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The following article discusses the fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.

There’s a risk, using a word like “should” that we’re a short hop away from a tantrum to police the borders of What Proper Star Trek(™) is. But after watching most of Star Trek: Lower Decks’ fourth season, it does feel as if the show’s outlook is the most Star Trek of the bunch. Part of this is because the show is mature enough to laugh at itself, and part of it is because it’s now letting its characters grow. This is a sitcom, so its first duty is to be funny rather than weighty, but it’s a welcome sight to see the quartet escape the bottom rung.

I don’t think that’s much of a spoiler, because it’s in the trailer, the press material and the cast’s promotional interviews with TrekMovie. At the start of season four, some of the quartet get their promotions to Lieutenant Junior Grade, and out of their shared bunk. Now they’re expected to lead away missions, take on real real responsibilities and actually lead other people. It affects them all differently, with Boimler struggling to grow into his role, and Mariner fighting every urge in her body not to self-sabotage, with varying degrees of success. And it’s here, I think, that we see the side of Star Trek that so often gets overlooked in its other properties.

After all, Starfleet is an organization of people coming together to do better for other people, but also to improve themselves. For every daring scientific experiment and skin-of-the-teeth rescue, we see more of the senior officers’ desire to actually nurture their charges. This, too, helps to broaden the series’ focus, to include T’Lyn, the fan-favorite who joined the Cerritos at the end of last season. The broader view also gives Captain Freeman more of a central role in several episodes, especially highlighting the times when her knowledge is ignored by her superiors. For all we’ve seen of the dung rolling downhill and landing in Beta Shift’s trench, it’s not as if those higher up the chain don’t get their fair share of excrement, too.

I wonder if its status as Star Trek’s officially-sanctioned Class Clown gives it room to be more subversive than anyone gives it credit for. Time and again, both in this series and before, we see totems of Star Trek’s past commoditized and packaged for sale. It’s an easy way to milk fans’ nostalgia glands, but it’s also potentially a subtle critique about the nature of nostalgia. As much as Lower Decks was created by a Next Generation fan who wants to recapture some of that magic, it’s also a commentary on that very same desire. And the show’s creative team is clear-eyed enough to notice that series’ blind spots and mine them for comedy.

But, for all of this high-falutin’ talk, this remains Lower Decks, a series that can have you in tears at the sight of a pair of dueling [SPOILERS] trying to out-compliment each other. And, if nothing else, it’s a pleasure to spend more time with Starfleet’s horniest and weirdest crew.

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks will be available to watch on Paramount+ on Thursday, September 7. A new episode will arrive on subsequent Thursdays.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lower-decks-taps-into-what-star-trek-really-is-130059999.html?src=rss 

Anker charging accessories are popular for good reason. They mirror many of the features found in first-party products and they’re often cheaper too. That goes for the company’s wireless MagGo lineup, which has been refreshed to include support for the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) new Qi2 charging standard.

There are seven products in Anker’s new Qi2 MagGo range, including a 6,600mAh power bank that attaches to your phone and a compressible 3-in-1 fast-charging station for your AirPods, Apple Watch and 15-watt Qi2 phone charging. A new generation of Anker’s 8-in-1 charging station will also be available, with a pair of USB-A ports, another pair of USB-C ports, three plugs and a Qi2 phone charger.

Before now, Anker’s MagGo accessories were MagSafe compatible, rather than MagSafe certified, which meant they could only deliver 7.5-watt magnetic wireless charging instead of the full 15-watt output. Anker claims that its Qi2 MagGo product lineup is one of the first to be given a mark of full compliance through the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) most recent Qi2 official certification, which builds on top of Apple’s tech.

Anker says that the effectiveness of each accessory is equal to Apple’s 15W MagSafe technology and should work with any Apple MagSafe iPhone products. However, it’s possible — though not confirmed — that Apple’s iPhone 15 offerings will feature Qi2 support, removing the need for MagSafe certification.

Anker’s new MagGo products are set to arrive in the fall, possibly around the same time Qi2-compatible phones will begin to hit the market.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ankers-new-maggo-lineup-supports-magnetic-qi2-charging-121530053.html?src=rss 

Meta’s Oversight Board has put a new case, which it believes is relevant to its strategic priorities, under the spotlight. In a post, the board has announced that over the next few weeks, it’s reviewing and accepting public comments for a case appealing Meta’s non-removal of content that denies the Holocaust on its platforms. Specifically, this case pertains to a post going around on Instagram that puts a speech bubble on an image with Squidward, a character from SpongeBob SquarePants, denying that the Holocaust had happened. Its caption and hashtags also targeted “specific geographical audiences.”

