Technology

It’s the spooky holiday this weekend, but you probably already knew that since Halloween decorations have likely been up in your town for the last month and a half. But what hasn’t been around as long (and will disappear faster than those decorations) are the deals below. To match the mood, we’re going to share special discounts on scary video games that you need to play if you’re trying to get in the holiday spirit this weekend. Just so you know, Steam’s Halloween sale ends Monday, November 1st, likely at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. Following that gaming-centric section, you’ll find deals on tech gadgets that we think you’ll enjoy. Gaming deals Okay, so Deathloop is far from being a scary game at its core (though it can become quite tense when you’re down to that last sliver of health and surrounde...

Federal authorities have accused a Minnesota man with trying to extort $150,000 from Major League Baseball after hacking into its computer system. The US Attorney’s office for the southern district of New York and the FBI have charged Joshua Streit, 30, with illegally streaming content from MLB, as well as from the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Football League (NFL). The law enforcement agencies said in a news release that between 2017 through August of 2021, Streit operated a website where he illegally streamed the sports leagues’ live games for profit. He gained unauthorized access to the leagues’ websites, and misappropriated login credentials from legitimate subscribers, according to authorities, and his scheme led to losses o...

One of the most anticipated rounds of international climate negotiations this decade will go down at a United Nations summit in Glasgow over the next couple weeks. But many representatives from the frontlines of the climate crisis won’t be there: people from islands that may be lost under rising seas, representatives of indigenous tribes, and activists who typically turn high-level negotiations into boisterous events with their demonstrations. The 26th annual United Nations Conference of Parties, or COP26, is the five-year anniversary of the Paris climate accords. Signatories, which included nearly every country on Earth, agreed to limit global warming to a level that might be manageable for humanity. Those nations are not close to meeting the goals to which they agreed. In a typical year,...

Just as the FDA officially approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids between the ages of five and 11, Meta, Facebook’s brand new identity, announced that it’s rolling out stricter policies for vaccine misinformation targeted at children (via Engadget). The platform previously put restrictions on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in late 2020, but didn’t have policies specific to kids. Meta says in a new blog post that it’s partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to take down harmful content related to children and the COVID-19 vaccine. This includes any posts that imply the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe, untested, or ineffective for children. Additionally, Meta will provide in-feed reminders in English and Spanish that the v...

Roblox has been down for more than a day, with the game and its related website offline for millions of players. The hugely popular game-creating platform first started having issues more than 30 hours ago, at 7PM ET on October 28th. Roblox said it was “working hard to get things back to normal,” and that it has identified “the root cause as [an] internal system issue.” It’s not clear exactly why Roblox is still down, but some players have been speculating the outage could be related to a Chipotle promotion in the game. Chipotle is giving away $1 million worth of free burritos on Roblox as part of Halloween event in the game. The experience went live at 6:30PM ET on October 28th, just before the widespread Roblox outage. Still making progress on today’s outage. We’ll continue to keep you u...

Nikon recently announced its new flagship camera, the Z9. This camera represents Nikon’s first mirrorless camera fully geared towards professional photographers and hybrid shooters, with a huge spec list designed for use in the demanding fields of photojournalism, sports, nature, birding, and any other use-cases that call for a camera that shoots incredibly fast at high resolution. The $5,500 Z9 is also Nikon’s first camera to omit a traditional mechanical shutter, allowing it to achieve new levels of speed and autofocus performance. Faster speed is great, especially for sports photographers. But it’s interesting to think about where this technology could be used to take traditional-style cameras in the future. This might be the first step towards larger format cameras adopting the computa...

PC peripheral name Angry Miao recently introduced its latest range of customizable mechanical keyboards with an unexpected Wes Anderson inspiration. Drawing from the auteur’s iconic color palette, the CYBERBOARD R3 arrives in a series of colorways drawn from the Isle of Dogs, Come Together and The Grand Budapest Hotel. The four options available feature soft pastels and low saturation accented by symmetrical compositions and elegant settings. The distinct color expressions are the result of extensive experimentation by Angry Miao, ultimately landing on electrophoresis to create bright and bold shades. Each keyboard features a CNC processed aluminum frame that has been sandblasted and subjected to anodizing electrophoresis and the application of a matte ceramic texture. Cutting edge gasket ...

Online tech repair guide and parts retailer iFixit has published its latest teardown for the new 2021 MacBook Pro and reveals at least one small win for reparability: the ability to replace the battery pack modules. The battery modules in the new MacBook Pros, much like many mobile devices, are now attached via adhesive strips with pull tabs. This makes it easier to remove them, as long as none of the tabs rip while pulling. The trackpad needs to also be carefully removed to reach the remaining pull tabs. Image: iFixit Batteries in MacBook Pros used to have their own frame or shell, which made them easier to install or remove via screws or locking tabs (although that takes more interior space). Starting in 2012, Apple wanted to make laptops thinner, so battery structures were removed to sa...

It’s rare that you need to get into geopolitics at the outset of a smartphone review, but it’s impossible to avoid with the Honor 50. It’s the first Honor-branded device to release outside of China since the brand spun out from parent company Huawei last year. It means that despite Huawei’s continued presence on the USA’s entity list, Honor is now able to include Google’s apps and services on a new phone. Having access to these services, which include critical parts of the Android ecosystem like Google Play in addition to apps like Google Maps and YouTube, means that the Honor 50 is the first Honor phone in years to actually have a shot at being a viable purchase for customers outside of China. Its midrange starting price of €529 (about $616) doesn’t hurt, either. But while leaving its for...

Two Netflix employees at the heart of the Dave Chappelle controversy have filed labor charges against the company, alleging the streaming giant retaliated against them for engaging in protected activity. B. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager, was fired while organizing a walkout related to Netflix’s support of Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, which has been widely condemned as transphobic. Terra Field, a trans software engineer, was suspended after posting a viral tweet thread about the issue. Netflix said it fired Pagels-Minor for allegedly leaking confidential information — a charge they have categorically denied. The company said Field was suspended for attending a director-level meeting she wasn’t supposed to, though it reinstated her after finding no ill intent. In the ...

I can’t say I expected there to be more news about Apple’s $19 Screen Polishing cloth, but here we are. Not only has iFixit given it the teardown treatment and a (perhaps slightly tongue-in-cheek) repair score, but it’s apparently become one of Apple’s hardest-to-get products. And yes, to reiterate, we are still talking about a cloth made to clean your devices’ screens. As noted by The New York Times, the 6.3-inch-sided square of fabric is now backordered, with Apple’s website saying that you won’t get it for 10-12 weeks, meaning it’ll get delivered sometime between January 7th and January 21st, 2022. If you order pretty much any configuration of the redesigned MacBook Pro that the cloth launched with, you’ll get your custom-built laptop at least a week before you get your cleaning cloth —...

Nintendo is closing its Redwood City, California and Toronto, Canada offices, the company confirmed in a statement to The Verge. Kotaku reported on the closure of the Redwood City offices earlier on Friday. Here is the company’s full statement on the decision: Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time. Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and ...