Posts

Showing posts from August, 2022

Google’s open-source bug bounty aims to clamp down on supply chain attacks

Image
An important and sometimes overlooked part of security | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google has introduced a new vulnerability rewards program to pay researchers who find security flaws in its open-source software or in the building blocks that its software is built on. It’ll pay anywhere from $101 to $31,337 for information about bugs in projects like Angular, GoLang, and Fuchsia or for vulnerabilities in the third-party dependencies that are included in those projects’ codebases. While it’s important for Google to fix bugs in its own projects (and in the software that it uses to keep track of changes to its code, which the program also covers), perhaps the most interesting part is the bit about third-party dependencies. Programmers often use code from open-source projects so they don’t continuously have to reinvent the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/tCPN2Zf

This is the last week to get free rapid COVID-19 tests from the US government

Image
Photo by Sina Schuldt / picture alliance via Getty Images This is the last week to order free COVID-19 rapid tests from the United States government. The program will be suspended on Friday, September 2nd, “because Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests,” the program’s website reads . The White House launched COVIDTests.gov in January of this year, soon after the omicron variant first started burning through the US. Every US household is eligible for three sets of tests from the website, so if you still haven’t gotten all of your tests, now’s the time to place the order. Here’s our how-to guide . An unnamed White House official told CNN that the Biden administration didn’t have enough funding from Congress for all its COVID-19 response programs... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/PeJAFYf

Elon Musk pushes to delay the Twitter trial while citing whistleblower’s testimony

Image
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images After Elon Musk tried to get out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter and the company sued to hold him to it, his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to hold off the trial until next year , and now they’re pushing for another delay. The Musk team’s proposing a new timeline that would push the week-long trial’s start from the currently scheduled October 17th date until some time in mid- to late-November. This time, they cite the testimony of former Twitter security head Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, who has filed a whistleblower claim against the company accusing it of security flaws, making “false and misleading statements” to users and the FTC, and hiring agents of foreign governments. His lawyers also submitted an amended filing adding more... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/3Pm1FQU

Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime gets September release date in new trailer

Image
Image: Netflix Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is coming very soon. Netflix announced today that the anime spinoff will start streaming on September 13th. As part of the announcement, the company also released a new “NSFW” trailer ahead of the show’s debut next month. The series will consist of 10 episodes, each 30 minutes long. Edgerunners has been in the works for some time. It was first announced back in 2020 in the lead-up to Cyberpunk 2077 ’s launch ( which didn’t go quite as planned — though the game ended up being a hit eventually ). While TV and film adaptations of games are increasingly common, Edgerunners is particularly exciting, mostly for the talent behind it — it’s being created by Studio Trigger, the famed anime studio behind the likes of Kill la... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/iYTCKuJ

Instagram is testing more ways to flag posts you’re not interested in

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is testing new settings for users to control what kind of content they see on the platform. In a blog post , Meta says its tests include the ability to select multiple posts and mark them using the “not interested” button, which is supposed to flag to the app that a user doesn’t want to see similar content. Currently, users can click into an individual post to flag it, but there’s no way to do that at scale. Instagram will also soon start testing a way for users to make a list of keywords, phrases, emojis, and hashtags in recommended posts that they’re not interested in and that they don’t want to see. TikTok rolled out a similar keyword-based feature in June — it already gave users the ability to “dislike” videos to steer... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/RLyZM9t

How to edit, delete, and restore a Facebook post

Image
Samar Haddad / The Verge None of us are perfect, and all of us have published Facebook posts with misspellings, grammatical errors, mistaken “facts,” or opinions that we immediately realized might not need to be aired in public. When that happens, you’re going to want to hop into your post and fix the problem — either by changing it or deleting it altogether. Luckily, it’s really easy — if you know how. What follows are directions on how to edit a Facebook post, delete it, and restore it on the web and using the mobile app. (I used the Facebook app on a Pixel 6, but the steps will be similar on other phones and on iOS.) On the web In the post you want to edit, click on the three dots in the upper right of your post. Click on Edit post if you want to change it;... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/F5B13vZ

