Kalakshar US

Twitter’s top safety executive says election integrity is a “top priority” for the company even as the company has shed half of its staff in the last 24 hours. Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and one of the company leaders to survive mass layoffs, took to Twitter to downplay moderation concerns raised by activists and advertisers in recent days.

“Yesterday’s reduction in force affected approximately 15% of our Trust & Safety organization (as opposed to approximately 50% cuts company-wide), with our front-line moderation staff experiencing the least impact,” Roth tweeted. “With early voting underway in the US, our efforts on election integrity — including harmful misinformation that can suppress the vote and combatting state-backed information operations — remain a top priority.”

Roth’s comments come hours after the NAACP joined a coalition of activists and civil rights organizations to call for advertisers to suspend spending with Twitter. While Musk met with civil rights leaders earlier this week, those calling for a boycott said the company’s deep staff cuts undermined his promise to maintain Twitter’s election protection policies and its hate speech rules.

Roth, who is so far the only Twitter executive besides Musk to publicly weigh in on the company’s policies following Musk’s takeover, also tried to address reports about the impact staff cuts would have on safety.

“Last week, for security reasons, we restricted access to our internal tools for some users, including some members of my team,” he said. “Most of the 2,000+ content moderators working on front-line review were not impacted, and access will be fully restored in the coming days.” But while much of Roth’s Trust and Safety team may have been spared, numerous other teams whose work touches on safety issues were not.

As NBC News reported, Twitter’s curation team, which worked to counter misinformation on the platform, was axed entirely. Many engineering roles that deal with safety issues were also cut, as were numerous workers in policy and communications.

On Friday, Musk said that the layoffs were necessary. “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” he tweeted, adding that employees were offered three months of severance. “Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged.”

 

You’re about to get your last chance at witnessing a total lunar eclipse for quite some time. NASA has pointed out that the last such eclipse until March 2025 begins in the early morning hours of November 8th in North America. Parts of Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America can also get a glimpse. The partial eclipse will start at 4:09AM Eastern, with totality lasting from 4:16AM through 5:42AM. The ending partial phase will finish at 6:49AM. Those on the eastern US coast will miss some or all of that last segment as the Moon sets. However, you might not have to venture outside if it’s too chilly — there are ways to watch from the warmth of home.

Livestreams will be available. Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona will offer multiple telescope views of the total lunar eclipse starting at 4AM Eastern. Timeanddate.com will have streams in multiple cities, including its own view from Roswell, New Mexico as well as feeds from San Diego and Perth in Australia. The Virtual Telescope Project will also provide international coverage.

You’ll want to have a look even if 2025 doesn’t seem that far away. Total lunar eclipses (where the Earth sits directly between the Moon and Sun) earn their “blood Moon” nickname due to the optical tricks that paint the lunar surface a dramatic red. Where short-wavelength blue light tends to get caught in the particles of Earth’s atmosphere, the longer wavelengths of red, orange and yellow help them complete the cosmic journey. It’s a stunning effect you can see with your naked eyes. And if you have a telescope, you may even spot Uranus in the distance.

There will be partial and penumbral lunar eclipses during the interval. The first visible in the Americas will take place on October 28th, 2023, with others due on March 25th and September 18th the following year. You’re not completely out of luck, then, even if those events won’t be quite so eye-catching.

 

Something’s going on at Virgin Hyperloop, the startup attempting to bring Elon Musk’s vision of high-speed trains to life. At some point in the last few weeks, the company has quietly changed its name back to Hyperloop One, the brand it used between 2016 and 2017. Its website has been scrubbed clean, too, using an old stock image of the XP-1 test pod and the claim that “It’s a new day at Hyperloop One,” too.

This isn’t just a website issue, as the Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts have all reverted to the old logo and name as well. And the change has to be fairly recent — a tweet posted October 22nd still carried the Virgin logo and name. While we can’t speculate on precisely what prompted the change, it appears to be a deliberate effort towards de-branding. Seemingly, Richard Branson and Virgin are now no longer willing to share a brand with the logistics company. 

The company has certainly seen a number of changes through this year, laying off 111 staffers and abandoning its much-hyped attempt to build a passenger system. After that, majority owner DP World said that it would pivot toward using the technology for logistics, enabling the construction of “inland ports” to ferry cargo containers to their eventual destination faster than the present system.

We have reached out to Virgin, Hyperloop One and (partner) DP World in the hope of getting some sort of clarification on the change, and will update this if we hear back.

 

Folks who access Xbox Cloud Gaming through a browser on ChromeOS and Linux systems (including Steam Deck) will likely now have an improved experience. The game-streaming service should be available at a higher resolution on those platforms. It should run more smoothly as well.

As spotted by Windows Central, an Xbox employee who goes by CohenJordan wrote on Reddit that the update marks the end of a transition to a different type of streaming tech, though they didn’t explain exactly what that entails. According to CohenJordan, the good news is that, if you use a browser to access Xbox Cloud Gaming on any device (such as iOS), you should have a more consistent experience.

