Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Mid-Week "HumpDay" Technology News and More!



Technology News and More...




26Engadget / 1h
Plex users may want to change their passwords as soon as they're able. The digital media player and streaming service said a bad actor had infiltrated its system in a letter sent to users affected by the breach. In it, the company has revealed that it immediately started an investigation after it saw suspicious activity in one of its databases. Based on what it saw, Plex said it does appear that



Facebook said Wednesday that it’s aware that some users are seeing bizarre posts on their feeds and assured it’s working to resolve the issue. Numerous users from around the globe have been complaining for over three hours about seeing random posts and activity tickers to celebrities’ pages from strangers on their timelines. These posts are taking over users’ main feed (including Ivan’s) and supp



The post appeared first on Popular Mechanics .




American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt have a partnership that offers reciprocal perks. While this offers some consistent benefits, we’ve just seen a promotion rolled out that offers an American AAdvantage status fast track for World of Hyatt elite members. How the American & Hyatt partnership works In 2019 American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt launched a partnership , offering reciprocal benefi



Mashable / 23min
The following contains spoilers for the finale of Only Murders in the Building Season 2. Now that Only Murders in the Building Season 2 has ended, it's time to talk about the season's most disturbing moment. No, I'm not talking about the tragic murder of Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell). I'm talking about the moment when podcast assistant Poppy White (Adina Verson) orders a liverwurst and marmalade sandw



Mashable / 23min
TL;DR: As of August 24, you can get the Piano & Guitar Composition Bundle for just $34.99 instead of $1600 — that's a 97% discount. If you’ve ever wanted to learn a new instrument, this could be your chance to pick up the foundational skills behind two of the most popular instruments to learn: guitar and piano. With the Complete Piano & Guitar For All Music Composition Bundle, you could start lea



Mashable / 23min
TL;DR: From August 24 through August 31, you can get the Kiru Knife™ Kitchen Master 8" Chef Knife for just $84.99 instead of $156.99 — that's a 45% discount. Cooking isn’t just about having great ingredients or knowing how to make a flavor profile. Arguably one of the most important parts of cooking is your knives. Dull kitchen knives are dangerous and frustrating to use, so you probably want som



Mashable / 23min
One of the most momentous tests in NASA history is about to blast off. And you can watch it live. The space agency has slated the morning of August 29 — with backup dates of September 2 and 5 — for the first launch of its new 322-foot-tall moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). If successful, this critical demonstration mission, called Artemis l, will pave the way for NASA astronauts to retu



Mashable / 23min
TL;DR: As of August 24, you can get the Wave Maker 3 Barrel Waver for just $59.99 instead of $149.99 — that's a 60% discount. If you're looking for a way to get those bouncy, fabulous waves in your hair , going to the salon can get expensive. Fortunately, there's an affordable way to achieve this look. This easy-to-use styling tool could help you get beautiful, healthy waves, and it has been mark



In 2019, Amazon committed to achieving “net-zero carbon” across its businesses by 2040. The online retail behemoth’s company-wide emissions have soared by 40% since then, topping 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year. It’s a glaring example of the gulf between corporate pledges and climate progress, but far from the only one. Numerous studies and analyses have highlighted serious pro







We’re in a golden age of progress in artificial intelligence. It’s time to start taking its potential and risks seriously.



The app can’t make people be ‘authentic’ online. But it can remind us of an era when being online felt very different.



Amid the chaos of Twitter’s legal fight with Elon Musk and its ex-security head turning into a whistleblower , the company is merging its team for fighting misinformation and harmful content with the team that looks after removing spam accounts. According to an internal email seen by Reuters , the social media firm will call this new group “Health Products and Services (HPS).” Twitter confirmed t



Mashable / 51min
I am not what you think of when you think ' OnlyFans model.' My body is thicc, with large thighs, strong arms, and a doughy midsection. My hair is far from full and much of my wardrobe is Old Navy chic. I have a dick — and it’s not huge . No one sees me on the street and fantasizes about me when they get home. Or so I thought. One of my first followers on OnlyFans — who I had affectionately label



