Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A California regulator has settled its blockbuster lawsuit that alleged a culture of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard. Now under the ownership of Microsoft, the gaming company will pay about $54 million as part of the settlement, according to a press release from California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD).
Read MoreJay Peters / The Verge: Adam Mosseri details Threads’ fediverse plans, including following non-Threads accounts, showing replies from other platforms, and follower portability — The head of Instagram says a full integration with the fediverse could take ‘the better part of a year.’
Read MoreBloomberg: Memo: Weibo sent notices warning users to “avoid expressing pessimism about the economy” and “avoid crossing the red lines” around economic or financial topics — – The social media service sent warning notices to users — China has stepped up control on online discourse in past years
Read MoreIllustration: The Verge On Friday, two days after Threads finally started publicly testing ActivityPub integration, Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared a thread on Threads detailing the company’s plans for its continued integration with the fediverse. Right now, it’s possible to follow a few Threads accounts (including Mosseri’s) from other platforms, but Meta has much bigger
Read MorePhoto by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple has blocked a Bluetooth attack carried out with the Flipper Zero that sent a barrage of pop-ups to iPhones, causing them to lock up and crash. While Apple hasn’t formally announced the change, it appears the company has rolled out a fix in iOS 17.2, according to
Read MoreWall Street Journal: Activision Blizzard to Pay Around $50 Million to Settle Lawsuit That Spurred Microsoft’s Takeover — California’s Civil Rights Department sued Call of Duty maker in 2021 alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and pay disparity — Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay about $50 million …
Read MorePhoto by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple has blocked a Bluetooth attack carried out with the Flipper Zero that sent a barrage of pop-ups to iPhones, causing them to lock up and crash. While Apple hasn’t formally announced the change, it appears the company has rolled out a fix in iOS 17.2, according to
Read MorePhoto by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple has blocked a Bluetooth attack carried out with the Flipper Zero that sent a barrage of pop-ups to iPhones, causing them to lock up and crash. While Apple hasn’t formally announced the change, it appears the company has rolled out a fix in iOS 17.2, according to
Read MoreIllustration: The Verge On Friday, two days after Threads finally started publicly testing ActivityPub integration, Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared a thread on Threads detailing the company’s plans for its continued integration with the fediverse. Right now, it’s possible to follow a few Threads accounts (including Mosseri’s) from other platforms, but Meta has much bigger
Read MorePhoto Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge We’ve pulled together a king’s ransom of fun and unique gift ideas for all the dads in your life so you can spoil them no matter your budget. Continue reading…
Read MoreJuli Clover / MacRumors: Apple agrees to pay $25M to settle a class action lawsuit alleging Apple misrepresented the way that third-party app subscriptions worked with Family Sharing — Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over Family Sharing, and will pay out $25 million to put an end to the case.
Read MorePhoto Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge Gift-giving doesn’t have to eat up all of your time and money — and we’ve rounded up an assortment of inexpensive gifts to prove it. Continue reading…
Read MoreIllustration: The Verge On Friday, two days after Threads finally started publicly testing ActivityPub integration, Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared a thread on Threads detailing the company’s plans for its continued integration with the fediverse. Right now, it’s possible to follow a few Threads accounts (including Mosseri’s) from other platforms, but Meta has much bigger
Read MoreBloomberg: Sources: more Chinese government agencies and state-backed firms have ordered staff to stop bringing iPhones, Samsung phones, and other foreign devices to work — – Agencies from Beijing to Tianjin instruct staff to go local — The formal directives follow a general mandate from months ago
Read MoreAlex Heath / The Verge: Docs: ByteDance used OpenAI’s API to develop its own LLM, codenamed Project Seed; employees discussed “whitewashing” the evidence through “data desensitization” — TikTok’s entrancing “For You” feed made its parent company, ByteDance, an AI leader on the world stage.
Read MoreIllustration: The Verge Apple has paid $25 million to settle a class action lawsuit over its Family Sharing feature, and you might be eligible for a payout, as reported by MacRumors. The settlement, which you can read about on a dedicated website, stems from a 2019 lawsuit accusing Apple of misleading users about the apps
Read MoreScreenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge Researchers found Microsoft’s chatbot on Copilot provided false and misleading information about European elections. Human rights organization AlgorithmWatch said in a report that it asked Bing Chat — recently rebranded as Copilot — questions about recent elections held in Switzerland and the German states of Bavaria and Hesse.
Read MoreThe Coral Restoration Foundation digitally stitched images of a reef together to create this 3D photomosaic. | Image: CRF Time is running out to save the world’s coral reefs, so conservationists are turning to every tool they can to protect vanishing reefs — including AI. In Florida, the race is on to restore reefs by
Read MoreThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected a petition from Coinbase, a leading U.S. crypto exchange, for the establishment of tailored rules for digital assets. The decision, announced on Friday, underscores the SEC’s stance that the existing securities regime is adequate for governing crypto asset securities. SEC Chair Gary Gensler, in a statement accompanying
Read MoreOne of the interesting things about living in modern times is that a confluence of the Internet and rapid changes in the electronics industry means that test gear that used to be astronomically priced is now super affordable. Especially if, like [Frankie Mashockie], you can do a little repair work. He picked up an HP6038A
Read MoreJordan Pearson / VICE: Some X users report seeing ads for apps that use AI to “undress” women in photos; TikTok and Meta have started to block search terms related to “nudify” apps — A week after TikTok and Meta blocked certain search terms related to so-called “nudify” apps, X has not taken the same
Read MoreCredit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority December 31, 2023, was initially the deadline for switching Stadia controllers to Bluetooth mode. Google has now tacked on an additional year to that deadline. To switch to Bluetooth, you’ll need to use the web-based tool on the Stadia website. At the beginning of this week, we warned you
Read MorePhoto Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge The world can be an expensive place. Fortunately, we’ve assembled 30-odd gifts that are designed to keep your holiday spending (mostly) in check. Continue reading…
Read MoreAndroid 13 added a new photo picker experience that lets you privately select photos or videos to share with an app. Since launch, Android’s photo picker was limited to selecting photos or videos stored locally on the device. Google Photos is preparing to integrate with the photo picker so you can share photos or videos
Read MoreAdrian Kingsley-Hughes / ZDNet: iOS 17.2 closes off Flipper Zero devices’ ability to carry out DoS attacks on iPhones within a 30-foot radius by continuously sending Bluetooth pairing requests — Apple has finally closed off the ability of the Flipper Zero pen-testing tool to flood iPhones with so many popups that the handset would lock
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