Author Archives: Cheyenne MacDonald

The owner of Redbox has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

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Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, which acquired the movie rental service Redbox in 2022, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Deadline reports. The company recently disclosed net losses of $636.6 million for 2023 in a SEC filing, and Deadline reported just a few days ago that it had suspended medical benefits and missed payroll, leaving employees without their paychecks for a week already. In a message to employees on Saturday, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment said it had applied for a debtor-in-possession loan in an attempt to remedy the situation.

“Upon court approval, we expect payroll to be funded early in the week and funding for this upcoming week’s payroll to also be secured,” the message said, per Deadline. “We also expect to have the funds to reinstate medical benefits back to May 14, 2024 and going forward.” The $375 million deal to acquire Redbox brought with it a ton of debt, and according to The Verge, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment owes money to a slew of retailers, studios, and streaming platforms — including Walmart, Universal and Sony — as well as other creditors.

Its total debts come to about $970 million. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment also owns the streaming service Crackle and a few other film and TV brands, in addition to selling the long-running self-help books it’s best known for.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-owner-of-redbox-has-filed-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-172124081.html?src=rss

NASA and Boeing say Starliner astronauts ‘are not stranded,’ but will be on the ISS for a few more weeks

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NASA and Boeing plan to spend the next few weeks conducting tests on the ground in order to better understand issues with the Starliner spacecraft’s thrusters before giving its crew the go-ahead to fly back to Earth. But, officials insisted in a press conference Friday afternoon, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are not “stranded” on the International Space Station. “We’re not in a rush to come home,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Starliner has been docked with the ISS since June 6 for what was meant to be a 10-day flight test all in all. During its approach of the orbiting lab, however, the craft experienced problems with five of its thrusters, and a known helium leak appeared to worsen. NASA and Boeing have been working together to evaluate the issues ever since. On Friday, representatives for the two said they aren’t yet setting a date for the return flight, and will instead wait until the ground tests have been completed and all analyses run. The first thruster tests, which will be conducted at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, are expected to begin as soon as Tuesday.

It was initially stated that Starliner could only stay docked at the ISS for a maximum of 45 days due to limitations with its batteries, but Stich said during the conference that these batteries are being recharged by the space station, so this can be extended. “I want to make it very clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” Stich said. “Our plan is to continue to return them on Starliner and return them home at the right time.”

Starliner is performing well while docked, and the craft could still be used as a lifeboat to bring the astronauts home if necessary in the case of an emergency, the officials said. Mark Nappi, VP and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, reiterated Stich’s comments, saying, “We’re not stuck on the ISS, the crew is not in any danger, and there’s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-and-boeing-say-starliner-astronauts-are-not-stranded-but-will-be-on-the-iss-for-a-few-more-weeks-154407704.html?src=rss

Apple reportedly even held talks with Meta about an AI partnership as it plays catch-up

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Apple is apparently looking to take all the help it can get to integrate generative AI into its recently announced Apple Intelligence. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, citing sources with knowledge of the discussions, Apple has held talks with Meta about the possibility of using the company’s generative AI model. It also reportedly had similar discussions with startups Anthropic and Perplexity. As of now, though, nothing has been finalized, WSJ reports.

At WWDC earlier this month, Apple officially announced its much-rumored partnership with OpenAI that will bring ChatGPT to newer iPhones, iPads and Macs with the upcoming generation of the devices’ OS. During the event, Apple’s senior VP of software engineering, Craig Federighi, also name-dropped Google’s Gemini as something that could be added to Apple Intelligence in the future. “We want to enable users ultimately to choose the models they want,” Federighi said. It would make sense, then, for Apple to be shopping around.

But for the time being, only OpenAI has been confirmed as a partner. OpenAI’s GPT-4o will be integrated into Apple Intelligence to bolster Siri and other tools, with some features expected to arrive later this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-reportedly-even-held-talks-with-meta-about-an-ai-partnership-as-it-plays-catch-up-212741746.html?src=rss

Deepfakes of Elon Musk are pushing crypto giveaway scams on YouTube Live

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A YouTube Live broadcast that ran for five hours today used a deepfake of Elon Musk to push a cryptocurrency scam, in the latest of a series of similar bogus streams. The video, which has has since been taken down, showed a clip of Musk that was meant to look like a livestream from a Tesla event, with an AI-generated version of his voice instructing viewers to visit a website and deposit their bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin in order to participate in a giveaway. The message, playing on a loop, promised the system would then “automatically send back double the amount of the cryptocurrency you deposited.”

Over 30,000 viewers were tuned into the stream at one point (though we can’t discount the possibility these numbers were inflated by bots), pushing it to the top of YouTube’s Live Now recommendations. The account masquerading as Tesla, @elon.teslastream, had the Official Artist Channel verification badge, so we may be looking at an account hack. Both the video and the channel were removed after Engadget reached out to Google. We’ll update this article if we hear back with any more information.

