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Nuro’s driverless delivery cars are cleared for testing in California

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Nuro’s driverless delivery vehicles just got another important approval. California’s DMV has given Nuro a permit to test completely self-driving couriers in specific parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, including Silicon Valley mainstays like Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. The company plans to use this for free deliveries to “select” customers in the Mountain View area, with ultimate plans for a full-fledged delivery service that would operate state-wide.

The startup already had permission to test self-driving vehicles on California roads since 2017, but only with a backup driver in place. Truly driver-free deliveries have already taken place in other states, if typically as test programs.

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‘Forza Street’ reaches Android and iOS on May 5th

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It won’t be too much longer until you can see how well Forza translates to smartphones. Turn 10 and Microsoft have announced that Forza Street will be available for Android and iOS on May 5th, with pre-registration still limited to Google Play and the Galaxy Store. Anyone who plays within the first month will get a Founders Pack that includes the 2017 Ford GT as well as virtual credits and gold.

As indicated before, Street is a simplified, bite-sized take on Forza — understandable when you probably aren’t about to hold your phone during the length of a realistic race. You can expect familiar-looking cars, but you’ll also see a story-driven mode and races that can last for just a minute.

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Facebook’s lack of moderators is hurting its fight against misinformation

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Facebook has previously warned that it’s been unable to rely on many of its human content moderators, most of whom are contractors and not able to work from home, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the company has been relying heavily on its automated systems, which use artificial intelligence to flag potential violations. 

Several weeks into this new arrangement, though, and it appears that Facebook’s automated tools are coming up short. As CR points out, the ad recommending drinking bleach is especially egregious considering Facebook executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, have regularly cited the claim as one that would be barred under Facebook’s rules. 

Other ads called the coronavirus a “hoax” and discouraged social distancing efforts — both of which violate Facebook’s policies prohibiting posts that discourage treatment or “taking appropriate precautions.”

A Facebook spokesperson noted  the company’s automated system can continue to flag ads after they’ve been purchased and after they’ve started running on the service. 

There were other potential “red flags” that Facebook’s system could have used as a signal to give Consumer Reports’ ads extra scrutiny. The posts were linked to a non-existent organization that only created Facebook accounts days before buying the ads — a technique often used by spammers. But if Facebook’s ad approval takes any of these signals into consideration, it didn’t raise any alarms in this instance.

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson told Engadget the company has taken down “millions of ads” that violate its rules.

“While we’ve removed millions of ads and commerce listings for violating our policies related to COVID-19, we’re always working to improve our enforcement systems to prevent harmful misinformation related to this emergency from spreading on our services,” the spokesperson said.

Critics have long claimed that Facebook’s ad policies are often enforced unevenly. The company has been accused of spreading medical misinformation about HIV prevention medication, and a recent paper from New York University concluded the company’s transparency rules — meant to make political ads easier to track  are “easy to evade.”



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Apple’s Clips video editor on iPad adds mouse and trackpad support

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Apple’s Clips video creation app now supports mouse, trackpad and Bluetooth keyboard inputs on iPad, as long as you’re running iPadOS 13.4 or later. Along with a number of other features included in the latest update, that’ll greatly expand your options for making killer videos.

You’ll be able to create a carbon copy of a clip (including all of the effects) with the Duplicate button, or chop it into parts with the Split tool. Apple also suggests you can “make stickers pop on and off the screen” by applying them to a section of a clip you’ve split

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‘Borderlands 3’ rewards you for aiding human gut research

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You might just nudge scientific progress forward the next time you play Borderlands 3. Gearbox has introduced a Borderlands Science mini-game that will help scientists map the human gut’s microbiome in return for rewards. It may look like a simple block puzzle, but you’re really helping to map and compare sequenced DNA. You’re effectively helping to correct computer analyses.

Each puzzle has a target score. Completing them will earn in-game currency you can redeem for everything from cosmetics through to limited-time boosters for your stats and experience. And don’t worry if you can’t line up all the tiles — the data isn’t meant to be perfect.

