X has been trying to find buyers for user handles it reclaimed from inactive accounts, even going so far as to send out solicitation emails asking for “a flat fee of $50,000 to initiate a purchase,” according to Forbes. Elon Musk announced back in May that X, formerly Twitter, would start purging accounts that have gone dormant, and has alluded to plans for recycling disused handles.
According to emails seen by Forbes, X now has a task force called the “@Handle Team” that’s working on creating a marketplace for buying handles tied to inactive accounts. X changed its policy this year to stipulate that users must log in every 30 days to remain active, and risk having their accounts suspended or permanently removed if they go long enough without signing on. It’s unclear how long a user would have to remain inactive for to actually be booted from the platform. After NPR quit the site this past spring, Musk began threatening to reassign its handle just a few weeks later.
As of now, obtaining another user’s inactive handle doesn’t seem to be something just anybody can do. X’s website still says it cannot release inactive usernames. But, the Forbes report suggests the company is looking at the possibility of a handle marketplace as yet another way to pull in money from its users. The company just recently introduced two new subscription tiers for paid users: a $16 per month Premium+ tier and a more pared-down $3 per month “basic” tier.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-reportedly-soliciting-people-to-buy-recycled-user-handles-for-50000-174504242.html?src=rss
Uber and Lyft have agreed to pay a combined $328 million in settlements following a wage theft investigation by the New York attorney general’s office. According to New York AG Letitia James, the companies’ policies “systematically cheated their drivers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in pay and benefits.” They’ll both now have to pay settlement funds to more than 100,000 current and former drivers in New York, and offer both minimum hourly pay rates and paid sick leave.
In the two settlements, Uber has to pay $290 million, while Lyft must pay $38 million. The AG’s office found both Uber and Lyft shortchanged drivers by deducting sales taxes from drivers’ commissions that should have been paid by riders between 2014 and 2017. They also did not offer paid sick leave. As a result of the settlement, drivers outside of New York City will be guaranteed an earnings floor of $26 per hour (NYC drivers already have minimum rates under Taxi & Limousine Commission regulations), and will earn one hour of sick pay for every 30 hours worked. This will be capped at 56 hours per year.
NYC drivers will get $17 per hour for sick leave, while drivers outside of the city will get $26 per hour. Both rates will be adjusted annually for inflation. Drivers can put in a claim for their share of the settlement on the New York Attorney General’s website. The companies will also be required to update their apps to improve the process for putting in sick leave requests and provide support for pay-related questions, plus earnings statements for drivers which explain their compensation in detail.
Uber separately settled with the Department of Labor today as well following two lawsuits over its failure to provide unemployment benefits for drivers. The company will now have to make quarterly payments into the New York State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to cover its drivers, and pay an as yet undisclosed amount in retroactive payments going back to 2013.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance has sued multiple times seeking unemployment benefits for drivers, as the fight over whether they should be considered employees or independent contractors continues. “Today's settlement is a victory for Uber drivers across the state who will no longer be denied timely access to life-saving benefits by Uber in their darkest hour, and New York taxpayers will no longer have to subsidize the billionaires at Uber and Lyft,” the NYWTA and Legal Services NYC said in a statement about the settlement. “Drivers for the state's largest employer will now be able to access unemployment benefits moving forward without endless obstacles and denials.”
New York has been cracking down on app-based service providers in recent years amid a push by the Biden administration to see gig workers classified as employees. A California court, however, slapped down one such bill in March, allowing companies to continue classifying their drivers as contractors. But NY has made progress recently in securing more protections. In September, Uber, GrubHub and DoorDash were told they must pay their delivery workers a minimum wage.
Update, November 2 2023, 3:10PM ET: This story has been updated to include information on a second settlement Uber reached today with the New York Department of Labor, and a statement from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-and-lyft-must-pay-328-million-to-new-york-drivers-in-massive-wage-theft-settlement-155716817.html?src=rss
NASA has announced a new streaming service called NASA+ that’s set to hit most major platforms next week. It’ll be completely free, with no subscription requirements, and you won’t be forced to sit through ads. NASA+ will be available starting November 8.
We launch more than rockets. This month, we launch our new streaming service, NASA+. https://t.co/McWnWOKXSu
No subscription req. No ads. No cost. Family friendly! Emmy-winning live shows Original series On most major platforms pic.twitter.com/5ffjptumUJ
The space agency previously teased the release of its upcoming streaming service over the summer as it more broadly revamped its digital presence. At the time, it said NASA+ would be available on the NASA iOS and Android apps, and streaming players including Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV. You’ll also be able to watch it on the web.
