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Page-Two News
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US News from Christian Science Monitor
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Their weddings made history. Twenty years later, their love endures. Friday marks the 20th anniversary of the first same-sex marriages in the U.S. Two Massachusetts couples reflect on how they felt at the time – and what marriage equality has meant to them since. |
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As Democrats pull back on Israel, one unlikely senator is doubling down Sen. John Fetterman has emerged as the Democrats’ most outspoken supporter of Israel, underscoring how his party’s stance on that nation has shifted. |
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Military sexual assaults significantly drop after Biden hires ‘prevention workforce’ Reports of sexual assault in the U.S. military are on the decline after a “prevention workforce” took up posts within the ranks. Senior defense officials say that the number of assaults is still too high. |
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How the US floating pier in Gaza will make a difference in the growing hunger crisis The U.S. recently completed a floating pier to deliver critical humanitarian aid to Gaza. Its capacity could reach 2 million meals per day. |
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FAFSA ‘train wreck’ rollout makes it harder to get to college. What went wrong? The new FAFSA application will, eventually, be easier. But the current process for federal student aid has stymied applicants, especially those from nontraditional homes. |
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Why states are stepping in to help parents with child care costs States are taking action to reduce child care costs for families. Their solutions offer a path for keeping parents in the workforce – and helping local economies. |
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Want to combat male loneliness? Start by helping boys connect with their emotions. Many boys struggle with loneliness, violence, and poor academic standing. Parents and educators are finding ways to help them cultivate emotional connections. |
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Michael Cohen testified Monday that Donald Trump approved hush money payments with the goal of influencing the 2016 election. Mr. Cohen’s veracity is now a key issue. |
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As Democratic split widens on Israel, politics grow treacherous for Biden A longtime supporter of Israel, President Biden is now contending with pro-Palestinian protesters – and images creating a broader sense of disarray. |
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A landmark settlement protecting children at the border is set to roll back For 27 years, the landmark Flores agreement has curbed the mistreatment of child migrants traveling alone. The Biden administration, tackling heavier immigration enforcement, is now seeking to undo parts of the mandate. |
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This retired Marine pilot aims to be the role model she never had in Afghanistan Retired Marine helicopter pilot Alexis Federico is helping an aviation museum take flight in Orange County, California. She hopes it inspires interest in STEM careers. |
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From pandemic to protests, these college seniors have faced unusual challenges. Many long for community – and have learned something about building it. |
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Trump on trial: What to know as case moves toward pivotal witness Donald Trump’s hush money trial has seen dramatic testimony this week. But the most confrontational and legally important moment may be yet to come. |
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America’s role as a major backer of Israel’s military is coming under rare, rising scrutiny due to the war in Gaza. Our charts put the debate in context. |
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Colorado has a history of mass shootings. But Democrats nixed recent gun control bill. Colorado has a checkered past when it comes to guns. Democrats recently joined Republicans in the state house to defeat a semi-automatic weapons ban to find a solution that satisfies both the state’s hunters and those affected by mass shootings. |
Engadget
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How to shop for a smart grill Smart grills are expensive. Companies definitely make you pay a premium for the conveniences that a little Wi-Fi can afford. When it comes to pellet grills, you’re likely going to pay over $1,000. Ditto for gas models that have wireless connectivity. For this reason, it’s important to consider what types of cooking you plan to do and how often you plan to do it when you’re shopping. Do you cook burgers for warm-weather holidays or sear the occasional steak? Dropping that much money might be overkill. But if you prefer to cook outdoors nearly year-round and are ready to expand your culinary skills to include low-and-slow smoking, you’re in the right place.The real benefit of a smart grill is being able to keep tabs on your food without having to stand next to it the whole time. Most models allow you to monitor temperatures and offer some degree of cooking guidance. There’s convenience for beginners and experienced cooks alike, especially for things that take several hours to complete. However, if you’re happy with a Weber Kettle or Big Green Egg, there are ways to get smart grill features without making a pricey purchase.Smart grill alternatives ThermoWorks You can get the basic function of a smart grill for $100 or less. All you really need to keep tabs on temperatures from a short distance away is an RF thermometer that has meat probes. For its accuracy and ease of