Meta links Instagram’s NFT posts to Facebook as the market for ‘digital collectibles’ tanks
Photo by MTV VMA 22/Getty Images
Meta has been testing support for NFT “digital collectible” posts on Instagram since May, and if you’re among the expanding group of people with access, then you can now share posts with your blockchain-verified items on Facebook as well. According to an updated blog post from the company, it’s “started giving people the ability to post digital collectibles that they own across both Facebook and Instagram,” after they connect their digital wallets to either platform.
The posts will basically look like normal posts, according to a screenshot the company tweeted, but will have a badge marking them as a “digital collectible.”
Image: Meta
NFT Posts on Instagram that link to Facebook
The FAQ has a lot of details about how the connections work and keeping your account secure, which is important since linking NFTs to Facebook and Instagram likely increases the possibility that people who post them will be targeted with phishing attempts, which have successfully hijacked wallets and their associated items on multipleoccasions.
The timing of this latest expansion and sharing across Facebook is conspicuously timed, popping up the day after Eminem and Snoop Dogg performed their Bored Ape Yacht Club-linked collaboration at MTV’s VMAs. Judging by the responses to that event, existing NFT fans seemed energized, but other music lovers weren’t as impressed.
This was one of the first stories I read after leaving the dentist today. Now I'm wishing the tooth drilling went on for a few more hours...
lmao this isn't historic it's kinda depressing. this looks like the same sort of awkward video we saw constantly in the late '90s when everyone was so excited to test the boundaries of 3d CG stuff in videos...and they all look dated now.
Despite the performance, or perhaps because owners wanted to hold onto their NFTs and hope the values appreciate this afternoon, the BAYC ranked only fourth in a list of most active collections.
Forbes reports data listed on DappRadar shows trading volume on one of the largest NFT marketplaces, OpenSea, has fallen by 99 percent in the last four months alone. On May 1st, the marketplace had over $2.7 billion in transactions, compared to $9.34 million worth on Sunday. Another tracker on Dune Analytics shows how far sales volume has fallen from the peak. Somehow, this makes it the perfect time for social networks like Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook / Instagram to belatedly hop in — according to Reddit’s CEO, the secret is to not say NFT.
Tesla can’t stop employees from wearing union swag, labor board rules
Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge
Union swag at Tesla is in. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said that Tesla’s current dress code policy was unlawful. Specifically, the part where it only allowed employees to wear Tesla or other pre-approved black tee shirts. That policy meant union swag was not allowed — a hindrance to anyone trying to organize or show union solidarity.
Tesla’s policy went into effect in 2017, and employees were reportedly told they couldn’t wear shirts baring the United Auto Workers logo. Tesla attempted to justify its dress policy to the board claiming that its black shirts prevent damage to cars and it needed to maintain “visual management” of its employees. The NLRB rejected this.
“With today’s decision, the Board reaffirms that any attempt to restrict the wearing of union clothing or insignia is presumptively unlawful,” said NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran. Special circumstances continue to exist and allow employers to apply minor restrictions, such as size and location of the union insignia.
A prominent example of a “special circumstance” classification is how Wal-Mart argued that customer-facing employees needed to maintain professional attire. While it might be difficult for union supporters at Tesla to wear a red shirt (the common color for union solidarity) with the UAW logo, Tesla cannot restrict them from wearing the logo itself.
Tesla enforced a rule prohibiting the wearing of t-shirts with any logo besides the Tesla logo during a union drive.
The employer would allow employees to wear their own black t-shirts with supervisory approval, but not black t-shirts with a union logo.
Labor organizing at Tesla wasn’t halted by the dress code. In 2019, a judge ruled that the company had been sabotaging unionization efforts. The NLRB also forced Musk to delete anti-union tweets from 2018. In March of this year Tesla CEO Elon Musk even invited the UAW to hold a union vote. That was less a call for protecting labor rights at the company and more an apparent dare on Twitter to prove unionization isn’t necessary at Tesla. “I’d like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them.” Musk said at the time.
While no vote has happened, organizers should have an easier time showing solidarity thanks to the NLRB’s latest ruling.
Samsung’s Z Fold 4 passes durability tests, but how will it hold up long term?
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the latest in the line of Samsung’s foldables to endure JerryRigEverything’s torture test that subjects devices to razor blades, lighters, and handfuls of dirt. Like the Fold 3 and Fold 2 before it, the Fold 4 managed to survive the test, albeit with quite a few scratches and some burnt-up pixels.
But the real question is whether the Fold 4 can pass the test of time. Samsung has taken significant steps toward improving the durability of its lines of foldables, making them water resistant, as well as adding stronger screens with a more rigid aluminum frame. And while the company has released videos — both this year and the last — designed to inspire confidence about the durability of its devices, they still don’t indicate how well they’ll fare with years of use.
Users reported experiencing several issues, including crackedscreens and noticeable creases, shortly after purchasing new Galaxy Z Flip 3 or Fold 3 devices last year. But even if users didn’t have issues upon purchasing the foldable last year, for some owners, they’re starting to crop up now. Zoe Kleinman, a technology editor at the BBC, posted on Twitter that her Galaxy Z Flip 3 has developed a crack where the device creases, making both the bottom and top half of the device unusable. SeveralusersonReddit have also been put in similar situations months out from their purchase.
The release of the first Galaxy Z Fold in 2019 was notably delayed due to a faulty screen, and Samsung has obviously come a long way since then. While Samsung advertises its Z Fold 4 as “unbelievable tech built to last,” it describes its Z Flip 4 as having “serious durability [that] lets you flex and flip to your heart’s content” and lasts you 200,000 folds. While that may be true in lab conditions, everyday wear and tear over an extended period of time can be harder to predict.
