extremetechlove

Wednesday, 6 May 2020

How the Surface Book 3 compares to the new MacBook Pro and other top laptops

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft’s new Surface Book 3 is here, with an update that keeps the design largely the same as the previous model but overhauls the internal specs up to the top standards of what you’d expect from a 2020 laptop.

The new laptops — once again, available in 13.5-inch and 15-inch sizes — promise improvements of up to 50 percent compared to their predecessors, with options for discrete Nvidia GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics cards on the 13-inch model, and the GTX 1660Ti on the 15-inch. (Enterprise customers will also have the option of the Quadro RTX 3000.)

The processors have also been upgraded to Intel’s 10th Gen Ice Lake chips for better performance and battery optimization. The new Surface Book 3 models also can charge faster and offer the...

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Where to Find the Perfect Zoom Video Background

Forget trying to find the perfect desktop wallpaper. Now that everyone’s using Zoom—or one of the many Zoom alternatives—it’s all about picking the right virtual background. Swapping in one of Zoom’s built-in backgrounds might’ve elicited a chuckle back when teleconferencing was a new thing, but now that we’re all…

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Microsoft launches Surface Book 3 with new Nvidia GPU options, up to 32GB of RAM, and faster SSDs

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is launching its Surface Book 3 today, with a big promise of 50 percent more performance than its predecessor from more than two years ago. There are no big design changes this time around, and there will still be two size options: a 13.5-inch model or the larger 15-inch version. It’s disappointing to not see any design tweaks, but there are some important changes under the hood that should improve performance all around.

The Surface Book 3 will ship with Intel’s latest 10th Gen processors, with the base 13.5-inch model starting at $1,599 for a quad-core Core i5, and the 15-inch version using a quad-core Core i7 processor priced starting at $2,299. While the most basic 13.5-inch model will include Intel’s built-in Iris Plus...

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Microsoft’s new Surface Dock 2 is made for the USB-C era

Image: Microsoft

Along with the slew of other Surface-related announcements Microsoft made today — including the Surface Book 3, Surface Go 2, and more — the company is also introducing a new Surface Dock 2 docking station and a standalone USB-C travel hub.

The Surface Dock 2 is not much of a design departure from Microsoft’s original model, which launched a handful of years ago; it’s basically a minimalist black slab. That said, it’s absolutely packed with USB-C ports — four of them, to be precise. Two replace the previous pair of Mini DisplayPort ports for transmitting video to a monitor, while the set on the opposite side of the Dock 2 can be used to connect or charge any other USB-C devices you have.

Image: Microsoft

In addition...

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Microsoft announces Surface Headphones 2 with improved battery life

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft’s second-generation Surface Headphones were announced today alongside the new Surface Book 3 and Surface Go — and these come in black. Like the original model, the $249 Surface Headphones 2 feature active noise cancellation, and you can adjust the level of ANC up or down to your liking using the dial on the ear cup.

You get the same 13 levels of noise cancellation as the existing Surface Headphones, and the dial on the other ear cup still handles volume control. This was an ingenious system when it debuted, so I’m not surprised that Microsoft is sticking with it. Like before, you can tap the large touch-sensitive surface pad to control audio playback.

On the whole, there’s very little that’s changed about the Surface...

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Loon partners with AT&T to ready internet balloons for disasters globally

Image: Loon

Loon, a division of Alphabet focused on providing internet access using floating balloons, has partnered with AT&T to help provide internet more quickly to disaster-stricken areas. In a blog post announcing the partnership, Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth says that the company has already integrated Loon’s system with AT&T’s network, allowing it to provide service to any mobile operators around the world that have an international roaming agreement in place with AT&T.

The partnership is designed to let Loon get its balloons up and running quicker when disasters knock out traditional internet infrastructure. Westgarth says that the company has to do a lot of prep work before it can start offering internet access, including integrating with...

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The Surface Earbuds get a new $199 price ahead of May 12th release date

Microsoft’s delayed Surface Earbuds have an official May 12th release date and a lower $199 price tag, the company announced today.

