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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla’s accused of violating national labor laws by allegedly telling employees at its Orlando, Florida location not to talk about pay and working conditions, as first reported by Bloomberg . In a complaint filed in September , the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) regional director in Tampa claims Telsa “told employees not to complain to higher level managers about their pay or other conditions of employment” and said “not to discuss their pay with other persons.” The complaint goes on to accuse Tesla of instructing employees not to discuss the hiring, suspension, or termination of employees with others. These incidents occurred from December 2021 to January 2022, the complaint alleges, and violates laws that prevent companies from... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/31/23533743/tesla-florida-workers-pay-working-conditions-nlrb

Grubhub has been ordered to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit from the District of Columbia that claims the company misled customers by tacking on hidden fees to their orders. According to a press release , Grubhub must pay $800,000 to DC as a civil penalty, while the remaining $2.7 million “will be paid back to affected customers.” In March, DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against Grubhub , accusing it of falsely promising “free” online orders to customers, as well as “unlimited free delivery” for those who subscribe to Grubhub Plus. The lawsuit alleges this practice is “deceptive” since Grubhub still takes a service fee for non-pickup orders made by Grubhub Plus customers, and charges both delivery and service fees for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/31/23533524/grubhub-dc-settlement-hidden-fees

Twitter is creaking. Social media seems less fun than ever. Maybe it’s time to get a little more personal. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23513418/bring-back-personal-blogging

Micha Huigen / The Verge If you’re the proud owner of a shiny new Steam Deck, here are some of The Verge’s favorite games to enjoy on Valve’s handheld. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23484820/steam-deck-best-games-2022-roundup

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter will soon let you swipe to switch between different views containing recommended and followed tweets, trends, topics, and more. In a tweet , Elon Musk announced that support for the navigation feature will arrive in January. Musk first hinted at the feature earlier this month, noting the “main timeline should allow for an easy sideways swipe between top, latest, trending and topics that you follow.” The platform already lets users swap between a chronological timeline that shows the latest tweets in order, and the Home timeline, which displays recommended tweets, by tapping the stars icon in the upper right corner of the screen. New Twitter navigation coming in Jan that allows swiping to side to switch between recommended &... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/30/23532743/twitter-swipe-views-timeline-elon-musk

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)  was discovered by astronomers using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility this year in early March. This fine telescopic image  was taken on December 19th. | Dan Bartlett via NASA Here’s something to look forward to in the new year: 2023 could give us a once-in-a-generation chance to see a new comet grace our skies. Stargazers can keep their eyes peeled for Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) throughout January and early February, although they’ll need a telescope or binoculars to spot it at first. As the comet races closer to Earth, however, there’s a chance the comet could become visible to the naked eye under dark skies. If that happens, it’ll be the first comet to reveal itself to the unaided eye since NEOWISE passed us by in 2020 . This new comet was discovered last March while it was within Jupiter’s orbit. The comet’s current trajectory should bring it closest to the sun by January 12th. On February 2nd, according to... Continue ...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge From pirates to spies to kid detectives, it’s a common Hollywood trope: hold a simple spyglass or binoculars up to your eyes, and you’ll effortlessly get a crystal-clear cylindrical picture of what’s going on. That’s horseshit, of course. Unless you’ve got the hands of a surgeon, it’s surprisingly hard to line up eyeballs, multiple pieces of glass, and a faraway subject. Kid Sean was sad to learn that fact. But I’ll never forget the day Teen Sean pressed the magic button that made all the difference: the one in the center of the image-stabilized binoculars that Canon still sells today. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The binoculars come in many different magnifications, from 8x to 18x, and with... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23523047/canon-image-stabilized-binoculars-button-of-the-month

A still image from Andrew Tate’s Twitter profile promoting his Hustler’s University program. | Image: Andrew Tate / Twitter Andrew Tate — an “alpha male” influencer / podcaster of sorts who has described himself in videos as “absolutely a misogynist” and has been banned from TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram — and his brother Tristan were detained in Romania by police investigating organized crime, human trafficking, and rape. He was led away from his home in Romania by police one day after his Twitter dustup with young environmental activist Greta Thunberg went viral, as he targeted her with a boast about his 33 cars and their “enormous emissions” while she remained unimpressed by the size. In a now-deleted YouTube video, Tate, who was born in the US and is a British citizen, said “40 percent” of his reason for moving to Romania was “because in Eastern... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/29/23531846/andrew-tate-human-trafficking-investigation-romania-...

