Month: July 2021

Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg / Getty Images)

Google says it has fixed a major Chrome OS bug that locked users out of their devices. Google's bulletin says that Chrome OS version 91.0.4472.165, which was briefly available this week, renders users unable to log in to their devices, essentially bricking them.

Chrome OS automatically downloads updates and switches to the new version after a reboot, so users who reboot their devices are suddenly locked out them. The go-to advice while this broken update is out there is to not reboot.

The bulletin says that a new build, version 91.0.4472.167, is rolling out now to fix the issue, but it could take a "few days" to hit everyone. Users affected by the bad update can either wait for the device to update again or "powerwash" their device—meaning wipe all the local data—to get logged in. Chrome OS is primarily cloud-based, so if you're not doing something advanced like running Linux apps, this solution presents less of an inconvenience than it would on other operating systems. Still, some users are complaining about lost data.

Enlarge / Lovie Newman tells News 4 San Antonio about having to wait nearly four months for AT&T Internet service. (credit: News 4 San Antonio)

AT&T reportedly forced a San Antonio woman to wait nearly four months to get Internet service at her new home, and she didn't get close to solving the problem until she asked a local news station for help.

"Lovie Newman planned for a smooth transition into her new home, including scheduling a transfer for her AT&T high-speed Internet service in advance," according to a report Tuesday by News 4 San Antonio.

The house Newman moved into was apparently newly built and not yet connected to AT&T's network, but it sounds like the months-long wait was due primarily to mistakes by AT&T technicians and customer-service problems. In what Newman called "a complete nightmare," AT&T continually rebuffed her attempts to get Internet service.

Enlarge / On Thursday, July 29, you will be able to preorder the $179 Playdate game system. It is very, very yellow—and actually quite fun! (credit: Sam Machkovech)

Lately, I find myself reminiscing about the era when digital playthings looked like toys. You may rightfully question my nostalgia about Tamagotchis, handheld LCD games, and the purple, handle-loaded GameCube, but my line of work revolves mostly around testing products with mature aspirations. Sometimes, I want companies to lighten up and put the "fun" in "functionality."

That bias contributes in some part to my interest in the Playdate, a $179 portable gaming system that errs on the side of childish, low-powered fun. I've spent three weeks testing the system's "near-final" hardware ahead of preorders opening up on 1 pm ET on Thursday, July 29, and I can confirm that it's indeed fun to look at. Luckily, it's also fun, simple, and accessible to hold, play with, and share with every friend that I can.

Later this year, the Playdate will reclaim the ground once dominated by Nintendo's '90s "Play It Loud" Game Boys. This handheld looks like something you'd pull out of a Yo Gabba Gabba monster's pouch: squat, thin, banana-yellow, and ready to be tickled with a twist of its built-in rotary crank. But make no mistake—the Playdate's creators at the game-publishing firm Panic have taken this device's fun very seriously, and the results have surprised me (especially in one key aspect).

Enlarge / The Hawiyah Natural Gas Liquids Recovery Plant, operated by Saudi Aramco, in Hawiyah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, June 28, 2021. (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, confirmed on Wednesday that some of its company files had been leaked via a contractor, after a cyber extortionist claimed to have seized troves of its data last month and demanded a $50 million ransom from the company.

Aramco said in a statement that it had “recently become aware of the indirect release of a limited amount of company data which was held by third-party contractors.” The oil company did not name the supplier or explain how the data were compromised.

“We confirm that the release of data was not due to a breach of our systems, has no impact on our operations, and the company continues to maintain a robust cyber security posture,” Aramco added.

Enlarge / Power lines are cast in silhouette as the Creek Fire creeps up on on the Shaver Springs community off of Tollhouse Road on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020 in Auberry, CA. (credit: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

It took a string of deadly fires, criminal convictions, a messy bankruptcy, and a multibillion-dollar settlement, but Pacific Gas and Electric Company—better known as PG&E—is finally committing to burying vast stretches of power lines in fire-prone California.

The utility said on Wednesday that it will bury 10,000 miles of power lines in places that are at the greatest risk for wildfires. The ten-year project will touch 10 percent of PG&E’s transmission and distributions lines, and it will cost tens of billions of dollars.

PG&E had apparently been planning to announce the project later this year, but Patricia Poppe, the company’s new CEO, moved up the news release after the utility’s equipment emerged as the likely cause of the 104,000-acre Dixie Fire in Butte County. A 70-foot pine tree fell on one of PG&E’s power lines on July 13, the company reported to regulators. Today, the fire is only 17 percent contained.