Google is preparing to launch a high-end laptop project called Chromebook X it's
like Malcolm X except for the everything about it except the X
I'm Riley this is techlinked and this branding is similar to some Microsoft
products like the Xbox series X and the Surface Pro X tablet X being arguably
the coolest letter in the alphabet Z is up there W no at least they didn't go
with ultra not a letter now however the Chromebook X Program will allow Chrome
OS devices from third-party manufacturers that meet elevated
Hardware requirements to receive additional features and special branding
marking them as a Chromebook X although I'm not sure how many laptop companies
will be eager to Brand their products as a perfectly acceptable laptop for
children and seniors but better the X stands for extra adequate
extra just okay also somewhat confusing is Google's
apparent plans to equip these Chromebook X's with AMD Zen 2 plus or Zen 3 chips
as well as Intel 12th gen Bria and Nissa
n-series CPUs which are on the mid to low end of the power Spectrum not
exactly chips you'd expect in a laptop with such a cool letter in its name but
Google is more about software so the Chromebook X's special features include
apparently live caption for calls a portrait blur option and voice isolation
Tech mind these are less special features than they are regular features
that a standard Chromebook can't run without [ __ ] straight through the bed
so that's pretty powerful though
like I can't even that strong twitch is replacing its mature content toggle that
allows users to enable and disable adult material with a more informative system
of content classification labels now instead of Simply marking the stream as
mature streamers can specify the exact kind of depravity they intend to
broadcast be it mature rated video games intoxication violence sexual themed
profanity gambling conversation going outside
question if you manage to hit every single content warning in one stream do
you get a prize like in Bingo streamers that fail to correctly label their
streams will not be banned but will receive an email warning after multiple
warnings their Channel may be locked for a period of days or weeks if you get a
bingo in front of an audience of under supervised 12 year olds the punishment
is an extended opportunity to touch the grass ah there it is the change is an
interesting quality of life measure coming at a time when twitch is losing
several of its top streamers the most viewed streamer xqc signed a 100 million
dollar non-exclusive deal with quick with quick with Kik last week and now
hot tub Queen amaranth who kick paid an undisclosed amount to apparently begin
streaming herself and her friends showering twitch actually lost another
prominent streamer this week not to kick but to burnout former pro fortnite
player Turner T few Tenney has retired at the age of 25 after eight years as a
twitch partner citing the stress of daily hours-long live streams many
creators have criticized which is high requirements to maintain status
contributing to a culture of burnout and overwork xqc the poster boy for just
insane streaming schedules celebrated his two-year deal with kick by flirting
with a band immediately violating the dmca policy by streaming The Dark Knight
he's the hero kick deserves but not the one it needs right now
it's just making things more complicated but where the other streamers going well
and while most of the subreddits protesting reddit's new ABI prizing have
reopened many are still registering their disapproval by labeling themselves
as not safe for work which adds an age gate on desktop requires app login to
view on mobile and prevents ads from being run on the subreddit this follows
an earlier wave of subreddits that transitioned into non-stop thirst traps
featuring comedian John Oliver thankfully fully pornographic John
Oliver content has yet to emerge but it's only a matter of time fortunately
give me that all of us okay please please I'll live [ __ ] the only
thing more obstinate and self-important than a moderator is an admin on Tuesday
shortly after the users of R mildly interesting voted to set it to NSFW the
entire mod team was removed and locked out of their accounts apparently by a
Reddit employed admin then following report of The Purge from The Verge they
were just as suddenly reinstated Reddit
refused to comment on whether it was behind either the removal or the
reinstatement which I for one think is more than mildly interesting post that
in our slash several other subreddits including r
slash interesting is r slash thanks I
hate it and r slash life Pro tips all of
which have over a million subscribers are currently unmoderated having been
hit by similar purges making their advice even worse
feel like Pro tip get banned while Reddit hasn't confirmed that they are
behind the removals they did threaten to remove mods that failed to comply last
week it's a bit like when your business partner takes a long unexpected vacation
to the Bahamas shortly after you told the entire Christmas party you wanted
him dead yet another protest strategy was employed by at least two subreddits
r slash March against Nazis and R political humor which made all members
moderators in response to reddit's CEO
Steve Huffman calling moderators landed gentry who ignore the desires of rank
and file users I don't like aristocracy Mr Huffman how about Anarchy I mean
you're trying it right now let's you spend first among equals
