For the first time ever, the extremely private actress was pictured out with her partner and two children in Los Angeles!
For the first time ever, the extremely private actress was pictured out with her partner and two children in Los Angeles!
Jeremy Renner’s Ex-Wife Sonni Pacheco Spotted At His Lake Tahoe Ranch 10 Years After Bitter Split: Watch
Nearly a decade since the ‘Hawkeye’ star & the actress split, the beauty was spotted at Jeremy’s Lake Tahoe ranch alongside his friends on Jul. 11.
Nearly a decade since the ‘Hawkeye’ star & the actress split, the beauty was spotted at Jeremy’s Lake Tahoe ranch alongside his friends on Jul. 11.
Kim Kardashian & Tom Brady Pictured Together At Michael Rubin’s White Party Amid Romance Speculation
The SKIMS creator and the former professional football player were photographed chatting with each other at the star-studded bash.
The SKIMS creator and the former professional football player were photographed chatting with each other at the star-studded bash.
Reese Witherspoon Breaks Silence On ‘Vulnerable’ Jim Toth Divorce 3 Months After Split
The ‘Legally Blonde’ actress finally spoke out about her divorce from husband of 12 years, Jim Toth, in a raw new interview.
The ‘Legally Blonde’ actress finally spoke out about her divorce from husband of 12 years, Jim Toth, in a raw new interview.
macOS Sonoma preview: For the widget wonks
It’s easy to look at every new macOS release and wonder where the upgrades actually are. Unlike iOS and iPadOS, Apple doesn’t often push for bold and visible changes on the desktop (last year’s Stage Manager was a surprising addition, but even that was brought over from iPadOS). Instead, most of the enhancements to the Mac experience are usually under the hood — don’t forget, the company completely rebuilt macOS for its new Apple Silicon chips.
So it goes with macOS Sonoma, an update that doesn’t truly make itself known until you see its new high-res video screensavers (something the Apple TV has done for years), or try to drag over a widget to your desktop. If widgets are a highlight in a new OS, you know it’s a slow year.
This isn’t a knock against Sonoma, exactly. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Apple is saving its bolder UI concepts for iPhones, iPads, and the Vision Pro. Macs are computers that don’t even have touchscreens yet! Playing it safe makes the most sense.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
So let’s talk about screensavers. While not exactly Earth shattering, Apple’s new aerial footage looks great in macOS Sonoma. It adds a dose of elegance to an already refined operating system — having footage from Hawaii or Patagonia pop up in the middle of the workday is like a mini-vacation. (Don’t judge me, I know it sounds sad.)
I also liked being able to turn aerial screensavers into wallpapers. Doing so lets them play as videos on your lock screen, but once you log in, the video slows down and smoothly settles on a static image. I’m sure that’s done to avoid motion sickness from some users, but I’m hoping Apple or some intrepid hacker unlocks the ability to let the video constantly play on your desktop. I’ll risk a bit of squeamishness for more of that slick drone footage.
As for the widgets, well… they’re widgets. On your desktop. It’s a pretty straightforward concept. I’ll admit, being able to quickly see the weather or an upcoming appointment under my windows is easier than popping open the notification tray. But it’s not exactly a killer feature. But hey, if you really do love these things, at least you can easily bring over your iOS widgets. And if you also have an iPad, I’m sure it’ll be helpful to have all of your widgety goodness across your devices.
Beyond those two features, Sonoma’s upgrades are a bit more subtle. If you jump into a video chat, you can use hand gestures to kick off some fun special effects. A double thumbs up triggers fireworks behind you, while a peace sign surrounds you with floating balloons. They’re certainly fun at first, but thankfully you can turn them off easily for more professional video chats.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
The new presenter overlay features, on the other hand, are a lot more useful. In supported screen sharing apps, like FaceTime or Zoom, you can place a small or large window of yourself on top of whatever window you’re sharing. It’s the sort of feature I’m surprised Apple didn’t roll out sooner, as it can help to humanize boring video chats. Instead of just sharing a spreadsheet, for example, your colleagues can also see what you think of your data as you’re discussing it.
