Elden Ring exploit sends PC players into infinite death loops

An Elden Ring exploit is crashing PC players’ games and throwing them into infinite death loops, according to a report from PC Gamer.

As shown in a video from EldenRingUpdate on Twitter, the apparent hack occurs when an invader activates a specific ability, triggering some kind of glitch that causes the host’s game to crash. When the player tries to open the game, they find their character falling to their death over and over again.

⚠️Elden Ring PSA for PC players⚠️

There's an exploit going around on PC where hackers will corrupt your save file while you're invaded.

First they will crash your game, and when you open it back up, your character will be constantly falling to their death... pic.twitter.com/8et3bl8T1I

— Mordecai...

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Russia denies cosmonauts wore yellow in support of Ukraine

Cosmonauts boarded the ISS wearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag. | Screenshot: Roscosmos

Russian space agency Roscosmos has denied claims that its three cosmonauts wore what appeared to be the colors of the Ukrainian flag as a potential statement against the ongoing war, according to a report from the BBC. The three cosmonauts, Denis Mateev, Oleg Artemyev, and Sergey Korsakov donned bright yellow and blue suits as they boarded the International Space Station on Friday.

“Sometimes yellow is just yellow”

Roscosmos was quick to dismiss any reports that suggest the cosmonauts wore the colors in solidarity with Ukraine. “Sometimes yellow is just yellow,” the agency wrote in a translated post on Telegram (via Space.com). “The design of the uniform was agreed upon long before current events.” The post says yellow and blue are the...

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Fortnite’s new season removes building and adds Doctor Strange

A new season of Fortnite is upon us, and this one is a little... strange. Developer Epic Games is rolling out Chapter 3: Season 2 of the long-running battle royale, and it’s called Resistance; a story trailer (embedded above) features a number of opposing forces duking it out on the Fortnite island, along with a certain sorcerer from the Marvel universe.

Ahead of the season’s official announcement, Epic said that it would donate two weeks of its Fortnite proceeds to support Ukraine-related humanitarian efforts. This will last from March 20th through April 3rd.

The season makes a few big changes to the game. The most extreme is that, at least right now, building has been “wiped out,” removing one of the most distinct aspects of Fortnite...

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Epic is donating two weeks of Fortnite proceeds to Ukraine relief

A new season of Fortnite is launching today, and developer Epic will be donating all of its proceeds from the first two weeks to Ukraine-related humanitarian efforts. The action will last from March 20th through April 3rd, and will include all “real-money purchases” in the game, which means purchased V-bucks, subscriptions, gifted battles passes, and certain cosmetic packs. (Epic notes that “using V-Bucks in Fortnite will not be included as those are not real-money purchases.) It will also include retail gift card purchases so long as they’re redeemed during the two-week window.

As part of the effort, Microsoft will also be “committing their net proceeds for Fortnite during this time, so that we can get more aid to the people of...

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Netflix is releasing a Tekken anime series this year, here’s the first teaser trailer

Tekken: Bloodline | Image: Netflix

Netflix just announced one more title for its swelling library of original anime series. It plans to release Tekken: Bloodline later this year and revealed the series with a one-and-a-half-minute “official teaser” trailer. There’s no exact date or mention of episode count, but the summary reveals it will focus on Jin Kazama, who joined the series as a character in Tekken 3.

Unlike some other late 90s game franchises with sales of more than 50 million copies, the Tekken series has only had a few attempts at translating the story for movies or TV. Those attempts did manage to include a completely forgettable 2010 live-action flick that is most notable for being one of 43 movies on Rotten Tomatoes to earn a zero percent ratingbased on...

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Mac Studio teardown reveals potentially upgradeable SSD storage

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

During Max Tech’s teardown of the Mac Studio, the channel’s host Max Yuryev discovers something very interesting about Apple’s new hardware: two SSD ports. This may mean that the Mac Studio’s storage is upgradeable after all.

