An anonymous reader shares a report: Harvard is ramping up its holdings in cryptocurrency. The nation’s oldest university reported a $443 million investment in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust in the third quarter. The school now holds 6.8 million shares of the exchange-traded fund, up from 1.9 million in the second quarter.

The digital currency amounts to a little less than 1% of the school’s $57 billion endowment. Other schools are bullish on crypto as well. Brown University reported holding $13 million of the BlackRock bitcoin ETF in the second quarter and Emory University reported holding $20 million of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF as of March.

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Creators on Facebook and Instagram have long griped about accounts that lift their videos without permission. Now, Meta is rolling out a new tool that allows creators to more easily track when their videos have been reposted by others.

The company introduced a new tool for creators called “content protection,” which can automatically detect when a creator’s original reel is reposted, either fully or partially, on Facebook or Instagram. Creators who are enrolled will be able to see which accounts have shared their work and will be able to take a range of actions on the clip. 

Available actions include “track,” which allows the creator to add a label indicating the clip originally came from their account. In addition to the link back, creators will also be able to keep tabs on the number of views it’s getting. Creators can also opt to block a clip entirely, which will prevent anyone else from being able to view the reel. (Meta notes choosing this option won’t impose additional penalties on the account that lifted the original content.) Finally, creators can choose to “release” the video, which removes it from their dashboard so they will no longer have any visibility into how it’s performing.

Meta

The dashboard also provides some other details that could help creators decide how to respond. For example, they can see whether the video using their content is being monetized, which may influence their decision to track with attribution or block entirely. On the other hand, if a reel was lifted from an account with few followers, they may opt to simply keep an eye on it. 

Meta has already offered Facebook creators some of these abilities in the past through its rights manager platform, but the company says making the features available directly in the Facebook app will make it accessible to more people. Notably, the company is only offering content protection to creators who share reels on Facebook. So even though the feature will detect copycats on Instagram, it will only do so if the original video has been posted to Facebook. 

Meta says content protection is rolling out now to creators in its monetization program “who meet enhanced integrity and originality standards” as well as those already using rights manager. Creators can also apply for access directly.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/facebook-rolls-out-new-tools-for-creators-to-track-accounts-stealing-their-content-201020255.html?src=rss

Abstract of a paper on NBER: This paper documents video consumption among school-aged children in the U.S. and explores its impact on human capital development. Video watching is common across all segments of society, yet surprisingly little is known about its developmental consequences. With a bunching identification strategy, we find that an additional hour of daily video consumption has a negative impact on children’s noncognitive skills, with harmful effects on both internalizing behaviors (e.g., depression) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., social difficulties). We find a positive effect on math skills, though the effect on an aggregate measure of cognitive skills is smaller and not statistically significant. These findings are robust and largely stable across most demographics and different ways of measuring skills and video watching. We find evidence that for Hispanic children, video watching has positive effects on both cognitive and noncognitive skills — potentially reflecting its role in supporting cultural assimilation. Interestingly, the marginal effects of video watching remain relatively stable regardless of how much time children spend on the activity, with similar incremental impacts observed among those who watch very little and those who watch for many hours.

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A Texas Judge has rejected a request from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to issue a temporary order barring Tylenol’s maker, Kenvue, from claiming amid litigation that the pain and fever medication is safe for pregnant women and children, according to court documents.

In records filed Friday, District Judge LeAnn Rafferty, in Panola County, also rejected Paxton’s unusual request to block Kenvue from distributing $400 million in dividends to shareholders later this month.

The denials are early losses for Paxton in a politically charged case that hinges on the unproven claim that Tylenol causes autism and other disorders—a claim first introduced by President Trump and his anti-vaccine health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Walking is great exercise, but can be slow and a little boring, unless you’re truly captivated by the wonders of the natural world—though that won’t get you very far if your scenery is the walls around a treadmill, rather than a walking path. Whether you’re walking outdoors or indoors, you can benefit from using guided walks to spice up your ambling.

I love the walking video offered by Peloton, but I to access them, I pay $50 a month (though I get so much else as part of my subscription). But if you want a free option, there are some great ones on YouTube. They’re similar to the free guided runs on the platform, but here, you just walk. (In general, if you want to find guided walking workouts on YouTube on your own, make sure to add “outside” or “treadmill” so you get results that will serve your needs.)

Prowalk Tours (749,000 subscribers)

For “walks” around a specific location, Prowalk Tours might be the best out there. You can visit a variety of cities, markets, and locales from the comfort of your home or the gym. Running one of these on your phone or iPad while you use a treadmill is a great way to distract yourself and see what other parts of the world are like. There’s no guidance, necessarily—at least not in an audio sense. This channel does divvy up the videos, though, so along the slider bar at the bottom of the player, you can see descriptions of the different areas you’ll “pass” through. If there’s a building you love in Paris, you can skip right to it. There are also other kinds of tours, like ones taken by boat and bike, so you can follow along on a stationary cycle or just watch and enjoy.

Get Fit With Rick (843,000 subscribers)

I like this channel because it’s much more exercise-focused, but still pretty chill—sometimes, you don’t want to do Pilates or an all-out cardio session; you just want to walk. On the Get Fit With Rick channel, you can get motivation and pace cues, plus stretching and other movements (he might have you do some side-stepping or knee touches during a walk). Bear in mind he is stationary while he teaches, so you could actually just dance in place like he does, but you can—and should—walk around instead, hitting the beat of the music and keeping up with his pace cues.