Here are a few other Sonoma updates to keep an eye out for:
Safari supports profiles for different use cases. For example, one profile could house all of the bookmarks and settings that you need for work.
You can also turn any website into a web app with Safari. It’s the perfect way to read Engadget without any distractions!
Stickers and Memoji now synchronize with all of your Apple devices over iCloud.
A new Game Mode will prioritize resources while gaming. I didn’t notice any major differences with Apple Arcade titles during my testing, though.
Autocorrect should be better too, but again, I didn’t notice any major changes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/macos-sonoma-preview-widgets-screen-savers-210036486.html?src=rss
Keke Palmer’s Boyfriend Darius Jackson Admits to Holding Her To ‘Perfect Standard’
The actress’ beau’s comments were recorded before he received backlash for calling out an outfit she wore at an Usher concert.
The actress’ beau’s comments were recorded before he received backlash for calling out an outfit she wore at an Usher concert.
Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling & ‘Barbie’ Cast Take Epic Mirror Selfie Ahead of Premiere: Photo
A glowing Margot Robbie and the cast of the ‘Barbie’ movie cuddled up for a crowded cast photo ahead of the Los Angeles premiere!
A glowing Margot Robbie and the cast of the ‘Barbie’ movie cuddled up for a crowded cast photo ahead of the Los Angeles premiere!
Congressional report condemns tax prep companies for sending data to Meta, Google
A Congressional investigation concluded that several tax prep providers shared sensitive filing data with Meta and Google. It follows a 2022 report from The Markup highlighting the practice in which TaxSlayer, H&R Block and TaxAct used Meta’s Pixel tracking tool to harvest info like filing status, approximate adjusted gross income, refund amount, names of dependents and which text-entry fields users clicked on. Meta is already facing a lawsuit connected with the initial reporting.
The panel sent the conclusions to the IRS, FTC, DOJ and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGA), urging the agencies to investigate and prosecute if applicable. “Big Tax Prep has recklessly shared tens of millions of taxpayers’ sensitive personal and financial data with Meta for years, without appropriately disclosing this data usage or protecting the data, and without appropriate taxpayer consent,” the report reads. “The findings of this report reveal a shocking breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms that appeared to violate taxpayers’ rights and may have violated taxpayer privacy law.”
The review found the Meta Pixel tracker also gathered data about “whether taxpayers had visited pages for many revealing tax situations, such as having dependents, certain types of income (such as rental income or capital gains), and certain tax credits or deductions.” In addition, it transmitted the full names, email, country, state, city, zip codes, phone numbers and gender as hashed values. The information was also collected from taxpayers using TaxAct’s Free File service — which is through a partnership with the IRS.
Congressional investigators listed in the report include Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA).
“The tax prep firms were shockingly careless with their treatment of taxpayer data,” the investigation concluded. “They indicated that they installed the Meta and Google tools on their websites without fully understanding the extent to which they would send taxpayer data to these tech firms, without consulting with independent compliance or privacy experts, and without full knowledge of Meta’s use of and disposition of the data.” The panel also chided Meta and Google for acting “with stunning disregard for taxpayer privacy.”
The report cites laws that say, “a tax return preparer may not disclose or use a taxpayer’s tax return information prior to obtaining a written consent from the taxpayer,” while mentioning that the tax prep companies failed to do that. Although tax-filing companies can legally hand data to “auxiliary service providers in connection with the preparation of a tax return,” the panel said Meta and Google don’t meet that definition since the tracking was used for advertising. Violations can lead to fines of up to $1,000 per instance (likely pocket change for these companies) and up to a year in prison.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/congressional-report-condemns-tax-prep-companies-for-sending-data-to-meta-google-200254131.html?src=rss
Samsung Frame smart TVs drop to as low as $548 for Prime Day 2023
You’ll want to act quickly if you’re shopping for a truly stand-out TV set. Samsung’s 2023 Frame TVs are on sale at Amazon for Prime Day, and the discounts are particularly steep for some models. The line now starts at $548 for the bedroom-friendly 32-inch model, but the sweetest deal is for the 55-inch model, which has dropped to a record low of $988 — 34 percent off. You won’t get an add-on bezel at those prices, but the savings are large enough that you might not mind.
