theverge--2020-08-29--Razer Blade Pro 17 review: big, bold, and powerful

The Razer Blade Pro 17 is far from an Ultrabook .
It ’ s just over six pounds and boasts a 17-inch screen , an H-series processor , and a top-end RTX GPU .
But it ’ s got an Ultrabook-y vibe to it .
Like its smaller counterparts in the Blade line , the Pro 17 is chic and professional , lacking the bells and whistles you might expect to see on a large gaming laptop .
The chassis is all black and all aluminum , with Razer ’ s logo adding a sleek splash of green to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is classy and subdued .
But the insides are where the Pro 17 really stands out from its siblings .
This thing has serious power , packed with an eight-core Intel Core i7-10875H and Nvidia ’ s GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q .
Those don ’ t come cheap — configurations start at $ 2,599 .
And they don ’ t deliver the absolute best gaming results on the market — those are still going to come from even larger systems with better cooling .
But it ’ s still the best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , professional machine .
A couple things to note , though , if you ’ re in that demographic .
First , while the Blade looks more like a premium workstation than a stereotypical gaming laptop , it still has gaming-laptop battery life .
( I got about two and a half hours of productivity work out of the device , and 53 minutes of gaming .
Even among gaming laptops , that ’ s… well , not great . )
Second , it ’ s not terribly thick for a gaming rig @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 6.06 pounds , it ’ s still not trivial to carry around ( and the charger is hefty as well ) .
In short : the Pro 17 is portable enough to easily transport between rooms of your house , but — as is often the case with desktop replacements — it ’ s not the right choice if you ’ re looking to play on your commute .
In terms of inputs , the Pro 17 has a backlit keyboard with per-key RGB lighting .
The keys are a bit shallow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has finally extended the shift key and moved all four arrow keys underneath it ; previous Blade models squeezed the up arrow to the left of shift , making it easy to accidentally nick the wrong one .
The Pro 17 doesn ’ t have a numpad , as many 17-inch ( and even a few 15-inch ) laptops do .
That gives the keyboard more space , but it also means you may need to remap controls on some games ( as I did in Microsoft Flight Simulator ) .
In Razer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also enable a nifty Gaming Mode , which puts out color profiles customized to the title you ’ re playing .
For example , W , A , S , and D all turned a bright yellow while I ran Overwatch .
The Blade ’ s touchpad certainly isn ’ t its most important feature , since many people will probably be using a mouse .
But if you ’ re curious , it ’ s also fine and quite roomy .
The laptop ’ s wide port selection means you can potentially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There are three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports , one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C , one Thunderbolt 3 , one Ethernet , one power port , one HDMI , and one UHS-III SD card slot , in addition to a Kensington lock .
You can charge the Blade by USB-C , but Razer recommends that you stick with its brick , since the laptop may charge slowly or not charge at all if you ’ re using it with a low-wattage adapter .
The standout feature here , though , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come with one of two screens : a 300Hz screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution or a 120Hz touch display with 3840 x 2160 resolution .
I tested the 300Hz configuration .
The high refresh rate and lower resolution means that this panel is really meant for gaming — if you ’ re looking to do serious creative work , the latter screen is a better option .
( The 1080p display is also not the brightest one around , reaching a peak of just 319 nits in my testing . )
Still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw little glare and almost no ghosting .
I could definitely hear the system at work Inside , my test model has an eight-core Core i7-10875H , 16GB of dual-channel RAM ( upgradeable to 64GB ) , a 512GB SSD and an open M.2 slot ( upgradeable to 2TB ) , and Nvidia ’ s GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics card .
That configuration is $ 3,199 .
The base model is $ 2,599 — the only difference is that it has an RTX 2070 Max-Q rather than the 2080 .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it comes with a 1TB SSD ( also upgradeable to 2TB ) .
All models have a 70.5Whr battery and ship with a 230W brick .
Razer has integrated a new vapor chamber into the Blade , which it says cools the laptop more efficiently than traditional heat pipes .
There are also vents hidden in the hinge to pump air out — they face the screen , so you won ’ t see them unless you ’ re viewing the laptop from above .
I could definitely hear the system at work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the room even when I was just browsing the web .
( The stereo speakers , while about average for laptop speakers , are loud enough that you ’ ll still hear your games ’ audio just fine . )
Their labor wasn ’ t quite enough to keep the chassis from heating up — the keyboard and palm rests were usually toasty beneath my hands , even when I was just bouncing between eight Chrome tabs and running a download or two .
The bottom was often hot enough that I couldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lap .
But the fans do accomplish the more important task of keeping the chips from frying — during a few hours of gaming , the CPU never broke 90 degrees Celsius .
Speaking of gaming , that ’ s the whole point of the Blade Pro 17 — and it ’ s where the laptop shines .
It was able to run Microsoft Flight Simulator on ultra settings ( the max ) at an average of 53 frames per second .
That game has been cooking even some decent desktop systems , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — especially one this thin and light .
Bump a couple settings down , and you ’ ll easily break 60 .
The RTX 2080 also proved itself to be able to handle ray tracing .
On Shadow of the Tomb Raider ’ s highest settings , with tracing on , the Blade averaged 95fps .
Both games were a smooth experience , and it ’ s hard not to be immersed when playing them on such a large screen .
Gentler titles easily surpassed 100fps on their maximum settings .
The Blade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 139fps on Fortnite , 168fps on Apex Legends , and 231fps on CS : GO .
This 1080p Blade configuration isn ’ t what you ’ d buy for creative work , but it did an excellent job with that as well , completing an export of a five-minute , 33-second 4K video in just two minutes and 44 seconds .
That ’ s comparable to the result I got from the Gigabyte Aero 15 , which is designed for creative work .
The Dell XPS 17 took around four minutes to finish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close to peak gaming laptop .
They beat some big rigs we ’ ve tested , including Alienware ’ s prior-generation Area 51m , and thinner 17-inchers like the MSI GS75 .
If you need much better results than that , you ’ re going to be looking at systems with a Core i9 and even more elaborate cooling .
I ’ m talking MSI ’ s GT76 Titan and Gigabyte ’ s Aorus 17X — much thicker , much heavier stuff that requires multiple power bricks .
But if you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laptop that you can cart around the house without too much difficulty , the Blade Pro 17 is about as good as it gets .
The best of the portable , premium best Of course , that doesn ’ t mean it ’ s the only option .
It ’ s still quite expensive , and if you don ’ t need a screen that ’ s quite this big , you can get great gaming results from any number of more affordable 15-inch machines .
If you want something to use while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the GS75 and the Alienware m17 R2 can hold more juice ( and if you ’ re at all willing to consider a 14-incher , the Asus Zephyrus G14 will last you all day ) .
But there ’ s not another option that can offer this combination of performance , portability , and looks .
The Blade Pro 17 isn ’ t without compromise , and it isn ’ t quite the best of the best — but it ’ s the best of the portable , premium best .