The SSD slots seem relatively easy to access

And there’s more good news: the SSD slots seem relatively easy to access — in the video, Yuryev removes the Studio’s rubber backing to reveal four screws connecting the bottom part of the device’s case. After removing that panel, Yuryev spots two SSD ports nestled beneath the Mac Studio’s power supply that he indicates may be accessible without taking apart the device any further (5:46).

As Yuryev continues to disassemble the Studio, removing its power supply and aluminum...

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NRA confirms last year’s ransomware attack

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has confirmed it was the subject of a ransomware attack that took place last October, according to a report from Gizmodo.

The attack brought the NRA’s network down for two weeks

In a filing to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the organization’s political action committee (PAC), explains the NRA experienced a ransomware attack on October 20th, 2021 that brought its “network offline for two weeks.” Since the NRA wasn’t “able to access email or network files until the second week of November,” the NRA failed to report nearly $2,500 worth of donations, which was the reason for the filing.

Last year, a Russian cybercriminals group that goes by the name of Grief took credit for allegedly hacking the...

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Amazon antitrust lawsuit filed by DC attorney general thrown out in court

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

An antitrust lawsuit filed against Amazon by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine was thrown out in court on Friday, according to a report by The New York Times.

DC Superior Court Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo granted Amazon’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which accuses the e-commerce giant of anticompetitive behavior by preventing third-party sellers from offering lower prices for their products on other platforms, including their own websites. Court records viewed by the NYT didn’t indicate why Judge Puig-Lugo decided to dismiss the complaint.

“We believe that the Superior Court got this wrong”

“We believe that the Superior Court got this wrong, and its oral ruling did not seem to consider the detailed allegations in the...

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Apple’s 11-inch iPad Pro with the M1 processor is $50 off at Amazon

Apple’s 11-inch iPad Pro packs plenty to love, including a 120Hz display and Face ID. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Ladies and gentlemen, once again, it’s the weekend — now featuring an extra hour of sunshine, whether you like it or not. On the deals front, Amazon is currently offering the 11-inch iPad Pro in its 128GB, Wi-Fi-ready configuration for $749. That’s $50 off the 2021 tablet’s regular asking price of $799, which matches the price of the 2022 10.9-inch iPad Air with 256GB of storage.

The iPad Air may be the new darling of Apple’s tablet lineup, but the iPad Pro still has some extra features worth considering, since they’re the same price today. First off, it has a 120Hz refresh rate screen for smoother scrolling and gaming, Face ID for easier unlocking (the Air uses Touch ID), and a four-speaker audio setup for bigger sound when it comes to...

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Vimeo is sorry, and here’s how it’s changing

It said its “legacy policies” were “poorly communicated.” | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Vimeo has announced that it’s making some major changes to its bandwidth policy, after several creators spoke out about how the company pulled the rug out from under them by demanding large sums of money if they wanted to keep hosting their videos on the platform. The new policies replace nebulous terms with definitive ones, and guarantee that creators will have time to prepare for changes.

In a post outlining the changes, Vimeo says that its new cap for monthly bandwidth use is a flat 2TB. Previously, the policy was applied to users who were repeatedly “in the top 1% of bandwidth usage,” which Vimeo itself admits could’ve been more transparent. The company also says that it’ll alert users when they go over that 2TB limit, so you...

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The best deals on MacBooks right now

The 2020 MacBook Air, one of the best laptops you can get, is now available at Amazon starting at $949.

With multiple configurations and various models to choose from, including ones equipped with Apple’s M1 processor, finding a deal on a MacBook or Mac Mini is not all that difficult. It’s a slightly different story for the newer M1 Pro and M1 Max-equipped MacBook Pros, but any bit of savings you can get on the new Pro models is sure to be worthwhile.

Here, we’ll run through the discounts that are currently available for the latest MacBook models, as well as any deals to be had on the Mac Mini. Of course, there are still some lingering discounts available for older, Intel-based configurations — which are compatible with macOS Monterey — but we strongly recommend opting for a newer model now that Apple has introduced its M1 chips across the...

