Новости за 18.11.2022

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images

Elon Musk has begun reinstating Twitter accounts that were previously subject to lifetime bans, taking the first steps toward his promise of lighter moderation on the platform. Announced Friday, the first affected accounts belong to author Jordan Peterson, comedian Kathy Griffin, and conservative parody outlet The Babylon Bee.

The last image taken by LightSail 2 before it re-entered the atmosphere. | Image: The Planetary Society

After three years in space, the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission burned up in the atmosphere on Thursday, November 17th. During its mission, the crowdfunded spacecraft made 18,000 orbits of the planet using its giant reflective sail and demonstrated that controlled solar sailing is possible.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

There’s a new effort to tackle Ethereum’s legacy of pollution, even after the cryptocurrency drastically reduced its greenhouse gas emissions this year. Ethereum software company ConsenSys launched a new initiative alongside more than a dozen tech and Web3 companies yesterday during the United Nations climate summit taking place in Egypt. The aim of the initiative, called the Ethereum Climate Platform, is to “redress and counteract” the climate pollution... Читать дальше...

Verizon Test Drive makes full use of eSIM technology by allowing potential customers to trial the service before they commit to signing up. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Verizon has introduced a new early access program that allows you to test its network for up to 30 days. There’s no SIM card involved. Instead, it’s a showcase for eSIM technology to allow folks from other carriers to compare between services.

Where did the explanation go? | Photo by Sven Hoogerhuis / BSR Agency / Getty Images

Ticketmaster has taken down its explanation for why buying a ticket to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour was an absolute disaster. The explanation, titled “The Taylor Swift Onsale Explained,” was live in two places on Ticketmaster’s website on Thursday and is now gone from both. But because the internet never forgets, you can still read it thanks to Google’s cache, and in case that fails, we’ve embedded it at the bottom of this article. Читать дальше...

Except she’s made a massive bag of money from the whole thing. | Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Taylor Swift has spoken out about the boondoggle that was the Ticketmaster sale for her The Eras Tour, and it doesn’t seem like she’s saying sorry just for show. In a statement posted to her Instagram story, which you can read in full below, she says that she’s “trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward” but that she’s “not going to make excuses for anyone.”

The AirPods Pro may let you boost your hearing, but that’s not enough to make it a hearing aid. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

The line between hearing aids and hearables has blurred ever since over-the-counter hearing aids hit shelves last month. Case in point: a new iScience study that claims a $249 pair of AirPods Pro can sometimes perform as well as prescription hearing aids that often cost thousands more. But while AirPods may seem like an affordable hearing aid alternative, it’s not quite that simple. Читать дальше...

Illustration: Carlo Cadenas / The Verge

The tech, the memes, and everything else you need to know ahead of the most controversial World Cup in history.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s second-generation Rotom Phone might not look like a major update, but its new safety features are a lifesaving game-changer.

It’s hard to justify a Fitbit when the Amazfit GTR 4 looks better, lasts longer, and has way more features than you’d expect.

Sign language view allows signers to prioritize up to two video streams on center stage, in a consistent location during every meeting. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft has a new dedicated sign language view for its Microsoft Teams video conferencing platform. The feature enables sign language users to select up to two other participants’ videos to be fixed in a central location, allowing designated signers to be visible throughout the meeting.

“The Man Who Knew Nothing About Risk” | Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge

Verification is an old nemesis for Musk.

Image: iFixit

Repair specialists iFixit have released a new video of themselves stabbing and, ultimately, nail gunning a series of batteries in the name of teaching the world about battery safety. The takeaway? Despite the high profile examples of battery explosions that occasionally crop up in the news, modern lithium ion batteries are generally very safe so long as you follow some best practices.

Yuji Naka is best known for co-creating the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, and worked at Square Enix on Balan Wonderworld 2018 and 2021. | Image: Square Enix / YouTube

Yuji Naka, the famed co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has reportedly been arrested in Japan (via Fuji News Network) in connection with an insider trading case involving former Square Enix employees.

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

It’s November 18th, 2022 and at least Mei’s back in Overwatch 2

We don’t know how many of Twitter’s employees looked at Elon Musk’s “take three months’ severance or agree to stay and get Xtreme” offer and decided to head for the exits, but by all available accounts, it was a lot of them.

Illustration: Jovana Mugosa / The Verge

Musk gave Twitter staff a deadline to say if they are staying for his cultural reset of the company. And right on deadline, the farewell emojis started pouring into Twitter’s Slack.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon will be cutting jobs again at some point in early 2023, CEO Andy Jassy informed employees in a memo on Thursday. The company publicly confirmed some layoffs on Wednesday, and Jassy says that as Amazon’s annual planning process extends into the new year, “there will be more role reductions as leaders continue to make adjustments.”

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Roku has announced that it’s laying off 200 US employees, or around 7 percent of its workforce, according to Variety. According to the company’s statement, the cuts are meant to reduce its “headcount expenses” by around 5 percent as it tries to spend less on operations in the face of “current economic conditions” in the advertising and streaming industry.

Image: Blizzard

Everybody mark your calendars: instead of the Christmas holiday season, it’s gonna be Mei. After a brief hiatus to fix a glitch that allowed Mei’s ice wall to boost players to places they shouldn’t be, today’s Overwatch 2 update added her back to the game alongside a host of other hero tweaks and bug fixes.

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Who, if anyone, does Elon Musk feel is an essential part of Twitter? Whose contributions are valuable enough and “hardcore” enough for him? Would you be willing to bet your job on it?