Technology

So you’ve started posting videos on Tiktok, and now you’re ready to up your game. One of the easiest ways to make your videos more entertaining and to potentially get more views is to jump on trends. The way the TikTok algorithm is designed, it rewards videos that use certain trending sounds, effects, or hashtags. These videos are more likely to receive views because they’re pushed to other people who also enjoy that trend, and they’re easier to find when browsing in the Discover tab. Here’s how to improve your TikTok strategy by using trends to your advantage. Identify trends Trends can originate from a variety of features on the app: sounds, dances, transitions, or hashtags. One of the easiest ways to identify trends is to browse via the Discover tab, which will feature a variety of tren...

Netflix has dropped the latest teaser trailer for its animated Witcher prequel, giving us a better look at the film’s characters and allowing us to hear its English-language voice actors for the first time. The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf focuses on the early life of Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir, “a cocky young witcher who delights in slaying monsters for coin,” as per Netflix’s synopsis. Available plot details are thin, but the film involves Vesemir confronting “a strange new monster” and “demons of his past” in a politically-fraught kingdom. (So far, so Witcher.) The film is being made by Korean animation house Studio Mir, which has previously tackled a number of Netflix animations, including Dota: Dragon’s Blood and Voltron: Legendary Defender, as well as shows like The Legend of Korra. ...

After dropping below the $30,000 USD on Monday for the second time since the start of June, Bitcoin has returned above the $30k threshold on Wednesday after testing the $29,000 USD support level once again. At one point, $89 billion USD was wiped off crypto markets in a 24 hour period. The price drop came following a big sell-off in global stock markets on Monday, reflected in the worst day on the Dow Jones Industrial Average since last October. During that time, Forbes also reported that the New Jersey Attorney General has issued a Cease and Desist Order against the crypto services firm BlockFi, ordering it to stop offering interest-bearing accounts. Bitcoin’s volatility has contributed to a depressed crypto market, with Ethereum, Dogecoin, Binance Coin, Cardano, and Ripple dropping consi...

Big Picture, the mode that converts Steam’s user interface into a more console-like design better suited to TVs and controllers than monitors and mice, may not be long for this world. According to austinp_valve, a Valve employee posting on the Steam community forums, the plan is for the new UI from the just-announced Steam Deck handheld PC to replace Big Picture mode on the desktop version of Steam as well. Valve announced Big Picture mode in 2011 and released it the following year. The mode formed the basis of the UI for SteamOS, the version of Linux that shipped on console-style devices that were part of Valve’s ill-fated Steam Machine project. With the Steam Deck running an all-new version of the operating system called SteamOS 3.0, it makes sense that the redesigned UI would make its w...

Apple will start production on updated AirPods next month, with plans to launch the third-generation earbuds later this year, according to a report from Nikkei. It’s the latest rumor regarding Apple’s product schedule, which will reportedly include an all-5G iPhone line-up in 2022, including a revamped iPhone SE sporting the as-yet-unannounced A15 processor. A refresh of Apple’s entry-level AirPods have been rumored for a while now, with previous generations launched in 2016 and 2019. Back in May, Bloomberg reported that the earbuds will have a design similar to the AirPods Pro, with “a new case and shorter stems poking out of the bottom of each one.” If Nikkei is right about production starting next month, we can expect to see the new-look AirPods revealed alongside the iPhone 13 this Sep...

To sell regulators on their $26 billion mega merger, T-Mobile and Sprint executives told anyone who’d listen that the deal would provide near-miraculous benefits. But economists warned that US telecom merger promises are historically meaningless, and the reduction in overall competitors would — sooner or later — result in higher prices and job cuts. Instead of heeding their warnings and blocking the deal, US antitrust enforcers concocted an elaborate workaround: they would erect Dish Network as the nation’s new fourth major wireless carrier. Under the plan Dish received some T-Mobile spectrum, the Boost Mobile prepaid brand, and the assurance that T-Mobile would help Dish run a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) while it got its own nationwide network up and running. But squabbling bet...

Location data from a cell phone, obtained and sold by data brokers, has lead to the alleged outing and resignation of a priest working for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, according to a report from The Washington Post. The traffic data, which was linked to the priest and appeared to show when and where he was using the LGBTQ dating app Grindr, was obtained by a publication and shared with the Conference, where the priest worked as the general secretary. This incident is another example of how invasive the collection and sale of location and other personal data by brokers can be. While the data sold by these companies is ostensibly anonymized, it’s been shown that individuals can be picked out and tracked. The data broker industry has been a concern among privacy advocates for years,...

A new study lays to rest the tired argument that electric vehicles aren’t much cleaner than internal combustion vehicles. Over the life cycle of an EV — from digging up the materials needed to build it to eventually laying the car to rest — it will release fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a gas-powered car, the research found. That holds true globally, whether an EV plugs into a grid in Europe with a larger share of renewables, or a grid in India that still relies heavily on coal. Fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis. So governments from California to the European Union have proposed phasing out internal combustion engines by 2035. But there are still people who claim that EVs are only as clean as ...

Three years ago, a startup called Miles launched a free app with the goal of becoming a sort of rewards program for all travel — with an emphasis on clean transportation. Cover enough ground by bike, bus, subway, or even on foot, and you’d be rewarded with “miles” (aka points) that could be exchanged for perks at Starbucks or discounts to services like Audi Silvercar. I was curious, so I used Miles for a little over a year. I lived in New York City at the time and did a lot of daily walking and subway-riding, with occasional biking and bus travel. I was in a great spot to rack up miles without having to change my habits, so I shook the icky feeling of letting another app know my location to see if that occasional free coffee would be worth it. It never was for me. While Miles had teased gi...

After months of speculation and a sea of rumors, Nintendo officially announced the next iteration of its popular gaming console: the Nintendo Switch OLED model. The upcoming device serves more as a midlife update than anything else, a refinement of the 2019 model as opposed to the more powerful “Switch Pro” that was rumored (and may still launch). On sale for $350 starting October 8th, the aptly-titled Nintendo Switch OLED model is the next iteration of what has become one of the best-selling consoles over the last two years. It’s outfitted with a 7-inch 720p OLED display, a new dock with a wired Ethernet port, and an improved kickstand that seems to take a cue directly from Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets. It also offers 64GB of built-in storage, up to nine hours of battery life — the sam...

Today, Wally Funk, 81, and Oliver Daemen, 18, made history as the oldest and youngest people ever to go to space. They hitched a ride with Jeff Bezos and his brother, Mark, aboard the New Shepard, a rocket made by Bezos’ company, Blue Origin. Blue Origin will eventually sell seats, though Bezos declined to say how much they’d sell for. “We’ll be announcing that later,” Bezos said, when The Verge asked how much his company plans to charge. When’s “later?” “We’re not quite sure yet.” Daemen was the first paying customer — though he didn’t win the June auction for the seat. That winner, who remains anonymous, bid $28 million to fly, but had to reschedule for vague “scheduling conflicts.” (Blue Origin would not identify the bidder or explain what the issue was.) Daemen’s dad, a Dutch private e...