How To Complete Dragon’s Dogma 2's ‘A Beggar’s Tale’ Quest
Dragon’s Dogma 2 throws a lot of missions at you from the moment you start the game. Some of them require you to play detective and find a missing person, and some are affected by the passage of time. “A Beggar’s Tale,” meanwhile, may have you lamenting time’s slow passage as you watch a certain NPC and wait for him…
All the announcements from Nintendo’s spring Indie World event
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
New year, new Nintendo indie showcase.
Watch: Salman Rushdie on the moment he was attacked on stage, and why he felt lonely
Salman Rushdie is a storyteller. So when you ask him to describe the day, in 2022, when he was attacked and nearly killed by a young man with a knife, Rushdie paints a vivid picture.
Sony’s new PlayStation PC overlay and shared Trophies arrive with Ghost of Tsushima
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Sony is introducing a new PlayStation PC overlay and shared Trophies with its upcoming release of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on May 16th. It’s the first PlayStation game for PC that uses Sony’s new PlayStation overlay, which, much like the Steam overlay, will provide access to a friend list, Trophies, Settings, and your PlayStation account.
“This feature is available on Windows PCs and will be accessible from the in-game menu or, for keyboard players, by pressing the “SHIFT +F1” shortcut on your keyboard,” explains Julian Huijbregts, online community specialist at Nixxes software in a blog post. Sony acquired Nixxes in 2021 and has been using the in-house port developer to bring games like Horizon Forbidden West, Marvel’s...
pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:
Don't debate creationists, flat-earthers, and astrologers -- it just makes them richer, and they'll all claim victory anyway. 🧪
Tesla is putting Elon Musk’s pay package up for another vote after a judge voided the first one
Illustration: Lille Allen / The Verge
Tesla is asking shareholders to vote for a second time on Elon Musk’s massive compensation package, after a Delaware judge voided the first one earlier this year on the grounds that the approval process was “deeply flawed.”
Tesla shareholders approved the package in 2018, which gave Musk incentive to hit specific milestones, including a market valuation of $650 billion, which was more than 10 times Tesla’s value at the time.
In a proxy statement filed today, Tesla’s board recommends that shareholders simply re-ratify the 2018 pay package in order to address concerns raised by the court ruling — rather than negotiate a new proposal with Musk that could end up costing Tesla even more money.
“The Delaware Court second-guessed your...
Sen. Rick Scott Says He’s a China Hawk. But He’s Made Lots of Money With China-Related Investments
In November, ahead of President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) issued a press release casting himself as a fierce opponent of China. It declared, “Since being elected to the U.S. Senate, Senator Scott has introduced dozens of bills to punish Communist China for its increased military aggression, continued […]
Google Maps will use AI to help you find out-of-the-way EV chargers
Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge
Google Maps is rolling out some new updates designed to make locating an electric vehicle charging station less stressful. And to accomplish this, it will (of course) lean heavily on artificial intelligence.
Google says it will use AI to summarize customer reviews of EV chargers to display more specific directions to certain chargers, such as those located in parking garages or more hard-to-find places. And there will be more prompts in the app to encourage users to submit their feedback after using an EV charger — which will then be fed into the algorithm for future AI-powered summaries.
Google Maps users will be asked to submit details like whether the charging session was successful or the type of plug...
Formlabs’ new pro 3D printers claim 2–5x speed by ditching lasers for an LCD screen
Formlabs was one of the early Kickstarter success stories, and its laser-blasting 3D printers are now used by model makers, prototypers, dentists, and maybe even action figure companies around the globe. But its newest printers are ditching those resin-blasting lasers because they’re comparatively slow.
With the new Form 4, Formlabs says you can print two to five times faster than its predecessor, the Form 3 Plus — by switching to an LCD screen and a bright backlight that can cure an entire layer of resin at a time.
That’s a common technique in prosumer resin printers already, one called masked stereolithography (mSLA), but Formlabs claims it’s managed to build a printer to do it at a higher quality than ever before. Even so, it may...
collinsworth@hachyderm.io ("Josh Collinsworth") wrote:
PC Gaming is a ruthlessly difficult game where your reward for beating it is getting to play an actual video game.
collinsworth@hachyderm.io ("Josh Collinsworth") wrote:
Feeling pretty nostalgic for a time when I could just sit down and enjoy a piece of tech without being forced to spend 45 minutes debugging and troubleshooting it first
(often only to end up in an obscure support thread where people have been steadily posting for 2+ years with no fix from the company—which just did layoffs, by the way).
pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:
The woman in this comic is clearly a Republican.
