theverge--2020-06-26--Are TikTok activists actually shutting down Trump’s online merch stores? An investigation

Some critics of President Donald Trump have spent the last few days trying to lock up Trump-branded merchandise by leaving thousands of products from his online stores in shopping carts .
But while the attack has become a kind of resistance meme , reminiscent of recent pranks on the president ’ s Tulsa rally , it ’ s far less clear whether the hoax actually prevented Trump ’ s stores from selling merchandise .
Earlier this week , TikTok and Twitter users started posting videos and messages claiming they were “ buying ” the entire supply of items like Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ onesies , then leaving them in the cart indefinitely , making them unavailable to other visitors .
The attacks apparently involved at least two sites : Trump ’ s official campaign store and his nonpolitically themed Trump gift shop .
This is a version of a real exploit called a “ denial of inventory ” attack — basically , buying up huge amounts of limited-stock items ( or things like restaurant reservations and hotel rooms ) but never completing the transaction .
It works if a shop actually reserves an item when a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it ’ s most effective if there are no limits on how many items people can buy at a time , if cart contents don ’ t expire after a fixed period or if the attacker is using bots to constantly refresh the fake purchases .
There ’ s not much evidence items were falsely shown as sold out as a result of the reservations , though — and some evidence shows that would-be store-jammers were wrong to claim victory .
One popular tweet claims , for instance , to have bought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the non-campaign TrumpStore.com .
There ’ s no screenshot displaying the results , but replies include shots of “ sold out ” errors on other items from the store , including water bottles and hats .
But The Verge replicated that error message , and it doesn ’ t mean the inventory is locked up .
The message appears if one person fills their cart with all the available stock of an item , goes back to the item , and tries to add more .
( It ’ s easy to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — in my case , 13 navy/red baseballs . )
But other site visitors can still put the items in a different cart .
The message seemingly just makes sure one person can ’ t place a single order the store is unable to fulfill .
It ’ s possible the store tweaked that in the past 12 hours , but there ’ s no visible sign of a change .
Trump ’ s campaign site works differently .
Until very recently , users could change the quantity of a cart item to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ordering tens of thousands of items costing hundreds of thousands of dollars , proceeding to the payment page , and simply not entering a card .
In theory , this could have made the campaign site more vulnerable , and the site has since removed the ability to add multiple items at a time , suggesting the webmasters may have been rattled by the looming threat .
Trump spokespeople haven ’ t exactly cleared the issue up .
On Twitter , campaign manager Brad Parscale acknowledged a taunt from one of the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who ’ d told the campaign that “ any programmer worth their salt would account for this ... but not all do.
” Unfortunately , his response was simply “ I guess you owe me some salt , ” which says little about Trump ’ s actual web development best practices .
Barring a statement from Trump ’ s campaign , which didn ’ t immediately respond to an email from The Verge , there ’ s no proof Trump supporters were being prevented from buying items .
We ’ ve found videos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ones that show sold-out items afterward .
( While the baby onesie is currently sold out , there ’ s a 21-hour time gap and no firm link to the prank order . )
Shopify , which powers Trump ’ s campaign store , also hasn ’ t responded to questions about whether the attack seems feasible .
In a final attempt to prove the claims , we decided to test one possible exploit that wouldn ’ t be fixed by removing the multiple orders option : depleting the entire inventory of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A small group of Verge staffers simultaneously filled carts with pairs of $ 70 Trump / Pence gold cuff links — an item with plausibly lower demand and higher production costs than a sign or T-shirt — one click at a time .
Together , four Verge writers temporarily reserved a total of 16,371 pairs or roughly $ 1.145 million in cuff links ( using a glitch that allowed repeatedly clicking the “ add to cart ” link to quickly add multiple copies of an item ) , exceeding the highest single item @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on TikTok .
This led us to a few possible conclusions : • Trump ’ s campaign store previously “ held ” items in carts for individual shoppers , but it silently stopped doing this after the attacks — in which case there was no practical reason to also remove the multiple orders field .
• The store never held items in carts , so the attacks never posed a threat — but the campaign removed the multiple orders field because it created the impression Trump was being pranked with huge orders just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teens employing the exact same strategy .
• The Trump campaign has a ready-to-ship stock of at least 16,372 pairs of novelty cuff links — in which case it ’ s probably prepared to withstand these attacks .
Regardless of which is correct , it seems clear that the impression of putting one over on Trump ’ s campaign has been far more meaningful than any actual inconvenience to Trump fans .
But Trump is famously a president who often worries more about perception than reality — so the fake orders might have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ user whose message sparked Parscale ’ s comment largely concurred .
“ The idea was to get under Brad Parscale ’ s skin and in that respect it seemed to work , ” @ Christophurious told The Verge in an email .
“ I think a lot of the TikTok and K-pop kids knew from the start that it likely wasn ’ t affecting anything more than some programmer ’ s ego .
And they seem to be fine with that .
”

Some critics of President Donald Trump have spent the last few days trying to lock up Trump-branded merchandise by leaving thousands of products from his online stores in shopping carts. But while the attack has become a kind of resistance meme, reminiscent of recent pranks on the president’s Tulsa rally, it’s far less clear whether the hoax actually prevented Trump’s stores from selling merchandise.
Earlier this week, TikTok and Twitter users started posting videos and messages claiming they were “buying” the entire supply of items like Trump baseballs and “Baby Lives Matter” onesies, then leaving them in the cart indefinitely, making them unavailable to other visitors. The attacks apparently involved at least two sites: Trump’s official campaign store and his nonpolitically themed Trump gift shop.
This is a version of a real exploit called a “denial of inventory” attack — basically, buying up huge amounts of limited-stock items (or things like restaurant reservations and hotel rooms) but never completing the transaction. It works if a shop actually reserves an item when a user puts it in a cart, and it’s most effective if there are no limits on how many items people can buy at a time, if cart contents don’t expire after a fixed period or if the attacker is using bots to constantly refresh the fake purchases.
There’s not much evidence items were falsely shown as sold out as a result of the reservations, though — and some evidence shows that would-be store-jammers were wrong to claim victory.
One popular tweet claims, for instance, to have bought out the entire supply of baseballs from the non-campaign TrumpStore.com. There’s no screenshot displaying the results, but replies include shots of “sold out” errors on other items from the store, including water bottles and hats.
But The Verge replicated that error message, and it doesn’t mean the inventory is locked up. The message appears if one person fills their cart with all the available stock of an item, goes back to the item, and tries to add more. (It’s easy to get the error because the stock seems low — in my case, 13 navy/red baseballs.) But other site visitors can still put the items in a different cart. The message seemingly just makes sure one person can’t place a single order the store is unable to fulfill. It’s possible the store tweaked that in the past 12 hours, but there’s no visible sign of a change.
All 13 baseballs are in my cart — but I can still buy them in an incognito window.
Trump’s campaign site works differently. Until very recently, users could change the quantity of a cart item to any number, and videos show people ordering tens of thousands of items costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, proceeding to the payment page, and simply not entering a card. In theory, this could have made the campaign site more vulnerable, and the site has since removed the ability to add multiple items at a time, suggesting the webmasters may have been rattled by the looming threat.
Trump spokespeople haven’t exactly cleared the issue up. On Twitter, campaign manager Brad Parscale acknowledged a taunt from one of the first accounts that posted about the attack, who’d told the campaign that “any programmer worth their salt would account for this ... but not all do.” Unfortunately, his response was simply “I guess you owe me some salt,” which says little about Trump’s actual web development best practices.
Barring a statement from Trump’s campaign, which didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Verge, there’s no proof Trump supporters were being prevented from buying items. We’ve found videos that show large orders, but not ones that show sold-out items afterward. (While the baby onesie is currently sold out, there’s a 21-hour time gap and no firm link to the prank order.) Shopify, which powers Trump’s campaign store, also hasn’t responded to questions about whether the attack seems feasible.
In a final attempt to prove the claims, we decided to test one possible exploit that wouldn’t be fixed by removing the multiple orders option: depleting the entire inventory of a single item by sheer brute force. A small group of Verge staffers simultaneously filled carts with pairs of $70 Trump / Pence gold cuff links — an item with plausibly lower demand and higher production costs than a sign or T-shirt — one click at a time.
The winning score in our cuff link-clicking competition: 6,025 pairs.
Together, four Verge writers temporarily reserved a total of 16,371 pairs or roughly $1.145 million in cuff links (using a glitch that allowed repeatedly clicking the “add to cart” link to quickly add multiple copies of an item), exceeding the highest single item order (10,000 shirts) we saw on TikTok. This led us to a few possible conclusions:
Trump’s campaign store previously “held” items in carts for individual shoppers, but it silently stopped doing this after the attacks — in which case there was no practical reason to also remove the multiple orders field. The store never held items in carts, so the attacks never posed a threat — but the campaign removed the multiple orders field because it created the impression Trump was being pranked with huge orders just a week after being humiliated by TikTok teens employing the exact same strategy. The Trump campaign has a ready-to-ship stock of at least 16,372 pairs of novelty cuff links — in which case it’s probably prepared to withstand these attacks.
Regardless of which is correct, it seems clear that the impression of putting one over on Trump’s campaign has been far more meaningful than any actual inconvenience to Trump fans. But Trump is famously a president who often worries more about perception than reality — so the fake orders might have served their purpose anyway.
The Twitter user whose message sparked Parscale’s comment largely concurred. “The idea was to get under Brad Parscale’s skin and in that respect it seemed to work,” @Christophurious told The Verge in an email. “I think a lot of the TikTok and K-pop kids knew from the start that it likely wasn’t affecting anything more than some programmer’s ego. And they seem to be fine with that.”


