Meta plans to test out X’s algorithm for Community Notes to crowdsource fact-checks that will appear across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

In a blog, Meta said the testing in the US would begin March 18, with about 200,000 potential contributors already signed up. Anyone over 18 with a Meta account more than six months old can also join a waitlist of users who will “gradually” and “randomly” be admitted to write and rate cross-platform notes during initial beta testing.

Meta claimed that borrowing X’s approach would result in “less biased” fact-checking than relying on experts alone. But the social media company will delay publicly posting any notes until it’s confident that the system is working.

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Labrador retrievers are common pets, but they also work as service dogs, aiding people with sight or hearing impairments. Unfortunately, the breed is particularly prone to getting overweight, and this tendency apparently is more severe in Labradors purpose-bred for service. To figure out the reasons behind this, researchers at Cambridge University investigated potential obesity genes in Labrador retrievers’ DNA.

It turned out increased obesity risk in Labradors was linked to the same genes and mechanisms that cause obesity in humans. These gene variants were more common in purpose-bred dogs we carefully selected, generation after generation, to maximize the results of the demanding training programs service animals must go through.

We thought we were picking the smartest Labradors to become guide dogs. But we might have been picking the ones that just wanted the snacks given as rewards the most.

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Fortnite will be available on Arm-based Windows machines later this year. In a blog post, developer Epic Games said that it is working with Qualcomm to get the hugely popular game compatible with the new Windows architecture by offering Windows on Snapdragon support for Epic Online Services Anti-Cheat, also known as Easy Anti-Cheat.

Microsoft has making a big push to convert its computing ecosystem to Arm-based hardware with Windows 11, especially as it puts more resources behind its line of Copilot+ PCs. While Qualcomm said last year that most games should be compatible with its Snapdragon chips, titles with kernel-level anti-cheat tech would pose a problem. And that’s the approach Epic takes to prevent cheating in Fortnite and with its Easy Anti-Cheat program.

Epic didn’t offer any more specific timeline other than “later this year,” but having support for the company’s games and services will be important for getting gamers and game developers to convert to the Arm systems.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/epic-is-bringing-fortnite-to-arm-based-windows-systems-181528822.html?src=rss

Apple’s announcement that “more personalized Siri” features of Apple Intelligence would be delayed until “the coming year” reveals a troubling departure from the company’s hard-earned reputation for reliability, long-time commentator John Gruber writes. Unlike other Apple Intelligence features that were demonstrated to media in June, the personalized Siri features — promising personal context awareness, onscreen awareness, and in-app actions — were never shown working to anyone outside Apple. Yet Apple prominently featured these capabilities in the WWDC keynote and even created TV commercials (now pulled) touting these functions to sell iPhone 16.

This represents a dangerous shift toward the pre-Jobs-return Apple that promised vaporware it couldn’t deliver. Gruber writes. Apple has squandered its credibility, built meticulously over decades through consistently shipping what they promised, he writes. Gruber’s post cites the following excerpt from a 2011 story: Apple doesn’t often fail, and when it does, it isn’t a pretty sight at 1 Infinite Loop. In the summer of 2008, when Apple launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on third-generation mobile networks, it also debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system that was supposed to provide the seamless synchronization features that corporate users love about their BlackBerry smartphones. MobileMe was a dud. Users complained about lost e-mails, and syncing was spotty at best. Though reviewers gushed over the new iPhone, they panned the MobileMe service.

Steve Jobs doesn’t tolerate duds. Shortly after the launch event, he summoned the MobileMe team, gathering them in the Town Hall auditorium in Building 4 of Apple’s campus, the venue the company uses for intimate product unveilings for journalists. According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question:

“Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, “So why the fuck doesn’t it do that?”

