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Save $100 on the iPad Air | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The 2020 model of the iPad Air has been discounted to its lowest price ever. Normally, this slim tablet costs $599.99 but has been discounted to $499.99 in all colorways at Best Buy . The Verge ’s Dieter Bohn praised its excellent screen and overall fast performance, calling it the “best tablet for most people” in his review . This model represents a top-to-bottom redesign over its previous iteration, bringing features like a USB-C charging port, which broadens its compatibility with accessories. Our top pick for the best Chromebook you can get , the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, is currently on sale at Best Buy for $499.99 , knocking $200 off the regular price of this amazing laptop. In our review from The Verge’s own Monica Chin, she gave... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2022/1/31/22909626/ipad-air-acer-chromebook-pokemon-legends-sony-earbuds-noise-cancelling-corsair-headset-deal-...

MLB The Show made its debut on Xbox last year , and it’s now making its way to the Nintendo Switch. MLB The Show 22 will be released on April 5th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S. This is the first entry in the MLB The Show series for Nintendo’s Switch console, and it will include full cross-platform progression, cross-saves, and online multiplayer between PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles. The cover athlete this year is Shohei Ohtani, who had an incredible 2021, hitting 46 home runs and 100 runs batted in. The Japanese baseball star is “the only obvious choice to grace the cover of MLB The Show 22,” says Ramone Russell , brand strategist at Sony’s San Diego studio, on the PlayStation... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910793/mlb-the-show-nintendo-switch-release-date-port-april-5th

It’s another blockbuster gaming acquisition. | Image: Sony Sony is buying Bungie , the developer of Destiny and the original creator of Halo, for $3.6 billion. The acquisition arrives shortly after Microsoft’s announcement that it intends to acquire Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7 billion. Bungie will “continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games,” Bungie CEO Pete Parsons writes in a blog post. “In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart,” Parsons writes. “Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22910846/sony-bungie-acquisition-playstation-destiny-halo

Mark Zuckerberg’s lifelike 3D avatar | Meta Facebook parent company Meta is introducing 3D avatars to Instagram Stories and direct messages and updating the avatars in Facebook and Messenger, the company announced Monday. People in the US, Canada, and Mexico can appear as their virtual selves in stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures, and more across Meta’s platforms, including its Quest VR platform. The new avatars will include new facial shapes and assistive devices like cochlear implants, hearing aids, and wheelchairs to be more inclusive of users with disabilities, Aigerim Shorman, Meta’s general manager for avatars and identity, wrote in a blog post. “Since revealing our long-term vision of the metaverse at Connect 2021, we’ve continued building out this next... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910271/meta-3d-avatars-instagram-stories-messenger-facebook

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced today . The Moderna vaccine joins the Pfizer / BioNTech shot as the second licensed vaccine against the coronavirus in the United States. This is Moderna’s first FDA-approved product in the US. “This is a momentous milestone in Moderna’s history,” said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, in a statement . FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a significant step in the fight against #COVID19 , marking the 2nd vaccine approved to prevent COVID-19. Rest assured that it meets our high standards for safety, effectiveness & manufacturing quality required of any vaccine approved in the U.S. https://t.co/4d973XkIeA — Dr.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910679/moderna-covid-vaccine-approval-fda-spikevax

XKCD creator Randall Munroe has announced his latest science book : What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions , which will delve into new out-of-the-box questions that Munroe attempts to answer with hard scientific facts and research. What If? 2 follows 2014’s original What If? book — which itself was borne out of an XKCD spinoff blog — that saw Munroe examine absurd questions (like whether you could build a jetpack that ran off downward-facing machine guns or if there’s enough paint to cover the entire surface of the earth) with rigorous scientific accuracy, accompanied by Munroe’s signature stick figure comics. The new volume will continue in What If? ’s absurd scientific footsteps, attempting to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910603/xckd-randall-munroe-what-if-2-book-annoucement-release-date

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge The best cheap laptops under $800 from HP, Lenovo, and more. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22652565/best-cheap-laptops

