Technology News and More-Friday Edition...

Technology News and More...


Disney Plus loses its magic touch as millions cancel their subscriptions


500+TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 21h
Disney Plus has enjoyed plenty of success since its March 2020 launch – but the wheels have have now started to come off its subscriber-filled wagon. During its Q1 2023 earnings report , Disney confirmed that Disney Plus lost subscribers for the first time in its history. Between October and December 2022, the streaming platform's global user base shrunk by 2.4 million. The main reason for this d


Here Are the 200 Bed Bath & Beyond Stores About to Close Soon
500+Lifehacker / 13h
Bed Bath & Beyond has been struggling to recover from its downturn during the pandemic —and now, the situation is so dire that they’re selling $1 billion in stocks to pay their debts, according to the New York Post . Bed Bath & Beyond has been slowly but surely putting out statements and updating their list of stores… Read more...


Elon Musk Seems to Think His Own Employees Are Shadowbanning Him
1KGizmodo / 9h
Elon Musk loves Twitter so much, he spent $44 billion buying it . But now, under the billionaire’s leadership, the site isn’t doing so hot. Between layoffs and quasi-voluntary departures, Twitter has lost more than an estimated three-quarters of the staff it once had. Read more...



Proton gives anyone the chance to secure their files in its encrypted cloud
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 2min
Promoting better online privacy for all is at the core of Proton's mission. The Swiss-based provider has, in fact, designed a fully fledged privacy ecosystem to support its commitment - all available free of charge, too. Proton VPN is one of the best VPN apps around, for example. Its secure email service , Proton Mail , even integrates new tools like its own encrypted calendar and cloud storage t


Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia backs cross-border payments startup Tazapay
TechCrunch / 7min
The rise in open banking and payment services like India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow means lower costs for businesses, as well as new payment options for hundreds of millions of customers in emerging markets who don’t own credit cards. Tazapay was created to combine both card and real-time payment methods as a full-stack service for merchants who sell across borders, so they only need to use one


Jendaya raises funding to scale its Africa-focused luxury e-commerce platform
TechCrunch / 7min
Fashion items are among the most — if not the most — sought after on many e-commerce platforms. In Africa, for instance, fashion has held the top spot in Jumia for the largest category of items sold over the years. This means there’s no shortage of demand for fashion items across the continent, and the supply is picking up steam even in the high-end categories. The luxury goods market in Africa a


Don’t watch ‘Star Trek: Picard’ season three, it’ll only encourage them
Engadget / 26min
The following article contains spoilers for earlier Star Trek properties but doesn’t reveal specific spoilers about Star Trek: Picard season three, not that you should be watching it anyway. It’s 2034 and Warner Bros. decides it needs to wring more cash out of Friends , the decade defining cultural juggernaut and sitcom behemoth. Imagine what that show would be like; A warm and cozy three-decades


Reddit was hacked in a phishing attack targeting its employees
Engadget / 2h
A Reddit employee's credentials were stolen in a targeted phishing attack, an administrator for the website has revealed , and hackers were able to infiltrate its systems on February 5th. Apparently, Reddit employees had been receiving "plausible-sounding prompts," which lead to a website that mimic the looks and behavior of its intranet gateway, designed as such to steal people's logins and seco


Today's Wordle Answer #601 – February 10, 2023 Solution And Hints
SlashGear / 3h
The Wordle solution of the day is a versatile adjective. If you need more hints to help you figure it out, we have them, as well as the puzzle's answer.


'Quordle' today: Here are the answers and hints for February 10
Mashable / 3h
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you've come to the right place for hints. There aren't just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you'll get what you need. What is Quordle ? Quordle is a five-letter word guessing gam


This business accounting course is on sale for 97% off
Mashable / 3h
TL;DR : The Complete 2023 Business Accounting Mastery Bundle is on sale for £40, saving you 97% on list price. Many businesses fail when an entrepreneur doesn’t have a strong understanding of their finances and how long it will take for the business to start making a profit. It may sound appealing to start a business off of nothing but a good idea, but a practical approach could set you up for su


Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for February 10
Mashable / 3h
It's Friday! You made it! And hopefully your Wordle streak made it through the week as well. As usual, just in case your brain's checked out early for the weekend, we're here with a few hints and tips to help you figure out the solution. If you prefer us to just tell you the solution, you can scroll to the bottom of this article for February 10's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather work


How to unblock and watch BBC iPlayer from abroad
Mashable / 3h
SAVE 49%: ExpressVPN can reliably unblock BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world. A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £85.41 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. Streaming on BBC iPlayer is totally straightforward if you're connecting from the UK. If you're not, you'll get quickly blocked by this popular streaming platform. If you're trying to


The best iPad VPN is on sale for 49% off
Mashable / 3h
SAVE 49%: ExpressVPN is a popular choice for securing iPads. A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £85.41 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. Apple devices are generally considered pretty secure, so you might question whether you actually need to pair your device with a VPN. Your precious device might be secure, but there are still a number of


Low-code database APITable is another Airtable challenger
TechCrunch / 4h
Airtable’s whopping $11 billion valuation attained in late 2021 has lured a raft of ambitious entrepreneurs into the low-code database space. They covet even just a small slice of the pie enjoyed by the decade-old American juggernaut. While SaaS has long been a proven business model in the U.S., in emerging markets, and even in China’s burgeoning tech industry, many users still expect software to


Yahoo Plans Layoffs As Part Of Major Ad Tech Strategy Change
SlashGear / 4h
Yahoo is the latest tech company to announce big layoffs, but the reason differs from that of its competitors, according to its chief executive.