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Telegram forgot to check its email and now it’s banned in Brazil

The company apparently missed the missive. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Telegram’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov has just put out a statement about whyBrazil’s Supreme Court is now suspending the app, and the reason is incredible. In the statement, which you can read in full below or on Durov’s Telegram channel, he says it was because his company was checking the wrong email address.

“It seems that we had an issue with emails going between our telegram.org corporate addresses and the Brazilian Supreme Court,” Durov says, going on to explain that his company asked the court to send future takedown requests “to a dedicated email address.” But the court didn’t do that, apparently — it kept using “the old general-purpose email address,” and Telegram missed them somehow, and now it’s getting banned, unless the...

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Google’s Android app will finally let you delete the last 15 minutes of your search history

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Google appears to be finally bringing the ability to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history to its Android app. Former _XDA Developers_editor-in-chief Mishaal Rahman said he was tipped about the feature seemingly rolling out, and a Verge editor has spotted the feature on their phone. We’ve asked Google if it can share any details about the rollout, but to check and see if you have it, open Google’s Android app, tap your profile picture, and look for the “Delete last 15 min” option.

This feature has taken some time to make its way to the Android app. Google first announced the feature at Google I/O in May, and it came to Google’s iOS app in July. At that time, Google said it would arrive on the Android version of the app later...

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Brazilian court orders Apple and Google to block Telegram over disinformation

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered Apple and Google to help block access to the Telegram messaging app within the country, according to Reuters. The sealed order, handed down today, demands Brazil’s telecommunications agency Anatel officially suspend Telegram until it complies with local orders and pays a series of fines. The news follows accusations that Telegram has failed to prevent users from spreading disinformation as it’s become a communications hub for President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilian authorities threatened to suspend Telegram earlier this year, saying it hadn’t responded to requests to fight false election information. Telegram responded in February by removing three channels from US-based...

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Workers at another NYC Amazon warehouse now have a union election date

It’s been a long journey to this election for LDJ5. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Workers at Amazon’s LDJ5 facility in Staten Island in New York City will be voting on whether to unionize with the Amazon Labor Union starting April 25th, according to a report from CNBC. It’s the second Staten Island Amazon warehouse to have a union election scheduled; workers at the company’s JFK8 facility — also seeking to be represented by the ALU— will begin voting on March 25th.

According to CNBC, the LDJ5 vote will be in person, and the National Labor Relations Board will tally the results beginning May 2nd.

It’s been a long road to this election for workers at LDJ5. The warehouse was initially included in a workers’ petition to the NLRB to hold elections at multiple Staten Island facilities, but the ALU withdrew that petition so...

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The Overwatch 2 closed beta starts April 26th on PC only

Overwatch 2 | Image: Blizzard

Last week, Blizzard revealed plans to start Overwatch 2 closed beta testing in April and attempted to open the door for user sign-ups, but its registration page crashed almost immediately under the strain. Now the developers are talking more about what to expect from the new game and have announced a date for the start of beta testing: April 26th.

The delayed development of this sequel is already occurring in the shadow of scandals, lawsuits, and Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. So far, the team has been quiet about how things are progressing, but with a date for the beta test set and plans to start season five of the Overwatch League in May using an early build of the new game, it appears that we’re going to hear...

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Instacart says it’s adding a fuel surcharge to help drivers paying high gas prices

Instacart is adding a fuel surcharge to defray the high price of gasoline | Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Grocery delivery platform Instacart announced Friday that it was joining the list of companies adding a temporary fuel surcharge to customers’ orders, intended to help offset higher-than-normal gas prices its driver-shoppers are paying.

In a blog post on its website, the company said it would implement the $.40 per order charge “over the next month,” but not when it takes effect. The post states that “every cent of the new, temporary fuel surcharge will be passed directly onto the shopper” and that it will launch “in the coming days.” Company spokesperson Charlotte Healow said in an email to The Verge that the policy would be in effect for one month after implementation. Asked if the charge would apply to electric or hybrid vehicles as...

