Month: February 2023

Enlarge (credit: Aytac Unal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Twitter’s direct messages have always been a security liability. The DMs you send to friends and Internet strangers aren’t end-to-end encrypted, making your conversations potentially accessible if Twitter suffers a data breach, or to company staffers with the right permissions to access them. Both scenarios are arguably more likely in Elon Musk’s version of Twitter, where key security and data protection staff have departed.

Since Musk acquired Twitter and started laying off thousands of employees at the start of November, remodeling the firm in his vision, multiple waves of tweeters have abandoned the platform. When they do, they often try to download their Twitter archive and delete DMs. In the chaos, the process has often been glitchy.

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto)

The European Commission, which is tasked with tackling disinformation online, this week expressed disappointment that Twitter has failed to provide required data that all other major platforms submitted. Now Twitter has been hit with a "yellow card," Reuters reported, and could be subjected to fines if the platform doesn’t fully comply with European Union commitments by this June.

“We must have more transparency and cannot rely on the online platforms alone for the quality of information,” the commission’s vice president of values and transparency, Věra Jourová, said in a press release. “They need to be independently verifiable. I am disappointed to see that Twitter['s] report lags behind others, and I expect a more serious commitment to their obligations.”

Earlier this month, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, met with Twitter CEO Elon Musk to ensure that Musk understood what was expected of Twitter under the EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA). After their meeting, Musk tweeted that the EU’s “goals of transparency, accountability & accuracy of information are aligned” with Twitter’s goals. But he also indicated that Twitter would be relying on Community Notes, which let users add context to potentially misleading tweets to satisfy DSA requirements on stopping misinformation and disinformation spread. That process seems to be the issue the commission has with Twitter’s unsatisfactory report.

Enlarge / The Pinnacle of minivans. (credit: Eric Bangeman)

If you're in the market for a battery-electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid, you're increasingly spoiled for choice. Want a two-row BEV SUV? There are plenty of options. Luxury fastbacks? Check. Pickup truck? Ford cannot make the F-150 Lightning fast enough. There's even a fully electric Hummer!

But what of the lowly minivan? One of the most reviled but practical of all form factors, there are no BEV minivans on the market. Even though they're better than SUVs for so many things, we have to wait for the arrival of the Volkswagen ID.Buzz for the first electric minivan to go on sale in the US in 2024. That's a shame because the typical use case for minivans—short trips to school, the store, practices, and rehearsals—is a perfect fit for electrification.

In 2018, the only PHEV minivan option was the Chrysler Pacifica. Five years later, the only PHEV minivan option is the Chrysler Pacifica. We drove it again and came away impressed with the improvements Chrysler has made and saddened that there aren't more models like it on the market.

Last night's Nintendo Direct video presentation included new trailers and a few new tidbits about the long-awaited Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But that presentation didn't mention one of the game's newest "features"—a $70 price tag.

The $70 base price—a first for a first-party Switch title—was confirmed by Nintendo's own eShop preorder page (and an accompanying press release) Wednesday night. Not all of Nintendo's major upcoming first-party releases will see a similar price increase, though—Pikmin 4, for instance, has been listed at a $59.99 MSRP on the eShop.

"We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis," Nintendo said in a statement provided to Game Informer.

Enlarge (credit: Andrei Stanescu / Getty Images)

Tesla's Autopilot driver-assistance system was cleared by the nation's crash investigator of involvement in a fatal Model S crash. The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report investigating the incident, which took place on April 17, 2021, in Spring, Texas.

The possible involvement of Autopilot was suggested in the wake of initial reports that one of the two occupants—specifically the driver—was found in the back seat of the car.

But NTSB investigators found that security video footage showed both men entering the car and sitting in the front seats before driving away. Analysis of the wreckage also showed that both front seatbelts were buckled at the time, and the steering wheel was buckled and broken. However, the driver was found in the rear of the car, presumably attempting to escape.