The Amex Offers program frequently has promotions for hotel stays, which can save you money or earn you bonus points for stays you’d make anyway. Amex has just rolled out its latest targeted hotel offer, which is exclusively for stays at Hyatt properties in Mexico. Spend $500+ with Hyatt in Mexico, save $100 There’s a targeted Amex Offers deal for stays at Hyatt properties in Mexico: Save $100 wh



For a good few years, almost every new cheap phone had a 48MP main camera, with mobile manufacturers hoping that a high-res snapper would convince prospective buyers that this was a good camera phone (high megapixel counts don't equal good quality, but brands likely hoped you wouldn't know that). However in 2022 that's changed, as we've seen loads of budget handsets tout 50MP snappers instead, an



300+Mashable / 2h
Facebook Feed is not itself this morning. Early on Wednesday, many users (including several of us at Mashable) have noticed that their Facebook Feed is showing only posts completely unrelated to their interests, such as fan posts on popular Pages. Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab) It's not this way for everyone. For example, my wife has this issue on her Android smartphone, while d



24Mashable / 2h
Tesla software update 2022.24.5 is rolling out, and it comes with a new feature called Tesla Profiles, allowing users to keep their settings in the cloud. The feature was long in the making. It was promised by CEO Elon Musk in Nov. 2021, and first seen this July , but now it's actually being delivered widely, Electrek reported Tuesday. Tesla Profiles allow users to keep their settings in the clou



The post appeared first on Popular Mechanics .




The post appeared first on Popular Mechanics .



The post appeared first on Popular Mechanics .



The problem with Wednesdays is that while the end of the day symbolizes the coming end of the workweek, if you're still at the start of the day, you're at the hardest part of the workweek — not yet over the hump , as it were. So if you're tackling this tough Quordle at this start of your Wednesday, you have my sympathy. But the day's about to get better. Scroll down this page all the way and you'
YESTERDAY



Servify, a startup that manages lifecycle of devices for several popular smartphone vendors including Apple and Samsung in many markets, has raised $65 million as it eyes becoming a public company in two years. Singularity Growth Opportunity Fund led the Mumbai-headquartered startup’s Series D funding. AmTrust and family offices including Pidilite and existing investors Iron Pillar, Beenext, Blum



Apple rolled out the seventh, and probably the final, iOS 16 developer beta on Tuesday. While there weren’t any notable feature additions, the beta’s code suggested that the company might allow you to uninstall the Apple Wallet app in a future update. The code spotted by 9to5Mac and Macrumors suggested that Apple will make the Wallet app deletable in iOS 16.1. Currently, users can hide the app fr



It seems that Apple may be saving its M2 Pro or M2 Max chips for later iterations of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, according to new rumors. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros featuring M2 chips are set to enter production in Q4 2022, but also that these chips will most likely not use TSMC's 3nm process, which is widely believed to be what the M



AI copywriters are getting a lot of attention from investors . A couple that have recently raised funding include Copy.ai and Copysmith . Now Scalenut is entering the arena with a $3.1 million funding round led by Saama Capital and Amit Singhal, formerly a senior vice president at Google and head of Google Search. Launched earlier this year by Mayank Jain, Gaurav Goyal and Saurabh Wadhawan, Scale



Travel is a great way to explore new foods, try new experiences — and meet new people. The local dating pool can start to feel shallow once you've done a few laps, so checking out the local talent while traveling can be exciting. Dating apps such as Tinder , Bumble , and Hinge even make this easier, letting you scour your holiday destination for potential matches. Of course, it's still important



TL;DR: PDF Reader Pro For Mac is on sale for £33.17, saving you 33% on list price. Have you ever met a teacher in the modern age who doesn’t use PDFs? Between readings, worksheets, and syllabi, there are plenty of opportunities for you to encounter this ubiquitous file type in school, and if you don’t have the right software, PDFs might get a little frustrating. But PDFs don’t have to be frustrat



Twitter is making a major change to its organization after former security head Peiter "Mudge" Zatko accused the company of having lax security and bot problems. According to Reuters , Twitter is merging its health experience team, which is in charge of clamping down on misinformation and harmful content on the website, with its service team. The latter reviews profiles when they're reported and



The post appeared first on Popular Mechanics .