Attachments:
Senate mulls next steps in Mayorkas impeachment; ocean heat is mass bleaching coral
The Senate kicks off the impeachment trial of the Homeland Security secretary. Coral reefs are undergoing a mass bleaching event that could soon be the worst on record.
pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:
I've changed my mind twice now. Is that enough for the rest of my life?
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/04/17/two-amendments/
Attachments:
How do you keep calm and carry on in a world full of crises?
We asked folks whose job it is to make the world a better place: How do you find the inner strength to keep plugging away in tough times? And what advice do you have for fledgling activists?
Trump Could Use the 1873 Comstock Act to Ban Abortion Nationwide. Here’s How.
Last week, in a bid to clarify his historically nebulous stance on abortion, Donald Trump said that if reelected, he intends to leave abortion rights “to the states,” seemingly contradicting his prior stance in favor of a 16-week national ban. But Mary Ziegler, a law professor at UC Davis and leading abortion historian, thinks that […]
A Firm Bought Up Land in a Tiny Arizona Town—Then Sold Its Water to a Faraway Suburb
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. One of the biggest battles over Colorado River water is being staged in one of the west’s smallest rural enclaves. Tucked into the bends of the lower Colorado River, Cibola, Arizona, is a community of about 200 people. Maybe 300, […]
Owner of Grand Theft Auto to layoff hundreds and cut projects
The company expects to complete its downsizing efforts by the end of this year. | Image: Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive, the gaming company behind franchises like Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, and Bioshock, has announced cost-cutting measures that will lay off “approximately five percent” of its global workforce and scrap several projects already in development.
The company said in an SEC filing published on Tuesday that it is “streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs.” Take-Two says it will incur charges of up to $200 million to enact its “cost reduction program,” which aims to save the company over $165 million per year. The downsizing efforts are expected to be “largely complete” by December 31st, 2024.
A five percent workforce reduction works out to around 579 of the...
Some independent candidates start their own political parties to ease ballot access
Some states make it much easier to get on the ballot as a minor-party presidential candidate, compared with running as an independent. That's why RFK Jr. and Cornel West have made their own parties.
Why London's Muslim mayor needs the same security as the king
London Mayor Sadiq Khan talks to NPR about being a Muslim politician in Britain — and his fears around a second possible Donald Trump presidency.
As gun violence looms over Pennsylvania youth, local organizations offer safe spaces
Children and teens deal with the threat of gun violence on a daily basis in southeastern Pennsylvania. So community members and organizations are banding together to try to solve the dire problem.
Medicare's push to improve chronic care attracts businesses, but not many doctors
Most Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic conditions, making them eligible for a program that rewards physicians for doing more to manage their care. But not many doctors have joined.
Columbia University president is set to testify about antisemitism on campus
The testimony from Columbia's president comes several months after lawmakers grilled the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania.
With 100 days before the Paris Olympics, Team USA hopefuls meet the press
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials and Team USA contenders met in New York City this week to discuss how they're preparing ahead of the Summer Games in Paris.
Coral reefs can't keep up with climate change. So scientists are speeding up evolution
Climate change is heating oceans faster than the world's coral reefs can handle. So scientists are breeding corals that can withstand hotter temperatures – but only to a point.
After catch and release, here's how to make sure reef fish survive
People who fish in Florida and in federal waters are required to have special gear on board to help ensure groupers, snappers and other reef fish survive when they're returned to the water.
Biden wants to hike tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum
The White House says China uses subsidies and government programs to undercut U.S. steel. President Biden wants to triple tariffs on the imports and take other new steps to curb imports.
Why this vote at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant is historic for the South
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., are voting this week on whether to join the United Auto Workers union. Two previous attempts to unionize the plant failed. Ballots will be counted on Friday.
Venezuela orders the closure of its embassy in Ecuador
Venezuela's president ordered the closure of his country's embassy in Ecuador in solidarity with Mexico in its protest over a raid by Ecuadorian authorities on the Mexican embassy in Quito.