Thankfully, Samsung has lowered the cost to repair the screens on a Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4 to $29 — but only if you’re subscribed to Samsung’s Care Plus service, which costs $8 to $11 / month, depending on the device you’ve purchased. Without the plan (and if you’re not covered under warranty), you could wind up paying $499 to replace the Z Fold 4’s inner screen or $357 to repair it. The Z Flip 4 is slightly less expensive, costing $349 for an inner screen replacement and $219 for a repair. First and second-gen Flip and Fold devices (assuming you still have one that hasn’t needed a replacement yet) are eligible for cheaper one-time screen replacements that start at $119, however.
When Myanmar’s military ordered telecom companies to shut down access to Twitter in February 2021, one Twitter user in Mumbai who was posting critically about the Indian government realised he had lost access to the social media platform. He sent a message on Signal to a friend: “Am I imagining this? I may be being paranoid, but why am I having access difficulties with Twitter?” He was not paranoid. Myanmar’s Twitter block had accidentally cut Twitter access to at least half a billion internet users. The same dynamic was repeated in March 2022, when Russia inadvertently cut access to Twitter across Europe with a block designed for its own people.
The mechanics of the internet mean that blocks on access imposed by one country may leach over the borders on to neighbouring populations, or even be felt half a world away by users in different continents.
On 1 February 2021, reporter Ko Zin Lin Htet received a panicked phone call from a source in the Burmese capital, Yangon. The caller said the military had seized power and was arresting opposition politicians, then hung up. Ko Zin Lin Htet remembered what he did next: “I checked my phone and my internet connection. There was nothing there.”
He got on his motorbike and drove to the parliament, where he saw military personnel, not police, guarding the buildings. At that moment, Ko Zin Lin Htet realised there had been a coup – and that by cutting internet access, the new junta had thrown the country back into the pre-internet era.
Movie tickets at many theaters will cost just $3 on National Cinema Day
National Cinema Day has 3,000 participating theaters so far. | Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images
Movie tickets across the US will cost just $3 on Saturday, September 3rd in celebration of National Cinema Day (via Associated Press). If you’ve never heard of such a holiday before (at least in the US), that’s because it never existed until now, apparently.
The $3 ticket price (not including tax) applies across all tickets, formats, and showtimes — and yes, this includes IMAX and 3D movies. So far, a growing list of 3,000 theaters, including popular chains, like Regal, Cinemark, and AMC, have agreed to take part in the new holiday.
You might not want to count out your local, independently-run theaters, either. In a list of participating theaters viewed by The Verge, we spotted several smaller locations, like the Starmax Cinemas in Vandalia, Illinois, and the Wellfleet Cinema drive-in (a personal favorite) on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. You can find out if theaters near you are participating by entering your location on the National Cinema Day website. Participating theaters will also show a “special sneak peek” of upcoming movies from various studios, including Disney, Universal, Lionsgate, Paramount, Warner Bros., and more.
The Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by the National Association of Theatre Owners earlier this year, came up with National Cinema Day as a way to encourage people to return to the theaters. Labor Day weekend is a notoriously slow time for movie theaters due to a lack of new releases, but perhaps National Cinema Day could help change that. I, personally, haven’t seen a movie in theaters since 2019’s Joker, so maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me it’s time for a trip to the theaters.
But this summer had an impressive number of people returning to theaters, thanks to blockbusters like Thor: Love and Thunder and Jordan Peele’s horror film Nope. According to data from Comscore, this summer’s box office raked in $3.027 billion, a 134.6 percent increase when compared to last summer. The imminent return of the Moviepass subscription could perhaps play a role in getting people back to theaters in the future, too (potentially to the dismay of theaters).
“After this summer’s record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing,” Jackie Brenneman, the Cinema Foundation’s president said in a statement. “We’re doing it by offering a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven’t made it back yet.”
Trademark filings point to ‘Reality’ branding for Apple’s mixed reality headset
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Trademark filings spotted by Bloomberg suggest Apple might incorporate “Reality” in the name and branding of its long-rumored mixed reality headset. Three separate filings show trademarks for “Reality One,” “Reality Pro,” and “Reality Processor,” matching the realityOS name that cropped up in Apple’s code and a trademark application that potentially refers to the headset’s operating system.
The applications weren’t filed by Apple itself, but by a company called Immersive Health Solutions, LLC. Companies like Apple often use the names of shell companies when filing for a patent or trademark to help keep their plans private. But, as Bloomberg points out, the Delaware-based Immersive Health Solutions was registered by Corporation Trust Co. — another shell company that also appeared on the realityOS trademark.
In addition to the US, applications were also filed in the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay. All three filings mention “virtual and augmented reality headsets, goggles, glasses, and smartglasses.” It’s possible that the “Reality One” trademark refers to the name of the headset itself, while “Reality Pro” indicates a spec-boosted version that Apple has planned down the road, in line with the same “Pro” moniker Apple applies to its higher-end devices. Meanwhile, the name “Reality Processor” may allude to the headset’s processing unit, which is rumored to be an M2 chip.
The Verge staff talk about their favorite backpacks and other bags
Photo: Mission Workshop
In August 2021, we asked the staff of The Verge to tell us about their go-to laptop bags. Now, a year later, some are still using the same bags — but not all.
It’s surprising how attached you can get to a bag — especially the bag that you use to carry your laptop, your sweater, your lunch, your notebook, your exercise shoes, your kids’ diapers, or any of the other stuff you need. Whether you’re heading to the office, visiting a friend, hanging in a coffee shop, going on a hike, or just sitting outdoors to read or work, having a bag that can accommodate everything on your “gotta have this” list can help you avoid a lot of aggravation.
So, here’s this year’s staff picks — some old, some new. Most of the staff wrote about their backpacks, but toward the end, we’ve added a few different types of bags as well.