The Razer Blade Pro 17 is far from an Ultrabook. It’s just over six pounds and boasts a 17-inch screen, an H-series processor, and a top-end RTX GPU.
But it’s got an Ultrabook-y vibe to it. Like its smaller counterparts in the Blade line, the Pro 17 is chic and professional, lacking the bells and whistles you might expect to see on a large gaming laptop. The chassis is all black and all aluminum, with Razer’s logo adding a sleek splash of green to the lid. The keyboard, while colorful, is classy and subdued.
8.5 Verge Score Razer Blade Pro 17 (2020) $ 3199 The Good Impressive gaming performance
Thin, chic design
Colorful keyboard with fun effects The Bad Just a 512GB SSD in 300Hz models
Gets hot
Expensive $3199 at Razer How we rate and review products
But the insides are where the Pro 17 really stands out from its siblings. This thing has serious power, packed with an eight-core Intel Core i7-10875H and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q. Those don’t come cheap — configurations start at $2,599. And they don’t deliver the absolute best gaming results on the market — those are still going to come from even larger systems with better cooling. But it’s still the best choice for gamers looking for a portable, professional machine.
A couple things to note, though, if you’re in that demographic. First, while the Blade looks more like a premium workstation than a stereotypical gaming laptop, it still has gaming-laptop battery life. (I got about two and a half hours of productivity work out of the device, and 53 minutes of gaming. Even among gaming laptops, that’s… well, not great.) Second, it’s not terribly thick for a gaming rig (0.78 inches thick), but at 6.06 pounds, it’s still not trivial to carry around (and the charger is hefty as well). In short: the Pro 17 is portable enough to easily transport between rooms of your house, but — as is often the case with desktop replacements — it’s not the right choice if you’re looking to play on your commute.
The M.2 slot supports both SATA and PCIe SSDs.
In terms of inputs, the Pro 17 has a backlit keyboard with per-key RGB lighting. The keys are a bit shallow but deliver a reasonable click. Razer has finally extended the shift key and moved all four arrow keys underneath it; previous Blade models squeezed the up arrow to the left of shift, making it easy to accidentally nick the wrong one. The Pro 17 doesn’t have a numpad, as many 17-inch (and even a few 15-inch) laptops do. That gives the keyboard more space, but it also means you may need to remap controls on some games (as I did in Microsoft Flight Simulator).
In Razer’s Synapse software, you can also enable a nifty Gaming Mode, which puts out color profiles customized to the title you’re playing. For example, W, A, S, and D all turned a bright yellow while I ran Overwatch.
The Blade’s touchpad certainly isn’t its most important feature, since many people will probably be using a mouse. But if you’re curious, it’s also fine and quite roomy.
All USB ports support USB 3.2 Gen 2. Wi-Fi 6 and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port.
The laptop’s wide port selection means you can potentially connect up to three external displays. There are three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, one Thunderbolt 3, one Ethernet, one power port, one HDMI, and one UHS-III SD card slot, in addition to a Kensington lock. You can charge the Blade by USB-C, but Razer recommends that you stick with its brick, since the laptop may charge slowly or not charge at all if you’re using it with a low-wattage adapter.
The standout feature here, though, is the display. The Pro 17 can come with one of two screens: a 300Hz screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution or a 120Hz touch display with 3840 x 2160 resolution. I tested the 300Hz configuration. The high refresh rate and lower resolution means that this panel is really meant for gaming — if you’re looking to do serious creative work, the latter screen is a better option. (The 1080p display is also not the brightest one around, reaching a peak of just 319 nits in my testing.) Still, games looked pretty good — I saw little glare and almost no ghosting.
I could definitely hear the system at work
Inside, my test model has an eight-core Core i7-10875H, 16GB of dual-channel RAM (upgradeable to 64GB), a 512GB SSD and an open M.2 slot (upgradeable to 2TB), and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics card. That configuration is $3,199. The base model is $2,599 — the only difference is that it has an RTX 2070 Max-Q rather than the 2080. The touchscreen option is $3,799, and it comes with a 1TB SSD (also upgradeable to 2TB). All models have a 70.5Whr battery and ship with a 230W brick.
The chassis is only 15.55 inches wide. Razer added two fans for additional cooling.
Razer has integrated a new vapor chamber into the Blade, which it says cools the laptop more efficiently than traditional heat pipes. There are also vents hidden in the hinge to pump air out — they face the screen, so you won’t see them unless you’re viewing the laptop from above. I could definitely hear the system at work; the fans were audible from across the room even when I was just browsing the web. (The stereo speakers, while about average for laptop speakers, are loud enough that you’ll still hear your games’ audio just fine.)
Their labor wasn’t quite enough to keep the chassis from heating up — the keyboard and palm rests were usually toasty beneath my hands, even when I was just bouncing between eight Chrome tabs and running a download or two. The bottom was often hot enough that I couldn’t use the laptop on my lap. But the fans do accomplish the more important task of keeping the chips from frying — during a few hours of gaming, the CPU never broke 90 degrees Celsius.
The keyboard produces 16.8 million colors.
Speaking of gaming, that’s the whole point of the Blade Pro 17 — and it’s where the laptop shines. It was able to run Microsoft Flight Simulator on ultra settings (the max) at an average of 53 frames per second. That game has been cooking even some decent desktop systems, so 53fps is impressive for a laptop — especially one this thin and light. Bump a couple settings down, and you’ll easily break 60.
The RTX 2080 also proved itself to be able to handle ray tracing. On Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s highest settings, with tracing on, the Blade averaged 95fps. Both games were a smooth experience, and it’s hard not to be immersed when playing them on such a large screen. Gentler titles easily surpassed 100fps on their maximum settings. The Blade Pro 17 averaged 129fps on Overwatch, 139fps on Fortnite, 168fps on Apex Legends, and 231fps on CS:GO.
Games were a smooth experience
This 1080p Blade configuration isn’t what you’d buy for creative work, but it did an excellent job with that as well, completing an export of a five-minute, 33-second 4K video in just two minutes and 44 seconds. That’s comparable to the result I got from the Gigabyte Aero 15, which is designed for creative work. The Dell XPS 17 took around four minutes to finish the same task.
The glass touchpad supports precision gestures.
Those results are close to peak gaming laptop. They beat some big rigs we’ve tested, including Alienware’s prior-generation Area 51m, and thinner 17-inchers like the MSI GS75. If you need much better results than that, you’re going to be looking at systems with a Core i9 and even more elaborate cooling. I’m talking MSI’s GT76 Titan and Gigabyte’s Aorus 17X — much thicker, much heavier stuff that requires multiple power bricks. But if you’re looking for a decently thin 17-inch gaming laptop that you can cart around the house without too much difficulty, the Blade Pro 17 is about as good as it gets.
The best of the portable, premium best
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the only option. It’s still quite expensive, and if you don’t need a screen that’s quite this big, you can get great gaming results from any number of more affordable 15-inch machines. If you want something to use while out and about, plenty of 17-inchers like the GS75 and the Alienware m17 R2 can hold more juice (and if you’re at all willing to consider a 14-incher, the Asus Zephyrus G14 will last you all day). But there’s not another option that can offer this combination of performance, portability, and looks.
The Blade Pro 17 isn’t without compromise, and it isn’t quite the best of the best — but it’s the best of the portable, premium best.
Agree to Continue: Razer Blade Pro 17 (2020) Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them, since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate. To start using the Razer Blade Pro 17, you’ll need to agree to the following: A request for your region
A request for your keyboard layout
Microsoft account
PIN You can also say yes or no to the following: Wi-Fi
Windows Hello face
Activity history
Syncing an Android phone
OneDrive backup
Office 365
Cortana
Privacy settings (speech recognition, location, Find My Device, sharing diagnostic data, inking and typing, tailored experience, advertising ID)
Razer account In total, that’s four mandatory agreements and 15 optional agreements to use the Blade Pro 17.


theverge--2020-08-28--Chadwick Boseman, star of Black Panther, dies at 43 after four-year battle with cancer

Actor Chadwick Boseman has died at 43 after battling colon cancer for four years , according to a statement posted on his Twitter account .
“ It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman , ” the statement reads .
“ It was the honor of his life to bring King T ’ Challa to life in Black Panther.
” Boseman worked on a number of films and TV shows over the last two decades , including 42 where he portrayed iconic baseball player Jackie Robinson , James Brown in Get on Up , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he was best known for his role as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe .
Boseman first took on the role as T ’ Challa in Marvel ’ s 2016 film , Captain America : Civil War , before starring in his own Black Panther film in 2018 .
“ Chadwick ’ s passing is absolutely devastating , ” Kevin Feige , head of Marvel Studios , said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter .
“ He was our T ’ Challa , our Black Panther , and our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on set , he radiated charisma and joy , and each time he appeared on screen , he created something truly indelible .
He embodied a lot of amazing people in his work , and nobody was better at bringing great men to life .
He was as smart and kind and powerful and strong as any person he portrayed .
Now he takes his place alongside them as an icon for the ages.
” By March 2018 , Black Panther had become the 12th highest grossing movie of all time and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a Black director ( Ryan Coogler ) , according to Forbes .
Black Panther was heralded for being one of the first mainstream , big budget superhero films to have a majority Black cast , with Boseman ’ s performance praised by critics .
Boseman was set to reprise his role as King T ’ Challa in the Black Panther sequel , due out in 2022 .
“ A true fighter , Chadwick persevered through it all , and brought you many of the films that you have come to love so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods , August Wilson ’ s Ma Rainey ’ s Black Bottom and several more , all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy.
” The statement posted on Boseman ’ s account noted that Boseman died with his “ wife and family by his side.
” Friends , colleagues , and fans of Boseman tweeted out their own tributes to the actor , sharing memories of their time together .
Some are collected below .

Actor Chadwick Boseman has died at 43 after battling colon cancer for four years, according to a statement posted on his Twitter account.
“It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman,” the statement reads. “It was the honor of his life to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.”
Boseman worked on a number of films and TV shows over the last two decades, including 42 where he portrayed iconic baseball player Jackie Robinson, James Brown in Get on Up, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, but he was best known for his role as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Boseman first took on the role as T’Challa in Marvel’s 2016 film, Captain America: Civil War, before starring in his own Black Panther film in 2018.
“Chadwick’s passing is absolutely devastating,” Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, said in a statement. “He was our T’Challa, our Black Panther, and our dear friend. Each time he stepped on set, he radiated charisma and joy, and each time he appeared on screen, he created something truly indelible. He embodied a lot of amazing people in his work, and nobody was better at bringing great men to life. He was as smart and kind and powerful and strong as any person he portrayed. Now he takes his place alongside them as an icon for the ages.”
“We are all heartbroken by the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman — an extraordinary talent, and one of the most gentle and giving souls I have ever met,” Bob Iger, Disney’s executive chairman, added in a statement. “He brought enormous strength, dignity and depth to his groundbreaking role of Black Panther; shattering myths and stereotypes, becoming a long-awaited hero to millions around the world, and inspiring us all to dream bigger and demand more than the status quo. We mourn all that he was, as well as everything he was destined to become. For his friends and millions of fans, his absence from the screen is only eclipsed by his absence from our lives.”
By March 2018, Black Panther had become the 12th highest grossing movie of all time and the highest grossing movie of all time directed by a Black director (Ryan Coogler), according to Forbes. Black Panther was heralded for being one of the first mainstream, big budget superhero films to have a majority Black cast, with Boseman’s performance praised by critics. Boseman was set to reprise his role as King T’Challa in the Black Panther sequel, due out in 2022.
“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films that you have come to love so much,” the statement reads. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy.”
The statement posted on Boseman’s account noted that Boseman died with his “wife and family by his side.”
Friends, colleagues, and fans of Boseman tweeted out their own tributes to the actor, sharing memories of their time together. Some are collected below.