Opera may soon get its own version of ChatGPT
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 4h
Opera’s web browsers, including its Opera GX, may soon be next to receive the ChatGPT upgrade if its parent firm has anything to say about it. According to CNBC and reported on by Neowin , Opera's parent company Kunlun Tech plans on integrating the hugely popular OpenAI program ChatGPT into its own products. So far there have been no confirmations on which products those would be, or whether that


New Intel Raptor Lake mobile CPUs take number-one spot in benchmarks
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 5h
One of Intel’s newest mobile CPUs, the Intel Core i9-13980HX, has only been in the wild since yesterday, and already it’s reclaimed the number one spot in the PassMark mobile CPU benchmark ranking. As revealed by the PassMark test and reported on by VideoCardz , the Core i9-13980HX scored 54,483 points while the Core i9-13900HX has a score of 51,739 points. The two Raptor Lake-HX CPUs, which feat


Uber is integrating its driver app with Apple CarPlay
TechCrunch / 5h
Uber drivers who have an iPhone will soon be able to use the Uber app directly from their car’s dashboard while using Apple’s CarPlay, according to an email sent to drivers and viewed by TechCrunch. The integration has been rolling out to drivers across the U.S., and all drivers should have access to it by the end of the month. CarPlay is an Apple product that is used by most major car manufactur


How To Take Apple TV Screenshots
SlashGear / 6h
There's one little thing you can't do on Apple TV, and that's taking a screenshot ... not natively, anyway.


How To Clear Spotify's Cache Data On Your Android Or iPhone
SlashGear / 6h
If you have less space than needed or are experiencing signs that your mobile device is low on memory, you may fix the issue by clearing your Spotify cache.


Toyota's New Grand Highlander SUV Is A Family Car With The Extra Room You Need
SlashGear / 7h
Toyota' Grand Highlander makes serious claims about passenger comfort and convenience within the mid-sized body plan.


Neuralink Faces Another Probe, This Time Over Transporting Monkey Brain Implants
SlashGear / 7h
The neurotechnology company Neuralink is facing another investigation, this one over allegedly improper handling and transportation of hazardous materials.



A quick look at the Switch’s new Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulation
Ars Technica - All content / 7h
Enlarge / The Switch Online Game Boy Advance emulator will look and feel familiar if you've used the NES, SNES, Genesis, or N64 emulators. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) Nearly a year after apparently-Nintendo-developed Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulators for the Switch leaked online, Nintendo has finally made those emulators available to Switch Online subscribers. All subscribers can download t


Earthquake deaths top 20,000 as survivors face cholera, other health threats
Ars Technica - All content / 7h
Enlarge / People queue for clean water on February 9, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. (credit: Getty | Burak Kara ) Deaths from the massive earthquake and aftershocks that violently struck parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of Monday have now surpassed 20,000—a staggering toll of devastation. As of Thursday, Turkey’s national emergency management agency reported more than 17,0


Reddit Says It Was Hacked But That You Don't Need to Worry About It. Probably.
33Gizmodo / 8h
Reddit says that it was hacked earlier this month, in a security incident that compromised some company data. However, the company says that Redditors have no need to fear because user data was not impacted by the episode—at least, that the company knows of...“so far.” Read more...


Can we make the internet less power-thirsty?
BBC News - Technology / 8h
New technology promises to ease the strain caused by energy-guzzling data centres.


NASA will launch a Mars mission on Blue Origin’s New Glenn
TechCrunch / 8h
NASA is planning a science mission to Mars that will ride up aboard a New Glenn — Blue Origin’s first big government contract for the as-yet-untested launch vehicle. New Glenn is the much, much larger sibling of the suborbital New Shepard rocket that so many celebrities and rich folks have gone to the edge of space in. Announced in 2016 , the launch vehicle would compete with SpaceX’s Falcon Heav


A Man Discovers His Girlfriend's Peculiar Home Life in the Delightfully Macabre Peaches & Scream
Gizmodo / 8h
Thomas is excited to visit his girlfriend Anna’s family home for the first time—but is startled to realize that a) it’s a freaking castle , and b) Anna’s dead relatives are still, uh, in residence. From Danish writer-director Adrian Kirk Ejsing, horror short Peaches & Scream takes an original idea and runs with it in a… Read more...