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Looming oil crisis has energy watchdog begging people to drive less

Mind the gap tube platform warning sign on a London Underground station platform on 5th March 2022 in London, United Kingdom.  | photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

With gas prices painfully high, there’s a new plea coming from the international agency established to secure the globe’s oil supply: drive less to avoid a deeper energy crunch. That was the key takeaway from a 10-point plan the International Energy Agency (IEA) released today as the world nears peak oil demand season.

“As a result of Russia’s appalling aggression against Ukraine, the world may well be facing its biggest oil supply shock in decades, with huge implications for our economies and societies,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a press release. “We can also take action on demand to avoid the risk of a crippling oil crunch.”

“The world may well be facing its biggest oil supply shock in decade”

If advanced economies —...

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Microsoft might make it harder to share Xbox clips to Twitter

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Microsoft may be making it more difficult to share your gameplay captures to Twitter, based on changes to Xbox Insider builds reported by Windows Central. Right now, on my Xbox Series X, I can post a screenshot or video directly to Twitter through the Xbox’s interface, but according to Windows Central, Insider builds have removed that option and instead direct you to share from your phone.

Sharing Xbox captures from your phone isn’t new — I actually find it to be a pretty smooth experience. If you select a capture on your Xbox and then the option to share to mobile, your phone should pop a notification directing you right to that capture in the Xbox app so you can save and post it wherever you’d like.

You might have to tweet clips from...

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How to use Universal Control on your Mac and iPad

GIF: Apple

Universal Control is one of the coolest software tricks that Apple has come up with in years, and it’s a perfect example of what’s possible when a company has full control both over hardware and the software that runs on those devices. There are similar concepts, like Logitech Flow, but nothing quite so polished or deeply integrated at the operating system level as Universal Control.

When using Universal Control, you can use the keyboard and cursor from your Mac to control an iPad sitting beside it — and the opposite scenario also works. If you’ve got a Magic Keyboard for an iPad Pro, you can use that accessory’s keyboard and trackpad to control a Mac.

To use Universal Control, your Mac needs to be running macOS 12.3 or later, while...

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Xbox Cloud Gaming now supports Steam Deck through Microsoft Edge

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Microsoft says it has worked closely with Valve to get Xbox Cloud Gaming working on the Steam Deck. While Steam Deck users have been able to access the Xbox game streaming service, it wasn’t possible to use the handheld controls to play games. Microsoft has now released a beta version of Microsoft Edge for the Steam Deck that includes full support.

“We worked closely with Valve and the Xbox Cloud Gaming team to bring support for Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate through Microsoft Edge Beta for the Steam Deck,” says Missy Quarry, a community manager for Microsoft Edge. “We’re particularly excited about this ourselves as we feel it can open new opportunities in the Linux gaming community.”

We worked closely with our...

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Humble Bundle organizes Stand With Ukraine charity bundle

Humble Bundle

With the war in Ukraine entering its third week, Humble Bundle is releasing a charity game bundle with all proceeds supporting relief efforts in the country. In the announcement, Humble wrote:

Today, Humble has joined forces with game creators, book publishers, and software makers from around the globe to launch the Stand With Ukraine Bundle that will give 100% of its proceeds to support the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine through charity partners: Razom for Ukraine, International Rescue Committee, International Medical Corps, and Direct Relief.

The bundle features over 120 games, books, and software, including the _Spyro Reignited Trilogy_and_Back 4 Blood,_the Pathfinder and Warhammer rule books, and a 12-month license for GameMaker...

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How to run Cinebench to test your PC

We here at _The Verge_use benchmark utilities a lot to compare computers to each other and figure out which ones are the most powerful. But that’s not their only purpose. You may also want to run them just to see how your own PC stacks up to the competition and make sure it’s running as well as it’s supposed to.

One of the easiest utilities for beginners to run is Cinebench R23. This program uses your CPU to render a 3D image and evaluates how well it does that. It’s free and only takes 10 minutes to run.

Here’s how to do it.