Logitech wants you to press its new AI button
Logitech’s new Signature AI Edition M750 with a dedicated AI button to launch its Prompt Builder | Logitech
Tomorrow’s AI PCs may not only have a Copilot key on their keyboards — Logitech is introducing its own way to summon ChatGPT, too. It’s called the Logi AI Prompt Builder, and it’ll use a dedicated button on your mouse or keyboard.
The Logi AI Prompt Builder doesn’t just present you with a chatbot, it gives you preset “recipes” to help you prompt it too. After I assigned an AI button to a Logitech mouse, I could ask it to “Rephrase” paragraphs of text, turn them into bullet points, make them shorter and more concise, or fit a specific word count. Another recipe helped me summarize press releases. And since I pay for ChatGPT Plus, I customized another recipe to generate an image.
Screenshot: Emilia David/The Verge
L...
The Rise and Fall of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. But due to climate change, the Canal is drying up and fewer than half of the ships that used to pass through are now able to do so. So how did we get here? Today on the show, we're talking to Cristina Henriquez, the author of a new novel that explores the making of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to carve the land in two — and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act are still echoing through our present.
Storm dumps heaviest rain ever recorded in the United Arab Emirates
By the end of Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rain had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 3.73 inches at Dubai International Airport, which partially flooded and halted arrivals.
Reblogged by nadim@symbolic.software ("Nadim Kobeissi"):
davep@infosec.exchange ("David Penfold :verified:") wrote:
Amazing article:
“The reason websites continue to load, bank transfers go through, and civilization persists is because of the thousand or so people living aboard 20-some ships stationed around the world, who race to fix each cable as soon as it breaks”
https://www.theverge.com/c/24070570/internet-cables-undersea-deep-repair-ships
Reblogged by bcantrill ("Bryan Cantrill"):
igb@mastodon.hccp.org ("Ian Brown :verified:") wrote:
I used to have a lot of respect for @bcantrill, but a few weeks ago I was listening to a podcast and I heard heard him pronounce "SVG" as "svig" and now I think it is time to re-evaluate everything he has ever said through an objective and critical lens as there is a non-zero chance we’ve all been listening to the unhinged ramblings of a lunatic for well over a decade.
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
My biggest gripe with Apple products, as far as user experience, and especially with the iPhone, is Siri.
And I'm betting I'm not alone on this.
The problem is it still relies too heavily on cloud computing, making the experience slow and unreliable.
#Humane had an opportunity to improve this pain point with the #HumaneAiPin, but instead opted for a cloud subscription model. Not because that was best for the user, but because it was best for venture capitalists.
Bob Graham, former U.S. senator and Florida governor, has died at 87
Graham gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war.
Voting technology company settles lawsuit against OAN over 2020 election claims
The settlement between Smartmatic and One America News Network is the latest development in a larger legal pushback by voting equipment companies targeted by fraud claims related to the 2020 election.
Reblogged by rmrenner ("The Old Gay Gristle Fest"):
postcardware@botsin.space ("postcardware.net") wrote:
Sent by Jim Kinsinger from Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. on February 5, 1996. https://postcardware.net/?id=6-8
Attachments:
- Missile Silos Of The High Plains Nuclear Missile Silos Scattered over the fields and farmlands of seven Midwestern and Great Plains states, poised on underground launch pads, are 1,000 nuclear missiles aimed at targets thousands of miles away. Shown on reverse side are the 200 launch sites of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. (remote)
The Boring Phone is a nostalgic branding exercise by HMD and Heineken
The phone is boring so you can focus on good times with your friends, get it? | Image: HMD
HMD really wants us to have more fun. Earlier this year, it announced a collaboration with Mattel on an upcoming Barbie flip phone. Now, it’s teaming up with Heineken and creative firm Bodega on another effort designed to tap into nostalgia: the Boring Phone. There are more details on Heineken’s site — which you’ll need to be at least 21 to view — but basically It’s a translucent flip phone with no apps, just good retro vibes to help you connect with your friends over a cold one.
The Boring Phone is apparently real — I know, I was skeptical, too — but it will only be available through giveaways and isn’t going on sale. It’s a limited edition run and Heineken’s website indicates 5,000 will be made. There’s a 2.8-inch QVGA display on the...
Supreme Court gives skeptical eye to key statute used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters
Conservatives on the court expressed varying degrees of skepticism about the charge of obstructing an official proceeding.
