Technology

Author Stephen King and Humble Bundle are teaming up to release an exclusive short story called “Red Screen.” All pay-what-you-want proceeds (starting at a $5 minimum) from “Red Screen” will benefit the American Civil Liberties Union while the story is available, from September 10th through September 16th. Besides being notable as one of the newest entries in King’s prolific body of work, “Red Screen” is also the first Humble Bundle Exclusive. Based on what little has been shared of the plot, it certainly sounds…interesting. The description follows (emphasis mine): “The never before published story follows a cop who interrogates a deranged plumber who just murdered his wife, only to discover something far more insidious.” It’s likely not about the video game plumber I’m guessing King...

You’re on Instagram looking for your best friend’s daily dog update, but you have to scroll endlessly through a sea of posts you care little about, and probably forget what you’re looking for in the first place. After a few extra annoyed scrolls, you close the app in frustration. It seems Instagram is well aware of your plight, because it is quietly testing out a solution for your messy feed called “Favorites.” According to Alessandro Paluzzi, a mobile developer who first posted about the new feature on Twitter, Favorites lets you categorize your most important Instagram accounts (friends and creators) as your priorities, so that their posts will land “higher” in your feed. If this feature sounds familiar, it’s because Instagram was testing a different Favorites feature back in 2017, which...

During the Apple v. Epic trial, Apple software leader Craig Federighi argued that tight control over the App Store was necessary for securing the iPhone. But Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers didn’t buy it, writing in her ruling Friday that he may have been “stretching the truth for the sake of the argument.” Federighi cast heavy doubts about whether Apple would be able to secure iPhones without its App Review system acting as a gateway, by saying that the macOS security was basically in a bad place. Judge Rodgers doesn’t think Federighi has the proof to back it up (you can read her quotes below in context on page 114): While Mr. Federighi’s Mac malware opinions may appear plausible, they appear to have emerged for the first time at trial which suggests he is stretching the truth for the sake o...

In 2019 a New York Times report called Google’s then-121,000-strong assortment of temporary employees “a shadow work force that now outnumbers the company’s full-time employees.” Now, a whistleblower has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stating that gaps in pay between temporary workers and full-time employees doing similar work had widened over the last few years, stretching far enough that the Guardian reports it broke local laws in the UK, Europe, and Asia. Even worse, documents viewed by the Guardian and the New York Times reveal that last December, Google managers discovered the problem and instead of addressing it immediately, they held off on taking action and only applied correct rates for the year’s new hires. The whistleblower is being represent...

The video chat app Houseparty is shuttering for good, developers shared in an announcement on Thursday, September 9. Founded in 2015, the app enables users to connect over video and play against one another in multiplayer games like Heads Up and Uno. After acquiring Houseparty in 2019, Epic Games introduced its popular Fortnite Mode, a feature that connects players through video calls and allows them to live stream the game directly to the app. “Since joining Epic, the Houseparty team’s social vision and core technology have already contributed to new features used by hundreds of millions of people in Fortnite and by developers around the world,” the announcement reads. The developers went on to explain that with such growth, they “can’t give the app or our community the attention that it ...

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers delivered a ruling in the antitrust case brought by Epic Games against Apple, ordering Apple to make changes to its app store while also instructing Epic Games to pay Apple about $3.7 million USD. The case was initially brought forward in August 2020, after Fortnite creator Epic Games updated its iOS app to allow players to bypass Apple’s payment system and pay Epic Games directly, cutting Apple’s commission. Apple subsequently removed Fortnite from its app store for violating its rules, spurring Epic Games to file a lawsuit. In a culmination to the year-long case, the permanent injunction issued by Gonzalez Rogers on Friday prohibits developers from directing users away from in-app purchases in the Apple app store. However, the cou...

After months of combating a tidal wave of harassment campaigns targeting marginalized streamers, Twitch has filed a suit against two alleged “hate raiders.” First reported by WIRED, the suit, filed yesterday in US Federal Court, names two defendants, CruzzControl and CreatineOverdose, and alleges the two were responsible in part for the rash of “hate raids” that have plagued Twitch since the beginning of August. In the lawsuit, Twitch said that: CruzzControl is responsible for nearly 3,000 bot accounts associated with hate raids. Bots developed and deployed by CruzzControl have been linked to various hate raid events, including those targeting black and LGBTQIA+ streamers with racist, homophobic, sexist, and other harassing content. CruzzControl has admitted to using bots to flood Twitch c...

Google is finally adding an official dark mode to search on desktops, letting those who prefer to avoid bright webpages complete their searches while bathed in inky gray (via 9to5Google). According to Google’s support page, you can make the change by going to Settings > Search Settings > Appearance. There, you’ll be able to choose light, dark, or device default, which will automatically follow your computer’s mode. If you don’t see the Appearance option, you may have to wait a bit: Google says the setting will be “rolling out over the next few weeks,” as many of its updates do. Google has been toying with dark mode search for a while now — we noted that it was in testing in February. To take you behind the scenes a bit, since then, we’ve had a few staff members randomly get and lose ...

One of the more bizarre moments of this year’s Epic v. Apple trial was when proceedings got derailed by an exchange about whether Peely the banana — a recurring Fortnite character — should be expected to wear clothes in court. Apple suggested Peely ought to wear clothes in federal court and showed him in a tuxedo; Epic argued the suit was unnecessary. And you better believe the judge’s ruling, released today, has come to a final conclusion. With respect to the appropriateness of Peely’s “dress,” the Court understood Apple merely to be “dressing” Peely in a tuxedo for federal court, as jest to reflect the general solemnity of a federal court proceeding. As Mr. Weissinger later remarked, and with which the Court agrees, Peely is “just a banana man,” additional attire was not necessary but in...

Sonos has announced that many of its speakers will be getting a price increase, ranging from $10 more for its portable Roam, to $100 more for its Arc soundbar. The company says that the price increases are making good on a promise it made during a call with investors last month, and that the increases would be going into effect on Sunday, September 12th. (We’ve reached out to Sonos to clarify if there’s a specific time the increase will happen.) You can see a table with all the price changes below. During its earnings call, Sonos cited both supply and demand factors in its decision to raise prices. In a statement to The Verge, the company said it’s “always assessing market dynamics — including demand, supply chain, component costs and the competitive landscape.” This seems to imply that th...

Samsung has announced six limited edition watch bands for the Galaxy Watch 4 made of recyclable and eco-friendly materials including apple peel. The range was made in collaboration with Sami Miró, a fashion designer whose previous collections have made use of upcycled materials. The bands are available today, with prices starting at $39.99. There are six designs included in the collection. The “Midnight Black” and “Stratus Sky” bands are made out of 100 percent apple peel skin “recovered from the fruit industry.” Samsung claims the material has the “premium look of leather” while obviously not being sourced from animals. The other four designs (“Aurora Night,” “Cloud Navy,” “Earth Sunrise,” and “Dawn Atlas”) are made of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material which Samsung says is recy...

On Thursday night, President Joe Biden announced a new federal vaccine mandate, putting new pressure on Americans who refuse to be inoculated against COVID-19. “This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Biden said in a speech to the nation. “Despite the fact that for almost five months, free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.” “This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated” The federal government can’t directly force people to get vaccinated, but Biden’s new mandates do everything short of that. Among other efforts, the plan requires all federal workers, contractors, and a range of government-linked businesses to vaccinate their employees, including healthcare facilities that accept federal funding....