theverge--2020-06-26--The Trump administration wants social media platforms to police protesters

The Trump administration has sent letters to social media companies requesting they take action on posts calling for people to take down statues , commit acts of violence , and break curfews , as first reported by The Washington Post .
The acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security , Chad Wolf , sent letters to the CEOs of Facebook , Twitter , Apple , Snap , and Google ’ s parent company Alphabet .
In a copy of one of the letters obtained by The Verge , Wolf claims that DHS agents witnessed “ crimes such as burglary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , looting , and defacing public property ” and that perpetrators used social media “ as a tool to plan , organize , and effectuate these crimes.
” Many companies already have policies prohibiting content that incites violence The letters come after weeks of protests against police brutality and racism in the US and around the world .
As part of these protests , many statues commemorating Confederate military leaders and other historical figures representing white supremacy have been taken down , sometimes by municipal leaders and sometimes by impromptu groups of protestors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ content that incites violence .
Twitter has previously labeled tweets from President Trump for promoting violence or abuse , for example , including one this week threatening “ serious force ” if an autonomous zone like the one in Seattle was established in Washington , DC .
Facebook also has policies against content that glorifies violence , though it left up a recent post from Trump that Twitter opted to restrict .
Facebook has attempted to limit the spread of so-called “ boogaloo ” groups , which represent some right-wing extremists that advocate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Members of those groups have been associated with violence , such as three men in Nevada who self-identified with the movement and were arrested by the FBI on terrorism-related charges for planning to spark violence at an anti-police protest in Las Vegas on June 4th .
Despite Facebook ’ s attempts to limit the groups , though , many are still on the platform .
The letters are not part of an official legal proceeding , and they do not have the force of law .
As a result , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take any action on the posts in response .
However , the Trump administration is still investigating ways to use legal powers to act on social media content they view as violent or illegal .
At the end of May , the president signed an executive order that could result in the rolling back of protections tech companies have under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that exempt them from being legally liable for much of the content posted to their platforms .

The Trump administration has sent letters to social media companies requesting they take action on posts calling for people to take down statues, commit acts of violence, and break curfews, as first reported by The Washington Post. The acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, sent letters to the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Snap, and Google’s parent company Alphabet.
In a copy of one of the letters obtained by The Verge, Wolf claims that DHS agents witnessed “crimes such as burglary, arson, aggravated assault, rioting, looting, and defacing public property” and that perpetrators used social media “as a tool to plan, organize, and effectuate these crimes.”
Many companies already have policies prohibiting content that incites violence
The letters come after weeks of protests against police brutality and racism in the US and around the world. As part of these protests, many statues commemorating Confederate military leaders and other historical figures representing white supremacy have been taken down, sometimes by municipal leaders and sometimes by impromptu groups of protestors.
Many companies already have policies prohibiting content that incites violence. Twitter has previously labeled tweets from President Trump for promoting violence or abuse, for example, including one this week threatening “serious force” if an autonomous zone like the one in Seattle was established in Washington, DC. Facebook also has policies against content that glorifies violence, though it left up a recent post from Trump that Twitter opted to restrict.
Facebook has attempted to limit the spread of so-called “boogaloo” groups, which represent some right-wing extremists that advocate for an impending second American Civil War. Members of those groups have been associated with violence, such as three men in Nevada who self-identified with the movement and were arrested by the FBI on terrorism-related charges for planning to spark violence at an anti-police protest in Las Vegas on June 4th. Despite Facebook’s attempts to limit the groups, though, many are still on the platform.


theverge--2020-06-26--Facebook will ban ads that present races or religions as threats

Facebook is placing new restrictions on hateful content in ads , explicitly banning ads that encourage racial divisions .
Specifically , the new policy will “ prohibit claims that people from a specific race , ethnicity , national origin , religious affiliation , caste , sexual orientation , gender identity or immigration status are a threat to the physical safety , health or survival of others.
” The policy will also restrict ads that express contempt for immigrants or refugees .
Notably , the new restrictions apply only to advertisements and will not affect posts without paid promotion .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that especially means people who have previously not had as much voice , or as much power to share their own experiences , ” Zuckerberg said in a company town hall announcing the changes .
“ It ’ s really important that we make sure our platforms live up to these principles.
” The restrictions are part of a suite of changes Facebook is making in advance of the 2020 US elections .
The company also plans to proactively monitor information on voting conditions in the 72 hours immediately before an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that appear to intimidate or mislead during that period of time .
Posts involving the election will include an automatic link to the company ’ s new Voting Information Center , which is meant to provide authoritative information on the elections .
The Voting Information Center will also be prominently featured in the Facebook and Instagram apps .
Facebook also announced a new protocol for when a post violates site policies but is allowed to remain on the site because of its public interest value .
Under the new system , Facebook will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ newsworthiness exception , something that Zuckerberg says happens “ a handful of times a year.
” The changes come amid an ongoing boycott led by Color of Change , calling for advertisers to halt spending on Facebook in response to the company ’ s perceived inability to moderate hate speech .
Major corporations like Unilever and Verizon have joined the boycott , canceling all planned ad buys through the end of the year .

Facebook is placing new restrictions on hateful content in ads, explicitly banning ads that encourage racial divisions. Specifically, the new policy will “prohibit claims that people from a specific race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity or immigration status are a threat to the physical safety, health or survival of others.” The policy will also restrict ads that express contempt for immigrants or refugees.
Notably, the new restrictions apply only to advertisements and will not affect posts without paid promotion.
“Facebook stands for giving people a voice, and that especially means people who have previously not had as much voice, or as much power to share their own experiences,” Zuckerberg said in a company town hall announcing the changes. “It’s really important that we make sure our platforms live up to these principles.”
The restrictions are part of a suite of changes Facebook is making in advance of the 2020 US elections. The company also plans to proactively monitor information on voting conditions in the 72 hours immediately before an election, with stricter standards for posts that appear to intimidate or mislead during that period of time. Posts involving the election will include an automatic link to the company’s new Voting Information Center, which is meant to provide authoritative information on the elections. The Voting Information Center will also be prominently featured in the Facebook and Instagram apps.
Facebook also announced a new protocol for when a post violates site policies but is allowed to remain on the site because of its public interest value. Under the new system, Facebook will label the content as subject to a newsworthiness exception, something that Zuckerberg says happens “a handful of times a year.”


theverge--2020-06-26--The new COVID-19 surge may be harder to contain

A record-high number of new COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States on Thursday , driven by spikes in Southern and Western states .
The surges are steep and scary , and may be even harder to beat back than the first upswing .
The same problems that plagued New York City in March and April ( limited access to testing , long turnaround times for results , and mixed messaging from officials ) are cropping up in states like Arizona .
They ’ re now canceling elective medical procedures and asking people to stay home .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ played out in Italy and along the coasts of the US .
Those lessons didn ’ t sink in .
Cases are rising in communities that , until now , had the virus under control .
That made it harder for people to internalize the full risks of an outbreak , which are now emerging in those areas .
Stay-at-home orders , phased shutdowns , and encouraging mask-wearing in public eventually helped places like New York reduce their caseloads .
This time around , officials in new hotspots may not be able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and April , the virus hit New York City , Seattle , and San Francisco the hardest .
New York City , in particular , was incapacitated by the pandemic : hospitals were overrun by patients , bodies piled up in trailers outside funeral homes , and people lived with the near-constant sounds of ambulance sirens .
Seeing the devastation , states that had relatively low numbers of confirmed cases also banned large gatherings , closed businesses , and ordered hospitals to free up bed space .
Those measures were successful — they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low , and states like Texas initially avoided the same fate as New York .
“ We really did flatten the curve , ” Umair Shah , executive director of the health department in Harris County , which includes Houston , told The Daily Beast .
The control was tenuous , though .
Because those measures kept COVID-19 out of sight , it was harder for people to see why they were necessary in the first place , says Emily Toth Martin , an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan School of Public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ characteristic Catch-22 of public health .
What you did worked if people say you overreacted , ” she says .
“ You stopped that critical situation from happening , but it ’ s so hard to communicate that and for people to internalize it.
” “ It ’ s the characteristic Catch-22 of public health .
What you did worked if people say you overreacted ” Some critics seemed to willfully misunderstand how and why preventing a problem is a better option than responding to one — New York Times columnist Bret Stephens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that New York City ’ s stringent lockdown rules shouldn ’ t apply to the rest of the country .
“ The rest of America needs to get back to life , ” Stephens wrote .
Spikes over the past week clearly showed that getting “ back to life ” too early meant waves of infections .
The vast majority of people around the country supported shutdowns .
But the economic challenges were real for millions , and without clear messaging on why continued prevention matters , it may have been easy for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an end to the threat .
“ You ’ re making those sacrifices for the benefit of a crisis you don ’ t see in front of you .
I can see that ’ s a very emotional challenge , ” Martin says .
Not seeing a direct impact in their area may have also made some people less concerned about the virus , overall , and less likely to take actions — avoiding gatherings , wearing masks — that protect against the disease , Martin says .
It ’ s understandable : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when it doesn ’ t look like there ’ s anything wrong that would justify them .
“ Your understanding of how serious a problem is , and how likely something is to affect you , is going to impact how likely you are to take up an intervention to prevent it , ” Martin says .
She notes that Detroit , which was hit hard by COVID-19 , has seen a steady , disciplined decline in caseload .
Rural parts of Michigan , though , are seeing surges .
Michigan had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Detroit area saw exponential case growth during that time .
“ you have whole communities that don ’ t have that experience of seeing a field hospital being built up the street from you ” “ Within our own state , you have whole communities that don ’ t have that experience of seeing a field hospital being built up the street from you , ” Martin says .
“ I think that that has a huge impact on people ’ s ability to be ready to receive the message.
” People living @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus than people living in places where case counts began ticking up later , according to a YouGov analysis published at the beginning of June .
That follows familiar patterns from earlier in the pandemic .
Even though people in New York watched as Italy teetered on the verge of collapse , the message didn ’ t sink in until it reached their doorstep .
Concerns may increase in those communities as case numbers climb , as they did in New York , which may inspire people to follow public health guidelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sell this time , though .
Those same guidelines that helped Detroit and New York recover have been heavily politicized , which makes them harder for public health officials to implement .
President Trump pushed states to lift stay-at-home orders , and policy by governors in states like Florida curried favor with the president .
Right-wing politicians pushed back on masks , and support for mask-wearing now breaks on party lines .
“ We see this with vaccination , in certain communities .
When something like this becomes connected to a sense of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health tool , ” Martin says .
The challenges that make this virus increasingly harder to contain were preventable .
New York City had a chance to avoid the crush of cases , but the governor and mayor dragged their feet on implementing policies to stem the tide .
The rest of the country had the chance to learn from New York .
And for a while , many states had things under control .
Rather than keeping tight hold of those successes , though , local and national leaders let them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide case numbers through May and decided that the problem was over , even though region-specific trackers showed that certain areas of the country were ready to explode .
Many states opened bars and restaurants before it was safe to do so , and before they had the testing and contact tracing to control any new spread .
Now , they ’ re left with the task of fighting new spikes without as much buy-in from communities around the strategies that could help .
State leaders seem reluctant to reclose what they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ messaging failures made it less likely that individuals would stick to recommendations , and they weren ’ t prepared for the reality of a pandemic .
Messaging stressed the critical importance of flattening the curve , but didn ’ t emphasize that it takes sustained effort to keep that curve flat .
Claiming victory too early all but ensured a rebound .
Claiming victory too early all but ensured a rebound If the messaging from officials at the beginning of the pandemic had stressed that the adjustments to daily life were going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it may have made a difference in how communities processed the risk from COVID-19 , Martin says .
“ It hasn ’ t ever had that long-term view that really allowed people to mentally prepare that this is something that they ’ re gon na have to be dealing with for a long time , ” she says .
“ So I think it ’ s understandable that the American public just got tired of it .
”