theverge--2020-08-29--Ubisoft to remove image of raised black fist from Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad

French game publisher Ubisoft is apologizing to fans after a video showing the opening sequence for Tom Clancy ’ s Elite Squad showed images of a raised black fist , which critics said was “ insensitive ” and appeared to connect the Black Lives Matter movement to a fictional terrorist organization in the game .
The game ’ s opening sequence shows UMBRA , an anarchist group which the narrator explains is taking “ advantage of escalating civil unrest ” to “ generate more chaos and weaken governments.
” The black raised fist image was associated with UMBRA .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticized how the imagery , including the fist , appeared to cast the Black Lives Matter movement as a terrorist group .
One Twitter user who is a senior programmer at Massive Entertainment , a studio owned by Ubisoft , tweeted that the video was “ gross and extremely disrespectful.
” Ubisoft said in its apology that the imagery in Tom Clancy ’ s Elite Squad ’ s opening was “ insensitive and harmful in both its inclusion and how it was portrayed.
” The publisher promised that the imagery would be removed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ update , which is September 1st for Android and “ as soon as possible on iOS.
” Since June , Ubisoft has been under scrutiny for its toxic work culture , which allegedly spanned more than a decade .
In July , Ubisoft ’ s CEO announced that the company was making several changes , which included several high-profile staff departures and tying bonuses to team leads based on “ their ability to create a positive and inclusive work environment .
”

French game publisher Ubisoft is apologizing to fans after a video showing the opening sequence for Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad showed images of a raised black fist, which critics said was “insensitive” and appeared to connect the Black Lives Matter movement to a fictional terrorist organization in the game.
The game’s opening sequence shows UMBRA, an anarchist group which the narrator explains is taking “advantage of escalating civil unrest” to “generate more chaos and weaken governments.” The black raised fist image was associated with UMBRA.
After the video was uploaded, several fans criticized how the imagery, including the fist, appeared to cast the Black Lives Matter movement as a terrorist group. One Twitter user who is a senior programmer at Massive Entertainment, a studio owned by Ubisoft, tweeted that the video was “gross and extremely disrespectful.”


theverge--2020-08-29--New technology export rules in China could affect TikTok sale to a US company

Plans for a TikTok sale may have a new obstacle , with China implementing new rules on AI technology exports , The New York Times reported .
The new export control rules , which focus on technology the Chinese government considers sensitive , could mean that TikTok ’ s parent company , Beijing-based ByteDance , might need a license before it can sell TikTok to an American company .
The updated regulations prohibit exporting technology including text analysis , voice recognition , and content suggestions without a license from the Chinese government .
According to The Wall Street Journal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News Agency that ByteDance should “ seriously and cautiously ” consider halting talks for a sale of TikTok .
Microsoft has been the front runner in talks to acquire TikTok which will apparently involve Walmart , and reports suggesting everyone from Twitter to Netflix to Oracle also were in separate talks with TikTok .
Amid all the chaos , TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned August 27th , less than six months into the job .
President Trump signed an executive order August 6th blocking all transactions with ByteDance , and has demanded that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US business .
The order was intended to take effect within 45 days .
Then on August 14th , the president signed an order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or spin off TikTok in the US , the culmination of an investigation of the company by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US ( CFIUS ) , which oversees foreign acquisitions of US companies for any potential security risks .
It wasn ’ t clear Saturday whether the Chinese government would seek to block a TikTok sale entirely .
The wildly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ globally in April , with 315 million downloads in the first quarter of the year alone .

Plans for a TikTok sale may have a new obstacle, with China implementing new rules on AI technology exports, The New York Times reported. The new export control rules, which focus on technology the Chinese government considers sensitive, could mean that TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, might need a license before it can sell TikTok to an American company.
The updated regulations prohibit exporting technology including text analysis, voice recognition, and content suggestions without a license from the Chinese government. According to The Wall Street Journal, a Chinese government official told state-run Xinhua News Agency that ByteDance should “seriously and cautiously” consider halting talks for a sale of TikTok.
President Trump signed an executive order August 6th blocking all transactions with ByteDance, and has demanded that an American company purchase TikTok’s US business. The order was intended to take effect within 45 days. Then on August 14th, the president signed an order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or spin off TikTok in the US, the culmination of an investigation of the company by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), which oversees foreign acquisitions of US companies for any potential security risks.
It wasn’t clear Saturday whether the Chinese government would seek to block a TikTok sale entirely.
The wildly popular video-sharing platform hit 2 billion downloads globally in April, with 315 million downloads in the first quarter of the year alone.


theverge--2020-08-29--The CDC’s testing guidance will make the pandemic worse

More than 180,000 people have died because of COVID-19 in the United States .
And this week , the agency tasked with fighting the worst pandemic in a century recommended surrender .
Earlier this week , the US Centers for Disease Control updated its COVID-19 advice to recommend fewer people get tested for the virus .
The agency ’ s previous advice urged tests for “ all close contacts ” of infected people , stressing the importance of contacts being “ quickly identified and tested.
” Now , it says people without symptoms “ do not necessarily need a test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exposed or attended a large gathering in a viral hotspot .
It makes exceptions for “ vulnerable individuals ” and adds a vague instruction to follow local health officials — who , under normal circumstances , would look to the CDC for guidance .
It ’ s not clear why this change was made .
But ultimately , it doesn ’ t really matter because here ’ s the important thing : If it ’ s actually followed , the CDC ’ s advice will kill people .
SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because it ’ s stealthy .
By the CDC ’ s own guidance , infected people take an average of five days and a maximum of 14 days to develop symptoms , and estimates suggest around 30 to 40 percent of people never develop them at all .
Research suggests people can still transmit the disease without symptoms and may be most likely to spread it before they feel sick .
Fighting COVID-19 requires cutting the chain of infections .
That involves finding cases as soon as possible , figuring out if the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quarantining all their contacts for two weeks or running tests and isolating only the people who are sick .
The latter option is far less disruptive , and it also lets contact tracers find those cases ’ contacts to quarantine them — hence the CDC ’ s earlier guidelines .
Now , the agency recommends neither .
It just tells people to monitor themselves for symptoms , which does much less to stop the virus ’ s spread .
President Donald Trump ’ s administration has promised treatments and vaccines as a solution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t a viable short- or even medium-term option .
Just completing necessary vaccine trials will take months , even with development proceeding at an unprecedented rate .
It will take longer still to make and administer enough doses to seriously slow the pandemic .
Other countries have gotten their outbreaks under control with testing and tracing , along with two-week quarantines for travelers , another recommendation the CDC just discontinued .
The agency ’ s justification for its change is baffling .
Admiral Brett Giroir , the US testing leader , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and frontline health workers to everyone in the country .
“ A negative test on Day 2 doesn ’ t mean you ’ re negative .
So what is the value of that ?
” Giroir also said .
“ It doesn ’ t mean on Day 4 you can go out and visit Grandma or on Day 6 go out without a mask on in school.
” Testing is not about getting to take a mask off But the value of testing was never letting individual people take big risks .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when they need to isolate themselves and warn their close contacts about exposure , helping everyone else take the smaller risks that keep society functioning , like selling groceries or teaching kids with a mask on .
On a larger scale , testing reveals hotspots where even these risks may be too high , so targeted quarantines can replace large-scale lockdowns .
And over time , it drives cases down until you can finally go visit Grandma .
Conversely , we ’ ve known for months that under-testing is deadly .
At the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal health authorities restricted coronavirus testing to sick people who traveled abroad or were exposed to a lab-confirmed case .
The strategy , based on assumptions that the coronavirus was still being imported from abroad , missed an exponentially growing outbreak among the residents of New York City .
Without sufficient testing , local leaders had little information to work with .
They blundered into a disaster that killed 10,000 city-dwellers within just six weeks of the very first confirmed case — the equivalent of three September 11th attacks .
If the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to disease modelers , the vast majority could have been saved .
The US has scaled up testing since March , and missing another New York-scale outbreak is unlikely .
But the virus has fanned out across countless smaller communities , and as schools and businesses reopen , detecting invisible infections and stopping outbreaks is more important than ever .
The CDC is telling these communities to move backward — away from a functioning economy and managed pandemic , and toward either constant , anxious lockdown or a cavalier acceptance of sickness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America to move backward The American testing system is overloaded , so the CDC might be trying to save testing capacity .
But it ’ s not taking new steps that would help make up for the rationed tests , like recommending that people who can ’ t get one self-quarantine .
Nor is there a coherent plan for deploying tests where they ’ re most desperately needed or beefing up contact-tracing programs to get more benefit from every positive test .
Again , other countries have successfully done this — while the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with horrifying results .
The government has had months to build a sustainable testing system , and the answer to its repeated failures isn ’ t telling citizens that they don ’ t need the thing it ’ s unable to provide .
When authorities downplayed the usefulness of face masks to avoid a shortage , it caused lasting confusion around a simple public health measure .
Downplaying the necessity of testing — one of our greatest tools for fighting the virus — is dangerous .
In fact , Trump has repeatedly suggested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look bad .
He falsely claimed the country would have “ very few cases ” if it stopped testing for COVID-19 , and he claims he told the administration to “ slow the testing down ” at one point , denying the statement was a joke .
The CDC ’ s supposed explanation actually makes its new policy sound worse .
Frontline workers knowingly expose themselves to infected people day after day , so it ’ s true that testing gives them ( and public health experts ) less useful information .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should apply to everyone , unless the CDC thinks the average American church or supermarket is so hopelessly virulent that there ’ s no point even trying to find and extinguish outbreaks .
Based on what we know about the virus ’ s prevalence , that ’ s simply not true .
It ’ s good that states are ignoring the CDC , and bad that they have to Fortunately , states don ’ t seem to be following this advice .
California Governor Gavin Newsom immediately said he was disregarding the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York , and other hard-hit states have followed suit .
Local health experts have urged the CDC to revise its guidelines , and even National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci has expressed concern that they ’ ll discourage tests .
The agency has responded to outrage by saying that , basically , it ’ s not not recommending tests — “ testing may be considered ” for close contacts of infected people , said director Robert Redfield .
That doesn ’ t change how alarmingly short-sighted this recommendation is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal government to be working against the best practices for public health .
The White House appears relatively unconcerned with the virus ’ s death toll , which has hovered around 1,000 people a day ( or roughly two 9/11s every week ) since late July — Trump stated earlier this month that the number “ is what it is.
” But testing is also core to any kind of economic recovery , something Trump has heavily emphasized .
Even if you somehow forget that COVID-19 is killing people , making workers stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fellow employees with illness is , in fact , very bad for business .
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo , among others , claimed the CDC is placating Trump by discouraging tests .
Given Trump ’ s statements about testing , that ’ s not out of the question — and it would be one of many ways that Trump ’ s administration has exacerbated the pandemic .
But the biggest question right now isn ’ t whether the president is politicizing the CDC .
It ’ s whether the CDC will keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus .

More than 180,000 people have died because of COVID-19 in the United States. And this week, the agency tasked with fighting the worst pandemic in a century recommended surrender.
Earlier this week, the US Centers for Disease Control updated its COVID-19 advice to recommend fewer people get tested for the virus. The agency’s previous advice urged tests for “all close contacts” of infected people, stressing the importance of contacts being “quickly identified and tested.” Now, it says people without symptoms “do not necessarily need a test,” even if they were directly exposed or attended a large gathering in a viral hotspot. It makes exceptions for “vulnerable individuals” and adds a vague instruction to follow local health officials — who, under normal circumstances, would look to the CDC for guidance.
It’s not clear why this change was made. But ultimately, it doesn’t really matter because here’s the important thing:
If it’s actually followed, the CDC’s advice will kill people.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has devastated the world because it’s stealthy. By the CDC’s own guidance, infected people take an average of five days and a maximum of 14 days to develop symptoms, and estimates suggest around 30 to 40 percent of people never develop them at all. Research suggests people can still transmit the disease without symptoms and may be most likely to spread it before they feel sick.
Coronavirus is devastating because it’s stealthy
Fighting COVID-19 requires cutting the chain of infections. That involves finding cases as soon as possible, figuring out if the patient exposed anyone else, and either quarantining all their contacts for two weeks or running tests and isolating only the people who are sick. The latter option is far less disruptive, and it also lets contact tracers find those cases’ contacts to quarantine them — hence the CDC’s earlier guidelines. Now, the agency recommends neither. It just tells people to monitor themselves for symptoms, which does much less to stop the virus’s spread.
President Donald Trump’s administration has promised treatments and vaccines as a solution for the virus. But these aren’t a viable short- or even medium-term option. Just completing necessary vaccine trials will take months, even with development proceeding at an unprecedented rate. It will take longer still to make and administer enough doses to seriously slow the pandemic. Other countries have gotten their outbreaks under control with testing and tracing, along with two-week quarantines for travelers, another recommendation the CDC just discontinued.
The agency’s justification for its change is baffling. Admiral Brett Giroir, the US testing leader, said the agency is applying guidance for doctors and frontline health workers to everyone in the country. “A negative test on Day 2 doesn’t mean you’re negative. So what is the value of that?” Giroir also said. “It doesn’t mean on Day 4 you can go out and visit Grandma or on Day 6 go out without a mask on in school.”
Testing is not about getting to take a mask off
But the value of testing was never letting individual people take big risks. It’s valuable because it tells people when they need to isolate themselves and warn their close contacts about exposure, helping everyone else take the smaller risks that keep society functioning, like selling groceries or teaching kids with a mask on. On a larger scale, testing reveals hotspots where even these risks may be too high, so targeted quarantines can replace large-scale lockdowns. And over time, it drives cases down until you can finally go visit Grandma.
Conversely, we’ve known for months that under-testing is deadly. At the start of the pandemic, state and federal health authorities restricted coronavirus testing to sick people who traveled abroad or were exposed to a lab-confirmed case. The strategy, based on assumptions that the coronavirus was still being imported from abroad, missed an exponentially growing outbreak among the residents of New York City. Without sufficient testing, local leaders had little information to work with. They blundered into a disaster that killed 10,000 city-dwellers within just six weeks of the very first confirmed case — the equivalent of three September 11th attacks. If the city had reacted just a week faster, according to disease modelers, the vast majority could have been saved.
The US has scaled up testing since March, and missing another New York-scale outbreak is unlikely. But the virus has fanned out across countless smaller communities, and as schools and businesses reopen, detecting invisible infections and stopping outbreaks is more important than ever. The CDC is telling these communities to move backward — away from a functioning economy and managed pandemic, and toward either constant, anxious lockdown or a cavalier acceptance of sickness and death.
The CDC is asking America to move backward
The American testing system is overloaded, so the CDC might be trying to save testing capacity. But it’s not taking new steps that would help make up for the rationed tests, like recommending that people who can’t get one self-quarantine. Nor is there a coherent plan for deploying tests where they’re most desperately needed or beefing up contact-tracing programs to get more benefit from every positive test. Again, other countries have successfully done this — while the US has tried to ignore the virus with horrifying results.
The government has had months to build a sustainable testing system, and the answer to its repeated failures isn’t telling citizens that they don’t need the thing it’s unable to provide. When authorities downplayed the usefulness of face masks to avoid a shortage, it caused lasting confusion around a simple public health measure. Downplaying the necessity of testing — one of our greatest tools for fighting the virus — is dangerous.
In fact, Trump has repeatedly suggested that finding more coronavirus cases makes America look bad. He falsely claimed the country would have “very few cases” if it stopped testing for COVID-19, and he claims he told the administration to “slow the testing down” at one point, denying the statement was a joke.
The CDC’s supposed explanation actually makes its new policy sound worse. Frontline workers knowingly expose themselves to infected people day after day, so it’s true that testing gives them (and public health experts) less useful information. It’s not clear why those guidelines should apply to everyone, unless the CDC thinks the average American church or supermarket is so hopelessly virulent that there’s no point even trying to find and extinguish outbreaks. Based on what we know about the virus’s prevalence, that’s simply not true.
It’s good that states are ignoring the CDC, and bad that they have to
Fortunately, states don’t seem to be following this advice. California Governor Gavin Newsom immediately said he was disregarding the new guidance. Texas, Florida, New York, and other hard-hit states have followed suit. Local health experts have urged the CDC to revise its guidelines, and even National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci has expressed concern that they’ll discourage tests. The agency has responded to outrage by saying that, basically, it’s not not recommending tests — “testing may be considered” for close contacts of infected people, said director Robert Redfield.
That doesn’t change how alarmingly short-sighted this recommendation is and how harmful it is for the federal government to be working against the best practices for public health. The White House appears relatively unconcerned with the virus’s death toll, which has hovered around 1,000 people a day (or roughly two 9/11s every week) since late July — Trump stated earlier this month that the number “is what it is.” But testing is also core to any kind of economic recovery, something Trump has heavily emphasized. Even if you somehow forget that COVID-19 is killing people, making workers stay home for weeks or risk debilitating their fellow employees with illness is, in fact, very bad for business.


theverge--2020-08-29--Facebook pilot program linking its users’ news subscriptions could cut down on password fatigue

It ’ s a mildly annoying problem : when you ’ re reading the snippet of a news article on Facebook and you click through to read the full article , even if you ’ re subscribed to the news publication , you hit its paywall and have to manually log in .
Facebook says it ’ s now testing a feature that will help reduce how often you have to log in to news sites , allowing paying news subscribers to link their Facebook accounts to their subscriptions .
The goal , according to Facebook , is to “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook , ” and allowing publishers to “ deepen their relationships with subscribers.
” Here ’ s how it works : Facebook identifies a subscriber from one of its publisher partners , and the subscriber is invited to link their subscription account to their Facebook account .
Next time the subscriber clicks an article link on Facebook by that publisher , the user won ’ t have to log in and won ’ t hit the publisher ’ s paywall .
Facebook has been testing the feature with a small group of publishers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engagement and content distribution .
During the month of June , subscribers in the test group who linked their subscription accounts on Facebook clicked on 111 percent more articles , the company said .
And once the subscriber links their accounts , Facebook says it will show that subscriber more content from that specific publisher .
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , The Athletic , and the Winnipeg Free Press have been testing the feature , and provided statements for Facebook ’ s blog post that described a “ frictionless ” user experience , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it a success .
Christian Panson , vice president of digital at Winnipeg Free Press said in the blog post that one of the most common reader complaints is that they have to log in too frequently .
“ People have account and password fatigue , ” he said , adding that “ we expect that this will help us to build longer and more frequent engagement with our customers.
” Facebook launched its News tab to US audiences in June , with plans to pay publishers that participated .
To qualify as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pass its integrity standards and to have large enough audiences .
It said it would rely on third-party fact-checkers to monitor posts for clickbait and copyright violations , as well as sensationalist content .
Last week it said it was planning to expand the News tab to other countries , but was a bit vague on the timeline , saying it would be within “ six months to a year.
” It wouldn ’ t be surprising if news publishers were wary of entering into yet another agreement with Facebook , as its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treats publishers isn ’ t the greatest .
It ’ s introduced several underwhelming news initiatives in recent years , including its Instant Articles , and its News Feed algorithm is widely blamed for siphoning ad revenue away from local news in particular .
In the early and mid-2010s , as publishers poured resources into video production to catch some of Facebook ’ s video traffic , it was revealed the company had juiced the numbers .
Facebook later de-prioritized the types of content published by pages in favor of promoting the content @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its latest blog post that it will be adding more publisher partners and is “ actively working on an approach that would allow subscribers to directly initiate the account linking process on publisher websites .
”

