Earthquake sensors can detect disastrous floods

Destroyed houses, hotels and railway tracks pictured during ongoing cleanup efforts in the Ahr Valley region following catastrophic flash floods on August 4th, 2021, near Dernau, Germany | Photo by Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images

Earthquake sensors can detectfast-moving floods barreling toward them, new research finds. That information is especially valuable to people working on early warning systems for floods, whichcould give people crucial time to get to safety, preventing deaths and flood damage, according to the authors of a recently published paper.

Communities in Germany’s Ahr Valley experienced a devastating flood that washed away homes and killed almost 200 people in July 2021. Studying that disaster, the researchers discovered that a nearby seismometer station — intended to monitor earthquakes — detected valuable details about the flood as it was happening.

“If the data stream from that station had been available and analysed as our research now...

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Now Mark Zuckerberg’s making fun of Apple for iMessage, too

What’s up with iMessage’s privacy? | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Mark Zuckerberg spent last week dragging Apple about how it could run an ecosystem for VR apps, but now it seems he’s chosen a different target: on Monday, he posted a picture of an ad for WhatsApp on Instagram, along with a comment about how the platform is more secure than iMessage. Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, also posted a tweet thread going over many of the same talking points.

The ad, which is shown at Pennsylvania Station in New York City, is relatively simple, making fun of the green bubble / blue bubble dichotomy and urging users to use WhatsApp instead so they can use end-to-end encryption to message privately. In his post, however, Zuckerberg is more direct, saying that WhatsApp is “far more private and secure than...

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Gadgets that break things: our favorite hacking hardware

Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge

Not all gadgets are meant to make life easier.

Some gadgets break things, exploiting cracks in our digital systems, prying them open, and crawling inside. Most often used by penetration testers — a kind of white-hat hacker hired to test a company’s security by breaking in themselves — these gadgets serve as a kind of road map to the most common vulnerabilities in our digital world.

For the most part, they’re commercialized versions of tech that already existed in a scrappier form, leaning on open-source software projects and decades of work developing attacks. But most importantly, they’re available, so if you decide you want to try out one of these attacks, the equipment is only a click away.

Please use them only for good.

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Former Bayonetta voice actor urges boycott of Bayonetta 3

Image: Nintendo

Over the weekend, in a shocking series of videos shared on Twitter, Hellena Taylor, Bayonetta’s original voice actor, shared that the reason she did not return for Bayonetta 3was because of an “insulting” offer for the role. As a result, she’s asking fans to boycott the game, which releases on October 28th.

On October 15th, the voice actor posted three videos on Twitter sharing her story, detailing her years of experience and training. “And what did they think this was worth?” she said in the video. “The final offer to do the whole game [...] was $4,000 US dollars.”

Taylor called the offer “an insult to me” and asked fans to boycott the game and donate the money they intended to spend on Bayonetta 3 to charity. In the subsequent...

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Netflix announces Profile Transfers — for when it forces you to finally pay up

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Netflix announced a new feature on Monday called Profile Transfer after months of testing in a few countries around the world. The feature allows users to move their “personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, and other settings” to a new account, according to the company’s press release.

There are two reasons this feature exists, only one of which Netflix would probably like you to think about. The first is users who share an account with a roommate, a partner, or their parents, and then eventually, you part ways, but you’re still stuck awkwardly staring at their name every time you log in. Do you quietly change your password and lock them out? Do you call them and tell them to get their own account? Netflix...

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A Plague Tale gets bigger and more ferocious with sequel Requiem

Image: Focus Entertainment

Not all of the changes are for the better with the new game, but the core remains unlike anything else out there

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The Turtle Beach Recon Cloud controller is a chunky alternative to phone controllers

You can touch grass while streaming your games — as long as your Wi-Fi reaches your porch.

The new Turtle Beach Recon Cloud is an all-in-one controller for playing games on Xbox, PC, Android, and mobile streaming (Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Steam Link). This controller, now available in the US, is essentially Turtle Beach’s existing Recon but with the addition of Bluetooth to wirelessly pair with phones, tablets, and PCs.

