Adult film star Stormy Daniels expected to testify against Trump in New York trial
Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, has spent the last several years in legal battles with former President Trump. Now she is expected to testify against him in a criminal trial.
Microsoft shuts down Bethesda studios behind Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush
Image: The Verge
In an email to staff sent this morning, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty announced the closure of several game studios, including Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios, and more. According to the email, as first reported by IGN, Booty wrote the reason for the closures was due to a “reprioritization of titles and resources.” Some staff at the affected studios will be relocated while other studios will completely shut down.
Redfall developer Arkane “will close with some members of the team joining other studios to work on projects across Bethesda,” says Booty. Redfall’s previous update will be its last as Microsoft is ending all development on the game. Servers “will remain online for...
Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ event live blog: iPads all the way down
Image: Apple
We’re expecting a new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and a few new accessories.
Sonos Ace headphones will have magnetic ear cushions and 30-hour battery life
Illustration: The Verge
One day after an authorized Sonos partner accidentally pulled back the veil on the company’s long-in-the-works headphones, The Verge has learned comprehensive details about the hardware capabilities and software features that will be offered by the Sonos Ace.
As their rumored price of around $450 suggests, Sonos plans to market its first wireless headphones as a premium product that can go toe to toe with the Sony WH-1000XM5, Apple AirPods Max, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. The company believes it has developed active noise cancellation and transparency modes that can rival the best of the best.
The Ace headphones will offer lossless audio playback over Bluetooth (presumably via AptX Lossless), and they’ll be capable of...
How To Defeat Headmistress Hecate In Hades 2
Hades 2, surprise-released into Early Access May 6, has no shortage of challenges. Even with the help of the mighty Olympians and a strike of luck with loot during runs, bosses are likely to put a stop to your ventures until you’ve familiarized yourself with their attacks.
Delta’s 10-year journey to the top of the App Store
Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge
Apparently only donuts could dethrone Delta from the top of Apple’s App Store. Before that, the game emulator had been the most popular app on iOS for two full weeks, after it launched in the wake of an unexpected Apple policy change that finally gave emulators the green light. But the Delta story actually goes back much further. Riley Testut, the developer behind the app, has been working on emulators for a decade, and he’s seen firsthand exactly how the App Store works — and how it’s changing.
On this episode of The Vergecast, Testut joins the show to tell us the full Delta story. He describes his early attempts at building emulators, the first time he almost made it onto the App Store, the process of building the alternative app store...
The 16 Biggest Haters In Video Games
It is prime time to be a hater right now. The Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef has been a spectacle to watch unfold over the past few days. Lamar is dropping some of the harshest disses of his career, while Drake says “nuh uh” over a beat. I finally understand why Ancient Rome held gladiator fights.
cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:
Oh darn. I slipped back to my sincere default. Sorry.
Disney’s streaming business gets closer to becoming profitable
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Disney Plus and Hulu posted a profit for the first time today. In Disney’s earnings report released on Tuesday, the company revealed that both streaming services made $47 million combined this past quarter — a huge turnaround from the $587 million loss reported at the same time last year.
But Disney’s streaming business wasn’t entirely profitable. ESPN Plus still lost $65 million, dragging its combined streaming earnings $18 million in the red. Despite this, the narrowing losses mark a huge milestone for Disney as it continues to invest more in streaming. The entertainment company says it expects its streaming business to become profitable in the fourth quarter of this year.
“Our results were driven in large part by our experiences,...
cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:
Since I'm here, I'll just add that proprietary software app stores and the like have never been about quality. It's about rapidly and cheaply (in the sense of letting others do the work) creating a "market" a vendor can point at to bolster whatever platform they're shilling. Copying the form and function of these things without thinking through their purpose is likely a mistake.
cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:
Yeah, I know nobody says they want to run untrusted code (except maybe the cloud providers), but that's what we've settled on as acceptable.
Anyway, as a computer user, I want [a well put together free software system] so that I can [better trust the code I run].
cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:
As a user, I want [an "app store" and "containerization"] so that I can [run untrusted code].
As a user, I want [a web browser] so that I can [run untrusted code].
As a cloud provider, I want [insert the latest vm/container tech de jour] so that I can [run untrusted code].
Tubi is launching a new ‘fan-fueled’ studio to cultivate the next generation of filmmakers
Image: Tubi
Tubi is partnering with Issa Rae’s Color Creative initiative to launch an incubation platform for up-and-coming filmmakers looking to break into the business.