Originally unveiled last October for $249, the Surface Earbuds are Microsoft’s first foray into truly wireless earbuds, joining the company’s existing over-ear Surface Headphones (which are also getting updated today with a new Surface Headphone 2 model).

According to Robin Seiler, corporate vice president of program management for devices at Microsoft, “We want to make sure we are competitive in market,” explaining the lower price point, which puts the Surface Earbuds closer in cost to competitors like the $179 Google Pixel Buds, $249 AirPods Pro, $129 Echo Buds, $179 Jabra Elite 75t, and the $229.99 Sony...

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Microsoft’s new Surface Go 2 has a bigger display and better Intel processor

Microsoft’s smallest Surface tablet is getting some important hardware upgrades today in the form of the Surface Go 2. The most significant change is a bigger display: now 10.5 inches, up from the 10-inch panel on the original. That doesn’t alter the overall size of the Surface Go 2, but it does reduce the bezels slightly. They’re not as skinny as the ones found on the Surface Pro X, but they’re certainly nowhere near as big as the original Surface Go from nearly two years ago.

The bigger display also means a bigger 1920 x 1280 resolution (220 ppi), while still maintaining the 3:2 aspect ratio Surface products are known for. Inside, Microsoft has also switched up the processor options on the Surface Go 2. The base model, which starts at...

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Samsung heir offers rare apology, won’t pass company control to children

SKOREA-ECONOMY-CORUPTION-SAMSUNG

Jay Y. Lee bowing in apology on May 6, 2020. | Photo by KIM HONG-JI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The heir-apparent to the Samsung Group, Jay Y. Lee, has apologized for his role in a succession plot that resulted in a bribery conviction, and for executives caught sabotaging attempts to organize labor at the company. Lee, the only son of the incapacitated Chairman Lee Kun-hee and grandson of founder Lee Byung-chull, also pledged that he would not pass control of the Korean dynasty to his children.

Until today, two things were thought to be true about Samsung: it doesn’t apologize unless things explode, and company control is a birthright of the Lee family. The break in tradition was an historic moment for the chaebol that got its start as a small grocery store in the 1930s, before rising to become a major international force...

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Microsoft offers $100,000 to hack its custom Linux OS

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is offering hackers up to $100,000 if they can break the security of the company’s custom Linux OS. The software giant built a compact and custom version of Linux last year for its Azure Sphere OS, which is designed to run on specialized chips for its Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The OS is purpose-built for this platform, ensuring basic services and apps run isolated in a sandbox for security purposes.

Microsoft now wants hackers to test the security of the Azure Sphere OS, paying up to $100,000 if the Pluton security subsystem or Secure World sandbox is breached. The bug bounty program is part of a three-month research challenge that runs from June 1st until August 31st. “We will award up to $100,000 bounty for specific...

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Huawei’s new FreeBuds 3i take plenty of inspiration from Apple

Image: Huawei

Huawei’s latest pair of earbuds are the FreeBuds 3i. Like their predecessor, the FreeBuds 3, they’re truly wireless, offer noise-cancellation, and bear more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s earbuds. This time Huawei’s earbuds look like they’re going for a more AirPods Pro look rather than the original AirPods, so it’s nice that they’re keeping with the times.

Huawei says the earbuds support Bluetooth 5.1 and can be controlled by tapping out the outside of the earbud. They offer up to 3.5 hours of playback on a single change, and their charging case holds 14.5 hours more. That’s a little low compared to the AirPods Pro, which deliver up to 4.5 hours from a single charge, while Apple’s charging case brings total listening time up to...

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The world’s biggest PC games are fighting a new surge of cheaters and hackers

The battle is on to tackle an increase in cheaters

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HyperX and Ducky collaborated on a limited edition version of the One 2 Mini keyboard

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

HyperX teamed up with popular mechanical keyboard maker Ducky to make a new limited edition colorway of its compact, 60 percent-sized Ducky One 2 Mini. In addition to splashing this keyboard with a matte black frame surrounding the keys and a glossy cherry red hosing on the bottom, it utilizes HyperX’s Red linear mechanical key switches.