Along with Linux and ChromeOS, Xbox Cloud Gaming (which is still in beta) works on Xbox consoles, smartphones, tablets, computers and some smart TVs. Microsoft and Meta are bringing it to Meta Quest 2 headsets as well. 

Microsoft is eager for Steam Deck users to access Xbox Cloud Gaming. It hasn’t released an Xbox app for the system (or Linux) as yet, but the company has published a guide that should help you set up the service on Steam Deck.

 

As Elon Musk looks for new ways to make money from Twitter’s he’s facing a much more urgent problem: advertisers are fleeing the platform. Musk said Friday that “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue” due to advertisers’ concerns about content moderation and other issues raised by activists.

A number of major companies have paused ads in recent days, including GM, Audi, Pfizer, General Mills, Volkswagen and other big names who are wary of potential changes to Twitter’s policies as well as the departure of top executives. Industry groups have also expressed concern about brand safety under Musk, and The New York Times reported this week that “IPG, one of the world’s largest advertising companies, issued a recommendation … for clients to temporarily pause their spending on Twitter.”

On Friday, the NAACP joined other civil rights groups in calling for an advertiser boycott of the platform. “It is immoral, dangerous, and highly destructive to our democracy for any advertiser to fund a platform that fuels hate speech, election denialism and conspiracy theories,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

Advertisers’ pullback amid calls for an ad boycott show just how quickly Twitter’s ad business has deteriorated under Musk. It also comes barely a week after Musk tried to reassure the industry he didn’t want to turn the platform into a “free-for-all hellscape.” Twitter saw a significant spike in hate speech and racial slurs immediately following the news of Musk’s take over of the company. Twitter’s head of safety later blamed the activity on a coordinated trolling campaign. But the activity further fueled the concerns of civil rights groups, prompting Musk to meet with civil rights leaders this week.

On Friday he seemed to blame the drop in ad revenue on many of the same activists. “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists,” he tweeted.

But a coalition of civil rights groups and activists rejected Musk’s characterization. During a call with reporters on Friday, they said that Musk’s mass layoffs of Twitter staff, including people who work in moderation and safety, undermine the commitments he made following their meeting.

“When you lay off almost 50% of your staff, including teams that are in charge of actually tracking, monitoring and enforcing content moderation rules, that necessarily means that content moderation has changed,” said Jessica González, co-CEO of Free Press.

The group also raised concerns about Musk’s amplification of far-right conspiracies regarding the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband; it also cited reports the now-CEO could chip away at current Twitter rules protecting trans users. “If Twitter does not take immediate concrete actions that illustrate a true commitment to maintaining best practices that protect users that companies then companies will not support with ad dollars and we’re seeing it happen in real time,” said GLAAD CEO Sarah Ellis.

 

Black Friday doesn’t officially arrive for a few more weeks, but we’re already starting to see retailers run early holiday sales on several gadgets we recommend. Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K, for instance, has fallen to a new low of $25, while Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones are back down to the price we saw during Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale last month. There are offers on Amazon and Google devices beyond that, plus discounts on Roombas, MacBooks, Logitech gaming mice, and Samsung storage gear, among others. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.

Roku Streaming Stick 4K

This drop to $25 represents a new low for Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K, which is currently the top streaming stick in our guide to the best streaming devices. The streamer has normally retailed closer to $40 in recent months. While it’s not as luxurious as a new Apple TV 4K, the Streaming Stick 4K still gives you the essentials in a more affordable package. It’s fast enough, it supports all the major streaming services (apart from Twitch), and it works with the big HDR standards (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG). Its tile-based interface is relatively basic and not devoid of ads, but it remains dead-simple to navigate and not as intense about pushing you toward certain services as other streamers. The device also works Apple’s AirPlay protocol, so you can beam video to it straight from an iPhone or iPad. 

Buy Roku Streaming Stick 4K at Amazon – $25

Note that Roku also sells a Streaming Stick 4K+ with an upgraded remote that adds hands-free voice search, a built-in headphone jack for private listening, a rechargeable battery and a lost remote finder function. That device retails for $70, however, and it’s not on sale as of this writing. You can still use the Roku app for private listening with the non-Plus model, too. If you prefer a set-top box design and need an Ethernet port, the Roku Ultra is currently discounted to a new low of $70 from its usual $95. And if you prefer the more personalized interface and (far) superior search capabilities of Google’s 4K Chromecast, another streamer we recommend, that one is still on sale for $40.