use, I prefer the ThermoWorks Smoke line. The most affordable option is $99 and it comes with one food probe and one ambient temperature probe. For $169, you can upgrade to the longer-range two-probe Smoke X2 and the four-probe Smoke X4 is $199. All of these allow you to monitor things from inside and they offer the ability to set both high and low temperature alarms for audible alerts. ThermoWorks also sells an additional accessory that can add Wi-Fi to the base-level Smoke model, allowing you to send stats to your phone.Of course, those devices only monitor temperature. They don’t do anything to help you adjust heat levels. For that, ThermoWorks built Billows. It’s a temperature control fan that eliminates the need for you to manually open/close vents on a smoker or grill that’s burning charcoal or wood. You’ll need a ThermoWorks controller to use it, like the $239 four-probe Signals unit. Signals is more expensive than the Smoke models, but it has Wi-Fi built in, so it works with your phone right out of the box.If both Wi-Fi and step-by-step guidance are your thing, the Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub is a great option. This adds nearly every smart function to any grill. Weber’s app not only offers tips for how to prep food, but it also walks you through the entire process – from flipping to wrapping and resting. Timers let you know when the next step is coming and the hardware/software combo can even estimate when the cook will be complete. That last bit comes in handy when smoking things like brisket that can take 8-12 hours. The Hub can accommodate up to four probes, so you can keep tabs on multiple foods and grill temp via the simple on-board interface.If having cables criss-crossing the inside of your grill sounds like a hassle, and it very well can be at times, there are wireless options available for keeping tabs on temperature. My preferred product is the Meater 2 Plus ($130 and up) that can pull double duty with one probe. It’s completely wire-free and is equipped with six temperature sensors: five for internal temps and one for the ambient heat level of your grill on the other end. The Meater app has an estimator algorithm that predicts how long it will take to cook your food and recommends an amount of time for resting it afterwards. The Meater 2 Plus also has updated Bluetooth that extends its range to up to 250 feet. Plus, this model can be used over a direct flame and it’s waterproof, making it suitable for deep frying, sous vide and the dishwasher.Pellet grills Traeger When it comes to smart grills, the backyard cookers that burn wood pellets are some of the most popular models. Basically, a heating element in the bottom of the grill ignites compressed wood that’s fed to the fire pot via an auger. A fan that’s run by a controller on the grill regulates the size of the flame and overall temperature. Of course, all of this is done automatically once you set the temperature. What’s more, Wi-Fi-enabled pellet grills allow you to monitor and adjust temperatures from your phone, so you can stay inside and entertain your guests.A key advantage of pellet grills is their versatility. Most of them can handle low-and-slow cooking at as little as 180 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as searing high-heat temps of 600 degrees or higher. This gives you the ability to cook everything from brisket, ribs and pork butts to burgers, pizza and steaks. Some even have a slider that allows you to sear over the flame of the fire box. These grills allow you to “set it and forget it” for long cooks, and even for short ones, they don’t require much attention other than flipping or saucing foods.There are more affordable smart pellet grills on the market, but for the mix of hardware and software performance, Traeger and Weber are the best picks. Traeger has a variety of models, almost all of which are Wi-Fi-equipped, starting at $800. The company’s completely redesigned Timberline series is basically an outdoor kitchen. It can accommodate a variety of accessories to expand its abilities and there’s a built-in induction burner on the side for making sauces, cooking sides, and searing. The cook chamber has double-wall insulation and the grill comes with a set of Meater wireless thermometers that connect to its touchscreen controller. However, all of the updates to the Timberline will cost you a whopping $3,300. And that’s for the smallest size.Trager also redesigned the Ironwood series, giving it a lot of the updates that the new Timberline offers. There’s no induction burner, wood shelving, storage or dual-wall construction, but the touchscreen controls, new accessories (including a modular rail system) and, most importantly, the company’s redesigned grease and ash management system are all here. The Ironwood does have an open shelf on the bottom and a large side shelf in place of the Timberline’s burner. And while it doesn’t ship with Meater probes, this grill does support them if you buy them separately. The lack of high-end features makes the Ironwood far more affordable, starting at $1,800.With the Traeger app, you get access to a massive library of recipes, all of which can be sent to the grill so you don’t have to dial in the settings. You also get step-by-step instructions, timers, food probe temps and the ability to activate special modes. All of that is in addition to remote control and monitoring for grill temperature. The software is compatible with all of the company’s Wi-Fi-enabled models, including older ones, so you don’t need the newest Timberline or Ironwood to take advantage of what the app has to offer.Weber’s SmokeFire pellet grill used to be in this discussion, but since it was replaced by the Searwood in the company’s lineup, I’ve removed it from our recommendations. I’ll be reviewing the Searwood soon, and based on the list of features and brief demo I got at CES, that new model will likely earn the spot