theverge--2020-07-03--MrBeast ends Finger on the App competition by telling players to stop after 70 hours

After watching contestants keep their fingers attached to a phone screen for more than 70 hours , YouTube creator Jimmy “ MrBeast ” Donaldson called an early end to a massive competition originally designed with one winner and a $ 25,000 prize in mind .
The result ?
Four winners , each walking away with $ 20,000 in hand .
Donaldson ’ s “ Finger on the App ” was a one-time game designed in partnership with internet collective MSCHF .
The rules were simple : be the last person to take your finger off a phone screen , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off at 3PM ET on June 30th , and ran until Donaldson called an end to the madness on Twitter at 1:15PM ET today .
“ Dear the four remaining contestants with your finger still on the app , I ’ m ending it here , ” Donaldson tweeted .
“ Three days is insane !
You ALL win and will ALL receive $ 20,000 .
CONGRATULATIONS !
” Despite Donaldson ’ s calls for players to “ go to sleep , ” a couple contestants kept going .
One player argued on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be a trick ; if three of the final four players removed their fingers , the last person standing could still stand to win $ 25,000 .
Another member of the final four had his game disconnected .
“ Dear the four remaining contestants with your finger still on the app , I ’ m ending it here.
” A couple of the players said they tweeted at Donaldson asking about next steps because they were left confused .
Donaldson then tweeted that he was able to get two “ of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” A follow up tweet from Donaldson confirmed “ all four winners have been contacted and will get their money.
” Donaldson also said that a lot of people were pretending to have won , but that his team “ confirmed the actual winners thru the backend and they have all been contacted.
” At least one person on a live stream who claimed to have been in the final group said they had not received a call from Donaldson .
The Verge has reached out to MSCHF and Donaldson for more information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started offering some of the remaining players thousands of dollars to take their finger off the app .
Two players took their fingers off the app on July 2nd for $ 5,000 each , according to Donaldson ’ s tweets , and another two players took their fingers off today for $ 10,000 each .
“ I think the beauty of the game is that we don ’ t really have control ” Donaldson has made a name for himself on YouTube for similar type of videos .
Over the last three years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large donations or presenting challenges that land friends and strangers new houses and cars .
His channel skyrocketed under the new format .
Donaldson gave his mom $ 100,000 , bought a house for his best friend , opened pop-up shops where visitors could buy expensive electronics for cheap , and bought car shoppers a vehicle of their choice after taking over a dealership , practically giving away every car .
Prior to the game ’ s launch , Donaldson spoke to The Verge about expectations both his team and MSCHF had for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hold “ millions of concurrent players , ” with more than 1 million players within the first hour .
Having those many players enter a game at once comes with some concerns .
Donaldson was especially interested in “ making sure someone couldn ’ t just duct tape their hand to the phone , ” he told The Verge at the time .
This required players to occasionally move their fingers in specific ways , he said .
Donaldson also acknowledged that much of it is out of his control , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was most excited by .
“ I think the beauty of the game is that we don ’ t really have control , ” Donaldson said .
“ It ’ s really up to the people playing and seeing who lasts the longest , and I think our main thing was just keeping the game fair.
” By the end , it became clear that Donaldson wanted to control the game a little to make sure contestants finally got some sleep .

After watching contestants keep their fingers attached to a phone screen for more than 70 hours, YouTube creator Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson called an early end to a massive competition originally designed with one winner and a $25,000 prize in mind. The result? Four winners, each walking away with $20,000 in hand.
Donaldson’s “Finger on the App” was a one-time game designed in partnership with internet collective MSCHF. The rules were simple: be the last person to take your finger off a phone screen, and win $25,000. The game kicked off at 3PM ET on June 30th, and ran until Donaldson called an end to the madness on Twitter at 1:15PM ET today.
“Dear the four remaining contestants with your finger still on the app, I’m ending it here,” Donaldson tweeted. “Three days is insane! You ALL win and will ALL receive $20,000. CONGRATULATIONS!”
Despite Donaldson’s calls for players to “go to sleep,” a couple contestants kept going. One player argued on a livestream that Donaldson’s tweet could be a trick; if three of the final four players removed their fingers, the last person standing could still stand to win $25,000. Another member of the final four had his game disconnected.
“Dear the four remaining contestants with your finger still on the app, I’m ending it here.”
A couple of the players said they tweeted at Donaldson asking about next steps because they were left confused. Donaldson then tweeted that he was able to get two “of the $20,000 winners in a phone call.” A follow up tweet from Donaldson confirmed “all four winners have been contacted and will get their money.”
“Glad a robot didn’t win,” Donaldson tweeted.
Donaldson also said that a lot of people were pretending to have won, but that his team “confirmed the actual winners thru the backend and they have all been contacted.” At least one person on a live stream who claimed to have been in the final group said they had not received a call from Donaldson. The Verge has reached out to MSCHF and Donaldson for more information.
Over the last day, Donaldson started offering some of the remaining players thousands of dollars to take their finger off the app. Two players took their fingers off the app on July 2nd for $5,000 each, according to Donaldson’s tweets, and another two players took their fingers off today for $10,000 each.
“I think the beauty of the game is that we don’t really have control”
Donaldson has made a name for himself on YouTube for similar type of videos. Over the last three years, Donaldson has filmed videos about making large donations or presenting challenges that land friends and strangers new houses and cars. His channel skyrocketed under the new format. Donaldson gave his mom $100,000, bought a house for his best friend, opened pop-up shops where visitors could buy expensive electronics for cheap, and bought car shoppers a vehicle of their choice after taking over a dealership, practically giving away every car.
Prior to the game’s launch, Donaldson spoke to The Verge about expectations both his team and MSCHF had for the game. The app was prepared to hold “millions of concurrent players,” with more than 1 million players within the first hour. Having those many players enter a game at once comes with some concerns.
Donaldson was especially interested in “making sure someone couldn’t just duct tape their hand to the phone,” he told The Verge at the time. This required players to occasionally move their fingers in specific ways, he said. Donaldson also acknowledged that much of it is out of his control, but it’s that chaotic element that he was most excited by.
“I think the beauty of the game is that we don’t really have control,” Donaldson said. “It’s really up to the people playing and seeing who lasts the longest, and I think our main thing was just keeping the game fair.”


theverge--2020-07-03--Sony’s PS4 hit Horizon Zero Dawn is coming to PC on August 7th

We already knew that Horizon Zero Dawn , long one of the PlayStation 4 ’ s prized exclusives , would be making its way to PC .
And now we know precisely when that will happen : the game will be released on August 7th .
It ’ ll be sold through both Steam and the Epic Games Store for $ 49.99 .
Guerilla Games , the Sony-owned developer behind the hit title and its upcoming PlayStation 5 sequel , released a new trailer today for the complete edition of Horizon Zero Dawn .
The video lays out a number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PC version , including ultrawide display support , an unlocked framerate , dynamic foliage , deep graphics customization settings , improved reflections , and expanded controller options .
It all looks fantastic in this 90-second trailer , which also shows an in-game benchmark tool .
Back in March , Hermen Hulst — the head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios — said of Horizon ’ s PC port that “ I think it ’ s important that we stay open to new ideas of how to introduce more people to PlayStation , and show people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out on.
” Horizon Zero Dawn is the first PS4 exclusive that will make the move to a second platform .
During Sony ’ s PS5 event last month , Guerrilla announced a stunning-looking PS5 sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn called Horizon Forbidden West .
There ’ s currently no release window for the anticipated follow-up , however .

We already knew that Horizon Zero Dawn, long one of the PlayStation 4’s prized exclusives, would be making its way to PC. And now we know precisely when that will happen: the game will be released on August 7th. It’ll be sold through both Steam and the Epic Games Store for $49.99.
Guerilla Games, the Sony-owned developer behind the hit title and its upcoming PlayStation 5 sequel, released a new trailer today for the complete edition of Horizon Zero Dawn. The video lays out a number of features and improvements coming to the PC version, including ultrawide display support, an unlocked framerate, dynamic foliage, deep graphics customization settings, improved reflections, and expanded controller options. It all looks fantastic in this 90-second trailer, which also shows an in-game benchmark tool.
Back in March, Hermen Hulst — the head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios — said of Horizon’s PC port that “I think it’s important that we stay open to new ideas of how to introduce more people to PlayStation, and show people maybe what they’ve been missing out on.” Horizon Zero Dawn is the first PS4 exclusive that will make the move to a second platform.


theverge--2020-07-03--Fortnite to host We The People program focused on conversations about race in America

Fortnite ’ s Party Royale will air an in-game showing of We The People on Saturday , part of a series of conversations around race in America , the company announced Friday .
The program , hosted by Van Jones of CNN , will include journalists Elaine Welteroth and Jemele Hill , and musicians Killer Mike and Lil Baby .
The group will hold a discussion about systemic racism in media , culture , and entertainment .
To watch We The People , launch Fortnite on Saturday morning , and select Battle Royale game mode .
Enter the Party Royale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Big Screen .
The event will get underway at 9:46AM ET , and will re-air several times throughout the day Saturday .
Epic Games debuted Party Royale in April , a separate non-violent social space from the main Battle Royale island .
It ’ s hosted virtual concerts from musicians like Diplo and Deadmau5 , a concert series with Young Thug and Noah Cyrus , as well as the hugely popular Travis Scott concert in April .
That event drew more than 12 million viewers , Last month Fortnite ’ s Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nolan movies , including Inception , Batman Begins , and The Prestige .
Nolan dropped the trailer for his upcoming film , Tenet inside of the game back in May .
According to Epic , as of May , Fortnite has more than 350 million players .