Sony headphone sale

Sony has discounted a number of its most popular wireless headphones ahead of Black Friday, including deals on its best noise-cancelling and true wireless models. Perhaps most notably, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are back down to $348. That’s a roughly $50 discount, matching the lowest price to date for what we consider the best wireless headphones you can buy. We gave that pair a score of 95 in our glowing review, but if you want something a bit more affordable, the older but still-capable WH-1000XM4s are available for $228, which also matches an all-time low. (Yes, the names of these things still aren’t great.)

Buy Sony WH-1000XM5 at Amazon – $348Buy Sony WH-1000XM4 at Amazon – $228

The active noise cancellation on both pairs is still among the most effective you can buy, and both headsets come with useful features like a “Speak to Chat” function that automatically pauses your music when you start speaking to someone. The battery on both headphones lasts around 30 hours per charge, which is good, and the two each come with a fun, bass-heavy sound profile out of the box that can be adjusted to something more neutral through an EQ in Sony’s companion app.

That said, the XM5s are generally more comfortable to wear for extended periods, and they have a better microphone for making calls. We also found the newer pair to be a bit better at muting out higher- and mid-range noises like human voices, though some may not like that its automatic adjustment system — which re-optimizes the headphone’s ANC profile based on your surroundings — can’t be turned off. The XM4s can also fold up for easier storage, unlike the more recent model. If you prefer physical control buttons to touch inputs or a more neutral default sound, we’ll also note that the similarly comfortable Bose QuietComfort 45 is still on sale for $250, though that pair trades away some battery life and extra features by comparison.

If you’re looking for noise cancellation in a true wireless form factor, the WF-1000XM4 are available for $178, which again matches the lowest price we’ve tracked. While Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II have this pair beat when it comes to raw ANC strength, Sony’s earbuds are still far from ineffective, and our review found them to be more well-rounded when it comes to overall features and sound quality. Plus, the Bose earbuds cost $300, and we don’t expect them drop this low for Black Friday. Sony’s LinkBuds S, meanwhile, are on sale for an all-time low of $128; that model’s ANC is a step down from the others noted here, but its design is lighter and more comfortable in the ear.

Buy Sony WF-1000XM4 at Amazon – $178Buy Sony LinkBuds S at Amazon – $128

Amazon Fire HD 10

At $75, this isn’t the all-time lowest price we’ve seen for Amazon’s 10.1-inch tablet — the device briefly dropped to $55 at Target earlier this year — but it does match the deals we saw during last year’s Black Friday sales and this year’s pair of Prime Day events. Discounts on the Fire HD 10 haven’t been uncommon over the past year, but most of those sales have dropped the device to either $100 or $110. 

Buy Fire HD 10 at Amazon – $75

When it’s discounted to this extent, the Fire HD 10 is a strong value for those who just want a competent tablet for media consumption on the cheap. Amazon’s Fire OS still omits access to the Google Play Store and heavily steers you toward the company’s own services, but the Fire HD 10’s general performance and 1920 x 1200 resolution display are perfectly solid for the money. The device gets a good 12 or so hours of battery life per charge, and a useful “Show Mode” feature lets it double as an Alexa smart display if desired. This deal comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon slates, but of those, the Fire HD 10 should provide the best blend of price and performance for most people.

Apple iPad Air (2020)

The 256GB variant of Apple’s fourth-gen iPad Air is currently on sale for $499 at Walmart, which marks the lowest price we’ve seen. Now, hear us out on this one. If money is less of a concern, then no, you shouldn’t get the 2020 iPad Air when the 2022 model is right there (and still on sale) with its faster M1 chip, upgraded camera, and improved USB-C port. The entry-level 10.2-inch iPad is still a better value for those who just want the essentials, too. However, if you were specifically thinking of getting the new 10th-gen iPad, the last-gen Air packs the same A14 Bionic chip and a nearly identical design (save for a camera on the landscape edge) without giving up support for the second-gen Apple Pencil or a laminated display with a wide color gamut.

Buy Apple iPad Air (2020) at Walmart – $499

The 256GB version of the 10th-gen iPad is priced at $599, so if you must have more than the base 64GB of storage and you can’t afford to step up to the current Air, this last-gen model is the better buy despite being two years older. Just note that this deal only applies to certain colorways. Since this looks to be an inventory-clearing situation, we wouldn’t be surprised if stock runs dry sooner rather than later, either.

Samsung storage device sale

If you’re running out of space on your PC, game console, camera or whatever else, Amazon is still running a sale on various Samsung storage devices. Not every deal in the sale is a winner, but the highlights include the 1TB T7 Shield, a ruggedized and water-resistant version of the T7 portable SSD we recommend, marked down to a new low of $90. Though Samsung recently launched a faster 990 Pro internal SSD, the prior 980 Pro is still a fine PCIe 4.0 drive for newer PCs or a PlayStation 5 (with a heatsink), and it’s back down to a low of $120 for 1TB. If you need a speedy microSD card, meanwhile, the 256GB Evo Select is a decent buy at $23; that doesn’t quite match the all-time low of $20 we saw earlier this year, but it’s the best price we’ve tracked otherwise. 

