The Verge

Image: Nintendo “MAR10 Day” is tomorrow, but several retailers have already begun the festivities by making more stock available for the limited-edition Nintendo Switch that is based on the mustached plumber.The Nintendo Switch Mario Red & Blue Edition was released last month but has been hard to find since its launch. Now it is back in stock at several retailers, including Best Buy and GameStop. Retailing for $300, which is the normal price for Nintendo’s hybrid console, the limited-edition Switch features an all-red console, a red dock stand, a pair of red Joy-Cons, a red casing around the screen, and a blue Joy-Con grip. The console also includes a screen protector and a special carrying case for no additional cost.Over at Best Buy, the retailer... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge With #TeBuscamosWendy, Wendy’s brother kept attention on her disappearance Continue reading…

Image: Vudu Vudu, the digital video service that was owned by Walmart before Fandango bought it last year, is finally making its way to the Amazon Fire TV platform. The app is a big source of high-quality, 4K HDR movie rentals. You can also access your existing Vudu library — including Movies Anywhere titles — with the Fire TV app, which should be rolling out in the coming days.“We want Vudu fans to be able to watch movies and TV shows on all of their favorite devices, and Fire TV has been one of our customers’ most-requested devices for streaming content,” Kevin Shepela, Fandango’s chief commercial officer, said in a press release.With Vudu joining the roster of apps, Fire TV owners will get another go-to destination for Dolby Vision content.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter’s social audio feature Spaces continues to expand its test group, but currently if you miss a live session, you miss the conversation for good. That, however, might change soon. In an interview with The Verge’s Nilay Patel on his Decoder podcast, Kayvon Beykpour, head of consumer product at Twitter, says the company plans to build a way to natively record conversations.“I think it should be a choice,” he says. “If you think that the conversation was worth playing back, you ought to be able to do that. I personally am a little bit more bullish on two things. One, obviously the host should be able to save it and do whatever they want. Maybe you host a Space, you save it, then want to go edit it. You should be able to do that.”He... Continue reading…

A bookbinding creation by omgreylo. | Photo by omgreylo Book binders are making fanfiction physical, so it can sit alongside the authorized tales Continue reading…

Samsung Samsung has announced its newest SSD, a follow-up to the 970 Evo called the 980. The drive is a NVMe M.2 PCIe 3.0 drive, and it’s an affordable one, too. It costs up to $129.99 for the 1TB version and as little as $49.99 for the 250GB model.There’s a reason for the low price — it’s Samsung’s first-ever DRAM-less NVMe SSD, a cost-cutting measure that many other storage manufacturers have already dabbled with to varying degrees of success. The 980 lacks fast dynamic random access memory typically used for mapping the contents of an SSD, which would help it quickly and efficiently serve up your data.Yet despite removing the feature, Samsung is touting some impressive performance compared to other DRAM-less options because this drive... Continue reading…

Image: Mobvoi Following the TicWatch Pro 3, Mobvoi has announced the TicWatch Pro S, a smartwatch that carries over some of the hallmark TicWatch features like a “Dual Display” that layers an always-on LCD over an AMOLED screen for longer battery life, and some custom health apps, for a slightly more affordable $259.99 price. But the older internals of the device might not make it so appetizing.The TicWatch Pro S costs $40 less than the Pro 3, but that price comes with pretty big tradeoffs. First and foremost, an old processor. As we highlighted in our review, the more expensive TicWatch Pro 3 has a new Snapdragon 4100 that brings more processing power and battery efficiency to address some long-standing Wear OS issues. But the TicWatch Pro S makes... Continue reading…

Microsoft has finalized its $7.5 billion deal to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Doom and Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks. The finalization comes just a day after Microsoft secured regulatory approval from the EU for the acquisition, and it will now bolster the company’s first-party Xbox games studios up to a total of 23.“This is the next step in building an industry-leading first party studios team, a commitment we have to our Xbox community,” says Microsoft’s gaming chief Phil Spencer. “With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams, gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge Kayvon Beykpour, head of consumer product, on the company’s new product plan Continue reading…