Part of / A guide to the COVID-19 pandemic
A record-high number of new COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States on Thursday, driven by spikes in Southern and Western states. The surges are steep and scary, and may be even harder to beat back than the first upswing.
The same problems that plagued New York City in March and April (limited access to testing, long turnaround times for results, and mixed messaging from officials) are cropping up in states like Arizona. They’re now canceling elective medical procedures and asking people to stay home. It’s a familiar pattern, one that played out in Italy and along the coasts of the US.
Those lessons didn’t sink in. Cases are rising in communities that, until now, had the virus under control. That made it harder for people to internalize the full risks of an outbreak, which are now emerging in those areas. Stay-at-home orders, phased shutdowns, and encouraging mask-wearing in public eventually helped places like New York reduce their caseloads. This time around, officials in new hotspots may not be able to deploy the same strategies.
Visible failures, invisible successes
In March and April, the virus hit New York City, Seattle, and San Francisco the hardest. New York City, in particular, was incapacitated by the pandemic: hospitals were overrun by patients, bodies piled up in trailers outside funeral homes, and people lived with the near-constant sounds of ambulance sirens.
Seeing the devastation, states that had relatively low numbers of confirmed cases also banned large gatherings, closed businesses, and ordered hospitals to free up bed space. Those measures were successful — they helped those case numbers and hospitalizations stay low, and states like Texas initially avoided the same fate as New York. “We really did flatten the curve,” Umair Shah, executive director of the health department in Harris County, which includes Houston, told The Daily Beast.
A COVID-19 triage tent built outside of Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York. Photo by Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday RM via Getty Images
The control was tenuous, though. Because those measures kept COVID-19 out of sight, it was harder for people to see why they were necessary in the first place, says Emily Toth Martin, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “It’s the characteristic Catch-22 of public health. What you did worked if people say you overreacted,” she says. “You stopped that critical situation from happening, but it’s so hard to communicate that and for people to internalize it.”
“It’s the characteristic Catch-22 of public health. What you did worked if people say you overreacted”
Some critics seemed to willfully misunderstand how and why preventing a problem is a better option than responding to one — New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, for example, wrote in April that New York City’s stringent lockdown rules shouldn’t apply to the rest of the country. “The rest of America needs to get back to life,” Stephens wrote. Spikes over the past week clearly showed that getting “back to life” too early meant waves of infections.
The vast majority of people around the country supported shutdowns. But the economic challenges were real for millions, and without clear messaging on why continued prevention matters, it may have been easy for people to equate flattening the curve with an end to the threat. “You’re making those sacrifices for the benefit of a crisis you don’t see in front of you. I can see that’s a very emotional challenge,” Martin says.
Message (not) received
Not seeing a direct impact in their area may have also made some people less concerned about the virus, overall, and less likely to take actions — avoiding gatherings, wearing masks — that protect against the disease, Martin says. It’s understandable: it’s hard to make sacrifices when it doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong that would justify them.
“Your understanding of how serious a problem is, and how likely something is to affect you, is going to impact how likely you are to take up an intervention to prevent it,” Martin says.
She notes that Detroit, which was hit hard by COVID-19, has seen a steady, disciplined decline in caseload. Rural parts of Michigan, though, are seeing surges. Michigan had a statewide stay-at-home order, but only the Detroit area saw exponential case growth during that time.
“you have whole communities that don’t have that experience of seeing a field hospital being built up the street from you”
“Within our own state, you have whole communities that don’t have that experience of seeing a field hospital being built up the street from you,” Martin says. “I think that that has a huge impact on people’s ability to be ready to receive the message.”
People living in early hotspots are more concerned about the virus than people living in places where case counts began ticking up later, according to a YouGov analysis published at the beginning of June. That follows familiar patterns from earlier in the pandemic. Even though people in New York watched as Italy teetered on the verge of collapse, the message didn’t sink in until it reached their doorstep.
Concerns may increase in those communities as case numbers climb, as they did in New York, which may inspire people to follow public health guidelines. It’ll be a harder sell this time, though. Those same guidelines that helped Detroit and New York recover have been heavily politicized, which makes them harder for public health officials to implement. President Trump pushed states to lift stay-at-home orders, and policy by governors in states like Florida curried favor with the president. Right-wing politicians pushed back on masks, and support for mask-wearing now breaks on party lines.
“We see this with vaccination, in certain communities. When something like this becomes connected to a sense of identity, we lose that as a public health tool,” Martin says.
A beach-goer wears a mask in the water at Miami Beach. Photo by EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images
Policy failures
The challenges that make this virus increasingly harder to contain were preventable. New York City had a chance to avoid the crush of cases, but the governor and mayor dragged their feet on implementing policies to stem the tide. The rest of the country had the chance to learn from New York. And for a while, many states had things under control.
Rather than keeping tight hold of those successes, though, local and national leaders let them slip away. They watched the steady nationwide case numbers through May and decided that the problem was over, even though region-specific trackers showed that certain areas of the country were ready to explode. Many states opened bars and restaurants before it was safe to do so, and before they had the testing and contact tracing to control any new spread.
Now, they’re left with the task of fighting new spikes without as much buy-in from communities around the strategies that could help. State leaders seem reluctant to reclose what they’ve already opened. Policy decisions and messaging failures made it less likely that individuals would stick to recommendations, and they weren’t prepared for the reality of a pandemic. Messaging stressed the critical importance of flattening the curve, but didn’t emphasize that it takes sustained effort to keep that curve flat. Claiming victory too early all but ensured a rebound.
Claiming victory too early all but ensured a rebound


theverge--2020-06-26--Unilever will pull ads from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the rest of the year

Consumer goods giant Unilever said Friday that it would halt all ad spending on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter through the end of the year , as first reported by The Wall Street Journal .
Unilever owns dozens of popular household brands like Hellmann ’ s mayonnaise and Dove soap , and typically spends more than $ 1 billion each year promoting them through various ad channels .
As of press time , Facebook ’ s stock had fallen more than 7 percent in the wake of the news .
“ We invest billions of dollars each year to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with outside experts to review and update our policies , ” a Facebook spokesperson told NBC News .
“ We know we have more work to do , and we ’ ll continue to work with civil rights groups , GARM , and other experts to develop even more tools , technology and policies to continue this fight.
” Twitter ’ s VP of global client solutions , Sarah Personette , responded to Unilever ’ s decision saying , “ We have developed policies and platform capabilities designed to protect and serve the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are committed to amplifying voices from underrepresented communities and marginalized groups .
We are respectful of our partners ’ decisions and will continue to work and communicate closely with them during this time.
” Last week , organizations like the NAACP , the Anti-Defamation League , Color of Change , and Free Press launched a campaign to “ Stop Hate for Profit , ” urging advertisers to pull their spending on Facebook through the month of July as protests against police brutality and racism crop up across the country .
Since then , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the platform , including Patagonia , Ben & Jerry ’ s , and Verizon .
Unilever said that it would maintain its planned advertising investment by shifting its spending to other media .
“ The complexities of the current cultural landscape have placed a renewed responsibility on brands to learn , respond and act to drive a trusted and safe digital ecosystem , ” Unilever said in a statement to The Verge .
“ Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our current position if necessary.
” The “ Stop Hate for Profit ” campaign launched following discussions organizations had with Facebook over its policies surrounding hate speech and misinformation .
The groups took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times last Wednesday urging advertisers to participate in the boycott .
“ Today , we are asking all businesses to stand in solidarity with our most deeply held American values of freedom , equality and justice and not advertise on Facebook ’ s services in July , ” the ad said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful message : Your profits will never be worth promoting hate , bigotry , racism , antisemitism and violence.
” Updated 6/26/20 at 1:43 PM ET : Included a statement from Facebook .