previously filled by its predecessor. The Searwood has an all-new design and a special cooking mode that allows you to sear and griddle with the lid open.Gas grills Engadget Smart options aren’t limited to pellet grills, though. If you don’t have a need for the lower-temperature cooking, a propane or natural gas model might be a better option. In 2021, Weber brought its Connect smart grilling platform to its gas grills, offering three- and four-burner configurations, some of which also have a side burner for extra cooking space. Just like on the SmokeFire, Weber Connect not only allows you to monitor both food and grill temperatures from a comfy chair, it can guide you through the process and give you time updates. You still have to manually adjust the burners, but Weber’s app can alert you when you’re running low on fuel (propane models).Other types of smart grills Masterbuilt Both pellet and gas grills have their merits, but some folks prefer the tried-and-true flavor of charcoal when cooking outdoors. While the purchase of one of the previously mentioned accessories will probably achieve what you're after for a kettle or kamado-style grill you already have, there are some charcoal smart grills that offer a degree of connectivity for your cooks.For fans of the kamado-style ceramic grills, Kamado Joe recently announced the Konnected Joe. Silly spellings aside, the unit addresses two key issues with these types of grills: lighting the charcoal and regulating temperature. To help with the former, the company installed an ignition system in the bottom of the cooking chamber that lights the fuel at the press of a button. The Konnected Joe is also equipped with built-in smart grilling features that help you keep the temps consistent while being able to monitor food and grill temps remotely via an app. Before now, if you wanted smart features on a Kamado Joe grill, you had to invest in the iKammand add-on. The big caveat here is that I haven’t yet tested one yet. They were announced in March but won’t ship until June (pre-orders are open though). At $1,699, this grill is another significant investment, though that figure is on par with the company’s other models that lack the added features connectivity brings.If you prefer charcoal but still want a versatile smart grill, Masterbuilt’s Gravity Series does everything from low-and-slow smoking to high-heat searing. The gravity-fed charcoal hopper allows you to cook with a fuel source that’s more familiar to most people while the unit’s digital fan maintains temperature. You can monitor the grill from your phone and adjust the heat levels as needed. The company’s latest version, the Gravity Series XT, has an updated controller with a color display and a number of other design improvements.A word about griddlesWeberFlat-top griddles are having a moment. These grills are insanely popular for their ability to accommodate smash burgers, fajitas, fried rice, breakfast and anything else that would otherwise fall through a normal grill’s grates. There are endless options here, most of which offer the same basic premise: multiple burners underneath a steel, aluminum or cast-iron flat top. Except for Recteq’s SmokeStone that burns pellets, the rest of the griddles I’ve seen run on propane.Since the basics are pretty much the same across the board, you’ll want to look at finer details in the design of a griddle while you’re shopping. How much space will you need? What’s the cooktop made out of? Does it have an attached lid? Are the side shelves big enough to hold everything you’ll need to cook? These are the types of questions you should be asking to make sure you buy something you’ll be happy with long term, since you’ll be spending several hundred or maybe even a thousand dollars on a griddle.One option that I think goes beyond the normal menu of features is the Weber Slate. This is the second griddle for Weber, a company with a decades-long history of charcoal and gas grills. The Slate’s cooktop is made of rust-resistant carbon steel, which requires less maintenance and is more forgiving when you forget to clean it immediately after cooking. There’s also a front-mounted temperature display that shows the average reading across the cooking surface. Lastly, Weber offers a line of accessories designed for the Slate, including a caddy, condiment holder, cutting board and storage bins. These tools allow you to reconfigure the griddle so it’s a prep station/cooking area combo, which means fewer trips to and from the kitchen.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-smart-grills-and-how-to-choose-one-153006286.html?src=rss |
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Twitter has officially moved to X.com Twitter officially went through a rebranding almost a year ago, but most of its pages still used Twitter in their URL until now. Now, Elon Musk has announced that the social network is done moving all of its core systems on X.com, which means it's done transitioning into its new identity and scrubbing all traces of the name Twitter and its iconic blue bird logo. As The Verge notes, the website has also edited its landing and log-in page with a note at the bottom that says: "Welcome to x.com! We are letting you know that we are changing our URL, but your privacy and data protection settings remain the same." It then links to its Privacy page, which now uses x.com in its address.All core systems are now on https://t.co/bOUOek5Cvy pic.twitter.com/cwWu3h2vzr— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2024 Over the past year, the company has been shedding its pre-Elon Musk identity little by little. It changed its official handle from @Twitter to @X and replaced the Twitter logo on its headquarters building. Its website changed favicons, which initially triggered some browsers' security safeguards, while its apps switched over to the new X logo from its previous blue bird design. Tweetdeck has been renamed into XPro and Twitter Blue became X Premium. The company has slowly been moving its pages to x.com, as well — slow enough that the move became something of a security risk, since bad actors could take advantage of the inconsistent URL to phish victims. Well, now the company is done moving to its new URL, and it's time to say goodbye to one of the last remaining parts of a website that helped shape the social media landscape.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-has-officially-moved-to-xcom-120028269.html?src=rss |
