Microsoft’s new Paint redesign for Windows 11 includes a dark mode

The new Paint design in Windows 11.

Microsoft is redesigning its Paint app in Windows 11. The app will be updated with a new command bar that borrows most of the same options and tools as what exists in the ribbon interface for Paint on Windows 10. It’s the first major update to Paint in years, and it even includes a dark mode.

Microsoft’s head of Windows and devices, Panos Panay, teased the new Paint redesign on Twitter today. The teaser video includes a brief look at improvements to the font picker, brushes, and a dark mode for Paint. The tools look a lot more usable now, with a quick picker that shows all the different brushes and their effects. Microsoft’s font tool for Paint also floats now, with options for size, alignment, and more.

Here’s another @Windows 11...

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Facebook’s delayed 2022 office return did not apply to these contractors

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook announced plans to delay employees’ return to the office until 2022 earlier in August, but CNBC writes that some Facebook contractors employed by Accenture have been working in person since a week before. This might not be a surprise as The Verge previously reported that some of Accenture’s contractors in Texas were instructed to return to office work as early as October 2020.

A Facebook spokesperson tells The Verge that the 2022 return to office plan applies to a majority of all full-time and contingent office employees in the US, regardless of if they’re employed by Facebook or a contracting firm:

“While the majority of full-time employees and contingent workers for Facebook continue working from home, some have returned to...

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The Overwatch League’s 2021 regular season was full of drama amid an uncertain future

Blizzard

With one more tournament and the playoffs to go, here’s an overview of the league’s fourth season

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Facebook releases a report on the most-viewed content in News Feed

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook has released a report to show what content was most widely viewed by Americans in the last quarter, and the list includes a post from President Biden, a video from 5-Minute Crafts, and arguments about whether you should put sugar on spaghetti. Facebook’s report comes as a response to frequent reports that some of the platform’s posts with the most interaction are from right-wing sources that critics say could have a radicalizing effect on users. Facebook says that the report shows what people actually see on the platform, as opposed to what content on Facebook gets the most interaction, and that it’ll be creating these reports on a quarterly basis in the future. However, the picture the report paints is, by Facebook’s own...

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Twitter is making it easier for other apps to point to Spaces

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is updating its API v2 so that developers can look up its Spaces social audio rooms, the company announced Wednesday, which could allow them to share information about Spaces more easily outside the Twitter app.

Twitter has been rapidly improvingSpaces, but before now, you could only see them on Twitter’s own apps. But starting Wednesday, “all developers using the new Twitter API v2 will be able to look up live or scheduled Spaces using criteria like Spaces ID, user ID, or keyword,” Twitter says, which sounds like it means that a developer can use that information to point you to a Space from within their own app.

You can still only attend a Space on Twitter, though

This doesn’t appear to mean that developers will be able to...

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Cryptocurrency supporters are in the middle of their first big fight in Congress

Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Last week, the Senate approved a massive infrastructure package making serious investments in building out the US’s roads and bridges. It would be the largest domestic spending bill in almost a decade, and nearly every powerful lobbying shop circled Washington for months trying to shape its language.

But one industry was surprisingly thrown into the fight last minute: cryptocurrency. When the Senate finally announced the bill text earlier this month, it included a provision that could impose devastating new tax requirements for wallet developers and miners. Suddenly, the cryptocurrency industry and its few lobbying shops faced one of its largest regulatory threats ever. They needed all of the digital foot soldiers they could get to help...

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Senators ask FTC to investigate Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ promises

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have asked new Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to investigate Tesla’s marketing of its advanced driver assistance system, Autopilot. The Senators are particularly concerned with how Tesla has been charging customers thousands of dollars for what it refers to as “Full Self-Driving capability,” despite the fact that buying that package does not make the company’s cars fully autonomous.

“Tesla’s marketing has repeatedly overstated the capabilities of its vehicles, and these statements increasingly pose a threat to motorists and other users of the road,” the senators wrote in a letter published Wednesday. “Accordingly, we urge you to open an investigation into potentially...

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The Taliban may have seized biometric data that can ID US allies in Afghanistan

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

The US military created a vast database of biometric data — one report suggests it had a goal of 25 million entries — as part of its effort to track terrorists in Afghanistan. Now that the US has withdrawn from the country, reports from The Interceptand Reuters suggest the Taliban could potentially use it to target allies left behind.