Google says it’s using “advanced artificial intelligence” to determine if a call is legit. | Image: Google Google has announced that it’s adding a red “suspected spam caller” warning to Google Voice calls if it doesn’t think they’re legitimate. In a post on Thursday , the company says it’s identifying spam “using the same advanced artificial intelligence” system as it does with its traditional phone app for Android . If the spam label appears, you’ll also have the option of confirming that a call was spam — in which case any future calls will be sent straight to your voicemail — or clarifying that it wasn’t, which will get rid of the label for future calls. Google Voice has had the ability to automatically filter calls identified as spam to voicemail for years, and has also allowed you to screen calls before actually picking them up, but those... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/29/23531770/google-voice-spam-call-warning-enhanced-protection

I just want a rolling battle station. | Image: Tesla Steam, the PC gaming platform, is making its way around town as part of Tesla’s latest holiday update . It fulfills a promise Tesla CEO Elon Musk made almost two years ago: that you’ll be able to play The Witcher 3 using the car’s built-in hardware. But unfortunately for me, I won’t get to play it, and it doesn’t look like there will be any easy path toward upgrading. I have a 2018 Tesla Model 3, and I think I should mention it’s received plenty of upgrades over the years , including overhauled user interface, Autopilot visualizations, streaming apps, and arcade games . But in my car, all of Tesla’s fancy new software is running on the Intel Atom — a processor designed for cheap netbooks from the previous decade (Remember the Eee PC ?). So... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23529762/tesla-steam-holiday-update-2022-gaming-intel-amd-ryzen

Alleged renders of the Samsung A34 show a silver, pearlescent color option that’s way more fun than awesome black. | Image: The Tech Outlook A fresh batch of leaked renders allegedly show an upcoming Samsung device in a range of flashy colors. The leak is courtesy of The Tech Outlook ( spotted by XDA-Developers ) and features the Galaxy A34 with some healthy midrange specs: a 6.5-inch 1080p OLED, 48-megapixel main camera, and an Exynos chipset. But what’s really exciting are the color options: Lime! Purple! Pearlescent! If these renders are accurate, then we could see a more colorful outlook for budget phones in 2023, and it’s about damn time. Sometime in recent history, phone makers decided that people in the US — particularly those on a budget — only wanted black phones. A quick turn through Samsung’s current A-series options shows most models in exactly one color choice:... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/29/23531141/samsung-galaxy-a34-leak-rend...

Crowds watch as Mexican free-tailed bats are released by Mary Warwick, Wildlife Director at Houston Humane Society at the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony in Houston, Texas, on December 28, 2022. | Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images Hundreds of bats rescued from the winter storm that struck the US over the past week were finally able to return to their homes in Texas last night. The bats nearly froze to death as the storm brought a blast of cold Arctic air down to the Lone Star State and much of the continental US. Mexican Free-tailed bats started dropping from their roosts as temperatures dipped below freezing Mexican Free-tailed bats started dropping from their roosts as temperatures dipped below freezing on the evening of December 22nd, according to the Houston Humane Society . At one colony under Waugh Bridge in Houston, the tiny bats plummeted 15 to 30 feet to the pavement. Suffering hypothermic shock, the bats might have perished on the pavement. Weighing in... Continue rea...

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge I can’t be the only one that’s had this experience: I’ll be passing time scrolling through my Instagram feed when all of a sudden, my iPhone’s screen cranks the brightness up to 11 for a random video clip or reel. It’s worse if you’re in a dark environment or dimly lit bar when this happens because these bursts ignore your brightness settings and can get pretty unpleasant for your eyes. The reason this happens is that people are increasingly sharing HDR (high dynamic range) videos on social platforms — whether they know it or not — and when your fancy smartphone plays them, the display goes into overdrive to showcase, in Apple’s words , the “true-to-life color and contrast” made possible by HDR. But the thing you’ll notice most of all,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23529794/instagram-apple-iphone-hdr-video-brightness-samsung-annoying

