Foundation’s season 2 trailer is a battle 100 years in the making - The Verge

Foundation’s season 2 trailer is a battle 100 years in the making

The sci-fi epic returns to Apple TV Plus in July.

By Andrew Webster , an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

Jun 13, 2023, 2:00 PM UTC |

It’s going to be a sci-fi summer over on Apple TV Plus. The streaming service is getting a second season of the epic series Foundation in July, and a new trailer gives a good sense of what viewers can expect: namely, a much more action-packed experience compared to season 1.

The new season takes place a century after the previous one and has the Empire, led by a menacing Lee Pace as Brother Day, preparing for an all-out conflict with the titular Foundation, a group led by Hari Seldon (Jared Harris).

Here’s the basic setup:

As the Cleons unravel, a vengeful queen plots to destroy Empire from within. Hari, Gaal, and Salvor discover a colony of Mentalics with psionic abilities that threaten to alter psychohistory itself. The Foundation has entered its religious phase, promulgating the Church of Seldon throughout the Outer Reach and inciting the Second Crisis: war with Empire.

Apple TV Plus has had a pretty solid run of genre television this year, with the likes of the climate change drama Extrapolations, the retrofuturistic Hello Tomorrow, the small-town postapocalyptic mystery Silo, and a final season of the psychological thriller Servant.

Season 2 of Foundation will join those series when the first of 10 episodes premieres on July 14th.

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Reddit’s users and moderators are revolting against its CEO - The Verge

Reddit’s users and moderators are revolting against its CEO

Thousands of subreddits pledge to go dark after the Reddit CEO’s recent remarks

Fallout from the unpopular API pricing change and disastrous AMA with CEO Steve Huffman is turning out the lights on some of Reddit’s most prominent communities.

By Wes Davis , a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.

Jun 10, 2023, 11:58 PM UTC |

Reddits user and moderator community are very peeved at its CEO right now.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The version of Reddit we’ll see over the next few days may be a shell of itself. More than 100 subreddits have already gone dark, and thousands more plan to follow in protest of Reddit’s coming API changes, according to the website Reddark, which is tracking the protests.

The protests are happening over API changes that will force many third-party apps, like Apollo and rif is fun for Reddit, to shut down. Frustration was already brewing in the community as developers began reacting to the changes this week, but Reddit CEO Steve Huffman’s responses in recent days have only escalated the community’s pushback.

In a Reddit AMA on Friday, Huffman was met with seemingly universal anger. There were a lot of f-bombs from commenters. A lotofpeoplecalledhim a coward. If there are positive comments, I didn’t find them.

Subreddit moderators and third-party Reddit app developers say they’ve lost trust in Huffman and Reddit’s leadership. Apollo developer Christian Selig accused Huffman of “blatantly lying” in a phone call to some subreddit moderators. The moderators of r/videos wrote that Huffman’s AMA performance was “a collage of inappropriate responses.” r/funny suggested the company was “aim[ing] solely at your looming IPO.”

Most of the subreddits have pledged to go private — preventing outside access — for 48 hours, though some, like the 26 million-member community r/videos, have said they’ll remain private indefinitely. According to this post on r/ModCoord, protests will end when Reddit addresses issues with the API, improves accessibility for blind people, and creates “parity in access to NSFW content.”

Among the complaints are how Reddit’s leadership has, or mostly hasn’t, communicated the details of changes to its API pricing or incoming restrictions, including prohibiting third-party apps from showing NSFW content that’s already viewable on the site. ReddPlanet developer Tony Lupeski said it was a “blatant lie” that Reddit leadership was keeping dialogue open with impacted third-party developers, as Huffman wrote. “That’s not an answer and you know it,” said user Anacharsis to the same Huffman reply.

When moderator Merari01 asked why the site hadn’t tested the new changes with users and moderators, Huffman said the company “started sharing this information in April.” A few responses pointed out the earlier announcement didn’t include any pricing information and left out details like the ban on third-party apps showing NSFW content.

One user pointed to a post on r/AskHistorians listing times Reddit had reneged on promises.

Since the AMA, some subreddits have escalated their response. Over at r/iPhone, the moderators posted early morning that their original plan was to go dark for just 48 hours, but Huffman’s behavior changed their minds:

Originally, the protest was planned to be 48 hours. However, after a shambolic AMA held by Reddit’s CEO, it has become clear to us that Reddit doesn’t intend to act in good faith. When the CEO is willing to lie and spread libellous claims about another third-party developer, and then try double down by vilifying them, again, in an AMA, despite being proven as a liar by the developer through audio recordings, that’s when we knew what we were up against.

