-claims.htmlIn the complaint, the NLRB alleges Apple didn’t extend enhanced benefits to Towson workers with the goal of “discouraging” other employees from unionizing. Some of those new benefits include new healthcare options, a free Coursera subscription, and prepaid tuition at some colleges. “We are pleased that the NLRB has recognized the importance of upholding the rights of IAM CORE members and ensuring that all Employers, regardless of size, respect our Federal laws,” IAM Eastern Territory general vice president David Sullivan says in a statement./news/apple-handoff-lets-macs-and-iphones-share-files-phone-calls-and-more.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-handoff-lets-macs-and-iphones-share-files-phone-calls-and-more.htmlApple has just made it easier to share documents, and much more, between mobile devices and computers. AirDrop has been expanded into a system that syncs files and communications between iOS and OS X, allowing you to switch off documents, mail, and even phone calls. With the new "Handoff" tool, an icon will let you swipe between, say, a Mac and iPad while writing a document, picking up editing in real time./news/apple-has-reportedly-started-a-small-number-of-corporate-layoffs.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-has-reportedly-started-a-small-number-of-corporate-layoffs.htmlApple is reportedly laying off a small number of people from one of its retail teams, according to reports from Bloomberg and Business Insider. It’s currently not clear how many people will be affected, but Bloomberg says the number is “likely very small,” and both outlets say that, internally, the company is pitching it as a way to improve its operations rather than as a cost cutting measure. Still, until now, Apple’s lack of layoffs has set it apart from many big tech companies that have announced major cuts./news/apple-might-shut-down-one-of-the-most-successful-imessage-sticker-packs.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-might-shut-down-one-of-the-most-successful-imessage-sticker-packs.htmlOne of the more brilliant uses of iMessage stickers won't be around for much longer. The creator of Phoneys — a sticker set that replaces a friend's blue text message bubble with a fake one containing some sort of funny phrase — said today that Apple has asked him to completely change the app before this coming Thursday, or else it'll be pulled from the store. The problem seems to be some combination of Phoneys using Apple's font and style and the company's disapproval of prank apps./news/apple-store-workers-in-maryland-vote-to-go-on-strike.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-store-workers-in-maryland-vote-to-go-on-strike.htmlApple Store workers in Maryland vote to go on strike. The unionized workers at the Towson, Maryland store voted to authorize the strike over the weekend, but there’s still no word on when it will start. “As discussions with Apple management continue, we remain committed to securing tangible improvements that benefit all employees,” the union representing the workers said. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanxyf45ra2ptZWiFdHvAqaelnV2owbC%2BxGauqKqbmr%2B0ecinZKaZoq65orrDZq2orJViwbB5xqhkqKZdqMGztcqe/news/apple-thought-it-dealt-with-epic-v-apple-has-it-really.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-thought-it-dealt-with-epic-v-apple-has-it-really.htmlAlmost three years after the Epic v. Apple trial reached its conclusion, Apple is finally following a court order to let app developers link to outside payment methods. But its solution is being met with backlash. Apple is giving developers the green light to send app users outside the built-in iOS payment system for the first time, following the instructions of a California court ruling in 2021. Under the terms of the injunction, Apple can’t prevent developers from including links, buttons, and other calls to action that direct users to outside payment methods./news/apple-unbanned-epic-so-it-can-make-an-ios-games-store-in-the-eu.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-unbanned-epic-so-it-can-make-an-ios-games-store-in-the-eu.htmlEpic is one step closer to opening its iOS games store in the European Union. As part of its 2023 year in review, Epic Games announced Apple has reinstated its developer account, which means it will finally be able to let users download Fortnite on iPhones again. Epic first announced plans to bring its game store and Fortnite to iOS in January, but it wasn’t clear whether Apple would grant it a developer account./news/apple-watch-family-setup-review-an-expensive-gps-tracker-for-your-kids.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-watch-family-setup-review-an-expensive-gps-tracker-for-your-kids.htmlThe most interesting Apple Watch product Apple announced this year wasn’t the new flagship Series 6 or the new lower-cost Watch SE. It wasn’t watchOS 7 with its handful of new watchfaces, the ability to track your sleep, or detect when you’re washing your hands to reprimand you if you don’t go the full 20 seconds either. The most interesting thing is Apple’s new Family Setup service, which lets parents provision an Apple Watch for their kids to use./news/apple-s-face-id-with-a-mask-works-so-well-it-might-end-password-purgatory.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/apple-s-face-id-with-a-mask-works-so-well-it-might-end-password-purgatory.htmlNearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple has made Face ID useful again in iOS 15.4 by finally adding the ability to use the face unlock feature while wearing a face mask. I’ve been testing out the new iOS 15.4 beta for a few days, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well Face ID works with a mask — in addition to simply enjoying being able to use my iPhone the way it was originally intended to work, instead of mashing in a six-digit passcode a dozen times whenever I leave the house./news/arkansas-ag-lawsuit-claims-temu-s-shopping-app-is-dangerous-malware.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/arkansas-ag-lawsuit-claims-temu-s-shopping-app-is-dangerous-malware.htmlArkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin made sweeping claims against e-commerce app Temu in a lawsuit on Tuesday, accusing the company of violating state law against deceptive trade practices. “Temu purports to be an online shopping platform, but it is dangerous malware, surreptitiously granting itself access to virtually all data on a user’s cell phone,” Griffin alleges. Temu on the App Store. Screenshot: App Store / Google Play “Temu’s conduct came to light following the removal of the Pinduoduo app from Google’s Play Store due to the presence of malware that exploited vulnerabilities in users’ phone operating systems and allowed the app not only to gain undetected access to virtually all data stored on the phones, but also to recompile itself and potentially change its properties once installed, in a manner designed to avoid detection,” the lawsuit claims, pointing to concerns from Apple about Temu’s compliance with data security transparency standards./news/asus-new-chromebook-cx9-offers-military-grade-durability.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-new-chromebook-cx9-offers-military-grade-durability.htmlAsus’ new Chromebook CX9 is a powerhouse of a Chromebook built for professionals. Pricing is still to be announced, but it’s coming to North America in Q2 2021. Per Asus, the Chromebook CX9 is powered by up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. That’s an unusual processor to see in a Chromebook — students and more casual Chromebook customers don’t usually need more than a Core i3 — but it’s the best option for power users./news/asus-zenfone-5z-is-up-for-preorder-and-available-on-august-6th.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/asus-zenfone-5z-is-up-for-preorder-and-available-on-august-6th.htmlThe Asus Zenfone 5Z phone is now available for preorder and will be available at retailers on August 6th. Asus’ latest flagship-level Android 8.0 Oreo smartphone sits at a competitive price point of $499, but it touts a high-end Snapdragon 845 chip, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a large 6.2-inch screen. A launch was originally pegged for June, so Asus has been tardy with releasing the 5Z. The Taiwanese tech company is employing two Sony IMX363 camera sensors for the Zeonfone 5Z’s imaging system./news/bang-olufsen-launches-its-first-pair-of-noise-canceling-true-wireless-earbuds.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bang-olufsen-launches-its-first-pair-of-noise-canceling-true-wireless-earbuds.htmlBang & Olufsen’s Beoplay EQ are the Danish audio brand’s first pair of noise-canceling true wireless headphones. Two microphones on each earbud handle noise cancellation duties alongside an extra mic for making calls, for a total of six across the two earbuds. They’re releasing globally on August 19th in black and gold. At $399 (£359 / €399), the Beoplay EQ are around $50 more expensive than B&O’s non-noise-canceling Beoplay E8 earbuds were at launch./news/bethesda-s-launcher-is-going-away-but-you-ll-be-able-to-get-your-games-again-on-steam-for-free.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bethesda-s-launcher-is-going-away-but-you-ll-be-able-to-get-your-games-again-on-steam-for-free.htmlBethesda is retiring its Bethesda.net Launcher this year and will let people move their games and Wallet to Steam starting in early April, the company announced Tuesday. You’ll be able to access and play games on the Bethesda launcher until May. Any game you own on Bethesda’s launcher will be available for free on Steam. When you migrate to Steam, “you will not lose anything from your Bethesda.net account,” Bethesda says./news/bill-gates-climate-fund-looks-to-funnel-billions-into-carbon-removal-green-hydrogen-and-more.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bill-gates-climate-fund-looks-to-funnel-billions-into-carbon-removal-green-hydrogen-and-more.htmlBill Gates’ climate investment fund is moving forward with plans to funnel billions of dollars into emerging green technologies. This week, the fund, Breakthrough Energy, put out a Request for Proposals for projects in Europe through Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst program. It comes after the Catalyst program released its first RFP for similar projects in the US last month. The Catalyst program, launched last June with the aim of enabling a zero-carbon economy through public-private partnerships, says it has fundraised $1./news/bird-monthly-electric-scooter-review-far-worse-than-a-bike.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bird-monthly-electric-scooter-review-far-worse-than-a-bike.htmlRiding down Market Street on my Bird scooter last month, wearing AirPods and staying out of the way of much faster-moving cyclists weaving around me as I chugged along at a painful 12 miles per hour, I began to think that maybe I was the problem.  I ride my bike to work. I’ve done so most days here in San Francisco over the last six years or so, and I know what all those cyclists are thinking: “Who is this tech bro doofus, obliviously riding in the bike lane on a speed-capped scooter with poor braking capabilities?/news/bitcoin-punks-go-corporate-at-ces.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bitcoin-punks-go-corporate-at-ces.htmlThe controversial digital currency Bitcoin has a display at CES. It's a good-sized booth, featuring a giant picture of a smiling woman holding an iPhone running a Bitcoin app. Crystal Campbell, a waitress who works at an Orlando restaurant that accepts Bitcoin, greets curious conference-goers with a friendly but not overeager smile. "It's basically like the cash of the internet," she explained to a tall brunette who had heard of Bitcoin, but wasn't sure exactly what it was./news/blackberry-s-board-hopes-to-sell-the-company-by-november-claims-report.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blackberry-s-board-hopes-to-sell-the-company-by-november-claims-report.htmlTroubled smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry may have just officially formed a committee to explore a sale of its assets last month, but the company's board is apparently eager to offload it to a willing buyer as soon as possible. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, BlackBerry's board of directors wants to hold a fast auction, with the goal of selling the company by November of this year. The report cites anonymous sources that claim that BlackBerry has had preliminary talks with potential suitors willing to buy all or part of the company, and it has whittled down its list in preparation for a sales process due to begin soon./news/blizzard-co-lead-jen-oneal-steps-down-three-months-after-taking-the-role.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/blizzard-co-lead-jen-oneal-steps-down-three-months-after-taking-the-role.htmlJen Oneal is stepping down as a co-lead of Blizzard just three months after taking the role in the wake of the sexual harassment lawsuit brought against Activision Blizzard by the state of California. Mike Ybarra, a former Xbox executive who had stepped into the co-lead role alongside Oneal, will now be the sole lead of the studio, effective immediately. “I want you to hear from me personally that I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year,” Oneal said in a statement on Blizzard’s website./news/bmw-starts-selling-heated-seat-subscriptions-for-18-a-month.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/bmw-starts-selling-heated-seat-subscriptions-for-18-a-month.htmlBMW is now selling subscriptions for heated seats in a number of countries — the latest example of the company’s adoption of microtransactions for high-end car features. A monthly subscription to heat your BMW’s front seats costs roughly $18, with options to subscribe for a year ($180), three years ($300), or pay for “unlimited” access for $415. It’s not clear exactly when BMW started offering this feature as a subscription, or in which countries, but a number of outlets this week reported spotting its launch in South Korea./news/brave-browser-replaces-google-with-its-own-search-engine.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/brave-browser-replaces-google-with-its-own-search-engine.htmlBrave, the privacy-focused browser that blocks third-party ads and trackers by default, is switching to using its own search engine by default, the company has announced. The change will be applied for new users, and will affect which search engine is used via the browser’s address bar. Brave Search will replace Google in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, Qwant in France, and DuckDuckGo in Germany. More countries will be switched over in the coming months./news/build-an-aquarium-in-your-web-browser-with-orb-farm.