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Engadget Podcast: Reviewing the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air We've spent some time with the iPad Pro M4 and new iPad Air... and the iPad Pro is still a bit too pricey for us. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham about his reviews and why he still prefers the iPad Air. Also, we wrap up Google I/O 2024 with a Project Astra hands on, and we chat about Apple bringing eye tracking to iPhones and iPads as an accessibility feature.Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!TopicsNate Ingraham reviews the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air: Powerful, but pricy – 1:11Google I/O news wrap up – 20:11OpenAI’s new GPT-4o can talk, sing, and sounds a little flirty – 28:36Intel brings back the days of FireWire data transfer with Thunderbolt Share – 31:43New accessibility features from Apple: eye tracking and expanded wake word options – 35:48Biden administration quadruples tariffs on Chinese EVs (along with solar and other hardware) – 43:20Listener Mailbag: The age old question of what to do with your old tech – 55:48Working on – 1:01:32Pop culture picks – 1:05:45Subscribe!iTunesSpotifyPocket CastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsLivestreamCredits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra HardawarGuest: Nathan IngrahamProducer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'BrienThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-reviewing-the-ipad-pro-m4-and-ipad-air-113044130.html?src=rss |
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The Morning After: Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming fall 2025 One of the biggest, most iconic gaming series is almost back. Grand Theft Auto 6 is apparently on track for a fall launch next year — a little more specific than the previous release window of “2025.”There’s no new trailer, and GTA publisher, Take-Two, is not quite ready to offer a specific release date. CEO Strauss Zelnick told Variety: “I think we’re going to leave it there for now.”The sixth mainline installment will be set in Leonida (Rockstar’s Florida equivalent) and focused mostly on Vice City (Miami). Compared to GTA Vice City, however, it’ll be contemporary. So, I’m banking on OnlyFans pastiches, vapes, self-driving cars and everything else 2020s. Plus explosions and crime.— Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedUber will soon let you reserve a shuttle to get home from a big concert or ballgameSamsung’s Music Frame gets its first discount on AmazonThe best PC games out there (but we need to add Balatro)You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!AT&T is making all its phones satellite phonesA new deal will connect your phone with five commercial satellites.AT&TAT&T subscribers will soon have cell service even in typical dead zones, like deep inside national parks or far-flung rural locations. The mobile carrier has been working with AST SpaceMobile since 2018, testing two-way audio calls, texts and video calls via satellites in space using ordinary smartphones. Now, the companies have entered a commercial agreement, just in time for a rocket launch of five commercial AST satellites this summer. Those satellites will enable AT&T to roll out its service, but there’s no start date, yet.Continue reading.OpenAI strikes deal to put Reddit posts in ChatGPTThe deal is similar to the one Reddit struck with Google just months ago.OpenAI and Reddit announced, on Thursday, a partnership for OpenAI to surface Reddit discussions in ChatGPT, and for Reddit to bring AI-powered features to its users. The partnership will “enable OpenAI’s tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics,” the companies said in a joint statement. As part of the agreement, OpenAI will also become an advertising partner on Reddit. Ugh.I’ve resurrected my Reddit habit due to an incredible/accursed game called Balatro. So hopefully, soon, I can just ask ChatGPT what certain cards and terms mean.Continue reading.US House passes act to force event pricing transparencyBut it doesn’t address exorbitant fees or bots.On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could provide at least some accountability for Ticketmaster and other live-event vendors. NBC News reports the TICKET Act (not to be confused with the Senate’s separate bill with the same try-hard acronym) would mandate that ticket sellers list upfront the total cost of admission — including all fees — to buyers.Reforming the ticketing industry became a political point-scoring item in late 2022 after Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift fiasco. The Live Nation-owned service, which has a stronghold on the industry, melted down as millions of fans battled “a staggering number” of bots. Ticketmaster said presale codes reached 1.5 million fans, but 14 million (including those pesky bots) tried to buy tickets.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-grand-theft-auto-6-is-coming-fall-2025-111507383.html?src=rss |
