Apr 29

Elon Musk reportedly wants to charge for tweet embeds

Posted in: Today's Chili

Should Elon Musk’s planned takeover of Twitter be finalized, he may bring in some changes for how tweed embeds work on third-party websites and services. Musk has floated the idea of charging users to embed or quote tweets from verified accounts, according to Reuters, but that wouldn’t stop anyone from simply screenshotting a tweet and using that instead.

Even before Twitter’s board accepted Musk’s offer, there were signs of changes for how embeds work. The company altered some JavaScript, which led to the text of deleted tweets disappearing from sites they were embedded on. A Twitter senior product manager said the change was made to “better respect when people have chosen to delete their tweets.” However, after a backlash from the likes of open web and preservation advocates, Twitter backtracked on the move.

Musk reportedly mooted the idea of charging for embeds while attempting to secure debt to finance his $44 billion buyout. He secured $13 billion in loans against Twitter and a $12.5 billion margin loan tied to his Tesla stock (which he this week sold $8.5 billion worth of).

In addition, Musk has mentioned other ways of improving Twitter’s bottom line but hasn’t made firm commitments on those as yet. He has suggested making changes to the Twitter Blue service to make it more appealing to potential subscribers. In talks with banks, Musk reportedly raised the possibility of job cuts, but isn’t expected to make firm decisions on that front until/if he takes the company private. In addition, Musk has publicly mused about getting rid of salaries for board directors, which would save the company around $3 million per year.

Twitter’s potential new owner is also said to have plans to replace CEO Parag Agrawal, who took the reins from Jack Dorsey in November. Agrawal is expected to stay in charge until the sale to Musk goes through. According to Reuters, Musk told Twitter chairman Bret Taylor that he wasn’t confident in the company’s management. However, a lot of details about what Musk’s takeover will mean for the company remain up in the air and won’t be clear for a while.

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Apr 29

The Best Discord Tips And Tricks You Need To Know

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Discord is gaining popularity even outside of gaming circles. These tricks of the trade will help you have the best possible experinece.

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Apr 29

Fed-Up Puerto Rican Businesses Sue Power Company After Yet Another Blackout

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Puerto Rico’s power authority LUMA can’t seem to keep the lights on, and now it’s the target of a lawsuit by four corporations who want $310 million in damages.

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Apr 29

Snap's CEO Finally Calls The Metaverse What It Is

Posted in: Today's Chili

Luxury brands, investment bankers, and even the goddamn military might be buying big into the idea of a metaverse, but thankfully, there’s one prominent CEO who’s finally calling it out for being as wishy-washy and we all know it to be.

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Apr 29

Microsoft Finally On Path to Allow Self-Repair of Products

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Microsoft is finally talking honestly about allowing for self-repair of its products as many other big tech companies start to loosen their grip on fixing their electronics when they eventually go bust.

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Apr 29

Neal Adams, Comic Book Legend, Dead at 80

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Neal Adams, the legendary artist who brought Batman, the Avengers, the X-Men, the Brave and the Bold, and many more to life in his storied career passed away yesterday due to complications from sepsis, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 80.

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Apr 29

Prisoner Tests Positive For Bird Flu, First Recorded Case In U.S.

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The man is largely asymptomatic, and health experts say the risk the virus poses to people remains low.

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Apr 29

Sony closes a PS Plus loophole by pausing subscription extensions

Posted in: Today's Chili

Sony has temporarily prevented existing PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now members from extending their subscriptions as it prepares to combine them into the revamped PS Plus. It’s a clear attempt to stop users from getting years of access to the highest tier of the updated service on the cheap.

When Sony announced the new plans last month, it said PlayStation Now members would have their subscription converted to PS Plus Premium for the same length of time. That level of the service will include the current PS Plus benefits and 400 PS4 and PS5 titles from the middle tier, as well as hundreds of games from previous generations and cloud streaming on PS4, PS5 and PC. 

Sony clarified this week that if a user has both PS Plus and PS Now memberships active when the new service launches in the coming weeks, they’ll get access to PS Plus Premium for the longer of the two terms before having to renew. In other words, if you had seven years left to run on your PS Plus plan after stacking one-year memberships, but recently took out a 12-month PS Now subscription, you’d get seven years of access to PS Plus Premium at a significant discount after the switch.

As spotted by Twitter gaming deals maestro Wario64, Sony has updated its PS Plus FAQ section to note that current subscribers of PS Plus and PS Now are unable to redeem voucher codes and extend their memberships for the time being. They’ll be able to redeem them again when either their current membership lapses or the new PS Plus service is available in their region — whichever of those occurs first. As such, the company has stopped people from taking advantage of the PS Plus Premium loophole.

“As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are doing some work behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members,” Sony said. “As part of this work, we’ve temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers until after the launch.”

If you have an unredeemed voucher, it will now convert to a length of time equivalent to its monetary value. So, if you’re currently a subscriber and have a one-month PS Plus or PS Now code lying in a drawer somewhere, that can convert to a month of PS Plus Essential or 17 days of PS Plus Premium access. Sony has published a conversion chart detailing how that all works.

The revamped PS Plus service is scheduled to launch in some Asian markets on May 23rd, Japan on June 1st, the Americas on June 13th and Europe on June 22nd. 

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Apr 29

How Are Astronauts Protected From Space Radiation?

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Keeping astronauts safe from radiation in space is one of the most important concerns that researchers must address as we head to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

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Apr 29

Apple Just Added A Helpful Feature To Its AirTags To Prevent Stalking

Posted in: Today's Chili

Apple’s latest software update for their AirTag tracking system changes the way an alert is blasted from a nefariously hidden device, along with alerts.

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