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/build-an-aquarium-in-your-web-browser-with-orb-farm.htmlMany of our worlds have gotten smaller in 2020. Tiny spaces — a well-tended box garden, a stocked-up kitchen — have become more important and more satisfying. Orb Farm is an entire little world in a glass jar in your web browser, and it might be one of the most soothing things you try all day. Orb Farm was inspired by Life in Jars?, a YouTube channel dedicated to self-sustaining jarred ecosystems./news/buydig-s-google-nest-hub-bundles-are-steeply-discounted-on-ebay.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/buydig-s-google-nest-hub-bundles-are-steeply-discounted-on-ebay.htmlFor many, the best smart display is the one that features whichever virtual assistant they prefer, whether it be Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. However, despite its sluggish performance, it’s hard to argue against the Google Nest Hub if you’re already invested in Google’s ecosystem or own one of the many products under the Nest umbrella. The latest model touts a 7-inch display, reliable sleep tracking, and better sound, thanks to a 1./news/california-governor-signs-ban-on-social-media-aiding-or-abetting-child-abuse.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/california-governor-signs-ban-on-social-media-aiding-or-abetting-child-abuse.htmlCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1394, a law that would punish web services for “knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation” of children. It’s one of several online regulations that California has passed in recent years, some of which have been challenged as unconstitutional. Newsom’s office indicated in a press release yesterday that he had signed AB 1394, which passed California’s legislature in late September. The law is set to take effect on January 1, 2025./news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-s-disc-is-just-72mb-of-nothing.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-s-disc-is-just-72mb-of-nothing.htmlPhysical copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II are starting to be delivered worldwide, and players have been stunned to find the discs only include 72MB of data. Instead, owners have had to download the entire game digitally, which Eurogamer reports could take up as much as 150GB of space on the PS5. Activision has effectively shipped a dummy disc, meaning physical copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will always have to connect up to the internet to get a copy of the game./news/chatgpt-on-ios-gets-improved-ipad-support-and-shortcuts-integration.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/chatgpt-on-ios-gets-improved-ipad-support-and-shortcuts-integration.htmlOpenAI is improving ChatGPT on iPad today with a new update designed to take advantage of the entire iPad screen. The updated ChatGPT app for iOS and iPadOS also includes drag and drop, Siri support, and Shortcuts integration. iPad support means ChatGPT will now run full-screen on Apple’s tablets, instead of as an iPhone sized app running on a bigger display. Little else has changed for the iPad version though, as you’re still presented with a chat interface and options to switch between GPT-3./news/china-will-be-the-first-to-retrieve-soil-samples-from-the-far-side-of-the-moon.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/china-will-be-the-first-to-retrieve-soil-samples-from-the-far-side-of-the-moon.htmlChina’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft lifted off from the lunar surface today, bringing with it the first samples taken from the far side of the Moon. Chang’e 6’s ascender launched from the back of the Moon, the side facing away from Earth, at 7:38AM Beijing time. The spacecraft had landed there, at the South Pole–Aitken Basin, around two days earlier. Its lander carried cameras, a soil structure detector, and a mineral spectrometer for analyzing geologic samples./news/cloudflare-is-adding-a-free-vpn-to-its-1-1-1-1-app.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/cloudflare-is-adding-a-free-vpn-to-its-1-1-1-1-app.htmlCloudflare has announced that it’s adding a VPN to its 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver app. The 1.1.1.1 service, which first came to mobile back in November, currently attempts to speed up mobile data speeds by using Cloudflare’s network to resolve DNS queries faster than your existing mobile network. What’s new is Warp, a VPN built by Cloudflare that attempts to reroute your traffic to make it even quicker and also encrypts it where possible for added security and privacy./news/crypto-com-mistakenly-sent-a-customer-7-2-million-instead-of-a-68-refund.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/crypto-com-mistakenly-sent-a-customer-7-2-million-instead-of-a-68-refund.htmlThe initial transfer occurred in May 2021 after an employee accidentally typed an account number in the payment amount field. Crypto.com only realized the mistake when conducting an audit in December 2021. Apparently code isn’t law Instead of reporting the incorrect refund to Crypto.com, the customer in question, Thevamanogari Manivel, reportedly transferred the cash to a joint account and spent $1.3 million AUD (~$890,526 USD) on a luxurious, five-bedroom home for her sister./news/dan-harmon-s-nft-series-has-already-been-renewed-for-a-third-season.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/dan-harmon-s-nft-series-has-already-been-renewed-for-a-third-season.htmlKrapopolis, Fox’s animated series from Dan Harmon about a family of deities, monsters, and humans trying to keep an ancient city running smoothly, seemed like it might not ever see the light of day judging from the way Fox kept bumping its release date back. But according to a new report, Fox is still committed to the project and its accompanying NFT marketplace — so much so that it’s already given Krapopolis an order for another season./news/definitely-don-t-start-your-final-fantasy-7-experience-with-rebirth.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/definitely-don-t-start-your-final-fantasy-7-experience-with-rebirth.htmlFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth is an excellent game and an important evolution for the franchise. It mashes together a traditional RPG with a large open world, managing to feel both modern and like it’s sticking to its 32-bit roots. What it is not, however, is a good place to get started with the multipart story that is Final Fantasy VII — despite what its creators might say. Prior to Rebirth’s launch, creative director and zipper aficionado Tetsuya Nomura talked about how the game was designed in part to be welcoming to newcomers (always a commendable goal)./news/delphi-and-mobileye-are-teaming-up-to-build-a-self-driving-system-by-2019.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/delphi-and-mobileye-are-teaming-up-to-build-a-self-driving-system-by-2019.htmlDelphi and Mobileye, two leading auto-parts suppliers, announced today that they are forming a partnership to develop a near-complete autonomous driving system by 2019. The plan is to create a mass-market, off-the-shelf system that can be plugged into a variety of vehicle types, from smaller cars to SUVs. The companies say they will debut their new product at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2017, with fleet testing to soon follow./news/denis-villeneuve-is-doing-dune-3.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/denis-villeneuve-is-doing-dune-3.htmlVariety reports that following the massive box office success of Dune: Part Two, Legendary has tapped Denis Villeneuve for a third installment that would presumably continue the story of how Paul Atreides goes on to conquer the galaxy. Earlier this year, Villeneuve told Empire that he had already “put words on paper” thinking about where he would like to take the Dune franchise going forward.  Legendary has yet to announce any sort of timeline for when production on Dune 3 might begin./news/ea-says-it-s-learned-from-star-wars-battlefront-controversy-vows-to-be-better.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ea-says-it-s-learned-from-star-wars-battlefront-controversy-vows-to-be-better.htmlThe lead up to Star Wars Battlefront II was full of excitement. The original game, itself a reboot of the beloved LucasArts series, proved that EA-owned developer DICE was capable of fusing the world of Star Wars with a competitive shooter. But it was also a relatively light experience that players burned out on quickly. The sequel promised not only a bigger, more complex multiplayer mode, but also the much-requested addition of a story campaign./news/elon-musk-says-don-t-worry-be-happy.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/elon-musk-says-don-t-worry-be-happy.htmlElon Musk says don’t worry, be happy. Unless you work for the Supercharger team that was recently gutted in his “absolutely hard core” approach to cost cutting. Musk already said that the Supercharger network would still continue to grow, but “at a slower pace for new locations,” causing more than a little concern amongst Tesla owners and anyone relying upon the North American Charging Standard. Now we have clarification. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfanxyfI5ra2ptY2l%2BcXvEpaanZZ2qwKx50pqwrGWUpLu1edaoqauxXZeybrTAqaey/news/epic-v-google-day-5-resumes-with-jamie-rosenberg-former-head-of-google-play.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/epic-v-google-day-5-resumes-with-jamie-rosenberg-former-head-of-google-play.htmlEpic v. Google day 5 resumes with Jamie Rosenberg, former head of Google Play. He’s not with Google Play anymore but says he still works “with a number of leaders across the company on leadership development and coaching.” He was Kochikar’s boss and Kolotouros’ boss — the latter seemed to be quite angry with him at one time. Time to hear about the early days of Google Play Billing, it seems./news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-disney-espn-and-bob-iger-s-return-as-ceo.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-disney-espn-and-bob-iger-s-return-as-ceo.htmlWarner Bros. Discovery is preparing to launch a streaming service in partnership with ESPN / Disney and Fox Sports, as reported earlier by CNBC and Sports Business Journal. All three companies have agreed in principle to launch an as-yet-unnamed standalone app, of which they all share one-third ownership, this fall that streams a range of leagues and sports. It is poised to have sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNews, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV./news/facebook-messenger-launches-scannable-profile-codes-just-like-snapchat.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/facebook-messenger-launches-scannable-profile-codes-just-like-snapchat.htmlFacebook is trying to make it easier to get in touch with people over Messenger, so it's rolling out a number of new ways to start chatting. As with all Facebook accounts, all Messenger accounts will now have dedicated links that people can visit to start a chat — they'll all be located at m.me/[username]. Facebook is also rolling out what it calls Messenger Codes, which are Messenger's equivalent to Snapchat's snapcodes./news/far-right-activist-laura-loomer-handcuffed-herself-to-twitter-s-nyc-headquarters.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/far-right-activist-laura-loomer-handcuffed-herself-to-twitter-s-nyc-headquarters.htmlEarlier this afternoon, alt-right Jewish commentator Laura Loomer handcuffed herself to the front doors of Twitter’s New York headquarters, while wearing a Yellow Star and carrying a bullhorn and a number of printed-out tweets. She says she’s demonstrating in protest of the alleged shadowbanning of conservatives on the social media platform, and the “double standard” of allowing figures like anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to remain on the site./news/five-former-spacex-employees-speak-out-about-harassment-at-the-company.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/five-former-spacex-employees-speak-out-about-harassment-at-the-company.htmlA group of former SpaceX employees are coming forward about their experience working at the commercial rocket company, claiming that there is a culture of sexual harassment in the workplace and that managers and the human resources department handled complaints poorly. The individuals are speaking out in light of an essay published by one former employee, Ashley Kosak, who left SpaceX in November. In her account, Kosak details multiple instances of being groped and feeling uncomfortable after fending off sexual advances by her male co-workers./news/fortnite-s-new-trophy-was-made-by-swarovski.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fortnite-s-new-trophy-was-made-by-swarovski.htmlThroughout the trophy development phase, Swarovski created its photorealistic renderings using Unreal Engine, allowing for quick and comprehensive evaluation of the design. Working from Swarovski’s manufacturing headquarters in Wattens, Austria, the team used multiple innovations, including laser plotting, fine grinding, and polishing, to ensure a flawless result. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2pfZn5wg45ram1sYWWCd3vFqKmtppmpsm6yzZyqZqyipL2pxYysrpqqn6vArLWMnqeim12crq6x0g%3D%3D/news/foundation-s-second-season-kicks-off-in-july.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/foundation-s-second-season-kicks-off-in-july.htmlMore than a century after the season 1 finale, tension mounts throughout the galaxy in Foundation season 2. As the Cleons unravel, a vengeful queen plots to destroy Empire from within. Hari, Gaal, and Salvor discover a colony of Mentalics with psionic abilities that threaten to alter psychohistory itself. The Foundation has entered its religious phase, promulgating the Church of Seldon throughout the Outer Reach and inciting the Second Crisis: war with Empire./news/ftc-says-facebook-has-been-a-monopoly-since-at-least-2011-in-amended-antitrust-complaint.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/ftc-says-facebook-has-been-a-monopoly-since-at-least-2011-in-amended-antitrust-complaint.htmlThe Federal Trade Commission has filed an amended antitrust complaint against Facebook, alleging that the company violated federal antitrust laws with its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. The new complaint is a more detailed version of a charge dismissed by the court in June for insufficient evidence. “Facebook has today, and has maintained since 2011, a dominant share of the relevant market for US personal social networking services,” the complaint alleges, citing time spent and active-user metrics on the daily and monthly scale./news/fubotv-now-lets-you-watch-four-channels-at-once-on-apple-tv.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fubotv-now-lets-you-watch-four-channels-at-once-on-apple-tv.htmlIf you never used Sony’s now-shuttered PlayStation Vue internet TV service, you’re probably unaware of one of its best features: multiview. PS Vue allowed you to watch multiple channels on-screen at once, which is something most of the bigger TV apps — Sling TV, YouTube TV, Hulu, etc. — don’t currently offer. But now, FuboTV is putting a bigger focus on multiview. You could already stream two channels simultaneously with the FuboTV app on Apple TV, and starting today, that’s expanding to four./news/fuckjerry-founder-apologizes-for-stealing-jokes-and-pledges-to-get-creator-permission.