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The 20 best PC games you can play right now for 2024 PC gamers have almost too many options when it comes to titles to play, which is a great problem to have. With decades of games to choose from (and the first port of call for most indie titles, too), the options are endless. You also get the perks of (nearly always flawless) backward compatibility and console-beating graphical performance — if you've got the coin for it when you’re building your perfect kit or picking up a high-powered gaming laptop. The whole idea of what a gaming PC is and where you can play it is shifting, too, with the rise of handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck. We've tried to be broad with our recommendations here on purpose; here are the best PC games you can play right now.Best PC games to play right nowThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-pc-games-150000910.html?src=rss |
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OpenAI strikes deal to put Reddit posts in ChatGPT OpenAI and Reddit announced a partnership on Thursday that will allow OpenAI to surface Reddit discussions in ChatGPT and for Reddit to bring AI-powered features to its users. The partnership will “enable OpenAI’s tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics,” both companies said in a joint statement. As part of the agreement, OpenAI will also become an advertising partner on Reddit, which means that it will run ads on the platform.The deal is similar to the one that Reddit signed with Google in February, and which is reportedly worth $60 million. A Reddit spokesperson declined to disclose the terms of the OpenAI deal to Engadget and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.OpenAI has been increasingly striking partnerships with publishers to get data to continue training its AI models. In the last few weeks alone, the company has signed deals with the Financial Times and Dotdash Meredith. Last year, it also partnered with German publisher Axel Springer to train its models on news from Politico and Business Insider in the US and Bild and Die Welt in Germany.Under the new arrangement, OpenAI will get access to Reddit’s Data API, which, the company said, will provide it with “real time, structured, and unique content from Reddit.” It’s not clear what AI-powered features Reddit will build into its platform as a result of the partnership. A Reddit spokesperson declined to comment.Last year, getting access to Reddit’s data, a rich source of real time, human generated, and often high-quality information, became a contentious issue after the company announced that it would start charging developers to use its API. As a result, dozens of third-party Reddit clients were forced to shut down and thousands of subreddits went dark in protest. At the time, Reddit stood its ground and said that large AI companies were scraping its data with no payment. Since then, Reddit has been monetizing its data by striking such deals with Google and OpenAI, whose progress in training their AI models depends on having access to it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-strikes-deal-to-put-reddit-posts-in-chatgpt-224133045.html?src=rss |
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Grand Theft Auto 6 will arrive in fall 2025 Grand Theft Auto VI’s return to Vice City is officially scheduled for fall 2025. On Thursday, parent company Take-Two Interactive wrote in its Q4 2024 earnings report that it’s narrowed GTA 6’s previously announced 2025 window to autumn of next year.“Our outlook reflects a narrowing of Rockstar Games’ previously established window of Calendar 2025 to Fall of Calendar 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI,” Take-Two Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick wrote in the earnings report. “We are highly confident that Rockstar Games will deliver an unparalleled entertainment experience, and our expectations for the commercial impact of the title continue to increase.”The sixth mainline installment in the open-world series will be set in Leonida (Rockstar’s Florida equivalent), focused mostly on Vice City (Miami). The game appears to have a contemporary setting, as opposed to the charming '80s cheese from 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. You can catch a glimpse of protagonists Jason and Lucia in the trailer below.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/grand-theft-auto-6-will-arrive-in-fall-2025-205513138.html?src=rss |
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US House passes TICKET Act to force event pricing transparency On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could provide at least some accountability for Ticketmaster and other live event vendors. NBC News reports the TICKET Act (not to be confused with the Senate’s separate bill with the same try-hard acronym) would mandate that ticket sellers list upfront the total cost of admission — including all fees — to buyers.In addition to the full pricing breakdown, the bill would require sellers to indicate whether the tickets are currently in their possession. It would also ban deceptive websites from secondary vendors and force sellers to refund tickets to canceled events. The bill doesn’t appear to address price gouging or extravagant fees.It now moves to the Senate, which is floating two separate event-reform bills: the other TICKET Act and a bipartisan Fans First Act. The latter was introduced in December to strengthen the 2016 BOTS Act that bars the use of bots to buy tickets, a practice that Taylor Swift fans (among others) can attest is still all too common.Reforming the ticketing industry became a political point-scoring item in late 2022 after Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift fiasco. The Live Nation-owned service, which has a stronghold on the industry, melted down as millions of fans battled “a staggering number” of bots. Ticketmaster said presale codes reached 1.5 million fans, but 14 million (including those pesky bots) tried to buy tickets.Live Nation President and CFO Joe Berchtold testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January 2023, where he largely passed the buck to Congress to fix the mess. He suggested the government strengthen the BOTS Act, which one of the Senate’s bills would try to do. During the hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) needled the executive for dodging blame, accusing the company of pointing the finger at everyone but itself.Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) issued a joint statement on Wednesday about the House’s TICKET Act. “This consensus legislation will end deceptive ticketing practices that frustrate consumers who simply want to enjoy a concert, show, or sporting event by restoring fairness and transparency to the ticket marketplace,” the group wrote. “After years of bipartisan work, we will now be able to enhance the customer experience of buying event tickets online. We look forward to continuing to work together to urge quick Senate passage so that we can send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”Artists publicly supporting legislation to combat the ticketing industry’s failures include (among others) Billie Eilish, Lorde, Green Day, Cyndi Lauper, Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews. “We are joining together to say that the current system is broken: predatory resellers and secondary platforms engage in deceptive ticketing practices to inflate ticket prices and deprive fans of the chance to see their favorite artists at a fair price,” a joint letter from over 250 musicians reads.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-house-passes-ticket-act-to-force-event-pricing-transparency-202852148.html?src=rss |
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HBO’s upcoming MoviePass documentary is a must-watch for fans of tech trainwrecks The rise and fall of MoviePass is one of those stories just begging for the documentary treatment and, well, HBO has got you covered. The platform just set a premiere date of May 29 for MoviePass, MovieCrash, a documentary helmed by filmmaker Muta’Ali and produced by none other than Mark Wahlberg.The film chronicles the “meteoric rise and stranger-than-fiction implosion” of the movie ticket subscription platform, which originally set the world on fire when it first launched back in 2011. However, it wasn’t long before the company realized that the “all you can eat” approach that works so well with gyms and other membership clubs is a weird fit for movie theaters, particularly at the service’s low price point. In just eight years, the company went from the fastest growing subscription service since Spotify to total bankruptcy.As the trailer shows, the documentary will feature interviews with many of the major players involved in the various stages of MoviePass. This includes original co-founder Stacy Spikes and former CEO Mitch Lowe. There will also be plenty of interviews with journalists who covered the service, FTC personnel and former subscribers. Incidentally, the trailer promises an anecdote in which a customer sent a box of feces to the MoviePass offices, and we don’t want to miss that.Though premiering on HBO at 9PM ET on May 29, the documentary will also be available on-demand via Max. Director Muta’Ali has made a few good documentaries, including Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn and Cassius X: Becoming Ali.As for MoviePass, well, it’s a long and complicated story. The app captured the hearts of theater-goers in 2011 by promising unlimited trips to the cinema for a single monthly subscription fee. The love affair didn’t last. The company ceased operations in 2019 and filed for bankruptcy in 2020. Between those dates, there have been reports of wire fraud, securities fraud and significant data breaches, among other outlandish scenarios. In short, it’s perfect fodder for a documentary.MoviePass is actually still around. Co-founder Spikes recently bought the company’s assets, brought on new investors and re-launched the service. However, the updated pricing model is on the confusing side, with credits and tiers, and seems to have not captured lightning in a bottle for the second time.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hbos-upcoming-moviepass-documentary-is-a-must-watch-for-fans-of-tech-trainwrecks-184923511.html?src=rss |
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What to expect from Microsoft Build 2024: The Surface event, Windows 11 and AI If you can't tell by now, just about every tech company is eager to pray at the altar of AI, for better or worse. Google's recent I/O developer conference was dominated by AI features, like its seemingly life-like Project Astra assistant. Just before that, OpenAI debuted GPT 4o, a free and conversational AI model that's disturbingly flirty. Next up is Microsoft Build 2024, the company's developer conference that's kicking off next week in Seattle.Normally, Build is a fairly straightforward celebration of Microsoft's devotion to productivity, with a dash of on-stage coding to excite the developer crowd. But this year, the company is gearing up to make some more huge AI moves, following its debut of the ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat in early 2023. Take that together with rumors around new Surface hardware, and Build 2024 could potentially be one of the most important events Microsoft has ever held.But prior to Build, Microsoft is hosting a showcase for new Surfaces and AI in Windows 11 on May 20. Build kicks off a day later on May 21. For the average Joe, the Surface event is shaping up to be the more impactful of the two, as rumors suggest we will see some of the first systems featuring Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip alongside new features coming in the next major Windows 11 update.That's not to say it's all rosy for the Windows maker. Build 2024 is the point where we'll see if AI will make or break Microsoft. Will the billions in funding towards OpenAI and Copilot projects actually pay off with useful tools for consumers? Or is the push for AI, and the fabled idea of "artificial general intelligence," inherently foolhardy as