Fitbit Fitbit has introduced the third iteration of its Ace activity and sleep tracker for kids. The Fitbit Ace 3, designed for kids ages six and up, adds new animated clock faces, customizable accessories, and claims eight days of battery life in a “swim-proof” design with new color options, too.In addition to improved battery life, the Ace 3 has a 20 percent brighter screen and includes do not disturb and sleep modes. The new animated clock faces — including a bunny, a cat, a Martian, and spaceship designs — change and grow as kids make progress toward their fitness goals. Image: Fitbit Fitbit Ace 3 tracker for kids. The Fitbit Ace was designed to help kids build healthy habits and increase physical activity. It... Continue reading…

The Insta360 Go 2 looks like an oversized Tic Tac with an eyeball. At 26.5 grams and the size of my thumb, Insta360’s latest action camera, the Go 2, looks like an oversized Tic Tac with an eyeball. It’s the second generation in the Go lineup, which is Insta360’s only non-360-degree camera line. Where the first-generation Go left a lot to be desired, particularly in the image quality department, the $299 Go 2 comes with a new charging case, larger sensor, and improved image quality, making a strong case for a mobile-first action camera. The Go 2’s case is slightly larger than an AirPods Pro case. The case has a 1/4-inch thread for support mounting and a USB-C port for charging. The most noticeable changes to this tiny camera come in the hardware department.... Continue reading…

Photo by Javi Hernandez It’s more than just a hobby, with some enthusiasts hoping to strike it rich Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge After less than a year on the market, Sony’s latest gaming console, the PlayStation 5, has become one of the most sought-after devices. With supplies limited and demand high, it has been difficult to try to secure a unit. If you are still looking to grab a PS5 for yourself or a loved one, Target has the console in stock right now in both the digital edition and disc drive variants.If you are fortunate enough to buy Sony’s new gaming console, I have a few suggestions on some additional items you may want to buy. Of course, you’ll likely want to buy some games for your new console. The PS5 is home to some of the most popular titles right now, such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and the 2020 remake of Demon’s Souls, as well as some other... Continue reading…

Images: Audi Audi has revealed the interior of its next EV, the Q4 E-Tron, which serves up mostly modern SUV vibes and features a few new technologies making their way into Audi’s vehicles.The centerpiece of what Audi debuted on Tuesday is a new augmented reality heads-up display in front of the driver, which offers a wider field of view and more accurate and advanced animations. Some examples Audi gave of it in use are:

Illustration by Ana Kova Google Translate still isn’t reliable enough to use for medical instructions for people who don’t speak English, according to a new study published last week. Sometimes, it works: it was the most accurate when translating emergency department discharge instructions into Spanish. But a lot of the time, especially with less common languages, it doesn’t — the study found it was only 55 percent accurate for Armenian. That’s a big problem when it comes to health information, where any misunderstanding can be dangerous.“All you need is one error that creates confusion for a patient, and they don’t take their blood thinner or they take too much of their blood thinner,” says study author Lisa Diamond, a health disparities researcher at... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge More than half a million people have signed up to a newly launched service called Dr. B in an attempt to snag a COVID-19 vaccine — and reduce the number of doses that might end up in the trash. Led by ZocDoc founder Cyrus Massoumi, Dr. B is a website that aims to function as a kind of emergency alert system for thawed coronavirus vaccines, which typically need to be injected within six hours of being thawed.“This vaccine is now the scarcest resource on earth,” says Massoumi. “We were concerned about the fact that a lot of the vaccine ends up in this last-minute shuffle at the end of the day.”“This vaccine is now the scarcest resource on earth”A longtime drag on conventional health care, missed appointments have become an unusually... Continue reading…

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Microsoft once envisioned a future full of Cortana-powered fridges, toasters, and thermostats, but it never worked out. Harman Kardon’s Invoke speaker was the first and only Cortana-powered speaker to hit the market, but it’s now receiving an update on Wednesday to disable Microsoft’s digital assistant.Harman Kardon will push an update to the Invoke speaker tomorrow (spotted by Thurrott) to remove Cortana, after Microsoft announced its plans last year to shut down its digital assistant across multiple devices. “Please note that the Cortana service on the Harman Kardon Invoke will end in the coming months regardless of whether you receive the update,” says Harman Kardon. Cortana is also disappearing on iOS and Android, and even... Continue reading…