Amazon warehouse manager pleads guilty to stealing and reselling computer parts | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Charlotte, North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud after stealing and reselling merchandise from an Amazon warehouse, the Department of Justice said in a news release . Between June 2020 and September 2021, Douglas Wright, Jr., an operations manager at Amazon’s Charlotte warehouse, allegedly stole products with a total value of more than $273,000, using his access to get computer parts like internal hard drives and processors, according to the DOJ. Wright said in court on Friday that he shipped the products to his home, then sold them to a computer wholesale company in California. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set. Wright faces up to 20... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910289/amazon-warehouse-manager-pleads-guilty-mail-fraud

The Mojo 2 can plug into devices like tablets to improve their sound. | Image: Chord British audio manufacturer Chord has announced a successor to the excellent Mojo , a battery-powered accessory that aims to improve the sound of your wired headphones or speakers when paired with your phone, laptop, tablet, or other digital media source. New features for the Mojo 2 include a USB-C input, better battery life, and new tone controls that effectively work like an equalizer to customize the sound it puts out. The Mojo 2 retails for $725 (£449), which is hardly affordable by any measure. However, if it’s as good as its predecessor, then this might be a price worth paying to accompany a pair of suitably premium wired headphones or speakers. It’s available globally starting today. The Mojo 2, like the original Mojo, is... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22906141/chord-mojo-2-dac-digital-analogue-converter-wired-headphones-audio

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge LGBTQ dating app Grindr has been removed from the Apple App Store in China, and is also unavailable on popular Android app marketplaces, Bloomberg reports . The app reportedly disappeared from the iOS App Store on January 27th, although it’s unclear when it was removed from the country’s popular Android app stores — which are operated by local companies like Huawei and Tencent in the absence of the Google Play Store. The apparent removals follow the Chinese government’s announcement last week that it would be cracking down on illegal content, pornography, and “ill-natured” activities online, Bloomberg previously reported . The tightening of restrictions comes ahead of China hosting the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which are due to kick off... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910129/grindr-china-app-store-removal-ios-android

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Joe Rogan has issued a response to the ongoing controversy that has seen artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from Spotify because of not wanting to share a platform with his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience . In a nearly ten-minute video uploaded to Instagram, Rogan defends his decision to book contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and details how the podcast may change in the future. “These podcasts are very strange because they’re just conversations,” Rogan says. “And oftentimes I have no idea what I’m going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people. And that’s why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I’m literally having them in real time,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910039/joe-rogan-response-neil-young-joni-mitchell-spotify

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple will now let developers distribute unlisted apps through the App Store that only users with a direct link can access (via MacRumors ). While unlisted apps aren’t discoverable by the general public through search results, App Store categories, charts, or recommendations, they’re available to administrators via the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager. Unlisted apps are ideal for “limited audiences” Apple notes that unlisted apps are ideal for “limited audiences,” such as guests at a special event, members of an organization, research study participants, or a specific group of employees. To make an app unlisted and obtain a link, developers will first need to submit a request to Apple. Apps that have only been approved for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/30/22909367/apple-unlisted-apps-app-store

Spotify will now add COVID-19 content advisories to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19 following criticism of the platform’s handling of the controversial content in the Joe Rogan Experience . The advisory will lead to Spotify’s COVID-19 hub , which contains credible and up-to-date information about the pandemic. To increase transparency around its treatment of the issue, Spotify is making its COVID-19 content policy and general platform rules publicly available on its site. Spotify says anyone who breaks the rules may have the content in question removed, with repeat offenders potentially having their accounts suspended or banned. The Verge obtained this policy ahead of the platform’s public release , and an internal memo revealed that... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/30/22909432/spotify-covid-19-moderation-joe-rogan-vaccine-misinformation