Fortnite’s Party Royale will air an in-game showing of We The People on Saturday, part of a series of conversations around race in America, the company announced Friday. The program, hosted by Van Jones of CNN, will include journalists Elaine Welteroth and Jemele Hill, and musicians Killer Mike and Lil Baby. The group will hold a discussion about systemic racism in media, culture, and entertainment.
To watch We The People, launch Fortnite on Saturday morning, and select Battle Royale game mode. Enter the Party Royale playlist and go to the Island’s Big Screen. The event will get underway at 9:46AM ET, and will re-air several times throughout the day Saturday.
Last month Fortnite’s Party Royale theater hosted showings of several Christopher Nolan movies, including Inception, Batman Begins, and The Prestige. Nolan dropped the trailer for his upcoming film, Tenet inside of the game back in May.


theverge--2020-07-03--UK government takes $500 million stake in space exploration firm OneWeb

As part of a consortium that includes Indian telecom Bharti Global , the UK government will invest $ 500 million and take a “ significant equity share ” in space exploration firm OneWeb , it announced Friday .
OneWeb , which has its headquarters in the UK , filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in March , after it was unable to secure financing .
Bharti Global also will invest $ 500 million as part of the deal .
OneWeb is one of several companies working on an Internet-from-space project , using a combination of low-altitude satellites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Earth ’ s surface .
It was slated to launch a constellation of 650 spacecraft , and its plans included providing internet coverage for the Arctic .
So far , it has launched 74 satellites for the project .
Friday ’ s deal with the UK , which gives the country a 20 percent stake , will allow OneWeb to complete construction of the satellite constellation , the government said in a statement , “ making the UK a world leader in science , research and development.
” UK Secretary of State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ presents the opportunity to further develop our strong advanced manufacturing base right here in the UK.
” The UK lost access to the European Union ’ s Galileo satellite system in 2018 as part of its departure from the EU , and the UK ’ s plans to build its own global navigation satellite system are on hold due to cost concerns .
OneWeb said in a statement Friday that the company was seeking to resume operations as soon as possible .
News of the OneWeb deal drew criticism from some space @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr Bleddyn Bowen , a space policy expert at the University of Leicester , told The Guardian that the deal amounted to “ bolting an unproven technology on to a mega-constellation that ’ s designed to do something else.
” OneWeb ’ s satellites are in low-Earth orbit , but most other countries ’ GPS systems are in medium-Earth orbit , The Guardian noted .
The deal is subject to US regulatory approval and is expected to close before the end of the year .

As part of a consortium that includes Indian telecom Bharti Global, the UK government will invest $500 million and take a “significant equity share” in space exploration firm OneWeb, it announced Friday. OneWeb, which has its headquarters in the UK, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in March, after it was unable to secure financing. Bharti Global also will invest $500 million as part of the deal.
OneWeb is one of several companies working on an Internet-from-space project, using a combination of low-altitude satellites to beam internet connectivity to ground terminals on Earth’s surface. It was slated to launch a constellation of 650 spacecraft, and its plans included providing internet coverage for the Arctic. So far, it has launched 74 satellites for the project.
Friday’s deal with the UK, which gives the country a 20 percent stake, will allow OneWeb to complete construction of the satellite constellation, the government said in a statement, “making the UK a world leader in science, research and development.” UK Secretary of State for Business Alok Sharma said the deal “presents the opportunity to further develop our strong advanced manufacturing base right here in the UK.” The UK lost access to the European Union’s Galileo satellite system in 2018 as part of its departure from the EU, and the UK’s plans to build its own global navigation satellite system are on hold due to cost concerns.
OneWeb said in a statement Friday that the company was seeking to resume operations as soon as possible.
News of the OneWeb deal drew criticism from some space experts in the UK, however. Dr Bleddyn Bowen, a space policy expert at the University of Leicester, told The Guardian that the deal amounted to “bolting an unproven technology on to a mega-constellation that’s designed to do something else.” OneWeb’s satellites are in low-Earth orbit, but most other countries’ GPS systems are in medium-Earth orbit, The Guardian noted.


theverge--2020-07-03--A portable display can make working from your dining room table easier

Working from home ( which many of us have been forced to do for the past few months , whether we want to or not ) can be more productive than being in an office — provided you have a comfortable and functional place to work within your home .
Unfortunately , for many who have been suddenly thrown into this situation , the best space they have to work is on a small laptop at a dining room table .
If you ’ re used to working at a desk with a large monitor , having to do the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ table can be frustratingly confining .
And since you also need to use this space for other activities when you ’ re not working , it may not be feasible to set up a traditional monitor or desktop computer there .
A portable , USB-C powered monitor might be just the right thing to upgrade your laptop-only dining room workstation .
You can set it up in seconds , it plugs into your computer with a single cable , and when you ’ re done for the day , you can close it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your laptop , allowing you to reclaim the space for other uses .
For the past couple of weeks , I ’ ve been testing the Ananta , a 17.3-inch , 1080p portable touchscreen monitor .
It ’ s plug-and-play with most modern laptops — just connect the included USB-C cable to your laptop and to the display ; your computer should immediately recognize the monitor and power it on .
It then provides you with an expansive second screen that ’ s likely bigger than the display inside your laptop .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ display for many other devices , including a Nintendo Switch , a Raspberry Pi , a Blu-ray player , or even a desktop computer , though you ’ ll need to connect some of them with HDMI .
If you have a recent Huawei or Samsung phone , you can use it to access their respective desktop modes .
The Ananta comes with a magnetic case that acts as a kickstand , weighs about 2.4 pounds , and is less than six millimeters thick at its thinnest point .
It ’ s about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be .
When plugged into a Surface Laptop 3 , the Ananta ’ s large screen completely changed my workflow , allowing me to spread my windows out across much more screen real estate than I had before .
Instead of flipping between virtual desktops , I was able to have my chat windows and browser visible all the time .
During Apple ’ s recent WWDC keynote , I was able to watch the live stream on the Ananta while I collaborated with my teammates on the Laptop 3 ’ s main @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using a big , bright USB-C display with your laptop .
The obvious one is battery life — the Ananta caused my laptop ’ s battery to drain about twice as fast as normal .
Fortunately , there are actually two USB-C ports ( plus HDMI , a USB-A port , and a 3.5mm headphone jack ) on the Ananta , which allow you to use pass-through charging .
Plug a powerful enough charger into one port and it will power both the secondary display and your laptop .
I was able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the display and my laptop , but it wouldn ’ t work with either a 60-watt or 100-watt power bank , so your mileage might vary .
The other issue is audio — the Ananta has two speakers on the back , but they sound rather terrible .
You ’ re better off using your laptop ’ s native speakers for sound .
The Ananta ’ s touch functionality is what makes it stand out among the many other USB-C displays available , and it even comes with a pressure-sensitive stylus for doodling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s also compatible with Microsoft ’ s Surface Pen . )
Touch functionality meant I could just tap something on the screen instead of trying to move my mouse cursor across the seemingly miles of display space I now had .
Unfortunately , I wasn ’ t able to get the touch feature to work with a Mac or the Switch .
As for the quality of the display itself , the panel gets surprisingly bright .
The 1080p resolution may seem low on paper , but wasn ’ t an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have a calibration device on hand to test it , the color reproduction isn ’ t quite as good as the Surface ’ s display to my eyes .
Still , it ’ s contrasty and vibrant for watching video and playing games .
I just wouldn ’ t use it for color-critical creative work .
Its 60Hz refresh rate won ’ t be ideal for intense PC gaming , but it ’ s fine for console games and any productivity work .
There are some limited display controls available through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes with an IR remote that lets you change the brightness or access that settings panel .
Finally , there ’ s price .
Right now , the Ananta is available through a Kickstarter campaign , with deliveries promised for September of this year .
As of this writing , the lowest price you can get the display for is $ 359 , and it is expected to retail for a rather steep $ 599 when it hits general availability .
If you go for the Kickstarter deal , the price is reasonable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well the Ananta works .
But at full price , it may cost nearly as much as the laptop you ’ re plugging it into , at which point you have to wonder if it ’ s worth it .
Either way , the Ananta does solve a pain point for the unique circumstances many of us are in .

Working from home (which many of us have been forced to do for the past few months, whether we want to or not) can be more productive than being in an office — provided you have a comfortable and functional place to work within your home. Unfortunately, for many who have been suddenly thrown into this situation, the best space they have to work is on a small laptop at a dining room table.
If you’re used to working at a desk with a large monitor, having to do the same job on a laptop at a table can be frustratingly confining. And since you also need to use this space for other activities when you’re not working, it may not be feasible to set up a traditional monitor or desktop computer there.
A portable, USB-C powered monitor might be just the right thing to upgrade your laptop-only dining room workstation. You can set it up in seconds, it plugs into your computer with a single cable, and when you’re done for the day, you can close it up just as quickly as you close your laptop, allowing you to reclaim the space for other uses.
The Ananta comes with a pressure-sensitive pen and an IR remote.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been testing the Ananta, a 17.3-inch, 1080p portable touchscreen monitor. It’s plug-and-play with most modern laptops — just connect the included USB-C cable to your laptop and to the display; your computer should immediately recognize the monitor and power it on. It then provides you with an expansive second screen that’s likely bigger than the display inside your laptop.
The Ananta can also be used as a display for many other devices, including a Nintendo Switch, a Raspberry Pi, a Blu-ray player, or even a desktop computer, though you’ll need to connect some of them with HDMI. If you have a recent Huawei or Samsung phone, you can use it to access their respective desktop modes. The Ananta comes with a magnetic case that acts as a kickstand, weighs about 2.4 pounds, and is less than six millimeters thick at its thinnest point. It’s about as portable as a 17.3-inch screen can be.
Related The Verge Guide to Working at Home
When plugged into a Surface Laptop 3, the Ananta’s large screen completely changed my workflow, allowing me to spread my windows out across much more screen real estate than I had before. Instead of flipping between virtual desktops, I was able to have my chat windows and browser visible all the time. During Apple’s recent WWDC keynote, I was able to watch the live stream on the Ananta while I collaborated with my teammates on the Laptop 3’s main display.
You can use the Ananta’s big screen as a pop-up gaming rig with a Nintendo Switch or other console. Photography by Dan Seifert / The Verge
There are some consequences to using a big, bright USB-C display with your laptop. The obvious one is battery life — the Ananta caused my laptop’s battery to drain about twice as fast as normal. Fortunately, there are actually two USB-C ports (plus HDMI, a USB-A port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack) on the Ananta, which allow you to use pass-through charging. Plug a powerful enough charger into one port and it will power both the secondary display and your laptop. I was able to use a 45-watt charger to power both the display and my laptop, but it wouldn’t work with either a 60-watt or 100-watt power bank, so your mileage might vary.
The other issue is audio — the Ananta has two speakers on the back, but they sound rather terrible. You’re better off using your laptop’s native speakers for sound.
The Ananta’s touch functionality is what makes it stand out among the many other USB-C displays available, and it even comes with a pressure-sensitive stylus for doodling or writing on the display. (It’s also compatible with Microsoft’s Surface Pen.) Touch functionality meant I could just tap something on the screen instead of trying to move my mouse cursor across the seemingly miles of display space I now had. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the touch feature to work with a Mac or the Switch.
Two USB-C ports allow for pass-through charging when the Ananta is connected to a device. The opposite side has controls for the on-screen menu and a USB-A port.
As for the quality of the display itself, the panel gets surprisingly bright. The 1080p resolution may seem low on paper, but wasn’t an issue in practice. Though I don’t have a calibration device on hand to test it, the color reproduction isn’t quite as good as the Surface’s display to my eyes. Still, it’s contrasty and vibrant for watching video and playing games. I just wouldn’t use it for color-critical creative work. Its 60Hz refresh rate won’t be ideal for intense PC gaming, but it’s fine for console games and any productivity work. There are some limited display controls available through an on-screen menu, and the Ananta comes with an IR remote that lets you change the brightness or access that settings panel.
Finally, there’s price. Right now, the Ananta is available through a Kickstarter campaign, with deliveries promised for September of this year. As of this writing, the lowest price you can get the display for is $359, and it is expected to retail for a rather steep $599 when it hits general availability. If you go for the Kickstarter deal, the price is reasonable for how large, versatile, and well the Ananta works. But at full price, it may cost nearly as much as the laptop you’re plugging it into, at which point you have to wonder if it’s worth it.
Either way, the Ananta does solve a pain point for the unique circumstances many of us are in.
Photography by Dan Seifert / The Verge


