lundi 22 août 2022

Make your back-to-school routine better with these smart home tricks

*Amazon Alexa’s Routines, which play from devices like this Echo dot speaker, help my family get out of bed and stay on track in the mornings.* | Image: Amazon

This week, my kids headed back to school. For most parents, that means a weekend spent buying composition notebooks and Ticonderoga pencils and unearthing moldy lunchboxes from last year’s book bag (just me?). In my household, it also means reenabling all my back-to-school smart home routines.

I’ve been using my smart home as an extra pair of parental eyes and ears for years now, and I think all parents need some home automation in their lives. The little things the smart home does well — lights that turn on when you walk into a room, a TV you can shut down with just your voice, a doorbell that shows you who’s there — are so much more useful when you are also juggling little people and their various demands.

(A caveat to all this: I use these gadgets, routines, and automations to help our household run smoothly and give us back some time, not as an alternative to actually parenting.)

My children are now 11 and 14, going into middle school and high school, so instead of finding fun ways to encourage my children to stay in bed until it’s time to get up (the green light for go, which you can easily set up on the Echo Glow light, is a classic), I’ve had to devise systems that help me get them out of bed.

For me, the morning routine is the key one. Getting everyone up and out the door in a one-hour time window is a serious challenge. Having a couple of digital assistants helping us keep track of time cuts down on the potential for raised voices and helps them be a bit more autonomous with their morning ablutions. (You could do this with just one, but I like different aspects of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant’s routines and alarms, so I have both going).

The morning routine

I have one lamp in each of our bedrooms with a Philips Hue light bulb inside. Starting around 5:30AM, they all turn on low and gradually brighten over 30 minutes. I set this up in the Hue App using its built-in Wake-Up automations feature, replicating the wake-with-light feature of a sunrise alarm clock. This is a nice, gentle way to start our bodies along in the laborious process of waking up.

*An Echo Show 5 makes a good bedside clock. We use Echo devices mainly because we can play Audible books on them, and they make a good home intercom system.*

Next, an Amazon Alexa Routine kicks off from the Echo Show 8 on my 11-year-old daughter’s nightstand. It starts by saying, “Good morning, sunshine!”, reporting the weather, then playing a radio station (we’re using BBC Radio 2 at the moment). I used to add a song to the Routine to wake her up, but after a year of Here Comes the Sun, she developed a visceral aversion to The Beatles. In the interest of furthering her musical education, we’re now going with the randomness of the radio.

The Routine also opens the smart shades in the room and turns on the ceiling fan and its overhead light, which are hooked into Alexa via a Bond Bridge controller.

Next door, in my 14-year-old son’s room, a similar routine from an Echo Show 5 opens his shades, turns lights on, and tells him the weather. But instead of a radio station — which he sleeps right through — an Alexa alarm featuring the trio from The Grand Tour obnoxiously shouting at him seems to get him out of bed the quickest. (He loves cars, and I’m British, so it seemed like a good choice!)

*Google’s Family Bell feature helps get my kids to the bus stop on time.*

Once everyone is downstairs eating breakfast, another Alexa Routine reads out our family calendar for the day, so we can discuss and make sure we have everything we need. When it’s time to leave, a Family Bell from the Nest Hub Max in our living room — yes, I have a lot of smart speakers; it’s part of the job — lets me and my daughter know when it’s time to drive to the bus stop.

Family Bell is a Google Assistant feature that rolled out during the pandemic. We found it helpful when we were forced to do school at home. It’s like an alarm, only it tells you what you need to do rather than just making a sound. It also starts with a nice jingle, and you can set it to space out different actions during your morning routine. For example, it can say “Good morning,” then, five minutes later, remind you to make your bed or brush your teeth. My kids don’t really need that much prompting now, but for younger ones, it’s a nice alternative to mum or dad shouting up the stairs.

The evening routine

Since I work from home, I’m not always able to get away when my son arrives on the school bus. But the Nest Doorbell Wired both announces and shows his arrival to me through a Nest Hub in my home office, so I know he’s home safely. He can also let himself in by typing a code or using his fingerprint to unlock the smart door lock (currently a Eufy Touch smart lock).

My daughter has to be collected from her bus stop, and I get a ping on my iPhone using Apple’s Find My Recurring Location notification feature that tells me her Apple Watch has left her school (no phone for her yet). She has to approve the notification the first time it’s set up, but then it pings me every time, so I know to start heading to her bus stop to collect her. It’s more reliable than her remembering to text me when they leave.

While I’m still working, the kids get started on their homework, helped along by a schedule that pauses Wi-Fi to their personal devices for an hour. We set this up through the Eero app, which is the mesh Wi-Fi system I currently have. Many Wi-Fi routers now have the option to control Wi-Fi access to specific devices right on your smartphone. I’ve also used the Smart Home Manager App for AT&T and the Xfinity app for Comcast internet to do the same.

*The Nest Hub can stream footage from a video doorbell, so I can see when my son comes home.*

When dinner time rolls around, I trigger a routine by telling the smart speaker in my kitchen, “Alexa, it’s dinnertime.” This makes a “Dinner is ready” announcement on all the Echo devices in the house, then starts a relaxing playlist downstairs. As bedtime nears, the shades and lights in each room are set to lower and turn on respectively, an hour after sunset. Then, a Hue automation gradually fades the bedroom lights over 30 minutes.

A little before this, Apple Screen Time settings on my son’s iPhone and daughter’s iPad kick in, which shuts off access to most apps while still letting them listen to music or an Audible book while they wind down.

Finally, I collect their devices and put them in their dedicated charging spots downstairs. They can then listen to sleep sounds, music, or an Audible book on their Echo Show to help them drift off to sleepy town.

Google refuses to reinstate man’s account after he took medical images of son’s groin

Experts say case highlights well-known dangers of automated detection of child sexual abuse images

Google has refused to reinstate a man’s account after it wrongly flagged medical images he took of his son’s groin as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the New York Times first reported. Experts say it’s an inevitable pitfall of trying to apply a technological solution to a societal problem.

