Technology

Retail Apple employees at a New York City store in Grand Central Terminal have started collecting signatures to form a union, according to a report from The Washington Post. The organizers, who reportedly go by Fruit Stand Workers United, announced in an update on its website that they voted to affiliate themselves with the Workers United labor union on February 21st, 2022. Workers United is the same group backing recent unionization efforts at Starbucks stores across the country. At least three other stores are reportedly working towards organizing As noted by The Post, organizers at the Grand Central location are currently handing out signature cards so employees can express interest in forming a union. If at least 30 percent of workers sign off on it, organizers can file a petition with...

On Thursday, April 14th, Elon Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share. This is a huge story with a lot of fast-moving parts to it. It’s also a story that will likely stretch out over the next few months, maybe even longer. So we thought we’d put together a guide for you, our readers, that can be updated as things continue to unfold. Because, like Elon, we ❤️ you. So strap in — it’s going to be a bumpy ride. The latest news: The day after Musk announced his proposal to buy Twitter, the company’s board responded with a poison pill. This is basically the board’s way of saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Twitter’s board seems ready to put up a fight The poison pill consists of a new “shareholder’s rights plan” to give certain shareholders the right to purchase mor...

Editing a tweet using Twitter’s upcoming edit button could leave a digital trace of your tweet’s history, according to reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong. In a tweet, Manchun Wong explains that the edit function appears to have an “immutable” quality, which means Twitter may create an entirely new tweet when one is edited, all while preserving the previous versions of that tweet. “Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as in, instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the amended content, along with the list of the old Tweets prior of that edit,” Manchun Wong says. Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as in, instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new ...

This spring, the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) football team will don QR codes instead of numbers on the back of their jerseys (via SportsLogos.net). The team showed off their new garb on Twitter, sporting large, custom QR codes beneath their last names that you can scan to access players’ biographies on UCF’s website. In a video posted by UCF coach Gus Malzahn (who also has a QR code stamped on his team polo shirt) you can see how exactly the feature actually works. Judging by the video, it looks like UCF will display players’ QR codes on its home stadium’s jumbotron as well. Last year, the UCF Knights kept the numbers on the back of their jerseys but swapped their last names for Twitter handles. It’s probably best that the team kept their last names this time around, as I could s...

There have been several attempts to create Android-based game consoles, but none have really gone to plan. The Ouya, for example, was a high-profile Kickstarter success and a disastrous commercial flop. Nvidia’s streaming-focused Shield, meanwhile, evolved into a great streaming box but didn’t do much to make Android a better gaming platform. It turns out Google’s OS isn’t a panacea for building your own ecosystem. Recently, though, the open nature of Android and the accessibility of manufacturing have let countless smaller Chinese companies produce their own spin on the idea. You don’t have to have sweeping ambitions to build a platform ecosystem if all you want to do is sell to a small crowd of retro game enthusiasts. Companies like Retroid and Anbernic are churning out cheap, low-powere...

Windows 11 updates, which Microsoft sends to your system regularly, are meant to keep your operating system current. They are, for the most part, a good thing. But as long-time Windows users know, occasionally, an update can go wrong, and so some prefer to postpone updates for a week or two to make sure that there aren’t any problems being delivered with the update. In addition, sometimes updates come at an inconvenient time — for example, when you’re in the middle of a project with a tight deadline. You can’t stop updates altogether, but you can pause them. There is also a way to disable updates, but it, too, is not permanent. If you want to hold off in case of any potential glitches or would rather put them off as long as possible, here is how to adjust your settings. Pause updates Click...

The Easter holiday is bringing some unusual — yet welcome — deals into the spotlight this weekend, including a sitewide sale at Satechi that’s knocking a considerable amount off on everything under the Satechi umbrella. The current promotion, which runs through April 17th and requires you to use one of two promo codes, covers a wide variety of peripherals and accessories, ranging from Mac-inspired keyboards to 3-in-1 chargers. Using coupon code EASTER15 at checkout will take 15 percent off your cart total, but if you purchase $100 or more, you can take 20 percent off with the code EASTER20. If you’re not familiar with Satechi, just know that it offers plenty of functional basics, including charging cables and a number of sleek, functional accessories that are likely to appeal to Apple fans...

Microsoft is reportedly working on a program that will let brands showcase advertisements within free-to-play Xbox games, according to a report from Insider. Sources familiar with the situation told Insider that the ads wouldn’t disrupt gameplay and may appear on a billboard in a racing game, for example. It’s not immediately clear how else Microsoft plans on implementing ads, such as having them show up as avatar skins or as videos inside game lobbies. But as Insider notes, Microsoft is reportedly concerned that the ads could “irritate” players, and is planning on building a “private marketplace” to let only select brands into the program. Microsoft reportedly doesn’t intend to take a cut of the ad revenue Sources also told Insider that Microsoft doesn’t intend to take a cut of ad revenue...

After years of rumors and false starts, it seems like we’re close to finally, finally seeing a Pixel Watch running Wear OS. We’ve been hearing Pixel Watch rumors for the past few months, but what got me thinking about all this was a recent leak from Evan Blass. Earlier today, Blass posted a screenshot on Twitter of an interactive tutorial teasing a “Pixel Rohan” running Wear OS 3.1. Blass also captioned the tweet by saying, “Won’t be long now” — a nod to the very likely possibility that Google will tease the Pixel Watch at next month’s Google I/O. Nothing about this is incredibly surprising if you’ve been paying attention. It was always likely the Pixel Watch would run Wear OS, though for a small while there was speculation Google might opt for a digital-analog hybrid. However, this relati...