Amazon’s latest Echo Show 5 and Show 8 are nearly matching their all-time lows
It’s all about the widgets. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
It feels like everywhere you look, there’s a Mother’s Day sale going on. Many of these promos are pretty meh, but Amazon’s latest sale on Echo devices is worth a look if you’re looking for some relatively inexpensive picks. Right now, for instance, Amazon is throwing in a free smart bulb when you buy the latest Echo Show 8 for $99.99 (about $63 off), which is just $10 shy of its all-time low. Best Buy and Amazon are also selling the display by itself for the same price, along with the third-gen Echo Show 5, which is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $64.99 ($25 off).
Like previous models, Amazon’s latest smart displays are versatile gadgets that can pass as digital photo frames, smart home controllers, and alarm clocks. The Show 8 is...
Switch 2: all the news and rumors on Nintendo’s next console
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Whatever it’s called, it sounds like it’s coming soon.
pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:
Y'all might want to avoid getting medical care in Ohio.
Attachments:
Reblogged by collinsworth@hachyderm.io ("Josh Collinsworth"):
Tattooed_Mummy@beige.party ("The Bog Witch") wrote:
But is AI a scam?
Attachments:
Israeli forces take control at Rafah crossing; How a Border Patrol agent sees his job
Israeli forces have taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing into Egypt. A U.S. Border Patrol agent explains how he sees his agency's mission.
Instacart is getting restaurant delivery — thanks to Uber Eats
Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Grocery delivery service Instacart is expanding into restaurant takeout thanks to a new partnership with Uber Eats.
In the coming weeks, Instacart will add a new feature for restaurant delivery, with the back-end mechanics powered by Uber. The listing of restaurants will be provided by Uber, the transaction will be overseen by Uber’s software, and the food will be picked up and delivered by Uber Eats couriers. The only difference is that everything will take place within Instacart’s app or website.
Image: Uber
Neither company would share the financial details of the deal, so we don’t have any insight into how much Instacart is paying to use Uber’s food delivery software. Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said that...
pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:
Please keep telling me that LGBT people are badass. It's not having the effect you imagine.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/05/07/making-good-things-cool/
Attachments:
After years in a Syrian ISIS camp, a 10-person American family is back in the U.S.
The complex deal also brought home two sons of a Minnesota man who fought for ISIS.
Yubico bolsters authentication security with updated YubiKey 5 series devices
Users will need to buy new versions of products like the YubiKey 5 NFC (pictured) to benefit from the firmware update. | Image: Yubico
Yubico is getting ready to launch refreshed versions of its YubiKey 5, Security Key, and Security Key Enterprise Edition series authentication hardware that aim to help organizations move away from password-based protections. On Monday, the company announced the new security keys with updated 5.7 firmware will be available in late May, providing enhanced security features like expanded passkey storage and the ability to enforce setting more complex PINs.
Existing YubiKey hardware cannot be updated with the new 5.7 firmware for security reasons, so users will need to purchase new keys (which currently start from $25 for the Security Key NFC) to benefit from the upgraded protections. These include enterprise attestation, current FIDO2...
From Toxic Mold to Rampant Fraud: How Privatizing Military Housing Became a Nightmare for Soldiers
In December 2021, Army Sergeant Johny Dudek, his wife, and their 2-year-old son moved into a three-bedroom house next to the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. The Dudeks had a baby on the way, and they figured that living in military housing would help them save up for their growing family. […]
Without Heat Protections, Florida Laborers Brace for a Cruel Summer
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For Javier Torres and other workers whose jobs are conducted outdoors in south Florida, the heat is unavoidable. A new law recently signed by Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, that prohibits any municipalities in the state from passing heat protections for workers […]
How the government is trying to stop rogue brokers from plaguing ACA enrollees
Federal regulators are trying to prevent bad actors from switching unknowing consumers' Obamacare coverage. Their fixes risk making enrollment so cumbersome that people won't want to sign up.
Nintendo Finally Confirms Switch Successor’s Existence, Says It’ll Officially Announce ‘Within This Fiscal Year’
Folks, it finally happened…sort of. Nintendo formally (and remarkably casually) acknowledged its successor to the Nintendo Switch, stating that it will be announced “within this fiscal year” as part of an investor meeting this week, meaning we’ll hear about it before April 2025. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
How student protests are changing college graduations
Four years after COVID disrupted high school graduations, many college seniors are looking forward to their first real commencement. Student protests are forcing some to adjust their expectations.
How a U.S. Customs and Border Protection veteran sees his agency's mission
Ryan Riccucci, a 17-year agency veteran, says he feels the agency is misunderstood by the U.S. public.
5 workers dead, dozens still missing after a building collapsed in South Africa
Rescue teams worked searching for dozens of construction workers buried under the rubble after a multi-story apartment complex that was being built collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa.