Consumer goods giant Unilever said Friday that it would halt all ad spending on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter through the end of the year, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Unilever owns dozens of popular household brands like Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Dove soap, and typically spends more than $1 billion each year promoting them through various ad channels.
As of press time, Facebook’s stock had fallen more than 7 percent in the wake of the news.
“We invest billions of dollars each year to keep our community safe and continuously work with outside experts to review and update our policies,” a Facebook spokesperson told NBC News. “We know we have more work to do, and we’ll continue to work with civil rights groups, GARM, and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight.”
Twitter’s VP of global client solutions, Sarah Personette, responded to Unilever’s decision saying, “We have developed policies and platform capabilities designed to protect and serve the public conversation, and as always, are committed to amplifying voices from underrepresented communities and marginalized groups. We are respectful of our partners’ decisions and will continue to work and communicate closely with them during this time.”
Last week, organizations like the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, Color of Change, and Free Press launched a campaign to “Stop Hate for Profit,” urging advertisers to pull their spending on Facebook through the month of July as protests against police brutality and racism crop up across the country. Since then, over 90 companies have halted spending on the platform, including Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Verizon.
Unilever said that it would maintain its planned advertising investment by shifting its spending to other media.
“The complexities of the current cultural landscape have placed a renewed responsibility on brands to learn, respond and act to drive a trusted and safe digital ecosystem,” Unilever said in a statement to The Verge. “Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society. We will be monitoring ongoing and will revisit our current position if necessary.”
The “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign launched following discussions organizations had with Facebook over its policies surrounding hate speech and misinformation. The groups took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times last Wednesday urging advertisers to participate in the boycott.
“Today, we are asking all businesses to stand in solidarity with our most deeply held American values of freedom, equality and justice and not advertise on Facebook’s services in July,” the ad said. “Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence.”


theverge--2020-06-27--GameStop is discounting video games and accessories for one day only

The $ 100 off deal on Apple ’ s MacBook Air with the improved keyboard is almost over Plus , @ @ @ @ @ LG and Logitech

GameStop is hosting several deals on video games and gaming accessories like controllers and headsets that last until the end of the day. The discounts apply both in stores around the US that have reopened, as well as online. While the Steam summer sale is a great opportunity to save on PC games, GameStop’s one-day sale is for console gamers, whether you play PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch. And if you’re a GameStop PowerUp Pro rewards member who has games to trade in at one of the retailer’s stores, you’ll get an extra 10 percent in credit back for each game.


theverge--2020-06-27--It Is What It Is: A fake app hyped on Twitter turned into a fundraiser for racial justice causes

An inside joke about a TikTok meme among a group of friends on Twitter grew into a minor social media mystery before morphing into a fundraiser for anti-racism causes .
Yes , that might be the most 2020 sentence I ’ ve written to date .
On Thursday , the eye-mouth-eye emoji meme started appearing in people ’ s Twitter handles and almost immediately , the buzz started about what it all meant , Gizmodo reported .
On TikTok , the meme is usually used to express cringe or embarrassment .
Soon an itiseyemoutheye Twitter handle appeared , then its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even though there ’ s no actual product ) , prompting discussion on Reddit , and receiving some media coverage before the group revealed themselves in a post late Friday .
“ A group of us changed our Twitter names to include “ [ the emoji ] ” because we thought it was a funny trend from TikTok .
People started noticing the change on their timelines , noting the creepiness of the emojis in particular , ” the post states .
“ For a brief period of time , everyone who added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a giant Twitter group conversation.
” The group describes itself as a “ diverse , ragtag group of young technologists tired of the status quo tech industry , ” which it says is “ obsessed with exclusive social apps that regularly ignore — or even silence — real needs faced by marginalized people all over the world , and exclude these folks from the building process.
” When the group realized it had some momentum , it decided to turn its hype into a fundraising vehicle for groups working toward racial justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fund , The Okra Project , and The Innocence Project among others .
Regynald Augustin , one of the organizers of It Is What It Is , says as of Saturday evening they ’ ve raised more than $ 60,000 from assorted donors , $ 135,000 from two anonymous donors ( one gave $ 60,000 and the other gave $ 75,000 ) , and about $ 10,000 in merchandise sales .
An initial matching donation of $ 50,000 was upped to $ 60,000 .
As the group said in its statement , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meme that leveraged the relentless hype of exclusive apps and redirected it towards a critical social need.
” UPDATE June 27th 7:18PM ET : Added new details about the amount of money raised .

An inside joke about a TikTok meme among a group of friends on Twitter grew into a minor social media mystery before morphing into a fundraiser for anti-racism causes. Yes, that might be the most 2020 sentence I’ve written to date.
On Thursday, the eye-mouth-eye emoji meme started appearing in people’s Twitter handles and almost immediately, the buzz started about what it all meant, Gizmodo reported. On TikTok, the meme is usually used to express cringe or embarrassment. Soon an itiseyemoutheye Twitter handle appeared, then its website was featured on Product Hunt (even though there’s no actual product), prompting discussion on Reddit, and receiving some media coverage before the group revealed themselves in a post late Friday.
“A group of us changed our Twitter names to include “[the emoji]” because we thought it was a funny trend from TikTok. People started noticing the change on their timelines, noting the creepiness of the emojis in particular,” the post states. “For a brief period of time, everyone who added the emojis to their name was added to a giant Twitter group conversation.”
The group describes itself as a “diverse, ragtag group of young technologists tired of the status quo tech industry,” which it says is “obsessed with exclusive social apps that regularly ignore — or even silence — real needs faced by marginalized people all over the world, and exclude these folks from the building process.”
When the group realized it had some momentum, it decided to turn its hype into a fundraising vehicle for groups working toward racial justice, which included the Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund, The Okra Project, and The Innocence Project among others. Regynald Augustin, one of the organizers of It Is What It Is, says as of Saturday evening they’ve raised more than $60,000 from assorted donors, $135,000 from two anonymous donors (one gave $60,000 and the other gave $75,000), and about $10,000 in merchandise sales. An initial matching donation of $50,000 was upped to $60,000. As the group said in its statement, “it is what it is: a meme that leveraged the relentless hype of exclusive apps and redirected it towards a critical social need.”


theverge--2020-06-27--Coca-Cola joins Facebook boycott with a pause on all social media advertising starting July 1st

The Coca-Cola Company is pausing all digital advertising on social media platforms globally for at least 30 days starting July 1st , the soda giant announced on Friday evening .
The move is part of a broader boycott of Facebook and Instagram organized by the Anti-Defamation League , the NAACP , and other organizations called the “ Stop Hate For Profit ” campaign .
Coca-Cola is going one step further than some of those companies and banning all ads globally on social media platforms , not just Facebook and Instagram .
That would suggest the boycott will hit Twitter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We will let them know we expect greater accountability , action and transparency from them.
” “ Starting on July 1 , The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days , ” reads a statement from Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey posted to the brand ’ s website .
“ We will take this time to reassess our advertising standards and policies to determine whether revisions are needed internally , and what more we should expect of our social media partners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence and inappropriate content .
We will let them know we expect greater accountability , action and transparency from them.
” Earlier Friday , Unilever joined Verizon as the two largest companies participating in the boycott prior to Coca-Cola ’ s involvement .
On Saturday , multinational beverage company Diageo said it also would “ pause paid advertising globally on major social media platforms ” as of July 1st .
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced a series of policy changes that , while not explicitly in response to the boycott , appear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the criticisms the company has faced of late regarding its lack of moderation of violent threats , hate speech , and misinformation posted by President Donald Trump and other controversial accounts and pages .
“ This continues a significant trend of major brands — including Unilever and Verizon — committing to pause Facebook ads for at least the month of July , ” reads a statement from progressive nonprofit Color of Change , one of the organizers of the boycott .
“ Since Color Of Change and its partners , including the ADL @ @ @ @ @ @ @ June 17 , over 100 brands have signed on.
” Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said on Friday that chocolate brand Hershey ’ s is also joining the boycott .
Yet while the boycott may be creating a wave of bad press for Facebook and Instagram , it ’ s unlikely even major advertisers pausing ad spending for one month will have a substantial effect on Facebook ’ s bottom line , as a majority of the company ’ s ad revenue comes from direct-response ads from small and medium-sized businesses .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ year to keep our community safe and continuously work with outside experts to review and update our policies , ” a Facebook spokesperson said in an email to The Verge .
“ We ’ ve opened ourselves up to a civil rights audit , and we have banned 250 white supremacist organizations from Facebook and Instagram .
The investments we have made in AI mean that we find nearly 90 percent of Hate Speech we action before users report it to us , while a recent EU report found Facebook assessed more hate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and YouTube .
We know we have more work to do , and we ’ ll continue to work with civil rights groups , GARM , and other experts to develop even more tools , technology and policies to continue this fight.
” The ad boycott is part of an organized effort called Stop Hate For Profit The Stop Hate For Profit campaign launched last week , starting with popular sports and outdoor lifestyle brands like The North Face and Patagonia .
It has since gained steam with mainstream corporate America after picking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ & Jerry ’ s and film distributor Magnolia Pictures .
On Friday , Honda announced it was joining the campaign as well , and would halt advertising on Facebook and Instagram in July .
“ This is in alignment with our company ’ s values , which are grounded in human respect , ” the company tweeted .
In an open letter posted Thursday , the ADL provided more concrete details regarding the changes the boycott seeks to produce in Facebook ’ s policies and its approach to moderation .
“ Today , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in solidarity with our most deeply held American values of freedom , equality and justice and not advertise on Facebook ’ s services in July , ” read an ad the Stop Hate For Profit campaign ran in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week .
“ Let ’ s send Facebook a powerful message : Your profits will never be worth promoting hate , bigotry , racism , antisemitism and violence .
”