Here’s what Cinebench looks like in the app store.

How to Download Cinebench

If you’re using a Mac, search for Cinebench in the App Store. If you’re on Windows, you can find it in the...

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PayPal is making more features freely available to Ukrainians

Another win for Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

PayPal is expanding the services available to its Ukrainian users and waiving fees to help with humanitarian efforts in the country during Russia’s ongoing invasion. According to a news release, Ukrainians will be able to send and receive peer-to-peer PayPal or Xoom payments, and the company won’t apply its normal fees to either side of the transaction (h/t CNN Business).

PayPal also says that it’s giving Ukrainians the ability to transfer money out of their accounts onto Mastercard and Visa cards. Citizens who have fled the country will also be able to access these features if they set up a Ukrainian PayPal account. The company says Ukrainians will be able to send and receive funds in US and Canadian dollars, as well as British pounds...

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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gets free 30-day free trial of Paramount Plus to watch the Halo TV show

Halo is coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Not the games (which, after all, are already available on the streaming service), but Halo: The Series — the upcoming live-action Paramount Plus adaptation of the sci-fi shooter, which debuts on March 24th.

And to make sure that Game Pass Ultimate subscribers don’t miss out on the latest installment in the franchise, Microsoft is offering customers a free 30-day membership to Paramount Plus starting on March 23rd (a day before the show starts) so that they can be ready to tune in when the show arrives the following day.

Halo (the TV show) is technically set in a different continuity than the existing video games, books, and other Halo content that’s come before. The show takes place a new...

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Hummer EV recalled over faulty taillight software — and quickly fixed

The 2022 Hummer EV was barely out of the starting gate before it got hit with its first recall. General Motors issued a recall last week for at least 10 of the electric pickup trucks after determining that there was something wrong with the software that powers the taillights. (Yep, you read that right. Cars are basically just rolling computers now.)

The official cause of the problem is the “[e]mbedded software in the microcontroller in the taillamp assembly,” according to the recall notice filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The software bug can affect one or both of the taillights

The software bug can affect one or both of the taillights, causing them to be partially illuminated or all-the-way ineffective....

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WeCrashed is the podcast-to-TV-show pipeline’s weirdest one yet

Anne Hathaway as Rebekah Neumann and Jared Leto as Adam Neumann in WeCrashed. | Apple TV+

Apple’s WeWork drama is yet another podcast reborn as a TV show

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Facebook is locking out people who didn’t activate Facebook Protect

Illustration by Alex Castro

Early in March, a bunch of Facebook users got a mysterious, spam-like email titled “Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect” and telling them that they were required to turn on the Facebook Protect feature (which they could do by hitting a link in the email) by a certain date, or they would be locked out of their account.

The program, according to Facebook, is a “security program for groups of people that are more likely to be targeted by malicious hackers, such as human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials.” It’s meant to do things like ensure those accounts are monitored for hacking threats and that they are protected by two-factor authentication (2FA).

Unfortunately, the email that Facebook...

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Twitter Spaces hosts will be able to share clips from recordings in new test

Share part of a Twitter Spaces conversation with a clip. | Image: Twitter

Twitter is testing a new feature for its Spaces audio rooms that allows a host to share a clip of recorded Spaces on their timeline. The feature is now available to “certain Hosts on iOS.” Everyone on iOS can see and listen to clips, while those on Android and the web will be able to “real soon,” according to Twitter.

ever wish you could capture a moment from a Space? great because we’re testing clipping!

certain Hosts on iOS can now clip 30 seconds of audio from recorded Spaces to share, everyone on iOS can see & listen to clips on the Timeline—coming to Android and web real soon pic.twitter.com/DZcV1dzGaz

— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) March 18, 2022

Clips are already quite useful on other platforms — they’re a handy way to share...

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What matters about Matter, the new smart home standard

Products that are Matter-compatible will have the Matter logo on them. | Image: CSA

How Amazon, Google, Apple, and Samsung will work with Matter, and which products you should buy.

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