The Concept 1 is designed to illustrate the design elements that’ll drive Nothing’s products. | Image: Nothing Nothing, the new tech company from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has unveiled the Concept 1. It’s a render showing off the kinds of design features the company will use in its upcoming true wireless earbuds, its debut product due for release this summer. It was designed by Tom Howard, the company’s head of design who also serves as vice head of design at Nothing’s partner Teenage Engineering.To confuse matters, the Concept 1 isn’t something that Nothing actually plans to release and sell. It’s not even clear if it exists as a physical device. “While the same designs principles will be followed and there will be similarities to Concept 1, the end product will look different,” said a Nothing spokesperson in an email to The Verge.The way... Continue reading…

Dell has launched its new G15 gaming laptop, which will be available first in China before coming to other regions around the world. The laptop’s industrial design is all-new, though the most notable feature might be the paint job.Yep, those are paint flecks you see in the photos. Dell says the new G15 uses “low-VOC waterborne paint for a durable and environmentally conscious design;” it’s available in colorways including Spector Green with Speckles, Phantom Grey with Speckles, Dark Shadow Grey, and Obsidian Black. Our advice: go with the speckles. We don’t have full specs for the new G15 just yet, but it can be outfitted with Nvidia RTX 3000-series graphics and has “three performance options ranging up to 115W of TDP.”... Continue reading…

Image: Warner Bros. The Snyder Cut is set to release on March 18th, but some viewers already got a truly inexplicable sneak peek today — quite a few people trying to watch the Tom and Jerry movie on HBO Max were instead shown the upcoming R-rated version of Justice League (via The Hollywood Reporter). I guess you could say Warner Bros. really let the cat out of the bag.HBO confirmed that, yes, this did in fact happen: “Zack Snyder’s Justice League was temporarily available on HBO Max and the error was addressed within minutes,” a spokesperson tells The Verge. At this moment, It’s unclear if this error was worldwide, or if the Snyder Cut only showed up in certain regions.A few Verge staff tried the trick for ourselves, but were instead greeted by the... Continue reading…

The Aya Neo — a Nintendo Switch-style handheld gaming PC that promises to offer a full-fledged PC gaming experience in the palm of your hands — is now available to back on Indiegogo, starting at $6,120 HKD (~$789 USD) for the 500GB model.This version of the Neo is technically the second, following the limited, sold-out run of the “Founder’s Edition” that Aya offered back in January. The new, broader release promises several improvements over that initial version, including:

Despite years of promotion, Verizon’s 5G network still lags behind 4G. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Verizon 4G appears to be getting even better than its nationwide 5G network, according to new tests conducted by PCMag’s Sascha Segan. After last week’s tweet suggesting that users turn off their phone’s 5G to conserve battery life, there seems to be a multitude of reasons for Verizon customers to stick with 4G right now.Additional spectrum is making the difference for Verizon 4G right now, and not the C-band spectrum that’s been in the news recently. This is CBRS, a set of frequencies that sits near C-band. Verizon bid $1.89 billion on CBRS licenses last year and has been putting the newly acquired spectrum to work for its 4G service in certain locations (there are likely technical reasons, which Segan explains in his post, why Verizon... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge In 2019, an article in The Washington Post by Geoffrey Fowler described the author’s shock when he discovered just how many of his iPhone apps were collecting and uploading information about his usage while he slept.As we all know by now, data is a huge commodity these days. If you use a phone, laptop, or any type of computing device (unless you’re a security expert or a high-end hacker with access to sophisticated blocking tools), you’re paying for your apps by contributing marketing and other info to the companies that supply them.As Fowler’s article demonstrated, iPhone users are not immune to this. Since his article was published, Apple has made some laudable changes to its privacy policies. But it’s still a good idea to take... Continue reading…

Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge Keep the routine fresh Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge For a while, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3 was one of the best laptops you could buy. Microsoft is now planning its successor, the Surface Laptop 4, and it appears WinFuture has obtained details about this upcoming device. Per this report, the laptop is coming sometime in April.The biggest news is that the new Surface Laptop will come with both Intel and AMD options. The AMD models will include chips from the Ryzen 4000 mobile series, including the Ryzen 5 4680U and the Ryzen 7 4980U. These aren’t AMD’s top guns; the current-gen Ryzen 5000 mobile series was announced earlier this year. The Intel models will have Intel’s latest 11th Gen CPUs, though, including the Core 15-1145G7 and the Core i7-1185G7.Apart from the chips, it seems like... Continue reading…

A train of Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit passes over Uruguay. SpaceX is asking the FCC for approval to beam Starlink internet into moving vehicles. | Photo by Mariana Suarez / AFP via Getty Images SpaceX is seeking regulatory approval to connect its rapidly growing network of internet-beaming Starlink satellites to cars, trucks, shipping boats, and aircraft. The request, filed last Friday with the Federal Communications Commission, marks SpaceX’s biggest step yet toward connecting Starlink to the automotive sector, a potentially lucrative line of business that would expand the company’s current stationary offerings from rural homes.The March 5th FCC filing asked for “a blanket license authorizing operation” of Starlink terminals on so-called Earth Stations in Motion — an umbrella term for cars, trucks, maritime vessels, and aircraft. “No longer are users willing to forego connectivity while on the move, whether driving a truck... Continue reading…

This piece is called Transformative Tacos On Sunday evening, Taco Bell was serving up more than just tacos — it was also delivering NFTs: the fast-food chain tweeted that it was selling taco-themed GIFs and images on NFT marketplace Rarible. Of course, everyone saw that it was a brand hopping on a bandwagon (one that could potentially be detrimental to the environment), and promptly ignored it. No one bought them, and no articles were written.Just kidding! Taco Bell said that the demand for the NFTs was hot, and that the 25 tokens apparently sold out in 30 minutes. The NFTs are, of course, taco-themed, with four out of the five designs being animated GIFs. GIF: Taco Bell Taco cradle. Taco Bell does say that all the proceeds will go to the Live Más... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Friday, cybersecurity journalists Brian Krebs and Andy Greenberg reported that as many as 30,000 organizations had been compromised in an unprecedented email server hack, believed to have originated from a state-sponsored Chinese hacking group known as Hafnium.Over the weekend, that estimate has doubled to 60,000 Microsoft Exchange Server customers hacked around the world, with the European Banking Authority now admitting that it’s one of the victims — and it looks like Microsoft may have taken a little too long to realize the severity and patch it. Krebs has now put together a basic timeline of the massive Exchange Server hack, and he says Microsoft has confirmed it was made aware of the vulnerabilities in early January.That’s... Continue reading…

Two of the biggest entertainment events of the weekend could have been Paramount Plus exclusives: Oprah’s highly anticipated interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, and Eddie Murphy’s eagerly awaited Coming 2 America. Instead, the former is now only available on CBS’s website (free) and the latter is streaming exclusively on Amazon.For a company whose executives just touted the vital importance of leaning into streaming, having launched Paramount Plus within days of the interview and film being released, not finding a way to have one or the other — or both, ideally — available on demand is head-scratch worthy.One absence is more understandable than the other. Harpo (Oprah’s production company) did not make the streaming video... Continue reading…

Photo by Andrej Sokolow / picture alliance via Getty Images In a bid to prove that its robot drivers are safer than humans, Waymo simulated dozens of real-world fatal crashes that took place in Arizona over nearly a decade. The Google spinoff discovered that replacing either vehicle in a two-car crash with its robot-guided minivans would nearly eliminate all deaths, according to data it publicized today.The results are meant to bolster Waymo’s case that autonomous vehicles operate more safely than human-driven ones. With millions of people dying in auto crashes globally every year, AV operators are increasingly leaning on this safety case to spur regulators to pass legislation allowing more fully autonomous vehicles on the road.Waymo has turned to counterfactuals, or “what if?” scenariosBut... Continue reading…