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. “You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,” he told them. “You should hate each other for having let each other down.” The public humiliation particularly infuriated Jobs. Gruber adds: Tim Cook should have already held a meeting like that to address and rectify this Siri and Apple Intelligence debacle. If such a meeting hasn’t yet occurred or doesn’t happen soon, then, I fear, that’s all she wrote. The ride is over. When mediocrity, excuses, and bullshit take root, they take over. A culture of excellence, accountability, and integrity cannot abide the acceptance of any of those things, and will quickly collapse upon itself with the acceptance of all three.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

There’s no such thing as overkill when it comes to watching sports.

Google is updating Android to support Auracast, a Bluetooth LE technology that makes it possible to create, listen to and switch between public broadcasts of Bluetooth audio on the devices you already own. At its simplest, Auracast could let you to tune your Bluetooth earbuds to a muted TV in a public space and hear its audio. For Google, though, it sounds like the company is primarily interested in using the feature to make hearing aids even more helpful.

Google plans to use Auracast as a way to get Bluetooth audio streaming to hearing aids paired to your phone or tablet. If a TV or streaming device supports Auracast, you’ll be able to use your Android device to connect the hearing aids directly to the source and hear what’s playing. The company says any presets you’ve tweaked to customize how your hearing aids sound will carry over to audio you hear through Auracast, too. On Pixel 9 devices, you can even skip diving into settings to switch to the broadcast and instead scan a QR code to immediately connect your hearing aids.

The feature is coming to the Pixel 9 via the third Android 16 beta, which is also getting released today. Besides Auracast, the pre-release software includes a new accessibility option that lets you outline text to make it easier to read and a “Local Network Protection” feature that will give anyone with an Android 16 device “more control over which apps can access devices on their local network,” Google says.

The final version of Android 16 is still a ways off, but the developer beta is available to download today on supported devices. If you don’t want to experiment with the beta, Google says you can try out Auracast with a Samsung Galaxy device running One UI 7 and compatible hearing aids from GN Hearing or Starkey.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/auracast-support-is-coming-to-android-180050425.html?src=rss

Chromecast as a brand has been going through it. Second-gen Chromecast and Chromecast Audio have been plagued with a strange glitch that essentially leaves these devices unusable. Users are not happy. Google, for their part, has advised not to factory reset the devices as a workaround, saying that the company is working on an official fix.

In the meantime, Google rolled out an unrelated update for Chromecast with Google TV. The company no longer sells this device, but even still, issued a long-awaited Android 14 update for Chromecast with Google TV. The release notes say, with this update, “The Google TV Streamer Voice Remote supports Find My Remote and Customizable Button,” which should be welcome additions to users of this remote. In addition, Chromecast with Google TV users now have security patch updates up through January of this year, as well as various system stability and improvements.

On the surface, this update appears minor, but genuinely useful, so it’d only make sense to install it right away. However, Google might have been a bit overconfident with its claim of “stability and improvements” here. Chromecast with Google TV users are complaining that this update is breaking critical features on their devices. On the 9to5Google news post about this update, one commenter says this update broke their local media implementation, saying the device was utilizing too little power, even though their setup should provide plenty of input and worked with Android 12 without issue. Other users say it broke their USB drive detection: No matter what they do, their drives are identified as “safely ejected,” but won’t be read. One user explicitly says they’ll avoid this update, because of the other commenters’ experiences.

A post about the update on r/AndroidTV reveals other complaints, as well. Some users’ devices crash when scrolling through the “Display and Sound” settings. Another user can’t cast on from Chrome on their desktop machine following the update.

It’s a tricky situation for Chromecast with Google TV users: On the one hand, they now have access to an extra couple months of security updates, which is always important to install when available. On the other, however, the update breaks key features you might frequently use your Chromecast with Google TV device for, including casting, USB drives, and running media locally. The update is still quite new, so there might even be more bugs yet to be discovered.

If you have to update

As it stands, you might be better off waiting to install this update until Google can address these issues. If you feel you should update, or you’re reading this at a time when Google has issued a new update, you’ll find the option from Settings > System > About > System.

