Technology

Logitech has announced Lift, a $69.99 wireless vertical mouse that’s launching today in multiple colorways, as well as with both right- and left-handed options. The Lift features a vertically oriented design that puts your hand at a 57-degree angle for better ergonomics. Compared to using a traditional mouse, using mice like the Lift may help to greatly reduce wrist strain since you’re holding your wrist at a similar angle to shaking someone’s hand. At least, that’s what I experienced. Last year, I made the shift to a split ergonomic keyboard, and a mouse like the Lift completes the setup. For those keeping track, the Lift isn’t quite as fully featured as the pricier $99.99 MX Vertical, but it could be a good starting option if you don’t want to spend that much. It lacks USB-C charging, in...

Though it’s very much felt as if Mjolnir’s days of being important in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were over, Thor: Love and Thunder is set to bring the magical weapon back and put it in the hands of Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster. In her brief appearance in the movie’s first trailer, Jane’s new armor and ability to call a reformed Mjolnir to her suggests that she, along with Chris Hemsworth’s Odinson, will bear “Thor” as a title, a concept explored in Marvel’s The Mighty Thor comics from writer Jason Aaron and artist Russell Dauterman. Thor: Love and Thunder tells the story of how the original Thor is pulled out of his adventurous but relatively chill retirement by the arrival of Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), a killer on an intergalactic crusade to rid the universe of god-like al...

Today I learned (TIL) there’s an 83-page FBI “guide” to internet slang filled with abbreviations entered either by a complete troll or someone totally clueless, as recently reported by Input. And yes, TIL is actually included in the guide, but so are thousands of other abbreviations that I’m convinced someone just made up. Because no one actually uses BTDTGTTSAWIO (been there, done that, got the T-shirt and wore it out) …right? As Input points out, the FBI’s guide was made available through a 2014 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. If you decide to check it out, you should know it’s in pretty crappy quality, but it’s still readable for the most part. The Verge actually reported on this back when it was first released; it hasn’t been rehashed in a while (and it’s the first I’v...

The years-in-the-making Minecraft movie from Warner Bros. might be one step closer to becoming a reality, as Jason Momoa, who you might know as Aquaman, is in “final negotiations” to star, according to Substack publication The Ankler, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety. However, it still seems the movie might be a long way from actually hitting theaters, though, as neither THR or Variety provided a projected release date. Warner Bros. didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. The Minecraft movie has hit a few blocks (buh-dum tish) over the past several years. The movie was first announced in 2014, and months later, Night at the Museum and Free Guy director Shawn Levy was reportedly set to direct. But in 2015, Rob McElhenney, known for his work on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia...

As millions of Americans file their 2021 income taxes online today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is demanding answers from Intuit about its popular TurboTax e-filing product. In a letter to Intuit CEO Sasan K. Goodarzi, Warren says the company has used “extensive lobbying and adroit influence peddling” to prevent Americans from filing their taxes for free online. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit against Intuit in March for deceptive marketing, an action Warren calls “both welcome and long overdue.” Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Katie Porter (D-CA) also signed onto the letter. “scamming taxpayers into paying for services that should be free” Many of Warren’s complaints center on the Free File program, an IRS partnership with a nonprofit coalition of tax prep companies founded i...

A movie based on the classic Streets of Rage game series is in the works, according to a report from Deadline. John Wick creator Derek Kolstad reportedly wrote the script on spec (without a studio deal), while the production company behind the Sonic the Hedgehog films will produce the adaption. Escape Artists, the studio behind The Equalizer franchise, is also on board to produce the film, Deadline reports. Streets of Rage was first released for the SEGA Genesis back in 1991, with Streets of Rage 2 and 3 launching on its heels in 1992 and 1994. In each game, you play as badass vigilantes punching the crap out of villains polluting the streets of the city. The fourth installment of the side-scrolling beat-’em-up came out in 2020, 26 years after the third game. As my colleague Andrew Webster...

Odd issues have popped up following software updates Google’s released for its latest flagship phones frequently enough for us to look into why Android 12 has been so buggy for certain phones. Now some Pixel owners report that their phones are failing to complete a fairly basic task — ringing when there’s an incoming call. Unlike the issue with notification vibrations suddenly changing without explanation, this isn’t something we’ve been able to confirm. However, posts on Reddit (via Android Central and Phone Arena) and Google’s support forums describe issues where some incoming calls seem to be silently rejected, sending the caller directly to voicemail. Their call log indicates that an incoming call was “declined,” when in fact, the phone didn’t ring, and they all claim they don’t have a...

This evening, Vice President Kamala Harris is announcing that the United States will no longer conduct anti-satellite, or ASAT, missile tests — the practice of using ground-based missiles to destroy satellites in orbit around Earth. Harris is challenging other countries to make the same commitment and establish this policy as a new “norm of responsible behavior in space.” Harris will speak more extensively on the new commitment during a speech at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this evening. Harris currently serves as the chair of the White House’s National Space Council, an executive advisory group that helps to set the nation’s space agenda. This declaration comes five months after Russia conducted an ASAT test in November. The country launched one of its Nudol missiles from Ea...

The third “volume” of Netflix’s science fiction anthology series Love, Death, and Robots will debut on May 20th. The company announced the release on Monday with a short video — though don’t be fooled by the footage of The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit at the beginning. The streaming service teased that a third volume was on the way when it announced Volume 2 almost exactly one year ago, but only gave a vague “2022” release at the time. In the video, Netflix didn’t specify how many episodes would be included with the new season. Volume 1 had 18 episodes, while Volume 2 had eight, and according to a report from IGN last year, there will be eight episodes in the third volume as well. We’ve reached out to Netflix to see if that’s still the case.

It’s time for another chance to buy the most sought-after console currently on the market: Sony’s PlayStation 5. Walmart once again has a restock of PS5 consoles coming up for Walmart Plus subscribers. The members-only drop is scheduled for tomorrow, April 19th, at 12PM ET / 9AM PT, and it’s set to include both the disc-based PS5 for $499 and the PS5 Digital Edition for $399. You’ll need a paid Walmart Plus account to get a crack at either one (no free trials allowed), and while the premium subscription costs $98 annually, you can subscribe for just one month for $12.95 to try your hand at a PS5. We’ve been through this drill at Walmart many times before, and while nobody likes paying extra for access to purchase a console, the retail giant is one of the more reliable stores selling non-bu...

A federal judge said Monday that the Biden administration could not require masks be worn on airplanes and public transportation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have the authority to introduce a mask mandate and did not follow the proper rules to implement a mandate, US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle wrote in the ruling. The mask mandate has been in place since January 2021. The CDC had just last week extended it through May 3rd. It had been set to expire on April 18th, the same day the judge made the ruling. Public transit was one of the last places masks were reliably required in the United States Public transit was one of the last places masks were reliably required in the United States — most states and cities have dropped their mandates, although some ...

Google seems to be working on bringing Wallet back in some form after it made the app part of Google Pay (via Android Police). According to Mishaal Rahman, the company is creating a Wallet interface for Google Play Services that will act as a way to access and manage your payment and transit cards, passes, rewards memberships, and more. Currently, you manage most of these in Google Pay, and it seems likely that you’ll be able to get to the new Wallet UI from within that app, which Rahman says will still be used for contactless payments. It also appears that the cards you put into your Wallet will be accessible from elsewhere, as the screenshots show a link saying “learn how passes in your Wallet will appear across Google.” Google Wallet started as Google’s NFC payment app in 2011, acting a...