The Coca-Cola Company is pausing all digital advertising on social media platforms globally for at least 30 days starting July 1st, the soda giant announced on Friday evening.
The move is part of a broader boycott of Facebook and Instagram organized by the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and other organizations called the “Stop Hate For Profit” campaign. Coca-Cola is going one step further than some of those companies and banning all ads globally on social media platforms, not just Facebook and Instagram. That would suggest the boycott will hit Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms as well.
“We will let them know we expect greater accountability, action and transparency from them.”
“Starting on July 1, The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days,” reads a statement from Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey posted to the brand’s website. “We will take this time to reassess our advertising standards and policies to determine whether revisions are needed internally, and what more we should expect of our social media partners to rid the platforms of hate, violence and inappropriate content. We will let them know we expect greater accountability, action and transparency from them.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced a series of policy changes that, while not explicitly in response to the boycott, appear designed to try and address many of the criticisms the company has faced of late regarding its lack of moderation of violent threats, hate speech, and misinformation posted by President Donald Trump and other controversial accounts and pages.
“This continues a significant trend of major brands — including Unilever and Verizon — committing to pause Facebook ads for at least the month of July,” reads a statement from progressive nonprofit Color of Change, one of the organizers of the boycott. “Since Color Of Change and its partners, including the ADL and NAACP, launched the campaign on June 17, over 100 brands have signed on.” Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said on Friday that chocolate brand Hershey’s is also joining the boycott.
Yet while the boycott may be creating a wave of bad press for Facebook and Instagram, it’s unlikely even major advertisers pausing ad spending for one month will have a substantial effect on Facebook’s bottom line, as a majority of the company’s ad revenue comes from direct-response ads from small and medium-sized businesses.
“We invest billions of dollars each year to keep our community safe and continuously work with outside experts to review and update our policies,” a Facebook spokesperson said in an email to The Verge. “We’ve opened ourselves up to a civil rights audit, and we have banned 250 white supremacist organizations from Facebook and Instagram. The investments we have made in AI mean that we find nearly 90 percent of Hate Speech we action before users report it to us, while a recent EU report found Facebook assessed more hate speech reports in 24 hours than Twitter and YouTube. We know we have more work to do, and we’ll continue to work with civil rights groups, GARM, and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight.”
The ad boycott is part of an organized effort called Stop Hate For Profit
The Stop Hate For Profit campaign launched last week, starting with popular sports and outdoor lifestyle brands like The North Face and Patagonia. It has since gained steam with mainstream corporate America after picking up support from ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s and film distributor Magnolia Pictures. On Friday, Honda announced it was joining the campaign as well, and would halt advertising on Facebook and Instagram in July. “This is in alignment with our company’s values, which are grounded in human respect,” the company tweeted.
In an open letter posted Thursday, the ADL provided more concrete details regarding the changes the boycott seeks to produce in Facebook’s policies and its approach to moderation.
“Today, we are asking all businesses to stand in solidarity with our most deeply held American values of freedom, equality and justice and not advertise on Facebook’s services in July,” read an ad the Stop Hate For Profit campaign ran in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week. “Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence.”
UPDATED June 27th 8:38AM ET: Added tweet comment from Honda


theverge--2020-06-27--Twitter promises to fine-tune its 5G coronavirus labeling after unrelated tweets were flagged

Twitter says it ’ s working on improving how it labels tweets with problematic 5G or coronavirus content , after users reported their tweets were being mislabeled with a COVID-19 fact-check .
“ In the last few weeks , you may have seen Tweets with labels linking to additional info about COVID-19 , ” Twitter Support tweeted .
“ Not all of those Tweets had potentially misleading content associating COVID-19 and 5G.
” Twitter began fact-checking tweets that linked 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month , by adding the label that reads “ get the facts about COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with “ No , 5G isn ’ t causing coronavirus ” as its title .
Part of a conspiracy theory that has been widely debunked suggested that the spread of the coronavirus was somehow linked to the installation of new 5G mobile networks .
The fact-check label is part of the social media company ’ s wider effort to attach warning labels to provide context for tweets with misleading COVID-19 information .
In April , the company went so far as to remove misleading COVID-19-related tweets that it viewed as inciting people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the system that determines which tweets get flagged is apparently a little over-eager .
It seems tweets including the words “ oxygen ” and “ frequency ” were being tagged with the fact-check label .
The Week posits that “ oxygen ” and “ frequency ” may be keywords that trigger the label , since part of the conspiracy theory suggests that the 5G “ frequency ” is harmful to the point that it “ sucks the oxygen out of the atmosphere.
” Twitter Support says it ’ s “ building new automated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we think could be relevant , ” adding that its goal was to reduce the number of mislabeled tweets .
It wasn ’ t clear when the fixes would be applied .

Twitter says it’s working on improving how it labels tweets with problematic 5G or coronavirus content, after users reported their tweets were being mislabeled with a COVID-19 fact-check.
“In the last few weeks, you may have seen Tweets with labels linking to additional info about COVID-19,” Twitter Support tweeted. “Not all of those Tweets had potentially misleading content associating COVID-19 and 5G.”
Twitter began fact-checking tweets that linked 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month, by adding the label that reads “get the facts about COVID-19” which links to a Twitter moment with “No, 5G isn’t causing coronavirus” as its title. Part of a conspiracy theory that has been widely debunked suggested that the spread of the coronavirus was somehow linked to the installation of new 5G mobile networks.
The fact-check label is part of the social media company’s wider effort to attach warning labels to provide context for tweets with misleading COVID-19 information. In April, the company went so far as to remove misleading COVID-19-related tweets that it viewed as inciting people to engage in “harmful activity.”
But the system that determines which tweets get flagged is apparently a little over-eager. It seems tweets including the words “oxygen” and “frequency” were being tagged with the fact-check label. The Week posits that “oxygen” and “frequency” may be keywords that trigger the label, since part of the conspiracy theory suggests that the 5G “frequency” is harmful to the point that it “sucks the oxygen out of the atmosphere.”
This tweet doesn’t even mention 5G or the coronavirus Yashar Ali/Twitter
“Labeling Tweets that may contain misleading information continues to be an iterative process,” a Twitter spokesperson said in an email to The Verge. “Given the global spread of misinformation and disputed claims around 5G and COVID-19, we prioritized algorithmically labeling Tweets with that information. As we improve this process to be more precise, our goal is to show fewer labels on unrelated Tweets.”
Twitter Support says it’s “building new automated capabilities to apply these labels to Tweets we think could be relevant,” but it wasn’t clear when the fixes would be applied.


theverge--2020-06-27--Google to add background blur, captioning, and low-light mode to Meet video calls

Google Meet is working on several new features that will match its competitors , including allowing users to add images or a blur effect to backgrounds on video calls , 9to5 Google reported .
As they can on rival videoconferencing platforms Zoom and Microsoft Teams , users will be able to either choose their own image or pick from several default options .
Google confirmed to The Verge that in addition to background blur and background replacement images , real-time captioning , low-light mode , hand-raising , and a tile view of up to 49 meeting participants will be rolled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The company didn ’ t provide details about when the changes would be available , but 9to5 Google reported Meet was already previewing some of the upcoming features for its education and enterprise customers .
Google integrated Meet into Gmail last month , adding a sidebar link and making meetings of up to 100 people with no time limits available to anyone with a Google account .
It ’ s working to catch up with videoconferencing juggernaut Zoom , which has been the leading videoconferencing app for people working and learning remotely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Microsoft are starting to catch up to Zoom ; Microsoft has grown its Teams app to 75 million daily active users , the company said in April .
And Meet recently surpassed 100 million daily Meet meeting participants , according to Google .