Voluminous clouds of cosmic dust permeate our galaxy, but only recently has software allowed detailed observations of the stuff at scale.

Android 16 is just around the corner.

As Andor‘s second season prepares to count down the years towards the formal declaration of the Rebellion, we look back at the far more peculiar story behind its formation in Star Wars‘ past.

Volcanologists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have been monitoring volcanic unrest since April of last year.

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The 2020 MacBook Air with the M1 chip still holds up as one of the best lightweight laptops Apple has ever made, and right now, you can get a Grade A refurbished model for $514.99 on StackSocial. That means you’re getting a machine that looks nearly new, with little to no visible wear. It’s the Space Gray model with a 13.3-inch Retina display, which delivers crisp text and vibrant colors, whether you’re working, streaming, or scrolling through Reddit. With 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it’s built for everyday tasks like web browsing, video calls, and document editing, but if you need a ton of storage for big files or pro-level video editing, 128GB might feel cramped pretty fast.

What makes this MacBook Air stand out is Apple’s M1 chip, which still competes with newer laptops in speed and efficiency. This chip means silent, fan-less performance, so you won’t hear it struggling under pressure even when juggling multiple apps. Battery life is also a win—even in real-world use, it easily lasts a full workday (29 hours per charge, according to this PCMag review). The keyboard is also a huge improvement over older models, with a more comfortable typing experience. Plus, Touch ID lets you log in instantly and makes online shopping way too easy. The relative downside is that it has only two USB-C ports, so you’ll probably need a dongle for accessories like an external drive or SD card.

This model was PCMag’s Best Apple Laptop of 2020 and won their Editor’s Choice award for good reason—it’s a fast, sleek, and reliable machine for casual users, students, and remote workers. And, at over $500 off the original price, this StackSocial deal makes it more accessible. Keep in mind that it ships only within the contiguous U.S., and since it’s a refurbished unit, stock might not last long.

Mozilla has warned that the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed remedies in its antitrust case against Google would harm independent browsers and reduce competition in the browser market. The DOJ and several state attorneys general last week filed revised proposed remedies in the U.S. v. Google search case that would prohibit all search payments to browser developers, a move Mozilla says would disproportionately impact smaller players.

“These proposed remedies prohibiting search payments to small and independent browsers miss the bigger picture — and the people who will suffer most are everyday internet users,” said Mark Surman, President of Mozilla. Unlike Apple and Microsoft, which generate revenue from hardware and operating systems, Mozilla relies primarily on search revenue to fund browser development. Mozilla argues that cutting these payments would not solve search dominance but would instead strengthen the position of tech giants.

Mozilla also warned that the proposal threatens its ability to maintain Gecko, one of only three major browser engines alongside Google’s Chromium and Apple’s WebKit. “If we lose our ability to maintain Gecko, it’s game over for an open, independent web,” Surman said, noting that even Microsoft abandoned its browser engine in 2019. “If Mozilla is unable to sustain our browser engine, it would severely impact browser engine competition and mean the death of the open web as we know it — essentially, creating a web where dominant players like Google and Apple, have even more control, not less.”

Firefox serves 27 million monthly active users in the U.S. and nearly 205 million globally.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

First announced back in 2023, NVIDIA is finally releasing a playable demo for Half-Life 2 RTX. If you own the original game on Steam (and if you don’t, what’s your excuse?), you can download the preview on March 18. The showcase will allow players to see how Orbifold Studios has reimagined Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt with ray tracing. NVIDIA says the full release will arrive “at a later date.”

Ahead of the demo’s release, NVIDIA is also releasing RTX Remix, the modding toolkit Orbifold used to remaster HL2, to the public. The suite is available to download today, and includes support for many of the company’s latest technologies, including multi-frame generation via DLSS 4. Additionally, NVIDIA says RTX Remix features an “easily mastered” interface that allows modders to add fully ray-traced lighting and AI-enhanced textures to older games without fuss. For more dedicated teams, RTX Remix makes it possible to rebuild every asset in a game.