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/fuckjerry-founder-apologizes-for-stealing-jokes-and-pledges-to-get-creator-permission.htmlElliot Tebele, founder of marketing firm Jerry Media and creator of the popular Fuckjerry Instagram account, said today that his company will no longer post content without being able to identify its creator and without that creator’s express and advance consent. The change comes in response to backlash from the comedy world, which has long despised accounts like Fuckjerry’s for profiting off jokes, memes, and other creative works on the internet without approval and, in earlier years, without crediting an original creator at all./news/garmin-hit-by-massive-outage-after-possible-ransomware-attack.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/garmin-hit-by-massive-outage-after-possible-ransomware-attack.htmlGarmin fitness devices have been left disconnected for nearly a day after the company suffered a major outage, possibly caused by a ransomware attack. The outage first reported by Garmin over 20 hours ago, as of this writing, affects Garmin wearables and apps, as well as Garmin call centers. “We are currently experiencing an outage that affects Garmin.com and Garmin Connect. This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats,” wrote the company on Twitter and its Garmin Connect website./news/giphy-launches-a-super-simple-gif-creator-for-the-web.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/giphy-launches-a-super-simple-gif-creator-for-the-web.htmlAs a denizen of the internet, I frequently find myself wanting to turn YouTube videos into GIFs, but I've never been very good at doing it on my own. Fortunately, the internet's overwhelming love for GIFs has resulted in the creation of some pretty simple GIF creators, and Giphy is releasing a brand new one this afternoon. Just drop in a YouTube link and choose your clip Giphy's new GIF Maker just requires you to drop in a YouTube link, navigate to a starting point in the video, and choose how long the GIF should run for./news/google-is-building-a-fart-button-into-android.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-is-building-a-fart-button-into-android.htmlI simply don’t know how to feel about an incoming update to the Google Phone app that adds sound effects to the Android dialer. First spotted as part of a beta update by 9to5Google, the app may soon let you tap one of six “Audio Emoji” buttons to play a short sound clip that both sides of the call can hear. There’s clapping, laughing, crying (a sad, sliding trombone), partying, a drum sting (ba-dum ts) and./news/google-is-making-it-easier-to-edit-pdfs-on-chromebooks.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-is-making-it-easier-to-edit-pdfs-on-chromebooks.htmlStarting next week, editing PDFs on a Chromebook is going to be a breeze. Users will be able to highlight text, fill out forms, sign documents, and add text annotations directly within the Gallery app. Gallery is the default photo editing app on Chromebooks. Similar to Photos on Windows, it’s where a batch of photos first appears when you open it. Most Chromebooks don’t come with a PDF editor by default, and while free third-party options exist, their features tend to be limited, and editing directly in Gallery seems like it would involve significantly less hassle./news/google-music-beta-hands-on-video.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-music-beta-hands-on-video.htmlGoogle promised I/O attendees invites to Music Beta today -- and sure enough, mine rolled in a couple hours ago, so I thought I'd take it for a quick spin. In a nutshell, the beta label is well-deserved at this point. On both Chrome and on my phone, I was really pleased with how quickly and effortlessly tracks started streaming over 3G... but the setup process isn't without its hiccups. Using the companion Music Manager app that you use to boost tracks from your PC into the cloud, Josh and I both noticed that it's pretty easy to upload more content than you mean to./news/google-reportedly-leaving-project-maven-military-ai-program-after-2019.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-reportedly-leaving-project-maven-military-ai-program-after-2019.htmlGoogle has decided not to renew its contact for a controversial Department of Defense program known as Project Maven, which involved Google helping the US government analyze drone footage using artificial intelligence. The news, reported today by Gizmodo, was announced internally today by Google Cloud chief Diane Greene at a meeting with employees. The contract allegedly expires in 2019. Greene’s announcement comes just days after news that Google will be announcing a new set of ethical principles to guide the development of military AI, which is set to be revealed next week./news/google-s-gigantic-san-jose-campus-is-on-hold.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/google-s-gigantic-san-jose-campus-is-on-hold.htmlGoogle has been gobbling up bigger and bigger patches of Silicon Valley for as long as we’ve reported on the company, but it may be pulling back from its biggest development yet — after razing small parts of San Jose to the ground. CNBC reports that following the first demolition phase, Google has halted construction on its “Downtown West” campus, which was slated to turn 80 acres of downtown San Jose, California into 7./news/hawkeye-review-the-disney-plus-show-doesn-t-take-itself-too-seriously.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hawkeye-review-the-disney-plus-show-doesn-t-take-itself-too-seriously.htmlHawkeye is a few different things. It’s a chance to spend more time with one of the lesser-known Avengers, it’s an origin story for an up-and-coming hero, and it’s a detective drama set amidst the backdrop of Christmas in New York City as the MCU adds yet another genre to its all-enveloping fold. Most importantly, though, it’s a Marvel series that doesn’t take itself too seriously — making the first two episodes unexpectedly fun./news/hbo-max-and-youtube-are-now-on-spectrum-tv.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-max-and-youtube-are-now-on-spectrum-tv.htmlTwo of the biggest players in streaming, HBO Max and YouTube, have officially arrived on Spectrum TV.  It’s the first time the apps have been supported on Spectrum TV, Charter’s digital cable provider and live TV app, and users will be able to access content from both apps through the platform’s guide on channels 2004 for HBO Max and 2003 for YouTube. Users will also be able to find them by searching the guide or from the guide’s apps menu./news/hbo-max-was-renamed-max-and-warner-bros-discovery-lost-subscribers.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-max-was-renamed-max-and-warner-bros-discovery-lost-subscribers.htmlWarner Bros. Discovery lost 1.8 million subscribers in the three months following the launch of Max. The losses weren’t exclusive to the Max streaming service, though. In its earnings report on Thursday, the company reported having 95.8 million global subscribers across all of its services — down from 97.6 million at the end of the first quarter of this year. Despite this, the executives at Warner Bros. Discovery don’t seem too worried./news/hbo-s-carrie-fisher-debbie-reynolds-doc-is-shapeless-scattershot-and-completely-adorable.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hbo-s-carrie-fisher-debbie-reynolds-doc-is-shapeless-scattershot-and-completely-adorable.htmlEarly in the HBO documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher And Debbie Reynolds, viewers get a glimpse of the huge double-doored gate to “the compound,” a sprawling, multi-house California ranch where author and Star Wars star Carrie Fisher and her mother, Singin’ In The Rain star Debbie Reynolds, live in adjoining houses. The gate is festooned with random kitschy signs, seemingly reclaimed from a series of junky bars. “Beware of crabs./news/hollywood-is-quietly-using-ai-to-help-decide-which-movies-to-make.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/hollywood-is-quietly-using-ai-to-help-decide-which-movies-to-make.htmlThe film world is full of intriguing what-ifs. Will Smith famously turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix. Nicolas Cage was cast as the lead in Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, but he only had time to try on the costume before the film was canned. Actors and directors are forever glancing off projects that never get made or that get made by someone else, and fans are left wondering what might have been./news/honda-expands-its-risky-hydrogen-investment-with-new-fuel-cell-powered-semi-truck.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/honda-expands-its-risky-hydrogen-investment-with-new-fuel-cell-powered-semi-truck.htmlHonda continues to place bets on hydrogen with the debut of a new Class 8 truck powered by the most abundant element in the universe. The concept vehicle joins the automaker’s hydrogen fuel cell SUV revealed earlier this year. And it comes at a time of skyrocketing fuel prices and a shaky outlook for hydrogen in the transportation space. The truck runs on three of Honda’s new fuel cell systems, which are now in production at the company’s Fuel Cell System Manufacturing joint venture with General Motors in Brownstown, Michigan./news/how-long-is-the-super-bowl.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-long-is-the-super-bowl.htmlEvery year when the American sporting event the Super Bowl approaches, people seem to ask the exact same questions: “Who’s playing?” “What day is it?” “Who’s having a party? I really can’t after what happened last year with Stacy’s boyfriend getting overexcited and cutting his fingers off on the ceiling fan.” “Who is the musical act?” “What time does it start?” These questions are easy to answer. You can Google them, text your friends, or send a company-wide email./news/how-my-smart-home-helps-care-for-my-pets.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-my-smart-home-helps-care-for-my-pets.html{props.credit} ) }const containers = document.querySelectorAll(".w-full figure.w-full"); containers.forEach(container => {const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(container); root.render()}) I love animals. I’m lucky enough to have a big backyard with plenty of space for seven chickens we call The Ladies, a bunny rabbit named Inle, a large dog named Gus, and an adventurous cat who goes by Smokey. (I think there’s space for a horse, but my husband disagrees.) Caring for my flock is one of my favorite things to do./news/how-one-direction-stayed-the-world-s-biggest-band-even-after-it-stopped-existing.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-one-direction-stayed-the-world-s-biggest-band-even-after-it-stopped-existing.htmlOne Direction has been on an indefinite “hiatus” since December 13th, 2015 — one year ago today. In the meantime most of the members have moved on to new projects: a solo recording contract here, a label imprint there… a Christopher Nolan film, a golf management company, an embarrassing production moniker, an Ed Sheeran-lite debut single. The boys have been busy, but they haven’t been together. Regardless, One Direction was Forbes’ second highest-paid musical act for the year./news/how-to-get-your-money-back-for-at-home-covid-test-kits.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-get-your-money-back-for-at-home-covid-test-kits.htmlAnnounced back in January, the new rules state that private health insurers are required to cover these tests without needing approval from a doctor or other medical provider. (If you need more kits, you can also get them covered if it is ordered by a medical provider.) This requirement went into effect on January 15th. How do you take advantage of this? That depends on your specific health insurer. Currently, the best way to find out how to get reimbursed for tests you have purchased is to log on to your health insurance site./news/how-to-install-the-macos-sonoma-public-beta.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-install-the-macos-sonoma-public-beta.htmlApple is launching the public beta for macOS Sonoma today. This is the next big update coming to Mac computers (the final version is expected later in 2023), and it brings several big changes. In this article, we’re going to walk you through how to get the beta onto your computer, should you want it. Once you install the beta, it will likely receive several updates between now and the final release./news/how-to-mix-politics-with-your-threads.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-mix-politics-with-your-threads.htmlYou can’t really blame Meta’s executives for wanting to limit the amount of political yelling on Instagram and Threads. That stuff can get pretty toxic. As a result, both of Meta’s social networks now limit what Meta terms “political content” from people you are not following. However, if you are a Threads or Instagram user and you want to be exposed to posts “likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large” (which is how Meta describes it), you can still do it by opting in to political content./news/how-to-pick-an-isp-when-you-move.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-pick-an-isp-when-you-move.htmlMoving is complicated, and comparing internet plans can be, too. Combine the two, and it can be even more complex. But if you want internet and don’t want to rely solely on your phone’s data plan in your new home, it’s a necessity. Whether you’re a professional work-from-home couple spending all day on Zoom calls while raising three YouTube- and Spotify-happy teenagers or a thrifty single who spends little to no time streaming or scrolling in favor of reading books and raising chickens, you probably need home internet — at least for the chicken cam./news/how-to-turn-off-motion-smoothing-on-your-high-definition-tv.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/how-to-turn-off-motion-smoothing-on-your-high-definition-tv.htmlCinephiles, take note: your TV may be messing with your favorite films. Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie recently put out a video warning TV watchers that motion smoothing (also known as video interpolation or the “soap opera effect”) could be changing the quality of your picture. Meant to reduce motion blur, smoothing is useful when you’re watching the quick action in sports, but it’s not great when you’re watching a carefully filmed motion picture./news/insta360-one-rs-1-inch-360-review-setting-the-stage-for-360-cameras-to-come.