The Samsung Bespoke Refrigerator Family Hub Plus features a large vertically-oriented touchscreen display, ideal for making shopping lists and watching TikTok content. | Image: Samsung Samsung has unveiled the Bespoke Refrigerator Family Hub Plus, a fancy name for its latest fridge with a built-in touchscreen display. At 32 inches, it features a much larger display than the 21.5-inch screen found on previous generations of the Samsung Family Hub refrigerators , which can be used to control SmartThings-compatible smart home devices, display Google Photos images, make digital shopping lists for Amazon delivery, and watch videos. Introduced via a Korean-language press release , the Family Hub Plus includes the free Samsung TV Plus service , allowing users to watch 190 TV channels in the US or around 80 channels in South Korea via the Samsung TV Plus app. The display’s vertical orientation also makes it suitable for watching... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/202...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you’re having issues while trying to use Twitter tonight, you’re not alone. Dozens of users are reporting various errors, saying they’re getting messages that they’ve exceeded their rate limit, to the site appearing to be completely broken, or failing to fetch new tweets. DownDetector.com shows a spike of around 10,000 outage reports noted for Twitter, with reports starting just after 7:30PM ET. Twitter is having issues pic.twitter.com/5OWhK8RD10 — Tom Warren (@tomwarren) December 29, 2022 Here at The Verge , we have multiple instances of the desktop site logging accounts out suddenly. When I click the log in button, the site simply refreshes without prompting me for a username or password — or crashes, showing an error message. T... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/28/23530256/twitter-outage-down-connection-loading-error-notifications

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Last week, just before Christmas, LastPass dropped a bombshell announcement : as the result of a breach in August, which lead to another breach in November, hackers had gotten their hands on users’ password vaults. While the company insists that your login information is still secure, some cybersecurity experts are heavily criticizing its post , saying that it could make people feel more secure than they actually are and pointing out that this is just the latest in a series of incidents that make it hard to trust the password manager. LastPass’ December 22nd statement was “full of omissions, half-truths and outright lies,” reads a blog post from Wladimir Palant , a security researcher known for helping originally develop AdBlock Pro, among... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/28/23529547/lastpass-vault-breach-disclosure-encryption-cybersecurity-rebuttal

Image: Amazon Amazon is now delivering orders by drones in California and Texas with the aim to ultimately fly out packages to customers’ homes within an hour, Ars Technica reports . The retail giant’s drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, already dropped a small number of packages via drone in the backyards of customers in the run-up to Christmas in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas. “Our aim is to safely introduce our drones to the skies. We are starting in these communities and will gradually expand deliveries to more customers over time,” Amazon Air spokesperson Natalie Banke told KTXL Fox 40 . The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave Amazon Part 135 approval to send packages by drone in 2020, as well as filing Final... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/28/23529705/amazon-drone-delivery-prime-air-california-texas

A portrait of Holmes by artist Sidney Paget. | Wikimedia Watching the copyrights on art expire still feels like a novelty. After all, the US public domain was frozen in time for 20 years, thawing only in 2019. But this weekend’s Public Domain Day will give our cultural commons a few particularly notable new works. As outlined by Duke Law School’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain , the start of 2023 will mark the end of US copyrights on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s final Sherlock Holmes stories — along with the seminal science fiction movie Metropolis , Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse , and the first full-length “talkie” film The Jazz Singer . The public domain lets anyone republish, remix, or remake works without the permission of the rights holder — typically long after the original... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/28/23528003/sherlock-holmes-metropolis-to-the-lighthouse-public-domain-day-2023

Just click behind the notch and you’ll get a webcam preview. | Image: Hand Mirror We’ve covered Hand Mirror before. It’s a simple, free Mac utility that lives in your menu bar. Whenever you click it, you see a small preview of your selfie camera. If you’re prepping for a video call with colleagues or just want to check how disheveled you appear to other coffee shop goers at 8AM, it’s a perfect little tool. Hand Mirror’s developer Rafael Conde recently introduced a paid add-on to the app that unlocks some bonus features. (The main video preview feature is still completely free and works as well as ever.) One of those new tricks — called “notch trigger” — caught my eye. When enabled, Hand Mirror will bring up the selfie camera preview whenever you click behind the notch area on Apple’s 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/28/23528088/hand-mirror-notch-trigger-webcam-preview-mac-app

Southwest Airlines canceled over 2,600 flights on Tuesday. | Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Southwest Airlines has left thousands of travelers stranded at airports throughout the country after a winter storm barreled through most of the US before and during the holiday weekend. While Southwest canceled over 2,600 of its flights on Tuesday, the trouble’s expected to extend well into this week, with data from Flight Aware indicating that the airline has already called off more than 2,400 flights on Wednesday and over 1,500 on Thursday. Southwest canceled nearly 3,000 flights on Monday. Other airlines with notable flight cancellations didn’t even come close to Southwest’s total, as Spirit canceled 83 flights on Tuesday, while Alaska Airlines called off 75. According to The New York Times , unlike the June 2021 computer network... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/27/23528333/southwest-airlines-flights-canceled-winter-storm