The Wordle has renewed itself once again, and the Wednesday puzzle cries out to be solved! To help you in your quest, our daily Wordle hints and tips are what you need in your mental inventory. The answer to the August 24 Wordle, puzzle #431, can be found at the end of this article. Before you get there, though, there are a couple of subtle clues to help you narrow it down, and as you scroll down



Mini has just unveiled a unique twist on an already interesting EV concept, one that packs Pokemon-themed features under a collab with The Pokemon Company.



With iPadOS 16, it's clear that Apple is transforming the iPad into something beyond a mere tablet, but the process will include a slight delay.



The Acer Chromebook Vero 514 is manufactured and shipped with a significant amount of recycled materials, and it doesn't look half bad.



21Engadget / 8h
We wouldn't call Chromebooks disposable, but it's no secret that many of them prioritize price over sustainability. Acer, however, contends that they should be just as kind to the planet as some of their higher-end counterparts. The company has introduced the first Chrome OS-powered laptop in its eco-friendly Vero line, the Chromebook Vero 514. As with its Windows counterparts, the 14-inch portab



Strap in, kids, this is going to set up quite the Kong-frontation between King Kong and King Kong. Deadline revealed that the iconic ape is heading to Disney+ for a new live action series from James Wan’s Atomic Monster and writer Stefany Folsom (Paper Girls) . Yes, that is in addition to Warner Bros.’ upcoming … Read more...



75Wired / 9h
Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s claims about the company’s lax security are all bad. But one clearly captures the extent of systemic issues.



The agency said it made the decision after Meta promised Mr. Zuckerberg would not try to personally purchase the start-up his company wants to acquire.



Having the ability to listen to your music with heavy bass, easy controls, and without hearing the pesky noise from your commute is no longer a luxury; with the latest technology, it’s a given. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your earbuds from a wired pair, or you need a spare set to keep in your backpack, you can make your purchase even more worthwhile by opting for one of the pairs on sale du




Take Three The infamous MoviePass is making a return. Yes, the company best known for ripping off its own customers and imploding spectacularly just two years after its breakout in popularity is coming back. First reported by Insider , the move was soon confirmed on MoviePass on Twitter — and not to much fanfare. Back in its 2017 heyday, MoviePass offered customers up to one movie ticket a day fo



39Gizmodo / 10h
You never know what you’re going to get from writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour —creator of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night , a black-and-white feminist Western vampire movie, as well as apocalyptic cannibal tale The Bad Batch . Her next movie just dropped a new trailer and once again it has us asking “WTF?” in a good… Read more...



American Airlines AAdvantage elites – even mere Gold members – can register for Hyatt Explorist status for 90 days. Then there’s a path to keep status through February 2024. Continue reading ...



It looks like Instagram is exploring a new feature that has seemingly been copied from one of the most popular new social media platforms in years.



Wordle is back with another double-vowel solution, one that will be pretty easy to figure out if you have the right hints and pick a good starter word.



Julian Robertson’s hedge fund investors didn’t want to listen to him when, in 1999, he questioned the sanity of the prices being paid for shares in nascent internet companies. So months after being berated for 15 minutes at an annual shareholders meeting at the Plaza Hotel in New York in October 1999, he began the process of closing up his shop. “There is no point in subjecting our investors to r



40Engadget / 10h
Meta accounts have arrived . As of today, Facebook parent company Meta has begun rolling out the new login system for Quest owners. “The update will roll out globally on a gradual basis, so if you don’t have the option to create a Meta account and Meta Horizon profile right away, you’ll get the update soon,” the company said. If your headset is currently tied to an Oculus account, you’ll need to



500+Futurism / 11h
Sure, Guy A crime-prognosticating AI now exists, and it's been implemented in a number of American cities. But don't worry, it definitely won't be misused by city police forces — at least according to its lead creator, University of Chicago professor Ishanu Chattopadhyay. Chattopadhyay recently sat down with BBC Science Focus to discuss the AI system, which, as a study published in the journal Hu



Windows finally offers a built-in way to mount ISO disc image files on Windows 8 and 10. If you’re using Windows 7, you’ll need a third-party tool. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›



Dealing with Amazon boxes is hard enough. But the phone, computer, or video doorbell you ordered comes with its own unique packaging that can turn into a permanent hump on your back. Should you let these old boxes eat up space in your closet, or do they belong in the trash? Read This Article on Review Geek ›