The OnePlus 9 will be formally announced March 23rd. | Image: OnePlus Along with a confirmed release date, we got our first official look at the OnePlus 9 today and another tidbit of information: it will come with a charger, unlike recent flagships including the Galaxy S21 and iPhone 12.In a message thread on the company’s community forum, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said that the 9 will ship with a charger in the box. Recently, Apple and Samsung stopped including chargers with their flagship devices, citing environmental benefits and saying that customers already had the adaptors anyway. The jury’s still out on the environmental impact of the move, but it’s sure to have helped the companies’ bottom lines.OnePlus is in a slightly different position, of course. One of its phones’ differentiating features has... Continue reading…

Image: Victura Nearly a month after distancing itself from political statements, the publisher of the controversial military shooter Six Days in Fallujah has backtracked and now says the events in the game are “inseparable from politics.” The game, which takes place during the Iraq War’s Second Battle of Fallujah, has come under scrutiny for seemingly portraying a US-centric focus on a campaign in which an estimated 800 Iraqi civilians were killed, according to the Red Cross.“We understand the events recreated in Six Days in Fallujah are inseparable from politics,” publisher Victura said in a statement on Twitter. “We believe the stories of this generation’s sacrifices deserve to be told by the Marines, Soldiers, and civilians who were there,”... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is looking into allegations of racial bias and hiring practices at Facebook, a probe which the agency has designated as “systemic,” Reuters reported.In July, Facebook employee Oscar Veneszee, Jr., who is Black, filed a complaint with the EEOC along with two people Veneszee recruited but whom Facebook did not hire. The complaint alleges that the social platform discriminates against Black job applicants and employees and promotes racial stereotypes. Veneszee told NPR that Facebook has “a Black people problem,” and that the company has failed to create a culture to attract and retain Black workers.The EEOC has not brought allegations against Facebook, Reuters notes, and the agency’s... Continue reading…

Photo by Jon Cherry / Getty Images The US government is feeling optimistic about vaccines. By the end of May, it should have enough to vaccinate every adult in the country, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.Not only that, but Americans are feeling pretty good about the vaccine, too. About 69 percent of Americans had either already gotten the vaccine or were willing to get one when they could, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center.That’s a huge relief to public health experts. Last year, they watched vaccine polling numbers drop dramatically during just four months. In September 2020, only half of people polled said they’d be willing to take a hypothetical vaccine. Not exactly surprising, given that, at the time, the Trump administration was promising to... Continue reading…

The iMac Pro was first introduced in 2017 | Photo James Bareham / The Verge In a sign that the iMac Pro is on the way out, the only model currently available for purchase on the Apple Store website is the $4,999 base configuration, “while supplies last.” As first reported by 9to5Mac, all build-to-order configurations for the iMac Pro have been removed from Apple’s site (but may still be available at third-party retailers like Amazon). Apple tells The Verge once supplies of the base model run out, iMac Pro will no longer be available. Kim Lyons/The Verge A screengrab of the Apple Store listing for the iMac Pro on March 6th, 2021 It’s not a huge surprise that Apple may be phasing out the iMac Pro; there have been well-sourced reports that the company will be introducing a redesigned iMac... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge This was another week of gaming dominating our deals coverage. That’s mostly because my colleague Taylor Lyles has been diligently keeping readers in the know about every (fleeting, sadly) restocking of the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S consoles. Outside of consoles, there are some good game deals happening, in addition to tech that might be able to make gaming more enjoyable.Save on this speedy 1TB external SSD from CrucialWhether you need a fast external drive for plugging into a PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC, this Crucial model is a good deal at $125. Its low-profile design means it can fit easily in most entertainment centers or desk arrangements, and it ships with a USB Type-A adapter in case your device doesn’t have a USB-C port.T... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Four exploits found in Microsoft’s Exchange Server software have reportedly led to over 30,000 US governmental and commercial organizations having their emails hacked, according to a report by KrebsOnSecurity. Wired is also reporting “tens of thousands of email servers” hacked. The exploits have been patched by Microsoft, but security experts talking to Krebs say that the detection and cleanup process will be a massive effort for the thousands of state and city governments, fire and police departments, school districts, financial institutions, and other organizations that were affected.According to Microsoft, the vulnerabilities allowed hackers to gain access to email accounts, and also gave them the ability to install malware that... Continue reading…

