In a new Esquire profile, Chris Pine speaks candidly about his leading man roles, his earnest hero typecasting, and the tentpole franchise that turned him into a household name: Star Trek. The 2009 reboot of the beloved series quickly fueled two sequels, but the rumored fourth movie has yet to materialize.
Rivian won’t limit its longest-ranged battery pack to the R1T pickup. Founder RJ Scaringe has announced that a configuration with the Max Pack battery and dual-motor all-wheel drive will be available sometime this fall. The company projects a 390-mile range. Crucially, you won’t lose the seven-person seating in the process. You can take the whole family on a road trip without as many charging stops as before.
The EV maker hasn’t mentioned pricing for the Max Pack trim. As Autoblognotes, the option adds $16,000 to the price of the R1T but extends the range to 400 miles. At present, R1S buyers have to be content with a $6,000 upgrade to the not-yet-EPA-rated Large Pack. You can expect a claimed 260 miles with the stock battery.
Excited to share a new Max Pack + Dual-Motor AWD configuration for the 7-seat R1S is coming this fall—projecting 390 miles of range! pic.twitter.com/KB3NxYHW7J
— RJ Scaringe (@RJScaringe) February 28, 2023
The wait for the Max option doesn’t come at a great moment for Rivian. The automaker has conducted two rounds of layoffs as part of a broader cost-cutting strategy meant to help the brand survive rough economic conditions. It While Rivian is one of the few EV startups to achieve meaningful production levels, it made just 24,337 cars in 2022, or less than half its originally predicted amount — and roughly half of those (12,700) were just recalled over an airbag deployment issue. The R1S Max model may boost demand, but its late-year arrival may limit its potential to improve Rivian’s fortunes in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rivians-electric-r1s-suv-will-get-an-extended-range-max-battery-this-fall-175420107.html?src=rss
The GOP went all in on the culture wars during the 2022 midterm elections and lost — but that hasn’t stopped them from doubling down in 2023.
Let’s get streaming! Welcome to the latest edition of io9’s streaming column the Nerd’s Watch, where we pare down the enormous lists of new films and television shows arriving on all your favorite streaming services into the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles we think you’ll like most.
If you walk into a brick and mortar therapist’s office, a receptionist will tell you if there’s no availability. It’s probably a safe assumption they won’t charge you for the therapy sessions they aren’t giving you, either. Allegedly, neither of those things are true on Talkspace, a popular mental health app that…
A Washington woman with tuberculosis who has refused treatment for over a year is set to be arrested as a result. According to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, the woman had repeatedly disobeyed court orders to stay isolated until she completed treatment. A local judge has now issued a warrant for her…
If you thought your wallet would have a break after all the new Lego sets that finally became available today, think again. To help celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, Lego announced a handful of new Disney-themed sets enroute in the coming months, including its next series of collectible minifigures.
Pesky lunar dust is an annoying obstacle for astronauts landing on the Moon—it sticks to pretty much everything. New research from Washington State University may have cracked the code for keeping space suits dust-free, in which pressurized liquid nitrogen was used to literally blow the dust from surfaces.
Airbnb is reportedly banning users who, despite having a clear background, were associated with people the company deems a safety risk. Although the short-term rental company faces an impossible balancing act of making owners feel secure without discriminating unfairly against renters, its appeals process — a critical step in catching overreaches — sounds lackluster and confusing while erring on the side of perceived homeowner security.
Airbnb confirmed to Motherboard that it sometimes refuses to rent to users associated with banned individuals “likely to travel” with them. For example, in January, Airbnb informed a user named Amanda that she was prohibited from the platform due to being “closely associated with a person who isn’t allowed to use Airbnb.” Amanda used the credit card of her boyfriend — who has a criminal record — to book the rental. (Amanda doesn’t have a criminal record.) She told Motherboard that her partner’s flagged history was from “a white collar charge” while adding that the two don’t share an address or bank account.
Two days after appealing the ban, Airbnb informed her it was upholding it “after careful consideration” to help “safeguard our community.” Then, it slammed the door shut on the case, adding that it wouldn’t “offer additional support on this case at this time.” Although the company is less than transparent about how long it’s enacted this process or how often it uses it, its procedures require one of two things to appeal successfully: the banned acquaintance causing their prohibition successfully appeals their ban, or the person attempting to rent proves they aren’t “closely associated” with the problematic person.
Either way, the company’s subliminal message has concerning undertones: Associate with someone with a checkered past — regardless of who they are today — and neither of you can use our platform.
Airbnb is a private business, and Amanda could try booking through a competitor — or simply get a hotel room. Further, we don’t know the precise details about why her boyfriend was banned in the first place. But the company’s approach highlights a more significant issue we may see again as Big Tech’s ability to profile users grows more advanced. (The company already uses “anti-party tech,” and competitor Vrbo used what’s essentially pre-crime for house parties during the Super Bowl.)
So where do you draw the line? Airbnb’s answer appears to be a cynical calculation that risking negative press about banning acquaintances — perhaps unfairly — is preferable to anything that could make homeowners feel less secure about using the service.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/airbnb-is-banning-people-likely-to-travel-with-prohibited-users-173553947.html?src=rss
The senator wants the Starbucks co-founder under oath for questioning about the company’s anti-union campaign.
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