The First Armored Car Ever Built Isn't What You'd Think
SlashGear / 8h
When you think of an armored car, you probably think of a presidential limousine, but the first armored car ever built was very different. We have the details.


SpaceX Comes Clean About Limiting Starlink For Ukranian Troops
SlashGear / 8h
Elon Musk's SpaceX confessed that the company intervened against Ukrainian forces in the ongoing conflict with Russia.


Valve waited 15 months to patch high-severity flaw. A hacker pounced
Web Protocols (Enterprise T1071.001)•
Ars Technica - All content / 9h
(credit: Valve) Researchers have unearthed four game modes that could successfully exploit a critical vulnerability that remained unpatched in the popular Dota 2 video game for 15 months after a fix had become available. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-38003 , resided in the open source JavaScript engine from Google known as V8, which is incorporated into Dota 2 . Although Google patched t


All the best tech deals this week
Mashable / 9h
If you want the best tech products at a discount, look no further. Here are some of our top picks: BEST SMARTPHONE DEAL: The Google Pixel 6a is back to its Black Friday pricing — $299 $449 (save $150) BEST WEARABLE DEAL: The Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS, 45mm) is down to its lowest price yet — $359 $429 (save $70) Looking for some new mobile tech? From smartphones to fitness trackers, we've rounded


Daily Crunch: Atlassian offers Jira Product Discovery in open beta release
22TechCrunch / 9h
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here . Bonjour, crunchy folks! It was a bit of a tense morning at TechCrunch HQ this morning: The news broke that the company that owns TechCrunch, Yahoo, announced it is laying off 20% of its staff , as Amanda reported. It seems the layoffs are mostly on the advertising


Twitter is making millions of dollars from previously banned accounts, report says
Engadget / 9h
Twitter is making millions of dollars from just a handful of some of its most infamous users, according to a new report . New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimates that Twitter “will generate up to $19 million a year in advertising revenue” from just 10 accounts that were once banned from the platform. The report looked at the current engagement with 10 accounts th


My Strange Day With Bing’s New AI Chatbot
26Wired / 9h
Microsoft’s chatty search interface was impressive. But it also served up glitches, ethical dilemmas—and talk of a mysterious “Sydney.”


The Twitch 'Seinfeld' Show Proves AI Shouldn't Write Comedy
25Wired / 9h
This week, the AI-generated parody “Nothing, Forever” got temporarily banned from the streaming site following some transphobic jokes.


Elon Musk Reportedly Fires Top Twitter Engineer Because His Tweets Are Less Popular
SlashGear / 9h
This isn't the first time Musk removed an engineer for disagreeing with him. When he took over the company, he had a very public spat with another.


What You Need To Do If You Forget The Parental Controls Pin On A Nintendo Switch
SlashGear / 9h
Nintendo provides parental controls keeping an eye on what your child is doing on their switch, but if you lost your PIN, we'll show you how to get it back.


The 2024 Volkswagen Atlas And Atlas Cross Sport Are Going Upscale
SlashGear / 9h
Volkswagen is overhauling the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport for 2024 in the U.S., bringing with it all sorts of new creature comforts and an updated engine.


Ram 1500 REV Gets Its Launch Name As Electric Pickup Racks Up Impressive Specs
SlashGear / 9h
The beloved Ram brand of pickup trucks has debuted the official name for the marque's first-ever electric vehicle scheduled to hit the market in 2024.


Kia's 'Binky Dad' Super Bowl Commercial Is The First To End On TikTok With 3 Alternate Endings
SlashGear / 9h
Kia is launching a new 'Binky Dad' commercial during the Super Bowl, but is also branching out into multiple alternate endings of the short - all on TikTok.



How Lamborghini Influenced The Legendary Dodge Viper V10 Engine
SlashGear / 9h
The Dodge Viper, especially during its first iteration, was (and is) one of the wildest sports cars ever conceived. It had some help from Lamborghini.


Windows 11 Will Make Verification Emails Less Annoying
How-To Geek / 9h
It’s common for online accounts to verify new login attempts with a one-time password, but opening your email or messaging app for the code can be annoying. Microsoft is trying to fix that with a new Windows 11 feature. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›


The era of hotel bargains is over, Hilton CEO suggests
The Points Guy / 9h
Discounted hotel rates in the U.S. might be a thing of the past — if you can believe the CEO of one of the world’s largest hotel companies. On Thursday, Hilton reported a $333 million fourth quarter 2022 profit and a nearly $1.3 billion profit for the entire year. It was the company’s second quarter in a row where overall performance exceeded pre-pandemic levels. But the data shows Hilton is achi