There aren’t too many details out just yet about the content itself, but NASA says its family friendly programming “embeds you into our missions” with live coverage and original video series. NASA already has its own broadcast network called NASA TV, and the new streaming service seems to be an expansion of that. But, we’ll know more when it officially launches next Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-is-launching-a-free-streaming-service-with-live-shows-and-original-series-150128180.html?src=rss
The UK government has announced a $273 million investment to build its most powerful supercomputer yet, Isambard-AI, which will rank among the top AI supercomputers in the world when it’s switched on. It’ll pack thousands of NVIDIA superchips, allowing it to run more than 200 quadrillion calculations per second. Isambard-AI is expected to begin operations in summer 2024 and will be hosted by the University of Bristol.
The supercomputer is being built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and will use 5,448 of NVIDIA’s GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips, NVIDIA said in its own announcement. It’ll be able to achieve over 21 exaflops of AI performance, or over 21 quintillion floating point operations per second for AI applications, like training large language models. According to the University of Bristol, Isambard-AI will be 10 times faster than the fastest supercomputer in the UK today. It’ll be housed at Bristol’s National Composites Center in a “self-cooled, self-contained data center.”
The announcement came during the UK's AI Safety Summit, where leaders from multiple countries — including the US — are meeting to discuss the future of AI and its potential risks. Isambard-AI will eventually be used to connect with other supercomputers in the UK as well, to boost performance even further. Once it’s up and running, according to Simon McIntosh-Smith of the University of Bristol, Isambard-AI “will be one of the most powerful AI systems for open science anywhere.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-uk-is-spending-273-million-to-build-its-fastest-ever-ai-supercomputer-213551806.html?src=rss
A California jury has found that Tesla was not at fault for a fatal 2019 crash that allegedly involved its Autopilot system, in the first US trial yet for a case claiming its software directly caused a death. The lawsuit alleged Tesla knowingly shipped out cars with a defective Autopilot system, leading to a crash that killed a Model 3 owner and severely injured two passengers, Reuters reports.
Per the lawsuit, 37-year-old Micah Lee was driving his Tesla Model 3 on a highway outside of Los Angeles at 65 miles per hour when it turned sharply off the road and slammed into a palm tree before catching fire. Lee died in the crash. The company was sued for $400 million plus punitive damages by Lee’s estate and the two surviving victims, including a boy who was 8 years old at the time and was disemboweled in the accident, according to an earlier report from Reuters.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Tesla sold Lee defective, “experimental” software when he bought a Model 3 in 2019 that was billed to have full self-driving capability. The FSD system was and still is in beta. In his opening statement, their attorney Jonathan Michaels also said that the “excessive steering command is a known issue at Tesla.”
Tesla’s defense argued that there was no such defect, and that an analysis cited by the plaintiffs’ lawyers identifying a steering issue was actually looking for problems that were theoretically possible. A fix to prevent it from ever happening was engineered as a result of that analysis, according to the company. Tesla blamed human error for the crash, pointing to tests that showed Lee had consumed alcohol before getting in the car, and argued that there’s no certainty Autopilot was in use at the time.
The jury ultimately found there was no defect, and Tesla was cleared on Tuesday. Tesla has faced lawsuits over its Autopilot system in the past, but this is the first involving a fatality. It’s scheduled to go on trial for several others in the coming months, and today's ruling is likely to set the tone for those ahead.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/teslas-autopilot-was-not-to-blame-for-fatal-2019-model-3-crash-jury-finds-210643301.html?src=rss
Google’s budget Pixel 7a was already a more affordable alternative to the flagship Pixel, but with a 25 percent discount on Amazon right now, it’s an absolute steal. The Pixel 7a is down to just $374 from its original price of $500. It’s the lowest we’ve seen it drop yet, beating even the October Prime Day price by $25. The discounted Pixel 7a is unlocked for all carriers, and available in the colors Charcoal, Sea and Snow.
While it may not have everything you’d get in a flagship, the Pixel 7a is still a really solid smartphone. It has a smooth 90Hz display and a Tensor G2 chip, plus 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The battery life is great, too. In our review, where it earned a score of 90, we found the Pixel 7a’s 4,385mAh battery kept it going for an impressive 17 hours and 41 minutes. The Pixel 7a is also the first in Google’s A series to support wireless charging. It’s not groundbreaking, capping out at 7.5 watts, but it’s still a nice convenience.