The other key component giving the Recon its “cloud” designation is the simple addition of a mobile phone clip in the box, which screws into the gamepad’s top for a very sturdy mount. While it offers more flexibility than a dedicated mobile phone controller like a Backbone One or Razer Kishi, its $99.99 price point seems a little high if you’re not frequently using all the functionality it...

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Harrison Ford is the next big actor joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Harrison Ford will appear in the next Captain America movie. | Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images

The rumors are true: Harrison Ford will be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’ll be taking over the role of General Ross in the fourth Captain America movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ross was previously played by William Hurt, who died earlier this year.

Ford will join Anthony Mackie in Captain America: New World Order. Mackie will reprise his role as Sam Wilson and, after the events of the Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America. The new movie is currently scheduled to debut on May 3rd, 2024.

Ford has had something of a resurgence in tentpole movie franchises over the past several years, though many of his appearances have been reprisals. He came back to play Han Solo in Star Wars:...

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Today is your last chance to save $50 on the Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld

The G Cloud Gaming Handheld from Logitech has a launch price of $349.99. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

Happy Monday, campers, the Verge Deals team is back in action. While we aren’t seeing quite the same amount of exciting discounts we saw during last week’s Prime sale, there are still plenty of deals to take a look at. Starting off, if you’re excited about the impending release of Logitech’s new G Cloud Gaming Handheld, today is your last chance to preorder one and save $50 off the launch price at Best Buy, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.

Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld

Our review of the Logitech handheld makes it clear that cloud gaming has an awful lot of potential in this form factor, even if it isn’t a perfect device by itself. The G Cloud differs from conventional gaming handhelds like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck in that...

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Nintendo Switch Sports will be back online this week following game-breaking bug

You’ll be able to bowl online again soon. | Image: Nintendo

Nintendo says it will be bringing Nintendo Switch Sports back online after it shut down the servers due to a bug last week. The servers will return when a patch, version 1.2.2, begins rolling out on Tuesday, according to a Google-translated support page on Nintendo’s Japanese website (via VGC). A second patch scheduled for Thursday, version 1.2.3, will once again let you back up your saves to Nintendo’s cloud services.

The bug, which caused the game to shut down during a pre-match loading screen and affects both online and offline play, was included as part of the Switch Sports version 1.2.1 update, Nintendo said on Friday. The company halted the rollout of that update, temporarily shut down the servers, and suspended save data backups...

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Over-the-counter hearing aids are officially available

Sony Electronics announced new over-the-counter hearing aids. | Image: Sony Electronics

Hearing aids are now available over the counter for the first time in the United States. They’re on sale at places like Walgreens and Walmart, and companies like Sony have already developed new hearing aids for this new regulatory turn.

The Food and Drug Administration announced the rule change allowing over-the-counter hearing aids in August. They go into effect Monday, opening up cheaper and more accessible options to people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

Prescription hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars a pair. In contrast,Walmart will offer over-the-counter hearing aids at a price point ranging from $199–$999 per pair. “Offering easy access to OTC hearing aids — something that seems quite small — is a solution that can...

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Logitech’s G Cloud Gaming Handheld is terminally online

This well-designed machine is great for playing cloud games (or streaming local PC games). But it’d be easier to recommend if it were either less costly or if its hardware could run games better when you’re away from Wi-Fi.

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TikTok is raising the age requirement for going live and introducing adult-only streams

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok is updating its livestream system to limit kids from going live and to allow streamers to only reach adults.

In a blog post, TikTok announced a slew of changes to its livestream feature, including new age gating methods and creator tools. Currently, anyone with at least 1,000 followers who’s over the age of 16 can start a livestream on TikTok, and people over 18 can send and receive tips — one of the ways creators make money on the platform. Beginning November 23rd, only users 18 and up will be able to host a livestream.

