Mar 11
“Humor won’t take the hard stuff away, but it can make living through it a bit more bearable,” said Gina McMillen, a cartoonist and mom of two.
Mar 11
Blizzard has announced plans to split its “Overwatch 2” PvE and PvP modes so that it can launch the latter sooner. With that change comes the first PvP beta.
Mar 11
Image credit – Jon Prosser x RendersByIan
Earlier this week, there was a little worrying rumor by the oft-accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who claimed that Apple could continue to use the M1 chipset in the 2022 MacBook Air refresh.
We say that it’s worrying because keep in mind that the M1 is based on the architecture of Apple’s A14 chipset, and given that we’re probably going to see the A16 this year, we thought at the very least Apple could upgrade it to the M2 which presumably would be based on newer tech.
However, there might be some good news because a new report from 9to5Mac claims that Apple is expected to launch M2 MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros this year. This report contradicts the previous one from Kuo, but seeing as they’re both still rumors it’s probably best to take it with a grain of salt.
The new MacBook Pro is expected to be a direct replacement of the 13-inch M1 model that was launched back in 2020. This means that it will act as a more “entry-level” version of the newer 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros for those who want some “Pro” features but don’t necessarily need all that horsepower or don’t want to spend that kind of money.
M2 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro Expected To Launch Later This Year
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Mar 11
When Overwatch was first released, Blizzard attempted to tell a story through comics and animated shorts, but there was never any PvE mode to the game that would allow them to advance the story further. However, with Overwatch 2, Blizzard announced that there would be a PvE mode that would focus on the story of the Overwatch universe.
Unfortunately for those hoping to play the story mode of the game, it looks like that will come later. Overwatch 2 has yet to be released, but in a recent announcement, Blizzard revealed that they will be decoupling the PvP and PvE modes of the game and that they will be releasing the PvP mode first.
According to Blizzard, “Overwatch is evolving. In our first step towards increased communication and a consistent cadence of updates for our community, we are incredibly excited to share information about our plans for the upcoming months. We are changing our release strategy by decoupling Overwatch 2’s PvP and PvE experiences from one another to get new PvP content into your hands sooner, while we continue to work on PvE.”
To be fair, Overwatch is primarily a PvP game anyway. Having a PvE mode would be cool and fun for gamers who want to get into the lore, but at the end of the day it is ultimately still a competitive shooter. We still don’t know when the game will be released, but Blizzard did state that a closed beta for PvP is expected to take place in April and gamers who want to take part can sign up via the Overwatch website.
Blizzard Will Release Overwatch 2’s PvP Mode First
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Mar 11
The majority of the hardware components in a laptop like the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro are housed under the keyboard, all of which are then connected to the upper housing of the laptop where the display resides.
Now it seems that there is a bit of a growing trend where it has been noticed that more people are buying broken MacBooks, like those without displays or with broken displays, and are removing the display portion of the laptop and then connecting it to an external display and transforming the laptop into a pseudo Mac mini of sorts.
More and more people are buying a MacBook Pro without a screen to use as a Mac mini. Not only does it have a trackpad and keyboard, but it also has better speakers, and the main price is particularly affordable. pic.twitter.com/WtxMQk1h8F
— DuanRui (@duanrui1205) March 7, 2022
It actually makes a lot of sense because like we said, the internals of what powers the laptop all reside under the keyboard, which means that with a little bit of tinkering, it is possible to hook it up to an external display and continue to take advantage of the hardware of the MacBook.
Plus the fact that the lower half of the laptop has a keyboard AND a mouse in the form of a trackpad, you won’t even need to connect any additional peripherals to it! It’s actually a pretty clever idea and if you do have a MacBook with a broken display and you don’t want to pay to get it replaced, this could be a good way to repurpose your laptop, assuming you have no intentions of bringing it out with you.
People Are Turning Broken MacBooks Into Pseudo Mac Minis
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Mar 11
A Ukrainian Man Learned Of His Family’s Deaths From Viral Photos On Twitter
Posted in: Today's ChiliSerhiy Perebyinis’ wife and two children were killed by Russian fire while they were trying to evacuate Irpin, Ukraine.
Mar 11
DuckDuckGo reverses course, will demote Russian propaganda in search results
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe search engine DuckDuckGo will be down-ranking sites that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation. In a tweet, founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg wrote that the privacy-focused search engine would be releasing updates that would ensure Russian disinformation sites rank further down in search results. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo announced it would pause its relationship with Russian-state owned search engine Yandex.