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/insta360-one-rs-1-inch-360-review-setting-the-stage-for-360-cameras-to-come.htmlIn 2020, Insta360 began betting big on modular cameras. Instead of replacing its entire system with each product cycle, the company started making cameras that allowed owners to upgrade a single part of the camera they already have. So even though Insta360’s latest camera, the One RS 1-inch 360 Edition, looks wildly different than its predecessor, the One RS, it is built on the same processor and software Insta360 customers already own and know./news/instagram-s-recommendation-algorithms-are-promoting-pedophile-networks.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/instagram-s-recommendation-algorithms-are-promoting-pedophile-networks.htmlInstagram’s algorithms are actively promoting networks of pedophiles who commission and sell child sexual abuse content on Meta’s popular image sharing app. A joint investigation from The Wall Street Journal and academics at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst has revealed the extent to which Instagram’s recommendation systems “connects pedophiles and guides them to content sellers.” Accounts found by the researchers are advertised using blatant and explicit hashtags like #pedowhore, #preteensex, and #pedobait./news/iphone-12-mini-and-iphone-12-pro-max-hands-on-impressions.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/iphone-12-mini-and-iphone-12-pro-max-hands-on-impressions.htmlApple’s iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are the “default” size iPhones this year. But Apple also has two more new devices: the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max. One is Apple’s smallest iPhone in years — and the other is its biggest iPhone ever.  Here’s a first look: From left to right: the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 12 mini If you’ve seen the iPhone 12 already, it’s basically that, but smaller./news/irobot-s-newest-roomba-uses-ai-to-avoid-dog-poop.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/irobot-s-newest-roomba-uses-ai-to-avoid-dog-poop.htmlUsing a robot vacuum has always been a bit hazardous for pet owners. Leaving a robovac to do its thing in your absence can be a problem if your less-than-perfectly-trained dog or cat also does its thing while you’re out. A quick Google of “Roomba dog poop” gives you some idea of what the outcome can be, as unheeding robots with spinning brushes barrel into the mess and proceed to spread it liberally around the house./news/iskn-slate-digitizes-your-paper-doodles-in-real-time-using-magnets.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/iskn-slate-digitizes-your-paper-doodles-in-real-time-using-magnets.htmlEarlier this year, I tried out a bunch of digitizing products like Livescribe’s line of Smartpens and the Moleskine smart writing set. Equipped with camera-barrelled pens and special dotted tracking paper, they all worked flawlessly to transcribe my handwriting from paper into digital text, and converted over some doodles, too. Still, I fantasized of a product that was made specifically for artists, one that would work like a graphics tablet but let me draw on real paper./news/japan-just-got-a-foldable-flip-phone-that-costs-only-420-or-265-on-sale.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/japan-just-got-a-foldable-flip-phone-that-costs-only-420-or-265-on-sale.htmlWith a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7-series chip, the Libero Flip isn’t exactly a high-end phone, but its 6.9-inch, 2790 x 1188 foldable OLED panel is slightly larger than the Samsung, and it may have a slightly larger battery at 4,310mAh vs. 3,700mAh. (Please ask your manufacturers to report those in watt-hours so we can properly compare.) The ZTE Libero Flip. Image: ZTE And while the phone is otherwise a bit of a Galaxy Z Flip clone, it does have this intriguing disc on the back./news/judge-rules-google-has-to-face-lawsuit-that-claims-it-tracks-users-even-in-incognito-mode.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/judge-rules-google-has-to-face-lawsuit-that-claims-it-tracks-users-even-in-incognito-mode.htmlA judge in California ruled Friday that Google has to face a class action lawsuit that claims the search giant secretly collects data from users even when they’re using its private “Incognito” mode, Bloomberg reported. Three users filed a complaint last June alleging Google has a “pervasive data tracking business,” and its tracking persists even if users take steps to protect their private information, such as using incognito mode in Chrome, or private browsing in Safari and other browsers./news/lee-jung-jae-on-making-his-directorial-debut-with-the-spy-thriller-hunt.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lee-jung-jae-on-making-his-directorial-debut-with-the-spy-thriller-hunt.htmlLee Jung-jae has had plenty of success in front of the camera, first spending years as a star in Korea and then capturing the attention of the rest of the world with his leading role in Squid Game. Soon, he will even be in a Star Wars project. Now, he’s trying his hand at directing as well. The spy thriller Hunt marks Lee’s directorial debut — and he also stars in the film and co-wrote the screenplay./news/lg-tvs-will-soon-be-google-home-smart-home-hubs.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-tvs-will-soon-be-google-home-smart-home-hubs.htmlLG TVs will soon be Google Home smart home hubs. At LG’s CES press conference, Erik Kay of Google came onstage to say that “LG TVs will act as hubs for Google Home, so you can easily set up and control any Matter device, see and control LG, Google, and Google Home devices right from the TV or ThinQ app.” This means that LG TVs will act as Matter controllers for Google Home, giving you another option beyond a Google Nest Hub, Nest Mini, or Nest Wifi to use Matter devices with Google Home./news/lg-s-g5-is-a-radical-reinvention-of-the-flagship-android-smartphone.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lg-s-g5-is-a-radical-reinvention-of-the-flagship-android-smartphone.htmlThe immediate reaction when picking up the G5 and inspecting its aluminum-clad body is that it looks and feels very much like a smaller version of Google's Nexus 6P. LG's fingerprint scanner is positioned in the same spot as the 6P's Nexus Imprint, and the G5's camera module also protrudes ever so slightly from the body. Both phones are housed in anodized aluminum and available in silver and gold colorways, and both have beautiful, high-resolution (2560 x 1440) displays./news/lifx-launches-a-new-line-of-outdoor-smart-lights.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/lifx-launches-a-new-line-of-outdoor-smart-lights.htmlIf you’ve been around the smart home for a while, you’ll remember Lifx. One of the first smart lighting companies, Lifx was Philips Hue’s main competitor in its heyday, both being known for high-quality products and compatibility with all the major platforms. But over the last few years, the Australian-based company and its Wi-Fi smart bulbs have struggled, almost going out of business in 2022. Now, Lifx is back, and it’s promising to be better and brighter than ever./news/looking-back-on-what-made-the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-special-15-years-later.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/looking-back-on-what-made-the-lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-special-15-years-later.htmlFifteen years ago this week, Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring premiered in theaters. The film opened to fanfare as the first installment of a long-awaited live-action adaptation of Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series. But in the years since, it’s clear that it was more than that. Lord of the Rings wasn’t just a movie adaptation of a beloved series. It would set a template that Hollywood has followed for years since — not just for epic fantasy, but the entire medium of film./news/los-angeles-police-just-bought-tasers-that-activate-body-cameras-if-used.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/los-angeles-police-just-bought-tasers-that-activate-body-cameras-if-used.htmlHot on the heels of announcing its plan to buy some 8,000 body cameras from Taser, the Los Angeles Police department has ordered up actual Tasers that automatically record on those Taser cameras when fired. Reuters says that the Department ordered 3,000 of Taser's X26P smart weapon, a model that was announced two years ago, and is designed to work in tandem with Taser's body recorder. When connected by Bluetooth, the camera can store footage while the weapon keeps a log of how it was used, including things like when it was fired, and if the electrical wires made contact./news/massive-attack-the-verge.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/massive-attack-the-verge.htmlEvery year, artists and technology enthusiasts meet in Linz, Austria, for the Ars Electronica Festival, a meetup in the city’s downtown, located just off the Danube River. The festival is a haven for those with an eye toward the future — something between Burning Man and a TED conference, with visitors navigating scientific equipment, LED lights, and colorful installations. International visitors for the event are common enough, but the 1998 festival featured an unlikely participant: the Pentagon./news/meitu-just-released-a-sailor-moon-phone-and-selfie-stick.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meitu-just-released-a-sailor-moon-phone-and-selfie-stick.htmlMeitu, the Chinese company behind that viral selfie app that may or may not take all your personal information, just released the M8 and upgraded Meitu T8. The company’s phones are known for letting its users take the most extra selfies, as seen on Ashley’s review here, where she says it gave her “baby skin.” And it’s definitely equipped to do so — the Meitu M8’s front-facing camera is a 12-megapixel Sony camera, with a 21-megapixel Sony rear-facing camera./news/meta-is-laying-off-10-000-more-employees-in-a-series-of-cuts.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/meta-is-laying-off-10-000-more-employees-in-a-series-of-cuts.htmlMeta will lay off an additional 10,000 employees through multiple rounds of cuts over the coming two months, close hiring for 5,000 open roles, and cancel more low-priority projects, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday. These cuts come just four months after he laid off 11,000 employees, or 13 percent of the company, last November. The first wave of layoffs will start this week and impact Meta’s recruiting organization, followed by a second wave for tech roles in April and a third focused on business roles in late May./news/microsoft-confirms-some-windows-10-source-code-has-leaked.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-confirms-some-windows-10-source-code-has-leaked.htmlA portion of Microsoft’s Windows 10 source code has leaked online this week. Files related to Microsoft’s USB, storage, and Wi-Fi drivers in Windows 10 were posted to Beta Archive this week. Beta Archive is an enthusiast site that tracks Windows releases, and asks members to donate money or contribute something Windows-related if they access a free private FTP full of archived Windows builds. The leaked code was published to Beta Archive’s FTP, and is part of Microsoft's Shared Source Kit./news/microsoft-makes-the-windows-11-setup-process-less-boring-with-an-entertaining-easter-egg.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-makes-the-windows-11-setup-process-less-boring-with-an-entertaining-easter-egg.htmlMicrosoft is making the Windows 11 setup process a little more entertaining, at least on some laptops. I unboxed the Surface Laptop Studio 2 yesterday (read Monica Chin’s review here) and noticed that Microsoft now prompts you to play the modern version of its SkiFree game while you wait for updates to be applied. It’s the same secret surfing game that Microsoft added to its Edge browser three years ago, a fun little Easter egg that’s very similar to the SkiFree skiing game that was released as part of Microsoft’s Entertainment Pack 3 for Windows back in 1991./news/microsoft-s-first-ai-pcs-are-the-surface-pro-10-and-surface-laptop-6-for-businesses.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/microsoft-s-first-ai-pcs-are-the-surface-pro-10-and-surface-laptop-6-for-businesses.htmlMicrosoft is gearing up for its “year of the AI PC” with two new Surface devices that won’t be sold directly to consumers. The Surface Pro 10 for Business and Surface Laptop 6 for Business both feature Intel’s latest Core Ultra processors, Microsoft’s new Copilot key, and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to accelerate some existing and upcoming AI-powered features in Windows 11. Microsoft is calling them “the first Surface AI PCs built exclusively for business./news/moms-in-tech-facebook-group-splintering-over-allegations-of-racism.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/moms-in-tech-facebook-group-splintering-over-allegations-of-racism.htmlA Facebook group for mothers in the tech industry is disintegrating after members say they were blocked or silenced for posting about anti-racism and white fragility. The group, Moms in Tech, was started in 2017 by Linda Xiong, a product manager at Facebook. Today, it has over 15,000 members. While many of the discussions have focused on the experience of being a mother in the male-dominated tech industry, members also use it as a forum for networking and support./news/moviefone-s-iconic-phone-service-is-shutting-down-after-25-years.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/moviefone-s-iconic-phone-service-is-shutting-down-after-25-years.htmlIf you call 777-FILM right now to try and order movie tickets, the greeting will be a warm bath of nostalgia for anyone who saw Titanic or Dumb and Dumber in theaters: "Hello, and welcome to Moviefone!" Hang up immediately. What comes next is a different, sadder voice, asking you to hang up the phone and download the Moviefone app instead. That's because after 25 years, Moviefone is shutting down its phone lines in the next month./news/mrbeast-ends-finger-on-the-app-competition-by-telling-players-to-stop.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/mrbeast-ends-finger-on-the-app-competition-by-telling-players-to-stop.htmlAfter watching contestants keep their fingers attached to a phone screen for more than 70 hours, YouTube creator Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson called an early end to a massive competition originally designed with one winner and a $25,000 prize in mind. The result? Four winners, each walking away with $20,000 in hand. Donaldson’s “Finger on the App” was a one-time game designed in partnership with internet collective MSCHF. The rules were simple: be the last person to take your finger off a phone screen, and win $25,000./news/my-favorite-new-mouse-is-a-carbon-fiber-desktop-lambo.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/my-favorite-new-mouse-is-a-carbon-fiber-desktop-lambo.htmlEVGA is a company best known for making GeForce graphics cards, so when it decided to venture out into making peripherals last year, it had to make a bit of extra noise in order to get noticed. That's part of the reason for the carbon fiber sides on the X10 Carbon, though the stronger justification is surely that it feels cooler to know that it's there. Like a supercar that isn't being driven on the track, merely knowing that you have all this power and high engineering at your disposal is a pleasant feeling in itself./news/netflix-gets-its-biggest-games-yet-with-gta-trilogy-in-december.