Experts have long warned about the limitations of automated child sexual abuse image detection systems, particularly as companies face regulatory and public pressure to help address the existence of sexual abuse material.

How Dan Price’s Social Media Fame Fueled Abuse Allegations

How Dan Price’s Social Media Fame Fueled Abuse Allegations Dan Price was applauded for paying a minimum salary of $70,000 at his Seattle company and criticizing corporate greed. The adulation helped to hide and enable his behavior.

In the streaming era, Substack helps indie rockers pay the bills. Can it last?

The email subscription platform has been a source of inspiration and financial freedom for Pitchfork favourites struggling in the streaming economy

“I jumped from my chair and knelt over my father, cradling his head. As if in a movie, I held his head in one hand and snapped the other in front of his face, yelling for him to wake up,” writes singer-songwriter Kevin Morby in a recent post on his Substack newsletter, recounting a night his father had a medical scare. “Thankfully, moments later, his eyes, like cherries in a slot machine, quickly dinged forward and he looked around the room without moving his head.”

Morby loves his Substack. The Kansas City-based musician, who is adored by Pitchfork and recently released his seventh album, This Is a Photograph, joined the email newsletter platform in April at his manager’s suggestion. He now sends his several hundred subscribers a series of rambling, poetic vignettes every few weeks.

Best podcasts of the week: The hunt for an art dealer’s riches hidden in the mountains

In this week’s newsletter: Join host Peter Frick-Wright as he gets to the bottom of a mysterious quest to find Forrest Fenn’s millions. Plus: five of the best fashion podcasts

Don’t get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article here

Listening
Widely available, episodes weekly
This podcast is equivalent to stepping into the studio with a musician. A specially recorded track by artists such as Björk, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and Neko Case is followed by an interview in which they explain how they made it. From Björk elucidating how she used the noise of frozen lakes to create soaring, glockenspiel-strafed choral pop, to Crutchfield enthusing about her love of white noise, it is hugely illuminating. Alexi Duggins

A glut of intimate, sideways stories in hit podcast Love + Radio, whose whole archive is now available to binge.

A guided yoga practice (yes, really) with a little singer called Dua Lipa in the new series of At Your Service.

The true story of Putin’s “number one enemy”, shot and killed in 2015, in Another Russia.

This article was amended on 19 August 2022 to correct an external link to the Bande à part podcast.

More Than ‘Weird’: Roku Embraces Original Programming

More Than ‘Weird’: Roku Embraces Original Programming The streaming media device company wants to attract more viewers and advertisers to its channel. A coming biopic of “Weird Al” Yankovic is its most ambitious project to date.

dimanche 21 août 2022

Our first glimpse of HBO’s The Last of Us TV show is here

Along with the occasionally-glitchy premiere of House of the Dragon, HBO presented a teaser trailer of content its new owner hasn’t abruptly shelved that provided the first in-motion look of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey playing Joel and Ellie, respectively, in its upcoming The Last of Us TV show.

Neil Druckmann — the writer and creative director of both The Last of Us games — is an executive producer of the show, and tweeted, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Other content in the preview came from The Idol, Love and Death, Succession, The White Lotus, And Just Like That, Hacks, The White House Plumbers, Our Flag Means Death, but the Naughty Dog-made PlayStation franchise’s live-action TV debut is the one we’re interested in the most. In the twenty seconds or so that it actually shows, you can get a peek at Neal Offerman’s character, and a scene that seemed to recall the opening sequence of the first game with Joel’s daughter.

The preview confirms HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys’ February comments that we can expect to see the show in 2023, but didn’t offer any narrower of a window than that.

House of the Dragon premiere crashes HBO Max streaming, mostly on Fire Sticks

Besides unreleased and disappearing content, there have been plenty of complaints about the HBO Max streaming apps since they launched. Still, they’ve generally held up well under the stress of premieres for content like Tenet, Wonder Woman, The Matrix, or Westworld, but for HBO there may not be anything like a Game of Thrones premiere.

Tonight’s debut of the show’s spinoff, House of the Dragon, is the first taste of a new GOT experience inside HBO Max, and while many people trying to stream the premiere episode are watching without a problem, others said the app crashed on them, or froze up once it got past the pre-show teaser trailer.

Based on reports seen on Twitter, Reddit, and elsewhere, it appears that most of the people having problems are using an Amazon Fire TV platform, or a Fire Stick. It’s unclear why that app, in particular, would have problems, but if you’re using it and you can’t watch, you may want to try switching if you can’t wait to see all the Targarayens going at it. If it’s your main streaming device, one other piece of advice people have reported success with is to create a new profile.

In a statement emailed to The Verge, HBO’s Chris Willard said, “House of the Dragon is being successfully viewed by millions of HBO Max subscribers this evening. We’re aware of a small portion of users attempting to connect via Fire TV devices that are having issues and are in the process of resolving for those impacted users.”

Whatever the issue is, don’t expect to see this repeat in future seasons — by next year, they’ll have a new app anyway.

Update August 21st, 10:40PM ET: Updated with statement from HBO.

Google AI flagged parents’ accounts for potential abuse over nude photos of their sick kids

A concerned father says that after using his Android smartphone to take photos of an infection on his toddler’s groin, Google flagged the images as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to a report from The New York Times. The company closed his accounts and filed a report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and spurred a police investigation, highlighting the complications of trying to tell the difference between potential abuse and an innocent photo once it becomes part of a user’s digital library, whether on their personal device or in cloud storage.

Concerns about the consequences of blurring the lines for what should be considered private were aired last year when Apple announced its Child Safety plan. As part of the plan, Apple would locally scan images on Apple devices before they’re uploaded to iCloud and then match the images with the NCMEC’s hashed database of known CSAM. If enough matches were found, a human moderator would then review the content and lock the user’s account if it contained CSAM.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights group, slammed Apple’s plan, saying it could “open a backdoor to your private life” and that it represented “a decrease in privacy for all iCloud Photos users, not an improvement.”

