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The latest title to join the Netflix Games roster is a very modern take on one of the icons of Windows computing. That’s right, you can now play Minesweeper through Netflix’s app. The classic PC puzzle game has been reimagined with an international setting, tasking the player with very literally looking for underwater mines by overlaying the usual interface of numbers and flags over vibrant pictures of waterways from around the world.

For those of us who grew up playing the original game, this take from Netflix is certainly a departure in appearance. Colorful aquatic backgrounds? A journey mode? Buh? However, the Netflix version does have one definite bonus that the trailer calls out at its close: “No in-game ads. No extra fees. No in-app purchases.” Trying to find a modern-day Minesweeper game for mobile involves sifting through what feels like countless options that mimic the look of the original, but are either ad-supported or require purchase to go ad-free.

Minesweeper is also an interesting retro addition to what has become a wide-ranging collection of titles at Netflix. The company has its own takes on card games Hearts and Solitaire alongside indie darlings like Hades and international mega-hits from the Grand Theft Auto series. Plus there are some games that tie into Netflix’s own programming. The company has definitely cast a wide net with this endeavor.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-has-reimagined-minesweeper-and-its-out-now-220009017.html?src=rss 

Amazon Prime Day is later this month, and the retailer has been promoting the big sale with additional discounts with early Prime Day deals. Right now, members of Amazon Prime can snag three months of an Audible Premium Plus subscription for free. This deal runs through July 31.

After the three-month deal, subscriptions will automatically renew at the usual price of $15 per month. But as with any Audible subscription, you can cancel at any time. So if you’re an avid audiobook listener and have been waiting for a good deal, or if you’re mildly curious about the service and want a longer time to test whether it’s right for you, now’s a good time to hop aboard.

At this tier, Audible grants subscribers one title from its catalog every month. With this membership, you get unlimited listening access to the Plus catalog of originals, audiobooks and podcasts in addition to your one title per month. Audible also runs members-only sales and discounts that you can take advantage of as well. While the platform is best known for audiobooks, it also hosts original productions of radio plays and audio-only stories. Notable names such as Neil Gaiman and The Walking Dead’s creative team have collaborated on Audible Originals.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-members-can-get-audible-free-for-three-months-ahead-of-prime-day-204245766.html?src=rss 

A three-mile stretch of Interstate 94 in Michigan will be converted into America’s first smart highway.

Axios reports that the Alphabet-backed startup Cavnue has started constructing the smart highway as part of a new pilot project that could spur other construction projects across the country. Two more highways are in the works for Austin, Texas and somewhere else in the Southwest, according to Cavnue’s website.

The new smart road is big, long car tracking system for Michigan’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) and for drivers on the highway. The smart highway is designed to send data like traffic updates, weather conditions, driving conditions and stranded vehicles in the hopes of relieving traffic congestion, preventing accidents and providing efficient responses to roadway emergencies.

The pilot program of the highway is located between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan. There are future plans to extend the smart highway to 40 miles into six more phases that would connect to both cities once the pilot program is complete.

The smart highway works with a series of poles placed every 200 meters (about 655 feet) along the road that hold sensor pods, compute pods and communication equipment. There are also cameras along the highway that monitor every stretch of roadway and take images that are analyzed by AI and machine learning algorithms to identify hazardous driving conditions. Alerts are sent to MDOT and drivers connected to the roadway.

So far, the system can only talk to autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles but Cavnue expects half of cars to have some level of autonomy by 2030.

America has some catching up to do when it comes to building and implementing smart highways. Great Britain, for instance, started working on its first internet-connected road in 2014.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/michigan-is-building-the-nations-first-smart-highway-213004576.html?src=rss 

Meta is changing a long-running policy regarding the Arabic word “shaheed,” which has been described as the most-moderated word on the company’s apps. The company said in an update to the Oversight Board that use of the word alone would no longer result in a post’s removal.

The Oversight Board had criticized the company for a “blanket ban” on the word, which is often translated as “martyr,” though, as the board noted, it can have multiple meanings. Meta’s previous policy, however, didn’t take that “linguistic complexity” into account, which resulted in a disproportionate number of takedowns over a commonly used word. Shaheed, the board said earlier this year, “accounts for more content removals under the Community Standards than any other single word or phrase,” across the company’s apps.

In its latest update, Meta said that it had tested a new approach to moderating the word following a recommendation from the board. “Initial results from our assessment indicate that continuing to remove content when “Shaheed” is paired with otherwise violating content – or when the three signals of violence outlined by the Board are present – captures the most potentially harmful content without disproportionality impacting voice,” the company wrote.

The change should have a significant impact on Meta’s Arabic-speaking users, who, according to the board, have been unfairly censored as a result of the policy. “The Oversight Board welcomes Meta’s announcement today that it will implement the Board’s recommendations and introduce significant changes to an unfair policy that led to the censoring of millions of people across its platforms,” the board said in a statement. “The policy changes on how to moderate the Arabic word ‘shaheed’ should have a swift impact on when content is removed, with a more nuanced approach ending a blanket ban on a term that Meta has acknowledged is one the most over-enforced on its platforms.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-changing-its-policy-for-the-most-moderated-word-on-its-platforms-185016272.html?src=rss