Jul 21
“The Daily Show” showed one image that explains why so many House Republicans voted against the Respect for Marriage Act.
Jul 21
President Biden is unveiling further measures to combat climate change, and his latest efforts are aimed at addressing incoming environmental crises. The President has outlined a string of executive actions that include the first wind energy areas in the Gulf of Mexico. The 700,000 acres could generate enough offshore wind power to supply over 3 million homes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also unveiled $2.3 billion in funding to bolster resilience against heat waves, wildfires and other climate change-related disasters. This will expand the use of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for air conditioning, community cooling centers and other resources to fight extreme heat.
These measures come on top of other initiatives from Biden, who has devoted billions of dollars to clean energy projects, outlined plans for a national EV charging network and pledged to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
– Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
Porsche Taycans will charge faster and go farther with latest update
DALL-E’s powerful AI image generator is now available in beta
Google Photos for web now shows if your images are taking up space
No Man’s Sky Endurance update focuses on freighters and fleets
Apple’s latest iOS and macOS updates offer more control over live sports
Microsoft is giving Xbox Insiders free access to classic Bethesda first-person shooters
Samsung says it shipped almost 10 million foldable phones in 2021
The company also confirms it’s launching new foldables at its next Unpacked event in August.
Samsung says it has shipped “almost 10 million foldable smartphones” worldwide. The company’s chief of Mobile Experience (MX) Business, Dr. TM Roh, said that’s a 300 percent increase from 2020 and that he expects what he calls “fast-paced growth” to continue. Most of its foldable customers, 70 percent of them apparently, went for the clamshell-like Flip. Roh also confirmed that the company is introducing its next Flip and Fold models at its Unpacked event in two weeks.
With a Samsung TV and Game Pass Ultimate, I don’t need to buy an Xbox
But I’d have to buy a new TV…
Samsung
I’m a PlayStation gamer. I’m pretty upfront with that knowledge when I write for Engadget – and occasionally even in this newsletter. However, I’m not an idiot. Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is awfully tempting, even when its consoles aren’t. Now, with the launch of Samsung’s Game Hub on its newest TVs (and only its newest models), you can stream Xbox titles from the cloud without needing a console.
On a big TV, playing Flight Simulator turns into a meditative experience. Type in your destination for an exploration flight (or, easier on a controller, set your cursor on the world map), and just fly and fly and fly. That’s what I did, and I started to hate that I’ll never be able to do this on my PS5. The only problem is that requirement of a new Samsung TV…
An unofficial 3D-printed kit makes your AirPods case repairable
And even adds USB-C.
Ken Pillonel (of USB-C iPhone fame) has created an open source repair kit for first- and second-generation AirPods models. If you’re comfortable cracking open the case, you can perform repairs (such as installing a fresh battery) and get back to business using a 3D-printed replacement part. Moreover, the kit will drag your AirPods into the modern era — it switches the charging port from Lightning to a USB-C connection.
Somehow, I’m playing ‘Overwatch’ again
The latest beta for its sequel just wrapped up.
Blizzard
There are big changes afoot in Overwatch 2. After weeks of playing the beta, I was relieved that many of my primary characters really haven’t changed at all – at least, not yet. It’s unusual to see Bastion wheeling around as a tank, though…. Some changes seem to skew the sequel towards skilled FPS players, which I’m less happy to see. One of the reasons I got into OW was the ability to contribute in squad fights without needing meticulous headshot talents. It’s still early days in the beta, and I can’t wait to see the third character and what else Blizzard has planned.
Jul 21
Google Calendar has released a new update for an issue that it promised to fix three years ago. The “known senders” feature will finally let you block invitations from people you don’t know that can effectively spam up your calendar. With the “Only if the sender is known” toggle enabled under “Event settings,” it’ll automatically add invites only from people in your contacts list, people you’ve interacted with, or users on the same domain.
Normally, Google Calendar automatically adds events when you receive emailed invites, no matter who sends them. The only way to prevent this until now was to disable automatic event adding completely, forcing you to manually deal with each invite.
Google
Now, you can have the automatic invitations from folks you know while cutting off spam events like “Crypto meetup 9PM tonight” sent by some rando. Simply navigate to your Google Calendar settings, choose “Event Settings” and choose the “Add invitations to my calendar dropdown.” Then, select the option “Only if the sender is known.”