Buy Samsung T7 Shield (1TB) at Amazon – $90Buy Samsung 980 Pro (1TB) at Amazon – $120Buy Samsung Evo Select (256GB) at Amazon – $24

NVIDIA GeForce Now

Though no cloud gaming service feels quite as fluid as playing a game locally, NVIDIA’s GeForce Now is one of the better takes on the concept, particularly if you already own a hefty library of games on PC. Right now, NVIDIA is running a promotion that doles out a six-month subscription of the “Priority” tier of the service for $30. Normally, that would cost $50. NVIDIA says the deal is only available to new members, free-tier members, Priority members currently on a 1-month subscription plan and “users on an active promotion or gift card,” so the idea is to upsell customers who aren’t on one of the service’s higher-end plans already. This promo is set to run through November 20.

Buy GeForce Now (6-month, Priority) at NVIDIA – $30

As a refresher, “Priority” is GeForce Now’s middle tier: you don’t get the 4K/120 fps support of the pricier “RTX 3080” subscription, but you can still stream in resolutions up to 1080p and frame rates up to 60 fps. You’re also allotted up to six hours per session instead of the one-hour session length of the service’s free tier. (The RTX 3080 tier, meanwhile, allows up to eight-hour sessions.) It’s also worth remembering that GeForce Now doesn’t follow the same model as other cloud services like Google Stadia (RIP) or Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming: The idea is that you bring games you already own on platforms like Steam or the Epic Games Store, then GeForce Now will let you stream them elsewhere when you’re away from your gaming PC. Just make sure enough of your games are actually supported before you take the plunge, and note that your subscription will be set to auto-renew by default.

Google Pixel 6a

A quick PSA for anyone looking to buy a good Android phone on a budget: the unlocked Google Pixel 6a is still on sale for $299, which matches the lowest price we’ve tracked. The handset has a list price of $449, but we’ve typically seen it float between $350 and $400 over the past few months.

Buy Google Pixel 6a at Amazon – $299

We recommend the Pixel 6a in our best smartphones guide, and we gave it a review score of 89 back in July. Like past Pixel phones, the main perks here are stellar camera performance and a clean take on Android, with OS and security updates guaranteed into 2025 and 2027, respectively. The first-gen Google Tensor chip and 6.1-inch OLED display compare favorably to most phones in this price range, and while its back is made of plastic, the design doesn’t look cheap. It’s also IP67-rated for dust and water resistance. The 6a isn’t without flaws: There’s no headphone jack or wireless charging support, the display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, and the battery life, while good, isn’t top-of-the-line. Still, for less than $300, it’s difficult to do better.

Amazon Echo Show 5 

It’s a good week to be in the market for a smart display, as nearly all of Amazon’s Echo Show devices are on sale. Among the highlights, a two-pack of the diminutive Echo Show 5 is down to $60 when you use the code SHOW52PK at checkout. That’s about a $20-25 savings off a two-pack’s usual street price in recent months. Individual models are on sale for $35, which is a price we’ve seen a handful of times lately but still a solid value. We gave the 5.5-inch display a review score of 85 last year: You won’t want to use it for more involved smart home tasks or video calls, but it works particularly well when used as a smarter alarm clock.

Buy Echo Show 5 (2-pack) at Amazon – $60

If you’d prefer something bigger and faster, both the 10.1-inch Echo Show 10 and 15.6-inch Echo Show 15 are still available for a low of $170, though our reviews for those devices had a few more reservations by comparison. If you prefer to use the Google Assistant instead of Alexa, meanwhile, Google’s seven-inch Nest Hub also plays nice on a bedside table, adding a modicum of sleep tracking functionality and removing any built-in camera. We gave that one a score of 89 last year, and it’s currently back to its usual deal price of $50.

Buy Google Nest Hub at Walmart – $50

iRobot Roomba 694

At $179, this deal matches the best price we’ve seen for iRobot’s Roomba 694, the top pick in our guide to the best budget robot vacuums. We’ve seen this price a few times over the course of the year, though over the past few months the device has retailed closer to $225 on average. 

Buy iRobot Roomba 694 at Amazon – $179

We’ve found the Roomba 694 to be a dependable and easy-to-manage robovac, with decent battery life of at least 45 minutes per charge — and potentially longer depending on the mix of surfaces in your home — and a sturdy design that’ll survive its inevitable bumps into your furniture. Since it’s WiFi-enabled, you can turn it off and on, and set cleaning schedules, through the iRobot app. You still get what you pay for: Pricier robovacs will be more robust at cleaning larger spaces, and they’ll do so in a more orderly fashion than the semi-random, “bump and run” style of the 694 here. (A couple of higher-end Roombas are also on sale as of this writing.) If you only need to clean a smaller area, though, or if you’re willing to trade some cleaning smarts for something a bit more affordable, the 694 should do the job at this deal price.