GTA VI Publisher Cancels $140 Million In New Projects And Lays Off Hundreds
Grand Theft Auto VI publisher Take-Two Interactive announced massive cuts in an SEC filing at the end of business today. The company revealed it will lay off 5 percent of its roughly 11,000-strong workforce and has cancelled several in-development projects valued at $140 million in an effort at “rationalizing its…
collinsworth@hachyderm.io ("Josh Collinsworth") wrote:
Attention, mathematicians: my 5-year-old has discovered the last number of all, and it is "hotdog 99." Thought you should know.
Drake muddies the ‘Push Ups’ AI debate with a deepfake
Drake performing in Atlanta, Georgia in 2022. | Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage
Last year, a few AI voice clone tracks went viral using Drake’s voice. His label, Universal Media Group, responded to one track with a strongly worded statement against AI and takedown requests that saw it removed from streaming services. And Drake, seemingly not happy about another one of the songs, posted, “This is the final straw AI,” on Instagram.
BREAKING DRAKE DISS TRACK LEAKED. He was talking crazy‼️ #Drake pic.twitter.com/CkYpzsZGKz
— Nothing But Sports (@NBSCENTRAL) April 13, 2024
Over the weekend, a new track “leaked,” and fans have been debating whether it’s really from Drake or if it’s the return of AI Drake. The song is a diss track called “Push Ups” that targets Kendrick Lamar and Metro Boomin, among others. At one...
Boston Dynamics Atlas robot, 2013-2024
Image: Boston Dynamics
The robotics company has retired the dancing bot after more than a decade.
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
War Wide Web— Google, Amazon and Microsoft are leasing their technology to make it easier to kill Palestinians. Meta is suppressing pro-Palestinian speech on its suite of apps.
Together, these four corporations own most of the internet's critical infrastructure and computing power. And now we're seeing what they'll do with it.
Reblogged by bcantrill ("Bryan Cantrill"):
On last night's Oxide and Friends @bcantrill, @sdtuck and I were joined by Oakland Ballers founders Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman. Yes, we interviewed a baseball startup! Yes, it was delightful! I can't wait to catch some games this summer!
A new NES emulator was briefly available on the Apple App Store
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Just two days after Apple removed the iGBA emulator from the iOS App Store, an NES emulator called Bimmy briefly appeared before being taken down. MacRumors reported that the app was described as being for homebrew games but also supported ROMs provided by players. Unfortunately, when we attempted to download Bimmy, we received an error message saying it’s no longer available.
Now, clicking on a link to Bimmy shows “This app is currently not available in your country or region.” This time, it wasn’t Apple that removed it but the developer. Over on MacRumors’ forums, the developer said it pulled the app “out of fear.”
“No one pressured me to, but I got more nervous about it as the day went on,” it wrote.
Screenshot:...
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
> Google workers do not want their labor to power Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. **That’s why on April 16, Google workers with No Tech For Apartheid are leading a coast-to-coast day of action to demand that Google stop doing business with Israel and providing tech to this genocide.
Publishers Pivoting To Live-Service Games Have Most Devs Worried
A newly published survey shows that most game developers aren’t too sure about live-service video games—like Destiny 2 and Suicide Squad—representing a sustainable future for the industry, and think the return of paid DLC might be a better option instead.
The U.S. has come up with its own global strategy to thwart the next pandemic
The Biden administration has launched a new effort to improve the ability of the U.S. to prevent, detect and respond to global health threats. Some experts say the new strategy doesn't go far enough.
SCOTUS Justices: Why Isn’t DOJ Treating Dobbs Protesters Like January 6 Attackers?
Conservative Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned the Justice Department’s use of a 2002 statute against obstructing an official proceeding to prosecute a number of people involved in the January 6 attack on Congress. In pressing Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar on how broadly the DOJ can apply the law, several justices offered similar hypotheticals. “Would […]
Best Settings To Tweak In Stellar Blade’s Demo
Upcoming action game Stellar Blade is set to launch exclusively on PS5 on April 26, 2024. Developer Shift Up recently released a demo to give us all a taste of what’s expected on release. Thus far, it’s shaping up to be a promising action title with, um, interesting character design choices.
Report: TikTok’s efforts to silo US data are ‘largely cosmetic’
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
Since 2022, TikTok has undertaken a massive, expensive effort to silo off its US operations — and American users’ data — from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. TikTok has described the corporate restructuring, which it dubbed Project Texas, as “an unprecedented initiative dedicated to making every American on TikTok feel safe, with confidence that their data is secure and the platform is free from outside influence.” Several former employees, however, told Fortunethat Project Texas is instead “largely cosmetic” and that they and their colleagues continued to work closely with Beijing-based ByteDance executives after the plan’s implementation.