now it's time for quick bits brought to you I'm back from on vacation
not on or any other planet it's time to
build my quick bits Galactic Empire with
our sponsor Paradox in Stellaris I'll
explore and Conquer an unknown universe
perhaps I'll allow some democracy or rule with an iron fist or maybe I'll
engineer a race of beings controlled by a psychic hive mind that could be fun
I'm definitely going to form alliances and influence other alien factions
through diplomacy strength or Espionage but if that doesn't work there's always
the old blow up their home World trip that's just me with unparalleled
possibilities no two games of Stellaris are ever the same your story will be
Uniquely Yours starting on June 22nd you
can play on Steam for free oh go conquer
the Galaxy don't threaten the audience Dennis
a little bit of tech news in your life a little bit of this guy by your side
that's right quick bits were inspired by Lou Bega which is why there's Mambo
Number Five of them please laugh
the FTC sued Amazon on Wednesday for making it trivial to subscribe to their
Prime service but a labyrinthine process to cancel presumably by forcing you to
fight a Minotaur if you don't want to pay 140 every year additional eight
bucks a month if you want magic yarn the commission's lawsuit alleges Amazon
knowingly tricked millions of Americans into signing up for their Prime
subscription using dark patterns a term that describes manipulative coercive or
deceptive user interface designs and not the sequence of increasingly problematic
behavior of flashstar Ezra Miller and they still release that movie which is
the real crime if Twitter Clips are any indication EA has decided to split EA
Games and EA Sports in the game into two distinct units so now you have two
corporate entities to hate instead of one also EA Games is being rebranded as
EA entertainment suggesting they intend to expand Beyond games interpretive
dance another Flash movie meanwhile EA Sports is expanding into the courtroom
because they've been sued over their upcoming college football game is that
the title college football game CA college and the college book EA Sports
CFG the plaintiff is the brander group
Noe which has deals to negotiate licensing contracts for several NCAA
schools and therefore has an issue with EA Sports offering individual athletes a
flat 500 fee and no royalties for their
name image and likeness in perpetuity
yep that's ridiculous wow yay you're not
allowed to take advantage of college athletes that's the brander group's job
DP Review and invaluable digital photography resource was supposed to
close in April as part of Amazon's careless cuts and mass layoffs earlier
this year but oddly the site continued publishing even after the deadline where
the site was set to go read only it kept going and going well past its supposed
due date just like the yogurt in the break room fridge sorry apparently this
is because Amazon was instead approached by gear Patrol an independent tech
review site which has officially acquired DP Review as of yesterday DP
reviews editor-in-chief released a statement saying that the site will continue to operate as it was before
with all editorial coverage and site features remaining the same and all
historical content accessible former site editor Gannon Gannon Gannon former
site editor Gannon burget is quoted as
saying you figure this sort of stuff out before shutting down an entire division
of your company not in hindsight after weeks of backlash and also quote Amazon
and also quote link stop stopping my
plans be kidnapped the princess
I'm shedding real tears for this Kingdom Marvel Studios is facing controversy for
using AI to create the opening credit scene for their secret Invasion
miniseries upsetting artists people with taste and possibly epileptics they
really need to smooth those Out director and executive producer Ali Salim told
polygon he doesn't really understand how AI works and apparently also didn't
understand that the writer's Guild of America is currently on strike to
protect writers against AI so maybe throwing AI into one of the most hotly
anticipated projects in a massively popular Cinematic Universe was a bad
idea who can say fortunately the premiere episode has a lengthy cold open
so geeky artists got to enjoy a solid eight minutes of the show before feeling
angry and betrayed that's like a minute more than I got to spend in heaven with
Stacy Carlisle when I was in sixth grade
Jacob wrote that I wish that was true it's all Riley he's lying I
actually it was me deep feelings
and Eve online has added a new feature in the form of a free add-on
of Microsoft Excel sounds weird but it's
right up there Ally after years of being called a glorified spreadsheet simulator
both by fans and detractors Eve online will be officially integrating Excel
into its alleged space adventure game alleged now players will be able to
create custom reports graphs and charts yes to better calculate their Fleet DPS
and manage their in-universe corporate expense accounts without having to tap
out of the game like they usually would so immersion breaking Eve online fans
were ecstatic when the partnership was announced and I think the rest of us can
just be happy for them and we'll be happy too when you come back on Friday
for another episode of techlinked I mean not like ecstatic you're not exactly
like a integrated spreadsheet but you know no offense but definitely pleased