The Pixel 7a holds up in just about every category, and we ranked it as the best midrange Android smartphone in 2023. It boasts a 64MP camera on the back which does a great job of preserving detail, and shots taken in Night Sight mode even beat Samsung's Galaxy S23 when comparing white balance. The selfie camera is crisp as well, and now capable of shooting video in 4K.
Designwise, the 7a looks a lot like the flagship Pixel 7, though it’s slightly bulkier and has plastic backing. It’s got a 6.1 OLED screen and a water resistance rating of IP67. It’ll also get years of updates, with at least three OS upgrades and five years of security updates. There are some things it’s missing, being a budget phone — like a dedicated zoom lens — but at only $374, that may not be a dealbreaker.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-google-pixel-7a-is-cheaper-than-ever-at-374-in-this-early-black-friday-deal-173045009.html?src=rss
I am fully encased in a bundle of spider’s silk, only my eyeballs still visible as I wait for my turn to be devoured. I’ve failed to save the city from the insatiable arachnidian Old God, and now myself and all the inhabitants of Shiokawa, Japan are caught in its web. I’d come so far this time, solved all of the mysteries tacked to my bulletin board, but in the end, I couldn’t escape the doom that had been closing in on me.
If World of Horror could be reduced to a single word, it’d be “dread.” It's a point-and-click cosmic horror game created by Polish developer and dentist, Pawel Kozminski (also known as Panstasz). And after spending years in early access, Ysbryd Games finally released it to the public this month on Steam, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Nintendo Switch. It was well worth the wait.
World of Horror is heavily text-based, and plays like a choose your own adventure story — one in which most of your options are bad ones that will inevitably lead you to a gruesome death or irrevocable insanity. Players must solve five mysteries that are tormenting the townspeople, gathering information and fighting off the monstrous entities that attempt to get in your way. A slippery, boil-covered former teacher here, a woman with shards of broken ribs jammed into her gaping hole of a face, there.
All the while, you’ll be working to stave off whichever Old God has set its sights on Shiokawa for that run, and must keep an eye on the ever-ticking Doom meter to know how close you are to being overcome. Only after you’ve obtained five keys by solving each of the five mysteries can you unlock the town’s lighthouse, where you can banish the Old God. That is, if you’re able to make it through the trials on the way to the top. It’s a roguelite, too, so prepare to start from the beginning every time you make a fatal misstep.
The horror-manga-style RPG doesn't hide its Junji Ito and HP Lovecraft influences. It's so disquieting that you’ll find yourself jumpy and on edge even when nothing’s happening, which in some investigations is most of the time. The evil may not be coming for you right that moment, but there’s the sense that it could at any turn.
Ysbryd Games
When those little jump scares do come — a particularly revolting attacker or a booming sound that cuts through the chiptune score — they’re made all the more jarring by the high-contrast 1- or 2-bit visuals (you can choose at the beginning) that were created, incredibly, in MS Paint. It nails the often hard to stomach Ito-esque gore, and there are a few scenes I had to force myself not to turn away from (a certain DIY eyeball operation comes to mind).
You’re given a few options for approaching the game, in terms of difficulty and complexity. Its short tutorial, “Spine-Chilling Story of School Scissors,” is a straightforward introduction. And in the beginner-level main story mode, “Extracurricular Activities,” you'll start with one mystery already solved.
Players also have the choice of a “Quick Play” mode, in which elements like your character, Old God and backstory are randomly selected, or a fully customized playthrough where you choose your own character and story elements. That last one is the most challenging route. You can also choose from a slew of color palettes at the start of each game, if you want to mix it up.
Ysbryd Games
While the turn-based combat is nothing revolutionary, I found it to be engaging enough. There’s no guarantee all of your hits will land, and relying on spiritual attacks when going up against a ghost-type foe is a stressful game of “guess the right combo.” It keeps things interesting, albeit a bit frustrating. Since the runs are relatively short — about an hour, give or take 30 minutes — it doesn’t feel soul crushing every time you die and have to start fresh. If anything, it becomes an addicting cycle.
Where World of Horror truly excels is in its attention to horrifying detail. A TV playing in your home runs grisly newscasts nonstop, including one about a dentist who replaced his human patients’ teeth with dogs’ teeth. (Remember, the developer is also a dentist). Look through the peephole of your apartment door and you might see a shadow man down the hall, or the quickly retreating face of someone lurking around the corner, or just an empty corridor. Twisted ghouls wait behind dead-end classroom doors.