It’s a mildly annoying problem: when you’re reading the snippet of a news article on Facebook and you click through to read the full article, even if you’re subscribed to the news publication, you hit its paywall and have to manually log in. Facebook says it’s now testing a feature that will help reduce how often you have to log in to news sites, allowing paying news subscribers to link their Facebook accounts to their subscriptions.
The goal, according to Facebook, is to “provide a better news consumption experience on Facebook,” and allowing publishers to “deepen their relationships with subscribers.” Here’s how it works: Facebook identifies a subscriber from one of its publisher partners, and the subscriber is invited to link their subscription account to their Facebook account. Next time the subscriber clicks an article link on Facebook by that publisher, the user won’t have to log in and won’t hit the publisher’s paywall.
Facebook has been testing the feature with a small group of publishers, which it says shows promise for engagement and content distribution. During the month of June, subscribers in the test group who linked their subscription accounts on Facebook clicked on 111 percent more articles, the company said. And once the subscriber links their accounts, Facebook says it will show that subscriber more content from that specific publisher.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Athletic, and the Winnipeg Free Press have been testing the feature, and provided statements for Facebook’s blog post that described a“frictionless” user experience, but it seems a bit early to call it a success. Christian Panson, vice president of digital at Winnipeg Free Press said in the blog post that one of the most common reader complaints is that they have to log in too frequently. “People have account and password fatigue,” he said, adding that “we expect that this will help us to build longer and more frequent engagement with our customers.”
Facebook launched its News tab to US audiences in June, with plans to pay publishers that participated. To qualify as a partner, Facebook required publishers to pass its integrity standards and to have large enough audiences. It said it would rely on third-party fact-checkers to monitor posts for clickbait and copyright violations, as well as sensationalist content. Last week it said it was planning to expand the News tab to other countries, but was a bit vague on the timeline, saying it would be within “six months to a year.”
It wouldn’t be surprising if news publishers were wary of entering into yet another agreement with Facebook, as its track record with news and how it treats publishers isn’t the greatest. It’s introduced several underwhelming news initiatives in recent years, including its Instant Articles, and its News Feed algorithm is widely blamed for siphoning ad revenue away from local news in particular. In the early and mid-2010s, as publishers poured resources into video production to catch some of Facebook’s video traffic, it was revealed the company had juiced the numbers. Facebook later de-prioritized the types of content published by pages in favor of promoting the content of friends and family


theverge--2020-08-29--This Game Boy Color is actually a portable Nintendo Wii and it’s so damn clean

Transforming classic video game consoles into on-the-go gadget gaming goodness is practically a time-honored tradition — I remember writing about Bacteria ’ s bulbous portable Nintendo 64 a decade ago .
But @ GingerOfMods new “ Wii Boy Color ” ( via NintendoLife ) is so clean , so compact , I just have to share it with you .
OK , it ’ s a little bit thicker than an actual Game Boy Color if you count the rear triggers .
But it ’ s remarkably close — and when have you had a Game Boy that can play @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go ?
And let me restate that this isn ’ t some overclocked Android smartphone running an emulator .
There ’ s an actual Nintendo Wii motherboard inside this 3D-printed case — cut down to fit — plus his own custom circuitboards , a 3.5-inch 480p IPS display from a car backup camera , a pair of standard 18650 Lithium-ion batteries , a USB stick for storing games , a USB-C port for both charging and game transfers , and a rear exhaust fan to keep it all cool .
Ginger says he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some buttons from the Nintendo DS Lite , and hooked them all up to the guts of a GameCube controller — which did require him to add software hacks to emulate some of the Wii ’ s controls .
( You probably know the Nintendo Wii also plays GameCube games and takes GameCube controllers , but those controllers can ’ t operate the Wii menu or many of the Wii ’ s own titles . )
It gets a reported 2-3 hours of battery life — but that USB-C port means it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bank to keep it topped up .
And of course , there ’ s a 3.5mm headphone jack .
What self-respecting portable enthusiast would leave that out ?
Check out the video at the top of this post to see it in action , assuming you ’ ve managed to hold out this long .
By the way : it sounds like Ginger takes commissions if you absolutely must have one of your own !

Transforming classic video game consoles into on-the-go gadget gaming goodness is practically a time-honored tradition — I remember writing about Bacteria’s bulbous portable Nintendo 64 a decade ago.
But @GingerOfMods new “Wii Boy Color” (via NintendoLife) is so clean, so compact, I just have to share it with you.
OK, it’s a little bit thicker than an actual Game Boy Color if you count the rear triggers. But it’s remarkably close — and when have you had a Game Boy that can play Nintendo Wii and GameCube games on the go?
And let me restate that this isn’t some overclocked Android smartphone running an emulator. There’s an actual Nintendo Wii motherboard inside this 3D-printed case — cut down to fit — plus his own custom circuitboards, a 3.5-inch 480p IPS display from a car backup camera, a pair of standard 18650 Lithium-ion batteries, a USB stick for storing games, a USB-C port for both charging and game transfers, and a rear exhaust fan to keep it all cool.
Ginger says he used official Nintendo Switch joysticks, alongside some buttons from the Nintendo DS Lite, and hooked them all up to the guts of a GameCube controller — which did require him to add software hacks to emulate some of the Wii’s controls. (You probably know the Nintendo Wii also plays GameCube games and takes GameCube controllers, but those controllers can’t operate the Wii menu or many of the Wii’s own titles.)
It gets a reported 2-3 hours of battery life — but that USB-C port means it’s easy to add an external battery bank to keep it topped up. And of course, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack. What self-respecting portable enthusiast would leave that out?


theverge--2020-08-29--Google reportedly took five days to decide not to remove misleading ads about voting by mail

Google took five days to review several ads with misleading information about voting by mail before opting to approve them , The Washington Post reported .
The ads were created by Protect My Vote— a group the Post refers to as “ shadowy ” — and appeared to target people in several US states , including Arizona , Florida , Georgia , Iowa , Michigan , and Texas , showing up in response to searches for “ mail-in voting.
” One of the ads reads “ think mail-in voting and absentee voting are the same .
Think again !
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a misleading and inaccurate claim .
Google ultimately declined to remove the ads .
Spokeswoman Charlotte Smith told the Post “ We have zero tolerance for ads that employ voter suppression tactics or undermine participation in elections .
When we find those ads , we take them down.
” Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge on Saturday .
According to the Post , Protect My Vote is associated with conservative advocacy organization FreedomWorks , which has supported causes related to President Trump ’ s reelection .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of voting by mail over the past several weeks , without citing any concrete evidence of illegal activity .
Google , Twitter , and Facebook all have tried , with varying levels of success , to tighten control of misinformation in political ads ahead of the 2020 presidential elections .
Earlier this month , Facebook said it would start banning US news publishers with connections to political groups from appearing in its News tab , and Google announced that it would bar political advertisers masquerading as local news outlets from placing ads as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advertising earlier this year .

Google took five days to review several ads with misleading information about voting by mail before opting to approve them, The Washington Post reported. The ads were created by Protect My Vote— a group the Post refers to as “shadowy”— and appeared to target people in several US states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, and Texas, showing up in response to searches for “mail-in voting.” One of the ads reads “think mail-in voting and absentee voting are the same. Think again! There are different safeguards for each,” a misleading and inaccurate claim.
Google ultimately declined to remove the ads. Spokeswoman Charlotte Smith told the Post “We have zero tolerance for ads that employ voter suppression tactics or undermine participation in elections. When we find those ads, we take them down.” Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge on Saturday.
According to the Post, Protect My Vote is associated with conservative advocacy organization FreedomWorks, which has supported causes related to President Trump’s reelection. The president has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of voting by mail over the past several weeks, without citing any concrete evidence of illegal activity.


theverge--2020-08-29--A case of coronavirus reinfection shows the complexities of the pandemic