As The Intercept notes, the collection of biometric data was primarily billed as a military project, but Afghan civilians who worked for US embassies and the broader coalition government were reportedly also included in the database. The biometric information that could be on file for those people varies: the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) used by the military collects...

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Apple’s been playing it too MagSafe

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

It’s been almost a year since Apple first debuted the iPhone 12 lineup, and introduced its MagSafe accessory system. So where are all the MagSafe chargers?

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of accessory developers making cases, wallets, car mounts, desk stands, and even magnetic Qi chargers and battery packs that work with MagSafe — but almost no actual MagSafe accessories.

And that’s a big difference because of how Apple has designed the MagSafe standard. Anyone can wirelessly charge an iPhone 12 device using a Qi charger at Apple’s standard rate of 7.5W. Magnets, being a physical phenomenon, are even more universal, meaning that device manufacturers can easily stick an iPhone 12 and a Qi charger together. (Many already have.)

...

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How the minds behind Rez and Death Stranding turned virtual worlds into physical spaces

“Together the distance between (us)” by thatgamecompany and FIELD.IO. | Photo: Marina Bay Sands.

At Virtual Realms: Videogames Transformed, game designers tackle a new realm

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How to turn off unwanted ‘memories’ in Apple Photos, Google Photos, and Facebook

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The memory machines that Apple, Facebook, and Google have built to remind us of our favorite moments can, like any algorithmic creation, serve up subpar output. Instead of evoking recollections of those times we felt like we were living our best lives, they can invoke the low points of our existence — a miserable job, a rotten commute, a bad breakup, or the death of a loved one.

Apple Photos, Facebook, and Google Photos provide tools to manage what their “memories” features can push out to you. But these settings to control what pictures and posts get algorithmically bubbled up to your screen aren’t always easy to find — even, in some situations, after these apps have presented a gut-punch of a reminder.

Here’s how to control, at least...

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Waymo is building a hub for its autonomous trucks in Texas

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Waymo announced plans to build a hub for its autonomous semi-trailer trucks on a nine-acre site near Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. The Alphabet-owned company also said it is partnering with rental truck company Ryder on fleet management as it looks to grow the delivery and logistics portion of its business.

The hub in South Dallas will be Waymo’s “primary operations center” in the state for its fleet of autonomous trucks. The hub will be built to accommodate “hundreds of trucks and personnel” as the company gets closer to launching a full-scale freight-hauling operation using its fully autonomous vehicles — though Waymo has yet to say exactly when that will be.

“primary operations center”

Currently, Waymo is testing the fifth generation of...

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Twelve Minutes is a strange interactive thriller that’s better with friends

I’m not sure I could’ve solved the intricate mystery of Twelve Minutes on my own. The interactive thriller — which boasts a star-studded cast including James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe — forces players to relive the same short span of time repeatedly. Over that time you’ll die repeatedly at the hands of Dafoe, but during each loop you’ll also pick up some tiny new breadcrumb of information to help explain what’s happening. It can be frustrating, with fiddly controls and an ending that goes completely off the rails. But as a group experience, it’s a lot of fun; even though it’s technically a single-player game, I found myself sharing ideas and theories with my partner, and it was helpful having an extra pair of eyes to spot...

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Apple’s attempt at podcast subscriptions is off to a messy start

Bugs and design flaws

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Water shortages loom over future semiconductor fabs in Arizona

In an aerial view. an empty water trough in the desert that has been recently visited by wild burros is seen on July 7, 2021 near Yucca, Arizona. Large portions of the West are now classified as being in exceptional drought, the most extreme drought category.  | Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

Major semiconductor manufacturers looking to expand in Arizona will likely be spared from water cuts induced by an unprecedented water shortage in the Southwest, at least for now.As part of the scramble to end a shortage of another kind — the global dearth in semiconductor chips — both Intel and TSMC plan to open new facilities in Arizona. But they’re setting up shop just as one of the worst droughts in decades grows worse across the Western US.

Federal authorities officially declared a shortage on the Colorado River for the first time ever this week, which will trigger water cuts in several states and Mexico starting January 1st, 2022. The shortage is at the Hoover Dam’s Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US and a huge source of...

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COVID-19 booster shots will be offered to Americans in September, Biden administration says

Photo by Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Everyone in the United States who got a COVID-19 vaccine will need a booster shot to keep protection from fading, the Biden administration said today. Vaccinated Americans will be offered boosters eight months after their initial shots. Plans are that the first round will be offered in September and will go to nursing home residents, health care workers, and others vaccinated early.

