Technology news

Twitch is on the warpath as a spambot has decimated almost 1,000 channels with disturbing chat messages. Now it’s taking multiple companies, including PayPal and Whois, to court to try and stop the spammer. The petition, filed in British Columbia’s Supreme Court, puts PayPal, Whois, and telecommunications company Shaw Communications on notice. The full petition has been revealed by Ars Technica. Twitch asks that each of the companies on notice provide information on the spammer

Jay Z’s extensive catalog of solo music has been pulled from Apple Music and Spotify. In a statement to The Verge, Spotify said the removal of some of Jay Z’s catalog was done “at the request of the artist.”The two leading streaming services no longer have any of Jay Z’s solo work, with only features and his projects with R. Kelly and Linkin Park remaining on the services. This is the third time Jay Z’s content has been pulled from the streaming services &mdas

GUEST: The beauty and skincare world is oversaturated, especially if you include all the affordable convenience store brands. If you’re a shopper with a budget, you are likely mixing different products and blindly guessing which combinations will work — like a chemist without a periodic table.
AI technology has already revolutionized transportation, food, and even health. Why not also beauty and retail? Olay, a well-known drugstore brand, created an AI to analyze your skin from

The influencers are so powerful that they are affecting how companies are selling their games.
Gearbox Publishing has revealed to GamesBeat that it is going through with its promise to end all of its business dealings with G2A, which many gamers have criticized for some of its unscrupulous policies and practices. The publisher, which launched the remastered shooter Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition today on PC, gave an ultimatum to G2A where it asked the service to commit to a number of changes tha

Okta, a company that provides identity management and single sign-on (SSO) software, today finished its first day of trading on the Nasdaq at $23.51 per share under the symbol OKTA. The company was left with a market cap of $2.14 billion.
Okta filed for its initial public offering (IPO) on March 14, initially looking to raise $100 million, according to its S-1 filing.
On March 27 the company said it was expecting to price its stock at $15 per share. Then, on April 5, the

Vermont senator and former presidential nominee Bernie Sanders’ talk show, The Bernie Sanders Show, is now available to stream as a podcast on iTunes. There are three available episodes, dated March 27th, 28th, and 29th. Episodes are also available on the senator’s site.Sanders’ show has primarily lived on Facebook until now. The show touts itself as a way to “stay informed on the political revolution,” and promises to focus on how the senator and others “are

This isn’t a good day for GameStop or its customers.
The video game store chain is investigating a potential security breach on its website, according to Krebs on Security. Along with traditional brick-and-mortar stores, GameStop sells games, hardware, and accessories on its site. Customer’s personal information, including credit card info, could be at risk. The hack allegedly took place between September 2016 and February 2017.
“GameStop recently received notification fro

“Rensenware” is a new kind of ransomware — typically malicious software that locks your files until a fee has been paid to recover them — but, as Ars Techinca reports, it’s a bit different from the usual sort of malware. Instead of requiring infected users to pay a sum of money to regain access to their locked files, Rensenware instead requires them to reach a high score of 200 million points in the anime bullet hell shooter TH12 - Undefined Fantastic Object (a game

In the online chat world, LivePerson enjoys the rare distinction of being more than 20 years old.
While many of its counterparts in the bot-AI world are still sucking from baby bottles — having entered the market last year alongside Facebook and Microsoft — LivePerson is entitled to sip single-malt scotch. But last year the $210 million publicly traded company got up from its bar stool and began using automated bots inside its live chat client, LiveEngage.
“I stayed out of

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday, the co-directors of the 1999 classic found footage horror film The Blair Witch Project revealed that they filmed several alternate endings.“We went back to that house with a skeleton crew and basically just shot all the endings that Ed [Sanchez] and I threw out when we were dreaming up the script,” Dan Myrick told EW, then listed other endings, such as Mike (played by Michael C. Williams) hanging from a noose or crucified with a

There’s something about long car rides that make it so easy to fall asleep in — the repetitive passing patterns, subtle vibrations, the hum of the engine. Inspired by this notion, Ford has designed a bed that can simulate all those experiences. The only problem? It’s made for infant-sized humans.
Called the Max Motor Dreams, the crib contains LED lights that glow similarly to street lights, and has speakers at the bottom that can make muffled engine sounds for ambient noise. Na