Google Meet is working on several new features that will match its competitors, including allowing users to add images or a blur effect to backgrounds on video calls, 9to5 Google reported. As they can on rival videoconferencing platforms Zoom and Microsoft Teams, users will be able to either choose their own image or pick from several default options.
Google confirmed to The Verge that in addition to background blur and background replacement images, real-time captioning, low-light mode, hand-raising, and a tile view of up to 49 meeting participants will be rolled out to the consumer version of Meet. The company didn’t provide details about when the changes would be available, but 9to5 Google reported Meet was already previewing some of the upcoming features for its education and enterprise customers.


theverge--2020-06-27--Go read this ProPublica story about a scheme to relabel non-medical masks for emergency workers

As the coronavirus spread across the US this spring , authorities warned people not to purchase N95 respirator masks , lest they contribute to a shortage of the masks for medical personnel .
The N95 respirators are considered the most effective masks to filter out droplets in the air that may transmit the virus .
Sites like Amazon suspended sales of N95 masks to the general public and cracked down on sellers who tried to sell counterfeit versions .
But a ProPublica investigation uncovered an operation in Texas that was repackaging masks marked as “ prohibited ” for medical use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answered an ad for a TaskRabbit gig told ProPublica what he witnessed : ... five or six other “ Taskers ” earning about $ 20 an hour were ripping Chinese masks out of plastic bags and stuffing them into new ones that were identical but for one potentially deadly difference .
The old packages were labeled in all caps “ MEDICAL USE PROHIBITED , ” meaning not to be used by doctors and nurses who need the strongest protection from tiny particles carrying the novel coronavirus .
The new bags , intended to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply omitted that warning .
According to ProPublica , the people behind the operation— a Silicon Valley investor and his business partner— used TaskRabbit and payments over Venmo to relabel the masks with the intent of selling them to emergency workers in Texas .
They had a stockpile of KN95 masks made in China , which are similar to the N95s made by 3M , but which often fail to pass regulatory inspection for use in the US .
The 6-foot stack of boxes were labeled as coming from a Chinese manufacturer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been identified by the FDA as one of the companies producing ineffective KN95s .
The masks filter as little as 39 % of particles , according to testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
They ’ re so ineffective that Canada issued a recall .
The FDA had hastily approved them and others for health care use at the beginning of the pandemic , but it changed its mind last month , even as millions of the masks circulated in the US .
There was apparently some confusion about whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or not , since the FDA had changed its guidance on their use .
Ultimately , thanks in part to ProPublica reporter J. David Swaine ’ s probing , the operation didn ’ t sell any of its repackaged masks to customers in the US .
But the article shows the gaping holes in our medical supply chain and is an example of the kind of dogged reporting on infuriating topics that is ProPublica ’ s trademark .
Go check it out here .

As the coronavirus spread across the US this spring, authorities warned people not to purchase N95 respirator masks, lest they contribute to a shortage of the masks for medical personnel. The N95 respirators are considered the most effective masks to filter out droplets in the air that may transmit the virus. Sites like Amazon suspended sales of N95 masks to the general public and cracked down on sellers who tried to sell counterfeit versions.
But a ProPublica investigation uncovered an operation in Texas that was repackaging masks marked as “prohibited” for medical use into unlabeled bags. A man who answered an ad for a TaskRabbit gig told ProPublica what he witnessed:
...five or six other “Taskers” earning about $20 an hour were ripping Chinese masks out of plastic bags and stuffing them into new ones that were identical but for one potentially deadly difference. The old packages were labeled in all caps “MEDICAL USE PROHIBITED,” meaning not to be used by doctors and nurses who need the strongest protection from tiny particles carrying the novel coronavirus. The new bags, intended to make their way to Texas hospitals, simply omitted that warning.
According to ProPublica, the people behind the operation— a Silicon Valley investor and his business partner— used TaskRabbit and payments over Venmo to relabel the masks with the intent of selling them to emergency workers in Texas. They had a stockpile of KN95 masks made in China, which are similar to the N95s made by 3M, but which often fail to pass regulatory inspection for use in the US.
The 6-foot stack of boxes were labeled as coming from a Chinese manufacturer, Guangzhou Aiyinmei Co. Ltd., which had been identified by the FDA as one of the companies producing ineffective KN95s. The masks filter as little as 39% of particles, according to testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They’re so ineffective that Canada issued a recall. The FDA had hastily approved them and others for health care use at the beginning of the pandemic, but it changed its mind last month, even as millions of the masks circulated in the US.


theverge--2020-06-27--11 new trailers to watch this week

11 new trailers to watch this week

I ’ ve been making my way through Studio Ghibli films now that they ’ re up on HBO Max , and last week I got around to watching Kiki ’ s Delivery Service for the first time .
It ’ s a remarkably charming film , and it shows Ghibli coming a long way in figuring out what , uh , plot is after the extremely bare bones My Neighbor Totoro came out just a year earlier .
Kiki ’ s Delivery Service adds just enough stakes to Ghibli ’ s beautiful worlds to make you care about what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much to actually get you stressed out .
The film is serene to watch — almost every character is remarkably nice and generous , the landscapes are gorgeous , and the talking cat doesn ’ t hurt either .
Check out 11 trailers from this week below .
Here ’ s our first look at Apple TV Plus ’ adaptation of Foundation , Isaac Asimov ’ s epic series of sci-fi novels .
I ’ ve been pretty skeptical of Apple ’ s interest in making anything too interesting ( its latest original @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , but this legitimately looks visually stunning so far .
The show premieres sometime next year .
Here it is at long last : a look at Disney ’ s recording of Hamilton starring Lin-Manuel Miranda and the rest of the original cast .
The film comes to Disney Plus on July 3rd .
Over the Moon looks like Netflix ’ s attempt to make a Disney-style musical , and it seems like it might just work .
The film comes from former Disney animator Glen Keane , and it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a rocket to the moon to meet the Moon Goddess .
It looks charming , and if you stick around till the end of this trailer , you ’ ll see the film slip into a colorful Pixar-like twist .
The film comes out some time this fall .
The Handmaid ’ s Tale is coming back for a fourth season — not any time soon , but Hulu ’ s teasing that it ’ s on the way , with a trailer focused on showing the next steps in the fight for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ returns some time next year .
This trailer offers the clearest look yet at Antebellum , a sci-fi horror film that has Janelle Monáe playing a woman who seems to be kidnapped and taken back in time where she ’ s enslaved in the American South .
The film is now scheduled to come out August 21st .
This is neat : Netflix had a bunch of filmmakers create new shorts while stuck at home during the pandemic .
The visuals look decidedly rough , but that stripped-down approach is a big part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ana Lily Amirpour , Maggie Gyllenhaal , Kristen Stewart , Paolo Sorrentino , David Mackenzie , and quite a few more .
It comes out June 30th .
NBCUniversal ’ s new streaming service , Peacock , launches in less than a month , and now we ’ re getting a closer look at its flashiest original series — an adaptation of Brave New World starring Alden Ehrenreich .
It debuts July 15th .
The latest trailer for the Kingsman prequel makes the film look every bit as ridiculous of a send-up of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preceded it — which makes sense , given that Matthew Vaughn is back as director .
The film comes out September 18th .
This Swedish film about a fitness influencer was meant to debut at Cannes ( which didn ’ t quite happen — the entire festival , that is ) , and it looks like an intimate drama about the horrors of fame .
IndieWire called it “ the most intense look at a social media fiend since Eighth Grade.
” There ’ s no release date just yet .
Disney is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ streaming service that ’ ll have the iconic characters interviewing celebrities and hosting some goofy segments along the way .
It debuts July 31st .
Jessica Chastain plays an assassin who ’ s on the run from her own organization after its leader turns on her .
It ’ s maybe the most formulaic plot possible , but the cast is great , with Colin Farrell , Common , and John Malkovich filling it out .
There doesn ’ t appear to be a release date just yet .

I’ve been making my way through Studio Ghibli films now that they’re up on HBO Max, and last week I got around to watching Kiki’s Delivery Service for the first time. It’s a remarkably charming film, and it shows Ghibli coming a long way in figuring out what, uh, plot is after the extremely bare bones My Neighbor Totoro came out just a year earlier.
Kiki’s Delivery Service adds just enough stakes to Ghibli’s beautiful worlds to make you care about what’s happening, but not so much to actually get you stressed out. The film is serene to watch — almost every character is remarkably nice and generous, the landscapes are gorgeous, and the talking cat doesn’t hurt either.
Check out 11 trailers from this week below.
Foundation
Here’s our first look at Apple TV Plus’ adaptation of Foundation, Isaac Asimov’s epic series of sci-fi novels. I’ve been pretty skeptical of Apple’s interest in making anything too interesting (its latest original is a documentary about dads called Dads), but this legitimately looks visually stunning so far. The show premieres sometime next year.
Hamilton
Here it is at long last: a look at Disney’s recording of Hamilton starring Lin-Manuel Miranda and the rest of the original cast. The film comes to Disney Plus on July 3rd.
Over the Moon
Over the Moon looks like Netflix’s attempt to make a Disney-style musical, and it seems like it might just work. The film comes from former Disney animator Glen Keane, and it’s about a young girl trying to build a rocket to the moon to meet the Moon Goddess. It looks charming, and if you stick around till the end of this trailer, you’ll see the film slip into a colorful Pixar-like twist. The film comes out some time this fall.
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Handmaid’s Tale is coming back for a fourth season — not any time soon, but Hulu’s teasing that it’s on the way, with a trailer focused on showing the next steps in the fight for Elisabeth Moss’ character. The show returns some time next year.
Antebellum
This trailer offers the clearest look yet at Antebellum, a sci-fi horror film that has Janelle Monáe playing a woman who seems to be kidnapped and taken back in time where she’s enslaved in the American South. The film is now scheduled to come out August 21st.
Homemade
This is neat: Netflix had a bunch of filmmakers create new shorts while stuck at home during the pandemic. The visuals look decidedly rough, but that stripped-down approach is a big part of the appeal here. Directors include Ana Lily Amirpour, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kristen Stewart, Paolo Sorrentino, David Mackenzie, and quite a few more. It comes out June 30th.
Brave New World
NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, Peacock, launches in less than a month, and now we’re getting a closer look at its flashiest original series — an adaptation of Brave New World starring Alden Ehrenreich. It debuts July 15th.
The King’s Man
The latest trailer for the Kingsman prequel makes the film look every bit as ridiculous of a send-up of action films as the two films that preceded it — which makes sense, given that Matthew Vaughn is back as director. The film comes out September 18th.
Sweat
This Swedish film about a fitness influencer was meant to debut at Cannes (which didn’t quite happen — the entire festival, that is), and it looks like an intimate drama about the horrors of fame. IndieWire called it “the most intense look at a social media fiend since Eighth Grade.” There’s no release date just yet.
Muppets Now
Disney is making a Muppets variety show for its streaming service that’ll have the iconic characters interviewing celebrities and hosting some goofy segments along the way. It debuts July 31st.
Ava


theverge--2020-06-28--Twitter promises to fine-tune its 5G coronavirus labeling after unrelated tweets were flagged