The camera module uses a tiny, precise actuator to move the lens between 4x and 9x telephoto settings. | Image: LG Innotek LG’s smartphone-making days may be over , but LG Innotek — a major supplier of mobile camera modules — is alive and well. It’s introducing a new telephoto zoom camera module at CES 2023, offering true, continuous optical zoom. The company is partnering with Qualcomm to fast-track adoption of its new tech alongside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in upcoming flagship Android phones. While most other long smartphone cameras use image-quality-degrading digital zoom to reach beyond their native focal length, LG’s design uses moving lenses — much like a traditional DSLR camera lens — which preserves image detail. This camera module also uses a folded-optic design, also referred to as a periscope lens, keeping the overall size down. The result is a lens... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/27/23528191/lg-innotek-optical-telephoto-zoom-smartphone-c...

It’s only a matter of time before Excel can take over my job. | Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft has announced it’s making Excel’s autocomplete even smarter, at least in the web version that comes with Microsoft 365 ( formerly known as Office 365 ). Last week it announced formula suggestions and formula by example, both of which may help automate some things that you had to do manually. Formula suggestions are pretty much what they say on the tin: if you type the equal sign into a cell, Excel for web will try to intelligently suggest what type of formula you should be using, given the data that’s around it. For example, if you have a full of quarterly sales numbers and a column at the end labeled “total,” Excel might suggest summing the range of cells. According to a blog post from Microsoft , the feature currently only works... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/27/23523281/excel-formula-suggestions-by-example-microsoft-365

Image: LG LG and Korean AI sleep tech startup Asleep are working on smart home appliances that can detect when a user is asleep and adjust accordingly, according to LG’s Korean site and The Korea Economic Daily . Asleep’s AI technology lets users track the four sleep stages based on their breathing sounds, using devices that have microphones such as smart TVs and smartphones. LG plans to integrate that tech into other products like TVs, fridges, air conditioners, air purifiers, and washing machines. With that information, these appliances can turn on or off and optimize settings based on whether or not a user is asleep. For example, LG’s Whisen air conditioner could automatically adjust and optimize the room temperature based on which sleep stage... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23527858/lg-sleep-tech-ai-asleep-tv-washer-fridge-smart-home

Image: Square Enix Finding a place to call your own in Eorzea is a bureaucratic nightmare. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23521469/final-fantasy-14-home-ownership-lottery

Apple’s iPad Mini launched at the end of 2021. | Photo: The Verge Apple is updating its iPad Mini with a new processor, says respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo . The inbetweener is supposed to begin shipping by the end of 2023 or the first half of 2024. The iPad Mini received an all new design at the end of 2021 after remaining largely unchanged since it was introduced way back in 2012 . The 8.3-inch tablet fits in between Apple’s largest iPhone (the 6.7-inch Pro Max) and 10th-gen iPad (10.9 inch). It runs on an A15 Bionic chip with a USB-C port and an option for 5G connectivity. Kuo says the new processor will be “the main selling point,” so we shouldn’t expect too much else to change. The iPad Mini will certainly be ready for a chip update after two years, if Kuo’s timeline is correct. That could mean an... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/27/23527746/ipad-mini-new-chip-rumor-date-specs

LG’s new lineup of minimalistic appliances is coming in 2023. | Image: LG LG Electronics has a new lineup of minimalistic appliances that removes all unnecessary buttons and decorative flourishes in a refreshing “ less is more ” approach. The fridge, washing machine, dryer, oven, and dishwasher are said to feature improved controls for an “effortless” user experience. The appliances are also upgradeable via software and hardware as part of a program LG launched in January . “Upgradeability challenges the idea that expensive appliances are designed with planned obsolescence in mind,” said Lyu Jae-cheol, president of LG Electronics home appliances at the time. “We want customers to experience the feeling of getting a new washer or refrigerator throughout the entire lifecycle of an LG appliance, not just the first... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/27/23527673/lg-minimalistic-fridge-washer-dryer-oven-dishwasher-ces