The scary thing finally happened : someone caught the coronavirus twice and got sicker the second time around .
A 25-year-old man in Nevada got COVID-19 in March , got better in April , and got sick again in May .
He had worse symptoms on the second bout , bad enough that he had to be hospitalized .
Three other cases of confirmed reinfection were also reported this week : one in Hong Kong ( the first documented case ) and two in Europe .
These don ’ t necessarily make me any more worried about our vaccine prospects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t mean the pandemic will go on forever .
We have four documented cases of reinfection .
But that ’ s out of the 24 million cases of this disease so far , and rare shit happens .
Most experts expected that we ’ d see at least a few .
For months , there have been occasional , anecdotal reports of people testing positive for COVID-19 twice .
None of those were proven to be reinfections .
For most of those people , the second test probably picked up residual , dead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people ’ s noses and throats after their first infection .
In these reinfection cases , though , researchers actually analyzed the virus from the first time the people got sick and compared it to the virus from the second time they got sick .
In each case , the two viruses had slightly different genetic sequences , showing that the second positive tests weren ’ t just leftover virus .
Here ’ s the other important thing : in the Hong Kong case , the second infection caused no symptoms at all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognized the virus from the first infection and kept it in check .
We don ’ t know why that didn ’ t happen for the man in Nevada .
He wasn ’ t tested for antibodies the first time he got sick , so it ’ s possible that he just didn ’ t make any .
That ’ s the more encouraging option .
The other possibility is that he had antibodies , but they made the infection worse ( it happens with other viruses , like dengue ) .
Case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you catch COVID-19 twice ?
But that ’ s about all they do .
Mostly , they raise questions rather than answer them .
How common is reinfection ?
How infectious are people if they get sick a second time ?
Are people who don ’ t generate many antibodies the first time they contract the virus the only people who can catch it again ?
The pandemic feels like it ’ s gone on for 1 million years , but in a more real way , the coronavirus has only existed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Scientists have learned so much , so fast , but there ’ s still a long way to go .
The human immune system is weird and confusing , and it ’ s squaring off against a new , never-before-seen virus .
It ’ s going to take time to understand what ’ s happening .
Oh , and the other thing — this is a reminder that even if you ’ ve already had COVID-19 , you still need to be careful .
Here ’ s what else happened this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 cases in Boston area , researchers say In February , before we knew the extent of COVID-19 in the US , 175 biotech executives gathered for a conference in Boston .
At that meeting , the virus spread from attendee to attendee — and the outbreak eventually led to tens of thousands of cases all around the world , according to one analysis .
The study shows that even a small gathering can have wide-ranging , devastating ripple effects on the course of the pandemic .
( Jonathan Saltzman / The Boston @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might develop immunity to Covid-19 Months into the pandemic , scientists still aren ’ t sure what happens to our immune systems after we recover from COVID-19 .
Most researchers think people will have some protection against the virus , but they still don ’ t know what that protection will look like .
Stat News broke down some of the possibilities .
( Helen Branswell / Stat News ) The Food and Drug Administration authorized a $ 5 , 15-minute COVID-19 test that works like a pregnancy test : a nasal swab @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test card and a colored line appears if the sample is positive for the coronavirus .
It ’ s a big step forward , experts say .
( Nicole Wetsman / The Verge ) Moderna Says Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Signs of Working in Older Adults The drug company ran a small study testing their COVID-19 vaccine candidate in people over the age of 56 , and it found they produced the same types of immune response that younger people did .
This doesn ’ t mean that they ’ re protected from infection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data from much bigger trials to prove that .
But it is a promising sign : older peoples ’ immune systems are weaker than younger peoples ’ , and vaccines sometimes don ’ t work as well for them .
( Peter Loftus / The Wall Street Journal ) What if the First Coronavirus Vaccines Aren ’ t the Best ?
While companies like Moderna and Pfizer are racing to collect data on their COVID-19 vaccine candidates by the end of the year , dozens of other companies are moving at a slower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccines using different types of technology than the ones at the head of the pack , and some researchers think they may have more staying power .
“ The first vaccines may not be the most effective , ” Ted Ross , the director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology at the University of Georgia , told The New York Times .
( Carl Zimmer / The New York Times ) Reporter Katie Engelhart investigated the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the Life Care Center of Kirkland , Washington , the first virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clearly went wrong — but who was to blame ?
‘ We ’ re Living The News ’ : Student Journalists Are Owning The College Reopening Story On college campuses around the country , student journalists are tirelessly documenting reopening plans and COVID-19 outbreaks .
It takes a toll .
“ We are scared because not only is this news that we ’ re writing about for other people to hear , we ’ re also hearing about it ourselves for the first time usually when we ’ re writing about it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UNC ’ s The Daily Tar Heel , told NPR .
To the more than 24,775,245 people worldwide who have tested positive , may your road to recovery be smooth .
To the families and friends of the 837,908 people who have died worldwide — 181,779 of those in the US — your loved ones are not forgotten .

The scary thing finally happened: someone caught the coronavirus twice and got sicker the second time around. A 25-year-old man in Nevada got COVID-19 in March, got better in April, and got sick again in May. He had worse symptoms on the second bout, bad enough that he had to be hospitalized.
Three other cases of confirmed reinfection were also reported this week: one in Hong Kong (the first documented case) and two in Europe. These don’t necessarily make me any more worried about our vaccine prospects, though, and they don’t mean the pandemic will go on forever. We have four documented cases of reinfection. But that’s out of the 24 million cases of this disease so far, and rare shit happens. Most experts expected that we’d see at least a few.
A newsletter highlighting the COVID-19 research, developments, and stories that matter. Subscribe here!
For months, there have been occasional, anecdotal reports of people testing positive for COVID-19 twice. None of those were proven to be reinfections. For most of those people, the second test probably picked up residual, dead virus that was still floating around in people’s noses and throats after their first infection.
In these reinfection cases, though, researchers actually analyzed the virus from the first time the people got sick and compared it to the virus from the second time they got sick. In each case, the two viruses had slightly different genetic sequences, showing that the second positive tests weren’t just leftover virus.
Here’s the other important thing: in the Hong Kong case, the second infection caused no symptoms at all. That means his immune system probably recognized the virus from the first infection and kept it in check. We don’t know why that didn’t happen for the man in Nevada. He wasn’t tested for antibodies the first time he got sick, so it’s possible that he just didn’t make any. That’s the more encouraging option. The other possibility is that he had antibodies, but they made the infection worse (it happens with other viruses, like dengue).
Case studies only answer one question: can you catch COVID-19 twice? But that’s about all they do. Mostly, they raise questions rather than answer them. How common is reinfection? How infectious are people if they get sick a second time? Are people who don’t generate many antibodies the first time they contract the virus the only people who can catch it again?
The pandemic feels like it’s gone on for 1 million years, but in a more real way, the coronavirus has only existed in the human population for about nine months. Scientists have learned so much, so fast, but there’s still a long way to go. The human immune system is weird and confusing, and it’s squaring off against a new, never-before-seen virus. It’s going to take time to understand what’s happening.
Oh, and the other thing — this is a reminder that even if you’ve already had COVID-19, you still need to be careful.
Here’s what else happened this week.
Research
In February, before we knew the extent of COVID-19 in the US, 175 biotech executives gathered for a conference in Boston. At that meeting, the virus spread from attendee to attendee — and the outbreak eventually led to tens of thousands of cases all around the world, according to one analysis. The study shows that even a small gathering can have wide-ranging, devastating ripple effects on the course of the pandemic. (Jonathan Saltzman / The Boston Globe)
Months into the pandemic, scientists still aren’t sure what happens to our immune systems after we recover from COVID-19. Most researchers think people will have some protection against the virus, but they still don’t know what that protection will look like. Stat News broke down some of the possibilities. (Helen Branswell / Stat News)
Development
The Food and Drug Administration authorized a $5, 15-minute COVID-19 test that works like a pregnancy test: a nasal swab gets inserted into the bottom of a test card and a colored line appears if the sample is positive for the coronavirus. It’s a big step forward, experts say. (Nicole Wetsman / The Verge)
The drug company ran a small study testing their COVID-19 vaccine candidate in people over the age of 56, and it found they produced the same types of immune response that younger people did. This doesn’t mean that they’re protected from infection with the coronavirus — we still need data from much bigger trials to prove that. But it is a promising sign: older peoples’ immune systems are weaker than younger peoples’, and vaccines sometimes don’t work as well for them. (Peter Loftus / The Wall Street Journal)
While companies like Moderna and Pfizer are racing to collect data on their COVID-19 vaccine candidates by the end of the year, dozens of other companies are moving at a slower pace. They’re building their vaccines using different types of technology than the ones at the head of the pack, and some researchers think they may have more staying power. “The first vaccines may not be the most effective,” Ted Ross, the director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology at the University of Georgia, told The New York Times. (Carl Zimmer / The New York Times)
Perspectives
Reporter Katie Engelhart investigated the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, the first virus hotspot in the United States. Something clearly went wrong — but who was to blame?
Later, the story of the Life Care outbreak would be flattened by the ubiquitous metaphors of pandemic. People would say that COVID-19 hit like a bomb, or an earthquake, or a tidal wave. They would say it spread like wildfire. But inside the facility, it felt more like a spectral haunting. A nurse named Chelsey Earnest said that fighting COVID was like “chasing the devil.”
(Katie Engelhart / California Sunday)
On college campuses around the country, student journalists are tirelessly documenting reopening plans and COVID-19 outbreaks. It takes a toll. “We are scared because not only is this news that we’re writing about for other people to hear, we’re also hearing about it ourselves for the first time usually when we’re writing about it,” Brandon Standley, managing editor at UNC’s The Daily Tar Heel, told NPR.
(Elissa Nadworny and Lauren Migaki / NPR)
More than numbers
To the more than 24,775,245 people worldwide who have tested positive, may your road to recovery be smooth.
To the families and friends of the 837,908 people who have died worldwide — 181,779 of those in the US — your loved ones are not forgotten.