The appeal of Frame TVs is as clear as ever: it’s a set that doubles as artwork when it’s not in use. Mount it on your wall (the kit is thankfully included) and it blends into the decor using either professional images or your own. You’ll usually have to subscribe to the Samsung Art Store or buy individual works if you want classics, but it could be worthwhile to have a Van Gogh or Vermeer in your living room. The 2023 models have a matte finish that cuts reflections and gives them a canvas-like appearance.
These aren’t Samsung’s highest-end TVs, so you won’t get the crispness of an 8K panel or the vivid contrast of OLED. They still offer an accurate 4K picture, however, and they’re full-featured sets with voice assistant control, a game mode and a wide range of apps. At these prices, they’re easy choices if you either want a wall-mounted TV or were otherwise resigned to buying an ordinary screen.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-frame-smart-tvs-drop-to-as-low-as-548-for-prime-day-2023-201921481.html?src=rss
Xbox makes abusive-voice-chat reporting a system-wide feature
Microsoft is doing more to tackle toxicity in multiplayer Xbox games. The company is introducing a feature that allows Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One players to capture a 60-second video clip of abusive or inappropriate voice chat and submit it for moderators to review.
“This feature is purpose-built to support the broadest arena of in-game interactions between players and works across thousands of games that offer in-game multiplayer voice chat, including Xbox 360 backward-compatible titles,” Xbox Player Services corporate vice-president Dave McCarthy wrote in a blog post.
Microsoft designed the tool for both ease of use and to minimize the impact on gameplay. When you capture a clip for reporting, it will stay on your Xbox for “24 online hours.” You’ll have the option to submit it right away or wait until you finish your gaming session. You’ll get a reminder before the 24 hours are up. If you opt not to report the clip, your Xbox will automatically delete it.
No one else will have access to the clip unless you submit it. “Xbox is not saving or uploading any voice clips without you, the player, choosing to start the reporting process,” McCarthy said. Any clips you capture through the tool will not appear in your recent captures and it won’t be possible to download, share or modify them. These clips will only be used for moderation purposes. After the safety team has reviewed your report, you’ll receive a notification to tell you whether it took action against an abusive player.
An Xbox spokesperson told Engadget the safety team will use “a range of moderation tools that leverage AI and human moderators” to analyze the clips. Moderators will review audio and video to determine if someone has violated the community standards.
At the outset, the reactive voice reporting system allows a player to report up to three individuals at once. “If a moderator cannot determine who was talking at a given time and associate it with the reported Xbox Live player, the report will be closed as unactionable, no enforcement action will be taken and the captured video will be deleted within 90 days,” the spokesperson said.
The advent of cross-platform play muddies the waters here too. The safety team won’t take any action in cases of inappropriate voice chat from those who are on other platforms. “The announced reactive voice moderation feature is specifically for reporting Xbox players to the Xbox Safety Team,” the spokesperson noted.
It’s encouraging to see Xbox tackle the problem of toxic voice chat at a platform-wide level. The PlayStation 5 has had a similar feature since it debuted in 2020.
Several studios have adopted similar approaches in their own games. In 2021, Riot said it would record Valorant voice communications but only listen to them when a report was filed. It started testing the system last July.
Ahead of Overwatch 2 going live last October, Blizzard said it would automatically transcribe a recording of a match’s voice chat following a report from a player. The company’s chat review tools analyze the transcription for signs of abusive behavior and both the recording and text file are deleted. (Of note, Blizzard and Overwatch 2 may soon be Microsoft properties.)
To begin with, Xbox’s voice reporting feature will be available for Alpha and Alpha-skip Xbox Insiders in the English-speaking markets of the US, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Microsoft hopes that insiders will provide feedback to help improve this feature. It plans to continue investing in voice moderation and to support more languages. Xbox will share data and updates on voice chat moderation in its bi-annual transparency report.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xbox-makes-abusive-voice-chat-reporting-a-system-wide-feature-190159915.html?src=rss