Oct 14
Halloween Kills—directed by David Gordon Green, and co-written by Green, Scott Teems, and Danny McBride—picks up immediately where 2018’s Halloween left off, dropping us right in the middle of a massacre in progress.
Oct 14
As companies get deeper and deeper into greenwashing, being eco-friendly is often sold to us as something we can do with our pocketbooks—buy a more carbon-friendly brand of clothing, or upgrade your appliances to be more efficient. But cutting your carbon footprint doesn’t have to mean spending money. It can, in fact,…
Oct 14
Matt Damon Let His Daughters Give Him A Mohawk And It’s Full ‘Travis Bickle’
Posted in: Today's Chili“The Last Duel” actor showed off his “ridiculous” look on “The Tonight Show.”
Oct 14
Nanoleaf Lines Review
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe latest LED light system from Nanoleaf goes by the name Nanoleaf Lines. These are LED light bars that are sort of the opposite of what they’ve released in past editions. The first several sets of Nanoleaf products were LED light shapes connected in combinations chosen by the consumer. With Lines, Nanoleaf still has a modular system for placement, but … Continue reading
Oct 14
As we inch closer to Battlefield 2042‘s release date, EA and DICE have been revealing new details about the game in a piecemeal fashion. Today, we’re learning about Battlefield 2042‘s Hazard Zone game mode. Anyone who has played a battle royale game before will notice some similarities between those and Hazard Zone, though it seems that DICE is attempting to … Continue reading
Oct 14
Microsoft to shut down LinkedIn in China over 'challenging operating environment'
Posted in: Today's ChiliLinkedIn will shut down the Chinese version of its service later this year. The company cited “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China” as the reasons for closing the local edition of its social network for professionals.
“While we’ve found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found that same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed,” LinkedIn said in a statement. As such, the company isn’t abandoning China completely. It’s working on a standalone job board app called InJobs, which won’t have a social feed or any way to share posts or articles.
LinkedIn agreed to adhere to state restrictions and block certain content when it launched in China in February 2014. However, some signs of trouble bubbled up this year. In March, the company prevented new Chinese users from signing up for a spell while it made sure it was abiding by the countries’ laws. A couple of months later, China said 105 apps were violating data collection laws, including LinkedIn.
The Microsoft-owned service was the last major US social network that was still officially operating in China. The country banned Signal and Clubhouse earlier this year. Facebook and Twitter have been blocked there since 2009, and China barred Instagram in 2014.
Oct 14
Congress is once again hoping to limit Section 230 safeguards under certain circumstances. Rep. Frank Pallone and other House Democrats are introducing a bill, the Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act (JAMA), that would make internet platforms liable when they “knowingly or recklessly” use algorithms to recommend content that leads to physical or “severe emotional” harm. They’re concerned online giants like Facebook are knowingly amplifying harmful material, and that companies should be held responsible for this damage.
The key sponsors, including Reps. Mike Doyle, Jan Schakowsky and Anna Eshoo, pointed to whistleblower Frances Haugen’s Senate testimony as supposed evidence of Facebook’s algorithm abuse. Her statements were proof Facebook was abusing the Communications Decency Act’s Section 230 “well beyond congressional intent,” according to Eshoo. Haugen alleged that Facebook knew its social networks were harmful to children and spread “divisive and extreme” content.
The bill only applies to services with over 5 million monthly users, and won’t cover basic online infrastructure (such as web hosting) or user-specified searches. JAMA will go before the House on October 15th.
As with past proposed reforms, there are no guarantees JAMA will become law. Provided it passes the House, an equivalent measure still has to clear a Senate that has been hostile to some Democrat bills. The parties have historically disagreed on how to change Section 230 — Democrats believe it doesn’t require enough moderation for hate and misinformation, while Republicans have claimed it enables censorship of conservative viewpoints. The bill’s vaguer concepts, such as ‘reckless’ algorithm use and emotional damage, might raise fears of over-broad interpretations.
The bill could still send a message even if it dies, though. Pallone and the other JAMA backers argue the “time for self-regulation is over” — they’re no longer convinced social media heavyweights like Facebook can apologize, implement a few changes and carry on. This won’t necessarily lead to a more strictly regulated social media space, but it could put more pressure on social networks to implement far-reaching policy changes.
Oct 14
Nanoleaf knows that its users sometimes crave something a bit more minimal than LED light panels that stretch across their wall. That’s why the company is launching Lines, a series of backlight LED light bars which offer the same features as previous products, albeit in a more elegant body. Each “Line” is 10.96-inches (27.85cm) long, and can join to its siblings at either end, or at a 60-degree angle. The company says that you can “paint your space with lines,” creating “grand geometric shapes” and “sleek linear layouts.”
But beyond the new style of design, this is still the same Nanoleaf setup that you already know and love, letting you paint with light. Each Line has two color zones, and you can plug in dynamic lighting scenes, sync with your music and mirror the colors on your computer’s display. In addition, the hardware will act as a Thread Border Router to help connect smart gear nearby that can also harness the same protocol. It’s also future-proof, and will work with Matter, a new protocol due to roll out next year.
Nanoleaf
Nanoleaf Lines are available to pre-order today, with the 9-line starter kit setting you back $200, while add-on packs with 3-lines a piece will cost $80. It’s expected that the products will start shipping to homes in the US at some point before the end of November.
Oct 14
'Call of Duty: Vanguard' Zombies takes players to an undead-infested Stalingrad
Posted in: Today's ChiliAhead of its November 5th release date, we’ve seen sneak peeks of Call of Duty’s Vanguard’s single and multiplayer components. On Thursday, publisher Activision shared a new trailer and blog posts that offer a first look at the game’s upcoming Zombies mode.
Developed by Treyarch, Vanguard’s Zombies mode ties into the Dark Aether storyline established in Black Ops Cold War. One year after suffering a decisive defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad, a Nazi officer named Oberführer Wolfram Von List finds a mysterious artifact that binds him to an entity called Kortifex, allowing him to summon an army of the undead. It’s up to you and as many as three other players to battle through the ruins of Stalingrad and stop him.
As you play through a match and complete objectives, you’ll find items called Sacrificial Hearts. You can offer these at an Altar of Covenants to access randomized upgrades that will tweak your playstyle. One of those upgrades will reload your weapons while they’re holstered, while another will allow you to turn zombies into temporary allies.
Any experience you earn while playing Zombies will count toward Vanguard’s Batte Pass, which also shares progression between multiplayer and Warzone. The mode will also support cross-platform play between different consoles. As mentioned above, Vanguard launches on November 5th. It will be available on PlayStation 4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Oct 14
You’ll soon have an easier time scrolling through search results on your phone. In the US, Google is rolling out a tweak that does away with the “See more” prompt you’ve had to tap on previously to load additional search results on mobile devices. Now, when you get to the bottom of a set of results, the company’s search engine will instead automatically load the next page for you, allowing you to continuously scroll until you find a website you want to visit.
You should see the change on both your mobile web browser and the Google app for iOS and Android. Per TechCrunch, the company is staggering out the rollout of the feature, so you won’t be able to scroll through every set of results, at least not initially. The change follows a redesign of mobile search Google released at the start of 2021.
While most usually find what they’re looking for quickly, Google notes some people view as many as four pages of search results before they click through to a website. The company suggests the move to continuous scrolling should be particularly helpful to those who tend to ask more open-ended questions of its search engine. It’s also a tweak that brings the platform more in line with modern feed-style apps like Instagram and TikTok.
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.