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Reddit bans gore-, death-focused channels following NZ mosque attack

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Following other social networks, Reddit has also faced people trying to reshare video of a terrorist attack on a mosque in New Zealand. Now two notorious subreddits, r/watchpeopledie and r/Gore have been banned for hosting links to it. Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell shared a picture of a moderator saying “The video stays up until someone censors us.”

In 2015 Reddit chose to ban instead of quarantine a number of racist groups, and researchers found the move made its community less toxic overall. On the banned pages, Reddit posted a note saying their removal is because of violating its policy against content glorifying or encouraging violence, although it doesn’t explain how they were left up so long in the first place.



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‘The Sims 4’ will stop supporting 32-bit PCs in June

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The game will still be playable, but you’ll have to make a number of sacrifices. Existing players will have to download The Sims 4: Legacy Edition, a frozen-in-time version that uses the old standards. It’ll only work with add-on packs released in February 2019 or earlier, and online features like the Gallery, game banners and social tie-ins will stop functioning. You also won’t receive bug fixes. This is a not-so-subtle nudge to update your PC — EA is just making sure that you’re not completely left out if you can’t justify upgrading right away.

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Twitter tests conversation ‘subscriptions’

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This new tool adds a button to the top right corner of threads. If you click it, you’ll be notified when additional tweets are added to the thread. Because you don’t need to “heart” or comment in a thread to receive updates, this could add a bit of anonymity. There’s no indication yet if or when Twitter will deploy the change platform-wide, though.

Earlier this week, the company released its experimental beta testing app, Twttr, which will let early adopters test new Twitter features. First, it’s giving threads a chat-like look with color coding and indentation. At the beginning of the month, the company confirmed it’s working out a way to hide unwanted replies en masse (this was also discovered by Wong). In February, we learned the company is testing a way to preview user profiles without leaving your timeline. It’s also testing an “original tweeter” label, which will show which account started a thread, and it added a chronological timeline button on Android. Finally, at SXSW, Twitter revealed a new camera for the app, which will make it easier to share photos and videos.

The “subscribe to conversation” button is clearly part of a larger trend. Twitter’s quick confirmation is in line with what Sara Haider, director of product management, said earlier this year — that the company is working on “some pretty big changes to the way conversations look and feel on Twitter” and it doesn’t want to overwhelm users with all of the changes at once. It’s probably safe to bet that we’ll see more Twitter updates in the near future.



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Beto O’Rourke was a member of hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow

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O’Rourke came to CDC in the 1980s when he started using bulletin board systems (early versions of forums and message boards) to communicate with others. He operated his own board, called TacoLand, where he discussed punk rock music. He also browsed other boards to find cracked video games. That’s where he met Kevin Wheeler, known online as “Swamp Rat,” and got involved with CDC.

The hacking collective was best known for its acts of hacktivism. In the late 1990s, the group developed tools to hack into Windows machines. It is cited as one of the sources that forced Microsoft to better secure its products. It’s not clear if O’Rourke took part in any of the actual hacking activity, as he was most active in the group in the ’80s when it was mostly producing essays rather than hacking tools.

The revelation of O’Rourke’s involvement in CDC seems more novel than particularly revealing, though it is a unique background that may make him better equipped to handle tech policy than other candidates. It also may bring more scrutiny to O’Rourke during his presidential candidacy, as he appears to have participated in some illegal activity. He admits to downloading and playing cracked games and stealing long-distance phone service with his dial-up modem, but the statute of limitations for those apparent crimes have long passed.

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FCC wants to help identify the floor a 911 call is coming from

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Wireless service providers are already required to provide 911 call centers with a “dispatchable location” such as a street address or apartment number. With the new rules, those companies would also have to provide location information on the z-axis, showing the verticality of a caller. Accuracy will have to be plus or minus three meters relative to the caller for first responders to determine what floor they will need to get to. The additional location metric should help when a 911 call comes from a person in an apartment, hotel or other multi-level structures.

The proposal marks the latest effort by the FCC to modernize emergency response systems. In the last decade, the agency has approved a dedicated LTE network accessible to first responders throughout the US, which is operated by AT&T and was finally adopted by all 50 states in 2017. The FCC has also approved text-to-911 services and has explored allowing multimedia and streaming communications with emergency responders.

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Jury decides Apple violated three Qualcomm patents in iPhones

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Qualcomm filed suit over the issue in 2017. The patents relate to allowing phones to quickly connect to the internet after they’re switched on; battery efficiency and graphics processing; and a traffic management function that allows apps to download data faster.

According to CNET, Apple argued an engineer named Arjuna Siva made vital contributions to the boot-up technology while working for the company and should have been named on that patent. However, Siva (now a Google employee) ultimately opted not to testify at the San Diego trial, and the jury struck down Apple’s argument.

Apple also claimed the lawsuit was in fact an act of retaliation by Qualcomm for Apple adding Intel as another chip supplier in 2016. Qualcomm had been Apple’s exclusive supplier since 2011 — Intel’s components have now replaced Qualcomm’s in iPhones.

The ruling arrived ahead of a bigger legal fight between the two companies over royalty payments. A trial in that case has been scheduled for next month, also in San Diego, with billions of dollars at stake. The result of another trial involving the parties, which took place in January, is pending. Apple, Intel and the Federal Trade Commission have accused Qualcomm of having a monopoly over modems in phones.