Apple eventually placed the stored image scanning part on hold, but with the launch of iOS 15.2, it proceeded with including an optional feature for child accounts included in a family sharing plan. If parents opt-in, then on a child’s account, the Messages app “analyzes image attachments and determines if a photo contains nudity, while maintaining the end-to-end encryption of the messages.” If it detects nudity, it blurs the image, displays a warning for the child, and presents them with resources intended to help with safety online.

The main incident highlighted by The New York Times took place in February 2021, when some doctor’s offices were still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As noted by the Times, Mark (whose last name was not revealed) noticed swelling in his child’s genital region and, at the request of a nurse, sent images of the issue ahead of a video consultation. The doctor wound up prescribing antibiotics that cured the infection.

According to the NYT, Mark received a notification from Google just two days after taking the photos, stating that his accounts had been locked due to “harmful content” that was “a severe violation of Google’s policies and might be illegal.”

Like many internet companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, Google has used hash matching with Microsoft’s PhotoDNA for scanning uploaded images to detect matches with known CSAM. In 2012, it led to the arrest of a man who was a registered sex offender and used Gmail to send images of a young girl.

In 2018, Google announced the launch of its Content Safety API AI toolkit that can “proactively identify never-before-seen CSAM imagery so it can be reviewed and, if confirmed as CSAM, removed and reported as quickly as possible.” It uses the tool for its own services and, along with a video-targeting CSAI Match hash matching solution developed by YouTube engineers, offers it for use by others as well.

Google “Fighting abuse on our own platforms and services”:

We identify and report CSAM with trained specialist teams and cutting-edge technology, including machine learning classifiers and hash-matching technology, which creates a “hash”, or unique digital fingerprint, for an image or a video so it can be compared with hashes of known CSAM. When we find CSAM, we report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which liaises with law enforcement agencies around the world.

A Google spokesperson told the Times that Google only scans users’ personal images when a user takes “affirmative action,” which can apparently include backing their pictures up to Google Photos. When Google flags exploitative images, the Times notes that Google’s required by federal law to report the potential offender to the CyberTipLine at the NCMEC. In 2021, Google reported 621,583 cases of CSAM to the NCMEC’s CyberTipLine, while the NCMEC alerted the authorities of 4,260 potential victims, a list that the NYT says includes Mark’s son.

Mark ended up losing access to his emails, contacts, photos, and even his phone number, as he used Google Fi’s mobile service, the Times reports. Mark immediately tried appealing Google's decision, but Google denied Mark’s request. The San Francisco Police Department, where Mark lives, opened an investigation into Mark in December 2021 and got ahold of all the information he stored with Google. The investigator on the case ultimately found that the incident “did not meet the elements of a crime and that no crime occurred,” the NYT notes.

“Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is abhorrent and we’re committed to preventing the spread of it on our platforms,” Google spokesperson Christa Muldoon said in an emailed statement to The Verge. “We follow US law in defining what constitutes CSAM and use a combination of hash matching technology and artificial intelligence to identify it and remove it from our platforms. Additionally, our team of child safety experts reviews flagged content for accuracy and consults with pediatricians to help ensure we’re able to identify instances where users may be seeking medical advice.”

While protecting children from abuse is undeniably important, critics argue that the practice of scanning a user’s photos unreasonably encroaches on their privacy. Jon Callas, a director of technology projects at the EFF called Google’s practices “intrusive” in a statement to the NYT. “This is precisely the nightmare that we are all concerned about,” Callas told the NYT. “They’re going to scan my family album, and then I’m going to get into trouble.”

A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal.

A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal. Google has an automated tool to detect abusive images of children. But the system can get it wrong, and the consequences are serious.

‘I’m buying Manchester United’: Elon Musk ‘joke’ tweet charges debate over struggling club’s future

Billionaire’s claim was welcomed by fans unhappy about the team’s current American owners – but he quickly clarified he wasn’t serious

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk briefly electrified the debate about the future of Manchester United by claiming on Twitter that he is buying the struggling Premier League club – before saying that the post was part of a “long-running joke”.

He did not make clear his views on new coach Eric ten Hag’s controversial insistence on passing out from the back, or whether unhappy star striker Cristiano Ronaldo should be allowed to leave, but he did say that if he were to buy a sports team “it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid”.

samedi 20 août 2022

Destiny 2 and Fortnite crossover leaked ahead of Bungie event

Bungie appears to be getting ready to add Fortnite skins to Destiny 2. After Fortnite leaker MidaRado teased a potential Destiny 2 collab over the weekend, Ginsor — a well-known Destiny dataminer — has confirmed the crossover with an image showing off several classic Fortnite skins in Destiny 2.

The image, which was likely obtained from Bungie’s own website, includes a Titan armor set that looks very much like the Black Knight skin that was originally obtainable from the season pass of Fortnite season 2. Destiny’s Warlock is also shown with a Fortnite-like Drift Mask, and the Hunter looks very much like Fortnite’s Omega skin.

It’s not clear how Destiny 2 players will be able to obtain these Fortnite skins, or when they’ll be part of the game. It’s more than likely that the Fortnite skins will be universal ornaments in Destiny 2, so players can apply them to any armor sets and customize characters. Rumors also suggest Fortnite could also get its own Destiny skins, and there are plenty of characters that Bungie could potentially place inside the Fortnite world.

Fortnite Destiny confirmed pic.twitter.com/U3kZeFY6l8
— Ginsor (@GinsorKR) August 20, 2022

This isn’t the first time Bungie has added crossover content to Destiny 2. Bungie celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special content drop that included Halo-like guns in Destiny 2. The 30th Anniversary pack for Destiny 2, released late last year, included a Magnum-like sidearm, alongside a Battle Rifle-like pulse rifle in the looter shooter.

This Fortnite crossover leak comes just days before Bungie is set to reveal season 18 of Destiny 2, and the next major expansion to the franchise: Lightfall. Bungie has scheduled a Destiny 2 showcase for Tuesday August 23rd at 9AM PT / 12PM ET. It’s the first major Destiny 2 showcase since Sony acquired Bungie for $3.7 billion earlier this year.