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-gets-its-biggest-games-yet-with-gta-trilogy-in-december.htmlNetflix is adding the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition to its ever expanding, ever impressive roster of games just in time for the holiday need-a-20-minute-break-from-the-family season. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition (which we’re going to call the GTA Trilogy for simplicity’s sake) is a remaster of GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas. Players can pre-register for the games starting today on iOS and Google Play./news/netflix-s-love-death-and-robots-teases-third-season-and-a-may-release-date.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/netflix-s-love-death-and-robots-teases-third-season-and-a-may-release-date.htmlThe third “volume” of Netflix’s science fiction anthology series Love, Death, and Robots will debut on May 20th. The company announced the release on Monday with a short video — though don’t be fooled by the footage of The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit at the beginning. The streaming service teased that a third volume was on the way when it announced Volume 2 almost exactly one year ago, but only gave a vague “2022” release at the time./news/new-zealand-s-new-flag-could-be-one-of-these-designs.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/new-zealand-s-new-flag-could-be-one-of-these-designs.htmlThe government of New Zealand today published a list of 40 possible designs for its new national flag, ahead of a national referendum slated for later this year. The designs were selected by an independent panel from a list of nearly 10,300 online submissions that included a kiwi bird with laser eyes, a stick figure riding a bicycle, and an ice cream cone. The designs selected today aren't nearly as daring./news/nintendo-s-new-mario-themed-switch-is-back-in-stock-at-several-retailers.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-s-new-mario-themed-switch-is-back-in-stock-at-several-retailers.html“MAR10 Day” is tomorrow, but several retailers have already begun the festivities by making more stock available for the limited-edition Nintendo Switch that is based on the mustached plumber. The Nintendo Switch Mario Red & Blue Edition was released last month but has been hard to find since its launch. Now it is back in stock at several retailers, including Best Buy and GameStop. Retailing for $300, which is the normal price for Nintendo’s hybrid console, the limited-edition Switch features an all-red console, a red dock stand, a pair of red Joy-Cons, a red casing around the screen, and a blue Joy-Con grip./news/nintendo-s-zelda-themed-hyrule-edition-switch-lite-is-finally-up-for-preorder.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nintendo-s-zelda-themed-hyrule-edition-switch-lite-is-finally-up-for-preorder.htmlThe console comes dipped in a golden hue with black trim — an iconic combo befitting Hylian royalty. The noble house’s signature crest graces the rear, and you’ll find a smaller Triforce symbol stamped on the front in the lower-right corner. There’s not much more setting it apart from any other Switch Lite, but considering Echoes of Wisdom is the first Zelda title to actually star Princess Zelda as the primary character, the occasion may move you to pick it up even if you already own Nintendo’s dedicated handheld./news/nothing-phone-2-all-the-updates-on-the-road-to-a-flashy-new-phone.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nothing-phone-2-all-the-updates-on-the-road-to-a-flashy-new-phone.htmlThe Nothing Phone 2 is better than the Phone 1 in a lot of small ways. But I’m still not exactly sure what it is. By the numbers, it’s a well-equipped midrange device. It costs $599 and comes with a capable Snapdragon processor, a big, smooth-scrolling screen, and a few extras like wireless charging. So far, so good. But then, there’s the vibe, which is at least half of the attraction./news/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-launching-june-3rd-for-1-199.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-launching-june-3rd-for-1-199.htmlNvidia is unveiling its latest flagship gaming GPU today, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. Based on Nvidia’s latest Ampere architecture, the RTX 3080 Ti will succeed the RTX 3080 and promises to deliver 1.5x more performance over the previous generation RTX 2080 Ti. Nvidia is making the RTX 3080 Ti available worldwide on June 3rd, priced from $1,199. The RTX 3080 Ti looks very much like the RTX 3080, with an identical design and ports./news/osama-bin-laden-s-compound-computers-held-crochet-lessons-viral-youtube-videos-and-sexy-video-ga.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/osama-bin-laden-s-compound-computers-held-crochet-lessons-viral-youtube-videos-and-sexy-video-ga.htmlA couple of years after releasing the first cache of books and articles found in Osama bin Laden’s compound in 2011, the US government has followed up with a massive collection of computer files — including viral YouTube videos, anime, and the September 11th conspiracy documentary Loose Change. The CIA-hosted archive includes hundreds of gigabytes’ worth of files, but its title indexes — for audio, documents, video, and images — are a lot more manageable./news/overwatch-2-targets-console-cheaters-using-xim-reasnow-and-cronus-devices.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/overwatch-2-targets-console-cheaters-using-xim-reasnow-and-cronus-devices.htmlOverwatch 2 targets console cheaters using XIM, ReaSnow, and Cronus devices. Like Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, and Destiny 2, the developers of Overwatch 2 are going after players who use “unapproved peripherals” to combine the precision of mouse and keyboard controls with the aim assist granted to controller players. Over the next few weeks, there will be permanent account bans against players who are the most severe abusers of unapproved peripherals./news/perplexity-will-research-and-write-reports.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/perplexity-will-research-and-write-reports.htmlAI search platform Perplexity is launching a new feature called Pages that will generate a customizable webpage based on user prompts. The new feature feels like a one-stop shop for making a school report since Perplexity does the research and writing for you. Pages taps Perplexity’s AI search models to find information and then creates what I can loosely call a research presentation that can be published and shared with others./news/peter-parker-looks-like-a-store-brand-tom-holland-in-spider-man-remastered.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/peter-parker-looks-like-a-store-brand-tom-holland-in-spider-man-remastered.htmlSony has revealed that Spider-Man Remastered will have one major change from the original: the character model for Peter Parker looks completely different. He now closely resembles Tom Holland, who currently portrays movie Spider-Man. Insomniac Games says that the change is because the new face model, Ben Jordan, is a “better match” for Peter Parker/Spider-Man voice actor Yuri Lowenthal’s facial capture. But given the huge popularity of Holland’s portrayal of the spidey superhero, the change sure does seem like a suspicious coincidence./news/pixel-3a-vs-pixel-3-how-the-specs-compare-for-google-s-latest-phones.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/pixel-3a-vs-pixel-3-how-the-specs-compare-for-google-s-latest-phones.htmlGoogle just took the wraps off its latest smartphone: the Pixel 3A, a cheaper version of its flagship Pixel phone that starts at just $400, or roughly half of what the more powerful Pixel 3 costs. If you want to know whether the Pixel 3A is good, I’d recommend reading my colleague Dieter Bohn’s review (spoiler: it’s very good, especially for the price). But the question isn’t whether the Pixel 3A is good — it’s whether the regular Pixel 3 (and Pixel 3 XL) are good enough to justify spending twice as much./news/razer-claims-its-kiyo-pro-ultra-can-capture-uncompressed-4k-footage.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/razer-claims-its-kiyo-pro-ultra-can-capture-uncompressed-4k-footage.htmlRazer’s new 4K webcam, the $299.99 Kiyo Pro Ultra, is available starting today from Razer’s site and at its retail stores. Razer promises DSLR-like video quality with its 1/1.2-inch Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which it claims is the largest ever in a webcam. This webcam offers an f/1.7 aperture that should allow for natural-looking bokeh and hopefully solid low-light performance, too. Like many webcams these days, the Kiyo Pro Ultra was made to tempt creators away from buying a pricey DSLR camera./news/reddit-is-going-to-make-it-easier-to-create-great-bots.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/reddit-is-going-to-make-it-easier-to-create-great-bots.htmlReddit’s working on a new portal to provide developers with the resources they need to create bots and other third-party tools. In a blog post, Reddit announced that it’s opening a wait list for the beta of its developer platform, allowing developers to host bots for free and reuse apps across different communities. If you’re a frequent Reddit user, you might already be familiar with some of the more popular bots on the platform, like u/RemindMeBot, which sends you a message to remind you about a certain post or comment at a specified time./news/roku-settles-youtube-dispute-and-locks-down-apps-in-multi-year-deal.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/roku-settles-youtube-dispute-and-locks-down-apps-in-multi-year-deal.htmlRoku has reached a deal with Google to continue distributing the YouTube and YouTube TV apps on its platform. The two had been at odds over a contract extension, sparring over what Roku described as onerous demands by Google for more data and more prominent placement on its devices. If they hadn’t reached an agreement by tomorrow, Google planned to pull the YouTube app from Roku — a loss for basically everyone involved, but especially Roku users who would have no longer been able to download a key video service./news/roll-ios-app-uses-ai-to-simulate-crane-and-dolly-shots-on-iphone.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/roll-ios-app-uses-ai-to-simulate-crane-and-dolly-shots-on-iphone.htmlRoll AI is a new video creation and collaboration platform for iOS and web that allows users to add simulated video effects to iPhone footage that would typically require professional camera equipment to achieve, such as stabilized pan or crane shots. It’s one of the latest examples in a boom of new apps and services that utilize AI to simplify technical creative processes like photo and video editing. Roll AI uses its proprietary generative AI models to recreate the filming environment in iPhone footage as a 3D space, allowing users to add text overlay effects and simulate side-panning, dolly, and crane camera movements in postproduction and apply various studio effects like bokeh (background blur)./news/rupert-murdoch-takes-on-obama-sopa-google-and-high-popcorn-prices-on-twitter.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/rupert-murdoch-takes-on-obama-sopa-google-and-high-popcorn-prices-on-twitter.htmlRupert Murdoch, the aging, embattled, conservative media tycoon has been no stranger to controversy lately, and not the least of it has centered around his new Twitter account. The Fox and Wall Street Journal head has been surprisingly vocal since he joined the microblogging service just a few weeks ago — but none of his outbursts ring as clearly and loudly as recent tweets on the SOPA debate. Much of his vitriol seems aimed at Google, which Murdoch calls a "/news/samsung-chromebook-review-the-verge.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-chromebook-review-the-verge.htmlPeople laugh when I pull the old Samsung Series 5 Chromebook out of my bag. I almost feel the need to apologize for it when I turn it on: “Here’s a $450 laptop that just browses the web. Sorry, everyone!” The big Chrome logo on the machine’s lid is a constant reminder to passers-by that I’m definitely not playing World of Warcraft (perhaps a good thing), using Spotify, or doing a Skype video call./news/samsung-galaxy-book-3-price-features-and-how-to-buy.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-book-3-price-features-and-how-to-buy.htmlIt wasn’t just all about smartphones at today’s Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. In addition to introducing the forthcoming Galaxy S23 series, Samsung took the stage to introduce a new line of laptops. The new Galaxy Book3 series starts at $1,449.99 and consists of three models: the clamshell Book3 Pro, the higher-end Galaxy Book3 Ultra, and the 2-in-1 convertible Book3 Pro 360. Both the Book3 Pro and Pro 360 will be available starting February 17th, while the Ultra will be available less than a week later, but you can preorder all three laptops starting today./news/samsung-galaxy-s9-phones-are-starting-to-get-android-10.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-galaxy-s9-phones-are-starting-to-get-android-10.htmlAlmost two full years after they were released in March 2018, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are starting to get updated to Android 10, with the update already rolling out to users in Germany and Xfinity Mobile customers in the US, according to SamMobile. The S9 lineup originally launched with Android Oreo, making this the third major Android version available for the two phones. (They were previously updated to Android Pie in late 2018 and early 2019./news/samsung-recalls-galaxy-note-7-worldwide-due-to-exploding-battery-fears.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-recalls-galaxy-note-7-worldwide-due-to-exploding-battery-fears.htmlSamsung has announced an unprecedented recall of the Galaxy Note 7 just weeks after launching the well-received smartphone. Sales have been halted globally, and over the coming weeks Samsung will issue replacements to anyone affected. The issue is related to the phone's battery, with some scattered reports that the cell can explode while charging; Samsung says 35 Note 7 handsets have been found with the issue, or 24 per million sold./news/samsung-shows-off-stretchable-oled-screen-in-prototype-heart-rate-monitor.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-shows-off-stretchable-oled-screen-in-prototype-heart-rate-monitor.htmlWe’ve had curved displays for a while now, but what about stretchy ones? Samsung says it’s making progress building screens “that can be stretched in all directions like rubber bands,” and that the first applications for this material could be in building flexible health tech. The company’s researchers recently created an OLED display that can be stretched by up to 30 percent while operating as normal. As a proof of concept, engineers integrated this display into a stretchable heart rate monitor that can be stuck onto the skin like a Band-Aid./news/samsung-s-2012-led-and-plasma-tv-lineup-priced-arriving-this-spring.