A screenshot showing an account posing as Tesla with a livestream that uses an AI generated Elon musk to push a crypto scam
Screenshot by Cheyenne MacDonald/Engadget

These Elon Musk deepfake scams seem to have surged over the past couple of months, in each instance using an account posing as one of Musk’s companies. This one was titled “Tesla's [sic] unveils a masterpiece: The Tesla that will change the car industry forever.” Earlier in June, Cointelegraph reported on similar scams run by 35 accounts pretending to be SpaceX around the time of the Starship launch. Scammers in April attempted to get in on the eclipse hype using the same tactic, as Mashable reported at the time. And there have been numerous reports of fake Musk livestreams posted on Reddit recently.

Crypto scams targeting Musk’s followers on social media have been a problem for years, as have those involving celebrities in general. Just this Friday, 50 Cent was hit by a hack that used his accounts to carry out a pump-and-dump scheme.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deepfakes-of-elon-musk-are-pushing-crypto-giveaway-scams-on-youtube-live-200700886.html?src=rss

Touch Egg is the most ridiculous Playdate game I’ve tried yet, and I’m hooked

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Sometimes we all need to just turn off the ol’ brain for a bit and have some dumb fun. That’s the kind vibe I was after when searching the Playdate Catalog for a new game to play this weekend, and let’s just say I got more than I could ever ask for in Touch Egg. The game, made by Joelle Tindall, is simple: crank wildly to extend a finger Pinocchio-style and poke the egg as many times as you can, but don’t let the horrifying man in the room see you or you’ll lose said finger. It’s all about chasing the high score, and you have 60 seconds to try and get those pokes in.

There is no story (well, none beyond “He lays the eggs and doesn’t want you to touch them”), so no explanation as to who the man is, what sort of creature would hatch from the egg, why you’re bothering it and why everything is so creepy. Don’t worry about any of that, just crank.

You can only touch the egg when the man’s eyes are closed. Three exclamation points will appear in succession to signal that his eyes are about to open and you need to stop cranking. You can also put him to sleep for a few seconds by hitting the ‘A’ button, but this can make it so there’s no warning when he’s going to open his eyes. All the while, the unusually wide cat clock is ticking.

The visuals are wonderfully unsettling, and, just to add to the absurdity of it all, you can unlock little accessories like sunglasses that are worn on the thumb. There are also a few secrets to uncover as you play and — I’m sorry — Egg-Chievements to be earned. I clicked on Egg Touch solely because it made me think of the I Think You Should Leave egg game, and ended up being unable to put it down for a solid hour. (Unlike in ITYSL, there are no NSFW surprises here). 

Egg Touch is only $1 on the Playdate Catalog and free on itch.io. Now get outta here and go touch that egg.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/touch-egg-is-the-most-ridiculous-playdate-game-ive-tried-yet-and-im-hooked-173155394.html?src=rss

Apple’s third-gen AirPods are back on sale for their lowest price yet

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Apple’s third-generation AirPods have dropped back down to the lowest price we’ve seen thanks to a deal on Amazon right now. The AirPods, which normally go for $170, are 17 percent off, making them just $140. Apple overhauled the design of the standard AirPods with this model, which was introduced in 2021. The third-gen AirPods have a shorter stem to look more like the AirPods Pro (but without the eartips), a contoured design for comfort and are rated for sweat and water resistance.

Previous models of the non-Pro AirPods weren’t sweat and water resistant, but the third-generation carries an IPX4 rating, which should be adequate for workouts. They also boast an improved method of automatic pausing over the earlier versions, using both an accelerometer and a sensor that detects skin so they can better sense when they’ve been removed from your ear.

The third-generation AirPods run on Apple’s H1 chip, which allows for one-touch fast pairing and always-on Siri. They offer Adaptive EQ, spatial audio and dynamic head-tracking — but no active noise-cancellation, that’s for the AirPods Pro only — and produce much better sound compared to the earlier models. In Engadget’s review, the third-generation AirPods scored an 88 for their comfort-focused design, audio quality and battery life.

