A few years back I wrote the below. Reflecting on it now and the current situation we find ourselves in are the words truer now than ever…
The pandemic profoundly alters our sense of time. Quarantine grinds lives to a halt, injecting them with untold levels of stress and acute danger. Monday bleeds into Tuesday, into Friday, into Monday again — the days losing distinction, but still representing tectonic shifts as we squint to better see the coronavirus's devastating effects looming on the horizon.
And then, like a unicorn-shaped floatie drifting into view as we struggle against the waves, You're The Man Now Dog (YTMND) decides to pop back into our lives. Surely, this will not be the thing that saves us, but damn if it isn't a welcome sight. Read more...
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People are streaming a lot of movies and TV shows while staying home during the coronavirus pandemic.
In fact, because so much television is being watched during unconventional daytime hours — and streaming services offer viewers the ability to watch whenever they want — traditional “primetime” TV viewing is being completely altered.
A new study by streaming analytics company Conviva found that streaming TV viewing between the hours of 10am and 5pm is growing as people stay home to combat the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The biggest increase in streaming TV consumption is during the 11am to noon block where viewing time has risen by 43 percent. Read more...
More about Television, Netflix, Streaming Services, Primetime, and Coronavirus
Confirming yesterday's leak, the NBA announced an esports tournament that will kick off this Friday, with games broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2. The NBA 2K Players Tournament will pit 16 current NBA players against one another, with finals scheduled...
Mobile developer King is adding free, unlimited lives to Candy Crush Saga and a swath of other games this week, removing the timers that make players wait or pay if they fail too many levels. The change lasts until April 5th, and it’s part of a World Health Organization partnership called #PlayApartTogether, which promotes awareness of safety and social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic.
Seven games are being updated with free lives: Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Candy Crush Jelly Saga, Candy Crush Friends Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, Bubble Witch 3 Saga, and Pet Rescue Saga. I can’t say if those latter six are worth your newly unlimited playtime. But Candy Crush Saga is a genuinely engrossing take on the...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Zoom is apparently leaking some email addresses, user photos, and allowing some users to initiate a video call with strangers because of an issue with how the app handles contacts that it perceives work for the same organization, according to a report by Vice.
Typically, Zoom will group contacts with the same email domain into a “Company Directory” so you can, for example, search for a specific person, see their photo and email, and start a video call with that person. That makes sense for a company with employees on Zoom, but the app has also been grouping some people together who signed up for the service with a personal email, reports Vice. That means an affected user might be able to see the personal email addresses and photos of...
Image: Wyze
Smart home gadget maker Wyze has released a firmware update and set of instructions for turning its low-cost security camera into a working webcam at a time when proper webcams from brands like Logitech are increasingly hard to find.
The update, which was released roughly an hour ago on Wyze’s support website, involves manually installing firmware onto your Wyze camera that will temporarily turn it into a webcam, after which it will no longer connect to the Wyze app and function normally. However, Wyze says you can reverse the process to restore security camera access to the device and have it function normally again.
The instructions say you’ll need a Wyze Cam v2, a...
The Overwatch League has canceled all of its live events for the remainder of the 2020 regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matches will take place in an entirely online format until August at the very least.
Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge
Tesla announced on March 19th that it would temporarily shut down its electric car factory in California, after back-and-forth with local officials about whether the plant was subject to a county-wide coronavirus shelter-in-place order. But the Silicon Valley automaker fought to keep the factory open after that announcement as well, according to new emails obtained by Protocol. It also came after the county’s health officer decided that keeping the plant open was a “public health risk.”
The emails were sent by the local police chief to Tesla’s senior policy advisor, Dan Chia. Each one includes a letter memorializing calls and virtual meetings between Tesla and local city and county officials. They help shed light on the deliberations...
Behind every successful Twitch channel, there's at least one person who's there to moderate chat. The best mods create a safe space where everyone in a community can express themselves. It's not an easy job, but in an attempt to make it a...