Instagram fixes sound issue that hindered TikTok exports

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram has fixed a recent bug that removed the sound from Reels video clips that were downloaded from the editing screen. The bug impacted iOS users and was detrimental to creators who use Reels as a filming tool and then export to other platforms, like TikTok. After The Verge published a story about the issue, Seine Kim, a spokesperson for Instagram’s parent company, Meta, reached out to say the change wasn’t intentional and would be fixed. Kim said today that the issue was fixed in an update to Instagram released on Friday. The issue appears to be resolved on my own iPhone. In a test this afternoon, I was able to download a clip from the Instagram Reels, complete with sound, the same as I could before the bug. This fix will help... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/H3r24uS

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 should be improved with new Android 12L update

Image
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge The Android 12L-based One UI 4.1.1 has finally started to land on Galaxy Tab S8 devices, making it the first line of tablets to receive the Samsung-flavored update ( via Sammobile ). So far, it’s only rolling out to users in South Korea and Europe, with people in more countries likely to see the update soon. One UI 4.1.1 is built off of Android 12L , which is specifically made for devices with larger screens. The update came to the Lenovo P12 Pro tablet first , with Samsung and Microsoft committing to bringing the update to their devices later on. Android 12L adds a new two-column layout that lets you view two different screens at once, as well as a taskbar that allows for more efficient multitasking. With the update, you can open... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/YNKHn4M

You might not be able to use older straps with the Apple Watch Pro

Image
So far, the Apple Watch straps have always been backward-compatible. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge While Apple has increased the size of the Apple Watch over the years, users have always been able to use older watch bands with newer models . That might soon change. Initially spotted by MacRumors , leaker UnclePan claims that the so-called Pro — Apple’s forthcoming rugged smartwatch — may not be compatible with existing straps. Until now, Apple’s been able to easily maintain compatibility because the Apple Watch’s design has barely changed. Each Apple Watch model comes in two sizes: a smaller version and one that’s 4mm larger. The original watch up through the Series 3, for example, was sold in 38mm and 42mm sizes. That changed with the Series 4 , which increased the cases to 40mm and 44mm. Apple once again bumped up the size with the S... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/KM7bl9c

NASA ‘not ready to give up’ after engine issue delays Artemis I rocket launch

Image
Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge NASA is moving ahead with plans for a second attempt to launch its next-generation rocket Friday, September 2nd, after an engine issue forced the agency to scrub today’s planned launch . NASA halted the Artemis I launch attempt at approximately 8:34AM ET Monday, citing the failure of one of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s four engines to reach the appropriate temperate. SLS is a key component of NASA’s Artemis program , which aims to send humans back to the Moon by 2025. The next attempt is scheduled for Friday, September 2nd The next attempt is scheduled for Friday, September 2nd, at approximately 12:48PM ET. Michael Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, said that Friday is “definitely in play” but noted that the agency’s team needs... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/xKciZbU

Cult of the Lamb is a baaaalm in Gilead

Image
Image: Massive Monster I’m putting Cult of the Lamb on my game of the year shelf right next to Elden Ring . The dark yet cutesy cult simulator roguelike mixes the best parts of Animal Crossing with all the fun of a dungeon-crawling murder fest. The unique way the game combines these two disparate elements makes it more than worthy of claiming a spot on 2022’s game of the year list. Cult of the Lamb starts with the titular lamb being offered up as a sacrifice to sate the hunger of a handful of eldritch gods that look like the parasites that probably live between the folds of Lord Cthulhu’s tentacles. As you tremble and cry, you’re saved at the last minute by another, eldritch-ier looking god who promises you power if you do their bidding and kill the gods who... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/D29nowq

WhatsApp’s super app ambitions are starting to come true in India

Image
You can now buy bananas without ever leaving WhatsApp. | Image: WhatsApp WhatsApp users in India can now do their grocery shopping without ever leaving their messaging app. Meta announced a new integration with JioMart today, through which users can text “Hi” to a certain number and be taken to an in-app shopping experience. The shopping experience looks fairly familiar, akin to what Instacart and other delivery services have been designing for years. But here, there’s no other app. And for WhatsApp, that’s a big deal. Meta is convinced that business messaging is a big part of how WhatsApp will make money going forward. (Well, that and ads, but the ads thing is causing WhatsApp some trouble .) “Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/NwhP5id

