Technology

Leland Melvin never thought he would be a NASA astronaut when he was growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia. “I didn’t think about becoming an astronaut because I didn’t see someone that looked like me,” Melvin says. Melvin, now a former NASA astronaut and a prominent figure in the space industry, recently recorded a conversation with Bill Nye, the CEO of the space science non-profit, The Planetary Society. For more than an hour, the two men had a wide-ranging discussion of space exploration, and the lasting impact of racism in this country. I think about how you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation right now Though both men are now beloved science educators, Melvin’s experiences growing up as a black person in Lynchburg were vastly different from Nye’s experiences as a white person in Wa...

Zoom says it’s working on new features that will allow it to block users based on their geographical location after admitting it recently suspended three user accounts based in Hong Kong and the US at the request of the Chinese government. The company was widely criticized for suspending the accounts, which were hosting meetings to commemorate the June 4th Tiananmen Square massacre. In a blog post, Zoom said it had reinstated the accounts and was developing tools to allow targeted blocking. “Zoom is developing technology over the next several days that will enable us to remove or block at the participant level based on geography,” said the company. “This will enable us to comply with requests from local authorities when they determine activity on our platform is illegal within their border...

Ahead of the long-awaited arrival of the next generation of video game consoles, Microsoft had clearly grabbed the initiative. Its reveal of the Xbox Series X at the Game Awards came out of nowhere, and Sony’s weak response at CES a few weeks later was to show off the PS5 logo. (It’s a PS4 logo with a 5 in it.) Then the coronavirus hit, and all plans went out of the window. Sony stumbled by hyping a dense, tech-heavy presentation, which was intended to be a Game Developers Conference talk, while Microsoft pulled together a slapdash, wholly unimpressive collection of minor titles running on the Series X. E3 would have been the time for each company to make a major statement; instead, they’re making news on their own terms. Going into this week, the PlayStation 5 was a completely unknown qua...

The Last of Us Part II isn’t fun. Over the game’s 20-hour runtime, I often found myself wanting to quit because the violence became unbearable. I didn’t want to bash that lunging dog with a hammer or slice at that defenseless woman with a knife. I certainly didn’t want to watch a religious zealot’s head explode into a grisly cloud because of my well-placed shotgun blast. There are scenes so upsetting that they didn’t just make me uncomfortable; they made me question why I was playing this game at all. Yet, I’m glad I pushed through — because those dark, disturbing moments are what make The Last of Us Part II so powerful. It’s not just a game about violence. It’s one that grapples with the impact of that violence and shows players the consequences. The Last of Us Part II is a sequel to the ...

Veteran chip designer Jim Keller has left Intel after just two years at the firm. Intel said Keller was resigning his position effective immediately due to unspecified “personal reasons.” Keller will serve as a consultant to the company for six months to smooth the transition period, said Intel. AnandTech’s Ian Cutress reports that Keller will be consulting exclusively for Intel during that time. Keller is an industry veteran who has previously worked at Apple, AMD, and Tesla, and was seen as a key hire for Intel when he joined the company back in April 2018. He previously worked on Apple’s A4 and A5 processors (used in the iPhone 4 and 4S, respectively), as well as the custom silicon behind Tesla’s self-driving car ambitions. “Many of us have witnessed first-hand Jim’s technical strength ...

Sony officially revealed what the PlayStation 5 console will look like. Alongside it, the company also announced a range of accessories for the new console, including a wireless headset, a camera, a media remote, and a charging dock for the DualSense controller. Details on the new accessories are slim, although Sony has given a bit of information as to what to expect. The new HD Camera (which has dual 1080p lenses) is likely meant to replace the old PS4 camera accessory and is meant to let players stream footage from their living rooms while playing games — potentially making it easier for amateur streamers to live stream with a PS5. The Pulse 3D wireless headset takes the place of the PlayStation Gold wireless headset and offers 3D audio support — something that Sony has been pushing as a...

