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Today’s Storystream

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Deep dive.

Josh Dzieza got a rare glimpse at the meticulous work of undersea cable repair — the secretive industry that keeps internet infrastructure around the world up and running. If you haven’t read his excellent feature yet, here’s a quick overview of how cable repair works.


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Cybertruck owner reveals Tesla’s very riveting fix for pedal problems.

A Tesla delivery center in Virginia reportedly has a way to deal with the now-recalled accelerator pedal on Cybertrucks.

In a Facebook post, Jim McGlone wrote that they installed a temporary rivet to secure the pad that might slip off and get stuck. With that in place, he picked up his new Cybertruck yesterday after it had been in a “containment hold.”


Screenshot of a Facebook post showing the nailed-down Tesla Cybertruck pedal cover.
Image: Jim McGlone (Facebook)
Taylor Swift’s new album is for gamers.

Not only is the first song called “Fortnight” (ignore the typo), but the lyrics from “So High School” reference both GTA and the beloved LucasArts adventure game Full Throttle. Curiously it’s not capitalized, but Swift does seem to be teasing a sequel.


A screenshot of lyrics from the Taylor Swift song “So High School.”
Image: Apple Music
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“It’s most certainly not cloud seeding”

that caused catastrophic flooding in Dubai, experts tell AP. People falsely blaming cloud seeding are also spreading disinformation about climate change. So, you know, don’t believe everything you see on social media.


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No one’s going to misuse this, right?

Microsoft’s new AI model, VASA-1, transforms a single still image and an audio clip into an animated video, which is impressive, if not a little creepy.

The benefits – such as enhancing educational equity, improving accessibility for individuals with communication challenges, offering companionship or therapeutic support to those in need, among many others – underscore the importance of our research and other related explorations.

Microsoft says it won’t release a demo, API, or product with VASA-1 “until we are certain that the technology will be used responsibly.”


Taylor Swift is finally on Threads, and Zuck is very excited about it.

It’s not just us Swifties who have been waiting impatiently for April 19th — The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) release day. It appears Mark Zuckerberg had a carefully worded pun locked and loaded for today, which also marks the pop superstar’s debut on Threads.


An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions & sentiments from a fleeting & fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational & sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed & boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.
“Nice to meet you, where you been?”
Image: @Zuck (Threads)
Sens. Wyden and Lummis introduce amendment limiting FISA’s warrantless wiretapping powers.

The amendment would reverse a provision included in the recent House bill reauthorizing Section 702 of FISA that expands the definition of “electronic communications service provider,” which critics say would force Americans to essentially spy for the government.

“Forcing ordinary Americans and small businesses to conduct secret, warrantless spying is what authoritarian countries do, not democracies,” Wyden said in a statement. 


Redoing math in the macOS Calculator app is violence.

That’s why I’m keen on this rumor from AppleInsider that says macOS 15 will add a sidebar that gives you an overview of previous calculations. The app will supposedly look more like the iOS version and get unit conversions too.

Good! Sign me up for anything that makes math less painful.


Screenshot showing a redesigned Calculator app with a history and restyled buttons.
Image: AppleInsider

The Verge’s 2024 Mother’s Day gift guide

We found a collection of unique gift ideas that go beyond the flowers and chocolates that typically rule the day.

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Sea spray sends forever chemicals into the air.

That means breaking waves could be a major source of PFAS pollution in the air, according to a new study. For decades, manufacturers used forever chemicals (AKA PFAS) in everything from food packaging to carpet cleaners to make things water, stain, and heat resistant. We’re just starting to understand how prevalent these chemicals have become in the environment and the health risks that could pose.


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Sony enters the running to buy Paramount.

Sources tell The New York Times that Sony and investment firm Apollo Global Management are in talks to submit a bid to acquire Paramount. At the same time, reports suggest Paramount is getting closer to making a deal with Skydance.


So we’re all playing Fallout 4 again, huh?

Sales for the game rose by 7,500 percent week-on-week across Europe, according to Gamesindustry.biz, with Steam charts showing a similar spike in players that suggests a wider, global trend. Not bad for a near-decade-old game.

The new Prime Video series is likely driving this as we saw a similar phenomenon with The Last of Us following its own TV adaptation.


