Google CEO Sundar Pichai is about to appear at Vox Media’s annual Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California for a wide-ranging interview with Kara Swisher. As always, there is a lot to discuss. As the head of both Google and its parent company Alphabet, Pichai oversees one of the most expansive companies in the world.… Continue reading Sundar Pichai, live at the Code Conference
Author: The Verge Online News
How Cloudflare got Kiwi Farms wrong
Today let’s talk about Kiwi Farms, Cloudflare, and whether infrastructure providers ought to take more responsibility for content moderation than they have generally taken. I. Kiwi Farms is a nearly 10-year-old web forum, founded by a former administrator for the popular QAnon wasteland 8chan, that has become notorious for waging online harassment campaigns against LBGT… Continue reading How Cloudflare got Kiwi Farms wrong
How The Merge will slash Ethereum’s climate pollution
Ethereum just set The Merge in motion — and the stakes are huge for the planet. The Merge is arguably one of the most anticipated events yet in cryptocurrency history, when the Ethereum blockchain will switch from a disturbingly energy-hungry method of validating transactions to a new strategy that uses a fraction of the electricity… Continue reading How The Merge will slash Ethereum’s climate pollution
AMC Plus’ Pantheon is a haunting hyperproductivity nightmare that shouldn’t feel so real
In a less stressful world, the premise of AMC’s new animated series Pantheon from Craig Silverstein would feel much more far-fetched and implausible the way some of Black Mirror’s more fantastical episodes used to. But at a time when people use phrases like “quiet quitting” with a straight face, a show about corporations racing to… Continue reading AMC Plus’ Pantheon is a haunting hyperproductivity nightmare that shouldn’t feel so real
Buick offers to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the switch to electric cars
Buick is offering to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reports. In an interview with WSJ, Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred said that all 2,000 Buick franchise dealers in the US will be given the opportunity to take a buyout. Taking… Continue reading Buick offers to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the switch to electric cars
Streaming services need to stop showing me the same ad over and over (and over)
For the last few months, Parks & Recreation has been my go-to background show. It’s what I watch while I’m doing the laundry, trying to catch up on email, or playing a video game I’d rather not listen to. The show’s seven seasons are all on Peacock, which is handy, because so is The Office… Continue reading Streaming services need to stop showing me the same ad over and over (and over)
A utility company locked thousands of customers out of their smart thermostats in Colorado
Thousands of Colorado residents found themselves locked out of their smart thermostats during sweltering temperatures last week in an effort to prevent power demand from overwhelming the grid. About 22,000 Xcel customers lost control of their smart thermostats for hours on August 30th, Denver7 News reports. That led to backlash on social media as some… Continue reading A utility company locked thousands of customers out of their smart thermostats in Colorado
Hackers caused a massive traffic jam in Moscow using a ride-hailing app
Hackers caused a major traffic jam in Moscow after exploiting the Russian ride-hailing app, Yandex Taxi, to summon all available taxis to the same location at the same time (via Vice). The attack occurred on September 1st and had traffic heading towards Kutuzovsky Prospect — an already busy boulevard — stuck at a standstill. A… Continue reading Hackers caused a massive traffic jam in Moscow using a ride-hailing app
Twitter’s edit button is a big test for the platform’s future
Twitter seems to have handled adding an edit button about as well as possible. The edit button biases toward transparency, adding an edit history for every tweet and a big notice saying a tweet has been edited. Users will only have 30 minutes to edit their tweet, and will only be able to do so… Continue reading Twitter’s edit button is a big test for the platform’s future
China is all in on foldables — and Honor’s CEO thinks the rest of the world is ready, too
Honor is planning to release its second foldable next year, and unlike the Honor Magic V, the company hopes to actually release the device outside of China. Honor’s CEO, George Zhao, confirmed the plans in an interview with The Verge ahead of this year’s IFA trade show in Berlin and said the company expects to… Continue reading China is all in on foldables — and Honor’s CEO thinks the rest of the world is ready, too