theverge--2020-07-17--An ode to Ghost of Tsushima’s katana

An ode to Ghost of Tsushima’s katana

Ghost of Tsushima is a game with many facets : a gorgeous open-world adventure , a Kurosawa-inspired samurai tale , and so many side quests where you hear people talk to you while you walk toward an objective .
But while Ghost of Tsushima has its pros and cons , it does nail one thing : samurai warrior Jin Sakai ’ s katana .
It ’ s the best video game sword in recent memory .
From the moment you start Ghost of Tsushima , the game impresses on you that Jin is an elite warrior , one who has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skill at wielding his family blade ( officially called “ the Sakai Storm ” ) .
And that ’ s clear from the moment you draw your sword .
Jin ’ s blade is whip-fast , cutting through foes effortlessly and parrying blows with ease .
He ’ s so fast , in fact , that Sucker Punch co-founder Chris Zimmerman explains that it actually caused an imbalance in the game ’ s combat early on , since Ghost ’ s enemies couldn ’ t keep up with the player ’ s speed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system is a fairly standard hack-and-slash setup : Jin has light and heavy attacks ( bound to the square and triangle buttons , respectively ) , and he can block attacks — which turn into parries when timed correctly with L1 .
A dodge button for special “ unblockable ” attacks rounds out the system .
There ’ s also a “ standoff ” system .
When approaching an enemy encounter , players can initiate a samurai-film-style showdown , which has players stare down their opponents and unleash a perfectly timed blow to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offers a more cinematic flavor to combat .
Unlike other modern RPGs — like more recent Assassin ’ s Creed titles , which give players a wide array of different weapons to use — the story elements of Ghost mean that Jin uses the same family katana from start to finish with only damage upgrades to help scale the combat along the way .
But Ghost of Tsushima adds unexpected depth to the setup with its stance system , which has players switch between different styles of combat suited to different enemies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stone stance , ” a stabbing style designed for swords ( which makes sense , given that Jin , a samurai , has largely only trained to fight other sword wielders ) .
As the game progresses , though , Jin learns new stances by fighting Mongol leaders .
There ’ s Water stance , a flowing style that focuses on quick slashes to overwhelm shield-bearing foes ; Wind stance , which adds new parry options and a distance-creating kick to avoid spears ; and Moon stance , which emphasizes powerful blows for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be seamlessly switched between in combat , and they shine in smaller group fights .
Jin can start by staggering a shieldman with a quick flurry of Water stance attacks , pivot behind to parry a swordman with a quick stab , before ending the combo by dispatching both foes in quick succession .
Each style looks visually distinct , too , turning battles into an almost balletic dance as you switch back and forth between stances .
The benefits of each stance really come through in Ghost ’ s one-on-one duels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of your other tools and leave you with just your sword .
Where the group fights generally let you get away with button mashing , you really need to learn each stance ’ s nuances and techniques to succeed .
You ’ ll need different tactics to defeat a Mongol general ( with a sword and shield ) than you will when you face down a disgraced ronin wielding his own katana .
And while Ghost doesn ’ t let you change your sword itself , there are plenty of cosmetic upgrades available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapon , in addition to gameplay upgrades .
Each stance has its own skill tree to increase damage and improve combos , and there are a variety of special skills that can be unlocked through optional quests , too .
A late-game upgrade even lets you set the katana on fire , and it ’ s easy to forget your gripes about boring side quests when you ’ re unleashing a samurai with a sword of blazing flame upon your foes .
The game tries to walk a tightrope throughout gameplay , constantly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jin Sakai , a samurai warrior who must decide whether he ’ d like to use more dishonorable tactics like smoke bombs and stealthy assassinations .
My Jin Sakai , though , doesn ’ t need to stoop to such levels .
He is a proud samurai , and he strolls boldly into each Mongol base or bandit hideout , katana in hand , as he calls out a challenge to fight .
When the sword fighting is this good , what else do you need ?

Ghost of Tsushima is a game with many facets: a gorgeous open-world adventure, a Kurosawa-inspired samurai tale, and so many side quests where you hear people talk to you while you walk toward an objective. But while Ghost of Tsushima has its pros and cons, it does nail one thing: samurai warrior Jin Sakai’s katana. It’s the best video game sword in recent memory.
From the moment you start Ghost of Tsushima, the game impresses on you that Jin is an elite warrior, one who has been studying for years to hone his skill at wielding his family blade (officially called “the Sakai Storm”). And that’s clear from the moment you draw your sword. Jin’s blade is whip-fast, cutting through foes effortlessly and parrying blows with ease. He’s so fast, in fact, that Sucker Punch co-founder Chris Zimmerman explains that it actually caused an imbalance in the game’s combat early on, since Ghost’s enemies couldn’t keep up with the player’s speed.
At first glance, the swordplay system is a fairly standard hack-and-slash setup: Jin has light and heavy attacks (bound to the square and triangle buttons, respectively), and he can block attacks — which turn into parries when timed correctly with L1. A dodge button for special “unblockable” attacks rounds out the system.
There’s also a “standoff” system. When approaching an enemy encounter, players can initiate a samurai-film-style showdown, which has players stare down their opponents and unleash a perfectly timed blow to fell them in one strike, which offers a more cinematic flavor to combat.
Unlike other modern RPGs — like more recent Assassin’s Creed titles, which give players a wide array of different weapons to use — the story elements of Ghost mean that Jin uses the same family katana from start to finish with only damage upgrades to help scale the combat along the way.
But Ghost of Tsushima adds unexpected depth to the setup with its stance system, which has players switch between different styles of combat suited to different enemies. Players start the game only knowing “Stone stance,” a stabbing style designed for swords (which makes sense, given that Jin, a samurai, has largely only trained to fight other sword wielders). As the game progresses, though, Jin learns new stances by fighting Mongol leaders. There’s Water stance, a flowing style that focuses on quick slashes to overwhelm shield-bearing foes; Wind stance, which adds new parry options and a distance-creating kick to avoid spears; and Moon stance, which emphasizes powerful blows for the bigger brute opponents.
The stances can be seamlessly switched between in combat, and they shine in smaller group fights. Jin can start by staggering a shieldman with a quick flurry of Water stance attacks, pivot behind to parry a swordman with a quick stab, before ending the combo by dispatching both foes in quick succession. Each style looks visually distinct, too, turning battles into an almost balletic dance as you switch back and forth between stances.
The benefits of each stance really come through in Ghost’s one-on-one duels, though, which take away all of your other tools and leave you with just your sword. Where the group fights generally let you get away with button mashing, you really need to learn each stance’s nuances and techniques to succeed. You’ll need different tactics to defeat a Mongol general (with a sword and shield) than you will when you face down a disgraced ronin wielding his own katana.
And while Ghost doesn’t let you change your sword itself, there are plenty of cosmetic upgrades available to change up the style of your weapon, in addition to gameplay upgrades. Each stance has its own skill tree to increase damage and improve combos, and there are a variety of special skills that can be unlocked through optional quests, too. A late-game upgrade even lets you set the katana on fire, and it’s easy to forget your gripes about boring side quests when you’re unleashing a samurai with a sword of blazing flame upon your foes.
The game tries to walk a tightrope throughout gameplay, constantly putting players in the conflicted shoes of Jin Sakai, a samurai warrior who must decide whether he’d like to use more dishonorable tactics like smoke bombs and stealthy assassinations. My Jin Sakai, though, doesn’t need to stoop to such levels. He is a proud samurai, and he strolls boldly into each Mongol base or bandit hideout, katana in hand, as he calls out a challenge to fight.


theverge--2020-07-17--Facebook Messenger now lets you share your screen on mobile devices

Facebook has enabled its screen-sharing feature for Messenger on mobile devices , allowing you to share your phone or tablet screen when calling a friend one on one , in a group chat , or while taking part in even larger conversations via Messenger Rooms .
Right now , you can share your screen ( or pictures from your camera roll , or your Instagram feed , or whatever you ’ d like ) with up to eight people in group chats or up to 16 people in Messenger Rooms .
However , Facebook says it ’ s working on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in Rooms .
The update is available on both Android and iOS .
To share your screen , first make sure you have the latest version of Messenger installed .
Then , during a call , swipe up from the bottom of your screen to reveal the call options .
Then just click “ share your screen , ” “ start sharing , ” and then “ start broadcast ” ( presumably Facebook is giving you that many warnings so you don ’ t start sharing anything by mistake ) .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on your phone , or return to the call to stop the broadcast .
It ’ s definitely a welcome feature .
Video calls have been the saving grace of the pandemic , allowing you to connect with friends , family , and colleagues , and screen sharing is especially useful .
You can catch up with loved ones by flicking through photos in your camera roll from a recent trip , or talk over details about a work project with a co-worker .
While screen sharing is already available on a number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Zoom , Messenger works particularly well on mobile devices , so having the option on iOS and Android is definitely a big improvement .