I got a large Timbuk2 messenger bag in 2015 — just in time to haul it around a CES show floor — after wearing out a few smaller options from fancier brands. (According to one company’s associate, in hitherto-undiscovered ways; I am very hard on my accessories.) It’s comfortable, low-profile, fairly affordable, and has a big main compartment with as many little sub-pockets as I could ever want. The only downsides are a) I feel sort of basic when a co-worker shows off some gorgeous Peak Design product and b) I like it so much that I feel like I must have struck an unwitting faustian bargain with a trickster god. Unfortunately, it looks like Timbuk2 doesn’t offer the customization options I got anymore, so maybe the catch is that I can never buy another one that feels just right. — Adi Robertson, senior reporter
Most of the time, I use a Timbuk2 Authority backpack, which I like because it distributes the weight of the laptop and whatever else I’m lugging around nicely. There are a bunch of compartments, which contain some accessories for my laptop, plus eye drops, a contact case and solution, and the various over-the-counter medications (ibuprofen, anti-histamines, guaifenesin) that I don’t leave home without. However, sometimes I wish to convey to the people around me that I’m a fancy fucking lady, and then I use Cuyana’s Classic Leather Tote, with the Tote Organization Insert, which has a laptop pocket. Both bags are good at accommodating a great deal of nonsense, but if I’m traveling, I can pull the insert out of the Cuyana bag and carry it to — for instance — a wedding. Also, people are (or were, pre-pandemic) nicer to me at airports when I lugged it instead of a backpack. — Liz Lopatto, senior reporter
[Note: the Cuyana Classic Leather Tote has since been replaced by the Cuyana Classic Easy Tote.]
The Tom Binh Synapse 25 is quite expensive for a backpack (though I assume some of that cost comes from the fact that it’s made in Seattle), but I knew that it had been a good buy when I was stuck out in the rain with it all night and it kept my stuff dry. That same week, I had to jump on a plane and go across the country for a week, and I was able to fit all my clothes and electronics into it and use it as a single carry-on.
Since then, I’ve taken it on dozens of trips, and have subjected it to muddy outdoor worksites for hours on end. It’s held up to everything remarkably well, and has been one of the most well-built and thoughtfully designed bags I’ve had the pleasure of using. The main compartment perfectly fits a laptop and a few packing cubes, and the water bottle pocket is right in the center of the bag, keeping it from weighing too heavily on one shoulder. The zippers feel great, and I absolutely love the orange color I got it in, as well as how tough the material feels. Overall, it feels like it strikes the perfect balance: it’s tough (and light) enough for prolonged outdoor use, while still being classy enough to tote your laptop and lunch to the office. — Mitchell Clark, news writer
I see I’m not the only person with a Timbuk2 bag, so I’ll just join the chorus to recommend my personal bag, the Custom Prospect Laptop backpack. It has a good-sized laptop flap (Timbuk2 advertises a 15-inch screen fit, and it’s always held my MacBook Airs comfortably), a spacious interior, and a handy flap up top that lets you add a little extra space to the interior of the bag. I’ve had mine for nearly seven years, even using it for my weekly grocery store runs, and it’s held up like a champ throughout. Plus, with this bag, you can personalize it with your favorite colors or reflective material. —Jay Peters, news writer
A couple of years ago, I picked up the Black Diamond Creek Transit 32 for what once was my daily commute downtown. While I wish it looked a bit more professional at times — most Black Diamond equipment is built for the climbing crag, not the cubicle — I’ve always appreciated it for its relative simplicity and the sheer amount of gear it can carry. The 32-liter pack takes a cue from the company’s ultra-durable haul bags, and as such, it’s made with a waterproof shell and ballistic nylon that can take a bit of a beating (I’ve tested this). It also features a cushioned, 15-inch laptop compartment on the rear, a zippered top lid, and separate bottom compartment where I can stash my gym clothes, running attire, and — yes — a decrepit pair of climbing shoes for those times when I decide to take it bouldering outside the city limits. — Brandon Widder, senior editor, commerce
After months of searching and fretting over the width of straps, ease of entry, and general bulk of profile, I finally picked up the Mission Workshop’s The Monty Advanced (now called The Monty: AP) messenger bag in brown canvas. The strap on it is big and padded enough that it won’t dig in if I’m carrying a couple of laptops, a bunch of camera gear, and the general odds and ends I cram in a bag, and the quick release makes it easy for me to adjust the bag so it fits closer to the body on longer walks. It’s also totally waterproof, a thing I accidentally tested on day two when I was caught in a deluge. But if there is a spill, the lining is easy to clean — it has handled chicken curry and rum punch with more aplomb than my stomach lining. I love that it can switch between being a flap-style bag or a roll top, depending on how much stuff I’ve tried to pack in. But its style definitely skews rugged.
When I need a little more professional bag I use a the Telfar Medium Tan Shopping Bag, which a friend sold me on by saying it could hold a 15-inch laptop, charger, wallet, and two bottles of wine. She was correct. — Alex Cranz, managing editor
“Laptop bag” to me is any bag that fits a laptop but also gets jam-packed with too much camera equipment. The slightly unwieldy but lovely Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L has been my main work bag for well over two years (I have the first-gen version), and it has traveled with me all over the country and beyond while holding up to abuse and looking clean in its charcoal colorway. I have at times packed it with multiple full-size camera bodies, lenses, and accessories, along with either a 16-inch MacBook Pro (which is easily swallowed up in its laptop pocket) or a 13-inch MacBook Air that takes a cave-diving excursion into its inner depths. The structuring of this bag and the way gear is meant to slot into its three shelves and pocket walls with side-access may not be for everyone, but if you want to carry a lot of camera and tech-adjacent gear, it offers lots of versatility. Do yourself a favor and try to make the smaller 20L version work for your needs, so when you inevitably overpack it you can save your back more than I do with the 30L. — Antonio G. Di Benedetto, writer, commerce
I found the Mystery Ranch Urban Assault 18 at a warehouse sale and it has since become my go-to for every occasion. It is not geared toward tech but has two laptop sleeves and three mesh pockets that fit my dongles, books, laptop, small tripod, camera, and personal items with room to spare. It also makes heavy loads easy to carry for long periods with super comfortable shoulder straps and a chest strap. The best part about it, though, is the way it zippers down the middle. This has been great for taking out single items even if they are packed at the bottom. I thought I would never quit my Chrome backpacks but the Mystery Ranch is lighter, more comfortable for long trips, and the vertical zipper is now a must-have for me. — Becca Farsace, senior producer
It’s okay to like a backpack with lots of pockets (and, from looking at the rest of this article, many of my colleagues do). Sleeves for laptops, side pockets for pens, mesh lining for sunglasses. Whatever. And reader, I was once one of those people. But after using the Errant backpack for a little over a year, I came to the conclusion that sometimes it’s possible to overthink things. I mean, sure, the Errant was great when I was commuting every day with exactly the same combination of laptop, notebook, and other work accessories. But the second I needed to carry around something else — like groceries — I found the sheer amount of extra pockets just ate away at valuable bag space.