theverge--2020-08-29--I’m addicted to Instagram scams

I’m addicted to Instagram scams

I moved to LA mid-pandemic and furnished my apartment almost exclusively from Facebook Marketplace , a luxurious garden of budget goods that exploits all my weak points : deals , online shopping , haggling with strangers on the internet .
One of the first things I bought was a table and four chairs that was not cheap , by my standards ( $ 225 ! )
, but did look unique compared to the countless IKEA offerings .
When I went to pick it up , however , it was clear this was in fact an IKEA offering — one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enthusiastic acting student who sold it to me .
I no longer wanted to buy it ( why spend $ 225 on old furniture that costs $ 120 new ? )
, and I probably should have just told the guy I ’ d made a mistake and apologized for wasting his time , but instead I thanked him profusely and complimented him on the paint job .
I ’ ve been crippled by 28 years of socialization that has taught me it ’ s better to hand over all your money than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — which brings me to the thesis of this article : the patriarchy is the ultimate scam !
The paint has now peeled off , and one of the chairs is broken , but honestly I respect that guy ’ s hustle .
He might not have been a true scam artist , but he certainly knew his audience , which is important for every fraudster ( and , incidentally , every acting student ) .
I will probably resell it on Facebook Marketplace in a few months , ideally to someone also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So how does this tie in to Instagram ?
Over the past few years , scammers have been pulling a bait-and-switch on consumers , using Instagram ads to sell clothes , accessories , and home goods .
The products look nice online , but when they arrive they ’ re often low quality knock-offs .
When customers complain , the companies — many based in China — give them the runaround that essentially boils down to “ you are never getting your money back for reasons that are totally out of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the Better Business Bureau scam tracker which has , despite its DMV-forward aesthetic , become one of my favorite places to hang out during quarantine .
Type “ Instagram ” into the search bar , and you ’ ll see pages and pages of grievances from people who bought misleading products on the platform .
There is a complaint from someone who spent $ 400 on a rare pair of sneakers they never received , another from someone who tried to buy a “ Recliner Luxury Camp Chair-camping chair ” and received @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and one from someone ( hopefully a parent ! )
who tried to buy “ a reborn Weighted , life like baby doll ” and received a “ cheap product that is NOTHING like described ” and arrived “ very long outside of the delivery window.
” My friend Jessamyn experienced this firsthand when she bought a pair of boots she saw in an Instagram ad , only to receive shoes that were a different size , color , and material than the ones originally advertised .
She emailed the company thinking it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the era of quick-response , around-the-clock customer service , where companies exploit 23-year-olds continuously to get you cashmere sweaters by Christmas Day .
But not all companies .
Here ’ s the email Jessamyn received after she tried to return the boots : This tactic — explaining that it will be too expensive to return the item , and offering a discount instead — is common in this type of fraud .
I ’ m not sure how many people take the company up on its offer , but it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about one shitty item , the solution might be to get another .
Jessamyn explained that she didn ’ t want a discount , she wanted a full refund .
This time the company said : This went on for a while , with Jessamyn explaining that yes , she wanted a refund and the company asking politely if she ’ d consider a discount instead .
Reading the email chain feels like listening to an automated voice message that ’ s caught in an endless loop .
After sending 30 emails , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ad and the shoes she received , she got $ 40 back — about half of what she ’ d originally spent .
The company also threw in a 20 percent discount for her next purchase .
How much of this violates Instagram ’ s Community Guidelines ?
It ’ s hard to say .
The platform has a policy against listings that misrepresent what ’ s being sold , but it ’ s unclear how different an item can be from the original photo for it to count as misrepresentation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ show a “ person with clothes that are too tight ” or sell human blood , but that ’ s a story for another day ) .
Even if a seller does violate Instagram ’ s policies , the company won ’ t do much beyond removing the ad in question and possibly shutting down the account .
Once that ’ s done , it ’ s fairly easy for the scammer to make a new profile and try again .
The Instagram scam works by exploiting our own consumerism Asked for comment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ We want everyone on Instagram to have a positive ads experience .
Counterfeit goods and fraudulent activity hurt our entire community and have no place on Instagram.
” At its core , the scam works by exploiting our own consumerism — the idea that everything we want should be readily available , and cheap , and delivered within days .
The ads show up alongside photos from friends and celebrities , giving them an aura of authenticity they might not have on other platforms .
We see something we want , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ realize we should ’ ve done more research , it ’ s too late .
It ’ s also true that the fraudsters are getting more sophisticated .
They ’ re hiding their identities through social media , and using payment methods that are difficult to track .
As platforms like Instagram evolve and reshape consumer behavior , scammers adapt , and find new ways to gain peoples ’ trust .
It ’ s a cat-and-mouse game with no clear end .
If we pay attention , however , it might tell us @ @ @ @ @ @ @

I moved to LA mid-pandemic and furnished my apartment almost exclusively from Facebook Marketplace, a luxurious garden of budget goods that exploits all my weak points: deals, online shopping, haggling with strangers on the internet.
One of the first things I bought was a table and four chairs that was not cheap, by my standards ($225!), but did look unique compared to the countless IKEA offerings.
When I went to pick it up, however, it was clear this was in fact an IKEA offering — one that had been shoddily hand-painted by the enthusiastic acting student who sold it to me. I no longer wanted to buy it (why spend $225 on old furniture that costs $120 new?), and I probably should have just told the guy I’d made a mistake and apologized for wasting his time, but instead I thanked him profusely and complimented him on the paint job.
I’ve been crippled by 28 years of socialization that has taught me it’s better to hand over all your money than to make a total stranger feel uncomfortable — which brings me to the thesis of this article: the patriarchy is the ultimate scam!
The paint has now peeled off, and one of the chairs is broken, but honestly I respect that guy’s hustle. He might not have been a true scam artist, but he certainly knew his audience, which is important for every fraudster (and, incidentally, every acting student). I will probably resell it on Facebook Marketplace in a few months, ideally to someone also trapped in a self-made prison of politeness.
So how does this tie in to Instagram? Over the past few years, scammers have been pulling a bait-and-switch on consumers, using Instagram ads to sell clothes, accessories, and home goods. The products look nice online, but when they arrive they’re often low quality knock-offs. When customers complain, the companies — many based in China — give them the runaround that essentially boils down to “you are never getting your money back for reasons that are totally out of our control.”
I first read about this on the Better Business Bureau scam tracker which has, despite its DMV-forward aesthetic, become one of my favorite places to hang out during quarantine. Type “Instagram” into the search bar, and you’ll see pages and pages of grievances from people who bought misleading products on the platform.
There is a complaint from someone who spent $400 on a rare pair of sneakers they never received, another from someone who tried to buy a “Recliner Luxury Camp Chair-camping chair” and received instead a “junky stool,” and one from someone (hopefully a parent!) who tried to buy “a reborn Weighted, life like baby doll” and received a “cheap product that is NOTHING like described” and arrived “very long outside of the delivery window.”
My friend Jessamyn experienced this firsthand when she bought a pair of boots she saw in an Instagram ad, only to receive shoes that were a different size, color, and material than the ones originally advertised. She emailed the company thinking it would be an easy fix. This is the era of quick-response, around-the-clock customer service, where companies exploit 23-year-olds continuously to get you cashmere sweaters by Christmas Day.
But not all companies.
Here’s the email Jessamyn received after she tried to return the boots:
Dear consumer, We’re so sorry that you’re not satisfied with the items. Will it be possible to give them to one of your friends as a gift? Or how about a discount as a way to make up for this? If you return you will bear the expensive shipping fee. How about a big coupon code or 40% refund as a way to make up for this? - Missgaki Customer Service
This tactic — explaining that it will be too expensive to return the item, and offering a discount instead — is common in this type of fraud. I’m not sure how many people take the company up on its offer, but it’s bold to suggest that after getting mad about one shitty item, the solution might be to get another.
Jessamyn explained that she didn’t want a discount, she wanted a full refund. This time the company said:
Dear consumer, We’re so sorry that you’re not satisfied with the items. If you return you will bear the expensive shipping fee 20usd. Will it be possible to give it to others as a gift? Or how about a big coupon code or partial refund 20% as a way to make up for this? Just a suggestion, if you prefer to return, we will go to the further step. Looking forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, MJH
This went on for a while, with Jessamyn explaining that yes, she wanted a refund and the company asking politely if she’d consider a discount instead. Reading the email chain feels like listening to an automated voice message that’s caught in an endless loop.
After sending 30 emails, including side-by-side photos of the shoes in the ad and the shoes she received, she got $40 back — about half of what she’d originally spent. The company also threw in a 20 percent discount for her next purchase.
How much of this violates Instagram’s Community Guidelines? It’s hard to say. The platform has a policy against listings that misrepresent what’s being sold, but it’s unclear how different an item can be from the original photo for it to count as misrepresentation. (The company also bans ads that show a “person with clothes that are too tight” or sell human blood, but that’s a story for another day).
Even if a seller does violate Instagram’s policies, the company won’t do much beyond removing the ad in question and possibly shutting down the account. Once that’s done, it’s fairly easy for the scammer to make a new profile and try again.
The Instagram scam works by exploiting our own consumerism
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the company said: “We want everyone on Instagram to have a positive ads experience. Counterfeit goods and fraudulent activity hurt our entire community and have no place on Instagram.”
At its core, the scam works by exploiting our own consumerism — the idea that everything we want should be readily available, and cheap, and delivered within days. The ads show up alongside photos from friends and celebrities, giving them an aura of authenticity they might not have on other platforms. We see something we want, we click. By the time we realize we should’ve done more research, it’s too late.


theverge--2020-08-30--Cloudflare is suffering a Sunday morning outage

Cloudflare was suffering an outage Sunday morning that appeared to be affecting multiple websites .
The outage began early Sunday @ @ @ @ @ ’ s status page , it was seeing “ an increased level of HTTP 5xx @ @ @ @ @ as 522 and 503 , which indicates an issue with the server .
In a @ @ @ @ @ had “ identified an issue with a transit provider ” as the cause of the @ @ @ @ @ was working on a fix .
The outage was affecting all data centers that use @ @ @ @ @ ’ s services are meant to prevent websites from suffering outages due to peak traffic @ @ @ @ @ or spam comment attacks .
DownDetector showed Sunday ’ s outage was affecting the US @ @ @ @ @ , and sites including Discord , Hulu , Feedly , and dozens of others appeared @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll be updating this story as the situation evolves .