Elon Musk Furious at Twitter Engineers Because People Aren't Faving His Tweets
1KFuturism / 10h
Twitter CEO Elon Musk is complaining about how few people are interacting with his tweets, Platformer reports , in an internal tantrum that underlines just how little he knows about the company he bought for $44 billion last year. "This is ridiculous," Musk raged, according to Platformer 's multiple sources, during a meeting at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. "I have more than 100 millio


Breaking: SpaceX Reaches Major Starship Milestone, Fires 31 Engines At Once
500+Futurism / 10h
Major Burn SpaceX just pulled off an incredible stunt. The company fired 31 of its gigantic Super Heavy booster's 33 rocket engines at once, producing a gargantuan amount of thrust — likely the most powerful rocket ignition in human history. It's a massive step forward, setting the stage for SpaceX's long-awaited, inaugural orbital test launch of its Starship, a spacecraft that could potentially


Should You Clap on the 1 and 3 Beats or the 2 and 4?
Lifehacker / 10h
Listen to this clip of blues legend Taj Mahal playing a concert in Germany in the 1990s. The crowd is clapping along happily to “Blues with Feeling,” but Taj stops the performance mid-song. Read more...


SpaceX's first attempt to fire all 33 Starship engines at once ends with mixed results
Engadget / 10h
SpaceX has completed its first full static fire test for Starship, if not quite in a way that makes the first orbital test flight next month sound realistic. The company hoped to fire all 33 Raptor engines at once, but Elon Musk noted that two engines didn't make it — the mission team shut off one before startup, while the other "stopped itself." The 31 that did fire lasted the full duration, how


The Chicken Sandwich Wars Have a New Contender: Cauliflower
36Gizmodo / 10h
Christian conservative chicken chain Chick-Fil-A is well known for its advertising mantra “eat more chicken,” but the restaurant’s latest experiment will eschew animal products in favor of a “plant-forward” alternative. On Monday February 13, Chick-fil-A will test a new cauliflower sandwich in three markets; Denver,… Read more...


Scientists Will Pay You Over $4,000 to Chug a Diarrhea Drink
27Gizmodo / 10h
Would you be willing to potentially endure a week’s worth of diarrhea for some cold hard cash? If you said yes, then you’re in luck. Researchers at Emory University are now recruiting healthy volunteers to take part in a trial that will test an experimental oral vaccine against Shigella bacteria, which cause a common… Read more...


FBI Finds New Information About Chinese Spy Balloon
35Gizmodo / 10h
We’re learning new information about the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said the balloon was able to collect communications and data via a satellite and had “multiple antennas” in addition to other equipment used… Read more...


Amazon Scores FCC Approval to Deploy Over 3,000 Broadband Satellites
29Gizmodo / 10h
The Federal Communications Commission has granted approval to Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems to deploy its constellation of 3,236 broadband satellites. The approval comes with the caveat that Amazon must retire satellites seven years after deployment and report satellite launches to the FCC on a regular basis. Read more...


James Gunn and Zack Snyder Talked, Everybody Panic (Nobody Panic)
Gizmodo / 10h
Tweet anything about James Gunn or DC Films and you’ll see it. Passionate fans fed up tha t the DC films Zack Snyder helped usher in over the past decade are being all but forgotten. “Restore the Snyder Verse ” is one battle cry. “Fire James Gunn” is another. And a third was so ridiculous, it made Gunn publically reveal… Read more...


WHO Warns Bird Flu Could Jump to Humans
300+Gizmodo / 10h
The World Health Organization has issued an ominous warning about bird flu. In a Wednesday press briefing , the international agency’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that the disease’s current trajectory leaves humans worryingly exposed. Read more...


The U.S. May Soon Have Non-Stop Flights To… Mongolia?
View from the Wing / 10h
MIAT Mongolian Airlines has a brand new Boeing 787-9 and wants to fly it to the United States. The state carrier, which traces to 1956 and a partnership with Aeroflot, has been submitting the necessary paperwork to U.S. regulators and meeting with government officials in order to get the permission. They would presumably fly non-stop from Ulaanbaatar to Los Angeles. This is about geopolitics, not


Lyft shares get crushed on weak guidance for first quarter
TechCrunch / 10h
Lyft beat the street on revenue in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to assuage investors who reacted to the ride-hailing company’s weak guidance for the first three months of 2023. Lyft lowered expectations for revenue in the first quarter to $975 million, a decline of about $200 million. Analysts had expected the company to promise $1.09 billion in revenue. That guidance sent shares plum


Energy Department Will Loan $2 Billion to Redwood Materials
47NYT > Technology / 10h
The loan will help accelerate Redwood Materials’ plans to produce components for electric car batteries from new and recycled sources.


