Technology
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Intel teaser hints long-awaited Xe HPG gaming GPUs may be revealed on March 26th
Intel’s upcoming Xe HPG “DG2” discrete gaming GPUs might be close to a reveal. The company has teased a “Xe HPG Scavenger Hunt” for March 26th at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. The website was hidden in a binary sequence segment Intel stuck in its GDC 2021 presentation that briefly teased the upcoming graphics card. Wccftech has managed to decode the message: the IP address for the aforementioned scavenger hunt website, which promises more information on the 26th. It’s not clear whether Intel will be launching the DG2 cards on the 26th or if the official announcement will come at new Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s mysterious announcement on “the new era of innovation and technology leadership at Intel” that’s set to take place on March 23rd. If that’s the case, then it’s possible that the scavenger hunt cou...
Ekiti governor’s wife calls on government to remove tax on sanitary pads
The wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, has called on government to remove taxation on sanitary pads and engage in its local production to make it less expensive. She said this on Thursday at the inauguration of project P4iGC3, Pad for Improved Girl Child Education, by Balm in Gilead Foundation For Sustainable Development, BIGIF in Ado-Ekiti. Mrs Fayemi explained that such government’s policy was needed to promote the girl-child upbringing and keep them in school. “In rural areas, women do not have access to sanitary products. It is safe to say that one in every three girls in the country cannot afford safe and hygienic sanitary pads for proper menstrual hygiene management” she said. She also called for the sensitisation of adolescent girl child on menstrual health management to...
How to find out if you’re getting the third stimulus payment
It’s always nice to anticipate an influx of cash, especially if things have been a bit tight lately. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was signed into law on March 11th, 2021, includes Economic Impact Payments in the amount of $1,400 or less, depending on your reported income. In fact, as of Wednesday, March 17th, you may have already gotten yours; that was when the first payments began hitting bank accounts. So if you’ve been using direct deposit to pay your federal taxes (or get your tax refunds), then check your bank account. If you don’t use direct deposit and you qualify for a payment, you should get either a check or a prepaid Economic Impact Payment (EIP) card in the mail. Haven’t seen anything yet and want to find out your status? The best way to find out where your payme...
Facebook is working on a version of Instagram for kids under 13
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri confirms that a version of the popular photo sharing app for children under 13 is in the works, BuzzFeed News reports. The Facebook-owned company knows a lot of kids want to use Instagram, Mosseri said, but there isn’t a “detailed plan yet,” according to BuzzFeed News. “But part of the solution is to create a version of Instagram for young people or kids where parents have transparency or control,” Mosseri told BuzzFeed News. “It’s one of the things we’re exploring.” Instagram’s current policy bars children under 13 from the platform. Kids are increasingly asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends. A version of Instagram where parents have control, like we did w/ Messenger Kids, is something we’re exploring. We’ll sh...
Cricut completely unravels subscription plans that would limit its crafting machines
Cricut has announced in a new blog post that its automated cutting and printing craft machine will no longer require a subscription for unlimited uploads next year. The company took a step back when it announced it would postpone the change until 2022. But now Cricut CEO Ashish Arora is reversing the company’s plans entirely, guaranteeing Cricut machines will work how they’ve always worked. “We’ve made the decision to reverse our previously shared plans. Right now, every member can upload an unlimited number of images and patterns to Design Space for free, and we have no intention to change this policy. This is true whether you’re a current Cricut member or are thinking about joining the Cricut family before or after December 31, 2021,” Arora writes. Limits on uploads to Cricut’s required ...
Inexplicably, YouTube says extremely racist Steven Crowder video isn’t hate speech
YouTube removed an extremely racist video from conservative commentator Steven Crowder this week, citing violations of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy — not its hate speech policy — as the reason for the removal. Inexplicably, though, the video did not violate the company’s hate speech policies at all, the company told OneZero, despite Crowder and his co-hosts making numerous racist comments about Black farmers. “Our hate speech policy prohibits content promoting hatred against groups based on their race,” a YouTube spokesperson tells OneZero. “While offensive, this video from the Steven Crowder channel does not violate this policy.” If you were curious, here is YouTube’s full hate speech policy. And if you want to hear the offensive comments from Crowder’s show, Media Matter...