“To protect our users and creators and support their well-being, we constantly work to evolve the safeguards we put in place,” TikTok says in the blog post.

In addition to higher age minimums, people hosting...

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Discord launches YouTube integration and new $2.99 Nitro Basic subscription

Image: Discord

Discord is launching a Nitro Basic subscription alongside a new Activities feature that includes YouTube integration and casual games. The YouTube integration comes more than a year after the Google-owned video service forced two popular Discord music bots offline. Discord has been testing this YouTube Watch Together feature for more than a year, which allows Discord members to watch YouTube videos in sync.

While it’s not a straight replacement for the popular Discord YouTube bots, it’s certainly a lot more interactive. Discord users can create a playlist of videos that can be played, and friends will have to join the activity to watch and listen. It also arrives weeks after Discord users began noticing more bots that rely on YouTube...

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Riot Games has acquired Wargaming Sydney, part of the company behind World of Tanks

Wargaming Sydney helped to develop gaming architecture used by online titles and MMOs such as World of Tanks. | Image: Wargaming

Video game developer and publisher Riot Games has announced its acquisition of Wargaming Sydney, a gaming software development studio that’s part of Cyprus-based Wargaming, the publisher behind titles such as World of Tanks and World of Warships. Riot did not disclose the price of the purchase.

Wargaming Sydney is one of the largest games studios in Australia, formed under its original name of BigWorld back in 2002. It was by Wargaming in 2012. The studio has created game development tools and other software architecture required to develop online games such as MMOs. After the acquisition by Riot, Wargaming Sydney will be renamed Riot Sydney and will assist in the development of Riot games such as Valorant and League of Legends.

W...

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Your Comcast Xfinity internet might be getting a speed boost

Speeds are going up for many plans. | Image: Comcast

Comcast is upgrading internet speeds for more than 20 million Xfinity customers, the company announced Monday. The changes, which will affect “most of our customers” across the country, according to a statement from Bill Connors, president of Xfinity for Comcast Cable, roll out beginning this week. Speeds will go up at no extra charge.

Here’s which plans are impacted and how much they’re changing, per a press release:

• Performance Starter / Connect is increasing from 50Mbps to 75Mbps
• Performance / Connect More is increasing from 100Mbps to 200Mbps
• Performance Pro / Fast is increasing from 300Mbps to 400Mbps
• Blast / Superfast is increasing from 600Mbps to 800Mbps
• Extreme Pro / Gigabit (formerly Ultrafast) is increasing from 900Mbps to...

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Persona 5 and Nier are further proof the Switch is a perfect RPG machine

Persona 5 Royal is just as good as you might have hoped on Nintendo Switch. | Image: Atlus

The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic machine for role-playing games; it’s something Nintendo has been aware of from the very start. The hybrid nature of the Switch makes it easy to settle in for hours-long sessions on your TV or, when you have just 15 minutes to spare on the bus, tackle a mission or battle in handheld mode.

More than five and a half years in, the Switch has a robust library of RPGs, both new and old. But this month, two modern classics join that collection — including Persona 5 Royal, which is just as good as you might have hoped.

Everything that made Persona 5 such a hit is intact

I first played through Royal in 2020 on the PS4, and to me, the Switch version feels nearly exactly the same. Everything that made Persona 5...

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The WiFi Coconut is a router’s evil twin

Wi-Fi is how most people connect to the internet most of the time — but from a security standpoint, it’s a remarkably wobbly foundation.

We treat Wi-Fi connections like hardened tunnels to wherever we’re connecting on the internet, but there’s nothing inherently private about the signal. Wi-Fi is just radio, and like any radio, the signals go out in all directions all the time. Anyone with the right antenna can listen to what’s being broadcast, and it’s nearly impossible to tell that they’re doing it. Even more dangerous, anyone can offer Wi-Fi, so it’s hard to be absolutely sure who you’re connecting to. This is why hardened systems like SecureDrop often pull out a computer’s Wi-Fi card completely. Without wireless capability, the...