Twitter says it ’ s working on improving how it labels tweets with problematic 5G or coronavirus content , after users reported their tweets were being mislabeled with a COVID-19 fact-check .
“ In the last few weeks , you may have seen Tweets with labels linking to additional info about COVID-19 , ” Twitter Support tweeted .
“ Not all of those Tweets had potentially misleading content associating COVID-19 and 5G.
” Twitter began fact-checking tweets that linked 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month , by adding the label that reads “ get the facts about COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with “ No , 5G isn ’ t causing coronavirus ” as its title .
Part of a conspiracy theory that has been widely debunked suggested that the spread of the coronavirus was somehow linked to the installation of new 5G mobile networks .
The fact-check label is part of the social media company ’ s wider effort to attach warning labels to provide context for tweets with misleading COVID-19 information .
In April , the company went so far as to remove misleading COVID-19-related tweets that it viewed as inciting people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the system that determines which tweets get flagged is apparently a little over-eager .
It seems tweets including the words “ oxygen ” and “ frequency ” were being tagged with the fact-check label .
The Week posits that “ oxygen ” and “ frequency ” may be keywords that trigger the label , since part of the conspiracy theory suggests that the 5G “ frequency ” is harmful to the point that it “ sucks the oxygen out of the atmosphere.
” “ Labeling Tweets that may contain misleading information continues to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook spokesperson said in an email to The Verge .
“ Given the global spread of misinformation and disputed claims around 5G and COVID-19 , we prioritized algorithmically labeling Tweets with that information .
As we improve this process to be more precise , our goal is to show fewer labels on unrelated Tweets.
” Twitter Support says it ’ s “ building new automated capabilities to apply these labels to Tweets we think could be relevant , ” but it wasn ’ t clear when the fixes would be applied .


theverge--2020-06-28--Dr Disrespect breaks silence, but Twitch still refuses to say what’s going on

What you ’ ve probably heard : three months after he signed an exclusive two-year contract with Twitch for a “ life-changing ” amount of money , Twitch has nonetheless “ permanently banned ” Guy Beahm , aka Dr Disrespect , for something he did in violation of the company ’ s rules .
What you might be thinking : it ’ s too much of a coincidence for his channel ’ s abrupt disappearance to happen a single day after Twitch announced it would start permanently banning streamers for sexual harassment and assault .
The truth : we do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banned Beahm , much less the facts around why Disrespect disappeared on Friday , because the company has repeatedly refused to confirm even a ban to The Verge — and declined to deny a new statement from Beahm this evening that claims Twitch won ’ t even tell him what ’ s going on .
It ’ s the first word from Beahm since his channel abruptly disappeared from Twitch on Friday afternoon , and it ’ s clearly designed to suggest that Twitch is in the wrong .
Perhaps he knows full @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is hiding behind the words “ specific reason , ” but we have no current evidence of anything right now — again , neither Twitch nor Disrespect have even confirmed that he ’ s being suspended , much less banned , much less permanently .
To be blunt , we ’ ve seen nothing that rules out the possibility that Disrespect pulled himself off Twitch for some reason , however unlikely that may seem .
The idea that he ’ s been permanently banned originally came secondhand , from sources who spoke anonymously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the people tweeting have since explained that they were unwilling or unable to share the reason why .
Kotaku has since corroborated a ban with three additional sources , but for some currently inexplicable reason Twitch won ’ t go that far .
Occasionally , in the past , we ’ ve seen companies do that because they prefer the world ’ s current understanding of a situation , even when that understanding is wrong .
The only thing Twitch has provided is this statement , which it declined to connect to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it leaves open the possibility that Beahm has not been banned .
It ’ s quite possible that all will be revealed in due time , and all the publications currently reporting that Dr Disrespect has been permanently banned will look justified after the fact .
Perhaps there ’ s also a very good reason why some facts need to be withheld .
The only facts available right now are that Dr Disrespect has disappeared from Twitch ; Twitch and Beahm won ’ t say why ; and a lot of people are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

What you’ve probably heard: three months after he signed an exclusive two-year contract with Twitch for a “life-changing” amount of money, Twitch has nonetheless “permanently banned” Guy Beahm, aka Dr Disrespect, for something he did in violation of the company’s rules.
What you might be thinking: it’s too much of a coincidence for his channel’s abrupt disappearance to happen a single day after Twitch announced it would start permanently banning streamers for sexual harassment and assault.
The truth: we do not currently know whether Twitch has even banned Beahm, much less the facts around why Disrespect disappeared on Friday, because the company has repeatedly refused to confirm even a ban to The Verge — and declined to deny a new statement from Beahm this evening that claims Twitch won’t even tell him what’s going on.
It’s the first word from Beahm since his channel abruptly disappeared from Twitch on Friday afternoon, and it’s clearly designed to suggest that Twitch is in the wrong. Perhaps he knows full well what’s going on and is hiding behind the words “specific reason,” but we have no current evidence of anything right now — again, neither Twitch nor Disrespect have even confirmed that he’s being suspended, much less banned, much less permanently. To be blunt, we’ve seen nothing that rules out the possibility that Disrespect pulled himself off Twitch for some reason, however unlikely that may seem.
The idea that he’s been permanently banned originally came secondhand, from sources who spoke anonymously through others on Twitter — and both of the people tweeting have since explained that they were unwilling or unable to share the reason why. Kotaku has since corroborated a ban with three additional sources, but for some currently inexplicable reason Twitch won’t go that far. Occasionally, in the past, we’ve seen companies do that because they prefer the world’s current understanding of a situation, even when that understanding is wrong.
The only thing Twitch has provided is this statement, which it declined to connect to Beahm, even when we explained that it leaves open the possibility that Beahm has not been banned.
“As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”
It’s quite possible that all will be revealed in due time, and all the publications currently reporting that Dr Disrespect has been permanently banned will look justified after the fact. Perhaps there’s also a very good reason why some facts need to be withheld.


theverge--2020-06-28--Amazon warehouse workers in Germany will strike Monday because of coronavirus infections

Amazon workers at six sites across Germany plan to strike Monday because dozens of staff members at its logistics centers have been infected with the coronavirus , union officials told Reuters .
The union says the company is prioritizing profits over workers ’ safety .
Labor union Verdi says “ at least 30 to 40 colleagues were infected ” with the virus , according to Reuters .
The strike will last 48 hours and be conducted with the motto “ good and healthy work.
” Amazon warehouse workers in Germany have struck several times in recent years , over worker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Amazon warehouse workers in the US have staged protests over what they say are unsafe working conditions , and walked off the job in several cities .
Workers criticized the company for not notifying workers when colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus .
A group of three Amazon warehouse workers in New York filed suit against the company earlier this month , alleging the company put them and their families at risk of contracting the virus .
At least seven Amazon warehouse workers in the US have died from COVID-19 since the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are planned for Amazon sites in Leipzig , Bad Hersfeld , Rheinberg , Werne , and Koblenz , Reuters reported .
Germany is the e-commerce giant ’ s second-biggest market after the US .
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday .

Amazon workers at six sites across Germany plan to strike Monday because dozens of staff members at its logistics centers have been infected with the coronavirus, union officials told Reuters. The union says the company is prioritizing profits over workers’ safety.
Labor union Verdi says “at least 30 to 40 colleagues were infected” with the virus, according to Reuters. The strike will last 48 hours and be conducted with the motto “good and healthy work.”
Amazon warehouse workers in Germany have struck several times in recent years, over worker pay and conditions.
In recent months, Amazon warehouse workers in the US have staged protests over what they say are unsafe working conditions, and walked off the job in several cities. Workers criticized the company for not notifying workers when colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus. A group of three Amazon warehouse workers in New York filed suit against the company earlier this month, alleging the company put them and their families at risk of contracting the virus.
At least seven Amazon warehouse workers in the US have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.
Monday’s strikes are planned for Amazon sites in Leipzig, Bad Hersfeld, Rheinberg, Werne, and Koblenz, Reuters reported. Germany is the e-commerce giant’s second-biggest market after the US.


theverge--2020-06-28--Facebook is introducing a dark mode for mobile

After launching a dark mode for its desktop interface , Facebook confirms it is testing a dark mode for its mobile apps as well .
As first noted by SocialMedia Today , Facebook has made the dark mode available to a very small percentage of people globally , a spokesperson told The Verge in an email Sunday .
The mobile version of the dark mode Facebook introduced last month for desktop is “ meant to cut down on glare , ” particularly in low-light environments , the spokesperson said .
There ’ s no timeline yet for when the dark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ users , however .
Users who already have the new dark mode on mobile tweeted screenshots of what it looks like : It ’ s a bit surprising it ’ s taken this long for Facebook to roll out a mobile dark mode ; its Instagram , and WhatsApp apps have dark mode already , as does Facebook Messenger .
Twitter has had a version of night mode for its Android and iOS apps for some time , and even Google rolled out a dark mode for its app earlier this year .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ allow users to change the background color of an app window to black— are popular not only because they make apps easier to view for some users and are a bit more aesthetically pleasing , but because most dark mode versions can help preserve a device ’ s battery life as well .