One major aspect of Project Texas — so named because Oracle, TikTok’s “technology...
The Devastating Conflict the World is Ignoring
More than 8 million people have been displaced in Sudan, according to the United Nations. A powerful paramilitary group has been fighting the Sudanese army for over a year. We hear from a Sudanese poet, who is trying to draw attention to the overlooked conflict in her country.
Overwatch 2 Will Let You Buy Old Mythic Skins—For A Lot Of Money
Overwatch 2’s tenth season begins today, April 16, and it’s bringing a new hero, a new limited-time event, and also a new way to earn Mythic Skins, the rare, customizable skins you can get through progressing through the entire premium battle pass. It’s a nice change for folks who haven’t bought every battle pass and…
Motorola’s new $130 earbuds are a Bose collab
Image: Motorola
A new wooden Edge phone isn’t all that Motorola announced today. The company also introduced two pairs of earbuds: the higher-end set is called the Moto Buds Plus and costs $129.99, while the more basic Moto Buds will only be available in select markets. But the Plus standout as the more interesting product, and that’s because Motorola teamed up with Bose for the EQ tuning and active noise cancellation on these buds. There’s a “Sound by Bose” emblem right on the carrying case.
There isn’t a ton of detail on exactly how deep this collaboration was, but Motorola’s store page says the Moto Buds Plus “were certified by Bose to deliver an unprecedented audio experience.” Bose spokesperson Joanne Berthiaume told me “we worked closely with the...
8 Final Fantasy Games Are Leaving PlayStation Plus Next Month
PlayStation Plus’ Extra and Premium tiers—which include free games you can play as part of your membership—are losing over two dozen titles in May, including eight different Final Fantasy games. If you want to beat them all before they leave, you’d better hurry!
People are afraid of self-driving cars — can the industry change that?
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Self-driving cars have an image problem. They stumble into construction zones, block ambulances, run red lights, and even injure the occasional bicyclist or pedestrian.
Forget the fact that most autonomous vehicles operate each day safely, anonymously, and without fanfare. There are hundreds in operation today in California, Arizona, Texas, and elsewhere, and the numbers are only going to increase. But when they do make mistakes, people tend to notice. Numerous public opinion polls have shown declining support for autonomous vehicles (AV) over the years and a rise in outright hostility toward the technology.
The autonomous vehicle industry’s main lobbying group — yes, of course it has one — is intent on reversing this trend before it...
The Internet Reacts To Keanu Reeves As Shadow The Hedgehog
After years of speculation, it was revealed that The Matrix, John Wick, and Cyberpunk 2077 star Keanu Reeves is voicing the broody antihero Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Reeves had been a fan-favorite to play Shadow in Paramount’s live-action adaptation since the character debuted in Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s…
Report: Last year ended with a surge in book bans
According to PEN America, 4,349 books were banned from schools between July and December 2023, more than the entire previous school year. More than 3,000 of those bans were in Florida.
Take it slow in this stop-motion sci-fi adventure
Image: Slow Bros.
Harold Halibut moves at its own pace. A point-and-click adventure built with real-world materials and then animated with stop-motion, Harold Halibut tells a story that’s at times slow and ponderous and, at others, cozy and heartwarming. It’s sort of like what would happen if Wes Anderson teamed up with Aardman Animations to make a sci-fi game. Which is to say that it’s charming and built with an incredible amount of care and detail. As a game, it’s standard stuff — but as a place to experience, there’s nothing quite like it.
The developers at German studio Slow Bros. say that every element in Harold Halibut was “meticulously hand-crafted using traditional sculpting and model-making techniques.” And much of the joy of the game comes from...
Humane AI Pin launch: the reviews are in, and they’re not good
Photo by Amelia Holoway Krales / The Verge
At the least the only way to go from here is up... right?
Kickstarter is adding the ability to collect money indefinitely
Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Creators fundraising for projects on Kickstarter will soon be able to collect money even after their campaign ends.
Currently, Kickstarter projects can last anywhere from one to 60 days, and creators hoping to continue fundraising after meeting their goal have had to go off-platform to keep raising money.