Facebook has enabled its screen-sharing feature for Messenger on mobile devices, allowing you to share your phone or tablet screen when calling a friend one on one, in a group chat, or while taking part in even larger conversations via Messenger Rooms.
Right now, you can share your screen (or pictures from your camera roll, or your Instagram feed, or whatever you’d like) with up to eight people in group chats or up to 16 people in Messenger Rooms. However, Facebook says it’s working on expanding the feature for up to 50 people in Rooms. The update is available on both Android and iOS.
To share your screen, first make sure you have the latest version of Messenger installed. Then, during a call, swipe up from the bottom of your screen to reveal the call options. Then just click “share your screen,” “start sharing,” and then “start broadcast” (presumably Facebook is giving you that many warnings so you don’t start sharing anything by mistake). After that you can navigate as you like on your phone, or return to the call to stop the broadcast.
Screen sharing on Messenger on iOS. Faces are blurred to protect the participants’ privacy and vanity. Image: The Verge
It’s definitely a welcome feature. Video calls have been the saving grace of the pandemic, allowing you to connect with friends, family, and colleagues, and screen sharing is especially useful. You can catch up with loved ones by flicking through photos in your camera roll from a recent trip, or talk over details about a work project with a co-worker.


theverge--2020-07-17--Skype for iOS now lets you hide messy rooms with background blur

Microsoft is adding a background blur feature to its Skype for iOS app .
The feature is identical to what exists in the company ’ s Teams app , allowing iPhone and iPad users to blur what ’ s in the background of a video call .
Microsoft also added this automatic background blurring to Skype ’ s desktop app last year .
Microsoft is using artificial intelligence to blur everything in a room around you and keep you as the main focal point .
The blur effect , which is effectively bokeh , will detect hair , arms , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ body language during video calls .
It won ’ t fully obscure everything around you , but it certainly improves video calls where you want to keep the focus on you and not a messy room .
Google is also reportedly adding background blur to its Meet video conferencing service , just as the battle for business-focused video and chat apps increases .
Microsoft is also pivoting its Teams communications app to serve groups of friends and family , but still plans to support and update Skype .
While Skype now supports background @ @ @ @ @ @ @ iPadOS , there ’ s no word on Android support just yet .
You can download the latest version of Skype for iPhone or iPad and enable background blur within the video call options .

Microsoft is adding a background blur feature to its Skype for iOS app. The feature is identical to what exists in the company’s Teams app, allowing iPhone and iPad users to blur what’s in the background of a video call. Microsoft also added this automatic background blurring to Skype’s desktop app last year.
Microsoft is using artificial intelligence to blur everything in a room around you and keep you as the main focal point. The blur effect, which is effectively bokeh, will detect hair, arms, and hands to avoid blurring out key body language during video calls. It won’t fully obscure everything around you, but it certainly improves video calls where you want to keep the focus on you and not a messy room.
Google is also reportedly adding background blur to its Meet video conferencing service, just as the battle for business-focused video and chat apps increases. Microsoft is also pivoting its Teams communications app to serve groups of friends and family, but still plans to support and update Skype.


theverge--2020-07-17--Microsoft updates its Android Launcher with dark mode, custom icons, and daily wallpapers

Microsoft has updated its Launcher app for Android to version 6 , giving the software a big visual overhaul and a performance upgrade on top of its existing functionality .
Version 6 of Launcher has a new app icon , dark mode , daily wallpaper feature ( provided by Bing ) , customizable icons , and it now works in landscape orientation , too .
There ’ s also a personalized news feed that updates throughout the day , and general performance improvements , including faster loading and reduced battery drain , thanks to a new codebase .
The app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Play Store , and you can read more about the changes in Microsoft ’ s blog post about the launch here .
The Launcher app has always been an interesting experiment for Microsoft , giving the company a foothold on the world ’ s biggest mobile platform and a place to explore how Windows integrates with Android .
But this latest update looks like its preparing the ground for Microsoft ’ s most ambitious Android launch yet : the dual-screen Surface Duo .
Microsoft unveiled the Surface Duo last year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the device , which runs on Android , at the end of 2020 .
The new Launcher app looks like a test run for some of the device ’ s aesthetics , and the inclusion of a landscape mode makes sense for the dual-screen Duo .
If you want a taste of what Microsoft will do with its first Android device , the update Launcher app is a good start .

Microsoft has updated its Launcher app for Android to version 6, giving the software a big visual overhaul and a performance upgrade on top of its existing functionality.
Version 6 of Launcher has a new app icon, dark mode, daily wallpaper feature (provided by Bing), customizable icons, and it now works in landscape orientation, too. There’s also a personalized news feed that updates throughout the day, and general performance improvements, including faster loading and reduced battery drain, thanks to a new codebase.
The app is available to download here from Google’s Play Store, and you can read more about the changes in Microsoft’s blog post about the launch here.
The main purpose of the Launcher app is to make it easier to transition between tasks on Android and Windows devices. Image: Microsoft
The Launcher app has always been an interesting experiment for Microsoft, giving the company a foothold on the world’s biggest mobile platform and a place to explore how Windows integrates with Android. But this latest update looks like its preparing the ground for Microsoft’s most ambitious Android launch yet: the dual-screen Surface Duo.


theverge--2020-07-17--Everything we know about this week’s big Twitter hack so far

