Jan 12
GOP Activist Who Opposed COVID-19 Vaccine Rules Dies After Virus Complications
Posted in: Today's ChiliKelly Canon had celebrated receiving a vaccine exemption and appeared to have attended a recent anti-vaccine “COVID symposium.”
Jan 12
<img width="1280" height="720" src="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/evs-better-environment-1280×720.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Grey Tesla Model S" loading="lazy" style="margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%" data-attachment-id="706795" data-permalink="https://www.slashgear.com/are-evs-truly-better-for-the-environment-11706793/evs-better-environment/" data-orig-file="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/evs-better-environment.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,810" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="evs-better-environment" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
canadianPhotographer56/Shutterstock
” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/evs-better-environment-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/evs-better-environment-1280×720.jpg” />Electric vehicles (EVs) are all the rage, with virtually every major manufacturer bringing EVs to the market. In fact, some manufacturers, such as Subaru (via Reuters), Volvo (via Nasdaq), and others have committed to EV-only lineups by 2030 or the mid-2030s. As governments around the world look for ways to combat climate change, EVs have emerged as an obvious method. … Continue reading
Jan 12
The latest 'Belle' trailer introduces us to the film's dazzling technicolor virtual world
Posted in: Today's ChiliWith Mamoru Hosoda’s latest movie opening in US theaters this Friday, Studio Chizu and the film’s distributor have shared a new trailer for Belle. The more than three-minute-long clip shows the movie’s opening scene in its entirety, introducing us to U, Belle’s metaverse-like virtual world. The trailer is mostly a showcase of Studio Chizu’s virtuoso animation work, but we also get to hear an equally great English cover of Millennium Parade’s “U” and learn more about the setting.
The metaverse has been a hot topic recently thanks in large part to the work Meta has done to promote the concept as the next big evolution of the internet, but Belle director Mamoru Hosoda has thinking about what virtual worlds might mean for our interpersonal relationships for a long time. Back in 2009, he directed Summer Wars. That film imagines a world where everything is connected through a separate digital realm. More than a decade ago, the idea seemed outlandish. Now it feels prescient.
Jan 12
Archaeological evidence from Peru suggests elite members of the Wari Empire mixed a hallucinogenic drug with a beer-like beverage in order to cultivate and preserve political control.
Jan 12
The 34-year-old was promoted Tuesday by the New York Yankees to dugout boss of the Low A Tampa Tarpons.
Jan 12
<img width="1280" height="719" src="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Fortnite-Tornado-1280×719.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" style="margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%" data-attachment-id="706773" data-permalink="https://www.slashgear.com/fortnite-19-01-brings-tornadoes-to-the-island-what-players-should-know-11706749/fortnite-tornado/" data-orig-file="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Fortnite-Tornado.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,809" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Fortnite Tornado" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="
Image: Epic Games
” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Fortnite-Tornado-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Fortnite-Tornado-1280×719.jpg” />A new Fortnite update landed today, and while it may be somewhat small in scope, the new features it adds are big ones. That’s true literally and figuratively, as Fortnite version 19.01 adds tornadoes and lightning storms to the game. However, contrary to what you might think, these aren’t necessarily disasters to be avoided, but rather tools to be utilized. … Continue reading
Jan 12
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can move forward with its latest antitrust lawsuit against Meta, a US district judge ruled on Tuesday. The decision is a significant win for the regulator, which had seen its first complaint thrown out by Judge James Boasberg last June.
Per The Washington Post, Boasberg now says the agency can move forward with its complaint thanks to the “more robust and detailed” evidence it presented with its amended suit, which the FTC filed in August. “Although the agency may well face a tall task down the road in proving its allegations, the Court believes that it has now cleared the pleading bar and may proceed to discovery,” the judge said.
In October, Meta asked the court to dismiss the suit, arguing the FTC had failed yet again to present a “factual basis for alleging monopoly power.” The agency’s amended complaint is approximately two dozen pages longer than its original one, but it puts forward many of the same arguments. Specifically, the FTC alleges Facebook used the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014 to secure its dominant position in the social media market.
“Today’s decision narrows the scope of the FTC’s case by rejecting claims about our platform policies. It also acknowledges that the agency faces a ‘tall task’ proving its case regarding two acquisitions it cleared years ago,” a spokesperson for Meta told Engadget. “We’re confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today. They have been good for competition, and good for the people and businesses that choose to use our products.”
Update 5:43PM ET: Added comment from Meta.
Jan 12
If you’ve spent any time on Twitter in the last week, chances are you’ve seen the grids of emoji boxes taking over your feed. That’s thanks to Wordle, a new puzzle game that’s become somewhat of an obsession for many since The New York Timeswrote about it just over a week ago.
Like other viral games, Wordle is deceptively simple: you have six chances to guess a new five-letter word. And that’s… pretty much it. There’s just one puzzle a day, and it’s free to play with no ads . Its creator, a software developer named Josh Wardle, is apparently “overwhelmed” by his game’s popularity. But the fact that the game doesn’t have an app has allowed developers to create their own knockoff version of the game.
One particularly egregious example comes from developer Zach Shakked who created an app called “Wordle – The App.” At first glance, the app, which is subtitled “Word Game Everyone’s Playing!” could easily be mistaken for the original. The word grid looks almost the same, and it even uses the same color scheme. But Shakked’s version also asks players to sign up for a “pro” subscription that costs $29.99 after a three-day “free trial.”
But between naming the app “Wordle” and running search ads against the term in the App Store, Shakked seems to have succeeded in profiting off the popularity of the game originally created by Wardle. “This is absurd. 450 trials at 1am last night, now at 950 and getting a new ones every minute,” he wrote in a tweet that has since been made private. “12K downloads, rank #28 word game, and #4 result for “Wordle” in the App Store. We’re going to the fucking moon.”
Screenshot via Twittet
Shakked and Wardle didn’t respond to questions from Engadget. But Shakked isn’t the only developer trying to cash in on the popularity of Wordle. His app is one of at least six Wordle clones launched in the App Store in the eight days since the original New York Times article about Wordle. Another, called “What Word – Wordle” which charges a $0.99 in-app purchase to remove ads, claims to be the “No. 1 Word game” in its App Store screenshots. (It is actually ranked No. 7 in word games, according to its App Store listing.)
Scammy knockoff apps capitalizing on the popularity of a viral game is nothing new, of course. Game developers have been complaining about the practice for years. Apple didn’t immediately respond to questions about Wordle clones in its store. But, thanks to emails released during the Epic v. Apple trial, we do know that copycat apps have long been a source of frustration for Apple executives as well. “Is no one reviewing these apps? Is no one minding the store?” Phil Schiller wrote in a 2012 email. Three years later, he complained that “I can’t believe we still don’t” have automated tools to find scam apps.
Jan 12
UltraRAM Breakthrough Moves Us Closer to a Unified RAM and Storage Solution
Posted in: Today's Chili
New chip making techniques, faster SSD storage, and the use of AI and machine learning are some of the latest innovations helping increase the performance and efficiency of modern computers, and now a research team at Lancaster University in the U.K. might have invented the next big thing.
Jan 12
Gettr Promised Users It Would Free Them From Big Tech, But It's Tracking Them for Facebook and Google
Posted in: Today's Chili
Gettr, just one of the interminable Facebook/Twitter clones for MAGA chuds angry about social media rules against conspiracy theories and bigotry, sold itself to potential users as a way to escape the totalitarian tyranny of tech giants like Facebook and Google. Surprise! That pitch comes with a million caveats, the…
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