The new late pledge feature will allow crowdfunding campaigns to collect money indefinitely if the creator chooses. Late pledges could also be helpful for fans who learn about projects after the fundraising window has closed but want to support the creator. Creators who are offering something in exchange for a certain level of monetary support — a digital download of an album or physical items, for example — will need to end late...
Hades II Technical Test Is Coming, Time To Get Excited
If you’ve been anxiously awaiting Hades II, the sequel to Supergiant’s stunning 2020 roguelike, I’ve got good news for you. While the hotly anticipated title isn’t quite entering Early Access just yet, the studio says it’s not all that far off. And ahead of that milestone, Supergiant will be running a technical test…
Reblogged by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):
luis_in_brief@social.coop ("Luis Villa") wrote:
Gotta admit I found it pretty irritating, in the xz discussion of the last two weeks, that some people declared confidently "you can't pay maintainers". (cc @ehashman)
It isn't *easy* to pay maintainers, but it can be done: at Tidelift, we've been doing it for years. So I figured I'd write up how we do it and what we've learned. And yes, it's a HOWTO. Be glad I also avoided an FAQ ;)
slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:
This Italian restaurant is my spirit animal.
Attachments:
Puppy Chews Up Steam Deck, Is Very Cute And Sorry
Puppies are curious creatures. And sometimes that curiosity leads to them getting destructive, as one unlucky Steam Deck owner learned recently.
Star Wars Outlaws Is Getting Every Scoundrel’s Favorite Card Game
The latest trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world RPG set in a galaxy far far away, gave us a deeper dive into the story of protagonist Kay Vess, as well as an August 30 release date. In addition to the trailer, the game has also been rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The T…
Amazon Music’s Maestro lets listeners make AI playlists
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Amazon Music may soon let you create playlists with a text prompt using Maestro, its new AI playlist maker.
Maestro, which is currently available in beta to a small number of Amazon Music subscribers in the US, will let users put together playlists using any prompt, including emojis, Amazon said in a blog post. According to the company, listeners will be able to save the AI-created playlists and share them with other Amazon Music users. In the post, Amazon Music’s suggested prompts included “ and eating ,” “Music my grandparents made out to,” and “I tracked my friends and they’re all hanging out without me.”
The feature is similar to Spotify’s AI Playlist, which was rolled out to Premium users in the United Kingdom and Australia this...
How To Get Gotterdammerung, FF7 Rebirth's Powerful Endgame Accessory
Open-world RPG Final Fantasy VII Rebirth features a lot of fighting. So you’ll want to be equipped with the best possible equipment—especially if you’re gunning for a platinum trophy and full Hard Mode run.
The best sleep gadgets to help you catch those Zzzs
Sleep trackers, earbuds, and smart beds. | Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge
Sleep tech is more than tracking. Here are the best gadgets I’ve tested that help you fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up earlier.
Johnson's leadership is under threat in the House over foreign aid bills
Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie said he would vote to oust Mike Johnson as House speaker if it came to the floor. He told Johnson in a closed-door meeting that he should resign.
Fallout Is A Great Case For Releasing TV Seasons All At Once
BenDavid Grabinski, one of the co-leads behind the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off anime, recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to express that he thought there was “literally no upside” to Netflix’s model that releases entire seasons of a show at once. He said that while Scott Pilgrim did this when it launched on Netflix…
Truth Social says it’s building a live TV service
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Brandon Bell, Getty Images
Truth Social, the media firm owned by Donald Trump, has announced plans to create a live TV streaming service focused on “news networks” and “religious channels,” along with “content that has been canceled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed.”
The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) says it will launch the streaming service in three phases, with the first involving the rollout of the company’s content delivery network (CDN). A CDN, such as those operated by Cloudflare and Akamai, is a service websites use to help webpages load faster. TMTG says its CDN will operate “independent of Big Tech,” allowing the platform to avoid abiding by another company’s rules.
Once that’s up and running, TMTG plans to bring Truth...
Telehealth firm Cerebral fined $7 million over ‘careless’ privacy violations
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing a $7 million fine against Cerebral, a mental telehealth firm that it says not only was careless with patients’ data but actively shared it with third parties for advertising purposes. The company and its CEO, Kyle Robertson, are also accused of lying to customers about how their data is shared and of having a misleading cancellation policy.
