SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has around 90,000 users currently, according to a new disclosure, though the total is a fraction of the waitlist. Launched in mid-2019, Starlink uses a growing constellation of low Earth orbit satellites and a self-orienting dish on the ground to beam down internet connectivity, though it’s only been relatively recently that Starlink has accelerated adding … Continue reading
I’m ambivalent about cross-brand synergy — typically hollow business deals borne from some misguided belief that yes, these two things work together and will sell more… something. Microsoft — more specifically, Xbox — loves to tie its onyx consoles to food companies, soft drinks and the rest. While promoting the Xbox One X in the US alone, there were collaborations with Taco Bell, Doritos, Mountain Dew and, er, Totino’s pizza rolls.
On the other hand, I also like doughnuts.
In the UK, American doughnut company Krispy Kreme is celebrating the Xbox’s 20th anniversary with an iced donut decorated to look like the console’s nexus symbol. If you’re willing to buy a box of 12, you’ll also get a code with a chance to win a Series X. However, I live alone and have poor self-control, so I bought a box of three — for the photos, of course.
I don’t think green is a particularly appetizing color for pastry treats, but it sells Xbox the brand — sort of? The color seems closer to Krispy Kreme’s shade of green, and not quite as vivid as the almost-lime Xbox logo. The thin layer of green icing doesn’t have a flavor, and there’s a dusting of powdered sugar to indicate the collaboration. Otherwise, yes, it’s a filled Krispy Kreme, puffy delicious yeast-raised donut. I’m not here to debate cake versus yeast donuts — please take it out on me over on Twitter.
Then I bit in deeper. Maybe it’s the Mountain Dew tie-ins with video gaming’s past, but I feared some sort of aggressive citrus jam/jelly or neon fondant nonsense. Thankfully, instead: thick, rich chocolate brownie fondant that’s pretty delicious but not excessively cloying.
The limited-edition doughnuts are on sale in the UK until August 22nd.
Controversial crime alert app Citizen has opened up its $20/month subscription service to everyone in the US. The Protect plan, which almost 100,000 users have beta tested, offers around-the-clock access to “Citizen’s team of highly trained Protect Agents,” CEO Andrew Frame wrote in a blog post.
Those agents can call 911 for you if you’re in a situation in which contacting emergency services directly might not be safe. “If you share your location with Citizen Protect, Agents can live monitor your location, provide first responders, and help them arrive more quickly by guiding them to your exact location,” Frame wrote. “Protect Agents will always continue to monitor you while you wait for help to arrive.”
The agents can notify your emergency contacts and keep them updated if you’re in trouble. Frame said they can also guide you to a safe place or help nearby when needed, or chat with you for peace of mind. The service can also alert other Citizen users in the area if your scenario warrants doing so. “Harnessing the power of Citizen’s safety network through Protect-generated alerts has helped dozens of families reunite with their missing loved ones and pets,” Frame wrote.
Users can connect to a Protect agent and chat via video, audio or text after tapping a button on the Citizen app’s home screen. The iOS version of the app includes an optional Protect Mode, which offers other ways to link up with an agent (Citizen plans to bring “additional functionality” to Android soon). You can switch on a feature that displays a prompt to connect to an agent when you shake your device a couple of times.
If you opt to use the Distress Detection feature, Citizen will monitor your device’s audio with “AI-powered technology which identifies sounds that indicate trouble, like a scream for example.” If the app picks up an audible distress signal, it’ll ask if you’d like to be connected to an agent. If 10 seconds pass without you responding to the prompt, Citizen will connect you to an agent automatically.
Citizen started out in 2016 as an app called Vigilante that aimed to alert users about crimes and emergencies. Apple swiftly kicked it from the App Store over vigilantism concerns. Vigilante was rebranded a few months later with a deeper focus on safety.
The app hit headlines again in May, when Citizen offered a $30,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of a person who it claimed started a wildfire. Citizen identified the wrong person, and police arrested someone else in connection with the alleged crime.
The same month, a Citizen-branded security vehicle was spotted in Los Angeles amid reports that the company was testing an on-demand private security force. The company later said it wouldn’t start its own such service, but it didn’t rule out partnerships with private security companies.
Having swift access to support agents isn’t inherently a bad idea, but Citizen’s history might dissuade some from taking out a Protect subscription. It’s worth noting there are other ways to discreetly call 911 and send a message with location updates to your emergency contacts, such as the iPhone’s Emergency SOS function.
Boeing will have to wait yet again to prove the worth of its Starliner spacecraft. The company and NASA had planned to launch the capsule on Tuesday on top of an Atlas V rocket at 1:20PM ET, but that’s not happening anymore.
“We’re standing down from today’s #Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 launch,” Boeing said on Twitter. The company attributed the delay to “unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system” engineers spotted during pre-launch preparations. It’s currently unclear if the issue is related to Starliner or the Atlas V rocket that was supposed to carry the vessel to space. Boeing and NASA said they will provide an update on the situation on Wednesday, August 4th.
We’re standing down from today’s #Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 launch.
During pre-launch preparations, our engineers detected unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system.
Read the full statement: https://t.co/uQBjvq8ObUpic.twitter.com/4X2INbZj7Q
— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) August 3, 2021
“We’re disappointed with today’s outcome and the need to reschedule our Starliner launch,” John Vollmer, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, said. “Human spaceflight is a complex, precise and unforgiving endeavor, and Boeing and NASA teams will take the time they need to ensure the safety and integrity of the spacecraft and the achievement of our mission objectives.”
After its first test flight went awry, Starliner was supposed to return to space on July 30th. However, NASA delayed the flight after the new Russian ISS Nauka module unexpectedly fired its thrusters, tiling the station outside of its typical orientation.
As any public official will tell you, it can be tricky to get citizens to comply with certain public health mandates—like wearing masks, social distancing, or getting a damn vaccine. So some health authorities have started taking a different tactic—publicly naming and shaming the folks that refuse to comply, in the…
New York City is about to become much less hospitable to those intentionally not vaccinated against covid-19. This morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to institute a sweeping mandate that would require people to be at least partially vaccinated in order to partake in gyms, indoor dining, and other public…
Marvel’s What If series on Disney+ is set to dig into the countless stories unfolding all throughout the MCU’s freshly minted multiverse, many of which bear striking similarities to chunks of the cinematic canon established in previous films. But some of the series’ specific universes will delve into realities that…
Movie ticketing company Fandango announced on Tuesday that it plans to combine its two streaming services into one mega-platform—a new version of Vudu that’s set to become the official movie and TV store for Roku.
China’s state propaganda institutions are urging companies like ByteDance, the owner of music app TikTok/Douyin, and Tencent Holdings, owner of messaging app WeChat and numerous streaming platforms, to limit the role of algorithms in content promotion, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old became the first American woman to win the event in more than a half-century.
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