theverge--2020-07-04--Reddit says it’s fixing code in its iOS app that copied clipboard contents

Reddit says it ’ s releasing a fix for a piece of code that copied contents from users ’ clipboards .
Users in a beta version of iOS 14 , which sends an alert when an app tries to copy clipboard information , reported receiving the alerts with each keystroke in Reddit ’ s iOS app .
“ We tracked this down to a codepath in the post composer that checks for URLs in the pasteboard and then suggests a post title based on the text contents of the URL , ” a Reddit spokesperson wrote in an email to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ store or send the pasteboard contents .
We removed this code and are releasing the fix on July 14th.
” The privacy feature in iOS 14 , which is still in a limited beta for developers , has revealed several apps engaging in clipboard-copying in recent weeks .
LinkedIn said Friday it would stop the practice , explaining its app was doing so to perform an “ equality check ” between what a user is typing and what ’ s in their clipboard .
“ We don ’ t store or transmit the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Erran Berger wrote on Twitter .
The company didn ’ t explain why the practice was in place to begin with .
TikTok , which has faced criticism for privacy concerns on its app in the past , was called out for similar clipboard-copying behavior last week .
The company said the practice was part of an “ anti-spam ” feature and that it was being discontinued .
A public beta of iOS 14 is expected in the next few weeks and it ’ s likely that the clipboard privacy feature may reveal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Reddit says it’s releasing a fix for a piece of code that copied contents from users’ clipboards. Users in a beta version of iOS 14, which sends an alert when an app tries to copy clipboard information, reported receiving the alerts with each keystroke in Reddit’s iOS app.
“We tracked this down to a codepath in the post composer that checks for URLs in the pasteboard and then suggests a post title based on the text contents of the URL,” a Reddit spokesperson wrote in an email to The Verge. “We do not store or send the pasteboard contents. We removed this code and are releasing the fix on July 14th.”
User Donald Morton posted a video of the issue to Twitter:
Two iPhone developers, Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, raised concerns about clipboard-copying behavior back in February, noting that dozens of apps were engaged in the practice.
The privacy feature in iOS 14, which is still in a limited beta for developers, has revealed several apps engaging in clipboard copying in recent weeks. LinkedIn said Friday it would stop the practice, explaining its app was doing so to perform an “equality check” between what a user is typing and what’s in their clipboard. “We don’t store or transmit the clipboard contents,” LinkedIn engineering VP Erran Berger wrote on Twitter. The company didn’t explain why the practice was in place to begin with.
TikTok, which has faced criticism for privacy concerns on its app in the past, was called out for similar clipboard-copying behavior last week. The company said the practice was part of an “anti-spam” feature and that it was being discontinued.
A public beta of iOS 14 is expected in the next few weeks and it’s likely that the clipboard privacy feature may reveal more apps engaged in this questionable behavior.


theverge--2020-07-04--Rocket Lab’s 13th launch ends in failure, after rocket experiences problem mid-flight

Rocket Lab ’ s 13th mission ended in failure on Saturday , after the company ’ s rocket experienced some kind of problem after launching to space .
As a result , Rocket Lab lost its rocket , as well as all the satellites it carried on board .
The company ’ s Electron rocket successfully took off at 5:19PM ET from Rocket Lab ’ s primary launch facility on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand .
The launch seemed to proceed just fine for the first crucial minutes , but about six minutes into the launch , live video @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point , Rocket Lab ’ s livestream indicated that the rocket started to lose speed , and the vehicle dropped in altitude .
Rocket Lab eventually cut the livestream .
Afterward , the company revealed that the Electron rocket had been lost during flight .
Rocket Lab ’ s CEO Peter Beck apologized for the failure on Twitter .
“ I am incredibly sorry that we failed to deliver our customers satellites today , ” he tweeted .
“ Rest assured we will find the issue , correct it and be back on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ named “ Pics Or It Didn ’ t Happen , ” carried mostly Earth-imaging small satellites .
The primary payload was Canon Electronics ’ CE-SAT-IB , designed to demonstrate Earth-imaging technology with high-resolution and wide-angle cameras .
The rocket also carried five SuperDove satellites from the company Planet , designed to image Earth from above .
The last payload was a small satellite called Faraday-1 , from In-Space Missions , which hosted multiple instruments from startups and other organizations that needed a ride to space .
Planet ’ s CEO Will Marshall announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , noting that the company has plans to launch even more satellites this summer on two separate launches .
“ While it ’ s never the outcome that we hope for , the risk of launch failure is one Planet is always prepared for , ” the company said in a statement .
Planet is about to launch up to 26 of its SuperDove satellites on a European Vega rocket in August , from South America .
Since its inception , Rocket Lab has put 53 spacecraft into low Earth orbit on 12 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s launch the third for Rocket Lab this year .
The majority of the company ’ s flight have been successful .
Rocket Lab ’ s very first flight in 2017 , called “ It ’ s a Test , ” was the only flight that didn ’ t operate according to plan ; the rocket successfully launched and made it to space , but didn ’ t reach orbit .
All of Rocket Lab ’ s other missions have been picture perfect since then , making today ’ s flight the first @ @ @ @ @ @

Rocket Lab’s 13th mission ended in failure on Saturday, after the company’s rocket experienced “an anomaly” after launching to space. As a result, Rocket Lab lost its rocket, as well as all the satellites it carried on board.
The company’s Electron rocket successfully took off at 5:19PM ET from Rocket Lab’s primary launch facility on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The launch seemed to proceed just fine for the first crucial minutes, but about six minutes into the launch, live video from the rocket stalled. At that point, Rocket Lab’s livestream indicated that the rocket started to lose speed, and the vehicle dropped in altitude.
Rocket Lab eventually cut the livestream. Afterward, the company revealed that the Electron rocket had been lost during flight. The company said in a statement that the still-unidentified issue occurred about four minutes into flight.
Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck apologized for the failure. “We are deeply sorry to our customers Spaceflight Inc., Canon Electronics Inc., Planet, and In-Space Missions for the loss of their payloads,” Beck said in a statement. “We know many people poured their hearts and souls into those spacecraft. Today’s anomaly is a reminder that space launch can be unforgiving, but we will identify the issue, rectify it, and be safely back on the pad as soon as possible.”
Beck praised the launch team for their “professionalism and expertise,” and for handing the situation safely. “I’m proud of the way they have responded to a tough day. We’re working together as a team to comb through the data, learn from today, and prepare for our next mission.”
The mission, named “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen,” carried mostly Earth-imaging small satellites. The primary payload was Canon Electronics’ CE-SAT-IB, designed to demonstrate Earth-imaging technology with high-resolution and wide-angle cameras. The rocket also carried five SuperDove satellites from the company Planet, designed to image Earth from above. The last payload was a small satellite called Faraday-1, from In-Space Missions, which hosted multiple instruments from startups and other organizations that needed a ride to space.
Planet’s CEO Will Marshall announced the loss of the satellites on Twitter, noting that the company has plans to launch even more satellites this summer on two separate launches. “While it’s never the outcome that we hope for, the risk of launch failure is one Planet is always prepared for,” the company said in a statement. Planet is about to launch up to 26 of its SuperDove satellites on a European Vega rocket in August, from South America.
Since its inception, Rocket Lab has put 53 spacecraft into low Earth orbit on 12 separate missions, with this weekend’s launch the third for Rocket Lab this year. The majority of the company’s flight have been successful. Rocket Lab’s very first flight in 2017, called “It’s a Test,” was the only flight that didn’t operate according to plan; the rocket successfully launched and made it to space, but didn’t reach orbit. All of Rocket Lab’s other missions have been picture perfect since then, making today’s flight the first major failure for the company.


theverge--2020-07-04--DuckDuckGo reinstated in India after being unreachable since July 1st