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-2012-led-and-plasma-tv-lineup-priced-arriving-this-spring.htmlSamsung may be spinning off its LCD business, but that doesn't mean that the company won't be releasing plenty of new TVs for 2012. We got to take a look at the new LED and plasma TVs at CES, but we now have the full pricing and availability info for each set, and unfortunately, they cost more than the rumors suggested. Samsung's 2012 LED TV lineup is headlined by the ES8000 series — which comes in 46-inch to 65-inch models and ranges from $2,999./news/samsung-s-series-9-3d-all-in-one-pc-and-monitor-hands-on-photos.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-series-9-3d-all-in-one-pc-and-monitor-hands-on-photos.htmlWe've been finishing up our look at Samsung's CES booth and came across a few more entries for its Series 9 products — a 27-inch all-in one PC plus a 27-inch monitor. One of the more unique features of the all-in-one was its 1080p 2D / 3D display, though we couldn't imagine actually using WIndows in 3D mode for any length of time. It looked fine in 2D mode, however, and does present a good option for those who want to use their all-in-one as a smaller home theater device./news/samsung-s-unprecedented-recall-of-the-galaxy-note-7.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/samsung-s-unprecedented-recall-of-the-galaxy-note-7.htmlDuring Samsung’s presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Greenpeace protesters unfurled banners to call attention to the company’s handling of the disposal of millions of recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones. A protester stood on the steps of the stage while Samsung Electronics Europe’s chief marketing officer, David Lowes, made his opening remarks, according to Sam Mobile. The yellow banner was emblazoned with Samsung’s logo, the recycling logo, #GalaxyNote7, and the words “Rethink, Reuse, Recycle,” which prompted Lowes to address the protester, “You’ve made your point./news/scientists-grow-cells-on-a-robot-skeleton-but-don-t-know-what-to-do-with-them-yet.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/scientists-grow-cells-on-a-robot-skeleton-but-don-t-know-what-to-do-with-them-yet.htmlThe science of tissue engineering — or growing human cells for use in medicine — is very much in its infancy, with only the simplest lab-grown cells able to be used in experimental treatments today. But researchers say a new method of tissue engineering could potentially improve the quality of this work: growing the cells on a moving robot skeleton. Typically, cells used in this sort of regenerative medicine are grown in static environments./news/seaman-creator-yoot-saito-on-the-dreamcast-ai-that-was-ahead-of-its-time.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/seaman-creator-yoot-saito-on-the-dreamcast-ai-that-was-ahead-of-its-time.htmlSega’s Dreamcast was ultimately a failure, as Sony came to dominate the early-2000s market with the PlayStation 2. But Sega’s machine left behind a library of uniquely innovative and influential software. And perhaps no title was as memorable as Yutaka “Yoot” Saito’s iconoclastic Seaman, a virtual pet simulator that had you use a microphone to converse with a moody, sarcastic man-fish, with help from a narrator voiced by Leonard Nimoy./news/snapchat-releases-rebuilt-android-app.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snapchat-releases-rebuilt-android-app.htmlWhile there are virtually no changes to the actual UI or navigation for Snapchat, the new app should be faster, less laggy, and less buggy than the old version.  As Android Authority relates in an interview with members of Snapchat’s development team, the rewrite has been in the works for a while. Snap first tried to simply patch its way out of the issues with the old app, but eventually realized that it would have to rewrite the Android version from scratch to achieve the results the company wanted./news/snapchat-s-new-snapkidz-feature-is-all-snapping-without-any-chatting.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/snapchat-s-new-snapkidz-feature-is-all-snapping-without-any-chatting.htmlSnapchat is trying to give younger kids the fun of snapping, drawing, and editing, without any of the privacy concerns that have plagued the nascent social network. So long as those kids don't mind losing the main feature of Snapchat — ephemeral photo swapping — they can now use SnapKidz, an offline mode devoid of any social features that's automatically enabled for users under 13. The app previously didn't allow pre-teens to sign up at all, but it's now opened the new mode for iOS users — and it may come to Android down the line as well./news/someone-hacked-printers-worldwide-urging-people-to-subscribe-to-pewdiepie.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/someone-hacked-printers-worldwide-urging-people-to-subscribe-to-pewdiepie.htmlThe fight over who gets to have the most-subscribed channel on YouTube spilled into the real world months ago when Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg fans started campaigning to raise awareness of the Swedish star. The grassroots effort has, for the most part, been in good fun — but recently, people on social media have reported being hacked by someone who is urging them to subscribe to PewDiePie. Kjellberg has maintained his status as the top channel on YouTube for years now, but recently, his claim to the throne has been increasingly threatened by T-Series, a channel owned by an Indian music production company./news/sony-is-shutting-down-its-live-tv-service-playstation-vue-in-january-2020.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-is-shutting-down-its-live-tv-service-playstation-vue-in-january-2020.htmlSony is shutting down its live TV streaming service PlayStation Vue on January 30th, 2020, the company announced today. The sudden announcement of the shutdown comes just a week after a report published by The Information saying Sony was looking for a buyer for the service, which has continually lost money for the company since its launch in March of 2015. Sony has repeatedly raised the price of Vue to try to offset its rising costs, most recently by $5 across all plans back in July./news/sony-st25i-xperia-u-sized-up-against-xperia-s-in-leaked-photos.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/sony-st25i-xperia-u-sized-up-against-xperia-s-in-leaked-photos.htmlAfterinitially being spotted in a leaked shot last month, Sony's ST25i — now believed to be branded as the Xperia U — has made another appearance ahead of its expected Mobile World Congress reveal. A set of new images at ePrice compare the handset with the Xperia S, and apart from some slight modifications near the rear camera, it's fair to call Sony's latest device a "mini" take on the Xperia S, carrying over traits like the transparent bar below the screen and a removable battery./news/soylent-survivor-one-month-living-on-lab-made-liquid-nourishment.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/soylent-survivor-one-month-living-on-lab-made-liquid-nourishment.html“It’s just food. Relax,” the Soylent spokesperson reassured me as I prepared for one of the stranger challenges of my life: replacing my conventional food intake with a thick nutritional sludge for an entire month. The thing is, Soylent isn’t just food. The smoothie-like substance, which began life as a crowdfunding sensation last year before attracting heavyweight investors like Andreessen Horowitz, is basically powdered science — human nutrition reduced to its most basic essentials./news/star-fox-2-is-strange-daring-and-an-important-piece-of-game-history.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/star-fox-2-is-strange-daring-and-an-important-piece-of-game-history.htmlThe original Star Fox was a technological triumph. A sci-fi shooter starring a cast of anthropomorphic animals, the game managed to squeeze actual 3D graphics — chunky polygons and all — onto the Super Nintendo’s comparatively underpowered 16-bit hardware. Its sequel was equally ambitious. Star Fox 2 combined cutting-edge graphics with a unique, real-time structure that had you fighting off alien forces while simultaneously defending your home planet. It was tense, daring, and unlike any other game./news/t-mobile-announces-unlimited-global-data-roaming-at-no-extra-charge.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/t-mobile-announces-unlimited-global-data-roaming-at-no-extra-charge.htmlT-Mobile unveiled the latest part of its Uncarrier initiative today: the carrier is offering unlimited international data and text services at no extra charge starting October 31st. The new international services will be available to existing Simple Choice customers for no additional cost over their current rate plans, and will work in over 100 countries across the world. In addition to the data and texting services, traveling customers will be able to place voice calls at a flat rate of 20 cents per minute while in those countries./news/taking-the-headphone-jack-off-phones-is-user-hostile-and-stupid.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/taking-the-headphone-jack-off-phones-is-user-hostile-and-stupid.htmlAnother day, another rumor that Apple is going to ditch the headphone jack on the next iPhone in favor of sending out audio over Lightning. Or another phone beats Apple to the punch by ditching the headphone jack in favor of passing out audio over USB-C. What exciting times for phones! We’re so out of ideas that actively making them shittier and more user-hostile is the only innovation left. ditching the headphone jack on phones makes them worseLook, I know you’re going to tell me that the traditional TRS headphone jack is a billion years old and prone to failure and that life is about progress and whatever else you need to repeat deliriously into your bed of old HTC extUSB dongles and insane magnetic Palm adapters to sleep at night./news/tesla-delivered-1-81-million-cars-in-2023.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-delivered-1-81-million-cars-in-2023.htmlTesla delivered 1.81 million cars in 2023. The company squeezed out roughly 1,300 more vehicles in the final three months of the year than analysts had expected, according to Bloomberg. Tesla said in a press release this morning that, overall, that was a 38 percent year-over-year increase. Most of the year’s sales were of the Model 3 or Model Y, but the company claimed 68,874 deliveries of other vehicles, too. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2xfZnxze5FtZ2tqY2t9cMDErKOaZZSauarCxKucnWVhYoVyecyio6Whn6N6pK3RrGSipl1nfXN%2F/news/tesla-didn-t-fix-an-autopilot-problem-for-three-years-and-now-another-person-is-dead.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-didn-t-fix-an-autopilot-problem-for-three-years-and-now-another-person-is-dead.htmlOn May 7th, 2016, a 40-year-old man named Joshua Brown was killed when his Tesla Model S sedan collided with a tractor-trailer that was crossing his path on US Highway 27A, near Williston, Florida. Nearly three years later, another Tesla owner, 50-year-old Jeremy Beren Banner, was also killed on a Florida highway under eerily similar circumstances: his Model 3 collided with a tractor-trailer that was crossing his path, shearing the roof off in the process./news/tesla-s-model-3-interior-is-now-completely-leather-free-including-the-steering-wheel.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-s-model-3-interior-is-now-completely-leather-free-including-the-steering-wheel.htmlAnimal activists rejoice: the interior of the Tesla Model 3 is now 100 percent leather-free. On Saturday, Tesla announced that the Model 3 is now totally free of leather, including the steering wheel. The company has also vowed that its forthcoming Model Y will also be fully vegan when it debuts in 2020. Animal rights groups have been urging the automaker to rid its cars of animal-derived material for years. PETA representatives brought up the issue at the company’s most recent shareholder meeting, prompting Tesla CEO Elon Musk to promise to comply./news/tesla-s-new-master-plan-is-coming-let-s-grade-the-first-two.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/tesla-s-new-master-plan-is-coming-let-s-grade-the-first-two.htmlThe third installment of Elon Musk’s “Master Plan” for Tesla will be revealed March 1st during an Investor Day event held at the company’s Austin, Texas-based Gigafactory. Musk has said that it will outline “the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth,” adding that “the future is bright!” That sounds nice, but before we can usher in this new era of sustainable energy, we need to contend with the successes and failures of Tesla’s previous two “Master Plans./news/thank-you-apple-for-keeping-usb-a-on-the-mac-studio.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/thank-you-apple-for-keeping-usb-a-on-the-mac-studio.htmlRejoice, peasants! Your proletarian gadgets may live another year yet! I refer, of course, to the Mac Studio that Apple recently announced, which hits shelves March 18th. The company made a number of lofty claims about the device’s power and efficiency, using various charts that it did not label in any particularly useful way. Those are just claims until we get our hands on a unit — we’ll need to verify the metrics ourselves./news/the-11-best-anime-series-for-newcomers-to-stream.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-11-best-anime-series-for-newcomers-to-stream.htmlAnime has many meanings, depending on who you are. Anime is lazy childhood afternoons watching Dragonball Z, or getting up early before school to watch Pokémon. It’s Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and the collected works of Studio Ghibli. For some people it’s gritty cerebral action movies, like Ghost in the Shell and Akira. For others, anime is the avatar image of a Twitter troll. To paraphrase the original Crunchyroll fan: anime contains multitudes./news/the-annual-cost-of-owning-a-car-has-skyrocketed-in-the-last-year-to-over-12k.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-annual-cost-of-owning-a-car-has-skyrocketed-in-the-last-year-to-over-12k.htmlThat’s a big jump over 2022, when the average cost of owning a car was $10,728. The increase, AAA says, comes down to higher prices for new cars, increased depreciation after they’re purchased, and falling used car values — as well as the auto industry’s shift toward big, feature-laden vehicles at the expense of more utilitarian cars. When The Verge’s Thomas Ricker covered a similar AAA report in his First Click newsletter discussing car sharing as an alternative in 2015, Americans spent just $8,698 annually for new cars./news/the-best-mother-s-day-deals-that-you-can-buy-last-minute.