Each of those switches is covered in Ducky’s durable keycaps, which are said to maintain their grippy texture and their key label despite long-term use. This model costs $109.99, and you can pick it up through HyperX’s online store starting on Tuesday, May 12th. Only a total of 3,700 units will be made.

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

In terms of niceties, the One 2 Mini has...

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Joe Biden’s digital campaign hasn’t quite come into focus

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Photo by CBS via Getty Images

The biggest story of today is the creeping sense that April was in many ways another lost month in the COVID-19 response, with the average number of new cases rising slightly throughout the month to around 29,500 per day. Large swathes of the country are preparing to re-open for business even as all signs point to the likelihood that, for all of our collective efforts to send the novel coronavirus into decline, it merely plateaued. Charlie Warzel raised the grim and yet wholly plausible prospect that Americans will simply normalize COVID-19 deaths the way they have normalized deaths from gun violence. A few hours later the president all but confirmed it.

Around here we’re generally most interested in the push and pull between platforms...

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Twitter tests a cleaner interface for threaded conversations

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is showing some iOS and web users a new interface to make it easier to follow threaded conversations, the company has announced. A gif published by Twitter’s Support account shows the new test interface in action, with lines and indents making it much easier to see who’s responding to who in a Twitter thread. The functionality first came to Twitter’s prototype app twttr last year, and builds upon the iOS update released back in January.

The changes are an attempt to make back and forth conversations “easier to read and follow,” according to the company. Current Twitter conversations can quickly become crowded and difficult to understand, especially when dozens of users are responding to each individual tweet in a conversation....

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Tuesday, 5 May 2020

Google’s Stadia controller will finally work wirelessly with computers starting this week

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google’s Stadia Controller will finally work wirelessly with laptops and desktops starting this week, the company announced today (via Engadget). Since the cloud gaming service’s November launch, the only way you could use your controller wirelessly was if you were playing Stadia on your TV with a Chromecast Ultra. You still can’t use the Stadia Controller wirelessly with an Android phone, though, and it’s not clear when that functionality might arrive.

When used wirelessly, the Stadia controller connects to Google’s servers over Wi-Fi instead of connecting to the device in front of you over Bluetooth, like most other gaming controllers. Google says this helps the controller “deliver precise controls.” If you want to connect your Stadia...

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Spotify CEO expects Apple will ‘open up’ even more in the future

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said he expects longtime rival Apple will “open up” iOS and its platforms more in the future as a result of contention with developers and growing antitrust concern from regulators, according to an interview with Ek published on Tuesday by Bloomberg.

Spotify filed a regulatory complaint with the European Union last year, calling Apple’s mandatory 30 percent App Store cut a “tax” that stifles innovation and unfairly benefits Apple against its competitors. Spotify also cited Apple’s control over system-level features like its Siri voice assistant, which at the time did not work with Spotify but naturally did integrate with Apple Music. The complaint resulted in an ongoing EU antitrust investigation.

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How to Finally Start That Creative Project

Remember when this all started and you were going to write the next King Lear? Well, you haven’t. But it’s not too late to get started.

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The many ways video game development impacts the climate crisis

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm.

As environmental breakdown intensifies, the games industry needs to ask itself tough questions

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The Supreme Court live-streamed its first phone hearing, and (almost) everything worked

Supreme Court Live-Streams Audio Of Oral Arguments For First Time In Its History

Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Yesterday morning, the Supreme Court heard its first remote oral argument and streamed the event live online for the first time. The case was Patent & Trademark Office v. Booking.com, an intellectual property dispute that’s potentially important but not very flashy. But it was one of a handful of cases rescheduled for May after being indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it was a largely successful trial-run for a (relatively) high-tech experiment.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor may have briefly forgotten to unmute her phone at one point during the hearing. Justice Stephen Breyer’s connection seemingly faltered for a few seconds, turning part of one question into a garbled mess. For most of an hour-plus debate over...