A streamer is staying live for as long as people keep subscribing
Twitch streamer Ludwig Ahgren has been live since March 14th, and today marked the fourth continuous day of his broadcast. The reason? Every time someone subscribes to his channel, it adds 10 seconds to the amount of time he plans to remain live. In other words: Ahgren is running an uncapped subathon because he’ll stay up as long as viewers keep subscribing. Since he’s one of the most popular streamers on Twitch — with 1.8 million followers as of this writing — it means Ahgren’s going to be live for at least a couple more days. (As of this writing, he’s got another 57 hours to go.) Yesterday, when he went to sleep for the night in his red racecar bed, he even managed to become the top streamer on Twitch. This isn’t actually against Twitch’s TOS. A Twitch spokesperson emailed The Verge a st...
Congress tries to get the FTC in fighting shape
On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee lawmakers held a hearing with some of the most prominent players in antitrust enforcement today. Two Federal Trade Commission leaders and two state attorneys general currently suing Facebook for violating antitrust law testified before the committee. But while lawmakers have spoken extensively about breaking up companies like Facebook and Google, law enforcement agencies are the ones with real power to unwind tech mergers, even if their dwindling budgets and measly resources make it more difficult to do so. On Thursday, members of Congress signaled that they want to help them bring more lawsuits against Big Tech. WHAT IT MEANS In previous hearings, committee chairman Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and others have made sweeping statements about setting ne...
Among Us’ new Airship map launches on March 31st
Among Us’ new Airship map will be available on March 31st as part of a free update coming to the hit social deduction game. Developer InnerSloth says the Airship map is the game’s biggest yet, with new tasks and the ability to pick which room you start in. You can get a preview of the new map in this trailer, which released during The Game Awards in December. [embedded content] The new update will also add what InnerSloth is calling a “preliminary” account system to help with moderation. Accounts have been in the works for a while, and InnerSloth wanted to make sure to take the time to implement them thoughtfully, according to a blog post. “A proper moderation system is one that is extremely difficult and time consuming,” the studio said. “It is not as easy as just having a ‘report’ button...
OnePlus CEO announces there will be a third, less-expensive phone called the OnePlus 9R
A third phone in the upcoming OnePlus 9 series has been confirmed by the company’s CEO, in an interview with News18 (via Android Police). The announcement, which is coming just five days before the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are set to be fully revealed, confirms rumors that OnePlus would also be announcing a less expensive phone in addition to its new flagships. So far, though, the phone is only confirmed to be coming to India. In the interview, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau says that the company wants “to go even further” than it did with the OnePlus Nord, in regards to the included tech and design. Depending on how closely you follow OnePlus, you may remember the Nord as a mid-range phone that was available in Europe and India, or as a budget phone released in the US. Which part of the price-to-perform...
Kogi criminalises hawking by children during school hours
Kogi Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Wemi Jones, says it is now an offence in the state for a child of school age not to be in school or seen hawking during school hour. Jones stated this on Thursday in Lokoja, at a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting on the newly enacted Kogi State Education Law. According to Jones, the new law is contained in Section 9 of the Kogi Education Law. ”If any child is seen hawking or doing anything during school hour, that child shall be apprehended by the Special Marshals that will be put in place. “The parent or guardian of such child (must) come to give reasons why the child is not in school, and we are very serious about this,” he said. Jones said that the proliferation of private schools has become a source of concern and worry to t...
A new Life is Strange is coming in September, and the original is being remastered
During today’s Square Enix Presents live stream, the company announced the next main entry in the Life is Strange series, called True Colors, will arrive on September 10th, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, and Stadia. Life is Strange: True Colors is developed by Deck Nine, a studio that previously worked on Before the Storm. In Life is Strange: True Colors, players control Alex Chen, an Asian American woman who has a supernatural ability to “experience, absorb, and manipulate” the strong emotions other people experience. The story will focus on Alex as she tries to embrace her power to figure out the mystery surrounding her brother’s death. All episodes for ‘Life is Strange: True Colors’ will be available at launch Unlike previous games in the series, all episodes for Li...