The current proposal only includes the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Officials say they’re expecting additional data to guide decision making around boosters for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the coming weeks.

It’s a reversal from early July, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...

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Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ latest trailer shows off big changes for battles

Nintendo

Nintendo announced a ton of new information for the hotly anticipated Pokémon Legends: Arceus during today’s _Pokémon_Presents showcase. In addition to covering a new battle system, new regional pokémon, and the new skills trainers will need to catch ‘em all, Nintendo also released a brand-new, beautiful trailer.

_Pokémon Legend: Arceus_takes place in the Hisui region — a natural paradise filled with different ecosystems and stuffed all kinds of regional pokémon. Your goal is to help the Galaxy Expedition Team study and catalog the pokémon of the region by compiling the very first Pokédex.

Nintendo offered a glimpse into Pokémon Legends: Arceus’battle system, which combines classic pokémon gameplay with a couple of new twists. One new...

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T-Mobile data breach exposed the personal info of more than 47 million people

Photo by John Lamparski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

T-Mobile has released more information about its most recent data breach, and while the company’s findings fall short of the reported 100 million records, the numbers are staggering.

While saying its investigation is still ongoing, the company confirmed that records of over 40 million “former or prospective customers” who had previously applied for credit and 7.8 million postpaid customers (those who currently have a contract) were stolen. In its last earnings report (PDF), T-Mobile said it had over 104 million customers.

The data in the stolen files contained critical personal information included first and last names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license / ID numbers — the kind of information you could use to...

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Galaxy Watch 4 review: welcome to Samsung’s garden

It’s Google’s new smartwatch OS, but it’s Samsung’s watch

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Apple’s child-abuse scanner has serious flaw, researchers say

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Researchers have found a flaw in iOS’s built-in hash function, raising new concerns about the integrity of Apple’s CSAM-scanning system. The flaw affects the hashing system, called NeuralHash, which allows Apple to check for exact matches of known child-abuse imagery without possessing any of the images or gleaning any information about non-matching pictures.

On Tuesday, a GitHub user called Asuhariet Ygvar posted code for a reconstructed Python version of NeuralHash, which he claimed to have reverse-engineered from previous versions of iOS. The GitHub post also includes instructions on how to extract the NeuralMatch files from a current macOS or iOS build.

“Early tests show that it can tolerate image resizing and compression, but not...

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What to expect from Tesla’s AI day event

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Recruitment, robots, and really powerful supercomputers

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Pokémon Unite is coming to iOS and Android on September 22nd

Image: Nintendo

Pokémon Unite, the five-versus-five MOBA game that released in July for the Nintendo Switch, will debut on iOS and Android devices on September 22nd. The Pokémon Company shared today during a livestream that you can pre-register for the mobile game now on your respective devices (iOS, Android). You’ll be notified when it’s officially available to download.

Whether you play Pokémon Unite on mobile or a Nintendo Switch, the game will offer cross-platform play to broaden who you can play alongside or against. By linking your account on both the Switch version and the mobile game, you’ll be able to have cross-progression, which will allow you to play the game with your saved data and characters on whichever device is more convenient.

#...

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Asus’ special edition Zephyrus G14 comes with its own DJ deck

Can you spot the Alan Walker logo?

If there’s one company I trust to do a good job with utterly ridiculous computer ideas, it’s Asus. Last fall, the company worked with cyberpunky fashion designer Acronym to make possibly the weirdest-looking gaming laptop I’ve ever seen (the ZPHYRS G14 ACRNM). This year, it’s partnered with popular DJ Alan Walker to create a less avant-garde, more musical version of the same device. This is the Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Edition, a laptop for gamers, DJs, and (ideally) gamer DJs.

The insides of this laptop are nothing ROG fans haven’t seen before. There’s only one configuration, selling for $1,999.99, which includes an AMD Ryzen 5900HS processor and a low-end GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card, as well as a QHD 120Hz screen, 16GB of RAM,...

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Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl look adorable in new trailer

At a Pokémon-focused livestream, Nintendo revealed a trailer showing off the absolutely adorable new look for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and _Shining Pearl._The clip gave a good overview of the world itself, along with some of the enhanced elements, like what sounds like a nice orchestral mix for the score. You can also decorate pokéballs with stickers now, and — finally — actually change your outfit in-game.