100 years in 48 hours: the ‘epic’ VR film Gondwana is set in the world’s oldest tropical rainforest

The Melbourne international film festival installation transports viewers to the Daintree Rainforest. Its creators share how they built an entire ecosystem

Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts stopped all the clocks the moment they arrived in the Daintree Rainforest to start a five month research trip for their epic, 48-hour, virtual reality film Gondwana. Arriving in the wet season of 2019, “we scrambled our phones, our computers. We embraced the cycles of time that occur in the forest,” says Andrews, the film’s director. “That letting go and surrendering gave us time to listen, and gain a deep appreciation of the multi-layered nature of that environment.”

Their experience in the 180m-year-old rainforest, which literally re-shaped their sense of time, has never left them. Now, the pair hope to immerse audiences in a similarly perspective-altering experience with the installation of Gondwana at ACMI as part of Melbourne’s international film festival, which will screen over 48 hours from Thursday to Saturday.

FTX’s money isn’t insured, FDIC says

FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Interview — *FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.*

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) slapped the Sam Bankman-Fried-owned cryptocurrency exchange FTX with a cease-and-desist order over “false and misleading statements” that suggest its assets are FDIC-insured. The FDIC doesn’t cover stocks or crypto, and only safeguards funds held in insured bank accounts.

In a letter to the exchange, the FDIC points to a now-deleted tweet from FTX president Brett Harrison, which states “direct deposits from employers to FTX US are stored in individually FDIC-insured bank accounts in the users’ names.” The referenced tweet also says that “stocks are held in FDIC-insured and SIPC [Security Investor Protection Corporation]-insured brokerage accounts.” The FDIC claims this falsely represents that FTX and the funds invested by users are FDIC-insured when they’re really not.

While not flagged in the FDIC’s letter, users have also pointed out another potentially misleading tweet from Harrison that says “cash associated with brokerage accounts is managed into FDIC-insured accounts” at FTX’s “partner bank.”

We really didn’t mean to mislead anyone, and we didn’t suggest that FTX US itself, or that crypto/non-fiat assets, benefit from FDIC insurance. I hope this provides clarity on our intentions. Happy to work directly with the FDIC on these important topics.
— Brett Harrison (@Brett_FTX) August 19, 2022

1) Clear communication is really important; sorry!

FTX does not have FDIC insurance (and we've never said so on website etc.); banks we work with do. We never meant otherwise, and apologize if anyone misinterpreted it. https://t.co/MHMSMDE8Le
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) August 19, 2022

Harrison has since issued a response to the FDIC’s letter, explaining that FTX “really didn’t mean to mislead anyone,” and claims FTX “didn’t suggest that FTX US itself, or that crypto/non-fiat assets, benefit from FDIC insurance.” FTX CEO and founder Bankman-Fried provided further clarification as well, stating that while “FTX does not have FDIC insurance,” the banks it does business with do. Bankman-Fried adds that it may “explore potential ways that individual accounts using direct deposit... could, in the future, be used to further protect customers,” and that FTX “would be excited to work with the FDIC on that.”

As noted by the FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act) prohibits companies from ”implying that their products are FDIC–insured by using ‘FDIC’ in the company’s name, advertisements, or other documents.” The FDIC is giving FTX 15 days to provide confirmation that it has removed or corrected any alleged misrepresentations. In addition to FTX, the FDIC doled out cease-and-desist warnings to four other companies, including Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, SmartAsset.com, and FDICCrypto.com.

The FDIC declined to comment beyond the contents of its letter, and FTX didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

Like Robinhood, FTX has started offering both traditional stock and crypto trading options. In May, crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried disclosed a 7.6 percent stake in Robinhood, and he’s reportedly looking into purchasing the trading platform.

Even with the so-called crypto winter driving several crypto companies to bankruptcy, FTX and Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm Alameda Research have somehow managed to stay afloat. Bankman-Fried has extended lines of credit to numerous struggling crypto firms to help them weather the uncertain economy, and told Reuters he has “a few billion” more for future bailouts. According to documents obtained by CNBC, FTX brought in $1.02 billion in revenue in 2021 and $270 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Simon Taylor: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

If you felt like your life was lacking a video of a gambling cat or a list of the ways people have misspelled ‘pregnant’ online, this comedian is here to help

Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

Asking someone to list the funniest things they’ve ever seen on the internet should be an official tool for psychological evaluation. I imagine a therapist could determine their client is severely sociopathic just by knowing that they don’t erupt into spasms of unstoppable laughter when watching videos of squirrels riding tiny jet skis. I mean, come on.

So below is a rather intimate insight into my psyche in the form of viral videos. Let’s put me in the therapist’s chair, shall we?

The Fried Chicken Inflation Index

The Fried Chicken Inflation Index YouTube star Elijah Quashie, of the U.K. hit “The Pengest Munch,” copes with the rising cost of wings.

100 years in 48 hours: the ‘epic’ VR film Gondwana is set in the world’s oldest tropical rainforest

The Melbourne international film festival installation transports viewers to the Daintree Rainforest. Its creators share how they built an entire ecosystem

Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

Adam Neumann’s latest big idea? To become America’s biggest landlord

The WeWork co-founder is reportedly at the helm of Flow, a new company looking to reinvent apartment living – but have any lessons been learned?

Adam Neumann presided over one of the most spectacular business collapses in recent history. A New Age-spouting, barefoot business messiah, he managed to build and burn his last startup, the office-sharing company WeWork, in such spectacular fashion that even Hollywood paid attention.

And now he is back – on a quest to become America’s biggest landlord.