It’s been a solid year and a half since Microsoft updated its Surface Pro line, yet the rumor mill has kept surprisingly quiet on any updates. But today we may be getting our first look at what’s to come, courtesy of longtime Microsoft connoisseur, Paul Thurrott. Unfortunately, there’s not much to it. Surface Pro 5 will not change the Surface Connect power connector, I was just told. Kaby Lake, nothing dramatic. — Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) April 6, 2017 Thurrott says the

That new $1,200 GeForce GTX Titan Xp you ordered this week will have full support for some of the latest games and updates for Windows.
Nvidia has released the latest drivers for its GeForce graphics cards (version 381.65), and this update brings with it better support for recently launched games like Snake Pass and Kona. The chipmaker also announced that it has optimized the drivers for its video cards to support the ongoing closed beta for id Software’s arena shooter Quake Champions

Microsoft and Skype will now help you converse in real time with Japanese speaker — even if you don’t speak Japanese yourself. Skype announced this week that it was adding Japanese to its real-time translation software, which it introduced in 2014. In its announcement, Skype says: Japan has also become a beloved destination for both tourism and business, and we’re excited for the potential benefit Skype Translator will bring to Japan, the community and our users. In order to u

GUEST: “It’s not you — it’s me.”
Many people, journalists, and even companies who have invested in the chatbot industry have spoken out about the so-called chatbot engagement problem.
The issue they are seeing is simple: Users initially play with a chatbot because it is fun and novel, but then quickly lose interest until, eventually, they go inactive (or quit using the bot altogether).
Conclusion? Chatbots have an engagement problem! People do not engage with c

Bethesda is showing off its next big game.
The publisher is launching Prey, a science-fiction game about a person who is the subject of a research test in space. Naturally, things go wrong, and you must save the day using weapons and your abilities to uncover the mystery of what happened while fighting off monsters. Prey debuts for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 5.
Check out the livestream below:
This post is part of the PC Gaming channel, presented by the Intel® Game Dev program.

Retro is cool again. Vinyl is making a comeback, film cameras are back in production, and old-school wooden radios are getting new, tech-infused versions.
The Penna is a new Kickstarter project from a company called Elretron that looks to cash in on the current retro-tech craze by fusing the old-time aesthetics of a typewriter with the technology of a modern-day mechanical Bluetooth keyboard.The Penna comes in two versions: the far nicer-looking (but presumably harder to type on) chrome-edged ci

The Expanse is a television show based on the novels by James S.A. Corey. Every week, I’ll be taking a look at one moment in each episode of the show’s second season, and chatting with the creators about how it was created and what it means for the larger story.
Spoilers ahead for the ninth, 10th, and 11th episodes of season 2.
Due to some scheduling issues and a vacation, we’ve missed the last couple of episodes of The Expanse: it’s time to get caught up. When we last lo

Everyone knows the feeling. You’re at work, only to wish you you were anywhere – literally anywhere – else. So, you decide to procrastinate by looking for flights. The Priceline-owned travel site, Kayak, has noticed. And perhaps to avoid a spate of wanderlust-fuelled shitcanning, it has decided to launch Kayak at Work – a version of the popular search engine, that’s obfuscated as a Google Sheets spreadsheet. The site works just like the mainline site; you can book

Once, I followed a first date into a busy subway station. I lost track of him for a second, then found him again and followed him halfway down the platform before I heard someone calling my name. As it turns out, that minute of confusion was enough for me to identify the wrong guy as my date and almost get on a train with him. (There was no second date.)
My excuse is that I’m somewhat faceblind. That is, I have trouble recognizing faces and telling people apart, even when my vision is perf

Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs — this is the first build since finalizing the Creators Update, which you can download right now. The next few builds won’t bring many big noticeable changes or new features because Microsoft is focused on making refinements to OneCore (the system that lets Windows 10 run on different form factors) and code refactoring.
Windows 10 is a service, meaning it was built in a very different way than its predecessors so it can be reg