SpaceX doesn't want Ukraine using Starlink to control military drones
Engadget / 10h
Elon Musk's SpaceX may be willing to supply Ukraine with Starlink service as it repels the Russian invasion, but it's not thrilled with every use of the satellite internet technology. Operating chief Gwynne Shotwell tells guests at a Federal Aviation Administration conference that SpaceX objects to reported uses of Starlink to control military drones. While the company doesn't mind troops using s


'The Last of Us's Melanie Lynskey defends show and her casting as Kathleen
Mashable / 10h
Every tongue that rises against Melanie Lynskey shall fall — likely at the hands of Lynskey herself. Lynskey, who plays Kathleen in HBO's The Last of Us , responded to negative comments about her character and casting on Twitter, where she discussed why she was so excited to play Kathleen. Lynskey and her role as Kathleen received criticism from America's Next Top Model winner Adrianne Curry, who


Guide To United Polaris Lounges (Access & Locations)
One Mile at a Time / 10h
I recently published a guide about how to access United Clubs . In this post I wanted to take a look at United Polars Lounges, as they have totally different features and access requirements (in separate posts, I contrasted American Admirals Clubs and American Flagship Lounges ). What are United Polaris Lounges? While United Clubs are primarily United Airlines’ membership clubs and lounges for el


Man "Sure" His AI Girlfriend Will Save Him When the Robots Take Over
300+Futurism / 10h
She Saved Me The AI girlfriend guys are at it again — and this time, they're hoping their digital paramours can save them from the robot apocalypse. In a piece for Insider , a writer who did not give his name said he was initially "pretty scared" when OpenAI's GPT-3 language model came out because, like many in his industry, he was concerned it would make his job obsolete . That fear began to dis



Scientists Unveil Plan to Mount Cannons on the Moon to Fight Climate Change
100+Futurism / 10h
Dust Bunny A team of astrophysicists is suggesting we could protect the Earth from global warming by shooting lunar dust into space to shade the Earth from sunlight, The Washington Post reports . The Moonshot idea, as detailed in a new paper published this week in the journal PLOS Climate, would involve using massive cannons, mounted on the lunar surface, to launch dust that would eventually sett


Women-founded AI startups see a boost in VC funding
TechCrunch / 10h
Funding to U.S.-based AI companies with at least one woman founder has steadily increased over the past few years, according to Crunchbase data. Last year, such companies raised $3.61 billion out of the $23.5 billion allocated in total to U.S. AI startups, or around 15.38%. That is a steady year-over-year increase. In 2021, for example, AI companies with at least one woman founder raised 13.2% of


5 Essential Motorcycle Accessories That Make A Difference
SlashGear / 10h
Hitting the open road on two wheels is one of the most freeing experiences out there, and we have five accessories that can make your ride even better.


The Most Dependable Cars In The U.S. Right Now – And The Worst Ones You Should Avoid
SlashGear / 10h
If you're in the market for a new car but want to make sure you spend your money on something reliable, J.D. Power has a few suggestions for you.


The 5 Best Plug-In Hybrid Cars Ranked By Range
SlashGear / 10h
Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) are acting as a sort-of automotive stepping stone between gas and fully-electric cars, enhancing the efficiency of commuter cars.


How To Factory Reset An Unresponsive Android Phone
SlashGear / 10h
Is your Android phone unresponsive and you've already tried several fixes to no avail? You might have to reset it to factory settings. The process is simple.


Jeep Rolls Out New 20th Anniversary Wrangler Rubicon, Offered As A Hybrid Or With V8 Power
SlashGear / 10h
Celebrating 20 years of the apex-model Wrangler, the Rubicon variants of the 2023 Jeep Wrangler offer both incredible off-road efficiency and insane speed.


‘We messed up’: Southwest grilled by Senate committee over holiday meltdown
The Points Guy / 11h
The public scrutiny over the Southwest’s holiday meltdown hasn’t let up. Southwest executive Andrew Watterson faced lawmakers in a Senate panel on Wednesday over the carrier’s operational fiasco that led to the cancellation of nearly 17,000 flights, leaving approximately one million passengers stranded during the winter holidays. Watterson, who is the carrier’s chief operating officer, immediatel


8 Cleaning Products TikTok Absolutely Loves
Lifehacker / 11h
Whether you get your tidying inspo from CleanTok influencers , Pinterest, or the stuff your aunt shares on Facebook, a lot of home advice these days is viral. Sometimes, the viral content is about methodology , but other times, it centers on specific products and tools. Here are some of the most viral cleaning tools, as… Read more...


How Kang Became Marvel's Next Supervillain and Why Phase 4 Sets It All Up
29Gizmodo / 11h
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has reached its turning point . After two years of introducing all sorts of characters and concepts , the upcoming release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania should begin to put everything back into focus, and on a path that aims right at two more Avengers movies . Read more...


Yahoo Says It Will Cut More Than 1,600 Employees
Gizmodo / 11h
Yahoo, the legacy site that’s seen its ups and down over the years, is definitively heading toward a down. The company confirmed that it plans to let go of more than 20% of its global workforce in an apparent shift of its ambitious advertising platform that looked to compete with the biggest players in ad tech. Read more...


