Tech
How to add users to your PS5, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S
/ Don’t keep your console to yourself — you can easily add other users, guests, and family members. *:last-child>*:last-child]:mb-0″> The PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S also cater to families. If you’ve got youngsters in the house who want to track their own gaming progress but aren’t allowed to buy and install games (or access unsuitable content), then a family account can offer another option. Both Sony and Microsoft enable you to set up accounts for your kids that can then be monitored in terms of what games can be played, what content can be accessed, and even what times gaming is allowed to happen. These accounts can then be plugged into your gaming system. Whether you’re adding full gamers, temporary guests, or family members, managing users on the latest gener...
Spotify Teams Up With Calm To Release Wellness-Focused Content
Spotify is expanding its offerings with the aim of helping users improve their physical and mental health. While most people use the app to stream music and podcasts, they now also have access to audio content from the mental health brand, Calm.The streamer will be releasing Calm content in the Spotify podcast catalog so that users can listen for free without having to purchase a Calm Premium subscription. Among the new additions are “Sleep Stories,” narrated by actors such as Cynthia Erivo and Cillian Murphy, and soundscapes to help ease one into a deep sleep.There are also relaxing meditations and breathing exercises, many of which just take a few minutes. For those who prefer the traditional podcast format, Calm has introduced a full lineup of wellness-focused shows, including Daily Cal...
Strikes Continue as Hollywood Comes to Standstill Over AI
In a recent development, members of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have voted to join the ranks of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in striking against studios over flat negotiations surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), pay structures and more.Underpinning the strikes is a particular failed negotiation with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over the use of generative AI tools that would seemingly disrupt the creative process and intellectual property (IP) rights of entertainment professionals. As a result, Hollywood is being brought to a standstill, with the future of the industry as unstable as it's ever been.Actress Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, emphasized the significance of the ...
Lego isn’t just for kids: the latest news for nostalgic adults and adult budgets
Filed under: p>span:first-child]:text-gray-13 [&_.duet–article-byline-and]:text-gray-13″> By Sean Hollister, a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget. Share this story “Adults welcome,” Lego declared — as it started seriously expanding the average size, price, and detail of its sets beyond anything we’d seen before. Like fellow toymakers, Lego has realized: the greatest generation of brick-loving kids is now old enough to open their bank accounts wide. The result has been a non-stop parade of some of the greatest Lego sets ever made — and the return of classic themes like Space, Castle and Pirates. Also, a lot of intriguing nostalgia-inducing partnerships with the...
Reddit is getting rid of its Gold awards system
Reddit/ Tech / The platform is sunsetting coins and awards but is working on a ‘new direction for awarding’ that it will reveal more about in the coming months. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit is sunsetting its current coins and awards systems, meaning you soon won’t be able to thank a kind stranger for giving you Reddit Gold for one of your posts. Awards are little icons on posts you might have come across while scrolling around Reddit, and they’re given by other users to show appreciation for a post. Perhaps the most commonly-known ...
ChatGPT Creator OpenAI Is Under Investigation by the FTC
As the proliferation of large language model AI learning systems continues, the US government is looking to make sure that generative AI isn't violating consumer privacy laws. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently launched an investigation into OpenAI, the parent company and creator of both ChatGPT and DALL-E, as it's reportedly "concerned" that OpenAI may be running afoul of those consumer privacy laws by putting personal data and personal reputations at risk.The FTC's probe into OpenAI was first reported by The Washington Post, who revealed that the agency sent OpenAI a 20-page document demanding records of how it's addressed "risks" — like a recent bug that leaked ChatGPT users' payment and chat history — posed by its AI models. Besides the addressed risks, the FTC is also asking ...
Google’s Bard Chatbot Can Now Speak
Google’s Bard chatbot has been updated with a series of new features, among them, the ability to speak.Bard can now actually talk back to its users. When asked a question, the AI will offer the option of either receiving a written response or an audio one.Moreso, Bard will be able to answer with different voices depending on the desired tone: simple, long, short, professional or casual.“For example, you can ask Bard to help you write a marketplace listing for a vintage armchair, and then shorten the response using the drop-down,” Bard Product Lead Jack Krawczyk and Bard Vice President of Engineering Amarnag Subramanya wrote in a blog post.The feature is only available in the English language for now but Google plans to roll it out to Bard’s other languages sometime soon.In other tech news,...
One of Reddit’s biggest communities is suggesting users move to Discord
Reddit/ Tech / r/malefashionadvice is private in protest of Reddit, but it is building up a community on Discord and has carried over its guides to Substack. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The biggest Reddit community that’s still private as part of the Reddit protest is now encouraging its users to congregate elsewhere: Discord and Substack. If you currently try to visit r/malefashionadvice, which has more than 5 million subscribers, you’ll be greeted with a page that suggests you visit the community’s Discord and Substack instead. r/malef...
The PS5 game that was “impossible without SSD” doesn’t need one on PC
/ Ratchet and Clank’s PC system requirements recommend a solid-state drive but don’t require it — thanks to DirectStorage 1.2! a]:text-gray-13″>If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was the poster child for the PlayStation 5’s blazing fast solid-state drive — but on PC, it doesn’t technically need one at all. In a now-vanished blog post on Steam, Sony, Insomniac, and lauded port developer Nixxes have revealed the game’s PC system requirements, which show you can get away with the standard spinning magnetic platters of a traditional hard drive if you’re satisfied with minimum spec (720p at 30fps). Before you hold this up as the latest proof that the PS5’s SSD was unnecessary, you should also kno...
Tumblr Loses $30 Million USD Each Year
With all the news surrounding popular platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Threads, Tumblr has now entered the chat but this time with some unfortunate news. The once-popular blog-like platform has been in the red, losing millions every year.Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenweg recently hosted a Q&A which was attended by 800 users, sharing with them the company's current status. The CEO claims that the company loses $30 million USD annually. TechCrunch reported the Q&A session which was also co-hosted by Tumblr's COO Zandy Ring. According to the CEO, Tumblr spends $30 million USD than it is making as it desperately tries to fight against the likes of Instagram and TikTok. COO Ring comments on the platform's user base stating that they do not see much increase, "People have this impression th...
OpenAI and Shutterstock Extend Partnership Six More Years
Shutterstock recently announced a continuance of its partnership with leading artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, which will enable its platforms like DALL-E and more to train off of Shutterstock's enormous data trove of creator content.As part of the new expanded six-year agreement, OpenAI will have access to massive image, video and music libraries, along with the associated metadata. In return, Shutterstock gains priority access to the latest OpenAI technology and will continue integrating DALL·E's generative text-to-image capabilities into its own main offerings.This integration goes beyond manual text-to-image generation and provides Shutterstock users with synthetic editing capabilities. This means users will be able to not only create new content but also edit and transform...
Former Celsius CEO arrested on fraud charges as FTC lines up a $4.7 billion fine
/ Prosecutors claim Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky made millions by lying to customers about his company’s CEL token. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The former CEO of the fallen Celsius crypto lending company, Alex Mashinsky, and the company’s chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, have been arrested on charges of committing securities fraud, according to Bloomberg. On Thursday, the Justice Department unsealed charges against Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon for inflating the price of Celsius’ crypto token, called CEL, while lying to Celsius custome...