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS titles Diamond and Pearl. The new versions feature a much-changed chibi art style, along with “some of the player-friendly features of modern Pokémon games,” according to Nintendo. That includes a fan-favorite feature where a pokémon can follow you as you explore...

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Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 2 are already $25 off at Woot

Image: Samsung

Samsung announced the Galaxy Buds 2 wireless earbuds last week, so it’s a surprise that Woot is already offering a sizable discount on them. Normally priced at $150, you can snag a set in the graphite, white, lavender, or olive colorways for $125. In case you were worried there might be a catch — well, there is one. These don’t come with a Samsung warranty. Instead, you’ll get a 90-day warranty through Woot against hardware defects. If that’s not a deal-breaker for you, this could be a deal that’s worth jumping on.

My colleague Chris Welch recently reviewed them, and compared to the first-gen Galaxy Buds, these have added active noise cancellation. He says that the areas where Samsung made the biggest improvements, though, are with the...

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Pinterest is adding search filters for different hair textures

Pinterest’s new hair pattern search feature. | Image: Pinterest

Pinterest is launching a search tool to help people narrow their hair inspiration searches by hair pattern. When users search for hairstyles, new filter options — for coily, curly, wavy, and straight textures, as well as shaved / bald and protective styles — will appear under the search bar.

The filters should be particularly useful for people of color looking for styles tailored to their hair textures, and Pinterest says they were created with Black, brown, and Latinx people in mind. “Just the simple idea that I don’t have to work twice as hard to find a hairstyle because of my hair type is a game changer,” says Naeemah LaFond, an editorial hair stylist and global artistic director of the Amika hair care brand, who advised Pinterest...

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Microsoft is making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11

Microsoft’s upcoming release of Windows 11 will make it even harder to switch default browsers and ignores browser defaults in new areas of the operating system. While Microsoft is making many positive changes to the Windows 11 UI, the default apps experience is a step back and browser competitors like Mozilla, Opera, and Vivaldi are concerned.

In Windows 11, Microsoft has changed the way you set default apps. Like Windows 10, there’s a prompt that appears when you install a new browser and open a web link for the first time. It’s the only opportunity to easily switch browsers, though. Unless you tick “always use this app,” the default will never be changed. It’s incredibly easy to forget to toggle the “always use this app” option, or...

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Among Us devs aren’t happy with Fortnite’s blatant copying

Epic Games launched _Fortnite: Impostors_yesterday, a new mode that copies the Among Us game mechanics. While Among Us, the multiplayer game that soared in popularity at the start of the pandemic, was free on the Epic Games Store recently, Epic didn’t collaborate with Innersloth, the studio that created _Among Us,_for the new Fortnite mode. The developers behind Among Us are clearly surprised and unhappy that Epic has copied their game so blatantly, with social deduction gameplay and a very similar map.

“It would’ve been really, really cool to collab,” said Victoria Tran, Innersloth community director. “Like game mechanics, fine, those shouldn’t be gatekept, but at the very least even different themes or terminology makes things more...

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Ubisoft Singapore probed by national watchdog after toxic workplace allegations

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Ubisoft Singapore, the lead studio on Skull & Bones and co-developer of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, is being investigated by a national employment watchdog over allegations of misconduct at the studio. Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times reports that the country’s Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) began its investigation after receiving anonymous feedback about conditions at the studio.

The probe follows a wide-ranging report from Kotakulast month based on conversations with over 20 current and former employees about the studio’s allegedly toxic workplace environment. Sources said female employees were sometimes subjected to unwanted physical contact, and that subsequent investigations from HR...

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Samsung confirms it’s removing ads from its stock apps later this year

The $1,199 Galaxy S21 Ultra, which showed ads in its default apps. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Samsung has confirmed that it will stop showing ads in default apps including Samsung Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Theme. It follows comments made by its mobile chief TM Roh in an internal town hall meeting reported by Yonhap. “Samsung has made a decision to cease the advertisement on proprietary apps including Samsung Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Theme,” the company said in a statement given to The Verge. “The update will be ready by later this year.”

“Our priority is to deliver innovative mobile experiences for our consumers based on their needs and wants,” the company said. “We value feedback from our users and continue our commitment to provide them with the best possible experience from our Galaxy products and services.”

“...

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