Screenshot via Halo on Paramount Plus A new teaser for Paramount Plus’ live-action Halo series reveals the long-awaited show’s release date: March 24th, 2022 (via IGN ). At around the 52-second mark, you can hear the announcer state the fast-approaching release date. We’re just getting started. Watch the #HaloTheSeries Official Trailer today during halftime at the AFC Championship Game on @CBS and @ParamountPlus . pic.twitter.com/dER2sgbLkI — Halo on Paramount+ (@HaloTheSeries) January 30, 2022 The one-minute video teases a longer trailer set to debut during tonight’s AFC championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals — it flashes between clips of the live-action series and both teams on the field. The upcoming trailer will air during the game... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/30/22909041/halo-trailer-paramount-plus-live-action-showtime

Brené Brown is the host of popular podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead . | Photo by Rick Kern / WireImage Popular podcast host and author Brené Brown says she’s not going to release any new podcast episodes “until further notice” and didn’t offer a specific reason why. Brown’s pause on her podcasts comes shortly after both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music off Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast series. Brown signed a multi-year deal with Spotify in 2020 , and is the host of Spotify exclusive podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead . “I will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice,” Brown wrote on Twitter. “To our #UnlockingUs and #DaretoLead communities, I’m sorry and I’ll let you know if and when that changes.” I will not be releasing any podcasts until further notice. To our #UnlockingUs and #... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/30/22909140/brene-brown-spotify-podcast-joe-rogan-controversy

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AT&T has a new Unlimited Max prepaid plan with 5G, and it’s available at Walmart for $45 / month . The plan comes with unlimited 5G data, unlimited talk and text, 100GB of cloud storage, HD streaming, and 10GB of available data when using your phone as a mobile hot spot. AT&T’s lowest-priced unlimited 5G plan available outside of Walmart (which doesn’t even come with HD streaming) will cost you $65 / month . While the Walmart-only Unlimited Max plan does allow for HD streaming, it streams in standard definition by default. You can stream in HD by turning off Stream Saver (a mode that plays video in 480p to save data) on AT&T’s prepaid site , or by calling 611. For comparison, several standard prepaid unlimited 5G plans, like Metro by... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/30/22909063/att-5g-unlimited-prepaid-plan-walmart

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced over $1.2 billion in funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to expand broadband service across 32 states. The FCC calls this “the largest funding round to date,” and notes 23 broadband companies will provide service to more than one million new areas. In addition, the FCC also introduced the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan , which will double the number of audits and verifications performed this year in comparison to 2021. It will also require the FCC to make the results of verifications, audits as well as speed and latency tests public on the Universal Service Administration Company’s (USAC) website . The new Rural Broadband Accountability Plan will streamline our... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/29/22908024/fcc-rural-broadband-deployment-funding

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile will fire corporate employees who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2nd, according to an internal email viewed by Bloomberg . T-Mobile’s head of human resources, Deeanne King, reportedly says employees who’ve only received one dose as of February 21st will be put on unpaid leave. There will be “limited” exceptions for certain employees “T-Mobile’s badge-controlled offices continue to be accessible only to those who are vaccinated against COVID-19,” T-Mobile said in a statement to The Verge , referencing the digital pass system the company uses to keep track of employees’ vaccination status. “We have shared with employees that we are requiring office workers to be fully vaccinated by April 2.” The mobile carrier... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/29/22908070/t-mobile-fire-unvaccinated-corporate-employees-covid-19-vaccine

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are reportedly looking for alternatives to the controversial facial recognition software ID.me, according to a report by Bloomberg . As Bloomberg notes, the agencies didn’t cite a reason for the possible change, and also didn’t mention any privacy concerns about the service. The IRS can’t establish its own software due to a “lack of funding” “The IRS is consistently looking for ways to make the filing process more secure,” Treasury Department spokesperson Alexandra LaManna said in a statement to Bloomberg . “We believe in the importance of protecting the privacy of taxpayers, while also ensuring criminals are not able to gain access to taxpayer accounts.” LaManna also told B... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/29/22907853/irs-idme-facial-recognition-alternatives-privacy-concerns

Logi’s popular, 1080p webcam is an ace when it comes to picture quality. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend deals! While some of us on the East Coast may be busy shoveling snow this Saturday morning, we hope many of you are having a restful weekend chock-full of deals and discounts. Kicking things off on the deals front is Logitech’s StreamCam, which is currently on sale in its graphite colorway at Amazon for $108 . That’s about $62 off the regular price of this excellent webcam, one we consider to be the best webcam you can buy in terms of image quality. The StreamCam is Logitech’s flagship 1080p camera and is able to achieve 60 frames per second, allowing for a smooth, crisp look. The Capture software can also keep you centered in the frame, much like the Center Stage feature found on Apple’s newer iPads, and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2022/1/29/22906216/logitech-streamcam-webcam-beats-fit-pro...