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge In my favorite TikTok video of 2022, an amateur interviewer with a tiny microphone approaches a stranger in an AC/DC T-shirt minding their own business. Pushing the mic in front of the person’s face, the interviewer comes in with the favorite question of gatekeepers from time immemorial: “Can you name three AC/DC songs?” Wordlessly, without hesitation, the person in the AC/DC shirt glances down at the mic, back up at the interviewer, and swats away his hand, like how you’d shoo away a fly near your food. It is beautiful, amazing, perfect, and, if we’re all so lucky, will hopefully become way more normalized in the future. @hot.shame #stitch with @The9thInning. ♬ Love You So - The King Khan & BBQ Show The video is from an account... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/26/23519605/tiktok-viral-videos-privacy-surveillance-street-interviews-vlogs

There are too many productivity apps out there. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge I’m an organized person. I have to be. Writing is a deadline-oriented job, and I have the working memory of an elderly goldfish. Gone are the days when I could store an entire week’s worth of events, deadlines, and schedules in my head. Now, all of that stuff needs to live somewhere tangible. The problem is, there isn’t a single app that can handle the majority of my needs. By my count, there are at least 10 productivity apps I use on a daily basis to function — and they all suck. There’s Airtable for work projects so my editors can see what I’m working on — just one of the project management apps I’ve used in my career. There’s also been Basecamp , Asana , Trello , and in one instance, a rickety Excel sheet maintained by sweat and tears.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23521586/productivity-apps-to-do-lists

Image: 2K Games When I think of bad video game dialogue, I’m reminded of this tweet : the thinly veiled exposition, the personality quirks as a stand-in for actual characterization, the stilted and strangely paced delivery. Basically, this is the way no person speaks or has ever spoken. And yet, in most video games, this is how every character comes across, like an alien figuring out how to sound like a human in real time. It’s so pervasive that you learn to live with it — or you press X to skip ahead. But what gets me are the games where the bad writing is completely unnecessary. This year, I’m thinking of a couple of games specifically: two where I loved actually playing them, until the moments where they forced me to sit and listen to atrocious... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23511142/midnight-suns-neon-white-worst-video-game-writing-2022

A mechanical dive watch like this Seiko SKX013 is a classically cool look, especially on a NATO strap, but there’s no reason you can’t pair it with a smartwatch and still look great. A little over a year ago, I made the conscious decision to wear both a traditional watch on my left wrist and a smartwatch on my right wrist day in and day out. And I’m here to tell you with a straight face that this best-of-both-worlds solution has no downsides. If you’re into watches and tech or even remotely watch-curious, you should consider doing the same. It’s easy to be a little bit anachronistic, admiring the simplicities of the past while wanting the bleeding-edge intricacies of the future. I find myself bouncing back and forth on these all of the time. I want the latest technology in my digital camera, but part of me feels an itch to go back to shooting film. I like the convenience of streaming music on Spotify, but I spend... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23522956/dou...

Micha Huigen / The Verge Paramount Plus, the streaming service formerly known as CBS All Access , is probably one of the more underrated streaming platforms available right now. It includes the CBS network’s TV library, combined with NFL on CBS (critically, at no extra cost), the treasure trove of Viacom content (which includes Nickelodeon, MTV, and VH1), and Paramount-produced feature films. This means Paramount Plus can entertain a wide variety of tastes, from wine moms to football uncles and every jaded Millennial, Xennial, and Gen Z teen in between. And at $4.99 per month with ads, the price ain’t too bad, either. If you’re looking to give Paramount Plus a try, here are some shows to get you started. NFL on CBS Image: Cleveland Browns / NFL ... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23496652/paramount-plus-best-shows-2022-nfl-mtv-roundup

Poor experiences with the Steam Link app and Cloud gaming services have left me yearning for the now-outdated Steam Link dongle. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Back in 2018 I managed to nab a physical Steam Link when Valve was flogging them for £2.50 here in the UK ($2.50 in USD). I was actually buying a Steam Controller for my then-partner and spotted the bargain while browsing through the Steam website, so I purchased the gadget on a whim. That little black puck has since left such a good impression on me that every alternative service has paled in comparison. The Steam Link is fairly straightforward. It’s a wireless box-shaped dongle that plugs into your TV’s HDMI port, allowing you to stream games directly from your PC over your home internet connection. I had great success using it over Wi-fi, seeing barely any detectable lag, but you could also connect the device directly to your network... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/25/23524514/va...

