Usually you can blame a low-quality video stream on a bandwidth slowdown or a poor internet connection—sites like YouTube will adjust a video’s resolution accordingly, so instead of a crisp HD or 4K stream, you end up with a blurry, pixelated mess. You can manually adjust the resolution to make it look better, but you’ll probably run into buffering issues, since your internet can’t keep up.

Recently, however, something else is happening to cause YouTube video quality to tank. Users are reporting that when they start a video—whether it be a YouTube Short or a standard clip—the stream will load in very poor quality, anything from 360p all the way down to 144p. While some are able to manually adjust the stream to a higher resolution (like 1080p), others find that doing so just results in endless buffering. For many right now, it’s blurry videos or nothing. This isn’t isolated to a specific browser or platform, either: Users on iOS, desktop, and smart TVs have all reported experiencing the same strange quality issues.

It’s possible that a fraction of these users have slow internet connections, but it’s virtually impossible to conclude that all of them do. In fact, there are many complaints that, despite a fast connection that powers other internet activities without issue, YouTube insists on playing videos back at an unwatchable resolution.

Luckily, YouTube itself is very much aware of what’s happening. In a post to its support page published on Wednesday, the company identified the problem (144p or 360p defaults that buffer endlessly when changed), specified that it is indeed affecting iOS, desktop, and smart TVs, and shared that it is working on a solution.

You’ll notice that there’s one platform that isn’t affected by these issues: Android. As of this writing, it does seem that Android phones and tablets are unaffected by these recent quality issues. It’s not clear why, beyond the fact that YouTube and Android are both operated by the same company (Google), which doesn’t really explain what’s going on here.

Is there any way to fix the YouTube streaming quality problem?

At this time, there really isn’t much you can do but wait for YouTube to fix the problem. You can, of course, attempt to change a video’s resolution manually from the settings gear under Quality, but you may find you’re stuck with blurry playback, or run into the endless buffering issue.

It seems silly, but at the moment, the only real workaround is to watch YouTube on Android if possible. If you have an Android phone or tablet, use that for your YouTube needs over an iPhone, iPad, desktop computer, or smart TV. The rest of us will have to hope YouTube issues a quick fix.

The parents of an unvaccinated 6-year-old girl who died of measles in Texas last month sat down for an interview with Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the rabid anti-vaccine organization founded and run until recently by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now US health secretary under the Trump administration.

The child’s vaccine-preventable death marked the first measles fatality in the US in a decade. It’s a tragedy that stands as a dark reminder of the dangers of the disease—one of the most infectious known to humankind—and the importance of the lifesaving vaccinations. But, in the interview, CHD wielded the loss of the young child as a means to downplay the deadly disease, attack the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine, tout unproven treatments, and spread misinformation.

Preventable death

The video interview, which was posted Monday, begins with the grieving parents, who are Mennonites, recounting their daughter’s decline amid sobs: She came down with measles, developed the telltale rash, and then her fever kept climbing, and her breathing worsened. They took her to the emergency room and she was admitted to the hospital. Doctors found she had developed pneumonia, a known complication of measles that strikes about 1 in 20 children infected and is the most common cause of measles deaths in young children. Her condition deteriorated, she was moved to the intensive care unit, intubated, but continued to decline and died.

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If you receive a lot of email, and most people do, then sometimes it can be a challenge to pull up a particular old missive in your inbox. Google has decided that the solution must be more artificial intelligence. Today, the company announced that it is rolling out an update that uses AI to assess inbox search queries to account for recency, frequent contacts and most-clicked emails. The “most relevant” search feature is rolling out globally to personal accounts, while business accounts will get it at an unspecified future date.

If the idea of yet more AI in your software icks you out, at least you won’t be required to use this feature. Google notes that once a personal account gets the “most relevant” search results option, there will be a toggle to swap back to the “most recent” view that will show hits in reverse chronological order as usual.

If you’re happily on board the AI train, you’re in luck, because there are a lot more places that Google has been putting this technology. This month alone, AI has been popping up in more aspects of Google’s search and shopping portals.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/gmail-is-getting-ai-powered-search-results-181745405.html?src=rss

Musk will reward politicians who seek to destroy the justice system.