Switch 2 will be revealed before April 2025, promises Nintendo
Nintendo throws a bone to Switch fans. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Nintendo has thrown Switch players a long-awaited bone alongside announcing its end-of-year financials results, confirming the console’s successor will be unveiled before April, 2025. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said that a next-generation Nintendo Switch console will be announced “within this fiscal year” — giving the Japanese gaming giant a deadline of March 31st, 2025. That aligns nicely with its current Q1 2025 rumored launch.
Regarding the Switch 2 console announcement, Furukawa said:
We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this...
Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt
An Israeli tank brigade seized control Tuesday of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, authorities said, as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remain on a knife's edge.
Reblogged by keul@fosstodon.org ("Luca Fabbri"):
nzakas@fosstodon.org ("Nicholas C. Zakas") wrote:
We've been listening to people who've had trouble upgrading to ESLint v9.0.0. There's bee a lot of "flat config isn't ready", but that's reductionist. We've identified three areas that people are having trouble with:
1. Flat config. It's new, it's different, it takes time to wrap your head around. Things don't work the same way as eslintrc. Most folks figure it out. Sometimes that involves using the FlatCompat utility to use eslintrc configs. The docs are here to help:
https://eslint.org/docs/latest/use/configure/
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
I'm such a sucker for vintage articles. If I see a 1998 publish date, I'm reading that post from start to finish. Every time.
There's something magical about it. It's like traveling back in time.
Reblogged by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):
ZaneSelvans@social.coop ("Zane Selvans") wrote:
Climate change doesn't fit the model of "insurance." It's not a low probability, high impact event that randomly affects a small subset of assets, with a low total cost relative to the whole pool of assets at risk.
It's a high probability, high impact event that affects everybody, with a high total cost relative to the value of the pool of assets at risk.
Rust participates in OSPP 2024
Similar to our previous announcements of the Rust Project's participation in Google Summer of Code (GSoC), we are now announcing our participation in Open Source Promotion Plan (OSPP) 2024.
OSPP is a program organized in large part by The Institute of Software Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its goal is to encourage college students to participate in developing and maintaining open source software. The Rust Project is already registered and has a number of projects available for mentorship:
- C codegen backend for rustc
- Extend annotate-snippets with features required by rustc
- Improve bootstrap
- Modernize the libc crate
- Improve infrastructure automation tools
Eligibility is limited to students and there is a guide for potential participants. Student registration ends on the 3rd of June with the project application deadline a day later.
Unlike GSoC which allows students to propose their own projects, OSPP requires that students only apply for one of the registered projects. We do have an #ospp Zulip stream and potential contributors are encouraged to join and discuss details about the projects and connect with mentors.
After the project application window closes on June 4th, we will review and select participants, which will be announced on June 26th. From there, students will participate through to the end of September.
As with GSoC, this is our first year participating in this program. We are incredibly excited for this opportunity to further expand into new open source communities and we're hopeful for a productive and educational summer.
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
Remember when Silicon Valley was like, "we need more white babies but, like, in a progressive way."
And then this couple was like, "it's not eugenics! We're Stanford graduates."
Lmao
Attachments:
The history of 'outside agitators' — from Gaza protests to Martin Luther King Jr.
The term "outside agitator" has staying power.It's been used against protestors throughout history, from the Civil Rights Movement, to the anti-Vietnam War protests and now during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses."Outside agitator" was also used to describe some of the people who protested the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri In 2014.Who exactly are the "outside agitators" and what purpose does it serve to call them out? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
How much would you pay for this prototype Super Famicom with a headphone jack?
Image: Yahoo! Auctions (Japan)
Over on the Japanese Yahoo Auctions site, someone has listed an apparent pre-production version of the Super Famicom — the Japanese counterpart of the Super Nintendo (SNES). It’s similar to the console Nintendo eventually released in 1990 but with some stand-out differences, like a headphone jack and volume wheel on the side. Video game collector and historian Chris Kohler called it “god-tier Nintendo collector bait.”
Some other variations include a big red power switch and the fact that the controller ports are on the left side of the console, rather than centered as they were in the eventual production model. There’s also what looks like the console’s expansion port on the front, rather than the bottom where it lived on the final...
Google TV’s ‘Magic Button’ makes its debut — but not on a Chromecast
Not a Chromecast remote with a new button. | Image: AFTVnews
Google’s rumored “Magic Button” shortcut for Google TV has been spotted in the wild on a real-world remote for an upcoming streaming box... made by Walmart.