How the Find My App Became an Accidental Friendship Fixture

How the Find My App Became an Accidental Friendship Fixture Introduced 10 years ago, the app has slowly become a popular way to keep track of friends. But it comes with considerable privacy concerns.

vendredi 19 août 2022

Twitter tests a special tag to highlight phone number-verified accounts

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Elon Musk’s bot-baiting aside, Twitter has had many people call for changes to how it identifies accounts and what can be done to call out which ones are more legit than others. Now engineer Jane Manchun Wong has dug up a Twitter label that would put a mark on accounts with a verified phone number. She also noted another test feature showing view counts for tweets, which some users already have access to for their own tweets under the label of “analytics.” However, she said it’s unclear if this would be limited to the author or visible to everyone.

Linking an account to a number is one way to highlight that it was created with more effort than the simplest macro and could be used to filter out which tweets appear the most prominently or make it through the various levels of quality filters. Twitter also allows people to have the same phone number associated with up to ten different accounts, while developers can label automated accounts to let people know there isn’t a human behind each post.

Twitter is working on verified… phone number label on profile pic.twitter.com/H4gJGaNHQT
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 19, 2022

Verified “blue check” accounts are already required to have a verified phone number or email address attached. When then-CEO Jack Dorsey talked about plans to allow verification for everyone, he mentioned having people verify facts about themselves, which could’ve been similar to how services like Airbnb and Tinder use phone numbers as part of their account verification processes.

However, encouraging users to link phone numbers to their accounts and display the status means securing that data becomes an issue. On August 5th, Twitter announced the details of an incident that allowed an attacker to discover 5.4 million account names associated with particular phone numbers and email addresses. By the company’s own account, the privacy flaw was introduced in a June 2021 update, wasn’t reported to Twitter until January, and Twitter was not aware the information had been stolen until July when media reports circulated that someone was trying to sell the database.

The 2020 hack that allowed attackers to tweet from Jack Dorsey and Joe Biden’s accounts about Bitcoin came about after the attackers social-engineered their way to using Twitter’s internal tools. Another report by Bloomberg noted that some contractors had used Twitter’s tools to spy on celebrity accounts, and earlier this month, a former employee was convicted on charges of spying after he used his position to “access the email addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates of users who were critical of the Saudi government.”

In May, Twitter agreed to a $150 million settlement for improperly using phone numbers and email addresses collected for two-factor authentication in its ad targeting, showing how leaky the data can be.

With midterm elections around the corner, there is pressure to make sure information posted on social media comes from real people or at least someone actually in the country they claim. The phone number tag could play a part in judging an account’s trustworthiness, but it’s unclear if or when Twitter could roll it out widely.

Twitter is working on showing Tweet view count

It’s unsure whether it will be visible to the author only or everyone pic.twitter.com/G6N0SIjLbX
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 19, 2022

Twitter Tells Employees They Might Get Only Half Their Annual Bonus

Twitter Tells Employees They Might Get Only Half Their Annual Bonus The company blamed its financial performance for the potential bonus cut.

Lawmakers Demand Social Media Firms Address Threats to Law Enforcement

Lawmakers Demand Social Media Firms Address Threats to Law Enforcement The Democrats who lead two House panels also expressed concern about “reckless statements” from Republicans after a surge in online threats following the F.B.I. search of Mar-a-Lago.

O No, Lenovo doesn’t like Framework’s circular power button

Framework, the startup that produces modular laptops that are designed to be repairable and upgradable, says it’s in a spot of legal trouble over the design of one of its power buttons. In a tweet, the startup claims to have been contacted by Lenovo’s legal team, who say the circular design of the power button on one of Framework’s designs is too similar to the stylized “O” Lenovo uses in the wordmark for its “Legion” brand of gaming laptops.

“Consumers could believe that Framework’s Broken O Case or the motherboards they cover are produced by, sponsored, endorsed, licensed, or otherwise affiliated with Lenovo, when that is not the case,” a screenshot of the legal letter from Lenovo posted by Framework reads.

The offending power button design doesn’t appear on any of Framework’s laptops. Instead, the circle can be found in the 3D printer case schematics that Framework released back in April, which allow customers to build their own Raspberry Pi-style miniature PCs using just the laptop’s motherboard (these can be bought separately, as well as harvested from a Framework laptop). This YouTube video gives a nice overview of how the 3D-printed enclosure is supposed to work (the power button gets pressed at the 9:35 minute mark).

“It has recently come to our attention that Framework Computer Inc. (“Framework”) has released a GitHub repository of 3D printable reference designs for consumers to print motherboard cases for use with Framework’s motherboards,” Lenovo’s legal team writes. “These 3D printer guides feature a broken O design which is confusingly similar to Lenovo’s Legion Trademarks.”

The @Lenovo legal team says we have to change the power button on our 3D printed case, so we’re opening up a Community contest! Whoever can come up with the best new power button design gets a free i5-1135G7 Mainboard. pic.twitter.com/aBM3xRIzTF
— Framework (@FrameworkPuter) August 18, 2022

I’m no lawyer, but I guess I can see where Lenovo’s legal team is coming from? The power button design found on Framework’s schematics technically has the same three lines breaking up its circular design as the O in Lenovo’s Legion branding, which can be found on its website, as well as being printed directly on some of its laptops. But, on the other hand, it’s… a circle, one used only in a wordmark, apparently, and the other as a functional piece of hardware. But, whatever, lawyers are gunna lawyer.

Framework doesn’t physically sell anything with the offending power button design on it, so fixing the problem is theoretically as simple as uploading a replacement set of CAD files to GitHub. So, rather than fighting Lenovo, Framework is holding a competition for its users to submit new designs for its power button. Entries are open until August 25th, and the winner gets a free i5-1135G7 Mainboard.

Amazon could avoid UK tax for two more years thanks to Rishi Sunak’s tax break

Firm increased business expenses in 2021 after former chancellor introduced 130% ‘super-deduction’ relief scheme

Amazon could be off the hook for tax in the UK for at least two more years after benefiting from reliefs brought in by Rishi Sunak during the pandemic, a report suggests.

The research from the Fair Tax Foundation indicates that the US tech company claimed more than £800m in capital allowances – business expenses that can be offset against profits – in 2021, £500m more than in 2020.

jeudi 18 août 2022

In the streaming era, Substack helps indie rockers pay the bills. Can it last?