The Interface is a daily column and newsletter about the intersection of social media and democracy .
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It ’ s been such a newsy week that we ’ re ending it with two columns — enough to last you the whole weekend .
First , we have what we hope is the ultimate Twitter hack FAQ , in response to this week ’ s catastrophic security breach .
Yesterday ’ s issue was the most-read in Interface history , and we wanted to make sure you had all the latest developments .
Second , I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this week with Facebook ’ s chief diversity officer , Maxine Williams , on the occasion of the company releasing its annual diversity report .
I wanted to know why progress on the issue has been so hard to come by , what it means that she reports to Sheryl Sandberg now , and much more .
Williams is a dynamo ; I hope you ’ ll enjoy our chat .
On Wednesday , Twitter had the worst security incident in company history , with a coordinated attack resulting in the takeover of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Obama , Joe Biden , Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos , and Elon Musk .
On Thursday , the fallout began .
Here are some top questions about the attack , answered as best we can as of press time .
Do we know who perpetrated the attack ?
Ace cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs traces the attack to a community of “ SIM swappers , ” though the report is as yet unconfirmed .
The FBI is investigating .
And I imagine that the Federal Trade Commission , which has Twitter under a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ users ’ personal information , will be looking into it as well .
Do we know how the hack happened ?
We do not , though Twitter shared a handful of details late Wednesday .
Among other things , the company confirmed that a Twitter employee was involved in the incident .
How exactly ?
It won ’ t say ; Dustin Volz describes the range of possibilities nicely at the Wall Street Journal : What if I want to read a speculative but plausible account of how the hack worked from one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the owner of the @ 6 Twitter account is very good .
Did the hackers access our passwords ?
Twitter says there is no evidence that they did .
Did the hackers access our direct messages ?
Twitter won ’ t comment , presumably because it doesn ’ t yet know .
Also , maybe DMs should be encrypted ?
Are there wild theories about other attacks that the hackers might be planning based on their theoretical access to DMs ?
Yes .
Does Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey promise to tell us everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
He does .
Do lawmakers have some sternly worded questions for Twitter in the meantime ?
They do .
Will the activist hedge fund that took a stake in Twitter earlier this year also have some strongly worded questions for the company ?
Maybe !
How far back does the behavior of taking over a Twitter account to sow panic go ?
At least 2011 .
In that year , NBC News ’ account got hacked and falsely said that Ground Zero was under attack .
Two years later , someone took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported that there had been explosions in the White House ; the stock market dropped on the entirely fake news .
What are some other examples of hackers using social engineering techniques to wreak havoc ?
Here ’ s a story about employees of telecoms getting recruited by criminals to transfer numbers to different SIM cards , enabling the criminals to take over social media accounts .
And here ’ s a story about an employee of the popular game platform Roblox who was bribed by a hacker to look up users ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tech companies to do about these internal threats ?
Alex Stamos , who used to run security at Facebook , has some good ideas .
Make customer-service tasks two-person jobs rather than one-person jobs , increasing friction for would-be criminals ; and stop holding customer service representatives to impossible speed quotas , giving them more room to suss out attacks .
Could you have made more money off this level of account access than the attackers did ?
Maybe , but it would have been much more work than these attackers seemed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s no guarantee you would have succeeded .
Was Twitter better when verified accounts couldn ’ t tweet ?
Many people are saying this .
The Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country in June brought fresh attention to the country ’ s history of racial injustice , and galvanized discussions within workplaces about what role corporations could play in addressing that history .
One company where those discussions were particularly vigorous was Facebook , a platform that showcased the protests and the violence that led up to them — and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supremacy and other forms of hate speech through a combination of content policies and moderation decisions .
An advertiser boycott of Facebook and other social networks this month , along with a difficult civil rights audit of the company , have brought further scrutiny to the issue .
All of which made the publication of Facebook ’ s annual diversity report this week especially fraught .
Diversity reports first became popular in Silicon Valley in the middle of the 2010s as a way for the technology industry to attempt to hold itself to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost every major tech company now publishes such a report annually , the industry ’ s overall diversity has remained disappointingly stagnant .
At Facebook , the news for 2020 is mixed .
Sarah Frier summed it up at Bloomberg : Since 2013 , the project of improving Facebook ’ s diversity and inclusion efforts has been led by Maxine Williams .
As Facebook ’ s chief diversity officer , she works to attract and retain members of underrepresented groups at the company .
And so when Facebook invited me to speak with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diversity report , I jumped at the chance .
( You can read Facebook ’ s 2020 diversity report here . )
“ We try to keep our eyes on the long term , ” Williams told me .
As representation has grown at the company , employees have made more demands for inclusion — policies that help retain talent once Facebook successfully attracts it .
Recently , Williams ’ role was elevated to report directly to Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg , and she now sits on Mark Zuckerberg ’ s leadership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me , is to make sure inclusion is “ in everything , front and center.
” Ultimately , Williams said , diversity and inclusion is challenging because people themselves are complicated .
“ People are the most complex systems , ” she said .
“ Computer scientists can talk all they want about code .
Nothing is more complex than people.
” Highlights of our talk are below .
This interview has been edited for clarity and length .
Casey Newton : Recently the Black Lives Matters protests led to a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ role the company can play in fighting racism .
Is that a rare opportunity to improve inclusion within a company , since for once you have a huge part of the workforce focused on justice issues ?
Maxine Williams : Oh yes , and not just for my company — I mean , across the board in America .
It ’ s a moment of stress , because we ’ re constantly re-traumatized by what we ’ re talking about .
And by the way , if you ’ re a somebody in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teams are people from vulnerable groups themselves .
And so it is hard — every day , when what we ’ re talking about is like , they kill people that look like me .
But at the same time , it is a moment of opportunity .
If [ a company ] made a statement , they should probably walk the walk , too .
Personally I ’ d prefer that we never had to be here .
But there is some opportunity to be had from it , yes .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees is that the experience for nonwhite workers is inconsistent .
Some people have a great career at Facebook , while other people don ’ t and quit .
I ’ m sure that ’ s true for a lot of reasons , but to the extent that it ’ s an inclusion issue , how do you figure out where the gaps are ?
What we have come to realize is that in people analytics , often with minority groups , we wouldn ’ t get insight on them because there weren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some kind of [ statistical ] standard for confidence .
Right .
And we can not be in this loop where it ’ s like , well , “ we could tell you what was going on , if there were more of them.
” When the point is that there aren ’ t enough of them because something ’ s going on .
And so we pivoted how we did people analytics to put much more weight into qualitative feedback .
We hold focus groups all the time .
We ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a different level of confidence seen in the traditional way , and buttress what we see internally with research or other studies .
And then we started to hire people who are race experts , bias experts , social psychologists , to work on this and to give us the insight .
Your question is , how do you figure out what ’ s going on if there ’ s this inconsistency ?
And that ’ s one of the ways .
The advertiser boycott that ’ s under way right now has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , among other things , review products that are in development to assess their impact on civil rights .
Do you think that a role like that would be beneficial ?
Yes .
We ’ ve already opened a job requisition , and people are applying .
We ’ re going to hire a vice president of civil rights .
And that person will work on product issues ?
What I have done a lot of in my seven years here is ... call it internal consulting .
Advice and input looking through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this product going to bring equal value to all people ?
Because minority groups can often get overlooked .
But civil rights is also its own body of work , which has its own legal underpinnings .
So I think it ’ s important to have somebody who ’ s focused through that lens , as I focus on equal value for diverse groups .
These things are complementary , but they ’ re not the same .
Finally : what do you hope Facebook accomplishes on diversity and inclusion in the next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of behavior .
We ’ ve put a lot of strategies into play ; We need everybody to now do it consistently .
It ’ s not very sexy , but it ’ s actually , I think , probably the most important thing .
And I think the other thing would be , we ’ re working on a lot of work streams now to give more people voice in the development of products .
To make products more inclusive in development and policies .
And that is very early stage , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we should have built out some of that and have a sense of how it ’ s working .
It ’ s one of the things that , in the civil rights audit , the auditors talked about : employees wanting more participation .
And so we ’ re trying to figure it out .
But it ’ s complicated , too , because you want to balance that with not having the employees who are most passionate , who are probably from underrepresented groups , paying an additional tax , right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top of their job .
So you need to balance that .
In a year ’ s time we ’ ll have something to say , whether it ’ s gon na be , “ it ’ s amazing !
” or “ wow , we learned that that first version didn ’ t work .
There will still be something to say , because we are gon na focus a lot on how we give more people voice .
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new video series with some of the app ’ s top creators to help people spot misinformation .
The campaign , called “ Be Informed , ” will address topics like how to scrutinize the credibility of sources and how to distinguish fact from opinion .
( Mark Sullivan / Fast Company ) Trending down : Twitter ’ s rigid fact-check rules have allowed President Trump to continue spreading false information about the election .
Under the company ’ s policies , untrue tweets about vote-rigging in a specific state are unacceptable .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ when those lies are spread on a national scale .
( Marshall Cohen / CNN ) ⭐ Facebook announced it will add labels to all posts from presidential candidates that mention voting or ballots , regardless of whether they contain misinformation .
The move is a response to recent accusations that the company isn ’ t doing enough to tackle voter suppression on the platform .
Here ’ s Sara Fischer at Axios : Related : Facebook is rife with misinformation about voting , according to an analysis by ProPublica and the nonprofit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posts center on voting by mail , which is the safest way of casting a ballot during the pandemic .
While these posts appear to violate Facebook ’ s policies , many continue to stay up .
( Ryan McCarthy / ProPublica ) ⭐ The White House said restrictions on TikTok could come in “ weeks , not months.
” Trump ’ s chief of staff Mark Meadows said the administration is also looking at WeChat “ and other apps that have the potential for national security exposure.
” Sam Byford at The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the trial team that won Roger Stone ’ s conviction is leaving the Justice Department to join Facebook , where he will set policy on the site ’ s content .
The move follows Trump ’ s decision to commute Stone ’ s sentence .
( Christian Berthelsen / Bloomberg ) Attorney General William Barr accused companies like Google , Microsoft , Yahoo , and Apple of being “ all too willing to collaborate with the ( Chinese Communist party ) .
” He added that Hollywood has routinely caved into pressure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Chinese Communist Party.
” ( Sarah N. Lynch , David Shepardson / Reuters ) A second surge in coronavirus deaths is upon us .
And it was easily predicted by all available data on the subject .
( Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic ) Russian hackers are attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research from American , British , and Canadian universities and health care organizations .
The National Security Agency said that a hacking group implicated in the 2016 break-ins into Democratic Party servers has been implicated in the attacks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ York Times ) Europe ’ s top court struck down a flagship EU-US data flows arrangement called Privacy Shield .
The court ’ s finding is that “ the requirements of US national security , public interest and law enforcement have primacy , thus condoning interference with the fundamental rights of persons whose data are transferred to that third country.
” ( Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch ) ⭐ Instagram is preparing to launch its TikTok competitor , known as Reels , in the US .
The company expects to bring the new video @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Here ’ s Sarah Perez at TechCrunch : Instagram is also starting to roll out a dedicated Shop page under the Explore tab that ’ ll highlight different brands and items that people can purchase .
The move is meant to make it easier for people to shop inside its app .
( Ashley Carman / The Verge ) Facebook added screen sharing to Messenger video calls on its iOS and Android mobile apps .
Previously , the feature was only available on Messenger ’ s web or desktop apps .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been noticeably silent on the Facebook ad boycott .
While film studios are big advertisers on the platform , only Magnolia Pictures Sesame Street have joined what civil rights groups are calling the # StopHateForProfit campaign .
( Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling / The New York Times ) Google launched a video shopping platform called Shoploop to introduce consumers to new products in under 90 seconds .
It ’ s a project from the company ’ s R & D division , Area 120 , where it tests out new ideas with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Perez / TechCrunch ) Twitter is rolling out a new version of its developer API .
Twitter API v2 includes features that were missing from the earlier API , like conversation threading , poll results in tweets , pinned tweets , spam filtering and more powerful stream filtering and search query language .
Twitter also unveiled a new interface for its direct messages on the web , allowing users to send and receive DMs without having to leave their timelines .
Currently , users have to open a separate section of Twitter ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( Jon Porter / The Verge ) Amazon added live streaming to its existing Amazon Influencer Program .
The move gives live streamers a new way to earn commissions on purchases of products showcased in their streams .
Who will reinvent QVC first — Amazon or Instagram ?
( Sarah Perez / TechCrunch ) Amazon is extending its corporate work-from-home policy through January 2021 .
The company is also planning to continue restricting nonessential business travel through the end of the year .
( Nick Statt / The Verge ) A viral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perfect satire for companies reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic .
( David Mack / BuzzFeed ) ( David Mack / BuzzFeed ) Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine .
Listen to a special reunion episode of Why ’ d You Push That Button .
Ashley Carman and Kaitlyn Tiffany are back to talk about virtual dating during the pandemic .
Look out someone else ’ s window .
Window Swap is an open platform for sharing the view you have of the world outside .
Watch Hamilton as sung by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and Twitter theories : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