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Sony’s PS5 DualSense controller has a built-in mic and adaptive triggers

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Sony's DualSense controller for PlayStation 5

Sony

The DualSense has a built-in microphone array, so you can chat with your friends without needing a headset. The DualShock share button is no more, with a Create button taking its place. Sony will spell out exactly what you’ll be able to do with that in the coming months. A closer look at the rear, meanwhile, suggests that the DualSense has a USB-C charging port.

The company previously teased some details about the controller, such as its adaptive L2 and R2 triggers and that it’d have haptic feedback. Sony suggests that the DualSense, along with the console’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, “will deliver a new feeling of immersion to players.”

The PS5 is still on track for a holiday 2020 release date, so it’ll only be six months or so before we find out how true that statement is, as well as whether the DualSense is as comfy as it appears. However, we’ve still no idea what the console itself looks like. Fingers crossed there’ll be more details on that front soon.

Sony's DualSense controller for PlayStation 5

Sony

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Snapchat’s new lens helps users donate to the WHO’s COVID-19 relief fund

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This isn’t Snapchat’s first COVID-19 filter. In March, it added mental health tools to help ease coronavirus anxiety through the “Here For You” tool. Those include information from the Crisis Text Line, Ad Council, WHO and CDC. A couple weeks later, Snapchat added lenses that encourage social distancing, hand washing and the importance of not touching your face.

Like seemingly all communication platforms, Snapchat has seen an uptick in activity with more people staying home. It reported a 50 percent increase in its calling feature during the last two weeks of March.

Snapchat isn’t alone in supporting the WHO’s COVID-19 relief fund. A 12-hour Stream Aid Charity Marathon on Twitch last month raised 2.8 million for the Solidarity Response Fund. The game studio Ndemic Creations, behind Plague Inc., donated $250,000, and late-night hosts and musicians will come together on April 18th for a virtual benefit concert. Donations will support the WHO’s work to track and understand the virus, ensure patients get the care they need, provide frontline workers with essential supplies and accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests and treatments.

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'Call of Duty: Warzone' is introducing four-player squads

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Just as Apex Legends is getting a permanent duos mode to complement the long-standing trios option, Call of Duty: Warzone is stepping in the opposite direction by letting you drop into the map with four players in your squad. The quads option will be…

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Netflix’s new parental controls include PIN-protected profiles

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Netflix’s parental controls have been something of a mess, but they just got considerably better. The streaming service has updated its controls to give you more power over what kids see — or rather, what they don’t. You can now filter out age-inappropriate titles based on country ratings, so your little one won’t see a horror movie or a bloody crime drama. You can block individual titles if there are any that push the limits of their rating. And yes, you can finally PIN-protect an entire profile instead of access to risky material — you don’t have to enter a code every time you want to watch Sabrina.

Likewise, you can expect better tools for managing profiles. You can see what your kids have been watching on their profiles, and turn off auto-play if you don’t want them going on impromptu Paw Patrol marathons. It should also be simple to review each profile’s content filters from within account settings.

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SpaceX’s first-gen Dragon cargo capsule left the ISS for the last time

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This marks the last flight in a $1.6 billion contract between NASA and SpaceX. Now, SpaceX is shifting its attention to the second-generation Dragon 2 capsule, which it will use for ISS resupply runs beginning in October. The new spacecraft will be able to fly up to five times, surpassing the three-trip max of its predecessor, and dock itself, rather than rely on a robotic arm to catch it.

SpaceX also plans to use the Dragon-2 capsule to deliver critical cargo, scientific experiments and other supplies to the Lunar Gateway, the staging point for Artemis program missions. The capsule will fly on top of the Falcon Heavy rocket and stay at the station for six to 12 months at a time.

First, though, we can expect the Crew Dragon Demo-2 test sometime next month. That will launch humans to space from US soil for the first time since 2011, and if it’s a success, the Crew Dragon will be certified to conduct operational crew flights to and from the ISS. The first of those flights is expected to launch later this year.

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