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has been restored in India after being unreachable for many users there since July 1st , Android Police reported .
Reports about what was causing the outage have varied .
Some users reported the Indian government appeared to be behind the block , and others said they were getting what appeared to be DNS lookup errors , according to Android Police .
DuckDuckGo tweeted that the service appeared to be restored in India as of Saturday morning .
On June 29th , India ’ s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned more than 50 China-based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were “ engaged in activities ... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India , ” according to a press release .
It ’ s not clear whether Pennsylvania-based DuckDuckGo may have been inadvertently blocked as part of that larger effort , or whether there was another reason for the outage .
DuckDuckGo was not on the Indian government ’ s June 29th list of banned apps .
“ We have contacted the Indian government but have not yet received a response , ” a DuckDuckGo spokesperson said in an email to The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on why the Indian government would instruct Indian ISPs to block DuckDuckGo , but are optimistic that this will be resolved soon .
”

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has been restored in India after being unreachable for many users there since July 1st, Android Police reported. Reports about what was causing the outage have varied. Some users reported the Indian government appeared to be behind the block, and others said they were getting what appeared to be DNS lookup errors, according to Android Police.
DuckDuckGo tweeted that the service appeared to be restored in India as of Saturday morning.
On June 29th, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned more than 50 China-based apps including TikTok and WeChat, saying they were “engaged in activities ... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India,” according to a press release.
It’s not clear whether Pennsylvania-based DuckDuckGo may have been inadvertently blocked as part of that larger effort, or whether there was another reason for the outage. DuckDuckGo was not on the Indian government’s June 29th list of banned apps.
“We have contacted the Indian government but have not yet received a response,” a DuckDuckGo spokesperson said in an email to The Verge Saturday. “We are bewildered on why the Indian government would instruct Indian ISPs to block DuckDuckGo, but are optimistic that this will be resolved soon.”


theverge--2020-07-04--9 new trailers to watch this week

9 new trailers to watch this week

Like seemingly everyone else right now , I watched back through Avatar : The Last Airbender for the first time in years ( actually , just the second and third seasons since my wife got through most of the first one without me ) because it ’ s come back to Netflix .
It ’ s been really wonderful seeing such a brilliant , funny , epic , and deserving show suddenly getting this widespread recognition .
On ( what is probably my fourth ) rewatch , what really stood out to me is the incredible attention the show gives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout its world .
The show ’ s protagonists are constantly traveling , yet even towns and characters that only show up for an episode get distinct traits and humanizing moments .
It adds up to a fantasy world that feels uniquely rich and complete .
One example that really caught me was the show ’ s swampbenders .
They ’ re largely a joke , but the show still gives them a history ( they ’ re Water Tribe descendants who migrated to the Earth Kingdom ) and a culture ( they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work the water within the vines ) .
It feels whole despite being a subplot within a 20-minute episode , and it ’ s just one of dozens .
If you haven ’ t watched the show already , you should really give it a try .
( Just know , it takes a couple of episodes to hit its stride . )
Check out nine trailers from this week below .
Pixar ’ s next film looks gorgeous ... and since I can ’ t get outside to see New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s nice to see Soul ’ s re-creation of it , which seems to perpetually be covered in glowing golden-hour light .
The film comes out on November 20th .
Beyoncé has another visually stunning film coming up , which she both wrote and directed herself .
It ’ s exclusive to Disney Plus and is supposed to tie into themes from The Lion King since she starred in last year ’ s remake .
But mostly , it just looks like the latest entry in Beyoncé remarkable line of visual albums .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Charlize Theron stars in a new film for Netflix about a group of mercenaries who can ’ t die and have gone to battle throughout the ages .
It looks like a truly ludicrous premise and an excuse for plenty of elaborate action .
The film comes out on July 10th .
Jennifer Hudson plays soul legend Aretha Franklin in Respect , a new biopic that explores Franklin ’ s rise to stardom — and , naturally , gives Hudson plenty of excuses to cover the classics .
Variety reports that Franklin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death in 2018 .
The film comes out on Christmas .
I ’ m extremely into the strange , glitchy , bad-good digital art style used in Apple TV Plus ’ latest series .
Greatness Code is pretty straightforward on the surface — it ’ s about top athletes discussing some of their best and toughest moments — but it looks like it ’ s been beautifully packaged and in an unusual way for a sports doc .
It comes out on July 10th .
Here ’ s the first real look at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the legend of King Arthur , but with Nimue as the one who comes to wield the sword .
It looks like a huge teen fantasy adventure .
The show debuts on July 17th .
Boys State got great reviews out of Sundance , and now it ’ s headed to Apple TV Plus .
The documentary follows an elaborate mock government program for teenage boys in Austin , Texas , and watches as the competition quickly comes to reflect “ all the flaws of American politics , ” as Tasha Robinson wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theaters on July 31st and then starts streaming on August 14th .
Bloody Nose , Empty Pockets is a documentary — sort of — about the final night of a Las Vegas dive bar , spending time with the regulars who filter in and out and make the place a joy .
It ’ s also ... not really a documentary .
The bar is in New Orleans , and the people are all playing characters made up while filming .
I don ’ t know exactly what you call that ( well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it looks really interesting .
The film starts to come out on July 8th .
Will this be good ?
Will this be real ?
I have no idea .
But at the very least , we have this wild two-minute teaser for a supposed animated show directed by Takashi Murakami based on Kanye West and Kid Cudi ’ s one-off album , which is best known for having a follow-up to the breakout track for 070 Shake , “ Ghost Town , ” on it .
It comes out ... who knows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ game about his mother traveling to heaven ?

Like seemingly everyone else right now, I watched back through Avatar: The Last Airbender for the first time in years (actually, just the second and third seasons since my wife got through most of the first one without me) because it’s come back to Netflix. It’s been really wonderful seeing such a brilliant, funny, epic, and deserving show suddenly getting this widespread recognition.
On (what is probably my fourth) rewatch, what really stood out to me is the incredible attention the show gives to building out vibrant, fascinating cultures throughout its world. The show’s protagonists are constantly traveling, yet even towns and characters that only show up for an episode get distinct traits and humanizing moments. It adds up to a fantasy world that feels uniquely rich and complete.
One example that really caught me was the show’s swampbenders. They’re largely a joke, but the show still gives them a history (they’re Water Tribe descendants who migrated to the Earth Kingdom) and a culture (they settled in the swamp because they learned to work the water within the vines). It feels whole despite being a subplot within a 20-minute episode, and it’s just one of dozens.
If you haven’t watched the show already, you should really give it a try. (Just know, it takes a couple of episodes to hit its stride.)
Check out nine trailers from this week below.
Soul
Pixar’s next film looks gorgeous... and since I can’t get outside to see New York City all that much, it’s nice to see Soul’s re-creation of it, which seems to perpetually be covered in glowing golden-hour light. The film comes out on November 20th.
Black is King
Beyoncé has another visually stunning film coming up, which she both wrote and directed herself. It’s exclusive to Disney Plus and is supposed to tie into themes from The Lion King since she starred in last year’s remake. But mostly, it just looks like the latest entry in Beyoncé remarkable line of visual albums. The film comes out on July 31st.
The Old Guard
Charlize Theron stars in a new film for Netflix about a group of mercenaries who can’t die and have gone to battle throughout the ages. It looks like a truly ludicrous premise and an excuse for plenty of elaborate action. The film comes out on July 10th.
Aretha Franklin
Jennifer Hudson plays soul legend Aretha Franklin in Respect, a new biopic that explores Franklin’s rise to stardom — and, naturally, gives Hudson plenty of excuses to cover the classics. Variety reports that Franklin was involved with the production until her death in 2018. The film comes out on Christmas.
Greatness Code
I’m extremely into the strange, glitchy, bad-good digital art style used in Apple TV Plus’ latest series. Greatness Code is pretty straightforward on the surface — it’s about top athletes discussing some of their best and toughest moments — but it looks like it’s been beautifully packaged and in an unusual way for a sports doc. It comes out on July 10th.
Cursed
Here’s the first real look at Cursed, a new series that reimagines the legend of King Arthur, but with Nimue as the one who comes to wield the sword. It looks like a huge teen fantasy adventure. The show debuts on July 17th.
Boys State
Boys State got great reviews out of Sundance, and now it’s headed to Apple TV Plus. The documentary follows an elaborate mock government program for teenage boys in Austin, Texas, and watches as the competition quickly comes to reflect “all the flaws of American politics,” as Tasha Robinson wrote over at Polygon. It comes to theaters on July 31st and then starts streaming on August 14th.
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is a documentary — sort of — about the final night of a Las Vegas dive bar, spending time with the regulars who filter in and out and make the place a joy. It’s also... not really a documentary. The bar is in New Orleans, and the people are all playing characters made up while filming. I don’t know exactly what you call that (well, fiction, probably), but it looks really interesting. The film starts to come out on July 8th.
Kids See Ghosts