So instead, for the past two years, I’ve been using the simplest backpack I could find. It has one big compartment that holds everything from my laptop to a sweater or a grocery shopping trip, with one small compartment for pens and chargers. I don’t have to think about which compartment to put everything in, and I don’t have to spend any time organizing anything because everything inevitably becomes a mess the second I zip the bag up. But you know what? I haven’t spent any time thinking about backpacks since buying this thing two and a half years ago. And that’s exactly the way I like it. — Jon Porter, reporter
Years ago, while wandering through the gift shop in a museum, I was struck by a large shoulder bag made from a lovely, tapestry-like material. It had a zipper running down the length of its main strap so that, if you unzipped it, one strap became two and the bag could be worn like a backpack. I spent a long time trying to convince myself I didn’t really need it, until eventually my partner grabbed it and bought it for me — and I’ve used it constantly ever since.
The Danny K Classic Backpack isn’t “classic” by any means — as I said, it is basically a shoulder bag that converts to a backpack. It’s also not quite large enough for a laptop. But it’s got loads of pockets and accommodates a lot of stuff — including my phone, a charger, a small tablet, a folded-up rain jacket, a water bottle, and more. It also looks great. I’ve used mine until some of the tapestry has begun to unravel, but even that sort of adds to its feel of something old-fashioned but still useful. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
For obvious reasons, I wasn’t going out very much in 2020. I did not need my lipstick. I did not need a notebook. I did not need my cellphone charger. I did not need a light sweater, or a book, or a place to tuck away a half-empty bottle of sparkling water. When I did leave my house, what I needed was my phone, my keys, and my wallet. And honestly, I didn’t even really need my whole wallet since both the grocery store and the liquor store took Apple Pay.
So I bought the Lululemon Everywhere belt bag (a nice euphemism for a fanny pack) in very practical all-purpose black. It’s smaller than other belt bags I’d looked at and also features mesh pockets on the inside — good for stashing your phone or keys so you can open the bag on the go without fear of important things falling out. There’s also a nice little outside zipper pocket on the side of the bag that faces the body, which is a good spot for a transit card, folded mask, or vaccination record.
I’ve been using the bag regularly for two years, and it’s worn well — no scratches, no tears, no fading, and no issues with the zippers or pockets. I adjust the strap to sling it cross-body over my torso or to wear it around my waist (like a true fanny pack), depending on how dorky I’m feeling at any given time. It’s perfect for errands, great for a walk, and it’s even useful when traveling. (I wear mine at the airport and then tuck it away into my larger “personal item” backpack when it’s time to board the plane.)
The only problem with this bag is that it got TikTok-famous this year, which I guess I should have known once I saw half the people in my neighborhood walking around with some version of my bag in various colors. If you manage to catch a restock, you won’t regret it. — Sarah Jeong, deputy features editor
[Note: Until the Everywhere Belt Bag is available, we’ve substituted the Lululemon Athletica Wunderlust Belt Bag.]
Although not a bag per se but, rather, a tool for bag organization, I swear by packing cubes. I wasn’t always a diehard fan of packing cubes, though; I’m actually a recent convert. Having schlepped across multiple continents with a carry-on, I consider myself a pretty efficient traveler, so I shrugged off the need for packing cubes for years. It wasn’t until I began to regularly visit a friend every few months in New York City that I had to reevaluate.
My suitcase would explode across her apartment, and I became the house guest every New Yorker hates to have. My piles of clothes simply took up too much room. Finally, begrudgingly, I ordered a set of packing cubes to help contain my various outfits, supplies, and laundry. To my surprise, they not only worked but I also fell in love with them. I won’t travel without them now. I can pack more, save on space, and best of all, I only pull out one cube as needed instead of rummaging around in an unorganized suitcase. — Kaitlin Hatton, audience manager
It’s been over a decade since I had a commute, and while I have a few backpacks in rotation (including an ancient Tom Bihn Brain Bag and an Evergoods Civic Panel Loader), I wouldn’t qualify either as a favorite. The Brain Bag is a bit floppy, and the CPL has excellent construction but a few confounding design flaws — most since rectified. But technically, the prompt for this article was “favorite way to carry your stuff around.” If a child counts as stuff, then I do have a favorite: the BabyBjörn Baby Carrier One Air.
The Björn, as we invariably call it (“would you like to björn the baby, or shall I?”) is comfortable, versatile, and can haul kids either front- or rear-facing — or even on your back. Ours has survived seven years and three kids, and we’ve used it everywhere from grocery stores and zoos to hikes in the woods. It’s especially clutch for travel. Passengers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport earlier this month witnessed me sprinting across the terminal toward our gate with a 27-pound two-year-old on my front and a backpack on my back. We made the flight. — Nathan Edwards, senior editor, reviews
Update August 28th, 2022, 1:24PM ET:This article was originally published on August 19th, 2021. Prices have been updated, and several new bags have been added.
