Apr 06
Rapper and songwriter Megan Thee Stallion posted a makeup-free selfie on Instagram and said she’ll be going without makeup until Coachella.
Apr 06
Facebook is taking another step to encourage users to create original content for its TikTok clone. The company introduced a new “sharing to Reels” feature to allow users of third-party apps to post directly to Facebook Reels.
The update allows outside developers to add a “Reels button” to their app so users can post clips directly to Reels while taking advantage of Reels’ editing tools, Facebook wrote in a blog post. Initial developers to use the feature include Smule, which makes a popular karaoke app and video editing apps Vita and VivaVideo.
The move is yet another sign of the growing importance of Reels, and how Facebook has tried to borrow from the same playbook it used with Stories. Facebook has pushed Reels into nearly every part of its service in recent months just as it once did with Stories when the company viewed Snapchat as its chief rival. Now, with Facebook losing users to TikTok, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has staked a lot on the success of Reels. He said last fall that Reels would be “as important for our products as Stories” and that reorienting its service to appeal to younger users was the company’s “North Star.”
But incentivizing users to post original content, not just ripped off TikTok clips, has been somewhat of a challenge for the company. Instagram, which has had Reels the longest, said a year ago that it would stop promoting videos with other apps’ watermarks, but the service is still filled with recycled TikToks. Adding a “Reels” button to other content creation apps is unlikely to solve that overnight, but it could help bring in some fresh, non-TikTok-created clips.
Apr 06
Microsoft has some big changes for Windows 11, not the least of which is the return of grouping in the Start Menu, not to mention File Explorer tabs.
Apr 06
State law prohibits marijuana edibles from being shaped like humans, animals, fruit or other images that could attract children.
Apr 06
Block disclosed today that a security breach involving a former employee impacts 8.2 million Cash App users. In an SEC filing, the company reported that an ex-employee on December 10th downloaded a number of reports with information on customer information. The exfiltrated data included full names, brokerage account numbers, brokerage portfolio value, brokerage portfolio holdings and reports of stock trading activity.
According to the filing, only customers that used Cash App’s stock function are potentially included in the breach. While Cash App got its start as a peer-to-peer payment app, its customers can also use it to buy stocks and Bitcoin. No other Cash App features outside of stocks were involved in the breach, nor did it include any customers outside of the US, according to the company.
“The reports did not include usernames or passwords, Social Security numbers, date of birth, payment card information, addresses, bank account information, or any other personally identifiable information. They also did not include any security code, access code, or password used to access Cash App accounts. Other Cash App products and features (other than stock activity) and customers outside of the United States were not impacted,” wrote Block in the filing.
Block has launched a formal investigation into the incident and has contacted law enforcement. It also plans on notifying all 8.2 million customers involved in the breach by email.
According to the filing, the ex-employee once had access to the customer information as an employee at CashApp. But by the time the breach occurred, they had already been gone from the company for several months. It’s unclear how a former employee was still able to retrieve such highly sensitive information. Engadget has reached out to Block for a response, and will update if we hear back.
Apr 06
The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite has made another appearance, this time in a leak that includes one surprising detail: it looks like a rebranded Realme handset.
Apr 06
As I write this on Tuesday April 5, 2022, Morbius is currently sitting at 16% on critical aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. That means with just over 200 reviews counted, 84% of critics who saw the film disliked it more than they liked it. (This critic included.) Which, to put it mildly, isn’t good. And it’s…
Apr 06
Authorities Shutter Sprawling Dark Web Drug Bazaar and Seize $25 Million in Bitcoin
Posted in: Today's Chili
Hydra, a longtime dark web cesspool of money laundering and drug sales, has been shut down by police.
Apr 06
Lauren Handy and her colleague Terrisa Bukovinac claim a medical waste worker let them take a box of aborted fetuses, but the company says that’s false.
Apr 06
Epic Games has built a mobile app that can turn photos into 3D scans. Capturing Reality, a company Epic bought last year, created photogrammetric software called RealityCapture. It can quickly convert laser scans or images into 3D scans of assets. With the RealityScan app, Epic is hoping to give users access to the same tech right on their phone.
The idea is that creatives will be able to scan real-world objects at any time to use in their projects. After you sign in with your Epic Games account, the app will prompt you to take at least 20 photos of an item. You can also hold down your finger on the capture button as you move around the object.
After the app processes the images and turns it into a 3D object with the help of RealityCapture’s servers, you can export the scan to Sketchfab (a 3D asset platform Epic also bought in 2021).
You’ll then be able to sell the asset to other creatives or use them for your own 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality projects. Game developers might find the app particularly useful if they’re in need of a particular item to place in a virtual environment. As it happens, Epic just opened up access to Unreal Engine 5.
Epic is testing a beta of the app with a limited number of iOS users before a broader, early access rollout on iPhone this spring. An Android version of RealityScan will arrive later this year.
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.