Aug 11
Former House Republican Tears Into Kevin McCarthy For ‘Frightening’ Trump Defense
Posted in: Today's ChiliFormer South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford said the GOP leader’s argument about the indictment “shows the danger of Donald Trump.”
Aug 11
We’ve all been in Samsung’s position, promising something before quickly realizing we couldn’t, or didn’t want to, actually follow through. But the Korean giant might get a record for the speed at which it walked back its initial pledge. It had intended to give Galaxy S23 owners the chance to beta test several One UI 6 features ahead of launch. Users in the US, Germany and South Korea would be able to see what tweaks the company had added to Android 14 and see what worked, and what didn’t.
Or that was the plan. Not long after the news dropped, Samsung began to walk back its promise. It told Engadget (and the rest of the media) it would delay the launch of the beta test until further notice, but with no justification. The initial announcement disappeared from Samsung’s press site, and everyone’s left mulling what could have been so problematic as to require this sort of scorched-earth approach.
—Dan Cooper
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Nine thoughts about the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds blockbuster finale
No spoilers here, I promise.
Michael Gibson / Paramount+
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsconcluded its second season yesterday with a blockbuster finale. “Hegemony” pits the Enterprise crew against a formidable foe that requires every bit of their collective cunning for them to triumph. I jotted down nine thoughts both about this episode and also about the shape of the second season more generally. Which, it’s easy to say, has cemented itself as the best run of a live-action Trek in the streaming era.
Amazon is reportedly cutting most of its in-house clothing brands
A cynic might say this is to fend off antitrust action.
Amazon is closing the majority of its in-house clothing and furniture brands, including Lark & Lo, Goodthreads and Stone & Beam. Reports say it’s canning 27 out of 30 brands, with Amazon saying the marques haven’t resonated with consumers. A cynic might argue this is Amazon getting its house in order ahead of potential antitrust action by the FTC. The US has previously probed Amazon’s ability to spot popular products made by third party sellers on its platform and produce a homegrown, er, variation under one of its own brands.
Watch Virgin Galactic’s first ever space tourist flight at 11am ET
Including the company’s first paying customer.
Virgin Galactic
Yesterday saw Virgin Galactic’s first private passenger flight successfully take three civilians to the edge of space and back. It included its first paying customer, former Olympian Jon Goodwin, who coughed up $250,000 for his ticket all the way back in 2014. He was joined by a mother and daughter team of Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers, who won their seats in a fundraising draw. The stream of the event is available and, I’ll be honest, it’s worth a watch just for the chest-tightening moment when the crew starts floating in zero gravity.
X CEO confirms video calls are coming to the platform
Because, sure, that’s its priority right now.
Xwitter CEO Linda Yaccrino has announced video chat is coming to the platform as part of its plan to become an “everything” app. The CEO said video calls would bolster work to turn X into a global town square, full of people exercising their right to free expression. Given the sort of free expression the company is currently endorsing, you might want to stick to your free video calling platform of choice — it’s not as if we’re hurting for those right now.
The long-rumored Quake II remaster is out now on PC and consoles
Tweaks include widescreen support, 120Hz refresh rates and 4K.
Bethesda Softworks
The long-awaited remaster of Quake II wasn’t just announced, it’s already available to play on most platforms. If you own the original on GOG or Steam, you’ll get a free bump to the new edition, with plenty of modern-day quality-of-life upgrades. The remastered edition also includes content cut from some versions and the original expansion packs, as well as a new expansion from MachineGames. Well, that’s your weekend sorted.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-samsung-flip-flops-on-a-one-ui-beta-test-111536441.html?src=rss
Aug 11
Doctors Told Me To ‘Just Lose Weight’ And My Pain Would Go Away. It Only Got Worse.
Posted in: Today's Chili“Nothing is wrong with you other than you are morbidly obese.”
Aug 11
This week, Cherlynn and Sam are joined by noted foldables lover Michael Fisher (aka Mr Mobile) to talk all about their respective reviews of Samsung’s latest products. Why are our hosts more excited for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 than the Z Fold 5? Is Samsung coasting? Then, we discuss the latest happenings in X vs Threads, as well as a bunch of lighthearted news in tech this week.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
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Topics
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5 reviews with Mr Mobile – 1:22
Will Elon actually pay for lawsuits related to posts on X? – 41:32
Threads is getting a website and search – 49:16
Slack UI changes are coming to your workspace soon – 54:31
MrBeast is getting countersued for $100m – 1:03:21
Working on – 1:13:55
Pop culture picks – 1:19:52
Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford
Guest: Michael Fisher (aka TheMrMobile)
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-are-samsungs-foldables-getting-stale-123037554.html?src=rss
Aug 11
Maggie Haberman Spells Out The Tactic Trump Is Using To Navigate Indictments
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe former president remains the Republican Party’s 2024 front-runner despite dozens of felony charges.
Aug 11
GM's New $130,000 Cadillac Escalade IQ Won't Have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto
Posted in: Today's Chili
Bad news for iPhone and Android users looking to snag a luxury car. GM just confirmed that Cadillac’s upcoming Escalade IQ—which boasts a hefty price tag of $130,000—will not have CarPlay or Android Auto support.
Aug 11
An international team of scientists has developed a new technology that can help detect (or even treat) cancer in hard-to-reach places, such as the colon. The team has published a paper in Science for the technique dubbed CATCH, or cellular assay for targeted, CRISPR-discriminated horizontal gene transfer. For their lab experiments, the scientists used a species of bacterium called Acinetobacter baylyi. This bacterium has the ability to naturally take up free-floating DNA from its surroundings and then integrate it into its own genome, allowing it to produce new protein for growth.
What the scientists did was engineer A. baylyi bacteria so that they’d contain long sequences of DNA mirroring the DNA found in human cancer cells. These sequences serve as some sort of one-half of a zipper that locks on to captured cancer DNA. For their tests, the scientists focus on the mutated KRAS gene that’s commonly found in colorectal tumors. If an A. baylyi bacterium finds a mutated DNA and integrates it into its genome, a linked antibiotic resistance gene also gets activated. That’s what the team used to confirm the presence of cancer cells: After all, only bacteria with active antibiotic resistance could grow on culture plates filled with antibiotics.
While the scientists were successfully able to detect tumor DNA in mice injected with colorectal cancer cells in the lab, the technology is still not ready to be used for actual diagnosis. The team said it’s still working on the next steps, including improving the technique’s efficiency and evaluating how it performs compared to other diagnostic tests. “The most exciting aspect of cellular healthcare, however, is not in the mere detection of disease. A laboratory can do that,” Dan Worthley, one of the study’s authors, wrote in The Conversation. In the future, the technology could also be used for targeted biological therapy that can deploy treatment to specific parts of the body based on the presence of certain DNA sequences.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scientists-genetically-engineer-bacteria-to-detect-cancer-cells-114511365.html?src=rss
Aug 11
Teen Indicted On Murder As A Hate Crime Charge In Death Of Dancer O’Shae Sibley
Posted in: Today's ChiliSibley was stabbed at a Brooklyn gas station after dancing with friends to Beyoncé.
Aug 11
GM's New $130,000 Cadillac Escalade IQ Won't Have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto
Posted in: Today's Chili
Bad news for iPhone and Android users looking to snag a luxury car. GM just confirmed that Cadillac’s upcoming Escalade IQ—which boasts a hefty price tag of $130,000—will not have CarPlay or Android Auto support.
Aug 11
Arizona Homeowner Finds Snake ‘Curled Up’ In A Room Where She Least Expects It
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe Tucson resident said she was gone four days before discovering the slithering visitor in her home last month.
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