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Instagram’s push to hide ‘Like’ counts comes to the US next week

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Instagram has been testing out a change that hides the “likes” counter on posts around the world for months, but not in the US. According to Instagram head Adam Mosseri, that’s about to change. During an interview at the Wired 25 event today Mosseri explained that it will start testing the change in the US next week, “not the whole US at once,” but enough that some of you will have it on your profiles.

With the test enabled, people still see the number of likes on their own posts, but not other people. He said the purpose is to “depressurize” Instagram, and they’re looking to see how it impacts the feelings of users, as well as how they continue to interact with the platform. Instagram has previously said “We want your friends to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get. You can still see your own likes by tapping on the list of people who’ve liked it, but your friends will not be able to see how many likes your post has received.”

When and where the test is enabled, looking at someone else’s profile simply shows a picture has been liked by [one name] and others. Of course, that doesn’t stop people from focusing purely on follower count as a measure of comparing popularity, and you’ll still see when only one person liked your vacation photo (thanks Greg, you’re a real one), but maybe it’s a small step in the right direction.

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Facebook, YouTube delete posts claiming to name Ukraine whistleblower

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There’s an impeachment inquiry taking place against Donald Trump, which started with a whistleblower complaint about conduct on a call with officials in the Ukraine. Outlets like Breitbart have published content claiming to name the person who initially filed the complaint claiming the president violated his oath of office.

Now the latest free speech flashpoint for social networks is whether or not to allow the spread and amplification of the name, while lawyers for the whistleblower argue that publishing a potential name puts that person at risk. CNN reports that Facebook and YouTube have decided to remove posts with the name, while Twitter — where US House Rep. Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump Jr. have shared posts with the name — says it is not against the rules. With public hearings on the matter scheduled to start next week, this is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

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Apple orders Ben Stiller workplace drama starring Adam Scott

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It’s not certain when the series will premiere, although work has been ongoing for months.

The deal isn’t a complete surprise. Severance is coming from Endeavor Content, the same production company that handles inaugural Apple TV+ show See. It’s still a significant deal for Apple, and it shows that the tech firm is still focused on attracting big-name stars, whether they’re in front of or behind the camera.

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‘Desert Bus’ video game charity has raised nearly $80,000

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For those who don’t know, Desert Bus is a never-released game from Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors. Players must drive a virtual bus from Tucson, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada. When they reach their destination, they’re awarded one point and asked if they want to make the trip back. This year a team of 60 volunteers will take turns driving the bus back and forth on that eight-hour trip until the donations stop.

Their fellow volunteers will attempt to save them from boredom with song, dance, human pyramids, etc. You can watch it all unfold on Twitch, and you can donate at DesertBus.org. To-date, Desert Bus for Hope has raised more than $4.4 million for Child’s Play.

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Stadia hits Google’s Play Store ahead of its debut this month

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You’ll be able to use the app, which will eventually be available on iOS and other Android devices, to manage your account and controllers, buy titles and start games on Chromecast Ultra. Once you’ve signed in with a Google account, it’ll ask you for an invite code from the Stadia Founders or Premiere Edition package before you can go any further.

The Play Store listing notes that you can access your games library from the Home tab. An Explore tab, meanwhile, seems as though it’ll feature community posts as well as links to Stadia’s presence on YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and Discord. You’ll also be able to see which of your friends are online and what they’re playing.

Stadia will work with some Chrome OS tablets, Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a and Pixel 4 at launch, along with browsers and Chromecast Ultra. The service will be available more broadly next year.

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Apple will fix macOS flaw exposing portions of encrypted emails

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The vulnerability exists in at least the last four versions of macOS, ranging from Sierra to Catalina.

This isn’t as glaring a flaw as it sounds. To be vulnerable, you’d have to use Mail, send encrypted messages from Mail and leave FileVault’s whole-drive encryption turned off. If you rely on a third-party email client or use FileVault, you’re not affected. You can also remove Mail from snippets.db by going to System Preferences > Siri > Siri Suggestions & Privacy > Mail and switching off the “learn from this app” option. It’s not clear when the patch will be ready, but you won’t have to stay exposed in the meantime.

Nonetheless, this isn’t what you’d call confidence-inspiring. Gendler noted that he reported the issue on July 29th, and that Apple didn’t respond with a solution until November 5th. That’s a long time to leave email content exposed, even if the likelihood of an attack is slim in practice. It suggests that Apple still has room to speed up its responses to vulnerabilities.

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Volkswagen begins pre-production of its ID.3 EV in China

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Production at the factory, a joint venture with SAIC, is expected to start in October 2020, and it will have an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. FAW-Volkswagen plans to manufacture another 300,000 ID. model vehicles in Foshan, China.