The FTC notes that Cerebral shared the sensitive data “of nearly 3.2 million consumers” with third parties like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Snapchat through trackers on its website or apps — something the company admitted to last year. That apparently included details like home and email addresses, phone numbers, pharmacy and health insurance details, and...
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
Also wild how many tech bros call him a shill, but willfully ignore all the social media VCs out here shining Meta's boots.
Steam Hit Ready Or Not Source Code Stolen In Massive Hack
Hackers stole millions of files from the studio behind the controversial hit Steamshooter Ready or Not, including the source code and console builds of the game, Insider Gaming reports. The development team at Void Interactive has not made the data breach public yet and it doesn’t appear to have included any employee…
nadim@symbolic.software ("Nadim Kobeissi") wrote:
In which some guy wonders out loud why Gaza doesn't have a robust export market and why Gazans aren't launching any tech startups while under 17 years of full land, air and sea blockade
Attachments:
Spotify bought Parcast — now its founder is launching a new entertainment studio
Image: Getty Images
Parcast founder Max Cutler left Spotify last February as part of a wave of high-profile departures from its podcast vertical, and he’s now launching Pave Studios to create content across multiple formats. “Storytellers who successfully engage audiences and create fandoms through written, audio, and video content have led the charge in cultivating their robust communities into diverse businesses,” said Cutler.
The company has two new brands to start, with OpenMind, which focuses on wellness, and the true crime-geared Crime House.
Image: Pave Studios
Spotify acquired the true crime and horror-focused studio Parcast in 2019 as part of a $1 billion investment in original podcasts. After the sale, Cutler went on to serve...
It's a wild ride to get to the bottom of what everyone's hiding in 'A Better World'
A very sinister thriller with a dash of science-fiction and full of inscrutabilities, Sarah Langan's novel is as entreating and creepy as it is timely and humane.
Reblogged by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤"):
emilygorcenski@indieweb.social wrote:
Spend $5000/user/year on a CRM/ERP license, export the data to excel because that’s the only way you can actually work with it
That Silly Crab Soulslike Hits Xbox Game Pass This Month
We’re about halfway through April, which means another wave of titles is up for grabs for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. You’ve got a hockey sim, a JRPG, a tower defense action-strategy game, and more, as well as that hilariously silly crustacean Soulslike. It’s a pretty good month, to be honest, as there’s a little…
Babies born this year face a $500,000 climate bill
A sign warns of elevated fire danger in the Oakland Hill area of Oakland, California, on Thursday, October 29th, 2020. | Photo by Philip Pacheco / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Hate to break it to you, baby — but if you were born in the US this year, climate change could wind up costing you around $500,000 over the course of your lifetime. That’s according to a new study commissioned by Consumer Reports and conducted by consulting firm ICF.
The study counts up higher bills for climate-related calamities that drive up housing, food, and healthcare costs, for example. On top of that, there’s the prospect of higher taxes and lost income over the years in a warming world.
While there’s a lot of uncertainty built into the study, it’s an attempt at breaking down all the big and little ways that climate change can affect daily life. Each stifling heatwave, flooded road, and downed power line costs consumers...
A video shows two men toppling rock formations at Lake Mead trail
The National Park Service is seeking the public's help in identifying the two men, caught on video pushing rocks off a cliff near the Redstone Dunes Trail earlier this month.
Reblogged by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤"):
AAKL@noc.social ("Aida Akl") wrote:
It's important to note, however, that this is a #Mozilla study.
Study: #Apple, Google, Meta, others struggle when it comes to ad transparency #google #Meta https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/04/16/apple-google-meta-others-struggle-when-it-comes-to-ad-transparency @appleinsider
Mozilla's study: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/investigation-every-tech-giants-ad-oversight-tools-fall-short-in-historic-election-year/
Someone Bought 4,000 Worthless Copies Of Alan Wake
We’ve all bought a second or maybe even third copy of a game we really, really love. Longtime Kotaku readers know of my obsession with re-buying Resident Evil 4. But I’m not sure there’s a game I love so much that I would buy thousands of copies of it. And there’s definitely not a game out there that I adore enough to…
Report: ‘Enhanced’ For PS5 Pro Could End Up Meaning A Lot Of Different Things
Information about Sony’s upcoming PS5 Pro codenamed Trinity is continuing to trickle out. Although nothing we’ve learned so far about the device makes it sound like a must-have upgrade, details corroborated by The Verge point toward several enhancements that games running on a PS5 Pro will have. Some of these…
Here are the best Kindle deals right now
The Kindle Scribe comes with a stylus to take notes and is nearly $100 off. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
When it comes to finding a device to use to read your ebooks, you have a few options to choose from. You can always buy a tablet or use your phone, but those devices are multipurpose and can be used for a ton of things, like surfing the web or doom-scrolling on Twitter. If you are looking for something to strictly read books, e-readers, while niche, are designed to store all of your books in a virtual library with limited functionality.