The variety of modifications available make this channel suitable for all levels. It’s a great option if you’re a beginner, having an active rest day, or just checking it out. The audio and video quality is high, which I always appreciate. You don’t need incredible production values if the coaching is good, but it never hurts to actually be able to adequately hear and see the instructors.

Sunny Health and Fitness (194,000 subscribers)

You might be familiar with Sunny if you’ve ever been scouring Amazon for cheap, at-home workout equipment. That was my first experience with the brand: I bought a tiny, mechanical elliptical from them that I used until I was able to get my own Peloton Bike. Their videos are like their products, in that they’re straightforward and to the point, with no fuss or flare. They are geared specifically for walkers using treadmills, and offer pacing and form cues, plus motivation from a coach.

IBX Running (59,000 subscribers)

IBX appeared on my best YouTube running channels list too, because they offer so many options in terms of workout length and structure. One of the options? Just plain walking. The videos are abundant in volume, but more importantly, they’re clear and useful: Side bars show you what your incline and pace should be, which many of the other channels don’t do. This helps you stay motivated and work toward your fitness goals.

Headspace (1 million subscribers)

You might be surprised to see Headspace here, since it’s an app and platform dedicated to meditation and mental health, rather than exercise. But Headspace offers up some quality guided walking meditation videos I think are worth checking out. Exercise isn’t just good for the body, but good for the mind, and sometimes, it’s better to focus on that aspect, rather than just calorie burning. Think of them as guided walking meditations. If you want to take a stroll and be a little more mindful (while still reaping the physical benefits of moving around), start here.

Authorities in Iran have sprayed clouds with chemicals to induce rain, in an attempt to combat the country’s worst drought in decades. From a report: Known as cloud-seeding, the process was conducted over the Urmia lake basin on Saturday, Iran’s official news agency Irna reported. Urmia is Iran’s largest lake, but has largely dried out leaving a vast salt bed. Further operations will be carried out in east and west Azerbaijan, the agency said.

Rainfall is at record lows and reservoirs are nearly empty. Last week President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that if there is not enough rainfall soon, Tehran’s water supply could be rationed and people may be evacuated from the capital. Cloud seeding involves injecting chemical salts including silver or potassium iodide into clouds via aircraft or through generators on the ground. Water vapour can then condense more easily and turn into rain. The technique has been around for decades, and the UAE has used it in recent years to help address water shortages. Iran’s meteorological organisation said rainfall had decreased by about 89% this year compared with the long-term average, Irna reported.

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For decades—yes, literally decades—it has been easy to dismiss Blue Origin as a company brimming with potential but rarely producing much of consequence.

But last week the company took a tremendous stride forward, not just launching its second orbital rocket, but subsequently landing the booster on a barge named Jacklyn. It now seems clear that Blue Origin is in the midst of a transition from sleeping giant to force to be reckoned with.

To get a sense of where the company goes from here, Ars spoke with the company’s chief executive, Dave Limp, on the eve of last week’s launch. The first thing he emphasized is how much the company learned about New Glenn, and the process of rolling the vehicle out and standing it up for launch, from the vehicle’s first attempt in January.

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Xbox is hosting a partner showcase event on November 20 at 1PM ET. It’ll be available for streaming on the platform’s official YouTube page and Twitch page.

We don’t know how long this stream will run for, but previous Partner Preview events have lasted around 25 to 30 minutes. As indicated by the name, this stream will highlight third-party publishers. Xbox called out companies like THQ Nordic, Tencent and IO Interactive in the press release that announced the event.

We do know some games that’ll be getting the spotlight this week. Xbox has stated that we’ll be seeing “an exciting first look” at content coming to the James Bond game, 007 First Light. IO Interactive is behind that one and it comes out on March 27. 

We got to watch this title in action at Gamescom and called it “Hitman meets action blockbuster.” This is appropriate given that developer IO Interactive was behind many of the Hitman games.

We’ll also be getting an “electrifying extended gameplay trailer” for Tides of Annihilation. This is an upcoming fantasy adventure game made by the Chinese studio Eclipse Glow Games. The platform also promises a “fresh look” at Reanimal, which is a horror adventure from the folks behind Little Nightmares.

Xbox has also promised some “brand-new reveals and Game Pass announcements.” Those Game Pass announcements had better be beefy, considering that recent price hike. We’ll find out on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-is-hosting-a-partner-showcase-on-november-20-at-1pm-et-191537266.html?src=rss

Tesla has secured a ruling to strip a 2017 lawsuit claiming a racist work environment of its class-action status, as reported by Reuters. California Superior Court Judge Peter Borkon, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, ruled that the lawsuit could not proceed with class-action status because the plaintiffs’ attorneys had failed to find 200 class members willing to testify. The judge said he could not assume that the experiences of a select group of workers could be applied to the entire class of would-be plaintiffs.

The 2017 lawsuit began with a single employee who filed suit alleging Tesla’s Fremont production floor was a “hotbed for racist behavior,” and that over 100 employees had experienced racial harassment.

In 2024, a lower court judge ruled the case could move forward as a class action, a decision that Tesla had been appealing since. A trial in the case was scheduled to begin in April, though now that the case has lost its class-action status, each plaintiff would have to bring their case against Tesla separately.

This is not the first time that Tesla has found itself in court over alleged racial misconduct. In 2023, the automaker was sued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations that Black employees were subjected to racial slurs and retaliation.

Last year, Tesla reached a confidential settlement with a single employee who said he faced discrimination at the same California plant, reporting that his coworkers left drawings of swastikas and racist figures on his workspace.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-wins-bid-to-decertify-class-action-lawsuit-alleging-racial-discrimination-191256294.html?src=rss