Tech Boys

Check out our live blog coverage on the Verizon outage for more up-to-date details on the major cellular network issue. Verizon customers nationwide reported network outages on Sept. 30 , with many iPhone users saying their phones have been stuck in SOS mode . This is a massive problem for many folks trying to work and get about their lives on a Monday, and it is unclear when the issue will be resolved. Verizon has not made it clear how long this will last. "We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers," the company's customer support X account posted around noon Eastern time. "Our engineers are engaged, and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue." SEE ALSO: Massive Verizon outage: Customers nationwide left without service, phones in 'SOS mode' Hours have passed, and folks are still reportedly experiencing the same problem. Down Detector  still shows  a high volume of user-reported issues. The  replies  from ...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for September 30's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 30 What is Connections? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be...

In What We're Listening To, Engadget writers and editors discuss some of the recent music releases we've had on repeat. This installment has everything from jazz standards to The Jesus Lizard. Lady Gaga - Harlequin I wasn’t even a minute into Harlequin before I had the realization, Oh, I am going to become so annoying in my love for this. Unfortunately for everyone in my life (and doubly so because I’m singing along), I’ve had it blasting all weekend since the surprise drop on Friday.   Gaga is a powerhouse, and as much as I adore her take on pop, I’m always blown away when I hear her do jazz. And Harlequin is brimming with it.  Harlequin is a companion album to a soon-to-be-released movie ( Joker: Folie à Deux ) and almost entirely comprises cover songs — a combination that might typically put me off . But Gaga’s breezy versions of classics like “World on a String” and “Smile” are almost chilling. Her energy in tracks like “Gonna Build a Mountain” is through the roof...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed bill SB 1047, which aims to prevent bad actors from using AI to cause "critical harm" to humans. The California state assembly passed the legislation by a margin of 41-9 on August 28, but several organizations including the Chamber of Commerce had urged Newsom to veto the bill . In his veto message on Sept. 29, Newsom said the bill is "well-intentioned" but "does not take into account whether an Al system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions - so long as a large system deploys it."  SB 1047 would have made the developers of AI models liable for adopting safety protocols that would stop catastrophic uses of their technology. That includes preventive measures such as testing and outside risk assessment, as well as an "emergency stop" that would completely shut down...

Apple is planning to debut a new operating system called homeOS with its long-rumored smart displays, the first of which is expected to arrive as soon as 2025, according to Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman. Reports of a HomePod-like device with a display have been swirling for over a year, and Gurman said just this summer that Apple is working on a tabletop smart display equipped with a robotic arm that can tilt and rotate the screen for better viewing. In his latest report, Gurman says there are two versions in the works: a low-end display that will offer the basics, like FaceTime and smart home controls, and the high-end robotic variant that’ll cost upwards of $1,000. We’ll reportedly see the cheaper version first — possibly next year — followed by the high-end display. Gurman previously said the robotic smart display could be released in 2026 at the earliest. You won’t have to wait for the premium model to get a taste of Apple’s vision for home AI, though. According to Gurman, Apple Int...

Following Spencer and Jackie — biopic melodramas about Princess Diana and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy — Chilean director Pablo Larraín rounds out his informal trilogy with Maria , another film about a world-famous woman in close proximity to death. His subject this time is the iconic Greek-American opera soprano Maria Callas, and though the film doesn't come together as neatly (or completely) as either of its predecessors, its most powerful moments stand head and shoulders above them, thanks to towering, transcendent work from Angelina Jolie in the leading role.  SEE ALSO: New York Film Festival preview: 10 movies you ought to know about Maria is set during the final week of Callas' life, at a time when she lived in isolation, far from the spotlight. As Larraín and Spencer screenwriter Steven Knight imagine these pivotal days, the resulting film is, unfortunately, lesser than the sum of its parts. However, each of those elements is so individually exquisite as to yi...

The team behind the upcoming Minecraft movie shared a new clip during Minecraft Live that expands on the brief crafting moment we saw in the polarizing first teaser . The scene comes in the middle of a discussion between Mojang creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson and A Minecraft Movie director Jared Hess, at 4:51 . The segment also gives us our first look at the movie’s interpretation of a Minecraft bee, which I’m not quite sure how to feel about yet. That you can find toward the end of the video. A Minecraft Movie is slated for release in April 2025 and stars Jack Black as Steve, alongside Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. Plans for it were first announced a decade ago, and potential release dates were set and scrapped on multiple occasions in the time since. At long last, it’s actually now happening — for better or worse. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/K5ZwWhj from Engadget is a web magazine with obsess...

The Brutalist is a towering paean to the American dream, in all its force and folly. Set over several decades, Brady Corbet's post-World War II immigrant saga is — like the architectural achievements of its protagonist — constructed with meticulous consideration, resulting in a work of multifaceted technique and piercing humanity. The film, arresting from its first frames, spends three-and-a-half engrossing hours on the tale of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a fictitious Jewish Hungarian architect and survivor of the Holocaust, whose arrival in America yields both rigorous struggle and tempting opportunity. It embodies the kind of American epics no longer really made by Hollywood studios. Comparisons to The Godfather have abounded since its Venice International Film Festival premiere (though as a vast immigrant saga, a more fitting analogy might be The Godfather Part II ). Time will tell whether these are hyperbole, but while watching The Brutalist , it's hard not to think o...

Walkabout Mini Golf has been filled with players ever since it launched around the same time as the Meta Quest 2. Now the multiplayer mini-golf game is making the jump to iOS devices. The developer Mighty Coconut is currently beta testing its mobile mini-golf game Walkabout Mini Golf: Pocket Edition   and plans to release a full version on the App Store on October 10. The Pocket version may be on mobile devices but the miniature version of the mini-golf game isn’t straying away from its virtual interface. The iOS Walkabout game can be played in two different modes: “Touch-to-Putt” mode in which you use the touch screen to tap and drag your shot and “Swing-to-Putt” mode in which you hold your iPhone like a putter and take your swing the same way you would in the VR version. Walkabout Mini Golf is one of the most popular multiplayer VR games for the Meta Quest series. The virtual mini-golf game has an extensive series of stylized courses including some based on movies, TV sh...