Beside the chance to see Half-Life 2 in a whole new light, there’s another good reason to revisit the game next week. Viktor Antonov, Half-Life 2’s visionary art director, passed away in February at the age of 52. All video games are a collaborative effort, but if there’s one person who helped make Half-Life 2 so memorable, it’s Antonov. He designed most of City 17 and the Combine technology that gives the game its unique visual identity.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/a-demo-of-half-life-2-rtx-arrives-next-week-on-steam-171908066.html?src=rss

An Australian man in his forties has become the first person in the world to leave hospital with an artificial heart made of titanium. From a report: The device is used as a stopgap for people with heart failure who are waiting for a donor heart, and previous recipients of this type of artificial heart had remained in US hospitals while it was in place.

The man lived with the device for more than three months until he underwent surgery to receive a donated human heart. The man is recovering well, according to a statement from St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, where the operations were conducted. The Australian is the sixth person globally to receive the device, known as BiVACOR, but the first to live with it for more than a month.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A year-long subscription to the meditation app Headspace is on sale right now for just $42. The typical price is $70, so this represents a savings of 40 percent. It also breaks down to $3.50 per month. The sale is part of the app’s acknowledgement of Sleep Awareness Week, which is a thing that’s going on right now.

A subscription to Headspace gets you access to the app’s entire library of meditations, sleep sounds, yoga routines and fitness content. It also delivers curated meditations and inspirational videos each day.

Headspace topped our list of the best meditation apps, and with good reason. We loved how the meditation courses are organized, as each one builds on top of skills learned in the previous session. Each course also offers a variety of instructors, just in case you grow fond of a particular person.

The integrated search engine makes it easy to find what you’re looking for and members even get access to tangential stuff like wellness podcasts. The app’s colors are calming and neutral, with an aesthetically pleasing design running throughout. It’s just a simple and well-made meditation app that’s perfect for both experts and newcomers.

There’s a free trial of 14 days, but the promotion ends on March 18. That means you really only have a few days to check things out and make a decision. If you do end up purchasing the year, remember that the price shoots up to $70 when it runs out. Make sure to cancel ahead of time, unless you’re fine with paying full price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-one-year-of-headspace-for-40-percent-off-170017814.html?src=rss

The dystopian anthology series returns to Netflix next month with six episodes and a fantastic cast.

Google is trying to add Gemini AI to all its products. We’ve even seen the Gemini button in Gmail (which you can disable if you wish). Now, the company is starting to get more specific with that email integration, using AI to automatically add events to your Google calendar if an email provides enough details for it.

The feature is already rolling out, so Gemini Advanced subscribers and Google Workspace for Business users can expect to start seeing the new Add to Calendar button, powered by Gemini, when relevant. It’ll be right next to the “Summarize this email” button, above the email’s body.

As an example, let’s say you have an email discussing an upcoming meeting with your boss. Press the “Add to Calendar” button, and Google will automatically scan and parse the relevant details and create a Google Calendar event for you. Thankfully, Google isn’t making this a completely autonomous process—the event will show up in a sidebar once generated, so you’ll be able to check it for mistakes before you add it to your calendar (given how LLMs sometimes tend to hallucinate, this is a good idea).

You can use the Edit button to make any changes to the proposed event, or to add more information. One thing Gemini can’t do yet is invite others to the meeting, so for that, you’ll need a trip to the Calendar app. The feature is also only available in English for now.

According to Google, the Add to Calendar button might take up to two weeks to complete global rollout. The feature is only available in English language, and it only works on the web for now. And while it’s limited to paying subscribers, it’s available for all Business plan users, including the cheaper Business Starter plan. If you’re not sure whether paying for Gemini Advanced each month makes sense for you, check out our explainer.