To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here . Goood [time of day] dear [name]. You know what we’re psyched about? The agenda for TC Disrupt just dropped , and it’s going to be an absolute corker of an event. Aaaah. Check out what’s happening on our four (Count ’em! Four!) stages, and check out the incredible l



Turning one-time customers into repeat buyers takes on heightened importance during a downturn. Acquiring one new user can be a heavy lift, but finding ways to reduce friction during shopping and checkout is a proven method for boosting the lifetime value of existing customers. An important note: One study found that password difficulties cause nearly 60% of consumers to abandon their shopping ca



The acquisition debacle between Twitter and Elon Musk has just been hit with a big plot twist as allegations from a whistleblower go public.



This gallery of Dead Island 2 gameplay footage is pretty gruesome; clicking through gets more violent from here on out. [credit: Deep Silver / Dambuster ] Eight years after its public announcement, Dead Island 2 finally looks like a video game—and its bloody, polished gameplay reveal capped off a lengthy Gamescom opening night presentation of video game trailers and announcements. The open-world



100+Ars Technica / 11h
Enlarge (credit: Jeff Greenberg / Contributor | Universal Images Group ) As the pandemic unfolded in spring 2020, an Educause survey found that an increasing number of students—who had very little choice but to take tests remotely—were increasingly putting up with potential privacy invasions from schools. Two years later, for example, it’s considered a common practice that some schools record stu



Who doesn’t want whiter teeth? On the other hand, who wants to volunteer for extra dentist visits, with all the time and expense they involve? Fortunately, Pinterest and TikTok are here to swoop in and provide alternatives—pretty much none of which are good ideas. Read more...



29Gizmodo / 11h
Audiences have been waiting so long to see a sequel to James Cameron’s Avatar that time has looped back around on itself and the original film is coming out again . Read more...



You have your work in front of you, a cup of coffee on your desk, some gentle tunes without words playing on the stereo and you’re ready to do some work. Your phone buzzes, and 90 minutes later you look up filled with self-loathing and regret. Your coffee is cold, the cursor on your Word document is blinking at you mockingly and you wonder what the hell happened. Unpluq is a little NFT tile that



In a whistleblower complaint, Twitter’s former security chief has raised serious questions not just about the company’s security practices , but the potential for foreign governments and entities to influence the company. According to Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, Twitter’s dealings with other countries could be putting the United States’ national security at risk. As reported by CNN , the complaint deta



Google is partnering with National Public Radio to bring the broadcaster’s podcasts to YouTube . On Thursday, the two announced that more than 20 NPR shows, including Up First and Throughline , are now available on the platform. NPR is no stranger to YouTube. Its Tiny Desks concert series has been a hit on the platform for a few years now, with a recent Ludovico Einaudi performance amassing nearl




500+Futurism / 12h
Cry More Dogs literally cry tears of joy when they see their owners after they've been away, scientists have found in the first study of its kind that is also totally going to make us cry, too. Published in the Current Biology journal , this study by Japanese researchers found not only that dogs shed happy tears, but also that the love hormone oxytocin — the same one that causes humans to feel em



Showboat It's been a banner month for billionaire crypto whisperer Sam Bankman-Fried, and now he's hinting at some provocative next moves. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal , the CEO and founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX he intends to spend a full $1 billion bailing out the ailing crypto industry. Whether the bet will pay off for the 30-year-old, who's worth $11.9 billion now



All Together Now Citizen scientist Judy Schmidt of Modesto, California, collaborated with NASA to create a new infrared image of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system — and it's stunning. Schmidt and the NASA team used data from the James Webb Space Telescope to create the image, and experts said in a NASA statement yesterday that even they were impressed by the image. "We hadn’t really



100+Futurism / 12h
Although abortion is still legal in Michigan, Facebook decided to heavily restrict a post on Planned Parenthood of Michigan's (PPMI) Facebook page this week. The group shared an article about ordering the abortion pill online, but it was made visible only to page managers, not its audience — totally curtailing the dissemination of perfectly accurate and reasonable information from a trusted autho



Read more...