Now /iPhone will be going private, severely restricting access to the sub. As will r/Music, a default subscription for new accounts and one of the largest subreddits on the site. Mods of that community put it right in the title of the post announcing its participation, which says it will close starting June 12th “Until Reddit Takes Back Their API Policy Change.”

r/iPhone, which has 3.8 million users, echoed r/Music’s sentiment, saying, “in the (somewhat unlikely) scenario that Reddit’s leadership has a change of direction that sees the reversal [of] the recent API policy change, we will reopen the subreddit.” r/Gaming says its shutdown will begin on the 12th, and it will be set to private “for 48 hours or longer.”

At the time of publishing, a pinned bot post on the r/ModCoord sub’s post about the protest says nearly 4,500 communities are pledging to go dark, while Reddark, a site tracking the protesting subreddits, says over 200 already have.

Correction June 11th, 2023, 8:47AM EST: A previous version of this headline said thousands of subreddits had gone dark. That is inaccurate, they are currently planning to go dark. r/videos also has not yet gone private, as previously stated. Lastly, a mention of r/History should have read r/AskHistorians. We sincerely regret the error.

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Facebook finally has live chat support for people who are locked out of their accounts - The Verge

Facebook finally has live chat support for people who are locked out of their accounts

Better customer support for creators and average users alike

By Richard Lawler , a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.

Dec 10, 2021, 2:36 PM UTC |

Despite eagerly participating in a platform vs. platform war of escalating financial incentives to attract creators, one area where critics have said Facebook / Meta / Instagram is lacking is in the ability to provide basic support for those online stars. Whether that’s through community moderation and page management tools or making sure they have someone to reach if they’re locked out of their account suddenly, it has been a consistent issue.

Now it’s trying to change that, announcing a “small test” of live chat support for English-speaking creators in the US who don’t have an assigned relationship manager. That way these midtier internet stars can get a quick response if they have questions about a payout, or, for example, how to use a new feature for Instagram Reels.

Another element that’s even more crucial is for those who are locked out of their account for one reason or another. A report by BuzzFeed in August detailed an underground economy of people who claim to have inside access at Meta and charge money to help with account restoration. For people who use social media as their business, they may feel they have no choice but to pay, especially when normal customer support avenues are unresponsive.

Facebook Support on iOS

Image: Meta

Facebook says it’s now testing “live chat help for some English-speaking users globally, including creators, who’ve been locked out of their accounts.” The company says it’s the first time it has offered live support for the issue and that it’s focusing on people who can’t log in either due to unusual activity or because they’ve reportedly violated its community standards.

Facebook’s “spotlight conversation”

Image: Meta

Other changes it’s announced this week include better comment moderation with keyword blocking, moderation assistance that can auto-hide comments with links or images, the ability to block a user along with any new accounts they try to make later, and a dedicated spot to view hidden comments.

If you’re trying to go live and build a fan base, then you’ll be able to do it with more people, as Facebook has added the ability co-broadcast with up to three additional guests. You can also share those live broadcasts as Facebook Stories that pop to the top of your followers’ feeds, as well as badges and front row privileges that make it easier for the host to know when particularly dedicated fans are watching. Finally, video hosts can also add featured links that viewers can click without leaving the video and polls that work on mobile just like they already did on the desktop.

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Google says its Lens image search can now help identify skin conditions - The Verge

Google says its Lens image search can now help identify skin conditions

‘Just take a picture or upload a photo through Lens, and you’ll find visual matches to inform your search.’

By Jon Porter , a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

Jun 15, 2023, 12:04 PM UTC |

Illustration: The Verge

Google Lens is now able to offer more information on that pesky rash that you’re not sure whether to worry about. In a blog post published this week, Google outlined how the Lens image search feature built into its apps on iOS and Android can “search for skin conditions” like an “odd mole or rash.” It’ll also work on other parts of your body if you want more information about a bump on your lip, line on a nail, or hair loss from your scalp.

“Just take a picture or upload a photo through Lens, and you’ll find visual matches to inform your search,” the blog post reads. Crucially, however, Google specifically warns that results are “informational only and not a diagnosis” and says users should “consult your medical authority for advice.” The feature is available to everyone in the US, across all languages, Google spokesperson Craig Ewer confirmed to The Verge.

