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X is funding a lawsuit filed by Chloe Happe against her former employer Block, which was founded by Jack Dorsey, the same person who founded the website formerly known as Twitter. In her lawsuit, Happe said Block had wrongfully fired her in retaliation for two posts she made on what she called her “pseudonymous, satirical account” on X while on her personal time. One of the posts made after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel referenced refugees fleeing Gaza and and coming to the region of Kurdistan. In another, she used ableist language and a slur against transgender people while referencing the use of a “gender neutral restroom in the office.”

Happe repeatedly stressed that she “expressed her political views, opinions, or beliefs in the form of satire.” She said she did not mention Block in any post on her anonymous account and that she did not make those posts during her work hours. Happe also said that she “voluntarily deleted” the post on refugees within days of posting. She deleted the post with the slurs on the same day she made it upon seeing that X had limited its visibility. 

But Block still obtained copies of the posts and wouldn’t tell her if another employee had complained about it, she argued in her lawsuit, admitting that she initially denied making them out of fear that she could get in trouble. She accused Block of terminating her, without severance, solely because she expressed views the company disagreed with. Happe argued that Block’s policies expressly allowed its employees to engage in speech like her post, so it was the company that violated its own rules. Jack Dorsey, the founder of both Block (a financial services company) and Twitter, had publicly endorsed Elon Musk before the latter took over ownership of the social media platform. Last year, though, he changed his tune and criticized Musk, saying “it all went south” after he took over and that he “should have walked away” from the acquisition.

On his account, Elon Musk retweeted X’s announcement that it’s supporting Happe’s lawsuit with the caption: “Supporting your right to freedom of speech.” The company had previously funded other lawsuits in the name of “free speech.” One of those cases is Gina Carano’s lawsuit against Lucasfilm and Disney, which she accused of removing her from The Mandalorian for expressing views that were “not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time.” Carano notably questioned the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and added “boop/bop/beep” as her pronouns. She also shared a post on Instagram that compared the treatment of conservatives in America to the treatment of Jews in Nazi-era Germany. 

Happe is asking the court to order her reinstatement as a Block employee. She is also asking for compensatory and punitive damages, including for loss of pay from the time she was terminated. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-funding-a-lawsuit-against-jack-dorseys-block-to-support-the-right-to-freedom-of-speech-073059007.html?src=rss

X is funding a lawsuit filed by Chloe Happe against her former employer Block, which was founded by Jack Dorsey, the same person who founded the website formerly known as Twitter. In her lawsuit, Happe said Block had wrongfully fired her in retaliation for two posts she made on what she called her “pseudonymous, satirical account” on X while on her personal time. One of the posts made after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel referenced refugees fleeing Gaza and and coming to the region of Kurdistan. In another, she used ableist language and a slur against transgender people while referencing the use of a “gender neutral restroom in the office.”

Happe repeatedly stressed that she “expressed her political views, opinions, or beliefs in the form of satire.” She said she did not mention Block in any post on her anonymous account and that she did not make those posts during her work hours. Happe also said that she “voluntarily deleted” the post on refugees within days of posting. She deleted the post with the slurs on the same day she made it upon seeing that X had limited its visibility. 

But Block still obtained copies of the posts and wouldn’t tell her if another employee had complained about it, she argued in her lawsuit, admitting that she initially denied making them out of fear that she could get in trouble. She accused Block of terminating her, without severance, solely because she expressed views the company disagreed with. Happe argued that Block’s policies expressly allowed its employees to engage in speech like her post, so it was the company that violated its own rules. Jack Dorsey, the founder of both Block (a financial services company) and Twitter, had publicly endorsed Elon Musk before the latter took over ownership of the social media platform. Last year, though, he changed his tune and criticized Musk, saying “it all went south” after he took over and that he “should have walked away” from the acquisition.

On his account, Elon Musk retweeted X’s announcement that it’s supporting Happe’s lawsuit with the caption: “Supporting your right to freedom of speech.” The company had previously funded other lawsuits in the name of “free speech.” One of those cases is Gina Carano’s lawsuit against Lucasfilm and Disney, which she accused of removing her from The Mandalorian for expressing views that were “not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time.” Carano notably questioned the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and added “boop/bop/beep” as her pronouns. She also shared a post on Instagram that compared the treatment of conservatives in America to the treatment of Jews in Nazi-era Germany. 

Happe is asking the court to order her reinstatement as a Block employee. She is also asking for compensatory and punitive damages, including for loss of pay from the time she was terminated. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-funding-a-lawsuit-against-jack-dorseys-block-to-support-the-right-to-freedom-of-speech-073059007.html?src=rss

A $3 iOS app now records higher-resolution spatial videos than Apple’s native camera app. Spatialify, available on the App Store, lets iPhone 15 Pro owners record 3D videos for Apple’s Vision Pro in either 1080p at 60fps or 4K at 30fps — with HDR. Apple’s native recording only supports 1080p / 30fps without HDR, so your immersive clips will be noticeably sharper using Spatialify than the camera app on the same phone. UploadVR first reported on the app update.

Spatialify launched earlier this year as a tool for converting Apple’s spatial videos (HEVC format) for playback on non-Apple VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3. But with Meta later adding native HEVC conversion to its headsets (the best-selling on the market), Spatialify’s superior recording could give the third-party app a new lease on life.

Engadget senior editor Devindra Hardawar confirmed that Spatialify produces files in 4K / 30fps when set accordingly. He also verified that Spatialify’s videos look much sharper on the Vision Pro than those shot in Apple’s camera app. HDR also makes the videos’ lighting look more realistic. Not bad for three bucks.

It’s somewhat surprising Apple is holding back its native camera app from exploiting the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max’s full hardware capabilities, but it isn’t unheard of. Halide, a popular iOS camera app, beat Apple to the punch with iOS photography features like shooting in RAW, manual controls and portrait photos for pets. Based on that history, I wouldn’t be shocked if Apple soon added similar advanced spatial recording to its camera, especially now that we know its current hardware has no problem with it.

Spatialify is available on the App Store for $3. It requires an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to capture spatial videos.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-3-app-shoots-better-spatial-videos-than-the-iphones-native-camera-193055951.html?src=rss

US Congressional staff members can no longer use Microsoft’s Copilot on their government-issued devices, according to Axios. The publication said it obtained a memo from House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor, telling Congress personnel that the AI chatbot is now officially prohibited. Apparently, the Office of Cybersecurity has deemed Copilot to be a risk “due to the threat of leaking House data to non-House approved cloud services.” While there’s nothing stopping them from using Copilot on their own phones and laptops, it will now be blocked on all Windows devices owned by the Congress. 

Almost a year ago, the Congress also set a strict limit on the use of ChatGPT, which is powered by OpenAI’s large language models, just like Copilot. It banned staffers from using the chatbot’s free version on House computers, but it allowed them to continue using the paid (ChatGPT Plus) version for research and evaluation due to its tighter privacy controls. More recently, the White House revealed rules federal agencies have to follow when it comes to generative AI, which would ensure that any tool they use “do not endanger the rights and safety” of Americans. 

Microsoft told Axios that it does recognize government users’ need for higher security requirements. Last year, it announced a roadmap of tools and services meant for government use, including an Azure OpenAI service for classified workloads and a new version of Microsoft 365’s Copilot assistant. The company said that all those tools and services will feature higher levels of security that would make it more suitable for handling sensitive data. Szpindor’s office, according to Axios, will evaluate the government version Copilot when it becomes available before deciding if it can be used on House devices. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-copilot-has-reportedly-been-blocked-on-all-congress-owned-devices-034946166.html?src=rss