The email subscription platform has been a source of inspiration and financial freedom for Pitchfork favourites struggling in the streaming economy

Morby loves his Substack. The Kansas City-based musician, who is adored by Pitchfork and recently released his seventh album This Is a Photograph, joined the email newsletter platform in April at his manager’s suggestion. He now sends his several hundred subscribers a series of rambling, poetic vignettes every few weeks.

I am once again asking you to update your Apple devices

*Most updates are like this now, but that doesn’t make them less important.* | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Well, here we are again: I’m writing an article to tell you that you should really update your iPhone, iPad, or Mac as soon as possible, because the latest software for them fixes some pretty nasty bugs. The security notes for iOS / iPadOS 15.6.1 and macOS 12.5.1 describe fixes for bugs in the OS’ kernel (basically the core that controls everything) and WebKit that could allow attackers to run malicious code on your device. The notes also warn that the bugs may have actively been exploited.

This is, unfortunately, something like the third or fourth time I’m writing a post explicitly asking people to update their iPhones or Macs to patch some pretty serious security flaws. And the truth is, I could’ve written this exact post even more times than that — there have been 13 updates to iOS 15 since its initial release, and nine of them have fixed some sort of arbitrary code execution bug. Oftentimes some of those bugs would allow attackers to obtain kernel privileges.

What’s more, five of those security updates included the “Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited” warning.

So while you’ve probably done this plenty of times this year (and, honestly, the years before that), I’m going to repeat the steps to update your phone: go to Settings > General > Software Update. On the Mac, go to System Preferences > Software Update.

Constant security updates aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Sure, they could be an indication that a lot of bugs are slipping into software, but they could just as easily mean that a company has gotten really good at finding existing issues and stamping them out. The reason I’m pointing out Apple’s recent track record isn’t to shame it, but to remind everyone that updates these days are pretty important, and that they should be installed ASAP.

Yes, it’s actually really annoying to constantly update your computer or phone. No one wants their devices knocked out of commission for the few minutes it takes to install an update. But Apple is working on a way to make important security updates easier and more automatic.

iOS and iPadOS 16, along with macOS Ventura, will include something called “Rapid Security Response,” which seems like it’ll let Apple push security updates to your device that don’t require a restart. While some updates will probably still require a reboot (it’s hard to patch an issue with a kernel while the OS is running), the feature could take away at least some of the burden of keeping your device secure.

The company’s also introducing an “extreme” security setting called Lockdown Mode, though most people won’t want to turn it on. Apple says Lockdown Mode will turn off several features that are especially vulnerable to security flaws, and that it’s mostly meant for people who think they may be targeted by expert hackers, such as the ones hired by governments. If that’s you, the feature should be available when iOS 16 and macOS Ventura release. (Plus, wow, you sound very cool. Or very scary.)

The rest of us, though, can just make sure to keep updating our devices whenever new security patches come out — no matter how annoying that is or how frequently it happens.

Apple security flaw ‘actively exploited’ by hackers to fully control devices

The vulnerability has affected various models of the iPhone, iPad and Mac, with experts advising updating products to secure them

Apple disclosed serious security vulnerabilities for iPhones, iPads and Macs that could potentially allow attackers to take complete control of these devices on Wednesday.

The company said it is “aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited”.

The best laptop deals you can get right now

*The MacBook Air equipped with Apple’s M1 processor is our favorite affordable laptop and is often on sale.* | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. While it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers), that’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now.

In addition to the latest deals, we’ll share each discounted model’s best features (and downsides) to give you more clarity during your shopping journey. And if you need to do more research, you can also check out our guides to the best laptops on the market and the top cheap laptops as well.

Best Laptop 2022: Apple MacBook Air M1 — *The 2020 version of the MacBook Air is the best laptop you can buy.*

Macbook Air (M2 model)

We consider the newest MacBook Air with Apple’s M2 processor to be the best laptop for most people, one that offers all-day battery life and a combination of features that should more than suffice for the average user. Plus, Apple’s new MacBook is powerful enough that it can even handle some light gaming and even demanding photo and video editing apps like Photoshop and Adobe Premiere. It’s also faster than its predecessor thanks to Apple’s new M2 chip and offers a 1080p webcam, which is a welcome improvement given the disappointing camera on the 2020 M1 model. It’s much lighter and thus more portable as well, yet it retains features like MagSafe charging and Touch ID, as well as a nice display.

While a terrific laptop overall, there is one key area where Apple’s M1 model is better: storage. The base M2 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage is actually slower than its predecessor because it’s stored in a single NAND chip. Also, be aware as well that port selection isn’t great, and the included display notch — which is also found on both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros — can make using the menu bar more challenging.

If that doesn’t bother you, however, we’re currently seeing the first discount ever on the new MacBook, which launched just a month ago. Right now, you can buy the “starlight” model at Amazon and B&H Photo with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, an eight-core CPU, and a 30W power brick for $1,099, a $100 discount.

MacBook Air (M1 model)

For a cheaper alternative to our favorite laptop for most, look to the base MacBook Air with the M1 chip, which is the best cheap laptop. Like its successor, it offers everything you need. It’s also faster than most Windows laptops at this price point, and handles demanding photo and video editing apps like Photoshop and Adobe Premiere with finesse, especially compared to its Intel-powered predecessors. Thankfully, all that power doesn’t come at the cost of battery life either. While not as good as the M2 model’s, we found that it lasted between eight and ten hours — even when we played the game Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

In addition to offering excellent performance, the laptop also comes with other nice-to-have features, including a comfortable keyboard and an excellent trackpad. Just note its 720p webcam isn’t particularly good, so if a high-resolution webcam matters a lot to you, you may want to buy one separately. Also, be aware that, due to the limitations of the M1 chip, you can only use one external display at a time and port selection is also limited.

Right now, you can buy the M1-powered MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB of storage at Best Buy for $849.99 instead of $999. You can also pick it up at Costco for the same price, if you’re a Costco member, or in-store at Micro Center for $829.