Nichelle Nichols’ ashes will voyage to space aboard a Vulcan rocket
Nichelle Nichols died on July 30th, 2022 at age 89. | Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Ovation
The ashes of Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek, will get sent into deep space on a rocket that memorializes her and several other Star Trek veterans (via Reuters). Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, donated her ashes after she died in July at age 89.
Nichols’ ashes will head to space on a rocket fittingly called the Vulcan Centaur, with the memorial spaceflight company, Celestis, running the “Enterprise Flight” mission. There still isn’t a set date for the send-off, and it will likely depend on the United Launch Alliance’s ongoing development of the Vulcan rocket.
During the mission, Nichols will be joined by the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Barrett, who starred as the series’ nurse Christine Chapel. James Doohan, who played the Enterprise’s engineer, Scotty, and the visual effects artist Douglas Trumbell, who’s known for his work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Blade Runner, will also be on board.
When the rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral, it will carry over 200 capsules containing ashes, DNA samples, as well the names, messages, and pictures provided by users from around the globe. Celestis will store the capsules in the rocket’s upper stage, which will get sent between 150 million and 300 million kilometers into space and orbit the Sun.
Nichols’ was a pioneer in the film industry and became the first Black woman to hold a major role on television. Her legacy extends off-screen too, as she served as an advocate for NASA to encourage the recruitment of astronauts from underrepresented backgrounds. She’s credited with helping get the first Black man, Colonel Guion Bluford, and the first woman, Sally Ride, to space.
Google Meet is stealing Zoom’s trick to easily unmute
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
As Google carries out the needlessly complex process of combining both the Meet and Duo apps, now it’s throwing a feature copied from Zoom in the mix. In an update on the Google Workspace blog, the company announced that Google Meet will soon give you the ability to unmute yourself by holding down the spacebar and to mute yourself again by releasing it.
If you frequently use Zoom, this feature might sound a lot like its push-to-talk feature — and that’s because it’s essentially the same thing. Zoom has had the feature since at least 2020, and it comes in handy whenever you want to chime in during a meeting but don’t want to stay unmuted for long.
Google says it'll start rolling out its own version of the shortcut to all Workspace users on September 9th, but it could take up to 15 days for you to see it. Once it arrives, it won’t be turned on by default, so you’ll have to enable it from Google Meet’s settings.
Confusingly, Google’s efforts to merge Duo and Meet have left us with the new Meet app (the one that combines both Duo and Meet), the old Meet (Original) app, and a Duo shortcut that leads to Meet. It’s truly something only Google could think up. That said, I’m pretty sure the new push-to-talk feature’s coming to the new Google Meet app, but it’s still not exactly clear whether it’s coming to the Meet (Original) app, as Google will eventually discontinue it. The Verge reached out to Google to see if it could clear things up but didn’t immediately hear back.
SwitchBot Lock review: a tiny robot hand that unlocks your door
Yes, it looks as weird as it sounds, but it works well as a basic smart lock
The $99 SwitchBot Lock is the first smart door lock I’ve tested that doesn’t replace any part of your existing lock. Instead, it attaches to the back of your door over the top of the thumb turn. This removes a major pain point of smart locks: an involved installation. But the SwitchBot Lock is really odd looking — my husband literally stopped in his tracks and said, “What is that thing?” I had a similar reaction when I first saw it and was wholly unconvinced this large piece of black plastic would have the power to unlock my deadbolt.
I was surprised to discover that the SwitchBot Lock moves that thumb turn just as well as I can, and it stayed firmly put during my two weeks of testing, despite being attached solely by double-sided sticky tape. (No word yet on long-term durability, but it looks promising so far).
The downsides are that it’s not very smart and it’s missing a few key features (haha). You also need around $70 worth of accessories to add smart home control and a keypad. This puts it closer in price to more elegant-looking solutions, such as the $230 August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, which needs a bit more work to install but doesn’t leave you with a honking great piece of plastic on your door.
The SwitchBot Lock is a retrofit Bluetooth-powered smart door lock that can lock and unlock your door using the SwitchBot app on a smartphone or Apple Watch. (It’s not Home Key compatible). It attaches to your door using 3M VHB tape and uses a small plastic grabber to hold on to and turn the lock’s thumb turn.
That grabber can turn anything. Videos in Amazon reviews show it even turning a key, making this an excellent solution for people with nontraditional door locks and multipoint locks who can’t get any other smart lock to work (see a list here). It’s cleverly engineered with shifting base plates that prevent the lock from twisting itself off while turning the lock.
This is SwitchBot’s thing: making regular devices smart. They have a little bot that presses your light switch for you and a robot that crawls along your curtain rod to open and close the curtains. This one is a robot hand for your door lock. It comes with three different-sized adapters, so you can find the right fit for your setup. The SwitchBot Lock doesn’t remove any function — you can still use your key, and you can still turn the deadbolt manually; it just adds the ability to use your phone or watch as your key.
The Keypad Touch adds a fingerprint reader for another way to unlock your door.
There are a total of seven ways to control the door lock: your key, the smartphone / Apple Watch app, NFC tags using your phone, a key code using a keypad, a fingerprint reader, an NFC keycard, and smart home / voice control. That’s a lot of options — although only the first three work out of the box.
The keypad and door lock.
For the keycard, keypad, or fingerprint entry, you’ll need one of SwitchBot’s two Bluetooth keypads. These attach with double-sided tape (or screws if you prefer). I tested the fingerprint version, which costs $60, and it worked quickly and reliably.
The non-fingerprint version is only $30, but fingerprint access is my favorite way to use a smart door lock. The keypads also work with NFC keycards. (One is supplied and you can buy a three-pack for $15.) Although, if you have a keypad, I don’t see a need for a keycard, as you can dole out permanent, temporary, and one-time codes to anyone who needs access. Annoyingly, six digits is the minimum here, which is a lot of digits.