NASA delays launch of its massive SLS rocket amid engine issue

Image
NASA delayed the launch of its colossal next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, as an engine bleed issue forced the agency to scrub its plans. SLS is a key component of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send humans back to the Moon by 2025. The massive rocket will carry the Orion crew capsule, which aims to carry its first astronauts in 2024. NASA determined it could not successfully launch The SLS was set to take off at approximately 8:33 AM ET, but was scrubbed after NASA determined it could not successfully launch. The next attempt is scheduled for September 2nd at approximately 12:48 PM ET. If that launch is successful, the mission will last 39 days, with Orion splashing down in the ocean on October 11th. If it... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/yJ7ONM6

Movie tickets at many theaters will cost just $3 on National Cinema Day

Image
National Cinema Day has 3,000 participating theaters so far. | Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images Movie tickets across the US will cost just $3 on Saturday, September 3rd in celebration of National Cinema Day ( via Associated Press ). If you’ve never heard of such a holiday before (at least in the US), that’s because it never existed until now , apparently. The $3 ticket price (not including tax) applies across all tickets, formats, and showtimes — and yes, this includes IMAX and 3D movies. So far, a growing list of 3,000 theaters, including popular chains, like Regal , Cinemark , and AMC, have agreed to take part in the new holiday. You might not want to count out your local, independently-run theaters, either. In a list of participating theaters viewed by The Verge , we spotted several smaller locations, like the Starmax Cinemas in... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/d0rjEIm

Trademark filings point to ‘Reality’ branding for Apple’s mixed reality headset

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Trademark filings spotted by Bloomberg suggest Apple might incorporate “Reality” in the name and branding of its long-rumored mixed reality headset. Three separate filings show trademarks for “Reality One,” “Reality Pro,” and “Reality Processor,” matching the realityOS name that cropped up in Apple’s code and a trademark application that potentially refers to the headset’s operating system. The applications weren’t filed by Apple itself, but by a company called Immersive Health Solutions, LLC. Companies like Apple often use the names of shell companies when filing for a patent or trademark to help keep their plans private. But, as Bloomberg points out, the Delaware-based Immersive Health Solutions was registered by Corporation Trust Co.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/klzmGYV

The Verge staff talk about their favorite backpacks and other bags

Image
Photo: Mission Workshop In August 2021, we asked the staff of The Verge to tell us about their go-to laptop bags. Now, a year later, some are still using the same bags — but not all. It’s surprising how attached you can get to a bag — especially the bag that you use to carry your laptop, your sweater, your lunch, your notebook, your exercise shoes, your kids’ diapers, or any of the other stuff you need. Whether you’re heading to the office, visiting a friend, hanging in a coffee shop, going on a hike, or just sitting outdoors to read or work, having a bag that can accommodate everything on your “gotta have this” list can help you avoid a lot of aggravation. So, here’s this year’s staff picks — some old, some new. Most of the staff wrote about their backpacks,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/iSdvIHz

Nichelle Nichols’ ashes will voyage to space aboard a Vulcan rocket

Image
Nichelle Nichols died on July 30th, 2022 at age 89. | Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Ovation The ashes of Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek , will get sent into deep space on a rocket that memorializes her and several other Star Trek veterans ( via Reuters ). Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, donated her ashes after she died in July at age 89 . Nichols’ ashes will head to space on a rocket fittingly called the Vulcan Centaur, with the memorial spaceflight company, Celestis, running the “Enterprise Flight” mission . There still isn’t a set date for the send-off, and it will likely depend on the United Launch Alliance’s ongoing development of the Vulcan rocket . During the mission, Nichols will be joined by the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Barrett,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/RLbZDhe

Google Meet is stealing Zoom’s trick to easily unmute

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As Google carries out the needlessly complex process of combining both the Meet and Duo apps, now it’s throwing a feature copied from Zoom in the mix. In an update on the Google Workspace blog , the company announced that Google Meet will soon give you the ability to unmute yourself by holding down the spacebar and to mute yourself again by releasing it. If you frequently use Zoom, this feature might sound a lot like its push-to-talk feature — and that’s because it’s essentially the same thing. Zoom has had the feature since at least 2020, and it comes in handy whenever you want to chime in during a meeting but don’t want to stay unmuted for long. Google says it'll start rolling out its own version of the shortcut to all Workspace users... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/p9LIjoq

SwitchBot Lock review: a tiny robot hand that unlocks your door

Yes, it looks as weird as it sounds, but it works well as a basic smart lock  Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/SRtubZh