Even if it’s for the right reasons, putting a thumb on the scales of search results is an uncharacteristic move for the Pennsylvania-based search company. Unlike Google and major social media platforms, DuckDuckGo has neglected to filter out misleading content on vaccines or elections. A number of platforms including the Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram have started to demote posts from Russian state media. Google has been down-ranking search results from Russian state news agencies since 2017.
Known for being a “privacy-minded” search engine, DuckDuckGo does not track its users or sell data to third parties. The company primarily makes money from affiliate links and non-targeted ads. DuckDuckGo, which regularly donates to digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and non-profit newsroom The Markup, has also been embraced by conspiracy theorists and far-right groups in recent years. A number of studies highlighted in the New York Times found that Bing’s search algorithm, which powers DuckDuckGo, surfaces more sites that promote conspiracy theories than Google.
Many fans of DuckDuckGo criticized the search engine for its decision on Russia, likening it to “censorship”. It’s unclear whether DuckDuckGo will make a wider effort to down-rank disinformation.
Weinberg did not detail in his tweet which Russian propaganda sites DuckDuckGo would target, or whether the search engine will target other types of disinformation, such as on climate change or Covid-19. Engadget has reached out to DuckDuckGo with these questions and will update when we hear back.
Mar 11
Yesterday, Apple announced their new standalone display called the Studio Display. It’s meant to be a cheaper alternative to the Pro Display XDR at $1,600, but Apple is also charging customers an extra $400 if they want to opt for the stand that has both tilt and height adjustments.
Now, some of you might be thinking that maybe you can buy the cheaper model first that only offers tilt adjustments, and that later on if you need, you can just purchase the stand that lets you adjust the tilt and height of the monitor. Unfortunately, that will not be possible because these stands are not interchangeable.
According to MacRumors, they point to a warning message on Apple’s website in which the company says that “each stand or mount adapter is built in. They are not interchangeable, so it’s important to consider your workspace needs at the time of purchase.” This means that before you make your purchase, you’ll have to decide on the spot if you want to splurge an extra $400 for height adjustment, or if you’re fine not having it.
It’s a bit strange that these stands are not interchangeable as we’re sure that some users would have liked or appreciated that option, but as it is, this is how Apple is selling their new Studio Display monitor, so choose wisely.
No, The Studio Display’s Stands Aren’t Interchangeable
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Mar 11
Apple’s recently announced Studio Display boasts a resolution of 5K. This is more than a lot of monitors these days, the majority of which top out at 4K. However, if you want the full 5K resolution, you’ll have to connect it either to a Mac or one of Apple’s newer iPads.
This is because according to Apple who confirmed with MacRumors, when connecting to less powerful iPads that come with a USB-C port, like the fourth-gen iPad Air and the new iPad mini 6, the resolution you will get is 1440p. To be honest this isn’t too bad, but for those who were hoping to leverage the full 5K resolution, those older iPads will not cut it.
This is because the USB-C ports used in the fourth-gen iPad Air and the iPad mini 6 can’t achieve the required data throughput to hit 5K, so it will be limited to 1440p. We reckon for the most part most users should be fine at 1440p, but if you were buying the display just to connect it with your iPad, you should probably get one of the newer models.
According to the tech specs for the Studio Display, the monitor will be fully compatible with iPads like the 12.9-inch 3rd gen iPad Pro, the 11-inch iPad Pro, and the newly announced iPad Air fifth-gen.
Studio Display Only Gets 1440p Resolution When Connected To Older iPads
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Mar 11
If you’re someone who uses Google Translate quite a bit, especially if you’re an iPhone user, then you might be interested to learn that Google has released an update for the app that gives it the ability to act as a widget on your iOS home screen.
With this widget, users will have quick access to certain features such as the camera mode that lets users translate text they might find in images, like a photograph, a menu, signboards, and so on. It also allows users to launch conversation mode, which for those unfamiliar lets two people speak two different languages and translates them into the other language in real-time.
It’s actually pretty useful to have Google Translate exist as a widget, especially since the newer versions of iOS allows users to place widgets directly on the home screen. This makes it easier for users to access, especially if they might be traveling in a foreign country and need to be able to access a translation tool quickly without having to launch the app every time.
This saves users a couple of steps so while it might not exactly be the most groundbreaking of updates, it is a nice quality of life upgrade that we’re sure some users will be able to appreciate. The update should already be live, so keep an eye out for it if it’s something you might be interested in.
Google Translate For iOS Gets Its Own Widget
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