Joni Mitchell has decided to remove all of her music from Spotify, joining Neil Young in protest of Joe Rogan’s podcast that Young says spreads misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines (via The Wall Street Journal ). “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue” “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” The Canadian singer-songwriter writes in a post on her website. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.” Mitchell also includes a link to an open letter to Spotify, which was signed by dozens of medical and scientific professionals... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/29/22907696/joni-mitchell-spotify-joe-rogan-podcast-misinformation-covid-19

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Slack, the instant messaging app of choice for many companies, has probably become a bigger part of your life if you’re working from home. And while Slack is usually used for work, it’s also very useful for conversing with friends and family. Slack offers paid plans , but anyone can sign up for the free version and create a workspace, a virtual space where you can set up different conversations and projects. Each of those conversations and projects on Slack are called channels. These channels function like chat rooms or group chats. While there isn’t a limit to the number of channels you can make or private messages you can send in Slack, the free version will only let you see the last 10,000 messages sent in your workspace. Here’s an... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22906230/how-to-use-slack-channels

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Waymo filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles to keep driverless car crash data from being made public. The autonomous vehicle operator, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, claims that such data should be considered a trade secret. The news of the lawsuit was first reported by the Los Angles Times . California’s DMV oversees the largest autonomous vehicle testing program in the country, with over 60 companies permitted to operate test vehicles on public roads. Only a handful are approved to operate fully autonomous vehicles without safety drivers at the wheel, and even fewer have been approved to deploy vehicles for commercial purposes. Waymo is seeking to keep private information about how it... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22906513/waymo-lawsuit-california-dmv-crash-data-foia

Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images China 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. The roadmap, detailed in a new white paper released today , would continue China’s ambitious progress in the realm of aerospace. Over the last few decades, the country has placed significant emphasis on expanding its space capabilities, increasing the frequency and scope of its launches, and pushing into new areas such as the robotic exploration of Mars . China has also mounted a long-term campaign of lunar... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22906277/china-space-exploration-white-paper-five-year-plan

Last weekend, it felt like everyone I knew was sending me the same link. “ The Problem With NFTs ,” a long video essay by the Canadian media critic Dan Olson, ricocheted around all corners of the tech world since it was uploaded on Friday. (It now has 2.6 million views and climbing.) Over 138 meticulously researched minutes, Olson traces the history of the 2008 financial crisis, the creation of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the rise of NFTs and DAOs, and reaches the conclusion that what we have taken to calling “Web3” is effectively beyond saving: the technology is too broken, and its creators too indifferent to its failures, for it to ever to live up to the promise of its most starry-eyed backers. Few of Olson’s criticisms are entirely new,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22906010/web3-nft-internet-history-video-platformer

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Qubit Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, has become the latest victim of a high-value theft, with hackers stealing around $80 million in cryptocurrency on Thursday. The value of cryptocurrency stolen makes this the largest hack of 2022 so far. Qubit Finance acknowledge the hack in an incident report published through Medium. According to the report, the hack occurred at around 5PM ET on the evening of January 27th. Qubit provides a service known as a “bridge” between different blockchains, effectively meaning that deposits made in one cryptocurrency can be withdrawn in another. Qubit Finance operates a bridge between Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) network. Analysis produced by CertiK, a blockchain auditing and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22906366/cryptocurrency-hackers-steal-qubit-binance-ethereum