You’ll still receive spammy invites, but the new option lets you trash them before they ever see your calendar. Google notes that this may alert a sender that they’re not in your contacts list, but that seems to be the only potential downside. It’s a small but useful tweak, joining recent Google updates for Calendar, Gmail and other apps.
Jul 21
Experts Blast Meta's First-Ever Human Rights Report as 'Corporate Propaganda'
Posted in: Today's Chili
Experts from some of the nation’s leading civil and digital rights organizations say a report published by Meta last week, presented as an exhaustive review of its impact on human rights, in reality offers “zero” information about its actual impact on the world. The first Meta Human Rights Report should be viewed…
Jul 21
Democrats are pushing legislation through the House that would inscribe the right to use contraceptives into law.
Jul 21
Lyft will stop renting out cars from its own fleet and has laid off around 60 employees, according to The Wall Street Journal. As TechCrunch notes, the layoffs have also been confirmed by the LinkedIn posts of affected workers. The people who lost their jobs, The Journal said, worked in operations and covered 2 percent of the company’s workforce. Back in May, the company reportedly wrote in a staff memo that it’s slowing down hiring due to the economic downturn, but that it didn’t have any layoffs planned. Things have clearly changed since then.
In an internal memo from Lyft VP Cal Lankton seen by The Journal, the executive said that the company’s road to in-house rentals is “long and challenging with significant uncertainty.” Lankton also explained that Lyft started discussing the possibility of exiting the business last fall and that talks ramped up as the “economy made the business case unworkable.”
The ride-hailing service debuted its car rental business in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area back in 2019 after a few months of testing, eventually expanding its first-party car rental offering to five locations. While it’s sunsetting the option to rent vehicles from its fleet, the company isn’t leaving the space completely. Lyft already runs more than 30 rental locations with Sixt SE and Hertz Global Holdings Inc., and it said it will continue working with big car-rental companies. “This decision,” a spokesperson told the publication, “will ensure we continue to have national coverage and offer riders a more seamless booking experience.”
Lyft is also in the midst of reorganizing its global operations and consolidating its offers from 13 to nine regions. That will lead to the closure of a location in Northern California and of its Detroit Hub, but it’s unclear if the move will cause more layoffs. Either way, Lyft is merely the latest company in the tech industry to cut jobs due to the economy. Tesla reportedly laid off 500 employees from its Nevada Gigafactory without 60 days of advanced notice. Netflix cut 300 jobs in June after cutting 150 jobs in May. And more recently, TikTok started laying people off around the world. Even the biggest companies in the industry aren’t immune: Meta reportedly told managers to keep an eye out for low-performing workers and to “move to exit” them if they’re unable to get back on track.
Jul 21
Microsoft has cut an unspecified number of job openings, mirroring the broader tech sector, as the industry braces for a slowdown in the economy, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. Cuts include areas like the Azure cloud division and security software, but Microsoft has declined to put a number to the…
Jul 21
Long-Lost Lou Reed Track Completely Transforms Classic Velvet Underground Song
Posted in: Today's ChiliThis early recording sat forgotten in an envelope for half a century.
Jul 21
Ford is reportedly planning to cut up to 8,000 jobs over the coming weeks in an effort to fund its plans to build EVs, according to Bloomberg. The layoffs would occur at its Ford Blue unit, recently created to develop vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE), and would affect other salaried positions in the company. The bulk of cuts are expected to occur in the US.
In March, Ford CEO Jim Farley restructured the company, dividing it into the Ford Blue and Model E divisions, with the latter dedicated to electric cars and pickups like the Mach E and F150 Lightning. As part of that, he announced plans to cut $3 billion in costs by 2026, with the aim of transforming Ford Blue into “the profit and cash engine” for the entire company.
“As part of this, we have laid out clear targets to lower our cost structure to ensure we are lean and fully competitive with the best in the industry,” Ford’s CCO Mark Truby told Bloomberg in a statement, without revealing more details about the cuts. Ford currently employees around 31,000 salaried US workers.
In March, the automaker announced plans to boost electric vehicle spending to $50 billion and plan to build two million EVs by 2026. The company sold just 27,140 EVs stateside last year, but got a significant 76.6 percent boost last month as shipping commenced for the F-150 Lightning.
Jul 21
“We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down,” the venue wrote.
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