A screenshot of Fallout 4 sales on Steam since January 2024.
Steam charts show that Fallout 4 has roughly five times as many players as it did before Prime Video’s Fallout series was released.
Image: SteamDB.info
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Apple ordered to remove WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from the App Store in China.

While US lawmakers take aim at TikTok, The Wall Street Journal reports that several popular messaging apps were removed by Apple at the request of the Chinese government which will make it harder for people in the country to download the apps for use with a VPN. Reuters notes that Meta apps like Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram are still available.

Here’s Apple’s statement on the matter:

“The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns. We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”


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Apex Legends locks things down and brings back Three Strikes.

The developers of Apex Legends announced a new collection event, the return of the fast-paced Three Strikes mode that brings bad players (like me) right back into the action, and a new “Apex Rumble” asynchronous tournament system.

But most importantly, TechCrunch reports that the hacker behind last month’s ALGS incident says the exploit he used to hack streamers mid-game has been patched.


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Best Buy launches an augmented reality shopping app for the Vision Pro.

Apple’s headset doesn’t have an official Netflix app, but MacRumors mentions Best Buy’s app has arrived.

Just put on your Vision Pro, open the Best Buy Envision app and scroll through hundreds of options to see them appear digitally, right in front your eyes, in your physical space.

Now, all we need is a Netflix app for those virtual TVs.


Simulated view of the Best Buy Vision Pro app projecting LG and Amazon TVs into a living room setting next to a page of Best Buy product listings with details and prices.
Augmented Best Buy Reality
Image: Best Buy
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Overwatch 2 targets console cheaters using XIM, ReaSnow, and Cronus devices.

Like Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, and Destiny 2, the developers of Overwatch 2 are going after players who use “unapproved peripherals” to combine the precision of mouse and keyboard controls with the aim assist granted to controller players.

Over the next few weeks, there will be permanent account bans against players who are the most severe abusers of unapproved peripherals. These actions will be targeted towards high-ranked players who have been reported by others and who our data clearly shows are using an unapproved peripheral.


TikTok’s infamous algorithm and its link to a failed real estate app.

Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, but previously served as the CEO of 99Fang, a Chinese home finder startup with “very powerful” tech for search, image processing, and recommendations.

Now, The New York Times reports that former contractors suing Susquehanna, an investor in both companies, claim technology they developed for 99Fang was used to create TikTok without compensating them.


Make robots hairy

More hair = less scare.

AI true crime.

Futurism spotted what looks to be AI photo shenanigans in Netflix’s What Jennifer Did, a true crime documentary detailing a murder-for-hire plot. The possible AI-generated images appeared in scenes describing the subject, Jennifer Pan’s personality. Futurism rightly points out that fake AI images in a true crime documentary are controversial, at the least.


Photo from Futurism on the documentary “What Jennifer Did.”
Is this AI-generated?
Image: Futurism
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Apple’s iPhone recycling program is riddled with theft and waste.

In 2020, Apple sued a recycling partner after more than 11,000 pounds of gadgets disappeared. But a Bloomberg report reveals that workers pilfering iPhones isn’t the only problem with Apple’s recycling program.

The company regularly ordered the recycling partner to destroy “tens of thousands” of refurbishable devices, legal filings show. Such waste occurs regularly throughout the globe.


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Will the Netflix price hikes ever end?

Co-CEO Greg Peters says the streamer doesn’t have a “set position” on a ceiling for its subscription pricing:

You can look at pay TV as a potential markers for where people have spent before but we really actually don’t think of it so much is defined by that... As we add more entertainment value, then of course we can go back to our subscribers and ask them to pay a little bit more to keep that virtuous cycle moving.


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Microsoft and OpenAI deal may face anti-trust investigations in the EU.

If it pushes through, the European Commission could look into whether Microsoft’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI restricts competition, Reuters reports. The commission floated the possibility of an investigation in January.

The partnership between the two companies already drew scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Federal Trade Commission in the US.


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Crypto trader Avi Eisenberg found guilty of fraud in market-manipulation case.

Eisenberg sent the price of MNGO tokens up, then withdrew $110 million in crypto. He did not testify.

His defense pointed out the was permitted by the crypto’s code. Turns out code isn’t law!