39Gizmodo / 12h
There’s a new twist in As Elon’s World Turns , which is what I imagine the tech billionaire’s soap opera would be called. After months of Musk claiming bots were the reason he wanted to terminate his deal to buy the social media company, a Twitter whistleblower may have handed the billionaire fresh ammunition in his… Read more...



It’s best to wash your bedsheets every week or two —but what about the other stuff on your bed? Let’s talk about what I like to call “solid plushy” stuff: Pillows, cushions, stuffed animals, and even comforters rarely draw much attention when you’re cleaning—maybe because they’re annoying to wash. But how often should… Read more...



Microsoft has begun to roll out the new performance-focused version of its Outlook email client to personal account holders, the company has confirmed. Previously available to commercial customers only, the new “One Outlook” desktop app (codenamed Project Monarch) offers a clean, minimalist aesthetic in line with the Windows 11 design philosophy, and also houses related apps like Calendar and Con



WhatsApp Communities , the messaging app’s anticipated expansion aimed at supporting larger discussion groups, has now rolled out to additional users as it nears a public launch. The company declined to share specific details as to how many users or which countries were seeing the new feature as testing expands, but confirmed that more users have now been given early access. First announced in Ap



A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips. Continue reading ...



Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information. I’m a big fan of Mobile Passport and have been a loyal user for many years. It’s my entry expediting program of choice when I arrive back in the U.S. from overseas and want to avoid long lines at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. By late September, eligible U.S. citizens and Canadian citizen visitors will be able to use Mobile Pas



Bentley will join the EV market with an impressive, if still mysterious, vehicle in the coming years. Here's what we've learned so far.



After many years of work, NASA plans to launch its first Artemis test in the near future. Even if you can't attend in person, there are ways to watch.



Gas prices are slowly descending from a harsh peak earlier this year, and it seems that change may influence how many people want to purchase an EV.



YouTube on smart TVs is about to get some useful new features, at least according to insiders who claim that Google gave them details about the plan.



Starting today, Yelp will apply a label to business pages for crisis pregnancy centers (also known as anti-abortion centers) to clarify that these facilities usually have limited medical services. The label also notes that crisis pregnancy centers "may not have licensed medical professionals onsite." The consumer notice could help people avoid confusion with clinics that offer abortion services.



Reemerging into the spotlight after a buyout and a bankruptcy , movie subscription service MoviePass is coming back in a new form—but if you’re hoping for the return of all-you-can-watch movies for $10 a month, it’s not going to happen. The beta for the revamped service launches on Thursday morning, and will provide a… Read more...



Dish Network has been rapidly building up its 5G mobile network, becoming a new fourth carrier to compete with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Now the company is teasing a future cell phone plan called “Boost Infinite.” Read This Article on How-To Geek ›



Mini-LED backlight technology has been increasing in popularity over the past few years, and is now a feature commonly found in the best 4K TVs . Budget brand TCL was the first to offer sets with mini-LED, and it was soon followed by Samsung, LG, and now Hisense. The key picture quality benefits to mini-LED are brightness and contrast: sets featuring the technology are capable of much higher ligh



Toyota has joined the growing list of automakers that have recognized the state of California’s authority to set vehicle emissions standards under the U.S. Clean Air Act. The move will make the Japanese automaker eligible for government fleet purchases by California. “Toyota continues to share the vision of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and carbon neutrality goals with the California Air Resourc




Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, companies have been bolstering efforts and navigating the legal landscape to provide care to birthing people. Yelp is now following suit. The company announced , in an exclusive first shared with Axios , that it will add a consumer notice to crisis pregnancy centers (CPC) to differentiate them from abortion clinics. The notice will notify users and read that



TikTok is testing a new ‘Nearby’ feed that is designed to display local content to users. A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch that the new feed is being tested with select users in Southeast Asia and that the test is currently limited in scope. Users who are part of the limited test will see the new feed tab displayed alongside the “Following” and “For You” feeds on the app’s homepage.



We all knew this day was coming. With the film world hungry for failed tech fodder on the heels of titles like The Drop Out and WeCrashed, some producer was bound to hit upon BlackBerry on the way to the inevitable 20-part Juicero miniseries. The beloved and beleaguered smartphone firm

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