It’s been such a newsy week that we’re ending it with two columns — enough to last you the whole weekend. First, we have what we hope is the ultimate Twitter hack FAQ, in response to this week’s catastrophic security breach. Yesterday’s issue was the most-read in Interface history, and we wanted to make sure you had all the latest developments.
Second, I’m excited to share a conversation I had this week with Facebook’s chief diversity officer, Maxine Williams, on the occasion of the company releasing its annual diversity report. I wanted to know why progress on the issue has been so hard to come by, what it means that she reports to Sheryl Sandberg now, and much more. Williams is a dynamo; I hope you’ll enjoy our chat.
* * *
On Wednesday, Twitter had the worst security incident in company history, with a coordinated attack resulting in the takeover of more than a dozen high-profile accounts including President Obama, Joe Biden, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. On Thursday, the fallout began.
Here are some top questions about the attack, answered as best we can as of press time.
Do we know how the hack happened? We do not, though Twitter shared a handful of details late Wednesday. Among other things, the company confirmed that a Twitter employee was involved in the incident. How exactly? It won’t say; Dustin Volz describes the range of possibilities nicely at the Wall Street Journal:
The social-media company hasn’t said specifically how the attackers penetrated its internal systems and tools or indicated how long they had access to them. Twitter has said only that the hackers used “social engineering” techniques, where employees are tricked into clicking a link, divulging information or otherwise aiding outsiders. The hackers might have accessed information or engaged in other malicious activity, Twitter said, adding that it has “taken significant steps to limit access to internal systems” while it continues to investigate the incident.
What if I want to read a speculative but plausible account of how the hack worked from one of the victims? This piece by the owner of the @6 Twitter account is very good.
Did the hackers access our passwords? Twitter says there is no evidence that they did.
Did the hackers access our direct messages? Twitter won’t comment, presumably because it doesn’t yet know. Also, maybe DMs should be encrypted?
Are there wild theories about other attacks that the hackers might be planning based on their theoretical access to DMs? Yes.
Does Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey promise to tell us everything that happened as soon as he can? He does.
Do lawmakers have some sternly worded questions for Twitter in the meantime? They do.
Will the activist hedge fund that took a stake in Twitter earlier this year also have some strongly worded questions for the company? Maybe!
How far back does the behavior of taking over a Twitter account to sow panic go? At least 2011. In that year, NBC News’ account got hacked and falsely said that Ground Zero was under attack. Two years later, someone took over the Associated Press account and falsely reported that there had been explosions in the White House; the stock market dropped on the entirely fake news.
What should we expect tech companies to do about these internal threats? Alex Stamos, who used to run security at Facebook, has some good ideas. Make customer-service tasks two-person jobs rather than one-person jobs, increasing friction for would-be criminals; and stop holding customer service representatives to impossible speed quotas, giving them more room to suss out attacks.
Could you have made more money off this level of account access than the attackers did? Maybe, but it would have been much more work than these attackers seemed to have put in, and there’s no guarantee you would have succeeded.
Was Twitter better when verified accounts couldn’t tweet? Many people are saying this.
Q&A with Facebook’s chief diversity officer
The Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country in June brought fresh attention to the country’s history of racial injustice, and galvanized discussions within workplaces about what role corporations could play in addressing that history. One company where those discussions were particularly vigorous was Facebook, a platform that showcased the protests and the violence that led up to them — and, some employees argued, had empowered white supremacy and other forms of hate speech through a combination of content policies and moderation decisions. An advertiser boycott of Facebook and other social networks this month, along with a difficult civil rights audit of the company, have brought further scrutiny to the issue.
All of which made the publication of Facebook’s annual diversity report this week especially fraught. Diversity reports first became popular in Silicon Valley in the middle of the 2010s as a way for the technology industry to attempt to hold itself to a higher collective standard. And while almost every major tech company now publishes such a report annually, the industry’s overall diversity has remained disappointingly stagnant.
At Facebook, the news for 2020 is mixed. Sarah Frier summed it up at Bloomberg:
Black employees now comprise 1.7% of the social media company’s technical roles, up from 1.5% in 2019 and 1% in 2014, Facebook said in its latest diversity report. The demographic lags even as the company has made progress in other areas, like gender. Women now make up 24.1% of technical employees, up from 15% in 2014.
Since 2013, the project of improving Facebook’s diversity and inclusion efforts has been led by Maxine Williams. As Facebook’s chief diversity officer, she works to attract and retain members of underrepresented groups at the company. And so when Facebook invited me to speak with her about the company’s latest diversity report, I jumped at the chance. (You can read Facebook’s 2020 diversity report here.)
“We try to keep our eyes on the long term,” Williams told me. As representation has grown at the company, employees have made more demands for inclusion — policies that help retain talent once Facebook successfully attracts it. Recently, Williams’ role was elevated to report directly to Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and she now sits on Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership team. The reason, she told me, is to make sure inclusion is “in everything, front and center.”
Ultimately, Williams said, diversity and inclusion is challenging because people themselves are complicated. “People are the most complex systems,” she said. “Computer scientists can talk all they want about code. Nothing is more complex than people.”
Highlights of our talk are below. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Casey Newton: Recently the Black Lives Matters protests led to a lot of internal questions from Facebook employees about the role the company can play in fighting racism. Is that a rare opportunity to improve inclusion within a company, since for once you have a huge part of the workforce focused on justice issues?
Maxine Williams: Oh yes, and not just for my company — I mean, across the board in America. It’s a moment of stress, because we’re constantly re-traumatized by what we’re talking about. And by the way, if you’re a somebody in this role, disproportionately people on diversity teams are people from vulnerable groups themselves. And so it is hard — every day, when what we’re talking about is like, they kill people that look like me. But at the same time, it is a moment of opportunity. If [a company] made a statement, they should probably walk the walk, too. Personally I’d prefer that we never had to be here. But there is some opportunity to be had from it, yes.
One thing I’ve heard from Facebook employees is that the experience for nonwhite workers is inconsistent. Some people have a great career at Facebook, while other people don’t and quit. I’m sure that’s true for a lot of reasons, but to the extent that it’s an inclusion issue, how do you figure out where the gaps are?
What we have come to realize is that in people analytics, often with minority groups, we wouldn’t get insight on them because there weren’t enough of them to hit some kind of [statistical] standard for confidence. Right. And we cannot be in this loop where it’s like, well, “we could tell you what was going on, if there were more of them.” When the point is that there aren’t enough of them because something’s going on.
And so we pivoted how we did people analytics to put much more weight into qualitative feedback. We hold focus groups all the time. We’re gonna have to get comfortable with a different level of confidence seen in the traditional way, and buttress what we see internally with research or other studies.
And then we started to hire people who are race experts, bias experts, social psychologists, to work on this and to give us the insight. Your question is, how do you figure out what’s going on if there’s this inconsistency? And that’s one of the ways.
The advertiser boycott that’s under way right now has called for a C-level executive that will, among other things, review products that are in development to assess their impact on civil rights. Do you think that a role like that would be beneficial?
Yes. We’ve already opened a job requisition, and people are applying. We’re going to hire a vice president of civil rights.
And that person will work on product issues?
Product, policy, everything.
What I have done a lot of in my seven years here is ... call it internal consulting. Advice and input looking through the lens of equal value. Is this product going to bring equal value to all people? Because minority groups can often get overlooked.
But civil rights is also its own body of work, which has its own legal underpinnings. So I think it’s important to have somebody who’s focused through that lens, as I focus on equal value for diverse groups. These things are complementary, but they’re not the same.
Finally: what do you hope Facebook accomplishes on diversity and inclusion in the next year?
One is building a consistency of behavior. We’ve put a lot of strategies into play; We need everybody to now do it consistently. It’s not very sexy, but it’s actually, I think, probably the most important thing.
And I think the other thing would be, we’re working on a lot of work streams now to give more people voice in the development of products. To make products more inclusive in development and policies. And that is very early stage, but in a year’s time, we should have built out some of that and have a sense of how it’s working.
It’s one of the things that, in the civil rights audit, the auditors talked about: employees wanting more participation. And so we’re trying to figure it out. But it’s complicated, too, because you want to balance that with not having the employees who are most passionate, who are probably from underrepresented groups, paying an additional tax, right? Now they have a job on top of their job. So you need to balance that. In a year’s time we’ll have something to say, whether it’s gonna be, “it’s amazing!” or “wow, we learned that that first version didn’t work. There will still be something to say, because we are gonna focus a lot on how we give more people voice.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
🔼 Trending up: TikTok launched a new video series with some of the app’s top creators to help people spot misinformation. The campaign, called “Be Informed,” will address topics like how to scrutinize the credibility of sources and how to distinguish fact from opinion. (Mark Sullivan / Fast Company)
🔽 Trending down: Twitter’s rigid fact-check rules have allowed President Trump to continue spreading false information about the election. Under the company’s policies, untrue tweets about vote-rigging in a specific state are unacceptable. But the rules don’t apply when those lies are spread on a national scale. (Marshall Cohen / CNN)
Governing
⭐ Facebook announced it will add labels to all posts from presidential candidates that mention voting or ballots, regardless of whether they contain misinformation. The move is a response to recent accusations that the company isn’t doing enough to tackle voter suppression on the platform. Here’s Sara Fischer at Axios:
The labels, rolling out today, aren’t a judgment of whether the posts themselves are accurate, but are instead meant to signal to Facebook users that they can get the most accurate information about voting by leading them to an official government website.
Related: Facebook is rife with misinformation about voting, according to an analysis by ProPublica and the nonprofit First Draft. Many of the misleading posts center on voting by mail, which is the safest way of casting a ballot during the pandemic. While these posts appear to violate Facebook’s policies, many continue to stay up. (Ryan McCarthy / ProPublica)
⭐ The White House said restrictions on TikTok could come in “weeks, not months.” Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows said the administration is also looking at WeChat “and other apps that have the potential for national security exposure.” Sam Byford at The Verge has the story:
“There are a number of administration officials who are looking at the national security risk as it relates to TikTok, WeChat and other apps that have the potential for national security exposure, specifically as it relates to the gathering of information on American citizens by a foreign adversary,” Meadows told reporters traveling from Atlanta on Air Force One. “I don’t think there’s any self-imposed deadline for action, but I think we are looking at weeks, not months.”
A prosecutor on the trial team that won Roger Stone’s conviction is leaving the Justice Department to join Facebook, where he will set policy on the site’s content. The move follows Trump’s decision to commute Stone’s sentence. (Christian Berthelsen / Bloomberg)
Attorney General William Barr accused companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple of being “all too willing to collaborate with the (Chinese Communist party).” He added that Hollywood has routinely caved into pressure and censored their films “to appease the Chinese Communist Party.” (Sarah N. Lynch, David Shepardson / Reuters)
A second surge in coronavirus deaths is upon us. And it was easily predicted by all available data on the subject. (Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic)
Russian hackers are attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research from American, British, and Canadian universities and health care organizations. The National Security Agency said that a hacking group implicated in the 2016 break-ins into Democratic Party servers has been implicated in the attacks. (Julian E. Barnes / The New York Times)
Europe’s top court struck down a flagship EU-US data flows arrangement called Privacy Shield. The court’s finding is that “the requirements of US national security, public interest and law enforcement have primacy, thus condoning interference with the fundamental rights of persons whose data are transferred to that third country.” (Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch)
Industry
⭐ Instagram is preparing to launch its TikTok competitor, known as Reels, in the US. The company expects to bring the new video feature to its platform in early August. Here’s Sarah Perez at TechCrunch:
Reels was designed to directly challenge TikTok’s growing dominance. In a new area in the Instagram app, Reels allows users to create and post short, 15-second videos set to music or other audio, similar to TikTok. Also like TikTok, Reels offers a set of editing tools — like a countdown timer and tools to adjust the video’s speed, for example — that aim to make it easier to record creative content. Instagram, however, doesn’t have the same sort of two-tabbed, scrollable feed, like TikTok offers today. The move to more quickly roll out Reels to more markets comes as TikTok has come under intense scrutiny for its ties to China. India banned the app, along with 58 other mobile applications designed by Chinese firms, in June. The Trump administration more recently said it was considering a similar ban on TikTok, for reasons related to national security. Yesterday, it said such a decision could be just weeks away.
Instagram is also starting to roll out a dedicated Shop page under the Explore tab that’ll highlight different brands and items that people can purchase. The move is meant to make it easier for people to shop inside its app. (Ashley Carman / The Verge)
Facebook added screen sharing to Messenger video calls on its iOS and Android mobile apps. Previously, the feature was only available on Messenger’s web or desktop apps. (Christine Fisher / Engadget)
Hollywood has been noticeably silent on the Facebook ad boycott. While film studios are big advertisers on the platform, only Magnolia Pictures Sesame Street have joined what civil rights groups are calling the #StopHateForProfit campaign. (Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling / The New York Times)
Google launched a video shopping platform called Shoploop to introduce consumers to new products in under 90 seconds. It’s a project from the company’s R&D division, Area 120, where it tests out new ideas with a public user base. (Sarah Perez / TechCrunch)
Twitter is rolling out a new version of its developer API. Twitter API v2 includes features that were missing from the earlier API, like conversation threading, poll results in tweets, pinned tweets, spam filtering and more powerful stream filtering and search query language.
Twitter also unveiled a new interface for its direct messages on the web, allowing users to send and receive DMs without having to leave their timelines. Currently, users have to open a separate section of Twitter’s website to look at their DMs. (Jon Porter / The Verge)
Amazon added live streaming to its existing Amazon Influencer Program. The move gives live streamers a new way to earn commissions on purchases of products showcased in their streams. Who will reinvent QVC first — Amazon or Instagram? (Sarah Perez / TechCrunch)
Amazon is extending its corporate work-from-home policy through January 2021. The company is also planning to continue restricting nonessential business travel through the end of the year. (Nick Statt / The Verge)
A viral Twitter account about Jurassic Park is the perfect satire for companies reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. (David Mack / BuzzFeed) (David Mack / BuzzFeed)
Things to do
Stuff to occupy you online during the quarantine.
Listen to a special reunion episode of Why’d You Push That Button. Ashley Carman and Kaitlyn Tiffany are back to talk about virtual dating during the pandemic.
Look out someone else’s window. Window Swap is an open platform for sharing the view you have of the world outside.
Watch Hamilton as sung by the Muppets. And then watch Hamilton again.
Those Good Tweets
Talk to us