theverge--2020-07-05--33 powerful Black Lives Matter murals

33 powerful Black Lives Matter murals

First , boards covered businesses in New York and Oakland .
Then , so did art .
Graffiti artists , muralists , and others , including artists who ’ d never before put up large-scale works — famous and not — used the boards as blank canvases .
Memorials to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor , as well as others who were killed by police , graced many walls ; another way of saying Black Lives Matter .
Other art included calls to defund the police , poems , and expressions of all kinds .
Some neighborhoods became ersatz outdoor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowds , unless protesters passed through .
The Verge ’ s staff was impressed by the art , so a couple photographers took pictures of the works .
Where possible , we ’ ve credited the artists .
We ’ ve also talked to a few of them to get their perspective on their art .
In some cases , we didn ’ t hear back from artists before publish , so we have only included their Instagram handle .
If you recognize the art , and we don ’ t have the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us !
We want to make sure everyone gets credit for their work .
Above , Gaia WXYZ ’ s mural Black Girls Deserve Better .
As Gaia was painting the base coat on her mural in downtown Oakland , she wasn ’ t quite sure what the end product was going to look like .
But all that changed very quickly as a passerby tapped her leg and said , “ Do you need any help , sexy ?
“ Gaia told him that touching people without consent isn ’ t something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just reminded Gaia of all the times she was disrespected as a girl .
“ Growing up in Florida , men would sexualize me and objectify me .
I wish that Black girls today could live and be girls .
I wanted to channel that frustration into a message that could uplift , ” she said over Instagram .
Instagram : @ gaiaw.xyz It ’ s Murder painted by Liliana Rivera “ was inspired by the anger I felt towards people trying to justify what is happening to black people , I wanted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s murder .
That ’ s what ’ s happening , law enforcement doesn ’ t have the right to murder people ” she said over Instagram .
Liliana Rivera stands for a portrait in front of her piece called Dominique Alexander , named after the man who was found hanging in Fort Tryon Park .
His death was declared a suicide .
In a message over Instagram she wrote , ” I never thought I would hear of a man being lynched on a tree in NYC , to me that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ south or in middle America .
For something like that to happen in our own backyard was really disheartening , and literally in people ’ s backyards at home.
” Instagram : @ lilianariveradesigns Left , Fabio Esteban Amador commented about his piece Hope ( Esperanza ) by Instagram message : “ The power of the image in times of uncertainty becomes the impetus for change in our society.
” Instagram : @ fabioesteban .
Right , artist ( s ) unknown .
Mural artist Lola Lovenotes writes about her mural commemorating Breonna @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3 months ago by police officers and they still have not been charged , ” she said in a message over Instagram .
“ There have been countless racial injustices against Black women , girls , [ transwomen + girls ] , and yet their names are forgotten .
Their murders don ’ t seem to get the same attention as Black men and boys .
When we say Black Lives Matter , we need to make sure Black women are included in our demands for justice too !
” ( The brackets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lovenotes .
Left , mural by @ sotethegoat @ art_stocks .
Right , mural of Ida B .
Wells by @ maevecahill who explains her inspiration for the piece via Instagram message : “ Ida B Wells once said ‘ There is no educator like the press , ’ which became the catalyst for my train of thought regarding the lack of truth in the media we experience and consider educational in the 21st Century .
The press is the quintessential example of how easily stories can continue to be spun and history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regards to Black history .
With this I pose the question ... Is Truth Dead ?
” Left , piece by @ hektad._official .
Right , piece by Nick C Kirk @ nickckirk .
Artist Konstance Patton poses for a portrait in front of her unfinished mural , Kendra .
“ My inspirations for the Kendra mural was peace , beauty , diversity and being seen ” She wrote in an email .
This painting is part of Patton ’ s ongoing Goddezz Projekt that encompasses works produced around the world and in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ series “ is to create art works that are beautiful and dynamic , while they also reflect the diversity of the women in America .
I love when people just stop , take a breath and smile with the art during this fast changing historic moment .
Finally art is back in Soho .
I am proud to contribute .
Artists are essential , we are creating moments of peace , and we are finally being seen.
” See the finished piece here .
Instagram : @ konartstudio A mural by Konstance Patton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Soho .
Instagram : @ konartstudio In a message over Instagram Amir Diop gives insight into a large scale mural he painted on Broadway in Soho .
“ The meaning of we make all your shit is the fact that African Americans make all these things to make profit for big business .
The fact that we still don ’ t get justice for the men and women we lose is absurd .
So I use my imagination to create a unrealistic looking painting and make it talk about very real topics.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Diop ’ s 400 Years “ represents that throughout America history people didn ’ t think about what black people go through in America .
America continues to fail us and it took us being locked down in the house from corona for 3 months to say enough is enough and things need to change.
” Instagram : @ amir.diop99 .
Right , piece by @ melvinqphysique .
Left , piece by @ ronhaywoodjones .
Right , street artist Sacsix ’ s piece on a boarded-up storefront is the backdrop to empty cafe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ phase 2 ” in the reopening of New York ’ s economy since the shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic .
Instagram : @ sacsix .
Artist Nick C. Kirk writes , “ I ’ ve recently been working on pieces surrounding unnecessary police brutality .
The piece on Broadway , let ’ s just call it ‘ Demilitarize The Police , ’ with several VIP riot gear figures was a single figure piece I made back when Trump was elected .
I felt that he fought the people versus working with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this piece has become since 2016 .
The figure is called ‘ VIP Citizen Trump , ’ standing proud in his presidential riot gear .
‘ VIP ’ references quite a few things including how he sees the USofA in comparison to other countries , the southern Mexico ‘ Great Wall , ’ how he handles government and it ’ s officials , etc .
While protesting day and night , I ’ ve observed first hand the unnecessary force used by the New York City Police on peaceful protestors.
” “ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the local police act the way they do .
They are obviously trained to behave this way .
They should be taught to open dialogue instead of not caring and respond only with physical force .
The tactics and weaponry they use at will need to be discarded and set in place a new standard .
They do not feel like they are part of society , rather against it and that needs to change.
” Instagram : @ nickckirk .
Kalima Rubio poses for a portrait in front of What is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ piece was actually written in 2016 because of the murder of Philando Castile which is why this piece is so important , ” Rubio says in an email .
“ It allows you to see that nothing has changed , and that instead racism , law enforcement , our judicial system has shown it ’ s true colors into their intentions and unwillingness to do what ’ s right by black people.
“ Instagram : @ 7soulsdeep .
Left , piece by Moving on earth ( Moe ) writes via Instagram message about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the end of the day we are all human beings .
And it saddens me deep down inside that Black people have been murdered .
Choked , shot and recently hung from trees .
If I can help by asking questions through my art I feel like it ’ s my duty.
” Instagram : @ itsthatfuckingfaceagain .
Right , artist ( s ) unknown , NYC .
Left image : New York is Closed Until Justice is Real by @ tylerivesnyc , and piece to the right by @ saralynne.leo .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ jessekreuzer , see the completed work here .
Left panel painted by Shaina Eve Cintron , who said over Instagram message , “ She is the mother to all lost children and the guidance we needed in this time .
She is the protector of us all .
She is Yemaya.
” Instagram : @ bl_a_nk_doe2.0 .
Gil Scott-Heron muralist , right , unknown .
After finishing a mural of George Floyd on Broadway in downtown Oakland , Matt Hunter started painting his second one when The Verge caught up with him .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mural of Breonna Taylor .
It took him about three days to finish this monochromatic piece of Taylor depicted as “ a new monument for a new future , ” he said .
“ I feel as though there is a cycle of things and we are at a boiling point of ignored pain.
” Later , Hunter sent photos of the finished piece .
Taylor is now surrounded by thousands of people behind her , which he says represent an unstoppable movement to create change and bring justice to all people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ side of her are a reminder that the Earth keeps turning .
“ Things move towards evolution , however slowly , ” he said .
“ Evolution of the spirit .
Evolution of justice.
” Instagram : @ matthuntering .
Shara Shimabukuro , a UX and product designer by trade , got into painting about three years ago .
Above is her first mural ever .
The sheer size of it felt daunting at first , she says .
Shimabukuro ’ s idea with the mural was to give residents of Oakland something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consultation with her friend , a Bay Area native , she decided Gianna Floyd ’ s quote from a now-famous video would do just that .
“ The color kind of came together afterwards .
I just started elements here and there and that ’ s how it turned out , ” she said .
Shimabukuro , who spent the last five years in the Bay Area , is currently in the process of moving to Tulsa .
She wanted to contribute something to the city of Oakland before she moves .

