Hasta La Gadget!

It has become sort of a trend for some tech companies to participate in April Fools’ Day pranks. One could say that this harmless fun hurts nobody but often their attempts at forced humor leave a lot to be desired. Microsoft is reportedly leading the way this year by banning its own corporate pranks.

An internal memo seen and verified by The Verge has Microsoft’s marketing chief Chris Capossela warning all employees that they are not to participate in April Fools’ Day hoaxes come Monday. The memo adds that “data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles.”

Capossela has also urged all teams at Microsoft to not participate in any public-facing April Fools’ Day pranks as well. “I appreciate that people may have devoted time and resources to these activities, but I believe we have more to lose than gain by attempting to be funny on this one day,” he adds.

Google regularly pulls April Fools’ Day hoaxes but it was forced to apologize once after threads were muted as a prank which caused a lot of problems for Gmail users. Whether or not Google will follow suit this year remains to be seen.

Microsoft Has Reportedly Banned April Fools’ Day Pranks , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Reports about issues with Apple’s third-generation butterfly keyboard on newer MacBook models have been more than just few and far between. The company hasn’t really acknowledged that there is a problem to be fixed until today, following a scathing column in the Wall Street Journal. Apple has now apologized for the issues.

Apple switched over to the butterfly-switch design for keyboards back in 2015 with the 12 inch MacBook. The dependability of these redesigned keyboards has been called into question more than once. There have been countless user complaints about issues with the new keyboard design.

Apple didn’t acknowledge the matter but it did make a change by adding a rubber membrane to the third-generation butterfly keyboard. It was said to keep dust and other particles out but it made the keys completely unusable on prior models.

The company launched an extended repairs program for all generations of the butterfly design keyboard before this fix was rolled out. The WSJ’s Joanna Stern drove the point home by writing the column without the letters E and R just to highlight how annoying this problem has become.

A spokesperson for the company told her that “We are aware that a small number of users are having issues with their third-generation butterfly keyboard and for that we are sorry,” while adding that “The vast majority of Mac notebook customers are having a positive experience with the new keyboard.” Whether or not Apple makes any significant design changes going forward to get rid of this problem once and for all remains to be seen.

Apple Apologizes For MacBook Keyboard Problems , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

The European Union is expected to enact new regulations which will mandate that cars come with technology that can automatically force them to slow down or brake when the driver goes over the speed limit. These regulations may come into force after May 2022 and will apply to all new cars sold in the EU and the United Kingdom. The regulations will apply to the UK regardless of whatever happens with Brexit.

The mandated technology will be able to force cars to brake and slow down when the speed limit is exceeded. The new cars would also be required to have breathalyzers and distraction recognition system. The latter would warn drivers if it senses that they’re getting drowsy or are otherwise not focused on the road.

There will be data recorders in the car which document what happens during an accident. These new rules are called the General Safety Regulation and they have been provisionally agreed upon by the EU. It’s expected that this move could end up saving thousands of lives each year.

The European Parliament still needs to ratify the new regulation before it comes into force. This is expected to happen in September this year. Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council, predicts that the regulations can prevent 25,000 deaths as a result of traffic accidents within 15 years of coming into force.

EU May Mandate Devices That Make Cars Slow Down Automatically , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

At least four children were killed in the attack, the international aid group Save The Children reported.

May has faced intense pressure over her handling of Brexit.