theverge--2020-07-17--Here’s a first look at the new emoji arriving in iOS and Android later this year

To mark World Emoji Day today , we ’ re getting our first official look at some of the new emoji that are coming to smartphones later this year .
Emojipedia has compiled some of the emoji designs coming to iOS and Android , and 9to5Google has some additional details on the designs coming to Android specifically .
Below you can see Apple ’ s take on some of the new emoji : a ninja , an all-gender sign , a coin ( which has “ The Crazy Ones ” embossed on the top , a sneaky reference to Apple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ads ) , bubble tea , a dodo , and a piñata .
There ’ s also a pair of lungs , as well as an emoji which Unicode has called an “ anatomical heart ” to differentiate it from the traditional heart emoji .
Oh , and we ’ ve also had our first look at Apple ’ s take on the new “ pinched fingers ” emoji .
Emojipedia notes that many users quickly dubbed it the “ Italian Hand ” when it was first announced , but BBC News has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hand sign has around the world .
Google , meanwhile , says it ’ s been spending a lot of time on its animal emoji this year 9to5Google reports , and there ’ s good news for anyone who was a fan of Google ’ s now-classic turtle design from 2013 .
Google ’ s take on the humble turtle has gone in a different direction these last couple of years , but now Emojipedia notes it ’ s returning to its roots along with the frog , hatching chick , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Google is taking for many of its animal emoji , the company says it ’ s working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Victoria Bug Zoo to give its animals a “ more authentic look.
” Finally , some of Google ’ s emoji are being redesigned to make them look better while using Android ’ s dark mode .
Check out more on 9to5Google .
As well as unveiling its new emoji designs , 9to5Google notes that Google is also rolling out its new quick access emoji bar more widely , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to access their frequently used emoji rather than having to open up the specific emoji menu .
Unicode announced this year ’ s 117 emoji back in January , which include 62 new additions as well as 55 new gender and skin tone variants .
They normally get a wide release in the second half of the year as new mobile operating systems updates roll out , but 9to5Google notes that you can already view and send some of Android ’ s new designs if you ’ re running the Android 11 Beta @ @ @ @ @ @

To mark World Emoji Day today, we’re getting our first official look at some of the new emoji that are coming to smartphones later this year. Emojipedia has compiled some of the emoji designs coming to iOS and Android, and 9to5Google has some additional details on the designs coming to Android specifically.
Below you can see Apple’s take on some of the new emoji: a ninja, an all-gender sign, a coin (which has “The Crazy Ones” embossed on the top, a sneaky reference to Apple’s famous “Think Different” ads), bubble tea, a dodo, and a piñata. There’s also a pair of lungs, as well as an emoji which Unicode has called an “anatomical heart” to differentiate it from the traditional heart emoji.
Apple’s new emoji include bubble tea, a dodo, and pinched fingers. Image: Emojipedia
Oh, and we’ve also had our first look at Apple’s take on the new “pinched fingers” emoji. Emojipedia notes that many users quickly dubbed it the “Italian Hand” when it was first announced, but BBC News has a rundown of the many interesting meanings the hand sign has around the world.
Google, meanwhile, says it’s been spending a lot of time on its animal emoji this year 9to5Google reports, and there’s good news for anyone who was a fan of Google’s now-classic turtle design from 2013. Google’s take on the humble turtle has gone in a different direction these last couple of years, but now Emojipedia notes it’s returning to its roots along with the frog, hatching chick, and pig face.
Look at his little face. Image: Emojipedia
Despite the cartoony direction Google is taking for many of its animal emoji, the company says it’s working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Victoria Bug Zoo to give its animals a “more authentic look.” Finally, some of Google’s emoji are being redesigned to make them look better while using Android’s dark mode. Check out more on 9to5Google.
As well as unveiling its new emoji designs, 9to5Google notes that Google is also rolling out its new quick access emoji bar more widely, which gives Gboard users a more convenient way to access their frequently used emoji rather than having to open up the specific emoji menu.


theverge--2020-07-17--Twitch tells US Army to stop sharing fake prize giveaways that sent users to recruitment page

Twitch has intervened to stop the US Army using fake prize giveaways on its esports channel to redirect viewers to army recruitment pages .
The practice was brought to light by a report from The Nation on the use of esports as a recruitment tool by the American military .
The US Army , Navy , and Air Force all field esports teams comprised of active and reserve personnel who stream on Twitch and chat with young viewers about life , video games , and the opportunities afforded by military service .
“ Esports is just an avenue to start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , head of the army ’ s recruiting command , told ThinkTech Hawaii recently .
“ We go out there and we have a shared passion for esports ... and it naturally devolves into a conversation , ‘ What do you do ?
’ , ‘ I ’ m in the army.
’ ” “ This promotion did not comply with our Terms , and we have required them to remove it.
” This outreach included automated links dropped into the army ’ s stream chat that told viewers they could win an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ giveaway.
” But when anyone clicked the link , says The Nation , they were directed to “ a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest , odds , total number of winners , or when a drawing will occur.
” Viewers , streamers , and game developers reacted with anger to the news , saying that any other channel would face repercussions for such behavior .
Twitch itself has now apparently forced the army to stop these giveaways , according to a report from Kotaku .
“ Per our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must comply with all applicable laws , ” a spokesperson for streaming site told Kotaku .
“ This promotion did not comply with our Terms , and we have required them to remove it.
” In addition to fake prize giveaways , the army ’ s Twitch stream is also in trouble for potentially violating the first amendment after it banned viewers who asked recruiters what their favorite US Army war crime was .
Although Twitch allows streamers to moderate their channels however they see fit , any public forum hosted by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ follow stringent free speech rules .
This was established last year when a federal court ruled that President Donald Trump isn ’ t allowed to block his critics on Twitter .
“ As a general rule , as established in our case against Trump , if a government agency or branch of the military operates a social media platform or a website , and they allow people generally to post comments then typically that would be considered a public forum , ” Katie Fallow , a senior attorney with the Knight Foundation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run Twitch channel is a public forum , then deleting comments or blocking people from commenting based on their viewpoints , such as asking about military crimes , would violate the first amendment .
”