First, boards covered businesses in New York and Oakland. Then, so did art. Graffiti artists, muralists, and others, including artists who’d never before put up large-scale works — famous and not — used the boards as blank canvases. Memorials to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as others who were killed by police, graced many walls; another way of saying Black Lives Matter. Other art included calls to defund the police, poems, and expressions of all kinds. Some neighborhoods became ersatz outdoor galleries, often empty of the usual crowds, unless protesters passed through.
The Verge’s staff was impressed by the art, so a couple photographers took pictures of the works. Where possible, we’ve credited the artists. We’ve also talked to a few of them to get their perspective on their art. In some cases, we didn’t hear back from artists before publish, so we have only included their Instagram handle. If you recognize the art, and we don’t have the artist’s name, please contact us! We want to make sure everyone gets credit for their work.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Above, Gaia WXYZ’s mural Black Girls Deserve Better. As Gaia was painting the base coat on her mural in downtown Oakland, she wasn’t quite sure what the end product was going to look like. But all that changed very quickly as a passerby tapped her leg and said, “Do you need any help, sexy?“
Gaia told him that touching people without consent isn’t something he should do. That particular incident just reminded Gaia of all the times she was disrespected as a girl. “Growing up in Florida, men would sexualize me and objectify me. I wish that Black girls today could live and be girls. I wanted to channel that frustration into a message that could uplift,” she said over Instagram. Instagram: @gaiaw.xyz
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
It’s Murder painted by Liliana Rivera “was inspired by the anger I felt towards people trying to justify what is happening to black people, I wanted to simplify that truth - it’s murder. That’s what’s happening, law enforcement doesn’t have the right to murder people” she said over Instagram.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Liliana Rivera stands for a portrait in front of her piece called Dominique Alexander, named after the man who was found hanging in Fort Tryon Park. His death was declared a suicide. In a message over Instagram she wrote, ”I never thought I would hear of a man being lynched on a tree in NYC, to me that’s something that always happened in the south or in middle America. For something like that to happen in our own backyard was really disheartening, and literally in people’s backyards at home.” Instagram: @lilianariveradesigns
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Artist(s) unknown
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left, Fabio Esteban Amador commented about his piece Hope (Esperanza) by Instagram message: “The power of the image in times of uncertainty becomes the impetus for change in our society.” Instagram: @fabioesteban. Right, artist(s) unknown.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Mural artist Lola Lovenotes writes about her mural commemorating Breonna Taylor, who “was murdered over 3 months ago by police officers and they still have not been charged,” she said in a message over Instagram. “There have been countless racial injustices against Black women, girls, [transwomen + girls], and yet their names are forgotten. Their murders don’t seem to get the same attention as Black men and boys. When we say Black Lives Matter, we need to make sure Black women are included in our demands for justice too!” (The brackets are hers.) Instagram: @lovenotes.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left, mural by @sotethegoat @art_stocks. Right, mural of Ida B. Wells by @maevecahill who explains her inspiration for the piece via Instagram message: “Ida B Wells once said ‘There is no educator like the press,’ which became the catalyst for my train of thought regarding the lack of truth in the media we experience and consider educational in the 21st Century. The press is the quintessential example of how easily stories can continue to be spun and history can continue be erased, especially in regards to Black history. With this I pose the question...Is Truth Dead?”
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left, piece by @hektad._official. Right, piece by Nick C Kirk @nickckirk.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Artist Konstance Patton poses for a portrait in front of her unfinished mural, Kendra. “My inspirations for the Kendra mural was peace, beauty, diversity and being seen” She wrote in an email. This painting is part of Patton’s ongoing Goddezz Projekt that encompasses works produced around the world and in different mediums. The goal of the series “is to create art works that are beautiful and dynamic, while they also reflect the diversity of the women in America. I love when people just stop, take a breath and smile with the art during this fast changing historic moment. Finally art is back in Soho. I am proud to contribute. Artists are essential, we are creating moments of peace, and we are finally being seen.” See the finished piece here. Instagram: @konartstudio
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
A mural by Konstance Patton on a boarded-up storefront on Broadway in Soho. Instagram: @konartstudio
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
In a message over Instagram Amir Diop gives insight into a large scale mural he painted on Broadway in Soho. “The meaning of we make all your shit is the fact that African Americans make all these things to make profit for big business. The fact that we still don’t get justice for the men and women we lose is absurd. So I use my imagination to create a unrealistic looking painting and make it talk about very real topics.” Instagram: @amir.diop99
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left, Amir Diop’s 400 Years “represents that throughout America history people didn’t think about what black people go through in America. America continues to fail us and it took us being locked down in the house from corona for 3 months to say enough is enough and things need to change.” Instagram: @amir.diop99. Right, piece by @melvinqphysique.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left, piece by @ronhaywoodjones. Right, street artist Sacsix’s piece on a boarded-up storefront is the backdrop to empty cafe tables which mark the first day of “phase 2” in the reopening of New York’s economy since the shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. Instagram: @sacsix.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Artist Nick C. Kirk writes, “I’ve recently been working on pieces surrounding unnecessary police brutality. The piece on Broadway, let’s just call it ‘Demilitarize The Police,’ with several VIP riot gear figures was a single figure piece I made back when Trump was elected. I felt that he fought the people versus working with the people. Sad how even more true this piece has become since 2016. The figure is called ‘VIP Citizen Trump,’ standing proud in his presidential riot gear. ‘VIP’ references quite a few things including how he sees the USofA in comparison to other countries, the southern Mexico ‘Great Wall,’ how he handles government and it’s officials, etc. While protesting day and night, I’ve observed first hand the unnecessary force used by the New York City Police on peaceful protestors.”
“It’s sad and sickening to see the local police act the way they do. They are obviously trained to behave this way. They should be taught to open dialogue instead of not caring and respond only with physical force. The tactics and weaponry they use at will need to be discarded and set in place a new standard. They do not feel like they are part of society, rather against it and that needs to change.” Instagram: @nickckirk.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Kalima poses for a portrait in front of What is the price of our life. “This piece was actually written in 2016 because of the murder of Philando Castile which is why this piece is so important,” Kalima says in an email. “It allows you to see that nothing has changed, and that instead racism, law enforcement, our judicial system has shown it’s true colors into their intentions and unwillingness to do what’s right by black people.“ Instagram: @7soulsdeep.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left, piece by Moving on earth (Moe) writes via Instagram message about his work: “I feel that at the end of the day we are all human beings. And it saddens me deep down inside that Black people have been murdered. Choked, shot and recently hung from trees. If I can help by asking questions through my art I feel like it’s my duty.” Instagram: @itsthatfuckingfaceagain. Right, artist(s) unknown, NYC.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left image: New York is Closed Until Justice is Real by @tylerivesnyc, and piece to the right by @saralynne.leo. Right image: unfinished piece by @jessekreuzer, see the completed work here.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Left panel painted by Shaina Eve Cintron, who said over Instagram message, “She is the mother to all lost children and the guidance we needed in this time. She is the protector of us all. She is Yemaya.” Instagram: @bl_a_nk_doe2.0. Gil Scott-Heron muralist, right, unknown.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
After finishing a mural of George Floyd on Broadway in downtown Oakland, Matt Hunter started painting his second one when The Verge caught up with him. This time, he decided to paint a mural of Breonna Taylor. It took him about three days to finish this monochromatic piece of Taylor depicted as “a new monument for a new future,” he said. “I feel as though there is a cycle of things and we are at a boiling point of ignored pain.”
Later, Hunter sent photos of the finished piece. Taylor is now surrounded by thousands of people behind her, which he says represent an unstoppable movement to create change and bring justice to all people. The Moon and Sun on each side of her are a reminder that the Earth keeps turning. “Things move towards evolution, however slowly,” he said. “Evolution of the spirit. Evolution of justice.” Instagram: @matthuntering.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Artist(s) unknown, Oakland, CA.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Left and right images, artist(s) unknown, Oakland, CA.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Shara Shimabukuro, a UX and product designer by trade, got into painting about three years ago. Above is her first mural ever. The sheer size of it felt daunting at first, she says. Shimabukuro’s idea with the mural was to give residents of Oakland something that offered hope and inspiration. Through consultation with her friend, a Bay Area native, she decided Gianna Floyd’s quote from a now-famous video would do just that. “The color kind of came together afterwards. I just started elements here and there and that’s how it turned out,” she said.
Shimabukuro, who spent the last five years in the Bay Area, is currently in the process of moving to Tulsa. She wanted to contribute something to the city of Oakland before she moves.


theverge--2020-07-05--Go read this Daily Beast story about a new online school Elon Musk helped start

Back in 2015 , Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he had started a school to teach his five kids , eventually expanding it as a non-profit school for some children of SpaceX employees .
He said at the time that his kids ’ school wasn ’ t “ doing things I thought should be done , ” so he hired away his kids ’ teacher to help found the Ad Astra School .
It did away with formal grade structures and put a focus on problem solving , per Musk ’ s direction , and he paid for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s given an initial donation to a new online , for-profit school in Los Angeles , according to an investigation by The Daily Beast .
According to business filings uncovered by The Daily Beast , the Astra Nova School , which plans to open in September was incorporated by Musk associate Jared Birchall .
Astra Nova ’ s principal , Joshua Dahn , told The Daily Beast that Musk is not involved in managing the new venture , but confirmed his primordial role .
“ Elon helped with an initial donation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Astra Nova started , ” he wrote .
“ But Elon has no financial interest in the school and no kids at the school.
” Distance learning has become a new reality for a lot of parents during the coronavirus pandemic .
Astra Nova is inviting “ academically serious , creative , and kind students between the ages of 8 and 14 ” to apply , by watching this video and responding via video by July 10th .
Education advocates aren ’ t in love with the idea , TDB found .
Dean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Education Julian Vasquez Heilig said he wishes Musk had tried to partner with existing online education programs .
“ I don ’ t bemoan Elon Musk doing this kind of work , ” added Vasquez Heilig .
“ I just wish he would have chosen instead to partner with Oakland or Alum Rock , a school district that serves low income students in Silicon Valley .
There are a lot of equity concerns in the STEM field and he [ had ] a real opportunity to make what he was doing a public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only certain people can access.
” Musk and his associates haven ’ t commented on his involvement with the school .
Go check out The Daily Beast ’ s full report about Astra Nova .
UPDATE July 5th 3:31 PM ET : Correction : An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the tuition of the Astra Nova School .
According to the school ’ s website the total cost is $ 7,500 for one year .
We regret the error .

Back in 2015, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he had started a school to teach his five kids, eventually expanding it as a non-profit school for some children of SpaceX employees. He said at the time that his kids’ school wasn’t “doing things I thought should be done,” so he hired away his kids’ teacher to help found the Ad Astra School. It did away with formal grade structures and put a focus on problem solving, per Musk’s direction, and he paid for all the costs involved.
Now, he’s given an initial donation to a new online, for-profit school in Los Angeles, according to an investigation by The Daily Beast. According to business filings uncovered by The Daily Beast, the Astra Nova School, which plans to open in September was incorporated by Musk associate Jared Birchall.
Astra Nova’s principal, Joshua Dahn, told The Daily Beast that Musk is not involved in managing the new venture, but confirmed his primordial role. “Elon helped with an initial donation and some basic administrative assistance to get Astra Nova started,” he wrote. “But Elon has no financial interest in the school and no kids at the school.”
Distance learning has become a new reality for a lot of parents during the coronavirus pandemic. Astra Nova is inviting “academically serious, creative, and kind students between the ages of 8 and 14” to apply, by watching this video and responding via video by July 10th. Education advocates aren’t in love with the idea, TDB found. Dean of the University of Kentucky College of Education Julian Vasquez Heilig said he wishes Musk had tried to partner with existing online education programs.
“I don’t bemoan Elon Musk doing this kind of work,” added Vasquez Heilig. “I just wish he would have chosen instead to partner with Oakland or Alum Rock, a school district that serves low income students in Silicon Valley. There are a lot of equity concerns in the STEM field and he [had] a real opportunity to make what he was doing a public good, rather than a private good only certain people can access.”
Musk and his associates haven’t commented on his involvement with the school. Go check out The Daily Beast’s full report about Astra Nova.


theverge--2020-07-05--Streaming this week: Babysitters’ Club and The Old Guard on Netflix, Palm Springs on Hulu

If you have spent the holiday weekend watching the Hamilton movie on repeat , let ’ s just say I ’ m not judging you .
At all .
Polygon has an interesting analysis about how different the musical is on film .
But if you ’ re looking for a break from Lin Manuel & co. and want something a little different to watch this week however , there are a few new originals on Netflix and Hulu worth checking out .
OK so maybe we ’ re not quite the target audience for The Baby-Sitters Club , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around this new show based on the beloved Ann M. Martin book series ( that ’ s right , I said “ beloved ” ) .
Polygon says the production meets the challenge of setting the series in 2020 “ updating small details of the bigger plotlines to more effectively capture the present day .
It keeps the essence of the characters , but little touches — like the rival league The Baby-Sitters Agency launching a social-media campaign — help keep the stories engaging.
” The show also doesn ’ t treat the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Beverly Hills 90210 , that is , they are not just props for the kids ’ plot lines .
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti star in this Groundhog Day-like romcom about two people trapped in the same day over and over .
Palm Springs sold to Hulu for $ 17.5 million at the Sundance Film Festival , a new record .
Rebecca Alter at Vulture calls it “ a perfect metaphor for the tedium of muddling through a repetitive , trapped life in quarantine , day by day.
” But it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maybe there will be some ideas for how to get along with your significant other for all eternity ( as we get ready to enter another round of possible coronavirus lockdowns ) .
But as Rebecca notes , at least they have a pool .
Charlize Theron as an immortal , sword-wielding warrior ?
Why yes , thank you .
This Netflix original is adapted from the graphic novel of the same name , about a team of crime fighters who die once , but are then rendered immortal ( sort of ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crew of leather-jacketed renegades who find a way to do maximum damage with machine guns and windpipe-smashing moves ... ” which is the kind of escapist fun/violence we really need right now .