Things are rarely the same when you come back to them. Each mystery has multiple endings and multiple ways to get you there, so you can’t quite predict what’s going to happen next even if you just played 10 runs in a row. Some stories are more involved than others, better thought through. But each has at least one ghastly element that justifies its place among the rest. If World of Horror is anything, it’s effective, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/world-of-horror-is-a-skin-crawling-dread-machine-that-does-its-inspirations-proud-183000816.html?src=rss
Apple is planning to debut three M3 chips at its “Scary Fast” Mac event Monday night, according toBloomberg’s Mark Gurman — the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. The event is set to kick off at 8 PM ET and is expected to bring multiple hardware announcements. Gurman previously reported that the company is prepping a new 24-inch iMac which could make an appearance tomorrow, along with upgraded MacBook Pros running the new M3 series.
In the Power On newsletter, Gurman writes that the standard M3 chip is likely to sport an eight-core CPU and 10-core GPU like the M2, but with improvements to performance speed and memory. He also notes the company is testing multiple configurations for both the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. We may see an M3 Pro with 12-core CPU/18-core GPU and the option for a pricier 14-core CPU with a 20-core GPU. Meanwhile, the M3 Max could come with 16 CPU cores and either 32 or 40 GPU cores.
We won’t know anything for sure until Apple's unusually-timed October event starts tomorrow night. Thankfully, that’s not a long time to wait. Join us here to watch as it all unfolds.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-report-reveals-details-on-the-three-m3-chips-apple-may-launch-monday-night-202456989.html?src=rss
Apple’s refreshed second-generation AirPods Pro are down to just $200 on Amazon in a discount almost as good as we saw during October’s Prime Day event. The deal cuts $50 off the normal price of $250. The second-generation AirPods Pro got an upgrade in September that brought improvements to durability and a USB-C port for charging the MagSafe case more conveniently, replacing the Lightning port. While the price could dip down even lower as Black Friday approaches, this is one of best deals we’ve seen as of late.
The upgraded second-generation AirPods Pro have an IP54 rating for better dust resistance than their predecessor. They also received new audio features with the release of iOS 17 that further improves upon the listening experience, including Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Personalized Volume. The second-generation AirPods Pro get up to six hours of battery life, with up to 30 hours using the charging case. Even before the upgrade, we counted them among the best earbuds you can get today.
Apple also introduced lossless audio with Apple Vision Pro for the refreshed second-generation AirPods Pro, which buyers will get to appreciate once they finally have the headset in their hands. Otherwise, the AirPods Pro are a top choice for use with the Apple ecosystem of devices, with features like active noise cancellation and an impressive transparency mode. At $200 right now, they’re only $10 more than they were going for on Prime Day.
If you’re looking for something with fewer bells and whistles, Apple’s third-generation AirPods are discounted too. Right now, they’re just $150 on Amazon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-upgraded-2nd-gen-airpods-pro-with-usb-c-are-50-off-right-now-182421286.html?src=rss
Apple’s 9th generation iPad is $80 off at Amazon right now. The discount brings the 64GB variant down to just $250 from its regular price of $330, a record low typically only seen on Prime Day. You can also snag the 9th-gen iPad with 256GB of storage for $80 off at Amazon, where it’s currently down to $400 from its usual $480.
The 9th-gen iPad came out in 2021, but it’s still a solid tablet especially if you’re on a budget. While its A13 Bionic chip isn’t the fastest or most powerful, it’s more than enough for basic productivity tasks, browsing and streaming. It earned a score of 86 when we reviewed it back at the time of its release, and it’s still one of the best iPads you can get that won’t break the bank.
It has a heftier build than the newer, sleeker models, with chunky bezels framing its 10.2-inch Retina Display, and a physical Home button with Touch ID. Apple’s 9th-gen iPad also still has a headphone jack and charges via lightning port. It has a 12MP ultrawide front camera and 8MP back camera, and supports Apple’s Center Stage video calling feature.
The 9th generation iPad comes in Silver and Space Gray, and the discount applies to both color variants for the Wi-Fi only model. It’s a great option for the casual iPad user, and the price right now can’t be beat. But, if those specs aren't quite cutting it, Amazon is also running a deal on the 10th generation iPad, which is a step up. That model is currently $50 off.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-9th-gen-ipad-is-back-to-its-all-time-low-price-of-250-ahead-of-black-friday-154710678.html?src=rss