Twitch has intervened to stop the US Army using fake prize giveaways on its esports channel to redirect viewers to army recruitment pages.
The practice was brought to light by a report from The Nation on the use of esports as a recruitment tool by the American military. The US Army, Navy, and Air Force all field esports teams comprised of active and reserve personnel who stream on Twitch and chat with young viewers about life, video games, and the opportunities afforded by military service.
“Esports is just an avenue to start a conversation,” Major-General Frank Muth, head of the army’s recruiting command, told ThinkTech Hawaii recently. “We go out there and we have a shared passion for esports ... and it naturally devolves into a conversation, ‘What do you do?’, ‘I’m in the army.’”
“This promotion did not comply with our Terms, and we have required them to remove it.”
This outreach included automated links dropped into the army’s stream chat that told viewers they could win an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller in a “giveaway.” But when anyone clicked the link, says The Nation, they were directed to “a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest, odds, total number of winners, or when a drawing will occur.”
Viewers, streamers, and game developers reacted with anger to the news, saying that any other channel would face repercussions for such behavior. Twitch itself has now apparently forced the army to stop these giveaways, according to a report from Kotaku.
“Per our Terms of Service, promotions on Twitch must comply with all applicable laws,” a spokesperson for streaming site told Kotaku. “This promotion did not comply with our Terms, and we have required them to remove it.”
An Army representative later told Kotaku that the URLs users were directed to did enable giveaways, but not in any obvious fashion. “Each giveaway has its own URL and marketing activity code that directly connect the registrant to the specific giveaway,” said the spokesperson. “An eligible winner is selected at random, and the prize is given out. Twitch asked our team to remove the giveaway for lack of transparency, and they did. The team is exploring options to use platforms for giveaways that will provide more external clarity.”
In addition to the misleading giveaways, the army’s Twitch stream is also in trouble for potentially violating the first amendment after it banned viewers who asked recruiters what their favorite US Army war crime was.
Although Twitch allows streamers to moderate their channels however they see fit, any public forum hosted by the government — including those online — must follow stringent free speech rules. This was established last year when a federal court ruled that President Donald Trump isn’t allowed to block his critics on Twitter.
“As a general rule, as established in our case against Trump, if a government agency or branch of the military operates a social media platform or a website, and they allow people generally to post comments then typically that would be considered a public forum,” Katie Fallow, a senior attorney with the Knight First Amendment Institute, told Vice. “If the Army run Twitch channel is a public forum, then deleting comments or blocking people from commenting based on their viewpoints, such as asking about military crimes, would violate the first amendment.”
Correction: Katie Fallow is an employee of the Knight First Amendment Institute. An earlier version of this post said she was an employee of the Knight Foundation.


theverge--2020-07-17--Blackmagic announces 12K video camera for $9,995

Blackmagic Design has announced its first 12K video camera , the Ursa Mini Pro 12K .
It ’ s a higher resolution version of the existing Ursa Mini Pro , which shoots at 4.6K ; the new model has a 12288 x 6480 Super 35 sensor capable of capturing 12K footage at 60 frames per second , 8K at 110 fps , and cropped 4K Super 16 at 220 fps .
The camera uses a PL mount for compatibility with a wide range of high-end cinema lenses , but it can be swapped out for Canon EF and Nikon F @ @ @ @ @ @ @ filters and a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 expansion port for faster data transfer to external SSDs .
No-one has a 12K TV , obviously , so this camera isn ’ t necessarily designed for projects that will actually be viewed in 12K .
Instead , Blackmagic says the extra pixels can help produce a cleaner image in 8K or 4K through downsampling , as well as letting you crop in post-production without losing resolution .
Blackmagic ’ s own DaVinci Resolve software is capable of editing 12K footage , while the camera ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6K , and 8K versions at once for instant exporting .
It ’ s a similar approach to Blackmagic ’ s Pocket Cinema Camera 6K , which also uses a high-resolution Super 35 sensor but is designed for 4K or HD projects .
The Ursa Mini Pro 12K is a much more expensive camera , of course , and sits firmly in the realm of products that only film and TV professionals would consider buying or renting .
That said , at $ 9,995 , the price isn ’ t astronomical for something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ direct competitor .
Blackmagic says it ’ ll be available worldwide later this month .

Blackmagic Design has announced its first 12K video camera, the Ursa Mini Pro 12K. It’s a higher resolution version of the existing Ursa Mini Pro, which shoots at 4.6K; the new model has a 12288 x 6480 Super 35 sensor capable of capturing 12K footage at 60 frames per second, 8K at 110 fps, and cropped 4K Super 16 at 220 fps.
The camera uses a PL mount for compatibility with a wide range of high-end cinema lenses, but it can be swapped out for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts. Other features include built-in ND filters and a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 expansion port for faster data transfer to external SSDs.
No-one has a 12K TV, obviously, so this camera isn’t necessarily designed for projects that will actually be viewed in 12K. Instead, Blackmagic says the extra pixels can help produce a cleaner image in 8K or 4K through downsampling, as well as letting you crop in post-production without losing resolution. Blackmagic’s own DaVinci Resolve software is capable of editing 12K footage, while the camera’s built-in compression can store 4K, 6K, and 8K versions at once for instant exporting.
It’s a similar approach to Blackmagic’s Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, which also uses a high-resolution Super 35 sensor but is designed for 4K or HD projects. The Ursa Mini Pro 12K is a much more expensive camera, of course, and sits firmly in the realm of products that only film and TV professionals would consider buying or renting.


theverge--2020-07-16--Twitter and the big bitcoin scam: what happened next

Everything you need to know about the July 15th Twitter hack On July 15th , multiple verified Twitter accounts associated @ @ @ @ @ were hijacked and tweeted out a bitcoin scam .
Several accounts impacted by the breach @ @ @ @ @ Obama , former Vice President Joe Biden , Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk , @ @ @ @ @ co-founder Bill Gates , and Uber .
The takeovers lasted more than two hours , @ @ @ @ @ to prevent other verified accounts from being compromised , such as disabling the ability for @ @ @ @ @ tweets and locking some users out of their accounts .
Twitter is continuing to look @ @ @ @ @ the FBI has launched its own investigation , so there ’ s sure to be @ @ @ @ @ attack on the social media platform .
Follow along with all of the latest updates @ @ @ @ @

On July 15th, multiple verified Twitter accounts associated with public figures and companies were hijacked and tweeted out a bitcoin scam. Several accounts impacted by the breach include Apple, President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, rapper Kanye West, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and Uber.
The takeovers lasted more than two hours, and Twitter took extreme measures to prevent other verified accounts from being compromised, such as disabling the ability for some users to send new tweets and locking some users out of their accounts.


theverge--2020-07-17--Fortnite honors Renegade creator Jalaiah Harmon with her own in-game emote

Fortnite ’ s newest in-game emote is a collaborative one .
Epic Games this evening announced the launch of “ The Renegade , ” the viral TikTok dance created by Atlanta teenager Jalaiah Harmon .
The Twitter account for Fortnite openly cites Harmon , writing , “ Go , go , go , go , let ’ s go and bust out some [ fire ] moves by @ jalaiah.
” It ’ s not clear whether Epic and Harmon struck some type of licensing deal , but it ’ s a possibility considering the developer ’ s rocky legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s meteoric rise starting in the fall of 2017 , the game has featured a number of real-world dances copied from pop culture .
Sometimes the emotes were inspired by dances on old television shows , like the default dance inspired by Scrubs actor Donald Faison .
But quite often these dances were invented by black creators and later went viral on social media .
A number of lawsuits were filed against Epic over claims the company infringed on some variety of either likeness or copyright by using the dances without permission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in this case , it appears Epic is openly citing the creator of the dance its newest emote emulates , and it would be quite strange to do so without having first collaborated with Harmon to get it in the game .
It appears Epic is no longer interested in taking existing dances and turning them into emotes without credit , as was its strategy in the past for some popular dances .
The company held a TikTok dance contest earlier this year with transparent licensing terms and has been turning popular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permission and collaboration of the creators themselves .
Popular streamer Tyler “ Ninja ” Blevins got his own skin , emote , and other in-game items as part of a deal with Epic back in January .
The inclusion of the Renegade emote is also a nice gesture for Harmon , who largely went unrecognized for her dance even as it became one of the most popular moves on TikTok and other social platforms earlier this year .
Only after articles by publications like The New York Times and Vox did Harmon get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contribution to pop culture .
And now Harmon will be forever immortalized in the world of Fortnite .