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-best-mother-s-day-deals-that-you-can-buy-last-minute.htmlIf you’re looking for a tech gift to give to your mom, or a mom that you’re celebrating on Mother’s Day, your time is running out. Thankfully, there are several last-minute deals that you can check out, either in person or online (although you may have a slightly late gift if you buy online). The Apple Watch Series 4 is still $50 off at both Amazon and Best Buy, starting at $349 for the option with a 40mm case./news/the-dark-unsettling-adventure-inside-is-now-on-the-iphone.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-dark-unsettling-adventure-inside-is-now-on-the-iphone.htmlOne of last year’s best games was a short but haunting adventure called Inside. Developed by the team behind the similarly macabre hit Limbo, the game put players in the role of a young boy in a mysterious, gray world, uncovering all kinds of horrors along the way. It starts out as a simple platformer, but the game slowly reveals itself to be something more complex, and much darker, than it initially seems — and now you can play it on your phone./news/the-developers-of-celeste-debut-the-first-trailer-for-their-next-game-earthblade.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-developers-of-celeste-debut-the-first-trailer-for-their-next-game-earthblade.htmlExtremely OK Games, the makers of the beloved indie platformer Celeste, shared a first trailer for the studio’s next game, Earthblade, at The Game Awards 2022 on Thursday. In Earthblade, you play as a character named Nevoa as you explore a “free-roaming, dynamically-loading map,” according to an email sent shortly after the trailer debuted. The game has 2D pixel graphics to Celeste, but Earthblade looks to take place in a more fantasy-inspired world./news/the-enduring-strangeness-of-twitter-parody-accounts.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-enduring-strangeness-of-twitter-parody-accounts.htmlTwitter is cluttered with stray artifacts of fandom. There are countless fan accounts — some active, some long dormant — for Katy Perry, One Direction, and Taco Bell (@TacoBell_fanz bio: "the place for Taco Bell lovers"). There’s a fan account for DJ Khaled’s Snapchat and Donald Trump’s hair. These accounts are generally places where joyful, intermittently ironic tribute is paid to the people or objects that make up popular culture. But dig a little deeper into Twitter’s dustier corners, and you’ll find a huge, interconnected, bafflingly popular collection of fan-made parody accounts — a strange cousin to the Twitter fan club, where celebrities and brands are assimilated, rather than fawned over./news/the-first-trailer-for-stephen-king-s-the-dark-tower-is-here.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-first-trailer-for-stephen-king-s-the-dark-tower-is-here.htmlStephen King’s novel The Dark Tower has undergone a long and twisted path to become a movie. Now, just a few short months from release, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: the first official trailer was added as an unlisted video on Sony Picture’s YouTube page two days ago. Now, it’s trickling out. This is our first official look at the film. Last October, an early trailer for the film leaked, and was quickly taken down./news/the-first-truly-wireless-earbuds-are-here-and-they-re-awesome.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-first-truly-wireless-earbuds-are-here-and-they-re-awesome.htmlEvery few months I boot up my Google machine and search for "wireless earbuds." I have great over-the-ear headphones that I love, but there are just too many times when I need something more portable. That forces me to deal with problems like durability and fit, and the fact that the wires on every pair of earbuds seem to fail, like clockwork, every six months. My search always yields results, but never the ones I'm looking for./news/the-highest-observatory-in-the-world-just-opened-in-chile.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-highest-observatory-in-the-world-just-opened-in-chile.htmlThe University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) officially opened on Tuesday after 26 years of planning and construction. Sitting 18,500 feet high on Mount Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the 6.5-meter optical-infrared TAO telescope is now the highest in the world. TAO replaces a smaller version of itself called MiniTAO, which held the highest telescope distinction before it. It beats the Chacaltaya Observatory, owned by the University of Madrid and sitting 17,191 feet on Mount Chacaltaya in Bolivia./news/the-huffington-post-will-broadcast-360-degree-video-from-republican-and-democratic-national-conventi.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-huffington-post-will-broadcast-360-degree-video-from-republican-and-democratic-national-conventi.htmlThe Huffington Post will broadcast 360-degree video from the Republican and Democratic National conventions on Monday, its first major use of the technology after parent company AOL bought virtual reality studio RYOT earlier this year. Reporters and producers from the new HuffPost RYOT team formed after the purchase will be in Cleveland and Philadelphia, capturing the events with "immersive" 360-degree clips, supporting updates and breaking news. While the Verizon-owned AOL is certainly not the only organization to have purchased VR and 360-degree video studios recently, this announcement is notable because of the speed that RYOT's technology was folded into the HuffPo organization, before being deployed in the field./news/the-internet-created-left-shark-not-katy-perry.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-internet-created-left-shark-not-katy-perry.htmlEveryone wants to capitalize on the phenomenon that is Left Shark, and it's making Katy Perry's lawyers pretty mad. So mad that they're sending cease and desist letters to people making Left Shark costumes or figurines. The lawyers are going to be successful because lawyers are intimidating Right Sharks who know a bunch of complicated legal moves that the rest of us Left Sharks can't keep up with. But with the help of New York University professor Chris Sprigman, one little Left Shark is fighting back./news/the-logout-button-has-become-defunct.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-logout-button-has-become-defunct.htmlOn Twitter, the phrase “log off” is often uttered as a contemptuous command, directed toward a perennially online person who needs to put down their phone and go for a walk. Logging off, by this logic, is not a task to be done on one’s device but a mental state to inhabit and idealize. Still, there’s a deep irony to this sentiment: a person who manages to mentally log off, whether it be for an hour or a week, might still remain technically logged in./news/the-nfl-pro-bowl-will-be-hosted-in-madden-this-season.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-nfl-pro-bowl-will-be-hosted-in-madden-this-season.htmlLast month, the National Football League announced it would cancel the 2021 Pro Bowl game — news that went largely unnoticed, since very few football fans care about it. But today, first reported by CNBC, the NFL announced it will resurrect the Pro Bowl as a weeklong digital event with players competing in EA’s Madden NFL 21 instead. Still, it’s a fun, inevitable solution to what has often been the NFL’s least necessary tradition./news/the-story-of-spuds-mackenzie-bud-light-s-iconic-80s-mascot.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-story-of-spuds-mackenzie-bud-light-s-iconic-80s-mascot.htmlIf you're too young to remember the late ’80s, you might have missed out on one of the most surprising American pop culture phenomenons ever: Spuds MacKenzie. Spuds was the super-cool, wealthy, woman-loving bull terrier that was the face of Bud Light during the period. Animal mascots are nothing new, but Anheuser-Busch's advertising agency was adamant that Spuds was not a dog — he was a man. He did television interviews and even had hotel rooms in his own name to keep up the image, though there's one kink to the whole "/news/the-verge-archives-film.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-archives-film.htmlStar Wars jizz is now called jatz. In a galaxy far, far, away, jazz doesn’t exist. Instead, when you want to really blow on that horn you’re jizzing or jatzing. As AVClub recently noted, both words have technically been used to describe the musical stylings of the Star Wars universe over the years, with jizz gaining in popularity for extremely obvious reasons. But in a recent short story collection based around Return of the Jedi characters, Max Rebo, the blue alien front man for the band that plays at Jabba the Hutt’s palace thinks back to other times he’s performed “jatz standards”./news/the-verge-guide-to-twitter-timelines-usernames-and-more.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-verge-guide-to-twitter-timelines-usernames-and-more.htmlTwitter has become one of the most ubiquitous methods of communication in use today. It’s where many of us follow the news (including the president’s latest missive); it’s where we share our opinions, anxieties, questions, and answers; it’s where we find friends or confront opponents. If you want immediate information and can’t find it, Twitter is a good place to start — but it’s also a place where a lot of inaccurate and outright wrong information is spread./news/the-vision-pro-s-killer-app-cybertruck-clout-chasing-accessory.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/the-vision-pro-s-killer-app-cybertruck-clout-chasing-accessory.htmlThe Vision Pro era is only a few days old, and while people continue to debate whether this is the future of entertainment and productivity or something else entirely, one group of people has found a well-defined use case for Apple’s new gear: chasing views. The new genre of “wearing a Vision Pro unusually” social video has many forms, with robot dogs, subways, and crosswalks making appearances, but the niche that keeps popping up in our feeds is the one that includes an element of Tesla / Autopilot / Cybertruck hype to the mix./news/this-could-finally-be-the-year-the-ipad-gets-a-built-in-calculator-app.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-could-finally-be-the-year-the-ipad-gets-a-built-in-calculator-app.htmlFor years, iPad users have had to download third-party calculator apps or access a web browser just to do math. Many of these third-party apps aren’t all that pleasant to use, as some of them come filled with ads or just don’t mesh well with the iPad’s interface. Not to mention that the better calculator apps, like PCalc, cost money to download. This isn’t the only calculator rumor we’ve heard recently, either./news/this-diy-nintendo-switch-can-play-the-retro-games-the-real-one-can-t.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-diy-nintendo-switch-can-play-the-retro-games-the-real-one-can-t.htmlThe Nintendo Switch is great for a lot of things, but when it comes to playing retro games, you’re better off looking at something like the SNES Classic than Nintendo’s current-generation console. Or, if you’re like Tim Lindquist, a hardware modder / electrical engineering student at Iowa State University, you build your own Switch-esque console, which through the power of open-source emulation software, can not only play retro Nintendo games, but basically any retro title you can imagine, viaHackaday./news/this-is-your-next-jam-kendrick-lamar-ariana-grande-and-more.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-is-your-next-jam-kendrick-lamar-ariana-grande-and-more.htmlWelcome back to The Verge’s weekly musical roundup. I’m Jamieson, I’m still your host, and I’ll confess that I wrote up this week’s entries while dreaming of the barbecued meats and warm temperatures I’m going to enjoy at SXSW next week. This’ll be my first year at Austin’s music, art, and technology bacchanal, and I’m planning on enjoying a ton of concerts and talking to some of my favorite artists. (You’ll have the chance to read about it, of course./news/this-motorized-gaming-bed-lets-you-rest-your-gamer-head.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/this-motorized-gaming-bed-lets-you-rest-your-gamer-head.htmlHere at The Verge, we occasionally like to write about gaming thrones, whether they’re shaped like scorpions, semi-circles, or... well, I’m not sure how to describe this one. But the thing with thrones is that the crown often weighs heavy — being MVP and getting play of the game every round can be tiring. Thankfully, Gizmodo found just the thing to help with that: a motorized gaming bed that moves you from the sleeping position to the pwning position with the press of a button, all the while keeping your gaming setup within arms’ reach./news/threads-is-adding-polls-and-gifs-as-it-continues-to-chase-x.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/threads-is-adding-polls-and-gifs-as-it-continues-to-chase-x.htmlMeta is going to let you make polls and insert GIFs right from the Threads post composer, the company announced on Thursday. Later in the day, Instagram head Adam Mosseri revealed that the company is testing view counts on Threads posts and pinned posts on profiles and in your replies. Zuckerberg’s poll has three options (you can include up to four) and a timer that counts down how long users have to vote in the poll in real time, which is a nice touch./news/titanfall-2-release-date-single-player-mode-footage-appear-ahead-of-e3.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/titanfall-2-release-date-single-player-mode-footage-appear-ahead-of-e3.htmlIn a live stream test for Electronics Art’s E3 press event, happening later today, an EA representative accidentally announced details for Titanfall 2. The footage was spotted by popular video game forum NeoGAF. Rehearing the official presentation, the rep enumerated many of Titanfall 2’s new features: six new Titans, each with unique combat skills; more pilot capabilities; more character customization; and more ways to progress through the multiplayer modes. But perhaps the biggest news is the confirmation of an offline single-player campaign, something the original game lacked./news/twilight-may-be-returning-as-a-new-tv-series.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twilight-may-be-returning-as-a-new-tv-series.htmlIt’s been years since people have worn T-shirts emblazoned with “#TeamEdward” or “#TeamJacob” with any regularity, but that might not stop Lionsgate from trying to resurrect Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga as a new TV series focused on supernatural love triangles. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate TV is in the earliest stages of development on a new take on Meyer’s Twilight novels that served as the basis for the studio’s previous film adaptations that broke all kinds of box office records and ultimately raked in $3./news/twitch-star-dr-disrespect-on-life-changing-money-gaming-and-being-a-villain.