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Set New ‘Family Pandemic Rules’

Kids on the screens a lot these days? Staying up later? Sleeping in more? Wearing pajamas all day and all night? Hello and welcome to Pandemic Parenting, the gameshow where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter.

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Tuesday's Best Deals: Jay Bird Headphones, Armor All Car Cleaning Kit, Rachael Ray Cookware, Civilization VI, and More

A pair of Jaybird headphones, a Gooloo charger, Rachael Ray cookware, an Armor All car cleaning kit, and Star Wars comics are at the top of Tuesday’s best deals.

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Epic adds PS5 and Xbox Series X support to Unreal Engine

Image: Epic Games

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine game development platform now supports Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Sony’s PlayStation 5, Epic announced today. The support comes as part of the newest Unreal Engine release, version 4.25, and it should benefit developers as they prepare to launch games for the next generation of consoles, both of which are scheduled to come out this holiday season.

Epic notes that this is only “initial” support for the PS5 and Xbox Series X and that it will be releasing updates with “optimizations, fixes, and certification requirements to support developers launching on the next generation of consoles” throughout the year.

Unreal Engine’s Niagara visual effects system,...

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How the space industry is weathering the coronavirus pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a sledgehammer to the economy — and the space industry is no exception. While some major space companies are still in operation, considered essential by the US government, smaller startups are grappling with how to move forward as once-reliable funding sources evaporate.

Before the pandemic, the global space industry was really coming into its stride, valued at around $360 billion, according to one analysis. In the US, an eclectic mix of major players and smaller startups comprise this sector, pursuing established markets like building rockets and satellites as well as more niche services like creating space habitats, mining the Moon, and manufacturing in space. For the last few years, space startups with...

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Use Your Phone a Webcam, No Special Apps Required

These days of all teleconferencing, all the time have prompted many a post filled with different techniques you can use to turn an old Android smartphone or iPhone into a webcam. Far be it from me to crap on a good hack, but, well, I don’t think most people need to fuss with a special app in order to webcam-ify a…

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The Zens Liberty is the AirPower wireless charger that Apple couldn’t make

Zens Liberty wireless charger review

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Daniel Radcliffe and other stars are reading chapters of the first Harry Potter book on video with the audio available on Spotify

Spotify

The first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is becoming even easier to access. Various celebrities, including Daniel Radcliffe, Stephen Fry, and Eddie Redmayne, are taking turns recording the book’s 17 chapters on video with a chapter being released each week. The video will be available for free on harrypotterathome.com, and the audio will be accessible exclusively on Spotify. The first chapter, read by Radcliffe, went online today.

Other celebrity narrators include Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, David Beckham, and Noma Dumezweni. More stars announcements are coming soon, and chapters will be released through mid-summer. This is a particularly big get for Spotify because last month, Audible announced its...

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Space Force trailer finds Steve Carell leading the charge to colonize space

Aaron Epstein/Netflix

What if Michael Scott from The Office was given a team of scientists and astronauts and free rein to develop a program that would give the United States complete dominance over space?

That’s the premise of the first trailer for Netflix’s Space Force, a new workplace comedy that stars Carell as four-star general Mark R. Naird. Naird, a decorated pilot who wanted to run the Air Force, is thrown off balance when he’s given control over the newly formed sixth branch of the US Armed Forces, Space Force. Although he’s skeptical of what the program entails, he decides to give the job his all, leading to a series of hijinx and fumbles along the way that any Office fan will appreciate.

One of the ongoing jokes in the trailer is various members...

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Microsoft reveals Xbox Series X boot screen, confirms July event for Halo Infinite and more

Microsoft is revealing the Xbox Series X boot screen animation today and is promising to focus on first-party Xbox Game Studios games during a July event. In a teaser video for Thursday, May 7th’s, Xbox Series X gameplay event, Microsoft subtly reveals the Series X boot animation and sound with a “boot up a new episode of Inside Xbox this Thursday” caption.

