Here’s the latest updates on the next season of ‘RHOC’, including who from the cast is returning, when the show will be back, and more.
Here’s the latest updates on the next season of ‘RHOC’, including who from the cast is returning, when the show will be back, and more.
The reality TV personality accessorized her all-white ensemble with a fuzzy red and orange shawl.
The reality TV personality accessorized her all-white ensemble with a fuzzy red and orange shawl.
The US Department of Justice sued eBay on Wednesday for its role in the sale of products that harm the environment. It accused the online retailer of selling or distributing hundreds of thousands of products that violated the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The complaint was filed in a federal court in Brooklyn, NY.
The DOJ’s complaint accuses eBay of selling, offering for sale or causing the sale of over 343,000 aftermarket “defeat devices,” which bypass vehicle emission controls. The devices, familiar to many from Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” scandal, allow vehicles to cheat emissions tests, making them appear up to par on EPA standards when they aren’t — all in the name of a little performance boost.
“Aftermarket defeat devices significantly increase pollution emissions – including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and nonmethane hydrocarbons – that harm public health and impede efforts by the EPA, states, Tribes and local agencies to plan for and attain air quality standards,” the DOJ wrote today.
The complaint says eBay also unlawfully distributed or sold at least 23,000 pesticide products that were unregistered, misbranded or restricted-use. The DOJ says the EPA issued a “stop sale” order in 2020 (amended in 2021), after which eBay continued to violate it. “Examples include a high toxicity insecticide banned in the United States, restricted use pesticides that only certified applicators may apply and products fraudulently claiming to protect users against the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” the DOJ wrote.
The filing adds that eBay distributed over 5,600 products violating the TSCA Methylene Chloride Rule, a banned (potentially deadly) chemical used in paint and coating removers.
In a statement, eBay said it blocks and removes more than 99.9% of listings for products cited by the DOJ. “And eBay has partnered closely with law enforcement, including the DOJ, for over two decades on identifying emerging risks and assisting with prevention and enforcement,” the online retailer wrote. “The Government’s actions are entirely unprecedented and eBay intends to vigorously defend itself.”
The DOJ asserted that EPA standards will be enforced. “Our nation’s environmental laws protect public health and the environment by prohibiting the unlawful sale of defeat devices; unregistered, misbranded and restricted use pesticides; and unsafe products containing toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride,” said David M. Uhlmann from the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The complaint filed today demonstrates that EPA will hold online retailers responsible for the unlawful sale of products on their websites that can harm consumers and the environment.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doj-sues-ebay-for-selling-environmentally-hazardous-products-165854768.html?src=rss
Live Voicemail is an iOS 17 feature that lets you read a transcription of a caller’s message in real time. If what they say sounds urgent, you can pick up the call and chat while they’re still on the line; if not, read along with the message without playing it back (handy for especially long-winded pals). Here’s how to activate and use Live Voicemail to save time on calls and messaging.
First, you’ll want to make sure the feature is turned on. Navigate to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail, and toggle it on if it isn’t already. (It’s on by default).
Once it’s activated, the feature is pretty self-explanatory to use. If you receive a call you can’t or don’t want to pick up, hit the voicemail button on the incoming call screen to send it there. Or you can wait for it to forward automatically.
When the caller begins leaving a message, you’ll hear a brief chime and see the live transcription on your Lock Screen. (If your phone is locked, it will prompt you to tap a button to use Face ID and unlock it before you can see the message.) Or, if you’re using your phone when the message comes in, you’ll see a voicemail icon in the Dynamic Island or your phone’s status bar on older models. Tap that to view the message as it’s spoken.
In our testing, the service is reliable at transcribing American and British accents. The words appear on your phone within a second or so of the caller speaking them.
If you decide to take the call after all, you can pick it up while they’re leaving a message. Press the “accept” button while viewing the Live Voicemail transcription, and you’ll immediately jump into the call — like in the old days when people had landline answering machines.
You can go back and listen to Live Voicemail messages later. They’re stored in the Voicemail tab at the bottom right of the Phone app. They’ll exist alongside any standard voicemails sent through your carrier. Apple says all of the transcriptions happen on-device, so you don’t need to worry about your private messages leaking.
If you ever decide the feature isn’t for you, you can head back to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail and toggle it back off.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-use-ios-17s-live-voicemail-170426783.html?src=rss
Sony continues its mission to release first-party titles on PC, as the critically-acclaimed PS5 sequel Horizon Forbidden West is coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store early next year. The port’s being handled by Nixxes Software, a company Sony purchased back in 2021. Nixxes was behind the well-received PC ports of the Spider-Man games, so we should be in good hands here.
This isn’t a bare-bones port. It’s the recently-announced Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition, so expect plenty of bells and whistles. There’s the game itself, of course, but the update also includes the Burning Shores DLC, a digital soundtrack, a digital artbook, a comic book and more in-game items than you can shake a spear at. You can check out some in-game screen shots on the official Steam page.
Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition comes to PS5 first, on October 6, and costs $70. There’s no concrete release date for the PC version, other than early next year. It’s also worth noting that this edition is not coming to the PS4, despite the original game being available on the now-ancient console.