Netflix’s Resident Evil has already been canceled

Image
Image: Marcos Cruz / Netflix Netflix’s Resident Evil series has been canceled a little over a month after its initial debut, according to a report from Deadline . The streamer reportedly decided against renewing the series due to lackluster ratings and viewership. Like the many other Resident Evil adaptations, Netflix’s live-action series attempts to put yet another spin on the video game franchise it’s based on. The show, which was helmed by Supernatural ’s Andrew Dabb, flashes between two different timelines, centering around Umbrella executive Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick) and his two daughters (played by Tamara Smart and Siena Agudong). In our review of the series , my colleague Charles Pulliam-Moore notes that it “keeps things feeling fresh up to a point,” but... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/oCUegBL

Satellite-to-phone companies are thrilled about SpaceX and T-Mobile, actually

Image
There are a few companies that want to keep you connected when you’re in remote areas. | Image: SpaceX On Thursday, Elon Musk got on stage with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert to announce that SpaceX is working with the carrier to completely eliminate cellular dead zones . The companies claim that next-generation Starlink satellites, set to launch next year, will be able to communicate directly with phones, letting you text, make calls, and potentially stream video even when there are no cell towers nearby. What’s more, Musk promised all this is possible with phones that people are using today, without consumers having to buy any extra equipment. It’s a bold proclamation from the carrier — Verizon and AT&T don’t offer anything like it. However, SpaceX and T-Mobile aren’t the only companies looking to use satellites to directly communicate with... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/IX1MPwT

Feds are thinking about an antitrust case against Apple

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge So far, the biggest tech antitrust cases have focused on Facebook and Google — but Apple may soon be joining the pack. Politico is reporting that the Department of Justice is in the early stages of drafting an antitrust case against Apple, alleging that the company “abused its market power to stifle smaller tech companies, including app developers and competing hardware makers.” It would be the first such case against Apple by a US federal agency, although European antitrust regulators have raised similar cases over the company’s App Store fees and the iPhone’s treatment of tap-to-pay technology . The company has also fended off a number of civil cases from rival companies — most notably, the App Store challenge from Epic Games, which... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/eW6NrB4

Democrats are getting comfortable clowning on Republicans online

Image
Rob Flaherty, White House director of digital strategy There’s only a few weeks until the midterms, and President Joe Biden is starting beef on Twitter. Earlier this week, Biden announced that the federal government would cancel up to $20,000 worth of federal student loans for millions of borrowers. While the internet’s reaction to the news was typical, the White House’s response to that reaction was not. On Thursday, the White House’s official Twitter account called out Republican lawmakers who spent the last few days criticizing the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. In a series of tweets , the White House name-dropped Republicans like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Matt Gaetz (FL) for taking out business loans during the pandemic that were later forgiven by the federal... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/sT4YfcA

Watch some robots assemble and test Samsung’s newest foldables

Image
Samsung made big strides with last year’s foldables in terms of durability — the Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 were the first devices in the series to offer serious water resistance and an IPX8 rating. This year’s phones aren’t a whole lot tougher, but the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 are still something of an engineering marvel. We got a glimpse at the foldable assembly line last year, and as the newest Flip and Fold go on sale today, Samsung is giving us another peek at how the sausage is made. And it’s pretty flippin’ cool. The video — spotted by XDA Developers — mostly features the Fold 4, starting from the moment its back cover is pressed into place and ending with a look at the folding phone dunk tank. Along the way, various functions are tested,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/9DYATMS

Google brought back Duo (kind of) because its Meet transition is so confusing

Image
Why are you like this? Google’s plan to consolidate its communication services into Meet was supposed to (finally) make things simpler and more straightforward. It was meant to bring about some sense and order for a company that has always overthought this stuff and made it confusing — to a truly impressive degree. Earlier this month, the company rebranded its Duo video chat app as Meet and brought over Meet’s features. That left the original, to-be-phased-out Meet app with a new “Meet (Original)” name. It also made for an all-time great headline. But apparently, not all customers have been happy with Duo’s sudden identity change. With the latest update to the Meet app for Android, Google has brought back the original Duo icon and name as a separate shortcut... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/vCKi3ud

Verizon’s Visible customers are missing calls, texts, and data after ‘upgrades’