Logitech G Pro X Superlight

Logitech’s G Pro X Superlight is a high-performing gaming mouse we like for both work and play, and right now it’s down to its all-time low of $110, or about $25 off its usual street price. That’s still not cheap, but G Pro X Superlight stands out for being exceedingly light (at roughly 63 grams), quick to glide (with its PTFE feet), and consistently responsive in faster-paced games. It has a particularly comfortable scroll wheel, too. You only get a couple of customizable shortcut buttons, and the whole thing only connects over a USB dongle, not Bluetooth. Still, we’ve found the design comfortable for most hand sizes and grip types. You should still only get a mouse like this if you’re serious about PC gaming, but if that’s the case, this one should serve you well in and out of those twitchy FPS games. Note that this discount is just one of a handful of deals currently available for mice we recommend.

Buy Logitech G Pro X Superlight at Amazon – $110

Apple MacBook Air M1

We’ve seen Apple’s M1 MacBook Air fall to $799 a few times in recent weeks, but if you missed out before, this is still a nice opportunity to save on what remains a commendable laptop for lighter work and casual use. The average street price for this SKU has sat around $920 in recent months. 

Buy Apple MacBook Air M1 at Amazon – $799

If you can afford to step up to the newest MacBook Air model based on Apple’s M2 chip, you still should: it packs a refreshed design, a bit more performance, a vastly superior webcam and speaker system and a brighter display, among other upgrades. But if you could use the savings, the M1 chip in found in the 2020 MacBook Air is still plenty performant for most tasks, while the notebook’s battery life, keyboard, trackpad and overall build quality remain excellent. The 720p webcam, on the other hand, is a disappointment, and the 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage in this specific SKU aren’t well-suited to heavier-duty work. But for everyday browsing, streaming and word processing, the M1 Air remains a solid value at $799.

48-inch LG A2 OLED TV

The 48-inch version of LG’s A2 OLED TV is still available for $570 at Best Buy, which is the best price we’ve tracked and matches the lowest price we saw for last year’s A1 model in the same size. This is LG’s entry-level OLED TV, so it’s limited to 60 Hz and lacks gaming-friendly features like a variable refresh rate or HDMI 2.1 ports. If you’re looking for a secondary TV away from the living room, though, the A2 still gets you the deep contrast, vibrant colors, and wide viewing angles you’d expect from a good OLED TV. Best Buy is advertising this offer as part of an ongoing “early Black Friday” sale, so we’d expect this to be the lowest price we’ll see for this model over the holidays. If you’re willing to trade some picture quality for a more striking design, meanwhile, we’re still seeing sales on Samsung’s The Frame TVs as well.

Buy 48-inch LG A2 OLED TV at Best Buy – $570

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

 

The weather has started to get cooler, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to head indoors for winter just yet. There’s ample time to enjoy the backyard, porch or balcony before the first snowfall. We’ve rounded up the best outdoor gear for cooking, relaxing and imbibing this fall, from a pizza oven, to a uniquely designed fire pit and a smart outlet for your outdoor lighting.

Solo Stove Pi

Ooni may be the biggest name in at-home pizza ovens these days, and rightfully so: Those products produce outstanding results. If you’re looking for an alternative, fire pit maker Solo Stove has entered the pizza chat. With the Pi, the company has built a dual fuel option (gas burner sold separately) with a stone cooking surface for restaurant quality pizzas on your deck or patio. The Demi-Dome construction and wide opening gives you easy access to launch and rotate pies with ease. Plus, the Pi is made of stainless steel just like Solo Stove’s fire pits so it should last a good long while. Lastly, the company also offers a range of cooking accessories and supplies, including a Neapolitan pizza box with dough, sauce, whole-milk mozz and pepperoni. I’d highly recommend the stand, which can be easily rolled out as needed.

Buy Pi at Solo Stove – $400

Traeger Timberline (2022)

Traeger completely redesigned its Timberline pellet grills earlier this year, turning them into a full-on outdoor kitchen with the addition of a built-in induction side burner. The company’s changes touch every aspect of the grills, from making assembly and cleaning much easier to creating a more efficient cooking chamber. The new Timberline grills also have an integrated rail system on three sides to accommodate a range of accessories and the new models work with Meater+ wireless food probes (Traeger bought Meater in 2021). Just like before, you can trust these grills with everything from high-heat searing to low-and-slow smoking, and you can monitor all of it on your phone from a comfy seat.

Buy Timberline grills at Traeger – $3,500

Weber Genesis EPX-335

After initially debuting its smart grilling tech on a standalone device and pellet grills, Weber brought its Weber Connect platform to gas grills. The company has a number of new connected models for 2022 starting at $1,179, but the pricier EPX-335 adds conveniences like an LED-lit grill surface and control knob lighting. This three-burner model has enough cooking space for 20 burgers, a dedicated sear zone for putting the final touches on steaks and a side burner for preparing sauces or sides. The EPX-335 works with Weber’s Crafted line of accessories and ships with a frame kit needed to accommodate some of them. There’s also extra storage space where you can stash those extra items if you choose to purchase them.