it makes computers more opaque and potentially untrustworthy? (How, exactly, do generative AI models come up with their answers? It's not always clear.)Here are a few things we expect to see at Build 2024:New Surface hardwareWhile Microsoft did push out updates to the Surface family earlier this spring, those machines were more meant for enterprise customers, so they aren’t available for purchase in regular retail stores. A Microsoft spokesperson told us at the time that it "absolutely remain[s] committed to consumer devices," and that the commercial focused announcement was "only the first part of this effort."Instead, the company's upcoming refresh for its consumer PCs is expected to consist of new 13 and 15-inch Surface Laptop 6 models with thinner bezels, larger trackpads, improved port selection and the aforementioned X Elite chip. There’s a good chance that at the May 20th showcase, we’ll also see an Arm-based version of the Surface Pro 10, which will sport a similar design to the business model that came out in March, but with revamped accessories including a Type Cover with a dedicated Copilot key.According to The Verge, Microsoft is confident that these new systems could outmatch Apple's M3-powered MacBook Air in raw speed and AI performance.The company has also reportedly revamped emulation for x86 software in its Arm-based version of Windows 11. That's a good thing, since poor emulation was one of the main reasons we hated the Surface Pro 9 5G, a confounding system powered by Microsoft's SQ3 Arm chip. That mobile processor was based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which was unproven in laptops at the time. Using the Surface Pro 9 5G was so frustrating we felt genuinely offended that Microsoft was selling it as a "Pro" device. So you can be sure we're skeptical about any amazing performance gains from another batch of Qualcomm Arm chips.It'll also be interesting to see if Microsoft's new consumer devices look any different than their enterprise counterparts, which were basically just chip swaps inside of the cases from the Surface Pro 9 and Laptop 5. If Microsoft is actually betting on mobile chips for its consumer Surfaces, there's room for a complete rethinking of its designs, just like how Apple refashioned its entire laptop lineup around its M-series chips.AI ExplorerAside from updated hardware, one of the biggest upgrades on these new Surfaces should be vastly improved on-device AI and machine learning performance thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite chip, which can deliver up to 45 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) from its neural processing unit (NPU). This is key because Microsoft has previously said PCs will need at least 40 TOPs in order to run Windows AI features locally. This leads us to some of the additions coming in the next major build of Microsoft’s OS, including something the company is calling its AI Explorer, expanded Studio effects and more.According to Windows Central, AI Explorer is going to be Microsoft’s catch-all term covering a range of machine learning-based features. This is expected to include a revamped search tool that lets users look up everything from websites to files using natural language input. There may also be a new timeline that will allow people to scroll back through anything they've done recently on their computer and the addition of contextual suggestions that appear based on whatever they're currently looking at. And building off of some of the Copilot features we’ve seen previously, it seems Microsoft is planning to add support for tools like live captions, expanded Studio effects (including real-time filters) and local generative AI tools that can help create photos and more on the spot.Smarter and more local CopilotsMicrosoft wants an AI Copilot in everything. The company first launched Github Copilot in 2021 as a way to let programmers use AI to deal with mundane coding tasks. At this point, all of the company's other AI tools have also been rebranded as "Microsoft Copilot" (that includes Bing Chat, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for productivity apps). With Copilot Pro, a $20 monthly offering launched earlier this year, the company provides access to the latest GPT models from OpenAI, along with other premium features.But there's still one downside to all of Microsoft's Copilot tools: They require an internet connection. Very little work is actually happening locally, on your device. That could change soon, though, as Intel confirmed that Microsoft is already working on ways to make Copilot local. That means it may be able to answer simpler questions, like basic math or queries about files on your system, more quickly without hitting the internet at all. As impressive as Microsoft's AI assistant can be, it still typically takes a few seconds to deal with your questions.More from Microsoft at Build 2024After all the new hardware and software are announced, Build is positioned to help developers lay even more groundwork to better support those new AI and expanded Copilot features. Microsoft has already teased things like Copilot on Edge and Copilot Plugins for 365 apps, so we’re expecting to hear more on how those will work. And by taking a look at some of the sessions already scheduled for Build, we can see there’s a massive focus on everything AI-related, with breakouts for Customizing Microsoft Copilot, Copilot in Teams, Copilot Extensions and more.What else to look out for?While Microsoft will surely draw a lot of attention, it’s important to mention that it won’t be the only manufacturer coming out with new AI PCs. That’s because alongside revamped Surfaces, we’re expecting to see a whole host of other laptops featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite Chip (or possibly the X Plus) from other major vendors like Dell, Lenovo and more.Admittedly, following the intense focus Google put on AI at I/O 2024, the last thing people may want to hear about is yet more AI. But at this point, like most of its rivals, Microsoft is betting big on machine learning to grow and expand the capabilities of Windows PCs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-to-expect-from-microsoft-build-2024-the-surface-event-windows-11-and-ai-182010326.html?src=rss |