Volkswageg expects to sell 22 million all-electric cars worldwide by 2028, and more than half of those sales are expected to be in China. “The country plays a crucial part in our electrification strategy, which will pave the way to Volkswagen’s goal of becoming net carbon-neutral by 2050,” said Dr. Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG.

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Behringer unveils a Roland TB-303 clone

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The Roland TB-303 found its niche in the late ’80s and early ’90s in the dance music subgenre acid house. The 303’s modulated bass lines are a quintessential component to the acid style, but it can be heard in other genres; you’ll notice it in Aaliya’s “Try Again,” for example. Most electronic musicians have had to resort to software recreations of the bass synth to achieve a nearly-authentic sound, given the 303’s scarcity — only 10,000 of them were ever produced.

The Behringer TD-3 features the same look and many of the same features as the original TB-303. Sawtooth and square wave oscillators will form the basis of your tones, while an arsenal of tone-shaping knobs like cutoff, resonance and envelope will let you get those classic ’80s and ’90s sounds. The keybed is very similar to the original, allowing for real-time playing. But the 303 is typically sequenced, meaning users add step-by-step beats to a pattern — sort of an electronic counterpart to the way a player piano’s notes are triggered. Augmenting this, Behringer’s take on the 303 allows for 16 patterns to be played at once, meaning you could presumably create chords by playing one note on top of another — something the original mono synth couldn’t pull off.

Behringer has been taking a divisive tact lately, reverse-engineering classic synths like the Roland TR-808, Minimoog Model D and ARP Odyssey, and releasing them as clones with minor changes and upgrades. While it’s great that musicians can finally afford analogue approximations of these long out of production synths, the fact that Behringer so closely copies the originals’ circuit designs rubs some people the wrong way — including the original manufacturers. That said, Roland, for example, only produces software and digital recreations of the original units, not analogue reissues. So it’s not as if Behringer is directly taking money out of Roland’s pocket.

There are no firm details yet on a release date or a price, but MusicRadar expects the TB-3 to cost just under $200. Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while before we can get our hands on the TB-3. The Behringer RD-8 — a clone of Roland’s classic TR-808 — has been frequently delayed, presumably due to legal issues between Roland and Behringer. Hopefully the TB-3 arrives sooner than later.

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Senator urges Uber and Lyft to run fingerprint background checks

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“They have a real responsibility for taking every possible step to do background checks that are reliable and comprehensive,” he told the Washington Post. He said both companies had “ambiguous” responses to questions he sent them about ridesharing safety measures. He sought more details following reports about Uber’s investigations team allegedly being told to prioritize the company’s business concerns, including a ban on sharing details about potentially dangerous drivers with Lyft.

“If they ban a driver right now, they have no protocol or procedure for sharing that information with each other,” he said. “I think that’s just central to safety, and yet they have no protocol.”

Blumenthal plans to meet with Uber and Lyft, and wants Congress to hold hearings about safety in the ridesharing industry. Both companies use their own background check programs and ones from a company called Checkr. They’ve recently rolled out other safety-focused features, including panic buttons in their apps, along with more checks on current drivers. But unless current background checks flag something particularly concerning, a driver who’s been kicked off Uber or Lyft’s platform may be able to sign up to the other one relatively easily.

The companies wrote in their replies to Blumenthal that fingerprinting might result in bias against people of color who may be more likely to be arrested but not convicted per se. New York City requires them to use fingerprint checks. Texas residents voted for fingerprint checks in 2016, but both companies stopped service in Austin until the state legislature and Governor Greg Abbott rescinded the requirement a year later.

Uber and Lyft have faced criticism and lawsuits over their responses to alleged sexual assaults and harassment, as well as how they carry out background checks. Meanwhile, some have suggested that recent changes to Lyft’s safety policy to make it more stringent may actually result in it being harder for the company to ban bad drivers while reinstating ones it previously banned.

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Netflix is dropping support for older Samsung smart TVs in December

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The news isn’t too surprising — Netflix cannot support all hardware indefinitely — but it is still a bummer. Samsung confirmed the change in a troubleshooting page, and Cord Cutters first reported that older Vizio and Roku devices will lose support.

In a statement provided to Engadget, a Netflix spokesperson said:

“On December 2nd, Netflix will no longer be supported on a small number of older devices due to technical limitations. We’ve notified all impacted members with more information about alternative devices we support so they can keep enjoying Netflix uninterrupted.”

If you have one of the affected TVs, you won’t have to replace it, but you will need streaming device. Roku users may have to upgrade. Fortunately, most streaming devices are pretty affordable, and most work with other services, like Disney+ and Apple TV+.

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