Indie gaming storefront Itch.io is currently offering arguably the best video game bundle in history: more than 1,500 games and counting for just $5, with all proceeds going toward the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund. Now, the deal, called the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, has passed more than $5 million in proceeds for charity as of Thursday afternoon. It’s more money than any of the biggest gaming corporations have thus far donated amid Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd, whose death at the hands of former Minnesota police officers has sparked worldwide outrage and a national reckoning on police brutality and racial justice. Itch.io’s bundle includes more than 1,500 games for a minimum of $5 Many gaming companies, ...

In case you weren’t watching the live-streamed event, Sony showed off a slate of games, including a few exclusives, coming to the PlayStation 5. The wait for details on next-gen games has been long, but the good news is that there seems to be plenty in the pipeline coming this holiday when the PS5 launches, and shortly thereafter in 2021. What came as a surprise during the event was that we got a closer look at the DualSense controller and the actual console itself, which had yet to be revealed to the public. We know you want to get quickly caught up, so we’re going to fill you in on the biggest announcements that made a rumble at the event. [embedded content] Sony showed off the actual PS5 console At the very end of the showcase, Sony finally pulled the veil from its PlayStation 5 console...

T-Mobile’s new CEO tweeted “Bye-bye Tucker Carlson” multiple times this week and said his company will no longer sponsor Carlson’s Fox News show after Carlson made racist comments Monday evening. Sievert’s tone in these tweets appears to be an attempt to emulate the famously-brash tone of John Legere, his predecessor. In response to multiple angry customers on Twitter, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert tweeted that his company wasn’t currently running ads on the show and wouldn’t be moving forward. Here’s one example: Same. We aren’t running ads on that show and we won’t be running ads on that show in the future. Bye-bye, Tucker Carlson! — Mike Sievert (@MikeSievert) June 10, 2020 T-Mobile clarified further, saying the company hasn’t run ads on Carlson’s show since May and that it has cancelled “a...

Over on Reddit (and as highlighted by Android Police and 9to5Google), someone has posted a simple way of watching YouTube videos in a web browser without any ads. In the URL for whatever video you want to view, you just need to add an extra period after the dot com in the YouTube link. This works as described for me when pasting a video URL into an incognito browser window with the added period. In addition to removing pre-roll ads, it also eliminates mid-roll interruptions for videos as well. By the time you’ve copied, pasted, and altered the video URL, I’m not sure how much time you’re really saving over just waiting for the “skip ad” button to appear — but it does indeed work. As for why something so trivial is successfully getting around YouTube’s advertising machine, here’s what Reddi...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told employees that it would keep its diversity numbers private because they might perpetuate the belief that Silicon Valley companies aren’t diverse, Business Insider reported. Spiegel made the comments at a company all-hands meeting earlier this week, where he said Snap’s diversity is close to other tech firms, which skew largely white and male, according to BI. A Snap spokesperson disputed BI’s interpretation of Spiegel’s comments, made during a Q&A portion of the all-hands meeting. But a partial transcript of the Q&A that Snap provided to The Verge appears to confirm that Spiegel has concerns about publicly releasing the figures and how the metrics would make the company, and the industry at large, appear. “Snapchat looks like most other technology compani...

Sony finally unveiled the design of the PlayStation 5 today and it certainly… stands out. You won’t be able to miss it next to your TV or your on your desk. Whether or not that’s a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. (At least there’s no way that people will get the PS5 confused with a fridge.) Twitter, of course, immediately had opinions, and the memes are already flowing strong. Here are some of our favorites. The PS5 as a router The PS5 as a desktop computer The PS5 as an aircraft carrier Make-your-own PS5 The PS5 as a BMW The PS5 as a face The PS5 as Sauron’s tower The PS5 as a Destiny character The PS5’s popped collar The PS5 as an overly-modern building the ps5 looks like a new expensive campus performing arts center that replaced three academic arts departments and cost $6...