The boot animation simply states Xbox and isn’t as aggressive as the thud and boom of the current Xbox One X that still shocks me every time I turn the console on and my surround sound system is up high. The Xbox Series X boot-up sound is a lot more reserved and sounds a little like some of the older Windows sounds from the XP and Vista era.

Alongside boot screens, Microsoft is...

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Facebook reportedly working on a smaller, lighter version of its standalone Quest VR headset

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Facebook is reportedly developing a second-generation version of its standalone Oculus Quest headset, with the successor potentially set to be smaller, lighter, and with a faster refresh rate than the original, per a report from Bloomberg. While there are apparently multiple versions of the Quest follow-up in the mix, it might be some time before the headset launches due to delays in both development and manufacturing caused by the pandemic.

The $399 Quest was Oculus’ most console-like headset, promising a full-fledged, self-contained VR setup for a single price, without requiring customers to have a gaming PC setup or additional hardware to enjoy VR content. But the standalone design made it less powerful than traditional headsets, and...

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Dictate Your Messages Using This Mac Keyboard Shortcut

Mac users who like to multitask: there’s a keyboard shortcut to turn on text dictation so you can talk instead of type.

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Vizio conquered the smart TV; now it wants to put Atmos in your living room

Vizio’s Elevate Dolby Atmos soundbar | Image: Vizio

Vizio next big plan is to put a high-end soundbar in every home

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Amazon’s Crucible is a free-to-play multiplayer game launching May 20th

Image: Amazon Game Studios / Relentless

Crucible, a new free-to-play PC game from Amazon’s original game development arm, is launching later this month, the e-commerce giant announced on Tuesday. It’s Amazon Game Studios’ first big-budget original game, as the studio has focused mostly on tablet games released through its Android app store since the division’s launch back in 2012.

The game is a sci-fi third-person shooter that mixes together a bunch of popular game designs including components of team shooters like Blizzard’s Overwatch, battle arena games like Valve’s Dota 2, and battle royale hits like Epic’s Fortnite and Respawn’s Apex Legends. The result sounds like it a combination of the game industry’s most dominant competitive titles of the last five years, which could...

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The Verge’s Graduation Gift Guide 2020

Everything you’ll need and want when you leave one school and start another

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Microsoft shifts Windows 10X towards more of a Chrome OS competitor

Microsoft confirmed yesterday that it’s reprioritizing its Windows 10X development to focus on regular single-screen devices. The Windows variant was originally intended to run on new dual-screen hardware, but sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans say the company wants to shift the operating system to launch first on secure and portable laptop-shaped devices.

Changes to Windows 10X include a simplified interface, an updated Start menu, multitasking improvements, and a method for running apps in a special container for performance and security. At the heart of 10X is Microsoft’s overall goal to create a stripped back, streamlined, and modern cloud-powered version of Windows.

This simplification has put Windows 10X devices on a path to...

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Sonos Play:5 successor and new Sonos Sub appear in alleged leaked images

The successor to the Sonos Play:5 will reported by called the Sonos Five (2020). | Image: Roland Quandt

Images of what appear to be a new Sonos speaker and subwoofer have leaked online, showcasing a familiar look for the two revamped devices. Leaker Roland Quandit posted the images on Twitter, referring to the products as the Sonos Five (2020) and Sonos Sub (3rd Gen).

Beyond their slightly revamped designs, the images don’t give much indication of what’s new with the two speakers. The Sonos Five (2020) appears to be a successor to 2015’s Sonos Play:5, but features a slightly less prominent logo on its front. Meanwhile, the new Sub appears to be almost identical to its predecessor. The existence of the two new speakers was reported by 9to5Mac last week alongside a new Atmos-equipped Playbar — images of which subsequently leaked over the...

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Nest is rolling out mandatory two-factor authentication starting this month

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Nest will start enabling two-factor authentication by default for its accounts in May, the company has announced. When a user tries to log in using their username and password, they’ll now also have to enter a six-digit code sent to them over email as an extra security measure. In a help page spotted by Engadget, Nest says that the change will apply to any users who haven’t already set up two-factor authentication via a phone number, or who haven’t migrated to a Google account.