Epic Games launches Postparty, an app for sharing Fortnite clips
TechCrunch / 11h
Modern gaming now boasts persistent online worlds and graphics that rival reality, but sharing gameplay videos or even screenshots is still a bear for some reason. Aware of that pain point and ever eager to make its colorful virtual gaming worlds even more compelling, Epic Games just launched a clip-sharing app called Postparty. The app, available for iOS and Android now , gives people who play E


Study: Mexican jumping beans use random walk strategy to find shade
22Ars Technica - All content / 11h
Enlarge / Mexican jumping beans are actually seed pods from a shrub native to Mexico with moth larvae living inside. (credit: Devon McKee and A. Pasha Tabatabai/APS 2023) Mexican jumping beans have been a curiosity for many an inquisitive child, and yes, they really do "jump," thanks to the presence of tiny moth larvae inside the seed pods. According to a recent paper published in the journal Phy


FCC approves Amazon’s satellite broadband plan over SpaceX’s objections
Ars Technica - All content / 11h
Enlarge / Amazon will launch satellites using Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance. (credit: Amazon ) Amazon's Kuiper division can start launching satellites to offer broadband service in the US, the Federal Communications Commission said yesterday. The FCC's International Bureau approved Kuiper's orbital debris mitigation plan. This approval was needed to satisfy a condition impo


11 Things You Use (or Eat) That Aren't Made the Way You Think
26Lifehacker / 11h
We’re so used to seeing finished products, it’s hard to imagine that they were once anything else. But nails, staples, springs, and chains all started life as spools of wire , and a bunch of other household objects and foods have even more surprising origins. Here’s a tour—starting with some bad news about silk. I’m so… Read more...


JLo and Virgin team up for a female empowerment cruise
85The Points Guy / 11h
Think a cruise could boost your business, your confidence and your mood at the same time? Pop culture icon Jennifer Lopez, who is also Virgin Voyages ’ chief entertainment and lifestyle officer, says yes. Along with Virgin’s CEO, famed entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, Lopez has dreamed up the Limitless Voyage, a theme cruise focused on female empowerment, entrepreneurship and wellness. The five-


Kraken ends its crypto-staking services for US clients following $30M SEC charge
TechCrunch / 11h
Kraken has settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is shutting down its on-chain staking program, the government agency shared on Thursday. The exchange, which was charged under its subsidiaries of Payward Ventures and Payward Trading, will pay $30 million in charges for “disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties.” In response to the settlement, Kra


OkCupid is testing match questions generated by ChatGPT
TechCrunch / 11h
Dating app OkCupid is the latest company to get in on the AI and ChatGPT frenzy. The company’s head of global communications Michael Kaye told TechCrunch in an email that OkCupid is testing a new category of match questions generated by the OpenAI chatbot. The news was first reported by Mashable . The app’s match questions let you define yourself and what’s important to you, and your match percen


A remastered, free-to-try version of the classic game Myst arrives on iOS
71TechCrunch / 11h
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, a newly remastered version of the classic puzzle game Myst arrived today on iOS devices. Myst Mobile , as this new version is called, allows players to begin to explore all of Myst Island for free without a time limit, something never offered before, the game maker notes. An early desktop gaming hit, Myst once held the title of the best-selling PC game of all ti


Spotify's new feature keeps Peppa Pig away from your heavy metal playlist
TechRadar - All the latest technology ne... / 11h
Spotify is rolling out a new curation feature that will lessen the impact other playlists have on your recommendations. It’s called Exclude from your Taste Profile, and according to the announcement , the aim is to make sure your own playlists aren't flooded with “songs and artists that don’t fit with [your] listening habits” or feel misplaced. For example, users can prevent their kids’ music fro



Amazon reportedly greenlights a Spider-Man Noir series
Engadget / 11h
Amazon is moving forward with a live-action Spider-Man Noir series, according to Variety . It will reportedly focus on “an older, grizzled superhero in 1930s New York City” — one that isn’t Peter Parker. Spider-Man Noir is an alternate version of the web-slinging hero, first seen in the 2009 Marvel comic series of the same name. The comic version was set in 1933, as a freshly bitten Spidey naviga


How to quickly earn the Southwest Companion Pass
1KThe Points Guy / 11h
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the latest information. Some perks in the frequent flyer universe can be incredibly rewarding, taking on an almost too-good-to-be-true aura. Automatic top-tier Hilton Diamond status from a credit card ? Totally possible. Up to $300 in travel credits that post automatically each year? Sign me up. However, one benefit stands above the rest — and isn’t


How to choose a cash-back credit card
23The Points Guy / 11h
Credit cards can often provide opportunities to rack up travel rewards like airline miles or hotel points. But if simplicity and a solid return on spending are your top priorities, you can’t go wrong with a cash-back credit card . Before you start shopping for a new card , though, it’s a good idea to think about what you want in a cash-back card and which one is the best fit for you. Here are fou


Russia’s Ransomware Gangs Are Being Named and Shamed
Wired / 11h
Members of the Trickbot and Conti cybercrime gangs have been sanctioned in an unprecedented wave of action against the country’s hackers.


