John Routledge - Technoshia

06 May

How to watch NASA’s first Boeing Starliner crewed flight launch today

John RoutledgeLatest News

Watch along today as NASA's Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test finally — most likely — blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA should start streaming its coverage at 6:30PM ET on its YouTube channel, with the official launch set for 10:34PM ET. The spacecraft will carry two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. We say "most likely" because…

06 May

Sony quickly backs down on Helldivers 2 PSN requirement for PC players

John RoutledgeLatest News

After creating a massive kerfuffle by forcing Helldivers 2 PC players to link their Steam accounts to the PlayStation Network, Sony is backing down. The May 6 update will no longer be released and, presumably, the game won't be removed from sale on Steam in 177 countries and territories as reported yesterday. "Helldivers fans — we’ve heard your feedback on…

06 May

The Morning After: The verdict on the Rabbit R1

John RoutledgeLatest News

When I first saw the Rabbit R1, it was more appealing than the Humane AI Pin. The R1 had an actual screen, not a dim projector, and it had a twee scrolling wheel, all wrapped up in a glossy, fiery orange-red shell. Alas, as our review explains, it doesn’t work as well as promised. It doesn’t do much and is,…

05 May

Jack Dorsey says (on X) that he’s not on the Bluesky board anymore

John RoutledgeLatest News

Jack Dorsey has apparently exited the Bluesky board. As spotted by TechCrunch, the former Twitter CEO who was previously Bluesky’s highest-profile proponent shared the life update this weekend on X, where he’s been posting a lot lately. In response to a user who asked “are you still on the bsky board,” Dorsey said only, “no.” That’s it, nothing more. Engadget…

04 May

Threads now lets you control who can quote your posts

John RoutledgeLatest News

Threads is giving users more control over who can quote their posts (as in, reposting with commentary). If you don’t want just anyone to be able to quote your posts, you now have the option to allow only people you follow to do so. Or, you can make it so no one can quote your posts at all. Head of…

04 May

Parrots in captivity seem to enjoy video-chatting with their friends on Messenger

John RoutledgeLatest News

Parrots are innately social creatures. In captivity, where they typically don’t have a flock to interact with, that can present some real challenges for keeping them happy and healthy. But recent research suggests technology may be able to help them meet more of their social needs. A new (very small) study led by researchers at the University of Glasgow and…

04 May

Google prohibits ads promoting websites and apps that generate deepfake porn

John RoutledgeLatest News

Google has updated its Inappropriate Content Policy to include language that expressly prohibits advertisers from promoting websites and services that generate deepfake pornography. While the company already has strong restrictions in place for ads that feature certain types of sexual content, this update leaves no doubt that promoting "synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit…

03 May

X is using Grok to publish AI-generated news summaries

John RoutledgeLatest News

X is using Grok to publish AI-generated summaries of news and other topics that trend on the platform. The feature, which is currently only available to premium subscribers, is called “Stories on X,” according to a post from the company’s engineering account. According to X, Grok relies on users’ posts to generate the text snippets. Some seem to be more…

03 May

Nintendo blitzes GitHub with over 8,000 emulator-related DMCA takedowns

John RoutledgeLatest News

Nintendo sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice for over 8,000 GitHub repositories hosting code from the Yuzu Switch emulator, which the Zelda maker previously described as enabling “piracy at a colossal scale.” The sweeping takedown comes two months after Yuzu’s creators quickly settled a lawsuit with Nintendo and its notoriously trigger-happy legal team for $2.4 million. GamesIndustry.biz first…

03 May

The Apple Watch Series 9 is back on sale for $299, plus the rest of this week’s best tech deals

John RoutledgeLatest News

As we reach the end of another week, we're looking back to see what tech deals popped up that are worth checking out. This coming Tuesday, Apple will almost certainly announce new iPads, which is probably why a slew of discounts have materialized for the company's slabs. We didn't highlight those here — even if you want an older model,…