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Sony’s new smartphone could entice shutterbugs away from Apple and Google Sony used to be a fairly major player in the smartphone space, but its offerings never quite made a splash in the US. Despite that, the company has been pumping out yearly refreshes of its Xperia line of smartphones and the just-announced Xperia 1 VI looks like the perfect device for both amateur and professional photographers. Sony, after all, is no slouch when it comes to cameras.The sixth-generation of the company’s flagship smartphone is filled with so many camera-centric features that it could actually lure people away from rival iPhone and Pixel devices. There’s a true optical zoom, AI-assisted autofocus and a telephoto camera for snapping macro shots.This breaks down to three cameras on the back, in the form of a 24mm main camera with a 48-megapixel Sony Exmor T sensor, a 16mm ultrawide and the aforementioned 85-170mm variable zoom telephoto camera. That last one provides 3.5x to 7.1x magnification when compared to the main camera. The ladybug in your yard is begging for its closeup.As for that AI-assisted autofocus, Sony touts a technology called “human pose estimation” that can recognize a person’s body and head position to provide the perfect focus. The camera system also supports filming video in 4K HDR at 120fps. All of these features work together within Sony’s new unified camera app, so people don’t have to constantly jump between different software to get the job done.Of course, this is a smartphone and not just a bunch of cameras attached to a rectangle. The Xperia 1 VI boasts the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM and a choice between 256GB and 512GB of storage. Sony says the integrated 5,000mAh battery should allow for up to two days of use before requiring a charge. To that end, the device supports both 15W wireless charging and wireless battery sharing to other devices.There is an OLED display which is nice, but it’s 2220 x 1080 and the Xperia V shipped with a 4K screen. The aspect ratio gets a hit here too, downsizing from 21:9 to 19.5:9. This display does now offer a variable refresh rate between 1Hz to 120Hz, however, and it can achieve a 50 percent higher peak brightness when compared to last year’s model. Also, 4K resolution on a phone screen is kind of unnecessary and this thing can shoot in 4K, which is what really matters.The Sony Xperia 1 VI is available for preorders now in the UK, starting at the jaw-dropping asking price of $1,640 in US dollars. There’s some more bad news for US consumers. Unlike previous versions, the company has no current plans to bring this phone stateside.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-new-smartphone-could-entice-shutterbugs-away-from-apple-and-google-180755649.html?src=rss |
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EA Sports' dormant College Football will reemerge, cicada-like, on July 19 It's been a long time coming but we finally know when College Football 25, EA Sports' revival of the long-dormant football sim series, will hit consoles. The game will land on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 19, living up to EA's promise that it would arrive sometime this summer.Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter are the cover stars. College Football 25 will include thousands of current athletes and feature 134 schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).More details about the game will be revealed in the coming weeks. However, like its NFL-centric sibling Madden, College Football 25 will include EA's money-vacuuming Ultimate Team mode. Ultimate Team, which has long been a staple of the EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) and NHL games too, sees players earn or buy packs of random players to add to their custom roster.Pre-orders for College Football 25 are now open. EA is selling an MVP bundle of College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25 that includes the deluxe edition of each game and three days of early access to each. As it happens, the release date for Madden NFL 25 was also revealed on Thursday, albeit through pre-order product listings. It will hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 16, less than a month after College Football 25.Make game day every day. Pre-Order the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle today and receive:🏈 Deluxe Editions of both #CFB25 and #Madden25🏈 3-Day Early Access for both games🏈 Exclusive in-game content🔗: https://t.co/Ki1a6vIH9w pic.twitter.com/XvdMFN2gMr— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) May 16, 2024 The College Football series had been dormant for over a decade following legal issues over the use of student athletes' likenesses, allegedly without consent. When EA announced a revival of the franchise in 2021, it noted that College Football would not feature real athletes. However, things have changed since then due to the NCAA at long last allowing student athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL).Players had the choice of whether to opt in to College Football 25, and as of March, more than 10,000 had reportedly agreed to be included. Most received an NIL check of $600, according to CBS Sports. Higher-profile names, presumably including the cover athletes, were said to have landed better-paying deals.Update 5/16 2PM ET: Added the Madden NFL 25 release date.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ea-sports-dormant-college-football-will-reemerge-cicada-like-on-july-19-175136953.html?src=rss |