Places and Things

Tax filing websites have been sending users’ financial information to Facebook Major tax filing services such as H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer have been quietly transmitting sensitive financial information to Facebook when Americans file their taxes online, The Markup has learned. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/22/23471842/facebook-hr-block-taxact-taxslayer-info-sharing

Apple changed how reading books works in iOS 16, and I may never be happy again Apple Books has been my main reading app for years for one very specific reason: its page-turning animation is far and away the best in the business. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/21/23471306/apple-books-ios-16-page-flip-animation-sucks

Time’s up: the Leap Second is being scrapped A global panel of scientists and government representatives have voted to scrap leap seconds by 2035. The ad-hoc time adjustment is occasionally inserted to account for the gradual slowdown of the Earth’s rotation, and has caused headaches for numerous tech companies over the years. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/21/23470759/leap-second-scrapped-2035-time-computer-chaos

SwiftKey is unexpectedly back on iOS Microsoft’s SwiftKey keyboard has unexpectedly returned to the App Store. The company officially discontinued support for the keyboard and removed it from the App Store in October, but now it’s available for iOS users once again. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/18/23467204/swiftkey-ios-iphone-app-store-return-back-microsoft

Elon Musk begins reinstating banned Twitter accounts, starting with Jordan Peterson and the Babylon Bee Elon Musk has begun reinstating Twitter accounts that were previously subject to lifetime bans, taking the first steps toward his promise of lighter moderation on the platform. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/18/23466625/elon-musk-twitter-reinstatement-jordan-peterson-kathy-griffin-babylon-bee

Antimicrobial Resistance Is Growing Because of COVID Even before the COVID pandemic, antimicrobial resistance, in which microbes no longer respond to common medications like antibiotics, was a big concern for public health organizations and health care specialists. Continue Reading . . . https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antimicrobial-resistance-is-growing-because-of-covid/

Lab-Grown Meat Gets FDA Approval for the First Time Ever Lab-grown meat has officially received the FDA's safety stamp of approval for the first time ever. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the FDA stated that it has "evaluated the information submitted to the agency and has no further questions at this time about the firm's safety conclusion. Continue Reading . . . https://www.cnet.com/health/lab-grown-meat-gets-fda-approval/

iPhone 14 Pro's A16 Bionic Outperforms Latest Snapdragon 8 Chip Coming to Android Phones Later This Year Earlier this week, Qualcomm announced its latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile chip and platform, promising to "revolutionize flagship smartphones" with "groundbreaking" experiences. Continue Reading . . . https://www.macrumors.com/2022/11/17/iphone-14-pro-a16-outpreforms-snapdragon/

What’s wrong with US broadband? The state of US broadband is bad. We already know huge portions of the country aren’t getting broadband speeds — but even where they are, those connections are often bogged down by limited options, predatory billing practices, and a general lack of choice. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/17/23460070/internet-bill-broadband-survey-data-consumer-reports-cost

Teens don’t seem super concerned about social media’s effects on their lives With widespread misinformation, echo chambers and dubious fact-checking — not to mention Twitter appearing on the verge of collapse — you might expect today's teenagers to view social media as a cesspool. Continue Reading . . . https://www.engadget.com/survey-teens-social-media-pew-research-193509564.html

Google Fi’s throwing in a free year of YouTube Premium for Unlimited Plus subscribers If you’re subscribed to Google Fi’s Unlimited Plus plan, you can now enjoy an extra perk in addition to unlimited data: one year free of YouTube Premium. Starting today, new and existing members enrolled in Google Fi’s premium plan won’t have to pay the $119. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/16/23461304/google-fi-unlimited-plus-youtube-premium

Elon Musk is firing Twitter employees even when they criticize him in private After purging half of Twitter’s staff with a snap of his fingers and firing as many as 5,500 additional contract employees without so much as a goodbye, “free speech” maximalist Elon Musk is now additionally getting rid of anyone who dares criticize him, both on Twitter and even in the company Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/15/23460729/elon-musk-fire-twitter-engineers-dissent

Consumer Reports finds hybrid cars are more reliable than gas-only models Hybrid cars aren't just valuable for their fuel efficiency, apparently. Consumer Reports has published annual reliability survey data indicating that hybrids are generally more reliable than their gas-only equivalents. Continue Reading . . . https://www.engadget.com/consumer-reports-hybrid-reliability-ev-phev-170003341.html

'The Witcher 3' finally hits PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on December 14th CD Projekt Red has revealed that the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will finally be available on December 14th. Continue Reading . . . https://www.engadget.com/the-witcher-3-ps5-xbox-series-x-s-release-date-163118152.html

Splatoon 3’s chill December update adds more of everything Splatoon 3 is getting a big update, splashing down on December 1st. Dubbed Chill Season 2022, the update’s adding new weapons, stages, game modes, and a lot more cool clothes and gear to zhuzh up your octolings. The Salmon Run game mode is also getting a fish-lift with the new Big Run game mode. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/14/23457879/splatoon-3-chill-season-2022-update-nintendo-switch

Kevin Conroy, the iconic voice of Batman, has died Kevin Conroy, the voice actor who was the Batman for a generation, passed away at the age of 66, The Verge has confirmed. In an email seen by The Verge, DC public relations wrote, “It is with profound sadness that I send this to you today. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/23453374/kevin-conroy-batman-died

Meta is laying off more than 11,000 employees Meta is reducing the size of its workforce by about 13 percent and letting more than 11,000 of its employees go in the first mass layoffs in the company’s history. Mark Zuckerberg has announced the mass layoffs in a message to employees, which Meta shared on its Newsroom. Continue Reading . . . https://www.engadget.com/meta-mass-layoffs-facebook-111406126.html

YouTube’s Primetime Channels bring streaming movies and TV into the YouTube app Streaming services are coming to YouTube. The company is rolling out a new feature called Primetime Channels that will bring shows and movies from more than 30 services directly into the YouTube interface. Continue Reading . . . https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/1/23433617/youtube-primetime-channels-streaming-tv-movies