If you don’t go for the extra keypads, another unlock option is using the two NFC tags that come with the lock. You can pair those to your phone to lock or unlock the door with a tap of your phone. But you have to use two tags: one to lock and one to unlock. Sticking two white pieces of plastic on your door does not improve the overall look here, and if you have your phone out already, using the iOS or Android lock screen widget is almost as fast.
The SwitchBot does work with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Siri Shortcuts (but not HomeKit), so you can use voice commands to lock and unlock the door and add the lock into smart home Routines (Alexa and Google only).
But you need a $40 SwitchBot Hub Mini to connect the lock to Wi-Fi and make these integrations; the lock itself communicates over Bluetooth. You also need the hub to control the lock or check its status when you’re not at home using the SwitchBot app. The hub works with all of SwitchBot’s gadgets but needs to be installed near the lock.
Operating the SwitchBot with an Apple Watch over Bluetooth.
I installed the SwitchBot Lock on my back door, which is a main entryway to our house. It leads into our mudroom from our garage and gets a lot of foot traffic. The fingerprint reader and keypad made it easy for my children to use the lock — no need to download an app. Without those, though, there is not an easy way for a kid without a smartphone to access the door.
I was also disappointed that the notifications when the door is unlocked didn’t show which code or fingerprint was used. This is a common feature on other smart locks and one I personally use to help keep track of my older kids’ comings and goings when I’m at work. I could check the log in the app to see who unlocked it, though.
Locking and unlocking are fast when controlling it with the keypad, but the phone app takes over five seconds to connect — very irritating if you’re standing in the rain. The Apple Watch connects more quickly, and if you didn’t have a keypad, is the easiest way to control the lock. All these interactions are over Bluetooth, so you must stand by the lock. To control it remotely with the app or voice control, you need the hub.
The top of the lock pops off for battery replacement and to adjust the lock to fit your door.
Setup and installation were quick, under 5 minutes in all. This is one of the lock’s biggest selling points, but it also wasn’t entirely straightforward. There’s a bit of lining up to do to make sure the lock will turn before you tape it to the door, and you need to use a small screwdriver (supplied) to adjust the spacing of the lock. Cleverly, it attaches in any direction, vertically or horizontally, so you can fit it around your door handle. It also comes with a magnet to sense when the door is open or closed, although I could still lock it remotely while it was wide open without any alert or notification.
The SwitchBot app is basic. There’s no way to create schedules to lock or unlock the door at a set time of day, and the auto-lock feature was very spotty. It only worked with both the “Lock after a set period of time” and the “Re-lock if the door has been unlocked but not opened” toggles on, and even then, it was unreliable. This seems like a software bug that may get fixed. But it did mean I had to get my phone out to lock the door (there are iOS and Android lock screen widgets to make this quicker), use the Apple Watch app, or use my key. When I added the keypad, though, I could hit a button to lock it.
There are some useful notification options, including when the door is locked, if the door has been left unlocked, and if it’s been left ajar after a certain amount of time. Notifications require the hub to work, and really, they should just sell this with the hub. It definitely makes it a better smart lock. With the hub, I could connect to Alexa and add the lock to an Alexa Routine that automatically locked it every night at sunset.
It works, but it doesn’t look like it should work.
The SwitchBot Lock a good option for renters who can’t change their door lock at all or for those who can’t or won’t remove any part of their existing deadbolt. It does need to stick to the doorframe using a heavy-duty adhesive, which will likely take some paint with it if you ever remove it. Similar retrofit options from August, Wyze, and Bosma require removing the rear deadbolt, and they all cost over $100.
But its smart features are limited to controlling the lock locally with your phone, Apple Watch, or existing key. When you add in the Wi-Fi hub, you get away-from-home control and more useful smart home integrations, but only with Google Home and Alexa; there’s no HomeKit support and limited IFTTT integration. (The lock is only a trigger, not an action.)
If you also add in the keypad — especially the fingerprint one — this becomes a much more useful proposition, but then you’re knocking on $170, closer to the price of less ugly options with better smarts that don’t require all this extra equipment (but do require removing some or all of your door lock). These include the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock plus Keypad and the Eufy Smart Lock Touch with Wi-Fi (fingerprint reader and keypad in one but a full lock replacement).
The biggest benefit of this lock is its versatility. You can even use two on one door to deal with multipoint locking. Its ability to grab pretty much any type of locking mechanism, including a key, means it may be the only smart solution that works for your door.
Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach lawsuit ends in 11th hour settlement
Dramatic move shows Mark Zuckerberg ‘desperate to avoid being questioned over cover-up’, says Observer journalist who exposed scandal
Facebook has dramatically agreed to settle a lawsuit seeking damages for allowing Cambridge Analytica access to the private data of tens of millions of users, four years after theObserverexposed the scandal that mired the tech giant in repeated controversy.
A court filing reveals that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has in principle settled for an undisclosed sum a long-running lawsuit that claimed Facebook illegally shared user data with the UK analysis firm.
Rise of the parking app makes the rich richer as motorists struggle
Digital parking has spread rapidly across Britain, but campaigners say it is stressful or inaccessible for many
All summer, exasperated motorists have been jabbing at their phones, trying to download and install yet another parking app. Then follows the interminable chore of entering card details and number plate, which may ultimately be derailed by poor phone signal or a glitchy app.
Anti-ageism campaigners say navigating the process can be overwhelming for some older people who, in the words of the veteran consumer champion Dame Esther Rantzen, risk being “imprisoned at home”.
The best £6 I ever spent! 31 small items that could make your life a tiny bit better
Ducky toast tongs, candle sharpeners and an apple tree … our writers name one gadget, gizmo or thing they didn’t know they couldn’t live without
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful,” William Morris said. I’m fussier. Have nothing in your wardrobe that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful.
TikTok has the ability to track every tap of your screen while you browse in its iOS app, including typed passwords and clicked links, according to new research by software engineer Felix Krause.