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Straight Talk is offering a prepaid version of Verizon’s 5G home internet

Image: Straight Talk

Straight Talk, a subsidiary of Verizon’s Tracfone provider, is now offering a prepaid 5G home internet service that you can sign up for without having to go through a credit check. The $45 per month service uses Verizon’s 5G and 4G networks and a router, available at “nearly 2,000 Walmart stores across the country,” according to a press release, to provide home internet without having to have a company come and hook up a modem. But while the company pitches it as an affordable option, there are definitely some considerations you’ll want to take into account if you’re looking to get cellular internet as cheaply as possible.

Compared to Verizon’s 5G home internet plans, Straight Talk’s home internet is less expensive in most cases....

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How to rescue your hacked account: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and more

Vincent Kilbride / The Verge

Hackers commandeer online accounts at industrial scale. Here’s how to restore and protect your access to Apple, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify, TikTok, and Twitter.

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Kanye West is buying ‘free speech platform’ Parler

Ye at Paris Fashion Week. | Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Kanye West, the musician also known as Ye, is buying Parler, a social media platform that styles itself as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter. The acquisition was announced by Parler in a press release, which said that it has entered into an agreement in principle with Ye that’s expected to close later this year.

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” said Ye in a press statement.

Parler’s parent company Parlement Technologies said the acquisition would help create “an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome.”

News of the acquisition comes a little over a week after Ye was locked out of first his Instagram account...

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Android 12 arrives on the two-year-old Chromecast with Google TV

The Chromecast with Google TV 4K, originally released in 2020. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Android 12 is rolling out for the 4K model of the Chromecast with Google TV, 9to5Google reports. The update for the 2020 streaming dongle follows the release of Google’s cheaper HD model last month, which shipped with Android 12 out of the box. To download the update on the 4K dongle, navigate to the profile icon at the top right of the interface, then hit Settings, System, About, and select System Update.

The update doesn’t add any major new features to the two-year-old streaming dongle, but it contains a couple of new settings that should improve playback in certain situations. FlatPanelsHD reports that the biggest is a new frame rate matching feature that should cut down on judder by allowing the Chromecast to match the frame rate of...

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Comcast is shutting down its gamer-centric G4 channel, again

Image: G4 TV

Comcast is shutting down G4 after attempting to relaunch the gaming channel last year, according to a report from Deadline. The channel first appeared on linear cable back in 2002 until it met its demise as the final studio shows were axed in 2012, and it was eventually replaced by the Esquire Network.

Dave Scott, the CEO of Comcast’s Spectacor division, announced the shutdown in an internal memo obtained by Deadline before it was even sent, saying that the channel has had low viewership and has not “achieved sustainable financial results.”

I don't have a job anymore! Looking for new opportunities if anyone is interested in a social/digital content producer https://t.co/cgeaOCj7x2

— Kendelle Lyn (@KendelleLyn) October 16, 2022

A...

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Android’s audio output switcher may soon let you pick cast devices, too

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google may soon start letting you pick from cast devices when using the audio output switcher on Android 13, according to Esper’s Mishaal Rahman. The output switcher, which was first introduced in Android 11, currently only lets you swap between media playback sessions on paired Bluetooth devices, such as wireless headphones or a speaker.

But an update to the Google Cast SDK (software development kit), suggests that Android 13’s output switcher could allow for local-to-remote, remote-to-local, and remote-to-remote transfers. As pointed out by Rahman, “local” refers to transfers involving paired Bluetooth devices, while “remote” refers to cast devices.

FINALLY! Google is reviving a feature originally planned for Android 11: the ability...

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Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV is a more down-to-earth luxury electric vehicle

The EQE SUV will be out by 2023. | Image: Mercedes-Benz

The Mercedes-Benz EQE has been SUV-ified. The German automaker revealed a higher riding, more utility-focused version of its EQE sedan, and while the price is still being kept under wraps, the EQE SUV is expected to hit US dealerships starting in 2023.