The changes were announced earlier this year in response to reports that Nest’s security cameras were being “hacked” across the US. Google was quick to respond to confirm it hadn’t suffered a security breach, and that what had actually happened was that users were...

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An Amazon VP’s resignation has cast a spotlight on the company’s working conditions

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In the latest instance of unrest at the company, several thousand Amazon workers walked off the job Friday. The occasion was International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, and the Amazonians joined workers at Instacart, FedEx, Target, and Walmart demanding better conditions for work that the government has deemed essential, and their own employers have frequently called heroic.

The protests to date have drawn attention to widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 in Amazon warehouses, the lack of protective equipment for warehouse personnel, and the low pay and draconian sick-leave policies that workers in fulfillment centers have endured for years. And they’ve been effective in at least two ways. One, Amazon increased pay and expanded sick...

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The fight over Donkey Kong’s former world record is going to court

Iowa Town Plans To Launch Video Game Hall of Fame And Museum

Billy Mitchell (left) is taking Twin Galaxies to court after it stripped him of his record. | Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images

Billy Mitchell, who rose to fame hunting high-scores in classic video games, is suing internet game scoreboard Twin Galaxies over its decision to strip him of his records and ban him from its leaderboards, according to court documents seen by Ars Technica. Mitchell is arguing that Twin Galaxies’ statement was libelous, and implied that he was a cheater. A court hearing is currently scheduled for July 6th.

Twin Galaxies announced its decision to strip Mitchell of his records back in April 2018 after its investigation revealed that he had not achieved his Donkey Kong high scores on original arcade hardware. While some in the community have accused Mitchell of using the arcade emulation software MAME, Twin Galaxies said it didn’t have...

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Monday, 4 May 2020

Tumblr will now remove all reblogs of posts that violate its hate speech policy

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tumblr on Monday announced an update to its hate speech policy, announcing on its blog that it would start cutting down on the reach of posts considered hate speech by removing all reblogs of terminated content. Tumblr says it’s specifically targeting speech from Nazis and other white supremacist groups, which it says still be amplified on its platform through reblogs even after the original post was removed for violating its hate speech policies.

“Many of you have called on us to further reevaluate how we deal with hate speech, particularly hate speech from Nazis or other white supremacist groups. Today we’re letting you know that we heard you, and we are taking further action,” Tumblr, which is now owned by WordPress creator...

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K'Nex Building Sets Will Keep Your Kids Busy, Up to 34% Off

K’Nex 402-Piece Buiilding Set | $23 | Amazon
K’Nex 66-Piece Building Set | $16 | Amazon

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How to Froth Milk Without a Fancy Instrument

If you have a frothing wand or—even better—an elaborate espresso machine that comes with a steam wand, you are probably already enjoying hot beverages topped with luxurious milky foam every morning. But if you are like me, and are used to getting fancy coffee beverages from your local coffee shops, you probably don’t…

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Star Wars films and video games are up to 50 percent off today

Lucasfilm

It’s May 4th, which means that there are plenty of Star Wars-themed deals out there today. We’ve settled on covering just a few discounts on acclaimed video games and movies, though, of course, there’s also some merchandise you can score if you’re in the mood. My colleague Kim Lyons wrote about Disney’s new four-pack of Star Wars face masks that are available for preorder. While somewhat costly to preorder at $20, they ensure that you’re covered up during the pandemic while repping the beloved franchise right on your face.

You can get a great deal on a nine-film Star Wars collection from Vudu and the Google Play Store. Instead of paying a total of $100 for all nine films in 4K, the bundle costs $80 (equaling out to around $8.90 per...

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Google Drive adds Face ID and Touch ID protection on iPhone and iPad

Google today rolled out the new Privacy Screen feature for Google Drive on iOS and iPadOS, which allows you to require Face ID or Touch ID authentication whenever anyone tries to open the app on your device. That way, your important work documents or sensitive personal files will be kept away from snooping eyes.