Image
The big changes have come with big problems. | Image: Visible Last week, Verizon’s budget-focused carrier Visible announced some sweeping changes , introducing new plans that utilize an entirely different network infrastructure. The carrier told customers that if they chose to upgrade, they’d get better roaming coverage and latency as well as extra features if they sprung for the $45 a month Visible Plus plan. Reviews among those who have successfully upgraded or signed up seem to be largely positive — most report seeing better speeds and significantly improved latency . (Though there are a few who say they don’t really notice any difference between the legacy plan and the new one.) But for many other customers, the switch has been fraught with service and customer support issues. “Just swapped the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6RJNrxm

Ford hikes the price for the 2023 Mustang Mach-E by as much as $8,000

Image
Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Ford is raising the price of the 2023 Mustang Mach-E a few weeks after doing the same to its other major EV, the F-150 Lightning . The automaker announced that it was reopening the order banks for the popular electric SUV with an adjusted MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price) that reflects “significant material cost increases, continued strain on key supply chains, and rapidly evolving market conditions” — the same reason it gave for hiking the price on the F-150 Lightning. “Significant material cost increases” Here’s a breakdown of the new prices, with the model year 2022 price in parentheses: Select RWD Standard Range: $46,895 ($43,895) Select eAWD Standard Range: $49,595 California Route 1 eAWD Extended Range: $63,575 ($52,450) ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/kIQczRf

Google Maps and search will label health clinics that provide abortions

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google Maps and Search will now explicitly label healthcare facilities that provide abortion services, TechCrunch reported . It’s another change made in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end federal protection for abortion. Searching “abortion clinics near me” will now let users see which places are confirmed to offer abortion services. If Google doesn’t have confirmation, the label will read “might not provide abortions.” If there aren’t results nearby, it’ll give an option to expand the search to farther away. The move comes after a Bloomberg report that Google Maps shows crisis pregnancy centers — which do not provide abortions and often distribute misinformation about the safe medical procedure —... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ZLOc1W5

Honor 70 arrives in the UK on September 2nd for £480

Image
The Honor 70. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge A little under three months after it was first announced in China , Honor has launched its midrange Honor 70 smartphone in the UK. The phone is set to start at £480 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, rising to £530 for 256GB of storage. Both versions will go on general sale on September 2nd, with preorders opening tomorrow. Stay tuned for our full review next week. Compared to last year’s Honor 50 , the Honor 70’s camera specs are a lot better balanced this time around. (An Honor 60 was announced in China in December but never saw a global release.) Rather than pairing an incredibly high-resolution 108-megapixel camera with three extra sensors totaling just 12-megapixels in resolution between them, the Honor 70 balances a 54-megapixel... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/LMyDUtT

Harvestella turns Stardew Valley into a Square Enix RPG

Image
I can’t wait to grow carrops in Harvestella . | Image: Square Enix Nintendo just shared a detailed look at Harvestella , the upcoming farming sim / RPG from Square Enix, in its latest Treehouse Live presentation , and after watching the video, the game is now one of my most anticipated titles of the year. The farming looks like many other farming sims you might have played — and I think that’s a good thing. You’ll have a plot of land where you’ll work with your crops, and you can plant and water things on a tile-based grid. The actual mechanics appear to be fairly streamlined, so hopefully they don’t get tedious; I was particularly happy to see that the “water wand” was generous with where it tossed water. Some crops have clever names, too, meaning you’ll be growing things like “carrops” and “cucumbles”... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6ETfV8g

After 18 years, Meta’s finally building Facebook a customer service division

Image
It’s hard to tell what it’ll look like at this point. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta is trying to make it easier for its users to get support when their accounts or posts are removed, according to a report from Bloomberg . The report quotes Brent Harris, Meta’s vice president of governance, who says that the company is “spending a bunch of time on” customer service. Since Facebook’s inception, people haven’t really had any recourse or way to talk to the company about moderation decisions. At this stage, it doesn’t seem clear what Meta’s customer service division will actually do. Last year, the company piloted a live chat support program that gave some English-speaking users a way to actually talk to a human at Meta if they needed help using a new feature or got locked out of their accounts. At the time, the company... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/SgHRLQr

Peloton CEO thinks losing $1.2 billion is a sign of ‘substantial progress’