Very quietly, Netflix has introduced a new screensaver feature in its TV apps. Whenever you leave your console or TV box mid-film, it’ll bring up a screensaver promoting one of Netflix’s original productions. The feature was first identified by eagle-eyed Twitter users, followed by TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez. So Netflix does a new screensaver thing. I came back from the bathroom to this. And now all I want to do is start watch #5. I need help. pic.twitter.com/v51Qh7ELLZ —

The smell of someone else's poop is definitely something we try to steer clear of — for obvious reasons. But it turns out, poop smells can provide valuable intel for certain animals. Mandrills, a type of monkey found only in rain forests in Africa, sniff dung to figure out if another mandrill has parasites; if the smell test is positive, the monkeys avoid contact with the infected members of their group, according to a new study. This type of behavior might seem really mean, but it can act

Logan Olson, developer of awesome virtual reality music creation tool SoundStage, is joining Clay Bavor’s VR team at Google. SoundStage lets you assemble and operate a music studio in the virtual space around you using the HTC Vive headset and wireless controllers — it’s like Tilt Brush for techno. I said it “feels like a visionary application” after spending time with it last year.
“We’re excited to welcome Logan to the Google VR team,” a Google s

Destroying something beautiful is more fun together, and one of the PC’s best sleeper Early Access hits from the past couple of years is finally going to enable that.
Developer Spiderling Studios announced today that its destruction-simulating game Besiege is getting a major patch called the Multiverse Update. This will introduce both cooperative and competitive multiplayer as well as level editing. These modes will also crossover with one another to enable live, online multiplayer level c

A court just banned Uber from using its apps in Italy — yes, all of Italy. The court ruled in favor of the country’s taxi drivers — who filed the suit — claiming Uber was “unfair competition.” Now Uber can’t use it’s apps — including UberBlack, Uber LUX, X, and Select — and it can’t promote or advertise itself at all within the country. For all intents and purposes, Uber is banned in Italy. This is the cherry on the sun

OPINION: Twitter defied a U.S. government request made on March 14 for records (IP addresses and any associated phone number or mailing address) that could identify who is behind ALT_uscis, an account critical of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The company yesterday filed a lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court to block the order, but today dropped the suit after the Department of Homeland Security withdrew its attempt to unmask the account. Tech companies should hav

Just one day after being sued in federal court, the Department of Homeland Security has withdrawn its order to unmask the @Alt_USCIS account, a harshly critical account nominally run by an anonymous Homeland Security staffer. In March, two agents of Customs and Border Protection had served Twitter with an order for IP logs, phone numbers, and other identifying information associated with the account. Twitter declined to comply with the request, and argued in its complaint that the order was unco

Three stories about FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to roll back net neutrality dropped over the course of last night into this morning, all containing basically the same information. According to The Wall Street Journal, Multichannel News, and Reuters, Pai:
Met with major telecom lobbying groups on TuesdayThinks net neutrality is bad and wants to roll back the FCC’s Title II classification that made it happen
But also plans to have broadband providers stick net neutrality promises in t

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, Blizzard wins a legal fight against a cheat-maker, we decide which educational game is the best ever, and someone gets The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild running on 4K on a PC.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
The DeanBeat: The art of lifting the veil on a new video game console
Analysts react to Microsoft’s impressive Scorpio console specs
Xbox One Scorpio specs are nice, but Microsoft needs a slam du

In case you haven’t had your dose of paranoia fuel today, WikiLeaks released new information concerning a CIA malware program called “Grasshopper,” that specifically targets Windows. The Grasshopper framework was (is?) allegedly used by the CIA to make custom malware payloads. According to the user guide: Grasshopper is a software tool used to build custom installers for target computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems. Grasshopper is designed to det

UK phone provider O2 has announced that it intends to flood the entirety of the City of London with ultra-fast 1Gbps Wi-Fi. It’s worth pointing out that this won’t cover the entirety of London, but rather the City of London. This is a square-mile area that contains banks, insurance companies, lawyers, and not much else. It’s confusing, I know. It’ll likely be music to the ears of those living and working in the City. That said, I can’t help but feel the hotspo