You can choose to have Privacy Screen activate immediately as soon as you switch to another app — the Face ID or Touch ID screen will pop when you return to Drive — or delay it for 10 seconds, one minute, or 10 minutes to make multitasking a little less annoying.

Privacy Screen isn’t completely foolproof. On the settings screen where you enable it, Google warns that it might not protect your Drive notifications, “certain” Siri...

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Why Your Credit Limit Just Dropped

When the coronavirus pandemic headed for the U.S., credit card issuers responded by promoting their customer assistance programs that can delay your payments or offer other adjustments during this confusing time.

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Copy and paste the real world with your phone using augmented reality

Apart from burning through VC money and educating the public on how frighteningly large emperor penguins are, what is augmented reality actually good for? Here’s one answer: real-life copy and paste.

As this awesome demo from developer Cyril Diagne demonstrates, AR can be the perfect tool to quickly grab visuals from the real world and paste them into digital documents. Just point your phone at what you want to copy, and drag it over to your desktop. No fiddling around emailing images to yourself or cutting out objects in Photoshop. Forget it: your homework / mood board / dumb meme involving your pet’s stupid face is already done.

4/10 - Cut & paste your surroundings to Photoshop

Code: https://t.co/cVddH3u3ik

Book: @HOLOmagazine
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Carnival will start cruises again on August 1st

Coronavirus Pandemic Causes Climate Of Anxiety And Changing Routines In America

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Carnival has announced that it will resume some of its cruises on August 1st. Trips will resume on eight ships leaving from Miami and Port Canaveral, Florida, and Galveston, Texas, according to Reuters.

All other cruises in North America and Australia will remain suspended through at least August 31st, Carnival said. Customers who had booked cruises that are impacted by cancellation will receive an email with instructions for how to claim a refund or other “cancellation offers.” Carnival typically offers the option of full refunds or future cruise credit for canceled trips.

Important update regarding our sailings: You can also view the latest list of impacted sailings here: https://t.co/ZNUqjhnYhq pic.twitter.com/qi13s72uie
— Carnival...

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How to Quarantine, With Samantha Irby

Comedian and author Samantha Irby joins us this week on The Upgrade to talk about how to make yourself comfortable with self-quarantine. This includes finding the right TV shows to binge-watch (she has a recommendation or two), the right books to escape with, and the right foods to cook while you huddle up at home. Sam…

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Monday's Best Deals: Taotronics ANC Headphones, Homesick Candles, NutriBullet Blender, Logitech G305 Gaming Mouse, Customizable Dog Collars, and More

A pair of Taotronics headphones, a Logitech mouse, a NutriBullet blender, homesick candles, an Aukey USB-C charger, and customizable dog collars are at the top of Monday’s best deals. May the fourth be with you.

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Go read this report on what Eric Schmidt’s been up to since he left Google

National Security Commission Holds Conference On Artificial Intelligence

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Eric Schmidt, who was Google’s CEO between 2001 and 2011 and served on its board until last year, has reinvented himself as a technology adviser and investor in the US defense community. The New York Times has published a new profile on Schmidt’s work since leaving the company where he made his name, and it’s well worth a read if you’re curious about how the ex-CEO now spends his time.

Schmidt has long advocated the use of technology and AI in defense work, and now he’s advising the government and investing in businesses to make that happen. According to the NYT, he now sits on two government advisory boards that promote the use of technology at the Defense Department and has also invested his personal wealth in military tech startups.

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Amazon VP quits over whistleblower firings in scathing blog post

Tim Bray, a senior engineer and vice president at Amazon Web Services, has quit his job because he was “dismayed” that the company fired whistleblowers who were trying to draw attention to the dire straits of Amazon warehouse workers, he wrote in a blog post.

“Remaining an Amazon VP would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised,” Bray said. “So I resigned. The victims weren’t abstract entities but real people; here are some of their names: Courtney Bowden, Gerald Bryson, Maren Costa, Emily Cunningham, Bashir Mohammed, and Chris Smalls.

“I’m sure it’s a coincidence that every one of them is a person of color, a woman, or both,” the post continues. “Right?”

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