Buy Genesis EPX-335 at Weber – $1,700

Thermoworks Thermapen One

The Thermapen is the grilling tool I use most often. It’s handy for making sure I’m not serving undercooked chicken or overcooking a pricey steak I’ve had in the sous vide for hours. It’s also great to have in the kitchen to instantly check temps of things like bread. Thermoworks unveiled the successor to its wildly popular Thermapen Mk4 earlier this year with the Thermapen One. The device is super fast, giving you a reading in one second. It’s also more accurate and has a brighter display than the previous model. The screen automatically rotates depending on how you hold it, plus an auto-wake and sleep feature and IP67 rating keep things running smoothly.

Buy ThermaPen One at ThermoWorks – $99

Meater Plus probe thermometer

I’ll admit it: when I first saw Meater’s wireless food probes I was skeptical that they would work well. The Meater Plus has all of the convenience of the company’s original wireless probe, but with extended Bluetooth range. Each one has two sensors, so it can monitor both internal food temperature and the ambient temp of your grill. All of the info is sent to the company’s app where you can set target temperature, get estimated completion times and follow step-by-step directions if you need them. What’s more, you don’t have to worry about routing wires since the Meater Plus is completely wireless and stays out of your way. Not having to fight food probe cords is a grilling innovation I’m sure a lot of people can get behind.

Buy Meater Plus at Amazon – $100

Thermacell E-55

In 2020, the Thermacell Patio Shield kept us mosquito-free for socially distanced outdoor activities. But the company’s newer E-55 offers a 20-foot coverage area and is fully rechargeable. This slightly larger unit runs on a Li-Ion battery instead of burning fuel to keep the biting bugs at bay for up to 12 hours. If you need more protection for you and the fam, you can buy refills for up to 40 hours of use. Also, like other Thermacell products, the E-55 doesn’t give off any odor, so you’ll barely notice it’s there.

Buy Thermacell E-55 at Amazon – $40

Thermacell LIV

If you’re looking for a much more robust and permanent remedy for your mosquito woes, Thermacell also sells a fixed system called LIV. The setup works like Philips Hue, but for bugs. Repellers connect to a base station via cables and then you can connect other repellers to each other to create a system that’s as large as you need it (up to five). That controller then connects to your home WiFi so you can monitor everything from your phone. Thermacell says each LIV repeller can protect a 20-foot radius and the cartridge inside will last for up to 40 hours. The company sells three-, four- and five-unit setups starting at $699. That’s certainly not cheap, but the LIV system does over the same mosquito protection I’ve enjoyed on the smaller products like the E-55.

Shop LIV Collection at Thermacell

Solo Stove 2.0 firepits

As the temperatures drop, a fire pit is a cozy place to spend your time. However, most of the cheap options you’ll find at your local big box store aren’t really designed to channel smoke away from you or to maximize airflow. Solo Stove’s stainless steel fire pits do both, creating a roaring fire that won’t smoke you out. Each of the three models, ranging from $200 to $440, are portable(ish) and burn whatever variety of wood you happen to have. I’ve been testing the Bonfire, the medium-sized option, and the addition of the removable base plate and ash pan makes cleanup a lot easier (all 2.0 models have this). While you can certainly set these right on the ground or a concrete patio, I highly recommend splurging for a stand and a weather-proof cover which adds around $100 to the Bonfire model.

Shop fire pits at Solo Stove

TP-Link Kasa outdoor smart plug and dimmer

I tested the Kasa Outdoor Smart Plug for our first backyard guide and I was immediately hooked. TP-Link recently announced a new model of the smart plug in addition to a dimmable single-outlet version. Both are waterproof and plug into your existing outside outlet to give you one or two spots for lights and other gear. With the two-plug option, you can control each one independently. The Kasa app allows you to set a schedule, timer, runtime and more for each plug, so you can automate when those string lights over the deck turn on. Additionally, they work with Alexa and Google Assistant, so you don’t even need to pick up your phone most of the time. Plus, 300 feet of WiFi range means you shouldn’t have trouble connecting these to your home network for use.

Buy Kasa outdoor smart plug + dimmer at Amazon – $25

Brumate Toddy and Toddy XL

I’ve been a big fan of Brumate’s beverageware since I bought myself a Hopsulator Trio for a beach vacation a few years ago. I still use it all the time, during both warm and cool months. However, when the temperatures begin to dip, I tend to reach for hot beverages more often, so Brumate’s Toddy insulated mug is a better option. The cup works well to keep drinks hot or cold and the trademark feature is the spill-proof lid. That thing has saved me from massive cleanup more times than I can count. The regular Toddy can hold 16 ounces while the Toddy XL doubles the capacity to 32 ounces.