After launching a dark mode for its desktop interface, Facebook confirms it is testing a dark mode for its mobile apps as well. As first noted by SocialMedia Today, Facebook has made the dark mode available to a very small percentage of people globally, a spokesperson told The Verge in an email Sunday. The mobile version of the dark mode Facebook introduced last month for desktop is “meant to cut down on glare,” particularly in low-light environments, the spokesperson said. There’s no timeline yet for when the dark mode will be available to all mobile users, however.
Users who already have the new dark mode on mobile tweeted screenshots of what it looks like:
It’s a bit surprising it’s taken this long for Facebook to roll out a mobile dark mode; its Instagram, and WhatsApp apps have dark mode already, as does Facebook Messenger. Twitter has had a version of night mode for its Android and iOS apps for some time, and even Google rolled out a dark mode for its app earlier this year.
Low-light and dark mode varieties — which allow users to change the background color of an app window to black— are popular not only because they make apps easier to view for some users and are a bit more aesthetically pleasing, but because most dark mode versions can help preserve a device’s battery life as well.


theverge--2020-06-28--Starbucks is the latest big company to halt advertising on social media

Starbucks will join the growing list of corporate entities pausing advertising on social media platforms , the company said in a blog post Sunday .
The coffee giant says that it stands “ against hate speech ” and believes “ both business leaders and policy makers need to come together to affect real change.
” “ We will pause advertising on all social media platforms while we continue discussions internally , with our media partners and with civil rights organizations in the effort to stop the spread of hate speech , ” the blog post , titled “ Creating Welcoming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A Starbucks spokesperson told The Verge Sunday that the company ’ s social media advertising pause will not include YouTube , and while Starbucks will continue to post to social media , it won ’ t do paid promotions .
Starbucks also is not officially joining the “ Stop Hate For Profit ” campaign organized by the Anti-Defamation League , the NAACP , and other social justice organizations .
The campaign is aimed specifically at Facebook and its moderation policies around violent threats , misinformation , and hate speech , and calls for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the month of July .
Unilever , Verizon , the North Face , Patagonia , Ben & Jerry ’ s , Magnolia Pictures , Honda , and Hershey have all signed on to the Stop Hate for Profit campaign .
The Coca-Cola Company went a step further and announced Friday it was pausing all digital advertising on all social media platforms globally beginning July 1st .
Multinational beverage company Diageo made a similar pledge .
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of changes last week which weren ’ t directly in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ address some of the criticisms of the company ’ s policies .
“ Facebook stands for giving people a voice , and that especially means people who have previously not had as much voice , or as much power to share their own experiences , ” Zuckerberg said in a company town hall .
“ It ’ s really important that we make sure our platforms live up to these principles .
”

Starbucks will join the growing list of corporate entities pausing advertising on social media platforms, the company said in a blog post Sunday. The coffee giant says that it stands “against hate speech” and believes “both business leaders and policy makers need to come together to affect real change.”
“We will pause advertising on all social media platforms while we continue discussions internally, with our media partners and with civil rights organizations in the effort to stop the spread of hate speech,” the blog post, titled “Creating Welcoming and Inclusive Online Communities” states.
A Starbucks spokesperson told The Verge Sunday that the company’s social media advertising pause will not include YouTube, and while Starbucks will continue to post to social media, it won’t do paid promotions.
Starbucks also is not officially joining the “Stop Hate For Profit” campaign organized by the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and other social justice organizations. The campaign is aimed specifically at Facebook and its moderation policies around violent threats, misinformation, and hate speech, and calls for a boycott of advertising on the platform for the month of July. Unilever, Verizon, the North Face, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnolia Pictures, Honda, and Hershey have all signed on to the Stop Hate for Profit campaign.
The Coca-Cola Company went a step further and announced Friday it was pausing all digital advertising on all social media platforms globally beginning July 1st. Multinational beverage company Diageo made a similar pledge.


theverge--2020-06-28--Streaming this week: ‘Hamilton’ on Disney Plus, ‘I’ll Be Gone in The Dark,’ on HBO, and ‘Warrior Nun

Streaming this week: ‘Hamilton’ on Disney Plus, ‘I’ll Be Gone in The Dark,’ on HBO, and ‘Warrior Nun’ on Netflix

As I put together this latest list of what ’ s new on streaming this week , I realized a theme running through the selections : bad-ass women .
There ’ s a documentary about crime-solving writer Michelle McNamara , a series based on a manga comic about a warrior nun ( yes , really ! )
, and of course the Schuyler sisters , Angelica and Eliza , from Hamilton .
I ’ ll Be Gone in the Dark ( HBO , June 28th ) This six-part documentary series follows the remarkable story of the late writer Michelle McNamara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Killer , who terrorized California for years in the mid- 1970s and 1980s .
Vulture calls it “ a tough , ultimately inspirational work about how life kicks the shit out of you and you just have to get through it somehow , coping with sadness and regret and PTSD because you don ’ t have a choice.
” Based on McNamara ’ s book , which was unfinished at the time of her death ( her widower , the comedian Patton Oswalt , helped bring the work to completion ) , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rightly focuses not on the killer himself but on McNamara ’ s determination to bring him to justice .
Ars Technica describes the new Netflix series Warrior Nun as “ if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got religion ” and that ’ s kind of enough to pique my interest if we ’ re being honest : “ mystical portals to heaven ( and/or hell ) ?
Check .
Badass nuns steeped in the martial arts ?
Check .
A hot young love interest for Ava ?
Check .
Lots of demon slaying and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Based on the manga comic series “ Warrior Nun Areala , ” the show focuses on a young girl who fights the forces of evil on behalf of the ancient Order of the Cruciform Sword .
Alba Baptista , Tristan Ulloa , and Sylvia De Fanti star .
Hanna , the teenager raised in seclusion and trained to be a super soldier is back for a second season .
The first season was based on the 2011 film of the same name which starred Saoirse Ronan ; the streaming version stars Esme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiences something of a role reversal in season two after the [ spoiler alert ] death of her father Erik at the end of season one .
Den of Geek says Hanna season two “ effectively blends the coming-of-age boarding school drama genre with the espionage thriller genre.
” Maybe you have been off the grid/living in a cave for the past five years and are not aware of Lin-Manuel Miranda ’ s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical about the ten-dollar founding father Alexander Hamilton ?
Disney Plus decided to drop its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the original Broadway cast— this summer instead of holding for its original theatrical premiere date of October 2021 .
It will give those who couldn ’ t get tickets to the show ( seriously it was sold out f o r e v e r ) the chance to see Miranda as Hamilton , Leslie Odom Jr. as Burr , Daveed Diggs as Jefferson , and Phillipa Soo as Eliza .
Not quite in the room where it happened , but pretty close .

As I put together this latest list of what’s new on streaming this week, I realized a theme running through the selections: bad-ass women. There’s a documentary about crime-solving writer Michelle McNamara, a series based on a manga comic about a warrior nun (yes, really!), and of course the Schuyler sisters, Angelica and Eliza, from Hamilton.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (HBO, June 28th)
This six-part documentary series follows the remarkable story of the late writer Michelle McNamara and her investigation into The Golden State Killer, who terrorized California for years in the mid- 1970s and 1980s. Vulture calls it “a tough, ultimately inspirational work about how life kicks the shit out of you and you just have to get through it somehow, coping with sadness and regret and PTSD because you don’t have a choice.” Based on McNamara’s book, which was unfinished at the time of her death (her widower, the comedian Patton Oswalt, helped bring the work to completion), I’ll Be Gone in the Dark rightly focuses not on the killer himself but on McNamara’s determination to bring him to justice.
Warrior Nun (Netflix, July 2nd)
Ars Technica describes the new Netflix series Warrior Nun as “if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got religion” and that’s kind of enough to pique my interest if we’re being honest: “mystical portals to heaven (and/or hell)? Check. Badass nuns steeped in the martial arts? Check. A hot young love interest for Ava? Check. Lots of demon slaying and a bit of comic relief? Check.” Based on the manga comic series “Warrior Nun Areala,” the show focuses on a young girl who fights the forces of evil on behalf of the ancient Order of the Cruciform Sword. Alba Baptista, Tristan Ulloa, and Sylvia De Fanti star.
Hanna, Season Two (Amazon Prime, July 3rd)
Hanna, the teenager raised in seclusion and trained to be a super soldier is back for a second season. The first season was based on the 2011 film of the same name which starred Saoirse Ronan; the streaming version stars Esme Creed-Miles as the titular character, who experiences something of a role reversal in season two after the [spoiler alert] death of her father Erik at the end of season one. Den of Geek says Hanna season two “effectively blends the coming-of-age boarding school drama genre with the espionage thriller genre.”
Hamilton (Disney Plus, July 3rd)