Tech Boys

Back in early February, popular messaging app Discord announced that it would roll out age verification in order to keep its teenage users safe on the platform. By the end of the month, after facing significant backlash, Discord announced that it would be pausing that rollout while addressing some of the issues. According to Discord, those age verification checks will now be rolling out. Discord has launched a system that already estimates users' ages based on several factors, such as general activity levels, communities and servers joined, games that an account is connected to, and how old a user account is. The company has also assured users that no messages, calls, or other content have been analyzed to make an age determination. SEE ALSO: Discord defaults to teen experience for all users Discord must believe in its model, as the company says that 90 percent of its users will not have to do or change a thing. However,...

Another big overhaul to the game is now due in March. from Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews https://ift.tt/edyQ4Ta via IFTTT

The nightlife minutiae of a small town in Massachusetts may not seem like traditional fodder for a 24-hour news cycle. But turn that drama into a more-than-1,500-word Boston Globe article, sprinkled with apéritifs for online discourse? Well, that's a recipe for virality. That's what happened when the Globe reported on a recent public skirmish between community members and the owners of Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue, a lesbian bar and event space in Greenfield, a town of just 17,000 people. SEE ALSO: YouTube's microdrama boom is getting bigger The Last Ditch is one of just 36 lesbian bars in the U.S. , as chronicled by the Lesbian Bar Project. It's a nightlife outlier amid a post-COVID bar and club scene that has had to reckon with a decline in public socialization — let alone one that has addressed the alarming decline of number of lesbian bars across the country long before the global pandemic. But the bar...

Microsoft's smaller Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 13 are getting a much-needed chip upgrade. from Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews https://ift.tt/FnX4u9v via IFTTT

It will offer several privacy-focused options for users who aren't automatically confirmed as adults. from Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews https://ift.tt/rSoH1vt via IFTTT

X has introduced a new way for users to be contacted on its messaging service without sharing a phone number or following each other. The company launched X Numbers on Tuesday , giving XChat users a private code they can share with people who need to message or call them without a mutual follow. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. According to X's Help Center , anyone who enters a user's enabled X Number can message them even if the user doesn't follow them or has a closed inbox. Those conversations go straight to the inbox instead of message requests, and the sender can also place calls, depending on the recipient's call settings. Despite its name, X says an X Number isn't a phone number. It's also separate from the safety numbers Chat uses to verify identities in encrypted conversations. SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's SpacexAI faces another lawsuit from child sexual abuse ...

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for one Windows PC for $16.97 through Sept. 27, with seven Office apps and no recurring fees. Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows ...

Ever wanted to hear your group chat's worst message set to a pop chorus? Snapchat can do that now. Snap announced a batch of new AI features for Lens+ , its premium tier, on Monday, and the headliner is Create Song. Press and hold a message in a chat, tap Create Song, and pick a genre such as pop or rock. Snapchat turns your message into a short original track, and you can preview it before sending it to your friend. Credit: Snapchat If your chats are more visual than musical, the rest of the update is for you. AI Photoshoot is built to rescue near-miss Snaps, fixing shots where someone blinked, looked away, made a funny face, or got caught in bad lighting. Credit: Snapchat And AI Remix lets subscribers take a Snap a friend sent and reimagine it in a new style as a reply. There's also a sti...

It also promised players that Marathon will keep growing and improving. from Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews https://ift.tt/S5q6sAC via IFTTT

Xbox mode is akin to Big Picture Mode, where you get a gaming-friendly interface that works well with a controller. from Engadget - Technology News & Expert Reviews https://ift.tt/7hCizHc via IFTTT