Fortnite’s newest in-game emote is a collaborative one. Epic Games this evening announced the launch of “The Renegade,” the viral TikTok dance created by Atlanta teenager Jalaiah Harmon. The Twitter account for Fortnite openly cites Harmon, writing, “Go, go, go, go, let’s go and bust out some [fire] moves by @jalaiah.”
It’s not clear whether Epic and Harmon struck some type of licensing deal, but it’s a possibility considering the developer’s rocky legal history with dance emotes. Throughout Fortnite’s meteoric rise starting in the fall of 2017, the game has featured a number of real-world dances copied from pop culture.
Sometimes the emotes were inspired by dances on old television shows, like the default dance inspired by Scrubs actor Donald Faison. But quite often these dances were invented by black creators and later went viral on social media. A number of lawsuits were ultimately filed against Epic over claims the company infringed on some variety of either likeness or copyright by using the dances without permission.
In this case, however, it appears Epic is openly citing the creator of the dance its newest emote emulates, and it would be quite strange to do so without having first collaborated with Harmon to get it in the game. The developer seems to no longer interested in taking existing dances and turning them into emotes without credit, as was its strategy in the past for some popular dances.
The company held a TikTok dance contest earlier this year with transparent licensing terms and has been turning popular streamer dance moves into emotes with the permission and collaboration of the creators themselves. Popular streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins got his own skin, emote, and other in-game items as part of a deal with Epic back in January.


theverge--2020-07-17--Go read The New York Times’ incredible account of how the Twitter attack may have happened

Reporters are starting to piece together the behind-the-scenes events of the unprecedented Twitter attack on Wednesday almost as fast as the official investigators themselves .
And the clearest idea of what may have happened two days ago — when roughly 130 accounts were compromised using internal company tools — comes courtesy of The New York Times this afternoon .
Reporters Nathaniel Popper and Kate Conger tell the stories of four individuals involved in the hack and how exactly it spiraled out of control and resulted in the takeovers of some of the platforms most high-profile and sensitive accounts .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got access to Twitter systems via Slack messages The Times report says the attack can be traced back to a group of hackers who congregate online at OGusers.com , a username-swapping community where people buy and sell coveted online handles , typically consisting of single letters or numbers .
Two prominent users , which The Times identifies by the online monikers “ lol ” and “ “ ever so anxious , ” came into contact with someone they ’ d never heard of before , who only identified themselves as “ Kirk.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twitter administrative tools , software so powerful it apparently could take control of almost any account , the report says .
One of the most staggering details is how Kirk says he got the login credentials : by copying them from a message posted to an internal Twitter Slack channel , the two hackers tell The Times .
It ’ s unclear at this time how Kirk allegedly got access to Twitter ’ s Slack , if that is indeed where he got the login info .
Previous reporting from Motherboard said hackers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tool by bribing an existing employee , although it ’ s not clear what in this case is the truth .
The Times then paints a fascinating picture of how Kirk ’ s alleged access to Twitter systems snowballed , starting with Kirk ’ s takeover of short account names like @ y and @ 6 and , over the course of many hours , turning into what became the most devastating hack Twitter has ever seen in its history .
The OGusers hackers spoke with The Times to clear their names and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; they say Kirk was the mastermind who on his own decided to start targeting the accounts of individuals like Elon Musk and Joe Biden , and his identity and motivations remain unknown , the report says .
It ’ s a truly astounding piece of reporting everyone should go read .
And if it ultimately proves accurate once Twitter speaks more openly about the findings of investigation , it will undoubtedly have long-lasting effects on Twitter ’ s internal security and the way high-profile people and businesses use the platform .

Reporters are starting to piece together the behind-the-scenes events of the unprecedented Twitter attack on Wednesday almost as fast as the official investigators themselves. And the clearest idea of what may have happened two days ago — when roughly 130 accounts were compromised using internal company tools — comes courtesy of The New York Times this afternoon.
Reporters Nathaniel Popper and Kate Conger tell the stories of four individuals involved in the hack and how exactly it spiraled out of control and resulted in the takeovers of some of the platforms most high-profile and sensitive accounts.
The Times’ report says the central hacker got access to Twitter systems via Slack messages
The Times report says the attack can be traced back to a group of hackers who congregate online at OGusers.com, a username-swapping community where people buy and sell coveted online handles, typically consisting of single letters or numbers. Two prominent users, which The Times identifies by the online monikers “lol” and ““ever so anxious,” came into contact with someone they’d never heard of before, who only identified themselves as “Kirk.”
This Kirk somehow had access to internal Twitter administrative tools, software so powerful it apparently could take control of almost any account, the report says. One of the most staggering details is how Kirk says he got the login credentials: by copying them from a message posted to an internal Twitter Slack channel, the two hackers tell The Times. It’s unclear at this time how Kirk allegedly got access to Twitter’s Slack, if that is indeed where he got the login info. Previous reporting from Motherboard said hackers may have gained access to the internal tool by bribing an existing employee, although it’s not clear what in this case is the truth.
The Times then paints a fascinating picture of how Kirk’s alleged access to Twitter systems snowballed, starting with Kirk’s takeover of short account names like @y and @6 and, over the course of many hours, turning into what became the most devastating hack Twitter has ever seen in its history.


theverge--2020-07-17--EA is ‘quickly working’ to change Washington NFL team name in Madden NFL 21

Electronic Arts has decided to pull all references to the Washington Redskins name and logo from its upcoming Madden NFL 21 game releasing next month .
The move follows the landmark decision from team leadership earlier this week to change the Redskins name and overhaul its brand in response to years of protests and criticism from activists and corporate sponsors over its racist history .
The news of EA ’ s plans to update Madden for its August 25th release was first reported by Kotaku on Friday .
“ We are pleased to see Washington ’ s decision to change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” an EA spokesperson confirmed to The Verge .
“ We are quickly working to update Madden NFL 21 to feature a generic Washington team , while we await final word on the updated team name and logo design.
” The update removing all Redskins references will be prepared for launch , but it will require players who buy the game on a disc to connect to the internet to download and install it as the game is in the “ final stages of preparation before shipping.
” “ Changes to the name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that will download automatically .
The first changes will be available to our EA Access players and will include audio/commentary updates ; motion graphics and presentation updates ; stadium art , environments , crowd gear and signage updates ; and uniform updates , ” the EA spokesperson adds .
“ Players may continue to see some outdated Washington references in other areas of the game at launch , but we are committed to removing all of those from the game in additional title updates coming shortly after launch .
”

Electronic Arts has decided to pull all references to the Washington Redskins name and logo from its upcoming Madden NFL 21 game releasing next month. The move follows the landmark decision from team leadership earlier this week to change the Redskins name and overhaul its brand in response to years of protests and criticism from activists and corporate sponsors over its racist history. The news of EA’s plans to update Madden for its August 25th release was first reported by Kotaku on Friday.
“We are pleased to see Washington’s decision to change their team name and visual identity,” an EA spokesperson confirmed to The Verge. “We are quickly working to update Madden NFL 21 to feature a generic Washington team, while we await final word on the updated team name and logo design.” The update removing all Redskins references will be prepared for launch, but it will require players who buy the game on a disc to connect to the internet to download and install it as the game is in the “final stages of preparation before shipping.”


theverge--2020-07-17--American Airlines rolls out touchless bag check but is still booking middle seats

American Airlines announced on Friday that it is making the check-in process completely touchless , even for passengers who have to check bags .
But the company continues to book passengers into middle seats , so it ’ s ultimately a small gesture that only slightly reduces the chance of exposure to the novel coronavirus .
Starting Friday , passengers flying with American Airlines will have to set the number of bags they ’ re bringing ahead of time on the company ’ s app or website .
Then when they show up at the airport , they just scan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to instantly print the bag tags — no touchscreen interactions required .
The passengers can then drop those bags before heading to their gate .
American Airlines frames this a “ new technology ” that “ enhance [ s ] the customer experience , ” though it ’ s really little more than an augmentation of the interaction flow that airlines have offered for years at self check-in kiosks .
The company says the change is part of its “ commitment to the safety and well-being of its customers and team members.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most strict consequences for passengers who try to board a flight without a face covering .
But this is a company that , along with a few peers , has also recently started booking people back into middle seats on its flights .
American Airlines was also recently criticized for telling passengers on a flight that they couldn ’ t move to empty emergency row seats without paying extra .
So that commitment apparently only goes so far .

American Airlines announced on Friday that it is making the check-in process completely touchless, even for passengers who have to check bags. But the company continues to book passengers into middle seats, so it’s ultimately a small gesture that only slightly reduces the chance of exposure to the novel coronavirus.
Starting Friday, passengers flying with American Airlines will have to set the number of bags they’re bringing ahead of time on the company’s app or website. Then when they show up at the airport, they just scan their mobile boarding pass at a kiosk to instantly print the bag tags — no touchscreen interactions required. The passengers can then drop those bags before heading to their gate.
American Airlines frames this a “new technology” that “enhance[s] the customer experience,” though it’s really little more than an augmentation of the interaction flow that airlines have offered for years at self check-in kiosks.


theverge--2020-07-17--Discord was down for nearly an hour due to Cloudflare issues

Popular chat service Discord experienced widespread server outages today .
The issues started at around 5PM ET , and lasted @ @ @ @ @ , Deliveroo , GitLab , Zendesk , Medium , and many other sites were also @ @ @ @ @ issues with its network affected various apps and sites .
“ The issue has been @ @ @ @ @ being implemented , ” says Cloudflare .
Discord also had “ all engineers on deck @ @ @ @ @ and its own problems were related to the Cloudflare outage .
This is the second @ @ @ @ @ year , after the service was hit with connectivity issues back in March .
Discord @ @ @ @ @ have seen a significant increase in demand and usage since the coronavirus pandemic began , @ @ @ @ @ , families , and communities turn to these apps to stay in touch .
Update @ @ @ @ @ : Article updated with confirmation from Cloudflare that a fix is rolling out .