In-app browsing refers to any activity on third-party sites that open in the app, rather than in an external window.
Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg won’t be deposed over the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Illustration by William Joel / The Verge
Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg were in line to give hours of depositions in response to a lawsuit over Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal, but now that won’t happen — the company has reached a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs. As reported earlier by Reuters, a court filing reveals the parties have reached an agreement in principle and requested a stay of 60 days to finalize their written agreement. Without the settlement and stay, they would have been deposed before September 20th.
You can read the document for yourself below, but so far, there are no details about the terms of the agreement. Meta, as the company is now known, declined to comment via a spokesperson, while lawyers for the plaintiffs have not yet responded to an inquiry from The Verge. Still, I’d guess that keeping things from going any further is worth a lot of money to Meta, no matter how much it’s spending on VR.
Now, Zuckerberg will only have to take questions from Joe Rogan and talk about new VR headsets, instead of going under oath in front of opposing counsel about the details of what happened within his company around the time of the 2016 election.
The lawsuit alleged that Facebook illegally shared user data with third parties, and said the company didn’t adequately protect that data from being abused by bad actors. Zuckerberg faced questions from Congress in 2018 that didn’t do much to clear up the scandal or explain exactly what happened with Cambridge Analytica, a firm hired by the Trump presidential campaign that was able to scrape data from millions of Facebook profiles.
Facebook agrees to settle Cambridge Analytica data privacy lawsuit
The four-year-old case alleged that the company had violated consumer privacy laws by sharing users’ personal data with third parties
Meta’s Facebook has in-principle agreed to settle a lawsuit in the San Francisco federal court seeking damages for letting third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, access the private data of users, a court filing showed.
The financial terms were not disclosed in the filing on Friday that asked the judge to put the class action suit on hold for 60 days until the lawyers for both plaintiffs and Facebook finalize a written settlement.
Netflix’s ad-supported tier could cost between $7 and $9 per month
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Netflix’s forthcoming ad-supported tier may cost between $7 and $9 per month, according to a report from Bloomberg. Depending on which plan you currently pay for, that could be a significant savings; the company currently offers plans at $9.99, $15.49, and $19.99 per month.
After the company reported that it lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade, co-CEO Reed Hastings indicated in April the company was ready to consider a cheaper offering supported by advertising, despite years of spurning the idea of ads. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed the ad tier was in the works in June, and Netflix announced Microsoft as the technological partner helping to deliver ads in July.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ad-supported tier will have some downgrades from the no ads plans; executives have said that some content will be missing from the ad tier at launch, while code spotted in its mobile app indicates Netflix may not let users on the ad-supported tier download shows for offline viewing.
Bloomberg’s Friday report sheds light on a few more details of the ad tier. The company aims to sell approximately four minutes of ads per hour and wants to show ads ahead of and in the middle of content. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Netflix doesn’t plan to include ads with its kids content or original movies. Netflix is targeting to launch the ad-supported plan in “half a dozen markets” in the final quarter of this year, Bloomberg says. The company plans to launch the tier more broadly in early 2023. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new ad plan arrives at a turbulent time. After April’s shocking drop in subscribers, Netflix reported another subscriber drop three months later. Netflix also raised its prices across all of its plans in the US in January — its third price hike in recent years —and is testing ways to turn password-sharing viewers into customers who pay for extra streams. And the company is facing competition from other streaming services like Disney Plus, whose own ad-supported plan is set to launch in December, and HBO Max, which launched a $10 ad-supported plan in June 2021 that comes without downloads or 4K streaming.
A Journey Into Misinformation on Social Media Disinformation and misinformation on social media have only grown worse since the 2016 election, our reporters say. And the threat is changing faster than the social media companies can keep up.
Elon Musk says Tesla cars will connect to Starlink’s new cellular-broadcasting satellites
Soon with satellite connectivity. | Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge
Elon Musk just announced that the upcoming second-generation Starlink internet satellites include cellular antennas for connections with phones from T-Mobile in the US, and potentially other operators as well.
Following the event, he responded to tweets asking whether the connections will work with Tesla’s electric cars, which currently connect to AT&T’s LTE network. According to Musk, the answer is yes.
He didn’t go into detail about how it will all work or how much data owners could expect to access from the connections when they’re somewhere out of reach by terrestrial cellphone towers. Musk said during the event that the satellite-to-cellular coverage from Starlink will be capable of providing a 2 - 4 Mbps link, which is shared by everyone in the satellite’s coverage area. That likely won’t be enough for some premium connectivity features, like live-streaming video from your car’s cameras. Still, a connection that works at all, “anywhere you have a view of the sky,” is better than no connection, potentially.
In a comment to The Verge, LightShed Partners analyst Walter Piecyk pointed out that enabling access could work similarly to an MVNO like Google Fi, which uses multiple carriers as its backbone, or that Musk could change the carrier deal away from AT&T in the future.
Over the years, Tesla has scaled back the connectivity packages that come standard with its electric vehicles. As explained here, cars purchased before the end of June 2018 include Premium Connectivity at no extra charge, while cars purchased before July 20th, 2022, all include at least the standard connectivity package with in-car maps and navigation. Those connections are available for the lifetime of the vehicle, “excluding retrofits or upgrades required for any features or services externally supplied to the vehicle.” Adding the Premium Connectivity subscription to a Tesla that doesn’t have it currently costs $9.99 per month, or $99 annually.
The recent shutdown of AT&T’s 3G network showed how that can come into play, as older vehicles built prior to mid-2015 without an LTE-capable modem may have required a $200 upgrade to stay connected.
For new or used electric cars purchased today from Tesla, they “will have Standard Connectivity for the remainder of the eight years from the first day your vehicle was delivered as new by Tesla, or the first day it is put into service (for example used as a demonstrator or service vehicle), whichever comes first.”
Update August 25th, 11PM ET:Added additional information about Tesla’s connectivity packages.