Investigation Reveals What Caused Fatal Tesla Crash and It Wasn't Autopilot
64Gizmodo / 11h
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTBS) concluded its investigation into the deadly Tesla car crash in Texas that killed two men in 2021. The investigation report released on Wednesday said the men, who were identified by KHOU11 as Dr. William Varner and Everette Talbot, entered the vehicle with Varner getting… Read more...


Improve Your iPhone's Digital Zoom With This App
Lifehacker / 11h
Any iPhone can take a great picture. If you want to zoom in, though, you need to go Pro. Since the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple has reserved the telephoto zoom lens for its more expensive devices. Its “standard” iPhones must use a digital zoom to move in closer to a subject, which results in a reduced quality image. At least,… Read more...


Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Will Premiere May the Fourth
26Gizmodo / 11h
The Mandalorian will soon be back on Disney+, but for younger Star Wars fans—or any Star Wars fans who just can’t get enough of the galaxy far, far away —there’ll be even more to watch when Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures premieres on that most auspicious of dates, May 4. Read more...


Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card Limited Time Bonuses
One Mile at a Time / 11h
Marriott has co-branded credit cards issued by both American Express and Chase. We’ve just seen some new limited time welcome bonuses rolled out on the co-branded Chase cards, and they could represent a good deal. Let’s go over the details. Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card: 100K points For a limited time (though the end date isn’t published), the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card is offe


Panicked Elon Musk Asked Twitter Employees to Stop Building New Features as Site's Infrastructure Crumbles
300+Futurism / 12h
Falling Apart If you were on Twitter at all yesterday evening, you may have noticed: it was broken. If you tried to tweet outright, you were hit with a pop-up that said you'd already reached your "daily limit," even if you hadn't tweeted at all that day. People turned to scheduling their tweets, seemingly the only way to post on the platform at all. As if that wasn't enough, users found they were


Entering These "Unspeakable" Words Breaks ChatGPT
38Futurism / 12h
Tokens of the Beast OpenAI's ChatGPT may be the premier chatbot du jour, but it's still plagued by a host of issues — some more baffling than others. Enter researchers Jessica Rumbelow and Matthew Watkins of the SERI-MATS machine learning group, who found that if you ask ChatGPT about a bizarre series of keywords, it seems to inexplicably break the bot, Vice reports . The basis of ChatGPT's langu


10 Wacko Moments From Republicans' Hearing on Hunter Biden's Laptop
57Gizmodo / 12h
When Republican lawmakers took over the House of Representatives late last year, they made immediately clear their intent to hold up alleged tech censorship of conservatives as a top 2023 issue. They kicked off what’s looking like a long year’s worth of hearings and investigations into tech companies this week by… Read more...


Ford sells majority stake in Rivian after reporting $7.3B write-down
21TechCrunch / 12h
Ford Motor Company has sold a majority of its Rivian shares, according to regulatory filings . Ford’s stake in the electric vehicle maker, which has been dropping steadily since May 2022 , is now at 1.15%, or 10.5 million shares. The sell comes a week after Ford reported a $7.3 billion write-down on its Rivian investment last year. Since February 2022, Rivian’s stock has plummeted almost 70%. For


Watchdog warns monitoring not keeping up with surveillance tech
BBC News - Technology / 12h
The surveillance camera commissioner warns of an "explosion" of devices such as drones and body-worn video.


Fit everything you need for camping in this tiny Vespa trailer
Mashable / 12h
This ultralight camping trailer is large enough for an adult to sleep in, but small enough to be towed by a vintage Vespa. The biggest downside is while it's so small and light, it becomes unstable in windy or snowy conditions.


'Somebody I Used to Know' subverts the classic rom-com
Mashable / 12h
Allison Brie, Jay Ellis and Kiersey Clemons break down how their film, Somebody I Used to Know plays with all the traditional rom-com tropes we've all come to expect. Somebody I Used to Know launches globally on Prime on February 10, 2023.


Intense 'Outlast' trailer introduces Netflix's cutthroat survival competition
Mashable / 12h
Would you try to survive in the Alaskan wilderness for 1 million dollars? If you answered yes, you might be the perfect candidate for Netflix's competition series Outlast . (And if you, like me, answered no, you can still watch the survival shenanigans from the comfort of your own home.) Outlast pits 16 lone wolf contestants against each other in an all-out survival battle. There is only one rule


Does Poker Face's Charlie Have a Kryptonite to Her Power?
28Gizmodo / 12h
Read more...