Google says Lens can identify skin conditions from a photograph.

Image: Google

Google has been exploring the use of AI image recognition for skin conditions for years. At its I/O developer conference in 2021 the company previewed a tool that attempted to identify skin, hair, and nail conditions using a combination of photos and survey responses. At the time Google said the tool could recognize 288 different conditions, and would present the correct condition in the top three suggestions 84 percent of the time.

As of this writing, Google’s website for its DermAssist tool says it’s “currently undergoing further market testing through a limited release.” It adds that while it’s CE-marked as a Class 1 Medical Device (a label for goods in the European Economic Area), it’s not been evaluated by the United States FDA and “is intended for informational purposes only and does not provide a medical diagnosis.”

That’s all well and good, but that won’t prevent people from trying to use tools like these for diagnosis. Arguably, adding that sort of disclaimer only shifts liability onto the user, while letting Google still offer the same underlying service.

There’s good reason, too, to be cautious about AI diagnostic tools. One persistent criticism when it comes to identifying skin conditions, is that such software is less accurate for users with darker skin tones. Research cited by The Guardianin 2021 noted a lack of skin type category data across many freely available image databases used to train AI systems, and a lack of images of dark skinned individuals in databases that did include this information.

Google has been working to address these complaints. Last year it partnered with Harvard professor Ellis Monk to promote his Monk Skin Tone Scale (MST) and best practices for how it can be used in AI development. The search giant says its teams have been using the MST Scale for its own “ML labeling tasks, ethnographic research, and fairness testing.”

The company has also suggested in 2021 that its deep learning system was actually more accurate at identifying skin conditions for Black patients. In slides provided by Google to Motherboard, the company said its system had an accuracy rate of 87.9 percent for Black patients, higher than other ethnicities.

In response to The Verge’s questions about how well the feature works across different skin tones, Google spokesperson Craig Ewer said the company has attempting to build the feature in an equitable way by working with organizations and clinicians that serve patients from “diverse backgrounds.” He added that the company worked with dermatologists who are experts in different skin tones to curate thumbnail images.

Update June 16th, 3:15AM ET: Updated with comment from Google.

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Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Air is already $65 off at Amazon - The Verge

Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Air is already $65 off at Amazon

The M2 machine is a lot like last year’s MacBook Air but with a bigger screen and an improved six-speaker sound system.

By Brandon Widder , a senior editor overseeing deals, gift guides, and commerce. He spent six years spearheading buying guides and consumer tech coverage at Digital Trends.

Jun 14, 2023, 5:56 PM UTC |

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.See our ethics statement.

*Who doesn’t love an extra two inches of real estate?*

After what feels like years of “will they / won’t they” speculation, Apple’s long-awaited 15-inch MacBook Air has officially arrived. However, despite having just recently launched, Amazon is already dropping the price of the base model with 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage, an eight-core CPU, and a 10-core GPU to $1,234 in select colors — a $65 discount that beats the preorder price we saw leading up to the laptop’s release earlier this week.

As expected, there isn’t a whole lot that separates Apple’s new 15-incher from the 13-inch M2 model Apple released last year. My colleague Monica Chin put the M2 laptop through its paces over the weekend, and lo and behold, it offers few surprises aside from the extra two inches of screen real estate and a far better speaker array. At 3.3 pounds, it’s a bit heavier than the redesigned 13-inch model, but it offers the same outstanding battery life, a terrific keyboard, and more than enough processing power for the average user to inundate themselves with work docs and burn through the first two seasons of The Witcher before the third hits next month (sigh, RIP to Henry Cavill’s Geralt).

A Starlight MacBook Air 15-inch open on a gray couch.

Apple’s latest MacBook Air sports a 15-inch display and is equipped with Apple’s M2 chip. The base model starts with 8GB of RAM and 256B of storage, though you can also buy it with as much as 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

If you’re a macOS Ventura user who doesn’t want to shell out north of $1,000 on a new laptop but could use a better webcam to replace your laptop’s shoddy 720p camera — yes, I’m looking at you, M1 MacBook Air users — there’s the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks. Normally $29.99, it’s currently on sale at Amazon in white for $23.29, which marks its first discount to date.