Image: Ubisoft In a move no one saw coming because not that many people were playing the game in the first place, Hyper Scape , Ubisoft’s attempt to get in on the increasingly bloated battle royale market, will be shutting down on April 28th. On Hyper Scape ’s website, the announcement reads : We have made the difficult decision to end development of Hyper Scape and shut the game down as of April 28th. We set out to create a vertical, close-quarters, and fast-paced shooter experience and we are extremely grateful to our community for joining us on our journey. We will be taking key learnings from this game into future products. Hyper Scape launched on August 11th, 2020 and quickly fell off . Despite rocketing to the top of Twitch charts with a coordinated... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/27/22904775/ubisoft-hyper-scape-cancelled-battle-royale

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge Understanding your broadband speeds could be just as simple as reading the nutrition label on the back of the food you buy at the grocery store as soon as the end of this year. The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to press forward on a new plan that would require internet providers, like Comcast and Verizon, to offer new labels disclosing an internet plan’s price, speed, data allowances, including introductory rates and later price hikes, as well as network management practices, like throttling, at the point of sale. This allows for greater transparency into market rates and could lead to lower prices down the line. “Access to accurate, simple-to-understand information about broadband Internet access... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/27/22904705/broadband-nutrition-labels-internet-service-rosenworcel-biden-competition

It’s not perfect, but there’s a lot to like for outdoorsy athletes Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22904291/polar-grit-x-pro-review-gps-smartwatch-fitness-tracker

A Snoop Dogg experience inside The Sandbox. | The Sandbox Warner Music Group will open an outpost in virtual world The Sandbox , and it hopes music buffs will express their fandom by acquiring nearby property. In an announcement, WMG described its new home as a “combination of musical theme park and concert venue.” It will work with The Sandbox to host concerts and other “musical experiences.” But so far, it’s only discussed one specific event: a special sale of digital real estate called Land, which Sandbox users can buy “coveted” plots of in March. Concerts have become a fixture of virtual worlds The Sandbox has previously partnered with individual artists like Snoop Dogg for experiences, but this is apparently a larger and more ambitious installation. “Warner Music has secured the equivalent... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/27/22904382/warner-music-group-the-sandbox-virtual-real-estate-sale-concert-venue

More free games are on the way to add to your backlog. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge One of the hallmarks of the Epic Games Store is its regular offerings of free games, and the company confirmed in a blog post that it will continue give games away in 2022. Some of the games Epic has offered in the past have been quite notable, including Control , Civilization VI , and even the store-crashing Grand Theft Auto V , so it seems likely the company will make some good freebies available this year. Epic also announced that its store has more than 194 million users, up 34 million year over year. Valve hasn’t released its own year-in-review numbers for Steam, so it’s hard to directly determine how well Epic is competing, but comparing peak concurrent user counts indicates Epic still has a ways to go to catch up. Epic reported a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/27/22903505/epic-games-store-free-2022

Update January 26th, 12:23PM ET: The bundles have sold out and are currently unavailable. GameStop has just restocked the Xbox Series X, with one caveat: it’s only available as part of a bundle. The $648.98 bundle includes an extra controller, a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and a $50 GameStop gift card. While many of GameStop’s recent restocks have been restricted to PowerUp Pro Rewards subscribers, this restock is available to everyone. The bundles are being dished out on a first-come, first-served basis, and you only need a valid GameStop account to buy one. This is just one of many recent console restocks, and more are sure to follow. We are constantly on the lookout for further availability of the latest... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22822300/microsoft-xbox-series-x-bundle-console-restock-gamestop-availability

Araya Doheny/Getty Images Isabelle Fuhrman ’s performance as Esther in Paramount Pictures’ first Orphan film stunned audiences in no small part because of what the movie’s disturbing twist revealed about its titular child murderer. Twelve years later, Fuhrman is set to reprise her role in Paramount’s upcoming prequel Orphan: First Kill from director William Brent Bell , and the 24-year-old actress is certain that she’s about to shock everyone once again. In the original Orphan ’s final acts, it’s revealed that nine-year-old “Esther” is actually a 33-year-old Estonian serial killer with proportional dwarfism caused by hypopituitarism, which she’s used to pretend to be a child for years as she bounces from one adoptive family to the next. Fuhrman, who was 12 when O... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22902485/orphan-first-kill-isabelle-fuhrman