Shop Toddy collection at Brumate

Sony SRS-XB13

When you need tunes outside, whether that’s at home or on the go, Sony’s tiny XB13 speaker is a great option. Its small size makes it insanely portable, but it still manages big sound thanks to Sony’s Extra Bass feature and Sound Diffusion Processor. It’s rated IP67 for dust- and water-proofing so taking it outside shouldn’t incite anxiety. What’s more, it has a UV coating for protection from the sun. You can use the XB13 for hands-free calls and employ two of them at once for a stereo pair. It lasts up to 16 hours on a charge and will only set you back $60.

Buy SRS-XB13 at Amazon – $60

 

For many people, the list of their most hotly anticipated video games will include “whatever Hideo Kojima is working on.” If you’re one of those folks, you may be interested to learn that a video showing the Death Stranding auteur’s next title seems to have leaked ahead of a formal reveal from his studio, Kojima Productions.

The video, which has been removed from Streamable for violating the platform’s terms of service, shows a character who looks like Mama from Death Stranding. That character was played by Maid and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor Margaret Qualley. The character shown here navigates dark corridors with the help of a flashlight while an ominous figure follows them. Eventually, someone or something catches up to them. A game over screen is then shown, along with text reading “A Hideo Kojima Game” and “Overdose.”

Reporter Tom Henderson noted that the footage was the same as the leaked video he described in June at Try Hard Guides. Kojima Productions seemingly asked him to take down the initial report — a request that Try Hard declined.

The presentation of the video is bizarre. The gameplay footage has a picture-in-picture view of a person seemingly playing the game, as though they are a Twitch streamer. Text reading “camera player 1” appears at the top of the screen, suggesting that this is from a playtest. The footage appears on a YouTube-style interface, indicating that it may have been stored on Google Drive. It gets stranger, because someone has filmed that footage offscreen. That version of the video is then played on a tablet, which, according to a pretty prominent reflection on that screen, is being filmed offscreen a second time by a shirtless person.

It’s all very unusual. As Polygon notes, there’s at least a small chance that the footage is fake, even though creating it would require a lot of effort from some prankster. Qualley’s character model looks just like the one used in Death Stranding —which may indicate that Overdose is a direct follow-up to Kojima’s last game. It’s also odd to see the name of a game’s creator pop up during a game over screen, though this is likely work-in-progress footage (though it’s not impossible to imagine Kojima actually putting his name on a game over screen). 

In any case, we may not have to wait too much longer to gain more clarity as to what’s going on here. Kojima has been teasing his next project, and he’s a regular presence at The Game Awards, the next edition of which takes place in a month. Kojima is developing a game in partnership with Microsoft, but a Death Stranding sequel is reportedly in the works too.

If the reports and rumors hold up, Overdose will be the first full horror game from Kojima. The only horror project that the Metal Gear creator has released to date is P.T., an infamous playable teaser that’s no longer available. It was designed as a proof of concept for Silent Hills, a project that was canceled amid Kojima’s acrimonious departure from Konami (which, coincidentally, just revived the Silent Hill franchise).

Meanwhile, Kojima claimed this week that he’d received some “ridiculously high” offers for Kojima Productions. However, he has no plans to sell the company as he wants to retain creative independence.

 

It’s only been a matter of days since Elon Musk took over Twitter, but he’s already shaking up the platform in major ways. Few of his ideas have attracted as much attention, or controversy, as his plan to start charging for verification as part of a bigger overhaul to Twitter’s subscription service, Blue.

Calling the current system “bullshit,” he said that his plan is to add verification as a perk to Twitter Blue, which will increase in price from $5 a month to $8 a month. All users who pay will get the checkmark, while those who don’t — even if they were verified under Twitter’s previous system — will lose it. Subscriptions will also reduce ads and make accounts more visible in replies and search, a sort of anti-shadowban.

But while Musk’s plans may win him some fans among those who despise the idea of “blue check Twitter,” it also shows that he fundamentally misunderstands verification. And while he is correct that the current system is broken, charging for verification would make it worse, not better.

Verification is about authenticity

Musk’s plan ignores the reason verification was created to begin with: to convey authenticity. Because Twitter doesn’t have a real-names policy, a verified badge helps distinguish whether an account belongs to the person or entity whose name is at the top. From Twitter’s help center: “The blue Verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic.”

It may seem like a status symbol to some, but the reason it’s handed out to journalists, celebrities, public officials and other notable figures is because there is inherent risk in not verifying those people.

“Verification was never meant to convey status,” says Nu Wexler, a policy consultant and former policy communications rep at Twitter. “It was simply a way for Twitter to address impersonation attempts.”