AFTVnews got hold of Walmart’s still-unreleased Onn 4K Pro — a Google TV-powered streaming box — and the remote features the new star button in the top right corner. The device simply calls it the “customizable button,” and it can be programmed as a shortcut to an app or to allow you to change inputs. It replaces the dedicated TV input button on previous Onn streaming box remotes.
Image: AFTVnews
Google’s new button is introduced on non-Google hardware.
The button has been leaking as part of Google TV-adjacent hardware for years, but it hasn’t actually...
The clock is ticking to fix Social Security as retirees face automatic cut in 9 years
Social Security's finances have improved slightly in the last year. But the popular retirement program still faces big challenges including the threat of automatic benefit cuts in less than a decade.
slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:
If your doc gets more readable after *I* leave comments, you are truly lost.
2024 Met Gala Red Carpet: Looks we love
Monday is the Met Gala, known as fashion's grandest event, where celebrities from various realms come together at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate fashion and each other.
Google’s AI plans now include cybersecurity
Illustration: The Verge
As people try to find more uses for generative AI that are less about making a fake photo and are instead actually useful, Google plans to point AI to cybersecurity and make threat reports easier to read.
In a blog post, Google writes its new cybersecurity product, Google Threat Intelligence, will bring together the work of its Mandiant cybersecurity unit and VirusTotal threat intelligence with the Gemini AI model.
The new product uses the Gemini 1.5 Pro large language model, which Google says reduces the time needed to reverse engineer malware attacks. The company claims Gemini 1.5 Pro, released in February, took only 34 seconds to analyze the code of the WannaCry virus — the 2017 ransomware attack that hobbled hospitals, companies,...
New York Is Suing Crisis Pregnancy Centers For Promising “Abortion Reversal”
Abortion rights advocates might be surprised to learn that, in deep-blue New York, anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics. There are more than 120 such centers (known as CPCs, though they also go by other names) throughout New York, according to a coalition of abortion rights groups in the state, compared to a little […]
Microsoft ramps up plans to capture carbon from burning wood
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, speaks during a climate initiative event at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, on Thursday, January 16th, 2020. | Photo: Getty Images
Microsoft is doubling down on a controversial plan to capture carbon dioxide emissions from wood-burning power plants. It announced a contract with energy company Stockholm Exergi to capture 3.33 million metric tons of carbon emissions from a biomass power plant in the Swedish capital in what is potentially the biggest deal of its kind to date — equivalent to taking more than 790,000 gas-powered cars off the road for a year.
It’s supposed to help Microsoft meet its goal of capturing more planet-heating carbon dioxide than it produces as a company by 2030 and then removing as much CO2 from the atmosphere as it has ever emitted since its founding by 2050.
But the jury is still out on whether wood-burning power plants actually help fight...
Transgender bathroom bills are back, gaining traction after past boycotts
Blowback from companies and institutions was fierce after North Carolina passed transgender bathroom restrictions. But states haven't felt as much heat after several bills easily passed.
jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:
this is a crazy story, all around
“US soldier detained in Russia on charges of criminal misconduct, Army says” - ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-soldier-arrested-russia-us-official/story?id=109958352
9 Things To Know Before Starting Hades 2
Hades 2 is now in Early Access, ready to overtake your evenings, lunch breaks, and weekends for the foreseeable future. Playing as Melinoë, you’re tasked with defeating Chronos, aka time itself, to rescue her family and defend Olympus. It’s quite a lot to take in, especially if you go unprepared.
Reblogged by kornel ("Kornel"):
eeeps@front-end.social ("Eric Portis") wrote:
Converting an sRGB color to P3 does not make it “pop”. It doesn't change it at all.
If you *want* to make it pop, do so by boosting the chroma in a space like OKLCH. P3 *does* give you more room to boost.
Rare Magic: The Gathering card breaks records with $3 million sale
Image: Wizards of the Coast
A rare Magic: The Gathering card has sold for $3 million, making it the most expensive Magic card ever sold.
And before you ask, Magic nerds, of course it was a Black Lotus. The sale of the card was announced last week by CGC Cards, a certification and grading company for trading cards, video games, comics, and more.
The Black Lotus is the holy grail of Magic cards. It was first printed as a part of the card game’s Alpha and Beta sets that launched with the game’s debut in 1993. Though highly sought as a collector’s item, the card itself is unplayable, as it is banned in all but one format because it is simply too powerful, allowing...
These are the upcoming Sonos Ace wireless headphones
Image: Schuurman
There’s a lot riding on Sonos’ first pair of wireless headphones; CEO Patrick Spence has expressed confidence that the new product category will be a huge revenue driver for his company after Sonos has faced cooling demand for its speakers. The headphones are expected to ship sometime next month, but today, we’re getting a first look at the hardware design — and we now know what they’ll be called.