An example from the official Bullet Journal YouTube channel of how to lay out daily tasks. | Image: Bullet Journal On July 6th of this year, I officially ended my three-year-long experiment with trying to organize my life using a physical bullet journal. I know the exact date because I’m looking at my discontinued notebook as I write this. Apparently, five months ago, I needed to take photos of the Corsair K70 keyboard for a then-forthcoming review and follow up with a quote I’d received to insulate my roof. I took the photos. I did not end up insulating my roof. Since then, I’ve used the notebook for jotting down things to remember here and there, but when it comes to keeping track of daily tasks and chores, I’ve switched back to the same hodgepodge of different note-taking and to-do list apps that I used three years ago. These include Notion for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23520891/bullet-journal-lessons-to-do-list-apps

A sample specimen of a dead northern giant hornet is shown by a pest biologist from the Washington State Department of Agriculture on July 29th, 2020. | Photo by Karen Ducey / Getty Images What’s in an insect name? If that name happens to be “ murder hornet ” or “ gypsy moth ,” the moniker happens to be loaded with misinformation and / or prejudice. That’s why the Entomological Society of America (ESA) has axed both names — and more changes are likely on the way. The ESA has a project called Better Common Names that aims to put an end to insect names that might be harmful to people. This year, the group announced that it adopted the name “northern giant hornet,” refusing to accept popular colloquial titles for the invasive insect. It also changed “gypsy moth” to “spongy moth.” They’re also on the lookout for other names that need changing. Just about anybody can fill out a form , and the ESA will consider the proposal along... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.co...

Micha Huigen / The Verge By virtue of its incredible Game Pass library, the Xbox is one of the best values in gaming right now. Pay a monthly subscription fee — anywhere from $10 a month for the base plan up to $15 a month for the ultimate tier that includes online multiplayer — and get access to a library of games that you can play at no additional charge. A lot of the available games are brand-new Xbox exclusives or games that have been around for a while and are just making their way to Game Pass. But with 400-plus games to choose from, it can get a little daunting to figure out the ones that are worth your time — especially as time is at a premium during the holidays. Here’s a brief list of Xbox games to get you started. Dragon Age : Inquisition Xbox... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23512705/xbox-games-game-pass-2022-best-roundup

Image: Q-Games Earlier this year, Google announced that it was shutting down its game streaming service Stadia , a short three years since its launch in 2018. While it’s mostly fans of the service feeling the impact of the closure, there are a handful of developers with Stadia exclusives that will unfortunately lose their games when the service shuts down for good in January. One of those is Q-Games , makers of PixelJunk Raiders . The Verge spoke with Q-Games’ founder and CEO, Dylan Cuthbert, who explained the unique situation Q-Games is in, trying to get their exclusive off Stadia’s foundering ship and somewhere safe where people can play it. PixelJunk Raiders is a space exploration roguelike that takes advantage of Stadia’s unique “state share” feature... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23522519/pixeljunk-raiders-google-stadia-q-games

Alex Castro / The Verge A Microsoft employee appears to have accidentally announced that Windows 11’s Notepad app is getting a tabs feature. The employee, a senior product manager at Microsoft, posted a photo of a version of Notepad with tabs, enthusiastically announcing “Notepad in Windows 11 now has tabs!” with a loudspeaker emoji. The tweet was deleted minutes later, but not before Windows Central and several Windows enthusiast Twitter accounts had spotted the mistake. The Notepad screenshot includes a Microsoft internal warning: “Confidential Don’t discuss features or take screenshots.” That warning suggests the tabs feature is still in early internal testing at Microsoft, but that the Notepad tabs feature may arrive to Windows Insiders at some point in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/24/23525732/microsoft-windows-11-notepad-tabs-feature-leak

The desktop feature is finally coming to phones. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is starting to test out its queueing system on iOS and Android. The feature has been available on the web for years now , and shows in the YouTube apps under certain circumstances — users who control their Chromecast with their phones might recognize it , as will those who use the YouTube Music apps — but now YouTube Premium users who opt-in to the test will be able to add videos to a stack that acts like an impermanent playlist. After you turn on the feature (which we’ll cover how to do in just a second), you’ll have access to a new “Play last in queue” button in the three vertical dot menu that appears on video thumbnails. Tapping it will add the video to the bottom of your queue — or will create a new queue if you’re currently... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/24/23525564/youtube-queue-ios-android-apps-premium-test