Image
You gotta love the spin. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Peloton’s numbers don’t look great. In its Q4 2022 earnings release this morning, the company reported a $1.2 billion operating loss, a 28 percent revenue drop, a membership decline, and a monthly subscriber churn exceeding 1 percent for the first time in a long while. (Perhaps ever?) And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In a nutshell, losses were greater than both Peloton and investors had anticipated. And yet, Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy would have you believe the numbers actually paint a picture of “substantial progress” and the true start of Peloton’s comeback story. “The naysayers will look at our Q4 financial performance and see a melting pot of declining revenue, negative gross margin, and deeper operating losses. They will say... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/rWG9H3p

Hear me out: chill your earbuds before you wear them

Image
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Summer is running out, but I accidentally stumbled upon a weird hack that I might come back to for the warmer months. One day recently, before I headed to the office, I tossed some Pixel Buds A-Series wireless earbuds into my messenger bag, and they somehow settled near my packed lunch and the ice pack keeping it cool. I didn’t expect that those earbuds would catch a chill from being close to them, but when I popped them in my ears, the cool sensation was both unexpected and amazing. I kind of felt like I was in a dramatized breath mint commercial, and I can’t stop doing it. You might be turned off by the idea of inserting earbuds that are anything other than a reflection of the ambient temperature. Perhaps I can win you over by saying... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ndy7uO1

Cover Screen OS makes the Galaxy Z Flip’s front display better and worse

Image
This screen is just not meant for full-sized apps. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a great little foldable held back by a too-tiny front display. It’s just hard doing much on a 1.9-inch screen. Even though Samsung tried making it a little more useful in this year’s iteration, it’s still just a little window from which you can view notifications and certain widgets, but not much more. Developer IJP addresses just this pain point with its Cover Screen OS, a free app on the Google Play Store . It’s been available for the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and got a recent update to support the Flip 4 . And it works — but it’s also kind of awful for reasons outside of the developers’ control. To IJP’s credit, the app does a nice job of walking you through a somewhat involved setup process — you have to give it a lot of... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/T4yMVE2

How to pause your home Wi-Fi

Image
Samar Haddad / The Verge Wi-Fi is essential in most homes these days. From streaming your entertainment and music to making it possible to work from home, we rely on Wi-Fi for many of today’s modern conveniences. But sometimes, you just need it to stop. This is particularly true for parents. I recently wrote about how I use my smart home — which runs on Wi-Fi — to help keep my family on track . A key component of that is turning off internet access to my kids’ devices. Thankfully, today’s modern Wi-Fi routers give you the power to pause using your internet service provider or router manufacturer’s smartphone app — no more need to unplug the router just to get your kid off their Xbox or type an IP address into a browser to fiddle with your daughter’s iPad... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/J1CZks3

California is ready to drag the rest of the US into the EV age

Image
California is about to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. | Getty California is poised to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles — a far-reaching policy that is likely to reverberate throughout the rest of the country and the world. On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board will issue the new rules that were first rolled out by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2020 , which would require 100 percent of new cars sold in the state to be free of carbon emissions, according to The New York Times . The rule would phase in over time The rule would phase in over time, with 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold by 2026 and 68 percent by 2030. California says that over 16 percent of new car sales were “zero-emission vehicles” in 2022 — up from 12.41 percent last year and 7.78 percent in 2020. CA continues... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/hCXa4oK

The government’s student loan sites are crashing after debt relief announcement

Image
Photo by Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images The government’s financial aid website is crashing after President Joe Biden’s announcement of a federal student loan forgiveness program that cancels up to $20,000 of student loan debt for some people. According to several user reports on Twitter, Downdetector.com , and testing done by Verge staffers, people are having issues logging into StudentAid.gov or even getting the site to load at all. The plan announced on Wednesday doesn’t provide blanket loan cancellation — those with a personal income over $125,000 (or double that if they’re married and file taxes jointly) aren’t eligible for forgiveness, and people who received Pell Grants will have more debt canceled than those who didn’t. The complexity has wound up leaving a lot of people... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/WNMIZBY

Can a YouTube ad change your mind about disinformation?