Apple fans are still waiting for the release of M4 Macs later this year. However, one Apple analyst suggests that the company is already looking ahead to the next iteration of the Apple Vision Pro , which will be reportedly powered by the next-gen M5 chipset. According to a new report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to start production for the new Apple Vision Pro in the second half of 2025. The new Apple Vision Pro will also likely incorporate Apple's AI, Apple Intelligence , within the spatial computing realm, Kuo says. The future of Apple Vision Pro The Apple Vision Pro burst onto the market in February 2024 to much fanfare. But the conversation around the launch of Apple's brand new product quickly faded . Apple Vision Pro sales have apparently fallen well below the one million units goal that Apple had been targeting.  Previous reports from earlier this year suggested that Apple is pausing the production of a new, full-featured Apple Vision Pr...

California has taken a huge step in protecting children placed in the online spotlight, passing two new pieces of legislation providing financial safety nets for minors starring in digital content. Gov. Gavin Newsom was joined at the bill signing by singer and former child star Demi Lovato, who recently made headlines for her appearance in Child Star, a new Hulu documentary about youth working in Hollywood. Lovato championed California's new legislation and spoke about its importance at the event. SEE ALSO: No more TikTok FYP? California social media bill could totally reshape kids' online world The first of the new laws establishes financial and legal protections for minors featured in monetized online content, mandating a percentage of earnings gathered from online "performers" be placed in a trust by their parent or guardian. The law also requires those overseeing the kid-related content to create a written statement related to the trust and to keep records...

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 2426 , a new law that requires digital marketplaces to make clearer to customers when they are only purchasing a license to access media. The law will not apply to cases of permanent offline downloads, only to the all-too-common situation of buying digital copies of video games, music, movies, TV shows or ebooks from an online storefront. The Verge spotted the development, which could see marketplaces facing fines for false advertising in the state if they don't use clear language to explain the limitations of what access entails. In other words, you won't be seeing language like "buy" or "purchase" once the law takes effect in 2025. The move to digital storefronts has raised new parallel concerns about ownership and preservation for media in the modern age. Ubisoft's move to delete The Crew from players' libraries after the game's servers shuttered is one of the most recent examples of how custom...

"The Last of Us" Season 2, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, hits HBO and Max in 2025. from Mashable https://ift.tt/nu5jGgw via IFTTT

Google and Roblox are teaming up to combine the worlds of play and internet safety, as the companies announce a brand new gaming experience teaching young Roblox players how to better navigate the internet. Be Internet Awesome World, a new initiative of Google's Be Internet Awesome program, invites young users into a colorful, magical world full of "Internauts" who help players work through real-world scenarios and online risks. It's a reimagining of the tech company's current safety curriculum, developed alongside organizations like the Family Online Safety Institute , the Internet KeepSafe Coalition , and Connect Safely . "Roblox is one of the most popular online gaming platforms, with over 79.5 million daily active users," wrote Google. "Working with Roblox helps Google to reach kids where they’re already spending time to teach them the basics of online safety." SEE ALSO: X just released its first transparency report in years. Here...

SAG-AFTRA has called a strike against the video game League of Legend s. Under this action, any union voice actors must cease working on the popular MOBA from Riot Games. The union said it has also filed a charge of unfair labor practice against Formosa Interactive, which provides voiceover services for League , with the National Labor Relations Board. Formosa Interactive was one of several high-profile video game companies named in a strike by voice acting talent earlier this year. SAG-AFTRA is working to negotiate with those developers for protections against AI replicas of its members, including those who perform in games. Today, the union alleged that Formosa attempted to “cancel” a game that was included in the strike. "When they were told that was not possible, they secretly transferred the game to a shell company and sent out casting notices for “non-union” talent only," according to the press statement. "SAG-AFTRA charges that these serious actions are egreg...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa. The lawsuit alleges that the financial firm holds a monopoly over debit network markets allowing it to charge banks and markets with exorbitant fees that get passed onto consumers and keep rival companies like PayPal and Square from competing on their level. Bloomberg   first reported on Monday that the DOJ planned to file an antitrust suit against Visa following a multiyear investigation into Visa’s business practices starting in 2020. Visa attempted to acquire the fintech startup Plaid with a $5.3 billion bid but the DOJ filed a lawsuit blocking the deal claiming the acquisition would eliminate a competitive threat that challenged Visa’s powerful control of debit markets. Visa dropped the bid a year later to avoid any further legal entanglements but the DOJ continued investigating Visa’s business practices. The DOJ alleges in its latest lawsuit that Visa’s “web of exclusionary agreements” with banks an...

As of Tuesday morning, reliable predictors were saying a roiling tropical storm called Helene just south of Cuba was on track to intensify over the coming days, and almost certainly hit Florida as a hurricane on Thursday. Now is the time when we all love to stare at cones and "spaghetti models" showing potential paths as the storm makes its approach, but right from the jump: Please be careful about how you consume this notoriously misunderstood information. Tweet may have been deleted SEE ALSO: Why it's impossible to forecast the weather too far into the future NOAA's cone graphic of storm Helene According to NOAA, as of 11 a.m. ET, a Hurricane Watch is in effect for much of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, a swath of Florida spanning "Englewood to Indian Pass," and the densely populated Tampa Bay. In graphic form, that looks like this: NOAA's cone graphic of Tropical Storm Helene showing threats to p...