We praised Horizon Forbidden West when it launched last year, citing the surprisingly fun underwater traversal mechanics, new power ups and the massive scope of the world, calling it a “triumph in many ways.” PC players can already wishlist the port on Steam and Epic. It remains to be seen if the game will run on the Steam Deck, but we’ll be sure to cross our fingers and give it a shot early next year. In any event, Marvel’s Spider-Man runs pretty well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/horizon-forbidden-west-battles-its-way-to-pcs-in-2024-172658431.html?src=rss
Drew Basile plans to use his smarts to become the next winner of ‘Survivor.’ Here’s what you need to know about the season 45 contestant.
Drew Basile plans to use his smarts to become the next winner of ‘Survivor.’ Here’s what you need to know about the season 45 contestant.
In the model’s new memoir, ‘Down the Drain,’ she opens up about everything from her career to her highly publicized fling with Kanye West.
In the model’s new memoir, ‘Down the Drain,’ she opens up about everything from her career to her highly publicized fling with Kanye West.
Former Microsoft executive Panos Panay will be taking over as the head of Amazon’s Devices and Services (D&S) division, the company confirmed. He’ll start his new role at the end of October, CEO Andy Jassy said.
“As a strong product builder and inventor who has deep experience in both hardware and integrated services, Panos will be a great addition to our D&S organization moving forward,” Jassy wrote in a memo. “I remain quite excited about the invention happening and businesses that we’re building in D&S, and look forward to working with Panos.”
It emerged last week that Panay was leaving Microsoft after a 19-year run, most recently as the chief product officer, where he oversaw Surface devices and Windows 11 development. Rumors quickly suggested that Panay would move to Amazon to lead the Alexa and Echo teams.
Panay will be taking over from outgoing D&S head Dave Limp, and the pair will work together for a couple of months to make the transition a smooth one. Limp also has a new job. He is leaving Amazon to become the CEO of Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ex-microsoft-exec-panos-panay-is-confirmed-as-the-new-head-of-amazons-devices-team-154233605.html?src=rss
Threads is preparing a feature that allows users to delete a Threads account without also deleting their Instagram account, as reported by TechCrunch. This comes straight from Meta’s chief privacy officer Michael Protti. He stated at last week’s TechCrunch Disrupt event that the feature would be ready for primetime by December.
What’s the holdup? This is a more difficult process than it seems to the layperson. Threads was built on top of Instagram so the two are linked like two kids in a trenchcoat pretending to be a grown up. Protti said the difficulty to separate the two accounts led the company to develop alternative tools to minimize frustration, like the ability to deactivate accounts or to set them to private. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said back in July that the company was experimenting with methods to decouple the platforms and it looks like the devs finally figured it out.
Last week, web developer Alessandro Paluzzi managed to peek behind Meta’s code curtain and found early versions of the forthcoming update, noting that these beta builds block users from opening a new Threads handle with the same Instagram account for 120 days after they participate in the deletion process. Things tend to change as experimental software prepares for an official release, so we don’t know if that 120 days thing is set in stone.
Protti also confirmed that Meta is still working on integrating Threads with the sprawling fediverse. For the uninitiated, the fediverse is a collection of social networks that, while separate, can communicate with one another. Mastodon is the most well-known example of this type of network. He says the company’s trying to iron out some bugs, citing an issue where a Threads post heads to another server and is then deleted by the original author, while remaining on the secondary server.
Threads certainly has some engagement issues, but Meta’s been pretty consistent about pumping out updates that address user concerns. The company recently added keyword search and a robust web app, among other upgrades. Mosseri recently chronicled upcoming Threads features on an Instagram Stories post, stating that the company’s working on introducing improved account recommendations, an edit button for posts and more.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-will-allow-users-to-delete-accounts-separately-from-instagram-160038998.html?src=rss
The alleged Sony data breach just got messier. On Monday, relatively new hacking group Ransomed.vc made the lofty claim that it had successfully compromised “all” of the company’s systems, as reported by Cybersecurity Connect. Now a second threat actor has leaked the data believed to be in Ransomed.vc‘s possession, claiming the former are “scammers” trying to “chase influence.” How either group obtained this data, or the extent of the breach, remain unknown but Sony has confirmed to Engadget it’s investigating the situation.
Ransomed.vc said it wouldn’t ransom Sony, and instead would be selling the data “due to Sony not wanting to pay.” It posted a sampling of files as “proof” of their claims. Ransomed.vc gave a deadline of September 28. On Tuesday, a threat actor under the name “MajorNelson,” claimed that Ransomed.vc lied about the breach, and leaked the data that Ransomed.vc claimed to have, according to malware repository vx-underground. Engadget could not independently verify the claims.
“We are currently investigating the situation,” a Sony spokesperson told Engadget.
Ransomed.vc emerged as attackers and a ransomware-as-a-service organization that lets others pay to launch attacks. The group threatens victims with data protection fines under laws like the GDPR if they do not pay the ransom. In other words, pay us a few hundred thousand dollar ransom, or we’ll report you to pay up a million dollar fine. MajorNelson appears to be an independent threat actor motivated by a disdain for Ransomed.vc, calling the reports about their efforts lies.
“RansomedVCs are scammers who are just trying to scam you and chase influence,” MajorNelson wrote. “Enjoy the leak.” According to MajorNelson, the leak includes credentials for internal systems, incident response policies and more.
In 2011, a threat actor exposed personally identifiable information from 77 million PlayStation network accounts. Sony took the network offline for 23 days as it mitigated the damage, and in 2019, it agreed to pay a £250K fine in the UK for its failure to adequately prepare for the attack.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-investigates-the-alleged-data-breach-that-has-led-to-hacker-infighting-161559960.html?src=rss