Image
A screenshot from a video “prebunking” appeals to emotion. | Image: Inoculation Science “Prebunking” false information with short videos could nudge people to be more critical of it, suggests a new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge and Google’s Jigsaw division. The study is part of ongoing work in the field of mis- and disinformation, and it’s encouraging news for researchers hoping to improve the online information ecosystem — albeit with many caveats. The Jigsaw and Cambridge study — which also involved researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Western Australia, Perth — is one of several attempts to “inoculate” or “prebunk” people against disinformation instead of debunking it after the fact. Published in Science Advances , it recounts the impact of a video series about common... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/EAzB2Pi

Congress is investigating Twitter whistleblower claims

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Congress is investigating new whistleblower claims made by Twitter’s former head of security following two bombshell reports published on Tuesday — and some are calling on top federal law enforcement officials to follow suit. This morning, The Washington Post and CNN published dual reports into alarming new safety and security allegations raised against Twitter by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, who was fired as the company’s head of security earlier this year. Zatko alleges that Twitter makes little effort to fight spam accounts and has shockingly insufficient cybersecurity defenses. Responding to the new reports, several top lawmakers said that their committees and staff were currently investigating Zatko’s accusations. Sen. Richard Durbin... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/T3ugIlq

Return to Monkey Island will be released on International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Image
A screenshot from Return to Monkey Island | Image: Terrible Toybox Return to Monkey Island , the new entry in the popular point-and-click series from Ron Gilbert, will be released on September 19th, which just so happens to be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, according to a trailer shown at the Gamescom Opening Night Live event. The game will be available on PC and Nintendo Switch. Gilbert first teased the game this year in what appeared to be an April Fools’ joke, but a few days later, it turned out that he actually wasn’t kidding . The new game is a direct follow-up to The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge , though, in an interview with The Verge , Gilbert and Dave Grossman hinted the game could include canon from other games in the series. Those who preorder the game... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/GWiYgIm

iPadOS 16 is ‘on its own schedule,’ shipping after iOS 16 this year

Image
The iPad and iPhone are growing apart. | Photo by David Pierce / The Verge Apple has confirmed that iPadOS 16.0 won’t be getting a public release and that the tablet-centered OS won’t be coming out until after iOS starts hitting phones. In a statement to TechCrunch , attributed only to “the company,” it said: “we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.” Despite Apple traditionally releasing iPadOS and iOS together, it’s always felt like this decoupling was a possibility ever since Apple split out the iPad’s operating system as a separate entity in 2019. (And indeed, the first version of iPadOS released as 13.1 , less than a week after iOS 13’s messy initial rollout .) Still, it’s a pretty big change of pace for... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/osyTetQ

Quest VR owners have new Meta logins to use instead of Facebook

Image
Adi Robertson using the Quest 2. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Meta 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. Users can create Meta accounts through the Meta mobile app using an email address, Facebook account, or Instagram account. Once you create a Meta account, you’ll need to set up a linked Meta Horizon social profile that will be used in VR. As with Facebook accounts before, you’ll need one of these accounts to use a Quest headset. “Our new Meta... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Rna6P8G

That’s Gandalf, right?

Image
Image: Amazon The latest trailer for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series gives us the best look yet at the mysterious, raggedy dude from the previous teasers. He’s not officially confirmed to be Gandalf, but I’m calling it: that’s Gandalf. That’s Gandalf, ahead of schedule for once, coming to Middle-earth one Age early to hang out with hobbits while the rest of the cast is busy yelling, climbing ice cliffs, swinging swords, forging rings, and getting absolutely bamboozled by hot Sauron. And that’s why the show could be great. pic.twitter.com/TEXeaa1gVP — The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) August 23, 2022 We already know the showrunners are messing with the timeline in the interest of telling a story that works on... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/WAzu59w

Samsung’s massive 55-inch curved Odyssey Ark is open for preorders

Image
In Cockpit mode, the Odyssey Ark looks like a wave that’s about to crash on top of you. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Samsung announced that you can now preorder its massive 55-inch 4K curved gaming display, the Odyssey Ark, for $3,499.99. For those who see the need for such a large, pricey display, buying it before Monday, September 12th, can loop you into some relatively small but welcome savings. For instance, preordering will earn you a $200 gift card from Samsung . Best Buy and Newegg are offering a similar promotion, giving out $200 in gift card value for those who preorder to be used on a separate purchase. Samsung hasn’t officially shared a release date, though Newegg confirmed that shipments from its website will begin shipping on Monday, September 12th. If you were someone who placed a no-cost reservation for the Odyssey Ark last week when... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/GjQYMEx