A trail of wheel tracks left by NASA’s Perseverance rover after making its first drive on the Martian surface | NASA/JPL Perseverance, the car-sized rover NASA landed on Mars last month, has taken its first spin on the rocky surface of Jezero Crater, NASA announced today. The rover’s six wheels drove about 21 feet to carry out a key mobility test on Thursday, as engineers back on Earth prepare to execute the mission’s core science objectives.The rover’s six aluminum wheels left tracks on the Martian dirt — as captured by one of its on-board cameras — after driving straight for 13 feet, then turning around to back up 8 feet. Anais Zarifian, Perseverance’s mobility testbed engineer, told reporters it went “incredibly well” and performed better than it did during pre-launch tests on Earth. Image: NASA/JPL An animation showing... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing AT&T for providing nonpublic information to 20 different analyst firms so they would lower revenue estimates ahead of earnings, according to a press release. That let AT&T “beat” expectations for the quarter when the information-sharing took place, turning what could have been some nasty headlines in the financial press into a win instead.According to the SEC’s complaint (PDF), AT&T learned in March 2016 that its quarterly results would fall short of estimates due in part to “a steeper-than-expected decline in smartphone sales.” As you might recall, we used to live in a world where carriers like AT&T subsidized part of the cost of your smartphone, but by then AT&T had passed that... Continue reading…

Screenshot: The Verge When my editor told me about Window’s built-in battery report, my first thought was: “How have I never heard of this before? Also, that sounds pretty useful!” So I looked at the guide he sent (from Laptop Magazine) and tried it out. It ended up being just as interesting as it sounded, so I figured I’d share, in case you also haven't come across this handy built-in tool.Windows has been keeping track of how your laptop’s battery is doing since it was installed. The report, which you can run using just two command prompt commands, will show how many cycles you’ve used on your battery and how it’s been used in the past three days. It will also give you a picture of what Windows estimates your battery life should be versus what it actually... Continue reading…

Last month, The Verge broke news of Mark Cuban and Falon Fatemi’s new app Fireside, which promises to deliver a “next-gen podcast platform,” and today, we can provide a better sense of the app’s functionality and interface. It’s currently in beta on iOS with a limited number of testers, most of whom appear to work in venture capital or as podcasters. However, their chats are visible to anyone, even non-users, through a browser, and from this desktop view, as well as screenshots of the app that The Verge has viewed, we can get a sense of what Fireside is trying to achieve.Broadly, the app is best described as a hybrid between Spotify’s Anchor software and Clubhouse. Although it prioritizes live conversation, like Clubhouse, it tries to... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Ford is recalling dozens of the first Mustang Mach-E deliveries after it discovered loose bolts during the quality checks that are holding up shipments.“[S]ome vehicles may have subframe bolts that the supplier did not tighten to specification,” Ford wrote Friday afternoon. “While the issue in affected vehicles is not to Ford’s standards, the company is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.”Ford says 1,258 Mustang Mach-Es are affected in the US, as well as 90 in Canada, but that the overwhelming majority of those have not been shipped to customers yet. “Fewer than 75 customers who have already taken delivery” will have to bring their Mustang Mach-E in to get fixed, according to the company. Ford says it... Continue reading…

Photo by Aung Kyaw Htet / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images YouTube terminated five Myanmar military channels from its platform on Friday, Reuters reports. The removals include YouTube channels for the government-run Myanma Radio and Television (MRTV) network and the military-owned Myawaddy Media used to spread military propaganda in Myanmar.YouTube’s action is the platform’s first major intervention following the military coup that was staged in February and the subsequent military crackdowns against protesters that have left at least 38 dead. “We have terminated a number of channels and removed several videos from YouTube in accordance with our community guidelines and applicable laws,” a YouTube spokesperson tells The Verge. Prior to the coup, the company also terminated 34 channels used as... Continue reading…