The post was originally published by an account with 9,000 followers in September 2020, and it was viewed around 1,000 times. A few weeks after that, Meta revised its content policies to prohibit Holocaust denial. Despite the new rules and multiple users reporting it, the post wasn’t quickly removed. Some of the reports were auto-closed due to the company’s “COVID-19-related automation policies,” which were put in place so that Meta’s limited number of human reviewers can prioritize reports considered to be “high-risk.” Other reporters were automatically told that the content does not violate Meta’s policies. 

One of the users who reported the post chose to appeal the case to the Board, which has determined that it falls in line with its efforts to prioritize “hate speech against marginalized groups.” The Board is now seeking comments on several relevant issues, such as the use of automation to accurately take enforcement action against hate speech and the usefulness of Meta’s transparency reporting. 

In a post on Meta’s transparency page, the company has admitted that it left the content up after initial review. However, it eventually determined that it was left up by mistake and that it did violate its hate speech policy. The company has since removed the content from its platforms, but it promised to implement the Board’s decision. Meta’s Oversight Board can issue policy recommendations based on its investigation, but they’re not binding, and the company isn’t compelled to follow them. Based on the questions the Board wants the public to answer, it could conjure recommendations that would change the way Meta uses automation to police Instagram and Facebook. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-oversight-board-escalates-holocaust-denial-report-122625970.html?src=rss 

The social network X plans to compete with LinkedIn by offering job listings and more, CEO Elon Musk said in a new post. To aid in that, it has started gathering information about users’ jobs and education histories, along with biometric data for “safety, security and identification purposes,” according to a new policy spotted by Bloomberg. The company previously created an official @TwitterHiring account, TechCrunch reported last month. 

“People send me LinkedIn links sometimes, but the cringe level is so high that I just can’t bring myself to use it, so I ask for the resume or bio to be emailed,” said Musk (who is often mocked for his own cringe-worthy posts). “We will make sure that the X competitor to LinkedIn is cool.”

On top of work history and education, X is collecting biometric information, though it didn’t say what kind. “Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes,” the updated privacy policy states. Twitter confirmed the update to Bloomberg, without elaborating more.

Some verified organizations including Workweek have been able to post job listings in the form of scrolling cards under their bios, as TechCrunch noted. According to a screenshot posted by user Nima Owji last month, “Twitter [X] will let verified organizations import all of their jobs to Twitter by connecting a supported ATS or XML feed.” Those listings may only work in the US for now, as they don’t appear for myself in Europe. 

Elon Musk previously hinted at the feature in May, and X purchased a job-matching tech startup called Laski in May — the company’s first acquisition under Musk. Workweek CEO Adam Ryan said the job posting feature was included in X’s $1,000 per month “verified for organizations” package. 

The job listings might eventually connect with the work history and education data gathered. “We may collect and use your personal information (such as your employment history, educational history, employment preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity and engagement, and so on) to recommend potential jobs for you [and] to enable employers to find potential candidates,” the policy states. However, it may also be used “to show you more relevant advertising.” 

Biometric data is also relevant to Elon Musk’s stated goal of ridding the site of inauthentic accounts. Gathering that data may draw attention from regulators, though. X is already facing a proposed class action suit for biometric data captured without consent, reportedly from every photograph containing a face that is uploaded to X, according to a suit seen by Bloomberg.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-sets-its-sights-on-linkedin-with-a-job-listing-feature-104525893.html?src=rss 

The Apple Watch Series 8 is on sale at Amazon again, and it has even reached a new low for certain colors. You can get the 41mm Series 8 with Midnight or Starlight aluminum cases and bands for $310, which is the lowest we’ve seen them go for at Amazon. The model with a Red case and band is on sale for the same price — it went for as low as $280 on Prime Day, but you can at least get one today at 22 percent lower than retail if you missed your chance last time. 

Buy Apple Watch Series 8 at Amazon – $310

We called the Apple Watch Series 8 the best smartwatch at the time it was released last year and praised it for having “excellent health and fitness tools.” It can track your body temperature, and if it’s relevant to you, it can use that information to determine if and when you had ovulated. The watch also has the capability to measure your blood oxygen and can tell you the quality of the sleep you’ve been having. Plus, it comes with ECG capabilities. 

It comes with an enhanced Workout app that can suggest new ways to train. You can use it to text, make calls and listed to music without having to take out your iPhone. And, like other Apple Watches, you can use it to unlock your Mac, find your other Apple devices and pay with Apple Pay. The tech giant is selling the devices at a discounted price less than a couple of weeks before we could potentially find out what’s next for the wearable. Apple recently announced that the iPhone 15 event is taking place on September 12th, and it’s very much possible that the company will also unveil the next Watch model at the same time. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-watch-series-8-falls-to-310-at-amazon-113545052.html?src=rss