Micha Huigen / The Verge If you just bought a PlayStation 5 , there are a bunch of great games for you to play on that console. Since its release in late 2020, dozens of must-play games have appeared, including several console-exclusive games that you won’t be able to play anywhere else. If you don’t have the cash to spend on a PS5, don’t worry. Due to the continued difficulty of finding PS5s in stock, Sony has released PS4 versions of some of its biggest 2022 titles, including God of War Ragnorök , Gran Turismo 7 , and Horizon Forbidden West . However, that trend may eventually fizzle out, with Sony shifting more of its focus to the newer, more powerful console. I suggest checking out our 2020 and 2021 lists for games to play on PlayStation if you need some extra... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23494185/playstation-ps5-ps4-games-best-2022-roundup

Micha Huigen / The Verge There’s more streaming competition than ever, but even still, Netflix remains on top when it comes to both breadth and scale. Put simply, there is a lot to watch on Netflix, to the point that even seemingly big-name series and films can get buried by the algorithm that’s trying to show you the latest in reality TV. So to help you out, we’ve curated 10 excellent new titles that run the gamut from zombie thrillers to stop-motion family movies to an incredible whodunit. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities With Cabinet of Curiosities , Guillermo del Toro ( The Shape of Water , Pan’s Labyrinth ) has curated a terrifying anthology of hour-long episodes from some of the most exciting folks working in horror. There’s a fun romp about... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23483983/netflix-best-shows-2022

It’s time to fight the power. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Every major phone manufacturer is guilty of a serious crime, and I won’t be quiet about it any longer: they stole the power button from us. Apple, Google, Samsung: guilty, guilty, guilty. Long-pressing the power button used to bring up an option to turn your phone off, but then these companies decided to get cute and make this a shortcut to summon their digital assistant. This is bad and wrong, and I’m politely demanding that these companies return what they took from us. Look, I get the logic. When phone screens got bigger, physical buttons like Apple’s home button were axed, and existing buttons had to pick up the slack. In the iPhone X, Apple re-homed the Siri function to the power button. Since then, turning your iPhone off has... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23522749/phone-power-button-screen-apple-iphone-google-pixel-samsung-galaxy

The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a heck of a lot in common with the XPS 13 — but its audience is very, very different. | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Gadgets, since time in memoriam, have worked a certain way. You, a company, release one. It’s good, but it’s not perfect. No gadget is perfect! So you do market research and focus groups. You figure out who’s buying. You figure out what they like and what they don’t like. You refine. You fix problems. The next year, you release a version of that device that is objectively, concretely better. This is the next-gen device, the Device 2.0. You call this device an “upgrade.” You tell your customers to recycle Device 1.0 and replace it with Device 2.0. Some of them do. “Should you upgrade?” the tech bloggers write, calculating the pros and cons of doing so. I know, I know, this is a vast oversimplification of how consumer tech actually... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23521429/next-gen-gadgets-laptops-apple-iphone-de...

A game-changing all-in-one power system for cabins and RVs that can be installed relatively quickly. Just add solar. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23508869/ecoflow-power-kit-review-off-grid-vanlife

Google Calendar thinks you don’t have enough to do today. | Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Numerous users have reported experiencing an odd glitch in the Google Calendar mobile app over the past few days. The app appears to be creating random, nonexistent all-day events based on the content of users’ Gmail messages. As 9to5Google (who reported the news earlier today) notes, various sorts of emails including delivery notifications, purchase receipts, and newsletters appear to be showing up as all-day calendar events. Some Verge staffers who use the Google calendar app are experiencing this glitch. “It’s like finding landmines in my calendar,” one writer (whose calendar is screenshotted below) complained. Google has not yet responded to a request for comment. Make sure you’re not late for your Epic Games... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/23/23524555/google-calendar-ios-android-app-spam-events

A nice, peaceful fire. | Photo by Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance via Getty Images People who make Yule Log videos — are you okay? I’m worried about you. The standard flame-filled videos of holiday cheer seem a lot darker lately, and while I would love to know why, I’m also just generally concerned for your mental well-being. My first sign that something was wrong was The Witcher: Fireplace on Netflix, which technically came out last year but is understandably getting re-promoted now. It’s got a nice-looking fire crackling away in the Great Hall at Kaer Morhen, but the lightly ominous music lurking in the background killed “the perfect backdrop for a cozy vibe” that Netflix promised. Then Yellowjackets got in the game on Wednesday with a Yule Log that kept the logs but seems to have missed the Yule. It’s just two... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/23/23522819/yule-logs-scary-2022