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The White House released a new cybersecurity strategy Wednesday aimed at reducing the risk of cyberattacks against government infrastructure. The strategy outlines the administration’s vision for moving government agencies towards a “zero trust” architecture — a cybersecurity model where users and devices are only given permissions to access network resources necessary for the task at hand, and are authenticated on a case-by-case basis. The key document was published as a memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the administration’s policy arm, and addressed to the heads of all executive departments and agencies. According to the memorandum, shifting towards a zero trust architecture will require the implementation of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22902630/white-house-instructs-agencies-cybersecurity-strategy-memo-cisa

Substack’s video feature is now in a private beta. | Screenshot: Andrew Zimmern via Substack Substack, the platform where creators can share free or paid newsletters, has announced a new video feature that’s currently in a private beta (via TechCrunch ). The feature will let users upload or record videos directly in Substack and then publish them within their posts. The videos will be directly playable when viewed from a browser Substack explains the videos will be directly playable when viewed from a browser. When included in an email, however, users won’t be able to click and play it from within the email itself — videos will instead show up as “clickable images” that redirect users to a web version in their browser. The platform’s support page says users can record and upload videos from their smartphone or desktop computer.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22902447/substack-video-private-beta

In partnership with Epic Magazine She was known, back then, as Susan Thunder. For someone in the business of deception, she stood out: she was unusually tall, wide-hipped, with a mane of light blonde hair and a wardrobe of jackets embroidered with band logos, spoils from an adolescence spent as an infamous rock groupie. Her backstage conquests had given her a taste for quaaludes and pharmaceutical-grade cocaine; they’d also given her the ability to sneak in anywhere. Susan found her way into the hacker underground through the phone network. In the late 1970s, Los Angeles was a hotbed of telephone culture: you could dial-a-joke, dial-a-horoscope, even dial-a-prayer. Susan spent most of her days hanging around on 24-hour conference... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/c/22889425/susy-thunder-headley-hackers-phone-phreakers-claire-evans

Akili Interactive’s first product is a video game for ADHD. | Akili Interactive Akili Interactive, the company behind the first video game to get approved as a medical treatment, announced today that it will go public through a merger with Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp, which is run by former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya. The deal values the company at $1 billion. The Food and Drug Administration approved Aikili Interactive’s first product, a video game called EndeavorRX used to treat ADHD in children, in 2020 . The company is still working towards full commercialization of the game but said in fillings today that around 1,000 doctors have written prescriptions for the game so far. The company has a slate of other projects in the pipeline, as well. In filings , it said it’s working on expanding... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22902537/prescription-video-game-adhd-spac-public-company

Boston Dynamics is synonymous with four-legged robots, particularly its consumer model Spot. But in the past few years, the company has been expanding into logistics — one of the most challenging and potentially lucrative sectors in modern robotics. Today, Boston Dynamics announced the first commercial purchase of its pallet-stacking machine Stretch , which will be starting try-outs in DHL warehouses. The logistics giant will invest $15 million in Boston Dynamics as part of the deal, and Boston Dynamics will deliver a “fleet” of robots (exact numbers unknown) “to multiple DHL warehouses throughout North America over the next three years” where they will start with the work of truck unloading. “Deployment of the first Stretch units in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22902568/boston-dynamics-stretch-robot-logistics-dhl-deal

Hyperion Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief author Rick Riordan will be the first person to tell you how much he didn’t care for 20th Century Studios’ 2010 adaptation of the novel from director Chris Columbus. For years, Riordan’s been insisting to his fans how he’s been longing to see his work transformed into a live-action story that squares with the grand vision in his mind, and now, Disney Plus plans to make that happen. Though Riordan already announced almost two years ago in a series of now-deleted tweets that Disney Plus was moving forward with a new show based on the book series, the prolific author reiterated today the studio’s plans and shared some new details about the project in a new video posted to Twitter. Along with Riordan,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22901164/percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-disney-plus-series