The battery life is noticeably longer in the third-generation AirPods. Apple says these AirPods get about 6 hours of battery life on a charge, but in our tests, they lasted over an hour beyond than that. With the charging case, they can get about 30 hours of life in all. If you need to top them up while you’re out, you only need to pop them in the case for five minutes to get another hour of playtime. If you’re not concerned about features like active noise cancellation, the third-generation AirPods are a great bet, especially at their reduced price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-third-gen-airpods-are-back-on-sale-for-their-lowest-price-yet-144041181.html?src=rss

Someone apparently hacked 50 Cent’s accounts to peddle a memecoin and made off with millions

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50 Cent and his millions of social media followers were reportedly the targets of a pump-and-dump crypto scam on Friday that resulted in hackers pocketing a good chunk of change before it was all shut down. The exact amount they made is unclear; the rapper initially wrote on Instagram that “whoever did this made $300,000,000 in 30 minutes” (per Cointelegraph), but the post has since been edited to say $3,000,000 as of this afternoon. I will not make a Get Rich or Die Tryin’ pun, I will not make a Get Rich or Die Tryin’ pun...

The scammers used 50 Cent’s X account and website, Thisis50, to push $GUNIT. “My Twitter & Thisis 50.com was hacked I have no association with this Crypto,” 50 Cent wrote in an Instagram post containing screenshots of the unfolding mess. “Twitter worked quickly to lock my account back down,” he added. His X account and Thisis50.com still appear to be unavailable. Stay safe out there, and be wary of celebrities shilling crypto.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/someone-apparently-hacked-50-cents-accounts-to-peddle-a-memecoin-and-made-off-with-millions-205920738.html?src=rss

Starliner astronauts’ return trip has been pushed back even further

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Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew on the much-delayed first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner craft, won’t be coming home from the International Space Station until sometime next month, well past their originally planned return date of June 14. NASA announced last night that it's pushing the date of their return trip back even further in order to allow for more reviews into problems that arose with Starliner during its flight, and to avoid conflicts with upcoming spacewalks. As of now, there’s no date set for the flight back to Earth.

Starliner launched on June 5 and delivered Wilmore and Williams to the ISS about a day later. Their stay was only supposed to last a week or so. During the flight, however, four small helium leaks sprung in the propulsion system, on top of the one that had already been identified prior to launch. And, when Starliner first attempted to approach the ISS on June 6 and begin docking, five of its 28 thrusters went offline. Boeing was able to get four of them back up and running. NASA also revealed a few days after launch that the teams were looking into an issue with a valve in the service module that was “not properly closed.”

The space agency had already pushed the date of the return trip back a few times over the last week and most recently landed on June 26, but now says the flight won’t take place until after the spacewalks planned for June 24 and July 2 have been completed. “We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, on Friday.

“Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station,” Stich also said. “We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni’s return on Starliner and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/starliner-astronauts-return-trip-has-been-pushed-back-even-further-174336571.html?src=rss

Sweet, there’s going to be another season of Delicious in Dungeon

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Delicious in Dungeon just wrapped up its first season on Netflix, and we now have confirmation that there will be another. The studio behind the show shared on social media this week that a season two is coming, and it’s already in production. The anime, based on the manga by Ryoko Kui, follows a group of broke adventurers who end up eating monsters along their quest to save their friend from the belly of a dragon. It’s one of the most unexpectedly delightful things I’ve watched recently and, despite the questionable ingredients that often go into the meals, has some truly top-tier examples of mouthwatering anime foods.

Delicious in Dungeon is produced by the Japaneses animation studio, Trigger, Inc. The first season got a 24-episode run with weekly releases, but it’s all available and ready for binge-watching now if you haven’t gotten around to it yet. The final episode dropped on Thursday. Just don’t go into it hungry.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sweet-theres-going-to-be-another-season-of-delicious-in-dungeon-224918513.html?src=rss

In the Playdate game Penrose, your past has come back to haunt you

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Are you more than your past? This seems to be the question at the heart of Penrose, a short but impactful psychological horror game for Playdate by Liza Olson. The answer will ultimately be determined by the choices you make as you try to find your way out of the strange titular town.

Much of the experience in Penrose is exploration, and the game plays from start to finish like an eerie, emotionally challenging walk down memory lane. There are things your character might encounter, like an old playground, that’ll spark a tinge of fondness, while others — a mirror, a locked bedroom door — seem linked to more painful events. As you make your way out of the house where you started and through the seemingly abandoned town, things get progressively weirder.

You’ll encounter some creepy entities, not to mention a deeply unsettling mall that is, for some reason, oozing (I really appreciated the design of this in a love-hate kind of way). The names of the stores in that mall are also pretty fun, each being a play on some real-life chain, like Not Tropic. There are a few puzzles in Penrose, but the catacombs stands out as the only area of any real difficulty. It tripped me up for a good minute, which made me feel all the more clever once I figured out how to crack it.

Penrose beautifully captures the complicated nature of nostalgia, and there are multiple possible endings to the game that play right into that complexity. Penrose is available on itch for Playdate and the Playdate Simulator on PC, Mac and Linux.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/in-the-playdate-game-penrose-your-past-has-come-back-to-haunt-you-214104554.html?src=rss