But Musk seems unmoved by concerns about impersonation. In response to a question about whether newly verified users would be able to impersonate Musk himself, he said “that already happens very frequently.”

Musk isn’t wrong on this point. Hacking verified accounts and then changing their profiles to look like Musk is a known scam. But getting rid of these types of scammers was supposedly one his main motivations for buying Twitter for $44 billion in the first place. (Ironically, scammers are already using the prospect of paid verification as a phishing ploy, according to Twitter’s head of safety.)

Impersonation scams can have real consequences, as actor Robert Kazinsky pointed out in a viral Twitter thread. “I don’t tweet much, I am scared of the internet, I struggle with a lot of things in life. But this account exists so that fake accounts can’t,” he wrote, adding that in the past people impersonating him online have used his identity to start conversations with children.

Making verification solely dependent on who is willing to pay for it could have even bigger implications for the spread of misinformation. Around the world, public officials, government agencies, journalists, activists and others use Twitter to communicate important information to the public. Making their verification contingent on paying, or making it easier for someone else to impersonate them, would undermine the idea of Twitter as the “town square” Musk wants it to be.

Verification has always been confusing and unfair

Musk is correct that Twitter’s existing verification system could be a whole lot better. Verification on Twitter has always been a mess, but not because it’s sometimes perceived as a status symbol.

The reality is that Twitter has never been able to properly explain how verification works or why some people get it and others don’t. The company introduced it in 2009, but didn’t have a public-facing request tool until 2016. Instead, for nearly a decade, the company would quietly verify celebrities, journalists and other public figures mostly through backchannel connections via agents and public relations staffers. This meant that even some public figures who clearly qualified for it didn’t know how to be verified.

The decision to open up verification requests to the public in 2016 was supposed to resolve this. But a little more than a year after opening public requests, the company paused the effort amid a backlash after verifying a white nationalist.

Verification remained “paused” for the next four years. Except it wasn’t entirely on hold. The company continued to quietly grant verification to thousands of accounts via the same behind-the-scenes process it had used for years.In other words: it remains just as opaque and confusing as it ever was.

Even when Twitter said it would expand verification to more doctors and health experts at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was still widespread confusion about how these verifications would occur. Some researchers who were verified as part of the expansion were unsure how it happened.

Finally, in 2021, Twitter re-opened verification only to pause it — again — after just eight days because the company mistakenly verified a fake Cormac McCarthy account. (Verification requests resumed a month later.)

Twitter Blue and verification serve different purposes

So, yes, verification has always had significant issues. And Musk isn’t even the first to propose verification for everyone as a way to fix it. Former CEO Jack Dorsey said he wanted to open it to everyone back in 2018. ““The intention is to open verification for everyone … And people can verify more facts about themselves and we don’t have to be the judge or imply any bias on our part,” he said in a livestream.

But making verification part of Twitter Blue, which is designed to provide extra perks for those who pay, doesn’t address the underlying issue. While it may theoretically give everyone the opportunity to be verified, it also creates new incentives for people trying to take advantage of the platform, says Wexler.

“There’s a market for Twitter to charge power uses for certain features like an edit button or priority customer service,” he says. “But selling authenticity is just inviting bad actors to impersonate elected officials and news outlets.”

One solution would be to separate verification and identity authentication. And even Musk seems to recognize the need for additional context for some accounts. He said there “will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.”

An early version of this appears to have already surfaced, on Dorsey’s Twitter account, which according to a screenshot of an internal build of the service, had an “official account” label underneath his blue check.

But extra labels don’t address the real danger that would be posed by the impersonators verification was created to fight.

 

Microplastics are a bane that harms wildlife, but you may be staring at the solution to this problem in your breakfast. Princeton researchers have used egg whites to create a lightweight, porous aerogel that can remove microplastics and salt from seawater. When you freeze-dry and superheat the whites (up to 1,652F) in an oxygen-free space, their pure protein system produces a mix of carbon fiber strands and graphene sheets that can remove 99 percent of tiny plastics from water, and 98 percent of the salt. Even fried and whipped eggs work just as well.

As you might imagine, a readily available organic material like this has its benefits. It’s cheap to make, and needs only gravity to work. It won’t consume energy or excess water. Activated carbon is cheap, but it’s not nearly as effective as the egg white gel. And while eggs from the grocery store prompted the breakthrough, you can use other proteins that won’t cut into the population’s food supply.

The aerogel isn’t ready for widespread use just yet. Scientists need to refine the manufacturing process before mass production is possible. If that happens, though, the implications are clear. It would be comparatively easy to remove microplastics and otherwise purify water while minimizing the environmental impact. While the salt removal may create problems in oceans, it may be very helpful for desalinization in areas where fresh drinking water is difficult to find.

There are other purposes, for that matter. The gel might also be useful for energy storage and insulation, so don’t be surprised if you one day find egg-like proteins in your walls.