The logo on the escape room’s opening screen. | Image: Paruzal Applying to an elite middle school sounds like a stressful experience, and I’m sure COVID-19 doesn’t help. With things like open houses, campus tours, and in-person interviews off the table, applicants have fewer chances to experience their prospective schools — and admissions offices have fewer chances to meet their prospective students.One San Jose private school has come up with a unique solution: The Harker School, self-described as “one of the nation’s top college prep schools,” is putting teams of sixth grade applicants through a virtual escape room. Over a Zoom call, the 11-year-olds work together to solve a series of Harker-themed puzzles, and admissions officers observe their behavior.Harker let me go through the game... Continue reading…

Image: Rifti Beats I don’t usually work with any music — it often distracts me — but recently, when I’ve needed a little music on in the background, I’ve become obsessed with lo-fi remixes of video game music on YouTube.I’ve already gone on record that I sometimes listen to video game music while working because a) I’m a huge nerd, and b) a lot of video game music is already designed to be pleasant background noise that can loop endlessly without becoming annoying. It wouldn’t be all that much fun spending hours upon hours in the worlds of Pokémon if the music was always in-your-face and distracting, after all. (I will give Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire’s hilariously prominent horns a pass here.)It makes sense, then, that the infinitely listenable quality of... Continue reading…

Concept art for Hades’ hero Zagreus, courtesy of Supergiant Games. In Hades, the legendary Greek hero who killed the Minotaur, Theseus, is a pain in the ass. He’s a bossfight, a blowhard who treats each encounter like an overproduced wrestling match. Zagreus, the cool, collected prince of the Underworld, may have good reason to want to leave, but in Theseus’ eyes, he’ll never amount to more than hellspawn. This dynamic helped highlight just what made Zagreus, Hades’ protagonist, a fan-favorite. But in early versions of the game, Theseus’ role was reversed.Theseus is hero material in legend only, a sentiment that developer Supergiant Games eventually came to share. During a recent talk on Clubhouse, Supergiant co-founder Amir Rao said that early concepts for Hades starred Theseus. It was creative... Continue reading…

Paramount Plus is maybe one of the best streaming services for people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who are looking to get nostalgic about the television of their youth. Outside of that, Paramount Plus is a bit of a head-scratcher. There certainly seems to be a bunch to choose from, but with missing seasons, incomplete film collections, and no immediate “must watch” TV or movie options, the question is still why would anyone sign up for this right now?The good thing is that Paramount Plus’ positives are hard to deny, but most of those positives fall on the TV side. As someone in their late 20s who grew up on a hearty breakfast of Nickelodeon shows, MTV reality series, and crime procedurals, Paramount Plus has everything I would have... Continue reading…

How he adjusts the workspace to his needs Continue reading…

Photo credit should read ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP via Getty Images John McAfee has been charged with securities fraud over a “pump and dump” cryptocurrency scheme. Federal prosecutors unsealed a case against McAfee and his executive advisor and bodyguard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., claiming the pair earned nearly $2 million by urging Twitter followers to invest in cryptocurrencies like Reddcoin and Dogecoin, then selling off their own holdings as the price rose.“McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception,” said US Attorney Audrey Strauss in a statement. “The defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to publish messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter... Continue reading…

Our top pick is free to use across a range of operating systems on mobile and desktop. | Image: Bitwarden Using a password manager is one of the best steps you can take to protect your security online. A good password manager makes it easy to generate unique, strong passwords, and it will then securely save them so they’re available wherever you need them, whether that’s on your phone, laptop, tablet, or desktop computer. Basically, they take 90 percent of the work out of being safe online.Hopefully, at this point everyone knows why it’s important to use a unique password for all of your accounts online. But the short version is that using one password everywhere means that if just one site you use gets hacked, an attacker potentially has the password that unlocks your entire online life. Breaches still matter if you use a password manager,... Continue reading…