If you have spent the holiday weekend watching the Hamilton movie on repeat, let’s just say I’m not judging you. At all. Polygon has an interesting analysis of how different the musical is on film.
But if you’re looking for a break from Lin-Manuel Miranda & co. and want something a little different to watch this week, there are a few new originals on Netflix and Hulu worth checking out.
The Baby-Sitters Club (Netflix, now playing)
Okay, so maybe we’re not quite the target audience for The Baby-Sitters Club, but there is a great deal of nostalgia around this new show based on the beloved Ann M. Martin book series (that’s right, I said “beloved”). Polygon says the production meets the challenge of setting the series in 2020 “updating small details of the bigger plotlines to more effectively capture the present day. It keeps the essence of the characters, but little touches — like the rival league The Baby-Sitters Agency launching a social-media campaign — help keep the stories engaging.” The show also doesn’t treat the babysitters’ parents like the Walsh parents in Beverly Hills 90210, that is, they are not just props for the kids’ plot lines.
Palm Springs (Hulu, July 10th)
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti star in this Groundhog Day-like romcom about two people trapped in the same day over and over. Palm Springs sold to Hulu for $17.5 million at the Sundance Film Festival, a new record. Rebecca Alter at Vulture calls it “a perfect metaphor for the tedium of muddling through a repetitive, trapped life in quarantine, day by day.” But it’s a romcom you guys, so maybe there will be some ideas for how to get along with your significant other for all eternity (as we get ready to enter another round of possible coronavirus lockdowns). But as Rebecca notes, at least they have a pool.
The Old Guard (Netflix, July 10th)


theverge--2020-07-06--The Navajo Nation faced water shortages for generations — and then the pandemic hit

Emma Robbins remembers visiting her grandparents ’ home in a rural part of the Navajo Nation as a child .
There , they tended sheep far from water and power lines .
Her grandparents hauled water from a trading post near the mouth of the Grand Canyon and from a patchwork of wells in the surrounding desert , loading their pickup truck with heavy tanks .
Back home , the water would fill two aluminum bowls for hand-washing : one for soapy water and another filled with clearer water for rinsing .
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic , the Navajo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem : access to safe , running water .
One in three Navajo citizens don ’ t have indoor plumbing .
Now , with infections skyrocketing across the Southwest , families without running water aren ’ t able to easily wash their hands .
They also increase their risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus each time they venture outside to buy limited supplies of bottled water from stores or haul it home from communal wells .
That ’ s made it harder for the nation to stamp out the disease .
To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , clean up , and wash their hands , the Navajo Water Project works to install home water systems across the reservation .
It ’ s meeting a need that existed before the novel coronavirus tore through the Navajo Nation and will be vital for keeping people healthy moving forward .
“ These problems are being solved by Navajos for Navajos , ” says Robbins , who leads the project housed within the nonprofit DigDeep , which works to improve access to clean running water in communities that have been left behind in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a gallery director in Chicago in 2016 when a news article about DigDeep ’ s work moved her to reach out to the organization .
She ultimately returned to the reservation where she grew up to lead the Navajo Water Project .
Robbins remembers being excited to see her grandparents whenever they made the 30-mile drive to her parents ’ home , where they sometimes showered and filled up tanks with water from the hose outside .
“ I never really thought about it because everybody ’ s grandparents or family was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As she got older , she says , “ I definitely noticed a lot of things that were not fair.
” Although more urban parts of the reservation , like where Robbins ’ parents raised her in Tuba City , Arizona , have running water , it ’ s harder to extend pipes out to more rural parts .
It would take an investment of more than $ 700 million to get everyone on the reservation hooked up with safe tap water and basic sanitation , the Indian Health Service estimates .
Before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked to install water tanks and plumbing in homes a lot like her grandparents ’ .
That includes a 1,200-gallon tank buried deep enough underground to keep the water from freezing , and pipes to bring hot and cold water into the home .
Since many homes without water are also off-the-grid , they also provide solar panels that can power a water pump , lights , and other devices .
The project ’ s staff fills up the tanks monthly with water from nearby wells , saving families the trip .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes on the Navajo Nation this way since 2016 .
Access to running water became more important than ever during the COVID-19 crisis .
In May , the infection rate in the Navajo Nation — at roughly 2,500 per 100,000 residents — surpassed that of New York , considered an epicenter of the pandemic at the time .
More people per capita were coming down with the virus on Navajo land than anywhere in the United States .
The situation became so dire that Doctors Without Borders , which usually responds to conflict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navajo Nation .
“ The lack of running water complicates things , ” Jean Stowell , head of the organization ’ s response to COVID-19 in the US , told CBS in May .
“ Water sanitation and infection control go hand-in-hand , ” Stowell said .
The number of novel coronavirus cases on the Navajo Nation has dropped since peaking in late May , following increased testing , daily curfews , and a requirement to wear masks .
But the virus is spiking in states surrounding the Navajo Nation , prompting it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has killed 377 people as of July 6th , giving the Nation a higher death rate per 100,000 people than any state in the US .
Preying disproportionately on the elderly , the virus threatens to steal more than lives .
“ We ’ re losing people who are elders and were carriers of our traditions and culture , ” Robbins tells The Verge a day after the death of a medicine woman on the reservation .
“ Any loss of life or illness is horrible , but when it ’ s people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just very scary.
” Navajo elders carry with them much of the culture and history of the nation , which now spreads across Utah , Arizona , and New Mexico .
About 180,000 people live within an area the size of West Virginia and preserve a diverse culture that includes a range of different kinds of food and colloquialisms .
The culture has persisted through devastating efforts by the US government to decimate the Navajo Nation — efforts which have deprived the nation of safe water for generations .
The US forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1863 after a brutal “ scorched-earth campaign ” that destroyed villages , crops , livestock , and water sources .
More than 8,500 Navajo people who survived were forced to walk roughly 400 miles to an internment camp at Bosque Redondo , where water was so alkaline it made people sick .
The forced march and internment killed hundreds more Navajo people .
The nation eventually regained some of its land in 1868 .
But the onslaught on the Navajo Nation ’ s water didn ’ t end there .
Cold War-era uranium @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and springs and poisoned people .
Kidney disease , cancer , and a neuropathic syndrome unique to children on the reservation — all linked to uranium — emerged .
Robbins ’ grandmother died from stomach cancer when Robbins was 13 , which she sees as linked to the groundwater poisoned by 521 abandoned uranium mines dotting the reservation .
“ That was probably the most impactful part for me , when it came to water , ” Robbins says .
“ If there was safe running water , they wouldn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It doesn ’ t help that water is already scarce in the West , and it ’ s been a source of squabbling among states for decades .
The Navajo Nation , a sovereign nation , has been excluded from key negotiations like the 1922 Colorado River Compact that decided how much water individual states had rights to .
The Navajo Nation has been locked in legal battle after legal battle with individual states for its share of water for decades .
Today , in places like Oljato on the Arizona-Utah border , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ road , miles from any residence , serves 900 people , ” Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez said in a testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee last June in a hearing over a water rights settlement with Utah .
Native American tribes once again had to fight to be included in the first federal COVID-19 relief package , coming out of the ordeal with a promised $ 8 billion ; $ 600 million of that was set aside for the Navajo Nation .
President Nez hoped to use the funding to improve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but restrictions — like a requirement that the money be spent this year — stand in the way .
The scarcity of running water on the reservation “ is not something that is only affecting Navajos during COVID .
It is something that is year-round , and it ’ s not anything new , ” Robbins says .
“ It ’ s just being amplified by COVID , and so it ’ s a vicious cycle.
” The pandemic put the Navajo Water Project ’ s home installations on pause , right when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Installing new water systems in peoples ’ homes while the virus is spreading quickly is just too risky for everyone involved .
To make sure people without indoor plumbing still had water in the midst of the pandemic , the project distributed 251,856 gallons of bottled water throughout May .
Buying bottled water was hard for a lot of people on the reservation , Robbins points out .
There are only 13 grocery stores across the vast reservation .
“ They made this huge trek to get there , they ’ ve exposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and it ’ s not safe , ” Robbins says .
Some people made the journey only to find that stores had run out of water or were limiting how much customers could buy , according to Robbins .
Relying on bottled water isn ’ t a sustainable fix , either .
“ We ’ re told , wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap — if you don ’ t have running water that ’ s pretty hard to do , ” Robbins says .
“ Imagine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of bottled water for 20 seconds.
” The Navajo Water Project plans to move forward with a medium-term fix that doesn ’ t depend on bottled water while the reservation remains under a shelter-in-place order .
It will distribute 275-gallon tanks to homes that it can refill regularly .
Instead of hooking up plumbing inside homes , they ’ ll build hand-washing stations alongside the tanks outside .
These are temporary fixes but should make the pandemic more manageable for people waiting on a more permanent solution .
Jae Begay is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new water system in her mom ’ s home .
She applied after seeing a post about DigDeep on Facebook a couple months ago .
For now , her mom relies on water from a well about a half-mile away for things like washing hands and dishes .
Drinking water comes from Begay ’ s sister ’ s home , who lives about a 30-minute drive away .
Although she gets help from her daughters and grandkids , it ’ s getting harder as she gets older , Begay says .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buckets .
So they ’ re eager to get the system installed .
“ She can ’ t wait to get it , ” Begay says .
“ It ’ ll be way different … It ’ ll just be easy .
”