You’re looking at the Sonos Ace headphones. These images were prematurely published by authorized Sonos parts dealer Schuurman. The main image reveals quite a few buttons on both ear cups, a toggle switch of some sort, and a premium build that seems fitting of headphones expected to be priced around $450. The Schuurman website shows a price of...
jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:
this looks sweet, and comes with connection pooling (rah!)
Reblogged by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤"):
donni ("donni saphire") wrote:
How do I monetize this creeping sense of despair
Activision Reportedly Ditched Tony Hawk 3+4 For More Call Of Duty
Once upon a time, developer Vicarious Visions was working on a follow-up to 2020's excellent remake collection, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. The project would’ve consisted of remakes of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4, which would’ve been dope. Unfortunately, according to a new investigation by YouTuber Liam Robertson…
FAA is investigating Boeing for apparent missed inspections on 787 Dreamliner
The FAA says Boeing informed the agency in April that required inspections to confirm that the wings were properly bonded to the carbon fiber fuselage on certain 787 jets were not completed.
Watch NASA launch its first astronauts aboard the Boeing Starliner
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
NASA will attempt to send a pair of astronauts to space aboard Boeing’s Starliner aircraft for the first time today. Starliner has faced several delays over the years, with its first uncrewed test flight in 2019 ending in failure before it successfully docked at the International Space Station in 2022. While Starliner’s first crewed flight was supposed to take place last May, NASA delayed the launch due to technical issues.
The launch will take place at 10:34PM ET from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and you can watch it live from NASA’s YouTube channel.
The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket will propel the Starliner aircraft to space, where it will stay at the ISS for one week. While on board, flight commander...
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
BREAKING: BlueSky announces Skeletor as newest board member; Andreessen Horowitz unavailable.
Attachments:
Reblogged by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):
bea@infosec.exchange ("bEA 🔓") wrote:
I'm excited for in 5 years time when we start “discovering" that burying web services behind 5 different layers of HTTP proxying at the altar of Kubernetes isn't the most efficient thing to do.
Reblogged by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤"):
zachleat@zachleat.com ("Zach Leatherman :11ty:") wrote:
I too would like to announce that I am not on the bluesky board of directors
16 Things The First Metal Gear Solid Doesn’t Outright Tell You
1998’s Metal Gear Solid is widely available via the recently released Master Collection containing it and a number of other essential Metal Gear titles. While this collection isn’t the best way to explore these games, given its lacking features and technical issues, the strengths of these classic titles often…
Why I Won’t Be Playing Hades 2 In Early Access
As of Monday, May 6, Hades II is now available in Early Access. That’s an exciting development for fans eager to play the sequel to developer Supergiant Games’ 2020 action roguelite. But while plenty of gamers around the world will be diving into Early Access, I won’t be one of them.
Reblogged by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):
bramus@front-end.social ("Bramus") wrote:
📣 Introducing “Unleash the Power of Scroll-Driven Animations”
I built a thing: a 10-part video course that teaches you all there is to know about scroll-driven animations with CSS or JavaScript.
https://developer.chrome.com/blog/scroll-driven-animations-video-course?hl=en
Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse EV adoption
Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge
Republican lawmakers are attempting to overturn the twin pillars of the Biden administration’s climate platform: tax credits for electric vehicles and the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules to curb tailpipe emissions.
The effort involves new bills introduced by members of Congress, as well as lawsuits filed by state attorneys general, all with the goal of rolling back the minimal progress made by the Biden administration to reduce the share of planet-warming carbon emissions produced by the automotive sector.
Last month, 25 Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit intended to overturn the EPA’s recently finalized tailpipe rules aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2032. In a statement, Kentucky Attorney...
Final Fantasy XIV Suffers DDoS Outage As Devs Work On A Fix
Players are currently having a tough time logging into Final Fantasy XIV after the MMORPG was hit with DDoS attacks on May 6. Square Enix has acknowledged the issue but hasn’t yet updated fans on when the outages will be fixed.
Here are the best Kindle deals right now
The Kindle Paperwhite, our favorite ebook reader, is down to its best price of the year. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge
When it comes to finding a device to read 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 beyond...
Samsung announces new entry-level OLED TVs — likely with LG panels inside
Image: Samsung
In its quest to carve out a chunk of the OLED TV market, Samsung has, until now, focused on the premium end with impressive QD-OLED models. But today, Samsung announced the entry-level S85D series of OLED TVs, bringing the fight to LG Electronics at lower price points as well.
And here’s the interesting thing: these sets almost certainly include OLED panels manufactured by LG Display. Samsung placed a big order for them last year to help meet its production needs, establishing a business alliance that would’ve been unthinkable in the not-too-distant past.