13-inch MacBook Pro (M2 model)

At the moment, the MacBook Pro lineup consists of the newer 14- and 16-inch models released in late 2021 and the 13-inch MacBook Pro that just saw a revision with the M2 processor in mid-2022.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is similar to the M2 MacBook Air but geared toward more demanding use cases. It’s equipped with an M2 processor, unlike its predecessor, but still offers a fan and excellent performance that slightly outshines the M2 Air. Its battery — which we struggled to drain — remains one of its more impressive features, one that allows for up to 18 hours of usage on a single charge. Unfortunately, the laptop still suffers from the same outdated design (and Touch Bar) from 2016, as well as a mediocre, 720p webcam. Plus, there’s no MagSafe charging and you only get a pair of USB-C ports.

Regularly $1,499.99, the M2-equipped MacBook Pro is currently on sale in the 512GB configuration at Best Buy for $1,299.99, its lowest price to date. If you’re in need of additional storage, the 256GB model is also down to just $1,149 ($150 off) at Best Buy.

14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro models)

On the other hand, the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are equipped with faster M1 Pro processors, and you can go up to an M1 Max CPU if you’d like to spend more money for even faster performance. They offer a nice selection of ports as well, including multiple Thunderbolt 4 ports and a MagSafe power connector. No matter what you get, these laptops boast incredible performance with some of the longest-lasting batteries we’ve tested yet.

Right now, the 14-inch, silver model equipped with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is $1,799 ($200 off) on Amazon. You can also save $300 when you buy the 14-inch model with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for $2,199 on Amazon. If you prefer the 16-inch model, you can get it with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for the same price ($300 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.

Best Laptop 2022: ThinkPad X1 Nano — *Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Nano is a great laptop for business travelers because it is so lightweight.*

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is the lightest ThinkPad you can currently buy from Lenovo, yet it still offers great performance in a light package. With its exceptional build quality, along with business-targeted security and management features, we think it’s particularly ideal for business travel. Other features we liked include its 16:10 display and the physical privacy shutter for its webcam, although we wished there were more ports and the battery life was less than average. Right now, Lenovo is selling the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano for $1,363.45 instead of $2,479 when you use promo code THINKCTODEAL1 and buy the model with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an Intel Core i5 processor.

Lenovo Yoga 9i

Lenovo’s 14-inch Yoga 9i is our favorite laptop for multimedia entertainment. The convertible is equipped with fantastic speakers that deliver the best sound we’ve ever heard for a laptop this size. It also comes with an excellent 1080p touchscreen and other perks, including a built-in stylus and a battery life that will last all day. Just note, however, that it does come with bloatware that can be challenging to uninstall, and we found the 16:9 screen relatively cramped and dim.

At the moment, Lenovo is taking hundreds of off various configurations of the Yoga 9i. Right now, for instance, you can purchase the model equipped with 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and an Intel Core i5 processor for $1059.99 ($420 off) from Lenovo when you use promo code YOGAOFFER.

HP Pavilion Aero 13

Need a Windows laptop that’s budget-friendly? HP’s Pavilion Aero 13 is an excellent choice. Weighing just 2.1 pounds, it’s lighter, thinner, and thus more portable than HP’s Envy x360 13, yet still boasts speedy performance. Plus, unlike HP’s Envy x360 13, it offers a more vertically-spacious 16:10 screen that’s surprisingly bright for a laptop in this price range. Its battery life is much better than HP’s Envy x360 13, although, unfortunately, it does come with bloatware, doesn’t feel anywhere near as sturdy in terms of design, and its speakers’ audio quality isn’t very good.

You can currently buy the laptop equipped with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $679.99 instead of $889.99 from HP. Just note this model comes with AMD’s Ryzen 5 processor, which is less powerful than the model we tested offered.

Acer Aspire 5

The Acer Aspire 5 is another budget-friendly laptop to consider. The 15.6-inch laptop doesn't offer Thunderbolt support, but it does feature a wide port selection that includes one USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 1, two USB 3.1 Gen 1, one USB 2.0, one HDMI 2.0, one Ethernet, and a power port. The affordable laptop also features a terrific backlit keyboard that’s comfortable to use and sound quality that punches above its weight class.

There are trade-offs, of course. The battery life is quite poor — the Intel model we tested only lasted around five hours — and it’s loaded with some bloatware. The touchpad can also be hard to use, and the sheer width of the laptop means it might be challenging to store in a backpack. Still, if you just need a laptop that gets the job done, the Aspire 5 is on sale at Amazon right now with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor for $448.50 instead of $495.23.

They Lost Crypto in the Crash. They’re Trying to Get It Back.

They Lost Crypto in the Crash. They’re Trying to Get It Back. In a frenzied effort, investors are trying to recover lost funds from Celsius Network, a crypto firm that imploded this summer.

Major PC modding sites remove Spider-Man mod that replaces in-game pride flags

*Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered.* | Image: Sony

NexusMods and ModDB, two of the biggest online sites for PC game mods, have removed a project that cut the in-game pride flags from the recently-released PC port of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered. As NexusMods explained in a blog post, the mod was uploaded to its site by a brand new account with no modding history, which the site’s administrators suspect is a secondary account for one of the site’s users — a “sock puppet” account.

“It was very clearly done deliberately to be a troll mod,” NexusMods writes. “The fact the user needed to make a sock puppet like a coward to upload the mod showed their intent to troll and that they knew it would not be allowed. Had they not been a coward and had they used their main account instead, we would have simply removed the mod and told them that we did not want to host it, only banning them if they reuploaded it again after being fairly warned. The creation of the sock puppet removed any doubt and made it a very easy decision for us.”

As well as removing the mod, NexusMods says it’s banned both “the sock puppet account and the user’s main account.” The mod replaced the pride flags found around New York City with the United States flag, which is frequently seen in the original game.