T-Mobile and SpaceX Starlink say your 5G phone will connect to satellites next year
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
T-Mobile says it's getting rid of mobile dead zones thanks to a new partnership with SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet, at an event hosted by T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and Elon Musk. With their "Coverage Above and Beyond" setup, mobile phones could connect to satellites and use a slice of a connection providing around 2 to 4 Megabits per second connection (total) across a given coverage area.
According to Musk, second-generation Starlink satellites launching next year will be able to broadcast service using part of T-Mobile's mid-band PCS spectrum, which was bolstered when it was allowed to buy Sprint a few years ago. Musk said the new satellites have "big, big antennas" that are 5 to 6 meters across to enable the new connections and that the plan is to launch the equipment using its upcoming Starship rocket.
Note, connectivity will be 2 to 4 Mbits per cell zone, so will work great for texting & voice calls, but not high bandwidth
The company says it'll let you text, send MMS messages, and even use "select messaging apps" whenever you have a clear view of the sky, even if there's no traditional service available. According to a press release from T-Mobile, the "satellite-to-cellular service" will be available "everywhere in the continental US, Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico and territorial waters."
"If there aren't too many people in the cell zone, you may potentially even have a little bit of video," said Musk. As Sievert described it, operators of messaging apps like WhatsApp or iMessage will need to work with T-Mobile and Starlink for their services to recognize the satellite connection and work with it once it launches.
Musk provided a bit more detail by saying that, unlike usual internet service, it could work without access to Starlink's full satellite constellation. By limiting it to certain messages and services, as well as only in places that don't currently have cellular connectivity, it could use a more intermittent connection for "basic" coverage, although you might have to wait 30 minutes for a message to go through.
The two execs said they're seeking partnerships with mobile carriers worldwide who would be interested in reciprocal spectrum sharing agreements so that their customers can link up with SpaceX. T-Mobile customers could also use those connections when they come to other countries.
Musk also said on Twitter that one of his other companies, Tesla, will use the technology for the premium connectivity feature in its electric vehicles. Currently, Tesla uses AT&T's network for things like live traffic visualization, satellite-view maps, and music streaming.
Image: SpaceX
Musk said that the service may even work while your phone is in your pocket, or in a car.
The service will launch in beta by the end of next year in "select areas," and Sievert says he hopes it will someday include data. He says that when it launches, T-Mobile's "vision" is for it to be included for free in the carrier's "most popular plans," though he did say that today's event isn't an official announcement. He said T-Mobile wants to make it available to people with "low cost" plans for a "monthly service fee" lower than current satellite connectivity services. (That does potentially encompass a wide range of prices, though — Garmin's InReach satellite messenger subscription plans, for example, start at $14.95 per month but go up to $64.95 a month.)
T-Mobile says that subscribers' current phones will be able to utilize the network — no special equipment required. As Elon Musk said in the announcement: "the phone you currently have will work."
Image: SpaceX
T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and SpaceX chief engineer Elon Musk
The fact that it's using traditional cell spectrum is a bit of a double-edged sword. Not requiring special equipment is an obvious advantage, but T-Mobile doesn't own the rights to that spectrum worldwide. So while SpaceX's satellites could technically communicate with phones internationally, T-Mobile may not have rights to the same bands its system uses when you take your phone to another country or into international waters.
That's not the case for traditional satellite communications networks, like the Iridium system Garmin uses. If phone manufacturers wanted to introduce their own version of this feature, something Apple has been rumored to be working on, partnering with other satellite providers could net them more coverage than T-Mobile's planning to offer.
As Walter Piecyk, an analyst at Lightshed Partners, tells The Verge: "Apple and Samsung might have an easier time integrating existing satellite connectivity into their upcoming phones than Starlink will face in trying to cobble together spectrum rights with wireless operators around the globe."
Fights over spectrum rights could get messy and indeed already have. T-Mobile and Verizon have lobbied the Federal Communications Commission to stop a company called AST & Science from launching satellites that could provide mobile phone service from space, claiming that its system could interfere with its land-based networks. SpaceX is embroiled in a battle with Dish Networks over the 12Ghz spectrum, which the latter wants to use for terrestrial 5G. Musk's company has warned its home internet users that Dish using 12Ghz could totally destroy its satellite internet service. Analysts have even questioned whether the service announced today will require additional approvals from the FCC.
Sievert also said that T-Mobile was "open" to the possibility of using SpaceX for its network backhaul in the future, especially in rural areas. While that's a few steps ahead from what the two companies are pitching now (again, Musk says each cell will support around 2-4 megabits), it could help make it less expensive for the carrier to expand its network. Such a plan would be similar to what Verizon announced in collaboration with Amazon's Kuiper satellite internet project, though that plan seems much further away from fruition, as Amazon doesn't seem to have launched any of its satellites yet.
Earlier this year, SpaceX lost a bid for rural internet subsidies because of the cost of its equipment. But if it can piggyback off T-Mobile's existing equipment, which people in rural areas may already own, that could help its case with the Federal Communications Commission. The Thursday presentation certainly hit on rural coverage, with videos of people in remote parks, the mountains, or herding animals.
Update 10:15PM ET:added information about where the service will be able to cover, as well as Tesla using it for premium connectivity in its cars.
‘This you?’: the seven letters exposing rightwing hypocrisy
As Biden eases student loan debt for millions, a simple phrase is puncturing criticism from conservatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene
Conservatives are frothing at the mouth over Joe Biden’s decision to forgive $10,000 in student debt for millions, railing against what they call “student loan socialism”. But their carefully crafted tweets have been undermined over and over again with two words: “This you?”
Were there ever seven letters more powerful? On Twitter, the phrase is an instant marker of hypocrisy, cutting down the mighty from politicians to celebrities to brands. It typically comes as a reply to an opinionated tweet, accompanied by a screenshot of an earlier remark from the same person endorsing the opposite point of view.
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