A week after the news Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard , and amidst news of alleged union-busting , labor strikes , unionization and the continuing investigation of allegations of discrimination and abuse, Blizzard has announced it’s working on a new IP. We’re building a survival game in an all-new universe. Join us in writing our next chapter: https://t.co/yf7W5p9ERQ pic.twitter.com/vWtkDYh1kX — Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) January 25, 2022 The new game is the first new universe from Blizzard since Overwatch in 2016; it’s also the studio’s first survival game. While it’s fairly common to announce games early to recruit new talent — Respawn Entertainment’s announcement of its new Star Wars game contained job listings... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22901146/activision-blizzard-new-survival-game-announcement

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Today, the White House is saying out loud what you’ve likely already heard : the chip shortage won’t end anytime soon. “We aren’t even close to being out of the woods,” said US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in a briefing with reporters today, according to Bloomberg , The Washington Post , and others. Her comments come alongside a new Department of Commerce report that cites chipmakers who “did not see the problem going away in six months,” which also isn’t exactly news: chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD have repeatedly suggested the shortage wouldn’t ease until the second half of 2022, while Intel has said it might not end until 2023 . But the report , based on 150 responses from “nearly every major semiconductor producer and from companies... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22900987/chip-shortage-report-biden-commerce-secretary-raimondo

Recently, I got Slacked by a colleague who was really annoyed and had to let off a bit of steam. It seems that a writer had shared a new Google Docs article with them (a usual way of submitting a freelance piece), and when my colleague opened the article, they found another, unknown person was already reading it — somebody who was definitely not on our staff. What had happened? The writer, probably in too much of a hurry to share the document with specific people, had simply made it public so that anybody could have access to it. This not only made the article available to anyone before it had been properly edited and published — something no publication wants — but opened it up to all sorts of mischief. Mischief like what happened in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22898818/google-doc-share-how-to

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is walking back plans to replace third-party cookies with FLoC by instead proposing the Topics API, a new system for interest-based advertising. Topics works by pinpointing five of your interests, such as “Fitness” or “Travel & Transportation,” based on your web activity, as measured by participating sites, for one week. Your browser will store these topics for three weeks before deleting them. Google says that these categories “are selected entirely on your device” and don’t involve “any external servers, including Google servers.” When you visit a website, Topics will show the site and its advertising partners just three of your interests, consisting of “one topic from each of the past three weeks.” As noted on the Topics API... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22900567/google-floc-abandon-topics-api-cookies-tracking

Exactly Right Media Hello, hello. I’m back! Welcome to the week from sunny Los Angeles. My trip through California had me disconnecting from the internet, spotting Michael Keaton at a Santa Barbara restaurant inside a furniture store, and, naturally, ending up in multiple conversations about Joe Rogan. Just the R&R I needed :~). Anyway, I’m happy to be back with you and the podcast news. Let’s get into it. Hot Pod Summit is returning on February 24th to start On Air Fest. Hot Pod Summit is the invite-only industry conference for the people building the future of the audio industry. It will kick off On Air Fest, the audio industry’s premier cultural festival, featuring Jad Abumrad, Chuck D, Dr. Jane Goodall, and more. Buy your tickets here. If you’re... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22900145/amazon-music-my-favorite-murder-podcast-deal-hot-pod

Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images General Motors announced a $7 billion investment in growing its electric vehicle manufacturing capabilities in Michigan, calling it “the single largest investment announcement in GM history.” The company will spend the money on four manufacturing sites, with plans to create 4,000 new jobs and retain another 1,000 in the state. The investment includes construction of a new battery cell plant in Lansing and the conversion of GM’s assembly plant in Orion for production of the Chevy Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra. The latter will be GM’s second assembly plant scheduled to build full-size electric pickups, the first being the company’s Factory Zero in Detroit . GM has said it will spend $35 billion by 2025 on electric and autonomous... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22900729/gm-ev-battery-factory-invest-michigan-us

