For as much as Facebook wants to say it’s not interested in politics, it just can’t seem to keep from getting its hand caught in the political cookie jar.
Source: Gizmodo – Meta Asked to Cough Up .7 Million and Apologize for Violating Campaign Transparency Laws 822 Times
Sometimes the scariest thing isn’t a giant monster or an army of zombies. Instead, it can be something so believable and straightforward that it feels like it could happen to you one day. Take, for example, a new trailer for an upcoming bodycam horror game going viral online. It only features one strange woman and a…
Source: Kotaku – New Bodycam Horror Game Looks Freaking Terrifying
Google has two Chromecast with Google TV dongles on the market, which look identical. But the first version, which comes in three colors, is technically the old one with 4K capabilities, while the new version was released a month ago and tops out at 1080p. There’s a $20 price difference between the two.
Source: Gizmodo – The Cheaper Chromecast With Google TV HD Is Probably All You Need
The keys to an inoffensive last-minute Halloween costume are simple: People need to be able to tell what you are, and it has to be something you can pull together quickly using what’s already lying around the house. Googling “last minute DIY costume” will serve you up a bunch of blog posts that assume you have sewing…
Source: LifeHacker – 10 Lazy, Last-Minute Costumes You Can Throw Together Before Halloween
Some big changes happening for PipeWire’s session manager! With the upcoming 0.5 release, WirePlumber’s configuration system will be moving to a JSON syntax to define settings, bringing a more unified configuration approach across the PipeWire ecosystem.
Source: LXer – From Lua to JSON: refactoring WirePlumber’s configuration system
Do you have a laptop that’s either “pretty old” or “weird in some other way”? Did it ship without Windows from the factory, or did you flash its firmware with coreboot? You could help the Linux kernel move its backlight code forward without abandoning quirky gear like yours. ArsTechnica: Hans de Goede, a longtime Linux developer and principal engineer at Red Hat, writes on his Livejournal about the need to test “a special group of laptops” to prevent their backlight controls from disappearing in Linux kernel 6.1. Old laptop tests are needed because de Goede is initiating some major changes to user-space backlight controls, something he has been working on since 2014. As detailed at Linux blog Phoronix, there are multiple issues with how Linux tries to address the wide variety of backlight schemes in displays, which de Goede laid out at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference. There can be multiple backlight devices operating a single display, leaving high-level controls to “guess which one will work.” Brightness control requires root permissions at the moment. And “0” passed along as a backlight value remains a conundrum, as the engineer pointed out in 2014: Is that entirely off, or as low as the display can be lit?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – ‘Old/Weird Laptops’ Sought To Help Test Linux Kernel Backlight Drivers
NASA’s InSight lander may have had its last hurrah. Researchers have learned that a marsquake the lander detected in Mars’ Amazonis Planitia region on December 24th, 2021 was actually a meteoroid impact — the first time any mission has witnessed a crater forming on the planet. Scientists found out when they looked at before-and-after pictures from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) revealing a 492-foot gash in the landscape.
The meteoroid is believed to have been somewhere between 16 and 39 feet long. It would have burned up in Earth’s skies, but it was large enough to survive Mars’ extra-thin atmosphere. The impact was violent, digging a hole 70 feet deep and tossing debris as far as 23 miles away from the crater. It also exposed subsurface ice that hasn’t been seen so close to the martian equator before now. A sound adaptation of Insight’s data (below) shows just how “loud” the event was compared to Mars’ regular activity.
It took some time to confirm the event. A Malin Space Science Systems team used two of the MRO’s cameras (the black-and-white Context Camera and the Mars Color Imager) to spot the crater in February. Pictures from the color camera helped narrow down the impact to a 24-hour window.
Separately, a group has suggested that 20 of InSight’s roughly 1,300 detected marsquakes may be signs of magma. As Gizmodoexplains, the quakes’ spectral signature hints at a comparatively soft crust in Mars’ Cerberus Fossae region. Combined with dark dust, this hints that volcanic activity might have occurred on the planet within the past 50,000 years.
The discovery could help the scientific community understand Mars’ geologic timeline by defining the rate of craters appearing on the planet. It might also prove crucial to Mars colonists and explorers who may need the underground ice for sustenance and rocket fuel. Human visitors could carry fewer supplies, or extend their stays.
There’s a bittersweetness to this news. NASA previously warned that InSight couldn’t last much longer, and now expects the lander to shut down in six weeks as accumulating dust limits the effectiveness of its solar panels. That’s better than the end-of-summer cutoff the agency predicted this spring, but it could leave the meteorite detection as InSight’s last major accomplishment.
Source: Engadget – NASA’s InSight lander detected a meteoroid impact on Mars
In case you haven’t heard, NVIDIA’s recent high-end GPUs are using a new connector, known as “12VHPWR”. That’s “twelve-volt high power” in ATX-spec-speak, and it’s a small plug with twelve pins that can supply up to 600 watts of power for thirsty graphics cards. The GeForce RTX 4090 includes an adapter that converts four legacy eight-pin power
Source: Hot Hardware – NVIDIA Is Looking Into Reports Of Burnt RTX 4090 12VHPWR Adapters As More Pics Emerge
The countdown to the release of Marvel Studios Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is on! If you’re avoiding any looks past the first trailer or avoiding seeing anything that happens in director Ryan Coogler’s follow up to Black Panther, don’t tempt yourself with the video below of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorn), a.k.a …
Source: Gizmodo – New Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Clip Debuts Riri Williams
Enlarge (credit: Anadolu Agency / Contributor | Anadolu Agency)
As lawsuits continue piling up against social media platforms for allegedly causing harms to children, a Pennsylvania court has ruled that TikTok is not liable in one case where a 10-year-old named Nylah Anderson died after attempting to complete a “Blackout Challenge” she discovered on her “For You” page.