These are a couple videos from Hormuz Island off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf, where heavy rainfall causes the iron ochre-rich soil and sand (the result of ancient volcanic activity) to ‘bleed’ into the sea. Mother Nature, am I right? “What about her?” Totally nuts. Now — who else wants to taste that sand?!

It’s a widely known problem with roots in urban legend: Devices with motherboards failing in the early 2000s with a sudden pop, a gruesome spill, or sometimes a burst of flames. And it was allegedly all due to one guy who didn’t copy a stolen formula correctly.

The “capacitor plague” of the early 2000s was real and fairly widespread among devices, even if the majority of those devices didn’t go bad at the same time or even in the same year. The story of this widespread failure, passing between industry insider stories and media reports, had a specific culprit, but also a broad narrative about the shift from Japanese to Taiwanese manufacturers and about outsourcing generally.

The Asianometry channel on YouTube recently dug into the “capacitor plague” in a video that asks, “What happened to the capacitors in 2002?” and comes to some informed, broad, and layered answers. It explains the specifics of what’s happening inside both a working capacitor and the faulty models, relays the reporting on the companies blamed and affected, and, crucially, puts the plague in the wider context of hotter chips, complex supply chains, counterfeits, and, sure, some industrial sabotage.

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IBM is laying off thousands of employees across the United States, with approximately 25% of staff at its Cloud Classic operation affected, The Register reports, citing a source. “Concrete numbers are being kept private,” a source told the publication. “It is in the thousands.”

Staff reductions have occurred in Raleigh, North Carolina; New York; Dallas, Texas; and California, the report said. Affected departments include consulting, corporate social responsibility, cloud infrastructure, sales, and internal systems teams. The report adds: With regard to IBM Cloud Classic — the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) outfit offering built on IBM’s 2013 acquisition of SoftLayer — another source told us: “It’s a resource action. I don’t know how many people are in IaaS classic. They don’t typically make that information easy to find. What I can say is that they have been making a lot of changes to shift employment to India as much as possible.”

A third source, newly let go by Big Blue, said it was fair to characterize this a layoff. “Everyone I know that was affected, myself included, was simply offered a separation agreement,” this individual said, estimating that 10 percent of the Cloud group (which is not the same as Cloud Classic) has been let go.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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You can add Walmart to the list of retail behemoths hosting spring-time sales, joining the likes of Amazon, Target, and Best Buy, who each have similar sales around the same time. Here is everything you need to know about Walmart’s upcoming Super Savings Week sale.

When is Walmart’s Super Savings Week?

Walmart will run its spring sale for a full week from March 25 to March 31.

Do you need to be a member to shop for Walmart’s Super Savings Week?

Walmart has a Walmart+ membership that goes $12.95 per month or $98 per year (you can always get a free 30-day trial), but Walmart hasn’t yet said if its sale is exclusively for members or not. Based on its previous sales though, you likely won’t need to be, but members will likely get a head start on deals.

What can you expect during Walmart’s Super Savings Week?

You can expect deals on virtually every category that Walmart sells, from tech to home decor. According to CNET, Walmart confirmed that it will include 30% off TVs, 30% off patio and garden, 50% off jewelry, and up to 55% off Crocs.

Some early deals are already live

As is usually the case, Walmart kicks off its sales with some early deals that lead up to the main event. Keep in mind these aren’t technically Super Savings Week deals, though. You’ll likely find better deals once the sale officially starts. Here are a few:

• Apple Watch Series 10: $329 (save $70)

• LG UltraGear 32-inch QHD monitor: $188 (save $161)

• Arlo Essential indoor camera: $20 (save $20)

• JBL Charge 5: $119 (save $60)

• Apple M2 iPad Air: $699 (save $100)

• Roku Express 4K Plus: $29 (save $11)

• Hisense 75-inch Class U6H QLED 4K TV: $488 (save $210)

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the hit animated feature inspired by Mexico’s Dia de Los Muertos is getting a sequel.

The company warns against applying strong supervision to chatbots, as they will continue lying and just not admit it.

