Pinterest has a history of banning content it sees as harmful before other online platforms, and that approach is now extending to climate change issues. The social site is rolling out a policy that bans climate misinformation, including climate change denial, false claims about solutions to climate change, misrepresentations of scientific data and “harmful” bogus statements on natural disasters and other extreme weather. It’ll likely disappear if it contradicts the well-supported scientific consensus, in other words.
An update to Pinterest’s ad guidelines also “explicitly” bans marketing material that promotes climate change misinformation and conspiracy theories. The policies were built with the help of expert groups that include the Climate Disinformation Coalition and Conscious Advertising Network.
The company claims to be the first major internet platform with “clearly defined” policies barring false climate change claims for both content and ads. That’s true to at least some degree. Facebook mainly labels misinformation and reduces its spread, while Twitter aimed to “pre-bunk” falsehoods during COP26 but stopped short of banning them. YouTube, meanwhile, doesn’t let climate change deniers monetize videos.
The timing is apt, at least. A just-released UN report indicates the world has three years to level CO2 emissions if it wants to avoid environmental catastrophes, and that those emissions must drop by a quarter by 2030. Pinterest isn’t basing its stricter policies on that report, but it clearly shares the view that a unified public stance based on accurate information is necessary to limit global warming.
Since 1972, the Technics SL-1200 has been a go-to for DJs in search of a durable and dependable turntable for spinning vinyl. And in honor of its 50th anniversary, Panasonic will release the SL-1200M7L, a new limited edition version of the MK7, its mos…
Uber is planning to add travel booking via flights, trains and more in the UK this year to expand its ride-hailing business, The Financial Times has reported. The new service is designed to provide a “seamless door-to-door experience,” so that you can book your flight, train and Uber all on the same app. To do so, the company will integrate its software with airlines, inter-city bus and rail operators (include Eurostar Channel Tunnel tips) and car rental companies, according to CNBC.
The UK is one of the company’s largest markets outside the US, so the expansion is a big step. “You have been able to book rides, bikes, boat services and scooters on the Uber app for a number of years, so adding trains and coaches is a natural progression,” said Uber UK general manager Jamie Heywood. “Later this year we plan to incorporate flights, and in the future hotels, by integrating leading partners into the Uber app to create a seamless door-to-door travel experience.”
This “super app” strategy isn’t new, as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he wanted Uber to be the “Amazon of transportation,” when he first joined the company. Prior to the pandemic, around 15 percent of Uber trips were higher-margin rides to or from airports. “With COVID behind us, with this big push into new modes of transport, we want to signal that this is a very important growth lever for us over the coming years,” Heywood said.
It’s not yet clear to what extent Uber will compete directly with other travel booking services, but Khosrowshahi was CEO at Expedia before coming to Uber. The company might have a leg up on rivals in that it could also offer a ride from airport to hotel, essentially owning the whole process.
Uber recently announced that it would let New York City users book Yellow Cab taxis directly through its app, with passengers paying around the same as they would for an Uber X ride. The company also plans to offer a similar service in San Francisco. It’s not clear yet, though, when or if Uber will offer its expanded travel booking service in the US.
Google will be violating South Korean law if it pushes through with its plan to remove apps linking out to external payment methods, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said in a new legal guidance. Last year, the country passed a law that requires major app stores to accept alternative payment methods, and Google readily agreed to comply: It allowed developers to offer an alternative in-app billing system to live alongside its own. The tech giant still collects a cut for payments made through that alternative billing system, though, and it’s only 4 percent lower than the commission the company collects for payments made through its own system.
If the typical service fee for a purchase is 15 percent, then Google collects 11 percent instead. For ebooks, it collects a 6 percent commission instead of 10. Korean developers weren’t happy, and as The Register and The Wall Street Journal report, they responded by linking out to third-party payment systems in order to avoid paying Google’s fees. The tech giant had already blocked them from being able to update their apps, and it warned them that their apps will be removed from the Play Store if they continue to offer external links by June 1st.
An association of developers in Korea brought the situation to KCC, asking the commission to clarify whether Google’s actions comply with the law. See, the new law is rather vaguely worded and doesn’t explicitly state if outlinking is legal or not. Based on the commission’s legal guidance, the KCC sees external links to outside payment systems as perfectly OK and that Google is violating the law by restricting updates and deleting apps that offer them.
The KCC can conduct preliminary status inspections to identify specific violations if Google removes apps linking out to external payment methods as planned. If it finds that the company truly has violated the law, then it can slap Google with a fine equivalent to up to 2 percent of its app store revenue in the country. A company spokesperson told The Journal that Google is reviewing the guidance and that it will work with local app developers to expand users’ choice.
Google recently launched a pilot program that allows participating developers like Spotify to offer their own payment method. They have to offer their own payment systems in-app, however, alongside Google Play’s. As for Apple, it recently started allowing “reader” apps such as Netflix and Spotify to link to their own websites for payment as part of a settlement with the Japan Fair Trade Commission.