Popular chat service Discord experienced widespread server outages today. The issues started at around 5PM ET, and lasted nearly an hour. Patreon, Deliveroo, GitLab, Zendesk, Medium, and many other sites were also down, and Cloudflare acknowledged issues with its network affected various apps and sites.
“This afternoon we saw an outage across some parts of our network,” explains a Cloudflare spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. “It was not as a result of an attack. It appears a router on our global backbone announced bad routes and caused some portions of the network to not be available.”
Cloudflare quickly detailed its brief issues in a detailed and thorough blog post shortly after the outage. The company noted that it has “never experienced an outage on our backbone” before and responded in less than two hours to get its service fully operational again. “We are sorry for the disruption to our customers and to all the users who were unable to access Internet properties while the outage was happening,” says John Graham-Cumming, CTO of Cloudflare.
This is the second major outage for Discord this year, after the service was hit with connectivity issues back in March. Discord and other web-based communications services have seen a significant increase in demand and usage since the coronavirus pandemic began, as more and more friends, families, and communities turn to these apps to stay in touch.
Discord was also affected by a Verizon networking issue last year which impacted Cloudflare. Much like this incident, other services were also impacted, and Cloudflare lambasted Verizon for how it handled key internet traffic.


theverge--2020-07-17--Disney Plus’ first big Marvel series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is officially delayed

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was supposed to kick off Marvel Studios ’ big television universe on Disney Plus in August , but the show ’ s debut has officially been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic .
The delay comes after the show was forced to pause production back in May because of the pandemic , The Verge has confirmed .
Disney does not have a new premiere date for the show , but it ’ s hoping to share updates on it soon .
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was set to pick up where Avengers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Captain America seems to have essentially retired after living a different life in an alternate timeline , and Sam Wilson ( Anthony Mackie ) picks up the shield in his place .
Although we don ’ t have a full-length trailer for the show , Disney did debut a brief teaser in February during the Super Bowl .
The trailer , which also gave us our first looks at Marvel Studios ’ two other Disney Plus series , WandaVision and Loki , showed Sam practicing using the shield .
It also teased Bucky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zemo .
The character , played by Daniel Brühl , first appeared in Captain America : Civil War back in 2016 .
While fans were anticipating delays , not having a new Marvel show on the horizon is a blow .
Two other big Marvel Studios productions , Black Widow and The Eternals , have also had their theatrical releases delayed .
Black Widow moved from May 1st to November 6th , while The Eternals shifted from November 6th to February 12th , 2021 .
It ’ s unclear if Marvel Studios ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to December 2020 , will also be impacted .
Many studios and TV networks are facing delays as production issues continue , especially in the United States .
Disney CEO Bob Chapek told staff in an all-hands meeting that they were hoping to get back into production soon , but everything is dependent on when people can safely return to work .
Disney Plus ’ other big show this year , The Mandalorian ’ s second season , is still on track to hit its October premiere date , Chapek announced earlier in @ @ @

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was supposed to kick off Marvel Studios’ big television universe on Disney Plus in August, but the show’s debut has officially been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The delay comes after the show was forced to pause production back in May because of the pandemic, The Verge has confirmed. Disney does not have a new premiere date for the show, but it’s hoping to share updates on it soon. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was set to pick up where Avengers: Endgame ended. Steve Rogers’ Captain America seems to have essentially retired after living a different life in an alternate timeline, and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) picks up the shield in his place.
Although we don’t have a full-length trailer for the show, Disney did debut a brief teaser in February during the Super Bowl. The trailer, which also gave us our first looks at Marvel Studios’ two other Disney Plus series, WandaVision and Loki, showed Sam practicing using the shield. It also teased Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) reuniting with Zemo. The character, played by Daniel Brühl, first appeared in Captain America: Civil War back in 2016.
While fans were anticipating delays, not having a new Marvel show on the horizon is a blow. Two other big Marvel Studios productions, Black Widow and The Eternals, have also had their theatrical releases delayed. Black Widow moved from May 1st to November 6th, while The Eternals shifted from November 6th to February 12th, 2021. It’s unclear if Marvel Studios’ WandaVision, which was moved from 2021 to December 2020, will also be impacted.


theverge--2020-07-17--This is what Samsung’s bean-shaped Galaxy Buds Live will look like in your ears

All indications point to Samsung introducing its next set of true wireless earbuds at the company ’ s Unpacked event next month .
We ’ ve already seen them , and they ’ ll reportedly be branded as the Galaxy Buds Live .
( It ’ s truly foolish of Samsung to not just own the design and call them the Galaxy Beans , but I digress . )
Now , new images and a video posted by Twitter user h0x0d give us an even closer look at the Buds Live — and how they ’ ll look when worn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ ll see a tag line that suggests the Galaxy Buds Live might feature active noise cancellation .
“ Keep the noise out .
Let the sound in.
” The buds don ’ t have silicone tips or an in-ear seal , so I ’ m curious as to how Samsung achieved ANC if it turns out to be there .
In the follow-up photo , you can see that there are a number of grills and microphones around each earbud , so there ’ s a lot going on here .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected to come in black , copper , and white .
I haven ’ t yet seen a solid rumor about what they ’ ll cost .
The company ’ s most recent earbuds , the Galaxy Buds Plus , retail for $ 149.99 , though they ’ re often on sale — and our go-to pick for true wireless earbuds .
Samsung ’ s Unpacked event , where the company is also expected to announce the Galaxy Note 20 , a 5G-enabled Galaxy Z Flip , and more , is scheduled for @ @ @ @ @ @

All indications point to Samsung introducing its next set of true wireless earbuds at the company’s Unpacked event next month. We’ve already seen them, and they’ll reportedly be branded as the Galaxy Buds Live. (It’s truly foolish of Samsung to not just own the design and call them the Galaxy Beans, but I digress.) Now, new images and a video posted by Twitter user h0x0d give us an even closer look at the Buds Live — and how they’ll look when worn.
In the below marketing video, you’ll see a tag line that suggests the Galaxy Buds Live might feature active noise cancellation. “Keep the noise out. Let the sound in.” The buds don’t have silicone tips or an in-ear seal, so I’m curious as to how Samsung achieved ANC if it turns out to be there.
In the follow-up photo, you can see that there are a number of grills and microphones around each earbud, so there’s a lot going on here. Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live are expected to come in black, copper, and white.
I haven’t yet seen a solid rumor about what they’ll cost. The company’s most recent earbuds, the Galaxy Buds Plus, retail for $149.99, though they’re often on sale — and our go-to pick for true wireless earbuds.


theverge--2020-07-17--Netflix is making a $200 million Ryan Gosling-Chris Evans spy movie directed by the Russo brothers

Netflix has announced its most expensive movie yet : a $ 200 million spy thriller called The Grey Man , starring Ryan Gosling ( as the titular assassin / former spy ) and Chris Evans ( as the villainous CIA agent tasked with hunting him down ) and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo ( in their first film since Avengers : Endgame , the most lucrative film ever made ) , via Deadline .
The film is based on Mark Greaney ’ s The Gray Man series of books about Court Gentry ( aka “ The Grey Man ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CIA operative , and “ a legend in the covert realm.
” Netflix ’ s hope is that the upcoming film will spawn a spy thriller franchise for the streaming site that will see Gosling return for future films as The Grey Man — sort of like its own version of the long-running James Bond franchise , which focuses on its own eponymous spy .
Given that the series has 10 books ( and counting ) , there should be plenty of material for Netflix to work with .
“ The intention is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theatrical , and the ability to do with with Gosling and Evans is a dream for us .
The idea is to create a franchise and build out a whole universe , with Ryan at the center of it .
We have all committed to the first movie , and that ’ s got to be great to get us to the second movie , ” commented Joe Russo in a statement to Deadline .
The new film is part of Netflix ’ s larger ambitions to create the sorts of big-budget franchises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Universal ’ s Fast and Furious movies , which have come to dominate theaters in the past few years .
As co-CEO Reed Hastings commented during Netflix ’ s earnings , the company is “ definitely focused on creating franchises , ” a statement reiterated by the newly elevated co-CEO Ted Sarandos , who noted that the streaming service was “ unbelievably encouraged ” by its recent attempt to kickstart an action movie franchise with The Old Guard .
There ’ s no release date yet for The Grey Man , but production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Netflix has announced its most expensive movie yet: a $200 million spy thriller called The Grey Man, starring Ryan Gosling (as the titular assassin / former spy) and Chris Evans (as the villainous CIA agent tasked with hunting him down) and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (in their first film since Avengers: Endgame, the most lucrative film ever made), via Deadline.
The film is based on Mark Greaney’s The Gray Man series of books about Court Gentry (aka “The Grey Man”) who is an assassin, former CIA operative, and “a legend in the covert realm.” Netflix’s hope is that the upcoming film will spawn a spy thriller franchise for the streaming site that will see Gosling return for future films as The Grey Man — sort of like its own version of the long-running James Bond franchise, which focuses on its own eponymous spy. Given that the series has 10 books (and counting), there should be plenty of material for Netflix to work with.
“The intention is for it to be competitive with any theatrical, and the ability to do with with Gosling and Evans is a dream for us. The idea is to create a franchise and build out a whole universe, with Ryan at the center of it. We have all committed to the first movie, and that’s got to be great to get us to the second movie,” commented Joe Russo in a statement to Deadline.
The new film is part of Netflix’s larger ambitions to create the sorts of big-budget franchises like Marvel’s superhero films or Universal’s Fast and Furious movies, which have come to dominate theaters in the past few years. As co-CEO Reed Hastings commented during Netflix’s earnings, the company is “definitely focused on creating franchises,” a statement reiterated by the newly elevated co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who noted that the streaming service was “unbelievably encouraged” by its recent attempt to kickstart an action movie franchise with The Old Guard.