Taxis have been taking a beating over the past few years, thanks to the popularity of on-demand ride services like Uber and Lyft. Sensing an opportunity, Flywheel, which was at one point called Cabulous, set out to modernize this legacy transit option. After seven years, the company has been acquired by competitor Cabconnect to craft a more robust taxi-centric software platform.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are excited for Cabconnect to continue the expansion of Flyw

Facebook’s Instant Articles opened up to all publishers nearly a year ago, but the mobile viewing product was very much read-only. Publishers didn’t really have a native way to support converting readers into something more, like subscribers. On Friday, the social media company launched call-to-action units with the goal of providing a “more direct line of communication” between the publisher and the reader.
The call-to-action units are being rolled out starting next week

A year ago this week, the Kik Messenger Bot Shop was born. Today, with more than 20,000 bots available — and some, like CNN and Roll bots, already past the one-million-user mark — the Bot Shop has truly arrived.
In the past year of Bot Shop experimentation, Kik CEO Ted Livingston has been outspoken with his opinions about the bot ecosystem, saying that bots are overhyped, that they’re better with buttons and without conversation, and that chat is the new web browser.

Microsoft revealed details on its Xbox Scorpio game console on Thursday, giving exhaustive specifications on the hardware that will go into its next gaming machine.
So begins a series of revelations that will take us through E3, the big game industry trade show in June, and an eventual launch in the holidays of 2017. It was a limited reveal, with no information yet on the games, the operating system, the user interface, the industrial design, the price, or the myriad other details asso

The best parts of Persona 5 are doing nothing at all. Stealing stuff and recruiting demon-like allies is fun, but I’d trade it all for a night of doing my virtual laundry.
As a series, Persona has leaned into these quiet, simple pleasures for a decade, and Persona 5 is no exception. It’s a fantasy role-playing game that’s just as interested in the daily life of any given hero. Time not spent pillaging dungeons is given to quiet pursuits like working part-time jobs or going to t

Hey! The Verge has brought you another episode of The Vergecast. This week we’ve got Nilay, Paul, Ashley, and Dieter talkin’ the tech talk to y’all: more specifically the future of Mac computers, Youtube TV, and the newest Android phones on the market.As always, Paul and Ashley share their gadget of the week, and Nilay makes fun of Dieter for wearing AirPods. Listen to the whole show for more.
02:50 - Apple working on “completely rethought” Mac Pro and pro display
2

SPONSORED: Presented by Avalara
Until recently, sales tax compliance didn’t make headlines or get a lot of attention from company executives or their investors. But after a major shift in the tax landscape, companies are beginning to think differently about the way they manage their business. High growth companies, in particular, are one of the most affected by these new compliance changes happening at both the federal and state level.
Malcolm Ellerbe, Tax Partner at Armanino LLP, who work

There’s a fair bit of mania in Nacho Vigalondo’s films. Features like Timecrimes, Open Windows, and the new Colossal come with plenty of action, but they’re also built on surprises and reveals just as much as any M. Night Shyamalan film. They’re layered with obvious expectations that don’t pay off, and hidden agendas that do pay off. And in Colossal particularly, those hidden agendas are likely to surprise viewers who show up just expecting a monster movie.Anne Hath

Emirates responded to the recent ban on electronics in the main cabin on some of its flights with what could be a customer service coup.
The Dubai-based airline announced this week that it will be loaning out Microsoft Surface tablets to First and Business Class passengers on affected nonstop U.S.-bound flights from its hub airport — for free. The tablets will have the Microsoft Office 2016 suite of software for continued productivity while in transit. Emirates says that passengers should

Every week, a slew of new music videos hits the web. Watching them at your desk is not time theft because you deserve it; think of it as a nice reward for surviving another work week. But what if you don’t have time to watch every video — maybe you have a deadline, a hungry pet, or other grown-up concerns. In consideration of your schedule, Lizzie and Kaitlyn bring you a series called One Video. Each week we’ll tell you “one video” you need to watch, why, and for ho

Del Rey Books announced a new anthology, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, featuring an all-star lineup of authors. The best part? Proceeds from the book will go to First Book, a charity that provides books to children in low income families.What stands out about From a Certain Point of View is the number of big names included in the table of contents: newcomers to the Star Wars universe, such as Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries), Adam Christopher (Empire State), Polygon’s Griffin McElro