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitch-star-dr-disrespect-on-life-changing-money-gaming-and-being-a-villain.htmlViolence becomes him. Stalking through the wild grass and brutalist concrete wilderness of Tarkov, he’s implacable, the unstoppable force you’ve always secretly wanted to see come up against an object that claims to be immovable. He sees an enemy unaware. He snarls. The sights come up instinctively. In the pause before the man drops, you can see the Doc smile and his mouse twitch.  If you’ve ever seen an action movie, you already know Dr Disrespect (no dot because, if what I overheard is correct, the medical profession does not like those outside it stealing its valor)./news/twitter-shut-off-its-internal-slack-and-now-everyone-is-barely-working.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/twitter-shut-off-its-internal-slack-and-now-everyone-is-barely-working.htmlToday, let’s check in on Elon Musk’s Twitter, where sudden software outages and another dubious transparency effort have left the company’s remaining workers more beleaguered than usual. On Wednesday, Twitter employees had the tech equivalent of a snow day: the company’s Slack instance was down for “routine maintenance,” they were told, and the company was implementing a deployment freeze as a result. That same day, Jira — a tool Twitter uses to track everything from progress on feature updates to regulatory compliance — also stopped working./news/uber-expands-sick-pay-for-drivers-during-coronavirus-pandemic.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-expands-sick-pay-for-drivers-during-coronavirus-pandemic.htmlUber expanded its previously announced policy on sick pay for drivers during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, drivers who test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus; are personally placed in quarantine or asked to self-isolate by public health officials; or have their Uber accounts suspended as the result of public health advice will be eligible for up to 14 days of paid sick leave, the company said on Sunday./news/uber-is-adding-scheduled-carpool-rides-and-shuttle-service-for-airports-and-concerts.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-is-adding-scheduled-carpool-rides-and-shuttle-service-for-airports-and-concerts.htmlUber announced several new mobility products as part of its annual Go-Get conference, including shuttle service for airports and concert events and scheduled carpool trips. Uber Shuttle, which is coming soon to select cities, allows customers to use the Uber app to book a seat in a shuttle bus when traveling to an airport or concert destination. The company says the fare will be “a fraction” of the price of a normal Uber ride./news/uber-s-safety-tools-can-be-really-useful-provided-you-enable-them-here-s-how.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/uber-s-safety-tools-can-be-really-useful-provided-you-enable-them-here-s-how.htmlMy Uber driver asked for my PIN recently. In my half-asleep state, I stared at him, alarmed, for a few seconds before it dawned on me: he was asking me to share the PIN Uber sent so I could verify my ride. It turned out I’d activated all of Uber’s safety features while writing about Uber’s new safety customization section last month and then forgot about their existence entirely — which, to be honest, is pretty easy to do./news/unravel-review-a-heartwarming-mix-of-challenge-and-charm.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/unravel-review-a-heartwarming-mix-of-challenge-and-charm.htmlUnravel is two very different things at the same time. On one hand, it’s the game you may have seen in trailers and screenshots, a heartwarming adventure about a tiny creature made of yarn who travels through the memories of an old woman. It’s touching and understated, in a way that games usually aren’t. That Yarny, as he’s known, is one of the most adorable video game characters ever created, capable of displaying a range of emotions without the benefit of a voice or a face, doesn’t hurt./news/us-federal-courts-were-reportedly-hit-by-another-data-breach.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/us-federal-courts-were-reportedly-hit-by-another-data-breach.htmlThe federal courts’ document system was hit by a breach with a “startling breadth and scope” in early 2020, according to a report from Politico that cites testimony from House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler. The Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly informed the judiciary about the breach in March and told lawmakers that an investigation is ongoing. Other lawmakers, such as Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), expressed concern that the DOJ had been hiding information about the breach and was refusing to explain it to the public and Congress./news/valve-reportedly-developing-standalone-vr-headset-codenamed-deckard.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/valve-reportedly-developing-standalone-vr-headset-codenamed-deckard.htmlValve could have a second VR headset in development with a standalone design similar to what’s currently offered by Facebook’s lineup of Oculus Quest headsets. Evidence for the new headset was brought to light by YouTuber Brad Lynch. He found multiple references in Valve’s SteamVR code to a device codenamed “Deckard” which he then cross-referenced against the company’s recent patent applications.  Ars Technica subsequently confirmed with its own sources that much of Lynch’s findings are accurate, and that Valve does have a second headset prototype in development./news/venmo-will-soon-let-you-add-gifs-to-venmo-notes.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/venmo-will-soon-let-you-add-gifs-to-venmo-notes.htmlVenmo will soon let you add custom animated GIFs to your transaction notes, the payment company announced today. If your Venmo feed is anything like mine, it’s already chock-full of flying dollar bill and pizza emoji, so GIFs seem like a fun way to make Venmo feeds even more lively. Yes, that last one does have an IKEA logo on it — there will also be a sticker made in partnership with Subway to start./news/watch-google-assistant-s-new-ambient-mode-in-action-for-the-first-time.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-google-assistant-s-new-ambient-mode-in-action-for-the-first-time.htmlA Google spokesperson has confirmed to The Verge that Ambient Mode will roll out next week to “the majority of users” on Sony Xperia phones, Nokia phones, Transsion phones, Xiaomi phones, and Lenovo’s Smart Tab M8 HD (when placed in its charging station) and Yoga Smart Tab (when using its kickstand) tablets. Oddly, Google’s own Pixel products aren’t yet on the list. Yesterday, the company posted a new video showing Ambient Mode in action, and the mode shows on-screen items like calendar info, notifications, weather, and smart home controls./news/watch-the-first-two-minutes-of-the-veronica-mars-movie.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/watch-the-first-two-minutes-of-the-veronica-mars-movie.htmlThe theatrical release of the Veronica Mars movie is nearly upon us, but you can check out the film's opening scene right now. The two minute clip looks backwards rather than forwards, getting viewers up to date with just what the franchise is all about. If you don't have time to re-watch all three seasons (or if you've yet to see the show at all) the clip serves as a great primer./news/what-it-s-like-to-see-smash-mouth-in-a-tiny-vegas-venue-with-earnest-fans.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/what-it-s-like-to-see-smash-mouth-in-a-tiny-vegas-venue-with-earnest-fans.htmlTo get the ball rolling on any good Smash Mouth joke, you need only start with a simple line: “Somebody once told me.” If you’ve ever heard the band’s defining song (who hasn’t?) you know rest of the line, and the line after that, and probably the entire song. It’s infectious. To get the ball rolling on any good Smash Mouth concert, I’d wager that you would not start with this simple line: Lenovo and Intel-hosted party./news/when-this-instagram-couple-has-vicious-fights-millions-of-people-tune-in.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/when-this-instagram-couple-has-vicious-fights-millions-of-people-tune-in.htmlRelationships make for some of the worst social media content: either people hate the saccharine clichés that come along with public displays of togetherness, or they hate being reminded that they are utterly alone. Nobody wants to see your hand outstretched, holding another arm that’s partially out of the frame. They don’t want to see your proposal slideshow or your anniversary dinner selfies. There’s something about these carefully curated images that feels fake — and the truth of relationships, even happy ones, are not always Instagram-worthy./news/why-video-game-layoffs-closures-and-mergers-keep-happening.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-video-game-layoffs-closures-and-mergers-keep-happening.htmlToday, we’re talking about the state of the video game industry, which is honestly kind of all over the place. We don’t talk a lot about video games here on Decoder, but we should do more of it. Games are an enormous slice of both the tech and media industries. Here in the US, according to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) — the big industry trade group — more than 212 million people played games last year, and they spent more than $47 billion on the games and the content inside of them./news/why-we-need-a-better-definition-of-deepfake.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/why-we-need-a-better-definition-of-deepfake.htmlInterest in the phenomenon of “deepfakes” has died down a little in recent months, presumably as the public comes to terms with what seems like an inevitability in 2018 — that people can and will use AI to create super-realistic fake videos and images. But a recent news story by BuzzFeed surfaced the term again in an unexpected setting, inviting the question: what is a deepfake anyway? The article in question was titled “A Belgian Political Party Is Circulating A Trump Deepfake Video./news/windows-10-s-new-trackpad-gestures-may-finally-rival-the-macbook.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-10-s-new-trackpad-gestures-may-finally-rival-the-macbook.htmlMicrosoft is also simplifying touch swipe gestures for the edges of a tablet. If you swipe from the left in Windows 10, you’ll get a grid of most recently used apps, and swiping right will bring up the notification center. Swiping up from the bottom edge of a trackpad brings up the taskbar if a Windows 10 app is fullscreen, and swiping down activates a hidden title bar or the ability to long swipe and close an app./news/windows-11-s-modern-file-explorer-ui-and-rgb-lighting-controls-head-to-testers.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/windows-11-s-modern-file-explorer-ui-and-rgb-lighting-controls-head-to-testers.htmlMicrosoft has started testing its new modern File Explorer UI for Windows 11 alongside built-in RGB lighting controls. The updated File Explorer UI includes a modern home interface with large file thumbnails and a carousel interface that can surface recent files and favorited ones. The subtle changes to the File Explorer UI here make it blend more closely to the overall Windows 11 design language, with a refreshed address bar and search box./news/with-the-galaxy-s20-and-bloom-samsung-is-shaking-up-its-phone-names-again.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/with-the-galaxy-s20-and-bloom-samsung-is-shaking-up-its-phone-names-again.htmlNow that CES is over, we turn our attention to the next big tech unveiling — no rest for the wicked! Samsung announced its February 11th “Unpacked” event ahead of CES and is widely expected to have two phones: an update to the Galaxy S10 and a new, clamshell-style folding phone. Because nothing can ever be simple, Samsung has decided to change the naming scheme for the Galaxy S series away from sequential, incremental numbering to the year of release./news/yes-amazon-luna-dodges-apple-s-cloud-gaming-rules-when-will-nvidia-and-google.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/yes-amazon-luna-dodges-apple-s-cloud-gaming-rules-when-will-nvidia-and-google.htmlYou might be wondering: “Did Amazon just break Apple’s App Store guidelines by bringing a cloud gaming service to iPhone?” And I can understand why, given that I told you just last week how Apple doesn’t permit Google Stadia in anything close to its current form, and Amazon’s just-announced Luna is a lot like Stadia. Wouldn’t the same rules apply? But the truth is that Amazon has a simple way to get around Apple’s App Store rules entirely — and it’s making me wonder how long it’ll be before Google, Nvidia, Microsoft and others follow suit./news/youtube-is-forcing-the-popular-groovy-discord-music-bot-offline.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-is-forcing-the-popular-groovy-discord-music-bot-offline.htmlGoogle-owned YouTube is starting to crack down on Discord music bots. The search giant has sent a cease and desist to the owners of the popular Groovy Bot, which lets Discord users play music from YouTube videos and is installed on more than 16 million Discord servers. Google wants the service gone within seven days, and Groovy is complying by shutting down its bot on August 30th. Google confirmed to The Verge that it took action in this case: “We notified Groovy about violations of our Terms of Service, including modifying the service and using it for commercial purposes,” a YouTube spokesperson writes, adding that its APIs are for developers who comply with its terms of service./news/youtubers-campaign-will-plant-trees-in-california-kenya-and-india.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtubers-campaign-will-plant-trees-in-california-kenya-and-india.htmlThanks to YouTuber MrBeast’s viral tree planting campaign, more than 21 million trees will be planted across the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Haiti, Indonesia, Ireland, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Kingdom.  Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson set out to raise $20 million for the campaign dubbed #TeamTrees in October after reaching 20 million subscribers on YouTube. Each dollar raised would plant one tree. Some of YouTube’s biggest stars joined in the social media blitz, boosting #TeamTrees enough to reach the campaign goal by December./news/youtube-s-promising-to-fix-the-swearing-issue-that-s-pissed-off-creators.htmlThu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000/news/youtube-s-promising-to-fix-the-swearing-issue-that-s-pissed-off-creators.htmlAt exactly 18 seconds into his video “YouTube is Run by Fools,” ProZD makes his feelings on the platform’s recent restrictions on foul language crystal clear: “That’s the dumbest fucking shit I’ve ever heard.” The tirade’s timing was deliberate, meant to test the company’s updated “approach to profanity” that it announced in November: YouTube will now limit ads or completely demonetize a creator’s video if they swear within the first 15 seconds.