After a record 2022, 8 investors explain why it’s ‘still just Day 1’ for Africa’s startup ecosystem
45TechCrunch / 12h
Last year was a good 12 months of firsts for African tech startups. For the first time, the sector attracted over 1,100 unique investors in 2022, which in turn resulted in a record fundraising haul of $6.5 billion, according to data from Partech . In fact, even some of the excesses of 2021 were eclipsed when the number of investments on the continent rose higher in 2022 than they had a year earli


Can you take back a gift? FTX thinks so
TechCrunch / 12h
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here . Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Over the weekend, FTX and its affiliated debtors sent confidential letters asking politicians, PACs and other recipients of funds to return donations made by the crypto exchange once valued at $32 billion. Even if the rec


General Motors Reaches Deal to Ensure Its Chip Supply
24NYT > Technology / 12h
GlobalFoundries will dedicate part of its semiconductor output to G.M. as the automaker offers more electric vehicles and driver-assistance systems.



10 Things You Actually Can't Clean With All-Purpose Cleaner
27Lifehacker / 12h
The name all-purpose cleaner is enticing, especially if you’re in a rush or don’t have a lot to spend on cleaning products (and aren’t in the mood to DIY some ). Unfortunately, it’s also misleading: Not everything can be cleaned with all-purpose cleaner, so you have to be careful not to put it on surfaces that won’t… Read more...


Borg, TikTok, and the online spectacle of Gen Z
62Mashable / 12h
When a group of college students wielding borgs — gallon water jugs filled with a delectable combination of water, vodka, and Mio — graced my FYP, I was confused. I clicked into the account that posted the video and was surprised to find that they didn't attend my alma mater, UC Berkeley. I graduated in 2021 and thought borg was unique to my campus. Videos of students at various universities intr


2.9-Million-Year-Old Artifacts Suggest Ancient, Big-Toothed Hominin Made Stone Tools
86Gizmodo / 12h
Oldowan tools are some of the oldest known in the archaeological record; made of conveniently shaped rocks or crafted from knapped stones, these tools made it possible for hominin species to survive in a hostile world. Read more...


Controlled experiments show MDs dismissing evidence due to ideology
40Ars Technica - All content / 12h
Enlarge / Those lab coats aren't going to protect you from your own biases. (credit: Caiaimage/Robert Daly ) It's no secret that ideology is one of the factors that influences which evidence people will accept. But it was a bit of a surprise that ideology could dominate decision-making in the face of a pandemic that has killed over a million people in the US. Yet a large number of studies have sh


Man sells $38 part to enable AirPods Pro case self-repairs, USB-C connectivity
Ars Technica - All content / 12h
Enlarge / He's also selling AirPods Pro cases modded to use USB-C. (credit: Exploring the Simulation/YouTube ) AirPods are a convenient accessory... until the charging case breaks. Functioning earpieces are useless without a case to juice them up. And as one user has detailed , Apple would rather you buy a whole new case than fix the one you have. Well, considering the e-waste the planet's drowni


The ultimate guide to United Club access
21The Points Guy / 12h
Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers. Airport lounges can be an oasis from a busy, crowded or outdated terminal. Some lounges belong to a membership network, like Priority Pass . Others are airline-specific, like the United Club. If you’re a loyal United flyer or frequent one of the carrier’s largest hubs, here’s what you need to know about ac


Meta restores Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts
Engadget / 12h
As promised , Meta has restored former president Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, two years after it suspended him from both platforms. The company previously said it would apply extra "guardrails" to his accounts to "deter repeat offenses." Meta, like Twitter and other services, kicked Trump off of its platforms in January 2021 after he praised those participating in the Capitol H


Here’s How Delta Air Lines Recognized A Customer Who Flew 7 Million Miles
View from the Wing / 12h
I just wrote about how great a job United Airlines has been doing recognizing the special moment that a customer reaches a lifetime status milestone - at the airport and inflight. It seemed fitting to share this heartfelt message from a newly-minted Delta Air Lines seven million miler . Continue reading ...


Self-driving truck companies face a potential roadblock in California
TechCrunch / 12h
After years of pressure from the autonomous vehicle industry, The California Department of Motor Vehicles is on the verge of allowing companies to test and deploy self-driving trucks on public roads. Now, a new speed bump has emerged. California Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry introduced in late January a bill that would require a trained human safety operator to be present any time a heavy-


Hype machines
TechCrunch / 12h
The age-old question in my industry is, “Where are we in a given hype cycle?” For now, crypto news cycle dominance has, thankfully, died now, largely through its own self-destructive tendencies. FTX obviously served as the most prominent recent example of what happens when the tech community believes its own hype. You so badly wish for the success of a concept that you lose the thread. Sprinkle i


NASA Rover Finds What Appears to Be Ancient Water Ripple on Mars
300+Futurism / 12h
Ripple Torn NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has made yet another astonishing discovery, more than ten years into its epic journey across the Red Planet's barren surface. The rover has discovered "the mission's clearest evidence yet" of what NASA scientists believe to be "ancient water ripples," a