Emma Robbins remembers visiting her grandparents’ home in a rural part of the Navajo Nation as a child. There, they tended sheep far from water and power lines. Her grandparents hauled water from a trading post near the mouth of the Grand Canyon and from a patchwork of wells in the surrounding desert, loading their pickup truck with heavy tanks. Back home, the water would fill two aluminum bowls for hand-washing: one for soapy water and another filled with clearer water for rinsing.
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Navajo Nation coped with a different public health problem: access to safe, running water. One in three Navajo citizens don’t have indoor plumbing. Now, with infections skyrocketing across the Southwest, families without running water aren’t able to easily wash their hands. They also increase their risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus each time they venture outside to buy limited supplies of bottled water from stores or haul it home from communal wells. That’s made it harder for the nation to stamp out the disease.
Emma Robbins’ grandmother tended sheep and used the wool for weaving rugs. Water storage barrels are pictured on a farm on the Navajo Nation. Image: DigDeep
To make sure people have water to cook, clean up, and wash their hands, the Navajo Water Project works to install home water systems across the reservation. It’s meeting a need that existed before the novel coronavirus tore through the Navajo Nation and will be vital for keeping people healthy moving forward.
“These problems are being solved by Navajos for Navajos,” says Robbins, who leads the project housed within the nonprofit DigDeep, which works to improve access to clean running water in communities that have been left behind in the US.
Emma Robbins’ (pictured above) grandparents kept horses that they used to herd the family’s sheep. Image courtesy of Emma Robbins
Robbins was working as a gallery director in Chicago in 2016 when a news article about DigDeep’s work moved her to reach out to the organization. She ultimately returned to the reservation where she grew up to lead the Navajo Water Project.
Robbins remembers being excited to see her grandparents whenever they made the 30-mile drive to her parents’ home, where they sometimes showered and filled up tanks with water from the hose outside. “I never really thought about it because everybody’s grandparents or family was in that situation,” she says. As she got older, she says, “I definitely noticed a lot of things that were not fair.”
Rosanda Hudson prepares water for cooking in her home on the Navajo Nation prior to the installation of a home water system in 2017. Image: DigDeep
Although more urban parts of the reservation, like where Robbins’ parents raised her in Tuba City, Arizona, have running water, it’s harder to extend pipes out to more rural parts. It would take an investment of more than $700 million to get everyone on the reservation hooked up with safe tap water and basic sanitation, the Indian Health Service estimates.
Before the pandemic, Robbins and her team worked to install water tanks and plumbing in homes a lot like her grandparents’. That includes a 1,200-gallon tank buried deep enough underground to keep the water from freezing, and pipes to bring hot and cold water into the home. Since many homes without water are also off-the-grid, they also provide solar panels that can power a water pump, lights, and other devices. The project’s staff fills up the tanks monthly with water from nearby wells, saving families the trip. They’ve brought running water to 300 homes on the Navajo Nation this way since 2016.
“[For] a lot of indigenous communities, water is life,” says Chantel Yazzie, who coordinates social media for the To’Nanees’Dizi Local Government in the Navajo Nation and has worked with DigDeep to distribute donated water bottles during the pandemic. Image: DigDeep
Access to running water became more important than ever during the COVID-19 crisis. In May, the infection rate in the Navajo Nation — at roughly 2,500 per 100,000 residents — surpassed that of New York, considered an epicenter of the pandemic at the time. More people per capita were coming down with the virus on Navajo land than anywhere in the United States.
The situation became so dire that Doctors Without Borders, which usually responds to conflict zones, deployed a team to the Navajo Nation. “The lack of running water complicates things,” Jean Stowell, head of the organization’s response to COVID-19 in the US, told CBS in May. “Water sanitation and infection control go hand-in-hand,” Stowell said.
The number of novel coronavirus cases on the Navajo Nation has dropped since peaking in late May, following increased testing, daily curfews, and a requirement to wear masks. But the virus is spiking in states surrounding the Navajo Nation, prompting it to extend its lockdown. The virus has killed 377 people as of July 6th, giving the Nation a higher death rate per 100,000 people than any state in the US.
Preying disproportionately on the elderly, the virus threatens to steal more than lives. “We’re losing people who are elders and were carriers of our traditions and culture,” Robbins tells The Verge a day after the death of a medicine woman on the reservation. “Any loss of life or illness is horrible, but when it’s people who carry our everything ... it’s just very scary.”
Darlene Arviso has come to be known as “the water lady.” She delivers water by truck to more than 250 households across the Navajo Nation. Image: DigDeep
Navajo elders carry with them much of the culture and history of the nation, which now spreads across Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. About 180,000 people live within an area the size of West Virginia and preserve a diverse culture that includes a range of different kinds of food and colloquialisms.
The culture has persisted through devastating efforts by the US government to decimate the Navajo Nation — efforts which have deprived the nation of safe water for generations. The US forced the Navajo people from their lands in 1863 after a brutal “scorched-earth campaign” that destroyed villages, crops, livestock, and water sources. More than 8,500 Navajo people who survived were forced to walk roughly 400 miles to an internment camp at Bosque Redondo, where water was so alkaline it made people sick. The forced march and internment killed hundreds more Navajo people.
The nation eventually regained some of its land in 1868. But the onslaught on the Navajo Nation’s water didn’t end there. Cold War-era uranium mining on Navajo land contaminated many wells and springs and poisoned people. Kidney disease, cancer, and a neuropathic syndrome unique to children on the reservation — all linked to uranium — emerged. Robbins’ grandmother died from stomach cancer when Robbins was 13, which she sees as linked to the groundwater poisoned by 521 abandoned uranium mines dotting the reservation. “That was probably the most impactful part for me, when it came to water,” Robbins says. “If there was safe running water, they wouldn’t have had to go to these sources.”
It will cost $700 million to update water infrastructure on the Navajo Nation so that every home has access to safe water, the Indian Health Service estimates. For now, the Navajo Water Project delivers water every month to roughly 300 homes where it installed water systems. Image: DigDeep
It doesn’t help that water is already scarce in the West, and it’s been a source of squabbling among states for decades. The Navajo Nation, a sovereign nation, has been excluded from key negotiations like the 1922 Colorado River Compact that decided how much water individual states had rights to. The Navajo Nation has been locked in legal battle after legal battle with individual states for its share of water for decades.
Today, in places like Oljato on the Arizona-Utah border, “a single spigot on a desolate road, miles from any residence, serves 900 people,” Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez said in a testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee last June in a hearing over a water rights settlement with Utah.
Although the number of novel coronavirus cases on the Navajo Nation has dropped since peaking in late May, the virus is spiking in states surrounding the Navajo Nation. Image courtesy of Emma Robbins
Native American tribes once again had to fight to be included in the first federal COVID-19 relief package, coming out of the ordeal with a promised $8 billion; $600 million of that was set aside for the Navajo Nation. President Nez hoped to use the funding to improve the reservation’s water infrastructure, but restrictions — like a requirement that the money be spent this year — stand in the way.
The scarcity of running water on the reservation “is not something that is only affecting Navajos during COVID. It is something that is year-round, and it’s not anything new,” Robbins says. “It’s just being amplified by COVID, and so it’s a vicious cycle.”
Unable to install home water systems during the pandemic, the Navajo Water Project distributed 250,856 gallons of bottled water donated by Nestle. Image: DigDeep
The pandemic put the Navajo Water Project’s home installations on pause, right when families needed running water the most. Installing new water systems in peoples’ homes while the virus is spreading quickly is just too risky for everyone involved.
To make sure people without indoor plumbing still had water in the midst of the pandemic, the project distributed 251,856 gallons of bottled water throughout May. Buying bottled water was hard for a lot of people on the reservation, Robbins points out. There are only 13 grocery stores across the vast reservation. “They made this huge trek to get there, they’ve exposed themselves, they’ve exposed others, and it’s not safe,” Robbins says. Some people made the journey only to find that stores had run out of water or were limiting how much customers could buy, according to Robbins.
A Navajo person is 67 times more likely to live without running water than other Americans, according to DigDeep. That makes it harder stop the spread of COVID-19 on the reservation. Image courtesy of Emma Robbins
Relying on bottled water isn’t a sustainable fix, either. “We’re told, wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap — if you don’t have running water that’s pretty hard to do,” Robbins says. “Imagine using bottled water. That’s a lot of bottled water for 20 seconds.”
The Navajo Water Project plans to move forward with a medium-term fix that doesn’t depend on bottled water while the reservation remains under a shelter-in-place order. It will distribute 275-gallon tanks to homes that it can refill regularly. Instead of hooking up plumbing inside homes, they’ll build hand-washing stations alongside the tanks outside.
Jae Begay’s mother lives in a home without running water in a rural area outside of Crownpoint, New Mexico. Image courtesy of Jae Begay
These are temporary fixes but should make the pandemic more manageable for people waiting on a more permanent solution. Jae Begay is waiting for Robbins’ team to install a new water system in her mom’s home. She applied after seeing a post about DigDeep on Facebook a couple months ago. For now, her mom relies on water from a well about a half-mile away for things like washing hands and dishes. Drinking water comes from Begay’s sister’s home, who lives about a 30-minute drive away. Although she gets help from her daughters and grandkids, it’s getting harder as she gets older, Begay says. The family hauls water in gallon jugs and buckets. So they’re eager to get the system installed.