If I ever take the plunge on an electric bike, I hope it’s a slick VanMoof. The company has unveiled two new models that are, unfortunately, slightly more expensive than their predecessors, but pack in a bunch of upgrades alongside impressive anti-theft technology. The S5 and A5 will each cost $2,998, but VanMoof hasn’t shared a release date just yet.
The new S5 is for longer rides. VanMoof reworked the straight frame to increase the height of the riding position and changed to larger 27.5-inch wheels for a smoother experience. Meanwhile, the A5 is more for shorter trips. It has an angled frame with a lower step-in and 24-inch wheels. There’s support for both rear and front carriers as well. Both bikes weigh over 44 pounds.
VanMoof
The new models have an updated 250W motor, slightly different battery layouts (the S5 will cover up to 150 km (93 miles)), while the A5 has a range of up to 140 km (87 miles) and, gasp, a built-in phone charger.
Now, living in a big city, the biggest impasse for me is the fear of getting my new expensive e-bike stolen. Both the S5 and A5 include a Gen 5 kick lock you can arm with a tap of your foot. It’ll unlock automatically when you return. VanMoof is working on certification for Apple’s Find My network and will continue to employ its Bike Hunters. If that team can’t find and recover your premium e-bike within two weeks of it being lost or stolen, it’ll send you a replacement. The service still requires the company’s Peace of Mind insurance, however.
Expect more realistic visuals and streamlined tools.
Epic Games
After nearly a year of early access, Epic Games has officially released UE5 to developers. The new Unreal Engine’s most obvious upgrades affect the basics of 3D rendering. The Nanite geometry system lets producers use objects with millions of polygons while scaling easily and maintaining playable frame rates. Lumen, meanwhile, provides dynamic global lighting that adapts to, pretty much, everything. You’ve seen early results in Epic’s The Matrix Awakens tech demo — UE5 can render extremely detailed scenes with more natural lighting than you’ve seen in the past.
Crystal Dynamics is returning to the series that put it on the map.
And on that note, we’re getting a new Tomb Raider title. While the latest trilogy was generally well received, it didn’t quite set the world alight. Maybe more polygons will improve things. Developer Crystal Dynamics said the move to UE5 would help the studio take its “storytelling to the next level.” The next Tomb Raider joins a handful of games already announced for UE5, including the next Witcher game and Black Myth: Wukong.
LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn join the cast.
The main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation will appear on the third and final season of Picard. LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn will join Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner, who have already featured in the series. Executive Producer Terry Matalas teased on Twitter that the series will go out on a “final, high-stakes, starship-bound adventure.”
They’ll build vehicles in the compact crossover and other segments.
GM and Honda will co-develop a series of affordable EVs using a global architecture and GM’s Ultium battery technology, the companies announced. They promised to build vehicles in multiple product segments, including the compact crossover category, calling it a “new chapter” in their partnership. The companies plan to discuss EV battery collaboration in an effort to drive down costs and improve performance and sustainability.
The word “affordable” comes up a lot in the press release, as both companies emphasized the idea of building cheaper EVs than are currently available. “Honda and GM will build on our successful technology collaboration to help achieve a dramatic expansion in the sales of electric vehicles,” said Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
Nikon’s Z9 offers a rare combination of speed, resolution and video capability. It’s the first mirrorless camera without a mechanical shutter, but the sensor is fast enough to minimize any rolling shutter issues. It has Nikon’s best autofocus system by far and delivers outstanding image quality. Video is top-notch as well, with 8K 30p on tap and 8K 60p RAW coming later this year via firmware update.
The main drawbacks are the lack of an articulating display and the $5,500 price — for the body alone. It’s still an impressive Nikon camera – the company has finally nailed video. I’d suggest checking out our detailed YouTube review and sample shots on the main site.
Collaboration is a huge part of Google Docs, letting multiple users chip in edits, comments and more. Now, you can include not just text in your comments but emoji reactions, much as you can in messages or on social media. “The new emoji reactions feature provides a less formal alternative to comments to express your opinions about document content,” Google said in a blog post announcing the feature.
Google
The new option appears when you highlight text in a document while in “editing” mode. From there, you’ll see a new “add reaction” icon smiley face icon that lets you place emojis in the editing comments section. Google notes that emojis used will be shared with Google chat, “so any preferences set in one app will be reflected in the other.” Both apps can also be used to update emoji preferences via the picker.
Google recently feted the 15th anniversary of Docs (along with Sheets). It has gradually boosted the feature set over that time, with the last update allowing you to draft emails in Docs and then send them using Gmail.
Emoji reactions on a Google Doc could be an easy way to add feedback, but then again they may not fly in some business environments. Either way, the feature can’t be disabled by the user and “there is no Admin control for the feature,” according to Google. The feature started officially rolling out yesterday, but it may take some time to appear depending on your domain type and region.
