Technology

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....

Customizing your iPhone’s homescreen took off last year when iOS 14 introduced widgets and the ability to hide default app icons in favor of your own cool, customized ones. But iOS 15 opens up a new dimension to homescreen customization, thanks to Focus modes — which give a quick and easy way to hide and reveal groups of homescreens with just a single tap. Here’s how to do it: Focus modes are ostensibly an extension of Apple’s Do Not Disturb mode — the intended idea behind the feature is that you can tie specific homescreens to different use cases, like having a work homescreen with your calendar and email widgets that automatically pop up when you’re in the office, and a regular homescreen with social media apps and music widgets for when you’re off the clock. But since Focus modes let yo...

With the rise of NFT artwork over the past year, many artists have floated my way through the Twitter content rivers. One of those people was Defaced, whose colorful, geometric designs always transport me to an alternate dimension and draw me in with characters that I can’t help but feel for. Defaced, like many digital artists, got his start in graphic design, initially developing his skills making branding packages for Call of Duty streamers and eventually getting a job out of high school for a small tech company. He quickly realized that if he wanted his time sitting behind a computer to mean something, he’d have to make a change. After a quick stint back in school, he jumped into the world of freelance design. A bet that paid off, as within the year he’d be working for the likes of Appl...

Apple has reportedly overcome the production issues it’s been having with its unreleased smartwatch, the Apple Watch Series 7, and will now begin mass manufacturing the device in mid-September, according to a report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by MacRumors. The news comes as Apple gears up for a major launch event on September 14th. The fall event will presumably be focused on its latest iPhone models with the new Apple Watch also expected to make an appearance. Late last month Nikkei and Bloomberg reported that Apple had temporarily halted production of its latest smartwatch while it fixed the problems. The issues were thought to be related to the Series 7’s revamped design, which is said to consist of “a flatter display and edges” than seen on previous models. The new design has repor...

Google is starting to roll out its new Material You design system to Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and more on Android. The new look will include changes to navigation bars, improved action buttons, and Google’s Sans text for better readability. It’s part of the bigger Android 12 redesign that includes big, bubbly buttons, shifting colors, smoother animations, and some overhauls to built-in apps. The design changes mean Pixel devices with Android 12 or newer will be able to match the colors inside apps like Gmail, Google Meet, and Google Drive with their wallpapers for what Google calls a “more dynamic, personalized look.” Existing color schemes and color-coded file types and folders will remain unchanged within the apps, though. The subtle changes to the Gmail app design.Image: Google Google is ...

Drake‘s new album Certified Lover Boy has garnered a lot of attention in the past week, and it’s arguable that the album cover alone has received a great deal of interest. The cover art caused divisive public opinions, leaving some unsure of how they feel about the work of British artist Damien Hirst. The 12-emoji album cover has become a viral hit, with many sharing their own renditions of the artwork in recent weeks. Now, Canadian software engineer Niko Draca has created a free-to-use Certified Lover Boy Emoji Generator that allows anyone to join in on the viral phenomenon. The microsite takes any Unicode Emoji character and alters them to appear pregnant, whether male or female in a wide range of skin tones and various shirt colours. Draca recently commented on how he was inspired ...