The S85D comes in 55-inch ($1,699.99), 65-inch ($2,099.99), and 77-inch ($3,399.99) sizes — and inevitably, you’ll be able to nab them for less once retailers start discounting the...
The Kendrick/Drake Beef Is Made For The Internet
Late Sunday evening, I logged onto Fortnite to enjoy all the newly added Star Wars content, solo-queuing up for a No Build quads match right away. As I waited for the battle bus to pick me up, I could hear one of my teammates loudly playing Canadian actor-turned-rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham’s song, “The Heart Part 6,”…
PlayStation Reversing Course On Helldivers 2 Is Both Smart And A Sign Of How Inept It Is
Last week, Arrowhead Studios announced that an upcoming update to its hit co-op shooter Helldivers 2 would require existing PC players on Steam to make a PlayStation Network account to continue playing. If they didn’t, they’d lose access to their Helldivers accounts, and that news did not land well. The move was bad…
Here are the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes
Pulitzer Prizes honor American achievements in journalism, letters and drama, and music. They are widely recognized as the most prestigious awards in their field within the United States.
Plants can communicate and respond to touch. Does that mean they're intelligent?
Climate journalist Zoë Schlanger says research suggests that plants are indeed "intelligent" in complex ways that challenge our understanding of agency and consciousness. Her book is The Light Eaters.
Sony reverses unpopular Helldivers 2 decision after blistering player reaction
Image: Arrowhead Game Studios
Stand down, Helldivers. Your battle is won. Late last week, Sony announced that Helldivers 2, one of the most popular multiplayer games of the year, would require Steam players to link their account to a PlayStation Network account. After a weekend of strong player backlash, including review bombing the game on Steam, Sony reversed course earlier this morning and will no longer require PC players to link to a PSN account.
Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
We’re still…
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 6, 2024
...
We've noticed that a lot of you had some questions about this announcement, so we've collected the most important ones in a new FAQ section on the page above 👆
Google is changing how you set up 2FA
Illustration: The Verge
Google is streamlining the process of setting up two-factor authentication (2FA). Instead of entering your phone number first to enable 2FA, you can now add a “second step method” to your account such as an authenticator app or a hardware security key to get things set up.
This should make it safer to turn on 2FA, as it lets you avoid using less secure SMS verification. You can choose to enter a time-based one-time passcode through apps like Google Authenticator, or you can follow the steps to link a hardware security key.
Google offers two options to link a security key, including by registering a FIDO1 credential on the hardware key or by assigning a passkey to one. If you have a Workspace account linked to an organization and want to...
Madonna draws 1.6 million fans to Brazilian beach
The last show of the pop icon's "Celebration" retrospective tour brought over a million and a half fans to Rio de Janeiro's famed Copacabana Beach on Saturday night.
Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
annaleen@wandering.shop ("Annalee Newitz 🍜") wrote:
I asked my media studies students to look at the New York Times' op-ed page to determine what the paper's Overton Window is. Most thought it was fairly liberal, but others thought it was just kind of silly. One commented simply, "These are really absurd topics for articles."
Reblogged by bcantrill ("Bryan Cantrill"):
oxidecomputer@hachyderm.io ("Oxide Computer Company") wrote:
Get ready for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on the Oxide Cloud Computer! Oxide is proud to sponsor #RHSummit 2024 and we'll demonstrate Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform running on the Oxide platform at booth 306. Interested in being one of the first to experience Red Hat on Oxide? Sign up here for more information: https://forms.oxide.computer/rhs2024
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OpenAI and Stack Overflow partner to bring more technical knowledge into ChatGPT
Illustration: The Verge
OpenAI and the developer platform Stack Overflow have announced a partnership that could potentially improve the performance of AI models and bring more technical information into ChatGPT.
OpenAI will have access to Stack Overflow’s API and will receive feedback from the developer community to improve the performance of AI models. OpenAI, in turn, will give Stack Overflow attribution — aka link to its contents — in ChatGPT. Users of the chatbot will see more information from Stack Overflow’s knowledge archive if they ask ChatGPT coding or technical questions. The companies write in the press release that this will “foster deeper engagement with content.”
Stack Overflow will use OpenAI’s large language models to expand its Overflow AI,...
Finally, Cal Kestis From Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Is Getting A Lego Minifig
After online rumors (and a cameo in a teaser video), it’s official: Later this year Cal Kestis, the main character from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel Jedi: Survivor, is getting his very own Lego miniature character figure, aka a minifig.
Hamas has accepted a cease-fire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar
Hamas said it has accepted a proposal from Egypt and Qatar for a cease-fire. It is not immediately clear what the proposal entails, nor what Israel's position is.