Terrible name aside, Belkin’s Continuity Camera mount is a pretty handy tool that lets you use the phone you already own to take video calls on your Mac. The simple, well-built device works with any MagSafe-equipped iPhone and most Apple laptops, including both MacBook Air and Pro models dating as far back as 2018 and makes use of Apple’s new Continuity Camera feature. You can rest it on your laptop in either portrait or landscape modes, and once set up, the whole thing is pretty effortless to use. The built-in hook even doubles as a kickstand, just in case you want to prop your phone up on the go.

Photo of an iPhone mounted onto the top of a laptop using Belkin’s mount. The video from the iPhone’s camera is shown on the screen.

Belkin’s laptop-friendly Continuity Camera mount offers great build quality, a built-in kickstand, and — most importantly — an easy way to use your MagSafe-equipped iPhone as a webcam.

We wrote yesterday about how both Target and Amazon are offering mix-and-match buy two, get one free deals on select video games, tabletop games, and other items. On top of that, however, it appears Nintendo is running a so-called “Hyper Max Sale” through June 25th that drops the price of select digital games, some of which rarely see discounts. There’s quite a bit on offer, but one of the most notable titles is Metroid Dread, which is currently matching its all-time low of $41.99 ($18 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the My Nintendo Store.

The moody, atmospheric sidescroller was arguably one of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2021 despite being overshadowed by the likes of Hades and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — two titles that have nothing on Dread’s frantic boss battles, classic progression system, and expansive arsenal of sci-fi weaponry.

Metroid Dread is the fifth mainline entry in Nintendo’s storied franchise. The 2D sidescroller is a direct sequel to Metroid Fusion, a Game Boy Advance title from 2002.

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A few additional midweek discounts

Skullcandy’s Dime 2 earbuds are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $22.99 ($7 off), nearly matching their best price to date. They lack more premium features like noise cancellation and multipoint connectivity, yet they still manage to deliver respectable sound quality and a healthy mix of features (including 3.5 hours of playback per charge and Tile integration) at a price that was pretty much unfathomable just a couple of years ago.
Anker’s 313 Wireless Charger is on sale at Amazon and Walmart right now for $15.99 ($4 off), nearly matching its all-time low. While slower than a lot of other Qi wireless chargers — it tops out at 10W charging speeds with Samsung Galaxy devices — it’s still an inexpensive, reliable option if you’re someone who typically charges their phone overnight.
The Google Pixel Watch, our favorite “Fitbit” fitness tracker, is once again available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target in the Wi-Fi-only configuration starting at just $299.99 ($50 off). If you’re not sold on the watch’s sleek design or reliable performance, Google recently announced that it’s rolling out a slate of new features to its first-gen wearable, including blood oxygen tracking and a new auto-pause feature for workouts. Read our review.
It’s not a deal, per se, but Asus’ ROG Ally is now available at Best Buy for $699.99. Our own Sean Hollister recently gave his original review a refresh in light of some of the recent changes Asus made to the Windows handheld, which, despite still struggling with battery life, remains a powerful gaming machine when paired with a mouse, keyboard, and — yes — a power outlet.

Update June 14th 2:55PM ET: Amazon is now offering an additional $15 off Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air. We’ve adjusted the price accordingly in both the body copy and headline.

The Witcher season 3’s new trailer has portals, parties, and plenty of bloodshed

The final season with Henry Cavill starts streaming on Netflix later this month.

By Andrew Webster , an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

Jun 8, 2023, 7:30 PM UTC |

Despite the name, Summer Game Fest isn’t entirely about games — case in point, we got a brand-new trailer for The Witcher’s third season. The clip shows off just about everything the series is known for: bloody battles, terrifying monsters, fiery magic, and Geralt looking very awkward at a social affair. And, of course, he spends lots of time talking about how neutral he is.

Season 3 of The Witcher starts streaming on Netflix on June 29th — or at least, some of it does. Just like Stranger Things before it, the latest season of the fantasy show will be split into two parts. Volume one will debut in June, while the second volume will premiere in July.

Netflix has steadily been expanding its Witcher universe since the first season debuted in 2019. We’ve had a second season, an animated film, a live-action prequel series starring Michelle Yeoh, and now, a third season so big it’s being split in half. And while star Henry Cavill will be replaced by Liam Hemsworth starting with season 4, it doesn’t appear the franchise will slow down one bit — it’s already been renewed for season 5.

Meanwhile, the Witcher games have cemented their place as some of the bestsellers in the medium.

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