Month: July 2020

Enlarge / Hurricane Dorian on September 3, 2019. (credit: NASA EO)

Recent weeks have seen some additional drama over last September’s hurricane dust-up between President Trump and the National Weather Service. Last week, the Commerce Department’s Inspector General was crying foul over leadership stonewalling the release of her report on any legal issues arising from the dustup. That report is now out, and it brings some resolution to the tale.

If you’re unfamiliar with the background, as Hurricane Dorian approached the US coast, President Trump tweeted that Alabama would “most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated”—a statement that was untrue, as the storm was set to turn north and up the Eastern Seaboard. His statement, however, prompted calls from concerned people in Alabama, who wondered if the forecast had changed. In response, the Birmingham National Weather Service office tweeted, “Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian.”

Annoyance and investigations

This tweet perturbed the White House, eventually resulting in a controversial, unsigned statement released by NOAA that essentially said the president was technically right and the Birmingham office should have qualified their tweet. (There was also an incident in which a hurricane forecast map in the Oval Office was modified with a black marker to make it look like Alabama might have been in danger.)

Enlarge / Bottles of MMS, the bleach product that Genesis II Church of Health and Healing was ordered to stop selling. (credit: Genesis II Church of Health and Healing)

Four members of the infamous “Church of Bleach”—a father and his three adult sons—are facing fraud and contempt charges in Florida in connection to selling industrial bleach as a “miracle cure-all.”

Mark Grenon, 62, and his sons, Jonathan Grenon, 34, Jordan Grenon, 26, and Joseph Grenon, 32, all from Bradenton, Florida, were charged Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors in Miami allege that the men have been selling their industrial bleach product—called “Miracle Mineral Solution” or MMS—as a treatment for COVID-19 and other conditions. The prosecutors say the men willfully violated a federal order made in April that they stop selling and distributing the product. The family also allegedly sent letters threatening violence to the federal judge who issued the order and warned that they may stage “a Waco.”

Enlarge / Rivian's R1T at the New York Auto Show in 2019. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin / Ars)

Upstart electric vehicle maker Rivian has added $2.5 billion to its war chest, the company announced on Friday.

It's Rivian's fifth fundraising round in just 18 months. The company raised $2.85 billion in four previous fundraising rounds between February and December of 2019. This gives Rivian more than $5 billion to spend on manufacturing capacity for its forthcoming electric trucks and SUVs.

Rivian is planning to build two consumer vehicles that were both introduced to the public in 2018. There's an electric truck called the R1T and an SUV called the R1S. Both are based on the same battery-powered all-electric skateboard platform and boast ranges up to 400 miles.

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Today's Dealmaster is headlined by a return of the best price we've seen on Apple's AirPods and Qi wireless charging case combo, which is now down to $150 on Amazon. For reference, Apple's MSRP for this configuration is $199, though we typically see it go for $169 on Amazon. The wireless charging case, meanwhile, usually costs around $70 on its own. Either way, while we've seen this price a few times before, we haven't seen this config drop any lower.

The AirPods are a known quantity at this point, so chances are you already know if you want a pair. Apple's true wireless earbuds still don't sound as good as most other headphones in this price range, and their unsealed design still won't be a tight fit in everybody's ears. But they continue to be dead simple to use and connect with other Apple devices, and they're exceedingly lightweight. If you already use a wireless charger for an iPhone, having the Qi charging case here can make refilling the headphones a bit less of a hassle, even if we wouldn't quite call it essential. This model comes with Apple's H1 wireless chip for steadier wireless connectivity and hands-free Siri support.

One caveat to note is that Apple is reportedly working on a new pair of AirPods that could arrive next year with a design similar to the AirPods Pro, which we consider a superior pair across the board. If you're in no rush, it might be best to wait. But if you're an iPhone owner who wants a new set of wireless charging headphones today, this is a good deal.

Enlarge / French President Emmanuel Macron. (credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The French parliament has agreed to pass a new law requiring age verification on pornographic websites to prevent access by children under 18, Politico reports. The initiative has the support of President Emmanuel Macron, who called for such a measure in January.

The French law gives sites discretion to decide how to perform age verification. Requiring users to enter a credit card number seems to be one of the most popular options.

According to Politico, the law gives French regulators the power to create a blacklist for overseas sites that don't comply with the new rules. If a site doesn't respond to a warning from French officials, they can "ask the Paris Court of Justice to send an order to telecom operators to block the access to these sites from France."