Cloudflare said its Sunday morning outage affecting numerous websites was due to an IP outage by internet service provider CenturyLink. According to a tweet from CenturyLink, all affected services have been restored as of 11:15AM ET.
“Today we saw a widespread Internet outage online that impacted many multiple providers,” a Cloudflare representative said in an email to The Verge. “This was not a Cloudflare-specific outage. Level 3/CenturyLink was responsible for an outage that affected many Internet services, including Cloudflare. Cloudflare’s automated systems detected the problem and routed around them, but the extent of the problem required manual intervention as well.”
The outage began early Sunday, and according to Cloudflare’s status page, it was seeing “an increased level of HTTP 5xx class errors,” such as 522 and 503. In a later update Cloudflare said it had “identified an issue with a transit provider” as the cause of the issue, and that it was working on a fix. The outage was affecting all data centers that use the transit provider.
Cloudflare’s services are meant to prevent websites from suffering outages due to peak traffic loads as well as DDoS or spam comment attacks. DownDetector showed Sunday’s outage was affecting the US and parts of western Europe, and sites including Discord, Hulu, Feedly, Xbox Live, and dozens of others appeared to be affected.
CenturyLink suffered a massive outage in 2018 that affected 911 calls, ATM withdrawals, lottery drawings and other services,


theverge--2020-08-30--SpaceX launches the first south-bound rocket from Florida in decades

This evening , SpaceX launched another rocket from Florida , but this vehicle took a very different kind of path than most flights from the East Coast .
Rather than head eastward after launch as most Florida missions do , SpaceX ’ s Falcon 9 rocket headed south after liftoff , skirting over Florida ’ s southeast coast and heading over Cuba .
That ’ s because this mission was headed to what is known as a polar orbit — a path that runs mostly north-to-south over the Earth ’ s poles .
It ’ s a type of mission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place from Florida .
In fact , this will be the first time since 1969 that a rocket taking off from Florida heads southward .
Up until now , most polar launches in the US have taken place from the southern coast of California .
That way , the rockets fly over open ocean when they head southward and not over populated land .
Rockets that launch from Florida head eastward toward the equator , so that they also fly over mostly open ocean before getting to space .
this mission is heading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ orbit But back in 2016 , the Air Force began studying the possibility of bringing polar launches to Florida after wildfires got significantly close to Vandenberg Air Force Base , the US ’ s main California launch site for all polar launches .
The fire caused damage to surrounding infrastructure and delayed one launch for up to two months , according to Florida Today .
The 45th Space Wing , which oversees launches out of Cape Canaveral , Florida , crunched the numbers and found that polar launches could be done — with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only SpaceX can fly this unique path from Florida because of how its Falcon 9 rockets are designed .
The company ’ s rocket has an automatic flight safety system , which means the vehicle can self-destruct on its own — without input from the ground — if it strays off its path or something goes wrong .
That ’ s important for flying this polar route .
Since the rockets will be flying close to populated areas , any deviation from flight must be handled swiftly to keep people safe on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the plumes of gas coming from the rocket ’ s engines could interfere with any signals that are sent from the ground to self-destruct .
So the Falcon 9 has to be able to blow itself up without human help .
Future vehicles are expected to fly with these autonomous safety systems , which would allow them to fly southward from Florida , too .
But for now , SpaceX is the one bringing polar launches back to the Florida coast .
The company ’ s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station .
The rocket then headed south , skimming the southeastern Florida coast near Miami and then flying over Cuba .
The 45th Space Wing claims that Miami is not in any danger during these types of missions , and that Cuba should be out of harm ’ s way , as well .
“ It will overfly Cuba , but it ’ ll be at an altitude that we ’ re safe , just like when we ’ re going north , ” Brig .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 45th Space Wing , said during a press call .
“ As we get up into the northern part of North America , we start to overfly some islands as well , but we ’ re at a safer altitude at that point.
” “ It will overfly Cuba , but it ’ ll be at an altitude that we ’ re safe.
” Schiess said that the Falcon 9 rocket followed the right path that will make sure people will be safe .
“ I know that we ’ re meeting all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really comes down to being at the right altitude [ and ] speed at that time — to make sure that any debris that were to fall would be small enough , or not even impact any land , which makes this ability to launch that from a safe perspective.
” The main satellite on this launch was SAOCOM 1B , while two small satellites hitched along for a ride .
SAOCOM 1B is the second of two identical Earth-observing satellites that SpaceX has contracted to launch for Argentina ’ s space agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use radar to observe the planet to hunt for disasters that could disrupt industries like agriculture , mining , fishing , and more .
The satellite is going to a polar orbit known as sun-synchronous orbit .
The path allows satellites to pass over the same patch of Earth at the same time each day , which is great for Earth observation satellites hoping to track changes to locations on the planet over time .
For this mission , SpaceX used a Falcon 9 rocket that ’ s flown to space three times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ successfully landed back on SpaceX ’ s ground landing pad near the launch site in Florida .
SAOCOM 1B deployed just 14 minutes after takeoff , while the two small satellites will deploy about an hour after launch .

This evening, SpaceX launched another rocket from Florida, but this vehicle took a very different kind of path than most flights from the East Coast. Rather than head eastward after launch as most Florida missions do, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket headed south after liftoff, skirting over Florida’s southeast coast and heading over Cuba.
That’s because this mission was headed to what is known as a polar orbit — a path that runs mostly north-to-south over the Earth’s poles. It’s a type of mission you don’t normally see taking place from Florida. In fact, this will be the first time since 1969 that a rocket taking off from Florida heads southward.
Up until now, most polar launches in the US have taken place from the southern coast of California. That way, the rockets fly over open ocean when they head southward and not over populated land. Rockets that launch from Florida head eastward toward the equator, so that they also fly over mostly open ocean before getting to space.
this mission is heading to what is known as a polar orbit
But back in 2016, the Air Force began studying the possibility of bringing polar launches to Florida after wildfires got significantly close to Vandenberg Air Force Base, the US’s main California launch site for all polar launches. The fire caused damage to surrounding infrastructure and delayed one launch for up to two months, according to Florida Today. The 45th Space Wing, which oversees launches out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, crunched the numbers and found that polar launches could be done — with some caveats.
As of today, only SpaceX can fly this unique path from Florida because of how its Falcon 9 rockets are designed. The company’s rocket has an automatic flight safety system, which means the vehicle can self-destruct on its own — without input from the ground — if it strays off its path or something goes wrong. That’s important for flying this polar route. Since the rockets will be flying close to populated areas, any deviation from flight must be handled swiftly to keep people safe on the ground. But it’s possible that the plumes of gas coming from the rocket’s engines could interfere with any signals that are sent from the ground to self-destruct. So the Falcon 9 has to be able to blow itself up without human help.
Future vehicles are expected to fly with these autonomous safety systems, which would allow them to fly southward from Florida, too. But for now, SpaceX is the one bringing polar launches back to the Florida coast. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:18PM ET out of SpaceX’s launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket then headed south, skimming the southeastern Florida coast near Miami and then flying over Cuba. The 45th Space Wing claims that Miami is not in any danger during these types of missions, and that Cuba should be out of harm’s way, as well. “It will overfly Cuba, but it’ll be at an altitude that we’re safe, just like when we’re going north,” Brig. Gen. Douglas Schiess, commander of the 45th Space Wing, said during a press call. “As we get up into the northern part of North America, we start to overfly some islands as well, but we’re at a safer altitude at that point.”
“It will overfly Cuba, but it’ll be at an altitude that we’re safe.”
Schiess said that the Falcon 9 rocket followed the right path that will make sure people will be safe. “I know that we’re meeting all the safety requirements now, and it really comes down to being at the right altitude [and] speed at that time — to make sure that any debris that were to fall would be small enough, or not even impact any land, which makes this ability to launch that from a safe perspective.”
The main satellite on this launch was SAOCOM 1B, while two small satellites hitched along for a ride. SAOCOM 1B is the second of two identical Earth-observing satellites that SpaceX has contracted to launch for Argentina’s space agency. Together, the two satellites will use radar to observe the planet to hunt for disasters that could disrupt industries like agriculture, mining, fishing, and more. The satellite is going to a polar orbit known as sun-synchronous orbit. The path allows satellites to pass over the same patch of Earth at the same time each day, which is great for Earth observation satellites hoping to track changes to locations on the planet over time.