New Mod Adds The One Thing Elden Ring Was Missing: Capybaras
FromSoftware’s 2022 epic Elden Ring is a near-perfect video game in the eyes of many. It won several Game of the Year awards, and defined the year in gaming. However, that doesn’t mean the game can’t be improved. That’s what mods are for after all! Fans with enough technical know-how can tweak, improve, or add any…
You Have One Week To Buy The Whole Mass Effect Trilogy For Dirt Cheap
If you never tried out BioWare’s highly influential and still (mostly) incredible science fiction trilogy Mass Effect, there is no better time than the present. The whole package is available on Steam for dirt cheap, so as long as you’ve got a PC that can run the Legendary Edition remasters, it’s well worth the entry…
Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
My talk about Spade from @fossifoundation's Latch-Up 2 weeks ago is now on youtube. Find out how I'm taking ideas and features from software languages to make FPGA and ASIC design easier, more fun, and less error-prone.
You can grab a pair of AirPods starting at just $79.99
Both the second- and third-gen AirPods are on sale for some of the lowest prices we’ve seen. The same goes for the latest AirPods Pro. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Apple’s AirPods should be on every iPhone owner’s list of earbuds to try before exploring third-party options. The wireless earbuds offer a wealth of exclusive features for Apple users, and they make for a great Mother’s Day gift or replacement for an aging pair of earbuds.
Fortunately, the second-gen AirPods are down to $79.99 ($50 off) at Amazon and Best Buy right now, which is just $10 more than they were during Black Friday. The third-gen AirPods, meanwhile, are also matching their all-time low of $139.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, while the second-gen AirPods Pro with USB-C can be had for $179.99 ($70 off) at Amazon and Target (also an all-time low).
If you’re after a simple pair of AirPods and could care less for...
New Lego Star Wars Special Features Darth Jar Jar
The silly and popular online Star Wars fan theory that Jar Jar Binks was actually a secret Sith manipulating the events of the prequel trilogy is officially...still not canon. But a newly announced (and non-canonical) Lego mini-series will feature the evil version of Jar Jar, complete with red lightsaber and evil…
Hades II early access begins today
Image: Supergiant Games
The wait is over: Hades II launches in early access today. The game was slowly rolled out to select players during its technical test period that began last month. After that testing period — in which players got to experience the game’s opening area, fight the first boss, and meet a smattering of new gods and characters — early access grants players an in-progress build of the full game.
HADES II is HERE !!
Experience the bewitching sequel to our god-like rogue-like, now available in Early Access.
Steam: https://t.co/MwAiwL8ZeW
Epic Games Store: https://t.co/bKD6BvLhw6#HadesGame #Hades2 #DeathToChronos pic.twitter.com/jXhqctKj95— Supergiant Games (@SupergiantGames) May 6, 2024
According to the Hades II FAQ page, this early...
Hades II Enters Early Access, And You Can Play It Right Now
After a brief technical test that whooped so much ass, acclaimed developer Supergiant Games has announced that Hades 2 is in Early Access, which is expected to last until the end of the year. What does this mean? Simple: You can head over to the Epic Games Store or Steam and purchase it right now for $30.
Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
nixCraft ("nixCraft 🐧") wrote:
Bluesky says goodbye to Mr. Jack (co-founder and former CEO of Twitter). He is back to bird site. He has been posting there for the past few days. Then unfollowed everyone except three accounts (Musk, Snowden, and Assange's wife). 😂
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Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
💥”#Hamas militant group says it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal to halt seven-month war with #Israel.
It issued a statement Monday saying its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence minister.”
https://apnews.com/article/8659eae6e0a7362504f0aa4aa4be53e0
Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Godyssey@pagan.plus ("The Godyssey Podcast") wrote:
Nagual are shapeshifters, human tricksters born with shamanic powers and familiars they can use for good or evil: the person must choose. Found across Mesoamerica with evidence stretching back millennias, modern Mexican naguals are often associated with brujería. #MythologyMonday
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Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
104/ Weissmann:
An apparent big slip by Trump counsel as he elicits from McConney that Weisselberg told him the money was for some sort of reimbursement. Remember: that is the DA's position, and that the paperwork disguised it as legal fees. And Trump wants to say it was really legal fees and not a reimbursement.
Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
vollmerm@types.pl ("mike vollmer 🎃") wrote:
A 🧵 about our PL research on typed functional programming and efficient data representation:
We have a paper accepted (conditionally) to ECOOP this year that we’ll hopefully be able to post online soon. It is part of our ongoing research project called Gibbon, which is focused on type-safe programming with serialized data—that is, programs that operate on data compacted in memory, rather than traditional pointer-based data structures. Basically, changing the data representation to make tree traversals/transforms much more efficient, and using types to make it safe.