The tussle between Qualcomm and Apple has played out in other countries too. Qualcomm won an injunction against Apple in Germany in December, which banned the sale of some older iPhones in the country. Apple later started selling iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 in Germany again after swapping out Intel modems for Qualcomm’s there.

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DC Universe will let you try its exclusive shows for free

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DC Universe launched those originals one after the other following its debut September 2018. Titans is based on the superhero team Teen Titans, featuring Robin/Dick Grayson as the leader, along with Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy. Meanwhile, Doom Patrol is a show about a group of super-powered misfits and Young Justice is an animated series about the younger counterpart of the Justice League.

The comics giant is making those originals’ first episodes available for streaming via the DC Universe website and apps, which are currently accessible only in the US. It says it won’t be asking viewers to register and to give the company their payment details — they’ll be able to watch the episodes without having to take any extra step. The company is likely hoping to entice more customers to sign up for full access, which will set them back $8 a month.

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Vehicular battle royale ‘Notmycar’ hits Steam on April 5th

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You can customize your vehicle of destruction with the likes of paint jobs and flags, while you can kit out your rolling weapon with rockets, shotguns, grenade launchers and rail guns (assuming you’re lucky enough to find them). The free game, from Skybound and NMC Studios, arrives on Steam Early Access April 5th. If you play during that first week, you’ll receive an exclusive paint job for a rugged pick-up called The Beast.

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Fan uses AI to remaster 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' in HD

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Unfortunately, you're highly unlikely to see an official remaster of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Its special effects were shot on video rather than added to film, making an already daunting remastering process that much more difficult — and since i…

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Traeger makes built-in WiFi a standard grill feature

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The numbers in Traeger’s product names correspond to their cooking surface area. For example, the Pro 575 offers 575 square inches of grilling space. Keep that in mind as I run through the new models.These grills also offer temperature ranges that make them ideal for both slow-cooked barbecue and high-temperature searing. They use electricity to heat and burn the wood pellets, so they do require access to an outlet, or least an extension cord.

Traeger’s Pro Series has been the company’s option for a wood pellet grill large enough to cook a considerable amount of food while not completely emptying the savings account. You could call it the mid-range option — there are cheaper and smaller as well as pricier and larger options from Traeger. Two new models, the Pro 575 and Pro 780, still do just that, but the main addition here is WiFi. This means you’ll get the added benefit of remote control/monitoring and the ability to send recipes from the Traeger app.

The new Pro Series grills also have Traeger’s D2 Direct Drive that employs a new fan and auger to keep the smoke rolling. The auger can also be reversed if it encounters a pellet jam. Traeger says the D2 setup also helps grills get hotter faster (or TurboTemp), and these new Pro Series models will go up to 450 degrees. Perhaps the best part is the new Pro 575 and Pro 780 will remain at the current Pro Series pricing of $800 and $1,000 respectively. The existing non-WiFi Pro Series models, the Pro 34 and Pro 22, are now $750 and $650 respectively.

The Ironwood Series is an entirely new entry to Traeger’s lineup, and the mid-range option for these new WiFire-equipped models. The Ironwood 650 and Ironwood 885 have a pill-shaped design that’s similar to the Timberline Series. That construction enables so-called DownDraft Exhaust and TRU Convection features to help optimize cook times, according to Traeger. Those two items debuted on the Timberline as well, so it’s nice to see those features make their way to more affordable grills.

Traeger's 2019 grill lineup

The Ironwood 650 with a front shelf that’s unfortunately not included

The Ironwood Series also offers the Super Smoke mode from the Timberline, an option that increases smoke production at the push of a button. And yes, you can switch it on from the Traeger mobile app. Ironwood grills also have a handy Keep Warm mode should you need it (also on the Timberline). D2 Direct Drive is here as well, and these two models can cook at temperatures between 165 and 500 degrees. Basically, the Ironwood Series offers much of what you’d get with the pricier Timberline, but with smaller grills at more affordable prices. The Ironwood 650 is $1,200 while the Ironwood 885 is $1,400.

Lastly, the Timberline Series that debuted in 2017 is back, but with some notable improvements. The sizes are still the same, the Timberline 850 and massive Timberline 1300, but both units now have that improved D2 Direct Drive the Pro and Ironwood Series also employ. The main addition here is a pellet-sensing feature that monitors the level of wood pellets in the hopper so you don’t have to worry about running out.

Traeger's 2019 grill lineup

The Timberline 850

That’s typically not a problem unless you don’t fill the hopper before a cook or have something that takes much longer to finish (brisket, for example). However, as someone who has run out and had to deal with restarting the grill in the middle of cooking, this tool should save some headaches. The pellet-sensing tech will also keep track of levels in the app, so you can check your supply while you’re out shopping.

Like before, the Timberline Series also offers three removable grill grates to help you maximize the cooking space. These new Timberlines are more expensive than the first pair though: the Timberline 850 is $1,800 and the Timberline 1300 is $2,000.

Both the new Pro Series and the Ironwood models are available now. The new Timberline Series is up for preorder and ships in 4-6 weeks.

Even with the other updates, the WiFi connectivity is still the main attraction across Traeger’s line of new grills. The company isn’t the only one building grills than you can control or keep an eye on remotely though. For example, Green Mountain and Rec Tec both have WiFi-enabled models, and in some cases, the options from these two are more affordable than Traeger. I can’t speak to the quality as I haven’t used them, but just know you have options if you’re looking for a connected wood-pellet grill this spring.

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