The Apple Watch Ultra shares a lot of qualities with last year’s Series 7 Edition watch. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge The Apple Watch Ultra is a very good smartwatch. It’s got loads of features, very long battery life, a titanium shell, and a distinctive design. You can read all about how good it is in my colleague Victoria Song’s review from earlier this fall. Be sure to check out the feature-length video review we recently published that does a deeper dive into Apple’s unique claims for the Ultra. But as good as the Apple Watch Ultra is, it’s not the Apple Watch for me. I’m not an adventurous athlete and have no aspirations to be, but I am both a smartwatch devotee and an appreciator of fine mechanical watches (that, let’s be real, I won’t ever be able to afford). The Ultra should appeal to me based on those merits — after all, nobody dives with a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23522637/apple-watch-ultra-series-7-edition-instead

Image: Microsoft We knew Microsoft would make Bethesda’s Starfield exclusive to Xbox and PC, and it sure looked like The Elder Scrolls VI would skip PlayStation and Nintendo, too. But now, Microsoft’s lawyers are revealing that they’ve got eyes on at least one more exclusive title — there are three future Xbox exclusives from Bethesda, they revealed today, in a response to the FTC’s lawsuit against the Activision Blizzard deal . “Xbox anticipates that three future titles — REDACTED — all of which are designed to be played primarily alone or in small groups — will be exclusive to Xbox and PCs,” reads a passage in Microsoft’s response. Here’s the surrounding context, so you can see for yourself: What might that third game be? Well, B... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/22/23523576/microsoft-three-future-bethesda-games-xbox-exclusive-ftc

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A Tesla driver is blaming Full Self-Driving software for having caused an eight-car pileup in the Yerba Buena Tunnel in California last month, according to a police report obtained by CNN Business. According to the December 7th report obtained by CNN Business , California Highway Patrol (CHP) reviewed tunnel footage and found that a Tesla made an unsafe lane change before abruptly slowing down from 55 mph to 20 mph — causing vehicles behind it to crash into one another. In the report, the driver of the Tesla blamed the automaker’s Full Self-Driving software that allegedly malfunctioned and caused a sudden slowdown. The Thanksgiving incident left nine people with minor injuries, including one child that was hospitalized. California Highway... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/22/23523201/tesla-fsd-braking-crash-bay-bridge-california-chp

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Tesla’s Superchargers have been the most convenient charging network for owners of its electric cars, but this week, the automaker announced it will begin to better integrate other compatible fast charging networks as well. Non-Tesla fast charging stations that meet certain criteria over a 60-day period, like an excellent charge success rate, could be whitelisted as what the company calls a “Qualified Third-Party Charger.” Once designated by Tesla, the station would thereby be bestowed as such into Tesla’s built-in navigation system. Your in-car navigation now includes more qualified third-party chargers across Europe and Israel. Read more → https://t.co/vQQu9M3NrD — Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 21, 2022 The program is... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/22/23522392/tesla-qualified-third-party-chargers-europe-israel-launch-supercharger

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The “pick me! pick me!” bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket has finally come to an end, and YouTube won big. The company announced a “multi-year” deal that will see it carry Sunday Ticket both standalone (as a YouTube Primetime Channel ) and through YouTube TV. It’s a massive score for YouTube, which successfully fended off Big Tech rivals like Apple to land the deal, and a pivotal moment as live sports continue their transition away from traditional cable — DirecTV is the soon-to-be-former Sunday Ticket rights holder — in favor of major streaming platforms. In one fell swoop, Google has solidified YouTube as a vital destination for NFL fans. And it has resoundingly committed to a long-term future for YouTube TV, which has over 5 million... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/22/23522535/youtube-nfl-sunday-ticket-bundle-subscriptions

The option to upgrade to new Home architecture has been removed from iOS 16.2 | Image: Apple / The Verge Apple has apparently removed the option to upgrade to the new HomeKit architecture on devices running iOS 16.2. The change follows multiple reports of issues and problems with the Home app after the upgrade was installed. The new Home app architecture was one of the key features of iOS 16.2 , with Apple claiming that the upgrade would be “more reliable and efficient.” Now, MacRumors discovered that the Home app in iOS 16.2 no longer offers the option to upgrade to the new architecture within the Home app settings. Several reporters at The Verge have also confirmed that the upgrade option is unavailable on their devices. The new architecture was first introduced in the iOS 16.2 beta back in October as an optional upgrade before the iOS... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/22/23522418/apple-ios16-2-homekit-home-app-upgrade-removed