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Coinbase, one of the largest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, is adding a new tax center to its app and website to help US customers work out how much they might owe to the IRS as a result of their crypto transactions, the company has announced. The section is designed to gather every taxable transaction into one place to simplify matters come tax day. Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin often appear similar to the fiat money we’re accustomed to, in the eyes of the IRS, the digital assets are actually property, according to this FAQ from the federal agency. That means cryptocurrency transactions may need to be reported as capital gains or losses, and that means keeping track of a cryptocurrency’s value as it’s bought and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/24/22898610/coinbase-tax-center-capital-gains-losses-irs-taxes

Image: Amazon Mondays are for football hangovers, extra strong coffee, and deals. If the weekend brought you grief due to some big playoff upsets, we’re here to ease the pain with great savings on gadgets. What better way to dull the sting of an abysmal 13-10 loss to the sixth seed when you’re supposed to be the favorite to win it all? Put down the cheese and dry those tears with some excellent deals. First up, the latest Blink Outdoor cam with a floodlight attachment is currently just $89.98 at Amazon and Best Buy , which is $50 less than its regular price of $139.98. It comes equipped with a 700-lumen LED floodlight and the Sync Module 2 for connectivity. If you want to make battery anxiety a thing of the past, the Blink Outdoor camera with a solar... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2022/1/24/22898743/amazon-blink-outdoor-camera-floodlight-solar-apple-airpods-homepod-mini-lg-c1-google-nest-deal-sale

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Panasonic is due to start mass producing next-generation lithium-ion batteries for Tesla with five times the energy capacity of existing models as early as 2023, according to a report from Nikkei Asia . Although the batteries are being manufactured primarily for Tesla, a Panasonic executive didn’t rule out supplying them to other companies in a November interview . The new batteries promise to boost the range of electric cars, and make them more affordable to produce and sell. In a statement given to Reuters , Panasonic declined to confirm Nikkei’s report. “We are studying various options for mass production, including a test production line we are establishing this business year,” the company said. “We don’t, however, have anything to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/24/22898666/panasonic-4680-tesla-battery-mass-production-2023

Wisk Aero, the electric air taxi startup, raised $450 million from Boeing in a new funding round that it claims will make it “one of the most well-funded [advanced air mobility] companies in the world.” In its announcement, Wisk highlights the fact that its “a privately-backed AAM leader,” setting up a contrast with a slate of similar startups that have gone public in recent months by merging with special purpose acquisition companies, also known as SPACs or “blank check” companies. Wisk Aero was formed in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, the flying taxi company bankrolled by Google co-founder Larry Page . Wisk says it will use the new funds to undertake a period of rapid growth, adding new employees to its current... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/24/22865280/boeing-wisk-aero-funding-evtol-air-taxi

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned the flying of consumer drones by hobbyists. The news comes after a suspected drone attack hit an oil facility and airport in the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi, last week. The ban was announced by the Ministry of the Interior on Saturday and also applies to light aircraft like gliders. The ministry did not mention the recent attacks in its statement, but referenced “misuse spotted recently,” incidents of drone pilots “trespassing into areas where these types of activities are prohibited,” and a need to “ensure the safety of lives and property.” The attack involved ‘ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones’ The recent attack on the oil facility and airport in Abu Dhabi reportedly involved both... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/24/22898614/united-arab-emirates-uae-ban-recreational-drone-attack

Toshihiro Nagoshi, former chief creative officer at Sega, where he led development of the Yakuza series as general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, has announced his next move. He’s started up his own studio, simply titled Nagoshi Studio , which is being wholly funded by Chinese internet and gaming company NetEase. Nagoshi announced his departure from Sega last October, but today’s news also follows a report from Bloomberg back in August that named NetEase as his prospective future partner. Masayoshi Yokoyama, who The Verge interviewed last year about his work on the most recent Yakuza game Like a Dragon , is the new head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and is currently working on the next game in the series. Nagoshi Studio will be headquartered... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/24/22898579/toshihiro-nagoshi-studio-yakuza-series-netease-announced