Technology

Today, StreamElements and its partner, analytics company Rainmaker.gg, have put out the February issue of their “State of the Stream” report. It’s something of a fascinating document because, as the end of the pandemic draws near, it’s another piece of evidence that live-streaming platforms were one of the winners of the crisis. (You know, assuming there can be winners to a global mass death event.) The biggest finding in this month’s report is that, in terms of hours watched, both Twitch and Facebook Gaming are up around 80 percent year over year. To be slightly more specific: Twitch has grown by 82 percent, while Facebook Gaming grew by 79 percent. For Twitch, that translates to more than 1.8 billion hours of watch time in February; Facebook Gaming, on the other hand, cleared 400 million...

General Motors has decided to make some 2021 full-size pickups without a certain fuel management module because of the ongoing microchip shortage. As a result, those trucks will get around one fewer mile per gallon of gas, meaning they’ll burn more fuel to go the same distance, releasing more carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The trucks affected are models that use GM’s 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V8 engine (including versions with six-speed or eight-speed automatic transmissions), according to Reuters, which first reported the decision. That includes the popular Chevy Silverado and GMC’s Sierra. The module is what powers the trademarked “Active Fuel Management” or “Dynamic Fuel Management” systems GM promotes on these trucks, which deactivates some of the engine’s cylinders to boost fuel econom...

Had enough Zoom meetings? Can’t bear another soul-numbing day of sitting on video calls, the only distraction your rapidly aging face, pinned in one corner of the screen like a dying bug? Well, if so, then boy do we have the app for you. Meet Zoom Escaper: a free web widget that lets you add an array of fake audio effects to your next Zoom Call, gifting you with numerous reasons to end the meeting and escape, while you still can. You can choose from barking dogs, construction noises, crying babies, or even subtler effects like choppy audio and unwanted echoes. Created by artist Sam Lavigne, Zoom Escaper is fantastically simple to use. All you need do is download a free bit of audio software called VB-Audio that routes your audio through the website, then change your audio input in Zoom fro...

After dropping an ominous teaser for it in February, Netflix has now released a full trailer for its upcoming series The Irregulars. It’s part of the streaming channel’s Sherlock Holmes cinematic universe (no that’s not a thing, but it could be!) after last year’s charming Enola Holmes series, which told the story of Sherlock’s younger sister, based on the novels by Nancy Springer (although Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate has sued Netflix for that series’ portrayal of Sherlock as too emotional). The Irregulars is loosely based on the street urchin gang called the Baker Street Irregulars, who appeared in several of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. In the books, the Irregulars are sort of like confidential informants for Holmes and Dr. Watson, giving them info from the streets and h...

Elon Musk has a new title at Tesla: “Technoking.” The electric automaker announced the head-scratching sobriquet in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, along with chief financial officer Zach Kirkhorn’s new position as “Master of Coin.” “Elon and Zach will also maintain their respective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer,” the filing concludes — just in case you were worried that Tesla was officially becoming one of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. bend the knee Musk, who recently lost his status as richest person on the planet after Tesla’s stock price dropped in February, could be looking for a confidence boost as his company’s once high-flying valuation falters slightly. The company had one of the most impressive stock rallies ...

It might be hard to believe, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons celebrates its first anniversary this week. Ahead of the game’s launch last March, producer Hisashi Nogami told The Verge that he hoped players would be able to “use this as an escape.” And in a year filled with challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, New Horizons’ colorful island and charming animal friends proved to be exactly that, offering a much-needed respite from the difficulties of the real world. The game wasn’t only fun on day one, though. Nintendo has continually added new content and events to the game, and the community gave birth to a number of fun, hilarious, and even political moments throughout the year. For many players, New Horizons became more of a place than a game. The updates and the game’s popula...

Tinder and other Match Group-owned apps are going to let their users run background checks on possible dates. The company announced an investment in Garbo, a nonprofit that looks to allow people to run background checks with only their first name and phone number or full name. The investment, of which Match didn’t disclose the amount, will help make the group’s tech available to Match’s users, starting with the company’s most popular app: Tinder. This means Tinder users will be able to vet their dates with details like their arrest record or history of violence. That could dramatically affect who finds success on the app and who doesn’t. Garbo says it collects “public records and reports of violence or abuse, including arrests, convictions, restraining orders, harassment, and other violent...

Red Candle Games, the Taiwanese studio whose first-person horror game Devotion has been unavailable to buy following controversy over a reference to Chinese premier Xi Jinping, has put its games up for sale on its own online store. Devotion and the studio’s first game Detention are available to buy now without DRM. Devotion was pulled from Steam shortly after its launch in February 2019. The game was critically lauded for its atmosphere and originality, but drew controversy and negative user reviews after users noticed an in-game poster that read, roughly, “Xi Jinping Winnie-the-Pooh moron.” Xi is commonly compared to Winnie the Pooh in online memes, which often meet the ire of China’s online censors. At the time, Red Candle Games said it was removing Devotion for technical and QA-related ...

Kia has given a first real look at its new EV6 electric car, following some shadowy teaser images that were released last week. Full details of the EV6 won’t be announced until an online event later this month, but the new images do at least reveal what it actually looks like. The EV6 has a sporty crossover-inspired design and is the first vehicle to make use of a new design philosophy from Kia that the company calls “Opposites United,” which is comprised of no less than five pillars: “Bold for Nature,” “Joy for Reason,” “Power to Progress,” “Technology for Life,” and “Tension for Serenity.” Kia design chief Karim Habib explains what that means in this video: [embedded content] “EV6, as the first dedicated Kia EV, is a showcase of human-centered, progressive design and electrified power. W...

Facebook research into “vaccine-hesitant” beliefs has found that a small group of users is driving many of the discussions that may sow doubt or discouragement about taking a vaccine, The Washington Post reported. Vaccine hesitancy predates both social media and COVID-19, as the World Health Organization reports, and can derail progress in eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases. The WHO points out that vaccine hesitancy may not be wholly responsible for an the 30 percent increase in measles cases around the world over the past several years, but it played a role in measles’ resurgence. Facebook banned false and misleading ads about vaccines back in October, weeks before the first coronavirus vaccines were even available. In December, Facebook announced it would remove false claims about ...

So I typically save my binge-watching for after dinner, and usually put something on to unwind before bed. Based on this routine, you can probably surmise that it was a very poor decision to try to get back into Hannibal— an excellent show, truly, but not “just before bedtime” fare. Eek. But I can’t stop watching, and the chances I may get up earlier to watch before work— haha I couldn’t even finish that sentence. I just can’t do it. My other current show, Servant, has its season 2 finale this week and honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen but Lauren Ambrose is absolutely doing work above and beyond what the show’s uneven writing gives her. This week’s trailers are kind of a mish-mash, or in more positive terms, there’s something for everyone! [embedded content] The Falcon and Th...

The middle eastern country of Oman has blocked the Clubhouse voice chat app saying it lacked the proper permit to operate, as some activists raised concerns that it was an act of censorship, Reuters reported. The Omani Telecommunications Regulatory Authority told news site WAF that communications applications operating in the country must get a permit from the authority. According to WAF, Oman “prohibits the use of several encrypted VoIP applications without an official license.” The Omani Association for Human Rights said in a statement that Oman’s government views “the authoritarian government of China as a role model,” and has banned the app even though it’s used by many Omanis “as a space to express their opinions freely without government censorship.” China blocked access to Clubhouse...