Amazon, one of the pioneers of the e-reader, has dominated the space for years with its ever-expanding Kindle lineup, which consists of several unique models with their own pros and cons. The bulk of the devices function as simple ebook readers; however, with the Kindle Scribe, Amazon looks to be moving...
Conservative Groups Are Outraising Democrats on the State Level—By a Lot
State legislative bodies have always played a leading role in determining outcomes for fundamental but humdrum issues like state budgets, insurance regulations, road safety laws, and civil services. But the last few years have demonstrated their overriding importance in matters related to personal freedom and social wellbeing. One issue where this has played out powerfully […]
Conservative Groups Are Outraising Democrats on the State Level—By a Lot
State legislative bodies have always played a leading role in determining outcomes for fundamental but humdrum issues like state budgets, insurance regulations, road safety laws, and civil services. But the last few years have demonstrated their overriding importance in matters related to personal freedom and social well-being. One issue where this has played out powerfully […]
A former Marine gets 9 years for firebombing a California Planned Parenthood clinic
The 24-year-old had pleaded guilty to four felony counts related to the firebombing of a Southern California Planned Parenthood clinic in 2022. The clinic was closed and no one was injured.
Final Fantasy 14 Benchmark Gives Fans A Taste Of Dawntrail’s New Features
Dawntrail—the next expansion for Square Enix’s masterfully designed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV—doesn’t release until July 2, but fans can get a taste of what’s to come right now. The official benchmark for the game is available as of April 14, and will let players experience some of the expansion’s most anticipated…
17 Hidden Secrets To Get More Out Of Your Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch has been around the block. To hammer that point home, Nintendo’s ultra-successful console celebrated its seventh release anniversary just last month. The little console that is still widely loved for its innovative controllers and portable form factor, so much so the long-speculated Nintendo Switch…
nadim@symbolic.software ("Nadim Kobeissi") wrote:
I wonder if LLMs will be so good one day that they'll be able to disassemble any ASM into readable code in any language we might care to want it in
The 1970 Let It Be Beatles documentary is coming to Disney Plus
The Beatles in the United Kingdom, circa 1960. | Photo by Keystone-France / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
It has been hard to find physical copies of director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 Beatles documentary Let It Be in the years since its theatrical release, but Disney Plus is getting ready to debut a remastered version of the film.
Disney Plus announced today that Let It Be — a chronicle of the Beatles recording their Let It Be album in 1969 before breaking up the following year — will stream on May 8th. Like the docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, Let It Be will feature original film footage remastered by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production and remastered audio created using the same de-mixing tools that recently led to the release of the Beatles’ final song. In a statement about Let It Be’s streaming premiere, Lindsay-Hogg recalled...
Overwatch 2 Players Are Getting Banned For Swearing, And They’re Not Thrilled
Blizzard’s customer service is in hot water after a series of exchanges about Overwatch 2’s profanity rules caught the attention of the community and subsequently went viral. Apparently, profanity of any kind is considered against the hero shooter’s code of conduct, and if someone reports it, seemingly regardless of…
GMC Sierra EV Denali gets range boost while showing off its crab walk
Image: GMC
The 2024 GMC Sierra EV is almost here, and to celebrate, the automaker is giving it the gift of more range.
When it was first announced two years ago, GMC said the Sierra EV Denali would get an EPA estimated range of 400 miles, thanks to a massive battery that was expected to top 200kWh. Now, GMC says the electric truck’s maximum range at launch will be actually closer to 440 miles — a staggering amount in the nascent world of electric pickups.
Most electric trucks on the road today struggle to exceed 300 miles of range. Weather, terrain, and road type can also affect range and sap battery life. And once they start doing truck stuff, like hauling or towing, that range can drop even lower. GMC’s claims about the Sierra EV’s range will...
pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:
I think I'd prefer this vehicle over the Cybertruck, to be honest.