The challenge recommends that users choke themselves until they pass out, and Nylah’s mother, Tawainna Anderson, initially claimed that TikTok’s defective algorithm was responsible for knowingly feeding the deadly video to her child. The mother hoped that Section 230 protections under the Communications Decency Act—which grant social platforms immunity for content published by third parties—would not apply in the case, but ultimately, the judge found that TikTok was immune.
TikTok’s “algorithm was a way to bring the Challenge to the attention of those likely to be most interested in it,” Judge Paul Diamond wrote in a memorandum before issuing his order. “In thus promoting the work of others, Defendants published that work—exactly the activity Section 230 shields from liability. The wisdom of conferring such immunity is something properly taken up with Congress, not the courts.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Section 230 shields TikTok in child’s “Blackout Challenge” death lawsuit
It’s difficult to know how to start talking about obsessive-compulsive disorder, the debilitating anxiety condition that has made persistent laps around my life for 14 years, like a flickering koi fish, and I’m the swampy backyard pond.
Source: Kotaku – My OCD Doesn’t Want Me To Play Horror Games, But I Do It Anyway
I believe fiercely in the value of homemade Halloween costumes. The idea of buying a pre-made costume is offensive to me personally. As I set out this week to put the finishing touches on my outfits for Halloweekend, I’m making a conscious effort not to ruin the pieces of clothing involved. When making a costume, some…
Source: LifeHacker – You Don’t Have to Ruin Your Clothes for Halloween
Ten years ago, Hurricane Sandy barreled through the Caribbean and then up the Eastern seaboard, bringing floods and storm surges that destroyed homes and critical infrastructure. It was one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history, costing the country more than $81 billion, according to NOAA.
Source: Gizmodo – Shocking Images From the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy
On Wednesday, Boeing said it’s taking a $190 million hit on its CST-100 Starliner, raising its total loss on the program to $883 million. The announcement comes at an awkward time, as Boeing slips behind SpaceX on NASA’s roster of private partners.
Source: Gizmodo – SpaceX Usurps Boeing as NASA’s Second-Biggest Private Partner
TechCrunch: Google has acquired Alter, an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar startup that helps creators and brands express their virtual identity, for about $100 million, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, in a push to boost its content game and better compete with TikTok.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google Acquires Twitter-backed AI Avatar Startup for 0 Million
NASA’s InSight lander, a mission devoted to unlocking the secrets of the Martian interior, likely has just a few months left before its dust-covered solar panels stop being able to provide sufficient power. But the faltering lander’s instruments continue their work advancing our understanding of volcanology and…
Source: Gizmodo – InSight Records Major Martian Meteorite Impacts, Along With Potential Magma
The Xbox is a fantastic console that ships with pretty good software. Fortunately, it has even greater potential: Your Xbox contains plenty of hidden features that are not enabled by default. All it takes is a deep dive through the settings, however, to make your great console even better.
Source: LifeHacker – Hidden Xbox Settings You Should Change to Up Your Game
The Tesla Cyberquad for Kids is being recalled by Radio Flyer (which built the product) after the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that it violates all-terrain vehicle (ATV) federal safety standards for youths. The agency determined that, among other issues, the mechanical suspension and maximum tire pressure weren’t adequate. Moreover, it said the Cyberquad for Kids lacked an approved ATV action plan, which lays out safety requirements and is needed to build, import, sell or distribute ATVs in the US.
In the recall notice, which was spotted by The Verge, the CPSC said that around 5,000 units of the Cyberquad for Kids had been sold. Tesla was offering the product through its website. Radio Flyer said folks who bought one should immediately return the motor controller (the removal of which will permanently disable the Cyberquad) for a full $1,900 refund. The company will reimburse at least some costs involved in returning the motor controller and disposing of the other parts. It’s not clear whether new Cyberquad for Kids models will be sold at a later time.
The electric Cyberquad for Kids has up to 15 miles of range and a top speed of 10 mph. It has a steel frame, cushioned seat and LED light bars. While there haven’t been any reports of serious injuries, Radio Flyer said it learned of one case where the Cyberquad for Kids — which is designed for a single rider — tipped over while being driven by a child and a woman, with the adult sustaining a bruised shoulder.
Radio Flyer noted that Tesla’s main involvement with the Cyberquad for Kids, other than selling it, was consulting on the ATV’s appearance. It’s designed to look like the standard Cyberquad, which Tesla announced alongside the Cybertruck. Radio Flyer has also sold rideable toy versions of Tesla cars for kids.
Meanwhile, there’s a Tesla recall of another sort. As noted by Electrek, the company is recalling just over 24,000 Model 3 vehicles built since 2017 due to a possible seat belt issue.
Source: Engadget – Tesla Cyberquad for Kids recalled due to federal safety standard violations
As Kotaku reported last week, retail giant GameStop has been increasingly stocking its retail stores with weird, random junk instead of, well, video games. Dissatisfied GameStop employees have been grousing online about the massive amounts of toys the warehouses are sending. And as it turns out, customers aren’t even…
Source: Kotaku – GameStop Workers Reveal The Junk They Can’t Sell That’s Piling Up