Hi! We've removed the content and banned the users. ModDB is an inclusive environment for all and we do not permit targeting marginalised groups. Our content moderation is largely automated but when identified, we have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of content. https://t.co/0leqjUxqJD
— ModDB (@ModDB) August 17, 2022

ModDB, another popular source of mods for PC games, also confirmed in a tweet that it’s removed the mod. “ModDB is an inclusive environment for all and we do not permit targeting marginalized groups,” the tweet reads. “Our content moderation is largely automated but when identified, we have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of content.”

“Our policy is thus: we are for inclusivity, we are for diversity,” NexusMods says in its post. “If we think someone is uploading a mod on our site with the intent to deliberately be against inclusivity and/or diversity then we will take action against it.” A NexusMods help page notes that “content that may be generally construed as provocative, divisive, objectionable, discriminatory, or abusive toward any real-world individual or group, may be subject to moderation.”

“If this policy upsets you, if we’ve broken some moral code of conduct as a business that you can’t accept, then please, delete your account,” NexusMods writes.

It’s a shame, because the PC modding community has otherwise been on excellent form with the mods they’ve been creating for Insomniac’s Spider-Man title, allowing players to swing around the city as everything from Spider-Man antagonist Kingpin to Black Cat, and there have been plenty of mods to adjust the look and colors of Spider-Man’s iconic suit.

Best podcasts of the week: The hunt for an art dealer’s riches hidden in the mountains

In this week’s newsletter: Join host Peter Frick-Wright as he gets to the bottom of a mysterious quest to find Forrest Fenn’s millions. Plus: five of the best fashion podcasts

Don’t get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article here

A glut of intimate, sideways stories in hit podcast Love + Radio, whose whole archive is now available to binge.

A guided yoga practice (yes, really) with a little singer called Dua Lipa in the new series of At Your Service.

The true story of Putin’s “number one enemy”, shot and killed in 2015, in Another Russia.

Why Buying an Electric Car Just Became More Complicated

Why Buying an Electric Car Just Became More Complicated The new climate, tax and health law signed by President Biden extends a credit for electric vehicle buyers. But there are new strings attached that kick in at different times.

Embracer Group’s game buying spree includes rights to Lord of the Rings and Hobbit

Embracer Group has embarked on an acquisition spree today that includes Limited Run Games, Tripwire Interactive, and the IP rights to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. There are five acquisitions in total today, alongside a sixth undisclosed deal for a company in the PC and console gaming space.

The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit rights mean Embracer now has control over movies, video games, board games, merchandising, stage productions, and even theme-park rights for the Tolkien fantasy franchises. This includes Amazon’s very big and expensive take on Lord of the Rings that will debut on Prime Video on September 2nd. Embracer notes that it could even explore “additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn and other characters from the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien.”

Embracer is a huge publishing group that recently acquired big names like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Thief, and already operates more than 100 studios including Borderlands developer Gearbox, Saber Interactive, and THQ Nordic.

*Could we eventually see a Gandalf movie?*

Embracer’s addition of Limited Run Games opens the door to more physical games across its studios and games, as Limited Run is well known for collector’s editions and it often enables smaller developers to be able to create physical copies of their games. Tripwire is known for Killing Floor, Maneater, and Rising Storm. The huge publishing group also announced today the acquisition of home karaoke system Singtrix and Teardown developer Tuxedo Labs.

Embracer has been quietly building its giant publishing group, and it also owns comics and entertainment brand Dark Horse. “I am pleased to welcome an amazing group of entrepreneur-led companies to the Embracer family and to extend our portfolio with some truly remarkable IPs and franchises, including The Lord of the Rings,” says Embracer co-founder and CEO Lars Wingefors in a statement. “It is encouraging that our group has become a natural and preferred buyer of creative, growing and profitable companies within Gaming and Entertainment.”

The five acquisitions announced today are around $577 million in total upfront costs, and there’s even a sixth secret purchase that Embracer isn’t disclosing yet. “Embracer has entered into agreement to acquire another company within PC / console gaming that, for commercial reasons, is not disclosed today,” explains a financial filing. “The purchase price for this un-disclosed acquisition is in the range of being among either third or fourth largest of the transactions.”

Embracer’s buying spree comes months after its deal to acquire Square Enix’s three major Western game studios, and amid huge acquisitions across the gaming industry. Sony acquired Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion, and Take-Two spent $12.7 billion on FarmVille maker Zynga. Microsoft is also in the process of its giant Activision Blizzard acquisition for $68.7 billion.

mercredi 17 août 2022

Wordle’s upgraded Wordlebot has a new recommended starting word

Wordle Smartphone Game — *No, it’s not “words.”* | photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

The New York Times has made a few upgrades to its Wordle assistant WordleBot, and that includes a new recommended starting word: SLATE. Previously, it recommended CRANE, but now you might want to slate this new one into your repertoire.

The NYT introduced WordleBot in April as a “daily companion” to help analyze your Wordle play, and with WordleBot 2.0, the team has made some changes. One of the bigger changes is that the bot no longer limits its analysis to the subset of five letter words that are known Wordle solutions — that is, it’s thinking more like a typical human player would. Previously, the bot could have judged you harshly for guessing a legit word that, for whatever reason, isn’t one of the possible Wordle solutions, which could feel unfair. Now, the bot has its own dictionary of approximately 4,500 words that it thinks players might reasonably guess, and it assigns each of them the probability of being a solution, according to the NYT’s post about the updates.

As a result of the adjustments, the recommended starting word has changed to SLATE from CRANE on regular mode and to LEAST from DEALT in hard mode. That means, in theory, SLATE or LEAST are better starters if you’re playing off the top of your head, rather than with a known list of possible solutions on hand. (Though if you’ve grown attached to CRANE or DEALT, the NYT says that both are still excellent openers. About a quarter of WordleBot users started with CRANE today, so the bot clearly has some influence on people’s play.) The NYT has also added some new stats like a rating for information gained from a certain guess.

The upgrades all sound pretty handy, but unfortunately, WordleBot is still only available to paying Times Games, News, or All Access subscribers. If you’re an active Wordle player, though, the new bot could be an enticing reason to sign up for one of those subscriptions. Also, it has great sneakers.