We’ve known that we’d be getting an SUV version of the EQE sedan since it was first revealed last year. Mercedes did the same for its flagship EV, the EQS, coming out with the SUV version earlier this month. It’s the fourth EV to be built on the automaker’s new EV platform.

Mercedes says the EQE SUV will be “the most spacious representatives of its class”

With the EQE SUV, we’re getting three trim levels — one rear-motor and two dual-motor versions — as well as an AMG performance...

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Apple Music’s spatial audio is coming to select Mercedes-Benz models

Image: Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz announced today that it’s bringing support for Apple’s Music’s spatial audio to certain vehicles. Apple Music launched spatial audio with Dolby Atmos last year on a range of devices, including the iPhone, Mac, HomePod, and Apple TV, but this is the first time it’ll be available natively in a car.

As you might have guessed, the integration doesn’t come cheap. Mercedes-Benz started adding Dolby Atmos to its top-of-the-line Maybach, S-Class, as well as electric EQS and EQE models that come with the automaker’s latest MBUX interface and the 31-speaker Burmester 3D or 4D sound system. While the vehicles themselves cost upwards of $100,000, this doesn’t even include the additional $4,550 (3D) or $6,730 (4D) Burmester sound system...

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Microsoft’s out-of-date driver list left Windows PCs open to malware attacks for years

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft failed to properly protect Windows PCs from malicious drivers for nearly three years, according to a report from Ars Technica. Although Microsoft says its Windows updates add new malicious drivers to a blocklist downloaded by devices, Ars Technica found these updates never actually stuck.

This gap in coverage left users vulnerable to a certain type of attack called BYOVD, or bring your own vulnerable driver. Drivers are the files your computer’s operating system uses to communicate with external devices and hardware, such as a printer, graphics card, or webcam. Since drivers can access the core of a device’s operating system, or kernel, Microsoft requires that all drivers are digitally signed, proving that they are safe to use....

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Elon Musk says Starlink will keep funding Ukraine’s government ‘for free’ despite losing money

Laura Normand / The Verge

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reversed his decision to stop funding the Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, saying on Twitter that the company will continue to provide “free” satellite internet service to the government even if it means the company loses money.

“The hell with it,” Musk writes on Twitter. “Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”

The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022

On Friday, a report from CNN revealed that SpaceX asked the government if it can pay for any...

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Apple reportedly wants to turn the iPad into a smart display with a new dock

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple is working on a dock for the iPad that would allow the device to function as a smart display and speaker, according to a report to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The company reportedly plans on introducing the capability as soon as next year, converting the iPad into an Amazon Echo Show-like device that you can set atop a counter or nightstand.

Amazon already does something similar with its Fire tablets, as the company lets users place the devices into a charging dock to prop them up like a smart display. Even Google announced a docking accessory for its upcoming Pixel Tablet last week, which is supposed to serve as both a magnetic charging station and speaker. Once the tablet’s in place, it’ll function like a Nest Hub Max, letting you...

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Razer’s Edge is one sharp-looking cloud gaming Android handheld

$399.99 is an aggressive price for a promising Android handheld that has a 6.8-inch OLED screen with 144Hz refresh rate. | Image: Razer

Razer is finally showing off the Edge, its portable Android gaming handheld. Good news: it looks a lot better than the last time we saw it in December 2021. There’s a lot to go over with this one. The Edge will release in a Wi-Fi-only version for $399.99 in January 2023, followed by a 5G-ready version through Verizon in early 2023. It’ll support the carrier’s ultra wideband and sub-6GHz networks. Razer’s following the Steam Deck reservation model, allowing people to pay $5 to reserve an Edge.

It’s meant to be a great device for cloud game streaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia GeForce Now. Razer says that the Edge supports up to 144 frames per second through the Steam Link app when you’re streaming PC games locally. The Edge runs...

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