YouTube launches a dedicated page for podcasts

Image
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images YouTube is embracing its position as the (unintentional) most-used podcast platform by launching a dedicated podcast page. As the lines between podcasting and YouTube blur , any step the company takes toward consolidating listening could pose a challenge for competitors Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The page debuted in late July and is still in the rollout process, according to 9to5Google . It can be accessed only in the US at youtube.com/podcasts or through the Explore page (in-app or browser), where there is a new podcast tab. The new page features trending shows and channels that already have millions of subscribers, like The H3 Podcast or Logan Paul’s podcast, but otherwise does not exhibit a ton of curation. The page is not nearly as... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/4ctIQbv

The Game Awards sets a date: December 8th

Image
Image: The Game Awards Mark your calendars and get those predictions in because The Game Awards returns on December 8th. Geoff Keighley’s award show / marketing sizzle reel will be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the show’s ninth year. We have a date! THE GAME AWARDS Thursday, December 8 Streaming live around the world from Microsoft Theater in LA. Hard to believe this is our NINTH show. We've been working all year to bring you something very special. pic.twitter.com/VS9qOhyltQ — Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) August 22, 2022 This is the ninth year for the program in which fans and journalists vote for their choice of winners in categories like Content Creator of the Year and Best Narrative Game. The hallowed Game of the Year award is... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/w6yzXCc

Blake Masters’ Bitcoin investments tanked in 2022

Image
Photo by Brandon Bell / Getty Images Bitcoin evangelist and Republican Senate hopeful Blake Masters has invested millions into a wide variety of cryptocurrencies. But according to recent financial filings viewed by The Verge , Masters’ own digital investments have seemingly tanked in value over this past year’s cryptocurrency crash. Masters, protegé to billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel , disclosed a dozen different investments into different cryptocurrencies and platforms in a personal finance filing last week. As of August 15th , Masters owned between $600,000 and $1.2 million in Bitcoin alone, a dramatic decrease from the $1.1 to $5.2 million he touted in financial disclosures last year. Masters did not disclose any significant profits from his Bitcoin investment,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/SZy7Wdl

Elon Musk subpoenas former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

Image
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images As Twitter and Elon Musk prepare for their October 17th trial date in the Delaware Court of Chancery to argue over his attempt to break their $44 billion acquisition agreement , Musk’s legal team submitted a subpoena for evidence from a familiar face: former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey . Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO for the second time last November and handed control of the company he helped create to Parag Agrawal . He’s running Square and Block and, reportedly , egging on Musk’s attempt to buy Twitter in private messages. It’s tough to say what information Dorsey has that Musk couldn’t obtain by just texting him! But with billions of dollars on the line, Musk’s legal team is casting out all lines to support his (weak) argument the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/iyvqpfJ

Meta’s plans to encrypt Messenger risk ‘grotesque betrayal,’ says UK home secretary

Image
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook’s parent company Meta is heading into another political battle over the planned introduction of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in its Messenger chat platform. The UK’s home secretary, Priti Patel, makes this clear in an op-ed for Tory mouthpiece The Telegraph this week, saying it would be a “grotesque betrayal” if the company didn’t consider issues of child safety while introducing E2EE. Similar arguments are likely to be raised in the US, too. Meta has been working on adding E2EE to Messenger for years, and recently confirmed that it aims to encrypt all chats and calls on the platform next year. (It currently only offers E2EE on its other big chat platform, WhatsApp.) The move is reigniting decades-old debates in politics and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/8VuPAqR

Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal is getting a second season

Image
The 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. But the show approaches this simple premise with a budget and attention to detail that can make the scope of each rehearsal feel dizzying, and the show as a whole becomes... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/MN7oEpO

Our first glimpse of HBO’s The Last of Us TV show is here

Image
The Last of Us | Image: HBO Along with the occasionally-glitchy premiere of House of the Dragon , HBO presented a teaser trailer of content its new owner hasn’t abruptly shelved that provided the first in-motion look of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey playing Joel and Ellie, respectively, in its upcoming The Last of Us TV show. Neil Druckmann — the writer and creative director of both The Last of Us games — is an executive producer of the show, and tweeted , “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” Other content in the preview came from The Idol, Love and Death, Succession, The White Lotus, And Just Like That, Hacks, The White House Plumbers, Our Flag Means Death , but the Naughty Dog-made PlayStation franchise’s live-action TV debut is the one we’re interested in the most. In the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Hshi5IP