Since I’ve been thinking about it recently, I thought I’d write up a thread about our PLDI 2019 paper, which lays out a lot of the foundation for this project. It was a few years ago and some people here might not have seen it.
LoCal: A Language for Programs Operating on Serialized Data
In it is a story about how we used types and programming language design to code tree traversals that are purely functional and type safe, and that are also as fast or often faster than idiomatic C/C++!
More Tesla employees laid off as bloodbath enters its fourth week
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Tesla’s brutal round of layoffs entered its fourth week, with more employees posting on LinkedIn and elsewhere about receiving notice that their time at the company has come to an end.
The most recent layoffs, which were first reported by Electrekand Business Insider, appear to be hitting different segments of the company, including software, services, and engineering. Employees said they received layoff notices over the weekend and on Monday.
It’s unclear how many employees have been affected. Business Insider reported at least seven employees posted about being laid off on Sunday.
The layoffs first started last month, when Tesla began laying off what was said to be at the time 10 percent of the company’s global workforce of...
Weather advisory: unusually strong Meltdown May incoming
Be safe out there! | Photo by Carmen Mandato / Getty Images
I don’t know what the explanation is — warm weather? too many histamines? too much Benadryl? — but we have once again entered Meltdown May, a season in which vulnerable specimens go absolutely wild on social media. We are not even a full week in, and folks, this one looks like a doozy. The Kendrick Lamar / Drake feud escalation alone is a formidable front that threatens to envelop much of the music industry.
But even if you don’t command the follower count of an extraordinarily popular rapper, knowing how to prepare for Meltdown May is the best way to avoid its dangers: becoming the main character of Online.
Warning signs of an incoming meltdown include spending too much time on social media, especially Instagram and Twitter; searching...
Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
me_@sueden.social ("Michael Engel") wrote:
Robert Dennard, inventor of the dynamic RAM and also famous for the semiconductor scaling law named after him, passed away on April 23rd at the age of 91. R.I.P.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/robert-dennard-obituary?id=55019900
fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤") wrote:
Jack Dorsey tweets a photo that says "In God we trust. All others we monitor" on a t-shirt with the CIA emblem.
He does this two hours after casually announcing he is no longer on the #BlueSky board of directors.
His media training would warn him tweeting these two things so close together would have implications. So either he's trying to be cryptic, or he doesn't care.
I don't have a conclusion, but thought it was noteworthy.
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Amazon’s entire Kindle lineup is on sale starting at just $80
The Kindle Paperwhite is our favorite Kindle, with waterproofing both the entry-level model and the Kindle Scribe lack. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge
Whether mom’s a bibliophile or you’re looking to gift a graduate something useful as they head to college, Amazon’s Kindles are great presents that we’ve highlighted in both our Mother’s Day and graduation gift guides this year. They’re even more attractive buys now that they’re down to their best prices of the year.
Right now, for example, Amazon’s latest Kindle with ads and 16GB of storage starts at $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, which is just $5 shy of its all-time low price. The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite with ads and 16GB of storage starts at $114.99 ($35 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, while even the base Kindle Scribe is down to a new all-time low starting at $239.99 ($100 off) at Amazon and Target.
Both the...
Upgrade These Buildings First In No Rest For The Wicked
Action RPG No Rest for the Wicked might be a Soulslike at heart, but there’s more than meets the eye with Moon Studios’ newly released title—especially around its main city, Sacrament. The city serves as a hub for most quests and merchant needs, which means you’ll be visiting it often. One NPC in particular has an…
‘Apple Pencil Pro’ spotted in code on Apple’s Japanese site
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
Code on Apple’s website in Japan mentions the “Apple Pencil Pro” — a potential hint at what’s to come during the company’s iPad event on Tuesday, as spotted by X user @ribu_ap712 and reported by MacRumors.
The code, which The Verge confirmed, was uncovered in the alternative text that describes the GIF for the Apple event and mentions a “Pencil Pro” several times. A version of the text translated by Google reads:
Green, yellow, orange, and blue paper are folded to form the Apple logo. Inside the logo, a creator’s hand is seen holding an Apple Pencil Pro, preparing to draw. Orange and pink splashes burst from the tip of the Apple Pencil Pro, which is pressed against the bottom of the logo, creating a vibrant wave pattern upwards. As the...
collinsworth@hachyderm.io ("Josh Collinsworth") wrote:
I tell myself I'll remember things later because I just love lying to myself, I guess.