CBP denies the researcher was turned away for political reasons.

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Home renovations are expensive—and exciting. It’s never cheap to rip out the old and install the brand-new, but a quality renovation can turn your house into a dream home, or at least solve some nagging problems that have bothered you for years. While not every renovation project gives you the results you’re looking for, there’s no doubt that putting some work into your home usually results in a happier, more valuable place to live.

But renovation projects aren’t “set it and forget it.” You’ve hired people to come into your private space with tools and materials, to rip out old stuff (that sometimes doesn’t want to be ripped out and puts up quite a fight), and generally make an enormous mess of the place. Hiring reputable contractors will protect you from the worst-case scenarios in most renovations, but any time tools and big, heavy materials are involved there’s a chance of damage. If your contractors smash up the place, your homeowners insurance may cover the costs, but it’s best if you avoid the damage in the first place. Here are some straightforward precautions to take to protect your home during a renovation.

Sequester the renovation zones

If you’re only renovating part of your home, your first step should be encapsulating the area with plastic sheeting. This doesn’t have to be a complicated process:

• Apply painter’s tape around the doorway or opening that leads to the area where the renovation will occur.

• Cut a sheet of plastic sheeting so that it fits over the doorway or opening with margins of an inch or more all around.

• Tape the plastic into place with duct tape, making sure to adhere it to the painter’s tape so you don’t damage the walls or floors.

• Apply a tarp zipper to the plastic barrier, then slice it open to create an opening for you and your contractors to pass through.

This will help contain dust and debris, preventing damage to your furniture or HVAC systems.

Turn off the HVAC

If your home has central heating and cooling, you should take some precautions to ensure that it isn’t affected by dust and debris, which can clog the filters and damage the unit itself:

• Cover vents. Use magnetic vent covers or tape down more plastic to completely cover vents within the work zone.

• Turn the system off. When mudding drywall or painting, some contractors want to run your HVAC system to assist with drying, but don’t let them. In fact, turn the HVAC system off (in just the affected zone, if you can) to ensure it isn’t sucking up heavy construction dust all day long. If your contractors want to speed up the drying or setting process they can bring in portable heaters or dehumidifiers to do the job without risking your home’s infrastructure.

Protect important surfaces from damage

Now that dust isn’t going to coat your entire home in a fine layer, it’s important to protect various parts of your home from scratches, dings, and dents.

Doors

Doors are easy targets for damage during a renovation. Contractors carrying large, bulky items can smash into them, and tools can easily scrape and dent as they’re carried around a space. Adding some snap-on door jamb protectors and removing or covering the door with builder’s paper will protect it from these kinds of accidents.

Tubs and sinks

If your workers will be anywhere near your kitchen and bathroom fixtures, you’ll want to protect them from dirt and dust as well as scratches and other damage. You can plug drains with some rags or tape them up, then cover the sinks and bathtubs with heavy-duty cardboard (or invest in an adjustable tub protector or temporary, peelable tub film). This way, when your contractor drops their hammer on your brand-new tub, you’ll be able to just shrug it off.

Flooring

Floors take a beating during any sort of construction. Dirt and grit can act like sandpaper on the finish, and there are endless opportunities for scrapes and scratches. Depending on the work being done, you might get away with a simple drop cloth or carpet film, but if the work is more involved, you should consider something a little tougher to protect your hardwood, tile, or laminate flooring. Floor surface protection sheets are relatively easy to install, and are very effective at protecting against damage from even the most careless contractors, and neoprene runners are a solid option for easier, more temporary protection because they can be rolled out and rolled up quickly. You could also use

To protect your stairs, an easy and effective solution is a no-slip drop cloth like this that will stay in place, even on stairs.

Countertops

In kitchens and bathrooms, contractors usually can’t resist seeing countertops as extra workspace, a place to drop tools, store materials, and otherwise abuse. Covering your countertops with a dropcloth or protective film can spare them dust, dirt, and greasy spills, but won’t protect them from chips and gouges. Covering them with the same board material you use on the floors can give you that extra layer of protection that ensures you still have countertops when the work is done.